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


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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/

I make it my goal to please Him...

...you should live in a way that proves you belong to the God who calls you into his kingdom and glory. I Thess 2:12 

Beloved,

 What if before your feet hit the floor this morning, your only goal upon awakening is to please Him? I have prayed frequently in my Quiet in the morning for the Lord to let me bring Him glory. God's word states we bring Him glory when we bear much fruit and the world will know we belong to Him when the evidence of His love flows through us.

I question what this exactly means for me! I was not easy with it as it seemed to put the ball in my court; giving me authority to choose what I deem as something which will bring Him glory. My flesh can have great input at such a time and this too, bothers me. I have concluded, though my desire for His glory is good, there is a higher way. It is to live in such a way as to seek to please Him. This of course requires dying to self. 

Hear me... I may think certain things would bring Him glory and be quite mistaken. But if we are focused on pleasing someone else, child or adult, they decide what is pleasing. So too, only our Lord Jesus can decide what pleases Him. Our hearts must humbly seek Him in His word to know what pleases Him. Whether or not it will bring Him glory is not in our power to determine. Glory spills out to His name only as He decides. Has He not chosen the foolish things in the world to confound the wise? Have you considered He may find the smallest, quietest act of love from our heart to be the sweetest offering we give, an act seen only by Him.

It is not a place where we are, or the work that we do or cannot do, that matters, it is something else. It is the fire within that burns and shines whatever be our circumstances. AC

To To please Him is to walk by faith, "not I, but Christ". (II Cor 5:7, Gal 2:20) I am cautioned not to ask repeatedly "Am I pleasing Him?" And not to get caught up in focusing on the 'I' but instead to focus on 'Christ'. I can obey Him even with sin in my heart and with a selfish attitude. Performing religious activities with a heart that seeks self-glory and recognition. But I will never 'please' Him in the flesh. He says "No flesh will glory in my Presence" (I Cor 1:29) Let us glory in the Cross.

Psalm 69:30-31

 I will praise God’s name in song 

   and glorify him with thanksgiving. 

 This will please the LORD more than an ox. (sacrifice)

walk as children of Light...  trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Eph 5:8 &10 

Life itself springs out of the Cross of Christ wrought into the very being of believers. Unless believers are crucified people, there can be no true expression of the Church." T.A.S.

Let's give God sincere, extravagant, heart-felt praise with thankful hearts. Is there anything that would please Him more than creating the likeness of Christ in us and seeing us 'love' the unlovely and difficult people in our lives, by the power of His Spirit? My sisters, be willing to die and let love cost you.

God of my praise, You who lift me from the dung-hill of the flesh and pride. Forgive and cleanse me from my many offenses against You. Show me how to please You! I count myself dead to sin and alive to You for I am in Christ. Make me a blessing to others in amazing ways because is You living in resurrection power through me! How precious You are Lord. I pray so that my sisters and I will walk in a manner worthy of You Lord, to please You in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. You are the joy and rejoicing of my heart. Thank You for the Cross and Christ's finished work on my behalf. Blessed be Your name now, today, and forever.

It takes time, so much time.

Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel.

My dearest family of Sisters,

Greetings in the Name of the Lord, grace and peace to you from God our Father.

The shortest distance between where I am and where I want to go, is my route of choice. I struggle with slow drivers in the fast lane, red lights and any road posting 30 mph. I began to hurry before I took my first breath, making my appearance in the hospital hall way, not the delivery room; as would be appropriate. A few of you can relate to such life-speed.

This also spills over into my spiritual life. I know many more of you can relate to this difficulty in which I experience concern over my spiritual growth. I feel frustrated at my slow growth and wrestle with accepting the inexorable fact my heavenly Father does not hurry in His development of my faith. I need to be reminded my Father works for eternity. Yet, it is hard to believe I am even growing unless I am surging swiftly forward! I want to see change!

