Merry Christmas

We will be taking the week for resting and family. See you in 2007. Have a wonderful Christmas week.



MERRY CHRISTMAS

PEACE ON EARTH

GOOD WILL TOWARD MEN

A SAVIOR IS BORN

LET US REJOICE

WITH EXCEEDING, GREAT JOY

AND A PROSPERPOUS 2007

WITH OPEN DOORS

FOR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

The Faith of Simeon and Anna

We have one more passage of scripture where we want to show you the faith of people who were very important in Jesus’ life when He was born. Let’s look at Simeon and Anna. The passage is long but well worth looking at.

Luke 2:21-38
And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. 22And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; 23(As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;) 24And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. 25And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. 26And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, 28Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, 29Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: 30For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, 31Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; 32A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. 33And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him. 34And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; 35(Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. 36And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; 37And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. 38And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.


The first thing I notice about Simeon is that he was a righteous and devout man of God and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And he came by the Spirit into the temple when Jesus was presented for circumcision. He blessed the One Who would bless all mankind. And it is obvious that he knew that Jesus was the Messiah because he said that his eyes had seen the salvation which God had prepared for His people Israel. He knew by the Spirit what would happen to Jesus and told Mary, his mother. He had faith to live to see Him so that he could bless Him.

Then there was Anna, a prophetess, who served God night and day in prayer. She also came by the Spirit and spoke of Jesus being the Redeemer. She gave thanks unto the Lord for allowing her to see the Christ child. She had faith to live to see Him to proclaim His redemption.

What did Simeon and Anna have in common? It is obvious that they were two people who sought the Lord, who loved the Lord and spent time with the Lord. The result was that they were in the Spirit. The Spirit of the Lord was upon them. You see, He will show us things to come, when we spend time in His presence. It is just part of being with Him. He knows all things and being around Him all the time will bring revelation to you and me of places, people and times.

It is Christmas on our calendar in a few days. There is so much in my heart this year about the way we spend Christmas, the buildup of shopping, cookie baking, cleaning house, food preparation, excitement of the family getting together. And in our busyness do we make room for Jesus Christ? It is His birthday and it has become so commercialized. Let’s purpose to make room for Him in the inn of our heart always, not just at Christmas.

The Faith of the Wise Men

We are going to talk today about the faith of the wise men. Let’s look at the passage regarding their journey to see Jesus.

Matthew 2:1-12
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. 3When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. 5And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, 6And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judaea, art not the least among the princes of Judaea: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. 7Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. 8And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. 9When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. 10When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
11And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. 12And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

The wise men had to have faith to believe that the star they had seen would direct them to the King of the Jews. They had studied the stars and knew what this star meant. They traveled to find this King. The had come to worship Him Who was the King of the Jews. They knew from the Word of God that in Bethlehem in Judea would be born one who would be over His people Israel. Of course, they didn’t know Him as Jesus. They just knew what they had read and seen.

They followed the star until they came to the Christ, where they rejoiced with exceeding great joy and bowed down and worshipped him when they found Him. And they came bearing gifts, I am sure at the Lord’s direction, because some scholars say that these gifts gave them the finances they needed to go to Egypt. I don’t know that that is true. These were gifts fit for a King---only the best that they had. There are various explanations regarding these gifts. All I know is that they had come with gifts for a King.

Their faith in God extended to being obedient to a dream warning them not to return to Herod. Obedience was a key factor for these wise men in the role they played in the birth of Jesus.

We can see so far that the obedience of each person or people involved in the birth of Jesus played a role in the overall picture of His coming to this earth----Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and now the wise men.

As we look at this picture in regards to today’s scenario, we see lessons we can take to heart. We are to come with our gift to Jesus and worship Him with exceeding great joy. We are to be obedient to what the Spirit of God tells us. We are to follow His directions, His instructions. We must believe Him when He gives us His Word. We must have faith in His Word to produce the results He tells us it will do. He tells us in Isaiah 55 that His Word will not return to Him void, without producing results.

We are to see ourselves as significant in terms of the big picture. The part we play in obedience in our lives produces a big picture. You see, we can only see the smaller portion we have unless the Spirit of God opens up the scene and shows us the entire picture. It is like a puzzle that is put together. You are just one piece but together, we all make one beautiful picture called the Body of Christ. Never consider what you do to be insignificant. You are very important to the Father, to Jesus and to the Holy Spirit. Never underestimate your value, your worth. You are of great worth. After all, the Son of God came to this earth for you that you might become a member of the family. What a God! What a plan!

This Christmas season, let the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Redeemer, the Savior, show you just how valuable you are to His Kingdom. And you show Him just how valuable He is to your life by giving Him the greatest gift you have----yourself, your heart totally. You know, we can be born again and hold back portions of our life from being His. Many times, there are closed doors in our heart that we have not let anyone into, including Jesus. Give Him all you have, everything. It will be well worth it to you.

Rejoice with exceeding great joy for your Kind has come to rule and reign in your heart, in your life. Let Him sit on the throne of your heart forever. There is no one greater than He is. There is no one Who loves you more than He does. There is no one who will take care of you like He can.

REJOICE WITH EXCEEDING GREAT JOY!

The Faith of the Shepherds

Today we are going to talk about the faith of the shepherds.

Let’s look at the passage in Luke 1:8-20.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid (terribly frightened).
And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord,
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

We see from this passage that the shepherds were terribly frightened when they saw the angel of the Lord and the glory of His splendor. Lest you say, hey, I would not be afraid—how many angels have you seen in the splendor of the glory of heaven. I am sure that it was an awesome sight and sound as well.

