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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Whatever You Do, I Pray JOY TO FILL YOUR HEART..

I had read this recently on a card and started to cry.  "Whatever you do, I pray joy to fill your heart...because you deserve the blessings...............! Now there was much more in the written sentiment, but my heart keyed in on the "joy".

How beautiful? Experiencing that joy of God to fill our hearts in such a way that is never taken away.
God's joy is one that is of Him, all supernatural and never fades away, never leaves, but always becomes more in our lives. It is tangible! When we suffer from losing a loved one, to finding out a relationship so broken and abandoned to grieve of the that loss..........all hope seems to appear on a distant land and far from our reach. But in keeping step with God, we venture into a land that is overflowing with His goodness that is a place of joy, peace, love, longsuffering..........and it all comes from the Holy Spirit who resides in us when receiving Jesus as Lord.

I love watching butterflies. I think on them today as I was reminded by my Father in heaven of the beauty they bring in those lazy days of warmth and sunshine. I was reminded how they seemed to dance across the yard of green and find all those delicious flowers calling them to come. In the beauty of all that color of the butterfly and called to color of fragrance and life........I was reminded how God our Father calls us daily to His life of love that overflows with much color. His life of love to be displayed on our hearts was to be that daily reminder He gave His greatest and best gift for us. He gave the Ransom for our release from an enemy who hates us.

I wrote on joy before. And in one writing I had put together that which Paul had written about the sadness when Jesus was going to the Cross. What the disciples experienced was that which was of heaviness in losing their Rabbi, their mentor, their Leader. But in that walk to the Cross, we gained victory and the way into heaven through the precious shed blood of a Savior.
The disciples thought "their" king  had come, and the "suffering Messiah" had come, but not to take His throne at that time. He came to get "things rolling" in that direction for the plan of God to be heard and implemented!

Galatians 5:19-26
19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality,

20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,

21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

26 Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another. NASU

The man who is caught up in the flesh nature will be the one who is jealous, have those outbursts of anger, disputes, sensuality, sorcery, and strife. It will not be a person to be around. They make life miserable for many.

The fruit of the Spirit........the Holy Spirit living in us is producing (if we allow Him to do it) His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, against such things where there is no law.
In Romans 14, we find Paul again talking about what is the "kingdom of God". It was not about eating and drinking, but what is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Read on:

Romans 14:17-19
17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

18 For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.

19 So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.
NASU

I do not think Jesus had a "bad day". I believe He had all He needed from God in Word of the Scriptures and through His prayer time with Him. He was about seeing the kingdom of God begin.

I am certain in Jesus' time that He had no thought of a New Year's Resolution! 

I had seen this meaning on resolution: an action to which a problem is solved, or a dispute is settled or a contentious matter has ended in satisfactory manner.

Did we mention back in 2015 that we would get the kids in school and serve the Lord completely? But alas, school started then came the holidays, right, and then oops, New Year! How fast time travels and we never have time to pack for the fast pace momentum of everyday life.

In the fast paced, qualifying for that Indy race, we forget what race we are in. Well, I am in the "one to get a raise in pay this year" or " I am in the race to lose 20 pounds this year" or " I want to study some more in college, but kids are starting in a couple of years, " or " I desire to take a vacation, but have no idea where to go where I could rest."

Then another year has passed!

But seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness.........is finding His holiness, justice, and faithfulness..............just to mention a few. It takes discipline to gain that prize. It takes discipline to move away from the table when a meal is finished and eat NO DESSERT! It takes discipline to be faithful to commit what we have spoken we will do. It takes a disciplined life to follow Jesus, being prepared to follow His every command and to do it.

Today, we should invite the Holy Spirit in..........to take His view of how we are not doing it right, ask for His guidance and then we are to follow through and do it. That would mean in the eating department, as well as in the shopping and spending department! When we ask the Holy Spirit to control our lives, by the Spirit of God that is love, joy, peace, self-control, we are the enabled to walk within our homes with a clean heart. A loved one can die suddenly, but where we reside in that will either be in condemnation or in God's peace and freedom, that place of joy that is free.

It is a place that is the kind, the patient, not excluding ourselves at the end of day, say that we are tired..........and move to our little cubicle to be "the sad", "the gloomy" and the "depressed". We are to make it through our days with joy on our lips and a song in our hearts. When our spirits are broken because of sorrow............well it is sorrow for everybody in that place, but the enjoyment of a continual feast in the Word of God brings a merry heart. (Proverbs 15:15)

When we share our evenings with our family members we are choosing to dwell with our families in love and not because of some inner turmoil brought on by something that happened 20 years ago in my life or your life.

