Saturday, September 30, 2006

Phil 4

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.


Philippians 4:1-23
1Dear brothers and sisters, F12 I love you and long to see you, for you are my joy and the reward for my work. So please stay true to the Lord, my dear friends.
Paul's Final Thoughts
2And now I want to plead with those two women, Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. 3And I ask you, my true teammate, F13 to help these women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. And they worked with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life.
4Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! 5Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.
6Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
8And now, dear brothers and sisters, let me say one more thing as I close this letter. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you.
Paul's Thanks for Their Gifts
10How grateful I am, and how I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but for a while you didn't have the chance to help me. 11Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to get along happily whether I have much or little. 12I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need. 14But even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty.
15As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this. 16Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. 17I don't say this because I want a gift from you. What I want is for you to receive a well-earned reward because of your kindness.
18At the moment I have all I need—more than I need! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable to God and pleases him. 19And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. 20Now glory be to God our Father forever and ever. Amen.
Paul's Final Greetings
21Give my greetings to all the Christians there. The brothers who are with me here send you their greetings. 22And all the other Christians send their greetings, too, especially those who work in Caesar's palace.
23May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
FOOTNOTES:F12: Greek brothers; also in 4:8. F13: Greek true yokefellow, or loyal Syzygus.
Copyright Statement:
Holy Bible, The New Living Translation

~ Lena’s Journalin’~
The fruit of God’s Holy Spirit, the evidences of Christ in us are and will always be challenged by God’s enemy and his servants. Gold tried by fire is purified. Our faith should be on a journey of purification, to become finer and finer, purer and purer, proven to be of the greatest value. There should be rewards for the word of faith and for growth in faith and there are, for those who stay the course.
Trials and testing’s are no respecter of persons. From the least to the greatest of those who walk in their faith in Christ and in God’s word, there is a refining process we should actually be happy to be subjected to. I’ve heard people say, Oh man, that person is so strong, so faithful etc. Almost as though they should not be tried because of their faithfulness? Those who are found faithful should the more be tried, they need to grow up in Christ also as demonstrators of the greatness of God at every level of growth.
The American gospel has become a self-centered gospel, a gospel that preaches Christ is for us and we’ll be blessed in following him, so blessed all of our problems will go away, and our pain will be relieved etc. Much of this is true, but it comes as a benefit of growth and of kingdom seeking. We’ve thought that God is our servant and serves us all good things. He does serve us because of love, but we were created by Him to respond to Him and serve His will. That takes the daily giving of one’s life, pain comes to those who work and serve. It is pain worth suffering when one sees the end as Abraham saw the end of the suffering.
For the joy set before Jesus he endured the cross. How much suffering do we willingly go through for a joy set before us? Is proclaiming and living out the gospel message worth our while?
I’ve heard so many in times of the pressure of the proving of the gospel in us, say, “I don’t know if it is worth all this?” I ask of you, what is worth it? Life will give you the squeeze anyway, doesn’t it?
Do we purposely set a guard over our hearts and minds? Do we purposely pray preparing our souls for the squeeze of the day? Do we keep our tongues from evil and our minds fixed on Him?
If not why not? Is it important? It is to God, or he would not have forewarned us so urgently.
It is the immature that tells you after the fact that they are now hurting after doing the very thing they were forewarned not to participate in. Let’s grow up into maturity and turn from our self-centered ways and serve the living God while we still have days to do so. We were created to preach the gospel with our lives, using words as powerful tools to move governing powers in the spirit world that we may lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty.
Time to change thoughts, speech, actions for Christ.

Daily Recital Verses -
Psalms 118:24
This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Proverbs 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength.

Friday, September 29, 2006

Isaiah 61 Little Christ's

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.

Isaiah 61:1-11 Good News for the Oppressed
1The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon me, because the LORD has appointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to announce that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. F123 2He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the LORD's favor has come, F124 and with it, the day of God's anger against their enemies. 3To all who mourn in Israel, F125 he will give beauty for ashes, joy instead of mourning, praise instead of despair. For the LORD has planted them like strong and graceful oaks for his own glory.
4They will rebuild the ancient ruins, repairing cities long ago destroyed. They will revive them, though they have been empty for many generations. 5Foreigners will be your servants. They will feed your flocks and plow your fields and tend your vineyards. 6You will be called priests of the LORD, ministers of our God. You will be fed with the treasures of the nations and will boast in their riches. 7Instead of shame and dishonor, you will inherit a double portion of prosperity and everlasting joy.
8"For I, the LORD, love justice. I hate robbery and wrongdoing. I will faithfully reward my people for their suffering and make an everlasting covenant with them. 9Their descendants will be known and honored among the nations. Everyone will realize that they are a people the LORD has blessed."
10I am overwhelmed with joy in the LORD my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom in his wedding suit or a bride with her jewels. 11The Sovereign LORD will show his justice to the nations of the world. Everyone will praise him! His righteousness will be like a garden in early spring, filled with young plants springing up everywhere.
FOOTNOTES: F123: Greek version reads and the blind will see. F124: Or to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD. F125: Hebrew in Zion. Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living Translation

~ Lena’s Journalin’~
Whenever you read things that were speaking about Jesus God’s human Son, do you ever put your name in the spot of the son God is speaking of?
Many years ago the church would have called that blasphemy, but revelation has come to tell us who we are inside of Christ Jesus and who He is inside of each of us.
What does “Christian” mean anyway?
Does it not mean “little Christ”, “One who is like Christ”? Did not God make us in His own image after his own likeness, as sons reflect their fathers, do we not reflect and represent God? Also whose spirit dwells within our human spirits? Is it not the spirit of God and of Christ?
Why then would we ever hesitate to speak God’s word to sons over ourselves taking on the responsibility given sons of God in the earth?
Some may say they do not deserve it, they are not walking in perfection as Jesus was. True, so very true, and now that we’ve confessed our imperfections, let’s repent and step into the provision made for our shortcomings by His shed blood, His priceless precious blood!
Remember He paid for the rights He so desires that each of us have, we did not earn them.
So now that we have all of that straight, let’s say about us, who are Christians and sons of God, our legitimate Father, The spirit of the Lord is upon me……
One more note-
We pray for increase, for extra provision, to be holy, pure, like God is, we ask for more of Him. Get ready for the overflow, that means we won’t have time for other things we used to spend our time on, we’ll barely have time to think on anything but Him and His will. He’ll give us homework at church, because we are sons/disciples! We’ll have more to read than ever, more required prayer time, etc. So much that we won’t have time for TV- hey, we prayed for holiness, a new mind, a way to think differently! How do we think that will happen? By crowding out everything in life that is NOT about God and the promotion of Godliness! Those old romance novels, magazines, internet searches, soap operas- there’ll seem there’s no time for these, for the word of God has taken their place, has overwhelmed us, has moved in to make us holy. We cannot have increase or be holier without it! So now that we know what God is doing and how He’s doing it, let’s submit ourselves to His will and go ahead and let the unholy desensitizers leave us alone to Our Father God and His work. There really is not room for both, God wants to take His place in each of our persons, in each of our homes, in each of our lives. He’s ready to sit on the throne, so let’s get off of the easy chair.


