Sleeping in Ruins?

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.


1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

5:1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. 11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing. NKJV

Let us watch: greygoreuo....1127......is to awake...NT 1453 is to waken (from sleep) from inactivity, as in sleeping in ruins and from nonexistence.

Now that is a little scary if you ask me. That we are told to not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 

That sleep is that which people do without knowing it. They are those who have no discernment of the time and the season.  We are to take a stand.

Putting on our breastplate of "belief" in the feast of love! For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Drawn into that word of watch.......1127..........and that people are to awaken from inactivity. Well what inactivity, and what is that sleeping in ruins? Do people have an actual place of which they operate as the non-existent one?

Isaiah 41:11-13

11 "Behold, all those who were incensed against you 

Shall be ashamed and disgraced;

They shall be as nothing,

And those who strive with you shall perish. 

12 You shall seek them and not find them--

Those who contended with you.

Those who war against you 

Shall be as nothing,

As a nonexistent thing. 

13 For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand,

Saying to you, 'Fear not, I will help you.'   NKJV

Now I really love the book of Isaiah and sometimes really have to have a quiet place to read it. And during my days of working outside the home, the Lord gave me this passage of scripture.  Those incensed against you shall be ashamed and disgraced. They shall be as nothing and those who would choose to strive with me would perish. YIKES! 

Then I was told: YOU shall seek them and not find them----those who contended with you...those who war against you shall be as nothing, as a nonexistent thing. FOR THE LORD YOUR GOD WILL HOLD YOUR RIGHT HAND....SAYING, 'FEAR NOT, I WILL HELP YOU.'

ON rising this morning, I thought on this area of discernment. My husband and I spent much time reading on it last night. And the scriptures we were given on it, especially for prayer surely made a lot of sense. And it was like we were being awakened to something new.  For in this teaching, we saw the prayer warrior given a message from the Holy Spirit to pray for a brother overseas who was fighting in the Vietnam War in the 1960's. AND the specific prayer given to prayer person was so surprised what the Lord had given him in this vision/dream who then mailed it to brother in Vietnam. He wrote to brother: This is how it will happen and you must be on your guard!

It was mailed and received.  And the "message" given came to pass some 4 weeks later on an actual battle field. The brother survived the attack and did what the prayer warrior had sent him to do by the Spirit of God. Hallelujah!

As this prayer warrior grew more in that awareness of God and His speaking, this prayer person continued to give another example of how the Lord showed him how his brother was to die this one day around the 3 p.m. hour and He, God desired prayer person to pray. Well quickly, he, the prayer warrior called one other person and together they prayed from their different locations. They asked for God to intervene on the older brother's behalf and reminded God of the brother's commitment in his early teen years to God. They also spoke how they knew he had walked away from God, but that still believed and had faith that said brother in harm's way would be delivered from the harm.  They prayed the Word and the prayed in Tongues. The brother( in harm's way) just knew he needed to pull off the road and talk with a man within this business, but when he stopped and went inside he could not remember what he needed to ask the business owner. Well, in that four minutes.........another vehicle had went on by and that vehicle crashed into the vehicle coming from opposite direction and in that head-on crash, the couple inside died exactly what had been given for prayer warrior's brother to be killed. BUT someone prayed and  not only prayed but kept praying for another full two hours after the event was to take place. The thing taken from this was..........was anyone praying for the couple who died that day?

And then I was astounded to know what people could be given about circumstances. 

The prayer warrior had many examples of God's love for those who love Him. And I thought of those that are or become the nonexistent thing.

While meditating on what we had read, we awakened to another important part of why we are to pray. We also came away with what God cannot do when NO ONE PRAYS for someone. For surely lives were saved on that eventful afternoon at 3 pm. and others were lost.

We know how to pray for a loved one who has not received Jesus, right? That is to remind God of how they might have gone to church as a child, how they took others to church and how regularly they tuned in Kathryn Kulman to see God move through people in the attitude of complete quiet. We can remind Him of how a parent might have taken us week after week to church, yet in their last days on earth, they choose to lie in bed in a death state that is one of sleeping in ruins and being the nonexistent thing. But God in His love has shown us how we are to put on that love and walk by faith, not only for ourselves but for others as well.

We got this message to pray for loved ones last night.  With a conditioner in my hair and a mixture of water and creme running into my eyes, I got this vision. I saw a driver out of control on state route 14 headed from the Stevenson area to Vancouver.  I was telling my husband we must text our family and tell them to stop where they are at and not go any further. And we continued to pray. Again, I saw the out of control person, and it appeared as a woman trying to reach for a ringing cell phone drives into the opposite lane on a sharp curve. So we prayed more thoroughly. They had stopped and waited a full hour and instruction came. So they went the long way around to get home. Was there something that would have cost a life? Not sure yet, but we will know. We confess we will always know every form of information God desires for us to know that will bring glory to Him. We will have that piece of information to make decisions that involve our lives and others and in that we require and put God's wisdom on it, in it and through it in how ever many hours of prayer it takes.

When the call came in they had arrived home in safety, then we rested in God and His love.

1 Thessalonians 5:9-11

9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. 11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.

For God has not appointed us to wrath. In our salvation through Jesus Christ, we live unto Him. And we know many others have gone who now sleep in Him. But those who sleep today, who sleep in ruins and the decay, those who sleep as the nonexistent thing are those who are far from God.

The Amplified Bible states this: for verse 9 For God has not appointed us to [incur His] wrath. [He did not select us to condemn us], but [that we might] obtain [His] salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah). 10 Who died for us so that whether we are still alive or are dead [at Christ's appearing], we might live together with Him and share His life. 11 Therefore encourage (admonish, exhort) one another and edify (strengthen and build up) one another, just as you are doing.

For the Lord is returning for His people. And we are not the "condemned" but the saved.

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. (Rom. 8:1) 

 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. (John 6:63-65)

There are those appointed to wrath, but we are not those. Our world is to be framed by the Word of God.  It is in that trust that where we live and reside is not in the that place of the "ruins" but in the safe place of His boundary, and it is in His Word. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.  By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. (Hebrews 11:1-3)

Our praying, not only for our loved ones, but also those who come across our path, are those who now have a boundary, a fence if you will, around their lives. The Word of God spoken and prayed over them will keep them in the safe place.

As an example I have put a prayer here that is that boundary of God's Word around our grandchild. It is prayed and placed as a "hedge" of protection around her. And when or if something arises........we remind the Lord that she was placed in His hands the moment we heard of her conception.

Father, in the name of Jesus we pray for our granddaughter. May she obey her parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord. WE pray that she would not be provoked by her father so that she not become discouraged according to Colossians 3:21.

 We pray that she will honor her father and her mother. She will be a wise son who hears her father’s instructions,  she will not consent to going with sinners. We pray she not walk on the path with them but she keep her feet from their path for their feet run to evil and they make haste to shed blood.

 According to James 1:19-23, our grandchild will be "the" swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; knowing that the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. We pray she will continually lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with  meekness,  the implanted word, which is able to save her soul. We say that she will be a doer of the word and not a hearer only, deceiving herself.

