II Kings 19: 32-33
Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, "He shall not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; neither shall he come before it with a shield, nor throw up a mound against it. By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come to this city," declares the Lord.
Rabshakeh came from the king of Assyria with a letter to Hezekiah that equated the Lord God with all the idols the other Nations worshiped, that they had destroyed.
So Hezekiah spread the letter out before the Lord, admitting that this foreign king really had conquered all those peoples, and destroyed their temples and idols. And he thought he could do the same here; but the Lord God is not anything like any of these idols, He really is God.
So God told him He would take care if this guy. And He did.
The Angel of the Lord struck 185,000 men in the camp (v. 35), so King Sennacherib went home to Nineveh. There he was murdered as he worshiped his god Nisroch (vs. 36-37).
When we pray, and lay out before Him whatever it is we need help with, He will always answer. He loves to fight our battles for us.
The better we get to know Him, the better we understand His ways, then the more we'll trust Him to do what He wants to do for us.
We never need to be afraid of Him, but have the "fear of the Lord" that is a reverential awe for His greatness and power and ability to do everything. There is nothing He can't do, even if it's impossible for us.
O my Father, thank You for Your greatness and Your gentleness, thank You for Your justice and Your mercy, thank You for Your lovingkindness and Your grace.
Father, You are the Creator, and You made us in Your image, so we are creative, too. You are intelligent, and You gave us intelligence, too, to understand Your ways. We are Your imagination, and You have given us imagination also, so we can imagine You and what You have planned for us.
Whatever we can imagine, though, what You are preparing for us, is beyond anything we can imagine. I find that fact so exciting! O Father, You love me so much more than I can imagine, my future with You will be beyond exquisite, beyond wonderous, beyond any words I have to use.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, June 28, 2018
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Cleaning Out The Filth
II Kings 18: 3
And he did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done.
This is high praise from the Lord.
King Hezekiah was Judah's last "good" king. He was Ahaz's son, and he tore down all the competing altars and broke down all the idols and places where these were worshiped with incense and infant sacrifice.
Would that the Lord would send us a Hezekiah to tear down and break down all the ideologies that are causing us to be worshiping the idols and demons and sacrificing our babies before they're even born.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
And he did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done.
This is high praise from the Lord.
King Hezekiah was Judah's last "good" king. He was Ahaz's son, and he tore down all the competing altars and broke down all the idols and places where these were worshiped with incense and infant sacrifice.
Would that the Lord would send us a Hezekiah to tear down and break down all the ideologies that are causing us to be worshiping the idols and demons and sacrificing our babies before they're even born.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, June 26, 2018
Lifestyle
I John 5: 8
We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He Who was born of God keeps him and the evil one does not touch him.
(KJV: he that is begotten of God keepeth himself.)
This means that no one who has been born-again will allow himself to be caught up into a habitual sin, a sinful lifestyle.
Even when we may fall back into doing that foolish thing again, we will feel so bad about it that we will confess it and turn from it.
This is because God’s Spirit dwells in us, giving us the strength and the power to break that bad habit and replace it with good practices.
Then the evil one, our enemy, cannot lay hold on us or attach himself to us or grab us (touch).
God knows we are but dust, and we cannot continually walk in His ways without His help. So He puts His own Holy Spirit into our spirit as the deposit, the down payment on the eternal life He gives us. He is always with us, and when we do something that is not according to His ways (sin), He lets us know that He is not pleased with that and we feel guilty.
Before we were born spiritually, our sinful lifestyle didn’t bother us. But now God’s Spirit in us shows us His ways, and leads us into better lifestyles, that won’t harm us or bring harm to others.
O my Father, thank You for knowing me and loving me anyway. Thank You for choosing to call me to Yourself and place Your Spirit in me. Thank You that he He is always with me and guides my steps.
Teach me to know His voice when He whispers in my spirit, to follow His direction and form those good habits and lifestyle that will benefit others and bring glory to Your Holy Name.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He Who was born of God keeps him and the evil one does not touch him.
(KJV: he that is begotten of God keepeth himself.)
This means that no one who has been born-again will allow himself to be caught up into a habitual sin, a sinful lifestyle.
Even when we may fall back into doing that foolish thing again, we will feel so bad about it that we will confess it and turn from it.
This is because God’s Spirit dwells in us, giving us the strength and the power to break that bad habit and replace it with good practices.
Then the evil one, our enemy, cannot lay hold on us or attach himself to us or grab us (touch).
God knows we are but dust, and we cannot continually walk in His ways without His help. So He puts His own Holy Spirit into our spirit as the deposit, the down payment on the eternal life He gives us. He is always with us, and when we do something that is not according to His ways (sin), He lets us know that He is not pleased with that and we feel guilty.
