A Troubled Soul

Upon rising today a sense of heaviness seemed to persist. Not the usual light heartedness of the morning. As I started my reading for the day the entry from one of my devotional books spoke to me. I have had this particular book for many years and have pulled it out from time to time but lately the words contained in it have been arrows of the Spirit to my soul. Here is part of today's entry. I hope it blesses you as it blessed me.

O troubled soul, beneath the rod,

Your Father speaks, be still, be still;

Learn to be silent unto God,

And let Him mold you to His will.

O praying soul, be still, be still,

He cannot break His promised Word;

Sink down into His blessed will,

And wait in patience on the Lord.

O waiting soul, be still, be strong,

And though He tarry, trust and wait;

Doubt not, He will not wait too long,

Fear not, He will not come too late.

Lily

The Pursuit of God

This morning my devotional time took me to A. W. Tozier's book "The Pursuit of God". He writes, "If we truly want to follow God we must seek to be other-worldly. This I say knowing well that THAT word has been used with scorn by the sons of this world and applied to the Christian as a badge of reproach. So be it. Every man must choose his world. If we who follow Christ, with all the facts before us and knowing what we are about, deliberately choose the Kingdom of God as our sphere of interest I see no reason why anyone should object. If we lose by it, the loss is our own; if we gain, we rob no one by so doing. The "other world," which is the object of this world's disdain and the subject of the drunkard's mocking song, is our carefully chosen goal and the object of our holiest longing."* Another writer I read often calls this world "actuality" and the spiritual world "reality".

Which world do you strive to live in? Which world do you lay up treasures in? Which world captures your heart, your soul, your mind? Which do you love?...this world, the seen, actuality or God, the unseen, Reality?

If you were a betting person...would you let it all ride on the unseen? Would you be willing to cut your moorings in the safeness of the actual harbor and launch out into the deep reality which is known as God? To be able by faith to arrive at the Place where your total dependence and daily sustenance is on the One and from the One you cannot see but know is there?

My Lord is a person. A flesh and bones person. He lived, he died and He lives again. He ever lives to make intercession for his people. Is your life the answer to his prayers? (His prayer can be read in John 17.)

The goal is God. The beginning is God. The end is God. Reality is God.

"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you." The funny thing about that statement is this: if you seek the Kingdom of God the goal becomes God Himself and the other things lose their appeal. You no longer crave the adulation of men, the selfish indulgences, the things or possessions, or the success that money brings. (the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life). To know God and be able to fellowship with Him, and to know Christ and abide in Him, and to experience the pure pleasure of His Presence is, quite frankly, pure joy and pure love.

Begin today to focus on the unseen yet real world. There you will find eternal life.

In Him,
Lily

*page 57 of "The Pursuit of God"

Exercise?

I Timothy 4:8 "For bodily exercise is profitable to little: but godliness is profitable to all thing, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." (Douay-Rheims)

It is a truth that the more a physical muscle is exercised the stronger it becomes. If the physical is a visable picture of the spiritual than it would be a truth of our spiritual muscles as well. So it is with faith. It must be exercised. To exercise your faith you must be put into positions to be stretched. The goal here is not for blessings or worldly success....but....the goal is God. And we may not come to know the Father except through the Son. Therefore, we must excercise our faith along this one line. Is it the answer to Jesus' prayer for us in John 17. That we may be one as He and the Father are one. You do not attain this on flowery beds of ease.

These are the things of worth.

Doing God's will on earth....
Entering the kingdom....
Becoming one with Christ....
Being led by the Spirit of God....
Living a life of victory over sin, self and Satan....
Overcoming the world....
Laying down your life....
Taking up your cross daily...
And following the Lamb wherever He goes....

The end: the restoration of our fellowship with God.

Nothing else matters. Nothing.
Are you willing to drink the cup?
Are you?
I am.

In Him,
Lily

Judge Not

For some time now the Lord has consistently been dealing with me with regard to my judgmental, unfair, unloving and critical attitudes towards others. It does not please Him and on more than one occasion He has dealt with me rather severely about it. I do understand what He's telling me. In light of this, below is a quotation from "God Calling" which today reaffirmed what He's been doing in my own heart.

