Archive for August, 2012

Usefulness or Relationship?

August 30th, 2012

Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven —Luke 10:20

Jesus Christ is saying here, “Don’t rejoice in your successful service for Me, but rejoice because of your right relationship with Me.” The trap you may fall into in Christian work is to rejoice in successful service— rejoicing in the fact that God has used you. Yet you will never be able to measure fully what God will do through you if you have a right-standing relationship with Jesus Christ. If you keep your relationship right with Him, then regardless of your circumstances or whoever you encounter each day, He will continue to pour “rivers of living water” through you (John 7:38). And it is actually by His mercy that He does not let you know it. Once you have the right relationship with God through salvation and sanctification, remember that whatever your circumstances may be, you have been placed in them by God. And God uses the reaction of your life to your circumstances to fulfill His purpose, as long as you continue to “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7).

Our tendency today is to put the emphasis on service. Beware of the people who make their request for help on the basis of someone’s usefulness. If you make usefulness the test, then Jesus Christ was the greatest failure who ever lived. For the saint, direction and guidance come from God Himself, not some measure of that saint’s usefulness. It is the work that God does through us that counts, not what we do for Him. All that our Lord gives His attention to in a person’s life is that person’s relationship with God— something of great value to His Father. Jesus is “bringing many sons to glory . . .” (Hebrews 2:10).

Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord
It is so easy to slip back into keeping score and evaluating our performance and service. And when we do that we usually step back from the closest relationship we can have with you. Help me today to walk close with you and keep the long term view – heaven’s view.

That’s the right formula. All other formulas will distract you from that and dilute our relationship.

The Unsurpassed Intimacy of Tested Faith

August 29th, 2012

Jesus said to her, ’Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?’ —John 11:40

Every time you venture out in your life of faith, you will find something in your circumstances that, from a commonsense standpoint, will flatly contradict your faith. But common sense is not faith, and faith is not common sense. In fact, they are as different as the natural life and the spiritual. Can you trust Jesus Christ where your common sense cannot trust Him? Can you venture out with courage on the words of Jesus Christ, while the realities of your commonsense life continue to shout, “It’s all a lie”? When you are on the mountaintop, it’s easy to say, “Oh yes, I believe God can do it,” but you have to come down from the mountain to the demon-possessed valley and face the realities that scoff at your Mount-of-Transfiguration belief (see Luke 9:28-42). Every time my theology becomes clear to my own mind, I encounter something that contradicts it. As soon as I say, “I believe ’God shall supply all [my] need,’ ” the testing of my faith begins (Philippians 4:19). When my strength runs dry and my vision is blinded, will I endure this trial of my faith victoriously or will I turn back in defeat?

 

Faith must be tested, because it can only become your intimate possession through conflict. What is challenging your faith right now? The test will either prove your faith right, or it will kill it. Jesus said, “Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me” Matthew 11:6). The ultimate thing is confidence in Jesus. “We have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end . . .” (Hebrews 3:14). Believe steadfastly on Him and everything that challenges you will strengthen your faith. There is continual testing in the life of faith up to the point of our physical death, which is the last great test. Faith is absolute trust in God— trust that could never imagine that He would forsake us (see Hebrews 13:5-6).

Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
That was pretty harsh what Oswald said,”The test will either prove your faith right, or it will kill it.” It makes me wonder if my faith for some of the things I prayed for many years ago that didn’t come to pass … was killed? Or I just missed it? Some of the things that didn’t come to pass, you changed my desires and I saw that what did come to pass was better than what I wanted initially. But some are still out there … unfulfilled. Is that like Paul who asked about his thorn in the flesh three times and you said “My grace is sufficient for you?”

Yes, it is kind of like that but dont jump too quickly to abandon your requests. My grace is indeed sufficient for you and for Paul. But remember, I am God of the unexpected … and so it MAY be that when you have abandoned the intensity of your prayer, that I will bring the answer. There is a difference between totally giving up your prayer and your whole spiritual life and just backing off the intensity and going into a patient waiting mode. That is the way to wait for un-answered prayer … with curiosity and an underlying expectation and belief in my goodness and good plans for you. It’s time to remember Jer 29:11 … and dont take it out of context. My children were waiting, with unanswered prayers for deliverance (v 10) Jeremiah 29:11

The Message (MSG)
10-11This is God’s Word on the subject: “As soon as Babylon’s seventy years are up and not a day before, I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.

