Prayer is important

A prerequisite for having a proper church life in the Lord's recovery today is to have a prayer life. A proper church is a praying church. A church without prayer is pitiful. Prayerlessness is a sin. All the Lord's recovery must be prayerful ad stand against the sin of prayerlessness. The elders in the churches must take up Paul's charge to "first of all" pray.

Prayer is more important than work. May we all learn the lesson the way to have a good church life is to pray. This is crucial. If our talking is turned into praying, the church in our locality will be transformed. 

An evening prayer

If I have wounded any soul today, 
If I have caused one foot to go astray,
If I have walked in my own willful way,
Dear Lord, forgive, Dear Lord, forgive.

If I have uttered idle words or vain,
If I have turned aside from want or pain,
Lest I myself shall suffer thru the strain,
Dear Lord, forgive, Dear Lord, forgive.

If I have been perverse or hard or cold,
If I have longed for shelter in Thy fold,
When Thou hast given me some fort to hold,
Dear Lord, forgive, Dear Lord, forgive.

Forgive the sins I have confessed to Thee,
Forgive the secret sins I do not see.
Oh guide, me love, and my keeper be.
Dear Lord, Amen, Dear Lord, Amen.

Love

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

2. The Definition of Love vv.4-7

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a says: "Love suffers long. Love is kind; it is not jealous. Love does not brag and is not puffed up; It does not behave unbecomingly and does not seek its own things; it is not provoked and does not take account of evil; It does not rejoice because of unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; It covers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never falls away"

8fn1 (Never) Survives everything, holds its place. Love survives everything and holds its place forever. It never fails, never fades out or comes to an end. It is like the eternal life of God. Only love is a characteristic of a mature man and will last for eternity. Hence, when we live and act by love, we have a foretaste of the next age and of eternity. 

I'm in love with my the Lord. I fully believe that "God is love." I used to think I could love without God. But I know that I can't love without God, because God is love. I love my family, I love my friends. I love a lot. I truly try and show kindness to strangers. I try my best to live a life according to that which my God and Father has set as a pattern before me. I fail daily. I have learned that I can not do anything of myself, I NEED the Lord! As my guidance, and at my side walking daily with me moment by moment as my supply. So, that I can be fully happy, abiding in Him as my Husband, Father, God, and best friend. I have the greatest best friend. The Lord Jesus!! 

John 15:9 says: "As the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love."

I want to abide in His love for all eternity!

John 15:16-17 says: "You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and I set you that you should go forth and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give you.
These things I command you that you may love one another."

I love these words "I chose you." This shows me that out of all the people in this world, God chose ME! I used to ask God. Why me? Out of everyone, why did you spare me? Why did I grow up knowing You? I used to take the Lord for granted, having grown up always knowing of the Lord's existence. I lived my life for years, not really appreciating the Lord at all. I can not say I regret anything that has happened to me in my life, I have to tell the truth. I am however truly thankful to the Lord for having mercy on me, and showing me just how much I missed having Him in my life. I thank Him everyday for allowing me that time, so that I could love Him THAT MUCH MORE!! You might think I'm a bit crazy for saying it, but it's just the truth. I love the Lord with all my heart. And thank Him for loving me even more than that! 

In relation to those verses...:

16fn3: (that) after we go forth to produce believers in the Lord, we need to care for them. The best way is to set up meetings on their homes to cover and protect them that they may be cared for by being nourished and taught, and may become the remaining fruit, living in the branches of the true vine, that is, in the Body of Christ, to be Christ's increase. 

17fn1: (love) This is to love one another in the Lord's life, the divine life, in the Lord's love, and in His commission of fruit bearing. Life is the source, love is the condition, and fruit-bearing is the goal. If we all live by the Lord's life as the source, in the Lord's love as the condition, and for the fruit-bearing as the goal, we surely will love one another. 

Thank You Lord for loving me!

Enjoyment from 1 Timothy

Favored with the Lord's Grace

Verse 14 (1 Tim. 1:14) continues, "and the grace of our Lord superabounded with faith and love in Christ Jesus." The Lord's grace, following God's mercy; visited Saul of Tarsus and not only abounded, but superabounded in him with faith and love in Christ. Faith and love are the product if the Lord's grace. Mercy and grace come to us from the Lord; faith and love return to the Lord and us. Faith is for us to receive  the Lord, (John 1:12), and the love is for us to enjoy the Lord whom we have received (John 14:21, 23; 21:15-17).

