I am going on a bit of vacation so I am going to be offline for a bit…Mary Joy will probably be giving some updates of our fun so stay tuned…if you want to hear more of my adventures….feel free to follow me on my twitter page.

One reason many people never serve is that they fear they are not good enough to
serve. They have believed the lie that serving God is only for superstars. Some
churches have fostered this myth by making "excellence" an idol, which makes
people of average talent hesitant to get involved. (Rick Warren)

Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20 NIV)

Oswwald Chambers writes:

We must continually focus and firmly place our faith in Jesus Christ- not a “prayer meeting” Jesus Christ, or a “book” Jesus Christ, but the New Testament Jesus Christ, who is God Incarnate, and who ought to strike us dead at His feet. Our faith must be in the One from whom our salvation springs. Jesus Christ wants our absolute, unrestrained devotion to Himself. We can never experience Jesus Christ, or selfishly bind Him in the confines of our own hearts. Our faith must be built on strong determined confidence in Him.

It is because of our trusting in experience that we see the steadfast impatience of the Holy Spirit against unbelief. All of our fears are sinful, and we create our own fears by refusing to nourish ourselves in our faith. How can anyone who is identified with Jesus Christ suffer from doubt or fear! Our lives should be an absolute hymn of praise resulting from perfect, irrepressible, triumphant belief.

Only Trust Him

Text: John H. Stockton
Music: John H. Stockton
Tune: STOCKTON, Meter: CM with Refrain

   Come, every soul by sin oppressed,
        there's mercy with the Lord;
        and he will surely give you rest,
        by trusting in his Word.

Refrain:
        Only trust him, only trust him,
        only trust him now.
        He will save you, he will save you,
        he will save you now.

     For Jesus shed his precious blood
        rich blessings to bestow;
        plunge now into the crimson flood
        that washes bright as snow. 

Refrain:
        Only trust him, only trust him,
        only trust him now.
        He will save you, he will save you,
        he will save you now. 

        Yes, Jesus is the truth the way
        that leads you into rest;
        believe in him without delay,
        and you are fully blest. 

Refrain:
        Only trust him, only trust him,
        only trust him now.
        He will save you, he will save you,
        he will save you now. 

        Come then and join this holy band,
        and on to glory go,
        to dwell in that celestial land
        where joys immortal flow.

        Refrain:
        Only trust him, only trust him,
        only trust him now.
        He will save you, he will save you,
        he will save you now. 

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But Samuel replied: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. (1 Samuel 15:22 NIV)

Then Samuel said, Do you think all GOD wants are sacrifices– empty rituals just for show? He wants you to listen to him! Plain listening is the thing, not staging a lavish religious production.

(1 Samuel 15:22)

Oswald Chambers writes:

Abraham did not choose what the sacrifice would be. Always guard against self-chosen service for God. Self-sacrifice may be a disease that impairs your service. If God has made your cup sweet, drink it with grace; or even if He has made it bitter, drink it in communion with Him. If the providential will of God means a hard and difficult time for you, go through it. But never decide the place of your own martyrdom, as if to say, “I will only go to there, but no farther.” God chose the test for Abraham, and Abraham neither delayed nor protested, but steadily obeyed. If you are not living in touch with God, it is easy to blame Him or pass judgment on Him. You must go through the trial before you have any right to pronounce a verdict, because by going through the trial you learn to know God better. God is working in us to reach His highest goals until His purpose and our purpose become one.

I think Oswwald Chamber’s hit the nail on the head. We have got ourselves so wrapped up in what we think a relationship with God should look like that we forget about God. We get so wrapped up in the technicalities of serving Him and making sure that we dot our I’s and cross our t’s and all that other stuff that we leave God in the living room with a cold cup of coffee wondering what happened to us.

For some reason we enjoy living in a state of dishevel….and we think this is God’s plan for us.

Listen to what the Bible says….

God doesn’t want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible. (2 Timothy 1:7)

Here is what Jesus Calls us to:

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me–watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Are we ready to walk with Him?

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We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God’s fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, (1 Thessalonians 3:2 NIV)

Oswald Smith writes:

“I must learn that the purpose of my life belongs to God, not me. God is using me from His great personal perspective, and all He asks of me is that I trust Him. I should never say, “Lord, this causes me such heartache.” To talk that way makes me a stumbling block. When I stop telling God what I want, He can freely work His will in me without any hindrance. He can crush me, exalt me, or do anything else He chooses. He simply asks me to have absolute faith in Him and His goodness. Self-pity is of the devil, and if I wallow in it I cannot be used by God for His purpose in the world. Doing this creates for me my own cozy “world within the world,” and God will not be allowed to move me from it because of my fear of being “frost-bitten.”"

