Godly Principles

Dear Grandkids, Part 2

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Principle1, the first K- Keep God First:

Remember that God is the one who can direct your path to His ideal plan for you. Pausing to give His Spirit a minute to instruct your heart before making a rash move that may do harm to you or someone else will protect you and keep you on a good path.

Of course keeping God first means that you must know His ways so you may know Him that you may walk in His ways (Ex. 33). It means that you must come into personal understanding of Who God is and surrender yourself to Him, not only recognizing that He is God, but that He is Lord and Master, having paid the price for you through Jesus the Savior. If you have not surrendered to His Lordship, you will find it difficult to Keep God First.

If there is any question about the sincerity of your relationship with Him, you need to talk to one of your parents, me, or someone of true faith who can help you come into the assurance of this vital Relationship.

Building this relationship with Him as Lord means you will need to commit to daily reading of the Scriptures found in the Holy Bible. There are teachings there that, with the help of the Spirit to teach you, will give you wisdom for making the best decisions. One recommendation I really like where the reading of scripture is concerned is that you read scripture using the following reading plan – 5 times through the New Testament, 1 time cover to cover; repeat as follows:

First Reading – John through Revelation

Second Reading – Matthew, skip to Acts through Revelation

Third Reading – Mark, skip to Acts through Revelation

Fourth Reading – Luke, skip to Acts through Revelation

Fifth Reading – John through Revelation

Sixth Reading – Genesis through Revelation

Repeat cycle.

This cycle allows you to get a firm understanding of the New Testament that will aid in better understanding the Old Testament.

If you will study God’s word, seeking to truly KNOW HIM, He will send His Spirit to instruct you and make Himself known. My life-verse, the one I am most inspired by and strive to attain to is Philippians 3:10-11, Amplified version. I hope that you will make this your goal for life as well:

“For my determined purpose is that I may know Him, that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly, and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection, which it exerts over believers, and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed in spirit into His likeness, even to His death, in the hope that, if possible I may attain to the spiritual and moral resurrection that lifts me out from among the dead, even while in the body.”

Godly Principles

Dear Grandkids, part 1

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The challenge:

 

Hello, Beloved. Meems here with a heart full of things I want you to know. I am writing this to several of you with plans for it to be passed on to others of my babes as they get old enough to hear, and with hope that you will pass these insights on to friends now, and to your children in the future, as opportunity comes to do so.

We live in such a messed up world that sometimes it can be difficult to know the path ahead of us. You each have already experienced some challenges that have you standing in places of decision-time. As you get older and begin to leave the protective custody of your parents, it will be important for you to know how to make wise and good choices.

As a grandmother watching a world filled with news of drug abuse at record highs, peer pressure like never known before to do things that are not good things to be involved in, sexual perversion and sin rampant in our society, all effecting young lives at younger and younger ages, it is a concern to my heart that you understand some basic truths. I know that your parents try daily to impart these things to your hearts, but I also know that as your grandparent, it is my responsibility before God to help them to do that.

Awhile back I had this conversation with one of you in person. But you are all so scattered and busy in life, that opportunity for a face to face conversation does not always come easy. You are growing up fast, and now is the time when you need to consider these basics and how to apply these things to your daily lives. Following are five truths that, if observed in every time of decision, will lead you to the right path. Please write these things on your heart so when the need of remembering them comes, you will have these guiding principles ready and available to your heart. I’m going to call these the KLKBY principles. Thus we begin. (To Be Continued)

Godly Principles, Hope, Love

Thoughts on Love

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As we come near to Valentine’s Day, my thoughts turn to love. What is love?

Scripture has much to say on this subject, defining several degrees of love. One that comes to heart today gives definition in the fact that “God is love” (1 John 4:8), and we are called to love as He loves. From this I understand that love begins within. True love comes from who we are, and therefore is undisturbed by what people do or don’t do. When love flows from my being, I will find it easier to keep on loving others, despite insult, making 1 Corinthians 13 easier to follow.

Then I think of the passage in Ephesians 5, where the husband is encouraged to love his wife as Christ loved the church. How did He love the church? Through giving Himself for it, nurturing it, and cherishing it.

Jesus gave His life for those He loved. To give oneself fully to a relationship requires compromise: meaning I have to be willing to give up what I want and have for the sake of those I love—and vice versa, by the way. Jesus died to self to come to this life as the Lamb of God: giving up all He had before in order to come to this life in flesh; show us how to love, live for and honor God and each other; and then to give His life for us, leading us then to do the same in giving our all to God.

That was His first act of love toward those who would be the people of God. But He did not completely neglect Himself while here. He often drew apart from the crowds for a little self-care and time with the Father so as to replenish His stores for giving into the lives of those He loved enough to die for. We, too, must take care of ourselves if we expect to have any supply to give into the lives of others.

Jesus nurtured those He loved. He encouraged their spiritual growth, called them up higher in their thinking, and did all He could to help them be the best person they could be. Nurturing others we love in this same way is vital to a love relationship. Love desires the best good of those loved and encourages them to be and do their best. Love sees the potential wrapped up in the person and nurtures it, calling for it to come forth and live.

Jesus also cherished those He loved. When we cherish something or someone, we do all we can to treat them right, as one we treasure. We also do all we can to protect them from harm, destruction, or loss. Love treasures, cherishes, and protects.

When asked which was the greatest law, Jesus rightly said that loving God is the greatest, followed by loving others as we love ourselves. Love fulfills the law, for love will always keep God first, having no other gods before Him, honoring His name in word and deed. Thus love of God does the things He requires of us, beginning with keeping the Sabbath holy, giving honor to parents, protecting life, honoring the marriage bed as holy; love will give and not steal, it will build up by speaking truth in love and not tearing down others through false witness, it rejoices over God’s blessing toward others without being envious and jealous and covetous.

True love never fails, because love will always see the potential and work to help the one loved reach that potential. Love will not keep a tally of hurts, spouting them off at every opportunity, but love will always be open to starting anew, leaving the past in its grave to go forth to improved relations.

Love always seeks the greatest good for the one loved, therefore faith, love and hope are seen together in the relationship that withstands the test of time and the growth of individuals.

Before ending this note on love, we must realize that if we are to love our neighbor, Jesus’ response to the question posed makes clear that for us to truly know how to love others, we must first know how to practice all that love is toward self. That means that to love self properly, we cannot focus on and add up all our flaws and failures, but must maintain hope of better and encourage our own success toward becoming our better best. It means cherishing oneself enough to value ourselves in ways that lead to us being protective over the things we want to maintain and work to shore up the areas of our being that need improvement. Being “love” will cause that flow to touch all we are in relationship with, beginning with God and self. As they say, “I better like me because I am the one person I cannot get away from.” Love of oneself works toward being able to like oneself and causes us to become one of our most faithful supporters.

When we can first love God, then rightly love self as an outflow from our relationship with God, then we will have what it takes to know how to truly love others. The greatest valentine card we can give to God is to be love as He is love, and to let that love flow to all in our sphere of influence, from our glance in the mirror every morning, to “the least of these” we meet every day.

And lest we forget!

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:43-48, NASB).

I perceive this call to perfection as meaning that we are to be who we say we are in truth; not putting on a façade of Christlikeness or godliness, but truly being as He said He is: “I AM who I am. I’m just me.”

For other insights on love, read: 1 Corinthians 13; Romans 12; Colossians 3.

Assurance, Faith, Overcomers, Practicing His Presence, Provision

For this Reason

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“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh and say to him, “Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, ‘Let My people go, that they may serve Me. For this time I will send all My plagues on you and your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth. For if by now I had put forth My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would then have been cut off from the earth. But, indeed, for this reason I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you My power and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth. Still you exalt yourself against My people by not letting them go’”’” (Exodus 9:13-17).

As I read this passage, I see two reasons that respond to questions I have often heard God’s people ask in time of trouble, “Why does He leave us here? Why not just kill us now?”

God allows things to happen in our lives that cause us—and especially those who refuse to believe—to know that there is no one like our God in all the earth. He keeps us alive when we think “we should surely be dead by now”, in order to show forth His power and in order to proclaim His name throughout the earth.

Now what is God’s glory? Exodus 33:18-19 tells us in God’s own words: “Then Moses said, ‘I pray You, show me Your glory!’ And He said, ‘I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.’”

Even when hard times come to us, God’s purpose is to reveal Himself as Lord of all and to make His glory evident in the earth. Why? So those, whose hearts are pliable and open, can see His glory, believe His Lordship, and turn to follow Him.

If you are still alive, He has power to reveal to and through you. If God could not still reveal Himself to and through you, you would lay down and die under your load.

Then we see that the best way to weather the turmoil that can rise up when God is making a point in the earth is to die to self-will and self-exaltation. I put a word up yesterday that hit my heart in the thoughts of the day: “Rest all worries and woes at God’s precious feet. They are thorns to us. But they are crowns to Him.”

Worries either weigh us down, often making us dysfunctional, or when faced without first laying them at His feet, they lead us to self-will as we try to deal with them and self-exaltation, making us our own god. Laying them at His feet removes them from our head, and places them under His Lordship. Laying our worries at His feet crowns Him as Lord over them and over self. Truly laying them down at His feet bows us to His authority, giving Him opportunity to direct our path and to empower us to deal properly with any situation. And often time, when we lay them down, refusing to give rule to worry, He just nails that thing to the footstool being made for Jesus’ feet, and writes, “It is finished!” across that plank (Hebrews 10:13).

“I will send all My plagues…so that you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth.”

At just such a time, when God was threatening to destroy obstinate Israel and begin a new people for His possession through Moses, Moses requested of God, “Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too, that this nation is Your people,” laying the problem at God’s feet. And God said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exodus 33). Lordship accepted.

