Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,
Sometimes, in this world, girls, we can become wiped out by the circumstances, grief and unrest that may surround us and seem to follow us. We become weary and tired of doing as the British do..." they carry on." Sometimes it can be difficult to put one foot in front of the other. Times like this require the big guns of the word of God. Get your Bible and go to the Servant Songs...go to some favorite Psalms or go to any portion of Scripture and sit with your Lord and memorize, pray, write and meditate on His word.
I was in just this kind of place last night....I brought my bible...not my study bible...just my bible and borrowed Anna's book light and sat with Anna and Mikayla as they slept doing just this. I wound up at the following verses in Lamentations. Just to give you an idea of what the prophet, Jeremiah's state of mind was, I have included some of the previous verses.
"I have become the ridicule of all my people— Their taunting song all the day. He has filled me with bitterness, He has made me drink wormwood. He has also broken my teeth with gravel, And covered me with ashes. You have moved my soul far from peace; I have forgotten prosperity. And I said, "My strength and my hope Have perished from the LORD." Remember my affliction and roaming, The wormwood and the gall. My soul still remembers And sinks within me. This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!" The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the LORD."
Jeremiah's was devastated when he looked at the circumstances that surrounded him. He had done his best to warn the people of God's upcoming judgment but judgment was coming and nothing could prevent it. Notice, however, that in the midst of his complaint he began to think on the Lord...he shifted his focus. He remembered God's mercy and His compassion. He saw His faithfulness reaching to the skies. He remembered that it was God who was His Portion...it was God who always sustained Him...and it was God in whom was his hope.
So often in this life we become like Jeremiah was here...overwhelmed by problems and circumstances. We become short tempered. We grieve and cry out. We rant and rave. Truly though, girls, only one thing is needed and that is to go and sit at the feet of the One who desires you, loves you and died for you. Truly the Lord's compassions fail not and His mercies are new every morning. He will be good to those who wait for Him....to the soul who seeks Him.
I went back to bed last night renewed in mind and in spirit. My body was tired this morning but my heart was remembering Him.
Love
Mom
Note to Anna...I thought of you last night memorizing so much Scripture and it reminded me of where I needed to go.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
The Ultimate Weapon
Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.--1 Peter 4:1-6
Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,
We have reached Chapter 4 in our 1st Peter study. Recall that this entire epistle was written by Peter to encourage people who were facing suffering and persecution for their faith. We are only going to look at the first two verses but the message from Peter here is so powerful and if believed and taken to heart can change the face of your suffering. John MacArthur calls it the believer's ultimate weapon.
Peter starts off with "Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,"
The therefore hearkens back to what was discussed in chapter 3...The message that culminated at the end of Chapter 3 was that Christ was triumphant in suffering...He is our model. Here he says that even if we suffer for righteousness sake we are blessed and that it is better if it is the will of God to suffer for doing good rather than doing evil. Peter then has us look at Christ...He, the Just One, suffered for the us, the unjust, and look at the result...look at the victory. He triumphed over sin, the grave, demons, His Father's judgment, and because of that God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name above all others. It is Christ who is seated at His Father's right hand...angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him. The idea is that Christ triumphed in suffering and we can also.
Suffered in the flesh is a reference to Christ's death on the cross. Peter is saying that as Christians we need to arm ourselves for battle with the same purpose that Christ had in His suffering. What was that purpose? His purpose was to triumph over sin and death. Likewise, this is also our purpose. A person can be triumphant in suffering...even the suffering of death. All of us are going to face suffering and and death in this life and if we live for Christ, persecution for His name will also come our way. The question is are we going to leave the fragrance of Christ in the wake of our suffering or the aroma of death. Are you willing to accept the potential of death for your faith as part of the Christian life. (see Matt 10:38, 39; 2 Cor 4:8-11) That is your ultimate weapon in whatever suffering you face especially the suffering you face for naming His name. The worst they can do is kill your body and then as it says in the next part of the verse..he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. Dying brings about every believer's goal...the end of sin! Their evil would only bring about that which is precious to you...you win! You thwart them.
Now you may not face death for your faith, but living the Christian life is costly from the world's perspective. Picking up your cross means exactly that...dying to sin and also to those things that you want and living for the will of God. Putting off sin and putting on Christ. Submitting to Him moment by moment as He purges those things from you that not only keep you from seeing Him fully, but also prevent others from seeing the fullness of who He is in your life. Arm yourself with the purpose of Christ...your suffering can be triumphant...in fact, the time of your greatest suffering...your greatest darkness may be the time of your greatest triumph. If you are a believer...truly a believer...recanting is not even a consideration. Like Peter you know that He has the words to eternal life. Be willing to suffer in the flesh knowing it has the potential for producing not only the greatest results in your Christian walk but the greatest triumph in the end...the cessation of sin. Be willing to live your life here as it says in the next verse not for the lusts of the flesh but for the will of God. This is the reasons the martyrs could die singing...this is the reason that thousands of others have faced death or persecution with joy and hope. It did not eliminate the suffering, pain and grief they felt, but it gave it a meaning eternally and them a perspective that nothing in this world can conquer.
They knew that it would bring about their earthly goal...the cessation of sin. A believer because He has the Spirit of God dwelling inside him, hates sin. He fights it all his life. Sin killed Christ...it costs Him His life. It caused Him to cry out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" A believer who loves Christ will hate sin...He will cry out like Paul in Romans 7 saying, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" Death then frees us from sin and brings us to where we have longed to be: with Him...face to face...awake and in His likeness. How precious a promise...how precious a hope. The very worst thing that man can do to us in this life...kill us...has truly the most precious consequences for us.
Here are the entire two verses practically. Christ triumphed in His death. He triumphed over sin...He suffered once for all and it was finished. You ought to have the same mind and the same purpose that He had both in suffering and in death. His life was triumphant over sin moment by moment...He lived not for the lusts of the flesh but for the will of His Father. That is the thought that we need to arm ourselves with. Our death is our moment of triumph...we have endured to the end...we have reached our goal. When we awake, we are in His likeness and have ceased from sin.
So, I can get up each morning with the joy of the Lord, knowing that victory is mine in whatever I am facing or will face. By faith, I can shout it out when I get up and instead of turning to my husband or my kids and telling them my back is killing me or that my head is hurting or that I am sad about this or sad about that, I can REJOICE! VICTORY IS MINE!!!...Now I might still need some Tylenol and some coffee, but I can thank God I can still walk to the cabinet and get it. I can thank God that the worst thing this world can do to me is kill me, and in so doing, bring about what is most precious to me. Think like that and there is nothing you cannot face in Him who strengthens you.
Love
Mom
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you. And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I BELIEVED AND THEREFORE I SPOKE," we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.--2nd Corinthians 4:6-18
Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,
We have reached Chapter 4 in our 1st Peter study. Recall that this entire epistle was written by Peter to encourage people who were facing suffering and persecution for their faith. We are only going to look at the first two verses but the message from Peter here is so powerful and if believed and taken to heart can change the face of your suffering. John MacArthur calls it the believer's ultimate weapon.
Peter starts off with "Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,"
The therefore hearkens back to what was discussed in chapter 3...The message that culminated at the end of Chapter 3 was that Christ was triumphant in suffering...He is our model. Here he says that even if we suffer for righteousness sake we are blessed and that it is better if it is the will of God to suffer for doing good rather than doing evil. Peter then has us look at Christ...He, the Just One, suffered for the us, the unjust, and look at the result...look at the victory. He triumphed over sin, the grave, demons, His Father's judgment, and because of that God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name above all others. It is Christ who is seated at His Father's right hand...angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him. The idea is that Christ triumphed in suffering and we can also.
Suffered in the flesh is a reference to Christ's death on the cross. Peter is saying that as Christians we need to arm ourselves for battle with the same purpose that Christ had in His suffering. What was that purpose? His purpose was to triumph over sin and death. Likewise, this is also our purpose. A person can be triumphant in suffering...even the suffering of death. All of us are going to face suffering and and death in this life and if we live for Christ, persecution for His name will also come our way. The question is are we going to leave the fragrance of Christ in the wake of our suffering or the aroma of death. Are you willing to accept the potential of death for your faith as part of the Christian life. (see Matt 10:38, 39; 2 Cor 4:8-11) That is your ultimate weapon in whatever suffering you face especially the suffering you face for naming His name. The worst they can do is kill your body and then as it says in the next part of the verse..he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. Dying brings about every believer's goal...the end of sin! Their evil would only bring about that which is precious to you...you win! You thwart them.
Now you may not face death for your faith, but living the Christian life is costly from the world's perspective. Picking up your cross means exactly that...dying to sin and also to those things that you want and living for the will of God. Putting off sin and putting on Christ. Submitting to Him moment by moment as He purges those things from you that not only keep you from seeing Him fully, but also prevent others from seeing the fullness of who He is in your life. Arm yourself with the purpose of Christ...your suffering can be triumphant...in fact, the time of your greatest suffering...your greatest darkness may be the time of your greatest triumph. If you are a believer...truly a believer...recanting is not even a consideration. Like Peter you know that He has the words to eternal life. Be willing to suffer in the flesh knowing it has the potential for producing not only the greatest results in your Christian walk but the greatest triumph in the end...the cessation of sin. Be willing to live your life here as it says in the next verse not for the lusts of the flesh but for the will of God. This is the reasons the martyrs could die singing...this is the reason that thousands of others have faced death or persecution with joy and hope. It did not eliminate the suffering, pain and grief they felt, but it gave it a meaning eternally and them a perspective that nothing in this world can conquer.
They knew that it would bring about their earthly goal...the cessation of sin. A believer because He has the Spirit of God dwelling inside him, hates sin. He fights it all his life. Sin killed Christ...it costs Him His life. It caused Him to cry out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" A believer who loves Christ will hate sin...He will cry out like Paul in Romans 7 saying, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" Death then frees us from sin and brings us to where we have longed to be: with Him...face to face...awake and in His likeness. How precious a promise...how precious a hope. The very worst thing that man can do to us in this life...kill us...has truly the most precious consequences for us.
