Canaan’s Rest represents a quiet place “set apart” for the purpose of hearing God's voice, growing in intimacy with the Lord, and being renewed in soul and spirit.

Month: September 2009 (Page 1 of 3)

9-30-09

Today has been a fun day as we went to the Tower of the Americas in

downtown and then this afternoon to Karate class to see all 3 boys get

their white belts.

Todays devotion is from Gary Thomas’ book, The Beautiful Fight

As we surrender to God and allow the Holy Spirit to manifest himself

through us, we become available to God and give glory to Him.

Our lives become a call to represent Christ wherever we go!

God didn’t design us to be captivated by success in ministry, chastity,

or financial responsibility; He created us to be captivated by Him.
We must never mistake the means for the end.

Availablility to God is all about being in tune with God, ready to be

used by Him, and living for HIm on a moment to moment basis.

By tuning in to God, God tunes us in to people, bringing them our way.

God moves as He wills, Where He wills, When He wills. But it is an act of worship to present ourselves before God , saying, “Here I am. If you

want to do something through me, I’m ready.”
“When every moment becomes pregnant with divine possibility, and when each situation provides opportunity for God to manifest Himself

through us, well, there’s nothing else like it.”
May we be faithful as God chooses to use us.
Blessings to you all, Judy

9-29-09

We are in San Antonio and thankfully arrived safely before the grandkids

had to go to bed. I am unable to get my wireless computer to work here

so I will be using the blog site for daily devotions. If you want to e-mail

me you can do so at Ann’s.

Devotions for 9-29 from Gary Thomas’ book, The Beautiful Fight

“Whenever a man feels kind compasion with love for his fellow
Christian, it Christ within him.” Julian of Norwich

WE are told in Prov. 4:23 to above all else guard our hearts. Andrew

Murrey put it this way: “WE know that whatever a man sets his heart

on exercies a mighty influence on the life, and leaves its stamp upon

his character. HE that follows after vanity becomes vain. He that trusts a god of his own fancy will find his religion an illusion. He that sets his heart

upon the loving God will find the living God take possession and fill

his heart.”  Sin distorts our view of reality and steals our hearts.
We must guard that we don’t become so busy that our hearts become

calloused before HIm.  WE need to continually feed our hearts’

affection and cultivate intimacy with God. A heart for God isn’t just

a heart that is against something like gossip and slander but rather

a heart that loves as God loves. The more we open our hearts to Him

 the more HE pours in His passion and love. We get free of self-

absorption and no longer make selfish demands of others. Having

God’s heart means ther are no “it people” in our lives. God gives us

His concern, compassion, and love for everyone. He will give us

His heart if we just go to Him and receive.

Blessings to you all.!

9-28-09

Devotions are from Gary Thomas’s book, The Beautiful Fight

“The world is anxiously waiting to see what Jesus Christ can do in, by, for, and through one man wholly given to Him-God –led.” Frank Buchman
Every time we enter a room we bring something with us. We can bring the presence of Christ or we can bring a destructive attitude.

Jesus brought glory to His Father by completing the work he was given to do.
We are also called to surrender and do God’ will– to be faithful to His will at that moment.
God often makes us aware of a great need as a call for us to become part of the solution. Instead of asking why God doesn’t do something, we should ask God, “What do you want me to do?”

Great joy comes to us when we are actively involved in the larger work of building God’s kingdom. The greatest unhappiness is focusing attention on ourselves.
The object of our life is to do God’s will. It not to be happy or to be successful or famous. The happiest people are those who believe they are exactly where God wants them to be. The most frustrated ones are those who are fighting God rather than surrendering to Him.

God wants to empower us, equip us, and sustain us as we are available to do His will each day.

Devotions for 9-27

Devotions from Gary Thomas’s book, “The  Beautiful Fight”
True transformation in our lives happens when we not only behave like Christ outwardly but when we begin thinking like Him inwardly. The mind of Christ is something we are told to cultivate in Prove 4:1-13.

