The Best Way to Start Every Day

In my previous post Open the Word I addressed the importance of getting in the Word and whether or not the soil of our lives is in a condition prepared to receive the Word so that it bears fruit. I read this testimony from George Mueller and I could not resist sharing it with you. It is so good and I believe that it is advice that we all need to hear. I think that you'll agree that this is the BEST way to start every day. Let's get serious about the Word and start putting to practice the commendments of George Mueller.

Testimony of George Mueller ( 1805-1898) from his autobiography:

While I was staying at Nailsworth, it pleased the Lord to teach me a truth, irrespective of human instrumentality, as far as I know, the benefit of which I have not lost, though now . . . more than forty years have since passed away. The point is this: I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not, how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished. For I might seek to set the truth before the unconverted, I might seek to benefit believers, I might seek to relieve the distressed, I might in other ways seek to behave myself as it becomes a child of God in this world; and yet, not being happy in the Lord, and not being nourished and strengthened in my inner man day by day, all this might not be attended to in a right spirit.

Before this time my practice had been, at least for ten years previously, as an habitual thing, to give myself to prayer, after having dressed in the morning. Now I saw, that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God and to meditation on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed; and that thus, whilst meditating, my heart might be brought into experimental, communion with the Lord. I began therefore, to meditate on the New Testament, from the beginning, early in the morning.

The first thing I did, after having asked in a few words the Lord's blessing upon His precious Word, was to begin to meditate on the Word of God; searching, as it were, into every verse, to get blessing out of it; not for the sake of the public ministry of the Word; not for the sake of preaching on what I had meditated upon; but for the sake of obtaining food for my own soul. The result I have found to be almost invariably this, that after a very few minutes my soul has been led to confession, or to thanksgiving, or to intercession, or to supplication; so that though I did not, as it were, give myself to prayer, but to meditation, yet it turned almost immediately more or less into prayer.

When thus I have been for awhile making confession, or intercession, or supplication, or have given thanks, I go on to the next words or verse, turning all, as I go on, into prayer for myself or others, as the Word may lead to it; but still continually keeping before me, that food for my own soul is the object of my meditation. The result of this is, that there is always a good deal of confession, thanksgiving, supplication, or intercession mingled with my meditation, and that my inner man almost invariably is even sensibly nourished and strengthened and that by breakfast time, with rare exceptions, I am in a peaceful if not happy state of heart. Thus also the Lord is pleased to communicate unto me that which, very soon after, I have found to become food for other believers, though it was not for the sake of the public ministry of the Word that I gave myself to meditation, but for the profit of my own inner man.

The difference between my former practice and my present one is this. Formerly, when I rose, I began to pray as soon as possible, and generally spent all my time till breakfast in prayer, or a,!most all the time. At a,l events I almost invariably began with prayer.... But what was the result? I often spent a quarter of an hour, or half an hour, or even an hour on my knees, before being conscious to myself of having derived comfort, encouragement, humbling of soul, etc.; and often after having suffered much from wandering of mind for the first ten minutes, or a quarter of an hour, or even half an hour, I only then began really to pray.

I scarcely ever suffer now in this way. For my heart being nourished by the truth, being brought into experimental fellowship with God, I speak to my Father, and to my Friend (vile though I am, and unworthy of it! ) about the things that He has brought before me in His precious Word.
It often now astonishes me that I did not sooner see this. In no book did I ever read about it. No public ministry ever brought the matter before me. No private intercourse with a brother stirred me up to this matter. And yet now, since God has taught me this point, it is as plain to me as anything, that the first thing the child of God has to do morning by morning is to obtain food for his inner man.

As the outward man is not fit for work for any length of time, except we take food, and as this is one of the first things we do in the morning, so it should be with the inner man. We should take food for that, as every one must allow. Now what is the food for the inner man: not prayer, but the Word of God: and here again not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts....

I dwell so particularly on this point because of the immense spiritual profit and refreshment I am conscious of having derived from it my self, and I affectionately and solemnly beseech all my fellow-believers to ponder this matter. By the blessing of God I ascribe to this mode the help and strength which I have had from God to pass in peace through deeper trials in various ways than I had ever had before; and after having now above forty years tried this way, I can most fully, in the fear of God, commend it. How different when the soul is refreshed and made happy early in the morning, from what it is when, without spiritual preparation, the service, the trials and the temptations of the day come upon one! 1

1. Autobiography of George Mueller, compiled by Fred. Bergen, (London: J. Nisbet Co., 1906), pp. 152-54.

Open the WORD!

