Psalm 46: 10-11
Be still and know that I am God!
I will be honored by every Nation,
I will be honored throughout the World.
The Lord of Heaven's Armies is here among us;
The Lord of Israel is our Fortress.
O my Father, You are the only One Who deserves all the honor. Strengthen me to be still, acknowledging that You are the Great God of the Universe, Commander-in-Chief of Your Heavenly Armies, and You do everything well.
You are the One accomplishing Your purposes in my life and throughout the World. Keep me constantly mindful, moment by moment and day by day, of Your precious Presence with me and in me, my dear Lord. Fill me with Your Spirit this day, that I will see and understand to use each moment of this day wisely, so that my thoughts, attitudes, words, and acts today will bring me another small step forward on that path You have set my feet upon.
May this day bring me and all of us one day closer to the culmination of Your great Plan for this Age, and for all time.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Looking Forward
I Thessalonians 1: 10
And they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God's Son from Heaven--Jesus, Whom God raised from the dead. He is the One Who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgment.
O my Father, thank You for this wonderful promise, that we are rescued from terror. Just as You rescued Your children Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael (Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego) from the terror of the fiery furnace, and Daniel (Belteshazzar) from the terror of the lions' den, so You will rescue us from the terrors of the coming judgment. Whatever will befall us in these Last Days, we will not need to be terrified, as You will give us Your peace that surpasses all human understanding.
Even if we are in the middle of a maelstrom, we may see a thousand fall at our left hand, and ten thousand at our right hand, but it will not come near us (Psalm 91:7). We are not subject to Your wrath, Father, that You will unleash upon the World, as You have already placed the wrath we deserve on Jesus on Calvary.
Father, I do look to the coming of Your Son Jesus from Heaven. Every time I look up and see clouds in the sky, I admire Your beauty You put there, and think of Jesus, coming with clouds, anticipating His return with excitement. What kind of clouds I don't know: Heavenly clouds? Clouds of glory? Earthly clouds, to shield Him from the World's view as He calls out His own? It doesn't matter; You know, Father, and that is sufficient for me.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
And they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God's Son from Heaven--Jesus, Whom God raised from the dead. He is the One Who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgment.
O my Father, thank You for this wonderful promise, that we are rescued from terror. Just as You rescued Your children Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael (Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego) from the terror of the fiery furnace, and Daniel (Belteshazzar) from the terror of the lions' den, so You will rescue us from the terrors of the coming judgment. Whatever will befall us in these Last Days, we will not need to be terrified, as You will give us Your peace that surpasses all human understanding.
Even if we are in the middle of a maelstrom, we may see a thousand fall at our left hand, and ten thousand at our right hand, but it will not come near us (Psalm 91:7). We are not subject to Your wrath, Father, that You will unleash upon the World, as You have already placed the wrath we deserve on Jesus on Calvary.
Father, I do look to the coming of Your Son Jesus from Heaven. Every time I look up and see clouds in the sky, I admire Your beauty You put there, and think of Jesus, coming with clouds, anticipating His return with excitement. What kind of clouds I don't know: Heavenly clouds? Clouds of glory? Earthly clouds, to shield Him from the World's view as He calls out His own? It doesn't matter; You know, Father, and that is sufficient for me.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Discouraged?
Mark 9: 24
I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!
Psalm 43: 5
Why am I so discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again--my Savior and my God!
O my Father, help me! Lift me out of this despondency! Strengthen me to do what is set before me today and enable me to accomplish the task assigned to me. Help me over this hump as You did before.
Thank You for always being there for me. Teach me Your faithfulness in the small things, for it is the small things that make up, compose, the great things.
(I wrote this journal entry when I was in the midst of a great trial time. And God was faithful, as I trusted Him to be, and brought me out of that despondency into His great joy!)
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!
Psalm 43: 5
Why am I so discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again--my Savior and my God!
O my Father, help me! Lift me out of this despondency! Strengthen me to do what is set before me today and enable me to accomplish the task assigned to me. Help me over this hump as You did before.
Thank You for always being there for me. Teach me Your faithfulness in the small things, for it is the small things that make up, compose, the great things.
(I wrote this journal entry when I was in the midst of a great trial time. And God was faithful, as I trusted Him to be, and brought me out of that despondency into His great joy!)
