Tim Cameron Writings

Raise Your Hand If You Want Correction.

Raise Your Hand If You Want Correction!

Wouldn’t you love it if people joyfully received correction when they missed the mark in one area of their life? What a difference it would make in the culture of any Christian fellowship Wow!

I recently received a very pointed rebuke. It has set me to ponder why I don’t get more of corrections in life. Seriously, it is not because I don’t need correction on a regular basis.

Who likes correction, rebuke, reproof, or to be evaluated? You are at work and make the announcement, “I’ll be setting up evaluations this week; who wants to be first?” Do the hands just shoot up all over the place?

It has been my mantra all my professional life, “You tell everything about a person by the way they receive correction.” Try this on for size, When was the last time you were corrected by someone, anyone? What was your reaction?

We are so reticent today to give people correction. Our culture has this “hypersensitivity to offense” thing going on. Everyone treads so lightly; we don’t dare want to offend anyone. And, who am I to give a word of correction to a friend, colleague, Christian brother or anyone close? It’s my observation that this sensitivity to potential offense has bled into the management style of most pastors and Christian leaders.

Here’s the problem. We don’t see correction, reproof, or rebuke in the proper light. We need “spiritual eyes” to see the beauty of it. When rebuke comes, it is a rare opportunity to move up in the Lord. It is advancement. It is God’s plan, from His heart, His method for impacting our generations to follow. It is His way to call people into their destiny and completion (Heb. 7:25) Yes; it is that pervasive and poignant to our life in Christ.

Can you see correction as an encouragement? Truth is, it should be a great encouragement to any son or daughter of the Lord. He is the author of correction. It flows out of His heart with love and compassion. It is His pathway for us. “All the paths of the Lord are loving-kindness and truth” (Ps. 25:10).

“For the commandment is a lamp, and the teaching is light; and reproofs for discipline are the way of life” (Proverbs 6:23).

“He is one the path of life who heeds instruction, but he who forsakes reproof goes astray” (Proverbs 10:17).

2.1 2020 Morning Prayer Friday

Eternal Father of my soul, let my first thought today be of Thee, let my first impulse be to worship Thee, my first speech be Thy name, let my first action be to kneel before Thee in prayer.

For Thy perfect wisdom and perfect goodness;
For love wherewith Thou lovest humankind;
For the love wherewith thou lovest me;
For the great and mysterious opportunity of my life;
For the indwelling of Thy Holy Spirit in my hear;
for the sevenfold gifts of Thy Spirit.

Yet let me not, when this morning prayer is said, think my worship has ended and spent the day in forgetfulness of Thee.

Keep me chase in thought;
Keep me temperate and truthful in speech;
Keep me humble in the estimation of myself;
Keep me faithful and diligent in work;
Keep me loyal to every hallowed memory;
Keep me mindful of my destiny as a child.

1.31. 2020 Morning Prayer Friday

All hail, O Lord, my King! Reverently would I greet The at the beginning of another Day! All praise and love and loyalty be unto Thee, O Lord most high!

Fobid, O Lord that my thoughts today should be wholly occupied with the world’s passing show. Seeing that that in Thy lovingkindness Thou hast given me the power to lift my mind to the contemplation of things unseen and eternal.

Forbid that I should remain content with things of sense and time. Grant rather that each day may do something so to strengthen my hold upon the unseen world, so to increase my sense of its reality. So to attach my heart to its holy interests that, as the end of my earthly life draws ever nearer, I may not grow to be a part of these fleeting earthly surroundings, but instead grow more and more conformed to the life of the world to come.

O Thou who seest and knowest all things, give me grace, I pray The so to know The and so to see Thee that in knowing Thee I may know myself even as I am most perfectly-known of Thee.

Cause my thoughts to dwell much today on the life and death of Jesus Christ, my Lord, so that I may see all things in the light of redemption which Thou has granted me in His name. Amen.

What is a touchstone?

Here’s what the dictionary says, “a standard, a benchmark by which everything else can be measured or judged.”

It is my prayer that the following words will provoke you to pray more.

There is an infallible touchstone that will guide you to the spirit of prayer in your life. However this touchstone comes with monumental requirements. It demands that you pull away from the world and all activities. You must cry out with all that is in you that your mind would be renewed and every thought taken captive (2 Cor. 10:3-5).

With all your strength, spend this day as continually as you can in one kind of prayer to God (Jer. 29:13). Present this prayer frequently during the day on your knees, but whether sitting, standing, or walking, always be inwardly yearning and deeply praying this one prayer to God. Pray that the Holy Spirit would show you and then take from your heart every form of pride (Phil 2:8). Pray that He would awaken you in the depths of humility so that you will be open to His light and His Holy Spirit. Reject every thought except that of praying in this matter from the bottom of your heart.

1.30. 2020 Morning Prayer Thursday

Creator Spirit, who broadest everlastingly over the lands and waters of the earth, enduing them with forms and colors which no human skill can copy, give me today, I beseech Thee, the mind and heart to rejoice in Thy creation.

Forbid that I should walk through Your beauty with unseeing eyes.

