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.

Love…not for the faint of heart!

Where does love begin?
If love does not begin at the right place what do you have - a worldly love that is self-focused, conditional and easily takes offense!
‘Love is a many splendored thing’ as a song writer once said yet in our world real, true love (as God has defined it) takes work, can be very messy at times and is very hands-on. Love is a voluntary act of giving of one’s self that can only be enabled by the grace and mercy of its Author, empowered by His Holy Spirit. It can take a toll on our spirit; it costs us something to love as love is truly meant to be. And love can leave one seemingly empty when it is not returned. But loved poured out is the work that we are called to accomplish. For the servant is not above his Master and the Master loves exceedingly abundantly more than we can ever know while we are on this earth.
We are called to love because He first loved us.
And this is love poured out:
- It is a redemptive and restoring love.
- It is a love that saves us and sets us free.
- It is a love that freely gives even when nothing is given back.
- It is a love that created yet places no demands upon its object.
- It is a love that is unconditional in its nature – a full and complete love that nurtures as well as admonishes.
- It is a love that longs for the restoration of an intimate relationship – a relationship that was broken by its intended object but was miraculously restored just as He promised.
- A love that cost Him everything yet is freely given to those who are its object.
Where does love begin – it begins with the Lord…and if we abide in Him His love will be poured out through us to a lost and dying world.

May I be...

May I be a humble man, Lord
that my words would encourage and edify

May I be a steadfast man, Lord
that my walk with You would be faithful

May I be a patient man, Lord
that my actions might witness unto You

May I be a man of perseverance, Lord
that all may see that I trust in You

May I be a man filled with Your grace and truth, Lord
that You would be glorified in my life

As a believer in Christ Jesus our Lord

As a believer in Christ Jesus our Lord;

We are called to daily pick up our cross -

Our cross is an outward sign of our dying to self, crucifying our flesh, letting the Lord lead us in all that we say and do, giving way to the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives - not my will but Thy will be done

We are called to follow Him-

Not just on Sunday and Wednesday nights, not just at fellowships and Bible studies, but in everything that we do, in everything that we are, whether it is comfortable or not, whether you feel like it or not - you have a call on your life and Jesus says ‘Follow me”

We are called and blessed with a testimony-

We must be prepared and we must be willing to share what the Lord has done and is doing in our lives - we overcome the world by the word of our testimony

We are called to preach the gospel-

The preaching of the gospel is a command of the Lord Jesus Christ to everyone that calls upon His name and has been born again from above, it is not an option, it is not just for the ‘pastoral staff’ - we are all called to ‘preach the good news’ of the kingdom of God

We are called to make disciples of all nations-

The making of disciples is another command that the believer is called to participate in, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Word of God we must seek to be obedient to assist the Lord in the process of maturing the body - this is discipleship

We are called to love as He has loved us-

Without the love of Christ shining forth through us none of the above will matter. . . .

If we speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing......we love because He first loved us.....

By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:35)

God of my praise

O God of my praise,

May my walk be encouraged
May my faith be strengthened
May my heart be steadfast
May my mind be renewed

For I am a man of iniquities and sin
And I am afflicted and needy

But I hunger and thirst after You
By Your loving kindness deliver me
By Your mighty Right Hand uphold me

Psalms 109:30
With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the LORD; And in the midst of many I will praise Him.