The most important thing about Jesus is having Him in your heart; inviting Him in, giving Him full access to every room, talking with Him about everything, sharing all your secrets with Him, asking His advice on everything, and letting Him decorate how He wants to. Then constantly working on your private relationship with Him, figuring out how He speaks to you, so that you fully understand each other. This is going to be different for each person. He is not the author of fear or confusion. He will guide you through love if you let Him. The more you grow, the deeper your relationship with Him gets, the more you can share His love…
Discover the Book Academy is a free resource to study books of the Bible, helping us to understand God’s Word more clearly through courses and lessons. This study is presented by John Barnett, a gifted teacher and minister. His historical studies background surpasses most others who teach. We have found this resource to be invaluable as we share the love of God with all of you.
July 27, 2024 by YBP
How dare you!
Who do you think you are?
To lull me to sleep
With your razor blade words and saccharine tones
You trapped me in a box till my arms and legs outgrew that absurdly tiny space
That tension made me explode into fractions of the minutest pieces all over the place
It has been taking me years to find them and pick them up
How dare you!
Who do you think you are?
To rape me incessantly
Bleeding me to the core
Jeering and misleading me once more
Your wicked plans strapped close to your chest
As you imagine more ways of torturing me undetected
How dare you!
Who do you think you are?
To speak abominations
Of hollow empty promises
Dangling the shadow of hope in your hands
Deceiving me into oblivion
Giving me the drink of darkness in the soul
How dare you!
Who do you think you are?
To shame me in the court of the multitude
As you plant those seeds of doubt and discontent
In the secret fields of my solitude
Your weeds have been crowding my mind
How dare you!
Who do you think you are?
To pollute my well of purity
With evil intentions and belligerent energies
The silent waters that once ran deep have been stirred like a hornet’s nest
Stinging me with pain unbearable
I numbed myself in silence
How dare you!
Who do you think you are?
To parade me in my innocence
Before throngs of unrecognizable faces
Invading my space and bringing me to the guillotine
Avoiding my gaze and pleas for help
You fed me to the pack of wolves
How dare you!
Who do you think you are?
To snuff out all my brilliant ebullience
You extinguished the optimistic flame within
And turned it into the raging fires of rage
Yet trapped inside my inner world
Twisting every right to express myself
How dare you!
Who do you think you are?
To blind me to the true beauty of creation
Making me look at all the lack
By imposing the narratives of your turbulent past
Stealing my joy robbing my purest gratitude
Forcing entry into my world by hurling your ugly world into mine
How dare you!
Who do you think you are?
To mock me and hurl insults on my humanness
You made me fear your judgement and all the daggers that you threw my way
I kept running away from you to save my soul and yet I kept running back to you seeking your approval
How dare you!
Who do you think you are?
A chemist of unbelievable proportions
Concocting decisive manipulation
In ways that hide beneath the sheets
The clues of neglect have been mixed with sugar and spice but nothing that was nice
Leaving so much distaste
Yet taking away all other options on the menu
I was left with nothing to eat but garbage
How dare you!
Who do you think you are?
To stunt my growth in every imperceptible way
Making me second guess myself
Casting a hurricane of disbelief
Tormenting me with the fear of failure and rejection
Addicted to the image of perfection
How dare you!
Who do you think you are?
To play me over and over again
An unwilling participant in your torturous game
Pressure on me to defend my inner child
Revelling in my anguish
Never putting an end to my cries
How dare you!
Who do you think you are?
To goad me into the sunken levels of your bane existence
Frying my emotions and pulverizing my identity
Pushing me to monster-like tendencies
Stop projecting your vile nature unto me
How dare you!
Who do you think you are?
Questioning my life
After trampling on me unnoticeably
In the silence of the crowd
You hid your lifetime abuse with all the gravel of your words
But your actions betrayed you
They revealed your abyss of pain and dysfunction
Till you could no longer live the layers of lies
As your manipulations chased you
How dare you!
Who do you think you are?
You are not me.
Do not fool yourself into thinking that we are one and the same.
Deal with your thoughts. Deal with your emotions. Deal with your choices. Deal with your lies. Deal with your manipulations. Deal with your cruelty. Deal with who you are and the path that you have chosen.
This is the healing end of all the abuse.
This is the end of the tale you tried to weave.
This is the end of the horror you tried to heap.
This is the end of the sick game you trapped me into playing.
This is the end of you wanting to be me.
This is the end of you stealing my identity.
This is the end.
I am finally free.
❤️
Beware of any Christian movement that acts as though the world is full of enemies to be destroyed rather than full of neighbors to be loved. – Rev Benjamin Cremer
Maybe it’s time to do a quick checkup on our love? If we hate anyone, we go against Jesus’ command to love with all of our heart, soul, strength and mind.
Someone once told me they couldn’t love a particular kind of person. I told them about Jesus’ command, also saying God didn’t ask us to like or love people’s behavior, but that we should love the person and pray for that person. It’s important to know the difference and act accordingly.
So I repeat the question, do you love? Completely?
Genesis 2:16 But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—
17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” (New Living Translation)
God gave Adam responsibility for the garden and told him not to eat from the Tree of Conscience. Rather than physically preventing him from eating, God gave Adam a choice, even though Adam may choose wrongly. God still gives us choices today, and we, too, often choose wrongly. These wrong choices may cause us pain and irritation, but they can help us learn and grow and make better choices in the future.
Living with the consequences of our choices is one of the best ways to become more responsible.
Why would God place a tree in the garden and then forbid Adam to eat from it?
God wanted Adam to obey, but He gave him the freedom to choose. Without choice, Adam would have been a prisoner forced to obey.
The two trees presented an exercise in choice, with rewards for choosing to obey or consequences for choosing to disobey.
(Unless otherwise stated, parts of this series of studies on Obedience have been taken from The Living Life Application Bible by Tyndale)
Genesis 3:
5 God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.
Adam and Eve got what they wanted:An intimate knowledge of both good and evil.
But they got it in a distorted and painful way. satan had twisted their thinking by telling them they could know the difference between good and evil by doing evil.
We sometimes have the illusion that “freedom” is doing what we want. God says true freedom comes from Obedience and knowing what NOT to do.
The restrictions He gives us are for our own good, showing us how to avoid evil.
We have the freedom to walk in front of a speeding car, but we don’t need to be hit to realize that it would be a foolish thing to do.
Don’t listen to satan’s temptations to experience evil in order to learn more about life.
satan used a sincere motive to tempt Eve–“you will be like God, knowing both good and evil”
To become more like God is the highest goal of humanity.
It is what we are supposed to do.
But satan misled Eve on the right way to accomplish this goal.
He told her that you become more like God by defying God’s authority, by taking God’s place and deciding for yourself what is best for your life.
You become your own god.
But scripture clearly states that to become like God is not to be God Himself.
Rather, it is to reflect His characteristics and recognize His authority over your life.
Like Eve, we often have a worthy goal but try to achieve it in the wrong way.
It’s like paying off an election judge to be voted into office. Serving the people is no longer the highest goal.
