We have all messed up in various ways; we have all fallen short of the target; we have all disobeyed God. We have all sinned.
Our sins separate us from God and from the abundant life for which He created us.
The Lord Jesus Christ – God in the flesh – came down to earth, lived a perfect life, suffered the consequences we all, by our sinning, deserve, dying on the Cross for our sins. But He came back to life again, conquering sin and death, defeating the devil, ascending to heaven, interceding for us right now, and planning to come back again.
He says each of us, ‘Come, follow Me.” This is both the most spectacular invitation in the history of the world and the most elementary command, coming as it does, from the Creator of the Universe. And our response to this invitation / command will determine our destiny.
Rejection in any form – choosing to continue in our own direction – will lead us to our own destination, hell. Acceptance will bring forgiveness, regeneration, hope, purpose, love, acceptance, and eternal life in heaven.
How do we obey that command? Jesus clarifies, “Repent and believe.” That is, change our minds and our direction, turning from our sins, and trusting and relying on Him.
What does it look like to accept His invitation into His life? It is an amazing adventure in the supernatural as we die to ourselves and our petty little issues and, filled with His Holy Spirit, engage in His mission that runs through the agony of the world.
We are looking to win the world for Jesus.
Interested? —- @StephenCourt and Facebook…
Bio:
Stephen Court loves Jesus and is fighting as a Salvation Army officer to win the world for Jesus along with his family, comrade soldiers at the Crossroads Corps in Edmonton (Canada) and more than a million other Salvationists worldwide. You can catch him at armybarmyblog.blogspot.ca, StephenCourt (twitter), sacrossroads.com and Scott’s friend list on Facebook.
Tune in tomorrow for another installment of “Perspectives” featuring writer and author Bob Hostetler.
Today begins the first installment of this segment that is called “Perspectives“. I have asked numerous writers, pastors and bloggers to contribute to http://www.pastorsponderings.org. The last week of each month will be devoted to the perspectives of other writers in the hopes that we might all expand our horizons. I am very exited to begin, so without further adieu, welcome to “Perspectives” week!
I am a child of the King
Nothing more important
nothing more refined
His song within me sings
The redemptive sonnet
Sight restored to the blind.
I am made for His kingdom
Where the living water flows
And His light will ever shine
From here eternal freedom
will ever be mine bestowed
He will ever be mine.
I am a son of the Creator
His praise be on my lips
His song of the redeemed
will forever within me stored
His love encompass and eclipsed
Earth’s all surpassing dreams!
“A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.” -William G.T. Shed
I admit I’ve been addicted to the show “Deadliest Catch” for a few years now.
It’s crazy, wild and it truly is a rugged dangerous living.
Don’t get ship-wrecked!
I was watching one episode where one of the skippers had to bring their fishing vessel into port because of a mechanical issue. The seas were raging and the weather was not desirable, but they had to get to harbor for safety and repairs. Of course the tv show paints it with great drama and suspense, but in this instance they were extremely worried about getting to the docks and getting out of the storm.
Are you in need of getting out of the storm in your life today?
Has the storm been brewing around you for a while now, swirling and ebbing, crashing against your vessel and threatening to capsize you? Do you feel threatened and exposed, fearful of being washed away?
we all need safe harbor! I think the Apostle Paul felt this way many times in the midst of his persecution and imprisonment. He even knew a little bit about being literally shipwrecked (this happened to him not one or two times, but THREE times!). He even wrote about it; “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” 2 Corinthians 4:8-9
Safe harbor is vital for all of us to have. Do you have a safe harbor? Safe harbor needs to be a place where you can go and find rest. A place that will shelter you from the storms. A place where you know the storms of life can’t harm you. Jesus said; “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
Safe Harbor is available –
But we have got to be willing to act on it…to actually go to the safe harbor. We have to be willing to admit that these storms are more than we can handle. Admit that we need help and our strength just isn’t enough to get us through what we’re going through.
He waits for us to come to Him. He doesn’t just want us to come to Him when we’re in danger…but that’s a start. Sometimes we come to Him only after we’ve hit rock bottom. Sometimes we come to Him only after all of our other resources dry up. Yet He is always faithful! He is always available.
May I offer you a little ticket to the safe harbor?
It’s just a gentle word of advice and help. It’s a small thing that I’ve learned I’m still learning…
Solitude with God:
It might sound kind of funny, but being silent before the Creator of the Universe really and truly helps! There is no better place to go than to God for guidance and for a re-connection with Him.
We live in a world where we are surrounded by sounds and noise every day. There are distractions in our homes and in our workplaces…so how do we find these moments of solitude with God? Is it even possible?
Yes it is! But the real question then becomes are we truly willing to seek out these moments with God? Are we prepared to sit in silence before Him? Truly finding solitude in God’s safe harbor requires us to devote or set aside purposeful time with Him. Without our dedication to the practice of solitude we will find ourselves hopelessly bored and defeated by it. You have to prepare your mind and your life so that you can actually sit in silence before Him.
