Brief Instruction In Edification

This morning early I was thinking of Yahuah (Lord) and how He is always with us. We can approach Him as if we have to do something to persuade Him to show up. But we do not have to strike a bargain to get God to be with us. He is our Father and loves us. In fact He never leaves us or forsakes us.

Hebrews 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Deuteronomy 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.

Since we know it is true that He is always with us, this can change our point of origin of our thinking. We can cahnge our point of view. There is a particular scripture that helps me to understand exactly how edification works.

Psalms 147:1 Praise ye the Lord: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely.
2 The Lord doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.
3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.
4 He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.
5 Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.
6 The Lord lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground.
7 Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God:
8 Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.
9 He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.
10 He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man.
11 The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.
12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion.

Here we see that praise is intertwined with deliverance. Our God never fails us. He is about the business of building us up. When we praise Yahuah (Lord), it is pleasant. He builds us up.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are worthy of our praises and we praise Your name Yahuah (Lord). Send us Your abundant provision. It is You alone that provides miraculously. Forgive us for our sin. Heal us and deliver us. Raise us up to know You more. In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.

Renewal And Morning Encouragement

This morning as I awoke I found myself faced with the choices. So many things to think about and consider. There are issues related to work, getting things done around home, and so on. And there was also an awareness that I wanted to be spending time with our Father, Yahuah (Lord). As I pondered this latter point, I was in that waking up state where one tries to fully become aware of the day. A scripture came to mind that addressed this feeling in the morning of needing to somehow reaffirm that Yahuah (Lord) is there.

Psalms 143:1 Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.
2 And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.
3 For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.
4 Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.
5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.
6 I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.
7 Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.
8 Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.
9 Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.
10 Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.
11 Quicken me, O Lord, for thy name’s sake: for thy righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble.
12 And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant.

When I got to verse eight I knew I had an answer from God for my desire. David went through these same emotions. He wanted to hear Yahuah’s (Lord’s) loving-kindness in the morning. He longed to know what Yahuah would have him to do that day. And he would end his prayer seeking Yahuah’s deliverance. He trusted in Yahuah to be his deliverer and provider. From the beginning of his psalm he knew that he could not be justified by his own works, that he needed Yahuah (Lord). He felt overwhelmed because of the persecution from the enemy. But he also knew, as we see at the end, that Yahuah would give him guidance every day We can have that as well.

As I continued to think on these things I became aware of something else. Over the last few days God has given me the grace to perceive His choices for my life before I run off and just choose something. It makes me feel more empowered and encouraged to resist temptation and sin. This has gone on for a few days now, and something new just came to mind in this stream of experiences. In these times I am still having this mindset of the need to reconnect. But David came from a slightly different place, I believe. He knew that he knew that he knew that he knew that Yahuah (Lord) was real and on his side. That was what was behind his desire to have Yahuah (Lord) speak to him in the morning. And David also knew when Yahuah (Lord) spoke to him. That is where I want my heart to be. I see now that this is what I experience in the morning if I slow down and listen. I was crying out to Yahuah (Lord) just like this, and the scripture Psalms 143 came to my mind. Yahuah has given me His loving-kindness in the morning and I will now seek deliverance from mine enemies, praising the name Yahuah (Lord) in eager expectation of seeing His great and mighty deliverance today!

Prayer
Father, we exalt You as the Most High. You alone are our God and King. We praise Your name, Yahuah (Lord), and raise our hands to You. Let Your kingdom reign here, and let Your enemies and the enemies of Your servant be scattered. Give us Your overwhelming provision today. Forgive us for our sin. Bless the works of the hands of Your servants. Heal us and deliver us. Be a Great and Mighty God to us today and cut off our enemies, for we are Your servants. In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.

Hold My Hand

This morning when I woke up my mind was busy trying to develop a plan for the day. As I sat down to write here, all I could think of was the words that became the title here. It is what we say to our children when we want them to be close and feel safe. It is what our Father, Yahuah (Lord), says to us when He wants us to stay close and feel safe. It can be a challenge to remain true to our commitment to put Yahuah (Lord) first. But I know for myself this morning, I am desparate for Him in my life. I need Yahuah (Lord) to protect me, to provide for me and my family, to help me up when I fall, and to make me feel safe. In the end Yahuah (Lord) is all any of us really has. He is our all in all.

Ephesians 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Our Father is here for us at all times.

Deuteronomy 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.

Today, I will work to remember that He just wants me and all of us to just hold His hand.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You as the Most High. We praise the name of Yahuah (Lord) who made the heaven and the earth. Let Your kingdom reign in the earth Father. Give us now Your abundant provision. Forgive us for when we have fallen. Lift us up. Heal us and deliver us. Take us by the hand and lead us in Your ways, Yahuah (Lord), that we might know You more. In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.

Resting Is Still Resting

Sometimes when we are preparing for fellowship, it can get pretty busy. We have to travel a ways to get there, and we have food afterwards so we also have to make sure we plan for that as well. The end result is we can get pretty “busy” trying to make that happen, reading in preparation, etc. The thing this reminds me of is we still need to rest in these things. The Sabbath is for rest.

Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

It can be difficult for me to remember these things. But we need to rest.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are worthy of our praise. We praise Your name, Yahuah (Lord), above all names. We long for Your kingdom. Send us Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us for our sin. Help us. We cannot make it here without You. Heal us and deliver us. In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.

