Messenger Moments

Based on the book, “I Surrender All” By Priscilla Shirer

     Chapter 3 of “I Surrender All” by Priscilla Shirer opens with a story about a Japanese soldier who emerged from a jungle in the Philippines in 1974 following a visit from his recently retired superior officer advising him that he was discharged from his duties. Although leaflets were airdropped over many Pacific islands in 1944 informing any remaining soldiers that WWII had ended, this dedicated soldier refused to believe his “tour of duty” was over. Unbelievably, he had spent 30 years living as though he were still fighting WWII.

     You’re probably thinking, how sad…he wasted 30 years of his life believing that his 'marching orders' to defend a remote landing strip in an island jungle were still valid.

     Priscilla Shirer, author of this study, writes on page 75, “Consider this chapter your new marching orders, fellow soldier.”

     I was at Red Lobster recently, having a well-deserved break from cooking…provided by my husband, who said, “I figured you could use a break.” During the course of a fabulous meal of crab-stuffed mushrooms, langostino lobster dip, coleslaw, and clam chowder, strains of “Happy Birthday” were being sung at another table. God reminded me of those who had experienced a new birthday that day by giving their life to Christ.

     When I read about the 30 years a dedicated soldier had spent defending a cause no longer relevant, I can strongly relate to the book "I Surrender All".

     Jesus, as our “Lord and Master,” has put a new purpose and cause in each Christian’s heart. Our old way of living before Jesus is dead and gone. Yet sometimes we are “still acting like we are in a battle that’s already been won.” Priscilla says, We are 'living below our spiritual means, scraping by, hiding out, and operating in fear.”

     Know this, dear sisters, as Christians, we are in a 24/7 battle with satan. We have a target on our back because we have received our “marching orders” from Jesus. Therefore, we have become a prime target of the enemy.

     Matthew 28:19-20 KJV

     19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

     Simply put, we have been given a command from Jesus. He doesn’t ask us, He tells us to “Go”. We are new creations, free and no longer under the curse of sin. We have a new identity and a new purpose. To go and teach others about Jesus.

     Galatians 2:20 KJV

     20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

     Romans 6:11 KJV

     11 Likewise you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

     Many Christians still live as though they are drowning under the weight of sin and oppression skillfully delivered to them by their enemy, satan. Much like the Japanese soldier who could not and would not believe WWII had ended. Today, many Christians carry their burden of sin in a backpack that weighs them down and keeps them from being all that God designed them to be as children of a loving God. 

     I’ll close with two scriptures:

     Ephesians 1:4-5 NIV

     4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—

     Matthew 11:30 NKJV

     30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

Amen and Amen

by Anne @ mygospelmessenger.com,

     It is my morning “routine” to seek the Lord in prayer and read a variety of devotionals by Christian teachers I admire and respect.

     Today’s devotional by Oswald Chambers spoke to me about what “prayer is”. 

     As you read the following devotional, quiet your thoughts and concentrate on allowing God’s Holy Spirit to impart a “teachable moment” about prayer to your day.

     Praying you have a beautiful, blessed day and weekend.

Anne @ www.Mygospelmessenger.com

John 14:12 NKJV

12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

     Prayer does not equip us for greater works- prayer is the greater work.

Yet we think of prayer as some commonsense exercise of our higher powers that simply prepares us for God's work. In the teachings of Jesus Christ, prayer is the working of the miracle of redemption in me, which produces the miracle of redemption in others, through the power of God. The way fruit remains firm is through prayer, but remember that it is prayer based on the agony of Christ in redemption, not on my own agony. We must go to God as His child, because only a child gets his prayers answered; a "wise" man does not. 

Matthew 11:25 NKJV

25 At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.

     Prayer is the battle, and it makes no difference where you are. However God may engineer your circumstances, your duty is to pray. Never allow yourself this thought, "I am of no use where I am," because you certainly cannot be used where you have not yet been placed. Wherever God has placed you and whatever your circumstances, you should pray, continually offering up prayers to Him. And He promises, "Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do." 

John 14:13 NKJV

And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Yet we refuse to pray unless it thrills or excites us, which is the most intense form of spiritual selfishness. We must learn to work according to God's direction, and He says to pray.

Matthew 9:38 NKJV

"Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest" 

     There is nothing thrilling about a laboring person's work, but it is the laboring person who makes the ideas of the genius possible. And it is the laboring saint who makes the ideas of his Master possible. When you labor at prayer, from God's perspective, there are always results. What an astonishment it will be to see, once the veil is finally lifted, all the souls that have been reaped by you, simply because you have been in the habit of taking your orders from Jesus.

