The LORD is Merciful - Psalm 103

 

PSALM 103:8

The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plentiful in mercy.

James 5:11

See how blessed we consider those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen the outcome from the Lord. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

Compassion: according to the Bible, means full of mercy. It is an accusative term applied to God's love, which He extends to us. Not accusatory, but accusative, which is, according to the dictionary: relating to or denoting a case of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives that expresses the object of an action or the goal of motion. And what is the object of God's action or goal of motion: GOD IS LOVE (1 John 4:15-17). In His great love, He sent us His only begotten Son by wrapping His WORD in flesh and having It go through life like any other person....almost. For Christ is sinless, the only Person who never sinned against GOD. How could He? He was, and is GOD. An amazing feat which only GOD could accomplish!

    Here, both David and James write that God is reminding us that He shows us mercy, great mercy, and grace. The gods in the areas in which David and James lived were not. The gods being worshiped in those days are still being worshiped today. Yet, GOD is still extending His mercy towards us. 

    Our God is slow to anger (longsuffering, which is more than just being patient).  It's been nearly 2,000 years, since Christ ascended into heaven to be with His Father. That's more than patient; that length of time is, indeed, longsuffering. He has put up with people ignoring Him, mocking Him, hating Him, betraying Him, loving, then leaving Him. And, yet, GOD extends His mercy out into all the world. 

    Though every heart will not receive His Truth by their own choice, God being love, flows out into all the world like a winding stream, touching every person even if they refuse to be loved by GOD. Please don't be that person. GOD loves you and wants only the best for you. How do we know that? John 3:16,17 "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. For GOD sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."

    Again, in 1 John 4:15-17 - If anyone confesses that Jesus is The Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. GOD IS LOVE; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him. In this way, love has been perfected among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment; for in this world we are just like Him. 

    The 'we' James is referring to is the believers, the ones who have confessed that Jesus Christ is The Son of God. Paul wrote in Romans 10:9, 10 "That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved." 

    This is the mercy which GOD extends to us all. This great and wonderful mercy is mine. Is it yours, too? 

THE CROSS - Anne Wilson & Chris Tomlin 

The Lord Is -- January

 

CHEMDAH GOY

DESIRE OF NATIONS

Haggai 2:7

And I will shake all nations, and the Desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.

ALETHINOS THEOS AIONIOS ZOE

TRUE GOD AND ETERNAL LIFE

1 John 5:20

And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true: and we are in Him who is true--in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the TRUE God and Eternal Life.

THEOS PHOS

GOD IS LIGHT

1 John 1:5

And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you: God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

THEOS AGAPE

GOD IS LOVE

1 John 4:16

And we have come to know Him and believe the Love that God has for us. God is Love; whoever abides in Love abides in God, and God in him.

THEOS PISTOS

GOD IS FAITHFUL

1 Corinthians 1:9

God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is Faithful.

The LORD Is ---- Month of September

 

HILASMOS

ATONING SACRIFICE

1 John 2:2

He Himself is the Atoning Sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 

1 John 4:10

And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 3:25

God presented Him as the atoning sacrifice through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand.

Hebrews 2:17

For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, in order to make atonement for the sins of the people.

THEOS PYR KATANALISKO

OUR GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE

Hebrews 12:29

For our God is a Consuming Fire.

Exodus 24:17

And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the mountaintop in the eyes of the Israelites.

Deuteronomy 4:24

For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Psalm 97:3

Fire goes before Him and consumes His foes on every side.

Isaiah 30:27

Behold, the Name of the LORD comes from afar, with burning anger and dense smoke. His lips are full of fury, and His tongue is like a consuming fire.

Isaiah 33:16

The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling grips the ungodly: “Who of us can dwell with a consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting flames?”

How, indeed, can anyone live in the presence of everlasting flames?

Romans 10:13

For “everyone who calls on the Name of the LORD will be saved.” 

KURIOS PISTOS

THE LORD IS FAITHFUL

2 Thessalonians

But the LORD is faithful, and He will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.

1 Corinthians1:9

God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is Faithful.

1 Corinthians 10:13

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is Faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

1 Peter 5:10

And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore you, secure you, strengthen you, and establish you.

YESHUA OZ ADONAI YHVH

The Lord God Is My Salvation & Strength

Psalm 140:7

O GOD the Lord,

the Strength of my Salvation,

You shield my head in

the day of battle.

Ephesians 6:17

And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 

KEY HOLDER

 

Revelation 1:17-18
  When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. And He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last [absolute Deity, the Son of God], and the Ever-living One [living in and beyond all time and space]. I died, but see, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of [absolute control and victory over] death and of Hades (the realm of the dead)."

