God's Wisdom Is Calling You, Part 2

Let’s continue our study of Godly Wisdom today.

We pay attention to Wisdom; we listen to the Wisdom of God so that we may learn discretion and the proper guarding of our mouth in answer to the call of the world (Proverbs 5:1). When we regard Wisdom as our intimate friend, she guards us from evil; when we keep and treasure God’s Word (His Wisdom), the Wisdom of His Word keeps us from wickedness.

God’s Wisdom calls to us. What does Wisdom say? Hear me! “Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things. For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing forward (contrary to truth) or perverse in them. They are all plain to him who understands and right to them that find knowledge” (Proverbs 8:6-9). Godly Wisdom makes prudence (the ability to regulate and discipline oneself wisely) her dwelling place; she finds knowledge of witty inventions. Wisdom has sound counsel, sound knowledge, understanding, might and power (Proverbs 8:12,14).

Those who seek Wisdom early will find her; riches, enduring wealth, righteousness and honor are with her. The fruit of Wisdom is better than all the fine jewels on earth or the purest silver or the finest gold. Wisdom walks in the way of righteousness and causes those who love her to inherit substance or great riches; wisdom fills our treasuries (Proverbs 8:18-21). Blessed is the one who hears Wisdom, for whoever finds Godly Wisdom finds life and shall obtain favor of the Lord (Proverbs 8:34,35).

Wisdom has built her house. She says to us: Come and eat of my bread and drink of my wine (communion, the covenant meal) (Proverbs 9:1,5).

Reverence and worship of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom. For by Wisdom are our days multiplied, and the years of our life shall be increased (Proverbs 9:10,11).

“Give instruction to a wise man and he will be yet wiser: teach a just (righteous) man, and he will increase in learning” (Proverbs 9:9).

God’s Wisdom (Jesus Christ the Word) calls to us to seek Him and worship Him. As we follow His instructions, we will live long lives, find favor, walk in understanding, and have great riches. Our lives will be built on the strong foundation of the Lord Himself, and we will eat the fruit of the blessing of our covenant relationship with God Almighty. We will be protected and kept from evil overtaking us.

The Wisdom of God brings us happiness and keeps us in the center of God’s will as His righteous ones. What a valuable treasure we have with the Wisdom of God. It is more valuable than anything that people consider earthly treasure; it is more valuable than rubies, gold, silver, and all the finest gems.

Wisdom is the main thing to get in our lives. With Wisdom comes everything we will ever need for life and godliness. If we have Jesus Christ in our lives, we have God’s Wisdom in our lives. We must ask the Holy Spirit to teach us how to draw upon His Wisdom to live the good life.

God's Wisdom Is Calling You

Godly Wisdom is what we are given when we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord. In 1 Corinthians 1:30 we read that God has made Christ Jesus wisdom unto us who are of Him. The indwelling Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, Who was sent to us when Jesus left the earth, is in us to direct us in the wise ways of God, to instruct us in the ways of the Kingdom of God. He is in us right now as born-again children of God.

In Colossians 2:2,3 we read that in Christ, the Anointed One, with His anointing, are hid all the treasures of divine wisdom and knowledge. In other words, all the understanding or insight of God in its completeness is in Christ, the Anointed One and His anointing. He is in us. If we yield to His insight and understanding, we will not be misled or deceived with people’s words of flattery which beguile and seduce. Attractive speech can lead people astray. Paul said that he did not come with enticing words to people. When you hear someone speak, listen for the heart of God in them. We are not to be led by personalities but by the Spirit of God.

The Lord gives us Wisdom. He has stored up the wholeness of His Wisdom for us as His children. Our God guards the path of His righteous ones; that’s us; it is a path of justice. He preserves our way. (Proverbs 2:7,8).

Let’s look at the book of Proverbs, which is called the book of wisdom, written by a wise man, Solomon. In Proverbs 4:7 we read that wisdom is the principal or main thing; therefore, get wisdom. As New Covenant believers, those who have been born again, we already have Wisdom Himself dwelling in us, as demonstrated by the two scripture verses already given in 1 Corinthians 1:30 and Colossians 2:2,3. Jesus Himself is our Wisdom. By the power of the Holy Spirit, His presence is in us. Wisdom is abiding in us. The difficulty has been that people have not known that Godly wisdom is in them, or if they know they have Godly wisdom, they do not know how to access that wisdom which is in them.

Wisdom cries out for us to turn at her voice and give heed to her call. She says: How long will you stay ignorant, without my direction? How long will you attempt to do things in your own meager human wisdom? How long will it be before you recognize that you can’t do it with your own knowledge? Turn and hear what Godly Wisdom is saying. Where do we hear what Godly Wisdom is saying? We get Godly Wisdom as we hear, study, speak and meditate God’s Word. Jesus was the Word made flesh; Jesus is made unto us Wisdom. God’s Word is His Wisdom made known to man. When we dwell in the Word of God, we are dwelling in the Wisdom of God. God’s greatest desire is to pour out His Spirit upon us and make His Word known to us.

Wisdom says: Whoever hearkens to Me shall dwell safely and securely, trusting God in quiet confidence without dreading evil (Proverbs 1:33). Listen to Me; receive My Word; treasure my Word; direct your heart and mind in pursuit of Me; apply all that you have to find me (Proverbs 2:1,2). When you seek Me and search for Me, you will find me (Proverbs 2:4). When you allow Me to enter your heart, discretion shall preserve you and understanding shall keep you from the way of evil men whose ways are crooked and devious. I shall keep you from the alien woman with her flattering words. I shall keep you in the pathway of righteousness (Proverbs 2:10-20).