The angel is in the process of telling them that Christ the Lord is born in the city of David. There is a sign that it is the Savior—He will be wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Then a whole multitude of the heavenly host couldn’t wait any longer. They were so excited, they burst forth with praises unto God, because He has finally come. He is finally here on earth. He is bringing peace and good will toward men. The suddenly means that they could not restrain themselves from the announcement any longer. They just had to shout it, HE IS HERE! REJOICE, THE SAVIOR IS HERE!

The shepherds didn’t hesitate in going to Bethlehem to see what the Lord had made known to them. They came with haste. They didn’t waste any time. They were going to see the Savior. They believed what they had been told.

After they went to see Jesus, they broadcast it everywhere, glorifying and praising God for all they had SEEN and HEARD, as it was told them. They were really the first evangelists, preaching the good news that a Savior has been born.

What has the Lord been speaking to you and me? What has He told us that we have believed so totally that we have made haste to do it and then to proclaim it everywhere we go? This year I am asking the Lord to help me to be quick to hear what He has to say, quick to obey and quick to proclaim what He tells me to proclaim. It’s time to shout the good news that a Savior has been born, and we need to glorify and praise God for His appearance. Let the world hear that a Savior has been born. Let the world hear us proclaiming it. We will not be shut up any longer by the enemy. It is well past time to tell the world that God is not mad with them. He loves them so much that He sent His Son Jesus to rescue them, to redeem them to the freedom of walking in the blessings that Father has made available for them. Father has opened the way back into the household. The family is complete again. God and sons can be a family.

What About Joseph's Faith?

Let’s talk today about Joseph, Mary’s husband and earthly father of Jesus.

We hear so much about Mary’s faith when she said: Be it unto me according to Your word. But what about Joseph? He had to have as much faith as Mary to believe the angel and to take Mary as his wife, knowing that people would question what had happened between them. His reputation, as well as Mary’s, was on the line. Both of them had to make themselves of no reputation, just as Jesus made himself of no reputation when he came to this earth. They had to lay aside their earthly desires for man’s approval, including their parents’ approval, and seek only God’s approval and believe Him and trust Him for their lives totally. Both Mary and Joseph had to totally trust God for what they had heard.

Let’s look at the passage where Joseph was visited by the angel in Matthew 1:18-25.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
And she shall bring forth a son and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife;
And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

At first glance, this passage seems to ordinary, so in order. You notice that Joseph was a just man, one who was an upright man who was not willing to expose Mary publicly but divorce her quietly without any fanfare or retaliation against her. She could have been stoned if he had so desired. Think about what would have happened if Joseph had not believed. But God knew He could trust Joseph as much as He could trust Mary with parenting His only begotten Son. Joseph pondered the situation and while he was pondering everything, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him that he was not to fear because Mary had conceived the child by the Holy Ghost. (Mary was also told not to fear. The shepherds were told not to fear. I have a feeling we would have been told the same thing as we were exposed to such awesome power.) How many men would have believed that it was the angel of the Lord? After all, it was only a dream, or was it? That is the decision Joseph had to make. But he obeyed and called the child Jesus as he had been instructed. (Mary had also been instructed to call him Jesus.) One simple phrase describes Joseph, just like Mary---“and he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him.” In other words, he believed the word of the Lord, just as Mary did.

Let’s translate that to us today. What is it that the Lord has spoken to you about? Have you believed Him? And have you told Him that you will do as He has spoken to you. That is the place I will leave you today. We all have some pondering to do. The Lord is calling us to a higher place in Him, where we will believe and do what He tells us. Are you ready?

Love Is A Commandment

Love is a commandment. We’re talking about the Love that God has, is a commandment for us to operate in. The God-kind of Love is not something we wait for feelings to indicate. It has nothing to do with feelings. It is a decision we make to love someone, regardless of our feelings or what we may want to do in our flesh.

In Matthew 22:37-40 when the lawyer asked Jesus what the great commandment was, Jesus’ response was: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. He was quoting Deuteronomy 6:4,5: Hear (Pay attention, sit up and take notice), the Lord your God is one Lord. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.

Why did Jesus come? And why was this God’s first commandment? And, of course, Jesus added that there is a second commandment like the first: Love your neighbor as yourself.

We are told many reasons in the Word of God why Jesus came. He came to set the captives free. He came to loosen, undo, dissolve, destroy the works of the devil. What is the greatest freedom? What are the works of the devil? The devil is the embodiment of hatred, which has its root in fear. Everything that comes from him is rooted in fear—sickness and disease, lack, poverty, doubt and unbelief, want, etc. So, the opposite of this is: Jesus is the embodiment of love which is rooted in faith and brings healing and health, abundance, believing, peace and joy, etc. This is the reason love is God’s commandment. Love brings all that is good and wonderful and makes us whole without any want, enjoying life to the max.

Love is not a little thing that is an option in our lives and is the romantic idea that we’ll live on love and nothing else. We literally do live on love and nothing else, but it is not the Hollywood interpretation of love or the romance novel’s interpretation. It is God’s interpretation. And His interpretation is that it is a commandment that you and I love God and everyone else, regardless of how we feel about it. I’m going to take a little side trip here, if you don’t mind. The reason so many Christian marriages are failing and ending in divorce is that we have embraced the world’s idea of love and marriage. When we base our relationship in marriage from the beginning on the covenant of God’s love, which builds a strong foundation for the storms that come, our marriages will last. There is a reason they will last-----the God-kind of Love never fails.

Since God is Love, then when we love (go back to 1 Corinthians 13, particularly in the Amplified Bible, to find out what His love looks like), we are allowing God, who is Love, to set us free from whatever bondages we are in. We allow God to release in our lives what He so desires to do. He desires to see us walking in victory and enjoying life. As we walk in Him, then we walk in His love and we walk in all that He is. That is a pretty awesome picture, if you ask me. So is it worth it? Of course it is.

