These verses I love!
Heb 2:14 since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is,the devil;
Heb 7:16 ...one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his authority but on the basis of the power of an INDESTUCTIBLE life.
:for it is declared:
You are a priest forever
in the order of Melchizedek.
Heb 7:26 For it is fitting that we should have such a High Priest holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.
Father, You declare:
Jesus has made powerless the enemy of our soul.
Jesus High Prieshood is based on the power of an indestructible life.
Jesus is holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinner, and exalted above the heavens.
You say in Heb 3:1 "consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.
and in Heb 4:14 Since we have a High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
Our hope is not based on anything earthly, it just cannot be. Why would it be when we have a Risen King?
Today enable me to consider Jesus and hold fast to the confession that He has made possible for me.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
The Anchor
Father, I was surprised when looking up "anchor" in the NT. It is used only once in reference to our soul. The other 3 times it was mentioned was in reference to Paul's ship wreck in Acts.
Why is it that hope is an anchor? Why it is so important?
An anchor by Webster's definition is
1. cast overboard to hold a boat in a particular place
2. a reliable or prinicpal support
3. something that serves to hold an object firmly.
4. a fixed object (as a tree, rock)) to which a climber's rope is secured.
In verse:17,18 You speak about Your unchangeableness in Your purpose and plan. You gave a promise and swore by yourself and state that You cannot lie.
My hope is in YOU. You ARE my Hope.
1. You are there, always ever present in the same place, when I call upon Your name.
2. You are the reliable and the principal stake in the ground for me. Through You being my hope, You bring encouragement and consolation in the moments of need.
3. You hold me firmly in Your arms and do not let me go. You keep me close to You.
4. You allow me to cling to you, to rely on you, to depend on You...I am secure in You.
Yes, Father, the hope in these verses speak of the eternal promise You have given to us and encourage us that this hope ushers us into Your presence where Jesus has entered in for us as High Priest forever.
May You grace enable me this day to be aware of Your presence and reminds me of Your unalterable, unchangeable love.
Why is it that hope is an anchor? Why it is so important?
An anchor by Webster's definition is
1. cast overboard to hold a boat in a particular place
2. a reliable or prinicpal support
3. something that serves to hold an object firmly.
4. a fixed object (as a tree, rock)) to which a climber's rope is secured.
In verse:17,18 You speak about Your unchangeableness in Your purpose and plan. You gave a promise and swore by yourself and state that You cannot lie.
My hope is in YOU. You ARE my Hope.
1. You are there, always ever present in the same place, when I call upon Your name.
2. You are the reliable and the principal stake in the ground for me. Through You being my hope, You bring encouragement and consolation in the moments of need.
3. You hold me firmly in Your arms and do not let me go. You keep me close to You.
4. You allow me to cling to you, to rely on you, to depend on You...I am secure in You.
Yes, Father, the hope in these verses speak of the eternal promise You have given to us and encourage us that this hope ushers us into Your presence where Jesus has entered in for us as High Priest forever.
May You grace enable me this day to be aware of Your presence and reminds me of Your unalterable, unchangeable love.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
He Tasted Death for Me
Hebrews 2:9
"But we see Him who was made for a little whle lower than the angels, namely, Jesus,because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the
grace of God He might taste death for everyone."
I absolutely love this scripture, Father! This reminds me once again that we will not die---ever!! Jesus died for us (so often said)...but do we really really grasp its full meaning?
Physical death no longer has a hold on us-even though the body decays and returns to dust. Praise God! I will be more alive than I ever was on this earth. Jesus was dead and He arose--He went through the suffering of death
and conquered it.We no longer have to be held in fear (slavery)of it.(Hebrews 2:14) Jesus rendered it powerless over us.
As Your child, Father, I rejoice in the eternal life You have provided for me. But this victory over death is mine today in my daily walk with You also.
2 Cor 4:16 "Do not lose heart,even though our outer man is decaying, our inner man is being renewed day by day."
Rom 8:6 "The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace."
I was thinking about what brings death into my daily walk.
