Joshua de Quilettes

Jerusalem – the capital of the State of Israel and ancient capital of the Kingdom of Israel. Founded by King David, Jerusalem is sacred to the three principal monotheistic faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Jerusalem is old. In 1996 Jerusalem celebrated its 3,000th birthday. Jerusalem is young. 30% of Jerusalem’s population is under the age of 12.

Jerusalem is a city full of both antique sites and modern attractions. The walls of the Old City surround an inner world of faith, ancient culture and mystery. Yet within a relatively short distance one encounters the world of high technology, cutting-edge scientific research and 21st century design.

Jerusalem is the seat of Israel’s government, the Knesset, her Supreme Court and the location of her largest educational institution, the Hebrew University.

Jerusalem is noted for is unique beauty complimented by its agglomeration of sights, smells and sounds. These can be experienced in a stroll through either the Old City shuk or West Jerusalem’s Machane Yehuda market. But it is also is a city filled with gardens, parks, sculpture, outdoor cafes, museums and music.

Tradition says “Ten parts of beauty were bestowed upon the earth; of these, nine were given to Jerusalem”.

WE WILL NEVER KNOW THE JOY of self-sacrifice until we surrender in every detail of our lives. Yet self-sacrifice is the most difficult thing for us to do. We make it conditional by saying, “I’ll surrender if . . . !” Or we approach it by saying, “I suppose I have to devote my life to God.” We will never find the joy of self-sacrifice in either of these ways.

But as soon as we totally surrender, abandoning ourselves to Jesus, the Holy Spirit give us the taste of His joy. The ultimate goal of self-sacrifice is to lay down our lives for our Friend. *

When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, our greatest desire is to lay down our lives for Jesus. Yet the thought of self-sacrifice never even crosses our minds, because sacrifice is the Holy Spirit’s ultimate expression of love.

Our Lord is our example of a life of self-sacrifice, and he perfectly exemplified, ** “I delight to do Your will, O my God . . .” He endured tremendous personal sacrifice, yet with overflowing joy. Have I ever yielded myself in absolute submission to Jesus Christ? If He is not the One to whom I am looking for direction and guidance, then there is no benefit in my sacrifice. But when my sacrifice is made with my eyes focused on Him, slowly but surely His molding influence becomes evident in my life. ***

Beware of letting your natural desires hinder your walk in love before God. One of the cruelest ways to kill natural love is through the rejection that results from having built the love on natural desires. But the one true desire of a saint is the Lord Jesus. Love for God is not something sentimental or emotional – for a saint to love as God loves is the most practical thing imaginable.

“I have called you friend. . .” Our friendship with Jesus is based on the new life He created for us, which has no resemblance or attraction to our old life but only to the life of God. It is a life that is completely humble, pure, and devoted to God.

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* John 15:13-15 NKJV

¹³ Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. ¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.

** Psalm 40:8 NKJV

⁸ I delight to do Your will, O my God,
And Your law is within my heart.”

*** Hebrews 12: 1-2 NKJV

The Race of Faith

¹ Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

from My Utmost for His Highest

MANHATTAN DECLARATION: A CALL OF CHRISTIAN CONSCIENCE

PREAMBLE
Christians are heirs of a 2,000-year tradition of proclaiming God’s word, seeking justice in our societies, resisting tyranny, and reaching out with compassion to the poor, oppressed and suffering.

While fully acknowledging the imperfections and shortcomings of Christian institutions and communities in all ages, we claim the heritage of those Christians who defended innocent life by rescuing discarded babies from trash heaps in Roman cities and publicly denouncing the Empire’s sanctioning of infanticide. We remember with reverence those believers who sacrificed their lives by remaining in Roman cities to tend the sick and dying during the plagues, and who died bravely in the coliseums rather than deny their Lord.

manhattan declaration

 

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