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Meditations Page Two
These pieces are just
right for e-mail... not too long, but very effective!
All Written by Dianne Miller
The Lion Who Lost His Teeth has
not Much of a Bite!
We all need to be praying more for everything
that involves our lives, and the lives of others we come
into contact with, or situations that we are aware
of....The days are certainly shorter than they have ever
been, and only the Lord knows how long we have to be
about our Father's business.The evil one is running
rampant...as that roaring lion seeking whom he may
devour, which is so obvious. In all reality, lions first
choice of prey is actually dead! He would rather pick the
bones of something that he ran across, and didn't have to
work hard to procure himself for his meal. If that isn't
available then he will pick on a lame, hurt, or wounded
animal, that wouldn't be hard to catch and devour. Even
as they attempt to get out of his clutches, he would
savagely gnaw at their limbs as they desperately and
frantically run from their impending doom.
We need to be strong in our prayer life, in order to
stand in that day.... every day, that we may be able to
hold fast. Let's not have a dead prayer life, or such a
weak one, that we are easy prey for the enemy to attack.
And we need not run from him either, if we are fully
living with our prayers being our life breath. So, let's
take our burdens, daily lives, family situations, jobs,
ministries, just everything that our footsteps touch each
day, and bathe them in prayer. Let's take the teeth out
of his bite! A roaring lion is chagrinned when he shows
that he has no ammunition within those huge and
foreboding jaws. Let's give God the Glory due His name,
and continually bring our requests before His throne....
the Lion of the Tribe of Judah!!
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How do we know the difference?
by Dianne Miller
"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was
bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement for our
peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are
healed."
Isa. 53:5
We know the verse quite well, and could probably recite
them with our eyes closed, but do we really understand
what it truly means? What is correction by the Lord? How
is it done? How does one know when one is being corrected
by Him? Some say when you are ill, that the Lord is
correcting you. Others might say that you just don't have
enough faith to be healed.
He corrects those who are His own. I am his own. I belong
to Him. But, do I really want His correction? When I was
a child, that was part of growing up. My parents
corrected me, not out of punishment for the sake of
punishment. I know there are a lot of parents that punish
for the sake of their own pride and power and inner self
hatred, but a good parent will do it for our own good.
How many times have we heard the "It hurts me more
than it hurts you" or the "It's for your own
good"?
I'm not trying to figure out the mind of God. I'm trying
to understand why it takes us so long to listen to Him. I
have come to the realization this week, that this
particular illness for me, may have been the flu, which
is definitely going around, but the length of it. I was
getting tired of it. I was complaining, BUT praying at
the same time! Do we ever do that? We don't like the
circumstances we are in, and instead of "thanking
Him in all things," as He COMMANDS us to, we fight
against Him.
I see now, in my own situation, that the Lord wanted to
get my attention. I have been waning in my own spiritual
walk with Him, and have put other things first.....and
none of them had any consequence of importance, and I
KNEW that! I have never been much of a television
watcher, and in fact, I was asked once by a friend if I
live in the Dark Ages, because I had not heard of all the
programs she was discussing! But the Lord was trying to
get my attention, and I was ignoring Him. I sat and
wasted hours on end in front of the television the whole
time I was ill. And I think we all know there is not much
good to be had by doing so. In fact, it was hurting my
spirit, and I knew it. And yet, in my illness, in fact I
would even fall asleep in front of the television and
sleep for hours. My husband was either sitting there for
a while along with me, or he was back in his office.
Do I feel guilty? Yes. That's the chastisement of the
Lord. What am I doing with that guilt? I am asking the
Lord to forgive me, not only for wasting His precious
time, because everything belongs to Him, but I am
thanking Him for the illness that lasted so long, in
order for me to finally see what He was trying to tell
me. I need Him more and more each day. I cannot live my
Christian life on past events and joys and
accomplishments. I have to move on to higher plains of
growth.
What an example I have been. I have become cold,
lifeless, dried up in my walk with Him. But, am I a
failure? In some eyes, I might be perceived as such. But,
no, I am His child, and as His child, I will always be
that. In the flesh, we do grow up, and no longer receive
our parents chastening. But, as a child of God, we
continually need the correction to grow up into the
person that He is making us.....and that is to be in the
image of His dear Son, Jesus Christ. And when we reach
Glory, it is then when we no longer will need His
correction, for "we shall see Him face to face and
we will be like Him"! That's encouragement. That's a
reason to praise Him. And that's a reason to thank Him
for the correction that He gives.
