Last night the Holy Spirit gave me wholehearted obedience to meditate on.  I never saw this connection before.  His higher way is our joyful response because we love Him.  Heart obedience rooted in our love.

We quickly and joyfully obey as a demonstration of our love.  Psalm 119:97 says, “Oh, how I love Your law!  It is my meditation all the day.”  Psalm 1:2 says, “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.”

I don’t know your childhood mode of obedience.  Mine was compliant on the outside but rebellious on the inside.  Much like the little boy who was repeatedly told to sit down.  Finally he sat down, but muttered “I’m sitting down but I’m standing up inside.”  Or I submitted out of fear of punishment.

Isaiah 29:13 says, “Therefore the Lord said: Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by commandment of men.”

Our heart attitude towards obedience as a child carried over to others in authority, and ultimately in our relationship with the Lord.  Romans 6:17 says, “…obeyed from the heart…”  Amplified says, “…you have become obedient with all your heart…”

Paul and John spoke about their converts as their children.  Galatians 4:19 says, “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you.”  3 John verse 4 says, “I have no greater joy than to hear my children walk in truth.”

Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give an account.  Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.”

The Lord has great joy when we obey from the heart.

We have a tendency to live in our past which is passed.  Our past is only in our thoughts.  Therefore, our thoughts are to be in the present.  Right now, walking in the Spirit, empowered through His grace.

Here is a new song.  I wish you could hear the music, as it is a catching little tune 🙂

New Day Rising

This new day is rising with new mercies for me

Grace abundant for every situation

I am not alone You are Ever Present

Leading and guiding through Your Word

Your Word’s my life it gives wisdom and direction

I look to You in expectation

I open my heart to hear Your words of strength

They fortify my faith and gird my mind with truth

I walk in the joy of our intimate communion

Have Your way in me today

                                            April 7, 2016

Inner Truth~The Effective Messenger

CHARACTER DEFINED

Character is inward motivation that governs our actions whether we are with others or alone.  The Greek word for character is kharakter.  It speaks of an engraved mark, which is a tool for stamping, engraving, or making an impression.  It is the word used in Hebrews 1:3 which says, “Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” 

The lines in an old hymn say, “Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.”  Our character is who we are in the core of our being.  Character modulates our actions, as a governor curtails the speed of a school bus.  Decisions are weighed through our character.  It is the motivation to do right no matter what it personally costs.  Our character of diligence is a gift to others.

Psalm 15 is a great barometer to measure character.  Two questions are asked in verse one, and answered in the following verses.  “Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle?  Who may dwell in Your holy hill?  He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart; he who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend; in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear the Lord; he who swears to his own hurt and does not change; he who does not put out his money at usury, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.  He who does these things shall never be moved.”

Character is integrity of heart and is our inner compass.  It is our navigational instrument, like a sextant is to a captain of a ship.  No matter which way our life turns, or how many storms we are in, proven character always points due truth.  Proverbs 11:3 says, “The integrity of the upright shall guide them, but the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them.”

CHARACTER OF DILIGENCE

Proverbs 4:23-27 is like a compass.  It says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.  Put away from you a deceitful mouth, and put perverse lips far from you.  Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you.  Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established.  Do not turn to the right or the left; remove your foot from evil.”  Ephesians 5:15-16 says, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”

One with diligence engraved on their heart will do everything possible to walk in purity.  They discipline their thoughts.  They bring stray thoughts captive and do not allow them to have a voice.

Proverbs 22:29 Amplified says, “Do you see a man diligent and skillful in his business?  He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.”  One with diligence excels.  Daniel is an outstanding example of diligence.  He was one of three governors.  Daniel 6:3 says, “Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm.”

When Daniel knew that the king’s decree had been signed, he stood through character.  He never flinched or wavered.  Daniel 6:10 says, “Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home.  And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.”  He did not break stride even though his life was on the line.

Daniel’s innocence was proven in the den of the lions.  Daniel 6:22 says, “My God sent His angel and shut the lions mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.”

