Simple Word from the Lord to Me 2-7-11

Jesus said, If you love Me, obey My
commandments. All who love Me will
do what I say. My Father will love them,
and We will come and make Our home
with each of them. Anyone who
doesn’t love Me will not obey Me …
John 14:15, 23,24

 

 

 

It's in the fire that you get to know Me.
The more you know of Me, the more you love Me.
The more you love Me, the more you obey Me.

Prayer: Father, help us to hold on to our faith in You as we go through fiery trials. Give us a desire to want to know You better, love You more, and honor You by doing our best to be obedient. Give us grace. Live Your life through us, Lord. When we fall short, help us to stop beating ourselves up ... there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. In Jesus' name, amen.

So, Are You Still Standing?

I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart: wait, I say, on the Lord. Psalm 27:13, 14




God's mercies are new EVERY morning. His grace comes RIGHT WHEN we need it.

If you are believing to see the promises of God come to fruition in your life - DON'T give up. God IS a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

You may be tired, things may seem dark, but remember it's always darkest just before the dawn appears. When you are weak, that's when God's strength will rise up in you.

DON'T give up because God wants to pour out His abundant blessing in every area of your life. When the bottom falls out, when it looks like you've hit an all-time low, hold on to hope. You don't know what God has around the corner.

Jesus triumphs in EVERY circumstance.

Keep standing, keep believing, keep declaring God's Word over your life.

Having done all ... STAND.

Prayer: Father, help us to keep holding on to You and Your promises of hope. Not one promise of Yours has ever failed, so give us the grace to keep pressing in and not give up. Renew our hope – in You. Be the lifter of our head. Encourage us and use us to encourage others. Refresh us and help us to be ever filled with Your Spirit. In Jesus' name, amen.

You Want Me to Do What?

Let the Lord's people show Him reverence, for those who
honor Him will have all they need. Those who trust in the
Lord will never lack any good thing. Psalm 34:9,10

Worry reveals that we aren't fully trusting God --- we need to trust God instead of worrying.

When we rely completely on God, we'll stop pleading with Him and begin to thank Him for answering our prayers. The secret to victorious faith is to dwell on the Father's ability to handle our problems. GOD is the Man with the plan, so we need to quit trying to figure everything out.

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. Isaiah 55:8

We don't always have to be so strong, you know. It's ok to let our guard down and be ourselves with God. We need to get over ourselves, and if we want God we need to swallow our pride, ask Him for help and receive it. We have to forget all that in our mind like, 'we have to defend ourselves', and 'we have to take care of ourselves, for no one else will' and instead ASK JESUS to do it.

Now that we know what we have - Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God - let's not let it slip through our fingers. We don't have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He's been through weakness and testing, experienced it all - all but the sin. So let's walk right up to Him and get what He is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help. Hebrews 4:14-16

Every challenge presents an opportunity for the Father to display His faithfulness and love. Instead of yielding to thoughts of fear and failure, we need to make a commitment to trust God, even when we don't know what tomorrow will bring. We may experience failure and life may not always turn out as we planned. But ultimately, God will be glorified and we will be blessed.

The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord will answer my prayer. Psalm 6:9

God doesn't just listen, He listens INTENTLY and answers. So we need to just go ahead and believe God from the get go ... for we know that He always turns out to be right anyway.

We are NEVER beyond Abba Father's reach - He can be trusted. Trust Him.

Prayer: Father, I confess my sins. Help me to focus on You, and completely surrender to Your will. As I pray for the needs in my life, help me to live as if my request has been granted. Help me to cast down thoughts of doubt and fear as they come instead of dwelling on them, and help me to speak Your Word in faith Lord God. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

Abiding Rest

O, my precious Savior
to whom I ever cling;
Please take each care and burden
My soul to You does bring.

For there is not one moment
I can live without Your grace;
How I need Your strength and love
Your tender, consoling embrace.

To guide me in each hour
As I know Your plans are best
So I may walk with joyful hope
In Your sweet, abiding rest.

Jennifer Messing
In The Shadow of His Wings

Yo, Don't Forget to Meditate on God's Word

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Psalm 1




 

This is a beatitude (a statement about life). It's a word of wisdom.

