My name is Stephanie Clunn and I love Facebook.
Yes, I admit it.
No I am nowhere near obsessed as I was the blog.
Because it is quick and easy and blogging times eternity.
I fear I am short for the blogging world....
Come join me on Facebook.
This means YOU!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Still Human!
You know how the question always gets asked: "If you could have dinner with any person living or dead, who would it be?" Well Jesus notwithstanding, and let's admit it, could we even EAT? This would be my choice: Oswald Chambers. I MEAN these are REAL meaty devotionals. Praise God for this saint!!!! If you are skipping these posts, then you are MISSING OUT and are not even trying to read it. It is not difficult at all! This is barely past milk! But sooooooo amazingly right on the money every, single time!!!
Still Human!
. . . whatever you do, do all to the glory of God —1 Corinthians 10:31
In the Scriptures, the great miracle of the incarnation slips into the ordinary life of a child; the great miracle of the transfiguration fades into the demon-possessed valley below; the glory of the resurrection descends into a breakfast on the seashore. This is not an anticlimax, but a great revelation of God.
We have a tendency to look for wonder in our experience, and we mistake heroic actions for real heroes. It’s one thing to go through a crisis grandly, yet quite another to go through every day glorifying God when there is no witness, no limelight, and no one paying even the remotest attention to us. If we are not looking for halos, we at least want something that will make people say, "What a wonderful man of prayer he is!" or, "What a great woman of devotion she is!" If you are properly devoted to the Lord Jesus, you have reached the lofty height where no one would ever notice you personally. All that is noticed is the power of God coming through you all the time.
We want to be able to say, "Oh, I have had a wonderful call from God!" But to do even the most humbling tasks to the glory of God takes the Almighty God Incarnate working in us. To be utterly unnoticeable requires God’s Spirit in us making us absolutely humanly His. The true test of a saint’s life is not successfulness but faithfulness on the human level of life. We tend to set up success in Christian work as our purpose, but our purpose should be to display the glory of God in human life, to live a life "hidden with Christ in God" in our everyday human conditions ( Colossians 3:3 ). Our human relationships are the very conditions in which the ideal life of God should be exhibited.
________________________________________
Still Human!
. . . whatever you do, do all to the glory of God —1 Corinthians 10:31
In the Scriptures, the great miracle of the incarnation slips into the ordinary life of a child; the great miracle of the transfiguration fades into the demon-possessed valley below; the glory of the resurrection descends into a breakfast on the seashore. This is not an anticlimax, but a great revelation of God.
We have a tendency to look for wonder in our experience, and we mistake heroic actions for real heroes. It’s one thing to go through a crisis grandly, yet quite another to go through every day glorifying God when there is no witness, no limelight, and no one paying even the remotest attention to us. If we are not looking for halos, we at least want something that will make people say, "What a wonderful man of prayer he is!" or, "What a great woman of devotion she is!" If you are properly devoted to the Lord Jesus, you have reached the lofty height where no one would ever notice you personally. All that is noticed is the power of God coming through you all the time.
We want to be able to say, "Oh, I have had a wonderful call from God!" But to do even the most humbling tasks to the glory of God takes the Almighty God Incarnate working in us. To be utterly unnoticeable requires God’s Spirit in us making us absolutely humanly His. The true test of a saint’s life is not successfulness but faithfulness on the human level of life. We tend to set up success in Christian work as our purpose, but our purpose should be to display the glory of God in human life, to live a life "hidden with Christ in God" in our everyday human conditions ( Colossians 3:3 ). Our human relationships are the very conditions in which the ideal life of God should be exhibited.
________________________________________
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
Something I learned
Something I have learned recently is that part of my struggles in my walk lately have been because of my ignoring a basic Christian principle.
I do not wish to conform to the pattern of this world but did recently learn that I am still trying to be accepted by it.
I am a Christian yet I can still fit! You will still like me! I am not like those you think of as Christians!
Naive thinking at best. Through the most wonderful and God ordained interlude with a Christian in the marketplace, I learned that I will never fit.
I am only doing business in the world but all of my efforts to FIT while remaining set apart are fruitless.
It seems funny to me now, that whilst I strive for sanctifition in my life, that I still have tried to "fit."
I did NOT fit and will not ever fit because I am in fact, set apart! Meant to NOT fit. People know it. I don't hide it. So it doesn't work. Lol...kicking against the goads was I. Why? Seems so funny now!
And it was frustrating me. Trying so hard to "prove" that I was an acceptable (to the world) Christian. I'm not! I am UNacceptable! WOOHOO!!!!
Ha. As if a true Christian is meant to be accepted.
I heard a great saying yesterday the other day...
Obey God. Let him handle the consequences.
Today, I choose to obey God and to stop trying to fit. Let the consequences be what they may!
I do not wish to conform to the pattern of this world but did recently learn that I am still trying to be accepted by it.
I am a Christian yet I can still fit! You will still like me! I am not like those you think of as Christians!
Naive thinking at best. Through the most wonderful and God ordained interlude with a Christian in the marketplace, I learned that I will never fit.
I am only doing business in the world but all of my efforts to FIT while remaining set apart are fruitless.
It seems funny to me now, that whilst I strive for sanctifition in my life, that I still have tried to "fit."
I did NOT fit and will not ever fit because I am in fact, set apart! Meant to NOT fit. People know it. I don't hide it. So it doesn't work. Lol...kicking against the goads was I. Why? Seems so funny now!
And it was frustrating me. Trying so hard to "prove" that I was an acceptable (to the world) Christian. I'm not! I am UNacceptable! WOOHOO!!!!
