Has it ever dawned on you that you are responsible spiritually to God for other people? For instance, if I allow any turning away from God in my private life, everyone around me suffers. We “sit together in the heavenly places . . .” (Ephesians 2:6). “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it . . .” (1 Corinthians 12:26). If you allow physical selfishness, mental carelessness, moral insensitivity, or spiritual weakness, everyone in contact with you will suffer. But you ask, “Who is sufficient to be able to live up to such a lofty standard?” “Our sufficiency is from God . . .” and God alone (2 Corinthians 3:5).

“You shall be witnesses to Me . . .” (Acts 1:8). How many of us are willing to spend every bit of our nervous, mental, moral, and spiritual energy for Jesus Christ? That is what God means when He uses the word witness. But it takes time, so be patient with yourself. Why has God left us on the earth? Is it simply to be saved and sanctified? No, it is to be at work in service to Him. Am I willing to be broken bread and poured-out wine for Him? Am I willing to be of no value to this age or this life except for one purpose and one alone— to be used to disciple men and women to the Lord Jesus Christ. My life of service to God is the way I say “thank you” to Him for His inexpressibly wonderful salvation. Remember, it is quite possible for God to set any of us aside if we refuse to be of service to Him— “. . . lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27).

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February 15, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

I woke up again at 4:00 AM this morning, wondering where there was a beginning and ending to all the thoughts fighting for space in my mind.  My mind was racing on about my brother and all the family dynamics surrounding his last days. My mind raced over to mom and her wellbeing and then to my business with so many threads and wondering which one do I pull? I could only feel the needs and I could not see my place in them. Where do I start? What do I do? It feels like so many starts with so few endings.  It feels like one foot is nailed to the floor and someone yelled …RUN!! And I run in circles.

And God says…”I will open doors and I will close doors and in between these two things happening, you will wait. You only feel as if you are running in circles because you feel as if you must do something. You must wait. You must be obedient and wait on Me. I will take the action; I will show you positively which way you are to go. Pray and rest in Me…Remember that ALL things work for the good of those that love the Lord and are called according to My purpose.   Those that wait upon the Lord will rise up with wings like eagles…run and not be weary. I know the future I have for you, a future that is good. Trust in Me and do not rely on your own understanding. Rest and be at peace knowing I will do more than you could ever imagine. 

Sometimes God puts us through the experience and discipline of darkness to teach us to hear and obey Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and God puts us into “the shadow of His hand” until we learn to hear Him (Isaiah 49:2). “Whatever I tell you in the dark. . .”— pay attention when God puts you into darkness, and keep your mouth closed while you are there. Are you in the dark right now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? If so, then remain quiet. If you open your mouth in the dark, you will speak while in the wrong mood— darkness is the time to listen. Don’t talk to other people about it; don’t read books to find out the reason for the darkness; just listen and obey. If you talk to other people, you cannot hear what God is saying. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else once you are back in the light.

After every time of darkness, we should experience a mixture of delight and humiliation. If there is only delight, I question whether we have really heard God at all. We should experience delight for having heard God speak, but mostly humiliation for having taken so long to hear Him! Then we will exclaim, “How slow I have been to listen and understand what God has been telling me!” And yet God has been saying it for days and even weeks. But once you hear Him, He gives you the gift of humiliation, which brings a softness of heart— a gift that will always cause you to listen to God now.

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February 14, 2011

Journal Entry for Todays-JDV

Lord, just when it seems like we should be able to stop and take a breath; one more emotional riptide overtakes and overpowers us. Just when I thought we could catch our bearings…..another one takes our breath away.  I have been praying for a respite, rescue and time for recovery, but you seem to be very patient right now.

And God says…”Sometimes it is not a single powerful event or trial that makes you stronger; it is the series of seemingly overwhelming and unfair events that help transform you. On and on and on you feel the emotional and spiritual riptides and sense you are almost ready to drown. And then you realize that I am always with you. You know well that I do not always remove the trials. I give you the faith, hope and courage to withstand the trials. And as you emerge from them you have a new sense of awareness of My presence…as you are transformed…a little bit more into the likeness of Christ.”

…..Hebrews 13:5…..Since God assured us, “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,” we can boldly quote, 

   God is there, ready to help; 
   I’m fearless no matter what. 
   Who or what can get to me?

The people of God in Isaiah’s time had blinded their minds’ ability to see God by looking on the face of idols. But Isaiah made them look up at the heavens; that is, he made them begin to use their power to think and to visualize correctly. If we are children of God, we have a tremendous treasure in nature and will realize that it is holy and sacred. We will see God reaching out to us in every wind that blows, every sunrise and sunset, every cloud in the sky, every flower that blooms, and every leaf that fades, if we will only begin to use our blinded thinking to visualize it.

