June Caedmon's Blog, page 66

Inspired by . . . Day 22: the JOY of Jesus

Inspired by . . . Day 22: the JOY of Jesus

 

This post is part of a 31 day series on JOY

You may access all the past days by clicking here.

 

Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me,

that they may be one as We are.  John 17:11

 

 

Jesus’ greatest JOY was completing the work that His Father gave Him to do.

We will find our greatest JOY in the very same way; by completing the work our heavenly Father has given us to do.

And what is that work?

To be a saint, a walking, talking, living, practical epistle of what

God Almighty can do through the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ—

one in identity with the faith of Jesus,

one in identity with the love of Jesus, one in identity with the Spirit of Jesus

until we are so one in Him that the high-priestly prayer

not only begins to be answered,

but is clearly manifest in its answering—

“that they may be one, even as We are.”

 

 

 

Yes, Beloved, you are called to a saint. It is a high calling, indeed. And yet, there is only one thing we need to do to achieve this calling.

Be obedient to the Holy Spirit.

Submit.

By allowing God to work in and through our lives, the work of the heavenly Father will be done. Then we shall receive the JOY that Jesus knew, and hear these words:

 

‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things,

I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

 

Blessings,

 

We talked about the specific work that God has given us to do on Day Sixteen

Quotations taken from Approved Unto God and Baffled to Fight Better, © Discovery House Publishers

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Inspired by . . . Day 21: JOY in obedience

Inspired by . . . Day 21: JOY in obedience

 

This post is part of a 31 day series on JOY

You may access all the past days by clicking here.

 

 

I want you to know, my friends, that the things that have happened

to me have really helped the progress of the gospel.
As a result, the whole palace guard and all the others here

know that I am in prison because I am a servant of Christ.
And my being in prison has given most of the believers

more confidence in the Lord, so that they grow bolder all the

time to preach the message fearlessly. Phil 1:12-14

 

kk_monday and kk_waterfront18_totry

 

If you kept reading after the word obedience, I commend you! It’s a word that makes many of us uncomfortable, and in my experience, there is very little about it preached from the pulpit today.

Note: You may wish to {re} visit Day 13 and Day 15 because today’s thoughts really tie the two together.

As we read Paul’s words in Philippians, it’s important to remember that he wasn’t just imprisoned.  I think in our culture we may have a rather benign view of what prison can be. Paul had been flogged, beaten, shipwrecked and denied his freedom. Yet, he counted all JOY because the things that happened to him had served to progress the gospel.

True JOY can be found in adversity, but it’s not a result of ‘pulling up our bootstraps’ or ‘putting on our big-girl panties’ {insert your phrase of choice here} and pressing through. No, JOY in adversity comes when we are obedient to God’s will in our circumstances. You see, Paul had been forewarned about his fate. His journey was an act of obedience. You can read about it in Acts 21.

It’s not really about adversity at all. As I’ve shared in a previous post, some people have a harder time being obedient when things are going well. When it’s all roses with no thorns. Wasn’t that the prayer of the wise scribe in Sunday’s post? “Lest I be full, and deny Thee”

What brings God more JOY than anything else on earth?

The spirit of obedience gives more JOY to God than anything else on earth.

When the love of God is shed abroad in my heart (Romans 5:5),

I am possessed by the nature of God, and I know by my obedience that I love Him.

The best measure of a spiritual life is not its ecstasies, but its obedience.

 

Obedience in ALL things, of course. Not just when we face trials. Although we may need encouragement the most during those times; let us be careful not to deny Him in times of plenty. Let us never refuse to attend the banquet. {Colleen Mitchell wrote an inspiring piece on this parable last week!}

 

kk_monday (B&W)

 

What disasters have turned into

opportunities in your lifetime?

What JOYs would you have

missed had you not walked

with God through adversity?

 

Blessings,

 

 

Quotations taken from Conformed to His Image and Not Knowing Where, © Discovery House

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Inspired by . . . Day 20: JOYful not Judgmental

Inspired by . . . Day 20: JOYful not Judgmental

 

This post is part of a 31 day series on JOY

You may access all the past days by clicking here.

