Please check out my latest photo album upload. The link can be found on the left side menu (Shutterbug Strikes Again) under the heading FSBO.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
REDEMPTION CREATES THE NEED IT SATISFIES
"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him." 1 Corinthians 2:14
The Gospel of God creates a sense of need of the Gospel. Paul says - "If our gospel be hid, it is hid" - to those who are blackguards? No, "to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not." The majority of people have their morality well within their own grasp, they have no sense of need of the Gospel. It is God Who creates the need of which no human being is conscious until God manifests Himself. Jesus said - "Ask, and it shall be given you," but God cannot give until a man asks. It is not that He withholds, but that that is the way He has constituted things on the basis of Redemption. By means of our asking, God gets processes into work whereby He creates the thing that is not in existence until we do ask. The inner reality of Redemption is that it creates all the time. As the Redemption creates the life of God in us, so it creates the things belonging to that life. Nothing can satisfy the need but that which created the need. This is the meaning of Redemption - it creates and it satisfies.
"I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me." We preach our own experiences and people are interested, but no sense of need is awakened by it. If once Jesus Christ is lifted up, the Spirit of God will create a conscious need of Him. Behind the preaching of the Gospel is the creative Redemption of God at work in the souls of men. It is never personal testimony that saves men. "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life."
http://www.myutmost.org/
The Gospel of God creates a sense of need of the Gospel. Paul says - "If our gospel be hid, it is hid" - to those who are blackguards? No, "to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not." The majority of people have their morality well within their own grasp, they have no sense of need of the Gospel. It is God Who creates the need of which no human being is conscious until God manifests Himself. Jesus said - "Ask, and it shall be given you," but God cannot give until a man asks. It is not that He withholds, but that that is the way He has constituted things on the basis of Redemption. By means of our asking, God gets processes into work whereby He creates the thing that is not in existence until we do ask. The inner reality of Redemption is that it creates all the time. As the Redemption creates the life of God in us, so it creates the things belonging to that life. Nothing can satisfy the need but that which created the need. This is the meaning of Redemption - it creates and it satisfies.
"I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me." We preach our own experiences and people are interested, but no sense of need is awakened by it. If once Jesus Christ is lifted up, the Spirit of God will create a conscious need of Him. Behind the preaching of the Gospel is the creative Redemption of God at work in the souls of men. It is never personal testimony that saves men. "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life."
http://www.myutmost.org/
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Invisible
I have been invisible lately due to late nights at work and busy weekends at home. My house is officially on the market now that most of my chores are done and work is slowly but surely slowing to a reasonable pace. This will be temporary of course but the short breather will be appreciated. I thought of posting a devotion tonight but instead I will post the thoughts on my mind instead.
These thoughts came about due to an email received a short while ago. In short, the email brought to mind the current state of our nation. We are in a spiritual battle, recognized by most or not, and it is clear we are losing. Don't get me wrong, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we will ultimately be victorious through Christ's return. But for now, as a whole, America is failing. We are sinking rapidly and our only hope is to return to God.
The message is clear and is what we as Christians should be focused on daily. Get in the Word. Trust God. Rally ourselves for the spiritual battle that has never ceased but has escalated to a point that can no longer be ignored. We are soldiers of Christ and I fear many of us (including myself) have laid the armor down long ago. Complacency always accompanies comfort. We have been comfortable far too long. It's time to equip ourselves for the war that is to come. It is obvious that my generation is weaker than the one before me and those after me are lesser still. And to be honest, without the peace I have in God's providential care, I would be filled with worry for what is to come. Without doubt I and my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ will be called upon to fight for what is right. Correction, the call has been issued. Are we ready?
We must pray for both God's protection and mercy. We must pray without ceasing.
These thoughts came about due to an email received a short while ago. In short, the email brought to mind the current state of our nation. We are in a spiritual battle, recognized by most or not, and it is clear we are losing. Don't get me wrong, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we will ultimately be victorious through Christ's return. But for now, as a whole, America is failing. We are sinking rapidly and our only hope is to return to God.
The message is clear and is what we as Christians should be focused on daily. Get in the Word. Trust God. Rally ourselves for the spiritual battle that has never ceased but has escalated to a point that can no longer be ignored. We are soldiers of Christ and I fear many of us (including myself) have laid the armor down long ago. Complacency always accompanies comfort. We have been comfortable far too long. It's time to equip ourselves for the war that is to come. It is obvious that my generation is weaker than the one before me and those after me are lesser still. And to be honest, without the peace I have in God's providential care, I would be filled with worry for what is to come. Without doubt I and my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ will be called upon to fight for what is right. Correction, the call has been issued. Are we ready?
We must pray for both God's protection and mercy. We must pray without ceasing.
Friday, November 7, 2008
THE UNDETECTED SACREDNESS OF CIRCUMSTANCES
"All things work together for good to them that love God." Romans 8:28
The circumstances of a saint's life are ordained of God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance. God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you cannot understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands. God is bringing you into places and among people and into conditions in order that the intercession of the Spirit in you may take a particular line. Never put your hand in front of the circumstances and say - I am going to be my own providence here, I must watch this, and guard that. All your circumstances are in the hand of God, therefore never think it strange concerning the circumstances you are in. Your part in intercessory prayer is not to enter into the agony of intercession, but to utilize the common-sense circumstances God puts you in, and the common-sense people He puts you amongst by His providence, to bring them before God's throne and give the Spirit in you a chance to intercede for them. In this way God is going to sweep the whole world with His saints.
Am I making the Holy Spirit's work difficult by being indefinite, or by trying to do His work for Him? I must do the human side of intercession, and the human side is the circumstances I am in and the people I am in contact with. I have to keep my conscious life as a shrine of the Holy Ghost, then as I bring the different ones before God, the Holy Spirit makes intercession for them.
Your intercessions can never be mine, and my intercessions can never be yours, but the Holy Ghost makes intercession in our particular lives, without which intercession someone will be impoverished.
My Utmost for His Highest
The circumstances of a saint's life are ordained of God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance. God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you cannot understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands. God is bringing you into places and among people and into conditions in order that the intercession of the Spirit in you may take a particular line. Never put your hand in front of the circumstances and say - I am going to be my own providence here, I must watch this, and guard that. All your circumstances are in the hand of God, therefore never think it strange concerning the circumstances you are in. Your part in intercessory prayer is not to enter into the agony of intercession, but to utilize the common-sense circumstances God puts you in, and the common-sense people He puts you amongst by His providence, to bring them before God's throne and give the Spirit in you a chance to intercede for them. In this way God is going to sweep the whole world with His saints.
Am I making the Holy Spirit's work difficult by being indefinite, or by trying to do His work for Him? I must do the human side of intercession, and the human side is the circumstances I am in and the people I am in contact with. I have to keep my conscious life as a shrine of the Holy Ghost, then as I bring the different ones before God, the Holy Spirit makes intercession for them.
Your intercessions can never be mine, and my intercessions can never be yours, but the Holy Ghost makes intercession in our particular lives, without which intercession someone will be impoverished.
My Utmost for His Highest
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Program of Belief
"Believest thou this?" John 11:26
Martha believed in the power at the disposal of Jesus Christ, she believed that if He had been present He could have healed her brother; she also believed that Jesus had a peculiar intimacy with God and that whatever He asked of God, God would do; but she needed a closer personal intimacy with Jesus. Martha's programme of belief had its fulfilment in the future; Jesus led her on until her belief became a personal possession, and then slowly emerged into a particular inheritance - "Yea, Lord, I believe that Thou art the Christ. . . "
Is there something like that in the Lord's dealings with you? Is Jesus educating you into a personal intimacy with Himself? Let Him press home His question to you - "Believest thou this?" What is your ordeal of doubt? Have you come, like Martha, to some overwhelming passage in your circumstances where your programme of belief is about to emerge into a personal belief? This can never be until a personal need arises out of a personal problem.
To believe is to commit. In the programme of mental belief I commit myself, and abandon all that is not related to that commitment. In personal belief I commit myself morally to this way of confidence and refuse to compromise with any other; and in particular belief I commit myself spiritually to Jesus Christ, and determine in that thing to be dominated by the Lord alone.
When I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and He says to me - "Believest thou this?" I find that faith is as natural as breathing, and I am staggered that I was so stupid as not to trust Him before.
My Utmost for His Highest
Martha believed in the power at the disposal of Jesus Christ, she believed that if He had been present He could have healed her brother; she also believed that Jesus had a peculiar intimacy with God and that whatever He asked of God, God would do; but she needed a closer personal intimacy with Jesus. Martha's programme of belief had its fulfilment in the future; Jesus led her on until her belief became a personal possession, and then slowly emerged into a particular inheritance - "Yea, Lord, I believe that Thou art the Christ. . . "
Is there something like that in the Lord's dealings with you? Is Jesus educating you into a personal intimacy with Himself? Let Him press home His question to you - "Believest thou this?" What is your ordeal of doubt? Have you come, like Martha, to some overwhelming passage in your circumstances where your programme of belief is about to emerge into a personal belief? This can never be until a personal need arises out of a personal problem.
To believe is to commit. In the programme of mental belief I commit myself, and abandon all that is not related to that commitment. In personal belief I commit myself morally to this way of confidence and refuse to compromise with any other; and in particular belief I commit myself spiritually to Jesus Christ, and determine in that thing to be dominated by the Lord alone.
When I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and He says to me - "Believest thou this?" I find that faith is as natural as breathing, and I am staggered that I was so stupid as not to trust Him before.
My Utmost for His Highest
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Partakers of His Sufferings
"Rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings." 1 Peter 4:13
If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a multitude of experiences that are not meant for you at all, they are meant to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what transpires in other souls so that you will never be surprised at what you come across. Oh, I can't deal with that person. Why not? God gave you ample opportunity to soak before Him on that line, and you barged off because it seemed stupid to spend time in that way.
The sufferings of Christ are not those of ordinary men. He suffered "according to the will of God," not from the point of view we suffer from as individuals. It is only when we are related to Jesus Christ that we can understand what God is after in His dealings with us. It is part of Christian culture to know what God's aim is. In the history of the Christian Church the tendency has been to evade being identified with the sufferings of Jesus Christ; men have sought to procure the carrying out of God's order by a short cut of their own. God's way is always the way of suffering, the way of the "long, long trail."
Are we partakers of Christ's sufferings? Are we prepared for God to stamp our personal ambitions right out? Are we prepared for God to destroy by transfiguration our individual determinations? It will not mean that we know exactly why God is taking us that way, that would make us spiritual prigs. We never realize at the time what God is putting us through; we go through it more or less misunderstandingly; then we come to a luminous place, and say - ' 'Why, God has girded me, though I did not know it!"
