My Journey through Romans 4

Justification Through Faith

In the previous blog I learned about the law of faith and how important it is to be obedient to that law for it is of the Gospel of Christ. In chapter three verse twenty two, the light shined that even “the righteousness of God is by faith of Jesus Christ upon all those that believe”.  In this chapter I am learning more about justification through faith. This is a touchy subject for many Christians and unbelievers alike. I’ve always wrestled with understanding justification for /through anything. Let us swing back a step and review the meaning of justification.

• Justification, in Christian theology, is God’s act of removing the guilt and penalty of sin while at the same time declaring a sinner righteous through Christ’s atoning sacrifice. In Protestantism, righteousness from God is viewed as being credited to the sinner’s account through faith alone, without works. ( Courtesy of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justification_(theology) )
• an acceptable reason for doing something : something that justifies an action
• Synonyms: reason, defense, excuse, validation-

 

You may or may not agree, but I found this verse to be the crux of understanding justification through faith (vs. 8- Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute (credit) sin.) Lord knows we are too familiar with sin and its many facets. We also know that sin has a fee attached to it and it is ALWAYS crouching at our door (Gen. 4:7) holding out its collection plate. Amen?

What many of us may miss in this chapter is the discussion of Abraham’s faith and how it was a spiritual matter between him and God. Even so with Rahab the prostitute. Think. Abraham went way out of his natural self to obey and please God. Which one of us would be that obedient to God as to sacrifice one of our children to Him? I’ll be honest and say that is something I could not bring myself to do, even with knowing of Abraham’s outcome.  My outcome could be something different if I were to make such a sacrifice. Lord, let me have that type of faith.  Abraham’s obedience clearly shows us that justification is through faith and not works. It reminds us of this scripture (Hebrews 11:6 – And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him)  

The bottom line concerning justification through faith for me was understanding that we are justified in the same way as Abraham- believing. But for us, it is belief in Jesus Christ, i.e. God’s sacrifice.   Not a one of us would be capable(unless you owned your own animal farm)  nor be obedient to the old law of killing animals to be a sacrifice for our daily sins. We’d just die because we could not meet that working quota. Do you know how many animal killings a day that would be?  Those animal rights groups would have a fit and we’d have to figure out another way to pay for our sins. But, God.

Instead of asking us to make a sacrifice as He did with Abraham, God knew we would not be that obedient. Therefore, God debited our account from the guilt and punishment of our sins by sacrificing His only begotten Son. “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. He was assigned a grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7-9) Knowing this I ponder why it is that we still waiver in our faith in Jesus?   Knowing this also, all Believers should thank God daily that we will not be asked to make any children and animal sacrifices for our sins ever again.  Just let that faith point soak in!  😛

Anywho, in this chapter I found out that we cannot “by any means necessary” work our way to God, doing so-called “church work” or any other works. Justification is God’s work because it is He who fulfills the promise through our faith in His Son. Do tell… how is it that we think we can “earn” our way into heaven when we are incapable of sacrificing one of our children as Abraham did?  I sure am learning more about the spiritual role faith plays on this journey. Obeying and pleasing God is a spiritual matter. (TYHS) It even caused me to pause and think long about God’s reasoning through the ages of loving generations of a disobedient people. Maybe he thinks of Barbara Streisand’s song, “The way we were” in the Garden of Eden before the serpent slid in.  I think of the moment too, walking with God up close and personal as Adam and Eve did. What a joyful day that will be.

In conclusion, I am assured that we receive justification through faith in Christ. Key words –Faith In Christ. Thank you for riding along with me on this journey.

***Recent find, please enjoy Brother Noel’s biblical stance: https://gospelmuse.com/2014/01/19/are-you-justified-by-faith-or-by-works/

My Journey through Romans 3

The Law of Faith

When studying this, I made so many notes because in spirit this chapter covers faith in a way that we do not often think about faith. Have we ever given thought that a law of faith existed? Well, it does. However, I’ll share just a tidbit of what the Holy Spirit led me to share with you.

The Law of Faith- What is it?  Hmm, the odd thing about faith is that EVERYONE believes in something or someone that they can see or feel. That type of faith always lets us down and it can be labeled as the seen law of man. And then there are those who do not believe or have faith in God for one main reason. He is an unseen Spirit. Those unbelievers boast about it loudly while thinking they are going to be living on another planet. Paul also mentioned some of these people in Romans 2.  Who gave those boasters the ability to believe period?

