What Is Your Will In Christ?

I've posted messages to my blog before that I knew might be a little uncomfortable for some, but not with self intention other than to be obedient to whatever issues the Lord impressed on my heart to relate. But for over a week now, I've been uncomfortable with the message that I posted last. I don't have any concern with the truthfulness in the content of the post, but there was more that I should have said. My heart was burdened beyond what I wrote, but my body and mind were weary and I failed to be still long enough to write it out completely and I cut it short. Consequently it was blunt and lacking much. I apologize for this and ask your forgiveness. If you will, please allow me an opportunity now to add what needs to be added... The underlying disturbance in my heart that led me to the posting of the previous writing is an urgency to to separate myself from the spirit, the thinking and habits of this world that I inhabit for now and a call to my fam...

Chances are that if I were to tell you that we live in a materialistic world, as a true Christian, you would know what I'm talking about. Further, chances are that because you love Christ also, you're just as alarmed by it as I am. So the question becomes: what do we do about it? In just one example of the spirit of the world that we live in, we note that as we come upon the season that we celebrate as Christmas, we find that from year to year it's driven with increasing intensity by commercial enterprise. In other words: m-o-n-e-y. The "trappings" of Christmas appear earlier and earlier every year on store shelves and in media presentations designed to get us thinking about separating ourselves from the money they desire. The motivations for the parting that are given are both what we should buy and what we should expect to get. The commercial invitations to spend appear a little earlier and in greater urgency every year. They urge us to save money b...

Over the past months in growing earnest, but over many years in fact, I've watched with rising internal anguish as a darkness has crept over the country in which I live. Some may deny it, but I would challenge them to open their eyes. Though there is still life occurring in Christs Church (I don't dispute this), in one of the places in the world in which one could be most free to enjoy the privilege of worshiping our God, a spiritual disease has taken root. Though I despise it, it was in essence foretold and must take place in order for Christ's own words to be made unerringly true. Because of what must come, our faith will begin to become of much greater consequence than before. This is why I am writing now. Each of us has been given a measure of faith. The power of that faith is dictated by what we've chosen to invest it in. Many without any recognition invest it in the predictable things in this world and in the nature of things around us. There are recurrent...

My heart is heavy for those who live in fear of unseen evil and for those who scoff at the mention of the existence of our God. Though they may believe in the power of evils dominance or be fooled by the logic of human intellect, they live in the shadow of deception's veil and will suffer a fate more terrible than human minds can imagine. Though He may seem distant from them now, ELOHIM will call them to an accounting in the terror of His omnipotent presence. I pity their unbelief in the truth. What EL ELYON has declared is not diminished by their insolent declarations delivered in arrogance. The greatest reasoning of their words has no power to change the truth that exists as it has been declared by our God. The price of their foolish wisdom will be paid eternally in unbearable agony and their suffering will be without consolation. So my heart breaks for them and for my Lord. The cost is not to them alone, but also to our King in the loss of their love and praise that is...

Lord, you’re moving all around us, yet with eyes open no one sees If we could only see you present, it would bring us to our knees   Would we act and speak much different if we saw you by our side? If we saw that you were watching and there's nothing we could hide?   Where is holy justice to you our sovereign Lord? That because we just can’t see you, that you should be ignored?   We need your true perspective to guide us through this place to know our true dependence rests on your pure and faithful grace   The world teaches a reality that leaves our hearts divided So we work and struggle to gain the things you alone provided   Because we forget and we move on while hearts are beating still Remind us that we only live and breathe because of your good will   Despite your holy promise we find such cause for fear because we see with human eyes that fail to see ...

Revelation 10:8-10 8 Then the voice from heaven called to me again: "Go and take the unrolled scroll from the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land." 9 So I approached him and asked him to give me the little scroll. "Yes, take it and eat it," he said. "At first it will taste like honey, but when you swallow it, it will make your stomach sour!" 10 So I took the little scroll from the hands of the angel, and I ate it! It was sweet in my mouth, but it made my stomach sour. *** Sometimes the Lord may plant a seed in our spirit the likeness of which we're not able to describe. It can grow if we're submissive to wait on Him and it only begins to take form as we're patient and faithful to allow it. If we're truly faithful and submissive to what the Lord is doing, we don't attempt to give it form. We merely suffer in patience to allow it to be revealed in His time and take shape by His revelation. Our labor comes in ...

