Wait On The Lord - Psalm 27:14

 

Psalm 27:14

Wait on The LORD: Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your 🧡. Wait, I say, on The LORD!

WAIT: anticipatory expectation to see what God will do and is doing 

    Here the psalmist leads the congregation into a hushed worship. We are instructed to wait, to be still, to be of good courage. 

    And then The Lord will strengthen our hearts. He will make Himself known to the hearts of those who have anticipated His arrival. 

    The collective "we" waited from time immemorial for the arrival of The Messiah. But when He arrived, only a few were happy to see Him. Fewer still were willing to follow Him and do the things He instructed. 

    All who have received Christ as Lord of their lives, and Savior of their eternal souls, wait for the trumpet to sound and The Lord to gather His church to Himself.  We wait for the marriage supper of The Lamb and His bride. 

    After that we will wait, while we serve, through His thousand year reign (Revelation 20:1-5). After the thousand years has passed, Satan will be loosed upon the unknown numbers of people who have repopulated the earth, trying to take some of them with him through his deceptions (Revelation 20:6-8). 

    For a brief time we will wait yet again for Satan and his minions to be defeated (Revelation 20:9-10). Then we wait through the second resurrection, when the damned will be judged for their unbelief. We know they did not believe because their names were not written in The Lamb's Book of Life (Revelation 20:11-15). 

    They wait too, knowing there is no more time to choose Christ.

  1 Thessalonians 4:17-18

For The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. 

Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet The Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with The Lord. 

    So I encourage you now to "Wait on The Lord, and be of good courage." For waiting is hard but possible. Some folks will meet Jesus by way of the grave, some will meet Him by way of the air. Some of us die horrific deaths, some of us die by way of disease, some die of old age. Yet we wait on The Lord through it all. And through it all The Lord strengthens us with Himself. And that is enough to get me through the waiting. 

THROUGH IT ALL - Andrae Crouch (with his testimony, too!)

Listen & Be Wise

 

Proverbs 23:19

Listen, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in The Way.

    Listen. Pay attention. Consider what I am saying that you may comprehend exactly the words which I speak. Hear what I have to say, think on these things which I have said, and then act on what you have heard. 

    Be wise. Be men and women of God, obedient to His Wisdom, as were the three young Hebrew men who were captured in Daniel 1:17, 20. Be men and women of honor: don't just hear The Voice of God speak, but be obedient and do what He says to do. 

    Listen. His Voice is not always a thunderclap. He is the still small voice that whispers to your hearts. He is the calm in the storm. He is the gentle curvature of wing that encircles and comforts. 

    Be wise. Be wise in the ways of The Lord that you may live according to the wisdom of The Word. Make wise choices. Put God first: honor Him with our lives: choose what is right and do that Every Single Time. 

    Listen. Hear the words of my instructions as student to student, disciple to disciple. Take in the knowledge which I have gleaned from my walk with The Lord and what I have learned throughout my years. 

    In The New Testament, The Lord directs our attention to the flower-covered fields: Consider the lilies. What is there to consider in lilies? In Matthew and Luke the lily blooms for a day and is then gone. Yet God chooses to clothes them in beauty. 

   Consider this: In Hosea 14:5, Israel is compared to a lily whose growth comes from the dew. We need God to be the dew for us, too. We need Him to cause us to grow in the way He would have us to grow. 

'I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.' 

    Without God as our Instructor, our Teacher, our God, we will get nowhere. Our days will be lived in futility. Our hearts will have gleaned nothing from The Word of God because we chose not to consider what He had to say. 

    Direct your hearts. Lead your hearts. Don't let your heart dictate your actions. Following your hearts is a fool's game. The heart is deceitful and cannot be trusted to make wise choices on its own. We need to guard our hearts-Proverbs 4:23. 

    Learn to rein in your hearts. We need to train our hearts in The Ways of The Lord. And that is only accomplished when we Listen to His instructions and Obey His directions. 

Proverbs 28:26

He who trusts in himself is a fool, but one who walks in wisdom will be safe.

    Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us that not only are we to trust in The Lord, but we are to do so with the understanding which He gives us and not in our own dense way, so to speak. Our minds tend to wander when left on their own. But when we are focused on the things of The Lord, the wandering becomes a thing of the past. Now we are motivated to 'stay the course'; to 'run with endurance the race set before us'.  

