"Utmost with the Least Most", I have rights~Michael James Stone

MASTERY OVER THE BELIEVER

    Ye call Me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I
    am.

    John 13:13


Our Lord never insists on having authority; He never says - Thou
shalt. He leaves us perfectly free -

so free that we can spit in His face, as men did;
so free that we can put Him to death, as men did;
and He will never say a word.

But when His life has been created in me by His Redemption I instantly recognize His right to absolute authority over me.

It is a moral domination - "Thou art worthy . . ."

It is only the unworthy in me that refuses to bow down to the worthy.

If when I meet a man who is more holy than myself, I do not recognize his worthiness and obey what comes through him, it is a revelation of the unworthy in me.

God educates us by means of people who are a little better than we are, not intellectually but "holily," until we get under the domination of the Lord Himself, and then the whole attitude of the life is one of obedience to Him.

If Our Lord insisted upon obedience He would become a taskmaster, and He would cease to have any authority.

He never insists on obedience, but when we do see Him we obey Him instantly, He is easily Lord, and we live in adoration of Him from morning till night.

The revelation of my growth in grace is the way in which I look upon obedience. We have to rescue the word "obedience" from the mire.

Obedience is only possible between equals; it is the relationship between father and son, not between master and servant.

"I and My Father are one."

"Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered." The Son's obedience was as Redeemer, because He was Son, not in order to be Son.

___________

I have Rights.

I hear that a lot lately. Especially in times of trouble and attitudes when someone things they are being abused, stepped on, persecuted, or mistreated. I think we out to become Moradized to our "rights" we ought to learn:

You have the right to remain silent. If you give up that right to remain silent anything you say can and will be used against you.

Since I already have an advocate in Jesus, I think when someone offends me, contradicts me, challenges me or out just makes me mad enough blow thier doors off with religious prowess....I need to shut up.

If I shut up, God can speak up.

God, if he is my defense and my strong tower, is a better lawyer than I am.

He is my defense attorney. He knows I am guilty. He knows I deserve the maximum sentence the law allows and He knows HOW to get me off Scott free. Jesus represents me, and he lays His Life on the line each time He goes to court on my behalf.

Since I have a lawyers like that, I know I can trust the verdict because Jesus himself is placing his Life on the line for me.

My choice is do I exercise my right to speak up?
Do I defend Myself?
Do I assert my rights?
Do I need to really open my mouth at all in any circumstance or situation that comes against me?

Depends...

Depends if I want Jesus representing me or not.

I have rights....,

The right to remain silent.

If you give you that right, Everything you say Can and Will Be used against you....

Michael James Stone

He Reached Down~Dave Miller

He Reached Down

"He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters." 2 Samuel 23-51

As you go through life, you need this. You need God to just reach down and take hold of you. More often than we care to admit, you think He might just reach down and shake you into your senses, but this is not the case in this passage. No, after spending a lot of time and more energy running from his enemies, David just cried out to God. In fact, this entire chapter is like that. You can tell that being on the run took its toll on David. He's spent, exhausted, ready to just hang it all up.

We get like that. We sometimes feel as if we can no longer move. But God, through simple, honest prayers like this, restores our soul, renews our spirit. But we have to take a step of faith and let it all go. Blurt it all out. Holding in all the junk and misery of life just complicates it. Let it all go.

Read the entire 23rd Chapter of Second Samuel out loud, then close your eyes and just worship. Weep if you need; raise your hands if you must, but cry out to Him.

