His Body

Col 1:19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, strong grows with a growth which is from God.strong
NCV
They do not hold tightly to Christ, the head. It is from him that all the parts of the body are cared for and held together. So it grows in the way God wants it to grow.


On reading this, what stood out today is that You are the One that is causing the Body of Christ to grow. I have so often looked at the Body of Christ as we know it in America and wondered at all the complications, wrong thinking, sin, etc that seems to make the Church look like the world. I have often thought that it does not appear any different than the world. But focusing on these things brings self righteousness which is as gross a sin as any; and not only that, not a true picture of Your Body.

You are the one that causes us to grow and You are the one that is always working to complete what You have begun in each believer. And as C reminded me, You are doing great and marvelous things in Your Body and many are testifying to Your faithfulness and love.

In this verse You say that you supply, nourish and hold together and unite Your Body by it joints and ligaments.
Joints (860) are a bond, connection and ligaments (4886) are “that which binds together, a band or bond”.

Our bond in the Body of Christ is through Jesus; His love and His forgiveness, His gift of righteousness, and His unending grace. All of these, as we learn to walk daily in these, are extended to other members of His Body, pouring out to them the fruit of His Spirit.
This is where peace lies, in the unity and love for other believers.

Seeing others and receiving them as God the Father does through the blood of His Son.
Not focusing on faults and failures, but on Jesus and what He has done for all of us at the Cross. That they are as loved and accepted as I am.

Thank You, Father for reminding me that You ARE doing marvelous works throughout the Body in the lives of so many believers.

But once again You return me of Heb 4:6-8 where King David is quoted by Paul:
“just as David also speaks of blessing upon the man to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works:
7 Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered
8 Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.”

My prayer today Father, is to open the eyes of my understanding that I may always remember that You are growing Your Church. You are preparing the Bride for the return of Jesus.
And You are the one that enables me to love as You have loved me.

The Gospel Springs Forth Love

Col 1:4 We always thank God, The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints—the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you.

This caught my eye Father. That faith and love spring forth from the Gospel.

The Gospel is something that is totally complete and sufficient for every believer.
The answer to all of life’s problems and questions are found in the death, life, and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.
There is no end to the living truths that it contains. If a person was to live a thousand years, they would still be finding life changing truths in what Jesus has done for us at the Cross.
Father, You are Holy and True and You knew what it would take to reconcile mankind to You.

Paul writes that they had heard of the faith and the love for all the saints that the Colossians had. It was from the Gospel that love came forth in their hearts because of the truth they learned about their future in heaven through what Jesus did for them.
From this hope came forth the love for others and the desire to share with them this true and genuine love that now dwelt within them.

As I have stated so many times, Your love Father as demonstrated through Our Lord Jesus is an amazing kind of love. It is pure and without conditions.

Through Your love for them, a believer is able to know what a genuine love really is and come to understand Your abounding grace toward us. The Colossians discovered Your grace in the truth and hope of the Cross.

Not having Jesus is not having love because the love of an unredeemed heart cannot attain or experience God’s love until they receive the finished work of the Cross through Jesus’ own love and sacrifice for us. That is when blind eyes are opened.

I am so deeply grateful and privileged to experience this love You have for me.

Real Knowledge and All Discernment

Phil 1:9

And this I pray that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment,
: 10 so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ;

Paul prayed for love to abound more and more in real knowledge and discernment so that we could approve the things that are excellent and be found sincere and blameless.

This was brought to my attention: that it is important to know love in such a way as the outcome is sincere and blameless as verse 10 states.

So we must learn to love with real knowledge. Real “knowledge of doctrinal and practical truth” according to one commentary online. But also knowing Your word and knowing You Father, is vital in discerning truth.
Knowing You in the sense that we live every moment in fellowship with you, hearing You, receiving Your love, obeying Your Spirit’s prompting. This brings forth true spiritual discernment.

Approving what is excellent takes this discernment. The Message in verse: 10 says “so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not in sentimental gush”.
I like that. That seemed to clarify for me what Paul is saying. Because we can “love” out of sentimentality which would not necessarily mean we have discernment in that love.
Discernment meaning depth of insight, understanding, and judgment. Seeing things as they really are or seeing into the “love” and discerning its true character and motives.

What we might call “love” can have selfish or carnal motives as its foundation. As believers we are called to a higher love, to the kind of sacrificial love that Jesus Christ demonstrated toward us at the Cross. A no matter what kind of love.

Thinking of this makes me realize the importance of growing in this knowledge, not only of Your Word, but in our relationship with You, Father. And spiritual discernment will enable us to see our true heart as well as the heart of others. Thus we will better be able to be sincere (pure in heart) and without fault in those works that You created us to do while we remain on this earth.

I am so thankful that You Who began a good work in me, will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. (Phil 1:6)

Your Love Stretches

Your love stretches me Father.
You say in 1 Cor 14:1 to pursue love. Not to just sit and let life bring it to me when it will but to pursue it. By Your grace, You enable my heart to allow You to teach me how Your arms are stretched out to all You have created, even to those who deny You.
The stretching reminds me of reaching out, gathering in , encompassing all that it can. I am in awe of it.
The various translations have different ways of saying we are to pursue love.
Follow the way of love...make love your aim...Hotly pursue this love...make love your great quest...seek this love earnestly.

No matter what, Your love remains constant.
When everything is washed away, it remains.
It is an amazing thing to this heart of mine.
How far are your arms stretched out, Father?
Do they ever tire of our human failings, our very human ways,
When we have the Spirit of Life within us,
Yet we constantly revert to our natural life?

It seems no human words can totally express the breadth, length, width, height and depth of it.
Yet we are encouraged and assured by Paul in Eph 3:17-18 to be rooted and grounded in Your love so that we may be able to apprehend and grasp the experience of it in our lives.

Yes, Your are more than willing to teach us about the Cross, which is the perfect expression of Your love for us. There are many inspired songs and writings about this love but You use simple words to express it best..."For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son..."(John 3:16).

Love gives. And You gave Your Son for me.

Incorruptible Love

Eph 6:23-24 Peace be to the brethren and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
:24 Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with a love incorruptible.

The word incorruptible is one that speaks strongly to me.
The meaning is (861) unending existence (eternal) derived from (862) which means undecaying, immortal, perpetuity (lasting throughout eternity)
It makes me think of 1 John 4:10 that says that we love You because You loved us first.

Paul first prays peace, love with faith to the brethren.
Then he follows with grace to “all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with a love incorruptible.
Some believers are referred to as “brethren” and others as “to all those who..”.
It is true Father that Your children are in different stages of their spiritual growth and in their relationship with You. You love us all the same, with a love that is pure and eternal.

What does it mean to have an incorruptible love for You? According to the meaning we will love You with a love that does not decay. It never changes or vacillates according to our lives. It is pure, holy and unconditional. Just like Your love for us.

No wonder Paul prays for grace to all those who have this kind of love.
There are many who impact the world and pay a price for it.
Their love does not waver when persecution comes or the time comes that this incorruptible love for Jesus enables them to give their own lives for Him. It is happening every day in these times we are in.

But also this word, incorruptible, made me think of the “no matter what” kind of love.
As stated above, it doesn’t change. No matter what we see in a loved one, in our children, mates, family, co-workers, or friends we still maintain a deep love for them. No matter what tragedies occur, what sufferings believers endure, they still know that You are a faithful God and Father and that You care about them and love them. If anger tempts them to turn that anger toward You, Your grace is always there to keep their heart true to You.
This is truly a working of Your grace.

This kind of love comes only from the Your own love that You have demonstrated to us that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. The more understanding of the Cross and what Jesus did for us, the greater capacity we have to have an incorruptible love for God the Father and Jesus Christ, His Son.

Teach me to have this incorruptible love for You Father that will manifest itself in this world I live in.

Love and Fatih

Love and faith is spoken to believers as coming from You and Your Son.

You say Father in Eph 6:23, “Peace to the brethren and love with faith through God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 Tim 1:13-14 Even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. And yet I was shown mercy, because I acted ignorantly in unbelief;
: 14 and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.

In Gal 5:6 Your word says that “in Christ Jesus neither circumcision or uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love. “ To me that circumcision is works or something that is exterior, or something of us or others.

I had to stop and think about this. Love with faith. It seems that they cannot be separated.

When You grace us with Your real divine love, faith is ushered in.
For love displays itself in obedience to Your promptings.
And Your promptings are not always about us; they are for Your purposes (which may or may not include us), and we don’t always understand them. Yet we are compelled to obey because Your love has taught us to have confidence in You.

But obeying, doing as You direct, is exercising faith regardless of understanding or how we look to the world. We are trusting in You and in Your leadership, in Your love for us. Our confidence is in You.