It is According to Prov. 22:24-25 that she will make no friendships with angry men and she will not go with the furious.  She will refuse them and their ways.  We pray that she will know that God loved us so much, that He gave His only begotten Son Jesus , so that we would have everlasting life by believing on HIM. We pray that she confesses with her mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in her heart that God has raised HIM from the dead, and be saved. We believe her to walk all her days of life with Him.  Her heart, we pray, will believe unto righteousness, and her mouth brings her to salvation of her soul.We pray that the LORD is her Shepherd and she shall not be in want of any good thing.  The Lord restores her soul so that she walks the paths of righteousness for His names sake. She will have no fear of evil for she will know that God is with her to protect her. His rod and His staff will comfort our grand-daughter . She will be anointed with fresh oil till her cup is running over. We will see the goodness and mercy of God follow her all the days of her life and she will dwell in the house of the LORD FOREVER. AMEN AND AMEN

Truly we can make a difference in praying and speaking God's Word over another person. Truly He is on our side when we choose Him 1st. May we awaken from that sleep that leads or tends toward poverty of the soul. May we make the decision to not only attend church..........but attend to that which God has placed in our hands. The Lord is returning for His church "His body of believers" and will He find faith on the earth?(Luke 18:8)

In closing:

Proverbs 24:30-34

30 I went past the field of the sluggard,

past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; 

31 thorns had come up everywhere,

the ground was covered with weeds,

and the stone wall was in ruins. 

32 I applied my heart to what I observed 

and learned a lesson from what I saw: 

33 A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest-- 

34 and poverty will come on you like a bandit 

and scarcity like an armed man.   NIV

When we consider everyplace we have traveled, everyplace we have walked and seen, how many places can you remember that seemed to be that which was the overgrown, the overwhelmed with weeds and briars?  How many places do you remember seeing that was the broken down, needing paint and the wall or fence around was in "ruins"? Well that is one's heart. And when we apply God's Word it changes. For if we continue to neglect to speak His Word and pray for others that God has given us, then a little sleep, a little slumber, ah yes the folding of hands to rest.........and you will find yourself in poverty. In those moments before the disaster, before the earthquake, before the report of a grave illness, what wall will keep the enemy away or will it come in like a flood?

Arm yourself with His Word and declare His truths. 

Forever who would love life and see good days, must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good. He must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their prayer. But His face is against those who do evil. (1 Peter 3:10-12)

Amen.

Attention:
The Voice of Prayer  has a new teaching published: Come Away and Rest a While. 

You can also visit my Youtube channel The Voice of Prayer for more teaching at http://bit.ly/1tNyBhV

Eggshells

Thinking on all those colored eggs the past few days, I wonder how much was spent on "real" eggs, chocolate candy, and that pretty green grass! Or are "real eggs" just passe'? (you know: out of date, passed their prime)
What is it about an Easter Egg Hunt, that gets everyone in a frenzy? Is it the overprotective mom watching over her two year old child running with ten year old children? And why did she allow a 2 year old to run with 10 year old experienced children on an "egg hunt"? My husband suggests football pads and a helmet for the two year old going out for the hunt with the ten year old's.  Is it the looking for anything that is "colored" in those pastels that makes one think of Spring time and new life or is it because the cold and rainy season has departed? Or could it be that "the prize" for this specific hunt is a chocolate, marshmallow filled bunny waiting somewhere for "me" to find? Can you not just feel the perspiration on your brow at this moment?  Yes, I remember looking for that marshmallow filled bunny and by the time we got to the END of the hunt, that bunny was anything but delicious looking. Yes, the heat of that specific day brought about much weakness to chocolate, and marshmallow bunnies everywhere within that area that experienced  85 degrees that spring day! Yes, even now I experience that sweat in that moment in time on a spring time day........and not finding the bunny just when "it needed the most help" from me!


Ahh, yes, those eggshells and their many uses can have one trying to find what else you might use them for in regards to having an extra amount of those 'ole shells around your home!
Well, we know the one about coffee and eggshells, right? But what about eggshells in the garden, calcium for your teeth, in your potting soil and oh, yes, those birds you feed.
They say about a trillion eggs are broken each year. In respect of that figure, is that before Easter counts of broken eggs or is it an all inclusive number to include that holiday?
But seriously, those pastel plastic egg-shaped containers sure made a lot of parent's happy that they no longer have to boil and color an egg. So are there more plastic eggs called to duty today than the regular egg?

They say that time does not change anything, but that people are the ones who change!
Of late, we (my husband and I) have reached back to some historical truths on the age of all accounts of healing and tent revivals of the 40's and 50's. In respect to that time when men and women alike chased after God, and their commitment was made and seen by many others. In truth, many thought Jesus' return was evident at that time and many flocked to those tent revivals like Oral Roberts, and T.L. Lowery. But God is still God and is still powerful. He never makes mistakes and never fails. And today people are still awaiting Christ's return. And these men who followed God obeyed His commands to preach and teach the Word of God. They prayed! They kept their focus on God, His Son Jesus, for salvation and for all that God wanted to do in those tent revivals. Of late, we have returned to more prayer time with the Lord and seeking to remain in hearing Him speak, not only to us about us, but about the times in which we live.


Acts 1:7-14   7 He said to them, It is not for you to become acquainted with and know what time brings [the things and events of time and their definite periods] or fixed years and season (their critical niche in time), which the Father has appointed ( fixed and reserved ) by His own choice  and authority and personal power. 8 But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth. 9 And when He had said this, even as they were looking [at Him], He was caught up, and a cloud received and carried Him away out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing intently into heaven as He went, behold, two men [dressed] in white robes suddenly stood beside them. 11 Who said, men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into heaven? This same Jesus, Who was caught away and lifted up from among you into heaven, will return in [just] the same way in which you saw him go into heaven. 12 Then [ the disciples] went back to Jerusalem from the hill called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem. [only] a Sabbath day's journey (three-quarters of a mile ) away. 13 And when they had entered [the city], they mounted [the stairs] to the upper room where they were [indefinitely] staying----Peter and John and James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alpheus and Simon the Zealot and Judas [son] of James, 14 and all of these with their minds in full agreement devoted themselves steadfastly to prayer, [waiting together] with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

That appointed time was that we would be His witnesses. For them it was in Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria and to the ends ( the very bounds ) of the earth.


In the time of this great move shortly after Jesus' resurrection, and many people being saved, yet those salvations went to the Gentiles. And much persecution came to those who spoke out in His name. The disciples with many others came together to wait in prayer together, to communicate with God and allow Him to communicate with them. They had the way in "through Jesus" who died for us, to give us that "hope" in and through Him.

Hebrews 7:25 Amplified       25 Therefore He is able also to save to the uttermost (completely, perfectly, finally and for all time and eternity) those who come to God through Him since He is always living to make petitions to God and intercede with Him and intervene for them.


Acts 4:13-20
13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. 15 So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. 16 "What are we going to do with these men?" they asked. "Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it. 17 But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name."

