This statement is not some haphazard theory, but it is an eternal law of God. Whatever judgment you give will be the very way you are judged. There is a difference between retaliation and retribution. Jesus said that the basis of life is retribution— “with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” If you have been shrewd in finding out the shortcomings of others, remember that will be exactly how you will be measured. The way you pay is the way life will pay you back. This eternal law works from God’s throne down to us (see Psalm 18:25-26).

Romans 2:1 applies it in even a more definite way by saying that the one who criticizes another is guilty of the very same thing. God looks not only at the act itself, but also at the possibility of committing it, which He sees by looking at our hearts. To begin with, we do not believe the statements of the Bible. For instance, do we really believe the statement that says we criticize in others the very things we are guilty of ourselves? The reason we see hypocrisy, deceit, and a lack of genuineness in others is that they are all in our own hearts. The greatest characteristic of a saint is humility, as evidenced by being able to say honestly and humbly, “Yes, all those, as well as other evils, would have been exhibited in me if it were not for the grace of God. Therefore, I have no right to judge.”

Jesus said, “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1). He went on to say, in effect, “If you do judge, you will be judged in exactly the same way.” Who of us would dare to stand before God and say, “My God, judge me as I have judged others”? We have judged others as sinners— if God should judge us in the same way, we would be condemned to hell. Yet God judges us on the basis of the miraculous atonement by the Cross of Christ.

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June 22, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, thank you for the lesson about love. Thank you for showing me over and over and over again that you love me anyway, regardless of who I am or what I have done…or left undone. And thank you for Your Holy Spirit that allows me to offer this same kind of forgiveness and grace. As I consider the hurts and slights of others, I suddenly notice that you have removed the notion of judgment. Thank You Lord.

And God says…”The supernatural ability to forgive is a gift of faith activated by your desire to leave your judgments behind. My grace becomes a part of your life, actions and relationships as you seek Me and stay in connection with Me.”

ed

By what right have we become “a royal priesthood”? It is by the right of the atonement by the Cross of Christ that this has been accomplished. Are we prepared to purposely disregard ourselves and to launch out into the priestly work of prayer? The continual inner-searching we do in an effort to see if we are what we ought to be generates a self-centered, sickly type of Christianity, not the vigorous and simple life of a child of God. Until we get into this right and proper relationship with God, it is simply a case of our “hanging on by the skin of our teeth,” although we say, “What a wonderful victory I have!” Yet there is nothing at all in that which indicates the miracle of redemption. Launch out in reckless, unrestrained belief that the redemption is complete. Then don’t worry anymore about yourself, but begin to do as Jesus Christ has said, in essence, “Pray for the friend who comes to you at midnight, pray for the saints of God, and pray for all men.” Pray with the realization that you are perfect only in Christ Jesus, not on the basis of this argument: “Oh, Lord, I have done my best; please hear me now.”

How long is it going to take God to free us from the unhealthy habit of thinking only about ourselves? We must get to the point of being sick to death of ourselves, until there is no longer any surprise at anything God might tell us about ourselves. We cannot reach and understand the depths of our own meagerness. There is only one place where we are right with God, and that is in Christ Jesus. Once we are there, we have to pour out our lives for all we are worth in this ministry of the inner life.

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June 21, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

The lesson resonates this morning along with the music; that God put the light in me. It is His light, and when I am connected to Him, I can reflect His light. One more reminder that even at my very best, I have no light of my own, so I might as well quit worrying about my “worthiness”. I am to focus on Jesus and allow His light to flow through me to others. It is in this way that I can know the peace that passes all understanding, and life and life more abundantly.

And God says…”You are completed when you are a reflection of Me, and that reflection can only shine on others, it cannot shine on you. Reach out and become one with Me as you seek to give Me food, and water and clothing by giving to others.

