Shalom,

I LOVE Psalm 47! Verse 1 says:

¹O CLAP your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph and songs of joy!

There has been so much erroneous teaching concerning clapping over the years that I just love it when the Word of God takes all the guess work out of it! We (ALL people!) are instructed here to "clap" the Hebrew word, taqa`, which means: to slap the hands together, to clang with an instrument, to strike. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with clapping while we sing in praise and worship services! We should only refrain from clapping when someone is speaking, so that they can be heard! No, clapping is NOT worship, but it IS using our human instruments to praise and rejoice in the presence of the One, True, Most High, Living, Almighty God of the Bible! Then we are told to "shout", the Hebrew Word ruwa`, which means: to split the ears with sound, to shout, to cry aloud, to shout a war-cry, to shout in triumph and to shout for joy! We've talked a lot about shouting at the Spoken Word Church lately! There is a time to be still and know that He IS God, and then there is a time to let your voice be heard! In fact, we are told to shout in the Word of God MANY more times than we are told to be still (only 2 that I could find)! Don't be timid! In fact, verse 2 says:

²For the Lord Most High excites terror, awe, and dread; He is a great King over all the earth.

The "great" here is the Hebrew word, gadowl, which means: great in any sense, mighty, exceedingly great in magnitude, in intensity and in sound (LOUD)! That's our God and we were recreated in HIS image! Look at 1 Peter 2:9:

⁹But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;

That is who we are! let's act like it! AMEN!

In Acts 19 we see Paul continuing to minister to and teach the believers and to preach the Gospel to unbelievers. Notice verses 2-6:

²And he asked them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed [on Jesus as the Christ]? And they said, No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.

³And he asked, Into what [baptism] then were you baptized? They said, Into John's baptism.

⁴And Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, continually telling the people that they should believe in the One Who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus [having a conviction full of joyful trust that He is Christ, the Messiah, and being obedient to Him].

⁵On hearing this they were baptized [again, this time] in the name of the Lord Jesus.

⁶And as Paul laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spoke in [foreign, unknown] tongues (languages) and prophesied.

These people thought they were believers, but hadn't really been taught WHAT to believe! Once they heard the Gospel preached by Paul, they received Jesus as Lord and personal Saviour and also received the Holy Spirit baptism! How do we know? Because they were HEARD speaking in other tongues and prophesying. If you have never received Jesus of Nazareth as Lord and personal Saviour, or if have already received Jesus, but not been "endued with power form on high" (Luke 24:49), then please check the beginning posts of this blog to find out more. You can also click on the Spoken Word Church link on the left side of this blog to find teaching and instruction on how to do both!

Notice Acts 17:8-10:

⁸And he went into the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, persuading and arguing and pleading about the kingdom of God.

⁹But when some became more and more stubborn (hardened and unbelieving), discrediting and reviling and speaking evil of the Way [of the Lord] before the congregation, he separated himself from them, taking the disciples with him, and went on holding daily discussions in the lecture room of Tyrannus from about ten o'clock till three.

¹⁰This continued for two years, so that all the inhabitants of [the province of] Asia, Jews as well as Greeks, heard the Word of the Lord [concerning the attainment through Christ of eternal salvation in the kingdom of God].

There may be times when you have to stop talking to certain people about the things of God. If people are not receptive, let them go! Pray that the Lord of the Harvest would send laborers across their path who will be able to reach them in ways that you can't! The enemy will try to tie up your time with some people and keep you from reaching others! In ALL things, though, be led by the Spirit of God!

In Exodus we see the Angel of the Lord (pre-incarnate Jesus) appearing to Moses in the burning bush. We see God sending Moses to Pharaoh for the purpose of delivering His people from bondage. We also see Moses trying to get out of it! He even lies to God:

¹⁰And Moses said to the Lord, O Lord, I am not eloquent or a man of words, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and have a heavy and awkward tongue.

We know this isn't true because we see this in Acts 7:22:

²²So Moses was educated in all the wisdom and culture of the Egyptians, and he was mighty (powerful) in his speech and deeds.