John 11:25
Jesus said to her, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in (adheres to, trusts in, relies on) Me [as Savior] will live even if he dies."

Romans 6:9 
For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has dominion over Him.

  

Romans 14:9

For this reason Christ died and returned to life, that He might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

1 Thessalonians 5:9-10

For God has not appointed us to suffer wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.

Several keys are mentioned in the Bible. For instance, Isaiah writes about the Key to the House of David, a key of Authority and Power, which was taken from the one wearing it and given to another. Now, Christ has this key: Revelation 3:7 "These are the words of the Holy One, the True One, He who has the key [to the house] of David, He who opens and no one will [be able to] shut, and He who shuts and no one opens."

There are the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven: Matthew 16:19 "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.", which Jesus gives to His followers. (TBD at a later date)

There is the Key of Knowledge in Luke 11:52.

The Key to the Abyss, the bottomless pit in Revelation 9:1.

All of these keys are keys of authority and power. The one who holds them wields in justice and truth, because they are God-given keys; God is Truth and Love, He holds ALL Power and ALL Authority. He determines which doors open or shut and when. Daniel 2:21-God determines the seasons and years; God sets up kings and takes kings down; God gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. Romans 13:1 and James 5.

Now we know that the only begotten Son of God holds ALL these keys, as well. He has been given by God the Father ALL Authority to rule His kingdom as He Will. 

John 5:21

"For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wishes."

Not only is He the Key Holder, He is also the Way & the Door: 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 10:9 "I am the Door; anyone who enters through Me will be saved [and will live forever], and will go in and out [freely], and find pasture (spiritual security)."

Let me tell you, you who doubt and do not believe: the day is coming when you will no longer doubt, nor will you hold to unbelief. Whether on this side of eternity or the other you will acknowledge that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD. For God has said in Isaiah 45:23 "By Myself I have sworn; truth has gone out from My mouth, a word that will not be revoked: Every knee will bow before Me, every tongue will swear allegiance." and again in Philippians 2:9-11 "Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." 

Again, in Romans 14:11 "It is written: “As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before Me; every tongue will confess to God.” 

We who confess on this side of eternity also bow and acknowledge that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD. But we are not forced to do so. We do confess and acknowledge His Authority because we love Him who first loved us: 1 John 4:19 "We love him, because he first loved us." 

We are not afraid to die for His name's sake. Matthew 10:28 "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell." Just a reminder that JESUS CHRIST holds the Keys to death and hell. Which side of the Door do you want to be on? 

Escapism Isn't

 2 Timothy 3:1-5 

1. But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come. 
2. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money , boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 
3. unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good,
4. traitorous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 
5. having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!

Anything or anyone that captivates a person's attention away from the Word of God is destructive to a person. The word captive can be used as both a noun: 

• A prisoner
• A person who is enslaved or dominated

and an adjective:

• Made or held prisoner
• Kept in confinement or restraint
• Enslaved by love, beauty, etc.

Captive, therefore, means:

• To attract and hold the attention thereof
• To enchant
• To capture, to subjugate (to bring under complete control, to master, to conquer; to make subservient, enslave

     You may say that every decade has its problems and you would be half right. But it has been centuries since Jesus went back to heaven to prepare a place for us and His return is always imminent.           Therefore, since He left people have been living in the last days. These last days are the days leading up to His return. Even the last hour. 

1 John 2:17-18 "The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever. Little children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen, whereby we know that it is the last hour."

     We need to recognize that what separates us from God now will be the very thing that separates us from God then: sin. Everything named in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 is sin; these things separate a person from a right relationship with God. 

     We see the results of such sins even more so as the counting of days ends and the counting of hours before Christ's return draws near. All of these sins have kept people away from God's presence, have kept people away from prayer with Him, have kept people away. Period. 

We are made aware of this immediately: 

