come quickly Lord Jesus

Father we cry out to you.  In a country where we've turned our backs on You for our own selfish ways.  We've failed to raise our children in Your ways because we have rejected Your ways. 

Strengthen us Lord to not be unstable and double minded, but rather Christ minded in all things.

Soften the ears and help those who don't hear the crying of the murdered unborn to hear and repent.  Lord I cry with them "How long?".

Your ways our higher than ours- as Your word says.

Lord help us .

a change

In "my utmost for His highest" today it said pray in all things in the situation you find yourself.  So instead of weekly posts which I'm failing at i hope to offer prayers. 

My recent thoughts are why do people turn from God?  The Lord in His earthly ministry never forced Himself on anyone, but when they were ready for Him, He was available.  So scaring people to Christ may mean people confess before they are ready, then there is a falling away, or is it a falling away.  The disciples had an experience of Christ as did the apostle Paul that they were willing to die for Him.  People who confess Christ and truly have relationship with Him will have that kind of experience.  It will be a personal experience that probably can't be proven the disciple just knows.

Jesus is ready and waiting knocking at the door of all our hearts if you will to have relationship with us.  Yet we often fall into a belief that we can make and control our own world when in fact we cannot.  It is at the end of self that we truly find Him.

In terms of prayer we have to not look at our circumstances but practice the presence of Christ at all moments in our life.  Look at Elisha, surrounded by Assyrians (2 Kings 6) but he saw the armies of Christ so spiritually he saw, in the natural he appeared foolish.

We as supposed Christian don't promote Christ in all facets of our life and so we get to deal with the drama of life and its all around us.  Cling to Him, its not about serving its about deepening relationship to Him.  Service will come out of deeper relationship.

May God bless you.

16-10-02 notes

Have you bowed your knee to Christ yet?

How is your relationship to Christ?

Are you convinced that Christ' ways are best and that anything you think best that don't align with Christ' ways will end badly? Do you realize the only way we can all live together in the harmony we claim to want is to put Christ first?

Has life taught you continually that you don't know everything, and that when you actually did think you had everything figured out your were often in error?

How is your legacy? Isn't our only legacy our children? Were your children inconvenient, or is it more likely you realized the "inconvenience" was only your own selfishness?  Do you realize we have no control over our legacy, others get to decide.

We will all bow to Christ because eventually we come to the undeniable conclusion that we aren't God and He is. We are creatures living in a world that we did not create - another conclusion we all come to. We often try to re-create the world the way we want it, but if it doesn't align with Christ's plan it will end in loneliness and despair.

We all have relationship to Christ just as we all have relationship to our fellow humans. Some humans we don't know, some we cherish being around, others we avoid. Our relationship to Christ should be the model we follow for our relationships to others.

Do we hope the best for all - the best being close personal relationship to Christ? do we long for that? Pray for others?

Are our own feelings and wants sometimes repugnant as we realize our own selfish wants, and the fact we're ok that others will be hurt?

16-09-18 notes

In Genesis when the three angels were journeying to Sodom they stopped at the place Abraham was staying. Do angels journey? the intention was to see Abraham, and how did he respond to the visit?

First of all He recognized the group or one of the group as being his Lord, secondly he stopped everything he was doing and had a meal prepared for them. He got his servants involved, he got Sarah involved. What is striking is that when the Lord showed up he served Him, he sought fellowship with Him.

What would be our reaction/response to the Lord coming to see us in the flesh in person as it were? Would we focus on what He could do for us or would we recognize who He is and serve Him and enjoy Him? When Jesus walked the earth later people would go to Him, not to serve but to get their infirmities addressed or the infirmities of their friends. He healed, he responded to their requests but often told them not to tell anyone. Christ wants to first and foremost be our friend, and companion, and He seeks that we first and foremost are His friend.

The best of friends serve each other, they give of themselves to serve and make comfortable each other. They put each other ahead of self. Suddenly any personal infirmities don't matter so much. They are always glad to see each other, they enjoy spending time together without there necessarily being a purpose. They purposely seek to spend time with each other.

Do you have that kind of friendship with Christ? Do you have that kind of friendship with any other person? Christ seeks that kind of friendship with us, He is ready, He is standing at our doors knocking to see if we'll let Him in. Will we then be that kind of friend back to Him?

