Made, Full of Grace (part 2)

“You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. ² You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. ³ You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. ⁴ Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. ⁵ You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. ⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? ⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. ⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, ¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. ¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” ¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” Psalm 139:1-12 NIV

Dear Heavenly Father – help me to share what you are saying. Please be glorified in this. Please open the ears, eyes and understanding of everyone reading this and speak to them what you need them to hear. In the name of Jesus I pray – Amen.

Let’s continue where we left off yesterday. (If you missed yesterday’s post please go back and read it.)

We were reading Psalm 139:13-18 about how God made us with a purpose and equipped us for our lives – above I have shared the first portion and I hope you read it carefully.

God is saying: He hears you. He loves you. He knows. He has a plan. All of this because the purpose of your existence is to have a relationship with Him – He loves you and wants to be close to you.

As you can see in this Psalm – God does not only know us on a molecular level of how He created us. And He does not only know us based on plans and expectations.  He knows who we have become and who we are today.  He knows all that we have been through and how we have reacted. He knows us so well, He knows how we are going to behave tomorrow. Like I shares in my post about God saying “no”. He gave me a confirmation that He was saying no the day before I was even presented with the situation. God has gone before me and was preparing me.  He knows everything.

When we start to understand this, even though we cannot fully understand it, we usually have 3 responses:
1. This is all so much!!! So hard to understand how He knows me better than I know myself.
2. There are hurts and pain buried there that I never want to see or deal with – things I want hidden from myself.
3. Wait, he knows all these deep dark fleshly issues, sins and sin struggles that I do not want to acknowledge, deal with, and I definitely do not what anyone knowing. (If those things are current, or past or even future plans.)

In the book of Romans, chapter 6, Paul reminds us that there is no condemnation! None! So, do not beat yourself up over those hidden things, instead repent from them (asking forgiveness and asking Him to help you change your ways).  By the way, if you do not – He will expose them in order to get you back to where you need to be.  God will expose them because He loves you enough to correct you. He will expose you because you will let those things separate you from the love of God (they will not actually separate you – but you will try). You will try to hide your evil as Adam and Eve did in the Garden in the book of Genesis. And as we read above, starting at verse 7, no matter where we try to hide – God is there and he is shining His light.

I am strong headed (strong willed) so I used to argue with God and fight with Him. And I would lose. The fact that I knew I was going to lose didn’t matter, I had a spirit of contentiousness and was argumentative.  I felt it was part of the process.  A dear sister said to me: stop, you are wasting God’s time and your own time. Learn to just obey.

God knows all of our everything – repent of those evils. If not He will expose you and, yes, that might mean some public embarrassment.  You have been warned – you can avoid the public shame and handle it privately with God, now.  Just obey.

Once you have asked for forgiveness and help in those areas – God said, that is it. That is all you have to do. And he has forgiven you. And if it is something that takes a little struggle to overcome, well, His grace is sufficient and he always make a way out for us. And He stands with us ready to forgive again as long as we are trying not to sin and He is ready to wash us clean again. This is grace. This is love.

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” Galatians 5:1 KJV

You are free – inside, in Spirit and in truth – you are free!!!! Stay that way!

As I said in the Fire and Grace post – we are called to be the sacrifice.  Build the metaphorical altar and lay down your will, your desires, your hopes, your dreams, your sins, you possessions, and everything.  We are created for such a time as this. We are called to a deeper and more blessed walk with God than others. And through us others shall be reached.

If there is any remnant of pain, anything we have hid from ourselves – lay it on the altar. Again God’s wisdom is not our wisdom. With human wisdom, I say ‘this thing is ugly and hurtful and has no value, let me bury it.’ God’s wisdom is ‘this thing is hurtful, it must be valuable to have cause so much pain. Sacrifice it to me as a valuable gift to me.’  He is right, it would not have pain, if it was not valuable. 

“For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2 NIV

Now is the time – almost a year ago, God kept giving me verse after verse after verse about time.  All year God continues to speak to me about time. Each time verse says the time is now, today is the day, the time is neigh – all of them urgent messages. Because it is true. Today is the day.

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, ² to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.” Isaiah 61:1-3 NIV

Whoo! There is so much in there I could not help but share it all.  But let’s focus on the ‘beauty for ashes’ part. We need to understand the Old Testament sacrifices and that burnt offerings cause a great deal of ashes.  Ash is dead – it won’t mix in with soil for planting without making the soil partly dead and nitrates and nutrients have been burnt out of it. What does one do with this grey, dirty, sooty, dead carbon ash that remains after a burnt offering? Hide it behind the temple? Ship it off and hide it on an uninhabited hill?
We are to take that hidden pain and offer it to God as a burnt offering – Let the consuming fire of God work on it and when left with ashes – God promises beautiful crowns!  God’s loving promises are such precious grace!

The consuming fire – the baptism of fire – didn’t we just study this?! God is tieing this all together.  But it goes back to a few posts before that, even.  It goes back to really getting to know God. To keeping our eyes focused on Jesus.

God told me to share these bible studies. It is good for me to do them, it is good for you to read them.  But this cannot be your only Bible reading for the day. You must spend your own time in the word.  The Bible says Jesus is the word – so if He is these letter strung together on the pages of the Bible, then that is where you should be!! It must be a priority. I cannot do it for you. You must spend time with Jesus listening to what the Bible has to say!  Fall in love with the word of God which is falling in love with Jesus!

You must also talk to him. How is your worship life – yes, spend daily time in praise, worship and thanksgiving because the Bible says to. Because God is worthy of it.
And how is your prayer life?? Do you have not because you ask not? Are you praying for the world leaders as the Bible instructs?  If you like it or not – now is the time and there is no room for part-time Christians. Look at the signs, look at the state of this world. Pick a team. (God wants you on His team.)

One final thought – “read more, pray more – worry less”

This is a great truth.  But let me NOT encourage you to pray out of fear but to pray out of faith. And when you are afraid, ask God to take away the fear, show you the Bible verse which has the promise and stand fast on it in prayer!  God loves us so much, we need to trust Him more than ever.  Be encouraged.

Be blessed, amazing readers who God created.  **If you want to have a relationship with Jesus, then please know that I have put the “A, B, C’s of Salvation” in my introduction. Please click here to follow the link.**

The entire Psalm 139 is below for your reading pleasure.

