If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left. —Genesis 13:9

When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. —Revelation 1:17

It may be that, like the apostle John, you know Jesus Christ intimately. Yet when He suddenly appears to you with totally unfamiliar characteristics, the only thing you can do is fall “at His feet as dead.” There are times when God cannot reveal Himself in any other way than in His majesty, and it is the awesomeness of the vision which brings you to the delight of despair. You experience this joy in hopelessness, realizing that if you are ever to be raised up it must be by the hand of God.

“He laid His right hand on me…” (Revelation 1:17). In the midst of the awesomeness, a touch comes, and you know it is the right hand of Jesus Christ. You know it is not the hand of restraint, correction, nor chastisement, but the right hand of the Everlasting Father. Whenever His hand is laid upon you, it gives inexpressible peace and comfort, and the sense that “underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27), full of support, provision, comfort, and strength. And once His touch comes, nothing at all can throw you into fear again. In the midst of all His ascended glory, the Lord Jesus comes to speak to an insignificant disciple, saying, “Do not be afraid” (Revelation 1:17). His tenderness is inexpressibly sweet. Do I know Him like that?

Take a look at some of the things that cause despair. There is despair which has no delight, no limits whatsoever, and no hope of anything brighter. But the delight of despair comes when “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells…” (Romans 7:18). I delight in knowing that there is something in me which must fall prostrate before God when He reveals Himself to me, and also in knowing that if I am ever to be raised up it must be by the hand of God. God can do nothing for me until I recognize the limits of what is humanly possible, allowing Him to do the impossible.

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Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord. Fortunately(?) I don’t very often experience the awesome and absolute despair referred to here. But the lesser and more common variety seems to have the same cause and the same cure. For me it comes when I realize my failings and that I just can’t fix them, can’t try harder, work more, even pray more… and fix my self. And the cure for these littler despairs is also the same as for the big one described in Revelation: I can’t, but you can, and you have. The question is simply, How do I access what you have already done and continue to provide for me? What you’ve been teaching us are the components of this way of life. Surrender, Connection, Abandon, Obedience, Curiosity. Getting these things right and worked into our lives has been a challenge. It’s so easy to fall back into trying to look good, be right and be in control. It’s been good but not enough, to dedicate the day and surrender our wills each morning. Today, Lord help me surrender with each breath. Breathe out my striving (sin), Breathe in You & your peace. Stay curious about what you are doing, breath by breath, all day long.

…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

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? —Romans 8:35

God does not keep His child immune from trouble; He promises, “I will be with him in trouble…” (Psalm 91:15). It doesn’t matter how real or intense the adversities may be; nothing can ever separate him from his relationship to God. “In all these things we are more than conquerors…” (Romans 8:37). Paul was not referring here to imaginary things, but to things that are dangerously real. And he said we are “super-victors” in the midst of them, not because of our own ingenuity, nor because of our courage, but because none of them affects our essential relationship with God in Jesus Christ. I feel sorry for the Christian who doesn’t have something in the circumstances of his life that he wishes were not there.

“Shall tribulation…?” Tribulation is never a grand, highly welcomed event; but whatever it may be— whether exhausting, irritating, or simply causing some weakness— it is not able to “separate us from the love of Christ.” Never allow tribulations or the “cares of this world” to separate you from remembering that God loves you (Matthew 13:22).

“Shall…distress…?” Can God’s love continue to hold fast, even when everyone and everything around us seems to be saying that His love is a lie, and that there is no such thing as justice?

“Shall…famine…?” Can we not only believe in the love of God but also be “more than conquerors,” even while we are being starved?

Either Jesus Christ is a deceiver, having deceived even Paul, or else some extraordinary thing happens to someone who holds on to the love of God when the odds are totally against him. Logic is silenced in the face of each of these things which come against him. Only one thing can account for it— the love of God in Christ Jesus. “Out of the wreck I rise” every time.

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Journal DJR
Good morning Lord,
Today I used JD’s favorite method of song search to find our song to match the daily devotion from Oswald Chambers… looking at the list of songs being played on K-Love, starting with what’s being played right now. It works pretty well, not 100%, but many times the right song is right there, waiting for us. So today, I instantly knew that this song was the right one to go with the message. But then I opened it up and evaluated the lyrics and felt three things. First, I didn’t see your name in there and then it seemed like there might be too much work in the prescription of steps to survive hard times. Kind of like self help prescriptions. Good Ideas that work with or without You. But then I saw that you were really in the lyrics, just different aspects.

