Guard Your Heart - - Guard Your Marriage

 

Malachi 2:15

Has not the LORD made them one, having a portion of the Spirit? And why one? Because He seeks godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. 

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 898

Break Faith: to deal treacherously with, betray, deceive

From the Hebrew word 'bagad' (pronounced baw-gad'): to be unfaithful, to depart.

    Before the flood the sons of God, the men who followed God, turned from God's ways and God's Word to go after the daughters of men, men who worshiped gods they had created. They polluted themselves and their worship was unacceptable to God. They brought destruction on themselves and their families by bringing idolatry into their tents, their homes. 

    They were unfaithful to both God and to their wives. For it is God who ordains the marriage covenant having set it up from the beginning. God created Adam. Then from Adam God created Eve. This joined them together: bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh. Created from a rib near Adam's heart was Eve. Her he would love forever. He loved her so much he disobeyed God when he, too, ate from the forbidden tree. He was unfaithful to God and by disobeying God, Adam was unfaithful to Eve, as well. Who knows how God would have reacted had it been only Eve who disobeyed. 

    We, as God's peculiar people, set apart for Himself, set apart in His love by His love, are to be faithful to God, to His Word in His Spirit. We, the born again believers, the church, the saved Gentiles and the saved Jews, are created in Christ to be the bride of the bridegroom. And in this union we are to create godly offspring: by our witness and our testimony other people will hear the Word we speak, see the works which we do, and glorify God by coming into this union as well. What a miracle of Life that is! Life Eternal. 

    Unfaithfulness begins in the eye. Genesis 6:2 "That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose." Men of God, men who were serving the Lord, took their eyes off of the God who chose them to be His people and turned their eyes to women who served created gods, gods created by their fathers; they married them and had children with them. They broke faith with the God of their people and whored themselves out to the gods of other people. 

    As God's people, faithfulness is required of us. In our hearts, in our homes/families, in our churches/sanctuaries we are to honor God. We are meant to be different from the world, separated from the way in which the world works (1 Peter 2:9). We are created to worship God and Him only (Exodus 20:1-6). We worship with our hearts, with our spirit, with our bodies (Romans 12:1, 2). 

    Our eyes are to be focused on His Word. Our ears are to be open to His voice. Our hands are to do His work. Our feet are to walk in His way. Our hearts are to be filled with His love, to operate in the Love of God: forgiving even when forgiveness is not asked for or seems to be beyond the scope of forgiveness: for we who know we have been forgiven much by our God must genuinely forgive those who have sinned against us. 

    We worship God with everything we have within us for HE IS OUR GOD and there is no room for any other in our hearts. The LORD joys over His people with singing (Zephaniah 3:17). The LORD delights in the people who fear (revere) Him. We take refuge in The LORD GOD (Psalm 91:1, 2). 

    Psalm 128 tells us that a man who fears the Lord will be blessed in honoring and loving his wife. Their children will be many and the LORD will bless them from Zion, from the hill of His sanctuary, from the mountain of blessings God will bless the man who fears Him and remains faithful in his heart and his life to his God and his wife. 

    Let our eyes not wander, nor our hearts, that we may be found of the LORD in His Word, walking in the Way of Holiness and living a righteous life in His Spirit. 

LET THIS HEART NOT WANDER by Young Oceans

MADE FOR JESUS by John Mark Pantana

I AM YOUR BELOVED by Jonathan David Helser, Melissa Helser

MY REFUGE by Rivers & Robots

IN YOUR MIDST by Allie Paige

ABIDE IN ME by Andrew Marcus

    

The Lord Is - - December 2022

 

SHEMESH TSEDAQAH

(pronounced sheh-mesh) 

SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

Malachi 4:1, 2

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”

"But for you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in His wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy, like calves let out to pasture."

Psalm 84:11

For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.

Luke 1:78

Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us.

SHILOH

(pronounced shee-lo')

HE WHOSE IT IS

Genesis 49:10

The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between His feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is His.

This is a Messianic title, for everything belongs to Him. 

Psalm 60:7

Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim is My helmet, Judah is My scepter.

Psalm 72:8

He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.

Isaiah 2:2

And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

John 1:3

Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made.

