Mini Weekly Bible Study
Spiritual Faith Produces Spiritual Obedience
Romans 1:5 NIV Through Him and for His name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people…to the obedience that comes from faith.
Obedience comes from faith. Faith comes from our consistent intake of the Word (Romans 10:17); therefore, obedience is the result of our habitual intake of the Word. Too many Christians forget this fact and try to prove their faith by feigned obedience. They will even use the verse in James that says that faith without works is dead; however, they forget where faith originates. Faith comes from repeatedly ingesting the Word; it is a Spiritual fruit and it is not something we can achieve apart from Christ. James 2:17 is not a challenge to us to prove our faith; it is simply describing Spiritual faith to us. Spiritual faith will produce fruit.
Faith without works is dead - faith that is dead is not Spiritual faith. For example, you may have "faith" that lying is wrong, but your faith is dead in this area if you are still speaking lies. You simply have knowledge that lying is wrong but you lack the Spiritual power to overcome it. When you see victory over lying, then your faith has been brought to life and it is complete; it is Spiritual. The work of the Word has produced the fruit that God promised it would - God's Word will not come back void; it will produce Spiritual fruit. God promised us that our mouths would be a source of life - as we consistently fill ourselves with the Word, we will see that promise manifested in our lives over time. Lying, talking bad about others, gossiping, and so on, will no longer control us, but through Christ we will have control over our tongues. It is impossible for man to tame the tongue, but thank God it is not impossible for Him (James 3:8, Matthew 19:26)!
Faith is a process - it takes faith and patience to see God's promises come to pass in your life (Hebrews 6:12). Faith takes time - that is why Paul warns us to avoid laziness. Faith is not for the lazy; it is for those who will continue in the Word and continue in the Word until they see the Word manifested in their lives.
Anything that does not find its roots in faith is sin. We can make ourselves "obey" but we cannot produce Spiritual obedience apart from faith. The Bible tell us that our works will be tried by fire. God wants to know "what sort" of works they are (1 Corinthians 3:13) - this denotes the origin. Where do your works originate? Are they a product of your flesh or a product of your Spirit? Do your works find their origination in the Word or do they find their origination in you?
Revelation 3:2 (Amplified) Rouse yourselves and keep awake, and strengthen and invigorate what remains and is on the point of dying; for I have not found a thing that you have done [any work of yours] meeting the requirements of My God or perfect in His sight.
Do your works meet the requirements of God? God requires faith. Anything that is not of faith is sin and it does not meet His requirements (Romans 14:23). We have a choice to make: we can try to perform for God or we can receive from God and let Him work through us and produce Spiritual fruit in our lives.
1 John 4:9 This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him.
Are you living through Christ or are you trying to live the life of a Christian on your own? Apart from Christ we can do nothing of Spiritual value (John 15:5). We need Him and He is the Word (John 1:1). Thank God for the Word and all that it does for us! It will produce the Spiritual faith that we need to see the Spiritual fruit of God in our lives! Only Spirit can give birth to Spirit. Only the Word of God can produce the Spiritual fruit we all desire to see in our lives! Spiritual obedience comes from Spiritual faith. Thank You, Lord!
A TALE OF TWO HEARTS
David was described by God as a man after His own heart. The word “after” means from or according to. As we all know, God used David in many mighty ways; we also know that David’s actions were not always perfect. God is not limited by our performance. Too many people are deceived into believing that their actions limit God’s ability to use them. After all, how could God use an adulterous murderer? We must understand that what limits God is US! God could use David because David understood “the tale of two hearts!” David had a heart that was from or according to God’s heart; nonetheless, he still had a heart that was from his flesh to deal with.
When we accept Christ as Savior something new takes place; we receive a new heart, a new Spirit – the Holy Spirit (Ezekiel 36:26; 2 Corinthians 5:17)! God tells us that He removes our heart of stone. The word “remove” was translated from the Hebrew word sur which means to “turn off.” When we are walking in our new nature, or walking in the Spirit, our flesh is “turned off;” we cannot participate in both natures at the same time! We must CHOOSE one or the other. We choose by deciding to focus on the Word or deciding to focus on ourselves, our feelings, our thoughts, our circumstances, and so on.
God provides us with what we need to live through Him (Deuteronomy 30:6); we can live according to the Spirit!
As Christians, we are instructed to keep ourselves at the center of God’s love. What does this mean? This means that we need to continually remind ourselves of God’s love for us.
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How do we do this? We do this by focusing on God’s Word and what He has to say about how much He loves us. Life will give us many opportunities to doubt God’s love for us. In this world we deal with man’s free-will, sin, and hatred. Christ is the answer to these devastating things. The world’s hatred can be conquered if we will simply stay at the center of God’s love for us.
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We must take the time to remind ourselves of His love daily. We must take the time to find verses that speak of His love for us and we must repetitively study these verses. Write down a few of your favorite verses that declare God’s love for you and read them every day. Memorize these verses, focus on them, and speak them.
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Keeping ourselves at the center of God’s love will also keep us in anticipation regarding God’s goodness and the blessings He has in store for us. As we become intimately acquainted with God’s love we will also expect Him to do everything else that He promised us in His Word – and this is the real life! Life lived through Christ is unrivaled!
I believe no one else can truly appreciate how another person feels. Feelings - pain, joy, mirth, fear, grief, etc. - are so personal and acute. They are something we can only share completely with God. He is the only one who fully understands you and your feelings. Your heart was created by Him and He alone can accurately appreciate what is going on inside of you. Many times we want others to celebrate with us or give us solace or commiserate with us, but they truly cannot. When we begin to understand that we were never designed to rely on man, we will find ourselves searching more for God. Until we get to this place, we will be repeatedly disappointed. We put unbearable pressure on others, and on ourselves, when we erroneously believe man can help. Vain is the help of man. God warned us not to trust in others or ourselves - are we listening? Are you trying to find in man what can only be found in God? Open your heart to the Creator of the heart. He is longing for you to draw near to Him. As you draw near, you will feel His presence. If you ignore Him, you will feel lonely regardless your position, but I believe that is also part of God's plan. When you experience this loneliness, you can see it as an indicator telling you to turn to God. He is there. He has never left you. He readily receives and comforts. He will share your joy, He will heal your broken heart, He will calm your fear because man cannot.
us. exactly does that mean? compel means to compress arrest, to preoccupy, hold together, to constrain (to bring under control), to perplex.​
The love of Christ compels us; it keeps us in the Word of . If we are in the Word for any other reason, then the Word will not produce the Spiritual fruit God intended. Some read the Word out of duty or out of fear, for example; this is not the way the Word is to be received. The Word is God’s love letter and it must be received that way. God's wants His love to preoccupy His children.
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The love of Christ is useful; it holds us together! As we abide in the love letter of the Word we will find that God is holding us . The Word will keep us from falling apart in the midst of trials and problems. The Word induces faith and faith produces Spiritual actions that will overcome our carnal reactions.
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His love brings us under control – it keep us in the Spirit and out of the flesh. The love letter of the Word is our Spiritual weapon. If we ignore the Word, we ignore our Spiritual power!
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Christ’s love can even sometimes be perplexing. Christ’s love is the catalyst for change in us and we cannot even explain exactly how thetransformation takes place. All we know is that the Word works – and it works because Christ loves us!
The Bible is God’s love in word form and we can never completely it's worth, but it compels
Where's the Love?
Matthew 24:12
Because of the increase of wickedness,
the love of most will grow cold…
What is your love walk like - is it red hot, on fire or is it freezing cold? Has the flesh been given the opportunity to increase in your life, thus decreasing your love walk?
John 13:34-35
"A new command I give you: Love one another.
As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
By this all men will know that you are My disciples,
if you love one another."
We first need to understand God’s love for us if we expect to love others like God commanded us to. People will know we belong to God when we love like He did - they won’t be able to mistake it!
Eph 5:1-2
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
The only way we can imitate God is by recognizing ourselves as the dearly loved children of God that we are! When we realize His love for us it will flow out of us naturally to others. We won’t have to force it.
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Where’s the love? It is in Christ!
2 Th 1:3
We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.
Our love walk will only increase when we are being built up spiritually When our faith is growing more and more, we will abound in love - and remember where faith comes from (from our repetitious intake of the Word of God - Romans 10:17).
Love is spiritual!
The source of love is Jesus Christ inside of you!
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1 Th 4:9-10
Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.
We need to be focused on Christ if we want our love walk to be increasing. We need to be in the Word learning.
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Psa 92:1-2 (ampl.)
It is a good and delightful thing to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to Your name, O Most High. To show forth Your loving-kindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night.
Are you showing forth His loving-kindness in the morning?
1 John 3:16-18
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
When we recieve the love God has for us, it will be displayed in our lives and our relationships. If you have trouble loving others the real love that is missing in your life is that of Jesus Christ! We need to know and understand and accept His love for us if we ever want to love others.
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1 John 4:12
No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.
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complete: (lit.) accomplish, or (fig.) consummate (in character):--
consecrate, finish, fulfil, (make) perfect.
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Is God’s love accomplished in your life? Are you receiving His love to the point that it is flowing back out of you?
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Mat 10:8
…Freely you have received, freely give.
When we freely receive His love, we will freely give it. Too many times we do not believe we can freely receive His love - we think we have to earn it or deserve it somehow and that couldn't be further from the truth. When we live that way, we will also believe that others need to earn or deserve love and that will lead to a loveless existence. No one can earn or deserve love; it must be freely given. Love puts the focus on Christ and He has done everything for us in order for us to qualify for His love!
