Come Lord Jesus!

Gold rimmed clouds.
Heaven's rays of light streaming through like gigantic stage lights. My earliest memories reach back to brilliant moments as, with my little girl blond head tilted back, my small frame faced the magnitude of the sky's message above. With reels of anticipation I remember exclaiming "Jesus is coming back!" At times I could almost see Him. The more the light radiated in the break in the clouds, the more sure I was that Jesus would come before the sun went down. Have you ever looked up to the clouds with the thought on your heart, "Lord Jesus, You are coming. Today?"
Jesus described His heavenly accent as a man going on a journey who would leave his business and home in the care of capable, trusted servants. At all times they were to be ready - ready for his return.
The parable went on the describe how easy it would be for the servants to become despondent, distracted and their hearts disconnected from the post the master had left them to fill. In fact Jesus questioned in His earth walk, "When the Son of man comes will He find faith on the earth?"

This year I've been blessed to live in a little apartment, affectionately called "the tree house". Through the skylight window in the kitchen, I enjoy the summer's golden rays. Deep in my heart I question, "Lord Jesus, are You coming today?" And His smiling answer returns, "I'm here today." And thus, while I await His appearing, I yet love His Presence.


In this time of waiting we've all been given a post to fill, a delightful duty for the kingdom's sake. It isn't manditory, but rather expressive of a heart that knows it is loved by the Master. What is the Master's post for you? Are you still there?


The Master has given me a post that doesn't have an official sounding name, a trendy title, or a black and white schedule, but it is a post of the heart. A calling of the mind, will, emotions.

A calling of Hope. (Eph. 1)

A calling to HOPE.

A calling to watch and pray. I don't know His ETA (estimated time of arrival), but I do know that He's coming soon. May we be found "looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ." Titus 2:3


"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that Love His Appearing.
II Timothy 4:7,8

A few thoughts:

• Be ready. As the old songs goes: "When the Bridegroom cometh will your robes be white? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?" In the secret chamber of your heart ask the Lord, "Are my garments spotless, with not a stain of the world?" Jesus is faithful to reveal the stained spots and has already provided the washing of them. Praise God!
• 
  
  Minister to the Lord through praise: tell Him you love the promise and anticipation of His arrival.
• 
  
  Be beautiful for Jesus: there's nothing so beautiful as a thankful heart.
• 
  
  Exercise spiritual alertness. Beaware of current events and understand the times.
• 
  
  Stay in tune with the Holy Spirit and His work around (and in) you, through prayer.

Blessings are yours in Jesus,

Janny

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Be A Servant

Be A Servant
"But we preach Christ crucified"
1 Cor. 1:22

*Crucified (4717)~to impale on the cross; to extinguish passion or selfishness

With humble gratefulness I sit here on the evening of Good Friday. I remember the goodness of God. His Son, in servant hood of the finest quality lived and died on my behalf and yours. We've been fully reconciled to God through the crucifixion of Jesus. No longer angry with anyone, His goodness compels, it leads us to repentance. What a gift! What a God! What a Saviour! I believe!
*Believe(4100) ~to have faith, put in trust with, commit
Along with you, my heart is committed to the truth and longs to know this Servant King.

Every path walked in Christ will be one of servant hood.

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, or things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:5-11

The humble, meek Lord Jesus poured out in love His life-giving flow, His blood. Is that loving, life-giving stream channelling through me unhindered?

Selfish ambitions block Love's celestial flow through my heart.

What do I need to remove from my life in order to be more profitable to the ones I serve?

But dearest ones, it must be that we first understand the deep, abiding, unhindered love of God for us, before we even attempt to do this mighty, privileged work of serving the kingdom of heaven. Otherwise fleshly overtones pronounce our work to be for us, for results, for praise of men.

"From Me thy fruit is found." Hosea 14:8

Raised to help out (even take over when needed), to be 2nd mothers for the siblings, to say right, to do right, you and I might sometimes rely on this routine of works to keep us "doing", as if in some way to impress or perform for our "rightness" before God. What bondage! "Cumbered about with many things", anyone?! Let us love, live, and serve in joy for the righteousness Christ Jesus bought us with His precious blood rather than serving to "master mind" for merit. Serving- it is a matter of the HEART!

I bless each of you in the name of the Lord Jesus with joy in serving your neighbors and with the peace of knowing Jesus as He is.

