Thursday May 31

And so here we are, end of May 2012.  We are near the half way point of the year.  So, how's the year going for you?  I know that we work and grind and go through our daily motions and life just rolls along.  
For many though each day is a struggle and labor of perseverance.  They must endure and suffer so much.  
May God bless those who suffer and endure.  


Today's meditation from Charles Spurgeon on the "Great Healer", our Lord Jesus:



May 31


Morning
“The king also himself passed over the brook Kidron.”
2 Samuel 15:23
David passed that gloomy brook when flying with his mourning company from his traitor son. The man after God’s own heart was not exempt from trouble, nay, his life was full of it. He was both the Lord’s Anointed, and the Lord’s Afflicted. 
Why then should we expect to escape? At sorrow’s gates the noblest of our race have waited with ashes on their heads, wherefore then should we complain as though some strange thing had happened unto us?
The KING of kings himself was not favoured with a more cheerful or royal road. He passed over the filthy ditch of Kidron, through which the filth of Jerusalem flowed. 
God had one Son without sin, but not a single child without the rod. It is a great joy to believe that Jesus has been tempted in all points like as we are. What is our Kidron this morning? Is it a faithless friend, a sad bereavement, a slanderous reproach, a dark foreboding? The King has passed over all these. Is it bodily pain, poverty, persecution, or contempt? Over each of these Kidrons the King has gone before us. “In all our afflictions he was afflicted.” The idea of strangeness in our trials must be banished at once and for ever, for he who is the Head of all saints, knows by experience the grief which we think so peculiar. All the citizens of Zion must be free of the Honourable Company of Mourners, of which the Prince Immanuel is Head and Captain.
Notwithstanding the abasement of David, he yet returned in triumph to his city, and David’s Lord arose victorious from the grave; let us then be of good courage, for we also shall win the day. 
We shall yet with joy draw water out of the wells of salvation, though now for a season we have to pass by the noxious streams of sin and sorrow. Courage, soldiers of the Cross, the King himself triumphed after going over Kidron, and so shall you.


Evening
“Who healeth all thy diseases.”  Psalm 103:3


Humbling as is the statement, yet the fact is certain, that we are all more or less suffering under the disease of sin. What a comfort to know that we have a great Physician who is both able and willing to heal us! Let us think of him awhile to-night. His cures are very speedy-there is life in a look at him; his cures are radical-he strikes at the centre of the disease; and hence, his cures are sure and certain. He never fails, and the disease never returns. There is no relapse where Christ heals; no fear that his patients should be merely patched up for a season, he makes new men of them: a new heart also does he give them, and a right spirit does he put with them. He is well skilled in all diseases. 
Physicians generally have some speciality. Although they may know a little about almost all our pains and ills, there is usually one disease which they have studied above all others; but Jesus Christ is thoroughly acquainted with the whole of human nature. He is as much at home with one sinner as with another, and never yet did he meet with an out-of-the-way case that was difficult to him. He has had extraordinary complications of strange diseases to deal with, but he has known exactly with one glance of his eye how to treat the patient. He is the only universal doctor; and the medicine he gives is the only true catholicon, healing in every instance. 
Whatever our spiritual malady may be, we should apply at once to this Divine Physician. There is no brokenness of heart which Jesus cannot bind up. “His blood cleanseth from all sin.” We have but to think of the myriads who have been delivered from all sorts of diseases through the power and virtue of his touch, and we shall joyfully put ourselves in his hands. We trust him, and sin dies; we love him, and grace lives; we wait for him and grace is strengthened; we see him as he is, and grace is perfected for ever.

Our Lord knows our needs.  Pray and yield to His Love.

Wednesday May 30, 2012

This journey of life is full of twists and turns.  And that is the reason it's called LIFE, not heaven or utopia.  Life has its load of problems and challenges and setbacks along with the victories and achievements and milestones.  
For me, the reason for this life is to get to know God.  This journey is all about becoming God's child.  The ultimate end of our journey is returning back to God's presence.  
I think that this journey helps determine who and what we are when we return to God's love and presence.  


Today's meditation from James Ryle:



May 30


The Inescapable Question


And Jesus asked, "Who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Matthew 16:15-16).


