Give Him All - C S Lewis

From C S Lewis...

"Christ says, 'Give Me all.  

I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. 

No half-measures are any good. I don't want to cut off a branch here and a branch there. I want to have the whole tree cut down. I don't want to drill the tooth or crown it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires you think are innocent, as well as the ones you think are wicked -- the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. 

In fact, I will give you Myself! My own will shall become yours.'"

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"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; all things have passed away; behold all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

I remember once reading that someone asked William Booth, the famous evangelist and founder of The Salvation Army, what was the secret of his great successful international ministry that so exalted God's glory. He answered, "God has all of me."

God's Makeover

From C S Lewis --

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house.

At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you know that those jobs need doing and so you are not surprised.

But presently He starts knocking the house about in such a way that hurts abominably and does not seem  to make sense.

What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here and putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards.

You thought you were going to make it into a decent little cottage, but He is building a palace.

He intends to come and live in it Himself."

 

Don't Worry About Tomorrow

 Matthew 6:34 --

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for today is its own trouble."

Max Lucado --

"The key is this: meet today's problems with today's strength. Don't start tackling tomorrow's problems until tomorrow. You do not have tomorrow's strength yet. You simply have enough for today."

How to Live in the End Times

Thoughtful words from Jonathan Cahn --

  According to biblical prophecy, the end times will be marked by the increase of evil, but also by the outpouring of God's Spirit. It will be marked by both great good and great evil. 

Thus the end-time believers must aspire not only to goodness, but to greatness. 

They must seek to become great in faith, great in love, great in righteousness, great in prayer, great in purity, great in worship, great in zeal, great in hope, great in goodness and great in God.

      The end times will not only be marked by great evil but great good.

      As evil moves from bad to worse, the righteous must move from                goodness to greatness.

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[Are we there yet? I think it's about time we were getting ready!]

Fixing What's Broken

 Everything looks so broken now...seems beyond repair! Such wreckage everywhere ...politics, people, families. 

We caused it ourselves through our own disobedience to our Father, our stupid selfishness, our poor thoughtless choices. 

Remember what Aaron said to Moses when he came down from the mountain with God's Law in his hands and encountered the Hebrews in their acts of idolatry? Aaron said, "I told you these people were prone to evil!"

Looks like nothing has changed. But in spite of the wreckage and ruin we have caused through our sin, God's promise of ultimate restoration still stands.

In Revelation 21 we read about Jesus at His Throne saying, "Behold, I am making all things new!"

How we yearn for that day.

It is coming!

In the meantime we have the unique privilege of partnering with God -- co-workers with the Almighty Creator -- in the beginning of that renewal of creation...starting today. We can help mend what is broken, promote what is good, restore what is missing, and lead the challenge to resist evil. 

We can work on that today! And that means we are partnering with God in bringing His Kingdom to earth. We are helping to answer Jesus' prayer, "Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done. On earth, as it is in heaven." 

Then when  Jesus comes back as the rightful Sovereign King of all creation, His Kingdom will arrive in its ultimate eternal glory!

As we spread the gospel we are recruiting His subjects all over the earth!

A King needs territory and subjects. And we are His subjects and our hearts are His territory.

Until then, we can help get ready for that day! We can start the process!

God's Masterpiece

 "For we are God's handiwork [masterpiece], created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10).

Certainly one of the most amazing verses in scripture! We are saved by grace, not by our good works -- but we are saved so we can do God's good works and glorify Him!

We are here for a reason. So we can do the  service He designed specifically for us to do and bring glory to Him.

(Remember the Westminster Catechism -- Q: What is the chief end of man? A: The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever)

Otherwise He would have just beamed us up immediately the moment He saved us!

(Sort of like what happened to the repentant thief on the cross! Wow...imagine the relief...from the torture of the cross to the unspeakable splendor of paradise!)

Though, I admit, there are times being beamed up immediately sounds like  good option!

Pour Out Your Heart!

"Trust in Him at all times, you people. Pour out your heart to Him. God is a refuge for us" (Psalm 62:8).

"Every once in a while we just need to cry it out. Our heavenly Father is always there, watching and waiting for the opportunity to hold His children. His love is freely given and knows no bounds when it comes to those who seek Him for sanctuary."  Cindy Boyd

He is there - waiting to give comfort...and courage....

The prophet Zephaniah understood it. He know God as his loving Father, holding His child, quieting him and bringing him rest and peace during times of anxiety. As soon as we cry out, He is there -- already there -- watching over us as a parent watches over His beloved child.

"The LORD, your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you in His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." (Zephaniah 3:17)

It's All About Jesus!

 "For in Him  all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers, rulers, or authorities, all things have been created through Him and for Him (Colossians 1:16).

Jesus is the goal of all things. All creation  and all history have been fashioned with Christ in mind, for they achieve their intended purpose through Him and exist for Him. All of life and all creation draw their meaning only from Jesus Christ. That includes us!

It's amazing - the hands that hold history are nail--scarred; the heart from which history beats is love-filled; and the mind that plans history is grace-filled!

And He holds US in His nail-scarred hands!

We do have a choice!

 

If we feel we are being bombarded daily with messages contrary to God's Word (and we are) -- we can choose to bombard ourselves with messages from God's Word -- words that bring us closer to Him!

We can focus on words that fill our minds and hearts with His specific messages for us.

Philippians 4:8 tells us how to do that: "Whatever is true...noble...right...pure...admirable...excellent...praiseworthy...think about those things."

So just as we carefully choose to eat to nourish our bodies, we must also be intentional about what we consume spiritually and mentally.

It's all about our free choice! We must seek out what is noble and right and pure and praiseworthy. We must align our actions with God's righteous standard.

It is our choice. Let's choose to dwell on things that bring us closer to God and experience the abundant life that Christ offers us.

It's our choice -- good choices become good habits!

A sample -- Lamentations 3

"Yet this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning -- great is Your faithfulness."

There are hundreds more -- why not start a journal and write one down every day? Therefore we have hope....