Tag: faith

I AM the God who is There

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glory of GodDo you ever think about where God is?  In the Old Testament God came to dwell in the wilderness Tabernacle filling it with His Shekinah glory.   As they traveled in the wilderness God went with them guiding their way with a cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night.  When they had their camp set up, God dwelt in the tabernacle in their midst.  Exodus 40:34-35 “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lordfilled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.”  It is a beautiful picture of God’s abiding presence and guidance.   Ezekiel had prophetic visions of the future and closes his book with the rebuilt temple and city of God in the future.  Ezekiel 48:35 “The circumference of the city shall be 7-jehovah-shammah18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The Lord Is There.,”  Jehovah-Shammah.     John’s prophetic vision of the City of God in Revelation 21:3 also speaks of God’s abiding presence there.  “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.”

It is God’s intention to live with us.  He is Personal and desires a relationship with each and every believer.  In the past God dwelt in the tabernacle and temple, in the future, God will dwell with us as described in Ezekiel and Revelation,  but what about now?  Jesus speaks of the benefits of abiding in Him, living with Him.  We will be living free in His Word, John 8:31.  We will be bearing much fruit for God, John 15:4.  We will have the power to live for Him, John 15:5.  We will be connected to God and see answers to our prayers, John 15:7.  We will be surrounded by His love, John 15:9.  We will be able to honor God by keeping His commandments, John 15:10.   Jesus promised to send the comforter, counselor to guide us and abide with us after His death.  Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”   Acts  2 records the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and how God’s Spirit indwelt the believers giving them power to live for Him.  Peter preached to the crowd that day,  And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”Act 2:38.    Later in Acts Paul and Silas were in prison and the Lord shook the prison and opened the cells.  The jailer rushed in thinking they were gone and found them in their cell.  “Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”  Acts 16:30-31  Just like the Philippian jailer we can experience that indwelling power of God’s Holy Spirit and have God abiding, living within us.  We can follow his example and believe in Jesus. When we abide in usdo,  God promises He will send His Holy Spirit to abide or live with us.  He will be with us to guide and comfort, strengthen and love us from the inside out.  God is There with us.

Abide in Him,

Linda

 

I AM your Banner

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This curious statement comes in Exodus 17:15. “And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner,”  Moses and the children of Israel were still wandering in the desert when this event occurred.  They were camped at Rephidim and were attacked by the Amalekites who lived in the northern part of the Sinai peninsula.   Moses ordered Joshua to take fighting men and go out and confront them in battle.  Moses along with Aaron and Hur would view the battle from the top of a hill.  Moses told Joshua he would stand on the hill with the staff of God in his hands, which was the staff that God had used through Moses to perform many miracles.   The battle began and as long as Moses’ hands with the staff were uplifted they were winning but if his hand and staff dropped they began losing.  So Aaron and Hur sat Moses on a rock and held up his hand banneruntil the battle was won.   When the victory was complete, Moses built and altar to the Lord and called it “The Lord is my Banner.”  “saying, “A hand upon the throne of the Lord! 16a

What is a banner?  By definition a banner is:  a piece of cloth bearing a design, motto or slogan sometimes attached to a staff and used as a battle standard,  a flag (like the Star-Spangled Banner) or a headline in a newspaper.  The meaning that seems to fit this event would really be all 3- the battle standard or flag declaring who God is and the announcement that God is the Banner for the those who believe.  Moses wanted all to remember that God was the reason they won the battle with the Amalekites, and they were God’s people waving His Banner over their lives.  What about you?  Do you wave God’s banner over your life?  Are your ‘battles’ in life solved with the Lord’s power and direction?  A couple of promises come to mind promises keptwhere God promises to be with us in and through things for our good and His glory.  “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6,  “For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20 and “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”   2 Timothy 1:7.   Where do you need God to be your Banner today?  Look to Him for courage, power and love to overcome the obstacles you face today. Claim His promises and fly His Banner in victory.