Here are the entire two verses practically. Christ triumphed in His death. He triumphed over sin...He suffered once for all and it was finished. You ought to have the same mind and the same purpose that He had both in suffering and in death. His life was triumphant over sin moment by moment...He lived not for the lusts of the flesh but for the will of His Father. That is the thought that we need to arm ourselves with. Our death is our moment of triumph...we have endured to the end...we have reached our goal. When we awake, we are in His likeness and have ceased from sin.
So, I can get up each morning with the joy of the Lord, knowing that victory is mine in whatever I am facing or will face. By faith, I can shout it out when I get up and instead of turning to my husband or my kids and telling them my back is killing me or that my head is hurting or that I am sad about this or sad about that, I can REJOICE! VICTORY IS MINE!!!...Now I might still need some Tylenol and some coffee, but I can thank God I can still walk to the cabinet and get it. I can thank God that the worst thing this world can do to me is kill me, and in so doing, bring about what is most precious to me. Think like that and there is nothing you cannot face in Him who strengthens you.
Love
Mom
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you. And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I BELIEVED AND THEREFORE I SPOKE," we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.--2nd Corinthians 4:6-18
Monday, March 28, 2011
Speaking God's Word
"Moreover He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that scroll. And He said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you.” So I ate, and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness. Then He said to me: “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them."--Ezekiel 3:1-4
Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,
Ezekiel was to receive the word of God into his body and feed on its truth and allow it to strengthen Him for the job he was given to do. He was then to speak God's words to the people. The word of God girls, is our necessary food. We, like Ezekiel, are to feed on it and allow it to strengthen us for whatever we face in this life. If we are diligent in our study, we will find that the Lord speaks to us from His word exactly what is needed for that hour, for that day or for that trial. He uses His word in our lives to strengthen us, to impart wisdom and to penetrate our hearts. It is what God says that matters. It is His word we are to speak to others...not our ideas or opinions...His words. His word is what will feed them spiritually. His word is what will strengthen them and impart wisdom. His word is what changes hearts.
"And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO PREACH THE GOSPEL OF PEACE, WHO BRING GLAD TIDINGS OF GOOD THINGS!" But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?" So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."--Romans 10:15-17
"For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."--Hebrews 4:12
"So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."--Isaiah 55:11
Love
Mom
Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,
Ezekiel was to receive the word of God into his body and feed on its truth and allow it to strengthen Him for the job he was given to do. He was then to speak God's words to the people. The word of God girls, is our necessary food. We, like Ezekiel, are to feed on it and allow it to strengthen us for whatever we face in this life. If we are diligent in our study, we will find that the Lord speaks to us from His word exactly what is needed for that hour, for that day or for that trial. He uses His word in our lives to strengthen us, to impart wisdom and to penetrate our hearts. It is what God says that matters. It is His word we are to speak to others...not our ideas or opinions...His words. His word is what will feed them spiritually. His word is what will strengthen them and impart wisdom. His word is what changes hearts.
"And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO PREACH THE GOSPEL OF PEACE, WHO BRING GLAD TIDINGS OF GOOD THINGS!" But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?" So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."--Romans 10:15-17
"For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."--Hebrews 4:12
"So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."--Isaiah 55:11
Love
Mom
Sunday, March 27, 2011
And Who is Sufficient for These Things...
“And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you dwell among scorpions; do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their looks, though they are a rebellious house. You shall speak My words to them, whether they hear or whether they refuse, for they are rebellious. But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.”
Now when I looked, there was a hand stretched out to me; and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. Then He spread it before me; and there was writing on the inside and on the outside, and written on it were lamentations and mourning and woe.--Ezekiel 2:6-10
Dear Girls,
In the previous study we looked at the beginning verses of chapter 2 through verse 5. We are looking now at the remainder of the chapter, but before we do that I need to point out two things from the very beginning of this chapter. First, Ezekiel was called by God to speak to the people. He was commissioned so to speak. The next thing to note is that Ezekiel fell on his face when he sees the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord, and it was God that strengthened him and put him back on his feet. God empowered him to do the job that He gave him to do by filling him with His Spirit.
Which brings me back to the last several verses of this chapter where God is exhorting Ezekiel not to be afraid of these people, nor to be afraid of their words. He said the people would be like briers and thorns and scorpions dwelling with him. He was also told not to be dismayed by their looks, but just to speak the words that were given to him to speak by God. When you are in Christ, you will at times be surrounded by opposition just as Christ was and will at times face hardship and persecution for speaking His word. Paul in 2 Timothy 4:2-8 tells Timothy this:
"Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing."--2 Timothy 4:2-8
Do the job the Lord has given you. Ezekiel stands in such contrast to his countryman who were in a state of rebellion. Ezekiel opens his mouth wide and takes inside him what work the Lord has for him to do. The words the Lord was giving Ezekiel to speak to his countrymen were words of sorrow, lamentation and woe. Ezekiel was not being given a happy ministry. Ezekiel was going to be disliked...but the Lord empowered him and made him strong. Girls, the gospel is offensive to the unsaved...the cross is an offense.
"Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ".--2nd Cor 2:14-17
None of us are sufficient in ourselves...God will empower us for the jobs He has given each of us to do. It is He, that will lead us in triumph...it is He that will perform all things for us. We can do all things through Him who strengthens us.
Love
Mom
Now when I looked, there was a hand stretched out to me; and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. Then He spread it before me; and there was writing on the inside and on the outside, and written on it were lamentations and mourning and woe.--Ezekiel 2:6-10
Dear Girls,
In the previous study we looked at the beginning verses of chapter 2 through verse 5. We are looking now at the remainder of the chapter, but before we do that I need to point out two things from the very beginning of this chapter. First, Ezekiel was called by God to speak to the people. He was commissioned so to speak. The next thing to note is that Ezekiel fell on his face when he sees the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord, and it was God that strengthened him and put him back on his feet. God empowered him to do the job that He gave him to do by filling him with His Spirit.
Which brings me back to the last several verses of this chapter where God is exhorting Ezekiel not to be afraid of these people, nor to be afraid of their words. He said the people would be like briers and thorns and scorpions dwelling with him. He was also told not to be dismayed by their looks, but just to speak the words that were given to him to speak by God. When you are in Christ, you will at times be surrounded by opposition just as Christ was and will at times face hardship and persecution for speaking His word. Paul in 2 Timothy 4:2-8 tells Timothy this:
"Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing."--2 Timothy 4:2-8
Do the job the Lord has given you. Ezekiel stands in such contrast to his countryman who were in a state of rebellion. Ezekiel opens his mouth wide and takes inside him what work the Lord has for him to do. The words the Lord was giving Ezekiel to speak to his countrymen were words of sorrow, lamentation and woe. Ezekiel was not being given a happy ministry. Ezekiel was going to be disliked...but the Lord empowered him and made him strong. Girls, the gospel is offensive to the unsaved...the cross is an offense.
"Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ".--2nd Cor 2:14-17
None of us are sufficient in ourselves...God will empower us for the jobs He has given each of us to do. It is He, that will lead us in triumph...it is He that will perform all things for us. We can do all things through Him who strengthens us.
Love
Mom
Your Job and God's Job....
So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking.
And He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you.” 2 Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard Him who spoke to me. 3 And He said to me: “Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day. 4 For they are impudent and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’ 5 As for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse—for they are a rebellious house—yet they will know that a prophet has been among them.
“And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you dwell among scorpions; do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their looks, though they are a rebellious house. 7 You shall speak My words to them, whether they hear or whether they refuse, for they are rebellious. 8 But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.”
Now when I looked, there was a hand stretched out to me; and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. 10 Then He spread it before me; and there was writing on the inside and on the outside, and written on it were lamentations and mourning and woe.
Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,
This is a short chapter but filled with much wisdom. Ezekiel was given the responsibility to declare the word of the Lord to a people whom God Himself describes with words like rebellious, impudent and stubborn. He also acknowledged that they would not likely hear. Once Ezekiel had spoken what God wanted him to speak, his job would be done. The same is true for us, girls. My job, or your job is to speak the truth of the word of God. You are not to stop speaking just because you think the people are not going to hear. It is easy to become discouraged when you don't feel people are listening...BUT... Our job is to speak the truth and the results are up to God and the ones being spoken to. There is much rest in that. Obey...do your job and leave the results to God.
Love
Mom
And He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you.” 2 Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard Him who spoke to me. 3 And He said to me: “Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day. 4 For they are impudent and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’ 5 As for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse—for they are a rebellious house—yet they will know that a prophet has been among them.
“And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you dwell among scorpions; do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their looks, though they are a rebellious house. 7 You shall speak My words to them, whether they hear or whether they refuse, for they are rebellious. 8 But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.”
Now when I looked, there was a hand stretched out to me; and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. 10 Then He spread it before me; and there was writing on the inside and on the outside, and written on it were lamentations and mourning and woe.
Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,
This is a short chapter but filled with much wisdom. Ezekiel was given the responsibility to declare the word of the Lord to a people whom God Himself describes with words like rebellious, impudent and stubborn. He also acknowledged that they would not likely hear. Once Ezekiel had spoken what God wanted him to speak, his job would be done. The same is true for us, girls. My job, or your job is to speak the truth of the word of God. You are not to stop speaking just because you think the people are not going to hear. It is easy to become discouraged when you don't feel people are listening...BUT... Our job is to speak the truth and the results are up to God and the ones being spoken to. There is much rest in that. Obey...do your job and leave the results to God.
Love
Mom
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Christophobia: Dead Man With the King… Part 2
Christophobia: Dead Man With the King… Part 2: "'What is it you would like from Me?' He asked. 'You have already given and done all,' I answered through my tears. He smiled at that in what..."
Christophobia: Dead Man With the King
Christophobia: Dead Man With the King: "Since becoming a child of the King years ago on-planet, I always thought that when I got to Heaven, I would have a million questions. I was ..."
