Tag Archives: Image bearers

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

A Focus On Light: The Armor of Light

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“Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, ” YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, ” YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and PUT ON THE ARMOR OF LIGHT. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.” (Romans 13:8-14 NASB)

We covered the Light of God found in our love relationships with God first and foremost; that love then flowing through us to fellow Light Dwellers. Love unites us, fulfilling the will of God in response to the prayer of Christ that we should be ONE. However, Love does not stop there.

Our Romans 13 passage instructs is to “put on the armor of Light.” This instruction is right in the middle of love’s successes and failures, leading me to the conclusion that Love is this Armor. (Love = Agape = perfect love: perfect meaning “to fulfill, accomplish, or complete its predestined course.”)

Love protects and defends us, wrapping us up in God, Who is love, where we are equipped to be true to Him and to self. Thus, enabled through love of God and a righteous self-love, we love others.

The practice of this Love as Armor requires love to be our only debt, as we owe nothing but love, and that debt is to our God Who, out of love, redeemed us. Out of indebtedness, we owe God a life that honors Him in our love for others.

Love is the fulfillment of God’s Law, because love does no harm to another. Thus, Love reaches beyond the fellowship of faith to all around us; and beyond that, even to those tho would be called “enemy” (Matthew 5:43-48 NASB).

The successes of our walk of love as Armor against sin is seen in the good we do that considers what is best for all concerned. Failure goes in opposition to do harm through such things as drunkenness, sexual promiscuity and sensuality, strife and jealousy. When we fall to things such as these, the chinks in our Armor are evident to the harm of self and others in the breaking of Law.

In breaking the Law of Love, we expose ourselves and reveal our lack of circumcision of heart. Breaking the Law of Love reveals a heart that falls short of wholeheartedness to the Father. Exposed skin opens us to enemy assault. Thus, a repeat is called for:

“…let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and PUT ON THE ARMOR OF LIGHT. Let us behave properly as in the day…”

(See also Romans 2:17-25 NASB)

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

A Focus On Light: The Lamp of God

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“Now no one after lighting a lamp covers it over with a container, or puts it under a bed; but he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light.” (Luke 8:16 NASB)

Jesus came as Light to a very dark world. While He was here in flesh, He was the Light of God, revealing through word, deed, and action the truth of the way of Life in God. (John 8:12 NASB; John 9:5 NASB)

Those following Him walked in His Light. But Jesus did not come just to shine God’s Light. He came to make Light on the earth, a Light that would remain.

“You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14a).

Jesus proclaimed His true followers, those who truly received His Light in ways that dispelled their darkness, sparking a flame of growing light within, to be Light as He is Light. They entered in partnership with Him to BE LIGHT in the world, thus carrying on His work of dispelling darkness and leading others to enter that Light. We are the product of those early beginnings. Thus, Beloved, as a true worshipper of God through Christ…

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house” (14-15).

God intends for us to stand out and be on display as Light, set in strategic places where darkness dwells. We are not intended to be like everyone in this world. We are different, called to be like Jesus, a true Light that dispels darkness.

I had an experience once that causes me to hang my head in shame’s embarrassment, but leads to rejoicing in the lesson learned and in a testimony that came out of it to help others avoid the same error.

When I was in nursing school, God had hold on me in a mighty way that stood out to others. Talking with a friend and another classmate during a break, the classmate used some foul language. Blushing, she nodded her head toward me and apologized. My friend said, “Sorry to her! What about me?” The classmate replied “Well, yeah. But SHE’S DIFFERENT!”

The thought that hit my head in that instant was, “Oh, Lord! I don’t want others to be uncomfortable and afraid to be themselves around me.” That enemy assault started me on a downward spiral that dulled the Light in me and did harm to my witness.

Love, the devil doesn’t want us shining brightly into the night, because he knows that the Light in us will destroy his kingdom on earth. He will use whatever trickery he can that will cause us to fall to the flesh, because he knows that as long as we remain as Light, he will lose those trapped in his darkness. If he can trick us into dulling our light so we fit into this world, his dark trap remains strong.

Beloved, God intends us to be DIFFERENT. He does not want our Light dulled by fear of standing in stark contrast to the world and it’s ways. He does not want us to let sorrow for those that are made uncomfortable with there dark ways to cause us to find ourselves spiraling into the pit they are trapped by. Satan sees our weaknesses, mine being fear of rejection, and he plays on those areas to cause us to stumble and fall. God wants us to realize this fact and draw closer to Him for protection.

Wherever the Lord has you, Beloved, you are His lamp for His glory. We are intended to shine bright with His attributes until the world becomes uncomfortable in its own worldliness and turns to enter the Light. We’re not to fear the dark places, for the Light in us dispels darkness: killing it and moving it out of the way so that blinded eyes can see the Light. We are to SHINE where we are without fear of being different.

“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16 NASB)

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

A Focus On Light: The Fruit of Love

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“…I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining. The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. ….” (1 John 2:7-11 NASB)

One thing we find in the Light is fruit born of the Spirit. When we are in the Light as He is in the Light, Light is what we are, and what is seen is the image of God: His nature, His essence, His glory. The fruit brought into view through this passage of Scripture is love.

