Posted by: jakinnan | October 2, 2013

Words for the Weary

yosemite_4

Sometimes I get tired in the Lord’s work, but I never get tired of the Lord’s work. When you are tired, take a break. Rest. Recharge. Even Jesus took time off periodically. The point is that we must never get tired of doing the Lord’s work. It is a great privilege to be called to do it.
There are sacrifices we make as followers of Jesus Christ. There are things we lose. There are persecutions we face. There are hardships we endure. In the Beatitudes, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:10–12).

Notice the word “blessed” is used twice to emphasize the generous blessing of God on the persecuted. Another way to translate it would be “double-blessed are the persecuted” or “happy, happy are the persecuted.”

We are to be faithful in what we do. Galatians 6:9 says, “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Don’t be weary in reading your Bible and seeking to live by what it teaches. Don’t be weary in praying for your family, friends, and country. Don’t be weary in sharing your faith with others. Don’t be weary in serving the Lord with the gifts that God has given you. Don’t be weary in that. For in due season, you will reap if you don’t give up.

God keeps careful records, and He promises to reward us for our faithfulness.

– Greg Laurie

Posted by: jakinnan | October 2, 2013

A Love Affair of the Heart

sunset

For above all else, the Christian life is a love affair of the heart. It cannot be lived primarily as a set of principles or ethics. It cannot be managed with steps and programs. It cannot be lived exclusively as a moral code leading to righteousness. In response to a religious expert who asked him what he must do to obtain real life, Jesus asked a question in return:

“What is written in the Law? . . . How do you read it?” He answered: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” (Luke 10:26-28, emphasis added)

The truth of the gospel is intended to free us to love God and others with our whole heart. When we ignore this heart aspect of our faith and try to live out our religion solely as correct doctrine or ethics, our passion is crippled, or perverted, and the divorce of our soul from the heart purposes of God toward us is deepened.

– John Eldredge, The Sacred Romance

Posted by: jakinnan | October 2, 2013

10/02/2013 Scripture

Wellsville

Some were persuaded by the things he said, but others did not believe. And after they had argued back and forth among themselves, they left with this final word from Paul: “The Holy Spirit was right when he said to your ancestors through Isaiah the prophet,

‘Go and say to this people:

When you hear what I say,
you will not understand.
When you see what I do,
you will not comprehend.
For the hearts of these people are hardened,
and their ears cannot hear,
and they have closed their eyes—
so their eyes cannot see,
and their ears cannot hear,
and their hearts cannot understand,
and they cannot turn to me
and let me heal them.’

-Acts 28:24-27 NLT

Photo: Ken Arnold

Posted by: jakinnan | October 1, 2013

The Only Safety Net That Will Hold

nature-winter-season-bridges-HD-Wallpapers

We have fears below the surface that we don’t consciously know we have. God wants us to be free of them. How can we be? Well, he has made a way for us. It is the way of his love. His perfect love for us casts out all fear.

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.… There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.… The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:16–18 NIV 2011)

We have to choose life. Choose risk. Choose love. The only safe place for our hearts is to dive deeply into the magnificent, eternal, ridiculous, overwhelming love that God has for us. His love is the only safety net that will hold. Really, do you have an option? How is that life of fearful control working for you? Better to ask, how is it working for those who have to live with your fearful control? Come and be free in the love of God.

– Stasi Eldredge, Becoming Myself

Posted by: jakinnan | October 1, 2013

10/01/2013 Scripture

Lake Florence

For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

-Romans 1:16-17 NLT

Photo: Steve Pierce

Posted by: jakinnan | September 30, 2013

09/30/2013 Scripture

Missouri River

But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will judge everyone according to what they have done. He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness. There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.

-Romans 2:5-11 NLT

Photo: Bob Wicks

Posted by: jakinnan | September 30, 2013

09/29/2013 Scripture

Payson Rainbow

But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

-Romans 3:21-26 NLT

Posted by: jakinnan | September 30, 2013

09/27/2013 Scripture

Rachel Carson

When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it:

“Oh, what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sins are put out of sight.
Yes, what joy for those
whose record the Lord has cleared of sin.

-Romans 4:4-8 NLT

Posted by: jakinnan | September 26, 2013

Prayer Brings Peace

Middle Canyon

Despite being chained between two Roman soldiers and facing the possibility of execution the next day, Peter was asleep. (He probably was the only Christian who slept that night.) In fact, it seems that Peter was in such a deep slumber that it took a whack from an angel to wake him up: “Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to awaken him and said, ‘Quick! Get up!’ And the chains fell off his wrists” (verse 7).

What gave Peter such confidence and peace? He knew that people were praying for him. In the Psalms David said, “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O LORD, will keep me safe” (4:8). And David’s son Solomon wrote, “God gives rest to his loved ones” (127:2).

I know that people are praying for me when we hold our Harvest Crusades. I simply feel prayed for. It is comforting to know that others are praying for you.

Most of us know what it’s like to wake up in the middle of the night with things on our minds. When this happens, I will pray. I will say, “Lord, it’s 3:00 a.m. There’s nothing I can do about these things. I’m going back to sleep, so you worry about this.” Philippians 4:6–7 tells us, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (verse 7).

Do you sleep in peace? It is a great thing to go to sleep with a clean conscience.

– Greg Laurie

Photo:  Steve Howa

Posted by: jakinnan | September 26, 2013

A World Made for Romance

Ofu

If you learned about Eden in Sunday school, with poster board and flannel graphs, you missed something. Imagine the most beautiful scenes you have ever known on this earth—rain forests, the prairie in full bloom, storm clouds over the African savanna, the Alps under a winter snow. Then imagine it all on the day it was born.

It’s Tolkien’s Shire in its innocence, Iguazu Falls in the garden of The Mission, the opening scene of The Lion King.

And it doesn’t stop there.

Into this world God opens his hand, and the animals spring forth. Myriads of birds, in every shape and size and song, take wing—hawks, herons, warblers. All the creatures of the sea leap into it—whales, dolphins, fish of a thousand colors and designs. Thundering across the plains race immense herds of horses, gazelles, buffalo, running like the wind. It is more astonishing than we could possibly imagine. No wonder “the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy” (Job 38:7). A great hurrah goes up from the heavens!

We have grown dull toward this world in which we live; we have forgotten that it is notnormal or scientific in any sense of the word. It is fantastic. It is fairy tale through and through. Really now. Elephants? Caterpillars? Snow? At what point did you lose your wonder at it all?

Even so, once in a while something will come along and shock us right out of our dullness and resignation.

We come round a corner, and there before us is a cricket, a peacock, a stag with horns as big as he. Perhaps we come upon a waterfall, the clouds have made a rainbow in a circle round the sun, or a mouse scampers across the counter, pauses for a moment to twitch its whiskers, and disappears into the cupboard. And for a moment we realize that we were born into a world as astonishing as any fairy tale.

A world made for romance.

– John Eldredge, Epic

Photo: National Park Service

 

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