Paul asks in Romans 3:27-31 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision of faith. Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

Do you see the big role that faith plays in our lives? Through faith the law is established.  So what is the law of faith? Beloved, it is the BELIEF in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. By faith, the Lord sent His only begotten Son through faith born of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit of God. He walked in faith until He was crucified and buried; with faith he was resurrected and because of faith He overcame the world and returned to His original position, at the right hand of His father God from whence our faith comes allowing us to believe that He is coming back for his beloved and faithful Believers. Do you believe?

There is no human living that saw these events take place on this earth save for Enoch and Elijah. We surely can’t ask their thoughts on the law of faith because of their location. Google don’t even have the ability to find them. So, we believe those events took place by the hearing and reading of God’s word. We are to be like Sara  and like a song that says “let our faith be more than anthem.” Hebrews 11:11 says Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Obedience to the laws of God does it every time.

NOTE 2 SELF-Deuteronomy 7:9 – Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

 

So for us, the living and those who have lived/died after Jesus’ time on this earth, our faith can be based on what God said and did.  Jesus said in Luke 10:19-20 “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.”  The law of faith gives us that power. Now isn’t that something worth rejoicing over? Know this beloved… “the prince of the kingdom of Persia” cannot hold us back any more when we pray, believe and utilize our gift of faith. For without faith it is impossible to please God….(Hebrews 11:6) Perhaps if there were a faith app, more would become attentive to the law of faith. 

Let me leave you with something to think about that Paul stated at the beginning of this chapter:

What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness?  Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:3-4 NIV)

My Eye Opener- The law of faith has a lot to do with God’s faithfulness.

 

 

 

The Other Way Around- Exodus 13:17

And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt:(KJV)

 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” (NIV)

As I was reading in Exodus earlier, this passage really hit at the brain waves hard. It was another Thank You Holy Spirit moment. (TYHS) I’ve been getting so many messages from the Holy Spirit in this study of reading through the bible in a year calendar. It amazes me that messages received are messages that I need to heed.

When we are going through life we more oft than not get caught up and lost in many of its issues (wars).  We experience so many emotions that hinder our health, our thinking, and our ability to do what the Lord has intended for us to do. We even see things differently through the mirror of fear. Stress can cause quite a few of us to have a mental breakdown over some of life’s issues, and in some cases it even causes death.  Most people never get to go the other way around an issue either because of a spiritual or physical death. I repeat Stress Kills.

The message I received is that therein exist The Other Way Around, when God plans a move(change) for you. God, who knows your heart, your fears, your thoughts and how you will react, will redirect your steps to be in line with His plan. Majority of the time we are a hard-headed people and try to choose our own route. This passage showed me that the Lord our God desires for us to avoid certain wars in life because He knows us well. Sometimes He will take you away from the war that lies ahead, as He did the Israelites leading them not through the way of the land of the Philistines. After this morning’s epiphany I have to believe that He will do the same for us today.

Our life issues may differ; some will get around wars and some may go through wars to get to where God has intended for them to be.  It is often preached that you have to go through something to get where God wants you to be. There are many other stories in the bible that alludes to that statement. Well, I agree because for generations, to be exact for “four hundred and thirty years” (Read Exodus 12:40-42), the Israelites were in bondage to the Egyptians before Moses was chosen to lead them out of Egypt. For many years they went through some heavy oppression before becoming desert wanderers.

Even today some are living in an oppressive state. Peradventure, time comes along to move us out of oppression; we become glad until we hit a bump or fork in the road. We become confused about where we are to go. I have realized that through faults of our own, we try to move ahead of God only to find out that we went about dealing with the move in a wrong way (the bump or fork in the road).  

 

 

 

Sometimes we as Christians don’t realize that there was the other way around (God’s Plan) until after the fact.  But, here’s the grace… God will still lead you the other way around when you submit to and trust in His ways. Quite often we take a short cut or a short route to accomplish or change something. Often times that cut leads to a war within our very being that affects our mental and physical health.  It affects our relationships with others. It affects our trust and belief in God. It even makes us want to return to whatever our Egypt was.

My prayer is that we all come to realize that there is the other way around. It is the way that God has planned for us when we find ourselves oppressed and in bondage by many of life’s issues. The word says “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and by night: He took not away the pillar…..”(Exodus 13:21-22) What does this say to you?  It tells me that as He was with the Israelites, so shall He be with us to take us the other way around too. Amen.

Faith Fruit Fact – Not Facts

Great Saturday afternoon to you beloved fruits! Let’s get it started!