• Terrible Times will come: difficult days, dangerous days, furious days; days of weakness and reduced strength
• Lovers of Themselves: self-loving, selfish
• Lovers of Money: avaricious, greedy, covetousness
• Boastful: one who gives one's self airs in a loud and flaunting way
• Arrogant: proud, disdainful, haughty
• Abusive: blasphemous, slanderous, evil-speaking
• Disobedient to their parents: who will not be persuaded, contumacious: willfully and obstinately disobedient, stubbornly perverse or rebellious
• Ungrateful: ungraceful, unthankful, unpleasing
• Unholy: wicked, profane
• Unloving: devoid of affection, hardhearted towards kindred
• Unforgiving: without libation (without truce, without covenant); implacable (unable to please or placate, unyielding)
• Slanderous: accusing falsely, unjustly criticizing to malign and condemn, accuser, backbiter; malicious, false, defamatory statement or report; calumny: a false and malicious statement designed to injure the reputation of someone or something
• Without self-control: powerless, impotent, lacking self-control, inclined to excess: without self-discipline nor self-restraint; unable to have power over one's self
• Brutal: not tame, fierce, savage
• Without love of good: not loving that which is good; a hater of that which is good; someone who is hostile to the things of God
• Traitorous: betrayer; treacherous: faithlessness, untrustworthy, unreliable; perfidious: deliberately faithless, deceitful
• Reckless: headlong: hasty, without deliberation (careful consideration before decision); impulsive, rash
• Conceited: foolish; having a cloudy (muddled) mindset-moral blindness resulting from poor judgment which brings further loss of spiritual perception; having an exceptionally favorable opinion of one's abilities, appearance, etc.
• Lovers of pleasure: strong desire, sensuous pleasure that is pleasing only to self, self-gratification; the satiation of bodily desires at the expense of others. Rather then Lovers of God: God-loving, friend of God
• Having a form of godliness but denying Its power: external appearance, resemblance, looks like the real thing but isn't

     Escaping from God's presence now is escaping from God's presence in eternity. Whether the choice is made to believe or not, it is still a personal choice that each of us makes. There is no one to blame but us.

     When we recognize ourselves, our actions in any one of these descriptions, we must turn to God, repent of our wicked ways and seek His forgiveness, which He will surely give to the repentant heart. His Word will enter into us and begin to change us into the person we were created to be. His Spirit will mold us and transform us by God's power. 

     Nothing we can do will change us. Nothing we say will transform us from sinners to sinners saved by grace except belief in the Name of Jesus Christ, the Living Word of God. 

     What is our defense against God's judgment on sin except Jesus Christ? 

    What is our hope and expectation of God except His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world? 

     The Lord Is My Hope and My Salvation. Is He yours?

     Now is the time to get on our knees and pray. Don't fret about the words coming out of your mouth. God wants to hear our hearts not our words.

The Green Fir Tree

 

Hosea 14:8

"..... I am like a green fir tree, from Me is your fruit found.'

God is the source of all our blessings and benefits. We are to turn to no other entity in prayer for communion with wood/crystals/metals/nature cannot answer our prayers, cannot speak with us. 

God created the universe and everything in it but the universe cannot communicate with us either. Only in God can we find everything our heart desires for He is our desire.

When we grasp hold of His outreached hand and cling to Him, He will take us with Him wherever He goes. 

But why does He compare Himself to a green fir tree? The fir/juniper/cypress tree is home to birds, who nest in their branches or use their needles for nest building. It's shadow spreads across the land and covers all who live under it, not just draw near for shelter from the heat of the day. 

Psalm 91:1

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 

Both Israel and the Church are God's extension of Himself to a lost and dying people who need saving, saving on God's terms. We are not here to judge each other's sins, nor to condemn each other for sin. John 3:17

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

As representatives of Christ we are to be like Christ. God is Judge, we are not. We are the body of Christ: His hands, His feet, His eyes, His heart, etc. With our hands we hold, with our arms we cradle or embrace, with our legs we stand and lift, with our eyes we see what He sees, with our heart we love with His love.

John 13:34

A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.

Only then will our families, our friends, our strangers and our enemies know that there is, indeed, a God who loves them. We are not to hate each other, for in hate there is no love; therefore the love of God cannot be extended to another when it is not in us in the first place.

1 John 4:20

If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

We cannot love each other properly unless we have the Holy Spirit, for it is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that our love is truly an extension of God's love and mercy towards all of us. Think of Him as being the sap in the fir tree.  God is the Gardener: He not only created the Tree, He planted it. Christ is the Trunk. We are the branches. 

Love Notes August 3 thru August 8

MONDAY
AUGUST 3

LOVE NOT THE WORLD (structure)

1 John 2:15

Do not love the world or anything in the world.

If anyone loves the world, the Love of the Father is not in him.

The world, in this context, refers to the world system, the moral structure of how the world works.

When we give our love to the world structure instead of to the Father to whom this love is due, then the Love of the Father is not in us.

Loving the world in this factor means we are embracing worldly values, our hearts are skewed.

We must turn back to God the Father and repent of this wickedness before it is too late to turn.

TUESDAY

AUGUST 4

WORLDLY DESIRES (ARE) FROM THE WORLD

WEDNESDAY 

AUGUST 5

WORLD PASSING

THURSDAY

AUGUST 6

THE LAST HOUR

THE LAST HOUR

1 John 2:18

Children, it is the last hour, and just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. This is how we know that it is the last hour.

We are not living in the last days, as many are living their lives under that illusion. We are living in the last hour, as the apostle so clearly stated when he wrote this epistle so long ago.

