You Don't Have to Be Productive

(Author: David Mathis)
What is the most important principle for productivity? Our Director of Strategy Matt Perman answers,

I would actually say: realize that you don't have to be productive. By this I mean: your significance does not come from your productivity. It comes from Christ, who obeyed God perfectly on our behalf such that our significance and standing before God comes from him, not anything we do. Then, on that basis, we pursue good works (which is what productivity is) and do so eagerly, as it says in Titus 2:14.

Read the full 3-question interview that this comes from.
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i found this to be pretty helpful in battling unproductivity〜

"By the Grace of God I Am What I Am"

"By the Grace of God I Am What I Am"
By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain . . . —1 Corinthians 15:10

The way we continually talk about our own inabilities is an insult to our Creator. To complain over our incompetence is to accuse God falsely of having overlooked us. Get into the habit of examining from God’s perspective those things that sound so humble to men. You will be amazed at how unbelievably inappropriate and disrespectful they are to Him. We say things such as, "Oh, I shouldn’t claim to be sanctified; I’m not a saint." But to say that before God means, "No, Lord, it is impossible for You to save and sanctify me; there are opportunities I have not had and so many imperfections in my brain and body; no, Lord, it isn’t possible." That may sound wonderfully humble to others, but before God it is an attitude of defiance.

Conversely, the things that sound humble before God may sound exactly the opposite to people. To say, "Thank God, I know I am saved and sanctified," is in God’s eyes the purest expression of humility. It means you have so completely surrendered yourself to God that you know He is true. Never worry about whether what you say sounds humble before others or not. But always be humble before God, and allow Him to be your all in all.

There is only one relationship that really matters, and that is your personal relationship to your personal Redeemer and Lord. If you maintain that at all costs, letting everything else go, God will fulfill His purpose through your life. One individual life may be of priceless value to God’s purposes, and yours may be that life.

Next Best to Grace: Oxygen

(Author: John Piper)

Charles Haddon Spurgeon wrote one of the wisest things I have ever read on dealing with discouragement or depression in the ministry. It's called "The Minister's Fainting Fits" from his book Lectures to My Students.

Here he is at his best.

He who forgets the humming of the bees among the heather, the cooing of the wood-pigeons in the forest, the song of birds in the woods, the rippling of rills among the rushes, and the sighing of the wind among the pines, needs not wonder if his heart forgets to sing and his soul grows heavy. A day's breathing of fresh air upon the hills, or a few hours, ramble in the beech woods' umbrageous calm, would sweep the cobwebs out of the brain of scores of our toiling ministers who are now but half alive. A mouthful of sea air, or a stiff walk in the wind's face, would not give grace to the soul, but it would yield oxygen to the body, which is next best.

The Supremacy of Jesus Christ

The Supremacy of Jesus Christ

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He will glorify Me . . . —John 16:14

 

The holiness movements of today have none of the rugged reality of the New Testament about them. There is nothing about them that needs the death of Jesus Christ. All that is required is a pious atmosphere, prayer, and devotion. This type of experience is not supernatural nor miraculous. It did not cost the sufferings of God, nor is it stained with "the blood of the Lamb" ( Revelation 12:11  ). It is not marked or sealed by the Holy Spirit as being genuine, and it has no visual sign that causes people to exclaim with awe and wonder, "That is the work of God Almighty!" Yet the New Testament is about the work of God and nothing else.
The New Testament example of the Christian experience is that of a personal, passionate devotion to the Person of Jesus Christ. Every other kind of so-called Christian experience is detached from the Person of Jesus. There is no regeneration— no being born again into the kingdom in which Christ lives and reigns supreme. There is only the idea that He is our pattern. In the New Testament Jesus Christ is the Savior long before He is the pattern. Today He is being portrayed as the figurehead of a religion— a mere example. He is that, but He is infinitely more. He is salvation itself; He is the gospel of God!
Jesus said, ". . . when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, . . . He will glorify Me . . ." (John 16:13-14  ). When I commit myself to the revealed truth of the New Testament, I receive from God the gift of the Holy Spirit, who then begins interpreting to me what Jesus did. The Spirit of God does in me internally all that Jesus Christ did for me externally.

The Riches of the Destitute

The Riches of the Destitute

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. . . being justified freely by His grace . . . —Romans 3:24

The gospel of the grace of God awakens an intense longing in human souls and an equally intense resentment, because the truth that it reveals is not palatable or easy to swallow. There is a certain pride in people that causes them to give and give, but to come and accept a gift is another thing. I will give my life to martyrdom; I will dedicate my life to service— I will do anything. But do not humiliate me to the level of the most hell-deserving sinner and tell me that all I have to do is accept the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.

We have to realize that we cannot earn or win anything from God through our own efforts. We must either receive it as a gift or do without it. The greatest spiritual blessing we receive is when we come to the knowledge that we are destitute. Until we get there, our Lord is powerless. He can do nothing for us as long as we think we are sufficient in and of ourselves. We must enter into His kingdom through the door of destitution. As long as we are "rich," particularly in the area of pride or independence, God can do nothing for us. It is only when we get hungry spiritually that we receive the Holy Spirit. The gift of the essential nature of God is placed and made effective in us by the Holy Spirit. He imparts to us the quickening life of Jesus, making us truly alive. He takes that which was "beyond" us and places it "within" us. And immediately, once "the beyond" has come "within," it rises up to "the above," and we are lifted into the kingdom where Jesus lives and reigns (see John 3:5  ).

The Focal Point of Spiritual Power

The Focal Point of Spiritual Power

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. . . except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . —Galatians 6:14

If you want to know the power of God (that is, the resurrection life of Jesus) in your human flesh, you must dwell on the tragedy of God. Break away from your personal concern over your own spiritual condition, and with a completely open spirit consider the tragedy of God. Instantly the power of God will be in you. "Look to Me. . ." (Isaiah 45:22). Pay attention to the external Source and the internal power will be there. We lose power because we don’t focus on the right thing. The effect of the Cross is salvation, sanctification, healing, etc., but we are not to preach any of these. We are to preach "Jesus Christ and Him crucified" ( 1 Corinthians 2:2  ). The proclaiming of Jesus will do its own work. Concentrate on God’s focal point in your preaching, and even if your listeners seem to pay it no attention, they will never be the same again. If I share my own words, they are of no more importance than your words are to me. But if we share the truth of God with one another, we will encounter it again and again. We have to focus on the great point of spiritual power— the Cross. If we stay in contact with that center of power, its energy is released in our lives. In holiness movements and spiritual experience meetings, the focus tends to be put not on the Cross of Christ but on the effects of the Cross.

The feebleness of the church is being criticized today, and the criticism is justified. One reason for the feebleness is that there has not been this focus on the true center of spiritual power. We have not dwelt enough on the tragedy of Calvary or on the meaning of redemption.

