Surrender All

Take all I am, Lord and all that I cling to
You are my Savior I owe everything to
Take all the treasures that lie in my storehouse
They cannot follow when I enter Your house

So I...surrender all to You
I...surrender all

Take all my cravings for vain recognition
fleshly indulgence and worldly ambition
I want so much Lord, to make you my focus
To serve You in secret, and never be noticed

So I...surrender all to You
I...surrender all

Take all my hunger, for all that's forbidden
Every desire, and sin I keep hidden
Search me and know me, I want to bring to You
a life that is holy, and sanctified thru You...

*Rich Dalmas, Sovereign Grace Music*

Testimony

"But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect." -1 Peter 3:15

I've read, seen and heard of many people who have had what we call, "amazing testimonies". The ones where the people were living their lives for the enjoyment of the flesh and for the moment, and while doing so, they also would be openly rebellious towards God and His Word; scorning the Cross and all it stood for. Yet, the Lord in His wonderful, un-explainable grace, chose to look on them with mercy and moved their hearts to repent of their sins, put their faith in Christ and become new creatures in Him.

Amazing is a wonderful way to describe their testimonies of God's grace and loving-kindness in saving them from their sins. It never fails to make me rejoice when I hear such wonderful testimonies.

All this to say, those aforementioned testimonies are of no greater importance than any other testimonies of God's saving grace.

How often do we as Christians tend to compare and contrast such things as testimonies? Oh, how wrong we are for doing so. It's as if to say that God only chooses those most vile in the world's eyes to save, as if to assume at times, that He will be more glorified in saving a drug addicted, drunken prostitute, and turning her life around, than in saving a seemingly perfect church-going (yet still unregenerate) girl.

The root of that thought I believe would be pride. A pride that invokes self-righteousness, a self righteousness that leads one to think that the prostitute, in her sin, is more vile than the church-going girl in her sin. Sin is sin! It is not the amount of times we've sinned, nor the degree of those sins, that condemns each and every one of us; for James 2:10 says;

"For whoever keeps the entire law, yet falls in one point, is guilty of breaking it all."

It also is not about how few times we've sinned or how small the sin seemed to us, for our righteousness is like filthy rags ( Isaiah 64:6).

"As it is written: 'There is no one righteous, no not one.'" -Romans 3:10

The factor that makes our sins so serious, is not "which sins were committed", but rather "to Whom those sins were committed against". God is our Creator and Sustainer, we've sinned in stealing the very breath we breathe from Him, we've sinned in not thanking Him continually for every breath, and every blessing He's bestowed on us. He is completely just, completely righteous and holy. He Himself cannot sin, He cannot lie, He cannot even look on sin. For this very reason we all fall short and are in need of a Savior. That is what is amazing about our God. Though He cannot look on sin, cannot accept us in our fallen state, He loved us, sent His Son to live the perfect life, die to take our sins that separated us from Him, and rise again, conquering death, that we might live in Him!

Because of this, we must always remember that in Christ and Christ alone are we found worthy in God's eyes. Not by works lest any man should boast, but by grace alone. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Therefore, put aside all thought that we, with our sins in our pasts, our conversion , our present lives, that we can somehow lend to make our testimony of salvation a wondrous, amazing thing. It is God and His beautiful act of love that makes the testimony what it is. It is a testimony of God, not of us!

Wield your swords for the glory of God! "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth."- 2 Timothy 2:15

When asked of the hope that is in you, proclaim the testimony of God's grace that was so amazingly shown to you, proclaim day in and day out, "Christ and Christ alone".