When I am weak, then am I strong~Jon Courson

In reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
	2 Corinthians 12:10
‘If you only knew what power there is in an accepted sorrow,’ wrote Madame Guyon 400 years ago. Understand this, dear saint, it is not wrong to pray to the Father when there’s a thorn jabbing at you, or to share with the Father the desires that are mounting within you. You desire a certain thing to open up, to work out, to be taken away. There’s no problem with communicating this to the Father. Whether it’s a physical thorn in the flesh — sickness, disease, or bodily difficulty — or whether it’s an emotional thorn in the flesh, we are to pray not once, not twice, but without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Life is not a playground, gang. It’s a battlefield. And the sooner we understand this, the wiser we’ll be. This is not heaven. If you’re seeking to have heaven here now — no thorns in your flesh, no problems poking you, no disappointments coming to you — your life will be hellish because this is not heaven. It is when I finally realize that, like Paul, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain, that life becomes extremely meaningful and completely enjoyable. We’re here for a short season. There will be thorns in our flesh. There will be things poking us and disappointing us. Oh, what power there is, though, in an accepted sorrow. Pray without ceasing until the Lord either takes away the difficulty, or gives you the healing, develops the relationship, or opens the job — until He either does that which you’re asking or lets you know, as He did with Paul, that His grace is sufficient for you to bear the pain or the disappointment. Never forget that God is not as interested in your present comfort as He is in your eternal state. Trust Him when He says, ‘This thorn is necessary to draw you close to Me, that you might give your all in service to Me, that you might depend wholly upon Me.’ For it is then you will hear from Him the words your soul longs to hear: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord,’ (Matthew 25:21). Pray. For as you grab the lever of prayer with the hand of faith one of two things will happen: Blessings, healing, the working of God will come down upon you — or else the lever will yank you up into heaven where you’ll hear your Father say, ‘Now that I’ve got your attention, I don’t want you healed because it is in your weakness that My strength will flow through you.’ Brothers and sisters, pray 3 times, 30 times, 300 times until you either get the answer you’re asking for or you hear the Father say, ‘No, and here’s why ... .’ Don’t settle for anything less. If you pray this way, I believe you’ll experience successful prayer 100% of the time. Talk to the Father about your thorns, your difficulties and keep praying until the answer comes your way or until, like Paul, you have understanding and revelation and can say, ‘That’s a closed issue. I don’t need to talk about that anymore. I get it, Father. Your grace is sufficient for me.’

Needle's eye~Barry Rubin

The Voice of the Lord

It is easier for a camel to pass through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God" (Matthew 19.23-24).

TAMMUZ 27 The "needle's eye" was not a small gate in Jerusalem's walls, as many teach. No such gate by that name existed, and this interpretation first appeared during the Middle Ages. It is far more likely that Yeshua was using a well-known teaching technique to make his point. He chose for his image the largest animal known in the Land of Israel (the camel) and the smallest opening in any man-made object of that time (the needle). By combining them, he demonstrated that "humanly, this is impossible" (Matthew 19:26). But he may have also been referring to a Midrash (traditional commentary). In the Midrash on Song of Solomon we find this interesting parallel: Rabbi Jassa said, "The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: 'My sons, present to me an opening of repentance no bigger than the eye of a needle, and I will widen it into openings through which wagons and carriages can pass'" (Midrash on the Song of Solomon 5:2). According to the Midrash, "repentance" is the meaning of the needle's eye. Without it, we cannot see the Kingdom of God nor continue to enjoy its blessings. Our part is very small, and in fact we are not even able to repent as we should. But if we will turn to God in repentance, he is there to broaden the way for us, no matter what our situation may be.

...ask the Lord to help me overcome those "impossible" sins, which I cannot defeat with my own strength.

More Truth to Deliver Us from the Law~Bob Hoekstra

More Truth to Deliver Us from the Law

Now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years. (Galatians 4:9-10)

In our last meditation, we saw that the Lord's promise of liberating truth includes truth to deliver us from the law. If we are going to be justified (declared not guilty and pronounced righteous in Christ), we must be delivered from the law (which condemns us, pronounces us guilty of sin). We are rescued from the law by placing our faith in the Lord Jesus, thereby receiving His justifying grace. "We have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law" (Galatians 2:16).

