He is faithful…

It Matters To Him About You

The Fruit of Brokenness, Part II. (via Rivers of Hope)

Being a Christ-follower is a radical break from EGO; being a true believer is more than being ethically “nice.” Nice may feel right, but can be fabricated by anyone.

… love is kind. —1 Corinthians 13:4 There is another demonstration of the fruit of brokenness—kindness. Most of us know what this word means. We certainly know when we are not treated with kindness. Kindness is a positive action. Whereas patience shows how we react, kindness shows how we act. But how do we show this positive action of kindness?. True kindness is the fruit of brokenness. It is more than being nice; we can be manipulative and sti … Read More

via Rivers of Hope

A Noticeable Difference. (via Rivers of Hope)

A blog entry expressed well + the content is fundamental.

Have you ever been forced to do something that you didn’t want to do?. If you have, in most cases, you were going through the motions without any depth of involvement. When your heart is not in it, there’s no investment on your part. There’s no real commitment to the outcome of your actions. You are doing it because you’re forced to do it. On the other hand, when you do something and your heart is in it, there’s a significant personal investment … Read More

via Rivers of Hope

100% 4 Jesus Christ?

Spiritual Knowledge

“It is very important to remember that while God‘s Spirit is given to the believer once for all, our spirit must go on learning throughout life. Thus the more we learn, the more we can discern. It is a source of grief to us that so many brothers and sisters in the Lord do not know how to exercise spiritual discernment. Too many fail to differentiate between what is of the Lord and what is of human nature. Only as we have experienced the Lord’s strict dealing with us in a certain matter can we quickly detect even the initial sprouting in others. We do not need to wait for its fruit. We can discern long before harvest time. So our spiritual sensitivity is gradually gained through experiencing God’s hand upon us. For example, someone may mentally condemn pride, yes, even preach against it, yet not sense the sinfulness of pride in his own spirit. Thus when pride appears in his brother, his spirit is not distressed ; it may even be sympathetic. Then the day comes when God’s Spirit so works in his life that he really sees what pride is. He is dealt with by God, and his pride is consumed. Though his preaching against pride may sound the same as before, yet now every time a spirit of pride appears in his brother, he senses its ugliness and is distressed. What he has learned and seen from God enables him to sense and to be distressed. (“Distress” most suitably describes such an inward sensitivity.) Now that he recognizes this ailment, he can serve his brother. Once he was attacked by the same affliction ; now he is cured. (This does not imply that he should claim complete deliverance—simply that he knows some measure of cure.) This is how we come to spiritual knowledge” (Watchman Nee). http://www.worldinvisible.com/library/nee/5f00.0638/5f00.0638.4.htm

 

 

“FULLY PERSUADED” by David Wilkerson

Monday, June 6, 2011

FULLY PERSUADED

 Abraham didn’t stagger in his faith. Rather, he was “fully persuaded that, what (God) had promised, he was able to perform” (Romans 4:21). He recognized that God is able to work with nothing. Indeed, our Lord creates out of a void. Consider the Genesis account: out of nothing, God created the world. With just a single word, he creates. And he can create miracles for us, out of nothing.

When all else fails—when your every plan and scheme has been exhausted—that is the time for you to cast everything on God. It is time for you to give up all confidence in finding deliverance anywhere else. Then, once you are ready to believe, you are to see God not as a potter who needs clay, but as a Creator who works from nothing. And, out of nothing that is of this world or its materials, God will work in ways and means you could never have conceived.

How serious is the Lord about our believing him in the face of impossibilities? We find the answer to this question in the story of Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist. Zacharias was visited by an angel who told him that his wife, Elisabeth, would give birth to a special child. But Zacharias—who was advanced in years, like Abraham—refused to believe it. God’s promise alone was not enough for him.

Zacharias answered the angel, “Whereby (how) shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years” (Luke 1:18). Simply put, Zacharias considered the impossibilities. He was saying, “This isn’t possible. You’ve got to prove to me how it will happen.” It didn’t sound reasonable.

Zacharias’ doubts displeased the Lord. The angel told him, “Behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season” (1:20).

The message is clear: God expects us to believe him when he speaks. Likewise, Peter writes: “Let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator” (1 Peter 4:19, my italics).http://davidwilkersontoday.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

What Are Your Credentials? (via Even More Undignified)

Sometimes you have to shoot from the hip; othertimes you speak slowly & from the heart; manytimes, I hope, you think about what to say before you say it. The person who authored, “What Are Your Credentials,” has made a powerful and candid point. This post is well worth pondering.

 I’ve been asking myself lately, what possible reason should someone listen to me in regards to their eternal souls. What credentials do I lend that might qualify me to speak into a person’s spiritual life in the name  of an almighty God? I have many friends who are doctors and masters in their various fields. Their education and titles give them varying degrees of credibility and authority to officially have something to say on pretty much every … Read More

via Even More Undignified

“Christ Reigns!” by David Wilkerson

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

CHRIST REIGNS!

 Often people write to us saying, “I have no one to talk to, no one to share my burden with. Nobody has time to hear my cry. I need someone I can pour my heart out to.”

King David was surrounded by people. He was married, with a large family, and had many companions at his side. Yet we hear the same cry even from David: “To whom shall I go?” It is in our very nature to want another human being, with a face, eyes and ears to listen to us and advise us.

When Job became overwhelmed by his trials, he cried out with grief: “Oh that one would hear me!” (Job 31:35). He uttered this cry while sitting before his so-called friends. Yet those friends had no sympathy for Job’s troubles. Instead, they were messengers of despair.

In his sorrow, Job turned only to the Lord: “Behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high… Mine eye poureth tears unto God” (Job 16:19-20). In the Psalms, David urged God’s people to do likewise: “Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us” (Psalm 62:8). David also wrote in Psalm 142:

“I cried unto the Lord with my voice; with my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul. I cried unto thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living” (142:1-5).

I believe in my heart this message is an invitation to you from the Holy Spirit to find a private place where you can frequently pour out your soul to the Lord. David “poured out his complaint,” and so can you. You can speak to Jesus about everything – your problems, your present trial, your finances, your health – and tell him how overwhelmed you are, even how discouraged you are. He will hear you with love and sympathy, and he will not despise your cry.

God answered David. He answered Job. And for centuries he has answered the heart-cry of everyone who has trusted his promises. Likewise, he has promised to hear you and guide you. Indeed, he has pledged by oath to be your strength. Go to him, and you will come out renewed. http://davidwilkersontoday.blogspot.com/

“Body piercing . . . saved my life”

I just returned from Hastings, where I bought Bill Johnson’s book, “Dreaming with God.” The cashier, a young man, in his early twenties, noticed my “witness” T-shirt: “body piercing…” He noticed it and, I think, he asked 2 see the back; I turned around & he read the boldfaced words: “saved my life.” The words are on a crown of thorns & one big nail.

What’s my point?

 I’ve not been trying to get His message to sinners for some time now. I’m 56 years old and returning to faith.

So, today’s contact with a young man and my sharing it with u is like a testimony of an old guy learning to be obedient once again.