Month: April 2018

Posted in Bible Verses

Scriptures to Hide in Your Heart When Worried

Posted on by

 

Let not your heart be trouble

Some of the scriptures that I meditate on when I am feeling overwhelmed by worry.  I have them written on notecards and read them aloud as many times and as often as necessary. The Word of God is alive and active and the Word will break the hold that the enemy has over your mind.  God has proven this to me time and time again. When you speak the Word, you speak LIFE!

Proverbs 12:25   Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.

Philippians 4:6-7  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 5:6-8  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Matthew 6:33-34  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Philippians 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Matthew 11:28-30   Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

John 14:27   Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Psalm 55:22   Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

Philippians 4:19   But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

John 14:1   Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

Luke 1:37   For with God nothing shall be impossible.

Colossians 3:15    And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

Jeremiah 17:7-8   Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

Psalm 94:19   In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.

Isaiah 26:3   Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Psalm 23:4    Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Romans 15:13   Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost

Proverbs 3:5-6   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.

Romans 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

Colossians 3:2   Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

2 Thessalonians 3:16   Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.

 

 

Posted in Hiding His Word

Thy Word Have I Hid in My Heart – Greed

Posted on by

8655B05B-E13E-41D2-990A-742A641102B5

“And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” ~ Luke‬ ‭12:15‬ KJV

“Then He said to them, “Watch out and guard yourselves against every form of greed; for not even when one has an overflowing abundance does his life consist of nor is it derived from his possessions.” ~ Luke ‭12:15‬ ‭AMP‬‬

  • Covetousness – inordinately or wrongly desirous of wealth or possessions;
  • Greed – excessive or rapacious desire, especially for wealth or possessions.
  • Greedy – having or showing an intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth or power.
  • Rapacious – predatory; given to seizing for plunder or the satisfaction of greed.

Greed is a very deceiving force. It gets us to think that we’ll be happy if we get that one more thing. Then we get it and what? It shows us something else that we “need” and that we’d be happier if we had it. Greed never stops showing us that “one more thing.”

In the verse above a man came to Jesus and asked Him to be an arbitrator between him and his brother in a dispute over an inheritance. Jesus told the man “Who appointed me a judge between you?” And it’s then that Jesus said “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

To make earthly gain or riches a primary desire and pursuit in life is a costly and fatal error that can lead to eternal loss and consequences.. We must realize that in no way does our wealth determine our worth or significance.

The Greek Word for greed (pleonexia) literally conveys the thirst for having more. A selfish and wrongful desire for more does not refer to providing for your own needs and the needs of your family. Part of life must be spent working to provide, but we must be careful to invest our time, efforts, and resources in becoming rich toward God only. This involves pursuing His kingdom and His righteousness (His purposes and standards) above everything else.

Greed gets us pursuing “things” when we should actually be pursuing God. What are you pursuing today? Is it through greed or love? Do you seek more things or do you seek more of God? Each of us should pay attention to Jesus warning and examine whether selfishness and greed exist in our own hearts.

Lord, Show us today where are hearts are holding on to desire for anything that draws us away from You. Convict us, forgive us, and lead us down a path that is pleasing to You. Where we are greedy make us generous. Where we are controlling make us giving. Where we long for power replace that spirit with a pure heart. Where we have fear of lack replace it with love! In Jesus Name I pray. Amen! Amen!!

Posted in Hiding His Word

Thy Word Have I Hid in My Heart – Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Posted on by

life and death

“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” ~ Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Because we are created in the image of God, we have minds to think with,  hearts to feel with, and a will to decide with and God calls us to make right decisions. We’re not robots. We can hear God’s Word, learn God’s will, and decide either to obey or disobey. We learn from Moses that making this decision is not a difficult task. After all, we have the revealed truth of God, and his Word and that Word is available to us. We don’t have to go up to heaven to get the Word or across the sea to another country because God brought his Word to us.

