Shalom,

Psalm 50:23:

²³Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.

We've looked at this verse briefly before, but I want to break it down a little. "Whoso offereth", is the Hebrew word, "zabach", which means: to offer a sacrifice. This is not the sacrifice of animals that God is talking about here. This is the sacrifice of "praise", the Hebrew word, "towdah", which means: thanksgiving, praise, confession, an extension of the hand, adoration. It is demonstrative, vocal and sometimes public! That is the picture of someone who is unashamed to let the whole world know that they love the Lord their God with all of their heart and soul, mind and strength! Those who do that, "glorifieth me", the Hebrew word, "kabad", which means: to make heavy or weighty (in a GOOD sense!); to honor or make honorable; to give glory; to make glorious, honourable, rich and abounding! That is what we are expressing when we praise Him!

Then the rest of that verse says "and to him that ordereth", the Hebrew word, "suwm", which means: to put, to place, to set, to direct toward, to establish, "conversation", the Hebrew word, "derek", which means: road, course of life, mode of action, way. The words "his" and "aright" are not there. They were added by the translators to try and make the meaning clear. They were well-meaning, but not totally accurate. It makes it sound as though we must walk in a perfect way in order to have God "show", the Hebrew word, "ra`ah", which means: to see, to perceive, to discern, to be exhibited to, to cause to see, "the salvation", the Hebrew word, "yesha`", which means: deliverance, rescue, safety, welfare, prosperity, victory, of God. A better translation can be found in the Message bible:

It's the praising life that honors me.
As soon as you set your foot on the Way,
I'll show you my salvation."

Once you have received Jesus of Nazareth as your Lord and personal Saviour, you have entered The WAY! Remember that Jesus said, "I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life..." (John 14:6). You have a right to the salvation of God. you need to find out in His Word what all that entails, and then, by faith, walk in it! Be like David, a man after God's own heart. Was David perfect in his actions? Absolutely NOT! BUT, one thing David DID do is repent (Change his thinking to agree with God), confess his sin and move on, going hard after the will of God. Keep yourself on the right path and learn of His salvation! You'll be so glad you did and so will everyone close to you! AMEN!

In Philemon, Paul is addressing an issue concerning a new believer who had done Philemon wrong as an unbeliever, but was now in the family of God. He was trying to see this one restored to a good relationship with Philemon. The verse I want to look at today is verse 6:

⁶[And I pray] that the participation in and sharing of your faith may produce and promote full recognition and appreciation and understanding and precise knowledge of every good [thing] that is ours in [our identification with] Christ Jesus [and unto His glory].

That should be the desire of every believer, that our sharing the Gospel would cause people to be open to the wonderful salvation provided for them at the New Birth! It is MY desire!

In Isaiah 13-14 we see prophecy concerning what was to happen to Babylon, but also what will come to pass at the time of the Tribulation and Great Tribulation that will take place on Earth AFTER the Rapture of the Church. Go to the Spoken Word Church website to hear some current teaching on that subject in the series titled "Watch" that is ongoing.

We also see in chapter 14 an account of when Lucifer's fall from Heaven in verses 12-16:

¹²How have you fallen from heaven, O light-bringer and daystar, son of the morning! How you have been cut down to the ground, you who weakened and laid low the nations [O blasphemous, satanic king of Babylon!] ¹³And you said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit upon the mount of assembly in the uttermost north. ¹⁴I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. ¹⁵Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol (Hades), to the innermost recesses of the pit (the region of the dead). ¹⁶Those who see you will gaze at you and consider you, saying, Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms?--

He had 5 "I wills" in these verses! By a choice of his own will, Lucifer became filled with pride and rebelled against God! He was cast out of Heaven and fell to the Earth. Make sure that YOU do not start seeking your own will and desire instead of the plan that God has for your life!

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

Psalm 49:13-19 in the Message Bible makes it VERY clear why we should never envy the unbeliever who SEEMS to have everything going for them!

^13-15 This is what happens to those who live for the moment,
who only look out for themselves:
Death herds them like sheep straight to hell;
they disappear down the gullet of the grave;
They waste away to nothing—
nothing left but a marker in a cemetery.
But me? God snatches me from the clutch of death,
he reaches down and grabs me.

^16-19 So don't be impressed with those who get rich
and pile up fame and fortune.
They can't take it with them;
fame and fortune all get left behind.
Just when they think they've arrived
and folks praise them because they've made good,
They enter the family burial plot
where they'll never see sunshine again.

Verses 7-8 in the Amplified Bible:

⁷None of them can by any means redeem [either himself or] his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him-- ⁸For the ransom of a life is too costly, and [the price one can pay] can never suffice.

It took the most precious, valuable and costly gift that God could ever give to redeem us from the hands of the enemy! The Blood of Jesus! Thank You, Father and thank You, Lord Jesus! AMEN!