Matthew 25:35-40 (NIV)

³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

A pitiful, sickly, and self-centered kind of prayer and a determined effort and selfish desire to be right with God are never found in the New Testament. The fact that I am trying to be right with God is actually a sign that I am rebelling against the atonement by the Cross of Christ. I pray, “Lord, I will purify my heart if You will answer my prayer— I will walk rightly before You if You will help me.” But I cannot make myself right with God; I cannot make my life perfect. I can only be right with God if I accept the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ as an absolute gift. Am I humble enough to accept it? I have to surrender all my rights and demands, and cease from every self-effort. I must leave myself completely alone in His hands, and then I can begin to pour my life out in the priestly work of intercession. There is a great deal of prayer that comes from actual disbelief in the atonement. Jesus is not just beginning to save us— He has already saved us completely. It is an accomplished fact, and it is an insult to Him for us to ask Him to do what He has already done.

If you are not now receiving the “hundredfold” which Jesus promised (see Matthew 19:29), and not getting insight into God’s Word, then start praying for your friends— enter into the ministry of the inner life. “The Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends.” As a saved soul, the real business of your life is intercessory prayer. Whatever circumstances God may place you in, always pray immediately that His atonement may be recognized and as fully understood in the lives of others as it has been in yours. Pray for your friends now, and pray for those with whom you come in contact now.

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June 20, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, with all due respect to Oswald Chambers, I am wary of lessons that say I must do this first, or that first, before You will answer my prayer or touch my heart. I understand that we must take our eyes off our own wants and needs, but I am not so sure that this is step one in any kind of formula. And to be blunt and honest Lord, I am suspicious of any lesson by any Bible teacher that lays out a formula that tells me I must do this or that or this other thing before I will be healed or made  complete. The lesson You have been teaching me Lord is that I am simply to come to You……and that nothing can keep me from Your love.

And God says…”The truth is so simple and complete that many miss it. My love for you is beyond anything you can hope or imagine. I accept you just as you are because of the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. No mountain, valley or desert can keep you from My love. No bad choice or selfish ambition will keep you from My love. Your present, past and future are covered by the blood of Jesus. Healing is in My hands. Trust in Me with all your heart; do not rely on your own direction or the power of this world. No matter where you are…you can and will find My love.”

In the matter of drudgery. Peter said in this passage that we have become “partakers of the divine nature” and that we should now be “giving all diligence,” concentrating on forming godly habits (2 Peter 1:4-5). We are to “add” to our lives all that character means. No one is born either naturally or supernaturally with character; it must be developed. Nor are we born with habits— we have to form godly habits on the basis of the new life God has placed within us. We are not meant to be seen as God’s perfect, bright-shining examples, but to be seen as the everyday essence of ordinary life exhibiting the miracle of His grace. Drudgery is the test of genuine character. The greatest hindrance in our spiritual life is that we will only look for big things to do. Yet, “Jesus . . . took a towel and . . . began to wash the disciples’ feet . . .” (John 13:3-5).

We all have those times when there are no flashes of light and no apparent thrill to life, where we experience nothing but the daily routine with its common everyday tasks. The routine of life is actually God’s way of saving us between our times of great inspiration which come from Him. Don’t always expect God to give you His thrilling moments, but learn to live in those common times of the drudgery of life by the power of God.

It is difficult for us to do the “adding” that Peter mentioned here. We say we do not expect God to take us to heaven on flowery beds of ease, and yet we act as if we do! I must realize that my obedience even in the smallest detail of life has all of the omnipotent power of the grace of God behind it. If I will do my duty, not for duty’s sake but because I believe God is engineering my circumstances, then at the very point of my obedience all of the magnificent grace of God is mine through the glorious atonement by the Cross of Christ.

If you abandon everything to Jesus, and come when He says, “Come,” then He will continue to say, “Come,” through you. You will go out into the world reproducing the echo of Christ’s “Come.” That is the result in every soul who has abandoned all and come to Jesus.

Have I come to Him? Will I come now?

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June 13, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

It is with a measure of awareness that see a glimpse of my future; a very certain future. When I grasp the concept that all things work together for the good of those that love the Lord…and I consider that God engineers all my circumstances, then there is no anxiety or fear, only surrender. When there is surrender, there is faith, love, peace, hope, joy and an eager anticipation. If I know this is true, and I do know this…. then Lord how is it that I am often consumed by difficult circumstances instead of being at peace living in eager anticipation of what will occur next?

