"And Peter said to them, 'Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'"
-Acts 2:38 "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Jesus Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." -Romans 8:11 "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." -Romans 8:14 "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own." -1 Corinthians 6:19 "But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me." -John 15:26 This is a handful among MANY verses that discuss the Holy Spirit as the seal of salvation. His indwelling presence in the Believer's life and heart and spirit is the seal of the New Covenant bought in Jesus' blood. Many denominations and individual believers will try to down play the role and reality of the Holy Spirit. He is a person. He is an equal part of the Triune Godhead. He is the closest we can get to God in this life. He is our Counselor, Teacher, Sanctifier, Friend and Promise. He is the Spirit of the Father and of Jesus. He is God within us! To downplay or refuse to get to know Him in our walk with Christ is to deny his existence and function in the Godhead and in our lives as Believers. The Holy Spirit is a difficult concept to grasp a hold of, but He is worth every effort. Jesus bought our freedom and son-ship with his life and sacrifice in perfection as the Lamb/Son of God, but He also bought our right to His Spirit at our conversion. The Holy Spirit makes Jesus known and understood by illuminating the the Word to us in our spirits and minds. He also confirms our assurance of salvation when we doubt, because we know if we have Him in us, we have Christ's blood covering us and an entrance into Heaven. These verses make it very clear that the Holy Spirit is God Himself WITHIN US who believe and accept and follow Jesus as Lord and Savior. We have the fullness of the Godhead at our disposal every minute of everyday in the form of the Spirit of God. HALLELUJAH FOREVER AND EVER!! How awesome is our God for such a gift as this! I challenge you reader, to seek to know the Spirit and worship Him as LORD, since He is, and pray and ask the LORD to reveal to you and teach you all He has in store for you in and through this promise of indwelling Godhead with you every step and breath of every day on this earth. He will usher you into eternity and the fullness of glory and promise at your last breath. Thank you Father for your plan of salvation, your light in the darkness to set captives free through Jesus Christ. Thank you that part of that promise is the indwelling Holy Spirit. Please fill us and overflow us with more than we can handle of Your Spirit that we may be effective for your kingdom on this earth, for we can truly do nothing without You and the empowering of Your Spirit within us. In Jesus' name, Amen.
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"'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.'"
Isaiah 55:9-11 "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." James 1:5 "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." Jeremiah 33:3 "For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding." Proverbs 2:6 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise instruction." Proverbs 1:7 How do we understand God when He is so much bigger and higher than us? He is altogether wiser and powerful and mighty. How can we even understand a fragment of His Word and will? As James 1:5 suggests, we should ask God!! This means to read His Word and ask Him to teach you. Pray before you read and ask Him to reveal more of Himself to you and to give your heart and mind understanding. You can be assured, "it will be given to you". When we call unto Him, the Author of all Scripture, and ask Him and trust Him to teach us, "He will answer and show us great and mighty things which we knew not". The LORD alone gives wisdom and understanding. From His mouth flows understanding and knowledge. In order to ask the LORD or seek the LORD or desire wisdom, one must necessarily fear Him and revere Him as higher than ourselves and all the knowledge and wisdom of man. For without reverence for Him, we will not have any knowledge from above. We must be humble and seek Him alone for understanding. Reading and reading and reading until you are blue, doesn't do anything but add words to a dictionary of terms. You cannot know the Author, without hearing from His Mouth about His ideas and plans. We can talk to others, read books about him, and even teach others and write papers, but we will never gain more of him, if we do not ask Him for more of him, if we do not ask him for understanding and applied wisdom. I could read a book 5 times, all that would gain me is a more detailed knowledge of the story withing its covers, it would not gain insight into the author Himself. We must pray! expecting answers, because His Word says he will answer you when you call upon Him. We will hear from the mouth of God (Jesus), through the Spirit of God (living withing each of those who are His children through faith in Christ), by the power and will of God the Father in Heaven. Ask God to reveal who He is to you. Read His word to find out about Him and trust that He will bring every syllable to your understanding that will open your eyes to who He is and see him through eyes of faith until you see Him face to face. Hallelujah! Dear