1 Corinthians 6: 1 - 20
1 When you have something against another Christian, why do you file a lawsuit and ask a secular court to decide the matter, instead of taking it to other Christians to decide who is right? 2 Don't you know that someday we Christians are going to judge the world? And since you are going to judge the world, can't you decide these little things among yourselves? 3 Don't you realize that we Christians will judge angels? So you should surely be able to resolve ordinary disagreements here on earth. 4 If you have legal disputes about such matters, why do you go to outside judges who are not respected by the church? 5 I am saying this to shame you. Isn't there anyone in all the church who is wise enough to decide these arguments? 6 But instead, one Christian F30 sues another – right in front of unbelievers! 7 To have such lawsuits at all is a real defeat for you. Why not just accept the injustice and leave it at that? Why not let yourselves be cheated? 8 But instead, you yourselves are the ones who do wrong and cheat even your own Christian brothers and sisters. F31
9 Don't you know that those who do wrong will have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don't fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, who are idol worshipers, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals, 10 thieves, greedy people, drunkards, abusers, and swindlers – none of these will have a share in the Kingdom of God. 11 There was a time when some of you were just like that, but now your sins have been washed away, F32 and you have been set apart for God. You have been made right with God because of what the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of our God have done for you.
12 You may say, "I am allowed to do anything." But I reply, "Not everything is good for you." And even though "I am allowed to do anything," I must not become a slave to anything. 13 You say, "Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food." This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them. But our bodies were not made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies. 14 And God will raise our bodies from the dead by his marvelous power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead. 15 Don't you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which belongs to Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! 16 And don't you know that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, "The two are united into one." F33 17 But the person who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18 Run away from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. 19 Or don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
~Lena's Journalin~
I am continually amazed in my own life just how many opportunities I personally have to DIS-agree about something with someone everyday, all of the time. In entering into the Unity of God’s Spirit and of the Oneness of Christ, I ought to and am now governing my own thoughts accordingly, asking the Holy Spirit to remind me of this very pull to daily disagree When I become more and more aware of these so called "opportunities" and recognize them as that which comes against the very nature and character of God’s Spirit which is alive inside of me, I can resist the "opportunities" given me by a world which has its sway against God.
Who cares who is right when we have the Spirit of Truth? If I cannot agree and be agreeable, continually making peace, than how can I really be sitting with Him in a seat of "judgement" where much more weighty matters occur than what I deal with daily? What is wrong? To be unmerciful, unforgiving, disloyal, unjust, haughty, etc… What is right? To do justly, love mercy and walk humbly before God, which will carry over to our relationships with men.
I just want to take a moment to describe the fleshly traits demonstrated in a spiritual light, we sometimes think if we are not committing the actual physical sin, we are ok, but God does not see as man sees-rarely. Sexual sin- what is sex? Intimacy, a demonstration of oneness in proper perspective to marriage, outside of covenant it is considered (by God) to be unholy or sinful. What and whom are we intimate with? One with? In covenant with? What fills our daily thoughts? What have we joined ourselves to?
Now about idol worship. Idolatry is worship. Worship is life lived for a reason beyond self, life given over to a person larger than we are, believing to become as it/He is with the purpose for change. The root actually denotes healing, meaning there is a source for change. What are we seeking after? What and how are we endeavoring to change? What is the source of the changes? Self discipline? Self will? Positive thinking? Or the River of God?
What about adultery? I’ve committed by the words of my mouth to ONE (Let’s see who catches THAT!), yet I look at or desire or go after others. I gave myself to ONE, but I give myself to others, with a whole band of excuses. Do you see this relating to our relationship with our husbandman, the Lord Jesus Christ?
Male Prostitutes? A prosititute sells, what was meant for covenant love, to anyone and everyone who wants to have some, with the false premise of supporting self, and trusting in self to supply. What of our faith-walk is based on our covenant love and the promises of that love? The truth of the Word of God. What do we so easily sell it for? TV time? Rest time? Me time? Worktime and more worktime? Whoesoever asks for my time? This specifies MALE as the gender. God made men to rule their homes and families with the Word of God as the guide on how to rule well. Not rule over as in dictatorship, but teaching and using it as a guide for their own lives demonstrated to their families, living proof, Living Words to the family and to the world. The men have been most tempted to sell this position to whatever else calls them. Get that one also? Whoever "calls " them?
Homosexuals. A specific sex enjoying the benefits of God-given covenant love outside of the ability to reproduce, outside of the call to agree with one who is NOT like me. Refusal to be a part of that which reproduces life, because of a desire to be only around one who is just as I am, just like me in nature-flesh nature- no conflict, no struggle, no change required of me by another unlike me.
Thieves- taking what does not belong to me, with natural force. Greed would take one to that place. Greed being a desire for what is not naturally mine.
Drunkards-ones who are continually "under the influence" of another substance than that which brings life. That which only satisfies for a mere moment and then fades away with its false promise for better. What influences about us are false and of a deceptive nature? There’s even a falsehood spread among the church, that Christianity is for our comfort and satisfaction. No, rather, God called us for and to Himself to accomplish His dreams in the earth. Melinda, we are His work-man-ship! :-)
Abusers, that speaks well for itself.
Swindlers. Ew boy, this one wreaks of manipulation. Forcing things to happen the way we believe they should happen. Ishmael’s. We can even do this with what we believe God is telling us to do. Did we go back to God and ask, "How should I accomplish that plan?", or rather, "How would You like for me to walk out that journey and meet that goal?"
Notice it states that we all at times have struggled through many of the things in this list, but as we are willing to let God mold and change us and to recognize any and all of these as sin, He is Faithful and just to forgive and cleanse us from our sin(1 Jn 1:9) and why would He so gladly pardon us when we’ve been "terribly rebellious" for a longtime? Every pardon shows forth the power of the cross, demonstrates the evidence of His love for us and sets us on a pathway for life and the passing on of sonship to others.
Allowed? Of course we are "Allowed", we are freewill beings, whom God will not override the will of. So, sure, we can do whatever we want, but what do we really want to do Our pastor used to be a drug addict and at times he would say, I smoke all of the pot I want. People would gasp, then he would state, His desire had changed and he has no more appetite for sin. His appetite is now for truth and righteousness. So yeah, we can watch any program on TV we want, and we can stay home from fellowship if we want, and we can pay more attention to other things and make more money to buy more of what we desire, or we can make a choice to fulfill and be right inside of the center of God’s will and plan. What an awesome price He paid for us to join ourselves to His plan! Wow!
Monday, July 18, 2005
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Servers
Dear Ones !
I apologize for being missing in action. My server was down for 3 days and today I uninstalled and reinstalled it to get it back up!
Happy Anniversary Roger & Melinda Carpenter!
Love to all, we'll see ya back online soon....
I'm off to a Cell Beach Bash w/ family & neighbors!
Love, Lena
I apologize for being missing in action. My server was down for 3 days and today I uninstalled and reinstalled it to get it back up!
Happy Anniversary Roger & Melinda Carpenter!
Love to all, we'll see ya back online soon....
I'm off to a Cell Beach Bash w/ family & neighbors!
Love, Lena
Friday, July 15, 2005
Today Our Daily Bread Hebrews 1
Hebrews 1: 1 - 14
1 Going through a long line of prophets, God has been addressing our ancestors in different ways for centuries. 2 Recently he spoke to us directly through his Son. By his Son, God created the world in the beginning, and it will all belong to the Son at the end. 3 This Son perfectly mirrors God, and is stamped with God's nature. He holds everything together by what he says - powerful words!
The Son Is Higher than Angels 4 far higher than any angel in rank and rule. 5 Did God ever say to an angel, "You're my Son; today I celebrate you"? Or, "I'm his Father, he's my Son"? 6 When he presents his honored Son to the world, he says, "All angels must worship him." 7 Regarding angels he says, The messengers are winds, the servants are tongues of fire. 8 But he says to the Son, You're God, and on the throne for good; your rule makes everything right. 9 You love it when things are right; you hate it when things are wrong. That is why God, your God, poured fragrant oil on your head, Marking you out as king, far above your dear companions. 10 And again to the Son, You, Master, started it all, laid earth's foundations, then crafted the stars in the sky.
11 Earth and sky will wear out, but not you; they become threadbare like an old coat; 12 You'll fold them up like a worn-out cloak, and lay them away on the shelf. But you'll stay the same, year after year; you'll never fade, you'll never wear out. 13 And did he ever say anything like this to an angel? Sit alongside me here on my throne Until I make your enemies a stool for your feet. 14 Isn't it obvious that all angels are sent to help out with those lined up to receive salvation?
~Lena's Journalin'~
Ever think of angel worship? And what is worship anyway? Attending to one person, thought, idea, activity more than all others. Giving the last word of consideration to. Living one’s life around and for. Regarding higher than others. Devoting to. Remember angels are both of the nature of God and of the nature of satan. We see a lot of the nature of satanic angels in our world, because they have fallen from the heavenlies and try to rule here, because they could not rule the way they desired to rule there. Their desire has not changed and this is the realm they govern when allowed or when given power to by us, or when attended to in idea, activity or thought. What have we given our thoughts to? That we worship. Ever hear "You are what you eat?" What is "eating"? Taking in and making to become a part of my life. Taking from what is outside and putting it inside of my being, therefore becoming one with my being and my life. What have I taken in from the "outside" that I’ve mulled over on the inside and "eaten"? Is it heaven’s manna, or the world’s bread dished out for me in great and free portions? What have I "swallowed"? "Consumed"? Or what has "consumed" me? Has my faith-walk been given increase by it, or decreased and possibly been threatened? Am I being well served in my walk of salvation by forces I perceive greater than I, or am I being warred against in my relationship with God? If it is warring against me, I must give it/them NO place. God has sent me here to take back "land" for the furtherance of His kingdom. My life is being used by God to take back this land, and so is yours, when you become aware of it and stand for no other occupied spaces. Do we know who we are? Whos we are? If we are seated with Him, in the heavenlies, far above ALL principalities/powers/mights/dominions AND Christ is IN us, so that He and I are ONE as He and the Father are NE, than who am I? I am one who has been given dominion by God, stewardship of the souls of the earth. (Gen 1:28, Mk 16:15-17) Do I believe the risen Lord Jesus Christ is in me or not? I show what I believe by the way I "eat", the way I live, the way I talk, how I fellowship Him, if I do or don’t, it shows what or how I believe. There are more who are with us than those who are with "them", Amen !
1 Going through a long line of prophets, God has been addressing our ancestors in different ways for centuries. 2 Recently he spoke to us directly through his Son. By his Son, God created the world in the beginning, and it will all belong to the Son at the end. 3 This Son perfectly mirrors God, and is stamped with God's nature. He holds everything together by what he says - powerful words!
The Son Is Higher than Angels 4 far higher than any angel in rank and rule. 5 Did God ever say to an angel, "You're my Son; today I celebrate you"? Or, "I'm his Father, he's my Son"? 6 When he presents his honored Son to the world, he says, "All angels must worship him." 7 Regarding angels he says, The messengers are winds, the servants are tongues of fire. 8 But he says to the Son, You're God, and on the throne for good; your rule makes everything right. 9 You love it when things are right; you hate it when things are wrong. That is why God, your God, poured fragrant oil on your head, Marking you out as king, far above your dear companions. 10 And again to the Son, You, Master, started it all, laid earth's foundations, then crafted the stars in the sky.
11 Earth and sky will wear out, but not you; they become threadbare like an old coat; 12 You'll fold them up like a worn-out cloak, and lay them away on the shelf. But you'll stay the same, year after year; you'll never fade, you'll never wear out. 13 And did he ever say anything like this to an angel? Sit alongside me here on my throne Until I make your enemies a stool for your feet. 14 Isn't it obvious that all angels are sent to help out with those lined up to receive salvation?
~Lena's Journalin'~
Ever think of angel worship? And what is worship anyway? Attending to one person, thought, idea, activity more than all others. Giving the last word of consideration to. Living one’s life around and for. Regarding higher than others. Devoting to. Remember angels are both of the nature of God and of the nature of satan. We see a lot of the nature of satanic angels in our world, because they have fallen from the heavenlies and try to rule here, because they could not rule the way they desired to rule there. Their desire has not changed and this is the realm they govern when allowed or when given power to by us, or when attended to in idea, activity or thought. What have we given our thoughts to? That we worship. Ever hear "You are what you eat?" What is "eating"? Taking in and making to become a part of my life. Taking from what is outside and putting it inside of my being, therefore becoming one with my being and my life. What have I taken in from the "outside" that I’ve mulled over on the inside and "eaten"? Is it heaven’s manna, or the world’s bread dished out for me in great and free portions? What have I "swallowed"? "Consumed"? Or what has "consumed" me? Has my faith-walk been given increase by it, or decreased and possibly been threatened? Am I being well served in my walk of salvation by forces I perceive greater than I, or am I being warred against in my relationship with God? If it is warring against me, I must give it/them NO place. God has sent me here to take back "land" for the furtherance of His kingdom. My life is being used by God to take back this land, and so is yours, when you become aware of it and stand for no other occupied spaces. Do we know who we are? Whos we are? If we are seated with Him, in the heavenlies, far above ALL principalities/powers/mights/dominions AND Christ is IN us, so that He and I are ONE as He and the Father are NE, than who am I? I am one who has been given dominion by God, stewardship of the souls of the earth. (Gen 1:28, Mk 16:15-17) Do I believe the risen Lord Jesus Christ is in me or not? I show what I believe by the way I "eat", the way I live, the way I talk, how I fellowship Him, if I do or don’t, it shows what or how I believe. There are more who are with us than those who are with "them", Amen !
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Today Our Daily Bread Ephesians 3
Ephesians 3: 1 - 21
1 I, Paul, am a prisoner of Christ Jesus because of my preaching to you Gentiles. 2 As you already know, God has given me this special ministry of announcing his favor to you Gentiles. 3 As I briefly mentioned earlier in this letter, God himself revealed his secret plan to me. 4 As you read what I have written, you will understand what I know about this plan regarding Christ. 5 God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now he has revealed it by the Holy Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets. 6 And this is the secret plan: The Gentiles have an equal share with the Jews in all the riches inherited by God's children. Both groups have believed the Good News, and both are part of the same body and enjoy together the promise of blessings through Christ Jesus. 7 By God's special favor and mighty power, I have been given the wonderful privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News. 8 Just think! Though I did nothing to deserve it, and though I am the least deserving Christian there is, I was chosen for this special joy of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ. 9 I was chosen to explain to everyone this plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning. 10 God's purpose was to show his wisdom in all its rich variety to all the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. They will see this when Jews and Gentiles are joined together in his church. 11 This was his plan from all eternity, and it has now been carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come fearlessly into God's presence, assured of his glad welcome. 13 So please don't despair because of what they are doing to me here. It is for you that I am suffering, so you should feel honored and encouraged.
14 When I think of the wisdom and scope of God's plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit. 17 And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. 20 Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope. 21 May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages. Amen.
~Lena's Journalin' ~
When was the last time you felt honored and encouraged for suffering? Why? Or why not? One can suffer greatly if there is a "reward" or an understood purpose, even if it is never physically seen, There is no reward anywhere at anytime as great as eternal life brought back to ones who were doomed to eternal death. Can you hear Paul’s heart of the privilege it is to serve God in this manner, how it is the most important thing there is to do and be? That the hardest group on earth at that time, the most contentious group, the most separated group was brought to oneness in Christ. It is the most important thing to God to bring us into oneness with His life giving Spirit, no wonder all of hell wants to make sure it is NOT accomplished at a personal level. Really there is nothing else to talk about. Again this prayer is the crux of God’s heart for all of us as believers and unbelievers alike. If we do not see Him, He is not revealed, if He is not revealed, we are attached to death and hell, if we do not become unattached to death and hell we won’t be able to be attached to life, if we are attached to life, we can see enough to have the same heart as God to bring others out of death to life. Oh, God, let us SEE YOU, let us See purpose, Let us See Your heart’s cry for us and for the world You created ! The love of Our Father God IS the key, is the revelation we need, what greater love has any man than he literally lay down His life for another. God in His person-ality, in His Godness, did this as us. God showed us how much He loves us, and how much He loves the world we now live in. We were born in this timeframe, not to spend time on nothingness, but to utilize time with Him, to know Him and most of all to make Him known, We must repent in action for wasted time. We must rise up in what we see and believe and do His works. It starts each day in His presence, in His love.
