Sunday, June 27, 2010

GRATITUDE that HE KNOWS MY NAME

YES
HE KNOWS YOUR NAME!


...and we have taken the time here to know HIS NAME

Ann Spangler's devotion at Crosswalk.com and her book(s)
the above and "Praying the Names of God"
[Monday, June 28th Crosswalk starts over with Week 1, Day 1 of Names of God]

Thank you to all who have come along on this journey
and left encouraging words.

Please continue to
PRAY
IN
HIS
NAME




STAY
in
THE POWER OF HIS LOVE
for
YOU!

Friday, June 25, 2010

THE WONDER OF IT ALL

POINT of GRACE


For more THEN SINGS MY SOUL SATURDAY participants


Please take the time to enJOY "I AM" (at least the song shared below) in the last post of "Praying the Names of Jesus": I AM. You truly will be blessed! I know I am and the great "I AM" is, as we delight in Him through our WORSHIP and HIS WORD, HIS WAY! He is all this and so much more... enter His sweet Presence!

PRAYING THE NAMES of JESUS: I AM

WEEK TWENTY SIX


The Name of Jesus for this week with Ann Spangler at Crosswalk.com




Hope you will join us today(or anytime during this weekend)sharing from what we read or would like to share about the Name of Jesus for this past week. This is the last one.










You may go HERE to find out more and follow along daily at Crosswalk. com with the devotional of Ann Spangler, "Praying the Names of Jesus"









John's Gospel contains several self-descriptions of Jesus introduced by the emphatic expression
Ego Eimi (e-GO ay-MEE), "I AM."
I AM the bread of life. (6:35)
I AM the light of the world. (8:12)
Before Abraham was born, I AM. (8:58)
I AM the gate for the sheep. (10: 7)
I AM the good shepherd. (10:11)
I AM the resurrection and the life. (11:25)
I AM the way and the truth and the life. (14:6)
I AM the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. (15:1)
Jesus emphatically described himself as the "resurrection and the life," "the way and the truth and the life," and the "true vine." Each of these images has something important to reveal to us about the character and purpose of Jesus Christ.



Wednesday was the day that spoke the most to me this week from Ann Spangler (her words in green) because it goes along with a small group study "Life's Healing Choices" by John Baker - Freedom from Your Hurts, Hang-ups and Habits. It's time to REALIZE the REAL LIES and allow GOD'S TRUTH to prevail and set us free. (Peggy)

WEDS.

Reflect On: John 14:1 - 6.
Praise God: For giving us a way back to Him.
Offer Thanks: For the Spirit of God who leads us into all truth.
Confess: Any half truths or lies that you have allowed into your life.
Ask God: To help you to love and recognize the truth.

Join us today in asking Christ for the grace to reject the beguiling lies of our culture — that sexual gratification is all important, that life is about the pursuit of money and success, that the individual reigns supreme. Let us remember the words of St. Paul who urges us to set our hearts on things above, where Christ is, remembering that when Christ, who is our life, appears, then we too will appear with him in glory (Colossians 3:1 - 4).
Ann shared this on TUES.

Jesus, whose name means "Yahweh is Salvation," is the great I AM — the one who is always present with us whether or not we recognize him. Whatever difficulties you may face, whatever storms may threaten, pray for the grace to have eyes and ears wide open so that you may perceive the Lord saying, "Take courage! I AM."

Reflect On: Matthew 14:25 - 27 and John 18:4 - 6.
Praise God: For being with his people.
Offer Thanks: For the ways Christ has been present in your life.
Confess: Any fear that God may abandon you in a time of need.
Ask God: To open your eyes to his presence and his power.
THURS. OUCH! (the pruning) this also, being one of my favorite verses was a beautiful image and devotion from Ann on the great "I AM"

Reflect On: John 15:1 – 16.
Praise God: For sending his Son to be the True Vine through whom the world would be saved.
Offer Thanks: That Christ has made you a branch of the True Vine.
Confess: Any disobedience that makes it difficult for you to abide in the Vine.
Ask God: To prune you in whatever way is necessary so that you can be as fruitful as possible.
The kind of abiding that Jesus speaks of in John’s Gospel is a lifelong abiding accomplished through faith and obedience. Furthermore, we abide not as a single branch, isolated from others, but in union with Christ and with other believers. Together we are branches of “the true vine.”
It is no accident that Jesus uses the metaphor of a vine to describe himself and his disciples. In Palestine abundant vineyards were considered a sign of God’s favor. Vines, in fact, were labor intensive forms of cultivation that grew best in peacetime, producing grapes that could be eaten fresh or made into raisins, grape juice, wine, and even a jelly-like substance called honey. No wonder the vine was a symbol of peace and prosperity. Numerous times in the Old Testament, God had referred to Israel as a vine. But Israel was a wild vine that had failed to produce the rich harvest God intended (Isaiah 5:4). By calling himself the “true vine,” Jesus was saying that he was the true Israel. Jesus and those who belong to him will fulfill God’s plan for the world.
For each of us, abiding in the true vine is a lifelong, sometimes painful process. Like branches on a vine, we have to be pruned so that we can be more fruitful in the future than we have been in the past. Apart from Christ we shrivel and die. But united with him we experience the God-blessed life, which, as Paul told the Galatians, produces “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22 – 23). Indeed, we are called to bear fruit that will last.
Today, ask God for the grace to recognize your true purpose in life, which is not to be blessed but to become a blessing, bearing the sweetness of Christ to all who are hungry for him.
John 15:5 (45 kb)

