When I first woke up I just laid in bed and worshiped the Lord in my heart. I was thanking Him for how He has created our bodies to function. I have been watching a video about our circadian rhythm. I was standing in awe of His indescribable brilliance.

Each of you reading this can say the same thing. Though our circumstances are multi varied, there is a common denominator. God is truly in the center of our lives. I wrote in my journal.

‘Every aspect of my life has You as the center. My conception, womb time, all my growing up years to the present. All under Your protective hand. No one knows the details except You. I only know what You have told me or I remember. I stand in awe of You ~ expressionless ~ I am so Yours.’

I am aghast to think of the years I have wasted entertaining idols in my heart. Oh, they were not consciously set in place. They set themselves up as soon as I turned to my flesh in place of the Lord. Doing things in my own strength, or relying on something or someone, all equated to unbelief. Isaiah 5:13 says,  “Therefore my people have gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge…”

We are created to worship. Worship is built into our heart. The enemy will seek myriad ways to distract us, derail us, and keep us too busy to spend time with the Lord in intimate communion.

There is a righteous principle for worship found in John 4:23-24. It says, “…when  true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

One way we do this is to glorify Him through our words. After meditating on yesterday’s verses I came to a conclusion. All of His creation glorifies Him. Half Dome in Yosemite is a tribute of its Creator. Does it have breath like you and I do? 

Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory  of God; and the firmament shows His  handiwork.” Ephesians  2:10 says that we are His workmanship. Psalm 8:3 says that the heavens are the work of His fingers.

He is glorified through testimony. The Grand Canyon testifies of a Creator. The rocks cry out ‘glory’ as they stand where He placed them. Let our lives cry out ‘glory’ as we serve Him and worship Him in spirit and in truth.

I’ve been meditating on this for several days. 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.” The name of Jesus is a representation of all that He is at all times.

John 15:16 says, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”

Lets couple Isaiah 43:7 with Psalm 150:6  which says, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!” Psalm 148:5 was referencing verses 2-4 which declared who was to praise Him: all His angels, all His hosts, sun, moon, stars, heavens of heavens, waters above the heavens. Verses 7-12 have more. Here are a few: great sea creatures, all the depths, fire, hail, snow, clouds, and fruitful trees.

Verse 5 says, “Let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded and they were created.” Verse 13 says, “Let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted; His glory  is above the earth and heaven.”

Moses asked to see God’s glory. He was denied. Read this with me. In Exodus 14:4 God’s declaration regarding Pharaoh was, “…I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord…” The Amplified says, “…I  will gain honor and glory…”

All these verses have been percolating in my heart. What does it all mean when we add Luke 19:40? Jesus declared that if His disciples didn’t praise Him the rocks would. Many years ago a friend gave me a small painted rock with the words, ‘I will praise You.’ It was a great reminder for me.

Everything that has breath is created to worship. Romans 1:20 says, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.”

In verse 21 it says that those who did not glorify Him became futile in their thoughts. Verse 23 says, “And changed  the glory of the incorruptible God into an image…” We are created  to worship, and we will worship our heart idols IF we don’t worship the Lord.

That is a sobering thought. Ezekiel 14:1-7 was a discourse about heart idols. Fleshly heart idols usurp His place of worship. He alone is worthy. Anything that gains priority in our lives above Him has to be confessed as sin. More tomorrow.

Years ago I read Watchman Nee’s book, “The Release Of The Spirit.” It was about our outer man (soul) and our inner man (spirit). I vividly remember the illustration of a kernel of grain. I marveled at how intricately God made seeds to reproduce.

Genesis 1:29 says, “…I have given you every herb that yields seed…and every tree whose fruit yields seed…” There is a seed within the seed. Mark 4:27-28 says, “…the seed should sprout and grow…For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the fruit in the head.”

What we sow we reap. We don’t reap it in the same season that it is sown in. We sow one seed, but we reap exponentially. Genesis 8:22 says, “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest…shall not cease.”

Let’s apply this now as sowing to our flesh. Galatians 6:8 says, “…will of the flesh reap corruption…” The husk of our flesh is corrupt. Here is the truth of a believer. Romans 6:4 says, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of faith.”

Newness of faith is speaking about our inner man. We are given a charge in Ephesians 4:22 23 says, “That you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind.”

Here is what happened to that old man at salvation. Romans 6:6 says, “Knowing that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away  with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”

We do not have to sin!! Sin is a choice, because we are no longer enslaved to it. Verse 1 asks us this question, “…Shall we continue to sin that grace may abound?” I love Paul’s empathic statement in verse 2, “Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”

When we read these verses, they reveal the hidden chaff. It is believing satan’s deception! He works through lies. He cannot tell the truth. When we are tempted to go away from Scripture’s commands and truth that keeps us free, we will fall into sin—pure and simple.

