Devotion Psalm 27:4-5 Always Ever Closer to You Lord. I see and hear you as you keep me near
Devotion Psalm 27:4-5 Always Ever Closer to You Lord. I see and hear you as you keep me near
Psalm 27:4-5 “One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.”
For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
and set me high upon a rock.”
Because I see Your wondrous hand is with me, I am confident in all things concerning me and life. Indeed I see the attacks of the enemy fall impotent beside me and before me. Haven’t I called out to You Lord and therefore Your answer is known to me when I see it. I confidently look for what I asked Him for. When a child asks His father for a red bicycle and then He sees one in his room, He knows who gave him the bike. The child remembers his request to his father and expectantly looks for it and recognizes it. He lives with his father and knows that his father desires good things for him. When I see the enemy’s shackle laying unused upon the ground, I know the reason. Did I not call out to You Lord about my need and You Lord has not let the evil plans of the enemy succeed. The inefficacy of the enemy’s plans is manifest and I rejoice in the hand of God upon me and before me. So I seek to live my life in the house of the Lord. As my eyes behold You I am aware of your love and good will to me and to all who love You. I will not be afraid because I know You are near, You are with me. Because I dwell with You and see Your ways I know You. Because I live with You my Lord my God, my eyes and ears study you so I am certain of who You are. I am certain of your love and goodness to me. I know You Lord God and how You speak to me. You whom I live with I know Your voice and Your manner of speaking to me. Lord God please keep me close and give me residence in Your home. Living with You my God I know You Lord God. In Your presence, my heart is warm and is safe and calm. Lord God, my father who loves me, I see you and so I know you. I have followed your call to me which led me to You, and so I have found and know you. I know who You are. You keep me close that I may know you and be blessed by you. I am not an orphan that does not know His Father, I know you my Lord, my God, my Father. Yes, I seek to always dwell in Your house that I might know you every day in increasing measure. Lord I seek you because you first sought me. The glory of you is a light and comfort to me. Praise you Lord God. I come to you and behold the perfection of your ways. Father, I behold you and love the beauty of you! To know You Lord God is to love you and have confidence in all my ways because I know that You love me. Thank you my Savior and Lord, may I always dwell with You! I am unafraid only because you are with me! I am weak but you are strong. I will not be afraid my protector and lover of my soul.
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Devotion 2 Corinthians 11:3 First of all we continue in His service
2 Corinthians 11:3 “But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”
Dear Family, Let us remember and give attention to the high cause of the name of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. Notice that I do not say Lord and Savior but Savior and Lord. Because unless He is our Savior, He is not our Lord. We must first accept His person and ministry to then live in submission to Him. And unless we live with Him as our Lord, He is no our Savior. His ministry is God ordained. Praise, lift up Jesus our Savior and Lord!
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Devotion 8 Reasons for You to Speak in Tongues
8 Reasons for You to Speak in Tongues
by James F. Linzey | Aug 16, 2022 | Faith, Spirit-Led Living, Spiritual Gifts, Supernatural & Dreams
Charisma Media archives
If a person were to ask, “Why speak in tongues?” couldn’t we also ask, “Why pray?”
The Word of God shows a definite value in praying with an unknown tongue. Jesus tells us that “it is necessary always to pray” (Luke 18:1, MEV). Later, in speaking of prayer, Paul mentions two types of praying. There is praying with the understanding, when our minds guide the prayer in asking petitions from God.
Then there is praying in an unknown tongue, in which case the Holy Spirit guides the prayer in utterances unknown to the human mind. Paul tells us, “I will pray with the Spirit, and I will pray with the understanding” (1 Cor. 14:15, MEV). Both kinds of prayer are important, but praying in the Spirit will often be more efficacious in accomplishing the will of God.
The value of praying in the Spirit is emphasized by Paul who clarifies that the Holy Spirit “helps us in our weaknesses, for we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us” (Rom. 8:26, MEV). Since we do not know what to pray for, the Holy Spirit Himself helps us know what to pray for.
He makes intercession according to the will of God. There we have the two-fold privilege of the baptized believer—we can pray with our own understanding, or we can allow the Holy Spirit to guide the prayer according to His own will.
The last mention of tongues in scripture is Jude 20 where it says not to stop. After Jude we have the Revelation of Jesus Christ to St. John the Divine, but it is not discussed there. The command to continue speaking in tongues in Jude was given in AD 70, 37 years after the church was established on the day of Pentecost. So if tongues ceased, where is the historical line drawn in scripture where it says “stop?”