Heavenly Father, Please show us your glory, fill our minds and hearts with knowledge of You and give us understanding as to who You are and how you work and draw us deeper and deeper into relationship with you. Help us apply all you teach us, all we know and understand to all aspects of life and faith and relationships that we may have wisdom and discernment. Thank you for hearing us. Thank you for answering us. Thank you for seeking us before we ever sought after you. Draw near to us, we pray. In Jesus' name, Amen. "See, today I am letting you choose a blessing or a curse. You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the LORD your God. I am giving them to you today. But you will be cursed if you disobey the commands of the LORD your God. SO do not disobey the commands I am giving you today. Do not worship other gods you do not know., The LORD your God will bring you into the land you will own. Then you are to announce the blessings from Mount Gerizim. Announce the curses from Mount Ebal." -Deuteronomy 11:26-29
I have been learning this lesson experientially for many years now. God keeps taking me deeper and deeper into obedience and faith. By nature I am extremely independent, and rebellious of all authority. It has taken God allowing me to go my own way and "run from him" and reach the end of myself, to humble me and give His way a try. Through the training stage of His gracious and sovereign hand over me, I have learned to argue does nothing, ultimately, it is whether I obey Him or not. It always comes down to the wire for me and He says, "You can obey me or not, what's it going to be." I used to begrudgingly choose to obey and I put the weight of the consequences on Him. Saying, "If you don't uphold who you are and keep your word through this, I am done". Needless to say, He always did. As He would come through and I would be blessed because of my obedience and stepping out in faith, my faith grew. My love for him grew, my passion to know him better and obey him quicker grew. I learned to love obedience. I learned to love God's will and ways and hate all other ways. I learned to hate my sin and hate independence. I NEEDED God every moment. I still need Him every single moment, and I love to call on Him when I am in need. This selection of verses spells it out very clearly. When you obey, you will be blessed. When you disobey, you will be cursed. BY A HOLY GOD. I have begun teaching my children this as well. When I speak to them about their disobedience, I remind them of this principle. And I have found it to be true. When I walk by faith to do what God calls me to do He always blesses me beyond my wildest dreams. When I doubt or disobey, I am always weighed down and burdened and things go horribly wrong. And honestly, while I am obeying, sometimes I am persecuted. God gave us his law so we would know him through following and obeying it. He gave it to us to reveal his holiness. He gave it to us to pave the way for Christ to fulfill it where we fall miserably and wholly short. He built into it, a blessing and a curse, based on how we individually and collectively choose to handle it in our lives. What a blessing!?!?! Not just to be told to obey because He said so, but we will be rewarded for doing so! How beautiful and gracious of Him! Lord Jesus, Thank you for this principle and promise! Thank you for graciously teaching us to obey and leading us in blessings for your name's sake and glory. Give us grace to obey you without fear, to love your law and ways and trust you and boldly follow where you lead us. Be with us and do your will in and through us. In Jesus' name, Amen. “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter3:9 So, I don’t know how much experience you have with hate in your life. I have passionately hated people who didn’t deserve it. I have been embittered by others’ sins and not been able to move on, trapped by my own snares of ‘rights’. I have had people act like my friend to my face and then turn around and scheme and stab me in the back. I have had people spitefully, maliciously sneak around and purposely set things in motion to destroy me in pure unadulterated hate. I have had family disown me. I have had friends cut me off with no explanation or reason. Needless to say, I have my own experiences, many and varied with the root of bitterness, and hate, within my own heart, and thrown at me like weapons by others. A lot of people believe that God chooses and sends to Hell good people, just because they don’t follow his exact instructions. Those people would be mistaken about who God is and what salvation is. Hell is real. People who do not have a personal, submissive relationship with God through Jesus Christ will go to Hell for eternal judgment when they die. Hell was not made for man but for prideful, fallen angels. However, when man rejects God’s way to Heaven and rejects God for their own ideals and idols, man assumes the same destiny as the angels who chose the same. God wishes that all men would be saved and that none would die without Him. But he has given each person free will to choose what he wants to worship, how he wants to live, and what he wishes to believe about life, eternity, God and himself. God has placed a moral compass in each human heart to decipher between right and wrong, and he has