Power of Your Love

Content Whatever the Circumstances - Brother Lawrence

 Philippians 4:10-20 (NIV)

¹⁰ I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. ¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
 ¹⁴ Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. ¹⁵ Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; ¹⁶ for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need. ¹⁷ Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account. ¹⁸ I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. ¹⁹ And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
 ²⁰ To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

One of the best examples of being content in all circumstances besides Paul is found in a book called "The Practice of the Presence of God" which is an assemblance of conversations and letters written by Brother Lawrence in the 1600's.  Brother Lawrence was a lay brother in the order of the Carmelites from 1640 until his death in 1691.  He was the monastery's cook for a great deal of that time.  He says:

"It matters not to me what I do, or what I suffer, so long as I abide lovingly untied to God's will--that is my whole business.

I am in the hands of God, and He has His own good purposes regarding me; therefore I trouble not myself for aught that man can do to me.  If I cannot serve God here, elsewhere I shall find a place wherein to serve Him.

The practice of the presence of God is the shortest and easiest way to attain to Christian perfection:  it is the form and life of virtue, it is the great preservative from sin.  The practice will become easy, if we have but courage and good will.

The whole world seems to me to be no longer real; all that my outward eyes behold pass like fantasies and dreams.  That which I see with the eyes of the soul is what alone I long for, and to be not yet in the possession of my heart's desire brings me to sorrow and a drooping of spirit.  On the one hand dazzled by the brightness of the Sun of Righteousness, the Scatterer of the shades of night, and, on the other, with eyes dimmed by my own sin, I feel at times as if I were beside myself.  And yet, I make it my ordinary business to abide in the presence of God with the humility of a useless, though a faithful servant."

This book is only 115 pages long and well worth reading.  I encourage you to pick up a copy and begin practicing the presence of God yourself until it becomes a habit!

MICHAEL SMITH-I CAN HEAR YOUR VOICE

Do Unto Others Revisited

"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."  Matthew 7:12 (NIV)

So in everything...Wow!  We are to treat others and do for others what we would want them to do for us in everything! Not just when we feel like it or when it is convenient but all of the time, in everything.  I have heard it spoken of once or twice in the past as doing to, not not doing to.  Does that make sense?  We are to do to others what we would want done to us, not avoid doing what we wouldn't want done to us.  This implies action not inaction.  Every day all day long we are to go out of our way to do things for those around us, the others, all others, not just our family and friends.  We are to treat people with dignity and honor.  We are to encourage people and show preference to all others.  We are to engage in simple acts of kindness all of the time!  What a different world we would live in if we truly lived as we are commanded to live.

"Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.'"  Matthew 22:37-40 (NIV)

"But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." 1 Timothy 1:5 (NASB)

"Love one another with brotherly affection.  Outdo one another in showing honor."  Romans 12:10  (ESV)

"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."  Galatians 6:2  (NIV)

"Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part. Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. And be careful that when you get on each other's nerves you don't snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out."  1 Thessalonians 5:14 (The Message)

"Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us."  1 Peter 2:12 (NIV)

"Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other."  John 13:34-35 (The Message)

"My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!"  1 John 4:11 (The Message)

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"  Matthew 25:40 (NIV)

So your assignment today is to engage in an unexpected act of kindness.  Leave an encouraging book on someone's porch (someone did that for me once-I never found out who left it there!), pick flowers (from your own garden!) and leave them for someone to find, give someone a special treat, take someone somewhere they would rather not go alone.  There are so many ways we can show His love.

Dear Lord,  Make us a people who love others and do things for others the way we would want them done for us. Help us to truly love one another and to show Your unfailing love through our actions...Use us to change the world one act of kindness at a time.

Third Day - Blessed Assurance

Blessed Assurance

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God
Born of his Spirit, washed in his blood

This is my story, this is my song
Praising my Savior all the day long
This is my story, this is my song
Praising my Savior all the day long

Perfect submission, perfect delight
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight
Angels, descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love

Perfect submission, all is at rest
I in my Savior am happy and blessed
Watching and waiting, looking above
Filled with his goodness, lost in his love

"Blessed Assurance" is a well-known Christian hymn. The lyrics were written in 1873 by blind hymn writer Fanny J. Crosby to the music written in 1873 by Phoebe P. Knapp. (Wikipedia)

"Crosby did not spend her life in bitterness and defeat, but instead dedicated her life to Christ. At the age of eight she wrote these verses about her condition:

'Oh what a happy soul I am,

Although I cannot see;

I am resolved that in this world

Contented I will be.

