. . . how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! —Matthew 7:11

Fill your mind with the thought that God is there. And once your mind is truly filled with that thought, when you experience difficulties it will be as easy as breathing for you to remember, “My heavenly Father knows all about this!” This will be no effort at all, but will be a natural thing for you when difficulties and uncertainties arise. Before you formed this concept of divine control so powerfully in your mind, you used to go from person to person seeking help, but now you go to God about it. Jesus is laying down the rules of conduct for those people who have His Spirit, and it works on the following principle: God is my Father, He loves me, and I will never think of anything that He will forget, so why should I worry?

Jesus said there are times when God cannot lift the darkness from you, but you should trust Him. At times God will appear like an unkind friend, but He is not; He will appear like an unnatural father, but He is not; He will appear like an unjust judge, but He is not. Keep the thought that the mind of God is behind all things strong and growing. Not even the smallest detail of life happens unless God’s will is behind it. Therefore, you can rest in perfect confidence in Him. Prayer is not only asking, but is an attitude of the mind which produces the atmosphere in which asking is perfectly natural. “Ask, and it will be given to you . . .” (Matthew 7:7).

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July 16, 2012

Journal Entry for Today

Lord, help me know You are here, all around me all the time. I ask You to help me see You in everything, all around me. Lord, I know that when I can see You in my surroundings and circumstances I understand a bit more about Your all-consuming love, grace and mercy. If I see You in the morning sunrise, and the birds that sing in the new day, I am more likely to “see” you in my business activities and efforts. The more I see you in the trees and flowers, the more likely I am to see you in my trials and triumphs. Help me see you in everything around me this day and everyday Lord, so that I am connected and reminded that You are God, and all things work for the good of those that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.

And God says…”I will never leave you nor forsake you. And nothing can separate you from my love, nothing. When you can see me in everything you do, say and touch, and in all of your happiness and unhappiness, in pleasure and in pain; you transcend your circumstances and surroundings. When you live in this state, you are most likely to be connected to and with Me. And you find this state like a child
finds his parent, simply and naturally. And you can say to Me “I believe Lord,  help me in my unbelief”. Look for Me in all your circumstances this day and be blessed.”

. . . till we all come . . . to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ . . . —Ephesians 4:13

Reconciliation means the restoring of the relationship between the entire human race and God, putting it back to what God designed it to be. This is what Jesus Christ did in redemption. The church ceases to be spiritual when it becomes self-seeking, only interested in the development of its own organization. The reconciliation of the human race according to His plan means realizing Him not only in our lives individually, but also in our lives collectively. Jesus Christ sent apostles and teachers for this very purpose— that the corporate Person of Christ and His church, made up of many members, might be brought into being and made known. We are not here to develop a spiritual life of our own, or to enjoy a quiet spiritual retreat. We are here to have the full realization of Jesus Christ, for the purpose of building His body.

Am I building up the body of Christ, or am I only concerned about my own personal development? The essential thing is my personal relationship with Jesus Christ— “. . . that I may know Him. . .” (Philippians 3:10). To fulfill God’s perfect design for me requires my total surrender— complete abandonment of myself to Him. Whenever I only want things for myself, the relationship is distorted. And I will suffer great humiliation once I come to acknowledge and understand that I have not really been concerned about realizing Jesus Christ Himself, but only concerned with knowing what He has done for me.

My goal is God Himself, not joy nor peace, Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God.

Am I measuring my life by this standard or by something less?

Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
I thought we had a good concept … “The Peace Meter” Where we could know if we were off track by observing our level of peace or lack of peace. But this shows the danger of just seeking peace. It seems clear that peace should be a by-product of what we are really seeking which is simply YOU. Rather than seeking peace we should seek you … and peace will follow.

Anytime you try to create measurements or systems to analyze Me … you risk missing the point … missing Me. All of the systems that theologians and Sunday School teachers and you develop can have some value. Just keep them in their right place … They are not the target. They are the effect of you hitting the target. I am the target.

 . . that I may know Him . . . —Philippians 3:10

The aim of a spiritually vigorous saint is “that I may know Him . . .” Do I know Him where I am today? If not, I am failing Him. I am not here for self-realization, but to know Jesus Christ. In Christian work our initiative and motivation are too often simply the result of realizing that there is work to be done and that we must do it. Yet that is never the attitude of a spiritually vigorous saint. His aim is to achieve the realization of Jesus Christ in every set of circumstances.