The New Testament era continues from the Revelation of Jesus Christ onward, and it is not over until Jesus returns. The Second Coming is the event at which the apostle Paul said that prophecy and tongues will cease (1 Cor. 13:8).
In AD 54, Paul commands the Church to speak in tongues in Eph. 6:18, 21 years after the day of Pentecost, showing continuance as Jude shows 16 years later. When one says “Tongues was only for the establishment of the Church,” we can reply, “Not 21 or 37 years after it was established.”
If we can say that Jesus was a “lunatic, liar or the Lord,” for claiming to be God, certainly we can say that pastors who decry tongues are “lunatics, liars or loutish” for denying that this present age is the New Testament era.
Any Bible scholar—liberal, evangelical or fundamentalist—will tell you that the New Testament era remains from the day of Pentecost to the Second Coming. But unlike standards of centuries ago when all pastors were Bible scholars, today many pastors descry scholarship and know little about it. Because we are in the New Testament era, every teaching, exhortation and command in the New Testament is relevant for the church today. Many pastors have “thrown scholarship under the bus” and teach false doctrine.
So, what is the value of speaking with tongues? Speaking in tongues is in the Bible for a reason. God will hold each of us responsible to answer whether our own lives have been lived in accordance with the Word of God. Speaking in tongues, sometimes referred to as praying in the Spirit (the terms can be used interchangeably), is a form of prayer.
In this prayer, a Christian yields completely to the Holy Spirit in worshipping Christ and receives from the Spirit a supernatural language. Speaking in tongues is a way of praying which frees the Spirit to operate within the speaker.
Speaking in tongues also carries responsibility. When most people think of glossolalia, or tongue speaking or the language of the Holy Spirit, they have a tendency to ask what the purposes might be for such a supernatural manifestation. The specific biblical purposes for such a language are many. Harold Horton, in his book The Gifts of the Spirit, page 31, presents eight scriptural purposes for speaking with tongues:
- It is the scriptural evidence of the baptism with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4, 19:6)
- It is a means for men to speak supernaturally to God (I Cor. 14:2)
- It is a way for believers to magnify God (Acts 10:46)
- It is a means for men to edify themselves (I Cor. 14:4)
- It is a way for our spirits as distinct from our understandings to pray (I Cor. 14:14)
- It is part of the gift of interpretation of tongues that edifies the church (I Cor. 14:12, 13, 5, 26)
- It is a sign to them that do not believe (I Cor. 14:22)
- It is one of the gifts divinely appointed for our profit, as a manifestation of the Spirit (I Cor. 12:7, Acts 2:4).
The prayer in an unknown tongue does not necessarily have to be an utterance in a language understood by someone present to hear it. Sometimes that happens, and the one hearing the language is spoken to directly by God. But the Word of God is quite explicit that anyone “who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit” (I Cor. 14:2). When we speak with a tongue given us by the Holy Spirit, we are speaking directly to God and He is the only one who needs to understand us.
Dr. Jonathan Goforth, missionary of the Canadian Presbyterian Church and used mightily of God in Manchuria, wrote, “the Scriptures convey no other meaning than that the Lord Jesus planned that the Holy Spirit should continue among us in as mighty manifestation as at Pentecost.”
James F. Linzey received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biblical Studies at Vanguard University of Southern California (1979), and a Master of Divinity degree at Fuller Theological Seminary (1983). He hosted Operation Freedom television and radio programs worldwide on the baptism with the Holy Spirit. He authored The Holy Spirit, A Divine Appointment in Washington, DC, and with Charisma author Verna M. Linzey co-edited Baptism in the Spirit by his father Stanford E. Linzey, Jr. He is the chief editor of the Modern English Version Bible translation. Listen to the full episode of “The Value of Speaking in Tongues” with Chaplain Jim Linzey on the Charisma Podcast Network here. Visit one of his websites at Pearls of Gold, the Poetry of Verna Hall Linzey.
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, Oh man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 – The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.
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Devotion John 10:33-38 In All Things Praise God
John 10:33-38 – “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’? 35 If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside— 36 what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? 37 Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. 38 But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”
““We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” These men who were accusing Jesus and wanted to stone Him to death did not accuse Jesus of blasphemy for doing the works of God. They wanted to stone Him for saying the words that God had given Him to say. And worse, these were in their own scriptures. They didn’t comprehend what Jesus was trying to teach them. The works and the words of Jesus come as one from God. The works verify the words and the words verify the works. It would have seemed too far to stone Him for healing a leper, or a lame man, or a blind man. It would have been an outrage to the people to stone Jesus for raising a man (who had taken care of his sisters) from the dead. The people would not have countenanced that. Yet as divine as the works were that Jesus did, just as divine were the words, the teachings that He gave them. In fact the works bore witness to the words He spoke. Jesus did, and said, as the Father had instructed Him to say and do. Just as those who reject Jesus also reject the Father who sent Him, those who reject the words of Jesus reject Father God.