2 Cor 10:4-5 shows us that the battle is in the mind;
"taking captive every thought to the obedience of Christ" will conquer death right now. Through the death of Jesus Christ, His Spirit within me is able to conquer every thought that is destructive, when I allow Him to conquer it.
If a thought is negative, most likely it will be destructive. Destructive to others, to our health and wholeness, to our love, kindness, and compassion. It works death in these. It forms unhealthy attitudes.
This results in the very harsh truth that others also suffer the consequences of a person's yielding to the negative.
Father, You are a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor 15:45). Death was conquered by our Risen Lord. Death in a believer's life is destroyed and conquered through Him.
I thank you that You are the One that makes me new in the spirit of my mind (Eph 4:23) and enables me to be transformed by that renewing.(Rom 12:2)
You are Life!!
"But we see Him who was made for a little whle lower than the angels, namely, Jesus,because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the
grace of God He might taste death for everyone."
I absolutely love this scripture, Father! This reminds me once again that we will not die---ever!! Jesus died for us (so often said)...but do we really really grasp its full meaning?
Physical death no longer has a hold on us-even though the body decays and returns to dust. Praise God! I will be more alive than I ever was on this earth. Jesus was dead and He arose--He went through the suffering of death
and conquered it.We no longer have to be held in fear (slavery)of it.(Hebrews 2:14) Jesus rendered it powerless over us.
As Your child, Father, I rejoice in the eternal life You have provided for me. But this victory over death is mine today in my daily walk with You also.
2 Cor 4:16 "Do not lose heart,even though our outer man is decaying, our inner man is being renewed day by day."
Rom 8:6 "The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace."
I was thinking about what brings death into my daily walk.
2 Cor 10:4-5 shows us that the battle is in the mind;
"taking captive every thought to the obedience of Christ" will conquer death right now. Through the death of Jesus Christ, His Spirit within me is able to conquer every thought that is destructive, when I allow Him to conquer it.
If a thought is negative, most likely it will be destructive. Destructive to others, to our health and wholeness, to our love, kindness, and compassion. It works death in these. It forms unhealthy attitudes.
This results in the very harsh truth that others also suffer the consequences of a person's yielding to the negative.
Father, You are a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor 15:45). Death was conquered by our Risen Lord. Death in a believer's life is destroyed and conquered through Him.
I thank you that You are the One that makes me new in the spirit of my mind (Eph 4:23) and enables me to be transformed by that renewing.(Rom 12:2)
You are Life!!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
The Kindness of God our Savior
Titus 3:4-But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared
:5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.
Paul says this right after he reminds us of our own natural state before we were saved.
Father, You have me thinking about Your kindness, especially to the lost.
It began by 1 Tim 2:3 where Paul, in speaking to women, Paul tells them not to be malicious gossipers.
Of the 5 references to the word “gossips” in the New Testament, three of those references are directly spoken to women. That was interesting to me and something to take note of.
The other references are in Romans and in 2 Tim 3:3 where Your word talks about lovers of self, boastful, arrogant, haters of good, malicious gossips, …and more things that we would not want to be identified with!
Prov 20:19 He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets. Therefore do not associate with a gossip.
This word “gossip” in the Hebrew means “to be simple, entice, deceive, persuade.”
Well, Father in this Proverb You identify a gossip with a slanderer. A slanderer defames or injures another’s reputation.
Webster defines gossip as:
1. a person who habitually reveals personal or sensational facts about others
2. a rumor or report of an intimate nature
You clearly command us not to be a gossip, which is as bad as all the other sins listed in 2 Tim 3:3, which most true followers of Christ would not consider themselves a part of or want to be seen as.
What does this have to do with kindness? In remembering something that Joyce Meyer said, “People just want to be shown kindness,” the question arises “Can gossip and kindness be of one spirit? Can we be kind to someone even though we are not with them?”
Rom 2:14 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance.
In Titus 3:2 Paul is instructing Titus to remind the church to “malign no one, to be uncontentious, gentle, showing every consideration for all men."
After this verse, he also then reminds them of how they themselves lived and acted foolishly before they knew Jesus.
