. . . do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on —Matthew 6:25

“. . . do not worry about your life . . . .” Don’t take the pressure of your provision upon yourself. It is not only wrong to worry, it is unbelief; worrying means we do not believe that God can look after the practical details of our lives, and it is never anything but those details that worry us. Have you ever noticed what Jesus said would choke the Word He puts in us? Is it the devil? No— “the cares of this world” (MatthewMatthew 13:22). It is always our little worries. We say, “I will not trust when I cannot see”— and that is where unbelief begins. The only cure for unbelief is obedience to the Spirit.

The greatest word of Jesus to His disciples is abandon.

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May 23, 2013

Thank you Lord for the reminder that the troubles of this life are to be expected and I should expect them to come at me day after day after day… Just as I can expect You to allow these troubles to work for my good and Your glory.

And God says…”Do not resist the difficulties that come your way.  They are simply the steps to growth, blessings, maturity and connection. You can trust Me to take care of all your day to day needs, be they physical, emotional, financial or spiritual. Trust Me, rely on Me, not on what you can see, or discern. Trust in Me with all your heart, and I will make your paths straight. Delight yourself in the Lord and I will give you the desires of your heart. You will have difficulties, but they can be viewed as your opportunities for trusting Me. All things work for the good of those that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.”

. . . that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us . . . —John 17:21

If you are going through a time of isolation, seemingly all alone, read John 17 . It will explain exactly why you are where you are— because Jesus has prayed that you “may be one” with the Father as He is. Are you helping God to answer that prayer, or do you have some other goal for your life? Since you became a disciple, you cannot be as independent as you used to be.

God reveals in John 17 that His purpose is not just to answer our prayers, but that through prayer we might come to discern His mind. Yet there is one prayer which God must answer, and that is the prayer of Jesus— “. . . that they may be one just as We are one . . .” (John 17:22). Are we as close to Jesus Christ as that?

God is not concerned about our plans; He doesn’t ask, “Do you want to go through this loss of a loved one, this difficulty, or this defeat?” No, He allows these things for His own purpose. The things we are going through are either making us sweeter, better, and nobler men and women, or they are making us more critical and fault-finding, and more insistent on our own way. The things that happen either make us evil, or they make us more saintly, depending entirely on our relationship with God and its level of intimacy. If we will pray, regarding our own lives, “Your will be done” (Matthew 26:42), then we will be encouraged and comforted by John 17, knowing that our Father is working according to His own wisdom, accomplishing what is best. When we understand God’s purpose, we will not become small-minded and cynical. Jesus prayed nothing less for us than absolute oneness with Himself, just as He was one with the Father. Some of us are far from this oneness; yet God will not leave us alone until we are one with Him— because Jesus prayed, “. . . that they all may be one . . . .”

Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
It is a hard thing. Answering the question from a hurting friend, “Why would God allow this __________ fill in the blank. These scriptures, John 17 and Matt 26:42 are probably the best answers … but if delivered “raw” they can come across religious and pious and not very helpful.

That is why I treasure my veteran servants who have been thru hard times. Those are the ones who can deliver my message and my intent with accuracy and love. Know that when you go thru a trial, that you have become more One with me and my Father and that we will use your experience to expand our Kingdom. You dont have to preach it or go looking for a target. The place to share it will show up without your searching for it. And when it does, you will be ready. No one can be expert in all things. But when you have been thru a trial, treasure that, and be ready to share. I will send you someone to encourage.

Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you —Matthew 6:33

When we look at these words of Jesus, we immediately find them to be the most revolutionary that human ears have ever heard. “. . . seek first the kingdom of God . . . .” Even the most spiritually-minded of us argue the exact opposite, saying, “But I must live; I must make a certain amount of money; I must be clothed; I must be fed.” The great concern of our lives is not the kingdom of God but how we are going to take care of ourselves to live. Jesus reversed the order by telling us to get the right relationship with God first, maintaining it as the primary concern of our lives, and never to place our concern on taking care of the other things of life.

“. . . do not worry about your life. . .” (Matthew 6:25). Our Lord pointed out that from His standpoint it is absolutely unreasonable for us to be anxious, worrying about how we will live. Jesus did not say that the person who takes no thought for anything in his life is blessed— no, that person is a fool. But Jesus did teach that His disciple must make his relationship with God the dominating focus of his life, and to be cautiously carefree about everything else in comparison to that. In essence, Jesus was saying, “Don’t make food and drink the controlling factor of your life, but be focused absolutely on God.” Some people are careless about what they eat and drink, and they suffer for it; they are careless about what they wear, having no business looking the way they do; they are careless with their earthly matters, and God holds them responsible. Jesus is saying that the greatest concern of life is to place our relationship with God first, and everything else second.