18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. 20 For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."  NIV

Some seventy years after Jesus' departure into heaven, great destruction came to Jerusalem. In this time shortly after Jesus' crucifixion and before the tragedy to Israel, men spoke out in His name. But those of the Sanhedrin wanted the "talk" to stop. And one thing "noted" was these men, Peter and John had been with Jesus. These men spoke out with courage. They were the unschooled, ordinary men and they lived for God. In unison, Peter and John replied to those questioning their exploit for God, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."

So we have two groups that were speaking. In one group you have the Sanhedrin who wanted the Law, and did their own "policing" and did not receive Jesus. They wanted Him dead and did it with the help of Rome. And in group 2 you have those who recognized Jesus as the suffering Messiah. These we know to be the "witnesses".  Those who knew Him and why He came witnessed of Him.  And those who follow today are those who seek after that which is life to them. And they exhibit a love that only comes from God. And no,it is not found in any eggs, colored or not for those things bring no life to anyone. (unless it is one real egg you can fry up in a pan) To me, the traditions of men is just a bunch of eggshells. It is really knowing what is good or is it just the fun thing to do that has nothing to do with really loving another person.
I had a call today, not from one person but from two and in them each so different, yet they were coming across with the same message. They voiced a value for another person.

One call came in the morning and brought me to silence as they expressed honor and the one this afternoon voiced "family" and much love. Ah yes, tears have a healing affect on the mind, soul and body. In all my years I have not been so moved by two people of such valor and love!

When we really care more about the person, than an actual egg hunt, we are putting people first. If we truly care about another and their family, will we truly put Jesus in the midst of them, for it is really not whether they receive Him, but that we present Him to them. For the Holy Spirit can do what He does best. But we surely must bring Him to them!  Did that happen where you attended or was it just about someone in a big bunny suit and a bunch of colored eggs that aren't real in any way, shape or form?  I have not been touched by pastel colored eggs, or chocolate bunnies. I have not been touched by the pretty baskets or multi-colored possibilities of grass color that shines, but about how people can love and touch a heart when it is done in His name.

For I saw this in John and Peter. I saw in Jesus and all that He represented of His Father. And I have experienced it today in my life. When people are really tuned into G-O-D, they sound like a symphony and they harmonize in a beauty that only God sends out through His l-o-v-e!

Jesus spoke of this in the book of Mark about traditions of men!

Mark 7:5-16 

-5 And the Pharisees and scribes kept asking [Jesus], why do Your disciples not order their way of living according to the tradition handed down by the forefathers [to be observed], but eat with hands unwashed and ceremonially not purified? 6 But He said to the, Excellently and truly [so that there will be no room for blame] did  Isaiah prophesy of you; the pretenders and the hypocrites, as it stands written: These people [constantly] honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. 7 In vain (fruitlessly and without profit) do they worship Me, ordering and teaching [to be obeyed] as doctrines the commandments and precepts of men. Isaiah 29:13

8 You disregard and give up and ask to depart from you the commandment of God and cling to the tradition of men [keeping it carefully and faithfully.]

9 And He said to them, You have a fine way of rejecting [thus thwarting and nullifying and doing away with] the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition (your own human regulations)! 10 For Moses said, Honor (revere with tenderness of feeling and deference )your father and your mother and He who curses or reviles or speaks evil of or abuses or treats improperly his father or mother, let him surely die. Exodus 20:12, Exodus 21:17

11 But [as for you] you say, a man is exempt if he tells [his] father or [his] mother, What you would otherwise have gained  from me [everything I have that would have been use to you] is Corban, that is, is a gift [already given as an offering to God]. 12 Then you no longer are permitting him to do anything of [his] father or [his] mother [ but are letting him off from helping them]. 13 Thus you are nullifying and making void and of no effect [ the authority of ] the Word of God through your tradition, which you [ in turn ] hand on. And many things of this kind you are doing.14 And He called the people to [Him] again and said to them, Listen to Me, all of you and understand [what I say]. 15 There is not [even] one thing outside a man which by going into him can pollute and defile him and make him unhallowed and unclean.16 If any man has ears to hear, let him be listening [and let him perceive and comprehend by hearing.] 

Our delight today should be in that of giving love to others. And in the time of Spring, would we not want to reach out to those who may be in need of rest from the "world"? Are there those who need cold water to be poured upon wandering feet? Could we not bring to those a love, His love that would ring true in hearts, that He is in our midst. As He ever makes intercession for us, and sees after our lives, would it not be to His glory that music would be heard in calling others into salvation and into the Love of God? If people are being cut to shreds by impurity, evil on every corner, and violence in strange places, would not a call to reinforce His love be the "required" of the witness who really gives witness to His love and to that glory.
In closing: may we know that which really brings life into our hearts. May we know that love that keeps giving and supports us when we need it most. And may those who have brought such to me today be those who are fortified in faith to go the distance for which they are the called! 


Isaiah 52:7
7 How beautiful upon the mountains 
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who proclaims peace,
Who brings glad tidings of good things,
Who proclaims salvation,
Who says to Zion,
"Your God reigns!" 

May we be the witnesses we are called to be and bring salvation, the tidings of good things to those who really need it!

Attention:
The Voice of Prayer  has a new teaching published: Come Away and Rest a While. 



You can also visit my Youtube channel The Voice of Prayer for more teaching at http://bit.ly/1tNyBhV

Party! What Party?

Is there much talk and speculation of the "party" preference in today's news? No, not that person, no not her, and you know what he said! Yes, there is many in a quandary. Decision, decision, decision, and yet if we asked the Lord to be here in all those decisions, we find the right place at the right time with right person leading. But in reality, man has free will and pretty much chooses how his emotions are and lets them lead the way each day. But of course, we know that is the "fools" way!

Now come on, you cannot tell me your emotions have not led you somewhere! Emotions make for terrible leaders in our lives and when we are led by them we can certainly suffer from the terrible consequences.

If you look at King David and that which caused him much harm and death of a family member. He decides not to go to battle with his men and is up on his roof at evening time or so and sees the beautiful Bathsheba bathing...........yep, in the nude. Yikes! And he is taken with her.
Let's read about his dilemma!
2 Samuel 11:1-5
11:1 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. 

2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, "I am pregnant." NIV

David might have thought it a "party". He is taken in by his fives senses and without regard to leading his men into battle, he is left alone to "to do nothing". He ends up taking the beautiful Bathsheba and she becomes pregnant. She is a married woman. The husband is Uriah and he is fighting in the battle. 

What could he have done to avoid this kind of "party"? I think he could have stayed with his men, encouraged them and come back with them when the battle was done. 

Of course when you read on, David tries to hide his time with Bathsheba. But of course, how can you hide a pregnancy, right? David has her husband killed. Yes, the king sends her husband to the "front lines".

2 Samuel 11:6-17

6 So David sent this word to Joab: "Send me Uriah the Hittite." And Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, "Go down to your house and wash your feet." So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master's servants and did not go down to his house. 

10 When David was told, "Uriah did not go home," he asked him, "Haven't you just come from a distance? Why didn't you go home?" 

11 Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my master Joab and my lord's men are camped in the open fields. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!" 