This is not to shame it is meant to cause reflection, we all know where we are in all our relationships and we all know we have shortcomings. Christ wants to be closer than a brother to us and we should be closer than a brother to Him as well as in our other relationships.

Christ called 12 and made them His friends on earth, and yet one betrayed Him. Others ran away, curious as to what He was doing, but keeping a distance and denying Him. Yet when He was risen and came back, His apostles were changed, they truly understood His friendship and it changed their life. Changed it to the point that most of them endured horrible deaths for the sake of His friendship.

Can we have the same friendship with Him? YES

Can that model our friendship to others? YES

Is it natural for us to be this kind of friend to Him and others? NO, in the natural we preserve our flesh, we focus on gratifying it. We do need His touch, His help to be the kind of friend to Him and each other we should be.

Help us Lord Jesus.

16-09-04 notes

Why do we sin? We have to know what sin is. Sin is trying to do things our way rather than the Lord's. We have to know what His ways are in order do things His way and not the way that seems best to us. Not knowing His ways is one of the things happening in the time which I live. His Word the Bible is so unprecedently available in the area I was placed and yet the lack of adherence to His ways is clearly approaching the level that was recorded about Sodom and Gomorrah. It is nearly a full blown outward denial of God.

Where do we get the idea to do things are way? Part of it is we like easy and fast without hardship. Instant gratification is a something we seek in lots of the aspects of our lives. Sprinkle in some pride that we can handle anything, and God's ways seem unnecessary. We are also affected by the voices - originating in our own mind, and that of spiritual beings. Again only by knowing God's word can we discern which spirit we are of. Ideally we learn to give up the right to ourself and become obedient to the Holy Spirit. We ask the Lord to come in and He will remake us in His image as we allow it. And in the areas we allow.

Our focus should be on relationship to Christ, rather than self. What have you done for another today? Have you intentionally looked to see where God was acting and going and gone along? Our focus should be on Him. I often fall short, and He knows how and where, and yet in His word the sacrifice of His apostles (unto death- with before that being beatings and torture) is far more than I seem willing to do. It also seems far beyond what I see other "Christians" willing to do. Lord I pray for those who call on Your name including myself. Help us to grow in our walk with You, help us to cleave to your ways and cast away any identity of self. Help us to discern Your voice when we seek guidance, help us to realize that Your ways are best and that any seeming shortcut we see is not something you overlooked, but rather a path to ever increasing misery and disappointment.

Lord you don't hide from us that there will be suffering for us in this life. Its clearly in your Word. We'll have depression, its in your Word, and there are several examples in the lives recorded. We'll also have joy in this life. Help us not to only selfishly seek the joy and avoid the suffering but rather embrace both. Honestly, knowing that You are with us, and even in suffering knowing you softens the suffering.

Amen

16-8-21

From last time, as to demons, they do exist. If we realize they do we're far more likely to reject their leadings. If we foolishly deny their existence then we're far more likely to entertain their suggestions. So which would they want? Demons know Jesus and readily recognize Him but reject His ways its all about doing their own thing for as long as they can. They are truly self aware, and have plenty of self esteem.

This week is on worry. When we lay awake at night considering all possible outcomes of a situation and try to steer situations into a certain outcome have we forgotten our Lord? If we realize He is always with us and its the journey through life with Him that is most important, not any particular accomplishment, circumstance, etc. The only accomplishment worth while is knowing Him. The only circumstance that matters is realizing He is with us at all times. We often have to get our minds off of self, stop actively trying controlling circumstances and people and worry can go away.

What about the big project tomorrow or how will class go? If we will acknowledge Him ask for His guidance and trust He is as faithful as He promises we don't have to lay awake at night.

We worry about what we try to control, the truth is we can't control anything, and if we really could we'd mess it up, and yet over and over its a trap we fall into to, where are we getting these ideas? "Did God really say....." voices? Then act on it through our fallen nature.

We worry or contemplate things we're not sure of the outcome of. We can hope for certain outcomes but we should be praying to Him for them and receiving the even better assurance that regardless of the outcome He is with us all.

