The Divine Alchemy

"Your sorrow shall be turned into joy" John 16:20

The particular sorrow was the death and absence of their Lord, and it was turned to joy when He rose from the dead. All the sorrow of saints shall be thus transformed. Come then, in a little while I shall be as glad as I may now be gloomy. My Lord here tells me that by His heavenly alchemy my sorrow shall be turned to joy. I do not see how it is to be, but I believe it, and I begin now to sing in anticipation.

Prayer: Dear Lord, You cause food to spring up where there is none, and You change a thing like sorrow into joy. Thanks be to You. Amen

from writings of C.H. Spurgeon

All Things

The Apostle Paul states in Romans 8:28 "and we know that all things work (cooperate, help, collaborate in practical harmony or synergism) together for the good (good in a physical and moral sense, and produces benefits) to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (a deliberate plan, a proposition, an advance plan, an intentional design, a setting forth or before).

This has been one of my favorite verses through out my ministry, and I am amazed as to how much strength, encouragement and practical application I continue to find in it. When we talk about "...all things working together..." it is challenging sometimes to see this in light of the pain, crisis or circumstance of the moment. This is why we must REMEMBER and keep calling back to our memory that God has and is causing all things to cooperate, collaborate in practical harmony and synergism when we STAY in His love.

God's love delivered us from ourselves so we could be ourselves "in Him" without shame and fear. His love continues to deliver us IF we remain in His steadfast love. When we rest in His PURPOSE, His deliberate advanced plans and designs naturally begin to manifest because they have been predetermined from the foundations of the earth.

The Apostle Paul goes onto to say that He has PREDESTINED us to become "...conformed into His image...". The Greek word conformed means scheme or schematic, it refers to conforming oneself to a model or pattern.

This is Restoration !! God is actually restoring us to our original Image in Him (Genesis 1:26) and He is using ALL THINGS together, to bring us back and accomplish this. So you see we are actually going back to the Garden!

Winning By Degrees

The Lord your God will drive our those nations before you, little by little.
Deuteronomy 7:22


We are not to expect to win life's victories by a single blow. Evil principles
and practices die hard. But it may take years of grace on God's part and
years of effort on ours. Sanctifying work is done by degrees so that we may
learn perseverance, increase in faith, and earnestly watch. Thank God for
every success and pray for more.


Prayer
For the blessings of the past and the present, we thank You, our God. And
for that which lies ahead, we look to You in confidence and hope. Amen.


From the witings of C.H. Spurgeon

The Valley of Vision

Lord, HIGH and HOLY, MEEK AND LOWLY,

Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see thee
in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold
thy glory.
Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from
deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells the brighter
thy stars shine;
Let me find they light in my darkness,
thy life in my death,
thy joy in my sorrow,
thy grace in my sin,
thy riches in my poverty
thy glory in my valley.


The following prayer is taken from the book "The Valley of Vision" a collection of prayers from The Puritan Movement of sixteenth and seventeenth centuries compiled by Arthur Bennett.

Promise Number One

" I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise they head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" Genesis 3:15

This is the Bible's first promise. It exhilarates us on this, the year's first day. Cryptic and brief, it contains the entire gospel, and forecasts the triumph of God's grace. Jesus Christ is the seed of the woman. He was bruised terribly, but triumphed gloriously. By faith in Him and obedience to Him, we may share His victory. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

PRAYER: Fortify me, O God, body and soul, to run and win the race of life through the grace that is in Jesus Christ. Amen

From the writings of C.H. Spurgeon

God Descends To Reascend

"In the Christian story God descends to reascend. He comes down; down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity; down further still, if embryologist are right, to recapitulate in the womb ancient and pre-human phases of life; down to the very roots and seabed of the Nature He has created. But He goes down to come up again and bring the whole ruined world up with Him. One has the picture of a strong man stooping lower and lower to get himself underneath some great complicated burden. He must stoop in order to lift, he must almost disappear under the load before he incredibly straightens his back and marches off with the whole mass swaying on his shoulders. Or one may think of a diver, first reducing himself to nakedness, then glancing in mid-air, then going with a splash,vanished, rushing down through green and warm water into black and cold water, down through increasing pressure into the death-like region of ooze and slime and old decay; then up again, back to colour and light, his lungs almost bursting, till suddenly he breaks surface again,holding in his hand the dripping, precious thing that he went down to recover. He and it are both coloured now that they have come up into the light: down below, where it lay colourless in the dark, he lost his colour too."

from Miracles by C.S. Lewis

City Church

The City Church is not found in one building or one congregation. It is one people walking in Kingdom purpose within a geographic area--within a city. Jesus tells us in John 3:3 "Unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God". God's Kingdom in the earth is not a physical place. Rather, it is a lifestyle maintained by believers, who seek to live in a manner pleasing to God. Like the Kingdom of God, The City Church is not something to physically behold. It is a strategic plan for uniting the saints of a City--each and every city--in one accord, regardless of race, ethnicity, culture, class or denomination. Instead of asking, what about us as believers makes us different (i.e.,denomational traditions or customs), a City Church mentality asks what about us as believers is the same? Further, how can we embrace our shared destiny in Christ to advance the Kingdom of God? A City Church mentality is not so interested in growing their own local congregation as they are growing the City Church at large. For The City Church is one Church made up of many congregations !!