Be as Little Children

Be as Little Children
Os Hillman

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" 1 John 3:1a

I have an important business meeting in the morning. Would you please set the alarm for 5:30 a.m.?" I said to my wife. "Oh, that won't be necessary. Just tell the Lord what time you want to wake up. He does it for me all the time," my wife said. I rolled my eyes in disbelief.

"Well, I'd feel more comfortable if we set the alarm." "Okay, ye of little faith. But just to prove my point I am going to ask the Lord to wake us up just before 5:30." The next morning I awoke before the alarm went off. I looked at the clock. It read 5:15. I looked at my wife, who had just awakened at the same time with an I-told-you-so smile.

Sometimes we wrongfully view God as someone we go to for only the "big things." The idea of "bothering God" for such a trivial matter seems foolish and presumptuous. However, when you were a child and had to get up in the morning for school, didn't your mom or dad come wake you up? They were your parents, and you could come to them with the most trivial concerns or requests. Why would our heavenly Father be any less approachable?

Perhaps our problem is that we simply have not developed a level of intimacy with God so that we feel the freedom to approach Him at these daily, routine levels. We often operate with an unwritten code that says our needs must have a certain degree of importance or crisis before we come to God with them. This is not God's character towards us.

Does the Lord desire this level of intimacy with you and me? The apostle Paul exhorted us to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17 KJV). There is never a caution to pray only about matters of greater importance. Today, go to God with matters that you might view as trivial and would normally avoid bringing to God. Ask God to increase your level of intimacy with Him. You may even be able to get rid of your alarm clock.

Revival Requires Obedience

REVIVAL: It REQUIRES OBEDIENCE
A W Tozer.

"But why do you call Me "Lord, Lord," and not do the things which I say?" - Luke 6:46.

It is my conviction that much, very much, prayer for and talk about revival these days is wasted energy. Ignoring the confusion of figures, I might say that it is hunger that appears to have no object; it is dreamy wishing that is too weak to produce moral action. It is fanaticism on a high level for, according to John Wesley, "a fanatic is one who seeks desired ends while ignoring the constituted means to reach those ends."...

The correction of this error is extemely difficult for it entails more than a mere adjustment of our doctrinal beliefs; it strikes at the whole Adam-life and requires self-abnegation, humility and cross carrying. In short it requires obedience. And that we will do anything to escape.

It is almost unbelievable how far we will go to avoid obeying God. We call Jesus "Lord" and beg Him to rejuvenate our souls, but we are careful to do not the things He says. When faced with a sin, a confession or a moral alteration in our life, we find it much easier to pray half a night than to obey God.

-----------------------------------

When the Cross is scorned and obedience becomes a chore, revival is found in nowhere else. Please help us Lord to redirect our focus on You alone. In Jesus name. Amen.

From A Pure Heart

From A Pure Heart
Steve Troxel

As Jesus watched people place their offering into the temple treasury, He noticed a poor widow who put in two coins valued at less than a penny. "Calling His disciples to Him, Jesus said, 'I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything - all she had to live on.'" -Mark 12:43-44

This passage gives us a wonderful example of faith and how God must be the Lord of our finances - but the real message actually goes much deeper.

We have all been blessed in so many ways; and we are called to be good stewards, or managers, of all our blessings. As a good steward, we must present all we possess back to our Heavenly Father as an offering of love. Yes, this relates to our financial resources, but it also means we are to offer our gifts, abilities, talents, and time back to God through service and ministry to others. God created us (the complete package of who we are) for a purpose. And though we may need to spend good quality time with God to fully understand our purpose, we can be absolutely sure that God has NOT blessed us so we can advance our own selfish agenda!

Every one of our blessings, no matter how small, are given so we can bless God in return. We often hold back from ministry opportunities because we feel our "offering" is insignificant. We feel inadequate to serve or unworthy to make a true contribution to the work of God's Kingdom; but God is never concerned with the magnitude of a gift. He is, and always has been, concerned and blessed by the condition of our heart: "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams" (1 Samuel 15:22). How we give is much more important than what we give.

