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Staying Connected In A Fragmented World

Archive for March, 2015

The Master Will Judge

March 16th, 2015

We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ… —2 Corinthians 5:10

Paul says that we must all, preachers and other people alike, “appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” But if you will learn here and now to live under the scrutiny of Christ’s pure light, your final judgment will bring you only delight in seeing the work God has done in you. Live constantly reminding yourself of the judgment seat of Christ, and walk in the knowledge of the holiness He has given you. Tolerating a wrong attitude toward another person causes you to follow the spirit of the devil, no matter how saintly you are. One carnal judgment of another person only serves the purposes of hell in you. Bring it immediately into the light and confess, “Oh, Lord, I have been guilty there.” If you don’t, your heart will become hardened through and through. One of the penalties of sin is our acceptance of it. It is not only God who punishes for sin, but sin establishes itself in the sinner and takes its toll. No struggling or praying will enable you to stop doing certain things, and the penalty of sin is that you gradually get used to it, until you finally come to the place where you no longer even realize that it is sin. No power, except the power that comes from being filled with the Holy Spirit, can change or prevent the inherent consequences of sin.“If we walk in the light as He is in the light…” (1 John 1:7). For many of us, walking in the light means walking according to the standard we have set up for another person. The deadliest attitude of the Pharisees that we exhibit today is not hypocrisy but that which comes from unconsciously living a lie._____________________________________________________________________

March 16 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, whenever I read a devotional like this about being judged, or measured based on my behavior, I get anxious, and then feel guilty and culpable. Who can stand the scrutiny of God? Then I recall that You said there is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus. Then I recall that if “Jesus paid it all”, then why am I worried about payment of any kind? And a clear small voice reminds me that You have separated me from my sin as far as the east from the west. And You once again reassure me that You are my God forever and ever, regardless.

And God says…”The enemy would have you live in fear of a misstep, a bad habit, or your human nature. Many would have you grit your teeth, rededicate your life, confess, or otherwise commit your energy to a change that can only be accomplished supernaturally. The sacrifice of Jesus and the resulting grace and mercy was and is sufficient for your daily life. Do not feel guilty, obligated or fearful about your relationship with Me. When I see you, I see Jesus. Walk in His light, acknowledge Me in all your ways and I will make your paths straight. There is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus.”

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Total Surrender

March 12th, 2015

Peter began to say to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You.” —Mark 10:28

Our Lord replies to this statement of Peter by saying that this surrender is “for My sake and the gospel’s” (10:29). It was not for the purpose of what the disciples themselves would get out of it. Beware of surrender that is motivated by personal benefits that may result. For example, “I’m going to give myself to God because I want to be delivered from sin, because I want to be made holy.” Being delivered from sin and being made holy are the result of being right with God, but surrender resulting from this kind of thinking is certainly not the true nature of Christianity. Our motive for surrender should not be for any personal gain at all. We have become so self-centered that we go to God only for something from Him, and not for God Himself. It is like saying, “No, Lord, I don’t want you; I want myself. But I do want You to clean me and fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I want to be on display in Your showcase so I can say, ‘This is what God has done for me.’ ” Gaining heaven, being delivered from sin, and being made useful to God are things that should never even be a consideration in real surrender. Genuine total surrender is a personal sovereign preference for Jesus Christ Himself.

Where does Jesus Christ figure in when we have a concern about our natural relationships? Most of us will desert Him with this excuse— “Yes, Lord, I heard you call me, but my family needs me and I have my own interests. I just can’t go any further” (see Luke 9:57-62). “Then,” Jesus says, “you ‘cannot be My disciple’ ” (see Luke 14:26-33).

True surrender will always go beyond natural devotion. If we will only give up, God will surrender Himself to embrace all those around us and will meet their needs, which were created by our surrender. Beware of stopping anywhere short of total surrender to God. Most of us have only a vision of what this really means, but have never truly experienced it.

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Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
As I look at my own motivations to be a better person, to be a man after your own heart, to do the right thing … I see that they should all be good “side effects” of the core motivation of having an intimate connection and relationship with you. (First Commandment) But when I set out to achieve those good things directly … I wind up running amuck, getting on various treadmills, getting into comparison and measurement and other things that kill the intimacy that I was seeking. How do I stay on target and not get lured into short cuts that get me off track?

You can try all you want to be a better person, many people have, the Pharisees surely did, but with the fallen nature of the world, including your own heart, that will never lead to the wonderful life that I have for you. Only total surrender will get you off the squirrel cage of performance and striving. On the other side of surrender is where the light burden and easy yoke are.

