HIS WORD

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more of it…

“What the world needs now is…”

in my favorite and best Jackie DeShannon voiced

“the Word of God”

Having a high esteem or view of God and having a high esteem of the Word…

is our saving grace.

Psalm 119:11

I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

Our view of God helps shapes what we will and will not do.

Psalm 14:1

Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.”…

Romans 2:14

Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it.

2 Timothy 2:13

If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is.

The order of this world is clearly not God’s order.

He told the earth what to do. He tells the sea how far it can go and so on and so forth. (Proverbs 8:29)

An owner of a home is the captain of that home. If he tells a picture where to hang, (so to speak), that’s where it’ll be hung and in the same respect; God, the creator of the universe has told the stars where to hang in the sky. Step back, observe and take a look at this picture (analogy).

Imagine the difference in scales. His hand is way weightier than any human hand. Their is virtually nothing He can not do. Not on earth and neither in the heavens, He reigns over it all.

So imagine little ‘ol me and little ‘ol you living by His every Word. Imagine us all breathing it in daily, digesting it as our daily bread, meditating on in, allowing it to take residence and roll around in our thoughts, moment by moment

Imagine the impact. Imagine what He could do with you and i if that were so.

Isaiah 55:11

It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.

2 Timothy 3:16

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

Romans 14:1

For the Scriptures say, “‘As surely as I live,’ says the LORD, ‘every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will declare allegiance to God.’”

John 1:1

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

In light of all these truths, why not follow and live by His every word.

Every successful man or woman in the Bible, obeyed His word, never perfectly and walked in relationships with Him.

Studying His word would prove this to be true.

Someone who is so|all knowing, so|all mighty, so|all powerful deserves for us to live on|by His every word and He invites us to

Food for thought:

Think on the wonder or what, you know of this to be true.

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WISDOM

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Wisdom

“wisdom to work through it all”

So important, that it’s described as a person much throughout the word.

Wisdom, oftentimes something someone may lack but never something that is unattainable.

The Bible instructs us that if anyone lacks wisdom they should ask God because He gives liberally. (James 1:5)

I guess after hearing and meditating on this scripture quite a bit over the years what stands out most to me this time, after tossing it around a bit is that “God gives liberally” (KJV|NKJV)

Not sparingly, but liberally. He gives to all who ask, to all who call out to Him for…

He’s not a God who is interested in withholding anything from us. He wants us to have what He has to give.

He is gracious, He’s a good good Father and isn’t interested in us going without.

So much so that wisdom calls out to us. Wisdom talks and calls out.

Proverbs 1:22 NLT

“How long, you simpletons, will you insist on being simpleminded? How long will you mockers relish your mocking? How long will you fools hate knowledge?

Proverbs 1:23 NIV

Repent at my rebuke! then I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make known to you my teachings.

“then”…

God is always beckoning us to take one step and then He’ll take the next. He’s always always asking us to draw closer to Him and He’ll draw near to us.

James 4:8

Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.

God promises to pour, not share, not water; but pour His thoughts out to us. He is so faithful and so interested in our well being. He is interested in pouring what He has out to us, He cares about our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well being.

1 Peter 5:7

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

He hasn’t promised us an easy life but He has promised to be with us always.

Matthew 28:20

Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

John 16:33

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

His word is meant to assure and reassure us that He and His word (it) is true.

His word is truth and is what will stand the test of time.

Wisdom tells us:

But they delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night.

Psalm 1:2

Wisdom to work through all of life’s trial are|is attainable.

Encouraging you as I encourage me, to take heart

and

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HIS PRESENCE

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His presence

You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever. Psalm 16:11

His presence is what His disciples were urged to wait for and not to leave a specific place for…

Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 1:4-5

His presence, something each individual longs to feel, know and to experience.

His presence, often described as something an individual didn’t know that they were missing.

His presence, something that equates to His blessing being with you.

Genesis 21:22 About this time, Abimelech came with Phicol, his army commander, to visit Abraham. “God is obviously with you, helping you in everything you do,” Abimelech said.

1 Samuel 18:28

When Saul realized that the LORD was with David and how much his daughter Michal loved him,

Judges 6:12

The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the LORD is with you!”

