Month: February 2014

20140120

How Long?

How long am I willing to trust God for answers to my prayers? How long am I willing to keep praying for answers?

Sarah was at least 90 years old and Abraham at least 100 years old before God gave them Isaac, the promised heir whose name means laughter, as God named him before conception.

THE Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for her as He had promised. For Sarah became pregnant and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time God had told him. Abraham named his son whom Sarah bore to him Isaac [laughter]. (Genesis 21:1-3 AMP)

By this we come to know (perceive, recognize, and understand) that we abide (live and remain) in Him and He in us: because He has given (imparted) to us of His [Holy] Spirit. (1 John 4:13 AMP)

Light is sown for the [uncompromisingly] righteous and strewn along their pathway, and joy for the upright in heart [the irrepressible joy which comes from consciousness of His favor and protection]. (Psalm 97:11 AM

Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from my sin”? (Proverbs 20:9 NASB)

Prophecy? Miracle Tax Payment

When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the two-drachma tax came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax? ” However, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me.” (Matthew 17:24, 27 NASB)

(Scriptures were copied and posted through the YouVersion app.)

20140203
God delivered the Israelites from the land of Egypt. His Word never fails. Trust Him always. He always does what He promises.

2 Timothy 2:13
The Message (MSG)
“If we give up on him, he does not give up—
for there’s no way he can be false to himself.

Exodus 12:29
Amplified Bible (AMP)
29 At midnight the Lord slew every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock.

Psalm 14:4-6
Amplified Bible (AMP)
4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread and who do not call on the Lord?
5 There they shall be in great fear [literally—dreading a dread], for God is with the generation of the [uncompromisingly] righteous (those upright and in right standing with Him).
6 You [evildoers] would put to shame and confound the plans of the poor and patient, but the Lord is his safe refuge.

Proverbs 3:13
Amplified Bible (AMP)
13 Happy (blessed, fortunate, enviable) is the man who finds skillful and godly Wisdom, and the man who gets understanding [drawing it forth from God’s Word and life’s experiences],
(Scriptures were copied and posted through BibleGateway.com)

20140203
Pharaoh told God tomorrow and God said yes. Our God is so great that He told an enemy of Israel to determine when the plague of the frogs would end—so Pharaoh would “know that there is no one like the Lord our God.”

Exodus 8:9-11
Amplified Bible (AMP)
9 Moses said to Pharaoh, Glory over me in this: dictate when I shall pray [to the Lord] for you, your servants, and your people, that the frogs may be destroyed from you and your houses and remain only in the river.
10 And [Pharaoh] said, Tomorrow. [Moses] said, Let it be as you say, that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God.
11 And the frogs shall depart from you and your houses and from your servants and your people; they shall remain in the river only.

Psalm 10:17-18
Amplified Bible (AMP)
17 O Lord, You have heard the desire and the longing of the humble and oppressed; You will prepare and strengthen and direct their hearts, You will cause Your ear to hear,
18 To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man, who is of the earth, may not terrify them any more.

Proverbs 2:4-5
Amplified Bible (AMP)
4 If you seek [Wisdom] as for silver and search for skillful and godly Wisdom as for hidden treasures,
5 Then you will understand the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of [our omniscient] God.

(Scriptures were copied and posted through BibleGateway.com)

20140201

I Am the Lord.
I believe it is true that the God of the Israelites, the God of Abraham, Jacob, and Isaac, is the Lord over all creation and created beings. Is it not foolish not to recognize, love, worship, honor, and obey Him as such after all He has done for me in because of trusting only in Christ’s sacrificial death for my sin? The result of that faith which He has given me is my own resurrection to eternal life because of His payment for my sin.

Exodus 6:6-7
Amplified Bible (AMP)6
Accordingly, say to the Israelites, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will free you from their bondage, and I will rescue you with an outstretched arm [with special and vigorous action] and by mighty acts of judgment. 7 And I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and you shall know that it is I, the Lord your God, Who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

Psalm 2:11-12
Amplified Bible (AMP)
11 Serve the Lord with reverent awe and worshipful fear; rejoice and be in high spirits with trembling [lest you displease Him].12 Kiss the Son [pay homage to Him in purity], lest He be angry and you perish in the way, for soon shall His wrath be kindled. O blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are all those who seek refuge and put their trust in Him!

Proverbs 1:23
Amplified Bible (AMP)
23 If you will turn (repent) and give heed to my reproof, behold, I [[a]Wisdom] will pour out my spirit upon you, I will make my words known to you.

(Scriptures were copied and pasted through BibleGateway.com.)

20140130

God intended it for good. In another perspective, Babbie Mason, in the song, “Trust His Heart,” wrote and sang, “When you can’t trace His hand, trust His heart.”

