The springs of love are in God, not in us. It is absurd to look for the love of God in our hearts naturally, it is only there when it has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
OSWALD CHAMBERS
Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. 3 JOHN 2 NASB
The apostle John was possibly in his eightys when he wrote these words to his friend Gaius. So he had lived many years knowing the promises that God wants for us. His first prayer for his friend was that in all respect he would prosper. When we of western culture see the word prosper, many of us think first of money and wealth. I believe that money is a low form of prosperity. And I am sure that John wanted his friend to prosper financially. The Scriptures are full of God given statements that claim for us wealth and prosperity. Some of us fail to really grasp the extent of what God wants for us. I am learning that it has to do with the inner image we have of ourselves. When I was in the grips of alcohol and drug addiction, my inner image of myself was one of poverty. I considered myself financially, physically, mentally, and spiritually broke. And I was just that, broke, broke down, broke up, and busted. Thats how I saw myself and thats how I was. When I came to the realization that I would die if I continued on in my life style, I checked into substance abuse treatment. I had been to treatment six other times, but the difference this time was desire of the heart. As I sat through the program, the counselors ounce again educated me on the consequences of drug abuse, and they kept telling me that I could change. Having my heart in the program I listened and my inner image of myself started changing from a drunk to a sober person. Today I still share at meeting the fact that I am an alcoholic, but my inner image of myself is not of a drinker who has quit, but of a non-drinker. I did the same thing with cigarettes, I started thinking of myself as a non-smoker, not someone who has quit. Just as the apostle John told his friend to be in good health, just as your soul prospers, when I changed my inner image my soul prospered. If the way we see ourselves on the inside is according to Gods will, the outside cant help but follow along. Today my desire is to have an inner image of myself in health and wealth and most of all spiritual prosperity. And you know what? I see things happening ..its an inside job. God does for me what I could not do for myself .............toad
Love is not premeditated, it is spontaneous, i.e., it bursts up in extraordinary ways. There is nothing mathematical certainty in Pauls category of love. We cannot say Now I am going to think no evil; I am going to believe all things. The characteristic of love is spontaneity. We do not set the statements of Jesus in front of us as a standard; but when His Spirit is having His way with us, we live according to His standard without knowing it, and on looking back we are amazed at the distinterestedness of a particular emotion, which is the evidence that the spontaneity of real love was there. OSWALD CHAMBERS
OSWALD CHAMBERS
Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. 3 JOHN 2 NASB
The apostle John was possibly in his eightys when he wrote these words to his friend Gaius. So he had lived many years knowing the promises that God wants for us. His first prayer for his friend was that in all respect he would prosper. When we of western culture see the word prosper, many of us think first of money and wealth. I believe that money is a low form of prosperity. And I am sure that John wanted his friend to prosper financially. The Scriptures are full of God given statements that claim for us wealth and prosperity. Some of us fail to really grasp the extent of what God wants for us. I am learning that it has to do with the inner image we have of ourselves. When I was in the grips of alcohol and drug addiction, my inner image of myself was one of poverty. I considered myself financially, physically, mentally, and spiritually broke. And I was just that, broke, broke down, broke up, and busted. Thats how I saw myself and thats how I was. When I came to the realization that I would die if I continued on in my life style, I checked into substance abuse treatment. I had been to treatment six other times, but the difference this time was desire of the heart. As I sat through the program, the counselors ounce again educated me on the consequences of drug abuse, and they kept telling me that I could change. Having my heart in the program I listened and my inner image of myself started changing from a drunk to a sober person. Today I still share at meeting the fact that I am an alcoholic, but my inner image of myself is not of a drinker who has quit, but of a non-drinker. I did the same thing with cigarettes, I started thinking of myself as a non-smoker, not someone who has quit. Just as the apostle John told his friend to be in good health, just as your soul prospers, when I changed my inner image my soul prospered. If the way we see ourselves on the inside is according to Gods will, the outside cant help but follow along. Today my desire is to have an inner image of myself in health and wealth and most of all spiritual prosperity. And you know what? I see things happening ..its an inside job. God does for me what I could not do for myself .............toad
Love is not premeditated, it is spontaneous, i.e., it bursts up in extraordinary ways. There is nothing mathematical certainty in Pauls category of love. We cannot say Now I am going to think no evil; I am going to believe all things. The characteristic of love is spontaneity. We do not set the statements of Jesus in front of us as a standard; but when His Spirit is having His way with us, we live according to His standard without knowing it, and on looking back we are amazed at the distinterestedness of a particular emotion, which is the evidence that the spontaneity of real love was there. OSWALD CHAMBERS