Daily Recital Verses -
Psalms 118:24
This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Prov 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Isaiah 41 Fear Not

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.


Isaiah 41:1-29 -
God's Help for Israel
1"Listen in silence before me, you lands beyond the sea. Bring your strongest arguments. Come now and speak. The court is ready for your case.
2"Who has stirred up this king from the east, who meets victory at every step? Who, indeed, but the LORD? He gives him victory over many nations and permits him to trample their kings underfoot. He puts entire armies to the sword. He scatters them in the wind with his bow. 3He chases them away and goes on safely, though he is walking over unfamiliar ground.
4Who has done such mighty deeds, directing the affairs of the human race as each new generation marches by? It is I, the LORD, the First and the Last. I alone am he."
5The lands beyond the sea watch in fear. Remote lands tremble and mobilize for war. 6They encourage one another with the words, "Be strong!" 7The craftsmen rush to make new idols. The carver hurries the goldsmith, and the molder helps at the anvil. "Good," they say. "It's coming along fine." Carefully they join the parts together, then fasten the thing in place so it won't fall over.
8"But as for you, Israel my servant, Jacob my chosen one, descended from my friend Abraham, 9I have called you back from the ends of the earth so you can serve me. For I have chosen you and will not throw you away. 10Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.
11"See, all your angry enemies lie there, confused and ashamed. Anyone who opposes you will die. 12You will look for them in vain. They will all be gone! 13I am holding you by your right hand—I, the LORD your God. And I say to you, 'Do not be afraid. I am here to help you. 14Despised though you are, O Israel, don't be afraid, for I will help you. I am the LORD, your Redeemer. I am the Holy One of Israel.' 15You will be a new threshing instrument with many sharp teeth. You will tear all your enemies apart, making chaff of mountains. 16You will toss them in the air, and the wind will blow them all away; a whirlwind will scatter them. And the joy of the LORD will fill you to overflowing. You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17"When the poor and needy search for water and there is none, and their tongues are parched from thirst, then I, the LORD, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will never forsake them. 18I will open up rivers for them on high plateaus. I will give them fountains of water in the valleys. In the deserts they will find pools of water. Rivers fed by springs will flow across the dry, parched ground. 19I will plant trees—cedar, acacia, myrtle, olive, cypress, fir, and pine—on barren land. 20Everyone will see this miracle and understand that it is the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, who did it.
21"Can your idols make such claims as these? Let them come and show what they can do!" says the LORD, the King of Israel. F92 22"Let them try to tell us what happened long ago or what the future holds. 23Yes, that's it! If you are gods, tell what will occur in the days ahead. Or perform a mighty miracle that will fill us with amazement and fear. Do something, whether good or bad! 24But no! You are less than nothing and can do nothing at all. Anyone who chooses you becomes filthy, just like you!
25"But I have stirred up a leader from the north and east. He will come against the nations and call on my name, and I will give him victory over kings and princes. He will trample them as a potter treads on clay.
26"Who but I have told you this would happen? Who else predicted this, making you admit that he was right? No one else said a word! 27I was the first to tell Jerusalem, 'Look! Help is on the way!' 28Not one of your idols told you this. Not one gave any answer when I asked. 29See, they are all foolish, worthless things. Your idols are all as empty as the wind.
FOOTNOTES: F92: Hebrew the King of Jacob.
Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living Translation

~ Lena’s Journalin’~
There is a differentiation being made here between natural and supernatural, temporal and eternal, what is eternal truth and what is a façade.
A friend of mine just recently got revelation of the seen and unseen worlds. She explained it to a friend, saying, “You’ve got to see and know that we are spirit beings having an earth experience (I’ll say assignment/ambassadorship), the spirit world/realm is just right there, so much closer than we all know.”
When I read that I new she’d seen by Divine revelation, something that God is leading every human to see. There’s a more real world that we don’t see than what we do see.
Men want to see. God wants men to see, but He wants them to see what a natural eye cannot, then bring it out into the open where natural men do see it.
Do you realize everything we do naturally see was once unseen? How does that happen?
Natural men see in the spirit, get an idea about something they do not see, then they go about working things out to bring it into visibility. Once we see it, and it is visible we take the visible for granted and depend upon it more than the very source from which it was made. When an invisible idea becomes visible, we have brought “heaven to earth”.
We pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…” Amen. What are we talking about? Things unseen to our natural eyes here become seen. They are real before they are seen, just not visible!
Now let’s go back to a root of sin, the worship of other gods.
There is ONE God and He desires all worship come His way. In fact when all worship comes His way here in the earth realm, His kingdom has come to earth. That is what natural men were created to do. This is their purpose; this is their call, their role in life, their Destiny can and will only be found in this place of worship of this ONE God.
There is an enemy of God called pride, which knows full well all of that invisible stuff and is on assignment to take or steal that purposed worship away from the One. The way it works best is to cause men to only see right now what is seen, and to depend only and wholly on what is natural. He blinds their eyes from seeing what is unseen. Then to either make for themselves items to worship and depend on them here right now, or to try to become an item to be worshiped right here and now in the seen realm. The problem is, we are not The One and the more we do not see what is unseen and engage ourselves in His invisible and eternal purposes, the more we fail and ail and suffer through life as we worship others than The One.
Why does the Lord always say, “Do not fear”?
Fear is usually based on what is not seen or understood (understanding comes when one sees what can only be eternally seen).
So, every desire, longing, need, and search is placed inside of men to lead them to a place of worship of The One. They must seek Him and they will not be contented until they find Him, then when they truly find Him, they will not be content in a good way, until they have pulled out of the unseen realm all He has purposed for them to bring forth in their lifetime on earth.
(This makes me think of a natural example- how many children should one have? Many humans can choose how many they have, they can bring out of the unseen realm as many or as few they want in their lifetime of fruitfulness. Some feel having and raising children is a very large part of their life’s “assignment” or purpose, while others decide to go about doing other things than to raise children. Someone else may run a very large business, employing and bringing opportunity for provision to those who need work, while they produce useful goods to help those families grow. Both of these are simple examples of purpose assigned and engaged in. Choice is a big factor in fulfilled purpose.)
Do not be afraid, nor dismayed? That tells me there is a place to go- worship, something to see- more of the proposed purposes of The One we worship, and something to do about it that we do not yet see or know. We are adventurers and explorers in an unseen unconquered world. We think the earth is big, the universe is vast, what about the eternal realm?
There’s a whole lifetime of conquest awaiting those who are willing to turn from worshiping the temporal and naturally seen world and its seen objects, to engaging in The worship of the One who made everything we see and everything we do not yet see. This is the part that amazes me about idol worship, that we could be deceived into giving our attentions and life force to something made by man, the creation, when we can know The Creator of all. How can man bow to a tree, or an idol or even another man, when there is God of the whole universe and beyond, Maker of the heavens, the earth and beyond?
Let’s open our eyes today, get a glimpse of His world, and fear not to bring His world to ours.
That is why we are here right now.

