We Live In Hope.

Php 3:12  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. 

Why did Jesus, why did a God take on flesh and live in a world of sin and sinners? Most people would answer that Jesus did that so He could save us. Jesus sacrificed Himself when He of all humans did not deserve to die. Jesus tasted the agonies of death, the full separation from His declared Father and knew the darkness of non-existence. Jesus did that so all who would accept His sacrifice would never need know the full separation from God, the declared Father. The people who would answer in this way would be correct. Jesus made a sacrifice of Himself because of the love that He is, and the love that He has for His creatures. Jesus did not want there to be hopelessness in the earthly life of His creatures. Jesus wanted to bring the good news to His creatures. That good news was and is, that they have hope. Hope for what? Hope for the kingdom of heaven, hope for eternity in love with God the Father and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  The hope, the exact same hope Jesus personally came to earth to give to His creatures is the same hope spoken of after mankind's fall into sin. The sin creature would suffer a fatal blow.

Gen 3:14  And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 

Gen 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 

This was hope given to the first pair of sinners.  They weren't to be left without hope and throughout history we've been given hope.

The prize we reach for, that which Jesus calls us to hope for is real. Heaven is not a gift given to each person upon their birth, or even their conception. We are not guaranteed a place in heaven. There are the wicked who will never see heaven, who have no home in heaven at all. Just writing that was a tiny bit contrary to me, I want everyone to have the hope of heaven. In truth, everyone does have that HOPE, but not all are going to avail themselves of the hope and this is a fact. Heaven is attainable through Christ Jesus our Savior, this is the hope we have.  Jesus would have us deliver this hope through our lives to others. We have a hope we long for, and Jesus has given us this hope. We strive for a prize even as we comprehend it is a journey fraught with dangers. We are not without sin, we are with hope. We despise sin with all our being even as it calls to us with its seductive tones unique to us all trying to capture us and turn us from our hope. We will die daily to our sin, and rise daily in the hope of Christ and His perfection.

We must don our spiritual armor as we war against principalities and powers, rulers of darkness, unseen foes who wield their wickedness in the most unexpected sinister deceptive ways. Around every corner, each turn, every step we take we are walking on the enemy's ground but we do have ARMOR. We do have a WEAPON. We do have a SHIELD. These are our protection from being drawn away from the hope, from the path, from the race, from our goal which is to live for our God, to live for our Savior, to live with the Holy Spirit.

Battles will occur and we can't make the mistake of thinking the battle means we are without hope.  The battle happens because we have hope. Is it any wonder Paul could proclaim that he counted it all joy when he was in battle against the spiritual forces arrayed against him? The joy came from knowing he was fighting for the prize and that meant hope of attaining the prize. Where there is defeat in this race there is despair, there is no hope, there is a giving up, a surrender to evil. Where there is hope we fight on, and on, and on clinging to the cross of our Savior, knowing He fought this battle and He won!

As we are apprehended of Christ Jesus we apprehend hope in Him. We live in hope. All by HIS grace and love!

Help Me to Know You Lord.

Php 3:8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 

Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 

Php 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 

The knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, this is what is life. Life in the beginning, life now, and life everlasting.

1Jn_5:20  And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

1Jn_2:3  And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

1Jn_2:4  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

Help me to know You, Lord, help me to know you.

What is the Abundance of Your Heart?

My wicked, wicked tongue! Unbridled, wild, untamed, evil, full of poison- this is my tongue!

Be careful what you wish for, you've all heard that before. Why do you need to be careful? Because sometimes what you wish for is given to you and it turns out to put you in a situation you aren't particularly fond of being in.  Have you heard this other saying, I'm sure you have, 'It's for your own good.'  That is usually accompanied with something, again,  that you aren't particularly fond of.  When you know something is for your own good and you wish for that something and the result is chaos, upheaval, and all sorts of undesirable happenstances that you sort of knew would occur, it's not pleasant.

I want desperately for God to create in me a clean heart, to renew a right spirit within me. I want desperately to belong to God, heart, soul, spirit, all of me. I want God to use me for HIS service, all my plans I want to lay at HIS feet for HIM to direct. I want HIM to see if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in HIS way everlasting. I want only HIS truth not the lies and fables, the traditions that have replaced truth. I want the LORD to lead me now and always.

