God never misplaces us ~

 

Foggy ~ dark ~ mysterious ~ the unknown ~ trials ~ shadows ~ quiet ~ where is God?

 

Sometimes life is full of sunshine and roses ~ sometimes life is full of trials and the unknowns

 

but

 

for a Christian, life is never to be lived in dejection during the trials ~

 

if I am dejected it's of my own choice ~

 

Jesus didn't leave me ~ but I can choose to leave Him ~
 

 what a waste!  what a shame!

 

 

 

- Oswald Chambers from My Utmost for His Highest -

 

"What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops."  Matthew 10.27

 

At times God puts us through the discipline of darkness to teach us to heed Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and we are put into the shadow of God's hand until we learn to hear Him.

"What I tell you in darkness" - watch where God puts you into darkness, and when you are there keep your mouth shut. Are you in the dark just now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? Then remain quiet. If you open your mouth in the dark, you will talk in the wrong mood: darkness is the time to listen. Don't talk to other people about it; don't read books to find out the reason of the darkness, but listen and heed. If you talk to other people, you cannot hear what God is saying. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else when you get into the light.

After every time of darkness there comes a mixture of delight and humiliation (if there is delight only, I question whether we have heard God at all), delight in hearing God speak, but chiefly humiliation - "What a long time I was in hearing that! How slow I have been in understanding that!"

And yet God has been saying it all these day and weeks and months. Now He gives you the gift of humiliation which brings the softness of heart that will always listen to God NOW.

 

 

This devotional really spoke to me and something a friend put in an email to me this week is this blog's title: 

"God never misplaces us." 

 

 

"Be still and know that I am God."  Psalm 46.10

 



~ my word for 2013 ~



On New Year's Day I was with some of my family and we decided to answer the call that a Sunday School class issued the Sunday before:

~ choose a spiritual word for 2013

 

it could be: 

 

~ a goal

~ a change

~ a challenge

~ whatever the Lord put on our hearts

~ we knew it should be a proactive word - something we would act on - grow with - walk in  - pray through - on and on and on went the discussion

~ we also knew that the Lord should choose our word for us depending on what He wanted us -  individually - to focus on in our walk with Him

A few days later, during my devotional time, it hit me like a bolt!

~ My word ~

WORSHIP

Worship is a proactive word and is a decision made regarding how I view everything in relation to God. Whatever God gives, teaches, withholds, blesses - everything - it is always the best - be careful what I do with what God gives - return it to Him with thanksgiving as an act of worship.

Meditate before God and offer back to Him everything as a deliberate act of worship.

What I do publicly is a direct result of how I live my quiet times with Him privately. Quiet times with Him are as vital as breathing. Without that, we will always choose wrongly - will always go off on our own way - will always get it backwards -

He tells us over and over in His word -

"Follow Me"
"Come unto Me"
"Trust Me"
"I am your All in All" 
Pray (to Me) without ceasing"

Why would I think that anything less would ever work?  How absurd.  How absolutely absurd! I/we have to fill our noisy world with times of quiet in worship of our King - every day - every single day.  It's not about "going away on a retreat."  It's about setting aside time every day during the midst of a wildly busy life - time alone with Him - time for thanksgiving and worship ~

 My daughter created and gave me this gorgeous necklace -

I can celebrate this focus on WORSHIP every time I

wear it and hopefully share a testimony of how it came to be.

 

She included the word WORSHIP to which she added 

"El-Shaddai" one of my favorite names for God - "Almighty God"

along with the Psalm that influenced my choice

 

"Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;

worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness." 

Psalm 29.2

 

God does not want us to just hang on to a spiritual blessing; He wants us

to thank Him for it; worship Him in it; then share it with others as a blessing

to them; He'll bring people into our lives who need to hear.

He wants us to multiply the blessings; not hoard them.

That's part of WORSHIP.

 

Blessings,

Jayne

 

 

 

 

. . . separated unto the Gospel . . .

 

God is leading me into some new revelations about Himself and

how I am to live my life as a daughter of the King.

It's a work in progress . . .

 

Am I "separated unto the Gospel"? Romans 1.1

 

Atonement.

Redemption.

Salvation.

Sanctification.

 

"And I, if I be lifted up will draw all men unto Myself."  John 12.32

 

 

Why has God left me here? to do what? He could have saved me and taken me to heaven.

He didn't.

Why?

"For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for

themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised."  2 Corinthians 5.14-15

 

 

Sanctification. Do I even really understand sanctification?

 

 

"My Utmost for His Highest"  - Oswald Chambers:

We take the term sanctification much too lightly. Are we prepared for what sanctification will cost?  It will cost an intense narrowing of all our interests on earth and an immense broadening of all our interests in God. Sanctification means intense concentration on God's point of view. It means every power of body, soul and spirit chained and kept for God's purpose only. Are we prepared for God to do in us all that He separated us for?

Sanctification means being made one with Jesus so that the disposition that ruled Him will rule us. Are we prepared for what that will cost? It will cost everything that is not of God in us.

______________________________

 

 

So, God is showing me that He saved me for a purpose way outside myself.

 

It's all about Him ~ 

Jesus' atonement ~

Bringing glory to Him ~

His everlasting love ~

Living a separated life ~

 

 

More later.

 

Blessings ~