Happy is the man who finds wisdom (Proverbs 3:13). Wisdom is better than silver. Gaining it is better than profiting with fine gold. It is more precious than rubies. Nothing can be compared in value to Godly Wisdom, which is superior to anything valuable in earthly standards. Length of days is in her right hand and riches and honor are in her left hand. Her pathway is one of peace and pleasantness. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her. Happy is everyone who holds fast to Godly Wisdom (Proverbs 3:14-18).

Wisdom brings life to our soul and grace to our lives. She causes us to walk in safety; therefore, we can lie down and sleep peacefully, without fear. Our sleep shall be sweet. The Lord God, Wisdom Himself, is our confidence and strong protector (Proverbs 3:23-26). Wisdom will keep us and guard us. Wisdom is our defender and our protector. As we consider Wisdom to be precious and exalt her, she will promote us and bring us to places of high honor. Wisdom gives us grace and surrounds us with glory (Proverbs 4:8,9). When we receive Wisdom, our pathway in life is clear; obstructions are moved out of the way. The path of the righteous ones who choose Wisdom becomes brighter and brighter until that perfect day when Jesus comes (Proverbs 4:12,18).

Let Godly Wisdom be your guide in life’s journey.

Soul

Have you spoken to your soul today? We tell our bodies to line up with the Word of God. We also need to tell our souls (minds, wills, emotions) to line up with the Word of God. Our minds are to be in alignment with the mind of Christ. Our emotions are to yield to the fruit of the spirit. Our wills are to be conformed to God’s Will (His Word.).

The challenge is not in our spirit man, and the body does whatever it is told to do. Our challenges in life come from souls that are not in alignment with the Word of God. We live in the world; there is a world system; satan is the god of this world. As Christians, we are no longer equipped to live according to the world system, and if we attempt to “do battle” the world’s way, we will be defeated every time. We no longer have the weapons of the world. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. We have moved to a different way of living; we are living in the Word system. Unfortunately, many Christians do not know how to live according to the Word of God when the world is screaming: “Live my way; do it my way.”

The world says that when someone does evil to you, get even with them. The Word says that we are to bless those who persecute us and say all manner of evil against us. The world says that we are to hoard up material goods in hard times. The Word says: Give and it shall be given to you, good measure, pressed down,shaken together and running over. The world says that money is the source of all good things. The Word says that all good things come down from above, from the Father. The world says that we must learn to be self-sufficient. The Word says that we are to lean on and trust completely in the Lord. The world says that we love those who love us. The Word says that we are to love our enemies.

The Word of God has much to say about the soul. One of the scriptures I think about immediately is Luke 1:46: “And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,….” Mary said that her soul magnified the Lord. In other words, she was enlarging God in her mind, her will and her emotions. She saw God as larger than anything in this world. She saw the Word that had been spoken to her as larger than the world’s impossibility. Mary’s soul magnified, enlarged, increased, expanded and exalted God. She made Him bigger than anything else in her life. She lifted up her voice in adoration of Almighty God.

There is a scripture which I enjoy so much in the book of Acts in the Amplified Bible which uses the word “soul.” Listen to this: “You have made known to me the ways of life; You will enrapture me [diffusing my soul with joy] with and in Your presence” (Acts 2:28). Our souls need to be saturated with the joy of the Lord, especially when we live in times where fear and trepidation seem to be escalating. Speak to your soul right now: “Soul, magnify the Lord. Let His joy envelope and penetrate to every cell of your being.” Your soul hears you and obeys you.

There are so many scriptures in the Psalms that use the word “soul.” One of the greatest ones is Psalm 103:1-5.
“Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: (I make it positive and say: Remember all his benefits.) who forgives all thine iniquities; who heals all thy diseases; who redeems thy life from destruction; who crowns thee with loving kindness and tender mercies; who satisfies thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” There is enough here in this verse to live on the rest of our lives. We are to speak to our soul and tell it to bless the Lord and to remember all His benefits. Wow! As I have said before, the benefit package is “out of this world.” It is beyond any other benefit package, as illustrated in the verses above.

David spoke to his soul much. It is as if he knew where the source of his weakness or strength was in this life. The soul is the determining part of our being that causes us to go God’s way or another way. The Word of God is full of instruction for the soul—renew the mind, conform the will to God’s Word, and take authority over wrong emotions. Repeatedly in the Word of God we see that the Word keeps our soul, that the Word is an anchor to our soul, that the Lord redeems our soul, and that the Lord keeps our soul in peace.

The soul of man is the place which needs constant surveillance. We are to allow the Holy Spirit to direct us in our souls, to think as God thinks, to act as God acts, to choose what God chooses and to enjoy what God enjoys. Our spirit has already become new in Christ Jesus; we have God’s nature in us once we are born again. It is that soul that needs a continual conforming to the ways of God and cleansing by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our bodies will come into line with the spirit and soul in agreement. If there is division between the soul and the spirit, the bodies have no place to align. There is division. Oh, but when there is agreement between the spirit of man where the Holy Spirit dwells and the soul of man which is conformed to the Word of God, the power of God is released to bring divine life to that body.

