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• Too Much Jesus? The Joy of Being An Ex-Addict Oct 27, 2018 From morning to night keep Jesus in your heart, long for nothing, desire nothing, hope for nothing, but to have all that is within you changed into the spirit and temper of the Holy Jesus. ~William…
• Spent unto Strength Sep 14, 2018 Heaven is not a resting place, where men may sleep out an eternity; there they rest not day nor night, but their work is their rest and continual recreation, and toil and weariness have no place…
• Creative Tension: Knowing Feelings from Thought Apr 23, 2018 Never can father or mother embrace their child, nor any person embrace another with so much love as God Almighty embraces the rational soul. ~Angela of Foligno (c. 1248-1309) As a deer pants for flowing streams,…
• Huios: Fully Mature Sons Jan 3, 2018 We are becoming fully mature sons. ~ Graham Cooke Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until…
• Battle: A Warrior Worth His Salt Dec 7, 2017 It is not a question of our equipment, but of our poverty; not what we bring with us, but what he puts in us; not our natural virtues, our strength of character, our knowledge, our experience;…
• Post Anxiety Freedom Syndrome Nov 10, 2017 Anxiety is not only a pain which we must ask God to assuage but also a weakness we must ask him to pardon—for he’s told us to take no care for the morrow. ~C. S. Lewis…
• Deep Freedom Oct 11, 2017 The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion. ~ Albert Camus For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm…
• Living A Grown Up Love Aug 27, 2017 Perfect love is a kind of self-dereliction, a wandering out of ourselves; it is a kind of voluntary death, wherein the lover dies to himself, and all his own interest, not thinking of them, nor caring…
• Direction Indicator: Feeling Resistance when Doing Good Aug 23, 2017 You have established a new relationship with the powers of darkness. Whatever you were before you were a Christian… you are now a sworn foe of the legions of hell. Have no delusions about their reality…
• God Our Battle Fighter! Aug 22, 2017 This reminds all of us who have given public testimony of our faith in Christ, that we are still in an enemy’s country. You remember how Bunyan (to quote the great Dreamer again) represents Christiana and…
• The L_RD Rebuke You Usurper Aug 20, 2017 Feed on Christ, and then go and live your life, and it is Christ in you that lives your life, that helps the poor, that tells the truth, that fights the battle, and that wins the…
• The Only Power to Change: Goodness And Kindness Aug 13, 2017 Like faith and hope, trust cannot be self-generated. I cannot simply will myself to trust. What outrageous irony: the one thing that I am responsible for throughout my life I cannot generate. The one thing I…
• The Presence of G_d: Blue Skies in The Storms of Life. Jul 25, 2017 The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within. ~Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by…
• Suffering: Warfare in The Hornet’s Nest of Our Mind Jun 25, 2017 When you’re lovers in a dangerous time Sometimes you’re made to feel as if your love’s a crime — But nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight — Got to kick at the darkness…
• Death and Life in Our Tongue Jun 13, 2017 Jesus… says it’s murder when we destroy people with our words. It’s murder when we put people down and treat them as insignificant. ~Rebecca Manley Pippert For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does…
• Total Disillusionment Jun 2, 2017 The disillusionment with our own abilities is, perhaps, one of the most important things that can ever happen to us. ~Tim Hansel A large measure of disappointment with God stems from disillusionment with other Christians. ~Philip…
• The Ten Resolutions of Honor May 30, 2017 These are the resolutions of a man totally surrendered to Christ. These are my resolutions. They are from a sermon by Eric Ludy, at the Church at Ellerslie, Windsor, Colorado on 12 Jun 2011. Other Title…
• Bipolar Christianity May 26, 2017 Anxiety is not only a pain which we must ask God to assuage but also a weakness we must ask him to pardon—for he’s told us to take no care for the morrow. ~C. S. Lewis…
• Deeper Belief: Into Who Jesus Is May 25, 2017 The bending of the mind by the powers of this world has twisted the gospel of grace into religious bondage and distorted the image of God into an eternal, small-minded bookkeeper. The Christian community resembles a…
• Living Beyond Fear May 20, 2017 What would you do if you had no fear? What would your life be like if you had no fear? What would you attempt for God if you knew you couldn’t fail? What would you plan…
• Longing for A Certain Death Apr 21, 2017 There is an intimate bond between the sufferings of Christ and the conflict and suffering in each Christian life. The daily dying of the Christian is a prolongation of Christ’s own death. Paul writes in Romans…
• Easter Smackdown: King Jesus says to death: “Is that all you’ve got?” Apr 16, 2017 The world appears very little to a soul that contemplates the greatness of God. ~Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection (c. 1605-1691) Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know…
• Easter: Jesus in Absolute Control Apr 15, 2017 Jesus Christ alone is qualified to guide us into the vast unknown. Since he is the only one who has returned from the grave, he tells us accurately about life after death. ~Erwin W. Lutzer (1941-…
• The Word And His Work on Good Friday Apr 14, 2017 The world is the immeasurable totality of energies and forms, a tissue of relations extending into ever-increasing enormity and withdrawing into ever-decreasing minuteness. All this was thought, willed, and realized by God. Nothing was supplied for…
• A Maundy Thursday Prayer for Peace and Salvation Apr 13, 2017 A Prayer from Ephesians 2 and Revelation 5 Blessed Father and Beloved Son and Precious Holy Spirit, help us to remember that we were once separated and living apart from Jesus Christ – and were excluded…
• The Bondservant’s Advantage Apr 12, 2017 In what strange quarries and stoneyards the stones for the celestial wall are being hewn! Out of the hillsides of humiliated pride; deep in the darkness of crushed despair; in the fretting and dusty atmosphere of…
• The Dying Seed of A Fruitful Life Mar 30, 2017 Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a divine center, a speaking voice, to which we may continuously return. Eternity is at our hearts, pressing upon our…
• Romans: The Ocean of His Righteousness Mar 29, 2017 Romans is worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word, by heart, but occupy himself with it every day, as the daily bread of the soul. It can never be read or…
• Our Fear of His Healing Mar 28, 2017 It would be hard to believe God too much: it is dreadfully common to believe him too little. ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to…
• Loving Beyond Pain Mar 25, 2017 I know that God is loving and that God’s loving is trustworthy. I know this directly, through the experience of my life. There have been plenty of times of doubt, especially when I used to believe…
• Acceptance: Forget Trying to Be Liked Mar 20, 2017 Nothing is more opposed to God than pride, for self-deification is concealed in it, its own nothingness or sin. Thus more than anything humility is acceptable to God, which considers itself nothing, and attributes all goodness,…
• Rest And Belief: Intimate Bedfellows Mar 17, 2017 “The devil never rejoices more,” said Francis of Assisi, “than when he robs a servant of God of his peace of heart.” Peace and joy go a-begging when the heart of a Christian pants for one…
• Friendship with God: Let’s Do This Together Mar 13, 2017 The Christian is called upon to be the partner of God in the work of the conversion of men. ~William Barclay (1907-1978) I always thank my God for you because of the grace that God has…
• Exulting Over The Majesty of Our Salvation Mar 10, 2017 Only to sit and think of God, Oh what a joy it is! To think the thought, to breathe the name Earth has no higher bliss. ~Frederick William Faber (1814-1863) And Mary said, “My soul magnifies…
• Chesed: Love Is Stronger Than Death Mar 7, 2017 Love is swift, pure, tender, joyful, and pleasant. Love is strong, patient, faithful, prudent, long-suffering, vigorous, and never self-seeking. For when a man is self-seeking, he abandons love. Love is watchful, humble, and upright. Love is…
• Anxiety: Put it Down Child Mar 6, 2017 God, give me grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other. Living one day…
• Mysterium Tremendum Mar 5, 2017 Hollywood has not yet recognized what truly tingles the spine, buckles the knees, quakes the heart, and turns bones into jelly. To meet God is a terrifying adventure. ~Terry Lindvall In the year that King Uzziah…
• The Power in Our Exhaustion Mar 4, 2017 Thine am I, I was born for thee, What wouldst thou, Master, make of me? Give me death or give me life Give health or give infirmity Give honor or give obloquy Give peace profound or…
• Awash in The Grace of God Feb 24, 2017 When the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future. ~ Unknown Now therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, ‘It is given into…
• The Enormity of Providence Feb 23, 2017 God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them. ~ John Piper He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by…
• Post-Victory Failure Syndrome Feb 19, 2017 After a time of growth, will often come another time of growth. And the way we may experience this growth is through failure. Makala Doulos explores this idea.
