I Thessalonians 5: 23-24
Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until that Day when our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God, Who calls you, is faithful; He will do this.
When a person realizes that they deserve death and Jesus took their death for them on the Cross, that's when God causes them to be "born again" into His own Family by putting His own Holy Spirit in their spirit, making it alive. Then that person begins a whole new journey of life, having a whole new nature in addition to their human nature.
When God showed me Jesus on the Cross, and I knew He didn't deserve any of it because I did, He took my place there in death, I left that room floating, and realized that God had taken the load of sin off my shoulders and put it on Jesus at that moment in time. And I had new sight; like I'd been living in a black-and-white world, now I can see in full Techni-color!
Now God is working in me, and He has been since that day, to make me holy, and to keep me blameless until that Day when Jesus returns. He has promised to do this, and He always keeps His promises!
O my Father, thank You for this wonderful promise! I'm so glad You are working in me, on me, and through me, through Your power. Because I know that I am still so weak and rebellious, lazy and willful. I cannot do right in myself, I must lean on You, Father, and use Your strength, for I have none.
In me, in my flesh, there dwells no good thing--anything good, or pure, or righteous in me is all and only of You, my Lord God; You are working in me according to Your own good pleasure, and You will accomplish Your purposes in me in spite of my weaknesses.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, November 7, 2017
Monday, November 6, 2017
Just As Told Them
Luke 2: 20
The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the Angel had told them.
Whenever God tells us what to look for, we find it just as He said it would be. The shepherds found the Baby in the manger. The two disciples found the colt for Jesus' Triumphal Entrance to Jerusalem (Mark 11:2-6). They rented the right Upper Room for the Last Supper (Mark 14:12-16).
We can always trust what God has clearly said. Why do we tend to doubt? Our lack of faith! We don't have to understand everything to believe it, we just need to trust God, relying on His past record. And today we have a much more complete record than the Israelites did, and the shepherds, and even the disciples.
O my Father, thank You so much for telling us what to expect. Even when we look around us and don't understand how things will turn out the way You said it would, I trust You to know what lies before me on that path You have set my feet on. You know what's around the corner where I can't see. You know what lies in the fog ahead of me.
You have my hand securely in Yours. Even if I should want to pull away, You will never let go. You have promised me that You would never leave or forsake me; so I trust You to always go before me, have my back, defend my right side and my left, protect me from above, be the Rock under my feet, and surround me with Your Love.
Continually prompt me to consult You and Your Word for every decision, every word, every thought. Cleanse me and make me a fit vessel for Your use everywhere I go and with everything I do.
Even so, come Lord Jesus!
The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the Angel had told them.
Whenever God tells us what to look for, we find it just as He said it would be. The shepherds found the Baby in the manger. The two disciples found the colt for Jesus' Triumphal Entrance to Jerusalem (Mark 11:2-6). They rented the right Upper Room for the Last Supper (Mark 14:12-16).
We can always trust what God has clearly said. Why do we tend to doubt? Our lack of faith! We don't have to understand everything to believe it, we just need to trust God, relying on His past record. And today we have a much more complete record than the Israelites did, and the shepherds, and even the disciples.
O my Father, thank You so much for telling us what to expect. Even when we look around us and don't understand how things will turn out the way You said it would, I trust You to know what lies before me on that path You have set my feet on. You know what's around the corner where I can't see. You know what lies in the fog ahead of me.
You have my hand securely in Yours. Even if I should want to pull away, You will never let go. You have promised me that You would never leave or forsake me; so I trust You to always go before me, have my back, defend my right side and my left, protect me from above, be the Rock under my feet, and surround me with Your Love.
Continually prompt me to consult You and Your Word for every decision, every word, every thought. Cleanse me and make me a fit vessel for Your use everywhere I go and with everything I do.
Even so, come Lord Jesus!
Sunday, November 5, 2017
God's Faithfulness
Numbers 23: 19
God is not a man, so He does not lie. He is not human, so He does not change His mind. Has He ever spoken and failed to act? Has He ever promised and not carried it through?
God is Truth, He will never lie or be deceived. We are human, we are vulnerable to being deceived, and repeating that lie to others. We are subject to realizing our pronouncements may not be the best, and change our minds.
God has all knowledge of everything, as He is the One Who made it all according to His design. He has already planned out how the progress of Time will continue to proceed, as He thought it up and put it into place. He knows how He has determined everything will come about, from the beginning to the end. He stands outside our Time, and sees it all as now. He can reach in at whatever point He desires to show us His Power and Authority over all Nature, as Jesus broke into our realm as one of us, and performed miracles to show us Who He is.