Thank you for reading ~ Grace be with you
Be healthy and blessed ~ Love one another
~ Watch and Pray ~
Seek God & keep your eyes on Jesus!

Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!

Psalm 139 NIV

You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.

⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

¹³ For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.

¹⁹ If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
    Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
²⁰ They speak of you with evil intent;
    your adversaries misuse your name.
²¹ Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
    and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
²² I have nothing but hatred for them;
    I count them my enemies.
²³ Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

Made, full of Grace (part 1)

“¹³ For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. ¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. ¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. ¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! ¹⁸ Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand – when I awake, I am still with you.” Psalm 139:13-18 NIV

Dear Heavenly Father – help me to share what you are saying. There are so many fragments of things you are showing me and help me share the word you have. Please be glorified in this. Please open the ears, eyes and understanding of everyone reading this and speak to them what you need to say. In the name of Jesus I pray – Amen.

First of all, I would like to remind my readers that these are my bible studies – I read and study for me. God told me to share them, and although I write these as if speaking to you, God leads me to studies that I need to do for my own growth and walk. God told me He was going to use these to bless others – so I always pray for anyone who reads this, if you like a post or comment I pray more for you because you have made me aware of you – and if you follow me I pray even more for you since this blog shows me my followers daily. 
As many of you know, this technology is new to me and took me quite a while to figure out how to open the comments with me moderating them to avoid spam. 
Also I think you should know this blog usually publishes a couple days behind when I write it. So I am writing this one on Saturday the 27th and it will be published on Monday.  Usually I write in such a way that it doesn’t feel confusing.  Today is different.  Today you need to know it is Saturday. And last night I received the first comment that was not spam.
I was so excited and almost replied instantly – but I was interrupted and life happened and I was not able to prayerfully reply last night.  (But I prayed about it and what to say.) Today, now, it is time to do my study and I feel God changing everything about how I do this. He has given me so much to say and not as much to study. So this post is my reply to yesterday’s comment on the post “God’s No & God’s Grace”. 

So, precious child of God – He says He sees you, He hears your prayers, He made you for this and He has a plan.  Through Him you are exactly who He made you to be, and covered in grace you can handle and manage all that you have been through along with all that is coming. He says He Loves you. You are blessed.

This message is for all the readers of this blog as well – He made us and has a plan.  The portion of Psalm 139 above is so critical for us to understand. So even though I have posted parts of this before and even though I speak about it all the time – We are doing it again at God’s prompting as we MUST fully understand.  We as humans always say to God we want to know His plans and here is a huge part of His plan that we often forget. The part of His plan that explains why we are here and going through this life. The part of His plan that reminds us that we are equipped, because we are designed and created for this. 

So let’s start at the beginning – in Genesis, in the beginning God created, because in the beginning was God; and John 1 explains that the word was with God and the Word was Jesus.  Before anything else existed, our Father, His Son and the Holy Spirit all existed.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8 NIV

“²⁰ he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” Ephesians 1:20-21 NIV

So we see that God was and always is – He lives outside of time and space.  Even in 1 Kings 8:27 shows God cannot be contain by a space as small as Heaven, He is bigger than all things. And our human minds can’t grasp this and understand it – it is even too much for us to fully understand (Psalms 139:6). I pray God reveals this to you in as much as you have the capacity understand.

So back to the passage in Psalms above. God made each of us, intentionally and with a purpose.  He traveled throughout time looking for the exact DNA, the exact situation, the exact period of time – to form you.  He made a perfect plan and then He looked into your future to see what effects sin and the devils dominion would have because of the free will He gave to people.  He knew who would be abused and who would suffer injustices and suffer at the hands of evil – THIS WAS NOT THE PLAN OF OUR MOST LOVING GOD.  However, your existence was so important to Him, that He formed you anyway. He made you out of love and a desire to have a relationship with you.  He made you to be his special child. And – Yes, He formed you knowing His plan would be compromised.  So in His abundant love, He poured out Grace by measure – giving us each an abundance of grace upon grace to have His sufficiency to overcome the evils of this world.  He could not just say – I will not make this one because this one’s sufferings will be great- no. You are way to important, you must exist – you are way to loved, you must exist – the sorrow would be more devastating than your suffering, if you did not exist – and His plan for you is so much more important – You must be here. And be here for such a time as this (Esther 4:14).

“For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2 NIV

God says to each of you reading this, and is reminding me, He loves us SO MUCH. His grace is sufficient for our situations. God’s wisdom and ways are not the wisdom and ways of the world, therefore believe regardless of what you see – NOW IS THE TIME OF GOD’S FAVOR.

It is critical that we understand this part of God’s plan for us. The days are getting more evil – our situations will become more troublesome.  But we are here because we can handle it. And if we keep this lesson inside of us we can overcome in the spirit – that regardless of our life or death, we are children of the Most High God and HE conceived us and we are ETERNALLY in his hands.  

2 Corinthians 6:1 warns not to receive His grace in vain – as God embraces us, embrace Him back.

I have so much more to say. I have hit the word limit so let’s continue tomorrow.

Be blessed, amazing readers who God created.  **If you want to have a relationship with Jesus, then please know that I have put the “A, B, C’s of Salvation” in my introduction. Please click here to follow the link.**

The entire Psalm 139 is below for  your reading pleasure.

Thank you for reading ~ Grace be with you
Be healthy and blessed ~ Love one another
~ Watch and Pray ~
Seek God & keep your eyes on Jesus!

Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!

Psalm 139 NIV

You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.

⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

¹³ For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.

¹⁹ If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
    Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
²⁰ They speak of you with evil intent;
    your adversaries misuse your name.
²¹ Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
    and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
²² I have nothing but hatred for them;
    I count them my enemies.
²³ Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

Fire and Grace

“John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Luke 3:16 ESV

Dear Lord – ignite your fires, please! As we worship you in study of your word – please reveal to us your fire. – Amen

John the Baptist baptized in water for repentance. The idea is we let our old person die and be buried with Christ and come up out of the water, sharing in Christ redemptive work of the cross and resurrection. What a powerful symbol and act to participate in. And more amazing is that John was doing it BEFORE the death and resurrection of our Lord! Wow!