When we choose to give of ourselves, we are choosing to connect with people, and especially family............not the people in the job place (unless they are your ministry) still your own family who you delivered into your home by carrying for nine months is to be foremost of that which we are in the family: like the mother of said child/children and to be the wife who told her husband on their wedding day, "till death do we part"..........! No as the wife, and the mother who birthed child/children is that woman who will bring joy, laughter and fun, and not hardship, pain, and a sullen, no talking grumpy woman( or even in the case of the husband)..

One thing I pray for us as a family is that my husband and I would always have a spirit of joy and keep us from growing into a grumpy sort of people.

I always want to be those people who show up with a joy that is contagious. I want others to know we have been with God and how pleased He is with us.

Are we waiting for fall to arrive……..and kids go back to school……. Will the world’s schedule always interfere with God’s plan for us? Or are we waiting for the sun to shine, the wind to stop blowing, and summer temps to return before we can do anything for the Lord? Will there always be a lion in the street, and the Jordan always be overflowing its banks?

You will not gain joy that is of God by Facebooking. You will not gain His joy by reading the latest best seller of self-help books. YOU only gain His joy, by spending time with HIM, loving Him and gain His perspective on your life. For there will always be some disaster looming, some dark thunder clouds and loud noises, but our contentment is to be in the Lord.  Whatever may be flooding, spilling out of the washer, running down the kitchen cabinet, or making you stand for five more minutes on your feet, our true joy is that which is walking with the Lord and to esteem others.
Anointing is that which  breaks bondages, breaks the yokes, and brings freedom.

In the glory of God, His presence comes in...............AND BLIND EYES SEE, THE LAME WALK,...........THINGS CHANGE INSTANTLY. There is no virtue leaving our bodies as we lay hands on the sick or pray ..........but when the glory, His Presence comes in............it is in His undeniable power and strength.


Father, in Jesus name, our consolation is in Christ, and that comfort of love, fellowship of the Spirit is in the joy when we are like-minded, and having the same love, and of one accord.(Philippians 2:1-11)
Father, we desire to be those who are like-minded, having that lowliness of mind to esteem others better than ourselves. Help us Holy Spirit to put others first.
Help us to put our families first, and those of the body of Christ. Holy Spirit show us those who we should esteem and have found favor in Your sight.
May our lives reflect those days of summer of bright sunshine and warm temps. May our lives look like a soft gentle moving butterfly in motion that is of the power of God and not be the display of the rainy, cold, wind swept day of gloomy darkness. When we arrive at a certain time of year, may we be on time for that next season You have for us Lord to do. When we get to the beginning of a new year, may our focus be on how more deeply may we move into You our Lord and may we see more clearly YOUR plan for our lives.  Have people stop talking about weight loss, and talk more about the weightiness of God and of His glory in our lives.
Help us Holy Spirit today, to lay aside any apathy we may have toward our spouse. Help us to be demonstrative in how much we value each other. We desire to not be that "grumpy" person, the rude, cold, undemonstrative, and hidden in the remote cubicle of our past hurts and feelings.
Bring a balance into our lives for change and help us touch our spouse's heart with love to let them know we care. Our trust is in You and we lean not to our own understanding but in all our ways today of living in that place of joy, we will see Your glory and reside where no gloomy Gus, no remote Ramona can touch us, no past hurts or losses can change the atmosphere we choose to keep ...........and that is with a song in our heart and joy on our lips..........may praise go forth to YOU our Father and Creator forever. Amen.




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In Boldness, Vigor and Great Style

Psalm 37:7-11......7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret--it only causes harm.

9 For evildoers shall be cut off;
But those who wait on the LORD,
They shall inherit the earth. 
10 For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more;
Indeed, you will look carefully for his place,
But it shall be no more.
11 But the meek shall inherit the earth,
And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.  NKJV

Ever tried to hurry God in something you want or need to happen now? Has someone insulted you or ridiculed you in some manner that seems to be ongoing with no end to it? Are we wanting some uncomfortable face to face with someone to be over, yet know not how to handle it?

It is in waiting in prayer and the Word that we find, what some may overlook or not even discover, but is His peace. Being captive by something that overtakes our thinking, causes us to overlook, and to not see the benefit of waiting in God's presence and can send us to a place of turmoil and upheaval. He surely knows our wants and desires, but all are not of benefit to us. Surely He knows bills have to be paid and the children cared for, and He also knows the messes we sometimes get ourselves into while making this journey through life. It may be some conflict at home, or at the workplace. It may be someone who just does not like you, and makes every effort to get some peeps on-board with their thoughts against you. But God is greater and He will show us how to walk through the ordeal and to remain meek, but bold in the Lord!

