Inner Truth~The Effective Messenger

WATERMARK: A SEEKER

1 Peter 2:3 says that a new born babe desires the sincere milk of the word.  As we grew in our walk with the Lord, our desire for His word and intimacy with Him increases.  We follow hard after Him.  Psalm 63:8 Amplified says, “My whole being follows hard after You and clings closely to You; Your right hand upholds me.”  Our whole being is our spirit, soul, and body.  Our soul is our mind, will, and emotions. 

Psalm 73:25 says, “Whom have I in heaven but You?  And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.”  David was a seeker.  Psalm 27:4 says, “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I see; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.”  Verse 8 says, “When You said, Seek My face, my heart said to You, Your face I will seek.”

The word seek implies diligence, and diligence implies wholeheartedness.  Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”  David’s heart is revealed in his seeking,  Psalm 63:1 says, “O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land.”  Seeking expresses a yearning for Him.  Psalm 42:1 says, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God.”

WATERMARK: A WORSHIPPER

John 4:24 says, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”  True worship is so focused on the Lord, that all else is paled in the background.  He is the center of all our thoughts and words of expression.  His Presence is always with us.  As we worship, we are seeking a deeper place of communion through our adoration until we enveloped in awe.

Here are three expressive words that will take us beyond the surface of just singing a worship song to engaging our heart.  Marvelous, infinite, and matchless.  Marvelous means: causing great wonder; astounding, awesome, breathtaking.  Infinite means: limitless or endless in extent; impossible to measure or calculate.  Matchless means: unable to be equaled; incomparable.  When we focus on how He is in these words, He will reveal Himself through our heart expression.  Worship is intimacy. 

The things that are hidden in our unconscious block our desired intimacy.  Not only in our relationship with the Lord, but they carry over into our personal relationships with others.  Jesus came and died to set the captives free.  Luke 4:18 says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.”  The Amplified describes the oppressed as: who are down trodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity.

The things in our past are passed.  2 Corinthians 5;17 says, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”  The more we seek the Lord and His righteousness, the more He reveals Himself to us. 

Psalm 34:5 says, “They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed.”  2 Corinthians 3:18 describes what happens as we seek His face, and gaze upon Him in adoration.  It says, “Be we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”  One of the attributes of a seeker is transparency.  They so desire the Lord, they walk before Him with openheartedness.  They have nothing to hide because they understand that He knows their heart and loves them unconditionally.  They gaze upon Him without shame, as He gazes upon them.  They behold Him as He beholds them.

A seeker-worshipper goes deeper in intimacy with the Lord as they release the things from their past.  Our past is only in our mind.  We only hold onto it through our thoughts.  A seeker-worshiper’s thought patterns change through their focus on the Lord.  He fills their thoughts and desires.  Psalm 107:9 says, “For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.”

Song of Solomon 2:14 are the words of a lover seeking her beloved.  I’ve capitalized it to depict a seeker expressing their love to the Lord.  It says, “O my Dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the cliff, let me see Your face, let me hear Your voice; for Your voice is sweet, and Your face is lovely.”  That secret place is intimacy.  There is no greater place of security and desire fulfilled then through our intimate communion with Him.  In that intimacy we find contentment that is unequaled by anything on this earth.  A seeker-worshipper drinks deep of His abundant love and is satisfied.

  j marilyn adams ~ November 19, 2015

I posted this on facebook.

Proverbs 3:7-8 Amplified says, “Be not wise in your own eyes; reverently fear and worship the Lord and turn (entirely) away from evil. It shall be health to your nerves and sinews, and marrow and moistening to your bones.”

Our nerves, tendons, ligaments, and marrow (where new blood cells emerge to carry oxygen throughout our bodies) are negatively affected each time we do something independent of the Lord. However they are strengthened as we worship the One who created them.

Our bodies are created by the Lord.  He has made everything to work together in the most amazing synergetic way.  We disturb that flow EACH time we act independent of Him.  EACH negative thought disrupts that synchronization.

Caroline Leaf is a Christian neuroscientist.  Science is finally discovering what God says in His word.  She says that each thought affects our brain, positive or negative.  Think about that!  Our thoughts control our brain which controls our body.  This is why the Lord tells us to bring every thought captive.  This is why meditating on His word is so essential.

May your day be worship-filled.

