Psalm 109:1-5

“O God, whom I praise,
    don’t stand silent and aloof
² while the wicked slander me
    and tell lies about me.
³ They surround me with hateful words
    and fight against me for no reason.
⁴ I love them, but they try to destroy me with accusations
    even as I am praying for them!
⁵ They repay evil for good,
    and hatred for my love.”

Hebrews 12:1-3

“12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. ² We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. ³ Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.”

James 3:17

“But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.”

Isaiah 55:11

“It is the same with my word.
I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”

Hebrews 12:11

“No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.”

We all know that special someone who we have loved hard, prayed hard for, and who utterly rejected or hurt us.    Oh that we would never receive the rejection personally and that our storehouses of His compassion, grace and mercy would never run low.    “He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows” and we are called to walk in His ways and through the things He suffered for us.   Why is it we are so surprised when such things come?  I am still learning to wait in confident and calm trust for HIS Word (spoken in love and gentleness and with a yielding spirit) to return bearing great fruit for His Kingdom… Praise God for His abounding grace and mercy and for the promises to those who obey.  That my heart and soul would forever echo the words of our Lord and Savior…   “Forgive them for they know not what they do”.  Not once did His heart (Romans 8 nothing can separate us from the love of God) harden against those who persecuted Him, even unto death.

Isaiah 30:15 + 19-26

^“15 This is what the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, says:

Heavenly Father, Sweet Lord,   Mighty Redeemer,

Please forgive my hardness of heart and renew my attitude that I would welcome and appreciate the daily warnings my faithful brothers and sisters bring to me each day.  Help me to constantly remember the pull and temptation to reject your Word and your truth.

In Jesus precious, holy, mighty, awesome name.

Isaiah 30:8-11

“Now write this on a sign for the people,
write this on a scroll,
so that for the days to come
this will be a witness forever.
⁹ These people are like children who lie and refuse to obey;
they refuse to listen to the Lord’s teachings.
¹⁰ They tell the seers,
“Don’t see any more visions!”
They say to the prophets,
“Don’t tell us the truth!
Say things that will make us feel good;
see only good things for us.
¹¹ Stop blocking our path.
Get out of our way.
Stop telling us
about God, the Holy One of Israel.”

Hebrews 3: 7-14

 “That is why the Holy Spirit says,  “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness. There your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw my miracles for forty years. So I was angry with them, and I said, ‘Their hearts always turn away from me.   They refuse to do what I tell them.’ So in my anger I took an oath:     ‘They will never enter my place of rest.’”Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.”

A little something to keep before your eyes this season… It is fascinating how viruses work and also how your body deals with them.. I really need to check my understanding on biology.. here is my present understanding. Virus are like an alien life force(this in part as seems to have a level of intelligence that defies understanding and yet does not meet the main criteria to be called a life in and of its self, strands of RNA that attach to our cells and then start cranking out more virus strands… Our body recognizes these, attacks them, packages them up to neutralize them and then flushes them out of the body..

Couple of thoughts.. your immune system is based out of the marrow in your bones… so speak peace and strength to your immune system.

Proverbs 14:30
“A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones.” Check if you have any open doors of jealousy and envy.

Psalm 118:10-12 “Though hostile nations surrounded me, I destroyed them all with the authority of the LORD. Yes, they surrounded and attacked me, but I destroyed them all with the authority of the LORD. They swarmed around me like bees; they blazed against me like a crackling fire. But I destroyed them all with the authority of the LORD.”

Genesis 1:28 KJV “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

Psalm 8:5-9 “Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honour. You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority— the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents. O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth”

Psalm 104:24-30 “O LORD, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures. Here is the ocean, vast and wide, teeming with life of every kind, both large and small. See the ships sailing along, and Leviathan, which you made to play in the sea. They all depend on you to give them food as they need it. When you supply it, they gather it. You open your hand to feed them, and they are richly satisfied. But if you turn away from them, they panic. When you take away their breath, they die and turn again to dust. When you give them your breath, life is created, and you renew the face of the earth.”

This scripture came to mind too… Let us not get demoralized by the reports of men… but fired up by the promises of God.

Deuteronomy 1:28-30 “Where can we go? Our brothers have demoralized us with their report. They tell us, “The people of the land are taller and more powerful than we are, and their towns are large, with walls rising high into the sky! We even saw giants there—the descendants of Anak!”’ “But I said to you, ‘Don’t be shocked or afraid of them! The LORD your God is going ahead of you. He will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt. “

3 John 1:2 “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”

1 Timothy 2:3-5 “This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. “

Saved = includes being made whole, in perfect health, mind, body and spirit.