Saved by Christ Jesus

In verse 15 Paul declares, "Faithful is the word and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost." Christ came into the world to be our Savior by incarnation (John 1:14). He was God incarnated that He may save us through His death and human body. This should be constantly announced as the gospel, the glad tidings, in a local church. 

Believing on Christ unto Eternal Life

In verse 16 Paul speaks of believing of Christ into eternal life. The uncreated life of God is the ultimate gift and topmost blessing given by God to those who believe on Christ. 

The Goal of the Christian Life

The kingdom is the goal of the Christian life. Today we are living in the church life with the goal that one day we shall enter into the kingdom of God. The New Testament emphasizes the cross, the church, and the kingdom. The cross produces the church, the church ushers in the kingdom. As we are living in the church life, our goal is to enter into God's kingdom. 

This goal is neglected by many Christians. If you were to ask certain  Christians what the goal of their Christian life is, they would probably say that their goal is to go to heaven. This kind of answer is very poor. The church life does not usher the believers into heaven; it ushers us into the kingdom. Actually, the church life is preliminary to the kingdom. It is a preliminary stage of the kingdom. This is the reason that, in a very real sense, the New Testament considers the church life to be the kingdom. Romans 14:17 says, "For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." Because Romans 14 speaks concerning the church life, the kingdom of God in this verse signifies the church life. According to  Paul's understanding, the church life is the kingdom. Of course, the church life today is not the kingdom in full. Rather, it is the kingdom in a developmental stage, a preliminary stage. We are in this preliminary stage of the kingdom with the kingdom in full as our goal. We are proceeding from the preliminary stage to the stage of fullness. This is the correct understanding of the proper goal of the church life. 

http://ministrybooks.org/books.cfm?id=%23%26J%2F%29%0A

Concerning the Emotion

The artery of the emotion also needs to be unclogged. When we realize how serious is the problem we have with our emotion, we my be deeply sorrowful. We my despair and feel utterly ashamed of the condition of our emotion. We shall realize that in many cases we hate what we should love, and we love what we should hate. When we come into the light of the sanctuary, we shall see that the most ugly aspect of our being is our emotion, for we do not use it properly. Both our joyfulness and our sorrow may be altogether natural. As the Lord exposes us, we may feel ashamed of the way we have expressed joy and sorrow, for that expression often was natural, fleshly, even fleshy. No wonder our psychological heart does not function normally. 

If we take the time necessary to unclog the three main arteries of our psychological heart, we shall have the sense that our entire being has become living. Our mind, will and emotion will all be in a very healthy condition. All the "dirt" in these "ditches" will then be dug away. 

No one can do this unclogging for you. I can speak to you concerning it. but you must do it yourself. Thus, you need to go to the Lord day by day and ask Him to expose everything wrong in your mind, will and emotion. Then in the light of what exposes, you need to confess. 

"An emotion touched with the love of Christ"

In Ephesians 3:17 Paul says, "That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith, that you, having been rooted and grounded in love." Love is a matter of the emotion. According to this verse, Christ makes His home in our hearts, and we ourselves become rooted and grounded in His love. This indicates that our emotion is touched by His love and that we grow in this love. To have our emotion filled with the love of Christ surely is an aspect of sanctification. Furthermore, when we are rooted and grounded in love, we can "know the knowledge--surpassing love of Christ" (Eph. 3:19). This is also related to the sanctification of our heart, in particular of the emotion. To have our emotion filled with the love of Christ is to be saturated with Christ. No doubt, this is the sanctification of our emotion. 

Deep Within I know You're My Only Love

Jesus Lord, my best love Thou art,
Thou hast fully captured my heart;
There is none in heav'n nor on earth like Thee,
With Thy beauty none can compete.
When Thy voice first came to my ear,
Whisp'ring in my heart words most dear,
All past loves and aims lost their charm for me,
All my boasts so vain now appear.
Throughout all the world, who compares with Thee?
Who so full of worth, who so fair and sweet?
Only Thou art worthy my love to win,
O Lord Jesus, how I love Thee!

No more I who live, no more self-deceived,
No more in the self's world indulged to be,
Deep within I know You're my only love,
My best love is none else but Thee!
Jesus Lord, my best love Thou art,
Rid all rocks that hide in my heart;
Gladly I Thy bondslave of love would be,
One heart, one will ever with Thee
Though my heart is oft not subdued,
Still Thy way alone it would choose;
All I yearn for is what Thy heart desires,
In Thy love alone peace I find.
Jesus Lord, my best love Thou art,
Ne'er again from Thee I'd depart;
Never hide Thy dear, smiling face from me.
To none else I'd cling, Lord, but Thee.
To Thee, Lord, my all I outpour,
How Thy love my heart deeply fills,
My eternal portion, most precious Lord,
None but Thee I want evermore.