If you have let your love life slip, go back to 1 Corinthians 13 and start meditating on it. The Christmas season is the perfect time to work on God’s Love. He knows we have so many opportunities to practice it from the tired sales clerk to the hurried shoppers who can be very rude sometimes to the impatient driver honking his horn at you to the family demanding certain things from you. Yes, it definitely is the time to practice God’s love.

It is one week until Christmas. Get out your 3x5 card and write on it the portion of 1 Corinthians 13 you are having trouble with. Carry it everywhere you go until you’ve got it and then carry it some more. You’ll know when you’ve got it. Believe me. I know. My portion is: Love is not touchy, fretful or resentful. Love pays no attention to a suffered wrong. How about you? What is the portion you are working on?

You see, we can do this. Why? Because the God kind of love is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5) and the Father told us through Jesus that the love wherewith He loves Jesus is in our hearts and that He loves us as much as He loves Jesus. It’s in there. What we have to do is to learn how to release His love on purpose into every situation we encounter. And the way to do that is to meditate on these portions of scripture until we can walk in love consistently.
Matt. 22:37-40; Rom. 5:5; John 17:23,26: 1 John 3:22,23; 1 John 4:8-11

The Prophecy of Zachariah - Part 2

As we said yesterday, God’s glory will be revealed again this time before He comes again. And all flesh shall see it.
And how do you think His glory will be revealed? It will be revealed through you and me as His children. We are like our Father. But in order for His glory to be revealed, we must prepare ourselves to be habitations of the fullness of His glory because the Word of God says that we go from one degree of glory to another. Our capacity must be enlarged. We are containers of the glory of God because the glory is His Presence manifested on this earth and there is usually a visible manifestation of His glory such as a cloud or fire. This is already being seen in places all over the earth and in churches where people are seeking the Lord with all their hearts. I have heard of one church where the fire department was called because fire was seen in the steeple. It was the fire of God and no literal fire.

It was spoken in the previous verse 76 that John the Baptist would go before the face of the Lord to make ready His ways so that-------
And we continue with verse 77 telling us what John would do-------
To bring and give the knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness and remission of their sins.

To bring and give knowledge of deliverance, of divine health, of freedom, of safety to His people, which is found in the forgiveness and washing away of their sins because God loves them with a heart of tender mercy and compassion.

Because of and through the heart of tender mercy and loving-kindness of our God, a Light from on high will dawn upon us and visit [us]
To shine upon and give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to direct and guide our feet in a straight line into the way of peace.

And because of God’s heart of tender mercy and compassion and love and kindness, Jesus, the Light of God came and visited us to shine forth and give the light of the Truth of Who God really is, of His great love. This truth has brought people out of the darkness of ignorance of God and out of the shadow of fear and death to direct them into peace—God’s wholeness, God’s freedom of completion, with nothing missing in our lives, with nothing broken in our lives.

So, we see from this passage in Luke that God showed Zachariah the purpose for Jesus’ coming. He prophesied ahead of time. For those who would have had ears to hear, they could have known what was coming. But most didn’t understand. Today, it is the same. There are those prophesying of His coming. We must ask the Holy Spirit to give us understanding of the times in which we are living, to quicken our spiritual ears to hear what He is saying and to do what He is asking us to do.

This world is full of those who don’t understand, who don’t know. They may think they know everything as they worship other gods, including themselves. America is full of people who think they know. It is our opportunity to tell them about Jesus as we are led to do so. Remember that telling people who are not ready to hear and without direction from the Lord will only produce tired and worn-out efforts. But when it is directed by the Holy Spirit, the fruit is sweet and the victory is sweatless.

Let’s continue to purpose in our hearts that we will be totally open to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives so that He has an open channel to minister to others through us. You are the only epistle that people read on this earth. Jesus has appointed you to be His vessel expressing His love to those with whom you come in contact, whether it is a family member or a stranger or your next-door neighbor. That is the work of the ministry. That is the preparing of the way for His coming.

The Prophecy of Zacariah, Part 1

Today and tomorrow let’s look at what Zachariah, the father of John, said after John was born. Zechariah prophesied concerning Jesus, the Messiah. What he said was full of truth and foretold what Jesus and John would do.

Listen to his words.

Luke 1: 67-79 Amplified Bible
What Zachariah prophesied for his people Israel, we can also claim as ours because if we be Christ’s, then we are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise (Gal. 3:29)

Now Zachariah his father was filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,
Blessed (praised and extolled and thanked be the Lord, the God of Israel, because HE HAS COME AND BROUGHT DELIVERANCE AND REDEMPTION TO HIS PEOPLE. (Emphasis added)
DELIVERANCE: Release, freedom from captivity and bondage
REDEMPTION: Ransom by paying a price to liberate
Confess: I am delivered from ________ and redeemed, set free, released from _______.

And He has raised up a Horn of salvation [a mighty and valiant Helper, the Author of salvation] for us in the house of David His servant--------
HORN: A symbol of power, of strength
SALVATION: Soteria: Rescue, safe, deliver, health, salvation, save, saving.
Confess: Jesus is my mighty and valiant Helper, the Author of my salvation, deliverance.

This is as He promised by the mouth of His holy prophets from the most ancient times [in the memory of man]------
That we should have deliverance and be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who detest and pursue us with hatred;
To make true and show the mercy and compassion and kindness [promised] to our forefathers and to remember and carry out His holy covenant [to bless, which is all the more sacred because it is made by God Himself],
That covenant He sealed by oath to our forefather Abraham:
To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our foes, might serve Him fearlessly
In holiness (divine consecration) and righteousness [in accordance with the everlasting principles of right] within His presence all the days of our lives.