God’s glory is revealed in our day to day lives when we surrender all to Him, trust Him with the details, and see Him move to reveal Himself as Lord in our situations. So bow down with that load, lay it at His feet, and “Only believe” that you will see the power, provision and presence of God (Luke 8:40-56).

Adequacy, Faith, Godly Principles, Practicing His Presence

The “As God” Principle

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Scripture Reading: Exodus 6-7

“Now it came about on the day when the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, that the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘I am the LORD; speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I speak to you.’ But Moses said before the LORD, ‘Behold, I am unskilled in speech; how then will Pharaoh listen to me?’

“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘See, I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.’” (Exodus 6:28-7:1, NASB)

As I have probably shared before some time ago, I was getting ready to go to lunch with a friend one day. Just before heading out the door, I took that one last glance in the mirror and was shocked to see coke-bottle eyes behind my glasses. “What’s up with my glasses today?” I thought to God’s ear. He instructed my heart to go in peace and not worry about it.

Sitting during lunch, my friend was having a very difficult time with past issues of life and current situations. I felt the strong Spirit of the Lord pouring forth encouragement through me to her, and she was intently listening. Suddenly I realized she was staring at my eyes, following them everywhere they went. Thinking surely their hugeness must be distracting her, I ducked my head. Immediately I heard in my spirit, “You get that head back up and look her in the eye.” Which I of course did, jerking back as a soldier comes to attention with such a stern order from their commander and chief. Lunch went well and as I climbed into my car thinking of what a strange experience that was, I glanced in the mirror to see that my eyes looked normal behind my glasses again. “Hum. Wonder what that was all about,” I querried.

The following Sunday I sat next to my friend in Sunday school. As the teacher was closing up the session, my friend said, “I just have to share something. Darlene and I had lunch this week and God mightily used her to encourage me so greatly. But the awesome thing was that I saw God in her eyes!”

Sometimes God wants to use us to reveal Himself in physical, visible ways to those around us. He makes us “as God” to them for His purposes. It can be an awesome experience and will often challenge our own sense of insecurity and inadequacy. That is what Moses was coming into in this passage; his sense of insufficiency was being challenged. Often times, as God tried to do with me as I glanced in the mirror that morning to see my Little Rascals coke-bottle eyes staring back at me, God will warn us that He is about to use us to reveal Himself. But God did not stop there with Moses as He continued his heads up message:

“You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land. But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.” (7:2-3)

Have you ever had a time when one person in your concentric circles was constantly challenging your stance as a believer or coming against you to get their way? It can be difficult to stand our ground and keep believing God when facing the hard heart of man. Sometimes their hard heart is a result of their hard life. But as we see here, sometimes it is the work of God, desiring to reveal Himself through the challenge. As said in the previous Blog, God used the stubbornness of Pharaoh to show His own might, and in doing so, to show the people who worshipped many gods the impotence of their gods.

What challenge are you facing right now? Does it come against your sense of ability, giving God opportunity to reveal His ability to and through you? Are you facing a stubborn wall, whether through the hardened ways of another, or through a stronghold set up in your own life? Such challenges are not a time to become discouraged and fall away or cow back. They are a time to press forward in the power God supplies and discover the thing(s) He wants to reveal of Himself.

“When Pharaoh does not listen to you, then I will lay My hand on…” (vs 4).

Every challenge we face is opportunity to go it alone, or to trust in the Lord and see His hand move. And every challenge to our sense of adequacy gives opportunity for God to reveal Himself through us, that others may see His eyes in us. Surrendering self to Him equips us to be “As Gods” being God’s eyes, representing Him in the earth.

Father, You are with us and for us, just as You were with Moses and Aaron long ago. You are the same yesterday, today, and forever. Your desire is for us, and You move in our lives to reveal Yourself in ways that free people from their personal Egypt. Help us to have courage to be Your eyes, Your body, Your mouthpiece, used of You to “be as God” to those who need to see You in the earth. In Jesus I pray, amen.

“Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Corinthians 3:4-6, NASB)

Choice, Godly Principles, Holiness, Overcomers, Practicing His Presence

Under Compulsion

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“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for under compulsion he will let them go, and under compulsion he will drive them out of his land.’” (Exodus 6:1)

I see here the Fatherly example of dealing with the strong willed personality: make life in the things they insist upon so uncomfortable for them that they have a change of heart that changes their path.

The strong-willed child gets stuck on what they want to the point that they cannot see beyond that to care about those around them and the needful things of life. They have to be shown the err of their understanding in ways that tame the child without breaking the spirit. God has a purpose in this life for those strong of will, but they have to be trained to recognize the True God and surrender their will to His. If we as parents fail to train them as a child, God will do it when they grow up. We may think it is difficult to discipline the strong-willed child and give ourselves to the ease of giving in to them, but wait until we have to watch them under the hand of God. That can be even more difficult to watch.

Of course, with Pharaoh God had a purpose here where He egged the ego and will of Pharaoh on. Pharaoh believed himself to be a god. The Egyptians worshipped many gods, including Pharaoh. Each of the 10 things God did in forcing the hand of Pharaoh was to show the people that not only was he not a god, but each plague sent was to show the impotence of a false god served by them, thus revealing the greatness of the One True God of Israel.

From this verse and insights surrounding the story of deliverance I see two potential situations we need to be aware of when dealing with strong-willed people: one is what is God desiring to reveal to me about Himself through the things I see Him doing in His dealings with the hard-hearted. There is something about Him to be known. The other is to realize my need to be very surrendered to God in my own dealings with the person, so I become God’s instrument in helping the stubborn to recognize their need to surrender to Him. It takes a courageous person to care enough about those around them to allow God to use them in helping another get over themselves.

God is still in the business of dealing with false gods and delivering people from their influence. And, like Pharaoh, we and those around us can be enslaved to the most powerful of false gods: our own ego. When finding ourselves being dealt with under compulsion by God, we need to get our heads out of the sands of Egypt and recognize our plight. God loves us where we are, but He loves us too much to leave us here. He deals with us as with sons. When He finds a stubborn issue in our person or life, He is not opposed to turning up the heat in whatever way that is necessary to work the dross of falsehood out of us. The quickest way to relief from the compulsory discipline of God is to realize His hand and cooperate with His purpose. But whoa to the one standing too close to the strong-willed little Pharaohs of life. It can be a fearsome thing to watch when God decides to deliver from false understanding and stubborn strongholds. And whoa to the stubborn of will when God decides to go through them to make a point.

The question we each must ask self today is “Which am I? Am I pliable in the hands of God, surrendered to His Lordship; or am I stubborn of heart? Is there an area of life in which I have not surrendered?” I don’t know about you, but I can immediately see an area I have in my life where I am under compulsion. It is better to choose today to let Him be Lord than to continue in the compulsory discipline of God. He has shown me the way. I must choose to obey. How about you?

(Chart revealing gods attacked: http://www.dabhand.org/Ten%20Plagues.htm ).

Choice, Contentment, Creation, Godly Principles, Holiness

Genesis 1: The Creation Story, Part 6

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 In our last excerpts we discovered how God created the great lights to distinguish day from night and give light to overcome the darkness. We saw how the Sun might represent God and the Moon, Messiah. We saw how all the bodies created revolve around the Sun and reflect its light. And we saw how the Moon reflects the Sun, overcoming the night, and showing the pathway through the night, just as Jesus lights the way to God. Then we saw that God scattered across the night skies more stars than can be counted (both planets and moons that reflect the light of a sun, twinkling in the night for us and true stars that generate their own light).

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The Stars: Realizing that many of the lights in the night sky that we see as stars give off their light by reflecting in the night the Light from the sun, we see that any cosmic body within reach of the sun’s rays will reflect its light. The sun, representing God in this analogy, is always there. It never moves. Planets, however, rotate as they fly around the sun, thus when we are on the side of the earth farthest from the sun and unable to see it, we are reminded of the sun’s presence by reflected light on planets and moons around us. God has placed the Moon and Stars to reflect the Sun, bouncing light to our path, reminding us on the darkest of nights that He has not moved. He is still there, beckoning us to take our cues from the Sun’s reflection off the Moon and the Stars we see in the night, so we can find our way in the dark. Like the sun, God can reflect Himself into dark places using any object, creature or being that crosses the path of His light.

We who believe and follow the guiding Light of the Moon—representing Jesus in this story I tell, are the star light, scattered, faces turned to the God we companion, reflecting Him in the darkness around us. When the Moon-Jesus is high in the sky, shining bright, He acts as an example for us in how to revolve around the Light of God and reflect His Glory, while simultaneously being in alignment with other beings near us who need the light reflected to them. Jesus gives off the brightest light in the night skies of this life. But, like the moon, there are times when we cannot see the light of Jesus. Remember and take courage that when we cannot see the Light of Jesus, it is because He stands between us and the heat of the Sun, interceding on our behalf. In the darkest times, when the moon seems to be nowhere, that is when God twinkles at us through the reflected light of others on a starry night.

Like the stars in the night sky above us, our light is lesser than that of the Moon, which has greater honor and rules the night, overcoming it through the sacrifice and service of His Love. And we are workers with Him, drawing near to God through Him, and, following His example, becoming a type of light in likeness to Him; thus we Stars are useful for piercing the darkness and giving light to help others find their way as well, by reflecting the light and glory of the Sun—the God of all creation.

But let’s not forget the example seen in the true stars, those other suns in the distance that have light within themselves. To me these flaming stars represent those who have the light of God within them. The Holy Spirit of God enters in to spark light from within. For these, even the darkest nights, when reflected light is absent, is overcome by the light residing within them. These are the people of God who can go through some of the most horrific things, and come through shining brighter than ever, because they have God at work within them, making them like He is.

Thus we have the great analogy of God seen in the sky. But there is more to learn from God’s pictorial.

