“Now, When, and Then”

August 10, 2022July 28, 20223 Comments

He knows me now, He knew me when, and He knows me then. My friends, what great confidence is this that our God knows us so completely (Psalm 139:1-6)?

He sees what you face today. He saw your past days and the murky spots you have traveled through. And, He already has met your future. Nothing and no part of your life is hidden from the eyes of our great God (Hebrews 4:13).

Our past, our present, and our future are opened before Him, and so is His love for you. Through all that He knows of you, His love is still shining like a lighthouse, beckoning you and guiding you closer to the shores of His embrace, saying, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Remember, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever,” (Hebrews 13:8; Revelation 22:13), and you are completely known and loved by Him.

Father God, thank You that You know me so well. Thank You, that Your love has not diminished in my life and that Your light still shines brightly for me. Help me, every day, to be reminded of this great grace and affection You have toward me. Through the storms, when I look up, I see You and You are drawing me near, allowing me to find shelter and refuge in You. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray, AMEN!

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“In the weary land . . .”

August 8, 2022July 28, 20222 Comments

In the weary land, we don’t have to be wearied. In the parched places, we don’t have to feel the dryness of our surroundings. We were made to flourish. We were made to grow and thrive. We were made to still produce good fruits through the difficulties of dismal days.

Our shelter and our hope is in that Rock (Psalm 18:2) upon which we sing and stand. It is He, that the whole of our lives bases their confidence upon. He is our Light that brings salvation even in the darkest days (Psalm 27). This we know, for the just shall live by faith (Romans 1:17).

Faith that knows the Father is near. Faith that believes healing is on the horizon. Faith that sees beyond what the eyes behold, knowing God has much more than this in store for His people.

The weary land may try you at times, but we have this solace and peace upon which we can rest our minds, for His Word declares, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusted in thee” (Isaiah 26:3).

Help us to stay in that peace, Lord. Even through the weariness of days, help us to continually fix our hearts upon You, and in that promise that says:

“O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:

When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.

Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.” Psalm 63:1-8

“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” John 7:37-38

Photo by Alex Azabache on Pexels.com

“Our Hearts”

August 5, 2022July 26, 20221 Comment

“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24

Our hearts are considered to be the very center of our being. It is the seat of our emotions, cares, and love for those around us. It is in our hearts that we make some of the toughest choices in life. What we think and what we carry will guide the heart or prohibit certain paths of travel.

But sometimes, our hearts can carry even more than we know, more than we can see, feel, or are aware of. Knowing this, David, a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), invited God to take a closer look at his own heart. He opened himself, no holds barred, for God to do exploratory surgery in every crevice of that bodily member that lies at the center of our being.

How bold of him, you may think. For some, there may be things that they don’t want to be touched. But for David, his greatest joy was his relationship with God. And, his end purpose of inviting God’s holy inspection was to be led “in the way everlasting.” He wanted nothing getting in the way of that, and neither should we.

If God were to knock on the door of your heart today, would you invite Him in to take a closer look? There is nothing there that He doesn’t already know. Like Adam and Eve hiding in the Garden on that revealing day of the Fall, His probing “Where art thou?” (Genesis 3:9) isn’t because He doesn’t know, but that we may become aware of our position in Him. It is only then that we can correct any waywardness as David sought to when he earnestly prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10).

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9

“I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.” Psalm 32:5

“Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8

“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts.” Proverbs 21:2

“As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.” Proverbs 27:19

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

Helpful Articles:

“Your Hearts Shall Live!”

“Open Your Heart . . .”

“Your Heart Wants God”

“Eternally Named!”

August 3, 2022August 3, 2022Leave a comment

“Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.” Isaiah 56:5

Did you grow up wishing for a new name? Sometimes, do you wish you could hide behind the identity of another? God has a “new name” promise in heaven for you. No need to hide, but in Him, literally, all things are made new, including my name.

Names are important. People are identified by their names. Reputations hang on the pegs of one’s name.

Names can come by way of the thoughtful contemplation of parents. Names can also attach themselves to people and children through hurtful expressions.

With God, names always matter. But also with God, whatever name you carry in this world, were assigned to, or cruelly called by another – it will fade and mean nothing in His heavenly courts (just make sure your name is one that is written in the “book of life” Revelation 20:11-15; see also Revelation 13:8).

In red-lettered words, written in Revelation, we have this promise from our Lord: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it” (2:17, my added emphasis).

Those words are so encouraging if you have ever felt the sting of being called out of your given name or had your reputation smeared. Those words give promise if you felt like you have been shouldering a burden that has attached itself too familiarly to your name. Those words speak newness if you have ever had to fight to come from under the umbrella of what people have called you, or even what you have called yourself.

