Claimed, gathered and sent

This morning I read Psalm 91. As I was meditating on this, the first verse really struck me. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. (NIV) I am a visual learner. As I pondered this verse, I realized that the second line was just a restatement of the first, which was done in a number of the Psalms for emphasis. dwells = rest = lives shelter = shadow = home Most High = Almighty = God My home is where I live, grow and am refreshed. I need to make God my home to have the benefits mentioned in the rest of this Psalm.

Hope you are challenged by Dietrich Bonhoeffer's writings. BONHOEFFER for THURSDAY February 22, 2007 Stepping into Faith Jesus says to anyone who uses their faith or lack of faith to excuse their acts of disobedience to his call: First obey, do the external works, let go of what binds you, give up what is separating you from God's will! Do not say; I do not have the faith for that. You will not have it so long as you remain disobedient, so long as you will not take the first step. Do not say, I have faith, so I do not have to take the first step. You do not have faith, because and so long as you will not take that first step. Instead, you have hardened yourself in disbelief under the appearance of humble faith. It is an evil excuse to point from inadequate obedience to inadequate faith, and from inadequate faith to inadequate obedience. It is the disobedience of the "faithful" if they confess their unbelief where their obedience is required and if they play games with

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" He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers" (Psalm 1:3). I was meditating on this passage yesterday and started using my imagination. As I thought about how trees are planted and grow, I realized they don't do anything to make it happen. They don't plant themselves, someone else does. They don't concentrate really hard to grow better, to be more fruitful. They just have to be trees. We cannot of our own strength be better, more spiritual Christians. We cannot cause our lives to be fruitful. For the Christian, this analogy brings us to John chapter 15 of Jesus being the vine and our need to abide in him. "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing" (verse 3). Let us trust in God's grace to enable us to grow in him as we abide, then we too can b

http://www.christianitytoday.com/tcw/2007/001/10.62.html "How Do I Uncover My Spiritual Gifts?" 3 ways to discern how God wired you. by Nancy Ortberg I love this question! Discovering and utilizing your spiritual gifts is one of the most exciting adventures a person can have with God. The Bible says spiritual gifts are abilities God bestows on every believer for the common good of the body of Christ. They're a large part of the answer to the question, "What should I do with the life God gave me?" Passages like 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, and 1 Peter 4 go into specific detail about what these gifts are and how they should be used. It's clear every spiritual gift is a reflection of God's nature that you carry within you. And because your spiritual gift reflects God's design and direction for your life, you'll find great passion, joy, and satisfaction in expressing it. Your spiritual gift also will be a place of deep spiritual formation in your lif

Please take a minute to read this perceptive piece by Bonhoeffer. Note the circumstances of his life. BONHOEFFER for WEDNESDAY February 7, 2007 Finding Ourselves in Christ It is not that God's help and presence must still be proved in our life; rather God's presence and help have been demonstrated for us in the life of Jesus Christ. It is in fact more important for us to know what God did to Israel, in God's son Jesus Christ, than to discover what God intends for us today. The fact that Jesus Christ died is more important than the fact that I will die. And the fact the Jesus Christ was raised from the dead is the sole ground of my hope that I, too, will be raised on the day of judgment. Our salvation is "from outside ourselves." I find salvation not in my life story, but only in the story of Jesus Christ. Only those who allow themselves to be found in Jesus Christ - in the incarnation, cross, and resurrection - are with God and God with them. - Dietrich Bonhoeffe

Evil in Disguise The great masquerade of evil has played havoc with all our ethical concepts. For evil to appear disguised as light, charity, historical necessity, or social justice is quite bewildering to anyone brought up on our traditional ethical concepts, while for Christians who base their lives on the Bible it merely confirms the fundamental wickedness of evil....Who stands fast? Only those whose final standards are not their reason, their principle, their conscience, their freedom, or their virtue, but who are ready to sacrifice all this when they are called to obedient and responsible action in faith and in exclusive allegiance to God - the responsible ones, who try to make their whole life an answer to the question and call to God. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer - from Letters and Papers from Prison 2,4 from A Year with Dietrich Bonhoeffer Carla Barnhill, Ed., HarperSan Francisco, 2005 On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler is made chancellor of Germany