Fear

The definition of fear according to Strong's and NAS concordances is  panic flight, terror, alarm.

Helps Word Studies

5401 phóbos (from phebomai, "to flee, withdraw") – fear (from Homer about 900 bc on) 5401 (phóbos) meant withdrawal, fleeing because feeling inadequate (without sufficient resources, Abbott-Smith).

 So fear means according to the concordances, that we are withdrawing ourselves from the LORD. I have not thought of it like that before.  To flee, to separate myself from the One who has created me and enveloped me in His love.  Who has His angels constantly watching over me, guarding me and keeping me safe.

How is it Father, that I would submit to this spirit of fear? It has been defeated, trod down by the triumphant resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

How is it that I would allow myself to panic, to be intimidated, to avoid and flee from something because of fear and dread? To flee from the shelter of the Provider of all things!

You desire the heart of every believer to yield to Your will and guidance.
Simply to trust You.
And though I have missed much because of fear, You are the Redeemer, the Restorer of lost opportunities.  

Your Grace is enough that when You remind us to call upon its infinite supply, it is there to empower the weakest of souls; to conquer this self that submits us to the enslavement of fear and causes us to turn away from an opportunity to bless You and others.

Your marvelous love, proven and validated by the death and resurrection of Jesus, is the antidote for this fear that wants to cripple believers. Your love is deep, alive, always moving in our lives, forever stabilizing our lives and filling us with faith, hope, and love itself.

So grateful is my heart to You, the Living God, who hears the cries of His people.

Thank you Father for once again teaching me and reminding me about Your perfect love!

Divne Love

You have reminded me of scriptures that speak of a contrite heart, which delight Your heart..

Ps 51:17

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

I was thinking of him and how sometimes it irritates me how he will say something or we disagree etc…stuff that marriages experience all the time.

I am the one You have chosen to be one with him. I have the privilege of listening and by grace to love no matter what.

You are able to fill his needs through Your love flowing to him. Listening without condemning or judging is truly freedom. Blessing him, loving him, accepting who You have created him to be becomes my liberty.

It’s hard sometimes, Father. The negative invades my mind and heart seeking to control my emotions, seeking to affect me and sometimes wins.

But You have already delivered me 2000 years ago.

Thank You for Your love for me, his love for me and that I am also precious to him.

You have chosen us to be one in Christ Jesus.

When You draw me to sit with You, to communion with You, You always restore my soul. You make me to know it is not about me. My world is very small. You make me to remember the deep Love You have for him. How valuable and precious he is to You.

You make me to know this kind of Love You have called me to is true and pure and unconditional.

You make me to know how beautiful Your kind of Love is. It has no anger, bitterness, and resentment; it is FREE from these bondages.

It simply stands firm and does not change because of what it sees.

You make me to know it is possible to love, not only those closest to me but others also, by simply looking at and fixing my eyes on Jesus, Who has sacrificed His life to express Your love to me.

Your Divine love is truly beautiful, It is beauty itself.

It's No Different

It’s no different. Watching the Bible and sensing the reality of You in Your resurrection.

It’s no different today. You are with me.

When You asked Cornelius to go to Paul, the persecutor of Your people, he went.

 When You showed Thomas Your crucified body, he believed.

When You appeared to John on the island of Patmos, he wrote what You asked him to.

It’s no different today. You are Jesus, God with us.

Whatever You ask of me, You will provide the grace to obey. You are with me always.

Every moment,  every day. You are God with us.

You are the Alpha and the Omega. 

You are the First and the Last,

 You are the Living One, 

and You were dead and behold, You are alive forevermore, and You have the keys of death and of Hades. (Rev1)

Poured Out

What does God pour out to us? Believers are reminded of Romans 5:9
“Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.”

He has mercifully given mankind a New Covenant sealed by the blood of Jesus Christ. A covenant of love, mercy, and grace to those willing to receive His sacrifice for sin.

Is 53:12 …He poured out Himself to death.