His presence, so oftentimes longed for but mistaken and replaced with other things.

His presence, more of it is what we all need more of.

His presence, crucially important, extremely undervalued, fully reassuring:

Exodus 33:15

Then Moses said, “If you don’t personally go with us, don’t make us leave this place

Deuteronomy 31:6

So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

Psalm 46:1

God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.

His presence, something that is not always recognized for what it is:

Genesis 28:16

Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!”

His presence is a promise,

When we walk with Him.

When we choose to do His will and honor Him:

Genesis 5:24 (Enoch) walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him.

2 Kings 22:2

He did what was pleasing in the LORD’s sight and followed the example of his ancestor David. He did not turn away from doing what was right.

Grasping it may take patience | it’s something that may need to be waited on.

There is a such thing as more of it. More of His presence

His presence, a necessity, to the least needy soul,

Something silently longed for.

Something precious, in the hand of a person

His presence, something kings in the past longed for. They wanted what represented Him.

Psalm 51:11

Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

His presence, it’s evident you have it once you do

2 Samuel 6:11

The Ark of the LORD remained there in Obed-edom’s house for three months, and the LORD blessed Obed-edom and his entire household.

His presence, something we’ll never regret looking|searching for, in the long run.

Isaiah 55:6 Seek the LORD while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.

His presence, the sweetest scent,

the sweetest fragrance ever known.

You are love by God, and He never intended to leave us without it.

His presence, His protection

He protects His plan

A life in His hands is a life well lived.

It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith. Hebrews 11:7

A life where His presence is, is a life that is sure to leave a legacy.

It’s a life that says “He is who He says He is and I am living proof of it!”

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PEACE

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What brings you peace? Is the first question that comes to mind as I think on the word.

Not hard to lose but even harder to find if we begin to look for it in all the wrong places or things…

Temporary and momentary pleasures can’t buy us peace, but it can be gotten.

So many things try to steal peace and to distract from the pursuit (of)…

One thing that soothes the soul while I think on the word peace and write this blog is this one scripture that Jesus said to His disciples.

It almost immediately clears my mind of all the wrong thoughts and, in comes the deep breath and fresh wind of faith injected into me.

Scripture is healing, mind renewing and life altering (for the good, of course).

Challenging?! Is anything that is good for one not?, but absolutely life altering.

The scripture is found in John 14, the chapter is entitled “Jesus, the way to the Father”

the scripture is:

John 14:27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”

other versions say:

“;my peace I give to you…”

This peace can’t come from human approval (although favor is a good thing), can’t come from any earthly treasure (though they are reliable for uses here on earth), can’t come from within (although our temperaments can be regulated by cues, exercises we practice and the like).

What Jesus leaves with us is 100% pure and undefiled. The gifts He gives are perfect and come from the Father up above, unmatched in quality, in a class all by themselves.

Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. – James 1:7

Every good gift and every perfect gift comes from Him.

Was peace always around Jesus?, no, but I believe He always had it. Peace belongs to Jesus. Did every response or action of Jesus display what the world would call “peace” per say?, probably not every, but it always belonged to Him.

I guess the reason why those words sound so reassuring is because Jesus, (God) isn’t a liar. He won’t lie nor promise to, and not fulfill (see Numbers 23:19). The words He speaks are as good as finished|done, the moment they are uttered.

They are sharper than any two edged sword and pierces the places they need to (see Hebrews 4:12). They can be sent on assignment and accomplish the task they were sent for without even being spoken in the room of the assignment (faith booster: Matthew 8:5-13)

His words work, they are fulfilled and they can be received immediately.

Without doubting and being fully convinced you can grab a hold of scripture, His word, truth, promise and know that you have received it. (see James 1:6)

the scripture is life giving if you believe.

there will always be a searching in us

innately, it’s what we’ve been wired to do

search out, seek (scriptural inspiration: Proverbs 25:2 ,Jeremiah 29:13)

just writing this blog to assure and encourage you that if you are ever in need

searching for a thing and don’t quite know what it is?

search within the word, scripture

seek out and look to Jesus, God the Father, the promised Holy Spirit

His giving is a sure thing

good, perfect, pure, holy and undefiled

reach out and grab it by faith (proof: Luke 8:41-56)

it belongs to you (reassurance: Matthew 9:29)

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JOY

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The first scripture that comes to mind for me in this moment is in the book of Nehemiah.

