Month: May 2017

God does rebuke the wrong doer, yet He does not stop loving us when we do wrong, and He promises His forgiveness and deliverance, through the sufferings and intercession, of His Son, Jesus Christ.  Isaiah 59: 1, 2 “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear.  But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.”  Often when people say there is no God, because when they have prayed no answer came.  God says it is because they continue in their sinful activity or other sin, not really wanting to change.  Verse 3 “For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your tongue has muttered perversity.” However until the end of time, such a state is not final and they will be prompted by God again.   For those that heed the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and turn from wrong doing and come to God again, Psalm 99: 8 “You answered them, O Lord our God; You were to them God-Who-Forgives, though You took vengeance on their deeds.”

God will change our hearts if we just let Him. When we pray each day and ask Him, He will keep us more and more true to Him, by divine intervention against the temptations within every day.  How do I know this because I read the promises of scripture and many of us have experienced His answers?  Isaiah 59: 21 “As for Me,” says the Lord, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the Lord, “from this time and forevermore.”

It is often not easy to follow the directions of the Lord, for they can go against what we want to do, and bring us into difficulty and tribulation.  This was so for the people who followed Moses away from all they had known, to trek through the unknown and into the sea, with a wall of water on each side, and the enemy in hot pursuit behind.  But after a number of unimaginable miracles and divine interventions, they said and sang different words, Exodus 15: 11-13 “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods?  Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders:  You stretched out You right hand; the earth swallowed them.  You in Your mercy have led forth the people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them in Your strength to Your holy habitation.”

‘Seeing is believing’ so the saying goes, and has often been so for those who have seen the miracles and interventions of the Lord: when there could be no other answer or way the event could have happened.   John 2: 11 “This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.”  John 11: 45 “Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary (sister of Lazarus), and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him.” 

The Christians that formed after Jesus went back to heaven certainly went through hard times and persecution; as many do for their faith these days.  Grounded in the word of God, and remembering the sufferings of Christ, they did not give up their belief and faith in their Saviour, counting it a privilege to suffer as He did.  2 Corinthians 1: 3, 4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

To experience the support and comforts of God is individually real, and enables us to share and give all praise to God, and I wish to do so again, and with the Psalmist say, Psalm 94: 19 “In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul.”

Thank You dear Father, for all of my blessings and the prospect of physical and spiritual renewal,with more time to come closer to You, upon the day for worship and rest.  After a very busy week my body and mind are certainly ready for time spent focusing upon You, in quiet settings.  I am so very blessed in this part of the world, with relative peace, and the pleasure of a plentiful harvest from my fruit trees, and garden.  From what I read in scriptures, all this fades into insignificance, when compared with what has been prepared for the righteous redeemed in heaven.  It would be true to say, I have no excuse to covet another, with so many blessings to share with others, Hebrews 13: 5, 6 and 8 “Let your conduct be without covetousness, be content with such things as you have.  For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’  So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear.  What can man do to me?’”  v8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.”

I give testament to the goodness of God, and the answers to my prayers, that are comforting, yet powerful and true to the many promises of God.  There is such a blessing in honouring God, and speaking about His goodness and rescue strategies from fumbling human endeavours, as well as the peace given into the mind of any needy person who sincerely reaches out and talks with Him, in any way and in any place or time.  Isaiah 43: 10, 11 “You are My witnesses,” says the Lord “And My servant whom I have chosen.  That you may know and believe Me, and I understand that I am He.  Before Me there was no God formed.  Nor shall there be after Me.  I, even I, am the Lord, and besides Me there is no savior.” 

The Israelite nation, that had been preserved and blessed of God, had forgotten all His wondrous doings on their behalf, and compromised from Gods righteous ways, and served the gods of the  nations around, and took on doing their wicked ways; including horrific atrocities to one another and all around.  They ignored the pleadings of God, even though they had lived peaceful and fruitful lives, when serving God.  As James puts it in the New Testament, Verses 2: 1 “My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.” V 7, 8 “Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?  If you really fulfil the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself,’ you do well.”

