Our soul’s personal history with God is often an account of the death of our heroes. Over and over again God has to remove our friends to put Himself in their place, and that is when we falter, fail, and become discouraged. Let me think about this personally— when the person died who represented for me all that God was, did I give up on everything in life? Did I become ill or disheartened? Or did I do as Isaiah did and see the Lord?My vision of God is dependent upon the condition of my character. My character determines whether or not truth can even be revealed to me. Before I can say, “I saw the Lord,” there must be something in my character that conforms to the likeness of God. Until I am born again and really begin to see the kingdom of God, I only see from the perspective of my own biases. What I need is God’s surgical procedure— His use of external circumstances to bring about internal purification.Your priorities must be God first, God second, and God third, until your life is continually face to face with God and no one else is taken into account whatsoever. Your prayer will then be, “In all the world there is no one but You, dear God; there is no one but You.”Keep paying the price. Let God see that you are willing to live up to the vision.

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July 13 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, thank you for this lesson. A lesson about how our heroes and “life priorities” must take a back seat to our surrender and connection with You.  And yes I do understand, recall and remember (yesterday was not all that long ago) how You use life circumstances to surgically remove things from our character. I suspect that it would be wise to consider that when we are surrendered and connected with you in an intimate relationship, we are able to live out our lives trusting and believing You. And when we are not surrendered or connected with You, that You can use the consequences to help mold and shape us as we “get to go through it”.

And God says…”All things work together for good for those that love the Lord. There is symmetry about how this works. When you are surrendered and connected, the Holy Spirit can live through you and your circumstances and difficulties, guiding you to an abundant life even in difficult times. And when you are not surrendered and connected, the Holy Spirit can use your resulting difficulties and circumstances to shape you and bring you to surrender and connection. When you are surrendered and connected to Me, you know that I am God, and I have come to give you an abundant life…unencumbered by the circumstances or difficulties that may or may not still exist.”

A person’s will is embodied in the actions of the whole person. I cannot give up my will— I must exercise it, putting it into action. I must will to obey, and I must will to receive God’s Spirit. When God gives me a vision of truth, there is never a question of what He will do, but only of what I will do. The Lord has been placing in front of each of us some big proposals and plans. The best thing to do is to remember what you did before when you were touched by God. Recall the moment when you were saved, or first recognized Jesus, or realized some truth. It was easy then to yield your allegiance to God. Immediately recall those moments each time the Spirit of God brings some new proposal before you.“…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve….” Your choice must be a deliberate determination— it is not something into which you will automatically drift. And everything else in your life will be held in temporary suspension until you make a decision. The proposal is between you and God— do not “confer with flesh and blood” about it (Galatians 1:16). With every new proposal, the people around us seem to become more and more isolated, and that is where the tension develops. God allows the opinion of His other saints to matter to you, and yet you become less and less certain that others really understand the step you are taking. You have no business trying to find out where God is leading— the only thing God will explain to you is Himself.Openly declare to Him, “I will be faithful.” But remember that as soon as you choose to be faithful to Jesus Christ, “You are witnesses against yourselves…” (Joshua 24:22). Don’t consult with other Christians, but simply and freely declare before Him, “I will serve You.” Will to be faithful— and give other people credit for being faithful too.

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July 8, 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Good morning Lord. As I read this popular and often quoted and repeated scripture for today’s devotional, I also noticed that Israel’s response to Joshua’s statement was agreement. Israel agreed that the God that brought them out of bondage would be the God they worshiped.

This seems like the right and proper prayer and consideration for me as well, Lord. I too will worship the God that brought (and brings) me out of bondage. Lord, please help me serve You, being ever mindful of the work You have done and continue to do in my life. How can I be mindful of this and keep my eyes on You and not bondage nor the blessings.

And God says…”When times and circumstances are difficult, you must seek Me as I am often the only path open to you.  When I pour out my blessings, you thank Me because I have poured out good things to and for you and yours. But what about the day to day coming and going? What about the regular day to day, hour by hour rudimentary workings of everyday life? Do you connect to Me as a matter of course? Are you connected and living out of My power and grace just because you want to know me and have an intimate relationship with Me?  The way you start and stay connected to Me, is to make our time together; your surrender, connection and your curiosity, an every day, every morning activity. Seek first the kingdom of God, which is Jesus, and I will provide everything else you need for your day and life. Trust in Me with all your heart and do not rely on your own capabilities, circumstances or blessings, and I will make your paths straight. All I have ever wanted for us is an intimate relationship. And you know how far I have reached to bring this about. Knock and the door shall be opened, seek and you will find. Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. All I ever wanted was your heart.”

