Half way through March already. Time marches on and we live day by day to be "happy" and do what we think we must do. Certainly we do many things we don't want to do but do so because we have to do it for whatever reason... it's our job, it's our responsibility, it's our assigned role, etc. What do you do that you really want to do to "be happy"?
I know there are many proposed solutions out there, but I swear to you that you will not find a greater, easier, more wonderful solution to your life's worries than to accept Jesus as your Savior, your Redeemer and then live your life in His Love. His Love is real and never fails. Why? Because He sent the Holy Spirit to live with you moment to moment. Today's meditation is from F.B.Meyer on receiving the Holy Spirit:
March 15
RECEIVING THE HOLY SPIRIT
"And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."--- Act_2:4.
ON THE day of Pentecost all who were gathered together in the upper room were filled with the Holy Spirit--women as well as men, obscure disciples, as well as illustrious apostles. Deacons called to do the secular business of the Church must be men filled with the Holy Ghost. That he was a good man, full of the Holy Ghost, was a greater recommendation of Barnabas than that he had parted with his lands.
The majority of Christians have seemed to suppose that the filling of the Holy Spirit was the prerogative of a few--they have never thought of it as within their reach; and the Church has been paralysed for lack of the only power that can avail in the conflict against the world, the power which was distinctly pledged by her ascending Lord.
Pentecost was meant to be the specimen and type of all the days of the years of this present age, and we have fallen far below this blessed level, not because of any failure on God's part, but because the Church has neglected its privilege.
We must desire to be filled for the glory of God. We must seek the Spirit's power, not for our own happiness and comfort, nor even for the good that we may be the better able to effect, but that "Christ may be magnified in our bodies, whether by life or death."
We must bring cleansed vessels. God will not deposit His precious gift in unclean receptacles. We must be washed in the blood of Christ from all conscious filthiness and stain, ere we can presume to expect that God will give us what we seek.
We must appropriate Him by faith. There is no need for us to wait, because the Holy Spirit has been given to the Church. We need not struggle and agonize in the vehemence of entreaty, but have simply to take what God is waiting to impart. He gives the Holy Spirit to them that obey Him (Act_5:32).
We must be prepared to let the Holy Spirit do as He will with and through us. There must be no reserve, no holding back, no contrariety of purpose. Let us believe and reckon that we are being filled with new power and joy which shall be for the glory of God and the service of man.
PRAYER
We pray, O God, that the Holy Spirit may so infill us, that sin and self may have no dominion over us, but that the fruits of the Spirit may abound to Thy honour and glory. AMEN.
May you have a blessed, Holy Spirit filled day!
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
So, here we go, into the last third of the school year. Three months.... it is going to be a long time. Yet, we look forward to a wonderful journey.
How are you? Hope your world is unfolding as it should.
Today's thoughts from F.B. MEYER:
March 14
DIVINE DELIVERANCE
"I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust."-- Psa_91:2.
IT IS supposed that this Psalm, like the preceding one, was composed by Moses, "the man of God," and that each may be applied to the flight of Israel from Egypt. To "abide under the shadow of the Almighty" reminds us of the words of our Lord, when He said: "How often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not." Bunyan says that the hen has four calls--the call when night is near; the call for food when she has found some dainty; the call of peril when the hawk is nigh; and the call of brooding love, when she wants to feel her nestlings under her wings. To-day God is calling to each of us, saying: Come My children, make the secret place of My presence, of My environment, of My constant keeping, your home; for he that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the wings of God. When night is nigh, when money and food is scarce, when the hawk is in the air ready to pounce on us, when loneliness or desolation oppresses, let us hear the brooding cry of God our Father, and nestle beneath His shadow.
God is prepared to keep us in all our ways. Many of us believe that somehow God will bring us out at last, but we have no expectation that He can keep us in blamelessness of soul; we expect to be brought to Heaven, but that we shall be battered, and beaten, and despoiled on the way. But surely our God can do better for us than that! He can keep us from yielding to passionate temper, jealousy, hatred, pride, and envy, as well as to the grosser forms of sin.
The promise is clear: "He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways"--the business ways, the social ways, the ways of service into which God may lead us forth, the ways of sacrifice or suffering.