Following this is the scripture quoted above:
: 4 "But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,"....it was Your mercy and love for us that gave us the opportunity to live freely,know You and to receive Your love. Without Jesus people walk in darkness.
So once again we, as Your Body, are reminded of Your love and kindness toward us in Christ our Living Lord.
To the extent we receive Your love, mercy, and kindness is the extent that we are enabled by Your Spirit to show the same to the lost as well as our brothers and sisters in Christ. It has nothing to do with whether we agree with their opinions, lives, or weaknesses….it has all to do with the Cross of Our Lord Jesus and the love You, our God and Father, demonstrated to us through it.
Thank You Father for reminding me to think kindness, to speak kindness, and to be kind to others.
:5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.
Paul says this right after he reminds us of our own natural state before we were saved.
Father, You have me thinking about Your kindness, especially to the lost.
It began by 1 Tim 2:3 where Paul, in speaking to women, Paul tells them not to be malicious gossipers.
Of the 5 references to the word “gossips” in the New Testament, three of those references are directly spoken to women. That was interesting to me and something to take note of.
The other references are in Romans and in 2 Tim 3:3 where Your word talks about lovers of self, boastful, arrogant, haters of good, malicious gossips, …and more things that we would not want to be identified with!
Prov 20:19 He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets. Therefore do not associate with a gossip.
This word “gossip” in the Hebrew means “to be simple, entice, deceive, persuade.”
Well, Father in this Proverb You identify a gossip with a slanderer. A slanderer defames or injures another’s reputation.
Webster defines gossip as:
1. a person who habitually reveals personal or sensational facts about others
2. a rumor or report of an intimate nature
You clearly command us not to be a gossip, which is as bad as all the other sins listed in 2 Tim 3:3, which most true followers of Christ would not consider themselves a part of or want to be seen as.
What does this have to do with kindness? In remembering something that Joyce Meyer said, “People just want to be shown kindness,” the question arises “Can gossip and kindness be of one spirit? Can we be kind to someone even though we are not with them?”
Rom 2:14 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance.
In Titus 3:2 Paul is instructing Titus to remind the church to “malign no one, to be uncontentious, gentle, showing every consideration for all men."
After this verse, he also then reminds them of how they themselves lived and acted foolishly before they knew Jesus.
Following this is the scripture quoted above:
: 4 "But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,"....it was Your mercy and love for us that gave us the opportunity to live freely,know You and to receive Your love. Without Jesus people walk in darkness.
So once again we, as Your Body, are reminded of Your love and kindness toward us in Christ our Living Lord.
To the extent we receive Your love, mercy, and kindness is the extent that we are enabled by Your Spirit to show the same to the lost as well as our brothers and sisters in Christ. It has nothing to do with whether we agree with their opinions, lives, or weaknesses….it has all to do with the Cross of Our Lord Jesus and the love You, our God and Father, demonstrated to us through it.
Thank You Father for reminding me to think kindness, to speak kindness, and to be kind to others.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Our Gifts
In thinking about 2 Tim 1:7 I can see why You Father has reminded your children about the power of Your spirit within us. We need to be reminded.
You have gifted Your Body with wonderful gifts that are to be used for Your glory and perfect will.
When the spirit of fear comes to intimidate us our gifts are not at your disposal but they are held in bondage by fear and intimidation. The one thing the enemy does not want to see is the Body of Christ flowing in the gifts bestowed on them by Your grace.
2 Tim 1:6 Paul tells Timothy to “kindle afresh the gift of God”.
In looking this up in the various translations, these are the words used:
Stir up
Rekindle
Fan into flame
Keep ablaze
Keep using. Let it grow, as a small flame grows into a fire.
One I particularly liked is:
Let that grace of God which is in you, given to you by my hands, have living power.
Wow. You, the Lord of all, are saying to us to use our gifts, keep using our gifts, and do not let them grow cold. They are part of our new DNA in Christ.
Thank you Father for the gifts you have bestowed on us. Keep reminding us and enabling us to use them for Your Kingdom.
You have gifted Your Body with wonderful gifts that are to be used for Your glory and perfect will.
