God in Everything ..... Streams in the Desert

God in Everything 

Streams in the Desert 

"It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good" (1 Sam. 3:18)

See God in everything, and God will calm and color all that thou dost see!" It may be that the circumstances of our sorrows will not be removed, their condition will remain unchanged; but if Christ, as Lord and Master of our life, is brought into our grief and gloom, "HE will compass us about with songs of deliverance." To see HIM, and to be sure that His wisdom cannot err, His power cannot fail, His love can never change; to know that even His direst dealings with us are for our deepest spiritual gain, is to be able to say, in the midst of bereavement, sorrow, pain, and loss, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath, taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

Nothing else but seeing God in everything will make us loving and patient with those who annoy and trouble us. They will be to us then only instruments for accomplishing His tender and wise purposes toward us, and we shall even find ourselves at last inwardly thanking them for the blessings they bring us. Nothing else will completely put an end to all murmuring or rebelling thoughts.
--H. W. Smith

"Give me a new idea," I said,
While musing on a sleepless bed;
"A new idea that'll bring to earth
A balm for souls of priceless worth;
That'll give men thoughts of things above,
And teach them how to serve and love,
That'll banish every selfish thought,
And rid men of the sins they've fought."
The new thought came, just how, I'll tell:
'Twas when on bended knee I fell,
And sought from HIM who knows full well
The way our sorrow to expel.
SEE GOD IN ALL THINGS, great and small,
And give HIM praise whate'er befall,
In life or death, in pain or woe,
See God, and overcome thy foe.

I saw HIM in the morning light,
HE made the day shine clear and bright;
I saw HIM in the noontide hour,
And gained from HIM refreshing shower.
At eventide, when worn and sad,
HE gave me help, and made me glad.
At midnight, when on tossing bed
My weary soul to sleep HE led.
I saw HIM when great losses came,
And found HE loved me just the same.
When heavy loads I had to bear,
I found HE lightened every care.
By sickness, sorrow, sore distress,
HE calmed my mind and gave me rest.
HE'S filled my heart with gladsome praise
Since I gave HIM the upward gaze.

'Twas new to me, yet old to some,
This thought that to me has become
A revelation of the way
We all should live throughout the day;
For as each day unfolds its light,
We'll walk by faith and not by sight.
Life will, indeed, a blessing bring,
If we SEE GOD IN EVERYTHING."
--A. E. Finn 

Accountability Is Scriptural ..... Dr. Charles Stanley

Accountability Is Scriptural

Dr. Charles Stanley

James 5:13-16

There are plenty of biblical directives about making ourselves accountable to one another. But for many, the idea of revealing personal information seems restrictive or even an invasion of privacy. Such confession seems a hindrance to the pursuit of pleasure, prosperity, and prestige. Most people prefer to keep to themselves and not involve others in their business.

The Bible, however, makes it clear that Christians are to support each other in this regard: "Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed" (James 5:16).

Accountability in the body of Christ is a biblical principle. Church members take direction from their pastor (Heb. 13:17). Paul tells us to be subject one to another (Eph. 5:21). Yet he was answerable to the church (Acts 14:27), just as Timothy was subordinate to him (1 Tim. 4:13-16). The apostles were certainly under the authority of Jesus (Luke 10), even as Jesus was subject to the Father (John 8:28-29). Of course, the Bible tells us that the whole church is obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 5:24). Regardless of one's position, everybody is accountable to somebody. And this holds true for the entire family of faith--from the congregation to the ministers to Jesus Himself, who served God the Father.

People avoid accountability for various reasons, including pride, ignorance, fear, and self-reliance. This is a dangerous approach to life. Our Enemy knows our weaknesses and how to exploit them. But we can prevail with the support of friends. There is strength in the body of Christ.

Making Peace With an Imperfect Body..... JAMI AMERINE

Making Peace With an Imperfect Body
JAMI AMERINE

“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27 (NIV)

Have you ever pondered this question: How can I come to a peaceable meeting with an “awkward” body? 