The one who is deceived does not know that they are deceived. They are hardened and their heart became calloused when they ignored the promptings of the Holy Spirit’s warnings. Hebrews 3:12 says, “Beware, brethren…” The writer is addressing everyone who has believed for salvation.

Verse 13 says, “…lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” James 1:16 says, “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.” Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.”

What is chaff? I like Job’s picturesque words in Job 21:18. It was speaking of the wicked and said, “They are like straw before the wind, and like chaff that a storm carries away.” Psalm 1:3 was written about those who meditate on God’s word. Verse 4 was the contrast. It says, “The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.”

In Ruth 3:2 the word winnowing was used. It said of Boaz, “…he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.” Winnowing was the practice in those days of extracting  grain from the surrounding husk. 

The grain was tread upon by animals until the outer shell was broken. Then it was put into large tray-like baskets. It was tossed into the air where a breeze would catch the chaff and blow it away.

Chaff is lightweight and has no substance, yet it will keep planted grain from sprouting, It has to be broken first through death. Jesus was speaking about His own upcoming death in John 12:24. He said, “…unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.”

Let’s tie this into His words regarding what it means to be an authentic follower of Jesus. Matthew 16:24-25 says, “…If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” 

I want to describe our flesh as chaff. Anything fleshly is without substance, yet it can keep us from bearing harvest fruit that will glorify the Lord. Flesh exalts rather than denies.  John 6:63 says that our flesh profits nothing.

Anything that we do in our flesh is chaff and fits into the category of wood, hay, and stubble from 1 Corinthians 3:12. Verse 13 says that our works will be tested by fire. Matthew 3:12 says, “His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the bar; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Cull means to select and remove. I sort my dry beans before I soak them. I cull the ones that are shriveled or blighted. As we systematically read God’s word, it powerfully culls our fleshly attitudes that blight our character. More on this tomorrow.

I am in the midst of writing a book that the Holy Spirit laid on my heart. It is called, “Overcoming Resentment: stop defiling bitterness in its tracks.” I thought I was done, but then He took me to a verse to ponder. 

It was already a memorized verse so I camped on it. I meditated on it, and it tested me. In Psalm 26:2 David wrote, “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my mind and my heart.” As I continued to meditate, some old legalistic perception chaff began to burn away. I saw the verse in a fresh light. It became the fodder for part three of this new book.

There is so much to Joseph’s story. I encourage you to refresh your memory by reading Genesis 37, 39-50. I want to recap it through Psalm 105:16-19. God had sent a severe famine. Verse 17 says, “He sent a man before them—Joseph—who was sold as a slave.”

Verses 18-19 say, “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.” He was 17 years old when he had the two dreams. Those dreams were fulfilled when he was 30.

How is the Lord testing your heart through His word? Malachi 3:2 says, “…He is like a refiner’s fire…He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver…purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness.” Though this is speaking of Israel, we can make personal applications.

When I meditated on the verse, His refining fire was at work. Psalm 12:6 says, “The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.” God’s word is implanted, or embedded into our heart as we meditate.

Hebrews 4:12 says, “The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” We do well to implant it, so His truth is deeply embedded to do His refining (examining, testing, purging) out the lies we have believed that still control our lives.

I was pondering the life of Joseph. There was nothing recorded in Scripture about his attitude. Think with me for a moment. He was loved by his father. According to his brothers he was given preferential treatment and they hated him because of it.

Genesis 37:4 says, “…they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.” Then Joseph told them about his first dream. Verse 5 says that they hated him even more. Then he told his second dream to his brothers and his father. Verse 11 says that they envied him.

Hatred and envy are two very toxic negative emotions. Jacob sent Joseph to go look for his brothers and see how they were doing. Verses 19-20 recorded their hearts when they saw him coming to them from afar. They said, “…Look, this dreamer is coming! Come therefore, let us now kill him…”

They ended up selling Jospeh to some traders on their way to Egypt. They first stripped him of his many colored tunic. Then they dipped it in blood. When they showed it to their father, he immediately assumed that Joseph had been killed by a wild beast. They remained silent.

The traders sold Jacob to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh. Note Genesis 39:2-3. says, “The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man…And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made  all he did to prosper in his hand.”

Though Joseph was a servant, his attitude exemplified the Lord. What a challenge to us in our adverse circumstances. Joseph was set up by Potiphar’s lying wife. When her husband heard her false accusations he became angry, and put him in the king’s prison.

Even that did not affect Joseph’s attitude. Verse 21 says, “But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.” The keeper then committed all the prisoners into Joseph’s hand.

Verse 23 is astounding. It says, “The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph’s authority, because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.”

That is the promise we read in Psalm 1:2-3 when we delight in God’s word and meditate on it. Verse 3 says that we will be like a verdant tree, bearing  fruit, our leaves will not wither, and “…whatever he does shall prosper.” I believe Joseph was a meditator. More tomorrow.