Moses was 40 years on the backside of a desert after failing in his first start he ran. Seldom did I consider in the early days of my new life, the necessity of getting to know myself. God's main tool to grow me is 'need' and need is the result of failure. God uses failure to reveal to me that I have no strength. As I trust in myself (my flesh) I eventually run amuck. It is then I sprint, not to a desert, but to Him who is all I am not and I find welcome and grow in my knowledge of Him. To my chagrin, this requires much time, as I learn to reckon myself dead to sin and alive to Christ. I mature and become fruitful by the principle of growth-- rather than trying hard, serving hard, or resolving to do better, nor any experience I may have.

The unavoidable result of relying on our flesh is Romans 7. The result of living Romans 6 in complete dependence on the Holy Spirit, is Romans 8 and Galatians 5:22-25. A sure sign I am living with the flesh in control is when I am disappointed in myself. Exposing that I have again trusted in myself. I must come to agreement with Romans 7:18 'in my flesh dwells no good thing”. In our spiritual journey we make many fresh starts determined to live for Christ, determined to do better, being more earnest than ever but all is disappointment for the fresh start was a flesh-start. It is especially hard to admit we were trying to improve ourselves because of our pride (the flesh). We may deny it and even agree with Romans 7:18, but disappointment is proof, that even with knowledge of the Truth, we were attempting to do life in the flesh again! The flesh wears many masks and can even fit well in church, even in leadership positions.

In this matter of Christian development there is no shortcut, no quick and easy way. The Husbandman builds into the believer that which He intends to minister through him to others. In order to minister Life to others, what one does and says must flow from what he is. MJS

TRUTH: Only what the Holy Spirit of God does in and through us is eternal.

A friend I love dearly is going through a difficult divorce. Her husband stops unannounced and unwelcome and it is emotionally stressful. She is determined to keep sane and carry on necessary conversation without all the past hurt and anger fueling her words and without falling into the flesh being in control. We talked after her husband left, she cried out from her gut with many tears, “Why can't I stay in control? Why do I let his words provoke me and I go off on him like a banshee? I try so hard and still end up screaming. I do not want to be like this. I want to be stronger.

She loves the Lord and wants to honor Him. I shared God doesn't want to make her stronger but weaker. Until she gets so sick of the flesh that she runs to Him, to His strength and begins to live in Romans 6, moment by moment. I cried with her, tasting her utter disappointment in 'self'. I understand. I have been there more times than I want to count. It is then we must run to Him 'receiving' strength of His control, not our trying to producing it.

Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Matt 5:16

Some of us need faith to meet very hard things, especially through the holidays. We need love from our heart to, flow from the Holy Spirit, through us over family and friends. All who will go into situations where Christ is not honored; are going to be the target of the devil. He will come in his most successful venue: discouragement.

I have always noticed that when God has purposes of blessing for some soul, the devil of discouragement, who is one of satan's most useful servants, is sure to come and whisper all sorts of sorrowful, depressing, miserable thoughts. He drops those about, sometimes in one heart and sometimes in another. If they take root and grow into feelings and words and deeds, he knows that a great deal has been done to hinder what our God intends to do. Do not forget discouragement is always from beneath; encouragement is always from above; God is the God of encouragement. AC

I thought how often we sit and talk about God's truth and admire what the Holy Spirit reveals to us in the Word, where as His purpose in revealing it to our heart is that we might embrace it by faith and wait on the Him to make it part of our life. This Christmas as you go and celebrate, even in situations you would rather avoid, keep before you this truth: You are bringing the Holy Son of God and all He is... love, peace, joy, strength, Hope with you. Embrace this by faith. Go and let Him glorify Himself through you. How amazing is that?

Lord of Glory, Lord of Hope and Peace, You who are all that I am not, You who are Strength... the fact You live in me is more than I can truly understand. I am amazed that my circumstances will turn out for the greater progress of the Gospel! Fill my heart with faith to trust You to live through me in power; shining Your glory. What an awesome thing to be Your vessels, to believe You will touch others as we count ourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ's life. I bow, Asking only that my Sisters and I would be a clean vessels, sanctified and fit for Your use and we would be willing to pay the cost of having Your love flow through us that we will count ourselves dead to sin and receive the life You produce. In the Name of the One they called Emmanuel, God with us!!