The ultimate goal of self-exaltation is rebellion against God.
As soon as we begin to leave God out of our plans, we are placing ourselves above Him, which is exactly what satan wants us to do.
Today’s social media and internet chat platforms have become tantalizing playgrounds for those who enjoy stirring up arguments. But the Bible has nothing good to say about a person who sows discord: “A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech, winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger, with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord; therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing” (Proverbs 6:12–15, ESV).
In Proverbs 6:14, “discord” is translated from the Hebrew (madan), meaning “strife, bitter conflict, heated and often violent dissension.” “Sowing” discord implies spreading conflict or scattering it widely. The passage reveals that an individual who sows discord is corrupted by sin and afflicted with a perverted heart. Solomon repeated the sentiment in Proverbs 16:28: “A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.” In Proverbs 6:16–19, he listed seven things the Lord hates, and “one who sows discord among brothers” (ESV) was one of them.
Solomon pointed to a dangerous heart problem as the root issue for someone who sows discord. Jesus said the same: “But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a person. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slander. These are the things that defile a person” (Matthew 15:18–20, CSB). According to Proverbs 10:12, hatred, as opposed to love, dwells in the heart of those who stir up conflict. Hateful people delight in breaking up friendships and spoiling peace and harmony between brothers and sisters.
The Bible is clear that sin provokes quarrels and disagreement: “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division” (Galatians 5:19–20, NLT; cf. James 4:1). The apostle Paul counseled believers to stay away from “people who cause divisions and upset people’s faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught” (Romans 16:17, NLT).
“Anyone who loves to quarrel loves sin,” stated Solomon (Proverbs 17:19, NLT). Believers cannot walk in the light of God’s love and continue spewing hatred and sowing discord: “If anyone claims, ‘I am living in the light,’ but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness. Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble. But anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness” (1 John 2:9–11, NLT).
Paul warned believers against involving themselves in arguments and fights, even about spiritual matters: “These things are useless and a waste of time. If people are causing divisions among you, give a first and second warning. After that, have nothing more to do with them. For people like that have turned away from the truth, and their own sins condemn them” (Titus 3:9–11, NLT).
“Any fool can get himself into a quarrel,” stated the wise old teacher, but “honor belongs to the person who ends a dispute” (Proverbs 20:3, CSB). Solomon compared people who sow discord to troublemakers who go around lighting fires: “As charcoal for embers and wood for fire, so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife” (Proverbs 26:21, CSB). Fires leave death and destruction in their wake. Proverbs 6:15 explains that the consequence of such foolish and evil behavior is sudden “calamity,” which literally refers to “a crushing weight.” A person who continually and actively sows discord is pursuing a life of sin, and such a life is destined for destruction (Romans 6:23; James 1:15).
Jesus said, “God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9, NLT). But wicked mischief-makers who sow discord can expect to experience devastating distress and severe suffering. If they stubbornly refuse to listen to God’s warning and accept correction, they will be broken and ruined beyond all hope of healing (Proverbs 29:1). The Scriptures issue no light word of caution on this matter. Having a heart perverted by evil is a matter of life and death. The aftermath of such wickedness cannot be reversed.
It is hard to be unhappy, or complaining, while we are actively honoring and praising our God!
Excellent depiction of the life of Jesus…
This is an amazing series of the life of Jesus…it will change your life.
New season coming in a few days.
We are given an awesome opportunity to show God and our fellow persons that we love them, by praying for them just as God has told us to do.
The angel that came to Daniel in the pit did not kill the lions he simply closed their mouths and stood with him in the midst of terrible danger.Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego were not saved from the fire they stood in the midst of it with their savior. Moses and the Israelites did not have the Red Sea removed from in front of them it was simply parted for them to walk through. Silver is refined in the refiner’s fire and it’s only finished once the Refiner’s reflection can be seen in the silver. Grapes are crushed under foot to produce the sweetest wine, and olives are pressed in order to extract the purest oil.What makes you think that we are any different? We will walk through this tribulation, many will fall away because they stand on sand not the Cornerstone, Yeshua and scriptural truth, The WORD.
Larissa C. Clark
ANSWER
Once a person is saved are they always saved? Yes, when people come to know Christ as their Savior, they are brought into a relationship with God that guarantees their salvation as eternally secure. To be clear, salvation is more than saying a prayer or “making a decision” for Christ; salvation is a sovereign act of God whereby an unregenerate sinner is washed, renewed, and born again by the Holy Spirit (John 3:3; Titus 3:5). When salvation occurs, God gives the forgiven sinner a new heart and puts a new spirit within him (Ezekiel 36:26). The Spirit will cause the saved person to walk in obedience to God’s Word (Ezekiel 36:26–27; James 2:26). Numerous passages of Scripture declare the fact that, as an act of God, salvation is secure:
(a) Romans 8:30 declares, “And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.” This verse tells us that from the moment God chooses us, it is as if we are glorified in His presence in heaven. There is nothing that can prevent a believer from one day being glorified because God has already purposed it in heaven. Once a person is justified, his salvation is guaranteed—he is as secure as if he is already glorified in heaven.
(b) Paul asks two crucial questions in Romans 8:33-34 “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? No one will, because Christ is our advocate. Who will condemn us? No one will, because Christ, the One who died for us, is the one who condemns. We have both the advocate and judge as our Savior.
(c) Believers are born again (regenerated) when they believe (John 3:3; Titus 3:5). For a Christian to lose his salvation, he would have to be un-regenerated. The Bible gives no evidence that the new birth can be taken away.
(d) The Holy Spirit indwells all believers (John 14:17; Romans 8:9) and baptizes all believers into the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13). For a believer to become unsaved, he would have to be “un-indwelt” and detached from the Body of Christ.
(e) John 3:15 states that whoever believes in Jesus Christ will “have eternal life.” If you believe in Christ today and have eternal life, but lose it tomorrow, then it was never “eternal” at all. Hence, if you lose your salvation, the promises of eternal life in the Bible would be in error.
(f) In a conclusive argument, Scripture says, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38–39). Remember the same God who saved you is the same God who will keep you. Once we are saved, we are always saved. Our salvation is most definitely eternally secure!
