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GOING
THROUGH THE FIRE
Chronicles
7:1 Now when Solomon had made an end of praying,
the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the
burnt offering and the sacrifices;
and the glory of the LORD filled the house.
We won't enjoy His glory without His fire. His fire
consumes a willing sacrifice now, or an unwilling
sacrifice later. It is not the 'flesh' that will
taste of His glory (1 Corinthians 1:29), for 'the
spirit of man is the candle of the Lord' (Proverbs
20:27). His Word searches out the inward parts,
igniting us with His fire, burning out the dross of
worldly things. 'Did not our heart burn within us,
while He talked with us by the way, and while He
opened to us the scriptures? 'said the disciples of
Jesus' words (Luke 24:32). His 'rhema' words search
us, try us, locate us, take us through the fire,
reveal His glory! Peter tells us the 'fiery trials'
also come to make us partakers of Christ's
sufferings that we may rejoice in His revealed
glory. Again: no fire, no glory! It was in fire that
the early Church was born on each head a tongue of
fire at Pentecost. It was from a bush of fire that
Moses heard God's command. The fire may be
unpleasant, but the glory is worth it! Jesus
counsels you, today, to'buy of Me gold tried in the
fire' (Revelation 3:18). John the Baptist introduced
Jesus as the One Who would baptize with the Holy
Spirit, and with fire! Let us welcome the fire as we
would His Spirit. From whatever source comes the
heat of unkind words, the pain of persecution, the
blessings He would seem to withhold He is at work,
dear one, forging you in the character of His mould!
FOR
THE LOST
Those
who are well have no need of a physician, but those
who are sick.... I did not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance. (Matt.
9:12-13) Imagine you stumble into the doctor’s
office with a severe case of pneumonia. You discover
the doctor is not in his office, but out conducting
a special conference. He cannot see you today.
“What is the conference?” you inquire. The nurse
informs you that he has called all the people who
are not sick to gather and talk about how great they
feel. They are discussing illness, but only to the
extent that they are celebrating the diseases they
don’t have. You rush down to the convention center
and stomp into the conference screaming, “What are
you doing? I need a doctor!” All of the well
dressed, healthy folks peer down their noses at you
as you hear someone exclaim “get her out of here,
she is sick!” You immediately feel a tug at your
arm and a burly gentlemen leads you out of the
building. Sadly, we sometimes operate our churches
that way.We spend the majority of our lives trying
to please other Christians. We forget that we are
suppo sed to be helping the “Great Physician”
minister to the sick. Don’t forget your
commission. Prayer: Lord help me to seek out the
lost, not gather in a holy huddle.
DO
YOU BELIEVE?
And
when He came into the house the blind men came to
Him and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe I am
able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes,
Lord.” Imagine you are at the circus. The
ringmaster makes an announcement. This act involves
a member from the audience. At that very moment, you
raise your hand to waive at a friend and
accidentally are chosen as a volunteer. The usher
takes you right down to the center ring, where you
stand next to the tight-rope walker. The ringmaster
thrusts the microphone in your face and the circus
performer asks, “Do you believe that I can walk
across that rope way up there?” “Of course you
can,” you confidently respond. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.” “Then,” continues the
performer, “right now you are going to demonstrate
your belief as you ride on my back across this
arena.” “But..but..wait..” Your voice trails
off as they lead you to the top of the ladder, your
anxiety is quickly replace with fear. Your belief in
God only go as far as you are willing to exercise
them. We say we believe in God, but many times it is
only superficial belief. Additionally, a lack of
belief can cause many serious problems:
Despair = a lack of belief God can solve our
problems
Anxiety = a lack of belief God is in control
Fear = a lack of belief God will protect
We can’t avoid life’s struggles. Are you willing
to believe? Are you willing to substantiate that
belief with action? Do you believe that He can? Will
you say, “Yes Lord?”
WHOSE
YOKE ARE YOU CARRYING?
For
my yoke is easy and my burden is light (Matt. 11:30)
For some reason, most teenagers all fall into the
same trap. I remember turning sixteen and thinking
about independence. I assumed, suddenly, I needed to
carry the weight of the world on my shoulders. As I
was shouldering this incredible weight, I failed to
notice that there was someone very near that was
dying to help me shoulder it – my parents Many
Christians treat God the same way. We want to solve
all our own problems, carry our own burdens and make
our own path. Meanwhile, the Lord stands very near
inviting us to “cast all our cares” (I Pt. 5:7)
upon Him. The reason His yoke is “easy” is
because He wants to lift it off our shoulders. He
already paid the price and earned the right to carry
it. God will never give us responsibility that He
doesn’t have the ability to accomplish. Too many
of us work to the level of our incompetence instead
of to the level of God’s omnipotence. Cast all
your cares on Him and find that His yoke is easy and
His burden is light.