Even Paul who was an aggressor and a violent person, who once acted ignorantly in unbelief, yielded his life to Jesus when he discovered faith and love in Christ Jesus. Christ revolutionized his life because through the love of Christ he was able to walk by faith.

Christ is our Redeemer. Enable Your Body to “be strengthened with power (Eph 3:16) through His Spirit so that Christ may dwell in our hearts and we can be rooted and grounded in Your love. To discover the height and depth and width of Your love for us in Christ, Our Living Lord.

Yes, by faith in Jesus and His love for me I am to walk daily.

Our response to evil done

1 Cor 13:5 You made this stand out as I was reading this chapter.
"It (love) is not conceited-arrogant and inflated with pride; it is not rude (unmannerly). Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it-pays no attention to a suffered wrong."

“the evil done to it”.
You are saying that if someone really does an evil thing to us we do not take account of it. That made me think of my persecuted brothers and sisters in China, N Korea, and other countries where Your beloveds are being thrown in jail or murdered for meeting together to worship or sharing Jesus. Your love enables them not to take account of it but as VOM encourages them, to pray for them and love them. That is amazing.
Also, if we have suffered a wrong which could be even by a friend, or what we consider an offensive word spoken or thing done toward us, we are to not take it into account at all. Wow.
This is only possible by a heart infused with Your divine love.

“For our knowledge is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect) and our prophecy (our teaching) is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect). "
This reminds me that we only know in part what is in the heart of other people; we don’t know everything that is in their feelings, thoughts, and life. Not only that, but our knowledge of You, of Your word is only known in part. The depths of truth in You and Your word are deep enough to last more than a 1000 lifetimes. And deep enough to heal the hurt done by evil.
You end the chapter by saying that love is the greatest of faith, hope, and love.
1 Cor 13:13 ….“love, true affection for God and man, growing out of God’s love for and in us”…..
This is what You are teaching us. It is all about Your divine love dwelling within us that changes and transforms these hearts of ours. They are daily renewed by Your love.
Thank You Father for the wonderful super abundant grace that enables us to grow in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ toward His own.
How great a God You are!

Washing of water

Eph 5:25 Husbands love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her
: 26 that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
:27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and blameless.

Sanctify-37-hagiazo- to make holy; to set apart for holy use
Cleansed-2511- to free from defilement of sin and faults; free from guilt of sin, to purify; to consecrate by cleansing or purifying; to consecrate, dedicate.
Washing-3067-loutron-bathing, bath, the act of bathing
Water-hudor-5204 simply means water; waters

As I was reading, Father, there came to me this kind of picture of Jesus constantly taking water with his hand and lapping it over us. Kind of like a hand in water and constantly moving the water with the hand vertical and gently moving it over and over forward, always lapping it gently over our minds and hearts. That is very beautiful to me.

You say that You have already cleansed us. You have already freed us from defilement of sin and faults, and freed us from all guilt. Having been completely bathed, I am clean.
Your continual “washing” of your word over my mind and heart every day brings life. It is a refreshment and food for my soul. It magnifies Your presence.
What a tremendous privilege to be Your beloved.
Thank you for Your word.

Beloved Children

Eph 2:1 Be imitators of God, as beloved children,
:2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma (for an odor of fragrance).

This morning, Father, You brought to my mind how children like to imitate their fathers. I thought about my grandson. When he was little his Dad had bought him a miniature lawn mower. As his Dad led the way, he cut a path in the grass and Ethan followed behind him. He did not yet really know that he was learning to mow the lawn.

In thinking about that, it makes me mindful of Your way with us, Father. You have made the way through Jesus (John 14:6). You have prepared the path and equipped us to follow you because Jesus was an offering, a sacrifice to You, a fragrant aroma for our sake.
You are ready; you await our heart to seek after you and to imitate You by allowing You to conform us to Your image. You receive us every moment of our day to come follow You and walk in Your love and presence. In Your presence there is light (John 8:12). In Your presence there is joy (Psalm 16:11). In Your presence is true love. (1 John 4:16)

Though we may have to go through “high grass”, we know the way because You always go ahead of us. Mercy and loving-kindness follow us wherever we go (Ps 23:6). You guard our going out and our coming in. (Ps 121:8)
We are Your beloved children.

Making Melody

Eph 5:19 ..speaking to one another (yourselves) in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord.
20 Always giving thanks for ALL things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.

“Making melody with your heart…..” I love that!

This is the “normal Christian life”….making melody with the heart. This is the life that You desire for us Father. To have a melody in our heart as we live in the present day. The present day of our job, our work, our relationships, and the challenges of life.

How can this be, Father? Life is not always easy.

Jesus. Jesus is the Light of the world. Jesus is the avenue by which the melody breaks forth, even when things are not what we want them to be. He brings His light, His perspective to every detail of our life.
Seeing Jesus, knowing Jesus, experiencing Jesus moment by moment is the joy of life.

Seeing Jesus in the scriptures enables us to see others through His eyes and allows our hearts to yield to His love. And what heart cannot help but rejoice in experiencing perfect divine love…and forgiveness?

I heard a preacher talk about “enjoying God, enjoying life, enjoying our family and friends”. Without the melody in our heart, that is most difficult to do. The Song that Jesus puts in our heart is one of love and acceptance and forgiveness.

Jesus is my Song.

That Which Binds Together

Father, here I am still in this passage of Eph 4.

Eph 4:3 Be eager and strive earnestly to guard and keep the harmony and oneness of (produced by) the Spirit in the binding power of peace. (NAS bond of peace)
Col 3:14 And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
John 17:23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
Eph 4:13 until we all attain unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

The word unity is used four times in the N.T.
The word “bond” by itself is used only twice in the N.T., in Eph 4:3 and in Col 3:14.
Its meaning is “that which binds together”.

In the passage of John 17:23 Jesus says “I in them and You in Me.”; Your fullness and completeness in Jesus IS perfect unity. You are the perfect example to us of unity, of oneness. Jesus is the bond by which we are united to You, Father. We have perfect union with you through His blood by which we have become a dwelling of Your Spirit.
And Your Spirit produces the bond of peace (Eph 4:3).

Peace is what the world desires. The love is what it seeks. The lost do not know they seek Your divine Love. As believers we seek the same, but we have the truth. We have You, and we have Jesus, and we have the Holy Spirit Who leads us in the Truth. We have perfect Love.

In Col 3:14 You say “And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.” “All these things..” are the wonderful characteristics of Your Spirit. But love is the uniting bond of perfectness. It is Your love for us which enables us to have the perfect peace that only believers can have. And as we learn to walk, to experience Your love for us moment by moment, it will open the gates of our hearts and allow it to flow to the world and other believers also.

Love is the perfect bond of unity because the Spirit’s indwelling us enables us to love in a divine way. This divine love produces peace through which the unity of the Spirit is bound together. This peace from You, Father, flows into our hearts and binds us to other believers. It brings unity and harmony to Your people.

Love, unity and peace cannot be divided. If we have one, we have the others.

This is Your desire for Your Body. Without these we are unable to see people as You see them—redeemed, forgiven, and accepted.

He Led Captive

You have had me “stuck” in Eph 4 Father. Unity of the Body of Christ.
Especially today :8 which says He ascended on high,
He led captive a host of captives.
And He gave gifts to men.
Jesus captivated a host of captives. He defeated, He was victorious over all the enemies of God and man. He defeated death, sin, devil, and freed us from all curses.
What is coming to my mind is what Your Son went through to gain my freedom and to have a Body that walks in the love and freedom You and He paid such a high price for.
It cannot be measured….this price.
How can my finite mind understand, know the depths of suffering and pain Jesus went through, what He had to suffer, to free those who were chosen to be His?

All things in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible (Col 1:16) were created by Him and for Him. He reigned in Heaven, glorious, magnificent King of all the Ages.
How can this human mind comprehend the LOVE that compelled Him to become as we are and to go to the Cross and suffer as He did?

Jesus took upon Himself every wrong thought I have ever had ; He took every selfish, sneaky act, all my words spoken in anger, frustration, unbelief and every act done with wrong motives or emotions; He took all the times I heard Your Spirit’s prompting and failed to obey. There is not one transgression that He did not take into Himself for me. And for the world. To multiply one person’s life of sin by the billions…..and to comprehend the cost it took for Jesus to obey You Father, is something impossible for my finite mind.
But Praise to my King, Your Spirit is able to lead us in this understanding. And with each breath of understanding, comes the transformation of my heart to the image of the Risen King. Each word of truth brings light to the Cross.
Open my eyes to Your truths today.

