Category: Hiding His Word

“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.” ~ John‬ ‭10:10‬

“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ~ Romans‬ ‭8:37-39‬

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” ~ James‬ ‭4:7‬

Submit – to give over or yield to the power or authority of another.

Resist –  to withstand, strive against, or oppose; to refrain or abstain from, especially with difficulty or reluctance.

When I align my will with God’s will, I will be unstoppable. Will I have temptations and trials? YES! But temptations and trials won’t stop me!

I have a free will and can do what I want and that might seem good for a season. But, it is only when I DECIDE to cast away doubt and fear, and use my free will to choose His will; use my free will to decide to obey the Word; decide to have faith in His plan and not my own that I will overcome. It is only when I make the decision to praise my way out of doubt, pray rather than worry, and follow Jesus instead of trying to lead Jesus where l want to go that l will see true peace, joy, and victory.

The battle is real and the demons that seek to destroy are real but I have found that many times I have become an ally in my own battle. Because of that, the first step is to cast down and crucify my own free will and then follow the Word of God and His plan for victory over the demons. His plan – submit to God and resist the devil. God’s promise if l do is that the enemy will flee! Daily l must submit and resist. Daily I must fight.

Help me today, Lord!!!

 

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. ~ Matthew 24:35

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. ~ 1 Corinthians 13:13

When all is said, and all is done in my life and in your life what will remain? The many people we rely on and everything we put our confidence in will eventually fade.  But God will not change, His Word will never pass away, and according to His Word – faith, hope, and charity will abide.

If you have followed my blog anytime at all you know I love to meditate on scripture through the study of the words and their meanings. Today is no exception so here are a few words I have chosen to examine:

Charity – generous actions or donations to aid the poor, ill, or helpless. Something given to a person or persons in need. Alms. Leniency in judging others. Christian love; agape.

Agape – the love of God for humankind. The love of Christians for other persons, corresponding to the love of God for humankind. Unselfish love of one person for another; brotherly love.

Abide – To remain or continue. To stay: to have one’s abode; dwell. To maintain a particular condition, attitude, relationship. To last.

Knowing all of this shouldn’t it motivate my heart and drive my thoughts, words, and deeds to focus on those things that will abide eternally?

And what of love? Charity? Agape? This verse says that more excellent than our hope, more significant than our faith…is LOVE. When I think of love, I like to read 1 Corinthians 13 in its entirety from the Amplified version of the Bible. Here is just this one verse, but do yourself a favor and read the whole thing. Guaranteed it will change you.

“And now there remain: Faith [abiding trust in God and His  promises], hope [confident expectation of eternal salvation], love [unselfish love for others growing out of God‘s love for me], these three [the choicest graces]; but the greatest of these is love.” ~ 1 Corinthians 13:13 AMP

My Prayer – Oh Lord, Help me anchor my life in Your Word. Give me the grace to live a life of abiding faith, hope, and love. Set me on fire again and again as I set myself to focus on prayer, Your Word, and loving and serving others. Show me Holy Ghost any area of my heart that is not fully aligned with Your perfect will…any and every thought, word, and deed. Help me, Father, to love You more and more and to love others like You love today. In Jesus precious and Holy Name, Amen!

It is a cold, wet winter night here. I just listened again to the testimony and documentary narrated by Missionary Elisabeth Elliot, Through Gates of Splendor. Some of her words touched my heart and encouraged me so much. She admitted feeling like she had nothing special about her that made her much of a missionary to the Auca tribe. She couldn’t preach or teach since she didn’t know their language. She had no great skill or medical background that could help them. Oh, how I have felt this way. But then she encouraged by saying all she did have… She had the desire and a will to be obedient to the Lord…and to love!

These verses come to mind. Especially the last one!

“Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.” ~ Isaiah 43:10

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” ~ Acts 1:8

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” ~ Matthew 28:19-20

“And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” ~ 1 John 2:17

“Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.” ~ Matthew 1:24-25

Imagine waking up one day and suddenly being expected to do something that seems crazy and seems to make no sense. This is what happened to Joseph. He was a respectable and righteous man with a good grasp of reality. But Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant, and it wasn’t his child. Can you imagine how you would feel? Wouldn’t it crush you?

Joseph knew the logical thing was to divorce Mary and he was planning it so that he could leave without causing her public humiliation. But as Joseph was working through this unexpected change, God sent an angel. The angel asked Joseph to trust God and believe this was His plan for Mary, and also for him. Of course, we know the story, so we know Joseph did trust God and stayed with Mary. He trusted as the baby was born in a lowly manger. He trusted and obeyed and named the child Jesus! And he continued trusting God as he and his family fled for their lives to Egypt.

The story and struggles of Joseph at the beginning of his first Christmas season are very similar to what many of us are facing in our lives today as we head though ours. You (and I) thought life was going a certain way and we had things all planned out…and then suddenly, unexpectedly something happened that turned our world totally upside down. Maybe it has been one difficult thing after another and you feel crushed. So, like Joseph, you have been working hard behind the scenes developing a new plan to help you handle your trials and your loss.

Right here where you find yourself today, even if your place and circumstances don’t make sense, God is asking you to trust Him. He is asking you to believe that He will provide for all your needs. He is aware of every detail and He wants you to know He cares. If you will trust and follow Him, just like Joseph, He will lead and guide you and yours from right where you are … into the safety and peace of His magnificent Presence this Christmas season!