Take 5 - A Moment of Reflection V

[Guest]

Re: Take 5 - A Moment of Reflection V

Most people plot and plan themselves into mediocrity, while now and again somebody forgets himself into greatness.

---E. Stanley Jones

[Guest]

Re: Take 5 - A Moment of Reflection V

Faith in Action
Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup--where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?
I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, "Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I'll handle the works department."
Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.
Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That's just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?
Wasn't our ancestor Abraham "made right with God by works" when he placed his son Isaac on the sacrificial altar? Isn't it obvious that faith and works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in works? That the works are "works of faith"? The full meaning of "believe" in the Scripture sentence, "Abraham believed God and was set right with God," includes his action. It's that mesh of believing and acting that got Abraham named "God's friend." Is it not evident that a person is made right with God not by a barren faith but by faith fruitful in works?
The same with Rahab, the Jericho harlot. Wasn't her action in hiding God's spies and helping them escape--that seamless unity of believing and doing--what counted with God? The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse.

---James 2:14-26, The Message Translation

[Diplomat]

Re: Take 5 - A Moment of Reflection V

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.

--- Ralph Waldo Emerson.

[Diplomat]

Re: Take 5 - A Moment of Reflection V

The Strength Within

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us."

--- Ralph Waldo Emerson

[Diplomat]

Re: Take 5 - A Moment of Reflection V

Whose Approval?

"If I were trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." (Galatians 1:10)

Seeking the approval of others often takes center stage in our thoughts and controls the way we act, and the decisions we make. We have a distorted view that we need to please everyone. Well we can't. There will always be someone who disapproves of our actions, or dislikes us. It is God who needs to be center stage, when it comes to approval. Deep within each of us, there is a longing to for approval by our Creator. Man's approval cannot substitute, or fulfill that desire in us and we can't alter the truth of Jesus Christ to gain it. It is His seal of approval which satisfies our souls.

Prayer

My heart seeks to please You. Your approval is what I desire. I accept the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ Your Son, without compromise. Give me the strength to live my life, so that it reflects Your power, Glory and love to others. It is Your approval my souls seeks. Give me the wisdom and strength to serve You with my whole heart. In Jesus name, Amen.

God Today Devotions, 24.03.04

[Diplomat]

Re: Take 5 - A Moment of Reflection V

Life's Important Things

"We give our lives to that which we give our time. I have learned that it is very difficult, if not impossible to unclutter one’s life by starting at the top of the pile with the idea that the solution is to just get things sorted and better organized. It is nice to get better organized, but that is not enough. Much has to be discarded. We must actually get rid of it. To do this we need to develop a list of basics, a list of those things that are indispensable to our mortal welfare and happiness and our eternal salvation. This list must follow the gospel pattern and contain the elements needed for our sanctification and perfection. It must be the product of inspiration and prayerful judgment between the things we really need and things we just want. It should separate need from greed. It must be our best understanding of those things that are important as opposed to those things that are just interesting."

--- William R Bradford

[Diplomat]

Re: Take 5 - A Moment of Reflection V

Promises

"Life makes no promises, but God does."

--- Dr. Ed Montgomery

"For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us." (2 Corinthians 1:20)

[Diplomat]

Re: Take 5 - A Moment of Reflection V

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.

We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. (1 John 4:1-13)

[Guest]

Re: Take 5 - A Moment of Reflection V

The Rose

A young, new preacher was walking with an older, more seasoned preacher in the garden one day. Feeling a bit insecure about what God had for him to do. He was asking the older preacher for some advice.

The older preacher walked up to a rose bush and handed the young preacher a rosebud and told him to open it without tearing any of the petals. The young preacher looked in disbelief at the older preacher and was trying to figure out what a rosebud could possibly have to do with his wanting to know the will of God for his life and ministry. But, because of his great respect for the older preacher, he proceeded to try and unfold the rosebud while keeping every petal intact . . . It wasn't long before he realized how impossible this was to do.

Noticing the young preacher's inability to unfold the rosebud without tearing it, the older preacher began to recite the following poem:

It is only a tiny rosebud
A flower of God's design;
But I cannot unfold the petals
With these clumsy hands of mine.

The secret of unfolding flowers
Is not known to such as I.
GOD opens this flower so sweetly,
Then, in my hands, they die.

If I cannot unfold a rosebud,
The flower of God's design,
Then how can I have the wisdom
To unfold this life of mine?

I'll trust in Him for leading
Each moment of my day.
I will look to Him for His guidance
Each step of the Pilgrim's way.

The pathway that lies before me
Only my Heavenly Father knows.
I'll trust him to unfold the moments,
Just as He unfolds the rose.

[Diplomat]

Re: Take 5 - A Moment of Reflection V

This Too Shall Pass

If I can endure for this minute
Whatever is happening to me,
No matter how heavy my heart is
Or how dark the moment may be-

If I can remain calm and quiet
With all the world crashing about me,
Secure in the knowledge God loves me
When everyone else seems to doubt me-

If I can but keep on believing
What I know in my heart to be true,
That darkness will fade with the morning
And that this will pass away, too-

Then nothing in life can defeat me
For as long as this knowledge remains
I can suffer whatever is happening
For I know God will break all of the chains
That are binding me tight in the darkness
And trying to fill me with fear-

For there is no night without dawning
And I know that my morning is near.

--- Helen Steiner Rice

(A big "thank you" to the person who sent this to me. You know who you are. It came at a time when I really needed it.)

[Guest]

Re: Take 5 - A Moment of Reflection V

Always Say A Prayer (A.S.A.P.)
There's work to do, deadlines to meet,
you've got no time to spare,
but as you hurry and scurry,
always say a prayer.
In the midst of family chaos,
"quality time" is rare.
Do your best; let God do the rest:
always say a prayer.

It may seem like your worries
are more than you can bear.
Slow down and take a breather --
always say a prayer.

God knows how stressful life is;
He wants to ease our cares,
and He'll respond
A.S.A.P. -

ALWAYS SAY A PRAYER
---written by Lisa Engelhardt

[Guest]

Re: Take 5 - A Moment of Reflection V

The Struggle of the Flesh
Galatians 5:16-26

In Galatians 5, Paul uses the term "flesh" to describe the part of our lives that stands in opposition to God. The fruit of the Spirit, or the evidence of Christ’s life in us, includes love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self- control. The evidence of the flesh includes: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissension in our relationships, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.

The flesh is not so much tangible in nature as it is revealed in our attitudes, desires, and lifestyles. Never think that just because you serve the Lord you won’t be caught up in the trappings of the flesh. A person can serve God, make a wonderful public impression, and still be living in the flesh.

The central focus of the Spirit-filled life must always be Jesus Christ, while the primary focus of the flesh is self–self-will, self-assertion, self-love, self-indulgence, self-pity, self-reliance, self-consciousness, self-righteousness, and self-glorification.

However, we do not have to serve the desires of the flesh. As children of God, we have been given the power to say no to our old way of living and thinking. Ask the Lord to reveal any evidences of the flesh in your life. Be willing to allow Him to strip away all that does not glorify Him.

[Guest]

Re: Take 5 - A Moment of Reflection V

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, your are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. Psalm 139:7-10

[Diplomat]

Re: Take 5 - A Moment of Reflection V

Thoughts on Work

"Your profession is not what brings home your paycheck. Your profession is what you were put on earth to do. With such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling."

--- Vincent Van Gogh.

"A professional is someone who can do his best work when he doesn't feel like it."

--- Alistair Cooke.

[Vonnie]

Re: Take 5 - A Moment of Reflection V

Psalm 139:7-10

Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths; you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea;

Even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.