. . . that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body —2 Corinthians 4:10

You must not debate. The moment you obey the light of God, His Son shines through you in that very adversity; but if you debate with God, you grieve His Spirit (see Ephesians 4:30). You must keep yourself in the proper condition to allow the life of the Son of God to be manifested in you, and you cannot keep yourself fit if you give way to self-pity. Our circumstances are the means God uses to exhibit just how wonderfully perfect and extraordinarily pure His Son is. Discovering a new way of manifesting the Son of God should make our heart beat with renewed excitement. It is one thing to choose adversity, and quite another to enter into adversity through the orchestrating of our circumstances by God’s sovereignty. And if God puts you into adversity, He is adequately sufficient to “supply all your need” (Philippians 4:19).

Keep your soul properly conditioned to manifest the life of the Son of God. Never live on your memories of past experiences, but let the Word of God always be living and active in you.

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May 14, 2012

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, it is different writing and listening to lyrics about “the hurt and Healer” when Melissa is facing chemotherapy. It is different when the esoteric is no longer esoteric and the hypothetical is no longer hypothetical. Lord, I ask you to step in and hold her and Patrick so tightly that they absolutely know You are right there in this with them. Sometimes it is hard to believe the depths of Your love when we are facing very difficult, frightening and uncertain times. Lord I ask You to give Melissa and Patrick the certain knowledge that You are right there in this with them. I ask You to demonstrate the scriptures that tell us You are right in the middle of all we are going through and that You will change it into something beautiful.

And God says…”It is often very difficult to hear the scripture, “all things work for good for those that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.” It is very difficult to hear any of the scriptures that remind you that I am in charge of the world and can remove you from the hurt and pain in this world…..and then not do it. However, I have already made a place for you and yours outside the pain and suffering and you can live in it today and forever. Nothing can separate you from My love, nothing. Trust in Me with all your heart, seek first the Kingdom of heaven, which is Jesus, pray about everything, and you will know peace that transcends the hurt and circumstance, and you will know that peace is from Me. I am holding you and yours in my arms; you simply must accept and trust that I am with you always. And I will always turn pain, hurt, illness…all hurtful things into beautiful and  amazing outcomes.”

. . . add to your faith virtue . . . —2 Peter 1:5

Add means that we have to do something. We are in danger of forgetting that we cannot do what God does, and that God will not do what we can do. We cannot save nor sanctify ourselves— God does that. But God will not give us good habits or character, and He will not force us to walk correctly before Him. We have to do all that ourselves. We must “work out” our “own salvation” which God has worked in us (Philippians 2:12). Add means that we must get into the habit of doing things, and in the initial stages that is difficult. To take the initiative is to make a beginning— to instruct yourself in the way you must go.

Beware of the tendency to ask the way when you know it perfectly well. Take the initiative— stop hesitating— take the first step. Be determined to act immediately in faith on what God says to you when He speaks, and never reconsider or change your initial decisions. If you hesitate when God tells you to do something, you are being careless, spurning the grace in which you stand. Take the initiative yourself, make a decision of your will right now, and make it impossible to go back. Burn your bridges behind you, saying, “I will write that letter,” or “I will pay that debt”; and then do it! Make it irrevocable.

We have to get into the habit of carefully listening to God about everything, forming the habit of finding out what He says and heeding it. If, when a crisis comes, we instinctively turn to God, we will know that the habit has been formed in us. We have to take the initiative where we are, not where we have not yet been

DJR Journal
Trying to manage our lives by managing our habits is a delicate balancing act on a slippery slope … in which we may conclude that we are in control and that “if it’s to be, it’s up to me” etc. Ideas that have some truth, but tend to leave you out of our lives and lead us off onto our own paths. But this one habit in today’s song, Raising the White Flag … that is always safe and a good first step.

After that, you can hear my voice better. It wont be competing so much with the other voices that come thru your own “good ideas.” So build the habit of Surrender, and start all your projects with a White Flag. You say you want me to lead you and direct you. A White Flag is a good way to start each day and each project.

Where there is no revelation [or prophetic vision], the people cast off restraint . . . —Proverbs 29:18

Because you have kept My command to persevere . . . —Revelation 3:10

Perseverance means more than endurance— more than simply holding on until the end. A saint’s life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, but our Lord continues to stretch and strain, and every once in a while the saint says, “I can’t take any more.” Yet God pays no attention; He goes on stretching until His purpose is in sight, and then He lets the arrow fly. Entrust yourself to God’s hands. Is there something in your life for which you need perseverance right now? Maintain your intimate relationship with Jesus Christ through the perseverance of faith. Proclaim as Job did, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15).

Faith is not some weak and pitiful emotion, but is strong and vigorous confidence built on the fact that God is holy love. And even though you cannot see Him right now and cannot understand what He is doing, you know Him. Disaster occurs in your life when you lack the mental composure that comes from establishing yourself on the eternal truth that God is holy love. Faith is the supreme effort of your life— throwing yourself with abandon and total confidence upon God.

God ventured His all in Jesus Christ to save us, and now He wants us to venture our all with total abandoned confidence in Him. There are areas in our lives where that faith has not worked in us as yet— places still untouched by the life of God. There were none of those places in Jesus Christ’s life, and there are to be none in ours. Jesus prayed, “This is eternal life, that they may know You . . .” (John 17:3). The real meaning of eternal life is a life that can face anything it has to face without wavering. If we will take this view, life will become one great romance— a glorious opportunity of seeing wonderful things all the time. God is disciplining us to get us into this central place of power.

