Now . . we get it!

Now  .  .  we get it!

2 Cor. 1:3-4

Blessed be [gratitude and worship to]

the God [creator and sustainer of the world]

and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, [author and source of endless love]

the Father of all comfort [author and source of sympathy and compassion]

and the God of all comfort [creator and sustainer of all consolation and encouragement]

Who comforts [consoles and encourages] us in all our tribulations [trouble, disaster or difficulty],

SO THAT WE MAY ALSO BE ABLE TO COMFORT those who are in any kind of trouble, [be a source of true sympathy and compassion; consoling & encouraging others in their times of disaster and difficulty]  

with the same comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

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Pray the Word:

Lord, we will always have praise & glory for Your endless love shown by the relief You extend to us in our times of distress and the hope & courage You give in our times of disaster and difficulty  .  .  and, now   .  .  .  WE GET IT!  .  .  It is only by personal experience of Your comfort in our times of disaster and difficulty that we are able to be consoling and encouraging to others in their times of disaster and difficulty with true sympathy and compassion.

Let’s see what you’re really made of

Let’s see what you’re really made of  .  .  .  .  

Matt. 5:46

For IF YOU LOVE THOSE WHO LOVE YOU, [can tolerate anybody as long as they agree with your life-style, thinking, and opinions]

WHAT REWARD CAN YOU HAVE? [does that deserve any praise?]

Do not even the tax collectors do that? [those that are considered the worst scum of all men operate on that attitude]

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Pray the Word:

Lord, anybody can be nice to someone who is nice to him or her – BUT ----  those irritating, dependent, demanding, and critical people that You often use to fashion us into acting more Christ-like or to confront us with our own selfishness, we have to admit, LET’S US SEE WHAT WE’RE REALLY MADE OF. We know that we're to rise above the mediocre attitudes of how most people act and react to adverse people and find the redemptive attitude set by Jesus Christ – Whom we are to exemplify as Christians = Christ-followers!

What I do have

What I do have

Acts 3:6

But Peter [unashamedly, looked the lame man straight in the eye] and said,

Silver and gold (money) I DO NOT HAVE; [there’s not enough money to buy what you need]

but WHAT I DO HAVE, [something very valuable! - FAITH]

THAT I GIVE TO YOU: [now the lame man had the responsibility of what he would do with it]

In THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST of Nazareth, [ALL the spiritual  power and authority of the One who rose from the dead]

WALK! [act on your faith and get up now if you want your life to be changed forever!]

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Pray the Word:

Lord, it’s strange how we get to feeling at times that it’s not sufficient when ALL WE HAVE TO OFFER IS JESUS. And, then there are those times, too, when many of us have prayed IN THE NAME OF JESUS and afterwards have said, ‘I hope He hears my prayer’. Help us to increase our faith in the power and authority of THE NAME OF JESUS - the NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES -  and to realize when an adversity hits, we don’t have to quote every single scripture  .  .  .   JUST THE MENTION OF HIS NAME WILL DO!

Thumb their nose

Thumb their nose

Ps. 94:7-8

YET THEY SAY, [those who are inconsiderate, disrespectful, and disillusioned of God and are overconfident in their own self]

THE LORD DOES NOT SEE, [They do not act or live as if God’s eye were upon them and are not restrained by any sense of God’s presence]

NEITHER DOES THE GOD OF JACOB NOTICE IT. [They sneer at those whose confidence is in a covenant God of promises; denying that God regards or take any notice of what was done unto them]

UNDERSTAND THIS, YOU STUPID ONES [those lacking ordinary quickness and keenness of mind] among the people!

AND YOU [self-confident] FOOLS, [those who lacks judgment or sense] when will you become wise? [How long is this stupidity to continue- is there not a gleam of intelligence anywhere in your mind?]

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Pray the Word:

Lord, for a person to ever THUMB THEIR NOSE at the Living God by saying “God does not see, and if He does, He must not care” -  only serves to attack and accuse Your character in order to excuse and justify themselves. Let us be careful to not be caught in this trap of arrogance and stupidity in our times of waiting on You.