2 Samuel 23:30-32 “In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall. “God’s way is perfect. All the LORD’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection. For who is God except the LORD? Who but our God is a solid rock?”

Psalm 91:10 “no evil will conquer you;
no plague will come near your home.”

As I was reading a board book about Noah and the Ark today to my one year old, I had such a strong visual of God shutting the door to the boat.

¹⁷ “Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die. ¹⁸ But I will confirm my covenant with you. So enter the boat—you and your wife and your sons and their wives. ¹⁹ Bring a pair of every kind of animal—a male and a female—into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood. ²⁰ Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive. ²¹ And be sure to take on board enough food for your family and for all the animals.”

²² So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.

 When everything was ready, the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the boat with all your family, for among all the people of the earth, I can see that you alone are righteous. ² Take with you seven pairs—male and female—of each animal I have approved for eating and for sacrifice, and take one pair of each of the others. ³ Also take seven pairs of every kind of bird. There must be a male and a female in each pair to ensure that all life will survive on the earth after the flood. ⁴ Seven days from now I will make the rains pour down on the earth. And it will rain for forty days and forty nights, until I have wiped from the earth all the living things I have created.”

⁵ So Noah did everything as the Lord commanded him.”

– Genesis 6:22 to 7:1-5

Today I was struck by the fact that God returned to Noah after he had finished what the Lord had assigned him.  He did exactly as the Lord commanded.     The time frame for this first bit seemed to be based on more when Noah finished the work then on a specified timeframe of God.

Is it possible, that sometimes we never see the end of the good story, or that we go through extra devastation, heartache and struggle, chastisement etc because we don’t follow Noah’s example and we give God only partial obedience?  How would the story of Noah read had Noah dilly dallied in the work the Lord assigned him?  Or even worse, had ignored parts of the instruction or improved upon them with his own human intellect and reasoning?  Would he have been able and prepared to load up the boat and make the final provisions had he neglected any part that he was to complete before?   Are we faithfully preparing ourselves for this kind of service to the Lord?

I am amazed and inspired by Noah’s obedience… to build a boat in the middle of the desert, surrounded by evil people, who no doubt mocked him to no end as he walked this thing out in complete obedience to God.   Oh that we would have his courage and determination to follow the Lord in all, with all, without question.

The Sabbath day has always been a bit of a mystery to me..   I will share the scriptures on thoughts in greater detail in another post..   For the last 2 weeks, I have been motivated by my study of our Abrahamic roots to take back the Sabbath day and make it a greater priority for our family.  And to my surprise, it has been one of the most challenging tasks I have ever taken on.   It is like I suddenly have this urge to clean, and tidy and organize and just do something… almost an uncontrollable urge…  Always a sign that I have crossed a battle line somewhere.  BUT, the Lord is so faithful and has been preparing all the while just for this day.   And interestingly enough, for me the answer seems to lie in God’s grace and whether or not I am willing to put my trust wholly in Him.

 

Ever had the wool pulled over your eyes…..?  I relearned this week what I had learned and then forgotten and then had this niggly feeling about since.    The definition of the Greek root word for grace is NOT “unmerited favour”.  Turns out that in one of my favourite Bibles, The Amplified Bible, this definition is often used in brackets, so slowly and surely I had started to believe it was so.   What it is is one of the definitions of the Hebrew word also meaning grace and applies strictly to certain instances used in the Old Testament….

 

Strong’s Concordance definition.  G5485

ca>riv,— khar’-ece; from (5463) (cai>rw); graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal,figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude):  acceptable, benefit, favour, gift, grace (-ious), joy, liberality, pleasure, thank (-s, -worthy).

This is the definition of the word “grace” in almost every case it is seen in the NT.  And yet, I have heard it taught so differently so many times….

My lightbulb moment.   Take the scripture on Paul’s thorn and the scripture from James 4:6…  and medidate on them.

So, basically, anyplace I am trusting in my own ability, efforts, strength, power, whatever human thing I would like to rely on, I am literally rejecting God’s grace in that area.   All forms of human pride block God’s grace…

per above defintion : God’s graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal,figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude):  acceptable, benefit, favour, gift, grace (-ious), joy, liberality, pleasure, thank (-s, -worthy).

It is so plainly written and so clear.

“The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”

– John 6:63 “

“Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted.  Unless the Lord protects a city,  guarding it with sentries will do no good.  ² It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night,  anxiously working for food to eat;     for God gives rest to his loved ones.”