But God will not be deterred from delivering His people! He says this to Moses:

¹¹And the Lord said to him, Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the dumb, or the deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Is it not I, the Lord?

¹²Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and will teach you what you shall say.

When Moses STILL resists, then God gets angry with him:

¹⁴Then the anger of the Lord blazed against Moses; He said, Is there not Aaron your brother, the Levite? I know he can speak well. Also, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be overjoyed.

¹⁵You must speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you what you shall do.

¹⁶He shall speak for you to the people, acting as a mouthpiece for you, and you shall be as God to him.

¹⁷And you shall take this rod in your hand with which you shall work the signs [that prove I sent you].

It is very encouraging to me that God had so much patience with Moses! He still used Moses in mighty ways, even when Moses let Him down at first! Don't ever give up on yourself! God hasn't and never will! Dare to believe what the Word of God reveals about who you are IN HIM and live like it's so, because it is! AMEN!

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

Today we have Psalm 46. Do you recognize that song found in the first 2 verses? :

¹GOD IS our Refuge and Strength [mighty and impenetrable to temptation], a very present and well-proved help in trouble.

²Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains be shaken into the midst of the seas,

I remember how excited I was when I discovered the meaning of the word "very" used here. It is the Hebrew word, me`od, which means: vehemence or vehemently, wholly, speedily, diligently, exceedingly, greatly, mightily, utterly, abundantly, with "muchness"! That's the type of help our God gives to us in times of "trouble", the Hebrew word, tsarah, which means: trouble, tightness, adversity, affliction, anguish, distress, tribulation. He's not far off! He is PRESENT! Always there, always ready, always speaking, always leading, always guiding, always directing, always taking advantage of every time we allow Him to help! How exciting to know that! We should never operate in fear, doubt or worry again!

In Acts we see Paul, along with various others at different times, continuing to preach the Gospel everywhere he went! We see him here preaching in the synagogue, as he usually did, until they began harassing and opposing him. When this happened he stopped teaching in the synagogue and began to teach in the home of Titus Justus, who lived next to the synagogue. Paul may have been tempted to leave the city altogether until this happened:

⁹And one night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, Have no fear, but speak and do not keep silent;

¹⁰For I am with you, and no man shall assault you to harm you, for I have many people in this city.

Notice that the Lord told Paul that He had MANY people in that city! Only God Himself knows who are truly His in any given place! I am very sure that are many more that be with us than the very vocal ones that come against us. They just don't make as much noise! That's why I believe the Lord instructed Paul to speak and NOT keep silent!

Something else that I took note of is Paul's meeting Aquila and Priscilla. Verses 2-3:

²There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently arrived from Italy with Priscilla his wife, due to the fact that Claudius had issued an edict that all the Jews were to leave Rome. And [Paul] went to see them,

³And because he was of the same occupation, he stayed with them; and they worked [together], for they were tentmakers by trade.

Now notice verse 18:

¹⁸Afterward Paul remained many days longer, and then told the brethren farewell and sailed for Syria; and he was accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila.

And then verse 26:

²⁶He began to speak freely (fearlessly and boldly) in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him with them and expounded to him the way of God more definitely and accurately.

Notice that Priscilla is mentioned first in these verses. The mentioning of her name first denoted that she was at the forefront of their ministry at that time. She most likely had the more public role. So much for the erroneous teaching that women are not supposed to be minsters of the Gospel! Don't the people who believe that remember Deborah the Judge, or the fact the very first person to "preach" that Jesus of Nazareth had risen from the dead was a woman! HER name was Mary! So let's encourage the ladies to be ALL that God has individually called each one of them to be! AMEN!

We begin Exodus today and I have always been amazed at how the Israelites, who are apparently very strong and many in number:

⁷But the descendants of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, and the land was full of them.

&:

⁹He said to his people, Behold, the Israelites are too many and too mighty for us [and they outnumber us both in people and in strength].

