A Crucified Life - - Answers The Call to Serve Wholeheartedly

 

    Deuteronomy 10:12

And now, O Israel, what does The LORD your God ask of you but to fear The LORD your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, to Serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 

    As you see, we show our fear, our reverence, our awe of The LORD our God by Walking In All His Ways; by loving Him. And by Serving The LORD our God with All our hearts and with all our souls: wholehearted love and service. 

    Our hearts are focused on working for The LORD at all times. We are ready to testify on what God has done and done for us. We are prepared to speak the gospel which has changed our lives for the better. Though the roads we walk are paved with sorrow and tragedy, grief and heartache, we have joy because we have Jesus. He is our Strength. We have The Spirit of God. He is our Wisdom. And so we travel these roads together. 

    Our souls are interwoven through the unique power of God's Holy Spirit: we are one in each other and in The LORD. We are able to walk together though our hands may never meet on this side of heaven. We come together in prayer, lifting each other's requests, desires and needs to our God, Who hears us pray. 

    But before we can be knitted into the body, we must first come to the cross, fall down on our knees, repent of our wickedness against God: repent of every sin that He brings to our remembrance and stop doing that sinful thing. We must believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, that God sent Him to die on the cross in our place; that He conquered death, hell and the grave once and forever and that He walked out of the grave. 

    We must believe this good news, this gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ before we die or we will be forever lost. There is no repentance in the grave. There is no righteousness death. There is only darkness and heat. And people who died in their unbelief. Good people. Bad people. Unrepentant people. 

    To serve God wholeheartedly is to serve God faithfully, preaching Jesus Christ to anyone who will listen and hear and turn away from sin by turning to God's plan of salvation from sin. 

    To serve God wholeheartedly is to remain in His Word daily, living moment to moment in Him that The Word of God would strengthen us as we go about our days, the days God has given to us. 

    To serve God wholeheartedly is to be in constant communication with Him. He hears the words of my mouth and He knows the meditations of my heart when my mouth and my heart are centered on Him and His Word. 

    To serve God wholeheartedly is to live the gospel of Jesus Christ which The Holy Spirit has written on my changed heart. The moment my heart was given to Christ is the moment God changed my selfish heart to a heart He could mold and form and write on. 

    To serve God wholeheartedly is to choose to Walk in all His Ways. I choose to submit to the Authority of The Word of God. I choose to surrender what was mine for what is His: my life, my heart, my soul, my mind; my time, my freedoms, my family. All that I have from God I give back to God, sometimes I have to do that everyday. 

    To serve God wholeheartedly is to turn my back on what the world sees as a priority and focus on God's priorities. God loves the people in the world but not their sinful ways. So, too, must the believer love people without embracing their wickedness.

    To serve God wholeheartedly is to take a stand on His Word, fully armed in His love and righteousness, and not back down when we are come against for our belief in The Name of The LORD Jesus Christ and everything that belief entails.

    I urge you to consider what God has done for you. I beg you, if you have not already, to surrender your hearts to God. Let The Light of God, Jesus Christ, shine into your hearts and open your eyes to see just how much God really loves you. 

     WHOLEHEARTED SERVICE - A Jesus Culture Playlist

Pursuit

Holy Spirit

Song of Solomon

I Need You More

How He Loves Us

Where You Go, I Go

Happy Day

Fill Me Up

We Stand

Surrender All 

BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD

As April unfolds, we see on the horizon Palm Sunday (April 13), so called because that is the day in history when Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem on a colt, the foal of a donkey. A meek and lowly animal for the King of Kings to ride. 

Matthew 21:1-11 describes how the multitude which followed him laid their robes on the ground, removed branches from the trees nearby and laid them also. They that walked before Him, along with they who walked behind Him, worshiped Him, saying loudly, "Hosanna to the Son of David, BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest." -Matthew 21:9. 

And what was the first thing He did? Straight into the temple He walked, throwing out the men who were profiting from the people's sins, selling grace instead of showing it-Matthew 21:12.

He cleansed the temple when He removed them from it, declaring that His house was a house of prayer, not the den of thieves they had made it-Matthew 21:13. Then He began to heal those who came to Him for healing, teaching those who would listen and declaring judgment on those who would abuse His house and His people.
It was then they desired to take hold of Him, arrest Him so to speak, but they were fearful of the crowds who followed Him. So they waited. And watched for an opportunity to take down the Man who was destroying their lifestyles and businesses.

