His Birth in History. “…that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35). Jesus Christ was born into this world, not from it. He did not emerge out of history; He came into history from the outside. Jesus Christ is not the best human being the human race can boast of— He is a Being for whom the human race can take no credit at all. He is not man becoming God, but God Incarnate— God coming into human flesh from outside it. His life is the highest and the holiest entering through the most humble of doors. Our Lord’s birth was an advent— the appearance of God in human form.

His Birth in Me. “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you…” (Galatians 4:19). Just as our Lord came into human history from outside it, He must also come into me from outside. Have I allowed my personal human life to become a “Bethlehem” for the Son of God? I cannot enter the realm of the kingdom of God unless I am born again from above by a birth totally unlike physical birth. “You must be born again” (John 3:7). This is not a command, but a fact based on the authority of God. The evidence of the new birth is that I yield myself so completely to God that “Christ is formed” in me. And once “Christ is formed” in me, His nature immediately begins to work through me.

God Evident in the Flesh. This is what is made so profoundly possible for you and for me through the redemption of man by Jesus Christ.

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December 25 2015

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Good morning Lord and Happy Birthday. This devotional and  song remind me that while your birthday is a day to celebrate, I cannot forget why You came to earth. You were born to die so that I could live, and you live in me. Thank You Lord.

And God says…”Many were, and are, looking for a king like David or Solomon. And instead I sent a baby. Many were looking for a miracle to keep Jesus from the cross. Instead, He suffered painful and agonizing beatings, was mocked and died on the cross. Then I raised Him up. These are all reasons to celebrate and recognize Jesus now living inside of you. When you celebrate the birth of Jesus today, remember to celebrate His mission and His living sacrifice as well.” 

The Spirit of God testifies to and confirms the simple, but almighty, security of the life that “is hidden with Christ in God.” Paul continually brought this out in his New Testament letters. We talk as if living a sanctified life were the most uncertain and insecure thing we could do. Yet it is the most secure thing possible, because it has Almighty God in and behind it. The most dangerous and unsure thing is to try to live without God. For one who is born again, it is easier to live in a right-standing relationship with God than it is to go wrong, provided we heed God’s warnings and “walk in the light” (1 John 1:7).When we think of being delivered from sin, being “filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18), and “walk[ing] in the light,” we picture the peak of a great mountain. We see it as very high and wonderful, but we say, “Oh, I could never live up there!” However, when we do get there through God’s grace, we find it is not a mountain peak at all, but a plateau with plenty of room to live and to grow. “You enlarged my path under me, so my feet did not slip” (Psalm 18:36).When you really see Jesus, I defy you to doubt Him. If you see Him when He says, “Let not your heart be troubled…” (John 14:27), I defy you to worry. It is virtually impossible to doubt when He is there. Every time you are in personal contact with Jesus, His words are real to you. “My peace I give to you…” (John 14:27)— a peace which brings an unconstrained confidence and covers you completely, from the top of your head to the soles of your feet. “…your life is hidden with Christ in God,” and the peace of Jesus Christ that cannot be disturbed has been imparted to you._______________________________________________________________December 24 2014

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Good morning Lord, thank you for this devotional and song that reminds us that You are here with us, and that “You are the one that conquers giants, calls out kings, you close the mouths of lions and tell the dead to breathe.”  You can do anything Lord, and You take the time to remind me that You are still doing these things on our behalf.

And God says…”Reread this portion of the devotional…”When you really see Jesus, I defy you to doubt Him. If you see Him when He says, “Let not your heart be troubled…” (John 14:27), I defy you to worry. It is virtually impossible to doubt when He is there. Every time you are in personal contact with Jesus, His words are real to you. “My peace I give to you…” (John 14:27)— a peace which brings an unconstrained confidence and covers you completely, from the top of your head to the soles of your feet. “…your life is hidden with Christ in God,” and the peace of Jesus Christ that cannot be disturbed has been imparted to you.”

“This is the message you have been learning for months and years; the most important part of your spiritual life is your connection to and with Me.  Our intimate, daily, hourly relationship allows you to live knowing that I am the great I am and that when you seek Me first, I am able to meet all your needs. When you delight yourself in the Lord I can give you the desires of your heart.”

“I came to earth to help  demonstrate and solidify our intimate relationship through Jesus, the Messiah.”

