CONSIDER THIS: PURSUIT

 .”With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from Your commandments….Psalm 119:10

CONSIDER THIS: Man does not seek after God, the Bible says so. It is God Who pursues us, until we either respond or reject Him. In that case, how can David (who wrote Psalm 119 under the Power of the Holy Spirit) say that “I have sought thee”? How can we in our lost condition “seek God”? We simply cannot. Initially, it is the Lord Who seeks us out, gives us a clear view of Himself and then calls us to Salvation. After conversion, when He embeds His Holy Spirit in us, our spirit man then begins which should be a life-long pursuit of the Person and Character of God, in Christ.

ACTION: Looking at the Webster’s dictionary definition of the word “Pursuit”, we find the following synonyms: chasing, following, seeking, hounding, tracking, pursuing etc….all active and almost aggressive verbs. This is how we are to love God and it is the very first commandment (Love the Lord with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength – Jesus 33 AD) Do you and I love God like this? Can we say with confidence that we press in daily to know Him better through prayer, supplication and the washing of the Word? The majority of us do not. Today, our assignment, so to speak, is to literally search our hearts to first, be assured of our identity in Christ and secondly, we need to embark on a consistent plan for becoming a true worshiper in Church, in lifestyle and in Truth….in an extremely proactive way. Apart from prayer, a great exercise would be to tune out the Oldies or Top 40 Secular radio station, and put on a worship CD in our cars, while going through one of those Daily One Year Bibles. THIS is the start of one major breakthrough in the pursuit of the Lord and Kingdom lifestyle.

Pray now: Father, in Jesus’ Name, I seek to not just acknowledge Your Manifest Presence but Your to dwell/abide/remain daily connected to You, in Your Power, oh Lord, and I pray for a burning passion in my soul, the clear pathway to holiness and an everlasting longing to persevere until the end, even when I do not feel like it. Lord give the resolve, strength and the heart to go on in prayer, the Bible and deeds along with the spiritual blinders I need to lessen my tendency when I am prone to wander off into a rabbit trail and trap set by the world. Thank You Lord for Your search and rescue mission for my soul, help me to pursue You and Your Word, daily, in Jesus’ Name amen.

BLESSEDNESS: BEATITUDE 2 - COMFORTED BY GOD

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 

(Matthew 5:4)

Jesus taught these Beatitudes across the region of Judea as countless numbers heard something new, fresh and divine, which if they had taken it to heart, could have immediate yet eternal impact on their lives.

I have heard it said that Jesus' Beatitudes are meant to reorient our thinking into "having the attitude of.....(fill in the blank)...or "be of this attitude".... That is certainly a great interpretation, or way of looking at the Lord's teachings, as we will discover while digging into the riches of His Word.

In the second Beatitude, we see the Savior proclaim the following "Blessed are those who mourn. for they shall be comforted".

What positive, warm and healing truth from the Creator of the World! BUT, hold on, there is more...as there always is, with King Jesus! If we examine the original language closer, we find another gold mine (with more to follow in the other Beatitudes).

Here we have mourning and comforting. We are all acquainted with the mourning, grieving and sadness that comes with losing a loved one. The older we get, we face the stark and sad fact that our grandparents, parents and other loved ones pass on from this earth, into eternity. Even if our loved ones are solid, born-again Christians, we still grieve and mourn their passing. The loss is actually our loss, as our believing loved ones have just happened to have gone ahead to their eternal reward with Christ. This is the "mourning" with which we are most familiar.

However, the word "mourn" in the Bible, (pentheó in the original Greek) means more than just grieve at the death of a loved one! It means to lament and feel a measure of guilt, over a sin, shortcoming or transgression against the Lord that is so strong, sadness and guilt takes possession of our spirit.

How a person processes this guilt over loss of a relationship, person, or something important to them, is indicative of the maturity or strength of their walk with Christ. In 2 Corinthians 7:10-11 we read the following:

"Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. Consider what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what vindication!"

This is it right there! When we are pressed down, overwhelmed and feel defeated by life, or by something someone has done to us...or most likely, by the thing we have done to ourselves, being sorrowful about it is perfectly legitimate!

In this case, this sorrow should lead us to confess and repent of our sins to God. Then, we apologize and attempt to make it right (if possible, if not -move on, God sees the heart). What an example of "Godly mourning" over shortcomings! 