Daniel 2:21 NIV
He changes times and seasons; He sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.
Seasons Change
Change is not always something we welcome; nonetheless, changes do come. We must understand that change is part of God’s plan for our lives. He takes us through different times and seasons for our good and His glory. Each season has its challenges and benefits and God wants us to meet each with His Word.
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Fall is a time of change; summer fades into the chilliness and colorfulness of fall. Fall signifies a time of harvest. Harvest takes place as a result of planting seed. The farmer digs and plants in the summer heat and waits patiently for that seed to take root and produce a crop. If you have been planting the Word of God in your life, be assured that you will experience a Spiritual harvest. The Word will produce fruit in your life; your harvest is on its way!
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As in the natural, Spiritual fruit comes in time. The farmer plants the seed and he then waters the seed repeatedly. We need to repeatedly take in the Word of God as we await our harvest; we need the water of the Word always. Faith and patience bring about God’s promises in our lives.
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Fall is a time of celebration. It is a time to gather the good things that God is blessing you with. It is a time to feel cozy and comfortable; it is a time to cuddle up and enjoy the harvest. Our Spiritual seasons do not always coincide with the natural seasons, but God wants you to rest in His Word at all times. No matter what Spiritual season you are in, you can find rest and relief in the Word of God. God told us in Isaiah that His Word is our resting place. It is where we go to find comfort and rest from our flesh, our circumstances, ourselves, and more, so get ready to cuddle up with the Word!
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keep
your focus
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Joshua 22:4-5 NIV
Now that the LORD your God has given your brothers rest as he promised, return to your homes in the land that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan. But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul.
The tribe of Gad went back home after the Lord had given them rest. Once they returned home they decided to make their own altars instead of going up to the temple. We may ask, “What is so bad about that?” This was not simply a matter of avoiding a long journey to the temple; it was about doing things their way instead of God’s way.
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They were warned not to take their focus off of the Lord, but they did not listen. They were told to walk and obey. In the Hebrew these words mean to keep your focus on; hedge in your life; gather; take in and make part of who you are. Instead of keeping their focus on the Lord, they made their own altars and they drifted from the presence of the Lord -- which was represented by the temple. Today we drift from the presence of the Lord by staying out of the Word. We build our own altars -- like our family, our job, our finances, our entertainment, and the like. The very blessings that God gives us can keep us from Him if we are not convinced of our desperation for the Word of God. We decide to make things more important than God as a result of drifting from the Word. God knows that we have to put time into our families, our jobs, and so on, but God wants us to do these things through Him- He does not want these things to replace Him!
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John 4:23 AMP
A time will come, however, indeed it is already here, when the true (genuine) worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father is seeking just such people as these as His worshipers.
What is a worshipper? By the original definition, a worshipper is someone who adores God. This means that a worshipper is passionate about God. They are stuck on God – they won’t wander away from Him; they are abiding in Christ – for them to live is Christ. A worshipper is in love with God and we know that a person only loves Him because He first loved them (1 John 4:19); hence, a true worshipper knows that God is in love with them. They are intimately acquainted with His love.
A worshipper worships. What is worship? In Romans chapter twelve, verse one, we see the word “worship.” This word is translated from a word that is defined as “ministration of God.” What this means is that worship is Biblically defined as being cared for by God, supported by God, aided by God, assisted by God, and nurtured by God. God cares for, supports, aids, assists, and nurtures us because we are abiding in Him. Worship is a Spiritual action with a Spiritual source – God!
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God is merciful; because of this, I can offer my body as a living sacrifice. “Offer” means “to stand beside” and it comes from a word that means “to abide.” Offering has to do with counting on Christ / depending on Him / seeing yourself in Him. For us to offer our bodies is for us to abide in Christ and connect ourselves to Him.
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True worshippers – those who are full of truth (the Word) – know that worship is Spiritual. They are getting the care, support, aid, assistance, and nurture of God because they are abiding in the Word. They know that we cannot offer God worship – they know that worship is His gift to us! A true worshipper is consumed by God!
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Worship
2 Corinthians 3:18
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
We are to reflect the Lord’s glory. To reflect is to mirror or show something. How can we mirror the Lord’s glory? We do this by transformation. We are transformed by the renewing of our mind –by filling ourselves with the Word of God (Romans 12:2). The Word of God is our mirror. As we look into the Word, with an unveiled face, we will reflect what we are focusing on. We must go to the Word with an unveiled face. If we try to go to the Word disguised as a person who has it all together, we will only reflect what we’re focusing on – ourselves. An unveiled face is indicative of the person who looks to God for glory rather than themselves.
True transformation comes as we focus on the Word of God. We may be able to modify our behavior, but we‘ll never be able to reproduce God’s glory in our lives. Our behavior modification is a cheap imitation of true Godly transformation. Look into the Word; remain focused on it and let that Word renew you. You must remember that this is a process – ever-increasing glory is a continuous work. As you continue to look to the Lord for true glory, you’ll experience a change in your life. This progressive change comes from the Lord. His Spirit lives in you and it makes contact with the Word of God and transforms you into His image! See the Word as your mirror – if the Word says it, you can see it in your life!
DiVINE
TRUTH
John 15:1-2 (NIV)
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
Jesus is the Vine and we are the branches that grow from that Vine. Outside of the Vine, we are lifeless; we cannot produce Spiritual fruit apart from Christ (John 15:5). If a branch does not bear fruit it is “cut off”. This phrase has also been translated as “taken away”, “cuts away”, and “removed”. When we look at the Greek and Hebrew words that this phrase was translated from, we see a different picture. Both the Greek and Hebrew translations for this phrase mean to lift up; to pardon; to forgive; to marry; to furnish; ease.
Jesus was not telling us that we would be cut off from Him if we failed to produce fruit; He was explaining what we require when we are fruitless. We need to know that we have been forgiven before we will ever produce fruit. We need to be lifted up to our rightful place in Christ; we need to see ourselves in Christ. We also need to be reminded that He provided us with His Word – everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3-4). We must receive what He has furnished us with and rest in Him.
We cannot produce Spiritual fruit apart from Christ; we must rest in Him and He is the Word. We must consistently abide in His Word and fill ourselves with the Seed of His Word so that we can produce Spiritual fruit.
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If we are not abiding in Him and what He has accomplished for us we are like a branch that is useless. those branches are burned up – just like the works that we produce when we are not abiding in Christ! We will produce fruit that is no different from the fruit of an unsaved person when we are not resting in who we are in Christ.
A branch that is not bearing fruit is not taken away; it is lifted up! The lifeless branch is taken out of the dirt and it is placed on a support – it is at rest. In many places, the branches are lifted up onto cross-shaped supports. What a beautiful picture of us as God’s children being lifted up and abiding on the cross – resting on what Christ did for us so that we could produce Spiritual fruit.
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A fruit-producing vine needs to be in its rightful place – it needs to be lifted up. We need to be lifted up, too; we need to take our place seated in Christ. a vine is not supposed to be in the dust. A vine that is crawling on the ground in the dust dies; it will not produce fruit! A Christian who lives in their sin or guilt will not produce fruit either.
2 Chronicles 20:3 NASB
Jehoshaphat was afraid and turned his attention to seek the Lord…
ATTENTION
TURNED
Fear tries to invade our thoughts and feelings many times during the course of life. Fear makes us feel intimidated and dreadful; it is a terrifying source of anxiety. Fear is debilitating; it can be overwhelming.
Fear is a tool that the enemy uses in his attempt to keep us from moving on to the good things that God has in store for us. Fear of failure can keep us from trying. Fear of rejection can keep us from reaching out. Fear impedes; it does not facilitate; however, perfect love, the love of God, can keep fear out of our lives (1 John 4:18).
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God’s plan for Jehoshaphat was victory over the enemy; but before that triumph was enjoyed, he experienced fear. He was fearful of defeat and loss. If he would have let fear paralyze him, then he would have never enjoyed God’s victory. Jehoshaphat had to do something about the fear that he was experiencing – and he knew just what to do. He turned his attention to seek the Lord; he focused on the perfect love of His God rather than the approaching adversary.
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We can turn our attention, also. In order to turn our attention, we must choose to focus on God’s promises rather than the fear that is attacking our thoughts. It is important to understand that you alone determine what thoughts remain in your mind and what thoughts have to go. No one can force you to think anything. You may not be able to control what thoughts come your way, but you can control which ones you give your attention to.
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We are told to take our thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:5). In order to take our thoughts captive, we must be aware of what we are thinking. We must not idly allow vain thoughts to occupy our minds. Be aware of your thoughts; take the time to evaluate them. Do your thoughts line up with the Word of God or do they disagree with the Word of God? Jehoshaphat recognized that his fearful thoughts did not line up with God’s promises; consequently, he turned his attention. He chose to focus on God instead of the enemy.
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Jehoshaphat began to feel fear but he rejected that feeling by turning his attention to seek the Lord. Where is your attention turned? You have a choice to make when fear is attacking; you have to choose to focus on the Word of God instead of on your circumstances.
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When you continually focus on your feelings or your circumstances, rather than on the Word, you will find yourself in a state of constant irritation. Repetition always has an effect – positive or negative. Continually reminding yourself of God’s promises will have a positive, Spiritual effect – but we must remember that the opposite is also true. As we navigate through the course of life, we must repeatedly choose to turn our attention to seek the Lord instead of giving our attention to the enemy.
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Jer 17:7-8
"But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."