My Utmost for His Highest October 17th “Greater Works”

Devotional Oswald Chambers

My Utmost for His Highest October 8, 2025

by Oswald Chambers

Matthew 11:28 NKJV

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

     Isn't it humiliating to be told that we must come to Jesus! Think of the things about which we will not come to Jesus Christ. If you want to know how real you are, test yourself by these words-……."Come to Me…."

     In every dimension in which you are not real, you will argue or evade the issue altogether rather than come; you will go through sorrow rather than come; and you will do anything rather than come the last lap of the race of seemingly unspeakable foolishness and say, "Just as I am, I come." As long as you have even the least bit of spiritual disrespect, it will always reveal itself in the fact that you are expecting God to tell you to do something very big, and yet all He is telling you to do is to "Come . . . ."

     When you hear those words, you will know that something must happen in you before you can come. The Holy Spirit will show you what you have to do, and it will involve anything that will uproot whatever is preventing you from getting through to Jesus. And you will never get any further until you are willing to do that very thing.

     The Holy Spirit will search out that one immovable stronghold within you, but He cannot budge it unless you are willing to let Him do so.

     How often have you come to God with your requests and gone away thinking, "I've really received what I wanted this time!" And yet you go away with nothing, while all the time God has stood with His hands outstretched not only to take you but also for you to take Him. Just think of the invincible, unconquerable, and untiring patience of Jesus, who lovingly says, "Come to Me. . . ."

Note: mygospelmessenger.com

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

     Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

     This scripture is a request to surrender ALL to Jesus Christ, including the way we care for our bodies. This is a short list; you might want to add a few things of your own.

     the things we watch on television, or on our laptop,

     the things we listen to that assail our ears with ungodly rhetoric

     the types of clothing we wear

     the food and drink we consume; are they healthy choices

     the type of exercise we do to keep our bodies strong 

     Think about all the things we do to our body without weighing the consequences. We should always pray about the way we care for our bodies; physically, mentally and spiritually. Always, ask yourself….does what I am doing honor and glorify my Father God?

Amen and Amen

By A. Jennings, Mygospelmessenger.com 

Galatians 1:15-16 KJV

15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace,16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:

     Paul knew that only God’s Holy Spirit could give him the power to do the work God had created him to do. So, he sought the help of the Holy Spirit and not flesh and blood.

     Oswald Chambers in his October 6th devotional, says “if all that Jesus Christ can do is to tell me I must be holy, His teaching plants despair”.

     I had a close Christian friend who struggled with the concept of regeneration and holiness. She was aware of the scripture in 1 Peter 1:16 that says; “for it is written, be holy, because I am holy.”

     My friend became convinced that she was worthless as a Christian and a human being. She had such deep feelings of despair that she believed she was permanently broken and of no use to God, the world, or herself. Only God knows if her despair led to suicide. Medical authorities called it “an accidental overdose,” while we who knew her and the many times we had “spoken with” and “prayed her off the ledge” were left with a question mark regarding her death.

     Satan lays heavy burdens on Christians who are struggling with life’s many woes. He keeps putting the seeming impossibility of “be ye holy” into our path as something we can achieve by working at it. If my friend were alive today, she could testify to the futility of working to achieve holiness.

     Satan knows that he cannot take our soul, but he works like the devil to deflate our spiritual connection with God by continuing to assail our Christian beliefs and purpose. For some, like my friend, it can become too much to bear.

     Brothers and sisters, only God’s Holy Spirit can accomplish this task of Holiness in our lives. When despairing thoughts come into our minds, we must immediately pray and ask for God’s help and deliverance. 

     John 16:33 KNIV says; “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

     Take time each week to attend a Bible-believing church, become involved in a small group Bible study, spend a few minutes each day on a daily devotion, and develop a prayer relationship with God about everything. These few things play a gigantic role in God’s regeneration process in our lives.

Amen and Amen

By A. Jennings, Mygospelmessenger.com 

     Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Romans 5:12

     As everyone who is familiar with my posts and my spiritual beliefs knows, Oswald Chambers is one of my favorite spiritual leaders. His biblical teaching, spiritual guidance, and determination to lift up Jesus Christ and Him Crucified were nothing short of exceptional in the few years Mr. Chambers was among us.

