LOOKING FOR LOVE IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES

 

    

LOOKING FOR LOVE IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES

Mary Southerland

  

Facts for the Journey

   "Stress happens ... a lot. In fact, stress seems to be a constant companion in many of our lives. Yes, we live in a world filled with people and circumstances that seem to feed stress. But I believe much of our stress is the result of an innate quest to love and be loved. The problems come when we look for that love in all the wrong places.

 

There is only one right place where we can find true love – in a personal relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ.

 

It is really very simple. When we know God, we will know love. When we experience His unconditional love, we are then freed to love ourselves and to love others.

 

I have personally discovered that it is downright frustrating and completely impossible to live the Christian life when you are not a Christian. I tried.

 

For years I desperately struggled to be a Christ follower with only head knowledge of who God was and wanted to be in my life. The result was a pitifully shallow existence with stress and frustration as my constant companions.

 

I grew up in a Christian home, attending church just about every time the doors were open. I sang all of the right songs, spoke all of the right words, and did all of the right things in front of all the right people. I fervently prayed that my works would validate my faith, and desperately hoped that by following the rules, I would please the Ruler. It was not until my first year in high school that the spiritual integrity of a dynamic youth pastor made me hunger and thirst for something more.

 

I wanted to know God.

 

I desperately wanted and needed to experience the unconditional love of God.

 

During a Saturday evening church service, I sat in my usual spot with the rest of my high school friends, clutching the back of the pew in front of me while wrestling with God over the condition of my soul and my eternal security. I was an active church member, a soloist, and the pianist for our worship services. I even directed a children’s choir.

 

I was a fake! How embarrassing to walk down that aisle, admitting to everyone that I’d been living a lie!

 

My mind argued that I knew all about God – and then the deeper truth of that argument hit me. Yes, I knew about Him, but I didn’t know Him.

 

God’s perfect love settles for nothing less than an intimate and loving relationship with His children. That night I met God. I surrendered all that I knew about myself to all that I knew about Him.

 

The course of my life was changed forever, but I quickly discovered that my problems did not magically disappear. I still had to deal with stressful situations. The difference was that God’s love preceded me. His power and strength surrounded and sustained me as I lived each day. And that made all the difference in my stress-filled world.

 

Knowing we are loved fosters contentment and peace in our hearts, and when our hearts are filled with peace, there is little room for stress." 

The Lord is my shepherd (Psalm 23:1, NKJV). It is suggested that we read this everyday for a month!

 

Prayer for today:

 

   Father, thank You for the peace that comes from knowing You. Help me remember that no matter what comes my way, You are with me. When I am tempted to worry, give me the strength to choose faith over fear. Teach me Your ways, Lord, and empower me to walk in them. In Jesus’ name, amen."

Encouraging words:

"Thy word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee" (Ps. 119:11)

    "The Word of God has great power in itself. Used effectively, it brings victory to the child of God. As a matter of fact, lodged in the heart of the believer, in itself it becomes a power for holiness. Our Lord said to His disciples, "Already ye are clean because of the word which I have spoken unto you" (John 15:3).

   The Apostle Paul, led of the Holy Spirit, spoke of the church as having been "cleansed. . . by the washing of water with the word" (Eph. 5:26).

   If there is in our hearts any aspiration for holiness--then we can be absolutely sure that the Holy Spirit will lead us to make much of the Word of God. No one who has at his disposal the blessed Book of God and who neglects that Book can be a strong, holy Christian. Surely it must have been this conviction which caused D. L. Moody to inscribe in the front of his Bible, "This Book will keep me from sin, or sin will keep me from this Book."--William Culbertson

Church Notes:

   We Came from Dust

God made a way for redemption from our sinful condition, caused by Adam's rebellion in the garden of Eden at the beginning of creation.

He remembers that we are dust, and have various seasons of hardship to work through to provide for our needs and for others. 

Labor is good, a gift from God.  

Until we return to dust in our death, our realistic view of labor is that we're called to labor and sweat, or starve. 