Written by Blake Rackley)
(Forgive typos…Today has been long. Well, this year has been long.) So much is weighing heavy on the hearts of others. This week I listened to those who grieve the loss of identity, the loss of love, the loss of faith, and the loss of purpose. So many questions that have so few answers or at least answers that satisfy and calm their fears. They feel aimless and stuck. Maybe you feel similar. Maybe it is your job, the future, a relationship. You simply feel stuck by not knowing what decision is the “right” decision so you make no decision at all. Maybe you are nursing scars no one see. Maybe you are bleeding from wounds that do not bleed crimson and bandages do not help. The running theme of many who are experiencing this level of pain is that they do not want to burden another person with their “stuff”. Sadly, they suffer in silence and feel totally alone. Think for a moment. Have you ever seen a lone goose? A solitary, Canadian, turd dropping, Christmas goose flying all by their lonesome? My guess is that you haven’t. If you do, that is one lost goose. They are most always in a flock. They take turns with the burden of leading. They encourage by those obnoxious honks. They rest often. They have a destination, but it is often arrived at in the company of others. They will fly despite the clouds and gloom around them. They will fly at times in the rain, but they seek shelter together. They do not feel the need to do anything singularly. Why then do we believe we have to do anything by ourselves? We are called to bear one another’s burdens. So, I’m calling my brothers and sisters in Christ to help those around them. Sit with them. Eat with them. Shelter with them. Listen to their story. Encourage them with hope. But more than anything, fly with them through their clouds of depression, anxiety, abuse, loss, hopelessness, and failure. We all are more likely to fly on, fly farther, and fly with purpose when we have others behind us despite the dark clouds hanging over us. Quit saying, “If you need me, I’m always here.” They will almost never call you. If we want the world to know we love Jesus, we must intentionally bear the burdens of others by vulnerability and loving one another.
by Bryan Lowe
Romans 2:1, NLT
One of the spiritual diseases endemic to the Christian believer is “fault finding”. For some reason, (and I’m still trying to figure out why), is we have a strong inclination to pass a judgement on people (those whom Christ died for!) We don’t throw stones (far be it from me)– however, we certainly do and will point fingers. And perhaps we feel that its our religious duty, or maybe even our ministry (!).
Almost always, there a sense of certain and attainable righteousness. or our generated holiness involved. This should not be dismissed or overlooked. Because I believe I am right, and have religious grounds, I put all of the “evil sinners” on trial, and then I pronounce my verdict. (And they certainly deserve whatever I decide.)
Much of the same type of thinking was used in Romans 2. Paul castigates those who were judging others. He goes on a scathing and sizzling rebuke directly at those who were destroying others by their overly-righteous attitude.
Romans 2:3-4
Without a doubt this whole subject is highly complex and nuanced. Hundreds of verses should be worked through. But this blog is not that place. However, I will advance this– I read this written by the Desert Fathers.
Macarius of Alexandria, 296-393 AD
What a joy to know our Lord personally!
So much going on right now all over the world. It would be easy to be tempted to lose our faith. But that’s not going to be an option, is it?
I found this message on a facebook site and I was having one of those moments, primarily because I’m trying to spread the love of God around a lot of places today, and my computer is acting up…even while trying to post this. So I’m going to put a Ha Ha to Satan, and keep going.
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee.”
Isaiah 26:3
All we need to do in time of sorrow and loneliness is to stay our minds upon God, to trust Him, to rest in Him, to nestle in His love. We remember where John was found the night of the Lord’s last supper with His disciples, – the darkest night the world ever saw, in the deepest sorrow men ever knew, – he was leaning on Jesus’ breast. He crept into that holy shelter to find quiet.
John was kept in perfect peace during all those terrible hours. Everything appeared to have slipped away and there was nothing that seemed abiding. But John crept into the shelter of love and simply trusted, and was kept in holy peace.
A beautiful story is told of Rudyard Kipling during a serious illness a few years since. The trained nurse was sitting at his bedside on one of the anxious nights when the sick man’s condition was most critical. She was watching him intently and noticed that his lips began to move. She bent over him, and heard him whisper the words of the old familiar prayer of childhood, “Now I lay me down to sleep.” The nurse, realizing that her patient did not require her services, and that he was praying, said in apology for having intruded upon him, “I beg your pardon, Mr. Kipling; I thought you wanted something.” “I do,” faintly replied the sick man: “I want my heavenly Father. He only can care for me now.”
In his great weakness there was nothing that human help could do, and he turned to God and crept into His bosom, seeking the blessing and the care which none but God can give. That is what we need to do in every time of trial, of sorrow, – when the gentlest human love can do nothing, – creep into our heavenly Father’s bosom, saying, “Now I lay me down to sleep.” That is the way to peace. Earth has no shelter in which it can be found, but in God the feeblest may find it. —JR Miller
Living on the Borderline in Bipolarville
This site deals with sharing our unique paths through mental illness. I just started this site, so it’s a work in progress. I’m very excited about people contacting me already with an interest in these subjects. So come on over! We’ll sort these things out together. (Note: Back in the early 2000’s I was an assistant manager for a 1200 member bipolar disorder website. I’ve dealt with a lot of different people, so hopefully that will comfort you some. lol)
The Wildlife Art of Sharon Rule
Well, this is just my fun little site that mostly just has my oil paintings that I do to support my daughter’s African Wildlife Sanctuaries that provide education for the children of the wildlife workers. I’m not such a great artist, but my heart is in the right place!
This may not be interesting to many people, but it is especially interesting to me since I’ve been searching this topic since I was 12 years old. Hey, it may not be terribly exciting, but it certainly relates to what’s going on in our world today.
We created this site in an effort to share with people who need a little extra love and encouragement. We all need that, huh? Started in 2006, this site has reached many people around the world from really unexpected places. Over 289,000 visits confirms that the encouragement and inspiration that we generate and share really is helping. We hope you will join and share your thoughts with us.
Pondering, letting my thoughts go upward and all around me up to HIM, I constantly Sit in Heavenly Places. It’s joy unspeakable! ~ Sharon
Letting go… A good friend once told me, “Put it in a balloon and let it go”. She continued… “The balloon may float to the ceiling,
A good friend once told me, “Put it in a balloon and let it go”. She continued… “The balloon may float to the ceiling, the strings are there for you to grab… but for now, just let it go”. In the midst of my broken marriage, this was the best advice anyone could have given me. Prior to ‘letting go’, a dark cloud followed my every move. It leaked melancholy over our relationship and consequently, made things look bleaker than ever. My husband and I walked around with this heaviness in our hearts. Like a mouse chasing an endless maze, we could no longer see a way out. We were lost, confused and travelling down the same tracks we’d traveled before. There’s only so many times you can go over the same old territory. At some point, you need to find your way out and never look back. But how do we get out of this soul-destroying maze?
The answer is really quite easy…You just need to ask yourself; how did I get into the maze in the first place? For me, it was a case of finding it difficult to let things go. During the bleak time in my marriage, mistakes were made on both sides. My husband was able to accept my faults, however, I couldn’t let go of those balloons. And so, the same broken record played on, and we kept on dancing our repetitive dance. We would talk about forgiveness. We drew lines in the sand. Only months, weeks, days down the line…the cork would go POP, and I would explode once again. Suddenly, that same tiresome tune began to play and we’d find ourselves dancing over the same tiresome terrain. But how long can we endure the same broken record? Surely there will come a time when the record becomes so exhausted, it gives up.
Some of us find it easy to let go of our balloons, others will be pulling the strings, too afraid to let them go. There are those types which I call the ‘whistling kettles’. Like a kettle, their problems boil up inside. To begin with, they can keep their bubbles under control. However, as time goes on, they start to boil up inside until the almighty whistle blows! As one can image, it’s not healthy to let things fester inside. It’s inevitable that at, some point, you’re going to boil over! And yet, so many of us fall into this category. To prevent this from happening, it’s important to deal with the problem before it escalates. If you can feel yourself slipping things under that rug…STOP! You have two choices; you can deal with the issue there and then, or you can collect up all of the negative energy, blow it into a balloon and let it go. As my friend wisely explained, you can pull the string down at another time, but for the sake of your sanity…just let it go!
