Who are you?

Daniel 1: 20 KJV “And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm."

Who are you, when you are alone and no one is watching?  Do you still work hard and diligently?  Do you do your best and keep up the good work?  Are you excelling in everything you do while there isn’t anybody around to see?

I think Daniel is one of those people that always excelled never mind who was watching.  He felt it was his duty to always go above and beyond.

We all face times when there isn’t anybody around and we can just sit back and relax.  The Boss left 10 minutes ago and the team feels a little relieved.  They don’t have to put in 100% of their attention and feel they are able to clown around.

Sit down and watch a movie, go for an hour long lunch and drink tea in the pause area for 20 minutes or even longer.  Sure there isn’t anybody to tell you, so you are most likely to get away with it.

Therein lies, the problem, your integrity and your ability to be doing your job to the best of your ability has just come to a stand still.  You didn’t go the extra mile, you didn’t put in the effort and make your deadline because you felt tomorrow is another day.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, Lord God, thank You that we may come before You today.  Give us the wisdom and understanding to always treat the people You have placed in our lives with the necessary respect, understanding, and compassion.  Lord, we ask that You will guide us, help us to make the right decisions and be able to see how it will affect people all around us.  Bless our family and friends, and thank You for this time we have with You.  In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

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sTrIvInG tO sTaY fAitHful tO tYe lOrD

Psalm 101: NKJV “I will behave wisely in a perfect way.  Oh, when will You come to me?  I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.”

Staying faithful to the Lord is something that I have been striving for, and I wonder if I will ever really succeed therein.  Have you actually read Psalm 101 from the beginning to the end?  This Psalm of David is one of the most touching Psalms I have read in a long, long time. 

First, off David starts the Psalm of with praises to the LORD and then he speaks of how he will behave in his own home.  I want to walk in his house with a perfect heart.  He also decided not to entertain any wickedness before his eyes and he will not be around people doing wrong.

As I read the next verse I agree with King David that it is my heart's desire to not entertain or have a perverse heart and that I don’t want to be associated with evil.

King David is truly wonderous as he considers his neighbor and that he will not allow anybody to slander them.  He also doesn’t allow people who are haughty and too proud in the heart to be in his company.

I love the part where King David says that he will place his eyes on the faithful of the land and that he wants them to dwell with him.  He wants honorable people in his service. 

Prayer

O LORD, God, humbly I come before You today, and I want to pray this Psalm 101.  You know my heart, You know who I am.  I want to be able to come into Your presence with a pure heart and with a clean spirit.  LORD, I love and adore YOU.  I want to bring praise to YOUR name.  I want to serve YOU with all my being but I cover myself today with the blood of Jesus Christ so that I can stand before YOU the righteousness of God in Christ.  In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

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Feeling stuck?

Ephesians 2: 7 AMP “[and He did this] so that in the ages to come He might [clearly] show the immeasurable and unsurpassed riches of His grace in [His] kindness towards us in Christ Jesus [ by providing for our redemption].”

Have you ever been in a situation where you are out of a job, your car breaks down, the washing machine packs up and your vacuum cleaner also breaks.  To make matters even more interesting the Refridgerator also give you some problems.  It doesn’t seem like a lot and I know someone will come with the thing about “Karma” but the fact of the matter is the utensils are old and would have given in any way.

If you read Ephesian chapter 2 verse 7 to 10 you will have a different point of view “Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus.”

I just love the part where it shows us we are exactly where God wants us, this very minute.  Yes we are facing a couple of obstacles and they do frustrate us but the fact of the matter is, it’s just for a short time and once we deal with it, it will pass.

I also like the fact that we are preparing for the ages to come and that God will show the immeasurable and unsurpassed riches of His grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.  What a wonderful thought and hope we have in the LORD JESUS CHRIST.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I want to take this time and remind You of Your promise to me in Jeremiah Chapter 29 verse 10-11 “This is GOD’s Word on the subject:  “As soon as Babylon’s seventy years are up and not a day before, I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home.  I know what I’m doing.  I have it all planned out – plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.”  I don’t know that I have seventy years LORD so I am asking for a shortened version in my own life.  Please, LORD, nothing is impossible for YOU.

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“God-Wrestler” are you a “Jacob?”

Genesis 32: 25 NOG “When the man saw that he could not win against Jacob, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that it was dislocated as they wrestled.”

Can you imagine wrestling with God?  I think it was something amazing to experience.  Jacob seemed to be a strong man and he was very determined not to give up. 

I wonder what God thinks of us when we step into His wrestling ring.  As you place your foot on that mat and grab hold of God.  Are you willing to wrestle with God for something you need in your life this very minute?  Do you think it’s just not the right thing to do?

If you continue reading Genesis chapter 32 you will see that in the end “the man said, “But no longer, your name is no longer Jacob.  From now on it’s Israel (God-Wrestler); you’ve wrestled with God and you’ve come through.”  Oh my goodness, Jacob persevered and won.

We have many battles and we should choose them and not step into every fight we encounter.  The war is still to come and while we are still preparing for that great day we need to say focused.

Every time something happens in your life and you seem to be struggling and just cannot move forward, wouldn’t you say this is “wrestling with God?”

Think about it, sometimes everything is a struggle, you just cannot find the right job.  You just cannot say the right thing, then there is a fight.  You just cannot do the right thing then you are in trouble.  You just seem to be struggling with your finances and you seem to be struggling with life as a matter of fact.  Think about it are you in God’s arena right now? Is this your WWE smack down?

