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The Weekly Walk

Press On!
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. - Philippians 3:12-15
The number one complaint of people struggling in their marriage is the lack of focus and fervency. Women say things like, "Man, what happened to you? You used to be so thoughtful. Where did that guy go when we got home from the honeymoon?" Men say almost the same thing. "Girl, you could not keep your hands off me when we were dating! Where's all that?"
The very same thing can happen in our relationship with the Lord. I wonder if He would say to any of us, "Those first days were so great. You loved Me, and you loved My Word, and you were so fervent; you wanted to grow. So what happened? Where did that person go?"
If you've known the Lord for a while, you may have set the cruise control and are thinking: I'm happy with my spiritual life where it is. I've got the major stuff in place. Oh, there might be a little tweaking to do over the next few years, but for the most part I can coast into heaven. How tragic! Whoever thinks that needs to get their focus and fervency back. We have not yet begun to plumb the depths of all that is ours in Christ. We must maintain the same passion we had when we first came to Christ.
You may read this and think, "I don't agree. I don't think you have to be spiritually passionate all the time." Well, you're just wrong about that. The further you go in Christ, the more you want to see how much more there is—more of Him, more of His Spirit's power, so much more to be experienced and enjoyed. The fervency to go after that needs to go up with time and maturity, not down.
When Paul wrote Philippians, he had been walking with the Lord for decades. Still, he said, "Not that I . . . am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own" (3:12.) "I haven't arrived," he said. "So I'm going after more! I've got a lot of growth ahead of me in my relationship with Jesus. I'm going after it!"
I know that I haven't arrived, but I'm going to press on! Are you doing that?





Walk In The Word

Dr. James MacDonald

Wake Up and Smell The Truth

Here is an article I wrote and posted in my other site, "Hangin With Jesus" sometime ago. I haven't done anything with that site for a long time, so I was reviewing it this morning and came across this piece and decided to share it here. I hope it will help to inspire you to continue in your walk with God as it has me! Thanx for your time, any feedback would be apprieciated!

Bill


Wake up and smell the Truth! Do you ever feel like you are on a long journey and the path you are on leads you down into the pits in a deep valley, and at other times it leads you to the exhillerating highs at the top of a mountainpeak? Ever have one of those inspiring moments when reading something that inspires you and stirs your soul? Well, I have just had such a moment while enjoying my favorite morning brew at one of my favorite places. What and where else? Starbucks, of course! Easy, Easy! Calm Down! If big coffee corporations make you uneasy and you prefer to support small business, I have no quarrel with you! I just like the coffee and atmosphere here.But back to my question, I was reading my daily study in Our Daily Bread, and the scripture that went along with it, (Nehemiah 4:1-14). This takes place at a time when the Israelites were in captivity in Babylon. Nehemiah was sent to Jerusalem to lead the people there to rebuild and fortify the city and it's fortress walls. When all their enemies in the surrounding areas heard about it, they were very angry and banded together in an attempt to stop the rebuilding! However, Nehemiah was wise to their schemes, and he organized the people not only for the work, but armed them and set them on guard to stop the enemy. Then, they have their own people coming against them from within! Whining and complaining in fear and only seeing all the negatives! But that didn't stop Nehemiah, he bathed the whole situation in prayers, submitting it to God, then trusting Him for protection, dealt with the situations as they arouse and completed the work. But the closer the work was to completion, the angrier the enemy got, and the more they came against them!If you are a Christian, you know that there are real enemies to our soul attacking from a spiritual dimension! If you are not a Christian, you may not be aware of it, but alot of the things in life that are just vexing and downright evil are coming from a real enemy, Satan, and his demons! And I'm not talking about a little guy with a pointed tail and a pitchfork! The Bible tells us all about these spiritual entities. I believe we need to help each other, like Nehemiah, to keep our guard up and commit to help each other stand strong in the face of an enemy that we cannot see, but just as sure as we can feel the wind in our face, we can feel the effects of his attacks on our emotions and our physical being! Let us not bow down to the nay sayers and people who want to drag us down! We need to pray for them and ask God to encourage them to see things more positively, keeping ourselves on course to finish our journey and bring as many along as we possibly can!I think as we read through this scripture section, we can see parallels to Sanballat and the devil with all his schemes to tear down any spiritual growth and building of strength in our walk and lives, but he is no match for God and His might on our behalf! I think we all have times when we are so weak in our own humanity that we just want to give up! So much easier to grab an innertube and float on down the lazy river with the rest of the world around us. Sound arrogant! I don't mean it to be. Jesus himself said wide is the road that leads to destruction and there are many on that road, and narrow is the gate that leads to life and there are few that will enter through the gate! Please join us on the road to Eternal life with God if you haven't already! You won't be sorry! I'd better post this before I give in to one of those weak moments and decide against it! As always, in Christ, cdcwilly, aka, Bill

Ode to a Beautiful woman!

