What Is Your Will In Christ?

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...

Lord, the count of your blessings far exceeds the measure of our gratitude daily. Their number escapes our conscious comprehension from moment to moment. From the daily provision for our human weaknesses in your creation to the faithfulness of our hearts of flesh to beat each second you are conscious of our need. Lord, if we were truly aware of the expanse of your provision and planning for our growth and existence, we would be on our knees before you with thankful hearts both night and day. Our will would be surrendered without event or consideration to your own because you are the unequalled source of our blessing. Lord, there can be no repayment equal to your consideration of us. Your thoughtfulness as God on our behalf could never be matched by human effort on any level. You alone are God and we, your own possession are merely the very creation of your great hand and there is no creation greater than the Master who crafts it. Lord, my only comfort are the tears of g...

Though the title might sound like an essay assignment from school days long ago, I hope that as you read it inspires something much more productive in your own heart ...   As a young man growing up I had many opportunities to experience both physical and emotional pain. And as a father of seven, I've had opportunities to make sacrifices that cost me dearly for those that I love that they have no real concept of... and I thank God for them all. You see, I realize that I have emotions because I am made in His image ... and that fact along with the examples of His own emotion displayed in His word tell me that He has them. Being very familiar with the pain of my past has given me the ability to be sensitive to the pain of others. So I can identify with much of the pain that others feel. But so much more importantly, it gives me the ability to empathize to a small degree with the pain of my God. So every year, my heart made tender by the cost of my own experiences provides ...

The Institution In The Mirror (Before we get into this chapter I need to say this very clearly and very plainly: There are none of us without spot. We are all saved only by Christ's astounding and merciful sacrifice. By His sacrifice He made it possible for us to have recourse in dealing with sin and if we've asked for God's forgiveness - then we have received it. Having been forgiven, our God does not see us as former sinners - He doesn't even remember our sins - He sees us now as the righteousness of Christ - His holy Saints. My intention is to clarify and reiterate the truth - not to bring conviction against things that no longer exist. Those who need to will understand why I've placed this here as they read... Now, on with the institution!) Remember the definition of marriage that I gave at the beginning of this writing? Marriage: The joining of two hearts, spirits and bodies in a conjoined effort as one to replicate the perfect relationship of C...