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, October 23, 2017
God's Parties
Exodus 23: 14-17
Leviticus 23: 4-43
Deuteronomy 16: 1-17
God said, in essence, "Come to My House three times every year for a week-long party!"
There were six feasts God wanted His people to celebrate and commemorate, three of which He wanted all the people to gather together to His Tabernacle or Temple for a joyous party.
(1.) Passover is to remember the time God delivered Israel from Egypt, and the lamb's blood was smeared onto the doorposts and lintel of the houses so the Death Angel would "pass over" those dwellings and the people within.
Jesus is the Lamb of God, our Passover Lamb, whose Blood causes the wrath of God to "pass over" those who put their trust in Him to have paid their debt of sin on the Cross. This is the first week-long feast (party) God wanted us to celebrate.
(2.) First Fruits is the Spring Harvest feast. Jesus is the First Fruits of Resurrection.
(3.) Pentecost comes 50 days after the Spring Harvest (Pente means 50), and it was celebrated with bread that was leavened. This is the only feast that does not require unleavened bread. Leaven usually symbolizes sin.
Pentecost Sunday was the day the Holy Spirit fell on the first believers in Jesus as Messiah, so is the Birthday of the Church. The Church is comprised of members who are still living on this Earth, and we aren't perfect yet. This is the second week-long feast (party) God wanted us to celebrate together.
(4.) Trumpets was to be celebrated on the 1st day of the 7th month (Sept.-Oct.). This was basically a concert, with the trumpets to be played before the Lord and the people.
We are told that at the last trumpet, the trumpet will sound, and the dead in Christ will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed (I Corinthians 15:52), and the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever (I Thessalonians 3:16-17). I believe that this feast will be fulfilled at this time, the Rapture of the Church.
(5.) Day of Atonement is the time of the corporate sacrifice for the whole Nation of Israel, for the past year. This was to be a time of mourning for all the wrongs that had been done, and a time of fasting, rather than feasting. This comes only 9 days after the Trumpets, on the 10th day of the 7th month.
Zechariah 14:3-5 tells us that when the Lord returns to fight against those nations . . . This is when the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with Him.
John also wrote about this, in his book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. In Chapter 19 the Rider on the White Horse is Jesus, Who has come to wage war on the Nations of the Earth at the Battle of Armageddon. This Day of the Lord has included world-wide earthquakes, floods and tsunamis that even overflowed all the islands, humongous storms of 100-pound hail, lightening and fire, signs in the Sun, Moon and Stars, the sky rolled up like a scroll, every kind of "natural" disaster you can think of, all happening on this Day.
And Jesus returns to set up His Kingdom on the Earth. I think that this Day of the Lord is the fulfillment of the Day of Atonement, when Jesus has atoned for, bought, purchased with His Blood on Calvary, this whole Earth and the World upon it. He is now the Owner of us all, our rightful Judge. Now He cleansing it of all that evil people have wrought on it, and all the cities and towns of the World are flattened. And all His "holy ones" came with Him: all the Heavenly Angels as well as all His Redeemed People.
(6.) Tabernacles is the last feast of the year, coming only 5 days after The Atonement, on the 15th day of the 7th month. The people were to gather together to construct and build temporary structures to live in for a week, celebrating with a great joyful feast to commemorate their living in tents after leaving Egypt. This is the third feast God wanted all His people to gather for.
I see the fulfillment of this Feast in our living in temporary housing after the Battle of Armageddon, while we rebuild the cities and towns that have been destroyed, rejoicing in being our Lord's emissaries in setting up His glorious Kingdom, sitting on His Throne with Him ruling this World in its Golden Age.
O my Father, I thank You and praise You for Your wondrous works. You have planned out Your whole Great Plan of the Ages, You have laid out Your whole program for us in the Feasts You told Your people to celebrate, and You are carrying out the fulfillment of Time before our very eyes as we live every day.
Thank You for rescuing me from myself and the twistedness of my own heart. You have delivered me from the bondage of deep sin, lifted me out of the quicksand of mire and placed my feet upon the Rock.
