The Rolling Thunder

Today I was woken by the wonderful sound of thunder and rain....there's something about storms that intrigues me, and we sure have needed this rain here in Florida!

It brings to mind the song, "How Great Thou Art" , where it says: "I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, thou power throughout the universe displayed. Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee, How great thou art, How great thou art. Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee, How great thou art........How GREAT thou art".

With that said, I found a passage in Psalms where David speaks of this very thing - the power of our Lord, and how the He reveals himself to us through nature.

Psalm 29

"Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.

The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox.

The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning.

The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord twists the oaks, and strips the forest bare.

And in his temple all cry, "Glory!"

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as a King forever.

The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace".

May you be blessed this Sunday.....

Janelle

Sound the Trumpet

If anyone were to pick up the Bible and read the portions of the Old Testament, where there are many passages speaking of war and destruction, especially aimed at those who were God's children, they might form the wrong idea of who God is, and why He allowed these things to happen.
As with all scripture, we must ask the Lord to shed the light of the Holy Spirit on it, and let Him reveal truth to us, and give us understanding of His Word, so that we might learn from it, and be able to effectively witness to others, the grace and mercy of our Lord.
Jeremiah 6 is sub-titled in my Bible as "Certainty of Judgement". The Lord continues to give us details of what is to become of Judah and Jerusalem, because of their continual sin and turning away from God.
6: 1 - 5: "Flee for safety, people of Benjamin! Flee from Jerusalem! Sound the trumpet in Tekoa! Raise the signal over Beth Hakkerem! For disaster looms out of the north, even terrible destruction. I will destroy the Daughter of Zion, so beautiful and delicate. Shepherds with their flocks will come against her; they will pitch their tents around her, each tending his own portion. Prepare for battle against her! Arise, let us attack at noon! But, alas, the daylight is fading, and the shadows of evening grow long. So arise, let us attack at night and destroy her fortresses!"
The call then to flee for safety and to sound the trumpet, is the same call we receive from the Lord today. For our safety, we need to run to the Lord Jesus, and for us to sound the trumpet, is a word to us to make known the salvation of the Lord to all around, for there is no other name under heaven that can give us the peace and safety from the attack of the enemy.
The shepherds referred to in this passage is a reference to the armies of Babylon, who were being sent to battle against "The Daughter of Zion" - God's people. Yes, God allowed this, just as he allows things to happen today, many things we don't understand. His sole purpose is to get our attention and show us that He alone is all powerful, and He alone is the only true source of Hope. It's sad that sometimes it takes tragedy in ones' life to bring them to their knees in search of answers and hope.
The passage today that really jumped out at me was where it says, "But, alas, the daylight is fading, and the shadows of evening grow long. So arise, let us attack at night and destroy her fortresses". It seems to me that the enemy tends to attack us when we are the most vulnerable and the least expectant.
We live in the greatest and most powerful nation in the world, but I think we have allowed ourselves to become stagnant and vulnerable. We have those who think that we are inpenetratable, and as we saw on 9/11/01, we were attacked without warning, by those who are out to destroy our country.
It's our responsibility as Christians, to "sound the trumpet", and always be aware of the events around us, so we can prepare ourselves for the spiritual battles we face as individuals, and also as a country.
I close with a passage from I Peter 5: 6 - 11. "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of ALL grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen."
Have a blessed Thursday!
Janelle

