"Practical Christianity", It's About Time

Time On Our Hands? [‘It’s About Time,’ cont.]

Posted on by Dianne

In the Age of Knowledge, God wanted man to become aware of his need for God. In the Age of Grace, God wants man to have that need met. In the Age to come, God wants man to learn to live in dependence and freedom, without any constraints from the law, and all that that means, by first starting to rule and reign over our selves.

There are really only two things we can give to God: Time and Attention. And even these He has to reveal and change and make us able to relinquish to Him. So it is because our time and attention are so valuable to God that they are also the battleground where we fight the world, the flesh and the devil. This is one of the reasons the “tyranny of the urgent” has taken such a toll on believers. We feel the pressure to be producing more now, to prove our spirituality, to earn, gain and keep the blessing and gifts God has given to us.

But what God wants from our time is our attention. Ask the Lord to reveal to you if there is any area where you are spending too much or too little time. Then depend on Him to make through you whatever changes may be necessary to make the most of the time you have.”

Remember, since God created time, He controls it, and does whatever He wants with it. In fact, He has so much time on His hands that He is spending every second, of every minute, of every hour, of every day doing nothing but thinking, and planning, arranging and rejoicing over every circumstance in your past, present and future. So relax!!!

[excerpted from Practical Christianity]
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WE HAVE RECEIVED MERCY by Ray Prinzing

Posted on by Dianne
WE HAVE RECEIVED MERCY
“Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not,” (II Corinthians 4:1)
Note the words’faint not’, from the Greek, meaning:to turn out badly, or, cave in. True, there are days when one feels like they are going to cave in, and what keeps us from it? Because we have RECEIVED MERCY. We realize that “greater is He within us” than all of the outside pressure. We are “God’s husbandry, we are God’s building,” (I Cor. 3:9). He will maintain a proper balance of the exterior and the interior. He does not overload the circuits so that we explode and cannot contain the measures of His love and grace, nor does He short-circuit the power so that we do not have enough to face the need of the day. He is our sufficiency all the way!
Whatever the ministry, whatever the service He has called us to, He has also given us mercy which undergirds and is equal to the task, yes, and MUCH MORE. The Psalmist knew this well, and stated, “all my springs are in Thee,” (Ps. 87:7). Therefore, “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever:with my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness to all generations,” (Ps. 89:1).
We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us,” (II Cor. 6:7). No need to despise the earthiness of the vessel. He chose it to place His treasure therein. No need to try and exalt the earthen vessel, it has nothing of itself wherein to boast. But we can rejoice in the mercies of the Lord, the grace of God given to us through His kindness, and the power, which abides within to sustain us. “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning:great is Thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him,” (Lam. 3:22-24). “O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good; for His mercy endureth forever,” (Psalms 136:1)
“Mercy there was great, and grace was free,
…there my burdened soul found liberty, at Calvary.”

“Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not” (II Corinthians 4:1).

Note the words “faint not”, from the Greek, meaning: to turn out badly, or cave in. True, there are days when one feels like they are going to cave in, and what keeps us from it? Because we have RECEIVED MERCY. We realize that “greater is He within us” than all of the outside pressure. We are “God’s husbandry, we are God’s building” (I Cor. 3:9). He will maintain a proper balance of the exterior and the interior. He does not overload the circuits so that we explode and cannot contain the measures of His love and grace, nor does He short-circuit the power so that we do not have enough to face the need of the day. He is our sufficiency all the way!

Whatever the ministry, whatever the service He has called us to, He has also given us mercy which undergirds and is equal to the task, yes, and MUCH MORE. The Psalmist knew this well, and stated, “all my springs are in Thee” (Ps. 87:7). Therefore, “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness to all generations” (Ps. 89:1).

