Do you have even the slightest reliance on anything or anyone other than God? Is there a remnant of reliance left on any natural quality within you, or on any particular set of circumstances? Are you relying on yourself in any manner whatsoever regarding this new proposal or plan which God has placed before you? Will you examine yourself by asking these probing questions? It really is true to say, “I cannot live a holy life,” but you can decide to let Jesus Christ make you holy. “You cannot serve the Lord . . .”— but you can place yourself in the proper position where God’s almighty power will flow through you. Is your relationship with God sufficient for you to expect Him to exhibit His wonderful life in you?

“The people said to Joshua, ’No, but we will serve the Lord!” ( Joshua 24:21 ). This is not an impulsive action, but a deliberate commitment. We tend to say, “But God could never have called me to this. I’m too unworthy. It can’t mean me.” It does mean you, and the more weak and feeble you are, the better. The person who is still relying and trusting in anything within himself is the last person to even come close to saying, “I will serve the Lord.”

We say, “Oh, if only I really could believe!” The question is, “Will I believe?” No wonder Jesus Christ placed such emphasis on the sin of unbelief. “He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief” ( Matthew 13:58 ). If we really believed that God meant what He said, just imagine what we would be like! Do I really dare to let God be to me all that He says He will be?

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Journal Entry for Today

July 9, 2010

Like most occasions when God wants to tell me something, I hear it over and over again in many, many ways. I hear a song, read a devotional, or a brother tells me the same message in a different way. When I am listening for God I can hear Him. And lately He has been telling me that He can live through me if I simply let Him. He has been telling me that I can have all of God that I want. My requirement is to simply want Him and let Him live through me. It does not occur in the past or in the future, it occurs right now as I listen and acknowledge His presence.

And God says…”I am here with you all the way, all the time. Simply trust…..and obey. Even when you feel as if you cannot believe, that it is too grand or too remarkable or you are too undeserving, I will help you in your unbelief. Simply ask, and you will receive. Even when you cannot see the vision or know the result, believe. When all you know is a void …believe. And when you feel you cannot believe, trust Me to give you the faith to believe.”

“Let Me be your all in all, in the moment. Trust and obey, and let Me transform you. I will give you the passion, hope and faith you need to live life more abundantly.”

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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Journal Entry for Today-JDV

July 8, 2010

The messages were very clear this morning…..from the Joyce Meyer book that spoke about asking God to give me passion and internal motivation for His will, to the music and devotional for the morning. Oswald Chambers says we must choose to do His will. Joyce Meyer says that we can choose His will and then ask God to change us from the inside so that we conform to His will. And as He changes us from the inside, I expect He will also instill us with a passion for His will and vision for our lives.

And God says……”I have a plan for your life, for you to be happy, passionate and committed to a mission operating in My will. However, you must make the choices. I know your human nature and the enemy fight against doing My will, and I know you struggle and search for My will like it is some kind of hidden treasure you must seek, but that is not the way. My will is spelled out in My word. Trust and obey……Love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself. Everything else rests upon these two commandments.

If you seek Me and seek your life in Me, the stepping stones of your life and the passion that lights your way will make your “one step at a time directions” very clear; every day at precisely the right time.

I am the God I am, not the God of what was or what will be. Live in Me right now, and everything else becomes clear and purposeful, as you are filled with passion for the life I live through you, one moment to the next.  

If we are going to live as disciples of Jesus, we have to remember that all efforts of worth and excellence are difficult.  The Christian life is gloriously difficult, but its difficulty does not make us faint and cave in—it stirs us up to overcome.  Do we appreciate the miraculous salvation of Jesus Christ enough to be our utmost for His highest—our best for His glory?

God saves people by His sovereign grace through the atonement of Jesus, and “it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” ( Philippians 2:13 ). But we have to “work out” that salvation in our everyday, practical living (Philippians 2:12). If we will only start on the basis of His redemption to do what He commands, then we will find that we can do it. If we fail, it is because we have not yet put into practice what God has placed within us. But a crisis will reveal whether or not we have been putting it into practice. If we will obey the Spirit of God and practice in our physical life what God has placed within us by His Spirit, then when a crisis does come we will find that our own nature, as well as the grace of God, will stand by us.