The most important verse about what Faith is can be found in Hebrew 11:1. My intent is to share with you my deeper insight of what the Holy Spirit has shared with me when listening to a sermon on Galatians 5:22 -23 about the fruit of the Spirit.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

Most know that the fruit of the Spirit have many types of fruit, yet is not referred to in the bible as fruits of the Spirit. Although the sermon focused on love, my mind wandered towards the words faith and fruit and why the words are not used in a plural form. I prayed for a deeper understanding of this communication.  Most who know me, know that I have  a pet peeve about the lack of communication when it comes to relationships in Christ and getting “stuff” done. Sooo… I was led by the Holy Spirit to look up a few synonyms for the word fruit because I’ve never thought of this word as having synonyms. I am a very visual being, so let’s get visual about this to see the evidence of the not seen! 😛

Synonyms: pod, ovary, capsule, fruitlet, berry, produce, etc.

 

 

 

Pomegranate-A Fruit with Inner Significance

I’m roving somewhere with this…hold on to your reins. It’s going to be a heart opener and the sweetest fruit to those who feel deeply about knowing the intricacies of God. God does not hide everything from us. Most lack a spiritual understanding of simple words and actions in the bible. This is when the Holy Spirit hovers within, indwelling you with things not seen by others. I began to think about the word faith being used throughout many events in the bible….no synonyms needed here. Did you notice that each one of the synonyms is singular? What do these things have in common? They are one fruit or one thing that has many seeds or substances inside, yet remains as A Fruit, not fruits. (TYHS) The Lord Our God is ONE, yet most view Him as a Triune Being? The Lord our God is with us everywhere we go. Still roving with me?

Now let me share with you a breakdown of Hebrews 11:1- Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.(TYHS)

• Substance- the inner significance or central meaning of something written or said: syn.- ingredient, element, body, matter, stuff, material, crux

• Things – whatever is apprehended as having actual, distinct, and demonstrable existence; anything that is or may become an object of thought: syn.- belongings, possessions, effect, stuff, substance

• Hoped – to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence; to believe, desire, or trust: syn.-anticipated, yearned, expected, wished, trusted, wanted

• Evidence – that which tends to prove or disprove something; ground for belief; something that makes things plain or clear: syn.-proof, confirmation, indication, sign, data

• Not – is the general declarative form of “no” indicating a negation of a related statement which it usually precedes

• Seen – past participle of see; perceived with the eyes; looked at

• For(preposition)- a —used as a function word to indicate purpose; b —used as a function word to indicate an intended goal c —used as a function word to indicate the object or recipient of a perception, desire, or activity syn.- aimed at, on behalf of, being, as long as

• The- (definite article) used to indicate a person or thing that has already been mentioned or seen or is clearly understood from the situation

• Is- present 3d singular of be: be(verb/intransitive) —used to indicate the identity of a person or thing ;used to describe the qualities of a person or thing; used to indicate the condition of a person or thing –

Now wasn’t that stimulatingly deep? Sometimes we do not understand clearly the meaning of what is said because we let simple words like not, for, is, and the, fly unrefined over our heads. Admit it! Many of us study faith for the wrong reason. Many bypass its truth and do not exercise it daily in life. Wisdom Works!

Roving complete: Faith Fruit Fact- There is but ONE FAITH, ONE FRUIT- Jesus the Christ, our Lord and Savior. He is the Substance, He is the great Hope, He is the Evidence. He is the POD, the Ovary, the Capsule, the Fruitlet, the Berry, and the Sole Produce of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. Remember The Shema.

The deeper insight is that we all need to understand what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is really about. Do you have a deeper understanding now? I do. (Hint- Galatians 5:22-23) Thank you Holy Spirit!   May you join me in giving all praise and glory to The Lord, our God, our Faith, and our Fruit.

Plain and Simple – God’s Message Is!

Great Saturday Morning Beloved Ones! I’m not sure why this song (lyrics below) was laid on my heart this morning. For some reason I started humming it as I was walking out the church doors as I was leaving our  Pray Without Ceasing Ministry at church. Lord have mercy!  The Holy Spirit have some simply fun messages for me. I’m sure there is a message here, outside of my life being “pretty plain”- and just now I  received a message.(TYHS) The video shows a little girl wanting to fit in. We all need a place to fit in. The message is really plain and simple- God wants His people to love one another, to be worthy of fitting in His kingdom. No excuses! See below and shout!  😛

Romans 1:17-20 –For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,  since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.  For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.  