    We have made the decision to put God first in everything we do, and when a conscious decision to follow The Lord Jesus Christ is made, then He takes up residence in our hearts, and our hearts no longer wander. We are a 'new creation' and our new roots are settled in The Word of God. 

    Now God makes our paths straight. Does this mean that our lives are comfy now? Not hardly. When we put God first, He lays out the way we should go, whether we climb the mountain in front of us or tell it to get out of the way. Many an obstacle in The Way, has kept a person from being fully committed to Listening to and Obeying The Word of God. 

    It may look like a narrow path, but it is also the safest course of direction for living a life that glorifies God. I hope you remain committed to Listening, to Being Wise, to Directing your hearts in The Way. I know I am. 

    

    

Keep The Faith In The Land of The Living

 

Psalm 27:13
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of The LORD in the land of the living.

DON'T LOSE HEART
Isaiah 40:31
But they that wait upon The LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

KEEP THE FAITH
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in The Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

THE LAND OF THE LIVING

Psalm 116:9
I will walk before The LORD in the land of the living. (this life we have now)
John 8:12
Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I Am The Light of The World. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the Light of Life.” (the life eternal)

    Keeping the faith means that we believe The Word of God to be Faithful and True. We believe that Jesus Christ is God's Only Begotten Son. We believe that as The Son of God He gave His life in willing obedience to His heavenly Father's design for the salvation of they who would believe such.

John 3:16-18

16. For God so loved the world, that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting Life.

17. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.

18. He that believes on Him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in The Name of The Only Begotten Son of God.

    Keeping the faith means that even though we live among unbelievers, we live not like them any longer. Though we once were sinners, lost and undone, now that we have placed our faith, our hope, in Christ Jesus for our salvation, we no longer live according to the desires of the flesh: we live according to The Word of God.

Ephesians 5:8

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in The Lord. Walk as children of Light.

Psalm 107:14

He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke away their chains.

Acts 26:18

'To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to Light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Me.'

    Yet, keeping the faith in the land of the living isn't going to be easy. While there are times we may enjoy the comforts of this life -- water, food, clothing, shelter -- many times we will endure trials and tribulations not uncommon amongst God's people.

    The life of the Christian is one of obedience to God, hope in Jesus Christ, and faith-walking with The Holy Spirit. It is a life lived in trust, trusting that God will always be with us regardless of how bad our circumstances become.     Keeping our faith while we live this life we have been given in Christ will bring us to the land of the eternally living: the heavenly places where God dwells.

Revelation 21:3

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.

Isaiah 6:1-4 (Isaiah's vision)

1. In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also The Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple.

2. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he did fly.

3. And one cried unto another, and said, "Holy, holy, holy, is The LORD of Hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory."

4. At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke.

Ezekiel 1 (Ezekiel's vision)

Revelation 4 (John's vision)

    Someday soon we who have believed on The Name of The Only Begotten Son of God for our salvation will arrive in God's eternal dwellingplace and take up residence in the place which Christ has prepared for us. The reward is worth the journey, regardless of how long it took us to get there, or how difficult the path was to walk.

ONCE I WAS A SINNER - classic hymn (choir)

IT WILL BE WORTH IT ALL - classic hymn

HOLY (I SAW THE LORD) - Christ For The Nations Worship

Maqor Chay Mayim - Fountain of Living Water

 

MAQOR CHAY MAYIM
(pronounced maw-kore' khah'-ee mah'-yim)
FOUNTAIN OF LIVING WATER

Jeremiah 2:13
“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the Fountain of Living Water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water."

    God is not speaking to the general populace here, but to His own people. His own people have deserted Him, their source of life and chosen to create their own wellsprings. What is He saying? 
They have turned their backs on God, Who is the source of all life, both here and now and eternally. 
    They have chosen to set up their own systems of living, broken cisterns, which cannot contain life; broken doctrines which cannot save themselves nor their communities, for there is no Living Water in them, only dust. And God's people cannot live on dust.
    Though our planet is 90% water, much of that is unpotable and it's getting worse, not better. When there is much rain, there is immense flooding. And the flood waters are more than just overflow of dams and levees: the sewers flood, water mains break, garbage is swept up into the floods. In other words, it's filthy, it's unpotable; not able to sustain life. Just like the hearts of God's people who had turned away from Him.
    We cannot as God's people live like that. We need clean, pure Water to drink for ourselves and share with others. We need Jesus Christ living in us, the Holy Spirit of God filling us, pouring out of us into our hearts and lives (our wells) and overflowing into other people's hearts  and lives (their wells). 
    God's people are being reprimanded by God for forsaking Him, for turning from Him to other gods. Their cisterns are broken. Be warned now: God is The Fountain of Living Water and there is none other which can sustain God's people. We give all the glory to God for being our Lifesource! 
    John 4:1-26 tells us the historical account of Jesus and His encounter with a Samaritan woman who had come to the well to draw water, only to find Jesus who gave her Living Water. Hallelujah! 
    Come to the well and meet Jesus. 