There are also those types which I call the ‘bee-infested bonnet-wearers’. I hold my hands up, for I fall into this category of the ‘unforgiving’. For those of us who walk around with bees in our bonnet, we all know, the constant buzzing is enough to drive us insane…and yet we continue to wear our bonnets with pride. Whether it is hurt, anger or disappointment we are wearing on our hearts, there needs to come a time when we have to swallow our pride and let go of those negative feelings. Nothing good comes from lugging around a big rucksack of negativity…you can either; take a break from the bag you have been carrying for so long, or you can start rummaging – throwing out all of yesterday’s’ hurt – and find forgiveness. Once you have established a mutual forgiveness, it’s time to leave the empty bag and move on. Who needs an empty bag anyway?
Once you learn the art of letting-go, whether it’s sweeping under that rug or abandoning a rucksack on the side of the road…you will fall into the category I call the ‘balloon letter goers’. What a truly amazing place this is! One day, when I was feeling particularly angry and hurt, rather than doing something destructive, I reflected back on what my friend had told me. Later that day I bought a pack of balloons, I was debating whether to go for a pack of ten or twenty– I decided twenty would be adequate. I blew all my negativity into these balloons, sealed them closed and scribbled issues I needed to ‘let go’ over them. So there I was, surrounded by a bunch of colorful balloons, looking as though I had just raided a children’s birthday party. If anyone saw me, they’d think I had lost it!
Craziness aside, I wanted to pop all these balloons with a knife. For these balloons had caused me so much hurt. I wanted to destroy them all. Or did I? The truth was, I didn’t want to let them go. I wanted to surround myself with these balloons and wallow in hurt, anger and tears. However, I had come to the point in my life, when I knew very well that I couldn’t keep going on this way. Enough was enough. I tied strings onto those balloons, kicked open the back door and I let every one of those balloons go. I watched them disappear into the sky until they got sucked up into oblivion. It was at this point when I felt a weight had been lifted. I was free.
I’m not suggesting you go out and purchase 100 balloons. By all means, do this, if this is what you want to do! Alternatively, you can visualize blowing all of your pent up negativity or hurt into imaginary balloons and letting them go. You may decide to ‘let go’ in other ways – be it screaming your lungs out on top of a hill or burning the contents of your husband’s wardrobe on the bonfire (Um, that was just a joke – don’t do that!). Whatever you choose, the fact that you’re taking those steps in letting go, will enable you to move on with your life. It’s a truly beautiful thing when you wake up without that heaviness in your heart.
One of my favorite films to watch with my children is Disney Pixar’s ‘UP’. The bitter old man – who had sadly lost his wife – spent years in the same old house, looking at the same old walls. The world was moving on, but he stayed stagnant. One day he attached thousands of colorful balloons onto his house, and he floated into the sky. Unknown to himself, he was ‘letting go’. If he had stayed in the same place, dwelling over the negatives and unable to move forwards, he wouldn’t have experienced the happiness he gained later in the film!
It’s time to take off our bee-infested bonnets, it’s time to stop dancing that same old repetitive dance…
Source: Balloons – The Art Of Letting Go | Insidethelifeofmoi
Images courtesy of https://pixabay.com
Zephaniah 3:17 KJV
17 The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice
over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
Acts 17:24-25 KJV
24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25 Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
She is clothed in Strength and Dignity, and laughs without Fear of the Future –
Proverbs: 31.25
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel marches with other civil rights leaders — from left, John Lewis, an unidentified nun, Ralph Abernathy, Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Bunche, Heschel and Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth — from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, on March 21, 1965. Credit: Courtesy of Susannah Heschel
January 16, 2017 · 10:00 PM EST
By Lidia Jean Kott
“He kissed me goodbye,” says Heschel. “And I remember thinking ‘I don’t know if I’ll ever see him again.’”
Just a few weeks earlier, many demonstrators had been brutally attacked by police officers on a day known as Bloody Sunday.
Heschel’s father returned safely. But the experience left an impression.
“My father came home feeling like it was a religious event,” says Heschel. “He said, ‘I felt my legs were praying.’”
To Heschel, and her family, the religious aspect of the Civil Rights Movement is an important part of the story, even if it’s not talked about as much.
That’s because Heschel is a professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College.
And her father, Abraham Joshua Heschel, was a rabbi.
Heschel’s father was born in Poland and lost several members of his family to the Holocaust. He was able to escape and come to the US, where he became an activist.
A calling, according to Heschel, with a lot of historical precedent.
“Jews came to the United States at the turn of the century from Russia, and there were Yiddish newspapers that would report in screaming headlines that there were Pogroms here in the United States. And what did they mean? Lynchings,” says Heschel. “Jews were outraged by that. How could that be? Russia is one thing but in the United States? So there is a long tradition of rabbi’s speaking out against segregation.’’
Heschel believes that, in part, the Civil Rights Movement became so powerful because everyone felt included, regardless of their religion.
“If you look at Dr. King’s major speeches, he doesn’t talk about Jesus, he doesn’t make this an exclusively Christian event,” says Heschel. “That openness, that embrace of Jews meant so much to my father.”
The night before he joined the march, Heschel’s father stayed in the same house as King and a few others. This house, which belonged to Sullivan and Richie Jean Sharrod Jackson, became an informal headquarters for activists.
Heschel later spoke to Richie Jean Sharrod Jackson about the night her father stayed there.
“Mrs. Jackson told me she got up in the morning and went into the living room, and there was Dr. King standing in one corner of the room saying his prayers, and my father was in another corner of the room saying his morning prayers, and there were a few others in the dining room praying,” says Heschel. “That to me is such a central concept of the Civil Rights Movement, coming together in that way, each one praying in their own faith tradition, in a different part of the house.”
Even as a kid, Heschel says that she felt herself to be surrounded by heroes. Heroes like her father, other friends and activisits, and King.
“He was always so gentle and kind and friendly to me,” says Heschel. “There were times at the end of lectures when I’m sure he was tired and just wanted to relax, and yet he was so generous and sweet.”
Now, says Heschel, she often goes back and listens to King’s speeches. Speeches that made her cry when she was younger.
She credits King with teaching her about “how to be a human being, how to be a mensch in the world,” and helping set her on her life’s path.
“I became a professor of religion because of him,” she says.
Note: “mensch” means “a person of integrity”.
~ Elizabeth Elliott Quotes
“You’re gonna regret it!” I waved away the warning without turning around. What was to regret? I took the shortcut.
I was on my way to a picnic. The tables sat on the other side of a marsh. The parks department had kindly constructed a bridge over the marsh. But who needed a bridge? I ventured in. The mud swallowed my feet. Squiggly things swam past me. I think I saw a set of eyeballs peering in my direction. I backpedaled—flip-flops sucked into the abyss. I exited, mud covered, mosquito bitten, and red faced.
