Jesus, the Gift that gives

Out of all the gifts we have received over the years, and there are many, which ones do we
remember ? I grew up with parents who celebrated birthdays, Christmas with many exciting
gifts for us kids. It was always a thrill to know how much care they took in picking out just the right gift that would thrill us and be cherished for quite a while. I so appreciate my parents and the "givers" they are.

The one gift that is truly the Gift above all is Christ. I realize all the gifts I have ever received as wonderful and cherished and appreciated they were, (and they were) the true Gift that I cherish more than life itself, is Christ. He has given me a life that I never knew possible. He is the true Gift, and He gives and gives and gives. When we are at our lowest, deepest darkest points, He is always there to exchange our despair with His perfect love, peace, hope.

I think back to the years that I have known Him and I realize that the gift of Christ is truly a gift that I continue to receive moment by moment day by day. I will be celebrating Him with a ll my heart, not only today but days ahead. For I know that it is more than miraculous, to know Him and to live in this realm of the evidence of things which are hoped for and things unseen, this realm of faith, where all things are possible to them that believe. We love Him because He first loved us.

God love you and bless you more and more in His Son

My Utmost for His Highest

December 21st.
	EXPERIENCE OR REVELATION
"We have received . . . the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." 1 Corinthians 2:12 Reality is Redemption, not my experience of Redemption; but Redemption has no meaning for me until it speaks the language of my conscious life. (the evidence of transformation is inward , because the language of transformation is in relationship to our hearts ) When I am born again, the Spirit of God takes me right out of myself and my experiences, and identifies me with Jesus Christ.(the product of a supernatural encounter with Christ is that our lives are swallowed up and we identify with Him in all that we say, all that we do, our life become His, His expression ) If I am left with my experiences, my experiences have not been produced by Redemption. The proof that they are produced by Redemption is that I am led out of myself all the time, (yesss , what we behold is Him and we are being changed more and more into His likeness) I no longer pay any attention to my experiences as the ground of Reality, but only to the Reality which produced the experiences. (we become deeply conscious that we are not producing anything in terms of spiritual life in us, the Son in us is the river of life that is flowing taking us whereever it would) My experiences are not worth anything unless they keep me at the Source, Jesus Christ. (aware that it is Him in us) If you try to dam up the Holy Spirit in you to produce subjective experiences, you will find that He will burst all bounds and take you back again to the historic Christ. Never nourish an experience which has not God as its Source and faith in God as its result. If you do, your experience is anti-Christian, no matter what visions you may have had. Is Jesus Christ Lord of your experiences, or do you try to lord it over Him? (is it Him we glorify in all things or is it self, or another) Is any experience dearer to you than your Lord? He must be Lord over you, and you must not pay attention to any experience over which He is not Lord. There comes a time when God will make you impatient with your own experience - I do not care what I experience; I am sure of Him. (we see Him in the center of our circumstances, whatever they may be .. and from Him comes the peace and faith to stand, to believe, to hope, to endure) our faith should not be dependant on what is or isn't happening all around us) Be ruthless with yourself if you are given to talking about the experiences you have had. Faith that is sure of itself is not faith; faith that is sure of God is the only faith there is.

some good words here :-)

wow, check out these wise words, quoted in part from Wayne Jacobsen's blog. Also the comments are well worth reading.

partial quote "Sometimes, though, we have a tendency to panic. Why? If we really understand ourselves deeply, the bottom line in all of our personalities is our deep-seated desire to be in control. This to me is the basic meaning of what the Bible calls sin. We want to have everything run smoothly in order to look good, and when it doesn’t, we feel threatened and when we are threatened we get scared (afraid) and that moves us into anger, which causes panic, anxiety and/or depression, etc. The opposite of love is control (fear). There is no fear in love, because perfect love cast out fear, writes the apostle. God is constantly at work conforming us to His image (the outward expression of an invisible reality). So that like Jesus told the disciples, “He who has seen me, has seen the Father.” So often rather then to accept what God is doing, we have been taught the ‘principles’ of how to get from God whatever you want. And we forget that if God is love. He doesn’t control us and we, in turn, cannot control Him. He is there to see us through, and bring us into a deeper awareness of who He really is, and not what we want Him to be, which of course is far better." http://www.lifestream.org/blog/

Jesus, a River of Life

All that we need is in our precious Jesus !

Only He Knows Us, ... and Better than we know ourselves

Oswald Chambers,   "My Utmost for His Highest"

December 12th.