Normal To Fail

It is normal to fail. It is normal to fail God, too. Failure keeps us humble. The inability to be perfect all the time is inherent within us. Adam failed God, but after he repented was still able to continue God's mission even though he relocated after he failed God. 

He taught his children about God and God's grace. Abel's heart was right with God and Cain's was not; Cain killed Abel out of jealousy. After awhile Eve gave birth to Seth, another son who was taught the things of God. And he sought God out and called on His Name.

Perfection in our lives or our children's lives is not our goal. Perfection of the soul is God's goal for each of us. Our job is to preach the gospel, share the good news. With our lives. We are someone else's Bible, you know, and they need to see Jesus living and loving in our lives, in our homes, in our lifestyles.

We are known by our actions, by our words. Our value is defined, whether intentionally or accidentally, by how we behave with each other. Treating one another with Love is done on purpose. It does not matter who you are or what you do: Loving you like Jesus loves me is not only mandatory, it is a privilege granted to those who believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and allow Jesus to live not only in us, but through us. And sometimes we fail in that.

That's when we need to repent of our sin, our failure, to God and receive His forgiveness. That's when we need to go to the person we have failed to love like Jesus, and say "I'm sorry". That's when the humble mode should kick in and not the prideful heart. Pride is sin.

With pride in the heart and the mind, humility is out the window and forgiveness from anyone, especially God, is out of the question. Pride causes us to fall (from grace), humbleness (living in grace) causes us to grow. Grow strong in The Word, in Jesus, and grow strong in our relationship with each other when we are willing to admit we have done something wrong, failed.

Remember, it is okay to be imperfect.

Can You Drink From My Cup?

Good morning. As I sat here drinking my coffee, wondering which photo to post for a morning greeting, I was led to this one, where I had been sitting under my folks' olive tree here. And then The Holy Spirit led me into His study. 

Can You Drink From My Cup?
Matthew 26:39 "And He went a little further, and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt."

Matthew 20:22 "But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able."

So, here is the question: of all the cups we drink of or from, have you made the decision to drink from this one? Have you gone 'a little further' and committed yourself to finishing what's in your cup?

The cross is not at the bottom of our cups: it's part of what we drink into our body as a whole: body, soul, spirit. What God pours into our cups we need to be willing to down, to the last dregs, so to speak.

Eternal life is ours: it's at the bottom of the cup we are holding. What appears to be an empty cup in our hand is the fulfillment of all that the cup had held. 

Rejoice, Rejoice, O Christian,
Life up your voice and sing!
Eternal hallelujahs,
to Jesus Christ our King!
The Hope of all who seek Him,
The Help of all who find;
None other is so loving,
So good and kind.

He lives! He lives!
Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me, and talks with me,
Along life's narrow way!
He lives! He lives!
Salvation to impart.
You ask me how I know He lives:
He lives within my heart.

Breakfast of Champions

Both our home and our house are under reconstructive remodeling. Half the basement is living quarters and pantry, the other half is going to be laundry-workshop when fixed. Upstairs are two master bedrooms, the office (which is complete) 1 full bath and 1 half bath, the kitchen, the dining room and the living room. Now that my husband can see every shade on the color wheel, we are doing the house up nice. 

The basement stairwell is a wet sand hue. The basement living quarters are paneled and carpeted. Upstairs my room is pink and white. The office is painted a warm yellow shade called Fleeting Fawn; when the sun rises and shines into our office it is absolutely gorgeous. 

When we get to the kitchen, I have selected a pale yellow called Cornmeal. And I will be doing a custom border all along the top of the two walls that don't have cabinetry. I tell you these things to introduce you to our God, should you not know Him. Psalm 34:8" O taste and see that The Lord is good: blessed is the man who trusts in Him" will be written across it. And I am thinking I will have all of our friends sign it. I like different. And being someone who trusts in The Lord with all of my heart makes me different. 

I have perfect peace. I do not worry as much as I used to, in fact I would like to believe that All is well in Jesus' Name for every aspect of my life, our life. Our finances have been blessed that our needs and wants have been given. Our love is blessed because we honor God with our lives. We tithe of our incomes, of our time, of our gifts and talents, of our hopes and dreams and goals. Our home is blessed because we bless God with our home. 

Our home is open to visitors, friends, family, strangers. You knock on our door and want to tell us about your religion, we tell you about our Savior. You dial our numbers and we will pray with you, encourage you, lift you up right where you are. You dine at our table and God's blessings are invoked when we pray. You know our kids and are welcome in our home. You know our testimony and our witness is for God's glory, and none of the credit is due us for anything we have done. 