I have been thinking a lot about the Inspired Word (as a whole) lately, mostly because I have been teaching on this topic in Sunday school but also because I have been pondering the fact that so many people don't take God's word seriously. Why is it that believers today will claim scripture as the full authoritative Word of God, but they don't read it? The very breath of God revealed to man and we let it sit on our night stands and collect dust or at best, we’ll open it up every now and then.

As John Piper states in his book, Desiring God, “the Bible is the source of life and faith and power and hope and freedom and wisdom and comfort and assurance and victory over our greatest enemy. Not to pursue our joy every day in the Word of God is an abandonment of the revealed will of God. It is sin” No wonder Christians are walking around defeated today. We are busy, depressed, stressed, confused, full of anxiety, discouraged, lonely, exhausted and completely empty inside. Why? The answer is simple. We have abandoned the Word and are trying to do things our way. Guess what?…..It’s NOT working!

There are some however, that are reading the Word, but there is no change in their lifestyle and there is no fruit being produced. What is going on with believers today? The church as a whole is dead. There is not much evidence of people living the abundant life and having a zeal and fire for the LORD. Today we live in a culture where we have many LARGE churches and we have impressive worship services, great music and teaching but the church itself is not a living, vibrant, effective church. What is going on? I think there are several reasons why this is true, but I want to address only one today.

Matthew 13:22 says, “The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.” Listen to what Chris Tiegreen says:

Many Christians begin with zeal in serving the Lord, but find only a few years later that their lives are consumed with possessions, debts, and busy schedules bent on maintaining a certain lifestyle. We must be wary of one of the enemy’s primary weapons-clutter. His intent is no so much a disorganized home, as we often think of clutter, but a disorganized, encumbered life. The enemy wants to give us as much baggage as possible-materially and spiritually-in order to render us fruitless. We must not let him.

Have you ever found yourself considering a certain ministry or service, only realized it’s impractical because it would involve too much of a change in lifestyle? Or wanting to five more to ministries of the church, but realizing you can’t; you owe too much to other people, or have too many plans about how to enhance your own environment? It’s an uncomfortable position to be in, but it’s an accurate reflection of today’s verse. And many of us are there. The deceiver keeps us striving after an elusive contentment in status and things. He keeps us thinking that an adequate lifestyle is just around the corner. But it never comes.

Imagine standing before the Lord one day and explaining our fruitlessness. How defeated we will sound if we have to say, “Lord, I would have served You there, but I couldn’t get by on that income. I would have given to that ministry, but I needed the money to insure my possessions. I would have shown others how to have peace in their hearts, but I was so worried about just surviving. “ Be on guard against the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth. We will have to answer for them. Better to weed them out before they choke God’s Word in our hearts and the enemy uses them to render us unfruitful. Take up your pruning shears today. "

God’s Word is not being lived out, because it is choked the minute we receive it. This is due to the condition of the soil of our lives. It is full of thorns (worries, possessions, debts, and busy schedules bent on maintaining a certain lifestyle.) God’s Word will never bear fruit in our lives if we are consumed with the things of the world. We have got to seek God with all our hearts and begin asking Him what in our lives need to “go”. God is looking for those that will set their lives completely apart for Him and Him alone. If you are serious about this, most likely this will be a painful process. What kind of soil is the Word of God falling on today? Is the Word choked by thorns? I don’t know about you, but I want to live in victory and have a life that bears much fruit to the Glory of God. Let’s take a long hard look inside to see where we stand today, open up God’s Word and start living the abundant and effective life that God has called us to.

Where am I?

Recently I woke up and had a strange feeling and I thought to myself, “Where am I”? As I looked around our house and outside it felt like my mind was playing tricks on me. “What am I doing here, this is NOT my home”. You see, a year ago our family was pulling out of the drive way from our home in Texas and headed toward a new place; a place where God had called us. A year ago, everything was familiar and comfortable. We had our families with us, our jobs, our long time friends, we had a church home that we loved, and we had ministries that we were so fond of. Everything was nice and comfortable until the day God called us to a new place.

After my husband graduated seminary we began an unexpected long and painful process of interviewing and trying to discover where God would have us serve in ministry. We waited an entire year for God to show us where to go. One of the things that we made sure that we did in our process of seeking out our place of ministry was to not limit God on where he wanted to take us. We told the Lord that we would go anywhere that he called us. We imagined ourselves in many different cities and states and even possibly for God to keep us in an area close to family. However, when we got word from the LORD that we were moving to Alabama, I was speechless.

We had interviewed in many different states but in all my thinking and dreaming about where the Lord would place us, there were two places that I never imagined God would call us to. The first place was Africa and the second was Alabama. I don’t know why, I just never saw us being at either of those locations. But, this is usually the way God works isn’t it? He always does the thing that we least expect and He sure through me for a loop on this one.

