“Son of man, can these bones live?” Ezekiel 37:3
Can that sinner be turned into a saint? Can that twisted life be put right? There is only one answer: “O Lord, Thou knowest, I don’t.” Never trample in with religious common sense and say – “Oh, yes, with a little more Bible reading and devotion and prayer, I see how it can be done.”
It is much easier to do something than to trust in God; we mistake panic for inspiration. That is why there are so few fellow workers with God and so many workers for Him. We would far rather work for God than believe in Him. Am I quite sure that God will do what I cannot do? I despair of men in the degree in which I have never realized that God has done anything for me. Is my experience such a wonderful realization of God’s power and might that I can never despair of anyone I see? Have I had any spiritual work done in me at all? The degree of panic is the degree of the lack of personal spiritual experience.
“Behold, O my people, I will open your graves.” When God wants to show you what human nature is like apart from Himself, He has to show it you in yourself. If the Spirit of God has given you a vision of what you are apart from the grace of God (and He only does it when His Spirit is at work), you know there is no criminal who is half so bad in actuality as you know yourself to be in possibility. My “grave” has been opened by God and “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing.” God’s Spirit continually reveals what human nature is like apart from His grace.
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“Is my experience such a wonderful realization of God’s power and might that I can never despair of anyone I see? Have I had any spiritual work done in me at all? The degree of panic is the degree of the lack of personal spiritual experience.”
I know that God has been at work in me but it has been so subtle and gradual a process that most of the time I don’t realize anything has changed until I stop and go over my life and realize that indeed I have changed, but I just don’t ‘feel’ like I have really had any ‘personal spiritual experience” that I can fall back on. When I asked God into my life, I felt nothing, I felt no spiritual presence. My whole Christian experience has been a matter of personal decision of my will and choosing to believe that this path is the right one for me, but it sure hasn’t been one of any personal ‘spiritual’ experience of any Presence from God in my life. This has been my greatest leap of faith just using my will to believe. Choosing to have faith in God and His process of transformation in me. This faith in Jesus is based on knowing that there is nothing out there in other religions that comes close. My problem sometimes is listening too much to other people’s testimonies and hearing all the most spectacular things God had supposedly done in their lives ,that many times I walk away feeling a bit left out or that I must have been behind the door when God was passing out all these experiences. But in the end I must realize that God deals with each of us differently and our walk with Him is personal and so my experience will not be like any one elses. The passage of scripture that does my mind good on this topic is here in
the Gospel (John 20: 19-31) which recounts one of the Post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus Christ to his disciples, where Jesus appears to his disciples, coming through locked doors and says “Peace be with you” breathing upon them the Holy Spirit and communicating His authority to forgive sins.
However, Thomas was not present. The Beloved disciple John records this exchange between the Risen Lord and Thomas which follows: “Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
“Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them.Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
This encounter led to Thomas being called “Doubting Thomas”. Yet the tradition tells us that so called “doubting Thomas” died a martyr for his faith. He also became a messenger of Mercy to India, a missionary who shed his own blood for the Master whom he encountered on that day. His insistence on touching the wounds presented the Disciple John another opportunity to explain for all of us the implications of the Bodily Resurrection of Jesus Christ.But what is outstanding is what Jesus then says to us who have trouble believing, but still choose too without the experience of some tangible proof..29Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” So this is where I am and because I have not ‘seen’ Him and yet believe, I can trust that I will be blessed in this.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
THE TEST OF SELF INTEREST
THE TEST OF SELF-INTEREST
by Oswald Chambers
"If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left." Genesis 13:9
As soon as you begin to live the life of faith in God, fascinating and luxurious prospects will open up before you, and these things are yours by right; but if you are living the life of faith you will exercise your right to waive your rights, and let God choose for you. God sometimes allows you to get into a place of testing where your own welfare would be the right and proper thing to consider if you were not living a life of faith; but if you are, you will joyfully waive your right and leave God to choose for you. This is the discipline by means of which the natural is transformed into the spiritual by obedience to the voice of God.Whenever right is made the guidance in the life, it will blunt the spiritual insight. The great enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but the good which is not good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best. It would seem the wisest thing in the world for Abraham to choose, it was his right, and the people around would consider him a fool for not choosing. Many of us do not go on spiritually because we prefer to choose what is right instead of relying on God to choose for us. We have to learn to walk according to the standard which has its eye on God. "Walk before Me."
