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Wednesday, September 10, 2014

WOYWW: Blessed are the Poor!

 On my desk, I have my usual art materials.
You may have spotted the bottles of spices
at the top.
We are going to celebrate a good friend's birthday
and I decided we shall give her some
spa treatment. 
I will put the spices into a some sort of facial steam
which is supposed to reinvigorate her skin!

 "Blessed are you who are poor...." Luke 6:20-26

What does blessed mean?  
Partly it means that God turns His face 
towards us with divine favor. 
With all the good in Him. 
To be poor in spirit, what does that mean? 
It's not that we have no money or resources, 
because in Matthew 5:3, we read, 
"Blessed are the poor in spirit..." 
I think it means being aware 
that we are spiritually bankrupt before the Lord. 
That we have absolutely nothing 
that we can offer Him because He is awesome, 
and mighty and does not need anything from us.

 Sometimes I give talks about our business to students. 
I never fail to mention that 
God is a partner in our business, 
and we are successful because of Him. 
Prayer is always a part of the way we do business.

 After one particular talk, 
I was inordinately pleased with myself 
and sort of congratulated myself for doing a good job.  
Immediately, God took me to task 
and showed me verses from Luke 17. 

In it the master says, 
"When you have done everything 
that was assigned to you, you should say, 
'We are unworthy servants; 
we have simply done our duty."

 The Beatitudes are not about what we do. 
If we are a CEO, or a garbage collector, 
a priest or a toilet cleaner,  
that is not what is important to God. 
What is important is what we are, our character. 
Are we becoming like Jesus every day? 
Because for all our roles and duties, 
God can raise up stones to do it all better than we can! 

"WASHED...SANCTIFIED...JUSTIFIED..." 
1 Corinthians 6:11

In the Amplified and other bibles, 
we have these words, 
"made holy, washed clean, purified, 
made free, consecrated, set apart, 
hallowed, pronounced righteous, 

After a tiring day fighting 
pre-Christmas crowds in Divisoria 
or a stifling visit to the ukay ukay 
in Paradise Commonwealth, 
it is soooo refreshing, 
such a relief to have a good bath! 
You know the feeling! 
To be free of the grime that sticks to you, 
the sweat, the smell.
 It's so invigorating to have clean hair again, 

to not be sticky, to put on fresh clothes.

Are we as conscious of the grime, 
the dirt that besets our souls when we sin? 
Are we as eager to wash it away? 
Perhaps if we see our soul in a special mirror, 
we would be eager to do all we can 
to be washed in the blood of Christ, 
to be cleansed by the Holy Spirit.

Joe Focht writes, 
"There is no more confused message 
that you and I could give 
to a lost and dying world 
than to live in sin and at the same time 
to tell people about the 
transforming power of Jesus Christ. 
There isn't a more confusing thing 
we can do to our kids and the 
generation behind us, to this world.

God will not use a compromised life 
to reach a compromised world. 
God will use a life that is given over to Him, 
that is a demonstration of the message 
that through the power of Jesus Christ 
and His love He can 
transform our lives and set us free.” 




Blessings!
Patsy

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Monday, September 08, 2014

God with Us!

 "Behold the virgin shall be with child 
and bear a son and they shall name Him 
Emmanuel which means "God with us". Matthew 1:23

"God with us". 
As I ponder this I think 
what am I without God? 
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, 
"Man is a god in ruins." 
Indeed, without God what is the purpose of my life, 
who would give me the joy in my heart 
even in the midst of challenges? 
Who would surround me with a palpable peace 
even as my heart breaks as I see peoples 
being massacred and beheaded on CNN?



The past weekend I attended 
The Harvest Conference along with 
about 2,000 other brothers and sisters. 
God was with us as we listened to talks, 
as we discussed, prayed, worshiped, sang together. 
He was with us as we made plans and commitments. 
And I think about how all around the world, 
God is with families, parishes, churches, 
organizations, fellowships, sending His Spirit, 
His wisdom, His refining fire. 
Yes Lord, send a mighty wind across the earth. 
Move among us! Your people are in battle!

 Just as You sent Your son, 
an innocent, powerless babe in the arms 
of an equally innocent and insignificant woman, 
to infiltrate the enemy's battle lines, 
so you now send Your people. 
We are only powerful because You are with us! 
We are only wise because You are with us! 
We are only committed because You are with us! 
We are only victorious because You are with us!

Exodus 14:13-14 says, "Do not be afraid. 
Stand firm...the Lord will fight for you. 
You need only to be still." 

 "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." Luke 6:5

If you've watched Fiddler on the Roof 
like I have (many times!!!), 
you've seen how the Jews kept 
the Sabbath holy as God 
commanded them to do in Exodus 20:8-11. 
"Remember the Sabbath day, keep it holy. 
Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 
but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord God, 
in it you shall not do any work...
The Lord blessed the Sabbath and hallowed it." 
In the movie, we see how the family gathers together 
and Tevye and Golde lead the prayers.

