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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There is so much that I want to write about and share with all of you. I have tried all evening to get something together in one article and cannot seem to do it. My brain is all a muddle…then I realized that I am trying to do it on my own without asking God/praying about what the Lord wants me to write…now I am exhausted.

I have learned a lot from this experience though…with God I am nothing is so very true in writing too….

I will work on this again tomorrow…and I will do it the right way! I will go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to guide me instead of me trying to guide me…LOL Pretty funny when you think about it…he knows the route and I don’t! What was I thinking….You’d think I have a hard time asking for directions…

Thanks to this experience I have asked forgiveness for my struggle with pride again and am giving my article back to Him…not something that is easy to admit to all of you. But when He leads me to admit something…I sure hope it helps someone else out there…cause it sure stinks to struggle with this. I thought I had overcome it…that is the problem..the I got in the way again…thanks for your patience. I love you all and can’t wait to find out what God has in mind for tomorrow’s article! See you tomorrow!

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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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(this picture has been cropped for J.’s security and protection)

Yes it has been an exciting day at our house! My six year old lost his first tooth!!! Now it didn’t happen all on its own, mind you… He has been wiggling it and wiggling it for more than a week now. Most of his friends have all lost at least one tooth. He so wanted to get a visit from the tooth fairy too! He longed for that experience. In his mind, losing a tooth meant that he was growing up. And it is… He was sooo excited! He ran into the kitchen this morning before church…”Mom, mom!”, he said out of breath…”Look, look! My tooth came out!” “I was just giving it a final little wiggle and it came out in my hand. See?” He proudly displayed the bloody tooth and the bloody hole in his mouth.

My heart went into my throat, because for me it also means he is growing up. My baby is growing up! I remember when he was up all night because of the pain of teething and now he is trying to lose them! Not only is he trying…HE LOST HIS FIRST ONE!!! (tears) I held him in my arms and started to cry tears of joy. Then he pulled out of my arms and said….”Mom, we have to call Will.” “Come on mom…call him!” We had to share his special news! It was a very special new family moment for all of us.

So I guess today I was the one feeling the mother growing pains….I was happy for him but in a bittersweet way. I will miss these years…the baby, toddler, just starting school…I need my mommy years. I was in awe really. He has grown and changed so much over the years. But I realize that today we started a new stage of his life. I know that as he is beginning this new phase of his childhood I am beginning a new phase of my life as well…instead of being the holder of him I am being held by the loving, strong arms of William when I need him. I am creating new memories in my life too.

So we put his tooth in an envelope so he wouldn’t lose it. (He dropped it and lost it once when he first showed it to me). Tonight before bed…we wrote on the envelope…. J.’s first tooth…11/8/09. Thank you tooth fairy! I will keep you posted on what the tooth fairy leaves him.

Today at church I celebrated and thanked God for giving me the blessing of being J.’s mom. There are many days when that role is very difficult. But today I realized how much I still love being mom and am looking forward to whatever comes next in his journey….I asked God to help me to treasure even the difficult days. And God reminded me that I am no longer alone in all of this…and that is SO true. You have no idea how wonderful it is to have Will just a phone call away.

It really made me think about my time with M. He is almost nineteen months old now and thinks he is at least two…and lets you know it everyday! It reminded me to treasure everyday even the difficult days. And so no matter what our moods or how trying the times are…I am continuing to work hard to create beautiful memories…but I realize that some of the best memories are the unexpected interruptions of life that just happen ….like J. bringing me his tooth in his hand while I am finishing getting ready for church.

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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.

Hi everyone! As you heard from Will we are making some more exciting changes…and life is very, very busy right now…as I am sure it is for so many. I am very grateful that my household is not ill. Wow! We are all well. But M. my youngest is teething a bunch and in lots of pain needing mommy a lot. We are getting ready to travel for the holidays to Will’s family’s house for Thanksgiving….

I have started my Christmas shopping and so my other son, J. has decided he needs to start too…LOL. Trying to keep up with spelling words, math homework, IEP meetings, parent teacher conferences, parents as teachers meetings, oh yea I was supposed to clean the house too wasn’t I?….and M. is having to be taught that he is NOT the king of the universe…so sadly I don’t have a lot of time in front of the computer…however life is very active and we are all happy and healthy and that is what is important (oh M may not be so happy while in trouble but he will survive, LOL)

Since I don’t have a lot of time to write these days I am trying my best to keep up with this new thing in my life called TWITTER. LOL If you are interested in hearing the bits and pieces of what is going on with us…I invite you to follow me on twitter. And I would love to see what you are up to as well if you are on twitter so let me know how to follow you and we can become twitter friends! Have a great weekend, everyone! You are in my thoughts and prayers…

Here is my twitter address…hope to see you there! http://twitter.com/MaryJoywriter

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So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:20-24 NIV)

This is part of the passage that our pastor preached about this past Sunday during our Sunday morning Worship Service. I have been drawn back to it so many times each day ever sense. Especially the father’s response to the father’s initial request of Jesus…

“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”

Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” vs. 23-24

How many times I have caught myself praying and asking God to help me to overcome something and in the back of my mind I am forming a backup plan in case it doesn’t happen?

I am as guilty as the father in this story and my requests seem so small compared to the need that this father brought before Jesus. I have prayed this scripture over and over and over again this week. The father is so right on…and so humble to tell Jesus…”I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” I have started praying that this week. God please help me…I do believe but please help me in any areas of my life that I need to overcome my unbelief.

I won’t keep you in suspense..this is what happened next in this amazing story…

When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. vs 25-26

Isn’t that incredible? Isn’t it awesome? And the father in this story had a weak faith! Wow! But he acknowledged his weak faith and went God for help with that too!I am in awe!!! How much more can God do when we have the faith to move mountains? LOL

Jesus told His disciples later that this kind of spirit requires much faith-filled prayer to rebuke. The disciples weren’t relying on God and believing with all they were. It really makes me think about the amount of time I have been spending in heart felt prayer lately. Studying this passage on Sunday with our pastor helped me to really recommit my prayer life to Him. So now every morning this week I have been starting my day in my quiet time…and ending it with this prayer from my heart…

God I do believe!!! Help me, Mary Joy, overcome my unbelief!!!

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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?

The next time you think you have an excuse why God can’t use you, consider the following:

Abraham was too old,

Isaac was a daydreamer,

Jacob was a liar,

Leah was ugly,

Joseph was abused,

Moses was a murderer,

Gideon was afraid,

Samson had long hair,

Rahab was a prostitute,

Timothy was too young,

David had an illicit affair,

Elijah was suicidal,

Job was bankrupt,

John the Baptist ran around in a loin cloth,

Peter was hot-tempered, John was self-righteous,

The disciples fell asleep while praying,

Martha fretted about everything,

Mary Magdalene was demon-possessed,

The boy with the fish and five loaves and too obscure,

The Samaritan woman was divorced more than once,

Zacchaeus was too small,

Paul was too religious,

Lazarus was dead.

No more excuses!

Makes you think doesn’t it?

Added by Mary Joy

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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?