Passage to Higher Ground

God’s ways are high ways, the highest ways, in fact. My ways are likely to lead me into the ditch (cf. Isaiah 55:9). It makes good sense to follow His ways.

Job 40:1-2
The Message (MSG) 40 1-2 GOD then confronted Job directly:
“Now what do you have to say for yourself?
Are you going to haul me, the Mighty One, into court and press charges?”
John 8:31-32
Amplified Bible (AMP)31 So Jesus said to those Jews who had believed in Him, If you abide in My word [hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them], you are truly My disciples.
32 And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.

Psalm 71:16
New Century Version (NCV)16 I will come and tell about your powerful works, Lord GOD.
I will remind people that only you do what is right.
Proverbs 15:3
New Century Version (NCV)3 The LORD’s eyes see everything;
he watches both evil and good people.

Prophecy by Christ and Fulfillment
John 14:16
Amplified Bible (AMP)
16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever—

Romans 8:26
Amplified Bible (AMP)
26 So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance.

(Viewing this post at Passage to Higher Ground enables the Scripture references to become links to the specific passages, context, footnotes, and additional Bible Study Helps.)

God does not always answer questions which I ask. He does not always give me that for which I pray. He does not always answer me when I pray. I cannot give God a formula and expect the solution I want, but God’s answers are always what I need. Job wanted to know why he was suffering. I summarize God’s answers like this: He told Job to trust Him and what to do, regardless of whether he was suffering or apparently enjoying God’s blessings. (You can see God’s blessing after Job’s suffering at the end of the book.).

Job 38:1-2
The Message (MSG) God Confronts Job
Have You Gotten to the Bottom of Things?
38 And now, finally, GOD answered Job from the eye of a violent storm. He said:
“Why do you confuse the issue?
Why do you talk without knowing what you’re talking about?”

Psalm 66:18
The Message (MSG)
If I had been cozy with evil,
the Lord would never have listened.

Proverbs 14:27
The Message (MSG)
27 The Fear-of-GOD is a spring of living water

Jesus Prophesied and It Came to Pass
John 7:37-39
The Message (MSG)
37-39 On the final and climactic day of the Feast, Jesus took his stand. He cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Rivers of living water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in me this way, just as the Scripture says.” (He said this in regard to the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were about to receive. The Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified.)

Acts 2:4
Amplified Bible (AMP)
4 And they were all filled (diffused throughout their souls) with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other (different, foreign) languages (tongues), as the Spirit [a]kept giving them clear and loud expression [in each tongue in appropriate words].

(The Scriptures in this post are copied from Bible Gateway.com. The references in this post open up links in BibleGateway.com when viewed and “clicked on” at Passage to Higher Ground)

God Gives Me Songs in the Night January 13, 2014

God gives me songs in the night, even songs of sorrow, and shouts of joy come in the morning (Psalm 30:5). There is no God like our God (1 Chronicles 17:20)

Job 35:10-11
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
10 “But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,
Who gives songs in the night,
11 Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth
And makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’

Verse of the Day from BibleGateway.com
Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.2 Corinthians 5:19-20 MSG

Psalm 67:1-7
The Message (MSG)
67 1-2 God, mark us with grace
and blessing! Smile!
The whole country will see how you work,
all the godless nations see how you save.

Proverbs 13:3
The Message (MSG)
3 Careful words make for a careful life;
careless talk may ruin everything.

Christ’s Prophecy About Himself and the Fulfillment

John 2:18-19
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
18 The Jews then said to Him, “What sign do You show us [a]as your authority for doing these things?”19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this [b]temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
John 20:14-16
New American Standard Bible (NASB)

14 When she had said this, she turned around and *saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus *said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she *said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” 16 Jesus *said to her, “Mary!” She turned and *said to Him in [a] Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher).

Scriptures were copied from BibleGateway.com. The Scripture references can be copied and pasted in the search engine at Bible Gateway to open that specific passage. Bible Gateway also enables one to view the verse in context in various translations with numerous footnotes and helps.

Am I really living like I believe Genesis 1:1?

The ten words in Genesis 1:1 are a basic statement that is believed or doubted, with eternal consequences resting on the result of that faith or unbelief in the Creator, the God of the universe, the Savior available to all.
God, and no other God, offers unmerited and guaranteed salvation for trust in Jesus Christ alone.

The Creation of the World
1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (ESV)

“Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19 AMP)

“BLESSED (HAPPY, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly [following their advice, their plans and purposes], nor stands [submissive and inactive] in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down [to relax and rest] where the scornful [and the mockers] gather. But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night.” [Rom. 13:8-10; Gal. 3:1-29; II Tim. 3:16.] (Psalm 1:1, 2 AMP

Prophecy of Christ and Fulfillment

“If you will turn (repent) and give heed to my reproof, behold, I [Wisdom] will pour out my spirit upon you, I will make my words known to you.” [Isa. 11:2; Eph. 1:17-20.] (Proverbs 1:23 AMP)

“All who see me laugh at me and mock me; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, [Matt. 27:43.] (Psalm 22:7 AMP)
“’He trusts in God; let God deliver Him now if He cares for Him and will have Him, for He said, I am the Son of God.’ And the robbers who were crucified with Him also abused and reproached and made sport of Him in the same way.” (Matthew 27:43, 44 AMP)

(Scriptures were copied and posted through the YouVersion and Logos Bible apps. The above was written, copied, and originally posted on Facebook from January 1, 2014, Scripture readings. I have edited and adapted it for Passage to Higher Ground.)