We always have a vision of something before it actually becomes real to us. When we realize that the vision is real, but is not yet real in us, Satan comes to us with his temptations, and we are inclined to say that there is no point in even trying to continue. Instead of the vision becoming real to us, we have entered into a valley of humiliation.Life is not as idle ore,
But iron dug from central gloom,
And battered by the shocks of doom
To shape and use.

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

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

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July 6 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Good morning Lord. The first thing David said regarding this devotional was …”do not doubt in the dark what you have seen in the light”. Oswald Chambers says “Let the Potter put you on His wheel and whirl you as He desires”. And Lord, we know that when we are surrendered to You, and connected by the Holy Spirit, we can live joyfully, not because our circumstances have necessary turned all around, but because we know You intimately. When we are surrendered and connected, we just know and feel that You are in control and all things work for the good of those that love the Lord. We know that You have come to give us life and life more abundantly. Without seeing any physical evidence, we just know…You are God and the vision you gave us will not tarry.

And God says…”When I give you the vision, you can be certain it will come to pass. “For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”…  How do you know the vision is from Me and not from your own imagination; or an idea from another person or source? How can you trust the vision to be real? I have shown you how to be surrendered and connected intimately with Me in prayer. Just go to your private prayer place, imagine your vision, the roadblocks, and all the conflicting issues claiming they are more powerful than the vision I gave you….then place them surrendered at the foot of the cross. Wrap your concerns, conflicting voices, and your thoughts that you are not worthy into little wrapped presents and present them to Jesus at the foot of the cross in your mind. Then as you feel the powerful and intimate connection of the cross, begin to ask yourself “I wonder how God will deal with this. I wonder how God will meet my needs. I wonder how God will bring the vision to reality. Be curious. And when you find you cannot muster the faith to be curious and faithful, recall that because of Jesus and the cross,  I can and will provide the grace to give you that faith.  You believe and I help you in your unbelief. Seek first the kingdom of God, which is Jesus, and I will provide everything else you need, including the faith necessary to bring your vision to fruition.”

When I come into the very presence of God, I do not realize that I am a sinner in an indefinite sense, but I suddenly realize and the focus of my attention is directed toward the concentration of sin in a particular area of my life. A person will easily say, “Oh yes, I know I am a sinner,” but when he comes into the presence of God he cannot get away with such a broad and indefinite statement. Our conviction is focused on our specific sin, and we realize, as Isaiah did, what we really are. This is always the sign that a person is in the presence of God. There is never any vague sense of sin, but a focusing on the concentration of sin in some specific, personal area of life. God begins by convicting us of the very thing to which His Spirit has directed our mind’s attention. If we will surrender, submitting to His conviction of that particular sin, He will lead us down to where He can reveal the vast underlying nature of sin. That is the way God always deals with us when we are consciously aware of His presence.This experience of our attention being directed to our concentration of personal sin is true in everyone’s life, from the greatest of saints to the worst of sinners. When a person first begins climbing the ladder of experience, he might say, “I don’t know where I’ve gone wrong,” but the Spirit of God will point out some definite and specific thing to him. The effect of Isaiah’s vision of the holiness of the Lord was the directing of his attention to the fact that he was “a man of unclean lips.” “He touched my mouth with it, and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged’ ” (Isaiah 6:7). The cleansing fire had to be applied where the sin had been concentrated.

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July 3, 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, perhaps I missed the point here in this devotional.  Over the past 2 to 3 years You have been teaching us to forget about “sin management”. In fact we have learned to not spend any time at all working on our faults; that if we surrender and stay connected to You, the Holy Spirit will transform us in areas of our lives over time. And that has been our experience. You have pointed out areas that need attention, convicted us, and then told us to not give those areas any power by worrying or fretting about them….that You will deal with them. Here Oswald Chambers spends a lot of time talking about how we must manage our behavior. One of our readers sent this note to us this week; Many Christians are “saved by grace” and then enter into a “sanctification by works” mentality.  It’s grace all the way!  But never lacking consequences for the bad choices we make.  I’ve come to believe these consequences are the purifying fire He walks through with us… to bring us to what He wants us to be.