Nehemiah 8:10 to be exact

It’s in a moment of correction, the people get sad and dejected, and Nehemiah instructs them not to be.

In my opinion, I want to say that he knew it wasn’t the time for them to beat themselves up or a time to shed tears over their wrong longer than they did.

It wasn’t a time to mourn or weep, but a time to gain strength. A time to gain strength through joy.

So, definitely speaking for myself here and saying that sometimes I take it upon myself to believe that the best way to “get a grip” on me, my life and my future is to be super hard on myself and to give myself no room to make a mistake or no room to mess up.

And sometimes the structure of this method works, and for the purpose of the blog, I’ll call it “tough self love”. Sometimes it’s super helpful, denying myself and saying no to the decisions that aren’t wisdom lead or won’t work to advance me spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally and in the future. This can be extremely rewarding at times or even for the most part.

But then there are other times where being too hard on myself works toward the wrong results, especially internally.

The Bible speaks of in Proverbs 17:22 about a joyful heart serving as good medicine but a broken spirit being something that saps a person of their strength.

Sometimes, being too hard on ourselves and|or too hard on others, may steam from a broken spirit, maybe sometimes our spirit isn’t in the right place and because of this our attempt to discipline the flesh ends up going wrong. That maybe the strength behind the motive is our own strength and our own strength isn’t fully the solution. Now I don’t mean that as surrendered vessels we can not withstand temptation through the way out that God provides or display self control, through|by His help we can.

This also wasn’t the point I was getting at so I’ll continue on.

I once heard a woman in the faith discuss an experience she had with her father, who is a very well known general in the faith. There was a glass door in the house and because of her playing around and|or doing something her mom had instructed her not to do she ended up slamming the door and breaking the glass. I may have the noun (door or mirror) wrong but the story is correct.

Now, she was so afraid of what she had done and the trouble she was going to get in she went and hid. When her father came home she was sure that she was going to get in serious trouble but to her surprise her father took her to go get ice cream instead. He told her that he wanted to show her what grace was or looked like. To this day, (she is an older woman now with grand children of her own), she holds this memory as one of her greatest examples of grace and it has left a lasting impression on her life.

I am a firm believer that there is a time and a place for everything, a time where discipline is needed but also a time for greater grace (Romans 5:21).

There are many places in the Bible where David, men and women of God called out to God letting him know that either their punishment was too much for them to bear, too heavy for them to handle or that their enemies would see their disgrace, laugh and not believe that their God was|is the true and living God.

Genesis 4:14-15 Cain and God are speaking

…and whoever finds me will kill me.”but the Lord said to him, “not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.

Psalm 25:2

I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.

Psalm 35:19

Do not let those gloat over me who are my enemies without cause; do not let those who hate me without reason maliciously wink the eye.

Psalm 27:12

Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations.

Pleading from hearts that mimic the word “God, you can’t do that, you have to answer me, not because of me but for the sake of Your Own Name!”

I mention this to say that at times we can stand before God with the same posture.

As well as command our soul and spirit to rise up in the strength of the Lord. The strength that is in His joy, the joy that is not based on our circumstances.

But a joy that is based on the fruit we have budding on the inside of us, the fruit of the Spirit, the fruit as a result of the Holy Spirit living on the inside of us.

We need the LORD, we need Jesus and we most definitely need the Holy Ghost. We most definitely should pray to, rejoice over and be glad in|over His presence.

This world needs hope, not superficial hope but a hope that comes from the Lord. Just like His joy became the strength of the people in Nehemiah’s day, it can be our strength as well. It can turn into what we lean and depend on. Not us but Him, not our routines (although they are good too), not our structure (although I’m all for a schedule), but reliance on what He provides, His order and all that He gives.

Joy is joy when it comes from the Lord, it’s a fruit of His spirit, apart from Him, I’m certain it can’t truly be produced.

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LOVELY

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lovely

whatever things are “lovely”

“loveable” or “very lovely”

Back at it in Philippians 4:8, whatever is lovely is written or comes after whatever is pure, and before what is commendable.