I walked over and took my seat at the picnic table. It made for a miserable picnic, but it makes for an apt proverb. Life comes with voices. Voices lead to choices, and choices have consequences!
~ Max Lucado
~ Our Daily Bread
We will always be battered in this life. Physical limitations. Cruel people. Spiritual battles. But God is with us. He promises never to abandon us. And He renews our spirits even during the struggles. We can keep going in this life and look with anticipation to the next. From Our Daily Bread
Praying for blessings to all of you around the world. May we all come together to find what is best in each of us. Love surely is better than hate. Working together, standing together, loving together will make the difference. If you are upset about something, find your voice. Go on Twitter, Facebook, start a Website, care and share positive ideas and progressive thinking instead of crying in a corner. We can all light the place where we stand and that light will shine enough to change things.
Be blessed with much love, joy, and happiness!
Sharon & Erick
There comes a time when we heed a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And its time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all
We can’t go on pretending day by day
That someone, somehow will soon make a change
We are all a part of Gods great big family
And the truth, you know,
Love is all we need
We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So lets start giving
Although this article was published in 2015, when I discovered it today, I thought it important to share. ~ Sharon Rule
Jimmy Carter
Published: April 27, 2015 – 11:12AM
Women and girls have been discriminated against for too long in a twisted interpretation of the word of God.
I HAVE been a practising Christian all my life and a deacon and Bible teacher for many years. My faith is a source of strength and comfort to me, as religious beliefs are to hundreds of millions of people around the world. So my decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. It was, however, an unavoidable decision when the convention’s leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be “subservient” to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service.
This view that women are somehow inferior to men is not restricted to one religion or belief. Women are prevented from playing a full and equal role in many faiths. Nor, tragically, does its influence stop at the walls of the church, mosque, synagogue or temple. This discrimination, unjustifiably attributed to a Higher Authority, has provided a reason or excuse for the deprivation of women’s equal rights across the world for centuries.
At its most repugnant, the belief that women must be subjugated to the wishes of men excuses slavery, violence, forced prostitution, genital mutilation and national laws that omit rape as a crime. But it also costs many millions of girls and women control over their own bodies and lives, and continues to deny them fair access to education, health, employment and influence within their own communities.
The impact of these religious beliefs touches every aspect of our lives. They help explain why in many countries boys are educated before girls; why girls are told when and whom they must marry; and why many face enormous and unacceptable risks in pregnancy and childbirth because their basic health needs are not met.
In some Islamic nations, women are restricted in their movements, punished for permitting the exposure of an arm or ankle, deprived of education, prohibited from driving a car or competing with men for a job. If a woman is raped, she is often most severely punished as the guilty party in the crime.
The same discriminatory thinking lies behind the continuing gender gap in pay and why there are still so few women in office in the West. The root of this prejudice lies deep in our histories, but its impact is felt every day. It is not women and girls alone who suffer. It damages all of us. The evidence shows that investing in women and girls delivers major benefits for society. An educated woman has healthier children. She is more likely to send them to school. She earns more and invests what she earns in her family.
It is simply self-defeating for any community to discriminate against half its population. We need to challenge these self-serving and outdated attitudes and practices – as we are seeing in Iran where women are at the forefront of the battle for democracy and freedom.
I understand, however, why many political leaders can be reluctant about stepping into this minefield. Religion, and tradition, are powerful and sensitive areas to challenge. But my fellow Elders and I, who come from many faiths and backgrounds, no longer need to worry about winning votes or avoiding controversy – and we are deeply committed to challenging injustice wherever we see it.
The Elders are an independent group of eminent global leaders, brought together by former South African president Nelson Mandela, who offer their influence and experience to support peace building, help address major causes of human suffering and promote the shared interests of humanity. We have decided to draw particular attention to the responsibility of religious and traditional leaders in ensuring equality and human rights and have recently published a statement that declares: “The justification of discrimination against women and girls on grounds of religion or tradition, as if it were prescribed by a Higher Authority, is unacceptable.”
We are calling on all leaders to challenge and change the harmful teachings and practices, no matter how ingrained, which justify discrimination against women. We ask, in particular, that leaders of all religions have the courage to acknowledge and emphasise the positive messages of dignity and equality that all the world’s major faiths share.
The carefully selected verses found in the Holy Scriptures to justify the superiority of men owe more to time and place – and the determination of male leaders to hold onto their influence – than eternal truths. Similar biblical excerpts could be found to support the approval of slavery and the timid acquiescence to oppressive rulers.
I am also familiar with vivid descriptions in the same Scriptures in which women are revered as pre-eminent leaders. During the years of the early Christian church women served as deacons, priests, bishops, apostles, teachers and prophets. It wasn’t until the fourth century that dominant Christian leaders, all men, twisted and distorted Holy Scriptures to perpetuate their ascendant positions within the religious hierarchy.
The truth is that male religious leaders have had – and still have – an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have, for their own selfish ends, overwhelmingly chosen the latter. Their continuing choice provides the foundation or justification for much of the pervasive persecution and abuse of women throughout the world. This is in clear violation not just of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but also the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul, Moses and the prophets, Muhammad, and founders of other great religions – all of whom have called for proper and equitable treatment of all the children of God. It is time we had the courage to challenge these views.
Jimmy Carter was president of the United States from 1977 to 1981
May 4 2015
Want equality for all? Then spurn organised religion.
This story was found at: The Age
When Christ was born, so was our hope! This is why I love Christmas. The event invites us to believe the wildest of promises! He did away with every barrier, fence, sin, bent, debt, and grave. Anything that might keep us from him was demolished.
He only awaits our word to walk through the door. Invite him in. Escort him to the seat of honor, and pull out his chair. Clear the table; clear the calendar. Call the kids and neighbors. Christmas is here. Christ is here. One request from you, and God will do again what he did then. He’ll scatter the night with everlasting light. He’ll be born in you.
Let “Silent Night” be sung! Every heart can be a manger. Every day can be a Christmas. The Christmas miracle—a yearlong celebration! ~Max Lucado
On this first night of Hanukkah, I’d like to wish all who celebrate a joyous holiday.
Source: Happy Hanukkah
The sinful nature is the stubborn, self-centered attitude that says, “My way or the highway.” The sinful nature is all about self: pleasing self, promoting self, preserving self. I have a sin nature! So do you. Under the right circumstances you will do the wrong thing. You’ll try not to, but you will. You have a sin nature. You were born with it. The heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart!
Christmas commemorates the day and the way God saved us from ourselves. The angel speaking to Mary in Matthew 1:21 says, “. . .you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
Each of us entered the world with a sin nature. God entered the world to take it away!
~ Max Lucado
Be kind and compassionate to one another. Ephesians 4:32
“The essence of Christianity is that we give the Son of God a chance to live and move and have His being in us.”
– Oswald Chambers,
in Run Today’s Race from The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers.
Are you a “big picture” person?
(My Note: Considering the previous message on the site today, I think this one was also “right on” and meant for me to contemplate today. Funny how that happens, huh?)