And God says, “Whenever you take your eyes off of Me and look around at the waves, or the storms around you; or the potential for waves and storms….you get drawn into them. When you are totally surrendered to Me and at peace, full of joy you know it NOT because your circumstances are always perfect. You are at peace because you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the God of the universe loves you and cares for you.  You know that the God that would give His only Son for you, would not withhold any other good thing from you. Trust in Me, look for Me in all you say and do and seek to be a messenger of my blessings today. “

“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. . .” (Isaiah 55:1). Are you thirsty, or complacent and indifferent— so satisfied with your own experience that you want nothing more of God? Experience is a doorway, not a final goal. Beware of building your faith on experience, or your life will not ring true and will only sound the note of a critical spirit. Remember that you can never give another person what you have found, but you can cause him to have a desire for it.

“. . . knock, and it will be opened to you” (Luke 11:9). “Draw near to God . . .” (James 4:8). Knock— the door is closed, and your heartbeat races as you knock. “Cleanse your hands . . .” (James 4:8). Knock a bit louder— you begin to find that you are dirty. “. . . purify your hearts . . .” (James 4:8). It is becoming even more personal— you are desperate and serious now— you will do anything. “Lament . . . ” (James 4:9). Have you ever lamented, expressing your sorrow before God for the condition of your inner life? There is no thread of self-pity left, only the heart-rending difficulty and amazement which comes from seeing what kind of person you really are. “Humble yourselves . . . ” (James 4:10). It is a humbling experience to knock at God’s door— you have to knock with the crucified thief. “. . . to him who knocks it will be opened” (Luke 11:10).

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June 10, 2010

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord thank You for providing all that I need in You. Sometimes I take my eyes off of You and look at my circumstances or I look at what I think will be solutions to my life’s issues and opportunities. Still other times, when I think about it, I feel unworthy. And then your Spirit and word speak to me softly reminding me that because of what You have done, I can come boldly to you with my life and my needs. You remind me that I am yours. Because of who You are.

And God says…”When you let go of all that you think you must hang onto for support, you will find that I will never, ever let you fall. But you must first let go. Whom or what shall you fear, when you clearly realize that you are Mine? If I am for you, and My sacrifice is testimony to that fact, then who can stand against you? You are mine and I will withhold no good thing from you. Trust in Me and let go of what you think is your safety net…and I will make your paths straight.”

Ask if you have not received. There is nothing more difficult than asking. We will have yearnings and desires for certain things, and even suffer as a result of their going unfulfilled, but not until we are at the limit of desperation will we ask. It is the sense of not being spiritually real that causes us to ask. Have you ever asked out of the depths of your total insufficiency and poverty? “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God . . . ” (James 1:5), but be sure that you do lack wisdom before you ask. You cannot bring yourself to the point of spiritual reality anytime you choose. The best thing to do, once you realize you are not spiritually real, is to ask God for the Holy Spirit, basing your request on the promise of Jesus Christ (see Luke 11:13). The Holy Spirit is the one who makes everything that Jesus did for you real in your life.

“Everyone who asks receives . . . .” This does not mean that you will not get if you do not ask, but it means that until you come to the point of asking, you will not receive from God (seeMatthew 5:45). To be able to receive means that you have to come into the relationship of a child of God, and then you comprehend and appreciate mentally, morally, and with spiritual understanding, that these things come from God.

“If any of you lacks wisdom . . . .” If you realize that you are lacking, it is because you have come in contact with spiritual reality— do not put the blinders of reason on again. The word ask actually means “beg.” Some people are poor enough to be interested in their poverty, and some of us are poor enough spiritually to show our interest. Yet we will never receive if we ask with a certain result in mind, because we are asking out of our lust, not out of our poverty. A pauper does not ask out of any reason other than the completely hopeless and painful condition of his poverty. He is not ashamed to beg— blessed are the paupers in spirit (see Matthew 5:3).