My Utmost for His Highest
If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a multitude of experiences that are not meant for you at all, they are meant to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what transpires in other souls so that you will never be surprised at what you come across. Oh, I can't deal with that person. Why not? God gave you ample opportunity to soak before Him on that line, and you barged off because it seemed stupid to spend time in that way.
The sufferings of Christ are not those of ordinary men. He suffered "according to the will of God," not from the point of view we suffer from as individuals. It is only when we are related to Jesus Christ that we can understand what God is after in His dealings with us. It is part of Christian culture to know what God's aim is. In the history of the Christian Church the tendency has been to evade being identified with the sufferings of Jesus Christ; men have sought to procure the carrying out of God's order by a short cut of their own. God's way is always the way of suffering, the way of the "long, long trail."
Are we partakers of Christ's sufferings? Are we prepared for God to stamp our personal ambitions right out? Are we prepared for God to destroy by transfiguration our individual determinations? It will not mean that we know exactly why God is taking us that way, that would make us spiritual prigs. We never realize at the time what God is putting us through; we go through it more or less misunderstandingly; then we come to a luminous place, and say - ' 'Why, God has girded me, though I did not know it!"
My Utmost for His Highest
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
The Authority of Reality
"Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you." James 4:8
It is essential to give people a chance of acting on the truth of God. The responsibility must be left with the individual, you cannot act for him, it must be his own deliberate act, but the evangelical message ought always to lead a man to act. The paralysis of refusing to act leaves a man exactly where he was before; when once he acts, he is never the same. It is the foolishness of it that stands in the way of hundreds who have been convicted by the Spirit of God. Immediately I precipitate myself over into an act, that second I live; all the rest is existence. The moments when I truly live are the moments when I act with my whole will.
Never allow a truth of God that is brought home to your soul to pass without acting on it, not necessarily physically, but in will. Record it, with ink or with blood. The feeblest saint who transacts business with Jesus Christ is emancipated the second he acts; all the almighty power of God is on his behalf. We come up to the truth of God, we confess we are wrong, but go back again; then we come up to it again, and go back; until we learn that we have no business to go back. We have to go clean over on some word of our redeeming Lord and transact business with Him. His word "come" means "transact." "Come unto Me." The last thing we do is to come; but everyone who does come knows that that second the supernatural rush of the life of God invades him instantly. The dominating power of the world, the flesh and the devil is paralysed, not by your act, but because your act has linked you on to God and His redemptive power.
My Utmost for His Highest
It is essential to give people a chance of acting on the truth of God. The responsibility must be left with the individual, you cannot act for him, it must be his own deliberate act, but the evangelical message ought always to lead a man to act. The paralysis of refusing to act leaves a man exactly where he was before; when once he acts, he is never the same. It is the foolishness of it that stands in the way of hundreds who have been convicted by the Spirit of God. Immediately I precipitate myself over into an act, that second I live; all the rest is existence. The moments when I truly live are the moments when I act with my whole will.
Never allow a truth of God that is brought home to your soul to pass without acting on it, not necessarily physically, but in will. Record it, with ink or with blood. The feeblest saint who transacts business with Jesus Christ is emancipated the second he acts; all the almighty power of God is on his behalf. We come up to the truth of God, we confess we are wrong, but go back again; then we come up to it again, and go back; until we learn that we have no business to go back. We have to go clean over on some word of our redeeming Lord and transact business with Him. His word "come" means "transact." "Come unto Me." The last thing we do is to come; but everyone who does come knows that that second the supernatural rush of the life of God invades him instantly. The dominating power of the world, the flesh and the devil is paralysed, not by your act, but because your act has linked you on to God and His redemptive power.
My Utmost for His Highest
Monday, November 3, 2008
A bond-slave of Jesus
"I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." Galatians 2:20
These words mean the breaking of my independence with my own hand and surrendering to the supremacy of the Lord Jesus. No one can do this for me, I must do it myself. God may bring me up to the point three hundred and sixty-five times a year, but He cannot put me through it. It means breaking the husk of my individual independence of God, and the emancipating of my personality into oneness with Himself, not for my own ideas, but for absolute loyalty to Jesus. There is no possibility of dispute when once I am there. Very few of us know anything about loyalty to Christ - "For My sake." It is that which makes the iron saint.
Has that break come? All the rest is pious fraud. The one point to decide is - Will I give up, will I surrender to Jesus Christ, and make no conditions whatever as to how the break comes? I must be broken from my self-realization, and immediately that point is reached, the reality of the supernatural identification takes place at once, and the witness of the Spirit of God is unmistakable - "I have been crucified with Christ."
The passion of Christianity is that I deliberately sign away my own rights and become a bond-slave of Jesus Christ. Until I do that, I do not begin to be a saint.
One student a year who hears God's call would be sufficient for God to have called this College into existence. This College as an organization is not worth anything, it is not academic; it is for nothing else but for God to help Himself to lives. Is He going to help Himself to us, or are we taken up with our conception of what we are going to be?
My Utmost for His Highest
These words mean the breaking of my independence with my own hand and surrendering to the supremacy of the Lord Jesus. No one can do this for me, I must do it myself. God may bring me up to the point three hundred and sixty-five times a year, but He cannot put me through it. It means breaking the husk of my individual independence of God, and the emancipating of my personality into oneness with Himself, not for my own ideas, but for absolute loyalty to Jesus. There is no possibility of dispute when once I am there. Very few of us know anything about loyalty to Christ - "For My sake." It is that which makes the iron saint.
Has that break come? All the rest is pious fraud. The one point to decide is - Will I give up, will I surrender to Jesus Christ, and make no conditions whatever as to how the break comes? I must be broken from my self-realization, and immediately that point is reached, the reality of the supernatural identification takes place at once, and the witness of the Spirit of God is unmistakable - "I have been crucified with Christ."
The passion of Christianity is that I deliberately sign away my own rights and become a bond-slave of Jesus Christ. Until I do that, I do not begin to be a saint.
One student a year who hears God's call would be sufficient for God to have called this College into existence. This College as an organization is not worth anything, it is not academic; it is for nothing else but for God to help Himself to lives. Is He going to help Himself to us, or are we taken up with our conception of what we are going to be?
My Utmost for His Highest
Friday, October 31, 2008
DISCERNMENT OF FAITH
"Faith as a grain of mustard seed. . ." Matthew 17:20
We have the idea that God rewards us for our faith, it may be so in the initial stages; but we do not earn anything by faith, faith brings us into right relationship with God and gives God His opportunity. God has frequently to knock the bottom board out of your experience if you are a saint in order to get you into contact with Himself. God wants you to understand that it is a life of faith, not a life of sentimental enjoyment of His blessings. Your earlier life of faith was narrow and intense, settled around a little sun-spot of experience that had as much of sense as of faith in it, full of light and sweetness; then God withdrew His conscious blessings in order to teach you to walk by faith. You are worth far more to Him now than you were in your days of conscious delight and thrilling testimony.
Faith by its very nature must be tried, and the real trial of faith is not that we find it difficult to trust God, but that God's character has to be cleared in our own minds. Faith in its actual working out has to go through spells of unsyllabled isolation. Never confound the trial of faith with the ordinary discipline of life, much that we call the trial of faith is the inevitable result of being alive. Faith in the Bible is faith in God against everything that contradicts Him - I will remain true to God's character whatever He may do. "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him" - this is the most sublime utterance of faith in the whole of the Bible.
My Utmost for His Highest
We have the idea that God rewards us for our faith, it may be so in the initial stages; but we do not earn anything by faith, faith brings us into right relationship with God and gives God His opportunity. God has frequently to knock the bottom board out of your experience if you are a saint in order to get you into contact with Himself. God wants you to understand that it is a life of faith, not a life of sentimental enjoyment of His blessings. Your earlier life of faith was narrow and intense, settled around a little sun-spot of experience that had as much of sense as of faith in it, full of light and sweetness; then God withdrew His conscious blessings in order to teach you to walk by faith. You are worth far more to Him now than you were in your days of conscious delight and thrilling testimony.
Faith by its very nature must be tried, and the real trial of faith is not that we find it difficult to trust God, but that God's character has to be cleared in our own minds. Faith in its actual working out has to go through spells of unsyllabled isolation. Never confound the trial of faith with the ordinary discipline of life, much that we call the trial of faith is the inevitable result of being alive. Faith in the Bible is faith in God against everything that contradicts Him - I will remain true to God's character whatever He may do. "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him" - this is the most sublime utterance of faith in the whole of the Bible.
My Utmost for His Highest
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Substitution
"He hath made Him to be sin for us . . . that we might be made the righteousness of God. . ." 2 Corinthians 5:.21
The modern view of the death of Jesus is that He died for our sins out of sympathy. The New Testament view is that He bore our sin not by sympathy, but by identification. He was made to be sin. Our sins are removed because of the death of Jesus, and the explanation of His death is His obedience to His Father, not His sympathy with us. We are acceptable with God not because we have obeyed, or because we have promised to give up things, but because of the death of Christ, and in no other way. We say that Jesus Christ came to reveal the Fatherhood of God, the loving-kindness of God; the New Testament says He came to bear away the sin of the world. The revelation of His Father is to those to whom He has been introduced as Saviour. Jesus Christ never spoke of Himself to the world as one Who revealed the Father, but as a stumbling block (see John 15:22- 24). John 14:9 was spoken to His disciples.
That Christ died for me, therefore I go scot free, is never taught in the New Testament. What is taught in the New Testament is that "He died for all" (not - He died my death), and that by identification with His death I can be freed from sin, and have imparted to me His very righteousness. The substitution taught in the New Testament is twofold: "He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." It is not Christ for me unless I am determined to have Christ formed in me.
My Utmost for His Highest
The modern view of the death of Jesus is that He died for our sins out of sympathy. The New Testament view is that He bore our sin not by sympathy, but by identification. He was made to be sin. Our sins are removed because of the death of Jesus, and the explanation of His death is His obedience to His Father, not His sympathy with us. We are acceptable with God not because we have obeyed, or because we have promised to give up things, but because of the death of Christ, and in no other way. We say that Jesus Christ came to reveal the Fatherhood of God, the loving-kindness of God; the New Testament says He came to bear away the sin of the world. The revelation of His Father is to those to whom He has been introduced as Saviour. Jesus Christ never spoke of Himself to the world as one Who revealed the Father, but as a stumbling block (see John 15:22- 24). John 14:9 was spoken to His disciples.
That Christ died for me, therefore I go scot free, is never taught in the New Testament. What is taught in the New Testament is that "He died for all" (not - He died my death), and that by identification with His death I can be freed from sin, and have imparted to me His very righteousness. The substitution taught in the New Testament is twofold: "He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." It is not Christ for me unless I am determined to have Christ formed in me.
