What Is Your Will In Christ?

  There are keys to walking in the blessings of our God - keys to allowing Him to bless us and allowing Him to fulfill the awesome promises He's made to us... Our Lord honors His word every time and His word is powerful and full of life. It's full of opportunities to observe the mind, personality and wisdom of our God in a variety of situations. It gives us an opportunity to begin to learn about Him and His ways. It affords us an awesome chance to begin to know Him more intimately and to engage in a relationship with him. It gives us direction and wisdom in our daily lives and His guidance in moments of decision. But if we take anything out of the context in which it was given or short cut any of His direction or promises - we may find ourselves disappointed. If our efforts in relationship with Him and study of His word are hit and miss, we may become disillusioned ... because of our own failures. If we suffer a lack in our lives ... it might be because we've earned it. No ...

 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in."    Matthew 23:13 (NKJV) What could be the most regrettable and fearful legacy for a person to have follow them into God's presence on the day of judgment - aside from any question of their own salvation? Could it be a legacy that recorded that someone fell or was misled along the way and was lost to The Father because of my conduct and life, or my poor representation of Christ? I've actually stopped to think about this before and it's given me the cold opportunity for some serious reflection - not because I've attempted to intentionally mislead anyone in regard to things relating to our God, but because I've had concern about the record that I'm creating under the watchful and omniscient eye of Almighty God that I love who judges these things and what effect I may have ha...

"And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”   Joshua 24:15 (NKJV) I feel impressed to nudge a point into view. It's something from my own personal experience and why it should happen to return to my own mind, at the moment, I can't say for sure. Perhaps it's in the interest of ministering a warning to someone else as a kindness, or to challenge a common misconception that many seem to hold in order to share a freeing truth. I suspect that it comes from a more divine urging to give away something I have personally been blessed with. But whatever the source of motivation, it's true importance is something painfully learned by me and never to be truly forgotten while I rest in the contentedness that it spawned after. Every h...

" Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid . "  John 14:27 (NKJV) Peace in this world with all of it's unrest, moral decay, and chaos may seem like a distant dream or something too far to reach for some people. But for the studied disciple of Christ, earnest, honest, and truly submitting to God in their relationship with Him, it's a reality well within his or her grasp. It's in part a matter of gaining our God's perspective through our study of scripture - seeking out the truth, and keeping it before us - no matter what circumstances may present in front of us. As much as it might sound like an oft repeated religious cliché, our God IS absolutely bigger than our circumstances. An engaged follower of Christ comes to recognize that life in this world is not what God created the spirits of mankind for. This world is a temporary, passing-through place where ...

Note: This appeared on a list of posts that were recently read on this blog. It's a chapter from a writing that I posted several years ago. When I saw it, I reread it myself and recognized that it speaks well the testimony of my heart before the Lord and that it might resonate with some and encourage others toward that wellspring of passion for our God. So I'm reposting it here. I pray that it speaks well of our God to your own heart. Jeff The Passion Well, Chapter 12 Peering Into The Well... Proverbs 30:4-5 (NLT)  "Who but God goes up to heaven and comes back down? Who holds the wind in his fists? Who wraps up the oceans in his cloak? Who has created the whole wide world? What is his name—and his son’s name? Tell me if you know!  Every word of God proves true. He is a shield to all who come to him for protection." What could transform a guy once hardened by life's seeming hardships, inequities and endless struggles to become so passionately grateful, devoted and...

"The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward. Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:7-14 (NKJV)  I apologize for the length of this, but this was very much on my heart and I really ne...

There are moments my Lord, when I am alone with you that my passion runs high for the God of my creation and my mind struggles to imagine what my eyes cannot see. Moments when my heart races at the thought of what it will be like to be in the house of my Father - The place where your heart rules over hearts seeking your own and the enemy is no more. That place where all that exists is holy and pure and fashioned from the beauty of your heart - a place that evil never touched. These are moments when my mind wonders and I consider your everlasting greatness and immeasurable power. Moments when my mind can't resist the desire to see the God of all the universe whose throne sits high beyond the stars. Moments of longing when it struggles to imagine what no man could conceive. But in those moments when my imagination strains to create the image that no man knows, my heart speaks fondly of the God it would recognize in an instant. The face is gentle, it is that of a loving and all knowin...

  Lord, In your great presence I am far too small to be counted. I’m a mere speck under the foot of a towering giant. I’m an ordinary grain among the sands of the oceans. And you Lord, are the waters of the seas that move me at will. I’m helpless against you and wholly dependent on your mercy. I’m common and short of greatness, destined for obscurity. But by loving grace alone I’m now chosen to become more. Through the fire of your spirit I’m refined and made molten. Shaped by your own Holy breath, you call me now special. With praise and thankfulness I am transformed to have worth And with others I’m now cast as a part of the Kings cup. Now, so honored to bring sweet wine of loving gratitude to your lips Let my praises forever exalt your glorious wonders, For against you there are none worthy to compare. You’re the source of all that is good, righteous and holy. Your vast compassion, beyond the explanation of men. You lift up the humble and soon humiliate the proud. You alone stan...

"Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For though I spoke against him, I earnestly remember him still; Therefore My heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says the LORD."    Jeremiah 31:20 (NKJV) An easier translation of the same verse: “Is not Israel still my son, my darling child?” says the LORD. “I often have to punish him, but I still love him. That’s why I long for him and surely will have mercy on him." Jeremiah 31:20 (NLTV) Contrary to what many may seemingly take for granted, true love isn't always only pleasant to us in our current state. Sometimes it can be a little rough to bear. This may sound somewhat disturbing to some, but it's a fact and something that we really need to get a good hold on in our understanding. At times, true love is required to correct - to discipline, to move, for the good of the target of its affection. I make no mistake in my understanding that God is perfect love, but I well understand from scripture...