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A year of drought - what is it? A year of drought is a time when things are dry in life. Drought also means restraint. It means something is being withheld from you -- something like water which makes it much easier to bear fruit! Spiritually, a year of drought is a time when it is not easy to bear fruit -- but guess what, even though it is not easy, the person who trusts in the Lord will still do it!
When things are tough we need to get tougher! And we do that by putting our trust in the Lord-- & we do that by getting into the Word more & more!
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Prov 3:5-7 Trust in the LORD with all your heart & lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, & He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD & shun evil.
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trust: to have for refuge, be confident or sure:--be
bold (secure, sure), careless (one, woman), put confidence, (make to) hope.
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When you are trusting in the Lord you are confident in Him. You are sure of Him. The more you’re in the Word the more you’ll be sure of Him. His Word produces faith which produces confidence. The Word produces fruit!
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When we trust Him we can be a “careless one.” Not a care in the world because we know who we are believing in & we are confident in Him!
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2 Tim 1:12 …I know whom I have believed, & am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.
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What are you entrusting God with -- it needs to be your whole life! Believe that He is able to do whatever needs done in you, your life, & the people who are in your life.
Are things tough? Then get tougher!
Eph 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord & in his mighty power.
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Get tougher by focusing on who Christ is in your life & not our circumstances. The circumstances really aren’t the problem - it’s they way you see them. The drought is the circumstance. Jesus doesn’t need perfect circumstances to enable us to produce fruit- He only needs us to abide in Him!
John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in ME & I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.
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Circumstances do not impress God.
Isa 49:24-25 Can plunder be taken from warriors, or captives rescued from the fierce? But this is what the LORD says: "Yes, captives will be taken from warriors, & plunder retrieved from the fierce; I will contend with those who contend with you, & your children I will save.
God says no matter what things look like He gives victory! Do you believe that? In the toughest of situations God can give you victory.
When we trust in the Lord we will not fear when heat comes.
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Eph 6:16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
When (not if) heat comes, we know how to put out the fire. It is through the Word of God -- faith comes from hearing the Word & faith puts out the fire. We need the Word for the “fires” in our lives. We do not have to fear the fire, or the trial, we just need to stay in the Word!
Job 5:21-22 You will be protected from the lash of the tongue, & need not fear when destruction comes. You will laugh at destruction & famine, & need not fear the beasts of the earth.
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Psa 46:1-2 God is our refuge & strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way & the mountains fall into the heart of the sea…
Circumstances do not impress God & they shouldn’t impress us either! No matter what is going on we can be fearless when we are trusting in the Lord. He is always there for us - no matter the trouble. We need to remember who we are -- especially in the year of drought!
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Isa 61:3 …to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, & a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.
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We are the Lord’s planting! And He planted us so we can display HIS splendor!
splendor: to gleam, embellish; to boast; also to
explain (i.e. make clear) oneself; to shake a tree:--
beautify, boast self, glorify (self), glory, vaunt self.
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We are His planting so God can boast about who He is! He wants to vaunt or make His beauty known through us. He wants to explain to the world who He is through us. How awesome is that?
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Notice “shake a tree--beautify” is part of the definition. What does that mean? During a storm a tree is shaken & in the process the old dead leaves & fruit are blown off -- that is what He wants to do to us. He wants to use the storms of life to shake the dead stuff off of you - your flesh. And in doing so, HE make us more beautiful. Don’t fight the storm - go through it with the strength Christ provides!
It doesn’t matter if you are in a year of drought or not, you can still display God’s splendor. Some of the most beautiful displays of God’s splendor happen when people are in the tough times. If you watch someone go through a trial trusting the Lord & full of God’s grace, it is a thing of beauty!
So, plant yourself by the water & stretch out your roots! Water yourself in the drought Remember- Jesus is the living water & He is the Word.
A Season of Drought
You Are What You Eat
Proverbs 23:8
The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up...
"You are what you eat." Who hasn't heard that saying more than once or twice? It may seem redundant but it needs repeated especially in regards to our Spirit. What are you feeding yourself Spiritually? What you take in will come back out. What we ingest Spiritually will come out of us in the form of words, actions, thoughts, feelings, and so on.
As we take note of our behavior, our words, our thoughts, our feelings, etc., we can be sure that they all have an origin. Do we take in the Word of God regularly or do we ingest more of the flesh? Do we receive from the Word or from others? Do we fill ourselves with what God says about us or do we listen to ourselves, others, and our flesh?
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As we begin another new year replete with our choice of resolutions, let's do something that will really make a difference this year. Let's change our diet - our Spiritual diet! Let's move forward in 2020 with a desire to fill ourselves with the Word so that the Word will be coming back out of us in every way possible!
Proverbs 29:18 KJV
Where there is no vision, the people perish:
but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
vision: a sight (mentally). A dream; a goal or desire; a delight. Revelation (information revealed); oracle (prophecy; God-given message). Vision: mental picture; foresight.
From the Hebrew word chazah: to gaze at; mentally to
perceive, contemplate(with pleasure); specifically to have a
vision of: - behold, look, prophesy, provide, see.
A vision is necessary if we want to live the good life Christ died for us to have. A vision is simply the result of our reception of the Word of God or of us keeping the Word.
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"Keeping the law" or the Word will make us happy.
keep = shamar: to hedge about as with thorns; to guard; to
protect. To attend to; to look narrowly upon.
happy = esher: how happy! Blessed.
From the Hebrew word ashar meaning to go forward; to be level. To be honest. To prosper.
Guide; lead; relieve.
A vision comes from our attention to the Word and it makes us happy!
-the Word will always keep us moving forward.
-the Word will keep us level or balanced.
-the Word will always keep us mindful of truth
-the Word will guide us
-the Word will prosper us
-the Word will give us relief
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No wonder why we need a vision!
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When we receive the Word and abide in it and focus on it, we have a Spiritual vision. We see things based on the promises of God rather than the circumstances. A vision prepares us and makes us excited about what is to be revealed and displayed in our lives. Information is revealed to us through God's message or His Word. It gives us foresight and it gives us everything we need to persevere as we journey on to this revelation.
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Hebrews 12:2 NIV
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
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The joy set before Him was His vision - His mental picture of what was to come based on the Word of God.
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What is your mental picture for 2020 based upon?
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SUFFICIENT GRACE
2 Corinthians 12:9 (KJV)
And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in My infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
His grace is sufficient. I used to think that this verse meant Paul was trapped with his thorn in the flesh and he simply needed to let God help him learn to deal with it. As I studied out a couple of the words from this verse I found that this couldn’t have been further from the truth.
The word translated as grace means the Divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in your life. Grace, therefore is synonymous with the Word and He is the Word. His grace, His Word influences us Spiritually; it changes us and it is displayed in our lives. Grace is the Word and the Word is the Spiritual Seed for the Spiritual fruit we long to see in our lives. His grace, His Word, it is sufficient.
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The word translated as sufficient means to raise a barrier, to ward off. To avail; be an advantage. Be enough, to suffice. The Word is enough; we need nothing else in this battle against our flesh.
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The Word of God will raise a barrier between us and the flesh; it will keep the enemy at bay. Paul was going to God pleading with Him to remove the thorn and Jesus answers simply, My grace is sufficient. My Word and the way it will influence you and be displayed in your daily life will raise a barrier and ward off that thorn. The Word is your advantage over the flesh; you are thoroughly equipped with everything you need to see victory over your thorny flesh. The Word is enough - you need nothing else.
Stop asking God for what you already have. Instead, use it! Raise up the barrier of God’s precious promises, His final verdict for your life.
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Paul was so excited to know that God's Word was sufficient that he said he was actually pleased to boast about his Spiritual weakness because that is what enabled him to receive true strength from Christ. Paul knew he could not receive what he needed from Christ if he was deceived and believed he already had what he needed in himself. He knew that if he believed he was strong on his own, he would never experience the true strength of God. We are told in the beatitudes that blessed are those who are poor in Spirit because the poor in Spirit realize they are Spiritually bankrupt on their own and they need Christ. This humbling realization opens their eyes to everything they have in Christ. The kingdom of God belongs to those who know that they have nothing on their own, but everything in Christ.
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Stop trying to “deal” with the thorns of the flesh and fight back! Ward them off with the Word. You are God’s garden and He cares for what is His. His Word will remove the thorns at the root.
Isahiah 59:19 ...When the enemy shall come in, like a flood the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.
Lift up the standard - put the enemy to flight by flooding your thorn with the Word! His grace is sufficient. His Word is enough to defeat the enemy. It will silence the enemy. It will officially disapprove the lies. As we speak the Word we are raising a barrier between the enemy and ourselves. The Word gives us the advantage - it is all we need to see victory.
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Harvest Rest
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Exodus 34:21 NIV
Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.
Rest is found in Christ. It's the entire leaning of our being on Him. God spoke of rest repeatedly in His Word; He emphasized its importance. He even did so to the point of requiring one’s life as the payment for ignoring the Sabbath rest.
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The Sabbath is not merely a day off. The Sabbath represents resting in Christ and His finished work on the cross. The Sabbath was an observance of living life according to God’s plan and not ours (Isaiah 58:13).
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God’s plan is for us to see the Word as our life and for us to abide in it. We're to rest in the Word and the faith it produces. Resting in Christ is trusting Him to do a work in us instead of trying to change ourselves.
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The breaking of the Sabbath required death because there is no life outside of Christ. If we're not resting in Christ, then we're living a dead life (John 6:63) - a life of no Spiritual value.
