Others May, You Cannot

Posted on 15th Nov 2011 by Alison

A reflection of the Holy Spirit. This really touched my heart deeply, and I know that this is for some of you. You’ll know right away if this is God’s word for you.

by G. D. Watson

If God has called you to be really like Christ in all your spirit, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility and put on you such demands of obedience, that He will not allow you to follow other Christians, and in many ways He will seem to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.

Others can brag on themselves, and their work, on their success, on their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing, and if you begin it, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works. Continue reading →

Dung Goggles and the New Arithmetic

Posted on 11th Nov 2011 by Alison

Read these astounding words from the Apostle Paul…

7But whatever things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 8But no, rather, I also count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them to be dung, so that I may win Christ 9and be found in Him… that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death; 11if by any means I might attain to the resurrection of the dead. (Phil 3:7-11 MKJV)

And then read this slightly different translation of Paul’s words…

7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him… 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another, I will experience the resurrection from the dead! (Phil 3:7-11 NLT)

Paul truly was an alien. A strange man in this world! He was a man who wore “dung goggles”. He looked at life through these lenses. Everything was dung compared to the desire and longing to know Christ and to be one with Him. But we read his written words above and we just can’t seem to connect. We are quite in love with this world; we are enamored with this life. The thought of dying and losing our lives and our lifestyle and our possessions seems more like a tragedy than a genuine upgrade! We certainly don’t consider our lives on earth as “dung” (garbage, rubbish, worthless stuff…). We’d much rather wear some trendy shades than to put on dung goggles.

Continue reading →

Consecration and Surrender to God’s Will

Posted on 6th Nov 2011 by Alison

An amazing quote from E.M. Bounds on consecration, surrender and God’s will:

“God’s great men have not been men who have originated great plans for God, but rather men, who, like Christ, the great model, have laid aside their own wills, however wise and good, and submitted themselves to follow so these mighty and renowned workers for God have felt the pressure of God’s hand. They were flexible to its slightest touch, listening to His softest whispers, and obedient to His every call.

“This submission to God’s will is an active virtue; it works, as well as suffers, under the sweet supremacy of God’s direction. It bears the rod, but works under the rule of the same divine will when the rod is not seen, feared, or felt. The consecrated life adores the fact that God is sovereign. It is His business and wisdom to plan and arrange His own work, settle His methods, and choose His agents to carry out His purposes. The efficiency and success of these agents does not depend on the maturity of their plans, or on their skill, but on their submission to God’s will, and their faithfulness in executing God’s plans.

“To surrender our life purpose to God’s will; to put forth all our energy in doing that will, and walking in God’s ways, this and this alone is consecration. In this, the servant will not be above his Lord. Active submission to, and working out God’s will is consecration.”

(E.M. Bounds)

Why I Sing

Posted on 30th Oct 2011 by Alison

Do you want to know why I sing? This quote says it quite clearly:

“Christianity is about the crucified Christ and the dancing Christ. We exist to wash the feet of men as Christ washed the feet of the apostles. But inside of our hearts joy should sing, for if our faith does not sing it is a kind of dead faith. For love is a song, the echo of God’s voice, and we must make this echo available.” (Catherine Wild)

This comes from the wonderful book by Father Robert Wild on the life of Catherine Doherty, called “Journey to the Heart of Christ”. I can’t shake this picture of the crucified AND dancing Christ. Truly, as Christians, is it not both the juxtaposition of mourning and joy together, that makes our faith so rich, deep, and somewhat surprising and unexpected?

We die daily, but in this death, we find joy everlasting! In our dying, we pick up life eternal.

Let the sound of singing come from a heart that is alive in faith. And if there is no singing, let faith arise once again! And let the song arise again within us, lest in our silence, the rocks would cry out!

This echo must be heard on this earth…

A Dream My Dad Had About Jesus

Posted on 19th Oct 2011 by Alison

The other day I was talking to my Dad on the phone and he was talking about the Sermon on the Mount, sparked by me sharing some of the values I have for my life in living out a lifestyle reflected in the Sermon on the Mount.

Anyway, he shared a dream that he had where Jesus appeared to him, and Jesus began to talk to him about the Sermon on the Mount, starting with the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 and carrying on through chapters 6 and 7.

I felt it was so significant and enlightening what Jesus shared with my Dad in the dream. This is what Jesus said: Continue reading →