What Has Love Got to Do with It?

Everything!!!

In thinking of the length, width, depth and height……where does that love begin?  Ephesians 3:14-21..............14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height-- 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.  NKJV

How much of His power really works in us, so we can ask Him for the impossible?

Was reminded today by the Lord, that I can pray about Him able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or think, but how much power flows through us, to receive it?  In thinking of how many are breaking laws today, their love must be almost extinct.  I can pray for those who are breaking those laws, but cannot pray for those who are working toward death of others! If we go to that new place is it about really making your life better or just to steal from another person, just like you!

A good thought  should be that God-minded for His love and peace. We will walk today toward this day in whom we have believed. He can do for the righteous what He has said He will do. No doubt here on that scripture, I have seen Him do the miraculous. Seriously speaking though, do we know how much, if any power is in us?  Is your switch on or just low in the words of truth God has spoken?

We should know the Holy Spirit resides in us when we have received Jesus as Lord. But do we pay Him any attention throughout our day?

That power to complete something is an exertion. That power is something that enables us to accomplish that which He desires us to do for Him and His kingdom. It takes a cooperation on our part. How does that work? It works when we continue to take on His likeness and continue to enter His kingdom. Our searching His word strengthens us, and fortifies us to be established before any world storms are driven in our direction. God wants to counsel us and lead us by His Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:26-27..................26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. NIV

Upon entering a dark room at night, the instinct is to go over and turn the power on, right? Finding the light switch, especially if there is a wall switch that will activate the power on, is paramount when one is stumbling in the dark. But when the power comes on, surges through that light bulb and light fills the room, one relaxes knowing they can truly see without stumbling through the room.

I heard this story once about this wealthy Scottish lady who had a nice home. She was widowed for many years, but had extreme wealth. She had wanted lights in her home. She had lived at the turn of twentieth century and had the gas put in, and after a month, the gas people returned to see why she was not using her gas for lighting her home. They wanted to know if she was dissatisfied with the gas installed into her home.  The gas that powered heat and light into her home was available, but she did not activate it. So the gentleman from the gas company showed her again where the "switch" was to turn or activate the gas in her home. She had continued to use candles to light her home and had never walked over to flip "the switch" on!

To me, that was like using the microwave oven or any new thing on the market back in the late 70's. I had one but rarely used it. Had a dishwasher too, but rarely had use of it as the work appeared doubled in loading and unloading it when having two people to wash and dry, the work is done and move on to something else. Of course, you may not have someone who is willing to help in the kitchen right now, but the day will come when each of us has kitchen duty. Ask anyone who has lost a loved one, and had to learn how to cook or even heat something on the stove after the loved one is gone.

Some of the best conversations my sister and I had when growing up, was those at the sink, washing up dishes after a great meal our mother had prepared for us to enjoy. There were times of soap suds floating in the air, but joy and laughter could be heard throughout the house and probably outside as well. It was a moment in time that we came together to do something, not only for our mother, but for ourselves as well. We enjoyed doing something together. Although it could sound like a "fight" who was going to wash and who was going to dry, still today it brings a smile to my face!

POWER!

Being daily rooted and grounded in love:1 John 3:21-24

21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. 22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. 23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. 24 Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. NKJV

Know that love of Christ which passes knowledge = fullness of God:Psalm 61:6-8

6 Increase the days of the king's life, his years for many generations. 

7 May he be enthroned in God's presence forever; appoint your love and faithfulness to protect him. 

8 Then will I ever sing praise to your name 

and fulfill my vows day after day.  NIV

Acts 2:28...28 You have made known to me the paths of life; 

you will fill me with joy in your presence.'  NIV

Knowing Christ in love, is dwelling in His holiness, His wisdom, knowledge as well.

We carry His presence wherever we go!

People are trying to plug into power, but they use some kind of wealth to propel them forward. And if they use it for an amount of time, they find they have bought too much, had way too many parties and never thought of what came next! They may intensify with an amount of wealth, they may use their status to push the envelope for power yet be terribly vulnerable when it comes to devil and his wiles.