The Lord does not leave us there, though, after we have exhibited the sort of sorrow of which He speaks in this second Beatitude! Look at the next step towards the healing process which began with  Godly Sorrow". The Good News Translation (GNT) paraphrase of 2 Corinthians 7:11 explains it in a terrific way here "See what God did with this sadness of yours: how earnest it has made you, how eager to prove your innocence! Such indignation, such alarm, such feelings, such devotion, such readiness to punish wrongdoing! You have shown yourselves to be without fault in the whole matter".

What a mighty, loving compassionate God! He accepts us the way we are, when we do the simplest things, in all sincerity, to show we mourn, in sadness and grief over wrongs. THEN, because we have shown all these things described in 2 Corinthians 7:11, He comforts us.

This is an even greater mystery which shows itself where the word "comforted" in Matthew 5:4 originates! The root word is literally derived from the word "Paraklete" - the Holy Spirit! What the Lord offers "those who mourn" in Beatitude 2, is not just a little soothing "ointment" but He summons us up to the Throne Room, where we find hope, encouragement, exhortation all underline with the power and might of God. It is the kind of comfort which is direct from the Courts of the King and can stand the test of time.

The blessings of being comforted by the Holy Spirit, Who communicates directly to the Father, should be enough for us to live a simple, repentant and honest lifestyle. This is the teaching of the 2nd Beatitude. Take it to heart, because those whom the Spirit of the Lord blesses and comforts, stay constantly before Him, if we remain daily in His Will. Amen.

ZACHARIAS' SONG: JOHN THE BAPTIST IS BORN, PART 2

REPENTANCE: THE WAY OF THE FORERUNNER!

Continuing on a sidebar in the Christmas story which is not as well known as the birth of Jesus, we key in today on this stunning incident. What lessons we can learn from this entire event surrounding the father of John the Baptist, Zacharias? 

If you have read and reread the entire chapter of Luke 1 (here), the picture given of Zacharias is that of a solid man of God, faithful and accepting of what God had given to him in life. His wife, Elizabeth, was barren, descended from the priestly line of Aaron (Moses' brother) and also content with her lot in life. 

Then God's Angel Gabriel showed up. God showed up. When God shows up - things happened. When God shows up big time, as He did here, and we don't believe what He says, there could be a small price to pay! The higher our standing with God, the higher the cost of disobedience, unbelief or the smallest doubt. The Lord disciplines those whom He loves...and some of us, He must love a lot! 

So the first and major thing we need to glean from the passage is:- when God literally sends His heavenly messenger, and He comes with a DIRECT WORD - BELIEVE and OBEY.

This is amazing account of God's Mercy, Grace, Love and Outreach to reconcile mankind to Him in 13 short verses! So much Truth inhabit these verses, that it is incumbent on us to just camp there a while.

Then let's look at the following portions of Zacharias' song (from Luke 1:68-79)

68  “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel,

For He has visited and redeemed His people,

69   And has raised up a horn of salvation for us

In the house of His servant David,

70   As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets,

Who have been since the world began,

71  That we should be saved from our enemies

And from the hand of all who hate us,

72   To perform the mercy promised to our fathers

And to remember His holy covenant,

73  The oath which He swore to our father Abraham:

74  To grant us that we,

Being delivered from the hand of our enemies,

Might serve Him without fear,

75  In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.

76  “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest;

For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,

77  To give knowledge of salvation to His people

By the remission of their sins,

78  Through the tender mercy of our God,

With which the Dayspring from on high has visited[a] us;

79  To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,

To guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Verse 68: God's plan to save ALL mankind, began when He called an Iraqi named Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans to cross over from his homeland by the Euphrates River and begin the plan. Abraham became the first Hebrew, which means "crossed over", and thus, the first Jew. The plan to rescue mankind from the curse of Adam's sin had begun.

Verse 69: Zacharias the Priest has just prophesied the Messiah - Jesus - before Gabriel has even appeared to Mary!

Verses 70-73: He said that THIS Messiah would fulfill the promise made to and THROUGH the Prophets for the Arrival of He Who saves (the literal meaning of the Name Jesus). It is He Who will rescue many from the enemy and those who despise God's people. 

Then Zacharias speaks about who his son, John, will be and what the true mission of the forerunner is going to be.

Verses 76-79: John the Baptist will become the last "Old Testament" Prophet as he is coming to prepare the way ....with Repentance! This is John's strength and what our take away should be. 