1 I, Paul, am a prisoner of Christ Jesus because of my preaching to you Gentiles. 2 As you already know, God has given me this special ministry of announcing his favor to you Gentiles. 3 As I briefly mentioned earlier in this letter, God himself revealed his secret plan to me. 4 As you read what I have written, you will understand what I know about this plan regarding Christ. 5 God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now he has revealed it by the Holy Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets. 6 And this is the secret plan: The Gentiles have an equal share with the Jews in all the riches inherited by God's children. Both groups have believed the Good News, and both are part of the same body and enjoy together the promise of blessings through Christ Jesus. 7 By God's special favor and mighty power, I have been given the wonderful privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News. 8 Just think! Though I did nothing to deserve it, and though I am the least deserving Christian there is, I was chosen for this special joy of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ. 9 I was chosen to explain to everyone this plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning. 10 God's purpose was to show his wisdom in all its rich variety to all the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. They will see this when Jews and Gentiles are joined together in his church. 11 This was his plan from all eternity, and it has now been carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come fearlessly into God's presence, assured of his glad welcome. 13 So please don't despair because of what they are doing to me here. It is for you that I am suffering, so you should feel honored and encouraged.
14 When I think of the wisdom and scope of God's plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit. 17 And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. 20 Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope. 21 May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages. Amen.
~Lena's Journalin' ~
When was the last time you felt honored and encouraged for suffering? Why? Or why not? One can suffer greatly if there is a "reward" or an understood purpose, even if it is never physically seen, There is no reward anywhere at anytime as great as eternal life brought back to ones who were doomed to eternal death. Can you hear Paul’s heart of the privilege it is to serve God in this manner, how it is the most important thing there is to do and be? That the hardest group on earth at that time, the most contentious group, the most separated group was brought to oneness in Christ. It is the most important thing to God to bring us into oneness with His life giving Spirit, no wonder all of hell wants to make sure it is NOT accomplished at a personal level. Really there is nothing else to talk about. Again this prayer is the crux of God’s heart for all of us as believers and unbelievers alike. If we do not see Him, He is not revealed, if He is not revealed, we are attached to death and hell, if we do not become unattached to death and hell we won’t be able to be attached to life, if we are attached to life, we can see enough to have the same heart as God to bring others out of death to life. Oh, God, let us SEE YOU, let us See purpose, Let us See Your heart’s cry for us and for the world You created ! The love of Our Father God IS the key, is the revelation we need, what greater love has any man than he literally lay down His life for another. God in His person-ality, in His Godness, did this as us. God showed us how much He loves us, and how much He loves the world we now live in. We were born in this timeframe, not to spend time on nothingness, but to utilize time with Him, to know Him and most of all to make Him known, We must repent in action for wasted time. We must rise up in what we see and believe and do His works. It starts each day in His presence, in His love.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Today Our Daily Bread Eph 2
Ephesians 2: 1 - 22
1 Once you were dead, doomed forever because of your many sins. 2 You used to live just like the rest of the world, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passions and desires of our evil nature. We were born with an evil nature, and we were under God's anger just like everyone else.
4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, 5 that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God's special favor that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms – all because we are one with Christ Jesus. 7 And so God can always point to us as examples of the incredible wealth of his favor and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us through Christ Jesus. 8 God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
11 Don't forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders by birth. You were called "the uncircumcised ones" by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. 12 In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from God's people, Israel, and you did not know the promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13 But now you belong to Christ Jesus. Though you once were far away from God, now you have been brought near to him because of the blood of Christ.
14 For Christ himself has made peace between us Jews and you Gentiles by making us all one people. He has broken down the wall of hostility that used to separate us. 15 By his death he ended the whole system of Jewish law that excluded the Gentiles. His purpose was to make peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new person from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. 17 He has brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and to us Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us, both Jews and Gentiles, may come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. 19 So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God's holy people. You are members of God's family. 20 We are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 21 We who believe are carefully joined together, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. 22 Through him you Gentiles are also joined together as part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.
~Lena’s Journalin’~
Did you read what I just read? God points to US as examples of His incredible favor and kindness! He’s a proud Papa, saying look at these kids, they are evidence of what I’ve done, what I can and will do. We are His work of art- masterpieces. How could we ever come near to God? Only through the sacrifice that was made in our place, through the blood of the ultimate sacrifice of God’s Son Jesus. This has got to be a forever impacting thought. What is taking up space on earth? Who is inviting Him in? I’m seeing that this whole life is about who gets "the land" who occupies the space, who takes the place in my heart? Who gets rulership in and of me? Whoever that is given over to is who wins in my life. I’m so thankful for His rule(s), I’m so thankful that He’s taking up space in my life and that he’s overflowing form me enough that someone else can get a taste enough to allow Him the consideration of taking up rule and space in their lives also. We as believers are displacing principalities and powers that have riled us, in us, around us. We as believers are giving God the land back each and every time we obey God’s Spirit, territory is taken out of God’s enemy’s hands! I keep seeing occupation. I keep seeing that God’s people who are getting revelation are becoming willing to let God rule, because they finally see the power that will be unleashed when each one as one joins with God and makes multitudes of obedient sons who unlock God the father’s power to change the world. The more we choose to disobey, the more the earth groans, hurts, cries out in agony. Sons of God arise to your destiny in God. Destiny in God is not self-centered, like having the right job or living in a certain city, Destiny is about knowing and living for Christ wherever you are, it is about telling anyone who will hear who He is and who they are, so that WE, as One, can work the work of God together, pushing back darkness and releasing light. It is NOT about cars and houses, jobs and career goals, corporate ladders or clout. It is about the souls of dying people going to hell if we chose to continually disobey. God wants us to use these other "things" only as tools to further His kingdom.
1 Once you were dead, doomed forever because of your many sins. 2 You used to live just like the rest of the world, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passions and desires of our evil nature. We were born with an evil nature, and we were under God's anger just like everyone else.
4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, 5 that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God's special favor that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms – all because we are one with Christ Jesus. 7 And so God can always point to us as examples of the incredible wealth of his favor and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us through Christ Jesus. 8 God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
11 Don't forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders by birth. You were called "the uncircumcised ones" by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. 12 In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from God's people, Israel, and you did not know the promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13 But now you belong to Christ Jesus. Though you once were far away from God, now you have been brought near to him because of the blood of Christ.
14 For Christ himself has made peace between us Jews and you Gentiles by making us all one people. He has broken down the wall of hostility that used to separate us. 15 By his death he ended the whole system of Jewish law that excluded the Gentiles. His purpose was to make peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new person from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. 17 He has brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and to us Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us, both Jews and Gentiles, may come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. 19 So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God's holy people. You are members of God's family. 20 We are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 21 We who believe are carefully joined together, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. 22 Through him you Gentiles are also joined together as part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.
~Lena’s Journalin’~
Did you read what I just read? God points to US as examples of His incredible favor and kindness! He’s a proud Papa, saying look at these kids, they are evidence of what I’ve done, what I can and will do. We are His work of art- masterpieces. How could we ever come near to God? Only through the sacrifice that was made in our place, through the blood of the ultimate sacrifice of God’s Son Jesus. This has got to be a forever impacting thought. What is taking up space on earth? Who is inviting Him in? I’m seeing that this whole life is about who gets "the land" who occupies the space, who takes the place in my heart? Who gets rulership in and of me? Whoever that is given over to is who wins in my life. I’m so thankful for His rule(s), I’m so thankful that He’s taking up space in my life and that he’s overflowing form me enough that someone else can get a taste enough to allow Him the consideration of taking up rule and space in their lives also. We as believers are displacing principalities and powers that have riled us, in us, around us. We as believers are giving God the land back each and every time we obey God’s Spirit, territory is taken out of God’s enemy’s hands! I keep seeing occupation. I keep seeing that God’s people who are getting revelation are becoming willing to let God rule, because they finally see the power that will be unleashed when each one as one joins with God and makes multitudes of obedient sons who unlock God the father’s power to change the world. The more we choose to disobey, the more the earth groans, hurts, cries out in agony. Sons of God arise to your destiny in God. Destiny in God is not self-centered, like having the right job or living in a certain city, Destiny is about knowing and living for Christ wherever you are, it is about telling anyone who will hear who He is and who they are, so that WE, as One, can work the work of God together, pushing back darkness and releasing light. It is NOT about cars and houses, jobs and career goals, corporate ladders or clout. It is about the souls of dying people going to hell if we chose to continually disobey. God wants us to use these other "things" only as tools to further His kingdom.
Yesterday Our Daily Bread Eph 1
Ephesians 1: 1 - 23
1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. It is written to God's holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus. 2 May grace and peace be yours, sent to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
3 How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we belong to Christ. 4 Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the wonderful kindness he has poured out on us because we belong to his dearly loved Son. 7 He is so rich in kindness that he purchased our freedom through the blood of his Son, and our sins are forgiven. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. 9 God's secret plan has now been revealed to us; it is a plan centered on Christ, designed long ago according to his good pleasure. 10 And this is his plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ – everything in heaven and on earth. 11 Furthermore, because of Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us from the beginning, and all things happen just as he decided long ago. 12 God's purpose was that we who were the first to trust in Christ should praise our glorious God. 13 And now you also have heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God's guarantee that he will give us everything he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God..
15 Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for Christians everywhere, 16 I have never stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, 17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. 18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the wonderful future he has promised to those he called. I want you to realize what a rich and glorious inheritance he has given to his people. F3 19 I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of his power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms. 21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else in this world or in the world to come. 22 And God has put all things under the authority of Christ, and he gave him this authority for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is filled by Christ, who fills everything everywhere with his presence.
~Lena’s Journalin’~
If the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of the promises of God fulfilled, then if we refuse to believe He is, we must also refuse to believe in God’s promises. We’ve got to realize that the Holy Spirit is God and that this is the person of God that we have been given by Christ Jesus and the Father, if we refuse Him, we refuse God! Do you realize what refusing God does to the earth? Read Romans 1, why does th earth groan and travail? We, God’s own people do not acknowledge Him, the part of Him that was left to us in the earth to accomplish God'’ will. Do we really think we can accomplish God'’ will on our own, with no empowerment by God’s own Spirit? "Good luck trying!" This is what a lot of Christianity has been, a work of flesh, a trial and err walk. God wants His power for us to be witnesses of His promises unleashed in the earth where we live, not in heaven later on, The power of God is immeasurable in the heavenlies, but in the earth it has barely been seen. Jesus had the spirit of God without measure, why do we pick and choose the part of God we desire or not? He chose us! Think about that one, How I was, who I was, He chose me, and I turn around and refuse Him? I was speaking to our son a day or two ago, about atmospheres in different parts of the US. Some cities or vicinities seem to have a strong religious cape over them, others have darkness looming over and others are somehow void of any life of God. I told Him that I believe it has to do with the churches in those areas and how they have refused or obeyed God’s spirit. When the Spirit of God knocks on a church’s door and asks for change, and asks to come in and occupy more space than what was previously allowed; or asks a group of people to see more than they did, or go this direction, and they refuse Him, there is actually a curse unlocked over that area, especially if He has been refused over and over again. God’s Spirit is a gentlemanly spirit, He will not always strive w/ man (can you find that scripture?)He will not force us to obey Him, and if we refuse Him, He just leaves, the light goes away (Rev 3), and when a place is void of God, it is dark, gloomy and on its own. The only way to freedom from a self- inflicted curse, is to repent. Repentance is turning in another direction, apologizing for not having a loving response to God. It is really hard for that to happen, when a whole group of people have come into agreement against God, it sets that group up for desensitivity and hard-heartedness. I said it was hard, but not impossible. God can break down any wall, it begins with willing hearts that agree in prayer. I’ve seen areas of the country that were once dark, lighting up with a few obedient sons and daughters who have been willing to pray and pierce through the darkness. Man, there is nothing like when God’s Spirit is unleashed in a place that was dark and cold to Him before! The prayer exemplified in Vs 15-20 is that type of prayer that will unleash freedom and the Spirit of God to take place and displace other forces. Who are we? Forces to be reckoned with? Yes, in Christ and Christ in us- we are. Do we know who we are? Do we realize who lives in us? Do we see Him as He is in us? Whew! We’ve got to have our eyes opened so we can see, get a glimpse He’s AWESOME- in me
1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. It is written to God's holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus. 2 May grace and peace be yours, sent to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
3 How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we belong to Christ. 4 Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the wonderful kindness he has poured out on us because we belong to his dearly loved Son. 7 He is so rich in kindness that he purchased our freedom through the blood of his Son, and our sins are forgiven. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. 9 God's secret plan has now been revealed to us; it is a plan centered on Christ, designed long ago according to his good pleasure. 10 And this is his plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ – everything in heaven and on earth. 11 Furthermore, because of Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us from the beginning, and all things happen just as he decided long ago. 12 God's purpose was that we who were the first to trust in Christ should praise our glorious God. 13 And now you also have heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God's guarantee that he will give us everything he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God..
15 Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for Christians everywhere, 16 I have never stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, 17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. 18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the wonderful future he has promised to those he called. I want you to realize what a rich and glorious inheritance he has given to his people. F3 19 I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of his power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms. 21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else in this world or in the world to come. 22 And God has put all things under the authority of Christ, and he gave him this authority for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is filled by Christ, who fills everything everywhere with his presence.
~Lena’s Journalin’~
If the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of the promises of God fulfilled, then if we refuse to believe He is, we must also refuse to believe in God’s promises. We’ve got to realize that the Holy Spirit is God and that this is the person of God that we have been given by Christ Jesus and the Father, if we refuse Him, we refuse God! Do you realize what refusing God does to the earth? Read Romans 1, why does th earth groan and travail? We, God’s own people do not acknowledge Him, the part of Him that was left to us in the earth to accomplish God'’ will. Do we really think we can accomplish God'’ will on our own, with no empowerment by God’s own Spirit? "Good luck trying!" This is what a lot of Christianity has been, a work of flesh, a trial and err walk. God wants His power for us to be witnesses of His promises unleashed in the earth where we live, not in heaven later on, The power of God is immeasurable in the heavenlies, but in the earth it has barely been seen. Jesus had the spirit of God without measure, why do we pick and choose the part of God we desire or not? He chose us! Think about that one, How I was, who I was, He chose me, and I turn around and refuse Him? I was speaking to our son a day or two ago, about atmospheres in different parts of the US. Some cities or vicinities seem to have a strong religious cape over them, others have darkness looming over and others are somehow void of any life of God. I told Him that I believe it has to do with the churches in those areas and how they have refused or obeyed God’s spirit. When the Spirit of God knocks on a church’s door and asks for change, and asks to come in and occupy more space than what was previously allowed; or asks a group of people to see more than they did, or go this direction, and they refuse Him, there is actually a curse unlocked over that area, especially if He has been refused over and over again. God’s Spirit is a gentlemanly spirit, He will not always strive w/ man (can you find that scripture?)He will not force us to obey Him, and if we refuse Him, He just leaves, the light goes away (Rev 3), and when a place is void of God, it is dark, gloomy and on its own. The only way to freedom from a self- inflicted curse, is to repent. Repentance is turning in another direction, apologizing for not having a loving response to God. It is really hard for that to happen, when a whole group of people have come into agreement against God, it sets that group up for desensitivity and hard-heartedness. I said it was hard, but not impossible. God can break down any wall, it begins with willing hearts that agree in prayer. I’ve seen areas of the country that were once dark, lighting up with a few obedient sons and daughters who have been willing to pray and pierce through the darkness. Man, there is nothing like when God’s Spirit is unleashed in a place that was dark and cold to Him before! The prayer exemplified in Vs 15-20 is that type of prayer that will unleash freedom and the Spirit of God to take place and displace other forces. Who are we? Forces to be reckoned with? Yes, in Christ and Christ in us- we are. Do we know who we are? Do we realize who lives in us? Do we see Him as He is in us? Whew! We’ve got to have our eyes opened so we can see, get a glimpse He’s AWESOME- in me
Monday, July 11, 2005
Today Our Daily Bread Isaiah 14
Matthew 24:37 "When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day. There were influences that pulled at the original purpose of the earth and its inhabitants. The influences were great in number and stature and had to be overcome- personally annihilated in order for the purpose of God to thrive, and so it also is now in our day.
Luke 12:25 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not Can worrying about the number of influences or the size of them change their influence on us? Can it help anyone else with what overwhelmes and overcomes them? Only the peace of and trust and reliance upon God can bring defeat to the influences of the world and its continual pull and sway for evil.
Isaiah 14: 1 - 32
1 But the LORD will have mercy on the descendants of Jacob. Israel will be his special people once again. He will bring them back to settle once again in their own land. And people from many different nations will come and join them there and become a part of the people of Israel. 2 The nations of the world will help the LORD's people to return, and those who come to live in their land will serve them. Those who captured Israel will be captured, and Israel will rule over its enemies. 3 In that wonderful day when the LORD gives his people rest from sorrow and fear, from slavery and chains,
4 you will taunt the king of Babylon. You will say, "The mighty man has been destroyed. Yes, your insolence is ended. 5 For the LORD has crushed your wicked power and broken your evil rule. 6 You persecuted the people with unceasing blows of rage and held the nations in your angry grip. Your tyranny was unrestrained.
7 But at last the land is at rest and is quiet. Finally it can sing again! 8 Even the trees of the forest – the cypress trees and the cedars of Lebanon – sing out this joyous song: 'Your power is broken! No one will come to cut us down now!' 9 "In the place of the dead there is excitement over your arrival. World leaders and mighty kings long dead are there to see you. 10 With one voice they all cry out, 'Now you are as weak as we are! 11 Your might and power are gone; they were buried with you. All the pleasant music in your palace has ceased. Now maggots are your sheet and worms your blanket.' 12 "How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. 13 For you said to yourself, 'I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God's stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. 14 I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.' 15 But instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead, down to its lowest depths. 16 Everyone there will stare at you and ask, 'Can this be the one who shook the earth and the kingdoms of the world? 17 Is this the one who destroyed the world and made it into a wilderness? Is this the king who demolished the world's greatest cities and had no mercy on his prisoners?' 18 "The kings of the nations lie in stately glory in their tombs, 19 but you will be thrown out of your grave like a worthless branch. Like a corpse trampled underfoot, you will be dumped into a mass grave with those killed in battle. You will descend to the pit. 20 You will not be given a proper burial, for you have destroyed your nation and slaughtered your people. Your son will not succeed you as king. 21 Kill the children of this sinner! Do not let them rise and conquer the land or rebuild the cities of the world." 22 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "I, myself, have risen against him! I will destroy his children and his children's children, so they will never sit on his throne. 23 I will make Babylon into a desolate land, a place of porcupines, filled with swamps and marshes. I will sweep the land with the broom of destruction. I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken!"
24 The LORD Almighty has sworn this oath: "It will all happen as I have planned. It will come about according to my purposes. 25 I will break the Assyrians when they are in Israel; I will trample them on my mountains. My people will no longer be their slaves. 26 I have a plan for the whole earth, for my mighty power reaches throughout the world. 27 The LORD Almighty has spoken – who can change his plans? When his hand moves, who can stop him?" 28 This message came to me the year King Ahaz died: 29 Do not rejoice, you Philistines, that the king who attacked you is dead. For even though that whip is broken, his son will be worse than his father ever was. From that snake a poisonous snake will be born, a fiery serpent to destroy you! 30 I will feed the poor in my pasture; the needy will lie down in peace. But as for you, I will wipe you out with famine. I will destroy the few who remain. 31 Weep, you Philistine cities, for you are doomed! Melt in fear, for everyone will be destroyed. A powerful army is coming out of the north. Each soldier rushes forward ready to fight. 32 What should we tell the enemy messengers? Tell them that the LORD has built Jerusalem, and that the poor of his people will find refuge in its walls.
~Lena’s Journalin’~
Descendants of "Jacob", what does that mean? It means life was given and life was taken and perverted and lived in a manner that wars against God. Men were created to compliment and serve with God, yet a sway of evil and of deception led us to cross over to another side, serving another master, masked as ourselves, but in truth, in serving self we’ve served God’s supreme enemy. There’s been a reproduction of another kind, the rebellious against God kind, and God’s chosen people have crossed over through deception and lies. But our Father God is all about restoration of truth, restoration to the right (side). Jacob must become Israel, every last one. God’s enemy is angry, angry against God, he’s assembled an army against God and wants us to join. But do not be deceived, in the "end" God wins, so if we are on any other side, it’s not the right side. The heart of God is oneness and peace, the "heart" of satan is disagreement and war. Jacob or Israel? Where do we find ourselves, in our homes, in our churches, in our jobs, in the world, in the marketplace? At war or at peace? Who wins? Deception or truth? You or Him? Pride or humility? Pride IS the original "sin". Aspiration to be "right", to know all, to ascend, to win. God’s character houses these things, but they are not motivated by self and by pride. God is proud, sets goals, is right, knows all and wins, but the motivation is love. Jacob was the same person as Israel, yet the motivation was changed, the inner person was renewed by the presence of God. Israel must arise in the earth coming against the Jacob nature in the earth. It begins with me. I’ve got to see where this all started and take my self away from that which wars against God in the earth. I’ve got to refuse serving with satan’s force, if I see I can join forces with God to win the earth back to Him. Rising opposes falling. Let God arise (in me) and let all of His enemies be scattered (away from having any influence on me)
Luke 12:25 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not Can worrying about the number of influences or the size of them change their influence on us? Can it help anyone else with what overwhelmes and overcomes them? Only the peace of and trust and reliance upon God can bring defeat to the influences of the world and its continual pull and sway for evil.
Isaiah 14: 1 - 32
1 But the LORD will have mercy on the descendants of Jacob. Israel will be his special people once again. He will bring them back to settle once again in their own land. And people from many different nations will come and join them there and become a part of the people of Israel. 2 The nations of the world will help the LORD's people to return, and those who come to live in their land will serve them. Those who captured Israel will be captured, and Israel will rule over its enemies. 3 In that wonderful day when the LORD gives his people rest from sorrow and fear, from slavery and chains,
4 you will taunt the king of Babylon. You will say, "The mighty man has been destroyed. Yes, your insolence is ended. 5 For the LORD has crushed your wicked power and broken your evil rule. 6 You persecuted the people with unceasing blows of rage and held the nations in your angry grip. Your tyranny was unrestrained.
7 But at last the land is at rest and is quiet. Finally it can sing again! 8 Even the trees of the forest – the cypress trees and the cedars of Lebanon – sing out this joyous song: 'Your power is broken! No one will come to cut us down now!' 9 "In the place of the dead there is excitement over your arrival. World leaders and mighty kings long dead are there to see you. 10 With one voice they all cry out, 'Now you are as weak as we are! 11 Your might and power are gone; they were buried with you. All the pleasant music in your palace has ceased. Now maggots are your sheet and worms your blanket.' 12 "How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. 13 For you said to yourself, 'I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God's stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. 14 I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.' 15 But instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead, down to its lowest depths. 16 Everyone there will stare at you and ask, 'Can this be the one who shook the earth and the kingdoms of the world? 17 Is this the one who destroyed the world and made it into a wilderness? Is this the king who demolished the world's greatest cities and had no mercy on his prisoners?' 18 "The kings of the nations lie in stately glory in their tombs, 19 but you will be thrown out of your grave like a worthless branch. Like a corpse trampled underfoot, you will be dumped into a mass grave with those killed in battle. You will descend to the pit. 20 You will not be given a proper burial, for you have destroyed your nation and slaughtered your people. Your son will not succeed you as king. 21 Kill the children of this sinner! Do not let them rise and conquer the land or rebuild the cities of the world." 22 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "I, myself, have risen against him! I will destroy his children and his children's children, so they will never sit on his throne. 23 I will make Babylon into a desolate land, a place of porcupines, filled with swamps and marshes. I will sweep the land with the broom of destruction. I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken!"
24 The LORD Almighty has sworn this oath: "It will all happen as I have planned. It will come about according to my purposes. 25 I will break the Assyrians when they are in Israel; I will trample them on my mountains. My people will no longer be their slaves. 26 I have a plan for the whole earth, for my mighty power reaches throughout the world. 27 The LORD Almighty has spoken – who can change his plans? When his hand moves, who can stop him?" 28 This message came to me the year King Ahaz died: 29 Do not rejoice, you Philistines, that the king who attacked you is dead. For even though that whip is broken, his son will be worse than his father ever was. From that snake a poisonous snake will be born, a fiery serpent to destroy you! 30 I will feed the poor in my pasture; the needy will lie down in peace. But as for you, I will wipe you out with famine. I will destroy the few who remain. 31 Weep, you Philistine cities, for you are doomed! Melt in fear, for everyone will be destroyed. A powerful army is coming out of the north. Each soldier rushes forward ready to fight. 32 What should we tell the enemy messengers? Tell them that the LORD has built Jerusalem, and that the poor of his people will find refuge in its walls.
~Lena’s Journalin’~
Descendants of "Jacob", what does that mean? It means life was given and life was taken and perverted and lived in a manner that wars against God. Men were created to compliment and serve with God, yet a sway of evil and of deception led us to cross over to another side, serving another master, masked as ourselves, but in truth, in serving self we’ve served God’s supreme enemy. There’s been a reproduction of another kind, the rebellious against God kind, and God’s chosen people have crossed over through deception and lies. But our Father God is all about restoration of truth, restoration to the right (side). Jacob must become Israel, every last one. God’s enemy is angry, angry against God, he’s assembled an army against God and wants us to join. But do not be deceived, in the "end" God wins, so if we are on any other side, it’s not the right side. The heart of God is oneness and peace, the "heart" of satan is disagreement and war. Jacob or Israel? Where do we find ourselves, in our homes, in our churches, in our jobs, in the world, in the marketplace? At war or at peace? Who wins? Deception or truth? You or Him? Pride or humility? Pride IS the original "sin". Aspiration to be "right", to know all, to ascend, to win. God’s character houses these things, but they are not motivated by self and by pride. God is proud, sets goals, is right, knows all and wins, but the motivation is love. Jacob was the same person as Israel, yet the motivation was changed, the inner person was renewed by the presence of God. Israel must arise in the earth coming against the Jacob nature in the earth. It begins with me. I’ve got to see where this all started and take my self away from that which wars against God in the earth. I’ve got to refuse serving with satan’s force, if I see I can join forces with God to win the earth back to Him. Rising opposes falling. Let God arise (in me) and let all of His enemies be scattered (away from having any influence on me)
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Today Our Daily Bread Luke 12
Luke 12: 1 - 59
1 Meanwhile, the crowds grew until thousands were milling about and crushing each other. Jesus turned first to his disciples and warned them, "Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees – beware of their hypocrisy. 2 The time is coming when everything will be revealed; all that is secret will be made public. 3 Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear!
4 "Dear friends, don't be afraid of those who want to kill you. They can only kill the body; they cannot do any more to you. 5 But I'll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill people and then throw them into hell.
6 "What is the price of five sparrows? A couple of pennies? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. 7 And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to him than a whole flock of sparrows.
8 "And I assure you of this: If anyone acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I, the Son of Man, will openly acknowledge that person in the presence of God's angels. 9 But if anyone denies me here on earth, I will deny that person before God's angels. 10 Yet those who speak against the Son of Man may be forgiven, but anyone who speaks blasphemies against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. 11 "And when you are brought to trial in the synagogues and before rulers and authorities, don't worry about what to say in your defense, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you what needs to be said even as you are standing there."
13 Then someone called from the crowd, "Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father's estate with me." 14 Jesus replied, "Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?" 15 Then he said, "Beware! Don't be greedy for what you don't have. Real life is not measured by how much we own." 16 And he gave an illustration: "A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. 17 In fact, his barns were full to overflowing. 18 So he said, 'I know! I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I'll have room enough to store everything. 19 And I'll sit back and say to myself, My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!' 20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get it all?' 21 "Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God."
22 Then turning to his disciples, Jesus said, "So I tell you, don't worry about everyday life – whether you have enough food to eat or clothes to wear. 23 For life consists of far more than food and clothing. 24 Look at the ravens. They don't need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds! 25 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not! 26 And if worry can't do little things like that, what's the use of worrying over bigger things? 27 "Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 28 And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won't he more surely care for you? You have so little faith! 29 And don't worry about food – what to eat and drink. Don't worry whether God will provide it for you. 30 These things dominate the thoughts of most people, but your Father already knows your needs. 31 He will give you all you need from day to day if you make the Kingdom of God your primary concern. 32 "So don't be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom. 33 "Sell what you have and give to those in need. This will store up treasure for you in heaven! And the purses of heaven have no holes in them. Your treasure will be safe – no thief can steal it and no moth can destroy it. 34 Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be. 35 "Be dressed for service and well prepared, 36 as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. 37 There will be special favor for those who are ready and waiting for his return. I tell you, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat! 38 He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn. F61 But whenever he comes, there will be special favor for his servants who are ready! 39 "Know this: A homeowner who knew exactly when a burglar was coming would not permit the house to be broken into. 40 You must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected."
41 Peter asked, "Lord, is this illustration just for us or for everyone?" 42 And the Lord replied, "I'm talking to any faithful, sensible servant to whom the master gives the responsibility of managing his household and feeding his family. 43 If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. 44 I assure you, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns. 45 But if the servant thinks, 'My master won't be back for a while,' and begins oppressing the other servants, partying, and getting drunk – 46 well, the master will return unannounced and unexpected. He will tear the servant apart and banish him with the unfaithful. 47 The servant will be severely punished, for though he knew his duty, he refused to do it. 48 "But people who are not aware that they are doing wrong will be punished only lightly. Much is required from those to whom much is given, and much more is required from those to whom much more is given.
49 "I have come to bring fire to the earth, and I wish that my task were already completed! 50 There is a terrible baptism ahead of me, and I am under a heavy burden until it is accomplished. 51 Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to bring strife and division! 52 From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against – or the other way around. 53 There will be a division between father and son, mother and daughter, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law."
54 Then Jesus turned to the crowd and said, "When you see clouds beginning to form in the west, you say, 'Here comes a shower.' And you are right. 55 When the south wind blows, you say, 'Today will be a scorcher.' And it is. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but you can't interpret these present times. 57 "Why can't you decide for yourselves what is right? 58 If you are on the way to court and you meet your accuser, try to settle the matter before it reaches the judge, or you may be sentenced and handed over to an officer and thrown in jail. 59 And if that happens, you won't be free again until you have paid the last penny."
~Lena's Journalin' ~
Yeast is a living growing substance which changes the state of what it is involved with. This Pharaseeical "yeast" seems to be that of living a phoney life and as long as it is masked it is ok, so it breeds lies and not truth. Beware is a warning from one who has known and is giving wisdom to those who need to know or else. What are you "under or in the influence of" ? PLEASE, be bold, acknowledge Him on earth, THAT’s why you are here, That’s why you are born again, That’s why you’ve received the Holy Spirit! If you struggle with obedience and boldness, then you need to receive the very character of Christ in you, you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We, just like Moses, are who we’ve been influenced to be, and so we need help in speaking right. The Holy Spirit will help us speak what is right, because he will help us live what is right. Storing up worldly wealth takes us from our relationship being able to be deepened with the Lord. The time and energy and effort we "spend" on working for things leaves us many times in need of Him. Our greediness for things, shut Him out. Two cannot dwell together unless they are agreed, we cannot serve two masters. It is impossible, we only have been given so many hours on earth. I’m feeling that even if we do not actually have worldly riches, we can meditate upon having them and God is a spirit, and we worship Him in spirit and truth. Do we think we can hide our thoughts, meditations and desires from god? No, and our desires will be the fruits of our actions. What is inside of our hearts and minds? The kingdom of God and it’s promotion and building? What do we inwardly dream of, and mediate on? This is not for someone else, stewardship has been given by God to each person born on earth. There is no escape, and we cannot opt out. We will give account to God. Fire in it’s composition is consuming in nature. It is more than influential, it is overwhelming. If He came to bring fire, what are we to bring? We’ve got to see the times. If we believe we are in "the end times", why would we hesitate at all to serve Him? Selfish greed is one reason, but fire can overcome that. He came to give us the Holy Ghost and fire, the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire. We’ve got to ignite with that consumation of covenant with Him.
1 Meanwhile, the crowds grew until thousands were milling about and crushing each other. Jesus turned first to his disciples and warned them, "Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees – beware of their hypocrisy. 2 The time is coming when everything will be revealed; all that is secret will be made public. 3 Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear!
4 "Dear friends, don't be afraid of those who want to kill you. They can only kill the body; they cannot do any more to you. 5 But I'll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill people and then throw them into hell.
6 "What is the price of five sparrows? A couple of pennies? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. 7 And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to him than a whole flock of sparrows.
8 "And I assure you of this: If anyone acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I, the Son of Man, will openly acknowledge that person in the presence of God's angels. 9 But if anyone denies me here on earth, I will deny that person before God's angels. 10 Yet those who speak against the Son of Man may be forgiven, but anyone who speaks blasphemies against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. 11 "And when you are brought to trial in the synagogues and before rulers and authorities, don't worry about what to say in your defense, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you what needs to be said even as you are standing there."
13 Then someone called from the crowd, "Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father's estate with me." 14 Jesus replied, "Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?" 15 Then he said, "Beware! Don't be greedy for what you don't have. Real life is not measured by how much we own." 16 And he gave an illustration: "A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. 17 In fact, his barns were full to overflowing. 18 So he said, 'I know! I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I'll have room enough to store everything. 19 And I'll sit back and say to myself, My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!' 20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get it all?' 21 "Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God."