~My Personal Testimony of God's Grace~

Having been saved at a very young age, I am blessed to say that I cannot recall too much of my life without Christ as my Savior. Looking back, there are a few things that I remember about my early childhood that show how completely depraved I really was. Some might say that "children are innocent", yet while recalling the state of my own heart while still a child, I can attest otherwise to that common myth. Though quite young, my heart was indeed sinful, the sinfulness was evident in my attitude, my desires and my means of fulfilling those desires. Most of my life revolved around my selfishness, there were things I wanted for myself and I would do all I could to get them, more often than not, at the expense of other people's own wants or needs. Life in my small eyes was about me and me alone. God's Word supports the doctrine of natural sin, even in children; "Indeed, I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me." -Psalm 51:5 "Therefore, just as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all men, because all sinned." -Romans 5:12

For me, the Lord revealed that sin nature in me when I began reading the Bible for the first time, after having received it for my seventh birthday. The Lord began a work in my heart even then. I had a strong desire to read as much as I possibly could and learn everything there was to know about Jesus, my young mind thought that I could within that first year, obviously not knowing the journey that was ahead.

As I read, naturally I started to have many questions about what the Bible said, mainly in regards to salvation. I was under the impression that all I had to do was 'believe' in Jesus and I would then go to Heaven. After repeatedly professing that I 'believed' in Jesus, I grew fed up, for it didn't seem like 'simply believing' was enough. Reading through the Bible I came to the book of James and saw that even the demons believe in God. That fact alone blew the theory of 'simply believe in Jesus', out of the ring. My little mind knew that the demons were not entering Heaven with Jesus, so my 'simply believing', was futile. It seemed hopeless at that point.

The Lord then used my parents as the strongest influence on my life, in leading me to the Truth of the Gospel. Every question I had about the Bible, Salvation and Jesus; they answered patiently and thoroughly, always pointing back to my need of a Savior from my sins, my need to repent and put my faith and trust in Christ to be saved.

Almost two years exactly from when I received my Bible, by God's good and amazing grace, I repented of my sins and was saved by Christ and His atoning power on the Cross!

Undeniably, I was saved at a young age. At the time, I knew only the very basics of the Gospel, but it was enough to know that I had sinned against God and could never atone for that sin on my own and needed a substitute who was perfect. All I needed was met in Christ and in Him alone. His work on the cross, His rising from the dead, His sitting at the right hand of God the Father, interceding for us, and the Holy Spirit indwelling in me, is what saved me, kept me, grows me and reassures me. To God be the glory!

To God Be The Glory.

You who fear the LORD, praise Him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify Him,and stand in awe of Him, all you offspring of Israel! -Psalm 22:23

Our Lord is great! I can't think of any other way of starting out this blog post than saying so. He is great not only for what He has done, but for who He is. What a huge blessing it is to be able to write this post after having been shown God's glory displayed in thousands of ways.

I've been taught, rightfully so, that my Salvation is not of myself, not of any works I have done, but it is completely of God, a gift undeserving.(Ephesians 2:8-9) A gift so precious, that He would send His Son to live among His creation to bear their sins and to give Himself up for them, they who tortured, mocked, and rejected Him. What absolute amazing love our Lord displays there for us. "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." -John 15:13


The last sentence in that verse humbles me greatly, "lay down his life for his friends." Christ is called the friend of sinners, He calls us friend, and died for us. I can testify, in my sin, I did not want a friend called Christ, in my sin I had no desire to be His friend, nor He mine. Yet, He wanted to save me and came and died for me, and by His Holy Spirit saved me and made Himself known to me, because He loved me and desired me to love Him in return. Oh, how great a Savior, Christ the Lord is to me.

I was so glad when the Lord made known to me the power of His grace, the greatness of His mercy, that He would save me not on my works but completely by His own free will and grace. I was so amazed to learn of His determining to save me and work out His plans for me, from beginning to end; And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.-Romans 8:30

In all of this, I've come to realize how much I still mess up, how often I still tend to have the wrong mindset and approach to issues. Take for instance, witnessing/evangelizing. It's such a glorious thing, a thing we Christians are commanded to do, proclaiming the Gospel. The pit that is so easy to fall into, is misplacing the glory part. Why do we witness? Why do we share the Gospel? I once would have said, to see souls get saved. Not any longer. Do I want to see souls saved? Yes, absolutely! Yet, that's not why I go out and share the Gospel. Indeed the Lord uses the sharing of His Word to bring souls to Him, "So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ." -Romans 10:17 He uses us as His workers for the harvest, how glad I am for it. But, I must never forget why I serve my Lord, why I share His Word. I MUST serve Him, pray to Him, love Him, talk of Him, share His message, for His glory and His glory alone. I must seek always to offer my life up for His glory. All I do should be centered around bringing Him glory forever and ever.