     Today’s October 5th devotional in “My Utmost for His Highest” gives us a clear picture of sin and our inheritance of this “gene of sin” determined by Adam and Eve’s selfish fall from grace. What follows are two paragraphs from “The Bias of Degeneration” by Oswald Chambers.

     “The disposition of sin is not immorality and wrongdoing, but the disposition of self-realization…..I am my own god. This disposition may work out in decorous morality or in indecorous immorality, but it has the one basis, my claim to my right to myself.

     Sin is a thing I am born with and I cannot touch it; God touches sin in Redemption. In the cross of Jesus Christ God redeemed the whole human race from the possibility of damnation through the heredity of sin.

     God nowhere holds a man responsible for having the heredity of sin. The condemnation is not that I am born with a heredity of sin, but if when I realize Jesus Christ came to deliver me from it, I refuse to let Him do so. From that moment I begin to get the seal of damnation. “And this is the judgement” (the critical moment) “that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light.”

     O.C. has quoted directly from the following Bible verse.

John 3:19 KVJ

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world…and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

     Our deadly sin, therefore, is not the inherited sin of Adam and Eve, it is the self-centered rejection of God’s propitiation for sin, His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

Amen and Amen

By A. Jennings, Mygospelmessenger.com 

Mark 9:2 NIV

After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them.

     This mountain-top experience was exhilarating to the disciples. Only a chosen few were privileged to “see God” and I believe this is what happened to Peter, James and John. They were witnesses of Christ’s glorified body and identification by God that Jesus was His Son.

     Why were these three chosen for this mountain top experience?  I believe that as they were chosen to be Jesus' disciples, they were also elected to carry the message of Christ’s transfiguration to the other nine and to the world. They had seen and heard the “glory of God” as they stood alone on the mountain top.

     We have all had mountain-top spiritual experiences and know that they will end and that we will have to deal with our various valleys of life. This is living in the real world.

     Oswald Chambers, in his devotionals of October 1st and 2nd speak of a few things that Christians should take to heart.

     · First, the test of our spiritual life happens when we descend into the valley

     · We are built for the valley, that is where we prove our ability to cope with the difficulties of life.

     · Our mountain top experiences happen to make us useful for God’s purpose, i.e. they build our Christian character.

     As I stated before, our exhilarating mountain top experiences end all too quickly, as OC says in his October 2nd devotion, we are “brought down with a sudden rush into things as they are, where it is neither beautiful nor poetic nor thrilling….but it is in the valley that we live for the glory of God.”

     I have experienced minutes, hours, and days that could only be described as “beautiful, poetic, and thrilling.” When everything seems filled with peace, and I feel blessed to be alive. However, I know that when these times end, I will be faced with living in the real world, which is decidedly not beautiful, poetic, peaceful, or thrilling. But I know this is where I am to prove my “mettle” as a child of God.

     I’ll close with a few thoughts from Billy Graham. “At the close of a crusade meeting I ask those who come forward to pray, to use these words: "I receive Christ as Savior; I accept Him as Lord”. He continues, “it is a mistake to think that we can receive Christ’s offer of forgiveness and then go out and live our lives as we please.”

     Enjoy those “mountain top experiences” God plans them into our lives to build the character He needs to use us for His Glory. It is the reason we were created and born into His world.

“To God Be the Glory”

By A. Jennings, Mygospelmessenger.com 

 In Memory of Charlie

     Tens of thousands gathered today in Phoenix Arizona to honor Charlie Kirk Founder of Turning Point USA, an organization that Charlie began which focused on reaching the youth of America regarding their true purpose in life.

     As I watched today’s program, I could not help but draw a sharp contrast with today’s, September 21st devotional by Oswald Chambers titled, “Missionary Predestinations”.

     Since I lack the eloquence of Charlie Kirk’s speaking or writing abilities and the spiritual and scriptural abilities of an Oswald Chambers, I felt today’s memorial services called for publishing the devotional in OC’s own words.

Missionary Predestinations

Isaiah 49:5 NIV

     “And now, saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be His servant.”

     The first thing that happens after we have realized our election to God in Christ Jesus is the destruction of our prejudices and our parochial options and our patriotisms; we are turned into servants of God’s own purpose. The whole human race was created to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

     Sin has switched the human race on to another tack, but it has not altered God’s purpose in the tiniest degree; and when we are born again, we are brought into the realization of God’s great purpose for the human race, viz., I am created for God, He made me.

     This realization of the election of God is the most joyful realization on earth, and we have to learn to rely on the tremendous creative purpose of God. The first thing God will do with us is to “force thro the channels of a single heart,”….the interests of the whole world. The love of God, the very nature of God, is introduced into us, and, the nature of Almighty God is focused in John 3:16…… For God so loved the world that…

     We have to maintain our soul open to the fact of God’s creative purpose and not muddle it with our own intentions. If we do, God will have to crush our intentions on one side however much it may hurt.

     The purpose for which the missionary is created is that he may be God’s servant, one in whom God is glorified.

     When once we realize that through the salvation of Jesus Christ we are made perfectly fit for God, we shall understand why Jesus Christ is so ruthless in His demands. He demands absolute rectitude from His servants, because He has put into them the very nature of God.

Beware lest you forget God’s purpose for your life. 

by Oswald Chambers "My Utmost for His Highest"

September 21, 2025

Today’s Verse: Mark 6:34 (NKJV)

     “And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things.”

     When Jesus saw the crowds, He didn’t see a nuisance; He saw people in need. His compassion was so deep it moved Him to His very core. He looked at them not as failures or enemies, but as sheep—helpless, wandering, vulnerable, without a shepherd to guide or protect them.

     The answer He gave was not food, entertainment, or distraction. He gave them His Word. He taught them many things, because truth is what anchors the wandering, strengthens the weak, and brings life to the lost.

     So today, remember that Jesus sees you. In the multitude, He sees your personal need. He knows your fears, your wounds, and your longings. And He responds with compassion, shepherding you by His Word.

     Let His voice guide you. Open His Word. Trust His care. For the Shepherd of your soul has not forgotten you—He sees you, He loves you, and He leads you still.

LIFT Daily Prayer-September 22, 2025

By Jack Hibbs

Founder & Pastor of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills. Founder & President of the Real Life Network.

By Oswald Chambers, “My Utmost for His Highest”

1 Corinthians 2:4-5 NIV

4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,* 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

*Every Christian should have this message from OC emblazoned on their heart. “it’s about HIM, it’s not about me”! 

     Paul was a scholar and an orator of the highest abilities. When he says that he didn’t use “wise and persuasive words” in delivering the gospel, he isn’t speaking out of self-deprecating humility. He’s saying that if he’d tried to impress people with his talent when he preached the gospel, he would have veiled the power of God. Paul knew that belief in Jesus is a miracle produced by the redemption—by the sheer, unaided power of God—not by making fancy speeches.

     As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to follow Paul’s example. If we are going to preach the gospel, we must practice a special kind of fasting—not from food but rather from eloquence and impressive diction, from everything that might hinder the word of God coming through us to reach others. The power of the redemption does flow through the preaching of the gospel, but we have to recognize that this power is never due to the personality or the eloquence of the preacher.

     “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us” (2 Corinthians 5:20). Preachers are representatives of God. We are commissioned to present his gospel, not human ideals. If it’s only because of my charisma that people desire to be better, they’ll never get anywhere near Jesus Christ. Anything that flatters me in my preaching will end in making me a traitor to Jesus, because I will prevent the creative power of his redemption from doing its work. “And I,” said Jesus, “when I am lifted up . . . will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32).

*Additional Study:

Psalms 18-19; Acts 20:17-38

Wisdom from Oswald

Beware of bartering the Word of God for a more suitable conception of your own. Disciples Indeed, 386 R

*Additional: A. Jennings

By Oswald Chambers “My Utmost for His Highest”

Matthew 7:11 NIV

If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

     Jesus is laying down rules of conduct for those who have His Spirit. By the simple argument of these verses, He urges us to keep our minds filled with the notion of God’s control behind everything, which means that the disciple must maintain an attitude of perfect trust and an eagerness to ask and to seek.

     Notion your mind with the idea that God is there. If once the mind is motioned along that line, then when you are in difficulties it is as easy as breathing to remember — Why, my Father knows all about it! It is not an effort; it comes naturally when perplexities press.

     Before, you used to go to this person and that, but now the notion of the Divine control is forming so powerfully in you that you go to God about it.           Jesus is laying down the rules of conduct for those who have His Spirit, and it works on this principle — God is my Father, He loves me, I shall never think of anything He will forget, why should I worry?

     There are times, says Jesus, when God cannot lift the darkness from you, but trust Him. God will appear like an unkind friend, but He is not; He will appear like an unnatural Father, but He is not; He will appear like an unjust judge, but He is not.

     Keep the notion of the mind of God behind all things strong and growing. Nothing happens in any particular unless God’s will is behind it; therefore, you can rest in perfect confidence in Him. Prayer is not only asking, but an attitude of mind which produces the atmosphere in which asking is perfectly natural. “Ask, and it shall be given you.”

Additional reading: Psalms 16-17; Acts 20:1-16

Wisdom from Oswald

     We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached; they are to be performed.  

Amen & Amen

A Christian’s Personal Account

By A. Jennings

     We often wonder why God walks us through things in our life that we’d prefer never to experience. These past ten months have been that type of experience for me.

     On July 14, 2024, I lost my second son, this time to multiple illnesses that attacked his system and eventually resulted in his death from Sepsis. Geoff was more than a son, he was my brother-in-Christ, a walk we had shared for several years. He was my partner in beginning a Christian website, Mygospelmessenger.com.

     Less than a month after his death, as I turned from doing my makeup, I heard and felt a slight pop in my left knee but since I experienced no pain, I thought nothing more of it at the time.

     For the next few weeks, I was consumed with the details of Geoff’s passing and a church project for a Fall ladies' bible study. However, in late August, I began having a difficult time walking because of debilitating pain in the left knee.

     After several weeks of hobbling around with my cane I’d “had it” with the pain and “gave up” and went to a local Emergency Room where, after extensive testing, I was diagnosed with Arthritis and a possible fracture of my tibia and was dismissed with instructions to visit an Orthopedic surgeon if the pain did not go away in a week or two.

     No way was I waiting for two more weeks of the intense pain I had already experienced, so I made an appointment with a surgeon who took x-rays, said it was Arthritis, injected the knee with cortisone and sent me home with instructions to return if the pain did not go away.

     Not waiting for the pain to "go away” I made an appointment with an Arthritis Specialist who finally said, “this does not sound like arthritis to me, let’s do an MRI.” The MRI results showed a fracture of the head of my tibia in my left knee. Back to the Ortho who said, “surgery” but only a “partial left knee”.

     Next came a visit for a second opinion where I was told that “surgery is indicated, but since 8 weeks have gone by, and your pain has subsided due to the fracture healing, you could wait to see if the arthritis gets worse.

     It did, and in January 2025 I returned to the Orthopedic surgeon who gave me the second opinion and scheduled a “total knee surgery” on March 3rd.

     My surgery went well. But two bouts of severe drops in my blood pressure after the surgery. After my dismissal came two trips to the Emergency Room that culminated in an admission for dehydration and an acute bacterial infection requiring 10 days of IV therapy, which saw me being dismissed from a rehab center on April 17, 2025.

     Throughout all of this my Christian friends and relatives kept up prayers for me and my recovery. What they could not do was see the fellowship I desperately needed and missed. 

     I write all of this to show how experiencing many months of a non-life-threatening illness can take you away from the physical companionship of other Christians. 

     Having been a part of a Homebound Ministry, I never understood how important it was to the excellent Christian and non-Christian souls that I visited with fruits, treats and Christian literature. 

     In addition to visiting with Christian encouragement and literature, we established contacts with service groups that we could refer interested individuals and family members to for any other type of healthcare or personal need they might have.

     Homebound Ministry is indeed an outreach organization of our churches and a ministry to those in need of encouragement, hope, love, and compassion. Something we all need. If not now…sooner or later.

Matthew 25:36 NIV

35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

By Pastor Chuck Swindoll

     When I was a little boy, we used to have our family reunions and vacations down at my grandfather's cottage beside Carancahua Bay, near Palacios, Texas. It was a sleepy, little spot that smelled like shrimp 24/7. We would seine for shrimp early in the morning, fish for speckled trout and redfish during the day, and go floundering at night. Wonderful memories, all!

     My maternal granddad was the most influential adult in my life as I grew up. One day he said to me, "I want to explain something to you." And he used a big word I had never heard before: erosion. The bank that dropped off into the bay was continually being eaten away by the pounding waves and rainy weather. We walked over near the edge, and he measured a certain distance from that point to where the bank dropped off down to the water. He drove a stake into the ground. "You're going to be here next summer," he told me, "and we'll measure this again then."

     When I came back the next summer there had been two hurricanes, several super-high tides, and rough waters. Eight inches were gone from the bank. I would never have noticed if we hadn't measured it. I think the next year he wrote me and said, "Twelve inches dropped off this year."

     No one I've worked with in ministry who has fallen morally sat on the side of his bed one morning and thought, Let's see, now, how can I ruin my life? How can I implode my reputation? Erosion doesn't happen like that. It is always silent; it is always slow; it is always subtle. But its final blow is always severe.

