Thursday, December 29, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “If you want to lift yourself up, lift someone else up.”
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON
“We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up…..For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope”
ROMANS 15:1,2,4 NIV
Encourage, Webster’s Dictionary defines the word as, “(1) to give courage, hope, or confidence to; embolden; hearten. (2) to give support to; be favorable to; foster; help.” The Scriptures are God’s words to encourage us, that we might have hope. The apostle Paul said that we “might” have hope. The word might, could mean that not all will get hope from the Scriptures. For me, it depends on my attitude, the attitude that I take when I read. If I expect to get encouraged from my devotional time of reading then I find encouragement and hope. If I don’t read expecting to receive, then I might just get words without the positive spiritual encouragement contained within. Here is an example of attitude in reading the Scriptures. This morning I read the 26th chapter of Matthew, in it can be found Jesus and the disciples observing the Passover meal, Judas’s betrayal, Jesus’ agony in the garden, the disciples falling asleep, the arrest of Jesus, Peters violent swing of his sword, Jesus’ illegal trial, Jesus being beat and spit on, His abandonment by His friends, and Peter one of His closest friends denying that he even knew his name. You might ask how do I get encouragement out of such violent and negative Scripture? The answer is found in the attitude I choose to take. I can take both positions in the trial, I am guilty of the crimes they accused Jesus of, and I am also guilty of accusing Jesus as they did. And, having read other Scriptures that show how all of this had to come to be, so that I would not suffer because of my guilt gives me encouragement. I relate to Barabbas, the prisoner who was released so that Jesus could take his place on the cross. My encouragement comes from knowing that Jesus took my place on the cross, I win! Jesus and the Father also won because Jesus was not guilty. It was a win-win situation, as long as I can grasp the hope found in those verses. Today I choose to have an attitude that sees encouragement, hope, confidence, support, and help because God did for me what I could not do for myself………………..JRE
“As we begin to focus upon God, the things of the spirit will take shape before our inner eyes. Obedience to the word of Christ will bring an inward revelation of the Godhead (John 14:21-23) It will give acute perception enabling us to see God even as is promised to the pure in heart. A new God-consciousness will seize upon us and we shall begin to taste and hear and inwardly feel God, who is our life and our all. There will be seen the constant shinning of “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9). More and more, as our faculties grow sharper and more sure, God will become to us the great All, and His presence the glory and wonder of our lives.”
A. W. TOZER……………….The Pursuit Of God, page 56
Endurance and encouragement
Thought for the day: “If you want to lift yourself up, lift someone else up.”
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON
“We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up…..For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope”
ROMANS 15:1,2,4 NIV
Encourage, Webster’s Dictionary defines the word as, “(1) to give courage, hope, or confidence to; embolden; hearten. (2) to give support to; be favorable to; foster; help.” The Scriptures are God’s words to encourage us, that we might have hope. The apostle Paul said that we “might” have hope. The word might, could mean that not all will get hope from the Scriptures. For me, it depends on my attitude, the attitude that I take when I read. If I expect to get encouraged from my devotional time of reading then I find encouragement and hope. If I don’t read expecting to receive, then I might just get words without the positive spiritual encouragement contained within. Here is an example of attitude in reading the Scriptures. This morning I read the 26th chapter of Matthew, in it can be found Jesus and the disciples observing the Passover meal, Judas’s betrayal, Jesus’ agony in the garden, the disciples falling asleep, the arrest of Jesus, Peters violent swing of his sword, Jesus’ illegal trial, Jesus being beat and spit on, His abandonment by His friends, and Peter one of His closest friends denying that he even knew his name. You might ask how do I get encouragement out of such violent and negative Scripture? The answer is found in the attitude I choose to take. I can take both positions in the trial, I am guilty of the crimes they accused Jesus of, and I am also guilty of accusing Jesus as they did. And, having read other Scriptures that show how all of this had to come to be, so that I would not suffer because of my guilt gives me encouragement. I relate to Barabbas, the prisoner who was released so that Jesus could take his place on the cross. My encouragement comes from knowing that Jesus took my place on the cross, I win! Jesus and the Father also won because Jesus was not guilty. It was a win-win situation, as long as I can grasp the hope found in those verses. Today I choose to have an attitude that sees encouragement, hope, confidence, support, and help because God did for me what I could not do for myself………………..JRE
“As we begin to focus upon God, the things of the spirit will take shape before our inner eyes. Obedience to the word of Christ will bring an inward revelation of the Godhead (John 14:21-23) It will give acute perception enabling us to see God even as is promised to the pure in heart. A new God-consciousness will seize upon us and we shall begin to taste and hear and inwardly feel God, who is our life and our all. There will be seen the constant shinning of “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9). More and more, as our faculties grow sharper and more sure, God will become to us the great All, and His presence the glory and wonder of our lives.”
A. W. TOZER……………….The Pursuit Of God, page 56
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “If God were not willing to forgive sin, heaven would be empty.”
GERMAN PROVERB
“Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem. He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success.”
2 CHRONICLES 26:3-5 NIV
“As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success.” I find a spiritual principle in these few words written about Uzziah. It’s the direction I’m headed that brings about success, not the effort I make to get there. I find many times that my own efforts come up short, but because of the direction that I’m headed, I still find success. Having direction in my life did not come easy, and is still not easy. I must constantly stay teachable, I must stay green and pliable, I must be able to be molded by instruction. If I ever think of myself to have arrived, I might find this old clay pot to be fired and finished, flaws and all. I have done some ceramic work and I know that while you still have the clay before it is fired, they call this green ware, that flaws in design and form can be changed and improved upon. But after it goes into the oven and is heated everything is set permanent. Today I realize that I must stay teachable, I must stay green, and this comes about by instruction. King Uzziah must have had solid instruction in all matters, spiritual and material to have had reigned for such a long period. He had the second longest reign of all the kings of Israel. Uzziah was also a successful military leader, he conquered the Philistines, the Arabians, and the Ammonites, all of whom had rebelled against Judah. Proper instruction and good direction gave Uzziah success. Today I try and listen for instruction, many times it will come in ways that don’t appear as instructions at all. Sometimes it might even come disguised as a compliment. Sometimes it might be hidden in help that is being offered. Sometimes alone in my meditations I can receive instructions from myself, if I listen to my heart. Good instruction is important and when combined with the proper direction in seeking God, success will be the fruit of the harvest. At an AA meeting we read part of a chapter titles How It Works. We close this reading with the ABC’s of how it works. Share this with me.
A. That we were alcoholic and could not manage our own lives.
B. That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism.
C. That God could and would if He were sought.
There it is, “That God could and would if He were sought.” That’s the same spiritual principle that Uzziah lived by. Over twenty-five hundred years later, it still works in my life. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself………………JRE
“All of us have our own battle to win, the battle between the material view of life and the spiritual view. Something must guide our lives. Will it be wealth, pride, selfishness, greed, or will it be faith, honesty, purity, unselfishness, love and service? Each one has a choice. We can choose good or evil. We cannot choose both. Are we going to keep striving until we win the battle? If we win the victory, we can believe that even God in His heaven will rejoice.”
HAZELDEN……………..Twenty-Four Hours A Day
"God could and would if He were sought."
Thought for the day: “If God were not willing to forgive sin, heaven would be empty.”
GERMAN PROVERB
“Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem. He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success.”
2 CHRONICLES 26:3-5 NIV
“As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success.” I find a spiritual principle in these few words written about Uzziah. It’s the direction I’m headed that brings about success, not the effort I make to get there. I find many times that my own efforts come up short, but because of the direction that I’m headed, I still find success. Having direction in my life did not come easy, and is still not easy. I must constantly stay teachable, I must stay green and pliable, I must be able to be molded by instruction. If I ever think of myself to have arrived, I might find this old clay pot to be fired and finished, flaws and all. I have done some ceramic work and I know that while you still have the clay before it is fired, they call this green ware, that flaws in design and form can be changed and improved upon. But after it goes into the oven and is heated everything is set permanent. Today I realize that I must stay teachable, I must stay green, and this comes about by instruction. King Uzziah must have had solid instruction in all matters, spiritual and material to have had reigned for such a long period. He had the second longest reign of all the kings of Israel. Uzziah was also a successful military leader, he conquered the Philistines, the Arabians, and the Ammonites, all of whom had rebelled against Judah. Proper instruction and good direction gave Uzziah success. Today I try and listen for instruction, many times it will come in ways that don’t appear as instructions at all. Sometimes it might even come disguised as a compliment. Sometimes it might be hidden in help that is being offered. Sometimes alone in my meditations I can receive instructions from myself, if I listen to my heart. Good instruction is important and when combined with the proper direction in seeking God, success will be the fruit of the harvest. At an AA meeting we read part of a chapter titles How It Works. We close this reading with the ABC’s of how it works. Share this with me.
A. That we were alcoholic and could not manage our own lives.
B. That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism.
C. That God could and would if He were sought.
There it is, “That God could and would if He were sought.” That’s the same spiritual principle that Uzziah lived by. Over twenty-five hundred years later, it still works in my life. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself………………JRE
“All of us have our own battle to win, the battle between the material view of life and the spiritual view. Something must guide our lives. Will it be wealth, pride, selfishness, greed, or will it be faith, honesty, purity, unselfishness, love and service? Each one has a choice. We can choose good or evil. We cannot choose both. Are we going to keep striving until we win the battle? If we win the victory, we can believe that even God in His heaven will rejoice.”
