The Pure Word...



Repentance Explained...



As We Think...

locust bloom from my garden
photo credit: Angela Zimmerman

 

 

 

“What comes

into

our minds when

we

think

about

God

is the

most important thing

about

us.”  

~A. W. Tozer

Thanksgiving on Thursday...

Recently I saw a huge lifting of a cloud of wrong that has hung in thick blackness over my life for the past 4 years. I stand in awe of a Father who orchestrates events, who gives and takes away and who teaches us to number our days and to apply our hearts unto wisdom~not in perfect or happy circumstances but through fire and flood, tears and sleepless nights.

I don't know why I had to walk through the valley I did. I don't know exactly why I had to experience the loneliness of the wilderness or the desert's burning sands, but I don't need to know. I just am so glad that I know Jesus.

This I do know:

God used it for major good in my life. I am deeply grateful that He has brought me to a new height of trust in Him and a new sense of His presence and all powerful, all wise, all knowing care of me.

I know that He taught me how to forgive like never before.
I know that He taught me to practice His presence in ways like never before.
I know that He taught me to bask in the sweet presence of Jesus and let that be enough when my heart was pained too deeply for mirth and song, and the burdens pressed and the cares distressed...
I know that He taught me to walk by faith and not by sight (and I will have to keep learning that, I'm sure, as the days and years go by).
I know that He provided for my needs above and beyond anything I could have ever asked or thought. I am  humbled as I count the ways He has done that!
I know that He taught me to care and be broken hearted over what breaks His heart in ways I have never known how before.
I know that He taught me to pray and earnestly plead for my friends who wander in confusion and embrace false teaching as truth for freedom and life.
I know that He showed Himself faithful in a thousand ways (including bringing me and my family into friendship with some incredibly beautiful people of God), proving over and over again to me that He is who He says He is and does what He says He will do.
I know that He answered my cries for wisdom and light in places where I would have slipped had it not been for the reigning, sustaining hand of my Father who has my best in mind at all times. And into those dark places full of questions I found answers, together with my husband who also asked. And glorious light has flooded our hearts and lives and we are at rest in the Way we have been shown...the Way of the Cross that leads Home.

 

I would not trade a minute of this experience for anything of lesser value than what I have been given. It was worth every sleepless night, every broken piece of my heart, every cut of the Pruner's Knife, every tear drop that filled the buckets of tears I have shed through it all.

Most of all, though, I praise the Lord that He has shown Himself mighty and that He opened doors that only He could open...and taught me how to sit still and see His salvation as I walked in obedient gladness, answering the call He put on my life.

a peony blossom from my garden;
photo credit: Angela Zimmerman

If you are walking through a valley...look up. Acknowledge the raging waves as facts around you, but don't focus on them. You will sink. Look up to Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of our faith. No one can separate you from His love. No one can pull you away from Him who is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

Anchor yourself in Him and His Word. Trust and obey Him. He knows what He is doing.
All the time, in every place and in every circumstance. He can make good to come from wrong. He can make something beautiful from a mess.

Don't take on what is His job to do. Be bold for Him, but remember that He is the changer of men's hearts. You just rest in Him, and be an example of the believers.

And watch what He will do in your town.

Buttermilk Falls; Ithaca, NY
photo credit: Angela Zimmerman

 

 "I will bless the LORD

at all

times:

 his praise [shall] continually [be] in my mouth.

My soul shall

make her boast

in the LORD:

the humble shall hear [thereof], and be glad.

O magnify the LORD with me, 

and let us exalt his name together.

I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears."

(Psalm 34:1-4)

 



Of Humilty...part 1

I am reading "Humility", by Andrew Murray, in little snatches here and there, off and on. It is both challenging and convicting.  Here is an excerpt to ponder:

lupines from my garden;
photo credit: Angela Zimmerman

'If Jesus is indeed to be our example in His lowliness, we need to understand the principles in which it was rooted, and in which we find the common ground on which we stand with Him, and in which our likeness to Him is to be attained. If we are indeed to be humble, not only before God but towards men, if humility is to be our joy, we must see that it is not only the mark of shame, because of sin, but, apart from all sin, a being clothed upon with the very beauty and blessedness of heaven and of Jesus. We shall see that just as Jesus found His glory in taking the form of a servant, so when He said to us, "Whosoever would be first among you, shall be your servant," He simply taught us the blessed truth that there is nothing so divine and heavenly as being the servant and helper of all. The faithful servant, who recognizes his position, finds a real pleasure in supplying the wants of the master or his guests. When we see that humility is something infinitely deeper than contrition, and accept it as our participation in the life of Jesus, we shall begin to learn that it is our true nobility, and that to prove it in being servants of all is the highest fulfillment of our destiny, as men created in the image of God.'

 

Murray, Andrew; Christian Book Series (2003-10-17). Humility  Kindle Edition.

The Real Thing...

(a parable, as told to me by a beautiful woman of God)

"Once there was a little girl. Her most prized possession was a string of plastic pearls that her mother had given to her. She wore them everywhere; during mealtimes, playtime, naptime and nighttime. She even wore them when she took a bath.

