Vitamins for Spiritual Health (6)

“Are you in health, my brother?” 2Sa 20:9 NKJV

Never forget, you’re not home yet. The story’s told of an old steamship that pulled into Southampton harbor and the passengers got off. Helium-filled balloons rose into the air and the crowd went wild as a young Hollywood starlet walked down the gangplank to be greeted by her family and friends. The last person off the ship was an elderly man who had spent more than fifty years of his life as a missionary in India. All his earthly possessions were in a tattered suitcase he carried by his side. After getting to his room in a cheap boarding house, he knelt by his bed and prayed: “Lord, I’ve served you all my life. I’ve sacrificed everything to tell others the good news of the gospel and brought many to you. Yet there was no one to celebrate my arrival or welcome me home.” As he knelt there the voice of God spoke to him softly and said, “Son, you’re not home yet!” And redeemed child of God, neither are you! If God has blessed you with a nice house, thank Him and enjoy it. But don’t get too settled. At best, it’s only temporary accommodation. Paul thought often of heaven: “For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you” (Php1:23-24 NKJV). God has something “far better” in mind for you. A great preacher once said: “It is our main business in this world, to secure an interest in the next one.”

http://theencouragingword.wordpress.com/2012/04/22/vitamins-for-spiritual-health-6/

Time to Shine

“But as for me, afflicted and in pain— may your salvation, God, protect me. I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. This will please the Lord more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hooves.” — Psalm 69:29–31

In all my years of being a rabbi, I have never heard the following:  “Why me? Why does everything happen to me? Why am I happy, healthy, and wealthy? Couldn’t God have picked someone else?” What I have heard plenty of is the other “why me” — “Why am I the one with (fill in the blank) — illness, money problems, loneliness, etc? Why is it happening to me?”

In Psalm 69 King David reminds us that both of these situations – good times and tough times — are opportunities to connect with God. In fact, the latter circumstance is actually a greater opportunity than the first.

When things are going well, we are challenged to take notice and turn to God in appreciation. These good times are expressed by the psalmist as “a bull with its horns and hooves.” Horns are a bull’s means of protecting itself or attacking another animal. They represent power. Hooves allow the bull to stand strong on firm footing. They represent independence.

Together, a bull with horns and hooves symbolizes a person experiencing extremely blessed times when everything seems secure and wonderful. And yet those who have a relationship with God will remember that it is only through His grace that their lives are so blessed. Submitting to God and acknowledging His dominance over the world is expressed as offering a “bull with its horns and hooves” to God as a sacrifice. This pleases God.

But there is something even greater.

Have you ever seen the stars out in the daytime? The answer is no. When the sun is shining brightly, we cannot appreciate the light of other stars. It is only in times of darkness that we can appreciate their splendor. In the same vein, while it is certainly appropriate to sing God’s praises when everything in our lives is bright and sunny, it’s in the darkness of our lives that we can truly shine.

In Psalm 69 King David is “afflicted and in pain” (v. 29). Yet David proclaims, “I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.” It’s one thing to praise God when everything is going right. It’s another thing to be grateful when things seem so wrong. It’s more difficult, but always possible. For every one thing that goes wrong, there are ten other things that are going right. As King David affirms in this psalm, thanking God during difficult times will please the Lord far more than when things are going well. It is in those times that we can shine.

Take a moment to reflect on your life. No matter how many challenges you might be facing, ask yourself, “What about my life is great?” Thank God for what you do have. Your gratitude will light up your life.

http://www.holylandmoments.org/devotionals/time-to-shine

Ready to Move

“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Cor.5:1).

The owner of the tenement which I have occupied for many years has given notice that he will furnish but little or nothing more for repairs. I am advised to be ready to move.

At first this was not a very welcome notice. The surroundings here are in many respects very pleasant, and were it not for the evidence of decay, I should consider the house good enough. But even a light wind causes it to tremble and totter, and all the braces are not sufficient to make it secure. So I am getting ready to move.

It is strange how quickly one’s interest is transferred to the prospective home. I have been consulting maps of the new country and reading descriptions of its inhabitants. One who visited it has returned, and from him I learn that it is beautiful beyond description; language breaks down in attempting to tell of what he heard while there. He says that, in order to make an investment there, he has suffered the loss of all things that he owned here, and even rejoices in what others would call making a sacrifice. Another, whose love to me has been proven by the greatest possible test, is now there. He has sent me several clusters of the most delicious fruits. After tasting them, all food here seems insipid.

Two or three times I have been down by the border of the river that forms the boundary, and have wished myself among the company of those who were singing praises to the King on the other side. Many of my friends have moved there. Before leaving they spoke of my coming later. I have seen the smile upon their faces as they passed out of sight. Often I am asked to make some new investments here, but my answer in every case is, “I am getting ready to move.” –Selected

The words often on Jesus’ lips in His last days express vividly the idea, “going to the Father.” We, too, who are Christ‘s people, have vision of something beyond the difficulties and disappointments of this life. We are journeying towards fulfillment, completion, expansion of life. We, too, are “going to the Father.” Much is dim concerning our home-country, but two things are clear. It is home, “the Father’s House.” It is the nearer presence of the Lord. We are all wayfarers, but the believer knows it and accepts it. He is a traveller, not a settler. –R. C. Gillie

The little birds trust God, for they go singing

From northern woods where autumn winds have blown,

With joyous faith their trackless pathway winging

To summer-lands of song, afar, unknown.

Let us go singing, then, and not go sighing:

Since we are sure our times are in His hand,

Why should we weep, and fear, and call it dying?

‘Tis only flitting to a Summer-land.

–Selected

http://devotionals.ochristian.com/mrs-charles-cowman-streams-in-the-desert-devotional.shtml

Abandoned

Abandoned.

