Many times I have thought about how Jesus was raised by His earthly father, Joseph, to be a carpenter. But He was raised by His heavenly Father to be more than that. He was raised to be a Master Builder. He builds people.

Psalms 19:7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.

Here we see that God’s laws and commandments were meant to build us up. When we keep them there is great reward. The connection to Jesus is that because of His death and resurrection, we have access to the New Covenant, which is the law in our hearts.

Hebrews 10:16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;

Because of Jesus, when our Father looks at us He sees a people with His law in their hearts. He sees us covered by the sacrifice of the Lamb. Because of Jesus, we get the great reward!

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. Please forgive us today our shortcomings. Please see Your law in our heart, and help us to walk in Your ways. We ask today that You send healing, deliverance, and provision. We praise and thank You! In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Returning Spring

Although it is cold today, I was encouraged this morning as I noticed how much of the snow had melted. Not because there was less snow, although I am good with that, but because I know spring is coming. It is a beautiful time of year when things come alive again. It reminded me that God has placed things in their place and in their season. We have only to observe and see the testimony of His works and His love toward us, for they are everywhere.

Psalms 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
6 His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

This psalm reminds us that what God has created is everywhere, and it communicates His wonder day and night. There is no place on earth where there is a language where the impact of God’s creation, like the sun, is not felt. As we move into a time of reflection on the wonders that the Messiah did for us in giving His life on the cross, it is good to remember that everything around us testifies to God’s great love for us. He wants only good for us. All we need do is seek His face and try to walk in His ways. He already has done the rest.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You as the Most High King. Thank You for Your wondrous love toward us. We ask that You look past and forgive the things we get wrong. We ask that you help us find our way to doing Your will, to walking in Your way. Please send today the healing, the deliverance, and the provision we need. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Comfort And Praise

Our God does not have us just do random things without purpose.

1 Corinthians 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

While Paul was speaking specifically about how to be when gathered together, He used this thought as justification. It is true everywhere His believers are. We can say then there is a purpose to all things that God would have us do. One of those things we see repeatedly in scripture is praise. Why might that be? I think there are many reasons given, but one seems to be comfort for us.

Psalms 32:10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about.
11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.

Here we see that the wicked (those that choose not to follow God’s ways) suffer sorrow. But we are to rejoice and praise God because we get His mercy. For us, God intends comfort.

Prayer
Father, We exalt You as the Most High. Today we praise You for Your mercy toward us. Please deliver us from our own iniquity. Please help us to see Your ways and walk in them. Please send us Your provision, Your healing, and Your deliverance today Father. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Look For The Moment

God has a way of showing us what He wants us to see and do. It is built in to the many patterns He has placed in the earth for us to follow. The sabbath is one of those patterns. The sabbath is a day when He originally knelt down to be with His creation, with us. It is a foreshadowing of a time to come about which we only know in part. But we can trust God to show us His ways, if we look for those moments, those patterns, those signs that reveal who He is and what He wants us to do. The psalmists wrote of this many times.

Psalms 32:8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

Here God says He will instruct and teach in the way we should go. THen, in a repetitive pattern, He tells us He will do it by guiding us with things we can see. In the Hebrew the word eye can mean a literal eye or something that stands out when you see it. In this verse it likely means the latter. The things we can see include the patterns of God, established from the beginning.

Today, as you rest, look for the patterns and let God teach you His ways.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. Reveal to us Your patterns for life. Show us what You have for us to do. Help us be willing to see what You are trying to show us. Please send today the healing, deliverance, and provision we need. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Redirection

This morning while I waited for the sun to show itself, I thought about the need for a believer to follow in God’s ways. Like Paul, I am always amazed at the challenge it is to do what we know we should and to not do what we know we should not do.

Romans 7:15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

It truly is amazing to think, after all that God has done for us, that we still cannot get life right all the time. It is like walking to the bank to pay the mortgage and stopping by the casino to risk it on a slot machine, thinking you will hit the big one. The truth is, we already did. God is in control of everything and He is on our side. It’s like having the house on our side, knowing that we already have access to all the cash in the vault whether we play even one single game. The owner of everything is our Dad.

This may not be the best comparison, but it got me to thinking. Why do we keep going? Then I remembered something from the other day. My wife got the car stuck in a snow bank at a weird angle at the end of the drive. I not only needed to get the car unstuck, I also needed it to turn pretty sharply. My wife had been trying to get it out doing both at the same time. That’s right, before she called me, so it was REALLY stuck. I had her get in and straighten the wheel. I told her once we got back a certain distance, just hit the brake. Sure enough we did. Then as we got it moving forward I was easily able to turn it away from the snow bank. The point is if we are at least trying, even if failing, redirection to the right path is easier than starting from a dead stop.

Today, if you are stopped from going in God’s way, just try something. Once you get started, call a friend and ask for some encouragement to make a course correction. Redirection is easier than moving from a dead stop.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. Please forgive us from not staying the course You have given us. Help us to make the course corrections today Father. Please send us Your healing, Your deliverance, and Your provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Thankful For Teachers

Those that teach have both a rewarding and a challenging profession. I think of the teachers in the public school systems like my daughter and think about how challenging it is for them to help their students. They have to work to move the minds of the youth, and sometimes they are the only positive influence in their lives. Once the student is our of their classroom, the student no longer has direct influence. As believers this is not true for us.

