In Me

In John 16:33 Jesus gives us some encouraging words to embrace as residents of this earth. We are strangers in this earth because we are of another country, the Kingdom of Heaven. We operate under a different set of laws and principles than people of the world.

Let’s look at what Jesus said to His disciples here. And remember we are His also, as He pointed out in John 17:20-26 when He said: Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you have sent me. And the glory which you gave me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that you have sent me, and have loved them, as you have loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom you have given me be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which you have given me: for you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world has not known you: but I have known you, and these have known that you have sent me. And I have declared unto them your name, and will declare it; that the love wherewith you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.

We see from these verses that Jesus prayed a very specific prayer for all who would believe on the Lord through His Word----and that includes us. He prayed that we would be one with Him and our Father, and with one another. He prayed that the glory that was in the Father and Him would be in us and that their love would be in us. Why? That the world may see and know that the Father sent Jesus and that He loves us as He loves Jesus, with no partiality. Jesus prayed that we be with Him, that we behold His glory. In other words, He prayed that we would be in His presence, beholding the awesomeness of His presence, the all enveloping-power of His glory. And I know that the world will physically see the tangible results of our being in the presence of the Lord. The Light of God will shine forth from us like a physical light, drawing people to Him. I know it will happen. I can already see some evidence of that in believers.

Let’s go back to our main text in John 16:33.
In this verse Jesus spoke to us words regarding our living in the world. Here’s what He told us.
In Me you have perfect peace and confidence. Perfect----entire, wanting nothing. Peace----wholeness, nothing missing, nothing broken. In Jesus we have wholeness, with nothing missing. We are whole, complete, sound, without break. We are whole.

In the world we have tribulation, trials, distress, frustration, cares, anxieties, worries, challenges, stress and misery. If you look up these words, they mean affliction, to crush, press, compress, squeeze, with the purpose of breaking.

Compare the two positions: In Jesus we have wholeness. In the world we have breakage. One is smooth. The other is a mess. I choose Jesus and not the world. I may be in the world, but the world with all of its pressure is not to be in me. Pressure comes to all of us. What we must be trained by the Word of God to do is this: take the Word and turn the pressure back on satan. He cannot stand hearing the Word of God. It is the death bell ringing in him of his defeat. It is a clanging cymbal in his ears saying: you are nothing; you are nobody; you are defeated; you have no power; it is over for you. Keep on speaking that Word to him. He will leave. He can’t stand it.

Jesus tells us: Be of good cheer; have courage; be comforted; be confident; be bold. Why? I have overcome the world. I have deprived it of its power to harm you and have conquered it for you. We are told in God’s Word that we are more than conquerors. The reason for this statement is the fact that if someone has conquered something for you, you are more than a conqueror. You didn’t have to conquer it. It has already been done for you. Wow! I think I will stop and shout about that. That takes the sweat and work out of it for me. It has already been taken care of for me. So, you say, what does that mean to me? It means that whatever is coming your way, you don’t have to worry about it. God has already taken care of it for you, whether it is pain, sickness, defeat, worry, sorrow, grief, sadness, poverty, lack, want. What we must do is believe that it is done for us already and not get uptight when it seems that things are not coming into line yet. Time is the greatest factor to us. And time raises questions. When is the pain going to leave? Will I ever be well? Where is the money coming from to pay the bills? What am I going to do about my marriage? How can I bring my children out of rebellion? Questions come when we don’t trust somebody to do what they say they will do. And trust is developed by spending time with someone and seeing that they will truly do what they say they will do. Trust is developed by listening to their words of truth and knowing that they are truth and will be performed on our behalf. Trust, faith, confidence----whatever you want to call it----this is what we all need in God our Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

When trials come, rejoice; rejoicing reinforces and releases the victory that is already yours. REJOICE!

Expectancy

Bible hope is different than the hope of the world. The hope of the world is wishing that something will happen, not really sure whether it will or not, but just somehow or other hoping it will happen, with no guarantee that it will. On the other hand, Bible hope is Godly expectancy that we embrace----the expectancy that God will do what He said He will do, according to His Word. God’s Word is the basis for Bible hope. It is an expectation in God. Bible hope is an expectancy that says: I am counting on you, God.

Bible hope is the preamble to faith. Faith is the evidence of things hoped for. Faith is our evidence of what we expect from God’s Word. Faith is not a visible substance in this earthly realm, but it is visible substance in God’s realm. Faith is what we use as our evidence. In the earthly realm, feelings, results, what we see and hear is evidence. We don’t need earthly, fleshly evidence when we have faith as our evidence. And what is faith based on? It is based on the Word of God, so that we can say that the Word of God is the evidence of things hoped for. It’s all about the Word of God. The Word is what builds our hope and develops our faith. Hope must be present for faith to hook to. This is the area where many people miss it. They are trying to build faith on nothing. The foundation of hope must be present for the structure of faith to be built. And the building bricks are the Word of God.

In Hebrews 6:18,19 we see that Godly hope is the anchor for our souls. We must not take this verse out of context. In verses 13-19, we are told that God made a promise to Abraham (Gen 12:13 that he should inherit the world). Then He confirmed it by the oath of blood covenant. Both of these are unchangeable---the promise and the oath. With Abraham personally, those two unchangeable things were evidenced by the blood and God’s Word. God proved to Abraham that His Word was His Truth when He cut covenant with Abraham through the shedding of animal’s blood. Abraham understood that. Today, we personally see these two unchangeable things of God’s promise and oath evidenced through the bread and the wine, which represent the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ shed to establish covenant forever with us.

The hope of God’s Word established in covenant and evidenced by the shed blood of Jesus and His body broken for us is the anchor for our souls. And we know that our souls are made up of our minds, our wills, and our emotions. Our mind is held steadfast by God’s Word of covenant. Our wills are conformed to God’s Word of covenant. Our emotions are stabilized by God’s Word of covenant. We are reminded that Jesus shed His blood and gave His body that we might be free. This hope is the anchor, the unmovable rock of our minds, wills and emotions that keeps the ship of our lives steady when the strong winds of adversity blow. It causes us to be unmoved by contrary circumstances to God and His Word of covenant----His promise and His oath. Hope makes us steadfast and sure of God----that He will do for us personally what He said He will do in His Word.

Since Bible hope is the Godly expectancy that God will do what He said He will do in His Word, that’s why the devil attempts to destroy expectancy in our lives. Without expectancy, which is Bible hope, there is nothing for faith to hook to. Bible Hope and Bible Faith go together. They both must be present, in order for God’s Word to produce earthly results in our lives.

Do not throw away hope. Hope is the thermostat that sets the temperature of your faith. Whatever you set the thermostat of hope to do, the heat pump of faith will produce. What is it you have hoped for in the past that you don’t see coming to pass? Perhaps it was not Bible hope based on God’s Word but just a fleshly, earthly wishing that things would work out. Hope and faith are deliberate choices we make based on God’s Word and tenaciously hold to. We do not let go. Time does not affect them. God’s Word will produce hope and faith. We don’t go by feelings of it working or not working. We simply believe that the Word is working in our lives, all the time. You see, when you send forth God’s Word, it never pulls back. We are the ones who pull back when satan applies his pressure to destroy expectancy.

Expect God to do what He says He will do in His Word. Expect Him to do it for you. Expect the Word to work on your behalf. EXPECT GOD TO WORK ON YOUR BEHALF! It is a choice we make every day and sometimes every hour of every day. Don’t back down from or back off from your expectancy.