But John says Jesus is coming next. This same Jesus Christ that we today worship. This Jesus will baptize in the Holy Spirit and with fire. John’s baptism is in water – submerged in water.  The baptism of the Holy Spirit is us being submerged in the Holy Spirit – from the inside to overflowing, poured into us. (more detail in my post 2 days ago and in my post on Pentecost Sunday)
In silly ponderings – if submission is baptism, then were Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego the first to be baptized in fire???  Will we have to be thrown into the fiery furnace?  I suppose we should learn what this “fire” is. The time is now, today is the day of salvation. Because as we shall see – FIRE is for today! Fire is for such a time as this.

“²⁵ See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? ²⁶ At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” ²⁷ The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸ Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, ²⁹ for our “God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:29 ESV

God is the consuming fire – therefore it stands to reason that baptism in fire is being fulling submersed in God. If you notice the rest of the passage, and many passages about fire have reference to a time such as this, when the world needs a shaking. A big revival / awakening is on our horizon and a good shaking.  Plant your feet firm and do not be shook – because we are inheriting a kingdom that cannot be shaken!   

“⁴⁹ “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! ⁵¹ Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. ⁵² For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” ⁵⁴ He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. ⁵⁵ And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. ⁵⁶ You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?” Luke 12:49-56 ESV

Some are already kindled with the fire, as we see here. There is a baptism to be baptized with, is said immediately after He says He came to cast fire – is He referring to the baptism in fire?  The passage here in Luke then goes on to speak of a time of great division – maybe like the spirit of division that has spread over the earth recently? Maybe. As the passage concludes with understanding the times.  We look at events from the perspective of the United States of America (the most deceived nation) and we probably will miss the signs of the time. When aware of the global climate – woe to this world.  We need this fire! This submersion into God.

“And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.” Acts 2:3 ESV

On the day of Pentecost, after Jesus was caught away into the sky, the disciples were baptized with the Holy Spirit, as can be read about in Acts chapter 2.  I have been baptized in the Holy Spirit (you can too – and if you aren’t just pray and ask for it).  But when it happened to me, there was no divided tongue as of fire resting on me.  I dare to say, maybe it is a separate thing??  It is time for the sound of rushing mighty wind. It is the time for fire.

Maybe we need to look deeper – this fire and submersion into God.

“Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” Jeremiah 23:29 ESV

Here is Jeremiah – “My Word” is “Like Fire”.  What is the word? The Word is Jesus (John 1). The Word is a sword (Hebrews 12). The Word is creation (Genesis 1). The Word is also the fire! THEREFORE: Jesus is the word, and the sword and creation, and FIRE!!! 
Have I not been saying seek God! Seek Jesus! Focus on Jesus and keep our eyes on Jesus – all this focus is leading us to the FIRE!!! Stay with me, I know it is abstract. We aren’t being literally tossed into some furnace – we are going to a deeper place in Christ.

“There is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.” Jeremiah 20:9b

MMmmMmMM – I feel that fire kindled inside me – it is ignited, it is burning, and how long until I am weary of holding it in??? Whoo-hoo!!! It’s the fire of the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ all submerged in God! I am burning away – becoming new!

Wake up! Catch this!  Good things are coming and now is the time – today is the day of salvation!!

“Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.” 1 Kings 18:38 ESV

Our Lord is an all-consuming fire and we are the sacrifice, sharing in the sacrifice of Christ Jesus, for the redemption of this world! Baptism in water is sharing in the death and resurrection, baptism in fire is also a symbol of the cross – but that of the sacrifice. Not the Romans 6 death to self – but the Revelations 12 kind of “love not your life, even unto death” kind of sacrifice.

“And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” Revelations 12:11 ESV

What does it profit us to have this life anyway, if not to be used by God? His grace is sufficient. Time to live by grace – Time to walk in the spirit – walk in truth – walk in newness of life.

This relationship with God is not a joke – this is real. God is real. And the things that are about to happen will transform you and bless you if you let it.

**If you want to have a relationship with Jesus, then please know that I have put the “A, B, C’s of Salvation” in my introduction. Please click here to follow the link.**

Thank you for reading ~ Grace be with you
Be healthy and blessed ~ Love one another
~ Watch and Pray ~
Seek God & keep your eyes on Jesus!

Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!

God’s No & God’s Grace

“Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” Daniel 3:16-18 NIV

Do you know the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego? 
If not, let me summarize: these 3 Jewish teens were owned by King Neb’s government. King Neb had a statue build and told everyone to worship it. These 3 did not, because it was against their beliefs. King Neb said: worship the stupid statue or I will throw you in the fire. King Neb never thought these kids would say no when threatened with death. These kids not only said no – but then they said God can rescue them!!! But even if God doesn’t rescue them, they would rather die in the fire than betray their God.
So the kids won’t worship the idol and the King is so mad he heated the fire 7 times hotter (not sure what it was hotter than and what the fire was actually for) and had his men throw in the kids. The fire was so hot, the heat around the furnace burnt and killed the men who threw in the kids – but the kids were not harmed. God saved them from the fire!

God is so loving and kind to His faithful, that He can save them from the fire!! Amen!!

I have heard many a sermon on this passage: like being saved from the fire being a parallel to being saved from hell and all the great and powerful ways God has shown Himself God.  Last night my pastor preached on it – speaking of the power of God.

God is capable of moving the mountain. God is capable of parting the sea. God can speak a word and fix all our problems and concerns and take away the pain. But what if He says no?

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego said that God IS ABLE to deliver them, but even if he does not, they will not worship the image. Even if He does not. Even if He does not!

I pray and say mountain be moved, but what if He doesn’t let the mountain move? I pray: part the waters and make a way for me, and what if He says: no? I proclaim to the unsaved, my God IS CAPABLE – and then He says no, what then?

Paul pleaded with the Lord to have the thorn in his flesh removed. (Side note: many have speculated what this thorn was – to me what the thorn was doesn’t matter. The lesson Paul is preaching is what matters – stay focused.)

“Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:7b-10 NIV    

OOOOooooo glory to God!!!! We are back to that precious grace! 
God did not spare Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from having to go into the fire or from the hands of King Neb – nope. King Neb had his evil way with them… right into the fire!  And God showed up and hung out with them in the fire! And God saved them from the fire!!! There is the grace!!!
But if God did not show up and the fire consumed them???? They would be in heaven!!! Oh the grace!!! This is the sufficiency of grace!!!  I am not facing anything life or death at the moment – praise the Lord! But God can overcome my problems! Will He? Will I end up in a theoretically worse situation (symbolically represented by fire)?  Well, then the grace of God shall be with me! Amen?!