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June 9, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

I wonder how you see my needs and pleadings. Do I wear You out with my cries for forgiveness, help and direction? Then I talk to one of my children and then I understand. Our cries to You are indeed better than a halleluiah.

And God says…” You cannot begin to understand the depths of My love for you. I love you more than you can ever hope or imagine and I want to demonstrate my love in every possible way. And just like a parent I understand what is the very best for you.  Just like a parent, I want you grasp the tough gifts of discipline, commitment and responsibility, while you also demonstrate love, hope, loving-kindness, and forgiveness.  I showed you immeasurable love in the person and sacrifice of Jesus. You must know that I would not withhold any good thing from you.”

Be determined to know more than others. If you yourself do not cut the lines that tie you to the dock, God will have to use a storm to sever them and to send you out to sea. Put everything in your life afloat upon God, going out to sea on the great swelling tide of His purpose, and your eyes will be opened. If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time in the calm waters just inside the harbor, full of joy, but always tied to the dock. You have to get out past the harbor into the great depths of God, and begin to know things for yourself— begin to have spiritual discernment.

When you know that you should do something and you do it, immediately you know more. Examine where you have become sluggish, where you began losing interest spiritually, and you will find that it goes back to a point where you did not do something you knew you should do. You did not do it because there seemed to be no immediate call to do it. But now you have no insight or discernment, and at a time of crisis you are spiritually distracted instead of spiritually self-controlled. It is a dangerous thing to refuse to continue learning and knowing more.

The counterfeit of obedience is a state of mind in which you create your own opportunities to sacrifice yourself, and your zeal and enthusiasm are mistaken for discernment. It is easier to sacrifice yourself than to fulfill your spiritual destiny, which is stated in Romans 12:1-2. It is much better to fulfill the purpose of God in your life by discerning His will than it is to perform great acts of self-sacrifice. “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice . . .” (1 Samuel 15:22). Beware of paying attention or going back to what you once were, when God wants you to be something that you have never been. “If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know . . .” (John 7:17).

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June 8, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Thank you for the lessons Lord. I am learning that Your will is not determined by the outcome as interpreted by my eyes and my filters. It is not an easy lesson.  I have always interpreted Your will by the doors that open to provision, safety …a good or more secure outcome for me and mine.  I have interpreted my next steps by how they might add to the safety, security, and provision for my family and me. It is not an easy lesson to learn that I am to no longer use those elements as my yardstick to determine Your will, my next steps or actions. The song says blessed be your name in all things…and I understand that I can sing that song as long as I am obedient to your will and often Your will is not necessarily found in my perceptions. You are the provision, safety, and security…and I am to follow You-not the elements that might signal safety, security and provision.

And God says…”It is a great deception.  You often interpret My will by the worldly success or outcome or opportunity. You think it was a success if 1000 showed up at church, or if 25 came forward, or if the investment paid off and or he or she were healed. And while it is My will that people are healed and you be blessed, my perfect will is for you to become conformed to the likeness of Christ Jesus. Jesus only acted in My will and you know the outcome of His physical life. And yet it was the most victorious life ever lived. The victory came out of what appeared (to human eyes and perceptions) to be utter defeat. The eternal victory came after and through the physical and worldly failure. Trust in the Lord with all your heart; praise the name of Jesus in all things. Operate in My will because You know it is My will, not because you think it has the most successful worldly outcome. My ways are not your ways.

Romans 12

Place Your Life Before God

^1-2 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.

Am I fulfilling this ministry of intercession deep within the hidden recesses of my life? There is no trap nor any danger at all of being deceived or of showing pride in true intercession. It is a hidden ministry that brings forth fruit through which the Father is glorified. Am I allowing my spiritual life to waste away, or am I focused, bringing everything to one central point— the atonement of my Lord? Is Jesus Christ more and more dominating every interest of my life? If the central point, or the most powerful influence, of my life is the atonement of the Lord, then every aspect of my life will bear fruit for Him.

