“Call unto me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you know not.” (Jeremiah 33:3)
God Calling
By Two Listeners
(This devotion was written by two sisters, who lived through the London Blitzgreg – who chose to remain annonomous) Perfect Work
Spend more time alone with Me.
A strength and a Joy come from such times that will add much to your friendship, and much to your work. Times of prayer are times of growth. Cut those times short and many well-filled hours of work may be profitless.
Heaven’s values are so different from the values of earth.
Remember that from the point of view of the Great Worker, one poor tool, working all the time, but doing bad work, is of small value compared with the sharp, keen, perfect instrument, used only a short time, but which turns out perfect work.
UPHILL Does the road wind uphill all the way? Yes, to the very end, Will the journey take the whole long day? From morn to night, my friend. — C. G. Rossetti
“And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” Mark 1:35
It’s through prayer that God is able to sharpen us, as His tool, His instrument suitable for His service, because by our praying and communicating with Him, continually — day by day — through the Holy Spirit (as per Romans 8:26), we are then praying in the perfect will of God. This allows the Holy Spirit, through our obedience and faith, to rewrite the corrupt programming we have received from the world, and instill in us the Mind of God.
Here Jesus, God incarnate – the Creator of the universe and all that’s in it (see Col 1:17), comes to a dispised Samaritan woman thirsty and asking her for a drink…
John 4:7-11
7 A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, “Would you give me a drink of water?” 8 (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.)
9 The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, “How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (Jews in those days wouldn’t be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water.”
11 The woman said, “Sir, you don’t even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this ‘living water’?
[Backstory: For Jews in Israel, Samaria is a place to be avoided. Before Solomon’s death 1,000 years earlier, the regions of Samaria and Judea were part of a united Israel. After the rebellion that divided the kingdom, Samaria became a hotbed of idol worship. The northern kings made alliances that corrupted the people by introducing foreign customs and strange gods. They even had the nerve to build a temple to the True God on Mt. Gerizim to rival the one in Jerusalem. By the time the twelve are traveling with Jesus, it has long been evident that the Samaritans have lost their way. By marrying outsiders, they have polluted the land. Israel’s Jews consider them to be half-breeds—mongrels—and the Jews know to watch out for them or else be bitten by temptation.]
Where then do You get that living water? —John 4:11
“The well is deep” — and even a great deal deeper than the Samaritan woman knew! (John 4:11).Think of the depths of human nature and human life; think of the depth of the “wells” in you.
Have you been limiting, or impoverishing, the ministry of Jesus to the point that He is unable to work in your life?
Suppose that you have a deep “well” of hurt and trouble inside your heart, and Jesus comes and says to you, “Let not your heart be troubled…” (John 14:1).
Would your response be to shrug your shoulders and say, “But, Lord, the well is too deep, and even You can’t draw up quietness and comfort out of it.”
Actually, that is correct. Jesus doesn’t bring anything up from the wells of human nature— He brings them down from above.
We limit the Holy One of Israel by remembering only what we have allowed Him to do for us in the past, and also by saying, “Of course, I cannot expect God to do this particular thing.”
The thing that approaches the very limits of His power is the very thing we as disciples of Jesus ought to believe He will do.
We impoverish and weaken His ministry in us the moment we forget He is almighty. The impoverishment is in us, not in Him.
We will come to Jesus for Him to be our comforter or our sympathizer, but we refrain from approaching Him as our Almighty God.
The reason some of us are such poor examples of Christianity is that we have failed to recognize that Christ is almighty.We have Christian attributes and experiences, but there is no abandonment or surrender to Jesus Christ.
When we get into difficult circumstances, we impoverish His ministry by saying, “Of course, He can’t do anything about this.” We struggle to reach the bottom of our own well, trying to get water for ourselves.
Beware of sitting back, and saying, “It can’t be done.” You will know it can be done if you will look to Jesus. The well of your incompleteness runs deep, but make the effort to look away from yourself and to look toward Him.
Think of the depths of human nature and human life; think of the depth of the “wells” in you.
Have you been limiting, or impoverishing, the ministry of Jesus to the point that He is unable to work in your life?
Suppose that you have a deep “well” of hurt and trouble inside your heart, and Jesus comes and says to you, “Let not your heart be troubled…” (John 14:1).
Would your response be to shrug your shoulders and say, “But, Lord, the well is too deep, and even You can’t draw up quietness and comfort out of it.”
Actually, that is correct. Jesus doesn’t bring anything up from the wells of human nature— He brings them down from above.
God is the Author and Creator of EVERYTHING that exists in heaven and earth…
Hebrews 1:1-4
God’s Supreme Revelation
1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son (Jesus}, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
Colossians 1:15-18
15 He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
Think for a moment that the same God, who has created everything and owns everything in heaven and earth, has also created each one of us. He alone is the One who has authored each one of our lives, and has given to each of us the free will to choose how we will spend our lives, whether to spend it on Him or on ourselves?
It has always been God’s intention that we should spend our lives on Him, dedicated to His service, following Jesus’ example (who is our elder Brother, also called in Scripture the “Last Adam”); but God in His love and wisdom does not demand this of any man, but leaves it entirely to us how we should spend our lives. But if we want to know what God’s original design and plan was for Adam (before the fall), we have but to look to Jesus.