HAZELDEN……………..Twenty-Four Hours A Day
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.” ABRAHAM LINCOLN
“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”
Words of Jesus recorded by Mark, found in Mark 11:24 NKJ
I would like to share an experience I had yesterday afternoon. I live in a rural Missouri town of about five thousand people. Some time after noon I decided to ride my bicycle to the town square and go to the deli in the local grocery store for a bite to eat. As I walked back to the deli I saw a guy named Gary who I hadn’t seen in a year or so. Gary is a man in his thirties who I have observed over the years to go from job to job, relationship to relationship, and from church to church. Gary is a good person, he is a Christian, he is not alcoholic or addicted to drugs, he is just different. I noticed that Gary was having a hard time with concentration and I asked, and he told me he was on some medication. When I first saw Gary I saw that he was walking slowly. As I got closer I saw that he was pretty banged up. He had some bumps on his head and a black eye. Being the day after Christmas I thought to myself, what a Christmas present. Gary said that his girlfriends parents had beaten him up and threw him out Christmas night. He was despondent. It was the middle of the night, his back was hurt and he found himself on a rural highway twenty miles from town. As he walked the sheriff came along and gave him a ride to the city police station, there he spent the night. Several people made phone calls for Gary but there was no one to help him. His mother lives forty miles south and had no car to come get him, but she knew where he was. I asked Gary if he wanted something to eat and he declined. I told him that he needed to call the Ministerial Alliance and ask for help, he walked back to the police station and they told him he couldn’t make personal calls there. As I finished my lunch, Gary came back to the deli and asked if I could make a few phone calls for him on my cell phone, I said yes. We began to call places that might help, the first was some churches and they said that they only help with gas money these days, this is to help with stranded motorist. Next Gary gave me a number of someone at the Employment Office that he knew and might offer help, they were closed being the day after Christmas. Next we called Social Services for someone he knew there, they also were closed. Not knowing what to do from that point on, I asked, “Gary have you prayed?” He just looked at me. My question to myself this morning is why do I wait until there is nothing else to do before I pray? I reached across the deli table and grabbed his hand in the manner of a handshake, and we began to pray. I thanked God for the day, and gave Him praise for loving us beyond what we give back in return. We then began to get down to the business at hand and pray for grace, mercy, and help. As we sat in that corner deli table praying, a pay phone about three feet away began to ring. I went over and answered it, and I have no idea why I said this, but I asked if they wanted to speak to Gary. A man answered and said yes. I handed Gary the phone. Tears began to flow down Gary’s face as he told me it was his brother and he was coming to get him. Our prayers had been answered as we prayed. I left and went for a bike ride, and I came back about thirty minutes later. Gary was sitting in the same spot, I came up and shook his hand as in a handshake, and said, “In Jesus’ Name, Amen.” Prayer had been answered and we both knew it. I got my Christmas present this year, and Gary got his. There is no greater gift than to have God give to us His children, Himself. God does for me what I could not do for myself…………………JRE
“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
1 JOHN 5:14-15 NKJ
Why wait to pray?
Thought for the day: “I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.” ABRAHAM LINCOLN
“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”
Words of Jesus recorded by Mark, found in Mark 11:24 NKJ
I would like to share an experience I had yesterday afternoon. I live in a rural Missouri town of about five thousand people. Some time after noon I decided to ride my bicycle to the town square and go to the deli in the local grocery store for a bite to eat. As I walked back to the deli I saw a guy named Gary who I hadn’t seen in a year or so. Gary is a man in his thirties who I have observed over the years to go from job to job, relationship to relationship, and from church to church. Gary is a good person, he is a Christian, he is not alcoholic or addicted to drugs, he is just different. I noticed that Gary was having a hard time with concentration and I asked, and he told me he was on some medication. When I first saw Gary I saw that he was walking slowly. As I got closer I saw that he was pretty banged up. He had some bumps on his head and a black eye. Being the day after Christmas I thought to myself, what a Christmas present. Gary said that his girlfriends parents had beaten him up and threw him out Christmas night. He was despondent. It was the middle of the night, his back was hurt and he found himself on a rural highway twenty miles from town. As he walked the sheriff came along and gave him a ride to the city police station, there he spent the night. Several people made phone calls for Gary but there was no one to help him. His mother lives forty miles south and had no car to come get him, but she knew where he was. I asked Gary if he wanted something to eat and he declined. I told him that he needed to call the Ministerial Alliance and ask for help, he walked back to the police station and they told him he couldn’t make personal calls there. As I finished my lunch, Gary came back to the deli and asked if I could make a few phone calls for him on my cell phone, I said yes. We began to call places that might help, the first was some churches and they said that they only help with gas money these days, this is to help with stranded motorist. Next Gary gave me a number of someone at the Employment Office that he knew and might offer help, they were closed being the day after Christmas. Next we called Social Services for someone he knew there, they also were closed. Not knowing what to do from that point on, I asked, “Gary have you prayed?” He just looked at me. My question to myself this morning is why do I wait until there is nothing else to do before I pray? I reached across the deli table and grabbed his hand in the manner of a handshake, and we began to pray. I thanked God for the day, and gave Him praise for loving us beyond what we give back in return. We then began to get down to the business at hand and pray for grace, mercy, and help. As we sat in that corner deli table praying, a pay phone about three feet away began to ring. I went over and answered it, and I have no idea why I said this, but I asked if they wanted to speak to Gary. A man answered and said yes. I handed Gary the phone. Tears began to flow down Gary’s face as he told me it was his brother and he was coming to get him. Our prayers had been answered as we prayed. I left and went for a bike ride, and I came back about thirty minutes later. Gary was sitting in the same spot, I came up and shook his hand as in a handshake, and said, “In Jesus’ Name, Amen.” Prayer had been answered and we both knew it. I got my Christmas present this year, and Gary got his. There is no greater gift than to have God give to us His children, Himself. God does for me what I could not do for myself…………………JRE
“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
1 JOHN 5:14-15 NKJ
Thursday, December 22, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all Your works.” PSALM 73:28 NASB
“The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.”
LUKE 1:30-31 NASB
The Christmas season is about God’s favor. I enjoy looking at al the lights and decorations that we find this time of year. They are awesome and each year they become more sophisticated and highly technical. What a way to light up the birth of Jesus the Savior of the world. The Christmas lights that shine the brightest though, are found in the hearts of those who love the Lord and have found favor with God. The favor of God can be found all around us, but if we don’t become aware of it, it may appear as coincidence and possibly the favor of man. The favor that Mary found from God was manifested in God’s Son Jesus. That same Favor was born and accomplished on the cross something that man could never do on his own. The favor of forgiveness, when someone forgives you they are doing you a favor. They are doing themselves a favor at the same time. When God forgave me through the finished work of the cross, it was God’s favor being bestowed upon me. It was grace, unmerited favor. Today the favor of God is upon me this Christmas season, God has done for me what I could not do for myself…….JRE
“He gave up his place with God and made himself nothing. He was born to be a man and became like a servant.” PHILIPPIANS 2:7
“It all happened in a most remarkable moment…a moment like no other……
God became a man. Divinity arrived. Heaven opened herself and placed her most precious one in a human womb.
The omnipotent, in one instant, became flesh and blood. The one who was larger than the universe became a microscopic embryo. And he who sustains the world with a word chose to be dependent upon the nourishment of a young girl.
God had come near.”
MAX LUCADO
May all of you who allow me to share this small page have a joyous and blessed Christmas season. I thank you for having the grace and extending your favor, so that I may be of service to the King. May God’s favor continue………..jre
Christmas favor
Thought for the day: “But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all Your works.” PSALM 73:28 NASB
“The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.”
LUKE 1:30-31 NASB
The Christmas season is about God’s favor. I enjoy looking at al the lights and decorations that we find this time of year. They are awesome and each year they become more sophisticated and highly technical. What a way to light up the birth of Jesus the Savior of the world. The Christmas lights that shine the brightest though, are found in the hearts of those who love the Lord and have found favor with God. The favor of God can be found all around us, but if we don’t become aware of it, it may appear as coincidence and possibly the favor of man. The favor that Mary found from God was manifested in God’s Son Jesus. That same Favor was born and accomplished on the cross something that man could never do on his own. The favor of forgiveness, when someone forgives you they are doing you a favor. They are doing themselves a favor at the same time. When God forgave me through the finished work of the cross, it was God’s favor being bestowed upon me. It was grace, unmerited favor. Today the favor of God is upon me this Christmas season, God has done for me what I could not do for myself…….JRE
“He gave up his place with God and made himself nothing. He was born to be a man and became like a servant.” PHILIPPIANS 2:7
“It all happened in a most remarkable moment…a moment like no other……
God became a man. Divinity arrived. Heaven opened herself and placed her most precious one in a human womb.
The omnipotent, in one instant, became flesh and blood. The one who was larger than the universe became a microscopic embryo. And he who sustains the world with a word chose to be dependent upon the nourishment of a young girl.
God had come near.”
MAX LUCADO
May all of you who allow me to share this small page have a joyous and blessed Christmas season. I thank you for having the grace and extending your favor, so that I may be of service to the King. May God’s favor continue………..jre
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Good example is the best sermon.”