But when we shut God out of our lives, we lose our spiritual perception and become vulnerable to foolish whims and shallow substitutes. When our thinking goes, our behavior doesn’t lag far behind. 

We are not at the mercy of our minds. We can take control of our minds and offer them to God for transformation.

To have our mind set on God, we must be God-focused and God-directed. As we surrender to God, He opens our minds to increased understanding and wisdom.

Having our minds renewed includes becoming familiar with the wisdom God has given to others, redeeming our time to give appropriate effort to study, and learning to take charge of our minds, focusing on the purposes and presence of God.
May He penetrate our minds with his truth, insights, and His perspective this day!

Sept. 26th

Devotions from Gary Thomas’s book, “The Beautiful Fight”
“When man listens, God speaks…. We are not out to tell God. We re out to let God tell us…the lesson the world most needs is the art of listening to God.” Frank Buchman.

Sometimes we don’t want to hear from God because we are afraid He will tell us to do something we may not want to do.  Augustine said, “The man who serves you best is the one who is less intent on hearing from you what he wills to hear than on shaping his will according to what he hears from you.”

 We need to hear God through the Word but we also need to hear the ongoing anointing of the Spirit who speaks to our hearts.
If we learn to listen- to really listen, to truly hear- we will receive spiritual wealth and understanding beyond imagination..  As we listen, the transformation process will take hold in our lives and God will increase our understanding. If we fail to listen we become spiritually deaf. Even careless listening will stop up our spiritual understanding.

It’s one thing to avoid listening to gossip, lies, etc but it is another thing to have our ears attuned to what is pure, holy, right, just etc.

What do you think God wants to say to you today? Do you think He wants to have input into your life?
Tuning in to Him usually begins with an act of the will.

“Tests for accurately hearing the Lord include scripture, the church’s witness, a holy life, and an increasing familiarity with God’s voice.”

sept.24

Devotions from Gary Thomas’s book, “The Beautiful Fight” with today’s devotional about our eyes

When we look at life through God’s eyes, we become convinced of his astounding generosity, grace and mercy. Sin, on the other hand causes us to look at life through the lens of entitlement- that we deserve salvation without repentance that we dismiss his kindness and question his love.  In Eph 1:18-19 Paul prays that the eyes of our hearts be enlightened so we can know the hope to which He has called us, his riches, his power etc.

“God wants to transform my eyes from being selfish possessors and consumers to being his servants of selfless love.” That means seeing with His eyes and having concern and compassion for others we might otherwise look past.

God sight is a God-gift.   We learn to see situations from His perspective, to love our spouses through His eyes, to see hope for people when they have none for themselves etc.
May we fix our eyes on Him ( Ps 141:8) and settle on what is pure, true, and good. As we do this we will more clearly see, obey, and be transformed.

devotions for 9-23

Devotions from Gary Thomas’s book, The Beautiful Fight

.  When the world creeps into our lives we become deadened to God, and our lives become smaller, more self-absorbed, more trivial and less like Christ’s. The Holy Spirit wants to sensitize our bodies and make us into a holy people, a “God oasis” in the world.  As God’s splendor  breaks forth in a powerful  way , our eyes begin to see with compassion, our mouths begin to speak words of encouragement; our hands reach out to heal, and our feet take us to places where there is need. We are participants in His divine nature.  As we surrender the members of our bodies to become His servants and instruments of peace, it is really worship.

We are not to escape the world but go deeper into the world. See it with God’s eyes, hear it with God’s ears. Feel it with God’s heart. Think about it with God’s mind.
Are we ready for some fresh splashes of God’s glory in our lives?   He wants us to experience His transforming presence!

Sept 22

We are here for the night in Green River, Utah, and traveled about 13 hours today. The scenery was spectacular and it seemed to be ever changing.  This morning I read from Ps. 57:5 “Be exalted O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.”  And in verse 10 it was if his love reached to the heavens and his faithfulness the skies. What an awesome creator we have!
Tonight I have had a wonderful swim in the pool without any other people so I could just swim laps and pray. Wonderful!
We went to Sundance this afternoon and I was influenced by Robert Redford to buy a sweet smelling  gift for the sweet person watering my plants while I am gone! It was a beautiful place and we  enjoyed just sitting near the chair lift with a cup coffee and view of the mountains.

