"Expect the Unexpected!" (When You Pray)

"Beware in your prayer -- above everything -- of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do. Expect unexpected things, above all you ask or think. Each time you intercede, be quiet first and worship God in His glory."
-- Andrew Murray

Give away you life... To the God of the Serendipity (Surprise!)

P.S. Live in a Surrendered-to-God's-Surprises State of Mind...

(Click on image above for full-frame view of Oyster-Catcher in flight.)

Grateful

"He'll Set Things Right!"

Jesus loves us, don't we know?
He gave His Blood; He let it flow.
On Calvary's tree for all to see,
He paid our debts, to set us free.

Why would we ever doubt or pout?
"Our God is Love!" .. we all should shout.
Yes, things may be hard, right now for us,
He'll set things right! In Him, let's trust.

Give away your life... To Love Himself! Our Trustworthy God!

Grateful

Called to a Person

My dear friend and brother in Christ, Keith, sent me this inspiring message of accountability today:

Your calling is to a person… Jesus. 

That means you are working for Jesus. You ultimately report to Jesus. It is the pleasure of Jesus you are seeking. There will be days your calling is challenged by others. You’ll be tempted to cave in to the pressure of those with the loudest voices. Don’t forget who holds the title to your life.

Be blessed, My friend!

Keith 

Give away your life... To Jesus.

Grateful 

Glory Made Public

Lord, please make Your glory public among us, within us and through us.

John 2:11 GWT -- "Cana in Galilee was the place where Jesus began to perform miracles. He made His glory public there, and His disciples believed in Him."

Give away your life... To His Glory. 

Grateful

(Click image for full-frame.)

"On Behalf of Christ"

I rarely post on my blog twice in one day, but today I must. 

Speaking on the Love of Jesus for lost and broken people, Pastor Margaret shared this passage: 

(Click on text below for full-frame.) 

Give away your life... On Behalf of Christ.

Grateful 

The Annunciation of Our Lord

I invite you to listen personally to this Scripture today, while praying The Holy Spirit will move it from your hear to your heart:

Luke 1 -- The Annunciation 
The Angel Gabriel Comes to Mary

²⁶ Six months after Elizabeth had become pregnant, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a city in Galilee. ²⁷ The angel went to a virgin promised in marriage to a descendant of David named Joseph. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ When the angel entered her home, he greeted her and said, “You are favored by the Lord! The Lord is with you.” ²⁹ She was startled by what the angel said and tried to figure out what this greeting meant. ³⁰ The angel told her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary. You have found favor^[a] with God. ³¹ You will become pregnant, give birth to a son, and name him Jesus. ³² He will be a great man and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. ³³ Your son will be king of Jacob’s people forever, and his kingdom will never end.” ³⁴ Mary asked the angel, “How can this be? I’m a virgin.” ³⁵ The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come to you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy child developing inside you will be called the Son of God. ³⁶ “Elizabeth, your relative, is six months pregnant with a son in her old age. People said she couldn’t have a child. ³⁷ But nothing is impossible for God.” ³⁸  Mary  answered, “I am the Lord’s servant. Let everything you’ve said happen to me.” Then the angel left her.

Give away your life... Totally to God's desires.

Grateful

"From Your Head to Your Heart!"

While reading Luke 24:36-53 earlier this week, my heart was so totally overjoyed. When I'm totally overjoyed, I usually cry. So, yes, I cried a lot of good tears reading this inspirational passage. Jesus became so real to my own soul as I held the Scriptures close to my heart.

I encourage you to get alone with The Bible and its Author. Maybe you will read Luke 24:36-53? Maybe some other passage. Either way, my deep prayer for you is that as you read The Love Letter, The Holy Spirit will help you to get the words from your head to your heart.

Give away your life... To "Love" Himself! Holy God!
Grateful

"Hide Your Thorn in the Rose"

"Hide your thorn in The Rose.

Bury your sigh in the song.

Keep your cross, if you will, 

but keep it hidden away under a wreath.

Keep a singing heart.

Feel the fellowship of grief.

Know the community of sorrow. 

Embrace the kindredness of pain.

Give others the sunshine.

Tell Jesus the rest."