Confess: God promised that I should delivered, saved, rescued, redeemed, ransomed from my enemies (fear, doubt, unbelief, sickness and disease, lack, poverty, want, spiritual death, etc.). He is Truth and He is showing me His mercy, compassion, kindness. He is carrying out His covenant to bless me that I may serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness in His presence all the days of my life.

And you, little one, shall be called a prophet of the Most High; for you shall go on before the face of the Lord to make ready His ways,

Isaiah declared this in his day in Isaiah 40:3-11 King James Version. He said that there would be a voice in the wilderness crying: Prepare the way for the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for the Lord. Every valley shall be exalted. Every mountain and hill shall be made low. Crooked places shall be made straight and rough places a plain. (In other words, Jesus makes things right where they are crooked or rough or exalting themselves above God. Sickness and disease, poverty, want, hatred, strife, death cannot exalt themselves above God. He is to be exalted.) And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see His glory revealed. The mouth of the Lord has spoken it. Things of this earth fade away but the Word of the Lord shall stand forever.
What does this mean? It means that John the Baptist prepared the way for the Lord’s coming by his obedience and declaration of what God told him to speak. When he did that, the glory of the Lord would be revealed. Even so, in the days we are living, we have the same assignment: Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming and His glory will be revealed to all flesh. All shall see Him. And every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.

The Spirit of Christmas

The people of the world have an expression: “The Spirit of Christmas.”

We Christians know Who the Spirit of Christmas is. He is the Holy Spirit. He is in us and works through us to make Love Who is God real to those around us. All year long we are to be vessels through whom the Lord can flow to bring joy and love and peace to those around us. Particularly this time of the year, when people are more receptive to love and giving, we need to ask the Lord to make His love so real to those we come in contact with—our family, our neighbors, people in the malls where we shop, the clerks at the counters where we buy gifts. What an opportunity we have to bring the reality of love into other people’s lives.

The Love of God, God Himself, wants to saturate our hearts with His Spirit to the point that we are moved with compassion for people. Compassion is a person, not a feeling, and His name is Jesus. If you were to look up the word “compassion” in the dictionary you would find that it is that which moves you to action on someone’s behalf. Before the foundation of the earth, the Father was moved with compassion to set up a plan to restore mankind if he messed up. What a plan! It was so well hidden that satan didn’t know anything about it and he was a key player in the outcome for the whole human race. When he arranged for Jesus to be crucified, satan sealed his doom forever and actually was used to open up the way for Jesus to be poured forth as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins and their consequences.

Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Father. Thank You, Holy Spirit.
Because of what you have done, we are free this Christmas to enjoy our lives, to participate in the blessings that you have provided for us. Thank You.
Thank You for coming. Thank You for thinking of me. Thank You for giving me the greatest gift—Yourself. Thank You for teaching me how to love your way. And thank You for pouring forth that love in me. I am so grateful.

Your love wraps itself around me and causes me to (1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Amplified Bible):
endure long and to be patient and kind; never to be envious or boil over with jealousy; not to be
boastful or vainglorious or to display myself haughtily. Your love causes me not to be conceited, arrogant or inflated with pride, not to be rude or unmannerly or to act unbecomingly. Your love causes me not to insist on my own rights or my own way, not to be self-seeking or touchy or fretful or resentful. Your love in me causes me not to take account of evil done to me or pay attention to a suffered wrong. Your love in me sees that it is wrong to rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness. But rather I rejoice when right and truth prevail. Your love, Jesus, causes me to bear up under anything and everything that comes, ever to be ready to believe the best of every person. Your love in me causes me to know that there is always hope that never fades under any circumstances; nor does it become obsolete or fade away. Your love in me causes me to know that I endure everything and anything without weakening. Your love in me never fails or fades out or becomes obsolete or ends. And why is that? Because God Who is Love never ends. He is always, yesterday, today and forever, never changing, always the same. Because God, Who is Love, is in me, I am stable, never changing, always the same, regardless of what comes my way.

This Christmas, Jesus, I ask You to make Your love so real to me that You are the very air I breathe and the very One I sense so close to me, as close as my heartbeat. And let that translate into the law of kindness being upon my lips, the act of mercy being in my actions toward others, the love of Jesus being my gift to others.

May others know that they have better lives because I brought Jesus and His reality to them this Christmas.

The Greatest Gift

I was out Christmas shopping today and everywhere I went people were so friendly and perfect strangers smiled at me in the mall. I had purposed in my heart as I went out the door this morning that the Holy Spirit would lead me all day, that I would carry the blessing of the Lord everywhere I went. It was a perfectly delightful day. And in one day I got all my shopping done. He directed me what to get to give to people. It was so much fun. I love shopping with Jesus. We really enjoyed ourselves. He knows all about gift giving since He gave Himself totally as a gift to all of us. What a wonderful, loving God we serve.

Then I ended my day with my husband and I meeting for dinner with some ministry friends and thoroughly enjoying our time with them.

I discovered something today, maybe not any big spiritual revelation as such, but I saw that people will respond to you according to what you have purposed for that day. All of us need to practice that and the world would be a better place.

Let’s talk about Jesus as the greatest gift that has ever been given. He as a gift was announced to the shepherds as they watched their flocks by night. They gladly received the good news of His arrival. Of course Mary and Joseph were the first ones to receive Him as a gift. What would have happened if Mary had said to the announcement by the angel Gabriel that she didn’t think she was worthy or that she didn’t think that was possible or she just didn’t have enough faith for that.

Have there been times when we have missed out on a gift that God wanted to give to us?

The wise men wanted to see the greatest gift ever given. They even brought gifts to Him.
What have you given to Him lately?

