Let's Not Give God a Bad Reputation

Religion can give God a bad reputation because religion is about God from man’s perspective. Jesus doesn’t invite us to religion but to relationship. 
-- James Spruill

Abide (LIVE) in Me, Jesus, as I (LIVE) abide in You.
Because YOU are my LIFE!
Grateful

Do We Pray In Our Praying?

My dear Mom, Melba, has taught me so much about prayer, but nothing more valuable than to give God time when You approach Him in prayer. It is her practice to stay, yes to remain, to abide in the secret prayer chamber until the Lord makes His presence known.

Never leave the place of prayer without a conscious season of communion with the Lord.
-- Samuel Chadwick

Three words in James 5:17 speak strongly to my soul: Elijah prayed earnestly... Samuel Chadwick defined these three words like this: Elijah prayed in his praying.

Lord, when I approach You in prayer, I want to pray earnestly. Yes, I want to pray in my praying. And Lord, please help my desire to be never to leave the place of prayer without a conscious season of communion with You. I want to give You time to reveal Your sweet presence to me. In Jesus' name. Amen.

It's a rude thing to rush The Eternal God.
-- Henry Blackaby

Lord, Teach Me To Pray (Luke 11:1)
Grateful

Remain in Me.

Remain in Me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.
-- Words of Jesus in John 15:4 (NIV)

Lord, I thank You for the promise that if I live in You, You will live in me. If I abide in You, You will abide in me. If I remain in You, You will remain in me. I give thanks in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Christ in you, the Hope of glory. -- Colossians 1:27b (NIV)
Grateful

Beware of Leanness in Your Soul

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
-- Words of Jesus in John 15:7 (NKJV)

When we learn to pray in the Holy Spirit, we find there are things for which we cannot pray, there is a sense of restraint. Never push and say, "I know it is God's will and I am going to stick to it." Beware, remember what is recorded of the children of Israel in Psalm 106:15 (NKJV): "And He gave them their request, But sent leanness (a lack of richness) into their soul." Let the Holy Spirit teach you what He is driving at and learn not to grieve Him. If we are abiding in Jesus Christ, we shall ask what He wants us to ask, whether we are conscious of doing so or not.
-- Oswald Chambers

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God...
Ephesians 4:30a (NKJV)

Lord as I think on Psalm 37:4, this is my prayer:
I want to delight in You, not demand of You!

This old hymn sung by CeCe Winans is on my heart:
Click > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IAz9artoBw

I Surrender All.
Grateful

Seven Near & Dear Words To Me

The words of the last verse of the Christmas Carol, "O Little Town of Bethlehem" have been nearest to my heart this Advent Season:

O Holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!

These seven words have been especially near and dear to me:
Cast out our sin, and enter in...

Sarah McLachlan singing "O Little Town of Bethlehem":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyPMDD8fGeA

1 John 3:8-10 (NLT):
(8) But when people keep on sinning, it shows they belong to the Devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy these works of the Devil.
(9) Those who have been born into God’s family do not sin, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they have been born of God.
(10) So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the Devil. Anyone who does not obey God’s commands and does not love other Christians does not belong to God.

ALL JOY TO YOUR WORLD! THE LORD HAS COME TO CAST OUT SIN!
Grateful

Take Time to Abide With the King Today!

Let us take time to abide with the King today, that we might know Him in the Beauty of His Holiness, lest tomorrow, time takes us away from the King's presence for forever.

(21) Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to me as "Lord," but they still won’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven. (22) On judgment day many will tell me, "Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name." (23) But I will reply, "I never knew you. Go away; the things you did were unauthorized."
-- Matthew 7:21-23 (NLT)

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Bury the Wrongs. Press On.

I am pressing on... forgetting everything which is past.
Phil. 3:12-13 (Weymouth Translation)

In the very depths of yourself, dig a grave. Let it be like some forgotten spot to which no path leads; and there, in the eternal silence, bury the wrongs that you have suffered. Your heart will feel as if a weight has fallen from it, and a Divine Peace will come to abide with you. -- Charles Wagner

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful