Thursdays With Oswald—The Holy Spirit In Me

Oswald ChambersThis is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.

The Holy Spirit In Me

     When I receive the Holy Spirit He lifts my personality back into its primal relationship with God. Holy Spirit coming into my spirit never becomes my spirit; He energizes my spirit and enables me “to will and to do of His good pleasure.” 

     … When the Holy Spirit begins to unearth the works of the flesh in you, don’t temporize it, don’t whitewash them; don’t call suspicion “discernment of the spirit,” or ill-temper “righteous indignation”; bring it to the light, come face to face with it, confess it and get cleansed away.

From Conformed To His Image

Jesus said the Holy Spirit would help form the righteousness of Christ in us, but we have to obediently respond to what the Spirit is convicting us of.

Probably like you, I am more apt to make excuses or rationalize why what I’m doing is okay (even though the Holy Spirit is convicting me otherwise). It becomes a battle that won’t end well for me! The better course of action is to listen to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, repent of my fleshly behavior as He reveals it to me, and receive more of the life in Christ in me.

What do you think?

Links & Quotes

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Some informative reading for today…

On May 28, 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower signed into law the Congressional Act (Joint Resolution 243), which added the words “Under God” to the pledge of allegiance. In a speech given soon after, President Eisenhower said, “In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America’s heritage and future.”

“God is concerned that His people are being shaken in their faith—that they won’t trust Him in their crisis. Beloved, our worst sin is our unwillingness to believe He will do what He promised. That offends Him more than adultery, fornication, drug and alcohol abuse or any other sin of the flesh.” —David Wilkerson

Scary, indeed: 8 Scary Statements Said By Abortion Activists.

“If today is the day I will be born into heaven—I sure want to make it worth while. If I die today, I want today to be full of the glory of God. I want everything I do today to be worthy of Jesus. If I could die any moment then let every moment count. A healthy view of dying helps us live well. Dying is the only way to live.” —Dick Brogden

We must SPEAK OUT about this: Global slavery is a big money-maker.

Mark Steyn wants to know why President Barak Obama doesn’t use his phone and his pen to help free Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag from her Sudanese prison, where she is awaiting execution for the crime of (gasp!) being a Christian.

Study: Homosexual culture will affect monogamous marriage, not the other way around. This is why we need a counter culture view—a biblical view—of sex.

The Rest In Political Unrest

© 2013 craigtowens.com

© 2013 craigtowens.com

Due to it’s placement in Book II of the Psalms, these words were most likely penned during a time of political uncertainty in Israel—

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1).

These words are recorded after Israel has been torn apart into two kingdoms, with rival kings from the northern and southern kingdoms constantly scheming against each other. It’s a time of assassins, and throne usurpers, and even other kings looking to swoop in.

During times like this it is tempting to turn to political means to achieve some sense of stability or security. But the psalmist urges us to remember that God is our fortress of strength, not politicians. In Him is our safe and stable place.

God’s plan for kings, governments, armies and parliaments will always prevail!

  • Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. (Psalm 46:10, emphasis added).
  • God makes wars cease (46:9).
  • He subdues nations (47:3).
  • God is the King of all the earth (47:7).
  • He reigns over every nation (47:8).
  • All the kings of the earth belong to God. (47:9).

Be still, my soul, your King is THE King over all of the politicians, princes and nobles. Your God is your refuge and strength, your safety and stability. Put your trust in Him!

Links & Quotes

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Some interesting reading from today…

“Good performance is the road by which one travels toward life. He who travels this road is in quest of life. ‘Take courage and do manfully.’ This road has its reward. As often as we become fatigued by the journey’s labor, we are enlightened by the grace of a solicitude from on high, and we ‘taste and see that the Lord is sweet.’ And thus comes to pass what was said above—what prayer asks, contemplation finds.” —Hugh of St. Victor (1096-1141 AD)

Help bring home USMC Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi.

[VIDEO] First century synagogue unearthed in Magdala may have been one in which Jesus taught.

A touching reminder from Ken Davis on how he honors his father on Memorial Day.

