Reason

            “All (human) reason and natural searching ought to follow faith, not to go before it, nor to break in upon it.  For faith and love here have the pre-eminence, and work in hidden ways, in this holy sacrament.  God, who is eternal, and incomprehensible, and of infinite power, does things great and unsearchable in Heaven and in earth, and there is no tracing out of His marvelous works.  If the works of God were such that they might be easily comprehended by human reason, they could not be justly called marvelous or unspeakable.” ~~ Thomas A’ Kempis, fourteenth century monk 

Pithiness of life

            “My days are swifter than a runner, they speed by without seeing happiness.  They glide by like reed (papyrus) boats and like an eagle that swoops down in its pray” (Job 9:25, 26, NET). 

            “Very quickly, there will be an end of you here look what will become of you in another world.  Today man is; and tomorrow he appears not.  And when he is taken away from sight, he also quickly passes out of mind.” ~~ Thomas A’ Kempis, German monk

Stay with it

            One of the experiences of prayer is that it seems that nothing happens.  But when you stay with it and look back over a long period of pray, you suddenly realize that something has happened. ~~ Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Genesee Diary

A Prayer for a Nation

A Prayer for a Nation

Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer of Billy Graham on his radio program, The Rest of the Story.  “Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance.  We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done.  We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values…  We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery…  We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare...   We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.  We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem…   We have abused power and called it politics... We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition…   We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.  We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.  Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and Set us free…  Amen!”

Seized with conviction

            The Scriptures make it clear it comes from a small beginning, a small flame conviction from winds of envy, criticism and unbelief – a hard heart.  Conviction will be mighty upon people.  Listen, it is God’s call then the power comes.  There is a clear mandate; Jesus must be manifested in character and power.

Touch God

            God longs to manifest Himself in far greater ways to His people.  But He does not reward casual inquirers, only diligent seekers. ~~ Joy Dawson, “Intimate Friendship with God”

Covenant terms

            Why does God use these covenant terms, kingdom and priests, in the very beginning of His Revelation of the things which are going to take place?  I believe it is because we will need to know two things if we are to stand in all that will come. First of all, we need to know our faithful, covenant keeping God – the awesome, all-powerful resurrected Living One who holds the keys of death and Hades. Secondly, we must know, too, who we are: we are chosen and holy members of His Kingdom and we are priests to serve His God and Father, declaring the praise of the One who called us out of darkness into light! ~~ Lois Thies

Piousness

            Godliness is something that comes from God.  If you are faithful to learn this simple way to experience you Lord, you will take possession of God.  And as you possess Him, you will inherit all His traits.  This is godliness: the more you possess God, the more you are made like Him. ~~ Madame Jeanne Guyon

Concern

            God has a very long list that He is not concern with, but, He is concerned about everything concerning your life.

Hiding Purposes, Not Promises

            “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know” (Job 42:3, NIV).

            “God conceals His purpose, that we may live on His promises.  It is not for us to pry into His decrees or seek to know the future; the promise should be sufficient to stay the heart as to the Lord’s ways.” ~~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)

Missionary

            You have no doubt heard he lives in his own little world.  We often think of the Great Commission, “He said to them, ‘Go to the whole world and preach the gospel to all mankind” (Mark 16:15, Good News; Also Matt.28:16-20; Luke 24:36-49; John 20:19-23; Acts1:6-8) as going to a foreign nation to carry out missionary activities.

            I am certainly for having a global vision but I believe it starts when we embrace our small world wherever that might be and earnestly pray for those who do not have a relationship with our Jesus.  This begins as we seek God to live and give of ourselves and ask the Holy Spirit to open opportunities do as Jesus did.  Do not forget the hardest mission field, your family and ones next door. 

The Apostle of Prayer

            John (Praying) Hyde’s prayer life ranks in a league with many prayer warriors of church history.  One could hear from the prayer closet of John the sighing and the groaning, and to see the tears coursing down his face, to see his frame weakened by foodless days and sleepless night, shaken with sobs as he pleads, “O god, give me souls or I die!”

Trusting God

            Today I received the April 2009 VERITAS which has an article by Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer, “Trusting God When You Don’t Understand.”  This article was excellently written, certainly expected by this nationally and internationally Bible teacher and senior pastor of the world-famous Moody Church in Chicago since 1980.  I would like to quote a small section of his article; “Give It All to God.”

            “We think that times are tough, and we all struggle with stress, strain, and anxiety.  Let’s have the faith to give our anxieties to God.  Here is an illustration that might help.

            Let’s suppose that I am on a long flight overseas, and as we fly into the night, I say to a fight attendant, “I am worried about the pilots.  I think they may have fallen asleep.  Would you check to see if they are awake?"  Let's say she does and then assures me that they are awake.

            But half an hour later, I say to myself, “Those pilots could have fallen asleep by now.”  I ask the flight attendant, “Could you check on the polits again?”  She checks and come back to say they are awake.  When I ask the third time, she tells me very emphatically that I am insulting the pilot and the entire airline!  And, of course, I would be if I had such incessant fears.