By way of reminder, the first thing to know is that God IS Love. He loves us, not because of what we do or who we are. God loves because love is His WHO. To fail to love would be for Him to be untrue to His very nature, which would be to live a lie. God never lies. Lying is evil and evil cannot remain where God is found. Therefore, all He thinks, feels, and does toward us is out of love: an action of love.

Even in His discipline, God wishes none to perish, but for all to come to repentance; into relationship with Him. Father loves us so much, He sent His very Son to die for ALL so we may repent and find Life in Him. When discipline comes, it is His love leading us to repentance, so we become incompatible with evil, just as He is.

When we receive Christ, all of God’s Who comes in the power of His Spirit to reside in us. He grafts His Who to our who, empowering us to BE as He is. We can be His Light by possessing His Who as our own. We possess Him by allowing Him full possession of us. Our surrender allows the grafting to take and come to life, uniting our who to His, thus, making us one with Him, able to bear His likeness.

The proof of our true and abiding relationship is seen in the fruit we bear to His glory, thus revealing us as the Children of God. That glory is the Light of His Presence shining through us, and the first fruit produced is Love, for that is who God is. The grafting that gives us Life makes Love our who, too, so we look like our Father. Therefore we cannot say we abide with Him in His Light, but hate the brother that abides there with us. To do so is to live the lie. And that is evil.

If we are in Christ, grafted into God, we possess True Light, and Love is who we are. Love NEVER fails, falls short, or falters in reaching its intended destiny.

Surrender your all and watch God come to Life in you.

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

A Focus On Light: The Cleansing Power of Light

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“… if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:5-7 NASB)

Before pressing on from this passage, we must take a moment to acknowledge the cleansing power of walking with God in the Light of fellowship. When we walk in the Light as He is in the Light, we have fellowship with God and with God’s people. In this place, the cleansing of Christ in us is made evident. And the continual cleansing of Christ in us becomes part of our everyday walk with God, who takes us deeper into Him with each spiritual step forward, placing in us the freedom from sin Christ bought for us to possess through Him.

Fellowship with God is one proof of cleansing, because God, who is Light and is Good, cannot mix with darkness – or evil. Light DISPELS (banishes, eliminates, or pushes away) the darkness (evil).

There is a statement made of the disciples that I believe fits here. It always grabs me and leads me to pray it for my life.

“Now as THEY observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and BEGAN TO RECOGNIZE THEM AS HAVING BEEN WITH JESUS.” (Acts 4:13 NASB)

When we live in the Light as God is in the light, our relationship with Jesus is evident. Our lives reveal us to be a person after God’s own heart, in Christlike personality, choices, and purposes. The way we talk and behave becomes evidence of our close walk with Him.

None of us will draw in close enough to see God’s face on this side of Glory. As long as we are in these flesh bodies, the spirit of flesh will have its stubborn battles, contending against the Spirit of God. But I believe that the Father will never stop wooing us deeper into the Light of His Presence, where freedom from sin increases to us through Christ our Lord.

Freedom from sin and sins effect on our lives is vital for our health and wellbeing, and to our witness and effective service. Come into the Light of fellowship with Father, in the power of the Spirit through Christ our Lord, and be free.

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

A Focus On Light: Walking LIGHT

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“…Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now YOU ARE LIGHT IN THE LORD; walk as children of Light….” Ephesians 5:6-10 NASB

This passage proof texts the pondering from yesterday. God is LIGHT. Our relationship with Him revives His image, set in humankind at creation and revived in us through Christ as God abides in us and us in Him. Thus, He who is Light shines in us and makes us light as He is LIGHT. But what does that look like?

Beginning with today’s passage and pressing on for as many days as I find scriptural descriptions to follow, we will answer this question. I started here in Ephesians instead of continuing with the blueprints found in 1 John, because, to me, this is the clearest picture of the light God is, the Light Jesus portrayed, and the Light we are in Him. Ephesians 5:6-10 is always first in my memory when I consider our call to be His Light.

“…walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.”

In our relationship with God, as we grow to know and understand what pleases Him, we begin to bear the fruit of our growing union with Him. The rays of His Light, alive and growing in us, shine goodness, righteousness, and truth. Note these things, Beloved:

GOODNESS

First thing to remember is that “God, alone, is good.” (The words of JESUS when someone called Him good. Mark 10:18) Good or goodness is another attribute of God. Just as true love and pure light only resides in Him, so real goodness is His attribute alone. We can only be good as He bears that fruit into our lives. Goodness is another attribute found in the image of God, and goodness is part of what we see when God reveals His glory (Exodus 33:18-19 NASB).

RIGHTEOUSNESS

Scripture teaches that we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. His Righteousness comes alive in us as we bear the light of His image. (2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB)

TRUTH

Jesus pointed to the lies portrayed and lived by the Pharisees, telling them that they were bearing the fruit of their father, the devil; then he points out that He is of His Father. Jesus is The Way, THE TRUTH, and The Life. He was the Light of the Father when He was here; and He left us to be His Light, Representing Him through our lives.

The Light of God through us, Beloved: Goodness, Righteousness, Truth. That is who we are, proving ourselves to be His children. Believe it. Receive it. POSSESS it. Walk it.

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16 KJV

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

A Focus On Light: God IS Light

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“This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.” 1 John‬ ‭1:5‬ ‭NASB‬‬

God is light. YES! That’s exciting! And it’s worth repeating, Beloved. God is LIGHT. There is no darkness in Him because LIGHT is what HE IS. Try pulling God to the dark side and all you do is brighten up the place, because He IS Light. Wherever He goes, there is Light. So God said, “Let there be light,” and there was because God entered creation and Light had to arise.