Stop Wishing And Start Enjoying

“Stop wishing for what you don’t have and start enjoying what you do have.” These are the words the Lord spoke to me this morning for all of us, His children. The tendency of fleshly human nature is to be dissatisfied where one is and to be striving and pushing for what one wants. God’s desire is that we be thankful for what we have and for the place where we are right now. Thankfulness is a wonderful tool that God has given each one of us. It causes us to be peaceful, content, satisfied with what He has provided.

What I have noticed is this: People who are grateful live the good life. They have plenty of everything and seem to enjoy everyday life in its entirety. And even if they don’t have everything, they are happy with what they have and contented with where they are. But I can guarantee you that they will have everything if they continue with that kind of attitude.

Now don’t get me wrong. Contentment doesn’t mean that we don’t have goals and dreams. It means that we are not constantly worried and striving and stressed out as we attempt to climb this huge mountain in front of us that represents our future. God has our future in the palm of His hand, and He is capable of moving us into each season of our lives effortlessly. Where we mess up is when we attempt to achieve our goals on our own with our own capabilities.

I don’t know about you, but I have noticed that the things God asks me to do are those things that I cannot do on my own. Without Him I cannot achieve them. I know that He designed the system that way. It is called dependence on the Lord. He loves to do things for His children. It is Who He is. God is love. And because of His love He cannot contain Himself. He must, absolutely must, spill over on to us. He cannot help Himself. Love must give. Love has to have someone to give to. Love must give.

Look at Ephesians 2:4,5 in the Amplified Bible. This is such a beautiful scripture.
But God ---- so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us, even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation).

These two verses are so full. Look at them carefully.
God’s love is so rich, so full, so complete. He has to satisfy this love by giving. This love is so intense and so great and so wonderful. Even when we are sinners sinning, He has already made the provision for us to live free from sin; He has given us the life of His Son, Jesus, the life of His Kingdom. That life called zoe provides all we need to live victoriously here on this earth while we are on assignment.

God made us alive with Jesus when He raised Him from the dead. It was at that point that He saw us raised from the deadness of our sins into the life of His anointing, His Presence, His Spirit. The same life that the Father used to bring Jesus from the dead is the life He uses to bring us from the deadness of sin and all of its consequences. We are already delivered from satan’s realm and from the judgment that was reserved for us as sinners. We are now partakers of Christ’s salvation, His deliverance, His prosperity, His health and healing, His life.

God has already done it all. What we must do is believe that the “done it all” is for us personally. We must receive it by the words of our mouth and our attitude and our action. All we have to do is believe we can receive it. That takes a step of what we call faith, believing it has been done for us when we don’t see anything that would indicate that in our lives.

Jesus poured out all He was (righteous, healthy, prosperous) and by choice took in all we were (sin, sickness, poverty, depression, anger, doubt, bitterness, etc). Isn’t that something! Jesus, by choice, took every bit of junk that was in us and made available for us every bit of righteousness that was in Him. What a choice He made. Now, we by choice, receive all that He is, just as He by choice received all that we were.

Our sin and sickness is history as far as God is concerned. It has already been taken care of. It is finished. God sees you and me as sinless, full of His health and life, abundantly supplied in every area of our lives. What we must do is take on His vision. I have said this before, and it bears repeating again, that we need to put on God’s glasses to see as He does. And how do we do that? We do it by surrounding ourselves, enveloping ourselves in His Word, which tells us all that we have. Day and night we must focus our vision on His Word. Therein lies our consistent, continuous victory.

Giving

I love the New Living Translation. I would like to quote a portion of scripture from it for you today. It applies to giving and says it so beautifully that I cannot improve on it. Listen-----------

2 Cor. 9:6-15

Remember this ---- a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop.
But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.
You must each make up your own mind as to how much you should give.
Don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure.
For God loves the person who gives cheerfully.
And God will generously provide all you need.
Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.
As the Scriptures say,
Godly people give generously to the poor.
Their good deeds will never be forgotten.
For God is the one who gives seed to the farmer and then bread to eat.
In the same way, he will give you many opportunities to do good, and he will produce a great harvest of generosity in you.

Yes, you will be enriched so that you can give even more generously.
And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will break out in thanksgiving to God.
So two good things will happen ---- the needs of the Christians in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanksgiving to God.
You will be glorifying God through your generous gifts.
For your generosity to them will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ.
And they will pray for you with deep affection because of the wonderful grace of God shown through you.
Thank God for his Son ---- a gift too wonderful for words!

Our greatest example of giving is our Heavenly Father. What a giver. He gave His only Son so that we might live forever and walk in a life of freedom with our sins cleansed by the blood of Jesus. God so loved the world that He gave. We must so love the world, the people in it, that we give. And we can only give freely through the help of the Spirit of God. He causes us to be selfless rather than selfish. He is our example for all time. He so loved that He gave. We so love that we give.

What we give to others we will receive in abundance. Giving must come from a heart of love with no strings attached. That is the way the Lord gives and teaches us to give. Today, ask Him who you can give to and what you are to give. The life of giving is a life worth living. It produces such a sense of completion and peace in our lives when it is given from a heart of God’s Love. Love must be the motive. The Holy Spirit must be the director. Ask Him what you can give today. It may be something as simple as a smile to a person in the grocery store or something as huge as a big financial gift or a big portion of your time devoted to helping someone. Whatever it is, when God is in the middle of it, it is wonderful.

Practice the life of giving. Be like your Father. And remember to learn how to receive also. Be on both the giving and the receiving end with God. It is a delightful life, one worth living.

He Is Faithful

God is a faithful God.

2 Thessalonians 3:3 tells us this:

KJV – But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.

Amplified Bible – Yet the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen [you] and set you on a firm foundation and guard you from the evil [one].

NLT – But the Lord is faithful; he will make you strong and guard you from the evil one.

The Lord God is faithful to us. He always does what He says He will do. He is constant and consistent. He never changes. He is always the same yesterday, today and forever. Jesus is always the same. He is Love. He is Light. He is Life. That’s what He is and that is what He is faithful to.

He is our faithful God and He establishes us on a firm, fixed foundation, unalterable, permanent, forever. That foundation is Love Himself expressed through His Word. When our foundation in life is fixed in the Word of God, we are unbending and unyielding to contrary circumstances in our lives. And contrary circumstances come to all of us. We encounter things on this earth we would rather not have to deal with, but that is why faith is given to us. Faith, the God-kind of faith, God’s faith is given to us to walk on through those situations with the Lord.

The Lord keeps us from evil; He puts a guard over us and keeps us from the evil one, satan. We are protected. We are watched over. Jesus Christ has set a covering over us. The Holy Spirit hovers over us as our Protector at all times. What we must do is give Him something to work with as far as we are concerned by keeping the Word of God alive and active in our lives.

God is faithful to keep us, to establish us, to protect us from all that this earth and the wicked one would send our way. He is our ever-faithful One Who takes care of us at all times. What we must do is cast the whole of our care on Him for He cares for us. Always remember how much He cares for you and don’t ever doubt His faithfulness to you and to His Word in you.

Psalm 91, Truth

In verse 4 of Psalm 91 in the Amplified Bible we read this:
[Then] He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust and find refuge; His truth and His faithfulness are a shield and buckler.