...became anyone's slave! My idea about this is that they were so accustomed to the life they were living, that they didn't even consider that things might change. Sounds a little like the USA today! When new leadership took over, they proceeded to turn a very numerous, strong and hard working people into slaves. I would hope that the Israeli people of today would learn from their past and not be put under any nation's dominion again! We do know that eventually they WILL sign a peace treaty that ends up being the worst decision in the history of their nation! But THAT is for a different book of the Bible! Right now we see Moses protected by God right under Pharaoh's nose! Exodus 2:10:

¹⁰And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son. And she called him Moses, for she said, Because I drew him out of the water.

Isn't that SO like our God! We see here that there is a definite time frame between the "calling" and the "separation"! Moses was to be the deliverer of his people, but when he tried to help them in the natural, he failed miserably! Verse 11-15:

¹¹One day, after Moses was grown, it happened that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of [Moses'] brethren.

¹²He looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

¹³He went out the second day and saw two Hebrew men quarreling and fighting; and he said to the unjust aggressor, Why are you striking your comrade?

¹⁴And the man said, Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian? Then Moses was afraid and thought, Surely this thing is known.

¹⁵When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh's presence and took refuge in the land of Midian, where he sat down by a well.

Moses needed the time in Midian to grow up and the Israelites needed to get fed up and desperate! When they called out to God, He heard and WILL act! Tune in tomorrow!

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

Psalm 45 is one of the Messianic Psalms that Jesus refers to in Luke 24:44. Verse 1 says:

¹MY HEART overflows with a goodly theme; I address my psalm to a King. My tongue is like the pen of a ready writer.

I want it to be said of me that when I speak of Him MY tongue is like the pen of a ready writer! How does that happen? By falling SO in love with Him that He means more than anyone or anything! Spend time in the Word of God and time fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit and you WILL be able to speak of Him that way, too! I also like verse 8:

⁸Your garments are all fragrant with myrrh, aloes, and cassia; stringed instruments make You glad.

When I did some study on these words I found that it actually means that he smelled so strongly of these scents that it was as though His clothing was woven in scent! The REALLY exciting part about this is that these were some of the ingredients of the holy anointing oil that was NOT to be used for any common purposes. It is the oil that was used to anoint the High Priest! It is only fitting that OUR High Priest should be SO anointed with this oil that it permeated his clothing and body until you couldn't separate the smells! Sounds like MY GOD to me! AMEN!!!

In Acts 17 we see Paul and Silas continuing to minister in the synagogues and to preach the Gospel. But as always THIS happened:

⁵But the unbelieving Jews were aroused to jealousy, and, getting hold of some wicked men (ruffians and rascals) and loungers in the marketplace, they gathered together a mob, set the town in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring [Paul and Silas] out to the people.

It's interesting to see that some of the very people that the "religious" Jews would have nothing whatsoever to do with in every day life, were just fine to use to do their "dirty work"! Paul and Silas left there when it became to dangerous and went on to Berea. I love what the Word of God says about the Bereans:

¹¹Now these [Jews] were better disposed and more noble than those in Thessalonica, for they were entirely ready and accepted and welcomed the message [concerning the attainment through Christ of eternal salvation in the kingdom of God] with inclination of mind and eagerness, searching and examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

¹²Many of them therefore became believers, together with not a few prominent Greeks, women as well as men.

Let's make sure that this can also be said of us! AMEN! Then, of course those jealous, unbelieving Jews got wind of this and didn't like it:

¹³But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the Word of God [concerning the attainment through Christ of eternal salvation in the kingdom of God] was also preached by Paul at Beroea, they came there too, disturbing and inciting the masses.

Paul just kept moving on to where people DID want to hear the Truth! We can learn some very good lessons by following Paul's example in ministry! Don't dwell on those who DON'T want to hear the Truth! Keep moving on to find the ones who DO! We are not to be hounding people who don't want to hear. Simply pray for laborers to cross their paths that they can receive from, and then keep moving! Don't let the enemy discourage you - there are SO many people who really want to know the Truth, they just don't realize their need yet. Keep sharing and let GOD do the work! AMEN!