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I think just from the title you can tell that this was going to be a good one, and it is:)

The Secret of Spiritual Consistency

The Secret of Spiritual Consistency

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God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . —Galatians 6:14

When a person is newly born again, he seems inconsistent due to his unrelated emotions and the state of the external things or circumstances in his life. The apostle Paul had a strong and steady underlying consistency in his life. Consequently, he could let his external life change without internal distress because he was rooted and grounded in God. Most of us are not consistent spiritually because we are more concerned about being consistent externally. In the external expression of things, Paul lived in the basement, while his critics lived on the upper level. And these two levels do not begin to touch each other. But Paul’s consistency was down deep in the fundamentals. The great basis of his consistency was the agony of God in the redemption of the world, namely, the Cross of Christ.

State your beliefs to yourself again. Get back to the foundation of the Cross of Christ, doing away with any belief not based on it. In secular history the Cross is an infinitesimally small thing, but from the biblical perspective it is of more importance than all the empires of the world. If we get away from dwelling on the tragedy of God on the Cross in our preaching, our preaching produces nothing. It will not transmit the energy of God to man; it may be interesting, but it will have no power. However, when we preach the Cross, the energy of God is released. ". . . it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. . . . we preach Christ crucified . . ." ( 1 Corinthians 1:21, 23  ).

wow i'm seriously...SO BLESSEDT____T
the Lord has put so many wonderful people around me
just got a msg from Kristine and she's so sweet;___;...feeling very thankful for those God has put around me♥
i completely don't deserve for You to love me so much but in Christ i have been given everything:)
Thank You Father!

i had a pretty terrible headache yesterday
somehow even though i prayed for hours this one was just so stubborn and refused to go away
that's a first since Harvest retreat in August
but thankfully it faded away today and i was able to do things as usual:)
more than ever, i think i can feel God's presence around me.
just constantly reminded that He's right here no matter where i go.
we always hear that God's omnipresent but don't truly know what that means i think
but it's def. very reassuring to be able to trust that He's right here with me♥

Direction of Focus

Direction of Focus

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Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters . . . , so our eyes look to the Lord our God . . . —Psalm 123:2

This verse is a description of total reliance on God. Just as the eyes of a servant are riveted on his master, our eyes should be directed to and focused on God. This is how knowledge of His countenance is gained and how God reveals Himself to us (seeIsaiah 53:1  ). Our spiritual strength begins to be drained when we stop lifting our eyes to Him. Our stamina is sapped, not so much through external troubles surrounding us but through problems in our thinking. We wrongfully think, "I suppose I’ve been stretching myself a little too much, standing too tall and trying to look like God instead of being an ordinary humble person." We have to realize that no effort can be too high.

For example, you came to a crisis in your life, took a stand for God, and even had the witness of the Spirit as a confirmation that what you did was right. But now, maybe weeks or years have gone by, and you are slowly coming to the conclusion— "Well, maybe what I did showed too much pride or was superficial. Was I taking a stand a bit too high for me?" Your "rational" friends come and say, "Don’t be silly. We knew when you first talked about this spiritual awakening that it was a passing impulse, that you couldn’t hold up under the strain. And anyway, God doesn’t expect you to endure." You respond by saying, "Well, I suppose I was expecting too much." That sounds humble to say, but it means that your reliance on God is gone, and you are now relying on worldly opinion. The danger comes when, no longer relying on God, you neglect to focus your eyes on Him. Only when God brings you to a sudden stop will you realize that you have been the loser. Whenever there is a spiritual drain in your life, correct it immediately. Realize that something has been coming between you and God, and change or remove it at once.

The Distraction of Contempt

The Distraction of Contempt

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Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt —Psalm 123:3

What we must beware of is not damage to our belief in God but damage to our Christian disposition or state of mind. "Take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously" ( Malachi 2:16  ). Our state of mind is powerful in its effects. It can be the enemy that penetrates right into our soul and distracts our mind from God. There are certain attitudes we should never dare to indulge. If we do, we will find they have distracted us from faith in God. Until we get back into a quiet mood before Him, our faith is of no value, and our confidence in the flesh and in human ingenuity is what rules our lives.

Beware of "the cares of this world . . ." ( Mark 4:19  ). They are the very things that produce the wrong attitudes in our soul. It is incredible what enormous power there is in simple things to distract our attention away from God. Refuse to be swamped by "the cares of this world."

Another thing that distracts us is our passion for vindication. St. Augustine prayed, "O Lord, deliver me from this lust of always vindicating myself." Such a need for constant vindication destroys our soul’s faith in God. Don’t say, "I must explain myself," or, "I must get people to understand." Our Lord never explained anything— He left the misunderstandings or misconceptions of others to correct themselves.

When we discern that other people are not growing spiritually and allow that discernment to turn to criticism, we block our fellowship with God. God never gives us discernment so that we may criticize, but that we may intercede.

there is incredible power in knowing that i belong to Jesus♥

Servants was crazy good.
Not just worshiping together with so many of my brothers and sisters who are all so loved in Christ, but from the sermons and seminar having Godly men speak truth into me is SO wonderful.
From the worship to sermons to prayer, everything just makes me hungry for MORE! i am so unsatisfied in my current condition and there's this burning desire and need to know Him MORE and MORE and MORE!!
i feel so impatient and i keep thinking and asking Him how long it would take, when can i become like the Godly men and women i met here???
i want to see with the eyes of Jesus. Love people and know that we are all weak and it is what is behind them that causes them to sin.

but i think the single most important thing i learned here is my identity in Christ.
it's such a fundamental thing but so many Christians don't know it.
and the thing is power and authority in Christ stems from our confidence that Christ has made us into new creations.
we fail to realize how much more powerful God is than satan. Like what JM said, we often think that there's a great battle between God and satan but in the Bible we see that it's not God or even the arch-angel Michael who throws satan into hell but some nameless angel. Meaning that he is just on the same level as all the other angels and God is INFINITELY greater and more powerful than this fallen angel.
That's why God tells us again and again in scripture "Do not be afraid" because when you stand firm in your identity in Christ, you will have the authority and power given to you by Christ to bound others in by the blood of Jesus Christ and set them free from any rein that satan may have over them. The earth and everything in it is Yours. The one whom all authority has been given is with you, there is no need to be afraid.
He loves us with a burning, burning love. Even though I'm hungry to know Him, His desire for me to know Him is so much more than what I want.

"The gospel of justifying faith means that while Christians are, in themselves still sinful and sinning, yet in Christ, in God’s sight, they are accepted and righteous. So we can say that we are more wicked than we ever dared believe, but more loved and accepted in Christ than we ever dared hope — at the very same time." -Tim Keller

“If we’re not completely convinced that His love is ours, right now, fully and unalterably ours, we will always hide in the shadows, be focused on our performance, fearing His wrath….We are, each one, more sinful and flawed than we ever dared believe, but more loved and welcomed than we ever dared hope. " -Elyse Fitzpatrick


I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

JESUS IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I BELONG TO JESUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!