Psalm 24:3-5 is another character barometer.  It begins with two questions, and the answers follow.  It says, “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?  Or who may stand in His holy place?  He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully.  He shall receive blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.” 

Characteristics of diligence: excellent spirit, thorough, dedicated, consistent, conscientious, plodder, finisher, integrity, persevering, tenacious, focused, wholehearted, disciplined thoughts, dedicated, hardworking.

Proverbs 27:23 says, “Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, and attend to your herds.”  We can apply this to those in our influence.  Joseph was in charge of the prisoners.  He was diligent to know their state (Genesis 40:4-8).  His proven character prepared the way for the Lord to fulfill His word.

j marilyn adams ~ March 24, 2016

Inner Truth~The Effective Messenger

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

Romans 5:3-4 says, “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character hope.”  The Amplified says, “…knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.  And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity)…”

Our faith is tried in the crucible of our trials.  Abimelech’s heart was tested when Abraham lied about Sarah.  He was able to say this to the Lord in Genesis 20:5, “…In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.”

Proverbs 11:3 says, “The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them.”  Balaam lacked character.  He was easily swayed.  Numbers 22:32 says, “…Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way was perverse before Me.”

Amy Carmichael was a missionary in India.  Through a devastating injury she spent the remainder of her life bedridden.  Yet the Lord turned what seemed like a tragedy into a crucible ministry.  She wrote from her constant pain to others in their pain.  Her words came from the fiery trial that purified her faith.

How like the Lord.  What satan would design as something to crush our spirit, the Lord turns into a ministry.  There are countless effective ministries today birthed in the crucible of a hard trial.  Some are global, and some one-on-one.

Luke 22:31-32 says, “And the Lord said, Simon, Simon!  Indeed, satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”  Peter later wrote the timeless truths of 1 & 2 Peter.  Verses today that still minister centuries later.

Amos 9:9 speaks of the Lord’s sifting Israel, saying, “…as grain is sifted in a sieve; yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground.”  The sieve was a large mesh screen, that when vigorously shaken, removed the undesirable.

The apostle Paul’s suffering was intense.  Yet through that, the Lord gave him a ministry that encourages everyone who reads his prison letters.  Paul’s character was forged in the crucible of his trials.

Character is that deep abiding quality of behavior that is the same alone or with others.  It has been proven in the crucible and refined as silver is refined.  Temptations only deepen and reveal the true moral fiber of the heart’s integrity.  Integrity is defined as: honor, moral strength, moral fiber, rectitude, uprightness; fortitude, strength, resolve.

Hebrews 4:13 Amplified says, “And not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, naked and defenseless to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do.”  It is a glorious truth.  We cannot hide.  Character thrives in the light.

Psalm 66:10-12 says, “For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined.  You brought us into the net; you laid affliction on our backs.  You have caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; but You have brought us out to rich fulfillment.”  This is a Psalm that could easily have been written by Joseph.

Young Joseph had dreams that foretold his future.  His brothers rode over his head.  Psalm 105:18-19 is a poignant description of Joseph’s crucible.  It says, “They hurt his feet with fetters, he was laid in irons.  Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him.”  The Amplified uses the words that his soul entered into the iron.  The iron entered into his mind, will, and emotions.  The Lord used the wrath of those against him, as the testing fire to prove his character.

Here is a new song called Song of Endurance

In the stillness of the morning I come to seek Your face

To hear Your words of wisdom to know how to run this race

It’s not to the swift to finish the course

It’s to the one who endures and rests in You Lord.