Titus 3:3-6 tells us not to be overly critical of unbelievers. After all, they are only being true to their nature! What do they need? A Saviour!

³For we also were once thoughtless and senseless, obstinate and disobedient, deluded and misled; [we too were once] slaves to all sorts of cravings and pleasures, wasting our days in malice and jealousy and envy, hateful (hated, detestable) and hating one another. ⁴But when the goodness and loving-kindness of God our Savior to man [as man] appeared, ⁵He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but because of His own pity and mercy, by [the] cleansing [bath] of the new birth (regeneration) and renewing of the Holy Spirit, ⁶Which He poured out [so] richly upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior.

It does no good whatsoever for an unbeliever to try and clean up their act! They need to recognize that they are personal sinners who need a personal Saviour! Then introduce them to YOURS! That is the single greatest act of love you can ever do for another person!

Verse 9 has another instruction for us that I have come to realize is very vital.

⁹But avoid stupid and foolish controversies and genealogies and dissensions and wrangling about the Law, for they are unprofitable and futile.

You and I will never be able to debate someone into the Kingdom of God! Just follow the leading of the holy Spirit and present the simple Gospel. Cover it with prayer and expect Isaiah 55:11:

¹¹So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

It is the job of the Holy Spirit to convince someone of their need for a Saviour. Another important thing to remember when dealing with unbelievers is that you CANNOT teach them the Word of God. They are unable to receive the Word until they are born again because they must have a new spirit to be able to understand. 1 Corinthians 2:14:

¹⁴But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him; and he is incapable of knowing them [of progressively recognizing, understanding, and becoming better acquainted with them] because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated.

Once someone receives Jesus as Lord and personal Saviour, they can receive the teaching of the Word of God because they will have the Holy Spirit living in them to teach them the Word!

Isaiah 11 prophesies of the coming Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth! It looks at His first coming and then moves right into His second coming and His millennial reign as King of kings and Lord of lords! Isaiah 12 is a song! It is the Song of Salvation! (Isaiah's name means "Jehovah is salvation"!) Verse 2 is a very familiar verse from a song we used to sing in church!

²Behold, God, my salvation! I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and song; yes, He has become my salvation.

Sing TO HIM as Your Lord and Saviour, not just about Him! His presence will become much more real to you if you will do that! Make it personal! After all, He IS your personal Saviour!

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

Psalm 48 continues where we left off in Psalm 47, celebrating Jehovah - the eternal self-existing One! Verses 1-2:

¹GREAT IS the Lord, and highly to be praised in the city of our God! His holy mountain, ²Fair and beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth--Mount Zion [the City of David], to the northern side [Mount Moriah and the temple], the [whole] city of the Great King!

"Great" is a "great" way to describe our God! It is the Hebrew word, "gadol", which means: large in magnitude and extent, great in intensity, great in importance, high, mighty, noble. Not only is He great, but He is to be "praised", the Hebrew word "halal", which means: to make a show, to boast, to be clamorously foolish over, to stultify (cause to be or appear stupid, foolish or absurdly illogical!), to act like a madman! And THAT is to be done "greatly", the Hebrew word, "me`od", which means: exceedingly much, might, force, abundance, showing magnitude or degree, muchness! Have YOU been praising the great God in a great way? He deserves ALL the "great" praise! He is worthy!

Then it mentions the city of God on Mount Zion which is Jerusalem! If you ever get the opportunity to visit Israel and to see and walk in the streets of Jerusalem - DO IT! You will never be the same! It is an amazing place with so much history! There has been so much of God's Word spoken in that city over all of these years and the anointing there is tangible!

Titus 2 has Paul continuing to instruct Pastor Titus on how to minister to the congregation that he was in charge of. The first and most important instruction is found in verse 1:

¹BUT [as for] you, teach what is fitting and becoming to sound (wholesome) doctrine.

Sound doctrine means the Word of God. Verse 8:

⁸And let your instruction be sound and fit and wise and wholesome, vigorous and irrefutable and above censure, so that the opponent may be put to shame, finding nothing discrediting or evil to say about us.

We are not to get into endless debates with people who don't really want to know the Truth. Just keep putting the Truth of God's Word out and let HIM confirm it to them!

Isaiah 9:2:

²The people who walked in darkness have seen a great Light; those who dwelt in the land of intense darkness and the shadow of death, upon them has the Light shined.