Shallow and Profound

Shallow and Profound

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Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God —1 Corinthians 10:31

Beware of allowing yourself to think that the shallow aspects of life are not ordained by God; they are ordained by Him equally as much as the profound. We sometimes refuse to be shallow, not out of our deep devotion to God but because we wish to impress other people with the fact that we are not shallow. This is a sure sign of spiritual pride. We must be careful, for this is how contempt for others is produced in our lives. And it causes us to be a walking rebuke to other people because they are more shallow than we are. Beware of posing as a profound person— God became a baby.

To be shallow is not a sign of being sinful, nor is shallowness an indication that there is no depth to your life at all— the ocean has a shore. Even the shallow things of life, such as eating and drinking, walking and talking, are ordained by God. These are all things our Lord did. He did them as the Son of God, and He said, "A disciple is not above his teacher . . ." ( Matthew 10:24  ).
We are safeguarded by the shallow things of life. We have to live the surface, commonsense life in a commonsense way. Then when God gives us the deeper things, they are obviously separated from the shallow concerns. Never show the depth of your life to anyone but God. We are so nauseatingly serious, so desperately interested in our own character and reputation, we refuse to behave like Christians in the shallow concerns of life.

Make a determination to take no one seriously except God. You may find that the first person you must be the most critical with, as being the greatest fraud you have ever known, is yourself.

The Forgiveness of God

The Forgiveness of God

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In Him we have . . . the forgiveness of sins . . . —Ephesians 1:7

Beware of the pleasant view of the fatherhood of God: God is so kind and loving that of course He will forgive us. That thought, based solely on emotion, cannot be found anywhere in the New Testament. The only basis on which God can forgive us is the tremendous tragedy of the Cross of Christ. To base our forgiveness on any other ground is unconscious blasphemy. The only ground on which God can forgive our sin and reinstate us to His favor is through the Cross of Christ. There is no other way! Forgiveness, which is so easy for us to accept, cost the agony at Calvary. We should never take the forgiveness of sin, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and our sanctification in simple faith, and then forget the enormous cost to God that made all of this ours.
Forgiveness is the divine miracle of grace. The cost to God was the Cross of Christ. To forgive sin, while remaining a holy God, this price had to be paid. Never accept a view of the fatherhood of God if it blots out the atonement. The revealed truth of God is that without the atonement He cannot forgive— He would contradict His nature if He did. The only way we can be forgiven is by being brought back to God through the atonement of the Cross. God’s forgiveness is possible only in the supernatural realm.
Compared with the miracle of the forgiveness of sin, the experience of sanctification is small. Sanctification is simply the wonderful expression or evidence of the forgiveness of sins in a human life. But the thing that awakens the deepest fountain of gratitude in a human being is that God has forgiven his sin. Paul never got away from this. Once you realize all that it cost God to forgive you, you will be held as in a vise, constrained by the love of God.
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Great is your love Lord:)
i guess i wont be buying the camera though...T__T
but Servants today! yayyy:)

i've been feeling so tired and insipid recently without even realizing it
this entire week for some reason i just couldn't feel very joyful as if there was something keeping me from it. i was also having some trouble breathing, which is unusual. i could blame it on the cold that i semi-caught but didn't come down with anything, but i think it goes deeper than that.
at times i would be so thankful for God's grace but it fades away quickly. i couldn't help but feel like my prayers are shallow even though i want them to be deeper, i find myself praying for the same things over and over again.
knowing Servants was this weekend i felt like i should have prayed more but i really felt like i was losing the joy in worshiping Christ.
yes i know He is God.
yes i know He is worthy.
yes i know i must worship Him.
but it wasn't like when i first came back from Harvest and i thought about God all the time, how He was always on my mind. i really wanted to go back to how i just loved to be with Him and longed to spend time with Him and having Him be my strength to overcome everything.
it's so easy for us to say these things but to know them truly with our hearts is often times difficult. 
as Christians, we all go through ups and downs. even though i want to be up all the time, as human it is impossible. but i believe God uses those times to teach us and help us to grow in Him.
and at the same time He provides, like i think i really needed encouragement and reassurance of His love

then tonight i came across Esther Min's post on Desert Song:

My fellow sisters in Christ,

This song has been on my heart for a while and I wanted to share it with you all. God knows and cares for you and the condition of your heart. Sometimes we become circumstantial worshippers. Worshipping God when we want to, when it is convenient for us, or when we really need Him. Personally for me, life has been quite a rocky journey. These days it's been really hard for me to worship and pray onto Him with a genuine heart. Let me encourage both you and I with this... No matter what circumstance you are in... we worship a God who does not change. He still sits on the throne and loves us both. His promises are still true. God is bigger than our circumstances.

This song actually hit me when I was in the parking garage at school. haha... I had a worship session in my car =P During hard times when you feel like you are in the desert. Trust in the Lord and let the circumstance you are in refine you and make you stronger.

Stand firm sisters~


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE33ejdgWIY

Jill McCloghry & Brooke Fraser (Hillsong) - Desert Song

This is my prayer in the desert
And all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in the hunger in me
My God is a God who provides

And this is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved
Of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flames

And I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon forged against me shall remain

I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

And this is my prayer in the battle
And triumph is still on it's way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I'll stand

All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship

This is my prayer in the harvest
When favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be emptied again
The seed I've received I will sow

this post was a tremendous blessing for me. being often very slow at realizing my own emotions, as tears started down my face i saw just how tired i was from everything and how much i failed to see God's character in just how much He loves me.

with everything that's just been going on at home and with church, life definitely has not been easy.
my mom came back from her business trip this week and she's completely stressed out because her boss' biggest client fired him. she's worried about perhaps losing her job if the firm decides to fire her boss.
i think she's mad at me because she doesn't really talk to me even when i try to talk with her asking how her day went. part of it i'm sure is because of what's going on at work but even though i understand it still hurts me and i really wish that she would be more loving or at least communicate what's going on. being the love me that i am, having my mom clearly show that she doesn't want me around takes quite a toll on me. another thing is i'm sure she's not very happy about me going to taiwan. in some ways i really think that she felt like i chose sides with my dad even though honestly he has been a terrible father to my brother and i. it's difficult to convey to her that even though i understand that, i feel like God is calling me to reach out to him. she continues to live in fear of him coming back into our lives and ruining everything she's worked so hard to build. at the same time she really doesn't like that i spend so much time doing church stuff which is pretty discouraging.

gosh i'm seriously just complaining a lot. i hope no one reads this blog...lol

the other thing is i'm going to church at kcpw but discipleship training at andc. i think neither pastors like what i'm doing-__- when i chose, in my heart i wanted to be where i can grow the most and that ended up being kcpw. more than anything else, i think it's because the audience for the sermons are targeted towards college kids and young adults whereas pc has to prepare sermons which middle school kids can understand and at the same time have it be helpful to college and young adults. being spiritually older, i really do believe that we need spiritual food that will help us to go deeper than those who are younger.
so sometimes i think that makes things difficult at slts. they know i'm not at their church and i know i'm not at their church but i come out to slts and large groups. at times i can feel kind of excluded being non-korean and non-congregational member. and to be honest, this hurts me as well.
while they were assigning the jobs today, i wish that i could do some of those things. i'd have loved to been the photographer and be on the welcoming committee.
there are times when i wonder if i should just switch churches and go to andc instead, but i can't leave without considering the feelings of others.
for me, this is still something i have turmoils about and a topic i'll be praying about at Servants. is not Christ one body and one church? why this division then?
always remind myself, it's not about what p.paul or p.cliff thinks, but what i do should be what is pleasing to God and not men.

i really try not to care about what anyone says by reminding myself that no matter what they think of me, i know i am a worse sinner. this honestly has been very helpful for me because i know that it is true.
but in the end it takes much more than just continuously saying that to myself because in my sinful heart i still want the approval of others.
so back to what i was initially writing about after all that ramblings in the middle.
seriously, reading Esther's post really showed me once again God's love.
I really loved it when she said,

"These days it's been really hard for me to worship and pray onto Him with a genuine heart. Let me encourage both you and I with this... No matter what circumstance you are in... we worship a God who does not change. He still sits on the throne and loves us both. His promises are still true. God is bigger than our circumstances."

It's of great comfort to know that we have a God who is unchanging and loves us the same even though we are unfaithful and don't desire to come to Him.
I also loved what Brooke said in the video,
"It's just a real emotional moment and just her standing there and glorifying God in the midst of her lost and her tragedy means that the devil lost what he was trying to achieve."
i don't know why i've never realized this but indeed satan does try to keep us from worshiping God by throwing all these things into our lives and so keep us from being satisfied and comforted in Christ.
I remember Mrs.Kim telling me that satan is jealous that God loves us so much and because he cannot do anything to God, instead he attacks the people as to keep us away from Him and hurt God this way.
Lord Jesus, help us. We are weak people and we cannot do anything but You are strong! Be our strength Lord I pray, help us to be deeper with You God. In Jesus' name i pray, Amen.

 Thanks Esther, i was indeed very encouraged:)

i've been fasting once a week since before Harvest started but it's still so hardT____T
IS IT EVER GOING TO GET EASIER;_____;??????!!!!!!!

"When He Has Come"

"When He Has Come"

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When He has come, He will convict the world of sin . . . —John 16:8

Very few of us know anything about conviction of sin. We know the experience of being disturbed because we have done wrong things. But conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit blots out every relationship on earth and makes us aware of only one— "Against You, You only, have I sinned . . ." ( Psalm 51:4  ). When a person is convicted of sin in this way, he knows with every bit of his conscience that God would not dare to forgive him. If God did forgive him, then this person would have a stronger sense of justice than God. God does forgive, but it cost the breaking of His heart with grief in the death of Christ to enable Him to do so. The great miracle of the grace of God is that He forgives sin, and it is the death of Jesus Christ alone that enables the divine nature to forgive and to remain true to itself in doing so. It is shallow nonsense to say that God forgives us because He is love. Once we have been convicted of sin, we will never say this again. The love of God means Calvary— nothing less! The love of God is spelled out on the Cross and nowhere else. The only basis for which God can forgive me is the Cross of Christ. It is there that His conscience is satisfied.

Forgiveness doesn’t merely mean that I am saved from hell and have been made ready for heaven (no one would accept forgiveness on that level). Forgiveness means that I am forgiven into a newly created relationship which identifies me with God in Christ. The miracle of redemption is that God turns me, the unholy one, into the standard of Himself, the Holy One. He does this by putting into me a new nature, the nature of Jesus Christ.
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Thankful for Oswald Chambers writing this one and giving us a deeper knowledge of the forgiveness we have attained in Christ:)
Reminded me greatly of this excerpt he wrote as well:

 "The reason salvation is so easy to obtain is that it cost God so much. the cross was the place where God and sinful man merged with a tremendous collision and where the way to life was opened."

"What Is That to You?"

"What Is That to You?"

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Peter . . . said to Jesus, ’But Lord, what about this man?’ Jesus said to him, ’. . . what is that to you? You follow Me’ —John 21:21-22

One of the hardest lessons to learn comes from our stubborn refusal to refrain from interfering in other people’s lives. It takes a long time to realize the danger of being an amateur providence, that is, interfering with God’s plan for others. You see someone suffering and say, "He will not suffer, and I will make sure that he doesn’t." You put your hand right in front of God’s permissive will to stop it, and then God says, "What is that to you?" Is there stagnation in your spiritual life? Don’t allow it to continue, but get into God’s presence and find out the reason for it. You will possibly find it is because you have been interfering in the life of another— proposing things you had no right to propose, or advising when you had no right to advise. When you do have to give advice to another person, God will advise through you with the direct understanding of His Spirit. Your part is to maintain the right relationship with God so that His discernment can come through you continually for the purpose of blessing someone else.
Most of us live only within the level of consciousness— consciously serving and consciously devoted to God. This shows immaturity and the fact that we’re not yet living the real Christian life. Maturity is produced in the life of a child of God on the unconscious level, until we become so totally surrendered to God that we are not even aware of being used by Him. When we are consciously aware of being used as broken bread and poured-out wine, we have yet another level to reach— a level where all awareness of ourselves and of what God is doing through us is completely eliminated. A saint is never consciously a saint— a saint is consciously dependent on God.
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My Utmost from Sunday which I didn't realize I had not read.
And as always, Oswald Chambers words are helpful for my growth in Christ. He seriously has some amazing insight that Christ has revealed to him:) man, when can i be more insightful as well? gotta pray more.

Dense with Magnificent Truth

(Author: John Piper)
What an amazing array of glorious acts of love God shows toward us in 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14. I pray that God will make my thoughts this dense with magnificent truth.

Loved
Chosen
Saved
Sanctified
Believing
Called
Obtaining glory

2 Thessalonians 2:13-14:

But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved , through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth . To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ .

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Sharing another one:)

Do Not Labor for the Food That Perishes

(Author: David Mathis)
This week's sermon: "Do Not Labor for the Food That Perishes"
Jesus isn't eager to be useful to our natural desires. He's too loving to be content with us seeing him as anything less than our supreme Treasure.

So the Gospel of John was written to make known the glory of Jesus, not the glory of his gifts. The story points again and again to the person of faith, not the product of religion.

Jesus tells us in John 6:27 not to labor for the bread that perishes but for the food that endures to eternal life.

Laboring for the enduring food does not mean earning his favor. Rather, Jesus turns our inclination for doing upside down. This is what we're required to do: Believe in Jesus. It's a kind of doing that isn't doing. Those who eat the enduring food, Jesus himself who is the Bread of Life, don't work to earn him but believe to receive him.