When Jesus asked His disciples, "Who do men say that I am?" They answered, "Some say you are John the Baptist. Others say you are Elijah, or one of the prophets." Unmentioned on this occasion were the many other epithets for Jesus circulating about Palestine — blasphemer, madman, false-prophet, drunkard, glutton, and demon-possessed maniac!
One fact is undeniable: everybody talks about Jesus. Everybody has an opinion about who He is — and the opinions are remarkably varied. In fact, the portraits of Jesus that have emerged throughout history make it difficult to believe that the same person is being described.
Authors have cast Jesus as a political revolutionary, a magician, a peasant unwittingly caught up in social revolution, a charismatic prophet foretelling the end of the world, a "marginal" Jew who challenged the teachings and practices of the religious leaders of his day, a spiritual master who overcame the humblest of origins to proclaim the gospel of love and forgiveness.
In a document published in 1984 by the Pontifical Biblical Commission, we are given no less than ten distinct methodologies for answering the Jesus question — speculative, historical, anthropological, existential, social, Judaistic, religious, moral, personal, and denominational. In other words, each of these sources give us a different spin on who Jesus was...and is.
One person has said that assembling a portrait of Jesus is a bit like crafting a stain glass window. Each piece of glass contributes to the mosaic, but an individual piece can seem incongruous, even contradictory, compared with the piece beside it. And, many times, the glass of the "Jesus Mosaic" is highly reflective; revealing at least as much about the person assembling the picture as about Jesus.
The Jesus of the Middle Ages was a heavenly King who ruled benevolently over his subjects, much as earthly kings of that era saw themselves. The Puritan's Jesus was a fire-and-brimstone-wielding Judge who would have been quite comfortable in a long black frock and three-cornered hat. The Jesus of the late '60s was a long-haired dropout espousing Free Love, or a political revolutionary bent on overthrowing the Establishment.
More recent studies have portrayed Jesus as a disenfranchised figure struggling to find His way in a world in which the old rules no longer applied — a compelling portrait in these days of nomadic searchers, running to and fro for a touch from God. Writer Tom McNichol said, "In the beginning God created man in His image, and ever since then, it seems, man has been trying to return the favor." ("The Many Faces of Jesus" USA Weekend, 12\18\92, pg4).
We each must know Jesus for who He is and be transformed into His likeness, rather than molding His image after our way of thinking. The question of the ages remains for you and I to answer, "Who do you say that I am?" Your eternal destiny depends upon how you answer that one inescapable question.

So, do you know Jesus?  Do so NOW!

Friday May 25, 2012

My oh my, how life can suck, how just terribly bad and challenging life can be - things go wrong, other things that you counted on to happen don't, dreams get squashed, hopes dashed, wishes never happen.  Hate, discrimination, prejudice, bias and disdain come suddenly into your life from nowhere, totally unexpected.  So, life can be such sorrow and full of regrets, shame, pain, remorse, and sad depressing memories.  
However, we are not alone.  God knows everything in our lives - EVERYTHING.  God still loves you and me and still wants to relevant and central in our lives.   God loves us and God will bless us by turning sorrow into joy, despair replaced by hope, setbacks replaced by gifts of love.  God loves us and will not let life beat us down.  
We have to do our part.  We must come to God, submit to His will and accept His Grace.  We must ask forgiveness of our sins, accept Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer, and then ask for the Holy Spirit to fill us with His presence.  We must accept our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as our pathway and our God who will lead us back to God the Father.
Come, come to God and ask.  Come to God in awe, worship and submission of your will to God's.  


Consider today's meditation by Charles Spurgeon:



May 25


Morning
“Forsake me not, O Lord.”  Psalm 38:21
Frequently we pray that God would not forsake us in the hour of trial and temptation, but we too much forget that we have need to use this prayer at all times. There is no moment of our life, however holy, in which we can do without his constant upholding. Whether in light or in darkness, in communion or in temptation, we alike need the prayer, “Forsake me not, O Lord.” “Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe.” 
A little child, while learning to walk, always needs the nurse’s aid. The ship left by the pilot drifts at once from her course. We cannot do without continued aid from above; let it then be your prayer to-day, “Forsake me not. Father, forsake not thy child, lest he fall by the hand of the enemy. Shepherd, forsake not thy lamb, lest he wander from the safety of the fold. Great Husbandman, forsake not thy plant, lest it wither and die. ‘Forsake me not, O Lord,’ now; and forsake me not at any moment of my life. Forsake me not in my joys, lest they absorb my heart. Forsake me not in my sorrows, lest I murmur against thee. Forsake me not in the day of my repentance, lest I lose the hope of pardon, and fall into despair; and forsake me not in the day of my strongest faith, lest faith degenerate into presumption. 
Forsake me not, for without thee I am weak, but with thee I am strong. Forsake me not, for my path is dangerous, and full of snares, and I cannot do without thy guidance. The hen forsakes not her brood, do thou then evermore cover me with thy feathers, and permit me under thy wings to find my refuge. ‘Be not far from me, O Lord, for trouble is near, for there is none to help.’ ‘Leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation!’“
“O ever in our cleansed breast,
Bid thine Eternal Spirit rest;
And make our secret soul to be
A temple pure and worthy thee.”