So here we are a year later, in the place where God asked us to serve. We picked up everything in Texas and moved our family far away from the place we called home for so many years. We were leaving a place of comfort and familiarity and walking out in faith and allowing God to take us somewhere new. I often think about Abram and how he must have felt when God called him to leave everything behind to follow Him to a place he did not know. The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. (Genesis 12:1) We really love Alabama, our new home, friends and church family. God has blessed us more than we ever imagined being in this new place. But, we are still getting settled and used to the area and all the new things that come upon us. It has felt a little foreign getting adjusted to a new home and driving these different roads each day. There is still that strange feeling and something that still stirs my heart telling me that I am longing for my real home.

Where is my real home? Is it Texas? I’ll always be a true Texas girl at heart, but I believe my longing is for a place of a fairer kind. Just like the writer of Hebrews describes Abraham, “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the Promised Land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (Heb 11:8-10) My real home is with my Heavenly Father in the place that I will spend eternity.

So, why am I telling you all of this? God may not be calling you to a new city or state. You may sit right where you are at for many years to come, but one thing we must learn is that we should never get too comfortable or wrapped up in the things of this world. We should be constantly asking ourselves….Where am I? And what am I doing here? We need to be reminded that this is not our permanent home. “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,”- (Philippians 3:20) It is so easy to allow things to get so familiar to us that we forget our purpose and our calling. If we get too comfortable and settled into this world we will miss all that God has in store for us. We need to be constantly seeking Him and asking where it is He wants us to go or serve. God wants to grow and stretch us and take us to places of faith that we never imagined. Things may be a bit unsettling in our walk with the Lord here on earth. But remember this is not our home, we are only here temporarily.

Wake up America!

I came across this video this morning and I could not resist putting this on my Blog. This is has been SO heavy on my heart!! This is a message that America needs to hear! Pass it on.

I was made to love You!

Hey everyone!
I am so sorry that I have been silent for over 2 weeks now on the Blog. I have been away from my desk and extremely busy. It has been the most sleep deprived and exhausting 2 weeks that I have had in a LONG time but I can't wait to tell you why. I have got a ton of things on my heart so I am going to just start spewing out thoughts on the keyboard.

This is the first year that I have ever gotten to participate in VBS. In all the summers past, I have always had to work. So, I have been looking forward to getting to help this summer now that I am no longer a career woman! I had the privilege to teach 5th graders. I have to say that I was somewhat nervous about it because I am used to teaching women, not children. But, I had no idea what God had in store for me.

Last week, I spent pretty much the entire week up at the church decorating our room. I had no idea all the work that went into this event. It is wild. We ended up with a really cool room though! Monday came and we had a room full of energetic 5th graders. This was the cutest bunch of kids. From the first day, I was HOOKED! I fell head over heels for all of them. I wish I could tell you all of the details of each day. But, I will stick with a brief overview. We had the kids an hour and a half for bible study time and then the kids went on to do the different activities that they signed up for. After the activities, they went to worship. We had the best time in worship singing and dancing unto the LORD.

Wednesday, was my favorite day. This was the day that we got to sit down in bible study and go over the ABC's of becoming a Christian. While sharing the plan of salvation with my kids I was so pumped to see that the kids were really taking in all that I was saying. There was this one girl that did not take her eyes off me when I was talking to them. She was zoned in and soaking up every word. Afterward, the kids were taken to worship where the plan of salvation was shared again and then an invitation was given for the children. There were a lot of kids that went forward to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior over their lives, but I was SO excited to see that same girl from my class walk forward. That decision alone made it worth every minute of the time and energy that went into all the planning and preparing on my part. There were 2 others in my class that came to know the LORD that day as well. I was BLESSED beyond measure.

I just was not prepared for this week in regards to what God was going to do. He showed up and knocked my socks off. This was an incredible week of VBS and my life has been changed by the experience. Today was the last day and even though I was extremely tired of all the long hours and little sleep, I was so sad to see it end. I am crazy about these kids! They were all so precious and I had a blast with them! One of the boys that was in my class came up to me today and wrapped his arms around me so tight and said, "I had so much fun this week and I loved having you for my teacher". SO sweet!

There was another boy in my class that I had problems with all week. Monday was really tough with him and we had to contact his mom first thing. After hearing her heart, I knew God planted him in my room for a reason. So, I really went the extra mile to try and take him under my wing and show God's love to him. I was fearful all week that my help or anything that was taught was not making any kind of impression on him. However, today he stunned me with a hug expressing to me how he enjoyed the week. I couldn't help but cry over this one!

God revealed Himself personally to me over and over this week. I was teaching and serving the children, but God was teaching me and showing Himself to me in the process. My heart was overflowing in joy over the children and our time together. But, God was even at work in other areas of my life. He doesn't waste a moment. We serve an amazing God. I gave up two weeks to pour myself out for VBS and God blessed me double in return. My life has been changed.