 

No Rain

By Blind Melon

All I can say is that my life is pretty plain,
I like watchin’ the puddles gather rain
And all I can do is just pour some tea for two
And speak my point of view but it’s not sane
It’s not sane

I just want someone to say to me, oh, oh, oh
I’ll always be there when you wake, yeah
Ya know I’d like to keep my cheeks dry today
So stay with me and I’ll have it made

And I don’t understand why sleep all day
And I start to complain that there’s no rain
And all I can do is read a book to stay awake,
And it rips my life away but it’s a great escape
Escape, escape, escape

All I can say is that my life is pretty plain,
Ya don’t like my point of view,
Ya think that I’m insane
It’s not sane, it’s not sane

I just want someone to say to me, oh, oh, oh
I’ll always be there when you wake, yeah
Ya know I’d like to keep my cheeks dry today

So stay with me and I’ll have it made
I really wanna really gonna have it made

I’ll have it made, I’ll have it made
Oh oh oh

 

It’s Open Season For Spiritual Highway Robbery -Ecclesiastes 6

Ecclesiastes 6 – Read Here

Take a moment to read over the verses with the Spirit of God as your interpreter.  Keep in mind the following words:

highway robbery (n) : the practice of charging a price that is very high and usually unfair for something; syns.- fleecing, gouging, extortion, overcharging

Life Is a Highway (Tom Cochrane)- Partial Lyrics

Life’s like a road that you travel on
When there’s one day here and the next day gone
Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand
Sometimes you turn your back to the wind

There’s no load I can’t hold
Road so rough this I know
I’ll be there when the light comes in
Tell ’em we’re survivors

1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men:

Solomon has given another deep insight on what is common among men. If we look deeper with a spiritual sense of things going on around us and in our lives, spiritual highway robbery is a good description. I’m going to take you even deeper. (TYHS) We are all on a spiritual highway. Some of us are content with driving like a raisin under the sun basking in our own glory. Some are  driving eagerly to get over the sun to bask in God’s glory. If most of us were to take a look back on the roads and paths we have driven, most of us would be able to pinpoint the times we have been robbed or robbed others spiritually under the sun.

As he mentioned there are “many things that increase vanity” which speaks volumes about where we place our priorities and stash our treasures along our highway.  Yes, we have this in common regardless of our race. Wherever these things are, there within lies an open season opportunity for a spiritual fleecing. Speaking of that, have any of you seen the old movie Open Season? It’s a neat movie. I’ve kept videos on hand for years for the grandkids visits since I don’t watch regular television programs. You may be able to watch it on youtube. Here is a summary of the movie.  Pay attention to the underlined words. 😛

Courtesy of sonypictures.com

In Sony Pictures Animation’s first feature film, the animated action adventure comedy Open Season, the odd are about to get even. Boog (Martin Lawrence), a domesticated grizzly bear with no survival skills, has his perfect world turned upside down when he meets Elliot (Ashton Kutcher) a scrawny, fast-talking mule deer. When Elliot convinces Boog to leave his cushy home in a park ranger’s garage to try a taste of the great outdoors, things quickly spiral out of control. Relocated to the forest with open season only three days away, Boog and Elliot must acclimate in a hurry. They must join forces to unite the woodland creatures and take the forest back!

When the grandkids and I finished watching the movie, we had the same thoughts.  Why do people feel the need to remove animals from their natural environment – cage and put them on display?  Why do zoo animals look sad? Why do some animals just lay there?  I often tell them that one day, God will put some of us back in our natural environment where there will be no need or want for neither animals nor humans to be caged.

Beloved, have you been spiritually robbed of your natural environment?  What high prices have you paid for the “wandering of the desire” to have this or that, to be here or there, to eat this or that, to build this or that? Thy Kingdom will come. Those who are worthy to live in the Kingdom of Heaven will be free indeed. Free to enjoy the riches, wealth, and honour that God gives and have no worries about a stranger in the midst to take it all away. Spiritual highway robbery will be passé.

 

Be encouraged my dear loves, that there is ONE who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun.(verse 12) There will be no more open seasons for spiritual highway robbery. All evil diseases will end and “That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he.”(verse 10)  The key is for us all to become spiritually sober. (TYHS) Oh but Talkative One, how can we do this to avoid spiritual highway robbery?  One simple piece of advice here it is:

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God” during this Open Season For Spiritual Highway Robbery “and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)

I Love You

Highway Photo – Courtesy of Earthshots.org

Achilles’ Hill * A Thought of Encouragement for You

This great morning I was reading Isaiah. The word hills was mentioned a lot. The Spirit laid on my heart “weakness”, which  led to this blog. From quick research gathered, “hills” are mentioned more time in Isaiah than any other book in the bible with an exception to the book of Psalms. That David sure KNEW about “hills”. Remember, he had to hide from Saul in a cave built within the hills. (1 Samuel) I think Bathsheba aka Bat Sheva (Hebrew) was his most familiar Achilles’ heel.