For you and I, we must intensify in the presence and power of Jesus Christ. We are told that Paul prayed those believer’s would know

Christ living in them, that their hearts would be of faith in Him. That each would grasp God’s love at the spiritual level and beyond intellectual or theological knowledge and they would be filled with God’s fullness. Meaning this, that Holy Spirit would reveal the things of Christ (John 16) more fuller achieving God’s work in the earth. Each individual would and could be the un-hindered, the un-quenched and the un-grieved.

This will include your walk with others including spouse and children. (socially) It will include your finances. It will include the physical body and the spiritual life with God.  It is used mentally. We are to be God inside-minded!

Jesus  spoke we are to never to worry about what’s going to happen tomorrow, because He has not given us the grace to bear up under tomorrow’s concerns until we get there. You cannot be in two places at one time, but He can. So we will not borrow worries from the future. We Will not borrow trouble from anyone.  People borrow trouble from the news network daily and why?   We are to invest in faith. To choose to look for God’s hand working on our behalf today—and trust Him, in simple faith, for our tomorrow and future.  Without faith we cannot move through life in the spiritual. Spiritual eyes see and spiritual hearts will speak…that is by prayer in the kingdom of God.

 

      Teaching at: Voice of Prayer 

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Painful Thorns

 What a difference 50 years makes in one's life! 

What was held in disgust years ago, people do it so willingly today. Was seeing a teaching on what the swimsuits looked like in the twenties and thirties of the 20th century. Everyone had on clothes, but was meant for swimming. Each dressed, the man in his slacks and the woman in a two piece suit covering from the neck to passed the knees. Today it is anything goes. You have a display of nudity in all forms on the beaches today. Sad to say, many have fallen into the culture theme of being free in sin. I remember the Rockettes of yesteryear. Those dancers in NYC were in the Macy's parade over Thanksgiving. What appeared were very thin women. What once looked like healthy dancers, with an amount of muscle on the legs and arms, today they are skin and bone ....Was wondering if it had to do with people losing weight just to be thin. What would Jesus think today?

Jesus was the “meek” man. He humbled Himself before the Father to walk in His steps regarding His image and the foundation of the work to be set forever in His word.

In God's perspective, people who humble themselves, are these people who are strong, while from a human perspective, it depends on whom they want to impress. You can see that in the story of those who impressed David’s son instead of staying alongside David as the King! ( of Ahithophel’s advice to the King seen in 2 Samuel 16, 17, and what occurs in 18) Ahithophel commits suicide out of bitterness in 2 Samuel 17:23.

At the point of Grace, we choose whom we will serve. We are told over and over to forgive those who have done something against us. Yes, and that can occur daily in this world we live in today!

But Humility is so important that God gave Paul some help to make sure that he would stay humble: 2 Corinthians 12:6-10 NKJV 6 For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to or hears from me. 7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Yet, this “thorn” in the flesh is a person. We know this because we see it in the Old Testament: Ezekiel 28:22- 24 NKJV “Behold, I am against you, O Sidon; I will be glorified in your midst; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I executed judgments in her and am hallowed in her. For I will send pestilence upon her and blood in her streets; the wounded shall be judge in her midst by the sword against her on every side; then they shall know that I am the LORD. 24 “And there shall not longer be a pricking brier or a “painful thorn for the house of Israel from among all who around them, who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the LORD GOD.”

From this verse 24, we see that insults of the nations are compared to prickly briers and painful thorns. Numbers 33:55 ‘But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell. 56 Moreover it shall be that I will do to you as I thought to do to them.’”

 In this year, we certainly have the irritants of painful thorns. You expect truth and get that which relates to honoring the evil and to destroy the good!

From the time of Jesus, His walk was about the persistent heart giving the kingdom of God that had come: the Gospel! Jesus was effective in that He laid down His life and could take it up again because He spoke it into being. Paul saw the power of Jesus’ walk and proved to be an effective servant of God.

So humility has a dominant thrust in it where appears a willingness to submit to God, to what is His truth and remain in it to give to others. These two willingly submit to giving their whole life into God’s glory. So what would be the level of our humble hearts? Ephesians 4:3 …endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Unity with each begins in the unity each of us has with God. And it is within that unity with God you can keep unity with others.