Evening
“And they rose up the same hour, and returned Jerusalem ... and they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them.”   Luke 24:33, Luke 24:35
When the two disciples had reached Emmaus, and were refreshing themselves at the evening meal, the mysterious stranger who had so enchanted them upon the road, took bread and brake it, made himself known to them, and then vanished out of their sight. They had constrained him to abide with them, because the day was far spent; but now, although it was much later, their love was a lamp to their feet, yea, wings also; they forgot the darkness, their weariness was all gone, and forthwith they journeyed back the threescore furlongs to tell the gladsome news of a risen Lord, who had appeared to them by the way. 
They reached the Christians in Jerusalem, and were received by a burst of joyful news before they could tell their own tale. These early Christians were all on fire to speak of Christ’s resurrection, and to proclaim what they knew of the Lord; they made common property of their experiences. 
This evening let their example impress us deeply. We too must bear our witness concerning Jesus. John’s account of the sepulchre needed to be supplemented by Peter; and Mary could speak of something further still; combined, we have a full testimony from which nothing can be spared. We have each of us peculiar gifts and special manifestations; but the one object God has in view is the perfecting of the whole body of Christ. 
We must, therefore, bring our spiritual possessions and lay them at the apostle’s feet, and make distribution unto all of what God has given to us. Keep back no part of the precious truth, but speak what you know, and testify what you have seen. Let not the toil or darkness, or possible unbelief of your friends, weigh one moment in the scale.


Up, and be marching to the place of duty, and there tell what great things God has shown to your soul.

Thursday May 23

Have you been there?  Down, angry, frustrated, denied, turned away, lost, rejected, depressed and beyond sad?  Maybe we all have been in that deep ditch at some time or other.  How did you handle it, or how are you handling it now?  
Do you try to solve it, work it out, get through it, endure it, wait it out, hope it will turn out ok, or did you just give up and give in?
God is.  God is always.  God is always willing and able to help and guide you, lead you and bless you.  Whatever you are enduring now, whatever you are suffering now - God is there with you and will be your strength, your answer, your solution.  
JUST ASK, JUST PRAY, JUST TRUST IN GOD and do what you know God wants you to do and GOD will help and assist and guide and empower you.  JUST ASK, JUST PRAY.


Today's meditation from Bob Hoeskstra:



May 24


Encouragement for Others, Glory for God


So then death is working in us, but life in you . . . For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.  (2Co_4:12 and 2Co_4:15)


We who live under the new covenant of grace are earthen vessels. We have no true spiritual life in ourselves. "You have no life in you" (Joh_6:53). The treasure who lives within us (Jesus) is our daily source of spiritual life: "Christ who is our life" (Col_3:4). Consequently, we must always be dying in order to live. We must be embracing the cross of Christ so that our bankrupt self-life will not be our resource for living. We must look to the Lord as our sufficiency. 
The Lord helps us in this process by putting us into impossible situations that necessitate our dependence upon Him. He faithfully responds to our trust and manifests Himself through us. "For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh" (2Co_4:11). Others observing this receive encouragement to look to the Lord for the life they need. Thus, Paul could write to the Corinthians (who were aware of this process in his life): "So then death is working in us, but life in you." 
Every difficulty that God brings into our lives not only has significance for us, but it can also have an impact on those to whom we are ministering. "For all things are for your sakes." How important it is to have a perspective on life that includes God working in us that He might touch others. Paul certainly viewed life and ministry in this manner. "I now rejoice in my sufferings for you . . . Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all . . . Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory" (Col_1:24; Phi_2:17; Eph_3:13). 
As the Lord works His grace into and through our lives, grace can be spreading to many other lives: "that grace, having spread through the many." When God's grace is at work in people's hearts, thanksgiving is so often the beautiful fruit that results. Such thanksgiving brings much glory and honor to God: "may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God."