12 Then David said to him, "Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back." So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 At David's invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master's servants; he did not go home. 

14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In it he wrote, "Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die." 

16 So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. 17 When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David's army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.  NIV

This man Uriah, surely was one who walked in justice with other men. He regarded those over him, and he speaks in verse 11. "How could I go to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife" "As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!"

No this man's party, was his bond of truth in word that he would remain with those he was to fight with in battle. He could not, and would not partake of a night or two with his wife, food and drink as long as those he worked and fought with were still in the field fighting the "battle".

David arose from his "bed chamber" and walked. In reading on the Hebraic meanings, specifies the couch or bed to this: mesukah...Old Testament 4881 and reads as hedge....7753 Old Testament.......! Also a fence.

Sounds like he really had to get to the edge of his palace roof top to take a really good look! He left his bed in the evening and took a walk, but why was he up........was he bored, was he curious of what other's might be doing.........was he looking for a party?

People always want something new. They think if they buy the new car, the new house, a new boat or even that plane, that they will experience something they have never done before. But they find out if they rather be home before dark, and rather avoid Sunday afternoon traffic, the boat stays in the boat house, the new car stays in the garage, and the new house has brought bigger payments, brought more need of insurance costs and lots of yard work and much fertilizer! That going looking when it was best to guard the eyes can cost a lot in your peace, take much out of your pocketbook, bring much heartache and less time for the party time intended to stay with your own family and with your own spouse. Yes, that looking over the hedge of where you reside and looking over to the neighbor's yard, house or even their spouse does not look that good. Remember all can have problems you never see or will even know about. And those things are best to stay in the neighbor's yard, house and bedroom.  But God has a way to keep us when we choose not to be led by our five senses. It is that lust thing that is to be kept by God's Word.

That "to find out"...in verse 3 of chapter 11...............inquire (1875) from KJV........is this: is darash......and is to worship........(another yikes!) David was asking as in a" worship of her"!  It was that "seeking" and asking that is in regard to a worship! That is a problem! Right?
So is there anything that we might should be doing with our family, within our body of believer's in Christ, that keeps us in the place where we are to reside in safety? Are we keeping our eyes on that which is good and keeps God in the equation? Or are we just running here and there to seek out with a lustful eye that which is nothing but trouble to us?

In thinking about King David, I thought of this from the book of Habakkuk. As was written long ago in that book, the recorded word was what the prophet was given by God in chapter 2. The man, bloated by self-importance is so full of himself. He is the man who is soul-empty. God tells him that the person in right standing with Him, with a steady believing and faithful will be the fully alive. He is one who will really be the alive in life and in God!

In the book of Habakkuk, chapter 1, the prophet talks of the violence in Judah. Still in his assertiveness he speaks about the bewilderment people face in times of such violence. And he, Habakkuk knows of the vividness of that which a people are running afoul of God. In the prophet's estimation of all that God is showing him, the people  were both wicked and cruel in their public and private lives. And in chapter 1 and verse 12-13.........the prophet addresses God.......and he gives his complaint before Him. Habakkuk looks on a godless nation, people making their own rules as they went. That sounds much like today, does it not?  He saw them as those out to kill and had death on their minds. Did David not do that as well?

Habakkuk 1:12-13
12 Are You not from everlasting,
O LORD my God, my Holy One?
We shall not die.
O LORD, You have appointed them for judgment;
O Rock, You have marked them for correction.
13 You are of purer eyes than to behold evil,
And cannot look on wickedness.
Why do You look on those who deal treacherously,
And hold Your tongue when the wicked devours 
A person more righteous than he?  NKJV
Again in bewilderment he complains to the God of eternity. Asking God if they were all going to die because of the evil and violence that covered the land.

And verses 17-  read like this:

Habakkuk 1:15-17
15 They take up all of them with a hook,
They catch them in their net,
And gather them in their dragnet.
Therefore they rejoice and are glad.
16 Therefore they sacrifice to their net,
And burn incense to their dragnet;
Because by them their share is sumptuous
And their food plentiful.
17 Shall they therefore empty their net,
And continue to slay nations without pity?  NKJV

The prophet speaks of the people of those without direction. They were like those swimming, but going nowhere in particular. Those in that condition could fish, they worship their catch, and eat very well at night. Yes people were being slaughtered and the evil men's gain was for more!

What people sacrifice to, is the very thing they worship. What they desire to spend the most time with, spend money on, go out of the way to get to and stay long periods of time, will show the certainty of what the heart wants or firmly (desires). Those who want more, will find ways around to getting just what they want, when they want it and care nothing of the cost. They will be firmly established in doing wrong, to get it (that heart's desire), no matter what happens to another, or whether is good or not.

In reading further this prophet in chapter 2 says this: 

Habakkuk 2:1-3

I will stand my watch 

And set myself on the rampart,

And watch to see what He will say to me,

And what I will answer when I am corrected.      

2 Then the LORD answered me and said: 

"Write the vision 

And make it plain on tablets,

That he may run who reads it. 

3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time;

But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.

Though it tarries, wait for it;

Because it will surely come,

It will not tarry. NKJV

I bring this to you because I see it as where we should reside and think about others. This prophet recorded this: He was going to keep that watch. He was to watch and to ponder what he the prophet would answer in his complaint to God. For the prophet saw those who were the selfish, the violent who took what they wanted no matter the consequences to other living beings. They were the wicked. And here the watchman is looking for the people to have peace again,and to have comfort again. He was looking for their return to safety and to maintain a welfare for all people.

Because God had given he, the prophet, a heart for the people, the people were running amok! They were the uncontrollable in their desires. God surely showed the prophet to have heart for them, But in his complaint before Him, the prophet voiced an attempt to speak of those things that puzzled him still. He tried to make sense out of disappointments.  And this prophet made no reservations or took second thoughts of  the bluntness about how he spoke to God about them!

Habakkuk 2:4

"Behold the proud,

His soul is not upright in him;

But the just shall live by his faith.    NKJV

This portion is intended that the Word of God is given for us to read and understand. But it is by lengthy reading and study. It is not catching it on the fly to run and do our own thing. When we choose to stay within our fence, that wall that is protection to us by His Word, we are the comforted, we are the safe and secure.
David could have saved himself a lot of heartache, but he chose to worship something he did not need or should have had. She was not his! And the child she gave birth to would never live. Sad but true! Yes, those things outside of God's plan and will cost us dearly and we are to heed what those things can bring into our lives when we choose to follow "the party". 

For I would rather party in God's Word and stay in His power, His love, His comfort and peace. I would rather stay in the House of God, than be out of His will going outside of His plan for my life.

In writing this today, I see the "penalty" many will pay for their following their own lusts. Habakkuk takes note in Chapter 2 and verse 4....the "just shall live by faith".

No amount of running here and there, searching for what the next new thing, or latest gimmick will bring life to you. Only what God has purposed in His Word and through His wisdom will we benefit life that He intends for us. Then if there is a new boat in your life, God will bring one big enough for you to minister life to others on that big boat! (say 200' cabin cruiser)

David could not minister life to another when he went after another man's wife. He could minister to anyone when he continued to lie and try to cover up those terrible things against another man.