Take a peek at some of the week. http://www.hsbc.org/news/onetime_events/summerquest.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jDYoEgTodA

Now, to wrap things up we finished our week out with the 6th graders at a Toby Mac concert tonight. I wasn't sure that there was enough energy in me to get my self to a concert much less a Toby Mac Concert. I am not one to spend my time jammin out to Christian Rap music. (although my 2 boys certainly love it) I much prefer to let Travis Cottrell lead the music while I worship God. But, again.....God showed up and did what I was not expecting. I WORSHIPPED GOD to Rap Music! I found myself jumping, singing (and screaming) in Holy Worship unto the LORD. I don't care much about Toby Mac and all his moves and singing (I must say he did put on a great show though) but, he did help lead me straight to the throne of God tonight.

One of the things that hit me tonight while listening to Toby was this..... Believe it or not, I used to be crazy (A LONG time ago)about rap music. I have always loved the thump it has. However, the message was never a good one and the lifestyle at the time was not a God honoring one. I was able to reflect back on where I have been in my life journey and see to where God has brought me. This time, I could enjoy the beat AND the words and do all of it to the Glory of God! Gods love and restoration floors me!! HE has brought me such a long way and I always stand amazed at His grace and mercy over my life! What a sweet touch the Father gave me tonight by showing me His loving Hand!

My heart is just bursting at the seams right now in crazy love for My Savior! He blows my mind and fills me with so much joy. His Word sets me ablaze for Him and He even uses rappers to lead me to His throne to sing His praises. It felt so good to just be free tonight -to be unashamedly crazy for Jesus. One of the closing songs by Toby was "I was made to love You". It was my favorite song and such an appropriate way to end the week. "I was made to love, find and adore God" and this week, I DID! I thought that I would end this blog with the words to the song.
Drained- but FILLED!
Brittnie


Made To Love Lyrics

Great is the LORD!

A Song of Praise. Of David. Psalm 145

1I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. 2Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. 3Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. 4One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. 5On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. 6They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. 7They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

8The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. 10All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you! 11They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, 12to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. 13Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

[The LORD is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.] 14The LORD upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. 15The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. 16You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. 17The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. 18The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. 19He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them. 20The LORD preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. 21My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

Ok, so I couldn't help but post some scripture! I was reading these verses in my daily reading today and I just got set on FIRE! God is so good. His Word fills me up!! While I know this may sound a bit silly, I must say it anyway. Do you remember what we are taught as kids to do if we were on fire? That's right.....Stop, Drop and Roll! Well, today I am on fire from God's Word. So, I will do this instead.....Stop, Drop, and PRAISE!

I will exalt you my God and I will praise your name! I will speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. I will pour forth from my mouth the fame of your abundant goodness and I shall sing aloud of your righteousness. I will bless your name FOREVER and EVER. Amen

Praise our great God with me today.
Brittnie

The Liar

Yesterday I was reading my devotional book by Chris Tiegreen and the title was named "Rejecting the Liar". It was based on John 8:44 which says, "When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." Chris was talking about being aware of the lies the enemy feeds us.

In the middle of my reading, my youngest son (5 yrs) came up to me crying. He began to tell me what was wrong. He said, "my mind is trying to tell me that I don't love God-but mama, I do love God- so why is my mind trying to make me think that I don't love Him" He would walk around with his hands on his head saying, "make it go away".

I sat there stunned! I tried consoling him and telling him that I knew he loved God. I also shared with him that God knows all things, so therefore God knew that he loved Him, and to try and let it go. But, it didn't bring him alot of comfort at this point. Obviously, this kind of thinking was only bringing him alot of distress. He sat down beside me and put his head in my lap and said, "mom, pray for me right NOW" I prayed over this precious one and he seemed to be satisfied with leaving it in God's hands.

But, then it hit me....I was just reading about "the Liar" and I realized that he was already planting lies into my son's head. It occured to me that my oldest son experienced something very similar at the same age also. The enemy will begin to target even the youngest of minds. When he knows that innocent minds are being filled with The Truth he quickly goes in for the kill. (John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy)

It made me mad to think that my precious boys were even targets for the evil one. But, I was so impressed that my son knew immediately when something in his mind was not right. His mind is still pure enough that he could recognize a lie. How often we forget the battle that is going on in our lives constantly. Our minds are filled with so much junk from the world that we often don't recognize when the enemy speaks a lie into our minds.