My Utmost for His Highest
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Justification by Faith
"For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." Romans 5:10
I am not saved by believing; I realize I am saved by believing. It is not repentance that saves me, repentance is the sign that I realize what God has done in Christ Jesus. The danger is to put the emphasis on the effect instead of on the cause. It is my obedience that puts me right with God, my consecration. Never! I am put right with God because prior to all, Christ died. When I turn to God and by belief accept what God reveals I can accept, instantly the stupendous Atonement of Jesus Christ rushes me into a right relationship with God; and by the supernatural miracle of God's grace I stand justified, not because I am sorry for my sin, not because I have repented, but because of what Jesus has done. The Spirit of God brings it with a breaking, all-over light, and I know, though I do not know how, that I am saved.
The salvation of God does not stand on human logic, it stands on the sacrificial Death of Jesus. We can be born again because of the Atonement of Our Lord. Sinful men and women can be changed into new creatures, not by their repentance or their belief, but by the marvellous work of God in Christ Jesus which is prior to all experience. The impregnable safety of justification and sanctification is God Himself. We have not to work out these things ourselves; they have been worked out by the Atonement. The supernatural becomes natural by the miracle of God; there is the realization of what Jesus Christ has already done - "It is finished."
My Utmost for His Highest
I am not saved by believing; I realize I am saved by believing. It is not repentance that saves me, repentance is the sign that I realize what God has done in Christ Jesus. The danger is to put the emphasis on the effect instead of on the cause. It is my obedience that puts me right with God, my consecration. Never! I am put right with God because prior to all, Christ died. When I turn to God and by belief accept what God reveals I can accept, instantly the stupendous Atonement of Jesus Christ rushes me into a right relationship with God; and by the supernatural miracle of God's grace I stand justified, not because I am sorry for my sin, not because I have repented, but because of what Jesus has done. The Spirit of God brings it with a breaking, all-over light, and I know, though I do not know how, that I am saved.
The salvation of God does not stand on human logic, it stands on the sacrificial Death of Jesus. We can be born again because of the Atonement of Our Lord. Sinful men and women can be changed into new creatures, not by their repentance or their belief, but by the marvellous work of God in Christ Jesus which is prior to all experience. The impregnable safety of justification and sanctification is God Himself. We have not to work out these things ourselves; they have been worked out by the Atonement. The supernatural becomes natural by the miracle of God; there is the realization of what Jesus Christ has already done - "It is finished."
My Utmost for His Highest
Monday, October 27, 2008
THE METHOD OF MISSIONS
"Go ye therefore, and teach (disciple) all nations." Matthew 28:19
Jesus Christ did not say - Go and save souls (the salvation of souls is the supernatural work of God), but - "Go and teach," i.e., disciple, "all nations," and you cannot make disciples unless you are a disciple yourself. When the disciples came back from their first mission they were filled with joy because the devils were subject to them, and Jesus said - Don't rejoice in successful service; the great secret of joy is that you are rightly related to Me. The great essential of the missionary is that he remains true to the call of God, and realizes that his one purpose is to disciple men and women to Jesus. There is a passion for souls that does not spring from God, but from the desire to make converts to our point of view.
The challenge to the missionary does not come on the line that people are difficult to get saved, that backsliders are difficult to reclaim, that there is a wadge of callous indifference; but along the line of his own personal relationship to Jesus Christ. "Believe ye that I am able to do this?" Our Lord puts that question steadily, it faces us in every individual case we meet. The one great challenge is - Do I know my Risen Lord? Do I know the power of His indwelling Spirit? Am I wise enough in God's sight, and foolish enough according to the world, to bank on what Jesus Christ has said, or am I abandoning the great supernatural position, which is the only call for a missionary, viz., boundless confidence in Christ Jesus? If I take up any other method I depart altogether from the methods laid down by Our Lord - "All power is given unto Me . . , therefore go ye."
My Utmost for His Highest
Jesus Christ did not say - Go and save souls (the salvation of souls is the supernatural work of God), but - "Go and teach," i.e., disciple, "all nations," and you cannot make disciples unless you are a disciple yourself. When the disciples came back from their first mission they were filled with joy because the devils were subject to them, and Jesus said - Don't rejoice in successful service; the great secret of joy is that you are rightly related to Me. The great essential of the missionary is that he remains true to the call of God, and realizes that his one purpose is to disciple men and women to Jesus. There is a passion for souls that does not spring from God, but from the desire to make converts to our point of view.
The challenge to the missionary does not come on the line that people are difficult to get saved, that backsliders are difficult to reclaim, that there is a wadge of callous indifference; but along the line of his own personal relationship to Jesus Christ. "Believe ye that I am able to do this?" Our Lord puts that question steadily, it faces us in every individual case we meet. The one great challenge is - Do I know my Risen Lord? Do I know the power of His indwelling Spirit? Am I wise enough in God's sight, and foolish enough according to the world, to bank on what Jesus Christ has said, or am I abandoning the great supernatural position, which is the only call for a missionary, viz., boundless confidence in Christ Jesus? If I take up any other method I depart altogether from the methods laid down by Our Lord - "All power is given unto Me . . , therefore go ye."
My Utmost for His Highest
Friday, October 24, 2008
Two Cows
DEMOCRAT
You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
You feel guilty for being successful.
You push for higher taxes so the government can provide cows for everyone.
REPUBLICAN
You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
So what; let him get off his *butt and earn 'em like I did.
SOCIALIST
You have two cows.
The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.
You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow.
COMMUNIST
You have two cows.
The government seizes both and provides you with milk.
You wait in line for hours to get it.
It is expensive and sour.
CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE
You have two cows.
You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows.
BUREAUCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE
You have two cows.
Under the new farm program the government pays you to shoot one, milk the other, and then pours the milk down the drain.
AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO on the 2nd one.
You force the two cows to produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when one cow drops dead. You spin an announcement to the analysts stating you have downsized and are reducing expenses.
Your stock goes up.
FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike because you want three cows.
You go to lunch and drink wine.
Life is good.
JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
They learn to travel on unbelievably crowded trains.
Most are at the top of their class at cow school.
GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You engineer them so they are all blond, drink lots of beer, give excellent quality milk, and run a hundred miles an hour..
Unfortunately they also demand 13 weeks of vacation per year.
ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows but you don't know where they are.
You break for lunch.
Life is good.
RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have some vodka.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You have some more vodka.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
The Russian Mafia shows up and takes over however many cows you really have.
TALIBAN CORPORATION
You have all the cows in Afghanistan , which are two.
You don't milk them because you cannot touch any creature's private parts.
You get a $40 million grant from the US government to find alternatives to milk production but use the money to buy weapons.
IRAQI CORPORATION
You have two cows.
They go into hiding.
They send radio tapes of their mooing.
POLISH CORPORATION
You have two bulls.
Employees are regularly maimed and killed attempting to milk them.
BELGIAN CORPORATION
You have one cow.
The cow is schizophrenic.
Sometimes the cow thinks he's French, other times he's Flemish.
The Flemish cow won't share with the French cow.
The French cow wants control of the Flemish cow's milk.
The cow asks permission to be cut in half.
The cow dies happy.
FLORIDA CORPORATION
You have a black cow and a brown cow.
Everyone votes for the best looking one.
Some of the people who actually like the brown one best accidentally vote for the black one.
Some people vote for both.
Some people vote for neither.
Some people can't figure out how to vote at all.
Finally, a bunch of guys from out-of-state tell you which one you think is the best-looking cow.
CALIFORNIA CORPORATION
You have millions of cows.
They make real California cheese.
Only five speak English.
Most are illegal.
Arnold likes the ones with the big udders.
*edited for content
Borrowed from the following: News Radio
You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
You feel guilty for being successful.
You push for higher taxes so the government can provide cows for everyone.
REPUBLICAN
You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
So what; let him get off his *butt and earn 'em like I did.
SOCIALIST
You have two cows.
The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.
You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow.
COMMUNIST
You have two cows.
The government seizes both and provides you with milk.
You wait in line for hours to get it.
It is expensive and sour.
CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE
You have two cows.
You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows.
BUREAUCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE
You have two cows.
Under the new farm program the government pays you to shoot one, milk the other, and then pours the milk down the drain.
AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO on the 2nd one.
You force the two cows to produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when one cow drops dead. You spin an announcement to the analysts stating you have downsized and are reducing expenses.
Your stock goes up.
FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike because you want three cows.
You go to lunch and drink wine.
Life is good.
JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
They learn to travel on unbelievably crowded trains.
Most are at the top of their class at cow school.
GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You engineer them so they are all blond, drink lots of beer, give excellent quality milk, and run a hundred miles an hour..
Unfortunately they also demand 13 weeks of vacation per year.
ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows but you don't know where they are.
You break for lunch.
Life is good.
RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have some vodka.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You have some more vodka.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
The Russian Mafia shows up and takes over however many cows you really have.
TALIBAN CORPORATION
You have all the cows in Afghanistan , which are two.
You don't milk them because you cannot touch any creature's private parts.
You get a $40 million grant from the US government to find alternatives to milk production but use the money to buy weapons.
IRAQI CORPORATION
You have two cows.
They go into hiding.
They send radio tapes of their mooing.
POLISH CORPORATION
You have two bulls.
Employees are regularly maimed and killed attempting to milk them.
BELGIAN CORPORATION
You have one cow.
The cow is schizophrenic.
Sometimes the cow thinks he's French, other times he's Flemish.
The Flemish cow won't share with the French cow.
The French cow wants control of the Flemish cow's milk.
The cow asks permission to be cut in half.
The cow dies happy.
FLORIDA CORPORATION
You have a black cow and a brown cow.
Everyone votes for the best looking one.
Some of the people who actually like the brown one best accidentally vote for the black one.
Some people vote for both.
Some people vote for neither.
Some people can't figure out how to vote at all.
Finally, a bunch of guys from out-of-state tell you which one you think is the best-looking cow.
CALIFORNIA CORPORATION
You have millions of cows.
They make real California cheese.
Only five speak English.
Most are illegal.
Arnold likes the ones with the big udders.
*edited for content
Borrowed from the following: News Radio
I've turned into my mother
I'm not sure how or when but I think I have turned into my mother. Well maybe not completely (though it wouldn't be a bad thing) but I have definitely absorbed some of her behaviors and/or habits.
While sitting in my office (a cube with 1/2 walls on 3 sides) this afternoon I am fighting the urge to grab a certain co-worker by the nape of the neck and hurl him as far as I can out the 7th floor window. He should count himself lucky these windows do not open. He should fear the stairwell.
Apparently said co-worker has bought a new toy at the store up the street and he is playing, breaking, or simply trying to open it. He has been trying to complete this task for the past half hour. I wonder what I'm doing wrong to have a pile of work to do when obviously there are others within the department that have more than enough free time. This is a side note. Anyway the sounds coming from his "office" are that of slowly ripping a plastic wrapper open. Yes. For half an hour I have heard these sounds. Every now and then the sounds will stop and I can't help but hope he gave up. Turns out, he's just confused by the child proof protection. Then the tearing of plastic resumes and my hair stands on end.