set eternity in man’s heart. Man has the power to exert his will over that God-given compass and needle pointer to do and be and believe whatever he wants either in conjunction with or in opposition to God’s imprint. When man chooses to kick the goads and resist everything about God and input his own agenda into his reality, he is rejecting God, His Ways, His Promises and His Presence, both here and in the life to come. Heaven is God’s Home, God’s Ways, God’s complete Presence, God’s fullness expressed to and with man. Hell is the absence of God’s goodness and attributes and is a place that He reigns over but in full wrath, without grace. Heaven would be Hell to a man who hates God. He would have to see Him everywhere, talk to a bunch of people who are in love with Him, listen to His praise forever without end, and live on His life blood and air for eternity. To someone who hates him, and rejects everything about him for their own desires all of his life, Heaven full of God would be the worst place to be for eternity. This all ties together in that, the last place you want to be is in the presence of the person you hate, listening to people talk about how great they are and how much they love them, eating their food and drinking their drinks and being dependent on them for life and happiness. That would be awful! However, for the good God, who loves all people, because they are made in his image and because He is mercy and love, it is sad but necessary to carry out the end result of life choices made here on earth. He wishes that none would die and perish for eternity. However, when that is what man chooses, He grants his wish. Have you ever forgiven someone, and God has placed a supernatural love for them in your heart, but they still hate you with every fiber of their being? Have you ever watched how tortured they are to just see you or hear your voice, or God-forbid hug you? It is the polite, gracious, loving thing to stay off in the background and let them live their life or pass you by as if you didn’t exist because to be near you instigates so much venom in them that it is destroying them and distorting them. This is how God is faithful to many who turn away from Him and His grace and goodness, faithful love and forgiveness. He steps away, into the shadows, should they seek Him, He is ready and willing to welcome them with open arms, but until then, He watches from afar, wishing them well, wishing things were different between them, and patiently waiting to be gracious to them. I wish so badly, that you would turn and run to Him and be reconciled to God! His love is better than life! He is waiting patiently for you. Do not perish, but believe in Him and receive everlasting life. Follow Him as Lord and you will never walk alone and will pass from life to life. Lord Jesus, Please draw all men unto you. Help me not to be a hindrance to any, but be a beacon of light and love to all, even those who hate me. Help me love them well, how you love me. In Jesus’ name, amen. "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
Colossians 3:17 This afternoon, while I was eating lunch, I was looking out the window thinking : "What am I thankful for?" I usually thank God for the temporal things that go my way. My mind is so focused on having a peaceful, joy filled life, that I forget what true thankfulness is. I pray and say, "Thank you Lord for this food, for all your gracious gifts and all you do for us". But is that real gratitude? That seemed so empty and void of meaning. I thought, the greatest thing to be thankful for is God Himself in Jesus Christ - Salvation. The Word of God is more valuable than any bank account figures or 'valuables' in this life. The salvation we have through Christ's sacrifice is beyond ever paying back or even truly fathoming its depths in order to do justice to its unmerited promise and blessing. The fact that God even communicates with us and gives us an open door policy in approaching Him, is beyond imagination or understanding. God is the Gem/Treasure of greatest price. Then, later in the afternoon, early evening, while we were eating our amazing Thanksgiving spread, I was very nearly brought to tears with how much I don't deserve this gift of food security. I was picturing all the Christians, children and others the world over who are starving to death. I felt sick enjoying and eating such an amazing meal when so very many are going without today. I had to seriously take my mind off of it and just try to enjoy my favorite meal of the year. I don't know very many people, if any who are that effected on a personal basis by the lack of provision of others. I don't know why I feel so deeply, but I do. God has softened me and given me a new heart of compassion and love. So! Let's stay focused on real, deep thanks giving. Let's lift our eyes and our hearts to the places above, the heavenly places and truly sing praise and thanks to our deserving God! "Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his: we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him: bless his name! For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations." Psalm 100 God bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you and bring you peace! Happy Thanksgiving! Let's finish this year grateful for everything and everything to our God, and then keep on going next year and the one after that until we are known by our gratitude and humility and love! "Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." 1Timothy 4:7-8
