Delight and Pleasant Brings Life!

In earlier blogs I have written about the beauty of grace. Today I add another writing on the importance grace is to our lives.
Acts 4:32-37......
32 Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. 33 And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. 34 Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, 35 and laid them at the apostles' feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need. 36 And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus, 37 having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.

NKJV

2 Peter 1:2-4..........  2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.   NKJV

Escaping the world is a good thing AND according to this it looks like we are to partake of the divine nature through all the precious promises given to us by God Himself.

If we sound like the world, does that bring any real change for good to anyone? If I just spend time telling you of my day and how I am doing my day, how does that help you or anyone? 

But what if I am filled with the Holy Spirit, speak as I am directed by the Holy Spirit, to declare what God has done for me, and give you hope for your outcome of good in whatever situation or problem you face or see on the horizon, then you have been given that which is of a delight, pleasant, and brings life to you as it did to those who followed, not only David, BUT JESUS AS WELL! TESTIMONIES ARE GOD'S IDEA!

1 Thessalonians 5:5-24.................11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 

12 Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14 And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. 

16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 

19 Do not put out the Spirit's fire; 20 do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21 Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22 Avoid every kind of evil. 

23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. NIV

So how are we looking in regard to the scripture above? Do we look good and sound good? Does everything go back to God and to His glory or is it about how good I am and how good I am doing?

In praying for others, do we operate in the love that was displayed at the cross at Calvary? Do we exemplify the truth of love that was displayed? 

Verse 12..........live in peace with others.......that means husbands, and with our children as well.

Verse 13..........holding them who are over us, those in ministry, the work place, or again the husband. Do we highly esteem our husband?  Do our words keep us in the peace of God, or we doing something other like King Saul did and cause tyranny in every direction?

Verse 16..........be joyful always. It says joyful ...........even when we have something we do not like to do, it is best to keep a cheerful heart. For when we smile, we can brighten other people's faces as well!

Verse 17..........pray continually. Are WE praying continually for people, those God has caused to surround us on every side? IT IS IN HIM, WE LIVE AND MOVE AND HAVE OUR BEING.

Verse 18..........give thanks in all circumstances. It says to give thanks in all circumstances NOT FOR ALL CIRCUMSTANCES. So many times, people are giving thanks for the disease they have in their body. We do not lie about the disease and say it is not there if it does exist, BUT WE DO DENY IT'S RIGHT TO EXIST ANYWHERE IN OUR BODIES!

Verse 19.........pray to Not put out the Holy Spirit's fire ever and never treat prophecies with contempt.

The Holy Spirit enlightens us to the ways AND THOUGHTS OF GOD ......TO God's workings in His kingdom. He gives us details on what is on our pathway and it would not be good to douse the fire out with any carnal lusts.

Any teachings and preaching of the word is that which we are given as to prophecies. We are to not despise those teachings, but value the Word of God. It is His Word that is given by the Holy Spirit to increase our knowledge and grace.

Verse 21............hold on to good. Hold onto the good Word of God and let loose that which binds you to the world!

Verse 22.. ........avoid every kind of evil.........We have to remember people are watching us. We do not want to lead weak people back into the world if they just came out. What testimony could you give about how God has kept you from the world?

 Verse 23..........May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. 

Sanctified to do God's will for our lives. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8...............3 It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; 6 and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8 Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit. NIV

God is faithful and He will do it!

It takes God's Grace to attract others to Him through us! How are we doing in this one thing? Are we giving a testimony of life or are we just whining how unfair life is to us? What do we expect from God as He has given us everything pertaining to life and godliness?