Daily Recital Verses -
Psalms 118:24
This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Prov 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Eccl 5 Gotta serve somebody

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.

Ecclesiastes 5:1-20
The Importance of Fearing God
1As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut! Don't be a fool who doesn't realize that mindless offerings to God are evil. 2And don't make rash promises to God, for he is in heaven, and you are only here on earth. So let your words be few.
3Just as being too busy gives you nightmares, being a fool makes you a blabbermouth.
4So when you make a promise to God, don't delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to him. 5It is better to say nothing than to promise something that you don't follow through on. 6In such cases, your mouth is making you sin. And don't defend yourself by telling the Temple messenger that the promise you made was a mistake. That would make God angry, and he might wipe out everything you have achieved.
7Dreaming all the time instead of working is foolishness. And there is ruin in a flood of empty words. Fear God instead.

The Futility of Wealth
8If you see a poor person being oppressed by the powerful and justice being miscarried throughout the land, don't be surprised! For every official is under orders from higher up, and matters of justice only get lost in red tape and bureaucracy. 9Even the king milks the land for his own profit! F4
10Those who love money will never have enough. How absurd to think that wealth brings true happiness! 11The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what is the advantage of wealth—except perhaps to watch it run through your fingers!
12People who work hard sleep well, whether they eat little or much. But the rich are always worrying and seldom get a good night's sleep.
13There is another serious problem I have seen in the world. Riches are sometimes hoarded to the harm of the saver, 14or they are put into risky investments that turn sour, and everything is lost. In the end, there is nothing left to pass on to one's children. 15People who live only for wealth come to the end of their lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day they were born.
16And this, too, is a very serious problem. As people come into this world, so they depart. All their hard work is for nothing. They have been working for the wind, and everything will be swept away. 17Throughout their lives, they live under a cloud—frustrated, discouraged, and angry.
18Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat well, drink a good glass of wine, and enjoy their work—whatever they do under the sun—for however long God lets them live. 19And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—that is indeed a gift from God. 20People who do this rarely look with sorrow on the past, for God has given them reasons for joy.
FOOTNOTES:F4: The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living Translation

~ Lena’s Journalin’~
As I read this first portion I think of how we as men have so many opinions about pretty much every idea we hear someone speak on. I feel this passage is saying, where God’s word is concerned, don’t throw your opinions out there, keep those type of thoughts to yourself and sort them out to conform to God’s word as the last word. Opinions don’t have a place in God’s house, nor does a vote. God isn’t asking what we think. He’s telling us how to live.
I was telling my little girl the other day that the Bible is God instruction book to us for life. He’s trying to teach and tell us something and then explains it in further detail when we hear preachers/teachers teach us about it. He’s not presenting some idea for our preponderance. He’s giving us truth to live by. We can take or leave it, that’s up to us. If we see it as up for debate or for controversy, we have a heart issue to deal with. Why are we weighing God’s words as though they need us to balance them out? We must balance our lives to conform to his words of truth.
Also do we think God is as a mere man, whom we can trick or slight? He knows our every thought motive and action. The reason we’d make commitments aloud is to bring the powerful agreement of His word into the sphere of our lives, making covenant commitment for life with the Most High. That’s serious business. It’s eternal business. God doesn’t have to have our participation, but He so desires it and we need His more than we can ever know.
It amazes me how often in my mind I try to rise up and defend ungodly thoughts or actions, making excuses for my excuses. I have no defense of my own in God’s presence. He is the only defense I have that means anything. Without the blood of Jesus that was shed for my sins. Excuses and shortcomings I’d be way out in left field. Time to reel me in to the center of His will. Time to stop practicing and begin to play the field of the Lord, the Lord of the Harvest. No excuses, it’s game time. I have no defense in my own excuses, none. In that I’m completely alone, without God. That’s a dangerous place to be in. Anytime one finds himself trying so hard to defend himself, is a time to throw up the hands in surrender! Give it up.
I was thinking of how we as humans go overboard in our sense of responsibility to win or succeed in life. We trust and rely on self and human strength and then hopefully we find it runs out. About that time we run to God for some refueling or help, and we find God uses these instances to recruit us into His work, but our motive was just to obtain a bit of help. His motive is to bring us into the center of His strength. The more we try without His help, the less we succeed.
I’ve seen people decide to follow after the making of more money, making their own way in life, finding provision for their households, etc. This takes time and energy, and many times it is thrown right in the righteous pathway. It is deceptive in that it calls us to responsibility, all the while it is really there to steal away our time with God and of the work of His kingdom.
The Bible is clear, seek 1st His kingdom, and ALL these things will be added. When we do the equation it never figures out, ever. We can’t walk away from His kingdom work and from assembling with believers and from reading His word and be blessed in anything we do. We’ll find the addition equation become a subtraction equation, we can never seem to get ahead. This is the enemy’s # 1 offer to new believers. Come back and serve mammon, that little ”g” (god). Know serving mammon will suck the strength right out of the man, leaving him naked and destitute, and prayerfully, by God’s grace it will bring him back to the very place of seeing his continued need for God’s provision found in the giving of one’s life for the kingdom work in the earth.