BEN FRANKLIN
“Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophesy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”
1 CORINTHIANS 12:30-13:2 NIV
I’m from Missouri and you got to “Show Me.” Missouri is known as the Show Me State. I’m not sure how we got that slogan, but that’s what they say about us. The apostle Paul in his letter to the church at Corinth says, “I will show you the most excellent way.” He is referring to the way of love. Having great spiritual gifts from God is an awesome and wonderful blessing to the body of Christ, the Church. But Paul says love is the most excellent way. Being able to give great dialogues and speak healing words that change lives is another wonderful gift, but Paul says love is the most excellent way. To be able to prophesy down the road and help others find direction, and to know vast amounts of knowledge is another wonderful gift, but Paul says love is the most excellent way. To have exercised your faith to a point where it can be found to be strong and sure, and to be able to teach others about faith is a God given gift, but Paul says if you “have not love,” you are nothing. I take it that love must be the greatest influence on our lives that we can experience. As I look back in my life I draw from an example of where love was “the most excellent way.” I am not proud of the example I am about to use, but love seems to be the factor that stands out after all these years. In 1970 I was a young man having just recently returned from Vietnam, and I became involved with a young lady and we started living together. She was the daughter of missionary parents who had lived almost all of her life in Equator. Not only were we not married, but, we were involved in drugs and our life style of being vegetarian and practicing Hinduism went totally against the beliefs of her parents. We flaunted it in front of them being rebellious like many of the youth of that day. I recall one time her parents came for a visit and how her father treated me. He was kind, he did not condemn me, he listened to me and did not ignore me, he treated me totally different than I expected he would have. The relationship of the young lady and I lasted a year or so and I rarely think of her these days, but there is something about her father that I cannot forget. He showed me the most excellent way. He showed me the way of love. In that time of drugs, transcendental meditation, and experimenting with different life styles, the love of a father is what comes to the forefront of my memory. Fifteen years later I myself accepted Jesus Christ and I started to understand where he was coming from. Today I find the words of the apostle Paul to ring true in my heart, and I know that if I “have not love, I am nothing.” I know this because I am from Missouri, and it was shown to me. God continues to love me and do for me what I could not do for myself…………….JRE
“Let us say it again: The universal Presence is a fact. God is here. The whole universe is alive with His life. And He is no strange or foreign God, but the familiar Father of our Lord Jesus Christ whose love has for these thousands of years enfolded the sinful race of men. And always He is trying to get our attention, to reveal Himself to us, to communicate with us. We have within us the ability to know Him if we will but respond to His overtures. (And we call this pursuing God!) We will know Him in increasing degree as our receptivity becomes more perfect by faith and love and practice.”
A. W. TOZER……….The Pursuit Of God, page 67
"Show me"
Thought for the day: “Good example is the best sermon.”
BEN FRANKLIN
“Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophesy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”
1 CORINTHIANS 12:30-13:2 NIV
I’m from Missouri and you got to “Show Me.” Missouri is known as the Show Me State. I’m not sure how we got that slogan, but that’s what they say about us. The apostle Paul in his letter to the church at Corinth says, “I will show you the most excellent way.” He is referring to the way of love. Having great spiritual gifts from God is an awesome and wonderful blessing to the body of Christ, the Church. But Paul says love is the most excellent way. Being able to give great dialogues and speak healing words that change lives is another wonderful gift, but Paul says love is the most excellent way. To be able to prophesy down the road and help others find direction, and to know vast amounts of knowledge is another wonderful gift, but Paul says love is the most excellent way. To have exercised your faith to a point where it can be found to be strong and sure, and to be able to teach others about faith is a God given gift, but Paul says if you “have not love,” you are nothing. I take it that love must be the greatest influence on our lives that we can experience. As I look back in my life I draw from an example of where love was “the most excellent way.” I am not proud of the example I am about to use, but love seems to be the factor that stands out after all these years. In 1970 I was a young man having just recently returned from Vietnam, and I became involved with a young lady and we started living together. She was the daughter of missionary parents who had lived almost all of her life in Equator. Not only were we not married, but, we were involved in drugs and our life style of being vegetarian and practicing Hinduism went totally against the beliefs of her parents. We flaunted it in front of them being rebellious like many of the youth of that day. I recall one time her parents came for a visit and how her father treated me. He was kind, he did not condemn me, he listened to me and did not ignore me, he treated me totally different than I expected he would have. The relationship of the young lady and I lasted a year or so and I rarely think of her these days, but there is something about her father that I cannot forget. He showed me the most excellent way. He showed me the way of love. In that time of drugs, transcendental meditation, and experimenting with different life styles, the love of a father is what comes to the forefront of my memory. Fifteen years later I myself accepted Jesus Christ and I started to understand where he was coming from. Today I find the words of the apostle Paul to ring true in my heart, and I know that if I “have not love, I am nothing.” I know this because I am from Missouri, and it was shown to me. God continues to love me and do for me what I could not do for myself…………….JRE
“Let us say it again: The universal Presence is a fact. God is here. The whole universe is alive with His life. And He is no strange or foreign God, but the familiar Father of our Lord Jesus Christ whose love has for these thousands of years enfolded the sinful race of men. And always He is trying to get our attention, to reveal Himself to us, to communicate with us. We have within us the ability to know Him if we will but respond to His overtures. (And we call this pursuing God!) We will know Him in increasing degree as our receptivity becomes more perfect by faith and love and practice.”
A. W. TOZER……….The Pursuit Of God, page 67
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “The greatest honor we can give God is to live gladly because of the knowledge of His love.” JULIAN OF NORWICH
“We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as imposters; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.”
2 CORINTHIANS 6:3-10 NIV
What extremes! These few words of the apostle Paul take us on a roller coaster ride of ups and downs, being jarred from side to side, from sorrow to joy, from wealth to poverty, and back to wealth again. The apostle Paul’s life is an excellent example of extremes. He probably came from a well to do family, they were Roman Citizens, and Paul studied under one of the most renowned teachers of the day, Gamaliel. Paul was a Pharisees, a member of the religious elite, and had legal responsibility during his day to imprison and bring to trial the followers of Jesus. He was on top of his world, with wealth, respect, and position, but my what a difference a little walk with Jesus made. Jesus has a way of making the world we see and think of as real, to crumble and become useless right before our eyes. When our heart changes we develop new vision that sees the temporal as exactly that, temporary. We see the eternal and the spiritual as becoming real and true. These extremes alone will bring about changes in our lives. From being on top, Paul exiled himself to the desert of Arabia for several years. No doubt this was a time of personal reflection and communion with the Father through the Son and Holy Spirit. Paul’s life changed after this, from being materially and socially successful, to being rejected, imprisoned, beaten, despised and finally executed. During these times of his life he left us a wealth of words, words of encouragement overflowing with the love of God. I learn from the apostle Paul that life is not always going to go exactly the way we would like it to go, but, if we maintain a grateful heart because of God’s great love, then we will never be poor. Gratitude is the substance of true wealth and prosperity. In all our lives we experience extremes. In my life I have traveled from the despairing depths of alcoholism and drug addiction to being a friend of God. In all of this I find that gratitude keeps me headed in the proper direction. If I maintain a grateful heart, God is able to do for me what I could not do for myself…………………..JRE
“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”
PSALM 51:10 KJV
“One exercise that I practice is to try for a full inventory of my blessings and then for a right acceptance of the many gifts that are mine, both temporal and spiritual. Here I try to achieve a state of joyful gratitude. When such a brand of gratitude is repeatedly affirmed and pondered, it can finally displace the natural tendency to congratulate myself on whatever progress I may have been enabled to make in some areas of living. I try to hold fast to the truth that a full and thankful heart cannot entertain great conceits. When brimming with gratitude, one’s heartbeat must surely result in outgoing love, the finest emotion that we can ever know.”
BILL W….From an article in the AA Grapevine dated March 1962
Live gladly
Thought for the day: “The greatest honor we can give God is to live gladly because of the knowledge of His love.” JULIAN OF NORWICH
“We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as imposters; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.”
2 CORINTHIANS 6:3-10 NIV
What extremes! These few words of the apostle Paul take us on a roller coaster ride of ups and downs, being jarred from side to side, from sorrow to joy, from wealth to poverty, and back to wealth again. The apostle Paul’s life is an excellent example of extremes. He probably came from a well to do family, they were Roman Citizens, and Paul studied under one of the most renowned teachers of the day, Gamaliel. Paul was a Pharisees, a member of the religious elite, and had legal responsibility during his day to imprison and bring to trial the followers of Jesus. He was on top of his world, with wealth, respect, and position, but my what a difference a little walk with Jesus made. Jesus has a way of making the world we see and think of as real, to crumble and become useless right before our eyes. When our heart changes we develop new vision that sees the temporal as exactly that, temporary. We see the eternal and the spiritual as becoming real and true. These extremes alone will bring about changes in our lives. From being on top, Paul exiled himself to the desert of Arabia for several years. No doubt this was a time of personal reflection and communion with the Father through the Son and Holy Spirit. Paul’s life changed after this, from being materially and socially successful, to being rejected, imprisoned, beaten, despised and finally executed. During these times of his life he left us a wealth of words, words of encouragement overflowing with the love of God. I learn from the apostle Paul that life is not always going to go exactly the way we would like it to go, but, if we maintain a grateful heart because of God’s great love, then we will never be poor. Gratitude is the substance of true wealth and prosperity. In all our lives we experience extremes. In my life I have traveled from the despairing depths of alcoholism and drug addiction to being a friend of God. In all of this I find that gratitude keeps me headed in the proper direction. If I maintain a grateful heart, God is able to do for me what I could not do for myself…………………..JRE
“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”
PSALM 51:10 KJV
“One exercise that I practice is to try for a full inventory of my blessings and then for a right acceptance of the many gifts that are mine, both temporal and spiritual. Here I try to achieve a state of joyful gratitude. When such a brand of gratitude is repeatedly affirmed and pondered, it can finally displace the natural tendency to congratulate myself on whatever progress I may have been enabled to make in some areas of living. I try to hold fast to the truth that a full and thankful heart cannot entertain great conceits. When brimming with gratitude, one’s heartbeat must surely result in outgoing love, the finest emotion that we can ever know.”
BILL W….From an article in the AA Grapevine dated March 1962
Monday, December 19, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Deeds are fruits; words are leaves.”
ENGLISH PROVERB
“You shall know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.”
Words of Jesus Christ found in Matthew 7:16-20 NASB
I have a several peach trees that are scattered from my back door, outside the yard fence to a ravine, and up the ravine to the fence line some several hundred feet away. The one closest to the back door is very old and actually is a shoot growing out of an old stump. The others are fruit trees that have been started from peach seeds carried away by animals. The fruit they bear is not like the large juicy Georgia Peach. It is a small peach about an inch and a half to two inches in size. They are not yellow like the larger peaches, but are white and pink. My uncle calls them a wild native peach and says, “You’ve got to share them with the bugs.” I find this to be true, but I still like them. This year I canned several pints of peach jam from the trees. One thing I have noticed is that they don’t do well in shaded areas. When you find a limb that has no leaves on it, you can bet it is dead. That is why the English proverb above speaks to me this morning, without leaves fruit trees will not bear fruit. Good deeds or fruits won’t amount to much with out leaves that sustain and nurture the whole tree. It is in the leaf of the tree that life is sustained, this is where oxygen is given off and carbon dioxide is taken in. It is where light is used in converting the substances brought up by the roots into useful nutrients. Without leaves trees die, and without God given words of life we can be spiritually dead also. “Deeds are fruits; words are leaves,” this really speaks to me this morning. The fruits of our lives are nurtured by the words that we hear and speak. That old saying “you are what you eat,” might be true in the natural, but in the spiritual you are what you hear and what you speak. Today may I realize that the fruit I bear may be nothing without first being prepared and served with words of love, nurtured in the oven of my heart fueled by God’s Word. If I ask and seek today, God will continue to do for me what I could not do for myself……………………..JRE
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.”