Who but God goes up to the heaven and comes back down? Who holds the wind in his fist? Who wraps up the oceans in his cloak? Who has created the whole wide world? What is his name — and his son’s name? Tell me if you know!
Impressive panorama
When people understand events clearly, we often say that they “see the big picture.” This passage in Proverbs makes the point that the clearest view of the “big picture” will always include God. The sequence of rhetorical questions helps us consider the awesome identity and capacity of God. Much like the litany of questions that God showered on Job (Job 38:1-41:34), these push us toward humble and silent worship.
Agur was feeling overwhelmed (30:1), insignificant (30:2), and limited (30:3). But when he turned away from his smallness to contemplate God’s greatness, an atmosphere of confidence filled the rest of the chapter. He began with a little picture, no bigger than himself, but he soon looked at the big picture and forgot that he was weary and worn out. God gave him a new and refreshing point of view.
WISE WAYS One of the best remedies for a weary and tired spirit is to contemplate the majesty and greatness of God. How have you found that to be true?
Dear Lord, when I look at all you have made, I know it makes me feel smaller, but it also fills me with wonder over how great you are! I worship you.
Adapted from The One Year® Book of Proverbs by Neil S. Wilson, Tyndale House Publishers (2002), entry for January 30.
Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House
God wants you to stop being “absorbed with the things right in front of you.
Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—
that’s where the action is.
See things from his perspective”.
(Colossians 3:2 MSG)
If I ever needed to hear this verse, today was the day! I’m having a rough time facing the fact that my sister’s leukemia has now progressed and she will be starting chemo soon. Also, it seems, people who are “supposed friends”, just simply “aren’t”. So I need to look up, and try to see it all in “God’s perspective”.
Here are :
First: Nobody can manage time. But you can manage those things that take up your time.
Second: Time is expensive. As a matter of fact, 80 percent of our day is spent on those things or those people that only bring us two percent of our results.
Third: Time is perishable. It cannot be saved for later use.
Fourth: Time is measurable. Everybody has the same amount of time…pauper or king. It is not how much time you have; it is how much you use.
Fifth: Time is irreplaceable. We never make back time once it is gone.
Sixth: Time is a priority. You have enough time for anything in the world, so long as it ranks high enough among your priorities.
Judging is the easiest path of resistance. We all do it. Even if we don’t realize that we do. And we may judge BECAUSE we don’t understand. But the goal is to: Never judge what you don’t understand.
Every day of your life, you have a choice:
You can focus on the bigness of the giants that stand before you,
or …
You can focus on the bigness of the one,
true God who is pouring his strength into you.
Have you experienced the joy of obedience?
No good thing will the Lord withhold from those who do what it right. O Lord Almighty, happy are those who trust in you.
This is what I told them: “Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Only do as I say, and all will be well!”
We all live in a web of relationships dependent upon obedience to authority. Like a loving parent, God sets standards for our good and to protect us from evil and harm. God desires obedience motivated not by fear but by love and trust. Ironically, obedience actually frees us up to enjoy life as God intended, because it keeps us from becoming entangled or enslaved to those things that distract us and cause us heartache. Even though God’s command is sometimes difficult, or doesn’t make sense from our human perspective, obedience will always bring blessing, joy, and peace.
adapted from TouchPoint Bible with devotional commentary by Ron Beers and Gilbert Beers, Tyndale House Publishers (1996), p 1238
Digging Deeper
For more on obedience, see End of the Spear by Steve Saint, Tyndale House Publishers (2005).
Steve Saint was five years old when his father, missionary pilot Nate Saint, was speared to death by a primitive Ecuadorian tribe. In adulthood, Steve, having left Ecuador for a successful business career in the United States, never imagined making the jungle his home again. But when that same tribe asks him to help them, Steve, his wife, and their teenage children move back to the jungle. There, Steve learns long-buried secrets about his father’s murder, confronts difficult choices, and finds himself caught between two worlds.
Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House
Just wanted to wish you all a blessed New Year…full of happiness, love, warmth, encouragement, healing, discernment, wisdom, praise to our Lord, humility, gratitude, forgiveness, grace, mercy, hope, faith, spiritual growth, victory, and all the good things our Lord has in store for each of us.
Sharon & Erick
Everywhere I turned today, I ran into new tidbits about “Forgiveness”. I don’t believe in coincidence, because I believe in the verse Romans 8:28 which reads . . . And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. NIV
So . . . it seems He is trying to bring home to me a truth that needs to be reexamined!
It isn’t dependent on who the person is, what the person has done or how many times they have done it.
In fact it really has nothing to do with the person who hurt you.
It is all about you and your relationship with God.
I’m so thankful that He loves me enough to command me to do this. Because at the end of the day I know I can say, “God of second chances and new beginnings … here I am again, Please forgive me…
Daniel 9:18
We make this plea, not because we deserve help, but because of your mercy.
In God we boast all day long, And praise Your name forever.
Psalm 44:8 (NKJV)
Here are four reasons why today is your best day.
– Today is your best day because you are here. God has placed you in this moment of time for a purpose, and the things that happen to you today will be an unfolding of that purpose.
– What happened to you yesterday, however easy or difficult, was used by God to help prepare you for what He has for you today.
– God will use what happens today to prepare you for what He has for you in future days.
– God has used your past and worked it all together for the good, and He will use this day to add to the good that He has already worked in your behalf.
If you are in Jesus Christ and your heart is committed to God’s plan for your life, it means that today is your best day.
Today is your best day because you can grow a little more in your faith, a little more in your maturity, and a little more in your intimacy with Jesus.
Today you can take another step higher as He takes you from glory to glory; take another step deeper as you grow in His love; take another step further as you obediently walk with Him.
Today is your best day because it has brought you one day closer to the coming of the Lord.
Devotional excerpt by Roy Lessin, from his new book Today is Your Best Day.
Prayer positions us to receive the peace of God. It is when we seek Him that we see Him. It is when we see Him that we are secure. As we travel across the choppy sea of life’s circumstances, we can become dizzy and fearful if we look down at the water of wonder. But if we keep our eyes fixed ahead on a stable object, we remain secure and feel safe. Jesus is our immovable object of belief. He is our secure Savior who is there for us when fear assaults our attitude and threatens to highjack our heart. When we seek His face He reciprocates by flooding our countenance with His peace. He replaces our furrowed brow of fear with a calm face of faith. He gives the righteous a radiant face that is never to be covered with shame. The Lord hears our prayers by extending His peaceful presence.
No one has ever been sorry for seeking the Lord. It takes time and effort but it is your best investment. Process your problems with prayer and you will be the most productive. We cannot come to the best solutions in our own strength. One dimensional problem solving only leads to average results at best. Why be satisfied with a perspective limited to your experiences, intelligence and giftedness? It is seeking the Lord that unlocks a treasure trove of truth that leads us to possibilities we would never imagine on our own. The fruit that comes from replacing fear with faith is unlimited. We can rest assured as the Almighty leads us down a new path. This is what may happen in the process of seeking your Savior. He delights in determining a better way for you.