Daily Recital Verses -
Psalms 118:24
This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Prov 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Psalm 126 God dreamed a dream of you!

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.


Psalm 126:1-6 -
1 When the LORD restored his exiles to Jerusalem, F97 it was like a dream!
2 We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy. And the other nations said, "What amazing things the LORD has done for them."
3 Yes, the LORD has done amazing things for us! What joy!
4 Restore our fortunes, LORD, as streams renew the desert.
5 Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy.
6 They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.
FOOTNOTES: F97: Hebrew Zion.

Copyright Statement:
Holy Bible, The New Living Translation

~ Lena’s Journalin’~
Everything we now see was, at one time, invisible to our natural eyes. Every building, every person, everything. Men dreamed of inventions, futures, goals and out the the invisible realm of imaginations they brought their ideas, dreams and plans out into the visible realm. These are all examples of faith.
Faith is a substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen.
God gives men dreams. God gives men dreams of Truth, of Him. I believe when our spirits ignite with truth, God prepared us with a dream, in a dark season, in the night we may have never consciously remembered it, but God gave us a dream, and when the reality of truth was introduced to us, we just knew that we knew that we knew it was so, something inside of us became one with what we now see as a new idea. Truth kissed love in us.
Psalm 85:10 says Unfailing love and truth have met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed!
Inside of each person is a measure of faith awaiting activation, agitation to break forth and grow up, breaking ground, breaking forth through dirt, rocks, or even hard ground. There’s enough power in a seed’s insides to do so, once it is agitated and ignites into new life.
After one dreams of Him, then sees Him in someone somewhere, in a visible form, that faith ignites, sometimes even explodes into that new life. We know Him when we see Him face to face. The God dream in me sees the God dream in you and we know that we know Him. Our spirits have confirmation of that life in Him.
Sing for the Harvest. Sing for the harvest. God is making His dreams come true in us, with us, and for us. Every desire we ever have had for truth originally came from His heart. He had a dream and He made you. He had a dream and he made me, He made us from His faith-filled dream!
This is truth, yet that measure of truth, of faith, can increase. Those who ask for more, will receive more of Him. There’s so much more. More dreams in you, more dormant seeds to be activated into new life in you and to become a confirmation to another face- of Him.
Rejoice Oh Daughters of Zion- rejoice, Your King is coming……soon!

Daily Recital Verses -
Psalms 118:24
This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Prov 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength.

Friday, September 22, 2006

Psalm 118 U in?

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.

Psalm 118:1-29 -
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.
2 Let the congregation of Israel repeat: "His faithful love endures forever."
3 Let Aaron's descendants, the priests, repeat : "His faithful love endures forever."
4 Let all who fear the LORD repeat: "His faithful love endures forever."
5 In my distress I prayed to the LORD, and the LORD answered me and rescued me.
6 The LORD is for me, so I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?
7 Yes, the LORD is for me; he will help me. I will look in triumph at those who hate me.
8 It is better to trust the LORD than to put confidence in people.
9 It is better to trust the LORD than to put confidence in princes.
10 Though hostile nations surrounded me, I destroyed them all in the name of the LORD.
11 Yes, they surrounded and attacked me, but I destroyed them all in the name of the LORD.
12 They swarmed around me like bees; they blazed against me like a roaring flame. But I destroyed them all in the name of the LORD.
13 You did your best to kill me, O my enemy, but the LORD helped me.
14 The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my victory.
15 Songs of joy and victory are sung in the camp of the godly. The strong right arm of the LORD has done glorious things!
16 The strong right arm of the LORD is raised in triumph. The strong right arm of the LORD has done glorious things!
17 I will not die, but I will live to tell what the LORD has done.
18 The LORD has punished me severely, but he has not handed me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates where the righteous enter, and I will go in and thank the LORD.
20 Those gates lead to the presence of the LORD, and the godly enter there.
21 I thank you for answering my prayer and saving me!
22 The stone rejected by the builders has now become the cornerstone.
23 This is the LORD's doing, and it is marvelous to see.
24 This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Please, LORD, please save us. Please, LORD, please give us success.
26 Bless the one who comes in the name of the LORD. We bless you from the house of the LORD.
27 The LORD is God, shining upon us. Bring forward the sacrifice and put it on the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will praise you! You are my God, and I will exalt you!
29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.

Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living Translation

~ Lena’s Journalin’~
Each person on earth is on a search to find himself. In his search, he will come to a place where he
is at the end of himself and hopefully there he will find who he can only be found in and that is Christ Jesus. For Jesus is The One who is The Way to the Father God, The Creator of heaven and earth.
The sooner we submit our lives to this venture, this purposeful living, the sooner we can “get this show on the road”, so to speak.
There is a Divine orchestration taking place even now, and God is looking to recruit willing cast members. Those who join the company of worshipers will have a “job” or a “position” for life! Once a part of this “act” we become a part of much more than a team of workers, we become members of the family of purpose for the earth.
We each have a “part” to “play” and each and every part is a leading role. We can sit and watch it happen, watch others join the cast or crew or just wait to see if it’ll even come together first, or we can get off our duffs, set the stage, join the choir and get this thing moving, believing “the show must go on”! If there are participants, a cast and a crew, there is a show, if not, there is not. If no one tries out, or commits to the work, there will be no beginning middle or end.
The earth is God’s stage. We are a vital part of His “play”.
Who am I that you are mindful of me? Who am I that you need me to help You do the work of bringing forth eternal purposes in the earth? Who am I that You cannot do this thing without me? I am made in Your image and likeness. I am Your friend, Your servant, Your “son”. I allow You to have a body to work through in the earth. I give You more places to be at once in physical form. I make Your voice to be heard in many earthly languages. I echo Your words of life where death has greatly threatened that no one else see these things. I’m a Kingdom Ambassador for the Lord Jesus Christ. I have been given the signet ring of the King of kings. I give account to the Majesty of heaven and earth who has assigned me to proclaim His will and carry out His edicts! I resound His praise everywhere I go. I let God arise and participate in agreement with His spirit in the earth to let every enemy of my soul, and of the souls of saved and of unsaved men, and I actually require the very enemies of my Master to reverence Him and bow the knee. I chose to serve Him when I could so easily serve them instead. When I could be taking the easier road, I choose this one instead, because I know the author of purpose, I see what He wants to do and I put myself on the scene to help bring it accomplishment.
I’m in every act, 1,2,3,4,5,6- every one I choose to be in, until the end.
There’s a count down, are you ready to come into the scene too? Join the act? Come into the greater purpose of God? It’s time, you’re up.
5,4,3,2,1 Shoot!