Absolutely Amazing

Father, I have just read a story about Your amazing love.
It is When Heaven Weeps by Ted Dekker.
It came to my mind this a.m. when my thoughts turned toward Your deep love for me and for Your body.

You have a passionate love for us. Passionate is defined by Webster as an intense feeling.
You pursue us with this passionate love of Yours toward us. You desire us to experience it to the fullest measure.

The main character is addicted and dependent on her supplier. She repeatedly, over and over again, returns to drugs and the one who keeps her in bondage. Even when a man comes into her life and who pours out to her the God given love You put in his heart.
Even when this man blesses her with gifts, with compassion, and even marries her, she still returns over and over. At one point I even said "...not again!"
He continues to pursue her, to forgive her, even in the face of deathly circumstances.
But as this came to my mind this morning, it just reaffirmed to me how unconditional Your divine love is. How amazing that even as we walk so imperfectly in this life's journey, You continue to pursue us by loving us as we are.

We try and try and try to overcome our weaknesses by our own discipline or strength. Yet the core of the power to overcome flows from the fountain of Your life within us. Out of that fountain flows Your love, Your forgiveness, not only of ourselves, but of others.

Yes, Father, You are an amazing God; the only One true and living God who has loved me with an everlasting love.

Jer 31.3 The Lord appeared to him from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore, I have drawn you with lovingkindness.

The Proper Portion

Eph 4:7
But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

Eph 3’2 ..if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you.

Father, You stopped me on these two verses. I don’t completely understand 4:7 but ask You to help me with it.

In Eph 3:2 Paul says that the stewardship of Your grace was given to him….that is what caught my heart.

For whom was it given? For us, for believers. I have admittedly thought of grace as something that enables us in our weaknesses, in times of our need; something for us and extending it also to others. This is all true.

But this verse clearly states that Paul is a steward of your grace, which also means that I am a steward of Your grace.

Thinking of it as something to steward is a little different than how I thought of it before. It truly is a gift, something to share with the body of Christ, with the lost.

Oikonomos is the Greek word used for steward. The definition is:
the manager of household or of household affairs esp. a steward, manager, superintendent (whether free-born or as was usually the case, a freed-man or a slave) to whom the head of the house or proprietor has entrusted the management of his affairs, the care of receipts and expenditures, and the duty of dealing out the proper portion to every servant and even to the children not yet of age.
A steward was to manage and oversee his boss’s business. The words “proper portion” seems to me to be a key thing. We are to give out the proper proportion of what You have given to us, according to Your purposes.
You have given us above all else – Your love. I am to be a steward of Your love. It is given to me for a purpose, for many purposes. And one of those purposes is “dealing out the proper portion to every servant and even to the children not yet of age.”

Proper portion. What is the proper portion? There is no set measure is there Father? Because Your love surpasses human knowledge (Eph 3:19) and its depth has no end.
Only you know the “proper portion” at any given moment. Your Holy Spirit tells us what that “proper portion” is as we go through our day.
Your Holy Spirit leads us in our “stewardship” of Your love. You are a generous God, Father. You have a deep well of love that You pour out to us every moment of the day and You desire that we not only receive every bit of it, but that we steward it out to the world. Even to the “children not yet of age”; this reminds me of brothers and sisters in Christ who are struggling, who have not matured, who need the expression of Your love in their life.
Help me Father, to be a good steward of Your love for the sake of Your Body.

A Prayer for Integrity

A prayer for my grandsons:
Prov 11:3 The integrity of the upright will guide them,
but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.

My prayer Father is that Ethan and Christian will follow integrity and allow it to guide them, especially when the world's ways are tempting to them.
I pray that integrity will be valued by them, treasured, and guarded.
Father, today in their youth, enable them to see the benefit and value of integrity, how it keeps life so much more simple and uncomplicated by the consequences of sin.
Thank you Father for hearing and working Your perfect will in them today.

Raised to Life

Romans 4:25
He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Ampl. -- Who was betrayed and put to death because of our misdeeds and was raised to secure our justification-our acquittal, and to make our account balance, absolving us from all guilt before God.

You have me in Ps 91 after reading the above scripture showing me that You father, and Your Son, Jesus are LIFE!! I am Your child and am able to walk in Your life and Your love and Your will, all by Your grace. Ps 91 is for me and for all believers for we are in Christ Jesus and He says all His promises are “yes” to all who are “in Him” (Jesus).

There is a word that has stood out today; that is the word pestilence. It is the Hebrew word rbd-Deber the meaning from the Greek lexicon says
1. pestilence, plague
2.murrain (animal disease); cattle disease

Webster says:
1. a contagious /infectious epidemic disease that is virulent and devastating
2. something that is destructive or pernicious (highly injurious or destructive)

Anyway we look at it-a pestilence is destructive; not for believers, not from You, Father. We are protected by You through the blood of Your Son, Jesus. You also say that Your faithfulness is our shield and bulwark (Ps 91:4). A bulwark is a wall-like defensive structure.
We can believe You and trust You to keep Your word when You tell us You love us and will keep us and will protect us from all evil ( Ps 91:10). For it is impossible for You to lie. (Heb 6:18)
You give LIFE! Jesus’ death brought not only eternal life but moment by moment life to all who believe. We were raised to live in Jesus' resurrected life.
What a wonderful God Your are!
I love You, Father!

Intimacy

You showed me today about marriage and that the Cross must be at the core of intimacy.
True intimacy with our spouse comes through our intimacy with You, Father. As we grow in our understanding of what You have done for us through Jesus’ death and Resurrection, we draw closer to You.
As we discover the grace (Rom 5:15) and deep love that you abundantly pour out on us, we are able to extend the same to our mate.
In realizing the forgiveness given to us at the Cross (Eph 4:32), we are able to forgive the most annoying or hurtful sins.
Calling on and receiving the super abundance of grace (Rom 5:17)available to us through the work of the Cross, our spiritual eyes are opened to see others as you see them.
As you see me, you see my mate. We are both covered by the blood of Jesus, fully accepted by you, fully loved.
Thank you Father that Your Holy Spirit will enable me to call out for the grace to accept and to love as You have loved me.

Perfect Love

As I was praying Father, You reminded me of Your great love for Your children.

Your love NEVER changes! It is complete and perfect. It doesn’t become more, greater, or less. It can not because it is Divine and perfection has no more or less to it. You are Love.
What I do or say does not make Your love waver. It is constant, You are constant; it is true, You are true. It is the ultimate of perfect and You are perfect in all Your ways.

You also reminded me that I sometimes think that because of my works I am blessed and loved by You. It seems we get mixed up in what it means to “please” You and what “blessing” is and what causes You to love us.

We might think that because we obey and serve You that is what moves You to bless us. But it occurred to me that there are spiritual laws that come into effect through our actions. These laws are true and even a lost person can follow the principles of the bible and have a “good” life in this world. We reap what is sowed and can receive many “blessings” through sowing righteousness in this life.
But blessings also come directly from the deep love that You have toward us and Your desire to express it to us without any action of our own. You delight in giving to us spiritually, emotionally, and materially.


Some of the NT scriptures about “pleasing” God mean to be “well pleasing and acceptable” in our ways.
(1 Cor 5:9) Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent to be pleasing to Him.
Eph 5:10 trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord
Heb 13:21 equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever.
1 John 3:22 NAS and whatever we ask we receive from Him because we keep His commandants and do the things that are pleasing (agreeable) in His sight.
(Ampl- And we receive from Him whatever we ask for because we obey His orders-observe His suggestions and injunctions, follow His plan for us- and practice what is pleasing to Him.)

You are pleased when we are in Your will because then we are fulfilling Your plan for Your Body and Kingdom through our lives. You will give us all that we ask in order to fulfill Your purposes. When we are in harmony with Your will You can accomplish all that is in Your heart to do.

Thank You Father for the blessings that You pour out to Your sheep and that by Your grace, our lives will be pleasing to You.

Tolerance

In looking at the word tolerance once more, Father, You gave me a different perspective on it. This view is of the other person that You call us to be tolerant of.
Eph 4:2 ..with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love.
It’s true, Father, for Your body to be in harmony, we must call on Your grace to show tolerance for one another in love.
#430 anechomai is the Greek word used in this passage for “tolerance”.
It means to hold up, to hold one’s self erect and firm; to sustain, to bear, to endure.

This word to me usually meant “putting up” with someone and their ways.

Actually though, You brought to my mind that “love covers all transgressions”, as Your love has more than covered our sins but made them of no account in our relationship with You.

This Greek word You use gives me the idea of holding someone up and not shooting them down because of our disagreement or aggravation toward them.
They too belong to You and You deeply love them because You sent Jesus to free and deliver them from darkness also.