Worry does not fit into a walk with Christ? Enoch walked with the Lord and the Lord took him. What earthly accomplishment was Enoch worried about? What earthly event did Enoch long to see. To walk with the Lord specific earthly outcomes, accomplishments, etc. can't be in our minds. Rather being in His presence, living in His presence is our desire. And Enoch achieved that. When we truly walk with Him does it matter whether we're here or in heaven? Its self awareness and self esteem to think we have to here for others rather than heaven, we're saying the Lord can't or won't be there for others, our loved ones. Yet He is there for them just as He is for us. None of us have relationship with the Lord "cornered", its available to all, and in order to have a fulfilled and full life we must seek that relationship.

None of us have it together, we may appear to but under the surface (what we show to others) we're a mess. Lots of voices suggest things and hopefully the Holy Spirit as well. So to let envy of others creep into our thinking is an error, focus rather on walking with the Lord. Fully.

He is so ready. Worried about something? Walk with the Lord pray for His wisdom and outcome and ask for His guidance, and trust He knows best.

16-8-14 notes (late I know)

Demons exist, we either consider ourselves sophisticated enough to ignore them or we blame them for every bad thing that comes along. What is true - we have a sin nature that bends us toward being disobedient to God, a lot of times its our choice to be disobedient. Demons are beings that can suggest courses of action of disobedience. They can't make us, it becomes our choice, but they can suggest, and suggest and suggest. They can also possess us, if we listen to their voices and do what they suggest enough they will make their home with us, and our disobedience to God becomes our nature, when called on it they can suggest we that are so used to obeying their suggestions get violent. The seven sons of Sceva beat up the those that would cast out the demons, try to break the cycle of control. How is that possible? Those casting out had the knowledge that the sons were under control by spritual beings but they themselves weren't under control of the Holy Spirit. Not having the Holy Spirit they weren't protected and the demons in the seven sons caused the sons to become physically violent - beating up the others, in a way showing a false strength, a false control.

The Holy Spirit is the voice of the Lord in our head, demons can provide other voices, and we ultimately decide which voice to listen to. Any course of action not aligned with the voice of the Holy Spirit is sin. Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit - recognizing the voice of God but rejecting that voice and guidance as not being of God is the unpardonable sin. Once we do that, we have denied the Creator and there is only the one voice of His in there. So we're rejected all guidance, and He will not speak anymore if we are not seeking Him.

The Bible is God's recorded word that we can contemplate and compare to the thoughts in our minds that we either think on our own or get suggested to us by the spritual influences (demons), or the Holy Spirit. The Holy Sprit's suggestions will always align completely with God's word, the other suggestions may be close to alignment but could fail to align in one point. As we walk with the Lord we have to learn to completely align with Him. Only the Holy Spirit tells the truth, the whole truth, everytime.

As to actions, we don't learn morality by trying things out, we are moral by following the highest standard we know or our influenced by (the Holy Spirit). In the Bible death came from eating (experiencing) the forbidden fruit, which came about as a rejection of the Lord's standards. The devil was there to question what the Lord had said, to create that doubt, to lie to us. To get us to question like those thoughts that come to our minds today. "Take every thought captive", some our not from the Lord but rather deceiving spirits. Once the fruit was eaten there was consequences, Adam and Eve were stained, they were changed (even before God called them on it), they knew they had not done what was best (follow His standard) and it forever affected them. They became self aware- naked and covered themselves.

Our intellectual part will talk us into trying things(or try to) but to be moral we have to be obedient to His highest standard. God has given us this ability because he wants us to choose relationship to Him, but it also means we can reject His ways. The "moral compass" that is often referred to in people isn't possible apart from relationship to the Lord. Otherwise morality is from us, and people will do what is right in their own eyes, to the standard they have set up and it almost certainly won't match others.

The basis of His standards is that we all can coexist without anyone being bullied. When we reject His standards people get hurt - in some cases die, and the basis of his standards He'll show us if we can be unselfish enough long enough to see it. If we can realize the world is about us all living together and that no one of us is more special than another.

In church alter calls, "slip up hand", who are we serving, be a fool for the Lord. Its an admission that we're often more focused on what men think rather than serving the Lord. What keeps us from going fully into God? Burn bridges, fully rely on God, grow.

Anyone truly walking with the Lord, without some area needing to be submitted to His ways, would probably be taken like Enoch.