 

 

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

 

I think, sometimes, we forget that we’re all in this together.

We’re all made from dust, and to dust we will return.

We’re all saved by grace.

God, in His mercy, gives us a taste of heaven. He imparts to us knowledge.

 

Measure your ultimate delight in God’s truth

and JOY in God by the little bit that is clear to you.

 

And yet we think we know so much.

 

 

The danger is lest we make the little bit of truth we do know a pinnacle on which we set ourselves to judge everyone else.

It is perilously easy to make our conception of God like molten lead and pour it into our specially designed mold

and then when it is cold and hard, fling it at the heads of the religious people who don’t agree with us.

 

That is why Paul admonishes us so strongly in Ephesians 4, verse 2 and following:

 

Be humble always and gentle, and patient, too, putting up with

one another’s failings in the spirit of love.

Spare no effort to make fast with bonds of peace

and unity which the Spirit gives.

 

 

We need this unity now more than ever, friends.

Take to heart Mother Teresa’s words,

She gives most who gives with JOY.

 

Blessings,

 

 

Quotations taken from Notes on Isaiah and Notes on Ezekiel, © Discovery House Publishers

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Inspired by . . . Day 19: JOYful ponderings

Inspired by . . . Day 19: JOYful ponderings

 

This post is part of a 31 day series on JOY

You may access all the past days by clicking here.

 

 

Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die:

Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches;

feed me with food convenient for me:

Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord?

or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain. Prov 30:7-9

 

Sunday JOY

An offering

 

kk_tuesday

 

You have made known to me the ways of life;
You will make me full of JOY in Your presence. Acts 2:28

 

"JOY is prayer – JOY is strength- JOY is love – JOY is a net of love
by which you can catch souls.  She gives most who gives with JOY."  ~ Mother Teresa

 

Blessings,

 

Special thanks to my mom for loaning me the JOY ornament – thanks, Mom!

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Inspired by . . . Day 18: JOY in seeking the lost

Inspired by . . . Day 18: JOY in seeking the lost

 

 

This post is part of a 31 day series on JOY

You may access all the past days by clicking here.

 

 

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying,

Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?

Then said I, Here am I; send me. Isaiah 6:8

 

There are many passages in the Bible about seeking the lost. The parables {stories} in Luke 15 about the lost sheep and the lost coin. Jesus Himself stated in Luke 19:10 that He came to seek and save the lost.

Clearly our God takes great JOY in seeking, and finding that which is lost.

This is the essence of the gospel message – the Good News. And for those who are lost, it is JOYous news indeed.

But what about those of us who were lost, but are now found?

If seeking and saving the lost brings JOY to God, then it follows that it should also bring JOY to us.

 

Oswald Chambers says:

The Lord wants to look through my eyes.

The Lord wants to think through my brain.

The Lord wants to work through my hands.

The Lord wants to live and walk in my body for one purpose—

to go after the lost from His standpoint.

Am I letting Him walk and live in me?

 

It’s a challenging question.

One I hope you will ponder with me today.

 

 

We’re a little more than halfway through this JOYful JOurneY, my friends!

Thank you for blessing me with your prayers and your encouraging comments.

Writing a post every day IS challenging!

But God is blessing me, and others through this effort.

I *feel* His pleasure - - I hope you do too!

 

Blessings,

 

 

Quotations taken from Workmen of God and The Place of Help, © Discovery House Publishers

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Inspired by . . . Day 17: the measure of JOY

Inspired by . . . Day 17: the measure of JOY

 

This post is part of a 31 day series on JOY

You may access all the past days by clicking here.

 

 

And they were offended in Him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour,

save in his own country, and in his own house.

And He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. Matt 13:57-58

 

My husband was listening to a talk show radio program last night in the car. The host was saying how some of his listeners have berated him for being too harsh on a certain group of people. They’ve told him that he’s never going to win them over to his point of view by being so abrasive toward them.