I just posted this on my facebook.  It is amazing to think about.  The Lord has a plan to maintain our health.  What is the state of your blood?  Leviticus 17:11 says, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood…”

Psalm 63:5-6 Amplified says, “My whole being shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips when I remember You upon my bed and meditate on You in the night watches.”  Our whole being includes our cells and organs.  The hidden parts that we never see, but are absolutely essential and vital to maintain health.  David is saying that every particle of his being is involved in worshipful meditation.

Our marrow is the very inner part of our bones where are blood cells are produced. If it is healthy, we are healthy. Interesting that this verse links health with meditating.

Here is an incredible verse signifying health. Job 21:24 Amplified says, “His pail are full of milk (his veins are filled with nourishment), and the marrow of his bones is fresh and moist.”

Last night I was meditating on Romans 13:14.  I posted this on facebook.  It was so clear in the night.  The difference when we hide His word in our heart, as opposed to hiding hurts and offenses.  His way is so much higher than our way.

Reaction vs. Response

Romans 13:14 says, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”

The hurts and unresolved issues that we bury in our unconscious influence and feed our fleshly reactions.

Here is a picture Maurice sent me from Uganda.

These are the people he and his team will be preaching the gospel to.  They also take them clothing and other necessities.  Please ask the Lord to provide them with Bibles to give out.  Thank you.

This morning I woke up with this verse from Proverbs 17:22.  It says, “A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.”

Our greatest medicine-weapon against the enemy’s tactic is praise.  Read Psalm 149:5-9.

I am now on facebook as another means to post my notes for Inner Truth.  I’m using it to post a verse a day.  If you are on facebook I am under J Marilyn Adams.  I had just typed my post and got a message from someone I didn’t know, but they knew someone I did.  Maurice Alm is an evangelist in Kampala Uganda.

Here’s the praise: he is going to translate my six tracts into his language to take out to the rural areas where they don’t understand or speak English.  This is amazing to me.  Certainly something more to praise Him for!!

Psalm 63:8 Amplified says, “My whole being follows hard after You and clings closely to You; Your right hand upholds me.”  I was meditating on whole being.  Our soul, which is our mind, will, and emotions, spirit, and body integrated as one in our pursuit of God.

A. W. Tozer used to pray like this: I long to long for You.  I thirst to be thirsty more.  I want to want You.  Can you hear his words of reaching out with his whole being?  David understood this kind of longing.  Psalm 63:1 says, “O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.”

Inner Truth~The Effective Messenger

WATERMARKS OF LOVE

1 John 4:16 says, “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us.  God is LOVE, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.”  Jesus described this love in John 15:9.  It says, “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.”  This verse holds up His standard, and a perfect ruler to check our growth.

Unconditional means: wholehearted, unqualified, unreserved, unlimited, unrestricted, unquestioning; complete, entire, full, absolute, unequivocal.  There is no ulterior motive or hidden agenda.  1 Corinthians 13:1 says that if we don’t have His love we will just be an irritating noise to those around us.

Romans 5:5 says that His love was poured out in our hearts at salvation.  We have His love in our hearts.  John 15:12 says, “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”  There is the qualifier.  We are to love AS we have been loved by Him.  Impossible in our flesh, but He has equipped us to love through His love!

1 Peter 1:22 says, “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart.”  Sincere means that we are void of pretense; no hypocrisy or speaking one way and acting another.  Here are a few verses that show us how to obey His truth that will purify our love. 

1 Peter 2:1 says, “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking.”  Colossians 3:12-13 says, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.”  Ephesians 5:1-2 says, “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.  And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”

When we walk as Jesus walked, His love will be evident in our body language, words, and actions.  We consciously let go of wrongs done to us, in order to maintain a right relationship.

WATERMARKS OF GRACE

Psalm 45:2 says, “You are fairer than the sons of men; grace is poured upon Your lips; therefore God has blessed You forever.”  Luke 4:22 says, “So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth…”  Gracious words.

Paul instructs us to speak with grace.  Colossians 4:6 says, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”  The Amplified uses the words pleasant and winsome.  Ephesians 4:29 says, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”

Do your words impart grace, or do they cause the hearer to back up in their spirit and withdraw?  We are to walk in grace and in the power of His love.

Ecclesiastes 10:12 says, “The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool shall swallow him up.”  Proverbs 15:2 says, “The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.”  Notice the contrast between the wise and the fool.  Proverbs 25:15 Amplified says, “…soft speech breaks down the most bonelike resistance.”