God can even manipulate Time, as when He answered Hezekiah's prayer, and caused time to go backward by ten degrees on the Sundial of Ahaz (Isaiah 38:7-8), and when Joshua asked God for more time to defeat the Amorites, and God caused the sun to stand still for "about a full day" (Joshua 10:12-14).
God's faithfulness is absolute--He would never say He would do anything that He doesn't intend to do. He knows what the future holds for us, because He sees it the same as He sees the past. We are encapsulated in Time, He stands outside it. We can see into the past as other humans have accurately recorded it, and we can see what is going on today. We can only surmise what we think might happen in the future, but we cannot know.
But we can trust God's knowledge, and what He says He will do. He has given His prophets to tell His people what to expect in the future, and thousands of prophesies have already been fulfilled in the time that has transpired since each prophesy was given. Like Daniel, reading Jeremiah, found that Israel would be in Babylon for 70 years (25:11), and 70 years was fast approaching in his time (see Daniel 9:1-3). And, just as He had said, the Nation was sent back to Jerusalem after being in Babylon for 70 years (see Ezra and Nehemiah, one book when written).
So we can fully trust God to do exactly what He says He will do. Literally. Practically. In our own lives, families, societies, nations, and in our World. And in this beautiful Earth that will undergo violent "birth pangs" as the Kingdom of God approaches our shores.
O my Father, I thank You and I praise You for Your faithfulness to Your Word, Your truthfulness and loyalty to Your own Righteousness.
I thank You and I praise You for Your faithfulness to me, in demonstrating in my life the changes You are making in me, in transforming the dust and clay of my vessel, molecule by molecule, into the crystal and diamond to show forth Your own Glory through me.
Thank You for Your promise, that, He Who began a good work in [me] will carry it on to completion until the Day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6), You will continue to work in me and on me until You have perfected me on that glorious Day when my Lord and King Christ Jesus returns.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
God is not a man, so He does not lie. He is not human, so He does not change His mind. Has He ever spoken and failed to act? Has He ever promised and not carried it through?
God is Truth, He will never lie or be deceived. We are human, we are vulnerable to being deceived, and repeating that lie to others. We are subject to realizing our pronouncements may not be the best, and change our minds.
God has all knowledge of everything, as He is the One Who made it all according to His design. He has already planned out how the progress of Time will continue to proceed, as He thought it up and put it into place. He knows how He has determined everything will come about, from the beginning to the end. He stands outside our Time, and sees it all as now. He can reach in at whatever point He desires to show us His Power and Authority over all Nature, as Jesus broke into our realm as one of us, and performed miracles to show us Who He is.
God can even manipulate Time, as when He answered Hezekiah's prayer, and caused time to go backward by ten degrees on the Sundial of Ahaz (Isaiah 38:7-8), and when Joshua asked God for more time to defeat the Amorites, and God caused the sun to stand still for "about a full day" (Joshua 10:12-14).
God's faithfulness is absolute--He would never say He would do anything that He doesn't intend to do. He knows what the future holds for us, because He sees it the same as He sees the past. We are encapsulated in Time, He stands outside it. We can see into the past as other humans have accurately recorded it, and we can see what is going on today. We can only surmise what we think might happen in the future, but we cannot know.
But we can trust God's knowledge, and what He says He will do. He has given His prophets to tell His people what to expect in the future, and thousands of prophesies have already been fulfilled in the time that has transpired since each prophesy was given. Like Daniel, reading Jeremiah, found that Israel would be in Babylon for 70 years (25:11), and 70 years was fast approaching in his time (see Daniel 9:1-3). And, just as He had said, the Nation was sent back to Jerusalem after being in Babylon for 70 years (see Ezra and Nehemiah, one book when written).
So we can fully trust God to do exactly what He says He will do. Literally. Practically. In our own lives, families, societies, nations, and in our World. And in this beautiful Earth that will undergo violent "birth pangs" as the Kingdom of God approaches our shores.
O my Father, I thank You and I praise You for Your faithfulness to Your Word, Your truthfulness and loyalty to Your own Righteousness.
I thank You and I praise You for Your faithfulness to me, in demonstrating in my life the changes You are making in me, in transforming the dust and clay of my vessel, molecule by molecule, into the crystal and diamond to show forth Your own Glory through me.
Thank You for Your promise, that, He Who began a good work in [me] will carry it on to completion until the Day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6), You will continue to work in me and on me until You have perfected me on that glorious Day when my Lord and King Christ Jesus returns.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, November 4, 2017
God's Name El-Elyon
Psalm 57: 2, 11
El-Elyon (God Most High)
I cry out to God Most High, to God Who fulfills His purpose for me.
Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens. May Your Glory shine over all the Earth.
Our God is God Most High, the Great God of the Universe. He alone is holy. He alone is good. He fills all and is in all. In Him we live and move and have our being. All glory and honor belongs to Him, He alone deserves all honor and all glory, because He has done all things, and has done all things well.
He is perfect. His Plan of the Ages is perfect, and all His plans for each of us are all perfect, and fit perfectly into His great Plan of the Ages. He is so powerful and so wise as to use all our choices that we seem to make so freely to further His Plans. Whether we choose wisely or foolishly,or even evilly, God uses it to further His will.
O my dear Heavenly Father, thank You that You are God, and we are not! Thank You for being God Most High, above every other thing that has ever been worshiped. All those other gods have demons behind them, or even Satan himself. You alone, my Lord, deserve all worship and adoration.
Continue to work out Your complete Plan, Father, even when it leads to Your children suffering, as it will. No gain in this World is worth the loss it would entail in Your Kingdom. Strengthen Your sons and daughters as times grow more perilous for them over more and more areas of the World. Let them feel Your Presence with them, and let them know that their brothers and sisters are lifting them up in prayer.
Continue to lead me, my dear Father, as I approach this corner in my life. I don't know what lies ahead for me, but You do, and I trust You to show me the way You have designed my feet to follow, as I follow You.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
El-Elyon (God Most High)
I cry out to God Most High, to God Who fulfills His purpose for me.
Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens. May Your Glory shine over all the Earth.
Our God is God Most High, the Great God of the Universe. He alone is holy. He alone is good. He fills all and is in all. In Him we live and move and have our being. All glory and honor belongs to Him, He alone deserves all honor and all glory, because He has done all things, and has done all things well.
He is perfect. His Plan of the Ages is perfect, and all His plans for each of us are all perfect, and fit perfectly into His great Plan of the Ages. He is so powerful and so wise as to use all our choices that we seem to make so freely to further His Plans. Whether we choose wisely or foolishly,or even evilly, God uses it to further His will.
O my dear Heavenly Father, thank You that You are God, and we are not! Thank You for being God Most High, above every other thing that has ever been worshiped. All those other gods have demons behind them, or even Satan himself. You alone, my Lord, deserve all worship and adoration.
Continue to work out Your complete Plan, Father, even when it leads to Your children suffering, as it will. No gain in this World is worth the loss it would entail in Your Kingdom. Strengthen Your sons and daughters as times grow more perilous for them over more and more areas of the World. Let them feel Your Presence with them, and let them know that their brothers and sisters are lifting them up in prayer.
Continue to lead me, my dear Father, as I approach this corner in my life. I don't know what lies ahead for me, but You do, and I trust You to show me the way You have designed my feet to follow, as I follow You.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, November 3, 2017
Our Tenderhearted Daddy
Psalm 56: 8
You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in Your bottle. You have recorded each one in Your book.
O my dear, tender-loving Father, You are the great God of the Universe, yet You are my Daddy (Abba), Who invites me into Your lap, and You wrap Your strong, protective arms around me.
You take such careful note of all my sorrows, even collecting all my tears in Your bottle and recording each one in Your journal.
Why would You do all this, if not to demonstrate how Your own heart grieves for my pain and hurts! Such gentle care You give me, so tenderhearted and strong.
You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in Your bottle. You have recorded each one in Your book.
O my dear, tender-loving Father, You are the great God of the Universe, yet You are my Daddy (Abba), Who invites me into Your lap, and You wrap Your strong, protective arms around me.
You take such careful note of all my sorrows, even collecting all my tears in Your bottle and recording each one in Your journal.
Why would You do all this, if not to demonstrate how Your own heart grieves for my pain and hurts! Such gentle care You give me, so tenderhearted and strong.
Thursday, November 2, 2017
Burdens
Psalm 55: 22
Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.
Matthew 11: 28-30
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
The burden that has weighed most heavily on me through the years has been my children. Before they were conceived and born I had given them back to the Lord, His having shown me back then that He would only lend them to me for a time, to prepare them for eternity with Him.
But I have often taken them back and tried to make them righteous in my own strengths and abilities. This has proved to me to have been unprofitable and even harmful to them.
Now that they are adults, I realize that they are out of my hands, and are now directly responsible and accountable to God, not me.
O my Father, thank You so much for each one of my children. Please keep me out of the way of Your dealing with them and working on them. They belong to You, Father, they always did. Please make Yourself real in their understandings and sensibilities. Draw each of them ever closer to Yourself and bless them.