In Genesis we see Jacob giving his final blessing over his sons. It is interesting to note that the things that were done against God's plan were not forgotten. They were being dealt with right here! That is the Old Covenant, based on the old promises! Remember that WE have a New Covenant, based on BETTER promises (Hebrews 8:6):

⁶But as it now is, He [Christ] has acquired a [priestly] ministry which is as much superior and more excellent [than the old] as the covenant (the agreement) of which He is the Mediator (the Arbiter, Agent) is superior and more excellent, [because] it is enacted and rests upon more important (sublimer, higher, and nobler) promises.

I like those better promises! The more I get to know and understand just what these promises are, the more I can walk in the fullness of them! And so can you!

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

Notice this from Psalm 44:1:

¹WE HAVE heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us [what] work You did in their days, in the days of old.

It is vitally important that those of us who are parents and grandparents continually remind our children and families of all the wonderful things that God has done in our lives. Give thanks daily for God's protection, provision, safety, health, healing, wholeness, wellness, fitness, abundant supply and leading, guidance and direction! This WILL build faith in them about Who God is and what He can and will do. We also need to teach them who THEY are in Him! Then they will be able to say this:

⁸In God we have made our boast all the day long, and we will give thanks to Your name forever. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

But then we need to show them how to have a deep, intimate, personal fellowship with Him daily so that they can begin to build their faith in His deliverance based on their OWN experiences with trusting Him! That, also, is VITAL!!!

In Acts we continue to see the Holy Spirit working through the believers who dare to follow His lead and stand on His Word! The church is growing and God is getting the glory! We also see the believers being persecuted in every place. The enemy continually stirs up people to persecute those who will dare to preach God's Word boldly, confidently, uncompromisingly, precisely, accurately and in Love! But if you pay attention to what you've been reading, supernatural deliverance ALWAYS comes when you stand strong on God's Word and continue to have a grateful, thankful heart! Remember that He inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3).

In Genesis it is exciting to see that the same Isaac who had told pharaoh this in yesterday's reading in Genesis 47:9:

⁹Jacob said to Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are 130 years; few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and they have not attained to those of the life of my fathers in their pilgrimage.

..now has this to say about his life in Genesis 48:15-16:

¹⁵Then [Jacob] blessed Joseph and said, God [Himself ], before Whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac lived and walked habitually, God [Himself ], Who has [been my Shepherd and has led and] fed me from the time I came into being until this day,

¹⁶The redeeming Angel [that is, the Angel the Redeemer--not a created being but the Lord Himself] Who has redeemed me continually from every evil, bless the lads! And let my name be perpetuated in them [may they be worthy of having their names coupled with mine], and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them become a multitude in the midst of the earth.

He has a much more thankful heart at this point in time! Let's not wait until the end of our lives to recognize and be thankful for all that God has done for us! Live a life of daily praise and thanksgiving and your outlook on life will be filled with expectant hope and eager anticipation of all the GOOD that God has planned for you and your family! AMEN!

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

I am away from home spending time with family so the blog will be a short one for today and tomorrow!

Remember to encourage YOURSELF in the Lord when situations and circumstances tempt you to be discouraged! Psalm 43:5:

⁵Why are you cast down, O my inner self? And why should you moan over me and be disquieted within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him, Who is the help of my [sad] countenance, and my God.

Praising God will ALWAYS lift a sad countenance and stir up the joy that is within you! Do it! You'll be glad you did!

In Acts 15 we see the beginning of legalism start to creep into the church. Anytime someone adds something to or tries to take something away from the Truth of the Word you have error! Don't ever let anyone tell you that you HAVE to do something ELSE to be saved! Believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you are saved! That's it! No "works" involved except to believe and receive. Then keep learning more from the Word of God so you can live a more victorious life, but NOTHING will keep you from Heaven! Thank You, Jesus!

In Genesis 45-46 we see Joseph finally revealing himself to his brothers! The long ago dream was fulfilled when his brothers bowed down before him, but God was working His GOOD plan the whole time Joseph was imprisoned! HE worked ALL things for good after all of Joseph's trials. The harvest was well worth what he had to go through. YOURS is, too! Never give up, never give in, never quit! AMEN!!!