Every night, after supper and a bath, she would snuggle under a blanket with her Father before he tucked her into bed. He would read her a story and they would talk. One night, before he tucked her in, he said "Give me your pearls."

"NO!" the little girl vehemently replied, and clung possessively to her pearls.

Again, the next night, they snuggled and read stories and talked. "Give me your pearls," her father gently commanded.

"NO!" she emphatically replied, clutching her pearls protectively.

All the next day, she pondered her father's request. Her heart stirred within her, feeling drawn to give her father the pearls he asked for. He had always been kind to her and had not been harsh and demanding. Surely he had a good plan by asking for the pearls.

That evening, after a delicious supper and her bath, she ran to the living room, eager to spend time with her father. His welcoming arms opened wide as she ran to his chair by the fireside. They sat together in peaceful companionship as he read to her and they talked of the day. And all the while, her heart was soft within her and she willed that she would give him the pearls if he asked her for them again.

Sure enough. As he closed the Bible and laid it reverently on the hearth, he looked lovingly down at the daughter in his arms. Kindness shone from his eyes as he held out his strong, work worn hand and gently asked his daughter, "Please give me your pearls."

Tears dripped from her eyelids. The pearls had been a part of her for as long as she could remember. Her mother had died and gone to be with Jesus years ago and the pearls served as a reminder of what she had lost. But she loved her father and trusted him. She wanted to please him in all things.

Slowly, with a breaking but trusting heart, she removed the string of pearls from around her neck. With quivering lips and trembling hands, she handed the pearls to her beloved father.

"Daddy," she said brokenly. "I want you to have these. I don't understand why you asked me for them but I know you love me and want to give me what is best for me. Take them and do with them what you want."

"Thank you, daughter," her Father said, his eyes bright with unshed tears. "I have something better for you, dear," He said with love. And flinging her plastic pearls into the fire, he handed her a beautiful velvety red box.

Her breath caught in her throat and she could scarcely breathe as she beheld the most beautiful thing she had seen in all of her life. As she opened the box, she gasped to see a string of real pearls shining by the light of the fire. No more plastic pearls would be hers. She had traded them for something more gorgeous and more beautiful than she had ever seen!

"Oh Father," she cried, flinging her arms around his neck. "Thank you! I am so very glad that I gave those pearls to you. You DID know what you were doing. You DID know a secret that I couldn't know until I gave you what you asked for. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! I will treasure these pearls always and I will be reminded that you are my father who truly does know me and what is best for me."

That night, as she lay in  her bed, she thought about how close she had come to being stuck with counterfeit pearls the rest of her life. She thought about how close she had come to not being able to have perfect fellowship with her Father and to having missed the real treasure that he wanted to give her. And her heart was so very thankful that she had yielded her will to his and gave up her most treasured (but worthless) possession to receive the priceless treasure that He had given to her.

The End

 

"Truly, truly,

 I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep,

 but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber;

But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep

To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice,

and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

So Jesus said to them...

"Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

All who came before Me are thieves and robbers,

 but the sheep did not hear them

I am the door;

if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved,

and will go in and out and find pasture

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;

I came that they may have life, and  have it abundantly."

parts of John 10

 

 

What about you, dear friend?

I plead with you not to settle for a counterfeit.

Don't hang onto and make your identity in unforgiveness, bitterness, and hurt.

Give it all up to Him who already knows these things and walk in the

total freedom He has for you.

He wants you to have your identity in Him.

Don't settle for a counterfeit.

Walk in His simplicity and total truth.

He truly is the Way.

He has riches untold for you.

If only you will give your plastic pearls to Him.

But Not Destroyed...

“But God is the God of the waves and the billows, and they are still His when they come over us; and again and again we have proved that the overwhelming thing does not overwhelm. Once more by His interposition deliverance came. We were cast down, but not destroyed.”

 

~Amy Carmichael

 

 

 

(more on this in my own life coming on Thursday...stay tuned.)

 

But for now, I say with deep reverence:

Hallelujah! To God be the glory.

 

 

"Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save;

neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear"

 

(Is. 59:1)



The Pure Word...



Make Disciples...







"Go ye therefore,

and teach all nations,

baptizing them

in the name

of the Father,

and of the Son,

and of the

Holy Ghost:

 

Teaching them

 to observe

all things

whatsoever

I have commanded you:

and, lo,

I am with you

alway,

[even] unto the end of the world.

 

 Amen."

 

(Mt. 28:19-20)

Jesus told His disciples to go and make disciples, teaching them to observe whatever He had commanded. Are you a disciple? Are you a follower of Jesus Christ? Then you have a mission wherever you are to make disciples of your town, of your people, of your community.

I have been blessed by listening to this set of sermons on The Making of Disciples. I am so blessed by the preaching of the Cross, God's way for people to come to repentance. As a disciple, I am very much desiring to make disciples for Jesus...but I want to do it His Way. So much of Christianity tries to reach out through a mixture of religions, making a confusing and complicated mish-mash of error mixed with truth, poison mixed with the Living Water, which is the worst thing we could offer to these dear souls.

