LET NOT YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED, PART 2

Yesterday we talked about the great God of the universe dwelling in us with His power.  Yes, He is in us as His children, whether we feel like it or not.

Let’s continue looking at John 14.  In the very first verse and verse 27 he tells us not to be troubled.  The reason He told us that we are not to be troubled is that He has given us His peace.  Do not let your hearts be troubled, distressed or agitated.  Trust in God.  Rely on God.  Believe in God.  Adhere (stuck to Him like super glue) to God.

Jesus has left us His peace, HIS OWN PEACE.  He has given to us, bequeathed to us, HIS PEACE.

Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Neither be afraid.

Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed.

Do not permit yourselves to be fearful, intimidated, cowardly and unsettled.

IN HIM, we have perfect peace and confidence (John 16:33).  In Him we have life (John 1:4).  He came that we may have and enjoy life, have it in abundance, to the full, until it overflows (John 10:10).

IN THE WORLD we have tribulation, trials, distress, frustration.  In Him we have perfect peace and confidence.  Why?  He has overcome the world and deprived it of its power to harm us.

Who are we in and Who is in us?  Jesus is in us.  What do we have in Him?  We have perfect peace and confidence, His peace, which He has personally bequeathed to us.  He has given us His very own peace.

If we have the concepts of the world in us, we have much distress and frustration as the trials and tribulations of the world come.  If we have the Truth of Jesus personally being in us with His Peace, then we have no stress or distress.

In Jesus, as we are living in this world which is filled with tribulation, tests, trials, distress and frustration, we can have the Peace of Jesus, His own personal peace.  Peace:  Shalom, wholeness, with nothing missing or broken in our lives.  When trouble strikes, we turn to Him and He is the One Who will overcome for us as we adhere to Him.

He Who is in us (in Whom is perfect peace and confidence) has overcome the world.  He has deprived it of its power to harm us and has conquered it for us.

1 John 5:18 Amplified Bible

…Christ’s divine presence within us preserves us against the evil and the wicked one does not lay hold, get a grip on us or touch us.

Every day we have a choice.  Do we believe the world is overcoming us or are we allowing Jesus Who is in us to overcome the world for us?  It is our choice.  We choose by what we believe.  When the trouble is raging all around us, who do we believe?  That will determine our peace or our frustration.  Jesus gave us a promise and a command.  The promise —- I am in you and I have given you my personal peace.  The command —- Stop allowing yourselves to be fearful, disturbed, unsettled, and frustrated.

What is your choice?  It’s a decision we all make.  Just while I was typing, I had to make that decision.  I choose to believe the Peace is operating in my life.  I choose to believe that what Jesus told me is true and is working for me.  How about you?

DO NOT LET YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED, PART 1

In John 14:6 Jesus said:  I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Then in John 14:11 Jesus said:  I AM in the Father and the Father is in Me.

In John 17:23 Jesus said:  I AM in them (we who are born again, the church, the Body of Christ)  and Father, You are in Me.

So, Jesus is in the Father; Jesus is in me and I am in Jesus Who is in the Father, and the Father is in Him.  What does all this mean?  Jesus and the Father are in one another.  We are in Jesus and He is in us; therefore, the Father is also in us, and we are in Him.  Together we all make one whole because we are in one another.  Picture yourself inside Jesus and the Father.  Think about how this changes your life.  The Great Creator, the God of the universe, is one with you, with everything that He is.  Now that changes things!

Right now, Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father.  I am in Him there (Ephesians 1 & 2)

Also Jesus is in me here.  How?  By the power of the Holy Spirit.

In John 16:7,13 & 14:26 Jesus said that He was going away and would send the Holy Spirit —-The Spirit of Truth, The Comforter, Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby, Encourager, Teacher.

He, the Spirit of Truth, will guide me into all the Truth.

He will tell me whatever He hears from the Father.  He will give me the message given to Him.

He will announce and declare to me the things that are to come, that will happen in the future.

The Father sent the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ name, in His place, to represent Him.

The Holy Spirit will teach us all things.

He will bring all things to our remembrance.

Today we are building the foundation for what we will be talking about tomorrow.  This is what we must see:  Jesus is in us and the Holy Spirit is in us.  The Father is in Jesus and Jesus is in the Father.  Therefore, the Father is in us because Jesus is in us.  The Holy Spirit is in us.  He is everything in us:  He teaches us and guides us and protects us and tells us things to come.  He intercedes for us and talks to the Father as our Advocate.  He helps us to do what we have to do here on this earth.  He comforts us when we need a Friend.  He counsels and encourages us when we need someone’s advice.  He strengthens us when we feel weak and not so courageous.  Once again, I repeat:  He is everything to us.

Simply meditating on the above Truth will cause our hearts not to be troubled.  The power of the awesome, all-powerful God is in us, taking care of us totally.  So we can cast our cares on Him for He cares for us with a love that cannot be duplicated by anyone else.  We must trust Him!

GOD OF PEACE

Today, we confess and meditate on or ponder Hebrews 13:20,21 from the Amplified Bible.  I love these two verses.  They have meant so much in my life, and I believe they will also mean as much in your life.  They are powerful scriptures.

Now may the God of peace (wholeness, nothing missing, nothing broken, completeness),

Who is the Author and Giver of Peace,

Who brought again from among the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,

by the blood that sealed, ratified the everlasting covenant, testament,

Strengthen, complete, perfect and make me what I ought to be

and equip me with everything good that I may carry out His will,

while He Himself works in me and accomplishes that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ the Messiah, to Whom be the glory forever and ever, to the ages of the ages.  Amen, so be it!

Isn’t this an awesome scripture passage!  God tells us that He gives us a future and an expected end, a hope in our outcome in life. He is the One Who makes us what we ought to be.  He equips us to do His will.  He works in us to complete His will for us.  As a result of His work in us, He accomplishes that which is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ.  It is nothing of ourselves that accomplishes the plan of God for our lives.  It is He Who does it all.  And it is all done by the blood of Jesus Christ.  That is a sweatless life, a life full of the goodness of God.

We all need to meditate this scripture until we know that we know that we know that it is God Himself Who is our Peace and Who carries out His will in our lives.

CHOSEN AND DESTINED FOR GREATNESS, PART 2

In Jeremiah 29:11 God tells us that He gives us a future and an expected end, a hope in our outcome in life.  Hope in God.  Godly hope is an eager anticipation that is developed from meditation of the Word of God.  Bible hope comes from the Word of God.  The Word develops an expectancy in us that is not quenched by any earthly evidence contrary to that expectancy.

In Jeremiah 31:3 God tells us that He has loved us with an everlasting love.  He tells us that His love draws us to Himself and that He continues faithfully to love us.  He is faithful in His devotion to us.  He is faithful in His loving-kindness toward us.  He is faithful, loving, and eternal.  He never changes His mind or fails to express His love for us.

God has chosen you.  He has destined you for a great plan.  His plans for you are good plans.  The thing you and I have to do is to yield to Him, to allow Him to do what he needs to do to accomplish that plan.  He knows the future.  And one thing I need to point out to all of us is that the Holy Spirit dwells within each of us as God’s children and He shows us things to come, if we are in close communion with Him.

God has a love for you that cannot be quenched or stopped.  He loves you unconditionally.  His love does not depend on how you act:  what you do right or wrong.  His love also does not depend on whether you have a good or bad attitude.  He has a plan for you.  Yield yourself to Him completely and let Him work in your life.  He is calling you to higher places in Him and deeper understanding of His ways, that you may complete the work He has called you to do.  Yield to His plan for your life.  All you have to do is ask for direction and then listen for instructions.  He will never fail you nor forsake you.  He is right there.

CHOSEN AND DESTINED FOR GREATNESS, PART 1

The minute you were conceived in your mother’s womb, you were chosen and destined for greatness.  God had you on His mind long before you were born.  We have already looked at Psalm 139.  Go back to yesterday’s confession of Psalm 139 and listen to this with your heart and let the Word of God minister to you and wash away any doubt of your value, of your worth to God.  He loves you.  You are special to Him.  You are the apple of His eye.

Do you see from these passages how much God cares for you and watches over you?  He loves you with a love that would not let you take the punishment you deserved.  He loves you with a love that will not let you alone in your sin.  He loves you with a love that will not leave you nor forsake you.  He loves you, yes, you.

We have an enemy.  His name is satan.  He is the devil.  He hates us and wants one thing for us.  He wants us to think that we are no good, are not worth anything and even if we are worth anything, we will never have anything because we are not capable of having the kind of faith that it takes to be somebody.

Well, let me put to rest these lies right now.  Satan is a liar and the father of liars.  He is no good.  God is the Father of Truth.  He is good.  He thinks you are valuable, precious, like the finest jewelry in the earthly realm.  You are a gem, one of a kind, designed by the Maker Himself, and He does not make any mistakes in creating you.  You are His creation, created in His likeness when you are born again, when you become His child.  And your Father, in Whose image you are created, is perfection itself.  He doesn’t create any seconds.  We are all firsts, first in His mind and first in quality.  The quality control of heaven is perfect, no imperfections.

I don’t care what you think.  What you must ponder is what God thinks about you.  Focus on His Word regarding your preciousness.  Study His Word to find out what He thinks about you.  Meditate His Word in your mind and heart until you have a clear image of what you look like in the Kingdom of God.  Then carry that image until you see it become reality in this earth.  Nothing is impossible with God.  What has He shown you about your destiny?  What has He chosen you to do?  You do have a place and a purpose.  You were not just randomly created.

GOD’S VIEW OF ME

Today, we are going to make Psalm 139:1-18, 22-24 from the New Living Translation our prayer and confession.  What a beautiful Psalm which shows the Lord’s love for us whom He created.

O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.

You know when I sit down or stand up.

You know my every thought when far away.

You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest.

Every moment you know where I am.

You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD.

You both precede and follow me.

You place your hand of blessing on my head.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to know.

I can never escape from your spirit!

I can never get away from your presence!

If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the place of the dead, you are there.

If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.

I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night—-but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.

To you the night shines as bright as day.  Darkness and light are both alike to you.

You made the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.

Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!

Your workmanship is marvelous—-and how well I know it.

You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

You saw me before I was born.

Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God!

They are innumerable!

I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand.

And when I wake up in the morning, you are still with me!

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts.

Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

How beautiful you are in God’s eyes!  Take a few moments today to ponder His workmanship in you.  He makes all things perfect!  Yes, it is through Him that we are perfect and wonderfully made!

LOVE

Have you ever tried to love someone and failed miserably not once, not twice but time after time?  You think you have this love thing down to a science and then they do something more to absolutely provoke you to want them to disappear off the face of the earth.  Come on, Christians, every one of us have experienced this type of situation at one time or another in our lives.  It seems that person rubs our fur the wrong way.  If you have ever rubbed the fur of a cat the wrong way, you know that they do not like it one little bit.

What is the reason we fail at that love (Remember we are talking about God’s agape love, not human love, which is naturally doomed to failure.)?  I have seen the answer to our dilemma.  It is this.  Until we know how much God loves us individually, personally, we cannot love others with His love.  It is not a reality to us.  The Word of God tells us that we will love others as we love ourselves.  We have been going at this love walk from the wrong direction.

First, develop that love relationship with God by focusing on how totally and deeply and unconditionally God loves you personally.  Yes, you!  That is where we must start.  Out of that understanding will come our devoted love for God.  Then we love ourselves because we see that we are worth loving because God loves us.  We see ourselves as the apple of His eye.  Then, and only then, will we be able to love others as God wants us to do.  Our love for them comes out of our love relationship with Him.  It all begins with a personal revelation of His Love for us (you and me, particularly you).

My prayer for each of you today is that God Himself will give you a personal revealing of His total and complete love for you.  He sees you as perfect and worthy and of great value through the blood of Jesus Christ His Son and your Lord.  God’s divine love is the greatest power in the universe.  You have Him in you today.

HONOR AND RESPECT

Do you feel like others do not value you or honor you or that they lightly esteem you?  Have you ever considered that they may not honor you because you do not value yourself.  Perhaps you do not consider that you have any worth.  The way you view yourself is the way others will treat you.  Let’s do a value check today as we consider the word “honor.”  How valuable are you?

When we honor someone or something, we hold them in high regard; we respect them; we consider them of great value and worth; we give them priority; we treat them with dignity and respect.

God spoke to Eli the priest in 1 Samuel 2:30 and He told Eli that those who honor God He will honor and those who despise God shall be lightly esteemed (valued, regarded or honored).  We see here that our first place of honor is God.  First, we must honor Him!

For those of us who are pressing toward the mark of intimacy with God and standing our ground in righteousness, we may say that we have no problem with honor.  I had the Lord do a check on me, and I had my spiritual eyes opened to many truths.  That which we honor, we give time to.  That which we honor we defer to.  We honor God by honoring others and ourselves in whom God dwells.  Honoring someone, including ourselves, means that we do not “put down” that person nor consider their weaknesses.  Instead, we choose to see the best in them, that which is valuable to God.

As we look at the scriptures, we have an actual commandment to honor our father and mother.  In the scriptures we are told to honor God, to honor the Son of God, to honor the old, to honor widows.  Wives, we are told to honor our husbands.  In 1 Peter 2:17 in the Amplified Bible we are admonished to “Show respect for all men [treat them honorably].  Love the brotherhood (the Christian fraternity of which Christ is the Head).  Reverence God.  Honor the emperor.”