Daily Recital Verses -
Psalms 118:24
This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Prov 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Psalm 105 Dream on!

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.

Psalm 105
1Hallelujah! Thank GOD! Pray to Him by name! Tell everyone you meet what He has done!
2Sing Him songs, belt out hymns, translate His wonders into music!
3Honor His holy name with Hallelujahs, you who seek GOD. Live a happy life!
4Keep your eyes open for GOD, watch for His works; be alert for signs of His presence.
5Remember the world of wonders He has made, His miracles, and the verdicts He's rendered--
6O seed of Abraham, His servant, O child of Jacob, His chosen.

7He's GOD, our God, in charge of the whole earth.
8And He remembers, remembers his Covenant-- for a thousand generations He's been as good as His word.
9It's the Covenant He made with Abraham, the same oath He swore to Isaac,
10The very statute He established with Jacob, the eternal Covenant with Israel,
11Namely, "I give you the land. Canaan is your hill-country inheritance."
12When they didn't count for much, a mere handful, and strangers at that,
13Wandering from country to country, drifting from pillar to post,

14He permitted no one to abuse them. He told kings to keep their hands off:
15"Don't you dare lay a hand on my anointed, don't hurt a hair on the heads of my prophets."

16Then He called down a famine on the country, He broke every last blade of wheat.
17But He sent a man on ahead: Joseph, sold as a slave.
18They put cruel chains on his ankles, an iron collar around his neck,
19Until God's word came to the Pharaoh, and GOD confirmed his promise.
20God sent the king to release him. The Pharaoh set Joseph free;
21He appointed him master of his palace, put him in charge of all his business
22To personally instruct his princes and train his advisors in wisdom.

23Then Israel entered Egypt, Jacob immigrated to the Land of Ham.
24God gave His people lots of babies; soon their numbers alarmed their foes.
25He turned the Egyptians against his people; they abused and cheated God's servants.
26Then He sent his servant Moses, and Aaron, whom He also chose.
27They worked marvels in that spiritual wasteland, miracles in the Land of Ham.
28He spoke, "Darkness!" and it turned dark-- they couldn't see what they were doing.
29He turned all their water to blood so that all their fish died;
30He made frogs swarm through the land, even into the king's bedroom;
31He gave the word and flies swarmed, gnats filled the air.
32He substituted hail for rain, He stabbed their land with lightning;
33He wasted their vines and fig trees, smashed their groves of trees to splinters;
34With a word He brought in locusts, millions of locusts, armies of locusts;
35They consumed every blade of grass in the country and picked the ground clean of produce;
36He struck down every firstborn in the land, the first fruits of their virile powers.
37He led Israel out, their arms filled with loot, and not one among his tribes even stumbled.

38Egypt was glad to have them go-- they were scared to death of them.
39God spread a cloud to keep them cool through the day and a fire to light their way through the night;
40They prayed and he brought quail, filled them with the bread of heaven;
41He opened the rock and water poured out; it flowed like a river through that desert--
42All because he remembered His Covenant, His promise to Abraham, His servant.

43Remember this! He led his people out singing for joy; His chosen people marched, singing their hearts out!
44He made them a gift of the country they entered, helped them seize the wealth of the nations
45So they could do everything He told them-- could follow His instructions to the letter.
Hallelujah! al

Copyright Statement: THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language

~ Lena’s Journalin’~
I was reading the New Living Translation first and where it talks of Joseph having his neck in an iron band, it said, to test his character. His character was tested there, and then he went and ruled for and with the King.
Our king is Jesus who’s plan is for each of us (who will have their character tested) to rule for and with Him in the earth. I wonder if we knew the yoke that is/was easy were an iron band, if we’d even consider putting our head in that yoke?
Remember Joseph had this glorious dream of his brothers, mother and father standing around him bowing down in reverence. That dream may have sounded good at the time, but the in between from dream to reverent bow was a whole ‘nother story. Joseph probably referred to the dream many times over while he sat in the pit that his own brothers threw him in and left to him to die in, and then a prison cell where he had a yoke of iron on his neck.
Do you have a dream that you can refer back to when A to Z is only at E and you are struggling?
The Lord commands “touch not MY anointed”, I believe that’s the one in the yoke dreaming.
I love how it says here that Egypt could not wait for the “believers” to leave!
WOW.
I wonder if any Egyptians became believers after all of the signs and wonders, got converted so to speak and went out with the Israelites….’

Daily Recital Verses -
Psalms 118:24
This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Prov 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Psalm 98 PY(M)TL

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.


Psalm 98:1-9
1 Sing a new song to the LORD, for he has done wonderful deeds. He has won a mighty victory by his power and holiness.
2 The LORD has announced his victory and has revealed his righteousness to every nation!
3 He has remembered his promise to love and be faithful to Israel. The whole earth has seen the salvation of our God.
4 Shout to the LORD, all the earth; break out in praise and sing for joy!
5 Sing your praise to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and melodious song,
6 with trumpets and the sound of the ram's horn. Make a joyful symphony before the LORD, the King!
7 Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise! Let the earth and all living things join in.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands in glee! Let the hills sing out their songs of joy
9 before the LORD. For the LORD is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with justice, and the nations with fairness.

Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living Translation

~ Lena’s Journalin’~
Praise Ye (Me) the Lord!

Daily Recital Verses -
Psalms 118:24
This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Proverbs 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Psalm 97 The Fire of God

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.