Matt 11:28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Surrender like that is easy enough to say, but harder to really walk out. Help me today to surrender at this level and find the easy yoke and light burden that you offer.

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Obedience to the “Heavenly Vision”

March 11th, 2015

I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. —Acts 26:19

If we lose “the heavenly vision” God has given us, we alone are responsible— not God. We lose the vision because of our own lack of spiritual growth. If we do not apply our beliefs about God to the issues of everyday life, the vision God has given us will never be fulfilled. The only way to be obedient to “the heavenly vision” is to give our utmost for His highest— our best for His glory. This can be accomplished only when we make a determination to continually remember God’s vision. But the acid test is obedience to the vision in the details of our everyday life— sixty seconds out of every minute, and sixty minutes out of every hour, not just during times of personal prayer or public meetings.“Though it tarries, wait for it…” (Habakkuk 2:3). We cannot bring the vision to fulfillment through our own efforts, but must live under its inspiration until it fulfills itself. We try to be so practical that we forget the vision. At the very beginning we saw the vision but did not wait for it. We rushed off to do our practical work, and once the vision was fulfilled we could no longer even see it. Waiting for a vision that “tarries” is the true test of our faithfulness to God. It is at the risk of our own soul’s welfare that we get caught up in practical busy-work, only to miss the fulfillment of the vision.

Watch for the storms of God. The only way God plants His saints is through the whirlwind of His storms. Will you be proven to be an empty pod with no seed inside? That will depend on whether or not you are actually living in the light of the vision you have seen. Let God send you out through His storm, and don’t go until He does. If you select your own spot to be planted, you will prove yourself to be an unproductive, empty pod. However, if you allow God to plant you, you will “bear much fruit” (John 15:8).

It is essential that we live and “walk in the light” of God’s vision for us (1 John 1:7).

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March 11 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, walking in Your light, operating out of Your vision for my life seems filled with uncertainty. Not uncertainty about or with You and your promises; uncertain that I can maintain the necessary focus and discipline. My experience is that whenever I try really, really hard to stay connected and depend on You….I run into difficult times.

And God says…”Of course you will not be able to maintain focus and discipline in your struggle to walk in the vision(s) I have given you. Many times, you think the connection is over when you receive the vision or direction from Me. The pattern has been …OK thank you God for the vision, now I can take it from here. But you have discovered that does not work. You not only must wait for the vision, you must wait for Me to bring it to fruition as well. I give you the vision so that it can be your inspiration as you “wait upon the Lord”. As Chambers spells out in this devotional……..”We cannot bring the vision to fulfillment through our own efforts, but must live under its inspiration until it fulfills itself. We try to be so practical that we forget the vision. At the very beginning we saw the vision but did not wait for it. We rushed off to do our practical work…..”

“Practically speaking, you trust Me to provide the vision, and you must trust Me to do the practical work as well. Acknowledge Me in all your ways and I will make your paths straight. I will show you when and how to execute on the practical things. Seek first the kingdom of God, and I will provide everything else you need…for the vision, and for an abundant life. “

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Being an Example of His Message

March 10th, 2015

Preach the word! —2 Timothy 4:2

We are not saved only to be instruments for God, but to be His sons and daughters. He does not turn us into spiritual agents but into spiritual messengers, and the message must be a part of us. The Son of God was His own message— “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). As His disciples, our lives must be a holy example of the reality of our message. Even the natural heart of the unsaved will serve if called upon to do so, but it takes a heart broken by conviction of sin, baptized by the Holy Spirit, and crushed into submission to God’s purpose to make a person’s life a holy example of God’s message.

There is a difference between giving a testimony and preaching. A preacher is someone who has received the call of God and is determined to use all his energy to proclaim God’s truth. God takes us beyond our own aspirations and ideas for our lives, and molds and shapes us for His purpose, just as He worked in the disciples’ lives after Pentecost. The purpose of Pentecost was not to teach the disciples something, but to make them the incarnation of what they preached so that they would literally become God’s message in the flesh. “…you shall be witnesses to Me…” (Acts 1:8).

Allow God to have complete liberty in your life when you speak. Before God’s message can liberate other people, His liberation must first be real in you. Gather your material carefully, and then allow God to “set your words on fire” for His glory.