Taste and See, two major senses which are given us by God are meant to draw us closer to Him, as well. Taste The Word, The Manna from God, The Bread of Life. While Taste and See are two major players in the sensory world, they are different but still able to work together well. How would you know, understand, see? how The Word tastes, if you cannot first have it cross your lips, lie on your tongue and then swallow it? You can't. 

After that first bite, that first lesson, that first Sunday School class, that first message preached, that first small group session, that first knowledge of the Truth of the Holy Word of God, we hunger for more. This world is so full of fakes and falsehoods, deceits and greed, tainted messages that twist Scriptures or just plain leave them out that quite a few people really do want to know What is Real? 

God Is Real. God's Word Is Real. God's Righteousness Is Real. God's Holiness Is Real. 

I want The Whole Word of God. I am hungry and thirsty for righteousness and I will be filled. God says so in Matthew 5:6 "Blessed are they (me, you) who hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."

Psalm 63:1 "A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah. You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water."

Psalm 107:9 "for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things."

Proverbs 10:24 "What the wicked dread will overtake them; what the righteous desire will be granted."

Proverbs 21:21 "Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor." 

Gee all of these promises in God's Word sound yummy. Let us find some more to savor and learn.

Isaiah 55:1&2 ""Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost..Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare."

John 4:14 "but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

John 6:35 "Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

I believe. My hunger for Christ is satisfied in knowing Him, loving Him, serving Him. My thirst is quenched in His love, in His arms, in His heart. I believe that Jesus Christ Is Lord. Lord of All. Lord of my life. Lord of every beat of my heart. I believe that I am His and He is mine. 

My voice is His and I sing for Him, under the anointing of The Holy Spirit of God. For Him I study, I write, I preach, I witness, I encourage and I sing. In fact, I will do whatever He wants me to do when He wants me to do it. Remember, it is more important to be obedient to God, than it is to make sacrifices in His Name. He may call us to do what seem to be silly things, what seems to be little jobs or, to us, unimportant things. Do them anyway. God uses the weak things, the foolish things of this world and this world's understanding to confound and confuse the strong: the strong-willed, the strong-minded. He has His own way of doing things and He wants to do them through us. O taste and see that The Lord is good. 

The Knowledge of Choice

Holiness is only a choice when we choose to be holy. BUT holiness by God's definition is a command, for to be able to stand in God's presence holiness is required. 

The sinful nature is inherent within us. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil had its fruit eaten when Adam and Eve tasted it way back when. Because all life came through Adam and Eve, so too does all death. For by their actions, disobeying God, sin came into the world. But through Christ's actions, becoming flesh, dying on the cross, and rising from the dead, sin was overcome and death was conquered.

No more does sin have to rule a person's life, nor our choices. Now we can choose to believe that Jesus Christ Is Lord, or remain in a sinful nature and refuse to believe that Jesus Christ Is Lord. Choice determines destination.

Though we have the knowledge of good in us, it is not enough to be good or do good things. No one is good enough to enter into heaven on their terms. Acts of kindness, pay-it-forwards, and the golden rule are done believing that this will make us look good in God's eyes. Even people with bad intentions can do these things; it does not make them good.

Only Jesus Christ can bring us into God's presence. Only God, through The Holy Spirit, can see a person's heart and reveal what lies therein. Only The HOLY Spirit can guide a person into holiness, transforming us from what we think will make God happy into knowing how to please God.

1 Corinthians 4:5
Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.
Ecclesiastes 12:14
For God will judge every deed, along with every secret, whether good or evil.

O Lord, make me holy. Whatever it takes make me pure in heart, clothe me with The Righteousness of Your Holy Word, cleanse my mind and renew my spirit. I want to spend eternity with You, O Lord, starting now. In Jesus' Name, The Name Which Is Above All Names, Amen. 

Can You Drink From My Cup?

Good morning. As I sat here drinking my coffee, wondering which photo to post for a morning greeting, I was led to this one, where I had been sitting under my folks' olive tree here. And then The Holy Spirit led me into His study. 

Can You Drink From My Cup?
Matthew 26:39 "And He went a little further, and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt."

Matthew 20:22 "But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able."                                 

So, here is the question: of all the cups we drink of or from, have you made the decision to drink from this one? Have you gone 'a little further' and committed yourself to finishing what's in your cup?

The cross is not at the bottom of our cups: it's part of what we drink into our body as a whole: body, soul, spirit. What God pours into our cups we need to be willing to down, to the last dregs, so to speak. 

