Archive for February, 2013

Is Your Hope In God Faint And Dying?

February 11th, 2013

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose imagination is stayed on Thee.” —   Isaiah 26:3

Is your imagination stayed on God or is it starved? The starvation of the imagination is one of the most fruitful sources of exhaustion and sapping in a worker’s life. If you have never used your imagination to put yourself before God, begin to do it now. It is no use waiting for God to come; you must put your imagination away from the face of idols and look unto Him and he saved. Imagination is the greatest gift God has given us and it ought to be devoted entirely to Him. If you have been bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, it will be one of the greatest assets to faith when the time of trial comes, because your faith and the Spirit of God will work together. Learn to associate ideas worthy of God with all that happens in Nature – the sunrises and the sunsets, the sun and the stars, the changing seasons, and your imagination will never be at the mercy of your impulses, but will always be at the service of God.

“We have sinned with our fathers; . . . and have forgotten” – then put a stiletto in the place where you have gone to sleep. “God is not talking to me just now,” but He ought to be. Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.

 

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February 11, 2013

Journal entry for today-JDV

Lord, this devotional pierced my heart this morning. It occurred to me that I have given up on You in certain areas of my life. Oh sure I go through  the motions and look  to You when its right and proper, but for some reason I gave up believing all things are possible with You. Oh Lord, please restore in me that level of faith. Let me trust You in all things and trust that all things are possible.

And God says…”Curiosity, imagination and expectations that I will do what I say I will do are critical to our relationship and constant connectivity. It is why I said you must come as a little child…believing and trusting.  It is hard to believe that all things are working for your good when you feel loss, hurt, pain or uncertainty, however, a  little child trusts even (or especially) in these circumstances.  Trust in the Lord with all your heart and He will make your paths straight. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Focus on Jesus and on my promises in Him, and your connection will be restored.”

 

 

Are You Ready To Be Poured Out As an Offering? (2)

February 6th, 2013

I am already being poured out as a drink offering . . . —2 Timothy 4:6

Are you ready to be poured out as an offering? It is an act of your will, not your emotions. Tell God you are ready to be offered as a sacrifice for Him. Then accept the consequences as they come, without any complaints, in spite of what God may send your way. God sends you through a crisis in private, where no other person can help you. From the outside your life may appear to be the same, but the difference is taking place in your will. Once you have experienced the crisis in your will, you will take no thought of the cost when it begins to affect you externally. If you don’t deal with God on the level of your will first, the result will be only to arouse sympathy for yourself.

“Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar” (Psalm 118:27). You must be willing to be placed on the altar and go through the fire; willing to experience what the altar represents-burning, purification, and separation for only one purpose-the elimination of every desire and affection not grounded in or directed toward God. But you don’t eliminate it, God does. You “bind the sacrifice . . . to the horns of the altar” and see to it that you don’t wallow in self-pity once the fire begins. After you have gone through the fire, there will be nothing that will be able to trouble or depress you. When another crisis arises, you will realize that things cannot touch you as they used to do. What fire lies ahead in your life?

Tell God you are ready to be poured out as an offering, and God will prove Himself to be all you ever dreamed He would be.

Journal DJR
Good morning Lord, This lesson today brought up a question for me. If the battle of sacrifice is at the level of our will … how is that different from just struggling along using our will power to try to get better? We all know that doesn’t work and can actually lead away from the path to Christlikeness.

The Compelling Majesty of His Power

February 4th, 2013

The love of Christ compels us . . . —2 Corinthians 5:14

Paul said that he was overpowered, subdued, and held as in a vise by “the love of Christ.” Very few of us really know what it means to be held in the grip of the love of God. We tend so often to be controlled simply by our own experience. The one thing that gripped and held Paul, to the exclusion of everything else, was the love of God. “The love of Christ compels us . . . .” When you hear that coming from the life of a man or woman it is unmistakable. You will know that the Spirit of God is completely unhindered in that person’s life.

When we are born again by the Spirit of God, our testimony is based solely on what God has done for us, and rightly so. But that will change and be removed forever once you “receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you . . .” (Acts 1:8). Only then will you begin to realize what Jesus meant when He went on to say, “. . . you shall be witnesses to Me . . . .” Not witnesses to what Jesus can do— that is basic and understood— but “witnesses to Me . . . .” We will accept everything that happens as if it were happening to Him, whether we receive praise or blame, persecution or reward. No one is able to take this stand for Jesus Christ who is not totally compelled by the majesty of His power. It is the only thing that matters, and yet it is strange that it’s the last thing we as Christian workers realize. Paul said that he was gripped by the love of God and that is why he acted as he did. People could perceive him as mad or sane-he did not care. There was only one thing he lived for— to persuade people of the coming judgment of God and to tell them of “the love of Christ.” This total surrender to “the love of Christ” is the only thing that will bear fruit in your life. And it will always leave the mark of God’s holiness and His power, never drawing attention to your personal holiness.

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February 4, 2013

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord this devotional reminded me that Your love changes everything. I was struck by the notion that everything else, ever other issue or detail I believe important should not even matter or count…and yet I still find myself caught up in the mundane, the temporal. Please help me experience your love so deeply that it takes my eyes off the mundane and fixes them on You.

And God says…” That is the result of connection. When you keep your eyes on Jesus, on His love, grace and sacrifice, you are transformed and realize He is the only thing that matters. As you stay connected to Him, you are transformed. You realize that the details of this earthly life count little, and you suddenly know that you are mine; confident of your position with Me through Jesus. You then also become confident that nothing can harm you; no weapon can be raise against you that will stand. You begin to understand that I have plans and a future for you.”