Quote from Forum Archives on February 10, 2003, 5:15 pm

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

At the end of last week, I wrote to you: "I pray that however
you choose to approach God and His Word, you will do so out of a
deep desire to know Him and love Him, as He has first loved each
of us."

I pray that each of you are earnestly seeking God and regularly
reading the Bible, then praying throughout the day, including God
in all of your activities throughout the day, even if you're busy
in the middle of them. I also pray that you find quiet time,
where only you and God have time to talk in the privacy of some
special, private place.

The messages that I send are nothing more than tools and
resources to provide things to think about. Ultimately, what you
choose to do with them is between you and God.

Have a great week ahead!

Dear Lord,

Again, I pray, as I did before:

"Please write Your Word within the very deepest part of me, that I
may be completely, entirely Yours. Be patient with me, help me
learn and apply Your ways in every area of my life. Draw me to
You in every way, for that is my deep desire, and I believe it is
my entire reason for being.

"Strengthen those who are weak today in whatever way, whether ill
in body or mind, or lacking in any way. Fill the void with Your
Holy Spirit. Please cleanse away any impurities from each of
us. I know, Lord, that I cannot purify myself in any way other
than to offer myself completely to You, giving up even the things
that I hold onto tightly. I trust You, even in the darkest times
You are there, and You have always been faithful. You are a joy
because Your love never fails. May I be like minded, for Jesus
sake. Amen."

Your Brother in Christ,
Brian

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February 10

Is Your Ability to See God Blinded?

Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things .
. . --Isaiah 40:26

The people of God in Isaiah's time had blinded their minds'
ability to see God by looking on the face of idols. But Isaiah
made them look up at the heavens; that is, he made them begin to
use their power to think and to visualize correctly. If we are
children of God, we have a tremendous treasure in nature and will
realize that it is holy and sacred. We will see God reaching out
to us in every wind that blows, every sunrise and sunset, every
cloud in the sky, every flower that blooms, and every leaf that
fades, if we will only begin to use our blinded thinking to
visualize it.

The real test of spiritual focus is being able to bring your mind
and thoughts under control. Is your mind focused on the face of
an idol? Is the idol yourself? Is it your work? Is it your idea
of what a servant should be, or maybe your experience of
salvation and sanctification? If so, then your ability to see God
is blinded. You will be powerless when faced with difficulties
and will be forced to endure in darkness. If your power to see
has been blinded, don't look back on your own experiences, but
look to God. It is God you need. Go beyond yourself and away from
the faces of your idols and away from everything else that has
been blinding your thinking. Wake up and accept the ridicule that
Isaiah gave to his people, and deliberately turn your thoughts
and your eyes to God.

One of the reasons for our sense of futility in prayer is that we
have lost our power to visualize. We can no longer even imagine
putting ourselves deliberately before God. It is actually more
important to be broken bread and poured-out wine in the area of
intercession than in our personal contact with others. The power
of visualization is what God gives a saint so that he can go
beyond himself and be firmly placed into relationships he never
before experienced.

Authorized By The Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd.

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

This message taken and formatted from the Web page
www.gospelcom.net/rbc/utmost/

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

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