I would like to take a moment to mention what a wonderful, Godly woman the Lord has BLESSED me with!!!!! I venture to say that not many women would be able to put up with me for very long, but Patty not only does this, but she is also kind and thoughtful, always conscious of others and their needs. She is sensitive and loving, a dedicated employee on her job, sometimes to to point of tears for want of a way to be able to accomplish the impossible demands of her position. She has taken on my three sons as her own and shown them the love many birth mothers don't even give. We have been married for 17 wonderful years and I can honestly say we have not had any real fights which totally amazes me! Don't get me wrong, we are human, after all, we do have times when we may get on each others nerves! But I guess God has given us both the wisdom to be able to read the signs of frustrations at the time so that we give each other space at these times and come back to it later if it needs discussion, and not if it doesn't. All this to say, I love Patty dearly and I thank God for Blessing me with an angel in disguise!
A grateful husband,
Bill, aka cdcwilly

Posted by Bills blog stop at 8:42 AM

Guidelines

I recommend the link for this site below for your own devotions! Bill

10 October 2008

THE ONGOING WORK OF RESTORATION

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Suppose you found a painting in your attic covered with dust and grime, but as you gently wiped it off, you begin to see a beautiful picture much obscured by the dirt and filth that has accumulated with the passing of time. But sensing that this is something which might be worth a great deal, you take it to an art dealer and ask for his help. In a few days, you receive a phone call from the art dealer. He's almost breathless with excitement as he informs you that what you found in your old attic is an old masterpiece, and should be hanging in one of the great art galleries of the world, not buried in your attic.

I will never forget my first visit to the Sistine Chapel to view the great work of Michelangelo. Yes, the paintings were profound but they were dark and dingy. The grime of several centuries covered their beautiful tones. Then came the restoration done by the world's leading experts. On my next visit, the paintings had come alive. Yes, they were the same ones painted by the great artist, but the restoration and cleansing made the difference.

Restoration, of course, is not without a price to pay. It is much easier to just leave something alone than to go to the work of restoring it, applying cleansers in just the right amounts, with just the right pressure which will not permanently destroy the original.

In a real sense, spiritual restoration was the great work of Jesus Christ, a work so important that God sent His Son to accomplish the cleansing and healing of the masterpiece which God made at creation.

Jesus' character showed us what God intended us to be, and His ministry, which cut to the core of human nature, began stripping off the veneer of hypocrisy and the superficiality of religion which had built up over the centuries. What man had corrupted, Jesus restored.

Yes, it was painful. Men much preferred that He not disturb the status quo, that He not lay bare the corrupted hearts of humankind, that He not condemn the religious establishment which had made a pretense of worship and holiness.

Jesus' most scathing words of condemnation were directed not to the homeless, or the woman taken in the act of adultery, nor the blind beggars who sat by the side of the road asking for a morsel of bread, but to the religious establishment, to those whose lives should have been given to bringing men back to the path that leads to God instead of making them twice the sons of hell.

Jesus also showed us what God is like: a loving God who wills restoration for all of his creatures. Frankly, the work of restoration which God sent His Son to begin continues. It's the great work of the Church, touching the lives of people wherever they are, as God's Holy Spirit cleanses the grime and the filth and brings restoration and healing.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,” says Paul, “he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). That's restoration.

A closing thought. No person is ever beyond the point of restoration and reconciliation with a loving God. No, regardless of what your conscience tells you, or what others may tell you, God still considers you to be a person worth saving. There's hope, friend. In reality, your feelings of worthlessness and your fears are your own worst enemies.

May I suggest that you read John 3 from the New Testament and there see yourself included in the "Whoever” of John 3:16? Remember those familiar words, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Ah, yes, that is what restoration is all about.

Resource reading : John 3:1-17

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New changes on this blog

Hello to all!

It's been awhile since I have added any personal communication to my blog. I have tried to maintain this as a predominately Christian web page. I hope some of my liberties in the spirit of freedom from the "Law" have not offended anybody, in spite of it's seeming impossibility! However, I have enabled a comments link under each entry and have yet to receive more than one comment and it was positive! I have recently edited my links list at the bottom of the web page and invite you to check them out, there are a lot of good resources on the list, and I am adding to it as I come across more sites. A little disclaimer: some of the little video clips are from public sites and after it plays, there may be access to other clips that may offend, I have no intention that anybody follow or click on these. If you will simply continue to the next article and move on down to the next item posted, you will only see the original clip I intended to share.
My wife Patty and I are both Christians and we Love Jesus and strive to honor God with our lives and endeavors !
I welcome your feedback and comments, however, please keep them constructive and reasonable, not judgmental and vindictive. I would also like to invite you to peruse through the archives back to the beginning at your leisure and enjoy yourself. I also have included several players with different types of music for individual tastes. If you listen while you look at the site, you may need to scroll back to the player and pause it while you open a video clip so you don't hear both audio tracks at the same time. Also, if you want to use one of the links at the bottom, you can right click to open it in a new tab and the music should keep playing unless you don't want it to play while on the other site, then just pause it first as described above.