While the abomination of desolation who will declare himself god and dare to sit on the throne in the temple that is being built, many who disbelieve God's Word Is True make varying antichrist claims:

> there is no god

> there is no sin

> there is neither heaven nor hell, therefore this life is all there is

> I can do what I want without repercussion or consequences

> money is power

> the Bible is just a book of fairy tales

> my good deeds will gain me entrance into heaven, if there is one

The above list is just an example of antichrist beliefs, but what was true when the Bible was written is true today. For the Word of God is Alive and powerful. It never changes.

FRIDAY

AUGUST 7

UNDEARLY DEPARTED

UNDEARLY DEPARTED

1 John 2:19

They went out from us, but they did not belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But their departure made it clear that none of them belonged to us.

John is speaking of wolves in sheep's clothing. People who appear to be Christians, but actually are not.

2 John 1:7

For many deceivers have gone out into the world, refusing to confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.

1 John 4:2-3

By this you will know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,

and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and is already in the world at this time.

These antichrist speakers and teachers were never a part of the body of Christ, though their words and actions appeared to make them Christians, eventually the distorted truths they were speaking in the church were revealed and they had to leave.

How do we recognize antichrist people? By knowing the Word of God. By asking the Author, God, to reveal Himself to us when we read it. And believing that what His Word says is Truth. Unfallible, undeniable divine TRUTH.

John 3:16

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.

Romans 10:13

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

1 Corinthians 1:18

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

SATURDAY

AUGUST 8

ANOINTED BY GOD

Love Notes-July 20 thru Aug 1

(due to a recent bout of being confined to bed, the post dates are adjusted, as posts on other social media were re-posts)

MONDAY

JULY 20

OLD COMMAND IS THE WORD

TUESDAY

JULY 21

TRUE LIGHT

MONDAY

JULY 27
STILL IN THE DARK

1 John 2:9

If we claim to be in the Light and hate someone, 
we are still in the dark.
Why? Because Jesus Christ is the Light. And if we are in Christ as we claim to be, we will not hate each other but Love each other..
Why? Because God Is Love and Jesus Christ is God's Love extended to people everywhere in every time. The Son could only do what The Father asked Him to do and only say what The Father asked Him to say.

We need this Light and this Love in our hearts and our lives. Not a little bit, but a whole lot. And not later, but right now.

TUESDAY

JULY 28

LOVE ABIDES IN THE LIGHT

WEDNESDAY

JULY 29

WALKING BLINDLY

THURSDAY

JULY 30

SINS FORGIVEN THROUGH HIS NAME

FRIDAY

JULY 31
WRITING TO REMIND

SATURDAY

AUGUST 1

WRITTEN TO OVERCOMERS

1 John 1:1
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have gazed upon and touched with our own hands--this is the Word of Life.
Ephesians 6:10
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.

Love Notes July 6 thru July 11

MONDAY
JULY 6

WATCHFUL HEART

WATCHFUL HEART

1 JOHN 5:21

Little children (of God), keep yourselves (watch, be alert to) from idols (idol worship, false teachings, false doctrine).

Proverbs 4:23

Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.

1 Corinthians 6:16

What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell (live with, abide) with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.”

What is an idol? Anything or anyone we put before God.

Exodus 20:3-6

(3) You shall have no other gods before Me.

(4) You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath. (5) You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, (6) but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

How do I keep myself from listening to and obeying false teachings and lying spirits?

Psalm 119:11

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Romans 10:8-13

(8) But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: (9) that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (10) For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.(11) It is just as the Scripture says: “Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.” (12) For there is no difference between Jew and Greek: The same Lord is Lord of all, and gives richly to all who call on Him, (13) for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

TUESDAY 

JULY 7

COUNTERFEIT CHRISTIAN

COUNTERFEIT CHRISTIAN

1 John 1:6

If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do no the Truth.

They who say they are Christ-followers but do not live a transformed life are lying. They appear to be Christians, but their hearts do not have Christ living there.

In order to know the difference, we need to KNOW THE WORD.

TRUTH: REAL TRUTH, DIVINE TRUTH, TRUTH AS OPPOSED TO ILLUSION

For in the darkness there are two lights. The Light of The Love of God, Jesus Christ, Who shines through His people. And the light of the anti-Christ, who seeks to lead people astray by lying to them. It is the lesser light, but shines brightly to those who choose not to obey God, but have resisted Him and turned away.

Today, search your hearts and ask God to reveal Himself to you so plainly that you KNOW this is GOD speaking to you.

WEDNESDAY 

JULY 8

WALK IN THE LIGHT

THURSDAY

JULY 9

DECEIVE OURSELVES

FRIDAY

JULY 10

SIN IS UNRIGHTEOUSNESS

SATURDAY

JULY 11

SINFUL HEART LIES