Psalm 97:1-12 -1 The LORD is king! Let the earth rejoice! Let the farthest islands be glad.
2 Clouds and darkness surround him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes forth before him and burns up all his foes.
4 His lightning flashes out across the world. The earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.
6 The heavens declare his righteousness; every nation sees his glory.
7 Those who worship idols are disgraced— all who brag about their worthless gods— for every god must bow to him.
8 Jerusalem F80 has heard and rejoiced, and all the cities of Judah are glad because of your justice, LORD!
9 For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
10 You who love the LORD, hate evil! He protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the power of the wicked.
11 Light shines on the godly, and joy on those who do right.
12 May all who are godly be happy in the LORD and praise his holy name!
FOOTNOTES: F80: Hebrew Zion. Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living Translation

~ Lena’s Journalin’~
There are certain elements that are of multi-use. For example, the same fire that gives light and warmth can also melt whatever it touches and alter its state forever. That same fire can purify a substance for further and greater use, yet utterly destroy another substance.
What makes the difference in the effect?
The substance has a lot to do with it.
If hay – poof it’s gone, not a trace left.
If gold- it is purified, made to be of greater value than the original product. It is altered, and changed, but not utterly destroyed.
The fire of God will test the substances of the earth.
It can impassion us and change us into a greater form with greater value, or it could utterly destroy all we’ve known ourselves to be.
There’s a NT scripture that says, all will go through the fire, some will be destroyed, some saved yet greatly marred, but at least they remain unto eternal life.
When the fire of God passes through the earth, and it will whether we believe it or not, of what substance are we? Of what result will we be? Saved though marred? Changed into a greater degree or value?
What we’ve become by submission to Christ while we walk this way will tell all in that end.
1 Cor 3: 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.


Daily Recital Verses –

Psalms 118:24 This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Prov 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Psalm 90 Love Love Light Love

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.


Psalm 90:1-17
A prayer of Moses, the man of God.
1 Lord, through all the generations you have been our home!
2 Before the mountains were created, before you made the earth and the world, you are God, without beginning or end.
3 You turn people back to dust, saying, "Return to dust!"
4 For you, a thousand years are as yesterday! They are like a few hours!
5 You sweep people away like dreams that disappear or like grass that springs up in the morning.
6 In the morning it blooms and flourishes, but by evening it is dry and withered.
7 We wither beneath your anger; we are overwhelmed by your fury.
8 You spread out our sins before you— our secret sins—and you see them all.
9 We live our lives beneath your wrath. We end our lives with a groan.
10 Seventy years are given to us! Some may even reach eighty. But even the best of these years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we are gone.
11 Who can comprehend the power of your anger? Your wrath is as awesome as the fear you deserve.
12 Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom.
13 O LORD, come back to us! How long will you delay? Take pity on your servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives.
15 Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Replace the evil years with good.
16 Let us see your miracles again; let our children see your glory at work.
17 And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful!
Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living Translation

~ Lena’s Journalin’~
Wanna know what pain is? Naw, that’s ok, we already have enough thank you….
Hold on though, I’d like to take us back to the root, to the heart of God, Our Father.
God who IS love, created freewill beings for love, All of creation was for love, every part.
The absolute best part of love is/was that it’d be responsive, reciprocal in nature. For one to have a freewill and choose love, when all other choices could be made, is awesome. It’s the epitome of love’s orchestration, love given and love received and love given and love received, and love given….
When a freewill being does not give love in return for love received there is something missing out of the cycle, the love cycle is broken up, if it is not re-engaged quickly, there are gaps. Gaps are darkness. When the cycle is broken, there is darkness.
Yet He is light. Darkness and light cannot live together. There is separation of the offending “force”. There is judgment involved, the separation is judgment. This darkness must be destroyed, annihilated, completely condemned, and eradicated from the universe. It is a plight for the two to become one again, light to eat up darkness and darkness to be destroyed in its power over freewill love beings.
Pain? Yes inside of the heart of God there is something missing, someone missing, part of His will His own will for oneness is broken, violated. He loves and rather than reciprocation there is rebellion. THAT hurts. It also hurts that there’s the possibility for repair and a freewill will not accept the help, That an enemy of God has deceived the freewill beings of love to reject love when given.
So we live here and there seems to be pain all around. It sometimes seems that our pain is unbearable and to live even 80 years is enough. How sad it is when eternity with Him begins now and we can walk in the light now, but darkness has tried to overshadow us on our mission here, so we can’t see and we can’t really know Him well.
Oh that we would see why we are here, and that 80 years would not be long enough to accomplish His will, shedding light in the earth!
God’s words from the beginning of the earth still resound today. “Light Be”. Every living being was a reciprocate of those reflective words. They were spoken into the earth of which we are made. So, “Light Be” unto you and unto yours and unto all who will come after you, in this walk of faith.
We are here to restore the cycle of love with our heavenly father and to all who will receive Him and His love. If we lived here 987,699,998,873,563,782,754,289,000,009,999,997,786,124,563,258,739,839,999,877,726,525,747,653,786,398,793,973,097,839,769,863,986,983,698 days It would not be long enough to be the display of this great Light which is love. For God IS love, everyone who loves is born of God and knows God – and will make Him known in the earth.
He longs for us to be completely healed, repaired and restored in His Divine Light and Love so that we can also live out the remainder of our days healing, repairing, and restoring others to the love of their Father God.

Daily Recital Verses -
Psalms 118:24
This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Prov 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Psalm 85 Oh How I love You

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.



Psalm 85:1-13
For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah.
1 LORD, you have poured out amazing blessings on your land! You have restored the fortunes of Israel. F71
2 You have forgiven the guilt of your people— yes, you have covered all their sins.
Interlude
3 You have withdrawn your fury. You have ended your blazing anger.
4 Now turn to us again, O God of our salvation. Put aside your anger against us.
5 Will you be angry with us always? Will you prolong your wrath to distant generations?
6 Won't you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you?
7 Show us your unfailing love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation.
8 I listen carefully to what God the LORD is saying, for he speaks peace to his people, his faithful ones. But let them not return to their foolish ways.
9 Surely his salvation is near to those who honor him; our land will be filled with his glory.
10 Unfailing love and truth have met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed!
11 Truth springs up from the earth, and righteousness smiles down from heaven.
12 Yes, the LORD pours down his blessings. Our land will yield its bountiful crops.
13 Righteousness goes as a herald before him, preparing the way for his steps.
FOOTNOTES: F71: Hebrew of Jacob.
Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living Translation

~ Lena’s Journalin’~
Blessings belong to those who obey Him, those who know His great love and compassion love to obey Him. Obedience a reciprocation of love, yet if we do not obey we are never void of His great love. It may seem further off than it once was for we’ve distanced ourselves from it in not following after or continuing after Him. With this great love, He loved each of us so much that if there were only one of us who totally rejected Him, He’d have sent his Son and died for that one to be able to turn from wickedness and be saved.
The love of God, and the blessing of God are not the same. One is unconditional, the other conditional. What joy a heart has when a child wants the gifts a parent has for them, thus the blessing of God fulfills God and us. No greater joy the Father has that His children, those He calls His own, walk in truth. Righteousness and peace have kissed…Righteousness is not based on any good work. Good works do bring blessings, but righteous and blessing are also not always the same, of course it is a blessing to be made righteous, but the only work that causes us to obtain it, is the work of faith in God and His beloved Son. We cannot be right alone, our right to be His is a gift which is received by faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Savior is based more upon receiving His love, Lordship is where blessings increase, for He says something in His word, and because He’s my Lord, I do it. I am blessed in what I do, which demonstrates to the world He is My Lord, who leads me in righteous pathways. Lord of even a freewill being, what an offering made, what a sweet smell, after the rebellion of the freewill being satan, God is looking for freewill’s who love Him because they desire to and serve Him because they desire to. What victory is the way of love and obedience, victory for our Father God
.