There are two promises here, rewards for our obedience: stability and prosperity. But, there is action required on our part.

God’s plan for growth is to avoid the counsel of foolish individuals. You either walk in the path of the righteousness or the wicked. Notice the comfort level of walking the wicked path: walking, standing, and then sitting. The more you hang with the wicked, the more at home you will feel and eventually just camp out and sit down.

We are to listen to wise counsel. It's found in God's word. His instructions are to meditate on it day and night. If we desire to grow in God and gain wisdom in our walk with Him, we must be in His Word.

The person who soaks in the water of God’s word will become a strong tree, bearing fruit. The wicked are called dry chaff, which will be blown away. We need nutrients and strength, which can only come from the author of life, God Himself.

God’s Word promises that if you stay watered, with your roots firmly planted in Him, no matter what goes on around you, because your inner man is strong, your leaf will not wither. Our hope and trust is in the unwavering, immovable Word of God. Delight in God and allow Him to delight in You. Always remind yourself, when facing opposition, weariness or just a sense of hopelessness, that the Word encourages you to BE STRONG. Whatever you do shall prosper. If you are not prospering, look at what you truly are planted in, make the changes, and you'll prosper.

I want to be the oak by the stream that looks so magnificent because of the constant flow and nourishment from the water and life that surrounds it. I want my life to count for something and prosper in who I am as a believer in Christ.

The Lord “watches over” the righteous. He is with us and is our guide as we seek to bring honor to Him.

Prayer: Father, I thank You for who You are and what You're doing in my life. I can rely on You. You never change and You'll always love me. Fill me with Your joy today and help me to think about You all day long. Bless my day with Your presence. Let my thoughts be thoughts of You. Let my words and actions be pleasing to You. Create in me a desire to make Your Word my strongest delight, and the primary guiding influence in my life. I praise You and thank You for who You are in Jesus' name, amen.

Update on My Mom's Health

If thou will diligently hearken
to the voice of the Lord thy
God, and will do that which
is right in His sight, and will
give ear to His commandments,
and keep all His statutes, I will
put none of these diseases upon
thee, which I have brought upon
the Equptians: for I am the Lord
that healeth thee. Exodus 15:26

My mom's red blood cell count and platelets have been real low. The doctors say she must be slowly bleeding somewhere but haven't figured out where for sure yet.

Two weeks ago I took her for an endoscopy, and it showed gastritis, which is inflammation of the lining of the stomach. This past week I took her for a colonoscopy, and although the Doctor could only see half of the colon due to mom's spine collapsing a few years ago (so she's scrunched up), it showed that she has Diverticular Disease - which means there's a pouch in her large intestine. The doctor will discuss further details of whether to do more testing at her appointment next week. He did sound pretty sure that the colon is where her loss of blood was coming from.

She's very weak right now, but God's been good to give her faith to go through and He's helped keep her spirits up.

I so appreciate everyone's prayers, we've had such peace as we've gone through this. Please continue to hold my mom (Virginia, 70 yrs. old) in your prayers.

Prayer: Father, I pray that You continue to bring healing, peace & strength to my mom. Give wisdom and direction to the doctors. Thank You that You are her Healer Lord Jesus, Amen.

How's That Waiting Thing Working Out for You?

Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14 / Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Psalm 37:7 / Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5




Don't you just enjoy a nice, long WAIT? Oh, if we could have simple faith in our heavenly Father, that He's going to take care of our needs and rescue us when we need it. So often, we either don't believe He's going to come through for us (and why, because deep down we know He ALWAYS does), or we don't think He's going to do it for us like He would someone else.

What God does IN US while we wait, is as important as WHAT WE ARE WAITING FOR. There's important growth that can only happen to us in these times when we suffer through long periods of waiting. God knows waiting is good for us. AS WE WAIT, He's at work in us ... molding us and shaping us ... maturing us.

The people of Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years. It helped them to grow up. He took away their pride and proved that He would provide for them. God wanted them to reach the Promised Land, but He was more concerned that they arrive PREPARED than that they arrive SOON.