Today, start speaking to your soul. My soul does magnify the Lord.

God's Word, The Rest of Faith

We are dwelling in Hebrews 4 today.

The Word that God speaks is alive and full of power. It is powerful. It is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The Word God speaks is what we need for discernment. His Word is active all the time; He created everything, which has atoms. That’s why atoms are always moving. They’re Word based. God created them.

Yes, God’s Word is powerful. God’s Love is His power; His Love is the greatest power in the universe. The Word is full of power, i.e. full of love. The Word of God is a love container.

Let me repeat myself for emphasis: God’s Word is alive. It’s got life in it. It speaks to us. His Word is Him and He speaks to us. His Word is His voice. His sheep hear His voice. As we hear His voice, His Word, we give voice to His voice, His Word.

God’s Word is pulsating with life, waiting for somebody to release the life of God from that Word. Our mouths are the vehicles to release the life in that love container called The Word of God. Yes, God’s Word is a container of God’s life, waiting to be released. We’ve got health and healing Word containers. We’ve got prosperity Word containers. We’ve got salvation Word containers. I could continue with the examples, but you get the idea. God’s Word is a container of everything you need, whether it is healing, prosperity, salvation, peace, joy, love, faith, or wholeness of any kind. God’s Word is THE CONTAINER.

The Word of God is penetrating through to the soul and the spirit and distinguishes, judges, or decides our thoughts and our intents of our hearts. The Word of God penetrates all of the extraneous, unnecessary thoughts we have and trims away all that is not of God. His Word discerns, distinguishes and judges what is of Him and what is of the world. He told us in Psalm 107:20 that He sent His Word (Jesus the living Word and the Bible, the written Word) and healed us and delivered us from destruction.

His Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. His Word is our guide, showing us how to live, where to walk, what to do, and what to say. So, the good news of deliverance from bondage is proclaimed, declared to us. The Word we hear benefits us when we believe God. Then, we enter into God’s rest of faith. His works have been completed and prepared (waiting for us) since the foundation of the world. His Word tells us where we are in the process of entering that rest of faith—which really is our promised land (the promises of the Word of God).

We can come boldly to God’s throne of grace to find the help we need to enter into the rest He has provided for us through His Word. We enter that promised land of the Word through grace by faith. We come before the Lord and He extends His hand of grace to us to help us do whatever we need to do. Grace is the provision extended to us to live the way our Father lives, even when it looks like we’ve come to the limits of His mercy. He extends a way for us to succeed. He gives us an extension of Himself. He extends further than we deserve, just to help us.

Thank God, we have a way to enter into His rest through His grace by our faith in Him.

Honor

Honor is a word that we don’t hear much anymore, nor do we see people who are exercising honor.

To honor someone is to hold them in high esteem or respect, to consider them worthy of respect, and to place value on them. When we honor someone, we treat them with the highest regard both in our words and in our actions. We hold them in a distinguished place in our minds, in our hearts and in our lives. We place them in a position of dignity as far as we are concerned.

God the Father Himself has honored all of mankind by sending His most precious and valuable gift, His Son Jesus to take the fullness of the justice due to us for our sin and all of its consequences. Jesus Christ has honored us by coming and taking our place as our substitute to pay the full price for sin. The Holy Spirit has honored us by coming to dwell in us when we accept what Jesus has done for us and repent or turn away from our wicked ways. We are forever changed because of the honor that God has for us.

Looking at the other side of the coin, we, in return, are to honor God. We are to respect, revere, and regard God with the highest value, above anything we have and anyone we know. The very foundation of the good life starts with honoring God. There is a respect that we must learn where God Almighty is concerned. I know He is our precious papa, but He is also the God Who created the universe; He is Almighty God. There is a place of honor we must give Him in each of our lives.

People are screaming for others to respect them and honor them. If you are not being honored, look inside and see if you are honoring God first of all. If you are not, how can you expect honor to come to you. Honor begins with God. Then we can honor others and others will honor us. Once again, it is about the law of sowing and reaping. God’s Kingdom is set up with one of the principles being that of sowing and reaping. If we sow honor, we will reap honor.

I just got back from visiting my dad for the day. He is 90 years old and a delight to my heart. He still is able to live by himself, and I so enjoy him. There was a time in my life when I was young when I did not see my dad that way. I saw his faults more than his strengths. Yes, we all have faults. Those who are closest to us recognize them very well. But, if we will be like God, He looks past our human weaknesses and faults to see our strengths. He does that by looking at us through Jesus Christ His Son, our substitute.

What we human beings must do is practice what our Heavenly Father practices. We must see people through His eyes. When we do that, we see the good and honor people for what we see in them. It is so simple. Choose to see the good things in others. Choose not to see the bad and the ugly. That is not always easy, but it is possible. A number of years ago, I made that decision, and it has made all the difference in my life. People are not always nice or agreeable, but I can choose to be nice and agreeable and loving. No one can choose that position for me. I have chosen to honor others even when they don’t honor me. If you will make that choice today, you will reap the benefits of honor. It may not be an immediate reaping, but it will come. I have lived long enough to see that happen in my life repeatedly. I know it works. I have seen the results of it personally. Honor does come.

We are not to seek the honor of men. We are not to pressure others to honor us. We are not men pleasers. Rather, we are to seek to honor God with all that is within us. God will honor us. That is our ultimate desire. From His honoring us will come an honor from others.