22 Then turning to his disciples, Jesus said, "So I tell you, don't worry about everyday life – whether you have enough food to eat or clothes to wear. 23 For life consists of far more than food and clothing. 24 Look at the ravens. They don't need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds! 25 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not! 26 And if worry can't do little things like that, what's the use of worrying over bigger things? 27 "Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 28 And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won't he more surely care for you? You have so little faith! 29 And don't worry about food – what to eat and drink. Don't worry whether God will provide it for you. 30 These things dominate the thoughts of most people, but your Father already knows your needs. 31 He will give you all you need from day to day if you make the Kingdom of God your primary concern. 32 "So don't be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom. 33 "Sell what you have and give to those in need. This will store up treasure for you in heaven! And the purses of heaven have no holes in them. Your treasure will be safe – no thief can steal it and no moth can destroy it. 34 Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be. 35 "Be dressed for service and well prepared, 36 as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. 37 There will be special favor for those who are ready and waiting for his return. I tell you, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat! 38 He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn. F61 But whenever he comes, there will be special favor for his servants who are ready! 39 "Know this: A homeowner who knew exactly when a burglar was coming would not permit the house to be broken into. 40 You must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected."
41 Peter asked, "Lord, is this illustration just for us or for everyone?" 42 And the Lord replied, "I'm talking to any faithful, sensible servant to whom the master gives the responsibility of managing his household and feeding his family. 43 If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. 44 I assure you, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns. 45 But if the servant thinks, 'My master won't be back for a while,' and begins oppressing the other servants, partying, and getting drunk – 46 well, the master will return unannounced and unexpected. He will tear the servant apart and banish him with the unfaithful. 47 The servant will be severely punished, for though he knew his duty, he refused to do it. 48 "But people who are not aware that they are doing wrong will be punished only lightly. Much is required from those to whom much is given, and much more is required from those to whom much more is given.
49 "I have come to bring fire to the earth, and I wish that my task were already completed! 50 There is a terrible baptism ahead of me, and I am under a heavy burden until it is accomplished. 51 Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to bring strife and division! 52 From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against – or the other way around. 53 There will be a division between father and son, mother and daughter, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law."
54 Then Jesus turned to the crowd and said, "When you see clouds beginning to form in the west, you say, 'Here comes a shower.' And you are right. 55 When the south wind blows, you say, 'Today will be a scorcher.' And it is. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but you can't interpret these present times. 57 "Why can't you decide for yourselves what is right? 58 If you are on the way to court and you meet your accuser, try to settle the matter before it reaches the judge, or you may be sentenced and handed over to an officer and thrown in jail. 59 And if that happens, you won't be free again until you have paid the last penny."
~Lena's Journalin' ~
Yeast is a living growing substance which changes the state of what it is involved with. This Pharaseeical "yeast" seems to be that of living a phoney life and as long as it is masked it is ok, so it breeds lies and not truth. Beware is a warning from one who has known and is giving wisdom to those who need to know or else. What are you "under or in the influence of" ? PLEASE, be bold, acknowledge Him on earth, THAT’s why you are here, That’s why you are born again, That’s why you’ve received the Holy Spirit! If you struggle with obedience and boldness, then you need to receive the very character of Christ in you, you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We, just like Moses, are who we’ve been influenced to be, and so we need help in speaking right. The Holy Spirit will help us speak what is right, because he will help us live what is right. Storing up worldly wealth takes us from our relationship being able to be deepened with the Lord. The time and energy and effort we "spend" on working for things leaves us many times in need of Him. Our greediness for things, shut Him out. Two cannot dwell together unless they are agreed, we cannot serve two masters. It is impossible, we only have been given so many hours on earth. I’m feeling that even if we do not actually have worldly riches, we can meditate upon having them and God is a spirit, and we worship Him in spirit and truth. Do we think we can hide our thoughts, meditations and desires from god? No, and our desires will be the fruits of our actions. What is inside of our hearts and minds? The kingdom of God and it’s promotion and building? What do we inwardly dream of, and mediate on? This is not for someone else, stewardship has been given by God to each person born on earth. There is no escape, and we cannot opt out. We will give account to God. Fire in it’s composition is consuming in nature. It is more than influential, it is overwhelming. If He came to bring fire, what are we to bring? We’ve got to see the times. If we believe we are in "the end times", why would we hesitate at all to serve Him? Selfish greed is one reason, but fire can overcome that. He came to give us the Holy Ghost and fire, the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire. We’ve got to ignite with that consumation of covenant with Him.
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Today Our Daily Bread Jude
Jude
:1 This letter is from Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James.I am writing to all who are called to live in the love of God the Father and the care of Jesus Christ.:2 May you receive more and more of God's mercy, peace, and love.:3 Dearly loved friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the truth of the Good News.
God gave this unchanging truth once for all time to his holy people. :4 I say this because some godless people have wormed their way in among you, saying that God's forgiveness allows us to live immoral lives. The fate of such people was determined long ago, for they have turned against our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.:5 I must remind you – and you know it well – that even though the Lord rescued the whole nation of Israel from Egypt, he later destroyed every one of those who did not remain faithful. :6 And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the day of judgment. :7 And don't forget the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with sexual immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and are a warning of the eternal fire that will punish all who are evil.:8 Yet these false teachers, who claim authority from their dreams, live immoral lives, defy authority, and scoff at the power of the glorious ones.:9 But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse Satan of blasphemy, but simply said, "The Lord rebuke you." (This took place when Michael was arguing with Satan about Moses' body.) :10 But these people mock and curse the things they do not understand. Like animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and they bring about their own destruction. :11 How terrible it will be for them! For they follow the evil example of Cain, who killed his brother. Like Balaam, they will do anything for money. And like Korah, they will perish because of their rebellion.:12 When these people join you in fellowship meals celebrating the love of the Lord, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you. They are shameless in the way they care only about themselves. They are like clouds blowing over dry land without giving rain, promising much but producing nothing. They are like trees without fruit at harvesttime. They are not only dead but doubly dead, for they have been pulled out by the roots. :13 They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the dirty foam of their shameful deeds. They are wandering stars, heading for everlasting gloom and darkness.:14 Now Enoch, who lived seven generations after Adam, prophesied about these people. He said, "Look, the Lord is coming with thousands of his holy ones.:15 He will bring the people of the world to judgment. He will convict the ungodly of all the evil things they have done in rebellion and of all the insults that godless sinners have spoken against him.":16 These people are grumblers and complainers, doing whatever evil they feel like. They are loudmouthed braggarts, and they flatter others to get favors in return.:17 But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ told you, :18 that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to enjoy themselves in every evil way imaginable. :19 Now they are here, and they are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They live by natural instinct because they do not have God's Spirit living in them.:20 But you, dear friends, must continue to build your lives on the foundation of your holy faith. And continue to pray as you are directed by the Holy Spirit.:21 Live in such a way that God's love can bless you as you wait for the eternal life that our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy is going to give you. :22 Show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. :23 Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. There are still others to whom you need to show mercy, but be careful that you aren't contaminated by their sins. F7 :24 And now, all glory to God, who is able to keep you from stumbling, and who will bring you into his glorious presence innocent of sin and with great joy. :25 All glory to him, who alone is God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Yes, glory, majesty, power, and authority belong to him, in the beginning, now, and forevermore. Amen.
~Lena’s Journalin’~
I just think this is so awesome that Jude & James were both living in the same house as Jesus they were Jesus’ brothers, and they consider themselves far more than blood relatives. They lay aside all pride to pursue a calling made by God to serve Him in order to save others. Longtime relation endurance, covenantal commitment to the Lordship of Christ is essential. We are not trying our faith like some worldly fad. We’ve been "married" in the Lord Jesus, married to God’s plans, His purposes and will and whatever it takes to do His will. This is our lifestyle of purpose in the spirit. There’s NO turning back. Repentance is turning to God, not just for a glimpse, but for a new direction. I keep going back to, how we want God to keep His promises, and we have the option to break ours, or minimize them or change our minds? There’s something wrong with that picture! We even point our finger at God if he doesn’t do what He says, yet we can change our minds or plans and not keep ours- to Him? As much as we do it to the least of these we’ve done it "to" Him. Some of our world is going to hell, because we choose to do this that or the other instead of continuing in the love and purpose of God. God, I pray that I will get centered on and choose Your way, for the lost, just as James and John did. Rebellion and love for other things are enemies of the work of Go, we could start with those two things and just about check everything off with that to see where we measure up with God purpose and plan for this life on earth. God help my desires to increase for what I need to do and be as a winner of this world where I live. One enemy of God I find myself continually having to put up resistance towards is- criticisms. There are so many valid reasons and things to criticize, every single day I could open my mouth and critique something, somewhere. When I participate in this, no matter how valid it is, I am becoming one with strife, an enemy of God. When I participate with this spirit, I actually add a power of agreement to God’s enemy, building his forces up against God’s. God is a God of peace, at all costs. How one pursues peace in this day takes the strength of God, a supernatural ability and determination. I’m determined to pursue peace, the peace of God that puts me in agreement with God’s words and empowers God’s will in the earth and bring increase to Godly spiritual activity in my life and yours
:-).
:1 This letter is from Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James.I am writing to all who are called to live in the love of God the Father and the care of Jesus Christ.:2 May you receive more and more of God's mercy, peace, and love.:3 Dearly loved friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the truth of the Good News.
God gave this unchanging truth once for all time to his holy people. :4 I say this because some godless people have wormed their way in among you, saying that God's forgiveness allows us to live immoral lives. The fate of such people was determined long ago, for they have turned against our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.:5 I must remind you – and you know it well – that even though the Lord rescued the whole nation of Israel from Egypt, he later destroyed every one of those who did not remain faithful. :6 And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the day of judgment. :7 And don't forget the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with sexual immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and are a warning of the eternal fire that will punish all who are evil.:8 Yet these false teachers, who claim authority from their dreams, live immoral lives, defy authority, and scoff at the power of the glorious ones.:9 But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse Satan of blasphemy, but simply said, "The Lord rebuke you." (This took place when Michael was arguing with Satan about Moses' body.) :10 But these people mock and curse the things they do not understand. Like animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and they bring about their own destruction. :11 How terrible it will be for them! For they follow the evil example of Cain, who killed his brother. Like Balaam, they will do anything for money. And like Korah, they will perish because of their rebellion.:12 When these people join you in fellowship meals celebrating the love of the Lord, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you. They are shameless in the way they care only about themselves. They are like clouds blowing over dry land without giving rain, promising much but producing nothing. They are like trees without fruit at harvesttime. They are not only dead but doubly dead, for they have been pulled out by the roots. :13 They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the dirty foam of their shameful deeds. They are wandering stars, heading for everlasting gloom and darkness.:14 Now Enoch, who lived seven generations after Adam, prophesied about these people. He said, "Look, the Lord is coming with thousands of his holy ones.:15 He will bring the people of the world to judgment. He will convict the ungodly of all the evil things they have done in rebellion and of all the insults that godless sinners have spoken against him.":16 These people are grumblers and complainers, doing whatever evil they feel like. They are loudmouthed braggarts, and they flatter others to get favors in return.:17 But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ told you, :18 that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to enjoy themselves in every evil way imaginable. :19 Now they are here, and they are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They live by natural instinct because they do not have God's Spirit living in them.:20 But you, dear friends, must continue to build your lives on the foundation of your holy faith. And continue to pray as you are directed by the Holy Spirit.:21 Live in such a way that God's love can bless you as you wait for the eternal life that our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy is going to give you. :22 Show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. :23 Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. There are still others to whom you need to show mercy, but be careful that you aren't contaminated by their sins. F7 :24 And now, all glory to God, who is able to keep you from stumbling, and who will bring you into his glorious presence innocent of sin and with great joy. :25 All glory to him, who alone is God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Yes, glory, majesty, power, and authority belong to him, in the beginning, now, and forevermore. Amen.
~Lena’s Journalin’~
I just think this is so awesome that Jude & James were both living in the same house as Jesus they were Jesus’ brothers, and they consider themselves far more than blood relatives. They lay aside all pride to pursue a calling made by God to serve Him in order to save others. Longtime relation endurance, covenantal commitment to the Lordship of Christ is essential. We are not trying our faith like some worldly fad. We’ve been "married" in the Lord Jesus, married to God’s plans, His purposes and will and whatever it takes to do His will. This is our lifestyle of purpose in the spirit. There’s NO turning back. Repentance is turning to God, not just for a glimpse, but for a new direction. I keep going back to, how we want God to keep His promises, and we have the option to break ours, or minimize them or change our minds? There’s something wrong with that picture! We even point our finger at God if he doesn’t do what He says, yet we can change our minds or plans and not keep ours- to Him? As much as we do it to the least of these we’ve done it "to" Him. Some of our world is going to hell, because we choose to do this that or the other instead of continuing in the love and purpose of God. God, I pray that I will get centered on and choose Your way, for the lost, just as James and John did. Rebellion and love for other things are enemies of the work of Go, we could start with those two things and just about check everything off with that to see where we measure up with God purpose and plan for this life on earth. God help my desires to increase for what I need to do and be as a winner of this world where I live. One enemy of God I find myself continually having to put up resistance towards is- criticisms. There are so many valid reasons and things to criticize, every single day I could open my mouth and critique something, somewhere. When I participate in this, no matter how valid it is, I am becoming one with strife, an enemy of God. When I participate with this spirit, I actually add a power of agreement to God’s enemy, building his forces up against God’s. God is a God of peace, at all costs. How one pursues peace in this day takes the strength of God, a supernatural ability and determination. I’m determined to pursue peace, the peace of God that puts me in agreement with God’s words and empowers God’s will in the earth and bring increase to Godly spiritual activity in my life and yours
:-).
Friday, July 08, 2005
Today Our Daily Bread 2 Peter 2 +
Matthew 24:37 "When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day
Luke 12:25 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not!
2 Peter 2: 1 - 22
1 But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach their destructive heresies about God and even turn against their Master who bought them. Theirs will be a swift and terrible end. 2 Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of them, Christ and his true way will be slandered
3 In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction is on the way. 4 For God did not spare even the angels when they sinned; he threw them into hell, F8 in gloomy caves F9 and darkness until the judgment day. 5 And God did not spare the ancient world – except for Noah and his family of seven. Noah warned the world of God's righteous judgment. Then God destroyed the whole world of ungodly people with a vast flood. 6 Later, he turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into heaps of ashes and swept them off the face of the earth. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people.
7 But at the same time, God rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a good man who was sick of all the immorality and wickedness around him. 8 Yes, he was a righteous man who was distressed by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day. 9 So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while punishing the wicked right up until the day of judgment.
10 He is especially hard on those who follow their own evil, lustful desires and who despise authority. These people are proud and arrogant, daring even to scoff at the glorious ones F10 without so much as trembling. 11 But the angels, even though they are far greater in power and strength than these false teachers, never speak out disrespectfully against F11 the glorious ones. 12 These false teachers are like unthinking animals, creatures of instinct, who are born to be caught and killed. They laugh at the terrifying powers they know so little about, and they will be destroyed along with them. 13 Their destruction is their reward for the harm they have done. They love to indulge in evil pleasures in broad daylight. They are a disgrace and a stain among you. They revel in deceitfulness while they feast with you. 14 They commit adultery with their eyes, and their lust is never satisfied. They make a game of luring unstable people into sin. They train themselves to be greedy; they are doomed and cursed. 15 They have wandered off the right road and followed the way of Balaam son of Beor, F12 who loved to earn money by doing wrong. 16 But Balaam was stopped from his mad course when his donkey rebuked him with a human voice. 17 These people are as useless as dried-up springs of water or as clouds blown away by the wind – promising much and delivering nothing. They are doomed to blackest darkness. 18 They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With lustful desire as their bait, they lure back into sin those who have just escaped from such wicked living. 19 They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves to sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you. 20 And when people escape from the wicked ways of the world by learning about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up with sin and become its slave again, they are worse off than before. 21 It would be better if they had never known the right way to live than to know it and then reject the holy commandments that were given to them. 22 They make these proverbs come true: "A dog returns to its vomit," F13 and "A washed pig returns to the mud."
~Lena's Journalin'~Just as we’ve got to KNOW the nature and Spirit of God and of Christ, we also must be aware of the spirit and nature of satan and his angels. Satan’s spirit and nature is that of pride and dissention. Ever tempted to be your own boss (God), to exalt your own self, do it your own way, follow after self, be dissentive or divisive at all? These are pulls towards the image of satan. When the word tells us to be aware and not be such and such a way, is showing us to recognize the spirit we are being coached to be like, which takes us further away from the very nature of God our father and His image being refreshed, recreated & restored in us. This is the mission of earth, of heaven with earth. The "days of Noah" are here , right now, because it is not about an age it is about a spirit, an eternal spirit, an eternal battle, an eternal life, or death. The spirit world is an eternal world, the enemy has had the same mission against God for what seem ages to us. This is how we can learn from Old Testament days and still apply the principles to our lives today. Who is our Master? Who’s slave are we? We are slaves to whomever controls us, whomever we serve, not in word, but in deed. We must recognize the spirit and stand violently adamant, determined not to move off of the purpose of God in the earth. What are you here for? Your self? Your family? Your job? No- and yes. You are here to accept and live out a mission for God. Don’t go AWAL, BE present and accounted for at all times, awake and aware of enemy strategies, keep yourself in God’s love & truth. Keep yourself in the faith and DO NOT let it Go.