Thank God that He does give us difficult things to do! His salvation is a joyous thing, but it is also something that requires bravery, courage, and holiness. It tests us for all we are worth. Jesus is “bringing many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10 , and God will not shield us from the requirements of sonship. God’s grace produces men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, not pampered, spoiled weaklings. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to live the worthy and excellent life of a disciple of Jesus in the realities of life. And it is always necessary for us to make an effort to live a life of worth and excellence.

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Journal Entry for Today-JDV

July 7, 2010

I don’t want to hear about how difficult life will be and is for believers. I don’t want to hear about the pain and suffering and turmoil of this world and how we must endure and rise above it all. Like most other human beings, I gravitate away from pain and toward things that please me.  

I know that when I am inside a difficult time God is with me, I know that nothing can reach me that has not first touched His hands. Nevertheless, I would like to avoid the pain and suffering side of life, if possible. When I am inside a trial God comforts me, but I would rather not know and anticipate more of the same coming toward me.

When I read about the pain and suffering I will endure as a believer, I sometimes pause and wonder if there is another way. Even if I cause the pain for myself I ask God to take me out of it. Why can’t I understand that the reality is that in this life there will be pain and suffering? Why can’t I simply get prepared and endure it and take it like a “good soldier?”

And God says…  “One of the reasons I do not show you the future is that I do not want to engage your fear of pain and suffering. Even though you know I am with you inside of your trials, it is your nature to want to resist pain and attempt to avoid discomfort. I want you to avoid fear, and when you allow Me to lead your life, your fear is cast out by My love, perfect love casts out fear.

It is your nature to try and avoid the pain and suffering of this world, but you need to understand that trials help you get focused on Me. When you are inside trials from which you cannot escape, using your own power and strength, you turn to Me. And over time, you learn to turn to Me before the trials, and from there you learn to turn to Me all the time because the world is full of trials and trouble you will not be able to avoid.

I will not remove you from the trials; however, I will use them to help shape you into the man I want you to become. Perhaps you have noticed that over the past trials you have begun to look more and more like Jesus. It is inside the trials that you come to the end of yourself and learn to trust Me completely, and when you trust Me completely, you are just like Jesus. 

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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Journal Entry for Today-JDV

July 6, 2010

 I awoke singing a new Christian song, not even realizing I was singing the words in my head. I grabbed Joyce Myers’ Book, “I Dare You” and began to read about how we are to be passionate about our lives and the purpose for our lives. She quoted Solomon from Ecclesiastes and reminded me that even Solomon was not satisfied in having and doing everything without passionate purpose. I prayed and asked God, once again, to give me that sense of purpose; to give me a passionate purpose.

And God says…”You are not quite ready for the passionate purpose that I have for you. You are still in training. There is no hurry, we have forever. It is my purpose and my mission I have for you, don’t you know that I will bring it to pass. Together in purpose, we have eternity. Know now that you are aligned with me in seeking my will for your life. All you are to do right now, this minute is trust and obey. I will lead you into My purpose for your life. After all, it is MY purpose, and your life is mine in Christ Jesus. Rest in Me, and know that I will complete the good work that I began. Your life is now MY Life, it is MY Purpose, and MY time…rest in Me, I will bring it to pass.

Don’t plan without God. God seems to have a delightful way of upsetting the plans we have made, when we have not taken Him into account. We get ourselves into circumstances that were not chosen by God, and suddenly we realize that we have been making our plans without Him— that we have not even considered Him to be a vital, living factor in the planning of our lives. And yet the only thing that will keep us from even the possibility of worrying is to bring God in as the greatest factor in all of our planning.

In spiritual issues it is customary for us to put God first, but we tend to think that it is inappropriate and unnecessary to put Him first in the practical, everyday issues of our lives. If we have the idea that we have to put on our “spiritual face” before we can come near to God, then we will never come near to Him. We must come as we are.