Job, from the pain of his trial said “Shall we actually accept good from God but not accept adversity?” Despite all this, Job did not sin with his lips.” (Job 2:10b) Job understood that everything in life, both good and bad had to be run past God before allowed to be put into his life. So, whether good or seemingly bad (truly who are we to judge what comes from God?), God should be, God must be, be praised through all. We never should judge the works or words of God.
In Matthew 5:45 (“so that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”) Jesus states that blessings in our lives come from the Father. We are reminded by the Apostle Paul that discipling likewise comes from the Lord and that we should view it not without the knowledge that God disciplines us as He deems correct. (Hebrews 12:7-11)
James takes us deeper and tells us to “consider it all joy” in our various trials because the end of it is for the completing and perfecting of us under the direction of God. (James 1:2-4) Since we take such full pleasure of the blessings from God, shouldn’t we also take pleasure in the trials knowing that always His loving eyes are upon us? All comes from the same God. We must trust Him through the blessings and the trials, God is unchanging through eternity.
So the Pharisees wanted to pick and choose what to accept of God and so many stumbled and missed the blessing of their Messiah. In much the same way do many in our day stumble and miss eternal life through Jesus. Let us discern by the Holy Spirit the things of God and accept it all to the glory of our God and Savior Jesus. Praise the Lord!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, Oh man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 – The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.
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Devotion John 10:22-33 Accusing Others Of Their Own Sin
John 10:22-33 – Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.” 31 Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” 33 “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”
The Festival of Dedication was once called the Feast of Maccabees and is today called the Hanukkah or the Festival of Lights. Remembering that these feasts are in commembrance of an event or person in which God gave a victory. Hanukkah is remembering when the Maccabees overthrew the Seleucid empire whose king Antiochus Ephiphanes profaned the Jewish Temple by setting up a pagan god in the temple to be worshipped. This is an act that will be repeated by the Antichrist. (Matthew 24:15-16) The Maccabees retook the temple and the temple was rededicated to the one true God. This happened during the period between the Old Testament and the New Testament.
According to rabbinic tradition when the Jews were reclaiming the temple they could only find one small jug of olive oil that only had enough oil to light the menorah for one day. Instead the oil lasted for eight days which the Jews considered a miracle. It is to celebrate the rededicating of the Temple and the miracle of the one day of oil lasting for eight days that Hanukah lasts for eight days. Another name for Hanukah is the Festival of lights.
It was at that time of this Festival that the Jews approached Jesus and asked Him (demanded of Him) when Jesus would plainly tell them if He was the Messiah or not. Jesus replied “I did tell you, but you do not believe.” Jesus pointed that the things He had done and said were evidence that He was the Messiah, but they did not receive the signs and rejected His words. Yet both were working in union to declare the majesty of Jesus. The both bore witness of who Jesus was. All who were seeking the Lord, who were truly relying on the scriptures to lead them to the Messiah, would recognize Him by the signs He performed and the works He did. Those who had right hearts would recognize Jesus and follow Him. Those whose hearts were not for God would not recognize and would not follow Him and thereby lose their souls.
All who heard and heeded Jesus’s words and saw the signs He was giving as proof of who He was, Jesus said would have an eternal life that no being could take it away from them because it was God Himself who gave them the eternal life. Brothers and Sisters, what God gives to us no one and nothing can take from us. Like our salvation, what God gives is between us and God and no one and nothing can come between us and God, as long as we cling to Him and His promises. The love of God, the joy of God, the peace of God that He has given to us is always and forever ours and cannot be taken away, just as the eternal life He gives us cannot be taken away. Cling to faith in God and in His Word and be safe. Who can push God back to separate Him from us? No one and nothing can. God has put in His bond within those who believe in, obey and follow Jesus. No one and nothing can push God from us. We are safe as long as we love and so believe and obey Jesus. Now, and forever.
Because these men, who could quote the scriptures but never had scripture illuminated to them by God did not believe in the only Son of God, they could see but not understand the signs and the words that Jesus gave them. Committing the sin of unbelief they accused Jesus of being the sinner. This is what sinners still do. In the absence of rightness in their souls they accuse others of what they are doing. Liars think all others also lie. Cheaters think all others cheat. These priests who blasphemed God by teaching error to the people thought Jesus was a blasphemer. They were blind and deaf to the ways of God. Titus 1:15 “To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.”