Galatians 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

There was a time when those that wanted to follow God had to look outwardly for all input and direction. WE had to look outwardly to the Law. But as Paul says here, we have now put on the Messiah and we no longer have to look outwardly to a school teacher. Jesus lives in our heart. In the New Covenant, we now have the Law within us.

Hebrews 10:16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

Jeremiah foretold of the day when the law would be written in our hearts and Paul quoted him in his letter to the Romans. Today we can take the influence of God, the Law, with us everywhere because when we asked for forgiveness and for our Messiah Jesus to be our Lord, God wrote the Law in our hearts. Today we can know everywhere we are how we are to walk. That does not mean we will always be right. If only it were so easy. It does mean that we always have access to knowing, and if we will cry out to God, He will help.

That is worthy of being thankful for, I believe.

Prayer
Father, we exalt and declare before the world that You alone are the Most High King. Please forgive us for the things we do wrong. Thank You for sending Your Son to die that we might live. We ask today that You give us Your healing, Your deliverance, and Your provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Saving The People

When faced with spiritual challenges, we have to overcome a foe we cannot see or hear. This may seem impossible, but it is real. Jesus told us we have a real enemy.

John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

He also tells us that He is here to give us an abundant life, which is just the opposite of the enemy. This is the same message that we have heard from the beginning. The psalmists wrote about this many times, telling us that God was our defender against this enemy. Against all enemies, really.

Psalms 28:6 Blessed be the Lord, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.
8 The Lord is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed.
9 Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.

In the end, our only hope to fight an invisible enemy out to destroy us is God. But that is much more than enough. Think about it for a minute. God even made the enemy, therefore, in the end it is an easy thing for God to defeat him! Praise God for defeating those that oppose and oppress us!

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as the Most High God. We ask that You watch over us and protect us. Please forgive us our wrong doings, especially forgive us for any harm we have caused anyone. We thank You for Your mercy. Please send today the healing, the deliverance, and the provision we need for today. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Arguing

As someone that has taught critical thinking to hundreds of students, I understand how to make a point based on logic. This is called an argument. However, that is not what I am addressing here. When two people disagree, especially if they have a close relationship, they can make it be about each other and not the subject. That is not critical thinking. That is being critical, or maybe just plain mean to each other. This is not good. We are meant to be positive to one another.

Ephesians 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

Paul was not talking about the exact subject here, as he was addressing bad teaching, but letter he does include how we address one another in his letter to the Ephesians.

Ephesians 4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

We are not to let our day go by without settling our differences with those around us. Why might that be, and what are we to be doing?

Colossians 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
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.
17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

We are to forgive one another, just like Jesus forgave us not because of who we are but because of who He is. This brings peace to us and to the one we are arguing with. What we need to do is use praise (psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs) to teach and admonish each other, to build each other up.

Next time you feel like arguing with your spouse, a parent, or a brother or sister, try singing. Then let there be peace.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. We thank You for being our God and for forgiving us. We ask that You forgive us for the evil or mean things we say to people, and help us to do better with that. Help us to be the source of building others up. Help us to be the source of Your peace in the lives of others. Please send us Your healing today, Your deliverance today, and Your provision today. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Call For Judgment

Our God loves us very much. He knows that in the end, we truly are very weak vessels that do not stand much of a chance in the battle against oppression without Him. Last night I watched a movie that was about some people being oppressed and a bunch of old heroes rescued them. It was meant to be partially a comedy, I think, but as I watched it I truly identified with and felt sad for the people that had been put into forced labor away from their families. There was a certain sadness and dimness in their eyes. It reminded me of people I see every day. There is hope.

Psalms 103:6 The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.

As I read this passage this morning I was very encouraged to the point I felt my heart jump within me. In this passage righteousness means to set right and judgment means a royal decree. If we plug in these meanings, it can be said like this: God makes a royal decree and sets things right for all those that are being pushed down and treated badly. When we are being pushed down, whether that is by a person, a dark spiritual force, or a situation, all we have to do is to call out to God to set things right. He is watching, and when His people are treated badly, He stands up to defend them. That’s us.

Today, I ask that God execute judgment on behalf of His people.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. You are our King and our Defender. We ask that You forgive us for the shortcomings we have, please. Send us Your deliverance today. Send us Your healing. Send us Your provision. Send us hope. We love You and believe You are on our side. Please come with Your judgment on our behalf. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Think On These Things

There is an inner longing in us, I think placed there by God, to be comforted. It is what drives the newborn to the mother, young children to their mother and father, and the husbands and wives to hold one another in a storm. It is that same drive that we can use to help us find ourpath to God, and to learn to walk in His ways. I read this morning a scripture that for the first time seemed to be saying these very things to me.

Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Here Paul is encouraging the Philippians to seek God as moderate people. He encourages them, and us, to ask God for anything we need. When we do these things, the peace that passes all understanding, the comfort we are meant to seek, will be in our hearts and minds. What I find interesting is what he said next, after he points to the comfort we all seek.

8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

Here Paul is telling us to seek only the good things, to think on them, and then do them. This is the path to the ways of God. Paul then closes again with the reference to the comfort we will find, the peace of God.

It can be challenging, but if we will do all we can to call out to God with praise, and try to focus our thoughts and resulting actions on only the good, we can receive comfort. God wants it for us, and we need it from our Dad.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as the Most High. Thank You for all You are to and for us. Help us to think and do the good things that You would have us think and do. Help us find Your ways, and walk in them. We love You. Please give us today our healing, deliverance, and provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.