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Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
The main thing I hear today is the confirmation to get authentic and that hypocrisy doesn’t work and I can’t hide. So as we are working the hypocrisy out of me, my message can become “receivable” by those who need to hear it. This authenticity has been coming through connection with you, but it isn’t instantaneous. It sometimes seems that the main thing I’m learning about connection is a list of all the things that don’t work!

That’s a valuable list for sure. Just dont use it to judge other people who are still relying on those formulas and lists. You still don’t feel connected all the time … but you must admit that it’s more frequent than in the past.

Yes, I suppose it’s a process…

Yes, like all growth. There are growth spurts and standstills. Setbacks and Quantum Leaps. When you can accept all of these and simply remain curious about your growth spurts and setbacks and curious about what I’m doing and how you can fit into it … then I can work fastest. Believe me, I want to take you places you haven’t imagined. It’s not being held up from my end. Give up your need for understanding and categorizing everything. Flow with me and be willing to be surprised. After a while, you will no longer be surprised by anything.

One of the hardest things to give up is the Never Give Up, Try, Try Again mentality that I was raised with. I find that I am with Paul in Romans 7:15

I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.

Look to the end of Paul’s discourse in Romans 7.

22 For dI delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from gthis body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Rom. 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.* 2 For the law of hthe Spirit of life ihas set you* free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

I struggle with struggling. Don’t I have to lift my leg up and step out of the boat in my own power if I am to walk on water with your power?

Yes, Of course, but you must hear or see when it’s me, and not just your own good idea to walk on said water. You will get that through connection just as I did with Father

John 5:19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father* does, that the Son does likewise.

OK, I get it. It is really kind of simple. It’s just not easy. It’s kind of a non-formula type of formula? Get and stay connected with you. Learn to hear and see what you’re about and just live out of that … And everything will be OK, even the things that don’t seem OK at first?

You could say it that way.

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Turning Back or Walking with Jesus?

March 9th, 2015

Do you also want to go away? —John 6:67

What a penetrating question! Our Lord’s words often hit home for us when He speaks in the simplest way. In spite of the fact that we know who Jesus is, He asks, “Do you also want to go away?” We must continually maintain an adventurous attitude toward Him, despite any potential personal risk.“From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” (John 6:66). They turned back from walking with Jesus; not into sin, but away from Him. Many people today are pouring their lives out and working for Jesus Christ, but are not really walking with Him. One thing God constantly requires of us is a oneness with Jesus Christ. After being set apart through sanctification, we should discipline our lives spiritually to maintain this intimate oneness. When God gives you a clear determination of His will for you, all your striving to maintain that relationship by some particular method is completely unnecessary. All that is required is to live a natural life of absolute dependence on Jesus Christ. Never try to live your life with God in any other way than His way. And His way means absolute devotion to Him. Showing no concern for the uncertainties that lie ahead is the secret of walking with Jesus.

Peter saw in Jesus only someone who could minister salvation to him and to the world. But our Lord wants us to be fellow laborers with Him.

In John 6:70 Jesus lovingly reminded Peter that he was chosen to go with Him. And each of us must answer this question for ourselves and no one else: “Do you also want to go away?”

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March 9 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, I get it. I understand that the road of life can be hard, however, in my experience; the road without Jesus is even more difficult. But is this devotional about becoming and living as a disciple or it is about simply living connected to Jesus? Are they different? I know that Chambers was writing to his students, future missionaries and disciples. Is he writing to us as normal everyday humans just seeking an abundant way of living that is relevant?

And God says…”Many humans have (or will have) experienced the disappointment of life that comes from expectations that are not based on Jesus. Many believe “if I only had a new job, healthy body, a new home, a life partner, or….then life would be complete and satisfying. When they do manage to achieve or reach these goals, they find that those expectations, when met, do not help them realize true peace or happiness. And your experiences have taught you the same lessons.”

“I have been teaching you that you can live in happiness, peace and abundance when you depend on Me and Me alone. Read and believe My promises. You can be connected to Me and allow Me to provide all you need, or you can continue to strive and struggle. Seek first the kingdom of God, which is Jesus, and I shall provide everything else you need. Delight yourself in Me and I will give you the desires of your heart. It does not have to make sense to you, I am God and My ways will not make sense to your ways. But you already know that the way the world works has and does not work for you. Trust in Me with all your heart and do not rely on your own ways and understanding and I will make your paths straight”.

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Is He Really My Lord?