PSALM 19:14 NASB
“To be specific, the self-sins are self-righteousness, self-pity, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, self-admiration, self-love, and a host of others like them. They dwell too deep within us and are too much a part of our natures to come to our attention till the light of God is focused upon them.”
A. W. TOZER……………..The Pursuit Of God, page 42
“He came to pay a debt He didn’t owe, because we owed a debt we couldn’t pay.” Author unknown, found on a Christmas card I got yesterday, thanks for the card and thanks for letting me share……………..jre
Without leaves there will be no fruit.
Thought for the day: “Deeds are fruits; words are leaves.”
ENGLISH PROVERB
“You shall know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.”
Words of Jesus Christ found in Matthew 7:16-20 NASB
I have a several peach trees that are scattered from my back door, outside the yard fence to a ravine, and up the ravine to the fence line some several hundred feet away. The one closest to the back door is very old and actually is a shoot growing out of an old stump. The others are fruit trees that have been started from peach seeds carried away by animals. The fruit they bear is not like the large juicy Georgia Peach. It is a small peach about an inch and a half to two inches in size. They are not yellow like the larger peaches, but are white and pink. My uncle calls them a wild native peach and says, “You’ve got to share them with the bugs.” I find this to be true, but I still like them. This year I canned several pints of peach jam from the trees. One thing I have noticed is that they don’t do well in shaded areas. When you find a limb that has no leaves on it, you can bet it is dead. That is why the English proverb above speaks to me this morning, without leaves fruit trees will not bear fruit. Good deeds or fruits won’t amount to much with out leaves that sustain and nurture the whole tree. It is in the leaf of the tree that life is sustained, this is where oxygen is given off and carbon dioxide is taken in. It is where light is used in converting the substances brought up by the roots into useful nutrients. Without leaves trees die, and without God given words of life we can be spiritually dead also. “Deeds are fruits; words are leaves,” this really speaks to me this morning. The fruits of our lives are nurtured by the words that we hear and speak. That old saying “you are what you eat,” might be true in the natural, but in the spiritual you are what you hear and what you speak. Today may I realize that the fruit I bear may be nothing without first being prepared and served with words of love, nurtured in the oven of my heart fueled by God’s Word. If I ask and seek today, God will continue to do for me what I could not do for myself……………………..JRE
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.”
PSALM 19:14 NASB
“To be specific, the self-sins are self-righteousness, self-pity, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, self-admiration, self-love, and a host of others like them. They dwell too deep within us and are too much a part of our natures to come to our attention till the light of God is focused upon them.”
A. W. TOZER……………..The Pursuit Of God, page 42
“He came to pay a debt He didn’t owe, because we owed a debt we couldn’t pay.” Author unknown, found on a Christmas card I got yesterday, thanks for the card and thanks for letting me share……………..jre
Thursday, December 15, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Dear Lord, grant me the grace of wonder. Surprise me, amaze me, awe me in every crevice of your universe……..Each day enrapture me with your marvelous things without number. I do not ask to see the reason for it all; I ask only to share the wonder of it all.”
ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL
“What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil, this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever, nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.”
ECCLESIASTES 3:9-14 NIV
Rabbi Heschel said “I do not ask to see the reason for it all, I ask only to share the wonder of it all.” That sentence speaks to me today. I don’t know why, all I know is that God Is. Today I can accept God being exactly as God is. Even though I can’t fathom the depth or height or width of God, I can accept God in all Gods glorious majesty and power, without having to know why. It’s all about acceptance. There was a time when I was much younger when I needed to know the reason for everything. All through school reasons were given for everything, all the way from the study of English to mathematics to science. There were always exceptions to certain rules but the reason given for them was that they were exceptions. I understood this. I didn’t have a lot of training in my younger days in spiritual awareness, or religious teachings, and no answers were given to me as to why the existence of God was valid. I wanted to know why, and the answer “just because” was not sufficient. I remember my mother telling me to do things and I would ask why? She would say, “Because I said so!” I could accept this answer because of her authority, but when it came to the vastness and awesomeness of God, I wanted to know why. Where my life changed and where I began to accept ideas without having to know why was sometime in 1968. The first half of the year I was in Vietnam, the summer I spent home in Kansas City and the fall I was in college in Indiana. As I look back on that year I see where there were many influences in my life, some of traumatic proportions. From the painful experiences of combat to the carefree summer of 1968, the summer of love; to the discipline of college studies, something happened in my soul. Something changed inside of me and I realized that there was more to life than what I knew or could see. Fifteen years later I accepted Jesus and the finished work of the cross, and the missing parts of life’s puzzle were starting to come together. It has been a growing process. Today I don’t have to have all the answers. I feel and experience God’s love and that is more than enough to get me through life, one day at a time. Today I don’t need to know why for everything, all I need is to accept God so God can work through me. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself………………….JRE
“If it can be verified, we don’t need faith……Faith is for that which lies on the other side of reason. Faith is what makes life bearable, with all its tragedies and ambiguities and sudden, startling joys.”
MADELEINE L’ENGLE
“Acceptance is the key to my relationship with God today. I never just sit and do nothing while waiting for Him to tell me what to do. Rather, I do whatever is in front of me to be done, and leave the results up to Him; however it turns out, that’s God’s will for me.”
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, page 420
Something changed inside of me
Thought for the day: “Dear Lord, grant me the grace of wonder. Surprise me, amaze me, awe me in every crevice of your universe……..Each day enrapture me with your marvelous things without number. I do not ask to see the reason for it all; I ask only to share the wonder of it all.”
ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL
“What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil, this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever, nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.”
ECCLESIASTES 3:9-14 NIV
Rabbi Heschel said “I do not ask to see the reason for it all, I ask only to share the wonder of it all.” That sentence speaks to me today. I don’t know why, all I know is that God Is. Today I can accept God being exactly as God is. Even though I can’t fathom the depth or height or width of God, I can accept God in all Gods glorious majesty and power, without having to know why. It’s all about acceptance. There was a time when I was much younger when I needed to know the reason for everything. All through school reasons were given for everything, all the way from the study of English to mathematics to science. There were always exceptions to certain rules but the reason given for them was that they were exceptions. I understood this. I didn’t have a lot of training in my younger days in spiritual awareness, or religious teachings, and no answers were given to me as to why the existence of God was valid. I wanted to know why, and the answer “just because” was not sufficient. I remember my mother telling me to do things and I would ask why? She would say, “Because I said so!” I could accept this answer because of her authority, but when it came to the vastness and awesomeness of God, I wanted to know why. Where my life changed and where I began to accept ideas without having to know why was sometime in 1968. The first half of the year I was in Vietnam, the summer I spent home in Kansas City and the fall I was in college in Indiana. As I look back on that year I see where there were many influences in my life, some of traumatic proportions. From the painful experiences of combat to the carefree summer of 1968, the summer of love; to the discipline of college studies, something happened in my soul. Something changed inside of me and I realized that there was more to life than what I knew or could see. Fifteen years later I accepted Jesus and the finished work of the cross, and the missing parts of life’s puzzle were starting to come together. It has been a growing process. Today I don’t have to have all the answers. I feel and experience God’s love and that is more than enough to get me through life, one day at a time. Today I don’t need to know why for everything, all I need is to accept God so God can work through me. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself………………….JRE
“If it can be verified, we don’t need faith……Faith is for that which lies on the other side of reason. Faith is what makes life bearable, with all its tragedies and ambiguities and sudden, startling joys.”
MADELEINE L’ENGLE
“Acceptance is the key to my relationship with God today. I never just sit and do nothing while waiting for Him to tell me what to do. Rather, I do whatever is in front of me to be done, and leave the results up to Him; however it turns out, that’s God’s will for me.”
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, page 420
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Put off for one day and ten days will pass by.”
KOREAN PROVERB
Hear my cry O God; Give heed to my prayer.
From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
For You have been a refuge for me, A tower of strength against the enemy.
Let me dwell in your ten forever;
Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings.
Selah.
PSALM 61:1-4 NASB
Many times in the Psalms you will find the word Selah. It is a musical notation meaning to pause or to suspend. As I read the psalms I find this word to come after some profound thought that needs more time to reflect upon. David in the psalm explains his depression and his heart being faint, he also asks God to lead him to “the rock that is higher than I.” The “big I” in my life sometimes is higher than anything around. As I take time to Selah or to pause and meditate upon David’s words, I realize that I also need to be lead to a rock that is higher than I. You see when my “I” is all by itself, I find myself in not very good company. When my “I” soars higher than anything else I find that I look down on others and become judgmental. I also develop resentments, which may lead to anger. When my “I” is all by itself I sometimes will see others as better than I and more fortunate, and therefore I feel sorry for myself and develop self-pity. When I get my eyes off God and on my surroundings everything will start to look small indeed. Like David, I also need God to “lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” The next few words are all part of the same thought. “For You have been a refuge for me.” It’s hard for the “big I” to find refuge when it soars higher than anything else. “Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings.” This last phrase before we are to pause and meditate upon the words reminds me of a hen I used to have. Twenty years ago my Granny gave me the last of her bantam chickens, we call them banties, and Camilla was a very good mama They are a small breed of chickens that can be very aggressive. The hens are the best mama’s you can find. Camilla would be very protective of her eggs and when they would hatch she watched over each little chick. When they would be out scratching for food around the chicken house, and you would walk upon them, Camilla would raise up her hind end and spread her wings. All the little chicks would run to the shelter of he wings. If you came too close she would peck you. Today when I think of being in the shelter of His wings, I think of a loving God who covers me with His love when I don’t feel as though I can handle it alone. In times like this God does for me what I could not do for myself…………………..JRE
“The heart of the world is breaking under this load of pride and pretense. There is no release from our burden apart from the meekness of Christ. Good, keen reasoning may help slightly, but so strong is the vice that if we push it down one place, it will come up somewhere else. To men and women everywhere Jesus says, ‘Come unto me, and I will give you rest.” The rest He offers is the rest of meekness, the blessed relief which comes when we accept ourselves for what we are and cease to pretend.”