Making disciples (whether in parenting, or in our communities) requires time, energy, prayer, growing in our own walk with Jesus. We don't have time to be frittering away accumulating wealth unto ourselves, or wasting time on frivolous nonsense, or some other selfish interests that take our time away from our main job.

In heaven we will rest eternally. Today we fight the good fight of faith and make disciples. He gives us restful times while here, but that should not be our goal or focus. Walking in the Holy Spirit ensures that we will live, move and have our being in Him; then we will be sure to be about our Father's business in the ways He desires.

Let's learn of Him how to make disciples. And then let's go and obey the call to do just that. Eternity is at hand, time is short and people wander without a Light to show them the Way Home.

God bless.
Marcia

PS
I am so very thankful for the special people God used in my life to disciple me (and He still uses them and others to do just that). I have been blessed with the simple truths of His Word over and over again as I have sought and He has sometimes used these dear ones to point me to the more excellent Way of the Cross. I am so glad to have this incredible experience, and to know the workings of the Body of Christ in my own life and journey. I want to pass it on.

Thanksgiving on Thursday...

Thank You Lord For Your Blessings on Me...

 

As the world looks upon me, as I struggle along
They say I have nothing, but they are so wrong
In my heart I'm rejoicing, how I wish they could see
Thank you Lord, for your blessings on me 

There's a roof up above me
I've a good place to sleep
There's food on my table
And shoes on my feet
You gave me your love Lord
And a fine family

Thank you Lord,

for your blessings on me 

Now I know I'm not wealthy, and these clothes , they're not new
I don't have much money, but Lord I have you
And to me that's all that matters, though the world cannot see
Thank you Lord, for your blessings on me 

 

There's a roof up above me
I've a good place to sleep
There's food on my table
And shoes on my feet
You gave me your love Lord
And a fine family

Thank you Lord,

for your blessings on me.


Partakers With Christ...

 

 

In life there are difficulties.

There are disappointments.

People fail us.

We are broken hearted over stilted relationships,

or relationships that are broken by man's stubborn pride.

 

There is sickness.

Disease.

There is separation by death.

 

There are false prophets and wolves who steal sheep.

There are silly women being led captive by

teachers with fair speeches.

 

The righteous are mocked and ridiculed.

Often by those who profess godliness.

 

And we are left standing in the midst of perplexities

and confusion, sometimes despairing at life itself

(as Paul was in 2 Cor. 1:8),

wondering what is the purpose, and what is the meaning

of such senselessness.

 

One thing that helps me every day as I wade through

hearatache, loss and confusion

is to look UP and to center my life on Jesus Christ.

 

I focus on His promises.

I remember His mighty displays of power in

other seasons of my life,

and I recall His faithfulness both in my own life

and in the life of others, whether they be from Scripture

or from faithful believers I know or have read about

from days of yore.

 

Always, always there is Jesus.

He never changes.

Nothing and no one can separate us from His love.

He IS the answer in the midst of every circumstance,

the help in time of any trouble.

He stands as the Way to eternal life,

and the Way to bring glory to God.

 

I am so very thankful for this Jesus.

I am so thankful that I know His eternal life.

And I am so thankful that He desires for me to be a companion to Him.

(my family and I heard this sermon on Sunday and I was so very encouraged).

 

I am blessed to know that if I but follow Him,

then I will of a certainty be able to look back in years to come

(just as I can do today for the past years)

and say with awe and joy that

"Jesus led me all the way".

 

Glory to His Name.



Choose Today...

 

If

you

are not ready

 to be profoundly changed,

you

are not ready

 to be

a real Christian.

 Ken Raggio

 

 

Choosing to be in the camp

of Jesus Christ

has been the best decision

I have ever made

in my short life.

 

It has been the most

exhilarating,

thrilling, painful, beautiful

place to be.

 

I have never once regretted making that choice.

Sometimes the going gets hard and I get very weary of all the

battles but one thing I have never once regretted

is losing myself in Him.

At least this way, the battle is not from within my soul anymore

and I can have complete rest in Him no matter what the circumstance.

When I made the choice to completely die,

daily,

my life changed dramatically.

 

It is not about me anymore

but about Him.

 

Does the enemy still try to get me back over to the selfish side?

Oh yes indeed.

But I have made my choice.

I will not be moved.

I will never turn back.

 

For His glory...

and by His power

I stand as a witness that

He lives.

 

Now my life has purpose and meaning.

I know what He created me for and how I am to live my life.

I am secure in His love and no longer am restless in my soul.

 

I am a child of the King.

He's my Light every day.

I am humbled that the Creator of all the grandeur and splendor

in the world about me would want to be a companion with me

but I am thrilled to know that He does.

 

Bless the Lord, oh my soul.

 

Make the choice to be a real Christian today.

You will never regret it!

The Pure Word...



Thanksgiving on Thursday

 

 

Over the years, I have been disappointed many times by the lack of

'speaking often one with another' of the things of God

in Christian circles.

