Trina's Snippets

Today as I was doing my Bible study, Living the Spirit-Filled Life, by Jack Hayford, we studied a scripture that has meant much to me over the years. Reading it slowly, breaking it down is like looking into the brazen laver as described by Juanita Bynum in The Threshing Floor. It is like looking in a mirror to see where we are and where we are not reflecting Christ in our lives, how He not only lives in us but through us.

Colossians 3:1-17

NIV

¹Since, then, you have been raised with Christ,

set your hearts on things above,

where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

²Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

³For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

⁴When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

⁵Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature:

sexual immorality,

impurity,

lust,

evil desires

and greed, which is idolatry.

⁶Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.

⁷You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.

⁸But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these:

anger,

rage,

malice,

slander,

and filthy language from your lips.

⁹Do not lie to each other,

since you have taken off your old self with its practices

¹⁰and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

¹¹Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

¹²Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with

compassion,

kindness,

humility,

gentleness

and patience.

¹³Bear with each other

and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.

Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

¹⁴And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

¹⁵Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.

And be thankful.

¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom,

and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

¹⁷And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

*********

*"Snippets"--clips, morsels, fragments from something I've read recently...something that has ministered to me or someone else.

They are meant to encourage, challenge, or cause us to ponder.

They may even cause you to run to the nearest bookstore and pick up a copy of the book they are snipped from.

If you forward "Snippets" to anyone, please send it in its entirety, not deleting the original source or author.

If you are on the "Snippet" email list and wish to be removed, please email me.

If you would like to be added to the Snippet list, just email me at the below address.

krodgers5@suddenlink.net

Snippets birthed May 10, 2003

Snippet, Holiness Is What I Long For

Trina's Snippets
Holiness
Nancy Leigh DeMoss

“The message of repentance and holiness needs to be proclaimed, heard, and heeded among God’s people in every generation. It must become more than a theological tenet that we politely nod agreement to; it needs to transform the way we think and the way we live.”

“True holiness is the pathway to fullness of life and joy. To be holy is to be wholly satisfied with Christ. Above all, it is to reflect the beauty and the splendor of our holy Lord in this dark world. In pursuing holiness, you will fulfill and experience all that God had in mind when He created you.”

“A commitment to be holy is a commitment to be clean through and through--to have no unholy part. True holiness starts on the inside—with our thoughts, attitudes, values, and motives—those innermost parts of our hearts that only God can see. It also affects our outward and visible behavior: ‘Be holy in all your conduct.’ 1 Peter 1:15

“This passage for purity [1 Peter 1:15-previous paragraph] is what I saw in my dad’s example that made holiness so compelling to me as a young person. Of course, he often failed (and was willing to admit it when he did); but he sought to live a life that was morally upright and completely above reproach; in the way he ran his business,
used his time,
conducted himself with members of the opposite sex,
treated family members and employees,
talked about other people – [including his life mate and children,]
responded to critics,
spent his money,
and honored the Lord’s Day;
in his work habits,
leisure activities,
and entertainment choices—what he read and listened to and watched.
He so loved God that he wanted holiness to characterize every area of his life.”

“Holiness and joy are inseparable companions.”

*"Snippets"--clips, morsels, fragments from something I've read recently...something that has ministered to me or someone else.
They are meant to encourage, challenge, or cause us to ponder.
They may even cause you to run to the nearest bookstore and pick up a copy of the book they are snipped from.

If you forward "Snippets" to anyone, please send it in its entirety, not deleting the original source or author.

If you are on the "Snippet" email list and wish to be removed, please email me. If you would like to be added to the Snippet list, just email me at the below address.
krodgers5@suddenlink.net
Snippets birthed May 10, 2003

He is our true Treasure

Trina's Snippets

My friend, Lisa Shaw, has prompted me to read a book I’ve long had, but have never read until now. This will be one of my life-time favorites

The Pursuit of God
A. W. Tozer

“The man who has
God for his treasure has all things in One.
Many ordinary treasures may be
denied him,
or if he is allowed to have them,
the enjoyment of them will
be so tempered that they will never be necessary to his happiness.
Or if he
must see them go,
one after one,
he will scarcely feel a sense of loss,
for having the Source of all things he has in One all satisfaction,
all
pleasure,
all delight.
Whatever he may lose he has actually lost
nothing,
For he now has it all in One,
and he has it purely,
legitimately, and forever.”

“…in Him we shall find that for which we have all our lives been secretly longing.”

