Jeremiah 15: 19-21
This is how the Lord responds: "If you return to Me, I will restore you so you can continue to serve Me. If you speak good words rather than worthless ones, you will be My spokesman. You must influence them; do not let them influence you!
They will fight against you like an attacking army, but I will make you as secure as a fortified wall of bronze. They will not conquer you, for I am with you to protect and rescue you. I, the Lord, have spoken! Yes, I will certainly keep you safe from these wicked men. I will rescue you from their cruel hands."
If you have read the book of Revelation, then you are aware of the cataclysmic events God has planned for this Earth. He will judge this World for all the wicked and evil things that evil and wicked people have perpetrated upon it. And we who are God's people must be strong in the Lord to maintain our witness for Him.
His wrath that we deserve has already been poured out on Jesus at Calvary, so we will see "a thousand fall at [our] side, ten thousand on [our] right hand" (Psalm 91:7), when God pours out His wrath on the rest of Mankind who have refused to acknowledge Him. But these evil people will not be restrained from attacking and persecuting us; many thousands of saints will be martyred, as has begun already in certain places in the World. (see Revelation 6:9 and 7:9.)
We are God's hands and feet in the World today, and our enemy is filled with fury because he knows that he has only a short time (Revelation 12:12), and he has already made great inroads into debasing the morality of the people of the world, and even in the Church; his "doctrines of demons" have been disseminated throughout the population in the schools, universities and church denominations. They are pervasive and accepted as "truth" in both the sciences and religions. They are many and varied, and very seductive in drawing us away from the love of God.
So we need God's strength, His discernment, His compassion, great depth of knowledge of His Word, and His protection to be His light in the midst of all this darkness around us.
I hope this body of writing is being used of God for your spiritual growth and strengthening.
And all the credit, all the glory will redound to the God Who began it all and will finish it in completeness.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, May 9, 2017
Monday, May 8, 2017
Turned Away Again And Again
Psalm 79: 9
Help us, O God of our salvation! Help us for the glory of Your Name. Save us and forgive our sins for the honor of Your Name.
Jeremiah 14: 7, 10
The people say, "Our wickedness has caught up with us, Lord, but help us for the sake of Your own reputation. We have turned away from You and sinned against You again and again."
So this is what the Lord says to His people: "You love to wander far from Me and do not restrain yourselves. Therefore, I will no longer accept you as My people. Now I will remember all your wickedness and will punish you for your sins."
In America we share the distinction of being the only other Nation founded on God's rules and principles and ways. As such, we are known among the Nations of the World as a Christian Nation.
But, like our sister Israel, we have turned from God and gone our own way, chasing after the same disgusting and detestable idols that ensnared her.
O Father God Almighty, get a hold of these evil people who have drawn us astray and show them Your Majesty! Show them Your righteous Power and Authority to judge, and draw them to turn back to You! And if they still refuse to acknowledge You, then pour out Your holy vengeance on them in full view of the populace, so they will all see Who You are.
And rescue us whose own hearts have led us astray but are returning to You. Vindicate Your Name, Your reputation, in us, and bring Your righteousness back among Your people before the End of all things.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Help us, O God of our salvation! Help us for the glory of Your Name. Save us and forgive our sins for the honor of Your Name.
Jeremiah 14: 7, 10
The people say, "Our wickedness has caught up with us, Lord, but help us for the sake of Your own reputation. We have turned away from You and sinned against You again and again."
So this is what the Lord says to His people: "You love to wander far from Me and do not restrain yourselves. Therefore, I will no longer accept you as My people. Now I will remember all your wickedness and will punish you for your sins."
In America we share the distinction of being the only other Nation founded on God's rules and principles and ways. As such, we are known among the Nations of the World as a Christian Nation.
But, like our sister Israel, we have turned from God and gone our own way, chasing after the same disgusting and detestable idols that ensnared her.
O Father God Almighty, get a hold of these evil people who have drawn us astray and show them Your Majesty! Show them Your righteous Power and Authority to judge, and draw them to turn back to You! And if they still refuse to acknowledge You, then pour out Your holy vengeance on them in full view of the populace, so they will all see Who You are.