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During a harvest season we can be tempted to rest in ourselves. This temptation provokes us as we begin to see fruit and blessings. our flesh loves to take credit; our flesh is prideful. We can be enticed to trust in ourselves more and God less if we're not focused on the truth. There will never be a time when we do not have to rest in Christ. Don't let the harvest give you a false sense of achievement. Rest in the Word; remain aware of your desperate need for Christ at all times.
Angry No More!
Colossians 3:12-14 NIV
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
“Put on” love – sink down into love; dress yourself with love. When we envelop ourselves with the love of God, we then connect with all of the attributes we are told to clothe ourselves with. How do we connect or unite with compassion? We connect with compassion by sinking down into the love that God has for us. That is how we connect or unite with kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, too. Love binds us to every one of these divine attributes. The love of God is the connection! As God’s dearly loved and chosen people, we will be compassionate, kind, and so on. It is who we are in our new, divine nature - the nature we received because of the everlasting love of God. Participating in our new, divine nature is also referred to as “walking in the spirit”.
When we are walking in the Spirit we will be able to forgive – actually, we won’t be able to hold a grudge! When you walk in the Spirit you cannot fulfill the lusts of your flesh (Galatians 5:16). We will forgive as Christ forgave us when we are walking in the Spirit because that is the way our new nature operates. Only the flesh holds grudges and carries anger.
God tells us that man’s anger does not line up with our new identity in Christ (James 1:20); anger is not part of who we are in Christ. You can think like Christ thinks – you have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16); it is who you are in the Spirit. Do not give in to your flesh; press on to the good things that God has in store for you in the Spirit. You can be transformed into His image! You can participate in the Divine nature and leave your flesh behind – and you do that by renewing your mind (Romans 12:2). Our minds are renewed when we fill them with the Seed for the new, divine nature; that Seed is the Word of God – God’s love letter to His children.
Romans 13:14 NIV Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
Think with the mind of Christ that is now yours. You do not have to focus on why you feel anger. Do not think about how you can gratify your flesh – do not give your attention to the flesh. When you begin to feel anger, you need to replace that emotion with the Word of God! Instead of dwelling on the offense, you can choose to concentrate on the forgiveness God has shown you.
The flesh rehearses the grievance and the emotion of anger is then amplified. As you look at God’s Word, you will find that there are different degrees of anger. To fret, for example, means to be warm; on the other hand, enraged means to be hot with fever. As we continue to dwell on the feeling of anger, we augment its intensity. One of the facets of the definition for anger is excitement of mind. Anger begins and is fueled in the mind. As we concentrate on our anger toward others, it then increases and begins to take control. We must understand that we do not have to give our attention to anger; we can control our thoughts.
You do not have to be controlled by anger – you can control it through Christ! If you are angry, then you need a healthy dose of God’s love for you. You need to change the way you are thinking and fill your thoughts with God’s love for you and be angry no more!
HEAR ME ROAR!
Isaiah 31:4 NLT
But this is what the LORD has told me: "When a strong young lion stands growling over a sheep it has killed, it is not frightened by the shouts and noise of a whole crowd of shepherds…
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Isaiah 31:4 KJV
For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them…
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Jesus Christ is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and as He is, so are we in this world.
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1 John 4:17 (KJV) …as He is, so are we in this world.
Romans 8:11 (NIV) … the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you…
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We already have victory over every enemy - over everything that disagrees with God's Word. We can stand victorious!
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1 Corinthians 15:57 KJV But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Know that you are standing side-by-side with the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and you are standing victoriously!
The enemy is already defeated because of Jesus Christ and you are connected to Him - you are a joint-heir with Christ. His victory is your victory!
Because we are victorious we can roar - we can growl!
roar (hagah): Study. To ponder; to imagine; to meditate . To murmur; mutter; roar; speak; talk; utter (pronounce).
This Hebrew word, hagah, is a process. The more we study and think on the Word, the more we speak the Word.
Study what the Word says about your trial. Meditate on what the Word says about your trial and speak it! Speak it to yourself, talk about it, roar when you need to!
Just because we have the victory doesn’t mean we won't encounter the enemy.
The enemy is always trying to voice his opinion about us, but we can stand victorious when we know the truth.
Disrupt satan's plan to come against you. Stand against his evil babbling! Publicly announce his defeat! When his evil babbling is rising against you, you have the power to condemn his evil babbling with the Lord of Lord's final verdict for your life (His good and precious promises)!
Don’t let the words of the enemy scare you. Stand victorious against his attack. He may make a lot of noise but you do not have to listen! You can silence him with the truth of the Word!
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Do not abase yourself because of the threats of the enemy.
abase: to depress. Abase self; deal harshly with self; trouble self;chasten self; make self miserable; weaken self.
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When we meditate on the lies of the enemy instead of the truth of the Word, we are abasing or afflicting ourselves.
We need to recognize what we are doing to ourselves and we need to realize we have the power to stop! We are no longer slaves to our flesh - we have power through Jesus Christ to defeat our felsh!
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Isaiah 54:17 KJV
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the LORD.
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Tongues may rise against us but we need to see them for what they are - according to the Hebrew word that "tongues" was translated from, they are nothing more than evil babblers trying to put a wedge between God and His children. These tongues may rise against us but we have power and authority over every evil babbler! Every tongue that rises up against us we condemn in judgment!
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CONDEMN: to disturb; to violate; to denounce or publicly criticize and announce the termination of. To censure or officially disapprove or condemn; to revile or despise; look down on. Make trouble; vex.
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JUDGMENT: final verdict - GOD'S final verdict for your life! The Word of God; His great and precious promises!
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Use the Word! Use God Almighty's final verdict for your life to disprove the enemy's evil babbling! Disturb satan's plan for you by focusing on the promises of your loving God. Publicly announce the enemy's defeat and termination by speaking God's very great and precious promises. Look down on the evil babbling the enemy tries to fill your mind with and denounce it by filling your mind with the Word of God. When satan's evil babbling is voiced into your life, you need to promptly condemn it! Officially disapprove of what he is saying and make trouble for him instead of letting him make trouble for you!
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Are you condemning the enemy or are you approving his message? Stop afflicting yourself! Use what God has given you! Your heritage is yours for the taking - you have the power and authority over all the power of the enemy and you can condemn everything that disagrees with the Word in your life.
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12 STONES
12 STONES
Joshua 3:1-4
Early in the morning Joshua & all the Israelites set out from Shittim & went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over…"When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, & the priests, who are Levites, carrying it, you are to move out from your positions & follow it. Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before..."
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The children of Israel were going to cross the Jordan River – without a boat! Did you ever embark on such an endeavor – one that seemed too big for you to handle without some assistance? Actually, every endeavor is too big for us! We must quickly realize how desperate we are for Christ!
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John 15:5
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.”
Nothing of Spiritual value can be accomplished outside of Christ! Following the ark is starting on a journey with the Holy Spirit. Our journey begins when we understand that apart from Christ we can do nothing of Spiritual value and we decide to give Christ /the Word of God the priority in our lives.
They had to follow at a distance so they would be sure to see the right way to go. The ark had to be in their sight; they needed direction –they’d never been this way before. The Word of God has to be in our sight! We need to keep His Word in front of our eyes if we are going to get through life Spiritually! Our focus must be on the Word - not on ourselves, others, our circumstances, etc.
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In following God we need to wait & let Him lead us because we do not know what is coming next!
Isaiah 45:2
I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the doors of bronze, and cut through their iron bars.
We can trust that He will keep us safe and lead us in the way He has prepared for us.
Being led by the Spirit is not some unattainable goal – God leads us by peace~
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Col 3:15 AMP
And let the peace (…which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding & settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ's] one body you were also called [to live]. And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always].
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We see here that peace is to be our “umpire” – peace needs to be the “indicator light” in our lives. Peace should tell us what is “safe” and what is “out” in our lives. Christ leads by peace…if you lack peace you can know God is not behind it.
We don’t have to "over-spiritualize" everything; God isn’t trying to confuse us (1 Cor. 14:33) confusion is not from God. Focus on the Word and let peace be your indicator. Live thankful that He cares to lead us and guide us because He loves us.
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Joshua 3:13-17
And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the LORD--the Lord of all the earth--set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap…The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.
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On their journey they saw God's divine control over the water (Ps. 65:5-7, 89:9,107:29). God has divine control over whatever is standing in your way! He is making the rough places smooth and He is parting waters for you today - even if you don't see it yet!
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God not only made the water part, but He miraculously dried the river bed! Nothing is impossible with God!
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Joshua 4:1-3
When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, & tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood & to carry them over with you & put them down at the place where you stay tonight.
God told them to take 12 stones from the very place God performed a miracle for them! The 12 stones were a memorial (sign, symbol, remembrance)
memorial: something meant to keep
remembrance alive
Don't EVER forget what GOD has done for you ~ and remember HE has done everything!
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Ephesians 1:3
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
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What is your “12 stones?” What is your reminder of what God has done for you? Maybe for you it could be a notebook – a book where you write down what God has done for you. Or maybe it could be a scrapbook where you keep little mementos and journal about what God has done for you. No matter what you choose, choose something! Keep in mind what God has done for you!
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Thank you, Mom!
Proverbs 14:1
The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.
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A wise woman builds her house! How does a woman become wise?
1 Cor 1:30
It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
A woman becomes wise by focusing on Jesus Christ!
If you have a mom who puts her focus on Christ, you need to praise Him for her. I do! If you’re a mom, the best thing you can do for your children is put your focus on Christ.