You take me by my hand and lead me in Your paths of righteousness, and You never let go. Your joy is my strength, and I will dwell in Your House (Family) in Your Kingdom, and magnify and glorify Your Name in Your courts forever!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Leviticus 23: 4-43
Deuteronomy 16: 1-17
God said, in essence, "Come to My House three times every year for a week-long party!"
There were six feasts God wanted His people to celebrate and commemorate, three of which He wanted all the people to gather together to His Tabernacle or Temple for a joyous party.
(1.) Passover is to remember the time God delivered Israel from Egypt, and the lamb's blood was smeared onto the doorposts and lintel of the houses so the Death Angel would "pass over" those dwellings and the people within.
Jesus is the Lamb of God, our Passover Lamb, whose Blood causes the wrath of God to "pass over" those who put their trust in Him to have paid their debt of sin on the Cross. This is the first week-long feast (party) God wanted us to celebrate.
(2.) First Fruits is the Spring Harvest feast. Jesus is the First Fruits of Resurrection.
(3.) Pentecost comes 50 days after the Spring Harvest (Pente means 50), and it was celebrated with bread that was leavened. This is the only feast that does not require unleavened bread. Leaven usually symbolizes sin.
Pentecost Sunday was the day the Holy Spirit fell on the first believers in Jesus as Messiah, so is the Birthday of the Church. The Church is comprised of members who are still living on this Earth, and we aren't perfect yet. This is the second week-long feast (party) God wanted us to celebrate together.
(4.) Trumpets was to be celebrated on the 1st day of the 7th month (Sept.-Oct.). This was basically a concert, with the trumpets to be played before the Lord and the people.
We are told that at the last trumpet, the trumpet will sound, and the dead in Christ will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed (I Corinthians 15:52), and the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever (I Thessalonians 3:16-17). I believe that this feast will be fulfilled at this time, the Rapture of the Church.
(5.) Day of Atonement is the time of the corporate sacrifice for the whole Nation of Israel, for the past year. This was to be a time of mourning for all the wrongs that had been done, and a time of fasting, rather than feasting. This comes only 9 days after the Trumpets, on the 10th day of the 7th month.
Zechariah 14:3-5 tells us that when the Lord returns to fight against those nations . . . This is when the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with Him.
John also wrote about this, in his book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. In Chapter 19 the Rider on the White Horse is Jesus, Who has come to wage war on the Nations of the Earth at the Battle of Armageddon. This Day of the Lord has included world-wide earthquakes, floods and tsunamis that even overflowed all the islands, humongous storms of 100-pound hail, lightening and fire, signs in the Sun, Moon and Stars, the sky rolled up like a scroll, every kind of "natural" disaster you can think of, all happening on this Day.
And Jesus returns to set up His Kingdom on the Earth. I think that this Day of the Lord is the fulfillment of the Day of Atonement, when Jesus has atoned for, bought, purchased with His Blood on Calvary, this whole Earth and the World upon it. He is now the Owner of us all, our rightful Judge. Now He cleansing it of all that evil people have wrought on it, and all the cities and towns of the World are flattened. And all His "holy ones" came with Him: all the Heavenly Angels as well as all His Redeemed People.
(6.) Tabernacles is the last feast of the year, coming only 5 days after The Atonement, on the 15th day of the 7th month. The people were to gather together to construct and build temporary structures to live in for a week, celebrating with a great joyful feast to commemorate their living in tents after leaving Egypt. This is the third feast God wanted all His people to gather for.
I see the fulfillment of this Feast in our living in temporary housing after the Battle of Armageddon, while we rebuild the cities and towns that have been destroyed, rejoicing in being our Lord's emissaries in setting up His glorious Kingdom, sitting on His Throne with Him ruling this World in its Golden Age.
O my Father, I thank You and praise You for Your wondrous works. You have planned out Your whole Great Plan of the Ages, You have laid out Your whole program for us in the Feasts You told Your people to celebrate, and You are carrying out the fulfillment of Time before our very eyes as we live every day.
Thank You for rescuing me from myself and the twistedness of my own heart. You have delivered me from the bondage of deep sin, lifted me out of the quicksand of mire and placed my feet upon the Rock.
You take me by my hand and lead me in Your paths of righteousness, and You never let go. Your joy is my strength, and I will dwell in Your House (Family) in Your Kingdom, and magnify and glorify Your Name in Your courts forever!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, October 22, 2017
I Long For You, O God!
