Scriptural Tidbits

As I have been reading my Bible this week, I have written down some tidbits that I would like to share with you.

In 1 Samuel 15:22,23
What is more pleasing to the Lord----your offerings or your obedience to His voice?
Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.
Stubbornness is as idolatry.

God is very serious about obedience. We can make all kinds of offerings to Him in the place of obeying what He is asking us to do, but it will not change His request to us to do what He asks.
Also, that is considered rebellion, which is as the sin of witchcraft, siding with satan. Ouch! I don’t want any part of satan in my life.

1 Samuel 16:7
People judge by outward appearance.
The Lord judges by people’s thoughts and intentions; He looks at the heart, the inward man.

I don’t think that one needs any further comment. What we have to do is obey that word.

1 Samuel 16:13
When the Holy Spirit anoints you, you are a different person.

1 Samuel 17:47
And all will know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear for the battle is the Lord’s….

We all have to be reminded of this on a daily basis. It is the Lord who has already won the battle and it is the Lord who will take care of your personal battles. We do not have the capability in ourselves to do anything apart from Him. It is His ability that will take us over the top.

John 5:30 Amplified Bible
I am able to do nothing from Myself, independently, of My own accord, but only as I am taught by God and as I get His orders….I do not seek or consult My own will. I have no desire to do what is pleasing to Myself, My own aim, My own purpose, but only the will and pleasure of the Father….

If Jesus did this, He is our example. We must do the same.

Declared Righteous

In Romans 4:6 and 24 we see that God declares us righteous. In the King James Version of the Bible, the word used is “impute,” and in the Amplified Bible the word used is “credit.” I like the word “declare” because it is a very descriptive word of what God has actually done for us.

It is not our worth but the worth of Christ deposited to our account and is ours, even though we didn’t earn it. We did nothing to justify righteousness being added to our account with the Lord. It is all by His own desire and doing. He has deposited righteousness to our account. It is in there like an amount of money someone would deposit in our bank account because they wanted to do it. We did not work for it or deserve it from the standpoint of earning it. It is simply there, placed by our wonderful Lord God. Righteousness has been declared to our account, even though we did not earn it.

The greatest news is that this righteousness is an unending supply which has been deposited to our account. It will never run out or be “in the red.” God has made a never-ending deposit because He loves us.

When we accept that deposit by accepting Jesus as our Savior, we are signing our name on the dotted line and saying that we accept the unending supply. Isn’t that the greatest news you ever heard in your life! I think it is.

Let’s make sure we all understand what righteousness is. It is the ability of God to do everything right. It is being in right standing with God as though we have never sinned. Think about that. When God looks at you, He doesn’t see a sinner; He sees His child. It is God’s rightness. It is being right. This privilege is available to every person on the face of this earth. All anyone has to do is to accept God’s terms and live His life by those terms. They are spelled out very clearly in this manual He has given us. It is called the Holy Bible, the Word of God, the scriptures. He has shown us exactly how to live successfully here on this earth. What a God we serve! I love it!

I know you could find many scriptures on righteousness, but I want to point out several to you.

We will start with 2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
And all things are of God, who has reconciled (brought us back to) us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation
To wit (know) that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing (holding against them) their trespasses unto them; and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
For he has made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; THAT WE MIGHT BE MADE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM.

And we quote Romans 4:6 and 24 to which we referred earlier.

Even as David also describes the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputes (declares) righteousness with works.
But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed (declared), if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead.

And finally, we look at Ephesians 2:8,9.
For by grace are you saved though faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.

We can boast in our God and the righteousness that He has given us.

I Cannot Be Defeated And I Will Not Quit

There are words to a song that I hear over and over. I cannot be defeated and I will not quit. Redeemed by the blood of Jesus-----

You and I are redeemed from failure and defeat. We have been delivered out of that realm. I see some of God’s people still lingering in that land. It is time to realize who we are in Christ Jesus. We are not failures. We are not the defeated ones. We are the delivered ones. We are the redeemed ones.

Jesus defeated satan, principalities and powers, and the works of the devil. What is left to defeat? Nothing. Jesus has defeated it all for us.