This verse brings to mind John 1:1-5:

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²The same was in the beginning with God. ³All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴In him was life; and the life was the light of men. ⁵And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

That's Jesus, the Word, Who became flesh and dwelt among us! He IS the Light. The reason there seems to be so much darkness in the world right now is because of the rejection of the Word by so many! The Good News is that there are very, very many believers getting on fire again for the things of God. That means there are many more laborers getting out into those fields that are ripe for harvest! The revival going on right now is the last great revival before the Rapture of the Church and it is going to be the biggest and the best, producing more results (new births into the Kingdom of God) than at any previous time! If YOU haven't gotten involved yet, what is holding you back? You KNOW that this is God's primary purpose and His #1 priority! He wants that NONE should perish, but that All should come to repentance! (2 Peter 3:9) Let's get right in the middle of what the Spirit of God is doing in the Earth and bring real joy to our Lord and Saviour! AMEN!

Shalom in Him

Shalom,

Yesterday we read in Psalm 46 that God is to be exalted in all the Earth! Psalm 47 is how we do that! Verse 1:

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

"ALL ye people" leaves out NO ONE! We are ALL to clap our hands and we are ALL to SHOUT unto God! And this isn't just any ordinary old shout! This is to be done with the voice of TRIUMPH! What does that mean? It means to act like you've won something, because you have! "It is finished, it is done. He is risen and I HAVE WON"! He did it ALL for me! AND you! Believe it, receive it and ACT LIKE IT! That's what brings joy to the heart of the Father! Then we are told 5 times in this Psalm to "sing praises". Do you think that God just might want to hear the sound of our voices singing praises to Him? Why do you think that is? Because He LIVES in the praises of His people! Psalm 22:3! AND wherever He is, He is ACTIVE, watching over His Word to perform it! Jeremiah 1:12:

12 Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.

That gives me confidence AND the desire to praise Him AT ALL TIMES!

Titus 1:1-2 reveals to us what the Ministry Gifts, given to the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4), are to be doing:

¹PAUL, A bond servant of God and an apostle (a special messenger) of Jesus Christ (the Messiah) to stimulate and promote the faith of God's chosen ones and to lead them on to accurate discernment and recognition of and acquaintance with the Truth which belongs to and harmonizes with and tends to godliness, ²[Resting] in the hope of eternal life, [life] which the ever truthful God Who cannot deceive promised before the world or the ages of time began.

That is exactly the way that God set it up! The congregation should not be picking a Pastor and then telling him what to do! God Himself appoints Pastors for the people and the people are supposed to submit to the teaching of the Word from that Gift and the other Ministry Gifts and grow up to be able to do the work of the ministry. That is REALLY what church is for! Believers come to church to be taught and trained so they can go out into the world and reach the lost. Then when they are saved, bring THEM to church so THEY can grow! Simple and powerful plan! Why would ANYONE want to change that? I praise God that I belong to a church that teaches the Word of God boldly, confidently, uncompromisingly, precisely and accurately, and that God confirms that Word in MY life when I act on it!

There are many things we could look at in Isaiah today, but only one verse stood out! Isaiah 7:14:

¹⁴Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, the young woman who is unmarried and a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel [God with us].

The Messiah HAD to be born of a virgin so that He would not have the sin nature that comes through the man. With God as His Father and Mary as His mother, Jesus was 100% God and 100% man (without sin). The perfect ONE to bridge the gap between God and man by His own life. God SAID it! Then He DID it! Jesus spent three years teaching and preparing the people. Then He SAID what He was going to do and He DID it! Thank You, Jesus, for ALL that You did for me! Now it is MY responsibility to continue to tell unbelievers about THE SIGN and the MANIFESTATION of that SIGN , Jesus of Nazareth! Glory to God!

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

Psalm 46:10:

¹⁰Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth!

This verse has been used by many to try to justify being non-demonstrative in praise and worship. That is NOT what this verse means at all! The previous verses are speaking of the mighty works of the Lord! Then we have "Be still", the Hebrew word "raphah", which means: to slacken, to cease, to withdraw, to relax. It is referring to letting go of our own efforts to handle situations and let God do His work! You know, "let go and let God"! The Amplified Bible we quoted above has it right: "let be and be still". Another good translation is found in Complete Jewish Bible:

10 “Desist, and learn that I am God,

supreme over the nations,

supreme over the earth.”

Desist, or stop with YOUR efforts and learn about God! Another good one is found in the Message Bible:

10 "Step out of the traffic! Take a long,

loving look at me, your High God,

above politics, above everything."

Do you get the picture? We are to STOP trying to do things our way and rely on the One, True, Most High, Living, Almighty God of the Bible to deliver us in EVERY situation! Then HE gets all of the Glory and HE is exalted! AMEN!

Paul's last instructions to Timothy are found in 2 Timothy 4. We will look at verse 2:

²Herald and preach the Word! Keep your sense of urgency [stand by, be at hand and ready], whether the opportunity seems to be favorable or unfavorable. [Whether it is convenient or inconvenient, whether it is welcome or unwelcome.] And convince them, rebuking and correcting, warning and urging and encouraging them, being unflagging and inexhaustible in patience and teaching.