Habakkuk 2:12-14

12 "Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed,

Who establishes a city by iniquity! 

13 Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts 

That the peoples labor to feed the fire,

And nations weary themselves in vain? 

14 For the earth will be filled 

With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD,

As the waters cover the sea.   NKJV

The Amplified speaks this: 12 Woe to him who builds a town with blood and establishes a city of iniquity! 13 Behold, is it not by appointment of the Lord of hosts that the nations toil only to satisfy the fire [that will consume their work], and the peoples weary themselves only for emptiness, falsity and futility? 14 But [the time is coming when] the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Habakkuk 2:18-20

18 "What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it,

The molded image, a teacher of lies,

That the maker of its mold should trust in it,

To make mute idols? 

19 Woe to him who says to wood, 'Awake!'

To silent stone, 'Arise! It shall teach!'

Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,

Yet in it there is no breath at all. 

20 But the LORD is in His holy temple.

Let all the earth keep silence before Him."   NKJV

What profit is anything we pursue that really has no life to us or for us? For whatever we may think will we need will only boast lies. For that which is really ours will cost us time with Him to hear Him speak. That vision from Habakkuk 2 is the vision we write from His Word given us. It is His Word living us and directing us into His love and peace. It will not drive us into someone else's arms, or bring us that high-powered job without the required extra work, and less time with that which really counts to us for life.  It is only in our awareness of the great God and King and how He came to give us life will we truly see that which adds good to us and expand us for His glory. For He is truly the  living, breathing and the active in our lives. Pursue His wisdom and be active in life that will bring life to others.

I close with this:

Proverbs 8:6-11 …………6 Listen, for I will speak of excellent things,

And from the opening of my lips will come right things;

7 For my mouth will speak truth; Wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

8 All the words of my mouth are with righteousness;  Nothing crooked or perverse is in them.

9 They are all plain to him who understands, And right to those who find knowledge.

10 Receive my instruction, and not silver,  And knowledge rather than choice gold;

11 For wisdom is better than rubies,  And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her. NKJV

Those who seek to indulge in the party that brings grief in that which is led by their emotions, the me, myself and I who desires to indulge in the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.

We are not to love the world or things in the world. (For) if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is the world-----the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life----is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15-17)

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Rumor

Job 28:20-28
20 "Where then does wisdom come from?
Where does understanding dwell?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
concealed even from the birds of the air.
22 Destruction and Death say,
'Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.'
23 God understands the way to it
and he alone knows where it dwells,
24 for he views the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
25 When he established the force of the wind
and measured out the waters,
26 when he made a decree for the rain
and a path for the thunderstorm,
27 then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
he confirmed it and tested it.
28 And he said to man,
'The fear of the Lord-that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.   NIV

Have you ever been at a church where rumor's run rampant?
Consider the gossip behind this rumor! Remember from the Bible about rumors that are mentioned? Let's start with Jesus!  We find rumors in Mark 1!

Mark 1:23-29  Amplified

Just at that time there was in their synagogue a man [ who was in the power] of an unclean spirit; and now [immediately] he raised a deep and terrible cry from the depths of his throat, saying, 24 what have You to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are---the Holy One of God! 25 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hush up (be muzzled, gagged), and come out of him! 26 And the unclean spirit, throwing the man into convulsions and screeching with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 And they were all so amazed, and almost terrified that they kept questioning and demanding one of another, saying What is this? What new (fresh) teaching! With authority He gives orders even to the unclean spirits and they obey Him! 28 And immediately rumors concerning Him spread [everywhere] throughout all the region surrounding Galilee.

The fear of the Lord is wisdom........and it is to shun evil and gain the understanding of God. In coming to His thoughts and ways are certainly higher than ours. But remaining in Him, we grow in His wisdom of righteous living and walk into the understanding of those inclinations that we learned early in life and lean toward while living in a fallen world. For when we understand His way that is right and security to us, He will certainly guard those paths of justice and preserve our way. (Proverbs 2:8-9)
In remaining in Him we gain the understanding of living that righteous life that has the hallmark of justice. And those inclinations of family given to us over periods of generations is stopped by His Word of power in our lives.

In the scripture passage above from the book of Mark and chapter 1, we find a man who was under the power of an unclean spirit. And it evidently was a loud speaking spirit, indeed. For it's screeching sounds are indicated in verse 26. And in verse 27 we find that they (who looked on) were all amazed and almost terrified that they kept questioning and demanding one of another, saying, What is this? What new (fresh) teaching! With authority He gives even orders to the unclean spirits and they obey Him!

to be amazed: thambeo....NT: 2285 to stupefy, to astound

So what amazed the people more? Was it that He, Jesus cast out the unclean spirit or that He spoke with authority or could it have been both things? For it certainly was fresh teaching to them and they considered this a teaching to them!

Have you seen a child surprised about something that almost scares them? They run to the closest parent and start asking questions immediately. I remember our grand-child the first time she saw the Easter Bunny. She knew it to not be a good thing. She was terrified!  She turned inward toward her mom and tightened her grip on mother's neck. This is the scene I picture here in this moment of time. These folks had never seen such authority and order! He is teaching from the Word of God, the Holy Scripture and then ministers to a man who was demon possessed.  Imagine what life was being given in those moments before those people and they saw it as "fresh"!

Then in verse 28..............immediately rumors concerning Him spread [everywhere] through all the region surrounding Galilee.

And it was spread, from ear to ear and am certain many added their own flavor of what occurred although they were not there to see the actual happening. RUMORS!

They are generally spread by those who really have no relationship with the person being talked about. They care nothing about the person but are so readily available to have their say about the ordeal or happening concerning the "person" ! 

It then turns to gossip and ugliness. When they could follow Jesus and see the authority He walked in, yet the word, the rumor they spoke went out through the region surrounding Galilee. In that event some saw good and other's did not.

Luke 4:31-37

31 Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths. 32 And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority. 33 Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, 34 saying, 

Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are--the Holy One of God!" 35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him. 36 Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, "What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out." 37 And the report about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region.     NKJV

Again we see this in Luke 4. They were all amazed and spoke among themselves. "What a word this is!" "For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out."

And the report about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

In the KJV the word given was "fame" and in the NKJV we see " report ".......in looking up fame in the Greek.........we find it listed as an : echo.....uncertain, noisy...........loud and confused...also roar: rumor

What is they say: familiarity breeds contempt?
And people can be vicious.............they can say really stupid things:

Well, I know you, and God will never use you! You know I knew your parents and they were not quality people.  Well, I know your background and God is looking for the faithful. 

But God is looking for the humble in heart who will do His bidding.

What we may view with our own eyes may not be the next Billy Graham, but may be the very guy God is growing up to walk with Him.

Then another speaks more ugliness............................ Ah, but who is mentoring you.....????.......well, you really need someone to mentor you...........!!!
Come on guys, we have the Holy Spirit living in our hearts. Remember Him, who was hovering over the face of the earth.............brooding and brought order into all the chaos that covered that face of the earth?

