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Amazing!

Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Living God, borrowed. Just making that statement sounds strange and bewilders me. Jesus borrowed everything. It almost doesn't seem right to think that, let alone say it. Jesus borrowed everything. How does that even make sense?

"Imagine, He owned everything. But when He came into this world He was borrowing everything from men, unthinkable. He had to borrow a place to be born and not much of a place at that. He had to borrow a place to lay His head, He didn't even have a home. Many nights He slept on the Mount of Olives. He had to borrow a boat to cross the little Sea of Galilee. He had to borrow a boat to preach from. He had to borrow an animal to ride into the city when He was being triumphantly welcomed as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He had to borrow a room for the Passover because He didn't even have a house in Jerusalem. He had to borrow a tomb to be buried in. The only person who had the right to everything wound up with nothing, became a servant. He came into the world as King of Kings, Lord of Lords, rightful heir to David's throne as well as God in human flesh, but He had no advantages, He had no privileges in this world. He came as a servant. Nobody gave Him anything. Nobody entrusted Him with any treasure. Nobody gave Him a home. Nobody gave Him animals to ride. Nobody gave Him land to call His own. Nobody gave Him anything. He served everyone. He had no advantages. He had no privileges."

~ John MacArthur
The Humiliation of Christ, November 6, 1988

I never thought about this until yesterday when we were having our family, breakfast devotional. Jesus borrowed everything. The Lord, our Savior, Master, Comforter, our Great, Mighty, Everlasting God, -- borrowed. How crazy does that sound?

Think about it. I mean, really think about it. I did. And sadly, I have to admit, the first thought I had was, "I'd never do that!" If I owned something, the thought of asking someone else if I could borrow what I already owned...well, that thought would never cross my mind. I was indignant of even considering such a thing. And instantly, I was ashamed at what a wretch I am, and openly confessed this to my family.

In truth, I actually own nothing. God owns all things and He is allowing me to borrow everything - my husband, my sons, my extended family members, friends, house, food, clothes, warm blankets, comfy bed, and everything I have and enjoy while I am here on earth. None of this truly belongs to me. It all belongs to God. Yet, when He was here, He claimed nothing for Himself, although all things came from Him, was made by Him, for Him and through Him. Our Lord Jesus claimed nothing - not even the magnificence of His deity (Philippians 2:6-7, John 1:3, 1 Corinthians 8:6, Colossians 1:16).

After everyone had left for school and work, I repented and thanked our compassionate and awesome God for His love that is nothing like mine; and I'm so thankful this is true. Aren't you? Imagine if God loved us, the way we love Him, or one another. I shudder to think what our lives would be like. Thank God, He Is God and we are not. Amen?

Though we do not love God or others as God has loved us perfectly and fully through Jesus Christ, we are commanded to think like Him and love like Him. We are commanded to humble ourselves as Christ did and count others more significant than ourselves (Philippians 2:3).

But how can we, mere sinful mortals do such a thing? Well, the simple answer is, we can't. It's impossible. So why are we commanded to do something that is impossible for us? To remind us that everything that is good is only possible with God (Luke 18:19, Mark 10:27, James 1:16-17); not with man.

So here's my personal challenge: Love as Christ commanded (John 13:15, 34) - with humility, agape love and no concern for self, but always doing good to others, according to God's will and not mine. And remember that this is not of myself, but only can be achieved by faith and total reliance on Christ; for this too is a gift from God to me. In my own strength I will fail. But in the Christ's strength, I will prevail (John 16:33).

Jesus borrowed everything though He owned everything. Wow! What humility! What love!

Will you walk with me? Will you strive daily to forget about self and remember only our Lord Jesus and those He came to save? Let me know if you'll join me! I'll be so encouraged! And who knows, maybe we can encourage one another (Romans 1:12).
"So we are of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him."
~ 2 Corinthians 5:6-9

aim - v. (used with object)
1) to position or direct so that, on firing or release, the discharged projectile will hit a target or travel along a certain path.

philotimeomai - v. (Greek)
1) to aspire a goal, have an ambition

A well trained soldier will carefully set their sight, intently look into their scope, and set their aim, to hit a specific target. If a soldier does not take his/her job and equipment seriously, and has a lackadaisical attitude, they will completely miss their target and may injure themselves or someone else.

There is no place for a lazy, self-centered, self-glorifying soldier in battle. This kind of soldier is not only useless to the cause in which all soldiers are fighting for, but they are also a danger to others and a hazard to the entire unit. Moreover, this type of soldier causes their Captain much grief.