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July 11, 2012

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, thank you for the reminder that life is so much better when I can see You in every circumstance and situation. Thank You for lifting me up yesterday when I started to slip into a “pity party” and started the “why me Lord” sniffling.   Even in that circumstance You showed me that You were inside the broken situation as well. I ruined the canvas I was painting, and You showed me how easy it was to cover it up and start over. Thank You for allowing me to start new again, over and over and over.

And God says…”So very often you want to first know the positive outcomes and all the details so you can believe more strongly, but that is not the way of it. You will never understand the outcomes, positive or negative, and you can never completely know or understand the details. Therefore you must simply trust Me. Trust Me to be God and trust Me to love you beyond comprehension. I gave you my Son as proof of My love. If you need reminding simply recall that if I gave you my Son how could I withhold any other good thing from you? Acknowledge the Lord in all your ways, and I will make your paths straight. Delight yourself in the Lord and I will give you the desires of your transformed heart.”

Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together . . . —Hebrews 10:24-25

We are all capable of being spiritually lazy saints. We want to stay off the rough roads of life, and our primary objective is to secure a peaceful retreat from the world. The ideas put forth in these verses from Hebrews 10 are those of stirring up one another and of keeping ourselves together. Both of these require initiative— our willingness to take the first step toward Christ-realization, not the initiative toward self-realization. To live a distant, withdrawn, and secluded life is diametrically opposed to spirituality as Jesus Christ taught it.

The true test of our spirituality occurs when we come up against injustice, degradation, ingratitude, and turmoil, all of which have the tendency to make us spiritually lazy. While being tested, we want to use prayer and Bible reading for the purpose of finding a quiet retreat. We use God only for the sake of getting peace and joy. We seek only our enjoyment of Jesus Christ, not a true realization of Him. This is the first step in the wrong direction. All these things we are seeking are simply effects, and yet we try to make them causes.

“Yes, I think it is right,” Peter said, “. . . to stir you up by reminding you . . .” (2 Peter 1:13). It is a most disturbing thing to be hit squarely in the stomach by someone being used of God to stir us up— someone who is full of spiritual activity. Simple active work and spiritual activity are not the same thing. Active work can actually be the counterfeit of spiritual activity. The real danger in spiritual laziness is that we do not want to be stirred up— all we want to hear about is a spiritual retirement from the world. Yet Jesus Christ never encourages the idea of retirement— He says, “Go and tell My brethren . . .” (Matthew 28:10).

Journal DJR
Oswald says “It is a most disturbing thing to be hit squarely in the stomach by someone being used of God to stir us up—” I agree and in our “polite society” the level of stirring up that seems to be alluded to here… is pretty rare. The Stirred usually dont like the stirring and tell the Stirrer to stop meddling. And the potential Stirrer, by lack of practice, feels awkward and afraid of offending. That’s the status quo that we find ourselves in. And it is my own experience, on both ends. But you included it in the Bible that we have for a reason. So how do we go about stirring in the Spirt … rather than doing our own stirring and offending folks.

You just answered your own question. When you stay connected and my Spirit is flowing thru you, you wont have to worry. The stirring will be the right thing. Some may still be offended. Like they were with me. You’ll just have to get used to that part. So your job is to stay connected. Stay up here on my balcony and see thru my eyes. Then just do like I did and John recorded it in 5:19 “only did what I saw the Father doing…” You really can live this way. It is not beyond your capabilities. Stay connected and stay expectant, Then when you see what I see and see what I would do, Just Do It. It’s the best way to live.

Joshua said to the people, ’You cannot serve the Lord . . .’ —Joshua 24:19

 “The people said to Joshua, ’No, but we will serve the Lord!” (Joshua 24:21). This is not an impulsive action, but a deliberate commitment. We tend to say, “But God could never have called me to this. I’m too unworthy. It can’t mean me.” It does mean you, and the more weak and feeble you are, the better. The person who is still relying and trusting in anything within himself is the last person to even come close to saying, “I will serve the Lord.”

We say, “Oh, if only I really could believe!” The question is, “Will I believe?” No wonder Jesus Christ placed such emphasis on the sin of unbelief. “He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13:58). If we really believed that God meant what He said, just imagine what we would be like! Do I really dare to let God be to me all that He says He will be?

