"What Am I Here For?" -- Day Two of my Journey to a Fresh Encounter.

    I need a fresh encounter....a renewal of passion that began 64 years ago....that empowering, blazing fire of transforming that carried me victorious through unbelievable life-threatening circumstances,

    I long for a renewal that is ..........

    "Breathing the breath of God."

    "God purifying His Church."

    "People saturated with God."

    "The inrush of the Spirit into a body that threatens to become a corpse."

    "A work of God's Spirit  among His own people....."

    What I call a renewal is simply New Testament Christianity.... the saints getting back to normal.

    The fresh encounter God is calling me to experience is authentic, personal renewal!  It is important for me to forge ahead with my personal relationship with God.  I can not settle for this complacent, ineffective, helpless attitude. With His enabling I  re-ignite the fire and passion.

 

    Personal renewal is....Jesus in you.....and Jesus around you....and Jesus through you..... and Jesus over you...and Jesus before you....and Jesus behind you. Personal renewal is just ---JESUS--- Jesus in your mind, Jesus filling your heart, Jesus flowing from your lips.....

 

    I must center down, be still, listen to the ears of my heart... hear him...the small,  still voice of God calling me renew my  experience of personal relationship.....Here and Now!

    P.S.  "Here I Am, Lord" ~ My Journey, Day Three ~

   

Pastor McQuown, Norman V, Peale, and Anne Graham Lotz .... and Me

  Pastor Dennis, when teaching or preaching, often states, "Now, this is the McQuown version."  It seems to me that in his mind's eye he goes back and joins the scripture incident, observing each facet, and deepening his understanding. I like this!

   Years ago, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale taught us to do this in our study..... He called it "Visioning."  Some criticized it, but many of us found it helped see truths we may have missed otherwise.

   More recently, Billy Graham's daughter, Anne Graham Lotz,  gave an excellent example of this when writing on Carrying the Cross (Luke 14:27). She started it "Imagine."

    "Imagine what it would have been like to be Simon, and to have carred the cross of Christ while following Him up Calvary.
    What would it have been like to have shared in the humiliation of rejection as He was cast out of the city?
   What would it have been like to have felt the sticky warmth of His blood from the cross on your skin?
   What would it have been like to have felt the encroaching horror as the place of execution neared?
   What would it have been like to have seen the executioners who stood waiting impassively with hammers in hand?
   What would it have been like to have the burden of the cross lifted from your back as someone said, "This is His cross; you're free to go now." and He was nailed to it, not you?"

  Whether it is called "The McQuown version"; or Peale's "Visioning"; Or Lotz's "Imagining." ......
or my "Pondering"..... we are all calling the same thing by different names. TRY IT...YOU'LL LIKE IT!

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Pondering On Year Eighty-Six......

"I cry out to God, pleading that I may, as a person of ripe character and clear conviction ... will stand firm and mature in spiritual growth ... convinced and fully assured in everything willed by God." (My own version of Colossians 4:12.) On my 86th birthday: Age, illness and loss has taken away much physically, mentally, gifts for service, but not spiritually! I'm trying, with my Lord's assistance, to be more self-reliant; to organize my days; to write a list of priorities; balance my duties of time where and when I have the most energy. It takes intentional discipline, and passionate prayer, plus patience with slow progress. My Lord will enable me to succeed according to my passion and commitment. He asks me to trust Him and yet think for myself.... when I ask Him to help me find balance according to His Will and timing. Praise His Holy Name!