• Pain And Beauty Feb 15, 2017 Bloody nose and burning eyes Raised in laughter to the skies I’ve been in trouble but I’m ok Been through the wringer but I’m ok Walls are falling and I’m ok Under the mercy and I’m…
• Winter Is Over, Springtime Has Come Feb 7, 2017 When the lion said—but I don’t know if it spoke—‘You will have to let me undress you.’ I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly desperate now. So I…
• Misdirected Fear Jan 29, 2017 Listen to no man who fails to listen to God. ~ Unknown I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am…
• Reason’s Failure: The Downside of The Enlightenment Jan 23, 2017 As we begin to focus upon God, the things of the Spirit will take shape before our inner eyes. ~A. W. Tozer (1897-1963) What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man…
• Failure Exhaustion Jan 19, 2017 Tirian, with his head against Jewel’s flank, slept as soundly as if he were in his royal bed at Cair Paravel, till the sound of a gong beating awoke him and he sat up and saw…
• Just Say No Jan 17, 2017 Christianity happens when men and women accept with unwavering trust that their sins have been not only forgiven, but forgotten, washed away in the blood of the Lamb. Thus, my friend archbishop Joe Reia says, “A…
• Worn-Out Wandering Jan 5, 2017 And men go abroad to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty waves of the sea, the broad tides of rivers, the compass of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars, yet pass over the…
• What? Like You Are Gonna Lose? Jan 4, 2017 Sing aloud, children! sing to the glorious King of Redemption, who sits on the throne, for the seraphim high veil their faces, and cry, and the angels are praising the Son. With His raiment blood-dyed, and…
• Relentless Reminders of The New Creation Dec 20, 2016 The gospel is absurd and the life of Jesus is meaningless unless we believe that He lived, died, and rose again with but one purpose in mind: to make brand-new creation. Not to make people with…
• The Poverty of Sin vs. Stronghold of His Presence Dec 17, 2016 What if the biggest problem in America is not drugs, or pornography, or abortion, or poverty, or low education, or terrorism, or crime? What if the biggest problem in America is simply the lack of goodness?…
• Power In His Presence Dec 13, 2016 God is not a belief to which you give your assent. God becomes a reality whom you know intimately, meet every day, one whose strength becomes your strength, whose love, your love. Live this life of…
• Resolved: To Live in Love Dec 10, 2016 I repent me of the ignorance wherein I ever said that God made man out of nothing: there is no nothing out of which to make anything; God is all in all, and he made us…
• Love Deeply, Weep Freely Dec 8, 2016 Occasionally weep deeply over the life you hoped would be. Grieve the losses. Then wash your face. Trust God. And embrace the life you have. ~John Piper And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife…
• Obedience: The Long Walk Home Dec 6, 2016 And yet I decide, every day, to set aside what I can do best and attempt what I do very clumsily–open myself to the frustrations and failures of loving, daring to believe that failing in love…
• Crushed to Strength by God Dec 1, 2016 I tell you, if you are serious about wanting to be like Christ, God is going to put you in circumstances where your only true choice is to become like Him. ~ Francis Frangipane O Lord,…
• Wobbly Warrior Nov 20, 2016 Henri Nouwen wrote of the spiritual work of gratitude: To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives—the good as well as…
• Fighting Against Battle Momentum: Learning to Be At Ease Nov 10, 2016 In time of trouble go not out of yourself to seek for aid; for the whole benefit of trial consists in silence, patience, rest, and resignation. In this condition divine strength is found for the hard…
• The West: Rest in Pieces Nov 5, 2016 People today are trying to hang on to the dignity of man, but they do not know how to, because they have lost the truth that man is made in the image of God. . .…
• Keeping Our Shadows Behind Us Oct 31, 2016 A continual looking forward to the eternal world is not a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to…
• Living An Ascended Lifestyle Oct 28, 2016 Worldy people imagine that the saints must find it difficult to live with so many restrictions, but the bondage is with the world, not with the saints. There is no such thing as freedom in the…
• The Stunning Ferocity of Grace Oct 24, 2016 Salvation of the Lord alone; Grace is a shoreless sea. ~ C.H. Spurgeon When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared…
• Undone After Forty Years of Punching Through Oct 23, 2016 Don’t the hours grow shorter as the days go by You never get to stop and open our eyes One minute you’re waiting for the sky to fall The next you’re dazzled by the beauty of…
• Blessed Poverty Oct 20, 2016 If you are discouraged it is a sign of pride because it shows you trust in your own power. Your self-sufficiency, your selfishness and your intellectual pride will inhibit His coming to live in your heart…
• False Thoughts Made Whole Oct 18, 2016 You’re not supposed to beat the enemy in ministry. You’re supposed to beat him in your relationship with God. Do you know that he is powerless against a man who just stands before God as a…
• Full-Contact Christianity Oct 15, 2016 He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS;~ Revelation 2:26No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.~…
• Longing for Real Home Oct 14, 2016 For the story is about hell and heaven, trauma, shame, and finding love—the real Jesus accepting a broken man; and it is about the Father, Son, and Spirit finding us in the far country of our…
• Already There Oct 10, 2016 Let us understand that, while our bodies and souls are quite fixed here upon earth, through the agency of the Holy Spirit our spirits have been brought into direct fellowship with Christ in heaven. From this…
• The Core of The Three Lusts Oct 6, 2016 God’s gifts put man’s best dreams to shame.~Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But…
• The Event Horizon of Existence Oct 5, 2016 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and round the throne…
• Abandonment’s Cost Sep 28, 2016 That which one sacrifices is never lost.~German Proverb We’ll hardly get our feet out of time into eternity and gaze on eternity and that we bow our heads in shame and humiliation and say: My God,…
• The Joy in Not Getting What We Want Sep 25, 2016 Sometimes He calms the storm. Sometimes He lets the storm to rage, And calms His child.~ Leslie GouldI will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all…
• Fallen from Grace – And into His Mercy Sep 24, 2016 Falling from grace does not mean losing your salvation. It means losing your sanity…. But if you are in His grace, and you fall from grace… You land right in mercy! OH, that has got to…
• The Fruit of Humiliation Sep 23, 2016 When life is rosy, we may slide by with knowing about Jesus, with imitating him and quoting him and speaking of him. But only in the fellowship of suffering will we know Jesus. We identify with…
• Clothed in Our Past Sep 22, 2016 It is the great mystery of human life that old grief passes gradually into quiet, tender joy. The mild serenity of age takes the place of the riotous blood of youth. I bless the rising sun…
• Fumbling into The Presence of G_d Sep 21, 2016 When I get honest, I admit I am a bundle of paradoxes. I believe and I doubt, I hope and get discouraged, I love and I hate, I feel bad about feeling good, I feel guilty…
• The Failed Power of Reason Sep 20, 2016 Human reason is like a drunken man on horseback; set it up on one side, and it tumbles over on the other.~Martin Luther, 1483-1546 There shall come forth a Shoot from the stump of Jesse, and…
• Nothing But Christ And Him Crucified Sep 19, 2016 It costs God nothing, so far as we know, to create nice things: but to convert rebellious wills cost Him crucifixion.~ CS Lewis And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to…
• Death by Anger Sep 18, 2016 Sharp words make more wounds than surgeons can heal.~Chinese Proverb Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce…
• The Ministry of Being Misunderstood Sep 18, 2016 I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. ~ Jesus, King of the Universe 01:…
• The Great Letting Go Sep 14, 2016 We have to keep letting go, and slowly and surely the great full life of God will invade us in every part, and men will take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus. ~Oswald…
• The Reckless, Raging, Impatience of G_d Sep 12, 2016 First, if we continue to picture God as a small-minded bookkeeper, a niggling customs officer rifling through our moral suitcase, as a policeman with a club who is going to bat us over the head every…
• His Life Running Through Our Veins Sep 10, 2016 The philosophy of tough love is based on the conviction that no effective recovery can be initiated until a man admits that he is powerless over alcohol and that his life has become unmanageable. The alternative…
• Forever Beyond the Great Sadness Sep 9, 2016 Bittersweet is a word not understood by most. Only them who have heard the enormous roar of His quiet Peace above the storm through which they have passed, know this word’s true sense.~ Makala Barnabas Doulos…
• Breakthrough to The Unoffendable Heart Sep 8, 2016 The cross of Christ is in itself an offense to the world; let us take heed that we add no offense of our own.~Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:…
• Buffeted into Belief Sep 7, 2016 matters because of what he brought and what he still brings to ordinary human beings, living their ordinary lives and coping daily with their surroundings. He promises wholeness for their lives. In sharing our weaknesses he…
• Bulletproof Dead Sep 6, 2016 The Blood disposes of our sins, while the Cross strikes at the root of our capacity for sin.~ Watchman Nee For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly…
• Logic’s Limit: Locking out The Truth Sep 2, 2016 The God of Christians is not a God who is merely the author of mathematical truths and the order of the elements—that is the point of view of heathens and Epicureans. He is not simply a…
• Co-heirs, Co-sufferers, Co-glorified Aug 30, 2016 Co-heirs—co-sufferers—co-glorified with Christ—that is really the word here. We are side by side with Christ. We are sons of God, even as He is the Son of God—not in His eternal Sonship, but in the place…
• The Cost of Our Work Aug 26, 2016 We have spoken of trying and trusting, and the difference between the two. Believe me, it is the difference between heaven and hell. ~ Watchman Nee Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still stands,…
• Living Free among The Captives Aug 21, 2016 The martyr cannot be dishonored… every burned book or house enlightens the world; every suppressed or expunged word reverberates through the earth from side to side.~Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) Behold, I am sending you out as…