I know: a little writers flair there, but you get the point, right? God is light, so wherever He is, there is light. Light proves God’s presence and work in a thing. Darkness cannot remain where Light is because Light dispels the dark. Thus, Beloved, if we have God, proof will reveal itself as Light fills the space called “me”.

Here’s the thing. When we get God, the image of God placed in all mankind at creation and killed in the fall, is REVIVED. Therefore, we, His image bearers, not only receive His Light, but by the power of our union, we become LIGHT! As we abide in Him, He abides in us, and wherever He is, LIGHT! Thus, wherever we go, the Sonshine dispels the dark around us.

Repeat after me, Beloved, “In the name of Jesus, let there BE LIGHT!” Thus we begin our journey to The Light.

Devotional Series, Health, Holy Habitation

Soul Cleansing

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The following is a teaching done by my friend, Sara. It is powerful and freeing. You will need about an hour for it, so bookmark the page where you can find it when time permits. You will not feel the hour a loss. BLESSings, Beloved.

Soul Cleansing

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

Awestruck and Set Free!

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“When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful man.” For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him.” Luke‬ ‭5:8-9‬ ‭NLT‬‬ (Read Luke 5:1-11 NLT)

This passage, along with others, like Isaiah 6, reveal to us two things that happen when a person experiences the very PRESENCE of God. One is that we are AWESTRUCK by His glory. The other is that we are brought to repentance by the contrast in character we realize when we draw near to God.

When we draw near to God, we are humbled before Him, thus, we bow down. When we experience His essence, we want more of Him and less of “me”. When we draw near to God, we automatically resist the devil and all that is not God, finding in that surrender the Victory of Christ and the burning coal of freedom from sin.

“Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”” Isaiah 6:5-7 NLT

Be in awe of the Father. Let the burning coal of the altar of Christ touch you for cleansing. Be sanctified and, set apart in Christ, go forth into the purpose of God for you, filled with and empowered by His Spirit Flame.

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

God’s WORD: Empowered to Save Souls

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“So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.” James‬ ‭1:21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jesus came to give us Life: Life, more abundant and full. He gave His life to deliver us from sin’s death.

Jesus also came as the Living Word, sent by God to correct the false understanding plaguing His people. Father and Son left for us the living, life giving Word, compiled and presented to us in the form of our Holy Bible, as written and inspired by God in the power of the Spirit.

As I read this scripture in James today, I realize anew that, when we surrender to Jesus as Lord, Jesus saves us from eternal death – separation from God – and gives us eternal Life, granting us the Spirit of God as our Teacher and as a seal of our union with God. All that God IS, is with us, from that instant to forevermore, never to be separated again from Him who promises to never leave us.

Jesus saves fully and completely. Yet this Word we consider today tells us that God’s Word, left for us, prepared to assist us in our search of the greater depths of God, is EMPOWERED to SAVE our SOULS.

Paul tells us that our fleshly, little-s spirit wars against the Spirit of God, bringing a struggle in our flesh, the purpose of which is to hinder our progress in maturing as a Christ follower and image bearer of God (I.e., Romans 6-8). Our flesh still wants to rule us and fights to control us, making us a slave to our flesh. The spirit of man does not want to give up the false freedom it believes real and true.

When we seek the Teacher to grant us understanding and ability to receive the Truth found in God’s Word, the Spirit empowers that Word to heal our soul. The soul of man (as in humankind) is his fleshly mind, will, and emotions. The fleshly soul is seen in us as the mind of man with it’s earthbound thoughts; the will of man with it’s self-focused desires; and the emotional state of man, unchecked and unleashed to possess the man and rule the day.

When the Spirit increases our understanding of the Word and Truth of God, empowering that Word to save our soul, we find our mind renewed, as God brings to life in us the mind of Christ, dictated by the Truth of God, healing us through His right thoughts within us. His Word reveals the deception of our hearts that dictate our will, our desires in life, and brings healing through aligning our desires and motives with the Fathers. The healing of our mind and will empowers us to possess His Healing Word in us to such a degree that we can now rule and control our emotions. God’s Word often empowers our mind and will to discern the emotional state we are in and align it with the Father’s emotional stability.

Jesus possessed and controlled His body and soul because He IS the Living Word of God. That power for healing the soul of man that the Word of God possesses was in Jesus to the point that The Word IS His WHO. He possessed the Word, lived the Word, and portrayed the very Word of God.

Beloved, we are to do the same. We are to seek the healing power of God’s Word so that it INDWELLS us and makes us the very image of The Father in Christlikeness. Without The Word of God, Living actively and effectively in us, we will continue to struggle as our fleshly spirit fights against the Holy.

Thus we see the reason it is vital for us to feast ourselves on His Word every day, even throughout the day, meditating on its application to our daily living. We must seek to devour it and pick every kernel of truth from it. Beloved, The Word is like the Manna of God, renewed every morning. Only God can give it, and we will never deplete the nourishment found there on this side of Glory. There is always a new, deeper kernel of Truth there for us who truly seek Him with all we are.

May you be healed today, Beloved, and find The Word fully alive and well in your very soul.