Achilles’ Heel– n: a fault or weakness that causes or could cause someone or something to fail.(Courtesy of Merriam Webster) Achilles’ Hill– n: a hill that blocks the Believer’s view of God’s will that causes or could cause the Believer to remain dead in faith, become weak, and to fail.(Courtesy of Shelia)

The Myth (Courtesy of WikiAnswers)

An Achilles heel is a deadly weakness in spite of overall strength, which can actually or potentially lead to downfall. While the mythological origin refers to a physical vulnerability, idiomatic references to other attributes or qualities that can lead to downfall are common.

In Greek mythology, when Achilles was a baby, it was foretold that he would die young. To prevent his death, his mother Thetis took Achilles to the River Styx, which was supposed to offer powers of invulnerability, and dipped his body into the water. But as Thetis held Achilles by the heel, his heel was not washed over by the water of the magical river. Achilles grew up to be a man of war who survived many great battles. But one day, a poisonous arrow shot at him was lodged in his heel, killing him shortly after.

 The Human Body

Achilles’ Heel- The Achilles is the tendonous extension of 2 muscles in the lower leg: gastrocnemius, and soleus. In humans, the tendon passes posterior to the ankle. It is the thickest and strongest tendon in the body.  Bilateral Achilles tendon vibration in the absence of vision has a major impact on postural orientation. Vibration applied to the Achilles tendon is well known to induce in freely standing subjects a backward body displacement and in restrained subjects an illusory forward body tilt. The vibrations stimulate muscle spindles in the calf muscles. The muscle spindles alert the brain that the body is moving forward, so the central nervous system compensates by moving the body backwards.

*****************************************************************************************************

I have always loved reading Greek Mythology. In many ways akin to the myth of Achilles, as Believers, we are a people who have fought many battles and won by the Grace of God. We have all had our weak moments in spite of our strength. One difference, when we become Believer’s baptized in the name of Jesus, we are spiritually dipped in the Blood of Jesus, head to heel and not in the River Styx. (TYHS) 

What amazes me is that our Achilles’ Heel is the thickest and strongest tendon in the body and it communicates with the brain(paraphrase). It is also a very vulnerable part of the human body. When injured , it can make one experience a great deal of weakness for  some time. Per research, the Achilles’ Heel if injured can take up to 12-16 months to heal.  It takes some of us longer than that to set foot at the bottom of our Achilles’ Hill. Some of us get too comfortable being inside of a cavity(cave) in the hill, beside and beneath the hill. We need to put into effect the Hokey Pokey dance and dance our way up and over our hill. You know …put your right foot in…. http://youtu.be/QfPg_GzC-HA

When I first purchased the lot to have my house built, it was flat as a pancake. To my surprise, when the builders begin building and when my house was completed, my house was sitting on a small hill with one STEEP side on the east side. My first thought was how am I going to mow the hill and where am I going to put a privacy fence. I immediately headed to Lowe’s and purchased thirty evergreen trees to plant on the sides and back. I dug the holes and planted them by myself thinking that would save me from mowing that side of the yard. It did give me a natural privacy fence. Well, this old farm gal was wrong for once…and forestry is supposed to be in my blood.  Obviously, I didn’t listen attentively to my Pawpaw and dad when they would talk to me about planting trees.

After many episodes of pulled leg muscles and twisting of right ankle, one fall rolling down the hill, and one foot just froze while the lawn mower rolled down the hill, I can say that I have had a fun learning experience with a small hill. Clumsy hard-headed me.  😦 Pray. Some of us have larger hills in life that need weed eating, climbing to cut back the grass, or just plain removed. 

Here’s something for you to ponder beloved…If we were like Jack and Jill, (http://youtu.be/lsbFIYSK26E) and the hill was the ONLY place for us to get water, how hard would we try to climb that hill to get to that water?  BTW, vinegar and brown paper does help with a headache.  

Let us not suffer from Bilateral Achilles tendon vibration. Those who suffer from an Achilles’ Hill syndrome in life, must remember what “The Lord, The Lord God” has spoken about hills:

Isaiah 54:10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed,

saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.

Isaiah 55:12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the

hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

I encourage you and myself to meditate on Psalm 121 as

a reminder of where help comes from for any Achilles’ Hill we are finding difficulty in climbing.

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.  He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.  Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.  The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.  The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.  The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.  The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

I LOVE YOU

At One’s Wits’ End? “Seek the Lord and Live.” Amos 5-6

A Dictionary Moment
At one’s wits’ end- to be very worried or upset because you have tried every possible way to solve a problem but cannot do it; at the end of one’s ideas or mental resources; perplexed; utterly confused

Most are familiar with the idiom. Dare I say that most of us have been at our wits’ end? With God as your RESOURCE, you will never be at wits’ end. Let’s take a journey.