But what does it mean not to labor for the food that perishes? Stop working altogether? Quit our jobs? No, but our jobs should be changed. When Jesus is our highest Treasure something about everything changes. And the effect isn't lazy, sloppy, gloomy labor, but zealous, excellent, joyful work that magnifies the beauty of our Bread and gladly meets the needs of others.
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Just thought I'd share because this is a great reminder so often not realized or forgotten:)

Winning into Freedom

Winning into Freedom

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If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed —John 8:36

If there is even a trace of individual self-satisfaction left in us, it always says, "I can’t surrender," or "I can’t be free." But the spiritual part of our being never says "I can’t"; it simply soaks up everything around it. Our spirit hungers for more and more. It is the way we are built. We are designed with a great capacity for God, but sin, our own individuality, and wrong thinking keep us from getting to Him. God delivers us from sin— we have to deliver ourselves from our individuality. This means offering our natural life to God and sacrificing it to Him, so He may transform it into spiritual life through our obedience.
God pays no attention to our natural individuality in the development of our spiritual life. His plan runs right through our natural life. We must see to it that we aid and assist God, and not stand against Him by saying, "I can’t do that." God will not discipline us; we must discipline ourselves. God will not bring our "arguments . . . and every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5 )— we have to do it. Don’t say, "Oh, Lord, I suffer from wandering thoughts." Don’t suffer from wandering thoughts. Stop listening to the tyranny of your individual natural life and win freedom into the spiritual life.
"If the Son makes you free . . . ." Do not substitute Savior for Son in this passage. The Savior has set us free from sin, but this is the freedom that comes from being set free from myself by the Son. It is what Paul meant in Galatians 2:20  when he said, "I have been crucified with Christ . . . ." His individuality had been broken and his spirit had been united with his Lord; not just merged into Him, but made one with Him. ". . . you shall be free indeed"— free to the very core of your being; free from the inside to the outside. We tend to rely on our own energy, instead of being energized by the power that comes from identification with Jesus.
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Amen.
Wow, Jesus really wanted me to read this. I've been praying about it all week. Thank You Lord, I pray for Your strength for me to obey, help me to be more like You Jesus!!

The Eternal Goal

The Eternal Goal

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By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing . . . I will bless you . . . —Genesis 22:16-17

Abraham, at this point, has reached where he is in touch with the very nature of God. He now understands the reality of God.

My goal is God Himself . . .
At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.

"At any cost . . . by any road" means submitting to God’s way of bringing us to the goal.

There is no possibility of questioning God when He speaks, if He speaks to His own nature in me. Prompt obedience is the only result. When Jesus says, "Come," I simply come; when He says, "Let go," I let go; when He says, "Trust God in this matter," I trust. This work of obedience is the evidence that the nature of God is in me.
God’s revelation of Himself to me is influenced by my character, not by God’s character.
’Tis because I am ordinary,
Thy ways so often look ordinary to me.
It is through the discipline of obedience that I get to the place where Abraham was and I see who God is. God will never be real to me until I come face to face with Him in Jesus Christ. Then I will know and can boldly proclaim, "In all the world, my God, there is none but Thee, there is none but Thee."
The promises of God are of no value to us until, through obedience, we come to understand the nature of God. We may read some things in the Bible every day for a year and they may mean nothing to us. Then, because we have been obedient to God in some small detail, we suddenly see what God means and His nature is instantly opened up to us. "All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen . . ." (2 Corinthians 1:20). Our "Yes" must be born of obedience; when by obedience we ratify a promise of God by saying, "Amen," or, "So be it." That promise becomes ours.
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when i don't desire to pray, what an insult it must be to Him who gave us the privilege to pray and hears our prayers because of Christ who died for us.
i'm sorry Father, i'll go pray now:)

GraphicTherapy <--pretty cool website〜 i really like the design and the navigation, simple yet fabulous

Still Human!

Still Human!

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. . . whatever you do, do all to the glory of God —1 Corinthians 10:31

In the Scriptures, the great miracle of the incarnation slips into the ordinary life of a child; the great miracle of the transfiguration fades into the demon-possessed valley below; the glory of the resurrection descends into a breakfast on the seashore. This is not an anticlimax, but a great revelation of God.
We have a tendency to look for wonder in our experience, and we mistake heroic actions for real heroes. It’s one thing to go through a crisis grandly, yet quite another to go through every day glorifying God when there is no witness, no limelight, and no one paying even the remotest attention to us. If we are not looking for halos, we at least want something that will make people say, "What a wonderful man of prayer he is!" or, "What a great woman of devotion she is!" If you are properly devoted to the Lord Jesus, you have reached the lofty height where no one would ever notice you personally. All that is noticed is the power of God coming through you all the time.
We want to be able to say, "Oh, I have had a wonderful call from God!" But to do even the most humbling tasks to the glory of God takes the Almighty God Incarnate working in us. To be utterly unnoticeable requires God’s Spirit in us making us absolutely humanly His. The true test of a saint’s life is not successfulness but faithfulness on the human level of life. We tend to set up success in Christian work as our purpose, but our purpose should be to display the glory of God in human life, to live a life "hidden with Christ in God" in our everyday human conditions ( Colossians 3:3  ). Our human relationships are the very conditions in which the ideal life of God should be exhibited.
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To You alone be the glory.
I am unworthy of Your great love.

last night during discipleship training we talked about the assurance that Christians have that their prayers will be answered.
The example P.Cliff gave about George Mueller blew me away. He prayed SO much that the carpet in his office had holes in them.
Father can You help me to be like that Lord? I long to desire and love spending time with You, not out of obligation, forced, but seriously LOVE to spend time with You Jesus.
Man, what Oswald Chambers wrote is so right, we're ridiculously ungrateful and prideful. We speak of sacrifice when everything we have is given by God. It is a privilege to serve and be able to talk with Him and yet so often I am so ungrateful to the God who ought to strike me dead at His feet but was SO merciful and loving that instead He came to die for me. He gave His all for me and I am loved by Him.
Seriously sometimes I think about how amazing it is that He chose me and led me out of the darkness into the light. I am astounded and baffled as to why He would choose me but at the same time when I realize that, so grateful that He has though I am unworthy.

Last night we also came upon the subject of demon possession/oppression and when I went home, being the scardy-cat that I am and being alone in the house didn't help either, was completely afraid that something like that would happen to me.
So naturally, I prayed.
Even though I was scared, I asked for His peace which He gives freely and willingly and for His Holy Spirit to rest upon me. Somewhere in there, He reassured me of His love. He reminded that I will never be separated from His love. So even if I become demon possessed, even if I fall away from faith, fall away from Him, even if my mind utters blasphemy against Him, He said to me, "Wendy, my love for you will never change." His love for me will never change.

"By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything." 1 John 3:19-20

He calls me by name. He already knows everything. What astounding mercy and love. There is no one like Him. Lord, will You sanctify me by Your truth, Your Word is truth. Jesus help me to grow more and more and more and more and more in You Lord. I love You Jesus, thank You for Your love for me first:) In Jesus' name I pray, AMEN!!!