In our present world, there is a great need for honor being shown. Instead of complaining about the fallen condition of men, let us be one person who makes a difference. It only takes one, and one, and one, and one, and one, and one. Over a period of time, that one and one and one becomes many and many and many. Eventually, that one has become a whole mass of people who honor one another. One person can make all the difference! Choose to honor and be honorable!

Clean Hearts, Right Spirits

The cry of my heart every day is that God will keep me pure and clean before Him, free of the debris of the world system. All around us we are hearing the voices of the world telling us how horrible everything is and how they have the answers for us. There are no answers except those that are in the Word of God. However, if our hearts and minds are cluttered with the ways of the world, we cannot hear what God is speaking to us.

Clarity is no longer an option; it is a must. We must hear the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ clearly. We must hear His instructions. The Holy Spirit of Truth is here to give us instructions every day. In order to live the life God has designed for us, we must yield to the voice of the Holy Spirit and follow His directions precisely. Our yielding and listening could mean the difference between life and death. We must have clear channels, uninterrupted by the static of the world’s voices.

There are several scriptures that mean so much to me right now. Let me share them with you.

Psalm 51:10
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Psalm 19:14
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

Every day I am praying these scriptures when I get up in the morning. I want a clean heart which is acceptable to the Lord, and I want the words of my mouth to be acceptable in His sight.

As you and I speak God’s Word, we are speaking Truth, and we are giving the Holy Spirit of Truth the right in our lives to direct us with His Truth. This is so important in these days in which we live. The Truth of God will dispel confusion and deception every time. Deception is more prevalent than I have ever seen it in my lifetime. All of us are capable of being deceived. Beware of the pride of thinking that you cannot be deceived. That is deception in itself. Deception is the act of believing a lie. Most of the time one deception leads to another and constitutes a lifestyle of lies.

We as God’s people are protected when we camp in God’s Word. In fact, Psalm 91:1 tells us that we who dwell in the secret place of the Most High God (His Presence and His Word) shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no foe can withstand]. Satan cannot withstand the power of Almighty God operating in our lives and keeping us in the Truth. When we are walking in the Truth, lies cannot overtake us. The Lord has shown me that the word “shadow” here in this verse is His Glory over us like a canopy of divine love, which is our protection and our defense. Isn’t that awesome! We have a canopy over us of God’s Glory. When we walk in the Lord and in the Light of His Word, the darkness of deception cannot overtake us.

There is no greater time than the present time to dwell in the Word of God continually. Get up with it in the morning, shower with it, shave with it, put your makeup on with it, dress with it, eat with it, go to work with it, talk to your friends about it, come home in the evening with it, drive with it, go to bed with it. In other words, don’t leave home without it!

Dwell much in Psalm 119, the Psalm about the Word of God. Open our eyes, Lord, that we may behold wonderful things out of Your Word. The entrance of Your Word brings Light. Your Word is a lamp unto our feet and a Light unto our path. We have found Your Word, and we live with it and by it. It is our instruction book of life.

It is God’s Word which will create in you and me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within us. It is the Word of God that comes out of our mouths that will please the Lord and keep our lives pure and clean. It is the heart which meditates on the Word that will be kept from deception and the lying words of the world. God’s Word is acceptable in His sight. His Word is what He wants us to meditate on. Without the Word of God, there is no direction of purity and rightness or righteousness.

Keep the Word before your eyes and going in your ears and coming out of your mouth. It is your protection. It is your very life source.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me and let the words of my mouth and let the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my God! You are my Lord and You are my God. I praise you and worship you and revere you. You are so awesome and so beautiful. Thank You, Lord, for being my God.

The Pathway of the Righteous

In the pathway of the righteous is life and there is no death (Proverbs 12:28). Are you righteous? If you are born again, you are righteous. In other words, when you accept what Jesus has done for you on the cross, you are born again and you become right with God. God Himself gives you the right to think like Him, talk like Him and act like Him. It is your choice to think, talk and act like God.

Unfortunately, even though people are born again, they may not know or accept their right-standing with God. In other words, because they don’t feel worthy, they cannot accept God’s label of being His “righteous” ones. Let me help you start on the road of accepting righteousness. In the New Living Translation, I have found a verse that gives such joy to me. Listen to it. “Long ago, even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes” (Ephesians 1:3). You are righteous! You are God’s child!

When you become God’s child by being born again (new birth), you are righteous; you are right with God. He sees you with eyes of perfection. He chooses to see you without fault. How does He do that? He sees you through Christ Jesus. His vision is focused on you through Jesus Christ.

I think Proverbs 12:28 is a wonderful promise to me and you as God’s righteous children. In our pathway is life, and there is no death. Are we going to die physically? Of course, we are. But while we are living here on this earth, the consequences of death are not to touch us as God’s righteous children. Death represents separation. We are not separated from God. As a result of our union with Him, we are connected to and one with the wholeness of God in every area of our lives—spirit, soul, body, socially, and financially. We as God’s children must grasp this truth with all of our hearts. This is not an option for us. We must learn how to access and stay in the life of God, life without measure.