Sadly enough, in so many cases we will fall for the lies of the evil one and we live in defeat after defeat. He loves to have us in this place because we are no threat to the kingdom of hell and even worse we fail at bringing God glory. The most important thing that we can do daily is to saturate our minds in Truth, so that the minute the lie comes, we can stare in it's face and reject it. We must also put on (daily) the full armor of God as Ephesians 6:11-18 tells us. We have got to be equipped to recognize The Liar and get back in the battle!

The best protection against Satan's lies is to know God's truth- Anonymous

Humble Yourself and Shine!

Hey everyone!

I know I have been lacking in my Blog posts. I have a lesson swirling around in my heart from the LORD on Joel 2 and haven't had time to sit down yet and put it to words. I'll try to get it posted soon. In the meantime, I have something else I thought that I would post.

Last week my teacher asked me to memorize Philippians chapter 2. I have been mulling those verses around in my brain and letting them sink in. Today I came across a summarization of Philippians chapter 2 by Beth Moore from her commissioning to her ladies at the Living Proof Live conference in Albuquerque. So, I thought that I would share it. Enjoy! Brittnie

Dearly loved one

You’ve been called by God

To shine like a star

In a dark, depraved world

Don’t blend in

Refuse the daily temptation

To be absorbed in yourself

Take interest in others

Deliberately humble yourself

And live the life of a servant

As you live in the crisis

Of “continue to”

Keep working out

What God is working in

Watch your mouth

Choose words of life

And one glorious day

You will see the face of Christ

And He will show you

Every good purpose

He fulfilled through you

And there will be delight

Even if you are despised or ignored

You are Christ’s star

Go forth and shine

By Beth Moore

A Gift of Grace

35 years ago a woman unable to conceive desperately prayed to receive a child. At the same time another woman desperately sought out a way to give up a child that was conceived unwanted. In God’s providence a prayer was answered and a delivery was made from one mother to another. At birth-This child was given a gift of grace-LIFE. My mother adopted me and loved me as her very own. In Adolescence- This child was given another gift of grace-ETERNAL LIFE. My heavenly Father adopted me and loved me as His very own. (Ephesians 1:5)

How I thank you LORD for answering the prayer of my mother and for placing me in her loving arms. Her love and nurturing helped lead me straight to you. That is something that I can never repay. Thank you mom for your unconditional love, I am forever grateful. I love you.
Brittnie

Happy Mother’s Day to all you precious mothers out there!

Face Down

One of the things I want to make clear is that when I address Christians in my posts as "we" that I am always included. I never want to be viewed as pointing fingers at anyone. No one has suggested that to me as such, but I wanted it to be understood. These lessons are as much for me as they are for anyone else.

My last post Revive Us LORD! was again on pride. This is such a huge issue. Over the last few years God began gradually exposing my pride and stripping me of self sufficiency. This has been a painful process. For those of you who don't know....I am an only child. If you know anything about research on birth orders you may understand that as an only child or first born the personality traits are things like leadership, perfectionists, strong willed etc.

These traits describe me to a "T". I am extremely strong willed and have been from an early age. My mom has often referred to stories of my toddler years when trying to help me with certain things I would refusingly scream, "ME DO IT". These words define my life in a nut shell. "Step aside please-I can do it" and "I don't need your help, I am perfectly capable" were common statements for me. Do those statements describe you too?

I have to admit, this personality type can get me in a lot of trouble. There is no humility wrapped up in that kind of attitude. Don't get me wrong- we need people with leadership skills and that are strong willed. These qualities are all God given and a part of His plan. However, if we are not careful we may forget where our help comes from. Luke 18:14 says, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

"Listen to what Chris Tiegreen says in his book "At His Feet". "Pride denies sin is a problem and it exalts self and self effort. It denies a need for God and refuses His help; it attributes accomplishments to human ability rather than God's gifts; and it completely undermines God's effort to display His grace to the world." God began to open my eyes to this issue. I have always been so independent that I never saw my need for God's help. However like I said, God began to strip me of my self sufficiency, showing me that He has ownership over me and how much I was in need of Him. This was so hard at first but now I see how wonderful it is to trust and rest in the arms of a loving God.

My learning is not over. Just last week God showed me yet more pride. When I least expected, it just kind of crept up into my life. I was under such conviction, that face down at His feet was the only posture I could find. I began quickly confessing that sin and asking for forgiveness. God definitely humbled me but in that posture was where I found God and He was faithful to lift me up. You may find yourself sensing God pointing out pride and sin. Join me today face down at the feet of Jesus. There is no better place to be.

I want to close with a quote from William Bridge.
"If you lay yourself at Christ's feet, He will take you into His arms."

I would love to hear from you all. Please send me a post on how God is working in your life.

Revive Us LORD!

In my post last week called Time to Repent I ended with the issue of pride. To fix this heart issue, God calls us to repent! Joel 2:12-13 says Even now— [this is] the LORD's declaration— turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Tear your hearts, not just your clothes, and return to the LORD your God.

