1. Bath/Shower
2. Brush teeth and get dressed
3. Watch "The Miracles of Jesus" DVD
4. Carry up to bed
5. Snuggle together
6. Pray to Jesus
7. Sing (1) Winken, Blinken, and Nod (2) Puff the Magic Dragon (3) I'll Never Let Go of Your Hand
8. Give her a kiss and tell her goodnight
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
The Kingdom of God
"But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you." Matthew 12:28
I have just been so blown away by what the Spirit has been teaching me over the last week. He has been filling me with an understanding of who I am in Christ, and with that new identity, what I have been called to do. But not just me as an individual, the whole body of Christ! I was reading in Matthew and anyone who knows Matthew knows that the key phrase in the book is "Kingdom of Heaven" which is most literally translated "Kingdom of the Heavens." That kingdom is not spiritual, it is not "heavenly" as some might think, but it is all created matter from the third heaven down to the lowest heaven where earth is. But Matthew does not only talk about the kingdom of "heaven" in his book, but five times he uses the term "kingdom of God." That makes those few moments particularly stand out from the book as special. So what is Spirit teaching us through these passages? Well, rather than look at them all, I want to focus on this one verse where Jesus basically is saying that by the signs He is doing, the people in Israel see that the "Kingdom of God" is upon them! But what is the Kingdom of God? Well, it is a spiritual kingdom, it is the kingdom of all those spiritual being who have submitted themselves to Him. But because it is a spiritual kingdom, the people of this earth have no way of seeing it. That is what was so awesome about what Jesus was doing here! He was literally showing the people of Israel the Kingdom of God! By the signs He was performing, He was manifesting the Kingdom of God before their eyes! The unseen was being seen!
As believers, we are all part of the "Kingdom of God." And being part of that unseen spiritual kingdom, it is our responsibility to manifest it to the world. We are literally ambassadors for God on the earth! When we were born again, we were literally made a new creation in order that we can be fitting ambassadors for God to this world! When God sees us, He sees the righteousness of Jesus Christ! And with that righteousness we are therefore able to properly represent God! And you know what? He wants us to represent Him! As Jesus showed the Israelites the Kingdom of God, we must as ambassadors for God show the world the Kingdom of God! We must show them the love and power of God! This involved humbly submitting to the work of Holy Spirit in our lives. We should live our lives in such a way that people look at us and say, "What is this? What are you?" And we can say, "We are ambassadors for God, redeemed by our Lord Jesus Christ and living for His glory." Wow! Imagine that witness! Rather than the Gospel being words we speak, it becomes a life we live! The world will see the Gospel lived out in our lives! THAT IS WHAT WE AS THE CHURCH, AS THE BODY OF CHRIST ARE CALLED TO DO!!! We have been bought at a great price, sanctified and called to make disciples of all nations, SO LET'S DO IT! Let's live our Gospel to the world! Let's be the ambassadors we have been born to be! Let's come to the realization that everywhere we go now becomes an embassy for the Kingdom of God, and everywhere we go, we are shining examples for Him! Let us not live contrary to the new nature that has been given us by God, but instead let us live fully in the reality of who we are in Jesus Christ!!! We are born-again righteous ambassadors for the Kingdom of God, who are being transformed and sanctified every day for the glory of God!
And what is the point? Apart from the purpose of showing the glory of God, in doing this we are giving people a taste of the kingdom that is to come. When Jesus returns, the Kingdom of Heaven (all created matter) will merge with God's perfect spiritual kingdom, the Kingdom of God! In that time, the world will be restored to its Edenic perfection and the Kingdom of God will not longer be unseen, but visible to every people on the earth! Praise the Lord!!! THAT will be an awesome day! As Jesus did, we are giving people a taste of the coming perfect Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Isn't that an awesome responsibility!?!?!!?! Oh how I praise God for it!!!