• Beyond Our Wildest Dreams Aug 17, 2016 God is the light in my darkness, the voice in my silence.~Helen Adams Keller (1880-1968)God is the great reality. His resources are available and endless. His promises are real and glorious, beyond our wildest dreams.~J. B.…
• The Overt Generosity of G_d Aug 16, 2016 As for that which is beyond your strength, be absolutely certain that our Lord loves you, devotedly and individually, loves you just as you are…. Accustom yourself to the wonderful thought that God loves you with…
• Pressed Beyond Measure Aug 15, 2016 The paths of wisdom are not like walks in the garden, which we make use of for diversion only, and an amusement; but like tracks in a great road, which we press forward in with care…
• The Beautiful Collision of Our Heart with G_d’s Aug 14, 2016 Can we see it? As our heart merges with the character He is inscribing on us and within us… This is the process of sanctification. For, as character and heart merge, we cement our destiny –…
• Flying Above The Fray Aug 12, 2016 In Christ we are relaxed and at peace in the midst of the confusions, bewilderments, and perplexities of this life. The storm rages, but our hearts are at rest. We have found peace—at last!~Billy Graham (1918-…
• Learning to Live in A Post-War Space Aug 10, 2016 The engaged mind, illuminated by truth, awakens awareness; the engaged heart, affected by love, awakens passion. May I say once more – this essential energy of the soul is not an ecstatic trance, high emotion or…
• Running Past The Tapes Aug 9, 2016 To feel safe is to stop living in my head and sink down into my heart and feel liked and accepted … not having to hide anymore and distract myself with books, television, movies, ice cream,…
• The Father’s Heart Aug 6, 2016 For Ragamuffins, God’s name is Mercy. We see our darkness as a prized possession because it drives us into the heart of God. Without mercy our darkness would plunge us into despair – for some, self-destruction.…
• The Dull Mediocrity of Pride Aug 5, 2016 It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who…
• The Reality of Our Suffering, And The Great Exchange Aug 4, 2016 Therefore, my dear brother, learn Christ and him crucified. Learn to pray to him an, despairing of yourself, say: “Thou, Lord Jesus, art my righteousness, but I am thy sin. Thou hast taken upon thyself what…
• The Violence of Regeneration: Being Born Again Jul 31, 2016 Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion. ~ Brennan Manning See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be…
• Loved from Forever Jul 31, 2016 God is love and God is sovereign. His love disposes him to desire our everlasting welfare, and his sovereignty enables him to secure it. ~ A. W. Tozer (1897-1963) This fool of a writer thought he…
• Running out of Breath Jul 29, 2016 The philosophy of tough love is based on the conviction that no effective recovery can be initiated until a man admits that he is powerless over alcohol and that his life has become unmanageable. The alternative…
• No, Is A Complete Sentence Jul 29, 2016 “No.,” is a complete sentence. It does not require justification or explanation. ~ Megan LeBoutillier I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes,…
• Hold On Jul 28, 2016 The only cure for suffering is to face it head on, grasp it round the neck and use it.~Brennan Manning Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High…
• You Will Be Ravaged if You Love Jul 25, 2016 I will never forget the day I realized that both God and the devil wanted me to die but for different reasons. Satan wanted to destroy me through slander while God wanted to use these same…
• Our Very Large Salvation Jul 24, 2016 Is the living Person now in heavenly glory really the Object of our hearts? For some time after I knew the Savior I used to think of Him as One who had lived and died on…
• Becoming So Large That We Cannot Be Seen Jul 23, 2016 The man who gazes upon and contemplates day by day the face of the Lord Jesus Christ, and who has caught the glow of the reality that the Lord is not a theory but an indwelling…
• Taking Every Thought Captive: Freedom from Lies Jul 20, 2016 The devil wrestles with God, and the field of battle is the human heart.~Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevski (1821-1881) For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons…
• Battlefield Promotions: Battered, Bloody, Winning and Accelerating Jul 20, 2016 Crisis leads to promotion and elevation. Those things, situations and circumstances that threaten to take you down are in fact causing you to rise up in the power of My might that you might surmount every…
• Maturity’s Pathway Jul 19, 2016 If you are born of God; then in you God will green; His godhead is your sap; your beauty is in him. ~Angelus Silesius (1624–1677) Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but…
• A King’s Rage Jul 17, 2016 The devil never rejoices more,” said Francis of Assisi, “than when he robs a servant of God of his peace of heart.” Peace and joy go a-begging when the heart of a Christian pants for one…
• Sojourner Jul 16, 2016 If I discover within myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.~ C.S. LewisEarth breaks up, time drops away, In flows…
• Living Large Jul 13, 2016 Here, monks, a disciple dwells pervading one direction with his heart filled with loving-kindness, likewise the second, the third, and the fourth direction; so above, below and around; he dwells pervading the entire world everywhere and…
• Loving For The Honor Jul 11, 2016 He who would be a true warrior in God’s kingdom, Will most joyfully spend all, And be fully spent, For that purpose which his King deems worthy.This is his honor and no duty. These are the…
• What Fools These Mortals Be Jul 10, 2016 To hold on to the plough while wiping our tears—this is Christianity.~Watchman Nee (1903-1972)Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the…
• Final Reality: No More Enemy Jul 8, 2016 I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.~ Martin Luther King Jr.I tell you this, brothers: flesh and…
• The Lie of Culture And The Answer of The Kingdom Jul 6, 2016 When the church transcends culture, it can transform culture. In the Dark Ages, reform did not arise from the state but from communities of those who remained uncompromising in a compromising age.~Charles Colson (1931-2012) So Pilate…
• Shining in The Falling Dark Jul 5, 2016 Christ is full and sufficient for all his people. He is bread, wine, milk, living waters, to feed them; he is a garment of righteousness to cover and adorn them; a Physician to heal them; a…
• Truth Wins: Freedom Overcomes Jul 4, 2016 All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. ~Arthur Schopenhauer When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will…
• Part 2 of 2: Time to Let Go: Awakening Jul 3, 2016 Do you want to be filled with a Spirit who, though he is like Jesus in his gentleness and love, will nevertheless demand to be Lord of your life? Are you willing to let your personality…
• Part 1 of 2: Time to Let Go: Wreckless Abandon Jul 3, 2016 The great word of Jesus to His disciples is Abandon. When God has brought us into the relationship of disciples, we have to venture on His word; trust entirely to Him and watch that when He…
• Offense: Cuts Like A Knife Jun 27, 2016 God has a new heart for us that cannot be offended, an “unoffendable” heart. Beloved, possessing an unoffendable heart is not an option or a luxury; it’s not a little thing. An offended heart is endanger…
• Losing Our Mind to Gain His Jun 22, 2016 Conversion is a deep work—a heart work. It goes throughout the man, throughout the mind, throughout the members, throughout the entire life.~Joseph Alleine (1634-1663)Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way…
• Connecting with His Mind Jun 22, 2016 Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.~ Psalm 97:11In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning…
• A Dog’s Life Jun 21, 2016 And since then, O Kings and Ladies, I have been wandering to find him and my happiness is so great that it even weakens me like a wound. And this is the marvel of marvels, that…
• Just Doin’ My Job Jun 19, 2016 Really great men have a curious feeling that the greatness is not in them but through them.~John Ruskin (1819-1900)The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like…
• Relentless Battles for The Believer Jun 13, 2016 I shall not fear the battleIf thou art by my side,Nor wander from the pathwayIf thou wilt be my guide.~John E. BodeThe Lord your God Himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations…
• Getting Angry at The Right Target Jun 11, 2016 Whenever I allow anything but tenderness and compassion to dictate my response to life–be it self-righteous anger, moralizing, defensiveness, the pressing need to change others…I am alienated from my true self. My identity as Abba’s child…
• The War Is Over Jun 10, 2016 In time of trouble go not out of yourself to seek for aid; for the whole benefit of trial consists in silence, patience, rest, and resignation. In this condition divine strength is found for the hard…
• Trusting The Weaver Jun 9, 2016 Imagine that Jesus is calling you today. He extends a second invitation to accept His Father’s love. And maybe you answer, “Oh, I know that. It’s old hat.” … And God answers, ‘No, that’s what you…
• Death by Living As A Victim Jun 6, 2016 When you think everything is someone else’s fault, you will suffer a lot. When you realize that everything springs only from yourself, you will learn both peace and joy.~ His Holiness The Dalai Lama The Pharisees…
• Integrity and Repentance: Fighting The Fear within Jun 5, 2016 Evil repay with good, if wronged do no one slight,Thank for ingratitude, that is the Christian life.~Angelus Silesius (1624-1677)Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing…
• Resting, Loving And Living: The Simplicity of The Gospel Jun 3, 2016 The Word we study has to be the Word we pray. My personal experience of the relentless tenderness of God came not from exegetes, theologians, and spiritual writers, but from sitting still in the presence of…
• Fruit Under Pressure May 31, 2016 Fascist architecture of my own design, too long been keeping my love confined, You tore me out of myself alive… Those fingers drawing out blood like sweat, while the magnificent facades crumble and burn. The billion…
• The Exchanged Life May 29, 2016 And yet it may happen in these most desperate trials of our human existence that beyond any rational explanation, we may feel a nail-scarred Hand clutching ours. We are able, as Etty Hillesun, the Dutch Jewess…
• Not in Vain May 25, 2016 Suffering, failure, loneliness, sorrow, discouragement, and death will be part of your journey, but the Kingdom of God will conquer all these horrors. No evil can resist grace forever… If you reject the ragamuffin gospel and…