As I waited on the Spirit of the Lord this morning preparing my heart for fellowship, there came a word to my heart and mind and it was this: "Celebrate as the children of unparalleled promise the One whose gifts cannot be equalled in spirit and in truth. By this will I know the ones who belong to Me!" My spirit bore witness to its author - it was my master. His words spoke to me of the Lord's desire for His children to identify themselves with Him in sincerity by recognizing the power and value of their identity because of His grace and then worshipping Him from the depth of that true gratitude and awe that comes from the full realization of the truth.   It's a long held personal conviction of mine that unless I can prostrate myself in spirit, crucifying the fears of my flesh, without fear of, or regard for the opinion of others before the Lord, that my worship lacks the pure humility before Him to submit myself to Him without condition and to recogni...

What if you were able to make one personal request of the Lord with His guarantee that He would grant it? If this request was only allowed to apply to you personally, what would it be? For me, there are times in a moment of personal reflection when I might wish that I were a robot - a spirit so perfectly tuned to God’s will, heart and commandments that I never made mistakes. There have been many times in life when I’ve had the disappointing opportunity to stop and think to myself “I wish I hadn’t said that (done that, thought that)” knowing full well that nothing escapes my Father’s notice. We’re all exposed to emotional and physical situations and motivations that in our unfinished refinement might move us to do, think or say things that we find ourselves regretting when we stop to think about them later. But it’s not robots that He wants. If He did, He would have created us that way from the beginning. I have no doubt that any desire by me to be a perfectly performing robot...

In the darkness, I’m comfortably warm in my bed. The day’s issues have been addressed and the day’s conversations have come to a close. They’re not even in my mind right now and it’s time to rest. But as I lay quietly, I can’t let it go. I can’t quiet my heart and let it be over. My joy and the intimacy are too compelling and inviting to let it end now. So I press on quietly. Not wanting wake my precious wife, I whisper quietly mouthing the words that spring from my heart under my breath - wanting, needing the conversation to continue. “Lord, you are indeed the God of all that is good and truly holy. There is no one Lord who is worthy to stand to compare with the greatness of even your mere shadow. Your breath gives us life! You are the source of all that we need and our heart’s true desire. You are our sole provider, our defender and our security. You are my great and wise counselor and most intimate confidant. Lord, I can trust you for anything. You are awesome and m...

In my last post, I indicated an unwillingness to define examples of what true grace is out of fear of my own weakness to do so adequately. However, I was motivated in my heart to do it and since I’ve not been able to escape the continuing urge, I can only assume that the urge remains for a reason and that the source has a purpose to be fulfilled. My continued reluctance might be nothing less than disobedience to the Holy Spirit which is not something I’m willing to risk. I don’t have to know and I certainly don’t pretend to know what His purpose is. My responsibility is simply to respond obediently and trust that He knows what He’s doing. I know that I can be long winded, but I can’t resist taking the opportunity to point out that trusting Him has become an easy thing to do – when you get to know someone in a close personal relationship, it becomes easier and easier to trust a trust worthy person because they prove their faithfulness and competence over time. But you can’t lea...

I've been away from my blog for awhile for which I hope that you'll forgive me. Having been presented with, and directed to, new challenges and pathways, I desperately needed some time to adjust and to begin to manage some new opportunities that our Lord had planned as part of my journey even before He created me. I cannot promise that I'll begin posting again with any real regularity, but that I will be obedient to do so as the Lord prompts - moments like now. These changes in my life of late, I can see are part of a much larger plan for my growth that has actually been in place for a very long time. They're just another step, another lesson and opportunity to learn and to demonstrate my willingness to seek and to follow what He's ordained to be the pathway of my life from the beginning. This being very much the same as the individual course that He's willed and carefully planned for every human being that He's ever given the gift of life to. As wit...