WHO SAID THAT?

"I started understanding what it meant to be a friend of God,
and it changed my whole view of worship.
We have the privilege of talking with God and hearing Him speak to us. It’s not a monologue."

--Israel Houghton, Worship Leader,
Author of "Friend of God"

GRAHAM COOKE EXCERPT
Sugarland, TX 1-06

WHAT IS JESUS LIKE?

He has an immense, immeasurable and eternal compassion.
His compassion is always greater than our sin.
He is scandalously forgiving.
His mercy burns as it destroys shame.
He has unbounded patience, unending goodness.
His love is so compelling it heals us.
It strips away all our pretense and restores us to happiness.
His grace is the empowering presence within
that enables us to feel good about ourselves.
His mercy is his total favor given gladly to the undeserving heart.
He is the kindest person I have ever known.
His goodness is so outrageous and shocking
that it is disreputable to the religious minded.
He is the happiest person I know;
he has the happiest disposition of anybody you will ever meet.
He is enthusiastically fervent in his pursuit of us.
He is amazingly humble and gentle
but he is also a powerful warrior king who loves to fight
and who laughs at his enemies.
He has a fabulous servant spirit, needing no title, status or position,
but he joyfully sets an example of simple heartwarming slavery.

Tags: Religion , Spirituality , Faith , Inspiration , Encouragement , Jesus , Christ , Christianity , Bible , God , Love

WHO SAID THAT?

"The future belongs to the intercessors and to those who pray."

--Francis Frangipane

BECOMING COMPLETE IN GOD'S LOVE

PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER

What must we do to be made complete in God's love? To be established in His love . . . to know it personally and then to consistently manifest it to others?

1 JOHN 2 SHOWS THE WAY

Let's look at 1 John 2 for some pointers. (I'm using both the New Living Translation and the Amplified Bible today.) Here's what I see in Chapter 2 that will help us complete the puzzle:

• Treasure and obey his entire word, vs. 5

• Live our lives as Christ did, vss. 6 &29

• Love our fellow believers, vss. 10 & 11

• Do not love the world and its forbidden cravings, vss. 15 & 17

• Remain faithful to what we have been taught from the beginning, vs. 24

• Continue to fellowship with Christ, vs. 28
  

LIVE AS CHRIST LIVED

In verse 6 we see that we are to live our life as Christ did. Verse 2:1 in The Amplified Bible tells us that He conforms to the Father's will in purpose, thought and action.

BUT IF WE SIN

I don't know about you, but, while I purpose to live as Christ lived, I mess up a lot. That's why I'm so glad for 1 John 2:1:

...I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if you do sin, there is someone to plead for you before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who pleases God completely. He is the sacrifice for our sins. He takes away not only our sins but the sins of all the world. NLT

LIVES FILLED WITH GOD'S LOVE & BEAUTY

As we continue in this way, remembering both the exhortations of 1 John 2 and also the provision made for the times we fail, our lives will begin to take shape, being filled with God's love and beauty.

Photo from FlickrCC: photobydave

Tags: Religion , Spirituality , Faith , Inspiration , Encouragement , Jesus , Christ , Christianity , Bible , God , Love , Sin

THINK ABOUT IT

There's no grace to carry the burdens that aren't ours.

CHECK IT OUT

With all that is happening in the Middle East, I want to call your attention to a prophecy given January 29, 2006 by Chuck Pierce.

Check it out at http://www.elijahlist.com/words/display_word_pf.html?ID=4291

I trust in the Lord with all my heart and
lean not to my own understanding.

I acknowledge Him in all my ways
and He directs my paths.

I am not wise in my own eyes
but fear God and shun evil.

Living like this brings health to my body
and moisture to my bones.

Proverbs 3:5-8 Personalized

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Tags: Hope , Religion , Health , Faith , Inspiration , Encouragement , Jesus , Christ , Christianity , Bible , Life

WHO SAID THAT?

"Worship is the key to overthrowing a throne of iniquity.
It is a way of ascending to Heaven and of submitting to God."

--Chuck Pierce

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Tags: Religion , Spirituality , Faith , Inspiration , Encouragement , Jesus , Christ , Christianity , Bible , God , Worship , Heaven

FULLNESS OF LIFE & POWER

...you will be filled with the fullness of life & power
that comes from God

Ephs 3:19B NLB

WHEN?