The Purpose of Prayer

August 28th, 2012

. . . one of His disciples said to Him, ’Lord, teach us to pray . . .’ —Luke 11:1


Prayer is not a normal part of the life of the natural man. We hear it said that a person’s life will suffer if he doesn’t pray, but I question that. What will suffer is the life of the Son of God in him, which is nourished not by food, but by prayer. When a person is born again from above, the life of the Son of God is born in him, and he can either starve or nourish that life. Prayer is the way that the life of God in us is nourished. Our common ideas regarding prayer are not found in the New Testament. We look upon prayer simply as a means of getting things for ourselves, but the biblical purpose of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself.

“Ask, and you will receive . . .” (John 16:24). We complain before God, and sometimes we are apologetic or indifferent to Him, but we actually ask Him for very few things. Yet a child exhibits a magnificent boldness to ask! Our Lord said, “. . . unless you . . . become as little children . . .” (Matthew 18:3). Ask and God will do. Give Jesus Christ the opportunity and the room to work. The problem is that no one will ever do this until he is at his wits’ end. When a person is at his wits’ end, it no longer seems to be a cowardly thing to pray; in fact, it is the only way he can get in touch with the truth and the reality of God Himself. Be yourself before God and present Him with your problems— the very things that have brought you to your wits’ end. But as long as you think you are self-sufficient, you do not need to ask God for anything.

To say that “prayer changes things” is not as close to the truth as saying, “Prayer changes me and then I change things.” God has established things so that prayer, on the basis of redemption, changes the way a person looks at things. Prayer is not a matter of changing things externally, but one of working miracles in a person’s inner nature.

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Journal Entry-JDV

Lord, thank you for this lesson that reminds us that our circumstances matter, not at all.  Doing your will regardless of our circumstance shall put us in a state of joy. Most of us are chasing joy, or are simply trying to chase the fear of our circumstances away. Over time it is finally starting to sink in Lord, that if
we seek you and seek to do Your will, we will find joy, and a peace that passes all understanding, as you meet all our needs ….

And God says…” Yes that is the story. Jesus is the water that quenches your thirst. He is the bread that satisfies your hunger. Seek Him, and be saved from concerns about your needs. You will still have needs, but you will also have the absolute certainty that I am meeting all your needs, all the time, according to My riches in Glory.  Trust in Me with all your heart and do not rely on your own understanding (or circumstances) and I will make your paths straight”.

 

 

The Purpose of Prayer

August 28th, 2012

. . . one of His disciples said to Him, ’Lord, teach us to pray . . .’ —Luke 11:1

Prayer is not a normal part of the life of the natural man. We hear it said that a person’s life will suffer if he doesn’t pray, but I question that. What will suffer is the life of the Son of God in him, which is nourished not by food, but by prayer. When a person is born again from above, the life of the Son of God is born in him, and he can either starve or nourish that life. Prayer is the way that the life of God in us is nourished. Our common ideas regarding prayer are not found in the New Testament. We look upon prayer simply as a means of getting things for ourselves, but the biblical purpose of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself.

“Ask, and you will receive . . .” (John 16:24). We complain before God, and sometimes we are apologetic or indifferent to Him, but we actually ask Him for very few things. Yet a child exhibits a magnificent boldness to ask! Our Lord said, “. . . unless you . . . become as little children . . .” (Matthew 18:3). Ask and God will do. Give Jesus Christ the opportunity and the room to work. The problem is that no one will ever do this until he is at his wits’ end. When a person is at his wits’ end, it no longer seems to be a cowardly thing to pray; in fact, it is the only way he can get in touch with the truth and the reality of God Himself. Be yourself before God and present Him with your problems— the very things that have brought you to your wits’ end. But as long as you think you are self-sufficient, you do not need to ask God for anything.

To say that “prayer changes things” is not as close to the truth as saying, “Prayer changes me and then I change things.” God has established things so that prayer, on the basis of redemption, changes the way a person looks at things. Prayer is not a matter of changing things externally, but one of working miracles in a person’s inner nature.

Living Your Theology

August 27th, 2012

Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you . . . —John 12:35 


Beware of not acting upon what you see in your moments on the mountaintop with God. If you do not obey the light, it will turn into darkness. “If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:23). The moment you forsake the matter of sanctification or neglect anything else on which God has given you His light, your spiritual life begins to disintegrate within you. Continually bring the truth out into your real life, working it out into every area, or else even the light that you possess will itself prove to be a curse.

