What can we do to make our group more of a community than an event that we just show up to every Saturday? Kevin, Blake, and I were discussing this and we were wondering what we could do to make a community instead of an event. Post a comment if you have ideas.
The Lord has blessed me as I have been going through a series of devotionals written by Andrew Murray, a pastor, evangelist, and educator in the Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa (1828-1917).
Today’s devotional is titled “Waiting on God the Almighty One” and the verse is Isaiah 40:31, ‘They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint’
Here’s an excerpt of today’s devotion. I pray that you would be encouraged by it.
Yes, “they shall mount up with wings as eagles.” You know what eagles’ wings mean. The eagle is the king of birds, it soars the highest in the heavens. Believers are to live a heavenly life, in the very presence and love and joy of God. They are to live where God lives. They need God’s strength to rise there. To them that wait on Him it shall be given.
You know how the eagle’s wings are obtained: Only by the eagle birth. You are born of God. You have the eagle’s wings. You may not have known it. You may not have used them, but God can and will teach you to use them.
You know how the eagles are taught to use of their wings. See yonder cliff rising a thousand feet out of the sea. See high up a ledge on the rock, where there is an eagle’s nest with its treasure of two young eaglets. See the mother bird come and stir up her nest, and with her beak push the timid birds over the precipice. See how they flutter and fall and sink towards the depth. See now (Deuteronomy 32:11): “…how she fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings,” and so, as they ride upon her wings, brings them to a place of safety. And so she does once and again, each time casting them out over the precipice, and then again taking and carrying them. “So the Lord alone did lead him” Yes, the instinct of that eagle mother was God’s gift, a single ray of that love in which the Almighty trains His people to mount as on eagles’ wings.
He stirs up your nest. He disappoints your hopes. He brings down your confidence. He makes you fear and tremble, as all of your strength fails, and you feel utterly weary and helpless. And all the while He is spreading His strong wings for you to rest your weakness on, and offering His everlasting Creator-strength to work in you. And all He asks is that you should sink down in your weariness and wait on Him, and allow Him in His Jehovah-strength to carry you as you ride upon the wing of His Omnipotence.
Be encouraged. The Lord will never leave us or forsake us!
In our discussion a few weeks ago, we touched on the subject of fasting. This is excerpt is from the book A Journey to Victorious Praying by Bill Thrasher and printed by Moody Press.
What is Fasting?
Richard Foster defines fasting as the "voluntary denial of a normal function for an intense activity." In the Bible the reference is primarily to eating, but Scripture also mentions temporarily abstaining from the physical relationship in marriage (1 Corinthians 7:5) and from sleep (2 Samuel 12:16; Daniel 6:18).
In other words, the Bible's emphasis is on fasting from food but it refers to a broader use of abstinence from other things. In some cases, these things can knowingly or unknowingly become a substitute for God. Therefore, one might benefit from a media fast, or fasting from such things as recreational shopping. The purpose of all such abstinence in the words of Norwegian theologian O. Hallesby is to "to loosen to some degree the ties which bind us to the world or material surroundings as a whole in order that we may concentrate all our spiritual powers upon the unseen and eternal things." The abstinence is not to be an end in itself but rather for the purpose of being separated to the Lord and to concentrate on godliness. This kind of fasting reduces the influence of our own self-will and invites the Holy Spirit to do a more intense work in us.
There is nothing meritorious in fasting in the sense that through it one earns something from God. Christ's death on the cross earned for us every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3). Every spiritual discipline should rest on the foundation of Christ's finished work. However, fasting can be a discipline that seeks to experience the life of victory that Christ has purchased for us. When one fasts from food, a greater amount of blood, ususally needed for digestion, is available for mental and spiritual concentration. As Neil Anderson says, "Eating is the grand-daddy of all appetites. Fasting is a commitment to bring about self-denial and overcome every other conceivable temptation." It is response to the Lord to seek Him and abstain from food or another normal activitiy to make your whole heart available to Him.
Question: What can we abstain from this coming week so that you can make your whole heart available to our Lord Jesus Christ?
So, I was recently handed back an essay I had written in AP English; in which I had made the point that the law is a means of revenge. Not to say that the law is wrong, however, the law puts just limitations on revenge. Some might quote the bible and say "Revenge is mine, thus sayeth, the Lord", and others might try and refute this notion as much as possible. However, if God has given us laws, and those laws provide for revenge, is it still just? I should most definitely hope so- but likewise, I digress. Instead of charging your brother in a court of law with a suit, whether it be vengeful or not, take it to the brother first, and see if you can settle it with him. If a conclusion is unable to be reached, take it with the brother to a pastor and/or elders. Both parties ought to have the spiritual maturity to take the pastor and elder's decision and follow it...
Its funny how- as christians- we get so bent out of shape about the smallest, most trivial things. It never ceases to amaze me that I catch myself saying something malicious, raising a finger in traffic, or even just being a jerk because I often like to pretend like I know what I'm talking about (a bit pretentious, no?). So, I guess the entire point of the before paragraph of hard-to-follow rambling was me trying to say: If you have an issue, either shut up and live with it, or take it to your brother with whom you have the issue. Think I'm crazy? Look at what paul had to say in 1 Corinthians chapter 6.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)