There is another verse I want you to look at in Proverbs 4:18 in the Amplified Bible. “But the path of the [uncompromisingly] just and righteous is like the light of dawn that shines more and more (brighter and clearer) until [it reaches its full strength and glory in] the perfect day [to be prepared].” What is this verse saying to us? Our pathway as God’s righteous children is one that is to grow brighter and brighter until the day we go home to be with the Lord. Our pathway is to be bright and clear. Oh, yes, our enemy satan will throw every kind of obstacle in our pathway, but our Lord will clear them out of the way for us as we focus on who we are in Christ Jesus. Jesus is the One Who takes care of us. There is absolutely nothing (Did you hear me? Nothing!) that satan can throw in our pathway that Jesus has not already taken care of for us, ahead of time. Are you hearing what I am saying? There is NOTHING that can overcome us when we keep our eyes focused on Jesus.

Let’s look at one more set of verses before we leave you today. I love Psalm 92:12-15 in the Amplified Bible. Read it with me today and let the reality of what these verses contain become personally yours today.
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.

The word “verdure” means vigorous, flourishing, growing condition.

Meditate or ponder and think on these verses today. This is your heritage as a child of God. You are to live a long life; in your pathway is life and the light of God; you are useful and bear fruit in your life; your life has meaning; you are growing in the Lord; you are full of vitality and energy and strength; you have the gift of contentment; and the Lord is faithful to His promises for you all the days of your life.

What promises we see in God’s Word for us as His righteous children! Today let the reality of these truths wash over you and through you until they are bigger than anything that you are facing or will face in the future.

What A Shepherd!

The Lord is My Shepherd. He takes care of me. I do not lack or want for anything; I have everything I need. That is God’s job: He provides for all my needs. If I need healing, He is Jehovah Rapha. If I need peace, He is Jehovah Shalom. God is my provider. You and I must see that inside us. We must be so certain that He is with us and for us all the time. God will take care of us, regardless of what we need. We must learn to lean on Him and trust Him for our provision. You know what is very interesting: A sheep never worries about what it is going to eat or where it is going to get water to drink. It doesn’t have a care or concern.

As our Shepherd, the Lord leads us to a life of rest; that rest is the rest of faith. Faith is trusting God to take care of us. That may sound over simplified, but that is how simple faith is. Trust! That’s it! Trust!

God leads us into peace. We have studied peace before. It is shalom. The word means wholeness, soundness, with nothing missing and nothing broken in our lives. The statement “all is well” describes the peace of God. The peace of God does not depend on how things look. God’s peace is not moved by how things look on this earth. God’s peace is the same always. In His peace is stability at all times. It is not earmarked by fretting, worrying or anxiety. These negative emotions are not a part of God’s peace. His peace has been given to us. Jesus gave it to us. He told us that He was giving us His peace, which the world could not give. When He told us that He was giving us peace, He said: “Let not your hearts be troubled. You may be in the world, but you are not of the world. The world can’t hurt you because I am with you.”

Our Shepherd renews our strength daily. We are strong in the Lord. It is His strength which we draw upon. The young ones may faint and grow weary but we who wait upon (worship) the Lord shall renew our strength as eagle’s. We shall not grow weary or faint. We exchange our weakness for His strength.

Our Lord guides us; He protects us; and comforts us. He is always there for us. He will lead us in the right pathway that He has chosen for us. He will protect us from deviation off that pathway. He comforts us as we travel on that pathway.

Our God prepares a table laden with good things He gives us while we are here on this earth, with our enemies around us. They can’t touch us when we are with our God. He is there all the time, anointing us with His Presence and with His overflowing Blessing,

God’s goodness and mercy is in hot pursuit of us all the days of our lives. We live with Him forever.

Aren’t you blessed to have God as your Shepherd? You and I can rest in His care for us forever. We need to learn and to lean. We lean on Him and He is strong enough to hold us upright and carry us forward into all of His goodness. Let’s go forward together into the lush meadows of Blessing that He has for us to graze upon and drink of the refreshing waters of His Presence.

The Power Of His Love

I have been camping out in Ephesians this week. I am especially dwelling in Chapter 3. Come and join me for a period of time.

My Father has a plan for my life. He is my Creator—the One Who made heaven and earth. He has unlimited resources in the glory of His Kingdom. My Father has blessed me with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. I receive these blessings because I am in Christ Jesus. I am a child of God. God loved me before He had even created the world. He actually chose me in Christ before the earth was formed. He chose to see me as holy and blameless, without any faults before Him, in Christ. I want you to get a picture of that.

The Father sees you and me as faultless because He sees us in Christ, the Anointed One and His anointing. When you and I finally understand that fact, we will be unstoppable. Obviously, we as the Body of Christ, don’t really “get it” yet. In Christ Jesus we are without fault, without sin, because we are made righteous in Him. We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. We have been made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. What a dynamic piece of information this is.

We must gain understanding of who we are. All of this is possible because of God’s great Love, Grace, Mercy, Loving Kindness. Let me repeat myself: He loved us before He created the world. He not only loved us then—He loves us now and will love us forever. No matter what we do, it doesn’t change His mind about His love for us. He loves us eternally. His love is not conditional on what we do or don’t do. He loves us forever. The word “conditional” comes into focus on our parts. The condition is this: We must accept His love for us. In return, we will move into a love for Him that we have never experienced before.

In order to walk in this unending, limitless love of God, we must ask Him for wisdom and understanding so that we can grow in the knowledge of Him, so that we can KNOW Him. We serve such an awesome and powerful God of Love. We must grow in the knowledge of His Love.

