The Tipping Point

Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God. —Romans 12:1

In his book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell observes that struggling businesses are often turned around by one key decision. Many once-foundering companies are now thriving and successful because of a choice that became the tipping point.

Although targeted to those in business management, the principle also applies to those who are committed to advancing the cause of Christ. Sometimes we find ourselves up against a wall, struggling with a decision or situation that threatens to cripple our capacity for effective service to our King. It’s at those critical junctures that we can make a “tipping point” decision to turn things around.

The decision? Surrender your will and heart to God. James 4:7 says, “Submit to God,” and Romans 12:1 tells us, “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God.” Be willing to sacrifice your agenda for His greater purposes.

What if Noah had told God, “I don’t do boats!” What if Joseph had not forgiven his brothers and failed to protect them from the life-threatening famine? Or what if Jesus had refused to die on the cross?

Surrender is the tipping point. When we make that choice, God can use us to do great things for Him.

Lord, take my life and make it wholly Thine; Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine. Take all my will, my passion, self and pride; I now surrender, Lord—in me abide. —Orr

Surrender becomes victory when we yield to God.

http://getmorestrength.org/daily/the-tipping-point/

Prayer in the Father’s Honor

. . . that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God —Luke 1:35

If the Son of God has been born into my human flesh, then am I allowing His holy innocence, simplicity, and oneness with the Father the opportunity to exhibit itself in me? What was true of the Virgin Mary in the history of the Son of God’s birth on earth is true of every saint. God’s Son is born into me through the direct act of God; then I as His child must exercise the right of a child— the right of always being face to face with my Father through prayer. Do I find myself continually saying in amazement to the commonsense part of my life, “Why did you want me to turn here or to go over there? ’Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?’ ” (Luke 2:49). Whatever our circumstances may be, that holy, innocent, and eternal Child must be in contact with His Father.

Am I simple enough to identify myself with my Lord in this way? Is He having His wonderful way with me? Is God’s will being fulfilled in that His Son has been formed in me (see Galatians 4:19), or have I carefully pushed Him to one side? Oh, the noisy outcry of today! Why does everyone seem to be crying out so loudly? People today are crying out for the Son of God to be put to death. There is no room here for God’s Son right now— no room for quiet, holy fellowship and oneness with the Father.

Is the Son of God praying in me, bringing honor to the Father, or am I dictating my demands to Him? Is He ministering in me as He did in the time of His manhood here on earth? Is God’s Son in me going through His passion, suffering so that His own purposes might be fulfilled? The more a person knows of the inner life of God’s most mature saints, the more he sees what God’s purpose really is: to “. . . fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ . . .” (Colossians 1:24). And when we think of what it takes to “fill up,” there is always something yet to be done.

http://utmost.org/prayer-in-the-father’s-honor/

One Scary Place

One Scary Place.

An Arrow from the Heart

“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” — Hosea 6:6

In a small town in Poland, there was an orphaned boy who spent most of his childhood working as a shepherd. One day, he met a group of people who were traveling to spend the Yom Kippur holiday with a holy rabbi known as the Baal Shem Tov.

The boy decided to join them and soon, he was standing in a crowded synagogue. But the boy did not know how to pray. He couldn’t even read! He saw everyone around him praying fervently, and he wanted to say something to his Creator too. So he drew in a deep breath and let out the shrill whistle that he would sound every evening when he gathered his sheep from the fields.

The people in the synagoguewere shocked. They were angry at the boy’s disrespect for the prayer service. But the Baal Shem Tov calmed them and said, “A terrible decree was hanging over us. The shepherd boy’s whistle pierced the heavens and erased the decree. His whistle saved us, because it was sincere and came from the very bottom of his heart.”

It’s so easy to go to a prayer service and yet not pray a single word to God. Sure, we can say all the words we want, but how many of them are sincere? On the other hand, the shepherd boy could not pronounce a single word in the prayer book, and yet his prayers went straight to heaven!

Tradition teaches that prayer is like a bow and arrow. The further back the bow is drawn, the further the arrow travels. Similarly, the deeper into our hearts we go, the further our words of prayer will reach.

Thousands of years ago, when the Temple stood, services centered around offerings. The sacrifices were intended to bring the people closer to God, like our prayers do today. Yet, in the times of Hosea, the offerings had become empty rituals. Instead of inspiring the people to become kinder and more connected to God, the sacrifices were used as permission to continue in their crooked ways.

You missed the whole point, Hosea told the people. God doesn’t want burnt offerings. God wants your heart!  If your service is meaningless to you, it is not all that meaningful to God.

Hosea’s words are relevant now, just as much as when he first said them. If our prayers have little effect on us, chances are they will have little effect on God. But if we pray from the deepest part of our hearts, our prayers will reach the loftiest heights of heaven.

http://www.holylandmoments.org/devotionals/an-arrow-from-the-heart

J.C. Penney CEO reassurances don’t ring true

In recent months we brought to your attention a myriad of examples that demonstrated that J.C. Penney is no longer the family-oriented store so many of us grew up with.  From regularly sponsoring some of the worst programming on network television to thumbing its nose at traditional families and aligning with homosexuality, JC Penney has emerged as a corporation that is pushing an agenda that undermines the values of millions of Americans.  Most recently, JC Penney has pointedly embraced the LGBT agenda by using their Mother’s Day ad to showcase a lesbian couple raising children and doing the same with their Father’s Day ad – featuring two homosexual men with children.