It's easy to slide into apathy, but remembering our Perfect example of a man, Christ Jesus, we're to be faithfully calling on Him for forgiveness from sin, and to have the strength to labor until He comes again in the clouds!

I pray today that you will let Jesus do the “heavy lifting” for you.  He carried mine. It was heavy for years. I pray that you will let Him take your heavy burdens.  That you will heed His words found in Matthew 11:28-30 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Today's hymn #154- Burdens Are Lifted at Calvary

The Christian hymn "Burdens Are Lifted at Calvary" was originally written and composed by John M. Moore in 1952.

Inspiration: Moore wrote both the words and music after visiting a young, critically ill merchant seaman at a hospital in Glasgow, Scotland.
Popularity: It remains his best-known work among more than 150 gospel songs he authored.

FEEBLE or ABUNDANT LIVING

 

   

FEEBLE or ABUNDANT LIVING  

   The positives of trials come through submission, however painful, seeking and believing God's ultimate good purpose in anything He allows. When Jesus said we'd face troubles in this world, He also said, "Take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33) Sin separates all people from God (Romans 3:23), but Christ paid for our sins by dying on the cross and giving us the gift of eternal life (6:23). "This is eternal life; that they know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent" (John 17:3).

A Poem by Theodore Monod

    Oh, the bitter pain and sorrow

      That a time could ever be

    When I proudly said to Jesus--

     "All of self and none of Thee."

    Yet He found me; I beheld Him

    bleeding on the accursed tree;

And my wistful heart said faintly,

 "Some of self and some of Thee."

    Day by day His tender mercy,

    Healing, helping, full and free,

Brought me lower, while I whispered-

   "Less of self, and more of Thee!"

Higher than the highest heavens,

    Deeper than the deepest sea,

"Lord, Thy love at last has conquered:

    None of self and ALL of Thee!"

[Italics are mine for emphasis]

Today's Encouragement:  

   We must not be satisfied with a feeble life, but for abundant living

In Christ Jesus. God will work out the heavenly life in us through 

His Spirit. We're to live in the Word and in the love and infinite faithfulness of 

the Lord. The holy work of delivering souls demands constant renewal

through fellowship with God and with other believers.

   One cause of the low vitality and utter ineffectiveness that is so often

found in us, is because we've not been allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us.

   One great power of sin is that it blinds us to not recognize its true nature. 

Nothing except hidden, humble, constant fellowship with God can teach you

as a child of His, to hate sin as He wants you to hate it.

   No one can expect to make progress in holiness who is not often and long

alone with God. Obedience is the great factor in our whole relationship to God.

Our Prayer:

   Father, help us be determined to not accept a feeble life, but to seek for the

abundant living in Christ Jesus that You've promised us. The positives of trials

come through submission, however painful, seeking and believing in Your

ultimate good purpose in everything You've allowed.

   Help us make purposeful alone time with You and to allow You to guide us in

everything we do. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Church Notes:  OUR DEVOTION TO CHRIST

1. Our lives should be characterized by passionate loyalty and devotion to Jesus.
2. When we give our will to what Jesus wants, we'll look different from the world.
3. The distractions of the world should not affect our devotion to Jesus.
4. Our goal should be in doing right things; what God directs.
5. Intertainment and fun are not ungodly, but we're to choose what glorifies Him.

 

#153 Hymn-   Breathe on Me, Breath of God

 

 

Author: Edwin Hatch

Hatch, Edwin, D.D., was born at Derby, Sep. 4, 1835, and educated at Pembroke College, Oxford, B.A., in honours, in 1857. After holding important appointments in Canada, he returned to England and became Vice-Principal of St. Mary Hall, Oxford, 1867; and Rector of Purleigh, 1883. (See also Crockford). He died Nov. 10, 1889. His hymn-writing was limited. One, and that a very spirited lyric, is in Allon's Congregational Psalmist Hymnal, 1886 "Breathe on me, Breath of God."