My God and Father, teach me to handle trials in a way that will encourage people to trust in You. I want to touch others with life, as I am dying circumstantially.  Please make my life a vessel through which You cause Your grace to spread to many lives. May much thanksgiving result, all to Your honor and glory, Amen.

Tuesday May 22 2012

Here we are, approaching another milestone, another moment in time measured and noted... the end of May, Memorial Day in America, the unofficial start of  Summer, the end of school days for a needed summer vacation... a time of transition and growth and learning.  


What have you learned?  I've learned that the more I trust, believe and follow God, the better!  I've seen God's handiwork so many times, I am ashamed that I would even think to doubt God's love and grace anymore.  
But I am human and weak and a lost child much of the time. Today's meditation by Charles Spurgeon helps us focus on the true meaning of life - to love and be loved by God.



May 22


Morning
“He led them forth by the right way.”  Psalm 107:7
Changeful experience often leads the anxious believer to enquire “Why is it thus with me?” I looked for light, but lo, darkness came; for peace, but behold trouble. I said in my heart, my mountain standeth firm, I shall never be moved. Lord, thou dost hide thy face, and I am troubled. It was but yesterday that I could read my title clear; to-day my evidences are bedimmed, and my hopes are clouded. 


Yesterday I could climb to Pisgah’s top, and view the landscape o’er, and rejoice with confidence in my future inheritance; to-day, my spirit has no hopes, but many fears; no joys, but much distress. Is this part of God’s plan with me? Can this be the way in which God would bring me to heaven? 
Yes, it is even so. The eclipse of your faith, the darkness of your mind, the fainting of your hope, all these things are but parts of God’s method of making you ripe for the great inheritance upon which you shall soon enter. These trials are for the testing and strengthening of your faith-they are waves that wash you further upon the rock-they are winds which waft your ship the more swiftly towards the desired haven. According to David’s words, so it might be said of you, “so he bringeth them to their desired haven.” By honour and dishonour, by evil report and by good report, by plenty and by poverty, by joy and by distress, by persecution and by peace, by all these things is the life of your souls maintained, and by each of these are you helped on your way. 
Oh, think not, believer, that your sorrows are out of God’s plan; they are necessary parts of it. “We must, through much tribulation, enter the kingdom.” Learn, then, even to “count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.”
“O let my trembling soul be still,
And wait thy wise, thy holy will!
I cannot, Lord, thy purpose see,
Yet all is well since ruled by thee.”


Evening
“Behold, thou art fair, my Beloved.”  Song of Solomon 1:16
From every point our Well-beloved is most fair. Our various experiences are meant by our heavenly Father to furnish fresh standpoints from which we may view the loveliness of Jesus; how amiable are our trials when they carry us aloft where we may gain clearer views of Jesus than ordinary life could afford us! We have seen him from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, and he has shone upon us as the sun in his strength; but we have seen him also “from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards,” and he has lost none of his loveliness. From the languishing of a sick bed, from the borders of the grave, have we turned our eyes to our soul’s spouse, and he has never been otherwise than “all fair.” 
Many of his saints have looked upon him from the gloom of dungeons, and from the red flames of the stake, yet have they never uttered an ill word of him, but have died extolling his surpassing charms. Oh, noble and pleasant employment to be for ever gazing at our sweet Lord Jesus! Is it not unspeakably delightful to view the Saviour in all his offices, and to perceive him matchless in each?-to shift the kaleidoscope, as it were, and to find fresh combinations of peerless graces? 
In the manger and in eternity, on the cross and on his throne, in the garden and in his kingdom, among thieves or in the midst of cherubim, he is everywhere “altogether lovely.” Examine carefully every little act of his life, and every trait of his character, and he is as lovely in the minute as in the majestic. Judge him as you will, you cannot censure; weigh him as you please, and he will not be found wanting. Eternity shall not discover the shadow of a spot in our Beloved, but rather, as ages revolve, his hidden glories shall shine forth with yet more inconceivable splendour, and his unutterable loveliness shall more and more ravish all celestial minds.

May 21

THE VOICE OF GOD IN NATURE AND REVELATION

"The Heavens declare the Glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handiwork. Psa_19:1.

