Complete and Effective Divinity

April 11th, 2011 by Dave No comments »



If we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection . . . —Romans 6:5

Co-Resurrection. The proof that I have experienced crucifixion with Jesus is that I have a definite likeness to Him. The Spirit of Jesus entering me rearranges my personal life before God.

The resurrection of Jesus has given Him the authority to give the life of God to me, and the experiences of my life must now be built on the foundation of His life. I can have the resurrection life of Jesus here and now, and it will exhibit itself through holiness.
The idea all through the apostle Paul’s writings is that after the decision to be identified with Jesus in His death has been made, the resurrection life of Jesus penetrates every bit of my human nature. It takes the omnipotence of God— His complete and effective divinity— to live the life of the Son of God in human flesh. The Holy Spirit cannot be accepted as a guest in merely one room of the house— He invades all of it. And once I decide that my “old man” (that is, my heredity of sin) should be identified with the death of Jesus, the Holy Spirit invades me. He takes charge of everything. My part is to walk in the light and to obey all that He reveals to me.

Once I have made that important decision about sin, it is easy to “reckon” that I am actually “dead indeed to sin,” because I find the life of Jesus in me all the time (Romans 6:11). Just as there is only one kind of humanity, there is only one kind of holiness— the holiness of Jesus.And it is His holiness that has been given to me. God puts the holiness of His Son into me, and I belong to a new spiritual order.


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Why We Lack Understanding

April 7th, 2011 by JDVaughn No comments »

April 07, 2011
 
He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead —Mark 9:9
 

As the disciples were commanded, you should also say nothing until the Son of Man has risen in you— until the life of the risen Christ so dominates you that you truly understand what He taught while here on earth. When you grow and develop the right condition inwardly, the words Jesus spoke become so clear that you are amazed you did not grasp them before. In fact, you were not able to understand them before because you had not yet developed the proper spiritual condition to deal with them.

Our Lord doesn’t hide these things from us, but we are not prepared to receive them until we are in the right condition in our spiritual life. Jesus said, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now” (John 16:12). We must have a oneness with His risen life before we are prepared to bear any particular truth from Him. Do we really know anything about the indwelling of the risen life of Jesus? The evidence that we do is that His Word is becoming understandable to us. God cannot reveal anything to us if we don’t have His Spirit. And our own unyielding and headstrong opinions will effectively prevent God from revealing anything to us. But our insensible thinking will end immediately once His resurrection life has its way with us.

“. . . tell no one . . . .” But so many people do tell what they saw on the Mount of Transfiguration— their mountaintop experience. They have seen a vision and they testify to it, but there is no connection between what they say and how they live. Their lives don’t add up because the Son of Man has not yet risen in them. How long will it be before His resurrection life is formed and evident in you and in me?

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April 7, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, thank you for the lessons while being remade. I had no idea what it meant to gain my life by losing it until I lived it. I know I have gone through the process so far, kicking and screaming on occasion, but Lord I am thankful.  I know I have not embraced the rapid changes and difficult circumstances, and have found myself attending a number of “pity parties” en route to the learning, but Lord I look back and can understand that there was really no other way for me to learn some very powerful and essential lessons. I know I do not say it often enough, but thank you Lord for loving me enough to not only send your Son but the lessons that drive me closer to Him as well.

And God says…”Acknowledge the Lord in all your ways and do not rely on your own understanding and He will make your paths straight. When you wait on Me you will grow stronger and rise up like on the wings of eagles and take flight. You gain wisdom and understanding because you seek my counsel and have asked to become a man after my own heart.  You have been pushed, tried and stretched from every angle so that you are stronger and more flexible; in much better shape to reach out to others and live a testimony of life more abundantly.”

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The Collision of God and Sin

April 6th, 2011 by Dave No comments »

. . . who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree . . . —1 Peter 2:24

 

 

The Cross of Christ is the revealed truth of God’s judgment on sin. Never associate the idea of martyrdom with the Cross of Christ. It was the supreme triumph, and it shook the very foundations of hell. There is nothing in time or eternity more absolutely certain and irrefutable than what Jesus Christ accomplished on the Cross— He made it possible for the entire human race to be brought back into a right-standing relationship with God. He made redemption the foundation of human life; that is, He made a way for every person to have fellowship with God.