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Notice now these Lights: the Sun that never leaves its position of authority and that cannot be overcome by the darkness, the Moon that revolves around and worships the Sun with us, the stars both the reflectors of light, and having it within us. The Moon, having overcome the night with its light, now reveals the path to right relationship with the Sun, revolving around and watching over us as victor in the world, showing us how to worship God and minister in His name, with the whole of life revolving around the God of its creation.

Now note that this passage says of these lights that they are all set in place “for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth.”

God, like the sun, holds His place throughout the ages and His authority and reality is not hindered by lack of faith to believe. He is Who He says He is, and He can do what He says He can. He reflects Himself to us and reveals Himself through all creation, whether or not we recognize it. Unlike the moon, Jesus is fully God and one with Him. He, too, is throughout the ages. As example to us, His ageless testimony and sacrifice, follows every generation, beckoning us to follow Him in worship of and service to God.

Then there are the stars. Like the stars, we are in our positions as little lights—lamps, if you will—set here in this particular season of life, for a purpose.  

We’ve discussed the importance of the lamp before in other writings. Like the lamp, stars are scattered according to God’s will, placed in strategic places where their light is most needed. Some stars may seem dim to us, but if you get past the blanket of darkness to draw near, you will see the brilliance of their light, as they reflect the Sun. Our position in life: the age in which we live, the state of our condition, the destiny before us, is no accident. We are strategically placed where most needed for reflecting His light. You are not an accident. You are God’s creation, purposed to reflect His glory, and you are set on course with a plan. Like with Esther, God has a plan for your position in life. He is set to reflect His glory through you to light up the dark places in your path.

The story goes on to tell how God then created the fish of the sea and the birds of the air on the 5th day, with animals of all kinds following on the 6th. Paul, in the book of Romans, tells us that these too are a type of star as they are there to glorify, or shine the light of the Father that reveals the Creator God. But His greatest creation came, also on the 6th day, as God of all created beings worked in all His fullness to create man in His own image, able to know right from wrong and to choose right, thus being companions and friends of God.

We most reflect His glory when we follow the example of the Moon in revolving around the Sun. But notice something more here, as depicted in creation. As we revolve around the Sun—representing our entire being committed to relationship with God; God, in the form of the living Christ, God incarnate, the part of His being that can relate with humankind, seen in the action of the Moon, revolves around us, making all that He is available to us.

God’s greatest desire is for a relationship, a companionship with us. He watches over us in the night. He reflects His own light to us, making Himself knowable. He provides the path and gives light to the way for finding that relationship. He beckons us with His light, shining in the night.

 God can reflect Himself off of any object that gets in the path of His light. Many seem to shine with Him for a time, only to fall away when darkness comes. Thus, we need to note that the true star, the body that can shine light in the night even when something gets in the way of the Sun’s light, are those bodies that catch the flame of His Light. They are so in relationship with Him, that He puts Himself in them in the form of His Spirit, so they then can shine His Light in the darkest night, when the Sun is hidden from view. He grants to those who truly find the path of relationship and receive the gift of His Light within themselves the power to perform. He never leaves them nor can be hidden from them because He is within them. We are told in the Holy Bible that these are the stars that choose relationship with Him through the Sacrificial Lamb. Into these He places His Spirit to light up their life from within.

Over those who choose the position of the Star, those who choose to reflect and be filled with His Light, Creator God who ordained the night as well as the day looks on with a smile. With the beam of a proud Daddy, He says of His creation, “Wow. Attention, angelic forces! Attention all created beings. Look up. See it. It is good. Well done, though good and faithful servant.”

Shine on, beloved star of God. Shine on to light up the place where you stand.

Choice, Creation, Grace, Holiness, Salvation

Genesis 1: The Creation Story, Part 5

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“Sing praises to God, our strength. Sing to the God of Jacob. Sing! Beat the tambourine. Play the sweet lyre and the harp. Blow the ram’s horn at new moon, and again at full moon to call a festival! For this is required by the decrees of Israel; it is a regulation of the God of Jacob. He made it a law for Israel when he attacked Egypt to set us free.” Psalm 81:1-6, NASB

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There is one other thing about the sun that we need to know. It is too hot from its core for any living thing to survive in its presence.  

God had Moses build within the tabernacle a place known as the Holy of Holies. Moses entered into the presence of God when beckoned and communed with God, who called him “friend”. After that was ordained the call of the high priest for the year. God had Moses build within the tabernacle, the place where the “High Priests” of Israel entered once a year after a ritualistic cleansing to come before God on behalf of the people. To enter into His presence with any sin uncovered or without that invitation of God that stood yearly before those priests was to fall to one’s death, just as we would die if we drew too close to that sun in the sky.

Sin cannot stand before God. It and anything it is attached to burns up in the purifying heat of His holiness. When that High Priest entered the Holy of Holies, they tied a rope around his ankle so, if any sin was missed in his cleansing and he fell over dead, they could retrieve his body without putting themselves in danger.

There was a curtain between the inner court and the holy of holies, beyond which no person was allowed to go except for this once a year passage of the one called to stand before God on behalf of the people. It stood as reminder of the expanse that separates mankind from their Creator; that is, until entered the One who would bring down the curtain with His performance on our behalf.

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The Moon: Some might think this represents Satan in the cosmos of God’s creation, because it says that the moon rules the night and Satan is called the prince of the power of the air, ruler of the world forces of this darkness. But as I look at this passage with understanding that light represents God and His ways and darkness represents Satan and evil, I see that the moon represents the promised, Christ, the Messiah, the one I believe is Jesus, sent to rule as King, showing us the way through the night.

Looking at the portion of Psalm 81 shared above, speaking of the festival of Passover when God passed over the people of Israel as the angel of death took all the first born of the land in God’s battle against Egypt—a picture of the slavery of man to sin, we see reference to the moon. They were called to blow the rams horn at new moon and full moon.

It is awesome as we look at the cycle of the moon to see what that means. WikipediA says of this portion of the moons cycle, called the New Moon:

“In astronomical terminology, the new moon is the lunar phase which happens when the Moon, in its monthly orbital motion around Earth, lies between Earth and the Sun, and is therefore in conjunction with the Sun as seen from Earth. At this time, the dark (unilluminated) portion of the Moon faces almost directly toward Earth, so that the Moon is not visible to the naked eye.”

The new moon as defined here occurs when the moon stands between earth and the sun, as the mediator’s position of High Priest stands between man and God. Another definition for this phase of the moon is as the first sliver of the moon becomes visible in the eastern sky: a picture of the coming Messiah—the one who, in Christendom, is Jesus Christ. And we watch to the east for the coming Messiah, when He will return to set up His reign as King of glory.

I have shared before my belief that Jesus is God incarnate, being that part of God that has, all through scripture, been able to relate with man, bringing His message to those willing to hear. He is God, and yet, in His earthly existence, this part of God called the Messenger of God, the Living Word, the Angel of the Lord, chose to step down from His position with God to be the Living Sacrifice that would give example to man for a righteous life, while becoming the Sacrificial Lamb, slain for the sin of all mankind. Messiah is a lesser Light to God because He chose to step down from His high position to live in the lowly state of humankind as an example to us. God, the Father, is the Head, having greater authority than the God-man, Jesus. Jesus bowed to that authority throughout His earthly life, a life which revolved around the Father and His will, giving us example, and reflecting the light of God to enlighten every man. We see this authority differentiation as the Son bowed to pray, “Yet not My will, but Thy will be done.”

Jesus gained rule over the night because He overcame the world by walking in it as a companion to God, un-darkened by evil. He ruled over sin, becoming the Sacrificial Lamb that took upon His shoulders all sin for all mankind living then to now and beyond until the end of time. He ended the need for the sacrifice of animals by dying as propitiation—the full price owed for all that sin; and He carried that sin to hell where it remains today.

Our sin is already paid for and we are bought with a price, but until we acknowledge Him as the Lamb and receive His gift that covered our sin, we remain chained in slavery to that sin and destined to join it for all eternity. He is the Passover blood. Without His blood over us, we remain in slavery to sin, separated from God. The rams horn is blown at new moon, beckoning the strength of God to send His Savior to deliver us. When we face the Father, we can come into His presence without fear of death because Jesus, the Mediator, blocks the fervent heat of His glorious holiness.

The Moon overcomes the night, reflecting the glory of God by walking in His Light, reflecting it so as to show us the way to do the same, and making for us a doorway, lighting the path to our own relationship with the Father. By receiving His gift, following His example of coming into and walking in the Light, He breaks the chains of our bondage and frees us to live an eternity in that Light.

Now He holds that freedom from sin, paid for by His sacrifice, out to us as a gift to all who will believe; and receiving Him as our Sacrificial Lamb becomes the way by which we reunite with the Father. God has responded to the New Moon call of the ram’s horn. Through His obedience to God the Father, and His sacrifice for sin, He paid the price and became victor over the evil that worked death in us, otherwise known as separation from God the Father, brought about by slavery to sin. Jesus rules the night as victor over death and darkness, deliverance from bondage to slavery.

As we turn from Facing God to go into the world and live, we see the light of the moon, turning with us. The farther the earth turns from the sun, the brighter shines the moon as we see the sun’s glory reflected in the moon. Thus the ram’s horn blown at full moon is the call of the heart for Messiah to lead us, shining the way for us to live in obedience to God. God has given us the example of the Christ-man to follow until He returns to reign, when all who will have responded to His call to “choose today whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15).

Jesus rules over the dark, standing as the brightest light seen in the night, beckoning all to His brightness and leading all who will come near Him by faith to reunite with the God of Creation for all eternity. Then He stands as Mediator between us and God: High Priest forever, who needs no cleansing before He can enter the Holy Presence of God Most High. Thus the curtain was torn away and we come freely through Christ to the Father.

