Category: You__me

You desire me

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DESIRE

 

Since the beginning of time ever since man had fallen, God desired that their would be a way for His people to be whole once again. Before Adam & Eve had partaken of the tree, God had walked with man in the day and talked face to face. Sin entered and corrupted the human race. But God had made a plan before He had made the Heavens and Earth. ” he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” – Gen 3:15

2000 years ago God’s only Son Jesus who was prophesied by many prophets before His time had come to Earth, walked the Earth as a human being and later became the ultimate sacrifice for us in order to have everlasting life.
When we read in Luke 22 that His time was coming to an end on Earth. He desired that His last moments would be spent with His 12 disciples known to many as The Last Supper.

Luke 22:15   “and He said unto them,  with desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. “

Our human mind cannot comprehend the Love of God so much that we would think of someone desiring to die for us? I fathom at this verse, “I have desired…” Saying I knew what I was getting myself into, I knew that one day I was going to be hung on a cross so that you could have eternal life with Me. So that all you have done, your past mistakes and failures. “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”   – 2 Peter 3:9

His desire is you!

It took preparation and preparation makes perfection. When the time came perfection came into the World. How are you preparing for the Coming? You’ve witnessed of His desire for you I hope? How are we preparing for His return? He told His disciples that “I would not eat anymore thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” My desire is to seek Him whole heartedly without restraints, weights or doubts keeping me from desiring more of Him.

You Redeemed me

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    REDEEMED

  Psalm 32:1,2

“Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”

I do not know where to begin or what to say when I think about the word “redeemed” and its definition. Sometimes we overlook the obvious in our life with God in whom we are, we are redeemed! From the first day of creation when Adam and Eve took the bite of the forbidden tree, God had already made a plan of redemption.

Your love is indescribable, there is no end,
You go beyond all lengths to rescue me, and so you did.
You, who knows all things, and knows no end.
Who knows this life better than me.

It’s not by mistake that You had found me, it was Your plan to bring me home.
To redeem this heart and see first hand what a love like this can do. I can say that I am truly redeemed.

– Gary F.

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 redeemed

Act Justly. Love Mercy. Walk Humbly

act-justly

What are God’s 3 requirements for you?

ACT JUSTLY. LOVE MERCY. WALK HUMBLY.

Can it be this simple?

ACT JUSTLY.
(Your personal morality is drawn from God’s Word)

– Justly means the act of God declaring men free from guilt and acceptable to Him and counting them righteousness.

Let’s begin in Micah 6

1  “Hear what the LORD says:
Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice.
2 Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the LORD,
and you enduring foundations of the earth,
for the LORD has an indictment against his people,
and he will contend with Israel.”

3“O my people, what have I done to you?
How have I wearied you? Answer me!
4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt
and redeemed you from the house of slavery,
and I sent before you Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam.”

5 “O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised,
and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,
that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD.”

6 “With what shall I come before the LORD,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?

7  “Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

8  “He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
(Micah 6:1-8 ESV)

God is reminding His people how blessed they are. After asking for the facts – why they were so constantly opposed to Him and His way of life, which was really to their best good, God gave His side of the story.

1. I brought you up out of Egypt.

2. I redeemed you from the house of slavery and hard bondage.

3. I sent Moses. Aaron, and Miriam before you to bring you into this wonderful land.

4. I protected you from the curses of Balaam and suffered him not to harm you.

5. I gave you a true revelation of Myself and My way of life. I made it clear that I do not require costly sacrifices to atone for my sin.

6. I did not require your firstborn for forgiveness of your sins, nor any fruit of your body for the sin of your soul.

7. I showed you the righteous principles of life what is good;  and all I require is for you to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before Me.

8. I revealed My laws and penalties so that you could know them and the One who has meted out punishment.

9. I cannot but demand just weights and measures, and hold every man accountable for his sins, punishing you with sickness, desolation, war, and calamity because of them.

10. You keep the statues of Omri and the works of Ahab, and walk in their wicked counsels instead of obeying Me and My laws.

We may think at times that we are giving up too much to live for Christ, really?

I am not going to list the pros and cons of living for Christ because there is no pros and cons to debate which life is better; the sinful life or the Godly life. We all know the punishment for sin is death, how can you debate over that? Not possible. While some people try to negotiate with God, why they want that sin in their life; is no excuse.

Those who are in Christ are justified by a righteous, holy God. We each are held accountable for our actions and deserve the outcome by what we have done.

LOVE MERCY.
(Show the same patience and forgiveness to the fools and sinners around you that God has shown to you.)

– Mercy, what better way of explaining mercy than someone who can forgive another by what act they had done.