Devotions from Thomas’s book, The Beautiful Fight.
As we think of Jesus who has ascended and reigns, it gives us hope and points us toward transformation; it affirms that we can become more and more like Him.

 He reigns and  we can participate in the spread of His kingdom by surrendering to His life-transforming presence within us, by letting Him change the way we see, think, feel, hear, speak, and serve.

As He lives in us, we manifest His presence. .One of the biggest threats to that is showcasing our own presence; instead of sharing His wisdom we want to spotlight our own insight; instead of speaking His truth, we want to spout our own opinions; instead of adopting His agenda, we want to accomplish our own five year plans; instead of building His kingdom, we want to spread our own ministry.  We can build something based on our own intellect, energy, opinions, and perspective but it will die with us . But if we live for Him and His kingdom it will last for eternity. If He reigns than we can’t reign! I must be subordinate and surrender to His influence moment by moment..

Let us open ourselves up to His presence, wisdom and power rather than relying on our own gifts and abilities.
With those thoughts I will say good night. If I am able I will e-mail tomorrow or write on the blog. Blessings and love, Judy

9-22 devotions

We had a wonderful time at Grace and Tom’s and were blessed to go to their Vineyard church Sunday too. We had time on the water front and downtown Edmonds and then left yesterday morning at 5 am. We traveled 16 hours and over 700 miles since as we couldn’t get a room at Mountain Home so we went to Twin Falls.

Devotions for 9-19 from Gary Thomas “The Beautiful Fight.”
The church today is so often trying to engage our culture and trying to read the latest trend. But we can “become our culture’s truest friend by becoming more aware of the God who not only engages our culture but also inspires, critiques, and transforms it.” One of the best ways is to cooperate with God to develop a compelling life by being available to God and experience His fellowship, presence, and empowerment. When God lives through us, shines through us and overcomes our worst inclinations with His transformation- That’s compelling.
God wants to manifest His presence through us by his spirit. He feels enormous delight when we begin to resemble Him .

Rodney Stark said, “Typically people do not seek a faith; they encounter one through their ties to other people who already accept this faith.”  What really drew people to the Christian faith in the first century was the way of life modeled by Christ’s followers-the reality of His presence in their lives, how they treated others, how they lived.

God wants to be not just the goal of our lives but the engine that takes us to the goal. Eph. 3:19  I pray “that you  may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

May your day be blessed and will write as I am able.   Sorry my e-mails are not able to be sent out.  Blessings and love, Judy

Sabbath

This morning we are glad to be going to Grace and Tom’s church and then this afternoon to downtown Edmonds to explore  a little more.  Yesterday I had the wonderful experience of meeting Grace’s elderly  friend who I would say, is the most saintly woman I have ever met.  She spends her days reading her Bible and praying and inteceding for people.  In our short time with her   we shared scriptures together , prayed together, and felt like we were in the  holy presence.  It was so awesome.
Later in the day Beth and her family came for supper and games, and we were so glad for the time together as we pray for them each day.

Today’s devotion is from Gary Thomas’ book, The Beautiful Fight

So often the christian life is described as to what someone does or does not do.  But Christianity is a spiritual journey not simply defined by what we believe or how we behave but is marked by WHO WE ARE.
Incarnational spirituality is the process that creates an entirely new person who sees with new eyes, feels with a new heart, hears with new ears, and lives with passion.

Transformation is a transformation of being, of experience, and of existence. It involves how we see the Word, the way we hear God and others, the passions we feel, how we use our hands and  feet, the thoughts we think.   It is a complete transformation of all our members.
Too often we settle for too little.
“Our creator God is eager to splash His glory on us.”  God made each of us in his image, and He wants us to recapture that image, to surrender to his work in our lives,   “So we will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.”  Isaiah 61:3

Blessings on your sabbath today and do pray for us as we head for Colorado Springs early tomorrow morning. Will write as I am able along the way.

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