But there was one who didn’t receive the gift. He was a man in love with his own self and his own position. King Herod wanted to get rid of the gift. He didn’t appreciate what God had sent to this earth. He was only concerned about himself and his kingdom. Do we have our own kingdoms that have no place for the Lord?

There was no room in the inn for the gift that night that He came to this earth. Is there no room in your heart for the greatest gift ever given? You may say to me that you already have received Him as your Savior. But what about all those other places in your heart that are not open to Him, those areas that you keep to yourself. Every one of us need to allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to us any areas in our hearts that are not open to Jesus, areas that need revealing. Lately, that seems to be my prayer. Lord, reveal to me those places that you need to expose in my life and deal with them. I want Him to prepare me for Himself. I want Him to be welcome in any part of my life. He is so important to me.

There were those who accepted Jesus as God’s gift and those who didn’t accept Him. It is no different today. It is still the same. Here is the greatest gift that man will ever receive and yet it goes unnoticed by so many. This season as they hustle about to find the best gift for each person on their list, they are unaware that the best gift has already been chosen for them. His name is Jesus, Savior, Immanuel, Redeemer, Lord.

As you go about your shopping and go in the stores, remember to pray for those who don’t know Him, that they would see Him for the first time as their greatest gift. Pray silently for the clerks, for the shoppers, as you go about the stores. Pray that the eyes of their understanding will be opened to see the Truth of what they are missing, that they will desire Him Who is their greatest friend. Let’s step up our prayers for those who don’t know Him yet. That can be our greatest gift to Him this year.

What Will You Do With Jesus?

What will you do with Jesus? That is the question the Lord posed to me this morning. And that is the question I am asking you.

What will we do with Jesus? We have received Him into our hearts as our Savior, but is He our Lord? A lord is someone who is in charge of a person’s life, one who directs and has oversight over one’s life. He is one whom a person turns to for his wisdom, for his direction because he is the one in charge. He basically has been given rulership or authority over your life.

The wonderful and powerful thing about Jesus is that He doesn’t demand to be Lord of our lives, nor does He massively dictate what we are to do. It is an interesting Lordship that He exercises with us. He is neither a bully nor a dictator. He waits for us to ASK Him to be in charge of our lives, to be in charge of a situation, to partake of His wisdom for that situation, to let Him take care of things for us. Unlike human lords, He has given His authority and dominion over this earth to us, and He has made us lords over this earth, under His lordship. If we allow Him, it is a wonderful partnership. He as the all-knowing God knows what is ahead and steers us in the right direction to avoid all kinds of pitfalls along our way. He shows us the best pathway to success, to victory and to rest and peace. But it is up to us to yield to Him to show us that pathway. Many times we say that we have yielded to Him but we are still in the driver’s seat with Him in the passenger seat watching us headed for disaster. You know that is downright stupid, but we humans do it all the time. Why should we be driving in unfamiliar territory when He knows every roadblock, every road that is out, every four-lane highway and shortcut?

What a wonderfully delightful life we can have with Jesus as our Lord. He guides us by His Holy Spirit. And we know the description of the Holy Spirit is long. He is our comforter, counselor, standby, lawyer and advocate, mighty one, helper, friend, strong One, wise One, guide, powerful One Who loves us unconditionally. We have One Who is as close as the breath we breathe, as powerful as the most powerful bomb man could ever devise, as gentle as a dove and wiser than all of mankind put together. He will guide us into all Truth; He will show us things to come; He will be there always. What more do we need!

This Christmas, let’s make Jesus Lord of our celebration, Lord of our season, Lord of our household, Lord of our lives. Let’s get up each day asking Him what to do that day. Let’s yield to the Holy Spirit’s leading and direction. Remember what we are saying each day: I am led by the Spirit of God. I hear my Father’s voice and the voice of a stranger I do not follow. I am a man/woman of vision.

There are two more weeks left before we celebrate Jesus’ birth. I, like you, have what seems like a zillion things to do and so little time to do it. This morning I have purposed that I won’t get stressed or diverted by the world and their concept of Christmas. My most important direction is to focus on Jesus and allow the thoughts of Him to be central in my heart and mind. He is my Lord and my Savior and my best Friend and my everything.

This is a special time to thank Him for coming to this earth, for making that decision to come before the world was ever founded. He and the Father had a plan and they fulfilled that plan. Jesus came; He showed us the way to live; He conquered satan for us and all that he is in charge of; He went back to Heaven where He ever makes intercession for us, where He is ever mindful of us. We are always on His mind. We are in His heart. Our decision is to do the same for Him, to have Him always on our minds and have Him ever in our hearts.

Christmas is coming! I love it! Perhaps this will be the year He comes again. There is an excitement in the air, and it is not all about the commercialism of Christmas. I sense it and those whom I know are sensing it. He is coming again. When He comes this time, He won’t come as a sweet babe in the manger. He will come as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Mighty One. He is coming for His people. He is coming again. Of that I am sure. The greatest thing I can teach you this morning is to prepare yourself and stay prepared for Him. He is preparing us if we will allow Him. He is coming again.

The Meaning of Christmas 2

As we continue our thoughts on the meaning of Christmas today, let’s finish with Isaiah 9:6,7.

His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. If we look in the Strong’s Concordance for the Hebrew meaning of these words, this is what we find.

Wonderful: A miracle:--marvelous thing, wonder (-ful, -fully).
Counselor: To advise, deliberate or resolve
The Mighty God: The powerful, strong, valiant God, warrior, champion
The Everlasting Father: Perpetually, eternal, pass on, continue. Father means chief.
The Prince of Peace: Peace: Shalom: Safe, well, happy, friendly, welfare, health, prosperity, peace, favor, rest, safety, wholly. Comes from shalam: to be safe in mind, body or estate, to be completed or to make completed. To be friendly, to reciprocate, make amends, make an end, finish, full, give again, make good, repay or pay again, make to be at peace, perfect, perform, make prosperous, recompense, render, requite, make restitution, restore, reward
Prince: head person, lord, captain, master, general, governor, keeper, ruler, steward, comes from the root word which means to have or exercise dominion

So, if we put these all together, what do we have as a description of Jesus Christ.