• Living Life Beyond The Platitudes: Loving The Lovable May 22, 2016 Suddenly I feel myself transformed and changed; it is joy unspeakable. My mind is exhilarated; I lose the memory of past trials; my intelligence is clarified; my desires are satisfied. I grasp something inwardly as with…
• Sealed with A Dream May 22, 2016 Dear Abba, I’m starting out free today, free from the advertised lies that promise me everything from four-doors of turbo-charged happiness to some contraption that will shake, rattle, and roll my abs back into a pack…
• Living Above The Line May 19, 2016 The way of trust is a movement into obscurity, into the undefined, into ambiguity, not into some predetermined, clearly delineated plan for the future. The next step discloses itself only out of a discernment of God…
• Bright-Eyed Brothers in His Arms May 17, 2016 Have you any idea what it is like to look into the eyes of a person you have just touched with the gospel and watched Jesus set them free? Have you ever seen the countenance of…
• Crazy Old Fool May 13, 2016 The Father says today go out in your day and overwhelm the enemy with your joy. My kingdom is righteousness, peace and joy. Your peace and your joy will cause the enemy to be bread for…
• Needing Encouragement: Getting It by Losing Something May 10, 2016 But no one except Lucy knew that as it circled the mast it had whispered to her, “Courage, dear heart,” and the voice, she felt sure, was Aslan’s, and with the voice a delicious smell breathed…
• In The Near Presence May 9, 2016 A re-post on the near Presence of G_d….Hence that dread and amazement with which as Scripture uniformly relates holy men were struck and overwhelmed whenever they beheld the presence of God men are never duly touched…
• Worshipping The Wrong god. May 8, 2016 It is Christ Himself, not the Bible, who is the true Word of God. The Bible, read in the right spirit and with the guidance of good teachers will bring us to Him. When it becomes…
• Finding The Fullness in Christ May 3, 2016 He that willingly submits to the cross, to him its whole burden is changed into a sweet assurance of divine comfort. And the more the flesh is broken down by the cross, the more the spirit…
• Too Proud to Feel Forgiven May 2, 2016 Christians who remain in hiding continue to live the lie. We deny the reality of our sin. In a futile attempt to erase our past, we deprive the community of our healing gift. If we conceal…
• Listen… You Can Hear It. May 1, 2016 Though our feelings come and go, God’s love for us does not ~C.S. Lewis I am very dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, ~ Song of Songs 1:5 How precious to me are your thoughts,…
• 112 – Real Time Prophesy Apr 29, 2016 It is easy to say we believe in God as long as we remain in the little world we choose to live in; but get out into the great world of facts, the noisy world where…
• Utterly Convinced Apr 27, 2016 Speculations? I have none. I am resting certainties. I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which have committed unto him against that day.~ Michael Faraday Therefore do…
• Forever in His Thoughts: Eternal Planning for You Apr 26, 2016 The Bible is a universe of revelation facts which have no meaning for us until we are born from above; when we are born again we see in it what we never saw before. We are…
• UltraFaith Apr 25, 2016 Faith: The ability God gives us to look through the crashing waves and straight into His wonderful eyes. Additionally, this faith is an inner buoyancy growing into something that enables us to believe and engage the…
• Every Hair on Our Head Apr 24, 2016 We contradict the Lord to his face when we say: It is hard, it is difficult; we cannot, we are men; we are encompassed with fragile flesh. O blind madness! O unholy audacity! We charge the…
• Loved by A King Apr 18, 2016 Don’t miss this beloved. The air of Heaven is real. The waters of the River of Life are the wettest and freshest and alivest there will ever be. And the most real part will not be…
• The Devil’s Self-Defeating Strategy Apr 16, 2016 Among the small but endlessly abundant and therefore very effective things that science ought to heed more than the great, rare things, is goodwill. I mean those expressions of a friendly disposition in interactions, that smile…
• That in All Things He Might Be Preeminent Apr 14, 2016 Hope proves man deathless. It is the struggle of the soul, breaking loose from what is perishable, and attesting her eternity… I learn the depth to which I have sunk from the length of the chain…
• Here, Now at The End of All Things Apr 14, 2016 In God there is no was or will be, but a continuous and unbroken is. In him history and prophecy are one and the same. ~ A. W. Tozer (1897-1963) He has made everything beautiful in…
• What If The Skeptics Are Right? Apr 13, 2016 The Word we study has to be the Word we pray. My personal experience of the relentless tenderness of God came not from exegetes, theologians, and spiritual writers, but from sitting still in the presence of…
• The Certain Assurance of His Presence Apr 12, 2016 Oneness with Christ means to be identified with Christ, identified with him in crucifixion. But we must go on to be identified with him in resurrection as well, for beyond the cross is resurrection and the…
• Digging A New Well Apr 10, 2016 Trust involves letting go and knowing God will catch you.James C. Dobson (1936- )And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord blessed him, and the man became rich,…
• Deeper Peace: Beyond The Circumstance Apr 9, 2016 In essence, there is only one thing God asks of us—that we be men and women of prayer, people who live close to God, people for whom God is everything and for whom God is enough.…
• Dismal Success Apr 8, 2016 There will be no “knights in shining armor” in God’s kingdom; our armor will have many dings and dents. No, no perfect Hollywood heros will ride to save the day; just wearied saints to look to…
• The Two Sides of Our Devastation Mar 30, 2016 The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I’ve ever felt. The…
• The 90 / 10 Rule Mar 29, 2016 I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when my fear…
• Between Grace and Glory Mar 28, 2016 A Christian is one who when he thinks of the past thinks of the grace of which he has partaken. When he thinks of the future, he thinks of the sharing in the glory that is…
• After Good Friday: Eternity in A Choice Mar 25, 2016 When you squeeze the Bible hard enough, what drips out is Relationship and Righteousness. Love and choice are components of relationship and the interplay between our lack of righteousness and His willingness to restore the relationship,…
• Good Friday Meditation: Overcoming The Cycle of Sin’s Poverty Mar 25, 2016 Living as the beloved- no more reduced lifestyle, walk with Him, into this place of favor, live in a place of unbroken delight, where the poverty of sin cannot touch us, where His newness of life…
• Real Authority Mar 23, 2016 There is an amazing sanity in Jesus Christ that shakes the foundations of death and hell, no panic, absolute dominant mastery over everything—such a stupendous mastery that he let men take his strength from him.~Oswald Chambers…
• Living A Breakthrough Life Mar 22, 2016 Imagine that Jesus is calling you today. He extends a second invitation to accept His Father’s love. And maybe you answer, “Oh, I know that. It’s old hat.”…And God answers, ‘No, that’s what you don’t know.…
• The Deep Hurt of The Soldier of The Cross Mar 21, 2016 The only cure for suffering is to face it head on, grasp it round the neck and use it.~Brennan Manning, The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is…
• Tipping from Soul into The Spirit Mar 20, 2016 O sweetness of my heart! O life of my soul, joyous resting place of my spirit! O bright and beautiful day of eternity, serene light deep within me! Flowering paradise of my heart! When shall I…
• Affirmation: A Warrior’s Fuel Mar 19, 2016 FLY, envious Time, till thou run out thy race: Call on the lazy leaden-stepping Hours, Whose speed is but the heavy plummet’s pace; And glut thyself with what thy womb devours, Which is no more than…
• Beyond A Civilized Existence Mar 18, 2016 Jesus taught, first, that a man’s business is to do the will of God; second, that God takes upon himself the care of that man; third, therefore, that a man must never be afraid of anything;…
• Lent Reflection: Understanding The Love of A Father Mar 18, 2016 Be content to be a child, and let the Father proportion out daily to thee what light, what power, what exercises, what straits, what fears, what troubles he sees fit for thee.~Isaac Penington (1616-1679)Now Jesus was…
• Making The Way Clear Mar 17, 2016 “Way! Way! Way!” came the voice. “Way for the White Barbarian King, the guest of the Tisroc (may he live forever)! Way for the Narnian lords.”. . . It was quite unlike any other party they…
• Afraid of Who We Are Mar 14, 2016 It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if…
• The End of Heaviness Mar 9, 2016 For those who feel their lives are a grave disappointment to God, it requires enormous trust and reckless, raging confidence to accept that the love of Jesus Christ knows no shadow of alteration or change. When…
• The Beauty And Stress of Renewal Mar 8, 2016 God entrusted his reputation to ordinary people. Yet in some way invisible to us, those ordinary people filled with the Spirit are helping to restore the universe to its place under the reign of God. At…
• The Vengeance of G_d Feb 27, 2016 When in his mercy God leads a soul in the higher path of sanctification, he begins by stripping it of all self-confidence, and to this end he allows our own schemes to fail, our judgment to…
• Staying On Mission Feb 23, 2016 Jesus Christ is the Son of God.He died to atone for men’s sin,and after three days rose again.This is the most important fact in the universe. I die believing in Christ.~ Watchman NeeNow I would remind…
• Sustenance in The Presence of G_d Feb 21, 2016 Today on planet Earth, may you experience the wonder and beauty of yourself as Abba’s Child and temple of the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ. ~ Brennan Manning Now even the first covenant had regulations for…
• Monuments of Pain Feb 18, 2016 We must not be surprised at even the greatest defects in good souls. We must quietly leave them alone until God gives the signal of gradual removal. Otherwise we will pull up the wheat with the…
• Dead Man Loving Feb 16, 2016 We become what we love. When we are fixed and focused on who God is in His essential nature then the presence of His agape love in us sets us free to love in the same…
• Life Breaks Through: Joy Will Find A Way Feb 15, 2016 These things are beautiful beyond belief;The pleasant weakness that comes after pain,The radiant greenness that comes after rain,The deepened faith that follows after grief,And the awakening to love again.~William Shakespeare (1564-1616) Preserve me, O God, for…