Click here to send a message to JC Penney.

In response, Penney’s has lost countless numbers of formerly loyal customers.  Just the other day I took a phone call from one of our supporters who let us know she had cut up her Penney’s credit card, sending it to the Penney Corporation with a letter expressing her concerns.  This is just one of thousands who have taken similar action.

Just days after Mother’s Day, Forbes reported on May 16, 2012: “J.C. Penney Plunge Marks Greatest Single-Day Loss In 40 Years.”Other recent headlines have read:  “J. C. Penney Posts Big Loss as 3 Retailers Gain;”  “Sears returns to profit, J.C. Penney bombs in record stock slide;”  “JC Penney Profits Freefalling;”  “J.C. Penney Earnings 1Q 2012: Retailer Has Huge Loss After Strategy Shift.”

Now Ron Johnson, the CEO of JC Penney, is trying to assure customers that the corporation is worthy of pro-family support – giving lip service only to the values JCPenney was founded upon.

A recent letter emailed to “valued customers” by Ron Johnson states: “You’ve probably heard about recent changes at jcpenney.   … While you will see many changes, you can rest assured that we’ll never lose sight of our founder’s values.  When James Cash Penney built his first retail stores over a century ago, he called them, “The Golden Rule,” because treating customers with respect was his highest priority. … ”

Even in that statement Penney’s CEO Ron Johnson gets it wrong.  James Cash Penney’s highest priority was Christ.  He often said,“I would rather be known as a Christian than a merchant.”

The audacity of Penney’s CEO to claim that the chain hasn’t lost sight of their founder’s values all the while they’ve purposefully aligned with the homosexual agenda!

James Cash Penney’s parents grounded him in the Christian faith (his father was a Baptist pastor) and those faith-filled principles guided him throughout his life and career.  Penney built an empire on those principles, leaving a vast chain of 1,660 stores at his death at the age of 95 in 1971.  He was known to frequently share his favorite Bible verse:  “I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Prove me, O Lord, and try me. Test my heart and my mind. For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I will walk in faithfulness to you” (Psalms 26:1-2).

While James Cash Penney strived to “walk in faithfulness,” the corporation that bears his name has not only betrayed that faith and tainted the values he strived to promote, but has purposefully and actively sided with an opposing ideology that seeks to corrupt those values.

Express your concern to JC Penneys, urging them to truly return to support the traditional family values Penneys was built upon.

Action points:

1. Click here to send a message to JC Penney.

2. Inform your friends and family about this concern, urging them to stand with us.

3. If you have a JC Penney credit card, consider cancelling the account.  A cut up credit card and letter explaining why you are cancelling your account will speak volumes!

http://www.americandecency.org/archives/c-penney-ceo-reassurances-don%e2%80%99t-ring-true/#more-6917

Jesus Is Crucified By His Enemies

The soldiers led Jesus to the courtyard of the governor’s palace and called together the whole company. Then they clothed him in a purple robe and, making a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They struck him on the head with a reed and spat on him, and on bended knee paid homage to him. After they had made sport of him, they stripped off the purple robe and put on his own clothes, and led him out to be crucified.

They forced a man named Simon, of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross. So they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha, which means, the place of the skull. And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he would not take it. Then they crucified him and divided his clothes among them, drawing lots to decide what each should take. It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription over his head stating the charge against him read:

“THE KING OF THE JEWS“

With him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. And those who passed by scoffed at him, shaking their heads in derision and saying, “Ha! you who were to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself and come down from the cross!” In the same way the high priests and the scribes mocked him among themselves and said, “He saved others, but he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the ‘King of Israel,’ now come down from the cross, that we may see and believe!” But Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

One of the criminals who was crucified also scoffed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other said in rebuke, “Have you no fear of God even though you are being put to death? We are suffering justly, receiving what we deserve for our crimes, but he has done no wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you enter your kingdom.” Jesus said to him, “This very day you will be with me in paradise.”

Now beside the cross of Jesus stood his mother. Seeing her and the disciple whom he loved standing near, Jesus said to her, “Woman, he is your son!” And to the disciple he said, “She is your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

Darkness covered the whole land from noon until three o’clock in the afternoon. At that hour Jesus cried aloud, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani,” which means, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” When they heard it, some who stood by, said, “He is calling Elijah.” And a man ran and, soaking a sponge in vinegar, put it on the end of a reed and was about to give it to him to drink when the others said, “Stop, let us see if Elijah will come to take him down.” But Jesus uttered a loud cry and gave up his life. And the curtain of the Temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. When the Roman captain who stood facing him saw in what way he died, he said, “Surely this man was a son of God.”

Looking on from a distance were some women also, among them Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James, the younger, and of Joses, and Salome, who had followed him and waited on him when he was in Galilee, and many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.