(Cowman, remixed)

"If we suffer with Jesus, we will reign with Him." 2 Timothy 2:12 

Note: 2 YouTube song links below Rose image...

Give away your life... In the fellowship of His sufferings. 

http://youtu.be/Hns_ZtIPe1M

http://youtu.be/vmdD0NSM0yI

Grateful 

Jesus in Our Time -- Pentecost Sunday

On this Pentecost Sunday, the Birthday of The Church, this song by Bob Bennett is on my mind. Oh, that we would be "Jesus in Our Time!" This humble song touches me tenderly and gives me hope at the same time that The Holy Spirit will arise -- afresh and anew -- within the likes of us to offer The Love of Jesus to our generation and beyond. So glad to be a part of The Body of Christ.

Click here: BOB BENNETT -- JESUS IN OUR TIME - YouTube

Give away your life... Together with The Body of Christ!

Live Presentation with a great testimony by Bob Bennett:
Click here: Jesus In Our Time by Bob Bennett - 6/2/2012 - YouTube

Grateful

"Absolute Dependance..."

If we want The Holy Spirit to pray effectively in and through us, we must allow The Holy Spirit to have His way completely within our lives.

Unless we are always absolutely depending upon The Holy Spirit, we cannot expect to ever live a Heavenly-Sourced Life here on earth, neither can we exercise Holy-Spirit Power through our prayer lives.

Give away your life... Absolutely depending upon The Holy Spirit.

Grateful 

Defiance...

"Sin in its final analysis in not a defect but a defiance, a defiance that means death to the life of God in us." 

Oswald Chambers

"When desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death." James 1:15

Give away your life... To His Life, not your sin.

Grateful 

"Practice Praying" / Lady Melba's Insight

"Most people are not good at praying because they never practice. If we don't practice praying, our spiritual soul will struggle to breathe." 

-- Lady Melba Willis 

Give away your life... Practicing His Presence.

Grateful 

"Save Souls!"

“You have nothing to do but to save souls.  Therefore spend and be spent in this work.  And go not only to those that need you, but to those that need you most.  It is not your business to preach so many times, and to take care of this or that society; but to save as many souls as you can; to bring as many sinners as you possibly can to repentance.”  John Wesley

Give away your life... To The Soul Savior! 

Grateful 

"Unity With The Trinity!"

The only key to abundant living is a personal, right relationship with God, and the only Way to find a personal, right  relationship with God is through and by pleading with our whole hearts for the Redeeming Blood of Jesus to give us Unity with The Trinity.

"I know my Redeemer lives..." -- Job

"That I Myself may be in them." -- Jesus

Give away your life... In right relationship with God. 

Grateful 

"Take Care of You For Me" -- A Ken Davis Memory

A short while back, I officiated the funeral service for my childhood friend, Kenneth Grey Davis. It was a very tender season for my soul and still is a tender memory. 

Less than a year earlier Ken was diagnosed with cancer. At that time, my friend contacted me asking if I would officiate his homegoing service when he passed? I was humbled and broken by his request, but said without hesitation,  "You can count on me." 

Ken sent me lots of detailed information for his funeral outline. The most heartwarming thing he said was this: "I want the final song to be a 'Beach Music tune' by The Embers." Yes, for his wife, Melinda, Ken wanted the last walking-out-of-the-chapel song to be "Take Care of You For Me." What a precious gift. Tears flowed and tears still flow. My my. 

Here's the tender love song.

http://youtu.be/s6k0rKA3ksA

Give away your life... To The One you love and to the ones you love. 

Grateful

"Live to See Jesus!" / Cap'n Billy 6 Month Afterglow

Six months ago today, my Dad's steadfast faith in Jesus gave way to finally seeing Jesus. I had never quite thought about his passing in precisely that way, but as I preached today about "Faith in Jesus Himself", it became quite evident. 

Mom and I talk on the phone most every day. Today, she reminded me of something I told her in the afterglow of my Dad's Homegoing. I said, "Mom, we cannot be overcome with sadness because we have been separated for a while from Dad, in fact, this is what Dad lived for -- to see Jesus."

What are you living for? If it's anything other than your faith in Jesus becoming sight of Jesus, I encourage you to aim higher! Immediately! 