Your promises are true they fortify my faith.  I look to You in each trial I face

You’re my Rock in which I stand You’re my shelter in each storm

You faithfully support me and hold my hand

To rest is the key when impossibilities loom

My strength to endure is abiding in Your Word

Your Word is my stability when everything shakes

I remain standing in You.  No matter what you’ll not forsake

                                                                            December 7, 2005

j marilyn adams ~ March 10, 2016

I posted this on facebook.  This is a picture of my dad yesterday, sharing the Gospel at the rest home on his 95th birthday. (sorry it is fuzzy)

He accepted the Lord in the winter he turned 19.  He always tells folks, “it is a good salvation.”  He was 7 when his parents were saved while attending a meeting put on by the the American Sunday School Association.  Later that association because Child Evangelism Fellowship.  Yesterday he said, “That was 88 years ago.”

Inner Truth~The Effective Messenger

THE POWER OF WORDS

Do the words you speak match your walk?  What you speak comes from your thought life.  Preconceived ideas keep us in a rut.  They also keep us from learning.  The book of Proverbs talks about wisdom. 

Proverbs 16:23-24 says, “The heart of the wise teaches his mouth, and adds learning to his lips.  Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.”  Our bones are the strength of our body.

The Proverbs are full of verses that use the mouth and lips together.  Our words give verbal expression of our thoughts.  Our words come through our mouth when we open our lips.  David understood this.  Psalm 141:3 says, “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.”

Our words have power.  Proverbs 18:20-21 says, “A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; from the produce of his lips he shall be filled.  Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”  Life words are pleasant and wholesome.  They feed and benefit the hearer.  However death words are acidic and bitter.  They crush and destroy the spirit.

Ephesians 4:29 Amplified says, “Let no foul or polluting language, or evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk (ever) come out of your mouth, but only such (speech) as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God’s favor) to those who hear it.”  Wholesome means: uplifting, edifying, health-giving, uncontaminated.  Contaminate means: pollute, defile, infect, poison.

Proverbs 12:18 says, “There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise promotes health.”  Amplified uses the word rashly.

The fruit of our lips is the expression of our thoughts.  Proverbs 13:3 says, “He who guards his mouth preserves his life…”  Proverbs 21:23 says, “Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles.”  James 3:2 says, “For we all stumble in many things.  If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.”  Verse 6 says, “…The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body…”  Verse 10 says, “Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing.  My brethren, these things ought not to be.”

What we think controls our brain, and our brain controls our body.  What we speak is expressing our thoughts.  Our verbal words sow seeds into our hearts and the lives of those around us to bless or defile.

“I can’t” is focused on ourselves.  “I can” is focused on the Lord and His strength.  Our thoughts of “I can’t” send a negative message to our brain.  It is contrary to what the Lord designed our brain to do.  The brain tells the body it can’t.  We create a double negative.

Our thoughts are private, but our actions are on display.  Our actions are the fruit of our thoughts.  Have you ever said something you wish you could take back?  Our words are seeds we sow that will produce.

Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.”  We reap far more than we sow.  One seed produces many seeds.  The seeds we sow to our flesh, will make our flesh stronger and more resistant to the Holy Spirit.  The seeds we sow to the Spirit will increase our sensitivity to be led by the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 15:18-19 says, “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.”

We are not responsible for how others think.  However we are responsible for how we react to the expression of their thoughts through their words.  Harsh, derogatory, defiling words spoken over us do not have to be received.  It depends on the condition of our heart.  If your heart’s soil is full of thorns and nettles, it will receive the weed seed. 

However Proverbs 26:2 says that the undeserved curse will not alight.  Therefore if the soil of your heart is free of the things that choke out life, like unforgivness, bitter root judgments, and anger, the seed will be sterile.  It will have no effect.

Psalm 103:5 says, “Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.”  Psalm 104:33-34 says, “I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.  May my meditation be sweet to Him; I will be glad in the Lord.”  The soil of our heart depends on our thoughts.  Cultivate a right spirit by hiding His word in your heart.

j marilyn adams ~ February 25, 2016

I put this on my facebook this morning, so some of you will get it twice.

This morning when we woke up, our new day began.  New mercies, grace, and wisdom. Yesterday is our past.  We can approach our day fresh, not dragging the weight of yesterday behind us.  That was then, and this new day is now.

