Archive for August, 2015

“My Joy…Your Joy”

August 31st, 2015

These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. —John 15:11


What was the joy that Jesus had? Joy should not be confused with happiness. In fact, it is an insult to Jesus Christ to use the word happiness in connection with Him. The joy of Jesus was His absolute self-surrender and self-sacrifice to His Father— the joy of doing that which the Father sent Him to do— “…who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross…” (Hebrews 12:2). “I delight to do Your will, O my God…” (Psalm 40:8). Jesus prayed that our joy might continue fulfilling itself until it becomes the same joy as His. Have I allowed Jesus Christ to introduce His joy to me?Living a full and overflowing life does not rest in bodily health, in circumstances, nor even in seeing God’s work succeed, but in the perfect understanding of God, and in the same fellowship and oneness with Him that Jesus Himself enjoyed. But the first thing that will hinder this joy is the subtle irritability caused by giving too much thought to our circumstances. Jesus said, “…the cares of this world,…choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful” (Mark 4:19). And before we even realize what has happened, we are caught up in our cares. All that God has done for us is merely the threshold— He wants us to come to the place where we will be His witnesses and proclaim who Jesus is.Have the right relationship with God, finding your joy there, and out of you “will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). Be a fountain through which Jesus can pour His “living water.” Stop being hypocritical and proud, aware only of yourself, and live “your life…hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). A person who has the right relationship with God lives a life as natural as breathing wherever he goes. The lives that have been the greatest blessing to you are the lives of those people who themselves were unaware of having been a blessing.

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August 31 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Good morning Lord. What does Chambers mean when he says our joy can be displaced by considering our circumstances too much? ….before we even realize what has happened, we are caught up in our cares. Lord, we understand that we are to surrender every day, and in every way our lives and our cares, and we are to be connected to You. But what are we to do when the circumstances are hard: health failing, bank accounts dwindling, and or our family is up against it? How can we let go of our circumstances and find the joy of Jesus in light of pain or very difficult circumstances?

And God says…”You can change your mind and your thoughts by focusing on Jesus. You can choose to be connected to Jesus or to your thoughts of life’s difficulties. It is a choice. When you acknowledge the Lord in all your ways trust that your mind will find the joy of Jesus, and not the troubles of the day. Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.” Philippians 4:6-7The Message (MSG).

Living Your Theology

August 27th, 2015

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.

Are You Ever Troubled?

August 26th, 2015

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you… —John 14:27

 

There are times in our lives when our peace is based simply on our own ignorance. But when we are awakened to the realities of life, true inner peace is impossible unless it is received from Jesus. When our Lord speaks peace, He creates peace, because the words that He speaks are always “spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). Have I ever received what Jesus speaks? “…My peace I give to you…”— a peace that comes from looking into His face and fully understanding and receiving His quiet contentment.Are you severely troubled right now? Are you afraid and confused by the waves and the turbulence God sovereignly allows to enter your life? Have you left no stone of your faith unturned, yet still not found any well of peace, joy, or comfort? Does your life seem completely barren to you? Then look up and receive the quiet contentment of the Lord Jesus. Reflecting His peace is proof that you are right with God, because you are exhibiting the freedom to turn your mind to Him. If you are not right with God, you can never turn your mind anywhere but on yourself. Allowing anything to hide the face of Jesus Christ from you either causes you to become troubled or gives you a false sense of security.With regard to the problem that is pressing in on you right now, are you “looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2) and receiving peace from Him? If so, He will be a gracious blessing of peace exhibited in and through you. But if you only try to worry your way out of the problem, you destroy His effectiveness in you, and you deserve whatever you get. We become troubled because we have not been taking Him into account. When a person confers with Jesus Christ, the confusion stops, because there is no confusion in Him. Lay everything out before Him, and when you are faced with difficulty, bereavement, and sorrow, listen to Him say, “Let not your heart be troubled…” (John 14:27).
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August 26 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Good morning Lord. This line from the devotional really captured my attention: Reflecting His peace is proof that you are right with God, because you are exhibiting the freedom to turn your mind to Him. Lord, thank You for leading me to this place day after day after day; to a place where I learn that real peace comes for being surrendered and connected, knowing You are God and You have good plans for me. But Lord, how do I keep my mind’s eye from looking at the pending storms and or the lack of resources for long periods of time? I wonder if receiving peace instead of solutions and direct answers to prayers and requests is simply a short term response from you.