Oh, yes, personally we have to enforce that defeat of the enemy in our lives. Jesus has even provided for that with the Word of God. When we “feel” like we are defeated, it is a lie. Pick up the Truth and remind the devil who you are. You are the victorious one. You are the healthy one. You are the prosperous one. You are the carefree one. You are the redeemed one.

We must personally see that the enemy is defeated in our lives. We must personally see that the Word works for us. We must personally see that Jesus is for us and not against us. We must personally see that we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus. We must personally see that we are IN HIM. We must personally see that for ourselves. If it is just a general thing, we will not walk in it. If it is just mentally assenting that the Word of God is true, we will not walk in it.

What is in your heart today? Let the Spirit of God examine you to see where you stand personally in Him and His Word. Let Him do a checkup and help you to move out into the land of more than enough in every area of your life.

This land of more than enough is the most glorious place to be. It is available for everyone who accepts Jesus as Lord of their lives. It is available for all. God is no respecter of persons. What He has made available for one, He has made available for all. It is there for anyone who will dare to believe that it is for them.

I am challenging each of my readers today. I challenge you to believe that this Word of God is true in your life, regardless of whether you see it today or not. Keep on believing and seeing yourself as the victorious one. It will become a consistent truth in your life as you believe it.

Start right now, where you are, regardless of what it looks like in the natural, and choose to see yourself walking in the fullness of everything God has for you. Deliberately choose, on purpose, to see yourself walking in everything He has provided for you. Go to the Word and write down everything that Jesus has provided and then start seeing yourself with it. He died so that you could have health, prosperity, freedom, joy, peace. That’s what His death was all about. He died so that you could live, live, live, live and enjoy your living while you are here on this earth. He wants you to enjoy yourself.

You cannot be defeated and you will not quit. You have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus. You have been loosed from satan’s grip. You will not lose. You will win.

Have You Considered Jesus?

What are you doing today? Have you considered Jesus in the equation of your day? Have you considered Him as the source of your strength today? Have you considered that He has the answers for your day? Have you considered that He will make you a success today and take you over to the other side? Have you considered His power and goodness for you and toward you? Have you given your day to Jesus? He knows what to do for you and through you in every situation of life.

When we consider something, we ponder it and think on it and meditate on it. I can’t think of anyone better to consider than Jesus for our day every day. He has all the answers. He is the source of all good for our lives.

Every day we have the choice of what we will consider. Today let’s make the right choice. His name is Jesus.

Consider Jesus.

When we consider Jesus, we are considering all that He is. What is He? He is healing and health. He is prosperous. He is righteous. He is Truth. He is the Word. He is Love. He is Life. He is Light. He is Joy. He is Peace. He is Goodness. He is Kindness. He is faithful. He is stable. He is the fullness of God expressed here on this earth for you and me.

Where do you find your mind going today? Bring it back to Jesus, the One Who loves you and cares for you affectionately, the One Who will produce joy in your life. Having peace or joy or tranquility does not have to depend on who you are around or where you are. It depends on the focus you and I have. We must focus on Jesus. We focus on Him when everything is good and we focus on Him when things are coming against us. He is to be our constant focus, regardless of what is happening around us.

We are to consider Jesus 24-7. Consider His ways. Consider what He would do in a particular situation. Consider how He would act. Consider what He would say. Consider what He would respond to a person. Stop, think and then speak or act, according to what He would speak or act.

Considering Jesus will keep us from making mistakes. It will keep us from becoming embroiled in difficult situations. It will keep us in the center of God’s will. When we consider someone or something other than Jesus, that is when we get into trouble, because it generally means we are depending on our own efforts, relying on our own abilities and thinking thoughts contrary to the Word.

Jesus should be the center of every decision we make. He knows the end from the beginning and can help us to avoid tragic errors in our lives. And you know, the most wonderful thing about Him is that even when we make those tragic mistakes, He picks us up, forgives us and sets us right back on the path He has chosen for us. What we have to do is to forgive ourselves, put the past behind us and go on considering Jesus.

Have you considered Jesus today?

Encourage Yourself In The Lord

For days now, this phrase has been going around and around in my spirit----encourage yourself in the Lord. This morning the Lord impressed upon me that we were to talk about this today in our Pearls.