Leviticus 19: 2
... You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.
Psalm 42: 1-2
As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before Him?
O my dear Father God in Heaven, You are so great, so powerful, so wise. Hide me, I pray, in the cleft of the rock and cover me with Your hand; keep me out of Your way as You work in the lives of those around me and the circumstances that surround us.
Forgive my selfishness, and teach me to be aware of Your presence with me and Your arms around me; and of the people around me and the events transpiring around us. Cleanse me and use me so that I will think Your thoughts, not mine; that I would say Your words, not mine; that I would do Your works, not mine. Help me to consider others before myself.
Though I only take one or two tiny steps each day, hold my hand tightly and guide me through everything that is thrown at me each day, straight on Your path for me, that I not be knocked to the right or to the left.
And may all the honor and glory redound to You, my Lord and my God, as You have planned it all out and executed Your plan exactly as You wanted.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
... You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.
Psalm 42: 1-2
As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before Him?
O my dear Father God in Heaven, You are so great, so powerful, so wise. Hide me, I pray, in the cleft of the rock and cover me with Your hand; keep me out of Your way as You work in the lives of those around me and the circumstances that surround us.
Forgive my selfishness, and teach me to be aware of Your presence with me and Your arms around me; and of the people around me and the events transpiring around us. Cleanse me and use me so that I will think Your thoughts, not mine; that I would say Your words, not mine; that I would do Your works, not mine. Help me to consider others before myself.
Though I only take one or two tiny steps each day, hold my hand tightly and guide me through everything that is thrown at me each day, straight on Your path for me, that I not be knocked to the right or to the left.
And may all the honor and glory redound to You, my Lord and my God, as You have planned it all out and executed Your plan exactly as You wanted.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, October 21, 2017
Like Jesus
Philippians 2: 1-5
Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from His love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and sympathetic? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one heart and purpose.
Don't be selfish; don't live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself. Don't think only of your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing. Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had.
WWJD, What Would Jesus Do? What would Jesus think? What attitude would Jesus have on "this" matter?
Can I think like Jesus? Can I fill my heart with what fills His heart? Can I live my life among the people in my little world as Jesus would live with these people?
Am I encouraged in my belonging to Christ? Do I have any comfort in His love? Am I aware of being friends, having fellowship, with His Spirit? Is my heart tender or sympathetic toward others, especially when I don't agree with their views or lifestyles?
Father, You are my Provider of everything I need to be like Your Son, My Lord, Christ Jesus. Your great mercy in not giving me the wrath I deserve, having put it all on Jesus on the Cross; Your great grace, cleansing me and giving me all the abundance of Your riches in glory that Jesus deserves and earned for me.
You are now my Daddy (Abba), my good Father. You want only the best for me, so You will train me, discipline me, teach me, lead me and guide me. I put my hand in Yours, but even if I pull away, You will hold my hand firmly, as the good Parent Your are. You will never allow me to get away from You into the path of a speeding truck bearing down on me. You will never allow me to pull away over the edge of a cliff. Your light of Truth illumines each step I take, just as my car headlights light the road before me but not the entire journey.
I trust You, Father, to keep me on Your narrow path, avoiding all the boulders and potholes and away from the ditches on the right hand and on the left. I don't know what lies around that corner I see up ahead, but I know You do, You have planned out what You want to accomplish in my life, and I don't want to miss any of the details of the good You want for me. Keep on keeping on with me, Father, molding me and shaping me, teaching me and disciplining me, making me into the very image of Your dear Son, Who is the image of the Father. You are God, God Almighty, and You are building Yourself a family. Thank You for including me in Your family, Dad.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from His love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and sympathetic? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one heart and purpose.
Don't be selfish; don't live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself. Don't think only of your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing. Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had.
WWJD, What Would Jesus Do? What would Jesus think? What attitude would Jesus have on "this" matter?
Can I think like Jesus? Can I fill my heart with what fills His heart? Can I live my life among the people in my little world as Jesus would live with these people?
Am I encouraged in my belonging to Christ? Do I have any comfort in His love? Am I aware of being friends, having fellowship, with His Spirit? Is my heart tender or sympathetic toward others, especially when I don't agree with their views or lifestyles?
