perseverance

This life can be a struggle and sometimes we think that it has us beat!
Even in our walk of faith, we can feel like "giving up" . . . .
But, where does our hope come from?
We must always remember that if our hope is in Jesus Christ, He shall never leave us nor forsake us.
For there will be trials and tribulations in this life but there will also be times of refreshing and rejoicing and triumph!
Let us keep our eyes on Him; for only when our eyes are on Him are we able to run the race. And yes, it can be a hard, long and painful race, but the reward - the hope that is set before us - is well worth all of our effort!

In closing, remember -
the real fruit of conversion is perseverance . . .

Deity indwelling men!

'Truth consists not in correct doctrine, but in correct doctrine plus the inward enlightenment of the Holy Spirit....Deity indwelling men!' (A W Tozer)

That is where the power and the authority come from....not from our flesh, not from our ideas, not from our wisdom....

We must be filled with the Spirit so that we may fulfill the call that we have on our lives as believers -

1) preach the gospel and
2) make disciples......

Powerful quote to consider

God's full intention for these last days can be summed up in this one sentence:

Being that we are Christ's body on earth, God's intention is that every member becomes a true expression of who Christ is!

God intends for us to express such a complete fullness of Christ that any sinner can see in us the Lord Jesus Christ as surely as if he once again walked here in the flesh.
We are to appropriate so much of his fullness, his glory, his completeness that the world will see in us the hope and answers to their needs.

It is not enough to know Christ. We must be a full expression of who he is!

David Wilkerson


2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

Spiritual eyes to see...do we have them...do we use them...

What do we see when we look at people or maybe I should ask what don't we see?
Do we simply see a male or female, an attractive person or an unattractive person, someone who is physically fit or one who is not fit, someone we might associate with or someone who we probably wouldn’t associate with, someone who fits our image of what we believe is in our ‘class’ or someone who we think might either be above or below our ‘station’ – how do we see the people that we come into contact with and pass by each and every day?
As a believer we are to view those around us with our ‘spiritual eyes’ – and we are to see God’s creation. We are to see a life that was made by Him - in His image, a life that is either in His kingdom by faith and needs to be strengthened and uplifted in their walk OR one who is not in His kingdom and needs to know about a Creator God who loves them much more than they can understand and seeks after a relationship with them.
Our spiritual birth in Christ has made us complete in Him and as such we are to see people as He sees them – not as the world sees them. In our world today we have been indoctrinated so well that we have a propensity to see people as the world wants us to see them – for what they can do for us based upon their ‘status’ – this is NOT the way that Christ desires we see His creation. We are to see, with our spiritual eyes, people who need a Savior; who need Christ's love, who need hope, who need joy, who need peace, who need encouragement, who need to be exhorted and even those who need to be rebuked.
As Christ sees us, frail and fallen beings who long for relationship, we are to see the people around us who pass our way each and every day.
So, how are your spiritual eyes doing?

prb


There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. [Galatians 3:28]

Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. [John 4:35]

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling [Ephesians 1:18]

An Ode to Our Times

All her majesty is departing from her, she who once was great among the nations.
She did not consider her future, therefore she has fallen astonishingly.
Greif has beset her because of the multitude of her transgressions, she has sinned greatly therefore she has become an unclean thing. Her iniquity is greater than the sin of Sodom.

See O Lord, for we are in distress, our spirit is greatly troubled; our heart is overturned within us, for we have been very rebellious.
The law is no more and there is no wisdom to be found in the land.
For our ruin is as vast as the sea. Our leaders have seen for us false and foolish visions and they have not exposed iniquity.

Who can heal us? Who can restore us?

Let us examine and probe our ways, and let us return to the Lord.
Restore us to You, O Lord, that we may be restored.

Lord God, You draw near when we call on You, You tell us, “Do not fear”. Therefore we have hope.
For the Lord is my portion therefore I have hope in Him. The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him.

The Lord's loving-kindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is His faithfulness.
His loving-kindness is never-ending, His grace and His mercy overcome, His truth is an everlasting foundation.