This next season of your life is the Lord’s reward for your faithfulness all these years. You have sought Him unashamedly and obediently. Money has not been your motive. Pride has not prodded you. Fame has not been your forte. You have sought Him with your unselfish service. You have sought Him with your humble obedience. You have sought Him by ministering to the needs of others. Because of your faithfulness in seeking Him, He has grown your faith and marginalized your fears. Therefore, see this next season as an extension of His blessings. There is no need to fear because God is near those who seek Him. There is no safer or more secure place to be than in the process of seeking Him.
Moreover, God expects to hear from you before you can expect to hear from Him. If you restrain prayer; He may refrain grace and mercy. The more you think upon the Lord, and less of yourself, the better off you become. Seek Him, lose yourself, and you will discover the best way. Furthermore, there is no need to fear your next transition as your Heavenly Father has your hand and He is guiding you. There is no need to fear the cessation of this phase of your career as He is in control. There is no need to fear the breaking off of a relationship as He is in the business of mending broken hearts. There is no need to fear provision for your family as God is your provider. Seek Him and He will deliver you from your fears. Seek Him and you will be secure in Him. Seek Him before, during and after trouble comes. Then the process of seeking the Lord becomes second nature to your soul. Then fear fails its mission. Indeed, seeking Him fossilizes your fears!
Taken from Reading #23 in the 90-day devotional book, “Seeking God in the Psalms”… http://bit.ly/bQHNIE
Prayer positions us to receive the peace of God. It is when we seek Him that we see Him.
Are you filled with joy?
I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!
In many ways, we live in bleak times. Millions feel disillusioned with life while millions more feel uncertain about the future — especially young people. Many of you in Generation X have been victims of a great social experiment in which parents who never grew up cast aside time-honored moral values and, in the phrase of the 1960s, did their own thing.
Nevertheless, there is someone to believe in, something to grasp, and someone to trust. You need to go to the next letter of the alphabet, to Y — as in “Why do I exist. Why was I created? And what am I living for?”
According to Jesus, you were created for joy. “These things I have spoken to you,” Jesus said, “that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”
The things Jesus spoke of were His teachings about bearing fruit. We were created to bear fruit for God, which essentially means to become like Jesus: His mind becomes our mind, His purpose becomes our purpose. And there’s only one way to produce such luscious fruit, according to Jesus: “Abide in Me” (John 15:4). This is the secret of spiritual growth and the key to overflowing joy. Are you bearing spiritual fruit?
Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House
When grace happens, Christ enters. Christ in you, the hope of glory!
For many years, I missed this truth. I believed all the other prepositions:
Christ for me, with me, ahead of me. But I never imagined that Christ was in me.
I can’t blame my deficiency on Scripture. Paul refers to it 216 times. John mentions it 26. No other religion or philosophy makes such a claim. No other movement implies the living presence of its founder in his followers.
Muhammad does not indwell Muslims. Buddha does not inhabit Buddhists.
Influence? Instruct? Yes. But occupy? No.
The mystery in a nutshell is Colossians 1:27: “Christ is in you!”
The Christian is a person in whom Christ is happening! We sense his re-arranging. He’s turning debris into the divine, a pig’s ear into silk purse. Little by little a new image emerges!
God’s Grace!
From GRACE
~ Max Lucado
Stand your ground, putting on the sturdy belt of truth.
“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free,” says Jesus (John 8:32). But what will the truth set us free from?
First of all, it sets us free from the snares of deception. When people know the truth, they can’t be taken in by a lie. You can’t convince people to believe in something that they know in their hearts and minds is false.
The truth will also set you free from guilt and shame. When you’ve held tightly to the truth, you don’t have to worry about a lie coming back to haunt you. You don’t spend your nights lying awake wondering what words of deception might trap and ensnare you. You are free to live with a clean conscience and an innocent heart.
Finally, the truth sets you free from judgment. When you trust in the truth of Jesus, you have no more fear of death — physical or spiritual. You know his promises to be true and his words to be life-giving. You can no longer be bound by Satan’s lies.
The belt of truth Paul writes about is the strap that holds together the entire armor of God. Without it, everything else would fall away and Satan would have an open target to your heart. So take the truth of Christ, and latch it firmly around your waist. Let it set you free!
Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House
Blessings come from applying God’s Word.
by Max Lucado
You stare into the darkness. The ceiling fan whirls above you. Your husband slumbers next to you. In minutes the alarm will sound, and the demands of the day will shoot you like a clown out of a cannon into a three-ring circus of meetings, bosses, and baseball practices.
And for the millionth time you’ll make breakfast, schedules, and payroll… but for the life of you, you can’t make sense of this thing called life. Its beginnings and endings. Cradles and cancers and cemeteries and questions.
The meaning of life! The poor choices of life. God answers the mess of life with one word: grace! Do we really understand it?
Ezekiel 36:26 says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you!”
Grace calls us to change
and then gives us the power to pull it off!
From GRACE
I have always loved this passage in Psalm 34. Read the whole chapter (which I have copied from biblegateway.com and included it after the following message from The Life Application Study Bible). Let it bathe over you with comfort.
~~~~~
God pays attention to those who call on Him. Whether God offers escape from trouble or help in times of trouble, we can be certain that He always hears and acts on behalf of those who love Him.
God promises great blessings to His people, but many of these blessings require active participation. He will deliver us from:
but we must do our part.
We can appropriate His blessings when:
34:8 “Taste and see” does not mean “Check out God’s credentials.” Instead it is a warm invitation. “Try this; I know you’ll like it.” When we take that first step of obedience in following God, we will discover that Je is good and kind. When we begin the Christian life, our knowledge of God is partial and incomplete. As we trust Him daily, we experience how good He is.
34:9 You say you belong to the Lord, but do you fear Him? To fear the Lord means to show deep respect and honor to Him. We demonstrate true reverence by our humble attitude and genuine worship. Reverence was shown by Abraham (Genesis 17:2-4), Moses (Exodus 3:5, 6), and the Israelites (Exodus 19:16-24) showed this kind of fear of the Lord.
34:9, 10 At first we may question David’s statement, because we seem to lack many good things. This is not a blanket promise that all Christians will have everything they want. Instead, this is David’s praise for God’s goodness–all those who call upon God in their need will be answered, sometimes in unexpected ways.
Remember, God knows what we need, and our deepest needs are spiritual. Even though many Christians face unbearable poverty and hardship, they still have enough spiritual nourishment to live for God. David was saying that to have God is to have all you really need. God is enough.
If you feel you don’t have everything you need, ask:
Even if you answer yes to all three questions, God may allow you to go without to help you grow more dependent on Him. He may want you to learn that you need Him more than having to achieve your immediate desires.
34:11-14 The Bible often connects the fear of the Lord (love and reverence for Him) with obedience. “Fear God and keep His commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:13); “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching” (John 14:23).
David said that a person who fears the Lord
Reverence is much more than sitting quietly in church. It includes obeying God in the way we speak and the way we treat others.
