What Is Your Will In Christ?

In this busy life we're bombarded with a multitude of possible escapes from reality and worthless diversions that can cost us immeasurable precious time and it's not by coincidence. Nor are the number of possible substitutions for Godly ways, values and His truth that abound in the world we live in ... it's all by design.  It's all part of a very real plan to render us ineffective, immobilize us and keep us from recognizing our true identity and purpose.  The attack is primarily aimed at our flesh because our flesh is the weakest part of our being. It's an increasingly cunning plan put in place and maintained by an enemy of our God whose jealousy leads him to want nothing less than to kill us - eternally. Sounds extreme right? Well it is extreme and it's also very real. So with all of the chaos, sin and intentional confusion employed against our successful walk as Christians, it's critical that we maintain our focus and continually work to sift our though...

Dear Stubborn Child, When your self reliance and independent spirit fails you... When achieving your other passions leaves you wanting more... When hunger haunts you even when you're full... When your greatest wisdom lets you down... When despite your strongest efforts, you fail... When your perfect plans come crashing down and you sit among the ashes... When the fondest other loves of your life leave you broken and alone... Maybe then you'll listen to what I've said - I created you to be my companion.  So: I created you to need only me - because I already have all you could ever want I created you with a hunger for me, because I'm the One who satisfies I created you lacking in wisdom, because I already know the way to go I created you weak because I'm strong enough for both of us. I created you imperfect because my perfection will complete you. My unfailing love will make you whole and I will never leave you With tears of te...

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....

Are we awake? Do we see the hour? Ours is a nation once founded on Godly principles, ... a country who's currency even went as far as to state "In God We Trust" ... and now? Today the persecution of the truth is alive and well ... and it's quietly growing steadily stronger ... For example: a group of people in our country driven by their own unnatural and disgusting lusts has determined in their own intellect to change the definition of marriage and it's efforts are gaining momentum in the society of our nation. Sympathy is growing in American society for these people to end the "discrimination" against them. But even if in fact the definition of right and wrong and the definition of marriage are changed by men, are they truly changed before God? Do the declarations of reprobate minds have the power to change what God has already declared? Who is the judge that holds the power over life and death - man or God? Has there ever really been any questio...

 This is about my love for my God and the people of His heart's desire (whom I love also in Christ's heart) and my brokeness over the love relationship that I know could be theirs if only their perspective were the same as His... Love is a word that's used carelessly by some at times in our day. It's meaning on occasion even being perverted to be used as a substitution for the word lust. But love in it's true meaning is a very powerful thing when shared between two people. Real love between a man and a woman can become a sacred thing as each honors their commitment to the other not only in deed, but in spirit also in a marriage relationship. It becomes the binding tie that leads each to seek the affections of the other and also to seek to meet the needs of the other selflessly. As each moves to fulfill the needs and desires of the other, it becomes a rewarding cycle of offering and receiving between them that perpetuates itself to grow constant...

Lord, the eyes of my heart are consumed by the beauty of your character. Your matchless grace, your kindness Lord and your unfathomable love are the among the many life giving treasures I seek in your presence. Your peace, your purity and honesty renew me. Your goodness, your wise and just ways are the life path I seek to follow with passion. Lord, your love alone sustains me for you stand alone as the source of my provision. In truth, I am wholly dependent on you for all things as an infant is dependent on its mother. Your compassion to the weak, the lonely, the forsaken and unworthy is the example of loving tenderness my heart craves to follow. For the indescribable glory and beauty of your heart is resoundingly proclaimed in the humility of your great and immeasurable majesty and power as the God to reach out to love the unlovable. Oh Lord God, there is no justice in the words of men to describe you! You are indeed the beginning and the end of all things holy and good. You...

Being made eternal ... we know that we struggle together for but one day in all time to bear the molding of His hand ... only to wake on the dawn of the next realizing the fruit of His promise ... being joyfully reunited and resting forever in the loving perfection of His grace and mercy ... It's only for a moment ... the closest thing I can relate it to is a fleeting second or maybe the flicker of a flame on a burning candle - these years we live here on this earth compared to the eternal life we were created for. Death has no place in our lives as children of the living God. We were created as eternal beings to forever live out the reward of our free choice. At the moment we call death in this life, we merely come to slumber for a moment in His grace while we wait for the rest of our brothers and sisters to assemble before His throne - resting peacefully with the secured promise of awakening at the moment He chose in advance, and known only to Him, to begin the real life that ...