Help us draw on Your super abundant Grace to set the boundaries that need to be set and to cement them in Your love. To have Your wisdom in relationships with other believers in their weaknesses or peculiar ways as they seek the same toward us.

How great and wonderful a God You are that You see the heart that is willing to follow You and to use us as we are!

Liberty

You are speaking to me this morning about the great freedom Your divine love brings to one's soul. Freedom to be the peculiar people we are! Freedom from criticism, blame, condemnation, and guilt. Being ourselves, not hiding what part of ourselves we think is unacceptable but knowing that you Father, are working within us to align our hearts with Your word.

When we know that Christ, the lover of our souls, loves us deeply, we are released to be who You created us to be. There are no fears of rejection, no constantly looking for approval of man, no feigning and insincerity of heart.

The word "sincere" in the Greek can mean "found pure when unfolded and examined by the sun's light". I love that Father. Real, undisguised, and no hidden agenda. A sincere heart has no desire to control the conversation or to control what others feel or say. It simply accepts people where they are and by the grace and love given to us, we speak truth or we don't speak at all.
Not being afraid to be real or genuine is liberating!

The most wonderful thing about the liberty You give to us Father, is that You enable us to give it to others. It shines with Your light and Your love.

Thank you Father that You say in Your word that "where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty". 2 Cor 3:17 The risen Christ abides within each believer and He is our hope.

White as Snow

The other day You gave me a sense of how terrible accusation and condemnation are. They bring great damage and a tearing down of the body of Christ.
Rom 8:1 There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

To the lost, it decreases their opportunity to experience the love of God.

How fragile emotions and feelings can be in the moment. We are so vulnerable to receive an accusation spoken out of anger or frustration. And if not mature in the love of God, the heart and mind retains the condemnation without even realizing it and the enemy has a lie to establish a stronghold over time. To lead us to believe greater lies about not only who we are but also to destroy relationships.

Thank you for reminding me that You see us always and forever with eyes of love.
Thank you that Your Holy Spirit reveals to us the truth about our relationship with You.
Thank you Father that Your Spirit enables me to see other believers with Your eyes, clean and white as snow.

This Great Love

1 John 3:1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God; and such we are.

You made me to think of the love I have for my spouse, Father. The highest kind is to love him so much that I release him to You to live, and breathe, and move in Your Spirit.
To not hold him so tightly to my heart or my desires that it hinders Your Spirit’s moving.

When we truly love you, the Almighty God, all things are released to You. Every possession I have does not hinder me in any way from obeying, from loving You in return for the surpassing love You pour out to me daily.
All things includes my time, money, gifts, material things owned and this great love .
This love most of all things possessed is the highest jewel entrusted to me.

It is entrusted to be given away.
Teach me to let go of all things.

Built Together

Ephesians 2:21-22

“In Him each separate piece of building, properly fitting into its neighbor, grows together into a temple consecrated to the Lord. You are all part of this building in which God Himself lives by His Spirit. “

There is no doubt about it Father. We are to “fit together” with other believers. Once again, You express Your heart to me as You tell me how You view Your children. A building growing, increasing as Your dwelling place, a holy temple.

In this passage in Ephesians You were speaking to the Jews and Gentiles who had a “a barrier of a dividing wall” between them for centuries. Through Christ You brought peace to those who were “near" (Jews) and to those who were “far off” (Gentiles) by taking away the enmity (Law) between the two and establishing peace. You reconciled them both into one body and now they, together in Christ, as one body have access to the Father. This speaks so strongly of unity and oneness.

This passage gives me a sense of Your view of believers. It’s not just about me! You see the whole picture…You have an earthly temple in your children not just individually; but we are to be “fitted together , united in Him, bonded together, closely joined together, and welded together” as the various translations so interpret the scriptures in these verses. This is for the purpose of being “a holy temple in the Lord-a sanctuary dedicated, consecrated and sacred to the presence of the Lord.”
The Greek word, sunoikodomeo, for “built together” as used in Eph 2:22 means to “put together or construct by building, out of several things to build up one whole”.

That is we being the “pieces” one by one make up the whole temple, and that temple is increasing and growing constantly….praise God!

Over and over You show me the importance of unity among believers. Of loving others as You love me. Seeing them as You see me, without spot or blemish. Of obedience to Your Holy Spirit as He prompts me to share Christ so that Your temple grows and grows.

For Christ is the Uniter and is above all (Eph 1:21)and our eyes are to be on Him in others. With His Spirit and His love indwelling us we have the essentials to do our part for the harmony of the body. We can depend on Your wisdom and understanding for other believers as we seek You in our earthly relationships that are difficult.

Seeing the wholeness of the body of Christ, Your holy temple, enables me to see the importance of loving others in their weaknesses just as I desire to be accepted and loved in my own.
When I let reign the negative toward others, seeing and dwelling on their faults, it is like I tear down the body that You have paid such a high price for. Jesus’ body was torn apart for our salvation which includes our healing. Tearing down is like taking away from that building, the temple that You want to increase and grow.

So help me allow the Cross of Calvary to lead me into harmony with other believers and to heal that which needs healing in my relationship with others of Your temple.

Blameless

The word “blameless” alone is liberating. It is very personal.

In the Strong’s Concordance it is the Greek word , amomos#299, meaning
1. a sacrifice without spot or blemish
2. without blemish, faultless, without spot.
In Eph 1:4 Even as (in His love) He chose us-- actually picked us out for Himself as His own---in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless in His sight, even above reproach before Him in love…

This same exact word,used to describe believers, is used to describe Jesus’ blood in 1 Peter 1:19. It describes how we were ransomed…:19 but (you were purchased) with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

In Your eyes, Father, I am seen the same as how You view Your Son Jesus. Because He was the perfect sacrifice, I am seen by You as being perfect because of Him and being covered by His perfect blood.

Blameless, faultless, and without spot.

As believers we are able to take this truth very personally! It’s for me, to impact my life and to constantly remind me of Your unfathomable love.

It is such a beautiful and amazing truth. You are pleased and delighted when You look at me. No one will ever look at me with more perfect love than the way You look at me!
Your bride ( all believers) is beautiful to You.

You are the only one true living God. Thank you for Jesus who willingly made it possible for me to know You and be accepted by You. Thank You for the precious blood, the blood of Christ.

Holy and Blameless

Father, You have spoken to me once again of the glorious work of the Cross.

In looking up all the ways You use the word "blameless", it renews my amazement of Your love for me. Especially seeing the “holy and blameless” is used only 3 times in the N.T. and it is referring to me and to all true believers in Christ.
(Eph 1:4, 5:27, and Col 1:22)

According to the Greek word “hagios” used in these passages, You are saying to me that I am a most holy thing, a saint. What is amazing is we so often forget that we are holy and blameless “in Your sight” (Eph 1:4). We tend to consider our failings, faults, sins, and our less than perfect ways and lives.

But what a wonderful thing, a marvelous comfort to renew our mind to this awesome Truth. I am holy and blameless, a saint “in Your sight”.
You enable me to gratefully run back to this Truth, to be refreshed by it, and to bask in the forgiveness that has already been given to me at the Cross 2000 years ago through Our Lord Jesus Christ.

I love You Father and may I learn to immerse myself, to continually receive the love You have already proved to me through the Cross of Our Lord Jesus.

All Power

I was thinking about Luke 22:69 where You say that Jesus “will be seated at the right hand of the power of God”. Oh my goodness. All power and authority----that means all…such power can not be contained or diminished in any way.

This power can accomplish in a split second what all of man’s total effort can not accomplish. That is amazing and a truth to be tried and proven true in our daily walk.

Believers understand that the blood of Jesus protects us and gave us the Victory over the attack of the enemy of our soul. We have the same “ power” to be victorious through Him Who has risen.

Because of His resurrection and Victory over death itself we our empowered through Your Holy Spirit to walk daily in a manner which demonstrates that “the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves”. (2 Cor 4:7)
“God demonstrated His love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
(Rom 5:8) This is the Gospel, the good news, that a Holy and Righteous God would love us so deeply that He would sacrifice His Son to reconcile us to Him.

Understanding, grasping this love is the basis for our own daily victory.
It is the basis for our relationship with You and with all our earthly relationships.
It is the basis for “the surpassing greatness of the power of God” to manifest itself in us.
It is the basis for our “Sabbath rest” which produces peace.

Your power within, through Your Holy Spirit, can calm our mind and thoughts as it “directs us into the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ”. (2 Thess 3:5)
Calling on Your Holy Spirit in the “moment” of anger, irritation, or any wrong emotion, will release Your power within and bring YOU the victory.

Help me to appropriate Your love and power in the “moments” of my daily walk.