MAY CHRIST BE EXALTED IN ME

Be Watchful

 

1 Corinthians 16:13

Be watchful; stand firm in the faith; act like men; be strong.

Psalm 27:11

Because of my adversaries, show me Your Way, LORD, and lead me on a level path.

BE WATCHFUL

    We are surrounded on every side: enemies to the north, the south, the east, and the west. Encompassed by those who hate us, who seek to tear us down and in doing so attempt to undermine our faith in God and Jesus Christ. 

    Our adversaries are many and some of them we cannot even see. Therefore, our battle to overcome the onslaught must begin in our hearts, under the watchful eyes of The Holy Spirit. He it is Who strengthens our resolve to "stand fast" in The Word of The Lord. 

STAND FIRM IN THE FAITH

    Our Straight Way is Jesus Christ, and Him crucified and resurrected. It is His Love growing in us that gives us confidence to move forward, regardless of who speaks against us. For the Love of God has been extended to us through His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ. It is this Love, this gospel message of salvation through the blood of The Lamb, which compels us to speak out and speak up. 

    We call out to you who have not yet believe, we send forth a cry--with The Holy Spirit--"Come to Jesus." We whisper in the valleys, shout among the mountains, holler o'er the raging seas. God is Love. 

    Romans 1:16 

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is The Power of God unto salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

    2 Corinthians 4:8-10

We are hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.

Always bearing about in the body the dying of The Lord Jesus, that The Life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

ACT LIKE MEN/BE MEN OF COURAGE

    Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the LORD your God Who goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.

    Our courage comes from our unrelentless faith in Christ Jesus. It is He, through His Holy Spirit, Who empowers us with Himself; in Him, as the verse reminds us, "we live, and move, and have our being." How can we not but move across these dark landscapes and shine The Light of God's Love outwards? 

    We are the people of God and we follow Him Who is our Eternal Light. Where He goes, we go. We look not to the right, nor to the left, but straight ahead. When we place our feet firmly on His pathway, and set our faces to focus on what lies ahead, then the distractions of our enemies cannot faze us. The finish line is just ahead. And we are about to cross it. 

    Psalm 5:8

Lead me, O LORD, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; make straight Your Way before me.

    Isaiah 42:16

I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them.

    Isaiah 30:21

And whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.”

    John 14:6

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” 

    John 16:13

“However, when The Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all Truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come.”

BE STRONG

    Our strength is the joy we have in The God of our Salvation. If we are not a joyful people praising our God, then we are living a full and satisfactory life in Christ Jesus. Our tears soak the altar of our prayers; joy is our reward. 

    We know that "the joy of The Lord is our Strength". This is more than happiness in our salvation. It is a deeper walk with Christ. For in this walk, joy lands in the middle of our trials, and our walk is not hampered. 

    Strength in The Lord enables us to leap over walls meant to keep us out. Here we are surrounded by our enemies, and we are leaping, and walking, and praising God. Our enemies watch us and wonder. They torment us, persecute us, kill us for His Name's sake. And we rise up in worship and praise to and for our God.

    Our faith is not determined by a lack of struggles and trials, but by a magnitude of such things. We are, indeed, strong in The Lord. And together this body of Christ, His church, should be united in one common goal: preach the gospel message of salvation through Jesus Christ until the whole world hears. For it is then that Christ will return for His church. 

    Ready. Set. Go. 

Encourage & Edify Each Other in The Holy Spirit

 

1 Thessalonians 5:17

Therefore encourage and build one another up,

just as you are already doing.

    Ephesians 4:16 (AMP Bible)

 From Him the whole body [the church, in all its various parts], joined and knitted firmly together by what every joint supplies, when each part is working properly, causes the body to grow and mature, building itself up in [unselfish] love. 

    What causes the church, the body of Christ, to work properly? The Love of God must be present in each one of us. And this is only possible when each one of us has God's Holy Spirit thriving within our hearts and reflecting the Love of God--Jesus Christ--in our lives. 