When you look up the word “encourage” in the dictionary, you find some wonderful words to describe it. Coeur is the word for heart. That is the last part of this word. Courage comes from the heart. Listen to these definitions of encourage: To give courage to; to give or increase confidence of success; to inspire with courage, spirit, or strength of mind; to embolden; to animate; to incite; to inspirit.

I find even more interesting the word “encouragement,” which means the act of giving courage, or confidence of success; incitement to action or to practice; incentive.

Encouragement is an action. Encourage is an action.

When we lack confidence in ourselves or lack confidence that the plan of God for our lives will not happen or will not be to the degree we know it is to be, we are to encourage ourselves in the Lord. He gives us courage and confidence of success and the strength of mind to accomplish what we are destined to do.

The scripture in the Bible that keeps rolling around in me is 1 Samuel 30:6 where we are told that David was greatly distressed because of an extremely difficult situation in which the people blamed David for their tragedy and wanted to take his life. The last part of the verse says this: But David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God. (Amplified Bible)

When David faced difficult situations, we find him time after time encouraging himself in the Lord. And we are told that David was a man after God’s own heart. The Lord God Almighty has the greatest desire to encourage us and give us the strength, the courage to do His will.

We are to encourage ourselves in the Lord. How do we do that? Jesus is called the Word. So when we encourage ourselves in the Lord, we are encouraging ourselves in the Word. Jesus is Lord over sickness and disease, poverty, defeat, failure, lack, depression and any other bad thing we can think of. When we encourage ourselves in the Lord, we are saying that Jesus is Lord over whatever bad thing is going on in our lives. Someone who is Lord is victorious, the victor over, the overcomer in the situation. JESUS IS LORD!

I think of Joshua in Joshua 1 where the Lord spoke to Joshua after Moses died. I find it interesting that the words that God spoke to Joshua were these: Be strong. Be very courageous. Several times in this passage the Lord told Joshua to be strong and be of good courage. Of course we are all familiar with verse 8 and also verse 9.

Listen to these verses carefully with your whole heart and take them for your own today.

This book of the law (the Word for us) shall not depart out of your mouth.
You shall meditate in it day and night,
that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it;
for then you shall make your way prosperous,
and then you shall have good success (deal wisely in all the affairs of life).

Haven’t I commanded you---be strong and courageous.
Haven’t I commanded you---be not afraid or dismayed,
for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

What God spoke to Joshua, He speaks to us today. This is for you and me also. Encourage yourself in the Lord---take courage to be confident of your success.

God Is A Good God

Have you seen the Goodness of the Lord? Yes, this is a trick question. The question should be: Have you chosen to see the Goodness of the Lord in your life today and every day?

The dictionary defines goodness as kindness, benevolence, charity, favor shown, compassion, mercy. Benevolence is defined as the disposition to do good; the love of mankind, accompanied with a desire to promote their happiness; possessing love to mankind, and a desire to promote their prosperity and happiness.

When we talk about God’s goodness, we are speaking about His love for us that desires the best for us in our lives. Prosperity and health and happiness and abundance are continually on His mind for us. He is ever seeking ways to bless us with all that He has. Now this is a God that not too many people see. Instead they see God based upon how they are doing in the earth. They measure God’s goodness by the earthly scale of what is happening to them at the moment.

God’s Word is true, regardless of what is happening to you. If you and I are not seeing His Word operating in our lives, it is not an indicator of His goodness. It is an indicator of our inability to receive or to understand how to receive what God has stored up for us to enjoy on a daily basis. God is no respecter of persons and He is the same yesterday, today and forever. If He did it for one person, He does it for all. What we have to discern is this: What is holding up God’s goodness operating in my life? The Holy Spirit will tell us if we ask Him and are willing to hear what He has to say to us and change.

Let’s look at some scriptures on God’s goodness. Meditate on these scriptures until you know that you know that God is good to you, that God loves you without measure and wants to shower you with His goodness.

Psalm 31:19 Amplified Bible
Oh how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear, revere, and worship You, goodness which You have wrought for those who trust and take refuge in You before the sons of men!

God has laid up His goodness for us. He has stored it up as treasure for us to enjoy.

In Psalm 107 we read these words over and over. O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever. In verses 8, 15, 21, and 31 of this chapter we read this: Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!