==========================================================
The goal in many of our lives is for the 'self' , to try to change our circumstances and make it what we want to happen in our lives, but to live the life of Faith in God is to let go and let God be Lord ,Master and King in our lives, to have the faith to know that what ever happens in our lives that it is God who either brought it about or allowed it to happen for His purpose in us. The goal of the Christian life is to walk in faith and believing that Gods Spirit knows what we need in our lives . Many of us are not quite here, we don't realize that it is God who is shaping our lives, and it is the 'tests' that we go through that help us realize our weaknesses and total dependence on God ,that is the outcome of the ordeals we go through in life. This is what it means to walk in the Spirit or to be Spirit led, it is the trusting of our lives to His care that will produce the transformation that God desires in us.
God is the Master Artist , crafter, gardener and He is the one who decides how we are to be molded and formed as a vessel for his use. It is worldly ,fleshly and self thinking to always try to change our circumstances, but it is an act of faith to rely on God to do what we need to have done to form us into vessels fit for the King.The reason why I do not believe in 'spells' or positive affirmations to try to change my situation or circumstances in my life, is because I believe that the 'role' of a Christian believer in Yahshua/Jesus is to believe that whatever comes our way is for a purpose that only God may know, and it is a walk of faith on our part to believe that God knows what situations or circumstance we need to go through in order to grow in HIM. That does not mean that if we are sick, in pain, or dis-eased not to get medical help. We must do what we need to do but we must trust that it is God that is allowing these things to happen. The serenity prayer is a good place to understand this process.
The Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.
--Reinhold Niebuhr
by Oswald Chambers
"If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left." Genesis 13:9
As soon as you begin to live the life of faith in God, fascinating and luxurious prospects will open up before you, and these things are yours by right; but if you are living the life of faith you will exercise your right to waive your rights, and let God choose for you. God sometimes allows you to get into a place of testing where your own welfare would be the right and proper thing to consider if you were not living a life of faith; but if you are, you will joyfully waive your right and leave God to choose for you. This is the discipline by means of which the natural is transformed into the spiritual by obedience to the voice of God.Whenever right is made the guidance in the life, it will blunt the spiritual insight. The great enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but the good which is not good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best. It would seem the wisest thing in the world for Abraham to choose, it was his right, and the people around would consider him a fool for not choosing. Many of us do not go on spiritually because we prefer to choose what is right instead of relying on God to choose for us. We have to learn to walk according to the standard which has its eye on God. "Walk before Me."
==========================================================
The goal in many of our lives is for the 'self' , to try to change our circumstances and make it what we want to happen in our lives, but to live the life of Faith in God is to let go and let God be Lord ,Master and King in our lives, to have the faith to know that what ever happens in our lives that it is God who either brought it about or allowed it to happen for His purpose in us. The goal of the Christian life is to walk in faith and believing that Gods Spirit knows what we need in our lives . Many of us are not quite here, we don't realize that it is God who is shaping our lives, and it is the 'tests' that we go through that help us realize our weaknesses and total dependence on God ,that is the outcome of the ordeals we go through in life. This is what it means to walk in the Spirit or to be Spirit led, it is the trusting of our lives to His care that will produce the transformation that God desires in us.
God is the Master Artist , crafter, gardener and He is the one who decides how we are to be molded and formed as a vessel for his use. It is worldly ,fleshly and self thinking to always try to change our circumstances, but it is an act of faith to rely on God to do what we need to have done to form us into vessels fit for the King.The reason why I do not believe in 'spells' or positive affirmations to try to change my situation or circumstances in my life, is because I believe that the 'role' of a Christian believer in Yahshua/Jesus is to believe that whatever comes our way is for a purpose that only God may know, and it is a walk of faith on our part to believe that God knows what situations or circumstance we need to go through in order to grow in HIM. That does not mean that if we are sick, in pain, or dis-eased not to get medical help. We must do what we need to do but we must trust that it is God that is allowing these things to happen. The serenity prayer is a good place to understand this process.
The Serenity PrayerGod grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.
--Reinhold Niebuhr
Friday, September 3, 2010
DREAM OF A HOUSE ,LIGHTS AND FLOOD
My Dream:
There is this big 2 story house I am in it and the house had been pushed off it's foundations and was floating down a river during a very turbulent storm, I believe it was a flooded river. In this house are many rooms and decorated nicely and it still had electricity in it even though there were no 'external' source . The lights were on inside this house as I floated down the river! I remember wondering what was keeping the lights on.
After reading about this other dream I now have a better understanding of my own dream.
Dreams relating to a house often refers to various aspects of the Self.To see your home in your dream, signifies security, basic needs, and values. Because this house still had it's lights on without being plugged in to an external source is very revealing to me, The 'light' comes from within me within my 'house', I am that house or it is Gods house and S/He is the only light/life source needed.