HEAVENLY FATHER,
KEEP ME PRUNED
SO
I MAY BEAR MUCH FRUIT;
YOUR FRUIT,
THE FRUIT OF YOUR HOLY SPIRIT.

MAY I LIVE
THE TRUE PURPOSE
YOU GAVE ME
BY
YOUR GRACE.

MAY I LIVE
PURPOSEFULLY
AT ALL TIMES.

MAY I BLESS OTHERS
as
YOU HAVE BLESSED ME!

MAY I BE
THE SWEET FRAGRANCE
OF CHRIST
TO ALL
WHO HUNGER & THIRST.

THANK YOU FOR BEING THE
"GREAT I AM"

THANK YOU
FOR
WHO YOU ARE
AND
WHO YOU ARE
HELPING ME
TO
BECOME!


This is the last Name of Jesus in "Praying the Names of Jesus"... by Ann Spangler!
I think that Crosswalk.com will continue with Ann Spangler's other book,* "Praying the Names of God" or perhaps another. [Remember that Jill @ Forever n Ever n Always has been doing *this book-about 10 Names left].

If you'd like to share on "I AM", please share your link:


Sunday, June 20, 2010

PRAYING THE NAMES of JESUS: I AM

WEEK TWENTY SIX


The Name of Jesus for this week with Ann Spangler at Crosswalk.com
Hope you will join us each Friday(or anytime during that weekend) sharing from what we read or would like to share about the Name of Jesus for that week.


You may go HERE to find out more and follow along daily at Crosswalk. com with the devotional of Ann Spangler, "Praying the Names of Jesus


THE NAME
In Jesus we have the richest, most vivid picture of God imaginable. No longer does God seem implacably remote, displeased with the world he has made. Instead, he bends toward us, sharing our weakness and shouldering our burdens. Through the perfect offering of his life he becomes our Way back to the Father. He is the True Vine in which we abide, bearing fruit for God’s kingdom. He is the loving God who will never abandon us, but who will be present with us always, leading us to life eternal.
Key Scriptures

Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” Exodus 3:13 – 14
“You are not yet fifty years old,” the Jews said to him [Jesus], “and you have seen Abraham!” “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” John 8:57 – 58
Lord, Jesus, you are our great covenant-keeping God, the One who was, who is, and who is to come. You are the Resurrection and the Life, the True Vine, the Way, the great I AM. Help us, O Lord, to abide in you, bearing fruit that will last through the power of your Spirit both now and forever. Amen.


Sunday, June 13, 2010

PRAYING THE NAMES of JESUS:REDEEMER


WEEK TWENTY FIVE
*Added a very special video to this...because everyone thought of it now and I had it for later but I moved it here for us to enjoy with an old WFW I did...

The Name of Jesus for this week with Ann Spangler at Crosswalk.com





You may go HERE to find out more and follow along daily at Crosswalk. com with the devotional of Ann Spangler, "Praying the Names of Jesus" as Ann shares Our Redeemer!

The Name
Without a Redeemer willing and able to pay the high price necessary to liberate us from the power of sin, the story of our lives in this world would be nothing but a story of hopelessness. But because of Christ’s redemptive love, we look forward with hope to a day when the world itself will be completely liberated from the power of sin and death.
Until then we can express our faith in Christ by echoing the words of Scripture: “I know that my Redeemer lives and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And . . . in my flesh I will see God”
Job 19:25-26
Key Scripture
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Mark 10:45
Lord, you paid for me with the most valuable currency of all. May the investment you have made appreciate to your glory. Help me to live in a way that expresses your redeeming love so that many others may know you as their Lord and Redeemer. Amen.
I had this chosen for later this week, but since everyone is thinking of it, I added it here. Clearly this is what comes to many of us as we think of Our Redeemer!

I KNOW MY REDEEMER LIVES!
sweet word by
plus she signs (ASL) this song
(Nicole is just the first 5 min. or so)


from
"SISTERS in the SPIRIT"
tour in 2007

I'm so thankful for you all, my sisters in the spirit!!!