Never be sympathetic with a person whose situation causes you to conclude that God is dealing harshly with him. God can be more tender than we can conceive, and every once in a while He gives us the opportunity to deal firmly with someone so that He may be viewed as the tender One. If a person cannot go to God, it is because he has something secret which he does not intend to give up— he may admit his sin, but would no more give up that thing than he could fly under his own power. It is impossible to deal sympathetically with people like that. We must reach down deep in their lives to the root of the problem, which will cause hostility and resentment toward the message. People want the blessing of God, but they can’t stand something that pierces right through to the heart of the matter.

If you are sensitive to God’s way, your message as His servant will be merciless and insistent, cutting to the very root. Otherwise, there will be no healing. We must drive the message home so forcefully that a person cannot possibly hide, but must apply its truth. Deal with people where they are, until they begin to realize their true need. Then hold high the standard of Jesus for their lives. Their response may be, “We can never be that.” Then drive it home with, “Jesus Christ says you must.” “But how can we be?” “You can’t, unless you have a new Spirit” (see Luke 11:13).

There must be a sense of need created before your message is of any use. Thousands of people in this world profess to be happy without God. But if we could be truly happy and moral without Jesus, then why did He come? He came because that kind of happiness and peace is only superficial. Jesus Christ came to “bring…a sword” through every kind of peace that is not based on a personal relationship with Himself.

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December 19 2014

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, I believe your word is like a sword, and it often cuts us, and those we interact with to the quick. Your word points out my need for a Savior, and your Spirit convicts non-believers, but I can find no scripture that tells me I should be rude or heavy handed. When Chambers says I must deal with those that offer strong opposition so that I …will cause hostility and resentment toward the message, I am not sure.

And God says…”Let Me deliver the message to those you come in contact with. Do not have any preconceived ideas about how or what you say or do. Just let Me live through you, through our connection; and allow Me to deliver the message that is needed. Most often you will not even be aware that you are a living, breathing testimony of Jesus. On your most effective days, you will not even be aware that your message was sent by My Spirit, through our connection and received by another. Jesus only gave you two commandments; love your God with all your heart, mind and spirit, and love your neighbor as yourself. As long as your communication is based on these two commandments, you need not be concerned about anything else.”

It is only a faithful person who truly believes that God sovereignly controls his circumstances. We take our circumstances for granted, saying God is in control, but not really believing it. We act as if the things that happen were completely controlled by people. To be faithful in every circumstance means that we have only one loyalty, or object of our faith— the Lord Jesus Christ. God may cause our circumstances to suddenly fall apart, which may bring the realization of our unfaithfulness to Him for not recognizing that He had ordained the situation. We never saw what He was trying to accomplish, and that exact event will never be repeated in our life. This is where the test of our faithfulness comes. If we will just learn to worship God even during the difficult circumstances, He will change them for the better very quickly if He so chooses.Being faithful to Jesus Christ is the most difficult thing we try to do today. We will be faithful to our work, to serving others, or to anything else; just don’t ask us to be faithful to Jesus Christ. Many Christians become very impatient when we talk about faithfulness to Jesus. Our Lord is dethroned more deliberately by Christian workers than by the world. We treat God as if He were a machine designed only to bless us, and we think of Jesus as just another one of the workers.

The goal of faithfulness is not that we will do work for God, but that He will be free to do His work through us. God calls us to His service and places tremendous responsibilities on us. He expects no complaining on our part and offers no explanation on His part. God wants to use us as He used His own Son.

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December 18 2014

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

God, the first thought that comes to mind when I think of being tested is my inability to “keep the faith”. And I ask myself why in the world would You test me in the first place, when you already know my inability to stand against formidable challenges? I say and do the wrong things more often than I say and do the right things. When I read a devotional about how you test us Lord, I feel confused, because you already know that I will fail tests of faith; that I am frightened of pink slips, a dwindling bank account, and difficult diagnosis and prognoses. You already know that I want to avoid  pain and the difficulties of life. Why would you want to test and exposé me for the failure that I am?