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

In Psalm 42 today we see an example of how to encourage ourselves in the Lord, just like the Bible says David did in 1 Samuel 30:6. First we're told to hunger and thirst for the presence of God just like the deer hunts down water! Make spending time in His presence your #1 priority and EVERY DAY will be a good, God day! Will we still have tests and trials? Absolutely! Just read 2 Timothy 3:12! But look back at verse 11 and see that God WILL deliver you out of them all! In Psalm 42 we see the Psalmist speaking to himself and speaking to God. He mentions a worry or fearful thought, then reminds himself of what God has done and Who He is! The Psalm ends with this in verse 11:

¹¹Why are you cast down, O my inner self? And why should you moan over me and be disquieted within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him, Who is the help of my countenance, and my God.

Remind yourself of Who God is and who YOU are in Him whenever you are faced with tough situations! Encourage YOURSELF in the Lord and keep your joy stirred up! Remember that the joy of the Lord IS your strength! (Nehemiah 8:10)

In Acts we see Paul and Barnabas preaching the Gospel and ministering in the area of present day Turkey. The Holy Spirit is continuing to work through them, confirming the Word preached with signs, wonders and miracles! Verse 3:

³So [Paul and Barnabas] stayed on there for a long time, speaking freely and fearlessly and boldly in the Lord, Who continued to bear testimony to the Word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be performed by their hands.

They continued to preach and people were saved. The devil continued to harass them by working through people to come against them, but nothing can stop the Gospel from accomplishing what it is meant to accomplish when God's people are bold to preach it! Notice in verse 26-27 how they returned to the church that had sent them out with the glory report of all that God had done!

²⁶And from there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had [first] been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had [now] completed.

²⁷Arriving there, they gathered the church together and declared all that God had accomplished with them and how He had opened to the Gentiles a door of faith [in Jesus as the Messiah, through Whom we obtain salvation in the kingdom of God].

That's what we are supposed to be doing as believers! Sharing the Gospel when we're in the world, and then returning to Church to get built back up and share the Good News of all that God is doing to encourage your brothers and sisters in Jesus to do the same! I LOVE my church!

In Genesis Joseph is just getting ready to reveal who he is to his brothers! He has taken a lot of trouble to set things up, but still hasn't let on who he is! I don't know exactly why he's being so elaborate about it, but stay tuned tomorrow! The Word of God is SO interesting! I never get bored with it. I learn something new every day! I hope you do, too!

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

Psalm 41 in our Bible Plan reading today begins with a blessing that we all have the potential to receive! Let's look at verses 1-3:

¹BLESSED (HAPPY, fortunate, to be envied) is he who considers the weak and the poor; the Lord will deliver him in the time of evil and trouble.

²The Lord will protect him and keep him alive; he shall be called blessed in the land; and You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.

³The Lord will sustain, refresh, and strengthen him...

I really LOVE how the Amplified Bible uses the Hebrew meanings of these Words to give us a better understanding of what's being said here! We're told that the blessing that comes from remembering the poor will make us happy, fortunate and the envy of other people! That comes from "considering", the Hebrew Word "sakal", which means: to wisely understand, to be circumspect, to give attention to, to give insight, to teach, to cause to prosper, the poor! Remember in the New Testament that Jesus said in Mark 14:7:

⁷For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you will not always have Me.

We will always have opportunity to "consider" the poor, because there will always be poor people in this world. The promise is that when we are a blessing to the poor, we are tremendously blessed, here, in THIS life and also in Heaven! In fact these 3 verses in Psalm 41 tell us that we can expect Godly protection, provision and safety, favor and anointing WHEN we are a blessing to those who have less than we do! As the Pastor of the Spoken Word Church, Bill Novak, always says, "Don't complain about paying your taxes! That's one way that we give to the poor in this country! Our taxes take care of the widows, the orphans, the disabled and others". Rejoice in the blessing coming your way because you have given to the poor with every pay check! Then continue to pray that the government will properly USE that money and the rest is in God's very capable hands! AMEN!