We are to pray that our hearts be flooded with light from Him, which is understanding from the Kingdom of God concerning His Love. His Love has given us a future that is full to overflowing with His Presence and His promises of all the good things with which He has blessed us. We have a rich inheritance, and it does not start when we get to Heaven. It starts right now when we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord, when we accept what He has done for us. We are walking in the middle of a great inheritance. What we must do is recognize where we are walking.

As we walk with God our Father, Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord, and the Holy Spirit of God, we go from level to level of understanding the power of His Love that is available to operate in us who believe. There is nothing like God’s Love. There is no power greater than His Love. What a Love! It has no limits. There is depth, height, breadth and width to it. We must pray for the deep roots of our spirit man to go down deep into God’s love. We are to allow His love to go deeply into us. As we plant the seeds of the Word of God concerning His Love, we see them take root in the soil of our hearts. It is He Who gives us the ability to understand His Love. It is He Who gives us the power to walk in His Love and to exercise His Love on the behalf of those around us. But, I want you to see something. We will never love others with the Love of God until we allow God Himself to teach us how to love Him. First, we love Him; then we love others. This is the way it is set up.

We are to pray that we experience this Love of God in its fullness because we as the Body of Christ are filled with the fullness of Him Who fills everything everywhere with Himself. We are full of Him. Our prayers must be aimed in the direction of asking Him to teach us how to release that fullness for the world to come to Him.

It is by the mighty power of God’s Love at work in us that He is able to accomplish infinitely more than we could ask or think, beyond our highest prayers, desires, hopes or dreams. The impossible of this earth becomes the possible of God in the power of His Love released.

I don’t know about you, but as for me, my one desire is that I may know Him in the fullness of His Love. There is no greater power in this earth, in all the universe and in all of Heaven. Today is the beginning of pressing into Him for all He has for us, to immerse ourselves in the power of His Love. What an adventure awaits every one of us who do this!

Rejoice In The Lord

Let’s look at Psalm 5:11,12 today. I am combining the Amplified Bible and the New Living Translation for our study.

Let all those who take refuge and put their trust in the Lord rejoice, sing praises, and shout for joy forever.
Why?
The Lord makes a covering over them and defends them; He protects them.

Let all those who love the name of the Lord be joyful, full of joy and thanksgiving and praises.
Why?
The Lord will bless the righteous.
He surrounds them with His favor. He surrounds them with His Love as a shield of divine protection.

These two verses are all about God’s protection.
What is our part?
Take refuge in the Lord
Trust in Him
Love His name
Be joyful
Praise
Rejoice

Do you see the benefit of praising God and rejoicing in Him? Do you see the consequence of a joyful heart? Do you see the results of trusting in Him and taking refuge in His arms? Do you see the wonderful response to loving His name?

As a result of praising the Lord and rejoicing in Him, we have His protection. His divine Love is poured forth directly in line with joy and praise. Where there is the Love of God, there is joy. Where there is trust in the Love of God, there is a sense of well-being. God dwells in the middle of His praises. His Presence is brought forth for those who love and praise Him. His name is exalted above all situations when we praise Him. We are surrounded with His Presence. He is everywhere. When we praise Him, His Presence is actively involved in our lives. He blesses us. His Blessing is actively moving on our behalf.

When we are surrounded by the Presence of the Lord and the Blessing of His Love, we are able to walk out of sickness into health, out of poverty into prosperity, out of sin into righteousness, out of difficult situations into resolution for our difficulties. God wants us walking in the place of His Blessing poured forth over us as a shield to protect us from the enemy and the things of this earth that bring harm. Jesus told us that we were in the world where difficulties come, but He said that in Him we overcome those difficulties. Look at this scripture in John 16:33 in the Amplified Bible: …”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.]”

Yes, in Jesus we have overcome the world with its tribulation, trials, distress and frustration. He has deprived the world of power to harm us because He has conquered it for us. Jesus has overcome every difficulty we will ever encounter while we are living here on this earth. What we must do is believe that He has overcome for us and trust Him to bring us through those things that are thrown in our pathway to sidetrack us or destroy us.

Be of good cheer. That means to be joyful and praise God all the time for His goodness to us. We are to have confidence in the Lord’s care for us and boldly and confidently declare that He is taking care of us. We are to be comforted in God’s love for us as His children. He will take care of us. We are to rejoice, especially in difficult times. The more difficult the situation, the more we are to rejoice. Why is that? That does not make any sense to the natural mind. Oh, but it makes sense to the spirit man. And actually it makes sense in the physical realm as well. Rejoicing puts us in the place of God’s presence; He is released to take care of us and bring resolution to the problem we face. We are also told now that joy releases good chemicals into our body to keep us from breaking down into sickness and disease. So there you have it! The verdict is in: Being joyful is good for us!

SO, REJOICE!

Praise Stills The Enemy

God has a system in place which takes care of our enemy satan. One of the most powerful tools against our enemy is praise coming forth out of our mouths as a result of hearts that trust the Lord. Let’s look at two scriptures that are very specific concerning the results of praise.

In Psalm 8:2 we read this:
“Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.”

In Matthew 21:15, Jesus referred to this scripture in the Old Testament, and He said:
“Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?"

“Wait a minute,” you might say, “didn’t Jesus just misquote that scripture?” No, He interpreted that scripture for us when He said that even out of the mouth of the youngest Christian, God has perfected praise (ordained strength) that He might still the enemy. Jesus was telling us here that praise is strength for us. It is the avenue by which we take on God’s strength for our situation.