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

Fruit Bearing Truth

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“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 NASB

Throughout my life, this passage has brought teaching on the fact that we cannot bear eternal fruit apart from our union with Christ. This is a very true teaching that is vital to understand. But as I look at this today, my mind settles on the promise of this verse.

The one who abides in Christ and he in the one, that one bears much fruit! Period. The end.

If we truly are in Christ and Him in us, there will be eternal fruit evidenced in our lives. If there is no fruit – the ever growing and glowing image of God shining forth from us as born out of the Spirit – there is reason to question our true alliance.

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

Surefooted

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“The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.” Habakkuk 3:19 NLT

Wow! I am so excited for this Promise from God. What a glorious Word for us who desire more than anything to please our God.

Think about it. Scripture teaches that though we make our plans, it is God who directs our steps (1). His Word instructs us to know that He assures our heart (2). Then this verse assures us that our God makes us “SUREFOOTED”!

~ Surefooted – unlikely to stumble or slip. CONFIDENT and COMPETENT. ~

Wow. Through faith in God, who directs our path and assures our hearts, we can press forward with surefooted fervor, confident and competent to accomplish the glory of God in the path of His choosing.

Through faith’s assurance, we can press on in Christ, despite the accuser who would cause us doubt and fear, whether demon or those who work as Satan’s advocate. Beloved, from experience, I know this assurance of heart that comes when my foot is where God wants it. So can you. Seek Him in faith today, then press forward in trust to do the good He inspires in you.

“Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” (Hymn – Trust and Obey, written by John H. Sammis)

1. Proverbs 16:9 AMPC

2. Romans 8:28; Colossians 4:12; Hebrews 10:19-22; 11:1-2; 1 John 3:18-22

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

A Place of Refreshing

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“so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭15:32‬ ‭NASB‬‬

Good morning, Beloved.

One of our greatest privileges as a part of the Christian fellowship is for each of us to be a place of refreshing for others. It can be a challenge to achieve that, but it is a goal worth striving for.

I see this as our being a safe place where godly love and acceptance is found; where people can be real with us while knowing they can find encouragement, rest, and wise counsel. Even as I type this out, I know that I still have some work to accomplish in being this for those I love and spend time with. How about you?

Father, grant us wisdom and Spirt-power to be found in Christ, knowing how and when love produces a safe place of refreshing, and when love needs to flip tables.

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

A Transforming Trip Through 2 Timothy – Part 8

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“…All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:12-17

The Truth of God’s Word, rightly known and understood, makes us adequate and equips us for good works. Since even our greatest good is as filthy rags apart from the work of God in us, the work of the Spirit in bringing truth of the Word to life in us, transforms our filthy rags to good works that honor God as Lord, fulfilling His purpose in and through us.

Dig in Beloved and feast yourself on The Word of God, seeking the Teacher for understanding. Be made new through the inspired Word of God that is profitable for training in righteousness.

“Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them….” 2 Timothy 3:12-17 NASB

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

A Transforming Trip Through 2 Timothy – Part 6

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“Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.” 2 Timothy 2:21

I don’t know about you, Beloved, but I believe that the goal of life on earth for the Christian should be to be this “vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.” According to the scripture, attaining that goal requires we be “cleansed of these things.”

Paul begins in verse 14 with the charge for Timothy to remind those he is ministering to of the truths found in verses 1-13. I recommend reviewing those encouraging words. Then verse 14 begins a list of specifics we must seek God’s cleansing from, things that determine whether we are vessels for honor or dishonor.

1. Don’t wrangle about words. Some beliefs in the Christian faith are not worth fighting about, only serving to cause dissension and separation in the Family of God, leading “to the ruin of the hearers”. (I.e.: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 and Romans 14) Instead we are to behave in a manner approved by God, accurately handling His Word.

2. Next we are warned to “avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness,” which spreads like gangrene. A hot topic I believe fits here is to speak against our national leaders, as if God had nothing to do with their appointment, having no purpose for their appointment. We go against God when we assault their character and purpose, as it is God who raises up one and brings down another for His purpose. Such rhetoric can upset the faith of the immature in Christ, causing them to stumble or fall away.

3. Then Paul advises that “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.” Wickedness is any word or deed that goes against God, refusing His Lordship, or setting a bad example, thus defaming His Name through rebellion against His will and way.

4. Paul concludes chapter 2 with the encouragement to “flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.“ We are to “refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels.”

The goal of the vessel of honor is to be filled up with and to spill out the Spirit of God, so that God may grant to those receiving our witness repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth. The hope is that others “may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.”

Beloved, our own freedom from sin and liberty in righteousness frees others who watch with desire for the same. “Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers. …”

2 Timothy 2:14-26 NASB

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

A Transforming Trip Through 2 Timothy – Part 5

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As we seek the transforming power our Father desires for us, we began where all healing begins, by seeking a right relationship with God, making sure we walk, live, and breathe with a clear conscience. While doing that, we must do a faith check, making certain we are walking in Christ with sincere faith. Third is our need to realize our part in kindling afresh the gift God placed in us for His purpose and glory. With that, we must realize, receive, possess, and fully live out the grace of God in us. Next we must understand the Word of God and know how to apply it’s truths to our daily life.

“Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.” 2 Timothy 2:7 NASB

When we first begin to grow, we learn a lot through the teaching of others. But for every child of God, there comes a time when He expects us to grow in our ability to learn from and through the Spirit of God in us.

The Spirit, in all His fullness, is given to each individual in Christ. The full work of the Spirit lives and breathes in us: from convincing us of right vs. wrong, to comforting, teaching, and empowering us, the Spirit does His work. And this work of the Spirit thrives in the soil of a surrendered heart that seeks God, with a whole heart that is pliable, and ready to grow in Christ.

This truth is vital in a world where false teachers and false teaching is its destiny. We must be like the men of Berea, who did not just receive the word spoken to them, but they searched out the scripture for themselves, confirming the message before receiving it as truth (Acts 17:10-12).

If we truly desire the transforming power of God in our lives, we must be people of the Word of God, able to receive the teaching of the Spirit and discern truth for ourselves. And we must pray the word for those we desire to see transformed.

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

A Transforming Trip Through 2 Timothy – Part 1

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Reading through 2 Timothy, I keep sensing there is something there for me to see and understand. Today I finally get it.

In preparing us for the day of prayer coming up on the 24th, 2 Timothy has many truths we need to possess in preparation to pray for and to receive God’s liberating transformation in our personal areas of need. The first need is this:

“I thank God, whom I SERVE WITH A CLEAR CONSCIENCE the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day,” 2 Timothy‬ ‭1:3‬ ‭NASB‬‬

Beloved, our first need in ministry, including in the ministry of prayer for self and others, is for a clear conscience. This clear conscience is twofold:

First, a clear conscience surrenders all sin. We must seek the Father to reveal through His Spirit in us all areas of personal sin in need of repentance. Sin in us will hinder our prayers for self and others. It will hinder our own liberating transformation. So we must cleanse our own spiritual house and clear our conscience.

Second, a clear conscience is one that holds to the truth known. What we know of God; the things we know true of our relationship with Him and our service to Him; all we know true of His gifts in us and our fruit bearing in Christ: our full assurance of conscience in these things is vital for our journey forward.

So, today – and for as many days as it takes – confess and repent of sins; and confess, profess, and possess the truths you hold firm within you.

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation, Prayer

What to Do in the Long Night

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First Timothy 4:12 is vital instruction at any age, especially in a Long Night Season. A long night can leave a person feeling lost and without direction, not knowing what to do in the situation or in life. This is the answer! Pray these things.

“Let no one look down on you.” Job made it known to his friends that their opinion had no basis in truth. We must know ourselves before God, keeping His opinion in mind when accusation comes.

Continue to be a godly example in speech (the way we talk), conduct, LOVE, faith, and purity. When we don’t know what to do, do these things and we will come through shining like gold.

Believe! Cling to faith in Father. Know Him, trust His promises, take Him at His Word despite what eyes see, emotions say, and the deceptive heart feels.

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

Love Wins!

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When Fear Steps in the Ring……. LOVE WINS!

We have battles in this life of some sort every stinking day, Beloved. Our minds – emotions- tongues – are a battlefield. When we are heading to do something important to King and Kingdom, you better believe the devil is going to toss a wrench. So if we aren’t battling our flesh, we are battling demonic and worldly influences.

Beloved, when we are in a long night (an impossible situation only God can fix), such battles are fierce, and fear readily climbs into the ring of life. Scripture tells us that perfect love casts fear out (1 John 4). What is perfect love? Here’s what I believe.

Babe, God IS Love. That is His nature. God is perfect Love and His Love is working it’s perfection when it is received, possessed, and made full use of by us. I believe He created us as a place for Love. He desires for His Love to meet our need of it.

Fear most often comes to rob of trust in God’s Love. We are made to feel like we have to earn Love by being good enough for Him. Fear constantly tells us we can’t be good enough. And you know what, if it’s true His Love is earned, the devil is correct, we can’t be good enough. But – OH, THANK GOD! – that is not truth!

Truth is that God Loves us because He is Love. His love for us has nothing to do with our “do”, and everything to do with His “Who”. When we allow Him, who is Love, to abide in us with confidence that nothing we do will lose His Love, our battle with fear is finished, and we are strengthened to fight the true war: the good fight of faith that allows all He is to fill us and seep out our every pore to make all we are to possess the image of all He created us to be. Jesus in “me”, alive and well.

Read 1 John‬ ‭4:7-21‬ ‭NASB‬‬

Battles: The Afters

Devotional Series, Godly Principles, Holy Habitation

It Begins in the Heart

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“Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. …The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways. So all the peoples of the earth will SEE that you are called by the name of the Lord… The LORD will make you abound in prosperity… The LORD will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. …” Deuteronomy 28:1, 9-14 NASB

A promise to the nation of Israel, yes; and we come under it through the bloodline of Christ. As a nation that has professed Christianity, making us one nation under God, we trust the promises of God are true for us who believe. In that faith, the world has long known us as a Christian nation and are shocked when they see we struggle as they do, and sometimes much worse.

Drought in large portions of our nation; fires bringing great destruction; some of the largest disasters in our history; and the political atmosphere, economic issues, cultural division, and ever rising national debt! Our scripture tells us that others “see” that we bear the name of the Lord by the obedience we give to His will done His way, thus, reaping the blessings He sends. Suffice to say, our nation is symptomatic of one who no longer understands the nuances of bearing the name of the Lord.

