Monday Nov 7

Happy Monday!  Another week of opportunities to do God's Will in our lives, to feel God's Love for us, and to find the Joy of Living in God!
Dear Friend, give it up, give it all up to Jesus!  Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.  Yes, there are many paths, but there is only one solution to life's grand quest - that is Jesus.  
Let Him into your heart, accept Jesus with all your mind, all your heart and all your soul.  Jesus will lead you, give you access to God the Father, and send the Holy Spirit to fill every atom of you.  Then you can have it all!  Love, Joy, Faith, Hope!
Consider today's meditation by F. B. Meyer:

November 7


THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT--JOY
"These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be fulfilled."-- Joh_15:11.


JOY IS a spontaneous thing. 
The joy of a little child, like the carol of the lark, arises naturally and easily when certain conditions are fulfilled, so if we would experience the joy of Christ we must realize the conditions He lays down. 
If we are grafted into the true Vine, there is nothing to check the inflow of His love to us, if we do as He tells us, and forbear doing what He forbids--then Joy will come to us as a flood.
"'Abide in Me"--it is inferred, of course, that we are in Christ. It was not always so. Once we were outside, separate from Christ, "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." We were shoots in the wild vine, partaking of its nature, involved in its curse, threatened by the axe which lay at its roots. But all this is altered now. 
The Father, who is the Husbandman, of His abundant grace and mercy, has taken us out of the wild vine, and grafted us into the true, and we have become one with Christ. When, therefore, we are told to abide or remain, it is only necessary that we should stay where He placed us. You are in a lift until you step out of it; you are on a certain road until you take a turning to the right or left, although you may be too engrossed in converse with a friend to think of the road;
 so amid the pressure of duties and care, you remain in Christ unless you consciously, by sin or unbelief, thrust yourself away from the light of His face into the darkness. 
When, therefore, the temptation arises to leave the words of Christ for the maxims of the world, resist it and you will still remain in Him. Whenever you are tempted to leave the narrow way of His commandments to follow the desires of your own heart, reckon yourself dead to them, and you will remain; whenever you are tempted to forsake Christ's love for jealousy, envy, hatred, resist these impulses and say, "I elect to remain in the love of God."


Thus abiding in Him you will learn to know His mind, and will naturally ask those things which His love is only too willing to grant. "Ye shall ask what ye will." 
We must remove any hindrances from the indwelling of Christ, then His love will break out into song, and we shall share in His joy. It will remain in us, and our capacity for joy will be fulfilled.


PRAYER
O Thou who art the True Vine, I desire to abide in Thee, that I may bear abundant fruit for Thy glory, and my life be full of Thy joy. AMEN.

You can have it all, just Believe, Accept, and Confess that Jesus is your Savior and Lord.  

May you have a blessed day.  

Sunday Nov 6 2011

Well, summer is definitely over, autumn's grip is strong and the first hints of winter are here.  The seasons roll on marked by the passing points... Halloween is behind us, Thanksgiving rapidly approaches and then the commercial madness of Christmas which hides the true meaning of our Lord's birth.
Truly, if Christmas was a lie, then Christ would be a lie.  But the fact that Christmas grows and is marked world wide, well, proof in the Truth and Validity of our Lord Jesus.  He either is what He claimed or this is the biggest and longest fraud in history.  Praise God that Jesus is Real and True.  


Consider today's meditation:



November 6


THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT--LOVE!
"But now abideth Faith, Hope, Love, these three, and the greatest of these is Love."-- 1Co_13:13.


LET US lay the emphasis on the word fruit, as contrasted with the works of the law. In work there is effort, strain, the sweat of the brow, and straining of the muscles; but fruit comes easily and naturally by the overflow of the sap rising from the root to bough and bud. 
So our Christian life should be the exuberance of the heart in which Christ dwells. The Apostle Paul prayed that Christ might dwell in the heart of his converts, that they might be rooted and grounded in love. It is only when the Holy Spirit fills us to the overflow that we shall abound in love to all men.
We must distinguish between love and the emotion of love. The former is always possible, though not always and immediately the latter. Our Lord repeating the ancient words of the Pentateuch, taught us that we may love God with our mind and strength, as well as with our hearts. 
We all know that the mind and strength are governed not by our emotions, but by our wills. We can love, therefore, by determining to put our thought and energies at the service of another for the sake of God; and we shall find our emotions kindle into a sacred glow of conscious affection.
In the chapter from which our text is taken, St. Paul distinguishes between the Gifts of the Church and Love. After passing them in review he comes to the conclusion that all of them, without Love as their heart and inspiration, are worth nothing.
The greatest word in the world is the unfathomable phrase,
 "God is Love." 
You can no more define the essence of love than you can define the essence of God, but you can describe its effects and fruits. I give Dr. Weymouth's translation:
 "Love is patient and kind, 
knows neither envy nor jealousy; 
is not forward and self-assertive, 
nor boastful and conceited. 
She does not behave unbecomingly, 
nor seek to aggrandize herself, 
nor blaze out in passionate anger, 
nor brood over wrongs. 
She finds no pleasure in injustice done to others, 
but joyfully sides with the truth. 
She knows how to be silent; 
she is full of trust, 
full of hope, 
full of patient endurance."