"Never judge. The heart of man is so delicate, so complex, only it's Maker and Master can know it. Each heart is so different, actuated by different motives, controlled by different circumstances, influenced by different sufferings. How can one judge of another? Leave to Me the unravelling of the puzzles of life. Leave to Me the teaching of undertsanding. Bring each heart to Me, it's Maker, and leave it there with Me. Secure in the certainty that all that is wrong I (and only I) can set right"

What more needs to be said?

Seeking Him,
Lily

THE CALL .... Chosen?

In our presumption we all think that if the Lord himself (in the flesh) came to us and called us, we would hear him and follow. Perhaps. Do you hear him now saying, "Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me."? Do YOU? He's saying it to you now.

Self is the most virulent enemy of Jesus. Serving self rather than serving God. What I want. What I think I want. What I think I need. What I want to eat. What I want to wear. Where I want to go. Where I want to live. What career will be the most profitable for me. How can I make the most money and live comfortably? I want to live in the right neighborhood. I want to have the right friends. The operative word here seems to be "I".

The call went out to Andrew and Peter (Simon) and they followed. They left their boats, their family, their way of life and followed a man they hardly knew. The call went out to those that were in Zebedee's boat, he, the father, his hired servants and his two sons, James and John. All heard the Lord's call. "Follow Me." They all heard....but they all did not have ears to hear. Only James and John followed Jesus.

Do you hear the bridegroom calling you, "Come away my beloved...come away." ? You need to. He's calling. Many are called but few are chosen. Deny the world and all the voices it brings. Deny yourself and all you think you want, engage yourself in cross carrying obedience to the Lord..your Master and coming King. His is the only voice of any worth. Sell all you have to buy it.

I want to be chosen this time. For this one great calling, I want to be chosen. Don't you?

"And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants and went after him. Mark 1:20

Praying for you,
Lily

The Alabaster Box

I dare say that most people would consider their earthly life precious and of great worth to themselves and others. Some might say to you or to me, "You have gifts and talents in abundance!" (which I must add, for me, is quite debatable) "You could do so much for Jesus! Use your gifts and talents to do good." In our human wisdom and reasoning this would make perfect, logical sense. But I no longer care to live within the framework of human wisdom or reasoning. I want to live in the mind of Christ. I want to break the alabaster box of my life and pour it out in ministry to the Lord....to be found in service to the King...to be found faithfully doing the Father's will. What care I for what mere men may think? Men are but dust and ashes. I want true substance, virtue and truth in my inward parts. I want to hear the Father say, "This is my beloved daughter, in whom I am well pleased."

Nothing - not even my earthly life is more important than that.

Matthew 26:10 "But Jesus, aware of this, (how the disciples felt about Mary's anointing his head with oil) said to them, ""Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me."

Sparrows and Nightingales

The name "nightingale" came from reference in the Oswald Chambers book, If Thou Wilt Be Perfect". "It is only when our lives are hid with Christ in God that we learn how to be silent unto God, not silent about Him, but silent with the strong restful certainty that all is well, behind everything stands God, and the strength of the soul is that it knows it. There are no panics intellectual or moral. What a lot of panicky sparrows we are, the majority of us. We chatter and tweet under God's eaves until we cannot hear His voice at all - until we learn the wonderful life and music of the Lord Jesus telling us that our heavenly Father is the God of the sparrows, and by the marvellous transformation of grace He can turn the sparrows into His nightingales that can sing through every night of sorrow. A sparrow cannot sing through a night of sorrow, and no soul can sing through a night of sorrow unless it has learned to be silent unto God - one look, one thought about my Father in heaven, and it is all right." page 91. His scripture reference is Psalm 46:10. "Be still and know that I am God."

It seems the last thing that children are capable of doing is being still...unless of course, they are asleep. It's the rarest of situations to find children quiet and reflective. It does happens...but not often. For God to look down on his children and find them still and knowing, resting in Him, must bring pleasure to him. I hope it does. Samuel heard the voice of the Lord and mistook it for Eli's. I did not call you Samuel. But God did call Samuel. "Speak Lord, for thy servant heareth." Are you still...are you listening for the voice of the Bridegroom? Do you have enough oil so that your lamp may be lit should he come at night? The nightingale can sing her song all day and all night. Watch and pray.

Lily