For me, the capstone scripture is found in Revelation 5:12,13,14.  Worthy is the Lamb (Jesus) that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.  And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.  And the four living creatures said, Amen (so be it)!  And the 24 elders fell down and worshipped Him that lives for ever and ever.

Honor is a big deal to God and should be a big deal to us.  The world in which we live needs to be reminded of the importance of honor.  You and I can be those examples to others of what it means to consider people of value.  Treat yourself and everyone with respect, courtesy and honor.  People may not say a word, but they will notice that you are different in a good way.

We must give honor to receive honor.  Honor God!  Honor yourself!  Honor others!  The law of seed, time and harvest works here!

KNOWING GOD

Today we are going to confess Colossians 1:9-11 over ourselves.  Ponder and meditate it all day.  You may want to pray this word over others also.

I do not cease to pray and make special request for you, asking THAT:

(1)  You may be filled with the full, deep and clear knowledge of God’s will

in all spiritual wisdom, in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God

and in understanding and discernment of spiritual things—–

(2)  You may walk, live and conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him and desiring to please him in all things,

bearing fruit in every good work

and steadily growing and increasing in and by the knowledge of God

with fuller, deeper, and clearer insight, acquaintance and recognition,

(3)  You may be invigorated and strengthened with all power (That’s God’s mighty power.) according to the might of His glory.

Look at these three scripture verses.  This is God’s Word, which is true for anyone who will believe it.  Do you dare to believe that you are filled with the full, deep and clear knowledge of God’s will in your life!  How about His understanding of spiritual things!  Or how about being filled with His spiritual wisdom!  You must realize and know of a certainty that you are filled with these things if you are born again, if you are God’s child.

You are able to live your life pleasing to God.  You are increasing because of His knowledge.  You are growing because He dwells in you.  It is He Who gives you the ability to walk as you walk here on this earth.

Now, this last verse is a big one.  You are strengthened with God’s power, His might.  That stretches your mind, doesn’t it?  Read it.  You are strengthened with God’s mighty power.  That’s what you are to pray and request.  Is that beyond your capacity to believe?  Many times it is so for each one of us.  What is the solution to that small capacity?  Choose to believe what God’s Word says as being reality in your life, whether it looks like it or not or whether you feel like it or not.  It is true!  What you need to do is to believe it, in the face of every contradictory circumstance that stares you in the face and defies you to believe God’s Word is true for your life.

Today, I have a challenge for you:  DARE TO BELIEVE!

JOYFULNESS OF MIND AND HEART

What is the will of God?  That we rejoice and be glad in Him.  That we purpose to have joy in our minds and in our hearts.  That we stir up the joy of our salvation.  That we serve Him with joyfulness and gladness of mind and heart for all that He has given to us.

You might say:  Well, I don’t see anything good happening in my life.  There is where most of us make our mistake—-I DON”T SEE!  What do you see?  Do you see the trouble all around you or do you see God’s Word which says that He will deliver you out of all trouble?  We must learn to see what God’s plan is for us and not what it looks like in the natural world to our physical eyes.  Then we PERSIST in standing our ground for God’s plan, regardless of what is happening or how long it seems to take to accomplish His plan.

We are living in a time where it is vital (not an option) that we CHOOSE to see God and His Word being performed in our lives and for us.  Yes, our natural eyes and ears are seeing and hearing things we never thought we would see and hear.  BUT, we must choose to hear what God is saying in His Word and to see what God is seeing.  We must put on His eyes and His ears.  It is a daily, perhaps a minute-by-minute choice for us.

Joy keeps God’s power and presence active in our lives.  Grumbling, complaining, judging, analyzing, murmuring about what is going on, brings satan’s presence to us.  Yes, it is true.  We may not want to admit it but there are only two that are active in mankind’s life; it is either God Almighty or it is satan.  JOY—-GOD!    MURMURING—-SATAN!

Wow!  I don’t know about you, but I am getting in the space of joyfulness of mind and heart.

Deuteronomy 28:47  Let’s turn it around from the negative to the positive and see what we get.

I serve the Lord God with joyfulness of mind and heart in gratitude for the abundance of all with which He has blessed me.

Start today if you don’t already practice this act of joy.  Think about what God has sent your way as a blessing.  You can begin with being thankful that you are born again and on your way to heaven.  That is a reason for rejoicing!  You can continue with the fact that you are breathing and alive.  Pick up your Bible and start speaking the scriptures of blessing over yourself and your family UNTIL THEY BECOME REALITY in your life.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life, as the old expression goes.  REJOICE!