Needs: I need a new car, some new clothes, a new apartment, maybe. I need some friends. I need a handout. I need a doctor to heal my ailment. I need to see my children or I need to not see my children as much! We could go on and on couldn't we? Whatever our predicament is there we are in the midst of our own turmoil.
Seeds: If I work hard enough I will get my needs. If I know the right people they will supply me with my needs. If I search hard enough I will find the right doctor and he will cure me. If I give my children lots of things and/or money they will want to be with me and will love me. If it is to be, it is up to me. WRONG.
Those needs and seeds are too much work if you ask me. I am not saying that a person should not work nor do research to arrive at solutions to some of their needs. However, if we search out the Word and listen to the Holy Spirit's guidance won't we have all our needs met?
1 Corinthians 1:18-21
Know very well how foolish the message of the cross sounds to those who are on the road to destruction. But we who are being saved recognize this message as the very power of God. As the Scriptures say, "I will destroy human wisdom and discard their most brilliant ideas." So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world's brilliant debaters? God has made them all look foolish and has shown their wisdom to be useless nonsense. Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never find him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save all who believe. (NIV)
Back to seeds. I planted some string bean seeds back in May. Now the harvest is overflowing with RED string beans. I had thought I was planting GREEN string beans. Well there you have it. Red string beans. Being skeptical I searched the Internet to find out what they were all about and how to cook them. They originate in China and are high in fiber and some much needed protein. However, no matter what I do with them I cannot get past the color. I planted other things I knew about--tomatoes, bell peppers, strawberries, and eggplant. I knew what to expect and I am grateful for that harvest.
When the Gospel message comes our way, it is a tremendous seed. It is not just about salvation however. In and of itself, salvation leads us to our ultimate destination to live forever with our Lord, our God in heaven. The purpose of the cross and the shed blood of Jesus are to instill in us the power of God so that we may live according to His standards and produce vegetation from His seed. Now it would be great if we knew what that seed would produce. However, sometimes our lives are so filled with linear thinking and worldly standards we are mislead to look for the wrong harvest.
Psalm 121
A song for the ascent to Jerusalem. I look up to the mountains -- does my help come from there? My help comes from the LORD, who made the heavens and the earth! He will not let you stumble and fall; the one who watches over you will not sleep. Indeed, he who watches over Israel never tires and never sleeps. The LORD himself watches over you! The LORD stands beside you as your protective shade. The sun will not hurt you by day, nor the moon at night. The LORD keeps you from all evil and preserves your life. The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever. (NIV)
The seed I am speaking of is JESUS. No other seed will do. And the harvest will come from that seed which the Father planted within our hearts.
"Oh how I love Jesus because He first loved me! Breathe Holy Spirit. Breathe upon me! Jesus is the seed and the harvest will be His love through me, the Hope of Glory!"
When you are confused about your needs and your seed, take a break and breathe. Allow the Holy One to bring you back to the cross and the love blood that was shed for you. Come back and begin to worship, and praise Him for whom He is. Thank Him for your eternal life and the rest of life will unfold unto you!
Blessings, dianne.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Longing for Friendship
As I look over my life I realize I was always looking for people to surround myself with. People who would love me, and encourage me. People whom I could trust and care for just as they would trust and care for me. Is that true for you? I truly believe that life is not worth living without someone to share it with. And we do not need just one person, but a village of people whom we can live with. Now I am not speaking of a communal living. I am speaking about trusted God given men and women to share life with. These are people you may confide in and those you may help.
Now this has gotten me to thinking that the soul reason we have been created is to worship the one true God. To walk with Him in the dew of the morning, in the heat of the day, and in he cool of the night. We are to give Him praise and thanks as we rise in the morning. As we walk and talk we praise Him even in the midst of trouble and give Him the Glory when we rise victoriously through our troubles. So I believe that the Lord has placed inside each of us a yearning to belong to someone, a people and most of all to Him.
Is your relationship with God a once a week practice? Is your relationship with your spouse only good while things are going good? Is your faith in the one true God only displayed on Sundays? Do your church friendships only occur on Sundays and Church functions? If you answered yes, or sometimes to those questions consider your salvation and your call by God our Father. Consider the price Jesus paid for our relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for eternity!
Our first purpose to fulfill according to the Word is to Love God with our whole minds, hearts and soul. The second is to Love our neighbor as ourselves. To me that has relationship written all over it.