They did not see that the bad things happening to them were due to their own actions.  God as with us never gave up loving them and trying to bring them back to loving and serving Him.  Verse 12 “I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, and there was no foreign god among you; therefore you are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “that I am God.”  Only when we have an intimate personal relationship can we witness about God or anyone we know.  To claim that we are the children of God, is a special privilege and as with any liaison comes with a responsibility, to be true to the agreements therein; and in this case we are to love God with all the heart, as He does us, and be obedient and righteous as He is.  Verse 7 “Everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.” 

There are times when all seems black and it is so easy to forget that a breath away, there is a loving merciful, Saviour, Jesus Christ, who waits to be called and asked for help.  Isaiah 60: 1-3 “Arise and shine, for your light has come!  And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.  For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you and His glory will be seen upon you………”  How good it is to know, that as repentance is placed in our heart, and we harken to the promptings of Jesus, all sin is forgiven.  2 Corinthians 5: 17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new.”

All praise to You our God and Saviour.

After Jesus arose from the dead and comforted and encouraged the disciples and people who were willing to take the message of the availability of salvation and redemption; He after around a month returned to heaven.  The disciples could not keep from proclaiming the facts around Jesus, and the hope inherent in the scriptures they now understood.  This enraged the traditional Israelite leaders, who endeavoured to silence their voices, through the Roman legal system.  Paul gives his own defense in such a case; a portion from Acts 24: 14 – 16 “But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets.  I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.”  To read often from the scriptures, ‘believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets’ is apparently very important in preparing us to live with a clear conscience ‘toward God and men’.  Along with Paul we then will have an expectation of the return of Jesus and the resurrection of the wicked and righteous, with the true and righteous to be taken by Jesus to live in heaven.

Now as in Bible times there are those who do not believe and scoff about God and there being any type of judgement or eternal, everlasting consequence for good or wrong doing.  Malachi 3: 14, 15 “You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God; what profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, and that we have walked as mourners before the Lord of hosts?  So now we call the proud blessed, for those who do wickedness are raised up; they even tempt God and go free.”  Previously there were many times when wickedness seemed to go unchecked by God, and His predictions of judgements upon the wicked and deliverance of the righteous seemed delayed in being delivered; yet the judgements always came as predicted after His time of mercy ended.  Malachi 3: 16 – 18 “Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name.  …………… And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.  Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve Him.’”

The disciples after the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, finally got what the prophets of the Old Testament had really meant when they had written about the Messiah to come.  It did not mean the local affairs surrounding their nation or to be set free from Roman rule.  It instead meant light and joy because of Jesus, even in the hard times in life on a still sinful earth.  It meant salvation from sin and death, and the hope of seeing their beloved Lord again.  No wonder they could not keep silent, when every heart and mind was bursting with the good news and the import for everyone else who accepted Jesus as their Saviour.

I wonder why I and so many on earth have not more to say about what the love of God and salvation through Jesus His Son means to us personally.  There is a blessing from God promised when we do.  Isaiah 52 : 7 “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaim peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” Verse 10 “The Lord has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.”

Ecclesiastes a book of the Old Testament is believed to have been written by king Solomon, in the later years of his life.  The book is full of advice and reflection from a man who had learned a lot about a life when lived, without being true to the principles of God.  Now in his mature years, he often writes to youth, hoping they will not follow his wasted years of chasing women, worshipping the many different idols of his hundreds of wives and concubines, along with a lavish life style, with a legacy of significant wealth and buildings and cities built.  Ecclesiastes 12: 1 “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, ‘I have no pleasure in them.’”  Verse 13, 14 “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:  Fear God and keep His commandment, for this is man’s all.  For God will bring every work into judgement, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.”  How good it would be if we could save others from making the mistakes we have made, but rarely does that happen, because each of us like to live life our way and hopefully learn our own lesions in our way and time: if we recognize our part in our mistakes, at all?

