Happy Wednesday

From Our Father's Heart

   

"In My house, the cost of the gift is what counts. I gave everything when I gave Jesus. He gave everything when He died for you. Now I judge your gifts to Me with the same standard. If I give you much and you give little, it means little. Think of the widow's mite. She gave all. The rich gave little in comparison, even though the amount was greater. She gave everything she had. What they gave really cost them nothing. Their gifts meant nothing to Me because they owned My treasures in their hearts and would not give them back to Me. Remember, I look at your heart. It is deceitfully wicked until I am allowed to change it through Jesus. It is the test of who you really are. Don't minimize the gift that Jesus gave. Surrender fully to Me. I will bring your heart priorities in order."

Isa.30:18 TLB "Yet the Lord still waits for you to  come to him, so he can show you his love; he will conquer you to bless you, just as he said. For the Lord is faithful to his promises. Blessed are all those who wait for him to help them."

Luke 21:1-4 NIV As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury.

            2) He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.

            3) "I tell you the truth," he said, "This poor widow has put in more than all the others.

4) All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."

Hebrews 10:14 NIV because by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

 

            When we read the story of the widow's mite, we usually think of money. In fact, many times we make it a money issue to bring home some money point. I am convinced that the Lord was expressing a heart issue. How people act is simply an expression of their true heart priorities, as it always is.

God is in the business of bringing our priorities in order. He knows that we can't do anything to be right in His eyes, so He first makes us right through Jesus and then keeps making our priorities right as we keep coming to Him.    

As the Father reveals all aspects of His heart, sometimes I reel with the overwhelming challenge that I am called to face. I begin to condemn myself for who I am not, cower at the prospects ahead of me as a Christian in the coming times, stagger at the weight of my responsibility to represent Jesus properly; and become discouraged as I attempt to prepare for His return. It is then that I remember that none of this was my idea in the first place. My Father has ordained my life and has promised to fulfill His plan for it and in it. My job is simply to need Him desperately. 

            In the above verse in Hebrews 10, I am so encouraged by the statement "those who are being made holy." The wonderful part of "have [already] been made perfect" [in God's eyes] is pretty incredible and difficult for me to understand fully, but "being made holy" soothes my heart. 

At this very moment - and every moment until we are with our Father in Heaven - the process of making us holy is being accomplished, because we have surrendered our lives to Jesus and His completed work on the cross. When God is in the process of breaking us, He's not trying so much to get us to say "uncle" as He is trying to get us to say "Abba."

            Give me the power to surrender fully to You, Lord,

            Jim Corbett

Thank You LORD

Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul

Thank you, Lord, for making me whole

Thank you, Lord, for giving to me

Thy great salvation so rich and free

Daily Smile:

Bluenecks are northerners - the opposite of Rednecks. Because of Redneck jokes, here are some takes on how Southern folks look at Northerners (or how Northerners sometimes think of themselves).

YOU JUST MIGHT BE A BLUENECK IF...

...Instead of referring to two or more people as "Y'all," you call them "you guys," even if both of them are women.

...You think barbecue is a verb meaning "to cook outside."

...You think Heinz Ketchup is really SPICY.

...You don't have any problems pronouncing "Worcestershire sauce" correctly

...For breakfast, you would prefer potatoes-au-gratin to grits.

...You've never, ever eaten okra -- fried, boiled, or pickled

...You eat fried chicken with a knife and fork.

...You don't see anything wrong with putting a sweater on your dog

...You would rather have your son become a lawyer than grow up to get his own TV fishing show.

...You have never planned your summer vacation around a gun-'n-knife show

...You think more money should go to important scientific research at your university than to pay the salary of the head football coach

...You don't know anyone with at least two first names (i.e., Joe Bob, Faye Ellen, Billy Ray, Mary Jo, Bubba Dean, Joe Dan, Mary Alice)

...You don't know any women with male names (i.e., Tommie, Bobbie, Johnnie, Jimmie)

...None of your fur coats are homemade

In The News:

Totalitarian Government of Eritrea Beats and Detains 125 Christians
International Christian Concern reports that 125 Christians have been beaten and detained over the past week in Eritrea. "Police arrested these church members from homes and workplaces during broad daylight and then marched them through town to the police station while beating them," an investigator for Open Doors said. Among the 125 Christians, 45 men and women were arrested on Feb. 27 for worshipping outside highly regulated government-approved churches in Eritrea. All of the 125 Christians detained were members of an evangelical denomination located in the southwestern town of Barentu. According to sources, the Eritrean government has denied any wrongdoing in regards to the arrests. "Being a Christian in Eritrea is like living in hell," a source inside Eritrea said. "Christians are treated like enemy number one." President Isaias Afwerki, who has been in power since 1993, has instituted a totalitarian regime that seeks to control all aspects of life in Eritrea, including the religious practices of its citizens. "Systematic, ongoing and egregious religious freedom violations continue in Eritrea," the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom states. "These violations include torture, sometimes resulting in death, arbitrary detention and prolonged bans on religious activities." It is estimated over 2,000 Christians remain imprisoned in Eritrea, exposed to some of the most inhuman conditions in the world. 

Syrian Christians Fleeing as Islamists Take Over
Islamic rebels have been taking over Christian villages in Syria, leaving Christians facing some tough choices, CBN News reports. A Muslim group recently captured the Christian village of Yacoubiyeh, and many residents fled, leaving behind empty homes and damaged churches. Some say they won't return until they see how the Muslim rebel commander treats minorities. Though the commander says he will treat everyone fairly, like many rebel leaders he rules according to strict Islamic law. Elsewhere in Syria, reports abound of Muslim rebels murdering Christians and kidnapping others for ransom, and the number of Syrians who have fled their war-torn country has now surpassed the 1 million mark.