In Isaiah 55, the invitation is given to everyone who thirsts to come and partake of this promise of the new. This promise is for any, no matter their background, origin, or what have you, to gather to God, to be His people, and to reap the glorious blessings of His covenants and promise which also include “an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.”

“Rejoice in It!”

August 1, 2022July 26, 2022Leave a comment

“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24

Yes, right now. Even this early, as the day is beginning, rejoice in it. Even as the sun has just begun to peek over the horizon and the birds are beginning their morning melody, rejoice. Even if you stand at the start of this day, not knowing what will happen, or how it will end, rejoice!

The Father has seen fit to bless us with the gift of today, and although we may not know the how’s and what’s that will come our way, or the answer to everything we will face, our Heavenly Father does, and the call to rejoice in this new day is a call to trust Him with everything that follows.

The circumstances of the varied days we face may change, but our God is immutable in character and promise (Psalm 33:11; Hebrews 6:17-18) and it is His Holy Word that declares, “The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me . . .” (Psalm 138:8). Therefore, my hope rests in the Lord and what He is doing in me and through me this day. My rejoicing is based on God, and not on the usual markers of a good or bad day.

So, rejoice, my friend. Let yourself experience the release, the peace, and the welcoming newness of this day. It may not be perfect in our eyes, but then again, we don’t see things as the Father does, so we walk forward into today, holding on to His hand and with His promises in our hearts, we are choosing to trust Him with the outcome.

Oh, Lord, I really don’t know what’s going to happen with this day or what it will altogether look like, but I bless Your name, and I am thankful for the gift and the grace of this new day. Even if it hasn’t started the way I had envisioned or hoped for, I am claiming the start of this new day to be the seat of all that You have in store for me. Not what the circumstances say, or what people may say, but what You have said and declared over this day. Therefore, I am rejoicing in it!

Helpful Articles:

“Not a Good Day, Good Day!”

“What to do With Days When Things Just Aren’t Going Right?”

“There are Some Mornings . . .”

“When You Feel There Aren’t Enough Hours in a Day!”

“Who have you been glorifying?”

July 27, 2022July 23, 2022Leave a comment

“Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” Psalm 50:15, NKJV

Who gets your praise when you get a reprieve from the madness all around? Who receives your honor when troubles dissipate and deliverance has been brought forth?

Have you attributed your successes to your own wisdom? Has your ingenuity received the credit for plans coming to pass? Have you praised yourself, thinking, “Look what I have done?”

Who have you been glorifying? Don’t pat yourself on the back for a job well done when you know if it had not been for the Lord on your side, you would not have what you have, do what you do, and be in the position you are in.

God is not only our Heavenly Father, He is also our mighty defender and our deliverer. He invites us to seek Him in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1), and He will be our present help. When we come to Him, and call upon Him, and He delivers us, please do not give His glory to another, or take it for yourself.

Recognize what God has done in your life and honor Him alone.

“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say;

If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us:

Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:

Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:

Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.

Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.

Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.

Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 124:1-8

“Study Him!”

July 25, 2022July 23, 2022Leave a comment

“The works of the LORD are great, studied by all who have pleasure in them,” Psalm 111:2, NKJV

Why such doubt? Why such confusion? Have you studied Him? Have you studied the works of our God?

Open your understanding to the truth of who He is. Open, and expand your knowledge of our Heavenly Father. Seek Him, and search Him out. As the greatest treasure that is to be found, don’t stop digging till you have unearthed His glorious truths.

“His work is honorable and glorious, and His righteousness endures forever,” (Psalm 111:3, NKJV). So, dig deep, my friends, and find Him for yourself.

Look through His holy pages and see Him. See what He has done. See the testimonies of the lives that have walked in those written lines. See the things He performed in them and through them. See what He continues to do even in this day. See, and believe.

For where the truth of this treasure is, it leaves no room for doubt and confusion. Truth eats up the empty spaces that make room for lies.

Therefore, study Him. Let not your appetite be quenched by the false junk and ideologies of this age. Take your fill of God, our Father. Learn of Him. Explore Him, and you will not only be satisfied with that which nourishes for all eternity, but you will enter an abundant adventure of a lifetime today (John 10:10).

It’s there, in those pages of the Bible. Seek Him. He’s not hiding from you. Study Him, and enrich your own life further and deeper than you could have ever imagined.

“He has made His wonderful works to be remembered . . .” Psalm 111:4, NKJV

Marveling at Great Faith

June 14, 2022June 14, 2022Leave a comment

“When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick.” Luke 7:9-10

Jesus was not amazed at the situation or the people who spoke on the Centurion’s behalf. Jesus was amazed at the Centurion’s response. He had not met anyone in Israel, among His fellow brethren, who had so recognized His authority and power as this man; someone who willingly gave himself over to total abandon to trust Jesus to heal and believe that He will.

Astounding! This was the true epitome of “great faith!”