Luke 12:25 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not!
2 Peter 2: 1 - 22
1 But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach their destructive heresies about God and even turn against their Master who bought them. Theirs will be a swift and terrible end. 2 Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of them, Christ and his true way will be slandered
3 In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction is on the way. 4 For God did not spare even the angels when they sinned; he threw them into hell, F8 in gloomy caves F9 and darkness until the judgment day. 5 And God did not spare the ancient world – except for Noah and his family of seven. Noah warned the world of God's righteous judgment. Then God destroyed the whole world of ungodly people with a vast flood. 6 Later, he turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into heaps of ashes and swept them off the face of the earth. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people.
7 But at the same time, God rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a good man who was sick of all the immorality and wickedness around him. 8 Yes, he was a righteous man who was distressed by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day. 9 So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while punishing the wicked right up until the day of judgment.
10 He is especially hard on those who follow their own evil, lustful desires and who despise authority. These people are proud and arrogant, daring even to scoff at the glorious ones F10 without so much as trembling. 11 But the angels, even though they are far greater in power and strength than these false teachers, never speak out disrespectfully against F11 the glorious ones. 12 These false teachers are like unthinking animals, creatures of instinct, who are born to be caught and killed. They laugh at the terrifying powers they know so little about, and they will be destroyed along with them. 13 Their destruction is their reward for the harm they have done. They love to indulge in evil pleasures in broad daylight. They are a disgrace and a stain among you. They revel in deceitfulness while they feast with you. 14 They commit adultery with their eyes, and their lust is never satisfied. They make a game of luring unstable people into sin. They train themselves to be greedy; they are doomed and cursed. 15 They have wandered off the right road and followed the way of Balaam son of Beor, F12 who loved to earn money by doing wrong. 16 But Balaam was stopped from his mad course when his donkey rebuked him with a human voice. 17 These people are as useless as dried-up springs of water or as clouds blown away by the wind – promising much and delivering nothing. They are doomed to blackest darkness. 18 They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With lustful desire as their bait, they lure back into sin those who have just escaped from such wicked living. 19 They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves to sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you. 20 And when people escape from the wicked ways of the world by learning about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up with sin and become its slave again, they are worse off than before. 21 It would be better if they had never known the right way to live than to know it and then reject the holy commandments that were given to them. 22 They make these proverbs come true: "A dog returns to its vomit," F13 and "A washed pig returns to the mud."
~Lena's Journalin'~Just as we’ve got to KNOW the nature and Spirit of God and of Christ, we also must be aware of the spirit and nature of satan and his angels. Satan’s spirit and nature is that of pride and dissention. Ever tempted to be your own boss (God), to exalt your own self, do it your own way, follow after self, be dissentive or divisive at all? These are pulls towards the image of satan. When the word tells us to be aware and not be such and such a way, is showing us to recognize the spirit we are being coached to be like, which takes us further away from the very nature of God our father and His image being refreshed, recreated & restored in us. This is the mission of earth, of heaven with earth. The "days of Noah" are here , right now, because it is not about an age it is about a spirit, an eternal spirit, an eternal battle, an eternal life, or death. The spirit world is an eternal world, the enemy has had the same mission against God for what seem ages to us. This is how we can learn from Old Testament days and still apply the principles to our lives today. Who is our Master? Who’s slave are we? We are slaves to whomever controls us, whomever we serve, not in word, but in deed. We must recognize the spirit and stand violently adamant, determined not to move off of the purpose of God in the earth. What are you here for? Your self? Your family? Your job? No- and yes. You are here to accept and live out a mission for God. Don’t go AWAL, BE present and accounted for at all times, awake and aware of enemy strategies, keep yourself in God’s love & truth. Keep yourself in the faith and DO NOT let it Go.
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Today Our Daily Bread Genesis 6
~Lena's Journalin' in red~
Matthew 24:37 "When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day. I don’t always think of the literal return of the Lord when we speak of His coming. I often think of it as His appearing inside of my understanding and fellowship, the restoration of the communication with mankind, with me or you specifically. I see chaos and evil, and then the Lord comes "to the rescue" in His return to abiding in us. I’m not saying that is the only form of "return", but I believe it is more that way than possibly a literal man we see.
Luke 12:25 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not! Who wants to live in moments only? We have survived from moment to moment, experience to experience, high to low to high again. The Lord wants to dwell in us, in our thoughts, in our activities, everyday all of the time.
Genesis 6: 1 - 22
1 When the human population began to grow rapidly on the earth, 2 the sons of God saw the beautiful women of the human race and took any they wanted as their wives.
3 Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not put up with humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, they will live no more than 120 years."
4 In those days, and even afterward, giants lived on the earth, for whenever the sons of God had intercourse with human women, they gave birth to children who became the heroes mentioned in legends of old. 5 Now the LORD observed the extent of the people's wickedness, and he saw that all their thoughts were consistently and totally evil.
6 So the LORD was sorry he had ever made them. It broke his heart. 7 And the LORD said, "I will completely wipe out this human race that I have created. Yes, and I will destroy all the animals and birds, too. I am sorry I ever made them."
8 But Noah found favor with the LORD. 9 This is the history of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless man living on earth at the time. He consistently followed God's will and enjoyed a close relationship with him. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 Now the earth had become corrupt in God's sight, and it was filled with violence. 12 God observed all this corruption in the world, and he saw violence and depravity everywhere.
13 So God said to Noah, "I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Yes, I will wipe them all from the face of the earth! 14 "Make a boat F25 from resinous wood and seal it with tar, inside and out. Then construct decks and stalls throughout its interior. 15 Make it 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. F26 16 Construct an opening all the way around the boat, 18 inches F27 below the roof. Then put three decks inside the boat – bottom, middle, and upper – and put a door in the side. 17 "Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing. Everything on earth will die! 18 But I solemnly swear to keep you safe in the boat, with your wife and your sons and their wives. 19 Bring a pair of every kind of animal – a male and a female – into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood. 20 Pairs of each kind of bird and each kind of animal, large and small alike, will come to you to be kept alive. 21 And remember, take enough food for your family and for all the animals."
22 So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.
Note it says the sons of God, chosen peoples of God, saw with natural eyes, when they were created to see much deeper than skin deep, they took any they wanted, in comparison to having to hold, those whom God had ordained. This grieves God our Father and shows Him He really is not honored as Father in our lives, because He’s established rule and we rebel against it because of the temporal desire of the flesh rather than the spirit nature. Mere humans, when God created us as spirit beings? This curse is not a hopeless destiny that cannot be changed, it just incinuates that when we choose to live as mere humans in accordance to our flesh nature we will die that way, and early, but when we live according to the spirit we will enjoy long abundant life. Disobedient men brought Giants to the earth. We’ve spoken of Giants as being anything that is too big for us to come up against on our own. Most Giants we create by disobedience and not seeing ahead to the consequence of our choices.
Example: A child decides to drive a car that he’s never learned to drive. He wrecks the car and now has the giant of liability to deal with, but he is not able to deal with it because he doesn’t have any money at all and doesn’t even have a job, he’s 11 years old!
Intimacy is anything we join ourselves to, commit ourselves to, become entangled with, love, spend time on and give ourselves over to. How many of us have done that very thing with things that God opposes? When we entangle our lives with other things that God has even said would hurt us, but we do it anyway, we’ve set ourselves up to have a giant to deal with later on. One very hard thing is the more we do not see this yet continue to participate in and with it, the more that giant grows up and we now have something to deal with that we have no earthly idea where it came from or how it got so enormous. This is the result of non- awareness to sin, non- awareness to righteousness. Why do you think the scripture says, "Awake, O sleeper get up!?" This is a real problem when one man sleeps to righteousness, when one man chooses to intertwine himself with fleshly living and ideas, but it is a whole ‘nother thing when a fellowship or an assembly of people choose the same pathway, families choose the same pathway, generations choose the same pathway to death, to creating more and more giants. Someone has to change this effect on the earth! Someone like Noah, families like Noah, assemblies like Noah, generations like Noah….These are who will rise up with God and change the known world and it begins with one man- me. One man who is willing to obey God and build something no one has ever seen, a boat, for something he’s not seen, rain.
Matthew 24:37 "When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day. I don’t always think of the literal return of the Lord when we speak of His coming. I often think of it as His appearing inside of my understanding and fellowship, the restoration of the communication with mankind, with me or you specifically. I see chaos and evil, and then the Lord comes "to the rescue" in His return to abiding in us. I’m not saying that is the only form of "return", but I believe it is more that way than possibly a literal man we see.
Luke 12:25 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not! Who wants to live in moments only? We have survived from moment to moment, experience to experience, high to low to high again. The Lord wants to dwell in us, in our thoughts, in our activities, everyday all of the time.
Genesis 6: 1 - 22
1 When the human population began to grow rapidly on the earth, 2 the sons of God saw the beautiful women of the human race and took any they wanted as their wives.
3 Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not put up with humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, they will live no more than 120 years."
4 In those days, and even afterward, giants lived on the earth, for whenever the sons of God had intercourse with human women, they gave birth to children who became the heroes mentioned in legends of old. 5 Now the LORD observed the extent of the people's wickedness, and he saw that all their thoughts were consistently and totally evil.
6 So the LORD was sorry he had ever made them. It broke his heart. 7 And the LORD said, "I will completely wipe out this human race that I have created. Yes, and I will destroy all the animals and birds, too. I am sorry I ever made them."
8 But Noah found favor with the LORD. 9 This is the history of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless man living on earth at the time. He consistently followed God's will and enjoyed a close relationship with him. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 Now the earth had become corrupt in God's sight, and it was filled with violence. 12 God observed all this corruption in the world, and he saw violence and depravity everywhere.
13 So God said to Noah, "I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Yes, I will wipe them all from the face of the earth! 14 "Make a boat F25 from resinous wood and seal it with tar, inside and out. Then construct decks and stalls throughout its interior. 15 Make it 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. F26 16 Construct an opening all the way around the boat, 18 inches F27 below the roof. Then put three decks inside the boat – bottom, middle, and upper – and put a door in the side. 17 "Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing. Everything on earth will die! 18 But I solemnly swear to keep you safe in the boat, with your wife and your sons and their wives. 19 Bring a pair of every kind of animal – a male and a female – into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood. 20 Pairs of each kind of bird and each kind of animal, large and small alike, will come to you to be kept alive. 21 And remember, take enough food for your family and for all the animals."
22 So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.
Note it says the sons of God, chosen peoples of God, saw with natural eyes, when they were created to see much deeper than skin deep, they took any they wanted, in comparison to having to hold, those whom God had ordained. This grieves God our Father and shows Him He really is not honored as Father in our lives, because He’s established rule and we rebel against it because of the temporal desire of the flesh rather than the spirit nature. Mere humans, when God created us as spirit beings? This curse is not a hopeless destiny that cannot be changed, it just incinuates that when we choose to live as mere humans in accordance to our flesh nature we will die that way, and early, but when we live according to the spirit we will enjoy long abundant life. Disobedient men brought Giants to the earth. We’ve spoken of Giants as being anything that is too big for us to come up against on our own. Most Giants we create by disobedience and not seeing ahead to the consequence of our choices.
Example: A child decides to drive a car that he’s never learned to drive. He wrecks the car and now has the giant of liability to deal with, but he is not able to deal with it because he doesn’t have any money at all and doesn’t even have a job, he’s 11 years old!
Intimacy is anything we join ourselves to, commit ourselves to, become entangled with, love, spend time on and give ourselves over to. How many of us have done that very thing with things that God opposes? When we entangle our lives with other things that God has even said would hurt us, but we do it anyway, we’ve set ourselves up to have a giant to deal with later on. One very hard thing is the more we do not see this yet continue to participate in and with it, the more that giant grows up and we now have something to deal with that we have no earthly idea where it came from or how it got so enormous. This is the result of non- awareness to sin, non- awareness to righteousness. Why do you think the scripture says, "Awake, O sleeper get up!?" This is a real problem when one man sleeps to righteousness, when one man chooses to intertwine himself with fleshly living and ideas, but it is a whole ‘nother thing when a fellowship or an assembly of people choose the same pathway, families choose the same pathway, generations choose the same pathway to death, to creating more and more giants. Someone has to change this effect on the earth! Someone like Noah, families like Noah, assemblies like Noah, generations like Noah….These are who will rise up with God and change the known world and it begins with one man- me. One man who is willing to obey God and build something no one has ever seen, a boat, for something he’s not seen, rain.
Today Our Daily Bread Numbers 14
"Lena's Journalin' " in red
Matthew 24:37 "When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day.
Yesterday I was thinking about Noah’s day again. There was a family in Noah’s day, who refused to listen to and join in with all that was going on in the world, they chose rather to listen to God, no matter how extreme it seemed. Because of this there was an old way going to be washed away by things Noah & those of His day had never ever seen before. God revealed some brand new things to the man who listened to Him and the things became so visible that even those around Noah saw them. The Ark is one, right before the eyes of men, mocking men, the appeared out of "nothing" something, an ark, a place of refuge, safety, chance & change. It was so clear, it was so ready to contain whoever would desire to go inside. It provided a continual chance for a change of mind and heart. Really change can only come from the heart for the mind gets right in the way and actually prevents change. I was thinking yesterday also, that we are in an information logical, knowledge age, and this is exactly why we resist change when God asks for it. Another thing totally new that Noah’s day saw was a picture of the results of salvation. Rain came from the heavens and washed the earth of all its filth, spiritually, naturally & otherwise. Rain came from heaven and washed the land and changed the land and made the land new. Remember we are "the land", remember water is the Holy Spirit, the work of God’s Spirit alive in us with the ability to activate change in us. To make old go away forever, and cause new life to srping forth in a different manner.
Luke 12 :25 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not! What can add more than a moment to your life? Being with Him, His love, His grace, His mercy. God in me adds eternity to my heart and life.
Numbers 14: 1 - 45
1 Then all the people began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. 2 Their voices rose in a great chorus of complaint against Moses and Aaron. "We wish we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!" they wailed. 3 "Why is the LORD taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and little ones will be carried off as slaves! Let's get out of here and return to Egypt!" 4 Then they plotted among themselves, "Let's choose a leader and go back to Egypt!"
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground before the people of Israel. 6 Two of the men who had explored the land, Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, tore their clothing. 7 They said to the community of Israel, "The land we explored is a wonderful land! 8 And if the LORD is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey, and he will give it to us! 9 Do not rebel against the LORD, and don't be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the LORD is with us! Don't be afraid of them!" 10 But the whole community began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb. Then the glorious presence of the LORD appeared to all the Israelites from above the Tabernacle.
11 And the LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people reject me? Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them? 12 I will disown them and destroy them with a plague. Then I will make you into a nation far greater and mightier than they are!" 13 "But what will the Egyptians think when they hear about it?" Moses pleaded with the LORD. "They know full well the power you displayed in rescuing these people from Egypt. 14 They will tell this to the inhabitants of this land, who are well aware that you are with this people. They know, LORD, that you have appeared in full view of your people in the pillar of cloud that hovers over them. They know that you go before them in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if you slaughter all these people, the nations that have heard of your fame will say, 16 'The LORD was not able to bring them into the land he swore to give them, so he killed them in the wilderness.' 17 "Please, Lord, prove that your power is as great as you have claimed it to be. For you said, 18 'The LORD is slow to anger and rich in unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. Even so he does not leave sin unpunished, but he punishes the children for the sins of their parents to the third and fourth generations.' 19 Please pardon the sins of this people because of your magnificent, unfailing love, just as you have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt."
