Tag: Word of God

Looking to God for A Word from His Word in 2023

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As we enter this New Year of 2023, it is time to think about what God has in store for you. One way to do this is to have a Word from His Word to be your focus. I have done this for several years now and have found it to be uplifting for my faith and walk with God. God amazes me how the Word He gives me is repeated continually thought-out the year. Many times it is encouraging to my walk, sometimes instructive but always guiding.

I would challenge you to pray about this as you read and study this week. Ask God what Word He would give you from His Word for this new year. He may give you more than one word to pursue so do that and see where He leads you. The Word you have for your focus has others that are or will be related to it. Make a list of your main word and then 5-10 related words. God will guide you to hone and zero in on the Word He has for you. Now that you have your list, look to scripture for verses that use your word or words and see how God guides in choosing focus verse for the year. I generally end up with 1-2 verses.

Here are some verses and words to get you started:

Joy- Psalm 16:11, Psalm 63:7, Habakkuk 3:18 or James 1:2

Hope–  Psalm 62:5, Psalm 147:11, Jeremiah 29:11, Lamentations 3:21-22, Romans 5:4-5 or 1 Timothy 4:10

Trust- Psalm 28:7, Psalm 31:14, Psalm 37:5, Proverbs 3:5-6 or  Jeremiah 17:7

Grace– John 1:16-17, Romans 3:24, 2 Corinthians 12:9, or Ephesians 1:7

Peace- Isaiah 26:3, Matthew 5:9, John 14:27 or Philippians 4:7

Or you may choose to examine words like: unity, compassion, mercy, steadfastness, stability, generosity, service or enough. When examining words like these you need your list of 10 related words to aid you in your search. Have fun with this and make it an adventure in listening to God and hearing what He has to say to you about your New Year!

May God encourage you as you seek His face this week and look to Him for your Word from His Word.

Linda

What’s in a Word?

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In my first blog of the year, Happy New Word, I challenged you to pray about a guiding word for this New Year of 2022. Last year my word was joy and I saw it manifested throughout the year. God has given me the word faith for 2022. I have been praying about which scripture to claim along with my word and God has led me to Psalm 37:3 and Hebrews 11:1.

Psalm 37:3 has been a favorite verse of mine for many years. “Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.” Befriend is defined by ESV scholars as feeding upon faithfulness that leads to safety or safe pastures. I like to think of it as embracing faithfulness in my life. In order to embrace faithfulness fully, I need to walk in trust and seek to do good. This gives direction and hope to my faith and assurance of His protective hand upon me. What He has given me by faith is sealed by His Holy Spirit and cannot be lost. Ephesians 1:13 “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.” My walk of trust and service will help me from misplacing my priorities. It is so easy to lose focus and to misplace my focus upon worldly things that surround me.

Hebrews 11:1 is also a favorite as it defines faith. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” When people question my faith, I can rely upon the hope and assurance I have in Christ that He is real, alive and with me always. I have that conviction as His Holy Spirit speaks to my spirit that I am His. Romans 8:16 “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” I can be assured that I am His and can be called His child.

In addition to choosing a scripture to go with my Word, I graphically used a program called Word Art to give me a visual of my word. It is an easy program to use and generates a fun art focus to hang near your desk or someplace where you can be reminded of your word. You need to ponder about your word and brainstorm other words it brings to mind. Select those 10 words related words that will expand and define different aspects of your word. My word of faith generated the following list for me: hope, goodness, strength, rooted as in rooted and grounded in faith, courage, trust, conviction, pleasing as in pleasing to God, assurance, and abundance. I made two visuals. One is in the shape of a heart which is red and the other a cloud in blue. The program can be found at http://www.wordart.com It is a free site. Here are my visuals:

I do not know how God will use this word in my life this year but I know He will. May this blog be an encouragement to you to pray about a Word for 2022 and to choose a scripture to claim and cling to during the year. God wants to lead and teach us…we just need to be open to His leading and His teaching.