Today we pray: "Lord I surrender to your everlasting Love and I give you my entire being to mold into Your image and likeness. I give you permission to touch in those places within me I hold private. Lord, embrace me so that I may embrace others. Help me Lord to see others the way you do and to be able to Love them as you love me--ever loving, ever encouraging, without judgment, and without criticizing. Keep my emotions in check and in balance so I may remain firm in you and resilient to offence. In Jesus name I pray, Amen."
Now this has gotten me to thinking that the soul reason we have been created is to worship the one true God. To walk with Him in the dew of the morning, in the heat of the day, and in he cool of the night. We are to give Him praise and thanks as we rise in the morning. As we walk and talk we praise Him even in the midst of trouble and give Him the Glory when we rise victoriously through our troubles. So I believe that the Lord has placed inside each of us a yearning to belong to someone, a people and most of all to Him.
Is your relationship with God a once a week practice? Is your relationship with your spouse only good while things are going good? Is your faith in the one true God only displayed on Sundays? Do your church friendships only occur on Sundays and Church functions? If you answered yes, or sometimes to those questions consider your salvation and your call by God our Father. Consider the price Jesus paid for our relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for eternity!
Our first purpose to fulfill according to the Word is to Love God with our whole minds, hearts and soul. The second is to Love our neighbor as ourselves. To me that has relationship written all over it.
Today we pray: "Lord I surrender to your everlasting Love and I give you my entire being to mold into Your image and likeness. I give you permission to touch in those places within me I hold private. Lord, embrace me so that I may embrace others. Help me Lord to see others the way you do and to be able to Love them as you love me--ever loving, ever encouraging, without judgment, and without criticizing. Keep my emotions in check and in balance so I may remain firm in you and resilient to offence. In Jesus name I pray, Amen."
Monday, July 11, 2011
Love Changes Us
I am always taken back and astounded by the Love of Christ Jesus, His life sacrificed for us, and the Love of the Father who sent His son to us. Today I think upon the everlasting and prevailing Love of the Holy Spirit, the one who indwells us forever prodding, teaching, encouraging, and correcting. His tutelage never ends, never fails, never gives up, and is never angered by our ignorance or our rebellion! When I just think about myself, it is hard to understand that level of love-His not losing patience with me while continuing to provide opportunities for me to grow and change through His guiding power of LOVE.
There is no good in me except for Christ Jesus who perfects me. So I no longer focus on my sin but on Christ crucified for my freedom. No longer do I put myself or my fellow man down with malice in my heart. Once there resided an anger within me that lashed out in rage, now there is a sensitivity that overcomes me; a sensitivity that causes me to retreat to that perfect Love. Do not get me wrong. I do make mistakes and say or do the wrong thing on occasion. However, today it is done without thinking about judging or anger. It just comes out of the old man impulses. One day I look forward for that to diminish as well; for the perfect Christ to be revealed from me.
So today we pray that we all are perfectly rooted and grounded; established in that perfect agape Love from above. Together we may come to an understanding of how wide, how deep, and how long the Love of Christ truly is. It is a love that goes beyond all our natural understanding and will fill us one day to the fullness of God!
Consider the Love of the Holy Spirit and ponder on the Love of the Father and Son. Bask in their unlimited love supply and allow the transformation to continue. With Love all is possible. Without it we will be doomed into eternity. This is the only way we can regard our former way of life:
"... put off your old self, which is corrupted by its deceitful desires, to be made new in the attitude of your minds; put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." Ephesians 4: 22-23.
"... put off your old self, which is corrupted by its deceitful desires, to be made new in the attitude of your minds; put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." Ephesians 4: 22-23.
Ephesians goes on to talk about the things we must shed. When I read them over there are times I am over whelmed and feel I cannot put off the old. And then I realize I cannot do it. It is only His Love in me that can produce the fruit of His Love.
Today I leave you with Ephesians 5:1 "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant sacrifice to God "
Monday, July 4, 2011
Authority/Freedom
There is so much to be said on authority. Some relate to the military "Just following orders"; others may relate to their work environment "I just do the job I have been hired for". Or maybe you are of the age that just does what your parents and teachers tell you-they are your elders and know what is best. Whatever you relate to it is not as simple as that. Let me say that again, "It is not that SIMPLE"!
While you read what follows think upon the scripture and think about your own life of sin and the restoration the Lord provided. Think of how you live and why you listen to the authority you are placed under. Dig out the scripture for yourself and examine your lifestyle.