 

I have longed for many years for vibrant, excited-about-eternal-things

people to fellowship with in places that I have lived.

As a young Christian, it often disturbed me how little of

valuable conversation could be heard after church services

or when visiting in each others homes.

I often wondered why we didn't share on that level

and my heart often cried out to the Lord for fellowship

in that realm.

 

But one thing I had to learn to do was to be

content with how the Lord answered that heartcry.

He didn't answer it by putting me in an environment

where many congregate and zealously serve the Lord

wholeheartedly together.

 

Instead, He provided fellowship from a distance for me

many times throughout the years.

 

 

 

People from other towns, other states, and other countries.

Emailing.

Faxes.

Cards in the mail.

Care packages in the mail.

Phone calls.

Assurances of prayer.

Traveling time to visit their congregations

and their homes.

 

I have been blessed beyond measure with friends

who love God and who seek Him and serve Him

wholeheartedly.

And in my own town, I am starting to find them, too.

They are here. And I am deeply appreciative of them

wherever they are found, whenever I find them.

 

I have been blessed again by visiting with friends in another

state this past weekend.

My family and I were warmly welcomed as overnight guests,

sitting at supper tables,

hearing testimonies of new birth and regeneration,

hearing concerned 'grandpa' figure who waited

up til late in the night to make time to visit with us and

hear our hearts,

meals kindly shared by new friends who

received us into their home and by their kindness

showed us their devotion to our Father.

 

I am so blessed.

 

 

And I want to especially bless my friends today

who are reading this blog who have shared

their hearts and lives with me and my family.

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I recognize you.

I deeply appreciate you.

I am so blessed to have been shown

'the 7,000 who have not bowed their knee to Baal'.

 

God bless you, all of you.

May we together bless the household of faith

and encourage one another in the Lord.

 

~Marcia

 

PS

I think that God kept me in a 'famine' of much fellowship

because He needed to bring me to a place where

Jesus is my All in all.

There can be no one else who takes His place.

God needed to break me of my 'need' of

people to fill the place in my life and heart

that only He can fill.

 

So today, I thank Him that He is the only wise God

who knows what is good for me in every season.

All glory and honor belongs to Him.

 



As You Will, Lord...

 

“There is always something to be happy about if we look for it:

‘Two men looked through prison bars, The one saw mud, the other stars."'

 

Amy Carmichael

 

 

The woman sat alone in the night,

weeping loudly as her hopes and dreams lay

shattered in a million tiny pieces at her feet.

 

Those dreams were godly ones.

They were full of vision and promise

for her family...

the future hopes and plans full of promise,

godly aspirations,

lay crushed and broken.

 

Her heart had always been committed to the
Father's will for her life.

She never did want anything but what He wanted.

She had surrendered her whole life in death to herself

and had risen to newness of life in Him so many years ago.

All those years, the Father had faithfully grown her,

pruning off what would not bear much fruit

and she had yielded to Him in all things.

 

The things she had wanted and hoped and prayed for

were very much God's heart for His people.

But she knew that she could not make others do

what they must in order to walk in harmony with God.

 

That night, weeping on the hearth before her Father,

she once again surrendered her life to Him who

holds the future in His hands.

Pouring out her dreams as incense on the altar of surrender,

she told the Father that she was willing to be part

of whatever He called her to.

 

And from that day forward, new mountain heights were hers.

Views so spectacular that she could scarcely contain it

became a special part of her life.

Her heart was knit with the Father's even tighter than it had been before.

 

And the Father placed beautiful moments

in her life amidst the broken dreams.
As her Savior had experienced so long ago in the desert,
angels came and ministered unto her.

She was privileged to rejoice with the angels in heaven
to see lives changed

by the transforming power of Life
 through repentant faith

in the Son of God...

she was privileged to see God confirm the promises

of Life coming to her town that He had whispered into

her bleeding heart on days when she was bowed low

in fervent prayer to the One she knew was her help.

 

And her heart was stilled and at peace.

Gone were the longings and at rest were the dreams
as she found a way to heed the call of
the Master to 'preach the gospel of the kingdom,
making disciples' of the people in her town.

Surrendered was her heart, committed to making the most

of the calling she was given.

 

In Christ alone her hope is found.

 

She knows that all along all she ever wanted

was to know that she was where she belonged.

 

She knows it...

after wilderness wanderings,

desert's burning sands

and rain-starved days,

the Pruner's sharp knife cutting

steadily and painfully so that

her vine could bear more fruit

for His glory,

she is at peace because she has

heard the Lord say

that

she

is

where

she

belongs.

 

 

 

"Seek, inquire for, and require the Lord while He may be found

[claiming Him by necessity and by right]; call upon Him while He is near.

⁷ Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have love, pity, and mercy for him, and to our God,

for He will multiply to him His abundant pardon.

⁸ For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord.