I like this one: "Well you scared me!" or "They overwhelm me..........and ......well, I am not coming back!"                 I wonder how many Jesus heard speak those same sentiments.

In this day and hour, we must be those who abide in the Word of God. We should not live by rumors and those confused echos of a fallen world. For if we truly we live, then we live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. We live by the Holy Spirit Who lives in our hearts and relays to us the things we must know for all our tomorrow's. It is not about, "well, he said, or she said", but it is about Jesus who went about doing good and healing all that were the sick.

Acts 10:38-43

38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. 39 And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. 40 Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, 41 not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. 42 And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. 43 To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins."  NKJV


Do our lives look like His life?

 Jesus came openly and spoke but not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after he arose from the dead.

Even so today, God speaks to His chosen and those He is establishing. It is Him that we give the new (fresh) that is entirely His Word. It is no fairy tale, contains no magic dust, but it is power to bring healing to all who are the oppressed by the devil.

For truly God is with us who obey His every command, and who keep the faithful walk by His side and minister weekly to those who come to hear God and to praise His name.

Don't party with those who want to spread the "rumor". Don't spend time to start gossip about something you know nothing about. If people want to know what God is doing, then they need to ask Him. And He will listen when their heart is for Him and not for the sake of gossip. Go visit "person" where the "happening" is going on. Go and look for His kingdom and it will be there for the kingdom of God has come. You should experience His presence there!

 BUT IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN IT, THEN YES GO CHECK OUT THAT NEIGHBORHOOD CHURCH WHERE PEOPLE ARE BEING HEALED AND THE PEOPLE ARE BEING SET FREE TO BE ALL GOD PLANNED FOR THEM THROUGH JESUS CHRIST.
Yes, rumors are going to fly and we, even the church we attend will hear them, but we speak what we have heard from the Father. We abide in Him to bring His presence to the lost and the dying. Where does your heart reside? Will you be overwhelmed in the presence of God?

Jesus spoke this:

Matthew 12:25-28
25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28 But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.   NIV

If we are truly in God's house and the demons are leaving people, then the "kingdom of God" has come upon us. If that is not happening in your services, then run, don't walk till you find His presence and abide in Him. For He is not far from any of us...........

Acts 17:26-28

 26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'   NIV

If we are the saved, then we abide in Him to hear Him speak. We abide in Him to teach with a freshness.........that gently breeze of the Holy Spirit and proclaim His goodness. 

Acts 19:11-18

11 Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches." 14 Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?" 16 Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. 18 And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds.  NKJV

It is evident that rumors held this together. For we see Paul working the unusual because he had a relationship with God. Diseases would leave and evil spirits would exit men. But it tells us in this passage that there were those who would "try to exorcise" in the name of Jesus. The Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits. And they said this: : 'we exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.'  YIKES!

Now that is stupid!

Then we find there were these 7 sons of Sceva. And he, Sceva was a Jewish chief priest. And the person they chose evidently had a particularly powerful demon for the demon within this person wrestled them, tore their clothes off them, and prevailed over them, and these 7 sons fled naked.

Now we know demons have no power over those who are the truly saved. And they are those who know what authority of which they walk. Jesus gave that to us. See Luke 10:19.

Luke 10:19-20

 19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."   NKJV

The spirits are subject to us! But our services are anything but setting captives free. It is let's have some food here and party like it is 1999.  Now many came after seeing this thing. For in verse 17 it became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus. Fear fell on them! And the name of Jesus was magnified. I wonder who was there speaking over these people after these events.

It certainly turned out well. For now there was the evidence that what Paul did and spoke in His name. And God's word prevailed and not the other way round. No, God was shown to be real!

If we do not depart from sin and try this in a service, then disaster will ensue! These who failed kept their own ways and doing, they kept their sin and it almost killed them!

Proverbs 1:28-32

28 "Then they will call to me but I will not answer;

they will look for me but will not find me. 

29 Since they hated knowledge 

and did not choose to fear the LORD, 

30 since they would not accept my advice 

and spurned my rebuke, 

31 they will eat the fruit of their ways 

and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. 

32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,

and the complacency of fools will destroy them; 

33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety 

and be at ease, without fear of harm."    NIV

In verse 32 in the Amplified reads this way: For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them, and the careless ease of [self-confident] fools shall destroy them.
And verse 33 reads this way: But whoso hearkens to me [Wisdom] shall dwell securely and in confident trust and shall be quiet, without fear or dread of evil.

In closing:
Some people just go looking for disaster. They see someone do something in Jesus' name and think they can do it, even though they have to prayer time with Him and have not read the Word of God in months. Those who choose God will walk in power. They will have His knowledge and do exploits for Him. They will follow Him no matter what, and as they listen to Him, He will cause them to live in safety, in ease and without fear of harm. Those who choose the rumors, that confusion of man will follow after disaster and fall into pits. Let's not be careless in the things of God!
Let's be counted with the wise who have the fear of the Lord. That is to hate: evil, pride, arrogance and the evil way.  (evil way is the perverted and twisted speech)

Proverbs 8:13

13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil;

Pride and arrogance and the evil way

And the perverse mouth I hate.  NKJV

THOSE IN THE POWER OF GOD: ARE THE FAITHFUL, THEY ARE THE ANOINTED WHO KNOW WHAT AUTHORITY THEY WALK IN AND THEY TRUST HIM EVERY STEP OF THE WAY FORWARD!

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A Mother's Touch and the Father's Hand

Proverbs 23:24-25
24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,
And he who begets a wise child will delight in him.
25 Let your father and your mother be glad,
And let her who bore you rejoice.   NKJV

And let her who bore you rejoice..........yes let your father and your mother be glad, but do we pay attention to the first part of that scripture...........that "the father of the righteous will greatly rejoice and he who begets a wise child will delight in him?

In this "father"...is "alpha"........meaning 1. In New Testament 260 is close association. The "father" raising righteous children will greatly rejoice.

Are we confessing that for our children, and our grand-children? Are we in a close association with them?  Now when our daughter was growing up, we had no thought of that at all. In most cases our Bible looked more the dust collection "center"! Now come on, you know what I write about. I am certain there is a Bible in your house that has a little dust on it. Well if I checked out your technological device, what would be the main interest focus you have placed in it would be centered or keyed on that one "thing" for the beginning of your day?

I hear people talk about those with a smoking problem, but they never realize they have the same problem with that "cell phone" they cannot seem to put it down for even an hour!

But back to that "close association"  now! Do we consider or think about this scripture? 

Galatians 5:1-6

5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. 3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. 4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.    NKJV

In Christ, it is faith working through love we are to stand fast.

In the Amplified it reads this way: 5:1...In [this] freedom Christ has made us free [and completely liberated us]; stand fast then, and do not be hampered and held ensnared and submit again to a yoke of slavery [which you have once put off].  2 Notice, it is I, Paul who tells you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no profit (advantage, avail ) to you [ for if you distrust Him, you can gain nothing from Him].  (Yikes!)