True wisdom is only found in Christ -and He is the Word. We need to abide (not just visit once in a while) in the Word if we want to be wise.
A wise woman has her focus on Christ and her home is built.
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builds: to build, put together, assemble, construct, obtain children,
make, repair, set (up), surely.
A wise woman puts a home together the only way a home can be put together.
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Psalm 127:1
Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.
A wise woman knows anything worth having or doing must be done through Christ. She is not trying to build her home herself She is totally dependent upon Christ!
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Psa 16:2
I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing."
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If we are going to build a home we need to do it through Christ. Otherwise, we are building in vain. The foolish woman doesn’t depend on Christ and in turn she destroys her home. Homes are destroyed when Christ is not the center of the home. Only HE can make a house a home! As moms we need to keep our focus on Christ.
Prov 24:3-4
By wisdom a house is built, & through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare & beautiful treasures.
We saw that wisdom (Jesus Christ) builds the house, now we see that it is established through understanding.
Understanding renders our house sure. We need to be in the Word and we need to understand it or connect ourselves to it. If we do not understand or connect with how much God loves us, we won’t love our kids adequately - and look at all the things that result from a child feeling unloved! If we don’t understand or connect with God’s mercy, we won’t show our children mercy. If we brow beat our kids they will go running the other way as soon as they are able. If we try to put our kids under the law they will rebel. We have to show them mercy. If we don’t understand what a love letter the Word of God is, we won’t read it - and then our kids will learn from our example.
And the list goes on! We need to understand and connect with the Word. As moms we need to show our kids the correct image of God. When we understand, we establish our home - we make it sure, stable, and ready. I am not saying we won’t go through times of trials, but I am saying those trials won’t have the last say. They will not have the authority to tear our family apart when we are focused on our victorious Savior.
Knowledge fills the rooms! Knowledge once again comes from the Word. The more we are in the Word the more we know. As moms we need to know the promises God has for our children. The more we read about God’s promises, the more our faith grows, and the more our faith grows, the sooner the promises are manifested. Fill your home with the truth of the Word of God.
Knowledge makes us valuable on the inside. It makes us rare and beautiful.
Proverbs 31:30
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
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It is not what is on the outside that makes us beautiful. It is what is the inside, moms! And when we are in awe of the Lord, when we are humble and understand how desperately we need Him, then true beauty is born.
Moms, we need to build our homes! We need to focus on Jesus Christ. Not in word, but in action. Don’t tell your kids to read their Bible, but never read yours. Don’t tell them to go to church when you are staying home. We need to build our homes by being totally desperate for Christ. Show them what it means to be desperate for Christ. Show them what it means to live in awe of our awesome God.
Proverbs 11:29
He who brings trouble on his family will inherit only wind...
As moms we all want the best for our children. We do not want to see them fail at life. We need to understand the role we play -- it is a vital role. We can bring trouble to our family or we can bring Christ!
Build your home, don’t tear it down with your own hands! Don’t neglect the responsibility you have to your kids and then blame God or someone else when they go the wrong way in life. Being a mom is not a casual role. We have major influence on our children and we need to make sure we are influencing them the right way.
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Proverbs 31:28
Her children arise & call her blessed…
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Be a mom your children can call blessed - happy, fortunate, to be envied. And moms, remember, we are blessed by being totally focused on Christ! The more we realize who we are in Christ and what is ours because of Him, the more we will live that blessed life in front of our children. A life we would be thrilled for them to live also!
A New
Nature
us. exactly does that mean? compel means to compress arrest, to preoccupy, hold together, to constrain (to bring under control), to perplex.​
The love of Christ compels us; it keeps us in the Word of . If we are in the Word for any other reason, then the Word will not produce the Spiritual fruit God intended. Some read the Word out of duty or out of fear, for example; this is not the way the Word is to be received. The Word is God’s love letter and it must be received that way. God's wants His love to preoccupy His children.
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The love of Christ is useful; it holds us together! As we abide in the love letter of the Word we will find that God is holding us . The Word will keep us from falling apart in the midst of trials and problems. The Word induces faith and faith produces Spiritual actions that will overcome our carnal reactions.
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His love brings us under control – it keep us in the Spirit and out of the flesh. The love letter of the Word is our Spiritual weapon. If we ignore the Word, we ignore our Spiritual power!
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Christ’s love can even sometimes be perplexing. Christ’s love is the catalyst for change in us and we cannot even explain exactly how thetransformation takes place. we know is that the Word works – and it works because Christ loves us!
The Bible is God’s love in word form and we can never completely it's worth, but it compels
Luke 24:5-8
In their fright the women bowed down with their
faces to the ground, but the men said to them,
"Why do you look for the living among the dead?
He is not here; He has risen!
Remember how He told you, while He was still
with you in Galilee: "The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'"
Then they remembered His words.
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The woman who went to the tomb did not find what they expected to find. They were expecting to find Jesus’ body, but His body was not there. Because His body was gone, they were scared.
WHAT ARE WE EXPECTING?
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They should have been expecting to find an empty tomb – after all, Jesus told them He wouldn’t be there after the 3rd day!
WHAT ARE WE EXPECTING?
Are we expecting life to go according to the Word of God or are we expecting something else? These woman were expecting the opposite of what Jesus said because they forgot what He told them. Why do we forget?
John 14:26
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things & will remind you of everything I have said to you.
One of the jobs of the Holy Spirit is to remind us of the Word. Does this mean that the Holy Spirit isn’t doing His job when we forget? No – it means we are not walking in the Spirit. If we are walking in the Spirit that means we are in agreement with the Word. The Word is on our mind – we are keeping our focus on it and because of this we are mindful of it.
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2 Peter 1:12-15
So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.
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Paul saw the benefit of remembering. He did not apologize for saying the same things over & over – he knew it was good to remind them! We need reminded!
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2 Peter 3:1-2
Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets & the command given by our Lord & Savior through your apostles.
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Reminders stimulate us to wholesome thinking. Hearing the Word over & over fuels our minds. What am I filling my mind with? What am I reminding myself of daily? Are my thoughts full of the Word or are they unwholesome thoughts of the flesh?
2 Cor 10:5
We demolish arguments & every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, & we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
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The Bible tells us that we have weapons that will demolish strongholds in our lives (2 Cor. 10:4). These weapons are God's promises – the Word of God will bring about the extinction of wrong thoughts! The more we remind ourselves of what GOD says, the less we will think about what the world says. The more I hear the Word, the more faith is being produced in me (Rom. 10:17) and faith is my victory – faith is what enables me to overcome the world and the evil that it entails.
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John 16:33
"I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
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1 John 5:4
for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
If we do not remind ourselves of the promises of God we will forget them – and then when the wrong thoughts pop into our mind we will let them have free reign in our mind. If thoughts contrary to the Word reside in our minds then we will be defeated. If we want to see victory then we need to have faith and faith comes from our habitual intake of the Word of God. We must receive the Word if we want to walk in all of the Word's benefits.
WHAT ARE YOU EXPECTING??
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What are you going to God for? Do you realize what is rightfully yours because of Jesus Christ? Are you going to God expecting His blessings?
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Psalms 5:3
In the morning, O LORD, You hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before You and wait in expectation.
Do you know what He has promised you? If we do not know His promises then we do not know what to go to Him for.
1 John 5:14-15
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of Him.
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God’s will is His Word. Plain & simple! Too many times we complicate His will. We must remind ourselves of what His Word says about us if we are going to live in expectancy! We cannot live in expectation if we do not know what to look forward to according to the Word.
Confidence or expectation come from knowing what His will is for us – knowing what His Word says about us!
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As we celebrate the Resurrection we must remember that today is your day to realize and receive the life that God imparts. What do you feel is dead in your life and needs a resurrection? Go to God and go with promises that declare life in your situation!
Expect God to do what He said!
great expectations
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Ex 12:13 (Amp)
The blood shall be for a token or sign to you upon [the doorposts of] the houses where you are, [that] when I see the blood, I will pass over you, & no plague shall be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt.
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Passover, it is a time of remembering what God has done for us through the blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus shed His blood for us in 7 different places: from His brow, when He was whipped, from His hands, His feet, His side, from His head with the crown of thorns, & internal bleeding from the bruising.
The blood was a sign for them & it is a sign for us! The word “sign” means evidence & it means miracle. The blood is our evidence; it is our miracle.
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Matt 26:28 (Amp)
For this is My blood of the new covenant, which [ratifies the agreement &] is being poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
The blood ratifies or authorizes, approves & confirms the Covenant. The Covenant is God’s Word; it’s His promises!
1 Chr 16:15
He remembers His covenant forever, the word He commanded, for a thousand generations.
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We need to study the Word & find out what He has promised us & we need to remember it by abiding in it. Because of the blood of Jesus we are covenant partners with God. What is His is ours!! His blood confirms His promises to us.
Passover reminded the Jews of the freedom God gave them from Egypt – how does this relate to us?
Egypt, in the Hebrew, comes from the same root word as trouble. It means pressure, to be constrained, in a restricted place. All of us have our own “Egypt.” We all have a problem that pressures us & restricts us. A problem that occupies our time & our mind. A problem that makes us a “slave,” just like the Jews, even though Christ has set us free.
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The majority of the Jewish people, even though they were slaves, wanted to stay in Egypt. They accepted the constricted place; they lived below God’s best & they were okay with it. Do not accept your situation that is contrary to God’s Word! Cry out to God for the help you need to get out of “Egypt!”