20 Then the LORD said, "I will pardon them as you have requested. 21 But as surely as I live, and as surely as the earth is filled with the LORD's glory, 22 not one of these people will ever enter that land. They have seen my glorious presence and the miraculous signs I performed both in Egypt and in the wilderness, but again and again they tested me by refusing to listen. 23 They will never even see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None of those who have treated me with contempt will enter it. 24 But my servant Caleb is different from the others. He has remained loyal to me, and I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will receive their full share of that land. 25 Now turn around and don't go on toward the land where the Amalekites and Canaanites live. Tomorrow you must set out for the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea. F51 " 26 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 27 "How long will this wicked nation complain about me? I have heard everything the Israelites have been saying. 28 Now tell them this: 'As surely as I live, I will do to you the very things I heard you say. I, the LORD, have spoken! 29 You will all die here in this wilderness! Because you complained against me, none of you who are twenty years old or older and were counted in the census 30 will enter the land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will be Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 "'You said your children would be taken captive. Well, I will bring them safely into the land, and they will enjoy what you have despised. 32 But as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness. 33 And your children will be like shepherds, wandering in the wilderness forty years. In this way, they will pay for your faithlessness, until the last of you lies dead in the wilderness. 34 "'Because the men who explored the land were there for forty days, you must wander in the wilderness for forty years – a year for each day, suffering the consequences of your sins. You will discover what it is like to have me for an enemy.' 35 I, the LORD, have spoken! I will do these things to every member of the community who has conspired against me. They will all die here in this wilderness!"
36 Then the ten scouts who had incited the rebellion against the LORD by spreading discouraging reports about the land 37 were struck dead with a plague before the LORD. 38 Of the twelve who had explored the land, only Joshua and Caleb remained alive. 39 When Moses reported the LORD's words to the Israelites, there was much sorrow among the people. 40 So they got up early the next morning and set out for the hill country of Canaan. "Let's go," they said. "We realize that we have sinned, but now we are ready to enter the land the LORD has promised us." 41 But Moses said, "Why are you now disobeying the LORD's orders to return to the wilderness? It won't work. 42 Do not go into the land now. You will only be crushed by your enemies because the LORD is not with you. 43 When you face the Amalekites and Canaanites in battle, you will be slaughtered. The LORD will abandon you because you have abandoned the LORD." 44 But the people pushed ahead toward the hill country of Canaan, despite the fact that neither Moses nor the Ark of the LORD's covenant left the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in those hills came down and attacked them and chased them as far as Hormah.
Have you ever felt this way? This is a way of thinking, our thinking is what opposes God’s plan, They had to silence their minds in order to go in to the place God wanted them to be in. I used to get angry at hearing people using the phrase, " Shut up", now I say it to my enemies, to my mind, that is trying so hard to talk me into working and even leading others to go against God’s plan. "Shut up!" How can we fear any other when we fear God? How can we focus our attentions on God’s enemies when we see God’s promises? We’ve got to see this place God has us to go into, in order to see it clearer we’ve got to go in. When we go in, we’ve got to tell our minds to "shut up" because there are gonna be things in there that are bigger than we are, but Nothing and No one is bigger than God is! "Who’s Your Daddy?" Do you really believe that? How can we believe any other? Believing any other means not believing God and faith in GOD is what pleases God and moves God’s blessings in. Rebelling against God is placing ourselves on the wrong side of the whole plan and sets us up for evil works and evil effects. We will go into the land, but will we be blessed? Will we overcome? It’s up to us? I say, Yes, when I say yes I put my life in a position for God to move and use me with His might and ability.
About curses, do we really think they all come from enemies? Or maybe curses just go upon God’s enemies? What if we rebel against God, does that make us children of God or enemies of God? There is life & death, there is blessing and curse, there is light and darkness, the two do not blend together at all, no blending with God. The world wants us to think we can have a blend, but that is their way, not god’s way and if we act as they do we are not acting or thinking as God does. Mistakes are made form listening to lies. It clearly states here that God forgives all forms of rebellion. Praise His name. I’ve been rebellious and have listened to lies, and he’s made provision for me to get back on the light side, the life side, the blessing side. There has to be consequence to sin or there would be no life or light. God lead me out of darkness home! Lead me to truth and life. Let my will come into alignment to Your plan. Let my will desire your plan. I can and will decide to follow after You!
Matthew 24:37 "When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day.
Yesterday I was thinking about Noah’s day again. There was a family in Noah’s day, who refused to listen to and join in with all that was going on in the world, they chose rather to listen to God, no matter how extreme it seemed. Because of this there was an old way going to be washed away by things Noah & those of His day had never ever seen before. God revealed some brand new things to the man who listened to Him and the things became so visible that even those around Noah saw them. The Ark is one, right before the eyes of men, mocking men, the appeared out of "nothing" something, an ark, a place of refuge, safety, chance & change. It was so clear, it was so ready to contain whoever would desire to go inside. It provided a continual chance for a change of mind and heart. Really change can only come from the heart for the mind gets right in the way and actually prevents change. I was thinking yesterday also, that we are in an information logical, knowledge age, and this is exactly why we resist change when God asks for it. Another thing totally new that Noah’s day saw was a picture of the results of salvation. Rain came from the heavens and washed the earth of all its filth, spiritually, naturally & otherwise. Rain came from heaven and washed the land and changed the land and made the land new. Remember we are "the land", remember water is the Holy Spirit, the work of God’s Spirit alive in us with the ability to activate change in us. To make old go away forever, and cause new life to srping forth in a different manner.
Luke 12 :25 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not! What can add more than a moment to your life? Being with Him, His love, His grace, His mercy. God in me adds eternity to my heart and life.
Numbers 14: 1 - 45
1 Then all the people began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. 2 Their voices rose in a great chorus of complaint against Moses and Aaron. "We wish we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!" they wailed. 3 "Why is the LORD taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and little ones will be carried off as slaves! Let's get out of here and return to Egypt!" 4 Then they plotted among themselves, "Let's choose a leader and go back to Egypt!"
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground before the people of Israel. 6 Two of the men who had explored the land, Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, tore their clothing. 7 They said to the community of Israel, "The land we explored is a wonderful land! 8 And if the LORD is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey, and he will give it to us! 9 Do not rebel against the LORD, and don't be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the LORD is with us! Don't be afraid of them!" 10 But the whole community began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb. Then the glorious presence of the LORD appeared to all the Israelites from above the Tabernacle.
11 And the LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people reject me? Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them? 12 I will disown them and destroy them with a plague. Then I will make you into a nation far greater and mightier than they are!" 13 "But what will the Egyptians think when they hear about it?" Moses pleaded with the LORD. "They know full well the power you displayed in rescuing these people from Egypt. 14 They will tell this to the inhabitants of this land, who are well aware that you are with this people. They know, LORD, that you have appeared in full view of your people in the pillar of cloud that hovers over them. They know that you go before them in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if you slaughter all these people, the nations that have heard of your fame will say, 16 'The LORD was not able to bring them into the land he swore to give them, so he killed them in the wilderness.' 17 "Please, Lord, prove that your power is as great as you have claimed it to be. For you said, 18 'The LORD is slow to anger and rich in unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. Even so he does not leave sin unpunished, but he punishes the children for the sins of their parents to the third and fourth generations.' 19 Please pardon the sins of this people because of your magnificent, unfailing love, just as you have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt."
20 Then the LORD said, "I will pardon them as you have requested. 21 But as surely as I live, and as surely as the earth is filled with the LORD's glory, 22 not one of these people will ever enter that land. They have seen my glorious presence and the miraculous signs I performed both in Egypt and in the wilderness, but again and again they tested me by refusing to listen. 23 They will never even see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None of those who have treated me with contempt will enter it. 24 But my servant Caleb is different from the others. He has remained loyal to me, and I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will receive their full share of that land. 25 Now turn around and don't go on toward the land where the Amalekites and Canaanites live. Tomorrow you must set out for the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea. F51 " 26 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 27 "How long will this wicked nation complain about me? I have heard everything the Israelites have been saying. 28 Now tell them this: 'As surely as I live, I will do to you the very things I heard you say. I, the LORD, have spoken! 29 You will all die here in this wilderness! Because you complained against me, none of you who are twenty years old or older and were counted in the census 30 will enter the land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will be Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 "'You said your children would be taken captive. Well, I will bring them safely into the land, and they will enjoy what you have despised. 32 But as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness. 33 And your children will be like shepherds, wandering in the wilderness forty years. In this way, they will pay for your faithlessness, until the last of you lies dead in the wilderness. 34 "'Because the men who explored the land were there for forty days, you must wander in the wilderness for forty years – a year for each day, suffering the consequences of your sins. You will discover what it is like to have me for an enemy.' 35 I, the LORD, have spoken! I will do these things to every member of the community who has conspired against me. They will all die here in this wilderness!"
36 Then the ten scouts who had incited the rebellion against the LORD by spreading discouraging reports about the land 37 were struck dead with a plague before the LORD. 38 Of the twelve who had explored the land, only Joshua and Caleb remained alive. 39 When Moses reported the LORD's words to the Israelites, there was much sorrow among the people. 40 So they got up early the next morning and set out for the hill country of Canaan. "Let's go," they said. "We realize that we have sinned, but now we are ready to enter the land the LORD has promised us." 41 But Moses said, "Why are you now disobeying the LORD's orders to return to the wilderness? It won't work. 42 Do not go into the land now. You will only be crushed by your enemies because the LORD is not with you. 43 When you face the Amalekites and Canaanites in battle, you will be slaughtered. The LORD will abandon you because you have abandoned the LORD." 44 But the people pushed ahead toward the hill country of Canaan, despite the fact that neither Moses nor the Ark of the LORD's covenant left the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in those hills came down and attacked them and chased them as far as Hormah.
Have you ever felt this way? This is a way of thinking, our thinking is what opposes God’s plan, They had to silence their minds in order to go in to the place God wanted them to be in. I used to get angry at hearing people using the phrase, " Shut up", now I say it to my enemies, to my mind, that is trying so hard to talk me into working and even leading others to go against God’s plan. "Shut up!" How can we fear any other when we fear God? How can we focus our attentions on God’s enemies when we see God’s promises? We’ve got to see this place God has us to go into, in order to see it clearer we’ve got to go in. When we go in, we’ve got to tell our minds to "shut up" because there are gonna be things in there that are bigger than we are, but Nothing and No one is bigger than God is! "Who’s Your Daddy?" Do you really believe that? How can we believe any other? Believing any other means not believing God and faith in GOD is what pleases God and moves God’s blessings in. Rebelling against God is placing ourselves on the wrong side of the whole plan and sets us up for evil works and evil effects. We will go into the land, but will we be blessed? Will we overcome? It’s up to us? I say, Yes, when I say yes I put my life in a position for God to move and use me with His might and ability.
About curses, do we really think they all come from enemies? Or maybe curses just go upon God’s enemies? What if we rebel against God, does that make us children of God or enemies of God? There is life & death, there is blessing and curse, there is light and darkness, the two do not blend together at all, no blending with God. The world wants us to think we can have a blend, but that is their way, not god’s way and if we act as they do we are not acting or thinking as God does. Mistakes are made form listening to lies. It clearly states here that God forgives all forms of rebellion. Praise His name. I’ve been rebellious and have listened to lies, and he’s made provision for me to get back on the light side, the life side, the blessing side. There has to be consequence to sin or there would be no life or light. God lead me out of darkness home! Lead me to truth and life. Let my will come into alignment to Your plan. Let my will desire your plan. I can and will decide to follow after You!
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Today Our Daily Bread Numbers 13
Numbers 13: 1 - 33
1 The LORD now said to Moses, 2 "Send men to explore the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to Israel. Send one leader from each of the twelve ancestral tribes." 3 So Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He sent out twelve men, all tribal leaders of Israel, from their camp in the wilderness of Paran.
4 These were the tribes and the names of the leaders: Tribe - Leader Reuben - Shammua son of Zaccur 5 Simeon - Shaphat son of Hori 6 Judah - Caleb son of Jephunneh 7 Issachar - Igal son of Joseph 8 Ephraim - Hoshea son of Nun 9 Benjamin - Palti son of Raphu 10 Zebulun - Gaddiel son of Sodi 11 Manasseh son of Joseph - Gaddi son of Susi 12 Dan - Ammiel son of Gemalli 13 Asher - Sethur son of Michael 14 Naphtali - Nahbi son of Vophsi 15 Gad - Geuel son of Maki 16 These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore the land. By this time Moses had changed Hoshea's name to Joshua. F47 17 Moses gave the men these instructions as he sent them out to explore the land: "Go northward through the Negev into the hill country. 18 See what the land is like and find out whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? Do their towns have walls or are they unprotected? 20 How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there many trees? Enter the land boldly, and bring back samples of the crops you see." (It happened to be the season for harvesting the first ripe grapes.)
21 So they went up and explored the land from the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, near Lebo-hamath. 22 Going northward, they passed first through the Negev and arrived at Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai – all descendants of Anak – lived. (The ancient town of Hebron was founded seven years before the Egyptian city of Zoan.) 23 When they came to what is now known as the valley of Eshcol, they cut down a cluster of grapes so large that it took two of them to carry it on a pole between them! They also took samples of the pomegranates and figs. 24 At that time the Israelites renamed the valley Eshcol – "cluster" – because of the cluster of grapes they had cut there. 25 After exploring the land for forty days, the men returned
26 to Moses, Aaron, and the people of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported to the whole community what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had taken from the land. 27 This was their report to Moses: "We arrived in the land you sent us to see, and it is indeed a magnificent country – a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is some of its fruit as proof. 28 But the people living there are powerful, and their cities and towns are fortified and very large. We also saw the descendants of Anak who are living there! 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev, and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea F48 and along the Jordan Valley." 30 But Caleb tried to encourage the people as they stood before Moses. "Let's go at once to take the land," he said. "We can certainly conquer it!" 31 But the other men who had explored the land with him answered, "We can't go up against them! They are stronger than we are!" 32 So they spread discouraging reports about the land among the Israelites: "The land we explored will swallow up any who go to live there. All the people we saw were huge. 33 We even saw giants F49 there, the descendants of Anak. We felt like grasshoppers next to them, and that's what we looked like to them!"
~Lena's Journalin'~
I find it interesting that the promised land God sent His people out into was defined as a place of trafficking, marketplaces. We think of our promised lands as being a place like heaven, a place of no more work, no conflicts at all, a place of peace. God thinks of it as a place of opportunity, a place of the potential of the fulfillment of His dreams. He sees it as covering more area with His plans and reproducing Him in areas that have not been touched by Him yet. It’s interesting that where God takes us or desires to send us is more of a mental place than a physical place. This passage says they were in a wilderness and He desired for them to leave the wilderness and go onto a place where fruit would be visibly abundant. When we think of this we think of ease once again, but fruit does not come forth in abundance and in great quality without effort or fight. God wanted them to see where He desired to take them and what the reward of the taking would be, and see if they were with Him in the plight and if they could do it with Him, trusting Him to go there with Him. How do you see yourself taking on plans God has? With Him or for Him? There is a big difference. If we go forth for Him, we may find ourselves feeling fatigued and hopeless, we may find ourselves not able to endure what is ahead. The point is we must go with Him, trusting Him every step of the way, just as Jesus did. Each one of the names of the tribes and of the enemies here will speak to us about where and how God takes us from place to mental place. If we look any of them up we will be spoken to by the Holy Spirit. For example, Judah means praise- God wants to send us from one mental place to another with praise, praising Him will keep us in the right place for the journey, it will keep our eyes on Him and the successes He’s giving us along the way. One stumbling block for the journey anywhere at anytime is pride, if we find success along the way, where we feel we have done something for God, we may be lifted up with pride if we do not center in on praise of Him. Praise will keep us in the correct mental place to get going the rest of the way and truly accomplishing His will in the matter. Another tribal name for another example is Simeon, which means hearing. How can we ever know when to move or not, where to go or not, how to go or not, if we don’t listen? Hearing is essential for being sent out to do God’s plan in a new land, or even to have the ability to get to that new place.