*"Snippets"--clips, morsels, fragments from something I've read recently...something that has ministered to me or someone else.
They are meant to encourage, challenge, or cause us to ponder.
They may even cause you to run to the nearest bookstore and pick up a copy of the book they are snipped from.

If you forward "Snippets" to anyone, please send it in its entirety, not deleting the original source or author.

If you are on the "Snippet" email list and wish to be removed, please email me.
If you would like to be added to the Snippet list, just email me at the below address.
krodgers5@suddenlink.net
Snippets birthed May 10, 2003

Snippet, Our Conscience

Trina's Snippets
Esther, It’s Tough Being a Woman
Beth Moore

“We’ve each been hurt by someone, but no one on earth has hurt us more than those who seem callous to it.
We’re acquainted with trying to deal with the wrongdoing of another while they go on with life, oblivious to our pain.
We fight an urge to corner them in a public place and scream, ‘Don’t you get it?’ If they won’t judge themselves, the fleshly part of us would gladly enlist a group to help us judge them.

The situation becomes even more complicated when you sense that the very person who helped your life to fall apart wonders why you can’t get it together.
There’s nothing quite like someone who hurt you judging you for being hurt.

Now take the scenario I just described a step further.
Imagine how we’d feel about the person appearing more than unconcerned.
What if the person were smug and insidious enough to celebrate our harm?
One of the hardest facts of life to accept is that some people are not sorry for the anguish they’ve caused.
The most twisted among them might even be glad.

…Let’s learn to be thankful every time we feel sorry for even our smallest offense toward someone.
God designed conviction to be uncomfortable so that we’d hurry to repentance and find relief and restoration. Feeling is a good thing, Beloved.
Nothing is more frightening than a seared conscience.”

*"Snippets"--clips, morsels, fragments from something I've read recently...something that has ministered to me or someone else.
They are meant to encourage, challenge, or cause us to ponder.
They may even cause you to run to the nearest bookstore and pick up a copy of the book they are snipped from.

If you forward "Snippets" to anyone, please send it in its entirety, not deleting the original source or author.

If you are on the "Snippet" email list and wish to be removed, please email me.
If you would like to be added to the Snippet list, just email me at the below address.
krodgers5@suddenlink.net
Snippets birthed May 10, 2003

The Power of Your Words

Trina's Snippets
The Power of Your Words
Robert Morris

“Psalm 100 gives us clear instructions for coming into the presence of God. We’re told to come into His presence with singing, to enter His gates with thanksgiving, to come into His courts with praise. Singing, thanksgiving, and praise---all these actions are expressed through words.
The reason satan doesn’t want you to be vocal in your praise to God is because he knows that those kinds of words connect you to God in awesome ways. The simple truth is that the only people who experience the full glory and joy of God’s presence are thankful people.
Satan will do everything he can to discourage you from expressing gratitude and praise. Frankly, he wants you to be a grumbler. Why? Because grumbling is an expression of unbelief and ingratitude (two big ways to short-circuit God’s power in your life.) Praise on the other hand, is an expression of faith and gratitude

“Snippets”—clips, morsels, fragments from something I’ve read
recently…something that has ministered to me or someone else. They are meant to encourage, challenge, or cause us to ponder. They may even cause you to run to the nearest bookstore and pick up a copy of the book they are snipped from.

If you forward “Snippets” to anyone, please send it in its entirety, not deleting the ‘original source of author’”.

Snippet: True Brokenness

Trina's Snippets
Brokenness, The Heart God Revives
Nancy Leigh DeMoss

“TRUE BROKENNESS:
Brokenness is not a feeling or an emotion. Rather, it requires a choice, an act of the will. Further, this choice is not primarily a onetime experience, though there may be profound and life-changing spiritual turning points in our lives. True brokenness is an ongoing, constant way of life. True brokenness is a lifestyle--a moment-by-moment lifestyle of agreeing with God about the true condition of my heart and life-not as everyone else thinks it is but as He knows it to be.

“Brokenness is the shattering of my self-will—the absolute surrender of my will to the will of God. It is saying, ‘Yes, Lord!’—no resistance—no chafing, no stubbornness—simply submitting myself to His direction and will in my life.

“Contrite is one word that is used in the Old Testament to speak of brokenness. That word suggests something that is crushed into small particles or ground into powder, as a rock is pulverized. What is it that God wants to pulverize in us? It is not our spirit He wants to break, nor is it our essential personhood. He wants to break our self-will.