Thoughts About Being Double Minded

Waking up this morning I had a vision of a parent reaching down to pick up a baby to hold them and feed them from a bottle. It seemed to me that God was saying to me that He was having to feed me milk. I was reminded of a few scriptures when I saw this.

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.

Here we see Peter saying to move away from evil in our speech and actions and to abandon hypocrisy, moving toward being set apart spiritually. When we allow ourselves to move away from what our Father has commanded us to do, we can become hypocrites. How sad it is if we allow ourselves to speak badly of our fellow believers because they see things differently than we do. These things ought not to be. God has provided a way out of these situations.

James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
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.
6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

If we will continue to cry out to our God Yahuah (Lord) and ask Him for the wisdom we need to overcome temptations, He will provide it if we trust Him to do it. In these moments when we sin (if we are not following God’s commands in any way, it is sin) if we believe we cannot seek and obtain forgiveness, then we do not trust God. If we think we have to “get it together” for God to forgive us, then we do not trust God to do the work in us. This should not be misunderstood to mean that we go willy-nilly to God without true repentance and sorrow for our sin. It does mean that if we know in our hearts to do right and do not do it, His law written in our hearts (the new covenant) will convict us of sin. In our sadness for the sin, if we call out to Him, He and He alone will forgive us. We must trust Him to so do.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are the One we desire to be our King. We praise and exalt Your name, Yahuah (Lord). Give us today Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us of our sin, whether they be many or few. Heal us from our hurts. Deliver us from the evil that tries to take from us what You alone have given to us. Guide us and keep us in Your ways. We love You. In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.

We Are Covered

This morning was like many mornings. I awoke to the busy-ness of the day in my head. In praying I found myself telling our Father that it would be good to just read the scripture and spend time with Him. I had to dig out some of the driveway for my wife so she would not get stuck. After finishing I was still meditating on Yahuah (Lord) and what He wants for our lives. Returnning to the warmth of the kitchen it occurred to me that it is truly a blessing to be able to sit and consider these things. We have a warm place out of the snow. We have clothes to wear. There is food to eat. Yes, we also have challenges inour lives, but we have a God that is on our side, looking out for us and protecting us.

Psalms 91:4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

It is not where I want to be, this place of busy-ness and trying to sort out life. But we can be thankful that we have a God in Yahuah (lord) that will watch over us while we call out to Him, and always.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are worthy to be called King of the universe and beyond. We long for Your kingdom here on the earth, and we praise your name, Yahuah (Lord). Send us Your abundant provision today. Forgive us for the times we have not put our trust in You. Heal us. Deliver us from those that would harm us or take from us what You have given to us. Send us Your strong help now. In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.

Fighting Through

There are times when we have advance notice from God about what is going to happen. More often that not this is true. It is also true that we frequently will miss these advance notices. What do they look like?

Acts 2:16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:

Once our God Yahuah (lord) shows us something, we need to take the appropriate steps to find out what we need to do next. We do that through prayer by seeking wisdom.

James 1:5 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.

Today if you have been given advance notice, cry out to God for the wisdom of understanding and He will give it to you.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are worthy to be praised. We praise the name of Yahuah (Lord). We exalt You and Your kingdom. Send us Your overwhelming abundant provision now. Forgive us our transgressions. Guide us in Your ways. Heal us and deliver us. In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.

Helping Those In Need

We have been given many opportunities as members of the body of believers. One of those opportunities is helping others. We are encouraged to do this in many ways in various parts of scripture. We can see that those that went before us practiced this very activity.

Acts 2:43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

This is something that happened naturally as a result of the change in the hearts and lives of new believers. These new believers were Jews. There was a story in their past where this happened before.

Exodus 16:15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.
16 This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents.
17 And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.
18 And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.

We see here that the early church understood what their history was. When the Bread of Life appeared to them in the form of Messiah Yeshua (Jesus), their hearts overflowed one to the other. Let us pray that our Father can do that in us.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are worthy to be our King. We are Your ambassadors for Your kingdom here on Earth. Send us today overwhelming provision. Forgive us of our transgressions of Your commands. Heal us and deliver us from the evil of this world. In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.

When The World Closes In

It is interesting being a citizen of another world and living here on Earth. That is what the scriptures say about us, that we as believers are ambassadors to the Earth.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
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;
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.

We can still be overwhelmed in this if we look at this world. But Paul tells us what to look to when he says the word of reconciliation is committed unto us. And our Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus) also encouraged us in this regard.

John 16:29 His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb.
30 Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.
31 Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe?
32 Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Our Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus) has already beaten the world. As His ambassadors, we have as well.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You are our King. We ask you send Your kingdom to the Earth. Send us today Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us our sin. Guide us and deliver us from the evil that would attempt to steal what You have provided. In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.

Lift Us Up

Our God is on our side. That can seem like a simple thing to say. For many of us, however, we can feel overwhelmed when we face challenges. If we can learn to trust in God to be on our side, we can endure until deliverance comes our way. Our God Yahuah (Lord) never fails. It is Paul who explains this to us.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
2 For by it the elders obtained a good report.
3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

We can experience God’s plan for our lives if we will rest in His presence and trust that He is on our side.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You are our King. Send us Your kingdom. We praise the name Yahuah (Lord). Send us today Your overwhelming provision. Forgive us for when we have gotten away from Your will and Your ways. Heal us and deliver us. Cast down our enemies and their works. Preserve those things that You have given to us. We love You. In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.