Linda

Thankfulness That Produces Results

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Colossians 3:15-17 contains precious verses to empower, direct and motivate us to live lives to the honor and glory of God. “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.“

Paul’s message has 3 directives all followed by thankfulness. 1) let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, and be thankful. 2) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,  and with thankfulness in your heart to God. 3) do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, always giving thanks to God the Father through him. Each of these actions of letting peace rule our hearts, letting His Word dwell within us and doing all we say and do in the name of Jesus need to motivate us as we seek to live for Jesus each day. Each needs to be followed with thankfulness which will be easy when you see that each of them produces great thankfulness in our hearts and minds. As we see what Christ has done for us, our gratitude increases.

How are you doing? Are you living in and with the peace of God? Jesus told his disciples and us too in John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” It is yours for the asking, Jesus meant you to be at peace in Him.

Are you spending time in God’s Word and letting Him speak to you as you read and study? Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” John 17:8 “For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.” John 17:17 “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” God’s Word is truth and reading it daily will allow Him to speak to you, minister to your soul and give you insights into your character and His.

Are you examining your words and actions to see if they line up with God’s desires, plans and commandments? Micah 6:8 “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” 1 Samuel 15:22 “And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.” Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare[a] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” God wants you to be a person of character walking in obedience to Him, with humility and trusting His plans that are for your good and His glory. God is always faithful so walk trusting Him with each day.

As you consider the 3 directives and examine your own heart, what is your level of thankfulness? 1 Thessalonians 5:17 “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” We are to incorporate thankfulness into all areas of our life- in all circumstances, both good times and hard. But when we do, our peace is increased, our love and understanding of God’s word is increased and our actions begin to be more and more like Jesus which produces profound thankfulness in our hearts. Because Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead, I can experience profound thankfulness as I learn to hold tightly to the peace of God, the Word of God and trust in His development of my character to be more and more like Jesus.

Linda

Advent Reveals Messages of Power and Hope

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Joseph was such an important person in Jesus’ life, I wanted to take another day with the scripture of God’s intervention on Joseph and Mary’s behalf. Matthew 1: 18-25 NLT

“This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. 20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus,  for he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: 23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!     She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel,    which means ‘God is with us.’”

24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. 25 But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.

The angel’s message to Joseph, in addition to the words he spoke to Mary gave them confirmation that the child she carried and that they would raise was from God. The angel told him his name was to be Jesus and his purpose in coming was to save his people from their sins. The angel did not want any confusion concerning his name, since like Zechariah the friends and family would expect the baby to be named Joseph after his father. The confirmation of the child’s purpose was something only God could do-saving from sin. The reference to the Old Testament prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 is one Joseph and Mary would have known and would have been further confirmation that the messages were from God.

The information this new husband and wife had is amazing about their unborn child: He was to be called Jesus, meaning God with us. He was coming as Savior to redeem people from sin. He was be called Son of the Most High and Son of God (Luke 1:32,35). He would reign on the throne of David (Luke 1:32). His kingdom would be eternal (Luke 1:33) and He was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35). I’m sure Mary and Joseph discussed this miracle and the future effect on their lives. As the story continues to unfold, they would have to draw on their strength of faith and fully trust in the power of God.

Is God asking you to step out in faith and walk with Him in some area of your life today? What evidence can you draw from to gain perspective and hope so you can continue walking in faith? Mary and Joseph had the angel’s messages, confirmation in scripture and the Holy Spirit abiding within Mary to guide them. Where can you look for guidance? We have the whole Bible and the indwelling Holy Spirit. Dive into scripture, pray and ask God to reveal His answers to you. I am confident Mary and Joseph clung to their faith and decided to walk with God in faith even though they did not know all the ins and outs of what lay ahead. God has confirmation, hope and assurance for you just as He provided for Mary and Joseph. Choose faith and walk with Him.

Linda