The most difficult person to deal with is the one who has the prideful self-satisfaction of a past experience, but is not working that experience out in his everyday life. If you say you are sanctified, show it. The experience must be so genuine that it shows in your life. Beware of any belief that makes you self-indulgent or self-gratifying; that belief came from the pit of hell itself, regardless of how beautiful it may sound.

Your theology must work itself out, exhibiting itself in your most common everyday relationships. Our Lord said, “. . . unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). In other words, you must be more moral than the most moral person you know. You may know all about the doctrine of sanctification, but are you working it out in the everyday issues of your life? Every detail of your life, whether physical, moral, or spiritual, is to be judged and measured by the standard of the atonement by the Cross of Christ.

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August 27, 2012

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, thank you for reminding me that I can live out my sanctification by simply turning my eyes to you. Thank you for the lesson about living out my life as a believer. I know that I cannot be more moral than the scribes and Pharisees, I cannot be a shining example to others….I am just to, to, weak. So thank you for living the life I want to live inside of me and for being the example through me that I cannot be myself.

And God says…”Once more you learn the lesson of surrender. The only way any man or woman can live the life of a sanctified believer is to focus on Jesus and His finished work on the cross. And remember, all that is needed for you to live a sanctified life is Jesus, and your surrender. Jesus does not need your cooperation, support or “good behavior”; He only needs your surrender. It is not a partnership, nor are you required to “do your part”. You are required to surrender and allow the transforming power of the Holy Spirit to sanctify you.”  

Matthew 5:3 (MSG) “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

 

Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
I like the idea of not forgetting in the dark what you’ve shown us in the light. My issue has been being 100% sure of a thing I think you are showing me. If I’m only 80% I may wait … and miss the whole opportunity. Perhaps we never get to be 100% sure, this side of heaven. Except we can be 100% surrendered and then we can be sure of at least our next step. So once again, the sure path is walking with you … not in a set of rules or a check list of performance. Thanks for that. I love you.

Prayer— Battle in “The Secret Place”

August 23rd, 2012

When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly —Matthew 6:6

 


Jesus did not say, “Dream about your Father who is in the secret place,” but He said, “. . . pray to your Father who is in the secret place. . . .” Prayer is an effort of the will. After we have entered our secret place and shut the door, the most difficult thing to do is to pray. We cannot seem to get our minds into good working order, and the first thing we have to fight is wandering thoughts. The great battle in private prayer is overcoming this problem of our idle and wandering thinking. We have to learn to discipline our minds and concentrate on willful, deliberate prayer.

 

We must have a specially selected place for prayer, but once we get there this plague of wandering thoughts begins, as we begin to think to ourselves, “This needs to be done, and I have to do that today.” Jesus says to “shut your door.” Having a secret stillness before God means deliberately shutting the door on our emotions and remembering Him. God is in secret, and He sees us from “the secret place”— He does not see us as other people do, or as we see ourselves. When we truly live in “the secret place,” it becomes impossible for us to doubt God. We become more sure of Him than of anyone or anything else. Enter into “the secret place,” and you will find that God was right in the middle of your everyday circumstances all the time. Get into the habit of dealing with God about everything. Unless you learn to open the door of your life completely and let God in from your first waking moment of each new day, you will be working on the wrong level throughout the day. But if you will swing the door of your life fully open and “pray to your Father who is in the secret place,” every public thing in your life will be marked with the lasting imprint of the presence of God.

Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
It is truly good to have a place and a time to meet you each day. At least once … for sure and on purpose. Then other times during the day are a bonus. CO2 with my brother has been a great gift. I pray that more people can establish similar relationships. Maybe we can help? Today’s lesson, the more we seek, the more we find and the more we find the more we love and then it just keeps cycling … is a good thing to keep remembering. Thank You. I love you.