However, I must take the time to realize what this central point of power is. Am I willing to give one minute out of every hour to concentrate on it? “If you abide in Me . . . “— that is, if you continue to act, and think, and work from that central point— “you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (John 15:7). Am I abiding? Am I taking the time to abide? What is the greatest source of power in my life? Is it my work, service, and sacrifice for others, or is it my striving to work for God? It should be none of these— what ought to exert the greatest power in my life is the atonement of the Lord. It is not on what we spend the greatest amount of time that molds us the most, but whatever exerts the most power over us. We must make a determination to limit and concentrate our desires and interests on the atonement by the Cross of Christ.

“Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do . . . .” The disciple who abides in Jesus is the will of God, and what appears to be his free choices are actually God’s foreordained decrees. Is this mysterious? Does it appear to contradict sound logic or seem totally absurd? Yes, but what a glorious truth it is to a saint of God.

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June 7, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

I used to wonder about Your many names Lord. Jehovah – Jireh, The Lord will provide, or Jehovah – Shalom, The Lord of Peace, and Jehovah – Maccaddeshem, The Lord sanctifier, and the eleven others    listed in the Bible. Why were You given so many names?  And then as the song played I considered the names of Jesus; Healer, Savior, Provider, Sanctifier, Deliverer……and I could go on and on and on. And I begin to realize that it is simply one more way to trust You in every area of my life.

And God says …”Many trust Me for salvation, sanctification, and provision. Many trust Me for peace and healing, while many others trust Me and have faith that I will protect them and their families. But at the heart of the intense belief in every area is need.  You find the faith and trust because you need salvation, sanctification, provision, peace, healing or protection. And yet many, many times you cry out for Me to remove your needs. It is a small but important distinction that I meet your needs…I do not remove them. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely or trust in your own ways, and He will make your paths straight. I will meet all your needs according to My riches in glory. Call Me by the name that meets your needs: Healer, Provider, Savior, Protector, Deliverer, and of course call Me all these names as you call the names of Jesus.”

Your will agrees with God, but in your flesh there is a nature that renders you powerless to do what you know you ought to do. When the Lord initially comes in contact with our conscience, the first thing our conscience does is awaken our will, and our will always agrees with God. Yet you say, “But I don’t know if my will is in agreement with God.” Look to Jesus and you will find that your will and your conscience are in agreement with Him every time. What causes you to say “I will not obey” is something less deep and penetrating than your will. It is perversity or stubbornness, and they are never in agreement with God. The most profound thing in a person is his will, not sin.

The will is the essential element in God’s creation of human beings— sin is a perverse nature which entered into people. In someone who has been born again, the source of the will is Almighty God. “. . . for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” With focused attention and great care, you have to “work out” what God “works in” you— not work to accomplish or earn “your own salvation,” but work it out so you will exhibit the evidence of a life based with determined, unshakable faith on the complete and perfect redemption of the Lord. As you do this, you do not bring an opposing will up against God’s will— God’s will is your will. Your natural choices will be in accordance with God’s will, and living this life will be as natural as breathing. Stubbornness is an unintelligent barrier, refusing enlightenment and blocking its flow. The only thing to do with this barrier of stubbornness is to blow it up with “dynamite,” and the “dynamite” is obedience to the Holy Spirit.

Do I believe that Almighty God is the Source of my will? God not only expects me to do His will, but He is in me to do it.

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June 6, 2011

Journal entry for today-JDV

Lord, I need you in so many areas of my life, and I wonder if I am worthy enough to receive your love, grace and hope. I wonder if I matter enough or if I am good enough to receive your care and provision. And then I remember the sacrifice of Jesus.

When I recall the magnitude of your sacrifice I grasp a bit of the truth…and then the Holy Spirit speaks to me quietly reminding me that I am yours….not because of anything I have or have not done, but because of Jesus.

And God says…”You will have doubts and concerns in this life, but they can serve as reminders to stay connected to Me. You may stray and defy Me and My word and direction … that too can serve to drive you back to Me.  You come to learn that because You are mine, I will never let you go…ever. All things work together for good for those that love Me and are called according to My purpose. Trust Me and rest, you are spoken for.”