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1 Chr 5:20 Amp
…for they cried to God in the battle; & He granted their entreaty, because they relied on, clung to, & trusted in Him.
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Too many times God’s children accept the unacceptable! If your situation does not line up with the promises that are in God’s Word then you must call out to God for the help you need to be set free from that situation. The blood confirms His promise – don’t live like it doesn’t!! Find as many promises as you can that confirm what you are believing for & remind yourself (& the enemy!) that Jesus Christ’s shed blood has authorized the fulfillment of this promise in your life. The Word tells us that God helped them “because they relied on, clung to, & trusted in Him.” Relying on Him, clinging to Him & trusting in Him are all the RESULT of abiding in the Word of God. During the trial in your life, while you are in your “Egypt,” you must continue in the Word. Do not give up no matter what things look like. The children of Israel wanted to give up when things got tough – they were not relying on God or His promise.
Ex 16:2-3
In the desert the whole community grumbled…The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat & ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death."
On your way to inheriting the promises God has vowed, you’ll experience trials – God calls these the “testing of your faith” in 1 Peter 1:6-9. When experiencing these trials be sure to dig deeper in Christ. Stay in the Word! Read more. Speak the Word out loud more. Do not give up! Do not allow circumstances to steal your victory. The Israelites never experienced the promised land because of their unbelief - their children did, however. (Remember that unbelief is the result of ignoring God’s Word /His promises!)
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Heb 3:19
So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
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Faith comes from hearing and hearing the Word – stay in faith, stay in the Word and rest in Him.
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Ex 7:16
Then say to him, “The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me in the desert. But until now you have not listened.”
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As we study Passover & we discover that God wants to set us free from our restricted places we must understand WHY – what is our purpose? Jesus Christ shed His blood to set us free so that we could WORSHIP.
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Rom 12:1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy & pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.
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Worship is presenting everything you are to God. It is realizing that apart from Him you can do nothing of Spiritual value but through Him you can do all things. It is living your everyday life through Christ - receiving everything you need from Him. The definition for the word translated as worship is ministration of God. What is the ministration of God? It is the care, support, attention, nurture, aid, assistance, and comfort OF GOD. Ministration is the act of supplying - He is supplying us with everything we need for life and godliness - we worship when we are receiving from Him. We need to realize that we are desperate for Him at all times but when we are in a restricted and troubling place, we need to receive even more from Him.
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In the same way a sick person needs to eat even though they may not feel like it, we need to take in the Word when we are struggling even though we may not feel like it. The Word is everything we need to see victory in our restricted place. He wants to set our feet in a spacious place! He wants to bless us so we can be a blessing to others.
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This Easter, take the time to feed on the Word and worship - receive everything you need from the One who died & rose again to give it to you.
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the Blood is my sign of His great love for me.
It is Finished
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John 19:30
When He had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, He bowed his head & gave up His spirit.
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finished: to end, complete, execute, conclude, pay, perform.
discharge (a debt):- -accomplish, expire, fill up, go over.
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When Jesus said “It is finished,” He meant it! He did everything that needed to be done to do everything we needed done!
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John 19:28
Later, knowing that all was now completed, & so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty."
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Nothing was left undone on the cross! You don’t have to wait for Christ to do anything for you – He’s already done it all!
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You don’t have to wait for JESUS to forgive you – He already has if you have accepted Him as your Savior!
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1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful & just & will forgive us our sins & purify us from all unrighteousness.
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confess: to assent, i.e. covenant, acknowledge:--(pro-) fess,
confession is made, give thanks, promise.
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Rom 10:9
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," & believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
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We need to admit our sin! We need to agree with God that the wages of sin is death (or our flesh) & that sin is destroying us. We are to acknowledge His forgiveness & give Him thanks because of His wonderful promises.
God is just! There is no double jeopardy with God! He will not say He forgives you one minute & then condemn you the next, or hold your sin against you the next!
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forgive: to send; to go; to send forth, forgive, forsake, lay
aside, leave, let (alone, be, go, have), omit, put (send) away, remit, suffer, yield up.
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Sometimes we have a hard time understanding the definition of forgiveness – but we must remember God is not like we are. We may have a hard time letting go of something, but He doesn't!
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Isaiah 40:25
To whom will you compare Me? Or who is My equal?" says the Holy One.
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Isaiah 46:5
To whom will you compare Me or count Me equal? To whom will you liken Me that we may be compared?
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If someone does something to us it causes a problem between us and the offender – but let me ask you this, is God able to be compared to us? No! When He says He forgives, He means it! He doesn’t hold our sin against us or withhold Himself from us because of it. There is no barrier between us & God ~ Jesus Christ destroyed that. Forgiveness is a fact, not a feeling!
Look at Adam & Eve – THEY allowed their sin to separate them from God out of fear ~ remember, God knew they sinned & He still came looking for them. He didn’t want separation!
Gen 3:9-10
But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are
you?" He answered, "I heard You in the garden, & I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
Instead of going to the One who could help him, Adam hid out of fear & tried to help himself – which never works! We NEED to be able to go to God!
We need to understand that God’s commands are for our good – to keep us out of trouble! He loves us, that is why He gave us His Word. They sinned but God was there for them – He provided their covering. He didn’t let their sin cause separation -but they did. They let their sin keep them from seeking God - and He is the only One who can keep us from sin in the first place!
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When we sin we NEED to go to God for the power to stay away from it the next time – if not we’ll just end up trying to take care of it ourselves & we’ll do a pitiful job.
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Look at Peter – he denies Jesus 3 times & Jesus goes looking for him! Jesus does not stay away from us because of our sin!
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Mark 14:72
Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows twice you will disown Me three times." And he broke down and wept.
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Mark 16:7
But go, tell His disciples & Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you.'
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Luke 24:12
Peter, however, got up & ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, & he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
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Peter found himself in the very sin he swore he would never do! How many of us are so sure of ourselves just like Peter? Have you ever said, “Oh, I would never do that!” We need to realize that apart from Christ we are capable of anything! That is why we need to abide in Him!
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Even though Peter denied Christ, Jesus came looking for him! Jesus wanted to make sure Peter knew that with Him there is forgiveness.
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Psalms 130:3-4
If You, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness; therefore You are feared.
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Forgiveness is ours in Christ! Realizing that puts us in awe of who God really is! Fearing the Lord is being in awe of Him, being amazed at who He is (& who He is IS what He does!)!
If we don’t understand that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus we will not go to God for the help only He can give – the help that we’re desperate
for - & we’ll never change!
We must understand that It Is Finished!
Our forgiveness is already taken care of – walk in it!
The Unseen Path
Psalms 77:16.19 NLT
When the Red Sea saw You, O God, its waters looked and trembled! The sea quaked to its very depths…Your road led through the sea, Your pathway through the mighty waters--a pathway no one knew was there!
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What is standing in your way?
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The children of Israel believed that the Red Sea was the obstacle keeping them from the promise of God. What do you believe is standing in your way?
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God describes the Red Sea in a different way than the children of Israel may have. He said it was the pathway to the promise. The very thing that seemed overwhelming and impossible to deal with, God describes as a pathway. Are we seeing things the way God does? Are we looking at what is standing before us as a problem or a pathway?
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What is your Red Sea? As we look at these verses in Psalms we find that what made them fearful was actually no problem at all for God. We must understand that our problems and obstacles are no match for our amazing God, either. The Red Sea saw God and trembled! Your obstacle has to do the same!
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No one knew there was a pathway in the middle of a raging sea, but there was. It couldn't be seen at first, but that is why we must see with eyes of faith. There is a pathway that you cannot see right now, but don't let that stop you. Move forward! Boldly proclaim God's promises for you even when things look impossible. What is impossible for man is possible with God - we can know that our God is greater than anything that tries to stand in our way.
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FEED YOUR HUNGER
Matt 21:18-22
Early in the morning, as He was on His way back to the city, He was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, He went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then He said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked. Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith & do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' & it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
Jesus was hungry just like many of us are hungry. Hunger makes you look for something to feed or satisfy that desire. We do the same. We have a hunger for righteousness if the Holy Spirit dwells in us.
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Matt 5:6
Blessed are those who hunger & thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Only Christ can make us righteous. Only He can satisfy our hunger!
Psalms 42:1
…As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.
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Psalms 107:9
for He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
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We have to look to the right place to be satisfied or we will be left wanting.
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Isaiah 44:20
He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself…
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How many Christians are feeding on “ashes” because their heart is deceived and because of this they are misled.
If we are deceived into believing we must satisfy our hunger outside of Christ, we will be misled – we will be going in the wrong direction; we will be “eating” or taking in something that doesn’t satisfy!
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Hab 2:13
Has not the LORD Almighty determined that the people's labor is only fuel for the fire, that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?
Whatever we can do on our own is nothing to God!
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Matt 15:9
They worship Me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.
When we do what man teaches us to do when we are hungry we are doing what we do in vain. We are exhausting ourselves for nothing – like a dog chasing its tail. We need a relationship-- not rules and regulations!
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Isaiah 51:1 NIV
Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the LORD: Look to the Rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn.
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Who knows better how to satisfy you than the One who created you? Look to the Lord for all of your needs! He knows exactly what you need.
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Psalms 22:26
The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the LORD will praise Him-- may your hearts live forever!
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Looking to the Lord will furnish us with the results we desire. Only God can truly satisfy!
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Jer 2:13-14
My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken Me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. Is Israel a servant, a slave by birth? Why then has he become plunder?