On the upside, a good soldier, a selfless soldier; one who wholeheartedly submits to the authority of their Captain and  considers the welfare of others above themselves, is a soldier that builds up the entire team.

They are a an asset, not a liability.

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil."
~ Ephesians 6:10-11

Like a good soldier in the military, children of God  need to remember that we've been enlisted as well -- into the Lord Jesus' army, and we need to highly regard the "equipment" He provided for us (Ephesians 6:14-17).

We are equipped with the armor of God:
  1. the belt of Truth;
  2. the breastplate of Righteousness;
  3. shoes with the Gospel of Peace;
  4. the shield of Faith;
  5. the helmet of Salvation;
  6. and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God
To be a good soldier in the Lord's army, we need to set our "sights" on Christ Jesus our Lord. We need to  make sure we're looking at everything through His eyes; through His "scope"; not ours.

What are some signs that we've lost our aim? It's when we return from mission trips, retreats or serve in a ministry and after all the hoopla is gone, we feel a bit depressed. We don't want the moment to end. That's when we know we've lost Christ's aim to please and glorify the Father, and replaced it with self-fulfillment and accolades from others (Galatians 1:10).

I pray that the Holy Spirit would quicken our hearts to be fixed on Jesus alone. I pray that whenever I get whisked away in all the excitement of activity, I will give thanks to the Lord first for allowing me to participate in His work. The times I've done this, I remember why I'm still here and Who I am truly living in, for and to (Galatians 2:20, Romans 14:8). I realize that it is not I that has done a good work, but the Lord Jesus Himself that is manifesting His life through me. It's very humbling; something I need much of.

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"It is arduous work to keep the master ambition in front. It means holding one's self to the high ideal year in and year out, not being ambitious to win souls or to establish churches or to have revivals, but being ambitious only to be 'accepted of Him.' "
"The Worker's Ruling Passion"
My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers
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How about you, have you ever been to a retreat, mission trip, served in ministry, etc. and end up getting so caught up with the experience itself, you lose sight of Christ and His pleasure? If so, what has helped you keep your aim on pleasing Christ alone?
I'm a walking oxymoron.

I'm a total introvert and delight in being alone, yet I hunger for fellowship with the Body of Christ.

I'm the epitome of laziness, yet one of my greatest joys is serving as the Holy Spirit directs me.

I'm terribly afraid of heights (even being on a step stool scares me), yet I love to fly!

I love new adventures, yet I find comfort in routine.

I'm extremely judgmental and merciless, yet the Lord continues to send me to those who suffer great loss so that I might bring them His comfort and peace.

The more I learn about God, I continuously discover how very little I truly know Him.

Every time I call out to my Heavenly Father, asking Him to show me great and unsearchable things I did not know (Jeremiah 33:3), He is faithful to answer; and I am always completely in awe and wonder of all that He shows me. It is then I realize how very big and awesome my God is. It is during these times of blessed intimacy with God that I realize that all my learning and studying, brings me to the inescapable truth that my finite mind, will never be able to behold the fullness of my infinite God.

On this side of Heaven, I will never fully comprehend the essence and nature of a limitless, holy God with my limited, defiled mind. But I can intimately know Him as He graciously reveals Himself to His creation.  And for all that I do not understand, I must apply faith and trust He is exactly who He says He is, nothing more and nothing less.

If I ever chose to describe God or refer to Him as someone that I am more comfortable with or someone I could better relate myself to, then I would be guilty of denigrating the most holy name of God; who states there is none like Him - there is nothing in all creation that we would ever be able to use to describe Him.

"To whom will you liken Me and make Me equal, and compare Me, that we may be alike?...remember the things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,"
~ Isaiah 46:5, 9


I don't believe true disciples of Christ, indwelt with the Holy Spirit, wake up every morning with the intent to fill our day with sinful acts or thoughts. But because we aren't nearly as diligent to faithfully feed our souls (with the word of God) as often or more than we feed our temporal bodies (at least 3 times a day), we've allowed heretical and blasphemous ideologies to creep into our churches; thereby creeping into our minds and hearts.

"For though we walk in flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete."
~ 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Because we do not properly dress ourselves with the armor of God or mediate on His word day and night (Psalm 1:1-3), we are easily, like sheep, led astray by various winds of "new" teaching that come our way. In the attempt to be more relevant, many have lost reverence, thus causing the production and promotion of many books, movies, seminars and even churches that are teaching Christians to view God in ways that God has never described Himself through His written word.