1 John 2:6 Theoneclaiming to abide in Him (Jesus) ought also walk just as in the same way that He walked.
Jesus tells us in Scripture that He only does what He sees the Father do and He only speaks what He hears the Father speak; and that as the Father has called Him, likewise He is calling us!
Jesus also said that He came that we may have life and experience it more abundantly. Aren’t we ALL looking for that ultimate meaning and purpose for our live; aren’t we ALL instinctively looking for an Abundant Life?
What better place is there for us to go, in order to find out what that purpose is, than to go to the One who created us?
Psalm 139:13-16
13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
God owns it ALL anyway and so why are so many people acting like the little girl below?
The Winning Way FRENCH FRIES
The Bible says more about money that it does about heaven or hell combined, and contains amazingly relevant principles regarding money management, stewardship, and budgeting. But the bottom line is this: every bit of what the Christian has belongs to God. He owns everything.
This principle was vividly illustrated to me in McDonald’s of all places. I had gone to the home of the golden arches for lunch with my granddaughter, LeeBeth. We stood at the counter and placed our orders. She, with the confidence of youth and healthy arteries, ordered a “Happy Meal,” including a hamburger, french fries and a drink. I, of the older and more “heart smart” generation, ordered a “McLean,” with no fries. I paid for both of us, and we took our lunches to a nearby table and sat down. About halfway through our meal, I began to think how good one of LeeBeth’s french fries would taste. As I reached across the table, she put her hand in front of mine and said with a stern warning, “No, Goosey, those are mine.”
Now I bought every one of those french fries, and if I had wanted to, I could have marched back up to the counter and bought every french fry in the house. As I thought about her response, I began to understand how our childlike possessiveness of the things He provides must appear to God. He owns everything…and it is all at His disposal. He gives it to us to “do business with” for an undetermined time. May we be found faithful with what is His. Memory Verse
I CHRONICLES 29:16
…all this abundance that we have provided to build Thee a house for Thy Holy Name, it is from Thy hand, and all is Thine.
A Christian must learn to pick up their cross (the symbol of our death to self) daily and follow Jesus –24/7…
Jesus speaking: “Then he spoke to them all. ‘If anyone wants to follow in my footsteps (and be My disciple), he must give up all right to himself, carry his cross every day and keep close behind me. For the man who wants to save his life will lose it, but the man who loses his life for my sake will save it.
For what is the use of a man gaining the whole world if he loses or forfeits his own soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him, when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and the holy angels.
I tell you the simple truth—there are men standing here today who will not taste death until they have seen the kingdom of God!’”
(Luke 9:23-26 – JB Phillips Translation)
The Winning Way
GIVE YOURSELF FIRST
Paul held up the Christians at Macedonia as an example to his Corinthian friends. The Macedonians (who had little) had given liberally to the Jerusalem church…and the Corinthians (who had much more) had promised aid, but done nothing. But Paul’s most convicting description of these generous believers was not about money, but about heart. “They first gave themselves,” he said.
God is not honored when we “tip” Him with our money but withold from Him our selves. The gift without the giver is bare. Those Macedonian givers climbed into the offering plate with their gift. They didn’t just nod at God with a few coins…they put their very lives at His disposal. What a radical act of faith! Jesus illustrated this best when He instructed His disciples to “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s…and to God the things that are God’s.” Well, what is God’s? We are!
Jesus picked up a coin to drive home His point, saying, “Whose picture is on this coin?” They answered the obvious: “Caesar’s.” What has God’s picture on it? You and I do. We are made in the image of God, and His picture is etched on your life and mine in an indelible way. When we give ourselves along with our gifts, our offering is sacrificial, spontaneous and spiritual. And we can be sure that God is honored by it.
Memory Verse
II CORINTHIANS 8:5
And this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us.
Frank Barro, from our Watchmen on the Wall Prayer Group, has a specialburden for us to pray for certain cities around our nation.
So as you are lead, please pray for the following:
sb
Pray for Oakland California
Pray for the leadership of Oakland The mayor Elizabeth Beckman “Libby” Schaaf was the mayor that warned illegal aliens about an ICE raid.
Oakland is known for being a dangerous and violent city,
Oakland, California has crawled its way to the top as one of the most notorious places for gang violence in the United States.
Philadelphia has the cheese steak, New York has Yankee fans, and Oakland has a gang problem.
Homicide is the leading cause of death among 15 to 24 year-olds, and 44% of the youth at neighboring Castlemont High School are having constant contact with the criminal justice system.
The Rate of domestic violence are the highest of any city in Alameda County.
East Oakland has nearly three times the rate of child abuse/neglect cases than the county overall.
There are two sides to every story.
“Thousands of Oakland teachers and school staff began striking early Thursday morning, establishing picket lines outside nearly every school in the district, in a push for higher wages, better classroom conditions and an end to school closures.”
The “Project of free market education reform” is so widespread in America that many cities and states insist on claiming the title of “ground zero” for education privatization.
Whether or not Oakland can claim that unfortunate title, it’s clear that the privatizers have made huge headway in the city:
Oakland is now the city in California with the highest percentage of students in privately run charters, and the city’s school district is aiming to deepen its downsizing project by closing twenty-four of the city’s eighty-seven public schools.”
Pray for:
Godly Leadership
Regarding Gang issues
High rate of Homicide
East side Teacher strike, for God’s will to be done in the city.
SB SALT AND LIGHT MINISTRIES 