Merry Christmas dear Sisters, 

az

The LORD is my Shepherd

If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are. I Cor 3:17 The Lord is my Shepherd... Psalm 23:1 My dearest Sisters, Beloved of the LORD, This past few weeks I have been pondering the sacredness of the moment. This moment. It is all we have. I am set apart by Him to live a life consecrated to His will. Sacred. Each moment a divine connection to all that is eternal because my position is 'in' Christ before the Father.  It was Christ's great work at the Cross which brought us to the Father. As believers we are not going to Hell, but do we realize positionally we are already in heaven? We are 'in' Christ and there for, in the Father's presence. Jesus death, His blood, His ascension, the sacrifice Lamb reigning from the Throne reveal one thing... we dwell in the Father's presence now. Eternal life doesn't begin when we breathe our last, it is now. If there be progress upward (heavenly) there must be progress in life and ways down here; you cannot see the need for a change in your ways here until you are transformed by the influence of nearness to Him there. You thus gradually find things here are not suitable for the order and nature of the things which are so attractive to the renewed heart up there.JBS The blessed position of a Christian is, that he has died even to the best things of the world, religious or otherwise, and he is alive to the highest things in the presence of the Father; for the Lord Jesus Christ is his life, in whom he is hidden. W.K. Do you believe this? Embracing this Truth changes everything. I have come to realize I am camped in enemy territory. This is war. The biggest problem is that we are sheep. As I meditated on Psalm 23 this morning I heard it with my heart. As a sheep I am needy, selfish, weak, foolish and fearful; in great need of a Shepherd. The most common place I have heard this Psalm is at a funeral. I refuse to think of it as a funeral Psalm any longer; this is God's word for the living. I encourage you to read it expectantly. Do you need Rest? Quiet? Restoration? Are their enemies in the camp (Fears or stubbornness)? Do you need to be still, stop the frenzied activity? Do you need to stop focusing on others and fix your eyes on the Shepherd? Psalm 23 overflows with abundant hope, strength, rest and peace. Let it flow over you and through calling you to be still and draw near the Shepherd; allowing His love to wrap around you because He enjoys you near.  Try focusing on the verbs and it will lift you up as they cover every area of need we experience. And vs 4 caused me to 'Bless His Holy Name!" Look at this: Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for You are with me...  vs 4 The first two words quickened my spirit.  Place a blank after these two words and fill it in making it personal. Even though____________.... I will not fear. Why? You are with me. (The word 'will' indicates it is a choice of your 'will', not your feelings) EX: Even though I am lonely or even though I have failed, even though I am facing serious health issues, loss of a job, financial distress, death of a loved one.... ' even though' I will choose to trust You! A faith statement, irregardless of how you feel, for Who is with us? The Good Shepherd, who knows us by name and loves us immeasurably!  "I pray LORD you will fill each heart with faith to believe this without reservation." And I want to encourage you to read Psalm 23 once a day in as many versions as available for at least a week. (See attachment with different versions of Psalm 23) It is a wonderful thing to so enjoy the Shepherd, to be so satisfied with Him and find Him enough, we can say, “The LORD is my Shepherd, I have all that I need... for He is with me." This moment is sacred for He lives in me, I am His temple. I am absolutely dependent on Yeshua my Savior. The Lord Jesus stood where I was and now I stand where He is, and that is the only place I have before my Father. We may fail and grieve the Holy Spirit, but that is where we are set. J.N.D. Satisfier of our hearts, I come to You who are goodness and lovingkindess. You who are intentional in Your plans and loving watch-care over me. I am more in awe of You ever day and long to see You face to face. I rejoice because You are with me. I rejoice even though life is hard. No matter how I fill in the blank You are with me and You are the rejoicing of my heart. I lift up my sisters and pray You will speak in ways they could not imagine as they read Your words to them. I pray in the tender Name above all names, Jesus. Amen In the sacredness of this moment, az * If you get this via email also, go to your email and print out the attachment of 6 different versions of Psalm 23.