PERSONALITY

"That they may be one, even as we are one." John 17:22

Personality is that peculiar, incalculable thing that is meant when we speak of ourselves as distinct from everyone else. Our personality is always too big for us to grasp. An island in the sea may be but the top of a great mountain. Personality is like an island, we know nothing about the great depths underneath, consequently we cannot estimate ourselves. (comment: All we see is the surface, like a quick glance in the mirror every now and then. We think we know our true personality, what we are like, how we react or don't react, but often times others seem to know us much better than we are even capable of knowing ourselves. Thus we need to listen intently to one another, and give heed and ear to the words of others. Listening is so important, it conveys so much about our inward spiritual condition and where we are at) We begin by thinking that we can, but we come to realize that there is only one Being Who understands us, and that is our Creator.
(comment: This does set us free, .. we are becoming more like Him and He knows the process necessary and the journey to get us out of ourself more and more, into a beautiful reflection of Himself)

Personality is the characteristic of the spiritual man as individuality is the characteristic of the natural man. Our Lord can never be defined in terms of individuality and independence, but only in terms of personality, "I and My Father are one." Personality merges,
(comment: As we identify with him and he creates in us His heart, and pours out His Spirit, His mind, His compassion, we take upon us the clothing of Christ, day upon day. I love how he says merges ... it talks of an ongoing process that is initiated by His Spirit in us, the focus is not on self, on what self needs to do to keep this process moving along, {as we are often taught by religious folks}, but on us becoming One with Him, merging is definitely the right word, it talks about him taking us and enfolding us up into His character, His nature, His very likeness, we are taking on His likeness) This is supernatural, a completely spiritual process

and you only reach your real identity when you are merged with another person.

(amen how beautiful is that statement! We are incomplete without Him, but complete in Him, lack nothing, made whole, restored)

When love, or the Spirit of God strikes a man, he is transformed, he no longer insists upon his separate individuality. Our Lord never spoke in terms of individuality, of a man's "elbows" or his isolated position, but in terms of personality - "that they may be one, even as We are one." If you give up your right to yourself to God, the real true nature of your personality answers to God straight away. Jesus Christ emancipates the personality, and the individuality is transfigured; the transfiguring element is love, personal devotion to Jesus. Love is the outpouring of one personality in fellowship with another personality.

www.myutmost.org.org/12/1212.html

Dealing With Frustration

Today I am feeling really frustrated ! Ever have a day or two like that? Or maybe it's just me . .. . that's ok.

Today is just one of those days that everywhere I look, it seems like I am feeling frustrated at one thing or another. In all likelihood, I am just looking in the wrong direction.

Truly I know He is always leading us beside still waters, and not only that, but He is preparing a table before us - to partake of, one that satisfies us and leaves us fully fulfilled, ...no matter what disappointment strikes up against us. The Lord of All that I love and serve is not moved nor taken off guard by any disappointment. He knows my weakness and has, beyond that, provided the continuing watchfulness of Himself over me and certainly will attend to me, and continue to show Himself strong in weakness, disappointments, failures .

I want to face disappointments (which are only momentary) with a different heart, a heart with an attitude that looks beyond disappointment, and knows that God is shaping me, and wanting to develop perseverance, faithfulness, & child-like trust. To be beyond my weakness,beyond disappointment, to more of His likeness and HIs character. Because I know I am exactly One with Him by His Spirit. I am forever loved & cherished by Him. I really want to turn my face towards Him, learn of Him in the midst of disappointments and weaknesses, ... whether they be my own, or someone else's, .. to learn of Him in the midst of all,.. that my Hope is firmly set upon Him. That I will gain Christ more, with all joy, as He wants to be known and revealed - a witness of how He cherishes us in our weakness, in our brokneness, and this, even moreso when we are disappointed and heavy burdened. ... when we feel we have fallen, slipped up a bit. ... I want to thank God for disappointments and failures, thank Him because this is always an opportunity for our hearts to rejoice firmly in Him. That I may know Him more, know His comfort, and likewise, comfort others and establish them in His faithfulness & goodness; no matter what twists and turns sneak up on us. Being ever watchful, eyes on Him, a brighter reflection of hope and understanding to someone else along the course of life.

He is One, the Only One, who doesn't disappoint. In fact He is the One who rather lifts us up in His everlasting arms, and helps us center on Him, bringing Himself into focus. How lovely He is! All else fades, disappointments and all, because these are temporal (fading) but He is the Light of the World, the pure Light that shines into every dark place, scattering the darkness and bringing peace!

Knowing Him means to me that we are never arrived, our destination is always HIm, learning of Him in the midst of our frailties, .. that we might overcome by Him. It's a continual exchange of His Life for our brokenness. It's His continuing faithfulness, gentle care and concern that makes my heart want to beat, to praise Him and whisper His name ..

Song to Worship Him ...

Click to hear music file