05 May, 2008 - Running Into God


I am just lazing around and listening to the preachers on the radio. I love David Jeremiah, Chuck Swindoll and Tony Evans. They seem to all have the similar theme. Being right before God. Tony Evans said it best when he summarized it this way, 'If you do not read the Bible - in search of Jesus Christ - it is wasted Bible reading.'

We can read all we want, pray, volunteer and help others - do all the right things. But unless the Spirit of the Living God resides in us in our efforts - if we do not have the Holy Spirit in us in everything we do - it is just deeds. Yes, we are viewed to be a good person from others. We are seen to be a good Christian by others... but God knows different.

We must live the Spirit and search for the Holy Spirit within us at all times. Our good deeds are just a quick solution to an immediate problem of feeding our ego. Our ego will not get us into heaven. It is not our spiritual actions that save us from the death of sin. We must search for the Spirit of our Savior, Jesus Christ to permeate our lives, before anything we do will have any credence before God.

Unless we search, thirst and hunger for the Living God, through Jesus Christ, take over our lives, we are wasting our time doing the right things. We must actively seek Jesus, in our fellowship with other believers. We must support and encourage others first, in the body of Christ, the church, before we can ever expect to be blessed ourselves.

It is not about us at all. It is about Jesus. It is about the body of Christ. It is all about allowing Christ to direct us in our purposes and life. Without that indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we can read the Bible, study the Word, believe all we want and live through faith all we can. But it is totally useless unless we ask Jesus Christ to overcome the "me" in our lives.

It is not about volunteering, whether we have gas in the car to go to church, knowing your scripture inside and out. It is not the "knowledge of the Spirit" at all. It is the KNOWING OF THE SPIRIT in us that saves us.

What a conviction! Until I can give up all of my earthly, flesh and ego to the Christ that died for me, I will continue to have struggles, burdens and failures. God's Word promises that though Jesus, these events will take on completely different meanings. No longer will all these fears of lives travesties be a dark night in our lives. They will become a cross that we pick up, along side of Jesus, with the eternal covenant of life everlasting. It will be a privilege and an honor, and in itself become a blessing, to walk with Jesus on that road to His end.

That road to the end of Jesus life, will be a road toward the END of Jesus life, but it now becomes a road to the BEGINNING of our lives, in Him. Attitude is everything! Search your heart and determine to purpose everything you do, thinking as God thinks. Make your own irrevocable covenant with Jesus Christ, that you will walk with Him and carry on His life, through your. Purpose to die of self, and live as Christ.

As a believer, know that you can not escape Him. You can run away from God all you want. But know that you will run into Him, everywhere you go. Choose to run WITH Jesus, rather than run INTO God.


04 May, 2008 - Family Resemblance


"Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms: The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand. Til I make Your enemies Your footstool." - Luke 20:42-43

When David spoke Ps 110:1, he was saying that only God Himself could have been lord to David. When Jesus quoted David's Psalm, He was telling the skeptics that He was that lord, the promised Messiah, and that Humanity descended from David according to God's promise.


The Old Testament spelled out the qualifications of the Messiah, and Jesus met every one of them because He WAS the Messiah. He was born of the appointed family. He He did the works and the miracles God's Word said he would do.

I wonder, are WE as authentic as we claim to be?

I heard a story about a woman who walked inot a church when she was 15 and a Pastor's wife asked her, "Are you Christian?"

"Of course!" the young girl replied, "I was BORN in America!" She didn't realize, until hearing the Scriptures for a few months, that she needed to be BORN AGAIN to be a real authentic Christian.

An authentic Christian is a person who has truly placed his or her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone... for forgiveness of sin and eternal life.

If we truly are children of God, there will be a family resemblance!



02 May, 2008 - Music In The Heart

Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." - Ephesians 5:19


Music has always had a significant place in my heart and my life. As a child I would list all the songs and artists in the Top 10 countdown. I would track the titles week to week and observe the radio formats and how the particular songs were played on several different stations. I could chart the music on each station and even tell you what song would play next. I would even write the lyrics of the hit songs and tried to evaluate what it would take to make a "hit" song.