Ps 22:14 I am poured out like water, all my bones are out of joint;

Ez 39:29 ..I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel…

Is 32:15  …until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high….

Matt 26:28 For this is the blood of My covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Acts 10:45 …because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.

 Romans 5:5 ..the love of God has been poured out within our hearts….

 Titus 3:6 …and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

: 6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

 This great and mighty God and Savior has poured out Himself, His Spirit, His blood, and His love so that we might “walk in a manner worthy of Him who calls us into His own kingdom and glory.”

1 Thess 2:12

 

.."the kindness of God leads you to repentance." Romans 1:4 Thank You Father, for your  kindness!

 

 

Not Under Judgment

You have reminded me today of the immense privilege it is to be Your child.  To live under a New Covenant with my God. To NOT be under Your judgment.

In reading the story of Achan in Joshua 7, I was reminded of the consequences of disobeying the Law in the Old Covenant.

When Israel conquered the city of Jericho the warriors had been told not to plunder anything for themselves. All of the silver, gold, and articles of bronze and iron were to go into the treasury of the LORD.

But Achan “ coveted them (articles of gold and silver) and took them; and behold, they are concealed in the earth inside my tent…”

The LORD told Joshua as a result of this transgression, Israel could not stand before their enemies, they had become accursed, and He “will not be with you anymore..”.

This was only resolved when Achan, his sons and daughters, and all that he owned were

taken out of the camp; they were first stoned to death and then burned with fire. “..and the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger. ”

Wow.

This is just one instance of the wrath of God being poured out and the severity of the consequences of transgressing the Law in the O.T.  
Jer 7:20 “Behold, My anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place…..”

Nahum 1:6  Who can stand before His indignation ? Who can endure the burning of His anger? His wrath is poured out like fire and the rocks are broken up by Him.

 Father, thank You for the New Covenant, for deliverance out of the darkness, out from under judgment and for being free to worship You and receive Your unconditional love.

 

The Little Girl

The Little Girl

2 Kings 5:2-3

The Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel: and she waited on Naaman’s wife.

:3 She said to her mistress,  “I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy.”

 This little girl was kidnapped from her family and taken by Aramaen soldiers to a strange land to live and serve strangers.  

Your Word, Father does not give hardly any information about her. What we can know from Your Word is that she believed in the God of Israel. She knew Elisha was a true prophet and she knew that he did miracles.

 She must have seen Naaman’s wife in sorrow or discouragement about his leprosy.

They obviously did not know of a cure or have any hope for one.

“I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy”

Many translations have an exclamation mark after her statement indicating it was said strongly with emphasis. When she spoke to the wife, she spoke with an anointing, with such confidence that she was listened to and believed to the extent that it sparked hope and action. And that action led to his miraculous healing.

Through this little girl You began to send forth Your word which is “living and active and sharper than any two edged sword”…(Hebrews 4:12) to accomplish Your purposes. 

She spoke the beginning words that led to the miracle that Elisha brought to Naaman.

Through Your Spirit even today You are speaking to Your people, even through little children. Help us to discern Your voice and Your living words. Help us to listen to the little ones.

 

I Will Take Nothing

2 Kings 5:16

Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will take nothing.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused."

Prophets of those days did accept gifts but in this case Elisha wasn’t about to take some kind of pay or reward for what God had done. Naaman was a heathen and Elisha wanted him to see that this miracle was solely of the God of Isreal, the one true living God.

The glory was to belong totally to the LORD. "I will take nothing." Even when urged to do so.

This reminded me of two things:

…before whom I stand.
…I will take nothing.

Let us see God’s greatness, His holiness and majesty. Who can take any credit for anything He has done, or for that matter for any good that comes into our lives?  He alone works wonders..Ps (72:18)

We stand before a great and mighty God awesome in all His ways.

 

Father, may Your children bow before you in humility even as man showers praises may we "take nothing" from You.

 

Let us not take glory from the One whom we stand before. For You are God and there is no other.

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