Don’t plan with a concern for evil in mind. Does God really mean for us to plan without taking the evil around us into account? “Love . . . thinks no evil” ( 1 Corinthians 13:4-5  ). Love is not ignorant of the existence of evil, but it does not take it into account as a factor in planning. When we were apart from God, we did take evil into account, doing all of our planning with it in mind, and we tried to reason out all of our work from its standpoint.

Don’t plan with a rainy day in mind. You cannot hoard things for a rainy day if you are truly trusting Christ. Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled . . .” (John 14:1 ). God will not keep your heart from being troubled. It is a command— “Let not. . . .” To do it, continually pick yourself up, even if you fall a hundred and one times a day, until you get into the habit of putting God first and planning with Him in mind.

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Journal Entry for Today-JDV

July 5, 2010

I woke up a bit out of sorts….sore and a little more than still tired. Oh I got enough sleep, but riding that 10 miles on Saturday took its toll.

My legs were still a bit rubbery, and unusual for me; I seemed to be taking a while to wake up. I reached for praise and connection with my Lord, and it felt a little “disconnected”. I wonder why? What had I done to break the connection? Why couldn’t I “feel” the connection?

Why couldn’t I “feel” the Spirit of God inside of me? Where was it? Why must I struggle to find it?

And God says… “I am with you always…., nothing can separate you from my love…I have made it very clear in My word in deed that I am always with you, regardless of how you feel about it. You will be constantly under attack from the enemy, especially as you continue to seek me in all things and before you step out into anything. The enemy sees your obedience, and is angry about your happiness and faithfulness. You need not “feel” the Spirit to know that I am there, however, whenever your spirit senses a “distance” between us; know that it cannot exist unless you allow it through your lack of faith. There is never a distance because I have never moved except to be even closer to you.  

The enemy will try to make you believe that there is a distance between us, resist him and he will flee.

There is power and strength in My word and your worship, praise and reliance on me. Within worship, praise and reliance you will always find and “feel” the connection because within the worship, praise and reliance your faith is strengthened.

Fretting means getting ourselves “out of joint” mentally or spiritually. It is one thing to say, “Do not fret,” but something very different to have such a nature that you find yourself unable to fret. It’s easy to say, “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him” ( Psalm 37:7  ) until our own little world is turned upside down and we are forced to live in confusion and agony like so many other people. Is it possible to “rest in the Lord” then? If this “Do not” doesn’t work there, then it will not work anywhere. This “Do not” must work during our days of difficulty and uncertainty, as well as our peaceful days, or it will never work. And if it will not work in your particular case, it will not work for anyone else. Resting in the Lord is not dependent on your external circumstances at all, but on your relationship with God Himself.

Worrying always results in sin. We tend to think that a little anxiety and worry are simply an indication of how wise we really are, yet it is actually a much better indication of just how wicked we are. Fretting rises from our determination to have our own way. Our Lord never worried and was never anxious, because His purpose was never to accomplish His own plans but to fulfill God’s plans. Fretting is wickedness for a child of God.

Have you been propping up that foolish soul of yours with the idea that your circumstances are too much for God to handle? Set all your opinions and speculations aside and “abide under the shadow of the Almighty” ( Psalm 91:1  ). Deliberately tell God that you will not fret about whatever concerns you. All our fretting and worrying is caused by planning without God.

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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Journal Entry for Today-JDV

July 2, 2010

This morning I woke up a couple of times and I noticed that I awake with the words and lyrics of songs of worship. It occurred to me that I was communing with God through Jesus in song. My heart was resting in Him and I was reaching out silently in my head and heart. It has been happening more and more, but it is still not an all the time thing, so I noticed and enjoyed the interlude.

I noticed that I was asking God His direction……and listening closely for His answers. It was not a conversation, but it was, I mean is a constant conversation. And when I am in this constant conversation, I know that I am in the will of God regardless of my circumstances.

And God says………”When you heard the scripture, pray without ceasing, you may have thought originally that I was talking about getting on your knees and praying all day. But as you matured you began to realize that praying without ceasing is simply another way to say, stay connected to Me at all times.”

“As I told you yesterday, I paid an enormous price for our intimate relationship. Without the sacrifice of Jesus we could not have a relationship, because you were not holy. However, when you became holy through Jesus, we were now able to have an intimate relationship with each other. This is the relationship I have sought since the Garden of Eden.”