In all the crazy running rampant in our world today, many are trying to "prepare for the end". I feel like that is wise in some regards, and worthless and pointless in others. Because if we are thinking we can plan and stock pile supplies and never run out and we will be the only one to survive the apocalypse because of our great planning and preparing. How prideful! number one. Number two, we cannot know the day or the hour at which we will die let alone can we predict what we will face tomorrow or in the next five minutes. How on earth will we meet all our own unforeseen needs, let alone care for others who are suffering. Most people who are preparing for the end are hording supplies to themselves for their own benefit. They are also trying to out smart God and His divine timeline for their lives. They want to elongate their own survival. If it comes down to it, and the supplies are running out and there is no way to get more, and they see a mother suffering and starving with an infant at her breast, how high is the probability that he will go without to help her so they can all die faster? Slim. So how should we prepare for today, or tomorrow, or next year or the apocalypse? We should be preparing to meet our Maker. Especially as Christians, we should be living every day on the manna of God. He is our daily bread, not our savings account. He provides every minute what we need. He provides every need for the full day in exact proportions for the grace needed in every situation. We must faithfully go and collect it. We must read the Word, study and meditate on the Word and seek to understand it more. We must pray, not just for our needs but to praise our holy, loving God, to thank Him and to share our hearts with him, our concerns, our worries, our celebrations and our fears and weaknesses. We cannot draw from the well of Living Water if we will not walk down to it and bring a bucket to fill our vats to the full. We cannot partake of the Bread of Life if we will not sit down to eat and expect it to fill our souls. Should we learn hand to hand combat, weapons skills, outdoor survival skills, languages, and every other possibly considered need for the end? I don't think it is humanly possible to be all those things in one person, in every person because we are all unique with different proclivities. Is it unwise? no. But is it the best source of preparation? NO. We should be preparing our own hearts to meet our Lord, and we should be spending everything we have to share the Gospel with everyone we meet and speak to. Jude says in the face of false teachers and wolves in sheep's clothing in the church, persecution, etc, "But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray int he Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life." (20-21) We should be getting to know as intimately and fully as we can in this limited vessel of flesh and corruption the Holy God to whom we owe our lives. As we draw near to Him, He will draw nearer to us (James 4:8, Jeremiah 29:12-14). We need Jesus in every moment, both good and bad. The Holy Spirit is the fullness of God within our hearts. We must know how to use the Word of God effectively, with love and grace and boldness. We must learn to wield the Sword of the Spirit. We must train our minds to dwell on those things that are only true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy (Philippians 4.8). We must learn to discern the dark from the light, the lies from the truth. We must learn to hear the voice of God and move when He tells us to move, and stay when He tells us to stay. We must train our hearts to hide the Truth in it, and to draw it up in the time of need for wisdom from God and faith for the trials and strength for the weak and hope for the desperate. "Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." 1Corinthians 15:58 We should not be fighting to save this life, but to save our souls and store up treasures in Heaven that moth and rust and thieves cannot steal or destroy (Matthew 6:19-21). The selfless deeds and hospitality and generosity we spend our life, time and money on in this life saves up for us an eternal reward in Heaven from the Father. When we be Light to the dark world by loving and forgiving and giving sacrificially, we fill our storehouses. When we are the salt that cleanses a wound and turns a man from fruitless deeds to righteous ones, we furnish our heavenly dwelling. When we spend our time with God on God's things, using all He has given us to further His kingdom and spread His Gospel to the world around us, we place our crowns at His feet and glorify Him all the brighter than He is already. Seek to Know God intimately and as deeply as you can, this day and every day. He is truly all you need. he is the balm of Gilead. He is the Light that heals and loves, empowers and humbles, and gives you strength to stand firm even in the face of death and love and pray for your enemies and forgive, because God Himself has forgiven you and delivered you up out of your sin and rebellion against Him. Train yourself to be godly, to be like our God, set apart from the world and full of goodness and love. Work hard at it, when you fall, get back up and be cleansed by the blood and try again and again, until you reach the finish line having stood firm and having fought with all you have to overcome the world and defend the faith and Christ Himself. Do not give up. Do not fear. Persevere. The Lord is with you and in you, you will not fall. You will be carried to your eternal home, no matter what man does to the body, Christ will not lose you soul and nothing can separate you from the love of Christ. So! Prepare. :) May God guide you and give you grace to follow Him and train yourself in godliness and holiness. In Jesus name, Amen. "He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy." Proverbs 28:13
