Power – Page 14 – Praying Pint

Remember the Creator

“So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.”

Psalms 29:1 Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

Psalms 2:10-12 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Psalms 68:32 O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God; sing praises to the Lord, to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens; behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice. Ascribe power to God, whose majesty is over Israel, and whose power is in the skies.

Psalms 96:7-9 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength! Ascribe to the LORD the glory.due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts! Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!

Isaiah 60:12 For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste

Jeremiah 13:16-18 Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the twilight mountains, and while you look for light he turns it into gloom and makes it deep darkness. But if you will not listen, my soul will weep in secret for your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive. Say to the king and the queen mother: “Take a lowly seat, for your beautiful crown has come down from your head.”

Revelation 5:11-14 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Ecclesiastes 11:8 So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 12:1-2 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain,

Remember your Creator!! What is to be remembered? He is the creator of all there is. The creator is Holy. He created mankind in His own image. He did not abandon mankind after they disobeyed Him. He made a way for man to be forgiven and their sin forgotten/blotted out. He filled men of old with His spirit to record His word for mankind. He sent His son to redeem mankind. He placed on our hearts knowledge of Himself. He gave many promises, blessings, and warnings. He is all knowing. He is all powerful. He will never leave us or forsake us. He will guide us. He will protect us. He has a plan and purpose for our life. His son died for mankind, rose from the dead, and is coming again. He will judge mankind. He will divide those who love and serve Him from those who do not. Those who serve Him will receive reward – Heaven. Those who do not serve Him will receive punishment for rejecting Him and His son – Hell. Remember your Creator. Serve Him with all of your heart, mind and soul. Listen to His leading. Bring honor and glory to Him in all you think, say and do.

Your Face I Seek 1

” For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

“You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, LORD, do I seek”

Psalms 27:4 One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.

Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

Daniel 9:3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

Luke 13:24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Psalms 63:2-5 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

We have God’s promises; “Seek and you will find”, “knock and it be opened”. There are qualifiers to these promises. They require faith. “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” And seeking with all of your heart. “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” In our culture where everything seems to be just a click away from finding what we want I wonder if seeking God day after day is even a thought on our hearts and mind. When I think back at the times I have been earnestly seeking God for resolution to something, there were times it was immediate and other times it was only months afterward that I was able to see how God had been leading. God does not leave His children. He is ever present. He will be our rock and our refuge but that would mean we need to turn it over to Him and trust whatever the outcome is and know that it was His plan for us. Faith is required. Trusting is required. Believing is required. Relying is required. Seeking is required. Knocking is required.

Fruit of your lips

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself”

“the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise”

Psalms 9:1
I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

Psalms 86:12
I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.

Psalms 34:1
I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together! I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.

Psalms 103:1
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,

Psalms 145:1
I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.

Psalms 146:1
Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

1 Chronicles 29:10
Therefore David blessed the LORD in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: “Blessed are you, O LORD, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.

Hebrews 13:15
Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

Luke 10:27
And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Isaiah 43:21
the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.

Do you remember the last time you “Praised God” for who He is, what He has done, His steadfast love, His power and might, His creation, etc…? I fear that we are to often seeking something from Him and to rarely praising Him. There is a song form Lauren Daigle:

Before I bring my need
I will bring my heart
Before I lift my cares
I will lift my arms

Before I speak a word
Let me hear Your voice
And in the midst of pain
Let me feel Your joy
Ooh, I wanna know You

You are my treasure and my reward
Let nothing ever come before
You are my treasure and my reward
Let nothing ever come before
I seek You

Remember in loving your God with all your heart, mind and soul we should be having praise flow out of us like a mighty river. Place praise for Him first in your heart and mind.

Place of Rest

walk in it, and find rest for your souls.

Joshua
‘The Lord your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.

isaiah 11:10
In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

Jeremiah 6:16
Thus says the Lord:
“Stand by the roads, and look,
and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
and find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it. ’
I set watchmen over you, saying,
‘Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet! ’
But they said, ‘We will not pay attention. ’
Therefore hear, O nations,
and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.
Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people,
the fruit of their devices,
because they have not paid attention to my words;
and as for my law, they have rejected it.

Isaiah 40:28
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

I see this happening over and over again. In times of trials and heavy burdens people turn to God for peace and rest. They come to a place where “doing it on their own” is not working out and the desire/seek God’s hand in their life. Why is it that we “run” to God when we are finally broken but in times of little to no trials or burdens we seem to not see the need for God? Could it be that our walk with Him is superficial? What does it say about a life that only seeks God when times are rough? What would you think about a son or daughter who only spoke to their earthly father when they needed something or were in trouble? They never went to see their father any other time. They never invited him to any part of their life. Only when they were in need did they contact him. I am confident you get the point – God, our heavenly Father, wants our heart desire to be for Him, to serve Him, to seek what His purpose is for us each day. To stay in His word we find words of direction, hope, peace, rest…. To stay in His presence is peace and rest. Learn to live in His presence every moment.

Understanding Instruction

so that the people understood the reading.

Nehemiah 8:7
And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

Leviticus 10:11
and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them by Moses

Malachi 2:7
For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction

Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

Acts 2:36
And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 7:51
“You stiff- necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.

Can you imagine what it was like to live in a time where the Holy Spirit did not indwell you. (this assumes you have repented of sin and trust in Jesus Christ for forgiveness) There are two points that come to mind today. We know that Jesus promised to send a helper (the Holy Spirit) to us after His resurrection. The Holy Spirit will guide and lead us into all truth, convict of sin, and confirm in our heart where God is leading us. In the time of Nehemiah people did not have this indwelling and required instruction to be explained so that they could understand. This is much like our understanding of what was being preached/taught prior to being saved. We could not understand or connect the promises of God to our everyday lives. However upon receiving the Holy Spirit we are given this gift. It is not all at once but a life long learning – precept upon precept, line upon line, promise upon promise, application upon life’s journey. The second point is that the people chose and wanted Nehemiah to teach them. Since Christ’s death and resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are given great opportunity to grow in our understanding of God, His purpose, and how to live in this world so that we can be used by Him. It seems our lives get so caught up in everyday stuff that we lose sight of this gift. And because we do not guard our selves and keep Him first we lose sight of our purpose. How can the Holy Spirit speak to our heart if we spend no time in God’s word? How can we know our true purpose if we neglect the source of our leading? How can we grow if the only food is what we hear in a 30 minute teaching from our pastor? The answer is we will not grow. As Paul said “You are infants on milk when you should be eating solid food”. It is good for us to see people of Nehemiah’s time who chose to be taught as an example – And for us to commit to spending time each day feeding on God’s word with a desire for Him to teach us.