Rewarded

 O God, you are my God,
   earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
   my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
   where there is no water. Psalm 63:1


My Sisters in whom is the very life of Christ,
David expressed his heart hunger in this Psalm. We enter a new month with it's pocket full of difficulty, joys and sorrows. Our faith will be renewed and strengthened and tested in ways we would not choose. Experience teaches 'difficulty' is a severe instructor. 


Isaiah wrote:


But I said, “I have labored in vain;
   I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the LORD’s hand,
   and my reward is with my God.” Is 49:4


How often a trial has trampled through your life, leaving in its wake rubble and brokenness with nothing of value visible? You have stood strong in the Lord believing God rewards the righteous and your palm is outstretched waiting for the 'good' promised; but nothing.... You feel left alone and vulnerable, stripped, unrewarded, abandon and forgotten. Testing of our faith is full of what God wants to teach us and I remember the day God showed me a promise I believe is true for us as well as it was for Abram. Hold on and be blessed.

 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”

Genesis 15:1 KJ

Feeling like a pawn on God's divine chess board, expendable and of very little value in the cosmic plan, I balked at the taste of God's Sovereignty crying out for mercy with all my heart. Slowly learning over many bitter trials "God Himself is my reward". Ask God to plant this truth deep in your heart. Growing in Christ is knowing Him more and more intimately. Sweeter and sweeter grows the wine of His Presence until no earthly offering, nor temporal possession nor reward proffered will ever compare to this sacred invasion of my being.

The Levites were given no possession in Israel: Ezekiel 44:28  “‘I am to be the only inheritance the priests have. You are to give them no possession in Israel; I will be their possession.

My heart is quickened reading His promise to the Levites and these words to Abram: 

1. Do not fear

2. I am your shield

3. Your exceeding and great reward

Add your name to the end of each of the 3 statements. Read it again. How can we remain discouraged when we embrace such an amazing Truth?

Let me only enjoy the sweet company of the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ in my trial, and I ask no  more. I do not want even the power of His hand to deprive me of one drop of consolation supplied by the tender love and profound sympathy of His heart. I know He can deliver me, but if He does not see fit to do so, if it does not fall in with His unsearchable counsels, and harmonize with His wise and faithful purpose concerning me so to do, I know it is only to lead me into deeper and richer realization of His most precious sympathy. C.H.M.

 The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want. The Shepherd is my exceeding and great reward. 

I am praying again Father, You who are my exceeding and great Reward. Who is so great as to say "Fear not, I am your Shield!" Only You. Your greatness is unsearchable. Give us heart-hunger for You and allow us to know You more and more intimately. Help us to trust You for all we do not understand and all we do understand. You are our possession and we are Yours! I am provoked to worship as I tap these keys. I need to stop, get on my knees and cry out holy praise to You. I am in awe of You, You who love perfectly. Enable my sisters and I to receive all that You so lavishly give. I pray in Jesus my Savior.

Only the mistakes are mine,
az

Glory in the Cross

But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.  Galatians 6:14

Dear Sisters who share in an inheritance that can never perish!

The world, in all its glitz and glamor is merciless in it's pursuit to woo the human heart. Pressure comes to us through the world, the flesh and the devil.  Hear the his diabolical whisper, "Come, follow! You will be famous. All you need is to make a lot of money and you will be happy serving the changing winds of compromise! Were you not created to fill your cup and glory in the world's applause? I hear the hiss-ss of deceit in such words for it is the world's system of thinking. Even the hearts of our little children are crowded with so much 'stuff'. 

Do not love the world nor the things in the world If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. I john 2:15-17

At some time in our life, we have each wanted to perform better than someone else and be noticed for it. Whether academically or a 'win' in sports or in music and acting, or any other accomplishment, longing to have glory for ourselves. Beauty and talent controlled by the flesh is a formula for disaster. Blind to God's purpose for their lives they are numb to all God's promises. Many of us have family who are deceived and chasing the wind. Countless lives have been destroyed on the world's stages seeking the ever elusive riches, and fame, few survive their successes. Others are blindly convinced happiness is found in a change of job, or their marriage partner and move on to satisfy the flesh and their futile thinking.