Paul implies that these “no” answers are character builders.  Help to weaken us. What?? I thought God was making strong Christians?! Ah but Paul must have been a very strong willed man and always talking about the struggle with the flesh. Weak: not as in lack of physical strength, not as in lack of mental strength – not weak in your prayer life – not weak in your commitment to reading the Bible – not weak emotionally – oh no!!!!  The weak he is talking about is our WILL must be weakened.  We should be weak in the way that God’s will can be accomplished in a way that shows God’s power and glory given to him.

When God says no – how do you know?  The answers to prayer are yes, yes but later, and no.  Just because you did not get an immediate yes does NOT mean He said no.  Maybe He wants you to pray longer? To persevere and be persistent.  Maybe that persistence will be used to build a prayer life?! A Holy Spirit filled prayer life that regularly moved metaphorical mountains and is able to move literal ones. So when you do not have a yes – KEEP PRAYING!!!

Today I was praying, praying, and praying over a work situation. At the end of the day I found an item that God had used as a confirmation that He had given me this job. As I held that item I felt peace – God gave me this job and He will work it out the way I want.  I praised the Lord – I affirmed He is always in control and not my will but His will be done and then I left for the day. I got inside my car and turned on the Christian radio and a song came on… I have never heard the song before – but it reiterated pastor’s sermon and what if God did not spare Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. And as I listened to the song – I knew God said no.  I am not getting my way in this work situation and what I consider a bad situation will get slightly worse. I got home and my friend shared a video with me of a pastor preaching and he also spoke of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So when God says “no” he confirms it. You know that you know that you know.  I will be honest, I will still pray over this situation – instead of saying God, I want it this way, now I will rest in his grace and let Him do it his way.  And know that even if I end up in the symbolic fire – He will be there with me, His grace is sufficient, and when I am weak (my fleshly will submitted) He will prove Himself strong and be glorified!

Pray for me! I have always been such a strong willed person. I need to be strong willed about my commitment to God and not my desired outcomes at work! Pray for me – this thorn in my flesh is here to build character – pray I learn this lesson quickly.

And even though He said no – I praise Him. I trust Him. I worship Him.  I thank Him for the Grace and I thank Him for His plan (even if I cannot see it yet).  I still love Him, I still serve Him. I do not need a ‘yes’ – all I need is Jesus.

My relationship with Him is all I need.

**If you want to have a relationship with Jesus, then please know that I have put the “A, B, C’s of Salvation” in my introduction. Please click here to follow the link.**

If you would like to read the whole of the Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego story – it is below.

Thank you for reading ~ Grace be with you
Be healthy and blessed ~ Love one another
~ Watch and Pray ~
Seek God & keep your eyes on Jesus!

Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!

⁸ At this time some astrologers came forward and denounced the Jews. ⁹ They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “May the king live forever! ¹⁰ Your Majesty has issued a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music must fall down and worship the image of gold, ¹¹ and that whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a blazing furnace. ¹² But there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—who pay no attention to you, Your Majesty. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up.”
¹³ Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, ¹⁴ and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? ¹⁵ Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”
¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
¹⁹ Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual ²⁰ and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. ²¹ So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. ²² The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, ²³ and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.
²⁴ Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”
They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”
²⁵ He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
²⁶ Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”
So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, ²⁷ and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.
²⁸ Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. ²⁹ Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.”
³⁰ Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon.”

Daniel 3:8-30 NIV

Holy Spirit

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”  John 16:12-15 ESV

The Holy Spirit is truth.
The Holy Spirit is moving.

As I have declared – today is the day, and the time is now. We are here for such a time as this. It’s time for the Holy Spirit to come like a wave over the land, come on the sound like the rushing mighty wind, come with cloven tongues like fire – Oh come, Holy Spirit, Come!!!

For weeks now the Holy Spirit seems to be the center of my conversation. He seems to be the center of conversations coming at me as well. For weeks I have struggled to pray (as I just do not know how to pray for so many things – but the Spirit knows how to pray) so I pray in the Spirit.

The Spirit of the Lord is on the move. This is important. It is important to understand who the Spirit is and what He does and how we should participate (for lack of a better word).

Who is the Holy Spirit and what does He do?

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” John 14:26 ESV

The Holy Spirit is a helper and teacher – He can even cause your memory to work better.  So for those of you who have told me you cannot memorize the Bible, you can. The Holy Spirit will happily school you.

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” Romans 8:26 ESV

The Holy Spirit is a helper for weakness. How many times are we weak? An issue at work gets us spinning? News and media wear us down? Trials and troubles seem too big?  He helps us when we are weak.

The Holy Spirit is an intercessor. There are a few things in my life that I am praying about. I have prayed every verse I could find. I have prayed practically the whole Bible!  I have prayed with my own insight. I have prayed with guidance from God and friends.  I finally gave up and said, ‘ok God, I do not know what to pray for as I ought – time to pray in the Spirit.’ And the Spirit himself intercedes for us!!

“And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.” Isaiah 11:2 ESV

Jesus provided the Holy Spirit to everyone who believes – but before Jesus only a select few (very few) had the Spirit.  Here in Isaiah we see one of those occurrences, along with a description of the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is wisdom – and through Him and him teaching us we can access it.
The Holy Spirit is understanding – and through Him we can also understand.
The Holy Spirit is a counsellor – and we can be provided counsel, guidance and assistance.
The Holy Spirit is might – and through Him we obtain power and boldness.
The Holy Spirit is knowledge – through Him we can learn mysteries and truths.
The Holy Spirit is the fear of the Lord – through Him God is reveal to us in new, deeper, more meaningful ways – and as we learn about our holy, mighty and amazing Father God, we will develop a respect for Him. (The same way you respect fire – and fear it)

Woo-Hoo! The Holy Spirit is pretty important and pretty great as well!

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8 ESV

The Holy Spirit is power. Wonder working power! The power with authority to do the works of peaching, witnessing, testifying, healing, and casting out demons.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 3:17 ESV

The Holy Spirit is freedom. Freedom is a thing those of us in the United States stereotypically take for granted and confuse for eagles.  I am not stereotypical. There is the free world, and there is the oppressed world. I am not so naïve not to notice how the meaning of the word freedom is globally changing – “for the greater good”. And we are all losing our freedoms – some in great numbers and some losing their freedom in small almost unnoticeable amounts. But the freedom found in the Spirit is real freedom. The kind of freedom which kept Paul free even when he was thrown in prison and bound by chains.  The bibles says to stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherein Christ has made you free.  Liberty and freedom from sin, from bondage, from the cares of this world, etc.

