Monday, December 5, 2011
Sunday, December 4, 2011
What Will You Choose?
Thoughts From the Mount of Blessings pg. 91-93
Singleness of purpose, wholehearted devotion to God, is the condition pointed out by the Saviour’s words. Let the purpose be sincere and unwavering to discern the truth and to obey it at whatever cost, and you will receive divine enlightenment. Real piety begins when all compromise with sin is at an end. Then the language of the heart will be that of the apostle Paul: “This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” Philippians 3:13, 14, 8.
But when the eye is blinded by the love of self, there is only darkness. “If thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.” It was this fearful darkness that wrapped the Jews in stubborn unbelief, making it impossible for them to appreciate the character and mission of Him who came to save them from their sins.
Yielding to temptation begins in permitting the mind to waver, to be inconstant in your trust in God. If we do not choose to give ourselves fully to God then we are in darkness. When we make any reserve we are leaving open a door through which Satan can enter to lead us astray by his temptations. He knows that if he can obscure our vision, so that the eye of faith cannot see God, there will be no barrier against sin.
The prevalence of a sinful desire shows the delusion of the soul. Every indulgence of that desire strengthens the soul’s aversion to God. In following the path of Satan’s choosing, we are encompassed by the shadows of evil, and every step leads into deeper darkness and increases the blindness of the heart.
The same law obtains in the spiritual as in the natural world. He who abides in darkness will at last lose the power of vision. He is shut in by a deeper than midnight blackness; and to him the brightest noontide can bring no light. He “walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.” 1 John 2:11. Through persistently cherishing evil, willfully disregarding the pleadings of divine love, the sinner loses the love for good, the desire for God, the very capacity to receive the light of heaven. The invitation of mercy is still full of love, the light is shining as brightly as when it first dawned upon his soul; but the voice falls on deaf ears, the light on blinded eyes.
No soul is ever finally deserted of God, given up to his own ways, so long as there is any hope of his salvation. “Man turns from God, not God from him.” Our heavenly Father follows us with appeals and warnings and assurances of compassion, until further opportunities and privileges would be wholly in vain. The responsibility rests with the sinner. By resisting the Spirit of God today, he prepares the way for a second resistance of light when it comes with mightier power. Thus he passes on from one stage of resistance to another, until at last the light will fail to impress, and he will cease to respond in any measure to the Spirit of God. Then even “the light that is in thee” has become darkness. The very truth we do know has become so perverted as to increase the blindness of the soul.
Singleness of purpose, wholehearted devotion to God, is the condition pointed out by the Saviour’s words. Let the purpose be sincere and unwavering to discern the truth and to obey it at whatever cost, and you will receive divine enlightenment. Real piety begins when all compromise with sin is at an end. Then the language of the heart will be that of the apostle Paul: “This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” Philippians 3:13, 14, 8.
But when the eye is blinded by the love of self, there is only darkness. “If thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.” It was this fearful darkness that wrapped the Jews in stubborn unbelief, making it impossible for them to appreciate the character and mission of Him who came to save them from their sins.
Yielding to temptation begins in permitting the mind to waver, to be inconstant in your trust in God. If we do not choose to give ourselves fully to God then we are in darkness. When we make any reserve we are leaving open a door through which Satan can enter to lead us astray by his temptations. He knows that if he can obscure our vision, so that the eye of faith cannot see God, there will be no barrier against sin.
The prevalence of a sinful desire shows the delusion of the soul. Every indulgence of that desire strengthens the soul’s aversion to God. In following the path of Satan’s choosing, we are encompassed by the shadows of evil, and every step leads into deeper darkness and increases the blindness of the heart.
The same law obtains in the spiritual as in the natural world. He who abides in darkness will at last lose the power of vision. He is shut in by a deeper than midnight blackness; and to him the brightest noontide can bring no light. He “walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.” 1 John 2:11. Through persistently cherishing evil, willfully disregarding the pleadings of divine love, the sinner loses the love for good, the desire for God, the very capacity to receive the light of heaven. The invitation of mercy is still full of love, the light is shining as brightly as when it first dawned upon his soul; but the voice falls on deaf ears, the light on blinded eyes.