As a youth I tried music lessons. The drums, piano and trombone were not successful endeavors for me. All the analytical impressions I could develop would not help the lack of any artistic talent I never had. But I could tell a good song from a bad one. Side that experience with a voice that rivaled the best of 60's radio and I was a pretty successful radio broadcaster. I love music! I could never play it, write it or even sing.


I worked in radio for two dozen years. I have worked in some major markets, but enjoyed small town radio the best. It gave me the opportunity to be close to the audience, refine my skills and 'play radio'. I have been privileged to be exposed to new music, many artists and many different music formats and styles.


My introduction to Christian music has only occured within the last several years. I especially enjoy the Psalms put to music. It has provided me with a broader appreciation for the heart of David towards God. Hymns, both old and new, are arranged in a diverse arena of musical presentation. That means, there are some good and some bad music out there. As I read this verse, I am reminds me that music is intended to be an expression of the heart.


It is not an analytical and statistical approach to song rotation and playlists. Christian music has allowed me to explore my heart to the Lord. The message and melody of each song is of vital importance along with harmony, rythm, speed, and the way we present the song on the air. May these good guidelines also represent the music today in YOUR heart to the Lord.



30 April, 2008 - He Thinks of Us!!


How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God. - Psalm 139:17
 

Divine Divine omniscience has no comfort to the ungodly mind, but to the child of God it overflows with consolation. God is always thinking about us, He never stops thinking about us. We are always before His eyes; and this is exactly how we would have it. I can not imagine a moment out of the sight of our heavenly Father.


His thoughts are always tender, loving, wise, prudent, far-reaching, and they bring to us countless benefits: it is a wonderful delight to remember them. The Lord has always and is always thinking about His children. As a result we are assured of our election and the covenant of grace that our salvation is secured; He always will think about us: this will result in our final perseverance by which we shall be brought safely to our final rest. In all our wanderings the watchful glance of the Eternal Watcher is evermore fixed upon us--we never roam beyond the Shepherd's eye.


In our sorrows He observes us incessantly, and not a single pain escapes Him; in our toils He marks all our weariness, and writes in His book all our struggles. These thoughts of the Lord encompass us in all our paths, and penetrate the innermost region of our being. Not a nerve or tissue, valve or vessel, of our bodily organization is not cared for; all the littles of our little world are thought upon by the great God.


This abundance of love should be so precious to us. Is it precious to you? Then hold to it. Never be led astray by those philosophic fools who preach up an impersonal God, and talk of self-existent, self-governing matter. The Lord lives and thinks about us, this is a truth far too precious for us to be lightly robbed of it.


Don't be lost in counting up your fortunes and your earthly blessings. Do not bide time organizing and counting your trials and struggles. Burden your thoughts not with your ailments and afflictions. What really counts is that we are thought of by the King of kings! If the Lord thinks about us, all is well, and we may rejoice evermore.




28 April, 2008 - Words For A Cause


Remember the word unto Thy servant, upon which Thou hast caused me to hope. - Psalm 119:49

Whatever your especial need may be, you may be assured to find some promise in the Bible suited to it. Are you faint and feeble because your way is rough and you are weary? Here is the promise--"He giveth power to the faint." When you read such a promise, take it back to the great Promiser, and ask Him to fulfill His own word.

Are you seeking after Christ, and thirsting for closer communion with Him? This promise shines like a star upon you--"Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." Take that promise to the throne continually; do not plead anything else, but go to God over and over again with this--"Lord, Thou hast said it, do as Thou hast said."

Are you distressed because of sin, and burdened with the heavy load of your iniquities? Listen to these words--"I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions, and will no more remember thy sins." You have no merit of your own to plead why He should pardon you, but plead His written engagements and He will perform them.

Are you afraid that you will not be able to hold on to the end, after having thought yourself a child of God, you should prove a castaway? If that is your state, take this word of grace to the throne and plead it: "The mountains may depart, and the hills may be removed, but the covenant of My love shall not depart from thee."

