Archive for November, 2011

By the Grace of God I Am What I Am”

November 30th, 2011

November 30, 2011

By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain . . . —1 Corinthians 15:10

The way we continually talk about our own inabilities is an insult to our Creator. To complain over our incompetence is to accuse God falsely of having overlooked us. Get into the habit of examining from God’s perspective those things that sound so humble to men. You will be amazed at how unbelievably inappropriate and disrespectful they are to Him. We say things such as, “Oh, I shouldn’t claim to be sanctified; I’m not a saint.” But to say that before God means, “No, Lord, it is impossible for You to save and sanctify me; there are opportunities I have not had and so many imperfections in my brain and body; no, Lord, it isn’t possible.” That may sound wonderfully humble to others, but before God it is an attitude of defiance.

Conversely, the things that sound humble before God may sound exactly the opposite to people. To say, “Thank God, I know I am saved and sanctified,” is in God’s eyes the purest expression of humility. It means you have so completely surrendered yourself to God that you know He is true. Never worry about whether what you say sounds humble before others or not. But always be humble before God, and allow Him to be your all in all.

There is only one relationship that really matters, and that is your personal relationship to your personal Redeemer and Lord. If you maintain that at all costs, letting everything else go, God will fulfill His purpose through your life. One individual life may be of priceless value to God’s purposes, and yours may be that life.

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November 30, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, Thank you for reminding me through this devotional and  music that it does not matter what I think I am or am not. It does not matter what  I have and have not done or said. My position in you is not dependent on my contribution.  Your sacrifice was enough and You said it is finished. Thank you for this reminder.

And God says…”Jesus has paid it all. And yes, it is finished. The enemy would like you to believe that you must contribute something; so often you feel compelled to contribute good works, bible study and prayer to the case of your spiritual wellbeing. And while those are all  good things, they cannot and do not bring you closer to Me. The sacrifice of Jesus is enough. Simply focus on Jesus and what He did and you will always find  your peace and place in the kingdom of God.

The Supremacy of Jesus Christ

November 29th, 2011

He will glorify Me . . . —John 16:14

The holiness movements of today have none of the rugged reality of the New Testament about them. There is nothing about them that needs the death of Jesus Christ. All that is required is a pious atmosphere, prayer, and devotion. This type of experience is not supernatural nor miraculous. It did not cost the sufferings of God, nor is it stained with “the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 12:11). It is not marked or sealed by the Holy Spirit as being genuine, and it has no visual sign that causes people to exclaim with awe and wonder, “That is the work of God Almighty!” Yet the New Testament is about the work of God and nothing else.
The New Testament example of the Christian experience is that of a personal, passionate devotion to the Person of Jesus Christ. Every other kind of so-called Christian experience is detached from the Person of Jesus. There is no regeneration— no being born again into the kingdom in which Christ lives and reigns supreme. There is only the idea that He is our pattern. In the New Testament Jesus Christ is the Savior long before He is the pattern. Today He is being portrayed as the figurehead of a religion— a mere example. He is that, but He is infinitely more. He is salvation itself; He is the gospel of God!
Jesus said, “. . . when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, . . . He will glorify Me . . .” (John 16:13-14). When I commit myself to the revealed truth of the New Testament, I receive from God the gift of the Holy Spirit, who then begins interpreting to me what Jesus did. The Spirit of God does in me internally all that Jesus Christ did for me externally.
Journal DJR
11 29 11   
Good morning Lord,
At the first reading of todays message I was sad … comparing my life to that which Oswald paints of the New Testament and other saints. Perhaps those were normative and that type of devotion is expected. If so, I fall way short. But whenever I feel like a failure, I suspect the work of Satan.

You are right, and the message is also right. But comparison is not what I want my children to be involved with. Never measure yourself by others … only by me. Dont even measure yourself by me … just come to me and receive the strength to be what I call you to be in the special circumstance that you are in. They are like no other … so no comparison is valid and will only mess you up, put you on a squirell cage of waste, the specialty of Satan.
But the message of the Lukewarmness of many today and the institution is true. Without comparing … Dont let it be true for you. Come to me. I am your source. If you can find others who hunger, come together. But in the end, it’s you and me. I want to fill you and empower you. Leave your fears behind and let’s make a ruckus, something different and special is what I want for each of you.

The Authority of Truth

November 4th, 2011


Draw near to God and He will draw near to you —James 4:8

It is essential that you give people the opportunity to act on the truth of God. The responsibility must be left with the individual— you cannot act for him. It must be his own deliberate act, but the evangelical message should always lead him to action. Refusing to act leaves a person paralyzed, exactly where he was previously. But once he acts, he is never the same. It is the apparent folly of the truth that stands in the way of hundreds who have been convicted by the Spirit of God. Once I press myself into action, I immediately begin to live. Anything less is merely existing. The moments I truly live are the moments when I act with my entire will.

When a truth of God is brought home to your soul, never allow it to pass without acting on it internally in your will, not necessarily externally in your physical life. Record it with ink and with blood— work it into your life. The weakest saint who transacts business with Jesus Christ is liberated the second he acts and God’s almighty power is available on his behalf. We come up to the truth of God, confess we are wrong, but go back again. Then we approach it again and turn back, until we finally learn we have no business going back. When we are confronted with such a word of truth from our redeeming Lord, we must move directly to transact business with Him. “Come to Me . . .” (Matthew 11:28). His word come means “to act.” Yet the last thing we want to do is come. But everyone who does come knows that, at that very moment, the supernatural power of the life of God invades him. The dominating power of the world, the flesh, and the devil is now paralyzed; not by your act, but because your act has joined you to God and tapped you in to His redemptive power.