Friday, March 25, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
The Millennial Kingdom Pictured - Isaiah 2
Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,
The next four chapters (2-5) represent a connected discourse addressed to Judah and Jerusalem. The discourse finishes in Chapter 5 with the parable of the Lord's vineyard and His subsequent judgment on that vineyard because despite the extraordinary care given it by the Lord Himself, it produced not sweet grapes but wild, inedible grapes suitable only for dumping.
The first 4 verses in chapter 2 picture the millennial kingdom...Zion's future glory. God's special people would be restored, Jerusalem would be the city of the great King and the law would go forth from it and all the nations flow to it. In those days, the people would not learn war anymore...the Prince of Peace would be on the throne. Instead, pilgrimages would be made to the House of the God of Jacob to meet with God and have Him teach them His ways. The desire of the people would be to walk in His paths.
What a contrast to what was currently going on in Jerusalem and Judah during the time that Isaiah prophesied...what a contrast to what is going on today. The prospect of the glory of the future Zion prompts Isaiah to exhort the people to repent in verse 5 and walk in the light of His countenance. It is also a good exhortation for us.
Verses 6-22 speak to the coming judgment not only for Judah and Jerusalem but also to the time of great tribulation (the time of Jacob's trouble) that would come upon the whole earth before the establishment of God's kingdom. Some of it echoes Revelation saying that the people would seek shelter in the holes of the rocks and the caves of the earth from the terror of the Lord. The people had forsaken their God, filled themselves with eastern ways and had trusted in man, silver, gold, horses and chariots. They had worshiped idols...bowed down and humbled themselves before the works of their own hands. Verse 10 tells the people to enter into the rock and hide in the dust from the terror of the Lord and the glory of His majesty. For the day of the Lord of Hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty...upon everything lifted up--and it shall be brought low--Verse 17 says the loftiness of man shall be bowed down and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low. The Lord alone will be exalted.
We are made by God...in His image. Formed by Him and redeemed by Him. We are made to fulfill His purposes for us...to serve Him. We are here to do His will. Going our own way is the way of sin and death and for the most part sorrow both in this life and in the next. These words are not just written for the people of Judah and Jerusalem but for us. God is not mocked...He suffers long but judgment comes. He stands at the door and knocks and dwells in those whose hearts are for Him. The Lord will shake the earth and judgment will come like a tremendous storm devouring all in its path. Man's attempt to find security and make a resting place for his feet in this world, while ignoring his Creator who created all that he sees for His glory and for His purposes, is in vain and doomed from the very start for failure. Look at those things that you are depending on....awaken to reality and put them aside for the glory and majesty of the One who can be depended on. Anything else is foolish....when the end comes if you are not in Christ...In the Ark of Him who is your confidence, you will find yourself bereft of all security and will seek shelter in vain...You cannot hide from the Lord.
Verse 22 says this: Sever yourselves from such a man, Whose breath is in his nostrils; for of what account is he? It echoes the center verse of the Bible (Psalm 118:8) which says: It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. Don't look to the right or to the left but to Him who died for you...walk in His truth...be found in Him.
Love
Mom
The next four chapters (2-5) represent a connected discourse addressed to Judah and Jerusalem. The discourse finishes in Chapter 5 with the parable of the Lord's vineyard and His subsequent judgment on that vineyard because despite the extraordinary care given it by the Lord Himself, it produced not sweet grapes but wild, inedible grapes suitable only for dumping.
The first 4 verses in chapter 2 picture the millennial kingdom...Zion's future glory. God's special people would be restored, Jerusalem would be the city of the great King and the law would go forth from it and all the nations flow to it. In those days, the people would not learn war anymore...the Prince of Peace would be on the throne. Instead, pilgrimages would be made to the House of the God of Jacob to meet with God and have Him teach them His ways. The desire of the people would be to walk in His paths.
What a contrast to what was currently going on in Jerusalem and Judah during the time that Isaiah prophesied...what a contrast to what is going on today. The prospect of the glory of the future Zion prompts Isaiah to exhort the people to repent in verse 5 and walk in the light of His countenance. It is also a good exhortation for us.
Verses 6-22 speak to the coming judgment not only for Judah and Jerusalem but also to the time of great tribulation (the time of Jacob's trouble) that would come upon the whole earth before the establishment of God's kingdom. Some of it echoes Revelation saying that the people would seek shelter in the holes of the rocks and the caves of the earth from the terror of the Lord. The people had forsaken their God, filled themselves with eastern ways and had trusted in man, silver, gold, horses and chariots. They had worshiped idols...bowed down and humbled themselves before the works of their own hands. Verse 10 tells the people to enter into the rock and hide in the dust from the terror of the Lord and the glory of His majesty. For the day of the Lord of Hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty...upon everything lifted up--and it shall be brought low--Verse 17 says the loftiness of man shall be bowed down and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low. The Lord alone will be exalted.
We are made by God...in His image. Formed by Him and redeemed by Him. We are made to fulfill His purposes for us...to serve Him. We are here to do His will. Going our own way is the way of sin and death and for the most part sorrow both in this life and in the next. These words are not just written for the people of Judah and Jerusalem but for us. God is not mocked...He suffers long but judgment comes. He stands at the door and knocks and dwells in those whose hearts are for Him. The Lord will shake the earth and judgment will come like a tremendous storm devouring all in its path. Man's attempt to find security and make a resting place for his feet in this world, while ignoring his Creator who created all that he sees for His glory and for His purposes, is in vain and doomed from the very start for failure. Look at those things that you are depending on....awaken to reality and put them aside for the glory and majesty of the One who can be depended on. Anything else is foolish....when the end comes if you are not in Christ...In the Ark of Him who is your confidence, you will find yourself bereft of all security and will seek shelter in vain...You cannot hide from the Lord.
Verse 22 says this: Sever yourselves from such a man, Whose breath is in his nostrils; for of what account is he? It echoes the center verse of the Bible (Psalm 118:8) which says: It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. Don't look to the right or to the left but to Him who died for you...walk in His truth...be found in Him.
Love
Mom
Isaiah 2
The Future House of God
1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the LORD’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And all nations shall flow to it.
3 Many people shall come and say,
“ Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4 He shall judge between the nations,
And rebuke many people;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.
2 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the LORD’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And all nations shall flow to it.
3 Many people shall come and say,
“ Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4 He shall judge between the nations,
And rebuke many people;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.
The Day of the LORD
5 O house of Jacob, come and let us walk
In the light of the LORD.
6 For You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob,
Because they are filled with eastern ways;
They are soothsayers like the Philistines,
And they are pleased with the children of foreigners.
7 Their land is also full of silver and gold,
And there is no end to their treasures;
Their land is also full of horses,
And there is no end to their chariots.
8 Their land is also full of idols;
They worship the work of their own hands,
That which their own fingers have made.
9 People bow down,
And each man humbles himself;
Therefore do not forgive them.
10 Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust,
From the terror of the LORD
And the glory of His majesty.
11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled,
The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down,
And the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
12 For the day of the LORD of hosts
Shall come upon everything proud and lofty,
Upon everything lifted up—
And it shall be brought low—
13 Upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up,
And upon all the oaks of Bashan;
14 Upon all the high mountains,
And upon all the hills that are lifted up;
15 Upon every high tower,
And upon every fortified wall;
16 Upon all the ships of Tarshish,
And upon all the beautiful sloops.
17 The loftiness of man shall be bowed down,
And the haughtiness of men shall be brought low;
The LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
18 But the idols He shall utterly abolish.
19 They shall go into the holes of the rocks,
And into the caves of the earth,
From the terror of the LORD
And the glory of His majesty,
When He arises to shake the earth mightily.
20 In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver
And his idols of gold,
Which they made, each for himself to worship,
To the moles and bats,
21 To go into the clefts of the rocks,
And into the crags of the rugged rocks,
From the terror of the LORD
And the glory of His majesty,
When He arises to shake the earth mightily.
22 Sever yourselves from such a man,
Whose breath is in his nostrils;
For of what account is he?
In the light of the LORD.
6 For You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob,
Because they are filled with eastern ways;
They are soothsayers like the Philistines,
And they are pleased with the children of foreigners.
7 Their land is also full of silver and gold,
And there is no end to their treasures;
Their land is also full of horses,
And there is no end to their chariots.
8 Their land is also full of idols;
They worship the work of their own hands,
That which their own fingers have made.
9 People bow down,
And each man humbles himself;
Therefore do not forgive them.
10 Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust,
From the terror of the LORD
And the glory of His majesty.
11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled,
The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down,
And the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
12 For the day of the LORD of hosts
Shall come upon everything proud and lofty,
Upon everything lifted up—
And it shall be brought low—
13 Upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up,
And upon all the oaks of Bashan;
14 Upon all the high mountains,
And upon all the hills that are lifted up;
15 Upon every high tower,
And upon every fortified wall;
16 Upon all the ships of Tarshish,
And upon all the beautiful sloops.
17 The loftiness of man shall be bowed down,
And the haughtiness of men shall be brought low;
The LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
18 But the idols He shall utterly abolish.
19 They shall go into the holes of the rocks,
And into the caves of the earth,
From the terror of the LORD
And the glory of His majesty,
When He arises to shake the earth mightily.
20 In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver
And his idols of gold,
Which they made, each for himself to worship,
To the moles and bats,
21 To go into the clefts of the rocks,
And into the crags of the rugged rocks,
From the terror of the LORD
And the glory of His majesty,
When He arises to shake the earth mightily.
22 Sever yourselves from such a man,
Whose breath is in his nostrils;
For of what account is he?
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
The Law of Diminishing Returns by Rebecca
Zophar’s discourse to Job is replete with poorly veiled accusations. He implies (among other things) that Job is haughty, a hypocrite, a liar, and an oppressor; in short, that Job’s suffering is his just comeuppance, and it proves his hidden wickedness and his need to repent. Job was being mocked, but God is not.