Not my will but your’s Lord.

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No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from God. (Romans 2:29 NIV)

I have found that unless God has truly changed our hearts that anything we do to try and serve Him is meaningless and worthless.

A question that has to be asked is: What is my purpose in doing this? Out of that answer determines the motivation of your heart.

This is a powerful story of a young man’s deliverance from sin and finding victory in Christ.

I want to set the stage by using this video clip:

Steve Curington shares this in an article on his blog:

The Bible tells us in Ephesians 4:27 to “neither give place to the devil.” You see, when we allow ourselves to keep wrong thoughts on our hearts, we will inevitably surrender precious real estate to the devil, and he will use this to try to destroy us. Battles are almost always fought to gain territory. The phrase Paul uses to enunciate this forfeiture is to give place. The word place is the old English translation of the Greek word topos, which literally means topography or territory.

It is important to realize that the devil may not build anything on the territory we render him right away. Oh no, the Angel of Light is more cunning than that. He knows that if he moves too quickly, he will alarm us to the fact he is constructing strongholds in our lives. More often than not, the devil will patiently wait until we have allowed him to reside within our minds—the conceded territory—for a period of time so that he may silently construct infrastructure in our thought processes that he will later use to devour us.

You can read the rest of the article here…

I will make no bones about it when I read Brother Curington’s post it convicted me. It helped me to realize that I had been trying to be victorious in areas of my life in my own power and not trusting Christ and His power for the victory in living the Holy Life that we are called to live.

Here’s the thing though, and I think we really fail to grasp this…..is we think we can outsmart God and pull a con job….here’s the thing…God is God and He knows what is in our hearts even before we do. So to think that we can scam God is an exercise in futility….He knows us better that we know ourselves…and guess what like any good Daddy He will spank you in a heartbeat to get you to walk in His way….

Steve Curington writes…

As I raced from my desk to the living room, sure enough, there was my Chance perched on top of his younger sister Cherish administering some form of childish torture. I proceeded to spank Chance and requested my wife Lori to administer the necessary “discussion” so that I could return quickly to my work.

What I know for sure by now is this: my son – though only six – understands that he will have to “pay” for being overly rough with his sister. I know this because Chance and Cherish (4 years herself) have a long history of fighting with each other. And pretty much every time this occurs, Lori or I wind up spanking Chance. So, although Chance knows the consequences for his behavior, he still chooses to enjoy fighting with his sister.

This is a simple, albeit silly, example of today’s truth. Bad things in life are always paid for after they are enjoyed. And conversely, good things are paid for, or earned, prior to being enjoyed.

Going back to my illustration, Chance chose to engage in the sin of fighting with his sister prior to having to pay for that sin by being spanked. So we see that the sin occurred first, and then the “payment” occurred afterwards.

You can read the rest of the article here…

So it is simple…God is Holy and cannot tolerate sin in His presence. God loves us enough that he will use whatever means neccesary to help us walk in the right path…

My question is….will you fight him on it? Or will you let Him help you have the victory in your Life?

If ye love me, keep my commandments. (John 14:15 KJV)

Oswald Chambers writes:

The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says
without hesitation. If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have
placed in competition with Him, namely, myself. Jesus Christ will not
force me to obey Him, but I must. And as soon as I obey Him, I fulfill
my spiritual destiny. My personal life may be crowded with small, petty
happenings, altogether insignificant. But if I obey Jesus Christ in the
seemingly random circumstances of life, they become pinholes through
which I see the face of God. Then, when I stand face to face with God,
I will discover that through my obedience thousands were blessed. When
God’s redemption brings a human soul to the point of obedience, it
always produces. If I obey Jesus Christ, the redemption of God will
flow through me to the lives of others, because behind the deed of
obedience is the reality of Almighty God. (Oswald Chambers)

"Trust and Obey, for there is no other way….to be happy in Jesus…only trust and obey…"

Makes sense…doesn’t it?

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 KJV)

Oswald Chambers writes:

There is no such thing as a private life, or a place to hide in this
world, for a man or woman who is intimately aware of and shares in the
sufferings of Jesus Christ. God divides the private life of His saints
and makes it a highway for the world on one hand and for Himself on the
other. No human being can stand that unless he is identified with Jesus
Christ. We are not sanctified for ourselves. We are called into
intimacy with the gospel, and things happen that appear to have nothing
to do with us. But God is getting us into fellowship with Himself. Let
Him have His way. If you refuse, you will be of no value to God in His
redemptive work in the world, but will be a hindrance and a stumbling
block.(Oswald Chambers)

Mr. Chambers quote nailed me hard. I am hoping in the future to write more on our identification in Christ. As for now…I will let the quote speak for itself.