I WANT ALL of what I wrote above and I know this--

Heb_12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

God has been working in me, PRAISE HIM! God has revealed to me the wickedness of my tongue. And you know what…

Mat_12:34  …for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

Please, LORD, I need a CLEAN heart so what comes out of my mouth is to YOUR glory always, and not wicked. I don't want the abundance of my heart to be wickedness, I want it to be love, Your love.

When the Holy Spirit works in us we may experience chastising, we say something and no sooner is it out of our mouths then we are made aware of the wrongness of what we've said. Too late to take it back, it's been said, it's been heard. The words spoken have entered the thoughts of the one who heard them and you can't undo that, not ever.

My words are powerful, so incredibly powerful as are all of our words. I don't think we realize quite enough just how powerful they are. God knows how powerful they are, read this--

Jas 3:2  …If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. 

Jas 3:3  Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. 

Jas 3:4  Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. 

Jas 3:5  Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! 

Jas 3:6  And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. 

Jas 3:7  For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: 

Jas 3:8  But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 

Jas 3:9  Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. 

Jas 3:10  Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. 

Jas 3:11  Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? 

Jas 3:12  Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. 

EVIL TONGUE!

Oh, to be able to take a vow of silence just to silence the wicked little tongue I possess. But we are not called to vows of silence, at least I'm not being called to one at this time. I am being chastened, I am being guided, I am being taught, and this isn't the first time I've had this brought to my attention. God would have me surrender all of me to HIM and that includes by tongue and its wickedness. I need Christ to live in me, working HIS will in me, guarding the door to my lips.

Forgive me, God, forgive me for letting my selfish, self-centered focus be made even more apparent in my words, in my conversations with others. Help me to listen, to be quick to hear and slow to speak, help me to weigh the words I choose to utter not let them spill forth from my mouth like a newly knocked over fire hydrant flooding the world around me, the people around me, with my inane chatter, all too often verbally poisoning them. Help me to listen!

And Lord, please, when others purposefully or inadvertently seek to wound me with their words do NOT let me return in kind, but with a soft answer. Let no grievous words come from me, LORD. Please.  Thank you, precious, LORD, thank you!

Pro 15:1  A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. 

Do You Deceive Your Own Heart?

Do you SEEM to be religious?

Do others who know you think you might be religious?

Are we supposed to seem religious?

What does it mean if someone who knows us doesn't consider us religious?

Barring wearing a sign that says we are religious- or some sort of religious paraphernalia, religious associated clothing, hair style, etc, how are others supposed to know we are religious?

Strip away all outward show and only wearing what could be considered generic non-branding clothing and such, no one would be able to tell just by looking if we are religious or not.  We could line up a whole group of people and simply by looking at them not know if they are religious.

The opposite side of this coin maybe lining up a whole group of people dressed in various religious garb, adornments, and whatnot and do you know not a single one of those people may be truly religious- it could be all for show, not a heart religion at all.

Seeming religious.

We can seem religious in various ways. If I notice someone praying I will then assume they are religious. If I see someone carrying a Bible, I'll again, assume they are religious. If I hear someone singing a religious song I'm definitely going to make the assumption of their being religious.

If I meet a kind person I might suspect they are religious. However, if I meet an unkind person I will most definitely not believe they are religious (even though they could be, and just having a bad day).

God tells me this--

Jas 1:26  If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.

Vain religion.

Is it possible there is a lot of vain religion? I believe there is.

I know I do NOT want to deceive my own heart! Yet my tongue, my wicked, wicked tongue needs bridling!

We can deceive our own hearts. Make no mistake, it is entirely possible for us to deceive ourselves.

If you had the opportunity to step out of your own life and look at yourself as others view you, what do you suppose you might see?  

By our fruits we are known.

Strangers might only see the fruit of our goodness, our generosity, our soft spoken words, our helpfulness in a single act.

People who know us well will have seen the bruised fruit and have experience with our not so good traits.

People who know us the best, well, they will have witnessed the rotten fruit of our lives.

God knows us best of all, better than a human being, better than ourselves. God sees all the fruit- the good, the slightly spoiled and the completely rotten fruit of our lives. God knows our heart. Is it any wonder we need to pray for Him to create a clean heart in us?

A really good barometer of our seeming religious is our ability to bridle our tongue.

