| |
119:2 Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart,
'Tis the gift to be simple and King David kept things simple in the Psalms. Who is going to get God's blessing? Keepers and seekers.
People who keep God's word will be blessed. Now this doesn't mean keep it on your desk or in a drawer. Keep, in this case, means to obey -- to actually live out the word in your daily life -- to be a daily doer, not just a hollow hearer.
People who wholeheartedly seek God will be blessed. This doesn't mean to seek God's blessings. He is not our servant or our Santa Clause. Blessings should not be our goal, but God, Himself. When we begin to seek God, blessings come, but we must not allow HIs blessings to distract us from His Person.
Obeyers and God chasers -- wanted by the Living God!
|
| |
| |
42:11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.
Hey, soul (that's me I'm talkin' to). Get your hopes up! You may be depressed and you may be frustratated and disappointed, but I'm not listening to you and your wild and crazy emotions. My hope is in God and I'm going to praise Him no matter what you say, think, or feel. God is my help, not you, my soul.
My thoughts are way below and far inferior to His thoughts, so I choose not to listen to my own thoughts, to my soulish thoughts. Instead, I submit to His high thoughts, His word, His will. I die to self, to my soul's leading and voice. Now I listen only for the great Shepherd. I obey Him and deny self.
Sometimes I just have to talk to my soul and set him straight. He (me) wants to run things, but I can't allow that. He (me) will run my life into destruction -- only God can lead me to life.
|
| |
| |
8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.
Jesus was rich, not with mammon, floor space, and real estate. He was rich in His Person -- being God. Yet He became a man and and lived in this spiritual poverty filled world -- "for your sake."
By His poverty you may become rich -- truely rich. We can become rich in God with everlasting treasure in Heaven. Earthly treasures are temporary. Mammon manipulates us. When the economy is up, people smile. When it is down, they cry.
True riches, however, never fail us and never manipulate us. The U.S. Government never bails out the bank of Heaven. In fact, we desperately need Heaven's bank to bail us out of the mess we have created in our society. We need to be willing to receive a stimulus of Heaven's treasure.
|
| |
| |
10:32 So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; This verse is very exciting. When we openly talk about Jesus, He talks about us to the Father. When we publicly express our love for Him, He expresses his love for us to the Father.
I don't understand it, but somehow there is a connection between our talking about Jesus and what Jesus does before the Father. Since Jesus is our only access to the Father, it is very important that we openly acknowledge Him.
To acknowledge or confess Jesus is not just walking an asile or making a single statement. It is an ongoing process -- a lifestyle of holiness and evangelism -- using every opportunity to put your love for Jesus into our contemporary culture.
We, believers, are losing the battle for minds and hearts in this generation. Why? Because we don't walk the walk and talk the talk consistently, passionately, and regardless of the cost. Perhaps it is time for us all to eagerly and excessively acknowledge Jesus. |
| |
| |
29:13 And the Lord said: "Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men learned by rote; Monkey see, monkey do religion is not Biblical Christianity. Faith is caught more than taught. It comes through supernatural revelation. It is heart-felt and passionate -- a fire in the bones. Religion learned by rote is dry, dull, and dreadfully boring. But supernatural revelation from God is dynamic, alive, exciting, and life transforming. |
| |
|
Follow this blog