And God says…”Everything about your life on earth is short term. And just because you believe that more resources or protection from a storm is what you need, does not make it so. I know the plans I have for you, plans for good and not evil. I make all things work together for your good. You believe that I have answered all your long term questions by providing eternal life and a peace about your heavenly home provided by the sacrifice of Jesus. You have faith and believe in your heavenly home; even though you cannot see heaven. Know too that I have provided for all your short term requirements even though you often cannot see those answers either. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, of things unseen. Supernaturally, you can come to trust, believe and rely on the substance of things unseen when you are surrendered and connected to Jesus. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own understanding or perception, and I will make your paths straight. Seek first the kingdom of God, which is Jesus, and I will provide everything else you require, including a peace that surrounds you even when, from a human point of view, it looks like storms and need overwhelm you.”

Sacrifice and Friendship

August 25th, 2015

I have called you friends… —John 15:15

We will never know the joy of self-sacrifice until we surrender in every detail of our lives. Yet self-surrender is the most difficult thing for us to do. We make it conditional by saying, “I’ll surrender if…!” Or we approach it by saying, “I suppose I have to devote my life to God.” We will never find the joy of self-sacrifice in either of these ways.

But as soon as we do totally surrender, abandoning ourselves to Jesus, the Holy Spirit gives us a taste of His joy. The ultimate goal of self-sacrifice is to lay down our lives for our Friend (see John 15:13-14). When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, our greatest desire is to lay down our lives for Jesus. Yet the thought of self-sacrifice never even crosses our minds, because sacrifice is the Holy Spirit’s ultimate expression of love.

Our Lord is our example of a life of self-sacrifice, and He perfectly exemplified Psalm 40:8, “I delight to do Your will, O my God….” He endured tremendous personal sacrifice, yet with overflowing joy. Have I ever yielded myself in absolute submission to Jesus Christ? If He is not the One to whom I am looking for direction and guidance, then there is no benefit in my sacrifice. But when my sacrifice is made with my eyes focused on Him, slowly but surely His molding influence becomes evident in my life (see Hebrews 12:1-2).

Beware of letting your natural desires hinder your walk in love before God. One of the cruelest ways to kill natural love is through the rejection that results from having built the love on natural desires. But the one true desire of a saint is the Lord Jesus. Love for God is not something sentimental or emotional— for a saint to love as God loves is the most practical thing imaginable.

“I have called you friends….” Our friendship with Jesus is based on the new life He created in us, which has no resemblance or attraction to our old life but only to the life of God. It is a life that is completely humble, pure, and devoted to God.

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Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
Surrender really does work out best of all. But it seems that me and all the humans that I know have to try our other options first. See if we can make it on our own … like Sinatra sang, I did it my way… It seems like we would learn after a while, that surrendering quickly is the best way to go. And maybe I am getting there a little quicker these days. There is a feeling of relief when I do “get there, to Surrender” I think Surrender goes hand in hand with the Objective View or Balcony View that you have been teaching me these last few years.

It’s true. Surrender is actually the price of admission to the balcony…or at least the Balcony View where I enable you to see what I see, hear what I hear, feel what I feel. Like John said…

John 5:19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

You have asked if it is possible for you to live this same way and what were the ingredients of my walk that you can learn from. Time away, and prayer, of course. But Surrender is the one we are talking about now. My seeing and hearing were only possible because I was 100% surrendered to my purpose. You can be too. Come up here with me. Up those steps to this balcony. Oh, yes that step right there… is called “Surrender”

The Spiritual Search

August 24th, 2015

 

What man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? —Matthew 7:9


The illustration of prayer that our Lord used here is one of a good child who is asking for something good. We talk about prayer as if God hears us regardless of what our relationship is to Him (see Matthew 5:45). Never say that it is not God’s will to give you what you ask. Don’t faint and give up, but find out the reason you have not received; increase the intensity of your search and examine the evidence. Is your relationship right with your spouse, your children, and your fellow students? Are you a “good child” in those relationships? Do you have to say to the Lord, “I have been irritable and cross, but I still want spiritual blessings”? You cannot receive and will have to do without them until you have the attitude of a “good child.”We mistake defiance for devotion, arguing with God instead of surrendering. We refuse to look at the evidence that clearly indicates where we are wrong. Have I been asking God to give me money for something I want, while refusing to pay someone what I owe him? Have I been asking God for liberty while I am withholding it from someone who belongs to me? Have I refused to forgive someone, and have I been unkind to that person? Have I been living as God’s child among my relatives and friends? (see Matthew 7:12).

I am a child of God only by being born again, and as His child I am good only as I “walk in the light” (1 John 1:7). For most of us, prayer simply becomes some trivial religious expression, a matter of mystical and emotional fellowship with God. We are all good at producing spiritual fog that blinds our sight. But if we will search out and examine the evidence, we will see very clearly what is wrong— a friendship, an unpaid debt, or an improper attitude. There is no use praying unless we are living as children of God. Then Jesus says, regarding His children, “Everyone who asks receives…” (Matthew 7:8).