Father, thank You for grace. for we certainly see the advantage grace has for our lives. We give thanks for this attractiveness to others and that we can draw others to YOU always through this divine favor. We also understand that is by having a holy life before YOU. In Jesus' name, we pray to be those who will humble ourselves to be holy as YOU are holy. We seek to have the manifestation of the grace of God in our lives. For any Lord who have the favor to minister to others either through the pulpit, within homes, or on the street, we thank YOU for the light of YOUR graciousness toward us. We pray to not be those who would blow off an opportunity to give a testimony of YOUR goodness to us in the land of the living. We pray together for a unity with YOU and for truth of Your love that when we speak, people will see what is in our hearts. May people see YOUR word that is unfailing, dependable, and absolute. We pray that every testimony given will be with fire of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Grace. We pray also to be those who bring glory to YOU Lord. We are set apart for Your purpose and plan. We are to be different than that of the world. It is our desire today to live, act and think according to how YOUR Word directs us to live, act and think. May our love be that people will know as God's love that is merciful and always forgiving. May we keep our eyes on YOU, and not enter the path of the wicked and in the way of evil. FOR we do not want to eat the bread of wickedness and drink of the wine of violence. We believe our path of the just is like the shining of the sun that shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. We give thanks for the Spirit of Grace, our comforter, our friend, and we loose Him now into our lives and every area we step into today. Have YOUR way Holy Spirit and we will speak boldly the things God has done for us as our testimony of faith. Amen.

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

Raising our Eyes to See the Horizon

Do we raise our eyes to see the horizon and look with "supernatural" eyes to see?
Or are we consumed with all that is going on around us and keep our focus on "me, myself and I"?
Seriously, do we just keep our eyes on the little around us to keep us occupied, you know, like buying groceries, paying the bills, keeping the kids in school and healthy, and making it to church this weekend? Or do we seriously look with a focus toward life that is in God and what He planned for us?  Is the everyday, filled to the brim and running over with agendas, the mundane, the things void of life and bring no meaning to our lives or anyone else's?

David said of the Lord; “My times are in Your hand;” (Psalm 31: 15). “Times” here means in the Hebrew; event, experiences, fortunes, occurrences, occasions, permanency, a continuing future, ancient (used in reference and in regard to the past time), forever (for future time; used of continuous existence)..forever (in reference to and of God's existence)

Are our times in His hand? Are our adventures, the events of life, that is nothing more than vapor.........for awhile we are here and then are gone truly in the Master's Hand?

James 4:14-17
14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." 16 As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 17 Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins. NIV

I tried my way for many years and it did not work. Besides, it is hard to live one's life continually as a control tower of an airport for other's lives. It is like being a dictator without having a country. And who would really wants to be around a "dictator" all the time? Right?

Are we caught up in other people's lives and not our own? Yeah, Shelley, but we are to love our neighbor as ourselves! Yes, but we are not to be the busy body who lives next door! You know, the lady who knows more about other people's lives than she does her own, her husband's or even her children's lives. As the wife and mother, we are to be the " prayer warrior" who seeks God's plan for our family members and even our neighbors. ( loving others as ourselves) As the father figure, he too must also look over the welfare of his family and pray!

What has God placed before you ( man or woman) to keep reaching for Him and His plan? What will you see? And when you do see it, keep it in your heart, like Mary, the mother of Jesus kept all the sayings ever spoken about her son. She pondered truth spoken by two different people in the first few days He was born.

Luke 2:25-40

25 And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27 So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, 28 he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: 

29 "Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace,

According to Your word; 

30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation 

31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, 

32 A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,

And the glory of Your people Israel."  

33 And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against 35(yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." 

36 Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; 37 and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. 38 And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. 

39 So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. 40 And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him. NKJV

Two different people, yet similar in their walks of life, and both were seekers of God and "sensitive" His plan, not only for themselves, but for a Nation!

Ask the Lord to show you the horizon and what lies ahead. Believe Him to show it to you and when you see it, keep it, and hold it in your heart. Keep the dream (the future) in your heart. Do not try to take someone else's dream or future. YOU have a place to STAND in history and eternity! Choose God and His plan. Raise your eyes from the everyday and even the mundane. Yes, by all means, pay those bills, and buy those groceries. Feed your family, pray over them and send them out. Help each of them to become what God planned for them. 

