John 14:27 says, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”  Isaiah 9:6 says that He is our Prince of Peace.

Ephesians 2:14 says that He Himself is our peace.  It is His everlasting gift to those who put their faith and trust in Him.  His peace flows through us like a river.  A gift is something we don’t earn.  We cherish it and keep it.

We will never lose His gift of peace because as the above verse says, He is our peace.  Yet we can override it with our worry, fears, doubts, and negative dialogue.  Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.”  There is our key to walking continually in His gift of peace.  He is the subject of our thoughts.

Faith and trust are the heart-keeper of our peace.  Ephesians 6:16 says, “Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.”  Fiery darts come in the first person.  “You are not…, you cannot…”  It is a personal attack against our faith.  Job’s attack from satan was personal.  It affected his entire life.

Recognize satan’s tactic: to drawn us away from our focus on the Lord.  If we accept the fiery dart lie, it will penetrate and begin to rule internally.  When satan attacks our faith, we counter attack with our faith in God’s word.  Colossians 2:7 says, “Rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.”

We are taught that faith comes by hearing His word (Romans 10:17).  When the fiery dart hits, we don’t give it another thought.  We immediately turn our thoughts to God’s word.  His eternal truth quenches fiery dart lies.

Here is the governor for our heart.  Colossians 3:15 says, “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which you were called in one body, and be thankful.”  Both verses in Colossians talk about being thankful.

I will close with 1 Thessalonians 5:18.  It says, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  An attitude of gratitude is like a spiritual sponge that absorbs the negative atmosphere around you.  We also create an internal atmosphere from our negative thoughts about ourself, others, or our circumstances.

We know that in heaven the Lord will wipe away all tears.  There will be no more sorrow or pain.  Yet, right now today, we are living in His everlasting comfort.  The Helper or Comforter dwells within!

John 14:16 says, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever.”  2 Corinthians 1:3 says, “Blessed by the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.”

His comfort strengthens and empowers us to endure.  Romans 15:4 Amplified says, “For whatever was thus written in former days was written for our instruction, that by (our steadfast and patient) endurance and the encouragement (drawn) from the Scriptures we might hold fast to and cherish hope.”

Why do we turn to the book of Psalms in our time of need?  Many are written by David in his times of distress.  He expresses his heart in his anguish.  We can relate.  We can feel his pain as we navigate through our own.

Here is a new song about how the word sustains:

Sustained

I’m sustained by Your Word, O Lord.  It’s like glue that holds my grieving heart together.  Your peace is like warm oil.  It penetrates and soothes.  Your truth is my shield and my refuge.  It’s my rock in which I hide.

You are my strength, O Lord.  Each breath I take I’m breathing in Your presence.  Every moment You are there to comfort and to bear.  In Your arms I am secure.  For I am nurtured in Your love.

The word preserve means to keep.  The Lord preserves or keeps us in His way, empowering us to bear fruit that glorifies Him.  Here are some verses:  Psalm 145:20.  He preserves all who love Him.  Psalm 47:10.  He preserves the souls of His saints.  Psalm 31:23.  The Lord preserves the faithful.

Proverbs 2:8 says, “He guards the paths of justice, and preserves the way of His saints.  Jesus preserved Peter.  Look at Jesus’ reassurance.  In Luke 22:31 Jesus told Peter that satan desired to sift him.

Verse 32 says, “But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”  Jesus prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail during the sifting.  His words, ‘when you have returned to Me’ imply that Peter would return.  Then Jesus gave him a commission that also implied that the sifting would make Peter’s faith stronger.

Trials and temptations by satan’s sifting are designed to destroy.  The Lord’s fiery-refining trials purify our faith by removing any dross that would weaken it.

Amos 9:9 says, “For sure I will command, and will sift the house of Israel among all nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve; yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground.” In those days they sifted the grains by shaking them in large mesh sieves.  The chaff and little pebbles would fall to the ground, thus purifying the grain for use.

Jesus gave Peter a commission for after his sifting.  We also have a trial-commission.  2 Corinthians 1:4 says, “Who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

Trials and siftings bring up the dross.  That process is exceedingly painful.  Job was sifted by satan, but Job himself had no clue that satan was behind his losses.  Jesus was sifted by satan.  How did He counter each of satan’s temptation-attacks?  By speaking His word, “It is written…”  That is how we persevere.  We are called to persevere by holding fast to our faith through His word.