And rescue us whose own hearts have led us astray but are returning to You. Vindicate Your Name, Your reputation, in us, and bring Your righteousness back among Your people before the End of all things.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, May 7, 2017
To Be Gracious And Attractive
Colossians 4: 5-6
Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.
I see wisdom as knowing how to apply the knowledge I have acquired. That is what will enable us to be gracious to those who do not yet have the faith to believe God. This graciousness will make our words and actions attractive to those who are seeking the Truth. So that they will have the right response? No, we can't control their response.
But whatever they say or do, we need to have the right come-back, that is gentle and full of grace. To answer in a quiet tone that tends to dissipate anger or argument. That way we can make the most of every opportunity to interact with others with the amazing grace of our awesome God.
O my Father, You are so great! and so good! Your love and righteousness are complete and perfect. Your justice and vengeance are true and appropriate.
O Father, help us to always season all our conversations with Your salt, so that our words, whether spoken or written, will be gracious and attractive, as You have shown Yourself to be with us. Mold us and shape us into the very image of Your dear Son, our Savior, our Lord, our King.
Strengthen us with Your strength in our weaknesses; make us wise in Your wisdom; help us to think clearly. Empty us of all that does not conform to Your desires for us; and fill us with Your presence, Your graciousness, Your Spirit.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.
I see wisdom as knowing how to apply the knowledge I have acquired. That is what will enable us to be gracious to those who do not yet have the faith to believe God. This graciousness will make our words and actions attractive to those who are seeking the Truth. So that they will have the right response? No, we can't control their response.
But whatever they say or do, we need to have the right come-back, that is gentle and full of grace. To answer in a quiet tone that tends to dissipate anger or argument. That way we can make the most of every opportunity to interact with others with the amazing grace of our awesome God.
O my Father, You are so great! and so good! Your love and righteousness are complete and perfect. Your justice and vengeance are true and appropriate.
O Father, help us to always season all our conversations with Your salt, so that our words, whether spoken or written, will be gracious and attractive, as You have shown Yourself to be with us. Mold us and shape us into the very image of Your dear Son, our Savior, our Lord, our King.
Strengthen us with Your strength in our weaknesses; make us wise in Your wisdom; help us to think clearly. Empty us of all that does not conform to Your desires for us; and fill us with Your presence, Your graciousness, Your Spirit.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, May 6, 2017
Utterly Amazing!
Colossians 1: 27
... And this is the secret: Christ lives in you.
O my Father, the mystery of Your Plan, hidden from all past ages, only hinted at in the former Covenant, now revealed to us! That I, a woman of Western European heritage, should share in the wonderful benefits of Your own Chosen People--this is truly a very shocking and amazing thing--that You would take the heathen and the Greek, the whore and the aristocrat, and make us all equal to the "apple of Your eye"--this must be the most fantastic thing You have done! Who could have imagined that You would make the ground so level at the Cross that no one would have either an advantage or a disadvantage: all are declared sinners and in the same need, of the same Savior!
O Father, to be such a good Father to me, and to place me in Christ, making me acceptable and accepted, granting me worth far above even Your angels! Thank you, Father! Thank You Lord Jesus! Thank You for Your Spirit to dwell in me, in the same Power that raised Christ from the dead, working in me! Utterly amazing!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
... And this is the secret: Christ lives in you.
O my Father, the mystery of Your Plan, hidden from all past ages, only hinted at in the former Covenant, now revealed to us! That I, a woman of Western European heritage, should share in the wonderful benefits of Your own Chosen People--this is truly a very shocking and amazing thing--that You would take the heathen and the Greek, the whore and the aristocrat, and make us all equal to the "apple of Your eye"--this must be the most fantastic thing You have done! Who could have imagined that You would make the ground so level at the Cross that no one would have either an advantage or a disadvantage: all are declared sinners and in the same need, of the same Savior!