Here is my prayer for us. “Will you not revive us again oh Lord so that your people may rejoice in you?” (Psalm 85:6). God wants to revive His people. He wants to restore us so we can experience deep joy and rejoice in Him. Isaiah 57:17 says this: For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly (humble) spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly (humble), and to revive the heart of the contrite.

God says He dwells with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the heart and spirit of the lowly and the contrite. Let's look at this word "contrite" to see what it means. In the original language the word is dakka' which means destruction or dust. Dakka' is from the root word daka' which means to crush, destroy and be broken. Do you see what this is telling us? We have got to get to the place in our lives when we can recognize that we are absolutely nothing without God. He is the giver of Life and Breath. Our lives are completely in His hands and apart from Him we can do nothing. We must come before Him broken and admit that we are utterly helpless and spiritually bankrupt. When we see God for who He is we will see how sinful we really are. When we truly see God’s holiness we can’t help but fall down on our faces and acknowledge our impoverished condition. My pastor, Buddy Gray in his sermon "Blessed are the Poor in Spirit" says “Proud people won’t ever understand spiritual helplessness”. So what are we to do? We MUST confess our pride.

This is such a hard thing to do today for us in our western culture. We are taught that we are to be strong, mighty and that “we” can do anything if we work hard enough at it. Listen to what Chris Tiegreen says in his devotional book called, “At His Feet”. Tiegreen states, “Our world sells us “a higher plane” with self help materials from spiritual gurus. Poverty in spirit is a weakness. Jesus is an offense to the ego of this world. In our natural selves, we see ourselves as lords of our own lives. When those lives are dysfunctional, we seek to mend them. We apply self help techniques, psychological therapies, and religious philosophies-anything to pull ourselves up. We think we need improvement and that we can do it ourselves or with a little help from our friends. But Jesus did not come into the word to improve us. He came to rescue those who are lost, broken, and helpless.”

God’s word tells us that He opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. God is looking for contrition. He says He will dwell with those of a contrite and lowly spirit and he will revive the spirit and revive the heart of the contrite. John Piper states in his book “Desiring God”, that “mingled with the feeling of genuine brokenness and contrition there arises a longing for God. "As a heart longs for the flowing streams, so longs my soul for thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God" (Psalm 42:1-2). "Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides thee. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" (Psalm 73:25-26). "O God, thou art my God, I seek thee, my soul thirsts for thee; my flesh faints for thee, as in a dry and weary land where no water is" (Psalm 63:1). God is not unresponsive to the contrite longing of the soul. He comes and lifts the load of sin and fills our heart with gladness and gratitude. "Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing; thou hast loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, that my soul may praise thee and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to thee forever" (Psalm 30: 11-12).”

Believers today desperately need to be revived!! Are we willing to turn to Him and admit our absolute need for Him so He can come and fill our hearts with JOY?

Heavenly Father, "Will you not revive us again so that your people may rejoice in you?"

I thought that I would close with a poem that my good friend Joy wrote:

Revive us, Lord and make us new. Restore us by Your grace.

Cleanse our hearts and hands, O God, That we may see Your face.

Revive us, Lord, and make us pure. Forgive us by Your blood.

Renew our desire for You, O God, That we may dwell in Your love.

Revive us, Lord, and make us free. Save us by Your hand.

Rebuild our hearts and lives, O God, That we may obey Your commands.

Revive us Lord, and make us firm. Steady us by Your truth.

Meet our need for You, O God, That we may rejoice in You.

Give Him Praise!!!

Time to Repent!

Revelation 3:19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.

In my earlier post “Richer and Sadder” I talked about people being materially wealthy, but spiritually deprived. I wanted to make clear that I do not think that wealth in of itself is a bad thing. God certainly shows in His word that He is the giver of wealth. However, let’s look at a few things that God’s word shows us about money. “1 Timothy 6:10 says, For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. Hebrews 13:5 says, Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you. Ecclesiastes 5:10 says, He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income.

One of my fears in the area of loving money is that we even have preachers that proclaim from pulpits the “prosperity gospel” to many thousands of believers. The prosperity gospel is telling believers that God wants us to be financially wealthy and that all we need to do is "name it and claim it" in Jesus name and God will provide it. Or, even worse, that we deserve riches and blessings! The sad thing is, is that many are falling for it. This is a deceptive teaching and not in line at all with what the bible tells us. Believers are running after God for money and blessings rather than running after God for God alone. John Piper has an awesome article on Prosperity Preaching that is a must read!