Flying the Banner of God is a life-time privilege and honor,

Linda

I AM the God who Provides

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I have always been fascinated by the I AM statements God makes about Himself in the Bible.  They convey the power, majesty and greatness of God and increase my trust in who God is.  The second I AM proclamation I’m going to look at is in Genesis 22 and was made before God’s revelation of I AM Who I AM in Exodus.  This was made to Abraham on Mt Moriah where he went to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, by God’s direction.  Isaac Gen-221asked where the sacrifice was going to come from and Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.”  Genesis 22:8    Then they proceeded up the mountain together.  This story has always troubled me as God had asked Abraham to do the unthinkable, sacrifice his only son.  It is a picture to us of the anguish God must have felt in sending Jesus to die for our sins.  He provides for us the ultimate sacrifice to remove our sins forever through His only Son’s sacrifice in Jesus’ death on the cross.  I have thought that Abraham knew  and trusted God’s promise of becoming a great nation, children as numerous as the stars and blessing the whole world which God had given him in Genesis 12 and 15.  He trusted God to provide whatever was needed and even to the point of resurrecting Isaac if needed.     Genesis 22:13-14 tells us what happened.  “And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”   God showed himself as the provider of life, of sacrifice, of hope, of the future and of faith to Abraham.  He had great faith in his God who would provide.

Do you see God as the I AM who will provide?  One of my favorite verses is Philippians 4:19 “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”   God promises to provide what I need just like He did for Abraham on that mountain.  It is a matter of trusting God to provide.  Claiming and reciting this verse makes me focus and remember that God can and will provide for me even when it seems that the odds of that happening are very much against it.  I believe Abraham would have said the same as he trudged up the mountain with the wood and his son.  Take a step of faith closer to God today.  Trust Him instead of worrying.  Let the anxiety go and place it his-provisionin God’s hands.  “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”  1 Peter 5:7

Loving Jesus requires a walk of trust in His great provision.

Linda

Who is God? I AM

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Moses fled out of Egypt for killing a Hebrew slave, Exodus 2, and ended up in Midian.  He married a Midianite woman and settled there as a shepherd.   He was out in the wilderness when God appeared to him in a ‘burning bush’ that was not consumed.  God told Moses he was to return to Egypt and bring the Israelite people out of Egypt to freedom in Promised Land of Canaan.  Moses was reluctant to say the least and posed many questions to God as excuses as to why he could not possibly go and do this for Him.   He objected with why me? Then what if they don’t believe me?  I’m not eloquent enough.  God patiently responded to each of his objections.   In Exodus 3:13-14 Moses I amquestioned who God is, His name.  Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”  14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.”And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” 

Why is this answer of who God is important?  It reveals God’s name YHWH, Yahweh or His divine name.  It was written without vowels as they did not even speak the name of God because it was so holy.   It tells us that God is who He is –self-existent and not dependent upon anyone for His existence.  It tell us that God is the creator and sustainer of all that exists.  It tells us that God is- unchanging and immutable, has been and always will be.  It tell us that God is eternal, He always existed and will always exist.  It assured Moses that God in His sovereign power can do all things and will be with him on this journey back to Egypt and beyond.

2017-07-09-The-Great-I-AM-600x600We too can be assured by the great I AM.  He is immutable and we can depend upon Him.  Hebrews 13:8  “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”   He will never leave us nor forsake us.  Joshua 1:9 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  Knowing God is eternal and dependent upon nothing else gives us security and assurance of our future with Him. John 14:1-2 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” 

Have a blessed day as you cling to the promises of the great I AM.

Linda

A Transformed Heart is filled with…obedience

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Do you think of yourself as obedient?  Do you readily obey your parents, the codes of conduct in your society or even your own heart’s desires?  All of those may be in conflict with God’s desires for your life and the necessary obedience needed to follow Him.  Because we are sinners and live in a sinful world, obedience does not come naturally.  It is against our sin nature to do what others desire of us or even what we desire ourselves for our future since we are rebellious at heart.  So how do we become obedient to God and His Word?  Peter gives us direction in 1 Peter 1:14-16  “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”  God calls us to be holy and to follow Him in obedience.  Peter goes on in verses 18-19 to explain to root of our ability to obey, “knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”  Because of Christ’s death on the cross we become His children through faith in Him and His redeeming work.  We are given the godly motivation, godly direction and ability to be obedient from our heart through our faith in Jesus.   

romans 6 17I love the way Paul explains this transformation in Romans 6:17-18  “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.”  Faith in Jesus sets me free from the bondage of sin that holds my heart and actions and frees me to serve with an obedient heart the Jesus I love.