I think of the times when our daughter at a young age wanted something desperately. She would think her life would be over if she did not get some little thing right now. At even a young age of six, she could debate the issue with the best of them. She could maneuver as the Stealth through quiet and low key questions as to why she could not have the "thing she wanted". Even today, she moves through as the Stealth, but she is moving in the power of God and through the Holy Spirit that keeps her under the radar of ordinary man, to minister at just the right time the life and truth of God's word to someone on her radar. She seeks their good in God's plan.

In showing her from a young age the importance of waiting and working toward a certain goal came quicker than she ever thought it would. She could turn her focus in being happy where she was at and what she was doing at the time, and continually be persistence to hold before her the truth that a new toy, a new bike or a car could come into her hands. She became diligent to walk toward that which she desired, keeping the goal, and helping others get to where they needed to go as well with their goals. She walked the talk about the new thing she desired.

Today, she and her husband show our grand-daughter the same importance of speaking God's word and sowing finances toward that end! Anytime our grand-daughter gets money, she is ready to sow some seed into fertile soil. She is ready to sow some toys, that are still good condition that another younger child might like. She is looking out to sow where she can, even her clothes when she outgrows them too soon.  It is seen in her life and her parents as well, the importance of sowing. When we do, it will surely come back to us in that which we have sown.

Jesus told us that the meek shall inherit the earth.
Matthew 5:5....5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.  NIV

Those humble, expectant, and with all gentleness shall inherit the earth. They shall be those who have been hurt by insults, ridiculed, or even far worse, and turned to give all gentleness back to the one who insulted them, to the one who ridiculed them. Gentleness will harbor no anger or resentment toward another when the other gets a new home, or a new car, or another trip to Hawaii or abroad. The meek shall speak out in joy for the one who has received maybe something they were believing for from God and are still waiting expectantly for it.

Whatever the injury to our person, we are to rise above to that peace in God that He is with us. He will show us the benefits of walking in meekness of heart.

We are told in:

Titus 3:1-8....3:1 Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. 3 For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men. 

NKJV

James 1:19-20.....19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 

NKJV

We are to be those who speak evil of no one, but being gentle toward others, even those who may be haters and who live in a place of envy. We are to be eager to hear, and slow to speak, slow to wrath, for that wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

James 1:21-22.....21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.KJV

Receiving God's word protects us in the workplace and the world. Any place we may have to partake of, we have the choice to choose whom we will serve. Will we serve ourselves, or be ready to humble ourselves and let God take care of the injustices? In serving ourselves, we are actually serving our emotions. Man's first response to any insult or ridicule is to protect himself! But Jesus told us to turn the other cheek when having a face to face with someone who is against us, who has envy or hate toward us.

I really like the scripture verse from the Living Bible. It states:
James 1:21-27.....21 So get rid of all that is wrong in your life, both inside and outside, and humbly be glad for the wonderful message we have received, for it is able to save our souls as it takes hold of our hearts.

22 And remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. So don't fool yourselves. 23 For if a person just listens and doesn't obey, he is like a man looking at his face in a mirror; 24 as soon as he walks away, he can't see himself anymore or remember what he looks like. 25 But if anyone keeps looking steadily into God's law for free men, he will not only remember it but he will do what it says, and God will greatly bless him in everything he does.

26 Anyone who says he is a Christian but doesn't control his sharp tongue is just fooling himself, and his religion isn't worth much. 27 The Christian who is pure and without fault, from God the Father's point of view, is the one who takes care of orphans and widows, and who remains true to the Lord-not soiled and dirtied by his contacts with the world.     TLB

In our daughter's Junior High years, she had eczema over some of her body.  Some of the "kids" in school would make fun of her. But it was no fun for her. She had such a time of pain and itch. Her sheets would look like someone had bleed on them overnight. In those times, she kept her focus on her school work. She was given the award of Student of the Term three times in those two years. She kept a perfect 4.0 GPA in those times of pain and chaos.  With those new friends she made and kept, she gave them encouragement.
I remember our daughter in her first year of high school had a friend who had a car.  He would sometimes come by and pick her up for school so she would not have to ride the bus.  Some of those who ridiculed her in Junior High had to ride the bus everyday. So our daughter's friend, a young man who lived in our neighborhood would come by and they would go to school together. He would talk of his needing a paint job on his car. His car ran really well for an older model but he surely spoke correctly about the paint job. Our daughter believed with him for new paint. She did not complain about her "desires" at the time but only spoke of her friend. Well the young man got his paint job. He was so joyful about it and wanted to show everyone when he got his car back from the Paint and Body Shop!
We choose each day how we will act to any insult or ridicule made against us!
From scripture we see meekness as a Christian grace. In Galatians 5:22-23.....it is one of the fruits of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-23.....22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.  KJV

2 Corinthians 10:1-9.......10:1 I plead with you-yes, I, Paul-and I plead gently, as Christ himself would do. Yet some of you are saying, "Paul's letters are bold enough when he is far away, but when he gets here he will be afraid to raise his voice!"