In His name we have miracles which are marvelous things, wonders to behold.

We have One Who knows the best advice to give us, advice which is accurate, which will resolve the issues we are facing.

We have the powerful, strong and valiant God as our warrior, our champion. He has conquered for us and handed us the spoils of His conquering. That makes us more than conquerors.

We have a Father forever, eternally and we know that eternal means without end, unchanging, without variance, stable. So, we have a Father who doesn’t change, Who is always the same to us, regardless of what we do. He loves us, regardless of whether we are the vilest sinner at the present time or the godliest saint. His love is without regard to the person or their place. And it grieves His heart when the one He loves does not choose Him because He knows what their future is. How that must hurt Him, particularly as we get ready to celebrate His sending His only Son at that time into the world to suffer a horrible death for every person ever to be born on this earth. Let this love that He has, which has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5) propel us to tell others the Good News of Jesus. How will they know except we tell them. How will they come except we pray and stand in the gap for them.

We have a Lord, a Prince, Who has dominion over all, both in heaven and in earth and beneath the earth. And the greatest thing about it is that our Lord has given us that dominion, that authority under His direction, by the words of our mouths, to take authority over the principalities and powers and to have dominion on this earth. Now that doesn’t mean we have dominion over one another. Too many people have twisted that dominion into trying to control other people. That is not the dominion we are talking about here.

And look at what Jesus is the Lord over. The list is long and strong. Go up there in the paragraph describing peace again. Jesus is Lord over your health, your happiness, your prosperity, your safety, your well-being, your wholeness. He has made an end to satan’s dominion over you and restored you to wholeness in His kingdom. He has made restitution or paid the price with His blood for your freedom. You are free because of Jesus. You are headed to heaven because of Jesus. You can have days of heaven on earth, while you are here, because of Jesus. Don’t wait until you get to heaven to enjoy your benefits. The benefit plan starts today, just like a benefit plan starts the day you are an employee of a new company. Take advantage of your benefits. Don’t wait.

The Meaning of Christmas 1

What does Christmas mean to you? What are you expecting this Christmas to be like for you and your family? What are your expectations? Do you have any expectations? And if you do have expectations, are they good or bad expectations?

I am sure that as I ask these questions, there are various answers that arise in your thinking. If this is the first Christmas after the loss of a loved one, you are thinking about Christmases in the past with them and of how there will be a lonely spot in your home this Christmas. You may be thinking about the situations in the world and what kind of a world we are living in. You may be thinking about your loved ones and what you are going to give them. You may be thinking about Christmas dinner. You may be dreading the shopping that you still have to do and the crowds in the mall that you have to face. Or you may be planning your Christmas dinner and all that entails.

Actually, we all know that is not what we should be thinking about when we think about Christmas, but if we are honest, that is what comes to our minds once in a while. My purpose for writing these Christmas Pearls of Wisdom early is to get us turned around in our concept of Christmas from an “Americanized” Christmas to a Christ-centered Christmas.

The reason for the season, as we see on so many Christian cards is Christ, the Anointed One and His anointing. This date is the celebration of His birth into this earth to redeem us from the bondage of sin and all of its consequences. It is the celebration of His birthday, even though this is probably not the date He was born. We must realize that Christmas as it looks today has been taken from the world’s concept of Christmas. What we have to do is deliberately turn that around in our home. I know a couple who are not giving anything to one another but what they would normally spend on one another they are giving to those who are needy. There are so many ways to celebrate Christmas that we have not thought about.

In Isaiah 9:6,7 we read that unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given and the government (leadership, authority and power) shall be upon His shoulder. And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. And of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end.

Look at this verse: The leadership, authority and power of God is now in this earth because Jesus came and released us from the power of satan. And the increase of God’s government (authority) and peace (wholeness in every area of our lives with nothing missing and nothing broken) shall have no end.

His name shall be called---your name places you in a certain position and marks you in your actions and behavior. Your name will indicate who you are and how you act. It is interesting that in some societies they do not name the baby before he/she is born but wait to name the child after it is born and has demonstrated its personality. Name is very important. The Father gave Jesus a name that is above every name. At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. You will notice that I said the Father gave Jesus His name. Contained in Jesus’ name of Jesus Christ is also His Father’s name, Yhwh (we say yahweh or Jehovah—the Father’s name is so sacred and holy that the Jewish people will not even pronounce it out of reverence and respect and honor for His name). When we have the understanding of His name, the revelation of His name, we will not say His name so casually. “In the name of Jesus” has almost become a catch phrase, a by-word for our prayers, and produces little, if any, results in our prayer life.

What is the meaning of Christmas? We will explore it more over the next few days. Christmas is about the celebration of Christ, not the celebration of Santa Claus. Santa Claus is a wonderful idea with giving being the theme, but it has gotten so out of hand that the receiving part is what is emphasized to children as they sit on Santa’s lap in the malls and tell him what “they want,” and moms and dads are madly scrambling to get all this “stuff” for their children, even fighting others and waiting at department doors in the wee hours of the morning. Let’s turn that around and put Christmas back into the place in our homes and lives that Christ deserves.

Christmas Is Coming

Christmas is coming!