Then in Acts 13 we see that the believers of the church at Antioch were spending time fasting and in worship to the Lord. (I see the Holy Spirit moving more believers to get back to prayer and fasting in these exciting last days of the church! Supernatural manifestations of the glory and presence of God take place when God's people put Him first and separate themselves in order to hear His voice!) It was when they were doing this that they heard the Holy Spirit instruct them to separate Saul (Paul) and Barnabas for the work that He had already called them to do! I also really like reading how these early believers continue to preach the Gospel by reminding the people of the prophesies about the Jewish Messiah that have been fulfilled in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. It's no wonder that so many people were saved at that time. It was still soon enough that the people remembered the life of Jesus and knew that what they were hearing was true! That AND the signs and wonders and miracles that accompanied the preaching of the Gospel drew people in. Let's get back to the simple and very powerful Gospel! Study it, believe it, receive it and preach it! God WILL do the rest! AMEN!

In Genesis we finally see Joseph getting out of prison and made second in command of all of Egypt! The dream's that God had given Joseph begin to be fulfilled in Genesis 42:6:

⁶Now Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was who sold to all the people of the land; and Joseph's [half] brothers came and bowed themselves down before him with their faces to the ground.

Joseph was in Egypt for over 20 years before he saw the dreams fulfilled. That should encourage us to never give up, never give in and NEVER, NEVER, NEVER quit! So many believers get weary and quit just before they see the rewards of faithfulness. DON'T be one of those! Remember this in Galatians 6:9:

⁹And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.

Don't faint! Look forward to each day with expectant hope and eager anticipation that THIS could be the day! God is rarely early, but He is NEVER late!

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

I really enjoyed the Bible reading for today! A couple of verses that ministered to me are found in Psalm 40. First verse 3:

³And He has put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many shall see and fear (revere and worship) and put their trust and confident reliance in the Lord.

I LOVE to sing the songs He gives me to sing in the Spirit and also in English! He is worthy of ALL of our praise and Holy Spirit led praise is PERFECT praise! Hallelujah! Then verse 5:

⁵Many, O Lord my God, are the wonderful works which You have done, and Your thoughts toward us; no one can compare with You! If I should declare and speak of them, they are too many to be numbered.

I could spend all day, every day, from now until the Rapture of the Church and not come to the end of all the wonderful things to praise and thank Him for! That's just in MY life and family! When we make thanksgiving and praise our lifestyle, the eyes of our understanding will be more open to recognize the hand of God at work in every area of our lives! AMEN!

In Acts we have been reading about the miraculous things that have happened when the born again, spirit-filled Church of Jesus of Nazareth has gone into their world preaching the Gospel! Today in chapter 12 we see how the Lord worked miraculously, through one of His angels (who are ministering spirits sent to minster FOR us - Hebrews 1:14), to deliver Peter from the prison. These things were all new to the young church, but we have their testimonies to build our faith on! Spend some time every day in Psalm 91 so that you develop great confidence in the power of God to deliver you from any and every test, trial or tribulation that you find yourself facing!

In Acts 12:21-24 we also see the final result of a life spent rejecting God's Word and exalting self above the One, True, Most High, Living, Almighty God of the Bible! Not a glorious end for Herod! We should use this as incentive to continue to have the "living epistle" (2 Corinthians 3:2) of our lives be a true reflection of the Life of God within us! People who are searching for Truth will recognize it in our lives. Then you and I can be used by God to get them delivered from the kingdom of darkness and translated into the Kingdom of God's dear Son (Colossians 1:13)!

In Genesis we have the continuing saga of Joseph who just can't seem to stop himself from talking too much! First we see him (a couple of chapters ago) bragging to his brothers about the dreams he had in which they bowed down to him. The dreams were from God, but were for Joseph to ponder and not to preach! Now we see him telling Potiphar's wife just how great he is in Genesis 39: 8-9:

⁸But he refused and said to his master's wife, See here, with me in the house my master has concern about nothing; he has put all that he has in my care.

⁹He is not greater in this house than I am; nor has he kept anything from me except you, for you are his wife. How then can I do this great evil and sin against God?