In the Strong’s Concordance, the word “strength” in Psalm 8:2 is force, security, majesty, praise, boldness, loud, might,, power, strength, strong. We see here that this word “strength” is a very dynamic word of the power of God that is released on our behalf in the form of praise.

When we look up the word “still” in the Strong’s Concordance, we find that it basically means to cause or make to cease or leave. In other words, praise causes the enemy to desist in his maneuvers against us. Why is that? Praise releases our Father to take care of things for us. It releases His strength and power to be brought forth on our behalf.

The word “perfected” in Matthew 21:15 means a sense of completion or thoroughness. God is telling us that He will complete what we lack to win a battle when we praise Him. He is the One Who wins the battle for us. Our part is to praise Him, to recognize that He is our Almighty God, Who is there for us.

In the Old Testament we see times when the praisers went before the warriors, and the battles were won. We are told that the battle is the Lord’s. We need to heed that word. We cannot win one battle against our enemy. God is the One Who wins all battles. That is why we must trust Him. Praise is a natural outgrowth of trust.

We must remember that Jesus has ultimately won the battle for all of mankind. The battle has already been won. What we are dealing with is our personal battles in our minds to enforce what Jesus has already won for us. Our battles are against the pressure that satan brings against us to convince us that it won’t work for us, even though Jesus has already won the battle for us. Here is where praise is of the utmost importance. When we praise God, we get our minds off our situations. When we praise, we focus on Him instead of our contrary circumstances, and our minds become stayed or fixed on Him. He is no longer tied up by our doubt and unbelief system which is full of anxiety and concern.

Out of our mouths God perfects praise or ordains strength that He might still the enemy or avenger in the battle before us. When we praise, the battle becomes the Lord’s. Then it’s easy to win the battle because we give God the open door to come and still the enemy with the open door of our mouths.

Salvation Is A Gift

Salvation is not a reward. It is a gift. It is the gift of God to us human beings here on this earth.

We see that so clearly explained in Ephesians 2:8,9.

KJV For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Amplified Bible
For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God; Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law’s demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]

New Living Translation
God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

We must remember what the words “saved” and “salvation” really mean. Being born again is part of the package. Salvation and saved are the words sozo and soteria or soterion. They mean: to save (safety), deliver or protect, heal (health), rescue, defend, preserve, do well, and be (make) whole. I see that the best overall description of salvation is this: to make whole in every area of your life.

Jesus came that we may be made whole in our spirits, our souls, our bodies, our relationships and our overall lives. He told us in John 10:10 that He came that we may have and enjoy life to the full. He came that we may enjoy life in the abundance of His overflow.

Jesus paved the way for our salvation or freedom to be whole and enjoy life in God. He shed His blood for God to have the right to give us His gift of salvation, which makes us righteous, gives us once again the rights and privileges as God’s own. We are offspring of Almighty God. We are His very own children. We are extensions of Himself.

God the Father can have union with us again because of our being in Christ Jesus. Jesus shed His blood that we might be forgiven and redeemed or purchased for the Father to enjoy as His children again. Because of the Father’s choice to send Jesus, we are delivered from the dominion or authority of darkness and are transferred into God’s Kingdom. Because of what Jesus did, we are free from the works of darkness; we are free from the authority of demonic forces; we are free from satan’s authority of the fear of death and its ravages. WE ARE FREE BECAUSE OF JESUS. SALVATION IS A GIFT TO US FROM GOD. This gift is ours because of the kindness of God toward us. He desired us as His children. He extended Himself to us because He is Love.

Let us remember this free gift of salvation and give it to others that they may live the good life also.

God's Unchanging Plan

God has a plan for each one of us as mankind on this earth. His plan has never changed. It is the same today that it was when He created Adam and Eve. He never changes. Jesus said that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

We can see God’s plan in Ephesians 1:9-14

I see four parts to this plan.

First, the Father chose to adopt us into His own family by our being in Christ; through Christ, the Father can be with us and enjoy us.

Second, at the right time God will bring everything together under the authority of His Anointed One, Christ Jesus—everything both in heaven and in earth. All will come under the authority of Jesus Christ, under His anointing. That includes everything on this earth and everything in heaven. That includes it all. Everything will come together in Him.

Third, because of Christ, we’ve received an inheritance. That inheritance includes everything our Father has. He has it all. That inheritance includes: health and healing, spiritual life, and prosperity in every area of our lives. He has given us all that it takes to be successful and live in victory all the days of our lives both here on this earth and forever in the eternity of heaven. I consider that to be quite an inheritance. It beats anything here on this earth. You may think you have a rich inheritance from your family if you are a Bill Gates or a Rockefeller. That doesn’t even “hold a candle” to what your heavenly Father has to offer to you.

Fourth, we have been identified as God’s own children by His giving us the Holy Spirit, Who was promised to us. The Holy Spirit is God’s guarantee that He will give us everything He has promised and everything He has purchased for us. The Holy Spirit is our “identity badge.” He identifies us as God’s children. He is our mark. Everyone in the spirit realm recognizes that identity mark. It is our birthmark. We are marked as God’s own children. We are His. He is our Father. His blood and DNA markers are flowing through our spiritual veins.

So, what have we to be afraid of? First Jesus’ blood purchased us. Then the Holy Spirit was given to us as God’s guarantee He has purchased us.