Continuing on this Lent journey through the book of Amos I was a bit confused of the message received. I prayed before the study and was ready to hear what words the Lord had for ME. This is MY journey, my heart rending time. But the Spirit of God put someone else on my heart and mind. I asked not why. I was reminded once again that I am not God; I cannot do everything for everyone and that the choices and mistakes that others make are not my boundaries. I hear you Lord. I finally HEAR you I shouted out. I’m not sure if this can be labeled as a lesson learned for me, therefore I’ll just pass on the message received.
The reason most of humanity end up at one’s wits’ end is due in part to a lack of individual preparation and complacency. Yep! C-o-m-p-l-a-c-e-n-c-y!
As you may recall, in Amos 4:12, God warns the house of Israel to “prepare to meet thy God.”
I’ve noticed that when one is at one’s wits’ end, it happens when one is NOT hearing the advice of others that are very close to them. One is stuck in the moment(s) of their doings and fails to recognize crouching sin. Remember what God said to Cain (Genesis 4:6-7) “…sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”  How many times has God said “Hear” in the Holy Bible? How many times has God said to you “Hear”?  Catch these my sweethearts!!!!!  Did you hear (syn. – perceive, receive, get) or did you listen (syn.-eavesdrop, snoop, attend)? ((((((TYHS))))))
So then I ask God, while reading Amos 5 and 6, what do you do when you know someone very dear to you is at their wits’ end? What do you do when you are so spiritually bonded to them, feeling and knowing their every ache without them saying a word? What do you do Lord, please tell me, when they are so broken, words and deeds of others go unnoticed by them? What do you do when that person feels like they have been a burden on those who help them? ((((((JESUS)))))) I looked up from writing my questions down and in the right hand corner of my closet, Tigger was staring at me.  I burst out with laughter.  

In the Winnie the Pooh stories, you know Tigger just bounces everywhere on his tail. Occasionally, you would see him walking through the 100 acre woods. Bouncing on his tail was his signature move. Bounce~~~ bounce~~~bounce!  In bounces the message from the Holy Spirit.

(Read Amos 6)

Yep! C-o-m-p-l-a-c-e-n-c-y! Tigger … a great messaging tool! (TYHS)
Dear readers, whatever situation you have fallen into or when you are at one’s wits’ end, hear this!

You

• Must Prepare yourself to meet thy God
• Must Seek Him and Live
• Must Rend your heart and Repent
• Must Reform self
• Must Put ALL Faith in God for His will to be done in your life

One cannot “HEAR this word” when the Lord is speaking, when one is always bouncing around like Tigger, or never standing still long enough on one’s own two feet to prepare one’s self to live as God intended. I tell ya! Lifesight (my new word) is nothing like hindsight.

 Here’s one of my favorite Tigger quotes.

“Excuse me a moment, but there’s something climbing up your table,” and with one loud Worraworraworraworraworra he jumped at the end of the tablecloth, pulled it to the ground, wrapped himself up in it three times, rolled to the other end of the room, and, after a terrible struggle, got his head into the daylight again, and said cheerfully: “Have I won?”

(With God, you can win, just say YES to Him)

Let this song minister to you- (parts 1 & 2) I love singing this song, very powerful.

Fleeing To Your Destiny – Jonah 3:1-8 To Chance or To Choose?

Jonah 3:1-8

And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.  So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.  So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.  For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.  And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:  But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.

Vocabulary Enrichment

Chance- n- something that happens unpredictably without discernible human intentions or observable cause; the assumed purposeless determiner of unaccountable happenings

Choose- vb- to select freely and after consideration; to have a preference for

In this chapter, Jonah made a fleeing to his destiny choice instead of taking to chance a fleeing from his destiny. Enjoy!

Lesson- Much to his chagrin inside the belly of a great fish for three days and three nights Jonah learned it is a better choice to flee to God instead of fleeing from God. It is better to make choices, wise ones at best using the Holy Spirit as your guide when the Lord makes a request of you. We have all taken chances on something or someone. We have thrown our own selves overboard into a belly of a great fish far longer than 3 days and 3 nights. We have all ran and some still run in the opposite direction of God. During this journey, I was shown that I’ve made a few bad choices in my lifetime because of leaving things to chance, or doing what I thought was best even as a Christian. Praise the Lord for GRACE and God’s Protective Shield (GPS).