What about you?  Does your love and faith in Jesus cause you to desire to be obedient to Him and His Word?  Do you find following Jesus hard?  Even Paul stated in Romans that I hate what I dohe struggled to do what God wants him to do because of his own sin nature.  Romans 7:19-20 “19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”    He summarizes his condition of faith in verse 24-25. “ Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.”  His final conclusion to this dilemma is profound in Romans 8:1-2 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the romans 8 1-2law of sin and death.”   Jesus is the answer and He frees us from our bondage to sin.

May your heart be filled with the love of Jesus today so that you may live with a heart that is wholeheartedly obedient to Him.

Linda

A Transformed Heart is filled with….faith and love

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When we take the leap of faith and step out with Jesus, we are putting our trust in Him to be the guiding force in our lives from now through all eternity.  That step brings about a transformation in our hearts that solidifies our faith in Him.  With a heart committed to Jesus, scripture teaches that our hearts become filled with love for God and our fellow man.  Let’s look at Ephesians ephesians_3_173:16-19.  “16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 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 is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”   

Paul first reminds us of God’s total power and resources.(16)  Then having Christ in our hearts will give us deep rooted love and strength. (17)  That deep love will help us understand God’s love for us – the depth of it.(18)  That love, so hard to understand, will make us complete for a life that is full and power driven.(19)   Peter describes this transforming deep love in 1 Peter 1:22.  22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.”   Accepting Jesus and His cleansing power brings about obedience and sincere love for others.   He says we are to love deeply from our hearts.

love deeplyWhat about you?  Do you feel sincere love for others because you know Jesus?  Do you feel that the love God showed to you by sending Jesus makes you love Him even more?  A truly transformed heart is a heart filled with faith in Jesus that manifests itself in our lives by love for God and others.  If you feel you lack this kind of love, ask God for it.  Love for others is a God thing and when we are lacking He tells us to ask Him.  Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”    Asking, seeking and knocking are to be a continual part of our lives if we desire to have transformed hearts for Him.

Blessings as you seek to love others like Jesus today.

Linda

Reject your heart of stone, Get a new living model!

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heartToday I am beginning a new series on the heart.  There are at least 100 scriptures that focus on the heart, so it must be of great importance to God.   I found there are scriptures that talk about God’s Work in our hearts, the true nature of our hearts and what a transformed heart looks like.   The materials I have show the most ‘popular’ verses- people actually voted, so perhaps they were either most helpful, most revealing or most convicting.  I love it that the most loved verses deal with God’s Work in our hearts.  It gives us a good place to begin.

Ezekiel 36:26 is one of the key verses in this summary of prophesies God gave to the children of Israel in Ezekiel 36.  Look at what God said He would do:  22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name…  23 I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations… 24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land.  25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I heart of stone heart of fleshwill cleanse you.  26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.  28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.  29 And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. 30 I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations.”

God said He would do all these things to and for His believing children.  He would vindicate or show the holiness of  His name to them and the world,  He would bring them back to the land (they were in Babylon in exile at the time), He would cleanse them, He would give them a new heart, He would put His spirit within them, He promised them long life in the land and great fruitfulness.  As I read this list of promises God gave them, I realized that some were fulfilled then with their return to the Promised Land but many were fulfilled much later.  Jesus came and brought cleansing and healing through His death and resurrection.   At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was sent to indwell the believers through faith because of Jesus’ work on the cross.  Israel is again a nation and is amazingly fruitful.  It is a wonder in the desert and blooms as God intended under their care.

new heartThrough Jesus’ Work on the cross and resurrection from the dead, we can live forgiven and be filled with His Holy Spirit.  We can have the new heart that God desires for us.  He says in verse 26, He will give us a new heart.  This heart will be soft, pliable and alive with faith and devotion to Him.  With this new heart, we can live for him.  2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”   We are new creatures with a new heart through Christ.  Do you feel like you have a heart of stone?  Are you hard-hearted towards others, unfeeling about the difficulties in your life and their lives, do you shut out God?  Or do you claim a new heart through Jesus that is open, willing, compassionate and loving towards those in your life?

Claim your new heart in Jesus today and watch God transform you and give you a heart of flesh and feeling and take away your heart of stone that was filled with sinful self-desires.  Turn to Jesus and He will transform your heart.