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July 9^th 2012

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

In the past whenever I was asked, by myself or another person to examine myself, I would immediately look inside to see if I “measured up”. And given my propensity for sin and spiritual failure, would immediately get defensive about my Christian performance. If I was a real Christian then I would be more like Jesus. And then You showed me Lord, that I was and am unable to be more like Jesus until and unless I surrendered my own efforts. I had to actually give up my own internal war and just let You be Lord. I had to surrender. Well, Lord, once again this morning I surrender and ask You to live through me this day.

And God says…” Even your most “spiritual ways” are not My ways. You can never “measure up”, and because you can never “measure up” I sent Jesus. He can and will always measure up, regardless of the situation or circumstance. When you look to Jesus for all that you want or need, you begin to notice a transformation in your life  surrounding those wants and needs and desires that used to provide your driving  force and motivation. Your own wants, needs and desires are replaced over time  as you look to Jesus. Do not look at your failures, successes or your goals; look  to Jesus. Do not look for a vision or a sign, even evidence of His working, simply look to Jesus. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not rely on your understanding and He will make your paths straight. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

The parched ground shall become a pool . . . —Isaiah 35:7

Life is not as idle ore,
But iron dug from central gloom,
And battered by the shocks of doom
To shape and use.

God gives us a vision, and then He takes us down to the valley to batter us into the shape of that vision. It is in the valley that so many of us give up and faint. Every God-given vision will become real if we will only have patience. Just think of the enormous amount of free time God has! He is never in a hurry. Yet we are always in such a frantic hurry. While still in the light of the glory of the vision, we go right out to do things, but the vision is not yet real in us. God has to take us into the valley and put us through fires and floods to batter us into shape, until we get to the point where He can trust us with the reality of the vision. Ever since God gave us the vision, He has been at work. He is getting us into the shape of the goal He has for us, and yet over and over again we try to escape from the Sculptor’s hand in an effort to batter ourselves into the shape of our own goal.

The vision that God gives is not some unattainable castle in the sky, but a vision of what God wants you to be down here. Allow the Potter to put you on His wheel and whirl you around as He desires. Then as surely as God is God, and you are you, you will turn out as an exact likeness of the vision. But don’t lose heart in the process. If you have ever had a vision from God, you may try as you will to be satisfied on a lower level, but God will never allow it.

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July 6, 2011 (a journal entry from last year)-JDV

I wonder about the vision when it seems so far away. Lord, it seems like the shaping and molding is taking so long. Day after day the circumstances are still difficult and it seems as if the vision will never become a reality. I know I am being shaped and molded into the man you want me to become…but Lord isn’t there a timeout or a reprieve or respite and or retreat? Is there a place where I can enjoy more of life and life abundantly?  Sometimes it seems like just as the vision gets closer; it is snatched away and put back up on the mountain top ledge. And once again I must start another journey up the mountain.

And God says…”It is essential that you be broken. It is even more essential that you stay broken. You’re shaping and molding is a work more important than the vision and or your accomplishments and support of My kingdom. I can create all the help I need for My kingdom and My people; however, I cannot force you into the character and integrity essential for your life and eternity. You must choose to take those “right…  and difficult steps”.  Your right choices evolve from the character that is shaped by your circumstances. When you move your vision from your circumstances, and onto Me and the vision I provide, you are living life and life more abundantly.”

July 5, 2012….Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass —Psalm 37:5

Don’t plan without God. God seems to have a delightful way of upsetting the plans we have made, when we have not taken Him into account. We get ourselves into circumstances that were not chosen by God, and suddenly we realize that we have been making our plans without Him— that we have not even considered Him to be a vital, living factor in the planning of our lives. And yet the only thing that will keep us from even the possibility of worrying is to bring God in as the greatest factor in all of our planning.

In spiritual issues it is customary for us to put God first, but we tend to think that it is inappropriate and unnecessary to put Him first in the practical, everyday issues of our lives. If we have the idea that we have to put on our “spiritual face” before we can come near to God, then we will never come near to Him. We must come as we are.

Don’t plan with a concern for evil in mind. Does God really mean for us to plan without taking the evil around us into account? “Love . . . thinks no evil” (1 Corinthians 13:4-5). Love is not ignorant of the existence of evil, but it does not take it into account as a factor in planning. When we were apart from God, we did take evil into account, doing all of our planning with it in mind, and we tried to reason out all of our work from its standpoint.

Don’t plan with a rainy day in mind. You cannot hoard things for a rainy day if you are truly trusting Christ. Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled . . .” (John 14:1). God will not keep your heart from being troubled. It is a command— “Let not. . . .” To do it, continually pick yourself up, even if you fall a hundred and one times a day, until you get into the habit of putting God first and planning with Him in mind.