Remember Jonah’s escape happened due to Divine Intervention in Chapter 2? The Holy Spirit also showed me that the perfect example of a person making a wise choice is that of Abraham. Most of you that are reading here are familiar with the events of Abraham (Genesis 11-25). He could have taken a chance to run away and hide his son from God, something that most of us would do if God asked us to sacrifice one of our children. To chance anything is out of alignment for us to achieve God’s Will. What did Jonah achieve once he made the choice to serve God? He achieved his freedom from the seaweed wrap (you folks be careful of those seaweed wraps in Spa’s) and he delivered the message to Nineveh per God’s original request.

The Boom!!!… Insight given to me from the Holy Spirit! Let’s pen them as Abraham’s Choices. There are three (3) choices we must make in order to discern that we can’t hide anywhere nor hide anything from God. (TYHS) If you make these three choices, i.e., go out on the limb (mho) then as they say…“you know that you know that you know that if it had not been for the Lord on my side” is a good adage to evoke after failed attempts to flee God.

1. You have to know God.
2. You have to have faith in God.
3. You have to be obedient to God.

Think about this… Aside from Jonah, how many people in the bible thought that hiding or fleeing from God was possible? In my heart rending lesson learned, Abraham made good choices. He knew God, had faith in God, and was obedient to God. It is NOT impossible for us to be as Abraham was.

I have also learned through research that Jonah was the only prophet chosen not to deliver a message to Israel and Judah. The other books are full of prophecies as compared to Jonah’s one prophecy to deliver. Now isn’t that interesting? Nineveh was full of wickedness, comparative to the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah. Folks, I’m here to tell you…Leave to chance to God and choose to serve Him using His GPS, aka The Holy Spirit. Romans 11:33(KJV) O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!  This verse is why I believe you should leave to chance with God. Was not Jonah’s encountering a purposeless unaccountable happening? If you are going to flee from something, you might as well make the choice to flee to your destiny. Let your Ebenezer stones of your past remembrances be your stepping stone onto dry land to make the right choices. Nobody likes to be wet all the time, unless you are a fish. 😛  Amen.

Enlightening Quotes / Relative Bible Verses

William Jennings Bryan (2) 

“If the Bible had said that Jonah swallowed the whale, I would believe it.”

2 Timothy 3:16 – All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

“The way to develop self-confidence is to do the thing you fear and get a record of successful experiences behind you. Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice: It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.”

Isaiah 55:11 – So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in the thing] whereto I sent it.

Hebrews 11:7 – By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

Frank Scully

“Why not go out on a limb? Isn’t it where the fruit is?”

Luke 19:1-10 – And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house. And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Zacchaeus made a choice to go out on the limb, mho)

Unknown

“Liberty is the right to choose. Freedom is the result of the right choice.”

Galatians 5:1 -Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

You too can learn a lot from the book of Jonah. I was and still am in awe of the lessons I’ve learned during Lent 2014. It really does take rending your heart to God to learn what His destiny is for you to give you an “expected end.” It is definitely not to harm you. Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

Next Journey Shareware- Jonah 3:9-10

What’s The Quantity of Light You Have in Your Life? 1 John 1

As I was studying 1 John thru 3 John, I decided to use another tool to assist in my study as well as being led to open up my dictionary.  I used The Biblical Expositor, Consulting Editor, Carl F. Henry.  The commentary on 1 John was written by Fred L. Fisher.  There were several statements that Fred made required me to think deeper after reading all three books of John.  

According to Fred, “The author (John) does not consider these themes merely as ethical requirements, but as religious realities based upon the Christian revelation of God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore Christian doctrine lies at the root of the book, and one is tempted at times, to think of it as a doctrinal exposition of the reality of the incarnation of God in Christ. If we are to follow the mind of the writer, however, we must avoid this temptation, since he is primarily concerned with the quality of the Christian life of his readers.”

AND

“The plan of the book does not follow a logical order.  The writer thinks and writes intuitively with constant repetition of recurring themes. The book defies outlining and one must be satisfied to follow the course of the author’s thoughts as he deals with the great cluster of ideas which, to him, constitute the essence of the Christian life.” 

I prayed  as I always do before studying His Word, that I would be following the mind of the Holy Spirit before beginning the study, and I guess it is a worthwhile thing to follow the mind of the writer at times and let the Holy Spirit guide you to an understanding of how it applies to self.  Now with that being said, isn’t it like us when we have a lot of ideas, more than much to say, when our mind and heart are overflowing with reverberations of things we have seen, heard, and experienced? We get anxious to share words about urgent matters and we just fly to the moon and back in a day with what we want to say before giving it more thought. We are a people, most, who like to share with others what they have learned and experienced especially if it is a joyful experience.