The real test of spiritual focus is being able to bring your mind and thoughts under control. Is your mind focused on the face of an idol? Is the idol yourself? Is it your work? Is it your idea of what a servant should be, or maybe your experience of salvation and sanctification? If so, then your ability to see God is blinded. You will be powerless when faced with difficulties and will be forced to endure in darkness. If your power to see has been blinded, don’t look back on your own experiences, but look to God. It is God you need. Go beyond yourself and away from the faces of your idols and away from everything else that has been blinding your thinking. Wake up and accept the ridicule that Isaiah gave to his people, and deliberately turn your thoughts and your eyes to God.

One of the reasons for our sense of futility in prayer is that we have lost our power to visualize. We can no longer even imagine putting ourselves deliberately before God. It is actually more important to be broken bread and poured-out wine in the area of intercession than in our personal contact with others. The power of visualization is what God gives a saint so that he can go beyond himself and be firmly placed into relationships he never before experienced.

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February 10, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord this devotional reminds me that You should be the focus of all that I look for in all my trials, blessings …daily routine, relationships with others…everything. I am reminded that if Romans 8:28 is true you have touched everything that I experience and that you have arranged it for my good.

And God says…”My ways are not your ways and you cannot know My ways. This is why you must have faith (and even that I will give you). Trust Me to bring all circumstances together for your good.  Imagine how the disciples and Mary felt during the crucifixion.  They could not have imagined the victory and blessings that would result of this event and the resurrection to follow. It was beyond their comprehension.  It is the same with many, many things that occur in your life every day.  Look to Me and not the circumstances or your contemporary idols such as your finances, career, or life on earth. I am the way the truth and the light…..look to me.”

Exhaustion means that our vital energies are completely worn out and spent. Spiritual exhaustion is never the result of sin, but of service. Whether or not you experience exhaustion will depend on where you get your supplies. Jesus said to Peter, “Feed My sheep,” but He gave him nothing with which to feed them (John 21:17). The process of being made broken bread and poured-out wine means that you have to be the nourishment for other people’s souls until they learn to feed on God. They must drain you completely— to the very last drop. But be careful to replenish your supply, or you will quickly be utterly exhausted. Until others learn to draw on the life of the Lord Jesus directly, they will have to draw on His life through you. You must literally be their source of supply, until they learn to take their nourishment from God. We owe it to God to be our best for His lambs and sheep, as well as for Him.

Have you delivered yourself over to exhaustion because of the way you have been serving God? If so, then renew and rekindle your desires and affections. Examine your reasons for service. Is your source based on your own understanding or is it grounded on the redemption of Jesus Christ? Continually look back to the foundation of your love and affection and remember where your Source of power lies. You have no right to complain, “O Lord, I am so exhausted.” He saved and sanctified you to exhaust you. Be exhausted for God, but remember that He is your supply. “All my springs are in you” (Psalm 87:7).

When we pray, asking God to sanctify us, are we prepared to measure up to what that really means? We take the word sanctification much too lightly. Are we prepared to pay the cost of sanctification? The cost will be a deep restriction of all our earthly concerns, and an extensive cultivation of all our godly concerns. Sanctification means to be intensely focused on God’s point of view. It means to secure and to keep all the strength of our body, soul, and spirit for God’s purpose alone. Are we really prepared for God to perform in us everything for which He separated us? And after He has done His work, are we then prepared to separate ourselves to God just as Jesus did? “For their sakes I sanctify Myself . . .” (John 17:19). The reason some of us have not entered into the experience of sanctification is that we have not realized the meaning of sanctification from God’s perspective. Sanctification means being made one with Jesus so that the nature that controlled Him will control us. Are we really prepared for what that will cost? It will cost absolutely everything in us which is not of God.

Are we prepared to be caught up into the full meaning of Paul’s prayer in this verse? Are we prepared to say, “Lord, make me, a sinner saved by grace, as holy as You can”? Jesus prayed that we might be one with Him, just as He is one with the Father (see John 17:21-23). The resounding evidence of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life is the unmistakable family likeness to Jesus Christ, and the freedom from everything which is not like Him. Are we prepared to set ourselves apart for the Holy Spirit’s work in us?

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February 8, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, one after another, that is how the trials and crisis have come my way lately- at least that is how it seems to me; issues in business, the family, finances, church, and never ending friends with never ending issues. And the overwhelming and consuming issue is my brother’s terminal illness and the emotional riptides surrounding his family and caretakers.  I feel like I need a breather Lord, a deep breath and a little time off from the elements.

And God says…”If you try to understand the world and your circumstances you will be frustrated. If you try to help others and even yourself through the ongoing circumstances and difficulties of life using your own power and gifts, you will be depleted, drained and disappointed. You will experience difficult trials on earth-over and over and over. Expect them- especially when you seek sanctification. Let Jesus be the response to all the issues, all the time……seek the kingdom of God…..that quiet place in your heart and soul where you are connected to Me. Let Me be your living water and the response to all your trials regardless of their status.”