• He Finds Us Lovely Feb 14, 2016 As for that which is beyond your strength, be absolutely certain that our Lord loves you, devotedly and individually, loves you just as you are…. Accustom yourself to the wonderful thought that God loves you with…
• When The Brain Reigns, Bondage Begins Feb 12, 2016 Jesus Christ set a window in the tiny dark dungeon of the ego in which we all languish, letting in a light, providing a vista, and offering a way of release from the servitude of the…
• Loving Beyond Our Imperfections Feb 11, 2016 God hears no sweeter music than the cracked chimes of the courageous human spirit ringing in imperfect acknowledgment of his perfect love.~Joshua Loth Liebman (1907-1948) But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the…
• Swing for The Fence Feb 10, 2016 I shall not fear the battleIf Thou art by my side,Nor wander from the pathwayIf Thou wilt be my guide.~John E. Bode I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,…
• His Victory in The Breaches of Our Lives Feb 7, 2016 Defeat may serve as well as victoryTo shake the soul and let the glory out.When the great oak is straining in the windThe boughs drink in new beauty, and the trunkSends down a deeper root on…
• Married to Another – Forever Feb 6, 2016 To please God… to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness… to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son-…
• Fighting Into The Light Feb 5, 2016 When you are lovers in a dangerous time, nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight. You have to kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight. ~ Bruce Cockburn Thus says the LORD: For…
• Wounded to Be Healed Feb 2, 2016 It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply. ~ A.W. TozerHave this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, Who, though He was in the form…
• Jesus: Bigger Jan 25, 2016 The world is horribly disordered and out of joint; it must come under omnipotent surgery before we can expect health.~Billy Sunday (1862-1935) Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the…
• The Gospel: So Much Bigger Than We Can Comprehend Jan 24, 2016 The gospel is absurd and the life of Jesus is meaningless unless we believe that He lived, died, and rose again with but one purpose in mind: to make brand-new creation. Not to make people with…
• Utterly, Completely Done Jan 23, 2016 Hope knows that if great trials are avoided great deeds remain undone and the possibility of growth into greatness of soul is aborted.~ Brennan Manning It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is…
• Could Go Back… But Why? Jan 22, 2016 Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear and with a manly heart.~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) Brothers,…
• Dead: A Ticket to Ride Jan 21, 2016 Does not all nature around me praise God? If I were silent, I should be an exception to the universe. Does not the thunder praise him as it rolls like drums in the march of the…
• Catastrophic Success Jan 19, 2016 The first thing that Jesus promises is suffering: “I tell you… you will be weeping and wailing… and you will be sorrowful.” But he calls these pains birth pains. And so, what seems a hindrance becomes…
• Post-it Notes and Threat to Relationship: The Reality of Spiritual Warfare Jan 14, 2016 A re-post on spiritual warfare. Much of our praying is just asking God to bless some folks that are ill and to keep us plugging along. But prayer is not merely prattle: it is warfare.~Alan Redpath…
• Living Heavenly Minded Jan 6, 2016 Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a divine center, a speaking voice, to which we may continuously return. Eternity is at our hearts, pressing upon our…
• Benny, The Western Wall, And The Promises of G_d Jan 4, 2016 God is the great reality. His resources are available and endless. His promises are real and glorious, beyond our wildest dreams.~J. B. Phillips (1906-1982) As soon as Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord…
• Without Context, Faith Falters Jan 1, 2016 “Whatever past achievements might bring us honor, whatever past disgraces might make us blush, all have been crucified with Christ and exist no more except in the deep recesses of eternity, where “good is enhanced into…
• Forever Now Dec 30, 2015 There is One who is infinite in glory and you will spend an eternity of eternities tracking him down and you will never get your arms even around the foothill of his mountain! ~ Paul Washer…
• The Enormity of The Gospel in Christmas Dec 22, 2015 Advent. The coming of quiet joy.Arrival of radiant light in our darkness.Breath, mouth, ears, eyesHe is curtailed who overflowed all skies, all years.Older than eternity, now he is new.Now native to earth as I am,nailed to…
• The Christmas War-cry: PEACE! JOY! HOPE! Dec 14, 2015 Christmas… He is forever now with us through His birth, life, death, Resurrection, and the sending of His Spirit. We have no idea yet how important this is for us individually – and for the entire…
• Overwhelming Victory in The Weakest of Packages Dec 13, 2015 Salvation rips through the surface of time in the cry of a tiny Babe.~ Bruce Cockburn The people who walked in darknesshave seen a great light;those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,on them has…
• Salvation’s Context Dec 12, 2015 ON TIME by JOHN MILTONFly envious Time, till thou run out thy race,Call on the lazy leaden-stepping hours,Whose speed is but the heavy Plummets pace;And glut thy self with what thy womb devours,Which is no more…
• Three Words to Live by: “I Got You” Dec 10, 2015 Without fear I can acknowledge that the authentic Christian tension is not between life and death, but between life and life.~Brennan Manning This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.…
• Pharisaical Freedom Thieves Dec 6, 2015 Hope knows that if great trials are avoided great deeds remain undone and the possibility of growth into greatness of soul is aborted.~ Brennan Manning After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the…
• Keeping The Right Stuff on The Right Side of OBTW Dec 5, 2015 What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.~ Aiden Wilson Tozer Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in…
• Grace upon Grace: The Astounding Power of G_d to Save Dec 2, 2015 The Word we study has to be the Word we pray. My personal experience of the relentless tenderness of God came not from exegetes, theologians, and spiritual writers, but from sitting still in the presence of…
• Love Across All Time Dec 1, 2015 I am. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star. The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come;…
• 100 Days in The Middle Kingdom of China Nov 29, 2015 In seeking to preserve your own life you will lose it. If you are prepared to lose your life for God’s sake, you will find it… I believe that such a moment comes in the life…
• Doomed by Theology Nov 26, 2015 Jesus extends mercy beyond theology.~ Andy Stanley The most blessed result of prayer would be to rise thinking, But I never knew before. I never dreamed… I suppose it was at such a moment that Thomas…
• Knowing G_d Audaciously Nov 25, 2015 We know God easily, if we do not constrain ourselves to define him.~Joseph Joubert (1754-1824)But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of…
• Don’t Even Entertain The Thought Nov 24, 2015 In my own being, I could not exist very long as a Christian without the inner consciousness of the presence and nearness of God! I can only keep right by keeping the fear of God on…
• No Need for Chaos Nov 23, 2015 A vessel that grows as it is filled will never be full. If a bin able to hold a cartload grew while you were dumping your load in it, you could never fill it. The soul…
• Warriors Outside of Time Nov 23, 2015 Our own heart, and not other men’s opinions, form true honor.~Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?— the God who equipped me with strength…
• The Light Is On – Do We Know We Are Home? Nov 17, 2015 Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion.~Brennan Manning So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For…
• Through The Fear And into The Fruit Nov 12, 2015 Everybody has a vocation to some form of life work. But behind that and deeper than that, everybody has a vocation to be a person, to be fully and deeply a human being, to be Christlike.…
• Wholeness: When Form And Function Combine Nov 10, 2015 matters because of what he brought and what he still brings to ordinary human beings, living their ordinary lives and coping daily with their surroundings. He promises wholeness for their lives. In sharing our weaknesses he…
• Defragmenting The Gospel: Understanding The Word Nov 9, 2015 Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He died to atone for men’s sin, and after three days rose again. This is the most important fact in the universe. I die believing in Christ.~ Watchman NeeBut…
• Escaping Escape-Hatch Thinking Nov 8, 2015 God speaks to us unceasingly through the events of our life, through the firmness with which he negates our petty human ordering of it, through the regularity with which he disappoints our plans and our attempts…
• Ministry Update – Greetings from Tianjin! Nov 7, 2015 So many changes in our lives! And God is still wonderfully the same! View this email in your browser Further down the path, and definitely down in temperature 🙂 Wow, it has been nearly three months…
• Tough Curves on The Path Nov 5, 2015 Before I am asked to show compassion toward my brothers and sisters in their suffering, He asks me to accept His compassion in my own life, to be transformed by it, to become caring and compassionate…
• Wanting It All for The Right Reasons Nov 3, 2015 Insecurity not only paralyzes our relationship with the living God but has a devastating effect on interpersonal relationships. It is the starting point of all social estrangement. It breaks down openness, which is the bridge to…
• Divide And Fall: The Problem of Dualism Oct 31, 2015 We have not to do with a God who is off there above the sky, who can deal with us only through the violation of physical law. We have instead a God in whom we live…
• Living Beyond Our Agendas Oct 30, 2015 Jesus Christ set a window in the tiny dark dungeon of the ego in which we all languish, letting in a light, providing a vista, and offering a way of release from the servitude of the…
• Struggling up Maslow’s Hierarchy Oct 29, 2015 The prosperity gospel is “right.” But, it is totally wrong in the “riches” this message proposes we receive. One moment of His Presence is beyond the value of all the material goods i have ever received.…
• Rogue Waves: Learning to Abide Under Stress Oct 28, 2015 All I can do therefore is to “abide in Him,” and He does all the rest. And this satisfies me in my very soul. I am filled with Jesus and therefore I am filled with righteousness!…
• Stack Overflow Stress: A Re-post on Change Management Oct 28, 2015 To lie down in the time of grief, to be quiet under the stroke of adverse fortune, implies a great strength. But I know of something that implies a strength greater still. It is the power…