            But I think you and I insult God like that every day.  We commit a matter to Him, then we keep checking to see if He had done anything about it; we wonder if He has fallen asleep at the switch.”

           

           

             

Books

            It is books that are the key to the wide world; if you can't do anything else, read all that you can. ~~ Jane Hamilton

I can hear

            To this day I can hear my Grandma Emma Chellgreen telling me, “Beauty is as beauty does.”  I thought my Grandma was beautiful she was so kind and always knew the appropriate.

What can we do?

            Fear God and give Him glory – this is the command of Holy Scripture for the end time when lawlessness and blasphemy are rampant (Revelation 14:7).  But how shall we give glory and honor to our Lord, who is cruelly degraded, insulted and blasphemed today?  By not only making intercession, either alone or in prayer groups, to combat the forces of sin that are prevalent today – however necessary this is – but by offering our Lord praise and adoration.  This is what our times call for, now that the world is approaching midnight.  Our worship should correspond to the degradation that is heaped upon Jesus everywhere.  Let us exalt Him by worshiping Him, praising and honoring Him with our prayers, songs and hymns of adoration.

Let us proclaim in our hearts and with our lips who God is.  Yes, when our Lord is so cruelly degraded, let us worship Him in His glory and might.  He made the whole universe, the host of stars, the sun, the moon, the earth with its awe-inspiring natural wonders, gigantic mountains and oceans, and also the tiniest creature.  Who is God, the almighty Creator, and who are we – a speck of dust, pitiable mortal beings, subject to death and whose bodies will rot in the grave!  God is the eternal, immortal Lord, who was and is and evermore shall be.  He is the source of everything that exists and that is yet to come.  Let us bring humor upon honor to our Lord when countless numbers of blasphemers insolently rise up against God and dare to sin against Him, although before God they are nothing.  ~~ Mother Basilea Schlink, Jesus My Lord so Hated Today

Importunate prayer

            We can do nothing without prayer. All things can be done by importunate prayer. It surmounts or removes all obstacles, overcomes every resisting force and gains its ends in the face of invincible hindrances. ~~ E.M. Bounds

Fascinating people

            Irish poet and novelist Oscar Wilde wrote, “There are only two kinds of people who are really fascinating – people who know absolutely everything and people who know absolutely nothing.”

Look around

            Look around, have you notice the different people from different back grounds, different cultures, different ethnic groups.  Look again at the mate you married, yes, that is right your marriage partner.  No we can’t stop here let us go on.  I’ll be okay.  Just a few more reflections.  Look at his/her relatives they are called in-laws – family.  Now we come to the unpleasant part, think of them simply as human beings with flaws and imperfections but also with lovable qualities.  Some have fewer than others but think of them as people.  Treat them like people.  May I end with this thought?  Jesus said, “Love them.”  My, my.

How does the soul ascent to God?

            The soul ascends to God by giving up self, giving it up to the destroying power of divine love!  Yes, giving up to the annihilating power of divine love!

            This giving up of self is essential, absolutely essential, if you are to plumb, experience, and continually dwell in the depths of Jesus Christ.  It is only by the destruction and annihilation of self that you can pay homage to the sovereignty of God!

            You see, “The power of the Lord is great, and He is honored only by the humble” (Apocrypha). ~~ Madame Jeanne Guyon, Seventeenth Century French mystic

            

Righteousness

And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness-.-.-.-but-.-.-.-the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Philippians 3:9).

Oh, if I could, by God's grace, pour into you the difference between our every day righteousness and that attitude of a living faith that dares claim and believe in Him!  For I perceive there is something after the righteousness of faith that you can never get by the righteousness of the law.

There is something in imputed knowledge and righteousness of God which is greater than all beside. David speaks about it.  Paul often speaks about it.  But I want to bring just a touch of it on the lines of faith in Abraham's life.

Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. It was an imputed condition. God came forth and said to all the demons in hell and all the men on the earth "Touch not that man."

You can count on God to bring you through on all lines for "no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper" (Isa. 54:17).

Lord, by faith impute Thy righteousness that
I might stand even against
the forces of hell. Amen.

Read more: http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/newsletters/daily-devotionals/smith-wigglesworth-devotional/25901-righteousness-by-faith#ixzz0khVQl7ME

In the depth

            The journey of entering into a deeper level of experience with Jesus the Christ is within your grasp.

            Madame Jeanne Guyon writes in her book, Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ, “In the beginning, you were led into His presence by prayer; but now, as prayer continues, the prayer actually becomes His presence.  In fact, we can no longer say that it is prayer that continues.  It is actually His presence that continues with you.  This is beyond prayer.  Now a heavenly blessedness is yours.  You begin to discover that God is more intimately present to you than you are to yourself, and a great awareness of the Lord begins to come to you.”

            His presence is as close to you as your skin is to your body.  It is here, and here alone, you can find Him.  

            

Benefit of Grace

            In the last few months, I have taken the time to reading Christian Blogs.  Most of them are excellent, well done.  In fact, they are great.  However, very few deal with Grace and the benefit of Grace.  What happen to Grace?