Through this exercise of faith, we come to know the Lord. At this point, many Christians return to a religious striving-under-law performance, assuming they can grow in sanctification by their own dedicated efforts. "Now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements?" These words from Galatians repeat a major theme of that revolutionary letter: the power and richness of grace contrasted with the weakness and poverty ("the weak and beggarly elements") of the law. The grace of God, that was powerful enough to bring us justification, is the only option powerful enough to provide us daily sanctification (growth in godly living). The grace of God, that was abundantly rich unto the saving of our souls, is the only resource rich enough to effect the transforming of our heart and character. God's law was never intended to provide the heavenly power or riches needed for justification. Neither was the law intended to do such for sanctification.

The futility of producing godliness through the law can be seen in the Galatians' vain hope that observing religious holy days would empower them spiritually. "You observe days and months and seasons and years." Far from liberation, this was a return to religious enslavement. "You desire again to be in bondage." God's people are certainly free to celebrate days that may have spiritual significance to them. "One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind" (Romans 14:5). We are not to require or prohibit the observance of days. Nevertheless, if our hope is in religious observances, we are heading into religious bondage, not into spiritual liberty.

Dear Lord, I rejoice in the power and richness of Your grace that has brought me justification from sin! I humbly cry out to You for a daily supply of Your powerful and rich sanctifying grace. Convict me when I am leaning upon the weak and beggarly elements of law performance, in Jesus' name, Amen.

Wear your helmet~Greg Laurie

Wear your helmet

July 18th, 2009 Posted in Pastor's corner, essentials, sermons | 1 Comment »

Hey everyone! Did you happen to notice our new Web site is up?

Sooo . . . what do you think? Let me know your thoughts.

As we wrap up this series on the spiritual armor we wear to fight a spiritual war, we only have two pieces left—the helmet and our one offensive weapon, the sword (more on that Monday).

Paul tells us we are to take “the helmet of salvation” (Ephesians 6:17).

In a war, the two most sought-after and vulnerable targets on the ancient battlefield were the heart and head. With our heart and other vital organs ably protected by the breastplate of righteousness, the enemy will try to strike the head. One well-placed blow here and the battle is over.

What does it mean to wear the helmet of salvation?

It would seem to me that the apostle is telling us to watch our thoughts in general. Most temptation comes through the gateway of the mind and imagination.

This is why Paul tells us, “But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your mind may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3).

Smashing warped philosophies

When those “flaming arrows” of ungodly thoughts come, we need to have our guard up.

Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:5-6:

“We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity” (THE MESSAGE).

Watch your thoughts!

So watch what you allow into your thought life. Our minds, thoughts, and imaginations must be protected. Proverbs 23:7 reminds us, “As a man thinks, so is he.”

Satan recognizes the value of first getting a foothold in the realm of the thoughts and imagination, as this will “prepare the way” for that thought to translate into action! As it’s been said:

Sow a thought and reap an act.
Sow an act and reap a habit.
Sow a habit and reap a character.
Sow a character and reap a destiny.

So think “heavenly thoughts” this weekend!

This and that

You may want to check out my weekend column at WorldNetDaily. To read that, click here.

Also, here is my weekend devotion.

Handpicked~Mark Balmer

Handpicked

Posted:

Based on “Our God Is Still Able” by Pastor Fidel Gomez; 7/11-12/09,

Message #GS71; Daily Devotional #6 - “Handpicked”

Preparing the Soil (Introduction): And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again.

Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them.

They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. (Hebrews 11:32-40)

Planting and Watering the Seed (Growth): What a blessing to be a part of such a rich heritage. To be surrounded by great men and women of faith, who gladly laid down their very lives for the sake of God’s Kingdom. Their love for the Father far outweighed their love for their own lives!

Despised by the world, yet loved by God, they willingly abandoned their own agenda and embraced God’s call. No lion was too big, and no army too well armed, to dissuade their confidence in God’s power.

May we all be so determined to see God glorified and our own faith be so strong! Thankfully, like the mighty saints before us, we will be empowered by God’s Holy Spirit to battle bravely to the end. We have nothing to fear and everything to gain when we stand in faith and believe in the power of our God! And like Joshua, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, and Samuel, we will see with our own eyes the deliverance of our God!