When one’s faith is centered on Jesus, healing can take place. Not just physical healing, as we see here. But emotional, spiritual, relational…, in every area of life that needs restoration, Jesus is able to heal. But it only comes about by faith. The Bible reminds us, “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” (Hebrews 11:6). The Centurion filled this faith criterion. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, he knew that Jesus was able to do all that he had known of Him, and he sought Him with an open heart of belief.

Jesus spoke highly on his behalf, saying, “I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” If we were to put our spiritual thermometer in the waters of faith, how would we measure up? Would we be found on the “greater than” side of faith or on the “less than” side?

Faith is the access key to everything God wants to do through us and for us. Jesus once taught, “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.,” (Matthew 21:22; emphasis mine). One must believe, as the centurion did, with total abandon, that Jesus can do this for you, too.

Adapted from The Centurion’s Great Faith previously published here on WordforLifeSays.com.

Despair will try to rob you…

June 14, 2022June 14, 2022Leave a comment

Despair will try to rob you of everything God has for you. Don’t give up. Rather, place your hope in God who is able to turn any situation around and give you peace in the midst of the storm. “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” – Psalm 43:5, NIV

. . . Because of God

May 24, 2022Leave a comment

Many of us are familiar with the story of Joseph. We have the main points in his life down pat: his coat of many colors, his dreams, and his interpretation of others’ dreams. We know of him being sold into slavery by his own brothers, his life in Egypt, the accusations of Potiphar’s wife, and his imprisonment. But how closely do we pay attention to his actual relationship with God? Do we focus more on the “From the Pit to the Palace,” side of things than on his integrity before God?

In his story, Joseph appears to start out as a young man who is a bit boastful and can’t wait to tell every listening ear his dream. (I’m not saying he was boastful, just that it appears so). His dreams became so that they incurred the hatred of his brothers. This hatred would boil up within them until it filled them with violent intentions. At one point, they thought murder was one option to rid them of this dreamer. Instead of killing him, they opted to get rid of him while making a little money on the side. They sold him into slavery.

In what appeared as the hardest time of his young life, Joseph’s relationship with God deepened. This showed in the way God cause him to be prosperous and favored no matter where life put him (Genesis 39:3, 21). Joseph also displayed the importance of his devotion to God in not sinning against God (Genesis 39:9) and in his refusal to take credit for all that God was doing through him (Genesis 40:8; 41:16, 28, 32).

God blessed Joseph with this incredible gift yet in his humility and dependence upon God, he denounced any accolades of his own. He considered himself to be a vessel, realizing that “It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace,” (Genesis 41:16).

The humility of Joseph took him far in life. Eventually, he became second in command over Egypt. Had he gotten big-headed I’m sure the story would’ve turned out quite differently. If he had reverted to the “Me, Myself and I” attitude that a lot of people seem to display, Joseph’s story would not have been noted as the legacy we now know.

“It’s not in me,” Joseph readily proclaims. The Bible tells us, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God,” (2 Corinthians 3:5). The Apostle Paul out-and-out tells us what Joseph already proclaimed. We don’t have it in us! Any gifts, any abilities, any special insights, and any favor – we have it because of God! There’s no room for a self-sufficient attitude when God is trying to work in you.

When Daniel went before king Nebuchadnezzar to interpret his dream, Daniel, like Joseph, admitted his frailty as a human. He said, “This secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living,” (Daniel 2:30). He did not consider himself anything special just because he could interpret dreams rather, he gave glory to God, “Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his,” (Daniel 2:20).

Standing before Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel was asked, “Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?” (Daniel 2:26). Daniel answered much like Joseph did. He said, “There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days,” (Daniel 2:28).

It is amazing the miracles that God can perform through the one who will not compete with Him to gain the credit. When God instructed Gideon to go against the Midianites with only three hundred men, He did so, “lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me,” (Judges 7:2). When there is competition for glory, God will retain His! If one is in competition with Him they are “against” Him and God can’t work mightily through them!

It’s not just an Old Testament thing. Peter said, “Why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we made this man walk?” (Acts 3:12). Let’s face it, we are human, and unless God puts it in us – unless God gives it to us, we don’t have anything to offer this world. “A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven,” (John 3:27).

Let’s do a credit check today. Not to decipher our financial status but rather our relationship status with God. It’s not “Me, Myself and I,” but it’s God working in us. Let’s stand with Joseph and declare, “It’s not in me: God shall give . . . an answer . . .” (Genesis 41:16). Everything that we have or are able to do in life is because of God.

Blessings to you . . .

Word For Life Says…

God's Word for Your Life Today!

Category: religion

“Now, When, and Then”

“In the weary land . . .”

“Our Hearts”

“Eternally Named!”

“Rejoice in It!”

“Who have you been glorifying?”

“Study Him!”

Marveling at Great Faith

Despair will try to rob you…

. . . Because of God

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