–Psalm 127:1-2

 So here is my confession, which I am speaking outloud too as I write.  Lord, please forgive me for my great pride, for all of my striving, for all of my fussing, for all of my worrying, for all of my anxious toil, for refusing to enter and live in the place of rest, peace, calm and joy that the Lord Jesus died to provide for me.

Somewhere, in utter foolishness, I believed that voice, that driving voice in my head that to rest, to sit still, etc would be a waste of such a fine day.. after all, my hubby is home helping with the kids, we are out an about as a family, the perfect time to get a few errands done and of course it is so much easier just to spread the work out over 7 days instead of cramming it all into 6.      What I missed is that I was neglecting something that was far more valuable.   An amazing opportunity to practice living and resting in the presence of the Almighty, letting Him lavish His love on me, comfort me, renew me, restore me, refresh me and equip me for another week as His fully prepared and strengthened servant.    I lost the godly perspective, that most of the curves in the road, those challenges, bumps, frustrations etc… will melt away or straighten complete if and when I walk in obedience to His Word.   In fact, I may never know just how many hiccups, detours, disasters etc  I have completely avoided if I slow down and trust for God’s perfect provision daily.  I forgot that in the Kingdom, the math never makes sense to the natural self..   I can do half as much and accompish twice as much when following after the Spirit of the Lord.  The reality is ungodly business will steal my ability to hear that still small voice.

 “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”

–Psalm 46:10

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”

– Matthew 6:33

The truth is, I have been carrying my cares, my burdens, my workload, my junk and haven’t been faithfully casting them with any diligence unto the Lord.   Praise God that His ways are so much better…

Something just never change. Sin found it’s way into man via this very simple strategy… Cast doubt on the Word of God. Genesis 3 (NLT) begins:

 

“The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman,

“Did God really say…

you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” 2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’” 4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

 The woman was convinced.

She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.”

Today, we find this strategy being applied in a million different variations.  Here are some I have heard recently.

  “I am sure a good God wouldn’t want you to be deprived…”  “If you read between the lines you can clearly see that this scripture means…”  “Oh no, the Lord would never expect me to live up to that expectation” “Oh, it couldn’t possibly mean that, I know God wants what will make me happy”  and of course the classic “It’s not like we need to take the Bible literally, it’s more of a parable”.  I would love anyone’s thoughts on other variations of this.

I am in the process of adopting a different approach… an obvious yet uncommon approach.   First, I study to find every scripture I can on the topic, ignoring none, even the ones that seem to contradict the others.    The point is to understand what the Bible says on the matter.  Get this straight in my head and on paper (the Bible itself says that the childlike can understand it so no intense interpretation should be required).    Once this is settled, I can now take any situation and see how it lines up with the Word.   The more common approach is to take our situation and find scripture that lines up with what we would like to do.  In fact, this is one of the easiest ways to be convinced that what the Bible clearly calls sin is fine, as we rarely linger on the scriptures that might contradict what we want the ok on.

The purpose of this line of thinking is to get you to rely on your own understanding, your own set of values and to put yourself in the judgement seat above God’s Word.  I always get a little bit nervous when someone starts telling me what God is like and how He thinks.   The Word is very clear, “His ways are higher than ours”, His thinking is beyond my grasp.  That little bit of doubt, unbelief and human understanding was the original sin.     Questioning, altering, adding or taking away from the Word.     It is one of the most prevalent ways we sidestep the Word.  What a victory we have already once we learn to recognize this one ancient tactic the enemy still regularly employs.

“Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. ⁷ Their worship is a farce,  for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’  ⁸ For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”  ⁹ Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition.”

– Mark 7:6-9

“I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]”

– John 16:33

Tuesday nights are one of my favourite nights.   This is the night I get to meet and study with others dedicated to learning the Word and growing in relationship with God.   There is always something that just leaps out to me when we meet this way.   And last night, and all of this week it has been the need to keep our eyes on the eternal and not the things of this world.

 

“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.”

– Colossians 3:1-2

  “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.”

–Hebrews 12:2

 “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

– Philippians 4:8

Every now and then, I get the tiniest glimpse (feeling is a better description) of what heaven will be like.    You know, those moments when you are in the perfect place, the smells, sights, sounds, everything just lines up and you are just totally, blissfully joyful.   I remember being in the south of France, looking out over the sparkling waters of the mediterreanean sea, standing on the island of the Chateau if and feeling just this deep, complete utter joy.  That was over 15 years ago but the feeling stuck.    Or this week, listening to the Piano guys “Beethoven’s 5 secrets”, and having my soul leap within me…     and these things are only types and shadows of the heavenly version… Can you imagine 24/7, music so beautiful, so perfect, so lovely that you could weep endlessly in pure joy?