“Now that we can have this relationship I want to be close to you all the time (I always have wanted this for and from you). But this can only happen when you freely and completely open up to Me. I cannot force myself on you.”

“So now that you have discovered the continuous connection with Me and the intimate relationship and peace and joy it brings, you can reach for it at all times. You and I can be connected all the time. Simply knock and I will answer……all the time. When you are aware, knock, and over time, a transformation will take place when you will not even have to knock. You will simply be in me.”

“Remember this can only occur in the moment. I said I am. Not I was or I will be. You can only find me in the moment. Stay in the moment with Me. This is the very first step of true discipleship.”

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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Journal Entry for Today-JDV

July 1, 2010

I think I hear your voice clearly, giving me specific directions. I think I hear you leading and guiding me…..but then I wonder is it really you? Inside my head I am at war, yes, no, yes no. It couldn’t possibly be God speaking to me, what am I thinking? God wouldn’t be speaking to me …..Would He?

And what He said, that couldn’t possibly be true could it? It seems too far-fetched, too risky, too over the top wonderful. How do I know that it is God talking and not just my own imagination?

I need to be certain; I need to be absolutely sure. Or do I?

And God says….” If you listen closely and act on my direction you will begin to hear Me more clearly. I am always talking to you, but you simply do not listen for me and act. As a consequence you begin to doubt and then because you doubt, you quit listening. When you hear Me, stop and ask Me if it is Me, and I will answer you right then, immediately. (My sheep know My voice) ……….You will know and you can act on my direction. When you begin to do that you will notice our relationship taking on a new growth and new growth rate. Because you will hear Me and act on my direction, I will then give you more and more direction. My desire is to have a more intimate relationship with you. I have invested a great deal in creating this relationship, so why would I not speak with you? Listen, and then be obedient. Our relationship will grow even more than you could ever imagine, and people will begin to see even more of Me in you.

Never choose to be a worker for God, but once God has placed His call on you, woe be to you if you “turn aside to the right hand or to the left” ( Deuteronomy 5:32 ). We are not here to work for God because we have chosen to do so, but because God has “laid hold of” us. And once He has done so, we never have this thought, “Well, I’m really not suited for this.” What you are to preach is also determined by God, not by your own natural leanings or desires. Keep your soul steadfastly related to God, and remember that you are called not simply to convey your testimony but also to preach the gospel. Every Christian must testify to the truth of God, but when it comes to the call to preach, there must be the agonizing grip of God’s hand on you— your life is in the grip of God for that very purpose. How many of us are held like that?

Never water down the Word of God, but preach it in its undiluted sternness. There must be unflinching faithfulness to the Word of God, but when you come to personal dealings with others, remember who you are— you are not some special being created in heaven, but a sinner saved by grace.

“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do. . . I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” ( Philippians 3:13-14 ).

Today’s Journaling , DJR

Good morning Lord.  I hear what Oswald is saying today.   I dont feel gripped the way he talks about.  Usually at least.   What is up with that?   Is my faith defective, weak or is something else wrong with me?

You suffer from some of the same malady that my servant, John noted about the people in Laodacea.

Yes, I know this.  What is to be done?

Oswald is right, you cannot choose your calling or your passion.   You are to discover it.    And then be obedient to it and there is room for diversity in how you work it out.      But you can water  and fertilize the seeds and that is what you do by your choice to meet me here daily and other disciplines that I offer you to choose to do.    Dont crank up passion.  Let me build it as I have created you to be a vessel of passion and creativity to be a blessing. My eyes are looking thru the whole earth to find those who will say, with Isaiah, “here am I, send me.”   and not draw back.

I want to be that man.   But my experience is that of starting and running out of gas and falling back to a level of mediocrity, lukewarmness….

Wait on the Spirit for the passion and direction.  You must start in the Spirit and finish in the Spirit.   The flesh will always run out of gas.    Stay connected to me and practice obedience to the small things first.   Then they will get bigger.  Just stay connected and stay obedient and dont worry about lukewarmness.   I’ll take care of the temperature of all who will seek me and keep on knocking…  they will find me.