Lord, You are the hand that carved out the oceans and canyons and piled high the pinnacles of the mountains. You are the creator and the life force of everything that lives. From the simple complexity of the uncountable leaves of everything that rises from the earth to the incredible marvel of all living flesh, you are the artist and creator who imagined it all. Your genius is indescribable and good beyond measure. You are the majestic, awesome and mysterious wonder of the night sky. The marvels of your character are as without limit as the canvas of the heavens you created. Your will alone is the power that holds the heavenly bodies in place and gives permission for stars to fall my omnipotent Father. They dance at your whim and twinkle with delight in your presence. Your spirit is the cool rushing mountain stream that gives life and refreshment to the face of the earth cascading over the high places and thundering as it falls. It washes away the debris of this life and...

Lord, no one can tell another of the individual path in this life that you will choose for them unless you give divine knowledge - the one by which you will lead them to truly know you better and to refine the character of their spirit. Your plans are your own and your wisdom beyond our capacity to predict. You alone are the omniscient God who crafts the pathways of men who follow you in order to respond to the deepest needs that we have not the wisdom to even be aware of. The trials and triumphs you make available to each life are as unique as those you have chosen to create because you alone know the full measure and ways of refinement necessary to mold each of us futher into your image. But all of the paths you chart for our lives lead us in the same direction. If we choose to follow them in sincerity and faith, the path you choose for every life leads us to the feet of your throne. The hills we are made to climb and obstacles that you set before us in this life are never to c...

I can only assume that it was my overwhelming confidence in my son-in-law's outdoor prowess that led me to forgo the usually instinctual mental landmark mapping on a recent camping trip. But whatever it was, in a moment around the campfire later, it left me with an opportunity to feel somewhat vulnerable and open to a spiritual acknowledgment ... I had the awesome pleasure to accompany the family of one of my daughters along with one of my younger sons on a short camping trip deep into the woods where there were no trails and not another human being for miles (the nearest form of civilization being many miles further beyond that). The deep woods around the area where I live in the great northwestern part of the United States is rugged, brushy and unforgiving. It's a place where the simplest of mistakes can produce tragic results and it's vastness alone can leave one with little hope in the event of an emergency. But my son-in-law is without a doubt one of the most...

The Lord spoke something recently to refresh my own heart that I would like to share with you in the hopes that if you have struggled in similar ways that I have, you might find the courage that belongs to you in Christ ... I'll start by asking you this: what inspires overwhelming passion in you? What is it that moves you more than anything else? Please take a moment to consider ... Usually these are the things that we value most highly. They're things that we're connected to in deep ways that inspire powerful conviction and emotion in us. They're things close enough to our own hearts that they can move us in ways that nothing else can. They're things that we hold personally sacred. In my own little world, my family, my eternal family in Christ, and on a higher level, my God top the list. But there used to be other things mixed in as well. They were aspirations and goals that I set for myself, material things, and things that I felt I needed to prove to th...

Jeremiah 17:19-27 19 Then the LORD said to me, "Go and stand in the gates of Jerusalem, first at the gate where the king goes out, and then at each of the other gates. 20 Say to all the people, 'Listen to this message from the LORD, you kings of Judah and all you people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem. 21 This is what the LORD says: Listen to my warning and live! Stop carrying on your trade at Jerusalem's gates on the Sabbath day. 22 Do not do your work on the Sabbath, but make it a holy day. I gave this command to your ancestors, 23 but they did not listen or obey. They stubbornly refused to pay attention and would not respond to discipline. 24 "'But if you obey me, says the LORD, and do not carry on your trade or work on the Sabbath day, and if you keep it holy, 25 then this nation will continue forever. There will always be a descendant of David sitting on the throne here in Jerusalem. Kings and their officials will always ride among the people ...