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” (Galatians 6:7-8)
Zophar’s discourse, though completely missing its contextual mark, is tragically depictive of the true state of the evildoer. He is set in a slippery place, without rest for his foot or peace for his heart. (Psalm 73, Isaiah 48:22) He has nothing that was not given to him, and if he continues down the path of destruction, even what he has will be taken away from him. (Matthew 13:12) His end is death and judgment, separated from all that is good, and this life is the best he will ever know. (Philippians 3:18-19, Romans 8:5-6) Sure, the wicked may seem to prosper for now. But they really aren’t. If you do not have the Lord Jesus Christ, you are marked for destruction. You are an evildoer – a sinner – regardless of your spotless criminal record, your good name, or your good works. (Romans 3:23, John 8:24) Your house is built on the sand and it will inevitably come crashing down. (Matthew 7:24-29)
“Because he knows no quietness in his heart…” How can you know rest or peace when you live in a world that can change in a heartbeat? What security is there? What permanency? And what about purpose? What kind of life do you have when your soul believes the lies the prince of the power of the air pounds into mankind at every opportunity? The universe exists by chance; all is random; there is no ultimate purpose; there are no absolutes and definitely no moral standard; only the fittest survive; life is built on death and struggle. Less pitiably, mankind allows himself no peace simply because of what he is: corrupt. Genesis 6:5 says, “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” How much do actually think that’s changed? Humanity manages to punch the self-destruction button almost every generation, and it is only the grace of God that intervenes. No, it’s not hard to realize that there is no quietness in the hearts of sinful man.
If there is no quietness is one’s heart, then that restlessness will eventually extend over every area of your life. You will not be able to save anything you desire. Everything you eat, everything you do, and even everything you think, will be tainted. You have nothing with which to satisfy the longing of your soul. Things that once gave you pleasure, joy, fulfillment, or excitement will yield those products in an increasingly dwindling supply, while your desire is only intensifying. (C. S. Lewis called this the Law of Diminishing Returns in his book The Screwtape Letters.) Well-being, as Zophar says, cannot last under such conditions. Stress, weight gain or weight loss, paranoia, phobias, depression, anxiety attacks, fatigue, etc., will result. To be sure, there is no universal formula you can apply; God is a God of individuals, and each life is unique. But the general rule of thumb is simple: the wages of sin is death.
“In his self-sufficiency he will be in distress; every hand of misery will come against him…” If you want to be miserable, strive to be self-sufficient in ways that are impossible to achieve. Strive to take control of your tongue, your life, your circumstances, or your environment. Strive to ensure your own safety, well-being, or happiness. Strive to do what is right in your own eyes. Strive to “follow your heart.” Strive to apply some invented philosophy of either your own making or choosing to the world around you, and strive to consistently reconcile said philosophy with reality. Man naturally strives to do all these things, and natural man is always in distress. Every hand of misery comes against him. You can disguise the truth, you can throw sand on it, you can distract yourself from it with frenetic motivation, or you can try to make the truth go away, but no human, angelic, or demonic effort will ever alter or challenge the decree of the Living God.
But there is a way of escape. And His name is Jesus.
John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
Once, I was wicked. I was a child of the world, and under the sway of the prince of the power of the air. But no more! The truth makes me free, because Jesus bore my sin in His body, and made Himself the propitiation for my transgressions. He paid my debt, pulled me out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon the Rock. He makes me stand before His Father – and now mine – not because of anything I did or do, but because He loves me! In utter contrast to the fate of the ungodly, I am blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus. I am even PURSUED by blessings! The Sovereign God, the Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient, Living and Awesome God, the Great I AM WHO I AM, the Becoming One, the One who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, the Righteous God, the God who is a consuming fire, the Living God – He is my loving Father! I am His princess, His bride, His daughter, His beloved. I dwell in the secret place of the Most High. I know that He works all things together for good for me, that He has a purpose for my life, and that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in the children of God. My Father is so great and glorious that “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him”! (1 Corinthians 2:9)
Romans 8:31-39, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” (Galatians 6:7-8)
Zophar’s discourse, though completely missing its contextual mark, is tragically depictive of the true state of the evildoer. He is set in a slippery place, without rest for his foot or peace for his heart. (Psalm 73, Isaiah 48:22) He has nothing that was not given to him, and if he continues down the path of destruction, even what he has will be taken away from him. (Matthew 13:12) His end is death and judgment, separated from all that is good, and this life is the best he will ever know. (Philippians 3:18-19, Romans 8:5-6) Sure, the wicked may seem to prosper for now. But they really aren’t. If you do not have the Lord Jesus Christ, you are marked for destruction. You are an evildoer – a sinner – regardless of your spotless criminal record, your good name, or your good works. (Romans 3:23, John 8:24) Your house is built on the sand and it will inevitably come crashing down. (Matthew 7:24-29)
“Because he knows no quietness in his heart…” How can you know rest or peace when you live in a world that can change in a heartbeat? What security is there? What permanency? And what about purpose? What kind of life do you have when your soul believes the lies the prince of the power of the air pounds into mankind at every opportunity? The universe exists by chance; all is random; there is no ultimate purpose; there are no absolutes and definitely no moral standard; only the fittest survive; life is built on death and struggle. Less pitiably, mankind allows himself no peace simply because of what he is: corrupt. Genesis 6:5 says, “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” How much do actually think that’s changed? Humanity manages to punch the self-destruction button almost every generation, and it is only the grace of God that intervenes. No, it’s not hard to realize that there is no quietness in the hearts of sinful man.
If there is no quietness is one’s heart, then that restlessness will eventually extend over every area of your life. You will not be able to save anything you desire. Everything you eat, everything you do, and even everything you think, will be tainted. You have nothing with which to satisfy the longing of your soul. Things that once gave you pleasure, joy, fulfillment, or excitement will yield those products in an increasingly dwindling supply, while your desire is only intensifying. (C. S. Lewis called this the Law of Diminishing Returns in his book The Screwtape Letters.) Well-being, as Zophar says, cannot last under such conditions. Stress, weight gain or weight loss, paranoia, phobias, depression, anxiety attacks, fatigue, etc., will result. To be sure, there is no universal formula you can apply; God is a God of individuals, and each life is unique. But the general rule of thumb is simple: the wages of sin is death.
“In his self-sufficiency he will be in distress; every hand of misery will come against him…” If you want to be miserable, strive to be self-sufficient in ways that are impossible to achieve. Strive to take control of your tongue, your life, your circumstances, or your environment. Strive to ensure your own safety, well-being, or happiness. Strive to do what is right in your own eyes. Strive to “follow your heart.” Strive to apply some invented philosophy of either your own making or choosing to the world around you, and strive to consistently reconcile said philosophy with reality. Man naturally strives to do all these things, and natural man is always in distress. Every hand of misery comes against him. You can disguise the truth, you can throw sand on it, you can distract yourself from it with frenetic motivation, or you can try to make the truth go away, but no human, angelic, or demonic effort will ever alter or challenge the decree of the Living God.
But there is a way of escape. And His name is Jesus.
John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
Once, I was wicked. I was a child of the world, and under the sway of the prince of the power of the air. But no more! The truth makes me free, because Jesus bore my sin in His body, and made Himself the propitiation for my transgressions. He paid my debt, pulled me out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon the Rock. He makes me stand before His Father – and now mine – not because of anything I did or do, but because He loves me! In utter contrast to the fate of the ungodly, I am blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus. I am even PURSUED by blessings! The Sovereign God, the Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient, Living and Awesome God, the Great I AM WHO I AM, the Becoming One, the One who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, the Righteous God, the God who is a consuming fire, the Living God – He is my loving Father! I am His princess, His bride, His daughter, His beloved. I dwell in the secret place of the Most High. I know that He works all things together for good for me, that He has a purpose for my life, and that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in the children of God. My Father is so great and glorious that “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him”! (1 Corinthians 2:9)
Romans 8:31-39, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Thirsts...Come...Drink
For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, And floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, And My blessing on your offspring;--Isaiah 44:3
Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna, and Mikayla,
What a wonderful prayer to pray for you, my children...and for my precious grandchildren. I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessings on your offspring! Glorious!
This is the verse that was always read on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles which celebrates God's deliverance, protection, and provision during Israel's wilderness wanderings. John's gospel tells us that on the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying:
“...If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”--John 7:37-38
Jesus revealed Himself as the fulfillment of this verse in Isaiah. He is the One who would provide the living water that gives us eternal life. Jesus is the only One who can satisfy the thirsts that resides in the heart of every person. We try to quench it with so many things both physical and emotional, but what we really need is Him.
God will pour out His Spirit on those that come to Him and out of their hearts shall flow torrents of living water. Complete satisfaction is only found in Him. Those three words...thirsts...come...drink summarize the message of the Gospel. First, there must be a recognition of need, then a coming to the Source and finally a receiving of what is needed to satisfy. Isaiah 12: 3 is also quoted on this last day of the feast.
Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘ For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’”Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation.--Isaiah 12:2-3
Jehovah is a Hebrew word for God meaning literally "the becoming one." The name is important because it expresses what God wants to be to you. God desires to become whatever your need may be. The name Jesus means Jehovah is Salvation. He has become your salvation! Don't settle for the endless and hopeless quests of finding permanent and lasting satisfaction in this world. A relationship with Jesus will satisfy every longing in your heart. It will cost you nothing. It costs God the Father, the death of His Son on the cross at Calvary. His redemptive work and His kingdom are for the benefit of all who are willing to come.
Love
Mom
Jesus' words in John echo Isaiah 55 which I have copied in its entirety below.
Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna, and Mikayla,
What a wonderful prayer to pray for you, my children...and for my precious grandchildren. I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessings on your offspring! Glorious!