Just one more thing I would like to add, if you will look down the sidebar on the right, you will come across my wife listed as a contributor, if you will click on her name"Pattycakes", she has her own site, please open it and check it out! I think you will like it!

With all that said, "more than I intended", please let us know what you think in the comments and may we encourage you to keep your faith in "The Way" and be strong in the Lord!!

In Christ, Bill, aka: cdcwilly

Daily Word from Dr. Jack Graham

Welcome to Power Point with Jack Graham, a free devotional from Crosswalk.com, the world's largest Christian website. We honor your privacy and time. If this newsletter no longer meets your needs, please use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of this newsletter and you will be removed immediately.

August 21, 2008

He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

--1 Thessalonians 5:24

Maybe someone has let you down recently. Or maybe you've let yourself down. Take heart! God is faithful. He will do what He says He will do.

And not only is God faithful and reliable, but He is committed to your spiritual growth and maturity. First Thessalonians 5:23-24 says, "Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it."

I love that! Because it promises you and me that God is constantly working on us... creatively, constructively, and continually. The Spirit of God is working in your body and in your soul. And His purpose is to make you more like Him!

Remember when you were a teenager and you couldn't wait to grow up? That's how we feel sometimes as Christians. When will we ever grow up? When will we ever be responsible in the Christian life? When will we ever be obedient in the Christian life? It's so easy to become frustrated with ourselves!

But we need to remember that God is patient... and that God is persevering. And according to Philippians 1:6, "he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."

And when God gets through with you, you're going to stand complete, perfect in the glory of Jesus Christ. You shall arise in His likeness. You will be like Jesus. That's God's goal in your life and mine... and He will be faithful to perform it!

ARE YOU TRYING TO STAND ON YOUR OWN TODAY? OR ARE YOU DEPENDING ON GOD?

Crosswalk: Power Point with Jack Graham

August 15, 2008

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

--1 John 5:14

You and I know that prayer changes things. It's a clear promise from Scripture.

But did you know that prayer also changes you and me? It changes our priorities, and it gets our lives in sync with God's plan.

There's a great formula for prayer I learned from my fellow pastor and friend, Dr. Ed Young from Houston. It's the acronym SELF:

S stands for surrender. Each day, you and I must surrender our lives to the Lord. We must say, "Lord, I report for duty, I give You my life today. I am Your child and I want to be in Your will today."

E stands for empty. Once you surrender your life to Christ each day, you must empty yourself of self and sin and anything else that would keep you from fulfilling God's plan and purpose for your life.

You must say, "Lord, I empty all my unresolved conflicts and issues. I want to get rid of everything that would keep me from connecting with You today."

L stands for lift. Once you surrender your life to the Lord Jesus and empty yourself of everything that would hinder your relationship with Him, you must lift your heart in praise, petition, and thanksgiving.

F stands for fill. This is when you ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit so that you will live in the fullness of His power and His blessing.

So SELF is surrendering, it is emptying, it is lifting, and it is filling. And if you do theses things in prayer every day, not only is your relationship with Christ going to be that much sweeter, you'll make an eternal impact on the world for Jesus Christ!

DURING YOUR PRAYER TIME TODAY, GO THROUGH THE STEPS FOR "SELF."

I was really impressed with this when I read it today, awesome! I think it is ironic that the meaning of the acronym "self" is totally opposite of being filled with "self"!

Bill

Power Point, by, Jack Graham

July 7, 2008

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.

--1 Peter 1:3-4

In these troubling times, have you ever wondered if we can really be hopeful about the future? I want to assure you that it is possible to live with hope, despite what may be going on around us.

Because while hope is ultimately about the future, it's also about the present. And that's because we have a living hope.

Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ we have hope. It's because He lives that hope can reside in your heart if you're a Christian.

And because of that, there is no need to fear the future! If you are a child of God, you are chosen and called by Him. You're not an accident, an afterthought, or a mistake. You have been in the heart and mind of God forever, and He has already been planning and preparing your future.

In fact, God knows the end from the beginning... and everything else in your life. That's comforting when we face tough times and when we're tempted to give up. It's encouraging to know that we are never, ever without hope!

So today, if you're tempted to give up on your marriage, don't! If you're thinking about giving up on your kids, don't! If you want to give up on your dreams... or even life itself... don't!

Remember that you have a living hope that is working in your past, your present, and your future. And as the Scripture teaches us in Romans chapter 5, that hope does not disappoint!