Father, You are my Provider of everything I need to be like Your Son, My Lord, Christ Jesus. Your great mercy in not giving me the wrath I deserve, having put it all on Jesus on the Cross; Your great grace, cleansing me and giving me all the abundance of Your riches in glory that Jesus deserves and earned for me.
You are now my Daddy (Abba), my good Father. You want only the best for me, so You will train me, discipline me, teach me, lead me and guide me. I put my hand in Yours, but even if I pull away, You will hold my hand firmly, as the good Parent Your are. You will never allow me to get away from You into the path of a speeding truck bearing down on me. You will never allow me to pull away over the edge of a cliff. Your light of Truth illumines each step I take, just as my car headlights light the road before me but not the entire journey.
I trust You, Father, to keep me on Your narrow path, avoiding all the boulders and potholes and away from the ditches on the right hand and on the left. I don't know what lies around that corner I see up ahead, but I know You do, You have planned out what You want to accomplish in my life, and I don't want to miss any of the details of the good You want for me. Keep on keeping on with me, Father, molding me and shaping me, teaching me and disciplining me, making me into the very image of Your dear Son, Who is the image of the Father. You are God, God Almighty, and You are building Yourself a family. Thank You for including me in Your family, Dad.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, October 20, 2017
Thought - Heart - Life
Mark 7: 20-23
And then He added, It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person's heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.
All these horrible things come out as the overflow of what is filling the heart. The first item on this list is "evil thoughts." We choose what we want to think about. Everything we do always begins with a thought, whether good or bad. So it is very important to choose to think good thoughts. (See Philippians 4:8-9 for God's thought list.)
Whenever a thought crosses my mind that happens to be selfish, or lazy, or unkind, I don't want to dwell on that idea; I try to deliberately replace it with something more wholesome. I'll think of a Bible verse that counteracts that temptation, as Jesus did. Or if it's a song that's playing in my head, then I'll turn on Christian Radio to replace it with something honoring.
Everything we do starts with a thought, then fills the heart, then overflows into our life. I need to remember this, especially when I'm in the heat of the battle. I don't want to go on automatic at those times, so I need to plan ahead, before the stuff hits the fan, to know what I'll do. Then I'll be able to think more clearly, without my brain being muddled in the passion of the moment. That's my goal concerning this.
O my Father, please search my heart and know me. Show me any of these vile things You find there, that I may confess and forsake them and be forgiven and cleansed. Wash my inner parts that I may be a fit sacrifice, a vessel suitable for Your use.
O Father, please continue to help me fill my heart with Your good ideas and attitudes and emotions, by having self-control over what I allow to play in my head, and in my thought processes. Help me to always remember how sweet and kind and strong is Your love for me, so I will fill my heart with that to overflow onto all the other people in my little world.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
And then He added, It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person's heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.
All these horrible things come out as the overflow of what is filling the heart. The first item on this list is "evil thoughts." We choose what we want to think about. Everything we do always begins with a thought, whether good or bad. So it is very important to choose to think good thoughts. (See Philippians 4:8-9 for God's thought list.)
Whenever a thought crosses my mind that happens to be selfish, or lazy, or unkind, I don't want to dwell on that idea; I try to deliberately replace it with something more wholesome. I'll think of a Bible verse that counteracts that temptation, as Jesus did. Or if it's a song that's playing in my head, then I'll turn on Christian Radio to replace it with something honoring.
Everything we do starts with a thought, then fills the heart, then overflows into our life. I need to remember this, especially when I'm in the heat of the battle. I don't want to go on automatic at those times, so I need to plan ahead, before the stuff hits the fan, to know what I'll do. Then I'll be able to think more clearly, without my brain being muddled in the passion of the moment. That's my goal concerning this.
O my Father, please search my heart and know me. Show me any of these vile things You find there, that I may confess and forsake them and be forgiven and cleansed. Wash my inner parts that I may be a fit sacrifice, a vessel suitable for Your use.
O Father, please continue to help me fill my heart with Your good ideas and attitudes and emotions, by having self-control over what I allow to play in my head, and in my thought processes. Help me to always remember how sweet and kind and strong is Your love for me, so I will fill my heart with that to overflow onto all the other people in my little world.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
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