This is the verse that was always read on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles which celebrates God's deliverance, protection, and provision during Israel's wilderness wanderings. John's gospel tells us that on the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying:
“...If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”--John 7:37-38
Jesus revealed Himself as the fulfillment of this verse in Isaiah. He is the One who would provide the living water that gives us eternal life. Jesus is the only One who can satisfy the thirsts that resides in the heart of every person. We try to quench it with so many things both physical and emotional, but what we really need is Him.
God will pour out His Spirit on those that come to Him and out of their hearts shall flow torrents of living water. Complete satisfaction is only found in Him. Those three words...thirsts...come...drink summarize the message of the Gospel. First, there must be a recognition of need, then a coming to the Source and finally a receiving of what is needed to satisfy. Isaiah 12: 3 is also quoted on this last day of the feast.
Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘ For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’”Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation.--Isaiah 12:2-3
Jehovah is a Hebrew word for God meaning literally "the becoming one." The name is important because it expresses what God wants to be to you. God desires to become whatever your need may be. The name Jesus means Jehovah is Salvation. He has become your salvation! Don't settle for the endless and hopeless quests of finding permanent and lasting satisfaction in this world. A relationship with Jesus will satisfy every longing in your heart. It will cost you nothing. It costs God the Father, the death of His Son on the cross at Calvary. His redemptive work and His kingdom are for the benefit of all who are willing to come.
Love
Mom
Jesus' words in John echo Isaiah 55 which I have copied in its entirety below.
Isaiah 55
“Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
3 Incline your ear, and come to Me.
Hear, and your soul shall live;
And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—
The sure mercies of David.
4 Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people,
A leader and commander for the people.
5 Surely you shall call a nation you do not know,
And nations who do not know you shall run to you,
Because of the LORD your God,
And the Holy One of Israel;
For He has glorified you.”
6 Seek the LORD while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the LORD,
And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.
8 “ For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.
9 “ For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
10 “ For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
12 “ For you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall break forth into singing before you,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree,
And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;
And it shall be to the LORD for a name,
For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
Monday, March 21, 2011
Old Things Have Passed Away; Behold, All Things Have Become New
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.--2nd Corinthians 5:17
Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,
There is just no way I can possibly do this verse justice or even begin to speak to its magnificence. (But of course...you know...I will try.
The key to the verse is "in Christ." I AM IN CHRIST! I am a new creation...the Holy Spirit has given me new life. It is not a new leaf so to speak...it is a new life I walk in. My master is no longer the God of this world but is the Lord Himself! He is my strong tower. He is my shelter. He is my refuge. He is my security...He is my forgiveness...He is my acceptance...He is my hope....He is my future assurance and my inheritance. He is my Ark of Safety when I pass through the waters. In Him, the bible tells me, I live and move and have my being. He is my covering...He is the Becoming One...He becomes whatever I need! I (ME!) have Him living inside..I participate in the divine nature of Christ. This treasure lives in my earthen vessel. I am now set free and am no longer a slave to my past or to sin. In fact, because I believe, my past and everything else in my life now works together for good. Goodness and mercy follow me and whether I live or die, I am with Him. I am always with Him.
My old values, beliefs, loves and plans are gone. My old man can still put up a fight and will to the day I die, but I am no longer enslaved to him. He no longer has control over me. I am set free from the bondage of the past. I can walk in holiness and newness of life.
This newness of life did not go away a few days after I was saved...this newness of life continued and was and is a constant reality for me. Why because my position in Christ is secure. There is nothing that can separate me from Him. When I forget or allow something from my past to take hold and gain a foothold in my life, my Lord is so gracious to show me that it no longer has the power to hold me and keep me from walking with Him by His Spirit. He graciously reminds me of my position in Him and all that that means. I have His power living inside me and as I surrender to it, I can do all things through my God who gives me strength. I face nothing...nothing without Him. He is always there...nothing can separate me from Him. I no longer live for the temporal. I can live for the eternal. I can walk in those works He has prepared for me. I can walk according to His plan. I can face life with no condemnation and look forward to living with Him in glory because I am in Him!
There is a notation in my bible next to the following verses...it was and is my prayer for myself and each one of you...my daughters.
"For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,"--Colossians 1:9-13
Love
Mom
Some verses to contemplate when you need to remember the new perspective you have in Him...
"Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.--Isaiah 43:18-19
Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? --Ezekiel 18:31
Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. --John 3:3-6
No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved." --Matthew 9:16-17
Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.--Romans 6:4-6
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful." --Revelation 21:1-5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,
\that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.--Ephesians 1:3-14
Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,
There is just no way I can possibly do this verse justice or even begin to speak to its magnificence. (But of course...you know...I will try.
The key to the verse is "in Christ." I AM IN CHRIST! I am a new creation...the Holy Spirit has given me new life. It is not a new leaf so to speak...it is a new life I walk in. My master is no longer the God of this world but is the Lord Himself! He is my strong tower. He is my shelter. He is my refuge. He is my security...He is my forgiveness...He is my acceptance...He is my hope....He is my future assurance and my inheritance. He is my Ark of Safety when I pass through the waters. In Him, the bible tells me, I live and move and have my being. He is my covering...He is the Becoming One...He becomes whatever I need! I (ME!) have Him living inside..I participate in the divine nature of Christ. This treasure lives in my earthen vessel. I am now set free and am no longer a slave to my past or to sin. In fact, because I believe, my past and everything else in my life now works together for good. Goodness and mercy follow me and whether I live or die, I am with Him. I am always with Him.
My old values, beliefs, loves and plans are gone. My old man can still put up a fight and will to the day I die, but I am no longer enslaved to him. He no longer has control over me. I am set free from the bondage of the past. I can walk in holiness and newness of life.
This newness of life did not go away a few days after I was saved...this newness of life continued and was and is a constant reality for me. Why because my position in Christ is secure. There is nothing that can separate me from Him. When I forget or allow something from my past to take hold and gain a foothold in my life, my Lord is so gracious to show me that it no longer has the power to hold me and keep me from walking with Him by His Spirit. He graciously reminds me of my position in Him and all that that means. I have His power living inside me and as I surrender to it, I can do all things through my God who gives me strength. I face nothing...nothing without Him. He is always there...nothing can separate me from Him. I no longer live for the temporal. I can live for the eternal. I can walk in those works He has prepared for me. I can walk according to His plan. I can face life with no condemnation and look forward to living with Him in glory because I am in Him!
There is a notation in my bible next to the following verses...it was and is my prayer for myself and each one of you...my daughters.
"For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,"--Colossians 1:9-13
Love
Mom
Some verses to contemplate when you need to remember the new perspective you have in Him...
"Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.--Isaiah 43:18-19
Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? --Ezekiel 18:31
Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. --John 3:3-6
No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved." --Matthew 9:16-17
Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.--Romans 6:4-6
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful." --Revelation 21:1-5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,
\that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.--Ephesians 1:3-14
Sunday, March 20, 2011
A Heartbroken Parent and a Wayward Child...
Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna, and Mikayla,
I started to read the book of Isaiah today reading Chapter 1 several times through. Isaiah was a prophet who wrote from the southern kingdom of Judah during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah in the eighth century B.C. This was during the time the northern kingdom had already been taken captive by the Assyrian army but before the southern kingdom would be taken captive by Babylon. He warned them of the destruction and devastation that would take place because of their rejection of the God of Israel and His word. He also talked of the restoration that would follow speaking to the near future and the very distant one. Isaiah spoke many prophecies concerning the Messiah...both His first and second coming. In reading them one gets a very clear picture of the cross and what was accomplished by Jesus there.
The book of Isaiah is interesting in that it has 66 books...like the bible. The first 39 (the same number of books contained in the Old Testament) deal with judgment and history and the next 27 (the same number of books contained in the New Testament) deal with the salvation that God provides. The book is a bible within the bible and is all about Jesus.
Chapter 1 Summary: The first chapter begins with a courtroom scene with God convening and charging the nation of Judah in verses 2-4 calling them rebellious children who are less devoted to Him than an animal is to its master. They had corrupted their way and forsaken the Lord and gone backward. He presents His case in verses 5-15 and pronounces them guilty. Unbelievably in verses 16-31 we find Him speaking of pardon and offering a solution to their situation Not only that He goes on to talk of their future restoration in the latter verses. What was most hideous about what Israel was doing was that they were claiming to be a religious nation. They attended religious services and offered many sacrifices, but in their worship they sinned even more because of the hypocrisy of their hearts. God wanted the inward heart not the outward show.
There is much in this chapter but a few verses really spoke to my heart.
"Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: “ I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against Me; The ox knows its owner And the donkey its master’s crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider.” Alas, sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A brood of evildoers, Children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the LORD, They have provoked to anger The Holy One of Israel, They have turned away backward."--Isaiah1:2-4
The Lord here sounds like a heartbroken parent. He had nourished and brought up children and they had rebelled against Him. God tells His children that the animals had more sense than they did. He brought the nation of Israel into being and brought them out of Egypt where they were enslaved. He took care of them in the wilderness and brought them into the land He had promised them. He grew them, fed them, made them strong and forgave them when they rebelled. He had shown them His love, grace and mercy and they in response rejected Him. They literally bit the hand that fed them. If you are a parent, you understand what it means to pour your life, your love and your heart into a child. What a heartbreak for a mom and a dad when when the one you have loved, cared for and treasured, rebels and act like they don't even know you. You become nothing to them. What an example, however, our God, our Father, is for these parents. He continually stretches out His hand in mercy and love. Mercy triumphs over judgment. All God's people needed to be was willing.
“ Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “ Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land; But if you refuse and rebel, You shall be devoured by the sword”; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.--Isaiah 1:18-20
Despite all the evil...despite their continual sin, God does not forget mercy. Despite their rejection, despite their betrayal and worship of other gods, despite their going backwards and not remembering Him...He still offered them a way out of their suffering and sin and back into blessing. All they needed to do was to be willing...It was their choice. Rebel and die or obey and live. Forgiveness comes through repentance and you can't fake it. If it is from your heart, it will look like something in your life. Your word and your deed will match.
