Proverbs 11: 27
If you search for good, you will find favor; but if you search for evil, it will find you!
This describes our focus: if we just look at what we want to criticize, to find fault, then our life will be full of misery; but if our focus is on whatever is right, lovely, or deserving of praise, then our life will be cheerful, we will know the Joy of the Lord.
One way to see where our focus is, is to pay attention to our words. If we tend to compliment or criticize, that will show us where we're looking, and determine what kind of emotional life we are living.
Whatever I choose to focus on becomes larger, clearer, and more real in my life; and what I'm not focused on, the rest of what is going on around me, fades away into the background. So I choose to focus my thoughts and attention on whatever is good, lovely, positive, and right, so that what is troublesome or problematic or negative will fade into obscurity in my life.
I will fix my thoughts on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and worthy of praise.
How about you?
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, November 10, 2017
Thursday, November 9, 2017
What He Did For Me!
Psalm 66: 16-20
Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what He did for me. For I cried out to Him for help, praising Him as I spoke. If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Praise God Who did not ignore my prayer or withdraw His unfailing love from me.
This says it all! Amen!
I cannot count all the times my Father has come to my aid. Even for the small, insignificant things, He has heard me and answered me.
If I am in the wrong, I must confess my sin, accept His forgiveness, and let God wash me clean in the Blood shed at Calvary. When He saved me, He cleansed me thoroughly, every sin past, present, and future. But I must confess when I become aware of my culpability. This humbles me, and only the humble are granted Grace.
Then I can pray and God will hear my prayer. And if I know He hears me, then I know that He has already given the answer; I just need to wait for it, looking for it.
Now, after waiting for 16 years, some things seem to be falling into place. My Father knows the dream He has put into my wanting, but He has been preparing me for it, through all these years. Knowing it was from Him, I never completely let go of that dream, and now it looks like it may soon come true.
May my other prayers also be answered concerning my family members I am concerned for. May He take me out of His way in working in their lives.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what He did for me. For I cried out to Him for help, praising Him as I spoke. If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Praise God Who did not ignore my prayer or withdraw His unfailing love from me.
This says it all! Amen!
I cannot count all the times my Father has come to my aid. Even for the small, insignificant things, He has heard me and answered me.
If I am in the wrong, I must confess my sin, accept His forgiveness, and let God wash me clean in the Blood shed at Calvary. When He saved me, He cleansed me thoroughly, every sin past, present, and future. But I must confess when I become aware of my culpability. This humbles me, and only the humble are granted Grace.
Then I can pray and God will hear my prayer. And if I know He hears me, then I know that He has already given the answer; I just need to wait for it, looking for it.
Now, after waiting for 16 years, some things seem to be falling into place. My Father knows the dream He has put into my wanting, but He has been preparing me for it, through all these years. Knowing it was from Him, I never completely let go of that dream, and now it looks like it may soon come true.
May my other prayers also be answered concerning my family members I am concerned for. May He take me out of His way in working in their lives.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
Wait Quietly
Psalm 62: 5-6, 11-12a
Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in Him. He alone is my Rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.
God has spoken plainly, and I have heard it many times. Power, O God, belongs to You; unfailing love, O Lord, is Yours.
O my Father, may Your peace settle upon me to wait patiently before You. All my hope is in You, You are my only security. I know full well what You have spoken to me in Your Word.
I know that all power is Your power, and You yield Your power in me and in my life in Your love. Your all-encompassing, eternal, wide, broad, deep, high love surrounds me: above, below, before, behind, right, left, around, filling me inside. Completely drown me in Your love, O my Father, that Your power may be seen in me, not my flesh.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in Him. He alone is my Rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.
God has spoken plainly, and I have heard it many times. Power, O God, belongs to You; unfailing love, O Lord, is Yours.
O my Father, may Your peace settle upon me to wait patiently before You. All my hope is in You, You are my only security. I know full well what You have spoken to me in Your Word.
I know that all power is Your power, and You yield Your power in me and in my life in Your love. Your all-encompassing, eternal, wide, broad, deep, high love surrounds me: above, below, before, behind, right, left, around, filling me inside. Completely drown me in Your love, O my Father, that Your power may be seen in me, not my flesh.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, November 7, 2017
His Purposes In Me
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!
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!
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!
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