Even the fact that the moon is a dead rock speaks of Christ, for those who do not believe think that He is dead, for it was “expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish”, said the high priest of the day as empowered by the Spirit of understanding. It only appears that He is dead for a time, His resurrection and asscension standing as a call to believe by faith, giving us a choice for life, for “blessed are those who believe while they do not see” (John 11:50, 20:19-29).

One day He will reveal Himself anew as the returning Christ who will rule as King for a thousand years, and then the eternal Kingdom. In the wait, through Him we are called to make our choice. The choice to believe Him means we choose that our lives revolve around the Sun of our eternal universe, becoming in ourselves a reflection of the Light of the God of creation. Thus we come to the next aspect of God’s creation.

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God, the creator of the great expanse of darkness, having a purpose of His own, He scattered star light across that great expanse. Still today, if you get out where the darkness is dark indeed, you will see them, scattered thick across that great expanse, twinkling their light in the night, bringing hope, and even giving clarity of direction to those traveling under those night skies. It is no accident that we are told that wise men followed a star to find that Small Child in Bethlehem. Stars are a vital part of God’s plan in revealing the great glory of the Sun, as we will see tomorrow.

 

Choice, Creation, Holiness

Genesis 1: The Creation Story, Part 4

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“Then God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth’; and it was so. God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day” Genesis 1:14-19.

There you have it: the insight I have worked to reach since beginning this series. I see here the absolute beauty of God’s creation purpose. Do you see it? God, in all His glory, places on His pic-ta-board the distinguishing marks of day against night, bringing light to dark places. Today we will begin to look at these distinguishing features, beginning with:

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The Sun: As I look at the sun in light of what I know / understand about our universe and how it functions, I am inspired to recognize that God, The Father, is represented in the Sun.

Revelation 21 says that the new kingdom to come will have no need of the sun we see in the sky, because He, the Father, will provide the light through His glory.  He rules the day because He is LIGHT in its purest form, “and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). When we are close to God, companion with Him, we walk in the Light of Day, literally. All darkness will be cast away and all that stands within that darkness will be revealed as we draw near to Him.

There is another thing I note here that is true of the Sun and depicts God. Everything in the vicinity of the sun revolves around it. The sun is central to everything in our galaxy. Without being in right relationship with the sun, the earth would be void of life. For every body that revolves around the sun, its positioning to it determines light, temperature, gravity, tidal waves (or lack of peace, if you will), on and on we could go; everything necessary for an environment friendly to abundant life is determined by the planet’s position to the sun.

Thus it is with regard to our position to God. All we need for life is found to be most fulfilled in God. Our abundance in life, our ability to be content and have our deepest needs met are dictated by that relationship. The life within us and our ability to bear the fruit of life is determined by our position to God. And whether we realize it or not, all that we are or ever hope to be revolves around Him and is determined by our position, our stance where He is concerned.

So, He is pure light, and the darkness cannot overcome Him, nor does it have any part in Him. He is pure, righteous Light, and He cannot even look on unrighteousness, because unrighteousness, when exposed to pure Light, is made clear. When He draws near to us, our unrighteousness is revealed as the darkness is pushed away by His light.

When darkness in our life is pulled away, revealing the hidden things within it, we recognize the void and enter the place of choice. We will recognize the unrighteousness hiding in our darkest places and will either give way to the light, being overcome by its power, and, entering into relationship with Light, thus allowing that evil to be burned away and purified and set in order; or we will choose to pull back from the heat of the Light, returning to the darkest cold, and giving self to all that is evil.

When we consider a relationship with God, we are made aware of the expanse, the void where no light exists in us. This flings us back to realize the expanse—the things that separate us from Him, and we will make our choice. The rays of the Sun reach out into the expanse looking for those who are ready to have a relationship with Him and who will allow His light to penetrate into our darkest places. His rays penetrate the cold of death, resurrecting life within, and bringing the warmth of His influence to our lives. Because of His search for those who will companion with Him, He gives the moon to rule the night until He rises anew.

~~*~~ Tomorrow ~~*~~

Contentment, Faith, Godly Principles, Hope

Genesis 1: The Creation Story, Part 3

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Thus far in our study we have discovered God’s creation of light and dark that distinguishes day from night and gives visual aid for understanding good verses evil. Then we have covered the introduction of choice as depicted in the creation of the expanse that divided the water. Today, as I read on, I notice something that thrills my soul: the rest of the story that is illustrated in the creation seen in day four. Oops. Before we look at it, let’s not skip day three:

In day three, God collected the water together on the earth to form the seas, exposing the dry land upon which He produced a garden. In that garden He created various plants and vegetation that had its seed in it.

I am sure you have noticed, as I have, that God is a Creator who believes in variety. Yes, there are apple trees and orange trees, each having seed in it by which to reproduce itself. God obviously never meant for everything to be the same. But even in looking at an apple tree or an orange tree—or an apple or an orange for that matter, each will be different from the rest. God created there to be many varieties of plants, animals, and people. And though we have the seed of reproduction in us, and though there is likeness for each, none ever brought forth from that seed is exactly like another. There will be something unique and special about each one. And God looked, and He saw, saying, “It is good.”

We are not supposed to be like everyone else, so quit trying.

Some are smarter with greater wisdom for use of knowledge. Some are more talented in various forms of the fine arts. Others are gifted in craftsmanship. We can learn from one another and become better at being who we are in the process, but we are not meant to be clones of each other. Each creating being is meant to grow and become the best “me” possible.

To try to hold those who are gifted, talented and smarter back in their progress to becoming their best so one who is less apt in that area can feel better about themselves, is to rob society of the contribution those people can one day make if their gifting, talent, skill, and intelligence is cultivated and encouraged. To tell someone that they should be as good as that other one in an area of talent, gifting, intelligence, etc., frustrates their life, causing them to pursue after something that is not theirs to have, while keeping them from discovering what their strong-suit in life is.

We are supposed to discover that unique beauty within, created there by God, and rejoice in who we are, while finding a unity with Him and His companions in which to use our uniqueness in bearing fruit that betters the whole of His creation. It is through each of us becoming the best we can be that He is able to shine the light of His glory through us to those around us. Which leads us finally, to see something beautiful revealed in God’s creation-flannel-board of life, and at which we will begin to look—tomorrow.

Choice, Contentment, Faith, Godly Principles

Genesis 1: The Creation Story, Part 2

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Yesterday we saw in the first day of the creation story the correlation between the distinction of light and dark, day and night, good and evil. Following, on the second day of creation, God created an expanse: a separation between the waters. I have shared my viewpoint on this portion in previous writings, but for the purpose of continuity in this story, let’s review.

Next in this story of God’s creative fervor, all the water was united and of the same likeness. But God needed space for His creation, so He made a separation between the waters, splitting that which was above from that which was below, bringing disunity to the waters. This is the day when God did not say that it was good.

Years ago, when I noticed that fact and asked Him why that was, He inspired me to realize that His perfect plan for mankind was in play from the beginning: Jesus was never “Plan B” folks. God knew before beginning that He was doing all of this to create for Himself a company of companions known as humans, created in His own image and made for the purpose of unity with Himself. But He also knew that for the fullness of His plan to come about in providing companions, He had to give those created beings opportunity to choose and desire Him as much as He did them. And He knew that it was also expedient for unity’s sake that they be given opportunity to choose His ways as their own.

For that plan to come about, it would require that a true choice be provided those created in His image, His likeness. They must have opportunity to separate themselves from their Creator in order to have true choice in whether to be His friend and companion.

I can see the scene in my mind’s eye: when God made the separation between the waters, there was a moment of silence in the heavens, sadness over a time of disunity that would come to man and God. So how did God “create” that disunity that would provide all mankind the opportunity to choose?

For true choice to come to mankind, there had to be another viable option. Thus enters Lucifer.

Lucifer wanted to be God. Lucifer had a lust and greed for that highest position, the only position higher in authority than that authority he currently held, according to scripture, and he thought that he could obtain that coveted position by force. Thus he incited war in the kingdom and led 1/3 of the angelic forces to rebellion. He thought he could defeat God and win the rule, but what it led to was the loss of the position that he had.

Because of the evil, conceited, self-glorifying and self-edifying stirrings in the heart of the one who would become the father of lies, father of this evil age, the prince of the power of the air, short term ruler of the world and source of its philosophy; the dark one known as Satan, there was a battle in the heavenly kingdom, and Satan was cast out, along with his followers. Evil was birthed in the heart of Satan’s lust. He then became the instigator of the separation we now experience from the God who would love and spend eternity with us if we will choose it.

Satan thought that he would create for himself a following, and he did to some degree. But what he intended for evil, to harm God’s design and destroy His plan, God used for good, using Satan’s ploy to make him to be God’s big bang force that created the separation between God and man, thus giving to man a choice.

Further along in the scriptures, after God creates man, He sets him in a garden and creates for him a companion called “woman” and named Eve. God tells them they can eat anything in the garden except for the produce of one tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He warned that on the day they ate of it, “death” would come. Choice one: believe God, trust and follow Him, agreeing with His ways and maintaining unity.

Slithering around in the shadows, watching for opportunity, Satan, in the body of a serpent, notices something familiar. He sees his old friend, lust, beginning to stir in the heart of God’s creation as they look at the appealing tree filled with fruit that looked so good to eat. Is that not the allure of any sin? It looks really good and right, until the consequence of biting down on it hits. And you know what happened next. Choice two: doubt God, think there is something better out there, and grab for the false. Satan egged her desire on, caused her to doubt God’s word, and she bit. Then Adam bit after her.

Now before you men get to haughty and go blaming that woman, let’s ask a simple question. Adam was given authority over God’s creation, to care for it, as was Eve as his companion. What might have happened if, when Eve offered the fruit, he had knocked it out of her hand and, grabbing her by that hand, said, “We must go to the Father. Perhaps He will help us.” Adam had his choice too. They each chose wrong and BANG! Death enters the scene.