I think I might need to up the intensity of my workout tonight because the rage I feel in this moment is very real. This brings me to my point. Up until now I have done an excellent job of constraining my behavior to a few glances over my shoulder and a few loud sighs. This is in spite of the strong urge to plant my stapler square in the middle of his forehead. Granted the glances and the sighs are becoming more and more frequent and until I began this post I did not realize I was even doing it. This makes me think of my mother.
More than once my mother used (and still uses) this technique of glancing and sighing in church, restaurants, and any other mixed (us and all those other than us) group event. Usually it is directed at the parents of a screaming (or annoying in any way) child. Sometimes it is directed at a loud conversation or an obnoxious habit such as chewing gum loudly. I never notice that this action taken by my mother yields the result she desires but it somehow makes her feel better. And even though more often than not those around her never notice that she takes issue with them, it is as if she is no longer taking what those around her hand out but she is taking a silent stand.
I find myself taking the same silent stand today and this is what leads me to note I am very much like my mother. Surely my co-worker has noticed my backwards glances. Surely he has heard my sighs of disapproval. No. He continues to slowly unwrap the plastic around his new toy and with each click and each tear I feel my neck grow tighter. This is perhaps where the similarities between my mom and I end. Where Mom would be content to continue her alternating technique of glance, sigh. Glance, sigh. Glance, sigh. I have grown tired of a failing method and I am soon to sign off and return to my original plan of tossing his skinny butt down the stairwell.
I can't help but wonder if I should glean such enjoyment from the thought of crushing someone's new toy and making a grown man cry.
While sitting in my office (a cube with 1/2 walls on 3 sides) this afternoon I am fighting the urge to grab a certain co-worker by the nape of the neck and hurl him as far as I can out the 7th floor window. He should count himself lucky these windows do not open. He should fear the stairwell.
Apparently said co-worker has bought a new toy at the store up the street and he is playing, breaking, or simply trying to open it. He has been trying to complete this task for the past half hour. I wonder what I'm doing wrong to have a pile of work to do when obviously there are others within the department that have more than enough free time. This is a side note. Anyway the sounds coming from his "office" are that of slowly ripping a plastic wrapper open. Yes. For half an hour I have heard these sounds. Every now and then the sounds will stop and I can't help but hope he gave up. Turns out, he's just confused by the child proof protection. Then the tearing of plastic resumes and my hair stands on end.
I think I might need to up the intensity of my workout tonight because the rage I feel in this moment is very real. This brings me to my point. Up until now I have done an excellent job of constraining my behavior to a few glances over my shoulder and a few loud sighs. This is in spite of the strong urge to plant my stapler square in the middle of his forehead. Granted the glances and the sighs are becoming more and more frequent and until I began this post I did not realize I was even doing it. This makes me think of my mother.
More than once my mother used (and still uses) this technique of glancing and sighing in church, restaurants, and any other mixed (us and all those other than us) group event. Usually it is directed at the parents of a screaming (or annoying in any way) child. Sometimes it is directed at a loud conversation or an obnoxious habit such as chewing gum loudly. I never notice that this action taken by my mother yields the result she desires but it somehow makes her feel better. And even though more often than not those around her never notice that she takes issue with them, it is as if she is no longer taking what those around her hand out but she is taking a silent stand.
I find myself taking the same silent stand today and this is what leads me to note I am very much like my mother. Surely my co-worker has noticed my backwards glances. Surely he has heard my sighs of disapproval. No. He continues to slowly unwrap the plastic around his new toy and with each click and each tear I feel my neck grow tighter. This is perhaps where the similarities between my mom and I end. Where Mom would be content to continue her alternating technique of glance, sigh. Glance, sigh. Glance, sigh. I have grown tired of a failing method and I am soon to sign off and return to my original plan of tossing his skinny butt down the stairwell.
I can't help but wonder if I should glean such enjoyment from the thought of crushing someone's new toy and making a grown man cry.
The Viewpoint
"Now thanks be to God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ." 2 Corinthians 2:14
The viewpoint of a worker for God must not be as near the highest as he can get, it must be the highest. Be careful to maintain strenuously God's point of view, it has to be done every day, bit by bit; don't think on the finite. No outside power can touch the viewpoint.
The viewpoint to maintain is that we are here for one purpose only, viz., to be captives in the train of Christ's triumphs. We are not in God's showroom, we are here to exhibit one thing - the absolute captivity of our lives to Jesus Christ. How small the other points of view are - I am standing alone battling for Jesus; I have to maintain the cause of Christ and hold this fort for Him. Paul says - I am in the train of a conqueror, and it does not matter what the difficulties are, I am always led in triumph. Is this idea being worked out practically in us? Paul's secret joy was that God took him, a red-handed rebel against Jesus Christ, and made him a captive, and now that is all he is here for. Paul's joy was to be a captive of the Lord, he had no other interest in heaven or in earth. It is a shameful thing for a Christian to talk about getting the victory. The Victor ought to have got us so completely that it is His victory all the time, and we are more than conquerors through Him.
"For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ." We are enwheeled with the odour of Jesus, and wherever we go we are a wonderful refreshment to God.
My Utmost for His Highest
The viewpoint of a worker for God must not be as near the highest as he can get, it must be the highest. Be careful to maintain strenuously God's point of view, it has to be done every day, bit by bit; don't think on the finite. No outside power can touch the viewpoint.
The viewpoint to maintain is that we are here for one purpose only, viz., to be captives in the train of Christ's triumphs. We are not in God's showroom, we are here to exhibit one thing - the absolute captivity of our lives to Jesus Christ. How small the other points of view are - I am standing alone battling for Jesus; I have to maintain the cause of Christ and hold this fort for Him. Paul says - I am in the train of a conqueror, and it does not matter what the difficulties are, I am always led in triumph. Is this idea being worked out practically in us? Paul's secret joy was that God took him, a red-handed rebel against Jesus Christ, and made him a captive, and now that is all he is here for. Paul's joy was to be a captive of the Lord, he had no other interest in heaven or in earth. It is a shameful thing for a Christian to talk about getting the victory. The Victor ought to have got us so completely that it is His victory all the time, and we are more than conquerors through Him.
"For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ." We are enwheeled with the odour of Jesus, and wherever we go we are a wonderful refreshment to God.
My Utmost for His Highest
Thursday, October 23, 2008
NOT A BIT OF IT!
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Our Lord never tolerates our prejudices—He is directly opposed to them and puts them to death. We tend to think that God has some special interest in our particular prejudices, and are very sure that He will never deal with us as He has to deal with others. We even say to ourselves, “God has to deal with other people in a very strict way, but of course He knows that my prejudices are all right.” But we must learn that God accepts nothing of the old life! Instead of being on the side of our prejudices, He is deliberately removing them from us. It is part of our moral education to see our prejudices put to death by His providence, and to watch how He does it. God pays no respect to anything we bring to Him. There is only one thing God wants of us, and that is our unconditional surrender.
When we are born again, the Holy Spirit begins to work His new creation in us, and there will come a time when there is nothing remaining of the old life. Our old gloomy outlook disappears, as does our old attitude toward things, and “all things are of God” (5:18). How are we going to get a life that has no lust, no self-interest, and is not sensitive to the ridicule of others? How will we have the type of love that “is kind … is not provoked, [and] thinks no evil”? (1 Corinthians 13:4–5). The only way is by allowing nothing of the old life to remain, and by having only simple, perfect trust in God—such a trust that we no longer want God’s blessings, but only want God Himself. Have we come to the point where God can withdraw His blessings from us without our trust in Him being affected? Once we truly see God at work, we will never be concerned again about the things that happen, because we are actually trusting in our Father in heaven, whom the world cannot see.
My Utmost for His Highest
Our Lord never tolerates our prejudices—He is directly opposed to them and puts them to death. We tend to think that God has some special interest in our particular prejudices, and are very sure that He will never deal with us as He has to deal with others. We even say to ourselves, “God has to deal with other people in a very strict way, but of course He knows that my prejudices are all right.” But we must learn that God accepts nothing of the old life! Instead of being on the side of our prejudices, He is deliberately removing them from us. It is part of our moral education to see our prejudices put to death by His providence, and to watch how He does it. God pays no respect to anything we bring to Him. There is only one thing God wants of us, and that is our unconditional surrender.
When we are born again, the Holy Spirit begins to work His new creation in us, and there will come a time when there is nothing remaining of the old life. Our old gloomy outlook disappears, as does our old attitude toward things, and “all things are of God” (5:18). How are we going to get a life that has no lust, no self-interest, and is not sensitive to the ridicule of others? How will we have the type of love that “is kind … is not provoked, [and] thinks no evil”? (1 Corinthians 13:4–5). The only way is by allowing nothing of the old life to remain, and by having only simple, perfect trust in God—such a trust that we no longer want God’s blessings, but only want God Himself. Have we come to the point where God can withdraw His blessings from us without our trust in Him being affected? Once we truly see God at work, we will never be concerned again about the things that happen, because we are actually trusting in our Father in heaven, whom the world cannot see.
My Utmost for His Highest
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
The Witness of the Spirit
“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit …” (Romans 8:16).
We are in danger of getting into a bargaining spirit with God when we come to Him—we want the witness of the Spirit before we have done what God tells us to do.
Why doesn’t God reveal Himself to you? He cannot. It is not that He will not, but He cannot, because you are in the way as long as you won’t abandon yourself to Him in total surrender. Yet once you do, immediately God witnesses to Himself—He cannot witness to you, but He instantly witnesses to His own nature in you. If you received the witness of the Spirit before the reality and truth that comes from obedience, it would simply result in sentimental emotion. But when you act on the basis of redemption, and stop the disrespectfulness of debating with God, He immediately gives His witness. As soon as you abandon your own reasoning and arguing, God witnesses to what He has done, and you are amazed at your total disrespect in having kept Him waiting. If you are debating as to whether or not God can deliver from sin, then either let Him do it or tell Him that He cannot. Do not quote this or that person to Him. Simply obey Matthew 11:28, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden … .” Come, if you are weary, and ask, if you know you are evil (see Luke 11:9–13).
The Spirit of God witnesses to the redemption of our Lord, and to nothing else. He cannot witness to our reason. We are inclined to mistake the simplicity that comes from our natural commonsense decisions for the witness of the Spirit, but the Spirit witnesses only to His own nature, and to the work of redemption, never to our reason. If we are trying to make Him witness to our reason, it is no wonder that we are in darkness and uncertainty. Throw it all overboard, trust in Him, and He will give you the witness of the Spirit.
My Utmost for His Highest
We are in danger of getting into a bargaining spirit with God when we come to Him—we want the witness of the Spirit before we have done what God tells us to do.