I’m thinking today as I read this, that we all have some sort of preconceived ideas of what we believe promises contain for us. Many times it is not as we figured it would be, the only way to be prepared is to be in communication with the Lord about His plans rather than ours. If we spend a lot of time asking Him for what we desire and telling Him our plans we may be surprised and a bit off guard when we see what He meant to happen or do. It appears to me that there is great wealth, potential for health and victory in the promised land, but there are obstacles of all kinds to these. I’m seeing the obstacles as being mental again, like giant ideas that could get in the way, like how we thought it should be in comparison to how it is. This is big in Christianity and the church today, because we thought salvation was about how nice things would be for us and how God would bless and serve us, and now we are finding out is is more about How we can serve the earth for Him. That is not at all an easy task, not a nice picture to take or a piece of cake walk. It is about taking land. It takes commitment, endurance, purpose, strength, flexibility, vision, etc to do this. It is more like a mission and a job, than a benefit. In doing the job there are benefits. Isn’t that how it is in life here? We work and we receive "benefits" that we’ve worked hard at and have obtained. Salvation is/was free, but takes a decision of our will to be a participator in, and salvation is NOT just for me, though it is for me. There’s just so much more, and God chose me/us to be a part of the plan of salvation He has for the world. Do you think a certain way about certain things? God wants to change how you think so that those ideas that get in the way of His plan – the big complete plan- will be set aside for the "greater good". Ever had a thought that you learned from church, like we should not be around people who smoke or drink, changed by a God idea? The idea was a God idea in a form, yet got twisted in our heads. We took a thought like that and separated ourselves from people who smoke or drink and we set ourselves away from them so we’d look better than them, stronger and higher than them, and maybe hoping somehow they’d want to be like us. Why would they want to be like us, rejecters of people who are weak? That’s how they’ve seen it, we’re so separated that we won’t associate with them enough to love them and show them the way, we just leave them alone to their dirty habits to die as they are, with no hope. That kind of thinking will keep us out of the land of promise, it is a giant of pride and self exaltation, it keeps us from reaching who God actually wants us to reach. When He said don’t hang with them, He meant their ways, don’t be a participator of the ways, not the people. Are we not strong enough to be with people who sin and not participate in sin? If not, we’ve got to go there. We’ve got to get to a place with Him, that we are able to take Him wherever we go and take His strength with us. That does not mean be in bars, it means love these people, anyway. Maybe they are your relatives who are not yet saved or who don’t know Him in an intimate way and have not been salted enough to want to know more. People perish for not knowing, who is gonna hang around them enough and love them enough and salt them in prayer enough to tell them? They’ll only listen to someone they trust, how can they trust us if we don’t hang around long enough to establish trust and prove trust, and for some that takes a longtime. How long has it taken you?
1 The LORD now said to Moses, 2 "Send men to explore the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to Israel. Send one leader from each of the twelve ancestral tribes." 3 So Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He sent out twelve men, all tribal leaders of Israel, from their camp in the wilderness of Paran.
4 These were the tribes and the names of the leaders: Tribe - Leader Reuben - Shammua son of Zaccur 5 Simeon - Shaphat son of Hori 6 Judah - Caleb son of Jephunneh 7 Issachar - Igal son of Joseph 8 Ephraim - Hoshea son of Nun 9 Benjamin - Palti son of Raphu 10 Zebulun - Gaddiel son of Sodi 11 Manasseh son of Joseph - Gaddi son of Susi 12 Dan - Ammiel son of Gemalli 13 Asher - Sethur son of Michael 14 Naphtali - Nahbi son of Vophsi 15 Gad - Geuel son of Maki 16 These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore the land. By this time Moses had changed Hoshea's name to Joshua. F47 17 Moses gave the men these instructions as he sent them out to explore the land: "Go northward through the Negev into the hill country. 18 See what the land is like and find out whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? Do their towns have walls or are they unprotected? 20 How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there many trees? Enter the land boldly, and bring back samples of the crops you see." (It happened to be the season for harvesting the first ripe grapes.)
21 So they went up and explored the land from the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, near Lebo-hamath. 22 Going northward, they passed first through the Negev and arrived at Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai – all descendants of Anak – lived. (The ancient town of Hebron was founded seven years before the Egyptian city of Zoan.) 23 When they came to what is now known as the valley of Eshcol, they cut down a cluster of grapes so large that it took two of them to carry it on a pole between them! They also took samples of the pomegranates and figs. 24 At that time the Israelites renamed the valley Eshcol – "cluster" – because of the cluster of grapes they had cut there. 25 After exploring the land for forty days, the men returned
26 to Moses, Aaron, and the people of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported to the whole community what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had taken from the land. 27 This was their report to Moses: "We arrived in the land you sent us to see, and it is indeed a magnificent country – a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is some of its fruit as proof. 28 But the people living there are powerful, and their cities and towns are fortified and very large. We also saw the descendants of Anak who are living there! 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev, and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea F48 and along the Jordan Valley." 30 But Caleb tried to encourage the people as they stood before Moses. "Let's go at once to take the land," he said. "We can certainly conquer it!" 31 But the other men who had explored the land with him answered, "We can't go up against them! They are stronger than we are!" 32 So they spread discouraging reports about the land among the Israelites: "The land we explored will swallow up any who go to live there. All the people we saw were huge. 33 We even saw giants F49 there, the descendants of Anak. We felt like grasshoppers next to them, and that's what we looked like to them!"
~Lena's Journalin'~
I find it interesting that the promised land God sent His people out into was defined as a place of trafficking, marketplaces. We think of our promised lands as being a place like heaven, a place of no more work, no conflicts at all, a place of peace. God thinks of it as a place of opportunity, a place of the potential of the fulfillment of His dreams. He sees it as covering more area with His plans and reproducing Him in areas that have not been touched by Him yet. It’s interesting that where God takes us or desires to send us is more of a mental place than a physical place. This passage says they were in a wilderness and He desired for them to leave the wilderness and go onto a place where fruit would be visibly abundant. When we think of this we think of ease once again, but fruit does not come forth in abundance and in great quality without effort or fight. God wanted them to see where He desired to take them and what the reward of the taking would be, and see if they were with Him in the plight and if they could do it with Him, trusting Him to go there with Him. How do you see yourself taking on plans God has? With Him or for Him? There is a big difference. If we go forth for Him, we may find ourselves feeling fatigued and hopeless, we may find ourselves not able to endure what is ahead. The point is we must go with Him, trusting Him every step of the way, just as Jesus did. Each one of the names of the tribes and of the enemies here will speak to us about where and how God takes us from place to mental place. If we look any of them up we will be spoken to by the Holy Spirit. For example, Judah means praise- God wants to send us from one mental place to another with praise, praising Him will keep us in the right place for the journey, it will keep our eyes on Him and the successes He’s giving us along the way. One stumbling block for the journey anywhere at anytime is pride, if we find success along the way, where we feel we have done something for God, we may be lifted up with pride if we do not center in on praise of Him. Praise will keep us in the correct mental place to get going the rest of the way and truly accomplishing His will in the matter. Another tribal name for another example is Simeon, which means hearing. How can we ever know when to move or not, where to go or not, how to go or not, if we don’t listen? Hearing is essential for being sent out to do God’s plan in a new land, or even to have the ability to get to that new place.
I’m thinking today as I read this, that we all have some sort of preconceived ideas of what we believe promises contain for us. Many times it is not as we figured it would be, the only way to be prepared is to be in communication with the Lord about His plans rather than ours. If we spend a lot of time asking Him for what we desire and telling Him our plans we may be surprised and a bit off guard when we see what He meant to happen or do. It appears to me that there is great wealth, potential for health and victory in the promised land, but there are obstacles of all kinds to these. I’m seeing the obstacles as being mental again, like giant ideas that could get in the way, like how we thought it should be in comparison to how it is. This is big in Christianity and the church today, because we thought salvation was about how nice things would be for us and how God would bless and serve us, and now we are finding out is is more about How we can serve the earth for Him. That is not at all an easy task, not a nice picture to take or a piece of cake walk. It is about taking land. It takes commitment, endurance, purpose, strength, flexibility, vision, etc to do this. It is more like a mission and a job, than a benefit. In doing the job there are benefits. Isn’t that how it is in life here? We work and we receive "benefits" that we’ve worked hard at and have obtained. Salvation is/was free, but takes a decision of our will to be a participator in, and salvation is NOT just for me, though it is for me. There’s just so much more, and God chose me/us to be a part of the plan of salvation He has for the world. Do you think a certain way about certain things? God wants to change how you think so that those ideas that get in the way of His plan – the big complete plan- will be set aside for the "greater good". Ever had a thought that you learned from church, like we should not be around people who smoke or drink, changed by a God idea? The idea was a God idea in a form, yet got twisted in our heads. We took a thought like that and separated ourselves from people who smoke or drink and we set ourselves away from them so we’d look better than them, stronger and higher than them, and maybe hoping somehow they’d want to be like us. Why would they want to be like us, rejecters of people who are weak? That’s how they’ve seen it, we’re so separated that we won’t associate with them enough to love them and show them the way, we just leave them alone to their dirty habits to die as they are, with no hope. That kind of thinking will keep us out of the land of promise, it is a giant of pride and self exaltation, it keeps us from reaching who God actually wants us to reach. When He said don’t hang with them, He meant their ways, don’t be a participator of the ways, not the people. Are we not strong enough to be with people who sin and not participate in sin? If not, we’ve got to go there. We’ve got to get to a place with Him, that we are able to take Him wherever we go and take His strength with us. That does not mean be in bars, it means love these people, anyway. Maybe they are your relatives who are not yet saved or who don’t know Him in an intimate way and have not been salted enough to want to know more. People perish for not knowing, who is gonna hang around them enough and love them enough and salt them in prayer enough to tell them? They’ll only listen to someone they trust, how can they trust us if we don’t hang around long enough to establish trust and prove trust, and for some that takes a longtime. How long has it taken you?
Monday, July 04, 2005
Please Excuse the Missed Daily Bread....
Dear Ones,
Happy Independance Day to all of you.
Today was a Really Lonnngggg day for me, so I'm gonna skip out on Daily Bread for today's posting.
I was blessed to have spent the day with a beautiful Russian girl and her husband whom we've known his family as long as we've lived in FL. 16 years +. So that means he was 9 when we moved here and now he's 25, has a wife and as of today a beautiful baby girl whom I was so blessed to be a part of her entry into this world. Needless to say, I'm pooped and am heading to beddy by.
Congratulations Crunkilton Family on the beautiful home delivery of baby girl Victoria Alexandria weighing in at 7 lbs & a half!
We love you,
We love God for bringing you our way, you have blessed my life with your today. I'm so grateful for a glimpse of new life and the intense work it takes to bring it forth. It/you/souls are worth every effort, toil, labor, pain, sacrifice etc. What treasures God has given us in one another!
Happy Independance Day to all of you.
Today was a Really Lonnngggg day for me, so I'm gonna skip out on Daily Bread for today's posting.
I was blessed to have spent the day with a beautiful Russian girl and her husband whom we've known his family as long as we've lived in FL. 16 years +. So that means he was 9 when we moved here and now he's 25, has a wife and as of today a beautiful baby girl whom I was so blessed to be a part of her entry into this world. Needless to say, I'm pooped and am heading to beddy by.
Congratulations Crunkilton Family on the beautiful home delivery of baby girl Victoria Alexandria weighing in at 7 lbs & a half!
We love you,
We love God for bringing you our way, you have blessed my life with your today. I'm so grateful for a glimpse of new life and the intense work it takes to bring it forth. It/you/souls are worth every effort, toil, labor, pain, sacrifice etc. What treasures God has given us in one another!
Sunday, July 03, 2005
Today Our Daily Bread Phil 4
Matthew 24:37
"When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day. In Noah’s Day there was anew world, a new chance, a clean "slate", just a few who chose to start again.
Luke 12:25
Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not! Worries can take moments of joy from your life, until all of the joy is gone.
Philippians 4: 1 - 23
1 Dear brothers and sisters, 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.
2 And now I want to plead with those two women, Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement.
3 And I ask you, my true teammate, 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.
4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again – rejoice!
5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do.
Remember, the Lord is coming soon.
6 Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.
Tell God what you need, and
thank him for all he has done. 7 If 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.
8 And 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.
9 Keep 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.
10 How 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. 11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to get along happily whether I have much or little. 12 I 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. 13 For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need. 14 But even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty. 15 As 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. 16 Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. 17 I 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. 18 At 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. 19 And 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.
20 Now glory be to God our Father forever and ever. Amen.
21 Give my greetings to all the Christians there. The brothers who are with me here send you their greetings. 22 And all the other Christians send their greetings, too, especially those who work in Caesar's palace.
23 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
~ Lena's Journalin'~
How does one stay true to the Lord? Persue peace with others, Be a teammate, tell the good news, work with God’s plan- rather than your own all of the time. These next verses 4-8 are not suggestions. We wonder where peace is at. It is found inside of the displayed character of Christ. Always rejoice, that leaves no other options. Be visible, living as a Christ-like one, showing consideration to others. Remember the Lord is always coming to those who do not yet know Him, he is constantly appearing to them through us. Do Not worry-pray. Telling and thanking God is how we pray. Following His character in daily practice is how this unexplainable peace comes. If we continually practice worry, fear, dread, anger, unkindness & impatience, we hide our faith from others, we hide, we complain, but do not pray or give thanks to others and God, we are a mess, our lives are a mess, we have the answer to our cry of "Why are things like this?" We will not (remember the word "will" is a decision word), have peace at all if we do not FIX our minds on the continual practice of God thinking. We must override the rule of other thoughts contrary to God’s plan for our peace. Contentedness is found in trusting God. It is not about staying in one place, it is about trusting God no matter where I find myself. Loving God and being willing to live this awesome life He gave me as visible proof of Him in the earth, no matter what, not being swayed at all by any circumstance, being steadfast and sure that he is my all in all, my every reason and motive. That’s contentment. Giving is a direct response to trusting God, believing he is and demonstrating in an unhiden way my motive of persuit of His plans. Isn’t it cool that there were Christians who served the ungodly government of the day and Paul was saying that they especially greeted the Christians in other places, They could have been consumed with the hardships they probably endured working for Caesar, but their minds were still about others and others’ well being.
"When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day. In Noah’s Day there was anew world, a new chance, a clean "slate", just a few who chose to start again.
Luke 12:25
Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not! Worries can take moments of joy from your life, until all of the joy is gone.
Philippians 4: 1 - 23
1 Dear brothers and sisters, 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.
2 And now I want to plead with those two women, Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement.
3 And I ask you, my true teammate, 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.
4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again – rejoice!
5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do.
Remember, the Lord is coming soon.
6 Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.
Tell God what you need, and
thank him for all he has done. 7 If 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.
8 And 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.
9 Keep 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.
10 How 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. 11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to get along happily whether I have much or little. 12 I 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. 13 For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need. 14 But even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty. 15 As 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. 16 Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. 17 I 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. 18 At 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. 19 And 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.
20 Now glory be to God our Father forever and ever. Amen.
21 Give my greetings to all the Christians there. The brothers who are with me here send you their greetings. 22 And all the other Christians send their greetings, too, especially those who work in Caesar's palace.
23 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
~ Lena's Journalin'~
How does one stay true to the Lord? Persue peace with others, Be a teammate, tell the good news, work with God’s plan- rather than your own all of the time. These next verses 4-8 are not suggestions. We wonder where peace is at. It is found inside of the displayed character of Christ. Always rejoice, that leaves no other options. Be visible, living as a Christ-like one, showing consideration to others. Remember the Lord is always coming to those who do not yet know Him, he is constantly appearing to them through us. Do Not worry-pray. Telling and thanking God is how we pray. Following His character in daily practice is how this unexplainable peace comes. If we continually practice worry, fear, dread, anger, unkindness & impatience, we hide our faith from others, we hide, we complain, but do not pray or give thanks to others and God, we are a mess, our lives are a mess, we have the answer to our cry of "Why are things like this?" We will not (remember the word "will" is a decision word), have peace at all if we do not FIX our minds on the continual practice of God thinking. We must override the rule of other thoughts contrary to God’s plan for our peace. Contentedness is found in trusting God. It is not about staying in one place, it is about trusting God no matter where I find myself. Loving God and being willing to live this awesome life He gave me as visible proof of Him in the earth, no matter what, not being swayed at all by any circumstance, being steadfast and sure that he is my all in all, my every reason and motive. That’s contentment. Giving is a direct response to trusting God, believing he is and demonstrating in an unhiden way my motive of persuit of His plans. Isn’t it cool that there were Christians who served the ungodly government of the day and Paul was saying that they especially greeted the Christians in other places, They could have been consumed with the hardships they probably endured working for Caesar, but their minds were still about others and others’ well being.
Saturday, July 02, 2005
Today Our Daily Bread Ps 1 ++
Matthew 24:37 "When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day. Let’s see, in Noah’s day there were no rules and no one wanted to be told what they "should" do or not.- They ALL died….
Luke 12:25 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not! Should I go after people intently who won’t listen, because I’m worried that they will go to hell? No, I should go after them because God told me to and I love them because I love Him, I can’t worry, I can only obey, I won’t worry. It is their choice, my accountability is to God, as theirs is, for my choices- did I obey as well and as much as I could- would? Or did I ( as those in Noah’s day) choose to do it when I wanted to how I wanted to? Which may have ended up being seldom, if ever.
Psalms 1
1:1 Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with scoffers. 2 But they delight in doing everything the LORD wants; day and night they think about his law. 3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season without fail. Their leaves never wither, and in all they do, they prosper. 4 But this is not true of the wicked. They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind. 5 They will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly. 6 For the LORD watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.
~Lena's Journalin'~
I pray this does not sound hard this morning.