I am sure you noticed, as I did, that they did not fall over and instantly breathe their last because of their sin. That is not the death that came. The death that came was the expansive separation between God and man. Then God, in His grace, enacted another part of His plan to save man from an eternity of evil: He denied them access to the tree of life so they wound not live forever in their fleshly state; and He numbered their days and instigated a law of physical birth to physical death. Through all this, God allowed choice to enter for mankind. All who are born have opportunity all the days of their lives to choose the God they will serve.

“See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity; in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the LORD your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it. But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him…” (Deuteronomy 30:15-20).

We will companion with a god of our choice. Whether we choose to align with the God of all creation or with the one who would be god is our decision to make, and we do make our choice, whether by proactive or by inactive decision. Do not be deceived. There are many gods in this life, but not all are the true God. Many are set up by the ruler of this world to deceive the unbelieving and lead them away from the God of creation. Choosing any other god or choosing to believe there is no God at all, is to choose the expanse of separation from Him who created us to be His companion.

After creating the expanse, God’s next steps reveal wonders to me concerning His plan and I notice something that thrills my soul: the rest of the story that is illustrated in the creation. Let’s return to discuss the remainder of the story tomorrow, shall we?

Choice, Contentment, Godly Principles, Holiness, Hope

Genesis 1: The Creation Story, Part 1

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I love the story of Creation found in Genesis one. It is awe inspiring and thrilling to see that, however it was done, GOD did it. It was Him and His power behind it. Whether He brought each aspect of creation about in one 24 hour day or one day that, to Him, is as a thousand or more years is beside the point. And He can create a big bang with it if He wants to. That, too, is moot. The thing that matters to me as I read this story is that God did it, and with each aspect of His creation, He stepped back, looked at the results, smiled that big smile, and said, “Wow. Attention, angelic forces! Look up. See it. It is good.” He did this through all creation “days”; that is, except for one.

First, for the purpose of aiding insights to follow, let’s note that on day one, God created day and night, light and dark. We can each note from personal experience, and it is even noted in scripture, that in the light of day is when we tend to move about because we can see clearly. When it is dark, we tend to settle in for the night or seek out what little light can be found, because it is difficult to function in darkness. That fact is a safety issue in many instances, as the night and the dark is often the friend of predators.

God created light and dark, separating day from night, and said, “It is good.” He did so to make a distinction between light and dark that would separate day from night, providing a picture to explain the difference between good and evil. It is good to be able to recognize the difference found between the light and the dark, and to know to seek out the light.

Throughout scripture we see that night is often likened to evil or unrighteousness, and light to good or righteousness. Thus in God’s creation of day and night, light and dark, we see a picture of things to come, the battle between good and evil. As creation begins on this first day, I believe this battle was already in play in the heavenly kingdom as the angelic hosts began to have discord because of the influence of God’s commander of His armies, who was not satisfied with his high position, but was filled with lust and longing for God’s place. Thus we see that lust, dissatisfaction with one’s position in life, is the beginning of darkness.

Lucifer, the beautiful one, now known as Satan, wanted to be God. He was beautiful in appearance, appealing to the eye, and an influencer, with a way about him that led 1/3 of the hosts of heaven to be cast out of the realm with him. Thus we are warned in scripture that “Bad company corrupts good morals” and that lust is the beginning thoughts that lead to sin.

“Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. With the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures” (James 1:12-18; also see 1 Corinthians 15:33).

Thus is the separating force between light and dark, the battle between good and evil. Now hold that thought as we continue to pull all together … tomorrow.

Adequacy, Assurance, Choice, Contentment, Faith, Godly Principles, Grace, Overcomers, Practicing His Presence

Worth My Knee

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Reading through John and pulling thoughts chapter by chapter to help me celebrate Jesus in this season of rebirth and renewal, John 18 speaks:

Jesus asked, “Whom do you seek?” (“Who are you looking for?” – NLT). “…When He said to them, ‘I am He’, they drew back and fell to the ground. …Put your sword in its sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it? …You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

It is very interesting that, as I go through John, remembering and celebrating Jesus, I come to these thoughts on this first day of 2012. My focus for spiritual growth in this year is to grow in my surrender to His Lordship, giving Him all that I am for His use in whatever way He desires. There are three things I see here that will help me as I begin this journey of the Spirit in this New Year:

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Realizing, remembering and hearing within, by faith, that He is the Christ, He is the one we look for, will bring me to fall before Him in acknowledgement of His glory. He is God’s chosen King, the Christ, the One we look for.

I have always been amazed by this passage. I don’t take it as a mockery toward Him that they feel down. It is almost as if all who came to take Him to the death that would come to this One who so loved the world that He willing gave His own life, His love covering a multitude of sins; they realized in that instant that this was the One worthy of bowing before. He was worthy of their knee.

I think the fear of the Lord God, the Father, struck their hearts and put them on their knees before His Son and King. This is the heart attitude I must have as I begin this year of growing stronger in giving myself to His Lordship. I must come into greater depths of realization that He is the Chosen King, and He is worthy of my knee in worship and acknowledgement of His rightful position in my life. He is King of kings, and Lord of lords.

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Next, as I read His word to Peter when Peter tried to protect his Lord, I see the example set by Jesus as One who is surrendered to His Lord, “This cup I am to drink is from my Father. How then shall I not drink it?”

Jesus never gave us false hope. He never told us that God WILL heal every disease and keep us from suffering in this life we now live; that all things will be well with us at all times while here in this earth, ruled by the father of lies and lord of sin. That promise of complete healing and total safety is truth and can happen in the here and now, but it is for the life to come, perfected in eternity because of the sacrifice of Jesus in this world, saved for those who believe Him and given to those who receive Him as Lord now, through faith believing even though we do not yet see it in the physical (Hebrews 11:1).

So what did Jesus promise? He said, “Do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. EACH DAY HAS ENOUGH TROUBLE OF ITS OWN” (Matthew 6:34). He called us to face today’s trouble with His power and leave tomorrow to Him. Grace is promised to be sufficient for each day’s trouble. Wasting that energy on worry over what MIGHT come tomorrow only weakens us and makes today’s trouble unbearable, having insufficient strength for today because we spent our strength yesterday on worries that may never come to pass. And if they do come to our life, we often find that we drained our strength through worry, having little reserve for dealing with it now that it’s here.

He did promise, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.” Then He added, “Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful” (John 14:27). Heart-trouble and fear are products of worry and fretting, often over the ‘what-might-be-s’ of life. To warn us to not let our hearts be troubled or fearful in life but to receive and live with peace of heart as He has gifted us to do says to me that there will be cause for us to have troubled and fearful hearts, and resting it in His care, receiving His peace to persevere is the solution that overcomes the troubling of the heart, preserving strength for overcoming.

Also He advised us, “These things (His words of warning, promise, hope and instruction) I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. IN THE WORLD YOU HAVE TRIBULATION, but take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Following Jesus will mean cups of trouble and tribulation that must be drank with understanding that as we walk through trouble in life with the peace and grace He supplies, we too will be overcomers. As such, we will be used of Him to help others to find relationship with God and His supply through Christ for dealing with troubled lives. Just as His sacrifice for us covered a multitude of sin, He uses our experiences in this life to help others who struggle as we have in knowing how to find hope, peace and restoration in their similar situations.

Someone I love dearly is going through a very troubled time right now, trouble that is too common to our world, the consequence of sin in life. He wants to see God’s mercy as His hand reaching down to remove those circumstances. I cannot seem to help him understand that God’s mercy keeps him in the hand of God, saved by grace through faith for an eternity in His presence, but mercy does not always remove consequences from our here and now. What mercy does do is supply grace sufficient to help us walk through the consequences with peace of heart and hope for eternity as we wait for restoration. And restoration will come; if not here, then there. It can come here. But experience tells me it does not usually come until we say, “Shall I not drink of this cup set before me by my Lord?”

So what is God telling me? He is reminding me that following Him wholeheartedly will not always be easy, but it will always bear kingdom fruit. As I grow deeper in my relationship with Him and as He uses the way I walk through trouble to help others in their struggle, it will make me an example of one who is an overcomer with Him. One cannot be an overcomer without first being one who has overcome, and we overcome by walking in His grace provided to us because He drank the cup and overcame the world, Satan, sin, death, and troubled flesh. We enter into Him who has overcome, receiving within us the hope of His promise and provision, so that we can walk through as overcomers.

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Lastly, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

The surrendered life requires that I recognize that He is the King, promised by God, and that I listen for and heed His “voice.” John 10 promises that those who are His hear His voice and follow Him. It also promises that the voice of a stranger will not be followed.

God taught me long ago to trust that He can make His voice clear to me. I trust Him to speak and move quickly to obey in faith that I hear my Shepherd-Master and am expected to follow without hesitation. When doubt enters, I begin to ask God if the voice I am hearing is that of the stranger, or if I am hesitating out of fear and disbelief, which leads to disobedience. And I am learning to seek the Lord to help me so greatly to know His voice that the knowledge of it keeps the stranger’s voice strange to me.

Who is the stranger? The stranger is my own flesh, which wages war against me, opposing God’s work in me; the world, which stands in opposition to God and His ways; and Satan, who desires to be God. These three, the flesh, the world and demons—which are the armies of Satan, are called “wisdoms” by James in James 3. These constantly speak a wisdom to us that is in opposition to truth.

As I begin this New Year with focus on growing stronger in follow-ship, in complete surrender to His Lordship, giving all I am to Him for His use, He reminds me to count the cost and realize that though it will be with challenge that I follow Him, He will help me bear it, and through me He will bear fruit for eternity that will make all worth it one day. No matter what this year holds, it is His voice that will lead me to choose life, and live it with abundance that glorifies His name, accomplishes His purpose, brings His eternal Kingdom to my reality, and bears fruit in me that makes me an overcomer through Christ: my Example, my King.