Preparing to Do God's Will

Back to the 1st chapter of Jeremiah - verses 11 - 16, God is telling Jeremiah of the coming invasion of Babylon into Judah.
Verses 17 - 19 tells how God spoke to Jeremiah to prepare himself for this battle.
"Get yourself ready. Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified of them, or I will terrify you before them. Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land - against the kings of Judah, its priests and its officials, and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you for I am with you and will resue you", declares the Lord."
These verses can be applied to our every day life, and in particularly I see them as vital to the believers who are in America and facing all kinds of problems with our economy, with our leaders who are adamant about passing and upholding laws that are morally wrong, etc.
We are to do as Jeremiah did, and take a stand against the sins of our nation. We have the power to voice our opinions in casting our votes at the election polls; we have the ability to write our men and women in Congress and let them know how we stand on the issues. If we continue to sit back and say or do nothing, then we can expect for the things of God to continue to be slowly erased from our country's moral code as the founding Fathers penned.
These verses can also be applied to one's personal battles, whether they are emotional, spiritual, or physical, as in sickness and such. God wants to be a part of our lives, and go to battle for us and with us when we face the trials of life. Here he is telling us specifically how to go into those battles. The Bible isn't just a book of stories of long ago - it's our handbook for life - our guide to daily living and is full of God's practical ways of dealing with things. An open heart to hear His word is all that's needed to see and put to practice what He's directing us in.
"Get yourself ready" = Put on the Armor of God - Ephesians 6
"stand up" = the original Hebrew means - to declare
"terrified" = the original Hebrew means - confused, fearful, beaten down, discouraged, scared
"fortified" = the original Hebrew means - the most strong, inaccessible
"kings of Judah" - refers to Molech - a false god that was worshipped, and children were sacrificed to him.
"officials" = the original Hebrew means - head person, those who were put into rank, masters
"overcome" - the original Hebrew means - have power or prevail
Lets re-read that with the original words put in:
"Put on the Armor of God and delcare to them whatever I command you. Do not be confused or fearful, beaten down, discouraged or scared of them, or I will terrify you before them. Today I have made you the most strong and inaccessible to stand against those who have rank and power. They will fight against you, but the will not have power or prevail over you, for I am with you and will rescue you, declares the Lord.
We are in a spiritual battle - we each have our own personal battles, and we have them as a whole in our country. We as believers have the power of the Holy Spirit of God, and are to draw on HIS strength, power and His Word to go into these battles, because if we try to do it on our own strength, we will be overcome and defeated.
What is the stronghold in your life today? Is it an addiction, financial hardships, sickness, relationships that are in upheaval.....whatEVER it is, the Lord is showing you how He will prepare you and be with you as you take a stand against these things that are trying to invade and destroy your life.
I pray that the peace of God, that the power of the Holy Spirit, will be made manifest in your life today, and throughout this week.

Janelle

The Cure

Yesterday I wrote about the causes and consequences of Worldliness, and today I'll cover James 4: 7 - 10 that speaks about the cure.

"Submit yourselves then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up".

First things first - we are to submit ourselves to God. Until we do that, we don't have the power of his Holy Spirit to take on the second step - resisting the devil. He will knock you back down every time unless you fight him with God's power. Remember, "greater is He that is within you, than he who is in the world". Satan is NOT to be feared - he wants us all to believe that, but that's a lie, which Jesus said Satan is the father of. Once a soul is saved; bought by the blood of Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to live in that soul, and all the power of God is available; it's up to each person to draw from that power.

The next thing we are to do is to wash our hands - in other words - repent, and turn away from the world and it's standards. Grieve and mourn for those caught up in its system and its ways.

Lastly, we are to humble ourselves before God. I have a wonderful memory involving that verse. It was made into a song in the 1980's, and here's how it played out - a memory and a lesson from God I'll never forget.

When my kids were little, we were living in a nice neighborhood, in a home we'd built just a few years prior to this one Sunday afternoon. We put them in their car seats, and decided we were going to go look at some new homes in one of the upscale neighborhoods - you know, the kind of place where everyone wants that to be their address. Well Dude was always a good sleeper, and just about as soon as we'd start off on a drive, he'd fall asleep and stay asleep until we would get back home and take him out of the car.

As we were driving through this neighborhood called "Heathrow", which is up on the north end of Orlando, we were "ooohing and aaahhing" over some really nice houses and were talking about how we could really see ourselves living there, blah blah blah..... There was no need for us to be looking at any other houses or neighborhoods; the one we were in was new, it was nice, and the kids had a lot of friends there.