To see a storm in my dream, signifies some overwhelming struggle, shock, loss or catastrophe in my waking life. The storm also represents unexpressed fears or emotions, such as anger, rage, turmoil, etc. On a more positive note, the storm symbolizes my rising spirituality. It may signal rapid changes ahead for me.
To see a raging river in my dream, signifies that my life is feeling out of control. I am feeling emotionally unsettled. Alternatively, a river means that I am ready to confront life's challenges and life's twists and turns.The river is the river of life we are all on, sometimes things get wild and turbulent and the floods really do knock us off our foundations, but God will always be there within each of us.God is not out there somewhere, but within us, especially if we have asked for God to be there, like I have done. So in this dream I am being reassured that my lights are on inside of me, that God who is the light is alive and well within. And no matter what happens as I go down this river of life, God will be with me.
To dream that I am floating in water/river, suggests that I still have a handle on my emotions even though sometimes I might feel out of control of the things happening in my life.
I have always searched outside of myself for God and God has been within me all along! And no matter what will try to disturb my since of security in life, when the storms come and they will, I can have faith that I am not alone in them. My lights will still remain on no matter if I get unplugged from some outside source.
Friday, August 13, 2010
HOW SMALL IS YOUR god?
"The person who does not know the living God is condemned, by the gods of their own making".
These small gods are petty and not that much better,if at all, than the rest of humanity.These small gods that men and women have made for themselves ,throughout the ages,are jealous ,petty and lacking love and mercy, only a little greater than they themselves.They are only a little stronger, only a little wiser, but never anything any better. Immortal they are thought to be and always afraid of their mortal children, they are conveniently protected by a too fortunate gift of immortality. These gods are always fighting amongst themselves and never it seems, ever lead by good and loving examples. Are the people ever transformed by these gods? Are the people who worship and honor these man-made gods ever transformed into loving,compassionate and forgiving people? I have found that people who honor the gods of their own making are just like their gods. And those who honor and follow the Infinite and true God sooner or later WILL be transform in that likeness as well. So who do you want to emulate? Do you have a small and petty god, a god that is not loving, nor do they care about what is going on in your life, nor help you try to change it?
Let me tell you about the True Living God. This God of abundant love and amazing grace has willed to give us everything we truly need ,as a free gift. Jesus left the realm of heaven and came to the place of death to show us who the Living God truly is, who gave His life so that we might live. That is not what any puny man -made god,has ever been able to do.
I think many times we as Christians bring with us to the Body, that is Christ, a small vision or expectation of who or what the True God really is. Many of us bring the man-made vision of god with us. Here is were our problems begin and end. I think many of us read into the Bible this very small god, the god of hate and fear that we thought we left behind. I think a major hindrance we bring to our Bible study is that we have in many places a too literal reading of scriptures and in other places our reading should be more literal. We fail to understand that although Scriptures are God Breathed they are written by mere mortals with their own beliefs, filters and blockages. The Scriptures reveal the true and infinite God in the person of Jesus Christ and in all references to Him ,I take for the most part as literal, the rest I take as a means for the Holy Spirit to guide me daily in the way I should go. The Bible is a revelation of the 'experiences of God' that people have had, and the walk they had trying to figure out what it all meant to them. These people were not perfect in any way ,shape or form, but they experienced the Infinite God in personal and unique ways to them and the Bible is the stories of those encounters, with all the good , the bad and the ugly of their own personal natures put in there for good measure. We must also remember that the culture 2000 to5000 years ago is very different than our own as well! Our Infinite God does not condone all the behaviors we read about, and just because it is in the Bible does not make it the way God would have us personally to go now in this age, that is why we need our own personal encounter with the Infinite God and the personal guidance with that Holy Spirit on a moment by moment basis.
I read earlier this month that the author Anne Rice said she had left Christianity because of well ,Christians, many leave for the same reason , but I ask all of you who have left Churches for that same reason : "Are you really more perfect than the rest of us Christians? Are you able to live the life of Christ better than the rest of us? Can you hear from God better than the rest of us? Are you always able to respond in all circumstances with total love, peace and forgiveness? Are you the only one that can read Scriptures as they were intended? If so , then you have made it to perfection, but please forgive the rest of us who are still in the process of becoming all that Christ would have us to be. I am glad you have made it, but please have patience with the rest of us because we are slow learners."
The Body of Christ the Church which is ALL Churches and Denominations that put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ are not perfect only the Head which is Christ IS. The perfection we seek, we will never fully comprehend nor master until Christ returns , until then the Church will have to learn to put their trust in the Living God and follow after the Spirit of Christ. The Church is a family and like all families we are a disfunctional lot most of the time, but once in a while we get it right, but hey, that is why we are family we need each other to help when we are not able to get off the ground and stand up by ourselves, you see, we have to embrace one another before we can get up on our own 2 feet, and that is why we need each other and it is not wise to go it all alone.