And God says…”There is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus. As Paul points out in Romans 7, Christ has already dealt with your sins…all of them; past present and future. Listen to what Paul is saying; “Who will save me from this awful condition? It has already been done by Christ Jesus. “

“You are often pulled into a state, where you believe you are responsible for changing your own life because you want to trust something you can see, touch and feel. You want to “see” the change in yourself, you want to take charge of your life and turn it around in certain areas. Or you think you need to think and act differently, as a believer. But true surrender means that you let go of all of it; the sin, the cause and effect, and your own inability to start and sustain a lasting change. Trust in the Lord with all our heart and do not rely on your own ability to manage your life and behavior, and I will make your paths straight. Seek first the kingdom of God, which is Jesus, and I will provide everything else you need, including your transformation. And when there are gaps in your behavior, as I told Paul, My grace is sufficient.”

If the closest relationships of a disciple’s life conflict with the claims of Jesus Christ, then our Lord requires instant obedience to Himself. Discipleship means personal, passionate devotion to a Person— our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a vast difference between devotion to a person and devotion to principles or to a cause. Our Lord never proclaimed a cause— He proclaimed personal devotion to Himself. To be a disciple is to be a devoted bondservant motivated by love for the Lord Jesus. Many of us who call ourselves Christians are not truly devoted to Jesus Christ. No one on earth has this passionate love for the Lord Jesus unless the Holy Spirit has given it to him. We may admire, respect, and revere Him, but we cannot love Him on our own.

The only One who truly loves the Lord Jesus is the Holy Spirit, and it is He who has “poured out in our hearts” the very “love of God” (Romans 5:5). Whenever the Holy Spirit sees an opportunity to glorify Jesus through you, He will take your entire being and set you ablaze with glowing devotion to Jesus Christ.The Christian life is a life characterized by true and spontaneous creativity. Consequently, a disciple is subject to the same charge that was leveled against Jesus Christ, namely, the charge of inconsistency.

But Jesus Christ was always consistent in His relationship to God, and a Christian must be consistent in his relationship to the life of the Son of God in him, not consistent to strict, unyielding doctrines. People pour themselves into their own doctrines, and God has to blast them out of their preconceived ideas before they can become devoted to Jesus Christ.

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July 2 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Good morning Lord. This scripture is one mom and I spoke about Saturday morning as we discussed the devotional about cutting off the right hand if it offends you and causes you to sin. Once again we have hyperbole to get our attention with a teaching that tells us a true disciple will hate his mother and father. But then I find many scriptures that tell us to love one another. The second and last commandment given us by Jesus was to love my neighbor as myself….after the commandment to love God with all my mind, heart and soul.  Why are you telling us to hate members of our family?

And God says…”Jesus taught in parables and used extreme hyperbole to get the attention of his followers. This lesson was even more difficult to hear and accept in those days than it is now. In the time of Jesus and in the Middle East family is everything. Three and four generations of family live together, and if you were told to abandon a teaching by your family, most people would abandon the teaching in order to stay reconciled to the family that provides food , shelter, love, and acceptance.”

“In this scripture Jesus was teaching that nothing can stand in the way of your commitment to Jesus, not even the most revered institution of the culture. In your country and culture the family is more fragmented and dispersed: your extended family does not occupy the same house for generations anymore, and most often peer groups and friends may hold more power over ideas and commitments than family. But the message is the same; you cannot let anything get in the way of your relationship with Jesus. Seek first the kingdom of God, which is Jesus….and I will provide everything else you require…including the support of people close to you…Acknowledge Me in all your ways and I will make your paths straight. “

“When you make Jesus your first priority, surrender your life to Him and seek a supernatural connection, you can expect the Holy Spirit to lead you to and through the relationships you require to live an abundant life. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own culture, institutions and understandings and I will make your paths straight. I will give you all the familial support you require and it may look like your family, or it may look like something even more magnificent. I will meet all your needs. I came to give you life and life more abundantly.”