Notice if we start from the first verse, we are talking about the liberty we have in which Christ has given to us. In that liberty we are not bound to anything like the religious people were trying to force on other saved men. In this act, they were forcing men back into the bondage they had just left when receiving Jesus as Lord. And Paul was telling them it was by faith working through love, and not acts of cutting of the flesh. For God surely can cut from our hearts what does not need to be in our hearts. He is the faithful to finish what He was been committed to do.

Faith is what we live by and being justified we speak as He speaks.

So if we are looking at a "close association", as the father with the righteous children, then we look at what love is given and shared. For when we read verse 6 in the amplified it looks like this: 6 For [ if we are] in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through love.

It is taught all the time that those who do not love other people will not have a faith that works! BUT THAT IS NOT WHAT THIS ACTUALLY MEANS. THE meaning is, that their faith cannot work if they do not know how much the Father God loves them. It is allowing God to love us that will give us the ability to love other people. It is in our allowing to trust Him and walk in faith toward what He has given us that we will truly know love intimately! Amen.
Then we can see that reaching out to Him by seeking our faith is activated, and energized by His Word to us and for us. And when we truly know that love of God, then it is expressed and working through in us and through us to others!

In 1 John we find this:

1 John 4:7-11

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 

NKJV

How can a father and mother love their child with God's kind of love? They know it by their spending time to experience it from Him. They will not find it surfing the net, so to speak or finding what is the next "big" thing in the cloud.

A "mother" can carry her child and know that child intimately. She carries a baby in the womb. She is not carrying a mass of tissue and such, but an actual thumb sucking baby with life from God for him/her in the mother's womb.  And when that child comes out of the womb of the mother, that baby remembers all the secret time with the "mother".  That baby stretches forth to reach and touch that face. They struggle to open their eyes against all that bright light in their face to see the face who spoke love to them. They wiggle, they squirm, and in their young healthy bodies they reach for "love".

We find the love of God by being born again. It is by receiving Jesus as Lord. For it was in this love of God that was manifested toward us that God sent His only begotten Son into the world. and that we could live through Him. For when we truly experience His love in this manner, we can see a Father who truly cares for HIS child. (or children)

And as children we are to search forth with eyes that do not see well and reach with hands for Him and by doing that one thing, we are reaching to find a love that never fades out, never dies, but only grows stronger. ( Psalm 42:8..........8 By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me--

a prayer to the God of my life.)

1 John 4:12-19

12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. 

17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love Him because He first loved us. NKJV

Having the Holy Spirit to reside in our hearts is confirmation we have love for others. If we do not pray, if we do not spend time in the Word in regards to John 15, John 16, 1 John, 2 John and 3 John, then I would doubt one would be acquainted with God and would never hear Him speak. Our God the Father, is love and those who abide in Him will rise in His love, and they will dwell in His peace which passeth all understanding. Our faith .........that trust is in Him, not in the world's economy, not in the latest and greatest leader on the scene of the world stage,  but in God alone.

I close with this:

Psalm 62:7-12  Amplified

7. With God rests my salvation and my glory; He is my Rock of unyielding strength and impenetrable hardness, and my refuge is in God!  8  Trust in, lean on, rely on, and have confidence in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is a refuge for us ( a fortress and a high tower), Selah. [Pause, calmly think of that!]

9  Men of low degree [in social scale] are emptiness (futility, a breath) and men of high degree [ in the same scale ] are a lie and a delusion. In the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath. 10 Trust not in  and rely confidently not on extortion and oppression, and do not vainly hope in robbery; if riches increase, set not your heart on them. 11 God has spoken once, twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God. 12 Also to You, O Lord, belong mercy  and loving kindness, for You render to every man according to his work.

Luke 18:6-8

6 And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"   NIV

Is there justice....?? .....those,  God's chosen ones who pray, those who read His Word and declares those truths............justice will come quickly............and that faith............"will he find faith on the earth?" The Son of Man is coming! And what will He find?

It is not in trying to love our kids, or our neighbors. This not trying to love those you attend church with on Sunday morning or on a Saturday night, but it is loving our God Who has the "PLAN". It is that love that will propel us into His greater love and into His plan for us and for those we pray and encourage in our daily walk. Let's go breathe some life into some folks today........and in that walk they will see and experience God's loves!


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In the Heart of a Nation

What have we seen in the nation like Israel? Have we searched the pages of the Bible to read it and find what the "heritage" looked like for those who walked generation after generation with God and what it probably looked like for those who did not walk the paths of peace with God?  No, many went their own way into idolatry and lusts of every kind and ended up dead well before their years were spent!
Today, is our heart set to God's heart in the plan for America? I often see pictures, artworks in galleries and many on display in the nearest photo gallery of that which captures one's heart. I see that which people seem to long for, have lived and left for another country, or else were uprooted deliberately to be brought to a nation they knew nothing of or even cared about.
In all my years, I always remember having the opportunities in school to have history lessons on our forefathers of this great nation. I remember how it was begun so many hundreds of years ago. And in all my learning of this country, I am in awe of the founding fathers persistence to keep pursuing forward for God. There is a program on the Christian Channel "Faith in History" given by William Federer. I find it on channel 377 TCT.....3:30 p. m. weekdays. In this program, he relates historic truths and the cost many of those paid in the early days of this country. Of late, I have even seen some presidents spoken of in the "light of God and His Word".
I believe that "light" is shining on us today. In this hour will we be found those who will pray for our country, pray that "it's " best days are ahead and not behind?

I grew up in a state where people sought out justice and for the vastness of it in the early days, they deputized men who would as a team work together to see that those breaking the law would be brought back alive for justice to be served. I remember reading and hearing stories that my great grand-parents passed along. They spoke of how the civilized world in those early states of this country were anything, but civilized.

My heart has always been that which God had placed in me. I would take in all that knowledge and then spend time out of doors to see the vastness of God and His beauty that is all around. People today spend hours writing with paint cans all types of graffiti on say train cars and buildings. Although those belong to others, still people are writing on that which does not belong to them. They try to get over the truth that they long for another country. They let others know they feel the lesser and less fortunate in this vital country where people can work, people can dream, and people can make a difference. But it is like anything we try to do with others, it takes "team" work.

My heart seeks the Father's heart for our country. I seek His direction and how to pray for this place of beauty and how it was forged by men who had hearts after God! In His plan all lives matter and it was as such for this country and yet, in all that was still not slavery seen in those first colonies of this nation?  But such stories are being revealed today of those who came from Africa made a difference in this nation. They came from England, France, Italy, and other European countries. Some came with the German sounding names, yet they came to live a life free to worship, to live to have family together and live to see another day flourishing AND  not by trying to JUST survive.
In seeing this program and especially about the founding fathers and their vital signatures on a document that in the long run cost them, not only sometimes their very lives, but also their families, their homes and livelihood as well, they would not have a changed a thing they did to be in America. They left religious bondage in some cases and others just left who had no rights to who they could or would worship!
Today, we have many streaming into this nation who do not want to be known. They desire others to not know their agenda's. In the early years of this country, many entered through Ellis Island and gave their information. In this vast melting pot of so many nations, would it not still be vital to give the information of what your name is, what you intend and if you will work with a dream of just live off the government??
THERE WAS A CHRISTIAN MAN WHO HAD A DREAM! And like him, we too, continue to dream that our nation will be like it was strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. We have a dream that millions will know Jesus as Lord and Savior. Yes we too have a dream, that many will come to peace in His name and under His leadership as Lord.