Faith or Experience?

Faith or Experience?

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. . . the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me —Galatians 2:20

We should battle through our moods, feelings, and emotions into absolute devotion to the Lord Jesus. We must break out of our own little world of experience into abandoned devotion to Him. Think who the New Testament says Jesus Christ is, and then think of the despicable meagerness of the miserable faith we exhibit by saying, "I haven’t had this experience or that experience"! Think what faith in Jesus Christ claims and provides— He can present us faultless before the throne of God, inexpressibly pure, absolutely righteous, and profoundly justified. Stand in absolute adoring faith "in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God— and righteousness and sanctification and redemption . . ." ( 1 Corinthians 1:30  ). How dare we talk of making a sacrifice for the Son of God! We are saved from hell and total destruction, and then we talk about making sacrifices!

We must continually focus and firmly place our faith in Jesus Christ— not a "prayer meeting" Jesus Christ, or a "book" Jesus Christ, but the New Testament Jesus Christ, who is God Incarnate, and who ought to strike us dead at His feet. Our faith must be in the One from whom our salvation springs. Jesus Christ wants our absolute, unrestrained devotion to Himself. We can never experience Jesus Christ, or selfishly bind Him in the confines of our own hearts. Our faith must be built on strong determined confidence in Him.
It is because of our trusting in experience that we see the steadfast impatience of the Holy Spirit against unbelief. All of our fears are sinful, and we create our own fears by refusing to nourish ourselves in our faith. How can anyone who is identified with Jesus Christ suffer from doubt or fear! Our lives should be an absolute hymn of praise resulting from perfect, irrepressible, triumphant belief.

The Changed Life

The Changed Life

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If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new —2 Corinthians 5:17

What understanding do you have of the salvation of your soul? The work of salvation means that in your real life things are dramatically changed. You no longer look at things in the same way. Your desires are new and the old things have lost their power to attract you. One of the tests for determining if the work of salvation in your life is genuine is— has God changed the things that really matter to you? If you still yearn for the old things, it is absurd to talk about being born from above— you are deceiving yourself. If you are born again, the Spirit of God makes the change very evident in your real life and thought. And when a crisis comes, you are the most amazed person on earth at the wonderful difference there is in you. There is no possibility of imagining that you did it. It is this complete and amazing change that is the very evidence that you are saved.
What difference has my salvation and sanctification made? For instance, can I stand in the light of 1 Corinthians 13 , or do I squirm and evade the issue? True salvation, worked out in me by the Holy Spirit, frees me completely. And as long as I "walk in the light as He is in the light" ( 1 John 1:7  ), God sees nothing to rebuke because His life is working itself into every detailed part of my being, not on the conscious level, but even deeper than my consciousness.

Thinking you’re naked.

Thinking you’re naked.
Quite an amazing bit from the blog: Stuff Christians Like
He loves us so much.

tonight while driving to Bible study, i took the wrong exit (on Little River Turnpike instead exit 54) cause I thought that was the exit.
I kept driving since I thought that was ok, at first b/c I thought that was the exit, and then I thought I thought it was ok b/c it'll connect to Annandale and then I'll take 495 and get back on track. But after driving for like 15min, I realized there was no way this was right so I turned around. (I actually took the Fairfax exit so it wouldn't have connected to Annandale)

On one of the hills there was a red light so I stepped on the break to stop. But my car didn't stop. It was raining so the tires continued downward even though I floored the breaks.
I saw the car in front of me and I thought, "I am going to hit the back of that car. There's no way of avoiding it." I was going down relatively slowly but nevertheless I could not stop the car.
I prepared myself mentally for the crash then about a couple of inches before the impact my car suddenly stopped, fully.

Somehow my car stopped literally 5-inches from the car in front of me. First I gave thanks to God. I was shocked but thankful that the impact did not occur.
I probably should have known because recently while driving my tires were making terrible noises when I made big turns but I chose to ignore it. But this warning really gave my heart a jolt and while driving to the church and back home I was extra careful taking care to slow down well before the light.
I don't really have a conclusion for this besides what I have written for now.
Thank You Father, please help me to be more thankful!

How NOT to Ask a Christian Girl Out

How NOT to Ask a Christian Girl Out
lol just read this〜Ridiculously funnyXD

The Supreme Climb

The Supreme Climb

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He said, ’Take now your son . . .’ —Genesis 22:2

God’s command is, "Take now," not later. It is incredible how we debate! We know something is right, but we try to find excuses for not doing it immediately. If we are to climb to the height God reveals, it can never be done later— it must be done now. And the sacrifice must be worked through our will before we actually perform it.
"So Abraham rose early in the morning . . . and went to the place of which God had told him" ( Genesis 22:3 ). Oh, the wonderful simplicity of Abraham! When God spoke, he did not "confer with flesh and blood" ( Galatians 1:16 ). Beware when you want to "confer with flesh and blood" or even your own thoughts, insights, or understandings— anything that is not based on your personal relationship with God. These are all things that compete with and hinder obedience to God.
Abraham did not choose what the sacrifice would be. Always guard against self-chosen service for God. Self-sacrifice may be a disease that impairs your service. If God has made your cup sweet, drink it with grace; or even if He has made it bitter, drink it in communion with Him. If the providential will of God means a hard and difficult time for you, go through it. But never decide the place of your own martyrdom, as if to say, "I will only go to there, but no farther." God chose the test for Abraham, and Abraham neither delayed nor protested, but steadily obeyed. If you are not living in touch with God, it is easy to blame Him or pass judgment on Him. You must go through the trial before you have any right to pronounce a verdict, because by going through the trial you learn to know God better. God is working in us to reach His highest goals until His purpose and our purpose become one.
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 Oswald Chambers is right on. how often i wrestle with flesh and blood trying to find excuses to justify the things i do. Lord, help me to know Your purpose and give me the strength to be obedient so that Your purpose and my purpose may become one.

i = excited:)!!
need to start praying A LOT harder!!!!
time to FIGHT:D!!!!!!!!!

Sacred Service

Sacred Service

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I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ . . . —Colossians 1:24

The Christian worker has to be a sacred "go-between." He must be so closely identified with his Lord and the reality of His redemption that Christ can continually bring His creating life through him. I am not referring to the strength of one individual’s personality being superimposed on another, but the real presence of Christ coming through every aspect of the worker’s life. When we preach the historical facts of the life and death of our Lord as they are conveyed in the New Testament, our words are made sacred. God uses these words, on the basis of His redemption, to create something in those who listen which otherwise could never have been created. If we simply preach the effects of redemption in the human life instead of the revealed, divine truth regarding Jesus Himself, the result is not new birth in those who listen. The result is a refined religious lifestyle, and the Spirit of God cannot witness to it because such preaching is in a realm other than His. We must make sure that we are living in such harmony with God that as we proclaim His truth He can create in others those things which He alone can do.
When we say, "What a wonderful personality, what a fascinating person, and what wonderful insight!" then what opportunity does the gospel of God have through all of that? It cannot get through, because the attraction is to the messenger and not the message. If a person attracts through his personality, that becomes his appeal. If, however, he is identified with the Lord Himself, then the appeal becomes what Jesus Christ can do. The danger is to glory in men, yet Jesus says we are to lift up only Him (see John 12:32  ).

