When Changes Come

Our God is big on change. He wants the best for us and knows that best for us is following His path. It is not an egotistical thing on His part; He just created the universe in a certain way and knows how it works. We have the option of being a part of His changing us for the better or not. If we follow His change, we benefit.

Deuteronomy 8:18 But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

If we do not, then we will be on a path where the benefit of His blessings do not exist. God has created this planet and us in it. He is teaching us something by the journey we are on. He is teaching us that it is His words that have life. It is His words that make life possible. His words create reality, and that reality will be what He says, even to the point of clothing that does not where out.

Deuteronomy 8:2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.
4 Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.

This is the heritage of every believer. God is in us and we are one with Him. If we will allow Him guide us we can live by the words that proceed from His mouth and have all that He creates.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You as the Most High King. We ask that You be with us today, bringing Your kingdom to the earth. Your words are true and Your world is vast. We need You. Send us Your abundant provision today God. We live by the words that You speak. Say the words that change our lives. Say the words that bring our wealth that we might use that wealth to save lives. Forgive us when we get the whole thing wrong. Heal us and deliver us. Let the earth around us be the image of heaven. In Yeshua’s (Jesus) name. Amen.

Hand Holding Hand

This is a great image to consider. It can be parent and child, husband and wife, or in some cases teammates. But why does a child seek to hold a parent’s hand? Husbands and wives? Teammates? In side is is built the confidence that holding the hand of another makes us safer, stronger, better in some way. This is true for believers as well. Instinctively we know that there is somehow safety and strength in being together. And we are to be helping each other, as Paul tells us.

Ephesians 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

There is something very powerful in the believers being unified and being together. It is the community holding up the one, and the one holding up the community.

Psalms 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.

Sometimes we forget. We get involved in personalities and emotions and forget who are God is. We look at each other, and get off track. If we can get past this tendency, then we can experience what the first century church did.

Acts 1:14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

The question is this: Are we willing to become of one accord and hold each up, that we might see the power of God again today as they did then where thousands became believers at one time?

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You are our King. Send us the kingdom today that we might find unity. Give us today Your overwhelming abundant provision. Forgive us when we speak evil of others, and help us to not. Guide us in Your will and Your ways. Heal us, our hearts and our emotions and our bodies. Deliver us. In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.

Hand To Hand

When we look around as believers we can see opportunity to express to others the truth that is the mercy of God. That truth is the life that was led by our Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus). When we look at His life, it can be difficult to imagine being that nice or kind or wise, or at least that is true for me. There is a question that comes to mind for me when I read about His life, and I think it may come to mind for others. How did Jesus know what to do in each situation if He laid down His deity when He became a man? There is a scripture that seems to give us a clue, from the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus was Jewish by birth, which makes sense since the promise was to Abraham for His descendant to lead the people. Being perfect, He kept the Law perfectly. He was in fact the only one ever to do so. So when we see Jesus life and actions, what we are seeing is the Law lived out in front of us. As those who are meant to follow Him, to be like Him, and to say and do what He said and did, what does this mean for us believers?

This is an important point to consider, to pray about, and to spend time asking God about for each of us personally, I suggest.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You as the Most High King of the universe. You are the only One whose kingdom shall ever reign. Let Your kingdom come to this earth more today. Give to us Your abundant provision. When we miss the mark of the Law, please forgive us. Help us to grow into Your ways. Heal us and deliver us. Send revival. In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.

Build Up

As believers we are all called to a calling of reconciliation, or so Paul has said in his second letter to the Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

In reading this at first it may be unclear what Paul meant. I can only imagine what the Corinthians may have wondered what Paul was saying. He does explain it further as he goes on.

2 Corinthians 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Paul is saying that we were all dead in sin. Jesus died that the dead in sin could be made alive to God, being reconciled to Him. In other words, through the work of the Messiah on the cross the differences between man and God were settled once and for all. As I read the letters to the Corinthians, they were much like us. And that is the point I want to make here.

We are to reconcile people to God, not denounce them to God. It is true that there are people everywhere, even in our churches, that get life wrong. I think that is why God calls it reconciliation. If we could always get it right, then Jesus died for nothing. Guess what – we can’t. We are human and we are all in the same condition. Some may do things that are more wrong in our eyes or the eyes of society, but in the eyes of God it is the same – we are all the same and all need the work of the Messiah in our lives everyday. Spending time pointing to the faults of someone else certainly does not sound like reconciliation, right? Furthermore, who made us the judge? I believe that job is taken. We are to say and do those things that point to God as the Creator and that cause others to see that they too can be reconciled to God everyday if they so choose. In this way we can build one another up and prepare each ourselves for the soon return of our Messiah.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are worthy to be praised and worthy of all honor. You are the one that separated the dark from the light, that set the lights in the sky. You spoke and there were heavens and earth. Your created this earth as a place for Your kingdom and we ask that You again restore it here. Send us today Your abundant prosperity. Forgive us when we get off track, and help us back. We need Your healing and deliverance. Help us and show us a sign for good that all may know that You alone are our God and do these things. In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.

Helping Others

When we think of helping others it can bring to mind many things for us as believers. The carry in dish for someone with family members recovering from an illness. The neighbor trying to build a playhouse for their kids. The widow in the country with the long snowy driveway and no one to help. Certainly these all qualify as good things to do and all are helpful. The help here is obvious, and even the non-believer could be of assistance. But there is another way that we as believers can help substantially that others that are not believers cannot. Prayer. Encouragement. Edification.