But we are called to the Cross. The Cross is an instrument of death just as ugly as a guillotine. Called to a paradoxical life of dying to self to live, losing ourself to find ourself, giving to keep, washing another's stinky feet, serving instead of being served, taking the lowest seat, expecting and welcoming trials and taking up death (our cross). Have you ever heard a young person respond to the question of their future and what they plan to be? "Well, I really, really want to be a servant. You see, it requires dying to my flesh and I have always been attracted to washing stinky, dirty feet."

Hear Jesus garden-words echoing  from the great struggle between two spiritual worlds: 'not my will, but yours be done.” Even God had to choose the Cross. And He  chose to glory in the very Cross where He would suffer immeasurably and die. We are called to glory in His Cross... our daily choice. 

Created to bring Him glory by being transformed into the image of His Son Jesus. Understanding and appropriating the facts of the cross prove to be the most frustrating and arduous phase for a growing believer. Calvary is the secret of it all. It is all He accomplished on the Cross which counts; becoming a force in our lives as we appropriate it by faith; it is the starting point at which all godly living begins. 

"We shall never know the experience of Christ's victory in our lives until we are prepared to count (reckon) upon His victory at the Cross as the secret of our personal victory today.  There is no victory for us which was not first His."ms  Calvary is as much the foundation of sanctification as justification; as both are birthed from the Cross.  We have been delivered from what we deserve, hell, and we are daily in need of deliverance from what we are.

When I look at the Cross, I see my cross. When I look at the Cross, I see Love poured out through His pure and holy sacrifice, for He became sin for me 'who knew no sin, that I might be made the righteousness of God in Him.' II Cor 5:21 Standing on the Truth of what Jesus accomplished at Calvary, His dying for me,  gives the Holy Spirit freedom to apply this finished work in my life, giving me freedom from the penalty of sin (justification). As I stand on the Truth of my dying with Christ in His death to sin, the Holy Spirit gives me freedom from sin's power, (progressive sanctification). I am completely freed from sin's grip. It has no more power over me than I allow moment by moment. How can I not glory in the Cross? I will lose all else. The storage areas in my house hold all I will leave behind. Glorying in the Cross moves me to dance and worship spills out on my knees. Both joy and sorrow compete in my heart for there are those I love, who love this world. I am entrusted to pray faithfully for them. The Truth we embrace is foolishness to those who do not believe. Stand strong on His word for it will enable you to glory in the Cross and that is eternal.

It's a fact of life. We will ultimately lose whatever or whoever we've been hanging onto except for the love of Jesus Christ, poured out on that cross. It's not just a cross. It is the only anchor that will be there when there's nothing else to hold onto. RH

and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. I Peter 2:24

God of all glory, You who cause the sunrise and sunset to shout for joy as they glory in You,

 I bow in awe of You. I 'feel'  as though I cannot truly glory until I am free from this body and before the throne. Until then, work in me to be content to glory in the Cross and in the Lamb here, daily, as I wait for Your return. I lift up my sisters to You asking You to teach them to glory in the Cross. To glory in the grace and mercy and love that You pour out continually day and night. Fill our hearts with faith to trust You and to realize that to glory in You, is to draw near to You. Thank You. As we become more and more like Jesus, You teach us how important the Cross is to our daily living. You have planned this to cause us to be dependent on You. Thank You for Your word, it is true and unchanging. We are so grateful. We love You Jesus. I pray in dependence on You my Sacrifice Lamb,

In the shadow of the Cross I glory,

az

By His Doing

But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, 

"LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD." I Corinthians 1:30-31

My dearest Sisters who are purchased by the blood of Christ,

'By His doing', Those three words stopped me; my feet started dancing and just as quickly I was left on my face in awe and in worship! I am in Christ Jesus only by His doing. Not by my cleverness or ingenuity or strength or wisdom! He chose me. As a child I remember standing on the play ground, holding my breath, as teams were picked for a game, fearful that I would not be chosen. 

He chooses the weak and foolish and base for His purposes so that no man may boast before Him. Jesus became to me all I need and all I will ever need. Salvation must be wholly of grace otherwise how will God get the glory? Paul wanted to get this point across to the Corinthians because they were guilty of glorifying men. When we give glory to men, even godly men, we are guilty of robbing God of the glory He alone deserves. The world excels at giving glory to mankind. Humans work very hard for the world's applause; including many Christians. Consider the awards given out for best actress, actors or writers; they spend their life portraying what is so often vulgar and of the flesh. Pride fuels the competition in pomp and dress. Their life will profoundly fail to satisfy in the end. How it must hurt our Savior to see us support and be drawn into the deception that the world's applause is worth pursuing. 

