My Journey - 5/19/2010

God's insight to me:

An excellent poem I found from the Streams in the Desert devotional. As I read it I thought about the many, many Christians whom face daily trials doing the Lord's work but stay steadfast in faithfulness. I truly believe that any opportunity that we give satan to distract us from doing the Lord's work, he will use to make us ineffective. I pray that as someone reads this poem and is suffering in Christ that it may bring them to a new understanding that you are truly blessed in Him!

In Max Lucado's devotional I loved the line "In just a few hours Judas’ feet would guide the Roman guard to Jesus.", I could picture the pain in Christ's heart as He washed the feet of the one who was about to betray Him.

Adrian Roger's devotional to me was very inspiring. I can relate to the new creature statement for my life has changed by accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Many a Sunday as our Pastor is preaching his sermon, I sit in the pew and understand the message, because my life has been changed.

The following devotional by Dr. Charles Stanley speaks of what I do now as trouble pops it unwanted head into my life. I praise God! I am also looking for what He is speaking to me about through the trial that I am going through. It's a true statement that if you are focusing on Jesus your mind is off your situation. So Praise Him, Praise Him!

In Charles Spurgeon's devotional the second paragraph says it all. For once you can understand "God in us", and release Him to do His purpose, that is what we were created for. We are one in Him! Amen.

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Streams in the Desert Devotional
May 19

Blessed is he whose faith is not offended, When all around his way
The power of God is working out deliverance For others day by day;
Though in some prison drear his own soul languish,
Till life itself be spent,
Yet still can trust his Father's love and purpose,
And rest therein content.

Blessed is he, who through long years of suffering,
Cut off from active toil,
Still shares by prayer and praise the work of others,
And thus "divides the spoil."
Blessed are thou, O child of God, who sufferest, And canst not understand
The reason for thy pain, yet gladly leavest
Thy life in His blest Hand.

Yea, blessed art thou whose faith is "not offended"
By trials unexplained,
By mysteries unsolved, past understanding,
Until the goal is gained.
--Freda Hanbury Allen

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It May Not Be Easy
By Max Lucado
“When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and sat down again.” John 13:12

Please note, he finished washing their feet.

That means he left no one out . . . He washed the feet of Judas. Jesus washed the feet of his betrayer. He gave this traitor equal attention. In just a few hours Judas’ feet would guide the Roman guard to Jesus. But at this moment they are caressed by Christ . . .

That’s not to say it was easy . . . That is to say that God will never call you to do what he hasn’t already done.

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MAY 19

New Life, a New Creation in Christ by Adrian Rogers

"For with Thee is the fountain of life: in Thy light shall we see light." Psalm 36:9

Jesus had a life that the grave could not keep. While He carried your sins to the grave and left them there, Jesus came out of that grave living, risen, and victorious! When Jesus rose, you rose with Him.

Christians are not just nice people, they are new creatures. We have the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead.

We have come out of the grave of the old life. Our old master has no more hold on us. The old debt has no more penalty that we have to pay. When Jesus came out of that grave, we came out with Him and we have been raised to walk in newness of life.

Are you walking around in the grave clothes of your old life? Shed them, my friend! Jesus came to give you new life! Believe that you are now a new creation in Christ!

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May 19
Troubled? Try Praise! by Dr. Charles Stanley
Deuteronomy 20:1-4

A lot of negative emotions accompany hardship: frustration, despair, fear, and doubt. People ruled by those feelings often make poor choices. This is why I recommend that you decide now to respond to troubled times the way the Israelites did: with praise. Even in the darkest hours, worshipping God fills the heart with joy and the mind with peace. A believer who is filled in this way can wisely keep a commitment to obey the Lord no matter what.

Worshipping the Lord enlarges our vision. By doing so, we begin to see how He is at work in the world, perhaps in ways and places we never noticed before. More particularly, we see what God is doing in our situation and notice areas where He requires our obedience.

Our human tendency is to plot a course through a situation toward the easiest solution. But believers who strike out on their own do not mature in faith. Moreover, they miss out on the blessings of following the Lord's plan. Stopping to praise can divert us from the easy way out and direct us to the right path—namely, the way of God's will. Taking a step forward in faith can be frightening. However, believers are completely safe risking their whole future on the Lord's faithfulness. He has never disappointed anyone!

It's hard to despair while honoring the Lord for His love and strength. We can dispel doubt by recalling His past faithfulness—and ease frustration by committing our future plans to Him. Praise is not the obvious reaction to hardship, but it is the wisest response.

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May 19

We May Speak for God by Charles Spurgeon

"Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before Me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as My mouth" (Jeremiah 15:19).

Poor Jeremiah! Yet why do we say so? The weeping prophet was one of the choicest servants of God and honored by Him above many. He was hated for speaking the truth. The word which was so sweet to him was bitter to his hearers, yet he was accepted of his LORD. He was commanded to abide in his faithfulness, and then the LORD would continue to speak through him. He was to deal boldly and truthfully with men and perform the LORD's winnowing work upon the professors of his day, and then the LORD gave him this word: "Thou shalt be as my mouth."

What an honor! Should not every preacher, yea, every believer, covet it? For God to speak by us, what a marvel! We shall speak sure, pure truth; and we shall speak it with power. Our word shall not return void; it shall be a blessing to those who receive it, and those who refuse it shall do so at their peril. Our lips shall feed many. We shall arouse the sleeping and call the dead to life.

O dear reader, pray that it may be so with all the sent servants of our LORD.