Treasurers over the storeroom

Treasurers over the storeroom

Nehemiah l3:13a

I set TREASURERS OVER THE STOREROOM: [in charge of looking after God’s sacred treasures]

Shelemiah the PRIEST, [teaching elder, clergy]

Zadok the SCRIBE, [ writer, scholar]

and Pedaiah of the LEVITES; [devoted to the service of the sanctuary]

ASSISTING them was Hanan son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah, [gives aid and support but doesn’t have specialized or professional knowledge of a subject or field]

[four different men with one thing in common]

for THEY WERE COUNTED FAITHFUL . . .

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Pray the Word:

Lord, we’re excited to know that You aren’t just searching for the obvious, visible people with leadership skills to be TREASURERS OVER THE STOREROOM, but You are looking for people who can be COUNTED FAITHFUL – having the ability to hang in with an assignment until completed; the willingness to fulfill responsibility year after year, not needing to be praised or thanked or publicly encouraged in order to do so; and to work ‘as unto the Lord’.

What a revelation

What a revelation

Heb.1:1-2

GOD, [the Author of all REVELATION of divine will or truth]

HAVING SPOKEN IN TIMES PAST to our forefathers by the prophets, [Moses & the Law] giving portions of REVELATION at different times and by various ways [personal directions, voices, dreams, visions, signs, etc.]

But, HAS NOW IN THESE LAST DAYS SPOKEN TO US BY HIS SON [giving us the highest and final REVELATION]

whom He appointed to be the heir of everything and through whom he also made the universe.

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Pray the Word:

Lord, we tend to look back to how You revealed Yourself to people in the Old Testament by voices, dreams, visions, or signs and think that we missed out on ‘all the good stuff’. In our search for Your divine REVELATION, have we failed to realize that we who are now living in the New Testament times [that time after the death & resurrection of Christ] have a far superior revelation from You? We don’t have to wonder and guess and try to figure out the meaning of things! You have plainly REVEALED the entire plan of salvation to us and have

But I need more . . . .

But I need more  .  .  .  . 

2 Pet. 1:3-4

On the authority of His divine power, God Himself, has PROVIDED US WITH THE GIFT OF ALL THINGS THAT ARE NECESSARY to life and living godly,

through the full, personal knowledge of Him [Jesus Christ] Who called us by [divine invitation] to His own glory and virtue. [to be Sons of God]

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Pray the Word:

Lord, we seem to say quite often things like ‘I NEED MORE time, I NEED MORE love, I NEED MORE money, I NEED MORE opportunities, I NEED MORE UNDERSTANDING’, &  etc – and ‘if’ we were filled with all of these things we feel WE NEED MORE of – would we still be left NEEDING MORE? Perhaps the secret to MORE is hidden in plain sight – for You did say that You have provided us with the gift of ALL THINGS NECESSARY to life and living godly – Jesus Christ! .   .   .    .   HE is ALL I NEED!

Wanting a sign from above

Wanting a sign from above

Dan. 5: 5-6

Immediately and suddenly there appeared [as if they came out of the wall] THE FINGERS OF A MAN’S HAND THAT WROTE on the wall opposite the candlestick in the king's palace [writing in large letters in the light so it could be clearly seen by all],

and the king saw THE PART OF THE HAND THAT WROTE. [obviously the work of Someone superior to man]

Then the color of the king's face was changed, [became pale from terror] and his terrifying thoughts troubled and alarmed him; [his own conscience raise up to remind him that warning signs had previously been everywhere]

the joints and muscles of his hips and back gave way [turned to jelly] and his knees smote together. [the effects of fear, terror and panic]

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Pray the Word:

Lord, if all he saw was THE FINGERS OF YOUR HAND and it brought such panic . . . If just a tiny manifestation of Your power had that effect, then what would be the effect of coming face to face with You where all was revealed? Well, it makes us stop and think twice when we want to ASK YOU FOR A SIGN so we could ‘really know how You feel’ . . . So, perhaps before we start asking for You to reveal Yourself more to us -  we should first pay closer attention to our conscience You have given to guide us and to Your Word that precisely gives us Your thoughts and plans for us to follow. We don’t want to see the WRITING ON THE WALL!