Without love and grace, we are ineffective messengers.  We have nothing of value to offer.  Anything we do in the flesh has no profit (John 6:63).  Think about the relationships in your life.  Are there people you struggle with?  Are there some that you avoid because of unresolved issues?  Is there someone who constantly puts you down, and is never satisfied with the things that you do?  Do you live in a negative environment?

Think of Jesus in His time of ministry.  He was constantly set up by the religious rulers.  They looked for ways to trap Him.  1 Peter 2:23 says, “Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.”  His entire trust was in His Father.

We are promised the wisdom we need if we will but ask.  When we find ourselves  with impossible personalities, we need wisdom.  He will graciously give us the wisdom we need to navigate in the circumstances He allows in our lives.  We are never without recourse.  We are bid to come boldly to His throne of grace, to find the grace and mercy we need in the very moment we need it (Hebrews 4:16).  Lean HARD on His grace.  He is your Sufficiency.

j marilyn adams ~ October 22, 2015

Inner Truth~The Effective Messenger

WATERMARKS OF A DISCIPLE

1 John 2:6 says, “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.”  A true disciple observes how Jesus walked, and walks in the same way.  Jesus glorified the Father in all that He did.  John 17:4 says, “I have glorified You on the earth.  I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.”

We are created for the express purpose of glorifying the Lord.  Isaiah 43:7 says, “Everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.”

How do we glorify the Lord?  John 15:8 says, “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”  There are two kinds of fruit.  Romans 6:21-22 says, “What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed?  For the end of those things is death.  But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.”  Galatians 6:7-8 says it in a different way.  What we sow we reap.

The high watermark of a true disciple is abiding.  John 15:5 says, “I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”  John 8:31 says, “…If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.”  The result of abiding is experiential truth that brings inner metamorphosis.  Verse 32 goes on to say, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  This is truth that brings such radical change, that we are not the same person we once were.

We see this example in the life of Saul of Tarsus.  This man who was dragging believers to prison, became a minister of God’s grace.  His writings still affect you and I today as we read his epistles.  Acts 9:20 says, “Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.”  Look at the reaction of his change in verse 26.  It says, “And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple.”

Do others recognize that you are a disciple of Jesus?  Acts 4:13 says, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled.  And they realized that they had been with Jesus.”  This boldness in the Greek means a divine enablement that comes to ordinary and unprofessional people exhibiting spiritual power and authority.  Peter and John were apprehended and questioned by the Sanhedrin.  Acts 4:7 says, “And when they had set them in their midst, they asked, ‘By what power or by what name have you done this?’”

Another watermark of a true disciple is walking in the Spirit.  1 John 2:24 says, “Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning.  If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.”  The result of that abiding is supernatural power through the Holy Spirit.  Verse 27 says, “But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.”

Paul makes it very clear that it was the Spirit who empowered him.  He wants them to understand that it was God’s power alone.  1 Corinthians 2:1 says, “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God.”  Verse 4-5 says, “And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

His resurrection power abides in us.  Ephesians 1:19 Amplified says, “And (so that you can know and understand) what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength.”  Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.”  His power works in us and through us to do His will.

Philippians 1:11 says, “Being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”  What fruit is evident in your life?  Proverbs 11:30 says, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.”  What fruit do others eat from your tree?  Do they bite into something bitter and throw it away?  Rather, do they bite into something so succulent they want more?

John describes what life was like walking with Jesus.  1 John 1:1, 3 says, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life.  That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us…”  The true disciple delightfully shares the Lord with others.  j marilyn adams ~ October 22, 2015

Yesterday at rest home I spoke about the benefits of our salvation.  David tells us in Psalm 103:2 to not forget them, so last night I was meditating on them. They are countless.  Everything in salvation is a benefit.  There are NO drawbacks.  Amazing.

David described it best in 1 Chronicles 29:11-14.  Verse 14 says, “…For all these things come from You, and of Your own we have given You.”  We brought nothing into this world, and we will take nothing out.  Yet, here we are, filled with the fullness of the Godhead bodily.  Created for the good words He preordained.  He chose us to bear fruit that will remain.  We will be with Him in glory forever.

I encourage you to think about the benefits of your salvation today.  It will fill you until you overflow.