We are being told to meditate on these things (among others), dwell on them and to think on them.

It is considerably easier to dwell on the good when all things are lovely in our lives. When everything is going well in life it doesn’t seem like you have to try very hard to see the good or to think on what is true, which is the word of God over your life. When you are surrounded by what is good, when you are living in your answered prayers, and when you are walking in victory in every area of your life, it just seems to click. When life is happening like we planned we can easily live out Philippians 4:8.

What is hard is when you are faced with trials, faced with difficulties, and met with the unplanned that the weight of dwelling on what is lovely becomes tangible.

So, how am I supposed to function in this place of meditation, this place of dwelling on, this place of thinking that keeps me in peace and regulates my mind when the unexpected happens? How are you supposed to keep your mind stayed on Him in trying times?

I once heard a minister of the gospel give an illustration. He went on to say that (I’m paraphrasing a little) “When your desire to succeed becomes greater than your desire to breathe, you will be successful”. The message that this minister was relaying was that if you want something bad enough and are willing to do what it takes to achieve it, you will obtain that thing.

I can still remember the illustration being explained. It was about two men who were out swimming. The younger man asked the older man what the key to being successful was. The older man took the head of the younger and started putting it under the water, the younger man started gasping for air and trying to bring his head above the water. This happened about three times and each time the younger man fought harder to be found above the water. Finally, the older man told him “When you want to be successful more than you wanted to breathe in those moments, you will”.

I’m hoping you can picture someone wanting to breathe, or someone in that scenario, so desperate to take their next breath that they’d do whatever it took to have that breath. You see, we can not live without air, no matter how hard we try, the average, everyday human is not designed to live without breathe moving throughout their lungs. It’s impossible for any human to continue to live in their earthly bodies without taking the next breath and then the next.

Someone drowning, fights for one thing and one thing only, they fight to live. They fight to breathe (not necessarily aggressively either). They fight to stay above the water, that so desperately desires to take them under.

Someone going into anaphylactic shock whose airways are narrowing is fighting for the same thing the chance to take the next breath.

If we wanted to think or dwell on what is lovely as much as the person in these extreme situations wanted their next breath of air, we would. If we believed that our lives depended on our thought pattern, wouldn’t we think on what is lovely no matter what? Not that we’d ignore our feelings or the processing of our emotions, but we’d quickly adjust what needed to be adjusted in our thought life in order to live.

What if we considered our next moments of peace equivalent in importance to the next breath we take? What if we desired and also knew that we needed these thoughts as much as we needed our next breaths? Would we hold our thought patterns, and the way we process our thoughts to a higher regard?

The Bible’s says, that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23:7). Admittedly, taking these words for what they say in 2022 may seem harder to do because so much information, “knowledge”, “wisdom” is being pumped into a person that, surly they must know more than what is written in the Bible, which was written so long ago.

The Bible also says that there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9), so truly relying on a book specifically written for each of us to apply in order to walk out life on this earth is true wisdom. The Bible is relevant for our lives today.

In order to not lose what we have on the inside, which is the peace of God we have to be people who choose to desperately rule over our thoughts. Like a new born baby exiting the womb of their mother whose nose needs to be suctioned so they can breathe right our minds have to be removed of the gunk of life that sometimes clogs it from meditating on what the word says we should. Not saying it’s easy, but I do believe it’s possible.

Like that new born baby needs that air after exiting the womb we need the right thoughts, and for our minds to dwell on what is lovely; life depends on it.

There is a prize that our thinking and living produces, I’m praying that we get it.

“It is my own body I fight to make it do what I want. I do this so that I won’t miss getting the prize myself after telling others about it.”

1 Corinthians 9:27 ERV

…but I press on

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WHAT IS PURE

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what is pure

To be honest I get nervous thinking about the word.

what is pure…

I’ve recently gained such a new reverential fear of what is holy. I’d been in awe of anything holy from the moment of my conversion but never before like this.

I guess, progressively growing in faith, learning me deeply and understanding how sinful I really am has shown the distance “what is pure” can seem at times. As I sift through stinking’ thinking and the like I know that what is pure is obtainable but can at times seem so far away.