When all else fails us we find that God is enough. That which we most need in life- love, unfailing love- is abundantly and satisfyingly ours in the Lord Jesus. But we so often seek it elsewhere. ms

God places no reserve on His love. Has He not given the best in heaven for the worst on earth? Surrendering my heart to God, to want from Him only what He wants to give me, I will be content. He is all-wise and good. I have only to walk by faith being occupied with His promises and praising Him with a grateful heart.

If our hearts are not in the circle of divine love they have really got nothing, for as Christians we have no portion on earth. CAC

Verse 30 covers my past, present and future! God shows His wisdom by:

righteousness (we have been saved from the penalty of sin), 

sanctification (we are being saved from the power of sin),  

redemption (we shall be saved from the presence of sin).

All this is mine by His doing. I am dancing! I glory and boast in the Lord Jesus. No one can undo what He does. I hope this wiggles its way down in and deeply fills your heart.  It is all "By His doing."  

Paul came to the Corinthians wanting to know nothing among them except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. "I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God." I Corinthians 2:2-5

O that my life might be one of embracing Truth, demonstrating God's presence and power by His doing; leaving people drawn to Jesus, captured by His glory. 

I am praying again Crucified One, Infinite One, Lord of all the angel armies! I find words inadequate to the need of my heart to praise You. You who have become to me all I needed and will ever need, You who are faithful beyond understanding, You who love me fiercely and perfectly, I worship and adore You. I love you Keeper of my heart. You alone are worthy to be worshiped. Thank You for being so good and by Your doing  have provided me with such abundance. I ask You to penetrate the heart of every woman who reads these words. Touch her with Your Truth and Love and leave her heart bursting with desire to glory in Christ Jesus. Hallelujah what a Savior! In whose name we are welcomed to the Throne. amen


His, by His doing,
 az

Learning to Love

Love is patient and kind. I Cor 13:4  

My Sisters dearly loved by the Lord,

Some lessons we learn quickly and others take a lifetime. I am being stretched this week as a caregiver to one who has been the continual source of hurt. Talking to a friend about what I expect in the near future she advised, "run, get out now!" Her response reflected the world's system of thinking.  I have thought this through and know I am where I am meant to be because God is teaching me to 'love'. Love as Christ loved. He has called me to trust Him.

To love those who love us is not stretching. But God often calls us on to that which is hard, even impossible in our strength. That is when we learn to Love as God loves. 

 As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 13:34

When my too frequent failure to love has confronted me again and driven me to my knees, in desperation I have cried out  "Change me.... forgive me, love through me Lord, I cannot love ______!"

I rest in the Truth that the fruit of the Spirit is 'love' and the Spirit lives in me, as I count myself crucified with Christ I will experience His love for others. He will love the unlovely, the people in my life who are a source of pain or just plain annoying. I am learning to fully depend on Him for sanctification by faith. I recognize I am not overcome the 'flesh' in order to walk in the Spirit. I am to walk in the Spirit to overcome the the flesh.MS  Hear this important truth. I am not to wait until I feel I have some mastery over the flesh; more confidence in my attempt to walk in the Spirit or that in the future i will do better than i have done in the past. It is just the opposite. Until i walk in total dependence on the Spirit i shall not overcome the flesh. I must count myself dead to sin... receiving this victory over my flesh by faith. It is a matter of receiving His Love for others.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit. Gal 5:22-25

The lessons of 'love' are always challenging because it requires dying to the flesh. Love is an action and an attitude. Love pleases Him. The world will tell you to consider your 'needs'. But are they not all temporal? Love is eternal. I have been helped by this statement from Joyce Meyers: 

"You don't have to concentrate on getting your needs met. Just concentrate on doing what is right and God will meet your needs." 

Trying to meet my own needs may be a temporal distraction but it does not satisfy. Our flesh will always try and avoid the cross, but we are called to daily take up our cross and follow. I long to lift Jesus name high by loving others. Not in words that sound so nice, but in deed that requires total dependence on Christ.