I Indeed . . . But He”

August 22nd, 2012

I indeed baptize you with water . . . but He . . . will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire —Matthew 3:11

 

Have I ever come to the point in my life where I can say, “I indeed . . . but He . . .”? Until that moment comes, I will never know what the baptism of the Holy Spirit means. I indeed am at the end, and I cannot do anything more— butHe begins right there— He does the things that no one else can ever do. Am I prepared for His coming? Jesus cannot come and do His work in me as long as there is anything blocking the way, whether it is something good or bad. When He comes to me, am I prepared for Him to drag every wrong thing I have ever done into the light? That is exactly where He comes. Wherever I know I am unclean is where He will put His feet and stand, and wherever I think I am clean is where He will remove His feet and walk away.

Repentance does not cause a sense of sin— it causes a sense of inexpressible unworthiness. When I repent, I realize that I am absolutely helpless, and I know that through and through I am not worthy even to carry His sandals. Have I repented like that, or do I have a lingering thought of possibly trying to defend my actions? The reason God cannot come into my life is that I am not at the point of complete repentance.

“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” John is not speaking here of the baptism of the Holy Spirit as an experience, but as a work performed by Jesus Christ. “He will baptize you . . . .” The only experience that those who are baptized with the Holy Spirit are ever conscious of is the experience of sensing their absolute unworthiness.

I indeed” was this in the past, “but He” came and something miraculous happened. Get to the end of yourself where you can do nothing, but where He does everything.

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August 22, 2012

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

This is dad’s birthday. He would have been 84 today. For me and perhaps for others in my family it is a day for reflection.  It is a day to consider history; how it rolled out for my dad, and how it rolled for me with him. And the Holy Spirit reminds me that all things work for good for those that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.

And God says…”One of the most difficult lessons is the lesson of surrender; whether a good or bad, positive or negative experience. It can be an ongoing lesson.  You cannot interpret the lesson or result based on how the outcome impacts you or others. It is up to Me to interpret. To many death is a bad thing, but to My saints waiting on a believer to join us, it is time for a celebration. To many, sickness and injury are very difficult and to be avoided at all costs….. And then after injury or an illness, we observe the strength, growth, character and courage that evolved as a direct result. Surrender to Me regardless, ………. let your life history become one of surrender. To the point where there is no I indeed….only Me. And I accomplish this from the inside out as you live a surrendered life.

The Ministry of the Unnoticed

August 21st, 2012


Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . —Matthew 5:3
The New Testament notices things that do not seem worthy of notice by our standards. “Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . .” This literally means, “Blessed are the paupers.” Paupers are remarkably commonplace! The preaching of today tends to point out a person’s strength of will or the beauty of his character— things that are easily noticed. The statement we so often hear, “Make a decision for Jesus Christ,” places the emphasis on something our Lord never trusted. He never asks us to decide for Him, but to yield to Him— something very different. At the foundation of Jesus Christ’s kingdom is the genuine loveliness of those who are commonplace. I am truly blessed in my poverty. If I have no strength of will and a nature without worth or excellence, then Jesus says to me, “Blessed are you, because it is through your poverty that you can enter My kingdom.” I cannot enter His kingdom by virtue of my goodness— I can only enter it as an absolute pauper.

The true character of the loveliness that speaks for God is always unnoticed by the one possessing that quality. Conscious influence is prideful and unchristian. If I wonder if I am being of any use to God, I instantly lose the beauty and the freshness of the touch of the Lord. “He who believes in Me . . . out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). And if I examine the outflow, I lose the touch of the Lord.

Who are the people who have influenced us most? Certainly not the ones who thought they did, but those who did not have even the slightest idea that they were influencing us. In the Christian life, godly influence is never conscious of itself. If we are conscious of our influence, it ceases to have the genuine loveliness which is characteristic of the touch of Jesus. We always know when Jesus is at work because He produces in the commonplace something that is inspiring.

Journal DJR
Good morning Lord. The concept that if we know we are influencing and analyze it … goes against what they teach in business schools and self improvement courses. I guess I should expect your Kingdom to work on different and usually opposite rules….

Yes, exactly. Less is more. Turn the other cheek. Give it all away to gain everything. They just dont give PhD’s in that stuff. Even at the Divinity Schools. It is backwards from your thinking and even more so from your training. Now you understand the prayer of the Veteran of Life, “Please make me simple”

For those who would like another view of these concepts, here is another song with a relevant message.

