joy — Warrior of The Presence

Validation: The Great Glory of An Addict Nov 20, 2022 How God thinks of us is … infinitely more important. … It is written that we shall “stand before” Him, shall appear, shall be inspected. The promise of glory is the promise, almost incredible and only…

Taking The Long View on Sorrow And Pain Jan 5, 2022 It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the…

Saved: More Than We Know Oct 17, 2018 Jesus is The Divine Logos made flesh.~ Robert Barron See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and…

The Infinite, Living, Quiet Center of Worship Oct 1, 2018 Worship is really about what is the center focus of our being. What is it that we value most?

Rejoining The Crowd in Rejoicing Apr 18, 2018 “One evening while at prayer, wrapped in those threads, I saw my entire life flash before me. This was not like my pretty dream; it was actually rather ugly. I saw my life as vitiated by…

Joy in The Morning: Expecting His Goodness Mar 5, 2018 And Grace calls out, ‘You are not just a disillusioned old man who may die soon, a middle-aged woman stuck in a job and desperately wanting to get out, a young person feeling the fire in…

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…

G_d Is Not Fair! : The Scandal of The Cross Sep 30, 2017 The Lord loves all people, but He loves those who seek Him even more. To his chosen ones the Lord gives such great grace that for love they forsake the whole earth, the whole world, and…

The Violent Obedience of Freedom Aug 4, 2017 The purpose of the cross is to completely decimate your loyalty to the most seductive/powerful of all idols—the idol of self. ~David Tripp But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of…

When Someone Wants to Steal Your Joy Jun 25, 2017 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…

Our Fear of Believing The Solution: The Kingdom May 4, 2017 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…

Suffering: Letting Go for The Good Mar 9, 2017 O Christ Jesus, when all is darkness and we feel our weakness and helplessness, give us the sense of Your presence, Your love, and Your strength. Help us to have perfect trust in Your protecting love…

A Father’s Broken Heart Feb 21, 2017 What makes authentic disciples is not visions, ecstasies, biblical mastery of chapter and verse, or spectacular success in the ministry, but a capacity for faithfulness. Buffeted by the fickle winds of failure, battered by their own…

The Almighty’s Prize: You Feb 9, 2017 Over the years, I have come to realize that the greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection. Success, popularity, and power can indeed present a great temptation, but their seductive…

The Weather Outside Is Frightful Dec 27, 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…

Over The Bridge And into The Fear of The Lord Oct 25, 2016 When we come into this sweet relationship, we are beginning to learn astonished reverence, breathless adoration, awesome fascination, lofty admiration of the attributes of God and something of the breathless silence that we know when 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…

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…

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,…

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…

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…

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.…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Feast on The Battlefield Oct 3, 2014 A funeral among men is a wedding feast among the angels.~Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know…

His Pleasure in Us Sep 11, 2014 I believe God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure. ~Eric LiddellAfter this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And…

Fools Rush in Where Angels Fear to Tread Sep 4, 2014 Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.~Alexander Pope (1688-1744)And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every…

The Serious Business of Joy Aug 14, 2014 But in this world everything is upside down. That which, if it could be prolonged here, would be a truancy, is likest that which in a better country is the End of ends. Joy is the…

When History Drops onto Our Shoulders Jul 11, 2014 God of our life, there are days when the burdens we carry chafe our shoulders and weigh us down; when the road seems dreary and endless, the skies grey and threatening; when our lives have no…

Incorrigibly Cheerful! Jun 26, 2014 You are to be incorrigibly cheerful, for you have solid grounds upon which to rejoice!~ Major Ian Thomas Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in…

Honeymoon Jun 1, 2014 Makala was on an actual honeymoon with his bride about this time a couple years ago…. Enjoy this re-post on Communion with Him.His Joy overflows, chasing us down. His Love overwhelms, paying our debts.His Peace invades,…

I’m Telling My Dad! Mar 11, 2014 Think of how good God is! He gives us the physical, mental, and spiritual ability to work in his kingdom, and then he rewards us for doing it!~Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )But you must remember, beloved,…

Unspeakable Joy Mar 3, 2014 We are like deep sea divers moving slowly and clumsily in the dim twilight of the depths, and we have our work to do. But this is not our element, and the relief of the diver…

Utterly in The Presence Feb 19, 2014 Few delights can equal the presence of one we trust utterly~ George McDonaldI was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast towards You.Nevertheless, I am continually with You; You hold my right hand. You guide…

HyperJoy Sep 7, 2013 True joy is not a thing of moods, not a capricious emotion, tied to fluctuating experiences. It is a state and condition of the soul. It survives through pain and sorrow and, like a subterranean spring,…

The Vertical Assures The Horizontal Aug 19, 2013 Not only do we know God through Jesus Christ, we only know ourselves through Jesus Christ.~Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus…

Love’s Invincibility Jul 12, 2013 Your success and happiness lie in you. External conditions are the accidents of life. The great enduring realities are love and service. Joy is the holy fire that keeps our purpose warm and our intelligence, aglow.…

The Freedom of His Presence Mar 18, 2013 It is an overwhelming experience to fall into the hands of the living God, to be invaded to the depths of one’s being by his presence, to be without warning wholly uprooted from all earth-born securities…

A Different Breed Feb 11, 2013 New Life: The first opus of His Grace. A person who has become a Christian, is actually and truly a different species than before conversion. Prior to conversion, Homo sapiens is flesh and soul (body and…

Almost… But Yet… Sep 26, 2012 This gladness in God is as a deep river; we have only as yet touched its brink, we know a little of its clear sweet, heavenly streams, but onward the depth is greater, and the current…

To Be Full May 18, 2012 A heart in every thought renewed And full of love divine,Perfect and right and pure and good,A copy, Lord, of thine.~Charles Wesley (1707-1788)Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually…

On The Bleeding Edge Of Joy Apr 24, 2012 Joy is the gigantic secret of the Christian. — G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.…

Swimming in Joy Mar 13, 2012 To the church, Pentecost brought light, power, joy. There came to each illumination of mind, assurance of heart, intensity of love, fullness of power, exuberance of joy. No one needed to ask if they had received…

Unending Strength Sep 20, 2011 Happiness is a feeling. Joy is an attitude. A posture. A position. A place…I cannot choose to be strong, but I can choose to be joyful. And when I am willing to do that, strength will…

Effectual Fervent Prayer May 10, 2011 Please review and distribute/disposition as He leads. Don’t know why i’m doing this. No good temporal reason. Am just permitted by Him to inform you all… scot Please pray for some men down here in the…

The Scope of Surrender… Apr 26, 2011 Some of us may look back and see we really have been a sincere believer in Christ; that we have honestly trusted Him for our salvation… However, for some us, something was lacking: Could it have…

Vicious. Beyond Brutal. Wonderful. For Us… Apr 23, 2011 In the near-term, this just SO didn’t make sense. Jesus Christ never sinned, only loved, taught, healed and shared His true Life during the three short years of His ministry. And what did He get in…