Aren’t we precious

Aren’t we precious

I Pet. 1:18-19

You must know and recognize that you were redeemed [as a slave given their freedom by someone paying a price]

from the useless way of living inherited by tradition [that empty, foolish, and unprofitable conduct, full of vain hopes, vain fears, and vain wishes] from your forefathers,

[the price for your freedom was not bought] with corruptible things [that will perish and have no eternal value] such as silver and gold,

But [you were purchased and given your freedom] with the PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST, the Messiah, like that of a sacrificial lamb without blemish or spot. [perfect in its kind - perfectly pure]

[PRECIOUS = of IMMEASEARABLE VALUE]
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Pray the Word:

Lord, we count it as PRECIOUS [of immeasurable value] that You counted us as PRECIOUS [of immeasurable value] when You so loved us that You gave Your only begotten Son to pay the price for our freedom from the control of sin by His PRECIOUS [of immeasurable value] blood. May we continue to live in this PRECIOUS [of immeasurable value] freedom!

Shooting ourselves in the foot

Shooting ourselves in the foot

Eph. 6:12-13

For WE ARE NOT WRESTLING WITH FLESH AND BLOOD [contending only with physical, literal opponents],

BUT WE ARE FIGHTING AGAINST cruel and arbitrary use of power, against the MASTER SPIRITS who are the world RULERS OF THIS PRESENT DARKNESS, against the SPIRIT FORCES OF WICKEDNESS in the heavenly [supernatural] sphere.

THEREFORE [because of this] PUT ON GOD’S COMPLETE ARMOR,

THAT YOU MAY BE ABLE TO RESIST AND STAND YOUR GROUND on the evil day of danger,

AND, HAVING DONE ALL the crisis demands,

TO STAND firmly in your place.

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Pray the Word:

Lord, we find ourselves, after a long and on-going struggle, resorting to giving into that ‘foot in our back’ pushing us to swing at anything and everything - in any way we can or have to - in order to survive and stay alive. But, tactics like that will get us nowhere and will only cause us to SHOT OURSELVES IN THE FOOT  .  .  .  we know we must stay with Your guidelines and instructions of WHO we’re to fight and HOW we’re to fight them.  We don’t intend to lose our battle with the enemy of our soul!!! We will listen to You and do it Your way  .  .  for Your don’t intend for us to lose the battle either! Fighting the wrong opponent + using the wrong tactics = losing the battle!

Wild goose chase

Wild goose chase

Is. 55: 8-9

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says 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.

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Pray the Word:

Lord, there aren’t many of us who haven’t, at one time or another, gotten stressed out over trying to figure out Your will for our life. It’s unsettling for us to not know where we’re where going and how we’re going to get there – so, in pursuit of trying to figure it out on our own, we embark upon what will certainly prove to be a WILD GOOSE CHASE!  .   .   .   it’s hard to imagine anything more doomed to failure than an attempt to CATCH A WILD GOOSE BY CHASING after it –  just the same, our effort to ‘figure it all out’ will end in a useless and often lengthy quest, only to realize that it’s beyond our reach. May we be able to look at our circumstantial uncertainty and see that this life is an incredible, exciting adventure involving uncertainty and risk – but it’s all under Your control!

At our wit’s end

At our wit’s end

Ps. 107: 27-28

They reel to and fro [going in circles]

and stagger like a drunken man [faltering and about to fall]

and are AT THEIR WIT’S END [all their skill and wisdom has come to nothing].

Then [AT THEIR WIT’S END] they cry to the Lord in their trouble, [brought to their knees]

and He brings them out of their distresses. [God’s exceedingly great and precious promise!]