It is one of the most difficult, yet critical, disciplines of the Christian life to allow the Holy Spirit to bring us into absolute harmony with the teaching of Jesus in these verses.

By your patience possess your souls —Luke 21:19

There are certain things in life that we need not pray about— moods, for instance. We will never get rid of moodiness by praying, but we will by kicking it out of our lives. Moods nearly always are rooted in some physical circumstance, not in our true inner self. It is a continual struggle not to listen to the moods which arise as a result of our physical condition, but we must never submit to them for a second. We have to pick ourselves up by the back of the neck and shake ourselves; then we will find that we can do what we believed we were unable to do. The problem that most of us are cursed with is simply that we won’t. The Christian life is one of spiritual courage and determination lived out in our flesh.

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May 20, 2013

Lord, thank you for the message and music today. Today my goal is to let go and let You have my day. You gave me your love and grace and I know that you’re not leaving. I will not try so hard this day. I will simply trust and rest in You.

And God says…”Remember the old hymn that says…”Jesus paid it all?”  Just recall that verse. Your debt; past, present and future has been paid. It is for you to simply trust and rest in Me. And like this new song says, don’t try so hard. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, don’t rely on your own devices, and I will make your paths straight. Delight yourself in the Lord and I will give you the desires of your heart…..trust, rest and be connected this day….and remember, Don’t try so hard”.

. . . you may be partakers of the divine nature . . . —2 Peter 1:4

We are made “partakers of the divine nature,” receiving and sharing God’s own nature through His promises. Then we have to work that divine nature into our human nature by developing godly habits. The first habit to develop is the habit of recognizing God’s provision for us. We say, however, “Oh, I can’t afford it.” One of the worst lies is wrapped up in that statement. We talk as if our heavenly Father has cut us off without a penny! We think it is a sign of true humility to say at the end of the day, “Well, I just barely got by today, but it was a severe struggle.” And yet all of Almighty God is ours in the Lord Jesus! And He will reach to the last grain of sand and the remotest star to bless us if we will only obey Him. Does it really matter that our circumstances are difficult? Why shouldn’t they be! If we give way to self-pity and indulge in the luxury of misery, we remove God’s riches from our lives and hinder others from entering into His provision. No sin is worse than the sin of self-pity, because it removes God from the throne of our lives, replacing Him with our own self-interests. It causes us to open our mouths only to complain, and we simply become spiritual sponges— always absorbing, never giving, and never being satisfied. And there is nothing lovely or generous about our lives.

Before God becomes satisfied with us, He will take everything of our so-called wealth, until we learn that He is our Source; as the psalmist said, “All my springs are in You” (Psalm 87:7). If the majesty, grace, and power of God are not being exhibited in us, God holds us responsible. “God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you . . . may have an abundance . . .” (2 Corinthians 9:8)— then learn to lavish the grace of God on others, generously giving of yourself. Be marked and identified with God’s nature, and His blessing will flow through you all the time.

Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord
Recognizing your provision for us … in everything. That is the first step. I love it when I am able to recognize your provision in a seemingly difficult situation. It makes it so much easier to find you and your purpose when I am living in expectancy and gratitude and curiosity. When I am not in that kind of mindset, and some circumstance jumps up … I tend to fight it and try to conquer it naturally. And it’s really hard to get supernatural results with natural methods. So I wind up stressed out and causing pain for myself and others…… Not a good plan. Well, it’s not planned. That’s the point. Those pesky circumstances just sneak up and jump on me. It seems my best plan is to do my best to stay grateful, expecting, and curious about what You are going to bring next and how you are going to work all these messy circumstances for good (Romans 8:28) Then when a nasty circumstance surprises me, I’ll have the right mental context to allow your supernatural light to shine thru me to the world that is watching. … And if I stumble away from that space … I know it’s the place I need to get back to … and it’s good to know that I am always welcome there.