We ought to take each of these clauses, and ponder whether our lives are realizing these high ideals. God send us a baptism of such love!


PRAYER
O Lord, my love is like some feebly glimmering spark; I would that it were as a hot flame. Kindle it by the breath of Thy Holy Spirit, till Thy love constraineth me. AMEN.

Saturday Nov 5

From Max Lucado:

The Rest of the Story Posted: 04 Nov 2011 11:00 PM PDT Those who believe in me, even though they die like everyone else, will live again.  John 11:25, NLT Mourning is not disbelieving.  Flooded eyes don’t represent a faithless heart.  A person can enter a cemetery Jesus-certain of life after death and still have a Twin Tower crater in the heart.  Christ did.  He wept, and he knew he was ten minutes from seeing a living Lazarus! And his tears give you permission to shed your own…So grieve, but don’t grieve like those who don’t know the rest of this story.

God’s Thoughts Posted: 03 Nov 2011 11:01 PM PDT Lord, you have done such great things! How deep are your thoughts!  Psalm 92:5 God’s thoughts are not our thoughts—we aren’t even in the same neighborhood. Psalm 92:5 sets the standard. “Lord, you have done such great things. How deep are your thoughts.” When we’re thinking, Preserve the body; God’s thinking, Save the soul. We dream of a pay raise. He dreams of raising the dead. We avoid pain and seek peace. God uses pain to bring peace. “I’m going to live before I die,” we resolve. “Die, so you can live,” he instructs. We love what rusts. He loves what endures. We rejoice at our successes. He rejoices at our confessions. We show our children the Nike star with the million-dollar smile and say, “Be like him.” God points to the crucified carpenter with bloody lips and a torn side and says, “Be like Christ.”

Friday Nov 4

Words to live by from some our greatest men in US history:

November 4


The Book of Presidents
"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15, NASB).
On this day we vote into office our next President. Much has been said and done by both candidates in their campaigns for our support. One will win, and one will lose — whether it's a blowout, or one of the tightest elections in history.
But the bigger question is, "Will WE win?"
Those who pursue the high office seem to be increasingly dismissive of the Highest Office of them all. This is a grave mistake. For no man can soundly govern a nation who is not himself being governed by God; to have authority, one must be under authority. The alternative is dictatorship.
Here is a brief view of how our previous Presidents have regarded the influence of God in their lives and administrations, particularly as that influence was wrought through their devotion to the Bible:


"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible." — George Washington


"So great is my veneration for the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectable members of society..." —John Quincy Adams


"That Book, sir, is the rock on which our republic rests." — Andrew Jackson


"I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to men. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through this Book. All things most desirable for man's welfare, here and hereafter, are to be found portrayed in it." — Abraham Lincoln


"Hold fast to the Bible as the sheet anchor of your liberties. Write its precepts in your hearts, and practice them in your lives. To the influence of this book are we indebted for all the progress made in true civilization, and to this we must look as our guide in the future." — Ulysses S. Grant


"There are a good many problems before the American people today, and before me as President, but I expect to find the solution of those problems just in the proportion that I am faithful in the study of the Word of God. A man has deprived himself of the best there is in the world who has deprived himself of this, a knowledge of the Bible. When you have read the Bible, you will know that it is the Word of God, because you will have found it the key to your own heart, your own happiness, and your own duty." — Woodrow Wilson


"We cannot read the history of our rise and development as a nation, without reckoning with the place the Bible has occupied in shaping the advances of the Republic. Where we have been the truest and most consistent in obeying its precepts, we have attained the greatest measure of contentment and prosperity." —Franklin Roosevelt