It has also made me grateful that we are told to meditate or think on these things:

whatever is true

whatever is noble

whatever is right

whatever is pure

whatever is lovely

whatever is admirable

anything excellent

anything praiseworthy

Finally, (Philippians 4:8-9)

(“Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.” NIV)

What is pure being one of them. We are told to meditate, think deeply, allow our minds to focus on this for a period of time. Allow these things to dwell in us, to be found in us so that they can bounce off of the inside of our hearts, minds, souls and what is inside of us in general.

Have you ever had a thought, or started thinking and wondered how your thoughts got to what you were thinking about?

I have too. Training our mind to think on the right things is one part of the battle and I believe that thinking about what we are thinking about is another part of the battle.

I can definitely think of moments in my day where I have to eliminate one thought and replace it with another because it isn’t the right thought. I’ve also had moments where I’ve realized that my thoughts and feelings behind the thought may be valid. In that case I can accept that I have felt this feeling or thought this thought but choose not to continually meditate on it. I can’t ignore it completely because it is valid, a reasonable thought or feeling, and in this case I can process and filter through this thought.

It doesn’t come from the enemy or from the wrong place, it is just a thought that I have to take a hold of and process correctly. Using the word and the truth within it to filter through the feelings and thoughts and keep what is true above it all.

A person can easily allow what is negative and unproductive to roam our minds without even giving it a second thought. But it is our job to think and, rethink our thoughts. It’s our job to decide if a thought is worthy of meditating on or not.

The Bible teaches us about one whose delight is to meditate on the word of God day and night (Psalm 1:2). There are numerous benefits on meditating on the word of God. There are also numerous obstacles that can stand in the way of this, and we probably know a few of them all too well.

Purity is a way of living, something we poses an opportunity given to us, by one man. Something we get to walk out, and walk in and through, because of Jesus.

what is pure…

…think about these things.

There is always a place to start when retraining and retracing our thought patterns. What I am learning is that the renewal of our minds is an ongoing process that occurs day by day, and moment by moment.

Walking towards this renewal takes daily effort.

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GOODNESS

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When God created the earth and everything in it, He saw it as good. When He got down to creating the first people to ever exist He saw them as very good.

Now, as a daughter, servant as well as one of those creations, I am guilty of seeing goodness in me when all that was in me was in need of repentance. I am guilty of seeing goodness in me when all that was good in me was Jesus. I am guilty of seeing goodness in me when all that was within me was in desperate need of being purified.

You see, I’ve been guilty of seeing good in me when there was nothing good but what He’d placed in me and I am committed to seeing the goodness He sees, revealed in me day after day.

I know that these words may sound a bit contradictory. Like, “If God sees me as very good, then why shouldn’t I see myself as that also?”. But what I am getting at through the mention of my own goodness is the acknowledgment of the sinfulness that is inevitably attached to it. In my own goodness, sin is inevitably present, but in the goodness of God there is no such thing. His goodness shown towards me and His goodness at work in me, is not in error. I see the goodness of God towards me in the kindness He’s allowed others to show me as well as things that could of happened, not happening to me at all. There is no trace of sin in God’s goodness towards us, it is perfectly crafted for each of our individual lives.

(Isaiah 64:6-9)

Looking back, or looking over each of my most recent days passed, I’ve grown to take into consideration that we’ve been granted breath in our lungs, another 24 hours to live and something as simple as the gift of time to choose. It is clear to me that we live each day in His present mercies and also just as clear that I can completely take this for granted if not all but most definitely, the majority of the time.

The Bible speaks about us being made righteous before God, by faith. God in His grace freely makes us right in his sight, and this righteousness is given by faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. It is not by any means of our own works but through Christ. It is by faith that we are made right, and it is by faith that we receive righteousness (right standing with God).

(Romans 3:21-27)

After looking over all of this I see a continual trend in the goodness of God. It has to do with His daily grace and mercy extended to us. The kind that make you ponder the words “What sort of craziness is this?”, “Why is God so merciful to me?”, “What have I done to deserve such kindness?”, and then you are reminded that it is just in His nature to be that good. It has nothing to do with us personally and everything to do with who He is.