And God says…”Of course you fail tests of faith.  Every man does.  Look at Elijah, Moses, David, Peter,  Paul and others. I do not test so that I can see your strength and faithfulness; I test you so that you can see your need of a Savior…in all areas of your life. Left to your own devices you will choose the easy path, the one without trials and difficult circumstances. Left to your own devices, you will not choose the difficult paths, and as a result you will not grow in your faith. And to be grown in your faith does not mean that you will one day be able to handle more and more difficult circumstances, on your own, it means you will grow to the point of surrendering the circumstances to Me at your very earliest opportunity. Seek first the Kingdom of God, and I will provide everything else you need. Acknowledge Me in all your ways, and I will make your paths straight.  Delight yourself in the Lord, and I will give you the desires of your heart.  Remind yourself of the many times I have interceded on your behalf, or of the times that your worst fears did not come true….remind yourself of how I go before you, and that I do not test you to determine your weakness or strength, I test you so that you will grow to the point of looking and finding strength in your surrenders to Jesus.”

” And as you recall your growth and strength that has come from your surrenders to Me…….as the song says…Just say Amen.”

The gospel of God creates the sense of need for the gospel. Is the gospel hidden to those who are servants already? No, Paul said, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe…” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). The majority of people think of themselves as being completely moral, and have no sense of need for the gospel. It is God who creates this sense of need in a human being, but that person remains totally unaware of his need until God makes Himself evident. Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you…” (Matthew 7:7). But God cannot give until a man asks. It is not that He wants to withhold something from us, but that is the plan He has established for the way of redemption. Through our asking, God puts His process in motion, creating something in us that was nonexistent until we asked. The inner reality of redemption is that it creates all the time. And as redemption creates the life of God in us, it also creates the things which belong to that life. The only thing that can possibly satisfy the need is what created the need. This is the meaning of redemption— it creates and it satisfies.Jesus said, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32). When we preach our own experiences, people may be interested, but it awakens no real sense of need. But once Jesus Christ is “lifted up,” the Spirit of God creates an awareness of the need for Him. The creative power of the redemption of God works in the souls of men only through the preaching of the gospel. It is never the sharing of personal experiences that saves people, but the truth of redemption. “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).________________________________________________________December 17 2014

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, at first it seems as if Oswald Chambers is once again writing about how things must be done in order to receive your redemption and the power of the Holy Spirit from that redemption. He says we must ask before You will respond; that the power of redemption can only come alive in us as we ask.  But your word told me yesterday (Romans 8:26-28 MSG) that I did not need to know how or what to pray for, that You would do that for me. Should I ask You for specific things in this life? If You already know my needs, then why am I to ask? And when you do not respond to my prayers, when it seems as if You have taken a holiday, what am I to do?  Keep asking until you respond? Or leave my request on Your altar believing You will respond when it is good for me?

And God says…”First of all understand that redemption means you are forgiven, holy, justified, free, adopted, and reconciled. And because you are forgiven, holy, justified, free, adopted and reconciled, I can respond to you as I would one of My children.”

“Chambers was making his students and you aware that the nature of redemption is that you begin to understand that the power for human transformation and grace for daily living comes from God. And asking in prayer is simply your confirmation of your knowledge that I am your source. I am your source for redemption and everything else in your life.”

“However, you may ask for things that could not possibly serve you well. In fact, many of your blessings have come from the prayers I did not answer. Many of your blessings have come from those prayers that I did answer. Your prayer requests acknowledge that I am your God, and you recognize that you can do no good thing apart from Me.  While I know and hear your needs, I cannot answer any prayer that is not for your ultimate good.  And when I do not respond in the time frame you believe is important, it is because I know time like you cannot know time, I know your needs and happiness because I am God and I created you. I can and will and do more for your well-being than you can possibly comprehend. Trust in Me with all your heart and do not rely on your own understanding, and I will make your paths straight. Ask and you shall receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened. Delight yourself in the Lord and I will give you the desires of your heart.”

You must learn to wrestle against the things that hinder your communication with God, and wrestle in prayer for other people; but to wrestle with God in prayer is unscriptural. If you ever do wrestle with God, you will be crippled for the rest of your life. If you grab hold of God and wrestle with Him, as Jacob did, simply because He is working in a way that doesn’t meet with your approval, you force Him to put you out of joint (see Genesis 32:24-25). Don’t become a cripple by wrestling with the ways of God, but be someone who wrestles before God with the things of this world, because “we are more than conquerors through Him…” (Romans 8:37). Wrestling before God makes an impact in His kingdom. If you ask me to pray for you, and I am not complete in Christ, my prayer accomplishes nothing. But if I am complete in Christ, my prayer brings victory all the time. Prayer is effective only when there is completeness— “take up the whole armor of God….”Always make a distinction between God’s perfect will and His permissive will, which He uses to accomplish His divine purpose for our lives. God’s perfect will is unchangeable. It is with His permissive will, or the various things that He allows into our lives, that we must wrestle before Him. It is our reaction to these things allowed by His permissive will that enables us to come to the point of seeing His perfect will for us. “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God…” (Romans 8:28)— to those who remain true to God’s perfect will— His calling in Christ Jesus. God’s permissive will is the testing He uses to reveal His true sons and daughters. We should not be spineless and automatically say, “Yes, it is the Lord’s will.” We don’t have to fight or wrestle with God, but we must wrestle before God with things. Beware of lazily giving up. Instead, put up a glorious fight and you will find yourself empowered with His strength.