"The whole inspiration of our civilization springs from the teachings of Christ and the lessons of the prophets. To read the Bible for these fundamentals is a necessity of American life." — Herbert Hoover
"The fundamental basis of this nation's laws was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings we get from Exodus and Saint Matthew, from Isaiah and Saint Paul. I don't think we emphasize that enough these days. If we don't have a proper fundamental moral background, we will finally end up with a totalitarian government which does not believe in rights for anybody except the State!" —Harry Truman


"The Bible is endorsed by the ages. Our civilization is built upon its words. In no other book is there such a collection of inspired wisdom, reality, and hope." — Dwight D. Eisenhower


"Within the covers of the Bible are all the answers for all the problems men face. The Bible can touch hearts, order minds, and refresh souls." — Ronald Reagan


May God revive our spirits and restore our Nation to a love for His Word, that we may walk in His ways.

Thursday Nov 3

Good morning, how are you?  How's your life going?  
My life sucks at the moment, Praise God!
Things are not working out the way I want them to, Praise God!
There are so many things going wrong and not even the way I hoped or planned or wish it to be. Praise God!


If all things went the way we wanted them to, there were no troubles and adversities, no pain and sorrow, no hardships and challenges, no heartbreaks and heartaches... well then, we wouldn't NEED God nor turn to His Love and Grace.  
Why do bad things happen to good people?  So we can turn to God, learn to accept His Will and lean on His Grace to support and love us, no matter what our short point of view on the matter.  
When you learn to swim, at first you are fearful, struggle in the water to both breath properly and to move smoothly.  The thrashing and struggling strokes are soon replaced by careful and graceful strokes that get us to where we need or want to go.  
Being a Christian is not much different.  We must learn to "Let Go and Let God" in all our ways.  It is not easy  giving up our desires and wants and our need for control.  Not for me, not for you.  
So how do we get there?  Prayer!
Consider today's meditations by Charles Spurgeon:



November 3


Morning
“Behold, he prayeth.” - Act_9:11


Prayers are instantly noticed in heaven. 


The moment Saul began to pray the Lord heard him. Here is comfort for the distressed but praying soul. Oftentimes a poor broken-hearted one bends his knee, but can only utter his wailing in the language of sighs and tears; yet that groan has made all the harps of heaven thrill with music; that tear has been caught by God and treasured in the lachrymatory of heaven. “Thou puttest my tears into thy bottle,” implies that they are caught as they flow. The suppliant, whose fears prevent his words, will be well understood by the Most High. He may only look up with misty eye; but “prayer is the falling of a tear.” Tears are the diamonds of heaven; sighs are a part of the music of Jehovah’s court, and are numbered with “the sublimest strains that reach the majesty on high.” 
Think not that your prayer, however weak or trembling, will be unregarded. Jacob’s ladder is lofty, but our prayers shall lean upon the Angel of the covenant and so climb its starry rounds. Our God not only hears prayer but also loves to hear it. “He forgetteth not the cry of the humble.” 
True, he regards not high looks and lofty words; he cares not for the pomp and pageantry of kings; he listens not to the swell of martial music; he regards not the triumph and pride of man; 
but wherever there is a heart big with sorrow, or a lip quivering with agony, or a deep groan, or a penitential sigh, the heart of Jehovah is open; he marks it down in the registry of his memory; he puts our prayers, like rose leaves, between the pages of his book of remembrance, and when the volume is opened at last, there shall be a precious fragrance springing up therefrom.
“Faith asks no signal from the skies,
To show that prayers accepted rise,
Our Priest is in his holy place,
And answers from the throne of grace.”


Evening
“Their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto heaven.” - 2Ch_30:27