He doesn’t care. The purpose of his show is not to win these people over to his way of thinking. His purpose is to teach the truth to those who already believe. Then they, in turn, can educate people one-on-one to the truth.

There are a whole lot of directions I could take that opening, lol!  But this is what I want you to see today. It starts with a quote from Oswald Chambers:

 

If Our Lord had measured His life by its actual results, He would have been full of misery.

We are not here to win souls, to do good to others; that is the natural outcome,

but it is not our aim, and this is where so many of us cease to be followers.

We will follow God as long as He makes us a blessing to others,

but when He does not we will not follow.

The JOY of anything, from a blade of grass upward, is to fulfill its created purpose—

that we should be to the praise of His glory

 

 

Did you catch what Chambers said here? “We are not here to win souls, to do good to others;”

We are here to fulfill our created purpose. Which is to glorify God. This is the only way to achieve true JOY.

Naturally, in glorifying God, we win souls and do good to others.

But that is the OUTCOME, not the PURPOSE.

I don’t think I’m splitting  hairs here. We have to have this in the correct order in our minds.

When we are focused on the blessing {the outcome} what we are really focused on is ourselves.

But when our focus is on glorifying God, above all else, the blessings will flow naturally from their Source.

This is not an easy mindset to change, Beloved, for our human nature and worldly culture flow naturally against it.

Here’s a question to ask yourself {continually} that may help:

How do I measure my life?

Do I use God’s measurements of faithfulness and godliness or

the worldly values of popularity, productivity, and efficiency?

 

I’ll be honest, those last two are most often my stumbling blocks.

 

The JOY of the Lord is our strength!

 

Blessings,

 

Quotation taken from The Love of God, © Discovery House Publishers

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Inspired by . . . Day 16: Message of JOY

Inspired by . . . Day 16: Message of JOY

 

This post is part of a 31 day series on JOY

You may access all the past days by clicking here.

 

For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

That no flesh should glory in His presence. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29

 

Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of “the brightest and the best” among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these “nobodies” to expose the hollow pretensions of the “somebodies”? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That’s why we have the saying, “If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God.” (MSG)

 

 

 

I am not “the brightest and the best,” nor am I particularly influential. I don’t come from a high-society family. I am not mighty, or noble. I am foolish, weak, and ordinary.

A simple farm girl from Vermont.

You know, it’s funny, I almost never think of myself that way. I most often think of myself as a child of God.

That is what I have been called to - - that is my ministry.

 

Many of us are imitators of other people; we do Christian work because someone has asked us to do it.

We must receive our ministry, which is to testify the gospel of the grace of God,

from Jesus Christ Himself, not from other Christians.

 

Although we are all called to “testify the gospel of the grace of God” we have each been called to a particular ministry. This is the ministry of which Chambers speaks. Often we fall into doing ministry, but it’s not necessarily the ministry to which Jesus has called us. God can still use it, but it’s not going to produce JOY.

 

Joy is the result of the perfect fulfillment of what a man is created for.

 

 

 

My specific calling is to encourage and inspire others.  This has taken many forms over the years, but one ingredient has always remained the same: the purpose has always been to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

How do I know this is my true calling?

Because when I’m doing it, I feel God’s pleasure.

His unspeakable JOY!

 

What’s your calling?

 

Blessings,

 

Quotations taken from The Psychology of Redemption and Run Today’s Race, © Discovery House Publishers

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Inspired by . . . Day 15: Giving JOY

Inspired by . . . Day 15: Giving JOY

 

This post is part of a 31 day series on JOY

You may access all the past days by clicking here.

 

And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and JOY in My people:

and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. Isaiah 65:19

 

 

You delight in your children, I’m sure. Those times when they do something, out of their free will, that just makes your heart sing with JOY! 

We’ve talked a lot about receiving JOY from God these past two weeks, but what about giving Him JOY?

 

The JOY that a believer can give to God is the purest pleasure God ever allows a saint,

and it is very humiliating to realize how little JOY we do give Him.

We put our trust in God up to a certain point, then we say, “Now I must do my best.”