     Paul's words to the Corinthians haunt me, as well as challenge me: "Let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12). He goes on to write, "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man" (10:13). Even the apostle Paul back in the first century lived with the horrible possibility that after even he had preached to others, he might disqualify himself (9:27). All of us who preach must remember his solemn warning.

     Every day is a day I could begin the fall. Every day is a day I could choose to compromise . . . secretly, subtly, and silently. And the public would never know it . . . not then. But I would know it. Those close to me would someday begin to sense it, but the world at large wouldn't know it until the final implosion.

     I regularly evaluate my life. I measure the depth of my devotion to Jesus to discern if any commitment has eroded. My daily time with God is good for that. Driving around town in my pickup is also an excellent opportunity for self-appraisal. And of course, the Lord's Table was designed for such self-examination. Whenever I find that erosion has occurred, I refuse to justify it or ignore it. I begin the hard work of repentance and renewal.

     Take a moment to examine your life. Are there areas where subtle erosion has begun to occur? What measurements can you put in place to detect it early?

Insight for Living Ministries

The Bible-Teaching Ministries of Pastor Chuck Swindoll 

By Oswald Chambers 

                    MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST

     No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them. — John 6:44

     When God draws me, the issue of my will comes in at once. Will I react to the revelation he has given me? Will I come to him? It’s a question of obeying, not of ruminating and discussing.

     Never discuss with anyone when God speaks; discussion on spiritual matters is an impertinence. Belief isn’t an intellectual act; it’s a moral act in which I deliberately commit myself to him. Will I hand myself over entirely to God and act on what he says? If I will, I’ll find that I am based on a reality that is as sure as his throne.

     When you preach the gospel, always push the issue of will. Make it clear to your listeners that belief must be the will to believe, that there must be a surrender of the will. Each of us must deliberately launch forth on God and on what he says until we’re no longer confident in what we’ve done, only in him. What holds most of us back is that we won’t trust God, only our own understanding.

     As far as feelings go, I must put them to the side, staking everything blindly on what God says. I must will myself to believe, and this can never be done without a violent effort on my part to break with all my old ways of looking at things and then to hand myself over to him.

     Each one of us is made to reach out beyond our grasp. It is God who draws me, and my relationship with him is first and foremost a personal one, not an intellectual one. I’m introduced into this relationship by the miracle of God and by my own will to believe. Only later do I begin to get an intelligent appreciation and understanding of the wonder of our transaction. 

Reference: Micah 6-7 & Revelation 13

By Anne Jennings

AND THE GOD OF EVERLASTING LIFE

     Where was God when an American Airlines passenger Jet collided midair with a Military helicopter on a training mission at busy Ronald Regan National Airport near Washington, D.C? 

OR

     Where was God when a Jet Rescue Air Ambulance medical flight dropped like a rock onto the streets of Philadelphia less than a week later? 

Sixty-nine souls were taken that evening near D.C. and seven souls were taken that evening in Philadelphia.

Psalm 139:16 NIV

Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book.

     In my lifetime numerous mass disasters have occurred around the world. From airplane crashes to fiery explosions, to tornado’s, floods, earthquakes and typhoons.

     A question that, at times, has haunted me with restless nights and, at times, has sent me searching for answers from scripture and fervent prayer. 

     Why so many deaths in one place at the same time?

     This can only be a Godly miracle He has performed to gather so many souls together to take to Heaven or send to Hell to await judgment for denying His Son Jesus Christ entrance into their hearts and lives.

Luke 12:7 NIV
 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. 

     It’s true hundreds and thousands of souls pass each day into life everlasting in heaven with God the Father, Jesus His Son, and countless saintly souls, or they have gone to await God’s final judgment in a place called Hell.

     As Christian Believers, we know God is the God of disasters and that He is also The God of Love and Forgiveness. How brokenhearted He must be to watch so many souls live their final moments on earth end with no hope of reconciliation.

Matthew 10:29 NKJV

Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 

     Where was God when disaster struck last week? Where will God be when the next mass disaster strikes? He will be welcoming believers' home, He will be comforting their loved ones on their loss, He will be sorrowing over lost  souls, and whispering to their loved ones….I am here. I sent my son to die that you might live. You still have time!

17:26-27 NIV

From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.

God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.

Amen and Amen

By Anne Jennings

     Roaches are nasty creatures; I know because I’ve fought the battle. When my boys were in grade school, we rented several homes that came equipped with roaches as uninvited guests. Each home supplied a huge army of these loathsome creatures.