A.W. TOZER…………….The Pursuit Of God, page 109
"the rock that is higher than I"
Thought for the day: “Put off for one day and ten days will pass by.”
KOREAN PROVERB
Hear my cry O God; Give heed to my prayer.
From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
For You have been a refuge for me, A tower of strength against the enemy.
Let me dwell in your ten forever;
Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings.
Selah.
PSALM 61:1-4 NASB
Many times in the Psalms you will find the word Selah. It is a musical notation meaning to pause or to suspend. As I read the psalms I find this word to come after some profound thought that needs more time to reflect upon. David in the psalm explains his depression and his heart being faint, he also asks God to lead him to “the rock that is higher than I.” The “big I” in my life sometimes is higher than anything around. As I take time to Selah or to pause and meditate upon David’s words, I realize that I also need to be lead to a rock that is higher than I. You see when my “I” is all by itself, I find myself in not very good company. When my “I” soars higher than anything else I find that I look down on others and become judgmental. I also develop resentments, which may lead to anger. When my “I” is all by itself I sometimes will see others as better than I and more fortunate, and therefore I feel sorry for myself and develop self-pity. When I get my eyes off God and on my surroundings everything will start to look small indeed. Like David, I also need God to “lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” The next few words are all part of the same thought. “For You have been a refuge for me.” It’s hard for the “big I” to find refuge when it soars higher than anything else. “Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings.” This last phrase before we are to pause and meditate upon the words reminds me of a hen I used to have. Twenty years ago my Granny gave me the last of her bantam chickens, we call them banties, and Camilla was a very good mama They are a small breed of chickens that can be very aggressive. The hens are the best mama’s you can find. Camilla would be very protective of her eggs and when they would hatch she watched over each little chick. When they would be out scratching for food around the chicken house, and you would walk upon them, Camilla would raise up her hind end and spread her wings. All the little chicks would run to the shelter of he wings. If you came too close she would peck you. Today when I think of being in the shelter of His wings, I think of a loving God who covers me with His love when I don’t feel as though I can handle it alone. In times like this God does for me what I could not do for myself…………………..JRE
“The heart of the world is breaking under this load of pride and pretense. There is no release from our burden apart from the meekness of Christ. Good, keen reasoning may help slightly, but so strong is the vice that if we push it down one place, it will come up somewhere else. To men and women everywhere Jesus says, ‘Come unto me, and I will give you rest.” The rest He offers is the rest of meekness, the blessed relief which comes when we accept ourselves for what we are and cease to pretend.”
A.W. TOZER…………….The Pursuit Of God, page 109
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Search thy own heart; what paineth thee in others in thyself may be.” JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER
In Matthew 24:27-28 NASB we find Jesus talking to the people about the religious leaders of the day, the Scribes and Pharisees. He tells the people that the outside appearance of these leaders looks clean, but on the inside, the heart, is a different matter. Share these two verses with me:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hyprocrisy and lawlessness.”
Jesus went straight to the heart of the matter, the matter of the heart. Looking good and being good looking is not what God wants. Don’t get me wrong, God is about beauty and has “Made everything beautiful in its own time,” but when it comes to our lives, God goes past the outer appearance to the inner appearance. You can take a pig and put a tuxedo on him and teach him to walk upright, but he will still go to the closest mud puddle and get down and waller in it. You can take a mule and trim his ears up, feed him the best food and make him look like a race horse, but when he balks at the starting gate in the race you will find that he is still a mule on the inside. The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. Jesus realized this so many times when He addressed the issues of the day. Today these same issues can be found in myself and others I am sure. I know that when things are not right in my life and it is because of the way I have been thinking, if I take a hot shower and put on clean clothes I find myself feeling better, but nothing has changed on the inside. The old feelings brought about by my wrong attitudes and wrong thinking will once again come to the surface. I am learning to go to the heart of the matter if I want change in my life. In the heart is where God does for me what I could not do for myself……………..JRE
A.A. STEP 4: “Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.”
“Modern understandings of addiction suggest that all addictions and compulsions are fundamentally shame based. Whether our profound shame feelings come from early family situations that we witnessed and experienced, or whether they arise from the practice of our own current dependences, robust recovery can occur only when this shame is cleansed away. Scripture cautions that this cleansing must work from the inside out, and Twelve Step recovery suggests the tool of a ‘searching and fearless moral inventory’ as a means of accomplishing this cleansing.
Effective inventory work requires that we find the sources of both false and authentic shame. We may carry false guilt about the childhood experience of sexual violation or the impact of parental chemical abuse. Or we may carry authentic feelings of guilt about the damage we have inflicted on others through the practice of our dependent behaviors.
Step 4 is a special opportunity to bring those dark recesses of our lives before the cleansing light of God’s Spirit.”
NELSON SERENITY BIBLE, page 39
The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart.
Thought for the day: “Search thy own heart; what paineth thee in others in thyself may be.” JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER
In Matthew 24:27-28 NASB we find Jesus talking to the people about the religious leaders of the day, the Scribes and Pharisees. He tells the people that the outside appearance of these leaders looks clean, but on the inside, the heart, is a different matter. Share these two verses with me:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hyprocrisy and lawlessness.”
Jesus went straight to the heart of the matter, the matter of the heart. Looking good and being good looking is not what God wants. Don’t get me wrong, God is about beauty and has “Made everything beautiful in its own time,” but when it comes to our lives, God goes past the outer appearance to the inner appearance. You can take a pig and put a tuxedo on him and teach him to walk upright, but he will still go to the closest mud puddle and get down and waller in it. You can take a mule and trim his ears up, feed him the best food and make him look like a race horse, but when he balks at the starting gate in the race you will find that he is still a mule on the inside. The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. Jesus realized this so many times when He addressed the issues of the day. Today these same issues can be found in myself and others I am sure. I know that when things are not right in my life and it is because of the way I have been thinking, if I take a hot shower and put on clean clothes I find myself feeling better, but nothing has changed on the inside. The old feelings brought about by my wrong attitudes and wrong thinking will once again come to the surface. I am learning to go to the heart of the matter if I want change in my life. In the heart is where God does for me what I could not do for myself……………..JRE
A.A. STEP 4: “Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.”
“Modern understandings of addiction suggest that all addictions and compulsions are fundamentally shame based. Whether our profound shame feelings come from early family situations that we witnessed and experienced, or whether they arise from the practice of our own current dependences, robust recovery can occur only when this shame is cleansed away. Scripture cautions that this cleansing must work from the inside out, and Twelve Step recovery suggests the tool of a ‘searching and fearless moral inventory’ as a means of accomplishing this cleansing.
Effective inventory work requires that we find the sources of both false and authentic shame. We may carry false guilt about the childhood experience of sexual violation or the impact of parental chemical abuse. Or we may carry authentic feelings of guilt about the damage we have inflicted on others through the practice of our dependent behaviors.
Step 4 is a special opportunity to bring those dark recesses of our lives before the cleansing light of God’s Spirit.”
NELSON SERENITY BIBLE, page 39
Monday, December 12, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “If you don’t keep up, you will get behind.”
UNCLE RUSS SWALL
I heard this statement this weekend and I thought to myself, what a simple quote with such profound meaning. The sentence was used in reference to business magazines and staying up with new ideas and technology in the business world. As I pondered these few words I thought about how it applies to many aspects of my own life. In my recovery from alcoholism I must daily work on the defenses that I use to keep from being overcome by the temptations of alcohol. I am not saying that I go places where there is alcohol, but if by some chance I find myself being offered a drink or drug, I must be prepared with the proper response. My life depends on “keeping up.” I cannot afford to get behind, for me this could mean death. I have seen in the lives of some that I have worked with that if you “get behind,” sometimes you can’t catch up in time. The end results can be jails, institutions, or death. I can also relate this simple phrase to my spiritual life and my daily conscious contact with God. I must daily seek God, I must daily communicate to God through prayers, I must daily reach out to others who are suffering in similar ways, and to share the message of hope that has been revealed to myself. If I don’t “keep up,” getting behind can create a situation of everyday struggling to catch up, and with the labors of each day finding myself still short of where I should be. It’s a “one day at a time” thing. Daily I must work on keeping up, that way God is able to do for me what I could not do for myself………………JRE
This morning my Scripture study has taken me to study God’s lovingkindness. I first ran across the word in Psalm 51:1 NASB where David says to God:
“Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness.”
Next I came across the word in Hoses 2:18-19 NASB, share this with me:
“In that day I will also make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds of the sky and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword and war from the land, I will make them lie down in safety.
“I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, In lovingkindness and in compassion.”
The Hebrew word used for God’s lovingkindness is hesed. It is used about 250 time in the Old Testament, and is used by Hosea and David as a covenant agreement. God had an agreement with his people of unconditional love forever. Today we still have a covenant agreement with God through the shed blood of Jesus. “God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son.” This is a covenant agreement, all we have to do is uphold our end of the agreement by believing upon Jesus and the finished work of the cross. I like what the Ryrie Study Bible has to say about this kind of love. Share this with me:
“hesed, it means loyal, steadfast, or faithful love and stresses the idea of a belonging together of those involved in the love relationship. Here it connotes God’s faithful love for His unfaithful people. In the Old Testament, communion, deliverance, enabling, enlightenment, guidance, forgiveness, hope, praise, preservation are all based on God’s hesed.”