When I think upon Saul's life and how he hunted out Christians and slaughtered them my heart begins to pound. What was he thinking? Was he just following orders? Saul was a learned man, one of the Pharisees. He could reason and speak truthfully about the scripture he had learned as a young man. My conclusion is-"No", he was not just following orders. He had made a conscience decision and was certain he was doing the correct thing; in addition to following the orders of his superiors. Otherwise, the Damascus experience would not have been necessary.
In that one moment on the road to Damascus, Christ struck Saul off his "high" horse and led him into the whole truth. Saul, renamed Paul, was instructed by the man who laid hands on his eyes and most importantly taught, edified, and encouraged by the one and only Holy Spirit-the same Holy Spirit who leads and guides all believers today into the truth. Paul had a revelation about who Jesus was and is and then he was given his purpose in life to carry out. It was not until many years later, that Paul met up with the original apostles.
Today there are many rules and regulations set into place. Some are for our protection and safety while others are meant to keep order in society. These rules are of our own making to keep up with the mores of this day and age. Some of these are political, social, and even some religious traditions and doctrines all set into place to hold people in a certain place and mindset.
With that said, whose authority do we allow ourselves to be placed under? Man or God or both? I say both. However, when man's rules and traditions interfere with God's, I draw the line and go the way of the Cross.
So, fellow believers, it is imperative that we get into the Word of God for ourselves. Do not take every whim and doctrine spoken from the platform as truth. Do you read a book or something on the Internet and believe it tells the absolute truth? The only one who will lead and guide us into the perfect truth is the Holy Spirit as we read the Word of God and listen to that inner voice so gently and quietly speaking to us all. As the days go by the stronger we will become in the truth and the louder will be His voice and clearer will be His ways in our lives. Without a personal relationship Jesus Christ we will be lost forever. Get under the umbrella of the Truth and be set free. A freedom that will be beyond your expectations a freedom that will last throughout eternity!
Think upon these things and let us know your thoughts and revelations. The decision is yours, just like it was Saul's. Be changed. Live in the truth and the truth will set you free!
While you read what follows think upon the scripture and think about your own life of sin and the restoration the Lord provided. Think of how you live and why you listen to the authority you are placed under. Dig out the scripture for yourself and examine your lifestyle.
When I think upon Saul's life and how he hunted out Christians and slaughtered them my heart begins to pound. What was he thinking? Was he just following orders? Saul was a learned man, one of the Pharisees. He could reason and speak truthfully about the scripture he had learned as a young man. My conclusion is-"No", he was not just following orders. He had made a conscience decision and was certain he was doing the correct thing; in addition to following the orders of his superiors. Otherwise, the Damascus experience would not have been necessary.
In that one moment on the road to Damascus, Christ struck Saul off his "high" horse and led him into the whole truth. Saul, renamed Paul, was instructed by the man who laid hands on his eyes and most importantly taught, edified, and encouraged by the one and only Holy Spirit-the same Holy Spirit who leads and guides all believers today into the truth. Paul had a revelation about who Jesus was and is and then he was given his purpose in life to carry out. It was not until many years later, that Paul met up with the original apostles.
Today there are many rules and regulations set into place. Some are for our protection and safety while others are meant to keep order in society. These rules are of our own making to keep up with the mores of this day and age. Some of these are political, social, and even some religious traditions and doctrines all set into place to hold people in a certain place and mindset.
With that said, whose authority do we allow ourselves to be placed under? Man or God or both? I say both. However, when man's rules and traditions interfere with God's, I draw the line and go the way of the Cross.
So, fellow believers, it is imperative that we get into the Word of God for ourselves. Do not take every whim and doctrine spoken from the platform as truth. Do you read a book or something on the Internet and believe it tells the absolute truth? The only one who will lead and guide us into the perfect truth is the Holy Spirit as we read the Word of God and listen to that inner voice so gently and quietly speaking to us all. As the days go by the stronger we will become in the truth and the louder will be His voice and clearer will be His ways in our lives. Without a personal relationship Jesus Christ we will be lost forever. Get under the umbrella of the Truth and be set free. A freedom that will be beyond your expectations a freedom that will last throughout eternity!
Think upon these things and let us know your thoughts and revelations. The decision is yours, just like it was Saul's. Be changed. Live in the truth and the truth will set you free!
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