 

There is no heaven that has a little corner of hell in it. God is determined to make you pure, holy, and right, and He will not allow you to escape from the scrutiny of the Holy Spirit for even one moment. He urged you to come to judgment immediately when He convicted you, but you did not obey. Then the inevitable process began to work, bringing its inevitable penalty. Now you have been “thrown into prison, [and]…you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny” (5:25-26). Yet you ask, “Is this a God of mercy and love?” When seen from God’s perspective, it is a glorious ministry of love. God is going to bring you out pure, spotless, and undefiled, but He wants you to recognize the nature you were exhibiting— the nature of demanding your right to yourself. The moment you are willing for God to change your nature, His recreating forces will begin to work. And the moment you realize that God’s purpose is to get you into the right relationship with Himself and then with others, He will reach to the very limits of the universe to help you take the right road. Decide to do it right now, saying, “Yes, Lord, I will write that letter,” or, “I will be reconciled to that person now.”These sermons of Jesus Christ are meant for your will and your conscience, not for your head. If you dispute these verses from the Sermon on the Mount with your head, you will dull the appeal to your heart.If you find yourself asking, “I wonder why I’m not growing spiritually with God?”— then ask yourself if you are paying your debts from God’s standpoint. Do now what you will have to do someday. Every moral question or call comes with an “ought” behind it— the knowledge of knowing what we ought to do.

 

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July 1 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, once again it appears that Oswald Chambers takes a position that I ought to do this, or I ought to do that…as he continues to write and teach that there is more work to do to make me “flawless”. But You have been teaching us that the cross has made us “flawless”; that there is no more work to do; that I can add not one iota of value to the work of Jesus on the cross. So why would Chamber teach that we must be convicted and pay a penalty?….He urged you to come to judgment immediately when He convicted you, but you did not obey. Then the inevitable process began to work, bringing its inevitable penalty…..I thought the penalty was totally paid by Jesus.

And God says…”Chambers is describing the process I use to transform you. There are causes and effects in the world. And part of the transforming process includes allowing you the freedom to make wrong choices…and the scriptures have been very clear about causes and effects. When you make a wrong choice, you are subject to the effects of that choice. I do not keep score, because Jesus has paid for all your wrong choices; past, present and future. However the effects of those choices on your life remain. And I use those choices and effects to help mold and shape you. All things work for the good of those that love the Lord. Before Me you are flawless as I see Jesus and the cross instead of your wrong choices. And over time, you are being made into the likeness of Jesus, pure and spotless. Your actual life changes; you are being transformed, as you are surrendered and connected. As you allow the Holy Spirit to take control of your life. “

“As Chambers says….. God is going to bring you out pure, spotless, and undefiled, but He wants you to recognize the nature you were exhibiting— the nature of demanding your right to yourself. The moment you are willing for God to change your nature, His recreating forces will begin to work. And the moment you realize that God’s purpose is to get you into the right relationship with Himself and then with others, He will reach to the very limits of the universe to help you take the right road.”

In this verse, Jesus Christ laid down a very important principle by saying, “Do what you know you must do— now. Do it quickly. If you don’t, an inevitable process will begin to work ‘till you have paid the last penny’ (Matthew 5:26) in pain, agony, and distress.”

God’s laws are unchangeable and there is no escape from them. The teachings of Jesus always penetrate right to the heart of our being.Wanting to make sure that my adversary gives me all my rights is a natural thing. But Jesus says that it is a matter of inescapable and eternal importance to me that I pay my adversary what I owe him. From our Lord’s standpoint it doesn’t matter whether I am cheated or not, but what does matter is that I don’t cheat someone else.

Am I insisting on having my own rights, or am I paying what I owe from Jesus Christ’s standpoint?Do it quickly— bring yourself to judgment now. In moral and spiritual matters, you must act immediately. If you don’t, the inevitable, relentless process will begin to work. God is determined to have His child as pure, clean, and white as driven snow, and as long as there is disobedience in any point of His teaching, He will allow His Spirit to use whatever process it may take to bring us to obedience. The fact that we insist on proving that we are right is almost always a clear indication that we have some point of disobedience. No wonder the Spirit of God so strongly urges us to stay steadfastly in the light! (see John 3:19-21).

“Agree with your adversary quickly….” Have you suddenly reached a certain place in your relationship with someone, only to find that you have anger in your heart? Confess it quickly— make it right before God. Be reconciled to that person— do it now!

