I Just Need You

One of many amazing songs by Telecast.

Unbelief

So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief... Hebrews 3:19

* To whom did God say, "You shall not enter into the rest, the Promised Land, the abundance of milk and honey"? I would have thought it would have been to those who worshiped idols or to those who didn't have morning devotions. I would have thought it would have been to immoral men or to those who didn't offer sacrifices. Yet, in reality, the only thing that kept the children of Israel from the Promised Land was their lack of faith.
This is critically important theology, for the singular sin that kept them from blessing was simply thinking God's promise was just too good to be true. Precious people, you can live the abundant Spirit-filled, successful, exciting, thrilling Christian life if, instead of thinking that God can't bless you because you haven't had morning devotions regularly, you say, "I'm a spiritual grasshopper, Lord. But if You want to bring me into this great land of blessing, I'll gladly go in!"
The sin of Hebrews 3 is singular. It's not fornication, as destructive as that sin may be. It's not idolatry, as sad as that sin in. Rather, it's simply not believing how good God is.

* Truly, the basic understanding of most people is that, because God was frustrated with mankind, Jesus came on the scene to calm Him down. But such is not true biblical theology. Jesus came to earth not primarily for you or me. He came to do the will of His Father. And it was the Father's will to save you.

* Biblical Christianity is not about us. It's not about our prayer. It's not about our devotion. It's not about whether we're good or bad, obedient or disobedient. It's not about how much we pray or how little we pray. It's not about where we go or don't go, what we do or don't do. It's about Jesus' faithfulness to His Father. And our failures only make His ministry to the the Father that much more impressive. "If that's true," you say, "if my relationship with God is not about my prayer life, my worship, my anointing, my ministry, then how do I fit in at all? Am I just a pawn, just a piece of the puzzle in the demonstration of the faithfulness of the Son to the Father?"
For the answer, turn to John 17...

I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. - John 17:23

* What if we believed this? What if we really believed that the Father loves us as much as He loves His own Son? We would pray with confidence. We wouldn't have to prove anything to Him or to ourselves. We would be at peace. The repercussions? We would pray more. We would study the Word more. We would worship more - not to earn spiritual brownie points, but just to enjoy our Father.

* Our Apostle and High Priest, Jesus Christ, will not fail - no matter how many times we do - because His ministry is to the Father. And the Father will never frustrate Him.

So do not throw away your confidence: It will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. - Hebrews 10:35-36

*Taken from Jon Courson's Application Commentary

9.26 - Praying God's Word Day by Day (Beth Moore)

Trying to ignore our enemy doesn't work for very long, especially if you're beginning to be a threat to his dark kingdom

Father God, please help me to keep in mind that my struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12).

Help me to be self-controlled and alert, for I know my enemy prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).

My faithful Father, whether I turn to the right or to the left, cause my ears to hear a voice behind me saying, "This is the way; walk in it" (Isaiah 30:21).

Psalm 33

¹ Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous!
For praise from the upright is beautiful.
² Praise the LORD with the harp;
Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.
³ Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.

⁴ For the word of the LORD is right,
And all His work is done in truth.
⁵ He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.

⁶ By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.
⁷ He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap;
He lays up the deep in storehouses.

⁸ Let all the earth fear the LORD;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
⁹ For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.

¹⁰ The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.
¹¹ The counsel of the LORD stands forever,
The plans of His heart to all generations.
¹² Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.

¹³ The LORD looks from heaven;
He sees all the sons of men.
¹⁴ From the place of His dwelling He looks
On all the inhabitants of the earth;
¹⁵ He fashions their hearts individually;
He considers all their works.

¹⁶ No king is saved by the multitude of an army;
A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.
¹⁷ A horse is a vain hope for safety;
Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.

¹⁸ Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope in His mercy,
¹⁹ To deliver their soul from death,
And to keep them alive in famine.

²⁰ Our soul waits for the LORD;
He is our help and our shield.
²¹ For our heart shall rejoice in Him,
Because we have trusted in His holy name.
²² Let Your mercy, O LORD, be upon us,
Just as we hope in You.