So in returning to Ahithophel we find a most fascinating character. In 2 Samuel 15: 12 Ahithophel was a trusted counselor to King David. He was also a member of his cabinet. The King relied on Ahithophel’s advise as if he spoke from God himself seen 2 Samuel 16:23.

Ah yes, but things changed for the “bad”. It was David’s son Absalom that led a rebellion against him. and in this rebellion Ahithophel betrayed David by joining with rebellious Abasalom. AND we can know the king’s heart on this matter when David recounts those painful laments of heart when a trusted Ahithophel betrayed him in Psalm 41:8-9 and Psalm 55:12-15.

Psalm 55:12-16 NKJV For it is not an enemy who reproaches me; then I could bear it. Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me; then I could hide from him. 13 but it was you, a man my equal, My companion and my acquaintance. 14 We took sweet counsel together and walked to the house of God in the throng. 15 Let death seize them; let them do down alive into hell, for wickedness is in their dwellings and among them. 16 As for me, I will call upon God, and the LORD shall save me.

AHITHOPHEL: whose name means “foolishness” certainly proved to be the foolish man and it was indicated in his first meeting with Absalom in 2 Samuel 15:12. Yes the rebellion was on! And some parts of historical record give a light on what occurred to make Ahithophel do what he did to the king! In historic background, Ahithophel was the father Eliam found in 1 Chronicles 3:5. And then the grandfather of Bathsheba, so this was a personal ordeal for the man who knew the king and had worked side by side with him. Yes, David as the king with loose morals at this time defiled another man’s wife. Instead of being on the front lines in battle with his men, David stayed in the palace and then had his eye on the lovely Bathsheba bathing.  So in this corrupted action on David’s part, Ahithophel’s sense of wrong crowded his thinking.

Yes, David was king but was to be the honorable and here he slipped terribly in the acts of murder of Bathsheba's husband Uriah the Hittite. What Ahithophel proposed in his pursuit of David is given in 2 Samuel 17:1…… Ahithophel gives Absalom advice: “Now let me choose twelve thousand men and I will arise and pursue David tonight. 2 I will come upon him while he is weary and weak and make him afraid. And all the people who are with him will flee and I will strike the king.

It was a personal hostility that Ahithophel held for David. 1 Corinthians 1:20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world. 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Through the Gospel, revelation of truth is power. And in the operation of God’s power through this gospel is victory over sin and death. But to the Jews, this very message of Christ crucified signaled weakness and proved Jesus the false Messiah. The Jews looked for signs instead of in Messiah’s power ( Isaiah 35; 61)  The Jews stumbled in this truth. And of course to the Gentile mind-set, they held no messianic expectations. No, they held only what a deity should be like, so the message of Christ crucified was foolishness to them.

Yes, David did try to hide his corrupted acts. He treated this young woman terribly and her husband even worse. He wanted her to sleep with her own husband to hide his dilemma her creating a child within her womb. But the honorable Uriah would not do that while the men he fought with would not have the same thing available to them. David proceeds with another act of betrayal to place Uriah on the front line of the battle. Yes, death would occur to this young man.

Ahithophel most likely burned in his thinking that became a hate with a force behind it! So Absalom set to take David’s throne, and he, Ahithophel, must have thought some kind of good must have turned towards him in favor, but David prayed in 2 Samuel 15:31 “O LORD I pray, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”  Remember David had already prayed in Psalm 55!

In Ahithophel’s  counsel to Absalom to immediately attack David before he can regroup, a change occurs in a dramatic way.  A loyal friend to David, Hushai pretends to have turned to Absalom’s side and urges him to delay an attack. It was God causing Absalom to heed Husahi’s advice and Ahithophel realizes a fatal mistake. In bitterness, he knows that God will not punish David now. No, because David repented and prayed for God’s hand on the outcome of his own stupid behavior.

In despair it was Ahithophel who would die:  “He put his house in order and then hanged himself (2 Sam 17:23). In prayer, David displayed anguish. He wrote of betrayal in Psalm 55:13-14.  A seemingly spiritual companion betrayed David in verse 13: “ but it was you, a man my equal, my companion and my acquaintance”.

2 Samuel 15:31 Then someone told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, “O LORD I pray, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.

