The Wait of Preparation

 Psalm 130:5

I wait for The LORD; my soul does wait, and in His Word I put my hope. 

Wait: twist, linger, expectancy, bind together, patient seeking

    Actively seeking what The LORD had promised is the word "Wait" not only here but in too many other verses to mention. Sorry, you'll have to study that much more out for yourself. 

    As for myself, I'm learning to "wait". The LORD says that I am not stuck, I am "waiting"; I'm in a waiting place, seeking Him out where He can be found, placing all my hope in Him. The LORD is my Testimony, my Sanctifier. For He has set me apart from who I used to be and the worldly lifestyle I used to participate in. How this world defines quiet times, God says, "Come to Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28; Jeremiah 31:25). 

    I'm seeking an audience with The King, to meet Him face to face and remain there in His eternal presence for ever and ever. But to get there I must first seek Him out here in this life God has given me. I must read His Word daily, asking Him to reveal Himself to me, that I may know in each day what He would have me to know, to understand, to take in that I may grow in Him and He in me. 

    The twisting in this word "wait" means 'to bind together'. It is not twisting in the wind, being blown from one doctrine to another to none. It is to be so fully intertwined with God The Father, God The Son and God The Spirit that none can tear us apart. This is the covenant relationship which is promised to each faithful believer who follows Christ wherever He leads us. This is strength in unity. 

    Beyond the individual who waits on The LORD, there is congregational waiting, when believers come together in worship and prayer to seek out God through faith in Christ, who seek to be empowered by God's Holy Spirit. Breathe on us, Holy Spirit. Take our little bits of faith and grow in us righteousness that we might, indeed, be called and known as trees of righteousness, the planting of The LORD God. 

    That's why we go to church. As long as the person giving the message from God is anointed by God to do so, may our ears be prepared to hear, our hearts be prepared to receive and obey The Word being preached or taught. 

    Let nothing distract us from waiting for The LORD. The Word tells us "not to look to the left, nor to the right", but to focus on what is ahead of us. The immediate path, the Holy Way, the path of righteousness wherein we walk by faith in The Son of God, Who not only leads us up this path, but walks with us. How wonderful to know that Jesus walks with me! 

    I'm not stuck. I'm waiting for The Lord. 

Statements of Faith - The Seed of Abraham

 

ROMANS 9:6-8 

It is not as though God’s word has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are Abraham’s descendants are they all his children. On the contrary, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.” (Genesis 21:12). 

So it is not the children of the flesh who are God’s children, 

but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as offspring. 

    Like Abraham, I have not seen Jesus, The Promise, face to face. But also like Abraham, I believe God and that God's Word is Faithful and True. (Revelation 21:5).

 I believe that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, that He is God's only begotten Son (John 3:16) Who died on the cross for me and rose from the dead ahead of me. (1 Corinthians 15:20). I have called upon The Name of The LORD for my salvation. I acknowledged my sins and my iniquities and my transgressions to God and God forgives me and calls me His own. (Romans 10:9-13; John 1:12). 

    By grace am I saved through faith in The Name of The LORD. (Ephesians 2:4-10). 

Acts 15:11

 "On the contrary, we believe it is through the grace of The LORD Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."

1 Peter 1:3-5

Blessed be The God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 

    There is no better time than now to give your heart and surrender your life to God through Christ Jesus than now, today. So, we say, Come. Come to the altar upon which the sacrifice of God was laid and see Jesus on the cross dying for you and I. Come to the garden and see the empty tomb where He had lain, for He is not there: He is Risen!

    Come and be baptized into His Name and be filled with His Holy Spirit that you, too, may walk in the strength of The LORD forever. Come, let us go and see Jesus. 

I FEEL JESUS - Carman

COVERED - Planetshakers

BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD  

A Crucified Life - - Has A Heart For Israel

 

    2 Corinthians 10:1

Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 2107

Desire: good pleasure

From the Greek word 'eudokia' (pronounced yoo-dok-ee'-ah): what seems good or beneficial to someone.

    2 Thessalonians 1:11,12

Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power,

that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

    Colossians 1:9-12, specifically verse 9, which brings us to why we pray for the salvation of others.

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

    (v13,14) He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

    Isaiah 45:22

Look unto Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth: for I Am God, and there is none else.

    We pray for your salvation through Jesus Christ. We pray for Israel to know the salvation of God through His Lamb who paid the penalty for sin, once and for all (Hebrews 7:25).

    Isaiah 59:16

He saw that there was no man; He was amazed that there was no one to intercede. So His own arm brought salvation, and His own righteousness sustained Him.

    Romans 5:10

For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!

    Romans 8:34

Who is there to condemn us? For Christ Jesus, who died, and more than that was raised to life, is at the right hand of God--and He is interceding for us.

    1 Corinthians 1:21

For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

    Hebrews 2:9

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. 

    It is not enough to have the 'heart's desire' for someone's salvation. We can have hopes, wishes, and dreams all day long. But unless we're willing and obedient to put in the effort and time to pray for that person's salvation, hope is rendered useless on our part. 

    And so we pray, as Paul prayed for the people in his Israelite heritage. He knew they were zealous for God (2 Corinthians 10:2), but their knowledge of God's plan of salvation was lacking. Having believed the Lord for his own personal salvation, Paul now seeks that all Israel may know this joy which he himself has found in Christ Jesus. 

    As, too, we should have an urgency in our spirit to pray for Israel's salvation. For they are God's elect, the people God set apart for Himself, taken out of all the tribes of earth because they had a heart to worship Him. 

    You may ask, 'What does it mean to be God's elect'? Simply put, elect means chosen. God called Abram (Genesis 12:1), gave him promises (Genesis 12:2-3) and Abram acknowledged God as Lord (Genesis 12:4). 

    When God calls and we respond to His call, acknowledging Him as our Lord, we become His people. Genesis 28:10-22 tells us of Jacob's first meeting with God, where God called him, gave him promises and Jacob acknowledged God as Lord (v21). 

    God Changes Jacob's Name to Israel

Genesis 32:24-32 gives us the history of how Israel got its name. They are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But only the seed receives the blessing of salvation, not the descendants. So we pray for the descendants (the bloodline of Israel) to become the seed (the bloodline of Christ). 

   

RISE UP by CAIN

LIFE AFTER DEATH by TobyMac