2 I hope I won't need to show you when I come how harsh and rough I can be. I don't want to carry out my present plans against some of you who seem to think my deeds and words are merely those of an ordinary man. 3 It is true that I am an ordinary, weak human being, but I don't use human plans and methods to win my battles. 4 I use God's mighty weapons, not those made by men, to knock down the devil's strongholds. 5 These weapons can break down every proud argument against God and every wall that can be built to keep men from finding him. With these weapons I can capture rebels and bring them back to God and change them into men whose hearts' desire is obedience to Christ. 6 I will use these weapons against every rebel who remains after I have first used them on you yourselves and you surrender to Christ.

7 The trouble with you is that you look at me and I seem weak and powerless, but you don't look beneath the surface. Yet if anyone can claim the power and authority of Christ, I certainly can. 8 I may seem to be boasting more than I should about my authority over you-authority to help you, not to hurt you-but I shall make good every claim. 9 I say this so that you will not think I am just blustering when I scold you in my letters. TLB

Paul directed his letter to say, I plead with you gently as Christ himself would do. He wrote that others would say "that he was bold while far away, but when present with them, that he, Paul would be afraid to raise his voice."  In truth, being humble, does not look like the weak and the ordinary.
Paul stated that he was not using human plans or man's way to win the battles. Paul wrote that he used the mighty weapons of God to knock the devil's strongholds. Those weapons were breaking down every proud argument against God! Paul wrote that he could capture rebels and bring them back to God and see their hearts change to obedience to Christ. Paul stated in verse 7 that the authority was beneath the surface. He was claiming the authority he walked in was that given him by Christ Jesus. Paul said, " I shall make good every claim, not to hurt them but to show them the way in which to walk. Paul was exhibiting boldness and vigor in his letters. Paul wrote many letters and he always illustrated everything by his life. He always referenced Jesus in the things he wrote about. Paul knew of his trust in the Good News. He was held by the peace of God in knowing he had seen God do great things in and through him. He continued to walk in that place in looking out for others even when they rebelled against what he preached and taught!

I close with this:
In ministry, I found times like when ministering at the jail one of those places that was a delight but a hard place to give the Word. Not that the Word of God is hard to give, no, not at all. What I am saying is that you can face those who come to hear and face those some who just go to chapel to get out of the cell or out of the module.

 I found those who did not care for the Word of God, and would try talking during the message! If the chatter continued, all I had to do was walk back to the back rows of the chapel where the "chatter" was going on, and continue with the scriptures and the examples the Lord wanted me to give in that teaching. I would look them in the eye and continue to teach. I can tell you that the "chatter" would stop immediately. We need to know that being humble and meek, is being submitted to God, His plan and His Word. It is not appearing weak and sickly! No, He will direct our paths in boldness, when we look out for others. Ours was not to go into the chapel to cause problems, to cause others pain, but our's was to go in and minister life to those women in jail. Our hope was to make a difference in others lives as God had made in ours. And we certainly saw many continue to receive and walk in the Word and prayer to God for their lives. We saw great things that God did for some of those women in the jail. They would even show up coming out of the elevator with the guard and be singing songs of praise to our God! And this was before chapel began. Yes, it was awesome to see. We stood our ground with a boldness, vigor and a great style that comes through Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory!
Look out for others today and you will see God move on your behalf!

Father, thank You for the Word of God that has manifested in our lives. His name is Jesus and He is the way, the truth and the life to us.
We are told that those who are meek shall inherit the earth, and delight themselves in the abundance of peace. (Psalm 37:11)
We ask for help, Your guidance in keeping to a walk of being the meek man. Lord, we seek to be governed by the love of God. It is by faith that we clothe ourselves with the new man giving ourselves to the Word of God and to prayer. We know that we cannot do this by ourselves. It takes power of the Holy Spirit to direct us into that perfect love, to love others, as we work, as we play, and as we live with our families.
We loose the Holy Spirit to mortify our inner man purging out any insecurities, intimidation, and lusts that have hindered our lives.
We are looking to live by the Spirit and have the fruit of the Spirit that is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, and faith. (Gal.5:22-23)
Whatever the injury to our person,  help us Lord to rise above any insult or injury to our person, and invade us with the peace in God that He is with us. Show us the benefits of walking in meekness of heart and we will always give thanks. It is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

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