Daily Recital Verses -
Psalms 118:24
This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Prov 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Psalm 71 What are we spending life on?

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.


Psalm 71:1-24
1 O LORD, you are my refuge; never let me be disgraced.
2 Rescue me! Save me from my enemies, for you are just. Turn your ear to listen and set me free.
3 Be to me a protecting rock of safety, where I am always welcome. Give the order to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 My God, rescue me from the power of the wicked, from the clutches of cruel oppressors.
5 O Lord, you alone are my hope. I've trusted you, O LORD, from childhood.
6 Yes, you have been with me from birth; from my mother's womb you have cared for me. No wonder I am always praising you!
7 My life is an example to many, because you have been my strength and protection.
8 That is why I can never stop praising you; I declare your glory all day long.
9 And now, in my old age, don't set me aside. Don't abandon me when my strength is failing.
10 For my enemies are whispering against me. They are plotting together to kill me.
11 They say, "God has abandoned him. Let's go and get him, for there is no one to help him now."
12 O God, don't stay away. My God, please hurry to help me.
13 Bring disgrace and destruction on those who accuse me. May humiliation and shame cover those who want to harm me.
14 But I will keep on hoping for you to help me; I will praise you more and more.
15 I will tell everyone about your righteousness. All day long I will proclaim your saving power, for I am overwhelmed by how much you have done for me.
16 I will praise your mighty deeds, O Sovereign LORD. I will tell everyone that you alone are just and good.
17 O God, you have taught me from my earliest childhood, and I have constantly told others about the wonderful things you do.
18 Now that I am old and gray, do not abandon me, O God. Let me proclaim your power to this new generation, your mighty miracles to all who come after me.
19 Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the highest heavens. You have done such wonderful things. Who can compare with you, O God?
20 You have allowed me to suffer much hardship, but you will restore me to life again and lift me up from the depths of the earth.
21 You will restore me to even greater honor and comfort me once again.
22 Then I will praise you with music on the harp, because you are faithful to your promises, O God. I will sing for you with a lyre, O Holy One of Israel.
23 I will shout for joy and sing your praises, for you have redeemed me.
24 I will tell about your righteous deeds all day long, for everyone who tried to hurt me has been shamed and humiliated.
Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living Translation

~ Lena’s Journalin’~
The life of faith is for living. From the earliest age to the latest. This Psalmist knew an Eternal God, a God who was before and is forever. To be raised up in faith and never leave it, is such the life to have lived, but if we have not been so privileged, then let us live now and forever a life full of faith in Him, and let us all proclaim the name of the Lord as many days as we have to do so, in boldness, and in strength without ceasing.
What is life without the regenerating power of God Most High? It is a vapor, spent for what? Let’s spend eternity on and with Him, from now until forever.
7 My life is an example to many, because you have been my strength and protection.
How can the life of one person, any person, be so effecting? An effecting life is inevitable. The way one affects another is common, but how it affects others is a choice. Let us choose to be effective for the Lord!
We are examples in strength and in weakness. Whether we are strong in Him or dependant upon Him, this is our example to those we affect in this world.
Let’s change the destiny of those we influence beginning today, by changing our own courses.
As many as lead also follow someone, whether in righteousness or unrighteousness. Today, choose- Life that you and all who you will ever influence, will live eternally grateful to the Lord!


Daily Recital Verses -
Psalms 118:24
This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Proverbs 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength.

Friday, September 15, 2006

Psalm 70 Our Source and Supply

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.


Psalm 70
1 Please, God, rescue me! Come quickly, LORD, and help me.
2 May those who try to destroy me be humiliated and put to shame. May those who take delight in my trouble be turned back in disgrace.
3 Let them be horrified by their shame, for they said, "Aha! We've got him now!"
4 But may all who search for you be filled with joy and gladness. May those who love your salvation repeatedly shout, "God is great!"
5 But I am poor and needy; please hurry to my aid, O God. You are my helper and my savior; O LORD, do not delay!

Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living Translation

~ Lena’s Journalin’~
When we cry out for help, as all of us do, who do we cry to?
Think about it a moment.
There are enemies all about.
Enemies of our peace, of our provision, of our safety, of our health, our relationships, etc.
When we feel the crunch, who do we call upon?
Now you know every good Christian would immediately answer, “God” or “The Lord”, but as we look at our lives, our gut responses and reactions, we can see that we live what and with whom we really trust and rely on.
This Psalm says GOD, Rescue ME! Come quickly and help me!
I was thinking about how many times I try every other remedy to my problem and then when I’m desperate and seem to have no other answers I begin to consider the Lord and His word.
I don’t even think that manner of thinking, is out right defiance when we’ve done that. I think we feel responsible or something, and so we call upon ourselves, upon our own strength and wisdom, which we find runs out fairly quickly.
The scripture is clear on even this, we are not to rely on our own strength or really even give it the time of day.
Do you know what we give the most attention to is quite possibly our “god”, or the one we serve, or who has us as a subject? Or we could say, it has become our object of worship.
Even the 10 commandments are clear on this as being sin. “Thou shalt have No other gods before Me”. Notice it says gods, which is a little “g”, with an “s” on the end. That means we can rely on more than one source for strength, provision, stress relief, etc.
There are so many other helps in life, Dr.’s even prescribe help in the form of over the counter medications and prescription drugs. These help, don’t they, or do they? Then there’s the kind we can get ourselves like, illegal drugs or even perfectly legal substances like alcohol. These help, right, or do they? Then there are smaller addictive behaviors that try to help, like cigarettes, food, sex, etc. These bring help, or do they?
Ever notice we have to go back for more and more and more of these artificial substances and then their help lasts but mere moments? It seems the more you go to them, or the more time or money you spend on them they help less and less. This is because their source is not of anything but a temporary fix.
My help comes from the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth! Maker of me! He knows all I’m made of, all I need. I cry to Him and He rescues me. He’s there for trouble, sorrow, grief, pain, and especially love!
Have you ever noticed what the other helps and substances that try to sustain us have in common?
Money.
Do you know what money represents?
Your life. Money represents your life given over in exchange for something. So if I drink alcohol every night say to ease the pain of sorrow, I’ve worked all day long, I buy what I need, I consume it (as it also tries to consume me) and I “spend” my life this way. I give my life over to its desire for me. Instead of being lifted up and out of my sorrow, I dig or am buried deeper and deeper in my sorrow, I spend more and more time on it, and with it, and am never bettered. This source is not the God who loves me and cares for my soul, its source is the god of this world, who’s blinded me in unbelief of God’s eternal word and is trying to take me out of God’s mighty hands.
It is time to Cry out to THE LORD Today, where your true eternal life source is found.
We can only be found in Him, he is our Main source and supply. He’s THE LOVER of our souls.