LOST

 

 

The shadows cast by the trees in our front yard stretched out toward the east. In the dying light of the setting sun, they grew longer by the minute. I stood on our front porch and anxiously called for Fritz, our eight-year-old orange tabby cat. He was very late returning to the house. It was just a few days before Thanksgiving, and the season's first hard freeze was forecast for this very night.

Fritz has roamed the five acres of our Middle Tennessee ridge since he was a kitten. Every morning he would request that the front door be opened so his highness might exit. Assuming the weather was to his liking, out the door he would go to make his rounds and explore his territory. But he had always returned in time for his midafternoon dinner. Until today.

I called his name again and waited a few minutes. No Fritz. I began to get a distinct feeling of unease. I slipped my feet into my hiking boots, grabbed my trusty hickory walking stick, clipped my knife to my belt, jammed a flashlight in my pocket, and set off out the door.

Calling his name periodically, my wife Charlotte and I set off on a grand circle of the property. We stopped occasionally to check some of his known hunting stops. Nothing. By now, the sun had slipped below the horizon, and the twilight deepened by the minute.

As we reached three-quarters of the way around the property, I called Fritz's name again. At the very edge of my hearing, I heard ... something. It might have been a cat or it might have been a bird. Moving about a hundred feet, I called again. And again. A reply came. This time, I was sure it was a cat. After moving and calling again, I was sure it was Fritz.

Slowly, we homed in on his cry. Suddenly, a few feet away in the dark undergrowth of the woods, something four-legged bounded off into the night. Fritz cried out again, this time very close. It was Charlotte who spotted him, nearly seventy-five feet in the air, clinging to the very top of a tree. His hackles were in full extension from head to tail. Whatever had run him up the tree had probably just run off as we approached.

Fritz turned himself around and started backing down the tree. When he got within range, he jumped into my arms with a look that said, What took you so long? Cats. Gotta love them.

Jesus will never stop looking for those of His flock who are lost. The Word provides numerous examples of the Lord reaching out to save those who beseech Him. It doesn't matter if you're clinging to the top of a tree with your hindquarters hanging out in the breeze or curled up on the floor of a cold, concrete jail cell. If you call to Jesus, He will answer. 

Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.”
Luke 15.6 NIV

Call to Him today. 

    

Today's prayer:

   Father, we're grateful for what You have done in giving Christ Jesus to be our Savior! As we were very LOST, we know that You loved us so much that You enabled Your Son to go to the Cross to provide forgiveness and to become our way back to You, the Holy God! May we be faithful in our living, to allow Your Spirit to recreate us to become like Jesus.

Today's encouragement:

Jean Nicolas Grou- "God only is holy; He alone knows how to lead His children in the paths of holiness. He knows every aspect of your soul, every thought of your heart, every secret of your character, its difficulties and hindrances. He know how to mold you to His will and lead you onwards to perfect sanctification."

  God is For you: turn to the sidelines; that's God cheering your run. Look past the finish line; that's God applauding your steps. Listen for Him in the bleachers, shouting our name. Too tired to continue? He'll carry you. Too discouraged to fight? He's picking you up. God is for you. 

   God is for you. Had He a calendar, your birthday would be circled. If He drove a car, your name would be on His bumper. If there's a tree in heaven, He's carved your name in the bark. We know He has a tattoo, and we know what it says, "I have written your name on My hand," He declares- (Isaiah 49:16).

9/5- FEEBLE or ABUNDANT LIVING                                                   

12th- LOOKING FOR LOVE IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES

Precious Lord, Take My Hand Hymn #152

CREATED TO WORSHIP

 

                                                                                                           

Jordan Zuniga- “Sometimes, we feel the need to enter God’s presence.

I remember when I wasn’t singing and worshiping the Lord for a certain time. I felt a kind of spiritual heaviness building until I started to worship. When I did, the heaviness fell off. I recalled the words of Psalm 100:4: ‘Enter into His presence with thanksgiving.’ From the beginning of creation’s story, there has been a constant theme of entering or leaving God’s presence. Both have certain outcomes. God created us to worship and glorify Him. Despite our temporary dwelling on earth, we should continue to turn our focus and worship to the Lord.