I am determined more than ever to set my sights on the things of heaven, to come to know and medidate on regularly the scriptures that describe what my eternity with God will be like, so that in turn, I will be able to follow the lead of my savior,  keeping my eyes on the future joy, being able to endure whatever cross and shame I may carry in this lifetime.

“Oh my Precious Father, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”

When I was at the end of my rope, and all hope seemed lost and my future dismal..  This scripture became my lifeline and started building up my hope that the Lord had a better plan for my life.  It is one I find brings comfort, one that is so very doable and one that seems to received by almost anyone who is willing to hear it.

Proverb 4:20-22

“Listen.  Pay attention.  Don’t lose sight of my words.  Let them penetrate deep within your heart for they bring radiant health to anyone who discovers their meaning.” 

In other versions this is translated, “for it is the medicine that cures every part of your body”.

Praise God that whatever treatments, surgeries, modalities, pains, sufferings we have, their is a medicine that God has provided that is always available for us to take.   This scripture was the beginning of the end of my battle with Crohn’s disease after 18 years of suffering and watching my life and joy dwindle and slip through my desperate fingers.   I stand healed by Our Heavenly Father, restored by the power of the Word and the Holy Spirit. 

Praise the LORD!!!!

I love that “God’s ways are higher than our ways”…  as I was reading through an apologetic on this topic,  I was thinking of God’s perfect hatred for sin.  In Nineveh, he chose to send a prophet in the hopes of sparing the whole city, and pointed out all those who did not yet know their left from their right… the innocents that we wanted to protect.  Praise God that He is perfectly just, perfectly fair.

Somehow, in the most wondrous way, I finally have a peace on this topic after years of being unsettled by it.     The main key for me was understanding God’s absolutely perfect hatred of evil and his commitment to it’s complete destruction.

1 John 3:8
“He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”

Note how prominently sin is highlighted.   Romans 7 and 8 talks in depth about this struggle.  If I walk in rebellion against God’s Word and continually embrace this “sin in me” essentially becoming its accomplice, then the destruction that God has levelled at the sin, will consume me too.   Scripturlaly,  I will be the one who has brought this destruction on myself.

Ezekiel 11:20-22
“20 that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for those whose hearts follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God.”

The Word actually says that anyone not believing onto Jesus is already judged (the wages of sin being death)….  Only in accepting that Jesus has paid these wages in full, am I delivered from death unto life. 

John 3:17-19
“17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.  18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. 19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.”
as confirmed in Romans 6
Romans 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

So I kind of see it like God is saying, get out of the way, so I can bomb the “yucky puckys”, and if we refuse, than we have chosen our own lot and were duly warned by his Word.   If we start to look at the God this way, than I think we are just begininning to understand His goodness, forbearance, longsuffering towards us, mercy, compassion and grace.  I am awed, and amazed when I see what my life, choices and sin issues warranted and that My Lord Jesus took these on that I might live “more abundantly” and completely undeservedly.  We must be ever mindful that God’s wrath against evil and sin is very prominent throughout scripture(consider the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, etc).

This lines up with the scriptures about what we bring into our physical homes.
Deuteronomy 7:26
” Nor shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is an accursed thing.”

A friend explained it like this, in the middle East, it is quite common for terrorists etc to make a headquarters in a building where there are a lot of innocents.  It makes the threat of bombing and other forms of extermination trickier and less likely.   The good guys can’t bomb the bad guys unless the innocents get out of the way.   Jesus has given us a way out of the doomed building but we still have to take it.

It is no coincidence that our bodies are referred to as tents/temple to the Holy Spirit.  We are called simply to be vigilantly mindful.

Some might call this extreme but we are commanded to  take “every thought captive”

2 Corinthians 10:4-6
“4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.”

To mind every word we speak
Matthew 12:36
“But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.”

Praise God that it is not so much about getting everything right and perfect but understanding what a truly wretched state we were in when we were called and that by the free gift that we receive when we believe, the penalty has been paid in full. 

So my sum up is, when we ally ourselves with sin, we bring the wrath of God against evil against ourselves.   And a perfectly Good God must be perfectly committed to eradicating evil.  Not sure if this will make sense to anyone else, but I praise God as it finally makes sense to me.

His Goodness and Kindness is so beyond our wildest imaginations….  I love that our Daddy loves us so.

“So Jesus said to those Jews who had believed in Him, If you abide in My word [hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them], you are truly My disciples. And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.”

-John 8:31-32