It would be very interesting to see what would have happened to Joseph if he would have simply said "NO" to her and made certain that he never went into that house alone! Our suffering is either deserved (because of OUR words and actions) or undeserved (persecution for the Gospel's sake). The great good news is that God delivers us from all of those situations when we trust Him to do so! Also, if you're thinking that Pharaoh would never have found out about Joseph if he hadn't been in the prison, do you REALLY think that the God Who created the universe couldn't find a way to introduce Joseph to Pharaoh! Don't shortchange God! He ALWAYS has a back-up plan when we mess things up, but if we do things His way, we can avoid a lot of trouble and heartache! Keep reading! It's really getting exciting now!

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

Sometimes when you meditate on the Word of God that you're studying, the Holy Spirit will show you something unique to your situation that you can put into practice. Sometimes you may see some things in the Word that you haven't heard taught before. When that happens, you have the opportunity to do further study and see how it plays out with the rest of the Word! Remember that Truths in the Word are established by 2 or 3 witnesses. That means that a particular principle found in the Word of God will be able to be found in at least another place or two in the Word. That's why I like to share other Scripture that you can check out to see that what's being shared here is actually Scriptural! Psalm 39 for today seemed a little cloudy and negative to me until the Holy Spirit pointed something out. Verses 1-2:

¹I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.

²I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred.

We see here that David had good intentions. He wanted to keep a hedge of protection around his life by watching his tongue. In fact to "take heed to" his ways and to "keep" his mouth is the same Hebrew word, "shamar", which means: to keep, to guard, to protect, to restrain, to preserve, to put a hedge around. That's a very good thing to do! But notice that verse 2 says that he was "dumb with silence" and "held his peace" EVEN from GOOD! That was the problem! He thought that by just not speaking anything, he would protect himself. The Word tells us to be SLOW to speak (James 1:19), but it doesn't say to be silent! In fact we are told in many places exactly WHAT to speak! THE WORD! Not SAYING anything doesn't CHANGE anything! Notice that when David tried to just not talk, the results were that his "sorrow was stirred"! "Sorrow" is the Hebrew word, "ke'eb", which means: physical or mental suffering, adversity, grief, pain and sorrow. "Was stirred" is the Hebrew word, "'akar", which means: to trouble, disturb, afflict or calamity. Keeping silent wasn't the answer! In order to protect our hearts from fear, worry, guilt, shame, anxiety and other "evil" thoughts, we need to reject those thoughts that are contrary to God's Word, and then REPLACE them with good, positive thoughts from the Word of God. Remind yourself of the promises! If you don't, then what happened to David will happen to you! Verse 3 from the Message translation is especially good here:

But the longer I kept silence - The worse it got — my insides got hotter and hotter. My thoughts boiled over; I spilled my guts.

He kept thinking the wrong things and not speaking out good things and he finally "spilled his guts". He should have meditated on the promises of the Word, declared the Word to himself and then when he did speak, it would have been Words of power and authority! We have been given instructions on how to deal with negative thoughts in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5:

⁵Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Then we have been told how we are to think in Philippians 4:8:

⁸For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them].

Do this and continue to speak good and Godly things with your mouth and you WILL have good and Godly things manifesting in your life! God is so good and His Word is so powerful! Let's USE it!

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

We read Acts 10 in the Bible Reading plan for today. I really love this story of Cornelius! He was a "God-fearing and obedient" man! Verse 22:

²²And they said, Cornelius, a centurion (captain) who is just and upright and in right standing with God, being God-fearing and obedient and well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, has been instructed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house; and he has received in answer [to prayer] a warning to listen to and act upon what you have to say.

He cried out to God as a Gentile who wanted to know this God of the Jews and God led him to Peter! I really like how the Lord prepared Peter ahead of time so that when the request came, he was prepared to go! Our God is SO faithful to put us in position to be blessed AND a blessing! We just need to be sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit and DO what He tells us to do! Also notice that, again, when they were born again, they ALSO received the Holy Spirit baptism! That's how it is SUPPOSED to happen! Then believers can be filled with "power from on high" and fulfill their God-given ministries! I LOVE Acts!

Then we see the power of the spoken word in Genesis. Remember when Rachel stole her father's household "gods"? Jacob, not knowing that Rachel had stolen them, said this in Genesis 31:32:

³²The one with whom you find those gods of yours, let him not live. Here before our kinsmen [search my possessions and] take whatever you find that belongs to you. For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen [the images].