This passage in Deuteronomy 28 (above) and the call to prayer in 2 Chronicles 7 (pictured and quoted below) make clear the expectation God has in us being known by His name, but what does that mean? It is obviously something that can be observed by others. What does that look like?

Second Chronicles 7:14 reveals that those called by His name sincerely seek Him with repentant hearts that turn away from wicked ways. Repentance flows out of a heart after God’s own heart, desiring Him above all and choosing to follow His will instead of our own. This heart is the soil from which the image of God grows and matures, bringing about the bearing of the fruit of His Spirit in us.

That fruit born out of relationship with God blesses us first with increased strength in that vital relationship. Keeping God first, our love relationship with God sustains us. That relationship empowers all else: right and blessed relationships with others – mates, children; parents, siblings; employers, co-workers, employees; neighbors, friends, strangers, and other nations. Right and good relationships reveal God and His BLESSings in a people and their land.

God promises that He blesses those who abide in relationship with Him in this fruit bearing way. He supplies weather conditions that produce crops to feed us. He supplies work through which we gain wealth. He provides strength, wisdom, and prowess that makes our nation strong against any would-be enemy. He blesses the nation and its people, so they may lend, but never have to borrow.

If we want our nation to stand strong again, it begins in the heart. And that begins with knees bent in surrendered repentance to a Holy God we want and know the need of above all other desires.

“If…My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14 NASB

Prophetic Word

A Word for Today: ONE

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Vital message! Please read and make ready.

Most of you do not know me, but if you posses and know the Spirit of the One and only living God, you will know of Him, if the following message is His voice coming to your ears through His mouthpiece. Father, grant discernment of truth to every ear, I pray. In Christ, amen.

Beloved, it is vital that we, the Body of Christ, be ONE in Him, the fulfillment of His John 17 prayer. Our differences and petty squabbles MUST be set aside. Any discord that separates brethren in Christ, great or small, is petty compared to what is ahead. A devastation is about to hit that will work a glorious good, and it requires our unity.

So get your heart ready, Beloved. Our unity with one another is vitally linked with each of our spiritual health in Christ. We must each be found walking as one with Father, Son, and Holy Presence, for our unity in His body to possess the necessary cohesion.

Trust in the leading of Christ is vital today. However strange the Spirit’s lead is, willing and effective, step-by-step obedience is vital to our readiness.

“…to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4:1-7‬ ‭NASB‬‬

Father, lead us. We are listening with ears set to hear.

My Lighthouse, by Rend Collective

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

God Laughs!

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“He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them.”

Psalms 2:4 NASB

A missionary friend, who has since gone to be with the Lord, shared a testimony of experiencing this laughter of the Lord. Working among a Muslim population in the country God took him to, he was heading up the street to his home there, when a group a teen boys began stoning him. Calling out to God, he very clearly heard God’s Spirit say, “Laugh.” So he did, and God took over.

He said that the biggest, deepest laugh he ever experienced came up in him. The boys, stunned, stopped throwing the rocks. Steve turned away and continued on into his house. The boys, who had been on that corner for many days, bothering all who walked by, left that day, never to return.

Laughter does good, like a medicine, yes; and it also makes an excellent arrow when supplied from the arsenal of Father God.

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation, Kingdom Living, Light, Love

A Word for Today: LOVE

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“These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,” 2 Thessalonians‬ ‭1:9‬ ‭NASB‬‬

Our focal verse may seem not to fit the word for today, but bear with me a moment while I explain.

Remember the parable of Christ when He described the day all will stand before Father as sheep separated from goats. I had a dream years ago about that, in which God allowed me to experience the position of the goat.

As we were ushered in to His presence, upon seeing the Father, we all were overwhelmed and filled to the full with understanding of His essence. Many, knowing their vehement rejection of Him, instantly knew they missed the boat; others who trusted a false salvation were just figuring out that they were on the wrong side of the gulf. The thing that overwhelmed us all was full understanding of God’s pure love for us even in that moment, and that we were finally complete – made whole by His love.

We watched as the names of saints were called one by one, greeted by Jesus, and ushered into His Kingdom by angels. Then came the time when the goats were cast into the outer darkness. I woke with realization that the hottest flame in eternal damnation will be the knowledge of never knowing God’s great love so clearly again.

God used that dream to call me to two major foci in ministry: one being the importance of calling others to the Cross of Christ before it’s too late; the other being the importance of making God’s love known now, while there is time to make an informed decision.

God calls us to be love as He is love. God is the love we are to have and walk in, allowing Him to be love in us, so people can see while they still have a chance of changing sides. This is why Jesus warned us, “”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 (complete).” Matthew 5:43-48 NASB (author’s note)

The most dangerous prayer I have ever prayed is for God to be love in me, loving a person in my sphere of influence with His unfailing love. I say “dangerous” because when God answers that prayer – and He will do so to the sincere heart cry for it – no matter what that person we love does, our love for them does not stop. We keep knowing God’s love for that person as our own. We feel a portion of the pain God feels for those who refuse Him. Their rejection hurts, and it’s hard, and the love keeps pouring out for them with longing for a right and true relationship fueled by and filled with the unity that is only found in mutual relationship with the Father. Only the brave, with true love for the Father that desires His love be found by all who need it, can face the heart of rejection experienced by God’s love for all. Are you ready to love in Jesus’s Name? He will supply the power for it, if you are willing to walk in His love-supply for all.