34:14 Some may think that peace should come with no effort. But David explained that we are to seek and pursue peace. Paul echoed this thought in Romans 12:18. A person who wants peace cannot be argumentative and contentious. Because peaceful relationships come from our efforts at peacemaking, work hard at living in peace with others each day.
34:18, 19 We often wish we could escape troubles–
or even the small daily frustrations that constantly wear us down.
God promises to be “close to the brokenhearted,” to be our source of
helping us through our problems.
Sometimes He chooses to deliver us from those problems. When trouble strikes, don’t get frustrated with God. Instead, admit that you need God’s help and thank Him for being by your side.
34:20 This is a prophecy about Christ when He was crucified. Although it was the Roman custom to break the legs of the victim to speed death, not one of Jesus’ bones was broken (John 19:32-37). In addition to the prophetic meaning, David was pleading for God’s protection in times of crisis.
Psalm 34
1 I will extol the Lord at all times;
His praise will always be on my lips.
2 My soul will boast in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt His name together.
4 I sought the Lord, and He answered me;
He delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to Him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
He saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him,
and He delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.
9 Fear the Lord, you His saints,
for those who fear Him lack nothing.
10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
11 Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
13 keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking lies.
14 Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and His ears are attentive to their cry;
16 the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
He delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19 A righteous man may have many troubles,
but the Lord delivers him from them all;
20 He protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord redeems His servants;
no one will be condemned who takes refuge in Him.
To read this passage in the King James Version, please click on this link:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2034&version=KJV
I mean, that’s what they say.
That people’s “number one fear is public speaking. And number two is death.”
So some crazy comedy guy asks, “Does that seem right?
That means to the average person,
if you have to go to a funeral,
you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.”
And when your bags are packed and you’re 24 hours from standing with a microphone
on the Women of Faith stage, Lord willing and if the creek don’t rise,
I confess — none of that’s particularly comforting.
But that He says it about 365 times in the Bible,
Do not be Afraid — one assurance for every day —
so the women of faith believe and obey,
and the rock solid truth He won’t ever leave or forsake,
and there isn’t a thing in this world that can ever separate us from the love of Christ —
this crazy farmer’s wife putting all that in her bag.
She’s flying with that.
And these 10 Things to Know about Fear:
1. Don’t fear failing.
Fear not obeying.
2. Fear is a fraud.
Nowhere on earth is beyond the reach of God.
3. All fear is but the notion that God’s love ends.
4. Your fears don’t decide your fate — your fears destroy your faith.
5. We must do that which we know we cannot — to prove that it’s our God who cannot fail.
Our God appoints those who will disappoint — to point to a God who never disappoints.5. Everything your Father has for you — is over the fence of fear.
6. Travel in the direction of your fears — to let God direct your life.
7. Fear doesn’t stop the really bad things as much as it stops you from really living.
8. It’s impossible to simultaneously feel fear — and give thanks.
9. Fear is always the flee ahead.
God is I AM and His presence fills the present moment.
Just. Rest. in. Him. in. This. Moment.
10. Do not feed the ducks, or the bears, or the fears.
Feed your soul — on the Word that is the Bread of Life.
So this heart’s ready — relying on Him.
Bags are packed.
Fears won’t be checked. {All lying fears have been kicked to the curb.}
Flying in the morning.
And before the sun sets here on the farm,
I see it there out the kitchen window,
there off the front porch —
That the geese are flying high — straight into the sun.
You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.” Hebrews 10:36-37
The greatest example of Christian perseverance for me is Sister Alice Yuan from China. Her pastor husband, Allen Yuan, was imprisoned for almost twenty-two years for refusing to join the government controlled church in the middle 1950’s. She says:
“When my husband Allen was sent to prison in April 1958, I was told that I would never see him again. I felt completely miserable and continually blamed God. The future looked so terribly bleak. I had the care of six children and my mother-in-law. I was only earning 80 cents a day. How could I keep my family alive on that?
“When it all became too much for me, one night I heard a voice: ‘My child, I have everything in My hands. These things come from Me.’ I replied, ‘If these things come from You, please protect me and my family. Do not allow me to dishonor Your name. I want to serve You and glorify Your name’
“Then I received peace in my heart. I was encouraged by Psalm 68:19, Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. In those difficult years, people let me down, but God never abandoned me. But he did put me through trials.
“The first trial was the struggle to survive. I was only earning 80 cents a day. How could we get by on that? But God took care of us, in the same way that he took care of Elijah. He promised to be my shepherd and provider.
“One evening, my mother-in-law said that there was no food anymore in the house. The next morning, at five to six there was a knock on the door. ‘Are you sister Alice?’ asked a woman in her sixties, whom I didn’t know. ‘God wanted me to give you this.’ She put a package in my hand and disappeared. When I opened the parcel I found there was rice in it and some other food and a banknote to the value of about four month’s salary of a professor! Praise the Lord. Where man comes to an end, God begins! This was only one of the many miracles which kept us alive all those years.”
RESPONSE: Today I will not complain about discomforts but thank God for all His blessings!
PRAYER: Lord, You desire faithfulness and perseverance. Help me develop these qualities in my life.
“But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved. Hebrews 10:38-39
“The second trial came from the Communist party. Every day for nineteen years, I had to report to the police station, where for six hours, they put pressure on me. They said that I would never see my husband again, that I should divorce him and that I should give up my faith. With God’s help I kept going. Praying with my eyes closed, I endured the interrogations every day.
“The third trial consisted of the hard work. After I had been pressured by the security police for six hours, I still had to work for eight hours to earn a living. I had to push handcarts filled with building materials. The carts were much too heavy. I was completely exhausted and was already tired before I started. In the winter, it was even worse. Sometimes I had to shovel cement up onto a floor above my head. The work was dirty, hard and cold, but I achieved my quota. The others were surprised and wondered where I got the energy from.
“The fourth trial had to do with my natural desires. I was thirty-nine-years-old when my husband was taken away. The authorities put me under pressure to marry someone else. All my papers would be changed, so that I could start a new life without all the difficulties. I was offered money and clothing. God loved me so much that He gave me the strength to resist all these temptations. When I prayed to God, He gave me everything I needed, and even more than that.
“My favorite text is Psalm 68:6, God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing.”
It is a miracle that her husband, Allen Yuan, got out of the labour camp alive. In December 1979, he was released after twenty-one years and eight months. He was then sixty-five years old, thin but still healthy. At an age when many people are enjoying retirement, Allan again took up his vocation as a pastor. He died on August 16th 2005 at the age of ninety-one. Alice joined him in heaven in early August 2010 to hear her own “Well done!”
RESPONSE: I resolve to persevere, with faith in a good God, through all the trials that come my way.
PRAYER: Lord, may all Your children experiencing severe persecution today be filled with faith and refuse to shrink back. Help me to emulate these great examples of faithful perseverance.
Standing Strong Through The Storm (SSTS)
A daily devotional message by SSTS author Paul Estabrooks
© 2011 Open Doors International. Used by permission
How to Really Live » A Holy Experience.
Amazing read!
sharin' His love & Prophecy Unfolding 