Tonight I was reminded greatly of this truth in another way. I desire to see my siblings saved, see the Lord change their hearts, I desire to see my children and grandchildren saved, made into new creatures by the Almighty God. The Lord has shown me ways in which I can share the Gospel with them, show them how dreadfully wicked and depraved their hearts are, how in need of a Savior they are. As I prayed for them, I was reminded who the One is who softens the hearts, who the One is who changes them. Most importantly I was reminded why I want to see them saved, for the glory of my Lord! I want to see Him glorified, in His Word getting preached, His justice made known, and in His grace and mercy testified of.

Oh, that we would keep our eyes focused on our Lord and not the blessings we receive from Him. We can focus on souls being saved when witnessing, rather than God being glorified in His Word being preached. We can focus on lives, attitudes and behaviors being completely changed for the better, rather than God's glorious work in peoples lives that grows, sanctifies and transforms them.

I ask you only to think or what purpose our we here on this Earth. For what purpose did the Lord save us and call us His own? I'm not trying at all to sound like Rick Warren in saying you need to find your purpose and live it. I'm saying you do have a purpose, and the Westminster Confession of Faith said it well in question one; "What is the chief end of man?", "To glorify God and enjoy Him forever"!

Wield your swords for the glory of our God and King!

"To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." - 1 Timothy 1:17

"Help us, O God of our salvation,for the glory of your name;deliver us, and atone for our sins,for your name’s sake!" - Psalm 79:9

Call To Arms!

To whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.-Galations 2:5

HIGH PRIORITY
FEBRUARY 13, 2011 0130 HOURS

Sgt., it is with great urgency and warning that this message is getting passed along, it is requested that you pay close attention and heed the warnings. If this gets into certain people's hands, it could be a huge change in this war.
I would enjoy being able to rejoice in the rank you have now obtained by the Commander's work in your career, sadly time does not afford me to do so, for the enemies have infiltrated the base.

ENEMIES!
Terrorists, long ago marked out and warned of by the Commander and His high ranking officers, have made their way into our lines. They have crept in unnoticed. Sadly, many of the inexperienced soldiers are blind to them, and have allowed them to lead entire units towards enemy lines. Fatalities are increasing daily, and the impostors continue to have places of rank. We have failed to defend our ground.

These men are experts at what they do, the Commander has informed and warned us that they are like "savage wolves in sheep clothing", hard to find amidst the group, yet their works are quite deadly. Take heed!

CALL TO ARMS!
It is vital that the men are made aware of the conflict and armed for battle, for the war has come. We have been given strict orders to hold firm to, defend and proclaim the Truth of the message we've been given.
The very heart of our mission, is being attacked, we must stand up and fight with the Sword we've been issued. We are not alone in this though, for our Commander has given us all we need to fight this war, and is with us, deeply involved in the battle, strengthening us the entire way.
Remember, as a soldier, chosen personally by the King Himself, long before the War began, you are duty bound to stand firm and fight for the Truth. This battle is not like any you have fought before, it is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, the powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world. And we have but one weapon and one weapon only; the Sword of the Spirit!
Though at times it feels overwhelming, I have obtained the news that in the end, our Commander will most assuredly be victorious! Fight the good fight for His glory!

FELLOW SOLDIERS!
Please note, as we fight against the enemies, there are civilians who are caught in the crossfire, some believing they are soldiers in the Commander's army, yet are still enemies. Show great mercy to those who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the uniforms polluted by the enemy.

ENDING NOTE!
Not all of the soldiers are aware of the battle that needs to be fought, they are being passive and falling prey. They are not even armed, I've seen many who only have their Helmets on, they have failed to carry their Swords with them always, failing to be ready at a moments notice to use them. See to it that ALL SOLDIERS are armed and ready for the fight.