How do we participate?

“And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38 ESV

The Holy Spirit is a free gift to all who believe. And as we saw in Acts chapter 2 (my post on Pentecost Sunday), we can be baptized with the Holy Spirit with evidence of speaking in tongues and boldness. All we have to do is believe and ask.

“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:13 ESV

The Holy Spirit is a free gift.  I figure I ought to repeat myself since the Bible repeats it a few times. All we have to do is believe God and ask Him to fill us with the Holy Spirit.

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own” 1 Corinthians 6:19 ESV

The Holy Spirit fills.  In Old Testament times the spirit was upon a person or in the temple – now since Christ became flesh and did an amazing work of grace on the cross for us – now, the Holy Spirit can fill us! Be inside us!

”God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:24 ESV

And with building upon yesterday’s post we can worship in spirit all the better when we are filled with spirit – just saying.
And we can build upon three days before – keeping ourselves focused on God. Well if God is spirit, it is so much easier to do if you are filled with Spirit and seeing with the Spirit. Just saying.
And to build upon previous posts – walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16) is easier to do when you are filled with the Spirit. Just saying.

“Do this, knowing that this is a critical time. It is already the hour for you to awaken from your sleep [of spiritual complacency]; for our salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed [in Christ].” Romans 13:11 AMP

So repent and be saved – if you are already saved, then wake up! And if you think you are awake – shake yourself!!! Make sure! You do not want to miss out on the Spirit pouring over the world. Wake up – ask for a refilling. Be filled again daily! Keep your eyes on Jesus.

Great and wonderful things are coming. Get ready.

**If you want to have a relationship with Jesus, then please know that I have put the “A, B, C’s of Salvation” in my introduction. Please click here to follow the link.**

~Thank you for reading ~ Grace be with you ~
~Be healthy and blessed ~ Love one another ~
~ Watch and Pray ~ Seek God & keep your eyes on Jesus!

Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!

Worship

“1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”  Psalms 100:1-5 NIV

Worship – that is what is on my mind today.  God is telling us (more so in this day and age) to keep our eyes on Him. Seek God first. Look up – keep focused on Jesus.  About the same time I started saying it, so did many others.  It’s an urgent command for those of us who know the Lord (as for those of you who do not know Him, this is a great place to start – seek Him). 

While trying to stay focused and thinking on the Lord, I find myself getting lost in worship.  Not as much as I would like, but I still have a day Job and a son who require some of my attention.  Staying focused on God does not mean ignoring our earthly commitments, especially those of family and friends.  And definitely not in replacement to sharing the gospel. Yes, it is possible to do it all – but only in Him and according to His will.

And starting from a place of worship is a great way to know the will of our Father.

” 23 Sing to the LORD, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day. 24 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. 25 For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods.  26 For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.  27 Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his dwelling place. 28 Ascribe to the LORD, all you families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. 29 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him. Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness. 30 Tremble before him, all the earth! The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved. 31 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!” 1 Chronicles 16:23-31 NIV

I cannot help but notice how many verses and passages that worship God, also declare what He has done.  Basically our testimony.  We are commanded to share our testimony and one time while talking about testimonies with a friend – she talked about writing out her testimony.  At the time I thought of it as a fun idea. I haven’t yet though – because the list of my sins that I was saved from is LONG and the list of what God has done is SO MUCH LONGER.  I think it would be more words than I put into this Blog. 

But our testimony is a critical tool.  We must understand it.

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” Revelation 12:11 NKJV

Our testimony – what we have experienced God do in our lives is an essential weapon of our warfare if we are to overcome.  
It is also how we reach the lost. I share all the little and big things God is doing in my life and give God the praise, glory and thanks – and soon other want that to!! It’s true.
But here is something about testifying that you may not have thought of – It is a means of worship!

We praise you, God, we praise you, for your Name is near; people tell of your wonderful deeds. Psalm 75:1 NIV (Psalm of Asaph)

We worship God in testimony. Testifying what he has done is a form of worship!!!  This is very important. Do not let all the little things He has done happen without sharing and praising Him.  It is the beautiful worship of sweet incents, spirit and truth.  It is the core of gratefulness.  It is a proper response to His grace, blessings and goodness.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:1-2 NIV

Worship transforms our minds. Worship changes us. When we have a struggle we cannot overcome – worship Him. 

“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.  You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.  Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.  God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:21-24 NIV

So, as we fix our eyes upon Jesus – keep focused – all the glory of God and His goodness will cause worship. And if you are not feeling compelled to worship, that is ok – worship anyway. Let Him change you.  Worship Him with your testimony and thanks giving.

“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:28-29 NIV

Lord, consume us – help us to worship you and brag on your goodness. Amen

**If you want to have a relationship with Jesus, then please know that I have put the “A, B, C’s of Salvation” in my introduction. Please click here to follow the link.**

~Thank you for reading ~ Grace be with you ~
~Be healthy and blessed ~ Love one another ~
~ Watch and Pray ~ Seek God & keep your eyes on Jesus!

Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!

Lessons from David

“But what have I done?” asked David. “What have you found against your servant from the day I came to you until now?” 1 Samuel 29:8 NIV

I have been reading the life of David. (1 Samuel chapter 16 into 2 Samuel, and I don’t know yet where it ends as I am still reading it.) Poor David seems to keep asking this question – first to Saul, when Saul wants to kill him for no obvious reason (in David’s mind). And then in this verse, he asks Achish (who was protecting him from Saul). 

Hey David – maybe it isn’t all about you! Did you think of that?! (oh but when we read Psalms, we see that he did!)

This really hit a chord with me, as I struggle at work with a Boss who treats me differently than she treats the others on my team. She micromanages me and always seems to try to catch me at something. Yet, there is nothing. Last week, she told me NOT to do my job so well. Well, cutting corners will only get me in trouble, I am sure. She finally set a deadline of last Friday, I was unable to reach – first time I missed a deadline.  I cried. Today was my weekly meeting with her. I was sure I was going to be hung. Oh wait – let me get back to where I was starting.

David’s life.  David was considered a ‘Man after the Lord Heart’.  He was also a mess of human emotions and other issues. He is definitely one of the more relatable people in the Bible, at least to me. He struggles with sin and flaws and shortsightedness – yes He truly tries and he loves the Lord – so God blesses him. 