Let every heartbreak and every scar
Be a picture that reminds you Who has carried you this far
‘Cause love sees farther than you ever could
In this moment Heaven’s working everything for your good

And the Romans 8:28 mantra that you have given us in that last line, confirmed that I once again had been led to the right song for the day. Thank you for being there for us and leading us… whenever we are ready, you are always there. How great is that!

I have said, I will never leave you or forsake you. You and all humans leave and forsake me from time to time, some more some less. But I am not offended. Remember I made you and I know you. I watch you with curiosity, not judgement. It would be good for you to watch others that way also. It will help you appropriate that peace that passes understanding that I make available to all.

Look at the birds of the air….Consider the lilies of the field… —Matthew 6:26, 28

“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin”— they simply are! Think of the sea, the air, the sun, the stars, and the moon— all of these simply are as well— yet what a ministry and service they render on our behalf! So often we impair God’s designed influence, which He desires to exhibit through us, because of our own conscious efforts to be consistent and useful. Jesus said there is only one way to develop and grow spiritually, and that is through focusing and concentrating on God. In essence, Jesus was saying, “Do not worry about being of use to others; simply believe on Me.” In other words, pay attention to the Source, and out of you “will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). We cannot discover the source of our natural life through common sense and reasoning, and Jesus is teaching here that growth in our spiritual life comes not from focusing directly on it, but from concentrating on our Father in heaven. Our heavenly Father knows our circumstances, and if we will stay focused on Him, instead of our circumstances, we will grow spiritually— just as “the lilies of the field.”

The people who influence us the most are not those who detain us with their continual talk, but those who live their lives like the stars in the sky and “the lilies of the field”— simply and unaffectedly. Those are the lives that mold and shape us.

If you want to be of use to God, maintain the proper relationship with Jesus Christ by staying focused on Him, and He will make use of you every minute you live— yet you will be unaware, on the conscious level of your life, that you are being used of Him.

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May 18 2016

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Good morning God, thank You for this day and this devotional. Today’s devotional seems to sum up all that You have been teaching us for a long while. These two sentences from Chambers seem to sum up all that You have been revealing to us for a number of years: We cannot discover the source of our natural life through common sense and reasoning, and Jesus is teaching here that growth in our spiritual life comes not from focusing directly on it, but from concentrating on our Father in heaven. Our heavenly Father knows our circumstances, and if we will stay focused on Him, instead of our circumstances, we will grow spiritually— just as “the lilies of the field.” As the song says, I am to keep my eyes on You.

And God says…”Just like the lilies of the field, you do not have to worry about how you exist or grow. Even though I have given you the intellect and awareness, that does not mean you need to figure out what, when, how, where or why. Acknowledge Me in all your ways and do not rely on your own understanding and I will make your paths straight. Seek first the kingdom of God and My righteousness, which is Jesus, and I will provide everything else you require for daily living. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart; this is the lesson and teaching I have given you: Surrender, connection, curiosity and obedience. Live out of this, and the Holy Spirit can lead, guide and direct you. But He cannot take the wheel unless you first let go. “

It came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. —Luke 24:51

We have no experiences in our lives that correspond to the events in our Lord’s life after the transfiguration. From that moment forward His life was altogether substitutionary. Up to the time of the transfiguration, He had exhibited the normal, perfect life of a man. But from the transfiguration forward— Gethsemane, the Cross, the resurrection— everything is unfamiliar to us. His Cross is the door by which every member of the human race can enter into the life of God; by His resurrection He has the right to give eternal life to anyone, and by His ascension our Lord entered heaven, keeping the door open for humanity.

The transfiguration was completed on the Mount of Ascension. If Jesus had gone to heaven directly from the Mount of Transfiguration, He would have gone alone. He would have been nothing more to us than a glorious Figure. But He turned His back on the glory, and came down from the mountain to identify Himself with fallen humanity.

The ascension is the complete fulfillment of the transfiguration. Our Lord returned to His original glory, but not simply as the Son of God— He returned to His father as the Son of Man as well. There is now freedom of access for anyone straight to the very throne of God because of the ascension of the Son of Man. As the Son of Man, Jesus Christ deliberately limited His omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience. But now they are His in absolute, full power. As the Son of Man, Jesus Christ now has all the power at the throne of God. From His ascension forward He is the King of kings and Lord of lords.

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Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
I struggled to hear your voice in creating this journal entry. That seems typical as there is so much here to get my head wrapped around. How you did what you did and how it was different after Gethsemane but before you left. Son of God, Son of Man, What you left in Heaven and that maybe if you weren’t using your God powers that maybe I could live like you did? After thinking a lot of thoughts like this, which I recognized as my own thinking… I think I heard you in a different way, a way that you sometimes use to get past my thinking. A song came into my head. And peace came with it. A pretty good indicator that the message of the song is from you and for me, at least for now. Here are the words of the chorus that I “heard” in my head….

