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

Tanzania Mission 2017

This mission and the recovery were much more difficult than I ever imagined it would be. Five months later, I have pieced together team pictures to make this video showing just a little of what we did. Most could not be photographed because we were involved in prayer walks on the streets of Moshi, Tanzania, Africa during the days and ministering on the streets of the red light district at night. Our ministry ended with a banquet for the girls and ladies we met there.