God covers us like a hen covers her little chicks under her feathers, under her wings. There is a shelter, a place of protection under the covering of the Almighty God. We are protected and under the covering of His Love power. Hallelujah! What a place to dwell!

God’s Word, which is Truth, and His faithfulness to His Word and to us are our shield and buckler. I looked up the meaning for shield and for buckler in the dictionary and found that with these two items there is a complete protection. You can have a shield on your arm to take care of what comes your way. You can have a body shield in front of you and stay behind that and not be struck. God’s Word is your shield, your body shield and your arm shield. His Word has taken care of protecting us. What does His Word produce? Faith.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Faith comes as we hear the Word under anointed preachers and teachers. Faith comes as we confess God’s Word over and over and see, understand what God is saying to us. As we confess and hear God’s Word, He will personally make that Word alive in us and for us personally, one on one. It is only when we hear the Lord speak to us with His Word that it becomes faith. Up to that point we are simply speaking and saying God’s Word to renew our minds and cause us to think as God thinks. Sometimes it takes a saturation of His Word to change our thinking. And as our thinking begins to change, it opens us up to hear what the Spirit of the Lord is saying to us about His Word. It is then, and only then, that faith comes. Faith comes. We don’t have to work it up and strive to achieve it. Faith comes. That is what the Word of God says.

In Ephesians 6 we are commanded to take the shield of faith and quench every fiery dart the wicked one brings against us. The shield of faith is made up of the Word of God. The shield of faith is given us by Jesus the Word. It is part of our armor, which is called the Armor of Light in Romans 13:12. The entrance of God’s Word brings Light, the Light of His Presence and understanding of His way of doing things. We put on God’s Word; we put on God’s Light. We “see” with our spiritual eyes what God is saying to us and obey His command. In every situation of life that we encounter, God has an answer. It is found in Him and we discover Him through His Word. His Word reveals Him and the way He operates. To know His Word is to know Him. That word know is not the modern intellectual interpretation most people attach to it. That word know in God’s realm is to be intimately acquainted with God. It is not just a knowledge of Him.

Our shield of faith is the strategy God has given us to win the battle in each situation we encounter in life. There will be a different strategy for each situation. It is through confessing and meditating and studying His Word that we will come to a personal understanding of His Word for that situation. It is called rhema. Rhema is a knowing of God as opposed to logos which is the written word. The written word must come alive in each of us as individuals by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Actually, being led by the Spirit of God, is part of being in faith. We become people of the Word. The Holy Spirit takes a particular Word and brings life to it in our understanding and causes us to know that we know that we know that what Jesus has already done for the world has just become alive in us personally. That is faith. And we can use it as a shield against the darts that satan attempts to throw our way.

Isn’t God good to us! He has it all planned from the beginning to end. What we must do is totally depend on Him and enjoy the ride as He drives us through the course of life on the highway of this earth.

Psalm 91, Might

We are going to do two quick Pearls today and tomorrow on two powerful truths in Psalm 91.

In verse 1 of Psalm 91 we confess that we dwell in the secret place of the Most High, the Almighty. Have you ever thought about what you are saying when you confess that? You are saying that you dwell in the place, you live in the place, you have taken up residence in the place of God’s All Might, God’s All Power.

We dwell in the place of His might, His power, which is all the power and all the might of God. We are living there. We are living in His power. How are we doing that? When we live in the secret place? And what is the secret place? It is the place of His Presence, of Him. It is being intimately involved with Him in a place of personal involvement. It is being exclusively His. We go into that place through worship and praise and the Word and prayer. It is an exclusive place reserved for His children. No one else can go there. No demon has access to this place; therefore, they can’t touch you in this place. In fact, in the Amplified Bible, the last part of that verse says that this is a place with the Almighty Whose power no foe can withstand.

Do you want to be unmovable and fixed in your walk with the Lord? It says in this verse that we remain stable and fixed under the shadow, the covering of the Almighty. We are fixed and living under the covering of His all power, His all might. The hiding place of God’s power is Love. That power of Love is found in His Word. We obey His Word when we choose Love. When we choose Love, we choose Life. When we choose Life, we choose the Life of God, the essence of His realm, His Kingdom.

Don’t you find this to be absolutely wonderful? You and I as God’s children can live in the place where He lives. It is called Love. Love covers. Love is God’s covering. And therein is the hiding place of His power.

Meditate on this for several days and there will be a freedom come to you that you have never had before.

How Did You Start Your Day?

As I got out of bed this morning, this very precisely worded thought marched across the screen of my mind: How will you start your day? There are all kinds of possibilities here. You and I can start our day dreading what the day may hold or we can start our day, looking forward to what God has in store for us. We can start our day with an agenda a mile long that we just “have to” complete or we can dedicate the day to the Spirit of God for His leading, His guidance, His direction. We can start the day grumpy or we can start the day with a cheerful attitude. It is all about choice, isn’t it? We human beings have choices we can make every day. And the biggest choice is the one we make about our day.

We are instructed in the Word of God to rejoice. This is the day that the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it. That is a definite command. The Lord has made this day. Therefore, I WILL rejoice and I WILL be glad in this day. Why? Because the Lord has made this day especially for me to enjoy and to have life more abundantly. I hear some of you saying: But I don’t have an abundant life. I need money to pay my bills. I need healing for my body. I need a “fix” for my marriage. I need a “fix” for my children.

I have come to realize that all my needs that I have, must be given to the Lord as I get up each day. I am to cast the whole of my cares, worries and concerns on Him, for He cares for me. God is the One Who wants to take care of me. Even when things “look” the worst, I am to look to Him and believe that He will bring me through.

Perhaps you feel that you have messed up royally and there is no hope in your situation. Not true. With God all things are possible, and that is not just a cute phrase. It is a truth written in the Word of God for our encouragement and development in faith, in believing, in trusting. The hardest time to trust is when everything looks like it is “going down the tube.” But, you know, that is the time that faith does its best work. But we still need faith all the time; the just (that’s you and me) shall live by faith.

With the Christian, the child of God, faith is not an option. We cannot live without faith. If you are disgusted or upset with the way things are going in your life, don’t give up faith. It is the glue that holds together all that God has given you. He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Jesus died so that we could have all that heaven has. The Holy Spirit is here to show us how to receive all that belongs to us. It is up to us to make the choice to “go for it.” And because we have an enemy, it is his one goal in life to keep away from us all that God has given to us. He attempts to achieve that by discouragement, offense, unforgiveness, bitterness, strife, disappointment, accusations, unworthiness, selfishness, etc. Every one of these negative emotions are contrary to God’s attitude and nature. When we buy in to them, we are taking on satan’s attitudes. I know that I don’t want to hear this, but it is true. God has a nature, and satan has a nature. Out of these natures come attitudes and lifestyles. We see it in the world all the time. But we have to admit that we see it in our church world more than any of us would desire.

So, today, how did you get up? If it was bright and cheery (even if you didn’t feel like it), then you are off to the right start. If it was dismal and gloomy, then you need to repent and ask the Holy Spirit to help you today. He is right here for each one of us. This is His day. It is a gift of life to each of us. We either do with it what we want or we dedicate it to the Lord and let Him do with it what He wants.

Encourage yourself in the Word of God today.