The Unrivaled Power of Prayer

The Unrivaled Power of Prayer

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We do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered —Romans 8:26

We realize that we are energized by the Holy Spirit for prayer; and we know what it is to pray in accordance with the Spirit; but we don’t often realize that the Holy Spirit Himself prays prayers in us which we cannot utter ourselves. When we are born again of God and are indwelt by the Spirit of God, He expresses for us the unutterable.
"He," the Holy Spirit in you, "makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God" ( Romans 8:27  ). And God searches your heart, not to know what your conscious prayers are, but to find out what the prayer of the Holy Spirit is.
The Spirit of God uses the nature of the believer as a temple in which to offer His prayers of intercession. ". . . your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit . . ." (1 Corinthians 6:19 ). When Jesus Christ cleansed the temple, ". . . He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple" ( Mark 11:16 ). The Spirit of God will not allow you to use your body for your own convenience. Jesus ruthlessly cast out everyone who bought and sold in the temple, and said, "My house shall be called a house of prayer . . . . But you have made it a ’den of thieves’ " (Mark 11:17  ).
Have we come to realize that our "body is the temple of the Holy Spirit"? If so, we must be careful to keep it undefiled for Him. We have to remember that our conscious life, even though only a small part of our total person, is to be regarded by us as a "temple of the Holy Spirit." He will be responsible for the unconscious part which we don’t know, but we must pay careful attention to and guard the conscious part for which we are responsible.

The Undetected Sacredness of Circumstances

The Undetected Sacredness of Circumstances

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We know that all things work together for good to those who love God . . . —Romans 8:28

The circumstances of a saint’s life are ordained of God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance. God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you can’t understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands. God brings you to places, among people, and into certain conditions to accomplish a definite purpose through the intercession of the Spirit in you. Never put yourself in front of your circumstances and say, "I’m going to be my own providence here; I will watch this closely, or protect myself from that." All your circumstances are in the hand of God, and therefore you don’t ever have to think they are unnatural or unique. Your part in intercessory prayer is not to agonize over how to intercede, but to use the everyday circumstances and people God puts around you by His providence to bring them before His throne, and to allow the Spirit in you the opportunity to intercede for them. In this way God is going to touch the whole world with His saints.
Am I making the Holy Spirit’s work difficult by being vague and unsure, or by trying to do His work for Him? I must do the human side of intercession— utilizing the circumstances in which I find myself and the people who surround me. I must keep my conscious life as a sacred place for the Holy Spirit. Then as I lift different ones to God through prayer, the Holy Spirit intercedes for them.
Your intercessions can never be mine, and my intercessions can never be yours, ". . . but the Spirit Himself makes intercession" in each of our lives ( Romans 8:26 ). And without that intercession, the lives of others would be left in poverty and in ruin.
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AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Intimate Theology

Intimate Theology

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Do you believe this? —John 11:26

Martha believed in the power available to Jesus Christ; she believed that if He had been there He could have healed her brother; she also believed that Jesus had a special intimacy with God, and that whatever He asked of God, God would do. But— she needed a closer personal intimacy with Jesus. Martha’s theology had its fulfillment in the future. But Jesus continued to attract and draw her in until her belief became an intimate possession. It then slowly emerged into a personal inheritance— "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ . . ." ( John 11:27  ).
Is the Lord dealing with you in the same way? Is Jesus teaching you to have a personal intimacy with Himself? Allow Him to drive His question home to you— "Do you believe this?" Are you facing an area of doubt in your life? Have you come, like Martha, to a crossroads of overwhelming circumstances where your theology is about to become a very personal belief? This happens only when a personal problem brings the awareness of our personal need.
To believe is to commit. In the area of intellectual learning I commit myself mentally, and reject anything not related to that belief. In the realm of personal belief I commit myself morally to my convictions and refuse to compromise. But in intimate personal belief I commit myself spiritually to Jesus Christ and make a determination to be dominated by Him alone.
Then, when I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and He says to me, "Do you believe this?" I find that faith is as natural as breathing. And I am staggered when I think how foolish I have been in not trusting Him earlier
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We all have those moments, "Duh! I should have just trusted in the sovereignty of Christ ealier!!" Like P.Min says, we think that God's sovereignty is a bad thing, but really it's something we need. God's sovereignty is like water, and without it we're like fish out in the open. It's something comforting and allows us to live, because our God is a good God, He only does what is best for us.

Partakers of His Suffering

Partakers of His Suffering

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. . . but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings . . . —1 Peter 4:13

If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a number of experiences that are not meant for you personally at all. They are designed to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what takes place in the lives of others. Because of this process, you will never be surprised by what comes your way. You say, "Oh, I can’t deal with that person." Why can’t you? God gave you sufficient opportunities to learn from Him about that problem; but you turned away, not heeding the lesson, because it seemed foolish to spend your time that way.
The sufferings of Christ were not those of ordinary people. He suffered "according to the will of God" ( 1 Peter 4:19  ), having a different point of view of suffering from ours. It is only through our relationship with Jesus Christ that we can understand what God is after in His dealings with us. When it comes to suffering, it is part of our Christian culture to want to know God’s purpose beforehand. In the history of the Christian church, the tendency has been to avoid being identified with the sufferings of Jesus Christ. People have sought to carry out God’s orders through a shortcut of their own. God’s way is always the way of suffering— the way of the "long road home."
Are we partakers of Christ’s sufferings? Are we prepared for God to stamp out our personal ambitions? Are we prepared for God to destroy our individual decisions by supernaturally transforming them? It will mean not knowing why God is taking us that way, because knowing would make us spiritually proud. We never realize at the time what God is putting us through— we go through it more or less without understanding. Then suddenly we come to a place of enlightenment, and realize— "God has strengthened me and I didn’t even know it!"