Now we see in chapter 35:16-19 what became of Rachel:

¹⁶And they journeyed from Bethel and had but a little way to go to Ephrath [Bethlehem] when Rachel suffered the pangs of childbirth and had hard labor.

¹⁷When she was in hard labor, the midwife said to her, Do not be afraid; you shall have this son also.

¹⁸And as her soul was departing, for she died, she called his name Ben-oni [son of my sorrow]; but his father called him Benjamin [son of the right hand].

¹⁹So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem.

It would do us all good to remember Ephesians 4:29:

²⁹Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

The words of our mouths are very powerful! Remember when Jesus merely SPOKE to the fig tree and it dried up? We need to make sure that the words we speak are things we REALLY want to take place! It's always best to speak HIS Word! Then we KNOW we'll be blessed and protected!

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

There is SO much in the entire Bible Reading for today that we could do several blog posts to cover it! It's a good thing that the Spoken Word Bible reading plan covers Psalms and Proverbs twice! We'll look at a couple of verses and then move on to Acts and Genesis. Verses 1-6 say:

¹FRET NOT yourself because of evildoers, neither be envious against those who work unrighteousness (that which is not upright or in right standing with God).

²For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.

³Trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) in the Lord and do good; so shall you dwell in the land and feed surely on His faithfulness, and truly you shall be fed.

⁴Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart.

⁵Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass.

⁶And He will make your uprightness and right standing with God go forth as the light, and your justice and right as [the shining sun of] the noonday.

Notice that it says to not fret (have anxiety or worry and fear) over evildoers. It may LOOK like everything is going their way, but that is just temporary! We see in these few verses what we are to do as believers in Jesus of Nazareth and what our attitude should be. The results are spelled out very plainly, too. So also are the results that the evildoers, unbelievers and wicked people can expect UNLESS they change their thinking to agree with God and become believers! Read through the rest of the Psalm and take note of everything that is told for us to do as believers AND the promised reward! You won't even have to give a thought to the results of the wicked, except to realize how very much they NEED to hear and receive the message we've been called to preach - the Good News!

Then we see in Acts where Saul, who has been seething with hatred for the believers in Jesus, is stopped short by the Lord and captured by the very Gospel message that he has been so against! The thing that the Holy Spirit showed me so clearly this time through this passage is how very determined and focused the unbelievers were to stop the Gospel! Look at verse 1-2:

¹MEANWHILE SAUL, still drawing his breath hard from threatening and murderous desire against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest

²And requested of him letters to the synagogues at Damascus [authorizing him], so that if he found any men or women belonging to the Way [of life as determined by faith in Jesus Christ], he might bring them bound [with chains] to Jerusalem.

Saul was so consumed with his mission and would let nothing stop him! Then we see how the Jews who did not receive Saul's message reacted in verse 22-23:

²²But Saul increased all the more in strength, and continued to confound and put to confusion the Jews who lived in Damascus by comparing and examining evidence and proving that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah).

²³After considerable time had elapsed, the Jews conspired to put Saul out of the way by slaying him,

Wouldn't it be wonderful if the saints of God, the born again believers in Jesus of Nazareth were always so very determined to preach the Gospel to the unbelievers so the Holy Spirit could work through them with signs, wonders and miracles to set the captives free! I believe YOU are one of the few who really GET it or you wouldn't be reading this blog! Thank You, Jesus, for those who are on fire for the things of God! AMEN!

We see in Genesis where Jacob, who should have remembered that the Lord CHANGED his name to Israel, continued to deceive when he lied to his brother about where he was going! He didn't trust his brother and it was because he knew that he himself couldn't be trusted! That's the problem with allowing your word to become meaningless. If you don't have faith in your own word, you will have a hard time believing God will honor HIS Word. He WILL ALWAYS honor His Word, but we have to learn to trust in that Truth! Make sure your word to others is GOOD and you will have greater confidence in the Word of Almighty God! I Love it when the Word of God comes alive and is so very practical!

Shalom in Him!