All Who Are Thirsty

Isaiah 44: 1-8

1 “Yet hear me now, O Jacob My servant,
And Israel whom I have chosen.
2 Thus says the LORD who made you
And formed you from the womb, who will help you:

‘ Fear not, O Jacob My servant;
And you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
3 For I will pour water on him who is thirsty,
And floods on the dry ground;
I will pour My Spirit on your descendants,
And My blessing on your offspring;
4 They will spring up among the grass
Like willows by the watercourses.’
5 One will say, ‘I am the LORD’s’;
Another will call himself by the name of Jacob;
Another will write with his hand, ‘The LORD’s,’
And name himself by the name of Israel.
There Is No Other God
6 “ Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel,
And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:

‘ I am the First and I am the Last;
Besides Me there is no God.
7 And who can proclaim as I do?
Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me,
Since I appointed the ancient people.
And the things that are coming and shall come,
Let them show these to them.
8 Do not fear, nor be afraid;
Have I not told you from that time, and declared it?
You are My witnesses.
Is there a God besides Me?
Indeed there is no other Rock;
I know not one.’”

Notes (condensed) from Jon Courson's Application Commentary:

Here the Lord is encouraging Israel - here called Jacob or "righteous nation," to not be afraid, that He would pour out the water of His spirit upon a dry land. But it also speaks to us personally, for the Lord promises that He will pour water upon he who is thirsty and blessing upon his offspring. To whom does the Lord pour out His Spirit? Simply to those who are thirsty. And, in that, is a real key. We overcomplicate and overmystify the work of the Spirit in many cases when, in reality, the prerequisite for an outpouring of the Spirit upon your life is simply to say "Lord, I'm thirsting for more of You." That's why Jesus said the woman who admits her hunger will be filled (Matthew 5:6)

If you're not thirsty, if you don't have a desire to experience a fuller measure of the Spirit flowing through your life, how do you become thirsty? Ask a jogger or a basketball player. If you start expending energy and start sweating a bit, you'll find yourself thirsty real fast. The key is to get out and start ministering. Start sharing, loving, and caring - for it is when you're in the place on loving your neighbor, of sharing with your friends and family, of witnessing to your coworker, of expending energy, that you begin to thirst more of the Lord.

Lord, thank you so much for the promises of your perfect Word.
Matthew 5:6 tells us "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled."

Thank you for the promise and power of your Spirit and the water of your Word. Please let it continually fill my life to such a point that it must pour out onto those around me. In Jesus' name, amen.

Everything I Need

Psalm 37

Trust in the LORD, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
⁴ Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

⁵ Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
⁶ He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.

⁷ Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him...

A Weekend To Remember

This last Saturday was one I know I will remember forever. It was 7 hours spent with the Lord along with a sprinkling of amazing Athey Creek Christian Fellowship young ladies... and 125,000 others worldwide representing over 30 different denominations. Mostly women and a few brave men. Where was I? At a Beth Moore Living Proof Ministries simulcast. As soon as the Lord invited me to go through a wonderful friend at church, I absolutely knew it was He who was calling me there. I prepared and expected to be met, spoken to and changed and I was. When I left, I sat in my car for a long time staring at my steering wheel. I knew I was supposed to go home but did not want to. I knew as soon as I walked through the door distractions would bombard me. And trust me when I say I love the distractions that live in our home :) All 3 of them. They are my gifts from the Lord. Yet I wanted so badly to head straight for the Mountain Top Retreat Center at ACF to get away with the Lord. He and I. One on one. For at least another 24 hours. Heaven forbid even one ounce of what I learned should be allowed to blow away in a storm of distraction. Heaven forbid my own sinful nature should prevent it from penetrating the very depths of my heart and soul. The Lord forbid the enemy to be able to steal any of it at all.
I called my wonderful husband and he asked how it was. He wanted to hear all about it. And I had so little to say. He knew that was a very good thing. I am rarely at a loss for words.
So I came home and tried my best to be mommy and literally could not do it well. I had so much to pray through and to process. So my amazing husband (and yes he is literally amazing, wise, kind, incredible and the greatest man I have ever and will ever know) allowed me to lock myself in our room and do what I needed to do. I took a bath. Then I pretty much just sat there. Then I laid there. I tried to read the bible. I tried to read my notes. I prayed one of the shortest prayers in my life and I fell asleep by 8:30pm. It was pretty perfect. My eyes popped open at 5:30am on Sunday and I woke Brett up. I was ready to teach him a condensed version of what I learned the day before. And so I did. And I had a lot of tears streaming down my face through most of it. He knew that was a very good thing too.
The Lord's message to me at church was perfectly congruent with what I learned on Saturday. And I got what I most needed next, communion. It was one of the best weekends of my life.