The Way of the forerunner is Repentance. This is the doctrine we should be teaching, preaching and practicing. As Forerunners ourselves, in the tradition of the son of Zacharias, let us then prepare the Message of the Good News of the Arrival of the Savior - not just at Christmas time - but at ALL times. Repentance is the way to Kingdom Living, as John the Baptist, so powerfully started during his ministry on earth.

(Photo Credit Here)

SHOULD WE PRAY FOR.....THOSE WHO HATE US?

27 But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also.....(Luke 6:27-29)
The Christian life is not the way of the world. In fact, God Himself, Abba Father said so in Isaiah 55:8. Thank God, for that ….that His way of thinking, doing things and dealing with matters concerning humanity is not the corrupt, narrow-minded and incorrect thinking of all mankind. By the way, thank the Good Lord also for what He has done. If it were not for His Grace, Mercy and Longsuffering and patience with us, no one on this planet would make it to adulthood. He is a good, good Father.

It is this mindset, of a loving patient Father, which allows each of us who were perishing in our sins to be even alive to be forgiven, if we ask Jesus to be the Lord and Master of our lives and to forgive of all our sins. There is a reason He said immediately in Mark 1:15: “The time is fulfilled. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Repent and believe the Gospel”.

This shows us the urgency of our redemption, since we who are saved can grasp this bold truth. It is this positional truth which gives us the latitude to be magnanimous towards those who hate us, who will always hate us and who will never come to faith and repentance as we have.  We are heirs of a Kingdom of the One Who forgave us and then commands us to pray for our enemies.

There are those who will never like us on a personal level and as human beings. There are those who offend us in the world of the corrupt culture; media; academia and political leadership. We are called to pray for them, even those who promote abortion and every abhorrent anti-God thing out there. We are in the age where every man does what is right in their own eyes. God will deal with those things and its by-product. Our job is to pray for them especially for those who harm us.

It is not easy, to be perfectly honest. I had one of my supervisors who hated me for almost a decade. This person hated how I looked, the color of my skin, my wife and my lifestyle.  I had to put up with blood-curdling rants with eyes building and spittle flying and not respond with a single word of anger or self-defense. Instead I prayed this person constantly into the most capable Hands of the Lord. The end result of all of this, turned out to be a rare positive. The super used to asked me to pray for her family whenever there was an emergency. She ended up getting saved after her husband passed away and is now a regular church goer. This is a rare occurrence resulting from “praying for those who hate you”. A broken widow coming to the Lord after a  life of hate and bitterness is a rare and wonderful thing. However it is not so for the majority. They perish in their sin and apparently seem to prefer this, rather than submit to the Lord of creation.

What is beneficial to the Christian is this – obey the Lord and pray for those who hate us. We do so not because we want “burning coals" on their heads,  but because He says so and we want to be obedient. No matter how disgusting and evil those who have wronged us may be, when we pray for those kinds of people, we are being Christ –like just like our Lord Who looked down from the Cross and said “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”. Our enemies know what they’re doing….but so does God and unless they eventually find His forgiveness and grace, they will have been storing up wrath for themselves, for a Day to come, while we remain above the fray, safe in the Arms of our God.

Father, in the Mighty Name of Jesus, help us to see beyond the immediate, even the hurt and pain caused by those who despise us, destroy us, degrade and deny us. Give us the wisdom to know that it is better to follow Your Word and Your counsel completely and to pray for the salvation and forgiveness of those who have done us wrong,  no matter what they have done. 

We pray that by doing so, You will give us a true peace which passeth ALL understanding and bring us to a place where we can rest under the shadow of Your wings, knowing that our position in You is not only secure, but that You, in Your Power, Might and Sovereignty – have this situation under control. We can rest in this, my God and my King. Thank You. We bless and praise Your Holy Name and ask for the strength and courage and yes, unconditional love to love like You love us, so that many will see, including our enemies and come to the Knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and it is in His Name, we pray, amen.

(Photo Credit Here)

PRAYERS OF THE BIBLE SERIES - THE BOOK OF JAMES, #6

PRAY BEFORE YOU ACT (James 4:15)

IN CONTEXT: 13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” (James 4:13-15)
There is a tendency among Christians, even praying ones, to appropriate our own actions and thoughts to the Will, plans and purposes of God. A lot of times, when we do that, we can find ourselves in a place we never expected to be. I have made that same mistake and gotten out ahead of God, only to see Him having to send an angel of mercy, to take me to a better place when my own plans failed.