I have just been so blown away by what the Spirit has been teaching me over the last week. He has been filling me with an understanding of who I am in Christ, and with that new identity, what I have been called to do. But not just me as an individual, the whole body of Christ! I was reading in Matthew and anyone who knows Matthew knows that the key phrase in the book is "Kingdom of Heaven" which is most literally translated "Kingdom of the Heavens." That kingdom is not spiritual, it is not "heavenly" as some might think, but it is all created matter from the third heaven down to the lowest heaven where earth is. But Matthew does not only talk about the kingdom of "heaven" in his book, but five times he uses the term "kingdom of God." That makes those few moments particularly stand out from the book as special. So what is Spirit teaching us through these passages? Well, rather than look at them all, I want to focus on this one verse where Jesus basically is saying that by the signs He is doing, the people in Israel see that the "Kingdom of God" is upon them! But what is the Kingdom of God? Well, it is a spiritual kingdom, it is the kingdom of all those spiritual being who have submitted themselves to Him. But because it is a spiritual kingdom, the people of this earth have no way of seeing it. That is what was so awesome about what Jesus was doing here! He was literally showing the people of Israel the Kingdom of God! By the signs He was performing, He was manifesting the Kingdom of God before their eyes! The unseen was being seen!
As believers, we are all part of the "Kingdom of God." And being part of that unseen spiritual kingdom, it is our responsibility to manifest it to the world. We are literally ambassadors for God on the earth! When we were born again, we were literally made a new creation in order that we can be fitting ambassadors for God to this world! When God sees us, He sees the righteousness of Jesus Christ! And with that righteousness we are therefore able to properly represent God! And you know what? He wants us to represent Him! As Jesus showed the Israelites the Kingdom of God, we must as ambassadors for God show the world the Kingdom of God! We must show them the love and power of God! This involved humbly submitting to the work of Holy Spirit in our lives. We should live our lives in such a way that people look at us and say, "What is this? What are you?" And we can say, "We are ambassadors for God, redeemed by our Lord Jesus Christ and living for His glory." Wow! Imagine that witness! Rather than the Gospel being words we speak, it becomes a life we live! The world will see the Gospel lived out in our lives! THAT IS WHAT WE AS THE CHURCH, AS THE BODY OF CHRIST ARE CALLED TO DO!!! We have been bought at a great price, sanctified and called to make disciples of all nations, SO LET'S DO IT! Let's live our Gospel to the world! Let's be the ambassadors we have been born to be! Let's come to the realization that everywhere we go now becomes an embassy for the Kingdom of God, and everywhere we go, we are shining examples for Him! Let us not live contrary to the new nature that has been given us by God, but instead let us live fully in the reality of who we are in Jesus Christ!!! We are born-again righteous ambassadors for the Kingdom of God, who are being transformed and sanctified every day for the glory of God!
And what is the point? Apart from the purpose of showing the glory of God, in doing this we are giving people a taste of the kingdom that is to come. When Jesus returns, the Kingdom of Heaven (all created matter) will merge with God's perfect spiritual kingdom, the Kingdom of God! In that time, the world will be restored to its Edenic perfection and the Kingdom of God will not longer be unseen, but visible to every people on the earth! Praise the Lord!!! THAT will be an awesome day! As Jesus did, we are giving people a taste of the coming perfect Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Isn't that an awesome responsibility!?!?!!?! Oh how I praise God for it!!!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Refreshed in the Spirit
There are no words to explain the gratitude I have for what God has been doing in my heart recently. Since last February it is as if He has just cracked my heart open and is excitingly pouring out His Word and His Spirit directly into me. It is as if I am being given a blood transfusion by God Himself, replacing my fleshly self with Himself so for the first time in my life, He is flowing through me as my lifeblood. All praise be to Him. So many things which I have felt for years are now coming into focus as He is now making His will clear in my life. The frustrations I have had in the past are melting away and the hopes I have desperately held to are now coming to fruition. As for God's wonderful Word, it is as if he has taken the scales off my eyes and allowed me to see the truth in the words and have it stick to my brain. The Scriptures make sense to me like never before and I hear the Spirit whispering into my ear even as I am reading and praying. All praise be to God for the glorious work He is doing in my life, for His glory. My life is His and I am excitedly moving forward in Him. All praise be to Him!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Refreshing
I watched this video at CBN News this morning and was very refreshed by it. I love seeing the Spirit at work :-).