⁹ For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are

My ways higher than your ways and

My thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁰ For as the rain and snow come down from the heavens, and return not there again, but water the earth and make it bring forth and sprout, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

¹¹ So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose,

and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

¹² For you shall go out [from the spiritual exile caused by sin and evil into the homeland] with joy and be led forth [by your Leader, the Lord Himself, and His word] with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

¹³ Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a name of renown, for an everlasting sign [of jubilant exaltation] and memorial [to His praise], which shall not be cut off."

Isaiah 55:6-13

 

She still weeps at the staggering amount of false teaching and beliefs

many of her loved ones embrace,

her heart desiring only that they should know the true light of life,

the wellspring of hope that is hers every day

through the Way of the Cross.

She so desires that all her loved ones would know

the joy that is hers, the freedom she has found

in peace through the Cross of Jesus Christ.

 

And she has learned of greater importance this need of prayer.

 

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised.

Always.

 

And this woman of whom I speak wants all people to know

the One, true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.

She wants all to know that surrendered hearts don't have

flowery beds of ease to rest on in this life.

She wants all to know that the upward Way is

narrow, rugged and steep, filled with rocks along the way.

But it is the safest Way.

It is the best Way.

Because Jesus is there.

It is the most restful to the soul because it is the place

where surrendered hearts belong...

being vessels of use in the Kingdom wherever they have

been placed...

with all the power they need to fill that calling.

 

 

 

 

The Pure Word...



Of Dating...

 

(repost from a friend. I have daughters whom I am teaching these very things. I wish I had known them when I was their age! Praise God for redemption in any age of our lives!)

 

 

 

'THE DATING GAME' -A WORDLY PRACTICE THAT HAS INVADED THE CHURCH.
1st Timothy 5:2 says that young men should treat the young women as sisters in Jesus with all ...purity ! 1st Tim.4:12 says we must be examples to others in word,conversation , in love, in spirit , in faith and in purity !
Instead in honoring the Lord in singleness many get into the dating game and end up with many regrets ! Few who date are willing to submit their relationship to the spiritual oversight and accountability God has placed in their lives. They do not seek parental affirmation ,pastoral affirmation and peer affirmation.And many are not content first and foremost in their relationship with God.If you are not satisfied in knowing God do not expect a human being to satisfy you.All your relationships with the opposite sex should be godly and righteous. I am 55 years old and have been married for 31years. Now I have been through the 'dating game' before I was a Christian and after I became a Christian. Here are my thoughts on dating.
Dating produces emotional, mental and sometimes physical bonds that belong to the marriage covenant .Immature young people who must date ,that is have a girlfriend/boyfriend are asking for real trouble and will have many regrets ! Dating is a fantasy world.
1st- Dating is non-existent in the scriptures and only became popular around 1920 ! (Most married couples went through 5 dating relationships before marriage)Love at 1st sight is a fantasy.
2nd-Dating produces strong bonds that when broken feel like a divorce causing much bitterness,grief and sorrow and distrust at such a young age ! (Bad baggage to bring into a marriage)
3rd-Dating opens the doors to lust and many sexual sins.Many who date fall into mental lust and fornication! (Few virgins make vows these days because of dating)
4th-When you date you are saying this 'guy or girl' belongs to me!
This is not true.They belong to Christ and must be treated as such.
5th-Dating couples wind up excluding friendships and activities and family life because of an immature obsession with their girlfriend/boyfriend.They spend a lot of time alone and many fall into sin instead of fleeing youthful lusts !
6th-You have no right to touch the body of the opposite sex and stir up their lust.Plus this person will most likely be the future husband or wife of someone else!!
7th-Lust is not love .Romance Novel thinking is fantasy and not realistic at all ! Movies,Music and T.V present a very perverted view of relationships !(Romance is fleeting and does not equal commitment )
8th-Young people get stubborn and lack wisdom and discernment and when dating will not listen to godly advice .So they go through many 'dating/divorce' relationships with broken hearts along the way !
9th-Dating does not prepare for a solid pure godly marriage but prepares for many bad marriages and divorces.You make your vows with a fragmented heart that you have given to many others in the past and you carry memories of past dating relationships into your marriage !
10th-Dating is very selfish .Instead of finding contentment in your single life and in a growing relationship with Jesus you feel compelled to date instead of developing godly friendships.
11th-Dating steals your time and your mind . You 'daydream' about your boyfriend/girlfriend .You long ,that is lust to be with them all the time while friendships fade away,family fades away and the Lord who must be your 1st Love fades away .It becomes consuming and costly in many different ways .It becomes idolatry.The Lord is not 1st place anymore .The boyfriend/girlfriend
has replaced your 1st love!'
DEAR FRIENDS MARRIAGE IS A HOLY UNION ,A SPECIAL GIFT FROM GOD.SEEK THE LORD ,PRAY AND WAIT AND THE LORD WILL BLESS YOU WITH A GODLY WIFE OR GODLY HUSBAND.IN THE MEANTIME DEVELOP GODLY FRIENDSHIPS AND KEEP YOURSELF PURE IN MIND AND BODY .GOD'S WAY IS THE RIGHT AND BEST WAY ! Brother David Cooke {Share post as the Lord Leads}

Thanksgiving on Thursday



In years gone by, when I carried a mountain of bitterness on my back from wrongs done against me in yesteryear by those who were meant to protect and guide me, I could never receive correction. Oh, I would outwardly seem like I was ok with it, but inwardly I was a puddle of confusion, self-pity, and tears, feeling rejected and alone. After God saved me from that mess, and delivered me from the horrible pit of selfishness, and set my feet upon the Rock, Jesus Christ, I now love to know that I have solid godly friends, members of the Body of my Jesus who are looking out for me and are not afraid to step up and tell me if I am 'off' or if something I am promoting does not seem right.