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As we begin this New Year, I pray for us to know the King of kings and Lord of lords. May we walk in His provision to overcome the world. May we have courage to drink the cup He sets before us, and come out of it having born the fruit of righteousness through resurrection power.

Adequacy, Assurance, Choice, Faith, Godly Principles, Overcomers, Practicing His Presence

Get Up, Let Us Go From Here

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“So that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Get up, let us go from here” (John 14:31).

Through this Christmas and New Year’s season, I am putting up portions of scripture from John on my Spark and FaceBook status in celebration of the Christ for which I observe the season. There is so much meat in John 14, I want to put the entire chapter up on my status bar this morning. But with the New Year coming, this small portion seemed best of all to share.

Look at these words. Don’t they seem a good place to begin in preparing for a New Year? Jesus is our example for life, and what better place to end one year and prepare for another than to check our relationship with the Father.

Through John 14, Jesus tells of His leaving to prepare a place for us. He instructs that He and the Father are one, and we can see the Father by looking at Him – not His physical appearance, which is not truly known, but His character and actions, the things He gives focus to and the preoccupations He sets His mind on. Then He tells that we, too, can be one with Them, Father and Son. How is that accomplished? By following His example, developing like character, and doing as the Father commands us, setting our focus and preoccupations on the things that are important to the Father—on truth as He sees it.

As we draw a close to the year 2011, I must ask God how I have done at developing godly character and in following in Christlike obedience. In this evaluation, it doesn’t matter what I perceive that others have done to me. God is dealing with MY own character and actions right now. He judges me on the merit of my own choices, not what others did that may have led to it. Our relationship with the Father, the building of His character in us and our obedience in following the example of Christ is the true gauge of success or failure.

I first typed, “ask myself”, but our hearts are deceptive. We can fool ourselves into thinking we are better than we truly are. And we can also beat ourselves up pretty bad, beating ourselves down to a point of being useless to God, ourselves and others in the days to come. So let’s ask God for His opinion. God looks at the heart and He is not deceived. He will lead us to truth and work with us to increase righteousness and make us like Jesus, who is like the Father.

As we draw near to 2012, I must ask God what areas of life I need to give focus to in developing godly character; and I must recognize if there are specific instructions God is giving me for following Jesus.

I have a long road to go this coming year as I deal with Fibromyalgia and work to change habits of a lifetime that affect that health issue. It will not happen overnight. I did not develop the habits overnight, and unless God works a miracle, which is not happening yet, it will take time and work to change the habits. But nothing shall be impossible with God. As long as my heart is set on that as fact, there is hope. He will help me, and His patience toward me is unfathomable.

How about you? What challenge do you face this year? God has given me the following passage to encourage my journey. Perhaps it will encourage you as well.

“…Behold, I will make you to be a new, sharp, threshing instrument which has teeth; you shall thresh the mountains and beat them small, and shall make the hills like chaff. You shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the tempest or whirlwind shall scatter them. And you shall rejoice in the Lord, you shall glory in the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 41:8-16, AMP). Wow! There is a whole other blog in that.

Father, as I consider this passage, I realize change will not happen overnight. I see this fact clearly as I consider this passage. A sharp threshing instrument which has teeth has to chew the mountain down one bite at a time. It will take work on my part, hard work, and deliberate effort. I pray for each of us as we face our mountains that we will have Your patience and endurance, Father. May we see our progress through Your eyes, and rejoice in Your work in our lives, giving You the glory due Your name. In Jesus, amen.

Assurance, Choice, Faith

Jesus Had The Choice

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John 10:17-18 “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

This speaks to me today as I consider that Jesus is our example in all things. I note here anew that from the day of His birth till the instant of His death, Jesus had the choice. He chose to lay His life down for you and for me, but He had the right, given Him from the Father, to change His mind at any point along that road.

You and I have been gifted with the authority to choose as well. Just like Jesus, we are called day by day to lay down our life—our own wants and desires—and take up our cross—choosing God’s will and way, His assignment for the sake of others, over our own wants and desire, thus following Jesus. At any point along the way we have the right to change our mind, lay down our cross, and take back up our life.

Aren’t you glad that Jesus stayed the course for our sake? I find myself asking today, “Is there an area in my life where I am failing to stay the course for His sake?”

I also note, as I read this passage, that Jesus knew that laying down His life was only temporary. By laying it down to fulfill the will of God, He would win it back again with greater abundance. Sounds like another example worth following, doesn’t it?

In this Christmas season, let’s give back to Jesus the blessed gift of followship.

Assurance, Contentment, Faith, Godly Principles, Holiness

“I AM”

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In one of my groups on SparkPeople community, we are covering the names of God found in scripture. Today, as I posted the next name going in the order in which they are found in scripture, deeper understanding hit my heart. It seemed good to share it here.

When someone introduces themselves to us and they give us their name, it is an honor. Especially when they give us the name they desire us to call them and it is an intimate, lesser known name. That is the honor God gave the people of Israel with the following name:

JEHOVAH (YAHWEH)—The Self-Existent One. I AM WHO I AM (Exodus 3:14).

This common translation being true, when we see Jehovah used as the first part of a name for God, it is as if He is saying to us, “I AM”. “I AM your…”. This is its use when we see names like Jehovah-Jireh: “I AM your provider.”

The deeper?

As I look at this with the knowledge I have under my belt concerning who God is, I realize that Jehovah also could mean “The Self One” or “The Self-Defined One.” God is who He is. He knows who He is and who He wants to be. He is not conflicted like we too often are. He needs no one else to tell Him who or how to BE. He just is. The opinions of others that misunderstand Him do not sway His self-understanding and way of being, as it too often does us.

This is what I believe it means when it says in scripture that we are to be perfect as He is perfect (Matthew 5:48). It has always been such a self-defeating understanding to me that we are to always do things perfectly as He does. I fall too often and that brings me to discouragement where following this edict of the perfect is concerned. But this new realization gives me hope. I can understand myself and be who I am.

We need to know who we are and what we believe to be truth so that we can BE who we are to be. When we know what we believe and how we want to be in any given situation, we are no longer conflicted and we are better able to endure whatever may come our way (James 1:4). Wow! Is that not awesome?

Thus God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is not one way today and another tomorrow. We are to strive to be the same as He is, perfect in our understanding of who we are while we are continually being perfected to be more like Him, restoring the image of Him that He put there before the fall of man distorted it (Philippians 1:6, Genesis 1-3). By His grace, with this as the goal, I can be perfect as God is perfect while continually being perfected. And so can you. Nothing shall be impossible with God!

Adequacy, Assurance

Tis the Season: To remember my life goal

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Deeper roots. That is the call of God for my 2011 spiritual focus.  God has taken me into a greater depth of understanding that I can and must believe Him. No matter what is going on around me, I can trust Him, His truth, His faithfulness, His grace that is truly sufficient for every need. He is who He says He is. He can do what He says He can do. I am who He says I am. I can do all things through Christ who is my strength. His word is alive and active in me.

Thinking on these things, as 2011 comes to a close and as God begins to form my focus for spiritual growth in 2012, I am drawn to my life goal passage anew: Philippians 3:8-10, in the Amplified version of scripture, which adds to my understanding of that blessed text.

“Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege, the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish, refuse, dregs, in order that I may gain Christ the Anointed One, And that I may actually be found and known as in Him, not having any self-achieved righteousness that can be called my own, based on my obedience to the Law’s demands—ritualistic uprightness and supposed right standing with God thus acquired, but possessing that genuine righteousness which comes through faith in Christ, the truly right standing with God, which comes from God by saving faith.

“For my determined purpose is that I may know Him, that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly, and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection, which it exerts over believers, and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed in spirit into His likeness, even to His death, in the hope that, if possible I may attain to the spiritual and moral resurrection that lifts me out from among the dead, even while in the body.”

It has been a challenging year for many of us. People have lost jobs, homes, loved ones. We have seen an adult child’s marriage dissolve, leaving us crushed in the quake of the cause of that break. Children struggle as never before. There are many life challenges that draw our attention and can leave us devastated. But this passages leaves this struggling one with hope in understanding that if all else is lost, as long as we come through it with a greater understanding of God and deeper relationship with Him, we have won.

We were never promised a rose garden in this life. In fact, Jesus said that we will have trouble in this life, but if we seek God first, He will meet us at our need. Every good and perfect gift in life comes from the Father. And for every difficulty that comes to us, He is able to supply our need to get through it and come out stronger for it.

I pray that your year was filled with more roses than thorns. But more than that, I pray that as you look back on your life in 2011, that you see more of Him and an ever deepening relationship with Him. He is the Rose that makes the thorns worth the trouble.

Godly Principles

To Make a Leader

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For years I prayed for my husband to be a strong spiritual leader. The first thing God taught me is for anyone to lead in anything, there must first be willing people standing ready to follow. If I am not watching for his lead with willing and submissive readiness to accept God’s use of his way of leading, why should he lead.

The next thing God taught me is when I let my husband experience my willingness to trust God to use him to lead the way, he grows stronger in following God in his leading. God does amazing things for those who surrender the controls and willingly sit in the co-pilot’s seat.

Faith, Practicing His Presence, Stand Firm

The Promised Lands of Life

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What I have learned about getting older: it wasn’t the big 50 that got me; nor the usual 30 that everyone baulks about. It was facing 40 that nearly did me in. I kept thinking, “There are 70 years allotted to man, and if blessed of God, 80. Half my life is over!”

Then God reminded me, “After 40 years, they entered the Promised Land. There is greater still to come, kiddo.” So I am looking for the promise.