Before we were born spiritually, our sinful lifestyle didn’t bother us. But now God’s Spirit in us shows us His ways, and leads us into better lifestyles, that won’t harm us or bring harm to others.
O my Father, thank You for knowing me and loving me anyway. Thank You for choosing to call me to Yourself and place Your Spirit in me. Thank You that he He is always with me and guides my steps.
Teach me to know His voice when He whispers in my spirit, to follow His direction and form those good habits and lifestyle that will benefit others and bring glory to Your Holy Name.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, June 25, 2018
Will I Let
Ezekiel 36: 37-38
Thus says the Lord God, This also will I let the House of Israel ask Me to do for them ...
Wow, God “lets” us ask of Him!
He teaches us His ways, then He lets us ask Him to do for us the very things He wants to do! The things He planned to do from the start.
From the very beginning, God made this beautiful Earth, put it into this beautiful galaxy, in this beautiful Universe; then He made us of it to live here and enjoy all the good things He does for us.
And He gets all the credit, all the glory, because He planned it all out and designed it to function smoothly, when we just follow the “Owner’s Manual,” the “Manufacturer’s Instructions.”
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, June 24, 2018
My Holy Name
Ezekiel 36: 21-36
21 But I had concern for My holy Name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went.
22 Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God, It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy Name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.
23 And I will vindicate the holiness of My great Name ... Then the nations will know that I am the Lord God, when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight.
God is holy. He will always vindicate His holy Name. He is concerned for His reputation: He wants everyone to know Who He is.
26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
27 And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.
This is when Jesus returns, all Israel is saved, and King Jesus has set up His throne to rule the World from Jerusalem. He will return Israel to the Land and the whole Land will flourish as never before.
32 I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Lord. ... Then they will know that I am the Lord.
As God regenerates His own people, both Israelis and gentiles, He puts His own Spirit in us, and we do, we want to, follow His ways; then He blesses us: We get the benefit and He gets the glory!
36 Then the nations that are left round about you ...
Not only Israel, but people in all the rest of the Nations of the World will be preserved, kept from receiving the sign of the beast in their forehead or right hand, and will also see Him as He arrives on His “white horse” to fight the Battle of Armageddon and set up His throne.
All those people will see Him as He appears and recognize Him as the Messiah, the Lamb of God, and the King of the World; and will be saved, to go into the Kingdom in their flesh, along with all of us who have been raptured at His appearing.
God will do all this to vindicate His Name.
He wants everyone to know Who He really is, what He’s like, His character and personality.
There is so much deception in the world, our enemy distorts God’s beautiful Truth to try to keep us from knowing God. His Name is Who Hie is: His authority to rule, along with all His attributes that give Him that authority. It includes His goodness and His beauty, His grace and mercy and justice, His wisdom and knowledge—everything He is. When we get to know Him, we do love Him, because He is eminently lovable.
He loves us more than we can even imagine, because He is Love.
And He will make sure that His Name is vindicated. Everyone will see Who He is, and either oppose Him, fighting against Him in the Battle of Armageddon; or accept Who He is, be saved, and enter into this Earth’s Golden Age.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, June 23, 2018
The Exact Truth
Luke 1: 1-4
Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account ... Who from the beginning were eyewitnesses ... It seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it all out for you in order, most excellent Theophilus; so that you might know the exact Truth about the things you have been taught.
Doctor Luke was a man of science, who was very careful with discerning the Truth. Since "many" others had also compiled records of Jesus' life, Luke wanted his friend to be sure to know the actual Truth of all these accounts, many of which did not make it into Scripture because of inaccuracies. So he carefully investigated, interviewing the very people who were involved, to get down to the nitty-gritty of His life.
He wanted to make everything clear to his friend, and he also did so for all of us today, too.
O Father, You are so wise, so generous, so open with us. Thank You for having Luke state how meticulously he investigated to find out all the facts. Thank You for leading him in his search to write for all of us an accurate account of the Man Christ Jesus.
Thank You for leading Matthew, Levi the tax collector, who walked with Jesus, to show Him as our King, the King of Israel and the King of the World, and the Universe.
Thank You for having Mark, who travelled with Paul, and was personally acquainted with Jesus' family, for showing us how Jesus was our Servant, so we also will serve one another.
And thank You for having John the Beloved, who leaned close to Jesus at the Last Supper, laying his head on Jesus' breast, to record the life of our Lord God Himself in human flesh.
Thank You, Father, for overseeing the compiling of the New Testament with the very writings that will show us You and Your ways, to teach us how to order our thoughts, which direct our words and walk our daily lives.