This happened to me a few months ago. I had taken a friend out for lunch and had brought her a gift, a devotional book that was blessing and inspiring me. I am pretty cautious of devotional books these days because there is a lot of mixed religious rubbish being sold and distributed, and I do not want to poison my own mind or the minds of anyone I am seeking to encourage/help. So I had selected this devotional carefully. As I handed her the gift, she raised a caution about the author, stating that she had heard a caution that this author's first book is a mish-mash of humanism, mysticism and Scripture. I felt badly that I might be promoting something that isn't as good as I thought it was, but my immediate thought was

"Thank God for warnings from other believers.

I am so thankful she had the courage to share this with me,

even if it was about a gift I was giving her."

 

So today, I give a shout of thanksgiving for friends who seek to honor the Lord and are courageous enough to be a true friend. Not just a sympathizer. Not just a critique. But both.

I want to be such a friend, too.

The following article came to my attention just as I was preparing to write this thanksgiving post. I thought I would include it with my post. It was a blessing to me and I hope it blesses you as well.

WE NEED GODLY FRIENDS IN OUR LIVES -

 

Psalm 119:63 ' I am a companion of all them that fear Thee , and of them that keep Thy precepts.'

 

True friends will be godly...

friends who reverence, love and obey Jesus !

  1.Because we tend to become like our friends, we must choose them carefully.

  2.Because our friends influence us in ways that are both subtle and powerful,

 we must make sure our friendships please the Lord.

 3.When we spend our days in the presence of godly friends,

we are blessed,not only by those friends, but also by the Lord.

  4.Seek out friends who will encourage you in the Lord and

you should yourself be a friend who encourages others.

  5.Bad company will corrupt good character.

Seek to be salt and light to others but be careful not to

sit in the seat of the scornful and those who mock God .

 

 

 6.Have friends who will love you enough to correct you .Temptation is everywhere.

 Find God-fearing friends who will help you avoid people,

places and things that can harm and damage your walk with God.

  7.If you want a friendship that will last make sure you will be a faithful trustworthy friend.

That's the way to develop strong friendships.

  8.Choose friends who spend time with God !

When it comes to spending time with God, are you a 'squeezer' or 'pleaser'?

 Do you just try to squeeze God into your busy life or do you please Him by

making Him 1st in your life ?

 

 CHOOSE YOU FRIENDS CAREFULLY AND YOU WILL BE BLESSED BY YOUR WISE DECISION TO FELLOWSHIP WITH THE RIGHT PEOPLE,

THAT IS PEOPLE WHO REVERENCE JESUS !

 

David Cooke
{Share this post as the Lord leads you}

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

God, My Heart and My Clothes

from a friend on Facebook comes this simple, but thought-provoking article:

There is not a 'square inch' of our lives,  including our closets with which God is unconcerned. Even more, He cares about the heart behind what you wear, about whether your wardrobe reveals worldliness or Godliness. All respectable apparel is the result of a Godly heart where modesty and self-control originate. Your clothes are a public statement of your personal and private motivation. And if you confess Godliness, you should be concerned with cultivating these twin virtues, modesty and self-control.

Modesty is humility expressed in dress. It's a desire to serve others by not promoting or provoking sensuality. Immodesty then is much more than wearing a short skirt or low cut top, it's the act of drawing undue attention to yourself. It's pride on display by what you wear.

Godly men find modesty attractive! They appreciate women who dress with self-control. They are grateful for women who serve them by helping them fight the temptation to lust. You should not dress in a way that resembles those whose intent is look seductive and sexy. One man said ,"When women that I am friends with dress immodestly, it definitely has a negative effect on our friendship. When a woman dresses immodestly, it does not make it easy to see her as a sister in Christ. There's a constant battle going on as I am talking to her." The way you dress should not be sexually enticing, distracting or divisive.

Immodesty includes clothing that is too tight and that is very form fitting. Immodesty is wearing to little clothing and shows to much skin, including unbuttoned blouses, plunging necklines that reveal cleavage, exposing the midriff and sheer see-through blouses that reveal undergarments.

Christian women think Christian men are immune to being visually triggered by lust due to the way they dress. Sin means that even nice men can have nasty thoughts.

IF A CHRISTIAN WOMEN COULD READ THE MINDS OF ALL THE MEN AS SHE WALKS INTO CHURCH,*STORE, SCHOOL ETC., WITH HER BARE SHOULDERS OR CLEAVAGE ON DISPLAY,SHE WOULD NEVER WEAR SUCH CLOTHING AGAIN. BUT CHRISTIAN MEN ARE AFRAID TO ADMIT THAT IT TAKES VERY LITTLE SKIN TO TEMPT THEM TO SIN. THEY SAY NOTHING, AND CHRISTIAN WOMEN ASSUME THEY ARE NOT LUSTING!