Christ met a Samaritan woman at a well and told her the time would come when it wouldn’t matter whether her people worshiped on the mountain of Samaria or in Zion. God wants those who worship Him to do so in spirit and truth. To do so, we must enter His presence with thanksgiving and praise.

God wants us to walk by the Spirit so we won’t be tempted to satisfy the desires of the flesh. We are also taught not to be drunk with wine but to be filled with the spirit—singing songs and hymns and making spiritual music from our hearts to the Lord. A true mark of a believer is when we continue to worship the Lord regardless of life’s circumstances.

Regardless of where we go or what we go through, we can continue to honor and worship the Lord by seeking out His Word and delighting in Him.

How can you set aside more time to worship and honor the Lord?”

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.” Psalms 100:4 NIV

Today’s Prayer:

   Father, please help us be faithful in our worship, that we can remain in fellowship with You. When we neglect to spend time in worship, either in church or at home, we ask that Your Spirit nudge us to continue to be revived in our spirits so that we can honor and worship You in Spirit and in truth.

   We ask this in the name of Jesus, our Savior. Amen.

Today’s encouragement:

   We must see Jesus as qualified to be in heaven, the One who is absolutely perfect and without sin and the One who gave His life in order to give us God’s forgiveness. Without Him we know that we have no hope or assurance of ever being able to stand in the Father’s presence.

Church Notes:  ADDING BELIEVERS

We’re to rescue people from death and destruction, which is the heart of Jesus.

We’re to go in the power of God and open our hearts and homes to them.

When we do open our hands and hearts for the lost, we’ll be like Jesus.

He had compassion on the people, as He knew they were on their way to hell!

We're to give generously and cheerfully to this ministry, snatching them out of the fire.

We will step into the joy of giving to the lost and lonely around us!

#149 Hymn- I Surrender All

In 1930, Judson Wheeler Van de Venter, born in 1885, was converted at age 17. He was especially fulfilled when participating in evangelistic rallies and revivals in which people received Christ as their personal Savior. In the 1930s, a student at Florida Bible institute, sat wide-eyed, listening to Judson Van De Venter. That student, Billy Graham, who later wrote:"One of the evangelists who influenced my early preaching was also a hymnist who wrote 'I Surrender All,' the Rev. J. W. Van De Venter.

 

PRAY FIRST

  

James Banks- "Jack was a rough-spoken plumber who worked on our church building project several years ago. After he learned I was praying for him, he sometimes asked me to pray for his friends. I prayed daily for seven years for God to draw Jack near and save him.

   One Saturday during my morning devotional time, I was convicted about a need for more people to come to Christ at our church, and I prayed a simple prayer: "Please, Lord, just give us one!"

   That afternoon my cell phone rang. It was Jack. "I've just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and I'm not ready." We agreed to meet, and he consented to have others pray for him. At our church's prayer meeting that Sunday evening we prayed for Jack's healing and salvation.

   The following week, Jack received Jesus as his Savior and was baptized the following Sunday.

   Prayer emphasizes God's ability to make things happen. When we humbly admit we can't force others to come to Him, we open the door for God to accomplish what we could never do. When we pray for His Spirit to draw others near, we invite His power.

   Because of God's kindness to us through Jesus, we can "approach God's throne of grace with confidence" (Hebrews 4:16), as we cry out with compassion for those lost in darkness and facing eternity apart from Him.

   And as we love others with our prayers, we can be assured that our Savior "is also interceding for us" (Romans 8:34).

"True happiness flows from knowing Jesus and obeying Him as a result. When we walk according to His ways, He protects us from making unwise choices and guards us from the fallout of misplaced priorities. When our relationship with Him is in order, everything else falls into place."

Let's pray:

   Father, help us be ready to share our faith with others, especially with those who appear ready to listen. May we be willing to keep praying for them even for years, if necessary. 