After all a light reveals ALL that is in the dark, right? I know I say this all the time, but it just amazes me how often the Holy Spirit leads, protects, and reminds me that I am not a material or selfish person.  I had another title I wanted to use, The Quantity of Light Determines the Quality of Life. For now we shall ride with the title I used. Ok? Alrighty then!  😛

While I was studying, the Holy Spirit threw a dictionary in front of me. Well He didn’t actually throw it, He more so guided me to pull it from my nightstand while I was reading 1 John.  I had not planned on writing anything  on this study. Sometimes we read things over and over and are instinctively unaware of a word’s true meaning, even the simplest of words like I, and, am, is, have, etc. I am a dictionary addict by birth though.  

You will find a lot of simple words with definitions within this blog.  I promise you, that it will give you deeper thoughts about what John is trying to relay in his messages as it did me. You will find many blessings and learn what God desires of you as an individual when it comes to self and others.  1 John thru 3 John opened my eyes, my mind, and my heart to some truths about some Christians truly caring for the destiny of others.

I will admit openly, it has never been a worry of mine to care about whether one went to heaven or hell outside of friends and family.  The reason being was that I was not knowledgeable about how a person lives their life that I do not know, and I’ve always believed each individual have to answer for him/herself to God alone without my assistance. I believe there is always light in each and every one of us that let us know how important it is to be in line with God’s Will.  It is the individual who needs to find that true source of true light within them with the help of the Holy Spirit. It’s there!   Let us keep in mind that John’s message was to all those who follow Christ or at least were trying to follow his teachings, both children and adults, both men and women.

This, to me is one of the most encouraging books of the bible when it comes to being a light for others and self to find The Way out of the darkness.  It is my belief that John put himself on a level with each listener or reader of his words.  He/they definitely spoke from experience.  John also was concerned for the joy of others in the “Word of Life.”  AND, John informs us that “We write this to make our joy complete.”  He was also excited about the audience attaining joy by receiving their quantity of the True Light due to his experience.  Just think to share the joy of Christ with others must be a wonderful feeling.  I guess I do it at times by blogging.  I’m thinking that in order for joy to happen one must reach out to others to bring them into knowing the light they can have in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ who is JOY.  

Joy- the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires; a state of happiness; BLISS.   🙂  I decided to put the definition here so you can associate the two words as being in one …….Christ = Joy.

 

********************************************************************************************************

¹ That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

*********************************************************************************************************

While reading those passages above, please place focus on the words below and experience a deeper meaning of what John is stating about the “Word of Life”. Yes, he appears to be anxious and repeats the same message using several techniques in these 10 verses.

I found the word “have” to be a key word in John’s message to his/their experience about the Word of Life;

• Have- to hold or maintain as a possession, privilege or entitlement.

1. have heard (perceived by their ears gaining knowledge)
2. have seen ( perceived with their eyes)
3. have looked upon  (highly regarded)
4. have handled (touched, felt)

• Manifested- made evident or certain by showing or displaying; readily perceived by the senses, esp. the sight; easily understood or recognized by the mind. (TYHS!)
• Declare- to make clear; to make evident; to show
• Fellowship- community of interest, activity, feeling, or experience; the quality or state of being comradely (friendly, brotherly)
• Full-containing as much or as many as is possible or normal; complete in detail, number, or duration; not lacking in any essential; complete
• Light- something that makes vision possible; spiritual illumination; pure; Truth
• Darkness- devoid of light; not receiving, reflecting, transmitting, or radiating light; arising from or showing evil traits or desires
• Cleanse- purify; freed from dirt or pollution; having no interior flaws visible
• Deceive- ensnare; to fail to fulfill; cheat; to cause to accept  as true or valid what is false or invalid
• Confess-to tell or make known(as something wrong or damaging to oneself);admit
• Faithful- full of belief and trust; LOYAL; firm in adherence to promises or in observance of duty; binding promise
• Unrighteousness-sinfulness; wickedness; unjust; not righteous

Finally, my summary of thoughts on this chapter…. In Christ Jesus, you will not be lacking in anything and you will be privy to receive joy and more quantities of light in your life which will one day allow you to physically hear, see, look upon, and eventually handle(touch) our Heavenly Father when the Word of Life, returns for His bride. Living in darkness makes one unable to see the TRUTH to experience successful bliss which leads to a poor quality of life. . Have you discovered the quantity of light that you have in your life?  If it’s not much, what are you going to do about it?

 

Love Covers A Multitude of Sins