However there is one important thing God didn’t remind me of that I have had to learn from experience: the taking of the Promised Land was one battle after another, and it has been that way for me. I have grown spiritually more in the past 16 years than in all the 40 before them. But it has not been an easy walk to glory. It has been one spiritual up-hill-battle after another, usually focused on digging out some root in me that hinders my walk with God.

In this journey to the Promised Lands of life, I have learned from experience that the battles ordained by God are always with His presence in the fight—He never leaves me nor forsakes me; and it always works a greater good than I can even imagine. So press forward, Beloved of God, knowing the journey ahead may not always be easy, but it will be worth the effort in accomplishing the greater things of God’s glory.

Practicing His Presence, Prayer

God-Watching

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One awesome thing God has taught me through the years of praying for loved ones to grow in the Lord that I pass on just in case it is needed:

When praying for God to do a work in another, we don’t look for the work—for our expectation of what that work should look like will likely cause us to miss seeing what the actual work does look like. We look instead for God. When we look for God in the God-work prayed for, we will see awesome things we know not of.

Happy God-Watching!

(NOTE: For those who read my blogs in other places, there will be a lot of overlap for awhile. I will try to title them the same in each, so watch the titles to know what is new for you. BLESSings, and thanks for patroning my writings.)

Faith, Hope, Power, Practicing His Presence

Praying The Lord’s Model Prayer

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I write at the unction of the Spirit, and there has been no flow there for awhile—feeling yucky physically may have something to do with that. However I love using the Lord’s Model Prayer as outline to follow in praying over my own life and others. Impressed to do so yesterday, I typed up the following and, sensing God’s leading to do so today, I share it with you. As you prayerfully go through these for yourself, I speak agreement with the Holy Spirit over you and yours today. May the Lord truly bless you as you pray. Hugs, Darlene

The Lord’s Model Prayer

As Prayed by Darlene Davis

Oh Father, how grateful I am that You who live in heaven—as the earth cannot contain You, You still choose to abide in me as I abide in You by the power of Your Holy Spirit. That is awesome to me, as I realize how Majestic is Your Name. You are too awesome to fully comprehend, and still You desire that I know You as an intimate friend who calls You by name, just as You call me by name.

How awesome it is to me that You desire Your will in the earth and work Your will in me, just as You have planned it beforehand, revealing the perfectness of Your will from the Glory found in Your Heavenly Kingdom. Let Your will be done in the earth, and especially in me, granting me to experience Your heaven on earth as I follow hard after You, and let it begin through my love walk.

Thank You, Father, that I can trust You to meet my daily need perfectly, for You promise in Your Word that You supply sufficient for my need, and abundance for every good deed. You are always true to Your word above and beyond what I can ask, think, or fathom. I look to You for wisdom in the use of Your supply so that I might help others along the way just as I am helped by You, for You are faithful.

Father, forgive me that I frequently fall short of Your glory. Your word tells me that Your grace is sufficient for me. I rest with hope in You. You tell me that You cast my sin as far as the east is from the west and to the depths of the deepest sea, never to remind me of them in a punishing way again, for we have no condemnation who are truly in Christ. I want to walk in Your forgiveness, Lord; not only to receive it to myself, but to give it as You do. Your Word through Isaiah 43:25 says You wipe out my transgressions for Your own sake—so You will continue to want to have a relationship with me. Help me to forgive others in obedience to Your example and command, and to do so for my own sake in likeness to You, so that my relationship with You is not hindered, and so that I can continue in relationship with those who hurt me. Make me an example of Your love and grace.

Thank You, Lord, that You do not tempt us to evil, but You deliver us from sin’s grip and Satan’s trickery as we draw near to You with a sincere and repentant heart. I trust You to make me alert to Satan’s schemes so that I do fall to strongholds of sin, dishonoring You.

Yours is the true Kingdom, O God and You are its King. Thank You for allowing me to be a part of Your people, a people for Your own possession.

Your power is beyond estimation, Father, and You are strong toward us who believe. Desiring to bring Your Own safe to Your enteral Kingdom, You fight for me as a Father for His child. Desiring that I take part in the building of Your Kingdom, empower me through Your mighty power that I may serve You well all the days of my life, so that others may see You in me and be drawn to know You for themselves.

All glory is Yours and is due Your blessed name. I long to see Your glory in the land of the living. Let Your light shine to and through me, and let me see Your Glory being revealed to the fulfillment of Your great Kingdom purpose.

As Jesus taught and in His name I do pray, believing. Amen—So be it!

Contentment, Provision

Greener Grass?

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“You can picture a million lives and never have one of your own” (Character on CSI).

Wow, that line hit my heart whenever I heard it. Not that I don’t have a life, mind you. I have lived dreams. But that line made me think of times when dreaming can take over and lead us to discontent with the now we have to the point that we lose the life set before us.

I wonder, are you — like me — one who needs someone on occasion to give you a good boot and say, “Wake up! Smell the roses where you are”? We have to realize that though the grass may be greener on the other side, it can also be bitter with a hidden poison that will destroy the deceived and weary grazer.

“…I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. …” (Philippians 4:11-13, NASB).

Adequacy, Assurance, Faith, Godly Principles, Grace, Hope, Overcomers, Power, Practicing His Presence, Provision, Salvation, Stand Firm

A Conversation with God

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Recalling a promise God spoke to my heart from a Bible Gateway daily scripture that came to my inbox, I go through my deleted file looking for it in preparation for a trip to a large conference that had my social anxiety quaking in my proverbial boots. As I searched, I grabbed all the Bible Gateway mailings that spoke to me for the journey ahead. Following is the conversation I discovered once I had all God highlighted for my fright-filled heart. These words carried me through the week with a confidence I have not had in a long while. For this I give Him the glory due His name; and I pray this conversation to fill the heart of all who would profess faith in Him while pressing into life despite fears grip.

“I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. …You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You.”

“Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. …I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.”

“I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With Him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. …You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in Your word.”

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

“Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. …The Lord will keep you from all harm—He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. …The Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. …So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.”

You have shown me Your glory, O God! I will not fear, for You have revealed that You are with me. I will not be dismayed, for You are my God. You have strengthened me and helped me; You uphold me with Your righteous right hand. With Your help, my heart will recall these things and I will draw near to You in hope of faith, believing Your promise so as to walk free of the grip of fear all the days of the life You have ordained for me. In Jesus I pray You, show me Your glory.

(Psalm 121:1-2; Isaiah 26:3; Isaiah 46:4; Isaiah 48:17; Psalm 16:8; 119:114; Isaiah 41:10; 40:31; Psalm 121:7-8; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; Hebrews 10:35-36)

Assurance, Faith, Godly Principles, Stand Firm

I Believe, Therefore…

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“…I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me.’” (Isaiah 46:9b)

I am in awe as I read this proclamation from the God I believe: the God of the Holy Bible. He is the One True God who reveals Himself through the power of His Spirit, the flesh of the one He calls “Son Incarnate” and the beauty and glory of the one too awesome to behold, the one called “Father”.

All the problems of life melt away to hope in believing that this God I love and trust is in control and is working a plan to bring many—including me and mine—into His Kingdom. All is not lost in this life. It is only suffering the birthing pangs that are leading to life more abundant and full, a life where all will know and understand that He alone is God, and there is none like Him.

This world we live in would try to convince me that, not only is my God one among many and I should honor all equally, but they would have me believe that He is an impotent god. What I know is that my God is the One True God. And He is not impotent, but He is patient toward us, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.

Those who believe in other gods, or in no god at all, would call me and those like me “intolerant” and “separatist” or “haughty”, because I believe wholeheartedly the truth of this proclamation, refusing to honor other gods. And, I guess, they would be right in that respect.

My God tells me He is the only one and I am to give no credence to another god, nor am I to honor their ways. He tells me that other gods are the creation of the heart of mankind who refuse to acknowledge His existence and Lordship as the only One. To fail to believe these truths is to be conflicted and schizophrenic as a believer of the God of the Bible, thus dishonoring what He says about Himself and the path He demands of those who would be His.

But God also instructs our heart that we can love those who refuse Him without condoning their ways. Is not that the true meaning of tolerance, to continue to love and care for and treat with respect those who believe different and live in ways not one’s own. God gave one innate law to every man that is the one law all follow faithfully; that law is the right of choice that gives to every person freedom to choose whom they will follow and how they will live.

“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Thus, as believers in this One God and His proclamation of what He says is true, we hold our head high and refuse to be beat down and made to feel inferior and intolerant by those who refuse to honor our right to believe our God: those who would have us be like them before they will love us and respect our God ordained ways. And we do so knowing that our God will reveal fullness of truth one day soon, as the birthing pangs draw closer to the completion of all things He has ordained to be fulfilled.

(See also 1 Corinthians 4; Joshua 24:15; Deuteronomy 30:15-20)

Faith, Hope, Practicing His Presence

In the Midst of the Rubble

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As we have seen how glorious the cross came forth from the rubble after the World Trade Center collapsed and how tall the cross stood in Joplin in the midst of the rubble after the Joplin tornado we should be very encouraged about the cross coming forth in the midst of the rubble of our own lives.

Truly the old rugged cross makes the difference.  May we glory in the love of the Father who sent His only Son to be our own personal Savior in the midst of our rubble of sin and disgrace to make us holy and blameless in His sight.  May we be putty in the Master’s Victorious Right Hand for His glory!!!

I am reminded of what Betsy Ten Boom said as she and Corrie, her sister, were imprisoned at Auschwitz, “There is no pit so deep that God is not deeper still.” Corrie also said, “JESUS was Victor; JESUS is Victor and JESUS will always be Victor.”