Hebrews 12:1 tells us to lay aside every weight.  The children of Israel gathered fresh manna each morning.  Nothing was to be held over for the next day.  Those who didn’t believe that, quickly found out because what they held onto stank.

Great reminder for us.  Each night we are to lay aside our cares of the day.  To give our frustrations, disappointments, emotional upheavals, etc. to the Lord.  What we go to sleep with on our mind, will greet us in the morning.  That is why meditating before we go to sleep is so powerful.  It fortifies our spirit, and allows us to wake up refreshed and joyful.

Psalm 3:5 says, “I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me.”  Psalm 127:2 says that He gives His beloved sleep.

Inner Truth~The Effective Messenger

IMPURITY: DOUBLE-MINDEDNESS

James 1:6-8 says, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.  For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” 

Double-mindedness is a character flaw of inconsistency.  Inconsistent means: erratic, changeable, unpredictable, variable, varying, changing, inconstant, unstable, irregular, fluctuating, unsteady, unsettled, uneven. The Lord desires wholeheartedness.

The impurity of double-mindedness weakens our faith.  It divides our mind.  It causes us to be drawn in two separate ways.  When doubt plays in and wars against truth, our heart is divided.  Affirmations unite our heart with truth and increase our faith.  They feed on God’s faithfulness.  Psalm 37:3 says, “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.”

1 Corinthians 15:58 says, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”  Steadfast and immoveable are great faith words that anchor our mind, will, and emotions.

In Colossians 2:5 Paul commends them for their steadfastness of faith.  Then he says in verse 7, “Rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.”  Hebrews 6:18-19 says, “…we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.  This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil.”

He is our Steadfast Hope.  Nothing can shake our faith when we are anchored in Him.  It is when we take our eyes off Him and focus on our impossible circumstances that it makes us double-minded.  The enemy of our soul does everything he can to make us doubt.  Truth is everlasting.  It never changes.  Therefore truth in our inward parts will ground us in our faith.

Trials purify the inconsistency in our character.  It is dross that must be removed.  We may chafe at His way, but it is perfectly designed and orchestrated.  He knows exactly what circumstances will draw it to the surface.

IMPURITY: PRECONCEIVED IDEAS

Psalm 78:41 says, “Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.”  How do we limit God?

In 2 Chronicles 14 king Asa has an army of 580,000.  The enemy had 1 million men.  Verse 11 says that the Lord delivered them with a mighty deliverance.  Verse 13 says that they were broken before the Lord and His army.

Asa faced another army.  This time he did not rely on the Lord.  The Lord asked him why in 2 Chronicles 16:8.  In verse 9 He said that because he didn’t rely on Him this time that he would have wars.  Asa created his own future adversity.

It is a great example for us in fresh trust.  Every adversity has its own deliverance, trust, grace, and wisdom.  Our God is not limited.  He wants to present Himself in a fresh way in each situation. 

David is a great example of fresh trust.  In 2 Samuel 5:19 David inquired of the Lord.  The Philistines had deployed themselves for battle.  The Lord told him to go up for He would doubtless deliver them into David’s hand.  In verse 22 the same scene plays out.  Yet David again inquired of the Lord.  This time He gave him a different instruction.  Verses 23-24 says, “…You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees.  And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance…”  David had no preconceived plan.  Each time he inquired of the Lord for fresh instruction.

Our preconceived ideas are dross in our faith.  Preconceived means: an idea or opinion formed before having the evidence of its truth.  He wants us to look to Him to reveal Himself to us in a fresh revealing.  Our expectations are to be on Him, and not what He might do based on past deliverances.  Each time we can ask Him what He wants to be for us in our present trial or adversity.  He is waiting.

He delights to show Himself strong on our behalf.  Each adversity is a new opportunity to trust Him, and have our faith purified and strengthened.  David understood where his expectation was to be.  Psalm 62 was written by David regarding waiting on the Lord in adversity.  Verse 5 says, “My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.”

j marilyn adams ~ February 11, 2016