March 5th, 2015

…so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus… —Acts 20:24

Joy comes from seeing the complete fulfillment of the specific purpose for which I was created and born again, not from successfully doing something of my own choosing. The joy our Lord experienced came from doing what the Father sent Him to do. And He says to us, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21). Have you received a ministry from the Lord? If so, you must be faithful to it— to consider your life valuable only for the purpose of fulfilling that ministry. Knowing that you have done what Jesus sent you to do, think how satisfying it will be to hear Him say to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21). We each have to find a niche in life, and spiritually we find it when we receive a ministry from the Lord. To do this we must have close fellowship with Jesus and must know Him as more than our personal Savior. And we must be willing to experience the full impact of Acts 9:16 — “I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

“Do you love Me?” Then, “Feed My sheep” (John 21:17). He is not offering us a choice of how we can serve Him; He is asking for absolute loyalty to His commission, a faithfulness to what we discern when we are in the closest possible fellowship with God. If you have received a ministry from the Lord Jesus, you will know that the need is not the same as the call— the need is the opportunity to exercise the call. The call is to be faithful to the ministry you received when you were in true fellowship with Him. This does not imply that there is a whole series of differing ministries marked out for you. It does mean that you must be sensitive to what God has called you to do, and this may sometimes require ignoring demands for service in other areas.

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Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord. The problem I have with this is that I have too many good ideas, some of which may be from you and blessed by you and maybe are even “callings” that Chambers refers to … but there aren’t enough hours in the day or days in the week to do them all. And I have had difficulty discerning which is the best and the one you want me to focus on. My experience has been in saying yes to too many things and getting diluted and delivering a non-excellent product. Perhaps Chambers is saying exactly what you have been teaching us in his closing sentence:

…you must be sensitive to what God has called you to do, and this may sometimes require ignoring demands for service in other areas.

So that’s our prayer today, Please help us to do exactly that.

Things to remember about this: What was once my calling may not always be my calling. Opportunities pass. Beware of continuing something past when my Spirit is blessing and empowering it. Sometimes you just dont know how to quit something and it is compounded by guilt from having been taught to “Never quit” Seek me and I will guide you through all of these things. Keep checking your peace meter. When you are at the end of a season and feeling bad about ending it, there will be an underlying peace that you can trust. Vision out past where you are and sense the peace even more. Keep connection with me and I will teach you to flow with me. If you don’t feel the peace, keep on pressing. I said, “My peace I give to you” Don’t leave your prayer time without it. My Spirit was called Wind and it blows where we like. As you learn to be fluid and unhampered by guilt or what others think, you will be able to fly with us to high places of peace and rest in the midst of storms.

Sounds like fun.

It is. Come ahead on.

But one of the things I heard you say is:

Don’t doubt in the dark, what I’ve seen in the light.

Isn’t that true also?

Yes, there are some things that are rock solid and dont change or come to an end. I am called your Rock also. You must discern the difference between the Temporary projects, Opportunities that pass, and the Rock Solid Eternal Callings. Connect with me and I will guide you.

About that, Connect with me. Am I to connect to you Papa God, Son Jesus or Holy Spirit?

You are blessed to live in a time when you have access to all 3 aspects of Me. It’s really more the perspective that you come from. We all love you and want the best for you. The invite is there. The door is open. I say Come. Jesus says Come. Holy Spirit says Come.

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Is This True of Me?

March 4th, 2015

None of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself… —Acts 20:24

It is easier to serve or work for God without a vision and without a call, because then you are not bothered by what He requires. Common sense, covered with a layer of Christian emotion, becomes your guide. You may be more prosperous and successful from the world’s perspective, and will have more leisure time, if you never acknowledge the call of God. But once you receive a commission from Jesus Christ, the memory of what God asks of you will always be there to prod you on to do His will. You will no longer be able to work for Him on the basis of common sense.

What do I count in my life as “dear to myself”? If I have not been seized by Jesus Christ and have not surrendered myself to Him, I will consider the time I decide to give God and my own ideas of service as dear. I will also consider my own life as “dear to myself.” But Paul said he considered his life dear so that he might fulfill the ministry he had received, and he refused to use his energy on anything else. This verse shows an almost noble annoyance by Paul at being asked to consider himself. He was absolutely indifferent to any consideration other than that of fulfilling the ministry he had received. Our ordinary and reasonable service to God may actually compete against our total surrender to Him. Our reasonable work is based on the following argument which we say to ourselves, “Remember how useful you are here, and think how much value you would be in that particular type of work.” That attitude chooses our own judgment, instead of Jesus Christ, to be our guide as to where we should go and where we could be used the most. Never consider whether or not you are of use— but always consider that “you are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19). You are His.