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, Oh man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 – The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.
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Devotion John 10:19-22 And He Proved It
John 10:19-22 – 19 Dissension occurred again among the Jews because of these words. 20 Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?” 21 Others were saying, “These are not the words of one who is demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of those who are blind, can it?”
Jesus offended the Jews because He said that God was His Father and that His Father had given Him the authority to lay down His own life and to take it up again.
Yet, let us remember that not all Jews accused Him of being demon possessed and insane. Some heard, some saw, some listened, some came to Jesus and humbled themselves before Him. They became children of God, following God’s first born Son into Heaven. (John 1:12)
The Jews who persecuted Jesus, who had Him murdered, had another opportunity to humble themselves, admit their wrong, and follow Jesus. There were many witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. (1 Corinthians 15:3-8) All of the haters could have repented, the only deadline to not be forgiven is death. Paul, formerly Saul, the great persecutor of the believers, proved that Jesus saved, and saves, those who formerly hated and fought against Him. God indeed is so good.
Jesus offended the Jews because He said that God was His Father and that His Father had given Him the authority to lay down His own life and to take it up again. Then He proved it. He loved those who hated Him. Even, just before His death He asked the Father to forgive those who murdered Him as He prayed “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34) God so loved the world, Jesus so loved the world, the Holy Spirit so loved the world that every person has the opportunity to be forgiven and become children of God. Let’s do the work that Jesus commanded us to do and share the Gospel to all people, to share love of God with all people. (Matthew 28:18-20) In doing that we honor Him and we show that we indeed love Him, as we should.
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, Oh man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 – The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.
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Devotion 2 Corinthians 5:11 Keeping In Mind
2 Corinthians 5:11 “Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.”
Let’s consider that personally and individually God has chosen to know us and has revealed mysteries of Himself to us. What we have become and are becoming is obvious and plain to Him. May that always be on our minds and consciences that we may live as those who are grateful to Him and who love Him. Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, Oh man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 – The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.
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Devotion Psalm 53 Daily Throwing Dirt On It
Sometimes people have told me of someone they know who is a very smart atheist. They don’t believe in God or in the Bible. If asked, and if I can, I agree to talk to most of them. You see they don’t believe in God while I don’t believe that there are true atheists. So they say there is no God but deep down they know that is a lie. They may have pushed down their belief in God and covered that truth with grass and dirt, but it is there, alive, breathing and powerful in the grave they hid it in. When they are alone, sometimes in the still of the night, they fear that it will rise from the dirt and they will have to face it, by themselves.
The fool makes the choice to convince himself to believe there is no God, or to say that they believe that. They have turned against their own God given good sense. What they know is true, what they always knew to be true, they deny and foolishly reject, all the while knowing the living buried thing. They make a conscious choice till they believe their own lie. They have intellect to know better, they must purposely and persistently and daily work hard to not keep covering what is alive and will change their lives. They keep throwing dirt but the truth kees rising. At night they can hear its voice, but they stuff their ears about the truth what is buried. What they knew and know is true. They fight this till they are overcome and repent from their lie or unto death. That is foolishness. Why should they die when the could live forever in the Truth? A stupid choice from people who reject their own intelligence to run from life and the life giver, so they die. No, God will not condemn them to eternal death, but they will insist upon it for themselves. Love and pray for these. The Lord knows that they know not what they do.
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, Oh man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 – The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.
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Devotion Psalm 91 Where Trust Is Safe
Psalm 91 – One who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will lodge in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!”3 For it is He who rescues you from the net of the trapper and from the deadly plague. 4 He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may take refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and wall. 5 You will not be afraid of the terror by night, Or of the arrow that flies by day;6 Of the plague that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that devastates at noon. 7 A thousand may fall at your side And ten thousand at your right hand, But it shall not approach you. 8 You will only look on with your eyes And see the retaliation against the wicked. 9 For you have made the Lord, my refuge, The Most High, your dwelling place. 10 No evil will happen to you, Nor will any plague come near your tent. 11 For He will give His angels orders concerning you, To protect you in all your ways. 12 On their hands they will lift you up, So that you do not strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will walk upon the lion and cobra, You will trample the young lion and the serpent. 14 “Because he has loved Me, I will save him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. 15 He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. 16 I will satisfy him with a long life, and show him My salvation.”
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Oh my Lord, my God, my Love,
It is You who is my Joy.
You are my Morning Joy that wakes
Me with a smile.
And You who cause me to me to want to breathe.
Though there are some I can trust,
It is only you whom my trust rests upon.
You my Lord and God,
“It” is You, on You where my rest is abides.
You my God, You my Love, You my Rest,
Thank you my Lord!
Your voice is a sweet serenade within me,
Lord God, I am tuned to Your voice.
I live in Your promises.
My rest is in the covenant You gave to me.
In Your promises I am safe,
There, and here, with you.
They are the same in Your presence
My Lord, my God, my Brother.
Yes Lord, You are my refuge
And no harm shall overcome me.
Truly I desire Your will.
So even if it hurts,
Joy and laughter are always,
In Your will.
Whatever knocks on my door,
You have screened and filtered.
So I will rest in Your will,
Surely I gladly receive both hard and easy.
I will receive both from You,
And thank and praise You,
For what I understand
And for what I don’t understand.
I praise You my Lord, my God
For all in my life I praise You!
You are my Refuge and my Fortress,
My God in whom I trust.
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, Oh man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 – The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.
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Devotion John 10:7-18 The One Door Part 5
John 10:7-18 – So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
“Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.” Jesus has related His deep connected relationship with His flock. (Vs 14-15) He knows them and they know Him. There came a time in our lives when who Jesus is as Savior and Lord became a sure knowledge that brought us out of the wild. It was indeed God who foreknew us and predestined us to become His children. (Romans 8:29) It was God who loved us and brought us to salvation. Our triune God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit who from eternity past set their eye upon us and loved us. The oneness of God is essential to know. God is one in every way, they are never separated from each other and they never separate in will and action. Just as He is not separate from His word to us, just as He is one with it and so Jesus was the Word incarnate, God is one in everything and in every way. Jesus Himself came down to be our Savior but doesn’t the entirety of the Word show hand of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in our salvation? All of our triune God worked in union for our salvation. All were part of the plan. Each playing a unique role and all of the one involved in each other’s unique role, though in truth, all are one though three in all. In these verses we see the oneness that Jesus brings us into. We are brought into that oneness though distinctly not being God Himself, of who there is only one (Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 44:6) and who does not share His divinity with any man or other being. (Deuteronomy 4:39, Isaiah 42:8) Only God truly knows Himself fully. Those who reject belonging to Him cannot know Him. (1 Corinthians 2:14) We who love and serve the Lord, who call Jesus Savior and Lord, have been into the unbreakable unity and perfect love of the triune God. We know Him. (1 Corinthians 2:12) How deep the work of Christ! Praise God!
“And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.” As the Lord loved His disciple even before they were born, so He loved us. As He had a plan for the lives of His disciples with Him, so He has a plan for ours. As He prayed for the Apostles, so He was praying for us. How great and wonderful our Lord Jesus who included us in His prayers to the Father. Into infinity past He passionately knew and loved us. In His perfect foreknowledge the reality of our future response to Him was utterly real and palpable, though He would wait for us. He was more than ready for us to come to Him, He was more delighted than parents looking upon their new born baby. Thank you Jesus! (Ephesians 1:4-5)
“So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” All who love the Lord Jesus are one. God does not look upon worldly races or cultures, He looks at the Spirit. Time is nothing to Him, the ones who first loved Him are in the same group as we who love Him now. His two great commandments are first to love Him with all that we are and second to love each other as we love ourselves. (Mark 12:29-31) Even to consider each other and to love each other before ourselves. (Philippians 2:3) If we all love each other in this way that we have been commanded to love then His will is done. (1 John 4:12) In Matthew Jesus said that all the laws and commandments are fulfilled in love. Not the love of the world, but His love. Then we become one. Now each one of us becomes one with God and so if we are to be one with God we must be one with each other. No disharmony amongst the Godhead and we certainly shall not bring it with us. If we don’t love as God has called us to love, if we don’t love a brother or sister, then we cannot be part of this unity with God. He will not allow those who will not love to bring that evil into His Godly unity. There will be no stone in that sandal.
“For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” Jesus laid down His life because of His own will. Jesus laid down His life in obedience to the Father. Jesus was led to the cross by the Spirit of God. In all things the will of God is singular. He is His own council. Jesus loved the Father and so was obedient to Him. Just as we love Jesus and are obedient to Him. Praise God for the great love He has for us and for delivering to us the inviolate invitation through Jesus. He is so good to us!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, Oh man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 – The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.
by Bob withWarning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /homepages/4/d182552187/htdocs/b4g/wp-includes/class-wp-comment-query.php on line 399
Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /homepages/4/d182552187/htdocs/b4g/wp-includes/class-wp-comment-query.php on line 399
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