Tag: abundant

30. r. “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,”

 

Matthew 5:5  “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

 Psalms 25:9   He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.

 Isaiah 29:19    The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.

 Psalms 149:4    For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.

 1 Peter 3:4    but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.

 Psalms 69:32   When the humble see it they will be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive.

 Psalms 37:11    But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.

 Colossians 3:12   Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,

In the vocabulary of the ancient Greek language, the meek person was not passive or easily pushed around. The main idea behind the word “meek” was strength under control, like a strong stallion that was trained to do the job instead of running wild. To be meek means to be willing to submit and control self-worth, pride, anger in a quiet, patient, long-suffering, gentle, peaceful, and humble way. It would be nearly  impossible for a person to purposefully be meek for the purpose of being meek. Being meek does not mean being passive or easily pushed around. It is more like a totally strong and capable, but who submits to be meek. He is trained to be meek instead of allowing hate, anger, and pride to rule his actions. It is more than personal restraint of the use of physical power, might, and strength or mental reasoning, knowledge, and wisdom. There is a deeper purpose, driver, and reason behind this meekness. It is more like the reason for being meek is so over-powering that these other displays of emotion and action are not even a thought. This is the life of those who have a soul deep desire to honor and glorify Jesus Christ. This ever growing desire permeates deeper and deeper into the heart, soul, and mind. It is displayed in those who want to grow in the knowledge and understanding of the grace, mercy, and love of Jesus Christ. There is godly strength in meekness. The normal worldly and fleshly reactions and thoughts, over time, do not even surface anymore. The over powering love to honor and glorify Jesus Christ smothers these desires. Oh, that we were so desiring and wanted to grow in meekness, gentleness, kindness, forgiveness, grace, mercy, and love.

5.j.  It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.

Job 12:13  “With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding. If he tears down, none can rebuild; if he shuts a man in, none can open. If he withholds the waters, they dry up; if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land. With him are strength and sound wisdom;

Psalms 147:5    Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.

Proverbs 2:6-7   For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;  he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,

Jeremiah 10:12   It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.

Colossians 2:3    to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

James 1:5    If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

Isaiah said this about God; “ Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD, or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?”  When you think about this and know that God consulted with no one.  He was not taught these things. He created all there is by speaking them into existence.  It is hard for us to imagine just how all-powerful, all-knowing, and always present God is.  His majesty is beyond our deepest knowledge and understanding.  His holiness is greater than purity.  His power is greater than all the forces of man and all of nature.  Yet, this same one and only God chose to send His son to redeem us, to create a new spirit within us, to give us peace, joy, rest, hope, love, and courage, to give us hope in eternity, to give us hope this side of eternity, and to know our sins are forgiven and removed as far as the east is from the west.  God chose us.  He called to us.  He drew us close.  He softened our hearts. He gave us the wisdom to know of both the need for salvation but also the Savior.  He said, “come unto me all who are heavy with burden and I will give you rest”.  Think about this for a while; the Creator of all there is leaves an open invitation for salvation and help.  The do we wait to run into His wide-open arms?

The Lord has done great things

“So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”

Psalms 92:4  For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.  How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep!  The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this:  that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever;  but you, O LORD, are on high forever.

Isaiah 65:13-14    Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, my servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry; behold, my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be put to shame;  behold, my servants shall sing for gladness of heart, but you shall cry out for pain of heart and shall wail for breaking of spirit.

2 Corinthians 2:14    But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.

Psalms 145:6-7    They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness.  They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

Psalms 104:34    May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD.

Psalms 126:3     The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad.

Psalms 64:10    Let the righteous one rejoice in the LORD and take refuge in him! Let all the upright in heart exult!

Where do you look for these great and awesome deeds and working of God?  Historically we can look back to the time of the great reformation, Christ, minor Prophets, time of Solomon, David, Joshua, Caleb, Moses, Joseph, Abraham, Issac, Noah, Adam and Eve.  We read of God’s hand through His great power, might, blessings, judgements, provision, defense, love, mercy, and grace.  We read of great flood, seas split in two, rivers stopped, people brought back from the dead, walls of Jericho falling, and much much more.  This is all important and gives us hope, faith, and security.   Shouldn’t it be more than this.  How does it apply today?  How do we see it?  What does it look like so we can recognize it?  For that matter how do we get to a place in our everyday lives that we see it and are able to say and speak of the hand of God?  Staying close to God allows us to see His hand at work all around us.  We can see it in creation if we allow our selves to think about it and marvel at it.  Looking through a microscope or telescope and anything between we can see wonders of God through nature in what He created.  Another place to see His blessings and activity in your life is through he people He has speaking into you life.  I recently was going through a difficult situation and a person out of the blue sent me a pod cast to listen to.  It was what I needed to hear at the time I needed to hear it.  I know in my heart this was from God.  Sometimes we get so busy with issues and cares of this world we loose sight of God and all He has done, is doing and will do.  Dear God open our eyes, ears, heart and mind to see more and more of Your active presence in our lives.  Worthy are You for praise, honor, and glory.

No Time

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

“ For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

“and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things,  so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places”

Psalms 63:1   O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

Psalms 42:8    By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.

Psalms 77:4  You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.  I consider the days of old, the years long ago.  I said, “Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.” Then my spirit made a diligent search:

Psalms 119:55   I remember your name in the night, O LORD, and keep your law.

Psalms 139:17  How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!  If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.

Psalms 149:5   Let the godly exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their beds.

Lamentations 2:19   “Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the night watches! Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord! Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint for hunger at the head of every street.”

Psalms 31:19    Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!

