We are to clothe our human bodies with the likeness of Christ…so that when people look, it’s not us they see, but Him. And while it’s important to look like Jesus, we’re to behave like Him also…having a Christ-like moral and spiritual character within.
Joshua 10:12 ” On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel: ‘ O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.’ “
At Joshua’s request, God caused the sun to stand still mid-day for almost a full day so that the Israelite army could be victorious over the Amorites. There are only two times recorded in the Old Testament where God actually interrupted time. In Isaiah 38:7-8, God gave Hezekiah a sign that he would recover from his illness by making the sun’s movement reverse. If the Lord has the power to make time stand still, or even go backwards…don’t you think He has the power to do the thing you’ve been praying for?
Hebrews 12:15 ” See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”
Everyone has been around a bitter person. You can pick them out pretty quickly…Their personality is sharp, harsh, resentful, and poisons everything and everyone around. If you are able to delve into their past, you’ll find some hurt that has festered and grown into this bitterness. All of us have past hurts…but it’s what we do with those hurts that determine how we move forward in life…will we be bitter or better?
Ezekiel 34:11 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I Myself will search for My sheep and look after them.”
We humans tend to stray…mentally, morally, and spiritually from God. The shepherd David lamented in Psalm 119:176, “I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commands.” In all our wanderings, the Lord is ever-present… searching us out, always ready and willing to care for us.
Jeremiah 31: 5 ” The farmers will plant them and enjoy their fruit.”
I bought at least three rhubarb starts over the nine years we’ve lived here…all of which were bought at well-known Home and Garden stores locally. They all started out looking great, only to die during the harsh Idaho Winters. I had all but given up on fresh rhubarb pie, when a friend offered to give me a start from the huge plant in his garden. His 90-year-old mother couldn’t tell me just how old this rhubarb plant was, it had been there in the garden forever. How that start took off and grew!… and now a few years later, it’s firmly established in my garden. That old rhubarb plant reminded me of the settlers that traveled over dangerous, unknown territory to make the wiles of Idaho their home…To survive, they too had to acclimate to the harsh climate, and unforgiving winds. But like that old rhubarb plant they not only thrived, but flourished.
Matthew 11:29 ” Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me.”
A yoke joins two oxen together to pull, or work as a team. Both animals are united in one cause, and pull as a unit. This yoke Jesus wants us to shoulder is not burdensome…because He’ll be shouldering the other side with us, and as a team we’ll forge ahead. And as we move forward together, we begin to know who this Jesus really is, and in knowing Him, we accept His teachings and learn to abide by them.
Ecclesiastes 9:10 ” Whatever your hand finds to do – do it with all your might.”
We somehow have the audacity to think we can decide where, when, and how God can use us. What the Lord only desires, is wholehearted devotion in whatever He gives us to do…wherever that may be. We tend to see ourselves doing only great and mighty things for the Lord…while on the other hand, He may see us cleaning toilets and serving meals. Whether great or small the task, do it unto the Lord.
Proverbs 30: 5,6 ” Every word of God is flawless…Do not add to His words.”
The Lord’s creative revelation to us…the Bible…is perfect and pure, refined and purified like silver.(Psalm 12:6) We should never get stuck on one verse looking for error, but rather look at His divinely inspired Word in its entirety, in total context.
Revelations 11:15 ” The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign for ever and ever.”
Great countries rise and fall…mighty world powers come and go…but some day soon the Anointed One, Jesus Christ, will return and have total predominance over the universe. His kingdom will be firmly established… His power and authority never to be questioned…His dominion to endure through all generations. (Psalm 145:13)
Psalm 71:20 “Though You have made me see troubles, many and bitter, You will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth You will again bring me up.”
You’ve seen them around you…maybe you’ve even been one – the walking dead. Alive and breathing, but all but dead inside. When profound sadness and loss come to live within, we feel like we’ve been buried in the ground with no rescue in sight. But there is hope, there is restoration for us, if we look to the Lord. He will re-establish and strengthen us and bring us up from the grave of desolation and grief…to live again.
Safetypinlove 