"And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted."
"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time."

Special thanks to Kayla for her amazing shots of the path and water at Bon Falls!

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Want it for yourself? Do it for others

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

I'm thrilled with the Scriptures the rest of you are presenting and know beyond the shadow of a doubt that the good work our Lord has begun in our hearts is continuing in this moment. Thank you to all who have invested their insights through this Commands of Christ blog.


This command is such a great one.

Therefore all things

whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,

do ye even so to them,

for this is the law and the prophets.

Isn't this great? It isn't the golden rule for nothing! This gets us thinking of everything we enjoy receiving and in turn make those desires a giving list for others. And then besides the tremendous blessedness of giving, we receive the wonder of fulfilling the law and the prophets. You're probably like me and get a certain amount of satisfaction by getting things done. I write myself list as much for the thrill of checking things off as I do for the mental organization. But when I can "kill two birds with one stone" I feel like I've hit a home run. All those bases covered at once! Do you know, friends, that in fulfilling this command, we're also covering the old testament laws, the exhortations of the prophets and the words of Jesus at once!

Jesus came not to minister unto but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many. What sacrifice for us all! As a child I talked about this command and preached it when I felt it was being violated in regards to me! In one of those talk a young friend wasn't sure how it would work out to benefit him. If he did for others, who would do for him?

Then early one morning, many years later, I happened to meet a jogged as I was roller blading in Chicago. Our talk took on some of the same conversational hues. Her main goal in life was to keep happy by being in top physical shape. Her social/economic profile read of riches, education and status. In probing for the reasoning behind my volenteer position and chastity choices, her questions fired one after another. I huffed and puffed up and down hills that hot summer morning. After over 2 miles, she paused and then asked, "If I serve God and put others first, who will look after me?" I smiled as we pushed on because the question echoed from my own heart's history. It was then that I introduced to her the incredible concept of God's love. When we know God as our caring and generous Father we can afford to give everything as Jesus did to "do unto others what we would have them do to us." God is faithfully and richly rewards in comparison with the small kindnesses we learn to give with joy to others.

I love promises: "...as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee; thy reward shall return upon thine own head." Obadiah 1:15

I've seen this command in action up close and personal. You see, my Mom's older brother, Shan, who has down's syndrome, has been living with us for several years. This summer he was diagnosed with cancer which has paralysed him from the waist down. Seeing my mom put all her nurse's training and the essence of "do unto others" into practice in her care for him, it is easy to see the quality of life it brings. There aren't any thank you's, but there is fulfilment knowing that God is pleased. It comes naturally to her because she loves him so much and has taught us how to care for him in the best way possible too. It is all part of putting ourselves in his shoes. In doing so, my Mom has become a sermon in shoes.

"But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" 1 John 3:17

Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others." Philippians 2:4

"Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth." 1 Corinthians 10:24

"As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith." Galatians 6:10

"Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measure to you again." Luke 6:38

May the love, honor, forgiveness, help, truthfulness, loyalty, protection and earnest prayer that you and I desire of others be free flowing from our hearts to all the "others" in the sphere of our influence. For whatever we do for others, we do for Christ.

Love in Jesus,

Janny

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Enemies? You've gotta love 'em!

Love Your Enemies!

My dear friends and fellow Journey-launched believers, I've been blessed by each of you who have written the Word and your meditations. This is so great!
It's my turn to write on this most against-the-grain command. I got to thinking, do I even have enemies? Yes, there are enemies of my soul: the spirit of fear, pride, doubt... But when the Lord Jesus told you and I to love our enemies, wasn't He talking about people? The dictionary describes an enemy this way: "one who feels hatred toward, intends injury to, or opposes the interests of another; a foe." I don't know about you, but I've never been at war nor have I experienced torture or persecution. As I began to think about what this command could mean to me, I suddenly found myself relating in a much deeper way than I would have imagined. Perhaps our enemies don't parade with machine guns, but there may be those whose actions demonstrate an underlying ill will toward us. Perhaps they aggravate, ignore, and openly disdain us, undermine our opinions, refuse to offer common courtesy. In short, they inflict a degree of suffering, being antagonistic, personal adversary. Some of the hardest to take are those who call themselves our friends, even offer a profession of similar beliefs, but who dissemble with their lips our reputation.
In the ancient land of Isreal a man after God's own heart endured riducule, rejection, and scorn. He, even as a king, was hunted by the nation's enemies, his own servants, relatives and even his immediate family. And yet He found a peace from His enemies. If enemies pursue, pressure, press hard in on our souls, may something like this humble plea echo in the throne room of heaven from our own hearts.