Why doesn’t God reveal Himself to you? He cannot. It is not that He will not, but He cannot, because you are in the way as long as you won’t abandon yourself to Him in total surrender. Yet once you do, immediately God witnesses to Himself—He cannot witness to you, but He instantly witnesses to His own nature in you. If you received the witness of the Spirit before the reality and truth that comes from obedience, it would simply result in sentimental emotion. But when you act on the basis of redemption, and stop the disrespectfulness of debating with God, He immediately gives His witness. As soon as you abandon your own reasoning and arguing, God witnesses to what He has done, and you are amazed at your total disrespect in having kept Him waiting. If you are debating as to whether or not God can deliver from sin, then either let Him do it or tell Him that He cannot. Do not quote this or that person to Him. Simply obey Matthew 11:28, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden … .” Come, if you are weary, and ask, if you know you are evil (see Luke 11:9–13).
The Spirit of God witnesses to the redemption of our Lord, and to nothing else. He cannot witness to our reason. We are inclined to mistake the simplicity that comes from our natural commonsense decisions for the witness of the Spirit, but the Spirit witnesses only to His own nature, and to the work of redemption, never to our reason. If we are trying to make Him witness to our reason, it is no wonder that we are in darkness and uncertainty. Throw it all overboard, trust in Him, and He will give you the witness of the Spirit.
My Utmost for His Highest
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Daily Devotion
I would like to start a daily devotion post on this blog. I fall short of the mark in my consistent walk with Christ and this is just one attempt to meet this goal. I will post a short daily devotional for my sake. If it blesses another than all the better. I may or may not add personal thoughts and comments to the post but any thoughts by readers are not only welcomed but encouraged. Enjoy. All devotions are taken from My Utmost for His Highest unless otherwise noted.
Daily Devotional #1:
Impulsiveness or Discipleship?
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith …” (Jude 20).
There was nothing of the nature of impulsive or thoughtless action about our Lord, but only a calm strength that never got into a panic. Most of us develop our Christianity along the lines of our own nature, not along the lines of God’s nature. Impulsiveness is a trait of the natural life, and our Lord always ignores it, because it hinders the development of the life of a disciple. Watch how the Spirit of God gives a sense of restraint to impulsiveness, suddenly bringing us a feeling of self-conscious foolishness, which makes us instantly want to vindicate ourselves. Impulsiveness is all right in a child, but is disastrous in a man or woman—an impulsive adult is always a spoiled person. Impulsiveness needs to be trained into intuition through discipline.
Discipleship is built entirely on the supernatural grace of God. Walking on water is easy to someone with impulsive boldness, but walking on dry land as a disciple of Jesus Christ is something altogether different. Peter walked on the water to go to Jesus, but he “followed Him at a distance” on dry land (Mark 14:54). We do not need the grace of God to withstand crises—human nature and pride are sufficient for us to face the stress and strain magnificently. But it does require the supernatural grace of God to live twenty-four hours of every day as a saint, going through drudgery, and living an ordinary, unnoticed, and ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus. It is ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God—but we do not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life, and holy on the ordinary streets, among ordinary people—and this is not learned in five minutes.
Daily Devotional #1:
Impulsiveness or Discipleship?
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith …” (Jude 20).
There was nothing of the nature of impulsive or thoughtless action about our Lord, but only a calm strength that never got into a panic. Most of us develop our Christianity along the lines of our own nature, not along the lines of God’s nature. Impulsiveness is a trait of the natural life, and our Lord always ignores it, because it hinders the development of the life of a disciple. Watch how the Spirit of God gives a sense of restraint to impulsiveness, suddenly bringing us a feeling of self-conscious foolishness, which makes us instantly want to vindicate ourselves. Impulsiveness is all right in a child, but is disastrous in a man or woman—an impulsive adult is always a spoiled person. Impulsiveness needs to be trained into intuition through discipline.
Discipleship is built entirely on the supernatural grace of God. Walking on water is easy to someone with impulsive boldness, but walking on dry land as a disciple of Jesus Christ is something altogether different. Peter walked on the water to go to Jesus, but he “followed Him at a distance” on dry land (Mark 14:54). We do not need the grace of God to withstand crises—human nature and pride are sufficient for us to face the stress and strain magnificently. But it does require the supernatural grace of God to live twenty-four hours of every day as a saint, going through drudgery, and living an ordinary, unnoticed, and ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus. It is ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God—but we do not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life, and holy on the ordinary streets, among ordinary people—and this is not learned in five minutes.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
A big dream of a tiny house
Anyone that knows me, knows I long to live out West one day. I dream of owning land near the foot of the Rockies. The idea of getting lost on my own property in Wyoming, Montana, or Colorado gives me a thrill. Thoughts of sipping a cup of coffee on my front porch while looking into a vast field full of wheat...corn...cows...or something equally "ranchish" makes me smile. Looking forward to winter in the hopes of being snowed in for a few weeks is very real desire.
But I am here. I am in Greenville, SC. I live on a busy street and work in an even busier down town. I rarely spend time enjoying nature outside of the occasional hike or bon fire with friends. I dare not walk my property as I'd like because either the neighbors would wonder why I continually walk in circles or I'd cross the property line and quickly be squashed by a passing car. Glimpses into the local wildlife are limited to squirrels, chipmunks, and the all too often limp pile of fur found in the road (they shouldn't have crossed the property line.) I don't wish for a sprawling house with more rooms to clean and more taxes to pay. I do wish for an unobstructed view of the skyline and a clear view of the stars. Give me land and I will be happy. But please know it's not about wealth or impressive real estate. My big dreams don't require big houses. My happiness would be just as real in a 100 sq. ft.(Tumbleweed Tiny Houses)
home as it is in a 1000 sq. ft. home. Truthfully, it could be even more real in the former.
Most know of this deep desire of mine; to live and breathe all that is cowboy. All that is western. All that is outdoorsy. And in all seriousness I feel as if something is missing in my life the longer I stay where I am. Don't get me wrong. I love my home. I love my family. I love my life. But there is a want...no, a need for more that has always existed. My mind can't help but wonder how much longer I will put off the inevitable move Westward. My fear is the move will never come. But who is to blame for that other than myself? Has God placed this feeling of belonging in me? No doubt He has. For what reasons I do not know.
Perhaps I should start the process now rather than be content to continually talk about it. Perhaps it's time my body catches up with my soul. Yes; Perhaps it is time.
But I am here. I am in Greenville, SC. I live on a busy street and work in an even busier down town. I rarely spend time enjoying nature outside of the occasional hike or bon fire with friends. I dare not walk my property as I'd like because either the neighbors would wonder why I continually walk in circles or I'd cross the property line and quickly be squashed by a passing car. Glimpses into the local wildlife are limited to squirrels, chipmunks, and the all too often limp pile of fur found in the road (they shouldn't have crossed the property line.) I don't wish for a sprawling house with more rooms to clean and more taxes to pay. I do wish for an unobstructed view of the skyline and a clear view of the stars. Give me land and I will be happy. But please know it's not about wealth or impressive real estate. My big dreams don't require big houses. My happiness would be just as real in a 100 sq. ft.(Tumbleweed Tiny Houses)
home as it is in a 1000 sq. ft. home. Truthfully, it could be even more real in the former.
Most know of this deep desire of mine; to live and breathe all that is cowboy. All that is western. All that is outdoorsy. And in all seriousness I feel as if something is missing in my life the longer I stay where I am. Don't get me wrong. I love my home. I love my family. I love my life. But there is a want...no, a need for more that has always existed. My mind can't help but wonder how much longer I will put off the inevitable move Westward. My fear is the move will never come. But who is to blame for that other than myself? Has God placed this feeling of belonging in me? No doubt He has. For what reasons I do not know.
Perhaps I should start the process now rather than be content to continually talk about it. Perhaps it's time my body catches up with my soul. Yes; Perhaps it is time.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Election 2008
So I know everyone has the same question on the brain these days. Who will get my vote come November 4, 2008? So far I know who WON'T get my vote and that is Obama. That's a no brainer. He stands for all that I am against and his beliefs, morals (or lack thereof), and political views are opposed to my own. So, no, I will not be voting for Obama.
Now comes the next obvious question. Will I be voting for McCain? Well, part of my brain says yes. Part of my brain says no. I like some of what McCain stands for but I greatly dislike some of what McCain stands for. Therein lies the problem.
So. Do I vote for a man that does not entirely stand for what I do and does not represent my views just to keep another man of whom I see as pure evil out of office? Or do find a candidate, no matter how much of a long shot, that stands for all I believe to be true and right based on my personal beliefs and log my vote for him?
This thought tumbles over and over in my little brain and I am perplexed. At least I was perplexed until today. When driving back to work I had an epiphany. There were no trumpets. There was no bright light from the Heavens. And no new information crossed my mind. I just saw a few things more clearly than I had before.
God is in complete control. Whomever is elected come November 4th will be because God has chosen him to serve as President of the United States. I will vote based on my convictions, as a believer and follower of Christ. I will vote based on my faith. I will vote based on the knowledge that I am in the hand of God Almighty and I must stay true to Him and no other. I am not bound to any party. I am not bound to any man-made rules of choosing the lesser of two evils. As a Christian, if my choice is between two evils, can I faithfully choose either one? Martin Luther didn't think so. Neither do I.
Again, none of this is NEW information. I know this. I've always known this. But for some reason today, the thought of bending my convictions for the sake of an election stopped me cold. The thought that I HAVE to vote for one in order to prevent the other from being elected pricked my heart. In my own arrogance I put God's sovereignty on the shelf and attempted to take control of this election's outcome.
Long story, short I know now that come election day I will vote according to my faith. I will vote as a Christian. I will vote based on my convictions. And I will walk away from the booth confident that God still has me in His hand.
Now comes the next obvious question. Will I be voting for McCain? Well, part of my brain says yes. Part of my brain says no. I like some of what McCain stands for but I greatly dislike some of what McCain stands for. Therein lies the problem.
So. Do I vote for a man that does not entirely stand for what I do and does not represent my views just to keep another man of whom I see as pure evil out of office? Or do find a candidate, no matter how much of a long shot, that stands for all I believe to be true and right based on my personal beliefs and log my vote for him?
This thought tumbles over and over in my little brain and I am perplexed. At least I was perplexed until today. When driving back to work I had an epiphany. There were no trumpets. There was no bright light from the Heavens. And no new information crossed my mind. I just saw a few things more clearly than I had before.
God is in complete control. Whomever is elected come November 4th will be because God has chosen him to serve as President of the United States. I will vote based on my convictions, as a believer and follower of Christ. I will vote based on my faith. I will vote based on the knowledge that I am in the hand of God Almighty and I must stay true to Him and no other. I am not bound to any party. I am not bound to any man-made rules of choosing the lesser of two evils. As a Christian, if my choice is between two evils, can I faithfully choose either one? Martin Luther didn't think so. Neither do I.