~Brother David Cooke [Thoughts from Mahaney and Spinney]

Of Which Do You Approve?

 

He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord. ~ Proverbs 17:15

God approves righteousness but condemns wickedness. Some men have the reverse attitude; they defend wickedness and find fault with righteousness.
~ Sean Bishop

 

(recopied from a friend)

 

The first time I heard someone defend sin in the name of Jesus

shocked me to the core of my soul.

To this day, I weep about it.

 

And the many times since that time that I have heard it.

 

Oh Lord,

keep us pure and still before you

so that we may hear even the faintest whisper

of your Spirit

and RUN to follow only You.

Amen.

The Time for Toil...

Taken at Fillmore Glen State Park in Moravia, NY

 

We who follow the Crucified are not here to make a pleasant thing of life; we are called to suffering for the sake of a suffering, sinful world. The Lord forgive us our shameful evasions and hesitations.

His brow was crowned with thorns. Do we not seek rosebuds for our crowning?

His hands were pierced with nails. Are our hands ringed with jewels?

His feet were bare and bound. Do our feet walk delicately?

What do we know of travail? of tears that scald before they fall? of heartbreak? of being scorned? God forgive us our love of ease.

God forgive us that so often we turn our faces from a life that is even remotely like His. Forgive us that we all but worship comfort, the delight of the presence of loved ones, possessions, treasures on earth.

Far, far from our prayers too often is any thought of a prayer for a love which will lead us to give one whom we love to follow our Lord to Gethsemane, to Calvary--perhaps because we have never been there ourselves.

-Amy Carmichael-

 

This is the lesson He has been pressing hard into my heart the past few years as He

has worked at weeding out from me that which would keep me in a state of

passive immature 'babyhood' instead of growing up in Him,

digging in my heels for the climb higher,

willing to let go of whatever would hinder me from

working the Road to Glory,

helping the weak and blind...

 

I am here to say that if we let Him have His way with us,

it WILL be painful to the flesh

but such a beautiful view that I cannot keep silent about it.

 

There is weeping in sheaf gathering.

There is strenuous toil and weariness from nights of

shortened sleep in the interest of prayer and soul seeking.

There comes a day when to sacrifice time, energy, sleep, money

or anything else in order to preach the Gospel of the kingdom

to the people in your town (including your own children)

 is what will be required of you.

 

Do your steps point your neighbor to Jesus?

 

Holding onto these things, including my own selfish desire

to nurse hurts from yesterday, and my insistence that God gives me what I think

 is best for me and my family will get me nowhere

in my own walk with the Savior.

And all the while that I am refusing to grow up in Him

and believe that He has me exactly where He wants me to be,

people in my town are dying and going to a Christless eternity.

 

That's too sobering to ignore.

 

 

"Let us, then, be up and doing,

with a heart for any fate;

still achieving, still pursuing,

 learn to labor and to wait." 

 

Henry Longfellow

 

 

 

The Pure Word...



Why People Do What They Do...

 

"I'll never understand why people do the things they do," remarked a friend recently, and immediately the Lord spoke to my heart the following:

We all do what we do because we each make a choice what kingdom we will represent.

Have you ever heard the saying, "Actions speak louder than words"? We can say whatever we think sounds good but when it all is said and done, what we have done reveals where our hearts are.

So a woman can say she loves the Lord and follows Jesus, but if she consistently disregards God's plan for her as a woman, or if she consistently yells at her children/siblings, or if she consistently dresses to reveal her body rather than cover it modestly, isn't that an indication of where her heart really is?

Or one can say they love Jesus and proclaim to follow Him, but if that one lives a life consistently opposite of Jesus' life, then what statement does that make?

If I say that I am a follower of Jesus Christ, then what I do will reflect Him. I do make mistakes and I do stumble as I go along, but my actions will reveal a heart that truly desires to do the right thing, and to honor Him in all that I speak and do. And as He writes more and more of His new name in my heart as I yield more and more of myself to Him, I will not continue to fall in the same old areas years after year, hopelessly falling down at the same old gopher hole from yesteryear. Praise God!

Why do people do what they do? Because we are either living in allegiance to satan, or are being changed from glory to glory as we walk in allegiance to the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Simple. Yet so muddied up and complicated by those who allow themselves to be used of the enemy to draw those two kingdoms closer to each other than they ever can be. One is black darkness, bondage and selfish living. The other is L.I.G.H.T and joy and peace and power in the Holy Spirit to crucify that old self and let a brand new identity in Christ Jesus, our Redeemer, become a reflection of Him who was our Perfect Example in how to live and dwell on the Earth, yet reflect the heavenlies. It's black and white: not gray.

