January 18th, 2011 / No Comments » / by Pam
I was printing out one of my Bible Studies to give to a friend, and preparing a course of study for her. I opened my Bible to the Psalms, as I felt she should add a daily reading from this beautiful book of poetry. I began to read the first Psalm I came to, after opening my Bible. It was Psalm 19, and I was reminded again how beautiful and important the Word of our Father in heaven is to us.
Psalm 19:7-10
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.
The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous.
They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
God’s Word is perfect. It turns our hearts from our sin to God and holiness. It is necessary. It is to be fully depended upon. It is a sure and pure foundation of hope and comfort. By the Word we continue to discover our true need for our Savior, Jesus Christ. Through the Word, the Holy Spirit speaks to our deepest most inner parts. The Word opens our eyes and enlightens us to the radiance of God.
Remind Us Each And Every Day Lord Of The Importance Of The Word
Posted in: Daily Steps
January 17th, 2011 / No Comments » / by Pam
Today, I met with a friend who truly needs LIFTED UP in PRAYER! She needs encouragement to stand strong in the face of a troubled situation. She needs for all who will read this to stand in the gap for her in prayer to The Lord. Life is hard sometimes to the point that there is no place to go but up, if you can get up. My friend has hard decisions to make, and needs the strength to carry through on her decisions. She needs physical and mental strength ~ above all she needs spiritual strength. Please pray with me for my friend…
Pray that she will trust in the Lord, that she will lean on Him, that she will stand firm in Him and that she will rest in His shelter…
We must depend on the Lord every moment of every day…
Nahum 1:7 The Lord is good, a strong hold (refuge) in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust Him.
Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Isaiah 40:31 …they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint.
2 Corinthians 2:14 Now thanks be unto God, which always leads us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour (fragrance) of His knowledge by us in every place.
2 Corinthians 3:4,5 And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
Psalm 71:16 I will go in the strength of the Lord God: I will make mention of thy righteousness…
Psalm 31:1-3 In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness. Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defense to save me. For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me.
Psalm 46:1-3 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Se-lah.
Psalm 27:14 Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.
God has promised…
Hebrews 13:5b,6 …for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
And, pray that my friend and her children will be protected from any sort of physical harm, and that a safe haven will be provided if necessary! All in Jesus name…AMEN!
Posted in: Daily Steps
January 16th, 2011 / No Comments » / by Pam
Holding On To Me
Luke 14:25-33
I have been pondering this for over a week now ~ the cost of being Christ’s Disciple. C.S. Lewis says…our difficulty is…
We take as the starting point our ordinary self with its various desires and interests (we take our natural self as a starting point).
We try to keep ourselves and our own desires intact and Christ is merely an addition to ourselves. Quote by Jim Smith, co-worker of Richard J. Foster
I think there’s a big word for what I’m about to say (can’t put my finger on it right now), but sometimes we try to create God and His universe in our own image. Forgetting, that it is the other way around. Somehow we feel that Christ should fit somewhere in our lives between the 8 hour work day, or the laundry, or the grocery shopping, or the extra curricular activity we got ourselves in to because we’ve forgotten how to say no, or the difficulty we’re having on any given day, or our wants and desires (which includes all of our stuff), or our emotions or feelings and so on and so forth.
Following Christ Is Not Without Effort
Many of us are like the disciple in John 6:60 who said to Jesus (after a hard teaching), This Is A Hard Teaching ~ Who Can Accept It? If you have read the above passage of Scripture (Luke 14:25-33) you will admit that what Jesus asks us to do is very hard in our human state of SELF. Jesus says give me all of yourself. I don’t just want a little piece here and there. I want the whole natural self, and to top it all off I want your time and attention before anything or anyone else. Hand all of yourself over to Me. Because, if you don’t…if you continue to try and follow in your natural self and desires, you can’t be my disciple.
Jesus said…
If you do not consider me first, you cannot be my disciple. No earthly tie will take precedence over your allegiance and obedience to me.
If you do not carry your cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. Deny your self-directed life, and be willing to face any physical, emotional or earthly persecution as a consequence of following me.
If you do not estimate the cost of what it takes to follow me and pay the price, you will not be able to finish what you started.
If you cannot give me everything you’ve got, if you do not have the ability or are not willing to commit everything from the beginning, do not commit. An army without the proper forces is inadequate. Consider whether you are able.
Thought to Ponder…Following Christ Is Not Without Effort
…to be continued…the ALMOST impossible thing is to hand over your whole self–all your wishes and precautions–to Christ. But it is far easier than what we are trying to do instead. Quote by C.S. Lewis
Posted in: Love Change
January 9th, 2011 / No Comments » / by Pam
When Jesus Sent Out The Twelve, These Were His Instructions…
Take nothing with you, except your staff
Wear sandals, but not an extra tunic
Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town
If you are not welcome and no one will listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them
Mark 6:7-11
They went out in obedience to The Master, and dependence upon the His strength and authority…
Posted in: Silent Sundays
January 7th, 2011 / No Comments » / by Pam
Call me crazy, but C.S. Lewis is one of my favorite authors. he continues to be, even forty years after his death, one of the most popular Christian thinkers of this time in history. My first few days into the Devotional Classics is being spent with C.S. Lewis and excerpts from his book, Mere Christianity.
Wouldn’t you know it, the Scripture selection for this weeks devotional is Luke 14:25-33!
The Cost Of Being Christ’s Disciple
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters~yes, even his own life~he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.
Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
The introduction to the Devotional Classics did say, they would seek to touch the heart, to address the will and to mold the mind. They would call for radical character transformation and to instill holy habits.
I suppose it is fitting to get to the heart of it right up front. The questions posed, after reading the aforementioned passage of Scripture is~How much of myself must I give?
Holding On To Me
There is so much to hold on to in my life. There’s my family, my thoughts, my emotions, the bills to be paid, the grocery shopping, the laundry, my business, my ministry, my time, my past, my future, the letter that came from my health insurance company telling me they need to charge me $150 more each month, and then there’s the STUFF! There’s a movie I’ve seen where this couple lost everything they owned. The women in the movie said, I don’t care about the money, I just don’t want to lose all the STUFF!
C.S. Lewis says it goes beyond, even deeper than the list of things I mentioned that I hold on to…….
to be continued…..Love Change~Holding On To Me
Posted in: Love Change
