2 Samuel 7

8 “Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. 9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth. 10 And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning 11 and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies.

“‘The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you: 12 When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. 15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’”

Isaiah 43

But now O Israel, the Lord who created you says "Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name and you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I gave Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba as a ransom for your freedom. Others died that you might live. I traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you.
Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will gather you and your children from east and west and north and south. I will bring my sons and daughters back to Israel from the distant corners of the earth. All who claim me as their God will come, for I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them."
"But you are my witnesses, O Israel!" says the Lord. "And you are my servant. You have been chosen to know me, believe in me, and understand that I alone am God. There is no other God; there never has been and never will be. I am the Lord, and there is no other Savior. First I predicted your deliverance; I declared what I would do, and then I did it--I saved you. No foreign god has ever done this before. You are witnesses that I am the only God," says the Lord. "From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can oppose what I do. No one can reverse my actions."

endurance...

Romans 15: 4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. 5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

I was looking for the scripture.. the race is not given to the swift or the proud but to the one that endures to the end... but I couldn't find it... (annoying..)

today... I feel like the things I see in my Spirit cannot be right... they cannot be what God is saying... I am too old.. I am not pretty enough.. I am not the right skin color... I am not the right personality.. I am too loud... I do not come across right to people...

and as I am feeling this... I hear that scripture in my head.. the race is not given to the swift or the proud but to the one that endures to the end... see.. me and God don't always see everything eye to eye... I don't always agree with the way He wants to do things... this waiting is ridiculous to me.. even though I have seen great change in me during the time I have been waiting... changes that NEEDED to occur... I seem to be an action person... it seems I am the type of person that thinks everything is right now... that is one of the reasons it is hard to have the gift of seeing things others cannot.. I always think it is right now... then sometimes I don't seem like I was right... (I wasn't right or wrong to begin with as visions come from God alone...)

so I think in my head... "look God.. you know I am not turning from my faith.. I am not going anywhere.. I can still be who I am... but why can't I just forget this vision you gave... and if you want it to happen then go ahead and make it happen without me doing anything or waiting on it..." and I see Abraham and Sarah... old as dirt... waiting on a child... and I am sure they had days that they felt they must have heard wrong... yet they obviously kept waiting.. as Isaac really did come to pass... or Noah.. who had never even seen rain fall.. yet continued to build that huge boat.. despite the people ridiculing him... and then eventually the rain fell.. and the boat was all that saved his family...

I don't know that I am the person God thinks I am... I don't know that I have the amount of endurance it takes to continue to believe in the future God has shown me... but I know that today is not the day that I will quit.. so maybe if everyday.. I give just one more day... then maybe I will make it to the end...

unnecessary words...

1 Peter 2: 1 So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. 11 Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. 12 Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world. 1 Peter 3: 10 For the Scriptures say,“If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. 11 Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it. 12 The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil.”

recently... someone came and told me something about some other people.. that had nothing to do with me... and I thought in my mind... sheesh... I do not need to hear these things... when I hear things.. even if they are untrue.. then it plants a seed of wondering... and soon you are pretty sure that this is going on... even if it never really was...

I realized recently that I rarely hear anything about anyone anymore.. I think is because I have said that it's none of my business and I don't care to know what people think might be going on with someone else..

the scriptures talk to us repeatedly about gossip and malice and deceit... yet as the body of Christ we continue to do it... and what possible good is it causing? can we change anything? or are we just out here talking and spreading it? if we reap what we sow... and all we sow is lies and dischord.. then what do we expect to reap?

Father in the precious name of Jesus.. I pray for unity and peace in the body of Christ... I pray that anyone who is sowing dischord will be convicted of it.. and they will repent and turn from this sin.. I pray that we will all be encouragers.. lifting one another.. and no longer be liars and backstabbers and gossips... amen.amen.amen.

Joseph accepts Jesus and Mary as his own...