This exhortation to pray first and act later is so critically important, if we want to really follow, submit and live in the Will of God. It is easy to understand why James is giving this real life application. I have seen too many people make and execute many life-altering decisions only to see them come crashing down on them. Some have moved out of state, only to struggle and even move back home. Some have changed perfectly fine jobs, to buy into something nice and shiny, only to ask their bosses later on, if they can return. Some so-called Christians have even walked out on their spouses and families, justify it as "God wants me to be happy". Later on, they find themselves in a painful world of hurt, wishing they could have things "the way they used to be".

Let us be perfectly clear - God is NOT the Author of Chaos and God would NEVER lead someone to sin and break vows made before Him.  However, He will allow us to have our own way and do what James is talking about in Verse 13 above ("today we will....."). God will do that until we learn the lesson we are supposed to learn.

Next the Lord (through James in verse 14) is gently warning us that we are not the ultimate master of our destiny. As in everything, nothing is guaranteed us past this moment of life we are in right now. The next breath is not, the next day is not...and most definitely the next year(s) is not. So this MUST spur us to continuous prayer. 

There is a reason the Apostle Paul exhorts us to "pray without ceasing" in 1 Thessalonians 5:17. He was not speaking of four hours of prayer before you go out the door each morning but a lifestyle of prayer and intimate conversation with the One Who created us. This is actually the best way to know the Will of God for our lives - through a closer walk with Him.  Once we have that have this close relationship with the Father, through prayer, only then we can experience His leading in our lives when we need to make a really important decision in life.

This is the gist of James 4:15 "Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” When James says that we "ought to say", he is really saying that it behooves us to pray!  The original word for "ought" is literally "anti-" ...where we got our prefixes for words like "anti-dote" "anti-type" etc. The Bible really giving us great advice here for our own benefit. God is saying "why don't you substitute your own thoughts and actions and consult Me first....ask Me -what is My Will for your life in this decision. I know the beginning from the end. Do you think I would withhold good things from you? You think this is the right course due to your own limited reasoning and planning. But I have a better course for you. I have a plan that will bless you, and bless others. All you have to do is to ask Me in prayer and then wait on Me! Can you do that? Great! It is better if you do!!" 

NEW: SECRETS FOR HELPING YOUR FAMILY!!!

BY CHERI MAJORS

Natural Health Solutions for Your Family

Cheri Majors

With quality health care at unaffordable levels and the life-threatening dangers associated with prescription and over-the-counter medicines, doesn't it make more sense to do everything imaginable to keep your family healthy? There are many tried-and-true ways of keeping your family healthy while building a strong immune system, capable of staving off disease, viruses, and infection.

Preparing & Eating Nutritious Foods

Powerful cooking tips for boosting your family's immune system are; seasoning your foods by cooking with garlic, onions, and lemons, mixed nto daily meals and beverages. These are nature's potent antibiotics, and act as natural anti-inflammatory medications on joints, muscles and organs, as recommended in the "ABC's of Nutritious Cooking& Living a Healthier Lifestyle".

Teach your children to cook a healthy mix of dark and colorful, anti-oxidant rich foods, preferably grown at home (without toxic pesticides) as instructed in "How to Grow an EMERGENCY Garden". And if possible treat your family to an earlier dinner-meal schedule every night, to assist with proper digestion, and forming better sleep habits.

Emotional Bonds & Communication

Earlier dinners will also help create a health-conscious emotional bond and important sharing time, over nutritional family meals. Enjoy early-evening strolls with your family for after-dinner exercising, while keeping communication lines open during a stress-free activity.

Exercise & Lifting Weights

Walking is an extremely healthy, family habit to form, as it is an easy-to-do, low-impact exercise which can benefit every member. Walking keeps muscles functioning properly, and builds bone density, to prevent and reverse the debilitating effects of osteoporosis, as confirmed in the article "10 Methods to Prevent Or Reverse Osteoporosis", which effects all ages, both male and female.

According to the Reader's Digest article "7 Tips to Steal from People Who Never Get Sick" lifting weights should also be a part of your family's regular workout. They are not promoting body-building, nor are genuine weights necessary; simply fill clean plastic-handled milk jugs with water or sand, to enhance weekly or daily work-outs.

READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE HERE

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