TODAY, GIVE GOD THANKS FOR KEEPING YOUR FUTURE IN HIS HANDS!

In Touch, by Charles Stanly

July 5, 2008 -- Rekindling the Flame -- 1 Timothy 4:14-16

Sadly, a believer's passion to serve the Lord and share the gospel sometimes fades. When this happens, some choose to settle for a lukewarm life. They neither risk much for His name nor receive many blessings. Others stop ministering altogether and drift aimlessly through life. But the wise choice is to rekindle the flame of passion that first lit when we received salvation.

When we were saved, we received the gift of the Holy Spirit, our Helper in ministry. But wrong choices and poor priorities can hinder His power in our life. If that happens, how can we renew our passion for God?

The first step is to pray for the Holy Spirit to fill--or control--us again. That requires self-examination and repentance of any sins the Lord brings to mind. It also means giving back to God the right to reign over our life. Next, think about what was and what wasn't happening in life when our passion last burned brightly. Understanding how external pressures and activities affect our ministry helps us prioritize wisely.

A smart last step is to retreat and devote a day or more to refocus on the Lord. This is a good time to recall His words of encouragement from Isaiah 41:10. In that way, we can resist fixating on problems. Instead, it's important to remember that He'll shepherd us through any trial. The more we focus on God, the smaller our distractions and stress will seem.

We don't need to settle for a lukewarm life. The passion we experienced at salvation can be ours again if we'll fix our focus on the Lord.

Sunday, June 29, 2008
Carry The Light-9/11 Memorial

This is an awesome video and the message is that we as Christians must carry the light of Christ's message to the world. His love for us is free, all we have to do is accept it.
Posted by Pattycakes at 3:55 PM

ps: Pattycakes is my wonderful wife of 17 years!

Make a Smilebox free ecard

Make a Smilebox free ecard

Make a Smilebox slideshow

A day at the park

Alone in Tokyo HD from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Daily Word by Dr. Jack Graham-Power Point

May 7, 2008

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."

--Matthew 7:21

Being a follower of Jesus Christ is a matter of the heart... it's not about following rules or rituals, or being "religious" as some people think.

Of course, it's important to obey the Lord's commands, and by doing so, you demonstrate your love for Him. But God has always been more interested in the state of your heart than what you can do to impress Him.

When your heart is humble and you genuinely seek to serve Him because of your relationship with Him, He is pleased by that.

But He sees right through the façade when a person is simply going through the motions, or doing their "good works" to receive applause from men. This kind of "religion" will never win God's favor.

That's the difference between being a disciple of Jesus and being "religious". Keep your heart engaged with Him and serve Him out of true devotion, and you will bring pleasure to the heart of God.

GOD IS NOT IMPRESSED BY "RELIGION",
BUT BY HEARTFELT DEVOTION TO HIM.

Daruvar on Vimeo By Vedran

Daruvar from Vedran on Vimeo.

Growing in the storms

The Weekly Walk from James MacDonald
Facing Uncertainty
The Weekly Walk

And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing." And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?" Matthew 8:23-26

Why didn’t somebody tell me earlier in my life that I can’t fix everything? I thought that with due diligence, everything can get resolved. If there were things up ahead that concerned me, I could just make a plan to solve them. In time, I could have it all figured out and then set the automatic “good life” pilot and let it take over.

It’s only more recently that I have grasped that life will never be “together” this side of eternity. It’s hard to accept sometimes that perfect is only for heaven.

There will always be people problems. There will always be financial challenges.

There will always be a home burden, or a crisis of some kind. Every day I live in this world, there will always be some uncertainty ringing my doorbell.

So much for my assumption that if you worked hard enough, eventually everything would be sorted out, categorized, and put neatly on the shelf. I have never gotten to that day and what’s more, I now know it’s never coming.

In Matthew 8:23–24, we land in Jesus’ life on a day that perfectly illustrates the imperfections of human existence. “When he got into the boat, His disciplines followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm.” In the original language, the two words great storm can be translated to mega and seismic. As in, And behold, there arose a mega seismic on the sea, so that the boat was consumed by the waves. It’s worth remembering that this description comes from Matthew, one of the disciples who wasn’t a fisherman. He had the terrified layman’s perspective on this storm!

I have a few questions about that whole scene:

1. Did Jesus not check the Weather Channel? He totally knew that storm was coming yet He led them right into it. Get in the boat, boys. He knowingly took them into harm’s way.

2. Could Jesus have stopped the storm before it started? Sure He could have but He let the storm come.

3. So is it true to say that He wanted the storm? I think we could surmise that He was actually looking forward to how He was going to use the storm in the disciples’ lives.

Let’s get our theology straight. Sometimes Jesus disguises exciting opportunities for personal growth as difficult circumstances. We would choose to avoid trials at all costs, but Jesus sees the bigger picture.

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