O Father, to be such a good Father to me, and to place me in Christ, making me acceptable and accepted, granting me worth far above even Your angels! Thank you, Father! Thank You Lord Jesus! Thank You for Your Spirit to dwell in me, in the same Power that raised Christ from the dead, working in me! Utterly amazing!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, May 5, 2017
God's Plan Of The Ages
Ephesians 3: 16, 21
I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will give you mighty inner strength through His Holy Spirit. ... By His mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we could ever ask for, or even be able to imagine.
God will perform all of His good plans that He devised before He created anything. He has sent His own Son to be our individual Sacrifice (see Leviticus 1) as well as the corporate, national Sacrifice (the Day of Atonement, Leviticus 23:27). The animals that were sacrificed then showed what Jesus would complete as Messiah, and more: Jesus poured out God's own Blood at Calvary; infinitely valuable, more than enough to pay the sin-debt of every person who ever lived (but not all are willing to accept His sacrifice as their own), and He purchased the whole World and the Universe.
So we all belong to Him by both creation and purchase; and those who have accepted His payment for them, by Redemption, also. The same Power that raised Jesus from the dead is His Holy Spirit that has taken up residence in our spirits, making our dead human spirits alive. So this mighty power (dynamite) that is at work in us is how God accomplishes His will in and through us.
God's resources are unlimited. His Goodness is our standard for Rightness (His Righteousness), and His Love is Who He is ("God is love," I John 4:8). Everything God does comes from His Love--both blessings and vengeance, equally passionate and righteous.
His Love blesses us, gives us His work to do, gives us success in everything He accomplishes in and through us; and also judges His enemies, frustrating all their plans and schemes, causing them to be caught in their own traps set for the innocent (Esther 7:9-10 is a good example of this).
What I have learned about God's great Plan of the Ages for the portion of His creation we know about, is for Him to show His power and authority over it all by allowing sin to enter, causing chaos, misery and death; then Himself providing the remedy for sin by removing it with His own Blood, and calling out for Himself a people of every tribe, nation and language to be His own Family forever. He will wrap up all the details at the end of His 1000-year Reign in this World when the whole Earth explodes (II Peter 3:10) and the Universe implodes (see Science). Then He will "make all things new" by creating a new Heaven (Universe) and a new Earth, all based on a "new order" of being.
The First Law of Thermodynamics (the basis of all Science) is Conservation of Matter, which is that what is, is, no more can be made and none can be annihilated, only change form. This is Creation. What God has made, is.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics is Entropy, that all matter proceeds from Order to Chaos. This is the curse that sin brought to God's creation. Now everything winds down, wears out and dies.
When our Lord makes all things new, the new creation will not be subject to sin, death will have been destroyed, and all those who have rebelled against our good God will be consigned to the Lake of Fire, which is outside our Universe.
And He has determined that we would be His hands and feet to do His work in His power, and He will even reward us for it! Amazing!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will give you mighty inner strength through His Holy Spirit. ... By His mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we could ever ask for, or even be able to imagine.
God will perform all of His good plans that He devised before He created anything. He has sent His own Son to be our individual Sacrifice (see Leviticus 1) as well as the corporate, national Sacrifice (the Day of Atonement, Leviticus 23:27). The animals that were sacrificed then showed what Jesus would complete as Messiah, and more: Jesus poured out God's own Blood at Calvary; infinitely valuable, more than enough to pay the sin-debt of every person who ever lived (but not all are willing to accept His sacrifice as their own), and He purchased the whole World and the Universe.
So we all belong to Him by both creation and purchase; and those who have accepted His payment for them, by Redemption, also. The same Power that raised Jesus from the dead is His Holy Spirit that has taken up residence in our spirits, making our dead human spirits alive. So this mighty power (dynamite) that is at work in us is how God accomplishes His will in and through us.
God's resources are unlimited. His Goodness is our standard for Rightness (His Righteousness), and His Love is Who He is ("God is love," I John 4:8). Everything God does comes from His Love--both blessings and vengeance, equally passionate and righteous.