Fight the good fight! May the Message we've been entrusted with be fought for, may it not be defiled any longer by the enemies! Soli Deo Gloria


Ok, so yes, this approach has been used before. I was not very original in my writing ideas here. If you were to read the book of Jude, you will find that I took all ideas directly from there, you will find quite a few similarities, mine just has a modern, combat twist to it with a few extra Scripture references thrown in.

As Jude wrote to the Church in his day, warning them of Apostates who had crept in unawares and were as savaging wolves, so the warning is being proclaimed today also of the Apostates who are gallivanting around under the cloak of "Evangelical Christianity". Men like Brian McLaren and Joel Olsteen, as well as many others, women as well, are watering down the Gospel message, they are enemies to the Cross, "ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." (Jude 4)

Post-modernism is one weapon that is being used, many people are falling prey to it. To any sensible person, it's a ridiculas idea, it makes no sense. We need to remember though, it was never meant to make sense, it doesn't need to, irrational, illogical ideas that are neither true nor false (according to post-modernism) are easier to handle than a message that says a person is sinful, yet the Creator of that person loves them enough to die for them and asks only for them to repent of their sins and trust Him. "Post modernism's one goal and singular activity is the systematic destruction of every other truth claim...it is the rejection of every expression of certainty..certainty is regarded as inherently arrogant, elitist, intolerant, oppressive and therefore always wrong...For obvious reasons, and authoritative 'thus saith the Lord' is not welcome in such a setting.'" -John MacArthur in The Truth War

We must remember though brethren that our mission is to preach the Gospel, to defend and preach the Truth to the lost world, so that our Lord might be glorified, and if He wills, souls be saved. For the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. (Romans 1:16)

Please, dear soldiers, defend the Truth, don't let the Apostates, the false teachers continue to preach a false Gospel while we sit back and watch them mislead people down a damning road. Preach the Gospel truth to the uttermost ends of the world. Do not compromise ever! It's too imporant too compromise on! Wield your swords, they are two-edged and sharp, know them, know how to handle them, due so for the glory of our King!

"Notice carefully: our task as ambassadors is to bring good news to people. Our mission as soldiers is to overthrow false ideas. We must keep those objectives straight; we are not entitled to wage warfare against people or to enter into diplomatic relations with anti Christian ideas. Our warfare is not against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12) ; and our duty as ambassadors does not permit us to compromise or align ourselves with any kind of human philosophies, religious deceit, or any other kind of falsehood. ...So we are ambassadors-soldiers, reaching out to sinners with the truth even as we make every effort to destroy the lies and other forms of evil that hold them in a deadly bondage." -John MacArthur

"Let no one deceive you with empty words, because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience...Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead EXPOSE THEM." -Ephesians 5:6,11

Based on The Valley of Vision prayer “The Valley of Vision”

Based on The Valley of Vision prayer “The Valley of Vision”

Words and Music by Bob Kauflin

Verse 1
♫ When You lead me to the valley of vision
I can see You in the heights
And though my humbling wouldn’t be my decision
It’s here Your glory shines so bright
So let me learn that the cross precedes the crown
To be low is to be high
That the valley’s where You make me more like Christ

Chorus
♪Let me find Your grace in the valley
Let me find Your life in my death
Let me find Your joy in my sorrow
Your wealth in my need
That You’re near with every breath
In the valley

Verse 2
♫ In the daytime there are stars in the heavens
But they only shine at night
And the deeper that I go into darkness
The more I see their radiant light
So let me learn that my losses are my gain
To be broken is to heal
That the valley’s where Your power is revealed ♫

Thoughts For New Year.

"Great God! before thy throne
We joyfully appear,
In songs to make thy glories known,
And thus begin the new year.

What favours all divine;
What mercies shall we share;
What blessings all around us shine
To open this new year!

Indulgent goodness spares
And still preserves us here,
And bounty all divine prepares
Supplies for this new year.

Our follies past forgive;
Our souls divinely cheer:
And help us more to thee to live,
Dear Lord, in this new year.

Prepare us for thy will,
Whatever may appear;
And let thy loving-kindness still
Preserve us through the year.

Confirm our souls in thee,
In faith and holy fear;
And let a precious Jesus be
Our song through all the year. "
499 -Samuel Medley