Psalm 139:13-18:
13 For You fashioned my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I thank You because I am awesomely made, wonderfully; You r works are wonders - I know this very well. 15 My bones were not hidden from You when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes could see me as an embryo, but in Your books all my days were already written; my days had been shaped before any of them existed. 17 God, how I prize Your thoughts! How many of them there are! 18 If I count them, there are more than grains of sand; if I finish the count, I am still with You.
These verses are often used to oppose the horrendously evil practice of abortion, and rightly so! But there is so much more that your Heavenly Father wants you to understand from this! If He spent so very much time and care to shape and form your physical, human body that perishes, HOW MUCH MORE is He interested in all the days of your life here on earth! He has THOUGHTS concerning us! Jeremiah 29:11-13:
11 For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the LORD, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome. 12 Then you will call upon Me, and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear and heed you. 13 Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital necessity] and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
He, Who made you so wonderfully, has definite plans and purposes for your life! Seek Him with your whole heart and He WILL reveal Himself AND His plan for you! Then set your heart to obey Him, whatever the cost, and have GREAT rewards in eternity! THAT TIME is fast approaching, so let's get to it!
Read again verses 7-12 and then enjoy this song from Lamb!
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 speaks about Paul's thorn in the flesh. There has been so very much false teaching concerning this passage of Scripture! The first important thing to note is that Paul said that this thorn was a "messenger of satan". The source of this "messenger" was the devil, NOT GOD! As you study the word "thorn in the flesh" in the Word of God, you will find that it always refers to people. When the Israelites did not totally drive out the people of the nations they had conquered, they were told that these people would be thorns in their sides and pricks in their eyes (Numbers 33:55; Judges 2:3)! The second important thing to realize is that God DID NOT say no to Paul! He said, in verse 9, that His grace was ENOUGH to deliver Paul already! Paul then said that he would glory in all of these trials because God's grace WOULD deliver him! Verses 9-10:
9 But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me! 10 So for the sake of Christ, I am well pleased and take pleasure in infirmities, insults, hardships, persecutions, perplexities and distresses; for when I am weak [in human strength], then am I [truly] strong (able, powerful in divine strength).
That sounds like someone who is expecting to get the victory, EVERY TIME! Not because of WHO Paul was, but WHOSE he was! AMEN! I also really like the Wuest Translation for these verses:
Concerning this three times I begged the Lord that he might depart from me. And He has said to me, and His declaration still stands, My grace is enough for you, for power is moment by moment coming to its full energy and complete operation in the sphere of weakness. Therefore, most gladly will I the rather boast in my weaknesses in order that the power of the Christ [like the Shekinah Glory in the Holy of Holies of the Tent of Meeting] may take up its residence in me [working within me and giving me help]. Wherefore I am well content in weaknesses, in insults, in necessities, in persecutions, and in circumstances under which I am subject to extreme pressure on behalf of Christ, for when I am weak, then I am filled with ability and power.
Doesn't that just make you so aware of the power of God IN YOU? It should! Meditate!
In 1 Samuel 3-4 we find Samuel first hearing the voice of the LORD. He was unfamiliar with His voice yet. We see this in 1 Samuel 3:7:
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the Word of the LORD was not yet revealed to him.
We read in verse 1 that "the Word of the LORD was rare and precious in those days". We, as believers in Jesus of Nazareth, have the Holy Spirit living IN us! We have the Word of God, sometimes in several translations, in our own homes! When we receive the INFILLING of the Holy Spirit, we gain a greater sensitivity to hear His voice, IF we use our Heavenly prayer language on a regular basis! Then we will hear His plan for our lives more clearly! Verse 19 says this:
19 Samuel grew; the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.
That means that when Samuel spoke, God confirmed His Word! He will do the same for us when we dare to speak His Word! We have this promise from John 15:7:
7 If you live in Me [abide vitally united to Me] and My Words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.
So there you have the instruction and the promise! What will YOU do with it?
Shalom in Him!