Matthew 11:28 (The Message)

 ^28-30“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for the work of another believer—to pour out your life sacrificially for the ministry and faith of others? Or do you say, “I am not willing to be poured out right now, and I don’t want God to tell me how to serve Him. I want to choose the place of my own sacrifice. And I want to have certain people watching me and saying, ’Well done.’ “

It is one thing to follow God’s way of service if you are regarded as a hero, but quite another thing if the road marked out for you by God requires becoming a “doormat” under other people’s feet. God’s purpose may be to teach you to say, “I know how to be abased . . .” (Philippians 4:12). Are you ready to be sacrificed like that? Are you ready to be less than a mere drop in the bucket—to be so totally insignificant that no one remembers you even if they think of those you served? Are you willing to give and be poured out until you are used up and exhausted—not seeking to be ministered to, but to minister? Some saints cannot do menial work while maintaining a saintly attitude, because they feel such service is beneath their dignity.

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February 5, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

It has been a whirlwind week Lord. I reached out to you a over and over just to make certain we were tightly connected. The emotional hurricane hit pretty hard this week, and occasionally I felt as if I was afloat and adrift…..They say my brother only has days left and while I try to fill the emotional void with you it is a very difficult time for all of us holding vigil at his  home. How can I reflect you and be an offering during this time?

And God says…”I am the offering; you are simply the conduit through which I can flow. And if you stay connected to Me I can flow through you. I can and will be manifest through you as you stay connected. Be sensitive to my voice and immediately obedient as I continue to touch those all around you during this time. Be at peace and know that I have your brother in My arms even now.”

Paul said that he was overpowered, subdued, and held as in a vise by “the love of Christ.” Very few of us really know what it means to be held in the grip of the love of God. We tend so often to be controlled simply by our own experience. The one thing that gripped and held Paul, to the exclusion of everything else, was the love of God. “The love of Christ compels us . . . .” When you hear that coming from the life of a man or woman it is unmistakable. You will know that the Spirit of God is completely unhindered in that person’s life.

When we are born again by the Spirit of God, our testimony is based solely on what God has done for us, and rightly so. But that will change and be removed forever once you “receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you . . .” (Acts 1:8). Only then will you begin to realize what Jesus meant when He went on to say, “. . . you shall be witnesses to Me . . . .” Not witnesses to what Jesus can do— that is basic and understood— but “witnesses to Me . . . .” We will accept everything that happens as if it were happening to Him, whether we receive praise or blame, persecution or reward. No one is able to take this stand for Jesus Christ who is not totally compelled by the majesty of His power. It is the only thing that matters, and yet it is strange that it’s the last thing we as Christian workers realize. Paul said that he was gripped by the love of God and that is why he acted as he did. People could perceive him as mad or sane-he did not care. There was only one thing he lived for— to persuade people of the coming judgment of God and to tell them of “the love of Christ.” This total surrender to “the love of Christ” is the only thing that will bear fruit in your life. And it will always leave the mark of God’s holiness and His power, never drawing attention to your personal holiness.

These words are not an exaggeration. The only reason they may not be true of us who call ourselves ministers of the gospel is not that Paul forgot or misunderstood the exact truth of them, but that we are too cautious and concerned about our own desires to allow ourselves to become the refuse or “filth of the world.” “Fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ . . .” (Colossians 1:24) is not the result of the holiness of sanctification, but the evidence of consecration-being “separated to the gospel of God . . .” (Romans 1:1).

“Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you . . .” (1 Peter 4:12). If we do think the things we encounter are strange, it is because we are fearful and cowardly. We pay such close attention to our own interests and desires that we stay out of the mire and say, “I won’t submit; I won’t bow or bend.” And you don’t have to— you can be saved by the “skin of your teeth” if you like. You can refuse to let God count you as one who is “separated to the gospel . . . .” Or you can say, “I don’t care if I am treated like ’the filth of the world’ as long as the gospel is proclaimed.” A true servant of Jesus Christ is one who is willing to experience martyrdom for the reality of the gospel of God. When a moral person is confronted with contempt, immorality, disloyalty, or dishonesty, he is so repulsed by the offense that he turns away and in despair closes his heart to the offender. But the miracle of the redemptive reality of God is that the worst and the vilest offender can never exhaust the depths of His love. Paul did not say that God separated him to show what a wonderful man He could make of him, but “to reveal His Son in me. . .” (Galatians 1:16).

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February 3, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Five days ago the doctor told my brother and me that he has stage four cancer. Yesterday they took him home to make him more comfortable for the few weeks he has left.  During diagnostic testing and waiting for the lab results I wondered about the capacity and value of my love and support.

And God says…”Your brother belongs to Me. I love him more than you can ever imagine and he is mine. He is my responsibility not yours, but I am speaking with you about how and when I want you to be a comfort from Me.  You will notice that I am rebuilding relationships and providing the love and reassurance needed in this circumstance right now. Your role is to stay connected to Me, and listen for My voice. When you hear that clear and still small voice inside your heart, respond quickly and allow Me to make many of your family and friends aware that this is one of those “all things” that work for the good of those that are called according to My purpose.“