- Let us simply and humbly ask for the fulfillment of the promises in this Psalm.
- He will answer your prayers.
- He will be with you in trouble.
- He will satisfy you with many years of life, or with living much in a short time, and
- He will show you the wonders of His salvation.
PRAYER
Lord, be Thou within me, to strengthen me; without me, to keep me; above me, to protect me; beneath me, to uphold me; before me, to direct me; behind me, to keep me from straying; round about me, to defend me. AMEN.
AMEN!
Have a blessed day!
Fridays must be one of the happier days in America. For most people on regular schedules it means the end of a demanding, trying, and often maddening days of must-do work. Then, tomorrow is SATURDAY, day of independent choice and freedom day, to do what you want to do, not what you must do. Sundays are for rest, for worship, for preparing for another week of service. So, Fridays are the day of hope and anticipation. I like Fridays, but love Saturdays. How about you?
Today's meditation is from F.B.Meyer:
March 11
FOR ME AND THEE
"Not withstanding, lest we should offend them, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for Me and thee."-- Mat_17:27.
PETER HAD been fairly well-to-do. He had his house, and boat, and nets. There was no lack in the fisherman's house. But when Jesus said, "Come after Me," he left all, and there was an immediate cutting off of the former sources of supply, so that when the tax gatherer came, there was nothing to meet his claim. Our Lord maintained that He personally was under no obligation to meet the demand. As a child, to use His own words, He was free; but He immediately identified Himself, as He always does, with His troubled disciple. We can never leave anything for Christ, without His recognition, and His being ready to defray whatever cost may accrue from obedience.
The identification was so absolute between the Master and His disciple, that He refrained from providing two coins, which might have indicated some severance of interest. Was it not His intention to put beyond all controversy that He and His are one, and that in every act of His on our behalf, in His willingness to meet the demands made upon us, there is no severance of interests, no mere patronage, but an absolute identification with all that concerns us.
There are profound lessons here. Demands are constantly knocking at the door of life, which we find it hard, sometimes impossible, to meet. There are needs of food and clothing, of the rent collector and the tax gatherer. But is not Christ aware? Is He not faithful? Will He let us go under in the struggle? Never! Whatever demand made on the servant is assumed by the Master--That take, He says, and give unto them for Me and thee.
As He enters the wilderness of temptation, He reminds us--it is "'for Me and thee." As He hangs upon the Cross, and passes forth from the grave, radiant with triumph, He turns to us and says: "This victory over death and the grave is for Me and thee." Yes, and through all the ages that are yet to be, amid the marvels of unfolding new worlds, nothing shall accrue to Him of which He will not say: "That take, and give, or use, for Me and thee." Only remember, we must take, and give. We must appropriate the unsearchable riches of Christ, we must impart them, or they will not profit us.
PRAYER
We thank Thee, our Father, for our union with the Risen Christ. May we share more largely in His glorious life, and live as the heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. AMEN.
I hope you have a great day. God be with you.
We are so little of faith, well, at least I am most of the time. I whine, I complain and always ask for more and more. God must surely get tired of my repeated, whining, complaining behaviors.
But wait, the great apostles tell us to continually depend on God and to keep asking, seeking, and knocking on Heaven's door, to come to God with our needs and wants... from Bob Hoekstra...
March 9
More on Praying for the Fullness of the Spirit
And I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened . . . your heavenly Father [will] give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him! (Luk_11:9-10, Luk_11:13)
Here again, the work of the Spirit in our lives is associated with prayer. Prayer is that wonderful God-ordained means of relating to the Lord in humility and faith (the two means by which we access grace). In praying, we are humbly admitting that we need God. In praying, we are exercising faith toward God that He will act on our behalf. We pray; God moves by His Spirit, pouring out whatever grace is necessary for any given situation.
We saw this in our previous meditation. "That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith . . . that you may be filled with all the fullness of God" (Eph_3:16-19). Here, prayer was the avenue to being filled with the bountiful work of the Spirit in our lives. We humbly ask; the Lord faithfully works. This is precisely the teaching of Jesus in our present passage.