What has God preplanned and prepared for you?  With that question I thought of Ephesians 2:10. It says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Our good works have a set time.

In verse 40 the servant quoted Abraham’s words. Then he told them what he did. Verse 48 says he,  “…blessed the Lord…who had led me in the way of truth…” Laban and Bethuel said in verse 50, “…The  thing comes from the Lord…” 

When they told him he could take Rebekah, verse 52 says that he bowed to the earth and worshipped the Lord. He wanted to leave right away. His mission was accomplished thus far. They tried to delay him. Verse 56 says, “…Do not hinder me, since the Lord has prospered my way…”

Once the Lord opens the door, we need to go through without any hesitation. When the Lord opens the way, the enemy of our soul will throw up roadblocks. We need to keep our eyes on the Lord and move forward into His way.

Everything will be in place when the Lord’s set time has come for the good works He has preplanned and prepared for you. Not a minute late or early. Isaiah 55:11 says that His word will not return to Him void, but “…it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

Accomplish and prosper are God’s part. Our part is to trust, remain still, and keep following the Holy Spirit. The servant said that the Lord led him in the  way of truth. In John 14:17, the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth.

John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” In John 17:4 Jesus said, “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work…”

Hebrews 12:2 says, “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…” What He has begun in us, He will continue to lead us into the truth that will prepare us to finish well. When He formed us in our mother’s womb, all that we would do and be were placed into our spiritual DNA. Let us glorify Him with obedient hearts.

I love Genesis 24. If you haven’t read it in a while I encourage you to do so. I’m only giving you the highlights from my journal. Abraham did not want Isaac to marry anyone from Canaan.

He sent his trusted servant, through an oath, on a mission to bring Isaac back a wife from Abraham’s family. He told his servant that if the young woman was not willing, then he would be released from the oath.

In Verse 7 Abraham said, “…He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.” In verse 8 Abraham reiterated that he was in no way to take Isaac back to his family.

This whole story reinforces how God’s way is always preplanned and prepared. All we have to do is to follow His words. In verses 12-14 the servant prayed very specifically. Verse 15 says, “And it happened, before he had finished  speaking…”

His prayer unfolded right before his eyes. Rebekah’s immediate actions fulfilled his prayer. Verse 21 says, “And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.”

Our flesh wants to jump ahead, but the Holy Spirit will continue to lead us when we remain still before Him. He knows what has been preplanned and prepared. Trust waits. To the servant, everything seemed right yet he remained silent.

The servant asked if there was a place to lodge in her father’s house. She answered in the affirmative. The servant bowed and worshiped the Lord. In verse 27 he said, “…As for me, being on the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren.”

Rebekah’s brother ran out to the man at the well. He invited the servant with these words, “…Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels.” When they set food before the servant and his men, he stated his mission. More on this tomorrow.

Something happened between Genesis 15 to Genesis 21. Abraham and Sarah deviated from God’s promise. They took matters into their own hands to fulfill it. Their fleshly choice still bears the consequential fruit in our day ~ Ishmael’s descendants. 

There is so much to this part of their lives that reflects our own when we step in to ‘help’ the Lord fulfill what He has spoken. It is in satan’s master plan to be sure that we derail and miss God’s promises. 

God’s plan is stated countless times in Scripture. Ephesians 1:4 says that He chose us before time began to be holy and blameless. His plan will be fulfilled as stated in Jude verse 24. It says, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.”

No matter what our adverse circumstances are, nor the consequences we bear because of our disobedience, Philippians 1:6 will always hold true. It says, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

I often think of Romans 4:17 which says, “…God…calls those things which do not exist as though they did.” His promises to Abram were for the future. Sarai was at that time still barren. Our lack does not affect God’s promise in any way.

Genesis 17:1 says, “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram…” Verse 4 says, “…you shall be a father of many nations.” According to the promise God changed his name to Abraham. 24 years had passed. God also changed Sarai to Sarah.

God next required that all the males from 8 days old would be circumcised (verses 10-13). As I read this, I realized that the circumcision had to take place before God’s promise to him could be fulfilled. 

My mind immediately went to Colossians 2:11. It says, “In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ.”

Speaking of our salvation, Romans 6:6 says, “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”

In Genesis 18 Abram was visited by three men. He immediately offered them hospitality. In verse 10 the Lord spoke another promise,  “…I will certainly return to you according to the time of life…Sarah your wife shall have a son…” Sarah heard Him and laughed. Verse 14 says, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?…”

Even with these promises stacked up in Abraham’s heart, he again reacted in self-preservation. He told Abimelech, the king of Gerar, in Genesis 20:11 that he had lied about his wife being his sister because, “…they will kill me on account of my wife.”

God’s set time had come. The promise was about to be fulfilled. Genesis 21:1-2 says, “And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at  the SET TIME of which God had spoken to him.”