If you have lost the sweet sense of the Savior's presence, and are seeking Him with a sorrowful heart, remember the promises: "Return unto Me, and I will return unto you;" "For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee." Banquet your faith upon God's own word, and whatever your fears or wants, repair to the Bank of Faith with your Father's note of hand, saying, "Remember the word unto Thy servant, upon which Thou hast caused me to hope."



07 April, 2008 - Make God Your All


God, even our own God. - Psalm 67:6

It is really strange how little use we make of the spiritual blessings which God gives us. It is stranger still how little use we make of God Himself. Though He is "our own God," we apply ourselves but little to Him, and ask but little of Him. How seldom do we ask counsel at the hands of the Lord! How often do we go about our business, without seeking His guidance! In our troubles how constantly do we strive to bear our burdens ourselves, instead of casting them upon the Lord, that He may sustain us!

This is not because we may not, for the Lord seems to say, "I am thine, soul, come and make use of me as thou wilt; thou mayst freely come to my store, and the oftener the more welcome." It is our own fault if we make not free with the riches of our God. Then, since we have such a friend, and He invites us to draw from Him daily, why don't we? We shall never want while we have a God to go to, We shall never fear or faint while we have a God to help us; go to His treasure storehouse and take whatever we need --there is everything we could ever need, an all that we could ever want.

Learn the divine skill of making God all things to you. He can supply us with all, or, better still, He can be to us instead of all. Let me urge you, then, to make use of your God. Make use of Him in prayer. Go to Him often, because He is "our own" God. Will you fail to use such a great privilege? Fly to Him, tell Him all thy wants. Use Him constantly by faith at all times. If some dark providence has clouded over you, use God as a "sun;" if some strong enemy has come upon you, find in Jehovah a "shield," for He is a sun and shield to His people. If you have lost your way in the uncertainty of life, use Him as a "guide," for He will direct you. Whatever you are, and wherever you are, remember God is just what you want, and just where you want, and that He can do all you want.


21 April, 2008 - My Redeemer Lives


I know that my Redeemer liveth. - Job 19:25

It is so hard to understand the mystery of faith. The root of our faith must be built on the simple belief that "My"--"My Redeemer," and in the fact that the Redeemer lives. That should be our exclusive comfort.

Know that we must be "in Him" before we can enjoy Him. What is gold in the mine to me? Men are beggars in Peru, and beg their bread in California. It is gold in my purse which will satisfy my necessities, by purchasing the bread I need.

So what good is a redeemer that does not redeem me? Why would I want an avenger that will never stand in front of me and fight for my blood? What good is that? Until such a time as you can rest and be content by faith and say, "Yes, I cast myself upon my living Lord; and He is mine."

You can hold Him in a weak hand and half think, "He lives as my Redeemer," yet, remember that if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, that little faith entitles you to say it. But there is also another word here, expressive of Job's strong confidence, "I know." To say, "I hope so, I trust so" is comfortable; and there are thousands in the fold of Jesus who hardly ever get much further. But to reach the essence of consolation you must say, "I know." Ifs, buts, and perhapses, are sure murderers of peace and comfort. Doubts are dreary things in times of sorrow.

Like wasps they sting the soul! If I have any suspicion that Christ is not mine, then there is vinegar mingled with the gall of death; but if I know that Jesus lives for me, then darkness is not dark: even the night is light about me. Surely if Job, in those ages before the coming and advent of Christ, could say, "I know," we should not speak less positively. God forbid that our positiveness should be presumption. Let us see that our evidences are right, lest we build upon an ungrounded hope; and then let us not be satisfied with the mere foundation, for it is from the upper rooms that we get the widest prospect. A living Redeemer, truly mine, is joy unspeakable.


20 April, 2008 Big Stick

"For the Lord will again rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in the Book of the Law, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul." - Deuteronomy 30


Did you ever think that God sits up in heaven with a big stick saying, "Stop that, don't you dare have a good time!"? I remember thinking that and asking my parents, "Why can't I?" They would say something like, "That would not please God, or make you any happier."

God says, "children obey your parents". I remember one time one of my kids asked to go play at a friends house. "No", was the response. "Okay" he said, "I'm just going outside." But he went to the friends house anyway. A few days later we found out about it because the family had lice and they shared them!