Pray: your husband will stand at the gate of the city with business men........Proverbs 31:11

11 The heart of her husband safely trusts her;

So he will have no lack of gain. NKJV

Proverbs 31:23

23 Her husband is known in the gates,

When he sits among the elders of the land. 

NKJV

Pray: your children will..Prov 31:28

28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;

Her husband also, and he praises her: NKJV

Psalm  127:3-5

3 Sons are a heritage from the LORD,

children a reward from him. 

4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior 

are sons born in one's youth. 

5 Blessed is the man 

whose quiver is full of them.

They will not be put to shame 

when they contend with their enemies in the gate. NIV

BE THE EXPOSER to anything that is of the negative and darkness..........for God's word is LIGHT and will expose that which not exist in your husband or children's lives.

That is expose it, and address it in God's love and wisdom. As the Lord directs, bring it into the open or the wrong way of doing something...........you are not the "judge". YOU are the "prayer warrior" and the Holy Spirit will show you things coming to you and your family.

DEMONSTRATE A REVERENCE FOR GOD. Always speak of the goodness of God around your family, friends, and even in church. As you speak, you will give revelation to your family as well.

EXPECT A GREAT CHANGE. You will be the world changer and history maker to you your own family.

Now, I speak to men and women alike. When we read of "sons", this means daughters as well. It just applies the word to that written "the sons of God". We truly are "sons of God" when we follow Him and His plan, being obedient and seeking to please the Father!

Do not be "crippled" by former successes! God can and will always go "beyond " the last thing we saw HIM do in and for us!

Don't set your sights just on reality shows. Don't look for another soap opera.  If we watch the negative type of show that which depicts fighting, words that defame a person's character will bring the same into your home and family. It is sowing into that environment. What you focus  on, is what you will become! You have reality going on all around you. Life is HAPPENING RIGHT NOW! Engage in life today and not another agenda! Engage in life, participate and expect a glorious return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Expect to fulfill all He has planned for you and hear HIM say, "well done thou good and faithful servant"!

Be expectant that He will be a part of seeing you experience being a parent, a grand-parent, and even a success where He has planted you. He will be on 'Hand' to see all that He planned is coming to pass, being demonstrated for your good and my good!

He is never surprised by what we say or do, but He is aware when we refuse to obey and hear His plan. Raise YOUR EYES TODAY, AND LOOK.....WITH SUPERNATURAL EYES........ and expect to see what "EXPERIENCES" HE HAS PLANNED FOR YOU TO ENJOY AND BE A PART OF IN HIS PLAN FOR LIFE!

Father, today I pray for all who read this, that everything that has been, everything that is and all that will be is in YOUR hands. I know nothings escapes YOUR watchful eye. (Hebrews 4:13). Father, YOU are familiar with everyone who reads this blog. Before a word is on our tongue You know it. (Psalm 139:4) Our past, our current and future are in Your capable hands. Yes, all is in YOUR eternal hands. As we bow our hearts before You today, we believe for a harvest in righteousness and it to be demonstrated in our families and communities. Father, it is YOU who takes the tattered and the torn to bring glory for all to see that YOU have us safe in YOUR bosom. Even as I pray for each today, I know You are already aware of what will be done to bring it to pass for each..........so right now I give thanks for each man, woman or youth who may read this. It is the Mighty Potter who mends the broken and brings out of that brokenness a changed and charged life for the Lord's glory. I pray that as we wait on YOU and confess Your word over our families that we will gain new strength. We will certainly be those to mount up with wings like eagles to run and not tire...........that when we walk. we will not become the weary. Today YOU are our strength, and the glory of our heads. Thank YOU for Your goodness to us. I pray for those eyes to see and ears to Hear YOU SPEAK and declare the horizon is filled with YOUR glory for their lives. Be unto Your name all honor, glory and praise. Today we move forward and it is BECAUSE OF YOU THE LORD OF GLORY. I have prayed and believed in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen

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