Is He a liar, lunatic or your Lord?

C.S. Lewis (1898 - 1963)

"A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a geat moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

John 8:58-59 "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered "before Abraham was born, I am."

Our Voices Kept For Jesus

"Keep my voice, and let me sing

Always, only, for my King."

An excerpt from Kept for the Masters Use by Fances R. Havergal

"I have wondered a little at being told by an experienced worker, that in many cases the voice seems the last and hardest thing to yeild entirely to the King; and that many who think and say they have consecrated all to the Lord and His service, 'revolt' when it comes to be a question of whether they shall sing 'always, only' for their Kind. They do not mind singing a few general sacred songs, but the do not see their way to really singing always and only unto and for Him. They want to bargain and balance a little. They question and argue about what proportion they may keep for self-pleasing and company-pleasing, and how much they must 'give up'; and who will and who won't like it; and what they 'really must sing,; and what they 'really must not sing' at certain times and place; and what 'won't do,' and what they 'can't very well help,' and so on. And so when the question, 'How much owest thou unto my Lord?' is applied to this particularly pleasant gift, it is not met with the loyal, free hearted, happy response, 'All! yes, all for Jesus!'

... The words had passed your lips, 'Take my voice!' And yet you will not let Him have it; you will not let Him have that which costs you something, just because it cost you something! And yet He lent you that pleasant voice that you might use it for Him. And yet He, in the sureness of His perpetual presence, was beside you all the while, and heard every note as you sang the songs which were, as your inmost heart knew, not for Him.

Where is your faith? Where is the consecration you have talked about? The voice has not been kept for Him, because it has not been truly and unreservedly given to Him. Will you not now say, 'Take my voice, for I had not given it to Thee; keep my voice, for I cannot keep it for Thee'?

And He will keep it!"

This really spoke to me because I realized how often in my life, I have kept this precious gift that God has given me to myself, locked up so that no one else can hear it. How selfish! How unfaithful! I think a lot of times, its out of insecurity, but why should I be insecure when my Father and true Love in heaven holds my heart in His hands!? He is going to take care of me. He is going to use me. And He will do the same for you if you will let Him! Trust Him with everything, even our voices. We were made to sing praises to Him! He is the faithful One who will never let us go.

He Speaks

Here is an excerpt from 'The Holiest of All' by Andrew Murray

"It is through this Son, God speaks to us. Not through the words of the Son only, for they too are human words, and may, just like the inspired words of the prophets, bring in but little profit. It is through the Son -- the living, mighty, divine Son, direct -- that God speaks : it is only in direct living contact with the Son that the words can profit. And the Son, not as we superficially think of Him, but the real divine Son as God has revealed Him, known and worshipped and waited on as the outshining of the divine glory, -- it is this Son of God, entering into our heart and dwelling there, in whom God will speak to us, and in whom we shall be brought nigh to God. When Christ reveals the Father, it s not to the mind, to give us new thoughts about Him, but in the heart and life, so that we know and experience the power in which God an dwell and work in man, restoring him to the enjoyment of that blessed fellowship for which he was created, and which he lost by the fall. The great work of God in heaven, the chief thought and longing of His heart is, in His Son, to reach your heart and speak to you.

Oh, let it be the great work of your life, and the great longing of your heart, to know this Jesus ; as a humble meek disciple to bow at His feet, and let Him teach you of God and eternal life. Yes, even now, let us bow before Him in the fourfold glory in which the word has set Him before us. He is the Heir of all that God has. He is its Creator. He is the Upholder too. He is the Outshining of God's glory, and the perfect Image of His substance. O my Saviour! Anything to know Thee better, and in Thee to have my God speak to me!"

Bonomon

So there is this game I have been playing the past couple days that is kind of like Hide and Seek on steroids. Everyone hides amongst a dark house and the person nominated to be the "Bonomon" has to find them and then shine a light of some kind on them and say their name, thus sending them off to the 'jail'. The others that have not been caught can then go and free the people who are in jail by tagging them. And the game goes on. As I was hiding last night (in the best spot ever, mind you) I was contemplating how it is so very similar to our life before and after Christ. Before Him we were hiding, in the darkness, afraid of every little trial that came our way. Then He found us, shining His light of salvation on our lives and called us by name. Pretty cool thing to get out of a silly little game. Anyways. It's a cool game. And you should play it.

Who am I?

Who am I?

I am a daughter of the Most High King.

Which therefore makes me a princess.

I am precious in His sight.

The apple of His eye.

I am no longer a sinner.

Because the victory has been won,

I am a saint.

I am known by Him.

He knew me before I was in my mothers womb.

I am beautiful.

{fearfully and wonderfully made}

I am far more precious than jewels.

He cares for the birds of the air,

How much more then, does He care for me.

I have confidence in this:

He has clothed me with STRENGTH and DIGNITY

and I am forever a child of God.

Beloved. Treasured. Beautiful in His sight.