We are at this moment as close to God as we really choose to be.

How's that for a title? ay? "We are at this moment as close to God as we really choose to be." This comes from a book I am presently reading titled, "Enjoying Intimacy with God" by J. Oswald Sanders.
Here is another quote from the book. I love this quote so much that I have memorized it.
"Only those who count such intimacy a PRIZE worth sacrificing anything else for are likely to attain it. If other intimacies are more desirable to us, we will not gain entry to that circle." (the circle he is talking about is an inner circle of intimacy with God)
This is exactly what I needed to hear.
What other things are taking the place of your pursuit of Christ. Have you learned to be content sitting outside His innermost circle?
I'm continually having to remind myself about the temporary things I let occupy my time. Everything that is seen is temporary, that which is unseen it ETERNAL.

The second chapter has to do with true worship of Him.

"Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing."
"To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever."Rev 5:12-14

pg21 "...but our worship reaches a much higher level when we worship Him simply and solely for what He is, for the excellences and perfections of His being." (not for what He has done, although we are to worship Him for that as well.)

"To whom will you compare me? Or whom is my equal?' says the Holy One" Is40:25

Peter's willingness to be a cannibal.

Jesus had a hard saying for His followers.

John 6:53-58 "So Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.

Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has  eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.

As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.' "

v60 When many of His disciples heard it, they said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?"

These disciples,(not the twelve) thought Jesus was talking about cannibalism. They wanted nothing to do with this. They turned back from following Him. And Jesus asked the twelve if they wanted to leave as well.

This was Peter's heart cry to Jesus...

v68 "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. and we have believed, and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God."

I want to be as the disciples. Believing and trusting in Him so much. That I will follow. Even when I'm not sure what He is going to do. 

If Peter can be willing to be a cannibal. I should be willing to live a little out of my flesh's comfort zone.
If Jesus was willing to be beaten, mocked, and crucified, I should be able to take up my cross daily, by dying to my flesh daily.

He is the one true God. There is no one beside Him. And He just so happens to be AMAZING! He doesn't have a cruel bone in His being. He cries for us. The pain and affliction in this world hurts Him more than it hurts all of us combined.
We have a God whose thoughts of us are only good and loving. There is not one iota of darkness in Him nor shadow of turning.

I HAVE MET PERFECTION. PERFECTION MAKES ME CRY WITH HIS LOVING FORGIVENESS.

My spirits food for today.

1 Samuel 12:12b "'No, but a king shall reign over us,' when the LORD your GOD was your King."

What does a king do?
-lead -protect -provide
(if you have any others please let me know, i'd like to add them.)

(So i'm making a comparison between asking for a king when you have the LORD GOD as your King, to seeking a king in this world.)

Where else do i seek guidance(leadership),protection,provision?
In these ways of seeking guidance, protection, and provision, outside of the LORD GOD I am seeking another king,

12:17&19b "..And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking for yourselves a king."
"..for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king."

12:20 Samuel said, "Do not be afraid, you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty.

I really need this encouragement from a  LOVING GOD through the lips of Samuel. I always need to remember that HE is a FORGIVING GOD. Satan comes and tells you, "oh you messed up just why bother?" But remember beloved one of God, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death." Romans 8:1-2

this is not mine but i wanted to share the beauty and check out her blog.

http://scrapsofkindness.wordpress.com/

     
      So until a couple days ago, I was having a hard time for the past few weeks being disciplined to read His Word. So the other night I got to thinking. I usually read the Bible on my bed.
     I guess that just doesn't create the best environment for devotion to His Word. So I created a little space of my own in the next room. 
     A little table and a wicker chair. A nice little old-fashioned desk lamp to set the mood :)) haha...but really. Also a lilac candle, I love the smell of lilac. Once Jesus took me to a lovely garden in prayer and there were purple lilacs. So it's OUR special thing :)). MY bible of course! My journal. My colors for coloring verses. Ohh and Bach and Chopin on my Pandora music station. Oh and my chai tea.
From here I was led to 1st John.
So the ninth verse of chapter one spoke to me.