Humility goes hand in hand with meekness. Jesus the meek had a restraint being held in the “kind, the gentle, and the sensitive to others’ needs. This is done in truth, with no lying and stealing. They are those who will agree with that which is God’s word. They will not argue God’s word, neither will they insist on their own way in it. People could approach Jesus! They could speak with Him and He would return that which was life to them. He was and is the meek but He is not the “weak”! Like Jesus we are to be the firm and the uncompromising regarding following truth. And what is revealed to us is that Jesus did not overwhelm others who were aligned against Him.

God’s grace has been poured out to us! People who know their Lord and God are the blessed and it shows! We too can enjoy this abundance of grace. We should let people go and give them over to God.

Matthew 6:14-15 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” 15 “But if you do not forgive me their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Jesus hung on a Cross at Calvary and forgave the one who hung there with Him. Jesus told the man that he would be with Him in Paradise. The other went his way into hell. It was one who held onto Jesus the Son of God, the Savior of the world. Painful thorns indeed appear in our walk. But we keep our eyes on Jesus! You can see insanity in the world, but peace is found in the Lord alone!

    Teaching at: Voice of Prayer 

Visit my You Tube channel Voice of Prayer for more teaching 

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That Melting Point in Each of Us

 

Seriously, been reading some specifics in Jude and in Titus but was directed by Holy Spirit to write about this instead. We were on our way to the city to a local grocer there. While on the trip there, I was telling my husband of the word I had heard this morning. It was about that temptation or test. Is the temptation driving you and I further from God or is the test from God? God will not tempt us with sin. But any weakness in us might lead us further from God.

What weakness might we see in the passages of the Bible? In thinking of Elijah, he stood against 450 false prophets of Queen Jezebel. He built an altar to worship God and filled it with those things needed to make the sacrifice.

1 Kings 18:7-40

7 Now as Obadiah was on his way, suddenly Elijah met him; and he recognized him, and fell on his face, and said, "Is that you, my lord Elijah?" 8 And he answered him, "It is I. Go, tell your master, 'Elijah is here.' " 9 So he said, "How have I sinned, that you are delivering your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? 10 As the LORD your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to hunt for you; and when they said, 'He is not here,' he took an oath from the kingdom or nation that they could not find you. 11 And now you say, 'Go, tell your master, "Elijah is here" '! 12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit of the LORD will carry you to a place I do not know; so when I go and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me. But I your servant have feared the LORD from my youth. 13 Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the LORD, how I hid one hundred men of the LORD's prophets, fifty to a cave, and fed them with bread and water? 14 And now you say, 'Go, tell your master, "Elijah is here." ' He will kill me!" 15 Then Elijah said, "As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely present myself to him today." 16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

17 Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, "Is that you, O troubler of Israel?"

18 And he answered, "I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and you have followed the Baals. 19 Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."

20 So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came to all the people, and said, "How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people answered him not a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, "I alone am left a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.

 23 Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. 24 Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD; and the God who answers by fire, He is God." So all the people answered and said, "It is well spoken."

25 Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it." 26 So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, "O Baal, hear us!" But there was no voice; no one answered. And they leaped about the altar which they had made. 27 And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, "Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened." 28 So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. 29 And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.

30 Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me." So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down. 31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, "Israel shall be your name."

 32 Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 33 And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, "Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood." 34 Then he said, "Do it a second time," and they did it a second time; and he said, "Do it a third time," and they did it a third time. 35 So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water. 36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, "LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. 37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again." 38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.

HE BUILT AN ALTAR TO WORSHIP GOD!

39 Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!" 40 And Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!" So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there. NKJV

Sound of Abundance….1 Kings 18:41-46………………41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain." 42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, 43 and said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." So he went up and looked, and said, "There is nothing." And seven times he said, "Go again." 44 Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, "There is a cloud, as small as a man's hand, rising out of the sea!" So he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, 'Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.' " 45 Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel. 46 Then the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. NKJV

ELIJAH SPOKE: I hear the sound of the abundance of rain:    my ears HAVE HEARD GOD’S HEART……GOD’S SPIRIT TO HIS SPIRIT MAN.……Sound = vibrations…….