VERSES (Psa_19:1-6): Those whose hearts are in tune with God can hear voices in Nature which are inaudible to the ordinary man. The poet Blake says: "When the morning sun ascends the eastern sky, you may behold only a light yellow disc, whereas I shall see and hear the infinite multitude of the heavenly host, crying, Holy, Holy, Holy!" Yet, though there is no speech nor language, is it not true that "their words are gone forth to the end of the world"? There is no nation of men that has not heard the voice of Nature speaking of God (Act_14:16-17; Rom_1:20-21).

In Psa_19:7-11 the Psalmist describes the effect of the Word of God when the Spirit of Truth works through it and by it on the soul. There are many ways of reading the Bible--as a history, as a revelation of man's gropings after God, as a piece of great literature; but the best way is to ask the Divine Spirit to make it a medium through which He may approach our innermost nature. Listen to God's voice speaking within you. Be still, that you may hear. The Spirit searches into the deep things of God, and reveals them to our spirit (1Co_2:10). All that God has ever said or been to others, He will say and be to you, if only your heart is lowly and contrite. "Speak to me, Lord, by Prophet and Psalmist, by lyric and prose, by narrative and appeal. Speak through Thy Word to restore my soul, to rejoice my heart, and to enlighten mine eyes!" When to the quiet and waiting soul God uses His own Word thus, it is more to be desired than fine gold, and is sweeter than the taste of honey from the comb.

The effect of God's Word, when used by the Holy Spirit, is very remarkable (Psa_19:11-14). It convinces of sin. Just as linen is shown to be discoloured against freshly-fallen snow, so we realise our errors and cry to be cleansed from hidden and secret sins.

David knew little of the glory and wonder of the Cross, where God spared not His own Son, but in Him stooped to reconcile man to Himself. The starry heavens, telling of the glory of God, and even the Law itself, are not able to tell us what the Cross of Jesus does, of Love that matched itself against hate, and of Grace that would not be turned away by human sin.

PRAYER

I pray Thee, gracious Lord, that I may not miss any of those lessons which Thou art desirous of teaching me by Thy Spirit, Thy Word, and Thy Providence. AMEN.

Thursday May 17, 2012

Good morning my friend,
What is your statement of faith?  What do you believe in, what creed, belief, faith, teachings, etc do you follow and live?  For what we believe and what we hold true is what guides our actions and our minds.  
I believe in God, that God loves us, that God sent His Son Jesus to teach, reach and then bleach us from our sins.  By His sacrifice and resurrection, we can now approach and be blessed by our God at any time for anything.  
James Ryle writes this about my thankfulness:



May 17


The Power of a Thankful Heart
"As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving." (Colossians 2:6-7).
Something extraordinary happens to us when we purpose to always be thankful.
First, the power of a thankful heart keeps you from the destructive influence of bitterness, for it lifts you to a higher perspective and lets you see things from God's point of view. Yes, people will treat you badly and unjustly; but the Lord works all things for your good. Be thankful, and watch Him work.
Second, the power of a thankful heart prevents you from falling into pride; for thankfulness presupposes humility. A grateful man is a humble man; and a humble man receives the grace of God to face and overcome all things.
Third, the power of a thankful heart cultivates peace of mind and composure of character. When your life becomes rooted and built up in the truth of God's word, there is very little that can disturb your spirit.
Fourth, the power of a thankful heart increases your sense of purpose in God's work, for you know that He has plans for you; plans to bless you, to prosper you, to use you as a blessing for others, and to bring your life on earth to a happy end.
Fifth, the power of a thankful heart gives you a confident assurance for the future — not only for the life you live on earth, but after you pass from this world into the next; you will enter His presence with thanksgiving, seeing you've practiced it your whole life.
Sixth, the power of a thankful heart permeates the atmosphere with positive energy. Your outlook of faith is empowering for others who may not be able to see things so clearly. Your glad disposition brightens their dark moments, like Paul and Silas singing praise to God in the Philippian jail.
And finally, the power of a thankful heart honors God, for it dares to look beyond the obvious to see the actual. Circumstances may be bleak, and things may be bad; the economy of your life may be teetering on collapse, and situations may seem all but hopeless — but God is still in control. Your thankful heart demoralizes the powers of hell and glorifies your heavenly Father.
Abound in thanksgiving today and you'll see I'm right. All these things and more will be yours!

So, come, accept the free gift of Grace from God and come into His presence through Jesus.  

Profess your sins and need,

Accept Jesus as your Savior, Redeemer, and Lord of your life,

then open your heart and spirit to receive the Holy Spirit.  

Everything else will happen through the love of God.  All for your good and for your enlightenment.  

Do accept Christ today!