Author: jma47

What Is Going On?

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Have you ever said, “What is going on?” in your circumstances? The children of Israel did. When they saw the small round substance on the ground they said, “What is it?”
 
Exodus 16 records God amazing provision for His people, right after He brought them through the Red Sea, and provided a tree to purify the bitter water.
 
Verse 2 says they complained against their leaders. Verse 3 they looked back to their temporary provision in Egypt. It says, “…we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full!…”
 
Verse 4 is God’s provision-answer for them, but it had a condition. It says, “…I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.”
 
Verse 13 says that quail covered the camp that night and the manna was there when the dew lifted in the morning. Some failed the test. They were told to gather as much as they needed, but not leave any until morning. Those who disobeyed? The manna bred worms and stank.
 
Verse 22 says that on the sixth day they were to gather double because there would be done on the next day-a day of rest. Yet some went out to gather and found none. Verse 28 says, “And the Lord said to Moses, How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My law?”
 
The manna was like white coriander seeds and tasted like wafers made with honey. They could bake it or boil it. It was God’s provision for them in the wilderness for forty years!
 
The Lord’s daily manna provision for us is His eternal word. It will never grow old, or be irrelevant to our times. It will sustain and keep our hearts from sin. It also has conditions.
 
We are to observe to do what He has commanded. James 1:25 says, “But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”

Moldable Hearts Part Three

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Our heart is our belief center. What we put into our heart is the catalyst of our thoughts. Every action is first a thought. Yesterday as I was formatting my book I came to the part of the braid.
 
“God’s word splits between our soul and spirit. Our soul is our mind, will, and emotions. Our mind leads off with a thought, and our will and emotions follow. I want to go back to the illustration of a braid. The braid has three strands. You start with one strand, and the other two strands follow. The braid is very strongly integrated. You cannot distinguish the first strand from the others.
 
In order for the stronghold to be demolished, the leader-mind has to be renewed with truth. It is the truth we bring into our daily lives, and live out through our thoughts and actions that sets us free.”
 
The strongholds are fallow ground full of weed seeds. Those seeds propagate without any action on our part. 2 Corinthians 10:4 says that it is God’s word that has the power to demolish strongholds.
 
What is a stronghold? It is a mindset, a stubborn habit that controls our actions, and it is a place where the enemy has gained ground in our lives. Therefore the battle is within instead of without.
 
A stronghold is a hardened place that resists the water of the word. It is stony ground where spiritual roots cannot thrive. The antidote is to confess the stronghold as sin. We need to acknowledge that it is our will against God’s will. It is an area of resistance that can only be conquered through humility.
 
David understood this when he wrote Psalm 51. He first acknowledged that his sin was against God alone (verse 4). Verse 17 says, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart–these, O God, You will not despise.”
 
The Amplified says, “…(broken down with sorrow for sin and humbly and thoroughly penitent)…”
 
One with a moldable heart lives in the fear (reverence) of the Lord, with a singular focus on Him. They are quick to confess sin, not sweep things under the rug, or bury unresolved issues. They worship in spirit and truth, and receive-embrace all that the Lord has purposed for them.
 
 
 
 
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Moldable Hearts Part Two

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Be aware of how satan wants to use this world to mold our hearts. In this counterfeit-deploy, we must be proactive in shoring up our heart against such wily attacks.
 
Hebrews 3:13 says that the deceitfulness of sin hardens the heart. Remember God’s word to Cain. Genesis 3:7 says, “…sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”
 
We rule over our hearts by filling the reservoir of our hearts with the truth of God’s word. It is His word that molds, shapes, and creates the vessel for His work. 2 Timothy 2:20 says, “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor.”
 
Verse 21 says, “Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.”
 
In wheel pottery, the potter must work the dry clay with lots of water. As the water is kneaded into the clay, it become moldable. Before that, nothing can be done with it. Once the clay is permeated with the water, the vessel can be formed without being marred.
 
Hidden sin mars and disfigures our character. It hardens our heart so that when we hear His word, it bounces off and doesn’t penetrate to bring change.
 
Unforgiveness is a hidden sin. It hardens our heart so that we resist the convicting role of the Holy Spirit. It makes us impervious to the power of His word. It is fallow ground, uncultivated and barren of fruit that will glorify the Lord. Psalm 130:3 says, “If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand.”
 
Verse 4 is the good news. It says, “But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared.” The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. If you have unforgiveness, it blocks wholehearted worship.
 
Forgive as we have been forgiven is a command. Our past, present, and future sins were forgiven totally and unequivocally. When we forgive the ones who have hurt us, our heart’s hardness is softened and moldable to be more Christ-like in our character.
 

Moldable Hearts

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I’m reading in the book of Exodus. It reminds me again of how our hearts are to be moldable. Pharaoh was given multiple opportunities to obey and yet he continually resisted.
 