My SPIRITUAL ear has picked up the vibration of something that is coming.
I can't see it, I can't touch it, I CANNOT feel it…….. IT IS on the way!

The altar is the place of: self-sacrifice, self-denial, self-nullification

It costs blood, sweat, tears…….

And then he runs down to tell King Ahab that it was time to leave for the city..........Elijah runs along side the king who rode in his chariot with horses. In this race to the city, Elijah the prophet gets there first. And he hears Jezebel . He hears what a woman speak that she will kill him.

When Faith is Exhausted: Elijah had performed one of the most famous miracles in the Old Testament by calling down fire from Heaven to prove that Yahweh, the God of Israel the One True God.  He brought the false prophets down to be executed. He prays for rain. Runs a race with a chariot with horses and yet when he gets to the big city, he hits a melting point. Where is his faith????

1 Kings 19:1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah , saying, "So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.   

Here he leaves the city and Jezebel. And in choosing to hide in a cave, he will wallow in that self-pity.  He found that weak place in him. Like many us face when spending time with wrong folks, their weaknesses can fill our places and pull us toward that wrong place. BUT faith must fill our hearts. Faith of the word should fill that weakness to make us strong.   

He Finds the Hiding Place: The Cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, 'What are you doing here, Elijah?' He said, 'I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.' And He said, "Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

In his run of weakness of hearing a woman's plans for him, he finds a worse situation. He thinks of his courage in the beginning. Then he speaks as to him being the only prophet left.  He finds himself in a wind storm, then a strong earthquake appears and then a fire. And yet God was there all the time.

What weakness is in us? What melting point is in each of us? I like you can ask in prayer and believe to receive, but we also must have a faith built against that flesh excess! Like one has to do with gluttony. When I sit down to eat, I consider what is before me. I am not given to the desire of dainties or deceitful foods. Proverbs 23:1-3...that also means the flesh creature!!!

WE are not to spend the rest of our natural life living by our human appetites and desires. WE are to live for that which pleases God! We are to resist temptation in the name of Jesus! We strip off and throw aside every encumbrance---unnecessary weight---and this gluttony which so readily tries to cling to and entangle us. We are to run with patient endurance and steady persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before you and me. Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith.

Another case in point is the wife of Elkanah. Hannah spoke this about God in 1 Samuel 2:2 “There is none more holy like the Lord, there is none besides You, there is no Rock like our God.

Hannah was speaking of His divinity not to a characteristic of God.

She faced a hard road. Her husband had another wife, younger who gave him children and she Hannah was barren. Year by year, she, Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, and she Peninnah provoked her. It was such harassment that Hannah could not eat. ( 1 Samuel  1:7) Hannah went and Hannah prayed. And she in time brought forth a son Samuel. She remained firm in faith. She worshiped the Lord and He remembered her. In remembering her, is bringing forth her purpose for life.

We can face hard times, gluttony like too much food, drink or fleshly things. But faith should replace those things in our lives. Jesus asked if faith will be found on the earth? Luke 18:8 

The deeper our faith is in the Lord, the greater we are encouraged to walk in places like Charlie Kirk did. For some us, we have walked in Jail Ministry and that which is found in the Mission places of cities. And those places we give truth and no lies. No fire will rain down from heaven like in the days of Elijah, but truth will bring up those border lines within us where truth prevails.

Are we melting in this environment of societal dismantling? It was one husband ( a man ) for one woman. They would raise their children not in an hostile environment. If there was a rebellious attitude then, that would be stopped immediately. Today people viewing God's ways as unimportant run as a mob to start violence with rocks, fire and fists.

 But in looking at the heavenly military might, or host, we find order. And each of us must be in order with God. Putting on our military garb, we pull into us the word of God for faith that changes things. Jesus will return but until that time. we have asteroids spinning towards earth. We have those who are choosing divergence among that Covid thing. We see more insects infecting people and more people taking  others lives. 