The Authority of Truth

The Authority of Truth

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Draw near to God and He will draw near to you —James 4:8

 It is essential that you give people the opportunity to act on the truth of God. The responsibility must be left with the individual— you cannot act for him. It must be his own deliberate act, but the evangelical message should always lead him to action. Refusing to act leaves a person paralyzed, exactly where he was previously. But once he acts, he is never the same. It is the apparent folly of the truth that stands in the way of hundreds who have been convicted by the Spirit of God. Once I press myself into action, I immediately begin to live. Anything less is merely existing. The moments I truly live are the moments when I act with my entire will.
When a truth of God is brought home to your soul, never allow it to pass without acting on it internally in your will, not necessarily externally in your physical life. Record it with ink and with blood— work it into your life. The weakest saint who transacts business with Jesus Christ is liberated the second he acts and God’s almighty power is available on his behalf. We come up to the truth of God, confess we are wrong, but go back again. Then we approach it again and turn back, until we finally learn we have no business going back. When we are confronted with such a word of truth from our redeeming Lord, we must move directly to transact business with Him. "Come to Me . . ." ( Matthew 11:28 ). His word come means "to act." Yet the last thing we want to do is come. But everyone who does come knows that, at that very moment, the supernatural power of the life of God invades him. The dominating power of the world, the flesh, and the devil is now paralyzed; not by your act, but because your act has joined you to God and tapped you in to His redemptive power.

A Bondservant of Jesus

A Bondservant of Jesus

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I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me . . . —Galatians 2:20

These words mean the breaking and collapse of my independence brought about by my own hands, and the surrendering of my life to the supremacy of the Lord Jesus. No one can do this for me, I must do it myself. God may bring me up to this point three hundred and sixty-five times a year, but He cannot push me through it. It means breaking the hard outer layer of my individual independence from God, and the liberating of myself and my nature into oneness with Him; not following my own ideas, but choosing absolute loyalty to Jesus. Once I am at that point, there is no possibility of misunderstanding. Very few of us know anything about loyalty to Christ or understand what He meant when He said, ". . . for My sake" ( Matthew 5:11 ). That is what makes a strong saint.

Has that breaking of my independence come? All the rest is religious fraud. The one point to decide is— will I give up? Will I surrender to Jesus Christ, placing no conditions whatsoever as to how the brokenness will come? I must be broken from my own understanding of myself. When I reach that point, immediately the reality of the supernatural identification with Jesus Christ takes place. And the witness of the Spirit of God is unmistakable— "I have been crucified with Christ . . . ."

The passion of Christianity comes from deliberately signing away my own rights and becoming a bondservant of Jesus Christ. Until I do that, I will not begin to be a saint.

One student a year who hears God’s call would be sufficient for God to have called the Bible Training College into existence. This college has no value as an organization, not even academically. Its sole value for existence is for God to help Himself to lives. Will we allow Him to help Himself to us, or are we more concerned with our own ideas of what we are going to be?
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powerful stuff! Oswald Chambers really is so insightful.
I still remember at OIL'09, beginning of this yr, Dr. Murray challenged us to sign away our rights and becoming bondservants of Jesus Christ.
He had a card that read:
Anytime, Anywhere, Lord lead me! ______________
and those that felt compelled could go up and take that card and sign it.

At that OIL, I was so spiritually dry and bitter that though I was excited when I signed up I didn't even really want to go when the time came. (Praise the Lord that He had me sign up and went though!!!)
Usually when I'm at OIL, I call out to God and pray and cry. But this year was different, pretty much the entire time I was there, it seemed like there was an invisible barrier that I could not break through.  I tried to pray, barrier was there. I didn't know what it was and I couldn't get rid of it.

On the last sermon before we're leaving, Dr. Murray challenged us to give our all to Jesus, the one worthy of it all.
When he asked us to do that, I realized that it was because in my heart there were parts of me that I didn't want Him to have. I didn't want to give up everything to follow Him, it's scary. That was the barrier in my heart and He was calling me to give it up and I knew it. I broke down and tears came flooding out. I repented and asked Him for forgiveness. Then following the line of people, I went up and took the card.

Since then my life has been changed forever. This year has been the most amazing spiritual growth I've ever ever had in my life. Of course after OIL I still had A TON of disobedience that He had to help me with. But from OIL He led me to Harvest and wow I was so so so blessed at Harvest. The Spirit of God was calling me to change and give up my own ways to follow Him.
He loves me SO much that though I lived in rebellion and my heart didn't want to follow Him, He called me to Him. Now I also can love Him and live to glorify Him, it's a miracle.
THANK YOU FATHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love You Lord:) I am so blessed to know and have You with me always!! Help me to love and know You more so I can live for You and You alone. Jesus is the most wonderful gift we can ever receive. Nothing can ever separate us from His love. Thank You Father.

Obedience or Independence?

Obedience or Independence?

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If you love Me, keep My commandments —John 14:15

Our Lord never insists obedience. He stresses very definitely what we ought to do, but He never forces us to do it. We have to obey Him out of a oneness of spirit with Him. That is why whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He prefaced it with an "If," meaning, "You do not need to do this unless you desire to do so." "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself . . ." ( Luke 9:23 ). In other words, "To be My disciple, let him give up his right to himself to Me." Our Lord is not talking about our eternal position, but about our being of value to Him in this life here and now. That is why He sounds so stern (see Luke 14:26  ). Never try to make sense from these words by separating them from the One who spoke them.
The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear. If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation. If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself. Jesus Christ will not force me to obey Him, but I must. And as soon as I obey Him, I fulfill my spiritual destiny. My personal life may be crowded with small, petty happenings, altogether insignificant. But if I obey Jesus Christ in the seemingly random circumstances of life, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God. Then, when I stand face to face with God, I will discover that through my obedience thousands were blessed. When God’s redemption brings a human soul to the point of obedience, it always produces. If I obey Jesus Christ, the redemption of God will flow through me to the lives of others, because behind the deed of obedience is the reality of Almighty God.
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wow...this one is awesome!!!!!! i want to highlight everything...
Lord I want to have oneness of spirit with you.
May Your thoughts become my thoughts,
May Your ways become my ways,
May Your heart become my heart,
I love You Lord and I want to be just like You. Thank You Father, You are too awesome and too wonderful for me to comprehend.

Proverbs 9

"You Are Not Your Own"

"You Are Not Your Own"

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Do you not know that . . . you are not your own? —1 Corinthians 6:19

There is no such thing as a private life, or a place to hide in this world, for a man or woman who is intimately aware of and shares in the sufferings of Jesus Christ. God divides the private life of His saints and makes it a highway for the world on one hand and for Himself on the other. No human being can stand that unless he is identified with Jesus Christ. We are not sanctified for ourselves. We are called into intimacy with the gospel, and things happen that appear to have nothing to do with us. But God is getting us into fellowship with Himself. Let Him have His way. If you refuse, you will be of no value to God in His redemptive work in the world, but will be a hindrance and a stumbling block.
The first thing God does is get us grounded on strong reality and truth. He does this until our cares for ourselves individually have been brought into submission to His way for the purpose of His redemption. Why shouldn’t we experience heartbreak? Through those doorways God is opening up ways of fellowship with His Son. Most of us collapse at the first grip of pain. We sit down at the door of God’s purpose and enter a slow death through self-pity. And all the so-called Christian sympathy of others helps us to our deathbed. But God will not. He comes with the grip of the pierced hand of His Son, as if to say, "Enter into fellowship with Me; arise and shine." If God can accomplish His purposes in this world through a broken heart, then why not thank Him for breaking yours?