Too many of us have been painfully trained — by ourselves and the world — to believe our bodies aren’t normal or beautiful unless they are in “perfect” proportions. Tell me, please … where is the Bible verse to help the woman who feels too short, too top-heavy, too thin, too tall or too wide?

Ah, yes, here it is:

“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27).

OK … but when He created me in His image, was He aware of the upcoming skinny jean fad? Because that is definitely not a look I can pull off. And why are they called “skinny jeans” when they can be found in the Women’s World section under 28 plus-plus?

As women, it seems we’re always chasing an unending quest for perfection. We have our credit cards armed and ready to try something, anything, to achieve something else. Something close to “perfect.”

So, friend, tell me, what is perfect? And who first drew our eyes down to look at our belly buttons and begin to pick ourselves apart by questioning, “What is wrong with me?” I submit that self-hatred keeps us focused on self and not on God and all He has planned for us.

And this, this is huge: I believe the enemy uses shame to keep us stuck.

How dare we be ashamed of the temple where God has chosen to dwell?

If you are ashamed, friend, maybe you have neglected the truth of exactly who you are. I know this was true of me. I wasn’t just guilty of overconsumption, an abnormal affection for soft cheeses and a partiality to napping. I was ashamed of who I was. And if I was ashamed of who I was, the size on my clothes, my hairstyle, marathon medals or prescription medications weren’t ever going to matter.

Until I was able to accept God’s forgiveness AND stop being ashamed of myself, there would be no progress. So, I wrote it out:

You are the daughter of the Most High. He died for you so He would be with you for eternity. He did this so you would never face condemnation, ever. You are whole and complete. He wants you to live a life of abundant peace and joy and share it with others, so they too will know of His goodness. This is the Good News.

Say it with me, girl: “OK, this is me. This is my current situation. For this moment, I am OK with this. God’s grace is sufficient.”

Heavenly Father, help me remember who I am and whose I am. Open my eyes and mind to see and understand the truth in Your Word that I am Your masterpiece, created in Your image. Give me the courage to speak these truths to myself each day. Thank You for loving every part of me even when I don’t. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (NLT) 

Here Be Leaders .....by John UpChurch

Here Be Leaders
by John UpChurch

You wouldn’t know it from the outside, but this place is full of leaders. Sure, the boarded up windows and sloppy graffiti might be cause for concern. And the challenging glares of those crossing the street might make you want to drive faster. But make no mistake: church leaders, pastors, elders, and missionaries make their home here, amid the squalor, amid the sun-creased faces.

I drive this way every day, up a side road that leads out of the heart of Richmond, Virginia. With all the potholes and missing concrete, you can be sure it hasn’t been paved in years. This path is no shortcut, but it takes almost twice as long to get onto the interstate through the rush-hour snarl. I’ll take the potholes, thank you very much.

I don’t know the history of this area, but my guess is that it’s similar to most other places that get bypassed by the major highways. Interest moved with the roads and left a fading beauty in its wake—local restaurants filled in for chains, corner stores staggered in with bars over the windows, grays and browns spread from house to house. The only touch of modernity is a sleek courthouse and expanding police station on the corner.

In any case, this isn’t the type of place where you want to have a flat tire. And that may be the very reason I had one… right there… right in the middle of the smoke-damaged houses and shattered windows. After pushing aside a broken bottle under my feet, I wrestled with the jack, which I’d never had to manhandle before. I confess that a bit of anxiety did reach my fingers and perhaps that’s what made the process take so long.

No one stopped to help, and I was fine with that. I just wanted to be finished without having to explain how I’d opened a huge gash in my tire.

But I wasn’t completely alone. A young man strutted up the sidewalk and stopped to watch for a moment. Then, he strutted closer.