“We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (II Cor. 6:7). No need to despise the earthiness of the vessel. He chose it to place His treasure therein. No need to try and exalt the earthen vessel, it has nothing of itself wherein to boast. But we can rejoice in the mercies of the Lord, the grace of God given to us through His kindness, and the power, which abides within to sustain us. “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him” (Lam. 3:22-24). “O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good; for His mercy endureth forever” (Psalms 136:1).

“Mercy there was great, and grace was free,
…there my burdened soul found liberty, at Calvary.”

Hedz Up

[Hedz Up!] Giving Thanks

Posted on by Dianne

Just a gentle reminder that no matter how bad things may seem, or in earthly reality, are, your new spirit nature has fully received ALL THINGS. All of your needs have been fully met.

Your new nature is gratitude, and a good indicator of your soulical-life intruding on your spirit-life is when gratitude is hard to embrace and express.

Not that fear, frustration, anger, questioning, aren’t all normal emotions. They are.

But you and I are no longer emotional beings. We have emotions. They don’t have us.

So this Thanksgiving, Give Thanks. Not out of Faith, or Hope, or cuz you’re straining to Feel it. But out of the Reality of Your Being Thankful.

GRACE: Receiving Unconditionally what God Gives Unconditionally, and Just Saying, “Thanks.”

Hedz Up

[Hedz Up!] Envy, the Root of Bitterness

Posted on by Dianne

Today the strongholds of envy and bitterness are strong throughout the world. Jealousy is wanting what another has; Envy is not wanting them to have it.

There’s a parable of two fellows who were friends; one of them had a goat. Day after day, the fellow led his goat with him wherever he went, and spoke of his goat when he had to leave him behind. This made the goat-less friend angry and bitter, having to see and listen to stories about this goat. Then one day, the goat-less friend found a magic lamp in the road. He rubbed it, and a genie appeared.

“You are granted one wish! What will it be?”

Without hesitation the goat-less friend replied, “I wish my friend’s goat to die.” And so it was.

A clear example of envy’s subtlety is Jesus’s illustration of the disgruntled workers. Some were hired in the morning, and promised a certain wage. Some were hired later that morning, some at noon, and some close to work-day’s end, all promised the same wage. Those hired first reasoned that since they had labored longer than the others, they would surely receive the greater compensation. But at the end of the day, they were all paid the same amount. The first-hired became angry, but were countered with grace. “Why are you angry that I am generous? Did I not pay you what I promised you?”

Working for a large ministry, our group was merged into another during downsizing. During our group’s weekly meeting, our manager told this worker’s parable, reminding us how easily envy and bitterness can creep in, even when we receive what we have agreed to. Later we learned that it was Bonus Time, and that in order for the original group members to receive a larger bonus, our group had to receive a smaller bonus. We had been forewarned, and were able to be grateful for our bonuses, regardless of what others received.

Life is not fair. God is not fair. Instead, He has made you joint-heirs and co-inheritors, and claims you now as His Beloved Sons, with all the inherent benefits.

That’s not fair, either.

Be forewarned, and be grateful that God is generous to whom and as He chooses.

Other Authors

ALWAYS GOD–CONSCIOUS by Ray Prinzing

Posted on by Dianne

“I have set the Lord always before me: because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” (Psalm 16:8)

Obviously, Jesus walked with a continual God-consciousness. A relationship that was a dominant factor in His life. “I and My Father are ONE.” (John 10:30) “Jesus lifted up His eyes, and said, Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me. And I know that Thou hearest Me always…” (John 11:41-42). His inner-consciousness was His oneness with His Father, and while He might also become aware of outside conditions, the needs of the people, even to casting out demons, this did not take away from His inner consciousness of oneness with His Father’s will and purpose at all times.

Now, what about us? What is our inner-consciousness? You cannot be God-conscious and devil-conscious at the same time. Fear is a negative emotion. Worry is a negative emotion. Doubt and unbelief are negatives. When these abide in us they become a fertile field for devil-consciousness to develop. We become more than just aware of the enemy, it is an inner disquietedness. We then are prone to lash out at every shadow, and begin to think that every situation is Satan-controlled, and we forget that GOD IS IN CONTROL.