Faith in active opposition to common sense is mistaken enthusiasm and narrow-mindedness, and common sense in opposition to faith demonstrates a mistaken reliance on reason as the basis for truth. The life of faith brings the two of these into the proper relationship. Common sense and faith are as different from each other as the natural life is from the spiritual, and as impulsiveness is from inspiration. Nothing that Jesus Christ ever said is common sense, but is revelation sense, and is complete, whereas common sense falls short. Yet faith must be tested and tried before it becomes real in your life. "We know that all things work together for good . . ." ( Romans 8:28 ) so that no matter what happens, the transforming power of God’s providence transforms perfect faith into reality. Faith always works in a personal way, because the purpose of God is to see that perfect faith is made real in His children. (Oswald Chambers)

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 KJV)

We sometimes expect that faith is this huge thing that only a few have. Sometimes we pray and nothing happens. A story was told about a pastor who was called to a house to be with a family whose daughter was ill and had a very high fever. He said those pastor-like things and then was taken by surprise when her little brother asked if he would come back with him and help him pray for his sister…He told him he would….and back they went….The little boy sat beside his sister and held her hand…"Jesus my sissy is sick will you help her feel better? Thank you for listening to me…amen" The pastor prayed a pastor like prayer and they left the room.

The next day the pastor came by to check on the family…he was totally shocked when he saw the little girl up and playing with her brother. The pastor remembered the little boy’s prayer….and wept….

Faith is not complicated…we simply ask and just know(trust) God will answer us in however God decides…..

I found this article on one of my favorite blogs: www.incourage.me it really touched my heart and I wanted to share it with all of you…I hope it touches your heart as well… God’s blessings– Mary Joy

Trust is Not a Two Way Street

I am not a very trusting person.

You can read the rest of the article here….

1. My relationship with Jesus–without it I have nothing
2. My relationship with my daughter–she is truly a blessing sent from God.
3. My relationship with Mary–she has helped me to grow and learn to let others help.
4. The Word of God
5. My Family
6. My Church Family

What do you value most?

Oswald Chambers writes:

That Christ died for me, and therefore I am completely free from penalty, is never taught in the New Testament. What is taught in the New Testament is that "He died for all" ( 2 Corinthians 5:15 )- not, "He died my death"- and that through identification with His death I can be freed from sin, and have His very righteousness imparted as a gift to me. The substitution which is taught in the New Testament is twofold- "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." The teaching is not Christ for me unless I am determined to have Christ formed in me (seeGalatians 4:19 ).

This quote reminded me of this song….

more about "The Old Rugged Cross – posted by Elem…", posted with vodpod

In the end we have to remember that it is about this….

Oswald Chambers writes:

I am not saved by believing- I simply realize I am saved by believing.
And it is not repentance that saves me- repentance is only the sign
that I realize what God has done through Christ Jesus. The danger here
is putting the emphasis on the effect, instead of on the cause. Is it
my obedience, consecration, and dedication that make me right with God?
It is never that! I am made right with God because, prior to all of
that, Christ died. When I turn to God and by belief accept what God
reveals, the miraculous atonement by the Cross of Christ instantly
places me into a right relationship with God. And as a result of the
supernatural miracle of God’s grace I stand justified, not because I am
sorry for my sin, or because I have repented, but because of what Jesus
has done. The Spirit of God brings justification with a shattering,
radiant light, and I know that I am saved, even though I don’t know how
it was accomplished. (Oswald Chambers)

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you." Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him. The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see." "Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

(Mark 10:45-52 NIV)

So that is it? It is not about proving myself or living a certain way? It’s all about Jesus?

THE SECRET WILL OF GOD

…. that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Rom. 12:2

You may be in a quiet place

Where no one really knows you,

Humbly seeking the Master’s face,

Doing from the heart what pleases Him.

No one may really see what you do,

But the Lord sees your heart’s intent;

Knows what is seen by a few,

The secret will of God in the secret place.

It may be a ministry of intercessory prayer;

It may be a nameless gift to one in need;

It may be one of many ways to care.

It is done secretly for Him.

You may never be known

Here in this life below.

But Heaven’s love is shown

By the secret will of God in that quiet place.