Christ-Awareness

August 20th, 2012

. . . and I will give you rest —Matthew 11:28

 

Whenever anything begins to disintegrate your life with Jesus Christ, turn to Him at once, asking Him to re-establish your rest. Never allow anything to remain in your life that is causing the unrest. Think of every detail of your life that is causing the disintegration as something to fight against, not as something you should allow to remain. Ask the Lord to put awareness of Himself in you, and your self-awareness will disappear. Then He will be your all in all. Beware of allowing your self-awareness to continue, because slowly but surely it will awaken self-pity, and self-pity is satanic. Don’t allow yourself to say, “Well, they have just misunderstood me, and this is something over which they should be apologizing to me; I’m sure I must have this cleared up with them already.” Learn to leave others alone regarding this. Simply ask the Lord to give you Christ-awareness, and He will steady you until your completeness in Him is absolute.

A complete life is the life of a child. When I am fully conscious of my awareness of Christ, there is something wrong. It is the sick person who really knows what health is. A child of God is not aware of the will of God because he is the will of God. When we have deviated even slightly from the will of God, we begin to ask, “Lord, what is your will?” A child of God never prays to be made aware of the fact that God answers prayer, because he is so restfully certain that God always answers prayer.

If we try to overcome our self-awareness through any of our own commonsense methods, we will only serve to strengthen our self-awareness tremendously. Jesus says, “Come to Me . . . and I will give you rest,” that is, Christ-awareness will take the place of self-awareness. Wherever Jesus comes He establishes rest— the rest of the completion of activity in our lives that is never aware of itself.

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August 20, 2012

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, thank you for guiding me into an awareness of You in all things. Just when I begin to feel like You are nowhere around You help me understand that You are right here beside me, holding me, providing and caring for me and mine.  The only difference is that I found You because I was looking for You.

And God says…”Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door will be opened. When you seek Me first, everything else becomes secondary and you notice life, regardless of the circumstances or obstacles, becomes life more abundant.”

 

Are You Discouraged or Devoted?

August 17th, 2012

. . . Jesus . . . said to him, ’You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have . . . and come, follow Me.’ But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich —Luke 18:22-23

Have you ever heard the Master say something very difficult to you? If you haven’t, I question whether you have ever heard Him say anything at all. Jesus says a tremendous amount to us that we listen to, but do not actually hear. And once we do hear Him, His words are harsh and unyielding.Jesus did not show the least concern that this rich young ruler should do what He told him, nor did Jesus make any attempt to keep this man with Him. He simply said to him, “Sell all that you have . . . and come, follow Me.” Our Lord never pleaded with him; He never tried to lure him— He simply spoke the strictest words that human ears have ever heard, and then left him alone.

Have I ever heard Jesus say something difficult and unyielding to me? Has He said something personally to me to which I have deliberately listened— not something I can explain for the sake of others, but something I have heard Him say directly to me? This man understood what Jesus said. He heard it clearly, realizing the full impact of its meaning, and it broke his heart. He did not go away as a defiant person, but as one who was sorrowful and discouraged. He had come to Jesus on fire with zeal and determination, but the words of Jesus simply froze him. Instead of producing enthusiastic devotion to Jesus, they produced heartbreaking discouragement. And Jesus did not go after him, but let him go. Our Lord knows perfectly well that once His word is truly heard, it will bear fruit sooner or later. What is so terrible is that some of us prevent His words from bearing fruit in our present life. I wonder what we will say when we finally make up our minds to be devoted to Him on that particular point? One thing is certain— He will never throw our past failures back in our faces.

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August 17, 2011 (Reprise Journal Entry) JDV

I have denied you and doubted, and you love me anyway. I have refused to hear your loving voice, and rejected your soft and clear direction. And You love me anyway. The notion that you love me regardless of what I might say or do is mind boggling. I thought I had to “measure up”.  And as I consider this amazing truth, my love for you and desire to follow you becomes firmly imbedded in my heart and soul.  Just considering this truth somehow transforms me…again and again.

And God says…”I knew the rich young ruler would be stopped in his tracks over my answer to his question; just as you are often stopped in your tracks by my direction. However, both you and the rich young ruler have life more abundantly when you choose to follow Me. You can live a transformed life. When you hold onto your notions of money, what is sufficient and required for your life you, in affect are saying, “God, I will follow my own notions and my natural inclinations.” When you do this you decide NOT to receive My supernatural abundance and grace. Trust in Me with all your heart and do not rely on your own understanding and I will make your paths straight. Seek first My Kingdome, which is Jesus, and all these things will be added unto you.