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When we look for satisfaction outside of Christ not only do we forsake God’s help but we try to manufacture our own. For example, a person gets into trouble because of something they did and instead of going to God for the help they need they try to make up for it themselves. They try to get out of the trouble on their own. When we do this many times it is because we feel like we cannot go to God because we are the ones who caused the trouble – it doesn’t matter if it is your fault or not. God is the only way out of your problems. The sooner we understand this, the sooner we are on our way out of our problem!
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We make ourselves slaves when we ignore God. Israel was not a slave by birth – according to who we are in Christ we are not slaves either! Why then do we become plunder for the enemy? It is because we do not live according to who we are in Christ – we associate with our flesh and in doing so we give up what is ours in Christ.
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2 Peter 2:19 NIV
They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity--for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
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When we give our flesh an exalted place in our lives we make ourselves slaves!
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Rom 6:11-12
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
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Count yourselves dead to sin – this means to see yourself according to who you are in Christ. When we see ourselves according to who we are in Christ then sin will not have power over us – we will have power over it. Because Christ has set us free we no longer have to be a slave to sin!
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As a result of the fruitlessness of this tree it was cursed. Whatever cannot feed or satisfy your Spiritual hunger is cursed. It is of the flesh and it has no Spiritual life in it.
Jesus spoke against the tree…He declared that it would not bear fruit. We need to speak against the nonspiritual things in our lives, as well! Christ has told us that we have the power, if we live by faith, to curse whatever is not profitable in our lives.
The Word is what feeds our hunger and it sets us free. Take the time to feed yourself today! Walk in His blessings and experience the freedom and satisfaction that are rightfully yours in Christ.
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So This is Love
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1 John 4:10
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us & sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
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Love ~ do we really understand it? We need to! Love is all about God & what He did for us. Because of His love for us, He sent His Son to be our atoning sacrifice
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1 John 2:2
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, & not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
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ATONE: to become reconciled; to be in harmony. To supply
satisfaction. To make amends.
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The sacrifice Jesus made for us reconciled us to God; it enables us to be in relationship with Him. Because of the blood of Jesus nothing stands between me & God. Before I received Christ my sins stood between me & God – now my sins are as far as the east is from the west & I am free to boldly go to the throne in the name of Jesus!
1 Peter 3:18a
For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.
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Love draws us near! Love brings us to God – it does not push us away!
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Ephesians 2:13-19
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one & has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in His flesh the law with its commandments & regulations…He came & preached peace to you who were far away & peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners & aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people & members of God's household.
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From the very beginning God has desired to be in relationship with us. He wants to bring us near because He loves us!
If we are going to experience that closeness, we have to realize we are at peace with God.
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Romans 5:1
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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If we are deceived into believing that God is mad at us or He is not pleased with us, then we will lose our peace! A lack of peace will keep us away from God – we will not go near; we’ll stay far away! Notice in Ephesians the barrier He destroyed is the law with all its commandments & regulations; He destroyed it because He knew it would keep us away from Him! Faith is what justifies us – not our actions! We need to stop acting as if our actions can somehow bring us into His presence! We cannot behave “good” enough to deserve access into His presence! Only the blood of Jesus could purchase that access!
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Romans 8:38-39
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.
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True love is the love of God & nothing can come in between you & the love God has for you!
God’s love for you will always be there – whether or not you recognize it is the key! Realizing the love God has for you will change you!
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Song of Solomon 8:6-7a
Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away.
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Lve is strong – God’s love for you is strong! It cannot be destroyed! The strength in His love is transferable - it will give you strength! As you begin to abide in the love of God you will be strengthened with a supernatural strength!
Love is like a fire – it changes things! It burns up material that will not last & it makes lasting material better. Fire gives light & heat. The more you add to fire, the more light & heat you have. The more you abide in the Word, the more you add to that love.
Nothing can stop true love – the love God has for you cannot be quenched! Knowing that sets us free! When you finally understand that you no longer have to labor to earn God’s love the freedom that you feel is unrivaled!
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2 Cor 5:14 KJV
For the love of Christ constraineth us…
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constraineth: to hold together, that is, to compress or arrest;
hold, keep in, press, stop, be in a strait, straiten, be taken
with, throng.
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Understanding the love of Christ constrains us ~ it holds us together!
Understanding the love of Christ arrests us ~ it keeps us in the confines of the Spirit. Love draws you near, remember.
Understanding the love of Christ keeps you in ~ it keeps you in the Word & out of sin.
Love draws you to Christ. Being afraid of God, feeling like He is disappointed with you or not pleased with you, etc. pushes you away from God. We must dwell on the love of Christ. This is the month of Valentine’s Day – focus on love, true love~ Christ’s love for you! Love that is greater than all of your sin! Love that can overcome your flesh!
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More Intimacy with God
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Acts 28:27
For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.
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*a callous heart made them miss out on the healing or cure God had for them. This word callous means to thicken, to fatten, to stupefy. God is describing a person who is just “sitting around” spiritually.
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Ezekiel 40:4 NIV
The man said to me, "Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Tell the house of Israel everything you see."
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God gave us seeing eyes & hearing ears – use what God gave you! This is why you are here! And when you learn tell someone else,
Are we remembering what God has done for us? Do we ponder what it really means that He gave His Son for us?
Romans 8:32
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
Walking in the Spirit and getting into the deep things of God will call us to remembrance. When you dig and you see what God really has for you it may be hard to believe at first, but remember - He already gave you the ultimate gift! All the rest is just icing on the cake! Nothing God has promised you is too much!! He already gave you Jesus!
God wants an intimate relationship – one in which we spend time alone with Him.
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Song of Solomon 2:14 AMP
[So I went with him, and when we were climbing the rocky steps up the hillside, my beloved shepherd said to me] O my dove, [while you are here] in the seclusion of the clefts in the solid rock, in the sheltered and secret place of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.
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To be with Him she said she had to climb the “rocky” steps – it may not always be easy to “get with Him,” but it will always be worth it! Setting time aside to be alone with Christ & focus on only Him seems impossible some days, but it still is something we desperately need so we better find a way to do it!
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We need to be secluded with Christ – you need that private, out-of-the-way, time with Him.
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He is the solid Rock – we have security with Him; we are protected in that “secret” place with Christ.
Jesus wants that time with you – time to look at you and listen to you; He wants that private, intimate time.
He loves you; He calls you lovely or beautiful –you are attractive to Him. God LOVES you – He longs to spend time with you!
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Song of Solomon 2:15-16 AMP
[My heart was touched and I fervently sang to him my desire] Take for us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards [of our love], for our vineyards are in blossom. [She said distinctly] My beloved is mine and I am his! He pastures his flocks among the lilies.
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Is your heart touched by the love He feels for you and the time He wants to spend with you? How does it make you feel to know that He longs to hear your voice and see your face?
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Her heart was touched – it made her want to spend more time with Him! When we realize the love Christ has for us and the desire for us He has, then we will want to spend more time with Him – we will be drawn to Him because of love. Love is an attractive force.
This desire to spend more time with Him led her to ask Him to get rid of the little foxes or the little distractions that kept her from Him.
She said the little foxes “spoiled” the vine.
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SPOIL: to wind tightly (as a rope), that is, to bind; specifically by a pledge; figuratively to pervert, destroy; also to writhe in pain.
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These distractions or things that kept her from this intimate time with God perverted her life – they distorted it and ruined it. They kept life from being what it was meant to be.
These distractions are meant to keep us “wound tight” – ready to snap! They keep us bound up. She wanted the “little foxes” the small things that ruined the “vineyard” to be gone.
She calls this love a vineyard; God describes us as His vineyard – why? We are His vineyard (Is. 5:1-4) because He is the Seed. We receive the Seed because of His love for us and that Seed produces fruit in us. Our love relationship with Christ will produce a Spiritual harvest!
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Song of Solomon 2:3b AMP
…Under his shadow I delighted to sit, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
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You are Christ’s and He is yours! Take the time to be intimate with Him! Get alone and learn of Him. Let Him love on you and experience the fruit that will be produced!
You NEED this time with Christ!
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Mark 1:35
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed.
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If Jesus needed this time what makes us think we don’t need it?!
Jesus had many demands on His time but He still took the time to get alone with His Father. He didn’t care that He had to wake up before everyone to do it, either. He realized that He needed this time – we need to realize this, too!!
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1 John 4:21 NIV
And He has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
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1 John 5:1-2 KJV
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth Him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep His commandments.
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Here we see that love for others is going to come from our love for God & His Word! We know that we love others (the children of God) when we love God and keep His commandments.
KEEP: to guard by keeping the eye upon; to detain (in custody; to maintain); hold fast, (ob-, pre-, re) serve, watch. Hedge about as with thorns.
Remember that keeping His commands means we keep our eyes on His Word – we don’t take our eyes off of it.
Also remember that we only love God because He first loved
us.
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1 John 4:19
We love Him, because He first loved us.
A person who loves God is a person who is loved by God and they know it! So, loving God and keeping our eyes on His Word is how we love others!
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When we are abiding in the Word all of our relationships are better! The love of God is expressed to others when we keep our focus on the Word.
Keeping my eyes on the Word is what enables me to love others. How?
Well, first the Word tells me about God’s love for me!
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1 John 4:10
This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
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Romans 8:39
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.