Psalm 138:1,2,3,7,8 Amplified Bible

I WILL CONFESS AND PRAISE YOU [O GOD] WITH MY WHOLE HEART; before the gods will I sing praises to You.
I will worship toward Your holy temple and praise Your name for Your loving-kindness and for Your faith and faithfulness; for You have exalted above all else Your name and Your word and You have magnified Your Word above all Your name!
In the day when I called, You answered me; and YOU STRENGTHENED ME WITH STRENGTH (might and inflexibility to temptation) in my inner self.
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; YOU STRETCH FORTH YOUR HAND against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me.
THE LORD WILL PERFECT THAT WHICH CONCERNS ME; Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, endure forever-----forsake not the works of Your own hands.

Be Strong And Courageous

I love Psalm 31 in the New Living Translation. I am going to quote quite a bit of it today because the words are very “right on” for all of us.

Be for me a great rock of safety.
You are my rock and my fortress.
I find protection in you alone.
I am trusting you, O Lord, saying, “You are my God!” My future is in your hands.
Let your favor shine on me. In Your unfailing love, save me.
Your goodness is so great!
You have stored up great blessings for those who honor You.
You have done so much for those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world.
You hide them in the shelter of your presence, safe from those who conspire against them.
You shelter them in your presence, far from accusing tongues.
Praise the Lord, for He has shown me His unfailing love.
Love the Lord, all you faithful ones!
For the Lord protects those who are loyal to him.
So be strong and take courage, all you who put your hope in the Lord.

And what about Psalm 1? Let’s listen to these words for God’s people versus those who are wicked.

Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with scoffers.
But they delight in doing everything the Lord wants; day and night they think about His law (Word).
They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season without fail.
Their leaves never wither, and in all they do, they prosper.
But this is not true of the wicked. They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind.
They will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly.
For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.

So you’re probably asking---what does Psalm 31 and Psalm 1 have in common? Why are you putting these two Psalms together in one Pearl. I asked the Lord that just now. And I see their commonality. When we look to the Lord and meditate on His Word, we find His protection. We find His shelter and safety. His favor does shine upon us. We see His unfailing Love because we put our hope in Him----we put our hope in Him. We are faithful to Him and His Word and we see His faithfulness operating for us. We trust Him. He is our future. There is no confident future without Him.

We could also hook these two Psalms with Psalm 91. In your personal study time look at the 3 and compare them. Of course, the whole book of the Psalms ties many common threads together. Today’s thread was to have courage and hope in God, Who takes care of us with His unfailing love and protects us and shelters us from the enemy and what would be thrown at us.

Enjoy your day! With the Lord, every day is a joyful day!

Favor

I would like to share with you some scriptures that I have been reading and speaking over my life and my family, friends, and partners. They come from various translations of the Bible. Let’s listen and see how highly favored we are of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Father. The work of favor is active in our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit.

We all know that favor is having preference in situations, getting a parking space close to the store when you are tired, a line opening up in a store as you come to the registers, excellent seats on airlines and in theaters. These are just worldly expressions of God’s favor over us. There is favor in the spirit. It is the wonderful access each of us has, if we take advantage of it, to sit in the front row with the Father. It is the preferential treatment of being God’s favorite child (we all are). Favor is expressed in so many ways. Those who seem to “get all the breaks” are people who love the Lord intensely and thoroughly enjoy being with Him. And He favors them with opportunities and advantages in life. It is just a part of being with Him and sticking close to Him. Favor is a direct result of a joyful attitude, a loving attitude, regardless of what seems to be going in the wrong direction. When people know their God and how much He loves them, favor is there. It is just part of the relationship with Him. The wonderfully good news is that each one of His children can experience favor in their lives. It is there for them to enjoy.

Look at these wonderful scriptures on favor. I am going to personalize them for us.

Psalm 145:16
You open Your hand and satisfy me with favor.

Proverbs 16:15
…His favor is as a cloud bringing spring rain.

Psalm 5:12
The Lord surrounds the righteous with favor as with a shield.
I am righteous; therefore I am surrounded with favor. It is all around me.

Proverbs 3:4,5,6
I find favor, good understanding and high esteem in the sight of God and man.
I lean on, trust in and am confident in the Lord with all my heart and mind and do not rely on my own insight or understanding.
In all my ways I know, recognize and acknowledge Him and He will direct and make straight and plain my paths.

2 Corinthians 9:8 Amplified Bible
God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to me in abundance, so that I may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient (possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation].

John 1:16 Amplified Bible and John 10:10 Amplified Bible
Jesus came that I may have and enjoy life in abundance, to the full until it overflows.
For out of His fullness (abundance) I have received one grace after another and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favor upon favor and gift heaped upon gift.

From these scriptures, let’s make a daily confession. You may not feel a bit like you are favored. That doesn’t make any difference. Feelings and circumstantial evidence are not indicators of God’s Word working in our lives. If we are waiting for some earthly evidence of God’s Word, then we are looking to flesh to confirm or not confirm His Word. His Word stands true just as it is, whether you and I believe it or whether it “looks like” it is working in our lives. Some of the greatest success stories with God’s Word come from people who went under for the third time and when they came up, they were shouting unto the Lord in victory. Never give up on God’s Word working in your life. It always does. Sometimes we just don’t see it right away. It takes tenacity and persistence.

Jesus came for the sole purpose of giving me life to enjoy to the max. He has given me of the fullness of His Blessing in my life. I receive the fullness of His Blessing, His favor in my life. Thank you, Lord, that you come to me with abundance to supply all my needs and the needs of others. I am so happy that I find favor in your sight, God and in the sight of man. I am trusting You, Lord, for that favor to become a reality in my life, even as I speak it. Thank You, Lord, for surrounding me with favor and satisfying me with Your favor all the days of my life. I am so blessed. And I want to thank You, Lord, for blessing me.

Christ Our Wisdom

In Genesis 3:6, one of the reasons that Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was that satan presented the fruit of the tree as something to be desired to make one wise. The interesting part about this whole scenario is that the man and woman were already connected to Wisdom Himself and had no need of wisdom. They already had it in God. In fact, we see in the book of 1 Corinthians 1:30that Jesus Christ is made unto us wisdom. He Who is Wisdom is our wisdom.

We know from this verse 6 in Genesis 3 that the three reasons that satan presented to Eve for eating the tree were all reasons that appeal to the worldly, fleshly, sensual realm where satan is the god. We see these three reasons listed again in 1 John 2:16 in the same order they were listed in Genesis: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life. Eve saw the tree as good for food (lust of the flesh), as pleasant to the eyes (lust of the eyes) and as something desired to make her wise (pride of life).

We all know that food is necessary to live, but in this case they had plenty of other things to eat. We know that God is not opposed to us looking at things that are beautiful and pure for our eyes to behold, but in this case she was looking at the fruit with a desire contrary to what God had told Adam. We know that there is nothing wrong with wisdom, but in this case she was attempting to assume a position of wisdom above God, exactly what satan did, and it cost him just as it cost mankind. Pride will cost a person every time. It is the opposite of Godly wisdom.