God does not need our money, time, ability, or anything we accomplish or produce. But He loves us dearly and desires to receive the complete love and devotion which is given with our offering. Jesus was blessed by a widow who gave from her heart, even though the actual gift carried very little earthly value. If we want our service or ministry to have significance in the eyes of God, we must focus on the One to whom we are giving rather than on the value of the gift in the eyes of man.

With our eyes focused, we must then give with all the love in our heart. If our heart is pure in the giving, God will receive our offering as a true blessing. There are no worthless or insignificant gifts when the gift is given from a pure heart.

Have a Christ Centered Day!

-----------------------------------------------------------

Yes Lord, truly Your Word are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times, more precious than gold, than much pure gold. Sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. May the words of our mouth and the meditation of our heart be pleasing in your sight, my LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. In Jesus Most Glorious Name. Amen!

The Vast of Your Thoughts

The Vast of Your Thoughts
Charles R. Swindoll

"And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.
Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise." -Philippians 4:8

Thoughts are the thermostat that regulates what we accomplish in life. If I feed my mind upon doubt, disbelief, and discouragement, that is precisely the kind of day my body will experience. If I adjust my thermostat forward to thoughts filled with vision, vitality, and victory, I can count on that kind of day. Thus, you and I become what we think about. Neither Dale Carnegie nor Norman Vincent Peale originated such a message. God did. "For as [a man] thinks within himself, so he is" (Proverbs 23:7). "Therefore, prepare your minds for action" (1 Peter 1:13).

The mind is a "thought factory" producing thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of thoughts each day. Production in your thought factory is under the charge of two foremen. One we shall call Mr. Triumph, the other Mr. Defeat. Mr. Triumph specializes in producing reasons why you can face life victoriously, why you can handle what comes your way, why you're more than able to conquer. Mr. Defeat is an expert in the opposite. He develops reasons why you cannot succeed, why you're inadequate, why you should give up and give in to worry, failure, discouragement, and inferiority. Give a positive signal, and Mr. Triumph will see to it that one encouraging, edifying thought after another floods your mind. But Mr. Defeat is always standing by, awaiting a negative signal (which he would rather you call "reality" or "common sense!"), and when he gets it, he cranks out discouraging, destructive, demoralizing thoughts that will soon have you convinced you can't or won't or shouldn't.

Thoughts, positive or negative, grow stronger when fertilized with constant repetition. That may explain why so many who are gloomy and gray stay in that mood . . . and why those who are cheery and enthusiastic continue to be so. What kind of performance would your car deliver if every morning before you left for work you scooped up a handful of dirt and put it in your crankcase? The engine would soon be coughing and sputtering. Ultimately it would refuse to start.

The same is true of your life. Thoughts that are narrow, self-destructive, and abrasive produce needless wear and tear on your mental motor. They send you off the road while others drive past. You need only one foreman in your mental factory: Mr. Triumph is his name. He is eager to assist you and available to all the members of God's family. His real name is the Holy Spirit, the Helper.

If Mr. Defeat is busily engaged as the foreman of your factory, fire yours and hire ours! You will be amazed at how smoothly the plant will run under His leadership.

Verse For Meditation: Psalm 139:1-6

-----------------------------------------------------------

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you. And surely you amazed us still, O LORD! Amen and Amen. In Jesus most wondrous name! Amen.

The King As Friend

The King As Friend
Timrufus

A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. -Proverbs 11:25
Have you ever read in the newspaper of a poor man giving out a dollar ten bucks to a neighbor taking his night out on a cold brick? Nay, what we normally read and hear is some tycoon A donating some USD100, 000 to The Nightingale’s Home For The Ages or Noah Ark for His Junior and someone get to quote Proverbs 11:25. It is however in the natural law of harvesting, except when divine providences at work and the harvest of a man is blessed to a double or some in multiples of three, four or even five, each man should toil for what he should own. (Proverbs 13:4)

A man may have all the wealth in the world and yet do not know how to bless other. Likewise, we can have very little and may not be necessary of good cheer every moment of our life but still be very generous (gracious) in our speech to other. He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed and one who loves a pure heart and who speaks with grace will have the king for a friend.