God saw us as good because that is what we have been created to be, good. Not by our own goodness but by His. To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude 1:24-25)

All of the glory belongs to Him. It’s because of Him that mercies are new each morning and it’s by His grace that we aren’t destroyed. (Lamentations 3:22)

2 Corinthians 4:8-12 is a great written portrait of this. Not that I’ve ever experienced these physically, nor do I ever want to but, Paul’s writing beautifully explains God’s mercies in our everyday lives.

You may be broken in spirit today, pressed hard with some tough emotions or perplexed about what is going on in your life right now. Feeling oppressed, in a situation that you just can’t seem to kick or down in an area of life that you’d rather not be.

Greater is He that is in you.

He gives more grace.

Believing for greater grace today?

See prayer below:

Dear God,

I humble myself before you. Right now, I choose to actively pull away and resist the devil, knowing that he has to flee from me. I consciously choose to draw near to you today, believing wholeheartedly that you will draw near to me as James 4:8 says. I wash my hands and purify my heart in Your presence today. I reject all double mindedness. I confess my loyalty completely to you. I turn my back on any allegiance with the mindset of this world today and run straight into your arms. I grieve and mourn before You. Don’t let me hide what is on the inside of me from You. You knit me together in my mothers womb, You know when I sit down and when I rise. Help me to be open with You. I humble myself before you and trust in you to lift me up. (James 4:5-10) (Psalm 139:14) (Psalm 139:2)

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(Not that I have already obtained: or am already made perfect: but I press on…)

HOPE

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God’s promises are all throughout the Bible.

One of the first ones I am reminded of is when God tells Noah that He will never again flood the earth. This passage is found in Genesis 9 and God gives Noah the visual and sign of a rainbow confirming this promise.

God also makes a promise to a man in the Bible by the name of Abraham and promises to make Him the father of many nations. This story is also found in the book of Genesis.

In Deuteronomy 12, God instructs His people to be careful to obey His words so that it may go well with them and their children.

God ask us to try Him in this, which is in tithing (in Malachi 3), which will then result in the doer receiving blessings with not enough room to receive it.

There is a passage in the Bible where David inquires with God whether or not to pursue a loss that he and his men experienced, God gives Him the green light letting Him know that if he pursues he will recover all that was lost and David does just that. This story is found in 1 Samuel 30.

Gods Kingdom

Humanly impossible things, become possible in God’s kingdom. The things that don’t add up, add up when God is involved. Something like the concept of giving or being generous becoming the gateway that causes someone to receive more than, in the natural makes no sense; but in Gods kingdom it makes perfect sense and it is the way things are done. (one example can be found in Proverbs 11:24-25)

Humanly speaking Abraham becoming the father of many nations while his wife had never bore a child, impossible, but not for God. God knew how He would produce what He promised.

It seems like throughout the Bible, one having an unsolvable problem becomes the prerequisite for a miracle.

It was no different when Jesus came on the scene.

Much like the story of the woman with the issue of blood. She had exhausted all of her natural options for healing, pressed her way through the crowd in order to touch the hem of His garment and immediately she was healed (Matthew 17); not a second later or even one whole hour, she was healed instantly. This is an example of another humanly speaking, impossible moment found in the Bible.

Jesus healed people with years of emotional trauma and filled them with kingdom purpose through one conversation, ie. the story of the woman at the well and she went on to share about God’s goodness with her entire community|village. Again, humanly speaking, impossible; what would of possibly taken years of therapy happened in one sitting. Now, I’m not negating the power of therapy with this sentence, the story is just used as an example. (passage found in John 4)

In my alone time (in conversation) with God this morning a scripture was brought to my remembrance.

At that moment David is talking to himself, he’s talking to his own soul. His own mind, his own will and his own emotions. He’s asking himself, his soul this: “Why, my soul, are you downcast?”, “Why, so disturbed within me?”. This song can be found in Psalm 42:5 (esv version). He then instructs his soul, his own mind, will and emotions to put his hope in God. He declares that he will yet praise Him. He will yet praise God, his Savior and his God.

savior:

1. : one that saves from danger or destruction

2. : one who brings salvation

I was reminded of this verse because, at times humanly speaking, God’s promises, His miracles, what we are believing God for can seem so far, they can seem so out of reach, until God is acknowledged, that is. It’s when we acknowledge who He is, when we acknowledge His sovereignty, and the truth that He should be the destination and direction our hope is toward that we are reminded that He is always worthy of praise. We are reminded that He is the God of the impossible and that He is able to do exactly what He said He’d do concerning our lives.