God's directions are meant to spare us from our own foolishness and that which would harm us.

Here in Deuteronomy 30, God's people were pledging again with a new heart to obey all of God's commandments. This would result in the Lord's blessing and bring greater prosperity than Israel had ever experienced.

15 April, 2008 - Depth of Despair


"My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" - Psalm 22:1
As I wake up this morning, in arthritis pain, tired and weary of it, and somewhat melancholy with my life situation, and a certain sense of despair - I am called to the words of David. David found the pains of his disobedience very difficult to bear. My physical disparities and emotional grief is nothing compared to the burden that God caused David to be a servant to. We truly can not comprehend the burdens that God tasked men like David to.

We would fail the Word if we did not recognize the same words that Christ prayed in the garden. We see our Saviour in the depth of His sorrows. No other place so well shows the grief of Christ as Calvary, and no other moment at Calvary is so full of agony as that in which His cry rends the air--"My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" At this moment physical weakness was united with acute mental torture from the shame and ignominy through which He had to pass; and to make His grief culminate with emphasis, He suffered spiritual agony surpassing all expression, resulting from the departure of His Father's presence. This was the black midnight of His horror; then it was that He descended the abyss of suffering.

No man can enter into the full meaning of these words. Some of us think at times that we could cry, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" There are seasons when the brightness of our Father's smile is eclipsed by clouds and darkness; but let us remember that God never does really forsake us. It is only a seeming forsaking with us, but in Christ's case it was a real forsaking. We grieve at a little withdrawal of our Father's love; but the real turning away of God's face from His Son, who shall calculate how deep the agony which it caused Him? In our case, our cry is often dictated by unbelief: in His case, it was the utterance of a dreadful fact, for God had really turned away from Him for a season.

O thou poor, distressed soul, who once lived in the sunshine of God's face, but art now in darkness, remember that He has not really forsaken thee. God in the clouds is as much our God as when He shines forth in all the luster of His grace; but since even the thought that He has forsaken us gives us agony, what must the woe of the Saviour have been when He exclaimed, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?"

What a reassurance and promise! God tells us in the Word that He will never turn his face away from us. God will never forsake us. More than likely, it is our turning away from Him. It is our disobedience to Him that causes the shadows of the evil one to gain presence in our lives and darken the lives of Christ's chosen people. There is nothing that compares from blisters on your knees from praying to our God for His presence in our life. It is not possible to understand the depth and completeness of God's promise for us, through Christ, until we have nothing to distract us.

I pray for you this morning. Please pray for me. I pray that you do not have to hit rock bottom before you allow the reconstruction that following Christ allows. Look at the difference in the words - remodel and reconstruct. Remodel is a 'cleanup off the existing. Reconstruction is a total makeover. It is new, fresh and revitalized. It is free of stain and flaw. I pray for our reconstruction in Christ, not just a refit or remodel. - Amen


14 April, 2008 - Prayer for This Day

Jesus, you are my one and only friend, to the end. Jesus, to you I lift my hands in worship. I pray that you take me and use me this day. I pray that you use me as a vessel of your love and grace. Help me to not listen to the money in my pocket or that of anothers arms. Help me, through you, be the voice of a Savior to the world.

When I fail myself and don't know why, help me remember that I can start all over again though the Lamb that shed His Blood on Calvary. When I lose MY fight, welcome me back into your loving arms and make me new again. You wait for me though the night and invite us to you through the eyes of a redeemer. Till that time when I have lost my last fight. In the depths of my despair, in the blackest of black, be my light.

When we have listened to my own voice too long - turn my heart and ears toward you. I pray for you to remove all hindrances that cause me separation from you this day. In your rest I find my strength. Deny the evil in our hearts and minds. Cause us to transform our lives to another kind of love that you example for me on the Cross. You gave me your all - I pray that I can only do the same in honor and worship to you.

With your arms open wide - you call to me. Make your Spirit live in me. You are the High and Holy God. You alone are worthy to be praised. May Your Will be done in me. You left the glory of your throne for me. You lived and died with your arms open wide. I pray that your renew my strength in this day. Even when the storms fall, I am washed by the water. - Amen.