Right Hand of God

As easily as we go through a door, Father, Jesus ascended to Your throne and sat down at Your right hand. He transcends all time, it does not restrict Him or You.

Yesterday and today the “right hand of God” has come to my mind.

The right hand indicates a place of honor and authority.
The right hand of God meaning strength power and ability; inherent power, power residing in You by virtue of Your nature.
This gives me great confidence. Knowing how highly Jesus, my Savior is exalted, to the highest place of honor and authority in and above all creation.

From that exalted place, you see your children and know them. You stood up when Stephen became the first martyr, You saw the whole thing. He looked “intently” up into the heavens and saw Your glory and Your Son standing at Your right hand. You allowed Stephen to transcend the ties of earth to see Jesus in the last few moments of breadth so that He could be the first of many lives willingly given up for You. (Acts 7:55)

Christ Jesus is He Who died, yes, rather Who was raised, Who is at the right hand of God, Who also intercedes for us. (Rom 8:34)
There my risen Lord is. Talking to You about me. High in the Most High Heaven yet deep within my heart…knowing my every thought. What great love…what wonderful grace!

One sacrifice for sins for ALL time, and sat down at the right hand of God (Heb 10:12).
When Jesus sat down, it was finished. Sin was taken out of the path to You, no longer a barrier. It no longer is an issue. The battle is over and the battle has been won. Thank You, Father that Jesus did it for me. How grateful my heart is that You have made me to be Yours. My heart is humbled.

In 1 Pet 3:22 You say that Jesus "who is at the right hand, having gone into heaven , after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him. "
All demons that try to create havoc in our lives, must bow to the Risen King. They have no power because we are hidden with Christ in You.

“His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away;
And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.” Dan 7:14

Remind me Father, as I go through my days, that Your Son is Risen and seated at Your right hand.

Courage and confidence,Be bold!

Father, you have me thinking about this word “courage” that is used in Cor 5 verses: 6 and: 8
This word here means be of good courage, be of good cheer.

In looking up this word in the various Greek words used in other passages it can mean “take courage, be of good cheer, confidence and confidently, dare, ventured, deal boldly, to not dread or shun fear.”

Confidence and boldness are what stand out to me. My confidence must be placed in You alone, Father.
No one or anything else because all else will fail me. Even when we cannot see the “faithfulness”, You are still God. In my weakness, in my lack of faith, in my ignorance of truth, You are still Almighty God and still see me as holy and blameless (Eph 1:4, 5:27) before You by the blood of Jesus, Your Son. You reign on high, yet regard our every need. What an awesome God You are!

In all circumstances, You are faithful. I can be of good cheer because of knowing Your faithfulness to me personally. This is an amazing truth!! Having good cheer and a cheerful heart will come out of having confidence in Your love and faithfulness.

About courage: In a Clapham monthly letter Charlotte Mason’s book “Ourselves” is quoted and she says some things that have stirred my heart about courage.
Instead of thinking of courage as just bravery, “it is a matter of integrity”, having to do with our character.

That puts courage in a different light for me. The letter goes on to say that courage speaks more of boldness to defend what is honorable, to speak frankly of our convictions, to defy panic fear and anxiety by keeping one’s presence of mind, and to take the chance of becoming useful to others in times of crisis.
It is the idea of being useful to others. We are other-centered. We are not thinking about ourselves and how we look to others, or what they will think, but we speak with the conviction of truth, for Paul says that “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation….”
We do not allow the spirit of fear to intimidate us but call on the grace of God to speak truth in love, to give others the opportunity to hear truth, to not leave them abandoned to their “futile way of thinking. “

By Your Grace, make the very core, the very depth of my confidence always flow from Your throne. Enable me through the power of Your Holy Spirit to be unashamed to boldly speak Truth in love.

You are the Majestic One, enthroned with thousands and thousands of cherubim and all the host of heaven bowing down to worship You. You are the one and only God that lives!!

Swallowed Up

You have brought me, Father, to 2 Cor 5. I am fascinated with the beginning of the chapter.
:4 For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed, in order that what is mortal (my dying body) may be swallowed up by life

But You seem to be saying to me today that even now, Jesus is taking out the deadness, the darkness of our unrenewed mind. He is swallowing up the part of us, our soul part that is companion to this mortal body.

Our spirit will have a body to match its own perfection that right now is “in Him”, Our Christ. For He is the One Who already has been resurrected, who has returned to His Father, and His body eternal has been returned to Him.

He “swallows up” our mortal body’s soul by His life, His light, His truth that transforms us from within to His image.

Our mind, our will, and our emotions are being renewed to truth. They are brought under the dominion of Christ, Our Risen and Living Lord, who “swallows” up wrong thinking, wrong believing and all darkness by His glorious light. I am being swallowed up by His life.

To Him be the glory, power, and majesty forever and forever.

Building a house

1 Cor 14:1 Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.
1 Cor 3:9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Your Father say that we, your beloved children, are your building. I love that.
You also encourage us to pursue love, desire earnestly spiritual gifts, especially to prophesy.

You have been speaking to me about our being a building, the Body of Christ being a building.
A builder of houses lays the foundation, then frames the house, adds the walls one by one. He runs the electricity in the walls. Whatever he does, he is building; all that he does is toward the completion of the house.

All comes from you. As You say in 1 Cor 3:10, You lay the foundation, and others need to be careful in how they build on it. Jesus Christ firmly remaining THE foundation.

In thinking of the Body of Christ, Your beloved, it seems all you do is for its edification, its building up, so that You may be all in all. So that they may walk in Your fullness, being complete in Christ.

A builder may have a beautiful exterior and spend extravagantly to attain the most perfect house he can build. But without the electricity to make the house run and livable, it will not fulfill its purpose of being a home of comfort. A place of rest and a refuge from the busy world outside.

And so it seems to me, that is why we are to pursue love, the gifts, and especially that of prophesy. A home without love is not a home, it’s a place called a house.

Father, when You are telling us here “to pursue” You are saying it very strongly. You long for us to have a strong desire for love and to seek after it eagerly, earnestly; for the pursuit of love to be a serious priority in our lives. For without it we are nothing.
And the well from which it springs is the demonstration of Your love for us through Your Son Jesus Christ, Our Risen Lord.

From that well You are always building us up. How is that done? By the very body that You desire to build up. You tell us to desire the gifts, especially prophesy so that we are able to speak inspired words to one another. By telling us to desire to prophesy You are emphasizing the importance to strengthen, encourage, build up, and edify those around us in Love. It must be done through Your love or it has no life, it’s flat. Prophesy makes another person’s house a stronger house, a house with beaming lights that dispels darkness.

You, Almighty God, are putting the “electricity” in Your house. You are making Your building, the place where You reside, a place of comfort, peace and rest.

The foundation of all we do, the enduring lasting element, is the deep love You have for us.
Teach me Father, I have much to learn.

Being grounded

We always talk about a new Christian and getting them “grounded”. This I suppose Father means different things to different people. To some it means understanding the importance of being in church and being active in it. To others it means reading the Bible and understanding the basic tenets of our faith and having a relationship with God. Also learning about fellowship and the body of Christ. To me it means all these and so much more.
You say Father that we are to be grounded in Your love. The sum of all the above in our life is for us to experience Your love pulsating in our lives and in the lives of others through us.
So it seems that receiving Your love that You have already demonstrated to us, is the primary “grounding” that brings true changes to our natural heart. It is of utmost importance to seek to understand and receive; after all, that is the Gospel.

As a Christian grows, it seems that there is so much to learn, that we gain a lot of knowledge in all of these other areas, yet the intimate knowledge of Your love and what You have done for us through Your Son, Jesus, stays in our “head” and not in our heart.
That is so evident by the self-centeredness of the human heart.

The Gospel never ends in our life. The Cross has a depth that a lifetime of walking with You Lord, seems to me, only taps into a minor portion of that Divine Love because of its unfathomable length, depth, height, and width. Yet in Eph 3:17 Paul prays for the saints to be filled up with the fullness of God through the knowledge of Your love.

Is there anything that is more valuable than knowing this kind of love? This kind of love dispels the power of fear, turns away pride, and destroys the work of the enemy in our life and enables You, Father, the One True Living God, to complete and fulfill You plans in Your children’s lives.

Father, thank You so much for being my Father. One who knows me intimately and loves me as I am. One who will complete the work You began in me and Who is teaching me to look at You and what Jesus has done for us instead of my own life. The joy comes out of the Cross.

Rooted in Love

Father, you keep bringing to my mind Your Word along with the word “roots’.

Eph 3:17…so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you being rooted and grounded in love,:18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length, and height and depth :19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

Our roots are to be grounded in the depths of your divine love. With the grounding of roots in your love, comes the grace to comprehend and thereby “know” the love of our Savior. This kind of “knowing” is not of the human mind but is by the Spirit.
This is the fullness of God.