It looks like God wants us to praise Him for His goodness. Every day we are to thank the Lord for His goodness. Every day we are to be grateful to Him and for Him.

In Romans 2:4 we read about the riches of His goodness that leads us to repentance. Yes, it is the love and kindness of God that leads us down that path of repentance straight into His loving arms. He rushes up to us and says: Oh, son/daughter welcome home. I have been waiting for you. Here, put on these beautiful clothes that mark you as a member of the household. Put this ring on your finger and let me shod your feet with these shoes.

God is so good! In Exodus 34:6 we are told that God is abundant in goodness and mercy. His goodness is unending and forever. There is no limit or end to it. He has enough for you and me and every other human being on this earth. There is more than enough to go around.

Choose today to see yourself partaking of His goodness. Speak it out: God is so good to me. His goodness is overtaking me minute by minute. He is good to me. God is a good God. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

Strengthen Your Faith

Are you in a position today where your faith needs strengthening? Do you sense that you need a “shot in the arm” so to speak? Does it seem that the forces of that which is your weakness is overtaking you?

Well, I have the scripture for you. It is in the Amplified Bible in verse 25 of Romans 16. NOW TO HIM WHO IS ABLE TO STRENGHTEN YOU IN THE FAITH…. This is a simple beginning to a scripture, but it holds the key to our victories when we are running out of steam in a situation.

God Almighty, the great Creator of the universe and of you, Jesus Christ the Son of God, your Conqueror, The Holy Spirit---they are able to strengthen you in the faith. It is the God-kind of faith that we have been given. It is His power that strengthens that faith in you and me. Without Him we have no faith. And without Him we are not strengthened in our faith.

And if we go back a few chapters here in Romans we see several other truths that will put the power punch in our victory. In chapter 13, verses 12 and 14.

Repeat this after me.
I cast off the works of darkness from my life, whether it is sickness and disease, lack, defeat, depression, poverty, want, unbelief and doubt, fear. And I put on the armor of light. That means I put on health and healing. I put on victory and success. I put on abundance. I put on joy. I put on faith. I put on the armor of light, which is the armor of love which is the armor of life which is the armor of God Himself. I put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and I make no provision for the flesh.

I clothe myself with the Lord Jesus Christ. I make no more provision for indulging my flesh. I put a stop to thoughts contrary to the Word of God in my life. I refuse to think any longer on contrary thoughts. I bring every thought into captivity to the Lord Jesus Christ. All my thoughts are pure and lovely and true and honest and just and of a good report and full of life.

God has given us His ability to move on through to the other side of that which is pressing in on us. We have His life operating in us to take us over to the other side of the things of this world. We are not of this world. We may be in this world, but we are not of it. We are in the Word, not the world. We are of the Kingdom of God and not of the kingdom of darkness. Our Master is King Jesus and not any other. We are rulers with authority under Him.

Let’s take the whip of our authority and chase all that is not of God out of our lives. That authority starts with our thoughts. Deliberately, on purpose, we must take authority over all that is contrary to the Word of God and Kingdom living. We are to reign in this life as kings and priests. Let’s do so, regardless of how high the prices go or how much the world says is going wrong. That is not our thought. Our thought is this: I am more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus Who loves me. I am an overcomer in this world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world, even my faith. And my faith is strengthened by God Almighty.

Remember

Let’s do a study today on the word remember. To remember anything is to recall it to our minds and ponder it and consider it. There are things that are good to remember and there are things to forget because they do not bring positive results in our lives. I think all of us have a human tendency to gravitate toward the things in our past that were detrimental to us, even though we say we don’t want to “go there” again. What the Lord wants us to do is to remember His Word and what He does for us.

In Psalm 20:7 we will remember the name of the Lord our God.

In Ecclesiastes 12:1 we remember our Creator. Let me camp on that verse for a moment. When we remember our Creator, we are remembering that everything we see around us was created originally by Almighty God, whether it is in the form of material matter or an idea that He placed in someone’s mind to create material matter. Look around you. Everything you see was created. Look outside at the trees, the flowers, the grass, the animals, the insects. Look at yourself. What a wonderfully created body God has given us. All of the parts work together for smooth operation, according to His plan. Of course, we all know that smooth operation is interrupted on this earth by the “stuff” the curse has brought on the earth----disease, impure air and water and poison in the ground from what we have sprayed and “chemicalized.” But isn’t it marvelous that there is so much around us, everywhere we look. Even in the worst conditions, there is still something around us. I stand in awe at my Creator.

In Deuteronomy 8:18 we remember the Lord our God for it is He Who gives us the power to get wealth that He may establish His covenant which He swore to our fathers. What a statement! It is God Who gives us the power to get wealth. That wealth is not to be consumed on our own lusts but to establish His covenant on the earth. Yes, God wants us to have excellent things, but He doesn’t want those things to consume us or become our priority. Our priority must always be God and His Kingdom. Still, He uses wealth to bring people to His fullness in the earth.

And look at Psalm 105:1-8. We give thanks to the Lord and call upon His name and make known His deeds. We sing praises to Him. We are to meditate and talk of His marvelous deeds. We are to rejoice and glory in Him. We are to seek Him and His strength; we are to seek His face, His presence forever. We are to remember His marvelous works and wonders. You see, He remembers His covenant and His Word to a thousand generations.

Then we are admonished in Isaiah 43:19 and 46:9 not to remember the former things nor consider the things of old. Why? He is doing a new thing.

We are to focus on God and the new things that He is doing in our lives, even in the midst of the old “rotten here and now” things that may be happening in our lives. Are you at a place of dismay and disappointment, wondering when it is going to turn around for you? Focus on God and His Word and the new things that He has planned for you. Are you thinking that healing will never manifest in your body? Focus on the new things of health that God is producing in your body. Are you wondering how you are going to pay those bills? And do you wonder if you will still have your job? Focus on God and His provision. He tells us that He watches over us and cares for us. He takes care of the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. How much more He cares for us!

It is all in our focus. Satan has one goal in mind: He wants us to focus on what is happening to us that is bad. If he succeeds, he has us down. At that point we are not thinking on God and His new things that He is doing for us. What we all have to realize is that God’s workings are sometimes invisible to us in the natural world as they are working. We must trust Him that He is working all together in a beautiful way for the wonderful plan He has for our lives. Remember that it is God Who is accomplishing His plan for our lives. We must focus on that fact always, even when it looks like we are “going down for the last time.” God always has good for us. We must remember that forever.

Casting Your Cares

All of us in the Body of Christ have a command from the Lord Jesus Himself to cast all our cares upon Him and leave them there. He commands us to stop worrying and being anxious for anything. These are commands, not just little suggestions. He also calls worrying a sin. When I finally got this a couple of days ago, I did some repenting. I had asked the Holy Spirit to show me areas where I was carrying concerns for myself and others. He showed me and I realized the fullness of what I had been doing by carrying concerns.

Actually carrying worries and concerns and cares means that we are placing ourselves in the position of God by attempting to figure out some way to take care of situations over which we actually have no control. As we take on these cares, we block the Lord from handling the situations and bringing solutions to the problems about which we are worrying.

Let’s look at some scriptures today regarding casting our cares.

Start with 1 Peter 5:7 Amplified Bible
Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.

Here is a command. We are to cast all of our anxieties, all of our worries, all of our concerns once and for all over on Him. Why? Because He cares for us with great love and affection and He watches over us to perform His Word over us. He carefully watches over us.

How about Psalm 55:22, Amplified Bible, in the Old Testament?
Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the [consistently] righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall, or fail).

Wow! Would you look at that! We are to release the weight of the cares and burdens that we are attempting to carry. We are to give them to Him and He will sustain us, take care of us. He will NEVER allow us to fail. That is some pretty powerful language. Do you believe the Bible? There it is for anyone who will dare to believe it personally for himself.

Now, look at Hebrews 12:1 in the Amplified Bible
Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us.

There it is----we are to strip off and throw aside every encumbrance or unnecessary weight (such as worry and care) and that sin which so clings to us and entangles us. Why are we to do this? So that we can complete the course or plan of our lives that God has set before us.

Follow this verse with John 16:33, Amplified Bible
I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world, [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]

The above scripture speaks for itself.