   As prayer emphasizes Your Ability to make things happen when we humbly admit we can't force others to come to You, we open the door for You to accomplish what we could never do.  When we pray for Your Spirit to draw others near to You, we invite Your power to move on them.

Today's verse:  "Hear my prayer, o LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness." 

Church Notes:  COMMITMENT

1. We need to cry out to know God better!
2. Those who fear God love wisdom
3. We need to study the Word 
4. Trust God and hate evil
5.  Have an abundance of the taste of heaven

     Encouragement: 

  "Through Jesus, I'm a fellow heir of God's glory (Romans 8:16-17),so I'm confident in my eternal inheritance. It won't require an officious directive from some online barrister because the Lord already has all my contact information. Moreover, He won't be needing my bank routing number for me to receive my divine inheritance--eternal life with Jesus--because that is already secured." Cassandra Tiersma

#149 Hymn-  Surrender All

CHRIST'S LOVE FOR YOU

 

   George Whitefield-  "O let the love of Jesus be in your thoughts continually! It was His dying that brought you life; it was His crucifixion that paid the satisfaction for your sins; His death, burial and resurrection that completed the work; and He is now in heaven, interceding for you at the right hand of His Father.

   And can you do too much for the Lord Jesus Christ, who has done so much for you?

   His love to you is unfathomable. O the height, the depth, the length and breadth of this love that brought the king of glory from His throne, to die for such rebels as we are, when we had acted so unkindly against Him and deserved nothing but eternal damnation.

   He came down and took our nature upon Him; He was made of flesh and dwelt among us; He was put to death on our account; He paid our ransom: surely this should make us rejoice in Him."

   Jesus is patient, shaping and forming our days. Creating new out of old, bringing forth the form and work He purposed us for. He gives repeated do-overs. He lovingly molds our hearts to mirror His. It is beautiful, hard work that He's doing.

THERE'S PURPOSE FOR YOUR LIFE

There's purpose for your life here,

As God has work for you.

Your friends, who have become quite dear,

All need His message too!

You'll find, that when to God you plead,

Your faith becomes a must.

As Jesus knows your every need,

In Him please place your trust.

Spend time alone with Him each day

To invite His Presence.

As God's New Life comes in to stay,

Friends will see a difference.

He knows the effect you will be

On others that you know.

Do pray for them, that they may see

God's love inside you grow.

An "eye of understanding" is

What makes our spirits strong.

May you soon find this Life of His

Will bring you a new song.

As God's love has reached out to you,

This Life will become real.

Go find someone to share with too,

As you'll be used to heal.

 

Today's prayer:

   Father, we look to the Lord Jesus to give us guidance that honor's You. May Your Holy Spirit  remake us into His image, [which is Your image!] Help us allow the purpose for our lives to be made clear to us, and that we'll be obedient to do Your will to live lives that will draw others to You. We pray for this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Today's verse:   Matt. 10:39 "He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth it for my sake shall find it."

Church notes:

     WARNINGS ARE FOR OUR GOOD

When we stop obeying God, we'll drift away.

 We need to be content with Jesus.

  Self-talk is powerful, as it continues our sin traits.

   We're just like the Israelites: we can be stubborn and disobedient.

    We're to endure the race set before us! And to HOLD ON!

Encouraging words:

"The secret of real Christian progress and the direction in which the effort of Christian progress can most profitably and effectually be made, is simply in keeping close to our Lord and Master. ". . . I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). Alexander Maclaren (1826-1910).

WELCOMED HOME BY GOD

 

   Mike Wittmer-  After Sherman Smith recruited Deland McCullough to play American football for Miami University, he grew to love him and became the father Deland never had. Deland had great admiration for Sherman and aimed to become the man he was.

   Decades later, when Deland tracked down his birth mom, she shocked him with the news, "Your father's name is Sherman Smith." Yes, that Sherman Smith. Coach Smith was stunned to learn he had a son, and Deland was stunned that his father figure was literally his father!