When the spirit of fear comes to intimidate us our gifts are not at your disposal but they are held in bondage by fear and intimidation. The one thing the enemy does not want to see is the Body of Christ flowing in the gifts bestowed on them by Your grace.
2 Tim 1:6 Paul tells Timothy to “kindle afresh the gift of God”.
In looking this up in the various translations, these are the words used:
Stir up
Rekindle
Fan into flame
Keep ablaze
Keep using. Let it grow, as a small flame grows into a fire.
One I particularly liked is:
Let that grace of God which is in you, given to you by my hands, have living power.
Wow. You, the Lord of all, are saying to us to use our gifts, keep using our gifts, and do not let them grow cold. They are part of our new DNA in Christ.
Thank you Father for the gifts you have bestowed on us. Keep reminding us and enabling us to use them for Your Kingdom.
Paul's Wisdom
2 Tim 1:6-7
For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
:7 For God did not give you a spirit of timidity but of power, love, and a sound mind.
You know what Father? 2 Tim 1:7 has been quoted and memorized by so many of your children and helped them in times of fear. But you brought to my attention the verses before it, which truly I have not thought of as often in relation to this verse.
Paul wrote to Timothy, who was as dear to him as a son, to encourage him. Paul spoke of how “I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, longing to see you”.
He prayed for Timothy unceasingly and told him he was reminded of Timothy’s sincere and genuine faith. Paul also reminds Timothy of the gift given to him when Paul laid hands on him for ministry.
Then to me it was interesting how Paul approached something in Timothy that needed to be addressed and encouraged. His fear. His timidity.
He didn’t say anything like “you need to….” (like I probably would have). But he directed Timothy’s thoughts to You, Father. To the fact that basically You had already given him ministry gifts, you had equipped him already with Your spirit of love, discipline and a sound mind.
I loved the way Paul approached Timothy to encourage him and did it so that the focus was on what God had already given to him. To see that these gifts enabled him to minister in a way that was not natural to Timothy. The burden was not to be on Timothy to think it was all up to him.
It was God who had gifted him and who was the One on whom Timothy could depend on to use the gifts accordingly when needed. Timothy could lean on, depend on, and believe God to help him in all times when fear knocked on his door. God’s spirit was bigger, stronger, and more powerful than his own natural heart and mind.
Thank you Father for reminding me of the power of Your Holy Spirit within me and also helping me see the wisdom Paul used in ministering to Timothy.
You are the spirit of Wisdom itself and there is no true wisdom without Your word and Your Spirit.
For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
:7 For God did not give you a spirit of timidity but of power, love, and a sound mind.
You know what Father? 2 Tim 1:7 has been quoted and memorized by so many of your children and helped them in times of fear. But you brought to my attention the verses before it, which truly I have not thought of as often in relation to this verse.
Paul wrote to Timothy, who was as dear to him as a son, to encourage him. Paul spoke of how “I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, longing to see you”.
He prayed for Timothy unceasingly and told him he was reminded of Timothy’s sincere and genuine faith. Paul also reminds Timothy of the gift given to him when Paul laid hands on him for ministry.
Then to me it was interesting how Paul approached something in Timothy that needed to be addressed and encouraged. His fear. His timidity.
He didn’t say anything like “you need to….” (like I probably would have). But he directed Timothy’s thoughts to You, Father. To the fact that basically You had already given him ministry gifts, you had equipped him already with Your spirit of love, discipline and a sound mind.
I loved the way Paul approached Timothy to encourage him and did it so that the focus was on what God had already given to him. To see that these gifts enabled him to minister in a way that was not natural to Timothy. The burden was not to be on Timothy to think it was all up to him.
It was God who had gifted him and who was the One on whom Timothy could depend on to use the gifts accordingly when needed. Timothy could lean on, depend on, and believe God to help him in all times when fear knocked on his door. God’s spirit was bigger, stronger, and more powerful than his own natural heart and mind.
Thank you Father for reminding me of the power of Your Holy Spirit within me and also helping me see the wisdom Paul used in ministering to Timothy.
You are the spirit of Wisdom itself and there is no true wisdom without Your word and Your Spirit.
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