How many blessings I enjoy,

That other people don't;

To weep and sigh because I'm blind,

I cannot, and I won't.'"

"She later remarked:

'It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me.'"  (Wikipedia)

Dear Lord,  Let me be contented no matter my circumstances.  Let me be always "watching and waiting, looking above, filled with Your goodness, lost in Your love..."

What Marvelous Love...

1 John 3 (The Message)

 ¹ What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we're called children of God! That's who we really are. But that's also why the world doesn't recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he's up to.  ^2-3But friends, that's exactly who we are: children of God. And that's only the beginning. Who knows how we'll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we'll see him—and in seeing him, become like him. All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus' life as a model for our own.
 ^4-6All who indulge in a sinful life are dangerously lawless, for sin is a major disruption of God's order. Surely you know that Christ showed up in order to get rid of sin. There is no sin in him, and sin is not part of his program. No one who lives deeply in Christ makes a practice of sin. None of those who do practice sin have taken a good look at Christ. They've got him all backward.
 ^7-8So, my dear children, don't let anyone divert you from the truth. It's the person who acts right who is right, just as we see it lived out in our righteous Messiah. Those who make a practice of sin are straight from the Devil, the pioneer in the practice of sin. The Son of God entered the scene to abolish the Devil's ways.
 ^9-10People conceived and brought into life by God don't make a practice of sin. How could they? God's seed is deep within them, making them who they are. It's not in the nature of the God-begotten to practice and parade sin. Here's how you tell the difference between God's children and the Devil's children: The one who won't practice righteous ways isn't from God, nor is the one who won't love brother or sister. A simple test.
 ¹¹For this is the original message we heard: We should love each other.
 ^12-13We must not be like Cain, who joined the Evil One and then killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because he was deep in the practice of evil, while the acts of his brother were righteous. So don't be surprised, friends, when the world hates you. This has been going on a long time.
 ^14-15The way we know we've been transferred from death to life is that we love our brothers and sisters. Anyone who doesn't love is as good as dead. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know very well that eternal life and murder don't go together.
 ^16-17This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.

When We Practice Real Love

 ^18-20My dear children, let's not just talk about love; let's practice real love. This is the only way we'll know we're living truly, living in God's reality. It's also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.  ^21-24And friends, once that's taken care of and we're no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we're bold and free before God! We're able to stretch our hands out and receive what we asked for because we're doing what he said, doing what pleases him. Again, this is God's command: to believe in his personally named Son, Jesus Christ. He told us to love each other, in line with the original command. As we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us. And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us: by the Spirit he gave us.

Image courtesy of Photobucket.com.

You've Touched My Heart Revisited

We all have a heart.  Our hearts beat and pump blood throughout our bodies, providing oxygen and nutrients.  Without our hearts, we would not be alive.  In our culture you can be hard-hearted, cold hearted, broken-hearted, good-hearted, etc.  The list goes on and in English, we think of the word "heart" as the center of emotion and kindness.  The Hebrews, however, had a broader meaning for the word "heart".  It goes beyond the Western cultural idea of it being the center of emotion and kindness to including a person's thoughts, reason, and logic, in essence, the "mind" is included with the word "heart".  So a heart can think, understand, and be intentional.  A heart can be a storehouse for God's word.  It can be full of deceit.  It is capable of love and hate, joy and sorrow.  Here is a word study on these aspects of the word "heart"  in God's word.