"Teach me Your way, O LORD, that I may walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name."


"As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions."
~ Psalm 86:11, 1 Timothy 1:3-7

January 22, 2011 will be the 38th anniversary of the most horrific decision made; the right to murder human babies. In light of this, I thought it vital to have my very first guest poster be Mr. Art Helms (a.k.a. Grampaw Helms). After reading his note on Facebook, I asked if I could post his writing on my blog. Thankfully he said “Yes.” After reading this, I know you’ll be glad he did too.

My prayer is that we, as God’s holy and dearly loved children will boldly stand up and speak for those who cannot speak for themselves; unborn babies. And that we will better answer those who oppose us with a deeper understanding of the meaning of life.

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When writing the 1973 majority opinion in Roe v. Wade, Justice Harry Blackmun wrote: “We need not resolve the difficult question of when life begins . . . the judiciary at this point in the development of man’s knowledge, is not in a position to speculate as to the answer.” The Court then admitted: “If this suggestion of personhood is established, the appellant’s case [i.e. “Roe” who sought the abortion], of course, collapses, for the fetus’ right to life is then guaranteed by the [14th] Amendment.” (http://topics.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv)

For those of us who believe that Roe v. Wade is repugnant to the Constitution, it seems ridiculous that the personhood of a human baby in the womb has ever been questioned.

  • Is the baby alive and growing in the mother’s womb?
  • Was the baby conceived by human parents?

These two questions, answered in the affirmative, ought to automatically establish personhood at conception. Even the “difficult question of when life begins” seems out of place in the process of deciding the legality of abortion. If the “zygote” is a living cell, on its way to becoming a fully functioning human being, with a full set of chromosomes at the instant of fertilization of the ovum by the sperm, “LIFE” (as our finite minds understand it) has begun! To question the timing of that fact is to question God, our Omniscient Creator, who set the entire process of propagation in place.

Who is most responsible for this basic cultural misunderstanding of when life begins, or of when personhood applies? Bill Clinton. In a 1993 interview said that we cannot make something illegal over which “even theologians are in serious disagreement.” 1 As wrong as he was in his war against the unborn, he was at least correct in that placement of responsibility in the realm of the Church.

First, the Church has generally misunderstood that abortion is a “political” issue. It is not. God has been “pro-life” eons prior to politics. The concept of “Separation of Church and State” has also been twisted beyond its original intent, so much so, that most of the Church now see a real wall of separation.

Those of us who still believe it is the Church’s duty to bring society under the sway of Christ, continue to raise our voices against legalized abortion, hoping that our brothers in the Church will join with us in unison. Reconciliation of man to God is our first priority. But, evangelism is not the only calling of the Church. Among the various purposes of the Church, we are called to prophecy (I Corinthians 14). Prophecy can be a tool of evangelism (I Corinthians 14:24-25). We are to prophesy, not just against personal sin of individuals, but also against sin at the national level (Ephesians 6:12). A church without prophecy provides an ideal environment for napping.

We are called to teach (Matthew 28:18-20). Pro-Life efforts should be seen as one of many ways of carrying out that part of the Great Commission, which says “. . . teach all nations . . . teaching them to observe all things . . .”

Second, the Church has not resolved “the difficult question of when life begins.” Perhaps it would be better to answer this question with a deeper question -- “What is life?” Most Christians oversimplify the answer with: “life begins at conception.” This answer, correct though it may be, leaves God out of the equation. The deeper question affords opportunity to give deserved glory to the Creator of life.

In order to fully understand the biblical definition of “life”, certain Scriptures must be diligently considered.

“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
~Genesis 2:7

At no other time in history, has it been reported that God physically breathed this breath of life into another human being’s nostrils.

Job’s fourth friend, Elihu, understood it.

“The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.”
~Job 33:4

These Scriptures reveal a clear answer to the deeper question, “What is life?” Life is the omnipotence of God revealed by His infinite, incomprehensible power, whereby a single breath from the Almighty is sufficient for the “continual creation” of life -- beginning from Adam, and to every human being after him.

King David understood that life is a “continuum” from Adam.

“Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.”
~Psalm 139:16


1 Wichita Eagle 1993-02-20 Clinton and abortion


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Thank you Grampaw Helms for reminding us Who and what we're fighting for; God's glorious works to be displayed in every life He chooses to create.
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