Seeking transformation of heart,

Linda

What is your resolve in hard times?

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As I meditate upon Psalm 119:121-128, I am reminded of how often we get ‘stuck’ in a place in life and feel it will never end.  When we pass through that time and look back it does not seem that it was that long.  Yet, while we are in the midst of the struggle it seems forever.  In these verses the psalmist is struggling with oppressors that are closing in upon him and pleads with God “do not leave me to my oppressors.”  He asks for help, “Ensure your servant’s well-being and let not the arrogant oppress me.”  He feels that apart from the salvation of the Lord, “My eyes fail, looking for your salvation , looking for your righteous promise.”  But he rallies and asks God to show him love. “Deal with me according to your love.”  He then asks for understanding and discernment so he can understand God’s plan.  “I am your servant give me discernment that I may understand your statues.”   He concludes with his own resolve about God, “Because I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong.”  

ResolveHow do you recover your resolve when you struggle with hard people, difficult circumstances or your own unbelief?  The psalmist resolved to trust God and stand on His Word.  Even when we do not understand we can make up our minds to believe God for who He is and what He says.  This will give us hope and bring us through those hard times.  Resolve today to stand with God and believe His Word.  He always proves Himself faithful.

Endeavoring to walk in Trust,

Linda

Pleading with God

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If you could write down your prayers, what would they look like?  Are they filled with joy, praise, thanksgiving, submission, confession and petitions?  In reality, our prayers are filled with all of these but often vary according to our need or level of distress in life.  The psalmist in Psalm 119:33-40 pleads with God.  Look at the verbs as you read.

He

33 Teach me your decrees, O Lord;
    I will keep them to the end.
34 Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions;
    I will put them into practice with all my heart.
35 Make me walk along the path of your commands,
    for that is where my happiness is found.
36 Give me an eagerness for your laws
    rather than a love for money!
37 Turn my eyes from worthless things,
    and give me life through your word.
38 Reassure me of your promise,
    made to those who fear you.
39 Help me abandon my shameful ways;
    for your regulations are good.
40 I long to obey your commandments!
    Renew my life with your goodness.

psalm 119 37The psalmist is struggling with his daily life and desires God to guide him away from temporal things to a focus on eternal truths that will change and renew his life.  God’s goodness will transform our lives is we submit to His truths and follow Him.  Do you desire God’s help with your life problems?  Seek His wisdom and truth.  Open His Word and bow in prayer.  He will find you, just like He promised.  Hebrews 11:6 challenges us to believe and take that step of faith. “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”   Does that describe you and your search for God?  Turn to Him in faith today.  He will find you.

Hebrews 11 6Walking with Him is an adventure in faith,

Linda

I am a joint heir with Christ.

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Because I believe that Jesus died on the cross and was raised from the dead, I am a joint heir with Christ.  This is an amazing truth that is laid out for us in scripture.  we-are-co-heirs-with-christ-in-his-suffering-and-glory-grace-sabarusRomans 8:16-17 “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,  and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.  Being a child of God means we share in the good and the ‘bad’ or suffering just as Christ did.   This is a truth of family life we see in our own lives.  We reap the benefits of being in our earthly family- the love, care and companionship, but we also have the hard times, struggles and strains caused by living here on sin-filled earth.  However, being a child of God, we have His indwelling Holy Spirit to give us power to endure and overcome evil with good as we struggle to live for Him.  We know the love and companionship of the Holy Spirit within our lives as His Spirit bears witness with our spirit.  Praise God, we can know and feel His power and guidance in our lives.  Someday we will see Him in all His glory and share in the joy of His presence.  That is a true inheritance worth waiting and working for!

As a believer, are you feeling His power in your life?  If not, turn to Him and ask Him to reveal Himself to you, and then listen and feel the Spirit within you recognize His heir bnbvoice.  If you do not know Jesus, call on Him and He will reveal himself to you.  Many verses tell us how simple it is to do this: 1 John 1:9 “ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”   Romans 10:9 “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  Acts 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”  What is keeping you from knowing Jesus today? In the face of an eternity without Him, whatever is stopping you is unimportant.  Turn to Jesus today.

Loving being an Heir,

Linda