As we read in Micah, God is having a controversy with Isreal. Micah in similar fashion to other prophets such as Hosea and Amos, proclaims a message of judgement to a people persistently pursuing evil.  He presents his three oracles, or cycles, of doom and hope as if he were in a courtroom.

Micha’s concern can be summarized in what God wants to see in His people: Justice and equity tempered with mercy and compassion as the result of a humble and obedient relationship with the Lord.

~ His kindness leads us to repentance.

WALK HUMBLY.
(Everything good in your life is God’s gift of love to you.)

It is a state of mind well pleasing to God; it preserves the soul in  tranquility and makes us patient under trials Biblically speaking, humility is  the opposite of pride.

A humbled life can lead to so many more opportunities in God than one can think. How can one learn without being humbled? How can one lean in the direction of God without being humble? And how can one have the right kind of relationship with God without being humble?

Being humble is key to breaking strongholds in your life as well. My years of preaching at an AA clinic; i would see this all the time, those who had pride and did not want to do anything with God, all they talked about was the rules. Their hearts would be hardened each time that they turned away the opportunity to be set free. Having this kind of attitude and pride is dangerous in a life of a Christian. We must be humble in all that we do.

6 Things God does not require in coming before Him and being accepted by Him.

1. Bowing self before Him.
2. Coming with burnt offering’s
3. Bringing thousand’s of animals to Him.
4. Offering Him 10,000 rivers of oil (v7)
5. Giving the firstborn for transgression.
6. Giving the fruit of the body for the sin of the soul.

3 Things God does require.

1. Every man to do justly.

2. To love mercy

3. To walk humble before Him

Does He ask too much from us? by living in Him, no. It’s the least we can do!

G

You Sought me

you_meYou Sought me

” Behold I stand at the door and knock.”

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I have been reading a book from 1859, by an author named Henry Ward Beecher, the book “Views and Experiences of Religious Subjects.” Henry who was a minister had written these small articles that were put in the New York Independent newspaper, he thought they would be more tempted to read an article rather than a lengthy book. How different would this World be if what you had just read was an article contained in every newspaper in America?

The Author of the book explains the metaphor of the urgency of Christ to every sinner.

“Christ comes to the soul-house, and stands there and knocks. On getting no answer, he goes away only to come and knock again. He waits at the door, and listens for a voice within, and goes away. He comes again, and waits, and goes away! He knocks, not at one door, but goes around to every door, and waits for an answer. As one who returns to his dwelling in the night, after a journey, and finding it locked, knocks at the accustomed door of entrance in the front, and getting no answer goes to the door in the rear, then to the side door – if there be one – and then to every other door, in order, if possible, to get into his house; so Christ, who longs to enter into the soul, goes to every door in succession, and knocks, and listens for an invitation to come in, and leaves not one chamber in the soul-house unsought, or one door untried! He knocks at the door of Reason; at the door of Imagination and Taste , of Benevolence and Love, of Conscience, of Memory and Gratitude! He does not neglect a single one!” – Henry Ward Beecher

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Just like He sought us, years ago before we opened that door of Salvation, when we finally stepped out of our dwelling, our houses of shame, burdened with grief and past failures that followed us into every room not letting the memory leave us. Where would we be if we had not opened that door for Him to come in and rearrange our dwelling, our life?

My years of having Him wait outside as I scurried in the inside trying to fix the broken parts that kept breaking before me; I gave up and let Him in. We all need that professional to take care of things that we are not able to do. Why should we attempt to fix what we are not capable of?

Pride

Every one has had pride or some still do I am sure of, pride is what leads to destruction. And for some, it’s so hard for them to give their problems to someone else, it’s the ego, the human nature saying “I can do this” no we can’t! it’s the words of Christ that assures us “I can do all things through Christ” by putting our faith in the finished work of the Cross.

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“If he be admitted, joy unspeakable is in the house, and shall be henceforth. The dreary dwelling is filled with light from the brightness of his countenance, and every chamber is perfumed from the fragrance of his garments. Peace and hope, love and joy abide together in the house – for Christ himself takes up his adobe therein. But if, after his long knocking at the door and patient waiting for entrance. his solicitation be refused or neglected, by and by there shall come a time when you who have denied him, shall be denied of him. For when you shall knock at the gate of Heaven for admittance into the mansions which he has prepared from the foundation of the world, he will say unto you, as you said unto him, Depart! But that dreadful day has not yet come, and he still stands at the door – his locks wet with the dews of the morning and waits to be invited into the chamber of your soul. Hear his voice once more.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with me!” – Revelation 3:20

It was 1859 when this book was published. Who are we to think His coming is going to be 10, 20 or more years away, when Henry was anticipating His coming in 1859? This World has gotten so much worse since 1859.

I urge anyone who has not yet opened that door to Him, to not walk to that door but run. Some think the Christian life is boring, ha. Who is to think that when all you need is Jesus, you will find out that outside your dwelling after Christ has come in and re decorated your soul with his presence that none other can compare. He seeks the lost and finds the door of the soul, he knocks profusely until you answer.

Back slider – You had once opened that door to Him, He once was the center of your life, now due to complacency; little by little He has been pushed out of your life and onto the streets as He is fervently knocking at your door again.

Will you answer or ignore the Master?

Men who neglect Christ, and try to win heaven through moralities, are like sailors at sea in a storm, who pull, some at the bowsprit and some at the mainmast, but never touch the helm. – Henry Ward Beecher

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You Renew me

you_meYou Renew me

At this hour we rest in the promises of our faithful God, knowing that his words are full of truth and power; we rest in the doctrines of his word, which are consolation itself; we rest in the covenant of his grace, which is a haven of delight. The person of Jesus is the quiet resting-place of his people; and when we draw near to him in the breaking of bread, in the hearing of the word, the searching of the Scriptures, prayer, or praise, we find any form of approach to him to be the return of peace to our spirits. The God of Peace gives perfect peace to those whose hearts are stayed upon him. – Charles Spurgeon

Renew – An instance of resuming an activity or state after an interruption.

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~Renewal of the Spirit

Isaiah 40:31

”  but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.”

~Renewal of the Mind

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your
mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and
acceptable and perfect.” –Romans 12:2

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Without rest, how can one be renewed?

Rest – “Cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength.”

“In your rest I find the peace that I need, the hope of You that encourages me.”

Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Rest is a good thing. With our busy lives getting ever so hectic it grieves my spirit when I hear others around me telling me how busy life for them it is, and because of that they can’t wait for the next time to get drunk. As you all know the Bible clearly states forbidden of any type of alcohol.

Ephesians 5:18 ”  And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
(Ephesians 5:18 ESV)

Check out  – “lose the booze” blog

That is why Christ came so that we can give our heavy burdens to Him. He wants to be so involved in our life. It’s only when and how much you allow Him to be.

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Without being renewed, how can one be restored?

Without having the right state of mind, one cannot be restored. We must have a mind of Christ in able to receive restoration, He is the foundation.

 Restore – Bring back; reinstate.

Psalm 51:12

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.”

When was the last time you had that moment with Christ that changed your life in a way that you never thought possible, the time that you encounter Him in the car, not just at church; but a renewing spirit that is within you everywhere you go.

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Revive in me a longing for your beauty,
Ignite in me a hunger for your name,
Here at your throne, I am made whole.

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You Sustain me

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You sustain me

It is our wisdom, as well as our necessity, to beseech God continually to strengthen that which he has brought in us. We often forget that the Author of our faith must be the Preserver of it also. The lamp which was burning in the temple was never allowed to go out, but it had to be daily replenished with fresh oil; in like manner, our faith can only live by being sustained with the oil of grace, and we can only obtain this from God himself. Let us, then, day by day, go to our Lord for the grace and strength we need. We have a strong argument to plead, for it is his own work of grace which we ask him to strengthen. Only let your faith take hold of his strength. – Charles Spurgeon

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From the instant that we ask Christ to be Lord of our lives we are no longer sustained by our own ability. We rest fully in His Grace, by putting our faith in Him. For Him to be Captain, not the co-captain, the driver, not the passenger. For Him to be in control. He is the source that we need. Whenever you buy a car, the tank will be full, or at least close to it, but when your almost out we know where to go. If you were not to fill the car up obviously you could not go anywhere, like the Christian, trading things of God for the cares of this World. Who’s complacency of not being filled becomes distant from God Overtime without communion with God, our “tank” gets lower and lower until we hit rock bottom.

~ Wisdom is better than strength ~

“Greatness lies not in being strong, but in the right using of strength; and strength is not used rightly when it serves only to carry a man above his fellows for his own solitary glory. He is the greatest whose strength carries up the most hearts by the attraction of his own.”  – Henry Ward Beecher

The sinner who lives on their own strength cannot have victory in the trials that they are in. Like the wise man who was surrounded by a great and mighty army inside the walls of a little city, with his wisdom; delivered the city.

” There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heard.”
(Ecclesiastes 9:14-16 ESV)

Having victory in your life is not done by outsmart the enemy, it is using the wisdom of God through Jesus Christ who has already won the victory. Through Him we will be sustained by His Grace.

“Cast your burden on the Lord,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.” – Psalm 55:22

Are you sustained by God?

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