The Cross was not something that happened to Jesus— He came to die; the Cross was His purpose in coming. He is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). The incarnation of Christ would have no meaning without the Cross. Beware of separating “God was manifested in the flesh. . .” from “. . . He made Him. . . to be sin for us. . .” (1 Timothy 3:16 ; 2 Corinthians 5:21). The purpose of the incarnation was redemption. God came in the flesh to take sin away, not to accomplish something for Himself. The Cross is the central event in time and eternity, and the answer to all the problems of both.

The Cross is not the cross of a man, but the Cross of God, and it can never be fully comprehended through human experience. The Cross is God exhibiting His nature. It is the gate through which any and every individual can enter into oneness with God. But it is not a gate we pass right through; it is one where we abide in the life that is found there.

The heart of salvation is the Cross of Christ. The reason salvation is so easy to obtain is that it cost God so much. The Cross was the place where God and sinful man merged with a tremendous collision and where the way to life was opened. But all the cost and pain of the collision was absorbed by the heart of God.

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April 6, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, it is not a coincidence that my faith and hope has been resuscitated after meditating on your promises. Thank you for the reminder.

And God says…”I provided the Holy Spirit and My word for you- along with the church. Immerse yourself in them all to grow and preserve  the faith, hope and love you need to live.”

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His Agony and Our Access

April 5th, 2011 by JDVaughn No comments »

April 05. 2011
Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples . . . . ’Stay here and watch with Me’ —Matthew 26:36, 38
 

We can never fully comprehend Christ’s agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, but at least we don’t have to misunderstand it. It is the agony of God and man in one Person, coming face to face with sin. We cannot learn about Gethsemane through personal experience. Gethsemane and Calvary represent something totally unique— they are the gateway into life for us.

It was not death on the cross that Jesus agonized over in Gethsemane. In fact, He stated very emphatically that He came with the purpose of dying. His concern here was that He might not get through this struggle as the Son of Man. He was confident of getting through it as the Son of God— Satan could not touch Him there. But Satan’s assault was that our Lord would come through for us on His own solely as the Son of Man. If Jesus had done that, He could not have been our Savior (see Hebrews 9:11-15). Read the record of His agony in Gethsemane in light of His earlier wilderness temptation— “. . . the devil . . . departed from Him until an opportune time” (Luke 4:13). In Gethsemane, Satan came back and was overthrown again. Satan’s final assault against our Lord as the Son of Man was in Gethsemane.

The agony in Gethsemane was the agony of the Son of God in fulfilling His destiny as the Savior of the world. The veil is pulled back here to reveal all that it cost Him to make it possible for us to become sons of God. His agony was the basis for the simplicity of our salvation. The Cross of Christ was a triumph for the Son of Man. It was not only a sign that our Lord had triumphed, but that He had triumphed to save the human race. Because of what the Son of Man went through, every human being has been provided with a way of access into the very presence of God.

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April 5, 2011

Journal Entry for Today

Lord, like many others, I suspect, I take my “spiritual temperature” based on my feelings. If I “feel” close to You then I am close to You. If I “feel” sanctified then I think that perhaps I am sanctified.  If I “feel” a warm glow and am emotionally drawn to call on you, with tears in my eyes and your name on my lips, I “feel” like I am connected. But as I think about my emotional swings, and my capacity to misinterpret and misunderstand, it occurs to me that I should not be so daring as to leave my sense of connection to my emotions or feelings.

And God says…”On the boat, the disciples cried out during the storm on the boat. Were they in any more or less peril as they cried out? When Peter denied Christ out of his fear, was Christ any less the Messiah? When Mary and Martha cried out to Jesus that their brother would have lived if Jesus had been there…..did their brother come alive anyway, in spite of their feelings? You trust your fickle, undependable and chaotic feelings to gauge my whereabouts in your life, over My word. How do you “feel” about my promise to never leave you or forsake you; or the promise that nothing can separate you from MY love? What part of my promise to meet all your needs is untrue or conditional on your goodness? “

“Be in the word, recall and write my promises on your heart, and find Me there, not in your feelings.”