The end of Jesus' message involves the Spirit being given to those who ask. "How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" This is also where our scripture began. "And I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." These are three parallel commands, followed by three parallel promises. Who receives Holy Spirit fullness? Those who ask God for such. Who experiences the life-empowering work of the Spirit, that every child of God must find? Those who seek God to impart such. Who is flooded with the outpouring of God's Spirit? Those who knock prayerfully on heaven's doors.
Then, making these three "command-promise" couplets even more sure, Jesus adds three more statements of certainty. "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." These are absolutes. There are no exceptions. Those who genuinely ask, seek, or knock can go on their way by faith, knowing that the Lord will be doing a thorough work of His Spirit in them.
As with the earlier command to be filled with the Spirit (Eph_5:18), these imperatives are also in the present tense. They could be rendered: keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. Again, this is a way to live; not a singular event.
"Giver of every good and perfect gift, I humbly ask You for a fresh new work of Your Spirit. Lord, I rest on Your promise that everyone who asks receives. Manifest Your fullness in me in any way that You desire, in Jesus name, Amen."
I hope you have a great day, a great life. God bless you.
Tuesdays are the day that we get a lot done. We've woken up from Monday's distresses, and now there's no more Monday night football, and it's not yet hump day... so, let's get the work done. So it seems.
Yet each day should be a day of maximum performance and achievement. So far I've found that no matter how hard I work, the only real power comes from my God and my Savior Jesus. This happens mostly when I truly pray from my heart and soul. Here's a better way of putting this:
March 8
TURNING PASSION INTO PRAYER
"Elijah was a man of like passions with us, and he prayed fervently."-- Jam_5:17 (R.V.).
WHEN WE read that Elijah was a man subject to the same passions as ourselves, we are apt to suppose that we have the clue to the driving force of his life. But Scripture shows that the results of his wonderful career were achieved, not by his passion, but by his prayer! Elijah, though capable of the same vehement earnestness with which we are all endowed, refused to accomplish his life-work by the employment of lower energies, but set himself to obtain the results he desired, through prayer. He was a man of like passions with ourselves, but he prayed earnestly. He turned his passion into prayer.
There was no salient element of a strong nature of which his was destitute. There was the passion of patriotism, as when he was prepared even to witness the sufferings of his people, if these would bring them back to God; of tenderness, as when he bore the dead body of the child to his room; of righteousness, as when he slew the false prophets; of love for Nature, as when he fled into the wilderness to die; of devotion to God's glory, as when he cried, "I have been very jealous for the Lord God of Hosts." All these passions dwelt strongly within his breast, but if he had relied on them alone, his life-work would have faded as the mirage on the glistening sand.
There is a marvellous contagion in vehement feeling. As a tiny pith-ball, light as a feather, by continually impinging on a suspended bar of iron, will make it move, so one soul can move others. The brain is able to create waves of thought, and the heart waves of emotion. But we must learn to secure through God results which some try to achieve by the energy of their own nature. Let us pray more. Let us seek to be filled with a passionate love to our Lord Jesus, and to the world of men---with a love so hot that the most passionate words of St. Bernard or Faber may not seem extravagant. Then let us divert the glowing metal into the mould of prayer--which may express itself in an intense silence of intercession, or with strong cryings and tears. At least let us not dare to be tepid and apathetic in the midst of this wonderful universe which is electric with living energy! (Rev_3:15-16.)
PRAYER
O Christ, who baptizest with fire, kindle in our hearts the flame of Thy love, that we may not be lukewarm or cold. We would not trust in the force of our emotions, lest they fail us, but in the power of prayer and of Thine intercession for us. AMEN.
I hope and pray that you have a great day of power, achievement... all through your prayer and communion with God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
The Lord's Day. Then again, everyday is the Lord's day. How are you living today? I'm sure you have a plate full of issues, challenges, troubles, pains, heartaches, and bills and who knows what else.
God is there for us all the time, if He wasn't, life as we know it would end. How to live a fuller, enlightened, happier life? Good question.
Here's the real simple way:
March 6
Spirit Fullness: A Way of Life, Not Merely Events
Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire . . . And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit . . . Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them . . . the place . . . was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit . . . And do not be drunk with wine . . . but be filled with the Spirit. (Act_2:3-4; Act_4:8, Act_4:31; and Eph_5:18)
When we are born again through faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in our lives thereafter (1Co_3:16). At times after new birth, our lives may be repeatedly filled to overflowing by the empowering presence of the Spirit. The testimony of the early disciples illustrates this.
