Monday, August 22, 2016

SOMETHING TO CHEW ON!

THUS SAYETH THE LORD

 Genesis 1:29-30 ~ And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.   And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 

Genesis 9:3-4 ~ “Every moving thing that lives shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things, but flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall you not eat.”

Deuteronomy 8:3b (Luke 4:4) ~ “It is written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word from the mouth of  God.”

Deuteronomy 8:7-10 NIV ~ “For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land - a land with streams and pools of water...a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing...when you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land He has given you."

Deuteronomy 12:14-16 ~ “…offer your burnt offerings…however, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates, whatever you desire, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle and the deer.  Only you shall not eat the blood; you are to pour it out on the ground like water.”

I Corinthians 6:19-20 ~ Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your body.”

I Timothy 4:4 ~ “For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.”


I Corinthians 10:31 ~ “Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

COME...TO ME!

August 20
COME…TO ME!
I ended my devotional yesterday with the following words from Jesus extending the invitation to
“Come unto Me…” and receive rest from weariness (trying to do things without Him.) Matthew 11:28-30

“Present your bodies a living sacrifice, 
holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable act of worship. 
Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind
that you may prove what is that good, acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Romans 12:1-2

This invitation from Jesus implies coming to Him would provide a life of Christ-consciousness; a life transformed by the conscious act of renewing of your mind; a holy life consumed in Him; a life of peace, contentment, love and joy.  Christ-consciousness will take the place of self-consciousness!

This is Jesus’ full invitation: 
“Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.
 Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me;
for I am meek and lowly in heart;
and you shall find rest unto your souls.
For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”

I see and hear an offer that is so hard to believe, but so very intriguing; it sounds like a beautiful fantasy that one only dreams of…and yet it is so inviting.  I see and feel Love in its most engaging way, as if Jesus is saying “come and have an affair of the heart with me that will be the most fulfilling and permanent relationship you will ever have!”  It is becoming so “yoked” that I am unconscious of anything but the ecstasy of Love.  This yoke is like being joined in an embrace ~ a Hug!  TRUE LOVE is always unselfish and unconditional and can ONLY come from GOD.  God’s conditions seem hard, but the benefits are everything one ever dreamed of and the perfection of happy ever after.  So why don’t we accept this invitation?  Because we don’t believe it!

Hear it again…”Come unto Me and get lost in My World, My Life, and no longer be conscious of yourself apart from Me.” ~JESUS

This is beautifully described in Matthew 25:31-46 when the righteous shall say at the judgment:  “Whendid we see You as a stranger and took You in?  When did we see You naked and clothed You?  When did we see You sick or in prison and came to You?  And the King shall say:  When you did it unto one of the least of these My brethren, you did it unto Me…Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

(John 15)  After coming to Jesus; abiding in Him and Him in me; we will do EVERYTHING with Him and unto Him because we ARE His Body filled with His Holy Spirit!  WOW and AMEN…Believe it!

“A new commandment I give unto you,
that you love one another;
as I have loved you,
that you also love one another. 
By this shall all men know that you are My disciples,
if you have love one to another.”


John 13:34-35

Friday, August 19, 2016

THE BENEFITS OF GIVING ALL!

The past couple of days my Daily Delight time in The Word has been in Luke 18:18-30 about the rich young ruler who asked Jesus what he must do to go to heaven.   He thought being good enough would get him to Heaven; but Jesus said giving up everything that he was rich in and then following Him was the way.  The rich young self-righteous ruler left sadly because he was very rich. 

My interpretation:  The young ruler loved his riches more than he wanted to go to Heaven.  This man believed in Jesus and he obeyed the commandments Jesus quoted.  But Jesus didn’t mention the first four that begins with:  “You shall have no other gods before Me.  You shall not worship any graven images.  You shall not take the name of The Lord your God in vain.  Set apart the Sabbath unto The Lord.”  These told where the man’s heart really was.  (10 Commandments are in Exodus 20 & Deuteronomy 5)

Deuteronomy 6, Matthew 22 & Mark 12 gives us what is known as The Great Commandment.  This has always been God’s requirement:  “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.”  And the second like unto it (because it can’t be down without the first one)  “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Observation:  Jesus requires giving up and leaving EVERYTHING before “coming and following Him!”  When one Loves God with ALL, it is easy to give ALL!  Loving God and giving Him ALL brings His Promises that provide health, wealth, life, protection…but the Greatest is; Himself - His very own Holy Spirit to live and provide ALL the Believer needs to be a Child of God Forever! WOW ~ That’s having EVERYTHING!

Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus says to “Come unto Me…” and receive rest from weariness (trying to do things without Him)

“Present your bodies a living sacrifice, 
holy acceptable unto God 
which is your reasonable act of worship.  
Do not be conformed to the world, 
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind 
that you may prove what is that good, acceptable 
and perfect will of God.”

Romans 12:1-2