There are times when there is no human best to be done,

when the Divine best must be left to work, and God expects those

of us who know Him to be confident in His ability and power. ~Oswald Chambers

 

 

 

Have you ever considered this idea of giving JOY to God? I confess, I have not considered it near enough. If I had, I might have thought that ‘doing to the least of these’ would be what brought Him JOY. And I’m certain it does. However, Chambers has us considering something very different here.

Do I have faith in God’s ability and power?

Sometimes it’s easy to have confidence that God can calm the sea. But do we let Him steer the boat? Do I allow the Divine to do His perfect work in my life? Or do I insist on my human best?

 

 

I know I’m leaving you with a lot of questions today, Beloved.

But I believe they are worth pondering.

Because I believe that if we live a life that brings JOY to God,

His JOY will be imparted back to us – in ways beyond our imagination!

 

Blessings,

Quotation taken from The Place of Help, © Discovery House Publishers

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Inspired by . . . Day 14: JOY in Creation

Inspired by . . . Day 14: JOY in Creation

 

 

This post is part of a 31 day series on JOY

You may access all the past days by clicking here.

 

 

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth,

while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh,

when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, .

be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain: Ecclesiastes 12:1-2

 

King Solomon had everything a person could want, and access to more. Yet lasting JOY eluded him. He concluded that lasting JOY could only be found in our Creator God.

One of the ways I consistently delight, or take JOY in my Creator is through His Creation. I wrote a post about this back in July, entitled Creation’s Manifesto. I’d love for you to go back and read it. Just clicking on the title will take you there.

Here are a few things I’ve been delighting in lately:

 

Giant Swallowtail textured with kk_justatouch2

 

Lake City, CO

 

Migratory or Packard (?) Grasshopper

 

 

 

Once we come to understand God we are as delighted with His creation as He is Himself.

A child enJOYs what God created, everything is wonderful to him. ~Oswald Chambers

 

In what do you delight?
What brings you lasting JOY?

 

Have a wonder-filled day,

 

Quotations taken from Still Higher for His Highest and God’s Workmanship, © Discovery House Publishers

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Inspired by . . . Day 13: Count it all JOY

Inspired by . . . Day 13: Count it all JOY

 

 

This post is part of a 31 day series on JOY

You may access all the past days by clicking here.

 

 

My brethren, count it all JOY when you fall into various trials,

knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:2-4

 

This is a hard word from James to us today. But if we want to receive the JOY that Jesus prayed for us to have, then we must bend our will to it. The process of becoming Christ-like is not an easy one. We have been crucified with Christ, and so to enter into His JOY means that we must also enter into His suffering.

 

The sanctified life means that we begin to understand God

and to manifest the life of the Son of God in our mortal flesh. ~Oswald Chambers

 

 

 

To endure suffering is hard enough, but to be patient with it is truly a test of our faith.

Remember when the Satan took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in all their greatness, and offered to give Jesus all of it, if He would just bow down and worship him? Curious, isn’t it that Satan was offering Jesus what He already possessed. Have you ever wondered about that?

What the Devil was offering Jesus was the opportunity to forgo the cross. All this can be yours, he was saying, without the suffering, without the humiliation of the cross.

Don’t be fooled, dear one, Satan offers us the very same thing today when we are suffering! He may whisper it to you quietly, “There is another, easier, way.” Or he may shout it out, like Job’s wife, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!”

Either way, I pray we respond as Jesus did: "Go away, Satan! The scripture says, 'Worship the Lord your God and serve only Him!' "

 

Stand strong in your faith, dear one.

Let patience have its perfect work.

The JOY of the Lord is your strength.

 

All that lies dark and obscure just now is one day going to be as clear,

as radiantly and JOYously clear, as the bit we have seen.

No wonder God counsels us to be patient.

Little by little everything will be brought into the light

until we understand as Jesus Christ understood. 

 

 

If we understand God on any one point we will know something of the JOY that Jesus had.

It is a wonderful possession, it is the very characteristic of Jesus. ~Oswald Chamber

 

Blessings,

 

Quotations taken from Our Brilliant Heritage, © Discovery House Publishers

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