There is earthly wisdom and there is Godly wisdom. We see that spelled out in James 3:13-18. Wisdom of this earth is sensual, devilish, bitter with envy and strife. Wisdom that is from above is pure, peaceable , gentle and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

Actually I have seen that God’s Wisdom, which is the ultimate best for us, is the result of conforming to God’s will in our thoughts, in our actions, in our daily living. This Wisdom comes from an understanding of His Word, for His Word is His will. When we attempt to do it ourselves, based on the earthly wisdom that we have acquired through education and study in the world, we could be wrong. We could be right, but then on the other hand, we could be wrong. We can take all the knowledge we have acquired and apply it to a situation in a practical and reasonable manner, based on all the prognosticators, and be wrong. BUT, when we follow the Lord and ask His advice and follow His counsel, it is remarkable how our life runs in such a peaceful, easy vein.

There is nothing wrong with education. I have a college education myself. In fact, I have a Master’s Degree in education, but that will not help me make decisions where my daily life is concerned when either way could be correct. Even if I investigate all of the pros and cons and make my educated decision based on the side that has the most pros, I could be wrong. Why is this? It is because God knows the future. He knows what will be happening. In fact, we are told in John that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth Who is sent to guide us into all Truth and to tell us things to come. He is there to guide us with His Wisdom. God is the ultimate authority for our lives. He is the ultimate and the highest Wisdom.

I love this passage in James. Let’s look at it again in chapter 3, verse 17 with the description of God’s Wisdom. Here are our markers to tell us whether we are operating in Godly Wisdom or our own earthly wisdom. God’s Wisdom is peaceful, gentle, pure, fruitful, full of compassion, impartial, willing to listen to others, and without hypocrisy. That’s quite a list for us to use as our guideline.

As we know, the book of Proverbs is full of information concerning God’s Wisdom. We are told to receive His Wisdom. And then we see the rewards of Godly Wisdom: Long life, protection and security without fear or dread of evil, preservation and deliverance from those who would deceive us, whether male or female, peace, prosperity. We are instructed to get Wisdom and allow Wisdom to direct our lives.

When Jesus Christ is at the center of our lives, Wisdom is at the center of our lives. He will direct us and make straight our paths. What a wonderful assurance we have when we continually look to Him for our direction and allow Him to determine our decisions.

Counsel

One of the things God is called is the God of Counsel. To me counsel represents the wisdom of God. The Holy Spirit is called our Counselor. God has such excellent counsel for us, and He is always there to point us in the right direction. What a wonderful God we have. In the world today we have an abundance of human counselors. There is a counselor for this and that and the other. The Word of God is our greatest counsel. Unfortunately, most people turn to that as their last resort and thus the need for human counselors.

Let’s look at some excellent scriptures concerning counsel from the Lord.

Psalm 25:4,5 New Living Translation and Amplified Bible
Show me the path where I should walk, O Lord; point out the right road for me to follow.
Lead me by, guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God Who saves me, my Savior.

NEB
Make Your paths known to me, O Lord, teach me Your ways.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me. You are God my Savior.

Psalm 16:7
I will bless the Lord Who has given me counsel.
My heart instructs me in the night seasons.

Psalm 32:8 Amplified and Psalm 33:11
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.

New Living Translation
The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.”

Aren’t these good scriptures? If we would meditate on these few scriptures, we will know the way the Lord is leading us. We will know what to do in situations in our lives.

All of these scriptures together say that the Lord will teach us, make known His paths to us, lead us in His Truth, instruct us, counsel us and guide us along the best pathway for our lives. We must trust Him to do this very thing. We must have confidence in His ability to lead us and to show us what to do and what to say and how to handle situations in our lives when they come up. No more wondering what is the best way. The Holy Spirit of God will show us the best way.

Look to the Lord. He will never give bad advice or steer you in the wrong direction.

His Banner Over Me Is Love

This week as I read Song of Songs or Song of Solomon, depending on what Bible you are reading, once again I was reminded of the intense love that God has for me. He loves me unconditionally with an everlasting love that never changes, never alters. His love for me is the same yesterday, today and forever. Regardless of my state of mind or my actions, I can depend on His love being there, steadfastly surrounding me and encouraging me. God is Love and all that He is comes out of that place. There is nothing else in Him but love.

Let’s take this a step further. If you are born again, Who lives in you? God Almighty lives in you by the power of His Holy Spirit. He is in each of us. Soooooooo, God lives in us; God is Love; Love lives in us. Since God, Love, lives within us, then we should be acting like God. Right? So why aren’t we? There is this thing called flesh, which is our nature without God’s guidance. We have been given a will, which gives us the right and the ability to make choices. Even though we are born again, if we choose to be angry (flesh), bitter (flesh), resentful (flesh), envious (flesh), jealous (flesh), doubtful (flesh), fearful (flesh), etc, we are not yielding to God, Love, Who dwells within us. We must make the choice to yield to peace, joy, faith, etc., in other words, the fruit of the Spirit of God who dwells in our spirit. Is it always easy when someone is in your face or has betrayed you or lied to you or stolen from you? No, the flesh wants to get even, be the one who has the last word. But Love does not get even or have the last word. Love forgives, chooses to forget, and acts as if nothing has happened that is wrong. I don’t know about you, but my flesh doesn’t like that. My spirit loves it. That’s why I must continually yield to my spirit where the Holy Spirit dwells. He keeps me walking in Him, in Love.

I have two scriptures today that we all can meditate on. They are beautiful.

One is from the Song of Solomon 2:4 Amplified Bible.
He brought me to the banqueting house, and His banner over me was love [for love waved as a protecting and comforting banner over my head when I was near Him].

Isn’t that a powerful scripture! Love is a shelter for me, a covering. Love protects me. Love comforts me. Here is a clue to Love protecting and comforting me. His love waves as a banner over my head when I am near Him.

I think of Psalm 23 where we are told that the Lord prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies. What is a banqueting house but a place where there is food for us, spread out in a bountiful way. Our Lord has a bountiful banquet for us. The food is His Word. It is spread before us. All we have to do is come and dine, eat of His Word. In fact in one of the prophetic books of the Bible, Jeremiah, in chapter 15, verse 16 we read these words:

Thy words were found and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart; for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.

Here is the other scripture we can meditate on today.
1 John 4:16
…I put faith in and rely on the love God cherishes for me. God is love. I dwell and continue in love. I dwell and continue in God and God in me.

God loves us. God cherishes us. God is love. Love dwells in us. Love is our protection. Love is our comfort.

Here is a confession we can make today as we confess our two love scriptures. Remember that confess means to come into agreement with. We are coming into agreement with God every time we speak His Word.

I listen carefully and diligently to the voice of the Lord my God, the Holy Spirit. The Word of God is the substance of my voice. I give voice to His Word and the Holy Spirit applies His power to that Word for it to come about. Giving voice to His Word releases the power of God, the Holy Spirit of God, to bring about the substance of His word on earth.

JESUS LOVES YOU! Give voice to that. It will transform your life like nothing else.

Stop! Smell The Rose!

There is an expression in the world where people tell you to stop and smell the roses or smell the coffee. What they are saying to you is this: slow down and enjoy right where you are. Look around you and actually see the sights and smell the smells and hear the sounds. Learn to appreciate the experiences of that day.

We live in a very busy, stressful world where so many people are living at a frenetic pace. Do this; do that; go here; go there. In the United States particularly I see everyone racing around like those speeded-up videos on television.

In my generation people worked hard and had much to do. They were also busy, but I can remember my mom and dad sitting on the front porch in the evening after work was done. We children would swing in the porch swing or play in the yard. And there was a time of relaxation for everyone before bedtime. What has happened to that time?