13 April, 2008 - Abundance of Jesus

A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me. Song of Solomon 1:13

I wonder why myrrh was chosen as the type reference here. Maybe because of its preciousness, its perfume, its pleasantness, its healing, preserving, disinfecting qualities, and its connection with sacrifice. But why is He compared to "a bundle of myrrh"?

First, for plenty. He is not a drop of it, He is a casket full. He is not a sprig or flower of it, but a whole bundle. There is enough in Christ for all my necessities; let me not be slow to avail myself of Him. Our well-beloved is compared to a "bundle" again, for variety: for there is in Christ not only the one thing needful, but in "Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily," everything needful is in Him.

Take Jesus in His different characters, and you will see a marvellous variety--Prophet, Priest, King, Husband, Friend, Shepherd. Consider Him in His life, death, resurrection, ascension, second advent; view Him in His virtue, gentleness, courage, self-denial, love, faithfulness, truth, righteousness-- everywhere He is a bundle of preciousness. He is a "bundle of myrrh" for preservation--not loose myrrh tied up, myrrh to be stored in a casket.

We must value Him as our best treasure; we must prize His words and His ordinances; and we must keep our thoughts of Him and knowledge of Him as under lock and key, lest the devil should steal anything from us. Moreover, Jesus is a "bundle of myrrh" for speciality. The emblem suggests the idea of distinguishing, discriminating grace.

From before the foundation of the world, He was set apart for His people; and He gives forth His perfume only to those who understand how to enter into communion with Him, to have close dealings with Him. Oh! blessed people whom the Lord hath admitted into His secrets, and for whom He sets Himself apart. Oh! choice and happy who are thus made to say, "A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me."


12 April, 2008 - Persevere

It may not seem as though we are making any progress, by our yardstick here on this earth, but it is the yardstick of the Lord that I try to focus on. It is by His measurement that we determine our sucess and prosperity. Albeit difficult at times, it is HIS light that is always at the end of the tunnel. We must persevere, for His namesake. We must endure our cross and stand as a beacon to God, like Christ did. All to the best of our God-given ability.

There is no measure of what we offer - compared to Christ's payment on the Cross. But our 'little' is so much in the eyes of God. When we are tired, we pray for energy. When we feel broken, we pray for restoration. When we feel hurt, God will heal us. Not always by the measure of this earthly life - but according to His ultimate plan for us.

I pray for God's continued presence in our lives. I pray for our walk to be exclusively with Him. We can not understand or even have the capability of absorbing what His plan is for us. We must continue to look to Him and let Him be God.


12 April, 2008 - Depression and Hope

My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. Psalm 22:14

Our blessed Lord experienced a terrible sinking and melting of soul. "The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity, but a wounded spirit who can bear?" Deep depression of spirit is the most grievous of all trials; all besides is as nothing. Well might the suffering Saviour cry to His God, "Be not far from me," for above all other seasons a man needs his God when his heart is melted within him because of heaviness. Believer, come near the cross this morning, and humbly adore the King of glory as having once been brought far lower, in mental distress and inward anguish, than any one among us; and mark His fitness to become a faithful High Priest, who can be touched with a feeling of our infirmities. Especially let those of us whose sadness springs directly from the withdrawal of a present sense of our Father's love, enter into near and intimate communion with Jesus. Let us not give way to despair, since through this dark room the Master has passed before us. Our souls may sometimes long and faint, and thirst even to anguish, to behold the light of the Lord's countenance: at such times let us stay ourselves with the sweet fact of the sympathy of our great High Priest. Our drops of sorrow may well be forgotten in the ocean of His griefs; but how high ought our love to rise! Come in, O strong and deep love of Jesus, like the sea at the flood in spring tides, cover all my powers, drown all my sins, wash out all my cares, lift up my earth-bound soul, and float it right up to my Lord's feet, and there let me lie, a poor broken shell, washed up by His love, having no virtue or value; and only venturing to whisper to Him that if He will put His ear to me, He will hear within my heart faint echoes of the vast waves of His own love which have brought me where it is my delight to lie, even at His feet for ever.

        - Spurgeon