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We find out in the Word that God is the Source of Love. We couldn’t love without Him! And we find out that nothing separates us from His love - nothing, ever! The more we read about this the more our faith grows in this area of love because Romans 10:17 tells us faith comes from hearing the Word. The more our faith grows, the more we will produce Spiritual actions in this area of love. We will begin to give out the Spiritual love that God gives to us. Only when we have more than enough can we give some away, so keep reading about His love!!
We need to be in the Word so that we can find out about God’s love for us. And I don’t mean just “know” God loves you, I mean have a DEEP REVELATION about how much God loves you! You need to know it so much that it is oozing out of you and getting on to others!
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Mat 10:8
…freely ye have received, freely give.
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We are supposed to give what we freely received! How can we give love if we are not receiving God’s love for ourselves?! And we receive through the Word of God - God’s Word is His love letter to us!
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1 John 4:11-12
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us & His love is made complete in us.
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We show others Christ by LOVE! Love that comes from the Word. If we are not in the Word we will not be able to show love the right way to others. Our idea of love is flawed, but the love of Christ is amazing! It is everlasting, it is unconditional!
We need to give others HIS love, not ours!
How to Love
Proverbs 15:17 NLT
A bowl of vegetables with someone you love is better than steak with someone you hate.
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Having someone you love is priceless. Are you worrying more about material things than the people in your life? Are you forgetting all you have to be thankful for because you are focusing on what you feel you are lacking?
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God wants us to remember what is really important. What you eat is not more important than who you eat it with. Where you live is not as important as who you live with. Where you go is not as important as who you go with.
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We need to realize how thankful we should be for the people God has placed in our lives. Life is short and we need to make the most of it. Love your loved ones today! Tell them they are special. Take the time to do something with them and let them know that they matter to you.
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Psalms 90:12 NLT
Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.
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1 John 3:1 NIV
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
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God’s love for us must be our foundation. Without God’s love we are hopeless. We cannot even love God without Him first loving us.
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1 John 4:19 NIV
We love because He first loved us.
1 John 4:10 NIV
This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
A work had to be done in each of us before we could love God – loving God is not something we can take credit for; it's something we should be thankful for!
His love for you must be addressed often and repeatedly. It's always the right time to remind yourself of God’s love for you, but it's imperative that you remind yourself during trials because they can cause you to doubt His love more than ever.
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We must focus on the infinite love that God has for us because it's too easy to believe that He is mad at us and withholding blessings from us when we are struggling. Our behavior alone can cause us to doubt His desire to bless us. When we focus on ourselves rather than Christ we're being self-absorbed and we will doubt. We must focus on Him, not self. We need to surround ourselves with His love and leave the doubt behind.
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Trials have a way of making us feel unloved, but that's a lie. The Word is very clear about God’s unfailing, unconditional love for us. Copy verses regarding God’s love for you and meditate on them daily. The Word tells us that faith is made effective and active through love; it also tells us that faith is the victory – fill yourselves with God’s love and be prepared for victory. Nothing can defeat God’s love for you; nothing can change who you are in Christ!
What
Great
Love
Visions of Sugarplums
Prov. 23:7a
For as he thinks in his heart,
so is he.
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Thoughts – how important are they? Did you ever notice how happy kids are? What do you think they are thinking about? Visions of sugarplums dance through their heads while thoughts of how are we going to afford Christmas this year “dance” through ours! That is how important our thoughts are! As we think, so we become. Kids are happy because their thoughts are happy. We are depressed, anxious, fearful, stressed out, & angry because our thoughts are one in the same! So, what can we do about the wrong thoughts?!
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Romans 12:2 AMP Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after & adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals & its new attitude]…
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Whether we realize it or not we are conforming to the world when we our mind functions under depression, anxiety, fear, & the like because these are all contrary to the Word of God. In order for us to transform our mind we must fill our mind with the Word of God. The Word of God will change our thoughts.
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Eph 4:22-24 AMP
Strip yourselves of your former nature [put off & discard your old unrenewed self] which characterized your previous manner of life & becomes corrupt through lusts & desires that spring from delusion; & be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental & spiritual attitude], & put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God's image, [Godlike] in true righteousness & holiness.
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Stripping ourselves of our former nature is putting it off or casting it off. It is ignoring it or rejecting it and putting on or receiving something new through the Word of God. Notice this is done constantly. We must abide in the Word, not visit once in a while. Only through constantly abiding in the Word will we renew our mind, take on that new identity, & reject who we are in the flesh. If we do not abide in the Word our mind will not be renewed & in turn our lives will remain unchanged. Delusion (the result of a lack of the Word) will confuse us & lead us in the wrong direction; we will live a life below God’s best without the truth of the Word of God.
Romans 8:5-7 AMP
For those who are according to the flesh & are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on & pursue those things which gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit & are controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on & seek those things which gratify the [Holy] Spirit. Now the mind of the flesh [which is sense & reason without the Holy Spirit] is death [death that comprises all the miseries arising from sin, both here & hereafter]. But the mind of the [Holy] Spirit is life & [soul] peace [both now & forever]. [That is] because the mind of the flesh [with its carnal thoughts & purposes] is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God's Law; indeed it cannot.
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In the flesh, our mind is against God. It will think contrary to the Word; in fact, it cannot think in agreement with the Word.
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If we set our minds on the flesh that means we are more interested in the things of the flesh, our focus is on the flesh instead of the Word. We are the ones who choose what we think about. No one but you can choose your thoughts. Someone may try to influence your thoughts; but ultimately, you decide. When a thought that is contrary to the Word comes to mind you must choose to refuse it.
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2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV
We destroy arguments & every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, & take every thought captive to obey Christ…
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We can only take the wrong thoughts captive if we, in fact, know what thoughts are wrong. We must know which thoughts disagree with the Word. The Word is our weapon in our fight against the thoughts of the flesh.
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If we ignore the Word & ignore our thoughts the results will be devastating. Thoughts of the flesh produce death in our lives. In Galatians 5 we read about the fruit of the Spirit; the fruit of the flesh is the opposite & it is detrimental. We must recognize the source & power of our thoughts & we must understand how to renew our mind & be focused on the Spiritual.
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The mind of the Spirit produces the fruit of the Spirit; peace is found in the life of a person who thinks with the mind of Christ.
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Phil 4:7 NIV
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts & your minds in Christ Jesus.
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Peace of mind is something only the Word of God can provide. Many things in the world offer peace of mind, but none can truly deliver. Peace is a Spiritual fruit & it can only be acquired by a Spiritual Seed – the Word / Jesus Christ!
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We must use what we have been given! The Word is our gift & it is our weapon! With the Word we can renew our mind & we can think Spiritually! We can think with the mind of Christ!
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1 Cor 2:16 NIV
"For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
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*this holiday season do some receiving! Receive what Christ has to offer through His Word! Abide in the Word & “unwrap” the many gifts He has already given! No one leaves gifts under the tree unopened, why do we leave the Word that way?!
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How To Keep
Christ in Christmas
Luke 10:38-41 NIV
…a woman named Martha opened her
home to Him. She had a sister called Mary,
who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what
he said. But Martha was distracted by all the
preparations that had to be made…"Martha, Martha,"
the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
Christmas is a busy time – many preparations have to be made and we will feel like Martha if we forget the one thing! no matter what time of year it is, no matter what is going on, ONLY ONE THING IS NEEDED; only one thing is necessary – this is how Jesus describes taking in His Word.
Christmas is to be celebrated and enjoyed. Each day should be a celebration of life. We need to focus on Christ daily and then we will be thankful every day of our lives! We keep Christ in Christmas and our daily lives by abiding in the Word. As we abide in the Word we'll feel a desire to celebrate.
The word for Sabbath is only one letter different from the word for celebrate in the Hebrew language. Celebrating is about resting – resting in Christ and what He has done for us! celebrating is not supposed to be a time of intensity – it is to be done simply and it is to be enjoyed thoroughly.
The world makes Christmas seem like nothing but work – baking, cooking, shopping, wrapping, and so on. Do not view these Christmas preparations as work – see them as a celebration of the family God has given you!
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1 Samuel 30:24 NIV
…The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to battle. All will share alike.
David was humble. The Bible says that he was a man after God's own heart. "After God's own heart," simply means that he walked in the Spirit. David understood that he had two natures. He understood that God gave him a new nature, a new Spiritual heart, and that he still had a flesh to deal with. David chose, just like we must, to walk in that new nature by abiding in Christ (and Christ is the Word). When we choose to focus on Christ instead of on ourselves, we too will walk in our new Spiritual nature and we will be humble just like David was.
David's humility led him to believe that no one was above another; he understood equality in Christ. The men that David went to battle with were not so sure, however. They wanted to receive more of a share because of their efforts. These men were referred to as "evil" and "troublemakers" in God's Word. Our flesh loves to stir up trouble! Our flesh loves to feel superior and deserving; conversely, our Spiritual nature is humble and recognizes that apart from Christ we have nothing of Spiritual value.
David quickly corrected the men. He reminded them that God alone enabled them to secure the victory and walk away safely with the plunder.
1 Corinthians 4:7 MKJV For who makes you to differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
We, too, must understand this truth. There is nothing Spiritual that we posses by our own efforts - everything Spiritual in our lives is the result of receiving from Christ.
Too many times we are like these men - we believe that our efforts bring about the victories and "plunder" in our lives. When we believe this lie, we must quickly be corrected also. We must know that apart from Christ we can do nothing of Spiritual value. We must realize that our efforts will be futile; we cannot produce Spiritual fruit on our own. When we understand this, we will never feel superior or deserving; instead, we will want others to experience the freedom and joy we have in knowing that Christ is our everything.