My prayer for us today, Beloved, is for our Strength to go forth and love in Jesus’s Name and in the power of His supply before time runs out. The eternal clock is ticking.

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation, Trust

Journey to Freedom

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“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” Ephesians‬ ‭5:1-2‬ ‭NASB‬‬

Love is the first flavor in the fruit of His Spirit that God used to teach me how His strength works best in my surrendered weakness.

God is love. We are told to love as He loves, which means we have to surrender to BE love as He is, and in likeness to Him. We can only do that when He, who is love, becomes love in us.

Our love is weak and insufficient apart from Him, never able to measure up to adequately represent Him. Only as we surrender ourselves to be a living vessel for His love to reach those around us can we truly love as He loves. And when we truly rest our effort in that truth, loving even the greatest of enemies becomes easier and more effective.

Knowing this, I don’t know why it has taken me so long to realize that the same principle is true of His fruit flavor known as self-control / self-discipline. I learned it easily with peace, joy, and goodness; finding a greater challenge in my surrender to His patience in me, but finally beginning to get there. I guess the holdup on learning this truth in the bearing of the flavor of self-control is that little word, SELF.

I expected God wanted me to do it on my own, by choice; which didn’t make sense when Scripture clearly teaches that I can do NOTHING apart from Him. So finally, I am walking in the truth that the “help” I constantly cry out for in this need of self-control only fully comes when I surrender to the truth that I am too weak to do it. That He who lives in me and wants to live trough me in a process that makes us truly one is key to fruit bearing in all His flavor.

Thus, I must allow His strength to live it’s perfection through this area of my weakness: not struggling to have some part in the controlling of self, but fully surrendering with trust in Him to empower control.

I finished my 21 days of fasting prayer, quickly discovering that the things practiced during this time of commitment are to be my new way of daily living Christ into the world around me. Today is the first day of the rest of my life – which is eternal in Christ.

Welcome to the new me, which is, by the way, another pound lighter. YAY!!

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

My Pleasure, My Passion

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As I ask God, with thought of His highlighting of Galatians 1:10, where in my life He sees me seeking to please man rather than Him alone, my thought to push myself to make it back to church comes to heart. My husband’s ebbing and waning health has held my focus as I care for him. On good days for him, my need for rest comes on strong. Church takes a back burner in this season.

I do miss church family. I do desire faithfulness in obedience to God. I do want to please God through my obedience to His Word of instruction. But it dawns on me as I think on these things that these are not secondary desires, as they should be. They are the drive behind my desire, along with this desire to be found faithful in man’s eyes God is revealing to me today. My heart is not solely set on seeking God above all else. The pursuit of God as my one true passion is not the motivating drive behind my desire.

Father, as I think on these things, I pray for passion toward You to drive me to church in Your time and place. I pray passion for You to be the driving force behind my desire for Your people, through whom You shine. I pray passion for You to drive my faithful obedience. I pray passion for deeper discovery of You to drive me to Your Word.

Be the passion in me that starts and revs my spiritual engine, and that keeps it running smooth to the glory of your name, wherever You may lead me. In Jesus’ holy and beloved name, fill me with His passion. Amen

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

God’s New Year Resolve

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In 1 Thessalonians 4:1, Paul encourages the reader to “excel still more” in their Christian walk and desire to please God. Reading that at this time of year brings my thoughts to the yearly habit of New Year’s resolutions.

I stopped years ago hopping onto that see saw. I’m not good at sticking to those. However, that doesn’t mean I stopped the work of changing my habits in the areas that need work. God simply inspired a different focus for me to practice in seeking to make progress in bettering those habits that are not the best. His way, with His help, works much better for me. I’ve shared it before, but here it is again, with hope of inspiring others like me.

Each year, for many years now, God has highlighted some verse or passage of scripture regarding an area He sees that I need to grow in. Last year (2016) was the need to strengthen my practice of “Holy habitation” with Him, a work of sanctification (Exodus 15:13). This year’s focus is a continuation of that: to realize and surrender myself to the fact that my old life is crucified with Christ, and that my new life requires cooperating with His work, allowing Him to live on in me (Galatians 2:20). For 2018, God if leading me to a much narrower focus on this sanctification He is working in me.

Through Hebrews 12:1-13, God is instructing me to excel still more at surrendering to His discipline. Most specifically my charge is found in verse 11-13:

“All DISCIPLINE for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it YIELDS THE PEACEFUL FRUIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.” Hebrews 12:11-13 NASB

Throughout my 2017 journey, God has constantly brought to my attention that all sin is sin because it refuses those things that please Him. It is refusal to acknowledge His Lordship and seek Him first in our choices.

God is calling me to excel still more in strengthening my hands and feet for straight paths by making decisive resolutions with every breath to do what pleases Him as His disciple. Healing will come to areas of struggle with bad habits as I receive His discipline that keeps my feet on the straight and narrow.

Beloved, I encourage you today to get God’s focus for you in this new year. Don’t just reach out and grab something. Watch for the Spirit to grab you with the word from the Father for you. He knows best what you need, and Him being at the center of it is the power that accomplishes the good He desires.