Daily Recital Verses -
Psalms 118:24
This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Prov 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Psalm 68 We let God, Arise

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.

Psalm 68:1-35
For the choir director: A psalm of David. A song.
1 Arise, O God, and scatter your enemies. Let those who hate God run for their lives.
2 Drive them off like smoke blown by the wind. Melt them like wax in fire. Let the wicked perish in the presence of God.
3 But let the godly rejoice. Let them be glad in God's presence. Let them be filled with joy.
4 Sing praises to God and to his name! Sing loud praises to him who rides the clouds. His name is the LORD— rejoice in his presence!
5 Father to the fatherless, defender of widows— this is God, whose dwelling is holy.
6 God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy. But for rebels, there is only famine and distress.
7 O God, when you led your people from Egypt, when you marched through the wilderness,
Interlude
8 the earth trembled, and the heavens poured rain before you, the God of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel.
9 You sent abundant rain, O God, to refresh the weary Promised Land.
10 There your people finally settled, and with a bountiful harvest, O God, you provided for your needy people.
11 The Lord announces victory, and throngs of women shout the happy news.
12 Enemy kings and their armies flee, while the women of Israel divide the plunder.
13 Though they lived among the sheepfolds, now they are covered with silver and gold, as a dove is covered by its wings.
14 The Almighty scattered the enemy kings like a blowing snowstorm on Mount Zalmon.
15 The majestic mountains of Bashan stretch high into the sky.
16 Why do you look with envy, O rugged mountains, at Mount Zion, where God has chosen to live, where the LORD himself will live forever?
17 Surrounded by unnumbered thousands of chariots, the Lord came from Mount Sinai into his sanctuary.
18 When you ascended to the heights, you led a crowd of captives. You received gifts from the people, even from those who rebelled against you. Now the LORD God will live among us here.
19 Praise the Lord; praise God our savior! For each day he carries us in his arms.
Interlude
20 Our God is a God who saves! The Sovereign LORD rescues us from death.
21 But God will smash the heads of his enemies, crushing the skulls of those who love their guilty ways.
22 The Lord says, "I will bring my enemies down from Bashan; I will bring them up from the depths of the sea.
23 You, my people, will wash your feet in their blood, and even your dogs will get their share!"
24 Your procession has come into view, O God— the procession of my God and King as he goes into the sanctuary.
25 Singers are in front, musicians are behind; with them are young women playing tambourines.
26 Praise God, all you people of Israel; praise the LORD, the source of Israel's life.
27 Look, the little tribe of Benjamin leads the way. Then comes a great throng of rulers from Judah and all the rulers of Zebulun and Naphtali.
28 Summon your might, O God. Display your power, O God, as you have in the past.
29 The kings of the earth are bringing tribute to your Temple in Jerusalem.
30 Rebuke these enemy nations— these wild animals lurking in the reeds, this herd of bulls among the weaker calves. Humble those who demand tribute from us. F48 Scatter the nations that delight in war.
31 Let Egypt come with gifts of precious metals; let Ethiopia F49 bow in submission to God.
32 Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth. Sing praises to the Lord.
Interlude
33 Sing to the one who rides across the ancient heavens, his mighty voice thundering from the sky.
34 Tell everyone about God's power. His majesty shines down on Israel; his strength is mighty in the heavens.
35 God is awesome in his sanctuary. The God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.
Praise be to God!
FOOTNOTES:F48: Or Humble them until they submit, bringing pieces of silver as tribute. F49: Hebrew Cush.
Copyright Statement:
Holy Bible, The New Living Translation

~ Lena’s Journalin’~
This passage says, “Let God arise”…and I say Amen. Now let’s look at what’s being said.
“Let”, that means someone gets a choice to or not to, right?
Then the writer says who to let, right? So we “let God”.
We “let” God do what? “Arise”.
“Arise”, means He’s there, He just may be pushed down and suffocated, not allowed to speak. Remember the person has to “let” this happen. He’ said He’d never leave us, yet He may be with us and silenced, because we’ve been steering this vehicle we all call life and He’s been in the back seat or even stuffed in the trunk. So maybe we could say it like this- “Let God take the wheel, apologize and invite Him out of the trunk, then what you’ve been waiting for will happen”!
Wow,
Let GOD……Arise
And Let ALLLL of His enemies be scattered.
Do you have enemies? Are yours and God’s enemies the same ones?
Get on God’s “team”, be in God’s “car”, get on His “side”, and watch the salvation of God arise in and through you.
When we get out of the way, we see what He desires to happen. He invites us to participate in His will for the earth. We can let that happen or not. We can do our own will or His will.
Now I did not say, we get out of the picture. No, we are all a part of this picture. Without us there is no picture. The enemy is after who looks like God, that’s us. He wants to play us against our Father and hurt our God through us. When we show Him we know that, we see that, and we aren’t gonna control the means of the outcome ourselves, but through true surrender we’re gonna win over him, because we chose to be in participation with God, God using us in the earth, he’s gonna be astounded that a people actually don’t control as he does, don’t manipulate as he does, don’t lord over as he does, and they now see that that’s the way they win!
So… Let God arise….

Daily Recital Verses -
Psalms 118:24
This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Prov 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength.