Abiding in His Word

Here is the last bible study in this series. I hope you enjoy it and gain more insight from God as I have in studying it.

In His teachings, Jesus spoke of abiding in Him so my question to God was, how do you abide in Jesus?

This is what God showed me:

John 8:31-32       So Jesus was saying to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word (logos), then you                                                 are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

John 15:4-6         Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so                                                   neither can you unless you abide in Me.

John 15:7             If you abide in Me, and My words (rhema) abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done                                                 for you.

Jesus is God’s word so when you continue (remain or stay) in it, you are His disciple (a learner or student). When we continuously remain or stay in God’s written word, we are reading it and thinking about it, we are abiding in Jesus.  Jesus takes it one step further in John 15:7, He is telling us that when we continuously stay or remain in His word, then He will give us a specific word for our lives and if we believe and trust in that specific word from God,  then we will be able to ask God for whatever we wish, as it pertains to that specific word, and He will give it to us.

An example would be that God has given you a specific word about His purpose for your future, maybe that you are to go to a faraway place to share the gospel. If you keep that specific word in front of you and ask for God’s help in making it happen, He will answer that request. The key here is that God gave you that specific word.

Jesus tells us how this works in the parable of the sower. He tells of a sower, who went out to sow seed and the different types of ground the seed fell on but then Jesus reveals to His disciples what the parable means.

Luke 8:11-15       Now the parable is this: the seed is the word (logos) of God….…But the seed in the good soil, these are                                                 the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with                                       perseverance.

When you read the entire explanation that Jesus gives, you can see that three of the heart conditions did not make the logos word of God a priority in their lives. But what made the last heart condition honest and good was that the logos word of God was accepted as truth and important. Then the word remained (held fast) so that fruit was then produced with perseverance. Now we look at the word perseverance and we may think that it’s a bad thing, but it means endurance or constancy. If we consistently keep or abide in the word of God, we will have results, we will hear a rhema word from God and we will have fruit in our lives.

If our minds are soil and Jesus is telling us that planting God’s word will produce fruit in our lives.

Will words planted from the enemy or the world produce fruit also?

We can see how Jesus handled the enemy’s words and did not let them take root.

We have heard the following scriptures taught many times, but I would like you to look at them in a new light.

Let’s look at Luke 4:1-13

Luke 4:1                Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, for                                                 forty days, being tempted by the devil.

The Greek word for led is “ago”, it means to lead or to bring drive. We know that the Holy Spirit did not physically appear to Jesus and grab him by the hand and lead Him into the wilderness. It was a leading He felt inside.

Luke 4:5                And he (devil) led Him (Jesus) up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment in time.

The Greek word for led is “anago” which means to lead up or sail away.  As you can see, its origin is from the original word we looked at in verse one.

Luke 4:9                And he (devil) led Him (Jesus) to Jerusalem and had Him stand on a pinnacle of the temple, …

The Greek word for led is “ago”, the same word used in verse one for the Holy Spirit leading Jesus.

I don’t know about you, but when I would read these scriptures, I would visualize the devil appearing in front of Jesus and the two of them flying off to each one of these temptations. Which would really make it a little easier to do battle because you can see your enemy but think about it in a different perspective.

Knowing that the Holy Spirit leads us from within and the enemy will put thoughts into our heads and try to lead us from within, wouldn’t it make sense that this is the same way he led Jesus. We can see that Luke used the same or similar word to describe Jesus being led. Also, the enemy showed Jesus all the kingdoms in a moment of time. Now that would have to take place while flying around really fast or it would happen in the imagination of the mind.

I believe that this battle between Jesus and the enemy happened in the spirit realm of the mind, remember that Jesus was in human form and operated as a human while here. Jesus may have even willingly walked to these different places because the enemy could not force Him, the enemy could only influence. Also, it does not say that all of these temptations happened after the forty days were complete or in that exact order because Matthew’s account is in a different order than Luke’s.

With all that being said, Jesus had to do battle with temptation the same way we do. He had to know when the enemy was speaking to Him and depend on the Holy Spirit to help Him through. Isn’t that what we have to deal with today? We have different voices in our head trying to guide us and we have to purposefully keep our focus on God.

It builds my faith to know that Jesus went through the same thing.

God cares about our thought life and it is important to keep your focus on God’s word. We can see how much God cares in the following scriptures.

James 4:7-8        Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will                                                 draw near to you….

The first step is submitting to God and how do you do that, get into His word and learn to trust Him. Then you can resist what the enemy says to you and cut off his influence in your life. The promise here is awesome, when you draw near to God (make Him first place in your life), He WILL draw near to you.

Once you submit to God, He wants to go to work on all the lies that have been fed to you and have taken root.

Matthew 15:13                  But He (Jesus) answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be                                                           rooted up.

When you first read this scripture, you would think that God is rooting out bad people but if you look at this in context, He just told a parable about how words defile a person (Matt 15:10,18).  When you read and speak God’s word, it takes root and the more you do it, the more those roots will take over in your heart. All the lies from the enemy and the world have already taken root on the inside and it will take time for God’s word to choke all of that out. It is just like the parable of the sower that we looked at, but with the opposite effect.

God sent Jesus to show us His nature and to heal all that were oppressed by the devil.

What does it mean to be oppressed by the devil?

Acts 10:38            You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how                                                 He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

Let’s do a little Greek word study:

                Good – euergeteo – to be philanthropic, do good.

                                                        Dictionary: Philanthropy – altruistic concern for human welfare and advancement.

                 Healing – iaomai –          to cure, heal, make whole

God is concerned with your human condition and wants to make you whole by bringing you up into His kingdom!

                Oppressed – katadunasteuo –    To exercise dominion against

                                                It comes from the word “kata” meaning down (in place or time)

                                                And is a derivative of the word “dunastes” meaning a ruler or officer, of great authority

                Devil – a traducer, false accuser, slanderer

The devil falsely accuses us or lies to us in an attempt to keep us down and from being made whole. He will try to hold us down under his false authority by feeding us lies and hoping they will take root in our hearts. When we believe his lies, it keeps us away from all that God wants to do in our lives. God loves you and wants His best for you!

RelianceOnGrace.com

The Word is Vital

In the last bible study, we looked at how Jesus is the Word of God and how God sent Jesus to heal and deliver His people from the beginning. Then we looked at how powerful God’s word really is because it is alive and working for whoever speaks it.

Luke 21:33           Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words (logos) will not pass away.

We can see once again just how powerful God’s word is. It will last forever, beyond everything that we can see.

The Greek word used for “word” in this scripture is logos, which means “something said.

Now let’s dig a little deeper into God’s word:

1 Peter 1:23-25  You have been regenerated (born again), not from a mortal origin (seed, sperm), but from one that is AMPC                   immortal by the living and lasting Word (logos) of God. For all flesh (mankind) is like grass, and all its                                 glory (honor) like the flower of the grass. The grass withers and the flower drops off. But the Word                                 (rhema) of the Lord (divine instruction) endure forever. And this Word (rhema) is the good news                                   which was preached to you.

When you read this in the Amplified Classic Version, you can see that verse 23 is referring to us being born again in Jesus and Peter uses the Greek word “logos” to describe Him. Then in verse 25, Peter uses a different Greek word in reference to “the word”, he uses “rhema” in this verse twice. This can be a little confusing because the English translation for both “logos” and “rhema” is word, but they have different meanings.

The best description that I have found to help in understanding this:

Logos is a word (spoken/written) given generally – the general word of God that communicates His ability to do something or His general will on a matter.

Rhema is a word (spoken/written) given specifically – the word the Holy Spirit quickens to a specific person for a specific situation.

Logos & Rhema are always in alignment with one another.

Peter is stating that the apostles were teaching and preaching the word that was given to them directly from God. God was guiding them in their teachings using the Holy Spirit. Paul confirms this when he states, “all scripture is inspired by God” (2 Timothy 3:16). When Paul said this, all scripture had not been put together yet, so this was from God for us today.

Jesus gave His disciples a very specific word about communion in John 6:52-58 and they were having a hard time receiving it because it was like nothing they had ever heard before. Later they understood what Jesus was saying because He demonstrated the drinking of His blood and eating of His body during the last supper. But in the moment that Jesus first made this statement the disciples were grumbling which led Jesus to say the following:

John 6:63             It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words (rhema) that I have spoken to you                                 are spirit and are life.

Jesus used the word “rhema” in this scripture which tells me that this was a specific word from God to the disciples. Jesus is telling them that in our flesh or natural mind, we will not be able to understand the specific word that God wants to impart to us. We will get frustrated because we don’t understand, that happens at times when reading the bible and we don’t understand what it is trying to say to us. The only way to understand is with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can ask for help in understanding and God will assist us every time.

A great example of this for me is when Jesus is talking about receiving the Holy Spirit and the following scripture was one that I didn’t fully understand:

John 16:12-15     He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has                                 are Mine therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.

I know that disclose means to reveal or uncover, but how would the Holy Spirit reveal what belongs to Jesus?

Jesus is the Word (Logos), which is God’s general will and ability on things.

The Holy Spirit brings us the word (Rhema), which is God’s word given for a specific situation.

Which means that the Holy Spirit will:

                 take from Logos (God’s general word) and give you Rhema (God’s specific word for your situation).

When we allow the Holy Spirit to speak into our lives, we build up our faith and trust in the finish work of Jesus.

Romans 10:17    So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word (rhema) of Christ.

This is telling us that the specific word from God is going to strengthen us and keep us in our time of need. I’m not saying that we should not rely on the written word of God, but I am saying that asking God to give us greater understanding of His word will bring His written word alive in us. Just like Jesus said in John 6:63, His rhema word is spirit and life.

Another instance when the rhema word of God is important is during spiritual warfare. Paul is telling us here that our sword is a specific word from God for our situation.

Ephesians 6:17   And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word (rhema) of God.

Reading and declaring the written word of God over our lives is very important and there may be times when you don’t have a specific word from God. Continuing to spend time in God’s written word is important while you seek God for His specific word over your situation and that can only be done by asking Him for it.

Jesus used His sword when He was being tempted by the enemy in the wilderness. As you can see, Jesus’ words are from the logos word of God in the old testament but became the rhema word of God when the Holy Spirit quickened them to Him to say at just the right time. This is also why Jesus used the word “rhema” when He spoke. When we are feeding on the written word of God, the Holy Spirit will bring to mind the specific word that fits our situation and that is what we use as our sword.

Matthew 4:4      But He (Jesus) answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word                                 (rhema) that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”

God will give us His specific word when we ask, seek or knock:

Matthew 7:7-8  Ask, and it will be given to you: seek, and you will find: knock, and it will be opened to you. For                                      everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

I don’t believe this scripture is telling us that we need to do all these things in order to get an answer from God.  This covers all the bases because these are all the different ways that we might come to God in prayer and He will respond. God is a gentleman and He will not force an answer on us, He is waiting for us to ask, seek, or knock. He is graciously waiting, with the answer, for us to approach Him in the way that is most comfortable to us.

Maybe you are waiting on a specific word from God on your situation, you can have peace in knowing that all of God’s word has power and authority. This means that spending time in the bible, reading and speaking God’s logos word over your life is also very powerful.

Luke 4:32             And they were amazed at His (Jesus) teaching, for His word (logos) was with authority and ability and AMPC                   weight and power.

Jesus spoke the word of God throughout His time here on earth and that is where He drew His power from.

RelianceOnGrace.com

The Word Has Power

In closing out one year and transitioning into another, God has been showing me just how important His Word is in our lives. I have written many bible studies on how important our words are and how they have the power to direct our lives, whether good or bad, because our words come from our heart but that is a different bible study.

I want to share with you what God has shown me during my meditation on a scripture and hopefully it will bless you and give you better understanding as it has me.

Let’s start in John, with a verse we have read many times before but this time slow down and think about it.

John 1:1                In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

This scripture is talking about who Jesus is. Not only is this telling us that Jesus is God but also that Jesus is the Word. The Word of God is Jesus!

John 1:14             And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten                                 from the Father, full of grace and truth.

*The Greek word used for Word in these two scriptures is logos, which means “something said”.

Everything that we see was created by the spoken word of God. When God was speaking everything into existence, it was through Jesus that everything came into being. The spoken Word of God is Jesus.

John 1:2-3            He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him                                   nothing came into being, that has come into being.

Hebrews 11:3     By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, of that what is seen was                                 not made out of things that are visible.

This is powerful, God used His Word to create all things and we now know that it was through Jesus because Jesus is the Word. Any and everything you see was created through God’s word = Jesus.

The scripture that I was meditating on and started my journey on this thought was:

Psalm 107:20      He (God) sent His word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions.

I’m not sure who the writer of this Psalm is but it was written many years before Jesus came to the earth. This is telling us that God sent His Word (Jesus) to heal and to deliver long before Jesus went to the cross. God has always wanted health and wholeness for His people, so He sent His word and His word is Jesus.

Do we really understand the power held in God’s word?

1 Corinthians 1:18            For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being                                                 saved it is the power of God.

Greek: power – dunamis – force, specifically miraculous power, ability, abundance meaning might

I have heard that God’s word is truth and it has power to set you free, but the power of God’s word is so much more than that. That is why He gave it to us.

God tells us that His word goes out and does exactly what it is supposed to do, it never fails or goes off course.

Isaiah 55:11         So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without                                       accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

We may have read or heard the scripture “nothing is impossible with God”, but most translations do not have this text in its entirety. When I went to my Greek word vs English word translation, sure enough, “pas rhema” meaning “every word” was at the end of this scripture. Most bibles completely left it out, except the Amplified Classic.

Luke 1:37 AMPC               for with God nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or                                                 impossible of fulfillment.

Interlinear Translation:  because not will be impossible with God every word.

When you look at this in the Greek, it is saying that nothing is impossible with God’s every word. Wow, that changes things. If I have God’s word, then the sky is the limit because when you have His word, you have His will.

Angels obey His word, even when His children are speaking it. This says “the voice” of his word which means that when we speak it, they are compelled to obey but this scripture implies that it must be spoken aloud.

Psalm 103:20      Bless the Lord, you His angels, mighty in strength, who perform His word, obeying the voice of His                                 word!

Hebrew:  the voice - qol qol – call aloud, a voice or a sound

When we are feeling powerless or weak, the word will build us up and the inheritance that we were promised comes to us through the word.

Acts 20:32            And now I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build up and to give                                 the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

All scripture is the logos of God! We have the spoken word of God available to us and it is the power of God to everyone that is a born-again believer in Jesus. We speak God’s word from the bible because He spoke it first.

2 Timothy 3:16-17            All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, ESV                                        and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every                                                 good work.        

Many teachings will focus on correction and reproof in this scripture and these are necessary, but I want you to see that God’s word is training us on how to live in His kingdom. We became righteous when we were born again, and the bible trains us in how to walk that out. God wants us to be complete and equipped with everything we need to live in His power.

God wants us to understand how important it is to act on what He tells us in His word.

This scripture is not focusing on outward behavior. It is telling us to take God’s word into our hearts and know who we are in Christ.

James 1:22-24    But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves…

That is why James refers to our reflection in the mirror. When we forget who we are and what we have, we are powerless against the enemy, but when we know who we are in God’s word, then we will be using our sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17) in a powerful and effective way.

In James 4:7 it says, “resist the devil and he will flee from you”. How do we resist the devil and make him run?

By knowing who we are and what we have as believers in Jesus Christ. We can speak God’s word over any situation going on in our lives and expect results. Jesus did this when the devil came after Him in the wilderness and Jesus said, “it is written”. That’s where the power was, in God’s word.

Luke 4:13             And when the devil had ended every temptation, he [temporarily] left Him [that is, stood off from AMPC                   Him] until another more opportune and favorable time.

The church that Jesus is speaking to here understands that God’s word is important because they guarded it, but Jesus tells them that they have little miraculous power. This tells me that this church was a hearer of the word but not a doer, which resulted in less power in that church. They were worn out because in the first sentence, Jesus says that He knew their toil, so He had compassion on them and made the way for them to have victory.

Revelation 3:8    I know your works (toil). Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one is able to shut. I                                 know that you have but little power (dunamis-miraculous power), and yet you have kept (to guard)                                 my word (logos) and have not denied My name.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want toil, I want to live from victory to victory.

God’s Word is a vital part in our everyday Christian walk. It is the power of God in our lives!

Is it all about obedience?

As I was scrolling through Facebook one day, I read a quote from a student minister that said:

 “Above all God desires our obedience! When He has our obedience, He has our heart and our mind is focused on Him. Since obeying Him means loving Him more than anything, our obedience will make us more like Jesus who was the example of complete obedience to the Lord!”

Is this true? Is this what God desires most?

I ‘ve heard that obedience was the top priority for God in my years of church attendance.

Think about it, if God just wanted our obedience then why give us a free will to choose?

When you look at the behavior of the Israelites, you can see that they had an obedience problem which resulted in bad consequences time and again. It appears that going through the motions of being obedient in their own effort only lasted short periods of time and once things were good, they turned their focus back on their own desires.

Nehemiah 9:19-21, 25-31              …But they became disobedient and rebelled against You, …                                                     therefore You delivered them into the hand of their oppressors …  (NASB)

Scripture tells us that God is jealous. Is He jealous because He wants obedience?

Usually a person is jealous because there is love or attention missing from the relationship. God also wants to be our rock and have us take refuge in Him. So, if we are placing our trust and confidence in something else, wouldn’t that provoke jealousy?

Nahum 1:2-3      A jealous and avenging God is the Lord… the Lord is slow to anger and great in power…

Nahum 1:7          The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble and He knows those who take refuge in Him.  (NASB)

What does God require of man? These scriptures answer that question and it appears that God is not interested in all the external things we try to offer but God wants our heart. Walking humbly means relying and trusting in God’s love for us and when we do that, we will start to want what He wants.

Micah 6:6-8         …He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?   (NASB)

The psalmist starts off this psalm, which contains valuable promises from God for us, with how those promises are received.  A close relationship with God to the point that the first thing out of your mouth is “I trust God with everything in my life” is the key.

Psalm 91:1-2       He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God, in Him will I trust. (KJV)

Think about a relationship between a father and son.  If the father said to the son “all I desire from you is your obedience!” How would it affect that relationship? You would have one of two options: a son that continuously performed to get his fathers approval or a son that rebelled because he did not feel loved. Either way it doesn’t pave the way for a good relationship, one would be very mechanical in nature and the other would be very painful.

I disagree with the statement that “Above all God desires our obedience!” 

I believe that “Above all God desires to have a loving relationship with us!”

Jesus tells us this in His teaching from the sermon on the mount. He is stating that the public practices of obedience of the religious people in that day are not what God is after. They were obeying the law, but they were going through the motions and not doing it from the heart, God wants your heart.

Matthew 6:4,6,18             …your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you…   (NASB)

God knows what is best for us and how we can abide in Him. When your eyes focus on Jesus (light), your spirit then is filled with light. Darkness comes with the heaviness of labor and toil in this world. This is not an obedience issue; it is a spiritual issue. Everything in your life starts in the spirit and then manifests in the physical. Jesus is telling us how to keep our focus on Him. The condition of our eye pertains to our focus in this life. If your eye is clear, it has a single focus on the goodness of God and the finished work of Jesus. If your eye is bad, it is focused on your own efforts and a performance for God mentality which is full of labor and toil.

Matthew 6:22    The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is clear, your entire body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.

Vine’s Greek Translation:

                clear – haplous – simple or single, singleness of purpose keeps us from the snare of having                                                a double treasure and consequently a divided heart.

                Bad – poneros – labor or toil, denotes evil that causes labor, pain, sorrow, malignant evil.

Anxiety about our future and provision (not just money) is a perfect example of labor and toil. We, as believers, can be diligent to do everything that the bible tells us to do in order to obtain a promise from God and have some results in our life, but isn’t that a self-effort mentality full of labor and toil? 

Jesus came to show us how much God loves us and to bring us into relationship with Him!

Matthew 6:25-34              But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Vine’s Greek Translation:

                kingdom - basileia – denoting sovereignty, royal power, dominion

                Righteousness – dikaiosune – the character or quality of being right or just. Means essentially the same as His faithfulness or truthfulness, that which is consistent with His own nature and promises.

Seeking His kingdom and righteousness is seeking to know who God is, His character and His love for us. Then we will love and trust in Him, which will completely change the course of our life.

God wants a relationship with each of us, that is His desire!

Bible Study - Bondage is in the Mind

I have been leading a women's bible study for about three years now and have decided to start posting our studies on this blog. I do not have the entire reference scriptures written in here so it would really help you to look up these scriptures in your bible as you go through the study.
I hope you enjoy them and take away a new revelation of Jesus.