Anything worth doing takes work. An Olympian can’t simply show up to an Olympic event without first having spent countless months, days even years practicing and training. So it is with the spiritual discipline of solitude. It’s called a discipline for a reason.
dis·ci·pline
ˈdisəplin/
noun
1.
the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience.
“a lack of proper parental and school discipline”
Discipline takes real work and practice. Sitting in silence before God will take work! Tuning out distractions and sounds/noises of our every day life will take work! But it’s worth it!
Do you need safe harbor today?
Whether you’re burnt out, washed up, overly tired, stressed out, overwhelmed…whatever the case today, perhaps it’s time you became plugged back into the true source of power in this world! Perhaps it’s time to realign your priorities which need to include these vital moments of solitude before a God who wants to encourage, strengthen, support and love you.
Are you ready?
-Just a thought for you today.
(These thoughts and images were put together specifically for http://www.pastorsponderings.org but are free for anyone to use in the express hope that God’s word may be heard and seen. May all the glory be given to God!)
Love makes the world go around…not money, not fortune and fame…but
It shines in the darkness,
paints over our mess
helps us confess
blesses us…love…
captivates, motivates, escalates, elevates…us.
Love always perseveres! Always, always, always, always…always.
Have you found love yet?
Is it worth finding at all?
True love,
God’s love…
It begins here…ends here…
If we find it here,
and cherish it here
depend on it here
Then from here
to —————————————–> There
Love will be.
Real authentic,
no hidden agendas
Strings attached…
No…
From the source of Love,
God.
Almighty
We will
to the only
real source of
love.
Find love today.
He is waiting.
With arms wide
“Prodigal…welcome home!”
Open.
This.
Is.
Love.
Begin with this one simple truth:
You are loved! You matter to God! You are important to Him! He loves you so very much! From this point of reference, may you find Him, and find love!
(These thoughts were written specifically for “Pastorsponderings.org” but they are free so that others might find love and hope through Jesus Christ our Lord! Amen and to God be there glory!)
“But He wasn’t in the earthquake or fire” (1Kings 19)
It is at wits-end that God is there but He is also there when tears fall before you call, He has heard your heart from the start, you’re never alone. Sometimes like Elijah depressed and dejected emotionally high yet fear has boldly infected the soul with a broken heart inside waiting for God to show up as you hide… no, not fire, or earthquake He’s in but His still small voice, He knows where you’ve been you might feel weak and powerlessly alone but find strength, He will come He won’t leave you alone, Hold on, don’t you quit, or lose sight See, here He comes with power and might don’t lose fight, don’t believe the lie the strength you now have, comes from on high. You don’t need to call down fire from above you don’t need to have visions to receive His love but faithfulness in spite of the place His rescue comes in full as does His grace.
Sometimes this means of grace
is a long drawn-out humble confession
other times our cynicism needs to be
brutally murdered, quartered and beheaded.
Our human eyes are so frail and poor
blocking the wonders, the majesty – His love.
Sometimes this means of grace
falls into our laps, haphazardly
and quite by surprise.
We realize how quickly life can change
we attempt to rearrange on our own
but fall so terribly flat on our faces
we can’t win these spiritual races
in their places we need His grace.
Sometimes this means of grace,
blanket heavy, warms us from the cold
boldly plucking our guilt from frozen
finger tips
while we utter from our lips
the prayers we’ve been taught
yet only when His soothing hands
touch our skin do we ever let
it reach our hearts…
How damned we are without it.
how utterly wasted away
frail worn and dirtied from the fray…
how damned we are without it.
There are times when faith is misplaced or spent on the wrong kinds of things.
It can consume us…
We place too much faith in…
this: thinking if we just had a little more of it we’ll be happier and better off
but it doesn’t ever seem to satisfy our longing for more.
Sure it staves off the hunger for a while, but soon…
we hunger for more, and so our faith
in money is just never satisfied.
Other times we place our faith in
friendship.
Sure we need friendships, and relationships.
We need to laugh and to cry and to have people in whom we
can confide…
but…
when our friends become our faith
when we would do anything for their attention
when faith turns into an unhealthy obsession
at some point
These friends are NOT going to always be there for you…
and so…
Shattered
your faith in friends gets…shattered.
Finding faith in government or power is also equally devastating.
We can pour our souls into following a political candidate
or campaigning for a specific cause
and these are can be good things…
but it these faiths in government
and
power
and
causes
consume us
then we are no better than when we began to place our faith here.
Real faith.
Real devotion
Real relationships
Alpha and Omega (The Beginning and the end)
begin and end with the
God wants so desperately for us
find our faith in Him.
Faith isn’t some
“Stop wishing & start believing!”
wish list
or dream
This faith, right here, right now is placing our whole being before a God who cares and loves us.
Faith can be found.
The question is
are you prepared to look?
(These thoughts are ideas were created specifically for “Pastorsponderings.org” for the expressed desire to intrigue, motivate and compel us to search for our own relationship with Christ. This is free to share and use so that God’s message may be spread and heard. May the Lord have all the glory and honor!)
