Passion...

"The Passion of Christianity is that I deliberately sign away my own rights and become a bond-slave of Jesus Christ."  -- Oswald Chambers (My Utmost for His Highest)

How Much Does H Have of You?

What a beautiful morning we are having here.... definitely summertime in the South with the heat and humidity. I have been doing my quiet time outside several mornings a week and oh the blessings! To hear the birds singing (I imagine they are praising the one who created them and who cares for them)... to hear the quiet sounds of a morning as it wakes up... to see the green grass and the trees full and lush.... the vibrancy of the flowers blooming... to catch wafts of the fragrance of various plants... and the breeze... we rarely how much of a breeze in the summer here but it seems each time I sit outside God sends me breezes... sometimes very soft subtle ones and at other times ones strong enough to make the leaves in the trees shiver. At church yesterday we had a guest speaker and he was talking about God breathing on us and our breathing in God.... as I was thinking about that earlier, the weather outside went from the stillness of a summer morning to a strong breeze that blew on my face and made me feel as if the Lord was blowing life into my nostrils as He did Adam. It was a lovely time!

Our speaker yesterday posed an interesting thought.... If you are a believer... a Christ-follower... then you have the Holy Spirit in you... all of Him... He doesn't hold back this part from some folks and that part from others.. you get 100% of the Spirit.. but here comes the question.. How much of YOU does the Holy Spirit have? God doesn't snatch ... He doesn't force us to surrender... to yield... He gives us a choice. So today, how much of the You does He have? I can tell you that He doesn't have all of me... I say I surrender all... but my heart sends out tentacles that wrap around certain things and hang on for dear life. It is tough letting go! The key... I think.. is not looking beyond today. Don't think of having to let go forever. Just take it one day at a time... maybe even one hour at a time... one minute! And as much as you can be specific... say "Lord, I surrender me to you... my kids... my husband... our finances... this person's health... this child's rebellion... his salvation... her deliverance... etc." and also ask Him to show you what you are holding on to.. what you need to let go of and surrender to Him. And then be ready to hear His reply and act on it!

Fruit

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. Gal. 5:22-25

Several years ago my kids and I studied the Fruit of the Spirit together... we took 1 virtue at a time and found verses on it and studied it... it was a great time. One thing God really wrote on my heart is how we will say "I have no patience with whatever"... that is a lie. I have patience if I have the Holy Spirit in me... I am just not choosing to let Him bear fruit in me. When we feel unkind or unloving or whatever we don't have to... the fruit is there, we just have to surrender and let the Spirit do His work in us.

How could I not give You my life?

from September 9, 2008

I was listening to Phil Wickham this morning and these words reminded me again of what You did Lord...

Because of Your Cross, my debt is paid... Because of Your blood, my sins are washed away... Now all of my life, I freely give... Because of Your love, Because of Your love, I live

It takes an act of conscious... of choice to give You my life and yet You already own it. It's Yours, bought and paid for in full! How then could I not give it to You -- that would be stealing -- and why wouldn't I want to give it. After all You did to save it - there is no doubt You love my life -- me -- more than I love myself.

Psalms 4,5,& 6

From today's walk in the Psalms....

I find it interesting that Ps 4 begins with the plea in verse 1 for the Lord to "be merciful to me and hear my prayer" and Ps 6 ends with (v 9) "The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer." Cool, huh? He always hears us... and He always responds.

Ps. 4 verse 3 "know that the Lord has set apart the godly for Himself; the Lord will hear when I call to Him." I pray to be one of His godly. I certainly can't be on my own, but like the righteousness I talked about yesterday, my godliness comes through the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. Set me apart for You, Lord, set me apart.

Love theses promises found in Ps 4... verse 7 assures me the God fills my heart with greater joy... not just ordinary joy, greater joy! ... and in verse 8 I learn that I can have peace because I know the Lord makes me dwell in safety.

Ps. 5:3 should be a verse every believer prays... "In the morning, O LORD, You hear my voice in the morning I lay my requests before You and wait in expectation." I have no problem laying my requests before the Lord, but my impatient flesh doesn't like to wait and my mind fills with doubts and I find myself not waiting and not expecting. I pray that the Lord will teach me to be still and know that HE is God... to rest in His everlasting arms... to EXPECT Him to be who He says He is and to do the things He promises in His Word.

Ps 6 is a "cry out" Psalm. I love how the Psalmist is crying out to God in verse 1 - 7 and in what feels like an instant, he has confidence in God (v. 8). It is also interesting to see that this comes after he admits his weakness in verses 6 & 7... there is a sense of surrender and then God steps in... God doesn't force Himself on us... we have a choice. In verse 6 & 7 the Psalmist is weak and tired... in verse 8 he is rebuking his enemies and proclaiming the Lord. Their is confidence in surrender.

Oh that I would let go of despair when it is upon me and go straight to surrender!