There is another Bible story that illustrates, that there are many young people who do not ‘sow their wild oats” when they are young.  Thankfully there have always been some who do not need to rebel and depart from what they have been taught and held dear.  Such was the case with some of the princes who were deported by Nebuchadnezzar from Jerusalem, to walk over a thousand miles to Babylon.  Naturally it could be a dangerous experience living in Babylon and all the while standing up for God and their beliefs, as the next text illustrates.  Daniel 3: 16 – 18 “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.  ‘If this is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.  But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the great image which you have set up.’”  It is wonderful to read of their total trusting love and faithfulness toward God, when facing death by intense heat in a very hot furnace.  These young men, had been taught well when young boys in their homes, and they did not depart from believing and trusting in God when older in a foreign land.

Upon reflection I can see that King Solomon started out fully believing in God and worshipping Him with a clean heart and hands, but gradually wealth, prestige and other human influences led him to compromise, until he no longer lived a good life.  Daniel and his three friends from Jerusalem, had not compromised at the first test, and instead refused to eat food associated with idol worship, and that was so unhealthful and rich it would have benumbed their minds, so they no longer could clearly understand or walk in the way of God.  They preferred a simple life and food, without sinful inducements, and so became strengthened in body, intellect and trust in God to a degree that they could withstand great temptation and pressure without revoking their standards in order to save their own lives.  To the astonishment of the king and all the others gathered, these three men were saved by divine intervention: it is not always so.  Daniel 3: 25 “Look!” he answered, ‘I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.’”  Then the king and all with him could only acknowledge the greatness of God Almighty.  This apparently was the purpose of the divine intervention.  V 28 “Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, ‘Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who sent His angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God.”

There are many today who are being tested because of their faith in the God of heaven.  There are and have been great numbers of people being persecuted and killed for their faith in God over recent years as well in this year, 2017.  Many of us will never be faced with such a great temptation to compromise, or be asked to sacrifice our life and all for our beliefs in God.   The point however is, do we compromise or do we not, because God has always wanted people who can stand up and stay true to Him and His principles in all situations.  Compromise in small things can condition us to relinquish our love and allegiance to God, when the severe test comes.

I am strengthened in my resolve to be true to God in the everyday challenges of life.  I trust God to prepare me and bring me through any severe test of and for my faith.   Luke 16: 10 “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.”  Verse 13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will have the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon.”

To contemplate the words, works and miracles of Jesus is a wonderful exercise in challenging me to become more like Jesus as and drawing me into a closer worship of Him.  Children always had a special place in the heart of Jesus, as He related to their simple faith and love for Him.  Rarely are they self-opinionated, self-seeking and prideful as we adults can be.  Matthew 18: 1-4 “At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”  Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”  I wonder if I have really thought deeply enough about how important it is to Jesus, the manner in which we receive and deal with little children.  I have been so blessed to work with mothers, babies and children over many years; and even these days in my supposed retirement, I have the frequent privilege of bonding with and helping needy foster children.  V 5 “Whoever receives one little child like this in my name receives Me.”  V 14 “Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”

Unlike so many leaders and teachers of His time, Jesus not only valued and listened to children, but to their mothers as well.  Both were naturally attracted to the loving and sympathetic Saviour.  Mark 10: 13-15 “Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them.  But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.  Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means receive it.”  V 16 “And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them and blessed them.”

Jesus had gone with His disciples over the Sea of Galilee to seek a little ‘away time’ for Himself and disciples.  It was not to be, for the people found out where they had gone and followed.  John 6: 2 “Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.”  Jesus initiated a discussion about how the multitude were to be fed, and finally one of the disciples said V 9 “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”  I can imagine this boy who had been lovingly provided for by his mother, and then the boy not understanding why suddenly his food was taken away, and then his query turning to awe and wonder when his lunch became part of a great miracle of creation and provision.  V 10-12 “Then Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down.’  Now there was much grass in the place.  So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.  And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.  So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” 

I am impressed by the order of it all, the hungry ‘followers’ were seated in rows, and the men numbered. As was constituent with the cultural ways of the times, the woman and children were not counted, but I am sure they were also given food.  I just love the fact that a mother prepared for her child and then that little child was part of this wonderful miracle performed by Jesus.  V 13 “Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.”  Did Jesus also create the baskets that the fragments were placed into, or were they just available by chance?  But that is unlikely, for all through scriptures there are examples of events, that could be counted to be chance, but God said they were from Him.  Then the people were to take portions of the fragments home, thus distributing the knowledge of this miracle, and the blessing of this miracle far and wide.