When you receive His focal passage for you, write it out. Read it in many different translations. Carry it with you and refer to it often. Meditate on it. Keep a journal of experiences and other passages God uses to instruct you on your subject matter. You’ll be amazed as He directs your path this year to thoughts and opportunities that grow you in the area of HIS RESOLVE.

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

Repentance That Works

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There are two types of repentance: worldly repentance and godly repentance. Godly repentance works the will of God, and that is what we want.

Worldly repentance is:

Self-centered – repentance flowing out of worldly concern (must change before I lose my job…my ministry…their love/respect).

Insincere – having a hardened heart to sin, repentance is only for show.

Insecure – believing God delivers from the penalty of sin, but we are still enslaved to the sin nature with no hope of freedom in this life.

Godly Repentance is:

Relational – concerned about pleasing God and protecting relationship with Him; and because of right relations with God, desiring to protect relationships with others.

Transforming – knowing that we not only possess the righteousness of Christ in the Spirit, but that the Spirit is with us, to empower our righteous acts accomplished through surrendered lives.

Eternal – knowing that God loves us at all times and will bring us into His eternal Kingdom because of Jesus, while also realizing that we are His representatives in our here and now, called and equipped as His image bearers to reveal Him to the world. Godly repentance truly desires to surrender to God’s work of making us into His image.

True repentance comes to those who know that God has a good work for us as individuals, beginning with us being His image bearers. Surrendered living with sincere effort to conform to His transforming power leads to accomplishing His purpose.

True repentance surrenders to eternal purpose through trusting faith that knows “nothing shall be impossible with God”, who so greatly desires a love relationship with us that He gave His only begotten Son to have it. And have it, He will, for His Word succeeds at accomplishing His purpose.

Take God at His Word and repent from a godly stance of faith made sure in Him.

“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” Romans 6:12-13 NASB

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

Opportune Times

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“It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony.” Luke 21:13 NASB

Speaking of end times, Jesus warns His disciples of the persecution coming to believers. Alerting them to the fact that they will be taken to court for their faith, he tells them to realize the opportunity they have in that situation to bear testimony of their faith.

As I read these words this morning, it speaks to me for the difficulties we face each day. Whether we face illness that threatens our now-life, or whether we are constantly challenged by bosses without integrity; whatever difficulty comes to our day, it brings opportunity to bear forth our testimony by a life of righteousness well lived. Though no one sees but the “cloud of witnesses surrounding us” (Hebrews 12:1), the things that test our resolve bring opportunity to bear testimony that tells the truth about our faithful trust in God.

“So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.” Hebrews 10:35-36 NLT

“By your endurance you will gain your lives. … Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”” Luke 21:19, 34-36 NASB

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

Thanksgiving-New Years Challenge

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“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.” James‬ ‭1:17‬ ‭NASB‬‬

Do you believe this biblical statement about God? Do you believe that anything truly good for us, anything that perfectly meets our need or that brings joy to our day in godly ways, which is given by Him for our enjoyment, is from God? Then watch throughout these days for the good and the perfect: for those things that make you smile, increase peace to you, or that make a task possible, perfectly suited for you as His image bearer. Take a moment to realize those BLESSings God sends, to appreciate them and be thankful.

Also, every man to whom God has given riches and possessions, and the power to enjoy them and to accept his appointed lot and to rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God [to him]. ~ Ecclesiastes 5:19, AMPC

Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. ~ 1 Timothy 6:17, NASB

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

Zeal of the Lord

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“The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform (accomplishes) this” – Isaiah 9:7 (AMPC).

I love that we can trust our God. Reading this focal passage in a devotional today has me wondering what scripture has to say about God’s zeal, so I did a little research, and here’s what I found:

God is zealous:

1. For His people (Isaiah 26:11; 37:32).

2. For the establishment of His King – Kingdom (Isaiah 9:7).

3. In His battle against enemy forces (Isaiah 42:13).

4. For the fulfillment of His purposes (Isaiah 9:7; Zephaniah 3:8; & all the above).

Another thing I noticed is the frequency with which His zeal is linked with Him being the Lord of Hosts. That says to me that God is not sitting back, waiting for things to happen. Zeal requires action, and He is actively involved in making sure His desire toward His people and purpose gets done.

We desperately need to see the zeal of the Lord in our day. We can do nothing apart from Him. We need His zeal for a Life that honors Him, fulfills His purpose, and walks in His victory.

Here am I, O God. Let Your zeal prevail and perform Your purposes in and through and around me and mine. Reveal Your zeal for all that concerns us. Pour forth Your zeal against the enemy that prowls around like a lion, set to devour. We look to You, O God, and are helped.

Thank You that You are for us and not against us who are of Your household; that You never leave nor forsake us; and that You are faithful, for You cannot deny Yourself by failing to fulfill Your word or by denying Your Son, Christ in us. We give all glory to You, realizing that Your zeal is our hope and help. In Jesus. Amen.

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

The BLESSed Trust of Being His Light

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“You were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.” Ephesians 5:8-10 NASB

If we are setting a bad example where we are, why do we tend to expect God will give us a position where we can lead others to be twice the hypocrite we are being?

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.” Galatians 6:7-10 NASB

God does not often put us in the position we desire until we are being that person, living the level of integrity required for it, in the place we currently hold. You want to come up higher? Live the degree of faithful, integrity required now.

“Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.” Colossians 3:23-25 NASB