In 1 Samuel 29 – David is trying to go to war with his new Philistine protector and the other Philistines do not want him to come.  When he is told to go back ‘home’ – David internalized it and thought it was because of himself. David failed to understand the bigger picture.

“⁶ So Achish called David and said to him, “As surely as the Lord lives, you have been reliable, and I would be pleased to have you serve with me in the army. From the day you came to me until today, I have found no fault in you, but the rulers don’t approve of you. ⁷ Now turn back and go in peace; do nothing to displease the Philistine rulers.”
⁸ “But what have I done?” asked David. “What have you found against your servant from the day I came to you until now? Why can’t I go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”
⁹ Achish answered, “I know that you have been as pleasing in my eyes as an angel of God; nevertheless, the Philistine commanders have said, ‘He must not go up with us into battle.’ ¹⁰ Now get up early, along with your master’s servants who have come with you, and leave in the morning as soon as it is light.”
¹¹ So David and his men got up early in the morning to go back to the land of the Philistines, and the Philistines went up to Jezreel.” 1 Samuel 29:6-11 NIV

David went back home and I am quite sure his spirit felt defeated. At least that is how I feel when my Boss takes a project away from me and gives it to my co-worker. I too fail to see the big picture. BUT LOOK WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!  When he gets home (in the next chapter) his town was raided! His family and all his possessions (and the possessions of all of his men with their families) were taken away! 

Ya see, David thought He was missing out on the plan – but God’s plan was for him to go save his family!! And that is exactly what David and his men did. When feeling personally attacked – it is difficult to see beyond it. 

You have read my posts, haven’t you? You know I believe God has a plan over this world – God has a pandemic plan and a racial tension plan and a plan for everything. Keeping peace in the midst of that storm is a breeze for me (but I do not perceive those things as attacking me personally – I can see Gods bigger plan).  I have seen it all rise up against me and come close – but it cannot touch me! I know and believe.  Yet, here is this relatively little work issue that has me in a spin. Doesn’t God have that under control as well? Hasn’t it threatened, but been kept at bay just like Saul chasing David and God kept Saul at bay?! Isn’t God’s plan always better than our own???

Quickly, let’s review who David is – he is the kid who killed the Philistine giant (Goliath). He was a king of Israel. He was the guy who wrote most of the book of Psalms in the Bible.  He was a warrior, a shepherd, a musician, the king, and so much more.

I love the Psalms – so much insight into God and so much worship and love for God. Here is this man, who most of the time cannot see beyond himself, yet he can see God.  David sinned, struggled with his own will, lust, and other fleshly desires – he failed. But God also succeeded through him.  David could see that the battle belong to the Lord and trusted God in these life or death battles – yet struggled with the smaller things.  I can relate in so many ways. 

I am human – maybe not as blessed and amazing as David, but just as much of a messy life. My heart loves the Lord I love to worship Him and I trust Him with it all. Yet little things spin me, as David. I find my lack of self-control (over my mouth, over my racing mind when I feel attacked, over so many things that are self) to be so similar to David. So many of his Psalms start with asking for forgiveness and help – same. Same.

I saw a post on my church social media platform today that said self-control is a fruit of the spirit. (We know this – I even did a post on it.)  But the pastor wrote, specifically in relation to self-control – that it takes time to grow the fruits to maturity. It took David quite a while – it seems to be taking me a while. Trust the process – believe the promise.  The fruits just have to grow in us. Eventually we will have mature fruit.

In the meanwhile, I think we should recall one of my favorite verses –    

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” Romans 8:1 NIV

Do not be condemned – take it to the Lord. Ask forgiveness, talk it out with Him the way David did in the Psalms.  Focus on God – give Him worship because He is worthy. Even when things seem to be a struggle, even when we do not understand, even when our own will gets in our way and we thinks we’ve been derailed (but God is sending us home to do another work (as we learned today, about David).

I pray we become people after God’s heart – chase God down just to give Him some love. Amen?!

**If you want to have a relationship with Jesus, then please know that I have put the “A, B, C’s of Salvation” in my introduction. Please click here to follow the link.**

~Thank you for reading ~ Grace be with you ~
~Be healthy and blessed ~ Love one another ~
~ Watch and Pray ~ Seek God & keep your eyes on Jesus!

Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!

Father and Fathers

“The LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him.” Psalms 103:13 NLT

I wasn’t going to make a Father’s Day post.  Father’s Day is such a difficult and complicated day. There is a crisis of fatherless children in our nation – or children with fathers who are not readily available to them. I won’t even get into the statistics of Fathers emotionally, physical and otherwise abusing their children- but some of the ones who have a father in their house are not doing much better.

I tried to look up the statistics for you and to my surprise the most recent is using 2017’s data. 1 in 4 children live in a home without their father. Here is the National Fatherhood Initiative’s information:

The last fight I had with my absent father is now a blur – it has been too many years. He was a weekend Dad and after that, when I grew up, He was the Dad who expected me to make all the contact, show up at the socially obligated moments in life, say the socially appropriate things, and exit in a timely manner.  I do recall that our fight started because I was heartbroken, literally minutes after being dumped.  He said my response to the breakup was way too emotional. I suggested we talk later then. He just criticized me in response to my suggestion and this is where it gets blurry.  I was already heart broken – I recall acquiescing to just end the conversation and maybe prevent further hurt – yep, I just agreed with all of his criticism. We haven’t spoken (except once) since.  All of me wanted to say to him: “be it nature or nurture; it’s all your fault.”  But at the time I didn’t want to burn that bridge. Little did I know, it was on fire – already. 

I spoke to him at my grandfather’s funeral.  He expected me to apologize. I had no idea for what but I did say I was sorry – I was willing to try to rebuild the bridge.  He asked me “for what” and that is when he was mad all over again.  He told me to contact him – but refused to give me any contact information. To this day, I do not know where he lives, what his number is or what his email is.

I had heard he bought a house in a county with public records – so I searched the records for the house purchase to get his address and I invited him to at least be part of my son’s life.  My son had asked for him to come to his graduation. Instead my father sent $100. My son deposited it and sent a thank you card to the same address. It came back as “return to sender”. I son then sent the money back and it also came back. (Well, duh! But my boy was living out his frustrations.)  Last I knew my son still has those envelopes.  Last I heard, my father moved again.

