A Few More

 Some shared thoughts from my prayer journal.....

"Behold, now is the acceptable time. Now is the day of salvation." 2 Corinthians 6:2...."What are you doing with Jesus right now?"  Vance Havner......What ARE we doing with Him right now? As concerns choosing to believe Him, receive Him, and live for Him, what have we done? What have we decided about His claims? His words? His truth? What are we doing with Jesus as concerns are daily lives? What are we doing in the matter of obeying Him, trusting Him, following Him, no matter where the following may lead us? The Bible tells us that our lives are but a breath, that we are here in temporal time for but a moment....and then comes eternity. Yet, all of our time and energy goes into that which is passing away, and very little into what will be unending. Jesus has told us that "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes unto the Father except through Me." What are we doing with that statement? What are we doing with His claim? Jesus came to a fallen race trapped in sin. He who knew no sin, took the sin of the world upon Himself and said that all who believed upon Him in truth would be saved from the penalty of eternal death. On the cross He paid the price for our sin. In His resurrection, He gave us the promise not only of eternal life, but of the fullness of that life now. Wonderful promises from His heart, which is also the heart of the Father. What are we doing with them right now? What are we doing with Jesus right now? What will we do? What will you do?

"God puts His saints where they will glorify Him, and we are no judges of where that might be." Oswald Chambers

It has been said that the chief end of man (and woman) is to glorify God. This means that all aspects of our lives are to point to Him and bring Him glory. We are to live in such a way as to reflect His holiness, His goodness, His love, mercy, joy, and strength. All the aspects of His life are to shine through, to some degree, in ours. We are to do so right where we are, not wait until we are in circumstances more to our liking and so easier for us to do so. The truth is that He will indeed put us in places that test us greatly. He puts pastors and leaders in assignments where they may be unnoticed, obscure, even seemingly useless. It is His desire and command that even so, in that place, we would bring Him glory. Putting us in places where we will have success, applause, and notoriety are not even among His priorities. His purpose for us there is first and foremost that we bring glory to His name, because even if no one is noticing, He is noticing, and it brings Him great joy. And the bonus is that even if it seems no one sees us, people do see us. Eternity is affected by how we live for Him.....even when we live in the most difficult of places. The lyrics of the old chorus ring so true; "In my life Lord, be glorified, be glorified." May it be so for you and for me today.

"Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10... "Where fear, anxiety, and stress reign, we do not know Him." Chris Tiegreen This Psalm exhorts us to be still in His presence. The outflow of that is that we will grow more deeply in our knowledge of Him. It makes it only natural then that the opposite is true when stress, fear, and anxiety are ruling our lives. In those times, we don't know Him. We don't because knowledge of Him vanishes when we give in to those attitudes. Where they are found, He is not. This should be sobering news for each of us given how often we yield to them. When they invade our lives, they remove all sense of His presence. It is not that He vanishes, but its more a matter that we are vanishing from Him. In those places, we really don't know Him. If we did, we wouldn't be giving in to that which He has told us can have no power over us if we are trusting in and believing upon Him. As someone said, wherever He comes, He brings His peace with Him. Perfect love casts out all fear. The key to knowing all this, and to knowing Him, is to be still in Him. Most of us have little or no idea how to be so, and as a result, fear, anxiety, and stress wreak havoc in our lives. The enemy would have us living at the mercy of these three, and as long as our eyes are fixed upon what is not Him, we will not see Him. In those times and places, we will not know Him. We will only know the dangers. Yet, when we come to stillness before and in Him, we behold HIm, and when we behold HIm, we know Him. When we know Him, we will not "know" and be victim to that which is against us. We will know His perfect peace. We will know Him.

Just a few more thoughts from my journal. Blessings upon you my friends......Pastor O