I am going to ask you some questions and they are not: Have you put up your tree or gotten presents or sent your Christmas cards? All of these have a part to play in the lives of us and our loved ones at Christmas, but the real question I want to pose to you at the beginning of the Christmas season is this: Have you set aside a place in your heart for Jesus every day? Is He your priority and all the rest of the Christmas “stuff” revolves around Him? I have had to take an assessment test today and didn’t make a very good score, as I am an intense person. Whatever I do, I tend to focus on that entirely. If I am trimming the tree, that is all I concentrate on. If I am baking cookies, that is all I concentrate on. If I am buying gifts and wrapping them, that is all I concentrate on. This year the Lord is helping me to pray in the spirit as I am trimming the tree. He is helping me to focus on Him as I clean the house and prepare for friends to come over. I play praise songs and sing to Him.

I love Christmas. My mom and dad made Christmas so special for us. It is such a family time for me. Now that the children are grown, it is a time for all of us to get together once again. When I was young, we would all gather around the tree on Christmas eve and open gifts and my mom would read the Christmas story about the birth of Jesus. Daddy would have made fudge or popped popcorn. It was a special time for me. After I became an adult, I have made a point to carry on the family tradition of close times and special Christmases.

What do you do to make Christmas special for Jesus? That is the question I am asking myself today. I love Him and worship Him and spend time with Him and His word every day. But I sense that I want to do something to give Him pleasure this year. I am not sure what it will be but I want to make this time special for Him also.

Mary, the young Jewish girl, made a very special place for Jesus when He came to this earth. She allowed her body to become His resting place until He was born as the Christ child. What most people fail to realize is the ridicule and persecution she must have endured as she told people that she was with child and had not been touched by any man. What did her family think of her? Think about Joseph’s reaction as her fiancée. She suffered great humiliation and rejection by those around her as she became great with child. But she knew that she must be obedient and accept what the angel had told her. When the angel Gabriel told her that with God nothing shall be impossible, her words ring in my ears all the time: “Be it unto me according to your word.” (Luke 1:17)

This should be our response to what appears to be impossible situations in our lives. Be it unto me according to Your word. Let Your word be the final authority in my life. Let Your word be what I believe, when nothing seems to be working. Let Your word be what I live by. Let Your word be what I believe. Let Your word be all that I need. Let Your word be settled in my heart forever.

Mary literally accepted Jesus, Who is called the Word in scripture, into her body and He became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory as the only begotten Son of God (John 1:14).

Jesus, the Word of God, Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life, has brought us the word of God in a flesh and blood body. He came to make the word real to us once again. This written word that we hold in our hands is a recording of the breath of God, the Spirit of the Truth of God breathed into our spirits. When you and I pick up this Bible, let us pick it up with respect and reverence. This is the Word of God. This is true. Believe it. Accept it for your life. Live it. Do what it says. It is this Word that produces faith in our lives. It is this Word that heals us. It is this Word that sets us free. It is this Word that prospers us. It is this Word that delivers us. It is this Word that is our very life and existence. Jesus, the living Word, came to present us with the spoken, written Word that is a copy of the thoughts of His Father, Himself and the Holy Spirit—in other words, God.

Let this be what we declare this Christmas: Be it unto me according to Your Word.

What About Me?

What about me, Lord?
Have you ever said that when you see other people getting answers to their prayers and being blessed beyond measure?
Well, what about you?
Have you been trusting God and believing that His Word is true in your life? If you have, keep on believing; keep on trusting; keep on having faith in God’s Word for you.

His Word is as true for you as it is for anyone else. What you must do is to keep on consistently and confidently speaking, studying, and meditating on His Word, which is logos. And as you are confessing and meditating His Word, a scripture pops out at you and you know that scripture is for you. It’s your scripture. That’s when faith comes. Faith comes from hearing the Word of God to you personally. Then that word becomes rhema. It has been given life by the Lord Himself for you personally. It shall surely come to pass. It is yours. No one can pry it loose from you with a crowbar. It is yours forever. And you know it. It has become rhema.

God has given us a whole book full of His Word for us. He quickens that word to us as we develop a word bank on which He can draw for us. The bigger the bank, the larger the selection upon which to draw. Keep making deposits; keep making deposits. Then you have much to draw upon. You have a large account.

As the need arises, you present your receipt for your deposits, verifying the authenticity of those deposits and you withdraw from your account the word that is needed for that situation. God makes that word real to you. He brings life to the Word; He is the life-giver.

Look to the Lord today for everything. He is right there, ready to meet your need. But you must remember that He responds to faith only, not whining and crying. Whining and crying produces nothing but self-pity, a poor-me attitude. What we need are results, not pity. When we become as determined to get results as we are for people to feel sorry for us for the predicament we are in, then we will see results beyond anything we had ever dreamed possible.

With God all things are possible. Nothing is impossible with God. He loves to deal in impossibilities. That is His specialty. That is what He delights in doing. The more difficult the situation, the better it is, because He can show Himself strong on your behalf and say: Take that, devil. You thought you had them but I had other ideas for them. Mr. devil, you have lost forever and eternally. Then you remind the devil of his future, of the authority you have been given over him and of his utter helplessness in the face of the Word of God, the blood of Jesus and the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remind him of his defeat. And don’t listen to his lies to you. Give him things to think about that he doesn’t want to face.

Don’t you love it. Jesus paid it all for you and me. What a Lord! What a Saviour! He left nothing out. It has all been taken care of.

Go ahead! Shout the victory! Shout with the voice of triumph! The battle is the Lord’s and yours is the victory. You are more than a conqueror because He has already conquered for you. All you have to do is enjoy the spoils of the battle. They are all yours to enjoy right now, presently, before you get to heaven. Enjoy where you are right now on this earth with the victory and success Jesus has purchased for you as a child of God, an heir of salvation, joint heir with Jesus Christ, partaking of all the benefits of the household of faith.

You are an overcomer in this world by the blood of the Lamb and the Word of your testimony.