“We were created to glorify God (Isaiah 43:7), and because Paul said, ‘Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God’ (1 Corinthians 10:31). So it is sin to pursue any good deed, or any act of worship, without the intent to glorify God. But God is not glorified where we find Him less pleasing than other things. He is belittled. Knowing this, we cannot be indifferent to whether we find God pleasing in the actions we pursue. In all those actions, if we would glorify God, we must aim to find Him more pleasing than anything else.” —John Piper

“The One who made and counted all the stars—who monitored every action of the Roman Empire and who keeps all the galaxies in the orbits—has His eye fixed on you. And, Jesus asks, ‘Are you not worth much more to Him?’” —David Wilkerson

“If we function according to our ability alone, we get the glory; if we function according to the power of the Spirit within us, God gets the glory.” —Henry Blackaby

Links & Quotes

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Some good reading from today…

“Let no one grieve at his poverty, for the universal Kingdom has been revealed. Let no one mourn that he has fallen again; for forgiveness has risen from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the death of our Savior has set us free.” —John Chrysostom

[VIDEO] This is sad and a bit scary. Americans don’t know what Memorial Day means.

Tim Elmore answers the question, “What’s the bid deal about Memorial Day?”

“Our great need is to be people whose delights are the very delights of God.” —John Piper

Unbelievable! The U.S. State Department promoted a Muslim cleric who condoned killing U.S. soldiers!

“Those who boast of their knowledge betray their ignorance. Knowledge is not a possession to be proud of….” Read more of the quote from Charles Spurgeon in It Matters What You Do With Your Knowledge.

[VIDEO] Cool look at the overview of Genesis 1-11 from The Bible Project.

Memorial Day 2014

I was reading through some things I had posted on Memorial Day previously, and this post from five years ago jumped out at me. I thought I’d repost it today… 

Elmood CemeteryUsually I awaken each morning with some song echoing in my mind, but this morning was different. This morning I heard the last lines of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address resounding in my mind —

It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

America is still an unfinished work. She is a work which has been nobly advanced by the blood of patriots who believed in the work which had been birthed on this soil. These honored dead gave their last full measure of devotion to this nation “conceived in Liberty” by the guiding hand of God Himself.

Just 87 years earlier the Founding Fathers closed the Declaration of Independence with these words —

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

Today is called Memorial Day, and it is right and proper that we memorialize the last full measure of devotion given by our fallen soldiers and patriots. It’s also a day to reflect on why they died — they were willing to shed their blood for this country conceived in Liberty under the watchful care of Divine Providence.

May we continue to honor the memory of our honored dead by upholding the values for which they died to preserve and protect. And may God continue to bless the United States of America as we remember and honor Him!

God Bless America,

Land that I love.

Stand beside her, and guide her

Through the night with a light from above.

From the mountains, to the prairies,

To the oceans, white with foam

God bless America, my home sweet home.

 

Better Sex

The Gospel invitationOur culture has a sexualized agenda. Just look at how Hollywood portrays us today:

  • Few happy marriages.
  • Lots of sex-crazed, inept husbands with strong wives who use or withhold sex as a reward or punishment.
  • Flawlessly beautiful actors (not a zit to be seen).
  • No consequences for sex—no pregnancy, STDs or AIDS.
  • No depression for broken relationships; no anxiety or eating disorders because of the psychological pain.
  • Sex outside of marriage is normal, and those who abstain are the weird ones.

We cannot stand on our soapboxes and rail against culture.

We cannot just tell them what we’re against, but we’ve got to tell them what we’re for.

We’ve got to give them the compelling truth for the beauty, joy, and fulfillment of sex God’s way.

The Gospel—the Good News—is an invitation, not an ultimatum. We’ve got to share with others what’s good about God’s counter culture way concerning sex! 

“I think our present outlook might be like that of a small boy who, on being told that the sexual act was the highest bodily pleasure should immediately ask whether you ate chocolates at the same time. On receiving the answer ‘No,’ he might regard absence of chocolates as the chief characteristic of sexuality. In vain would you tell him that the reason why lovers in their carnal raptures don’t bother about chocolates is that they have something better to think of. The boy knows chocolate: he does not know the positive thing that excludes it.” —C.S. Lewis

All Hollywood knows is the “chocolate” of people acting on their immediate feelings, with no understanding of long-term consequences.

Better sex comes from doing things God’s way = one man and one women married for life.