Love
Mom
Here is the entire chapter...Read and be blessed. Hear your God's heart for you, His children. Hear His hurt and see His extended arm to them in forgiveness. See further on that God's discipline and judgment is always for the purpose of restoration.
I started to read the book of Isaiah today reading Chapter 1 several times through. Isaiah was a prophet who wrote from the southern kingdom of Judah during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah in the eighth century B.C. This was during the time the northern kingdom had already been taken captive by the Assyrian army but before the southern kingdom would be taken captive by Babylon. He warned them of the destruction and devastation that would take place because of their rejection of the God of Israel and His word. He also talked of the restoration that would follow speaking to the near future and the very distant one. Isaiah spoke many prophecies concerning the Messiah...both His first and second coming. In reading them one gets a very clear picture of the cross and what was accomplished by Jesus there.
The book of Isaiah is interesting in that it has 66 books...like the bible. The first 39 (the same number of books contained in the Old Testament) deal with judgment and history and the next 27 (the same number of books contained in the New Testament) deal with the salvation that God provides. The book is a bible within the bible and is all about Jesus.
Chapter 1 Summary: The first chapter begins with a courtroom scene with God convening and charging the nation of Judah in verses 2-4 calling them rebellious children who are less devoted to Him than an animal is to its master. They had corrupted their way and forsaken the Lord and gone backward. He presents His case in verses 5-15 and pronounces them guilty. Unbelievably in verses 16-31 we find Him speaking of pardon and offering a solution to their situation Not only that He goes on to talk of their future restoration in the latter verses. What was most hideous about what Israel was doing was that they were claiming to be a religious nation. They attended religious services and offered many sacrifices, but in their worship they sinned even more because of the hypocrisy of their hearts. God wanted the inward heart not the outward show.
There is much in this chapter but a few verses really spoke to my heart.
"Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: “ I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against Me; The ox knows its owner And the donkey its master’s crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider.” Alas, sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A brood of evildoers, Children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the LORD, They have provoked to anger The Holy One of Israel, They have turned away backward."--Isaiah1:2-4
The Lord here sounds like a heartbroken parent. He had nourished and brought up children and they had rebelled against Him. God tells His children that the animals had more sense than they did. He brought the nation of Israel into being and brought them out of Egypt where they were enslaved. He took care of them in the wilderness and brought them into the land He had promised them. He grew them, fed them, made them strong and forgave them when they rebelled. He had shown them His love, grace and mercy and they in response rejected Him. They literally bit the hand that fed them. If you are a parent, you understand what it means to pour your life, your love and your heart into a child. What a heartbreak for a mom and a dad when when the one you have loved, cared for and treasured, rebels and act like they don't even know you. You become nothing to them. What an example, however, our God, our Father, is for these parents. He continually stretches out His hand in mercy and love. Mercy triumphs over judgment. All God's people needed to be was willing.
“ Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “ Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land; But if you refuse and rebel, You shall be devoured by the sword”; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.--Isaiah 1:18-20
Despite all the evil...despite their continual sin, God does not forget mercy. Despite their rejection, despite their betrayal and worship of other gods, despite their going backwards and not remembering Him...He still offered them a way out of their suffering and sin and back into blessing. All they needed to do was to be willing...It was their choice. Rebel and die or obey and live. Forgiveness comes through repentance and you can't fake it. If it is from your heart, it will look like something in your life. Your word and your deed will match.
Love
Mom
Here is the entire chapter...Read and be blessed. Hear your God's heart for you, His children. Hear His hurt and see His extended arm to them in forgiveness. See further on that God's discipline and judgment is always for the purpose of restoration.
Isaiah 1
1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
The Wickedness of Judah
2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth!
For the LORD has spoken:
“ I have nourished and brought up children,
And they have rebelled against Me;
3 The ox knows its owner
And the donkey its master’s crib;
But Israel does not know,
My people do not consider.”
4 Alas, sinful nation,
A people laden with iniquity,
A brood of evildoers,
Children who are corrupters!
They have forsaken the LORD,
They have provoked to anger
The Holy One of Israel,
They have turned away backward.
5 Why should you be stricken again?
You will revolt more and more.
The whole head is sick,
And the whole heart faints.
6 From the sole of the foot even to the head,
There is no soundness in it,
But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores;
They have not been closed or bound up,
Or soothed with ointment.
7 Your country is desolate,
Your cities are burned with fire;
Strangers devour your land in your presence;
And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
8 So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard,
As a hut in a garden of cucumbers,
As a besieged city.
9 Unless the LORD of hosts
Had left to us a very small remnant,
We would have become like Sodom,
We would have been made like Gomorrah.
10 Hear the word of the LORD,
You rulers of Sodom;
Give ear to the law of our God,
You people of Gomorrah:
11 “ To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?”
Says the LORD.
“ I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
And the fat of fed cattle.
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
Or of lambs or goats.
12 “ When you come to appear before Me,
Who has required this from your hand,
To trample My courts?
13 Bring no more futile sacrifices;
Incense is an abomination to Me.
The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—
I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.
14 Your New Moons and your appointed feasts
My soul hates;
They are a trouble to Me,
I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands,
I will hide My eyes from you;
Even though you make many prayers,
I will not hear.
Your hands are full of blood.
16 “ Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.
Cease to do evil,
17 Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke the oppressor;
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.
18 “ Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the LORD,
“ Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land;
20 But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword”;
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
For the LORD has spoken:
“ I have nourished and brought up children,
And they have rebelled against Me;
3 The ox knows its owner
And the donkey its master’s crib;
But Israel does not know,
My people do not consider.”
4 Alas, sinful nation,
A people laden with iniquity,
A brood of evildoers,
Children who are corrupters!
They have forsaken the LORD,
They have provoked to anger
The Holy One of Israel,
They have turned away backward.
5 Why should you be stricken again?
You will revolt more and more.
The whole head is sick,
And the whole heart faints.
6 From the sole of the foot even to the head,
There is no soundness in it,
But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores;
They have not been closed or bound up,
Or soothed with ointment.
7 Your country is desolate,
Your cities are burned with fire;
Strangers devour your land in your presence;
And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
8 So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard,
As a hut in a garden of cucumbers,
As a besieged city.
9 Unless the LORD of hosts
Had left to us a very small remnant,
We would have become like Sodom,
We would have been made like Gomorrah.
10 Hear the word of the LORD,
You rulers of Sodom;
Give ear to the law of our God,
You people of Gomorrah:
11 “ To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?”
Says the LORD.
“ I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
And the fat of fed cattle.
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
Or of lambs or goats.
12 “ When you come to appear before Me,
Who has required this from your hand,
To trample My courts?
13 Bring no more futile sacrifices;
Incense is an abomination to Me.
The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—
I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.
14 Your New Moons and your appointed feasts
My soul hates;
They are a trouble to Me,
I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands,
I will hide My eyes from you;
Even though you make many prayers,
I will not hear.
Your hands are full of blood.
16 “ Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.
Cease to do evil,
17 Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke the oppressor;
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.
18 “ Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the LORD,
“ Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land;
20 But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword”;
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
The Degenerate City
21 How the faithful city has become a harlot!
It was full of justice;
Righteousness lodged in it,
But now murderers.
22 Your silver has become dross,
Your wine mixed with water.
23 Your princes are rebellious,
And companions of thieves;
Everyone loves bribes,
And follows after rewards.
They do not defend the fatherless,
Nor does the cause of the widow come before them.
24 Therefore the Lord says,
The LORD of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel,
“ Ah, I will rid Myself of My adversaries,
And take vengeance on My enemies.
25 I will turn My hand against you,
And thoroughly purge away your dross,
And take away all your alloy.
26 I will restore your judges as at the first,
And your counselors as at the beginning.
Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.”
27 Zion shall be redeemed with justice,
And her penitents with righteousness.
28 The destruction of transgressors and of sinners shall be together,
And those who forsake the LORD shall be consumed.
29 For they[b] shall be ashamed of the terebinth trees
Which you have desired;
And you shall be embarrassed because of the gardens
Which you have chosen.
30 For you shall be as a terebinth whose leaf fades,
And as a garden that has no water.
31 The strong shall be as tinder,
And the work of it as a spark;
Both will burn together,
And no one shall quench them.
It was full of justice;
Righteousness lodged in it,
But now murderers.
22 Your silver has become dross,
Your wine mixed with water.
23 Your princes are rebellious,
And companions of thieves;
Everyone loves bribes,
And follows after rewards.
They do not defend the fatherless,
Nor does the cause of the widow come before them.
24 Therefore the Lord says,
The LORD of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel,
“ Ah, I will rid Myself of My adversaries,
And take vengeance on My enemies.
25 I will turn My hand against you,
And thoroughly purge away your dross,
And take away all your alloy.
26 I will restore your judges as at the first,
And your counselors as at the beginning.
Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.”
27 Zion shall be redeemed with justice,
And her penitents with righteousness.
28 The destruction of transgressors and of sinners shall be together,
And those who forsake the LORD shall be consumed.
29 For they[b] shall be ashamed of the terebinth trees
Which you have desired;
And you shall be embarrassed because of the gardens
Which you have chosen.
30 For you shall be as a terebinth whose leaf fades,
And as a garden that has no water.
31 The strong shall be as tinder,
And the work of it as a spark;
Both will burn together,
And no one shall quench them.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
TO BE LONGING...BY ANNA
I’m currently memorizing Isaiah 43—and let me tell you, it is worth every single second I spend on it and a dozen times more. (Isaiah 54 and 55 are just as good.)
Go on, read that verse over again. “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have... called you BY YOUR NAME; YOU ARE MINE.”
You are Mine.
Go on, read that verse over again. “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have... called you BY YOUR NAME; YOU ARE MINE.”
You are Mine.
Do you know just how many people in the world, past and present, who have struggled with the feeling of being homeless? Of having no one who cares for them. Unclaimed. Unwanted. Rejected. Cast off. Of being alone. Of being so sinful, so dirty, so unworthy, that no one could ever even look at them without cringing, let alone forgiving them and raising them up from the ashes.