I have been praying about what to write as the Lord has clearly re-directed the focus of this blog back to Him. I had no clue where to start. Well I have much more clarity and almost too much to say and write now. I am just going to go day by day with what the Lord is speaking to me.

Before I went to bed last night I was praying about what the Lord would have to say to me last night. He directed me to 2 Timothy. I read most of it but my eyes and heart locked on verse 24.

2 Timothy 2:24 - And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful....

I knew this was huge because our verse on Saturday was:

Proverbs 31:26 - She opens her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

I will tell you right now that there is good reason the Lord spent 7 hours explaining to me what kindness looks like, what it's defined as, what it is not defined as (nice), how it gets replaced by unkindness... irritability.. fussiness... WHO was the literal embodiment of kindness and how to strive to be a woman whose words are seasoned with wisdom and the law (the Torah) of kindness.

I am going to blog what the Lord puts on my heart each day. Really for myself. The more I speak what I've learned, write and type what I've learned and teach what I learn, the more it will become who I am.

Father, I pray with all of my heart that I would become a woman who opens her mouth with wisdom and on my tongue would be the law of kindness. In the name of Jesus, the literal embodiment of your kindness and love I pray, Amen.

New Mercies

<sup>Lamentations 3:22-23

22</sup> Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.

²³ They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

I am going to quote directly from my favorite bible commentator, Jon Courson. I LOVE what his online devotion has to teach me today.

The Lord ordered our lives in such a way that every day after about sixteen or eighteen hours, we go to bed and basically “die.” To me, His plan is ingenious because I find that after about sixteen hours of living, I’ve pretty much messed it up. I’ve dropped the ball once too often and fumbled one too many times. I need to die and start over in a fresh way. So I think it’s wonderful that God lets us "die" every eighteen hours.

How I love the morning hours. Whether I spend them at church, in my place of prayer at home, or walking the streets of town on a spring or summer morning, I love the morning when it’s quiet, when I can receive a piping hot batch of mercy fresh from the oven of God’s grace.

I honestly do not love mornings at this point. By nature and probably by nurture I love nighttime. The boys are all tucked in bed and it's prime time for me and Brett to hang out. And then the perfect time for me to get caught up on all that doesn't seem to fit into the daytime hours. Being a mom of 3 busy boys, caring for a home, trying my best to serve my wonderful husband and starting a little side business is simply a lot. There are certain things I know I could let go a bit on. One being the attempt to keep a perfectly clean house. I heard somewhere that trying to keep a clean home when your children are little is like trying to shovel the snow off your driveway in the middle of a snow storm. So true and somehow I keep shoveling away.

Here are some great scriptures confirming the Lord's call for His people to seek Him early each day:

Mark 1:35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.

Luke 21:38 And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, for to hear him.

John 8:2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.

Psalms 5:3 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

Psalms 59:16 But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble.

Psalms 63:1 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

Psalms 88:13 But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.

Isaiah 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
Proverbs 31:15 She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.

I am so thankful that that we get do-overs every day! Truly if you want things to change in your home and in your life, carving out the time to get yourself out of bed to spend one on one time with the Lord of the universe is key. I love what Oswald Chambers has to say:

The morning is a critically important time of day. You must never face the day until you have faced God, nor look into the face of others until you have looked into His. You cannot expect to be victorious, if you begin your day in your own strength alone.
Begin the work of every day after having been influenced by a few reflective, quiet moments between your heart and God.
Do not meet with others, even the members of your own family, until you have first met with the great Guest and honored Companion of your life - Jesus Christ.
Meet with Him alone and regularly, having His Book of counsel open before you. Then face the ordinary, and the unique, responsibilities of each day with the renewed influence and control of His character over all your actions.
Those who have accomplished the most for God in this world are those who have been found on their knees early in the morning