It is never an evil to own too much but certainly not when our power this day within have causes us to forget God and the placement he has put us in today. (Proverbs 3:27) For such man will he himself be cursed if not by man (verse 26,27) but by the same God who causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:45) To be stingy alone may not be a grievous sin, but not when one become overwhelmed by what he has and people curse the one who hoards grain, but they pray God’s blessing on the one who is willing to sell. A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. (Proverbs 22:1) For to see the needs of other is one thing but being not able to pray for them is a grievous sin for one to begin with (1 Samuel 12:23) but whoever refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

What are the areas that God has put you to be able to bless other today? It may not be necessary in the form of money or a bank’s check but a simple word that encourages. A word that could uphold a man’s life at a point of time or even a piece of sweet to an immigrant who had just stepped onto a foreign land, is a blessing to one we see in needs. For by doing so some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it (Hebrews 13:2) and he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. But what good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? He who loves a pure heart and who speaks with grace will have the king for a friend.

Verse For Meditation: Mark 8:34-36

Father we thank you for your word that says, He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. And even if Aaron today would not bless your inheritance and we may not be necessary of good cheer every moment of our life, but with all that you have given to us, may it multiple to a hundred, sixty or even thirty times. Thank you Lord. In Jesus most mighty Name. Amen.

The Error of Positive Thinking

The Error of Positive Thinking
Os Hillman

..."Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit," says the Lord Almighty. Zechariah 4:6

God's people should be the most positive, joyful people on earth. This joy should be a by-product of a healthy, intimate relationship with Jesus. In today's business climate, we are barraged with every possible means of becoming more productive workplace believers. Positive thinking and self-help philosophy are promoted as tools for workplace believers to fulfill their potential and overcome the mountains in their lives. God calls each of us to be visionary leaders, but we must be careful that vision is born out of His Spirit, not the latest self-help program. These ideas lead us away from dependence on God to a self-based psychology designed to give us more power, prosperity, and significance.

The result is heresy. Our faith in God becomes faith in faith. It is born out of hard work and diligence rather than obedience to God's Spirit. The problem lies in that these philosophies sound good, and can even be supported by Bible verses. Beware of anything that puts the burden of performance on you rather than God. There are times in our lives when God doesn't want us to climb every mountain. Sometimes He wants us to go around. Knowing the difference is the key to being a man or woman led by the Spirit.

God has called us to affect the workplace through His Spirit, not by our might. Have you tapped into the real power source of the soul? Ask the Lord to reveal and empower you through His Spirit today. Then you will know what real positive thinking is.

Why God Blesses

Why God Blesses
Os Hillman

"And David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and that his kingdom had been highly exalted for the sake of His people Israel." 1 Chronicles 14:2

King David learned an important lesson every leader must learn if he is to ensure God's continual blessing. He knew why God blessed him. It wasn't because he deserved it, though he was a man who sought God with his whole heart. It wasn't because of his great skill, though he was a great military strategist. It wasn't because he was perfect, for he committed some horrible sins during his reign as king. No, it was for none of these reasons. God blessed David for the "sake of His people Israel." God never blesses an individual just for that person's exclusive benefit. God calls each of us to be a blessing to others. So often we forget this last part.

R.G. LeTourneau, a businessman who built heavy construction equipment, came to realize this only after God took him through many trials. Once the Lord had all of LeTourneau, he came to realize that the question wasn't whether he gave 10 percent of what the Lord gave him. Rather, the question was, "What amount does He want me to keep?" LeTourneau was known for giving 90 percent of his income toward the end of his career and was a great supporter of world missions. But the Lord doesn't bless workplace believers just for the ability to give financially. God has given workplace believers many more gifts beyond the financial.

What is happening with the spiritual fruit of God's blessing on your life? Is it clogged, or is it freely flowing to others? Ask the Lord to free you to be a blessing to those in your circle of influence.