I could make it all complicated by saying that we do what we do because we have been hurt, or scared, or abused in some way...And I would be partially correct. BUT...the choice is mine. What I do with my life reveals where my heart is and who I give allegiance to. End of story. Amen.

Consider:

Joseph~ who used the experiences of his life to reveal his character more than it being necessary to build his character; he was a man of integrity before he ever was taken as a slave to Egypt, and  before he became the head servant over all his master's goods, and before his master's wife tempted him to sin, and before he was thrown into prison on false charges, and before he was made governor next to the Pharaoh of the most powerful nation in the world at that time.

By today's commonly accepted teachings (laced with psycho talk and worldy mixed religions) among those who name the name of Christ, Joseph should be a wounded, crippled, scar-sporting man who would be identified by the experiences/wounds he accumulated in life. This man should struggle with anger, bitterness, inability to socialize well, and certainly not take on a lot of responsibility because of all the issues  he has to deal with from all the sad experiences he had. He would be going to support groups and counseling offices to get help for the issues that stem from the hardships he faced. It makes me sick! (not to say that discipling one another through had times and good times isn't a good thing, because it is God's Way. I'm just saying that today, we have fewer Josephs than we should and could if we would just choose to fear and believe and follow God in entirety)

I think that Joseph's secret was that he feared God. I think he feared God before he ever went to Egypt. I think that his consistently God-glorifying choices reveal a heart that believed God no matter what. Did he have feelings of anger? Did he feel rejected? Did he feel tempted to be bitter and to retreat to a corner of the prison away from everyone else to nurse his wounds? I can be pretty sure he did because he was a human being the same as you and me. BUT...his actions reveal where his heart was. He obviously did not say yes to himself but to God.

Consider Daniel:

As a young man, he stood with his 3 friends against the foods that he knew would defile his body and make him sluggish and sickly, and thus not being productively honoring to the Lord. I admire these youth who made the choice to be different for God's sake no matter what. They could have lived in fear of men, thus stooping to compromise. But no, they stood up against the KING of Babylon! Who dares to do such things?! And later on in that same time period, the three friends stood up against him again, refusing to bow to the golden statue, worshiping only the One, true God. Daniel, too showed great integrity and fear of God by praying like he normally did, even in the face of the decree that went out forbidding him to do that very thing.

By today's standards, those young men would be considered by many in Christendom to be legalistic radicals who should have made their stand on something different like their rights or equality for all, or some other such thing. Instead, again I say these men feared God. They recognized that God had put them where they were and required of them a standard that they could accomplish if they called on His name.

And they were given exactly what they needed to fulfill the task His wisdom had assigned them.
And He was glorified, and is in fact, still being glorified to this very day (thousands of years later) by that account as people can still read it today.

I am ashamed of identifying with much of Christendom today. It is sickening to me how much of the world we have allowed into our beliefs and practices. It has brought the Body to a crippled, sickly state and I weep aloud that God would keep calling out those who are willing to stand up against all that garbage and be real in Christ alone.

Let's dare to be real in Christ, walking in the SIMPLICITY which is in Him.
I intend to keep turning my back on anything that is laced with lies. I cannot allow that garbage into my thinking to mar what beautiful simplicity Christ is. This makes me a strange person. I am aware of that. And I stand: unashamed of the Gospel of Christ, believing that it is the power of God unto salvation to as many as believe.

Let's be His willing servants, studious Bereans, obedient in all things without compromise. I am tired of bumping into so much of "you're ok, I'm ok" kind of stuff and fighting the urge to give assent to it because I am tired of standing against the winds of falsehoods that are whipping at an increasing rate of speed around us. My unredeemed body is tired; I get weary of the many winds of doctrine beating at my door. But I believe that in due season I shall reap if I faint not, by the power of the Holy Spirit sent to guide us into all truth. And I have run for refuge to the Wings of my Father God, where true shelter is found.

And I realize that this seems to be a random post whose end connects not to its beginning. Trust me. It does. "-)



 

Summarizing it all, I say:

*We are who we are because we choose who we are and how we live.
*Sometimes we blame others and their wrongs against us for why we are the way we are when the answer is our problem, not theirs.
*At some point in time, we have to own our own sin.
*Fearing God brings life into its proper perspective
(more of Him each day, less of me, please!)
*We have been given all things pertaining to life and godliness, including examples from 'way back before the Holy Spirit, the written Word, and other benefits like recorded sermons, etc were given!
*We can be all that God created us to be IF we stop standing in the way with our selfish insistence on nursing wounds and holding grudges.
*Truth is not always popular but it is always right. Who is on the Lord's side? Stand on Christ in truth.

God bless and keep you.
Marcia

PS...
Those who are true followers should join hands and step up to the plate and truly disciple others. Let's not sugarcoat the truth. We don't need to be rude to those who are struggling with fear, rejection, anger, pride, etc. But we must not just listen. We are obligated to 'teach all things that Jesus commanded'. We are far too silent in the interest of 'caring', thus not bringing people to complete victory and maturity.

Sorry if this is getting long winded. It has been on my heart a long, long time and after much observation, and learning in my own experience, I felt the need to write it down.

Go with God.