I love the Amplified Bible for this verse! To herald means to proclaim and announce. Paul was telling Timothy to stick to the Word of God and keep putting it out to the people! Unbelievers need to hear the simple Gospel concerning salvation so they can receive Jesus as Lord and personal Saviour. Then, as believers, they need to hear the Word of God taught so that they can grow up to be effectual Ministers of Reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18). That IS the job of a Pastor! They are to teach the Word to the people so that the people can be matured to do the work of the ministry. Their ministry! Paul also warns Timothy that there will come a time when people will not WANT to hear the Word! Verses 3-4:

³For the time is coming when [people] will not tolerate (endure) sound and wholesome instruction, but, having ears itching [for something pleasing and gratifying], they will gather to themselves one teacher after another to a considerable number, chosen to satisfy their own liking and to foster the errors they hold, ⁴And will turn aside from hearing the truth and wander off into myths and man-made fictions.

That's why we are to be about our Father's business NOW, while there is still time to reach people. AMEN! Then WE can say, along with Paul:

⁶For I am already about to be sacrificed [my life is about to be poured out as a drink offering]; the time of my [spirit's] release [from the body] is at hand and I will soon go free. ⁷I have fought the good (worthy, honorable, and noble) fight, I have finished the race, I have kept (firmly held) the faith. ⁸[As to what remains] henceforth there is laid up for me the [victor's] crown of righteousness [for being right with God and doing right], which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me and recompense me on that [great] day--and not to me only, but also to all those who have loved and yearned for and welcomed His appearing (His return).

Thank You, Jesus, for trusting us with this awesome responsibility and opportunity!

In 2 Kings 15-16 we see another account of the Kings of Judah and Israel. Some of the kings of Judah did right in the sight of the Lord and none of the kings of Israel did. The kings of Israel got to be so wicked and perverse that they began to act just like pagan people. You can see this in 2 Kings 15:16 and 16:3:

¹⁶Then Menahem smote Tiphsah and all who were in it and its territory from Tirzah on; he attacked it because they did not open to him. And all the women there who were with child he ripped up.

³But he walked in the ways of Israel's kings, yes, and made his son pass through the fire [and offered him as a sacrifice], in accord with the abominable [idolatrous] practices of the [heathen] nations whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites.

The further people remove themselves from the Word of God and the ways of God, the worse they will act. We can see how this has affected our nation. What used to be unheard of and unacceptable is now becoming the norm and protected by wicked judges! What is to be done? PREACH THE WORD! The Word of God is the only thing that can change a wicked heart! An awakening to the Truth of the Word is what is needed in this nation and God's people are on fire as never before to see to the job of reaching the lost with the simple and glorious Gospel of Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One and His Anointing! Let's DO IT!

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

Psalm 45:6:

⁶Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; the scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

The word "throne" is the Hebrew word "kicceh", which means: a throne, a seat of honor, a royal dignity, an authority, a power. The words forever and ever both mean continual, unending existence. A scepter is a mark of authority. The mark of authority for THIS kingdom is RIGHTEOUSNESS! That is uprightness, or right standing with God! There is no doubt whatsoever that this verse is referring to the King of kings and the Lord of lords - Jesus of Nazareth! You might be interested to know, in light of some of the things that appear to be happening in our world at this time, that there is a Scripture verse carved in stone that rises above the place where Muslims pray at the great mosque in Damascus. It dates back to the time that this was a Christian church dedicated to John the Baptist. A mosque was built on the ruins of the church, but the carving remains and reads:

"Thy kingdom, O Christ, is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations."

No matter how hard the world and devil try to obliterate the Name of Jesus from the Earth, they will NEVER succeed! HIS throne and HIS kingdom are FOREVER! AMEN! I am SO blessed to be a part of HIS kingdom!

2 Timothy 3:1:

¹BUT UNDERSTAND this, that in the last days will come (set in) perilous times of great stress and trouble [hard to deal with and hard to bear].

The description of the things that will be happening during these perilous times is found in verses 2-5:

²For people will be lovers of self and [utterly] self-centered, lovers of money and aroused by an inordinate [greedy] desire for wealth, proud and arrogant and contemptuous boasters. They will be abusive (blasphemous, scoffing), disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane. ³[They will be] without natural [human] affection (callous and inhuman), relentless (admitting of no truce or appeasement); [they will be] slanderers (false accusers, troublemakers), intemperate and loose in morals and conduct, uncontrolled and fierce, haters of good. ⁴[They will be] treacherous [betrayers], rash, [and] inflated with self-conceit. [They will be] lovers of sensual pleasures and vain amusements more than and rather than lovers of God. ⁵For [although] they hold a form of piety (true religion), they deny and reject and are strangers to the power of it [their conduct belies the genuineness of their profession]. Avoid [all] such people [turn away from them].