COMPLACENCY
So,
then because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor
hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. Because you
say “I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need
of nothing” -- and do not know that you are
wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked-- (Rev
3:16-17) Too many of our cities, towns and churches
live under the disguise of contentment. Under the
cloak of false contentment many times likes a
festering pool of complacency. Jesus described that
attitude as “lukewarm.” Complacency causes us to
have a false impression of ourselves. When God
blesses us, like He did the Laodaceans, we sometimes
become apathetic and proud. We assume we’ve got it
all together, but in God’s eyes we are missing the
mark. We lose our intensity. We are not against God,
but we are not doing anything for Him. We are like
coffee that has sits too long on our desk. We appear
to God as lukewarm coffee that He can’t tolerate.
We should be hot (Lk. 24:32), we used to be cold (Mt
24:12), but now we have become lukewarm. We lose our
intuition. When we become complacent we have the
wrong impression of ourselves. We shift our value
system to that of the world. Because God has brought
some success to our lives, we assume that we’ve
arrived or “got it made,” yet God says we are
really wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked in
His eyes. In the later verses of chapter 3, Jesus
explains what need to happen. First, God must heat
us up and anytime something heats up the impurities
are burned off. We must be disciplined. When my kids
are obedient, they get a blessing. When they are
don’t understand (cold), they get conviction and
direction. But, when they are lukewarm (complacent),
they get correction. Be zealous for the things of
God. Behold, he stands and knocks!!
Petals
of Prayer and Praise
MAY
EACH MOMENT OF YOUR DAY UNFOLD TENDERLY, LIKE ROSE
PETALS IN SUNLIGHT GLOWING SO SOFTLY! TOUCHING EVERY
PART OF YOUR LIFE WITH HIS LOVE LIGHT, IN JESUS
EVERY HOUR OF YOUR DAY IS JUST RIGHT. PRECIOUS
PETALS REVEALING GOD'S LOVE AND HIS GRACE, GIVING
GLORY TO GOD AS YOU ABIDE IN YOUR PLACE! PETALS OF
PRAYER AND PRAISE UNFOLDING ALL DAY LONG, AS YOU
ABIDE IN GOD'S LIGHT YOU ARE ALWAYS STRONG! FOR EVEN
WHEN YOUR LIFE PETALS ARE SADLY CRUSHED, THAN GOD'S
SWEET FRAGRANCE OF LOVE RISES AND IS TOUCHED! EVERY
MINUTE OF EVERY DAY YOU CAN BE, GOD'S BEAUTIFUL ROSE
PETALS FOR PEOPLE TO SEE! BELIEVE AND TRUST IN JESUS
CHRIST TO BE YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR: YOU WILL RECEIVE
GOD'S LOVE AND LIGHT, AND YOU WILL SHINE WITH TRUE
BEAUTY FOR ETERNITY!
LIFE
Life's
Tug Of War. Life can seem ungrateful and not always
kind. Life can pull at your heartstrings and
play with your mind. Life can be blissful and
happy and free. Life can put beauty in the
things that you see. Life can place challenges
right at your feet. Life can make good of the
hardships that we meet. Life can overwhelm you
and make your head spin. Life can reward those
determined to win. Life can be hurtful and not
always fair. Life can surround you with people
who care. Life clearly does offer its ups and
its downs. Life's days can bring you both
smiles and frowns. Life teaches us to take the
good with the bad. Life is a mixture of happy
and sad. So..... Take the life that you have
and give it your best. Think positive, be happy
let God do the rest. Take the challenges that
life has laid at your feet. Take pride and be
thankful for each one you meet. To yourself
give forgiveness if you stumble and fall. Take
each day that is dealt you and give it your
all. Take the love that you're given and
return it with care. Have faith that when needed
it will always be there. Take time to find the
beauty in the things that you see. Take life's
simple pleasures let them set your heart free.
The idea here is simply to even the score. As
you are met and faced with Life's Tug Of War.
There are only two ways to live your life; One is as
though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though
everything is.
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