Of not belonging to anyone.
I’m not very old at all, and I’m certainly not too experienced, but in my brief span, I’ve noticed that we as human beings struggle with the issue of belonging. On one hand, we don’t like the idea of being “beholden” or “obligated” to anyone, and we certainly don’t like being in servitude. (More on that another devotional.) But on the other hand, we NEED to belong. To something. To someone. To not be “unclaimed”. To not be adrift in a big, scary world with no one by your side, no one to look out for you and after you. To not be rejected and unwanted. (Those two words “rejected” and “unwanted” are two of the most frightening words in the English language. I know; I’ve felt them. They’re horrible.) And do you know what? Separate “belonging” into two words. “Be” “longing”. We literally “be longing” to belong.
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine.”
I’m His. I belong to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He’s called me BY MY NAME. He knows everything about me. He loves me. I’m precious in His sight. He’s always with me. He never leaves me nor forsakes me; He cares for me now, always has, and always will. He wants me. He claims me. He redeems me. He forgives me.
I belong to Him.
And so do you.
Friday, March 18, 2011
YOUR HANDS HAVE MADE ME...
Your hands have made me and fashioned me; Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments.--Psalm 119:73
Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,
His hands have made me...His hands have shaped me! As it says in Psalm 139, I am fearfully and wonderfully made. My Lord, my God and Father, is acquainted with all my ways. He knows what I am going to say before I say it. He hedges me behind and before. His presence is inescapable. His right hand upholds me and even when I think the darkness is going to fall on me... even the night is light about me. He planned my days when as yet there were none of them. All of them are written in His book. His thoughts toward me are precious and cannot be counted....more in number the Psalmist says than the sand. My God knows all about me...my thoughts, my anxieties, the way that I take...and it is HE that leads me in the way that is everlasting.
I am an open book to Him and He LOVES what He sees! Why would I not submit to Him completely and be completely enveloped in His love. God is omniscience and omnipresence...that is such a comfort! When each of your were babies I can remember just watching as you played...not wanting to miss a precious moment of it.
I love thinking that our God is like that! Life is made up of thousands of moments...each one our Lord has planned for us. Don't miss any of what He has planned for you by going your own way...let Him lead.
I am created by God! He has a purpose for me...for my life. The opposing view renders life meaningless and pointless. It says that I am the result of a billion accidents, over billions of years. This is what many of us are teaching our children or allowing our public school system to teach them. They then have to spend millions of dollars trying to counter that teaching with self-esteem courses. Such evil we teach our little ones. We are created in His image. We are made in the similitude of our Creator. Genesis says "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness." This defines man unique relationship to God. Colossians 3:10 says this:
"and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,"
It is God's plan that believers become progressively more like Jesus Christ, the One who made them. He predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son.1 Corinthians 15:49 says
"as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man."
1 John 3:2 says, "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."
Finally 2nd Corinthians 3:18 says this: But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
We are who He, our Creator, says we are and when we awake in His presence we shall be like Him!
Love
Mom
Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,
His hands have made me...His hands have shaped me! As it says in Psalm 139, I am fearfully and wonderfully made. My Lord, my God and Father, is acquainted with all my ways. He knows what I am going to say before I say it. He hedges me behind and before. His presence is inescapable. His right hand upholds me and even when I think the darkness is going to fall on me... even the night is light about me. He planned my days when as yet there were none of them. All of them are written in His book. His thoughts toward me are precious and cannot be counted....more in number the Psalmist says than the sand. My God knows all about me...my thoughts, my anxieties, the way that I take...and it is HE that leads me in the way that is everlasting.
I am an open book to Him and He LOVES what He sees! Why would I not submit to Him completely and be completely enveloped in His love. God is omniscience and omnipresence...that is such a comfort! When each of your were babies I can remember just watching as you played...not wanting to miss a precious moment of it.
I love thinking that our God is like that! Life is made up of thousands of moments...each one our Lord has planned for us. Don't miss any of what He has planned for you by going your own way...let Him lead.
I am created by God! He has a purpose for me...for my life. The opposing view renders life meaningless and pointless. It says that I am the result of a billion accidents, over billions of years. This is what many of us are teaching our children or allowing our public school system to teach them. They then have to spend millions of dollars trying to counter that teaching with self-esteem courses. Such evil we teach our little ones. We are created in His image. We are made in the similitude of our Creator. Genesis says "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness." This defines man unique relationship to God. Colossians 3:10 says this:
"and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,"
It is God's plan that believers become progressively more like Jesus Christ, the One who made them. He predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son.1 Corinthians 15:49 says
"as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man."
1 John 3:2 says, "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."
Finally 2nd Corinthians 3:18 says this: But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
We are who He, our Creator, says we are and when we awake in His presence we shall be like Him!
Love
Mom
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Hymn of Security...
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:
“ For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.--Romans 8:31-39
Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,
John MacArthur calls this the believer's hymn of security. What a great passage this would be to memorize! Paul begins by asking the question "if God is for us, who can be against us?" It could also read, "since God is for us." The Father is for us...He did not spare His own Son to give us the free gift of salvation when we were still His enemies. He has already given us the greatest gift and paid the highest price. He has sacrificed His Son for us, there is nothing...nothing that He would not give.
Verse 33 asks, "who will bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. We have been declared righteous by God. Our sin has been pardoned, our debt has been paid. When we believe, God imputes Christ's righteousness to our account. If then God has declared us righteous, who can accuse us? Paul goes on to ask, "who is he that condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Do you see what is being said here, girls, The answer is NO ONE can condemn us. I (we) am the defendant. Christ died in my place for my sin. The Son of God...for me! And what is more...He is risen from the dead and is at the right hand of the Father interceding for me! The Lord Jesus not only died for me, He prays for me for my good! God has committed judgment to the Son. If He does not condemn me...no one can.
Next, Paul gives the list of what cannot separate us from the love of Christ. NOTHING CAN BANISH US FROM HIS PRESENCE. NOTHING! OUR SALVATION IS SECURE. Check out the list for yourself...it is pretty inclusive. John 10:27-30 says this:
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.
”Believers often face much suffering and persecution in this world. Paul understood this better than most. The sheep reference reminds me that the Lord is my Shepherd...He leads, I follow. Nothing can separate me from Him. I am secure...I have everything I need.
Because of our identification with Christ we die daily and are at times persecuted for our faith...as David writes and Paul quotes, we are killed all day long...we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Persecution and death will not separate us from Him. The bible tells us when we are absent from the body, we are present with the Lord. When we awake after death, we awake in His likeness.
Here is my favorite verse..."Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." Instead of drawing us away from God, sufferings and persecutions draw us to Him and through them we bring glory to God and blessings to ourselves. All you need do to understand is to look to the cross and see the glorious result of the One who suffered...the just for the unjust. The darkest moment in history was in reality the brightest light and the greatest gift the world would ever know. We are secure in Him. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. No matter what I face in this life...He will always be with me. No one....no one can take Him from me...not even me. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me;" WHAT COMFORT!
Love
Mom
Some verses that were encouraging to read...
Rom_8:17, Rom_5:3-5; Mat_5:10-12, Mat_10:28-31; Luk_21:12-18; Joh_16:33; Act_14:22; Act_20:23-24; 2Co_4:17, 2Co_6:4-10, 2Co_11:23-27; 2Ti_1:12, 2Ti_4:16-18; Heb_12:3-11; Jam_1:2-4; 1Pe_1:5-7, 1Pe_4:12-14; Rev_7:14-17
“ For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.--Romans 8:31-39
Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,
John MacArthur calls this the believer's hymn of security. What a great passage this would be to memorize! Paul begins by asking the question "if God is for us, who can be against us?" It could also read, "since God is for us." The Father is for us...He did not spare His own Son to give us the free gift of salvation when we were still His enemies. He has already given us the greatest gift and paid the highest price. He has sacrificed His Son for us, there is nothing...nothing that He would not give.
Verse 33 asks, "who will bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. We have been declared righteous by God. Our sin has been pardoned, our debt has been paid. When we believe, God imputes Christ's righteousness to our account. If then God has declared us righteous, who can accuse us? Paul goes on to ask, "who is he that condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Do you see what is being said here, girls, The answer is NO ONE can condemn us. I (we) am the defendant. Christ died in my place for my sin. The Son of God...for me! And what is more...He is risen from the dead and is at the right hand of the Father interceding for me! The Lord Jesus not only died for me, He prays for me for my good! God has committed judgment to the Son. If He does not condemn me...no one can.
Next, Paul gives the list of what cannot separate us from the love of Christ. NOTHING CAN BANISH US FROM HIS PRESENCE. NOTHING! OUR SALVATION IS SECURE. Check out the list for yourself...it is pretty inclusive. John 10:27-30 says this:
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.
”Believers often face much suffering and persecution in this world. Paul understood this better than most. The sheep reference reminds me that the Lord is my Shepherd...He leads, I follow. Nothing can separate me from Him. I am secure...I have everything I need.
Because of our identification with Christ we die daily and are at times persecuted for our faith...as David writes and Paul quotes, we are killed all day long...we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Persecution and death will not separate us from Him. The bible tells us when we are absent from the body, we are present with the Lord. When we awake after death, we awake in His likeness.
Here is my favorite verse..."Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." Instead of drawing us away from God, sufferings and persecutions draw us to Him and through them we bring glory to God and blessings to ourselves. All you need do to understand is to look to the cross and see the glorious result of the One who suffered...the just for the unjust. The darkest moment in history was in reality the brightest light and the greatest gift the world would ever know. We are secure in Him. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. No matter what I face in this life...He will always be with me. No one....no one can take Him from me...not even me. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me;" WHAT COMFORT!
Love
Mom
Some verses that were encouraging to read...