Many times I have had to learn and relearn to keep on trusting, even as Joseph did.
(The cross references below have more of Joseph’s history as well as God’s intentions. They are a breeze to find quickly in Bible Gateway by clicking the references links in my blog.)

Genesis 50:20
New International Version (NIV)
20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
Cross references:
Genesis 37:20; Genesis 45:5; Isaiah 10:7; Micah 4:11-12;Romans 8:28; Esther 4:14

Ephesians 4:2
Amplified Bible (AMP)
2 Living as becomes you] with complete lowliness of mind (humility) and meekness (unselfishness, gentleness, mildness), with patience, bearing with one another and making allowances because you love one another.

Ephesians 4:2-3
The Message (MSG)
And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.

Psalm 146:5
New International Version (NIV)
5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.

Proverbs 30:5
Amplified Bible (AMP)
5 Every word of God is tried and purified; He is a shield to those who trust and take refuge in Him.

Jesus Prophesied Events Like This

Matthew 16:19
Amplified Bible (AMP)
19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind (declare to be improper and unlawful) on earth [a]must be what is already bound in heaven; and whatever you loose (declare lawful) on earth [b]must be what is already loosed in heaven.

Acts 9:40-41
Amplified Bible (AMP)
40 But Peter put them all out [of the room] and knelt down and prayed; then turning to the body he said, Tabitha, get up! And she opened her eyes; and when she saw Peter, she raised herself and sat upright.
41 And he gave her his hand and lifted her up. Then calling in God’s people and the widows, he presented her to them alive.

(Scriptures and references were copied and posted through BibleGateway.com)

20140129

Joseph knew “God sent me…” It makes a huge difference in my actions when I

know

God has told me to do something. God promises I will find Him if I seek Him diligently (Proverbs 8:17 NAS), and that the Holy Spirit “will guide me into all the truth.” (John 16:13 AMP). Is there anything besides sin in my life which can prevent me from knowing God’s purpose and will in my life? (cf. Isaiah 59:1-2)

Genesis 45:7-8
Amplified Bible (AMP)
7 God sent me before you to preserve for you a posterity and to continue a remnant on the earth, to save your lives by a great escape and save for you many survivors.
8 So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Psalm 143:10
Amplified Bible (AMP)
10 Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; let Your good Spirit lead me into a level country and into the land of uprightness.

Proverbs 28:25
Amplified Bible (AMP)
25 He who is of a greedy spirit stirs up strife, but he who puts his trust in the Lord shall be enriched and blessed.

Jesus Prophesied Peter’s Martyrdom

John 21:18
Amplified Bible (AMP)
18 I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, when you were young you girded yourself [put on your own belt or girdle] and you walked about wherever you pleased to go. But when you grow old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will put a girdle around you and carry you where you do not wish to go.

Hebrews 12:1-2
Amplified Bible (AMP)
12 Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us,
2 Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

(Scriptures and references were copied and posted from BibleGateway.com.)

How many times does God have to tell me something? He reminded Jacob he was to be known as Israel. I think God wanted him to remember where he was going, not particularly where he had been.
Sometimes I get so wrapped up in the past or the present I fail to prepare for the future, even just minutes away!

Maranatha! Jesus is coming again! What am I doing about it?

Genesis 35:10-12
Amplified Bible (AMP)
10 Again God said to him, Your name is Jacob [supplanter]; you shall not be called Jacob any longer, but Israel shall be your name. So He called him Israel [contender with God].
11 And God said to him, I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you and kings shall be born of your stock;
12 The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and to your descendants after you I will give the land.

1 Peter 5:8-9
Amplified Bible (AMP)
8 Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [[a]in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour.
9 Withstand him; be firm in faith [against his onset—rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined], knowing that the same ([b]identical) sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole body of Christians) throughout the world.

Psalm 130:3-4
Amplified Bible (AMP)
3 If You, Lord, should keep account of and treat [us according to our] sins, O Lord, who could stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with You [just what man needs], that You may be reverently feared and worshiped.

Proverbs 26:20
Amplified Bible (AMP)
20 For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, contention ceases.

Jesus Prophesied He Is Coming Again

John 14:3
Amplified Bible (AMP)
3 And when (if) I go and make ready a place for you, I will come back again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also.

“Oh what a glorious day that will be. Jesus is coming again.”

“Jesus Is Coming Again” lyrics: http://hymnal.calvarybaptistsv.org/125.html
Piano Music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LkggzjnZ4w

“Maranatha – Jesus is Coming Again” song and lyrics loads faster when www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eczdk4qK3kM is copied and pasted into your search engine

“Scriptures were copied and posted from BibleGateway.com”
20140126