“When we speak of a horse being ‘broken’, we don’t mean that someone physically breaks its legs; we mean that the horse’s will has been broken—that it is now compliant and submissive to the wishes of its rider. In the same sense, true brokenness is the breaking of my self-will, so that the life and spirit of the Lord Jesus may be released through me. It is my humble and obedient response to the conviction of God’s Word and His Holy Spirit.

“Brokenness is the stripping of self-reliance and independence from God. The broken person has no confidence in his own righteousness or his own works, but he is cast in total dependence upon the grace of God working in and through him.

“Brokenness is the softening of the soil of my heart—it is the breaking up of any clods of resistance that could keep the seed from penetrating and taking root. I believe one of the reasons many pastors faithfully preach the Word week after week and see so little fruit in the lives of their listeners is that the soil in many of our hearts has become so hard and fallow that the seed cannot penetrate. Believers with broken, contrite hearts are receptive and responsive to the Word.

“As wax or clay must be soft and pliable in order to be molded by the artist’s hand, so the broken, contrite heart is easily molded by the hand of God and does not harden itself against the circumstances God chooses to mold it in.”

“You and I will never meet God in revival until we first meet Him in brokenness. Our families will never be whole until husbands and wives, moms and dads, and young people have been broken. Our churches will never be the vibrant witness God intended them to be in the world until their members-pastors and laypeople alike-have experienced true brokenness.”

“Snippets”—clips, morsels, fragments from something

I’ve read recently…something that has ministered to

me or someone else. They are meant to encourage,

challenge, or cause us to ponder. They may even
cause you to run to the nearest bookstore and

pick up a copy of the book they are snipped from.

If you forward “Snippets” to anyone,

please send it in its entirety, not
deleting the ‘original source of author’”.

To See Sin From God's Heart

Trina's Snippets
Sparkling Gems from the Greek
January 30
Rick Renner

“Prayer for Today…
Lord, help me to see sin the way You see it so that I have no stomach for it in my life. I know that as long as I view sin [my sin] only as a mistake or a weakness, I will be tempted to tolerate it. So I ask You to teach me to see sin exactly the way You do so my desire for change will grow. Holy Spirit, help me see the truth and know the proper steps I need to take in order to make those needed changes.
I pray this in Jesus’ name!”

*"Snippets"--clips, morsels, fragments from something I've read recently...something that has ministered to me or someone else. They are meant to encourage, challenge, and cause us to ponder. They may even cause you to run to the nearest Christian bookstore and pick up a copy of the book they are snipped from.

If you forward "Snippets" to anyone, please send it in its entirety, not deleting the original source or author.

In The Secret Place With God

Trina's Snippets
Daily in His Presence
Andrew Murray

Matthew 6:6 “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

“Christ longed for His disciples to know God as their Father and have fellowship with Him within the secret place. In His own life, Jesus considered such communion with His Father to be indispensable and found in it great happiness. Thus he longs that we should understand that we cannot be dedicated disciples without daily communion with the Father who eagerly waits for us in secret.

God desires to draw us away from the world and our self-absorption. He offers us the wonder of an intimate relationship with Him. If only God’s children would take the privilege to heart!

Believers of the Old Testament enjoyed this experience. David often wrote poetry and sang of the Lord being a secret place of refuge for him. How much more should Christians in the New Covenant value this intimate relationship with their Father. We need to commune with our heavenly Father regularly, day by day, that our spiritual life might be restored and renewed.

We have died with Christ and are made one with Him in His resurrection-one plant, one tree. As the roots of a tree are hidden underground, so the roots of our daily lives are hidden deep in God. Take time, therefore, to ponder these words of David: ‘How great is your goodness…in the sight of men on those who take refuge in You’ (Psalm 31:19).”

“Thank you, Lord, for those times I spend with You in the secret place of prayer, where I can recover, be renewed, and be encouraged.”

"Snippets"--clips, morsels, fragments from something I've

read recently...something that has ministered to me or

someone else. They may simply be something God has

impressed upon my heart to send. They are meant to

encourage, challenge, and cause us to ponder. They may

even cause you to run to the nearest Christian bookstore

and pick up a copy of the book they are snipped from.

If you forward "Snippets" to anyone,

please send it in its entirety,
not deleting the original source or author.