Source: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/ns/351#ixzz1lrJYtsQW

Yogurt covered almonds?

I was at my brothers to watch Super Bowl 46, New York Giants vs. New England Patriots. Of which everyone  knows now the better team won, Giants 21-Patriots 17! I am a Colts fan, as a Colts fan I dislike the Patriots with a passion... Eli Manning being Peyton's little brother and the quarterback for the Giants, naturally I wanted the Giants to win it!! Back to why I was writing this down... :)

On the random snack table there sits  these things. They look like yogurt covered almonds, very deceiving!! I LOVE yogurt covered almonds!! So, I pop one in my mouth, they were not yogurt covered almonds...! But they weren't bad tasting either... What were they you ask? They were "Eggnog flavored Almonds, covered with creamy white chocolate..." from "Trader Joe's." interesting choice you say!?!? I would have to say, they are a acquired taste, but they are good, most likely addicting... Which sucks, because I believe they are seasonal. If you'd like to read more about them I pasted a link below.

 

http://www.candyblog.net/blog/item/trader_joes_eggnog_almonds/

Full all my hunger! Quench all my thirst!

Hymn 811  

1 My heart is hungry, my spirit doth thirst;
  I come to Thee, Lord, to seek Thy supply;
  All that I need is none other but Thee,
  Thou canst my hunger and thirst satisfy.
Chorus  
  Feed me, Lord Jesus, give me to drink,
  Fill all my hunger, quench all my thirst;
  Flood me with joy, be the strength of my life,
  Fill all my hunger, quench all my thirst.
2 Thou art the food and the water of life,
  Thou canst revive me, my spirit upbear;
  I long to eat and to drink here of Thee,
  Thyself enjoy through my reading and prayer.
3 Thou art the Word with God’s fulness in Thee,
  Thou too the Spirit that God my life be;
  Thee in the Word I enjoy as my food,
  Thou as the Spirit art water to me.
4 Thou from the heavens as food camest down,
  Thou to be drink hast been smitten for me;
  Thou as the food, my exhaustless supply,
  Thou as the water, a stream unto me.
5 Thou in the Word art the Spirit and life,
  Thus by the Word I may feed upon Thee;
  Thou dost as Spirit in my spirit live,
  Thus I may drink in the spirit of Thee.
6 Now to enjoy Thee I come to Thy Word,
  On Thee to feed till my hunger is o’er.
  Now in my spirit I turn unto Thee,
  Of Thee to drink till I’m thirsty no more.
7 Feeding and drinking, Lord Jesus, of Thee,
  Feeding by reading, and drinking by prayer;
  Reading and praying, I eat and I drink,
  Praying and reading-Lord, Thou art my fare.
8 Here, O my Lord, may I feast upon Thee;
  Flood with Thy Spirit and fill by Thy Word;
  May, Lord, Thou be such a feast unto me
  As man hath never enjoyed nor e’er heard.

Spiritual Milk Drinkers

A minister of life is a begetter, a father, who imparts life to his children, whom he begets.

A minister of life is a feeder; feeding is a matter of life; it differs from teaching, which is a matter of knowledge:
-To give milk to drink or food to eat is to feed others

1 Corinthians 3:2 "I gave you milk to drink..."

To give others milk to drink is to feed them. Feeding is a matter of life. It differs from teaching, which is a matter of knowledge. Instead of merely instructing others, we need to feed them.... We need to feed on Christ to produce spiritual milk so that we may be able to feed our spiritual children. This is a genuine experience of Christ as life. Paul was not only a father who begot spiritual children but also a mother who feed them. We need to be spiritually strong and healthy so that, like Paul, we may be able to beget spiritual children and adequately produce the spiritual milk to feed them... If the elders become fathers who impart life to their spiritual children and mothers who produce the spiritual milk to feed them, we will have a proper family life in the church  as the household of God. 

Ephesians 2:19 "So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God." 

Prayer: Lord, make me a drinker! Cause me to drink you as my spiritual milk. So that I may be one feeding others with You as their spiritual milk! Lord, cause me to be a healthy drinker of spiritual milk. So that I may be a healthy feeder, feeding my spiritual children! Praise the Lord for this milk! 

*Witness Lee, the Four Great Pillars in the Lord's Recovery - week 5, day 6