Lord, we ask your forgiveness for our waywardness. In our
pride, we go our own ways and we stray from that narrow
path. But, in your love, you don't leave us to ourselves,
but you bring chastisement, in many forms, in order to
get our attention and point us back to Your will and Your
ways for us. Thank you for your everlasting love, and the
correction you use in order to lift us back upon that
path. Until we meet You face to face, we know that You
will deal with us as sons. Thank you Lord, that the
"ultimate" chastisement was upon your Son's
shoulders, for our peace. Bless your holy name.
Amen!
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One Purpose
Colossians 1:9-10 - "For this reason, since the day
we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you
asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will
through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we
pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the
Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in
every good work, growing in the knowledge of
God,..."
~*~
When people come into our lives, we all need to realize
that the Lord expects us to seriously pray for them in
order that they will be able to know what they are to do,
and that they will have wisdom to help them understand
spiritual things, and to live each day for Him. We all
have a high calling to intercede and ask the Lord that
their thirst for spiritual things never be quenched.
We must all be an active prayer warrior for God's work of
life change among His people, wherever they are....not
just merely spectators.
Yes we all have a purpose in this life, and especially as
Christians, we have a grand purpose, and if we are only
able to do one thing, we must do it well... right?
So, I pray for you, and you pray for me....thanks friend!
Have a great day!
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Safe Journey
"....The disciples woke him up,
shouting,
"Master, Master, we're going to drown!"
So Jesus rebuked the wind and the raging waves.
The storm stopped and all was calm!
Luke 8:24
As I was contemplating this portion of Scripture this
morning I was thinking how we "need" the storms
in life in order to throw our dependence upon the Lord's
mercy. Without the turbulence, we don't grow, we remain
in a weakened state in our spiritual lives. But when we
are faced with gales and winds and other forces outside
of our control, we become stronger as we are strengthened
from within...as we do our spiritual exercises:
persevering in prayer for one, which takes an strength to
persist and continue...but knowing that the final outcome
is where the reward is achieved...in the answers to which
we have been praying for.
In the physical sense, when a person does aerobics, they
are told that it doesn't really matter what you do to get
your heart rate up, it is in the final few moments of
continued motion that achieves the end result: a strong
heart and body...that is a reward to strive for, indeed.
But as we do our spiritual aerobics, we do have a reward
in view, a final destination, and expected end: a fully
sanctified person strong in character and purpose. But I
believe it does matter what we do in that
process...reading the Word, praying, fellowship and
edification of fellow saints, confession of sins, and on
and on.
The Lord is so good to us, and does calm the storms, and
shows us the rays of hope and equips us to continue on in
own journey on the sea of life. As long as we know who
controls the rudder, we can be assured that He will take
us safely to the other side.
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Morning Dedication
Almighty God,
As I cross the threshold of this day I commit myself,
soul, body, affairs, friends, to Thy care. Watch over,
keep, guide, direct,sanctify, bless me. Incline my heart
to thy ways. Mould me wholly into the image of Jesus, as
a potter forms clay. May my lips be a well-tuned harp to
sound Thy praise. Let those around see me living by Thy
Spirit, trampling the world underfoot, unconformed to
lying vanities, transformed by a renewed mind, clad in
the entire armour of God, shining as a never-dimmed
light, showing holiness in all my doings.
Let no evil this day soil my thoughts, words, hands. May
I travel miry paths with a life pure from spot or stain.
In needful transactions let my affection be in heaven,and
my love soar upwards in flames of fire,my gaze fixed on
unseen things, my eyes open to the emptiness,fragility,
mockery of earth and its vanities. May I view all things
in the mirror of eternity, waiting for the coming of my
Lord, listening for the last trumpet call, hastening unto
the new heaven and earth.
Order this day all my communications according to Thy
wisdom, and to the gain of mutual good. Forbid that I
should not be profited or made profitable. May I speak
each word as if my last word, and walk each step as my
final one. If my life should end today, let this be my
best day.
"The Valley of Vision"
A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions
Arthur Bennett
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