Jas 1:26  If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.

I don't want to have a vain religion. I do NOT want to seem religious to myself or anyone else if it is a vain religion I'm living. I don't want my own heart deceived! Please Lord, teach me to bridle my tongue!

Luk_6:45  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

Let my mouth speak good, not evil! Please, Lord, I can't create in myself a clean heart, but you can create in me a clean heart, please…create a clean heart in me right now.

All through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, now and forever and ever!!!!!!!

Slow to Speak.

Life Lessons…

Jas 1:19 …let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath

Pro 18:13  He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. 

All too often I am slow to hear, swift to speak, and swift to wrath. It's true! So very often I'll only hear a little bit (look at that second verse up there- ANSWERING A MATTER BEFORE I HEAR IT ALL),  and I'm just jabbering away with my opinion, my thoughts, my two cents worth of nonsense because I haven't even heard all of what was being said.

I've had this pointed out several times, okay a lot more than that- often enough to know it's a fact and I need to be ashamed of myself!

Have you ever found yourself just jumping into putting your two cents into a conversation before you even know what all is being said?

Sometimes I legitimately believe that a pause in a conversation means I can jump in, that a breath taken between one word and the next was just the opening I needed. There, I didn't interrupt, I responded.  Other times I'm just biting at the bit to get my thoughts out there on whatever subject it may be and impulsively I'll interrupt mid-word, you read that right, mid-word not sentence. I need to be ashamed.

So, why do I do this? In part it might be the swift to anger bit spoken of above. I have a hair trigger response in my brain. The least bit of criticism, angst, upset of any sort and my brain automatically screams in the background where I can't even hear it happening-  Shields up! Weapons ready! Fire!  Yes, just like that my go to response is one of defense at the slightest provocation and that does not make for a very easy - slow to wrath response at all!

There is a reason for these words of God's wisdom.

Jas 1:19 …let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath

Pro 18:13  He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. 

When we are swift to hear- focusing on the hearing- then we are giving someone the attention they deserve. We are serving them over ourselves. We are loving that other person. We are giving respect to that person by listening to them fully. If we take the time and measure our responses in light of all they've said we further that respect, that love for them. If we do not immediately get angry no matter how painful, hurtful, inciting the words may be, again we are loving the person speaking the wounding words- in spite of their venom filled tongues. If what is being spoken to us, hurts us, intentionally meant to hurt us or not, we have to be SLOW to WRATH. If we are going to have wrath it needs to be justified, and the only way for wrath to be justified is by it being a righteous anger, and even then we aren't supposed to hang on to that anger and let it fester.

How many of us have said things impulsively we've regretted the moment they came out of our mouths? All of us, right?

By heeding God's wisdom being slow to speak, might that not help with this problem? I can't say for sure it would eliminate all the speaking of things we regret but at least the instant retort wouldn't be the issue.

I need to learn these life lessons.

Slow to speak, slow to wrath, listen attentively, and do NOT interrupt others. Better to ask if they are done speaking than assume they are done speaking.

It is my prayer that God help me with my lack of these things so that I may be better used by Him as He wills.  I'm most certainly not portraying Christ in me when I'm lacking the loving respect for others- all others- that they deserve. I am commanded to love others, please Lord, help me do this.

All by Your grace and love, through Your will Lord, Jesus Christ my Savior now and forever!!!!!!!

Choosing Christ Always - Our Anchor.

Heb 6:18  That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: 

Heb 6:19  Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; 

Heb 6:20  Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. 

Impossible for God to lie.

We have a strong consolation in Christ, our hope.

God promised and God fulfilled His promise.

There were those who looked forward to the promised Messiah, and those who lived in the time of the fulfilled promise of the Messiah.

We live in the time of the fulfilled promise of the Messiah.

The hope of a Messiah.

That hope realized.

In our life we all need to flee for refuge. There isn't a single person alive of an age of comprehension that hasn't struggled in their lives in one way or another and needed the refuge of Christ. Even the most affluent of people are not without their problems. The problems simply appear according to individual situations. One person's problems might seem totally insignificant compared to another. Holding up a life or death situation against the very feel (to the person) angst of finding the right party dress seems almost laughable in the absurdity of measuring one against the other. However, life or death could be the next situation the party dress girl has to face, we can't know. The fact that we all have problems that seems intense to us, and could very well be intense to all, is not unique to anyone, we all face these problems throughout our lives.