Noah’s day, obedience, worry, planting, growing, Mt, Lk & Ps are all saying the same word. Do you recall the passage where it says in the mouth of 2-3 witnesses let every word be established? There are at least 3 here, I believe that means when I hear the same word 2-3 times it will become established in my heart, enough to have said I heard it. When I’ve heard it, I must do it, or I’ll die- spiritually speaking, because of the effect of sin (disobedience and willful rebellion are sin). What am I purposefully doing about the words I’ve heard 2 & 3 times over again? Are they growing in me, or have I rejected them, regarding them as someone else’s word to obey? When I do that the words do not take root in me and my tree cannot grow or produce fruit. God is saying today- that we want fruit, but we’ve not let certain choice words take root. Why? We’ve been standing around waiting for God to do something for us, when He’s waiting to do it with us. What was the last thing God told you to do, that you are mulling over in your mind? The mind is a bad place for mulling by the way, the heart is the God processor and faith builder, the heart is the responder and the place of good fruit roots.
Let’s say He told you to stop watching violent shows on TV or movies…in your mind you say, well ya know it’s about light and darkness, just like life is everyday, and the light wins, maybe it will even show me how to win over this darkness I struggle over, plus it is just a movie, plus I need to relax with my husband, etc etc.
There we go, we did not take that to heart, we took it to mind. He tells us again and again, and prompts us by conviction of His spirit, We gently ignore it and have not yet obeyed it, but intend to someday. We wonder why we are angry, why we are intolerant- not a display of good fruits- we ask God to change us. We think things like, "make me nice, God!" He knew you wanted to be nice before you ever asked, He was setting you up for success, He was trying to uproot what was making you angry, impatient and sad, but you said, No. I’ll do it my way.
Is this hard? I pray it is not hard. It is truth. We live this way when we live like the world. Psalm 1 says the one who listens to wisdom is blessed. Amen! How does wisdom come? From experience? More from obedience. By obedience our roots are planted and by exercised obedience they take to growing deeper. When we exercise obedience, when we look for ways to obey more, and we are tuned into God’s voice, because we want to hear it on purpose and we want to please Him on purpose. Then our roots grow deeper still and suddenly a tree breaks forth from hardened ground and nothing can stand in its way, nothing can blow it over, nothing can uproot it, nothing can hold back the breakthrough, it is grounded in love. It is grounded in the love of God that says, if you Love Me obey Me. We wonder where our fruit is, it is in obedience, continually exercised obedience in every simple thing. Our struggles our in our minds, in our souls, over who or what we will obey. Let's take God's words to heart, even the simplest ones, everyday.
Luke 12:25 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not! Should I go after people intently who won’t listen, because I’m worried that they will go to hell? No, I should go after them because God told me to and I love them because I love Him, I can’t worry, I can only obey, I won’t worry. It is their choice, my accountability is to God, as theirs is, for my choices- did I obey as well and as much as I could- would? Or did I ( as those in Noah’s day) choose to do it when I wanted to how I wanted to? Which may have ended up being seldom, if ever.
Psalms 1
1:1 Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with scoffers. 2 But they delight in doing everything the LORD wants; day and night they think about his law. 3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season without fail. Their leaves never wither, and in all they do, they prosper. 4 But this is not true of the wicked. They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind. 5 They will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly. 6 For the LORD watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.
~Lena's Journalin'~
I pray this does not sound hard this morning.
Noah’s day, obedience, worry, planting, growing, Mt, Lk & Ps are all saying the same word. Do you recall the passage where it says in the mouth of 2-3 witnesses let every word be established? There are at least 3 here, I believe that means when I hear the same word 2-3 times it will become established in my heart, enough to have said I heard it. When I’ve heard it, I must do it, or I’ll die- spiritually speaking, because of the effect of sin (disobedience and willful rebellion are sin). What am I purposefully doing about the words I’ve heard 2 & 3 times over again? Are they growing in me, or have I rejected them, regarding them as someone else’s word to obey? When I do that the words do not take root in me and my tree cannot grow or produce fruit. God is saying today- that we want fruit, but we’ve not let certain choice words take root. Why? We’ve been standing around waiting for God to do something for us, when He’s waiting to do it with us. What was the last thing God told you to do, that you are mulling over in your mind? The mind is a bad place for mulling by the way, the heart is the God processor and faith builder, the heart is the responder and the place of good fruit roots.
Let’s say He told you to stop watching violent shows on TV or movies…in your mind you say, well ya know it’s about light and darkness, just like life is everyday, and the light wins, maybe it will even show me how to win over this darkness I struggle over, plus it is just a movie, plus I need to relax with my husband, etc etc.
There we go, we did not take that to heart, we took it to mind. He tells us again and again, and prompts us by conviction of His spirit, We gently ignore it and have not yet obeyed it, but intend to someday. We wonder why we are angry, why we are intolerant- not a display of good fruits- we ask God to change us. We think things like, "make me nice, God!" He knew you wanted to be nice before you ever asked, He was setting you up for success, He was trying to uproot what was making you angry, impatient and sad, but you said, No. I’ll do it my way.
Is this hard? I pray it is not hard. It is truth. We live this way when we live like the world. Psalm 1 says the one who listens to wisdom is blessed. Amen! How does wisdom come? From experience? More from obedience. By obedience our roots are planted and by exercised obedience they take to growing deeper. When we exercise obedience, when we look for ways to obey more, and we are tuned into God’s voice, because we want to hear it on purpose and we want to please Him on purpose. Then our roots grow deeper still and suddenly a tree breaks forth from hardened ground and nothing can stand in its way, nothing can blow it over, nothing can uproot it, nothing can hold back the breakthrough, it is grounded in love. It is grounded in the love of God that says, if you Love Me obey Me. We wonder where our fruit is, it is in obedience, continually exercised obedience in every simple thing. Our struggles our in our minds, in our souls, over who or what we will obey. Let's take God's words to heart, even the simplest ones, everyday.
Friday, July 01, 2005
Today Our Daily Bread 2 Kings 6
Matthew 24:37
"When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day. In Noah’s day God gave a man His word to carry to the world, he gave a man a vision to foresee, and forewarn, and no one would listen to anyone but their own lustful nature till they were destroyed.
Luke 12:25
Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not! Do I have concern over what God has given me to do being received or not, like what if I come to the place where I’ll say it and they don’t or won’t get it?
2 Kings 6
1 One day the group of prophets came to Elisha and told him, "As you can see, this place where we meet with you is too small. 2 Let's go down to the Jordan River, where there are plenty of logs. There we can build a new place for us to meet." "All right," he told them, "go ahead."
3 "Please come with us," someone suggested. "I will," he said. 4 When they arrived at the Jordan, they began cutting down trees. 5 But as one of them was chopping, his ax head fell into the river. "Ah, my lord!" he cried. "It was a borrowed ax!" 6 "Where did it fall?" the man of God asked. When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it into the water. Then the ax head rose to the surface and floated. 7 "Grab it," Elisha said to him. And the man reached out and grabbed it.
8 When the king of Aram was at war with Israel, he would confer with his officers and say, "We will mobilize our forces at such and such a place."9 But immediately Elisha, the man of God, would warn the king of Israel, "Do not go near that place, for the Arameans are planning to mobilize their troops there." 10 So the king of Israel would send word to the place indicated by the man of God, warning the people there to be on their guard. This happened several times. 11 The king of Aram became very upset over this. He called in his officers and demanded, "Which of you is the traitor? Who has been informing the king of Israel of my plans?" 12 "It's not us, my lord," one of the officers replied. "Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel even the words you speak in the privacy of your bedroom!"
13 The king commanded, "Go and find out where Elisha is, and we will send troops to seize him." And the report came back: "Elisha is at Dothan."
14 So one night the king of Aram sent a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city. 15 When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. "Ah, my lord, what will we do now?" he cried out to Elisha.16 "Don't be afraid!" Elisha told him. "For there are more on our side than on theirs!" 17 Then Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes and let him see!" The LORD opened his servant's eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.
18 As the Aramean army advanced toward them, Elisha prayed, "O LORD, please make them blind." And the LORD did as Elisha asked. 19 Then Elisha went out and told them, "You have come the wrong way! This isn't the right city! Follow me, and I will take you to the man you are looking for." And he led them to Samaria. 20 As soon as they had entered Samaria, Elisha prayed, "O LORD, now open their eyes and let them see." And the LORD did, and they discovered that they were in Samaria. 21 When the king of Israel saw them, he shouted to Elisha, "My father, should I kill them?" 22 "Of course not!" Elisha told him. "Do we kill prisoners of war? Give them food and drink and send them home again to their master." 23 So the king made a great feast for them and then sent them home to their king. After that, the Aramean raiders stayed away from the land of Israel. 24 Some time later, however, King Ben-hadad of Aram mobilized his entire army and besieged Samaria. 25 As a result there was a great famine in the city. After a while even a donkey's head sold for two pounds of silver, and a cup of dove's dung cost about two ounces of silver.
26 One day as the king of Israel was walking along the wall of the city, a woman called to him, "Please help me, my lord the king!"27 "If the LORD doesn't help you, what can I do?" he retorted. "I have neither food nor wine to give you." 28 But then the king asked, "What is the matter?" She replied, "This woman proposed that we eat my son one day and her son the next. 29 So we cooked my son and ate him. Then the next day I said, 'Kill your son so we can eat him,' but she had hidden him."30 When the king heard this, he tore his clothes in despair. And as the king walked along the wall, the people could see that he was wearing sackcloth underneath next to his skin. 31 "May God kill me if I don't execute Elisha son of Shaphat this very day," the king vowed.
32 Elisha was sitting in his house at a meeting with the leaders of Israel when the king sent a messenger to summon him. But before the messenger arrived, Elisha said to the leaders, "A murderer has sent a man to kill me. When he arrives, shut the door and keep him out. His master will soon follow him."33 While Elisha was still saying this, the messenger arrived. And the king said, "It is the LORD who has brought this trouble on us! Why should I wait any longer for the LORD?"
~Lena's Journalin' ~
We’ve got to start with a desire to build a place for housing and expanding the growth of the fellowship of God’s Spirit. Desire is the first call, which at times is birthed out of apparent need. When we voice this to God and our leaders and they give us the "go ahead", then we must move out in faith! We must begin somewhere. Anything is better than nothing at all. Results are based upon the quantity of seed sown. In any sales ventures you re ever involved in you’ll see the more output you give the more potential for input or "income". The more "effort" (let’s call the "output or efforts" "prayer") the more potential for results. Fear of failure? If we never put out, never sacrifice, never believe, trust, rely, extend, give, then we’ll always fail. But what if we do, and yeah we have a few "failures", but we have any fruit at all? Better some than none from no effort exerted at all. If I get discouraged because I spend time w/ one soul, who may not yet be ready and then I quit altogether and save no one, I’ve failed, but if I constantly plant in every "passer-by" and win but a few, I’ve done 100-200+% of what I was doing and I’ve far from failed; I’ve rather succeeded because I moved at all, risked it all, and brought salvation to one or two more than I would of if I’d listened to the results of an enemy and not exerted any strength or faith or prayer. Go, cut down, borrow, build, retrieve, restore, meet, save- save save – someone! Even if the ax falls, save anyway, risk anyway God will make up the difference of our failures to "succeed". If we don’t we are not seeing as He is seeing and we will feel overwhelmed by our enemies, the enemies of our souls, the enemies of SOULS. Jesus is the Lover of My soul, who is your soul? Your mom? Or a friend? Or a co-worker? Jesus is their and your lover! See?
"When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day. In Noah’s day God gave a man His word to carry to the world, he gave a man a vision to foresee, and forewarn, and no one would listen to anyone but their own lustful nature till they were destroyed.
Luke 12:25
Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not! Do I have concern over what God has given me to do being received or not, like what if I come to the place where I’ll say it and they don’t or won’t get it?
2 Kings 6
1 One day the group of prophets came to Elisha and told him, "As you can see, this place where we meet with you is too small. 2 Let's go down to the Jordan River, where there are plenty of logs. There we can build a new place for us to meet." "All right," he told them, "go ahead."
3 "Please come with us," someone suggested. "I will," he said. 4 When they arrived at the Jordan, they began cutting down trees. 5 But as one of them was chopping, his ax head fell into the river. "Ah, my lord!" he cried. "It was a borrowed ax!" 6 "Where did it fall?" the man of God asked. When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it into the water. Then the ax head rose to the surface and floated. 7 "Grab it," Elisha said to him. And the man reached out and grabbed it.
8 When the king of Aram was at war with Israel, he would confer with his officers and say, "We will mobilize our forces at such and such a place."9 But immediately Elisha, the man of God, would warn the king of Israel, "Do not go near that place, for the Arameans are planning to mobilize their troops there." 10 So the king of Israel would send word to the place indicated by the man of God, warning the people there to be on their guard. This happened several times. 11 The king of Aram became very upset over this. He called in his officers and demanded, "Which of you is the traitor? Who has been informing the king of Israel of my plans?" 12 "It's not us, my lord," one of the officers replied. "Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel even the words you speak in the privacy of your bedroom!"
13 The king commanded, "Go and find out where Elisha is, and we will send troops to seize him." And the report came back: "Elisha is at Dothan."
14 So one night the king of Aram sent a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city. 15 When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. "Ah, my lord, what will we do now?" he cried out to Elisha.16 "Don't be afraid!" Elisha told him. "For there are more on our side than on theirs!" 17 Then Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes and let him see!" The LORD opened his servant's eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.
18 As the Aramean army advanced toward them, Elisha prayed, "O LORD, please make them blind." And the LORD did as Elisha asked. 19 Then Elisha went out and told them, "You have come the wrong way! This isn't the right city! Follow me, and I will take you to the man you are looking for." And he led them to Samaria. 20 As soon as they had entered Samaria, Elisha prayed, "O LORD, now open their eyes and let them see." And the LORD did, and they discovered that they were in Samaria. 21 When the king of Israel saw them, he shouted to Elisha, "My father, should I kill them?" 22 "Of course not!" Elisha told him. "Do we kill prisoners of war? Give them food and drink and send them home again to their master." 23 So the king made a great feast for them and then sent them home to their king. After that, the Aramean raiders stayed away from the land of Israel. 24 Some time later, however, King Ben-hadad of Aram mobilized his entire army and besieged Samaria. 25 As a result there was a great famine in the city. After a while even a donkey's head sold for two pounds of silver, and a cup of dove's dung cost about two ounces of silver.
26 One day as the king of Israel was walking along the wall of the city, a woman called to him, "Please help me, my lord the king!"27 "If the LORD doesn't help you, what can I do?" he retorted. "I have neither food nor wine to give you." 28 But then the king asked, "What is the matter?" She replied, "This woman proposed that we eat my son one day and her son the next. 29 So we cooked my son and ate him. Then the next day I said, 'Kill your son so we can eat him,' but she had hidden him."30 When the king heard this, he tore his clothes in despair. And as the king walked along the wall, the people could see that he was wearing sackcloth underneath next to his skin. 31 "May God kill me if I don't execute Elisha son of Shaphat this very day," the king vowed.
32 Elisha was sitting in his house at a meeting with the leaders of Israel when the king sent a messenger to summon him. But before the messenger arrived, Elisha said to the leaders, "A murderer has sent a man to kill me. When he arrives, shut the door and keep him out. His master will soon follow him."33 While Elisha was still saying this, the messenger arrived. And the king said, "It is the LORD who has brought this trouble on us! Why should I wait any longer for the LORD?"
~Lena's Journalin' ~
We’ve got to start with a desire to build a place for housing and expanding the growth of the fellowship of God’s Spirit. Desire is the first call, which at times is birthed out of apparent need. When we voice this to God and our leaders and they give us the "go ahead", then we must move out in faith! We must begin somewhere. Anything is better than nothing at all. Results are based upon the quantity of seed sown. In any sales ventures you re ever involved in you’ll see the more output you give the more potential for input or "income". The more "effort" (let’s call the "output or efforts" "prayer") the more potential for results. Fear of failure? If we never put out, never sacrifice, never believe, trust, rely, extend, give, then we’ll always fail. But what if we do, and yeah we have a few "failures", but we have any fruit at all? Better some than none from no effort exerted at all. If I get discouraged because I spend time w/ one soul, who may not yet be ready and then I quit altogether and save no one, I’ve failed, but if I constantly plant in every "passer-by" and win but a few, I’ve done 100-200+% of what I was doing and I’ve far from failed; I’ve rather succeeded because I moved at all, risked it all, and brought salvation to one or two more than I would of if I’d listened to the results of an enemy and not exerted any strength or faith or prayer. Go, cut down, borrow, build, retrieve, restore, meet, save- save save – someone! Even if the ax falls, save anyway, risk anyway God will make up the difference of our failures to "succeed". If we don’t we are not seeing as He is seeing and we will feel overwhelmed by our enemies, the enemies of our souls, the enemies of SOULS. Jesus is the Lover of My soul, who is your soul? Your mom? Or a friend? Or a co-worker? Jesus is their and your lover! See?
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