PHOSPHOROS

(pronounced foce-for'-os)

MORNING STAR

2 Peter 1:19

We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts.

Psalm 119:105

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

John 9:5

As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.

John 1:4

In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men.

2 Corinthians 4:6

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

YAAQOB KOKAB

(pronounced  yah-ak-obe' ko-kawb')

STAR OF JACOB

Numbers 24:17

I shall see Him, but not now: I shall behold Him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.

Matthew 2:2

asking, "Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him."

Intelligent Worship -- Honor God -- Part 6

 Intelligent Worship Brings Us Into The Presence of God. We Honor God. 

How do we Honor God? 

Proverbs 3:9

Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your harvest. 

In the Berean Study Bible the word 'wealth' is used. In the King James Version, the word 'substance' is used. In the New King James Version it says 'possessions'. They all mean the same thing. 

The word 'harvest' can also mean 'crops, income, revenue.' What do we learn from this? God requires us to willingly and obediently give Him the first portion of our income. We call this tithing. 

Leviticus 27:30, 32 “One-tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain from the fields or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD and must be set apart to him as holy. --- Every tenth animal from the herd or flock that passes under the shepherd’s rod will be holy to the LORD." 

This is where we get that ten percent that we give to our church. A mere fraction of what God has given us. But we don't have to stop at just one tenth of our income. When the Spirit moves over the heart, we become more generous with our wealth, our possessions, our income. This is called a "Love Offering" and can be given to one's church and/or given as a donation into another's ministry: such as Missionary Support, or a nonprofit that also honors God with their works. 

How else do we Honor God? 

Malachi 3:16

At that time those who feared the LORD spoke with one another, and the LORD listened and heard them. So a scroll of remembrance was written before Him regarding those who feared the LORD and honored His name.

We Honor God's Name when we think about Him. Philippians 4:8 tells us how to think about God:

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Psalm 10:4

The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

Psalm 20:7

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.

Psalm 94:19

In the multitude of my thoughts (anxieties) within me Thy comforts delight my soul.

First we see the results of not thinking, not honoring, God with our thoughts. Then we see that as a result of thinking about God, we remember His Name in our troubles and He comforts us with Himself. 

The Lord Is, indeed, My Shepherd. 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,  for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

How do we Honor God with our bodies? 

Romans 12:1, 2 is a good place to start.

Therefore I exhort you, brothers, through the compassions of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy to God, well-pleasing, which is your reasonable (logical) service. 

And do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, for you to prove what is the good and well-pleasing and perfect will of God. 

Here we learn that we are to give more than mere possessions and the wealth of our bank accounts; we are to give God our bodies: willingly, obediently to His service. When we do this, and we may have to do it often for we fail Him at times, we give God all of what makes us who we are. 

We Honor God when we give Him our talents and abilities, the very things He has blessed us with and created within us. We Honor God when we give Him our desires, our self-will and our me attitude. These things get converted into His desires, His will and embrace His mercies into our thoughts that our attitudes submit obediently to His Word. 

His Word is Honest, Faithful, True. His Word is Alive. His Word fills our souls and overflows within us. His Word strengthens us in our weaknesses. His Word. We Honor God when we read His Word, study His Word, take His Word into our hearts and minds and souls. We Honor God when we believe His Word, trust His Word, embrace His Word. 

We Honor God with the works of our hands. We Honor God with our feet, choosing wise destinations. We Honor God with our eyes, endeavoring to see what He wants us to see. We Honor God with our ears, hearing and listening to only what glorifies Him. We Honor God with our every being, reaching out to Him and following close behind Him, that we not lose our way. 

We Honor God. And God is glorified with our honor. 

Blessed Tithers

MALACHI 3:10, 12
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.

All blessings from God come with prerequisites. In order for God's people to receive this blessing, their tithes had to be put into God's storehouse, the treasury room in the sanctuary.
When this is done properly, God opens the windows of heaven and pours out a blessing upon His chosen and called people.
ISAIAH 44:3
"For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, 
And floods upon the dry ground:
I will pour out My Spirit upon thy seed,
And My blessing upon thine offspring."

Then every nation will see that this holy nation is Blessed of the LORD. 
This is the last Blessing Of God that we see in the Old Testament.