Those leaving Egypt came out with Moses leading. When he went up the mount to get the Ten Commandments, they thought he had abandoned them. They did not wait for him but chose Aaron to make for them a Golden Calf.  They set out all the jewelry they had collected from the Egyptians. They worshiped the Golden Calf and did their dance. They had a new leader in their Golden Calf. This idol they loved. And today we have those who choose not the 10 Commandments but the Golden Calf. They choose to eat what the cow eats. They chow down on cookies made from cannabis and expect what?  They plant their marijuana with corn. Harvest comes and for some,  will they experience that kind of psychosis! Sad the slippery slope is evident. In our ways, our own gluttony we fail miserably but in the Lord we soar with eagles. In Jesus we know Him: the way, the truth and life.

No melting please. We need you now to stand in freedom and represent the Lord on high! Lets pray and keep the faith dealt to us. It is truly a gift of God.
Amen.

                                           Teaching at: Voice of Prayer 

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Identifying with Heartache

 

Psalm 23 :1-6 NKJV  The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 3 He restores my soul; He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD  forever.

 

VERSE 4…though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Comfort: nacham….Strongs #5162 …to comfort, to console; extend compassion, sigh with one grieving ; to repent…translated has meaning of regrets of a transgression……..so this word does not describe a casual sympathy, but describes empathy. It is actually one who will weep with another who weeps!

Love is when one comes to: help, to motivate, those in love will actively watch with sorrow and pity

Empathy is getting down in the ugliness of deep darkness, no light,  “hey this trench is deep” of despair, no help, but panic!  Empathy is the action of understanding, being very much aware of and sensitive to experiencing the feelings of others in thoughts and in experiences……….whether to the past or to a present moment. The one with empathy knows the experience as their own experience. He was willing to avenge their distress of ailments, sickness because of His love…that is anchored in the depths of empathy, proactive on the scene to suffer as those He came to suffer for on the Cross…

 Jesus was active in empathy for others. The man healed on the Sabbath..:Mark 2:27-28 ;3 1-5…NKJV…27 and He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” 28 “Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

Mark 3:1-4 NKJV and He entered the synagogue again, & a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward”. 4 The he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent.

5 And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, & his hand was restored as whole as the other.

 Another passage using the word Nacham: Psalm 119:75-82  Amplified Bible 75 I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are right & righteous, & in faithfulness You have afflicted me. 76 Let, I pray You, Your merciful kindness & steadfast love be for my comfort, according to your promise to Your servant.

Comfort: He prays…: You in Your merciful kindness and steadfast love be for my comfort…

Psalm 119:77 Let Your tender mercy and loving kindness come to me that I may live, for Your law is my delight. 78 Let the proud be put to shame, for they dealt perversely with me without a cause; but I will mediate on Your precepts. 79 Let those who reverently and worshipfully fear You turn to me, and those who have known Your testimonies. 80 Let my heart be sound (sincere and wholehearted & blameless) in Your statues, that I may not be put to shame. 81 My soul languishes and grows faint for Your salvation, but I hope in Your word. 82 My eyes fail, watching for [the fulfillment of] Your promised. I say, when will You comfort me? Comfort:nacham

From Psalm 119 and verses 77-82 every display of the tender mercies of God is like a fresh transfusion of life to the hard-pressed saint. From verse 79 it is a spiritual instinct to seek the fellowship of those who know and love the Word of God. But truly how often do we ask the Lord to lead those who fear God across our pathway? The believer may be afflicted but not crushed; perplexed but not driven to despair; persecuted but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed ( 2 Corinthians 4:8-9) Even though eyes grow dime with searching for the fulfillment of God’s promise of deliverance, he does not pray “Will you comfort me? But he prays “When will you comfort me?”

Empathy and No Trenches : Identifying with Heartache………Jesus was on the front lines to confront the enemy: Us!   Philippians 2:5-8 – Jesus Christ, who being in the very nature of God did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage.  Rather he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant (left his home), being made in human likeness.  And being found as a man, humbled himself even further by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Identifying with others in a heartache is identifying with those in need. Jesus drew no tears from His own griefs but He sweat drops of the blood for mine. (author: Charles H. Gabriel) Jesus held a sacrificial mind, the selfless mind, and the serving mind. Jesus consistently thought of others. Yeah, He got it from His Father!