Remember how the Lord your God has led you in the desert for these forty years, taking away your pride and testing you, because He wanted to show what was in your heart. He took away your pride when He let you get hungry and then He fed you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had ever seen. This was to teach you that a person does not live by only eating bread, but by everything the Lord says. During these forty years, your clothes did not wear out, and your feet did not swell. Know in your heart that the Lord your God corrects you as a parent corrects a child. Deuteronomy 8:2-4

We need to learn to be PATIENT. Often we want God's resources, but we don't want His timing. We want His hand, but we don't want His calendar. We forget His work in us while we wait, which is as important as what we're waiting for. We must learn to trust that God knows what He's doing.

Maybe you're single and you feel a legitimate longing for intimacy. You're tired of being alone. Waiting is so hard and maybe there's a relationship at your fingertips that promises to take that loneliness away but you know that it's not honoring to God. You know in your heart this isn't the right person for you ... but you are tempted to think, I've been waiting long enough. I'm going to reach out for whatever satisfaction I can get in this life and worry about the consequences later. But when we're faced with times like this we must find the courage to WAIT on God and to be patient and trust His timing to say, Ok God, I will take You at Your Word. I will not get mixed up with a relationship that I know would dishonor You and bring damage to the souls of those involved. Even though I don't know what tomorrow holds and even though I sometimes feel like nobody in this world understands how painful it is to be alone, I will trust You. I will wait. (FYI - I'm not looking for anyone, this is an example.)

Maybe you've been ill for a long time, and you've almost exhausted yourself at the feet of Jesus, waiting for the illness, pain and suffering to lift. Know that God works all things together for good and He's not only going to manifest the healing that He's already provided for you, He's going to bring some other good things from that trial as well ... like the fact that people are encouraged when you go through instead of giving up, and giving you compassion to pray for others in similiar situations. (FYI - I am awaiting healing in several areas of my health.)

We may be tempted to take things into our own hands, but we must learn to trust our God, to say with the Psalmist, I trust in You, O Lord; I say, 'You are my God.' My times are in Your hands (Psalm 31:14,15). We must cling to Jesus' promise in Luke 18:7 where He said, God will always give what is right to His people who cry to Him night and day, and He will not be slow [according to His perfect timing] to answer them. When we experience seemingly endless times of waiting we need the patience of the man who prayed, God, I cannot grasp Your mind, but with my whole heart I trust Your love.

We need to be HUMBLE. To wait for someone is to realize that I'm not in control. I'm not calling the shots; the timing is not up to me. To grow in times of waiting on God we must remember that we are not in charge. We're the creature. He is the Creator. He is the Potter. We are the clay. This is the principle that Proverbs 3:34 refers to when it says that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. It's right that we should wait on Him for when we trust God with this kind of quiet humility we are saying that we understand that He is able to take care of us in the waiting times. God's God and we're not. He sees the big picture and we can't.

We need to have an inextinguishable HOPE. Hope believes that things will get better eventually. It gives us the strength to endure until tomorrow again and again. Romans 5:3-5 says, Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance produces character, and character produces hope. Hope is the fuel that keeps a person going in tough times. While waiting, we need to act on what we know, obeying God as though we can see the outcome. When we do this we become more confident in His instruction, more hope filled people.

Thomas Merton wrote, 'The more we seek God in daily prayer; the more we study His Word; the more we trust Him enough to follow His commands ... the more we see that He is worthy of our trust and then the more hopeful we can be - even in times of waiting.

We don't get to know God and then do His will. We get to know Him more deeply BY DOING His will. We enter into an active relationship with Him. And in this relationship we develop a faith that is ... sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1), a faith that is confident that He who began a good work [in our lives] will carry it on to completion no matter how long it takes (Philippians 1:6).

Wait ... patiently. For it's in the waiting that we gain our strength (Isaiah 40:31).

Prayer: Father, I pray that even though I may be having a tough time waiting on You, You will help me to find peace in Your timing and Your ways. Give me the hope and the strength that I need to continue, and to make right choices. Help me not to grow weary in well doing. In Jesus' name, amen.