• Running Down The Middle of The Path Oct 27, 2015 Craving clarity, we attempt to eliminate the risk of trusting God. Fear of the unknown path stretching ahead of us destroys childlike trust in the Father’s active goodness and unrestricted love.~Brennan Manning, Ruthless TrustPreserve me, O…
• Communion Oct 26, 2015 (In the context of finding yourself deeply in Love with Jesus, and completely at peace…) Laying aside the possibility that you are enjoying the wonders of having gone stark raving mad, I would surmise that you…
• Living in The Truth Oct 25, 2015 What a man can be, he must be. This need we call self-actualization.~ Abraham MaslowHe flattered himself on being a man without any prejudices, and this pretension itself is a very great prejudice.~Anatole France (1844-1924)This is…
• Closing The Distance in Our Relationship with G_d And Others Oct 24, 2015 Open thy gate of mercy, gracious God! My soul flies through these wounds to seek out thee.~William Shakespeare (1564-1616) But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of…
• Beyond Half-Full or Half-Empty Oct 23, 2015 One word from the lips of the man who has actually heard the lute play will have more effect than a score of sermons by the man who has only heard that it was played. Acquaintance…
• Magnificent Drumbeat – Learning to Live Loved All The Time Oct 22, 2015 Our resistance to the furious love of God may be traced to the church, our parents and pastors, and life itself. They have hidden the face of a compassionate God, we protest, and favored a God…
• Staying Still for The Long-Term Oct 21, 2015 Unlovely, nay frightful, is the solitude of the soul which is without God in the world—this chill, houseless, fatherless, aimless Cain, the man who hears only the sound of his own footsteps in God’s resplendent creation.~Ralph…
• The Mythology of Theology Oct 18, 2015 As the grave grows nearer, my theology is growing strangely simple, and it begins and ends with Christ as the only Savior of the lost.~Henry Benjamin Whipple (1822-1901)I have many more things to say to you,…
• Vicious Providence Oct 15, 2015 True triumphs are God’s triumphs over us. His defeats of us are our real victories.~Henry Alford (1810-1871) Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And…
• Sunrise of Faith Oct 14, 2015 How does God take a Christian who lives one-half inch from hell and make him live one-half inch from heaven? It is not easy. There is a price to be paid. The divine Surgeon must be…
• Eternity’s Freedom Oct 13, 2015 Mourning is redeemed by hope. And both are wed in the freedom of eternity with Christ.~ Makala Barnabas Doulos Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said…
• A Good Day to Die Oct 10, 2015 Perhaps Today Is A Good Day to Die~ Klingon Proverb The Lord loves you, devotedly and individually, loves you just as you are…. Accustom yourself to the wonderful thought that God loves you with a tenderness,…
• Our Fear of Freedom Oct 7, 2015 Only in the context of the great encounter with Jesus Christ Himself can a real authentic struggle take place. The encounter with Christ does not take place before, after, or beyond the struggle with our false…
• Zoe Oct 6, 2015 The ascension of Jesus is to me even more shocking than the stooping of God to enter our world. Perhaps in our wildest dreams we could almost understand God becoming human for a short while to…
• Radical Repentance from Our Fears Oct 6, 2015 I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when my fear…
• Knocking The Knots Off of The Big Sticks Oct 5, 2015 My identity as Abba’s child is not an abstraction or a tap dance into religiosity. It is the core truth of my existence. Living in the wisdom of accepted tenderness profoundly affects my perception of reality,…
• Missing The Feast for A Bite of Porridge Oct 4, 2015 What if the biggest problem in America is not drugs, or pornography, or abortion, or poverty, or low education, or terrorism, or crime? What if the biggest problem in America is simply the lack of goodness?…
• The Consuming Fire of A Father’s Love Oct 3, 2015 … a repost on the consuming Love of God.When (the Scripture) says that God loves man, it means that God loves man: not that He has some ‘disinterested’, because really indifferent, concern for our welfare, but…
• The Voluntary Entrapment of Sin Sep 30, 2015 Sin is not wrong doing; it is wrong being, deliberate and emphatic independence of God.~Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him.…
• Don’t Forget The Wound Sep 29, 2015 No man ever got so much out of a surgical operation as Adam did.Originally one, he has fallen, and, breaking up… he has filled the whole earth with the pieces.~Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Hear, you…
• He Smashes Into Our Lives Sep 29, 2015 Late have I loved You, O Beauty so ancient and new; Late Have I loved You. Lo, you were within, but I outside, seeking there for you, and upon the shapely things you have made I…
• Unforced Grace Sep 24, 2015 As we practice the work of forgiveness we discover more and more that forgiveness and healing are one.~Agnes Sanford Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone…
• Run to The Light! Sep 23, 2015 Think of stepping on shore and finding it heaven! Of taking hold of a hand and finding it God’s! Of breathing a new air and finding it celestial air! Of feeling invigorated and finding it immortality!…
• Gasping in His Arms Sep 19, 2015 Becoming a little child meant becoming aware that all is gift, that I am helpless and powerless to add a single inch to my spiritual stature. Without the subjective awareness of utter dependence, the personal consciousness…
• Shine Like Stars in The Universe… Sep 18, 2015 He does not need to transplant us into a different field, but right where we are, with just the circumstances that surround us, he makes his sun to shine and his dew to fall upon us,…
• Breathable Atmosphere Sep 16, 2015 A re-post on culture stressFaith does not struggle; faith lets God do it all.~ Corrie ten Boom (1892-1983)I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear…
• Power’s Corruption Vs. The Authority in Integrity Sep 15, 2015 Integrity is only found at the moment where the bedrock of self has been shattered, and a new depth of being discovered.~ Makala Barnabas Doulos I am the True Vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.…
• A Man Under Authority Sep 14, 2015 Our world is fast becoming a madhouse, and the inmates are trying to run the asylum. It is a strange time when the patients are writing the prescriptions, the students are threatening to run the schools,…
• Like A Bullet Into Molasses Sep 13, 2015 A re-post as this writer enters his third culture in just over three years.The immutability of God appears in its most perfect beauty when viewed against the mutability of men. In God no change is possible;…
• The Emissary’s Authority Sep 11, 2015 God is not saving the world; it is done. Our business is to get men and women to realize it… How many people have you made homesick for God?~Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) Now the eleven disciples went…
• Urban Bewilderment Sep 10, 2015 I was too ambitious in my deed,And thought to distance all men in success,Till God came to me, marked the place, and said,“Ill doer, henceforth keep within this line,Attempting less than others”—and I standAnd work among…
• Traction, And The Illusion of Control Sep 9, 2015 The life you live can outlive you. What matters in life is not what you accomplish or accumulate but rather what remains for all of time. Today, you may live in this world, but your life…
• Re-Entry Sep 7, 2015 A re-post as this writer goes into his third cultural transition in a little over three years… We contradict the Lord to his face when we say: It is hard, it is difficult; we cannot, we…
• One Last Fight Sep 3, 2015 I know a place where death is nothing more than a distant memory that is forever conquered. A place with no more tears, but only of truth and light and peace and of the most intense…
• Pervasive Obedience Aug 28, 2015 Consecration is the narrow, lonely way to overflowing love. We are not called upon to live long on this planet, but we are called upon to be holy at any and every cost. If obedience costs…
• The Heartbreaking Heart of The Savior Aug 27, 2015 You fathom the depth of My own heart only to the extent that your heart is broken and your inmost consciousness torn asunder by the pain of grief.~Frances J. Roberts Hear the word of the Lord,…
• Going to Ground Aug 25, 2015 Do we feel dry, weary, filled with a sense of failure? In the twinkle of an eye we can relate our mood to Jesus Who one day felt the same way and collapsed exhausted by a…
• Alabaster Jar Aug 24, 2015 Our notion of sacrifice is the wringing out of us something we don’t want to give up, full of pain and agony and distress. The Bible idea of sacrifice is that I give as a love-gift…
• Fools in Exile Aug 23, 2015 Our Life in Christ. It’s not an easy thing to grasp. Maybe you understand it only by living it. And maybe Augustine was right on the money when he wrote: ‘Give me someone who loves and…
• Wobbly-Hearted Courage Aug 12, 2015 Hold my faith for me! I cannot grasp it right now!~ An African mother in travail of childbirth, to her attendants. The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of…
• His Heart Aug 12, 2015 Hold my faith for me! I cannot grasp it right now.~ An African mother in travail of childbirth, to her attendants. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek…
• Weapons of Righteousness Should Not Whine Aug 11, 2015 An instrument may be out of tune, but it shall not complain as it is played.~ Makala Barnabas DoulosI believe the will of God prevails; Without him all human reliance is vain;Without the assistance of that…
• Sitting on Go – Again Aug 8, 2015 The greatest proof of Christianity for others is not how far a man can logically analyze his reasons for believing, but how far in practice he will stake his life on his belief.~ T. S. Eliot…
• Grace That Is Bigger Than My Fear And Failure Aug 7, 2015 Getting honest with ourselves does not make us unacceptable to God. It does not distance us from God, but draws us to Him—as nothing else can—and opens us anew to the flow of grace. While Jesus…
• Full-Throttle Faith Aug 6, 2015 We’re going in full throttle. That ought to keep those fighters off our back. – Right with you Boss!~ Wedge to Luke Skywalker, in Star Wars, Episode IV All the men of Israel, when they saw…
• The Messiness of Graceful Living Aug 5, 2015 There will be no “knights in shining armor” in God’s kingdom; our armor will have many dings and dents. No, no perfect Hollywood heroes will ride to save the day; just wearied saints to look to…
• De-Invictus: Why The Flesh Is So Big Aug 2, 2015 Through his death on the cross Jesus Christ not only readjusts a man in conscience and heart to God, he does something grander, he imparts to him the power to do all God wants, he presences…