Two words are repeated over and over in Hebrews 11, The Faith Chapter. Yes, these two simple yet profound, one-syllable words -- "BY FAITH!" 

Let us live "BY FAITH" today and until "THAT DAY" when we finally pass from death to LIFE, from faith to SIGHT!

Give away your life... BY FAITH!

Grateful 

"What is in Our Heart?"

"God sometimes bestows gifts just that we may have something to renounce (something to give back to God). The things that God puts in our hands are possibly put there that He may have the opportunity of showing what is in our heart. Oh that there were in us a fervor of love that would lead us to examine everything that belongs to us, to ascertain how it might be made a means of showing our affection for Christ."
-- George Bowen 

Give way you life... To The One Who gave you life.

Grateful

(May have to click text for full-frame.)

Innocent... Nevertheless...

These words spoken about King Jesus by Governor Pilate are so very sobering:

"This man hasn't done anything to deserve the death penalty." 

Luke 23:15b

Jesus was innocent. We were guilty. Nevertheless, He took our place of punishment. Praise His Precious Name. 

Give away your life... To The One Who took our place on the Cross.

Grateful  

"Do You Believe?"

This year a great motion picture was in the theaters titled "Do You Believe?" If you missed it, do not miss it when it comes out on DVD or NetFlix. It is an amazing story, actually twelve stories that all meet around The Story of The Cross of Jesus.

So, "Do We Believe?" And if so, what do we believe? This song by the NewsBoys is a great start:

Click here: Newsboys - We Believe (Live From Ocean Way) - YouTube

Give away your life... Believing Jesus Totally!
Grateful

"Sail On..."

Today, I ran across this old song by The Imperials. Been experiencing a little "Homesickness" of late, and this song seemed to encourage me in the midst of if all. Hope it helps you:

http://youtu.be/AO20EjCS-Ns

Give away your life... To The Captain of The Old Ship of Zion!

Grateful  

"How Much..."

Lord, I thank you for Your gentle and patient mercy, in that, I am surely, yes finally, starting to know that being fulfilled in life is nothing about how much I have, and all about how much of me is Yours. Lord, if I know my heart, I belong to You, exclusively! I love you, my Jesus! Amen.

http://youtu.be/fU0pK85Xp9g

Give away your life... Belong to Jesus!

Grateful 

"Ever Pouring... Gentle Tides... Cleansing."

Today, my prayer has been: "Lord, penetrate our darkness with Your Light!" 

In my morning reading, this verse from 1 John 1:7, along with this illustration from the life of a coal miner makes my prayer for light more focused:

"The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin." 

-- 1 John 1;7 

"Learn a lesson from the coal miner, who all day is working amid the flying coal dust. When he emerges in the light of day his face may be grimy enough; but his eyes are clear and lustrous, because the fountain of tears in the lachrymal gland is ever pouring its gentle tides over the eye, cleansing away each speck of dust as soon as it alights? Is it not the miracle of cleansing which our spirits need in such a world as this? And this is what our blessed Lord is prepared to do for us by His cleansing blood, if only we will trust Him?" 

(D.L. Moody quoting F.B. Meyer)

Give away your life... To The Light, H

Jesus, Who is Ever-Cleansing!

Mama

Said "good-bye" to my Dad this past year. Glad to still have my Mama. Such joy to hear her voice on this Mother's Day. 

Give away your life... 

Grateful 

Something Wonderful

"When God is going to do something wonderful, He begins with a difficulty. If it is going to be something very wonderful, He begins with an impossibility." 

-- Rev. Charles Inwood

"Under utterly hopeless circumstances Abraham hopefully believed." 

-- Romans 4:8 Weymouth Translation

Give away your life... To The God of the Seemingly Impossible!

Grateful  

Psalm 41 in My Dreams (INTEGRITY)

Wednesday night as I was sleeping, I had a very vivid dream about Psalm 41. I must say I never recall specifically dreaming about a certain Scripture. In the dream, I was trying to get men to read Psalm 41. Interestingly enough, I had told a friend of mine earlier in the week that in an upcoming men's praise gathering, I sensed the Lord wanted our focus to be on "integrity".