Help us all to learn Your ways, think Your thoughts for us, use our words to build up others, and live our lives to Your glory.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account ... Who from the beginning were eyewitnesses ... It seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it all out for you in order, most excellent Theophilus; so that you might know the exact Truth about the things you have been taught.
Doctor Luke was a man of science, who was very careful with discerning the Truth. Since "many" others had also compiled records of Jesus' life, Luke wanted his friend to be sure to know the actual Truth of all these accounts, many of which did not make it into Scripture because of inaccuracies. So he carefully investigated, interviewing the very people who were involved, to get down to the nitty-gritty of His life.
He wanted to make everything clear to his friend, and he also did so for all of us today, too.
O Father, You are so wise, so generous, so open with us. Thank You for having Luke state how meticulously he investigated to find out all the facts. Thank You for leading him in his search to write for all of us an accurate account of the Man Christ Jesus.
Thank You for leading Matthew, Levi the tax collector, who walked with Jesus, to show Him as our King, the King of Israel and the King of the World, and the Universe.
Thank You for having Mark, who travelled with Paul, and was personally acquainted with Jesus' family, for showing us how Jesus was our Servant, so we also will serve one another.
And thank You for having John the Beloved, who leaned close to Jesus at the Last Supper, laying his head on Jesus' breast, to record the life of our Lord God Himself in human flesh.
Thank You, Father, for overseeing the compiling of the New Testament with the very writings that will show us You and Your ways, to teach us how to order our thoughts, which direct our words and walk our daily lives.
Help us all to learn Your ways, think Your thoughts for us, use our words to build up others, and live our lives to Your glory.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, June 22, 2018
Abundant Life
John 10: 10
... I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.
When God made this Earth, He formed it and supplied it with everything we would need right here. He built into it an unlimited abundance of all the food, all the animals, all the resources we would want.
Then He gave us His rules and regulations on how to run the World to produce all this abundance, for our enjoyment, and derive our satisfaction in Him in providing it all. If only we would follow His ways.
When we buy a car, a book comes with it, explaining how to take care of it; what kind of fuel to use, how often to change the oil, how much pressure to put in the tires, etc. We can choose to follow the book, and the car will give us many years of use. Or we can ignore the book, and decide for ourselves what we want to do with it--and use the wrong fuel, never change the oil, etc--and it will not service our needs for very long.
Our problem is that we have not followed the directions we've been given to run the World, and people have been lied to, to think that there is a shortage of resources.
But more trees grow, more food grows, more animals are born and hatched, there's always more. And there is also no shortage of the creativity God put into Mankind, to take what God has made and use it to make all kinds of other things for our usefulness and pleasure.
So when we know God, learn Who He is, His character and personality; and we study His Word to learn His ways and follow them--then He will see to it that we can avail ourselves of all the abundance He built into this Earth for us.
Jesus came and showed us how to live our lives, then He died as our personal Sacrifice as the Lamb of God to atone for all our wrong choices, cleanse us of all the corruption and spoilage in our souls, send His Spirit to live in our spirit to make it alive, so that we will have His strength to follow His ways and experience all the abundance He wants for us right here.
Then to enjoy His very Presence forever, as He brings us to His home, in the New Heaven and New Earth, to live with Him and reign with Him.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
... I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.
When God made this Earth, He formed it and supplied it with everything we would need right here. He built into it an unlimited abundance of all the food, all the animals, all the resources we would want.
Then He gave us His rules and regulations on how to run the World to produce all this abundance, for our enjoyment, and derive our satisfaction in Him in providing it all. If only we would follow His ways.
When we buy a car, a book comes with it, explaining how to take care of it; what kind of fuel to use, how often to change the oil, how much pressure to put in the tires, etc. We can choose to follow the book, and the car will give us many years of use. Or we can ignore the book, and decide for ourselves what we want to do with it--and use the wrong fuel, never change the oil, etc--and it will not service our needs for very long.
Our problem is that we have not followed the directions we've been given to run the World, and people have been lied to, to think that there is a shortage of resources.
But more trees grow, more food grows, more animals are born and hatched, there's always more. And there is also no shortage of the creativity God put into Mankind, to take what God has made and use it to make all kinds of other things for our usefulness and pleasure.
So when we know God, learn Who He is, His character and personality; and we study His Word to learn His ways and follow them--then He will see to it that we can avail ourselves of all the abundance He built into this Earth for us.
Jesus came and showed us how to live our lives, then He died as our personal Sacrifice as the Lamb of God to atone for all our wrong choices, cleanse us of all the corruption and spoilage in our souls, send His Spirit to live in our spirit to make it alive, so that we will have His strength to follow His ways and experience all the abundance He wants for us right here.
Then to enjoy His very Presence forever, as He brings us to His home, in the New Heaven and New Earth, to live with Him and reign with Him.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
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