13 | March | 2011

Archive for March 13th, 2011

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

March 13, 2011

My Daily Prayers and Readings for 3/13/2011

< >< My Prayer >< >

Love is the greatest, Your love for us and through and in that love our love for those You have blessed us with – thank You!

Abba Father in the name of Christ Jesus who lives within me through the Holy Spirit I pray that You create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me, for my one walk in and with Jesus today. Asking that You bless me and mine in fulfillment of Your will and keep us from evil and pain; and if we get nothing else done this day, let us spend it loving You and others as You love us. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

< >< My Utmost for His Highest >< >

THE ABANDONMENT OF GOD

“God so loved the world that He gave. . .” John 3:16

Salvation is not merely deliverance from sin, nor the experience of personal holiness; the salvation of God is deliverance out of self entirely into union with Himself. My experimental knowledge of salvation will be along the line of deliverance from sin and of personal holiness; but salvation means that the Spirit of God has brought me into touch with God’s personality, and I am thrilled with something infinitely greater than myself, I am caught up into the abandonment of God.

To say that we are called to preach holiness or sanctification, is to get into a side eddy. We are called to proclaim Jesus Christ. The fact that He saves from sin and makes us holy is part of the effect of the wonderful abandonment of God.

Abandonment never produces the consciousness of its own effort, because the whole life is taken up with the One to Whom we abandon. Beware of talking about abandonment if you know nothing about it, and you will never know anything about it until you have realized that John 3:16 means that God gave Himself absolutely. In our abandonment we give ourselves over to God just as God gave Himself for us, without any calculation. The consequence of abandonment never enters into our outlook because our life is taken up with Him.

< >< Today in the Word Devotion >< >

Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire. Malachi 3:2

Our culture promotes meaningless apologies: “I’m sorry if you took that the wrong way”; “I apologize if anyone was hurt”; “Mistakes were made.” The reality of our sinfulness and God’s holiness doesn’t allow wiggle room for insincere confessions like, “God, I’m sorry if I sinned in some way.” When confronted with the reality of sinful actions and attitudes, our only response should be like Ezra, to throw ourselves before the Lord in repentance and confession, knowing that He is gracious (v. 8).

< >< Today’s Mass Readings >< >

Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7
Psalm 51:3-6, 12-13, 17
Romans 5:12-19
Matthew 4:1-11

< >< Today’s Video Reflection >< >

Our wish, our object, our chief preoccupation must be to form Jesus in ourselves, to make his spirit, his devotion, his affections, his desires, and his disposition live and reign there. All our religious exercises should be directed to this end. It is the work which God has given us to do unceasingly. — St. John Eudes

< >< Online Sources for Devotion Scripture References & Daily Mass Readings >< >

Link to Devotion Scriptures unless noted from New International Version BibleGateway.com

Links for today’s readings from USCCB using the New American Bible or

Links for today’s readings from EWTN using the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

For audio link to today’s readings from USCCB using the New American Bible click:

http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/11_03_13.mp3

For link to today’s video Reflection http://www.usccb.org/video/reflections.shtml

< >< Bible Online >< >

BibleGateway.com

just1word.com

YouVersion.com

< >< Other sources of inspiration on God’s Word >< >

Christianity – Faith in God and Jesus Christ

EWTN

Light Source – Christian Video Broadcasts and Ministry Television Online

Moody Ministries – From the Word to Life

Moody Radio Online

Sermon Index

Today in the Word Radio Online

Today in the Word

Today in the Word Devotional

< >< One Walk – Continuity in Change >< >

See what I’m thinking, listening and reading visit www.RichardAngulo.com follow me on Twitter @richardangulo

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Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

March 13, 2011

My Daily Prayers and Readings for 3/12/2011

< >< My Prayer >< >

Let peace and love reign in me today, let Your presence and my contentment with that presence be visible to all.

< >< My Utmost for His Highest >< >

ABANDONMENT

“Then Peter began to say unto Him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed Thee. . . .” Mark 10:28

Our Lord replies in effect, that abandonment is for Himself, and not for what the disciples themselves will get from it. Beware of an abandonment which has the commercial spirit in it – “I am going to give myself to God because I want to be delivered from sin, because I want to be made holy.” All that is the result of being right with God, but that spirit is not of the essential nature of Christianity. Abandonment is not for anything at all. We have got so commercialized that we only go to God for something from Him, and not for Himself. It is like saying, “No, Lord, I don’t want Thee, I want myself; but I want myself clean and filled with the Holy Ghost; I want to be put in Thy show room and be able to say – ‘This is what God has done for me.'” If we only give up something to God because we want more back, there is nothing of the Holy Spirit in our abandonment; it is miserable commercial self-interest. That we gain heaven, that we are delivered from sin, that we are made useful to God – these things never enter as considerations into real abandonment, which is a personal sovereign preference for Jesus Christ Himself.

When we come up against the barriers of natural relationship, where is Jesus Christ? Most of us desert Him – “Yes, Lord, I did hear Thy call; but my mother is in the road, my wife, my self-interest, and I can go no further.” “Then,” Jesus says, “you cannot be My disciple.”

The test of abandonment is always over the neck of natural devotion. Go over it, and God’s own abandonment will embrace all those you had to hurt in abandoning. Beware of stopping short of abandonment to God. Most of us know abandonment in vision only.

< >< Today in the Word Devotion >< >

The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him. Ezra 8:22

Ezra was not being foolhardy here, taking an unnecessary risk and claiming that God would protect him (see Matt. 4:5-7). Instead, he was refusing to put himself in the king’s debt in a way that would compromise his testimony about God. Whom do we trust? Do we put more faith in politicians, doctors, or bankers than we do the Lord? Are we more willing to fret about our health or investments than we are to fast and pray? We can trust in God, because He alone is always faithful.