Again, none of this is NEW information. I know this. I've always known this. But for some reason today, the thought of bending my convictions for the sake of an election stopped me cold. The thought that I HAVE to vote for one in order to prevent the other from being elected pricked my heart. In my own arrogance I put God's sovereignty on the shelf and attempted to take control of this election's outcome.
Long story, short I know now that come election day I will vote according to my faith. I will vote as a Christian. I will vote based on my convictions. And I will walk away from the booth confident that God still has me in His hand.
Go Speed Racer, Go!
This is why I love where I work. The following race took place on Tuesday, October 7 on the top level of our parking deck. One fellow (who shall remain nameless) made the claim that he was the fastest employee in the building. Others (the three losers of the race) challenged him to put his Nike's where his mouth is. At that point...it was game on.
Friday, October 3, 2008
The Rules
The following was stolen from another's blog (http://merecomments.typepad.com/merecomments/2008/09/the-rules.html) they have now been adopted as my rules to live by. Enjoy:
The Rules - Posted by Anthony Esolen
Visiting Grove City College last week -- that brave school that has long said to the government, "We shall not bow down before you" -- I was struck by the normality of the students. I don't mean that as faint praise. In fact, I have plenty of good things to say about the college, and maybe I'll say them in my next post, but the one thing that struck me most forcibly was that the students were, well, normal. Let me give you a few examples.
I was sitting in the Student Center, waiting for my host and idly looking at that only remaining section of most newspapers that a thinking person can sometimes skim -- I mean the sports section --, when I overheard a conversation among three men, discussing the stock market, how various investments were faring, what Hoover did and did not do in 1929, and how an intelligent investor should treat his debt in a time of tight credit. I figured they were three economics professors, but no, they were only undergraduates. They were normal undergraduates, in the sense that they were cut from some reliable norma or T-square, rather than dilapidated shambles of appetite and fad. The evening before, as I was walking through the giant quadrangle at the center of campus, I overheard baritone strains of opera, and looked over to see a burly young fellow filling the area with Puccini (I think) as he ran down a frisbee sailing over his head. Again, it struck me as rare, these days, but wholly normal that a young person out of doors on a pleasant day should want to sing. And it was like that all the time I was there. I was even told the undergraduate men and women had an eye to marrying one another. "Ring by Spring" is the merry proverb at Grove City. You put over a thousand good looking and healthy young men in the company of over a thousand good looking and healthy young women (the numbers are exactly even at Grove City), and it's no wonder that there are a lot of marriages. That's normal.
Now Mrs. Esolen and I have talked quite a lot about this business of marriage, especially as our daughter enters her junior year of college, and as many of my favorite students, now family friends, grow older and are looking for someone to marry. Their choices have occasionally been, alas, less than satisfactory. We've concluded that although almost everybody recognizes that a lot of students graduate high school whom only a fool would hire, the bigger problem is that even more young men and women are out there, many of them graduates of college, whom only a fool would marry. They are common, as common as nails. But they are not normal. You can have a bucket of nails bent out of shape, and that wouldn't make them normal either, not if there were a thousand to every nail that you could actually drive into a board.
So then, whom could you marry? A long time ago we came up with something we called "Esolen's Rules." They're only half facetious. But they are an attempt to get at the normal:
1. Don't marry a woman who likes cats but does not like dogs. You may marry a woman who doesn't like either, or whose reason for not liking dogs is that one of them bit her when she was a toddler. But a woman who likes cats but does not like dogs will be a Joan Crawford or Jane Wyman. Ronald Reagan married Jane Wyman, and look how sorry he was about that.
2. Don't marry a man who is neater than you are. You may, however, marry a man who polishes his tools and puts them away after use....
3. Don't marry anybody, man or woman, who says, "I'm going to call you at eight," and then leaves you waiting by the phone for an hour. Exceptions can be made for people who are kidnapped by Arabs, or who have epileptic seizures.
4. Don't marry anybody who insists on a separate bank account, bed, bathroom, vacation, or zip code. It makes no sense to be one flesh and two wallets.
5. Don't marry a woman who spends more on makeup than she does on food. In general, don't marry a woman who engages in the sin of reverse gluttony.
6. Don't marry a man who does not like dogs. Such men do not like children. Don't marry a man who does not like children. On the other hand, I have known at least one excellent man who thought he didn't like children, until he had some; seven, I think, at last count. Perhaps the rule may be rephrased: Don't marry a man whom you cannot imagine rolling on the ground in a wrestling hold, with a Labrador retriever or three children, or hollering on a ferris wheel, with a Labrador retriever or three children.
7. Don't marry a woman who exercises so frequently that you cannot tell if she is a woman or a very strange looking 13-year-old boy. I'm going out on a line here, but the real purpose of the rule is to determine whether she will mind getting fat, as happens when you are going to have a child. In other words, don't marry a woman whom you cannot imagine having a child. Do not marry a woman who does not like children.
8. Do not marry a man who treats his mother or his sisters discourteously. As he treats his mother, so will he treat you. But by all means do not marry a man who takes his direction from his mother, or who is ruled by his mother's ambitions. Mama's boys are unhappy, and they make their wives unhappy too. So are the mothers of mama's boys, come to think of it. Unhappy days are here again.
9. Do not marry a woman who sneers at innocent male pastimes, such as football. Such women do not really enjoy the company of men, and after a period soon reached, do not enjoy the company of their own husbands. They are also the most ignorant of what men are really like. You may marry a tomboy, so long as she's a girlish tomboy and doesn't take the sport with dreadful seriousness. You may marry a Daddy's girl, so long as she is not spoiled when it comes to money.
10. Never marry anyone who is secretive about money. Such people are also secretive about sex.
11. Never marry a man who lets you take the initiative in everything. You want a jellyfish, maybe? You want Burt Lancaster instead.
12. Never marry a woman who never lets you take the initiative in anything. You want a porcupine, maybe? You want Maureen O'Hara instead.
13. Never marry a woman who does not laugh at your jokes or your buffoonery. That is one of the nicest ways in which men "serve" women, and women respond by taking delight in the antics. That is why God made impersonators of Marlon Brando, Sean Connery, and Homer Simpson. It may in fact be the principal justification for the existence of Marlon Brando, Sean Connery, and Homer Simpson. This rule is simply an instance of the more general rule that you should never marry a woman who does not genuinely admire you, nor should a woman marry a man whom she does not admire.
14. Never marry anyone who delights in "exposing" you in public. Teasing does not count; in fact, never marry a man who cannot be teased. You can marry a woman who cannot be teased.
15. Never marry a man who is not admired by respectable male friends. The people in the world who know a man best are the men he works and plays with. They know well if he is a cheat, a thug, a loser. You may marry a man who does not have female friends. If anything, you should be suspicious of a man whose friends are principally female. The men may be avoiding him, and there is a reason for that.
16. Never marry anyone who is not interested in looking at your fourth-grade yearbook. This means: never marry anyone who seems unaware that he or she is marrying also a family, a hometown, a past, silly friends, comedies and tragedies. Never marry anyone who does not want to meet your father and mother. If your sister doesn't like him, dump him. If your sister doesn't like her, dump her. That is why God created sisters. Their approval, however, is not a sufficient condition; they will occasionally like losers, but they almost never detest good marrying material.
17. Never marry a feminist of either sex. That would be as bad as marrying someone with the soul (not the occupation, but the soul) of a lawyer.
18. Never marry anyone whom you catch in a lie, even a little one. Trust us on this one. People in love are about the most gullible creatures on God's green earth. In fact, beside the dictionary entry on "gullible" there's a picture of a woman in love, eyes looking dreamily upward, hands holding her chin; and a picture of an indignant young man defending the honor of his beloved, who would never do such a thing, no sir!
19. Never marry a woman who does not like to feed people, or a man who does not like to help out with the removal of a junked car, regardless of how much he knows about junked cars. By all means marry a woman who enjoys seeing men eat, or a man who looks at a mudslide and says, "I can make a really fine wall out of that."
20. Never marry anyone, man or woman, who scoffs at virtue, who reduces "good" and "evil" to arbitrary counters in the war of all against all, whose humor is flippancy, who looks down upon janitors and maids, who cannot delight in making simple things (like a batting T or a thank-you note), who thinks tradition is old and shopworn (such people are followers of every fad that comes), and who is never, ever, just relaxed, grateful for a shady seat under the maple tree in fall. That is another way of saying that you should never marry anyone who does not know who God is.
The Rules - Posted by Anthony Esolen
Visiting Grove City College last week -- that brave school that has long said to the government, "We shall not bow down before you" -- I was struck by the normality of the students. I don't mean that as faint praise. In fact, I have plenty of good things to say about the college, and maybe I'll say them in my next post, but the one thing that struck me most forcibly was that the students were, well, normal. Let me give you a few examples.
I was sitting in the Student Center, waiting for my host and idly looking at that only remaining section of most newspapers that a thinking person can sometimes skim -- I mean the sports section --, when I overheard a conversation among three men, discussing the stock market, how various investments were faring, what Hoover did and did not do in 1929, and how an intelligent investor should treat his debt in a time of tight credit. I figured they were three economics professors, but no, they were only undergraduates. They were normal undergraduates, in the sense that they were cut from some reliable norma or T-square, rather than dilapidated shambles of appetite and fad. The evening before, as I was walking through the giant quadrangle at the center of campus, I overheard baritone strains of opera, and looked over to see a burly young fellow filling the area with Puccini (I think) as he ran down a frisbee sailing over his head. Again, it struck me as rare, these days, but wholly normal that a young person out of doors on a pleasant day should want to sing. And it was like that all the time I was there. I was even told the undergraduate men and women had an eye to marrying one another. "Ring by Spring" is the merry proverb at Grove City. You put over a thousand good looking and healthy young men in the company of over a thousand good looking and healthy young women (the numbers are exactly even at Grove City), and it's no wonder that there are a lot of marriages. That's normal.
Now Mrs. Esolen and I have talked quite a lot about this business of marriage, especially as our daughter enters her junior year of college, and as many of my favorite students, now family friends, grow older and are looking for someone to marry. Their choices have occasionally been, alas, less than satisfactory. We've concluded that although almost everybody recognizes that a lot of students graduate high school whom only a fool would hire, the bigger problem is that even more young men and women are out there, many of them graduates of college, whom only a fool would marry. They are common, as common as nails. But they are not normal. You can have a bucket of nails bent out of shape, and that wouldn't make them normal either, not if there were a thousand to every nail that you could actually drive into a board.
So then, whom could you marry? A long time ago we came up with something we called "Esolen's Rules." They're only half facetious. But they are an attempt to get at the normal:
1. Don't marry a woman who likes cats but does not like dogs. You may marry a woman who doesn't like either, or whose reason for not liking dogs is that one of them bit her when she was a toddler. But a woman who likes cats but does not like dogs will be a Joan Crawford or Jane Wyman. Ronald Reagan married Jane Wyman, and look how sorry he was about that.