Hoping these words encourage you as they encouraged me.

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… seeing no one but Jesus

So I read a passage in the Bible last week and a few words stood out to me. I’m just gonna go ahead and admit that I’d read this scripture a couple times before and just breezed by these words.

I want to start off by saying that we definitely need to see more than Jesus in our lives. We should see our neighbors, we should see our family, we should see our friends and loved ones, and so on. Also, confessing that I don’t get this right even 50% of the time, which isn’t the purpose of this blog but thought I’d mention it.

These words stood out to me because, like a few other scriptures that I’ll mention soon I was reminded of the importance of seeing Jesus, or at least the importance of acknowledging Him for who He is.

I got these words from Matthew 17:7-8, a few verses before this, one of Jesus’ disciples was talking about honoring Moses, Elijah and Jesus. They had an idea of how they’d do it. They had a picture in their own mind of how things should go or how worship should be done. Moses and Elijah, were undoubtably great men of God, God used their lives in such admirable ways, but neither of them were God. Only Jesus was that. There was no separation in the idea that Peter came up with concerning his plans for what had clearly been deemed as greatness. In Peter’s mind, building shelters and worshipping seemed like the sensible thing to do.

It made me think about me, and how at times, or all the time, I can plan, in my own mind especially; I can come up with thoughts of the way something ought to look or how it ought to be done regarding my worship or honoring Jesus and life and the responsibilities that come with it. I can think of so many ways to balance life, honoring others, the placement and order certain things should get in my life, while trying to worship Jesus and put Him in first place at the same time. We, like the disciples can think of sensible ways to honor and acknowledge God in our own lives.

Until God himself steps in, that is. Until He tells us what ought to be done and the way we should do it. His way is almost always more simpler than what we come up with ourselves, it’s clear and concise and most often times then none we are left with an “ahh hah” or “duh” feeling and don’t forget the “yeah, basically what Jesus said” moments. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light.

After Peter proposed an idea of what he could do, God steps in with His voice and delivers some instructions and clarity. Left in awe and fear, the disciples drop to the ground.

Reverence is a word that comes to mind when I think about the passage playing out in real time. His loving and sovereign voice demands our awe, our reverence, us being taken a back, but not in a forceful way. His words, although simple commanded the attention of those present. He legit just spoke and what He said cleared up all and any confusion that might of presented itself when Peter offered up a plan of action in that moment. I can only read and relate, and repent. No matter how many times I think about, pursue and go after my plan, God in His grace allowed me to see this moment in scripture.

1. this is my Son

2. whom I love

3. with him I am well pleased

4. listen to him

(Matthew 17:5)

Like, what? And why? are His ways so to the point, past finding out and past trying to conjure up. With these simple words God cleared up who the object of the disciples affection was and what their focus should be. He gave clarity, approval, direction and practical instructions in all of 16 words.

Like this blog, which I feel may be a bit all over the place, we are prone to complicate things. Thinking about how difficult, although sincere, Peter’s suggestion might of been.

He goes, “if you want”, “I can make 3 shelters, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah” and there you have it, problem solved (not saying there was one, or anything).

I’ll just do, I’ll just make, I’ll just work really hard and put this together. But, while He was still speaking a bright cloud covered them and a voice from the cloud spoke. Geez, the voice of God!

I guess what I’d ask for in prayer all of 2022 is that in the mist of my planning, in the mist of my (or our) “executing”, in the mist of my doing, making and working really hard this year, that God would step in and cover me, and that He’d speak in His voice and that I’d (or we’d) have sense enough to obey.

Jesus is His son, in whom He loves and is well pleased with and we should listen to Him.

…ending my rant now, still hoping it makes sense to you and encourages you.

(… wanted to mention a few more stories that I was reminded of but maybe another time.)

Here’s Jesus’ disciples response:

“When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified.” NIV

“But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” NIV

“And when they looked up, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus.” NLT

Matthew 17:7-8

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