As we were leaving Heathrow, Dude, who had been sound asleep, popped up, and out of that little 3 year old's mouth came the song from that last verse of today's passage. "Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord"...then he was back sound to sleep immediately! Well - we looked at each other and we knew that the Lord had just shown us how we were letting pride and the desires of the world take priority in our lives. It was an eye opening experience for sure!

We headed back home, sorrowful for letting "things" get hold of us, but also thankful that God would use our sleeping toddler to show us our sin. If it had've been someone we knew telling us that we were being prideful, we probably would've brushed them off and thought they were just jealous, but it was the innocence of a child, and that child using God's word in song, that was the tool of showing us our sin so we could repent.

Today, let us all humble ourselves before God, and to put our priorities in order. There's an acronym that shows us just how to do that - JOY - Jesus, Others, You.

Blessings,
Janelle

Knowing Christ

Today I'm back in the book of Philippians, chapter 3: 8, 10.
"What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ". "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death".
If I were to lose everything else in this world, I am so grateful and thankful that I know Jesus, and that I have a relationship with him, and that he will see me through all things.
Knowing him is so different than knowing about him. People seem to get these two things confused.
Those who study Buddhism or Islam pray to dead men. Sure, they have their books that tell them all about them and the doctrines of those faiths, but unlike them, we have a living Savior that we can not only read about, but we can, in our reading, get to know him personally. Jesus did die, but unlike the others I mentioned, he was resurrected and is seated at the right hand of God.
It is the power of that resurrected Savior that makes available to us a relationship with the Lord. He passed from death to life, and offers us the same. We are dead in our sins until we choose to take the Lord at his word and receive him into our hearts. Once we have given him control of our lives, he gives us that same power - the power of his Holy Spirit, to live a new life, knowing that when we die, we will enter the gates of Heaven and live with Him.
I pray that today, if you don't know Jesus, you will search your heart and ask him to reveal himself to you - to change you and start a loving relationship with you. He says that those who seek him with their whole hearts, will find him.

May God's richest blessings be yours today...

Janelle

The Majesty of Jesus

Today I'm beginning to read and study the book of Hebrews, found in the NT.
I'll cover verses 1 - 3 which say, " In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in Heaven".
The forefathers it refers to here were the prophets and others we are all familiar with from the Old Testament - Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah....they all knew God and spoke with him, but God's Holy Spirit was not "in" them as he can be with us today. It wasn't until after Jesus came, died, and was resurrected and once again went to heaven glorified that the gift of the Holy Spirit was given to all who will receive Him.
Once we come to believe and trust in Jesus as Lord; believing what those three verses above state about who he is, we then are given the gift of having his Holy Spirit dwell in our hearts, and we can now have the same power in our lives as Jesus did when he lived here as a man.
It says in Hebrews that he is the radiance of God's glory - the exact representation of God's being. Jesus was and is God in the flesh, contrary to many's opinions. He was more than a good man, a prophet, a Nazarene carpenter - he was created by the Holy Spirit, and God's own nature was put into him from the time of his conception. He was God coming to us in human form (John chapter 1).
He had to face the same things everyone else faces on earth, but it was the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him that kept him as one to the Father. He says in John 17 that his desire for us is to have that same oneness. It also states that it was through Jesus that God the Father made the universe.
Think about it - the God of all the universe WANTS to know you, to give you a life that has meaning, full of joy no matter what situation life takes you through. His desire is to have a relationship with each of us - to have that father/son - father/daughter relationship that some of us might not have had the chance to have with our earthly parents. Many who haven't had the kind of relationship with their earthly parents find it hard to trust God to be a father to them, and I pray today that if you're one of them, to step out of your fear and trust God to heal the hurts that you've bottled up inside for so long - God is waiting to show you unconditional love, and not only CAN heal your broken heart, but it's his WILL to do so. He accepts us are we are - he is the only source of total peace, abounding love, and understanding. He is standing at the door and knocking, waiting for you to open the door of your heart to him. (Revelation 3:20)
Take the time today to ask Jesus to reveal himself to you and to give you a fresh start on life. What have you got to lose?

Janelle