Giver of Life, Lover of the unlovely, where else would I go? I run to You. You are Life and Love and Hope. The lessons of Love you teach come through conflict and impossibility and You intend it to be so!  Remind me the person I struggle to love is one for whom You died, one You love as You love me. Thank You my failure is redeemed by You for my good. Remind my sisters we are  continually an object of Your love and Your plan for each of us is to transform us into the likeness of Your Son. Fill our hearts with a hunger to know such transforming love. May we be a conduit of Your love to our brothers and sisters;  a living testimony to a lost world that You are alive and You are Love. Make us willing to pay the cost of loving. I pray in the Name of Jesus, who is Love, amen

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 1 John 3:16

az


Any woman who would like to receive my devotional for women in  BLOG format click the following link and sign up for Dove's Eye or drop me an email to be included on the list:   

 http://az-doveseye.blogspot.com/

Ask Him

We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and pleasehim in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God Col 1:9-11 Beloved, This scripture has been my prayer for each one of you this week as you grow in pleasing Him. I touched on the defining difference between my effort to bring Jesus name glory vs pleasing Him. God's word states faith pleases Him, obedience to His word and loving others by His Spirit pleases Him. It truly depends on our heart attitude. I can do an act of kindness and be dripping with pride and a critical spirit. I cringe remembering the many times I desired to be recognized and thought well of by others, or simply hear thank you and all the time I thought I was bringing glory to God! It is so easy to operate full-tilt in the flesh for we know in our head we are to serve. Realizing only what God does in and through me is eternal, has caused me to listen intently for His voice in the Word.  When I finish a task I like to stop and ask "Did I please You Lord?" This is divergent from asking myself, "Did I please the Lord?" The latter focuses on me but to stop and ask Him, is to acknowledge Him in a surrender of heart. I am seeking what pleases Him.  I want to encourage you to stop, as you move through your day and ask  'Did I please You Lord?" Be poured out as a drink offering for Him. Recently, I spoke to a 13 yr old girl who struggled with her 'Christian' friends who had no inclination to pursue Christ or live for Him; focusing instead on how they could fit into the world. She suffered daily wrestling with this contradiction wanting to understand why they didn't seem to love her Lord. I confirmed her in her decision to walk in a radical obedience to the King of kings. To walk to please Him! To keep her eyes on Christ, not her friends or anyone else. Sharing that her decision would mean suffering and dying, not occasionally, but  daily (as Paul said, "I die daily" I Cor 15:31)  also feeling friendless oftens. But when all is said and done...  she would have no regrets. When she sees Him face to face her pain and struggles will be worth it all.  For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. "I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!" Phil 3:9-11 She understood she must choose for herself to follow Christ, even if those she loves best turn away. The choice is always 'will I surrender' my heart to please Him? Life is hard. Many daily choices are between pleasing our flesh or a friend, or family rather than please Him. Sharing the Truth with her I encouraged her to live by faith, not feelings and stay in God's word. She left pumped, her heart strengthened to please Jesus.   I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Romans 8:18 "The Christian life is not merely a converted life nor even a consecrated life, but it is the Christ-life. It is the consuming desire of the Lord Jesus to reincarnate Himself in the believer." RP Our pleasing Him is to be based on His worthiness, on Who He is and is not about whether we 'feel' like it. God confirms and establishes us in Christ as we seek Him. What privilege is ours to please the Holy God!? Let it burn deeply into your being, bringing strength and encouragement.  You are so loved by the King of kings. Immeasurable God, You who are my praise and the rejoicing of my heart, I want to please You! Please teach me. Live through me in power, strengthening me for Your purposes. I ask You to work in me to want Your will more than my own way. You know how needy I am and how frequently I do not count myself dead to sin and alive to You! I walk in unbelief and focus on the temporary. Thank You for dying to deliver me from the power of sin. The truth that I am forgiven sets my feet dancing. I glory in the Cross on which You died. You are life and breath and hope. Thank You for Your word which is my sanity and gives wisdom and perspective and encourages me daily. I lift up each sister, for You see deeply into her heart and know her struggles. Bring her comfort and Light where she has decisions to make. You see her need. You are her need-Meeter. Put Your arms around her and hold her head and shoulders above all that would pull her down. I pray in the matchless Name above all names, Jesus, amen. To please Him requires dying to the flesh, to 'my' will, and give Him the key to every room in my heart. I am in awe.......az

To view my sculptures click here: http://www.mnsculptors.com/