            Many years ago M. A. Daoud wrote, “There are no conditions that men must meet in order to get the benefit of Grace.”  I keep this thought tucked away in my heart.

Suffer cheerfully

            “Know for certain that you ought to lead a dying life” (Psalm 44:22).  And the more any man dies to himself, so much the more he begins to live unto God.  No man is fit to comprehend things heavenly, unless he submit himself to the bearing of adversities for Christ’s sake.  Nothing is more acceptable to God, nothing more wholesome to you in this world, than to suffer cheerfully for Christ.  And if it were for you to choose, you ought rather to suffer adversities for Christ, than to be refreshed with many consolations; because you would thus be more like unto Christ.  For our worthiness, and the progress of our spiritual state, stands not in many sweetnesses and comforts, but rather in thoroughly enduring great affections and tribulations. ~~ Thomas A’ Kempis, Of the Imitation of Christ

Easter Exultet

 Shake out your qualms.
 Shake up your dreams.
 Deepen your roots.
 Extend your branches.
 Trust deep water
 and head for the open,
 even if your vision
 shipwrecks you.
 Quit your addiction
 to sneer and complain.
 Open a lookout.
 Dance on a brink.
 Run with your wildfire.
 You are closer to glory
 leaping an abyss
 than upholstering a rut.
 Not dawdling.
 Not doubting.
 Intrepid all the way
 Walk toward clarity.
 At every crossroad
 Be prepared
 to bump into wonder.
 Only love prevails.
 En route to disaster
 insist on canticles.
 Lift your ineffable
 out of the mundane.
 Nothing perishes;
 nothing survives;
 everything transforms!
 Honeymoon with Big Joy! ~~ James Broughton 

It's the Anointing

            Preaching creates an atmosphere for the Holy Ghost to move; the Holy Ghost brings the empowerment of God to set the captives free, comfort the poor at heart, opening blind eyes and deaf ears to the word of God.  The anointing brings favor.

 

Fervent Prayer

Please feel free to e-mail HeartTalkperLeo@gmail.com if you would like prayer.

Life

            Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it. ~~ Dennis P. Kimbro

Fervent Prayer

Please feel free to e-mail HeartTalkperLeo@gmail.com if you would like prayer.

God's Unfailing Love

            God’s love is unchangeable; He knows exactly what we are and loves us anyway.  In fact, He created us because He wanted other creatures in His image upon whom He could pour out His love and who would love Him in return.  He also wanted that love to be voluntary, not forced, so He gave us freedom of choice, the ability to say yes or no in our relationship to Him.  God does not want mechanized love, the kind that says we must love God because it’s what our parents demand or our church preaches.  Only voluntary love satisfied the Heart of God.

            On the human level, we frequently love the one who loves us.  In the spiritual realm, people do not grasp the overwhelming love of a holy God, but we can understand God’s love by getting to know Him through Jesus Christ.  No one can grasp the love of God of the universe without knowing His Son. ~~ Billy Graham, Hope for the Troubled Heart

Fervent Prayer

Please feel free to e-mail HeartTalkperLeo@gmail.com if you would like prayer.

God is a God of variety

            There is a brand of catsup, Heinz 57 variety.  I relate to that.  Anyone who has lived long enough will tell you that God uses the least likely people – ordinary people.  And these people who come from a diversity of cultures don’t necessarily see things the same way.  You have to be spiritually deaf and dumb not to see that God is using them, even if you don’t agree one hundred percent with their beliefs and teachings or most importantly the way they look at things.  I leave you with this thought, “To Disagree without being disagreeable is not compromise; it’s maturity.”  Is this person my brother?  Then we can all ascend to greater heights together.

Fervent Prayer

Please feel free to e-mail HeartTalkperLeo@gmail.com if you would like prayer.

Apologetics

            There are limits to which theological argument can go.  No person by sheer academic reasoning will ever reach a place where all his doubts have been cleared away, and even if by some miracle he did achieve this, it would not suffice to make him a Christian.  Christianity is a way of life.  It must be seen from the inside.  It must be lived in order to be understood.  It cannot be borrowed second-hand from the pages of a book but has to be discovered first-hand in a radical act of commitment to Jesus Christ.  “There are some things in life – and they may be the most important things – that we cannot know by research or reflection, but only by committing ourselves.  We must dare in order to know.”  The fences, the obstacles, are there and will remain there until we decide to spread our wing and fly over them. ~~ Leonard Griffith, Barriers to Christian Belief 

The Cross

            The Cross was no accident.  It was the plan.  From before time began.  “The Cross was not something that happened to Jesus,” wrote Oswald Chambers.  “He came to die; the Cross was His purpose in coming.”

            Somewhere during my years as a Christian, and mostly the past few, I’ve began to fall in love with Jesus.  I’m spending more time with Him now and look forward to my future with Him.  Love salvation.  But love the Savior first and foremost. ~~ Rick Reed, Reflections