And, finally let’s end with Matthew 6:25-34 with Jesus telling us to take no thought for our life; stop being perpetually uneasy, anxious and worried. Do not worry about what you will eat or wear, but seek FIRST the KINGDOM of GOD (God’s way of doing things) and all these things will be added to you.

Receive The Sonlight

Have you ever noticed how a flower will turn toward the sun as you have it in a pot in the house or if it is under a tree where there is much shade? That flower is very much like us. We turn toward the Son of God, Jesus Christ, Who is the Sonlight. He is the Light of the world. He is the Light of God. Jesus is the Light of the world Who calls us the light also because He Who is the Light is in us.

I have found the most wonderful scripture in Proverbs 16:15 and I quote it from the Amplified Bible. Don’t you just love God’s Word! His Word is ever speaking to us and filling our lives with His Presence.

Listen to this.
In the light of the king’s countenance is life, and His favor is as a cloud bringing the spring rain.

In the light of our King Jesus is life, the life of God. He is our very life. He is the very breath we breathe. Isn’t that good. And then look at the rest of the verse. His favor is as a cloud bringing the spring rain.

In His Presence we find favor; we are surrounded by favor; favor goes before us and makes a way for us in situations in which we need to be brought forth. Isn’t this grand. God’s favor is as a cloud bringing the rain like the spring rain. Around here we have had much spring rain. And that rain is making our grass grow and all of our landscaping to flourish. That is what spring rain does. And that is what God’s favor does. It makes us flourish and grow greatly, looking very healthy and beautiful.

We need the Sonshine to grow and the rain of His Presence to flourish.

Take this scripture and meditate on it until it becomes yours and you know that you know that you know that you are favored highly of the Lord. He is showering His goodness upon you. He is bringing forth life in you to its fullness.

Agape Love

I Corinthians 13:4-8, Amplified Bible, NLT

Because God is Love and God is in me, Love is in me.

Therefore,

I endure long and am patient and kind.
I am never envious nor do I boil over with jealousy.
I am not boastful or vainglorious, not do I display my haughtily.

I am not conceited, arrogant or inflated with pride.
I am not rude or unmannerly.
I do not act unbecomingly.
I do not insist on my own rights or demand my own way.
I am not self-seeking.
I am not touchy, fretful or resentful or irritable.
I take no account of the evil done to me; I keep no record nor do I pay attention to a suffered wrong.

I do not rejoice, I am not glad, about injustice and unrighteousness, but I rejoice when right and truth prevail, when they win.

I bear up under anything and everything that comes.
I am ever ready to believe the best of every person.
My hopes are fadeless under all circumstances.
I endure everything without weakening.
I never give up, never lose faith, am always hopeful and endure through every circumstance.

Your Love in me, God, never fails, fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end.
Your Love never fails.
Your Love will last forever.

Therefore, I yield to Your Love every minute of my life, whether I feel like it or not, because I know that when I yield to Love, I am yielding to the best that You have for me and my loved ones.

He Is My Shepherd

Psalm 23, Amplified Bible, NLT

The Lord is my Shepherd to feed me, guide me and shield me. I shall not lack for any good thing.

He makes me to lie down in fresh, tender green pastures.

He leads me beside the still and restful, peaceful waters.

He refreshes and restores my soul. He revives life in me.

He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Though I walk through the deep, sunless valley of the shadow of death (this earth) I absolutely do not fear or dread evil, disaster or calamity, for He is with me. That wicked one touches me not.

His rod protects me and His staff guides me. They both comfort me.

He prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies. I feed upon His Presence, and my enemies flee.

He anoints my head with oil, with favor and anointing. He equips me to serve Him and walk in His way in heavenly fellowship with Him.

My brimming cup runs over. Overflow and abundance are with me forever.

He anoints my head with oil from an overflowing cup. My cup overflows with blessings.

Surely, most certainly, only goodness, the mercy of covenant love, unfailing love pursues me all the days of my life.

Every day of my life the Lord and His Presence shall be my dwelling place.

Jesus Christ, You are my personal Friend. I know you desire not only to meet my needs but also to overflow Your Blessing on me. I am Your beloved. You are my beloved One. Thank You for taking care of me as we develop a peaceful, trusting relationship of intimacy with one another.