• He Is with Us: Past, Present and Future Jul 29, 2015 To live in the wisdom of accepted tenderness is to let go of cares and concerns, to stop organizing means to ends and simply be in each moment of awareness as an end in itself… We…
• Eternally Adored Jul 28, 2015 Nothing lasts here. Storms come, people die, hearts break and sin abounds. And two weeks (or two years) is not enough to kill the pain. Nothing is able to meet our heart’s most desperate desire for…
• Eternity in the Mundane: A Repost on The Importance of Living in The Moment Jul 18, 2015 A glimpse of the next three feet of road is more important and useful than a view of the horizon.~C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He…
• The Poverty of Prosperity – Another Repost on Poverty Jul 16, 2015 Stars may be seen from the bottom of a deep well when they cannot be discerned from the top of a mountain.~Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: “The words…
• Richness In Jesus – A Repost on Poverty Jul 16, 2015 Some have much, and some have more,Some are rich, and some are poor,Some have little, some have less,Some have not a cent to bless;Their empty pockets, yet possessTrue riches in true happiness.~John Oxenham (1861-1941)So Jesus again…
• Wasted, Drained, Done Jul 15, 2015 If Satan cannot distract you with worldliness, he will seek to drain you with weariness.~ Francis FrangipaneAt that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things…
• Beautiful Immutability Jul 11, 2015 Consider what thou owest to His immutability. Though thou hast changed a thousand times,He has not changed once; though thou hast shifted thy intentions, and thy will, yet He has not once swerved from His eternal…
• Already Gold Jul 11, 2015 A great many people are trying to make peace, but that has already been done. God has not left it for us to do; all we have to do is to enter into it.~Dwight Lyman Moody…
• Training in Goodness: Finding Life in Facing Death Jul 10, 2015 Blessing those who have hurt you is a decision of your will that may go against how you feel.~ Tony Evans Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and…
• Inches from Death, And Totally Alive Jul 8, 2015 Getting honest with ourselves does not make us unacceptable to God. It does not distance us from God, but draws us to Him—as nothing else can—and opens us anew to the flow of grace. While Jesus…
• Our Clumsy Participation in The Army of The LORD of Hosts Jul 2, 2015 Jesus called Peter a “rock” long before Peter was stable & mature. He leads us by calling out what He sees not by calling out our failures.~ James Goll Behold, a day is coming for the…
• ὑπερπλεονάζω (hyperpleonazō): The Exceedingly Abundantly Normal State of Grace Jun 30, 2015 There is within the limitless confines of the Trinity, a Love so real as to shatter any conception we have ever had of the word. The Love of G_d, is the very substance of who He…
• Boldly Proclaiming The Mystery of The Gospel Jun 30, 2015 The Bible is a stream wherein the elephant may swim and the lamb may wade.~Pope Gregory the Great (540-604) In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming…
• Loved And Lovable Jun 23, 2015 Love is a believing creature.~OvidYou’re so beautiful, my darling, so beautiful, and your dove eyes are veiled by your hair as it flows and shimmers, like a flock of goats in the distance streaming down a…
• Resting in Our New Past in Him Jun 22, 2015 There is no past we can bring back by longing for it. There is only an eternal now that builds and creates out of the past something new and better.~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) We ourselves…
• Joy in The Skill He Gives Jun 18, 2015 In spiritual matters, human reasoning certainly is not in order; other intelligence, other skill and power, are requisite here—something to be granted by God himself and revealed through his Word.~Martin Luther (1483-1546) He who loves purity…
• Last Entry from Indonesia: Where Three Years Can Lead Jun 14, 2015 In a futile attempt to erase our past, we deprive the community of our healing gift. If we conceal our wounds out of fear and shame, our inner darkness can neither be illuminated nor become a…
• When The Enemy Overplays His Hand Jun 11, 2015 You have established a new relationship with the powers of darkness. Whatever you were before you were a Christian… you are now a sworn foe of the legions of hell. Have no delusions about their reality…
• Everything Goes… Jun 10, 2015 If you… begin to find that the Holy Spirit is scrutinizing you, let his searchlight go straight down, and he will not only search you, he will put everything right that is wrong; he will make…
• Living AAA-o Jun 10, 2015 “Anything, Anytime, Anywhere – Bar Nothing”~ Slogan of the 39th Infantry Regiment, US ARMY You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in…
• He It Is That Doth Go Before Us Jun 9, 2015 A re-post on Providence… This blogger is looking forward to More and enjoying what He is already Providing…The ways of Providence cannot be reasoned out by the finite mind. I cannot fathom them, yet seeking to…
• Whatever Happened to the Human Race? Jun 4, 2015 One of the greatest attractions of Christianity to me is its sheer absurdity. I love all those crazy sayings in the New Testament—which, incidentally, turn out to be literally true—about how fools and illiterates and children…
• Bearing Unknown Fruit Jun 2, 2015 We all know of Christians who say that they have never doubted. Their lives seem so pale, so far off from the heroic adventure that is faith. The most fruitful believers tell us shamedly of the…
• The Kingdom of Heaven Is Yours May 31, 2015 As his child, you are entitled to his kingdom, the warmth, the peace, and the power of his presence, the wisdom, the insight, and the guidance of his Spirit, the goodness, the joy, and every supreme…
• Separation And Restoration May 27, 2015 We have not to do with a God who is off there above the sky, who can deal with us only through the violation of physical law. We have instead a God in whom we live…
• Freedom from The Muck: Discovering The Joy of Aldersgate and Pentecost May 24, 2015 The soul, of origin divine,God’s glorious image, freed from clay, In heaven’s eternal sphere shall shine A star of day!~Robert Montgomery (1807-1855) I waited patiently for the Lord; He inclined to me and heard my cry.…
• Shame Is The Prelude to Failure May 22, 2015 Remorse is to carry your own accuser within your breast.~ George Moore (1852-1933)So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in…
• Free Flow Forgiveness May 22, 2015 Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.~ Lily TomlinTherefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little. And He said…
• When Dreams Come True May 14, 2015 Our heart oft times wakes when we sleep, and God can speak to that, either by words, by proverbs, by signs and similitudes, as well as if one was awake.~John Bunyan (1628-1688) I want to be…
• Why Hiding in Christ Is Not Cowardice May 13, 2015 Our huffing and puffing to impress God, our scrambling for brownie points, our thrashing about trying to fix ourselves while hiding our pettiness and wallowing in guilt are nauseating to God and are a flat out…
• Flatland And The Illusion of Control May 10, 2015 We talk about “circumstances over which we have no control.” None of us have control over our circumstances, but we are responsible for the way we pilot ourselves in the midst of things as they are.~Oswald…
• Semper Victoria May 8, 2015 Victory in service is to be expected from supernaturally born men who are supernaturally delivered, supernaturally sustained, and supernaturally directed. We are thus supernaturally created for a supernatural work which is supernaturally prepared and is to…
• Living Beyond Dysfunction May 7, 2015 Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.~James Baldwin (1924- ) And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and…
• His Merciful Voice May 6, 2015 Kyrie Eleison (Gr. Lord have mercy)~ Ancient words of the ChurchAnd you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power…
• Deeper into Freedom May 4, 2015 Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.~Martin Luther King Jr. Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths…
• Post Victory Rehabilitation May 3, 2015 Bloody nose and burning eyesRaised in laughter to the skiesI’ve been in trouble but I’m okBeen through the wringer but I’m okWalls are falling and I’m okUnder the mercy and I’m ok~ Bruce Cockburn When I…
• The Certainty of G_d’s Love Apr 30, 2015 It is not certain that everything is uncertain.~ Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)We start to see that His mind is really amazing; that the idea of God being smarter than us is not a matter of degree. He…
• A Warrior’s Rest Apr 29, 2015 A warrior does not give up what he loves, he finds the love in what he does~Dan Millman, Way of the Peaceful WarriorWhen Joab saw that the battle was set against him both in front and…
• Salvation’s Flow Apr 27, 2015 The temptation to make our relation to God judicial instead of personal is very strong. Believing for salvation has been reduced to a once-done act that requires no further attention. ~A. W. Tozer Then the angel…
• Knowing Who You Are = Success in Suffering Apr 23, 2015 Flee a thousand leagues from saying, “I was in the right. It was not right for me to suffer this. They had no right to treat me so.” God deliver us from all such rights. And…
• Fear Is Where You Are Looking Apr 20, 2015 I fear God, dear Abner, and have no other fear. ~ Jean RacineWhoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and…
• The Blinding Temptation of Religion Apr 19, 2015 Religion is the futile attempt of man to be good enough to be accepted by G_d on his own merits – all the while foolishly believing he already is.~Makala Barnabas Doulos What makes a genius? The…
• Truth Is A Substance Apr 12, 2015 One truth discovered is immortal, and entitles its author to be so; for, like a new substance in nature, it cannot be destroyed.~William HazlittNow this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no…
• Battle Fatigue: Tired And OK Apr 8, 2015 A re-post on exhaustion“We are to be re-made. All the rabbit in us is to disappear—the worried, conscientious, ethical rabbit as well as the cowardly and sensual rabbit. We shall bleed and squeal as the handfuls…
• Fathers Feel Things Too Apr 7, 2015 For those who feel their lives are a grave disappointment to God, it requires enormous trust and reckless, raging confidence to accept that the love of Jesus Christ knows no shadow of alteration or change. When…
• Real Food: Doing The Father’s Will Apr 1, 2015 I end with a blessing from Larry Hine, Brennan Manning’s spiritual director, who delivered this benediction at Manning’s ordination service: May all of your expectations be frustrated, May all of your plans be thwarted, May all…