     Nighttime was our “guests” favorite time to roam in kitchen cupboards, underneath the sink, and sometimes be seen climbing the walls of our dining room.

     Their roach attack was a 24-hour onslaught of epic proportions despite professional exterminators and my ever-present can of Raid. It was a losing battle had by all. Fortunately, I didn’t respond to the drastic measures heard about on our local news. It seems one man was so determined to rid his home of a spider, he killed it with a blow torch….in the process burning down his whole house. LOL

     As Oswald Chambers writes in his January 27 devotional “My Utmost for His Highest.” “The cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches and the lust of other things…..will choke all God puts in. We are never free from the recurring tides.” He continued that it comes in the line of the clothes we wear, the food we eat, money or lack thereof, friends or lack of friends, and even the difficult circumstances of life itself. “It’s one thing after another.”

     If we allow these “roaches of encroachment” to overcome us, we will allow the Spirit of God to be silenced in our Christian life just as the returning waves of the Red Sea silenced Pharaoh and his army.

     Jesus knows our circumstances better than we do! Dear children, do not let your life circumstances become the primary concern of your life.

     Here is what God says in our Bible, His words to us.

Matthew 6:25 says, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?

Matthew 6: 34 ESV

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Luke 12:24 NIV

Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!

     In other words, keep your mind focused on Jesus, your study of related scriptures, a quiet prayer time, fellowship with Christian friends, church-related activities, and thoughts of Heaven…your eternal home.

Amen and Amen

By Anne Jennings, www.MyGospelMessenger.com 

     I was recently studying about Anna the Prophetess in John Macarthur’s “Twelve Extraordinary Women.” It occurred to me how God’s Holy Spirit causes people, places, and things to happen just-in-time. 

Luke 2:36-38 reads as follows:

36 Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity;

37 and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

38 And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

     John Macarthur says: “The scene is the same one we left near the end of our previous chapter. Simeon had just picked up the infant Jesus and pronounced a prophetic blessing on Him.” “In that instant, Luke says, Anna happened by and immediately understood what was going on and who Christ was.” Yet it seems unlikely that Simeon and Anna’s paths had ever crossed. 

     Dr. Macarthur describes the temple in this way.  “Herod’s temple was a massive building, and the temple complex was huge, surrounded by a courtyard with thousands of people milling around at almost any given time. Joseph and Mary did not know Simeon, but by God’s providence and through the sovereign direction of His Spirit, He had brought them together (v.27). At that very instant, Just while Simeon was blessing the child…the Spirit of God providentially led this elderly woman to a place where she was within earshot”.

     How often has this happened throughout the course of the history of creation? How often does it happen today? Quite often, I would say, “It is how God’s Holy Spirit has operated in every way since the beginning of time. That is why there is no such thing as coincidence."

     Anna had been praying and fasting for many long years, perhaps as many as 64. She had been fervently praying that Messiah would come. Now, He had come. He had been miraculously born to a carpenter and his wife in the small, little-known town of Bethlehem. Anna could tell everyone she would meet from that moment until she died that Messiah had come.

     Simeon had been promised to not see death until he saw Messiah.

Luke 2:25-26  And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ." as he did that day in the temple.

     Can you remember a time when you were operating on Holy Spirit Time? When some event occurred that “never in a million years” could happen to you, but it did, “just in time”? Perhaps the event saved your life or a loved one’s life? Perhaps something happened in your life or a total stranger’s life, perhaps it was filmed, and your only comment when you saw it was to say, “No way that could ever happen?”  My Friend, That’s God’s Holy Spirit at work!

Amen and Amen    

Romans 8:28 NIV

     28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 

     Recently, while editing a book for my husband, I found a couple of paragraphs that I personally need to firmly implant in my heart and mind.

     So, I thought I would pass them on to my family in Christ. Because of everything that is going on with each of us, storms hitting the East Coast, wars and threats of wars, and worldwide political unrest. I was led to share them.

     It is impossible to remain a pessimist if God’s children firmly believe the following in their hearts: “You know best in everything that You permit as You are sovereign. I believe in Romans 8:28 that all things work together for good for those who love You and are called according to Your purpose.

     Help me to look away from life’s events, put them into Your loving hands, and leave them there.”

     “Please give me the heart of Job and Peter. Without Your help, I will not have the strength to look at You, dear Lord, instead of the turbulent waters of this life’s journey. I need to trust You and Your will and believe that You know best no matter what.

