raised from the dead . . .

it's no secret that i love daisies.
and i especially love this banner . . .
look at it carefully.  what's unusual about it?
reading the picture from left to right (as we do in this part of the world)
it's backwards
inverted
paradoxical.
it starts with a wilted, almost dead daisy . . .
progresses to one that is recovering . . .
and finally
becomes a perfect daisy in full, healthy bloom.
it was a dead daisy that came to life.
i think that it must be a christian daisy.
it is a picture of our christian walk.
we must die before we live.
only when we are dead to ourselves . . .
only when we have come to the end of ourselves . . .
our ideals
our plans
our self-worth
our lusts
our worldliness
our self-dependence
(the list could go on and on . . .)
only when we wake up and realize the dead state we've allowed ourselves to slump into
do we see our need for revival.
only then are we ready to be raised from the dead.
then we become Potter's dust
and He gives us beauty for ashes.

draw me . . .

draw me, oh, draw me, please draw me, my Jesus.

into your presence, where i cannot lie.

my soul is so thirsty, i cannot endure it.

and if i can't get closer, i surely will die.

take me, oh take me, please take me, my Jesus.

quickly, before i forget that I'm lost.

for so many times, my mind has deceived me,

that i really don't have to carry the cross.

i just need to know how to pray.

my wicked desires block the way,

sometimes i have grieved you away,

i don't want to do that today.

help me, oh help me, please help me my Jesus.

save me from sins that i thought were all gone.

kill me with kindness, and break through my blindness.

i know till i'm dead, i can never live on.

(Keith Green)

open up . . .

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: 

if any man hears my voice, and opens the door,

I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."

Revelation 3:20

open up . . .
don't lock Him out.

it's simple . . .

and what are those commandments?
love God . . .
love people . . .

when planning becomes sin . . .

"for I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

[jeremiah 29:11]

how often have i quoted this scripture?

how often have i encouraged others with its message?

but, o how often i have watered down this Word in my own life.

who am i allowing to plan my life anyway?

me . . . with all of my datebooks and daytimers?

or . . . Jesus?"
"now listen, you who say, “today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”  why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. what is your life? you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  instead, you ought to say, “if it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”  as it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. all such boasting is evil.  if anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them."
[james 4:13-17]

it's time for this die-hard scheduler to die!

"many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails."

[proverbs 19:21]

"commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans."

[proverbs 16:3]

so be it, Lord Jesus.

may Your plans and purposes for my life prevail.

i give all of my yesterdays, todays and tomorrows to You.

i love the way God speaks so personally ... and in such a timely way ...

a timely message for me today.                power over fear                by david wilkerson whenever I am afraid, i will trust in You.  [psalm 56:3] i am afraid. fearfulness and trembling are come upon me; terrors of death are fallen upon me. afraid because there is more evil in me than good, lying rather than righteousness, weakness instead of strength. i am like an unripe olive tree without fruit. oh, that I had wings like a dove, i would fly away and be at rest. i would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest. afraid God may cast me off and curse this green tree, for He came seeking fruit and found none. afraid so I can but trust in Him. i will call and He will save me. He shall hear my voice and deliver my soul in peace from the battle that is against me. He will bottle my tears. God is for me. He will keep my feet from falling, that I my walk before Him in the light of the living. o, what a limited understanding we have of  God's ways. how our love pales in comparison to His. if this great man of God felt this way there is hope for me. God is for me. He will keep my feet from falling, that i may walk before Him  in the light of the living.

"religion . . . "

religion.
what a word.
there is so much wrapped around that one little word.
thoughts of "religion" are not usually passive - at least in my world; they are passionate.
if you look up synonyms of the word "passion" you will get these two together (to name a few) . . .
delight.
rage.
the passion evoked by this one little word can be a delight - or it can be rage.

“Religion that God our Father accepts 
as pure and faultless is this: 

to look after orphans and widows in their distress 

and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

[james 1:27]

God is not impressed by our rituals and ceremonies and services.  His church is not confined by a building, or practiced in a program.  He is not concerned with the 'outside of the cup.'
What He wants is for us to live and act with kindness and love to everyone - every day - without expecting something in return.  
Conditional love will not do.  We must love Jesus with all of our hearts and love others as He loves us.