Have a most blessed day in JESUS…

NOW IS THE TIME,

Adele Simpson © (Used by permission)

“Behold, now is the accepted time:  behold, now is the day of salvation.”  II Cor. 6:2b

PS: I know many of us have watched and remembered with great detail the days of 9-11. It is important for us to recall the reason our young men and women fight today on the frontlines of that beginning. But as I listened to K-Love yesterday, I was reminded that after the rubble comes determined purpose, increased faith, and the beginning of restoration. Today let’s remember that as well and celebrate our God of new beginnings. HUGS to each as we morn the loss and rejoice in renewal, encouraged and strengthened by a victorious Cross that comes forth shining like gold in the midst of the rubble. Thank you, Adele, for this reminder.

Faith, Overcomers, Practicing His Presence, Stand Firm

Proven Faith

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“In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:7-8).

My study Bible’s footnote points out that Jesus, the Son of God and very God incarnate, “learned obedience through maturing and proving.”

The word “proving” reminded me of some things that God has been rolling around in my head with regard to Job and his suffering that has helped me to understand why suffering comes though there is no sin-cause. Do you realize that Job is reported to have been righteous in God’s opinion, and that it is God who pointed him out to Satan as an example of faith in the earth?

God allowed Job to be tested, not so Job could prove his faith: God already knew his faith; but so that God could prove his faith. When Job began to struggle under the load, that is when God stepped in, stopping the test, and giving instruction to Job for his maturity in righteousness. The hedge went back up as soon as God had proven to Satan the resolve of Job’s faith.

What load are you bearing that tests your faith? Realize that God knows your heart just as He did Job’s. Press forward with faith that proves what God sees in you, trusting with heart-knowledge that He will step in when the load becomes a burden, for “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Adequacy, Overcomers

Kindle Afresh His Gifting

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“For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline” (2 Timothy 1:6-7).

I still haven’t made it past verse seven as I read God’s word this morning, trying to press through the reading of 2 Timothy. God continues calling me to realize the role of self-discipline in my walk of healing from social anxiety and the stressor that brings it on. But today He highlights verse six for me. Did you note that to “kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you” is our responsibility?

God is giving me opportunity right now to do just that as He has called me to volunteer some time each day at the college where my husband works, using my organizational and administrative gifts in working his office and taking care of secretarial needs there. To do so requires me to trust God’s power to equip me to overcome the struggle with social anxiety. Persevering in faithfulness to be there requires that I know His love and be a conduit of that love in caring more about meeting this need than I do about the fear that so easily assails me. And the practice of self-discipline to treat this as a responsibility to God and man and to do my best work without caving into fear is a must.

In hearing and responding to God’s call to fill this need, I had to choose to kindle afresh the gifting of God within me, trusting that He who empowered me in times past to fill such a role would do it again. Trusting His love to care for my every need and choosing to love Him and my husband enough to do this, I discipline myself to go forth and conquer the emotional onslaught that comes against me. In doing that, God graciously reminded me of a prayer practice taught by Dr. Jesse McElreath in his book, The Believer’s Confession Guide. In his book, He covers the confession we have as believers in Christ—knowing who God says we are because of that relationship. Then he covers numerous categories of
sin natures and all their various aspects to help us in our walk of repentance. Lastly he gives the following hedge prayer, giving a prayer for each wall of the hedge.

North wall – The Escape Prayer (1 Corinthians 10:13):

“Lord, I realize that no temptation has overtaken me that is not common to man. I confess that you are faithful and will not allow me to be tempted beyond what I am able. Thank you for providing The Way of Escape that I may be able to endure any work of the enemy.”

East wall – The weapons Prayer (2 Corinthians 10:3-5, Philippians 4:7-8):

“Lord, I ask you to move into my circumstances and pull down all strongholds and false reasonings raised up against the knowledge of God and bring my every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. I pray that the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension shall guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Help me to think on things that are honorable, right, pure, lovely and attractive.”

South wall – The Armor Prayer (Romans 13:14, Ephesians 6:10-17):

“I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ will wrap himself about me and that I would make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. I believe that the strong strength of the Lord and the full armor of God will enable me to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. I gird my loins with truth, and put on the breastplate of righteousness, and cover my feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. I take up the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation and hold forth the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. With my armor in place, ci come against the ruler and powers of darkness which would seek to take me captive and I bind them in the name, power, and blood of Jesus and place a protective hedge about my life.”

West wall – The Position Prayer (James 4:6-10, 1 John 4:4, Revelation 12:11):

“Lord Jesus, I submit myself to you and resist the devil knowing that he has to flee. I cleanse my hands and purify my heart and confess godly sorrow for any sins committed against Holy God. I draw near to you and place the blood of Jesus between myself and all principalities, power, and rulers of darkness. I humble myself in the presence of the Lord, knowing that God is opposed to the wicked but give grace to the humble. I claim the overcoming grace of God in my life, knowing that greater is He that is in me that he that is in the world. Thank you for the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit which enables me to overcome because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of my testimony. In the strong name of Jesus, I pray, amen!”

May God empower us to overcome in the strength He supplies, through the provision and practice of love, and with the temperance of a sound, disciplined mind, kindling afresh the gifting of His grace and provision, making us useful to His kingdom and as His witnesses and workers in the fields where we live.

Adequacy, Godly Principles

Healing Discipline

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“For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7, NASB).

More people than has ever been recorded before time struggle daily with stress, depression, anxiety and fear issues. And in this time of war, we are seeing more and more people disabled by bouts of PTSD, Complicated Grief and Social Anxiety issues. This verse of Scripture is God’s provision for us in this day.

All versions of this verse that I read use the words power and love—except for maybe the old KJV that often used charity in the place of Agape love; but the word translated “discipline” here is often translated in other versions as “temperance” or “a sound mind.”

Temperance, having control of our emotions and not being given over to things like anxiety or fear, is a must for us to practice, especially if we suffer from emotional ailments that cause us to struggle in this area. Our being of sound mind, having right thought with regard to life issues and not being carried away by worry and fretting over things that are not yet and may never be, is also vital to our walk of freedom from fear and anxiety issues. But today this word “discipline” stands out to me as something we must consider so as to possess it in order that it may possess us.

If you are like me, as a wife, mother, and grandmother, I do not have time to be taken over by fear and anxiety to the point that I cannot function. Most of us have responsibilities that require our attention and demand that we be able to function. It is vital that we walk with disciplined commitment, doing the things we are responsible to do, taking care of our household duties and family responsibilities with faithfulness to God and family.

For those who work outside the home, we certainly do not have time to be overcome by our emotions to the point that we cannot function to keep up and take proper care of our duties as wife, mother, co-worker, and any other hat we must put on from time to time. Yet we are finding that so many people in society are stressed to the point that they find themselves to be fallen soldiers in life, struggling with these very issues.

Sometimes in our struggle with depressive disorders and anxiety issues, it is required of us to take a deep breath, and with self-disciplined resolve, do what is ours to perform, trusting that as we are faithful to obey the teaching of 2 Timothy 1:7, God will be faithful to meet our obedience with His power to perform. Amazingly, as we do what is ours to do, our thoughts turn from self and situations to God and others, and we find our healing.

Adequacy

AN Abundance

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“…And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed….” 2 Corinthians 9:6-15

“Do you believe this, Darlene? Then rest!” is the question and instruction that came to my heart this morning as I reread this scripture. “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.”

I am called upon again today to do something I feel very inadequate to do. As I seek the Lord to prepare to minister counsel to a friend who called me in distress last night, my own limits and weaknesses hit me in the heart this morning, and I cry out anew, “Father, I look to You …. I pray You, show me Your glory!”

Thus God faithfully responds as I read my focal passage this morning and am acutely aware anew that His grace and provision, sufficient for everything, is abundant for every good deed. All I need to is believe and receive.

Then my attention is drawn to where my spell checker underlines something it says may need correction. It is telling me to change “an abundance” to “abundance.” As far as sentence structure goes, they may be correct; but as I consider how God led the interpreters to write it, I realize the abundance He sends is very specific to our need. He does not necessarily send all abundance into our lives for all things. In fact, the promise here is “all SUFFICIENCY in everything” with “AN ABUNDANCE for every good deed.”

God sends all sufficiency in everything. He sends specific abundance in our time of need for every good deed. Thus I rest, trusting that God has very specific and timely supply for me as I seek to glorify Him in the life of this beloved one. You know, as I think on this truth, I can see how understanding and believing these things will keep me in contentment in whatever circumstance I find myself (Philippians 4:10-13).

“Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” 1 Corinthians 9:26-27

Adequacy, Faith, Godly Principles, Overcomers, Power, Provision, Stand Firm

Like the Son of a King

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“Rise up yourself, and fall on us; for as the man, so is his strength” (Judges 8:21, NASB)

Gideon won a mighty battle against the kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna. Standing before him, Gideon asked them what sort of men it was that they killed at Tabor. They replied, “They were like you, each one resembling the son of a king” (vs. 18). Gideon, who began in fear, led by God became like the son of a King; and that is what we are.

“You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies” (1 Cor. 6:20, NIV).

As we realize to whom we belong; as we relinquish all to Him and choose to honor Him in our bodies, we become men and women of strength. Whatever enemy we face today, we can face our Goliaths knowing that the same God who turned a wimpy, trembling Gideon into a man of valor, like the son of a King, is with us to help us stand against our enemies with strength. There is no battle too great for Him, and He allows no battle in our lives that is without purpose and glory to His Name, in preparing us and others around us for His Kingdom. Whatever giant you face today, realize to Whom you belong, and go forth with faith, believing.

“But my horn (emblem of excessive strength and stately grace) You have exalted like that of a wild ox; I am anointed with fresh oil” (Psalm 92:10, AMP).

Thank You, Father God, as this all goes together to make an awesome meditation for my day.

Seeking Holy Habitation, seated at God's feet (Exodus 15:13).