Journal DJR
Good morning, Lord. It is so true … “There are areas in our lives where that faith has not worked in us as yet” The places where faith works are beautiful … and the ones where it hasn’t are painfully not so beautiful. More metaphors from the woodshop: The beautiful grain in wood comes in areas where the tree experiences the most strain, near the roots, at branch intersections etc, where the tree is buffeted by the natural forces of winds and weather. A tree has no problem when the trunk is growing straight (same with us) But to branch off and cast a bigger shadow into a new direction and face the wind and storms … that tests the tree (and us) And it creates a greater beauty in wood and in humans. So, I’m not asking for storms in my life … but I see your logic in allowing them. And ultimately agree that you know best. Help me get along the way toward that Christlikness that you describe in John 17 “This is eternal life, that they may know You . . .” (John 17:3) Once again, we see that knowing you is the answer to all of our problems. Thank You for your sacrifice and the offer to come and know you. And the lessons from the woodshop.

A recent bowl reclaimed from a downed Maple tree showing the stress induced figure and shimmering "chatoyance" which only happens near crotches, bends and other areas of increased stress.

Which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it . . . —Luke 14:28

. . . praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit . . . —Ephesians 6:18

As we continue on in our intercession for others, we may find that our obedience to God in interceding is going to cost those for whom we intercede more than we ever thought. The danger in this is that we begin to intercede in sympathy with those whom God was gradually lifting up to a totally different level in direct answer to our prayers. Whenever we step back from our close identification with God’s interest and concern for others and step into having emotional sympathy with them, the vital connection with God is gone. We have then put our sympathy and concern for them in the way, and this is a deliberate rebuke to God.

It is impossible for us to have living and vital intercession unless we are perfectly and completely sure of God. And the greatest destroyer of that confident relationship to God, so necessary for intercession, is our own personal sympathy and preconceived bias. Identification with God is the key to intercession, and whenever we stop being identified with Him it is because of our sympathy with others, not because of sin. It is not likely that sin will interfere with our intercessory relationship with God, but sympathy will. It is sympathy with ourselves or with others that makes us say, “I will not allow that thing to happen.” And instantly we are out of that vital connection with God.

Vital intercession leaves you with neither the time nor the inclination to pray for your own “sad and pitiful self.” You do not have to struggle to keep thoughts of yourself out, because they are not even there to be kept out of your thinking. You are completely and entirely identified with God’s interests and concerns in other lives. God gives us discernment in the lives of others to call us to intercession for them, never so that we may find fault with them.

Journal DJR
Good morning Lord,
There are so many needs. I could never pray for them all so I tend to get fatalistic and not even try. Help me to hear your voice and pray for the ones that you have specifically for me to pray for.

As you walk closely with me, you will know my heart and mind.

But you have a heart for all the hurting people. I dont have the capacity that you have…

True, so as you commune closely with me, you will “see” and “hear” the ones I illuminate for you to pray for.

I tend to get caught up in sympathy like Oswald talks about today. How do I stay in empathy and compassion and avoid sympathy that can take me down the wrong path?

By staying close to me. Spend time with me. Get to know me and my heart. I will show you how you are to love and reflect me into your world.

I guess that is always the answer….

Yes it is.

Though it tarries, wait for it . . . —Habakkuk 2:3

We walk by faith, not by sight —2 Corinthians 5:7

For a while, we are fully aware of God’s concern for us. But then, when God begins to use us in His work, we begin to take on a pitiful look and talk only of our trials and difficulties. And all the while God is trying to make us do our work as hidden people who are not in the spotlight. None of us would be hidden spiritually if we could help it. Can we do our work when it seems that God has sealed up heaven? Some of us always want to be brightly illuminated saints with golden halos and with the continual glow of inspiration, and to have other saints of God dealing with us all the time. A self-assured saint is of no value to God. He is abnormal, unfit for daily life, and completely unlike God. We are here, not as immature angels, but as men and women, to do the work of this world. And we are to do it with an infinitely greater power to withstand the struggle because we have been born from above.

If we continually try to bring back those exceptional moments of inspiration, it is a sign that it is not God we want. We are becoming obsessed with the moments when God did come and speak with us, and we are insisting that He do it again. But what God wants us to do is to “walk by faith.” How many of us have set ourselves aside as if to say, “I cannot do anything else until God appears to me”? He will never do it. We will have to get up on our own, without any inspiration and without any sudden touch from God. Then comes our surprise and we find ourselves exclaiming, “Why, He was there all the time, and I never knew it!” Never live for those exceptional moments— they are surprises. God will give us His touches of inspiration only when He sees that we are not in danger of being led away by them. We must never consider our moments of inspiration as the standard way of life— our work is our standard.

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Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
We really like the mountain top experiences … but have come to the point where we’ve been disappointed by not being able to maintain the clarity when we come back down into the valley … that we are suspect of the revelation. Is it only good for the mountaintop, and we have to live another way when we return to our work a day world in the Valley?

The MountainTop times have always been important times for me and my people. They built altars and monuments in the old times to commemorate those experiences. Even then, there was a tendency to worship the monument or the memory … rather than Me. So I don’t send them all the time. My people need to learn to live in all circumstances, light, darkness, clarity and confusion. Stick tight and close to me and you will be safe in the dark times.