Losing oneself

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and for the gospel's; the same shall save it. Mark 9:35

I thought I knew what it meant, but when I read it again, it dawned on me that in the back of my mind, losing one's life has always meant physically. I knew it wasn't limited to that, but when I would read that verse, I saw visions of Christians in an arena with lions, or being burned at the stake or beheaded by terrorists. The depth that should have been there, just wasn't.

After a short round of giving myself up to the direction God wanted me to go yesterday, I read those words again and saw it. We have no right to our emotions and anxieties when we give ourselves up to God. We die - lose our lives - daily, as Paul said.

When we are sold out to God (and most of us go in and out of that condition), our greatest desire is to do what God asks of us, even if means giving up the way we feel about something or our own plans and hopes.

Miracles

I was reading in Mark today and the passage from Mark 3:23 to Mark 3:29 stood out to me. As I was thinking about the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, I was reminded of a time when I went to a church that fell into the "Toronto Blessing" type of movement and how uncomfortable that made me feel.

It's a story for a different time, but I was then reminded of and looked up Revelation 16:14 "For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." and again, "And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone." (Rev. 19:20)

It's pretty clear that satan works miracles (remember the guys who threw down their staffs and they turned into snakes, just like Moses' staff had?) and if he does, how are we to tell which is which, and how can we keep from committing that sin of blasphemy?

As quickly as I asked, God answered, "By their fruits you will know them."

I wish all my questions were answered that quickly and clearly.

Walking

Walking

Tell you something--
One day I looked at my soul and I said
...soul...
What are you doing
Why are you sitting there...
You've got two feet.
Get up and walk.
And soul said, that's a long road up there
And I said, yeah. Just start walking.
And soul said its too hard, that road...
And then Jesus stepped in. He said "child".
I said what, Lord.
...just like that...
And He said, 'see that road'? and I said yes,
He said, 'its a long one'. I said yes, Lord.
And He said, 'Its pretty tough, too'.
Yes, Lord.
He said-
You know I've already been there,
But I'll walk it again with you, child.
Here, take my hand.
Get up.
Start walking.
Walk, child!
So I did. I took His hand and I started walking.
Sometimes I walk slowly, sometimes I climb over things
and fall down the other side; He always catches me.
Sometimes, I run and skip for joy, some days He carries me,
some days I crawl, some days I fly.
But mostly I just walk.
And walk
One step, and another, walking.
Sometimes it seems like I'm all alone,
and I look for someone--anyone. Then I remember.
And when I look straight up the road, there He is,
Waiting for me.
Every time.
I just take another step.
And keep on walking.

If you knew

If you knew just where He brought me from

And where I should have been

Then you'd know how much I love Him

And why I pray for you, my friend.

They Just Don't Know His Name

Did you ever get a revelation or an understanding that you couldn't put into words? There is nothing to describe what God has shown me about Who He is.

Other gods? No. All of it is our God, not known by His name.

I came across this "Intuition: A Healing Tool That Most Doctors Have Forgotten" and found it interesting because I personally have had things like that happen to me. I have struggled with this because it has seemed to be "not quite right" somehow.

I know God led me to this because I have been struggling more than usual lately. As I read, I knew what they were talking about on a much larger scale than they did.

What is this "intuition" they're talking about? Some mystical, forgotten knowledge as they say? In a way, yes. We are conditioned to compartmentalize our lives. This part goes here, that part goes there. Who we are at work sometimes has little resemblance to who we are in other parts of our lives.

As we compartmentalize our lives, we do the same to our minds and our spirits. (Unconscious minds, subconscious, whatever term seems to fit). We might "feel" something then dismiss it because it doesn't fit with what we are doing.

But this "thing" that we "feel" is more than just a thought. It's input from God Himself because... He is in all. He is best described as "I Am." He is. That's all there is to it.

There are no other gods because there cannot be. There is no room for another god. There are only two forces, two beings, two spirits and we adhere to one or the other. There are no other choices.

But I'm not saying it well. Read the article and tell me if it strikes you as very sad. These great minds are blinded to the truth, yet they have a glimmer of it. They just don't know His Name.

One of These Little Ones

Matthew 18:2-3 and 8.

And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, "Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." I have read these verses over, maybe hundreds of times, but this is the first time I saw it this way:

When a person is converted, he is a child in the Lord; "born again." The new birth makes us trusting and vulnerable, just like a child. If anyone offends a newly born again child in the Lord, that is to say, to cause a new Christian to question or abandon his salvation, it would be better for that person if "a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."

I know it's been there all this time, but it just connected in my spirit. Was Jesus likening the child to a new believer? If He wasn't particularly doing that, it's still a valid connection to make for us.

A Part, Not Apart

I was late getting started to work the other day, so my time with God was a little hurried. I didn't like the feeling of hurriedly reading the Bible and praying so I could get on with my day.

Writing it out makes it seem even more awful, but that day I told God that I didn't want to have leave His presence and go to work.

What did He say? "Let me be a part of your day, not apart from it."