December 30, 2021

GOOD…BETTER…BEST!

Never let it rest, until the Good is Better, and the Better is the Best!

I’ve spent a lot of my life doing good…being good.  Good is not enough! 

In 1979 I prayed with a sold out conviction that I wanted to be the best me for God that I could be.  I thought it was an admirable desire and that God would be so pleased that He would just zap me into a wonderful person who demonstrated His goodness.  To my amazement, He did quite the opposite.  He began removing everything in my life that wasn’t my best for Him.  I lost just about everything!  It was very painful, but I have never changed my mind. 

It is now 42 years later…there have been many opportunities for me to give God my best.  I thought I had most of the time.  However, several years ago a marvelous movie came out that has been a visual aid in convicting, instructing and demonstrating what it really means to give God your best. In Facing the Giants it was demonstrated that giving your best is when you can give no more!  I realized I had never given God my best…until I could give no more! 

What I have experienced, and was content with, is God having given me His best for me to glorify Him.  He has made me a monument of His amazing Grace.  He has overwhelmed me with His unconditional Love.  He has manifested His Spirit and demonstrated His Presence in my life beyond expression.  He has done more than what I asked…but I am not my best for Him…I am better, but I fall short from having given my all!

Tonight I became convicted about my best in a fresh exasperating way as I recalled who I am as a born again Child of God.  This is what God says I am:

(I Cor. 6:19-20)You are not your own.  You were bought with a price.  You are the temple of God.  You are the dwelling place of The Spirit of God.  (Acts 1:8) I am empowered with His Spirit.  (Rom. 8:37-39) I am more than a conqueror.  (I John 4:4)  Greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world.  (Hebrews 12:1-2) He is with me always and I have no fear; He is my Helper and (Philippians 4:13) I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

The temple building no longer exists because The Spirit of God now dwells in the lives of all who belong to God.  What kind of temple have I built for Him to dwell in?  Have I given Him my best…my very best?  God required the best for the making of the Tabernacle and the Temple.  He supplied everything that was needed.  The place where God dwells is to be holy, set apart for Him…only for Him.  Nothing unclean or with unconfessed sin can enter.

I am stricken with shame as I examine the dwelling place I have given The Spirit of God to dwell in.  It is not the best I can give!  He has supplied me with everything I need to be healthy and physically in shape and I have not given the blessings back to Him by presenting unto Him a purified holy place to live.  He has given me health coaches to teach and instruct me His way.  He has made healthy organic foods available at affordable prices.  He has provided me an excellent treadmill so that I can exercise any time.  He has provided my physical body with continual healing from disease, accidents and food additions.  He warned that if we destroy His body He will destroy us!

I do not begin in fear, but in delight, to give my very best to present to my Heavenly Father and Lord Jesus a body that He will be pleased to dwell in and be glorified.

As I get my body healthy, cleansed and in shape for His Glory, I commit to extending that practice into helping The Body of Christ that I am a part of to get healthy for His Glory also, so that we can do the work He has given us to do until He comes back for us…just as He has said...in His Power and Authority! (Acts 1:8 & Matthew 28:18-20)

Now, I must prepare my mind for action… (I Peter 1:13)

CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART

 

March 13, 2020

 “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.  Circumcision benefits you if you observe the law, but if you are a lawbreaker,  your circumcision has become uncircumcision. So if an uncircumcised man keeps the law’s requirements, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? A man who is physically uncircumcised, but who keeps the law, will judge you who are a lawbreaker in spite of having the letter of the law and circumcision.  For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, and true circumcision is not something visible in the flesh.  On the contrary, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart—by the Spirit, not the letter.  That person’s praise is not from people but from God.”

Romans 2:25-29 CSV

 CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART

 Paul continues his accountability check to the Jews and the effect their behavior has on the faith of the Gentile believer.  He called them hypocrites!

 Now, he makes another clarification about breaking the law and the significance of circumcision.  (For background on when circumcision began with Abraham, read Genesis 17:9-14)  It was more than an identifying mark, it was the response of commitment signifying their faith in God and obeying His commands.

 Now that the gospel of God was available to all peoples and believed and received by many who weren’t Jews; this posed a problem with the Jews who were spiritually proud of their special physical identity.  Paul beautifully redefines the meaning of circumcision to be inwardly of the heart and the evidence of the Spirit of God which brings God praise & pleasure!

 It can be compared to baptism which is the outward display of the commitment of the heart to God, and signifying dying to the old life and being raised to walk in a new life with God.

The evidence is in the changed life that lives in Christ.

Baptism without change is just getting all wet without removing the dirt!

 To some it is an act of identification, but with no inward change.  I think that qualifies as hypocrisy…maybe we need to read this word of Paul again and examine ourselves! 

Thursday, February 4, 2021 ~ Deuteronomy 30

     I know that this was given to the nation of Israel, but the principles of God are always the same for those who claim His Name and choose to love Him and live as His People.