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December 12 2014

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, how can I tell if I am engaged in a glorious fight, as Chambers says, or if I am wrestling with circumstances that you have given me for my refining and shaping? Lord I try to wrestle against everything that can or does cause pain, uncertainty, fear or anguish. How can I know when I am wrestling with the right things? How can I know when to put up a glorious fight or to simply accept your perfect or permissive will? The whole permissive will versus perfect will discussion is one that I have difficulty fully understanding as well.

And God says…”Read the verse the way Eugene Peterson translated it… Romans 8:26-28 ……, “God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.”

“You do not necessarily need to naturally make a decision about what to fight or accept, because you believe one thing is God’s will for your life and another is not. You need not fight against a thought, action, movement or enemy because you believe they are battles against My kingdom.  Your certainty that a battle is worth fighting is not the key to making that decision.  Your view of the potential outcome does not dictate whether or not you choose to fight a battle. I am God, there is no reason to fight against things that cannot hurt Me, and I do not need help in fighting battles. However, you can be in such close relationship with Me that there is never any doubt about what battles you are to fight. ^“Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all.  Run to God! Run from evil! Your body will glow with health; your very bones will vibrate with life! Honor God with everything you own; give him the first and the best. Your barns will burst, your wine vats will brim over.”

 

If you cannot express yourself well on each of your beliefs, work and study until you can. If you don’t, other people may miss out on the blessings that come from knowing the truth. Strive to re-express a truth of God to yourself clearly and understandably, and God will use that same explanation when you share it with someone else. But you must be willing to go through God’s winepress where the grapes are crushed. You must struggle, experiment, and rehearse your words to express God’s truth clearly. Then the time will come when that very expression will become God’s wine of strength to someone else. But if you are not diligent and say, “I’m not going to study and struggle to express this truth in my own words; I’ll just borrow my words from someone else,” then the words will be of no value to you or to others. Try to state to yourself what you believe to be the absolute truth of God, and you will be allowing God the opportunity to pass it on through you to someone else.Always make it a practice to stir your own mind thoroughly to think through what you have easily believed. Your position is not really yours until you make it yours through suffering and study. The author or speaker from whom you learn the most is not the one who teaches you something you didn’t know before, but the one who helps you take a truth with which you have quietly struggled, give it expression, and speak it clearly and boldly.

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December 15 2014

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, when we are connected You are reminding me who I am to You, and I can share this in ways I could not otherwise, regardless of my preparation and study. And I know that when you see me you do not look on me with approval or disapproval, there is no judgment, because when you look at me you see Jesus. Thank You for reminding me that it is not a question of study or diligence, it is once again a question of connection and relationship; everything else follows.

And God says…”Acknowledge Me in all your ways and I will make your paths straight. When you read about the Prodigal Son, you recall that the son was not forced to prepare himself, or change his ways, in fact the father would not even give him time to confess his wrongdoing before he embraced him. Connection and relationship with you is what I desire from you. And when we are connected and in relationship, the Spirit of God will speak for you, Jesus living inside of you will be visible to others as you are being transformed. Never worry about being good enough or if I will approve of you or what you say and do. Simply be connected and in relationship with Me and let Me take care of everything else, including your diligence, study and preparation. Seek first the Kingdom of God and everything else you need will be provided. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

Personality is the unique, limitless part of our life that makes us distinct from everyone else. It is too vast for us even to comprehend. An island in the sea may be just the top of a large mountain, and our personality is like that island. We don’t know the great depths of our being, therefore we cannot measure ourselves. We start out thinking we can, but soon realize that there is really only one Being who fully understands us, and that is our Creator.Personality is the characteristic mark of the inner, spiritual man, just as individuality is the characteristic of the outer, natural man. Our Lord can never be described in terms of individuality and independence, but only in terms of His total Person— “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30). Personality merges, and you only reach your true identity once you are merged with another person. When love or the Spirit of God come upon a person, he is transformed. He will then no longer insist on maintaining his individuality. Our Lord never referred to a person’s individuality or his isolated position, but spoke in terms of the total person— “…that they may be one just as We are one….” Once your rights to yourself are surrendered to God, your true personal nature begins responding to God immediately. Jesus Christ brings freedom to your total person, and even your individuality is transformed. The transformation is brought about by love— personal devotion to Jesus. Love is the overflowing result of one person in true fellowship with another.