The heart is capable of understanding:

"Since you have closed their hearts to understanding,  therefore you will not let them triumph."  Job17:4 (ESV)

"For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul."  Proverbs 2:10 (NIV)

The heart is where you can store scripture:

"Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them."  Deuteronomy 4:9  (NIV)

"Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."  Psalm 119:11 (KJV)

The heart is capable of deception:

"'How long? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, even these prophets of the deception of their own heart, who intend to make My people forget My name by their dreams which they relate to one another, just as their fathers forgot My name because of Baal?  The prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has My word speak My word in truth. What does straw have in common with grain?' declares the LORD."  Jeremiah 23:26-28  (NASB)

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"  Jeremiah 17:9  (KJV)

The heart can be intentional:

"When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.  Acts 11:23 (NIV)

"The anger of the LORD will not turn back until He has performed and carried out the purposes of His heart; in the last days you will clearly understand it."  Jeremiah 23:20  (NASB)

"For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."  Hebrews 4:12 (NASB)

"Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart."  Ephesians 6:6  (NIV)

The heart is capable of love and hate:

"Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart."  1 Peter 1:22 (NIV)

"He turned their hearts to hate his people, to deal craftily with his servants."  Psalm 105:25 (ESV)

The heart is capable of joy and sorrow: 

"A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, but when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken."  Proverbs 15:13 (NASB)

"But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart."  John 16:6 (NASB)

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27  (ESV)

In closing, we want to have the heart of God within us as it says in Exodus 34:5-7, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations."(NASB)  And we need to be ever conscious of the fact that our hearts reflect who we are.  "As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man."  Proverbs 27:19  (ESV)  And we need to be aware that God looks not at our outward appearance but at our hearts.  "But the LORD said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.'" 1 Samuel 16:7  (NIV)

Dear Lord,  We ask that You shape and mold our hearts.  Let our hearts be as Yours, full of kindness and compassion, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and truth. 

Photo courtesy of Photobucket.com.

Michael W. Smith - When I Think Of You [A New Hallelujah]

Wayfaring Stranger - Selah

Press On

Keep Your Lamps Lit

Luke 12:35-48 (New American Standard Bible)

Be in Readiness

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³⁵"Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit.  ³⁶"Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks.
 ³⁷"Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them.
 ³⁸"Whether he comes in the second watch, or even in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.
 ³⁹"But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into.
 ⁴⁰"You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect."
 ⁴¹Peter the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time?
 ⁴³"Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.
 ⁴⁴"Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
 ⁴⁵"But if that slave says in his heart, 'My master will be a long time in coming,' and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk;
 ⁴⁶the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers.
⁴⁷"And that slave who knew his master's will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes,
 ⁴⁸but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few.   From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

Have a wonderful Weekend!

Crown Him with many crowns

The Way He Wants You to Live

 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24 (The Message)

The Way He Wants You to Live

 ^12-13And now, friends, we ask you to honor those leaders who work so hard for you, who have been given the responsibility of urging and guiding you along in your obedience. Overwhelm them with appreciation and love!  ^13-15Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part. Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. And be careful that when you get on each other's nerves you don't snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.
 ^16-18Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.
 ^19-22Don't suppress the Spirit, and don't stifle those who have a word from the Master. On the other hand, don't be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what's good. Throw out anything tainted with evil.
 ^23-24May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he'll do it!

Book Review - The Heart Mender by Andy Andrews

Before you read this book review, I want you to know that the publisher gave me an extra copy to give away!  Please become a follower to enter to win!  The drawing will be held in one week and all current followers will be entered.  The winner will be contacted via email.

Andy Andrews', The Heart Mender, A Story of Second Chances, is an interesting journey into WWII Gulf Coast America and the heart of an age old theme: Forgiveness. His latest work is thoughtfully executed intertwining reality with fiction and leaving the reader wondering whether the story is creative fabrication or historically accurate fact.

A young widow, Helen, whose husband is killed during the war, is bitter and lonely until a German U-boat Lieutenant, Josef, washes ashore near her house. An unlikely friendship develops as she nurses him back to health and hides his existence from those in the nearby town. When the town Deputy discovers his presence, Josef is finally able to venture into the village until complications arise and they are forced to face their true feelings. This is a worthwhile story of healing through forgiveness, reconciliation, love, and finally the truth they have been hiding for so long.

I would recommend this book if you enjoy historical fiction but, honestly, I found it a bit slow paced and predictable. I would put the book down and not pick it up for several months. It definitely should have been a quick read but apparently it didn't keep my attention as I would have liked.

Disclaimer: As a book reviewer, I receive advanced copies of books from the publisher and am not reimbursed for my reviews.