Grandma Clara

Trina's Snippets

Crazy Love
Francis Chan

“Have you ever met someone who was utterly and desperately in love with Jesus? I have. My wife’s grandma Clara.

“Every morning Clara would kneel by her bed and spend precious hours with her Savior and Lover; later in the day, just the sight of that corner of her bed would bring joy-filled tears and a deep anticipation of the next morning spent kneeling in His presence.”

“In his book, God Is the Gospel, John Piper essentially asks whether we are in love with God:
‘The critical question for our generation-and for every generation-is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disaster, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there?’”

From Trina: When I read the above from Francis Chan’s book, my first thought when reading about Grandma Clara, was “Oh, to have that kind of passion and intimacy with my Lord." And I wrote, “I can’t imagine the depth of that joy. Father, for this to describe my life would be my greatest joy. I do cherish my time in prayer and meditation and study with You and when I’m not in my prayer room, I am filled with emptiness and longing.” As I read the second paragraph, the quote from John Piper’s book, I wrote in my journal. “Lord, as I read this a hole swelled up from inside me as an appalled unfiltered, “NO” jumped from my lips. It was a shocking question. Heaven would not be heaven without Jesus.”

And even to feel as I do, it is still so much less than He deserves. I pray where ever each of us are in our walk with God, that we will never be completely satisfied, but pursue a greater intimacy with Him every single day of our lives.

*"Snippets"--clips, morsels, fragments from something

I've read recently...something that has ministered to me

or someone else. They may simply be something God has

impressed upon my heart to send. They are meant

to encourage, challenge, and cause us to ponder.

They may even cause you to run to the nearest

Christian bookstore and pick up a copy

of the book they are snipped from.
If you forward "Snippets" to anyone,

please send it in its entirety,

not deleting the original source or author.

Scripture for Memory and Meditation #3 (#1 and #2)

Scripture for Memory and Meditation #3
Song of Solomon 2:14 NIV
"Show me Your face,
Let me hear Your voice;
for Your voice is sweet,
and Your face is lovely."

I don't know how many of you have been blessed to be in a Beth Moore study, but I know I have been over and over! Beth has a blog that she and her two young married/mom daughters write on. I found it last week. I've been blessed, challenged, and entertained already. I'm sending you the link that begins in January, 2009. They are even doing a scripture memory "thingy". I think she posts those on the 1st and 15th. I'm starting with January 1 and trying to catch up to date on the blog so I can follow what's going on. It may take me a couple of weeks to get up-to-date, but it's been fun. Thought some of you might enjoy their short blogs during spare minutes of your day. http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html

I'm playing catch-up so here are my first two scriptures to memorize so I can memorize 24 scriptures from God's Word by the end of the year.


Scripture for Memory and Meditation #1
"Isaiah 33:6 NET
"He is your constant source of stability;
He abundantly provides safety and great wisdom;
He gives all this to those who fear Him."

Scripture for Memory and Meditation #2
Psalm 63:6 NIV
"On my bed I remember You. I think of You through the watches of the night."

ABOUT SNIPPETS

I send out an email about once a week (no regular schedule) called "Trina's Snippets". It began in 2003 when I was reading and thought of all the insights I've received from reading Christian writers. I've always highlighted and underlined things that stood out to me so I decided to send a short quote to friends every so often. That list of recipients has grown and many, if not most, of the people I've never met. Some of those have since emailed me and we've become friends through email. It's been a real blessing to me. I'm inserting into this post one of the recent Snippets. It is a prayer by A.W. Tozer from "The Pursuit of God". I think it is a beautiful expression from a hungry heart.

Trina's Snippets
The Pursuit of God
A. W. Tozer

“O God, I have tasted Your goodness,

and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more.
I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace.
I am ashamed of my lack of desire.
O God, the Triune God, I want to want You;
I long to be filled with longing;
I thirst to be made more thirsty still.
Show me Your glory, I pray, that so I may know You indeed.
Begin in mercy a new work of love within me.
Say to my soul, `Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.'
Then give me grace to rise and follow You up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long.
In Jesus' name, Amen.”

*"Snippets"--clips, morsels, fragments from something
I've read recently...something that has ministered to me
or someone else. They may simply be something God has
impressed upon my heart to send. They are meant
to encourage, challenge, and cause us to ponder.
They may even cause you to run to the nearest
Christian bookstore and pick up a copy
of the book they are snipped from.

If you forward "Snippets" to anyone,
please send it in its entirety,
not deleting the original source or author.