Therefore, when I read this it spoke loudly to me about my Love relationship with God and my children, and the blessings for life. 

     Verse 6 especially spoke intimately to me about how much God wants our Love.  He says:  IF we return (or turn) to Him and obey (keep) His Voice (commands, statutes, Book of the Law)…then, He Promises to circumcise (remove the skin covering of our hearts) so that we will have hearts that will Love Him with ALL our lives…and live (abundantly now, and forever!)

     I prayerfully share this with you, my sons (children) to embrace with me keeping the Words of The Lord by His Spirit empowering us; so that we can delight Him and receive His Blessings!  Love you Now and Forever! ~MOM

     Read noting my emphasis and the “so that’s” and God’s actions.                                    Repentance and Forgiveness ~ Circumcision of the Heart

30 “And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, ² and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey His voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, ³ then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and He will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. ⁴ If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will take you. ⁵ And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. ⁶ And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. ⁷ And the Lord your God will put all these curses on your foes and enemies who persecuted you. ⁸ And you shall again obey the voice of the Lord and keep all His commandments that I command you today. ⁹ The Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as He took delight in your fathers, ¹⁰ when you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

The Choice of Life and Death

¹¹ “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. ¹² It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ ¹³ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ ¹⁴ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.

¹⁵ “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. ¹⁶ If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God^[a] that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in His ways, and by keeping His commandments and His statutes and His rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. ¹⁷ But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, ¹⁸ I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. ¹⁹ I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, ²⁰ loving the Lord your God, obeying His voice and holding fast to Him, for He is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

 

 

 

 

 

GOD SAYS: "IF MY PEOPLE WILL..."

 

January 27, 2021

THIS IS A BIT LENGTHY, BUT PLEASE KNOW IT COMES FROM MY HEART; AS WELL AS THE LORD~PLEASE READ ALL OF IT...

My Dear Family & Friends~

I am pleading with you as Christians and The Family of God to unite together and pray such as we've never done before.  I am extremely burdened for our Nation; we are in a crucial time such as never before and WE must act NOW!

2 Corinthians 6:2 ~ "For He saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I helped thee; behold now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."

This Nation is built on a relationship with God, established by those who sought to have a country where everyone could be free to worship God; and they built our foundation on God and His Word.  We, His People have let Him down because we have NOT protected that foundation and stood for HIM!  IT IS NOW TIME TO REPENT AND TAKE A STAND IN PRAYER… IF WE EVER ARE GOING TO!

I have committed personally to praying and fasting for 40 days with the concentration on my personal relationship to our Lord Jesus; and then I have committed to praying for 1 hour every day for our Nation, and especially for God's People to hear and exercise 2 Chronicles 7:14 because this Nation and it's future is determined by US! 

I am praying for those who are presently leading our Nation in every aspect of it from the President to the smallest official in the smallest town to hear The Word of God and see their need for Him personally and then to exercise putting His Word back into the working of this Nation; to getting back to honoring the documents this Nation was founded on.  I am praying that God will make His Word declared from every media nationally, that someone in the political arena will rise up and take a stand for God, and that truth will be revealed and proclaimed from all media as it exposes all wicked and evil to be brought to justice.

I can pray boldly because God said I could:  Hebrews 4:16 ~ "Let us therefore come boldly into the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."

If we were ever in NEED, it is NOW!  We must PRAY to receive mercy and grace.  Remember what this is?  MERCY ~ not receiving what we do deserve.  GRACE ~ receiving what we don't deserve.  GOD PROMISES...AND HE ALWAYS KEEPS HIS PROMISES!

There is a suggestion to put a RED DOT on places to look at often - like your watch, cellphone, computer, microwave, car mirror, and every time you see it, to PRAY for our Nation.  This is how I pray:  That our Heavenly Father would speak to ALL our political leaders and tell them again that He loves them and wants them to turn to Him. 

Imagine if all 300 million Christians (I think that's the right number) prayed that prayer to God once every hour how many times ALL those people will either have to say 'YES' to God or "NO".  How many times do you think they could keep saying "NO"?  300 million?

Another promise that I can pray this way is:  Jeremiah 33:3 (If you've ever called my house you know that I believe in this Word!)  "Call upon Me, and I WILL answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you know not."  

AND, the others are:  Luke 19:10 ~ "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."  I Timothy 2:  1-6  "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for ALL men; for kings, and for ALL THAT ARE IN AUTHORITY...for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have ALL men to be saved, and to come into the knowledge of the truth.  For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave Himself a ransom for ALL, to be testified in due time."  (emphasis is mine.) 

GOD BLESS US ALL AND MAY WE BE FOUND FAITHFUL SO THAT WE CAN REJOICE WHEN WE SEE GOD'S PEOPLE RETURN TO HIM...~Betty aka MOM/NANA 

"You are My witnesses, declares the Lord, that I am God." Isaiah 43:12