2 Timothy 3:2 says in the last days, people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud and arrogant. Certainly we are in those last days. The problem is not the money or wealth itself. The problem is the love of it. We are a very wealthy nation in comparison to the rest of the world. And the fact is that unfortunately, many believers have come to love the money and the material more than they love God. This is not anything new. Listen to what God says in Deuteronomy 8:12-14 When you eat and are full, and build beautiful houses to live in, and your herds and flocks grow large, and your silver and gold multiply, and everything else you have increases, [be careful] that your heart doesn't become proud and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary puts it this way in regards to these verses of scripture. Moses directs to the duty of a prosperous condition. Let them always remember their Benefactor. In everything we must give thanks. Moses arms them against the temptations of a prosperous condition. When men possess large estates, or are engaged in profitable business, they find the temptation to pride, forgetfulness of God, and carnal-mindedness, very strong; and they are anxious and troubled about many things. In this the believing poor have the advantage; they more easily perceive their supplies coming from the Lord in answer to the prayer of faith; and, strange as it may seem, they find less difficulty in simply trusting him for daily bread. They taste a sweetness therein, which is generally unknown to the rich, while they are also freed from many of their temptations. Forget not God's former dealings with thee. Here is the great secret of Divine Providence. Infinite wisdom and goodness are the source of all the changes and trials believers experience. Israel had many bitter trials, but it was to do them good. Pride is natural to the human heart. Would one suppose that such a people, after their slavery at the brick-kilns, should need the thorns of the wilderness to humble them? But such is man! And they were proved that they might be humbled. None of us live a single week without giving proofs of our weakness, folly, and depravity. To broken-hearted souls alone the Savior is precious indeed. Nothing can render the most suitable outward and inward trials effectual, but the power of the Spirit of God. See here how God's giving and our getting are reconciled, and apply it to spiritual wealth.

Here is the issue as suggested from the commentary. When man becomes financially wealthy “they find the temptation to pride, forgetfulness of God, and carnal-mindedness, very strong.” So what are we to do? God says that he reproves and disciplines those He loves and He calls us to be zealous and repent (Rev 3:19). Interestingly enough, the word zealous here means to desire earnestly or pursue. So just like the God who Pursues us, we are to earnestly desire and pursue Him and Him alone. Not money, not wealth. Sometimes we don’t even recognize that we have forgotten Him. It’s time we start taking a good look inwardly at our hearts and see if this love of money and material exists. But let’s address the pride issue. This is the hard part. We so often are blinded and can not even recognize pride. We may say things like “I am a good person, I am going to church, and I am reading my bible” etc but we can’t see that we have been satisfied with our own well-being rather than being deeply satisfied in an intimate love for God. “To fix this heart issue, God calls us to repent! Joel 2:12-13 says Even now— [this is] the LORD's declaration— turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Tear your hearts, not just your clothes, and return to the LORD your God.

It's time to repent! More later on this issue.

Sunday's Coming!!

Richer and Sadder?

Revelation 3:17 You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

I found an article the other day called “Richer and sadder? American antidepressant use soars”. Studies show that the number of Americans using antidepressants has skyrocketed in the last decade. According to the Health United States 2004 report, issued by the National Center for Health Statistics, the use of antidepressant drugs such as Prozac, Paxil, or Zoloft, has nearly tripled among all American adults.

So what’s the deal? Today in America people are bringing in huge incomes, building enormous houses, driving luxury cars and they own almost everything they set their sights on. In fact American’s have so much stuff that they don’t even know what to do with it all. So, why do we have massive numbers of people being diagnosed with depression? They are spiritually bankrupt!

Sadly enough, I have to say that a lot of Christians even fall into this category. There are far too many Christians that are going after the very same things as the rest of the world- Money, position, status, material and the list goes on. In Revelation 3:17 God is speaking to the Laodiceans which are Christians who have turned inward. He is a Christian that says that he has all the world has to offer and he doesn’t need anything more. I believe this is where we are at today.

The word rich that is used in Rev 3:17 means, abounding in material. When we look at our condition, we see a people that have it all materially speaking. But when God looks at us He sees a spiritually deprived people. God says that we are wretched (afflicted), pitiful (miserable), poor (needy), blind (mentally blind) and naked (laid bare). What a pathetic state we are in. Haven’t we had enough?

The God Who Pursues

Revelation 3:15-20 (Amplified Bible)

I know your [record of] works and what you are doing; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth!

For you say, I am rich; I have prospered and grown wealthy, and I am in need of nothing; and you do not realize and understand that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

Therefore I counsel you to purchase from Me gold refined and tested by fire, that you may be [truly] wealthy, and white clothes to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nudity from being seen, and salve to put on your eyes, that you may see.

Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I tell their faults and convict and convince and reprove and chasten [I discipline and instruct them]. So be enthusiastic and in earnest and burning with zeal and repent [changing your mind and attitude].