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The Way to Permanent Faith

April 4th, 2011 by JDVaughn No comments »
April 04, 2011
Indeed the hour is coming . . . that you will be scattered . . . —John 16:32

Jesus was not rebuking the disciples in this passage. Their faith was real, but it was disordered and unfocused, and was not at work in the important realities of life. The disciples were scattered to their own concerns and they had interests apart from Jesus Christ. After we have the perfect relationship with God, through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, our faith must be exercised in the realities of everyday life. We will be scattered, not into service but into the emptiness of our lives where we will see ruin and barrenness, to know what internal death to God’s blessings means. Are we prepared for this? It is certainly not of our own choosing, but God engineers our circumstances to take us there. Until we have been through that experience, our faith is sustained only by feelings and by blessings. But once we get there, no matter where God may place us or what inner emptiness we experience, we can praise God that all is well. That is what is meant by faith being exercised in the realities of life.

“. . . you . . . will leave Me alone.” Have we been scattered and have we left Jesus alone by not seeing His providential care for us? Do we not see God at work in our circumstances? Dark times are allowed and come to us through the sovereignty of God.Are we prepared to let God do what He wants with us? Are we prepared to be separated from the outward, evident blessings of God? Until Jesus Christ is truly our Lord, we each have goals of our own which we serve. Our faith is real, but it is not yet permanent. And God is never in a hurry. If we are willing to wait, we will see God pointing out that we have been interested only in His blessings, instead of in God Himself. The sense of God’s blessings is fundamental

“. . . be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Unyielding spiritual fortitude is what we need.

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April 4, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Father God, it seems like obstacles are lined up against me….all around me and I cannot seem to get an answer to my prayers. And then this devotional shows up teaching me that You will allow me to stay inside my circumstances and obstacles long enough to understand that blessings and rescue are not the issues nor do they provide the answers to my life questions. Our relationship is the issue. …OK I get it, but why does this feel like just one more time of blessings and or promises being delayed so I can go through more pain?

And God says…” Your life with Me and our relationship must be about more than just blessings and rescue if you are to truly live in abundant life. If I was your “cosmic genie” at your beck and call, would you live a life of faith and commitment to Me or would you simply show me you list of wants and needs and wait for Me to deliver?  Do you notice that when you are surrounded by difficult circumstances you are more attuned to my voice, more acutely aware of Me in your life? You are less distracted by the routine of your life and more focused on Me. Have I not always delivered you at the precise moment and time of your need? Trust in Me and rest in me, regardless of your circumstances or feelings. Delight yourself in the Lord….and He will give you the desires of your heart. When have I NOT shown up to answer your prayers? Perhaps NOT when you first called or cried out in fear, but at the precise time when my response would have the most impact. “

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Heedfulness or Hypocrisy in Ourselves?

March 31st, 2011 by JDVaughn No comments »

March 31, 2011
 
If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death —1 John 5:16
 

If we are not heedful and pay no attention to the way the Spirit of God works in us, we will become spiritual hypocrites. We see where other people are failing, and then we take our discernment and turn it into comments of ridicule and criticism, instead of turning it into intercession on their behalf. God reveals this truth about others to us not through the sharpness of our minds but through the direct penetration of His Spirit. If we are not attentive, we will be completely unaware of the source of the discernment God has given us, becoming critical of others and forgetting that God says, “. . . he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death.” Be careful that you don’t become a hypocrite by spending all your time trying to get others right with God before you worship Him yourself.

One of the most subtle and illusive burdens God ever places on us as saints is this burden of discernment concerning others. He gives us discernment so that we may accept the responsibility for those souls before Him and form the mind of Christ about them (see Philippians 2:5). We should intercede in accordance with what God says He will give us, namely, “life for those who commit sin not leading to death.” It is not that we are able to bring God into contact with our minds, but that we awaken ourselves to the point where God is able to convey His mind to us regarding the people for whom we intercede.

Can Jesus Christ see the agony of His soul in us? He can’t unless we are so closely identified with Him that we have His view concerning the people for whom we pray. May we learn to intercede so wholeheartedly that Jesus Christ will be completely and overwhelmingly satisfied with us as intercessors.

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Holiness or Hardness Toward God?

March 30th, 2011 by Dave No comments »


He . . . wondered that there was no intercessor . . . —Isaiah 59:16

The reason many of us stop praying and become hard toward God is that we only have an emotional interest in prayer. It sounds good to say that we pray, and we read books on prayer which tell us that prayer is beneficial— that our minds are quieted and our souls are uplifted when we pray. But Isaiah implied in this verse that God is amazed at such thoughts about prayer.

