Friday, January 10, 2014

BECAUSE



Because You Did Your Part?

Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place,  No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; For He shall give His angels charge over you,  To keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.  He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble;  I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation." Psalm 91:9-16

God has promised great and wonderful things for those who have made the Lord, even the Most High, their dwelling place. God makes such as these mighty warriors.  He places within them His strength and His authority that they might overcome all things and be more than conquerors. He sets them on high places and gives them complete victory. In God’s eyes they are already overcomers and He has already given them the victory.  All they have to do is to see it with the eyes of faith and take the victory because Jesus Christ has already defeated their enemy on Calvary. He has Baptized them with His own Holy Spirit and has given them power including power and authority over the enemy. Their power is so much greater than the power of the devil for greater is He that is in them than he that is in the world. God’s word is unchanging:

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Ephesians 6:10-11

They are to fight not in their own strength or in their own power, but in power of God’s might. And God is mighty and through the Spirit that He has place within them He is able to make them mighty and to strengthen them. As they listen to His voice and see what He sees He will lead and guide them to victory. He will pour out His presence and His strength and His authority and wisdom and His love into them. He will enable them to do great and mighty feats not only in battle, but for the people around them. He is after all the God of all power, the God of Breakthrough, the God of miracles and that God of victory. His word is unchanging:

Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, The power and the glory, The victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, And You are exalted as head over all.  Both riches and honor come from You, And You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; In Your hand it is to make great  And to give strength to all. 1 Chronicles 29:11-12

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.  "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. John 14:12-14

"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." John 14:12

Knowledge without action has no value. They must by faith tap into this knowledge that all that God has and is belongs to them and that His plans for them are good not evil. And what God has promised He will do for those who believe and trust in His name. As a result His trusting ones will do the works that Jesus did and great works than these as they love Him and obey Him with a willing heart.  He will bless them and bring prosperity to them and make a way before them as He has promised to do. His word is true:

"Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, You who seek the LORD:  Look to the rock from which you were hewn, And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father, And to Sarah who bore you; For I called him alone, And blessed him and increased him."  For the LORD will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the LORD; Joy and gladness will be found in it, Thanksgiving and the voice of melody. Isaiah 51:1-3

"For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up," Says the LORD of hosts,  "That will leave them neither root nor branch. But to you who fear My name  The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings;  And you shall go out  And grow fat like stall-fed calves. You shall trample the wicked, For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet On the day that I do this,"  Says the LORD of hosts. Malachi 4:1-3

Yes, God will bless and increase them. He will comfort all their waste places. He will release health and healing over them.  He will make their wilderness like Eden, and their desert like the garden of the LORD; Joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of melody. For those  who fear His  name  the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings;  and they  shall go out  and grow fat like stall-fed calves. They shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of their feet. God’s word is true:

Your sandals shall be iron and bronze; As your days, so shall your strength be. "There is no one like the God of Jeshurun,  Who rides the heavens to help you, And in His excellency on the clouds.  The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, And will say, 'Destroy!' Then Israel shall dwell in safety, The fountain of Jacob alone, In a land of grain and new wine; His heavens shall also drop dew.  Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, The shield of your help And the sword of your majesty! Your enemies shall submit to you, And you shall tread down their high places." Deuteronomy 33:25-29

 "Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. "From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. "No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. "Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. "Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." Johsua 1:3-9

"Therefore the LORD God of Israel says: 'I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.' But now the LORD says: 'Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. 1 Samuel 2:30

Those who choose to obey God and His word and honor Him in all they do, He will honor them and give them the gifts of abundant life and peace and joy and contentment.  He will cause them  to grow strong and mature, and will place a greater measure of His anointing on their  life.  And when the enemy comes in, like a flood the Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him (Isaiah 59:19) For God is a God of promise who keeps all His promises and performs His word for those who do their part including trust God and taking Him at His word.  They need to trust Him with all their heart and believe the promises that He gives them for then they will be success and prosperous.  His word is unchanging:

Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, Who delights greatly in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches will be in his house, And his righteousness endures forever.  Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness; He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. Psalm 112:1-4

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;  In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.  Do not be wise in your own eyes;  Fear the LORD and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh,  And strength to your bones. Honor the LORD with your possessions,  And with the firstfruits of all your increase; So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.  My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor detest His correction;  For whom the LORD loves He corrects,  Just as a father the son in whom he delights. Proverbs 3:3-12

The Lord’s chastening comes to all of God’s true children to purify them, to refine away the impurities from their life and to remove the pollution of their carnal nature, where God purge away the lusts of the flesh and the sinful attitudes and thinking patterns that so easily beset them. In the fires of tribulation by His Spirit God builds and forms His character and His nature within them as they look only to Him and walk by faith, not by sight. God’s word is unchanging:

Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.   Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.  Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;  lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright.  For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears. Hebrews 12:11-17

God takes all of His servants through His refining process to cause them to grow and mature.  He teaches them in the storms and troubles of life to walk by faith and not by sight and to look only to Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of their faith. Even the very hairs of their head are numbered and it’s their Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom- all of it.  God’s word is unchanging:

"Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  "If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?  "And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind.  "For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. "But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.  "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Luke 12:27-32

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,  whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith-the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:6-9

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,  casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.  But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 5:6-11

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