Here is another aspect of our call to persevere.  Ephesians 3:10-11 says, “To the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We are part of His church on display to other believers, unbelievers, and to the rulers of darkness.  Ephesians 6:12 says, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

We stand through perseverance, as the Lord is working out His eternal purposes in our lives.  I love Ephesians 1:11.  It says, “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.”

I love Deuteronomy 33:27.  It says, “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, and will say, Destroy!”

We are continually upheld, undergirded, enveloped, sustained, and kept by His everlasting arms.  He spoke of His strength to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9.  He helped Paul understand that in his times of greatest weakness, God’s strength would be most evident.  I’m paraphrasing.  Paul could have said, ‘Oh, I get it now Lord!  It’s when I realize how weak I really am, I can truly rejoice because I’m being upheld by Your strength!’

The Red Sea was an in-your-face impossibility for the children of Israel.  Pharaoh and his army were behind them.  The Red Sea was in front of them.  They were hemmed in.  They could not go around it, turn back, or go through.  In their moment of weakness, God revealed His strength.  He parted the Red Sea, they went across on dry ground, and the Lord used their impossibility to destroy their enemies.

Jericho’s thick walled city was another impossibility.  It stood between them and God’s promise to them.  God gave them specific instructions.  As they carried them out, He caused the impossible barrier to fall down flat.  What stands between you and God’s promise?

Our flesh reacts to the impossible.  Why?  We focus on our inability.  We are looking at our weakness rather than His strength.  I love Psalm 18.  It comes from 2 Samuel 22.  Verse 1 says, “Then David spoke to the Lord the words of this song, on the day when the Lord had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.”

In Psalm 18:1-2 we see David’s focus on the Lord.  It says, “I will love You, O Lord, my strength.  The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

When we ‘think’ that we cannot take it anymore, that is our signal to course correct.  It indicates that our thoughts are on ourself instead of Him.  David was overwhelmed.  These are his words to us on how to refocus.  Psalm 61:1-2 says, “Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer.  From the end of the earth I will cry to You.  When my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”

Our heart is our belief center.  When it is overwhelmed it’s because our mind, will, and emotions are impacted by our self-focus.  Look up.  Psalm 121:-1-2 says, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills–from whence comes my help?  My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”  Verse 8 says, “The Lord shall preserve (keep) your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.”

Colossians 1:10 says, “That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”  Paul’s prayer for the church in Colosse is a great way for us to pray for others.

Here are two ways that displease the Lord.  Things that are evil in His eyes.  They are traps of satan that we want to avoid.  They are effective weapons in his arsenal against us.

1.  Complaining

2.  Speaking against others

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 against them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.”

Numbers 12:8-10 says, “…Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?  So the anger of the Lord was aroused against them, and He departed.  And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam became leprous…”

The fruit of their complaining,  and Aaron and Miriam speaking against Moses was the same: God’s swift judgment.  We reap what we sow.  Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he shall also reap.”

Thoughts always precede actions.  Therefore, to please the Lord, begins with our thoughts.  Psalm 104:34 says, “May my meditation be sweet to Him; I will be glad in the Lord.”  The Lord is the only One who hears the meditation of our heart.  Others hear our words from our meditation.

Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it spring the issues of life.”  Psalm 141:3 says, “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.”  Wise prayers.

James 3:8 says that our tongue is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.  Verses 9-10 explain.  They say, “With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God.  Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing.  My brethren, these things ought not to be so.”

Matthew 15:19 says, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts…”  Verse 20 says that they defile us.  Inner defilement is satan’s goal.  Don’t give him that opportunity.  Ephesians 4:27 says, “Nor give place to the devil.”  Don’t give him that foothold into your heart.

I love David’s words.  Let’s make them our prayer as well.  Psalm 19:14 says, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hebrews 11:27 is our example from Moses’ life of gazing to persevere.  It says, “By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.”  How do we see things that are invisible?

I love the ocean.  I live inland and haven’t been to the ocean in years.  Yet I can “see” it in my mind, and enjoy it through my memory.  The Lord describes His attributes and nature all through Scripture.  We gaze at Him through His word.

2 Corinthians 3:18 says that we are being transformed into His image as we gaze at Him through an unveiled face.  Our hearts are open.  As we gaze at the Lord through His attributes and nature, 2 Peter 1:4 says that we become partakers of His divine nature through His promises.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 says, “For our light affliction…is working for us…while we…look…at the things which are not seen….”  Our unbroken focus on the Lord works for us as we bring Scriptures about Him into our mind and meditate on them.