This morning this study is just part of my daily “keeping up” to keep from “getting behind.” Thanks for letting me share………………JRE
“In God’s economy’s, nothing is wasted. Through failure, we learn a lesson in humility which is probably needed, painful though it is.”
BILL W……………As Bill Sees It, page 31
"If you don't keep up, you will get behind."
Thought for the day: “If you don’t keep up, you will get behind.”
UNCLE RUSS SWALL
I heard this statement this weekend and I thought to myself, what a simple quote with such profound meaning. The sentence was used in reference to business magazines and staying up with new ideas and technology in the business world. As I pondered these few words I thought about how it applies to many aspects of my own life. In my recovery from alcoholism I must daily work on the defenses that I use to keep from being overcome by the temptations of alcohol. I am not saying that I go places where there is alcohol, but if by some chance I find myself being offered a drink or drug, I must be prepared with the proper response. My life depends on “keeping up.” I cannot afford to get behind, for me this could mean death. I have seen in the lives of some that I have worked with that if you “get behind,” sometimes you can’t catch up in time. The end results can be jails, institutions, or death. I can also relate this simple phrase to my spiritual life and my daily conscious contact with God. I must daily seek God, I must daily communicate to God through prayers, I must daily reach out to others who are suffering in similar ways, and to share the message of hope that has been revealed to myself. If I don’t “keep up,” getting behind can create a situation of everyday struggling to catch up, and with the labors of each day finding myself still short of where I should be. It’s a “one day at a time” thing. Daily I must work on keeping up, that way God is able to do for me what I could not do for myself………………JRE
This morning my Scripture study has taken me to study God’s lovingkindness. I first ran across the word in Psalm 51:1 NASB where David says to God:
“Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness.”
Next I came across the word in Hoses 2:18-19 NASB, share this with me:
“In that day I will also make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds of the sky and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword and war from the land, I will make them lie down in safety.
“I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, In lovingkindness and in compassion.”
The Hebrew word used for God’s lovingkindness is hesed. It is used about 250 time in the Old Testament, and is used by Hosea and David as a covenant agreement. God had an agreement with his people of unconditional love forever. Today we still have a covenant agreement with God through the shed blood of Jesus. “God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son.” This is a covenant agreement, all we have to do is uphold our end of the agreement by believing upon Jesus and the finished work of the cross. I like what the Ryrie Study Bible has to say about this kind of love. Share this with me:
“hesed, it means loyal, steadfast, or faithful love and stresses the idea of a belonging together of those involved in the love relationship. Here it connotes God’s faithful love for His unfaithful people. In the Old Testament, communion, deliverance, enabling, enlightenment, guidance, forgiveness, hope, praise, preservation are all based on God’s hesed.”
This morning this study is just part of my daily “keeping up” to keep from “getting behind.” Thanks for letting me share………………JRE
“In God’s economy’s, nothing is wasted. Through failure, we learn a lesson in humility which is probably needed, painful though it is.”
BILL W……………As Bill Sees It, page 31
Thursday, December 08, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “A brother may not be a friend, but a friend will always be a brother.”
BEN FRANKLIN
WORDS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL
ROMANS 12:3 NIV
“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourselves more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourselves with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”
“The measure of faith God has given you.” What does this mean? It means that we all have faith, but do some get a larger measure than others? I have always heard this scripture verse preached meaning that we all have been given the same amount of faith, but, if we use and exercise our faith, we can develop it, and cause it to grow. The Greek word used for measure is metron, and it comes from the root word metre which has a meaning “a measure, literally or figuratively; by implication a limited portion (degree).” That definition comes from Strong’s Reference number 3358. A limited portion, I take that to mean that God did not favor one person above another when it came to faith. To think that God initially gave me the same amount of faith that He gave to Peter, Paul and John, just expands my mind beyond comprehension. I do take examples from my own life and realize that the faith I use and exercise today is not like the faith that I used twenty-two years ago, when I accepted the grace of God and the finished work of the cross. Back then my faith was kind of like blind faith, it had a lot to do with hope also. Today after seeing many prayers answered, and God working through and changing the lives of many, I use a faith that is founded on experience in seeing the promises of God come true. It’s just not the same faith today, even though it started out as an equal amount measured by God. It has grown always, never diminished. The reason for this is exercise, if you don’t use it, you’ll loose it. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself…………….JRE
The spiritual awakening that Bill W. experienced, and that also fueled his sobriety, was recorded some twenty-nine years later by the man himself. Share this with me:
“My depression deepened unbearably and finally it seemed to me as though I were at the very bottom of the pit. I still gagged badly at the notion of a Power greater than myself, but finally, just for the moment, the last vestige of my proud obstinacy was crushed. All at once I found myself crying out, ‘If there is a God, let Him show Himself! I am ready to do anything, anything!’
Suddenly, the room lit up with a great white light. I was caught up into an ecstasy which there are no words to describe. It seemed to me, in the mind’s eye that I was on a mountain and that a wind not of air but of spirit was blowing. And then it burst upon me that I was a free man. Slowly the ecstasy subsided. I lay on the bed, but now for a time I was in another world, a new world of consciousness. All about me and through me there was a wonderful feeling of Presence, and I thought to myself, ‘So this is the God of the preachers!’ A great peace stole over me and I thought, ‘No matter how wrong things seem to be, they are still all right. Things are all right with God and His world.’”
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS COMES OF AGE:
A Brief History of A.A., page 63
If you don't use it, you'll loose it.
Thought for the day: “A brother may not be a friend, but a friend will always be a brother.”
BEN FRANKLIN
WORDS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL
ROMANS 12:3 NIV
“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourselves more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourselves with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”
“The measure of faith God has given you.” What does this mean? It means that we all have faith, but do some get a larger measure than others? I have always heard this scripture verse preached meaning that we all have been given the same amount of faith, but, if we use and exercise our faith, we can develop it, and cause it to grow. The Greek word used for measure is metron, and it comes from the root word metre which has a meaning “a measure, literally or figuratively; by implication a limited portion (degree).” That definition comes from Strong’s Reference number 3358. A limited portion, I take that to mean that God did not favor one person above another when it came to faith. To think that God initially gave me the same amount of faith that He gave to Peter, Paul and John, just expands my mind beyond comprehension. I do take examples from my own life and realize that the faith I use and exercise today is not like the faith that I used twenty-two years ago, when I accepted the grace of God and the finished work of the cross. Back then my faith was kind of like blind faith, it had a lot to do with hope also. Today after seeing many prayers answered, and God working through and changing the lives of many, I use a faith that is founded on experience in seeing the promises of God come true. It’s just not the same faith today, even though it started out as an equal amount measured by God. It has grown always, never diminished. The reason for this is exercise, if you don’t use it, you’ll loose it. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself…………….JRE
The spiritual awakening that Bill W. experienced, and that also fueled his sobriety, was recorded some twenty-nine years later by the man himself. Share this with me:
“My depression deepened unbearably and finally it seemed to me as though I were at the very bottom of the pit. I still gagged badly at the notion of a Power greater than myself, but finally, just for the moment, the last vestige of my proud obstinacy was crushed. All at once I found myself crying out, ‘If there is a God, let Him show Himself! I am ready to do anything, anything!’
Suddenly, the room lit up with a great white light. I was caught up into an ecstasy which there are no words to describe. It seemed to me, in the mind’s eye that I was on a mountain and that a wind not of air but of spirit was blowing. And then it burst upon me that I was a free man. Slowly the ecstasy subsided. I lay on the bed, but now for a time I was in another world, a new world of consciousness. All about me and through me there was a wonderful feeling of Presence, and I thought to myself, ‘So this is the God of the preachers!’ A great peace stole over me and I thought, ‘No matter how wrong things seem to be, they are still all right. Things are all right with God and His world.’”
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS COMES OF AGE:
A Brief History of A.A., page 63
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Empty sacks will never stand upright.”
ITALIAN PROVERB
The Apostle Paul in writing to the Church at Rome quotes from the Prophet Isaiah, who has a message from God that hope will come to gentiles through the Root of Jesse. The root of Jesse means a descendent of Jesse who was the father of David. Joseph and Mary were both of the descendents of David, and this is an obvious reference to Jesus Christ. Share with me this Scripture of hope:
Again Isaiah says, “There shall come the Root of Jesse, and He who arises to rule over the gentiles, in Him shall the gentiles have hope.”
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
ROMANS 15:12-13 NASB
You’ve got to be filled with something or you won’t stand upright. I have found that in my life it is very important to know what I am being filled with. There are many substances that we can fill our lives with that may make us stand upright and make us look steady, secure, and safe. But, they will eventually fade, wear out, or be diluted and the end result will be an empty collapsed sack. Alcohol had a way of affecting my life this way. With a few snorts under my belt and all high with what I call “ignorant oil,” I was able to appear to stand tall. This appearance I have now learned was only in my own eyes. When the alcohol wore off, or I was broke, or maybe I would wake up in jail, I would look at my life and see nothing more than a collapsed sack of nothing. Oh, but the next day that shot of courage would turn an old wore-out sack into some mystical shopping bag ready for another spree of spending. These vicious cycles led to total physical collapse, and a spiritual void that had been drained of all good. Today I try and be very careful as to what I fill myself with. I have found that what we fill ourselves with mostly come in through the senses. What we see, what we hear, what we touch, what we say, and what we eat all have a way of filling us. Today I have hope in my life, a “hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” This hope keeps my sack full, keeps it from collapsing. Each day I must fill myself with thoughts of Jesus, the finished work of the cross, and the love that the Father has for His children. As a result I reap joy, peace and a strong hope that keeps me upright.
