The Lord Make His Face Shine Upon You...

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:

The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.--Numbers 6:24-26

To My Daughters,

The Lord bless thee!!  This one comes first.  This is the desire of our Father's heart for us.  He wants to give us good gifts and bless us.  He always wants our highest good.  His blessings are far and beyond the blessings that we as humans seek.  His blessings are eternal reach into the highest parts of heaven. 

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!--Matthew 7:11

For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory;  No good thing will He withhold  From those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts,Blessed is the man who trusts in You!--Psalm 84:11-12

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.--James 1:17

and keep thee...the word "keep" here means to guard or protect...to preserve....to keep within bounds...to restrain.  This, girls, is what God the Father does for those that belong to Him.  He keeps us and preserves us through this world and receives us into glory when our time on earth is done.  He protects us because we are His. 

If you are not kept by the Lord, you are kept in bondage by  your own sin, by your own bitterness, and by your own unforgiveness.   When your time on earth is complete,  you will be received not to Him who loves you with an everlasting love but to Satan, the Deceiver, who has kept you in bondage using your own wrong desires as bait.  You will see then how the Lord called your name and gave you every opportunity to come to Him while you sojourned here on earth but in your pride and hardheartedness you refused Him...too blinded by your own lusts to see past your own flesh to the eternal goodness of His grace toward you. 

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless  Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.--Jude 1:24-25

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.--1 Peter 1:3-5

The Lord make His face shine upon you.   Ahhhhh...to have the approval of my God...to have His face shine upon mine.  What a glorious gift!  When we look to our God, we are radiant and our faces are unashamed because we are in Christ, His Son.  It is not anything about us...it is all about His Son.  What a relief!!!  There is nothing we can do when we are truly His that will change that relationship.  There is nothing that can separate us from the His love. We have the light of the countenance of His wondrous love shining down upon us at all times.  What calm and peace this should bring to our hearts!

The best part of the Lord making His face shine upon us is that it shines upon us from both vantage points...from above and from within our own hearts where upon our belief His love was shed abroad.  The Son in our hearts reveal the Father above...If you want to know God above, look to Jesus, His Son,  and be enlightened.  

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.--2nd Corinthians 4:6

Grace and truth is found in the face of Jesus Christ.   In Him, the Bible says, was life and that life was the light of men. 

And be gracious unto thee...The more I know Jesus the more I understand that it is all grace.  I understand why the crowds loved Him and thronged Him. I see what the sinners saw...Jesus cares for His people, the sheep of His pasture, with a heart full of tenderness and compassion.  Our God is gracious.  

The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.  To lift up His countenance upon you simply means to smile.  May the Lord smile upon you and give you peace.  The word peace here is Shalom which means the cessation of hostility.  When we surrender to Jesus and allow Him access to our heart we are no longer enemies of God...we are at peace with Him.  This enables you to be at peace not only with Him but also with yourself and with others.

God wants to give you a future and a hope.  He wants to give you peace and an eternity with Him.  He wants to set His love upon you.  His desire for you is good.  Surrender to Him today.  Allow the goodness of God lead you to repentance.  

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and findMe, when you search for Me with all your heart. --Jeremiah 29:11-13

Love

Mom