The biggest problem any of us will ever face, excluding no one at all of a sound mind and age, will be the choice we will need to make to serve God or self. Many may scoff at such a thought, thinking one way or the other it is easy to choose, but that doesn't rid us of the truth that it is the grandest, most monumental, most life altering, future affecting choice we all have to make. And it won't be a one and done choice, it is a choice made constantly over and over because we live in a world of sin that would tear us from our refuge- found only in Christ.

Let's use our weight as an example (even if you've never had a weight problem you know someone who has) too much or too little, the problem is a constant in that the ability for it to fluctuate will always exist. Up or down, we like to be able to find a comfortable place and maintain the ideal weight but that isn't always possible. We may be just cruising along in life and realize uhoh, we've put on a few pounds, or lost a few too many. We then need to take action if we want to return to the maintaining weight. The example here is vigilance and choosing, we have to take stock of our lives I'm going to say daily/weekly but definitely not beyond weekly or we risk losing grasp of our spiritual life. Daily because our Savior even tells us to take up our crosses daily, and to pray a daily prayer. Weekly because we are given the seventh-day Sabbath in which to rest in God and surely to be in the rest of the holy time set aside by God we need to take stock of our relationship with God. 

Just like our weight (but unlike our weight only in that no one is excluded) we need to make a conscience choice constantly in our day to day life to serve God or self. We ultimately place our faith in God to make up for our lacking faith, but that too is a constant surrender to God. 

Can we really claim Christianity as being ours when we willfully choose to live a life contrary to God's will? So many do.

Christ is our anchor, our hope, our refuge. Christ is our all in all. Christ should be our conversation, our thought, our life. Heaven, where Christ resides right now and will leave to come get us, that is where our home is, that is where our hope is, that is where our treasure is- that is where our salvation lives.

All by the grace of our Lord, our Savior, Jesus Christ, now and forever may we choose HIM ALWAYS!

God, My Refuge.

God is our refuge. Refuge- shelter, protection, sanctuary, harbor, safe haven.

Heaven is my home, God is my refuge.

I am a stranger and pilgrim upon this earth, allowed to exist not for a senseless end, but for the purpose of God's love, God's will.

I suffer as we all suffer - great or small, rich or poor, sickly or healthy. We each suffer as is our lot to do so as long as we exist in a world whose ruler is the prince of darkness. My suffering is little compared to many, and my suffering is great compared to many. We all exist within the confines of our own uniqueness. Our sharing the common things of all mankind can give us a tiny bit of compassion and comprehension for each other until we delve down into the uniqueness of self-experience that no other can ever possibly have. We are uniquely created and God's most merciful love is enough for each of us to cling to as His children. We are the children of God. What wonder, what majesty, what honor! Our worth can only be measured against the value place upon us. Our value according to the very One who created us is so incredibly high, we were worth a God dying for us. Our nothingness in the shadow of such magnificent love leaves us clinging to the hope of the righteousness of the One who deems us worthy. He is our refuge, He is our hope, always!

Deu_33:27  The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms …

2Sa_22:3  The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me …

Psa_9:9  The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.

Psa_46:1 … God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Psa_46:7  The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

Psa_48:3  God is known in her palaces for a refuge.

Psa_57:1  …Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.

Psa_59:16  But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble.

Psa_62:7  In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.

Psa_62:8  Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.

Psa_71:7 … thou art my strong refuge.

Psa_91:2  I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

Psa_91:9  Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation

Psa_94:22  But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge.

Psa_142:5  I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.

Pro_14:26  In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.

Isa 25:4  For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. 

Jer_16:19  O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction…

Heb_6:18  That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

Heb 6:19  Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; 

Heb 6:20  Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. 

Psa 91:1  He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 

Psa 91:2  I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. 

Psa 91:3  Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. 

Psa 91:4  He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. 

Psa 91:5  Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 

Psa 91:6  Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 

Psa 91:7  A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. 

Psa 91:8  Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. 

Psa 91:9  Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; 

Psa 91:10  There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. 

Psa 91:11  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 

Psa 91:12  They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 

Psa 91:13  Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. 

Psa 91:14  Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. 

Psa 91:15  He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. 

Psa 91:16  With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.