I am reminded of John 14, where Jesus said,
11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
12 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever-- 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
19 "A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. 20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."
I am reminded of John 14, where Jesus said,
11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
12 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever-- 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
19 "A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. 20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."
Friday, May 21, 2010
"Hey World"
by Bob Hartman
It could have gone either way when it came down to the choice
To keep the life within a life that had no voice
It must have surely seemed the harder road to choose
To be so young to have to say who had the most to lose
But she came through like a champ and she blessed the world that day
Then gave the hope of a better life when she gave him away
Now the innocence and joy is there each day he wakes
Expressions of his love of life in every breath he takes
He could have been thrown away before he had a chance to say
Chorus
Hey world, I am here and I have something to give
Hey world, I'm alive and I am wanting to live
He turned to lock the door as he wiped away a tear
The hopelessness of missing love, his adolescent fear
As he struggled for the strength to put the gun away
He found the courage and the hope to face another day
He could have been blown away before he had a chance to say
Chorus
Down the corridor or life in between our death and birth
We may start to lose our way in the search to find our worth
Our value comes in the fact we live
Life is a gift only God can give
It could have gone either way when it came down to the choice
To keep the life within a life that had no voice
It must have surely seemed the harder road to choose
To be so young to have to say who had the most to lose
But she came through like a champ and she blessed the world that day
Then gave the hope of a better life when she gave him away
Now the innocence and joy is there each day he wakes
Expressions of his love of life in every breath he takes
He could have been thrown away before he had a chance to say
Chorus
Hey world, I am here and I have something to give
Hey world, I'm alive and I am wanting to live
He turned to lock the door as he wiped away a tear
The hopelessness of missing love, his adolescent fear
As he struggled for the strength to put the gun away
He found the courage and the hope to face another day
He could have been blown away before he had a chance to say
Chorus
Down the corridor or life in between our death and birth
We may start to lose our way in the search to find our worth
Our value comes in the fact we live
Life is a gift only God can give
Friday, April 23, 2010
Almost 1/3 Through!
So we are almost 1/3 of the way through this year! I was just pondering that and getting excited about next year. Of course this is a great year, but I am really REALLY excited about starting Bible School at the start of the new year! Golly me, I can not even describe all that God has been doing in me and it is incredible to behold. He just blows me away. All praise be to Him :-).
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Excerpt from "Experiencing the Holy Spirit."
Oh, Christian, learn at this point that your life daily depends on God's will, on God's grace, and on God's omnipotence. Yes, every moment God must work in your inner life and strengthen you by His Spirit; otherwise, you cannot live as He would have you live. Just as no creature in the natural world can exist for a moment if God does not work in it to sustain its life, so the gift of the Holy Spirit is the pledge that God Himself is to work everything in us from moment to moment.
Learn to know your entire, blessed dependence on God. Recognize the claim you have on Him as your Heavenly Father to begin in you a life in the mighty strengthening of the Spirit and to maintain it without the interruption of a single moment.
Paul tells these believers what he prays for in their behalf in order that they may know what they have need of and ask for it themselves. Expect everything from God alone. Bow your knees, ask, and expect from the Father His manifestation to you of the riches of His glory. Ask and expect that He would strengthen you with might by His Spirit who is already in you as an unknown, hidden, and slumbering seed.
Let this become the desire and confidence of your soul: "God will fill me with the Spirit: God will strengthen me through the Spirit with His Almighty energy." Let your whole life be daily permeated by this prayer and this expectation.
Learn to know your entire, blessed dependence on God. Recognize the claim you have on Him as your Heavenly Father to begin in you a life in the mighty strengthening of the Spirit and to maintain it without the interruption of a single moment.
Paul tells these believers what he prays for in their behalf in order that they may know what they have need of and ask for it themselves. Expect everything from God alone. Bow your knees, ask, and expect from the Father His manifestation to you of the riches of His glory. Ask and expect that He would strengthen you with might by His Spirit who is already in you as an unknown, hidden, and slumbering seed.
Let this become the desire and confidence of your soul: "God will fill me with the Spirit: God will strengthen me through the Spirit with His Almighty energy." Let your whole life be daily permeated by this prayer and this expectation.
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