How is my heart? How is yours? O Lord, only You know our hearts. Help us to walk continually yielded to You in each and every circumstance of our lives. Help us to listen, and to respond readily to You without excuses. Help us to hide Your word in our hearts so that we do not walk in deception. Help us to be prepared vessels, ready to do Your will.
 
Hebrews 3:12-13 is written to believers. “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called, Today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”
 
Unbelief, doubt, and fear undermine our faith. They cause us to waver and not be resolute. The first word in the above verses is ‘beware.’ It could also mean to be alert and watchful.
 
Jesus took three disciples with Him when He went to pray. He told them to watch and pray. They fell asleep. Then He spoke these resounding words in Matthew 26:41. “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
 
Now is the time for us to pray in faith. Mark 11:22 says to have faith in God. Shore up your heart with verses about His faithfulness. Psalm 37:3 says, “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed of His faithfulness.”
 
What are your thoughts feeding on? Our thoughts come from our heart. They dictate our actions. Listen to what you are saying, and you will know what your heart truly believes. Let this post be a reminder to guard your heart with all diligence (Proverbs 4:23)

Yearnings Part Three

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Why is there so much to say about yearnings? As in everything about our Christian walk, satan has a counterfeit to pull us off course.
 
The Holy Spirit yearns for us. James 4:5 Amplified says, “Or do you suppose that the Scripture is speaking to no purpose that says, The Spirit Whom He has caused to dwell is us yearns over us and He yearns for the Spirit (to be welcome) with a jealous love?”
 
When God gave Moses the 10 commandments, the first one was to have no other gods. Exodus 20:5 says, “…For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God…”
 
Here is the voice of a lover. As I read this verse I like to think of it as the Lord speaking to me. Song of Solomon 5:1 Amplified says, “…Drink, yes, drink abundantly of love, O precious one (for now I know you are Mine, irrevocably Mine!…” Isaiah 43:1 says, “…I have called you by name; you are Mine.”
 
Song of Solomon 5:4 is another verse I read as though the Lord is speaking to me. “My Beloved put His hand by the latch of the door, and my heart yearned for Him.”
 
He yearns for us, and we respond in yearning for Him. Singular focus. Isaiah 26:9 Amplified says, “My soul yearns for You (O Lord) in the night, yes, my spirit within me seeks You earnestly…”
 
Anything that pulls away our yearning for the Lord is false advertising. It is a planted demonic distraction to pull us away from our pursuit.
 
A. W. Tozer’s book: The Pursuit of God is a great one to expose the complacency of our heart. His prayers at the end of each chapter captured my heart back in the 70’s. I adopted them for my own. Words like: I long to long for You more; I desire to desire You, I thirst to be thirsty more.
 
2 Corinthians 11:2 are Paul’s words to us today. It says, “For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”
 
Hosea 2:19 is the Lord speaking. “I will betroth you to Me forever.” The next time you look to something other than the Lord with yearning, let it be a reminder to return your singular focus on Him.

Yearnings Part Two

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I finished reading Jeremiah last night. There was a verse that caught my attention about Moab’s lies. Jeremiah 48:30 says, “…his lies have made nothing right.” My margin says, ‘idle talk.’
 
That is what yearnings can do. They lie to us. They pull us towards them and away from our singular focus on the Lord.
 
Countless times in my life, and perhaps you have had the same experience, I’ve said, ‘I’m struggling.’ Yesterday the Lord showed me something that I had never considered before.
 
Rebekah was pregnant. Genesis 25:22 says, “But the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it is well, why am I like this, So she went to inquire of the Lord.” He told her that two nations were in her womb. What insight for us!
 
That is the anatomy of a struggle. There are two warring factors. Dialoging in our mind is a distraction that pulls us in two opposite ways.
 
James 1:8 says that double-mindedness makes us unstable. James 4:1 says, “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?”
 
If you think about it, our yearnings are usually coming from something in the past that we had and now don’t have. We look back, but we live in the face-forward present. That creates the struggle we feel.
 
The struggle is really a lie. Dialoging with it is idle activity. We can stop the struggle-lie just like we stop all lies circulating in our mind.
 
The next time you say within yourself ‘I’m struggling,’ let the NEXT thought be on the Lord. Quickly refocus. Psalm 97:9 says, “For You Lord, are most high above all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods.”
 
Perhaps say something out loud like this: You are Lord over all the earth and Lord of my life. I worship You in spirit and in truth. Then lift up your heart in worship of Who He is at all times. 
 

Yearnings

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Yearnings can draw us back in our mind to other times. They take our focus off the now. They can dictate to our heart and negatively affect our attitude and behavior.
 
Did you ever wish that things where back in the good ole days? The children of Israel did. Numbers 11 is the account. Verse 5 says, “We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.”
 
Notice what they yearned for. It was a variety of foods that they used to eat. Why? Verse 6 says, “But now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes.”
 
The manna was the Lord’s special provision for them. It sustained them day by day, but they loathed it. They totally forgot the hardships they endured in Egypt.
 