The Infinite God I love has told us that we will know His true followers by 2 things............LOVE, for God and one another and by our FRUIT. So if you go to a church that does not have these signs, then either stay and love and guide them back to God , or go to a Church that does have fruit and love but either way let the Spirit of God lead you in the way you are to go, it won't always be the same guidance for everyone, some are told to stay and love and others told to move on.
So how small is your god? My God led by example in the life of Jesus Christ and I have chosen to follow him, as imperfect as I am.
Go in love and shalom
blessings
These small gods are petty and not that much better,if at all, than the rest of humanity.These small gods that men and women have made for themselves ,throughout the ages,are jealous ,petty and lacking love and mercy, only a little greater than they themselves.They are only a little stronger, only a little wiser, but never anything any better. Immortal they are thought to be and always afraid of their mortal children, they are conveniently protected by a too fortunate gift of immortality. These gods are always fighting amongst themselves and never it seems, ever lead by good and loving examples. Are the people ever transformed by these gods? Are the people who worship and honor these man-made gods ever transformed into loving,compassionate and forgiving people? I have found that people who honor the gods of their own making are just like their gods. And those who honor and follow the Infinite and true God sooner or later WILL be transform in that likeness as well. So who do you want to emulate? Do you have a small and petty god, a god that is not loving, nor do they care about what is going on in your life, nor help you try to change it?
Let me tell you about the True Living God. This God of abundant love and amazing grace has willed to give us everything we truly need ,as a free gift. Jesus left the realm of heaven and came to the place of death to show us who the Living God truly is, who gave His life so that we might live. That is not what any puny man -made god,has ever been able to do.
I think many times we as Christians bring with us to the Body, that is Christ, a small vision or expectation of who or what the True God really is. Many of us bring the man-made vision of god with us. Here is were our problems begin and end. I think many of us read into the Bible this very small god, the god of hate and fear that we thought we left behind. I think a major hindrance we bring to our Bible study is that we have in many places a too literal reading of scriptures and in other places our reading should be more literal. We fail to understand that although Scriptures are God Breathed they are written by mere mortals with their own beliefs, filters and blockages. The Scriptures reveal the true and infinite God in the person of Jesus Christ and in all references to Him ,I take for the most part as literal, the rest I take as a means for the Holy Spirit to guide me daily in the way I should go. The Bible is a revelation of the 'experiences of God' that people have had, and the walk they had trying to figure out what it all meant to them. These people were not perfect in any way ,shape or form, but they experienced the Infinite God in personal and unique ways to them and the Bible is the stories of those encounters, with all the good , the bad and the ugly of their own personal natures put in there for good measure. We must also remember that the culture 2000 to5000 years ago is very different than our own as well! Our Infinite God does not condone all the behaviors we read about, and just because it is in the Bible does not make it the way God would have us personally to go now in this age, that is why we need our own personal encounter with the Infinite God and the personal guidance with that Holy Spirit on a moment by moment basis.
I read earlier this month that the author Anne Rice said she had left Christianity because of well ,Christians, many leave for the same reason , but I ask all of you who have left Churches for that same reason : "Are you really more perfect than the rest of us Christians? Are you able to live the life of Christ better than the rest of us? Can you hear from God better than the rest of us? Are you always able to respond in all circumstances with total love, peace and forgiveness? Are you the only one that can read Scriptures as they were intended? If so , then you have made it to perfection, but please forgive the rest of us who are still in the process of becoming all that Christ would have us to be. I am glad you have made it, but please have patience with the rest of us because we are slow learners."
The Body of Christ the Church which is ALL Churches and Denominations that put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ are not perfect only the Head which is Christ IS. The perfection we seek, we will never fully comprehend nor master until Christ returns , until then the Church will have to learn to put their trust in the Living God and follow after the Spirit of Christ. The Church is a family and like all families we are a disfunctional lot most of the time, but once in a while we get it right, but hey, that is why we are family we need each other to help when we are not able to get off the ground and stand up by ourselves, you see, we have to embrace one another before we can get up on our own 2 feet, and that is why we need each other and it is not wise to go it all alone.
The Infinite God I love has told us that we will know His true followers by 2 things............LOVE, for God and one another and by our FRUIT. So if you go to a church that does not have these signs, then either stay and love and guide them back to God , or go to a Church that does have fruit and love but either way let the Spirit of God lead you in the way you are to go, it won't always be the same guidance for everyone, some are told to stay and love and others told to move on.
So how small is your god? My God led by example in the life of Jesus Christ and I have chosen to follow him, as imperfect as I am.
Go in love and shalom
blessings
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