It's funny how most of us, including me, 
find it so hard to follow God's teachings and laws 
when it is actually for our own good. 
Consider when God wants us to 
forgive those who have wronged us. 
Forgiveness sets us free from bondage. 
And when God teaches us to work on 6 days a week 
and set aside one day for rest, 
it is also for our good! 
It is a gift to us, a day in which 
to celebrate His goodness and faithfulness. 
If we learn to focus on God one day a week, 
we will be restored, refreshed and strengthened. 
"The joy of the Lord is our strength!"

 We should gather as a family, 
as a community, as a parish, 
and recognize our God as 
the giver of every good gift. 
God wants to bring us into His rest. 
What God finds good, 
He wants to share with His people He calls as His own. 
Just as on the seventh day He rested and 
enjoyed the work of His hands (Genesis 2:1-2), 
seeing how good it all was, 
so too does God want us to stop 
and experience that same joy. 

If we set aside one day a week to 
follow God's 4th commandment, 
it is like saying, "Lord God, I put You first, 
not the things my hands have made. 
I recognize that everything 
comes from you and I honor you. 
I want to receive every blessing you have in store for me!"

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, 
there am I in the midst of them." Matthew 18:20

I have often quoted this verse when 
interceding for someone in a group. 
It's a comforting verse that says 
when there are two or more of you, Jesus is present. 
But we know that we don't need other people 
for Jesus to be with us! 
He is with us whether we are in a huge prayer rally 
or when we are alone in our prayer room at dawn.
He is with us even when we are busy working
or when we are asleep!


So what is this verse about? 

Apparently it's about judgement against sin. 
We need to be very careful about accusing others of sin. 
"Take one or two others with you, 
so that every fact may be established 
in the testimony of 2 or 3 witnesses," 
it says in verse 16 of the same passage. 
If you can't work it out between just the two of you, 
get other brothers and sisters to help out! 
Sound teaching! 

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Friday, September 05, 2014

Paint Party Friday: Keeper of Mysteries!

 This morning I read from 1 Corinthians 4:1-2. 
"We are stewards of the mysteries of God, 
and we should be faithful and trustworthy."

What are stewards? 
I google this and find that stewards manage 
another person's property or financial affairs. 
To manage means to bring about 
or succeed in accomplishing, 
to take charge of, direct or govern.

If we are to be stewards and manage the mysteries of God, 
shouldn't we be aware of our duties and responsibilities?  
How can we manage a mystery, much less mysteries???

A mystery is anything that is kept secret 
or remains unexplained or unknown, 
any truth that is unknowable 
except by divine revelation.  
I don't think God will give us a responsibility 
without giving us the tools we need to do it, do you?

1 Cor. 2:10-12 reads, "No one comprehends 
the things of God except the Spirit of God." Ah ha!!
"For who can know the Lord's thoughts? 
But we understand these things, 
for we have the mind of Christ!" Double ah ha!!!
I believe the mysteries of God are revealed
slowly to us who take the time to seek. 
"Seek and you will find."  
And finding what is good for us, 
we have the responsibility to bring about 
and accomplish our Master's goals.
"Go and make disciples of all nations!" Matthew 28:19
"Have you heard the secret of God?  
And do you restrain wisdom to yourself?"  Job 15:8
""Every disciple in God's Kingdom is like 
the owner of the house who brings out of his storeroom 
NEW TREASURES as well as OLD." Matthew 13:52

I don't know about you, 
but I get very excited about secrets and mysteries.
But this mystery is far more exciting and valuable to know!


 "At your command, I will lower the nets..." Luke 5:5

I wonder how many of us would be like Peter? 
He is often portrayed as a simple fisherman, 
but archaeological evidence shows that 
his home in Capernaum was large,
 and had room enough for his mother-in-law to live with him. 
Moreover, he had partners in his fishing trade, 
James and John. 
In those days, fishing was an important business, 
and one had to bid for fishing contracts 
or leases as Herod was in control of the rights.

Peter and his men were experts at fishing 
but that night they caught nothing. 
Then Jesus said, "Put out into the deep and 
lower your nets for a catch." 
Now they were exhausted and their nets were already clean. 
And they knew that you don't fish during the day 
AND tilapia could only be found in shallow waters! 
But did Peter scoff and say, 
"Jesus, you don't know a thing about fishing!!!"???

 
 Peter obeyed and was rewarded 
with a huge haul of fish,
so much that he needed help 
because the nets were tearing! 
Here, Peter learns that in obedience there is blessing. 
You can't always use your wisdom 
when it comes to following God. 
"For the wisdom of this world is 
foolishness in the eyes of God." 
(1 Corinthians 3:19) 
He learns that when you partner with God, 
anything is possible!

In our businesses, in our work, whatever our vocation is, 
we should partner with God. 
And we should also be aware, that like Peter, 
we are called to CATCH MEN! 

Home
 
Linking with
So many WONDERFUL blogfriends 
to discover here!
and
Thank you for dropping by!
You are appreciated!
Patsy
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