Thursday, October 25, 2012

In the Train of the Conqueror

"Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ..." 2 Corinthians 2:14

It is a wonderful fact that we have already triumphed over any sin or any circumstance that we "fall into". We can certainly "count it all joy", can't we? Jesus' only interest was to do the will of His Father and to finish the work that He called Him to do. Paul's job, as should be mine and any Christian's, was simply to be a "captive" of the Lord.

I read a quote which said, "The viewpoint to maintain is that we are here for one purpose only, to be captives in the train of Christ's triumphs. We are not in God's 'showroom', we are here to exhibit one thing-the absolute captivity of our lives to Jesus Christ."

How easy it is to fall into a habit of saying, "well, I got victory over THAT one today"...or "it is so difficult to live this Christian life, trying to thwart Satan at every corner", etc. How grieved the Holy Spirit must be when I do that. He has already given me the victory. I just want to be so much His "captive" that I'm there with Him all the time!  I Corinthians 1:30 tells me that Jesus is already made unto me "wisdom and righteousness, sanctification and redemption".

I caught a picture in my mind once of Jesus hanging on the cross with each of my sins, written out- in the form of small signs,  hanging on Him. The picture of Christ is hazy, but my sins stand out as they weigh Him down more and more. What grief the weight of this sin caused Him as the Father's face had to turn away from His Son for the first time, so that I (and you) could be reconciled to this Holy God. What a shame it is to deliberately allow a particular sin to take precedence over this perfect act of ultimate sacrifice! Praise the Lord that Jesus did shed His blood, bearing our sins, and triumphed over sin and death when He rose from the grave. When I accepted this sacrifice He put me on the train of the Conqueror!

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Stepping Into A New Day

"Be strong and of good courage...Only be thou strong and very courageous...Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed; for the LORD thy God is with thee wherever thou goest." Joshua 1:6,7,9

My morning Bible study had gotten jumbled up in the last few days and there is a little study tool called "The Feature" that is a blessing to my heart. This morning I read the account of how the Lord told Joshua to take the nation of Israel into the land, "over this Jordan." God's servant, Moses, was dead and it was Joshua's time to lead the people into the promised land.  All the promises of God went with him as he obeyed the LORD God, Jehovah.

It takes courage to step into the new day with God. What a blessing to know that God has not changed. He is still the one who tells His faithful servants of today to "endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ", in II Timothy 2:3 and to "be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might." (Eph. 6:10)

Last night I wrestled with the giants, while allowing God to reveal areas where He wants to see change.This morning, though this devotional was read out of sequence, Joshua 1:1-9 was exactly what my heart needed to cement the things that the Lord revealed to me about myself.

Our God is so personal! We have an eternal God who has spoken His Word, which will never pass away. This is the God who lives within my heart and I know lives in the hearts of many of you. I hope that you know Him as Savior too.

I'm so glad you stepped on to Darling Hill today. If you know the Lord, I pray that as you go on, stepping through the day, you will allow God to lead each step of the way. Be strong and of a good courage, knowing that no matter what giant comes in your way today, you can face it and defeat it with the Lord's strength!

In closing, I'm still going through some old pictures and scanning them into the computer. Here are a few Fall ones and some "oldies"...

Up through the trees


those of you who know Mom, here she is at her last home. She had beautiful gardens

Look at those glasses!! this is sometime in the 90s

One of our all-time favorite Autumn shots. Dear, Ranger
"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then shalt thou make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." Joshua 1:8