Worship and intercession must go together; one is impossible without the other. Intercession means raising ourselves up to the point of getting the mind of Christ regarding the person for whom we are praying (see Philippians 2:5). Instead of worshiping God, we recite speeches to God about how prayer is supposed to work. Are we worshiping God or disputing Him when we say, “But God, I just don’t see how you are going to do this”? This is a sure sign that we are not worshiping. When we lose sight of God, we become hard and dogmatic. We throw our petitions at His throne and dictate to Him what we want Him to do. We don’t worship God, nor do we seek to conform our minds to the mind of Christ. And if we are hard toward God, we will become hard toward other people.

Are we worshiping God in a way that will raise us up to where we can take hold of Him, having such intimate contact with Him that we know His mind about the ones for whom we pray? Are we living in a holy relationship with God, or have we become hard and dogmatic?

Do you find yourself thinking that there is no one interceding properly? Then be that person yourself. Be a person who worships God and lives in a holy relationship with Him. Get involved in the real work of intercession, remembering that it truly is work-work that demands all your energy, but work which has no hidden pitfalls. Preaching the gospel has its share of pitfalls, but intercessory prayer has none whatsoever.

Journal 3 30 11 DJR
Good Morning, Lord.
It occurs to me that my business challenges may mirror my spiritual challenges and vice versa … and maybe I can learn something about one realm from observing the other? This would be great, because I have points at which I seem to be stuck with no progress in each realm of life.

It’s good that you are thinking about it … but what if you are supposed to be “stuck” as you say? What if a time of waiting and growth in the desert is part of my plan. You’ve heard of the dark night of the soul. And you see that I went for 40 days in the desert. And Moses did 40 years.

Yes I see that. But it would be good if I knew it was a desert time approved by you, rather than just my failure to persevere….

Why?

Well, then I could rest and accept the desert.

Would you rest and accept and keep on pressing in to me … or would you rest and just forget it and go do something else?

OK I see what you mean. In the past, I’ve been known to just run away and get engaged in something else.

Sometimes it will be clear to you and sometimes you need to just keep pressing in. But the more time we spend, the better you will become at hearing and the more I will trust you with. So press in to me. Intercede, even when you dont feel like it or see the point. Press thru the darkness till the dawn arrives and you will be glad.

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Our Lord’s Surprise Visits

March 29th, 2011 by JDVaughn No comments »

March 29, 2011
 
You also be ready . . . —Luke 12:40
 
 
 

A Christian worker’s greatest need is a readiness to face Jesus Christ at any and every turn. This is not easy, no matter what our experience has been. This battle is not against sin, difficulties, or circumstances, but against being so absorbed in our service to Jesus Christ that we are not ready to face Jesus Himself at every turn. The greatest need is not facing our beliefs or doctrines, or even facing the question of whether or not we are of any use to Him, but the need is to face Him.

Jesus rarely comes where we expect Him; He appears where we least expect Him, and always in the most illogical situations. The only way a servant can remain true to God is to be ready for the Lord’s surprise visits. This readiness will not be brought about by service, but through intense spiritual reality, expecting Jesus Christ at every turn. This sense of expectation will give our life the attitude of childlike wonder He wants it to have. If we are going to be ready for Jesus Christ, we have to stop being religious. In other words, we must stop using religion as if it were some kind of a lofty lifestyle-we must be spiritually real.

If you are avoiding the call of the religious thinking of today’s world, and instead are “looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2), setting your heart on what He wants, and thinking His thoughts, you will be considered impractical and a daydreamer. But when He suddenly appears in the work of the heat of the day, you will be the only one who is ready. You should trust no one, and even ignore the finest saint on earth if he blocks your sight of Jesus Christ.

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March 29 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

It has occurred to me that I am not to wait on the Lord in the sense that I stand still waiting on Him to show up so that I can finally move or take some action, but that I am to live fully and completely expecting Him to show up at every turn. I am to step out in faith expecting Him to be there all the time, at every turn.  I am to live life fully even though there are great big question marks in the future of my life. Whenever I try to answer all the questions or address all the uncertainties before I move, I am not allowing God room to operate in my life. 

And God Says…”You try to control the uncertainty in your life so that you will not be required to live by faith. You would rather live by sight and certainty than by faith.  You want to be sure before you step out into service or change. Where is the faith in that? Without faith it is impossible to please Me, without faith you cannot access our relationship.”