Eternal life is ours: it's at the bottom of the cup we are holding. What appears to be an empty cup in our hand is the fulfillment of all that the cup had held. 

Rejoice, Rejoice, O Christian,
Life up your voice and sing!
Eternal hallelujahs,
to Jesus Christ our King!
The Hope of all who seek Him,
The Help of all who find;
None other is so loving,
So good and kind.

He lives! He lives!
Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me, and talks with me,
Along life's narrow way!
He lives! He lives!
Salvation to impart.
You ask me how I know He lives:
He lives within my heart. 

Treasures Prayer

It is not always wise to "Do what makes you happy". We must consider what makes God happy. And we must learn that doing what makes God happy is way more important and longer-lasting that what makes us happy.

Our happiness is captured in moments; God's happiness lasts an eternity. It is one of our most basic, but valued treasures, which we have laid up for ourselves in eternity. 

Here we have scrapbooks, photo albums, shrines and bank deposit boxes wherein lie our utmost treasures....of stuff. The more valuable the item(s), the less likely we are to keep it near to us. We hide our happiness moments and items to either prevent others from taking our stuff, or to preserve our moments of happiness for future points of reference.

But what happens when all of that stuff, all of those happiness moments, are gone? Theft, fire, floods, lava, sinkholes, tornadoes could at any given moment remove what makes you happy and leave a huge hole in your heart.

Matthew 6:19-21 "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

What kind of treasures is Jesus talking about here? What could we possibly do now that will last for an eternity in heaven? Repent of our sins and receive God's forgiveness, when we ask Jesus to come into our hearts.
'Change us, O Lord, change our hearts and the way we love. Change our minds and the way we think. Change our life and make it Your life. We want You to make Yourself at home in us that others may see and want this change, want You, Lord. 

Teach us the holiness way that we may see God and live. Guide us in You, Lord, for You are The Living Word of God. You are The Beginning and The End; by You were all things created and through You all can be saved. Lead us with sure steps across hard roads, over rocky ways and through desert places. Hold our hand, be our Comfort and Resting Place when we are weary, giving us strength to not only continue, endure, but to rejoice for You are our Lord.

Change the way we believe and strengthen our faith in You, for we choose to not only follow You, but to follow You closely. Some of us have followed You from a distance, not quite sure if we wanted to keep following. Some have drawn close to You then faltered along the way. Some of us have been content to remain only so close as is comfortable. O Lord, bring all of us beyond being in Your presence.

We want the power of The Holy Spirit in us, changing us, re-forming us, if You will, into that which makes God happy. We want the power to be bolder in speech and braver in action, to speak Your Word and see You save others, just like you saved us. We want to see You glorified by our words and our actions. We want to lay up treasures in heaven, Lord. Treasures which can only come from You, through You, by You and for You.
Treasures we lay at Your feet, even now, Lord. May our tongues speak God's happiness more and more. Be increased in us, Lord Jesus, and let us be decreased. We pray for less of ourselves to be present when we speak and that only You, only The Word, would be spoken from our tongues. In Jesus' Name, Amen.'

Love Abounds

1 Thessalonians 3:12, 13

"And The LORD make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:

To the end He may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before GOD, even our Father, at the coming of our LORD JESUS CHRIST with all His saints."

Whereas The LORD Jesus Christ lives in us, He also grows in us. His Love increases in us and abounds, overflows, out of us when we love each other as He loves us. It is an undying love, an ever-bearing branch, if you will, that produces righteous fruit in our lives.

The end result of this kind of love is holy hearts, which makes us presentable to GOD on Christ's behalf. Jesus makes us holy via The Holy Spirit of GOD. Salvation grafts us into The Branch, but The Spirit in us causes fruit to grow off of us. If we let Him.

What are the fruits of righteousness? Godly living, which begins with a godly heart, a heart that is the home of Jesus. Many are familiar with the painting of Christ Jesus knocking at the door of someone's home. That door is the door to the heart. The knob is on our side. When we turn the knob and open the door, we are allowing Christ to enter our hearts.

We become His home, His tabernacle, His temple. 1 Peter 2:5 "You also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to GOD by Jesus Christ." We are Christ's spiritual houses, and, as such, need to live holy lives. For where GOD is is holy ground. GOD and sin cannot inhabit the same territory at the same time.

So what are these 'spiritual sacrifices' that we are required to offer up to GOD? Titus 2:11-14 "For the grace of GOD that brings salvation has appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of The Great GOD and our Savior Jesus Christ; Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."