Praying for the Impossible by Mark D. Roberts

Psalm 122:1-9

O Jerusalem, may there be peace within your walls      and prosperity in your palaces.

Psalm 122:7

Often, when I pray for God to do something, I am fairly confident that what I ask will happen. For example, when I’m helping to lead a retreat at Laity Lodge, I ask the Lord to bless those who have gathered with his grace and make his presence known to them. As I pray, I am almost certain that God will answer this prayer in the affirmative. Why? Because for over fifty years he has done this very thing at Laity Lodge in thousands of lives. So I pray with boldness based on experience as much as faith.

Sometimes, however, I pray for things that seem impossible. Indeed, they are impossible without God’s miraculous help. I’m thinking of times I have prayed for healing of people with advanced cancer, or for God to restore a marriage that has been shattered by years of anger and infidelity. I’m also thinking of prayers I offer for the world in its overwhelming need. In particular, I’m thinking of prayers I offer for Jerusalem.

There may not be any place in the world more rife with conflict than Jerusalem. Last summer, I had the privilege of spending a day there, walking through the Old City. I sensed tension in the air that was so heavy it seemed to press down on my soul. Walking through the Muslim Quarter, I noticed as people eyed me suspiciously. Throughout the city, there were soldiers armed with automatic weapons. The part of my group that visited Jerusalem the day after I did found themselves in the middle of an anti-Israel skirmish and had to be rescued by the police. My single day in Jerusalem, though filled with profound moments, also underscored the deep-seated conflicts there, which I read about almost daily in the newspaper.

Yet, Scripture calls me to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, even as I pray for God’s peace to envelop the whole earth. This is an impossible prayer, from a human perspective. But I pray in obedience. I pray because I trust God. I pray because the God who did the impossible by saving the world through Jesus can do the impossible again. Indeed, one day his peace will cover the earth, including Jerusalem.

Are you praying for the impossible? Are there challenges in your life that seem beyond help? Let me encourage you to pray, not because you can figure out how your problem will be fixed, but because our God is gracious, merciful, and all-powerful. When we pray for the impossible, we put ourselves into the safe, strong hands of God.

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: Are you praying for the impossible? What keeps you going? What discourages you? Have you ever seen God answer a prayer that seemed impossible?

PRAYER: Dear Lord, today I am reminded that I am to pray even for that which seems impossible. I ask for such things, not because they seem likely, but because of who you are. I pray because you are good and wise and merciful and powerful. Indeed, you can do the impossible, or that which seems impossible to me, at any rate. Nothing is impossible for you.

Help me, Lord, to trust you with everything in life. Give me courage to ask for big things, impossible things. May I pray, not on the basis of what is likely, but on the basis of your character.

Today, I pray for Jerusalem. Lord, I know that someday you will bring peace to this city, even as you will foster peace throughout the world. It’s hard to see how my prayers can make any difference in Jerusalem today. Yet I pray because you have told me to pray. I pray because I have confidence in you. I pray because you alone are the hope of the world…and my hope. Amen.

http://www.thehighcalling.org/reflection/praying-impossible?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheHighCallingDailyReflections+%28Daily+Reflection+%26+Prayer%29

His Public Offer · Max Lucado

His Public Offer · Max Lucado.

Undiscovered Country

I studied the map as my husband and I drove up the east coast of Virginia. We were looking for any road that would take us to the seashore. Finally, I found one and we turned toward the sun.

In only a few minutes, we were laughing in delight when—just before the seashore—we happened upon a national wildlife refuge. All around us were dunes and marsh and beach grasses and an abundance of gulls, egrets, and blue herons. It was active and loud and wonderful! We had arrived at Chincoteague and Assateague Islands—famous for the annual pony swim from one island to the other. Others had realized its value and beauty long before, but to us it was undiscovered country.

The Scriptures are like “undiscovered country” to many. They have never discovered the valuable treasures found in the eternal words of the Bible. The Bible is alive and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, exposing our innermost thoughts and desires (Heb. 4:12). It is like a lamp to illuminate our path (Ps. 119:105), and it has been given to equip us for God’s purposes (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

Open the Bible and read it so you can find these treasures. It’s time . . . to discover!

Exhaustless store of treasured gems Within this Book I hold; And as I read, it comes alive, New treasures to unfold.—Mortenson

Rich treasures of God’s truth are waiting to be discovered by you.

http://odb.org/2012/04/22/undiscovered-country/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+odb%2Ffeed+%28Our+Daily+Bread%29

Tozer Devotional-Growing Up in Christ

Growing Up in Christ

The true Christian is a saint in embryo. The heavenly genes are in him and the Holy Spirit is working to bring him on into a spiritual development that accords with the nature of the heavenly Father from whom he received the deposit of divine life. Yet he is here in this mortal body subject to weakness and temptation, and his warfare with the flesh sometimes leads him to do extreme things. “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” (Gal. 5:17). The work of the Spirit in the human heart is not an unconscious or automatic thing. Human will and intelligence must yield to and cooperate with the benign intentions of God. I think it is here that many of us go astray. Either we try to make ourselves holy and fail miserably, as we certainly must; or we seek to achieve a state of spiritual passivity and wait for God to perfect our natures in holiness as one might sit down and wait for a robin egg to hatch or a rose to burst into bloom. So we work feverishly to do the impossible or we do not work at all; and there lies the asymmetry about which I write. The New Testament knows nothing of the working of the Spirit in us apart from our own moral responses. Watchfulness, prayer, self-discipline and intelligent acquiescence in the purposes of God are indispensable to any real progress in holiness.

http://www.cmalliance.org/devotions/tozer?id=527

The Daily Spurgeon

The Daily Spurgeon.

The Light That Never Fails

The Light That Never Fails.