Let me take you back. Exodus 2:23 says, “…Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.”
 
Numbers 11:1 says, “Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.”
 
To allow our minds to go back and yearn for something we used to have is futile activity that will bring emotional fatigue. The serious part of yearnings is the discontentment it causes. With discontentment comes complaining which displeases the Lord.
 
Do you see the set up? When we are tempted to yearn for something we cannot have, it is a set up by satan to pull us off course. It desensitizes our ability to see what the Holy Spirit is doing around us, and dulls our hearing. This pattern is clearly seen in the book of Jeremiah. Let us choose to accept our now and look for opportunities to reach out to others in their need.
 
 
 

The Heart Of Humility Part Two

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There is an interesting use of wording in James 3:13 Amplified. It says, “Who is there among you who is wise and intelligent? Then let him by his noble living show forth his (good) works with the (unobtrusive) humility (which is the proper attribute) of true wisdom.”
 
Unobtrusive means to not be conspicuous or attracting attention. If we flaunt our humility we are walking in pride. Humility is a hidden attribute of the heart.
 
Listen to how the Lord described Moses. Numbers 12:3 says, “(Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth).”
 
The Lord Jesus is our example for humility. Philippians 2:8 says, “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Jesus was devoid of all arrogance and self-exultation.
 
There was nothing of ‘self’ in the Lord. He was sinless. Not even in His thoughts did He sin. Paul exhorted his followers to imitate him, as he imitated Christ.
 
Are you an imitator? Are you walking in humility? There is a contrast of the publican and the Pharisee. Luke 18:9-14 is the parable. The Pharisee was all about his view of his life. He was a self-made man. The publican acknowledged he was a sinner and cried out for God’s mercy.
 
Verse 14 is Jesus’ statement of the two. “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
 
We have a choice to humble ourselves, or be humbled. Walking low, esteeming others, setting our eyes on the Lord instead of ourselves are attributes of humility.
 
Philippians 2:3 says, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself.” Verse 4 says it is alright to look out for ourselves, but it is within a lifestyle of humility.

The Heart Of Humility

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Reading the book of Jeremiah is startling. Over and over the Lord would call His people and they refused. They chose their way instead of His.
 
Disobedience is the pride of a rebellious heart. Isaiah 30:15 says, “…in returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength. But you would not.”
 
Why do we choose our way over His? Isaiah 55:8 says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord.” Verse 9 says that His ways are higher than our ways.
 
I love Psalm 18:30. It says, “As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. The heart of humility trusts even when facing the impossible.
 
Psalm 18:27 says, “For You will save the humble people, but will bring down haughty looks.” Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
 
James 4:6-7 says, “But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Verse 10 says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”
 
How much better to humble ourselves, then to disobey the Lord and be humbled by Him. Deuteronomy 8:3 says, “So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger…” Exodus 16:4 says, “…that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.”
 
Worship comes from a humble heart. We recognize afresh that all we have is from Him, and our heart lifts up in praise and adoration to the only One who is worthy of all praise.
 
Psalm 149:4 says, “For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.” Verse 6 says, “Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand.” Do you see the connection of humility and praise?
 
Pride and praise are like water and oil. Pride is me centered, and praise is God centered. They don’t mix. Psalm 34:1 says, “I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”

When Circumstances Don’t Make Sense Part Two

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Jeremiah was stymied. He had no clue. His response to his quandary was right. He went to the only One who could help him understand. His prayer reflected what he knew to be true. Nothing was too hard for the Lord.
 
The Lord answered. Jeremiah 32:27 says, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?” First of all the Lord confirmed who He is–the God of all flesh. Everyone is under God’s watchful eye.
 
2 Chronicles 16:9 says, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him…”
 
Psalm 103:14 says, “For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.” We have no recourse on our own. We are absolutely dependent on the Lord. John 15:5 says, “…without Me you can do nothing.”
 
I love David’s words in Psalm 63. Verse 8 in the Amplified says this, “My whole being follows hard after You and clings closely to You; Your right hand upholds me.”
 
We cling in trust and hope with our mind, will, and emotions. Everything within us is holding fast to Him through His promises, and His eternal character which never changes. We can absolutely depend on Him. Here is a new song the Lord gave me last year. May it encourage you.
 
Nothing Is Impossible
 
You can move the mountains. You can calm the sea. You can split the skies and rescue me. Nothing is impossible, no nothing at all. You created everything before man’s fall. Though it seems impossible to me. I must remember Who You are as my Savior and King.
 
You rule in my heart through Your word supreme. I just have to believe-trust for You will faithful be. Nothing is too hard for You, no nothing at all. You delight to strengthen me through trials that reveal Yourself to me.
 
Your character is forged in me. Your anvil strong and true. You bring me through the fiery trials—my faith refined-secured. Your will is accomplished as I yield to Your hand. My thoughts are united with Your purpose and plans. As I walk in the path You choose You establish my heart. I serve You with thanksgiving and praise. You alone are worthy, O my Lord.