Yes, God has a plan. This is His general plan, but He also has a specific plan for each one of us to fulfill while we are stationed here on this earth. As we seek Him, stay in His general plan, faithfully do what we see to set our hands to do, and stay open to His direction, we will see and fulfill His plan for our lives. As we stay in the Word and stay in Him, He will unfold His plan for each of us.

God's Vision Of Me

Here is something for you to ponder on today. Meditate on this wonderful news. God the Father saw you in Jesus Christ before He made the world. Before the foundation of the world, God saw you as His child, complete in Him in every way. Look at Ephesians 1:4 and you will see what God sees in you and me.

Ephesians 1:4 KJV
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Amplified Version
Even as [in His love] He chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight, even above reproach, before Him in love.

New Living Translation
Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.

Let’s think about this one fact for a period of time: God loved you and chose you in Christ before He made the world. He actually picked you out for Himself as His very own in Christ before the foundation of the world. You are a chosen one. God the Father was so in love with mankind that He chose every one of us before He even made the world. As far as He was concerned, we already existed before He made this earth for us to live on. That is pretty awesome! Are you getting this? God chose you for Himself. All you have to do is choose Him, and you walk into all that He has for you as His child.

Now, here is a point to ponder even further. Not only did He choose you; He also chose you in Christ to be holy and without fault. That is what the word “blameless” means. You are without fault. You might be saying to me: “Hold everything. I know I have faults.” Yes, in yourself you have faults, but in Christ you have none. He is faultless. If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, you are blameless, holy (set apart unto Him) and even above reproach. How is that possible? Love makes it possible. God is Love. Love sees you through Jesus Christ. Love Himself chooses only to see you through Jesus Christ. He sees you as perfect in every way.

Since God sees us as blameless, we must make the choice to take His vision to see others as blameless. I think it is spoken so beautifully in Colossians 3:13 NLT. “You must make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. God has forgiven you and me. We can forgive others.” He made allowance for our faults; we can make allowance for the faults of others. He forgave us our offenses, and we can forgive the person who offends us.

What a vision! I like God’s vision of me and others. It gives me great comfort to know that God extends His mercy toward me when I don’t deserve it and I can do the same for others when they don’t deserve it. Thank God for His example and His vision. Today, let us make a quality decision to ask God for His vision for ourselves and for others. It will make a big difference in the way we live; peace and joy is ours when we don’t have to critique everyone and put people “in their place” because we “know more” than they do. What a freedom we can walk in, when we walk in the pathway created by God’s eyesight.

Wait Upon The Lord

Waiting upon the Lord is something many Americans don’t comprehend. Our culture is so busy, so loud and so full that there doesn’t seem to be time for quietness. When someone is waiting, there is an atmosphere of serenity and quietness. You’re just waiting.

I know that waiting can bring up bad attitudes and pictures in our minds. Waiting sometimes represents a doctor’s office with sick people coughing and babies crying. Waiting sometimes represents sitting in the hospital waiting for the report from surgery. Waiting sometimes represents the verdict of the judge. These are all negative pictures. What we are discussing today is very positive. Waiting upon the Lord produces huge benefits.

Let’s look at a scripture about waiting on the Lord.

Isaiah 40:31 King James Version
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

This word “waiting” has a different meaning in God’s realm than it does in the world’s realm. Waiting upon the Lord is an attitude of ministering to Him, listening to His voice, allowing Him to have input into our lives. He is speaking, but much of the time people can’t hear Him, because their minds are so busy with the thoughts for the day, the agenda for the day, and the duties for the day. In order to hear someone speaking, we must take the time to focus on them and what they are saying. If our minds are cluttered with other words, we won’t “hear” what someone is saying.

I think that the Amplified Bible gives such a specific understanding of this scripture. Listen to it.

But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.

There are key words here. We who take time to wait upon the Lord, expecting Him to show up, looking for Him, and hoping in Him shall receive something. We shall renew our strength. Why is that? We exchange our weariness for God’s strength as we are in His Presence. He is strong and mighty. We exchange our weaknesses for His strength. With this sense of His Strength, we shed our weariness; we do not faint in our walk on this earth; we do not become tired of doing what we are called to do. God gives us new perspective on our life. He encourages us. He gives us newness of life. The Bible is full of scripture passages on God’s strength and newness of life. Take some time today to look up these verses and see yourself becoming strong.

We could camp all day on one of the scripture verses on strength in Ephesians 6:10. We will close our Pearl today with that scripture in the Amplified Bible. Take it personally as yours. It will make a big difference in your day.

“In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides].”

Don’t you love that scripture! Repeat after me:

I AM STRONG IN THE LORD. I AM EMPOWERED THROUGH MY UNION WITH HIM. I DRAW MY STRENGTH FROM HIM, THAT STRENGTH WHICH HIS BOUNDLESS MIGHT PROVIDES. I AM STRENGTHENED IN THE LORD. AS I WAIT UPON HIM, I RENEW MY STRENGTH AND POWER. I WALK IN VITALITY AND JOY. I DO NOT GROW WEARY OR TIRED. I DO NOT FAINT OR QUIT BECAUSE GOD IS MY STRENGTH. I AM STRONG IN HIM.

See yourself strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Some time today, take 15 minutes, sit before the Lord, and don’t say a word. Wait upon Him. It may take a number of days before your mind will cooperate and be quiet. Continue to do it. You will enjoy the results.