Relax in the Lord

"True silence is the rest of the mind, and it is to the spirit

what sleep is to the body-nourishment and refreshment"

~ William Penn

I often catch myself missing out on the Coach's signals because I am too busy trying how to beat the defense myself.

"Often he who does too much, does too little" ~ Anonymous

Prayer time for me is like this picture. Immensely powerful yet incredibly peaceful. Only when I force myself to slow down, which is absolutely against my nature, can I realize that things are indeed falling into place with glory to God. Now that January is about history, and our schedules have been set, do this, this, this thisthisssss...... Stop! ...drop, and pray.

Not sure where to start? Start with the word. Try Psalm 119, the biggest, baddest Psalm in the Bible. I guarantee, you'll have direction, and peace way cooler than this ocean's breeze.

So have a great weekend, friend, thanks for joining me week after week here, and know you are loved beyond words, marvellously made, and you matter to God, bigtime!

“The most important thing

is that I complete my mission,

the work that the Lord Jesus gave me...

~

...to tell people the Good News

about God’s grace.”

(Acts 20:24 NCV)

True Light Shone ~ Anonymous

I saw myself in the Garden of Eden
Taking the fruit of atrocity
I saw myself hidden behind the palm tree
Where I fooled myself that He wouldn't see

I looked ridiculous in the third person
Pale and fragile, all alone
No Eve to blame, the fingers pointed straight at me
Twas at that time that the True Light shone

His power wrapped around
No thunder clap without a sound
Neccesity played out
The shallowness and depth of doubt
The mind I thought that knew
Showed evidence of errors new
Dependence borne within
And fighting this new foe called sin

I labour now instead
But God holds high my weary head
Accepting righteousness
and reasoning proves nothing less

Random Shot : Fasting and Prayer

Praise the Lord! Pastor encouraged us to fast and pray for 8 days, so I did. Incredible, I was not even hungry during my "sacrificial lunch", and instead of eating food I fed on the word. By comparison, on days of "non-fasting and prayer", I am one hungry, irratable dawg! I can't believe I have neglected this part of my walk with the Lord for so long, as He replaced hunger with strength. I concentrated on Psalm 119, highlighting, underlining, thinking, and mostly letting it guide my prayer time. If you are like me, it is hard to concentrate on what to pray about exactly, so I let the Psalms gude me, and God actually led me straight to Psalm 119.

Funny thing is, I was offered free food most of the days of my fast, large McD fries in Laguna Niguel, El Pollo Loco in Irvine, Chocolate Chip Cookies in Pasadena, and "anything you want buddy" at the Doubletree that Friday... and believe me, that does not happen that often!

Does the Lord allow that kind of kind-gestured temptation from good friends as a "serious test" (?), or is it coincidental? I don't think it matters, but what matters is what we do once we have decided on a plan...

* If you fast and pray in your walk with the Lord, please let me know your testimonies, I would find it encouraging. I need to work this into my life without it becoming "routine"...

Praise the Lord!

An Audience of One

Thought for the day
Ephesians 6:18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion.

Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.


A great thought which has been taught in my church now over the past year or so is that we are playing out our lives before an audience of One. That audience of one is God. We are on the stage playing out our role called life. God is our audience of one and as in any play or performance and our goal is to please the audience.


A Question: As you daily go about on the stage of life seeking to play your part are you aware that the most holy and sovereign God is looking on?


Most likely if we are not aware of God being in our audience we will be self consumed by others looking in. We then begin to play on the stage of life to please them and ourselves rather than pleasing God. Our focus should not be on the wrong audience and on how good we look to the world and how big our part is, or compared how big a part our neighbor plays.

Be careful of your part and be always aware of who your audience is.
Because He is the only one who has paid for a seat
and without His presence the show will fold.
In Jesus name and power, jim.

Thought for the day from jim:

I write a lot about being obedient. I really do think it is very important, right behind accepting Jesus Christ as Lord of your life. Many will argue with me that it is about grace and God’s forgiveness. Well I will confess it is all important, and that is why God gave us His instruction book called the Bible. Some times for some of us, guilt is a steady companion. They live under a weight of past sins and fear of doing something wrong in the future. All of this can lead people to question their salvation. But remember those in Christ have been set free from condemnation. Romans 8:1. The reading of our Bibles tell us, “The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people” Ephesians 1. Don’t let guilt drag you down, let it do it’s work to bring you back into a right relationship with the One who promises, “ if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin 1 John 1. Now, be obedient to your Master and always remember He is love and full of compassion for those who love Him.
In Jesus name and power
jim
(note: the lower case j in jim has always caught my eye, and is no typo, but jim's intention, keeping "Jesus' J" the capital is a great reminder of who's First).
Agape,
e

Don't Hesitate, it's 2008!

I believe that in order for us to be able to follow Christ with our lives to the ab-so-lute fullest, we must do some "soul searching" to help guide our prayer life, which, in turn, allows us to hear God and allow Him to guide us.

Here is a just a great snippet of wisdom from a truly motivating gift from a friend this year... from the book "The Nature of Success", by Mac Anderson (http://www.natureofsuccessmovie.com/) Enjoy!

Discover your personal definition of success (mine is "being prepared when opportunity arrives", hence, I pray for opportunity)...

Discover your core existence, or your reason for being (...ask God!)

Set clearly defined goals and never waiver in your belief that you can achieve them.

Manage your attitude

Persevere when adversity strikes... and it will

Learn to take risks and embrace change

Keep kindness in your heart, always

Love and be loved

Make a difference whenever, wherever, and however you can.

Yes, life is truly a journey, and here's wishing you the very best on yours.

A strong 2008 to you!