Prayer

What a privilege it is to come into Your presence today Abba Father.  If we have been selected to come into your arena right now we pray for the necessary wisdom and insight that You want us to learn.  Our struggles seem so hard and difficult at times and we don’t always seem to understand everything but today, we pray help us understand what You want us to learn.  Teach us in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen

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#Repentance - #Teshuva(T'shuva)

Isaiah 9: 13 AMP “Yet the people do not turn back [in repentance] to Him who struck them, Nor do they seek the LORD of hosts [as their most essential need].”

Isaiah is speaking to the people and telling them what is wrong in their lives.  Israel is heading in the wrong direction and the LORD is warning them through Isaiah.  As we meditate and focus on God’s word today, are you heading in the right direction?  The path you took; is it still the right one?  Are you so busy now that you just don’t seem to find the time to spend with God?

Looking at the word Teshuva it means “to turn back.” We need to turn away from evil and turn back to God.  Sometimes we make a decision to do a specific thing and by taking that decision we start moving into another direction.  Perhaps you met this man or woman and you believe they are the right person for you.  As you grow in the relationship you find they love partying and drinking and smoking, which you absolutely don’t do.  In the mean time, you start compromising your beliefs and value systems in adjusting to this person.  Before long you are frustrated and feel miserable continually.  Nothing is working out, the person is still “happy-go-lucky” but you are not so happy.  My question is this, are you still on the right path? 

Do you feel that you need to “Teshuva” right now?  I believe there is no time like the present and if you decide to make the decision and turn back to God things will change.  Always for the better.

Prayer

Heavenly Father we hear Your personal message to us through Joel chapter 2 verse 12 “But there’s also this, it’s not too late – GOD’s personal Message! – “Come back to me and really mean it!  Come fasting and weeping, sorry for your sins!”  Lord, humbly we stand to pray please forgive us, we repent of our wrongdoing and turn back to You, in the Holy Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen

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Listen to God's word and obey it!

Deuteronomy 6: 4-9 AMP “Hear, O Israel!  The LORD is our God, the LORD is one [the only God]!  You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and mind and with all your soul and with all your strength [your entire being].  These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be [written] in your heart and mind.  You shall teach them diligently to your children [impressing God’s precepts on their minds and penetrating their hearts with His truths] and shall speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you get up.  And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand(forearm), and they shall be used as bands (frontals, frontlets) on your horsehead.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

I read somewhere that the Jewish believers have been taught to pray the “Shema” since long before the Lord Jesus Christ.  This prayer is taken directly from Deuteronomy chapter 6 the LORD God commanded the Israelites to obey God’s word.  The Hebrew word “Shema” literally means “hear” and “obey.” 

When the Lord Jesus was teaching He would also use the same word “he who has ears, let him hear,” here He was telling His followers to listen to His words and obey them.

As you go through your day, do you take the time to meditate and focus on anything you have read out of the Word of God (Bible)?  Or do you only pay attention to the Word on Sunday and when you leave the serve it slipped your mind as you cannot remember what the sermon was about.

As you go through your busy day, you are talking to people, your family and friends and you are so busy.  Do you take a 5-minute break and think of the LORD?  Do you speak to God while you are walking to your next meeting?  Is God real to you? 

We forget that we are here for only a short time and we should be preparing for our eternal life.  We should obey and hear God when He is speaking to us, the thing is how tuned in are we to God?

When you are sick in the hospital and the Doctors tell you they don’t have a cure who do you call?  You call the Pastor or your Priest.  You start to pray and you cry before the LORD.  Those are the times you realize “I need God, I don’t want to die.”

Prayer

In humbleness LORD GOD we pray forgive us for not always hearing and obeying You.  We seem so caught up in this world with all our responsibilities.  We forget that You are in control and that we need to sit at Your feet as You watch over us.  Teaching us what we need to learn.  Lord forgive us we aren’t always faithful.  Lord thank You, for Your, mercy and grace that are new every day.  In the Name of Jesus Christ.  Amen

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You are covered by day and by night

Exodus 13: 21 AMP “The [presence of the] LORD was going before them by day in a pillar (column) of the cloud to lead them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, so that they would travel by day and by night.”

Reading the Hebrew words and their means for some the words today I want to tell you about the word “Ananei HaKavod which means the Cloud of Glory.”  I was so impressed by the meaning I really wanted to share my thinking.  It is said that the Jewish Rabbis called this cloud the “Ananei HaKavod.”  They teach that in this cloud God provides for His people and that God keeps them safe.  Now that is inside the cloud.  I also realized that without the cloud the people would have been fearful but the knew God was with them during their travels because of the cloud, they saw His presence with them.  God sustained them during their travel through the desert for 40 years.

Life can come at you from all angles and you might just be facing a trial right now.  In my own life, I am also going through situations, things that I just cannot control and I do not have any control over them.  It isn’t fun and I do get frustrated but today as I sit here thinking about the Cloud of Glory I feel confident that I too may approach the LORD and ask Him to cover me.

I believe that God is still the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  I believe that He will keep me and that He will sustain my life.  I may feel that I am in the desert right now, but I also believe that His cloud is covering me by day and the Fire column at night.  I believe that I am covered day and night.  So are you.

Prayer

I stand here in absolute awe of You LORD God Almighty.  My life is in Your hands and I believe that Your Cloud of Glory is covering me this very minute.  I cannot go anywhere without You.  You are with me now and always.  In awe and adoration I praise and worship You for the knowledge and I thank You, Lord, that You are with me.  Each and every day in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  Amen 

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