Col 2:6-7 As you have therefore received Christ (even Jesus the Lord) so walk in union with and conformity to Him :7 Have the roots (of your being) firmly and deeply planted (in Him) fixed and founded in Him, being continually built up in Him and established in Your faith…

Jesus completes me. He is the One who builds me up and establishes me in faith. He is the fullness of God. To me is made available the grace to walk in the fullness of God, the Creator of this world, of all things in heaven and earth.

How great a love the Father has bestowed on me that I should be called a child of God.
1 John 3:1

Be Subject

What brought my attention to Heb 12 was what You wrote in Col 3:19.
“Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them.”
That word seemed very forward and strong. It is a warning.
Looking it up in the Greek lexicon, it means: to make bitter; produce a bitter taste in the stomach; exasperate, make angry, indignant.
Not good! This must happen a lot since you are giving a warning.

In Eph 5 21-29 you speak again of our marriage relationship.

Using a word the world does not like, Paul writes (Amplified)
:21 be subject to one another
:22 wives be subject to your husbands
:23 the church is subject to Christ, so let wives be subject in everything to their husbands

There are 17 references in Paul’s writings listed in the NAS concordance of the word “subject”.
6 verses refer to being subject to God and Christ.
9 verses refer to being subject to other people (including the world not to angels)
2 verses refer to being subject to slavery

The meaning of “subject” is to arrange under, to subordinate, to subject oneself, obey to submit to one’s control, to yield to one’s admonition or advice. In a non military use “it was a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility and carrying a burden”.

So, Father, I am trying to sort all this out back to husbands being embittered.

We know, as believers, of the struggle with the flesh. Spirit vs our unrenewed mind. Without question our flesh wants to rule--to make us subject to it. That means other outside influence to rule over us is against our natural way.

But biblical subjection does not exclude living in liberty “for where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Cor 3:17). Being in subject to someone does not exclude love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. (Gal 522)

In subjection to God’s will, a man will not be embittered but lead with confidence in the One Who has called him. Faith enters into all aspects of his relationships and responsibilities.
He must stand against bitterness and his wife must stand against rulership.

Bitter Roots

Heb 12:15 See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled.
:16 that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.
You brought these to my attention Father yesterday.
The word bitterness in the bible means “extreme wickedness” according to Strong’s Greek Lexicon. Wow.
Also includes “a bitter root produces a bitter fruit”; bitter hatred.

I noticed, Lord, the Amplified and NIV use the word “harsh” in Col 3:19 for the word embittered. In Heb 12:15 You say “..in order that no root of resentment (rancor, bitterness or hatred) shoot forth…”
When a person is bitter- they become harsh as they may also have resentfulness, irritations, and rancor, which means a deep seated ill will. . That’s why the definition can mean “extreme wickedness”. You are speaking of some heavy stuff here, Father.

You begin Heb 12:15 with “See to it..be on the watch to look (after one another)” which means I am to be on guard, watchful.

“that no root of bitterness…” Roots.

Looking up roots at infoplease.com taught me about the definition of “root”.
Root-the descending axis of a plant. A root absorbs water, and dissolves minerals from the soil, it anchors the plant and often stores food. The tiny root hairs in some plants are less than 1/3 inch in length.
Yet, in some cases, because there are so many they are able to collect enormous amounts of water, and by the spiraling forward thrust of the root tips pressure of their expanding cells there is sufficient force to split solid rocks.
Root systems often far exceed in mass the aboveground portion of the plant, as an alfalfa plant root can reach 40 feet. The combined length of all the roots of a mature rye plant has been measured at 380 miles. These types of roots are important in preventing soil erosion.

Roots are good, but as with many things, they can be evil.

S0, Father, roots are there whether we know it or not. They are feeding and watering us with something. They are establishing us, anchoring us in something and they store up their kind of food to great depths within us. They can be massive, be strong, and have power within us. They are growing.

Back to Heb 12:15. “See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God,…”
So grace, superabundant grace is provided here and also strongly implies that it will enable me to conquer and turn away from bitter feelings as well as help others to.

“that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble. ...”
Bitterness, You say Father, causes trouble. We don’t need to complicate our lives with trouble.
The Amplified Bible says “in order that no root of resentment (rancor, bitterness or hatred) shoot forth and cause trouble and bitter torment…”

Torment is a strong word. But this is truth telling us that bitterness is torment. And to think that torment would have roots in all parts of my soul; my heart, my mind, and my feelings, because of its far reaching roots, is something great to consider.

“and by it many be defiled.” Defile here means to pollute, contaminate someone.

Many? Our mates, children, our own dear precious family? Friends we love?
We would never purposely defile a loved one. Jesus makes it clear in the Gospels (Mt 15:18; Mrk 7:18, 23) that defilement comes from within. Yet roots of bitterness do defile, not just ourselves, but many.

You seem to speaking more to me about this...tomorrow then.

A Secret Place

Hidden in a Secret Place

Col 3:3 You have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

This I love Father. You brought it to me again.
Hidden means to hide, conceal, be hid, escape notice.
My own life is concealed. My own life is to be hidden, my own life is to escape notice.
Wow.
Metaphorically hidden is used as “to conceal (that it may not become known).

As You focused my eyes on this verse Father, You brought the thought to me that I have died and now that I died, I have life. To the world that absolutely does not make sense.
Now that I am dead, I have life.
Matt 5:14 You hide these things from the wise and intelligent and reveal them to babies.
(Col 2:3) You say that what also is “hidden” in Christ is “every treasure of wisdom and knowledge.
The word “hidden” in Col 2 has not only the idea of being concealed but also of “being stored up”. Stored up for Your children. You stored up for me all wisdom and knowledge.

Where is it? It is hidden in Whom I am hidden with in God.

You have a treasure for me that is accessible to me because I am hiding with Your Son in You, Father.

In this secret place of the Most High is where my life is and also is Christ and also all wisdom and knowledge.

What a wonderful place to be! It is a secret place. A safe place. A place of rest.

God Listening

It seems, Father, You are helping me to understand more that Your love for me is the fountain from which flows joy. The more understanding my heart receives about what You have done for me at the Cross-demonstrating Your love for me-the more joy I experience.
In thinking of Bro. Lawrence’s encouragement to “do all for the love of God”, You are showing me that he centered his mind on Your Presence and doing all for you love. That is what brought his joy; Your love being expressed in the daily routine of his life and chores so that being on his knees in prayer was the same as when he was washing dishes.

What does this mean?
Doing all for the love of God is centering our heart on the love You so freely poured into our hearts. Every aspect of our life is guided by this.

“Listening” for the love of God is listening to someone even if we disagree with one another to hear their heart. God “listening” understands where they have light and where light has not yet been received. God “listening” is not being threatened or impatient as they seek to express themselves. Not impatiently waiting to answer, but giving them, allowing them the freedom to finish their thoughts uninterrupted. (Prov 18:13) Trusting that the Holy Spirit will give us the appropriate truth to answer with grace and His love. God listening is resting in Christ.

Bro. Lawrence

On reading Rev 12:11 You reminded me Father, of Bro. Lawrence and the little book written about his life, “Practicing the Presence of God”. He repeatedly said “do all for the love of God.” He says this over and over.
Do all for the love of God. This man led a very simple life but one that was absolutely filled to the max with joy. He did not do any “great” things in the eyes of the world but the joy of the Lord was so dominant in all that he did, his life has been an example to believers for hundreds of years.
All in an average life might be cleaning dishes, mopping floors, laundry, cooking, listening, speaking, giving, receiving, reading, working, loving and being loved.

Doing all things for the love of God gave Bro. Lawrence an extraordinary life in Christ.
His joy could not be contained. His life was Your life, Father. He was not afraid to lose his life in Yours.

This is different than our own efforts to be good, unselfish, and kind to everyone, or to do a “good job”. “Doing” out of what you did for me at Calvary is divine love, it is Your life having its perfect way in us.

Not to love my life

Rev 12:11 .and they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.

These words “did not love their life” stirred my heart, Father. Not loving my life.
I immediately thought of “life” meaning all the things my life consists of, like the very special conversations and fellowship with family and friends, my job I am privileged to have, the material things that we possess, etc.
These things are blessings that You, Father, have poured out to me in this earthly life I now live.