On the day of Pentecost, the 120 followers of Jesus were filled with the Spirit. "Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire . . . And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit." Subsequently, the Apostle Peter, who was originally filled on Pentecost, was again filled as he stood before the religious hierarchy of Israel. "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them." After this encounter, Peter joined the other disciples for a prayer meeting. "And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit." In this event, those who had been filled with the Spirit at Pentecost were filled a second time. Peter, who had been so filled twice before, was filled a third time. Therefore, it is evident that the filling of the Spirit is not a once for all time matter.
Furthermore, being filled with the Spirit is not automatic or universal for Christians, as is the indwelling of the Spirit. This fact can be clearly seen in the instruction given in Eph_5:18. "And do not be drunk with wine . . . but be filled with the Spirit." Since this is a command and not a description, it only becomes a personal reality to those who respond properly.
Additionally, the form of this command contains tremendous insight concerning the fullness of the Spirit and God's desire for us. The injunction to "be filled with the Spirit" is in the present tense, indicating an ongoing condition. It could properly (though awkwardly) be translated "be (always) being filled." This imperative is a call to a way of living, not merely periodic events. It is the will of God that we actually live, day by day, more and more, by the fullness of the Spirit's empowering work. We should humbly pray for the fullness of the Holy Spirit as we face each day, each challenge, each opportunity of life.
Lord God of all power and might, I rejoice that Your Holy Spirit dwells within my heart. I thank You for those times when Your Spirit has worked powerfully upon my life. Help me to see that the fullness of Your Spirit is not merely an event-to-event experience, but a lifestyle to be developed. Lord, with great expectation I humbly seek You now for a fresh, ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in me. In the name of Jesus, I pray, Amen.
May God the Holy Spirit bless you by in filling you to overflowing!
Saturday is a neat day for many. No work demands like Mondays through Friday, no moral obligation of church or other services like Sundays... just a day to do what one wants to do or needs to do for themselves. Saturday.
Yet, each day is a day of freedom and love. We must live each day "as if you are dying". But I do enjoy my Saturdays.
Today's meditation is on what we have to do.
March 5
Breaking Free from Lesser Things
"I am doing a great work...." (Nehemiah 6:3)
There are many people who meander through life as though it were a flea market, browsing the bins for the deal of a lifetime, but only coming home with someone else's junk. Others are a bit more like the crazy rabbit in Alice's Wonderland, always on the go for something that is always somewhere else; and never getting there.
Some people set in the stands and watch others play the game, and reassure themselves that they could do that if they wanted to. Others see a great opportunity of some kind, and console themselves with a reflective sigh, "I should do that." But, of course they never do. And then there are those who wistfully say, "I would do that," hinting by their tone that it's somebody else's fault if they don't.
Could do, should do, and would do never do. The only thing that works is when you find the thing that you must do.
God uses the inner pull of that upward call to free you from the gravity of lesser things. There is a resolute power inherent to any great work, and once you become involved in such an enterprise, you are virtually unstoppable.
Nehemiah undertook the great challenge of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, and was constantly opposed by enemies who sought his ruin.
First they tried ridicule; it didn't work. Then they made overt threats of hostility; it was, as they say, water off a duck's back to Nehemiah. Next they attempted covert sabotage; but he foiled their plot. Nothing fazed him. Finally they tried the diplomatic approach, seeking some sort of compromise. Nehemiah's answer stands to this day as one of the greatest closers in any conflict:
"I am doing a great work," he said, "Why should the work stop while I come down to you?”
Nehemiah's passion for answering the upward call, minimized the effects of those who were always seeking to drag him down to their level. They lost; he won. The same will be true of you.
The words of this old hymn say it best —
"I am resolved no longer to linger,
charmed by the world's delight;
Things that are higher, things that are nobler,
These have allured my sight.
I am resolved to enter the kingdom,
leaving the paths of sin;
Friends may oppose me, foes may beset me;
Still I will enter in.
I am resolved, and who will go with me?
Come, friends, without delay.
Taught by the Bible, led by the Spirit,
We'll walk the heavenly way.”
Palmer Hartsough, 1896
I hope you have a great day.