My prayer is that Jesus will fill us with His love, so that we can especially love and respect the innocence and trusting nature of children, and so distribute God’s blessing on them, far and wide.  And always thank Him daily for the children that share or come into our lives, for they are a creation of God (as we are also).  That we will also daily give thanks for God’s provision of good and healthful food and more often share of what we have with others in need.

 

Apparently the sleep of the good and honest man is sweet and the dishonest troubled.  I think this is generally true, though it is also true that for some they do not sleep as well as they get older, even though they have no great sinful deed weighing them down.  It is also true that an unconfessed wrong deed committed is more likely ‘bug’ the mind in times of wakefulness.

It was not wrong doing that kept Job awake; instead, Job had been verbally chastised as being a great sinner by his self-righteous friends, because as they saw it, there could be no other reason for the deep afflictions and disasters that had suddenly happened to him in succession. Job 31: 2 – 6 “For what is the allotment of God from above, and the inheritance of the Almighty from on High?  Is it not destruction for the wicked, and disaster for the workers of iniquity?  Does He not see my ways, and count all my steps?  If I have walked with falsehood, or if my foot has hastened to deceit, let me be weighed on honest scales, that God may know my integrity.”  Job knew he had not committed the heinous crimes attributed to him by his friends, and that he had confessed his sins before God and been forgiven; and God then does not keep record of confessed sins.

In the scriptures it has been made very clear, that all people on earth have sinned and stand in need of the forgiveness of their Saviour.  Some people compare themselves against the record of others, and say ‘I am a good person’, never thinking of how God counts the so called little transgressions, or ‘white lies’.  God’s word also tell us that all sins, whether socially accepted or not, or seen as small or large always separate us from God.  When we acknowledge this, God will give us repentance, and has promised His forgiveness then also.  1 John 1: 8, 9 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 

God’s chosen, anointed King David, had walked closely with God in heart and right doing, but now after having committed adultery and murder, had no weight on his conscience until God sent him a message through Nathan the prophet; then David saw his great sin, and greatly repented and in contrition prayed to God, assured of a hearing; as any of us can also do.  Psalm 51: 1-3 “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.  For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.”  Once forgiven, only God could change his sinful heart and restore a right relationship between them.  Verse 10, 11 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.”  The Holy Spirit is with us, but cannot dwell in us when we have a sinful heart.  O the weight that goes from our spirit and the joy that comes, when we have confessed all sin, believe we are forgiven, as we are assured we will be!  V 12 “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.”

Over and over in the scriptures, people give testament of how they have found God merciful and ready to forgive them, and the joy and happiness that came to them then and thereafter when they kept God in their heart and walked in His way.  Lamentations 3: 22- 26 “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.  ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I hope in Him!’  The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.  It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”

Thank You dear merciful, loving Almighty God, that the unmindful sins of the day, or any other wrong doing, need keep me from being Your forgiven child.  I pray that I or no other will delay to confess their sins, thinking the sin/s to grievous and heavy to be forgiven; for You have shown in the past and assure us still, that the true repentant will always be forgiven and restored to their God and right doing.  Amen and amen.

Mark 14: 38 “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.  The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  The recorded words of Jesus by His disciples always reveal His deep love for all men, women and children.  They also reveal a sincere desire to make life better for all He met.  But over and above that, he always sought to bring to them the way of salvation from sin, with the hope of eternal life in heaven.  His activities included much teaching, healing and other miracles.  His source of spiritual strength came from the many hours spent in prayer to His own Father in heaven, and listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit.  Often His teaching included mention of the necessity of prayer for each believer, so they too could have spiritual strength to withstand temptation and other influences which could draw each away from salvation.