But here you are speaking of believers, believers who face physical death. “Life” here meaning our breath of life, that which animates our bodies. Do I love it?
In truth, not loving it is something that only the Spirit of the Living God can do in our heart. Only You, Father, can enable this feeble heart to have the realization of our “true” home, our eternal home. To “know” it is our real home, to look forward to it, to see ourselves talking with the Apostle Paul and the other saints that have gone before us, to be with Jesus walking through the perfect fields of flowers and streets of gold….this is a defining factor that would revolutionize any believers earthly life.
1 Peter 1:23 For you have been born again not of see which is perishable but imperishable….
Is 40:6 All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, But the Word of our God stands forever.

Thank you for the grace to see that Your promise to me will never fade like this physical body does. It is rooted in the blood of the Lamb that has bought me with a price that carries me to my true home.

The Choice to Reign

In thinking of the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, one of two things reign in our journey here on earth, either death or life.
You brought to my attention that Rom 5 speaks of reign five times.

:14 says that death reigned from Adam to Moses
:17 says again that death reigned through Adam
:21 again you say that sin reigned in death

:17 believers will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
:21 even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Cor 15:56
The sting of sin is death. A sting is a wound or pain. Sin brings pain and deep wounds into our life. Death enters our life through sin. Death to relationships, death to faith, hope and love. To all that You Father ,with Christ, have freely given to us.

Jesus gives us life. He is the Living Word. When He reigns and His word reigns in our life, we continually have an outpouring of Himself within us. Proverbs (4:21; 3:7-8) clearly says that keeping His word in the center of our heart is life to us and health to all our flesh.
Having the fear of God is health to your nerves, and sinews, and marrow and moistening to our bones.
We are raised up to “walk in newness of life”….daily newness of life. How refreshing to us when you reign. Newness in our body, in our mind and all of our soul.

Father, I love you and thank you for loving me first. For being the very breath of life to me. For Your grace that enables me to walk in that newness today.

Life-Giving Spirit

1 Cor 15:45

So also it is written, “The first man Adam, became a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
The words life-giving (2227) can mean to produce life; and
by spiritual power to arouse and invigorate
to restore to life
to give increase of life: thus of physical life
of the spirit, quickening as respects the spirit, endued with new and greater powers of life
metaph, of seeds quickened into life, i.e. germinating, springing up, growing

Eph 2:1 & 5 speak of us “being dead in our transgressions” and :5 says “we were made alive together with Christ.”
It is so awesome, Father, to think of Jesus Christ, the risen Lord, King of all glory-that He personally gives to me His life. He is a life-giving Spirit. This is a spiritual law that You have made known to us in Rom 8:2. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you (me) free from the law of sin and death.
By the power of the life of Your Son, Father, sin and death no longer have sway over me.

In 1 Cor 15:45, You are speaking of our natural and spiritual bodies. Verse: 48 “as is the earthy (man) so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly so also are those who are heavenly. 1 John 4:17 You again say “as He is so are we.”
Life-giving. Darkness is without Light. Jesus is the Light of the world. And with the light that we allow Him to give to our soul, our will, our thoughts, our emotions, and our heart, to that extent we receive His light, we receive His life.

Jesus is the only Life-giving Spirit. Help me Father, to receive daily from Your Son the light and the life that He desires to pour out over me each moment of my day.

Fulfill the Law of Christ

Gal 6:2 Bear one another's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ.

As you brought this verse to me, my question was...Do you mean, Father, that I am to carry another’s heavy load that they carry? That doesn’t seem possible to me. I would be overloaded trying to carry all the loads I know people have in their lives. Burden makes me think of their problems.

But the amplified bible puts it this way, “Bear (endure, carry) one another’s burdens and troublesome moral faults, and in this way fulfill and observe perfectly the law of Christ, and complete what is lacking (in your obedience to it).

Now I can understand “endure.” The Holy Spirit helps us to endure all things.

You have just stated in verse :1 to restore our brothers in Christ in a humble manner when we see them in sin. In :10 you remind us to do what is for others spiritual good, being useful, profitable to them, and being a blessing to them.
Also in verse :3 You speak of not thinking ourselves “too important to condescend to shoulder another’s load” …this is speaking of pride that tells us we are better than another. Then we would only deceive, delude and cheat ourselves if we believed we were better.

The law of Christ is walking in His love, a law of freedom, liberty to love our brothers and sister wherever they are.

So putting all that together, it seems to me, Father, that Your love cares enough to have us reprove another that is in sin or error; in a spirit of gentleness and love, not thinking of ourselves as being superior to them (we would be cheated of a great blessing by feeling superior in any way ).

:2 In this way fulfill the law of Christ, and complete what is lacking (in your obedience to it).
This law is love, the freedom to love someone that has a burden; perhaps that sin has caused, or has some troublesome moral fault, or in his weakness, etc.

Freedom, the kind that the Love of Christ fills our heart with, has no trouble loving a person carrying a burden. When it sees the burden, that heart can complete what the flesh lacks and is unable to complete in the flesh; that heart of Christ’s within us can reveal His love,restoration and encouragement to draw that person to Christ, thereby fulfilling the law of Christ.

So yes, as You say Father, I am to carry another’s burden….in a manner that is on the yoke of Christ Himself, in Him, where there is NOW no condemnation, in Him where the Cross of Christ has already paid for all burdensome sin.

The Bridegroom

Eph 5:25
Father, what a beautiful passage about our union with you! Although you are speaking of marriage, You are actually speaking of our heavenly Bridegroom and His Bride.
Jesus, our Bridegroom, was sent for us, was on that Cross for us, experienced death itself for us, so that He could have His Bride forever..” He gave Himself up for her.”

In this passage you go on to say “that He might sanctify her...”. The purpose was to sanctify her, set her apart and make her holy.
Something the Bride could not do for herself. He washed her, cleansed her, purified her; she is now holy just as He is holy. I am now holy.
: 27 “That He might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such things, that she might be holy and faultless.”

Other translations say:
Presented in stainless glory-Con
In all her beauty-TCNT...and faultless
All glorious-NEB
As something wonderful-Beck
As a splendid Bride-Wms
An altogether glorious Church in His eyes--Phil
Free from spots, wrinkles or any other disfigurement, a Church holy and perfect.

You see me as beautiful, as something wonderful, as a splendid Bride (You are not disappointed in me); I am altogether glorious in Your eyes. I am without spot or wrinkle.
I am holy and faultless.

: 29 For no man ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and carefully protects and cherishes it, as Christ does the church, for we are members of His body.

You nourish me, You carefully protect me, You cherish me.

: 31 For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh.

: 32 “This mystery is great, but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church”.

You have been speaking about me and Jesus.
Your Son, the risen Savior Jesus, left His place of glory and honor, of being worshipped by the Host of heaven (all the myriads and myriads of angels); He left You to come to pay the price to take His Bride.

And we His Bride, are now one with Him. His life is our life. Our life is His life. We are hidden with Him in God. We are united with You Father through the death and resurrection of Your Son. Through the blood He shed for us.

Remind me Father to receive the grace to keep my eyes on Your truths about Your Bride.
About myself in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Boast in the Cross

Boast in the Cross

Gal 6:14 May it never be that I would boast except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ through whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.

Again, Father, this Word is reminding us that our life is all about Jesus. Our foundation.

Boast. This word means to glory in (with or without reason).
1 Cor 1:29 ..so that no man may boast before God.
1 Cor 1:31 so that, just as it is written, “let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
1 Cor 3:21 So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you.

You make it clear, Father, that we are not to boast in anything or anyone other than our Savior, Jesus who has given us all things.
Paul was speaking to the Corinthians in 1 Cor 3-4 about their boasting of their own teachers and ministers(I am of Apollos, I am of Paul)one above the other. He says it causes arrogance, inflated with pride.

Another translation puts it this way (TCNT) “so that you may not be arrogant champions of one teacher to the disparagement of another. Disparagement meaning "to lower in rank or reputation."
The commentary in the NAB says that Paul’s work was to found the community on Christ. The work of others for the spiritual good of the community is to be evaluated in terms of enhancing faith in Christ, and of this, God is ultimately the judge.

This seemed to bring clarity to these passages for me—the foundation was laid a long time ago through the finished work of Christ on the Cross.
We are His co-workers, one is not greater than the other. We are doing the building “in Him” according to His plans and purposes.
Father, it is a good thing to be thankful and grateful for the ones who You have gifted to teach and preach. But it is You, Your Spirit Who reveals the message to us. Your timing, Your love, Your grace that enables us to hear and obey. It is Your message.

You are reminding me to boast only in the Cross of our Lord Jesus. No matter how much a teacher or minister has ministered to us…it is really the Holy Spirit Who has given us the message.

Remind me. Father, not to be amazed at man but to clearly see Jesus in the works, the fruit of Your field, and in Your harvest.

The World

This scripture amazes me, it has grabbed me today.
Gal 6:14 May it never be that I would boast except in our Lord Jesus Christ through whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.