     Help me be an optimist who consistently remembers that You are God Almighty, the Sovereign Ruler of the universe; therefore, nothing happens other than what You permit or cause.

     You have promised to turn things for Your children eventually into good, no matter how impossible or painful they seem. Help me look at the big picture, in which You are in charge, not the present temporary picture painted with the colors of my concerns and fears. Help me to be controlled by Your Holy Spirit.”

Kathryn

Luke 11:9-10 ESV

9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

     In my morning devotional by Oswald Chambers, he asked this question. “Have you ever sought God with your whole heart, or have you only given a languid (half-hearted) cry to Him after a twinge of moral neuralgia (nerve pain)?” 

     If your answer is yes, make this your daily prayerful commitment to God.

     If your answer is no, it’s probably because you have too many earthly concerns and crises that detract from your wholehearted devotion to God.

     When my mother lay dying more than 2,000 miles from a conference, I was attending in Miami, FL., she had my sister telephone me so she could say goodbye. After a tearful goodbye, Mom said, “I’m so scared, I haven’t lived a good life.” She knew that she would soon meet God, and she was simply not ready to be under the microscope of God’s judgment of her Christian life. 

     How about you? Are you ready?

     Knowledge of our impending death should strike the “fear of God” in our Christian hearts. My mother was totally aware that she would soon meet God. Are you aware that you're standing at the edge of eternity every moment of every day?

     Are you desiring less of your own selfish desires and more of God? Oswald Chambers say, "“are you asking God for things from life instead of desiring more God?” Then you ask amiss!

    Turn to God this very moment and tell Him you desire more of Him. Make this a day of total commitment to Him.

Amen and Amen

John 17:21 NIV

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message.

21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

     Father Tim, an Episcopal priest in author Jan Karon’s Mitford Series is one of the novel’s colorful residents. Throughout the series he says that the prayer that never fails is “Thy will be done.”

     The Bible tells us that God designs our circumstances for our own good. No one enjoys a trial. I can say amen to that. However, trials, once they are over, either make us more like Jesus, or leave us self-centered and useless to our Father God. The difference depends on whether we rely on God's word and prayer to see us through or try to "fake it and make it on our own."

     Today’s morning devotional by Oswald Chambers cites OC's statement: “God is not concerned about our plans…..He allows these things for His purpose.” After all, we are created with certain gifts and talents that God has planned to use in His time and for His purpose.

     Acts 17: 24-25 NIV “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.

     25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.

   Psalm 139:13, 16 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
    16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. 

     I own an excellent CD that I often play as I navigate the speedways of Phoenix, AZ (yes, I have a CD player in my 2012 KIA) that the BTC (Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir) sings as a prayer a song called “Use Me Lord." The song's lyrics speak of the desire of Christians to be used by The Lord. Every time I listen to this hymn to God, I am moved spiritually because it speaks to the spiritual desire of my heart, which is to be used by God.

     Our bodies are much the same as jars of clay. Vessels used for God’s purposes but only after Our Master has shaped and formed us. Do any of us enjoy this “shaping” process on the wheel of life? Certainly not! But Jesus prayed to His Father for all of us to be just like Him in John 17:20-21.

     Whatever your current circumstances and God's plan for you as He turns the potter's wheel…know that He is forming you to be MORE LIKE JESUS. Yield to His forming of your vessel by prayer and the study of His Word. The result is that you will become a beacon of light that shines with His love to the unsaved in our troubled world.

Recommended Reading John 17 

Amen and Amen

2 Corinthians 4:8-11 ESV

8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair

9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;

10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 

     “Do I manifest the essential sweetness of the Son of God, or the essential irritation of “myself” apart from Him?”

     Oswald Chambers asked this question of his students in the early 20th century.

     As believers in Jesus Christ, we were “saved to serve.” Not all of us are preachers, teachers, or missionaries in God’s fertile field, but we are representatives of Christ manifesting His word in our flesh.

     We are living examples of Christ. Do we whine and struggle with our lot in life, or do we obey God as examples of His saving Grace? Whenever you experience a disturbance of your spirit, pray this prayer immediately: Father God, help me to do your will in this matter. I praise and thank you for your help.

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV says.

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

     Let’s stop wallowing in the cesspool of self-pity and be delighted to obey God as His earthly examples.

     First and foremost, let your light shine before men so that they can catch a glimpse of your Heavenly Father and give Glory to Him.

Matthew 5:14-16 ESV

14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden

15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house

16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Amen and Amen