This astounding scripture is from a prayer prayed by Paul in Ephesians 3:16-21 and is followed in my mind with the question, "When? When will I be filled with God's fullness and power?" It's what I'm after, to be flooded with the fullness and power of God.

THEN . . .

Paul's prayer starts like this: "May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God."

We are filled with God's fullness and power when we participate in and partake of his love personally. When we can say, "God loves me," not just God loves.

ROOTED & GROUNDED

The second part of verse 17 adds this to our understanding of when we will be full of God's life: "When your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love."

We need to be planted in God like a tree with deep roots. Permanently grounded, thriving and prospering in his care, not wavering or wandering. That is when we will know experientially his love consistently day by day. His love is extravagant, inexhaustible, without measure and beyond reason. He doesn't just tolerate us, he delights in us. When we are in his beloved son, the Father accepts us completely. Most of us have never known that kind of love and acceptance and so it is beyond our understanding. This is from The Message:

And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love,
you'll be able to take in with all Christians
the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love.
Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length!
Plum the depths! Rise to the heights!
Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.

TRYING ISN'T THE ANSWER

We have seen that being filled with his fullness and power is a result of walking in the continual awareness of his love. I'm encouraged that instead of saying, "Try harder," Paul prayed in verse 18 that we would have the power to understand his love (New Living Translation). Trying isn't the answer. Asking for and relying on God's power to understand, receive, and be established in his love is. I pray for myself and for you, that we will have this power and will be established progressively in the fullness of the life that comes from God.

Photo by Aditya Mopur, Flickr CC

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Tags: Religion , Spirituality , Faith , Inspiration , Encouragement , Jesus , Christ , Christianity , Bible

CHECK IT OUT

Shannon Woodward, a writer who blogs at Wind Scraps asks this question on her latest post: "How vast is our God?" Then she demonstrates the limitlessness of our amazing God with a series of photos comparing earth to various other planets, suns and giant super stars.

It's an awe-inspiring presentation, even if you aren't into astronomy.

Check it out at http://windscraps.blogspot.com/2006/07/god-is-amazing.html

WHO SAID THAT?

"The problem with doing nothing
is not knowing when you're finished."

--Ben Franklin

No one can please God without faith,

for whoever comes to God

must have faith that God exists and rewards those who seek Him.

Hebrews 11:6 Good News Bible

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FAITH AFFIRMATION

God's message benefits me because I mix it with faith.
When I hear his voice I do not harden my heart.
I draw near to God's throne by the blood of the Lamb and receive
unmerited favor and grace to help in time of need.
I appropriate God's promises by believing what he says and trusting who he is.

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Tags: Hope , Religion , Spirituality , Faith , Inspiration , Encouragement , Jesus , Christ , Christianity , Bible , Life

CADRE Comments: Happy Fourth of July

Click on this link for a celebratory photo worthy of this day: CADRE Comments: Happy Fourth of July

LET FREEDOM REIGN!

We stand for freedom. That is our conviction for ourselves;
that is our only commitment to others.
-- John F. Kennedy


I believe that freedom is the deepest need of every human soul.
-- George W. Bush


Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.
We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream.
It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.
--Ronald Reagan

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When we turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away (2 Cor 3:16)
and we have freedom of access to the presence of God.

. . . . where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 2 Cor. 3:17

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Tags: Religion , Spirituality , Faith , Inspiration , Encouragement , Jesus , Christ , Christianity , Bible , Freedom
, 4th of July

WHO SAID THAT?

"Jesus is agape incarnate."

--Bob Mumford

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Tags: Religion , Spirituality , Faith , Inspiration , Encouragement , Jesus , Christ , Christianity , Bible

THINK ABOUT IT

God loves us just the way we love our children,
only he does it much better . . .

Your Father is not waiting to love you more . . .
He loves you perfectly, flawlessly.

It's not because of anything you can do for him.

It's not because you try really hard to walk a straight line.
It's not because you're diligent to read your Bible exactly thirty minutes each morning . . .

He just loves you.

from A Whisper in Winter by Shannon Woodward, p. 22

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Tags: Hope , Religion , Spirituality , Faith , Inspiration , Encouragement , Jesus , Christ , Christianity , Bible , Love , Father , God