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August 24, 2014

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, is this really the way it works? You only hear our prayers when we “are good”? Are we to go through self-examination as a step to finding out why our prayers have not been answered? Are we to examine ourselves whenever You do not respond to our prayers? Or is self-examination a good thing that comes out of surrender and connection? What about the scriptures that tell us that there is nothing good in us; that the very best we can do is not good enough? This sounds a little too much like the “Santa Claus” myth: if we are good, You will respond to our prayers, and if we are not “good” You will not?

And God says…”When you seek your own ways and means, I cannot help you. When you take charge of your life, I am compelled to let you. However, when you surrender your life to Me, the Holy Spirit can operate in your life and you can live a life of abundance, even when I choose not to provide you with everything you ask. Your “goodness” has nothing to do with how I see you and your requests. Your “goodness “is provided by Jesus. Grace allows Me to see Jesus when I look at you.”

Matthew 6:33The Message (MSG) 30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.”

The Ministry of the Unnoticed

August 21st, 2015

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.

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August 21, 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Good morning Lord, and thank You for this day and this opportunity to be led by Your Spirit through this devotional. This line from today’s devotional jumped out at me; He never asks us to decide for Him, but to yield to Him— something very different. This sounds a great deal like the lessons we have been learning about surrender being the first step in our intimate relationship with You. Is surrender such an important element? What about commitment, understanding and devotion to You? Are those elements not important as well?

And God says…”Of course commitment, understanding and devotion to Me are important. However, humans make commitments and cannot keep them. Humans want to understand instead of trust, and I can only accept 100% devotion…or complete devotion, 100% of the time. And you are unable to meet these standards, without the Holy Spirit living in and through you. Surrender (or yield as Chambers says here) is essential for our relationship. When you surrender (yield) yourself: your own ways and means, then the connection can be established between us through the Spirit of God living inside of you. Trust in Me with all your heart and do not rely on your own commitments, understanding or devotion to Me, and I will make your paths straight. When you fail to surrender or yield, I will cover you with My grace until you do. And recall that all things work for the good of those that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.”

Christ-Awareness

August 20th, 2015

…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 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Good morning Lord. In this devotional Chambers tells me that if I even think about Your will I am not in your will; that the way to determine if we are living in your oneness is that we do not question or doubt our connection with You at all. We simply live as a child, complete You…..”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.” So Lord, if this is the case, then it seems that whenever I worry or am anxious, fearful or unsettled, then I am not connected? Could it be that being unsettled, or not living a carefree childlike connectedness, are indicators that I am not surrendered and connected to You?

And God says…”A fish does not notice that it lives in the stream, but it does take notice whenever it is taken out of the water. And living in Me is a state that you most often do not notice except when you choose to step out of My will, or simply take your life and issues into your own hands. Live in oneness with Me through surrender, connection, curiosity, and an obedience that is possible as you allow Me to live through you. Make this your normal and then pain, worry, fear, anxiety …all your cares belong to Me as a child’s cares belong to the parents. Allow the cares of this world to only be indicators for your instant and ongoing surrender, connection, curiosity and obedience…..…..”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.”

Self-Awareness

August 19th, 2015

Come to Me… —Matthew 11:28

 

God intends for us to live a well-rounded life in Christ Jesus, but there are times when that life is attacked from the outside. Then we tend to fall back into self-examination, a habit that we thought was gone. Self-awareness is the first thing that will upset the completeness of our life in God, and self-awareness continually produces a sense of struggling and turmoil in our lives. Self-awareness is not sin, and it can be produced by nervous emotions or by suddenly being dropped into a totally new set of circumstances. Yet it is never God’s will that we should be anything less than absolutely complete in Him. Anything that disturbs our rest in Him must be rectified at once, and it is not rectified by being ignored but only by coming to Jesus Christ. If we will come to Him, asking Him to produce Christ-awareness in us, He will always do it, until we fully learn to abide in Him.Never allow anything that divides or destroys the oneness of your life with Christ to remain in your life without facing it. Beware of allowing the influence of your friends or your circumstances to divide your life. This only serves to sap your strength and slow your spiritual growth. Beware of anything that can split your oneness with Him, causing you to see yourself as separate from Him. Nothing is as important as staying right spiritually. And the only solution is a very simple one— “Come to Me….” The intellectual, moral, and spiritual depth of our reality as a person is tested and measured by these words. Yet in every detail of our lives where we are found not to be real, we would rather dispute the findings than come to Jesus.