Breathe, just breathe
Come and rest at My feet
And be, just be
Chaos calls but all you really need
Is to just breathe

I had been stressing about not hearing you. At least pretty sure that what I was hearing was mainly my own thinking. Then you came with these words and I felt your peace, and said, Yes, this is it. Just Breathe, Just sit at your feet, Just Surrender. Surrender the need to understand Cosmic Justice. Just Be. Be with you.

Here are all the lyrics… And thank you for always being there for me. Even when I am running amuck or running off chasing shiny objects. I love you.

Breathe
Jonny Diaz
from the album Everything Is Changing

Alarm clock screaming bare feet hit the floor
It’s off to the races everybody out the door
I’m feeling like I’m falling behind, it’s a crazy life
Ninety miles an hour going fast as I can
Trying to push a little harder trying to get the upper hand
So much to do in so little time, it’s a crazy life
It’s ready, set, go it’s another wild day
When the stress is on the rise in my heart I feel You say just

(chorus)
Breathe, just breathe
Come and rest at My feet
And be, just be
Chaos calls but all you really need
Is to just breathe

Third cup of joe just to get me through the day
Wanna make the most of time but I feel it slip away
I wonder if there’s something more to this crazy life
I’m busy, busy, busy, and it’s no surprise to see
That I only have time for me, me, me
There’s gotta be something more to this crazy life
I’m hanging on tight to another wild day
When it starts to fall apart in my heart I hear You say just

(chorus)
Breathe, just breathe
Come and rest at My feet
And be, just be
Chaos calls but all you really need

Is to take it in fill your lungs
The Peace of God that overcomes
Just breathe
Let your weary spirit rest
Lay down what’s good and find what’s best
Just breathe

(chorus)
Just breathe, just breathe
Come and rest at My feet
And be, just be
Chaos calls but all you really need
Is to just breathe
Just breathe

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

If these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful… —2 Peter 1:8

When we first begin to form a habit, we are fully aware of it. There are times when we are aware of becoming virtuous and godly, but this awareness should only be a stage we quickly pass through as we grow spiritually. If we stop at this stage, we will develop a sense of spiritual pride. The right thing to do with godly habits is to immerse them in the life of the Lord until they become such a spontaneous expression of our lives that we are no longer aware of them. Our spiritual life continually causes us to focus our attention inwardly for the determined purpose of self-examination, because each of us has some qualities we have not yet added to our lives.

Your god may be your little Christian habit— the habit of prayer or Bible reading at certain times of your day. Watch how your Father will upset your schedule if you begin to worship your habit instead of what the habit symbolizes. We say, “I can’t do that right now; this is my time alone with God.” No, this is your time alone with your habit. There is a quality that is still lacking in you. Identify your shortcoming and then look for opportunities to work into your life that missing quality.

Love means that there are no visible habits— that your habits are so immersed in the Lord that you practice them without realizing it. If you are consciously aware of your own holiness, you place limitations on yourself from doing certain things— things God is not restricting you from at all. This means there is a missing quality that needs to be added to your life. The only supernatural life is the life the Lord Jesus lived, and He was at home with God anywhere. Is there someplace where you are not at home with God? Then allow God to work through whatever that particular circumstance may be until you increase in Him, adding His qualities. Your life will then become the simple life of a child.

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Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord, We’ve been told to “form good habits” and they will serve us well…. or bad habits and we will have to serve them. This seems right but Chambers adds the caution to not worship our habits. They are obviously not you, the only object worthy of our worship. Actually they seem like tools in the tool box. Which we can learn to use, but then we need to get on with our mission… which we get from you.

You will do well to practice a Master Habit and let everything else flow from that….

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33

When you seek me first, I will guide you in the habits to form and the habits to let go of. Also how tightly to hold a habit. When you surrender everything to me, including your habits my Spirit can guide you into all truth.

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. John 16:13

When you seek me first and hold your habits in an open palm, you will become a sweet aroma and seasoning in the lives of those I send you to. If you worship your habits, you will become hard and cause divisions. So, seek me first, stay curious, and plan on surrendering everything, and follow my lead. It’s an exciting way to live. And the indicator will not be things or circumstances, but that you experience the Peace that passes understanding.

…add to your…brotherly kindness love. —2 Peter 1:5, 7

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