"If we confess our sins, He is FAITHFUL and JUST to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Wow!
He made it so easy for us.

Can you imagine how He must feel when we don't just reach out to Him.

When He has done all the hard work and made a way.

And then I got distracted by my candle...

Fires trait is to consume. And in Hebrews it says He is a consuming fire.

So this is my prayer.

"Lord God I want to be consumed by you. That means surrendering everything. Trusting, being vulnerable. Not caring for myself. Leaving no thought of myself...

...consume me!"

The burning of the candle releases a fragrance pleasing to Him. I want so badly to please Him. And what pleases Him is so good for me. Sweet sweet LOVE, sweet sweet God.

He is like honey to my lips. SWEETER than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. (Ps. 19)

Back to 1st John

2:15-17 "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, For all that is in the world-the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride in possessions- is not from the Father but is from the world. and the world is passing away along with it's desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

3:9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep sinning because he has been born of God.

satan tries to crush, but my Saviour always comes to the rescue.

And He places me on a higher ground than where I was before satan attacked.
Hallelujah! Praise to my King my Saviour.

Here is a snippet of a song from Samuel Cornell an eleven year old who wrote and played this song when he was ten. It's called "On The Cross" if you want to youtube it, it will bless your heart.
 "On the cross, He saved me, He healed me, and He took me in his arms and He loved me"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiZihKoQduE

_________________________________________
So today satan was attacking me. I was in desperation, looking for an escape from the monotony of the same day lived over and over again.

This website speaks to where my heart was. And I do believe would especially touch the women readers.
 http://www.clairesteaparty.com/when-you-need-an-escape-route/

When I am down I like to read of stories of people far worse off than myself to right myself.
Such as the book Why? by Mrs D.S Sherwin. Even though I don't fully agree with her theology, her story in times of my despair has been my solice.
And when I wasn't saved I would watch Girl Interrupted, to feel a little more sane when I felt insanity gripping me.

So now I read Ecclesiastes.

Here are some jewels I found.

Ecc 1:8b "...the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing."

How true this is. We have to constantly be crucifying our flesh.

Ecc 10:1 "Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.

WOW!

This calls me to live my life at a higher standard. I want to be a sweet perfume to a lost and dying world. I don't want to ruin the whole batch of ointment for some thoughtless act of stupidity.

This is such a great visual picture. To have all this wisdom and honor to be ruined by some little flies.

This verse gets to my soul better than the verse the reads, "a little leaven, leaven the whole lump."

This I think I will put on my mirror so that I will give thought in the beginning of my day. So that I won't ruin a sweet perfume over something not worth while.

 

Grace in the oddest places.

So I'm watching Castaway. The one where Tom Hanks gets stranded on a island.
There is a scene when he is sharing his inward struggle of survival on the island with his close friend after he's been saved.

" I had power over NOTHING. And
          that's when this feeling came over me--
          like a warm blanket. And I knew, not up
          here--

He means, not in his brain.

                     CHUCK (cont'd)
          --but in some deep part of me--I just
          knew--I had to stay alive. Even if I had
          no reason to hope. Even if my logic told
          me I'd never see any of this again.

"This" being the whole world he knew.

                     CHUCK (cont'd)
          And that's what I did, just kept
          breathing. 

          CHUCK (cont'd)
          That's all I did. Just stayed alive. And
          you know what? The sun came up, and the
          sun went down, and all my logic was
          wrong. Because the tide brought me--a
          sail.
There's a sense of hope here, a hard-won knowledge at the core of
life.

                     CHUCK (cont'd)
          Because tomorrow--the sun is going to
          rise, and who knows what the tide could
          bring?

This is grace to me. Because hope, this ^ doesn't exist without God.
Without the loving God of the universe.

It also called me to remember "these" times in my life. When I was in desperation, and the warm blanket of God's hope giving love enveloped me.