Let’s start with the great news!

Galatians 5:1-6  It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore, keep standing and do not be subject again to a NASB                     yoke of slavery.

Paul is talking here about the difference in living under the law and grace. We think that we have this covered but do we really? Anytime you start in with the “I have to” thought process, you have the potential to fall from grace. Verse 4 refers to falling from grace and it is not our outward actions, it is in our thought life. Falling from grace happens in our minds when we are leaving the grace that Jesus gave us and going back to our self-effort. Freedom is when we completely rely and trust in Him, and then the bondage of making things happen ourselves goes away. Verse 6 states that in Jesus, it doesn’t matter what camp you’re in, self-effort or grace, your trust in His love for you will make the difference in breaking that yoke of slavery.

We have heard this scripture and it can be comforting when you have a wayward child but there is a lot more to it than this. It’s about how they view God and if they keep their focus on Him. It is still a choice on their part.

Proverbs 22:6                     Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Think about who wrote this scripture, it was Solomon, and we are going to look at what happened to him.

Solomon’s father David had a heart for God even though he had a messy life, and it appears that his son knew that. It looked like Solomon was on the right track because he asked God for wisdom and it was granted to him along with many other things. David covered Solomon in prayer in protecting his heart.

1 Chronicles 28:9               … Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and willing mind;                                                 for the Lord searches the hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts.

1 Chronicles 29:18            O Lord … and give to my son Solomon a perfect heart to keep Your commandments, Your                                                 testimonies and Your statues, and to do them all, and to build the temple...”

 When we read through Proverbs, we can see the godly wisdom that Solomon had, and I believe many of them were written while he was building the temple and kept his eyes focused on God.

We can see that eventually; Solomon’s thought life got the best of him. After he was finished with the temple for God and his own house, it appears that his mind started to wander. God was not his focus anymore but now it was catering to his fleshly desires.

1Kings 11:1, 3                    Now King Solomon loved many foreign women… and his wives turned his heart away.

1 Kings 11:5-10                  Now the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart turned away from the Lord, the God                                                 of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, …

I don’t know about you, but I have thought that if I could only see God, it would make things easier for me. We in verse 9, it says that God appeared to Solomon twice. Appeared means the come into sight, become visible. We don’t know how but we can read that Solomon had some sort of tangible experience with God and it did not keep him from straying away. It’s not about our senses, it’s about our thoughts.

Solomon went from his focus on God and using God’s wisdom to reasoning in his own mind, trying to figure things out on his own. Sometimes we can easily slip into our own head and try to figure things out. I know that I have had that problem but that is a very dangerous place to live because it leads you away from the finished work of Jesus, which is the love of God.

Ecclesiastes 7:25-29         I directed my mind to know, to investigate and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to                                                 know the evil and folly and the foolishness of madness.

Our advantage over Solomon is that we have the Holy Spirit. Let’s look at the same wisdom before and after the cross.

Proverbs 4:20-27               Watch over your heart with all digilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Philippians 4:4-9               And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your                                                 minds in Christ Jesus.

Look at the difference in these two scriptures. One says it is all up to you and the other is grounded in what Jesus has done for you. When we are looking at God’s promises and scriptures from before the cross, they should be read with Jesus in mind. How His finished work affected that scripture. I am not saying that we don’t have a part in this, our part is getting to a place where we are trusting in the love! The only way to do that is to get to know Jesus and the only way to do that is to read the Word and talk to Him.

Peter tells us the same thing that Paul did in Philippians but in a slightly different way. Peter would understand more than most, how important it is to trust in Jesus’ love. We put too much pressure on ourselves to do everything right when it’s not about our performance but about His.

1 Peter 5:6-10                    After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal                                                 glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.

When we read the words here that say, “suffered for a little while”, they can be very misleading. This is not talking about physically suffering for Jesus, although many do. “Suffered” is referring to experiencing a sensation or impression in our minds and “little while” is puny, which is a very small amount of time.

Greek:

Suffered – pascho – to experience a sensation or impression (usually painful).

Little while – oligos – puny (in extent, degree, number, duration, or value); especially neutral (adv.) somewhat

We are the ones that choose how long we are going to “suffer” under the thoughts that are not directed toward the finished works of Jesus. In the same breath, Peter tells us that Jesus will perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. This does not say that you do it, it says that He will do it. 