Here is new song about gazing:

Song of the Altar

In the midst of adversity when trouble surrounds me.  I come into Your presence and I build an altar.  I remember how You met me time and time again and I bow in worship.

Nothing can overtake me when I hide in You.  Nothing can overwhelm me when I look to You.  I set my eyes on You and I gaze into Your face.  I bask in the love of Your eyes full of grace.

No one can comfort me like You O Lord.  I will make Your presence my abiding place as I hide in You from the tempest of this storm.  Yes I’ll hide in You as I bow and worship at Your feet.

Jesus is our excellent example of focused perseverance.  Hebrews 12:2 says, “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

We learn perseverance as we go through our trials.  Hebrews 5:8 is another example from Jesus.  It says, “Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.”

Here is instruction from Paul for our obedience.  2 Corinthians 10:5 says, “Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”

Any thought opposed to the nature and will of God must be brought into obedience.  What kind of thoughts oppose?  Anything negative against yourself, others, or circumstances beyond your control.

In 1977, I fell head first into a six foot ravine.  It caused a severe brain injury.  I thought my health was failing.  It was an escalating injury that was beyond my control.  I didn’t remember falling for 3 1/2 years.

Our trials bear fruit that glorifies the Lord when we take our wayward thoughts captive.  We learn lessons we could not have learned any other way.  He gives us rich insights to help us navigate.  He brings us into deeper intimacy with Himself that sustains and fortifies our spirit man.  Trials are an essential part of our spiritual maturity.

Here is the progression from Romans 5:3-4.  It says, “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

Our trials purify our faith.  They make it stronger because we are continually adding to it as we endure.  2 Peter 1:5 says, “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith…”  Verse 6 says that one of the things we add is perseverance.

I want to tell you about my latest miracle.  My brain dr just confirmed it this morning.

In 1973 I was in a car wreck.  I was going through a left turn light in a huge intersection.  A lady ran the red light.  Hit the right rear side on my car.  The spin-impact caved in my sternum.  I had severe headaches for 7 years until my cranial was adjusted.  I could put my hand sideways in the cave which cradled my little finger and my fourth finger.

Another God-shift!

Wee hours of Friday morning the Lord began shifting my right clavicle and right ribs. Last night at 5:45 I was coloring a book mark.  All of a sudden the Lord began shifting my right ribs.  I had to lay down because I was tensing up from pain.  Then at 11:30 He began shifting again.

This God-shift has brought up the top and the bottom of my sternum, leaving only one little area in the middle still indented.  My dr felt it with amazement this morning.  She just smiled.  She knows only the Lord could bring that kind of change.  I asked her what change it would mean.  She said that it would get oxygen to my brain!!  That I would be able to breathe better.

O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together!  Psalm 34:3.  

It is never too late for the Lord to perform a miracle for any one of us.

Our hope is in the LORD and Him alone.

NO ONE could ever have done what He did…46 years later

Onward

Marilyn

Here are three 5×7 framable cards.  I had them professionally produced from my artwork.  They are $3.00 each plus postage.  They come with an envelope in an archival clear plastic envelope.  You can frame them or write on the inside and mail them.  If you are interested please let me know in comments.  Thanks ~ Marilyn

 

Last night I had a dream.  In my dream, I was telling my friend about Psalm 119:173.  I woke myself up, talking out loud to my friend.  I looked it up this morning because it is not one that I have memorized.  It says, “Let Your hand become my help, for I have chosen Your precepts.”  What are you choosing?

Isaiah 28:10 says, “For precept must be upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.”  The word ‘precept’ is used 21 times in Psalm 119.  According to the Strong’s Exhaustive it means: a commandment, statute, mandate; something appointed or authorized by God.

It makes me think about Psalm 19 and the things God’s word does and is.  Verses 7-9 say that it is perfect, sure, right, pure, clean, true, and righteous.  It converts our soul, makes us wise, rejoices our heart, and enlightens our eyes.  His word endures forever.

Verse 10 says that His word is to be desired more than gold, and that it is sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.  Money can’t buy it, nor can anything rival it.  Verse 11 says, “Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward.”

That takes us to John 14:21.  It says, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.  And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”  He wants to make Himself known throughout every situation in our lives.  Nothing is impossible for Him, nor is He ever blocked in His purposes.

Do you love His word?  Does it guide your choices and decisions?  In Him we live, and move, and have our being.  He is our All In All.  Psalm 18:30 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.”