Trust Him

Let’s study Proverbs 3:5 & 6 and Psalms 37:3-5 today.

Proverbs 3:5,6 KJV
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Amplified Bible
Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.

Psalms 37:3-5
Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass.
Amplified Bible
Trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) in the Lord and do good; so shall you dwell in the land and feed surely on its faithfulness, and truly you shall be fed.
Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass.

In these two passages of scripture we see that trust is the big factor. Trust in the Lord and don’t try to figure out in your own mind what is going on, what He is doing. How much do we trust the Lord with our lives? How much trust and confidence do we put in letting Him handle our situations? Do we let Him have the reins or do we try to take over once in a while? When we are confident of someone, we don’t think twice about letting them take care of things for us, do we. For example, if you trust your neighbor, you leave them with a key to your house when you are away. And how did you develop that trust? You got to know them and learn that they were honest and trustworthy, someone with whom you could entrust your home and all its contents. You know them so well that you know that you are not going to come home and find your house empty of all its contents. Instead, they will take care of the cat or walk your dog and water the plants. You don’t worry about things while you are gone because you know that you have left things in the hands of reliable people.

Even so, with the Lord, we must get to know Him in order to believe, trust that He has healed us when we don’t see any evidence in the natural, to believe that He is taking care of our finances when we don’t see any evidence in our bank account of abundance.

What do we learn in these scriptures about the benefits of trusting the Lord.
We shall dwell in the land, feed on His faithfulness and be fed.
He will make plain our paths.
He will give us the desires and secret petitions of our hearts.
He will bring to pass our desires.
What a package deal! We trust Him and have confidence in what He is doing. We commit our ways unto Him. We delight ourselves in Him. We have the easy and fun part. He has the part of satisfying our desires and creating what we need. He calls that fun also.

When we have decisions to make, when we need to know which way to go, when we need our vision perfected, when we have desires to be fulfilled, He, the Lord Jesus Christ, God Almighty, will take care of all of it. That’s the fun part of being a child and letting daddy handle it. He knows so well how to handle all of our “stuff” if we will cast the care of task of taking care of the “stuff” over on Him.

Rest in the Lord and He will bring it to pass!!!!!!!!!!!

James 1

Let’s look at the first chapter of James today. This chapter is talking about the weakness of one’s flesh and God’s great power to overcome those weaknesses.

Verse two tells us that we are to count it all joy when we fall into, encounter, are ambushed with divers temptations, tests, trials, storms of life. Now why in the world would I count it as joy when I encounter a trial in my life? Because if you are smart, you know that God has already provided the means of escape from it, whether it is of the weakness of your own flesh or satan’s attempt to wipe you out. Either way, God has got you covered. He is not the One Who brought it. A trial is a snare, a trap satan sets—the bait, the lure is your own weakness—with the intent of killing you, stealing from you and destroying you. The whole aim is to steal the Word, which is your strength and victory that God has provided. Remember the parable of the sower. If you don’t, go back and read it to refresh your memory.

We haven’t even gotten past verse 2 and we see already the very necessity of the Word of God to sustain us and take us to the other side. Verse 3 tells us that the trying of our faith works patience. Now what does that mean? The testing, trying, tempting of your faith brings the spiritual force of patience to work. Patience in God’s Kingdom is not defined as hanging on by your toenails and “bless God” you will make it somehow or other. No, no, that is not the picture of the patient person in God’s realm. A patient person in God’s realm is a strong, conquering, stable person, because the force of patience is a strength from God’s arsenal of the fruit of the spirit. It is a steadfastness, a stability, a confidence in the face of adversity, which says and knows that God’s Word works for you, in spite of what is going on. It is an assurance, a confidence. The picture of a patient person in God’s Kingdom is one of serenity and peace, because you know the outcome. God’s Word always triumphs. God always wins, if you allow him to do so and don’t step in to “help Him.”

In verse 4 we are told to let patience have her perfect work so that we may be perfect (mature) and entire (developed), wanting nothing. You see, if patience is allowed to run its course, the victory is so sweet, and you have a confidence that makes you mature to handle the next storm without batting an eye twice. That’s really what spiritual maturity is all about. It’s about letting God work His fruit in you and patience is one of them. And, by the way, you don’t have to pray for patience or be fearful that you are going to be presented with all kinds of circumstances to wipe you out if you pray for patience. That is not God’s concept of patience. That is an earthly idea. You already have patience if you are born again, because it is one of the fruit of the spirit. You just have to allow God to develop it in you.

Then, God has you covered in verse 5 because He says: Now, look, if you don’t know what to do in this situation, ask Me; if you lack wisdom, ask Me and I will give it to be liberally, without finding fault in your asking.

Then He cautions us in verses 6-8 to ask Him in faith and don’t waver once you ask, for the person that wavers is like the waves of the seas, which are driven and tossed by the wind. You don’t have to be kicked around by satan. On purpose, trust God that He is helping you and showing you how to walk through to the other side without the minutest speck of defeat—with only the smell of victory coming forth like a sweet fragrance. A person who thinks both ways—fear and faith, defeat and victory, failure and success—is unstable in all his ways and will not receive anything from the Lord.

Then we see in verses 13-15 that we are not to say when we are tempted, tested or tried that we are tempted, tested or tried of God because God doesn’t have any evil to tempt you with in the first place. Every person is tempted, tested, or tried when he is drawn away of his own lust (desires contrary to the Word and Spirit of God) and enticed. If one continues to think on that desire, lust will conceive and bring forth sin and sin when it is finished brings forth death. But, praise God, we have the victory through Christ Jesus. Read Romans 6,7, and 8. Sin shall no longer have dominion over you. Reckon, consider yourself dead to sin. You’re made free from sin. The law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made you free from the law of sin and death.