2. Don't marry a man who is neater than you are. You may, however, marry a man who polishes his tools and puts them away after use....
3. Don't marry anybody, man or woman, who says, "I'm going to call you at eight," and then leaves you waiting by the phone for an hour. Exceptions can be made for people who are kidnapped by Arabs, or who have epileptic seizures.
4. Don't marry anybody who insists on a separate bank account, bed, bathroom, vacation, or zip code. It makes no sense to be one flesh and two wallets.
5. Don't marry a woman who spends more on makeup than she does on food. In general, don't marry a woman who engages in the sin of reverse gluttony.
6. Don't marry a man who does not like dogs. Such men do not like children. Don't marry a man who does not like children. On the other hand, I have known at least one excellent man who thought he didn't like children, until he had some; seven, I think, at last count. Perhaps the rule may be rephrased: Don't marry a man whom you cannot imagine rolling on the ground in a wrestling hold, with a Labrador retriever or three children, or hollering on a ferris wheel, with a Labrador retriever or three children.
7. Don't marry a woman who exercises so frequently that you cannot tell if she is a woman or a very strange looking 13-year-old boy. I'm going out on a line here, but the real purpose of the rule is to determine whether she will mind getting fat, as happens when you are going to have a child. In other words, don't marry a woman whom you cannot imagine having a child. Do not marry a woman who does not like children.
8. Do not marry a man who treats his mother or his sisters discourteously. As he treats his mother, so will he treat you. But by all means do not marry a man who takes his direction from his mother, or who is ruled by his mother's ambitions. Mama's boys are unhappy, and they make their wives unhappy too. So are the mothers of mama's boys, come to think of it. Unhappy days are here again.
9. Do not marry a woman who sneers at innocent male pastimes, such as football. Such women do not really enjoy the company of men, and after a period soon reached, do not enjoy the company of their own husbands. They are also the most ignorant of what men are really like. You may marry a tomboy, so long as she's a girlish tomboy and doesn't take the sport with dreadful seriousness. You may marry a Daddy's girl, so long as she is not spoiled when it comes to money.
10. Never marry anyone who is secretive about money. Such people are also secretive about sex.
11. Never marry a man who lets you take the initiative in everything. You want a jellyfish, maybe? You want Burt Lancaster instead.
12. Never marry a woman who never lets you take the initiative in anything. You want a porcupine, maybe? You want Maureen O'Hara instead.
13. Never marry a woman who does not laugh at your jokes or your buffoonery. That is one of the nicest ways in which men "serve" women, and women respond by taking delight in the antics. That is why God made impersonators of Marlon Brando, Sean Connery, and Homer Simpson. It may in fact be the principal justification for the existence of Marlon Brando, Sean Connery, and Homer Simpson. This rule is simply an instance of the more general rule that you should never marry a woman who does not genuinely admire you, nor should a woman marry a man whom she does not admire.
14. Never marry anyone who delights in "exposing" you in public. Teasing does not count; in fact, never marry a man who cannot be teased. You can marry a woman who cannot be teased.
15. Never marry a man who is not admired by respectable male friends. The people in the world who know a man best are the men he works and plays with. They know well if he is a cheat, a thug, a loser. You may marry a man who does not have female friends. If anything, you should be suspicious of a man whose friends are principally female. The men may be avoiding him, and there is a reason for that.
16. Never marry anyone who is not interested in looking at your fourth-grade yearbook. This means: never marry anyone who seems unaware that he or she is marrying also a family, a hometown, a past, silly friends, comedies and tragedies. Never marry anyone who does not want to meet your father and mother. If your sister doesn't like him, dump him. If your sister doesn't like her, dump her. That is why God created sisters. Their approval, however, is not a sufficient condition; they will occasionally like losers, but they almost never detest good marrying material.
17. Never marry a feminist of either sex. That would be as bad as marrying someone with the soul (not the occupation, but the soul) of a lawyer.
18. Never marry anyone whom you catch in a lie, even a little one. Trust us on this one. People in love are about the most gullible creatures on God's green earth. In fact, beside the dictionary entry on "gullible" there's a picture of a woman in love, eyes looking dreamily upward, hands holding her chin; and a picture of an indignant young man defending the honor of his beloved, who would never do such a thing, no sir!
19. Never marry a woman who does not like to feed people, or a man who does not like to help out with the removal of a junked car, regardless of how much he knows about junked cars. By all means marry a woman who enjoys seeing men eat, or a man who looks at a mudslide and says, "I can make a really fine wall out of that."
20. Never marry anyone, man or woman, who scoffs at virtue, who reduces "good" and "evil" to arbitrary counters in the war of all against all, whose humor is flippancy, who looks down upon janitors and maids, who cannot delight in making simple things (like a batting T or a thank-you note), who thinks tradition is old and shopworn (such people are followers of every fad that comes), and who is never, ever, just relaxed, grateful for a shady seat under the maple tree in fall. That is another way of saying that you should never marry anyone who does not know who God is.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
My own heart's desires
Cowboy Take Me Away - by Martie Seidel
I said I wanna touch the earth
I wanna break it in my hands
I wanna grow something wild and unruly
I wanna sleep on the hard ground
In the comfort of your arms
On a pillow of bluebonnets
In a blanket made of stars
Oh it sounds good to me I said
Cowboy take me away
Fly this girl as high as you can
Into the wild blue
Set me free oh I pray
Closer to heaven above and
Closer to you closer to you
I wanna walk and not run
I wanna skip and not fall
I wanna look at the horizon
And not see a building standing tall
I wanna be the only one
For miles and miles
Except for maybe you
And your simple smile
Oh it sounds good to me
Yes it sounds so good to me
Cowboy take me away
Fly this girl as high as you can
Into the wild blue
Set me free oh I pray
Closer to heaven above and
Closer to you closer to you
I said I wanna touch the earth
I wanna break it in my hands
I wanna grow something wild and unruly
Oh it sounds so good to me
Cowboy take me away
Fly this girl as high as you can
Into the wild blue
Set me free oh I pray
Closer to heaven above and
Closer to you closer to you
Closer to you
Cowboy take me away.
Closer to you
I said I wanna touch the earth
I wanna break it in my hands
I wanna grow something wild and unruly
I wanna sleep on the hard ground
In the comfort of your arms
On a pillow of bluebonnets
In a blanket made of stars
Oh it sounds good to me I said
Cowboy take me away
Fly this girl as high as you can
Into the wild blue
Set me free oh I pray
Closer to heaven above and
Closer to you closer to you
I wanna walk and not run
I wanna skip and not fall
I wanna look at the horizon
And not see a building standing tall
I wanna be the only one
For miles and miles
Except for maybe you
And your simple smile
Oh it sounds good to me
Yes it sounds so good to me
Cowboy take me away
Fly this girl as high as you can
Into the wild blue
Set me free oh I pray
Closer to heaven above and
Closer to you closer to you
I said I wanna touch the earth
I wanna break it in my hands
I wanna grow something wild and unruly
Oh it sounds so good to me
Cowboy take me away
Fly this girl as high as you can
Into the wild blue
Set me free oh I pray
Closer to heaven above and
Closer to you closer to you
Closer to you
Cowboy take me away.
Closer to you
Friday, September 19, 2008
T.G.I.F.
It's Friday! The only thing better than being in downtown Greenville on a cool, crisp Friday afternoon would be strolling Main Street USA, Disney World, Orlando Florida. I am in an exceptional mood this afternoon and I have no rhyme or reason for such. Granted I'm always in a somewhat happy, laidback mood; however today I'm downright giddy. And I can't help but marvel at this fact when you take into consideration it's not a payday Friday, I have no big plans for the evening, local news has been downright terrifying as of late, my car has only 1/2 a tank of gas left, and left shoe is forming what I believe to be a small blister on my heel. None of this matters. Why? I don't know. Maybe it's by the grace of God I have a Pollyanna outlook on this world. Perhaps I am blessed with a simple mind and therefore I am not bothered as much as others. I can't explain it. But I am grateful. I walked up the street a few minutes ago and couldn't help but smile as the wind blew through my hair. I stopped to converse with a dog and then went on my merry way. Some might question my mental capacity because of the goofy smile on my face. Then again, some might question that regardless.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Irony
I just filled up my little Jeep with gas on the way to work this morning. My "little" Jeep took just over 18 gallons of this liquid gold to get the needle all the way to "F". This, my first purchase on the pay check that was just deposited into my account this morning, totaled out at $70.21. No. I'm not kidding. I don't kid about such matters. I'm faced with the realization that because I chose to fill up today might very well prevent my grocery shopping tomorrow. And as I pumped my tank full, and watched the price tag roll more and more quickly to an astronomical figure, I also watched a CNN report on the 6 inch television embedded in the pump. The report? It was on high gas prices.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Little fat kittens
Here I sit, at 6:00 pm, at my desk. My workday was supposed to end about an hour ago yet here I am. To be honest, I'm not in any hurry to leave tonight. I know that as soon as I grab my computer, load up my back like a pack-mule, lock down my desk, head to the elevator (which will take approximately 6.5 minutes to arrive), trek out to my car in the garage, unload my baggage and climb into the driver's seat, I will be faced with an entirely new set of items on my To Do list.
Seems that here lately no matter how much I accomplish during the workday I still have more to accomplish when I get home. Now I know I'll receive no sympathy from those with kids, live-in parents, or invalid pets. I know my responsibilities are light compared to most. And knowing this gives me some sort of good-vibration-kind-of feeling. However I still feel a bit overwhelmed these days and I think it's a matter of my non-committal (refusal to plan ahead) nature catching up with me. Can a 30 yr. old change her ways? What if she doesn't really want to?
Anyway, I think of how my car needs gas (I've been running on empty like it's my job) and then I think of how much that will cost. I think of how the litter box most definitely needs changing and that will be another expense when I head to the store for supplies. I think of how I need (and oddly enough, WANT) to go to the gym tonight but that might use up the last few drops of gas in the old Jeep. I think of how I really don't want to eat my dinner out of a box again but I don't know that I have any other options in the house. I think of how my car taxes are due, my fridge is empty, my laundry is dirty, my deck is still unstained, my paint is peeling, and my mind swirls with responsibility. For the gal that thinks of herself first more often than not this is a new stage in life. And I'm not quite sure I like it. I'm certainly sure I didn't sign up for it.
So I stick my head in the sand and keep on typing. I think part of my weary brain actually believes the longer I sit here the longer I don’t have to take responsibility for everything left on my list. And maybe, just maybe, if I sit here long enough, said responsibilities will one by one disappear. Don’t talk to me about logic…that part of my brain shut off years ago. For now I’m going to get back to my workload and I will complete many important tasks for my employer. I will convey to co-workers far and wide that I have got it all together while the other departments of my life fall spectacularly apart. And in the midst of it all, my tried and true nature comes forth again…and I can’t help but think all will be okay. All tasks will be completed. All commitments will be met. All loose ends will come together. Why? Because they always have. And that "non-committal (refusal to plan ahead) nature" we talked about earlier makes it possible to focus on idealistic, dream-like thoughts such as little fat kittens, fresh snow, and smooth-sailing through life despite the fact I don't have the faintest idea what I'm doing.