That we are living in these exact times is very painfully obvious! Verse 5 says that some of these claim to be believers, but deny, reject and are strangers to the power that is supposed to accompany the Gospel! Remember that to know the power, you MUST get to know Jesus! (Philippians 3:10). Then to continue to grow up as a believer in Jesus and a member of the family of God, we must understand verses 16-17 and make use of the Word of God!

¹⁶Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose, and action), ¹⁷So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Every verse in the Bible can be used by the Holy Spirit, our Teacher, to teach and train us so that we can grow up in the things of God. Get to know Jesus AND the power that you are supposed to be walking in as a born again believer. Then you will be "well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work!" AMEN!

In 2 Chronicles 27-28 we see a contrast of two kings. One who "did right in the sight of the Lord", King Jotham, and another who "did not do right in the sight of the Lord", King Ahaz. We can see the results of their choices! Jotham's results are found in 2 Chronicles 27:6:

⁶So Jotham grew mighty, for he ordered his ways in the sight of the Lord his God.

The results for Ahaz are found in 2 Chronicles 28:20-23:

²⁰So Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came to him and distressed him without strengthening him. ²¹For Ahaz took [treasure] from the house of the Lord and out of the house of the king and from the princes and gave it as tribute to the king of Assyria, but it did not help Ahaz. ²²In the time of his distress he became still more unfaithful to the Lord--this same King Ahaz. ²³For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, which had defeated him, for he said, Since the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel.

It PAYS to do things God's way and it costs, big time, to do things your own way IF you way is contrary to God's way! Find out how God wants things done and then do it His way and be blessed beyond measure! AMEN!

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

As you read through Psalm 44 you see that it begins with praise for all that God has done in protecting the nation from their enemies! A key verse here is verse 8:

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]!

The word "boast" is the familiar Hebrew word, "hala" from which we get the word "hallelujah" and means: to shine, to praise, to boast of, to be clamorously foolish over! We're to do this all day long! Are you? Then we also see the word "praise", which is the Hebrew word "yada", which means: to use the hand, to praise, to worship, to laud (as in applause!). Even it looked like everything was going wrong for Israel at this time, the psalmist reminded the people, and himself, of the wonderful works that God had done for them in the past. Then, even though it LOOKED like things would never work out, they turned their attention back again to the God of their Salvation and trusted in Him! GO THOU AND DO LIKEWISE! AMEN!

In 2 Timothy 2:1 we see another verse that is sometimes used to propagate the idea that God does not use women ministers.

²And the [instructions] which you have heard from me along with many witnesses, transmit and entrust [as a deposit] to reliable and faithful men who will be competent and qualified to teach others also.

The word "men" here is the Greek word, "anthroopos" and means: a human being without distinction of sex, whether male or female! Verse 15 tells us the most important thing that believers should be concentrating on when reading the Word of God:

¹⁵Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth.

Become knowledgeable of the Word of God. When you do this, you will get to know Jesus more. Philippians 3:10 tells us that when we get to know Him, at the same time, we will come to understand the power that Jesus walked in and EXPECTS us to walk in, too! (John 14:12)

The only verse we are supposed to look at today in Isaiah 5-6 is found in Isaiah 6:8:

⁸Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send? And who will go for Us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

Whatever the Lord has called You to do, He has also anointed You to do, but He is a Gentleman! He will not force Himself or His will on anyone! If we want Him, we must CHOOSE Him! So take stock of you own life and calling. Get yourself ready to obey the leading of the Lord and then tell Him: "Send me!" AMEN! You will NEVER regret making THAT decision!

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

Psalm 43:5 is an example of encouraging yourself in the Lord!

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.

We've read before (1 Samuel 30:6) that there were times when David had to encourage himself! The psalmist here did just that! He spoke to himself first asking WHY he was in that mindset! He knew he had so much to be grateful for, and you and I do, too! Let's encourage ourselves in the Lord so WE can help someone else do the same!

I really like the Amplified Bible for 2 Timothy 1:7:

⁷For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.

The word "power" is the Greek word, "dunamis", which means: miraculous power or force! It is were we get the word dynamite! Remember that fear, if it does not come from God, and it doesn't, has only one other source possible and that is the devil! you do NOT want to receive anything that the devil has to offer, so don't even accept those thoughts of fear when they come. Notice that I said "when" and not "if"! Those thoughts WILL come because the devil will keep trying, but you and I have authority over our minds and what we choose to accept or reject. When those thoughts come, REJECT them as from the enemy and REPLACE them with 2 Timothy 1:7! Say it right our loud so that the devil hears it and YOU hear it! Remember that faith comes by hearing, so hear yourself speaking God's Word and faith will come and faith will grow! AMEN! I also like verse 14:

¹⁴Guard and keep [with the greatest care] the precious and excellently adapted [Truth] which has been entrusted [to you], by the [help of the] Holy Spirit Who makes His home in us.