I’d seen this movie; it never ended well. Instead of terror, though, a wave of calm smacked into me. Even when the guy said he’d just gotten out of jail and needed to call his ride, the expected panic didn’t come. Peace… that dreadful peace wouldn’t leave. So, I handed over my phone. And, yes, that’s a dumb move, but listening to his call showed me more in a minute about the nature of this place than a hundred trips through this section of the city ever did.

The bravado masked uncertainty; the swagger plastered over need. And me giving him my phone to use was probably one of the few acts of charity this guy had ever experienced. "Good news" to him was me simply getting out of my car and seeing him as a person and not a potential road hazard on the way home.

Intersecting Faith and Life: Changing demographics—from quaint corner of the city to neglected side route—don’t change the need. As long as people are there, the need for the gospel is there. I don’t suggest you get a flat in a scary part of town, but I do think it’s easy to focus only on the places where we’re comfortable. We feel safer with what’s familiar.

That’s not what Jesus did, though. He went to the places least expected to find leaders. He dusted off the despised and neglected, and he gave them a new role as fishers of people. He made crooked IRS agents into evangelists. He made prostitutes into pillars of the church. He made swearing fishermen into saintly bishops.

Here be leaders… if we’re only willing to look.

For Further Reading:
John 13

Following Jesus Will Feel Like the “Wrong” Way..... by John Dickson

Following Jesus Will Feel Like the “Wrong” Way
by John Dickson

Following the Teacher will occasionally run counter to the world around us. It will at times be unpopular—a minority position. As Jesus warned in his Sermon on the Mount:

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

Jesus probably intended this as a specific description of the response of first-century Israel to his teaching. But it has been disturbingly true of other periods as well. Sometimes—though not always—following Christ as teacher is a lonely, counter-cultural experience. The wider public might like the idea of Jesus as teacher but I am not sure it always has time for the actual content of his teaching. Some of what he said almost certainly puts aspects of Western culture (and church life) on the “broad road” rather than the “narrow” one. Christians have often said that applying Jesus’ teaching to everyday life at times feels like driving the wrong way up a one-way street (to extend Jesus’ road metaphor). But this is to be expected if Jesus’ claims are true and he really is the divinely appointed Teacher.

A truth that is relevant for all human cultures will, by definition, contradict any particular human culture at some point, since societies are constantly in flux, sometimes coinciding with the truth, other times deviating from it.

People who seek to adjust Jesus’ teaching—as the modern church sometimes does—in an attempt to make it more “relevant” often end up doing just the opposite. In the first century as much as the twenty-first the power and poignancy of Jesus’ teaching is that it sounds like a voice from outside human society. It is a voice that knows us only too well, and it calls on us to live beyond the historical blip of our particular culture.

A Prayer of Thanks for God’s Constant Love..... By Meg Bucher

A Prayer of Thanks for God’s Constant Love
By Meg Bucher

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17

The same spaghetti sauce recipe has been passed down in our family for three generations. And one day, we decided to change it. I was worried it would be a disaster. My daughters have grown up with this sauce, which we all love, and it contains no chunks or trace of veggies or anything we might call “good” for us. It’s been a consistent part of their lives since they were little. So I wasn’t sure they could handle a change.

Nevertheless, the chopping began, the smiles ensued, and the sauce was a hit. My poor husband, who doesn’t like visible tomato and onion pieces, was doomed to a long dinner of picking things out. But my picky daughter and her sister loved it! It’s still a work in progress, but chopping fresh veggies with my girls is pretty fun.

The VOICE paraphrase of James 1:17 says this about God: “He is consistent.” God’s love is constant, though it may feel different to us in different seasons. When we embrace God’s consistent love, we become consistently loved children. He is our anchor when life changes suddenly on us. No matter what changes happen, he stays the same.

Join me in giving thanks today for our good Father, who never changes, as is always loving, gracious, and kind.

Father, we praise You for Your consistency. Thank You that though we are incapable of being consistently good, loving and righteous, you are those things for us.. Forgive us for our inconsistency, and bless us, that we may know Your love for us never changes. You are always loving, and for that we give thanks. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.