Jesus is empathy’s perfect example. He did not come to earth to save us as God, detached and gazing down in sympathy and pity. He came as man, born into the trenches, to live and suffer as a human. His empathy makes Him the perfect sacrifice. The perfect bridge between God and us.  Hebrews 4:15  “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin”

But we are not Jesus. So how can we identify with others going through situations that we have never encountered face-to-face? How can we walk trenches we have never been pushed into? Because based on the way Jesus lived his life, that’s what I believe He’s asking us to do as Christians. To put away sympathy and embrace empathy. That’s where true comfort lies.

Jesus didn’t have a trench: Breaking Barriers

1.   Initiated grace to the least of them: the broken, the lame but also the one who hung on the Cross next to him

2.   Served those who dishonored him the most: Judas

3.   His beliefs were not fables or fickle

4.   His opinion was not swayed: He was on His mission for Salvation who kept the future focus, faith and determination: It is Finished He spoke from that bloody Cross!

5.    HE acted on  complete conviction!

2 Corinthians 1:3-5 Amplified Bible 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of sympathy (pity and mercy) and the God [Who is the Source of every comfort [(consolation and encouragement). 4 Who comforts (consoles and encourages us in every trouble (calamity and affliction), so that we may also be able to comfort (console and encourage) those who are in any kind of trouble or distress, with the comfort (consolation and encouragement) with which we ourselves are comforted (consoled and encouraged) by God. 5 For just as Christ’s [own] sufferings fall to our lot [as they overflow upon His disciples, and we share and experience them] abundantly, so through Christ’s comfort (consolation and encouragement) is also [shared and experienced] abundantly by us.

Now this passage is a favorite of mine. I have spent some time on it in the past ten years meditating it. Paul bursts into thanksgiving to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul addresses the full title of God. As we saw in the Old Testament: the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, or the God of Jacob. Paul is brought news from Titus in Macedonia. In all Paul had in afflictions, he was conscious of God’s comforting presence. As Paul was comforted, he comforted those around him. It is a comfort that comes as the form of encouragement and exhortation. We are not comforted to be made comfortable, but to be comforted to fly to the aid of him on “death’s bed” or one who is home under Dr.’s care!

Our association with Jesus Christ brings from others: suffer that is brought on by reproach, by rejection, hostility, hatred, denial, betrayal, and much more. But we to them in His name. We appear as His hands, His feet and speak His words!

 The New Testament presents Jesus as the supreme example of empathy: as one who fully understands both the experience of God and the experience of humanity.  And Paul challenges followers of Jesus to empathize fully with Jesus’ faith and Jesus’ death, and to hope for his resurrection as seen in 1 Corinthians 1:3-5! Jesus was active and moving: He was about removing those trenches of religious beliefs.

This came through Jesus…to comfort us.

While we still walk on earth, might we initiate grace to the least of them like Jesus did? Might we serve those who dishonored Him the most?  His beliefs were not fables, nor a fairy tale but truth held in His heart. He was sent by the Father, manifested to be heard and to be seen with eyes. He was manifested and bear witness of eternal life which was with the Father and manifested to the apostles indeed.

He was on His mission for Salvation who kept the future focus, faith and determination in His speaking. He always acted on a complete conviction. He came, would face persecution and die for many. He came to comfort those in need of a Comforter!  The Message heard, from Him and was declared to us that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. We walk in light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Comforter, Helper, or Companion, Holy Spirit You are a wonderful gift to us. You mentor us and teach us. You are our treasured Friend. Thank You for taking time to talk with us today, to converse the thoughts of the Father and to reveal instructions to us. Forgive us when we have shown a short fuse for anything of the world. Forgive us for failing to heed Your instruction just when we require it the most.

Please un-clutter us of distractions so that we may hear Your voice and obey You without question.  In Jesus’ holy name. amen and amen!

 

                                           New teaching at: Voice of Prayer 

Oil of Intimacy

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Visit my You Tube channel Voice of Prayer for more teaching 

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New teaching at: Life Giving Wells

A Level of Faith: A Saving Faith

https://youtu.be/-BoP0Ary5Zw

Visit Life Giving Wells You Tube Channel for more teaching

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Now Posting to Rumble 

Voice of Prayer

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And

Life Giving Wells

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