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears and listens to and heeds My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will eat with him, and he [will eat] with Me.

God has given me a huge burden for the body of Christ. I don't even know how to put it into words. When I enter into His word I see Him showing me what He is up to. Again, He is making His Bride ready but there is much work to be done. God is after hearts that are completely His. He will not settle for less. If He does, He does not love us. Because He knows that the only way we will be truly satisfied is when God has become everything to us. That is the way He created us. He is the only one that can satisfy our deepest desires and longings. So why do we settle for less? Why do we look to things of the world to fill us? Do we really love Him?

I am so thankful for a God who pursues us! The above scripture is a wonderful picture of Jesus lovingly pointing out to us where we stand sometimes, which is in the middle. He desires for us to be hot or cold. But not lukewarm. He comes after us and convicts and shows us where we fall short so we can get back on track and enjoy His fellowship again. So, are you hearing His voice? What is He talking to you about? Are you in the middle? Is He working on an area of your life that He will not seem to let up on? If so, you can be sure it's out of love. God desires for us to find our pleasure in Him and Him alone. Thank you God for going after us! Pursue us til we are consumed!

Are you preparing your wedding garments?

"And Jesus answered, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come, they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise& then he saith to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment; And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen." (Matt. 22: 1-3,5,8,9,11-14)

One Night with the King

One night with the King changes everything. One day in His courts could forever change my course. One moment in His presence and I’ll never be the same. One night with the King changes everything.

From a peasant to a queen, it had been my destiny to be chosen for such a time as this. I did not know all my dreams could become reality until I saw His face and His love captured me.

One night with the King changes everything. One day in His courts could forever change my course. One moment in His presence and I’ll never be the same. One night with the King changes everything.

(song lyrics from the movie)

Praise the King

How can I keep from singing Your praise? How can I ever say enough? How amazing is Your love? How can I keep from shouting Your name? I know I am loved by the King and it makes my heart want to sing.

(How can I keep from Singing?-Chris Tomlin)

Much Preparation

In Ancient Israel a cup was set in front of the woman of his choosing. Now it was up to her. Would she pick up the cup and drink of it? Slowly the woman extends her hand to the cup and then lifts it to her mouth to drink. From that moment on, her life is changed forever, and she is now betrothed to a man who dearly loves her. Now it was time for the man to go home to his parents and have a room prepared in their house, for the woman he was going to marry.

The woman eagerly asks when the wedding will take place. The bridegroom tells her that he is uncertain- as the decision is completely up to his father. Once the house is ready for her to come and live he will come for her. Excitingly he exclaims….it will be soon. Once everything is ready, the bridegroom and the groomsmen will go throughout the town blowing a ram’s horn alerting the bride that the time has come for the wedding.

The bride, in the meantime has her heart’s affection on the man of her dreams. He is the love of her life and she can’t keep her mind off of him. Out of her mouth is the endless chatter of “love” to anyone who will listen. She is a beaming ray of light and her face glows with the gesture that says, “Chosen”. She quickly becomes focused daily with making herself beautiful and purifying her heart for the big day. She also keeps her lamp full of oil and burning brightly by her bed in case he comes for her in the night. The time he will appear is uncertain, but one thing is for sure, she will be ready.

Much like an engagement in early Israel, the moment we drink of the cup (in faith) that Jesus sets before us we ourselves become betrothed to our Bridegroom.(Mark 14:23-24) The Father is preparing for us a room in His house and Jesus will return and receive us to Himself. (John 14:1-3)The hour is unknown as to when He will come for us and there is much to do to prepare. (Mat 24:36) Our hearts should be eagerly expecting His arrival at all times and not a moment should be wasted. After all, can you imagine Him showing up for us only to discover that we did not make ourselves ready for Him? (Jer 2:32)

As the Bride of Christ, our affections should be set on our true love. (Matt 22:37) Our mouth should be constantly proclaiming His love and of His coming to us. (Mark 16:15) We should be preoccupied with making ourselves beautiful for our coming King. This is the beauty of the heart, the desire to please our King. (1 Sam 16:7) As we sit at His feet in intimate relationship we become more like Him and He changes us from the inside out. (Phil 3:10) Our face should be aglow with a gesture that says, “Chosen” (1 Peter 2:9) and a light that draws others to ask the reason for our joy. (2 Cor 3:18) We need to keep a fully oiled lamp at all times incase our King came for us in the night. (Luke 12:35-36)And all of our plans will center on that unknown day that we know for certain will come soon. As we gaze upon His face, our hearts will long for hearing the words, “The king desires your beauty.” (Psalm 45:11) So, how are the plans coming so far?

Rev 19:7-8 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure"--for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.