    When we listen to The Spirit, we learn what is True and what is evil; what is Righteous and Holy, and what is unrighteous and unholy. We begin to discern what it is that God is revealing to us, when we read and study our Bibles every day. We learn to recognize God's Voice--The Holy Spirit of God--and we are filled with gratitude that God has given His Spirit to us. 

    When Isaiah speaks of Jesus in Isaiah 11, he declares six aspects of The Holy Spirit of God that will rest on The Branch (Jesus Christ): The Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding; The Spirit of Counsel and Strength; The Spirit of Knowledge and Fear of The Lord. 

    Wisdom imparts wisdom to us. Knowledge of The Holy Word of God comes from Him. We can memorize chapter and verse, but it is The Spirit of God that writes The Word of God on our hearts. 

    Understanding The Word of God is given us when we receive The Holy Spirit and allow Him to reveal to us what God wants us to know. Moment by moment, day to day; gradually, for we are not able in and of ourselves to know and understand 'all that God has prepared for us' [1 Corinthians 2:9]. 

    As our Counsel, He is also our Adviser and Advocate. "Walk The Way of Holiness" [Isaiah 35:8]; "Speak The Word that I give you in season" [Ecclesiastes 3:1-8; Philippians 1:14; 2 Timothy 4:2; 1 Peter 3:15]. It is He Who defends us when we are come against in our trials. And when we listen to Him, as one who listens to his lawyer (defender/counsel), we will always come out ahead, even if we have to suffer first for the sake of the gospel we proclaim. 

    He is our Spirit of Strength. The joy we have in our Savior and His salvation is only possible when we have The Spirit of God in us, calling us to Rejoice! in The Lord. Therefore, we can truly say, "The JOY of The LORD is My Strength!", just as Nehemiah declared to the Israelites after Ezra had finished reading The Law to them. A reading which took from daybreak until midday. And though The Word of God caused broken hearts and weeping, the day was holy to The Lord: celebration was called for. 

    The Spirit of Strength empowers the bearer to preach the gospel message of salvation through Jesus Christ to people who need to hear it. We do not preach to the stars, nor to forests and babbling brooks. Those things have no need of a Savior. We speak The Name of Jesus in The Love of God, with compassion, integrity and honor. 

    We speak Jesus with boldness, humility, and perseverance. We speak Grace of God with patience and faith, believing that God will have His Way in each soul with whom we share our faith in Christ and why we believe what we believe. 

    The Spirit of Knowledge draws us to The Word and imparts knowledge beyond our ken, then breaks it down and makes it possible for us to know and understand what our God wants us to know. Do you know that you know that you know that Jesus is your personal Lord and Savior? Beyond a shadow of a doubt? Are you born again through the blood of The Lamb into the family of God? 

    The Spirit of The Fear of The Lord trains the body of Christ to have a reverent attitude towards its Creator: our heavenly Father: GOD--The I AM THAT I AM. 

    When we read Psalm 19:9, we see that The Fear of The Lord is Pure. In Psalm 111:10 The Fear of The Lord is The Beginning of Wisdom. In Proverbs 1:7 The Fear of The Lord is The Beginning of Knowledge. In 2 Chronicles 17:10 The Fear of The Lord brings terror to Israel's enemies. In Proverbs 10:27 The Fear of The Lord prolongs life. 

    In Psalm 25:12 The one who fears The Lord is teachable. In Psalm 128:1 The one who fears The Lord and walks in His Ways is blessed. In Psalm 34:11 The Fear of The Lord can be taught to those who delight in life. 

    This is how we edify--build up--one another. This Spirit of God Who teaches us in The Ways of The Lord God speaks to our hearts and joins us together as the body of Christ. He is our Wisdom, our Teacher, our Friend. And He is preparing us, at the beginning of our walk, all through our walk, and into the end of our walk with Christ, for a greater glory than we could every imagine. 

    ENCOUNTER - Here Be Lions

Be Strong

 

Ephesians 6:10
Finally, be strong in The Lord [draw your strength from Him and be empowered through your union with Him] and in the power of His [boundless] might.

BE STRONG IN THE LORD

    I've been talking about strength-training for the last few days or so, so coming back to the BE verses should be fairly simple for me to do. I hope. Today we're encouraged to Be Strong. 

    The desert flower in this photo is called a Fairy Duster which grows in the Sonoran, Chihuahua, and Mojave deserts. And in The Domes in Milwaukee, WI, which is where I photographed it. 