And just like us, these mighty warriors of God were intentionally positioned by God to testify of His greatness. They were not haphazardly thrown out there just to be an irritant to the world, but were strategically placed by the Father Himself. He handpicked each one personally, and breathed His destiny into their lives. God also handpicked each of us to accomplish His will in the earth.

Harvesting the Crop (Action/Response): If Ruth, Abraham, Noah, Isaac, Joshua, and Naomi were able see the glory of God under the Old Covenant, then certainly we should be able to see it even better under the New! These marvelous people looked forward to the coming of their Messiah and fought, even then, for His cause.

They were determined, at all costs, to see God glorified. And even though their meetings with Yahweh were infrequent and sometimes frightening and confusing, they still loved Him more than their very lives. In light of their determination, faith, and bravery, we have no excuse to refuse God’s invitation to fight the good fight of faith and scatter His Seeds in the earth! Since Jesus Christ has already defeated our enemy and ordained us to His cause, we might as well be effective.

Sometimes, when life gets busy and stressful, we forget what our real purpose is and that we were intentionally placed here for God’s glory. So push aside the distractions of life, turn on your front porch light, and throw out the welcome mat. Because God’s got someone heading your way that needs a touch of the Master’s hand. And believe me; you don’t want to be too busy to miss that!

Cultivating (Additional Reading): Hebrews 11:29-34; Joshua 6:1-20

1 Chronicles 28:1-29:30 ~ Romans 5:6-21 ~ Psalm 15:1-5 ~ Proverbs 19:18-19

1 Chronicles 28:1-29:30 ~ Romans 5:6-21 ~ Psalm 15:1-5 ~ Proverbs 19:18-19
~ Click here to read today's Scripture on BibleGateway.com ~

~ Listen to today's Scripture on DailyAudioBible.com (podcast) or OneYearAudioBible.org ~

Old Testament - We finish up the book of First Chronicles today! Second Chronicles begins tomorrow! Today's readings are a nice transition from the reign of King David to his son Solomon.

Our readings today set the transition scene nicely in First Chronicles 28 verses 1 & 2: "David summoned all his officials to Jerusalem--the leaders of the tribes, the commanders of the twelve army divisions, the other generals and captains, the overseers of the royal property and livestock, the palace officials, the mighty men, and all the other warriors in the kingdom. David rose and stood before them and addressed them as follows: "My brothers and my people!"" One thing that really stood out to me in David's address to his officials today was his absolute passion for God's Temple! David was so passionate about making sure the Temple was prepared for his son Solomon to build it. Yes, true, God gave David the plans for the Temple. :) But... what about us in our lives today... does God give us any "plans" for our lives today? What about the Bible? Is the Bible a "plan" for our lives today that we should follow? Below is an image from today's readings of David addressing his officials:

I love David's prayer of praise to God today in 1 Chronicles 29 verses 10 through 12: "O LORD, the God of our ancestor Israel, may you be praised forever and ever! Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O LORD, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things. Riches and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and it is at your discretion that people are made great and given strength." Have you ever prayed a prayer of praise like this to God? Would you like to? You could do so right now!

New Testament - Wow... I don't know what it is about Romans this year, but it is speaking to me like never before. For those of you that have gone through the One Year Bible multiple times, you probably know how this is. One year a book will kinda sorta speak to you - God's Word always does. And then the next year a book will just blow you away with its wisdom. Romans is one of those books for me this year... Paul's words in Romans 5 verses 6 through 8 today spoke to me right away: "When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, no one is likely to die for a good person, though someone might be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." This is so powerful to think about. Jesus died for us sinners. Think about how selfless this is. Would you die for someone right now? Perhaps your family or maybe someone who is especially good, as this Psalm says. But would you die for a liar, a thief, a cheat, or a hopeless addict? Maybe so... but probably not. Jesus came for us. He died for us. Us thieves. Us liars. Us cheat. Us addicts. He came to save us! Have you been saved by Jesus?