Psalms 36:7   How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

To desire God is to long after Him with a want to know Him more. To know Him and long for Him is to be at the well of living water. To remember Him at night while laying on our bed brings rest to our soul. To meditate on Him in the night is to have hope for the morning. In the shadow of His wings there is absolute safety, peace, joy, hope and rest.  How many days go by where God is but a second thought if a thought at all?  How are we to find rest for our soul if we spend no time desiring/seeking the only one who is able to give true rest?  It is hard to find something that you are not looking for.  It is hard to walk by faith in the promises God speaks in and through His word you do know. It is hard to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey God when there is no time spent with Him.  It is hard to proclaim praise to God for something you give hardly a second thought. Neglecting God’s word has many detrimental affects – all of which seem to compound over time to a place where your heart, mind, and soul do not hear whispers of God. If your heart, mind, and soul are void of His word do you ever wonder what fills that void?  I can tell you – SELF, PRIDE, COMPLACENCY, WORRY, ANGER, ANXIOUSNESS, UN-REPENTANCE, SHORT TEMPER, LACK OF KINDNESS, LACK OF GIVING and SACRIFICIAL GIVING, UNCERTAINTY, UNFULFILLED, UNFORGIVING, NO PRAISE, NO DISCERNMENT, LACK OF DISCIPLE MAKING, UNABLE TO SEE THE LOST, UNABLE TO GIVE THE REASON FOR THE HOPE IN YOU, WEAK OR NO FAITH, and NO DIFFERENCE IN YOUR LIFE COMPARED TO THOSE WHO ARE LOST.  God’s word does not magically fill your heart, mind and soul.  Nor does it find solid ground if it is only thought about once per week for an hour while at church.  Commit to place Him and His word first in your live each day.  Do not let the busyness of the life and what it has to offer over shadow and void your life of knowing God and humbly serving, honoring, following and obeying Him.

Precious Promises

” by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”

“I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.“

Psalms 36:5  Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O LORD. How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light. Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart!

Job 37:23  The Almighty—we cannot find him; he is great in power; justice and abundant righteousness he will not violate.

Matthew 10:29  Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.  But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.

1 Peter 2:6  For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”  So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”

Psalms 139:17   ,

2Peter 1:3  His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Hebrews 8:6  But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.  For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.  For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,  not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.  For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

Great and precious promises have been given to us to escape the corruption of the world.  What promises are coming to mind? David recorded it this way, “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!”.  David found value in thinking about God, His thoughts and promises.  He called them precious.  Something very dear to his heart.  He found comfort, refuge, strength, hope, peace, faith, love, joy, mercy…… and more staying close to God.  His daily purpose was to know and serve God deeper and fuller each day.  He had a heart desire to seek God in both times of trials and in times of blessings.  We would do well to reflect each day on God, His promises, and how we to would know and serve Him fuller.  Spend time in His word.  Seek to know Him.  Desire to serve Him.

New mercies every morning

“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”

“If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.”

“It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.”

Psalms 31:19  Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!

Psalms 36:7-10  How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.  They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.  For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.  Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart!

Psalms 73:1 Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

Psalms 73:24-26  You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.  Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Isaiah 64:4   From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.

Lamenations 3:21  But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;  they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

Habakkuk 2:3    If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.

Colossians 3:2-4  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Setting your mind on things above, knowing new mercies are coming with every new day, having a pure heart seeking God, and waiting quietly does not always seem to be the path we take.  Our minds get focused on what we see and perceive immediately in front of us.  This is not by faith but by sight.  It takes faith and hope in God to seek and know God is in control.  It is in His sovereign power and good timing that we trust and wait. When it seems you are lost in the confusion and darkness this world has to offer, seek the light of the world, God!

Fill your heart, mind and soul

“and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.  Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,  in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

Psalms 25:12  Who is the man who fears the LORD? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose. His soul shall abide in well-being, and his offspring shall inherit the land The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant. My eyes are ever toward the LORD, for he will pluck my feet out of the net.

Proverbs 1:7   The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 2:5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;

Proverbs 15:33   The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.

Proverbs 16:6   By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil.

Ecclesiastes 12:13   The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

Isaiah 50:10    Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.

Acts 10:22    And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man,

Acts 13:26    “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation.

Psalms 31:19  Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!

Proverbs 1:33  but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”

Proverbs 19:23   The fear of the LORD leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm.

Matthew 11:28-29  Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Psalms 32:8  I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

Psalms 37:23  The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way;

John 3:20-21   For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.  But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

John 8:31-32  So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,  and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

The whole duty of man is to fear God and keep His commandments. “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”  Are peoples lives, who have respect and reverence for God, different than those who do not?  What would be seen in the lives of people who respect and have reverence (fear) of God?  Would they read God’s word more? Would they give thanks more? Would they be more forgiving? Would they pray more? Are they more gentle and kind? Are they encouraging? Do they give more? Do they help more?  Do they speak words of hope, love, grace and mercy?  Do they have more inner peace?  Are they more humble?  Do they acknowledge God and His leading in their life?  Do they reach out to the unsaved? Do they talk of what God is doing in their immediate lives?  There is not a day when reading God’s word I do not see something new.  Sometimes it teaches me more about who God is, or His promises, or convicts me of an area of my life that needs to change.  Without His word I think our soul easily drifts and falls away from being able to hear His quiet voice speaking to our heart.  Think about oxygen and the importance of it on every breath.  If it were given to your lungs at the same frequency of being in God’s word  would your life be hanging on by a thread or would you be declared dead?  God’s word feeds our soul and in it we find know and understanding of God, peace, hope, help, strength, love, mercy, grace, faith….