What caught my attention was the thought, the truth, that "the world" has been crucified--to me. If it is crucified, it is dead. Only unlike Jesus, the world remains dead to me. It continues in death--to me. If it is dead, it wields no power over me. Worldly thoughts, thinking, opinion, pressures are all sifted by He Who I am one with. Because Jesus is living, He is alive, He is the truth, His thoughts have become my thoughts, His ways my way. He is living out His life in me. We are one, hidden as one in God.

The world has become dead to me--and I to the world. The earthly "I" was crucified with Christ (Rom 6:6). A new "I" was raised up to walk in newness of life (Rom 6); that "I" being one with the Resurrected Glorious Christ, Who is Lord, Whom I am hidden with in God.

Am I rambling Father? Remind me today that whatever I am doing, no matter how small a thing it is, You are not only with me, but You are I in me. The world is dead to me and the new I is alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Teach me, Father, in the practicality of life!

Hidden in the head

Being hidden in Christ in God --what a place of safety, security, peace and love!
He is I (as Richard Wurmbrand has written) and the real I is He. We are united as one.
Col 2:10 And HE is the head of all rule and authority of every angelic principality and power.

That means, Father, that the enemy has to face the King of Glory when he comes to try to attack me. We are one. He is facing the Son of God Who has risen from the dead and defeated sin,death,the devil,and the curse. Christ's work is finished. Done. He lives gloriously within me, united with me and we are hidden in God.

Divine Love

Father, You say that You always lead us in His triumph. Christ our Redeemer, Christ our Deliverer, Christ our ALL. Christ Who has been raised from the dead, through uniting us to Him, always; You use the word always.
At all times when He leads us, He is triumphant in us through His Son.

You have very recently proven this to me, Lord. I sit here, quietly, immersed in Your Love; in the amazement of it’s power to change the heart. I thank You so much for the privilege of knowing this marvelous love, of possessing it.
Your Divine Love has given me a new kind of freedom in my relationships. No more condemnation and judgments, You have freed me! Your Love has set me free from the criticism, unto the liberty to love.

How wonderful it is Father, to truly accept and love another believer. If the Bride of Christ, with all its imperfections and peculiarities, is beautiful and lovely to You, why would I allow flesh to restrain Your Love to flow to other brothers and sisters in Christ?
As importantly, to the lost who walk in darkness.

The well of Your Grace is deep, without an end.

As Richard Wurmbrand says in his book “If Prison Walls Could Speak”, “He is I”.
You and I are united, we are one forever. I have died and my life is hidden with Christ in God. Col 3:3 May others know the effect of Your life being manifested from within because Truth says I am hidden with Your Son. We are one. Not because I am “trying” to be humble or kind etc., but because the Truth is “He is I”. The real life inside, within, is His.

Just

1 Cor 6:2 Do you not know that the saints will one day judge and govern the world? And if the world is to be judged and ruled by you, are you unworthy and incompetent to try such petty matters of the smallest courts of justice?
Do you not know that we are to judge angels?
Paul goes on to ask why believers seek the world to decide their disputes etc.
He asks if believers don't have people who are wise enough to settle things between one church member and the other.

We are going to judge and rule some day. You brought to my mind, Father, once again, how You are totally just and desire us to be so also.
Learning to be just in our decisions with others is important if we are going to be doing that in our reign with Your Son.

You brought to my mind how quickly I judge a situation with the kids -especially the little ones-not always thoroughly understanding all the facts and details. They want true justice-they are children and expect an adult to be just. They depend on it. They know when one is not. What does that teach them?

Also, you are speaking to me about Your Grace and mercy toward us that needs to be extended to others. To refuse the anger and judgement that sometimes rises up so quickly, so often out of impatience.
To treat them, judge their cases, with true justice, consistency, and for the good of all in the righteousness of Christ which is ours. We are His righteousness.

Therefore, Christ in us, sees these little ones and answers us with perfect justice when we turn to Your Son for His wisdom, which is at hand any given moment.

In all the small matters of daily living Jesus is within us, able to judge rightly so that we make decisions according to truth, not influenced by worldly passions, or worldly ideas and influences.
People are always crying out "unfair, not right", often out of anger , emotion or their own agenda; Your Spirit within us discerns. Sometimes though they are correct as to someone's wrong or unjust behavior.

Then Father, I know when You lead me, You will enable me to confront with a soft tongue that turns away anger, to have the boldness to speak up for righteousness.
I need to learn to do that. To not be afraid to confront. Thank You that is Your desire also for me. Allowing You to care for others with Your justice and divine Love. Release in me the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Perfect Love and perfect justice.

Hidden in oneness

You are still talking to me about being “hidden". I am hidden with Christ in God.
When I am “with” somebody, I am with them..we are together. They are beside me either physically or in some kind of agreement.

But I am more than just “together” with Your Son, with You. Your word says that I am “united with Christ and am one spirit with Him." 1 Cor 6:17
You showed me once, when reading Rom 7:4, two pieces of metal being welded together, sparks flying everywhere. Having become forever one piece of metal. This is my union with You through the crucified body of Christ.

To me Father that means we are inseparable. “I in them and they in Me…” John 17:23

Hidden

Father, I was thinking about the teaching I’ve been listening to about selfishness. How to begin to choose to think about others and not be so self centered and self conscious. To start where we are.
You brought to my mind the verse in Colossians 3:1-3. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
That’s what my life is...hidden with Christ in God. Lost in Him; for You say in the Amplified Bible that “I have died with Him as far as this world is concerned and You have given me a new life with Christ in God.” The real me, the real deal, is the person that is actually hidden in God….not by myself but WITH Christ.
That’s what my new life is in Jesus. Hidden in Him. Lost in Him in such a way that those whose presence I physically am with, experience Him. The real me is hidden and His life is having it’s way. The world comes to know Him and His love.
Quite frankly Father, that seems a long way off. But in keeping my eyes on You, I can say with Paul, “Thanks be to God who gives us the victory, through Our Lord Jesus Christ! He is my Savior, My Lord, and my Deliverer!

Long-suffering

1Tim 1:13

Even though I was a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. :14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
Paul says this in his letter to Timothy.
Father, You were merciful toward Paul, You say because of his ignorance and unbelief. You extended Your wonderful super abundant overflowing (Rom 5:15) grace. Grace enough to turn him around, to change his mind, his thinking, his beliefs. To open his heart to truth.
In verses: 15 and 16 Paul says that he obtained mercy for the reason that in him, the worst of all sinners, Jesus Christ might show forth and display all His perfect long-suffering and patience for an example to encourage all those who would thereafter believe on Him for the gaining of eternal life.
What if, Father, we as believers extended the long-suffering toward other believers and even the lost, that You extend to us. This word, long-suffering, is derived from words that give the meaning of “long holding of the mind, before it gives room to action or passion.”
We already have perfect long-suffering within us in Christ Jesus. Do we believe this?
We are able to hold our minds in Him, to hold our minds to truth…realizing that we are but flesh and there are areas in everyone’s life that need His light, His power to overcome. To remember this can help us to extend God’s superabundant mercy and love toward those with whom we grow impatient of their ways, be they believers or the lost.

Father, when we as believers allow Your mercy, long-suffering and grace toward others to break forth from our heart, they will be encouraged and experience the faith and love that are in and through Christ, Our Living Lord.

A Clear Pathway

Acts 22:20

“And when the blood of your martyr, Stephen, was shed, I stood there guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.”

Father, you brought to my mind as I read this, about when Paul met Stephen in heaven.
I sensed them embracing each other with a deep love. Was there memory of Paul’s approval of Stephen’s death? Did Stephen remember Paul watching him being stoned and even guarding the clothes of those who killed him? You gave me a sense of the deep love they must have felt for one another…they were free from earthly bindings. If the memory of earthly things or experiences are recalled in heaven, it seems there is only love and joy regarding them because of now being able to see the whole picture. From the beginning of earthly time to the end of it.

So, Father, I was thinking about the words we say to others, the way we treat others, especially other believers. I know Your Spirit is willing to help us, enable us NOW to lay aside the earthly emotions and barriers that keep us from embracing one another, whether it is an inward barrier or an outward one. Whether we are self-conscious or focusing on someone else’s faults and sins.

As Paul and Stephen must have been when they met, immersed in Your Divine Love, so also are we today. Your Holy Spirit always produces love that covers all transgressions.

It is finished. Sin was totally paid for on that Cross. We have a clear pathway, Jesus, to be able to at any moment come to Your loving arms. You will embrace and love us with Your perfect love..the same love that all believers have as they reunite in heaven.

Enable my heart to make a clear pathway also; for my sisters and brothers in Christ and all others You send to me.