We are now called friends of God as Paul tells us in verse 11: "So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God--all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in making us friends of God." Do you rejoice in knowing that you are a friend of God? If someone were to look at how you interact with others and how you spend your time and your days, would they know that you are a friend of God? Do you often spend quality time with God like you would with any other friend? Do you think spending time with God is more valuable than anything else you could do in this world?

Paul's contrast of Adam and Jesus in today's readings is so powerful for us to meditate upon... Verses 18 & 19 stood out to me today: "Yes, Adam's one sin brought condemnation upon everyone, but Christ's one act of righteousness makes all people right in God's sight and gives them life. Because one person disobeyed God, many people became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many people will be made right in God's sight."

Bible.org's commentary on today's readings in Romans titled "From the Curse to the Cure" is at this link.

Psalms - Psalm 15 verses 1 & 2 today are awesome: "Who may worship in your sanctuary, LORD? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts." Psalm 15 was written for those that wished to have access to God in his Temple in Jerusalem. However, I do believe that today, through Jesus, anyone can worship God anywhere - in a church or in our homes or wherever we find ourselves. However, I do think there is truth in these Psalm verses in that we can worship God beautifully by living a blameless life (not perfect life - only Jesus was perfect this side of heaven - we will need to confess sins & repent), doing what is right, and speaking the truth from sincere hearts. I do believe these are acts of worship that demonstrate our friendship with God and our growth in becoming more like his son Jesus in our lifetimes. Do you seek to lead a blameless life? Do you seek to do what is right? Do you speak the truth from a sincere heart? Do you seek to worship God in some way each and every day? How?

Proverbs - Proverbs chapter 19 verse 19 teaches us today: "Short-tempered people must pay their own penalty. If you rescue them once, you will have to do it again." This is an interesting Proverb to think about. What it says to me is that sometimes people can only learn things on their own. They have to make their own mistakes. Pay their own penalty. And then they'll learn. If we don't let them go through this process, and we "rescue them" once, we'll have to rescue them again. Interesting to consider this in light of verse 18: "Discipline your children while there is hope. If you don't, you will ruin their lives." This verse to me indicates that we can actually "rescue" people with godly discipline early in their lives. We can "rescue" our children through godly discipline and save them much ruin later in their lives. Do you agree with both of these Proverbs? Do you see the wisdom in godly discipline for our children? Do you think this graph below shows how godly discipline can both send people on the upward road and also save people from ultimate ruin?

YouTube - Based on our readings in Romans chapter 5 verses 6 through 6 (shown above), I think you'll appreciate this 5 minute YouTube sermonette by Josh Harris. It's called "The Room," based on a dream Josh had several years ago. Josh wrote about this dream in his book "I Kissed Dating Goodbye". Here are a few words from Josh about this dream and this video you're about to watch: ""The Room" is a dream I had while visiting Puerto Rico for a Billy Graham crusade when I was 19. People often ask if I really had the dream, and the answer is yes. I woke up deeply shaken, grabbed my computer, and began to type. The dream became an article, and the premise was this: What if there were a room of files that cataloged your every thought and action? Could you bear to review them? "The Room" touches on the universal themes of guilt and redemption. How does a person find forgiveness for the wrongs they've committed or for the good they've left undone? Is our past something we can leave behind or forget? How can any of us know true forgiveness from a God who is holy and just? "The Room" points to our need for a Savior who can rescue us from the punishment our sins deserve. Jesus Christ is that Savior. And "The Room" is a story that helps explain what he accomplished when he died on the cross for the sins of the world. I hope that it will point you to the Savior who died for you." If you'd like to read the full text of "The Room" it's online here.

Have you allowed God into your "Room"? Click here to let him in!

Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture this week: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23 (NIV)

Comments from You & Questions of the Day: What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!

God bless,
Mike

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