    I'm using it because it appears fragile in nature, but is actually quite a strong flower. It thrives in desert heat, can withstand droughts once its roots are fully established, and needs only a minimal amount of water. It can reach a height of 1-5 feet and provides meals for birds, butterflies, and bees. Because it stands tall it also provides shelter from the heat and predators for desert wildlife. 

    Why do I bring all this up? We, the Christians, are the Fairy Dusters of the kingdom field in which we thrive. We, too, once our roots (our faith) is fully grafted into The Vine (Jesus Christ) are able to thrive and provide for those around us, as well. 

    We are strong in The Lord when The Lord is allowed to take root in us. Our faith is based on The Promises of God, which are many, but most especially on The Promise of Salvation and the indwelling power of The Holy Spirit when we believe on The Name of The Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation, our deliverance, and our sanctification. 

    It is not enough to believe this and then go about our daily lives as if nothing has changed within us. For should we surrender to the temptations of sin and continue to live a sin-filled lifestyle, then truly nothing did change within us. Our belief system is then flawed and we cannot be strong in The Lord, for sin still reigns within us. 

    Even if the other thief had said he believed, thinking that would benefit him, by the very words that came of out of his mouth, we know that his heart wasn't right, and his words would not have been received by The Lord. It is not just the words we speak, but the heart must believe that Jesus Christ is Lord; receive Him into their hearts and their lives; receive The Holy Spirit that He may empower them to live righteous and holy lives. 

    That is how we can Be Strong in The Lord and in The Power of His Might.  We must make a conscious decision to believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. We must be able to hear with our hearts and speak from the heart that Jesus Christ is Lord. An infant cannot make this decision. Only one who can testify to God's saving grace through Jesus Christ His Only Begotten Son can make the distinction between sin and grace, whether audibly or by sign. 

    Only then can we say, "I am strong in The Lord and The Power of His Might."

Amazing Grace - Undeserved Favor of God

 Psalm 27:9

Hide not Your face far from me; put not Your servant away in anger;

You have been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of My Salvation.

Jeremiah 10:24

Correct me, O LORD, but only with justice—not in Your anger, or You will bring me to nothing.

We are very thankful that our Lord does not mete out His wrath on us when we deserve it. That's Grace.

We are thankful that 'The Lord is My Helper' is more than just a Name or Title of our God. That He really is our Helper, helping us in this new life He has given us through the blood which He has shed on the cross, and the empty grave in which He once had lain. That's Grace, too.

He has promised to never leave us, nor forsake us. Grace.

Though we stumble or even fall, He picks us back up, stands us upright and guides us on this narrow path in which we walk. Grace.

God is with us in the beginning of our born-again life, remains with us as we remain faithful in our new life in Christ, and brings us through death's threshold into His eternal kingdom. Grace.

Psalm 30:5

For His anger endures but a moment; in His favor is Life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

This, too, is Grace.

❤

AMAZING GRACE

{John Newton-1779}

Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound

that saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found;

was blind, but now I see.

'Twas Grace that taught my heart to fear,

and grace my fears relieved;

how precious did that grace appear

the hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares,

I have already come;

'tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,

and grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me,

His word my hope secures;

He will my shield and portion be,

as long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,

and mortal life shall cease,

I shall possess, within the veil,

a life of joy and peace.

When we've been there ten thousand years,

bright shining as the sun,

we've no less days to sing God's praise

than when we first begun.

Fearlessness In Enemy Territory

 Psalm 27:1

Of David. The LORD is My Light and My Salvation—whom shall I fear? 

The LORD is The Stronghold of my life—whom shall I dread?

    When The Holy Spirit takes up residence in the believer, our whereabouts are revealed to us. We have been living in enemy territory for so long that we have become accustomed to this way of life and do not know any other way. 

    But God will not have His people living in darkness now that The Light of His Love and Salvation have taken up residence within them. God's Word reveals who our enemies are and where we have been living. It shows us The Way out is forward not backward. 

    Move forward we must, if we want to obtain the promises of God for ourselves. We are no longer a people lost in the darkness of our sins: we are a people seeking the kingdom of God, that we might receive the provision of God. We read our Bible with the intention of gaining divine wisdom that God's Holy Spirit can impart such wisdom into our hearts, where He has written The Word of God when we believed on The Name Above All Names--Jesus Christ--for our salvation. 