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December 12 2014

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, this sentence in today’s devotional caught my attention …”Once your rights to yourself are surrendered to God, your true personal nature begins responding to God immediately.”  I examined this sentence a number of ways and it left me wondering.

And God says…”You are a child of God and as My child you take on My characteristics…. as Paul wrote in his second letter to the Corinthians….¹⁸ But we Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like Him. When you surrender to Me your rights to be who you want to be, in essence your personality, you give Me permission to mold and shape you more and more into My image day by day, hour by hour.  When you are connected to Jesus, by the Spirit of God living within you, you begin to resemble Him, just as He resembles Me.  You are transformed. You no longer have to keep to the rules or regulations; you are free…as Paul wrote in verse 17… The Lord is the Spirit who gives them life, and where he is there is freedom from trying to be saved by keeping the laws of God.”

Individuality is the hard outer layer surrounding the inner spiritual life. Individuality shoves others aside, separating and isolating people. We see it as the primary characteristic of a child, and rightly so. When we confuse individuality with the spiritual life, we remain isolated. This shell of individuality is God’s created natural covering designed to protect the spiritual life. But our individuality must be yielded to God so that our spiritual life may be brought forth into fellowship with Him. Individuality counterfeits spirituality, just as lust counterfeits love. God designed human nature for Himself, but individuality corrupts that human nature for its own purposes.The characteristics of individuality are independence and self-will. We hinder our spiritual growth more than any other way by continually asserting our individuality. If you say, “I can’t believe,” it is because your individuality is blocking the way; individuality can never believe. But our spirit cannot help believing. Watch yourself closely when the Spirit of God is at work in you. He pushes you to the limits of your individuality where a choice must be made. The choice is either to say, “I will not surrender,” or to surrender, breaking the hard shell of individuality, which allows the spiritual life to emerge. The Holy Spirit narrows it down every time to one thing (see Matthew 5:23-24). It is your individuality that refuses to “be reconciled to your brother” (Matthew 5:24). God wants to bring you into union with Himself, but unless you are willing to give up your right to yourself, He cannot. “…let him deny himself…”— deny his independent right to himself. Then the real life-the spiritual life-is allowed the opportunity to grow.

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December 11 2014

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

I heard a comedian describe our struggle with individuality yesterday God, and it was funny in a paradoxical kind of way. He said that when we are young children maybe around the ages of three to six or so (depending on the person) we shout out our independence when we recognize our individuality. We shout out to our parents, “I can do it myself! Leave me alone I want to do it by myself!”  And then years later in our teens or older we sing the melancholy song…”All by myself, don’t wanna be all by myself… anymore”.

I think I am beginning to understand more fully the issue of individuality and how it gets in the way of my spirituality Lord; my desire to try to “go it alone”.  As a natural reflex I just quickly and naturally (as opposed to supernaturally) trust my own intellect and senses every day in many, many ways especially in areas where it seems the issues are not “spiritual”.  But that kind of individuality just gets in the way of my own success and happiness.  And when I stand back and think about it, why would any human want to trust their own limited intellect and senses, when we can rely on Your capabilities, the God that made the universe and holds the future in His hands?

 

And God says…”My ways are not your ways. With God all things are possible. How can a human understand how I made the universe? How can you grasp my ways and intentions?  This is why you must come to Me out of faith, and give up your own understanding. I want you to decide to be connected to Me, to have a relationship with Me.  But for that to happen you must give up on your own intellect, your own ways and means, you must surrender your right to choose your ways and allow the Holy Spirit to live through you. If you want to be in relationship with Me you must forget “I can do it myself”, or doing it your way. Trust in Me with ALL your heart and do not rely on your own understanding, or ways and means and I will make your paths straight. Seek first the Kingdom of God, not your own answers, and I will provide all that you need. Delight yourself in the Lord and I will give you the desires of our heart.