1 Thessalonians 2:11 Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:
12 That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,
5 For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;
6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
20 Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

God takes care of us, and especially does so in response to prayer. Those prayers can be our prayers or the prayers of others. Likewise, we can pray for those we know that have a specific need. We can also pray for those that we know that are facing challenges bigger than themselves. We can even pray in the Spirit for those needs of which we are not aware or even people of whom we are not aware. That is a part of our mission as believers, to extend to this earth God’s kingdom through prayer.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You as the One True King. You alone are worthy of our praises. You alone delivered the children in the desert. In those days and at that time You brought a glimpse of Your kingdom to the earth on their behalf. We ask You do that again, now, here, on behalf of Your people in their hour of need. Give us Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us our transgressions, and help us to forgive those who do us harm. Defend us from those that would do us evil, who seek to blot us and Your name out of this earth. Send Your healing today, and Your deliverance. In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.

Knowing We Are Loved

In life most of us have an inner drive that compels us forward. For some, it is stronger than others. It is the drive to know that we are loved. This drive moves us daily, sometimes in good directions and sometimes in not so good directions. The former usually comes from a good understanding of who we are and who God is to us and for us. The latter usually comes from poor self image and low self esteem. As believers, we can be on either side of this scale, but it is good if we can move toward the positive side. We can. To do so we must learn to trust God that He is good and He is on our side. We can do that through reading the scriptures, especially reading them to ourselves out loud. Here is a good one to help us understand who God is to us.

Dueteronomy 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

In these scriptures we can see that God never leaves us. He delivers our enemies into our hands. He will finish the work He began in us. He does this because He calls us His children. We are the children of the living God. Just as we love our children, He loves us, even more so. Today we can trust that our God will watch over and provide for us.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are worthy to be praised. We need Your kingdom in our lives and on the earth. Please send us Your kingdom today. Give us Your abundant provision today. Forgive us when we do what we should not. Complete that work of holiness in us. Deliver us from the evils of sickness and disease. Let heavens ways be found in the earth. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Have Hope

Today as I was preparing to write I was thinking of all that God has been doing in my life and in the lives of those around me. There seems to be every day a need for many pieces and parts to come together for ongoing success, regardless of the topic – family, relationships, work, etc. Thinking of two recent, current events I realized that it takes hope to see things through.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

The word for hope here in the Greek is elpis, and it means eagerly awaiting. When we have this kind of hope, it is based on trusting God. We can eagerly await for something because we know God never fails. We need this kind of hope.

1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

If we stay humble knowing that we cannot earn the right for good to happpen in our life, this humility can help us get to hope. The Law says if we do it we will be blessed. However, Jesus was the only man that ever did it perfectly. God’s blessing always came to those that realized they could not make it without Him – the humble. And our Messiah died an unjust death being without sin, making Him the eternal sacrifice for us all. Now we can know that God will bring good into our life when we humble ourselves, pray, seek His face and forgiveness, and turn to Him.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are worthy of our praise, glory to Your name! Send Your kingdom today Lord. Give us abundant provision today. Please forgive us when we do evil instead of good, and help us get back to Your path. Send Your healing and deliverance to those in need today Lord. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Continuing To Grow

This morning as I prepared to write I was impressed with an urgency to encourage us all to continue to grow. This may be short because that was the message, clear and to the point. A couple scriptures came to mind.

Romans 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

We continue to grow in our faith. Here Paul was speaking about telling others the good news of Messaiah.

Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Here Paul was speaking to how we should help each other to grow.

Today, encourage yourself and encourage others to grow in the truth of the Messiah and His soon return.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. Please send us today Your kingdom. Give us overwhelming provision. Forgive us when we fall and help us back up. We want to see Your will in this earth, Father. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Wanting To Do Good

Growing up I can remember wanting to please my parents. I am not sure how that really got in to me but it seems as if it must have been at an early age because I can remember it always being a driver for me. For us as believers, I believe we all have that same inner drive. We want to do good, we want to please our heavenly Father, we want to follow His ways. As I think about this now what it reminds me of is wanting to be who our Messiah called us to be, to be like Him. For me this is not an easy task. I am older and have had many years to practice getting it wrong. But the calling is the same.

1 Peter 2:1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,
2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

There is a call to become the temple of God. We are collectively the priesthood, called to offer up spiritual sacrifices to Him. As I write this I realize that everything we do is a part of what we are sacrificing to God. When I think of it in this way it helps me to remember to do what I can to emulate the Messiah in all I do so that the sacrifice will have a sweet aroma to God and not be some strange thing that displeases Him. Let us today commit to being that holy priesthood that daily offers up spiritual sacrifices to our Master and Creator.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. You alone are worthy of our praise. Give us today Your abundant provision. Let us follow after You in the way that You show us. Let Your kingdom shine forth in this earth. Please send Your healing and deliverance that all may know that You alone are the Creator King. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

When We Are Searching

God often provides for us opportunity to seek Him. For me this often shows up when I am searching for an answer to something. It might be about how to do a task around the house that I have never done before, it might be about where to get work, where to live, etc. Some of these are bigger moments in life and some are just routine day to day events. In any case they provide us with the opportunity to pause and ask God for wisdom in the moment. Scriptures say God will give us that wisdom.

James 1:3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

Our God wants to help us at all times in all things. We need not be concerned that He will not see our needs or not respond to them. Jesus told us that.

Matthew 6:5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

If we will seek God in those moments when we are searching for answers and ask of Him wisdom, He will respond. He loves us and is our Father.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are worthy of our praise. We ask that You send us provision today for all our needs. We ask that You watch over us and keep us safe. Please send Your kingdom into the earth. We have many questions in our lives that we have no answers for yet. Please help us to know what to do each day and each moment. Let us be Your light. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.