Quote from Forum Archives on June 20, 2003, 3:48 pm

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

Another work week is coming to a close, and I pray that your
efforts have been fruitful - to make a reasonable living, and
also to encourage people you meet each day as you perform the
tasks that contribute, not only to your own well being, but to
the well being of others. Most of us are paid money directly for
our work, others of us volunteer in certain capacities, but
whether it's on a job, in our communities, or in our homes, each
of us has something important to contribute to those around us.

Today's message from Oswald Chambers is a direct challenge to
many of us to get our attitudes and perspectives right. It's
something I've keenly realized about myself, and something I have
to regularly bring before God. You see, it's good, right, and
proper to be praying and encouraging others. If we can't do
that, then something is decidedly wrong with our own attitude and
our spirit.

I pray that each one of us regularly does a self examination of
where we're coming from, what we think about. First of all, we
should be people of prayer. If we're not, that's a big issue,
right off the bat. Secondly, each of us should recognize and
admit that we are not self sufficient. If we're doing well at
the moment, we may not even be thinking about this very much, but
the fact is that each of us, whether we admit it or not, relies
on God for every breath we take, for the conditions around us
that make life possible, and for every aspect of every thing,
whether natural or man made. No matter where the end product
comes from, the ingredients that make up what's around us all
come from God. Third, we all need to be about loving God and
loving one another. Though every aspect of God's Word and every
single word is important, unless we realize that God deeply wants
us to love Him with all of our energies and also to love one
another, the rest of the words suddenly become meaningless.

Therefore, as this week comes to a close, I encourage each
person to examine what activities take up your time each day, and
what kind of things go through your mind. In what percentage of
those things are the words of scripture somehow mixed in? Are
the principles of God's Word a part of your routine day, or are
they simply something you utter every now and then to make you
feel better? (If it's #2, I honor you for having the honesty to
admit it privately, in your own mind). Still, God wants us to
include Him in everything we do, to love Him, and to love one
another.

If you're not at that point, but you'd like to be, have hope. Be
encouraged. God is a loving God, He is extremely patient, but He
is also a jealous God. He wants our complete admiration,
adoration, and attention, but He won't bowl us over to get it.
God works in wonderful ways to bring about His purposes in the
lives of people.

Please DO read the Word of God every day, if at all possible.
Think about what it says. Get to know what's in the different
books of the Bible. God's Word IS the Bible. That's how He
speaks to us today. Prayer is how we respond to God.

Dear Lord,

I am deeply grateful that You are so patient as my Creator to
hear from me, for on more occasions that I'm comfortable to
admit, I do not include You in the things that I think, say, and
do. Please forgive me for my rudeness toward You, for You are
everything I've ever hoped for or dreamed for.

As Dennis Jernigan, a songwriter writes:

YOU ARE MY ALL IN ALL

You are my strength when I am weak,
You are the treasure that I seek,
You are my all in all.
Seeking you as a precious jewel,
Lord, to give up, I'd be a fool,
You are my all in all.

Jesus, Lamb of God,
Worthy is your Name.
Jesus, Lamb of God,
Worthy is your Name.

Taking my sin, my cross, my shame,
Rising again -- I bless your Name.
You are my all in all.
When I fall down, you pick me up,
When I am dry, you fill my cup.
You are my all in all.

Dennis Jernigan
1991 Shepherd's Heart Music (Administered by Word, Inc).
Used By Permission. CCLI Church Copyright License Number
1236420.

Copied from the Web site
www.cambridgevineyard.org/sunday/worship/resources/pdf/YouAreMyAllinAll.PDF

Your Brother in Christ,
Brian

____________________________________________________________

June 20

Have You Come to "When" Yet?

The Lord restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends
--Job 42:10

A pitiful, sickly, and self-centered kind of prayer and a
determined effort and selfish desire to be right with God are
never found in the New Testament. The fact that I am trying to
be right with God is actually a sign that I am rebelling against
the atonement by the Cross of Christ. I pray, "Lord, I will
purify my heart if You will answer my prayer--I will walk
rightly before You if You will help me." But I cannot make
myself right with God; I cannot make my life perfect. I can only
be right with God if I accept the atonement of the Lord Jesus
Christ as an absolute gift. Am I humble enough to accept it? I
have to surrender all my rights and demands, and cease from
every self-effort. I must leave myself completely alone in His
hands, and then I can begin to pour my life out in the priestly
work of intercession. There is a great deal of prayer that comes
from actual disbelief in the atonement. Jesus is not just
beginning to save us--He has already saved us completely. It is
an accomplished fact, and it is an insult to Him for us to ask
Him to do what He has already done.

If you are not now receiving the "hundredfold" which Jesus
promised (see Matthew 19:29 ), and not getting insight into
God's Word, then start praying for your friends--enter into the
ministry of the inner life. "The Lord restored Job's losses when
he prayed for his friends." As a saved soul, the real business
of your life is intercessory prayer. Whatever circumstances God
may place you in, always pray immediately that His atonement may
be recognized and as fully understood in the lives of others as
it has been in yours. Pray for your friends now, and pray for
those with whom you come in contact now.

This message comes from www.gospelcom.net/rbc/utmost/.
For Copyright Questions, please contact Discovery House
Publishers.

Authorized By The Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd.

My Utmost for His Highest Daily Devotional is provided by RBC
Ministries

Oswald Chambers was born in Scotland and spent much of his
boyhood there. His ministry of teaching and preaching took him
for a time to the United States and Japan. The last six years of
his life were spent as principal of the Bible Training College
in London, and as a chaplain to the British Commonwealth troops
in Egypt during World War I. After his death, the books which
bear his name were compiled by his wife from her own verbatim
shorthand notes of his talks.

=====
--
Brian Masinick, mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/

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