I’ve Dedicated 15 years of my adult life trying to discover “what makes us tick,” So what have I learned? God may remove a beautiful face to fix the ugly “inner” face of a man or woman. A person is wholly who they are on the inside — a person with inward beauty far exceeds one with merely a veneer. The outer face remains important — Largely to break ice with those mesmerized by the shine of cosmetic disguise. The goal of gaining audience (breaking ice), is to eventually get inside them and let God go to work. God knows how to do the surgery, since He knows the end from the beginning– It may take years. Afterward, the outer prettiness means so much less to them. That’s all? No, there’s more: God gives allowance to the loss of a child, to teach us how He felt about the…
Category: <span>Personal God</span>
“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” 2 Corinthians_8:9 ” For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 Again and again, the Bible tells me and you about an exchange. Christ’s death for my life, Christ’s death for your life. “One died for all — we’re all dead.” 2 Corinthians 5:14 “Planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” Romans 6:5 We also, while applying these truths to our hearts, must perform our own exchange by faith. We exchange our past — our history for God’s history, and allow His obedience to become our own. We “bring every thought…
The unconscious mind must never take the place of our conscious mind. In that unconscious mind Is my life history, weakness and strength, hurts and helps — but also Adam’s history, projected there from hell. I must forget what is past, but also cast down imaginations and high things that exalt themselves against the knowledge of Christ. “Remember, our imaginations determine our self-image.” “The human mind is extremely complicated. Little is understood about the three compartments of the mind: the conscious, subconscious, and unconscious. The unconscious is vast, making up 90 percent of the mind. Largely undefined, the unconscious is open to Satan’s entrapments. Often, Satan projects lies about the images in the unconscious mind to the subconscious, which represents 5 percent of the mind. The subconscious feeds the conscious mind— the remaining 5 percent.” Dr. Carl H. Stevens So we deduce: human weakness can reflect in us wrong…
In 1976 I got saved. I was not seeking it, I was not looking for it. I don’t remember making a decision per se. No, He found me and the message He brought was irresistible. I was so ready, I was so lost. I just had never allowed myself to see the full extent of my empty, lonely, wretched state. He put a light on it and the need became apparent, then the glorious remedy appeared. I received Him so gladly. Today I revisit the day of my salvation. It happened on day-shift at the mill, a sunny day. Men fished off the sea wall; myself and others started in on bag lunches. A blond haired man, about my age, approached me. He creatively shared with me how Jesus had walked on the water, how Peter (in the Bible), had done so also, and maybe we can do this…
Like a River dam or lock, We must manage the flow of grace. This includes That flow coming into our house, and then the flow going out. This is our stewardship . This is spoken of in 1 Peter 4:10 “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” I must first learn how to receive grace, but not in vain. Grace “received” is accepting something which I do not deserve. Can you do it? `Pride can inhibit this action. Many, many speakers, leaders, church members, choir singers, administrators or faculty cannot receive grace. Unsaved folks balk at grace often. The reason? Grace is based never on the receiver, but rests in the open hand of the Giver, God Himself. It all depends on the vicarious atonement of Christ. Precious people look inward and discover…
Accede, Accept, Access. “Come to, receive, come in — for coming, for taking, for entering.” The words of my Title are from Latin derivation, but have great significance to us believers. They mean: We come, we believe, we gain entrance. Jesus cried out, “come,” and we came — then we received Him — then we were given power to become sons of God with access to Father. To come required a drawing of invitation. To receive required a removal of obstacles and a cleansing. To enter requires continuance in our purified state. Friends, we are accepted in the beloved — we have touched power and grace — we have access to the Father in heaven! When we consider the above with a view to a gathering of souls, we discover “Unity, Peace, and Oneness.” For these we must endeavor — to keep the unity of the Spirit… a unity produced…
Do I belong? Do you belong? This question must be answered daily, since daily we may doubt it. The question of being acceptable, measuring up, meeting the criteria; haunts us — but why? For me, the inquiry can lapse into an obsession — one which draws me back to the days when I asked the same question — but looked for answers in another way and place. You too? Indeed, we relied on mirrors, facial cremes, designer clothing, hair gel and so much more. Then, We may have entered a segment of time where we shirked the caring — it was too much — too hard — much too time-consuming. Indeed, the self-consciousness cramped us and slowed us down. It made us feel like fish out of water, unable to focus on the task at hand, or have just plain hypocritical, phony, disingenuous feelings. We wanted to be real.…
Matthew 9 teaches the Words of Jesus, “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go you and learn what that means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Repentance is a gift from God: The Psalmist cries, “Turn Thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted.” Psalm 25:16 The people cry,”Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.” Psalm 80:3 David cries, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 Ezra cries, “Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.” Psalm 119:37 Who restored Adam and Eve after their sin? God restored them — God took away their fig leaves and then God killed…
Joshua would be 40 years old on April 10 if he had survived his bout with cancer. 14 years have past since his untimely passing. We remember him today. I have thought of Josh much this past 14 years, but I am okay. God has allowed my imperfect life to continue and has paid me back with many blessings of the spiritual and physical sort. I have enjoyed the friendship of God’s Spirit, of Jesus, and the Father. I have been allowed to simply be myself, to speak transparently, to have a ministry with the broken hearted. I have felt God’s loving comfort for grievers; I have identified with their pain. These things we have learned from Joshua’s life and dying: The events of life, thrills or tragedy, are not mere speed-bumps to recover from, but are doorways which open to new worlds. Many hidden gifts and desires opened for…
“Feeling the stress of a fallen world is part of existence. We might call this the’blues.’ Romans 8:23 teaches, ‘we groan.’” “The blues are common to the lot of a fallen human race.” “… Expectation of a carefree life or constant euphoria and excitement are neither scriptural nor true to experience.” Steven Waterhouse “The fact that you have become a Christian does not mean that you cease to have to live with yourself — You will have to live with yourself as long as you are alive. ” Martin Lloyd Jones Depression is related to 1. Little interest or pleasure in doing things, 2. Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless, 3. Trouble falling or staying asleep, or sleeping too much, 4. Feeling tired or having little energy, 5. Poor appetite or overeating, 6. …you are a failure or have let yourself or your family down, 7. Trouble concentrating on things, 8. Moving or speaking so slowly,…