Forbid that lure of the market place should steal my heart away from the love of open acres.

Forbid that under the low roof of the office, I should ever forget Thy vast overarching sky.

Forbid that when all Thy creatures are greeting the morning with songs and shouts of joy, I alone should wear a dull and sullen face.

Let the energy and vigor, which is Thy wisdom Thou hast infused into every living thing stir today within my being.

And above all, give me the grace to use these beauties of the earth without harm or taking advantage thereof.

O Thou, who divine tenderness’s outsoar the narrow loves and charities of earth, grant me today a kind and gentle heart towards all things that live.

1. 29. 2020 Evening Wednesday

O God, immortal, eternal, invisible, I remember with gladness and thanksgiving all that Thou hast been to this world of men:
Companion of the brave:
Upholder of the loyal:
Light of the wanderer:
Joy of the pilgrim:
Guide of the pioneer:
Helper of laboring men:
Refuge of the broken-hearted men:
Deliver of the oppressed:
Strength of the victorious:
Ruler of rulers:
Friend of the poor:
Rescuer of the perishing:
Hope of the dying:

Give me faith now to believe that Thou canst be all in all to me, according to my need, if only I renounce all proud self-dependence and put my trust in Thee.

Frobit it, O Father, that the difficulty of living well should ever tempt me to fall into any heedlessness or despair.

Show Thy lovingkindness tonight, O Lord, to all who stand in need of Thy help.

Why do some fall away from Christ?

At this time in my life, I observe around me those once passionate, Jesus movement hippies, who have now fallen away. I must confess, but for the grace of God, it could be me also. And, then there are the Christian marriages–far too many–that have failed. In asking myself this question, “Why have so many failed?”, I stumbled upon Andrew Murray’s answer.

Why Do Some Fall Away?
Many Christians backslide because they are not taught this one truth. It causes them not to be able to stand against temptation or their old nature. This one condition is the answer: Time alone with Jesus Christ every day. All Christians, young or old, must learn this.
The Three Persons in the Godhead are the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—each one is different from the other. God desires to reveal Himself as a person. God will reveal Himself to us as we are called to enter into fellowship with Him. When you pray, you must do two things: 1) Shut the world out; withdraw from all the thoughts and concerns of the day. 2) Shut yourself alone with God to pray in secret. Let this be your chief object in prayer: to realize the presence of your heavenly Father. Let your goal be: “Alone with God.”
Andrew Murray

1. 29. 2020 Morning Prayer Wednesday

Almighty and most merciful Father, whose power and whose love eternally work together for the protection of Thy children, give me grace this day to put my trust in Thee.

O Father, I pray–

for faith to believe that Thou dost rule the world in truth and righteousness:

for faith to believe that if I seek first Thy Kingdom and righteousness, thou wilt provide for all my lesser needs:

for faith to take no anxious thought for the morrow, but to believe in the continuance of Thy past mercies:

for faith to believe in the power of Thy love to melt my hard heart and swallow up my sin:

for faith to put my own trust in love rather than in force: for faith to believe in the ultimate victory of Thy Holy Spirit:

For faith to leave in Thy hands the welfare of all my dear ones.

Father, help me to live this day to the full, being true to you in every way. Jesus, help me to give myself away to others, being kind to everyone I meet. Spirit, help me to love the lost, proclaiming Christ in everything I do and say.

1.28. 2020 Evening Prayer

O unapproachable Light, how can I fold these guilty hands before Thee? How dan I pray to thee with lips that have spoken false and churlish words?

A heart hardened with vindictive passions:
An unruly tongue:
A fretful disposition:
An unwillingness to bear the burdens of others:
An undue willingness to let others carry my burdens:
Fine words hiding shabby thoughts:
A friendly face masking a cold heart:
Many neglected opportunities and many uncultivated talents:
Much love and beauty unappreciated and many blessings unacknowledged:
All of these, I confess to Thee, O God.

I thank Thee, O loving Father that through all the ages You have shown Thyself accessible to the prayers of erring mortals such as I; and I praise They name that in the gospel of Jesus Christ Thou has opened up a new and living way into Thy presence.

So let me lie down tonight thinking, not of myself and my affairs, or my hopes and fears, or even of my sins in Thy sight, but of others who need Thy help and of the work that I can do for their sakes in the vineyard of Thy world. Amen.

John Ballie Diary of a Private Prayer

1.28. 2020 Morning Prayer Tuesday

Tim Cameron Writings

Let me now go forth, O Lord my God, to the work of another day, still surrounded by Thy wonderful loving-kindness, still pledged to Thy Loyal service, still standing in Thy strength and not my own.

Let me today be a Christian not only in my words but also in my deeds:

Let me follow bravely in the footsteps of my Master, wherever they may lead:

Let me be hard and stern with myself:

Let there be no self-pity or self-indulgence in my life today:

Let my thinking be keen, my speech frank and open, and my actions courageous and decisive.

I pray for all who would be faced with any great decision:

for all who will today be engaged in settling affairs of moment in the lives of men and nations:

for all who are moulding public opinion in our time:

for all who write what other people read:

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