Luke 11: 1 “Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples’. 

Luke does not record the last line given in Matthew 6: 9 – 13

“In this manner, therefore pray:

‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen”

The Lord’s Prayer is truly beautiful in completeness, yet brevity.

How amazing that finite sinful earthly people, are invited to come and pray to the God of the universe, with the assurance of being received.  Matthew 7: 7, 8 “Ask, and it will be given to you, seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”  The problem often is that we doubt, and do not ask often enough or large enough, for God loves to show His love in largeness when we trustingly come.  That does not mean times will always be easy, just that we will be taken through them to His glory, to share His love and story with others.

Jesus returned to heaven victoriously, having never sinned.  He had arisen from the grave, having previously being been put to death on a cross.  Now later, from heaven He did not stop from trying educate God’s faithful followers on earth, and gave His beloved disciple John instruction, warnings and promises in a revelation and prophecy, whilst John was banished to Patmos for being a faithful Christian.  Revelation 11, 12 “Behold, I am coming quickly!  Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.  He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more.  I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God.  And I will write on him My new name.” 

Dear Jesus, again today we sit at Your feet asking to be taught as your disciples to truly pray in truth and sincerity and be strengthened so we never give up loving You and bringing Your message and actions of love to others; with the anticipation of eternal life, very soon.

By God’s grace, we have almost come to the end of another week, with a special day of worship and spiritual infilling just around the corner.  What a blessed anticipation that is!  There will no need to go at a frantic pace through the everyday tasks, but instead a chance to give my body and mind, to extra praise, worship, Biblical study, rest and prayerful meditation on our lovely Lord; allowing Him speak into my now quieted and made ready, mind and soul.

It is Jesus Himself, who gifts people with various talents, for the proclamation of His gospel, and the building up of various people and church, so they are enabled to do the ‘work of ministry’ and enhance the church fellowship as a whole, through spiritual and personal growth.  Ephesians 4: 13-15 “Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the statue of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things unto Him who is the head—Christ—“  I truly pray that I and all, will more often allow ourselves the time and opportunity to pray and learn of Jesus in personal quiet time; and when coming together as His people, will be in like mindedness to seek Him and do His will personally and in group fellowship.   Not forgetting Jesus will provide strength and opportunity for outreach to others who do not know and love Him.

Believing the words of God, I can pray in assurance that I am heard, as said by Jesus in Matthew 21:22 “Whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”  I can now see that many of my prayers could not be answered how I wanted them to be, because they were not in accordance with the spoken word of God, and there was still a little element of doubt in me that God would attend or answer my prayer.  Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts You. 4 Trust in the Lord forever, for in Yah, the Lord is everlasting strength.”  Isaiah 26: 3 is a text that I have often prayed, and believe with all my mind and heart, and therefore at a time of extreme need, I was often in distress at night, when the prayed for peace did not come immediately.  Thankfully peace and quiet did come to my mind and body, after repeated prayer and claiming of His promises.  I have learned how important it is to remember the little phrase ‘whose mind is stayed on You’.  I have also learned how important it is to remember that it is always Gods will for me to be in His peace, and the devils desire that I not be in peace.

In the early chapters of Revelation, John writes down messages given by Jesus in a prophetic dream.  The churches were all literal places at the time, but also have application for different church groups and down through all time periods.  A more faithful church than some was Philadelphia and Jesus acknowledged their faith and deeds for Him.  Some of their characteristics we all need today and should actively pray for them, and share in their promised heavenly reward.  Revelation 3: 8 “I know your works.  See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it, for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied my Name.  V 11, 12 “Behold, I am coming quickly!  Hold fast that you have, that no one may take your crown.  He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more.  I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God.  And I will write on him My new name.”

Jesus invites me to surrender my all to Him and has asked that I invite Him to have control of my mind, heart, plans, activities, as well as concerns and troubles, and then He can fulfil all His promises for and in me, as I persevere with my mind stayed upon Him throughout the day.  In accordance with His words and promises this is my joyful, expectant prayer request again today.