It is MY responsibility to feed on the Word of God as my vital food and then to guard and protect that Word in my heart so that the enemy cannot steal it away! How does he do that? He tries to get us to disbelieve the Word and to believe the evil report! DON'T DO IT! Keep the Word of God alive in you by mediating on it every day! Set a goal to learn something new about the Lord every day through His Word. That IS one of the reasons we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us! He wants to teach us the Word and make that Word come alive as we give Him the opportunity!

In Isaiah 3-4 we see the results of a nation that turns away from the things of God! We can see some of these things happening in our nation! When you are tempted to be discouraged by the things you see happening around you, remember Isaiah 3:10:

¹⁰Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.

The word righteous is referring to those in right standing with God! Those who have received Jesus of Nazareth as Lord and personal Saviour! You are obedient to His Word and when you miss it, you confess it and get back on track! The promise to us is that it shall be well with us! "Well" is the Hebrew word, "towb", which we have looked at many times, and means: [good, pleasant, agreeable, excellent, rich, appropriate, better, benefit, happiness, welfare and prosperity]. And we shall eat the fruit of OUR deeds! In other words, we won't have to reap the results that are surely coming to pass on those that do wickedly and contrary to God's Word. We shall have good and Godly results as long as we operate in obedience to is Word! Let's continue to do so! AMEN!

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

Psalm 42:1:

¹AS THE hart pants and longs for the water brooks, so I pant and long for You, O God.

To "pant" is the Hebrew word, "arag", which means: to long for, to pant after. The dictionary definition of pant is: to long demonstratively, to yearn. Demonstrative is: marked by the open expression of emotion. To yearn is: to have a strong desire. The psalmist is saying that he has the same intensity of feeling for being in the presence of God that the deer has when he is overcome with thirst and MUST HAVE water! When was the last time you just HAD to be in the presence of God? Sometimes we can get so busy with DETAILS of life that we forget that we were MADE to praise God! We cannot survive without spending time in His presence! We MUST HAVE close, intimate fellowship with the One, True, Most High, Living, Almighty God of the Bible in order to flow in the LIFE that others around us need, not to mention our own needs! TAKE the time, EVERYDAY! It is vital, for you AND for all those you care about! AMEN!

I absolutely love the Amplified Bible for 1 Timothy 6:3-5:

³But if anyone teaches otherwise and does not assent to the sound and wholesome messages of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and the teaching which is in agreement with godliness (piety toward God), ⁴He is puffed up with pride and stupefied with conceit, [although he is] woefully ignorant. He has a morbid fondness for controversy and disputes and strife about words, which result in (produce) envy and jealousy, quarrels and dissension, abuse and insults and slander, and base suspicions, ⁵And protracted wrangling and wearing discussion and perpetual friction among men who are corrupted in mind and bereft of the truth, who imagine that godliness or righteousness is a source of profit [a moneymaking business, a means of livelihood].

If the people we cone in contact with, even believers, do not want to submit to the Word of God, it is because they are "puffed up with pride" and "stupefied with conceit"! Pride is: an excessively high opinion of oneself (apart from God!) and conceit is: an exaggerated opinion of oneself. Oh-oh! Do you remember what follows pride? (Proverbs 16:18). To be stupefied is: mentally confused; unable to think with clarity or act intelligently. Morbid suggests an unhealthy mental state. Do you get the picture of the futility of carrying on a discussion with someone like this? What to do? Smile, walk away and let THEM come to You when they are in a position, like the deer, when they realize that they NEED what you have to offer! We cannot MAKE someone see sense! That is the job of the holy Spirit. We should pray the prayers in Ephesians 1, Ephesians 3 and Colossians 1 for them. Then pray in the Spirit and let God do the work. He will! AMEN!

There were two things that stood out to me in Isaiah 1-2 today. The first is found in Isaiah 1:2-3:

²Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: I have nourished and brought up sons and have made them great and exalted, but they have rebelled against Me and broken away from Me. ³The ox [instinctively] knows his owner, and the donkey his master's crib, but Israel does not know or recognize Me [as Lord], My people do not consider or understand.

God's people had gotten so away from the presence of God by their disobedience to His Word that they had become like those we looked at in 1 Timothy. Stupefied! They didn't even know and recognize their God anymore! They weren't even as smart as animals that DO know who feeds them and cares for them! Keep yourself in constant and consistent fellowship so you always recognize Him!