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June 30 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Good morning Lord. This devotional struck home. In a conversation with a colleague yesterday, I made certain that I asserted my rights. I suspect that there is/was nothing wrong with setting and communicating boundaries to colleagues, friends and family, but I felt a bit conflicted and convicted after reading this devotional. Asserting my right “to be right” seems to be part and parcel of simply setting and reinforcing boundaries Lord.  Am I to be a “Harvey Milquetoast” and let others steal my rights? Don’t I have to “stand up for my rights?”

And God says…”Certainly you can stand up for your rights.  It is a part of your culture, your DNA. In fact you are about to celebrate a holiday that recognizes and remembers a fight for the rights of your citizens. But this scripture and lesson are designed to remind you that whenever you are engaged in a fight for your rights, make certain that your “fight” is a byproduct of surrendering your rights to Me. This devotional is about doing what is required to stay out of confusion, conflict, and court so that you will be free… and you can stay out of jail. But jail is not the issue. Many of my disciples have found themselves in jail because of their love of God. The caution here is that you not go to jail because of love of yourself and your rights.”

“”Your rights” in our relationship start with giving up your rights. Surrender your rights to be right, to be in charge, in control. Seek first the kingdom of God, and I will provide everything else you require, including protection of your “rights”. If God is for you who can stand against you? Acknowledge Me in all our ways; do not rely on your own position on issues and conflicts, and I will make your paths straight.”

Jesus did not say that everyone must cut off his right hand, but that “if your right hand causes you to sin” in your walk with Him, then it is better to “cut it off.” There are many things that are perfectly legitimate, but if you are going to concentrate on God you cannot do them. Your right hand is one of the best things you have, but Jesus says that if it hinders you in following His precepts, then “cut it off.” The principle taught here is the strictest discipline or lesson that ever hit humankind.When God changes you through regeneration, giving you new life through spiritual rebirth, your life initially has the characteristic of being maimed.

There are a hundred and one things that you dare not do— things that would be sin for you, and would be recognized as sin by those who really know you. But the unspiritual people around you will say, “What’s so wrong with doing that? How absurd you are!” There has never yet been a saint who has not lived a maimed life initially. Yet it is better to enter into life maimed but lovely in God’s sight than to appear lovely to man’s eyes but lame to God’s. At first, Jesus Christ through His Spirit has to restrain you from doing a great many things that may be perfectly right for everyone else but not right for you. Yet, see that you don’t use your restrictions to criticize someone else.

 

The Christian life is a maimed life initially, but in Matthew 5:48 Jesus gave us the picture of a perfectly well-rounded life— “You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

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June 29 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, this is a very difficult teaching: That we are to consider cutting off an arm or to poke out an eye in order to keep us from doing the wrong things. This sounds like a metaphor that I want to avoid reading and studying. It seems too harsh, too legalistic to be a part of what God has been teaching us.

And God says…”Recall Romans 8:1 …there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Before the time of Christ and woven within the culture during His time on earth, there was law and judgments to cut off the right hand and or gouge out the right eye as payment for wrong doing. Here Jesus tells you that if whatever gets in the way of your relationship with Christ must be cut off and thrown into Gehenna…(the place for dumping defiled objects of the Jewish faith).”

“Whatever gets between you and surrender, connection, curiosity and spirit led obedience must be eliminated. During your mornings when you seek to surrender and be strongly connected, do you leave the music up loud? Do you try to pray when people are all around you talking to you? You eliminated your distractions so that you could be surrendered and intimately connected to Me“

“There is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus. When you are a child of God, I cannot see your sin, I can only see Jesus. But whatever gets between your surrender, connection, curiosity and obedience must be eliminated so that you can live allowing the very Spirit of God to live through you. This is why I say it is hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of heaven. His money gets in the way of his surrender and connection. His self-sufficiency can get in the way.  Family obligations can get in the way, as can church service, and church “busy-ness”. This lesson is about removing whatever is in the way of your surrender and connection to Jesus.”

“Acknowledge the Lord in all your ways and do not rely on your own understanding and He will make your paths straight. And when you are not strong enough to do this, simply surrender, and allow Jesus to do it for you, while providing all the grace required to fill the gaps created and left by your humanity.”