No soul is ever finally deserted of God, given up to his own ways, so long as there is any hope of his salvation. “Man turns from God, not God from him.” Our heavenly Father follows us with appeals and warnings and assurances of compassion, until further opportunities and privileges would be wholly in vain. The responsibility rests with the sinner. By resisting the Spirit of God today, he prepares the way for a second resistance of light when it comes with mightier power. Thus he passes on from one stage of resistance to another, until at last the light will fail to impress, and he will cease to respond in any measure to the Spirit of God. Then even “the light that is in thee” has become darkness. The very truth we do know has become so perverted as to increase the blindness of the soul.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
My Personal Translation of Psalm 147
Psalm 147
Praise the Lord
It’s good to sing to Him about His goodness
It’s enjoyable, a thing of beauty
The Lord has built up His church
He is the one who brings in His people from unknown places
He heals those who are broken inside
He makes safe the causes of that brokenness
He knows how many stars are in the sky
He remembers their names (He was there when they received them)
Our God is amazing and has no lack of power
He knows and understands everything about everything
The Lord not only takes care of the humble, He exalts them
The wicked are cut off from His help (unless they become humble in time of course)
Sing praise to the Lord with exuberant gratitude
Sing praises accompanied by your guitar to God
He’s the cloud Creator
He's the one who waters the earth
The one who dresses the mountains with grass
He provides food for wild animals
He hears the cry of young ravens and is moved
It’s not the strength of horses he delights in (or the greatest help men can employ)
Not the legs, not the best of men's strength
He finds joy in those who fear Him (those who realize who He is)
He delights in those who hope is in His mercy (the same mercy that cares for even obscure animals)
Praise the Lord REACH Philadelphia
Praise Him blessed of the Lord
He is Your defender
He cares for your young
He give You peace among yourselves
And blesses You with the best for your needs
When He gives the word
Time is no obstacle
The beautiful snow is His covering creation
He can cover the ground with frost as well as ashes
He has abundant hail to dish out
Who is His match?
Just as easily He can melt the frigid
Bring the wind and let the waters flow for new life
He has made His word known to us
We know his rules and the consequences of our actions
This is our special privilege as His people
Those without His Word don’t get know what causes what
God has been so good to us!
Praise the Lord
It’s good to sing to Him about His goodness
It’s enjoyable, a thing of beauty
The Lord has built up His church
He is the one who brings in His people from unknown places
He heals those who are broken inside
He makes safe the causes of that brokenness
He knows how many stars are in the sky
He remembers their names (He was there when they received them)
Our God is amazing and has no lack of power
He knows and understands everything about everything
The Lord not only takes care of the humble, He exalts them
The wicked are cut off from His help (unless they become humble in time of course)
Sing praise to the Lord with exuberant gratitude
Sing praises accompanied by your guitar to God
He’s the cloud Creator
He's the one who waters the earth
The one who dresses the mountains with grass
He provides food for wild animals
He hears the cry of young ravens and is moved
It’s not the strength of horses he delights in (or the greatest help men can employ)
Not the legs, not the best of men's strength
He finds joy in those who fear Him (those who realize who He is)
He delights in those who hope is in His mercy (the same mercy that cares for even obscure animals)
Praise the Lord REACH Philadelphia
Praise Him blessed of the Lord
He is Your defender
He cares for your young
He give You peace among yourselves
And blesses You with the best for your needs
When He gives the word
Time is no obstacle
The beautiful snow is His covering creation
He can cover the ground with frost as well as ashes
He has abundant hail to dish out
Who is His match?
Just as easily He can melt the frigid
Bring the wind and let the waters flow for new life
He has made His word known to us
We know his rules and the consequences of our actions
This is our special privilege as His people
Those without His Word don’t get know what causes what
God has been so good to us!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Sexual Healing
I saw this during summer and was reminded of it today. I'd say it's worth sharing. I hope it's memorable, impacting and worth sharing for you too.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Are You Listening?