Prayer is the never-failing resort of the Christian in any case, in every plight. 
When you cannot use your sword you may take to the weapon of all-prayer. Your powder may be damp, your bow-string may be relaxed, but the weapon of all-prayer need never be out of order. Leviathan laughs at the javelin, but he trembles at prayer. Sword and spear need furbishing, but prayer never rusts, and when we think it most blunt it cuts the best. Prayer is an open door which none can shut. Devils may surround you on all sides, but the way upward is always open, and as long as that road is unobstructed, you will not fall into the enemy’s hand. We can never be taken by blockade, escalade, mine, or storm, so long as heavenly succours can come down to us by Jacob’s ladder to relieve us in the time of our necessities. 
Prayer is never out of season: in summer and in winter its merchandise is precious. Prayer gains audience with heaven in the dead of night, in the midst of business, in the heat of noonday, in the shades of evening.
In every condition, whether of poverty, or sickness, or obscurity, or slander, or doubt, your covenant God will welcome your prayer and answer it from his holy place. Nor is prayer ever futile. True prayer is evermore true power. You may not always get what you ask, but you shall always have your real wants supplied. 
When God does not answer his children according to the letter, he does so according to the spirit. If thou askest for coarse meal, wilt thou be angered because he gives thee the finest flour? If thou seekest bodily health, shouldst thou complain if instead thereof he makes thy sickness turn to the healing of spiritual maladies? Is it not better to have the cross sanctified than removed? 
This evening, my soul, forget not to offer thy petition and request, for the Lord is ready to grant thee thy desires.

Wednesday Nov 2 2011

How's life going for you?  Some victories, some if not many defeats or setbacks?  Yeah, life can be truly challenging and perplexing.  I doubt that any one person on earth has his or her way all the time.  So, we trudge along, moving with the tides of time, doing what we must do and hoping for the best.  
But without Hope there really is no reason to go on, without a reason life becomes a drudgery that must be endured rather than lived.  And where does Hope come from?  From FAITH.  Faith is "the realization of what is hoped for, the evidence of things unseen."  So with Hope and Faith we move forward.  But what is Faith?
Consider these thoughts by George Morrison:



November 2


The Shield of Faith
Withal taking up the shield of faith— Eph_6:16 (R.V.)


The Power That Protects Us
The armor of the ancients was of two different kinds, and both kinds were absolutely necessary. It was partly armor for attack and partly armor for protection. Now very generally, in the New Testament, faith is one of the weapons of attack (1Jo_5:4). We see that magnificently illustrated in the pageant of the eleventh of Hebrews. But here, and it may be only here, Paul looks on faith in quite another light, for he sets it among the armor of protection.


Faith is not here the power that leads to victory; it is the power that protects us in the battle. It keeps us unembittered and serene amid the mysteries and buffetings of life. To believe that love is on the throne and that through everything there runs a loving purpose, is in the deepest of all senses to be shielded.
How effectual that shielding is, is shown by the apostle's choice of words. An exquisite and unfailing niceness of selection is the real meaning of verbal inspiration. There are two words in the Greek tongue for shield; the one is common and the other rare. The one connotes a little shield or target; the other a frame that covered the whole man. And it is notable that only here—nowhere else, I mean, in the New Testament—is the latter word employed. Faith is not a partial protection; it casts its defense over the whole of life. It is a means of safety for the intellect, as surely as for the passions of the heart. It guards the feet when they are prone to wander, and the hands when they are growing weary, and the eyes when they are drawn to what is wrong. The shield of faith is an all-embracing shelter. It is coextensive with our being. Faith in God through our Lord Jesus Christ is nothing less than a universal safeguard. All was choicely shown to the Ephesians by the word which the apostle used when he bade them take up the shield of faith.


Faith Is Given to Guard Life in Everything; 
Not from Everything
But if faith be a protecting shield, what then of the apostle's own experience? So far from being defended from life's ills, he knew them all in an abounding measure. He was not protected from cold or heat or hunger, nor from shipwreck, nor from the hand of robbers (2Co_11:1-33). He was not protected from bodily infirmity, for he suffered from his lacerating thorn (2Co_12:1-21). Everything that makes life bitter was mingled in the cup of the apostle, and yet he dares to speak of faith's protection. I think there are many who have still to learn that faith was never intended for exemption. Faith is not given to guard the life from anything; it is given to guard the life in everything. It empowers one to bear, and to bear cheerfully, what otherwise would break the heart and darken the loving ordering of God. 
To pass through the very worst that life can bring, undismayed in soul, and unembittered; to tread the darkest mile and sing in it; never to lose heart, or hope, or love; that is what faith achieved for the apostle and can achieve for everyone of us, and that is the shielding power of faith. 
So was it with our blessed Lord. When He came here, He was offered no exemption. He was a man of sorrows, and He suffered, and He was tempted in all points like as we are. Yet to the end, in a faith that never faltered, He was loving, tranquil, and forgiving and under the cross spoke about His peace.
This Protecting Faith Has to Be Taken Up
One should notice, too, that this protecting faith is one that we require to make our own. In the apostle's words, we have to take it up, in the same way as we take up our cross. There is a faith that is part and parcel of our being. It is ours without any conscious effort. We believe quite naturally when the sower sows his seed that there will be a harvest in the autumn. 
But to believe, when life is stem and sorrowful, that God is with us and loves us as a Father, that is not natural to sinful man. We have to take it up, in the apostle's words. We have to summon up the resources of the soul. We have to use our will in a deliberate effort, if such a faith is to be part of life. And it is just there that the Lord Jesus makes all the difference to us in our weakness, for God commendeth His love to us in this, that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.