Our part is keeping our focus on Him and receiving the free gift provided for us through Him!

Kingdom Benefits

If you have ever worked for a company in America, then you probably had a meeting about their benefits package when you started work. You know the benefits that they offer to make life easier for you as an employee.

You may have been offered:

Health Insurance, Dental Insurance, Direct Deposit, 401K, Stock Sharing Plans, Employee Discount

Can you tell that I used to do this for a living?

You learn what each benefit covers and then you choose to enroll in each of these benefits. If you chose to enroll, they are available for you when you need them.

When you make the decision for Christ, you are now part of the kingdom of God and have a benefit package.

Revelation 5:12     …“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”

You might say to me, “Jesus didn’t have to go to the cross to get these things, He is God”.

You are correct, He went to the cross to get these things for us.

Jesus had all these things already, but we did not have access to them. He wanted us to have full access to everything that He has.

 Making the decision for Jesus is not about getting benefits, it’s about the love that God has for us and knowing that God did not want to spend eternity without us, so He sent His Son.

Now that you know that there are benefits included, do you want to learn more about them?

I looked up the original Greek word used for each of these benefits and it is really eye opening:

Power – means force, specifically you have access to the miraculous power of God

Riches – means wealth, as in having your needs met by God

Wisdom – means access to higher or spiritual wisdom from God

Might – means ability or strength from God

Honor – means you are valued by God and there was a high price paid for you

Glory – means the glory of God is available to us

Blessing – means God has spoken many blessings for us in the form of promises in His word

To enjoy the benefits of Jesus’ finished work on the cross, all you do is enroll and you have access to them when needed (they are needed every day in my world). To enroll in these benefits means that you first make Jesus your Lord and Savior. Learn all that Jesus has done for you in God’s word because belief and trust in God are the key to accessing all that He has for you.

First you can spend some time thinking about:

John 3:16       “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

God wants to have a relationship with you, and He does not want to live an eternity without you in His life.

Crepe Myrtles

There are Crepe Myrtle plants everywhere in the county that I live in because they grow very well in north Texas. I decided a couple months ago that I wanted to plant some in a line along the back side of our house to block out the view of the road. Now, when I decide something, I usually get right on it and this time was no different. I looked up the different ways to propagate a Crepe Myrtle plant from an existing plant because why go buy them when they are everywhere you look. First, I tried to take clippings from the tree at our church and root them at home, following the instructions from a blog that I read. That attempt failed miserably so I tried it again from one of the many trees next to my mom’s house, with permission from her neighbor of course. I managed to kill most of them also, but I do have two little stems hanging on by a thread right now.  I was told that I could go dig up some of the little sucker plants that were coming up around the trees of my mom’s neighbor, but I would need to get them quick before they had to mow again.  So off I went with my shovel, my pots filled with soil and my excitement building because this time it was going to work, and I will have my trees. I dug several of them up and planted them in my little pots and started watering them every day. I started reading about how to take care of my new little trees so they would grow big and strong. The more I read the more I realized that I had done this all wrong. You are not supposed to transplant Crepe Myrtles when it is hot outside, I should have done it later in the fall and on top of that, we are having record heat in the month of September. I kept watering my little trees every day and watching them get more and more brown.

One day, as I was walking by my little brown trees and I felt like I was supposed to start talking to them so they would live, because Jesus spoke to the fig tree, so why couldn’t I speak to these Crepe Myrtle trees. I told my little brown trees “you will live and not die in Jesus name”. Every time I walked by my trees, I said this to them and when my mom asked how they were doing, I told her that they will live and not die. I have to admit, I was a little discouraged because out of all the plants I dug up there was only one lone green leaf left but that one leaf was my glimmer of hope.

Today, I walked past my little trees and got the most beautiful surprise ever. There is new growth in the form of tiny little green leaves coming up on several of the branches. I am so beyond excited that I can’t even describe it, all I could say was “thank you Jesus!!”

I remember hearing a sermon once on Jesus speaking to the fig tree and if we go around speaking to trees then people would think we are crazy but to be honest with you, I don’t care it works!

I did nothing right on my own but when I brought God into it, He brought the rain and the new life on some twigs that looked like they were dead.

Speak to your mountains and they will move!!