Romans 12:1, 2 "I beseech (beg, plead) you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of GOD, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto GOD, which is your reasonable (logical) service. And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of GOD."

Spiritual sacrifices do not require any more blood to be shed. Jesus already did that. We need to bring our bodies under submission; this requires determination and perseverance on our part. We can resolve to be whatever we want to be, but without Jesus in the equation, that resolve will not be able to be sustained, nor will it prosper. We need to remember that when we say "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me", it is only THROUGH Christ, not without Christ, that getting things done is possible.

Here's to growing, and growing up, in Jesus. 

F.R.O.G.

Remember this? F.R.O.G.
Fully
Rely
On
God

Starting now. For everything. God is my Provider. His Name is Jehovah-Jireh. God is my Healer. His Name is Jehovah-Ramah. God is my Righteousness. His Name is Jehovah-Tsidkenu. God is my Sanctifier. Jehovah-M'gaddisheem. God s my Glory. Jehovah-Kabodhi.

It is God who makes us holy via The Holy Spirit in a process known as sanctification. Jehovah-M'gaddisheem, The Lord my Sanctifier. "It is because of God that you are in union with the Messiah Jesus, who for us has become wisdom from God, as well as our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption." 1 Corinthians 1:30 (ISV Bible)

Who shall I be afraid of? Why should I complain? No one and no reason. I have God as my God through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ The Messiah. I live in Jesus and He lives in me. There is none that I fear, none that I should be discouraged of. Life is hard. But it's harder without a relationship not just with Christ, but in Christ Jesus.

God does not meet me halfway, but all the way: He gave His Son to the whole world as a sin offering, that sin and its consequences would be for ever overcome/conquered by His death and resurrection. The consequences, the wages, of sin is death. Jesus conquered death.

And God requires us to meet Him all the way. God calls. Jesus saves. The Holy Spirit sanctifies. We are called to salvation. We answer that call when we repent of our sins and ask Jesus into our hearts. God forgives us and replaces our sinful heart with a new heart, a new desire to love Him and make Him happy. But how do we do that? How do we make God happy?

We ask The Holy Spirit of God to make us holy, because we have learned that without holiness no one may see God. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." Matthew 5:8 (KJV Bible) "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." Psalm 51:10 (KJV Bible)

No one else can save us. No one else can make us holy. We need God.  We need Jesus. We need The Holy Spirit. We need to be forgiven, saved and purified. And we need it now.

(Don't you just love this painting?)

Soon Jesus will be extending His hand to His Bride and the Church will leave, along with The Holy Spirit, who has been preparing the Bride to meet her Bridegroom. This preparing stuff? Being made holy. 

The Holiness Way

     Jesus died to set us free. Why then do we live as if we were still bound up in chains of sin?I speak to you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, who are living under a veil of misconception of The Holy Word of God. See, God is Holy and everything about Him is holy: Himself, His Word (whether spoken or written), His Son, His Holy Spirit. And God tells us many times in His written Word that we are to be holy.

     God created us to be in fellowship with Him, not in fellowship with darkness/evil. God loves us and wants us to love Him in return. He calls us to His side, to be near Him. We must run from that which would keep us from God's presence and embrace the holiness of God. To do that though, to be in God's holy presence, we must be holy. And there is only Way to begin the process of holiness.

     For it is, indeed, a process. It is a transformation from who we were before we met Christ, to a life-changing lifestyle of who we are in Christ. Our hearts get changed when we repent of sin and receive God's forgiveness for same. Our minds get changed one thought at a time as we meditate, think on, consider God's Word when we study His written Word, listen to His spoken Word and spend time in His spiritual presence. (for in this day and age we cannot walk in the flesh with The Christ who walked before us, as the early disciples did).

     Our spirits grow in Christ, in godliness, in becoming more Christ-like; godliness is essential to being in God's eternal holy presence. We are changed from glory to glory, as we advance in our studies of God's Word, and apply it to our hearts and our minds and our lives.
We Must surrender what we desire for what God desires or we will find ourselves giving into what we have been delivered out of. And the chains which once were broken and loosened from our souls will again begin to wrap themselves around us, bringing us down and keeping us down. 

     JESUS DIED FOR YOU. Why are you so unwilling to let go of what He has set you free from, when LIFE WITH JESUS is so much better than life without Jesus?

 "But you, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, unto which you are called, and have professed a good profession before many witnesses." 1 Timothy 6:11, 12