Maybe it’s good that the logical side of my brain shut off years ago.
Seems that here lately no matter how much I accomplish during the workday I still have more to accomplish when I get home. Now I know I'll receive no sympathy from those with kids, live-in parents, or invalid pets. I know my responsibilities are light compared to most. And knowing this gives me some sort of good-vibration-kind-of feeling. However I still feel a bit overwhelmed these days and I think it's a matter of my non-committal (refusal to plan ahead) nature catching up with me. Can a 30 yr. old change her ways? What if she doesn't really want to?
Anyway, I think of how my car needs gas (I've been running on empty like it's my job) and then I think of how much that will cost. I think of how the litter box most definitely needs changing and that will be another expense when I head to the store for supplies. I think of how I need (and oddly enough, WANT) to go to the gym tonight but that might use up the last few drops of gas in the old Jeep. I think of how I really don't want to eat my dinner out of a box again but I don't know that I have any other options in the house. I think of how my car taxes are due, my fridge is empty, my laundry is dirty, my deck is still unstained, my paint is peeling, and my mind swirls with responsibility. For the gal that thinks of herself first more often than not this is a new stage in life. And I'm not quite sure I like it. I'm certainly sure I didn't sign up for it.
So I stick my head in the sand and keep on typing. I think part of my weary brain actually believes the longer I sit here the longer I don’t have to take responsibility for everything left on my list. And maybe, just maybe, if I sit here long enough, said responsibilities will one by one disappear. Don’t talk to me about logic…that part of my brain shut off years ago. For now I’m going to get back to my workload and I will complete many important tasks for my employer. I will convey to co-workers far and wide that I have got it all together while the other departments of my life fall spectacularly apart. And in the midst of it all, my tried and true nature comes forth again…and I can’t help but think all will be okay. All tasks will be completed. All commitments will be met. All loose ends will come together. Why? Because they always have. And that "non-committal (refusal to plan ahead) nature" we talked about earlier makes it possible to focus on idealistic, dream-like thoughts such as little fat kittens, fresh snow, and smooth-sailing through life despite the fact I don't have the faintest idea what I'm doing.
Maybe it’s good that the logical side of my brain shut off years ago.
MEET ME IN THE STAIRWELL
You say you will never forget where you were when you heard the news On September 11, 2001. Neither will I.
I was on the 110th floor in a smoke filled room with a man who called his wife to say 'Good-Bye.' I held his fingers steady as he dialed. I gave him the peace to say, 'Honey, I am not going to make it, but it is OK..I am ready to go.'
I was with his wife when he called as she fed breakfast to their children. I held her up as she tried to understand his words and as she realized he wasn't coming home that night.
I was in the stairwell of the 23rd floor when a woman cried out to Me for help. 'I have been knocking on the door of your heart for 50 years!' I said. 'Of course I will show you the way home - only believe in Me now.'
I was at the base of the building with the Priest ministering to the injured and devastated souls. I took him home to tend to his Flock in Heaven. He heard my voice and answered.
I was on all four of those planes, in every seat, with every prayer. I was with the crew as they were overtaken. I was in the very hearts of the believers there, comforting and assuring them that their faith has saved them.
I was in Texas , Virginia , California , Michigan , Afghanistan ... I was standing next to you when you heard the terrible news. Did you sense Me?
I want you to know that I saw every face. I knew every name - though not all know Me. Some met Me for the first time on the 86th floor.
Some sought Me with their last breath. Some couldn't hear Me calling to them through the smoke and flames; 'Come to Me... this way... take my hand.' Some chose, for the final time, to ignore Me. But, I was there.
I did not place you in the Tower that day. You may not know why, but I do. However, if you were there in that explosive moment in time, would you have reached for Me?
Sept. 11, 2001, was not the end of the journey for you. But someday your journey will end. And I will be there for you as well. Seek Me now while I may be found. Then, at any moment, you know you are 'ready to go.'
I will be in the stairwell of your final moments.
I was on the 110th floor in a smoke filled room with a man who called his wife to say 'Good-Bye.' I held his fingers steady as he dialed. I gave him the peace to say, 'Honey, I am not going to make it, but it is OK..I am ready to go.'
I was with his wife when he called as she fed breakfast to their children. I held her up as she tried to understand his words and as she realized he wasn't coming home that night.
I was in the stairwell of the 23rd floor when a woman cried out to Me for help. 'I have been knocking on the door of your heart for 50 years!' I said. 'Of course I will show you the way home - only believe in Me now.'
I was at the base of the building with the Priest ministering to the injured and devastated souls. I took him home to tend to his Flock in Heaven. He heard my voice and answered.
I was on all four of those planes, in every seat, with every prayer. I was with the crew as they were overtaken. I was in the very hearts of the believers there, comforting and assuring them that their faith has saved them.
I was in Texas , Virginia , California , Michigan , Afghanistan ... I was standing next to you when you heard the terrible news. Did you sense Me?
I want you to know that I saw every face. I knew every name - though not all know Me. Some met Me for the first time on the 86th floor.
Some sought Me with their last breath. Some couldn't hear Me calling to them through the smoke and flames; 'Come to Me... this way... take my hand.' Some chose, for the final time, to ignore Me. But, I was there.
I did not place you in the Tower that day. You may not know why, but I do. However, if you were there in that explosive moment in time, would you have reached for Me?
Sept. 11, 2001, was not the end of the journey for you. But someday your journey will end. And I will be there for you as well. Seek Me now while I may be found. Then, at any moment, you know you are 'ready to go.'
I will be in the stairwell of your final moments.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Dinner in a box
I'm wondering if I should be discouraged or ashamed that tonight my dinner came from a box, about the size of a gospel tract written in an oversized font. As I was listening to my stomach growl I decided to see what my cupboards contained in the way of food. Not surprised, I didn't find much. But I did find a box of processed chicken and veggies, wrapped so air tight that (according to the box) it did not need to be refrigerated. And even though I know said box of food has been in my cabinet for over a year, I proceeded to nuke the heck out of it. I went ahead and pulled out a bottle of BBQ sauce just in case and I waited for the turntable to stop. It smelled OK so I figured it was safe to try. I'm now typing this post approx. 20 minutes after eating the entire meal without much distress. We'll see if my choice was a wise one in about an hour or two.
All of this to say, I find it somewhat concerning that here, at the ripe old age of 30, I am still living as if I am a poor college student without two nickels to rub together. Is it due to my refusal to plan ahead? To commit to any set path? To grow up? Or is it just one of those things that all folks go through and in time will pass for even me? I'm not sure. But even in the midst of my increasingly tight budget, I give thanks. Thanks that I had a mysterious box of food to heat up...some do not. And though I have my moments, I have to admit and give praise for my God has never failed me. No. Not once.
All of this to say, I find it somewhat concerning that here, at the ripe old age of 30, I am still living as if I am a poor college student without two nickels to rub together. Is it due to my refusal to plan ahead? To commit to any set path? To grow up? Or is it just one of those things that all folks go through and in time will pass for even me? I'm not sure. But even in the midst of my increasingly tight budget, I give thanks. Thanks that I had a mysterious box of food to heat up...some do not. And though I have my moments, I have to admit and give praise for my God has never failed me. No. Not once.
My personal testimony
I stepped out on faith alone when I was only 5 years old. It sounds like such a big step for such a small person to make, but with the Lord leading my way, I was able to follow. My parents love the Lord and both made it a priority to rear my sister and myself to love and follow Christ. I thank God for them and for their direction both then and now. I vividly remember the day I answered God’s call to become His child. I was with my family and it was after our devotional time that I realized the Holy Spirit’s working in my heart. Being just a child, I did not know the right words to say but my prayer was that of complete humility and surrender. I knew no other way to pray. That is one of the beauties of having the faith of a child. I asked God to forgive me for being a sinner and I asked that He let Jesus come live in my heart. I gave over my life to Christ in that moment.
Of course, as I aged, I grew to believe my ways were best. I strayed from God’s leading and tried to forge my own path in this life. More than once I realized I was fighting a losing battle and asked for grace and mercy again. And each time I was given both. As I have reached adulthood, I have realized now more than ever, how important it is to let God direct my thoughts and actions. And I try to dedicate my footsteps daily.
My mind immediately draws on what I know to be a blessed life. I should not be amazed at how wonderfully the Lord weaves our lives together but I cannot help but stand in awe of His perfect plan. I am blessed. I have a wonderful family. I want for nothing. I have experienced love, both giving and receiving. And I know things “the angels long to look into.” Not only has God bestowed his mercy on me, by not giving me what I deserve, which is death. But He has also given me abundant grace, by giving me what I don’t deserve, and that is a wonderful earthly life, full of blessings, and most importantly, forgiveness and life everlasting.
Others say it better than I. But that is yet another worry I do not have to claim as my own. God knows my heart. He knows my struggles. He knows me, for I am His child. The life my Lord has given me is a testimony in and of itself. Once I was dead. Now I live.
“As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice.” Psalms 55:16-17
Of course, as I aged, I grew to believe my ways were best. I strayed from God’s leading and tried to forge my own path in this life. More than once I realized I was fighting a losing battle and asked for grace and mercy again. And each time I was given both. As I have reached adulthood, I have realized now more than ever, how important it is to let God direct my thoughts and actions. And I try to dedicate my footsteps daily.
My mind immediately draws on what I know to be a blessed life. I should not be amazed at how wonderfully the Lord weaves our lives together but I cannot help but stand in awe of His perfect plan. I am blessed. I have a wonderful family. I want for nothing. I have experienced love, both giving and receiving. And I know things “the angels long to look into.” Not only has God bestowed his mercy on me, by not giving me what I deserve, which is death. But He has also given me abundant grace, by giving me what I don’t deserve, and that is a wonderful earthly life, full of blessings, and most importantly, forgiveness and life everlasting.
Others say it better than I. But that is yet another worry I do not have to claim as my own. God knows my heart. He knows my struggles. He knows me, for I am His child. The life my Lord has given me is a testimony in and of itself. Once I was dead. Now I live.
“As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice.” Psalms 55:16-17
Welcome
Ok so I really have no desire to blog. But that must not be entirely true because here I sit, typing my first post, on a blog I just set up in my name. This may be the first and last post to my blog but I'm not going to back myself into a corner. Anyone who knows me knows I don't do commitments. So I will neither commit to posting on a regular basis nor will I commit to scheduled neglect. As with every other area of my life, we'll just see what happens.
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