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December 2, 2020

“Everything Is Uncovered”

12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. — Hebrews 4:12-13 NIV

Since God knows our every thought we need to be very careful of the thought patterns that we allow to develop. Of course, thoughts drift into our mind and that is beyond our control to a point.  But we do have control over whether or not we dwell on those thoughts.  In Corinthians, we are instructed to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ”.  We can also take some control of our thought patterns by making better decisions about the things we read, the things we see, the conversations that we have and the people we associate with daily.  We must be careful that our pride doesn’t lead us into believing that we are influencing others more than they are influencing us. The things and the people that we spend the most time with are the ones that influence us the most. Pride says “I would never” but we all have at some time or other done or said those things that we are not proud of later.  Those things that we did and the words that we spoke are results of thought patterns that we have developed over the years.  We need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us purify our hearts and minds. We can help by studying God’s Word and making it a bigger part of our daily thought patterns.

 11 I have hidden your word in my heart
    that I might not sin against you.— Psalm 119:11 

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,and renew a steadfast spirit within me. — Psalm 51:10 NIV

23 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. — Phil. 4:7 NIV

23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. — Proverbs 4:23 NIV

 “The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

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November 25, 2016

The Spoken Word Produces Fruit

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11 It is the same with my word.  I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.

– Isaiah 55:11 NLT

God furnishes everything that the natural world needs to survive and produce bountiful crops. It is His plan that He established when He created everything in the universe. All plants would produce seed and fruit after its own kind so that the animals would have plenty to eat. Even though Adam and Eve sinned and were removed from the Garden of Eden, that did not change the law of reaping and sowing. Now, they would have to work for the plants to produce and feed themselves, but still the plants produced seed and fruit for them to eat and survive
God’s plan for the Spiritual world is the same. He sends out His word and it produces fruit after its kind. Once the Word (the seed) is planted in our hearts, God sends out His Holy Spirit to water it causing it to be alive and active and productive. It might reproduce 30 times, 60 times, or in really good hearts it might even reproduce itself 100 times The really good heart is one that has the Seed implanted and waters that Seed every day with Scripture study and meditation on the Scriptures. That heart also communes with the Spirit of God everyday without ceasing. God’s Holy Spirit knows the heart of God and He searches our hearts so that the communication is effective and productive. Take time to study and pray and you will see the Word of God start to reproduce like fruit in those around you.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous
Post 11-25-2016
January 8, 2016

Denial Defeated

even-smaller-bug-light17 But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.” — Mark 16:7 N​KJV

Peter had boasted to Jesus that he would never deny Him. He was adamant that he would stand by Jesus no matter the situation or the cost.
35 But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.”  And all the other disciples said the same. — Matt. 26:35 NIV  (Emphasis mine)
​We sometimes overlook the fact that they all ran away that night in the garden. Where the others went, we aren’t told, but John was with Jesus and Peter followed at a distance.  We. like Peter, often think that we are stronger in our faith than we really are. If we tell Jesus we will do this or that, He will most often give us the opportunity to do exactly that.  And, if we try to accomplish whatever “that” is in our own power, we, too, will fail.  Peter denied Chirst with his actions and his words. Most of the time, we deny Chirst with our inaction and lack of words.  Whether we deny Him passively or actively, it is still denial.  When I fail to speak to someone about their eternal destiny when the Holy Spirit urges me to do so, I have denied Jesus.  And when the Spirit brings conviction, my heart is broken and I repent with remorse and bitter tears.  But the conviction is not punishment or isolation from God, it is discipline and an invitation to come back to God.  When those times come that I fail to speak out and I feel like Peter must have felt that night, I read this verse and put my name there instead of Peter’s.  I make it personal and read it ; “go tell His people –and Wally– that He is still going before us and we will see Him”.   Then I know that I am forgiven and Jesus wants to hold me and comfort me.  My tears of remorse become tears of joy!  My sadness becomes praise to the One who will never exclude me.  Such wonderful, glorious, amazing grace and love encourages me to “be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power”.  I am still on the team,  Jesus has chosen me and I want to shout “Me, too!”  He has chosen “Me, too”!
Post 01-08-2016
July 16, 2014

No Body or No Thing Can Hide From God

God is waiting to show you the way.

God is waiting to show you the way.

12 God’s word is living and active. It is sharper than any two-edged sword and cuts as deep as the place where soul and spirit meet, the place where joints and marrow meet. God’s word judges a person’s thoughts and intentions. 13 No creature can hide from God. Everything is uncovered and exposed for him to see. We must answer to him.​ ​–Hebrews 4: 12​, 13​ (GW)
We are told in the first chapter of John that “the Word became human and dwelt among us”. That Word was and is Jesus Christ. He is still alive and active. He stands at the right hand of the Father and intercedes for us. His Holy Spirit searches our hearts and minds and knows our very thoughts. We can all “talk the talk” but only each of us and God know whether or not we are “walking the walk”.
27 All of our thoughts are known to God. He can understand what is in the mind of the Spirit, as the Spirit prays for God’s people.–Romans 8:27 (CEV)
​He knows our thoughts and judges our intentions. We cannot fool Him, we cannot hide our thoughts from Him and we cannot physically hide from Him. He sees all, hears all, and knows all about us. And one day, “every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess” that He is Lord. We can do it now and spend an eternity with Him or we can wait until judgment day and spend an eternity in hell. Jesus wants everyone to go to heaven, but He knows that not every one will choose to go. The choice is ours.
Post 07-16-14