And thank You also, Father, for the grandchildren You have given me through them. Help me, guide me, and teach me how to be a good grandma to each of them, as each one is so different from every other. As Jesus dealt with different people with different approaches and methods, show me how to be a good influence in each of their lives, considering how You have formed each one.
Father, You are such a good, good Father to us. Thank You for all You have done for me and mine. Teach us how to respond to Your workings in our lives the way You desire, walking in the path You have set each of our feet upon. Show Your light before each step, showing all the pitfalls and stumbling stones so we can avoid them, and I know You will not let go of our hands, to keep us from slipping off into a ditch on the right-hand or on the left.
And may You receive all the credit, all the glory, for everything You are doing in our lives, our societies and our World on this beautiful Earth.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.
Matthew 11: 28-30
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
The burden that has weighed most heavily on me through the years has been my children. Before they were conceived and born I had given them back to the Lord, His having shown me back then that He would only lend them to me for a time, to prepare them for eternity with Him.
But I have often taken them back and tried to make them righteous in my own strengths and abilities. This has proved to me to have been unprofitable and even harmful to them.
Now that they are adults, I realize that they are out of my hands, and are now directly responsible and accountable to God, not me.
O my Father, thank You so much for each one of my children. Please keep me out of the way of Your dealing with them and working on them. They belong to You, Father, they always did. Please make Yourself real in their understandings and sensibilities. Draw each of them ever closer to Yourself and bless them.
And thank You also, Father, for the grandchildren You have given me through them. Help me, guide me, and teach me how to be a good grandma to each of them, as each one is so different from every other. As Jesus dealt with different people with different approaches and methods, show me how to be a good influence in each of their lives, considering how You have formed each one.
Father, You are such a good, good Father to us. Thank You for all You have done for me and mine. Teach us how to respond to Your workings in our lives the way You desire, walking in the path You have set each of our feet upon. Show Your light before each step, showing all the pitfalls and stumbling stones so we can avoid them, and I know You will not let go of our hands, to keep us from slipping off into a ditch on the right-hand or on the left.
And may You receive all the credit, all the glory, for everything You are doing in our lives, our societies and our World on this beautiful Earth.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
His Love And Suffering
Mark 14: 62
Jesus said, "I AM [the I AM is here (Exodus 3:14)], and you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God's right hand (Psalm 110:1) and coming on the clouds of Heaven (Daniel 7:13)."
It is so amazing that our great God of the Universe, the Creator of all things, would come as a human, a Son of Man, to receive power and to come on the clouds of Heaven to receive the kingdoms of this Earth to reign as Sovereign King!
But to first suffer--to endure hardship, humiliation, rejection, even execution as a criminal; for me, the criminal now set free! But for the joy set before Him, He endured the Cross--how He could have endured it at all, but especially, God the Father's rejection--God turning His back on God. I cannot imagine the agony of that moment, being forsaken by Father God--unimaginable!
Mark 14: 33-36
He began to be deeply distressed and troubled. "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," He said to them. ... He fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from Him. "Abba, Father," He said, "Everything is possible for You. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what You will."
O my Father, my tiny mind will never comprehend how You could love so much, so deep, so saturating to fill all the Universe, down to the very molecules and atoms and beyond. To demonstrate that love in allowing Your own Son to be that atoning Sacrificial Lamb of God, knowing that it would entail that separation between Father and Son, if even temporary. Knowing that it would all be worth the price paid. To count us, me, worth that unlimited price! Uncomprehendable!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Jesus said, "I AM [the I AM is here (Exodus 3:14)], and you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God's right hand (Psalm 110:1) and coming on the clouds of Heaven (Daniel 7:13)."
It is so amazing that our great God of the Universe, the Creator of all things, would come as a human, a Son of Man, to receive power and to come on the clouds of Heaven to receive the kingdoms of this Earth to reign as Sovereign King!
But to first suffer--to endure hardship, humiliation, rejection, even execution as a criminal; for me, the criminal now set free! But for the joy set before Him, He endured the Cross--how He could have endured it at all, but especially, God the Father's rejection--God turning His back on God. I cannot imagine the agony of that moment, being forsaken by Father God--unimaginable!
Mark 14: 33-36
He began to be deeply distressed and troubled. "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," He said to them. ... He fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from Him. "Abba, Father," He said, "Everything is possible for You. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what You will."
O my Father, my tiny mind will never comprehend how You could love so much, so deep, so saturating to fill all the Universe, down to the very molecules and atoms and beyond. To demonstrate that love in allowing Your own Son to be that atoning Sacrificial Lamb of God, knowing that it would entail that separation between Father and Son, if even temporary. Knowing that it would all be worth the price paid. To count us, me, worth that unlimited price! Uncomprehendable!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
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