18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

I do not imagine it was easy for Joseph to believe Mary had not cheated on him and slept with another man... this is the only recorded birth EVER without the aid of a man... so can you imagine the amount of faith it took to take her home and marry her despite his confusion and doubt.. even disbelief...

and yes... an angel appeared to him in a dream.. and told him that she was telling the truth... even so... I would have been hard pressed to believe the dream if it were me...

we have all had supernatural experiences with God or angels.. and we believe His words for a short time then become doubtful again... but Joseph got up despite his doubt and married her... and took her home.. and became a father to a son that was not his...

this is a true man of God... a man truly led by the Spirit of the Living God... he was willing to withstand the words of the community and the families... all the ridicule and humiliation... and trust in what God has said to him... he is surely a credit to men everywhere... a shining example of a godly man...

psalms 20

In times of trouble, may the Lord respond to your cry. May the God of Israel keep you safe from all harm. May He send you help from His sanctuary and strengthen you from Jeruselum. May He remember all your gifts and look favorably on your burnt offerings.

May He grant your heart's desire and fulfill all your plans. May we shout for joy when we hear of your victory, flying banners to our God. May the Lord answer all your prayers.

Now I know that the Lord saves His annointed king. He will answer him from His holy heaven and rescue him by His great power. Some nations boast of their armies and their weapons, but we boast in the Lord our God. Those nations will fall down and collapse but we will rise up and stand firm.

Give victory to my king O Lord! Respond to our cry for help.

Jesus wept...

this is the shortest verse in the bible.. anyone can remember it.. anytime someone wants you to quote scripture this is the first verse that comes to mind... but today... I was reading the scripture John 10-11.. and it talks about how people would see things and believe because of the miracles.. then shortly after they would be doubtful again...

so Jesus goes to see Lazarus after he is dead... and Martha is crying and that is when Jesus cried...

I don't think Jesus cried because he was sad about Lazarus.. he knew he was going to raise him back up... I think he was crying because of the unbelief of even those closest to him...

and look at us... how often do we grieve the Lord by our unbelief? we believe for a minute... right after something happens or we get a word.. then the world starts to close in and things don't look like we think they should.. and we doubt again...

I think we often cause the Lord to cry about our unbelief...

Father... I don't want to make you angry or to make you sad about my unbelief... strengthen my faith Lord so that I can be strong and trust you at ALL TIMES... in Jesus name... amen.amen.amen.

meditation...

the bible tells us to meditate on the word of God.. now I know scripture pretty well.. can quote or find most anything... if you give me a subject.. I can surely find some relevant scripture to give you... in a very short period of time...

but...

today.. a co-worker and I were talking and she was saying something about someone having financial struggles and their electric being turned off... now in the past.. everything I had on in my house was powered by electric.. so that would be unbearable... but now I am in a house... so I have gas and electric... and I sat here thinking about what all was ran by electric and how detrimental it would be to me... ends up that the refridgerator runs on electric... but also the blower that blows the gas heat is electric... so it would actually be a very big deal to me...

as I thought about all this... mulling it over in my mind... the Spirit says to me.. can you imagine if you would think this much about a scripture each day... how much more you would be able to receive from what you read if you just sat and thought about what it said or what it represents.. instead of reading it and being done thinking about it...

sheesh!! talk about a slap on the side of the head! that is SO the truth... I think I will do that daily... going through proverbs or psalms... just take a few verses and write them in the morning and think all day off and on about what they mean what God is telling me... this could be life changing I am thinking...

Ephesians 4: 23-32

Ephesians 4:23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. 25 So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. 26 And “don’t sin by letting anger control you. Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil. 28 If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need. 29 Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. 30 And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.
31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

you notice how when we judge people or talk about them... we talk about their actions.. the things they are doing that are wrong in our eyes.. yet which one of us has pure actions at all times.... but the scripture is talking about the inner man.. the heart... the things that we don't necessarily do out loud.. instead they are in our hearts and our minds and our thoughts... that is what defiles us moreso than actions... if we could clean up our minds... we would come a long way in showing love to the world and looking more like God... looking less like us...

change our hearts o Lord... give us a clean heart... purify us... circumcise our hearts so that we are able to stand before you... change us from the inside Father... the things that no one else is able to see... the things that are grieving you...

Psalms 56

10 I praise God for what he has promised;
Yes, I praise the Lord for what he has promised.
11 I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?
What can mere mortals do to me?

12 I will fulfill my vows to you, O God,
and will offer a sacrifice of thanks for your help.
13 For you have rescued me from death;
you have kept my feet from slipping.
So now I can walk in your presence, O God,
in your life-giving light.