“Hiro, are you listening to me?? I asked you a
question!” It was another Monday afternoon and
Hiro, my adorable, yet difficult, 4-year-old client was once again
giving me a
run for my money during our therapy session. He wasn’t
paying attention to anything I was saying and
refused to participate in what I had planned. “How am I
supposed to help him with his language problems if
he won’t listen to me??” I asked myself in frustration. Every
time I asked him a question, he would
talk about a number or a color he noticed hoping that that answer would
be
sufficient. That was his typical reaction when he didn’t know the answer
to
something. Instead of working hard
at figuring it out, he blurted out something about numbers or colors,
something
that he was really good at. Later
during the session, he started getting out of his seat and copying
everything
that I would say to him. When he
realized that I wasn’t going to back down and let him go off and play
Candy
Land, he stuck his hand in front of my face and said, “stop talking!”
Was this really happening? I was literally
speechless. Hiro then looked at me with a serious
face, pointed at me with his tiny 4-year-old sized finger and stated,
“This One,
bad.” When Hiro forgets my name,
which happens every session, he calls me “This One.” He
was calling “This One,” Deanne, bad?? I was hurt,
confused, and tremendously
disappointed.
The therapy session felt like a complete failure. All the time I spent carefully planning out the session felt pointless and I wished at that point that Hiro was old enough to understand how much I cared. How much I wished that he would just pay attention so that I could help him get better. If Hiro would just pay attention, he would improve very quickly.
Isn’t it the same with us and God? God knows exactly what areas of our lives need improvement. He plans out perfect therapy sessions for each of us every day. Sometimes we show up and sometimes we don’t. And even if we do, we don’t always pay attention. We don’t listen to His carefully thought out activities that, we may not always like, but are designed for our improvement and growth. When we realize that God is challenging us to grow in our weaknesses, we don’t like that it’s hard. And what we do instead is bust out with our strengths hoping that they will compensate for our weaknesses. Sometimes we get so fed up that things aren’t going the way we want them to that we stick our hand out in front of God’s face and say, “stop talking!” And sad to say, we can get so selfish and self-absorbed sometimes that we even forget the name of God.
It makes me smile that God could take this makes-me-want-to-rip-my-hair-out-of-my-head-little-boy, Hiro, to teach me about the true Hero in Heaven, God my Father. God is the perfect therapist and He has the perfect session planned for you and me everyday. Let’s pay attention and stop trying to be the heroes of our own lives.
The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:10
Deanne Kazumi Snell
The therapy session felt like a complete failure. All the time I spent carefully planning out the session felt pointless and I wished at that point that Hiro was old enough to understand how much I cared. How much I wished that he would just pay attention so that I could help him get better. If Hiro would just pay attention, he would improve very quickly.
Isn’t it the same with us and God? God knows exactly what areas of our lives need improvement. He plans out perfect therapy sessions for each of us every day. Sometimes we show up and sometimes we don’t. And even if we do, we don’t always pay attention. We don’t listen to His carefully thought out activities that, we may not always like, but are designed for our improvement and growth. When we realize that God is challenging us to grow in our weaknesses, we don’t like that it’s hard. And what we do instead is bust out with our strengths hoping that they will compensate for our weaknesses. Sometimes we get so fed up that things aren’t going the way we want them to that we stick our hand out in front of God’s face and say, “stop talking!” And sad to say, we can get so selfish and self-absorbed sometimes that we even forget the name of God.
It makes me smile that God could take this makes-me-want-to-rip-my-hair-out-of-my-head-little-boy, Hiro, to teach me about the true Hero in Heaven, God my Father. God is the perfect therapist and He has the perfect session planned for you and me everyday. Let’s pay attention and stop trying to be the heroes of our own lives.
The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:10
Deanne Kazumi Snell
Thursday, October 20, 2011
The Taylor Street Open House: Worth It for at Least One Young Man
After weeks of planning and publicizing the Taylor Street Open House through flyers and personal invitations in the neighborhood of the location as well as announcements at church the event finally ensued at 11 A.M. April 16, 2011. The REACH Philadelphia Interns and their supporters were organized together, prayed for God’s leading and blessing and they were expectant. The Ministry House sign was freshly set, gospel music was playing into the streets, the scent of freshly prepared vegan sandwiches and other goodies invited passers-bye into the kitchen for food and conversations. Some of our members even went into the streets to bring people into the home but honestly...it was a harder sell than most expected. But that didn’t take away at all from the amazing work that God had for the team to do that day.