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His Commission to Us

March 3rd, 2015

Feed My sheep. —John 21:17

This is love in the making. The love of God is not created— it is His nature. When we receive the life of Christ through the Holy Spirit, He unites us with God so that His love is demonstrated in us. The goal of the indwelling Holy Spirit is not just to unite us with God, but to do it in such a way that we will be one with the Father in exactly the same way Jesus was. And what kind of oneness did Jesus Christ have with the Father? He had such a oneness with the Father that He was obedient when His Father sent Him down here to be poured out for us. And He says to us, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21).

Peter now realizes that he does love Him, due to the revelation that came with the Lord’s piercing question. The Lord’s next point is— “Pour yourself out. Don’t testify about how much you love Me and don’t talk about the wonderful revelation you have had, just ‘Feed My sheep.’ ” Jesus has some extraordinarily peculiar sheep: some that are unkempt and dirty, some that are awkward or pushy, and some that have gone astray! But it is impossible to exhaust God’s love, and it is impossible to exhaust my love if it flows from the Spirit of God within me. The love of God pays no attention to my prejudices caused by my natural individuality. If I love my Lord, I have no business being guided by natural emotions— I have to feed His sheep. We will not be delivered or released from His commission to us. Beware of counterfeiting the love of God by following your own natural human emotions, sympathies, or understandings. That will only serve to revile and abuse the true love of God.

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Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
You show us again that the solution to our problems is always in our connection with you. Just like you got your instructions and love and tolerance and all things from your connection with your Dad. So we are invited to do the same.

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Have You Felt the Pain Inflicted by the Lord?

March 2nd, 2015

He said to him the third time, “…do you love Me?” —John 21:17

Have you ever felt the pain, inflicted by the Lord, at the very center of your being, deep down in the most sensitive area of your life? The devil never inflicts pain there, and neither can sin nor human emotions. Nothing can cut through to that part of our being but the Word of God. “Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ ” Yet he was awakened to the fact that at the center of his personal life he was devoted to Jesus. And then he began to see what Jesus’ patient questioning meant. There was not the slightest bit of doubt left in Peter’s mind; he could never be deceived again. And there was no need for an impassioned response; no need for immediate action or an emotional display. It was a revelation to him to realize how much he did love the Lord, and with amazement he simply said, “Lord, You know all things….” Peter began to see how very much he did love Jesus, and there was no need to say, “Look at this or that as proof of my love.” Peter was beginning to discover within himself just how much he really did love the Lord. He discovered that his eyes were so fixed on Jesus Christ that he saw no one else in heaven above or on the earth below. But he did not know it until the probing, hurting questions of the Lord were asked. The Lord’s questions always reveal the true me to myself.Oh, the wonder of the patient directness and skill of Jesus Christ with Peter! Our Lord never asks questions until the perfect time. Rarely, but probably once in each of our lives, He will back us into a corner where He will hurt us with His piercing questions. Then we will realize that we do love Him far more deeply than our words can ever say.______________________________________________________________

March 2, 2015

Journal Entry for Today

Good morning Lord. I read the devotional from Chambers this morning and was a bit confused. It never occurred to me that You would want to inflict pain in or on me. If You are love (1 John 4:8) and I read the definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13, then I am a bit confused. How can Chambers say that You inflict pain at the deepest part of my heart? What is he trying to say?

And God says…”I do not inflict pain; the Holy Spirit can only point out where you may have missed the mark. And because the disciple Peter, you and every human that lives on planet earth have a natural body, mind and spirit, it is no secret that all will miss the mark. It is part of your natural condition. And it is only natural that when I point out your failures, you may feel pain….but only for a moment. The moment you reconnect with Me, you are whole and complete; without pain.

“What can you do? Look to Jesus at every opportunity. You cannot miss the mark when you are connected to Jesus. Everyone on earth misses the mark when they are not connected. And as you know, it is easy to get disconnected: even by and through religion, service or good intentions. It is not necessary to do something immoral or to break a law to get disconnected. You can be disconnected by doing the right thing(s) for the wrong reasons. However it is impossible to do the wrong thing when you are connected. It is impossible for humans to do enough “good things” in order to be and stay connected; this can only be accomplished through the love, grace and mercy of Christ Jesus. Seek first the Kingdom of God, which is Jesus, and I will provide everything else you need, including your sense of well being. Acknowledge me in all your ways and I will make your paths straight…..and keep you connected.”