In Isaiah 1:19 we have this promise:

¹⁹If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;

It is NOT enough to simply obey the Word! This verse tells us that we must also be willing! That involves our attitude when we DO the Word! If you have a problem with your attitude when obeying the Word, then pray telling the Father that you are "willing to be willing" and let Him do the work! I have found that I get willing in a hurry after praying THAT prayer! What is the promise? We will "eat the good of the land!" That goodness refers to goodness, gladness, welfare and prosperity! Sounds GOOD to me, how about you?

And then in Isaiah 2:1-4:

¹THE WORD which Isaiah son of Amoz saw [revealed] concerning Judah and Jerusalem. ²It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be [firmly] established as the highest of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow to it. ³And many people shall come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law and instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. ⁴And He shall judge between the nations and shall decide [disputes] for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

There WILL come a time when these things happen! It is yet in our future. The thing that I hadn't noticed before was the fact that the "mountain of the Lord's house" would be the highest mountain ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD! Some big changes are coming to the Earth for that to happen! Soon and very soon we are going to see our King! King Jesus! Are YOU ready? Hallelujah!

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

Psalm 41:1-3:

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 on his bed of languishing; all his bed You [O Lord] will turn, change, and transform in his illness.

These verses cover the promises of what God will do for someone who will consider the poor! "Consider" is the Hebrew word, "sakal", which means: to give attention to, to wisely understand, to act wisely, to cause to prosper. When we pay attention to the poor and needy for the purpose of helping them to prosper and have a better life, then God will do all of these things for us! What wonderful promises! He will protect us, keep us alive, deliver us from trouble, evil and our enemies, bless us in the land, sustain, refresh and strengthen us, and overturn and overthrow sickness and illness from us! Our motives for helping the poor and needy should be because it is pleasing to God because they belong to Him! The rewards for doing so are all of these promises! What a wonderful God we serve!

In 1 Timothy 5 we will look at verses 17-18:

¹⁷Let the elders who perform the duties of their office well be considered doubly worthy of honor [and of adequate financial support], especially those who labor faithfully in preaching and teaching. ¹⁸For the Scripture says, You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain, and again, The laborer is worthy of his hire.

This is referring to the "elders that rule", which would be the Pastor and his Associates. They are the ones who do the studying and praying so that they have something from the Holy Spirit to teach and train the people. These verses say that these ministers are worthy of DOUBLE honor! "Honour" here is the Greek word, "time", which means: a value, money paid, esteem of the highest degree! So DOUBLE that! You know how the world likes to SUPER-SIZE everything? Well, this is one instance when it is highly appropriate! Make sure that YOU are being a blessing to your Pastor and those that he has chosen to teach you the Word! Being a doer of THIS Word will make a significant impact on YOUR prosperity and every area of your life! AMEN!

One very important lesson that we can learn from all of these accounts in 2 Chronicles of the kings and their lives lived either for good or for evil, is to be consistent! Some of these kings did "right in the sight of the Lord" for a time, but then slipped right back into the world's way of doing things! Find out what God wants done and how He wants it done, then consistently do these good things every day! Don't allow yourself any leeway when it comes to obeying God! If you miss it, and you WILL, then pick yourself up, use 1 John 1:9, and get right back to it! Your rewards in Heaven will be GREAT and your blessings in THIS life won't be too bad either!

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

There are so many ways we could go with Psalm 40, but there is only one thing that I believe we are to focus on today. Verse 1:

¹I WAITED patiently and expectantly for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry.

"I waited" and "patiently" are both the Hebrew word "qavah", which means: to look for, to hope for, to expect, to look eagerly for. What was he looking for? The Lord! Jehovah! The Eternal, Self-existing One! What did the Lord do? "He inclined", the Hebrew word, "natah", which means: to stretch out, to extend, to turn to, to hold out to. And He heard David's cry! That reminds me of a New Covenant promise that we have in 1 John 5:14-15:

¹⁴And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us. ¹⁵And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him.

When David called out to the Lord to deliver him from the hand of Saul, David did not see the answer right away. When Joseph was taken into captivity and ended up in prison, it didn't SEEM like what God had promised could ever come to pass! When Moses was called of God to deliver the people, it didn't seem to him that the people would EVER listen to him! Think of the things that YOU have been believing God for. Does it SEEM like some of them will never come to pass? Well, we have the witness of all of these who were under the Old Covenant that if God promised it, it definitely WILL come to pass! Our responsibility is to make sure that what we are believing for lines up with the Word of God under our New Covenant. When we are sure of that, then we need to "wait patiently", just like David did! We look forward to the manifestation of what we are believing for with expectant hope and eager anticipation, knowing that our God is working on it at this very moment! Don't ever give up and don't ever quit! While we are looking for it, be constantly filling our hearts with the Word of God and staying filled with the Spirit of God. Stay in fellowship with like-minded believers and be about our Father's business of sharing the Good News with everyone we can!

1 Timothy 4:8-9:

⁸For physical training is of some value (useful for a little), but godliness (spiritual training) is useful and of value in everything and in every way, for it holds promise for the present life and also for the life which is to come. ⁹This saying is reliable and worthy of complete acceptance by everybody.

If we are truly going to be DOERS of this Word, then we will do whatever we know to do to take care of our physical bodies, which IS of value to us! We will live longer and better lives when we take care of the body that God has given us charge over! This body is the only one we will have while we live out THIS life on Earth! Take care of it! Then we must give even MORE importance to our Spiritual training! That means we will make it a priority to spend time EVERY DAY in the Word of God, reading, studying, meditating, sharing the Word with others. We will spend time EVERY DAY in praise, worship and fellowship with the One, True, Most High, Living, Almighty God of the Bible! We will spend time in fellowship with like-minded believers and we will share the Gospel every chance we get. That Spiritual training is valuable in everything and in every way! Not only in THIS life, but also in the life to come! That's called REWARDS! AMEN! Verse 9 says that this should be accepted completely (obeyed!) by every believer! What say you? I say AMEN!

2 Chronicles 23-24 give us another account of Joash being anointed as king and how he reigned. He started out in a good and Godly way, but when Jehoiada the priest and his mentor died, he had no good influence. Who you choose to spend time with will most definitely influence how your think, talk and act! Spending time with like-minded believers is vital to your spiritual growth! DO IT!

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

In Psalm 39 David is again lamenting the sin he allowed into his life and is speaking of the troubles he was enduring. Remember that David was a human being JUST LIKE US! He did NOT have a special anointing that kept him from sin! He was strong and operated under the anointing of God at times. Then there were other times when he was weak and made stupid decisions, just like we have all done at one time or another! I believe that this Psalm reveals one of those times! Notice in verse 2 where he says that he "held his peace, even from good". I read this in The Bible Illustrator - Old Testament:

"The same law which forbids all corrupt communications requires that which is good to the use of edifying.

Silence may indicate the greatest strength of character, or the greatest weakness."

The Word of God says that there IS a time to be silent, but it says in so many MORE places to give thanks unto the Lord, to tell of His excellent greatness, to praise Him, to speak of Him to others. I believe that had David STOPPED the whining and complaining and started praising and worshiping sooner, he would have seen quicker results from the Lord! Remember that David was a man after God's own heart NOT because he did everything right, but because when he did miss it, he eventually repented and got back on track SEEKING the Lord! Make sure you do the same and you will be a "person after God's own heart" also!

1 Timothy 3 is speaking to those who desire to serve the Lord in whatever capacity He has called them to. For those women who have been called of God into the ministry, this is referring to you also! If you would like to do some word study on this chapter you will find that the phrase "If any man" or from the KJV "If a man" is actually a compound of two Greek words: "ei" and "tis", which together mean: if any! In fact, all of the references to "man" in this chapter have been added by the translators! I am NOT intending to cause a debate or division or introduce a new doctrine with this! The Word of God is abundantly clear that God is the ONLY One Who calls and separates someone into the ministry! I am merely sharing this so that the women who have been called, anointed and separated by God will have the confidence that they answer to God alone for this calling and DO NOT need the approval of anyone to fulfill the God-given call on their lives! Don't use this as a point to argue over, just use it as another confirmation of what God has already spoken to your heart. Now go forth and obey God by preaching the Gospel to those who need to hear! AMEN!

Amos 8:1-2:

¹THUS THE Lord God showed to me, and behold, a basket of [ripe and therefore soon to perish] summer fruit. ²And He said, Amos, what do you see? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the Lord to me, The end has come upon My people Israel; I will not pass by and spare them any more.

Here the Lord God (the Sovereign Lord) uses the example of summer fruit, or the last of the harvest, to show that this was the end of God's sparing Israel. The would face His judgement for their sins against him and His Word. The people had been warned time and time again and continued to ignore the warning and to revile the prophet. This time was it!

In Amos 9:9 the Lord says this:

⁹For behold, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations and cause it to move to and fro as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least kernel fall upon the earth and be lost [from My sight].

He will NOT forsake Israel forever! He knows where every person will be as they are scattered among the nations! Then He gives this promise in verses 13-15:

¹³Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine and all the hills shall melt [that is, everything heretofore barren and unfruitful shall overflow with spiritual blessing]. ¹⁴And I will bring back the exiles of My people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards and drink the wine from them; they shall also make gardens and eat the fruit of them. ¹⁵And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be torn up out of their land which I gave them, says the Lord your God.

This promise began to be fulfilled in 1948 and continues to this day! Our God IS God and His Word endures forever! COUNT ON IT! AMEN!

Shalom in Him!