Where does this Faith come from?  
James Ryle gives us the source:

November 2


The Unchained Word
"It is the Gospel for which I have to suffer imprisonment — as if I were a criminal. But there is no prison for the word of God." (2 Timothy 2:9, Moffatt NT).
There is great irony in the fact that when the powers of darkness orchestrated the imprisonment of Paul through the efforts of religious fanatics — his imprisonment became the occasion for the unleashing of the Word of God. Had Paul NOT been locked up, there is good evidence to conclude that we would not have much of the New Testament as we know it today.
Though Paul was bound in chains when he wrote it, there are no prison bars strong enough to hold back God's Word from anyone anywhere.
In the front of an old Family Bible, I found these words — "This Book contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and it decisions are immutable.


"Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy.
 It contains light to direct you, 
food to support you, 
and comfort to cheer you. 
It is the traveler's map, 
the pilgrim's staff, 
the pilot's compass, 
the soldier's sword, 
and the Christian's charter. 
Here Paradise is restored, 
Heaven opened, 
and the Gates of Hell disclosed.
"Christ is its Grand Subject, 
our good its design, 
and the Glory of God its end. 
It should fill the memory, 
rule the heart, 
and guide the feet.
"Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. It is given you in life, will be opened at the judgment, and be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, rewards the greatest labor, and condemns all who trifle with its holy contents. 
This volume is the Word of GOD."
The Word of God cannot be chained — and it will therefore break every chain that holds you back from fully, freely and faithfully following God.


Yes, it is THE BIBLE!  
God bless you with His Grace to find Faith and Hope in His Word.

Tuesday Nov 1

Happy November.  End of Autumn, bringing in winter!  Well, depends on where you are.  But definitely a big change in many places.  Also the beginning of the holiday season in most stores, with many places already decorated with Christmas stuff.  
Yah, the seasons are flying by, I am struggling with many issues, alone in a small room, alone trying to hold on, with only my Faith keeping me going.  Life can get hard in so many ways.  
Then I remember that I am not alone, that there are so many others worse off than I.  I have the most precious gift - God's love and His grace.  Praise God, keep moving forward. 


Consider James Ryle's thoughts on this:



November 1


Soldiers, Athletes and Farmers
"A soldier on duty doesn't get caught up in making deals at the marketplace. He concentrates on carrying out orders. An athlete who refuses to play by the rules will never get anywhere. It's the diligent farmer who gets the produce." (2 Timothy 2:4-6, The Message).
Metaphors have a way of opening and expanding our understanding to a richer and fuller insight. Paul uses three separate metaphors at the same time to help young Timothy prepare himself for being faithful in what God had placed before him.
These metaphors speak volumes to us today. For, like Timothy, we too are called to be Soldiers, Athletes, and Farmers. 
A soldier fights the good fight of faith. 
An athlete runs the race and finishes strong. 
A farmer labors faithfully and patiently until the harvest comes in.
The Soldier is all about duty performed with diligence. Because of this he or she does not disengage from their post to pursue lesser things. They stand their ground, dressed in full armor, vigilant against any and all enemies.
The Athlete is all about performance executed with discipline. Because of this he or she competes according to the rules; no cheating, no cutting corners, no slacking off.
The Farmer is all about produce brought forth with determination. Because of this he or she labors tirelessly, tending to the ground and the crop, fending off anything that would interfere with growth, praying for rain, and finally bringing in the sheaves when harvest time comes.
The worst thing that could ever happen to a soldier is not death, but dishonor. The worst thing that could happen to an athlete is not defeat, but disqualification. The worst thing that could happen to a farmer is not draught, but desolation.
These three metaphors relate to your life in very specific ways.
The Soldier pertains to your calling to stand in the World. 
The Athlete pertains to your calling to a personal life of devotion and integrity, and 
the Farmer pertains to your calling to labor in the fields of the Lord as a servant to His purposes in the church and the world.


So, how are you doing?