Today I am particularly thinking about our need as Christians to stop, take time for Jesus and breathe in His fragrance. Even if you only have 15 minutes, get a pillow, lie down on the floor, put a worship CD on and enjoy the Lord’s presence. He longs for fellowship with each one of us. In the Song of Solomon 1:3 in the Complete Jewish Bible we read these words: Your anointing oils have a wonderful fragrance; your name is like anointing oil poured out. Isn’t that beautiful!

As we spend time with the Lord, His Presence becomes a part of us even more so than before. And it is called the anointing. Actually it is the Holy Spirit. He is a very real personality in the Godhead. He longs to impart His essence to you. In the perfume industry, essence is the key to good perfume. Essence determines the lasting fragrance. The essence of the Holy Spirit, His Presence, doesn’t just linger with you. He stays with you. The more you get to know Him and yield to Him, the more you smell like Jesus.

Look at 2 Corinthians 2:14,15 in the Amplified Bible concerning fragrance. I have personalized it for each of us.
But thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads me in triumph as a trophy of Christ’s victory and through me spreads and makes evident the fragrance (an aroma of life) of the knowledge of God everywhere.
For I am the sweet fragrance of Christ which exhales unto God, discernible alike to those who are saved and those who are perishing.

The life of God, which is as a sweet fragrance in the spirit realm, is what the world is looking for. The only way they can sense that fragrance strongly is to be in the presence of someone who has gotten a fresh impartation of the anointing that day. Aw, the anointing! Christians long for the anointing on them and through them. It’s easy. Spend some time with the One Who is the Anointing. You are a carrier of the anointing; you give off a sweet scent of His Presence. Everyone can smell it, even those who are not born again. Sometimes it will agitate them because they are convicted of their need for someone other than themselves. And there are those who do become offended because they aren’t willing to give up their sinful ways, which they enjoy. But, oh those who partake of His Presence----they are rewarded with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

There are those who have actually smelled with their physical senses, their smelling sense, a sweet fragrance when they are around someone who is full of the Spirit of God to overflowing. But, what we are talking about here this morning is the spiritual sense that people get that you are different. They may not know what it is, but they know. And, of course, the difference is Jesus and the time you spend with Him.

So, today, stop and take a rose break with Jesus. His anointing gives off a beautiful fragrance.

What's The Big Deal About Being Faithful?

When is the last time you heard anyone say they were excited about being faithful or seen someone who was excited about being faithful? Usually the opposite is the case. This is what we ourselves usually say or hear others say: Why am I having to do this? Don’t they know I have better things to do? I have done this forever. This is so mundane. I want to move on to bigger things.

Faithfulness---who can find a faithful man or woman? Let’s look at a faithful person. A faithful person is someone who is consistently doing what God has asked them to do. They see value in their endeavors, regardless of how trivial they may seem. They complete the task. They do what they are supposed to do, day after day after day. They can be depended upon. You know they will always be at their post, doing their duty, day in and day out. Who can find a faithful man or woman?

Faithfulness is a big deal to God. Many times our greatest tests are those in faithfulness. A faithful person is one who doesn’t grumble when it doesn’t “appear” they are going where they think they should be going. They are serving someone else and don’t “seem” to be fulfilling their dream, their destiny, their vision. I just recently heard someone say that the greatest satisfaction is submerging your dream into someone else’s dream and serving them. That takes a great person----one who is full of humility----to assume that role. Yet I have seen those who do that. Right now I am thinking about a particular minister who served someone faithfully for years, even right up until that minister died. Now this particular minister’s ministry seems like it exploded overnight. Everyone moves into realms of faith as they hear his teaching. People are coming to his church and serving him now. He served and sowed great seed. Now he is reaping a bountiful harvest. The church is growing tremendously. They have a great worldwide ministry. It appears to be an effortless thing. They are recognized worldwide. It is effortless, because God is doing it. He is seeing the fruit of his commitment and faithfulness mature right before his eyes. It was not overnight. It was years and years of preparation and serving.

Faithfulness is exciting because it is preparation for greatness in the Kingdom of God. This is greatness in a different manner than man describes greatness. The ultimate greatness is the man or woman who is described as having a servant’s heart. This is the place where God is endeavoring to lead all of us. Jesus said that he who would be greatest among you is the one who serves, who has a servant’s heart. A servant is one who does things out of love, with no desire for recognition. It is one who enjoys seeing others become who they were destined to be. When is the last time you have rejoiced when someone received what you had been praying and moving toward? Or better yet, when is the last time you helped that person to receive what you knew God wanted to give them, even though that was exactly what you knew you were to have and achieve. Oh, let me tell you, GOD WILL REWARD YOU, yes even while you are still on this earth.

You see, if you and I will faithfully serve others and tap into their dream, do everything we can to help them fulfill their dream, there will come a day when God says: You have passed the test. Now move into the fullness of your dream, of your destiny. Oh, we all talk about our own dreams and desires, but how many people have you heard talking about helping to fulfill someone else’s dream by sowing finances and time and work into that person’s dream on a consistent basis. I am not talking about a “flash in the pan” person who blows in like a tornado and tells you what they are going to do for you, how much they are going to contribute to your ministry and are gone in a few weeks. We are talking about the person who quietly and methodically, month after month and perhaps year after year never leaves you nor forsakes you. We are talking about the person whose check is always in the mail every month, all the time. We are talking about the person who is always there at the meeting, most of the time early, to help you do whatever is needed. We are talking about the person or people that no one notices, but a true minister of the gospel will notice them, will see their faithfulness. And I can tell you that God takes notice of them.

Lately, I have asked the Holy Spirit to evaluate my life where faithfulness is concerned. He has shown me some areas where I wasn’t so faithful and I have repented. Thank God for His forgiveness, because of the blood of Jesus. Thank God that He is always faithful to me.

That should be the cry of each of our hearts. Lord, help me to be faithful to you and to others all my life.

Yes, faithfulness is exciting. It will especially be exciting on the day the rewards are passed out. It is exciting to see someone else’s dreams being fulfilled. It is exciting to see people brought into the Kingdom of God because a minister has faithful workers behind the scene while he or she is out there preaching. Yes, it is exciting because you and I will receive the same reward he/she does. In serving others, we are serving Jesus. We are waiting on the Master as a waiter would wait on tables.

God's Healing Touch

Have you ever been in a place, or maybe you are there now, where you needed to know that God was with you in a personal, touchable way? You know the Word says He is with you and you have accepted it by faith that He is there, but you would like to have some indication He knows what you need. Oh, come on now, don’t be so pious with me. We all have needed that, haven’t we?

Today, let’s talk about God’s healing power, His ability to take care of us in any situation.

The 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language defines healing as wholeness, soundness, to return to a sound state, to cure of a disease or wound and restore to soundness, or to that state of body in which the natural functions are regularly performed, to restore to soundness, to cure.

When something is sound or whole, it is in a state where it operates and functions the way it was created to function, without hindrance. It is complete, with nothing missing that would contribute to that perfect state of operation.

When Adam and Eve sinned, they lost the capacity for their bodies to stay sound, operating in the way that God had created them. Oh, but Jesus came and He paid the price for a sound physical body once again. When His blood was shed at that whipping post for our sicknesses and diseases, every stripe represented another category of disease where the body was concerned. And when He hung on that cross and took upon Himself all of the curse of the law, He took every symptom, pain, sickness and disease that would ever come on us. He took it all. Now we are free of the curse of the law. He became a curse so that the Blessing of Abraham might come on us. Part of that blessing is health and healing.