Hear my cry, O God:

attend unto my prayer.

From the ends of the earth will I cry unto Thee,

when my heart is overwhelmed:

lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

For Thou hast been a shelter for me,

and a strong tower from the enemy.

I will abide in Thy tabernacle forever:

I will trust in the covert of Thy wings.

Psalm 61

Several thousand years after those words were penned, an explosion of military combat errupted and spilled once again onto the streets of a small town. Pent up emotions now surged into the air in rapid fire. A young woman and her 9 year old daughter screamed in terror as they fantically ran to find shelter. But before they could escape, explosions from some of their own forces blew close by. Shrapnal followed by bullets penetrated the young women who had instinctively sheltered her child. For what seemed like an eternity the fighting continued. When it finally died down at dust, the little girl felt as though hope for her Mom's life was over. Hot tears burned her cheeks. Hungry, thirsty, frightened of life, she curled up to her only security, the near lifeless body of her mother.
Then out of the darkness, tall figures approached. Fear gripped her heart. Should she run? How could she leave her mother. But it only took one look into the caring faces of those in front of herto know that they weren't about to hurt her. In fact they gently gathered her Mom and laid her on a stretcher. Before she knew it, an ambulance was wisking her away from the horrible streets of hate and death. In a hospital a diligent crew of medical staff immediately went to work to save the young mother's life while a nurse bought the little girl some of the best food she had ever tasted. That was only the beginning of what would be 3 months of compassion and care extended to the destitute little girl and her Mom. Who were these strangers and why have they been so nice? The little girl wondered as she sat near her peacefully resting Mom. They didn't look like her. They didn't speak her language. It was her people that had opened fired on these people's military personnel. But instead of treating her as an enemy, they had saved the life of the most precious person in the world to her. In amazement she watched the hospital staff administer treatment until her mom was well without ever asking for money. That little girl, now a career woman herself, has never forgotten, how as a dirty child of the enemy, she experienced lovingkindness without reserve. As a result, she gave her life to the One who initiated such love. With passionate dedication, she works to pass on the Jesus' life giving principle because as an enemy she was loved.

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

(and here comes a promise)

That they may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more [than others]? do not even the publicans so?

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Matthew 5:44-48

The following points of obedience that have put this command into my heart and life:

Meet a need:

Don't you love it how God works circumstances in and around your life that directly relate to what He teaches? It happened to me this week. Someone who just hasn't had a liking for me ever since I can remember suffered a tragic loss. Friends, it is in times of need that the people in our lives who are to whatever degree enemies are open to our sincerity and good will for them. In the case of the person who I am writing about, I found a common ground, a chance to demonstrate care and I watched her get the feeling Proverbs 25:21,22 talks about.

Willing to communicate:

This has been a tough one for me. My own mind says, "If she won't talk to me, I won't talk to her." "If he won't talk nice, I won't either." With our little tongues, so very connected to our hearts, we can do a world of good or bad in split seconds. And wouldn't you know it, but even our silence will speak for us. Daily I'm confronted with desire to love only those who love me.

But as always Jesus is calling me and you too, to so much more.

I'll close with a quick story. At my work I encountered someone who didn't like me, not even enough to say hello. I found out later that I looked a lot like several girls she'd known previously and had not had appreciated. Determined, she would look the other way, refuse to say hello, and ignore me. I had begun to think something must be very wrong with me. But I made up my mind it wouldn't be unfriendliness. So I went out of my way to be nice, the way I would be to someone I liked. Do you know that the steady love paid off! She began to perk up, say hi too, and by the time my birthday rolled around you should have seen the amazing spread she put on!
Although we don't live even in the same country any more, to this day she remains a good friend.

That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute,

willing to communicate;

(and here comes a promise)

Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

I Timothy 6:18,19

A phrase repeats itself over to me often these days. "With the merciful Thou wilt show Thyself merciful. Janny, treat them better than they deserve." And in responding to grace, my heart says, "Yes Lord."

You see, when I was an enemy against the Lord, He loved me.

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