The choice is between life and death, and who would deliberately choose death? In Israel’s case, the choice was between trusting God and enjoying the good of the land or turning to idols and experiencing the curses. It is either life and blessing or death and curses. Today the choice is between eternal life and eternal death. Salvation by the grace of God or an eternity spent in hell. Is this a difficult decision to make? The only sensible decision is to choose LIFE.

“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” ~ John 3:36

God offers his people life, for He is our life.

“For in him we live, and move, and have our being.” ~ Acts 17:28a

The Israelites needed to choose life, but they then they also needed to maintain their relationship with God by loving Him and listening to His voice. We are called today to make the same and the right decisions and take the same steps of obedience and love. Life or death?

Choose Love. Choose obedience. Choose Life.

 

Father, Help us today to look to You and make right and holy decisions. Help us at each moment to stop and look to You for our direction. Help us to love You and love others as You would love them. Take over our hearts so that our reactions to every obstacle and every temptation remain holy. Help us to represent You well in this time in this world that You have placed us. Help us to be a light that we might draw others to You even as we are drawn closer by You. In Jesus precious Name I pray. Amen!

Posted in Hiding His Word

Thy Word Have I Hid in My Heart – Grace

Posted on by

Grace

And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.  For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. ~ John 1:16-17 KJV

For out of His fullness [the superabundance of His grace and truth] we have all received grace upon grace [spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing, favor upon favor, and gift heaped upon gift].  For the Law was given through Moses, but grace [the unearned, undeserved favor of God] and truth came through Jesus Christ. ~ John 1:16-17 AMP

In the picture above and John 1:16-17 we see so many definitions of “grace.” Spiritual blessing, favor, a gift, the unearned and undeserved favor of God.  There are others definitions – but the meaning of the word “grace” I want to focus on today is in the sense of giving someone the time to “get right.”

Insurance companies will give their policyholders a “grace period” in which the policyholder has a few days to make a payment after the policy expires. If the payment is made within this “grace period,” they are treated as though the policy never lapsed.

As children of God, we need to show others this kind of grace which is the same kind of grace that God showed to us. There have been many times God has treated me as though I did nothing wrong even though I plainly had. Why did He treat me that way? Because He was giving me time to make it right and get right. He was giving me time to grow up into who I am supposed to be.

We see this in the life of Jesus over and over. He was gracious, merciful, and kind to those that showed remorse or repentance. He allowed them to time and space and grace to “get right” with dignity. On the other hand, He spoke harshly to the self-righteous and those that treated people as though they were less valuable than themselves for any reason.

Jesus said –

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. ~ Matthew 7:12

Living and treating people the way we want to be treated means we will automatically show them abundant grace and mercy. We will automatically and always be kind. We will love each other through tough seasons even as we want them to stand with us through our worst days. In Matthew 22:36-40 Jesus is asked –

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

What a difference we could see in our world today if we all showed each other abundant grace. What a love the world would see and in doing so we would fulfill every law.

For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required ~ Luke 12:48b

Posted in Hiding His Word

Thy Word Have I Hid in My Heart – Luke 10:19-20

Posted on by

image_544447846968166

Authority in the Spirit ~ John Eckhardt

One of the most important principles of spiritual warfare is that you must use your authority against the enemy. Jesus said, “I give unto you power [power is the Greek word exousia, which means ‘authority’] to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:19, KJV, emphasis added). Now some people say you can’t be hurt by the enemy because Jesus says, “I give you power.” But that’s only if you use the authority.

Just because you have been given authority doesn’t mean you’ve used it. If you don’t exercise your authority, you cannot claim the second part of that verse that says “nothing shall by any means hurt you.” We must exercise our authority, and some of the ways we do that are through prayer, through binding and loosing, and through commands and decrees that we release through our words. So it’s important to exercise your authority over the enemy on a consistent basis.

You need to bind and rebuke in the name of Jesus any demon that will try to block your path or your way. Psalm 91:13 says, “You shall tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.” The enemy is under your feet. That represents total authority and victory. Make this your confession, and go forth in victory and in the power of God.

~ John Eckhardt