October 18

Edges of His Ways - Daily Devotion Notes [Amy Carmichael]

Gen. 15:2: Lord God, what wilt Thou give me?

When thinking of the further reaches of prayers I came on this, the simplest of all, like the words of a small child before it has learned not to ask for things for itself. If the friend of God could speak so to his God, we may in all simplicity do so too. "Lord God, what wilt Thou give me?"

Just as a child passes from the less to the greater in desire, so we find in our Bible that the desire of man, as he walked further on with God, grows and grows till we come to such words as Paul's, words that reach far beyond any earthly good - "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings"; and soon that other word follows, so often forgotten in hurried prayer: the first good thing promised is not the thing for which we prayed, but peace.

"Lord God, what wilt Thou give me?"
"The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."  Is not peace an answer?

Huge victory!

Jin...From battle rapper to Christian rapper?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmncKOadBgk&feature=related

Mother Teresa

"People are often unreasonable, irrational and self-centered:
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives:
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies:
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you:
Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight: 
Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous:
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow:
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough:
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

For you see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God:
It was never between you and them anyway."

Learning together~

Something I came across while preparing for sunday school about leprosy...

Something the children likely to do better than their teachers.

Mark 1-2: Cleansed!

Leprosy Victim

The leper of Mark 1:40-45 amazes me. Jesus told him to keep his mouth shut and he couldn’t. What saddens me is Jesus has told me to keep my mouth open and I don’t.

The thing I need to recognize about this whole scenario is the leper couldn’t keep quiet because of the joy over his cleansing. He knew exactly how defiled and vile he had been. Therefore, he was overjoyed at his newfound cleansing. He had to tell someone.

Who do you think he told first? I imagine he told the only people that had stayed with him, the other lepers he had been relegated to live with outside the city. He probably told his family. He may have told his friends. I bet he told the next person he saw in the street.

What I need to do is realize just how defiled and vile I was spiritually. Only then can I have the joy of the cleansing Jesus has given. Perhaps, when I remember that and meditate on it, I won’t be able to help telling people about it either.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Seeking the Truth

"He must be blind who from the most wise and excellent contrivances of things cannot see the Infinite Wisdom and Goodness of their Almighty Creator, and he must be mad and senseless who refuses to acknowledge them." - Sir Isaac Newton

"Someone who lives at the North Pole, where light shines 24 hours a day and it is never night, might not believe in stars because he has never seen them. Still, they would exist as massive, awesome realities. The fact that we cannot yet see something (God) does not mean it (He) does not exist or that the evidence for His existence is lacking."

"Anyone who has not believed in God has always substituted something else for Him, and by necessity always something inferior."

"To live our lives apart from the truth isn't healthy, but to die without the truth is a tragedy."

- John Ankerberg & John Weldon

"What is so notable about the twentieth century, and a principal cause - I think the principal cause - of its horrors, is that great physical power has been acquired by men who have no fear of God and who believe themselves restrained by no absolute code of conduct." - Prof. Paul Johnson

Flame of God (Amy Carmichael)

From prayer that asks that I may be,
Sheltered from winds that beat on Thee,
From fearing when I should aspire,
From faltering when I should climb higher
From silken self, O Captain, free
Thy soldier who would follow Thee.

From subtle love of softening things,
From easy choices, weakenings,
(Not thus are spirits fortified,
Not this way went the Crucified)
From all that dims Thy Calvary
O Lamb of God, deliver me.

Give me the love that leads the way,
The faith that nothing can dismay
The hope no disappointments tire,
The passion that will burn like fire;
Let me not sink to be a clod;
Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God.

Something fun

//Moody was asked: "Must one forsake the world to follow the Lord?" Moody replied:"If you truly follow the Lord, the world will automatically abandon you."

//A missionary in India had a hospital set up for lepers, specializing in leprosy patients. The missionary tells the gospel to them daily, and washes their wounds. One person sees and remarked: "Even if you give me one million a day, I will not do such work." Preacher replied: "If it was for a million a day, I will not do such work."

//A Christian, while visiting a large chapel in Spain, the people of the chapel pointed out to him all the gold and silver decorations in the hall, and said proudly: "Today we no longer have to say those shabby words like Peter, 'Silver or gold I do not have'." The brother replied: "Yes, you are also unable to to say with Peter, 'In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.'"

//Someone asked Muller:"Do you normally keep savings?"Muller answered:"That's a stupid method. If I store away my savings, when I am in lack, how do I call upon the Lord?

//A white man went to Africa for business, and saw a black man sitting by the tree reading the bible, the white man made a mockery saying: "This book no longer holds any value in our country." The black man points to his belly and replied:"If this book has no value, you would've already entered my stomach."

//One English farmer installed a wind vane on top of his new barn that reads, "God is Love". A friend saw it, puzzled and asked:"Does the love of God change like the direction of the wind?" The farmed replied:"No. No matter which direction the wind blows, there is the love of God."

A Peace that Cometh after Sorrow

There is a peace that cometh after sorrow,
Of hope surrendered, not of hope fulfilled;
A peace that looketh not upon tomorrow,
But calmly on a tempest that it stilled.
A peace that lives not now in joy's excesses,
Nor in the happy life of love secure;
But in the unerring strength the heart possesses,
Of conflicts won while learning to endure.
A peace there is, in sacrifice secluded,
A life subdued, from will and passion free;
Tis not the peace that over Eden brooded,
But that which triumphed in Gethsemane.

 - Jessie Rose Gates

Passionplay 2020

Passionplay Oberammergau 2010

"... every ten years forever more."

I say we make a commitment for 2020.

Easter - Good Friday

Two days ago a friend messaged me, "...Why is Good Friday called 'good' Friday?" 

First reaction: huh? so random?

Second reaction: wow, awesome, she want to know about Christ? Wait, doesn't every body (at least the long-term residents of any western society with Christian b/g) know?

Followed by: hmmm...blank...search Google, try to remember sermons, readings (in case my words are not enough; in case I get it wrong; in case I misunderstood; in case I misinform...)

Then: Pause...STOP, bang my head, this answer I should know and remember by heart. Not technically, as to the word 'good', but I know the significance.

In the end....after 15minutes of stringing words together I replied,  "...when Jesus was crucified and died on the cross. Because Christ's death and resurrection paid for the Sins of all mankind in our place, so that we are able to come before God in his name. His death is victory over death, sin and devil, a sigh of eternal hope for mankind..."

After thought:

Besides reflecting on my own behavior from the event...

Easter holiday is not just another long weekend break on a Christian's calender. Let not remembrance become a tradition, a fixture on the calendar and meanings?

"We weep, but we also rejoice."

http://solapanel.org/article/it_is_not_death_to_die/ 

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

- 1 Corinthians 15:54-57

a little closer to...nescafe

brilliance personified.