Proverbs 5 presents the advantages of being married and being intimate with just one person. I especially love this passage—

Drink water from your own well—share your love only with your wife. Why spill the water of your springs in the streets, having sex with just anyone? You should reserve it for yourselves. Never share it with strangers. Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. She is a loving deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love. Why be captivated, my son, by an immoral woman, or fondle the breasts of a promiscuous woman? (verses 15-20)

This is better sex because it’s pure:

  • No sharing sexually transmitted diseases from previous partners.
  • No comparison to how you are in bed compared to previous partners.
  • No psychological fall-out.
  • Intimacy without reservation.
  • A release of dopamine (the feel-good hormone) unlike you’ll ever get with “casual” sex.
  • And most importantly: A relationship God can—and does!—bless.

Hollywood knows nothing about real love and a truly satisfying, fulfilling sex life. But God does! That’s why the Apostle Paul tells us, “Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:20), because God created your body and knows how it can get the highest, purest pleasure.

Better sex comes when you have sex God’s way!

Links & Quotes

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Some great reading from this weekend…

“Are you a Christian? Then there’s something dreadfully wrong with you. You’re unthinking; you’re unscientific; you can’t see how badly Christianity botches morality. You represent a deeply defective culture that’s been getting all the most important things wrong for a hundred generations.” Read more from Tom Gilson in Skeptics Dehumanizing Christianity.

“No one can know truth except the one who obeys truth. You think you know truth. People memorize the Scriptures by the yard, but that is not a guarantee of knowing the truth. Truth is not a text. Truth is in the text, but it takes the text plus the Holy Spirit to bring truth to a human soul.” —A.W. Tozer

Important news for pregnant women: Take care of your teeth. “The results reinforce data suggesting a link between periodontal disease in the mother and the risk of preterm birth.” Read more in Bacteria Found In Healthy Placentas.

“Many contemporary critics of the faith charge that Christianity is a barrier to progress. … But the overwhelming weight of good is undeniable—and indispensable to civilization.” Read more in The ABCs Of Christian Civilization.

[VIDEO] Rep. Trey Gowdy asks “Did the media ever pursue these big questions on Benghazi?”

“Biblical hope is not wishful thinking or an optimistic outlook; rather, it is a confident expectation based on the certainty of God’s Word that as He has anchored us in the past, so He will in the future.” —David Wilkerson

“You need to be aware of what others are doing, applaud their efforts, acknowledge their successes, and encourage them in their pursuits. When we all help one another, everybody wins.” —Jim Stovall

“The Bible was not given to replace the miraculous but to correct abuses.” —Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Poetry Saturday—He’s Here To Keep

Today is my youngest son’s birthday. In honor of his special day, I present a poem he wrote as a 4th grader while I was on a business trip.

BrandonMy Dad’s out of town
I feel alone
I’m feeling really down
He can’t reach the phone
All of a sudden the phone rings
My heart sings
I pick up the phone
He said only one more day
And in his voice was a great tone
He said what I wanted him to say
One more time of sleep
And then he’s here to keep —Brandon Owens

 

A Bible Knowledge Quiz

BibleGatewayThis is from Pastor Kevin DeYoung (you can read the original post by clicking here). I thought it was an eye-opening test.

A.  Who did the following?
1.   Wrote the book of Acts?
2.   Appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration?
3.   Directed the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem?
4.   Killed a thousand Philistines with a donkey’s jawbone?
5.   Led the Israelites into the promised land?
6.   Was exiled to the island of Patmos where he wrote Revelation?
7.   Was going to curse Israel, but had to bless them?
8.   Became the first King of the 10 tribes that broke away?
9.   Rescued David from her foolish husband Nabal?
10.   Was rebuked by Paul for refusing to eat with Gentiles?

B.  Where geographically did the following events take place?
11.   God gave Moses the Ten Commandments?
12.   A silversmith caused a riot?
13.   Elijah had a confrontation with the prophets of Baal?
14.   Believers were first called “Christians”?
15.   The river Jesus was baptized in?
16.   The walls of the city collapsed after the Israelites marched around it?
17.   Jesus walked on water?
18.   The place where Jonah was supposed to be going when he fled to Tarshish?
19.   The place where Paul was heading when he was blinded on the road?
20.   The river Ezekiel was at with the exiles when he received a vision from God?