The challenge remains, “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind… neither give place to the devil” (Eph. 4:23, 27). The mind is the area where the adversary would seek to gain his toehold in our temple. So Paul instructed, “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, think on these things” (Phil. 4:8). When the mind is filled with a Christ-consciousness there is no ‘place’ therein for the devil.

It was the Psalmist’s determination to have the Lord “Always before me.” Conscious that even “When I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:for Thou art with me.” (Ps. 23:4).

Inwardly conscious that Christ is our King,
And He controls all our pathway would bring.

Hedz Up

[Hedz Up!] Revisit & Recover

Posted on by Dianne

Now is a good time to revisit old problems and even financial challenges that have been laid aside or given up on. Time has worked out some knots, and you will find surprising favor using the same approach you’ve tried before. The knots have decayed, and the desired result is obtainable.

Recover quickly that which was stolen or tricked from you.

Legal questions will also be resolved with ease.

Simply ask with confidence.

"Practical Christianity", It's About Time

The Example of Lazarus [‘It’s About Time,’ cont.]

Posted on by Dianne

We are probably all familiar with the story of Lazarus, Jesus’s friend who died. Imagine yourself standing outside the tomb, and Jesus has just arrived. Lazarus has been dead for 3 days now, and “he stinketh.” Now Lazarus died of something; for the sake of our illustration let’s say it was pneumonia. It could have been he had had an accident and had broken his neck, or any of a number of things. But for now, let’s say he died of pneumonia, and has been entombed. What does Jesus have to do in order to raise Lazarus from the dead? Actually there are two things: He has to restore his life (get his heart beating and his brain functioning again, etc.) and heal what caused his death. If Jesus only restored his life, Lazarus would still have pneumonia, and would simply die again. And if Jesus only healed the pneumonia, Lazarus would be nothing more than a pneumonia-free corpse. So Jesus did both. He removed what caused Lazarus’s death, he removed the pneumonia, and gave him life, got his heart pumping again. He does the same for us: at His Crucifixion Jesus removed what causes us death — our inherited sin nature; at His Resurrection He gave us new life, His own.

[excerpted from Practical Christianity]
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HELD TOGETHER BY CHRIST by Ray Prinzing

Posted on by Dianne

“And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.” (Col. 1:17)

Consist – from the Greek word “sunistemi” meaning:to unite, bring together, and then be held together.

Our Lord, in His creative activity, has brought all things together in harmonious unity, with the result that they cohere. Even in our chaotic state of seeming disorganized confusion, HE CONTINUES TO “work out all things after the counsel of His own will,” (Eph. 1:11), and it is impossible for things to utterly fall apart. There may be times when individually, in our personal situation and circumstance, the bottom seems to have fallen out, and everything is at loose ends, and appears to be thoroughly disjointed. Yet because “IN HIM we live, and move, and have our being,” (Acts 17:29), as we learn to “stand still and see the salvation of the Lord,” we find it does not totally disintegrate. Out of the bleak and barren, out of the rhymeless rhyme, out of the seeming nothingness He births another time, a time of life and victory, and we see that He truly does have it “all together.”

The loose ends, that to us appear miles apart, are held together in HIS hands, and He is in control of all things, steadily working out His plan of the ages. Ultimately all shall redound to His praise. “Having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.” (Col. 1:20). In us there may yet remain much confusion, turmoil, enmity – but IN HIM it is all reconciled, and now He is working in us to bring us to this same state of total triumph, perfect peace and harmony. Ere time has run its course, we shall see how truly BY HIM ALL THINS CONSIST, have been placed and held together.

It remains, “He’s got the whole world in His hands.” For “the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.” (1 Cor. 10:26). HE IS WITH US, in absolute control of our circumstances, to work it all together into our good, and for His praise. Because He holds us together, we can daily overcome!