So, what are we to do when pain hits our body, when symptoms appear, when sickness attacks? We take authority over that pain, that symptom, that sickness and command it to leave. It comes from satan and we refuse to receive any of his package. He is a liar and a thief and a destroyer and a killer. We stand our ground. We refuse to let go of what Jesus has purchased for us. It is ours. It legally belongs to us. He is illegally trespassing on our bodies and he is to leave, to be evicted. He is not to be allowed to take up residence or even rent a room. We are the temples of the Holy Ghost. Jesus has bought and paid for us. We are not our own. We are bought with a price.

In Isaiah 53:4,5 and 1 Peter 2:24 we are told that with the stripes that wounded Jesus we are healed and made whole. In other words, we are restored to health. We are restored to soundness and wholeness.

I think that is the best news I have ever heard. Believe what the Word of God says is yours personally. Trust the Lord to bring to pass in your life personally what His Word says about healing. Choose to believe that you will be made whole. Choose to believe that Jesus took care of your own body and freed you from sickness and disease.

We all live on this earth and we all will have to battle symptoms from time to time and pain that attempts to convince us that there is something dreadfully wrong with us. Just say, NO! No, you don’t. You are not taking my health from me. It belongs to me. I have received it as a gift from my Father, and I refuse to give you my gift, satan. Git!!!!!

We have to stand our ground and refuse to give up territory which has been gained. We stand firm in the face of every contradictory word spoken over us and every report given to us that is contrary to the Word of God. That is our stand. So what if the doctor tells you that you are going to die? So what if the report comes back positive? Whose report do you believe? What does the Word have to say about that? You have Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in you. He is the power of God. He is the life of God. How can two live in the same space? Life is living in you and death has no room. I love Proverbs 12:28 which tells us that in our pathway is life and there is no death. Take that scripture, believe it, dwell on it until it becomes more real to you than any doctor’s report that is contrary to life and health. It takes a while to renew our minds, but we can renew our minds to think the way God thinks. God thinks like this: LIFE! HEALTH! HEALING! His Word says this: LIFE! HEALTH! HEALING! And what are we to say then over ourselves? LIFE! HEALTH! HEALING!

Healing is yours. It is the touch of the Master on your life forever, eternally. Take it. It belongs to you.

Magnify

There are a number of scriptures in our Bible that talk about magnifying. What does the word magnify mean? We know that when we put something under a magnifying glass, it makes it appear larger. Magnify means to increase, to make larger.

Where God is concerned, He cannot be any larger. What happens is this? When we magnify God, our vision of Him gets larger, increases. When our vision of Him increases, so does our ability to trust Him increase. Our faith in Him increases. He becomes larger, bigger than our circumstance, problem or symptom. When that happens, guess what is going to happen? The circumstance, problem, symptom loses its significance in our lives and satan cannot whip us around with it any longer. He gets tired of dogging our tracks and moves on to harass someone else because he knows that he has lost his case. When we lose interest in the things that satan throws our way, he has nothing to work with any longer. Hallelujah! That is the way we all want to live, giving Jesus everything to work with in our lives and giving satan nothing to work with.

Look at these scriptures. I get so excited every time I read them. I believe that excitement will be contagious.

Psalm 34:3
O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.

Psalm 35:27,28
Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favor my righteous cause: yes, let them say continually, let the Lord be magnified, which has pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.
And my tongue shall speak of Your righteousness and of Your praise all the day long.

Psalm 40:16
Let all those that seek You rejoice and be glad in You; let such as love Your salvation say continually, The Lord be magnified.

Psalm 70:4
Let all those that seek You rejoice and be glad in You: and let such as love Your salvation say continually, Let God be magnified.

Psalm 138:2
I will worship toward Your holy temple, and praise Your name for Your lovingkindness and for Your truth: for You have magnified You word above all Your name.

Luke 1:46,47
And Mary said, My soul does magnify the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

When we look at all these scriptures, we make some outstanding observations. Those who are rejoicing and shouting for joy and are glad SAY CONTINUALLY, let the Lord God be magnified. Did you see that word CONTINUALLY? What does continually mean? All the time. That means that we are to magnify the Lord all the time instead of magnifying our contradictory circumstances.

Those who love God’s salvation say continually: Let the Lord God be magnified, increased in your vision. What does the word “salvation” mean in the two passages cited above? Rescue, deliverance, help, safety, salvation, victory, something saved, deliverance, aid, victory, prosperity: deliverance, health, help (-ing), salvation, save, saving (health), welfare. That is quite a list, isn’t it? If you love these things in this list, you will magnify the Lord. Why is this so important? What you magnify in your mind becomes that which controls your life. Magnify health, prosperity, victory, deliverance, etc. and that is what will be produced in your life. This is not an overnight wonder. It is a lifestyle that must be exercised all the time. We are living in a negative world and these ideas of that which is uplifting in God are contrary to the world in which we live.

What are we doing continually? That is a question we all must ask ourselves. All the time, I am allowing the Holy Spirit to correct me when I am thinking out of line with His Word or speaking out of line with His Word. This is a constant lifestyle of living in the Presence of God, doing what He does, saying what He says.

We are to rejoice and be glad, shout for joy. Our tongues are to speak of His righteousness and His praise ALL THE DAY LONG. As you practice this type of lifestyle, your life will take on new vitality, new exuberance. I know because that is the way the Lord is teaching me to live every day. Sometimes it is a climb uphill when I don’t want to do it, but oh the rewards of living on top of the mountain. The air is cleaner and fresher. Life is so much easier when we “do it His way.” Come on, He is extending His hand down to you and encouraging you to come on up higher and stay seated with Him where you belong in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Love Power

As I was meditating on Ephesians 3:16-21 several days ago, I saw that the whole passage is talking about the power of God, which is, of course, love. God is Love. In God, Love, is His power. This is all that God is.

I know we know this passage, but let’s speak it together. I use the Amplified Version to confess this scripture passage. Actually, let’s begin with verse 14

For this reason [seeing the greatness of this plan by which you are built together in Christ], I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For Whom every family in heaven and on earth is named [that Father from Whom all fatherhood takes its title and derives its name].

May he grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit [Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality].

May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in you hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love.

That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God’s devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it];

[That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!

Now to Him Who by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]-----
To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen (so be it).

Now, let’s take those verses and put them into the context of Love Power. Let’s personalize it for ourselves.

I am strengthened with mighty power in my spirit because the Holy Spirit is in me. His indwelling Presence roots me deeply in His Love. I am securely found in His Love, knowing the length, height, breadth and depth of it, filled and flooded with Love Himself, His Presence. His Presence within me is at work to carry out His purpose for me. The action of His power—Love power—causes me to do superabundantly, far over and above what I dare ask, or think, infinitely beyond all my highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes or dreams.

I can assure you that if all of us will dwell on these scriptures for the next 30 days, it will transform our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and with others.

How about it? Are you willing to give it a try?

Love----therein is the hiding place of God’s power. Everything in God’s Kingdom works by His Love power.

Freedom

Today is freedom celebration for my country. As I reflect on the freedom that I have (yes, we still do have much freedom here), I think of the sacrifices that people have made for this freedom. They have laid down their lives so that people like you and me can walk in freedom. What price is freedom?