I will not even begin to tell you of the nightmare my step father situation was – but it definitely left a residual of me having issues being near or close to men in general.

And unfortunately I passed along the plight of being fatherless to my son – not intentionally, I did not know my son’s father would leave me and eventually leave my son as well. My son’s father was not from a broken home so statistically there was a better chance of him sticking around. The thing about statistics is that there are always outliers. Sadly.  

So when I came back to the Lord – Everyone was saying things like “He’s a good good father” and “He’s our Daddy”.  I heard the verses about us being adopted.   I thought: What is this “good”? How is a daddy supposed to be?  How do I relate to God this way??  I couldn’t even imagine figuring this out.

If I stay in a position of not relating – then I am not as hurt by my earthly father(s) because I can say – that is just what earthly fathers do and remain ignorant to what a ‘father’ actually is. But then I have a huge hole and lack of understanding of God.

If I explore and seek to understand God as my father and what a father is supposed to be – then my heart breaks more and more for all the failings of my earthly father(s) as I learn what they should have done and been to me.

Either way – I continue to hurt. 

“If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” Matthew 7:11 NIV

If I do not have good gifts from my biological father – how do I begin to understand the fatherly love of God. How will my son understand it?  God gave me examples of good earthly fathers.  Their goodness to their children is a huge help in understanding the roll of a father.  There are men who stepped up and did things with my son – things my son had hoped his own father would have done (like buying the first jock strap for school sports and learning to drive).  God fills in with replacements when needed.  These are good gifts from a heavenly father who is trying to help the fatherless learn about fatherly love.

The attack on men (which has made all this fatherlessness possible) is an obvious attack from the devil – as we become too broken to understand the fatherly love – we are not able to enjoy the fullness of our relationship with God.

We have spent a lot of time in this blog studying and learning about the love of God and God as our father – and I do not want to repeat those posts. 

I want to encourage the fatherless because I understand. The areas in my walk with the Lord that need the most growth and work is with understanding God’s tenderness and compassion.  I am more likely to understand a jealous God, a vengeful God, and a righteous God than I am to understand Him as actually caring about me.   

“The LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him.” Psalms 103:13 NLT

When I am broken hearted, God is broken hearted with me and for me.  When I am rejected, God is there saying He will never reject me. When I was abused, God was nursing my deep emotional wounds and helping me not to respond in a negative self destructive way.

If you want to know Father God in a personal (daddy) kind of way and don’t already, then please click the link below for more information.  If you are a fatherless child who asked Jesus to forgive your sins and are trying to have a relationship with Father God, but your earthly father has left you with a gap in your understanding – then there is GOOD NEWS. God can teach you about His Love – and when the pain and hurt caused by your earthly father surfaces during the process – God is right there with a balm for the wound. 

God never intended for any of us to be fatherless, but He can use it for His glory and our blessings.  He never intended for those earthly men to hurt us, but He can heal those wounds.  God never intended anything to separate us from His love – He will bridge the gap between Himself and us.  All we need to do is ask Him to and to reveal Himself to us. His will.

Continue to keep seeking God – keep your eyes on Jesus. He will continue to reveal Himself to you through grace.

~Thank you for reading ~ Grace be with you ~
~Be healthy and blessed ~ Love one another ~
~ Watch and Pray ~ Seek God & keep your eyes on Jesus!

**If you want to have a relationship with Jesus, then please know that I have put the “A, B, C’s of Salvation” in my introduction. Please click here to follow the link.**

Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!

Grace upon Grace

“For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” John 1:16 ESV

When we know our Jesus and our Father, truly know him – we understand grace in a way that none of my words can ever explain.  It is the heart experience verse knowledge. And no matter how may time we study grace – you will not know until you experience it.  None the less I shall continue with study and prayer that I can share this grace with others, if He opens our eyes and understanding and gives us the experience. Amen

Grace is God’s love – the act of His love – it is undeserved favor, love and blessings.  He gave ever human enough grace and faith by which to be saved and as soon as we are, grace continues and changes us. Where sin abounds, grace MORE abounds. And when we experience the fullness of God – we are blessed with grace upon grace! Get to know Him – keep your eyes on Him!

Mercy is similar, but mercy is NOT getting what we deserve. Sin deserves death – and by mercy we do not receive death when we confess our sins, ask for forgiveness and repent. Grace is the work of the cross – that God sent His only son to die for my sins before I was even born! But is by grace we are redeemed, by grace we are blessed, by grace we enjoy our relationship with God! By grace we can keep our eyes on Him.

John was originally written in Greek. This phrase is best translated as ‘grace upon grace’ although some Bible translations say ‘grace in place of grace’.  I love the passion and poetry of John’s work and can only imagine him having the fullness and experience of grace and just repeating the word as God’s grace overflowed from him: grace upon grace upon grace upon grace upon grace upon grace and upon grace! It is like when we know that we know that we know that we know! Just the overflow of grace!

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. ⁸ He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
⁹ The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. ¹² But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵ (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶ For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.”

John 1:1-18 ESV

John writes the word grace 4 times in the passage.
As we see the passage is a poetic description of Jesus – form the beginning of earth to the end of time. And speaking of time – I could meditate on this passage and write 4 more post about it like the last! But let’s try to keep this down to one post, maybe.

In the beginning was the Word. Jesus is the Word of God. When in Genesis chapter one God said…. God said words. The word. Jesus! It’s a very abstract concept. Especially when in Hebrews 4:12 it says the word of God is sharper than a sword. And Jesus is the word and Jesus is the sword. Jesus is the beginning and Jesus is creation. And the John continues by saying that Jesus is life and Jesus is light.  Are we getting an understanding of who Jesus is? 

In verse 6 – the Apostle John (the writer) writes about another John – this is John the Baptist. John the Baptist was preaching that the messiah was coming – the savior was on His way. It was necessary to include the witness of John the Baptist – to make sure people understood that John the Baptist was NOT the light (you see John the Baptist still had followers even though when this was written, he had passed away).  The Apostle John is also showing how scriptural prophecy was fulfilled pointing to the fact that Christ was indeed the Messiah.

Verses 9-13 explains the reason Jesus came to the world – for the salvation of His People and the Whole world.

Interestingly enough, the people who John was writing to understood that Jesus was a human, some had even seen Him themselves.  John here is trying to explain the part about Christ also being God.  We have never seen Jesus in the flesh and very much worship Him as a spirit.  So, in trying to keep our eyes focused on Jesus: And the word became flesh and dwelt among us!