Ha. As if a true Christian is meant to be accepted.
I heard a great saying yesterday the other day...
Obey God. Let him handle the consequences.
Today, I choose to obey God and to stop trying to fit. Let the consequences be what they may!
My Utmost for His Highest
November 6, 2009
Do you believe this? —John 11:26
Martha believed in the power available to Jesus Christ; she believed that if He had been there He could have healed her brother; she also believed that Jesus had a special intimacy with God, and that whatever He asked of God, God would do. But— she needed a closer personal intimacy with Jesus. Martha’s theology had its fulfillment in the future. But Jesus continued to attract and draw her in until her belief became an intimate possession. It then slowly emerged into a personal inheritance— "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ . . ." ( John 11:27 ).
Is the Lord dealing with you in the same way? Is Jesus teaching you to have a personal intimacy with Himself? Allow Him to drive His question home to you— "Do you believe this?" Are you facing an area of doubt in your life? Have you come, like Martha, to a crossroads of overwhelming circumstances where your theology is about to become a very personal belief? This happens only when a personal problem brings the awareness of our personal need.
To believe is to commit. In the area of intellectual learning I commit myself mentally, and reject anything not related to that belief. In the realm of personal belief I commit myself morally to my convictions and refuse to compromise. But in intimate personal belief I commit myself spiritually to Jesus Christ and make a determination to be dominated by Him alone.
Then, when I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and He says to me, "Do you believe this?" I find that faith is as natural as breathing. And I am staggered when I think how foolish I have been in not trusting Him earlier
Do you believe this? —John 11:26
Martha believed in the power available to Jesus Christ; she believed that if He had been there He could have healed her brother; she also believed that Jesus had a special intimacy with God, and that whatever He asked of God, God would do. But— she needed a closer personal intimacy with Jesus. Martha’s theology had its fulfillment in the future. But Jesus continued to attract and draw her in until her belief became an intimate possession. It then slowly emerged into a personal inheritance— "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ . . ." ( John 11:27 ).
Is the Lord dealing with you in the same way? Is Jesus teaching you to have a personal intimacy with Himself? Allow Him to drive His question home to you— "Do you believe this?" Are you facing an area of doubt in your life? Have you come, like Martha, to a crossroads of overwhelming circumstances where your theology is about to become a very personal belief? This happens only when a personal problem brings the awareness of our personal need.
To believe is to commit. In the area of intellectual learning I commit myself mentally, and reject anything not related to that belief. In the realm of personal belief I commit myself morally to my convictions and refuse to compromise. But in intimate personal belief I commit myself spiritually to Jesus Christ and make a determination to be dominated by Him alone.
Then, when I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and He says to me, "Do you believe this?" I find that faith is as natural as breathing. And I am staggered when I think how foolish I have been in not trusting Him earlier
Thursday, November 5, 2009
My Utmost for His Highest
November 5, 2009
. . . but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings —1 Peter 4:13
If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a number of experiences that are not meant for you personally at all. They are designed to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what takes place in the lives of others. Because of this process, you will never be surprised by what comes your way. You say, "Oh, I can’t deal with that person." Why can’t you? God gave you sufficient opportunities to learn from Him about that problem; but you turned away, not heeding the lesson, because it seemed foolish to spend your time that way.
The sufferings of Christ were not those of ordinary people. He suffered "according to the will of God" ( 1 Peter 4:19 ), having a different point of view of suffering from ours. It is only through our relationship with Jesus Christ that we can understand what God is after in His dealings with us. When it comes to suffering, it is part of our Christian culture to want to know God’s purpose beforehand. In the history of the Christian church, the tendency has been to avoid being identified with the sufferings of Jesus Christ. People have sought to carry out God’s orders through a shortcut of their own. God’s way is always the way of suffering— the way of the "long road home."
Are we partakers of Christ’s sufferings? Are we prepared for God to stamp out our personal ambitions? Are we prepared for God to destroy our individual decisions by supernaturally transforming them? It will mean not knowing why God is taking us that way, because knowing would make us spiritually proud. We never realize at the time what God is putting us through— we go through it more or less without understanding. Then suddenly we come to a place of enlightenment, and realize— "God has strengthened me and I didn’t even know it!"
. . . but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings —1 Peter 4:13
If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a number of experiences that are not meant for you personally at all. They are designed to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what takes place in the lives of others. Because of this process, you will never be surprised by what comes your way. You say, "Oh, I can’t deal with that person." Why can’t you? God gave you sufficient opportunities to learn from Him about that problem; but you turned away, not heeding the lesson, because it seemed foolish to spend your time that way.
The sufferings of Christ were not those of ordinary people. He suffered "according to the will of God" ( 1 Peter 4:19 ), having a different point of view of suffering from ours. It is only through our relationship with Jesus Christ that we can understand what God is after in His dealings with us. When it comes to suffering, it is part of our Christian culture to want to know God’s purpose beforehand. In the history of the Christian church, the tendency has been to avoid being identified with the sufferings of Jesus Christ. People have sought to carry out God’s orders through a shortcut of their own. God’s way is always the way of suffering— the way of the "long road home."
Are we partakers of Christ’s sufferings? Are we prepared for God to stamp out our personal ambitions? Are we prepared for God to destroy our individual decisions by supernaturally transforming them? It will mean not knowing why God is taking us that way, because knowing would make us spiritually proud. We never realize at the time what God is putting us through— we go through it more or less without understanding. Then suddenly we come to a place of enlightenment, and realize— "God has strengthened me and I didn’t even know it!"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)