His Love blesses us, gives us His work to do, gives us success in everything He accomplishes in and through us; and also judges His enemies, frustrating all their plans and schemes, causing them to be caught in their own traps set for the innocent (Esther 7:9-10 is a good example of this).
What I have learned about God's great Plan of the Ages for the portion of His creation we know about, is for Him to show His power and authority over it all by allowing sin to enter, causing chaos, misery and death; then Himself providing the remedy for sin by removing it with His own Blood, and calling out for Himself a people of every tribe, nation and language to be His own Family forever. He will wrap up all the details at the end of His 1000-year Reign in this World when the whole Earth explodes (II Peter 3:10) and the Universe implodes (see Science). Then He will "make all things new" by creating a new Heaven (Universe) and a new Earth, all based on a "new order" of being.
The First Law of Thermodynamics (the basis of all Science) is Conservation of Matter, which is that what is, is, no more can be made and none can be annihilated, only change form. This is Creation. What God has made, is.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics is Entropy, that all matter proceeds from Order to Chaos. This is the curse that sin brought to God's creation. Now everything winds down, wears out and dies.
When our Lord makes all things new, the new creation will not be subject to sin, death will have been destroyed, and all those who have rebelled against our good God will be consigned to the Lake of Fire, which is outside our Universe.
And He has determined that we would be His hands and feet to do His work in His power, and He will even reward us for it! Amazing!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, May 4, 2017
God's Peace
Philippians 4: 6-7
Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
When we worry, we're not trusting God to be in control. Or we're not trusting Him to be Good. We're taking things into our own, feeble hands, instead of letting His strong hands hold us.
Instead, we are to talk to God about it. Talk to God about everything. Don't keep anything from Him, just let it all out. He can take it, even when we vent all our anger and rage on Him. He is God, we are not. We can trust Him to be God in everything in our lives. He is concerned for us, for every detail of our being and living.
When we remember all the good He has already done for us, and for His people in times past, then we will know that He will continue to be Himself, He will be faithful to His every Promise, and He wants the very best for us, to grow our character into the sterling character of Christ.
Then, when we do trust Him fully, then we won't have a worry in the world. We will know that He "has this" in His hand. Then our hearts and minds will rest in Him, peacefully rest in His Sovereign control over every aspect of our lives, and release all the stress that our worry inflicted on us.
Praise God for His Greatness, His Goodness, and His immeasurable Love for each one of us.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
When we worry, we're not trusting God to be in control. Or we're not trusting Him to be Good. We're taking things into our own, feeble hands, instead of letting His strong hands hold us.
Instead, we are to talk to God about it. Talk to God about everything. Don't keep anything from Him, just let it all out. He can take it, even when we vent all our anger and rage on Him. He is God, we are not. We can trust Him to be God in everything in our lives. He is concerned for us, for every detail of our being and living.
When we remember all the good He has already done for us, and for His people in times past, then we will know that He will continue to be Himself, He will be faithful to His every Promise, and He wants the very best for us, to grow our character into the sterling character of Christ.
Then, when we do trust Him fully, then we won't have a worry in the world. We will know that He "has this" in His hand. Then our hearts and minds will rest in Him, peacefully rest in His Sovereign control over every aspect of our lives, and release all the stress that our worry inflicted on us.
Praise God for His Greatness, His Goodness, and His immeasurable Love for each one of us.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
To Be A Blessing To The Nations
Jeremiah 4: 1-2
"O Israel," says the Lord, "if you wanted to return to Me, you could. You could throw away your detestable idols and stray away no more. Then when you swear by My Name, saying, 'As surely as the Lord lives,' you could do so with truth, justice and righteousness. Then you would be a blessing to the Nations of the World, and all people would come and praise My Name."
This was God's intention for choosing Israel out of all the other Nations. He gave this people His Laws for them to demonstrate to the World how good life can be when it is lived according to His rules.