Well, when I awoke on Thursday morning, I looked up Psalm 41, because I had no idea what the Scripture had to say, only that I had dreamed about the Scripture reference -- Psalm 41. Wouldn't you know one of the final verses, verse 12 says:

"You defend my INTEGRITY, and set me in Your presence forever."

God is good. And other than sharing Psalm 41 with you, as a friend of mine often says, "I have no words..." (Yep, I'm speechless with amazement.)

Psalm 41 GW

For the choir director; a psalm by David.

1 Blessed is the one who has concern for helpless people.
    The Lord will rescue him in times of trouble.
2     The Lord will protect him and keep him alive.
        He will be blessed in the land.
            Do not place him at the mercy of his enemies.
3     The Lord will support him on his sickbed.
        You will restore this person to health when he is ill.

4 I said, “O Lord, have pity on me!
    Heal my soul because I have sinned against you.”
5 My enemies say terrible things about me:
    “When will he die, and when will his family name disappear?”
6 When one of them comes to visit me, he speaks foolishly.
    His heart collects gossip.
        Then he leaves to tell others.
7 Everyone who hates me whispers about me.
They think evil things about me and say,
8     “A devilish disease has attached itself to him.
    He will never leave his sickbed.”
9 Even my closest friend whom I trusted,
    the one who ate my bread,
        has lifted his heel against me.
10 Have pity on me, O Lord!
Raise me up so that I can pay them back
11     and my enemy cannot shout in triumph over me.
        When you do this, I know that you are pleased with me.
12 You defend my INTEGRITY,
    and you set me in your presence forever.

            13 Thank the Lord God of Israel through all eternity!

                                Amen and amen! 

Give away your life... to His Presence Forever!

Grateful  

Jesus Himself for Ourselves

"Before Jesus can use us in His service, we must have close individual dealing with Jesus Himself. He always will have to do in secret with our souls that He intends to use for blessing others. Do we want to speak for Jesus to those around us? Then we must go to Jesus Himself for His message. WHAT WE SAY FOR JESUS MUST COME FROM JESUS!"

-- Whitfield 

Give away your life... To Jesus Himself!

Grateful 

Today's Forecast: Rain

My friend, Kris, sent me this YouTube link. Amazingly, today's forecast is "rain".

Click here: Michael W Smith - Let it Rain - YouTube

Give away your life... To The God of the weather.

Grateful

Trust The Wondrous Cross

Because of the Cross we should not lose heart. Let us trust just a little longer. Let us give faith another chance. The Wondrous Cross of Christ surely compels us to anticipate the arrival of God's hope, help, and healing in our lives. 

http://youtu.be/FhvXOIVsRv4

Give away your life... At The Cross.

Grateful 

Prayer of Desperation

Psalm 142:1-7 is known as a prayer of desperation. I sensed someone reading my blog may need to pray it right now:

1 Loudly, I cry to the Lord.
Loudly, I plead with the Lord for mercy.
2     I pour out my complaints in his presence
        and tell him my troubles.
            
                you already know what I am experiencing.

My enemies have hidden a trap for me on the path where I walk.
4 Look to my right and see that no one notices me.
    Escape is impossible for me.
        No one cares about me.

5 I call out to you, O Lord.
I say, “You are my refuge,
    my own inheritance in this world of the living.”
6 Pay attention to my cry for help
    because I am very weak.
Rescue me from those who pursue me
    because they are too strong for me.
7 Release my soul from prison
    so that I may give thanks to your name.
        Righteous people will surround me
            because you are good to me.

Give away your life... To The God Who Saves!

Grateful 

Say "Yes" to God!

"Saying 'no' to God is easier than saying 'yes' to God, but emptier, too." 

-- John Haines 

Give away your life... To God.

Grateful 

Purity Prayer

I pray the Purity of God The Father, Purchased by The Blood of God The Son, will be within you through and by The Presence of God The Holy Spirit.

Give away your life... To Holy God.

Grateful 

There! Here!

As we look back 

on our lives of prayer,

Four words appear:

OUR GOD WAS THERE!

And, He is still HERE! Hallelujah!

Give away your life... To Faithful God.

Grateful