    We have a strong desire now to share this Good News with everyone we know, but fear raises its ugly head and threatens to bring us down if we continue to speak The Name of Jesus. Fear must flee. And it must take its companions with it: Dread and Doubt. Our hearts are filled with God's Son and God's Spirit now: there is absolutely no room left for fear. We are fearless.

FEARLESS 

When entering enemy territory:

Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for The LORD your God, He it is that does go with you; He will not fail you, nor forsake you. 

FEARLESS

Faith-based divine deliverance from the enemy:

1 Samuel 17:37

David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and The LORD be with you.

FEARLESS

Fear God and all other fears fall away:

Matthew 10:28

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

FEARLESS

When The Holy Spirit is at work in the believer, fear leaves; Love and a Sound Mind, the mind of Christ, empowers us to do that which God has called us to do. 

2 Timothy 1:7

For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

FEARLESS

We speak The Truth with boldness: we are ready to give an account of why we believe what we believe, in the face of opposition.

Acts 4:29

Now, Lord, behold (look on and act against) their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word. 
FEARLESS

False witnesses will rise up against us and testify that we have slandered The Lord God. People will be paid or coerced to condemn our work for The Lord. However, we will continue to proclaim the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ with our dying breath.

Read Acts 6:8-15 through Acts 7

Acts 6:13

They also set up false witnesses who said, “This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law."

FEARLESS

Through faith we accomplish God's purpose for our lives. Fear would keep us down and back, but fearlessness keeps us moving forward that we may grasp hold of the promises of God.

Hebrews 11:33, 34 (AMP Bible)

Who by faith [that is, with an enduring trust in God and His promises] subdued kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promised blessings, closed the mouths of lions, extinguished the power of [raging] fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became mighty and unbeatable in battle, putting enemy forces to flight.

Deuteronomy 28:7

The LORD will cause the enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you. They will march out against you in one direction but flee from you in seven.

Joshua 23:10

One man of you shall chase a thousand: for The LORD your God,He it is that fights for you, as He has promised you.

FEAR &  DREAD UPON OUR ENEMIES

Exodus 15:16

Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of  Your arm they shall be as still as a stone; till Your people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, whom You have purchased.

WE ARE THE LORD'S PURCHASE & WE ARE FEARLESS

1 Corinthians 6:20

For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

1 Corinthians 7:23

You were bought with a price [a precious price paid by Christ]; do not become slaves to men [but to Christ].

FEARLESS - Jasmine Murray

Warrior of The Word - You Teach My Hands to War

 

Psalm 144:1

Blessed be The Lord,

My Strength, [My Rock],

Who teaches my hands to war,

and my fingers to fight.

    The LORD MY Strength. He is MY Rock: Immovable and Unchanging. Rock-steady, never wavering. Someone on Whom I can rely. Someone Whose Name is high above all other names. Someone I can trust, fully and faithfully. ALL GLORY, ALl HONOR, ALL PRAISE to THE LORD. 

    Strength training is the main purpose given here in this verse. Repeated exercises which strengthen the hands and the arms enable a person to raise heavy weaponry, especially for physical combat. [I have never been in the military; I've just studied it a bit.] But David learned early in his adult life how to transition from sheepherder to warrior. 

    He had to learn how to defend himself from people who wanted him dead. And when he became king, this training helped him keep Judah safe and secure. 

    2 Samuel 22:35

He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

    Psalm 18:34

He teaches my hands to make war, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 

HE TEACHES MY HANDS

    Having surrendered my whole life to The Lord for Him to live through, my hands at this keyboard or holding a pen, have become His weapons. Instead of writing self-serving words I now write words that bring Him glory and honor. My heart belongs to The Lord, and therefore whatever The Spirit speaks to my heart, I want to write down that I may remember better The Word that has been given, whether that Word is in Bible Study or songwriting.

    Our hands, fingers, arms and shoulders are all involved in strength training. The Lord builds us up into mighty warriors through our daily obedience to His Word. The more of Him that is in us, the less there is of us in us. The weaknesses gradually leave the body as The Strength of The Lord takes hold. 

    We are able to overcome our enemies through our faith in our Lord God. We follow Him into battle willingly, ready to even lay down our lives for His Name's sake. There are many in the Bible who put their faith in action in battle. Hebrews 11:32-35 names a few of them in the Hall of Faith. And they trained for it. 