C.  In which book of the Bible do you find the following?
21.   Peter visits Cornelius where he learns that God accepts Jews and Gentiles?
22.   Paul asks a runaway slave to be welcomed back?
23.   Israel worships a golden calf made by Aaron?
24.   The story of Joseph and he brothers?
25.   Twelve men explore the land of Canaan, but only two trust God to give it to them?
26.   God’s judgment on Israel is pictured by a prophet as horde of locusts?
27.   A description of the armor of God
28.   The words “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” in the Old Testament?
29.   A prophet marries a prostitute?
30.   The Magi visiting the Christ child?

D.  In which book and chapter(s) do you find the following?
31.   God first speaks the Ten Commandments?
32.   The call of Abram?
33.   The Sermon on the Mount?
34.   The Great Commission?
35.   The Holy Spirit coming upon the disciples in wind, fire, and tongues?
36.   Just as Adam was the head of the old humanity, Christ is the head of the new: “Just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous”?
37.   ”But these three remain: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love”?
38.   A religious leader hears “Unless a man is born again he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven”?
39.   Satan bound for a thousand years?
40.   The three Hebrews saved from the fiery furnace?

E.  Give the main topic or event of the following Bible chapters
41.   Genesis 3
42.   Isaiah 53
43.   Romans 4
44.   Psalm 119
45.   Hebrews 11
46.   Acts 15
47.   John 17
48.   Revelation 21-22
49.   Luke 15
50.   Exodus 3

F.  Who said the following?
51.   If I perish, I perish.
52.   What is truth?
53.   After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?…Will I really have a child, now that I am old?
54.   O Jerusalem, Jerusalem…how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.
55.   Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in the kingdom.
56.   The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?
57.   He must increase; I must decrease.
58.   Am I dog that you come at me with sticks?
59.   I know my Redeemer lives and that in the end he will stand upon the earth?
60.   Give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.

G.  If you encountered the following error, to which book would you turn for help? Choose the book that best addresses the error. Use each of the listed books only once: Genesis, Job, Song of Songs, Amos, John, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, 1 Timothy, James, Revelation.
61.   ”As long as you believe the right things, it doesn’t matter how you live your life.”
62.   ”I’m sure I don’t have any spiritual gifts. Only special people do.”
63.   ”We are saved by Jesus, but we also have to do our part by obeying the law of the Old Testament.”
64.   ”If you are sick, you must have sin in your life. Good people don’t suffer.”
65.   ”God doesn’t care about the poor and oppressed. That’s the social gospel.”
66.   ”I know God promises to bless me, but I can’t really trust him through the hard things in life, like famine, barrenness, and imprisonment.”
67.   ”In the end it won’t make any difference who we followed or what we did with our lives. Jesus will treat everybody the same when he comes back.”
68.   ”There’s nothing special about Jesus. He’s just one way among many, just another prophet or good moral teacher.”
69.   ”The best way to pick your elders is by looking at how successful they are in the business world. Next, consider how many degrees they have. After that, popularity matters most. Finally, if you still can’t decide, go by good looks.”
70.   ”The Bible doesn’t say anything about intimacy between a man and a woman. That’s too fleshly for God to care about.”

H.  Arrange the following events in proper chronological order.
71-80.
a.   The giving of the Law
b.   The atoning death of Christ
c.   Malachi prophesies
d.   The promise to Abraham
e.   creation and fall
f.   Pentecost
g.   Exile in Babylon
h.   David is King over Israel
i.   Paul is shipwrecked
j.   The Judges rule over Israel

I.  Match the verse with the doctrine it best supports. Each doctrine from the list will be used only once: providence, atonement, election, justification, immutability, sanctification, inspiration, deity of Christ, Trinity, total depravity
81.   Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do. 1 Peter 1:15
82.   God demonstrated his love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
83.   What you meant for evil, God meant for good. Genesis 50:20
84.   He chose us in him before the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1:4
85.   I the Lord do not change. Malachi 3:6
86.   Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not count against him. Romans 4:8
87.   In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1.
88.   Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19
89.   For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:21
90.   There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. Romans 3:10-11

J.  In which Old Testament book would you find the following Messianic prophecies? Books may be used more than once.
91.   The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.
92.   He would crush the head of the serpent.
93.   He would come riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
94.   Born of a virgin.
95.   Came to preach good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim freedom for the captives, release the prisoners from darkness, proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and comfort all who mourn.
96.   Would be a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.
97.   Would be like a sun of righteousness rising with healing in its wings.
98.   ”They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.”
99.   Buried with the rich in his death.
100.   Like a lion’s cub of the tribe of Judah.

How did you do?