Because it was now evening of the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, an honorable member of the Jewish national council, who was himself looking for the coming of the Kingdom of God, went to Pilate and had the courage to ask him for the body of Jesus. Pilate, surprised that he was dead, called the captain and asked whether Jesus was already dead, and when he learned this from the captain he gave the body to Joseph. After Joseph had taken Jesus from the cross, he wrapped him in a linen sheet which he had bought, and laid him in a tomb cut out of rock; and he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. And Mary of Magdala and Mary the mother of Joses, watched to see where Jesus was laid.

http://kids.ochristian.com/Childrens-Bible/Jesus-Is-Crucified-By-His-Enemies.shtml

Praise in the Midst of Trouble

“Let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually” (Heb. 13:15).

A city missionary, stumbling through the dirt of a dark entry, heard a voice say, “Who’s there, Honey?” Striking a match, he caught a vision of earthly want and suffering, of saintly trust and peace, “cut in ebony”–calm, appealing eyes set amid the wrinkles of a pinched, black face that lay on a tattered bed. It was a bitter night in February, and she had no fire, no fuel, no light. She had had no supper, no dinner, no breakfast. She seemed to have nothing at all but rheumatism and faith in God. One could not well be more completely exiled from all pleasantness of circumstances, yet the favorite song of this old creature ran:

“Nobody knows de trouble I see,

Nobody knows but Jesus;

Nobody knows de trouble I see–

Sing Glory Hallelu!

“Sometimes I’m up, sometimes I’m down,

Sometimes I’m level on the groun’,

Sometimes the glory shines aroun’

Sing Glory Hallelu!”

And so it went on:

“Nobody knows de work I does,

Nobody knows de griefs I has,

” the constant refrain being the

“Glory Hallelu!” until the last verse rose:

“Nobody knows de joys I has,

Nobody knows but Jesus!”

“Troubled on every side,

yet not distressed; perplexed,

but not in despair; persecuted,

but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.”

It takes great Bible words to tell the cheer of that old negro auntie.

Remember Luther on his sick-bed. Between his groans he managed to preach on this wise: “These pains and trouble here are like the type which the printers set; as they look now, we have to read them backwards, and they seem to have no sense or meaning in them; but up yonder, when the Lord God prints us off in the life to come, we shall find they make brave reading.” Only we do not need to wait till then. Remember Paul walking the hurricane deck amid a boiling sea, bidding the frightened crew “Be of good cheer,” Luther, the old negro auntie–all of them human sun-flowers. –Wm. G. Garnett

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

 

Strive to Be Humble

Strive to Be Humble.

Winners And Losers

As the NFL playoff game ended and the Green Bay Packers celebrated their victory over the Chicago Bears, my daughter Lisa noticed that her little girl, 4-year-old Eliana, was crying. That seemed odd, since neither of Eliana’s parents particularly cared who won the game.

When Lisa asked Eliana why she was crying, she said, “I feel sorry for the Bears. They look so sad.”

Can we learn something from a preschooler about compassion? In a world where winning is so important and losers get rejected, forgotten, and maligned, we need this reminder: People need compassion. When we see others struggling with a loss are we willing to shed tears with them, put our arms around them, and offer to help?

A number of Scripture passages challenge us to treat others with compassion. Philippians 2:1-3 tells us to think of others above ourselves, looking out for their interests—not just ours. First Peter 3:8-12 reminds us that compassion means treating others “as brothers,” and Colossians 3:12-15 says that mercy, kindness, and humility are marks of those God has redeemed.

Look around you. See anyone going through a difficult loss? Go beyond feeling bad for them. Reach out with compassion and God’s love.

Lord, grant me a heart of compassion So burdened for others’ needs, That I will show them Your mercy In attitudes, words, and deeds. —Fitzhugh

One measure of our likeness to Christ is our sensitivity to the suffering of others.

http://odb.org/2012/08/08/winners-and-losers/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+odb%2Ffeed+%28Our+Daily+Bread%29

Tozer Devotional-Pleasing Meditation

Pleasing Meditation

The worldly man can never rest. He must have “somewhere to go’’ and “something to do.” This is a result of the fall, a symptom of a deep-lying disease, yet a blind religious leadership caters to this terrible restlessness instead of trying to cure it by the Word and the Spirit. If the many activities engaged in by the average church led to the salvation of sinners or the perfecting of believers they would justify themselves easily and triumphantly; but they do not. My observations have led me to the belief that many, perhaps most, of the activities engaged in by the average church do not contribute in any way the accomplishing of the true work of Christ on earth. I hope I am wrong, but I am afraid I am right. Our religious activities should be ordered in such a way as to leave plenty of time for the cultivation of the fruits of solitude and silence. It should be remembered, however, that it is possible to waste such quiet periods as we may be able to snatch for ourselves out of the clamorous day. Our meditation must be directed toward God; otherwise we may spend our time of retiral in quiet converse with ourselves. This may quiet our nerves but will not further our spiritual life in any way.

http://www.cmalliance.org/devotions/tozer?id=635