As I ponder freedom in my country today, I must stop and consider the freedom that I have as a citizen of Heaven because Jesus paid the ultimate price for me. I am free of satan’s hold on me and all that his realm represents. I am free of sickness and disease. I am free of sin. I am free of lack. I am free.

Even though that freedom has been bought for me, I have to receive it; I have to appropriate it in my own life. I have to maintain a vigilance against the enemy that he doesn’t sneak in and attempt to take back territory that has been won. We have to do that in the natural realm and we have to do it in the spiritual realm.

We have an enemy, and he has one purpose. He has come to steal, kill and destroy. He is looking for ways to steal your peace, steal your joy, steal your finances, steal your marriage, steal your children, steal your health. He walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. He has destruction on his mind.

But there is my Savior. He has life on His mind. He has come and purchased freedom for me. How did He purchase that freedom? He purchased my freedom with His own blood being shed and by taking my place as my substitute. He went to the cross for me, so that I could be free. He purchased health for my body, righteousness for my spirit, peace for my soul. In other words, He purchased total prosperity for me. Now this is a freedom I can shout about.

We are told that we will know the truth and the knowledge of that truth will set us free. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is the Truth. He whom the Son sets free is free indeed. As we read His Word, meditate His Word, consider His Word, worship Him, we see the vastness of the freedom He has purchased for us. Everything we will ever need has already been purchased for us. That is a big deal. Wow! Everything! Obviously, most people have not grasped that truth yet or we as God’s children would be turning this world upside down. There are those of this new generation who are doing just that right now.

Those who are free are no longer bound. I have been giving the Lord complete access to my life to reveal any bondages that I am in. He is doing just that. I tell you that you will never be the same once you give Him complete access to the very inner chambers of your heart. It is a beautiful, but humbling experience where you are reduced to total dependence on Him and increased to total freedom in Him. It is a way of living that is exhilarating and rejuvenating, so full of life that you are in awe that you can contain it all.

In Hebrews 2:14,15 we are told that Jesus Christ took on flesh and blood that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death (satan) and deliver us from the fear of death who were all our lifetime subject to bondage.

Jesus has set us free from bondage. In Romans 8:15 we are told that we have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear. We have been delivered. In Galatians 5:1 we are told to hold fast to the liberty wherewith Christ has made us completely free, and we are not to be entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Bondage is a yoke that chokes us to death. It will choke the very life out of us. Jesus is life. Satan is death. I choose life and freedom. How about you?

Tenacity

The words tenacity, tenacious and tenaciousness all mean to hold fast to, to retain what is in possession. I especially like the definition for tenaciousness: the quality of holding fast; unwillingness to quit, resign or let go.

When you and I come into a hard place, a place where things don’t seem to be going well or it “appears” that the Word is seemingly not working in our lives, what do we do? What is our reaction? What is our action? What is our attitude? What is our stand? What is in our thoughts? How do we respond to God during that difficult time?

In Hebrews 4:14 and 10:23 we are told to hold fast. What are we to hold fast to? The profession or confession of our faith in Jesus Christ, our trust and confidence in His ability to carry us victoriously through the challenge to the other side. There is nothing that we in our own efforts or fleshly endeavors will produce to get us out of difficulties. We can attempt to get out of the mess we sometimes find ourselves in, but we cannot do it without much human effort, stress and strain. Human effort alone will not bring us through difficulties. It is God, and Him only, Who will bring us through those trials in which we find ourselves.

The way we stay steadfast is to believe His Word is true for us, regardless of where we are or what we encounter in life. We have several choices; we can just simply give up and quit and lose all; we can blame God and thus in our own minds release ourselves from any responsibility or we can choose to believe God and His Word are true in our lives. We may have to confess this in the face of totally contradictory circumstances. Our marriages may be failing; our finances may not be enough to cover all the bills; our children may be rebelling against God; our bodies may be sick and diseased. Yet, in the fact of all that, we MUST stand up and say: No, I choose to believe God’s Word. There is a line that all of us must cross in our lives where we completely trust God with all that we are and have. When we do that, we choose to believe God is true and everything else a lie, even if circumstances are screaming in our face that God’s Word does not work for us.

I have been in this place more than once in my life. But I can assure you after walking with the Lord for 35 years and confessing His Word over my life and that of my loved ones, His Word WILL produce results in your life personally. It is not always “instant mashed potatoes,” but if you and I don’t back down, don’t lose heart and quit, we will receive the end result of God’s Word in our lives.

Hold fast, don’t let go, don’t quit your walk with the Lord and His Word. Don’t become offended for the Word’s sake. Go back and read the Parable of the Sower. There are so many things out there to take us away from the Word of God. We must be stable, steadfast, unmoving. In Hebrews 3:6 we are told to hold fast to the end our joyful confidence in our hope in Christ. We are to have confidence in God’s love for us so much that we don’t allow ourselves to doubt Him and His Word in our lives. Not only are we to be confident, but also we are to have joyful confidence in the Lord. Our confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is called the Word of God, is to be full of joy. It is to be a joyful confidence, a positive, uplifting confidence.

Each of us must make a daily quality decision that we choose to believe God and His Word is working in our lives, on our behalf, producing what He says it will produce. He tells us that His Word will not return to Him without producing results.

Don’t look at the mess you are in. Keep your focus on God and His Word. Anything else will produce a fuzzy image. Only God and His Word will produce clear vision for your life.

For God So Loved

How many times have you quoted the scripture in John 3:16? Do you do it as a mindless exercise, or do you think about what you have just said? Most of us had to memorize this scripture for Sunday School or for Bible school when we were children, but do we truly know what this scripture says. Have we asked the Spirit of God to show us the fullness of this scripture.?

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever beliveth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God---this is all about God and what He did for us.
For God what?
For God so loved---God loves totally, completely, without preferential treatment. He is Love. That is all He is.
And what did He love? He loved the world.
And what was the result of His love for the world---that means you and me and everyone else?
He gave. God gives. His love gives. He can’t help Himself. He must give. That is His very nature.
What did He give?
He gave His only begotten Son, the only Son He had. He gave Jesus.
And what was the purpose for which He gave Jesus?
That we would not perish, that we would have everlasting, eternal life, His kind of life, zoe life forever.
And what do we have to do? Believe in Jesus. That’s it. That’s what you do. Isn’t that simple?

I love the way the Amplified Bible states this scripture.
Listen to this. Say it to yourself.

For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.

Look at this. God greatly loves you and dearly prizes you. How much does He greatly love you and dearly prize you? Enough to give His only Son for your benefit, for your deliverance, so that you would not be destroyed or lost. What a God we serve! I love Him. But He first loved me. It all began with Him and it all ends with Him. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.

Repeat this after me:
God so greatly loves and dearly prizes me that He gave Jesus so that I shall not come to destruction or be lost but have eternal life because I believe in Him, I trust in Him, I cling to Him, I rely on Him. Thank You, Jesus.

Jesus did not come to this world to condemn us or bring us under judgment or pass sentence on us. He came to take the judgment we deserved, the condemnation we should have had, the sentence that should have been carried out on us. That is the reason He came. Oh, do you see it? He came that you might be safe and sound and whole and free from sin and its condemnation, free from sickness and disease, free from all that had been released on mankind through his connection to satan.

I will be forever grateful to my Lord for what He did for me. How about you?