Jesus said this thousands of years ago and it still hold so true today:
John 8:30-36
30 As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. 31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." 33 They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, 'You will be made free'?" 34 Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. 36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. NKJV

I believe if people come with the knowledge of leaving that bondage behind, they will move through and gain a freedom. Jesus said those who abide in Him are His disciples indeed. But He said if you abide in MY WORD! And the people He spoke too were those in bondage as to sin...........He spoke of them as "slaves". But the son who abides in the Words of God, that which Jesus gave us will be the son who abides forever.

The knowledge we truly need comes through Jesus and that abiding.

Where do our "hearts" reside? Are we in the past? I believe people who came from other countries hundreds of years ago were torn away from families and from their homes they knew. Many knew much hardship and pain, but those who kept seeking the "better" life kept their hearts to living as the free. Churches were built and people knew God. In the hardships of the twentieth century many became aware of the evil of men's hearts in the great holocaust of such magnitude. And yet it is occurring today and great magnitudes of Christian families are being decimated in magnitudes that whole cities are non-existent. Very few people remain in a once thriving city there in the Eastern country of Syria and city of Aleepo. I viewed recently on CNN a woman journalist who moved through quickly to document the holocaust. She went through there not staying long in any one area of the country. For it was for her safety and the teams, that they would move and cover the news of the holocaust. In one viewing we saw  the very few who gather each day at the remaining well of water in Aleepo, and they range in age of about 70 years of age to about 20 years of age. The handful who remain of children were being moved out of "danger". Yes many Christians in those eastern middle nations are being destroyed. Their once thriving cities are rubble heaps today with no car traffic and no visible business anywhere. There is no lights on and no grocery stores to shop at for food.
There are no medics found!


In years gone by, many came to this country.........and they came with few belongings in hand. They came from religious bondage, from slavery to slavery, from more than enough to down right lacking in food, medicines and the such. This country was founded on the principle that all men could be free. It was the land of the free and the home of the brave!

We must keep our eyes open to what God would be speaking and giving us in this hour for this vital nation. Let's remember that to be a son, we must act like the son and not like the alien, the slave. We must have our sights on God and His Word just like our forefather's of this nation.

No, I was not related to them by blood, but I hold in my heart what they held in theirs and that all men can be free. It is in the relationship with God and holding His Words to our heart that we will go forth in freedom that is truly of God and not of man or men.

To be the brave, we must have courage and in truth to abide in Him, and hold our faith up as that shield that if God be for us, then who can possibly be against us? His word must have a place in our hearts.

Will we write the "vision" on our hearts today and pray for "the brave" to rise out of hiding? Will we seek God and His plan like the forefathers did so many hundreds of years ago?

Today I encourage  you to not fear! Be willing to proclaim, to publish a vision that God is for us. Be willing to open those flood gates of praise to Him and let others know you believe this to be a great nation that is one nation wholly under God! Set your foreheads like flint, and speak with confidence that God will do what He planned for America. Pray that He will show you where you stand in this defining hour of strength and courage in God who is more than enough to accomplish what we put into His hands to do. Let's set our faith in Him and His Word. Let's have the fear of God that is written about in Proverbs 8:13.

Proverbs 8:13...The fear of the LORD is to hate evil, pride, arrogance, and the evil way. The knowledge we must know is that which is from God. We desire His wisdom to live the moral life which is toward being holy.

If one desires to go back to their "own" country, then they should be able to do so without fear. What we hold in our hearts will certainly be seen. And in that inward attitude, our conduct is seen on the outside. Ours is to be that which departs from evil. And in every circumstance of life we are to choose God and His way. Our choosing God is loving His way, is doing right and having a life that is living in the fear of the Lord!

It will cost you something! But can you hide forever? No, it is time to rise and shine! For you will look like "love" to others. Choosing God is choosing to be "the brave". Put on that shield of faith and the breastplate of righteousness. Set your sights on God to hear Him speak and then be "ready for the adventure of your life". I am, are you?

Set the spiritual authority you walk in and know through God and remind God of this one passage given to us:

Amos 5:21-24..............21 "I hate, I despise your religious feasts; 

I cannot stand your assemblies.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them.
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
I will have no regard for them.
23 Away with the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
24 But let justice roll on like a river, 
righteousness like a never-failing stream! NIV
Our traditions mean nothing to God. What we esteem as our heritage brings no life. The only life that can be found is in Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory!
WE have nothing to bring the Father but our hearts. He will not listen to the music and have no regard for that with which we bring to worship Him. He truly desires our hearts, FIRST AND FOREMOST. He will not regard my latest new outfit, or your new car. He will not regard how we speak and teach AND give Him no glory.  He looks on the "heart"!

Jeremiah 17:9-10.....................9 "The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
10 I, the LORD, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.   NKJV

I love this verse: Proverbs 16:1..........To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the reply of the tongue. NIV

We may make many plans in our heart but God answers what comes from what we speak. If we hold evil against another, evil will visit the house of the evil speaking person. What we hold in our hearts will be seen and it will be heard!

Father, let justice roll on like a river and righteousness like a never-failing stream. We pray in Jesus' name, that we know the heart is a deceitful thing, desperately wicked and that You search the heart and test the mind. YOU test giving to every man according to his ways. According to the fruit of his doings. Lord we pray that Your justice roll on like a mighty river. What was established in the beginning for this country, may it be seen in the land again. We know there to be many prayer warriors set like flint to pray out Your will for this nation. May it be truly one nation under God. May those who have set themselves to rule with evil and a heavy hand be sent backwards. May their devices come on their own heads, on their own children. For we seek that which is life everlasting, and life that is of goodness and peace in Jesus Christ. We can certainly pray for others, but the Word speaks in John 15:7-8............. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. NKJV

Father, we understand by this that spiritual authority is by abiding in You and the words You have given us. And when we do abide there, we ask what we desire and it is done! It is completed, the finished!
By this You our Father is glorified. Yes we expect to bear much fruit so we will be Your disciples forever.
We stand in the place of "Faith" and we speak with boldness, that we will not turn to the left but we keep like the one with the discerning heart that acquires knowledge and to have the ears of the wise seeking it out. (Proverbs 18:15)

We pray out of our hearts for this nation under one God.........Who is the Almighty, the Everlasting Father, the Great I am in our midst. We pray for the Wonderful Counselor and King of Glory to take  His rightful place in people's hearts and His place to rule forever. We know He is coming soon and many are in the valley of decision. Father we set our hearts to compel others by the Holy Spirit in us that unto Jesus is life and unto any other is to death. We desire God's family to be united in One Heart in God who is above all. It is in Him that we live and move and have our being. Amen.

Attention:
The Voice of Prayer link has been repaired please click on the link below to access all the you may have missed.



You can also visit my Youtube channel The Voice of Prayer for more teaching at http://bit.ly/1tNyBhV