Rom_8:17, Rom_5:3-5; Mat_5:10-12, Mat_10:28-31; Luk_21:12-18; Joh_16:33; Act_14:22; Act_20:23-24; 2Co_4:17, 2Co_6:4-10, 2Co_11:23-27; 2Ti_1:12, 2Ti_4:16-18; Heb_12:3-11; Jam_1:2-4; 1Pe_1:5-7, 1Pe_4:12-14; Rev_7:14-17
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Absent From the Body...Present with the Lord....
You will guide me with Your counsel, And afterward receive me to glory --Psalm 73:24
But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, For He shall receive me. Selah --Psalm 49:15
Precious in the sight of the Lord, is the death of His saints.--Psalm 116:15
Dear Girls,
After our lives are over here on this earth, our Lord receives us! Paul tells us in 2nd Corinthians 5:8 that absent from the body is present with the Lord. As believers, we are His redeemed. We may be rejected and despised by many here on earth. We may even be persecuted for naming the name of Christ, but truly we have nothing to fear. Read what it says in Romans:
"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us"--Romans 8:18
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. --Romans 8:37-39
Death comes to all of us. We cannot buy our way out of it. The unbeliever goes to the grave unredeemed and is received in hell only to face the second death. (see Revelation 20:11-15) No matter what kind of rejection we face here on earth for our faith, we are victorious in death. Because we are accepted in the Beloved, we are received by the Lord Himself at the moment of our death. THE LORD HIMSELF RECEIVES US! We will hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant...Enter into the joy of your Lord."
What an incentive to do His will then here on earth! How much time so many of us waste striving to be accepted by the people around us instead of sharing the truth of the Gospel with them. How much time do we waste trying to impress and please man? None of it matters in the end. Spend your time rightly...serving Him who will guide you with His counsel here on earth and receive you in glory when your life on earth is done. The Lord is on your side...there is nothing to fear. The worse that can happen is death and when that occurs the Lord will receive you. Ironically then, the worse that can happen to you here on earth is really the best thing that will ever happen to you.
Love
Mom
Psalm 17:15 As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.
But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, For He shall receive me. Selah --Psalm 49:15
Precious in the sight of the Lord, is the death of His saints.--Psalm 116:15
Dear Girls,
After our lives are over here on this earth, our Lord receives us! Paul tells us in 2nd Corinthians 5:8 that absent from the body is present with the Lord. As believers, we are His redeemed. We may be rejected and despised by many here on earth. We may even be persecuted for naming the name of Christ, but truly we have nothing to fear. Read what it says in Romans:
"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us"--Romans 8:18
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. --Romans 8:37-39
Death comes to all of us. We cannot buy our way out of it. The unbeliever goes to the grave unredeemed and is received in hell only to face the second death. (see Revelation 20:11-15) No matter what kind of rejection we face here on earth for our faith, we are victorious in death. Because we are accepted in the Beloved, we are received by the Lord Himself at the moment of our death. THE LORD HIMSELF RECEIVES US! We will hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant...Enter into the joy of your Lord."
What an incentive to do His will then here on earth! How much time so many of us waste striving to be accepted by the people around us instead of sharing the truth of the Gospel with them. How much time do we waste trying to impress and please man? None of it matters in the end. Spend your time rightly...serving Him who will guide you with His counsel here on earth and receive you in glory when your life on earth is done. The Lord is on your side...there is nothing to fear. The worse that can happen is death and when that occurs the Lord will receive you. Ironically then, the worse that can happen to you here on earth is really the best thing that will ever happen to you.
Love
Mom
Psalm 17:15 As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Believers Are Conquerors....
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?--1 John 5:1-5
Dear Mikayla, Anna, Rebecca and Suzanne,
This is what I want for you my daughters. Victory over this world. Overwhelming success. I want you to be conquerors in Him and through Him! John says that whatever is born of God overcomes the world. The victory that has overcome the world is the believer's faith. Believers then are the overcomers! Why? As believers we have been accepted in the Beloved. We are in Christ and thus share in His victory. What is His is ours! Look at the promises to the overcomer spoken of by the apostle John in Revelation. Read Ephesians and see what riches we have in Him!
Revelation 2:7 To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God." '
Revelation 2:11 He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.
Revelation 2:17 To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it." '
Revelation 2:26 And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations
Revelation 3:5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
Revelation 3:12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.
Revelation 3:21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
An overcomer believes that Jesus is the Christ and thus is born of God. Belief here is not just intellectual assent. James tells us that the demons believe and tremble. John is speaking of a heart belief. When your heart believes something your words and actions will reflect that belief. Your life will be one dedicated to doing the will of God from your heart. Romans 10:10 says it is with the heart that one believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Next we note that because he is born again. he will love both God and fellow believers. Verse 2 defines it further and says that a believer will not only love God and fellow believers but he will also obey His commandments. Our love for God then will be expressed in our love for other believers and our desire to do His will and obey His commandments. Faith leads to love and love leads to obedience. The three are linked here beautifully by John.
Verse 3 goes on to say that His commandments are not burdensome. Contrast Matthew 23:4 with Matthew 11:28-30.
Jesus is speaking here in Matthew 23 of the scribes and Pharisees.
"For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers."
In Matthew 11 Jesus gives the only autobiographical statement He ever made:
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Now sometimes obeying God is not easy. Sometimes, in fact, many times it is difficult. But because I love Him, I delight to do His will. Doing His will is never a burden because it is not me that does the work, but Christ in me. My job is to surrender to His Spirit and stay close.(hang on tight) The more I know Him...the more I trust Him...the more it becomes my delight to surrender and obey Him because I know that He desires the best for me.
Verse 4 tells us that we as believers have overcome the world. The world is passing away. It is an evil system that continually attempts to get our attention with things that have no value eternally. An unbeliever is enslaved to the things of the world and cannot separate himself from it. A believer is set free and can overcome the world through His faith in Christ. The believer separates himself from the world and sanctifies Christ in his heart...giving Him the preeminence always.
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.--Galatians 2:20
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.--Colossians 3:1-4
Satan is the ruler of this world. 1 John 4:4 says that greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. Our hope is not in this world...our home is not in this world. We look past the temporal to the eternal. Our old nature looks to the things of the world, but our new nature looks to the things above. Jesus said that in this world we will have tribulation but to be of good cheer because He has overcome the world. Our victory is in the person of Jesus. It is through Him that we can do all things. As we grow in faith, we grow in love as we grow in love we grow in obedience. As we immerse ourselves in the things of God and look up the things of earth grow dim and we loosen our grip and focus on the temporal and look, like Abraham did, to the reward. Victory is ours in Him.
Read more and be encouraged...
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”--John 16:33
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:
“ For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.--Romans 8:35-37
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.--1 Cor 15:56-58
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.--1 John 2:15-17
He who does the will of God abides forever...
Love
Mom
Dear Mikayla, Anna, Rebecca and Suzanne,
This is what I want for you my daughters. Victory over this world. Overwhelming success. I want you to be conquerors in Him and through Him! John says that whatever is born of God overcomes the world. The victory that has overcome the world is the believer's faith. Believers then are the overcomers! Why? As believers we have been accepted in the Beloved. We are in Christ and thus share in His victory. What is His is ours! Look at the promises to the overcomer spoken of by the apostle John in Revelation. Read Ephesians and see what riches we have in Him!
Revelation 2:7 To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God." '
Revelation 2:11 He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.
Revelation 2:17 To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it." '
Revelation 2:26 And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations
Revelation 3:5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
Revelation 3:12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.
Revelation 3:21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
An overcomer believes that Jesus is the Christ and thus is born of God. Belief here is not just intellectual assent. James tells us that the demons believe and tremble. John is speaking of a heart belief. When your heart believes something your words and actions will reflect that belief. Your life will be one dedicated to doing the will of God from your heart. Romans 10:10 says it is with the heart that one believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Next we note that because he is born again. he will love both God and fellow believers. Verse 2 defines it further and says that a believer will not only love God and fellow believers but he will also obey His commandments. Our love for God then will be expressed in our love for other believers and our desire to do His will and obey His commandments. Faith leads to love and love leads to obedience. The three are linked here beautifully by John.
Verse 3 goes on to say that His commandments are not burdensome. Contrast Matthew 23:4 with Matthew 11:28-30.
Jesus is speaking here in Matthew 23 of the scribes and Pharisees.
"For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers."
In Matthew 11 Jesus gives the only autobiographical statement He ever made:
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Now sometimes obeying God is not easy. Sometimes, in fact, many times it is difficult. But because I love Him, I delight to do His will. Doing His will is never a burden because it is not me that does the work, but Christ in me. My job is to surrender to His Spirit and stay close.(hang on tight) The more I know Him...the more I trust Him...the more it becomes my delight to surrender and obey Him because I know that He desires the best for me.
Verse 4 tells us that we as believers have overcome the world. The world is passing away. It is an evil system that continually attempts to get our attention with things that have no value eternally. An unbeliever is enslaved to the things of the world and cannot separate himself from it. A believer is set free and can overcome the world through His faith in Christ. The believer separates himself from the world and sanctifies Christ in his heart...giving Him the preeminence always.
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.--Galatians 2:20
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.--Colossians 3:1-4
Satan is the ruler of this world. 1 John 4:4 says that greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. Our hope is not in this world...our home is not in this world. We look past the temporal to the eternal. Our old nature looks to the things of the world, but our new nature looks to the things above. Jesus said that in this world we will have tribulation but to be of good cheer because He has overcome the world. Our victory is in the person of Jesus. It is through Him that we can do all things. As we grow in faith, we grow in love as we grow in love we grow in obedience. As we immerse ourselves in the things of God and look up the things of earth grow dim and we loosen our grip and focus on the temporal and look, like Abraham did, to the reward. Victory is ours in Him.
Read more and be encouraged...
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”--John 16:33
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:
“ For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.--Romans 8:35-37
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.--1 Cor 15:56-58
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.--1 John 2:15-17
He who does the will of God abides forever...
Love
Mom
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