This verse was in my devotions this morning and really pulled a lot of musing together for me over some other theological questions that arose from my study in Jude. There is a belief in the modern American church that once you are saved you are always saved. You cannot lose your salvation. This is true for those who are truly saved, the problem is, the false gospel going rampant through our pews is that we can be saved in a moment of time by a prayer or baptism or what have you, and still live however we desire because God's grace covers all wrong from eternity past to eternity future. Does God's forgiveness cover all wrong? Yes. Does Jesus' blood cover every sin for his children? Yes. Does God's forgiveness include casting all our sin as far as the east is from the west? Yes. Justification is final for those who are truly saved. Sanctification is a process that includes growing and maturing and overcoming things that trip us up until we are made perfect in the presence of Christ in Heaven. However, without a life change, then we have cause to doubt and fear our salvation status. This verse says the man or woman or child who covers over his sin will not prosper. The one who continues in sin, and covers over it as if it never happened and isn't continuing to poison their souls, that person will NOT prosper. HOWEVER! IF we confess AND forsake the sins we have covered and indulged in - WE WILL HAVE MERCY! This is a rock solid promise for any man, woman or child who is willing to fully confess their sins and then forsake them forever. They will have mercy. To confess is to clearly, bluntly call a wrong all the wrong it is in comparison to a Holy God. To forsake means to leave for dead, never to return. Mercy is defined as withholding deserved, earned punishment. When we hide our sin and continue in it, we are cursed from succeeding. When we confess it and bring it into the light, and then turn from it forever, we will NOT receive the just punishment for that sin. What will we receive? Mercy, yes, but forgiveness as well, and a pure new place that replaces the old sinful one. 1 John 1:9 says: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." HALLELUJAH!!! Thank you Jesus for making this a possibility for all who believe and confess and bend a knee to your name as Savior and Lord! Praise you forever LORD: Father, Jesus and Spirit! Confess and forsake your sins, my friend and HAVE mercy from our Lord, and forgiveness and a purification from your stains. In Jesus' name! His, Alice My family just recently experienced...as in, we are still recovering from...a severe case of covid. While I was in the throws of it, and seriously wondering who is going to take care of my animals and my kids because I wasn't sure I was going to make it one more day let alone to the 10 day-2 week mark that is supposed to end this horrible torture and pain. I started to cry and evaluate my life. What had I done for Christ? What had I done that mattered in this life or in the one to come? I didn't feel like I had lived a life that was finished yet. I have all these plans and I was mostly too scarred of failing to even try. I have been in a serious funk for a few years!
Covid was and is absolutely horrifying and horrible, but I am soooo very thankful that God allowed it to pass through his fingers into my life so that I can come out so much more in love with Him, committed to His will in my life, settled over my state of life, and so very grateful for each healthy breath I take into and press out of my lungs and every single day I am gifted in this life. From that moment of musing on my sick bed, I decided, step one was no more waiting or fearing about starting this blog. Jump in! It will be what it will be and it will be a legacy of my faith to others when my time is called up. I cannot waste anymore of my life or my precious time here on earth. I MUST serve my King! I don't know what God will do with any of this, but I am excited to learn more about Him as I walk in obedience. If you are out there today with a dream in your heart for God, and you are a bit hesitant and scarred and insecure, stop it right this minute with all those doubts! Nothing done for God will every be a failure or ever be a waste of your time. Your life has a purpose to do good for His kingdom. Start walking it out before it is too late! God bless you and keep you my friend. I am so excited to walk this journey with you. His, Alice |
About MeI want to glorify God with my life and use my gifts for His Name's sake. This blog is an effort therein. Archives
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