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November 4, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, thank you for showing me over and over again how to “get close to you”. When it feels like my prayers are hitting the ceiling and falling back on my head or when I cannot, for the life of me, find the connection that was right there just a minute ago. Lord, thank you for reminding me that You are always near, regardless of how or what I feel.  Thank You for reminding me that all I need to do is surrender and ask You to draw me near.

And God says…”Ask and you shall receive, knock and the door will be opened.  Seek and you will find. Seek first the kingdom of God….  and all these things shall be added.

The times you feel “disconnected” and separated occur when you are seeking solutions for your life; searching for rescue from trials and tribulations, looking at your circumstances and reaching for Me as your rescuer.  I will always rescue you and meet you at your point of need…..when you surrender and seek me first as your life, not simply as your rescuer. Like Peter on the water, look to Me, not the storm or circumstance. Seek Me first, and although the storm may rage all around you, I will hold you near.”

A Bondservant of Jesus

November 3rd, 2011


I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me . . . —Galatians 2:20

These words mean the breaking and collapse of my independence brought about by my own hands, and the surrendering of my life to the supremacy of the Lord Jesus. No one can do this for me, I must do it myself. God may bring me up to this point three hundred and sixty-five times a year, but He cannot push me through it. It means breaking the hard outer layer of my individual independence from God, and the liberating of myself and my nature into oneness with Him; not following my own ideas, but choosing absolute loyalty to Jesus. Once I am at that point, there is no possibility of misunderstanding. Very few of us know anything about loyalty to Christ or understand what He meant when He said, “. . . for My sake” (Matthew 5:11). That is what makes a strong saint.

Has that breaking of my independence come? All the rest is religious fraud. The one point to decide is— will I give up? Will I surrender to Jesus Christ, placing no conditions whatsoever as to how the brokenness will come? I must be broken from my own understanding of myself. When I reach that point, immediately the reality of the supernatural identification with Jesus Christ takes place. And the witness of the Spirit of God is unmistakable— “I have been crucified with Christ . . . .”

The passion of Christianity comes from deliberately signing away my own rights and becoming a bondservant of Jesus Christ. Until I do that, I will not begin to be a saint.

One student a year who hears God’s call would be sufficient for God to have called the Bible Training College into existence. This college has no value as an organization, not even academically. Its sole value for existence is for God to help Himself to lives. Will we allow Him to help Himself to us, or are we more concerned with our own ideas of what we are going to be?

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November 3, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, I want to surrender, but even surrender is hard.  For some reason, I sometimes want to hold onto my worries, fears and concerns about so many things. Sometimes I want to hold onto my religion: Of what I must do to be close to you; study, read my Bible, and pray. It is hard to believe that all I must do is surrender. You will accomplish everything else necessary for my transformation.

And God says…” He that began a good work in you will finish it. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own good devices or activities, and I will make your paths straight. The love that transforms you and makes you the “better person” or more devoted Christian cannot come from your own good intentions or efforts. Your transformation can only come as Jesus lives through you, after your surrender.” 

 

You Are Not Your Own”

November 1st, 2011


Do you not know that . . . you are not your own? —1 Corinthians 6:19

There is no such thing as a private life, or a place to hide in this world, for a man or woman who is intimately aware of and shares in the sufferings of Jesus Christ. God divides the private life of His saints and makes it a highway for the world on one hand and for Himself on the other. No human being can stand that unless he is identified with Jesus Christ. We are not sanctified for ourselves. We are called into intimacy with the gospel, and things happen that appear to have nothing to do with us. But God is getting us into fellowship with Himself. Let Him have His way. If you refuse, you will be of no value to God in His redemptive work in the world, but will be a hindrance and a stumbling block.

The first thing God does is get us grounded on strong reality and truth. He does this until our cares for ourselves individually have been brought into submission to His way for the purpose of His redemption. Why shouldn’t we experience heartbreak? Through those doorways God is opening up ways of fellowship with His Son. Most of us collapse at the first grip of pain. We sit down at the door of God’s purpose and enter a slow death through self-pity. And all the so-called Christian sympathy of others helps us to our deathbed. But God will not. He comes with the grip of the pierced hand of His Son, as if to say, “Enter into fellowship with Me; arise and shine.” If God can accomplish His purposes in this world through a broken heart, then why not thank Him for breaking yours?

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November 1, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, sometimes I forget that I am yours, that I belong to You. Sometimes I think I belong to my job,  my family, my country and oh so often I think I belong to myself. Thank You for reminding me that I belong to You.

And God says…”I bought you with a price more precious that gold or silver. I gave you My Son. You are mine; nothing can separate you from Me, nothing.  I knew you before the beginning of the world, and loved you then.  I love you now. The price I paid for you is evidence of My unconditional love for you.  Trust in Me with all your heart and do not rely on yourself, let Jesus be your life. Seek first My kingdom, which is Jesus, exchange your life for His, and find peace, joy and life more abundantly.”