• Hosea’s Lesson Mar 29, 2015 To be willing to accept crucifixion with Christ; to leave all yourself, your plans and your longings, your abilities and your possessions, all of them at the cross so that you only trust and love and…
• Out of The Frying Pan And into The Fire Mar 27, 2015 When I look upon the tombs of the great, every emotion of envy dies in me; when I read the epitaphs of the beautiful, every inordinate desire goes out; when I meet with the grief of…
• Having The Courage to Hide Mar 25, 2015 Worry is a cycle of inefficient thoughts whirling around a center of fear.― Corrie ten Boom The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe. A rich…
• Faith: Flying Fast And Blind Mar 24, 2015 Absolute surrender requires that one abandon the right to know the specific will of G_d. There are moments of abject waiting on Him.~ Makala Barnabas Doulos “Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees, And looks to God…
• Hemmed in By G_d’s Goodness Mar 22, 2015 When I get honest, I admit I am a bundle of paradoxes. I believe and I doubt, I hope and get discouraged, I love and I hate, I feel bad about feeling good, I feel guilty…
• Love And Our Needs Mar 17, 2015 We really have to understand the person we want to love. If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love. If we only think of ourselves, if we know only our own…
• Love Never Fails Mar 15, 2015 In Love’s service, only wounded soldiers can serve.~Brennan Manning, Abba’s Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate BelongingIf I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a…
• Deeper Than We Know Mar 11, 2015 The gospel is absurd and the life of Jesus is meaningless unless we believe that He lived, died, and rose again with but one purpose in mind: to make brand-new creation. Not to make people with…
• Aiming for Eternity Mar 9, 2015 As the mother’s womb holds us for nine months, making us ready, not for the womb itself, but for life, just so, through our lives, we are making ourselves ready for another birth…. Therefore, look forward…
• Growing into The Fullness of The Gospel Mar 8, 2015 When the Spirit illuminates the heart, then a part of the man sees which never saw before; a part of him knows which never knew before, and that with a kind of knowing which the most…
• The Deep Joy of A Father’s Love Mar 3, 2015 At any moment in life we have the option to choose an attitude of gratitude, a posture of grace, a commitment to joy.~Tim HanselIf therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation…
• Truth or Comfort? Mar 1, 2015 If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the…
• The Inherent Pain of Love Mar 1, 2015 I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.~ Mother Teresa of CalcuttaWe should all like life to be free from suffering, and our…
• The Velvet Chisel Feb 25, 2015 Everything that God brings into our life is directed to one purpose: that we might be conformed to the image of Christ.~Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- ) Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we…
• Warrior Living Feb 23, 2015 The certainty that he who went through death, who restored the connection between nature and the spiritual world, changes death to win a triumph, a triumph that is; awaiting us like the warrior who is going…
• Tough Faith in A Tough Jesus Feb 22, 2015 Faith is blind—except upward. It is blind to impossibilities and deaf to doubt. It listens only to God.~Samuel Dickey Gordon (1859-1936) And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling…
• Do You Really Want That? Feb 17, 2015 It is easier to perceive error than truth, for error lies on the surface and is easily seen, truth lies in the depth where few are willing to search for it.~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) Jesus…
• Victory in The Dwelling Place Feb 16, 2015 Lord, what a change within us one short hour spent in thy presence will Avail to make! What heavy burdens from our bosoms take! What parched grounds refresh as with a shower! We kneel, and all…
• Germination Feb 15, 2015 We are not called to be successful in accordance with ordinary standards, but in accordance with a corn of wheat falling into the ground and dying, becoming in that way what it never could be if…
• A Beautiful Death… Consecration Feb 12, 2015 Death is only painful to him who resists it. The imagination exaggerates its terrors. The spirit argues endlessly to show the propriety of the life of self. Self-love fights against death, like a sick man in…
• Escaping The Dragon’s Lair Feb 11, 2015 Then the lion said — but I don’t know if it spoke — You will have to let me undress you. I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly…
• Willingly Destroying Ourselves Feb 11, 2015 Don’t get stuck inside your own ego because it will become a prison in no time flat—and… don’t think that “self-realization” will make you happy. That is the way you will end in… your own hell.~Barbara…
• To Stand And Not Be Moved Feb 9, 2015 So let it be in God’s own might We gird us for the coming fight, And, strong in him whose cause is ours, In conflict with unholy powers, We grasp the weapons he has given, The…
• What If You Just Knew? Feb 6, 2015 What if you had walked in on the ‘smoking gun’ of the resurrection? What if you smelled the scent of the freshest air you had ever breathed in the tomb of dead Man who was no…
• Overload Feb 3, 2015 From a couple years ago…. Drop thy still dews of quietness,Till all our strivings cease;Take from our souls the strain and stress,And let our ordered lives confessThe beauty of thy peace.~John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892)for “‘In Him…
• No Weapon Prospers – Not Even Our Own Failure Feb 2, 2015 Our primary task in solitude is… to keep the eyes of our mind and heart on him who is our divine Savior. Only in the context of grace can we face our sin; only in the…
• Him Proving His Plans for Us Jan 30, 2015 Thank you, Father, for these tears that have carried me to the depth of your love. How could I have known your fullness without the emptiness, your acceptance without the rejection, your forgiveness without my failure,…
• Living A God-Sized Gospel Jan 28, 2015 The old life is dead. You are dead to it. You will not be consumed by it; you cannot be controlled by it. You have a newer and higher life. Let it have full scope… You…
• The Truest Freedom: Love as The Law Jan 21, 2015 Love God and Do As You Please!! ~St. Augustine of Hippo By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen…
• Fresh Wind for A Tired Soul Jan 20, 2015 O sweetness of my heart! O life of my soul, joyous resting place of my spirit! O bright and beautiful day of eternity, serene light deep within me! Flowering paradise of my heart! When shall I…
• Joy and Strength in His Steadfast Love Jan 18, 2015 Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing stronger, nothing higher, nothing wider, nothing more pleasant, nothing fuller or better in heaven or on earth…. A lover flies, runs, rejoices…. Love often knows no limits but is fervent…
• Learning to Be Loved Jan 18, 2015 God completely understands every struggle that you have, and every weakness that you fear about yourself. In His great love for you He has set aside a place in His Beloved for you to enjoy and…
• Loving in Interruption. Jan 13, 2015 The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one’s “own,” or “real” life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one’s…
• Anywhere But Here Jan 12, 2015 Our hearts are restless until they rest in You.~ St. Augustine of HippoOh that you were like a Brother to me who nursed at my mother’s breasts! If I found you outside, I would kiss You,and…
• Resting into Victory Jan 3, 2015 There are three kinds of faith in Christ: 1. Struggling faith, like a man in deep water desperately swimming. 2. Clinging faith, like a man hanging to the side of a boat. 3. Resting faith, like…
• Amazingly Luminous Beings We Are Jan 2, 2015 It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbor…. It is…
• Like A Plastic Banana Jan 1, 2015 Satan fails to speak of the remorse, the futility, the loneliness, and the spiritual devastation which go hand in hand with immorality.~Billy Graham (1918- ) For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are…
• Living Free In The Spirit Dec 31, 2014 Living one day in the Spirit is worth more than a thousand lived in the flesh.~ Richard Owen Roberts (1931- ) John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from…
• Learning to Let Go: The Suffering of The Firstfruits Dec 29, 2014 Receive every inward and outward trouble, every disappointment, pain, uneasiness, temptation, darkness, and desolation, with both thy hands, as a true opportunity and blessed occasion of dying to self, and entering into a fuller fellowship with…
• Down Through The Hopelessness – And into Love Dec 26, 2014 A re-post on remembering the poor this Christmas.Hopelessness is anticipated defeat.~Karl Theodor Jaspers (1883-1969)Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let…
• Heart Ripped Out Thankful Dec 24, 2014 Poverty is the load of some, and. wealth is the load of others, perhaps the greater load of the two. Bear the load of your neighbor’s poverty, and let him bear with you the load of…
• Standing Against All The Attacks of The Enemy Dec 19, 2014 The devil wrestles with God, and the field of battle is the human heart.~Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevski (1821-1881)Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ~ from 2 Timothy 2The Lord will rescue me from…
• High-Performance Is A Spiritual Issue Dec 17, 2014 What deep mysteries are contained in the Lord’s Prayer. How many and great they are! They are expressed in a few words, but they are rich in spiritual power so that nothing is left out; every…
• The Bitterness of The Soul Dec 17, 2014 When outward strength is broken, faith rests on the promises. In the midst of sorrow, faith draws the sting out of every trouble and takes out the bitterness from every affliction.~Robert Cecil (1563-1612)I am the man…
• Actually Experiencing God Dec 16, 2014 Truth divorced from experience will always dwell in doubt.~Henry KrauseFinally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you. Look out for…
• The Difficulty of Compassion Dec 2, 2014 Let us not underestimate how hard it is to be compassionate. Compassion is hard because it requires the inner disposition to go with others to the place where they are weak, vulnerable, lonely, and broken. But…
• No One to Blame – No Need Either May 6, 2014 Self-pity… cuddle and nurse it as an infant and you’ll have on your hands in a brief period of time a beast, a monster, a raging, coarse brute that will spread the poison of bitterness and…
• Freedom After The Dark Night Feb 14, 2014 “The dark night of the soul” is not something bad or destructive. On the contrary it is an experience to be welcomed as a sick person might welcome a surgery that promises health and well-being. The…

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