    Gideon was an unlikely defender of the faith. He was not only the youngest in his family, his clan was the weakest (poorest) of the tribes.  Like all of us, he questioned his ability to do that which The Lord is calling him to do: go into battle and defeat the enemy. "I Am with you" is all the armor any of us need. That and an obedient heart. 

    Whom The Lord calls into battle, He will arm and train. Bent knees or prostrated before The Lord in prayer and submission to His will, His call. Hands folded and fingers interlocked build an altar and recognize Him as LORD. The heart cries out when the voice cannot speak. The heart receives The Word of The Lord when the ears cannot. It is obedience and faithfulness to The Word of God that drives us to be teachable students in the art of spiritual warfare. 

    Whether we are poor in life or poor in spirit matters not when God calls us to do something. We apply the word "only" in our self-description. I am "only" this or "only" that: how can God use me to advance His kingdom? We've all said it at some point in our walk with Christ. 

    We step out in faith. That first step is the hardest to take, but the first step makes it possible to take the second, then the third, and so on and so forth. Soon we are not even aware of our walk, as it has not only become second nature, it is normal now to be obedient to The Lord. And awful to be disobedient. Doubt not. Fear not. Get up, mighty warrior, and rise above the enemy of your faith. 

    THE LORD MY STRENGTH

    Without the strength of The Lord, there would be no battle, for we would have lost before we had even begun. Therefore, the strength of The Lord is vital before every combat begins. We need Jesus living in us, His Holy Spirit living in us, to be our Strength. It is faith in Christ, believing that what God says is absolute Truth, that causes us to bring our hands together to clap in worship, to advance in prayer. 

    Exodus 15:2

"The LORD is My Strength and Song, and He is become My Salvation: He is My God, and I will prepare Him a habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt Him."

    Psalm 28:7

"The LORD is My Strength and My Shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him."

    Our strength is rooted securely in The Lord. It does not waver (doubt), nor does our faith bend to include other religions or religious factors in it. The Strength of The Lord in the believer's life is the joy we have in the shared, intimate, personal relationship we have with our LORD (YHWH {The Creator of The Covenant Relationship]) and SAVIOR (Redeemer {The One Who Redeems our souls from the hands of the enemy of our souls}). 

    Christians who are faithful in their walk with Christ are only able to do so because they (we) believe God when He speaks, even The Written Word of God in our Bibles. His Word if Faithful and True because He is Faithful and True. God is the first promise-keeper, whether the promises of God are for blessing or for condemnation, His promises are never compromise, but always righteous.

    THE LORD MY ROCK

    Psalm 18:2

"The LORD is My Rock, and My Fortress, and My Deliverer; My God, My strength, in Whom I will trust; My Buckler, and The Horn of My Salvation, and My High Tower."

    The Lord is a personal God. Before we can join together in His community, each of us must make a decision to believe God and follow God's Son Jesus Christ. If you can say that The Lord God is your God, then you know that He is already your Rock, your Fortress, your Deliverer, your God, your strength, The One you trust, your buckler, The Horn of your salvation, and your High Tower. 

    The Lord My Rock is a Mighty Fortress, The One on Whom we rely, The One we turn to when trouble is overwhelming. The One we run to when calamity strikes. The One Who saves us, delivers us, shields us, surrounds us, stabilizes us. He is immovable.

    With such a Rock-Steady foundation under us, around us, above us and within arm's reach of us, we are able to remain within His embrace, yet still go forth and conquer with these hand and fingers He has given us. 

    We are prayer warriors and we fight our battles on our knees with our Lord and Savior doing the heavy work in this battle. After all, the victory is already ours and the way through is The Way of the cross, The Way of the empty grave, The Way of Holiness. I've read the end of The Book and we win. Victory in Jesus is ours!

TAKE MY LIFE  by Scott Underwood

     

    

     

Judgment Begins At The House of God

 

Habakkuk 2:19
Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ or to silent stone, ‘Arise!’ Can it give guidance? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.”

Jeremiah 2:26, 27

26. As the thief is ashamed when he is caught, so the house of Israel is disgraced. They, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets
27. Saying to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ And to a stone, ‘You gave birth to me.’ For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face. But in the time of their trouble They will say, ‘Arise and save us.’

Psalm 115:4-8
4. Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
5. They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see;
6. they have ears, but cannot hear; they have noses, but cannot smell;
7. they have hands, but cannot feel; they have feet, but cannot walk; they cannot even clear their throats.
8. Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.