Keep His Word

1 John 2:5, 1 John 3:24, 23 Amplified Bible

I keep, I treasure God’s Word

I bear in mind His precepts; I observe His message in its entirety.

Truly in me has the love of and for God been perfected, completed, reached maturity.

By this love I may perceive, know, recognize and be sure that I am in Him.

I keep His commandments; I obey His orders and follow His plan.

And since I keep and obey His commandments, I believe on the name of Jesus Christ and love others as He gave me commandment.

I live, and continue to live, stay, abide, dwell In Christ. I am the home of Christ.

And by this I know and understand and have the proof that He really lives and makes His home in me---by the Holy Spirit Whom He has given me.

The Greater One

1 John 4:4 Amplified Bible

I am of God.

I belong to Him.

I am His child.

And I have already defeated and overcome the agents of the antichrist because He Who lives in me is greater, mightier than He Who is in the world.

Peace

2 Corinthians 13:11, Hebrews 13:20,21 Amplified Bible

I rejoice.

I am strengthened, perfected, completed, made what I ought to be.

I live in peace.

The God of love is the my Source of affection, good will, love and benevolence.

He is in me.

He Who is the Author of and Promoter of peace is with me.

God is the Author and Giver of peace.

He brought the Lord Jesus from the dead by the blood that sealed the everlasting covenant.

He is strengthening, completing, perfecting me and making me what I ought to be and equipping me with everything good that I may carry out His will while He works in me and accomplishes that which is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ to Whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen, so be it!

No Worries

Proverbs 16:11 and 1 Peter 5:7 Amplified Bible

I roll, commit my works upon the Lord.

I commit and trust them wholly to Him.

He will cause my thoughts to be agreeable to His will and so shall my plans be established and succeed.

I cast the whole of my care, all my anxieties, all my worries, all my concerns, once and for all on Him, for He cares for me greatly, watchfully and affectionately

Work Appreciation

1 Thessalonians 5:12,13

The people I work with get to know me.

They recognize me for what I am.

They acknowledge and appreciate and respect me, particularly my leaders who are over me.

They hold me in very high and most affectionate esteem, in intelligent and sympathetic appreciation of my work.

Everything I do, I do accurately and efficiently and boldly, in the name of Jesus.

I bind up the spirits of error and confusion and every discrediting spirit, in the name of Jesus.

I am a worker of excellence in every aspect of my life.

Children's Walk With The Lord

Isaiah 54:13, Jeremiah 24:7 NLT

My child is a disciple taught of the Lord and obedient to His will.

Great is the peace and undisturbed composure of my child.

The Eternal will prosper my child mightily and my triumph shall be stable.

My child shall enjoy great prosperity and in triumph shall he/she be restored.

Thank You, Lord, that You give my child a heart that will recognize You as Lord.

My child will be yours, God, and You will be his God, for he/she will return to You with his/her whole heart, wholeheartedly.

Unfailing Love

Psalm 33:4,5,18,22, Psalm 31:21 NLT

For the Word of the Lord holds true, and everything He does is worthy of our trust.

He loves whatever is just and good and His unfailing love fills the earth.

But the Lord watches over those who fear Him, those who rely on His unfailing love.

Let Your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone.

Praise the Lord, for He has shown us His unfailing love.

Counsel of the Lord

For the next two weeks we are going to focus on taking the pure Word of God and confessing it. The Pearls will be shorter than usual but I want you to take these confessions based on a specific word and confess them over your life.

Today we will focus on the counsel of the Lord.

Psalm 16:7, Romans 8:28, Psalm 32:i

I will bless the Lord Who has given me counsel.

My heart instructs me in the night seasons.

I am assured, sure of my God.

I know God is a Partner with me.

He is taking all things and working them together, fitting into His plan for good for me.

I love God.

I am called according to His design and purpose.

The Lord is instructing me and teaching me in the way I should go.

He is counseling me with His eye upon me.

The counsel of the Lord stands forever.

The Lord says: I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.

The Uncompromisingly Righteous

There are a set of verses in Psalm 92 that I speak often. They talk about us as God’s righteous people. Isn’t that wonderful! We see righteousness in the Old Testament before Jesus died and took our sins so that we could take His righteousness. What an exchange! He took our junk and we got His best. What a God we serve!