John the Apostle says “WE” have seen his glory! Glory as the only Son of God!  Full of grace and truth.  And here, right here, all of his revelation of who Jesus is hits overflowing! He is so full of Jesus at this moment. His understanding is so much it is flowing out of Him.
John basically says, hey guys I saw this! I am telling you – Jesus is Lord! And as added witness he again points out that John the Baptist said so too!

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.  (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” John 1:14-18 ESV

And from the fullness of Jesus and a deep revelation flowed graced upon grace upon grace upon grace!! The realization that this awesome loving and all powerful God sent His amazing Son, and mankind has the opportunity to have a relationship with him even though we do not deserves such wondrous things! And to top it all off – Jesus love us. Each.

GRACE! Do you yet see why grace is such a big deal? Why I speak of it daily?!

“Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. “ John 1:17b ESV

Dear Lord Jesus – Today help us to seek you. To learn who you are. To keep our eyes upon you!  Fill us, please, with your fullness that we might experience this grace upon grace, overflowing. Fill us please with your light and let you light rest upon us that we may Lift you up so all men are drawn to you! In your powerful name we pray ~ amen.

~Thank you for reading ~ Grace be with you ~
~Be healthy and blessed ~ Love one another ~
~ Watch and Pray ~ Seek God & keep your eyes on Jesus!

**If you want to have a relationship with Jesus, then please know that I have put the “A, B, C’s of Salvation” in my introduction. Please click here to follow the link.**

Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!

Eyes on Christ (Part 4)

²² Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³ After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, ²⁴ and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
²⁵ Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
²⁹ “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
³² And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³ Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Matthew 14:22-33 NIV

Heavenly Father, please speak to us today. Help us be hearers of the word as well as doers of the word. In Jesus name we pray ~ Amen

There is so much in this passage – so many things to learn and think on. But today our priority is to learn to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Seek Him first. Look past the storms and troubles of this world, look past our fears and anxiety, look past anything trying to distract you, look past even the things that are good gifts from the father – Look at Jesus and don’t be distracted.

Yesterday we discussed the fear the disciples experienced and their inability to recognize Christ. We also addressed verses to help us with our fear and are encouraged to get to know Jesus better – so when He moves over our land we shall recognize Him, even if He is doing a new thing. Today, we should pick up where we left off…
Didn’t I tell you there is A LOT in this passage??? I can do this until Christmas, but let’s see if instead, I finish up today.

There are a few people in the Bible I can really relate to and others who I wish I was more like.  I wish I was more like Elijah, I think I am more like Peter in his early years of following Jesus. Both of them were very zealous and powerful men of God. Elijah did it with grace and maturity and Peter in his early years stumbled all over his own zealousness. I’m sure it was embarrassing for him sometimes.
I wonder if that is why Mark left out the part about Peter walking on water.  Mark was told these things from Peter directly – maybe Peter left it out because he was embarrassed that Jesus said he had little faith when He stepped so far out in faith – so much further than any one the other disciples! None of them wanted to jump overboard in a storm to walk on water. Let’s take a closer look:

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
“Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” Matthew 14:27-31 NIV

In the defense of the other disciples – there was a storm and their adrenaline was high from doing what needed to be done to stay alive, they were getting tired, then they get freaked out and overwhelmed with fear. Their hearts must have been racing, blood pressure must have been high, and they were still processing what was going on. And Peter is jumping over and trying to walk on water too!  I can imagine, he was half way overboard when he asked for permission and already had his feet wet when Jesus responds.

And Jesus – understanding Peter so well – must have shrugged His shoulders and thought: ok, I guess we are doing this now.

Seriously – Jesus was coming out to them because they were already in trouble thinking he would just calm the sea and rescue then and these guys keep doing their own thing!
Do you remember when “any which way” books were popular? You’d read a chapter and at the end of the chapter you could choose what would happen next. If “a” then you’d turn to that chapter (it would tell you what page) and if “b” you would turn to that chapter. Well, the disciples seems to think it was an “any which way” book some times and things did not always seem to go according to Jesus’s plan. But in His grace He let them have these little side adventures.

And here we have Peter walking on water. Many of us know this one well, he looked at Jesus and was able to walk on water and when he was distracted by the storm, he became fearful and started to sink. 
Obvious lessons here:
1. KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS! Not the storm.
2. Fear brings doubt and diminishes faith.

Here we are in the midst of a political storm, a sociological storm, a health care storm, and an economic storm.  Yes our storm is metaphorical, but it is not much different as well grow tired working to do everything we can to stay afloat during these times. we now see and recognize Jesus and He is our savior. And as long as we keep our eyes fixed on him, He will keep us safe.

The Bible says seek ye first, God. We each need to seek him. Seek – we do not have him literally in front of us like Peter did. We must read the Bible, study it, and learn it. We must pray – diligently. We must seek out strong spirit filled leaders. We must seek God in order to keep our eyes fixed on him.

And when we get distracted by the storm and the cares of this world, we let in fear – fear is terribly destructive because if causes doubt and destroys faith.  And so we pray: Lord I believe; help my unbelief.  (Mark 9:24)

And one final note:

“And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.” Matthew 14:32 NIV

In the book of Mark (which is NOT 100% chronological) but earlier in the book than this story – the disciples saw Jesus rebuke the storm so the boat could have easier sailing.

“He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” Mark 4:39-41 NIV

They saw multiple examples of Jesus calming storms yet each time it was like a brand new thing! It makes me feel less bad that God seems to have to repeat himself to me a few times until I start to listen.
But all this does make you wonder – Remember at the beginning of all this, Jesus went away to pray? And he knew the disciples were in trouble?  He could have just calmed the storm from where He was praying and then kept on praying. But that particular day, He said I am going to do a new thing. They need to know me in the new things as well in the way I have taught them.

God can calm the storms we are in the midst of as well.  I do not believe He is going to this time – I think this time we need to look for Him walking in the storm, let Him on our boat and make it calm for just us. We need to keep our eyes on Him. Look past the storms. Stay focused.

Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!

~Grace be with you ~ Love one another ~
~Thank you for reading ~ Be healthy and blessed ~
~ Watch and Pray ~

**If you want to have a relationship with Jesus, then please know that I have put the “A, B, C’s of Salvation” in my introduction. Please click here to follow the link.**