The guests who came and the contacts the young adults acquired made all the effort well worth it. One example of those connections is Young Ervine. Shortly after this youth’s entrance he shared with those around the refreshments that he had a hard time trusting people but that he felt safe in the Ministry House for some reason. He’s already had Bible studies since the open house and is extremely interested in more. Though we weren’t overwhelmed with more attendees than we could accommodate, it is overwhelming to realize how God uses our humble efforts to bring in a harvest for His kingdom. Luke 15:7 NLT states, “heaven will be happier over one lost sinner who returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!"
This is the Taylor Street Ministry House before the sign was added.
The guests who came and the contacts the young adults acquired made all the effort well worth it. One example of those connections is Young Ervine. Shortly after this youth’s entrance he shared with those around the refreshments that he had a hard time trusting people but that he felt safe in the Ministry House for some reason. He’s already had Bible studies since the open house and is extremely interested in more. Though we weren’t overwhelmed with more attendees than we could accommodate, it is overwhelming to realize how God uses our humble efforts to bring in a harvest for His kingdom. Luke 15:7 NLT states, “heaven will be happier over one lost sinner who returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!"
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Muzungu!
There I was, the only muzungu (white man) for miles standing before a congregation of over 800 Kenyan church members. I was about to preach to them a message that I was actually unenthusiastic about for the audience I had. I was speaking about healthy living and the guidelines we find in the Bible and I was confident that they already knew the message well. I prayed that God would help me in the moments before the talk. I needed inspiration and fresh insight to get beyond the rules that nobodies excited about, past the stereotypical apologetic sermon, to share a message of God's love revealed in His Word and experienced in my life.
All I want to say is that somehow God provided. He made the topic come alive as Satan's counterfeits were exposed and God's unmatched blessings were revealed. The way to an abundantly healthy life became clear: commit yourself ad submit yourself to following God's Word. Science is has finally understood why it is unhealthy to eat pork, thousands of years after God commanded us not to eat it. There's probably a reson I grew up hearing of people getting sick because of eating crab meat, oysters and so on. God told us to drop it in his Word before we were born. It's clear to me that soany are suffering because they don't know the truths of God's Word.
The Word is an amazing gift that needs to be shared and studied. It needs to be spread wide. We need to dig deeper. We need to pray big prayers in accordance with the Bible and expect answers that will shock our confused minds into a new reality. If we trust in God, He will show up, he will do miracles. I believe it.
May God forgive me for the years I've only dabbled in His Word, in prayer and in applying it to my life. I want to live for Him now and to trust His Word that is filled with thoughts far superior to my own.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow that He could inspire someone like me to preach with power. All scripture is so useful and He is glorified in it. May we move from skeptical scoffers to faithful witnesses. God bless Kenya, God bless Africa, God save the people o this world from the deep deception of Satan into the freedom of God's own truth.
-Nick
All I want to say is that somehow God provided. He made the topic come alive as Satan's counterfeits were exposed and God's unmatched blessings were revealed. The way to an abundantly healthy life became clear: commit yourself ad submit yourself to following God's Word. Science is has finally understood why it is unhealthy to eat pork, thousands of years after God commanded us not to eat it. There's probably a reson I grew up hearing of people getting sick because of eating crab meat, oysters and so on. God told us to drop it in his Word before we were born. It's clear to me that soany are suffering because they don't know the truths of God's Word.
The Word is an amazing gift that needs to be shared and studied. It needs to be spread wide. We need to dig deeper. We need to pray big prayers in accordance with the Bible and expect answers that will shock our confused minds into a new reality. If we trust in God, He will show up, he will do miracles. I believe it.
May God forgive me for the years I've only dabbled in His Word, in prayer and in applying it to my life. I want to live for Him now and to trust His Word that is filled with thoughts far superior to my own.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow that He could inspire someone like me to preach with power. All scripture is so useful and He is glorified in it. May we move from skeptical scoffers to faithful witnesses. God bless Kenya, God bless Africa, God save the people o this world from the deep deception of Satan into the freedom of God's own truth.
-Nick
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