Verses 10-15 in the Amplified Bible

The [uncompromisingly] righteous shall flourish like the palm tree [be long-lived, stately, upright, useful and fruitful]; they shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon [majestic, stable, durable, and incorruptible].

Planted in the house of the Lord, they shall flourish in the courts of our God.

[Growing in grace] they shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap [of spiritual vitality] and [rich in the] verdure [of trust, love, and contentment].

[They are living memorials] to show that the Lord is upright and faithful to His promises; He is my Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

We see in these verses that we as God’s children, His righteous ones, shall flourish in this life. We shall prosper and do well. We will live long. We will be useful during our life and we will produce fruit from our life here on this earth. We shall be fruitful. What we do will produce for others. This first verse also states that we will be stately; that means we will be in a place of prestige.

We will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. That means we will be majestic. We will be enduring and not ones who can be “wiped out.” We will be incorruptible as we take in the incorruptible seed of the Word of God.

We are planted in God’s Kingdom. We are His. We shall flourish in His Presence.

Oh, yes, we will grow in grace, God’s favor that we do not deserve but yet have. And as I look at the next part of that verse, it means much more to me now than it used to because I am what one would consider entering into old age. I am growing in grace. I understand grace much more than I did in my earlier years. And, yes indeed, I am bringing forth fruit in my old age. We shall be full (did you see that word “full”?) of spiritual vigor and vitality, life.

And we shall be rich in the vigorous, growing condition of trust, love and contentment. Glory, Hallelujah! We grow in faith and trust and love and contentment and peace. We are rich in it. We are vigorously growing in all of these states.

We are memorials who are very much alive with the life of God. And we are showing forth His life. We are showing forth that He is upright. He can be trusted. He is faithful to His Word. He is faithful to His promises.

He is our rock. We are His. He keeps us stable and solid. He is righteous. There is no unrighteousness in Him. We can depend on that. He is righteous. Therefore, we are righteous because He made the way for us to be righteous. He made us righteous.

What a set of scriptures to remind us of who we are in Christ Jesus. Ponder all of these until you know that you know that you know that you know WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST JESUS!

Healing

I have three scriptures that God gave me a long time ago to confess concerning healing. The three represent the Father’s part, the Son’s part, and the part of the Holy Spirit.

Let’s look at them today.

The first one is Psalm 107:20.

He sent His Word, and healed me and delivered, released, rescued me from destruction.

This scripture is talking about the Father. Indeed, He did send His Word, Jesus, (John 1:1) Who came in the flesh and healed us and we were delivered from satan’s destruction. We see that also in Colossians 1:13. We will read it in the Amplified Bible.

The Father has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.

The second scripture, referring to Jesus, is in Isaiah 53:4,5

Surely He has borne our sicknesses and diseases (griefs) and carried our pains (sorrows); yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him and with those stripes that wounded Him, we have been healed and made whole.

Jesus Christ came to this earth to take our place as our substitute and bear in His own self the fullness of the penalty for our sins and sicknesses. He did it for us. What we must do is accept what He did and not doubt it, regardless of what we see in our bodies. The Truth is that we are healed and healthy. Anything else is a lie of our enemy, the devil.

And the third scripture, regarding the Holy Spirit is in Romans 8:11.
But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken (give life to) your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwells in you.

The Holy Spirit is our life-giver all the days of our lives here on this earth. Every day and every night, all the time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year He is giving life to our mortal bodies. What we must do is receive His wonderful gift of life continually. His life flows through us all the time. We must recognize it and accept His life flow. I am telling you that it will change your whole outlook where healing is concerned.

Satan has no rights over your body. The Father sent His Son Jesus, the Word of God, who took on Himself every sickness and disease that would ever stare us in the face. Jesus looked sickness and disease in the face and said: No more for my people. You are finished. Now the Holy Spirit comes and continually brings the very life of God, the life of Heaven to us. All we have to do is receive it. That is it.

God is so good to us. He wants us to live a long life, to live it long and strong. Each of us has been given a divine destiny by our Heavenly Father. He desires to fulfill our destinies. All we have to do is let Him.