“Your faith will grow as you expect Me to intercept your life day by day, hour by hour, and minute by minute. With a growing and developing faith, you will grow confident in our relationship and trust Me even more. And as a result your life can become a life of faith, hope and joy as you trust in Me. Trust in Me with all your heart and do not rely on your own understanding and I will make your paths straight. If you are to live life in joy and happiness and peace, you are to live moving forward step by step believing that I have your next step in My control and care.”

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A Beautiful Musical Interlude for relection and prayer:

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Isn’t There Some Misunderstanding?

March 28th, 2011 by JDVaughn No comments »
March 28,  2011
 
’Let us go to Judea again.’ The disciples said to Him, ’. . . are You going there again?’ —John 11:7-8
 

Just because I don’t understand what Jesus Christ says, I have no right to determine that He must be mistaken in what He says. That is a dangerous view, and it is never right to think that my obedience to God’s directive will bring dishonor to Jesus. The only thing that will bring dishonor is not obeying Him. To put my view of His honor ahead of what He is plainly guiding me to do is never right, even though it may come from a real desire to prevent Him from being put to an open shame. I know when the instructions have come from God because of their quiet persistence. But when I begin to weigh the pros and cons, and doubt and debate enter into my mind, I am bringing in an element that is not of God. This will only result in my concluding that His instructions to me were not right. Many of us are faithful to our ideas about Jesus Christ, but how many of us are faithful to Jesus Himself? Faithfulness to Jesus means that I must step out even when and where I can’t see anything (see Matthew 14:29). But faithfulness to my own ideas means that I first clear the way mentally. Faith, however, is not intellectual understanding; faith is a deliberate commitment to the Person of Jesus Christ, even when I can’t see the way ahead.

Are you debating whether you should take a step of faith in Jesus, or whether you should wait until you can clearly see how to do what He has asked? Simply obey Him with unrestrained joy. When He tells you something and you begin to debate, it is because you have a misunderstanding of what honors Him and what doesn’t. Are you faithful to Jesus, or faithful to your ideas about Him? Are you faithful to what He says, or are you trying to compromise His words with thoughts that never came from Him? “Whatever He says to you, do it ” (John 2:5).

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March 28, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

I thought I understood the way I was being led, and then….whoa, it all changed. I thought I had it all under control as I began to get comfortable in my discomfort. The changes you brought about began to seem regular and normal as I adjusted my expectations– I took a breath and began to “settle in” for some rest and then you changed it all up again.

And God says…”When you set your expectations of Me you inadvertently set the boundaries of your faith. When you expect Me to do things in certain ways you limit My ability to operate in your life. You have heard it said that some people make Me too small, and this is how it is done…by setting their expectations inside preconceived notions. Delight yourself in Me and I will give you the desires of your heart. Seek first the kingdom of God..and release your limits of Me and let Me be God in your life.”

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Spiritual Vision Through Personal Purity (1)

March 26th, 2011 by Dave No comments »

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God —Matthew 5:8

Purity is not innocence— it is much more than that. Purity is the result of continued spiritual harmony with God. We have to grow in purity. Our life with God may be right and our inner purity unblemished, yet occasionally our outer life may become spotted and stained. God intentionally does not protect us from this possibility, because this is the way we recognize the necessity of maintaining our spiritual vision through personal purity. If the outer level of our spiritual life with God is impaired to the slightest degree, we must put everything else aside until we make it right. Remember that spiritual vision depends on our character— it is “the pure in heart ” who “see God.”

God makes us pure by an act of His sovereign grace, but we still have something that we must carefully watch. It is through our bodily life coming in contact with other people and other points of view that we tend to become tarnished. Not only must our “inner sanctuary” be kept right with God, but also the “outer courts” must be brought into perfect harmony with the purity God gives us through His grace. Our spiritual vision and understanding is immediately blurred when our “outer court” is stained. If we want to maintain personal intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ, it will mean refusing to do or even think certain things. And some things that are acceptable for others will become unacceptable for us.

A practical help in keeping your personal purity unblemished in your relations with other people is to begin to see them as God does. Say to yourself, “That man or that woman is perfect in Christ Jesus! That friend or that relative is perfect in Christ Jesus!”


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