   The next time they met, Sherman hugged Deland and said, "My son.' Deland had never heard that from a father, He knew Sherman " was saying it from a place of 'I'm proud. This is my son,' and he was overwhelmed.

   We too should be overwhelmed by the perfect love of our heavenly Father. John writes, "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" (1 John 3:1). We're as dumbfounded as Deland, who didn't dare think someone like Sherman could be his dad. It is really true? John insists, yes, "that is what we are!" (v.1)

   If you believe in Jesus, His Father is also your dad. You may feel orphaned, alone in the world. But the truth is, you have a Father—the only One—and He's proud to call you His child.

Let's pray-

   Father, we ask for You to help our menfolk be the fathers of their children in a way that pleases You and benefits them as they grow up. May they be willing to learn from You how to be good fathers through reading the Bible and getting Your guidance from it.

  Help the men we know to be able to be good dads by examples of what men should act like, and to honor You and be ready to love their children as You love them. May they be willing to receive advice from men who have successfully raise God-fearing children.

   We ask this in Jesus' name, that You may be honored through their obedience to how You want them to behave and influence their children. Amen


#144 Testimony- Andrew Murray

   "When we're focused on yesterday or worried about tomorrow, our today quickly goes by, and we miss it's opportunities and God's promised provision. Today is the only day we have. It's the only day in which we can fulfill God's will and bring Him glory."

 

1866-1870 One-line Scriptures for those of you who want to learn some more verses this week- or to review them from when they were first posted- 
 

1866- Prov. 30:8b "Feed me with food con envient for me."

1867- Heb. 8:10b "I will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people."

1868- Jer. 29:4a "Thus Saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel."

1869- Daniel 4:13a "I saw in the vision of my head."

1870- Matt. 9:28b "Believe ye that I am able to do this?"

I'm taking a sabbatical from posting on my blog until further notice. 

I will be sending a faith message each Saturday in my emails and texts.

#144 Hymn-  Precious Lord, Take My Hand

 

   Thomas Andrew Dorsey was born in a small town in Georgia in 1899. When he was about eleven, the Dorseys moved to atlanta where Thomas was quickly enamoured with the blues and began playing piano at a vaudeville theater. Later the family moved to Chicago where he attended classes at the College of Composition and Arranging.

   Thomas was converted at the National Baptist Convention in Chicago in 1921, and began writing gospel songs and trying to get them published. In August, 1932, while leading music in St. Louis, he was handed a telegram bearing the words, "Your wife just died." A friend drove him through the night, and he arrived home to learn that his baby boy had also died.

   "I began to feel that God had done me an injustice," Thomas later said. "I didn't want to serve him anymore or write any more gospel songs." But the next Saturday, while alone in a friend's music room, he had a "strange feeling" inside--a sudden calm and a quiet stillness. "As my fingers began to manipulate over the keys, words began to fall in place on the melody like drops of water falling from the crevice of the rock:

                

                Precious Lord, take my hand

                    lead me on, let me stand

                I am tired, I am weak, I am worn . . ."

   Today Thomas A Dorsey is remembered as the "Father of Gospel Music" and the author of hundreds of gospel songs including his equally famous, "Peace in the Valley."

 Some encouraging words-

   Beloved Andrew Murray wrote,"Heaven is still as full of spiritual blessings . . . 

God still delights to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him. Our life and work are still as dependent on the direct impartation of the divine power as they were in Pentecostal times. Prayer is still the appointed means for drawing down these heavenly blessings in power upon ourselves and those around us. God still seeks for men and women who will, with all their other work of ministering, especially give themselves to persevering prayer."

Church Notes: 

               WE'RE WITNESSES

We're to be clothed in power; the strength of God.

We're not to be clothed with fear, but be under the power of God we've received.

God will empower us to walk with the power of Christ with boldness, demonstrating the power of God.

We're not to shrink back, but be empowered and expecting God to move through us.

He will empower us if we're hungry for more of God.

We're to press in for more!