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July 5, 2012

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, through it all I have become closer and closer to You. It is hard to remember when You were not in my mind or on my mind and in my heart making me aware of Your presence in my life.  Perhaps one by product of trials and difficult circumstances is the habit of looking to You. The storms of life caused me to seek you for shelter, and now I find myself seeking you for everything…..well almost everything, but then You are not done with me yet, are You?

And God says…”Do not try to get out of your trials too early, let them have their perfect result. Being connected and focused on Me is the perfect result, regardless of the circumstance. . Trust in Me with all your heart and do not rely on yourself, in any way shape or form….and I will make your paths straight, certain and prosperous. Seek first the kingdom of God and all you need will be provided. I came to give you life and life more abundantly, look to Me for your life and everything else will follow.

Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips . . . —Isaiah 6:5

This experience of our attention being directed to our concentration of personal sin is true in everyone’s life, from the greatest of saints to the worst of sinners. When a person first begins climbing the ladder of experience, he might say, “I don’t know where I’ve gone wrong,” but the Spirit of God will point out some definite and specific thing to him. The effect of Isaiah’s vision of the holiness of the Lord was the directing of his attention to the fact that he was “a man of unclean lips.” “He touched my mouth with it, and said: ’Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged’ ” (Isaiah 6:7). The cleansing fire had to be applied where the sin had been concentrated.

Journal DJR
Good Morning, Lord
Thanks for the insight that you start our understanding of sin at particular points that we are able to see … and then show us the deeper issues. I had not seen that the great prophet Isaiah had previously had a case of potty mouth … or whatever “a man of unclean lips” means. I suppose everyone has different entry points for you to begin the revelation of our sin. General revelation doesn’t seem to be adequate. We need a personal specific and you then develop it from there as we are able to receive it. Fortunately the depth of our depravity is matched and exceeded by the depth of your love and grace. Thank you for that.

I will never leave you or forsake you. Even when you are in the “desert” or on a prodigal journey, I am there, waiting for you to return to your senses. People return to their senses when they see clearly who they are and who I am. And it usually starts at a specific point, as in Isaiah’s case and expands from there. You can’t push those revelation times and make them happen in an instant. But you can stay open for them and know that’s how I work and stay expectant and curious. It’s how I want my kids to live.

If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also . . . . And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me . . . . So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple —Luke 14:26-27, 33

If the closest relationships of a disciple’s life conflict with the claims of Jesus Christ, then our Lord requires instant obedience to Himself. Discipleship means personal, passionate devotion to a Person— our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a vast difference between devotion to a person and devotion to principles or to a cause. Our Lord never proclaimed a cause— He proclaimed personal devotion to Himself. To be a disciple is to be a devoted bondservant motivated by love for the Lord Jesus. Many of us who call ourselves Christians are not truly devoted to Jesus Christ. No one on earth has this passionate love for the Lord Jesus unless the Holy Spirit has given it to him. We may admire, respect, and revere Him, but we cannot love Him on our own. The only One who truly loves the Lord Jesus is the Holy Spirit, and it is He who has “poured out in our hearts” the very “love of God” (Romans 5:5). Whenever the Holy Spirit sees an opportunity to glorify Jesus through you, He will take your entire being and set you ablaze with glowing devotion to Jesus Christ.

The Christian life is a life characterized by true and spontaneous creativity. Consequently, a disciple is subject to the same charge that was leveled against Jesus Christ, namely, the charge of inconsistency. But Jesus Christ was always consistent in His relationship to God, and a Christian must be consistent in his relationship to the life of the Son of God in him, not consistent to strict, unyielding doctrines. People pour themselves into their own doctrines, and God has to blast them out of their preconceived ideas before they can become devoted to Jesus Christ.

Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord.
It is good to be here with you. Traveling knocks me out of my routine. I’ve missed you and my friend. This lesson shows me how imperfect my love is and how much I need you. Not just that I need your love, your love for me, but I need your love to love others and even to love you. It’s kind of complicated. But since you are Love, it all works out.
Come to me and keep on coming to me. As you say it will all work out. Chasing dreams of human love or human vision can be exciting for a while … but it will never reach the potential that I have for you. Starting today, with the revelation that I am love, pursue love. You’ll never be unsatisfied.
Wow, that sounds awesome. But easier said than done.
True, but all you need to do is start on the road to Love. And then just stay on it. And when you fall off, just get back on it. I am always here for you.