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August 19 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Good morning God and thank You for one more day of surrender and connection to You. And I need Your help once again to balance this devotional with what You have been teaching us. Or could it be true that if we are truly connected to You we are not distracted by anything? Chambers says…”Anything that disturbs our rest in Him must be rectified at once, and it is not rectified by being ignored but only by coming to Jesus Christ. If we will come to Him, asking Him to produce Christ-awareness in us, He will always do it, until we fully learn to abide in Him. Never allow anything that divides or destroys the oneness of your life with Christ to remain in your life without facing it. “

Lord, I would love for this to work out this way; to be able to live in constant Christ-awareness, or oneness in You. But that is not how it has worked for me. For a time I will be surrendered and connected and then….Out of the blue an event, circumstance, or problem hits me and once again I fall into worry, fear and uncertainty.

And God says…”You live in a fallen world and as a consequence difficult circumstances and the enemy may find you at any time. However, you can use the “pressure” or “self-awareness” of the circumstance or trial to remind you that Jesus came to give you life and life more abundantly. Once you feel the pressure of the trial, simply recommit to living in oneness with Jesus by placing your trials and circumstances at the foot of the cross, and surrendering your worry, fear and anxiety. Also ask Me for the faith, strength and grace to surrender and be one with Jesus. Acknowledge Me in all our ways and I will make your paths straight. In this way your trials can become teachers and reminders to live surrendered and connected to Jesus. Do not try to get out of your trials too early, let them have their perfect result; bringing you into oneness with Jesus. Seek first the kingdom of God, which is Jesus, and I will provide everything else you need for your life. And you will find the peace the passes all understanding.”

 

 

Have You Ever Been Speechless with Sorrow?

August 18th, 2015

When he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich. —Luke 18:23


The rich young ruler went away from Jesus speechless with sorrow, having nothing to say in response to Jesus’ words. He had no doubt about what Jesus had said or what it meant, and it produced in him a sorrow with no words with which to respond. Have you ever been there? Has God’s Word ever come to you, pointing out an area of your life, requiring you to yield it to Him? Maybe He has pointed out certain personal qualities, desires, and interests, or possibly relationships of your heart and mind. If so, then you have often been speechless with sorrow. The Lord will not go after you, and He will not plead with you. But every time He meets you at the place where He has pointed, He will simply repeat His words, saying, “If you really mean what you say, these are the conditions.”“Sell all that you have…” (Luke 18:22). In other words, rid yourself before God of everything that might be considered a possession until you are a mere conscious human being standing before Him, and then give God that. That is where the battle is truly fought— in the realm of your will before God. Are you more devoted to your idea of what Jesus wants than to Jesus Himself? If so, you are likely to hear one of His harsh and unyielding statements that will produce sorrow in you. What Jesus says is difficult— it is only easy when it is heard by those who have His nature in them. Beware of allowing anything to soften the hard words of Jesus Christ.

I can be so rich in my own poverty, or in the awareness of the fact that I am nobody, that I will never be a disciple of Jesus. Or I can be so rich in the awareness that I am somebody that I will never be a disciple. Am I willing to be destitute and poor even in my sense of awareness of my destitution and poverty? If not, that is why I become discouraged. Discouragement is disillusioned self-love, and self-love may be love for my devotion to Jesus— not love for Jesus Himself.

Are You Discouraged or Devoted?

August 17th, 2015

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.___________________________________________________________

August 17 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, this parable mirrors our learning of the past few years; namely that we are to surrender all we are and have to You, be connected and then to live in oneness out of our connection with and to You. You have made it abundantly clear that surrender is the first step in the process. The emphasis in this lesson is that it is difficult for a rich man to give up his riches and his life of worldly certainty. Perhaps it is giving up the trust we have in ourselves and our own resources that is the key? For many of us, giving up on our own resources and choices and the certainty we feel holding onto them is very difficult until we find that we have runout of resources and choices. Does this really have to happen for us to seek You first? Do we have to run out of our own resources, actually come to the end of ourselves before we truly seek You or are we to recall also that all things are possible with God?

And God says…”Historically, and in the natural, women and men look to their own solutions and options before reaching for Mine. Historically, men and women do not seek first the Kingdom of God, you seek your own options and choices. It is much easier to surrender yourself to Me when you are not burdened with easy access to your own options and choices. But to live the abundant life and a life of discipleship you must first surrender your hopes, opportunities, fears and dreams to Me. This is very hard, although not impossible, to do for most humans. Can and will you acknowledge Me first in all things? Most people of wealth cannot, although with God all things are possible.”

Romans 12:2 (MSG) So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”