Every Monday evening I go to the penitentiary down the road. Last Monday we chose a topic for discussion and it was hope. These guys have had everything taken from them. They have been taken from their homes, their families, their possessions, and their rights have been taken from them. I am not saying that this is wrong because they brought this all on themselves, but I am saying that one thing that could not be taken from them was their hope. How awesome it was to hear many of them speak of the hope that lives in them. The Apostle Paul was right when he said, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” I saw this to be true. I saw God doing for us what we could not do for ourselves…………………….JRE
“The presence of God is the central fact of Christianity. At the heart of the Christian message is God Himself waiting for His redeemed children to push in to conscious awareness of His presence.”
A.W. TOZER……….The Pursuit Of God, page 35
“Do not be discouraged.” ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS page 60
Sack full of hope
Thought for the day: “Empty sacks will never stand upright.”
ITALIAN PROVERB
The Apostle Paul in writing to the Church at Rome quotes from the Prophet Isaiah, who has a message from God that hope will come to gentiles through the Root of Jesse. The root of Jesse means a descendent of Jesse who was the father of David. Joseph and Mary were both of the descendents of David, and this is an obvious reference to Jesus Christ. Share with me this Scripture of hope:
Again Isaiah says, “There shall come the Root of Jesse, and He who arises to rule over the gentiles, in Him shall the gentiles have hope.”
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
ROMANS 15:12-13 NASB
You’ve got to be filled with something or you won’t stand upright. I have found that in my life it is very important to know what I am being filled with. There are many substances that we can fill our lives with that may make us stand upright and make us look steady, secure, and safe. But, they will eventually fade, wear out, or be diluted and the end result will be an empty collapsed sack. Alcohol had a way of affecting my life this way. With a few snorts under my belt and all high with what I call “ignorant oil,” I was able to appear to stand tall. This appearance I have now learned was only in my own eyes. When the alcohol wore off, or I was broke, or maybe I would wake up in jail, I would look at my life and see nothing more than a collapsed sack of nothing. Oh, but the next day that shot of courage would turn an old wore-out sack into some mystical shopping bag ready for another spree of spending. These vicious cycles led to total physical collapse, and a spiritual void that had been drained of all good. Today I try and be very careful as to what I fill myself with. I have found that what we fill ourselves with mostly come in through the senses. What we see, what we hear, what we touch, what we say, and what we eat all have a way of filling us. Today I have hope in my life, a “hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” This hope keeps my sack full, keeps it from collapsing. Each day I must fill myself with thoughts of Jesus, the finished work of the cross, and the love that the Father has for His children. As a result I reap joy, peace and a strong hope that keeps me upright.
Every Monday evening I go to the penitentiary down the road. Last Monday we chose a topic for discussion and it was hope. These guys have had everything taken from them. They have been taken from their homes, their families, their possessions, and their rights have been taken from them. I am not saying that this is wrong because they brought this all on themselves, but I am saying that one thing that could not be taken from them was their hope. How awesome it was to hear many of them speak of the hope that lives in them. The Apostle Paul was right when he said, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” I saw this to be true. I saw God doing for us what we could not do for ourselves…………………….JRE
“The presence of God is the central fact of Christianity. At the heart of the Christian message is God Himself waiting for His redeemed children to push in to conscious awareness of His presence.”
A.W. TOZER……….The Pursuit Of God, page 35
“Do not be discouraged.” ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS page 60
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Observe all men; thyself most.”
BEN FRANKLIN
“And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them. And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
MATTHEW 18:2-4 KJV
Jesus said “Whosoever shall humble himself as this little child.” How is this possible after living almost sixty years? My mind is so far from the innocence of childhood. I am far from the freshness of learning all things as new, and from being corrected for the first time and learning life lessons in their original meaning. When I try and humble myself as a little child I have found it to be very difficult. I try and go back through years of trial and error, through years of making wrong choices and the consequences of those decisions. Then I find that through the maze and confusion of adolescence to the innocence of childhood to be a huge a leap. This morning as I study this scripture verse I am discovering the answer to be in the words of Jesus himself. Jesus said, “Except you be converted and become.” There is the answer. It is through conversion and becoming, not going back to something old, but becoming something new. The journey in my mind of going back to the innocence of my childhood is too far, and it winds through memories that are better confessed to others and God, and left alone. I desire my path to be forward and upward, not backward and downward. So how do I become as a little child? One method that I am able to use is quietness and stillness. This is not easy, my mind seems to rush forward, backward, and round and round when I try stillness. This morning I sing a song to help me enter the door of “becoming as little children.” The praise song is called The Secret. Share these words with me………
In the secret, in the quiet place
In the stillness You are there.
In the secret, in the quiet hours I wait,
Cause I want to know you more.
There is my answer, if I want to be as a little child I must go forward not backward to the secret quiet place. The journey forward is not a lonely, solitary trip. The road is paved with pure love with no obstacles. God’s love is the vehicle, the road and the destination. This journey is possible only because God does for me what I could not do for myself. Thanks for letting me share………………….JRE
“I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not only a book which was once spoken, but a book which is now speaking.”
A.W. TOZER………………The Pursuit Of God, page 77
“Gratitude should go forward, rather than backward. In other words, if you carry the message to still others, you will be making the best possible repayment for the help given to you.”
BILL W. ………………. As Bill Sees It, page 29
"In the secret, in the quiet place"
Thought for the day: “Observe all men; thyself most.”
BEN FRANKLIN
“And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them. And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
MATTHEW 18:2-4 KJV
Jesus said “Whosoever shall humble himself as this little child.” How is this possible after living almost sixty years? My mind is so far from the innocence of childhood. I am far from the freshness of learning all things as new, and from being corrected for the first time and learning life lessons in their original meaning. When I try and humble myself as a little child I have found it to be very difficult. I try and go back through years of trial and error, through years of making wrong choices and the consequences of those decisions. Then I find that through the maze and confusion of adolescence to the innocence of childhood to be a huge a leap. This morning as I study this scripture verse I am discovering the answer to be in the words of Jesus himself. Jesus said, “Except you be converted and become.” There is the answer. It is through conversion and becoming, not going back to something old, but becoming something new. The journey in my mind of going back to the innocence of my childhood is too far, and it winds through memories that are better confessed to others and God, and left alone. I desire my path to be forward and upward, not backward and downward. So how do I become as a little child? One method that I am able to use is quietness and stillness. This is not easy, my mind seems to rush forward, backward, and round and round when I try stillness. This morning I sing a song to help me enter the door of “becoming as little children.” The praise song is called The Secret. Share these words with me………
In the secret, in the quiet place
In the stillness You are there.
In the secret, in the quiet hours I wait,
Cause I want to know you more.
There is my answer, if I want to be as a little child I must go forward not backward to the secret quiet place. The journey forward is not a lonely, solitary trip. The road is paved with pure love with no obstacles. God’s love is the vehicle, the road and the destination. This journey is possible only because God does for me what I could not do for myself. Thanks for letting me share………………….JRE
“I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not only a book which was once spoken, but a book which is now speaking.”
A.W. TOZER………………The Pursuit Of God, page 77
“Gratitude should go forward, rather than backward. In other words, if you carry the message to still others, you will be making the best possible repayment for the help given to you.”
BILL W. ………………. As Bill Sees It, page 29
Monday, December 05, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Patience is the companion of wisdom.”
ST. AUGUSINE
“And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
“For if these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.”
2 PETER 1:5-10 KJV
The apostle Peter in these few words is showing us how to grow in grace and how to keep from falling. He is not specifically referring to falling from our great gift of salvation, but from the everyday blunders and mistakes that many new believers and old believers as well make. Last night I heard my pastor say something that has stuck with me, share this with me: “Faith that has not been tested, cannot be trusted.” Man, is this true! There is a part of me that does not want to believe this because I know that being tested sometimes causes pain. Thinking only of myself, I would like to have all this great faith, and never have to use it. Just knowing that it was there would be the ideal situation. Never having to use it, just keeping it like money in the bank that does absolutely nothing. Of course if you don’t spend your money, what good is it? We surely don’t take anything material with us when we leave this earthly home. I can think of one example of tested faith in the natural world. If you have a new car sitting in your driveway but have never driven it, you might have total faith that it will take you somewhere but without having ever driven it you just don’t know for sure, so do you really have faith? What good is your faith? The thing might have a dead battery and you would never know it until you tried to turn it over. How we develop faith in the new car is to go out and start it, and drive it somewhere. That way our faith has been tested and we know that we know that it will get us to our destination. We just might have to drag out the extension cord and plug in the charger, which will cost us time and effort, but our faith will grow as a result. So it is in the realm of our spiritual lives, if our faith is not tested, what good is it? I thank God for those who have shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with me so that I may realize that times of testing are a necessary part of growing spiritually. I am so grateful that through the reading of the Word of God and prayer, I am able to charge myself up and have a faith that has been tested and can be trusted. My sobriety has been tested over the years, and I am thankful to have a working program of recovery that with daily maintenance gives me a trusted faith in God that I can make it, one day at a time. God continues to do for me what I could not do for myself……………..JRE
“We need never shout across the spaces to an absent God. He is nearer than our own soul, closer than our own most secret thoughts.”
A.W. TOZER………….The Pursuit Of God, page 62
“It is worth noting that people of very high spiritual development almost always insist on checking with friends or spiritual advisers the guidance they feel they have received from God.”
BILL W. ………………A.A. 12X12, page 60
"Faith that has not been tested, cannot be tusted."
Thought for the day: “Patience is the companion of wisdom.”
ST. AUGUSINE
“And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
“For if these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.”