But Israel never did fully implement the whole body of Laws for long. Not long enough to really get into their minds and hearts how good God is, and how good His statutes are for regulating their thinking processes and daily lives. Their whole history shows them constantly being drawn away from God's Laws by all the false gods and idols of the peoples around them.
And now, in these days today, God has placed a veil over their hearts (II Corinthians 3:15), as He deals with His Church. But even today, when individuals of Israel's tribes realize Jesus is their Messiah and turn to Him, they become members of His church, His bride, also.
And today, we don't "see" those idols and false gods in our midst, but they are still there! We just call them by different names. Instead of Molech we call it abortion. Instead of Baalim and Ashtaroth we give them Saints' and Angels' names. We call the "Queen of Heaven" by the name of Jesus' mother, and call her the Mother of God. We call on Baal of Peor and say that we have sexual freedom to commit fornication.
We put our trust in our own ability to earn money, when it is God Who gives us this ability (Deuteronomy 8:18). We tend to believe Satan's lie to Eve, when he told her that she could be able to make her own decisions without bothering God, that she could be her own god; and we are smart, we are able to make all our own decisions. But our thoughts and choices are not God's thoughts or choices for us, and we find ourselves in trouble with trials and sorrows as a result of our own decisions and life-styles.
The World will always be susceptible to the enemy's deceits, but God's Church should know better. I pray that God would continue to wake up His own people to see how this world is drawing us all down into the paths that lead to death; and make sure they're on the right path, that narrow road that leads to Life. And live our lives as lights in the darkness of this world system, to show them that God is good, and His ways are the right ways for all of us.
And any Nation that chooses to turn to our Creator and Lord to learn His ways and follow His path--that Nation can be the one to be the "city on a hill that cannot be hid" (Matthew 5:14), to shine His light into the World, and be a blessing to them all.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
"O Israel," says the Lord, "if you wanted to return to Me, you could. You could throw away your detestable idols and stray away no more. Then when you swear by My Name, saying, 'As surely as the Lord lives,' you could do so with truth, justice and righteousness. Then you would be a blessing to the Nations of the World, and all people would come and praise My Name."
This was God's intention for choosing Israel out of all the other Nations. He gave this people His Laws for them to demonstrate to the World how good life can be when it is lived according to His rules.
But Israel never did fully implement the whole body of Laws for long. Not long enough to really get into their minds and hearts how good God is, and how good His statutes are for regulating their thinking processes and daily lives. Their whole history shows them constantly being drawn away from God's Laws by all the false gods and idols of the peoples around them.
And now, in these days today, God has placed a veil over their hearts (II Corinthians 3:15), as He deals with His Church. But even today, when individuals of Israel's tribes realize Jesus is their Messiah and turn to Him, they become members of His church, His bride, also.
And today, we don't "see" those idols and false gods in our midst, but they are still there! We just call them by different names. Instead of Molech we call it abortion. Instead of Baalim and Ashtaroth we give them Saints' and Angels' names. We call the "Queen of Heaven" by the name of Jesus' mother, and call her the Mother of God. We call on Baal of Peor and say that we have sexual freedom to commit fornication.
We put our trust in our own ability to earn money, when it is God Who gives us this ability (Deuteronomy 8:18). We tend to believe Satan's lie to Eve, when he told her that she could be able to make her own decisions without bothering God, that she could be her own god; and we are smart, we are able to make all our own decisions. But our thoughts and choices are not God's thoughts or choices for us, and we find ourselves in trouble with trials and sorrows as a result of our own decisions and life-styles.
The World will always be susceptible to the enemy's deceits, but God's Church should know better. I pray that God would continue to wake up His own people to see how this world is drawing us all down into the paths that lead to death; and make sure they're on the right path, that narrow road that leads to Life. And live our lives as lights in the darkness of this world system, to show them that God is good, and His ways are the right ways for all of us.
And any Nation that chooses to turn to our Creator and Lord to learn His ways and follow His path--that Nation can be the one to be the "city on a hill that cannot be hid" (Matthew 5:14), to shine His light into the World, and be a blessing to them all.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
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