. . . that you may know what is the hope of His calling . . . —Ephesians 1:18

You did not do anything to achieve your salvation, but you must do something to exhibit it. You must “work out your own salvation” which God has worked in you already (Philippians 2:12). Are your speech, your thinking, and your emotions evidence that you are working it “out”? If you are still the same miserable, grouchy person, set on having your own way, then it is a lie to say that God has saved and sanctified you.

God is the Master Designer, and He allows adversities into your life to see if you can jump over them properly—”By my God I can leap over a wall” (Psalm 18:29). God will never shield you from the requirements of being His son or daughter. First Peter 4:12  says, “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you . . . .” Rise to the occasion—do what the trial demands of you. It does not matter how much it hurts as long as it gives God the opportunity to manifest the life of Jesus in your body.

May God not find complaints in us anymore, but spiritual vitality—a readiness to face anything He brings our way. The only proper goal of life is that we manifest the Son of God; and when this occurs, all of our dictating of our demands to God disappears. Our Lord never dictated demands to His Father, and neither are we to make demands on God. We are here to submit to His will so that He may work through us what He wants. Once we realize this, He will make us broken bread and poured-out wine with which to feed and nourish others.

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May 15, 2013

Lord, I want to live like that. And when I read a devotional like this one I am reminded how far I need to grow.  But You also remind me of how far I have traveled. Perhaps I am not the same person I was before.

And God says…”You are being transformed into My likeness, and while you would like that to take place in a flash, and in some ways that has occurred, you are being transformed over time. You are being shaped by trials, circumstance and the sandpaper of daily life. Count it all good as you encounter various trials, knowing that I love you so much I would not allow you to miss being transformed. Rejoice and know I am with you this day. Delight yourself in the Lord, and receive the desires of your heart.”  

Note: When I saw today’s devo from My Utmost, I knew immediately that this was the song. For the story that makes it real check out Laura Story’s bio here:

http://www.newreleasetuesday.com/artistdetail.php?artist_id=1549

. . . that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body —2 Corinthians 4:10

We have to develop godly habits to express what God’s grace has done in us. It is not just a question of being saved from hell, but of being saved so that “the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.” And it is adversity that makes us exhibit His life in our mortal flesh. Is my life exhibiting the essence of the sweetness of the Son of God, or just the basic irritation of “myself” that I would have apart from Him? The only thing that will enable me to enjoy adversity is the acute sense of eagerness of allowing the life of the Son of God to evidence itself in me. No matter how difficult something may be, I must say, “Lord, I am delighted to obey You in this.” Instantly, the Son of God will move to the forefront of my life, and will manifest in my body that which glorifies Him.

You must not debate. The moment you obey the light of God, His Son shines through you in that very adversity; but if you debate with God, you grieve His Spirit (see Ephesians 4:30). You must keep yourself in the proper condition to allow the life of the Son of God to be manifested in you, and you cannot keep yourself fit if you give way to self-pity. Our circumstances are the means God uses to exhibit just how wonderfully perfect and extraordinarily pure His Son is. Discovering a new way of manifesting the Son of God should make our heart beat with renewed excitement. It is one thing to choose adversity, and quite another to enter into adversity through the orchestrating of our circumstances by God’s sovereignty. And if God puts you into adversity, He is adequately sufficient to “supply all your need” (Philippians 4:19).

Keep your soul properly conditioned to manifest the life of the Son of God. Never live on your memories of past experiences, but let the Word of God always be living and active in you.

Journal DJR
Good morning Lord,
I dont know that it could be called a “habit” yet … but it’s getting there. I find that if I am dialed in to You, having worshipped, and rehearsed the many blessings and your awesome ways … then when some circumstance jumps up unexpectedly … I do better at responding with, “Lord, I am delighted to obey You in this.” When this is my response, then your response is indeed … “Instantly, the Son of God will move to the forefront of my life, and will manifest in my body that which glorifies Him.”
So, like Laura Story says in her bio, “I wouldn’t have signed up for it” …. but there are blessings in the adversities, when I respond this way … heading into the storm rather than running from it.
Lord, help me today to remember your blessings and to remember that you are a “Blesser” by nature. And to live expectantly, expecting blessings to come thru all circumstances. Help me live in that place and if I start to debate about my circumstances, remind me quickly how foolish that is. And get quickly on the track of expectation and curiosity about how you are going to bring the blessing out of these circumstances.

 … strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men —Acts 24:16

God’s commands to us are actually given to the life of His Son in us. Consequently, to our human nature in which God’s Son has been formed (see Galatians 4:19), His commands are difficult. But they become divinely easy once we obey.

Conscience is that ability within me that attaches itself to the highest standard I know, and then continually reminds me of what that standard demands that I do. It is the eye of the soul which looks out either toward God or toward what we regard as the highest standard. This explains why conscience is different in different people. If I am in the habit of continually holding God’s standard in front of me, my conscience will always direct me to God’s perfect law and indicate what I should do. The question is, will I obey? I have to make an effort to keep my conscience so sensitive that I can live without any offense toward anyone. I should be living in such perfect harmony with God’s Son that the spirit of my mind is being renewed through every circumstance of life, and that I may be able to quickly “prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2 ; also see Ephesians 4:23).

God always instructs us down to the last detail. Is my ear sensitive enough to hear even the softest whisper of the Spirit, so that I know what I should do? “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God . . .” (Ephesians 4:30). He does not speak with a voice like thunder— His voice is so gentle that it is easy for us to ignore. And the only thing that keeps our conscience sensitive to Him is the habit of being open to God on the inside. When you begin to debate, stop immediately. Don’t ask, “Why can’t I do this?” You are on the wrong track. There is no debating possible once your conscience speaks. Whatever it is— drop it, and see that you keep your inner vision clear.

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May 13, 2013

Lord, when I read a devotional like this I am reminded that my conscience is constantly telling me that I am following my own path, chasing my own needs and desires; provision, safety,  health,  and my own sense of happiness. How can I train myself to trust You for these things?

And God says…”You cannot train yourself, you can however, surrender yourself and your wants and needs to Me…this and every morning. Trust in Me with all your heart. Do not trust your own instincts or inclinations. And remember that you become like Christ by faith through grace.  May your personal failures today, guide you to the grace of God that will also reinforce your faith as you grasp My perfect plan for my imperfect children. Delight yourself in the Lord,  your LifeSong will sing, and you will be blessed, this and every day.”

. . . add to your faith virtue . . . —2 Peter 1:5

Beware of the tendency to ask the way when you know it perfectly well. Take the initiative— stop hesitating— take the first step. Be determined to act immediately in faith on what God says to you when He speaks, and never reconsider or change your initial decisions. If you hesitate when God tells you to do something, you are being careless, spurning the grace in which you stand. Take the initiative yourself, make a decision of your will right now, and make it impossible to go back. Burn your bridges behind you, saying, “I will write that letter,” or “I will pay that debt”; and then do it! Make it irrevocable.

We have to get into the habit of carefully listening to God about everything, forming the habit of finding out what He says and heeding it. If, when a crisis comes, we instinctively turn to God, we will know that the habit has been formed in us. We have to take the initiative where we are, not where we have not yet been.

Where there is no revelation [or prophetic vision], the people cast off restraint . . . —Proverbs 29:18

Our own idealistic principles may actually lull us into ruin. Examine yourself spiritually to see if you have vision, or only principles.

Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for?

“Where there is no revelation [or prophetic vision]. . . .” Once we lose sight of God, we begin to be reckless. We cast off certain restraints from activities we know are wrong. We set prayer aside as well and cease having God’s vision in the little things of life. We simply begin to act on our own initiative. If we are eating only out of our own hand, and doing things solely on our own initiative without expecting God to come in, we are on a downward path. We have lost the vision. Is our attitude today an attitude that flows from our vision of God? Are we expecting God to do greater things than He has ever done before? Is there a freshness and a vitality in our spiritual outlook?

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May 9, 2013

Lord, I am convicted by the devotional, knowing I am not always seeking You and Your path…I often strike out on my own and seek my own way….and ways and means.  Help me find You and Your ways and means this day. Show me how to stay connected to You as my day unfolds and tries to overwhelm me.

And God says…”You live in this world, but you do not have to be overwhelmed or caught up in it. Take each step of your day, knowing I am here, with you in all you say and do. I will prepare the day before you, I will strengthen you, and I will rescue you when and if you need rescuing. I know the plan I have for you, a plan for good. Trust in Me, acknowledge Me, and know your paths are laid out and prepared by Me. Delight yourself in the Lord, and receive the desires of your heart, this and every day. Give me your burdens, trust and believe in Me and just like a little child, go through your day without a care in the world, knowing that I love you immeasurably and have your world and life in the palm of my hand”