2 PETER 1:5-10 KJV
The apostle Peter in these few words is showing us how to grow in grace and how to keep from falling. He is not specifically referring to falling from our great gift of salvation, but from the everyday blunders and mistakes that many new believers and old believers as well make. Last night I heard my pastor say something that has stuck with me, share this with me: “Faith that has not been tested, cannot be trusted.” Man, is this true! There is a part of me that does not want to believe this because I know that being tested sometimes causes pain. Thinking only of myself, I would like to have all this great faith, and never have to use it. Just knowing that it was there would be the ideal situation. Never having to use it, just keeping it like money in the bank that does absolutely nothing. Of course if you don’t spend your money, what good is it? We surely don’t take anything material with us when we leave this earthly home. I can think of one example of tested faith in the natural world. If you have a new car sitting in your driveway but have never driven it, you might have total faith that it will take you somewhere but without having ever driven it you just don’t know for sure, so do you really have faith? What good is your faith? The thing might have a dead battery and you would never know it until you tried to turn it over. How we develop faith in the new car is to go out and start it, and drive it somewhere. That way our faith has been tested and we know that we know that it will get us to our destination. We just might have to drag out the extension cord and plug in the charger, which will cost us time and effort, but our faith will grow as a result. So it is in the realm of our spiritual lives, if our faith is not tested, what good is it? I thank God for those who have shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with me so that I may realize that times of testing are a necessary part of growing spiritually. I am so grateful that through the reading of the Word of God and prayer, I am able to charge myself up and have a faith that has been tested and can be trusted. My sobriety has been tested over the years, and I am thankful to have a working program of recovery that with daily maintenance gives me a trusted faith in God that I can make it, one day at a time. God continues to do for me what I could not do for myself……………..JRE
“We need never shout across the spaces to an absent God. He is nearer than our own soul, closer than our own most secret thoughts.”
A.W. TOZER………….The Pursuit Of God, page 62
“It is worth noting that people of very high spiritual development almost always insist on checking with friends or spiritual advisers the guidance they feel they have received from God.”
BILL W. ………………A.A. 12X12, page 60
Saturday, December 03, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “A single arrow is easily broken; a bundle of ten is not.”
JAPANESE PROVERB
“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Again if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
ECCLESIASTES 4:9-12 NKJV
Last night I attended a celebration to honor a Pastor in my community. Darrell Friend had a vision some thirty years ago and founded the church I attend, Calvary Temple Church. I stood in awe as one after another, lives that had been influenced by his ministry came to the platform and spoke. On the grounds where my church sits there was a brush arbor tabernacle revival, that took place thirty years ago. It lasted thirteen weeks and many came to know the Lord during this glorious time of the moving of the Holy Spirit. My pastor who is the present pastor of Calvary Temple, came to know the Lord during this time. Many of us today are still receiving seed from the harvest of that revival. Darrell Friend was even presented a framed letter from President Bush, which gave honor to the local preacher. Last night I saw a move of God all the way from the White House to the gravel roads of Wright County Missouri. Several years ago when I had the opportunity to meet Darrell Friend I introduced myself and he informed me that he and my dad Cotton England had gone to school together. He said that he had a picture of my dad and him sitting on the steps of a rural school in Dawson Missouri. He made the comment that they were both barefooted. I asked him why they wore no shoes, and he said, “times were hard in the 1930’s and that shoes were only for special occasions.” Last night I made the observation that everyone had on shoes, and I know in my heart that it was a very special occasion There was strength in numbers, no one man or woman was an island, and all the glory for the occasion was given to the Father. I was honored to sit in the presence of so many men and women of God and to hear their testimonies of how God was doing for them what they could not do for themselves…………….JRE
WORDS OF JESUS, FOUND IN MATTHEW 16:19 KJV
“I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
I just wanted to share this and to say that I am so grateful to have a loving God who has given me a gift that I could no way, ever, earn…………jre
From the White House to gravel roads
Thought for the day: “A single arrow is easily broken; a bundle of ten is not.”
JAPANESE PROVERB
“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Again if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
ECCLESIASTES 4:9-12 NKJV
Last night I attended a celebration to honor a Pastor in my community. Darrell Friend had a vision some thirty years ago and founded the church I attend, Calvary Temple Church. I stood in awe as one after another, lives that had been influenced by his ministry came to the platform and spoke. On the grounds where my church sits there was a brush arbor tabernacle revival, that took place thirty years ago. It lasted thirteen weeks and many came to know the Lord during this glorious time of the moving of the Holy Spirit. My pastor who is the present pastor of Calvary Temple, came to know the Lord during this time. Many of us today are still receiving seed from the harvest of that revival. Darrell Friend was even presented a framed letter from President Bush, which gave honor to the local preacher. Last night I saw a move of God all the way from the White House to the gravel roads of Wright County Missouri. Several years ago when I had the opportunity to meet Darrell Friend I introduced myself and he informed me that he and my dad Cotton England had gone to school together. He said that he had a picture of my dad and him sitting on the steps of a rural school in Dawson Missouri. He made the comment that they were both barefooted. I asked him why they wore no shoes, and he said, “times were hard in the 1930’s and that shoes were only for special occasions.” Last night I made the observation that everyone had on shoes, and I know in my heart that it was a very special occasion There was strength in numbers, no one man or woman was an island, and all the glory for the occasion was given to the Father. I was honored to sit in the presence of so many men and women of God and to hear their testimonies of how God was doing for them what they could not do for themselves…………….JRE
WORDS OF JESUS, FOUND IN MATTHEW 16:19 KJV
“I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
I just wanted to share this and to say that I am so grateful to have a loving God who has given me a gift that I could no way, ever, earn…………jre
Thursday, December 01, 2005
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “A friend's eye is a good mirror.”
GAELIC PROVERB
“Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him.”
PSALM 37:7 NASB
This morning my devotional reading brought me to the Thirty-seventh Psalm. I remember this psalm as being quoted many times right after the disasters of September 11th. It speaks much of evildoers and how that we should not fret because of their actions. And also that they will wither and fade like the green grass and the green herb. David who is the author of the psalm then goes on to say that we need to trust in the Lord and continue to do good cultivating faithfulness. Next David says to delight ourselves in the Lord, and He will give us the desires of our hearts. What encouragement he gives us in times when we have had a great evil come against us, like the terrorist attacks a few years ago. Verse seven was the verse that really spoke to my heart this morning, “Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him.” As I looked this morning at the Hebrew text I have found the Hebrew word used for rest is sha`an, and it means more than to rest, take it easy, or be laid back. The word comes from a root word that means to support one’s self. How different this is to think of supporting myself in the Lord than to be just laid back. Next I checked out the Hebrew word used for wait patiently, and I find it to be chuwl which comes from the root word chiyl, meaning to twist or whirl in a circular or spiral manner, and to dance. Looking at these Hebrew words this scripture verse changes meaning to me. I see new meaning for myself, and I get a spiritual picture of myself supporting myself in God. I am here in the presence of God Almighty because I want to be, standing on my own. Not only that, I am dancing, and whirling, and spinning patiently, because God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……………JRE
THE MASTER BUILDER
“He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”
PSALM 23:3 NKJV
It’s hard to see things grow old. The town in which I grew up is growing old….Some of the buildings are boarded up. Some of the houses are torn down…..The old movie house where I took my dates has “For Sale” on the marquee…..
I wish I could make it all new again. I wish I could blow the dust off the streets…but I can’t.
I can’t. But God can. “He restores my soul,” wrote the shepherd. He doesn’t reform; he restores. He doesn’t camouflage the old; he restores the new. The Master Builder will pull out the original plan and restore it. He will restore the vigor. He will restore the energy. He will restore the hope. He will restore the soul.
MAX LUCADO……………..The Applause of Heaven
What words of encouragement from David in this psalm, and also from Max Lucado who reminds us that we are not going through a make-over, but we are being restored, rebuilt, a new creation taken from the original plans that God had for our lives. May I be grateful today and walk in newness of spirit and soul. Thanks for letting me share…..jre
Dancing, and whirling, and spinning patiently
Thought for the day: “A friend's eye is a good mirror.”
GAELIC PROVERB
“Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him.”
PSALM 37:7 NASB
This morning my devotional reading brought me to the Thirty-seventh Psalm. I remember this psalm as being quoted many times right after the disasters of September 11th. It speaks much of evildoers and how that we should not fret because of their actions. And also that they will wither and fade like the green grass and the green herb. David who is the author of the psalm then goes on to say that we need to trust in the Lord and continue to do good cultivating faithfulness. Next David says to delight ourselves in the Lord, and He will give us the desires of our hearts. What encouragement he gives us in times when we have had a great evil come against us, like the terrorist attacks a few years ago. Verse seven was the verse that really spoke to my heart this morning, “Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him.” As I looked this morning at the Hebrew text I have found the Hebrew word used for rest is sha`an, and it means more than to rest, take it easy, or be laid back. The word comes from a root word that means to support one’s self. How different this is to think of supporting myself in the Lord than to be just laid back. Next I checked out the Hebrew word used for wait patiently, and I find it to be chuwl which comes from the root word chiyl, meaning to twist or whirl in a circular or spiral manner, and to dance. Looking at these Hebrew words this scripture verse changes meaning to me. I see new meaning for myself, and I get a spiritual picture of myself supporting myself in God. I am here in the presence of God Almighty because I want to be, standing on my own. Not only that, I am dancing, and whirling, and spinning patiently, because God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……………JRE
THE MASTER BUILDER
“He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”
PSALM 23:3 NKJV
It’s hard to see things grow old. The town in which I grew up is growing old….Some of the buildings are boarded up. Some of the houses are torn down…..The old movie house where I took my dates has “For Sale” on the marquee…..
I wish I could make it all new again. I wish I could blow the dust off the streets…but I can’t.
I can’t. But God can. “He restores my soul,” wrote the shepherd. He doesn’t reform; he restores. He doesn’t camouflage the old; he restores the new. The Master Builder will pull out the original plan and restore it. He will restore the vigor. He will restore the energy. He will restore the hope. He will restore the soul.
MAX LUCADO……………..The Applause of Heaven
What words of encouragement from David in this psalm, and also from Max Lucado who reminds us that we are not going through a make-over, but we are being restored, rebuilt, a new creation taken from the original plans that God had for our lives. May I be grateful today and walk in newness of spirit and soul. Thanks for letting me share…..jre