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Pray the Word:

Lord, there comes a time when we’re AT OUR WIT’S END – at the end of our self-sufficiency – the place where our own skill and wisdom has come to an end – we’re perplexed, having done all that’s humanly possible to do and there’s still no escape, no help, no deliverance and we’re left staggering in our faith and courage saying, ‘what now’?  .  .  .  .  .   Does it not, ironically, work in our best interest to be left in the place where we’re past our limit to endure  .  .  wholly dependent on You to save us .  .  if that brings us to the END OF OURSELVES, and we find that You have been waiting there for us at the END OF OUR WIT’S all the time?

Reporting for duty

Reporting for duty

Heb. 11:8

[Urged on] by faith, [requiring unquestionable confidence in God of extraordinary strength]

Abraham, when he was CALLED BY GOD, [to leave what made him feel secure]

OBEYED AND WENT FORTH [given orders from headquarters and REPORTED FOR DUTY!]

to a place which he was destined to receive as an inheritance; [his obedience displayed his faith]

and he went, although he did not know or trouble his mind about where he was to go. [This is what he did know: it was a distant country; that it lay beyond a pathless desert, and he knew of no one who had ever gone there before]

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Pray the Word:

Lord, You have taken us from what’s ‘oh so familiar’ and redirected our paths into the unfamiliar. We don’t understand what’s happening in our life - what to do or where to go.  The only thing we know is that You gave us a ‘word’ (instructions, a promise, a vision) and the only thing we have to hold on to is that ‘word’. During this time, we ask that You place within us Your spirit of joy, peace and rest.  Thank you for clarity, guidance, provision and strength as we unquestionably obey Your orders and are REPORTING FOR DUTY, Sir!

Big doors often swing on little hinges

Big doors often swing on little hinges

I Sam. 17:49-50

David [someone ever so LITTLE]

put his hand into his bag [something ever so LITTLE]

and TOOK OUT A STONE [something ever so LITTLE]

and slung IT, [something ever so LITTLE]

and IT [something ever so LITTLE]

struck the 9’ Philistine giant, [something ever so BIG]

sinking into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth.

So David [someone ever so LITTLE] proved himself to be stronger than the Philistine [someone ever so BIG]

with A SLING AND WITH A STONE, [something ever so LITTLE]

and smote the Philistine, [something ever so BIG] and slew him;

but there was NO SWORD [something ever so BIG] in the hand of David. [someone ever so LITTLE]

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Pray the Word:

Lord, when we are staring into the face of those BIG things in our life that need to be taken care of, and we put our hand in our LITTLE ‘bag of possibilities’ and realize that they are few and apparently too LITTLE to be of much help – we will take courage to remember that the nation of Israel won a major battle when David, a LITTLE shepherd boy, killed a BIG 9’ giant with one LITTLE rock and that LITTLE rock not only brought down a BIG giant, it later propelled LITTLE David into the BIG position of King of Judah. Help us to not get caught up in the BIG picture and complicate things.  .  .   Let us not overlook the LITTLE hinges available in our life that can open BIG doors of opportunities!

Think you’re a basket case?

 Think you’re a basket case?

Ex. 2:3

And when she could not longer hide her child, Moses, [from those who were looking to destroy him]

she made for him an ARK OF BULRUSHES, [a place of safety, protection and preservation]

and daubed it with slime and with pitch, [perfectly watertight]

and put the child therein; [laying alone and helpless]

and she laid it in the flags [a secure hiding place]

by the river's brink. [didn’t set out it in the middle of the river to drift but kept close to shore staying in the presence of his protectors]

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Pray the Word:

Lord, we take heart to realize that even Moses started out as A BASKET CASE! And, at that time, he never in his life had a stronger protection of Your presence about him. So  .  .   we will learn to rejoice when those times come that we seem most alone and helpless and feel that we’re turning into a BASKET CASE  .  .  .  for what looks to be our ruin, is really preparing us for our deliverance - OUR BASKET COULD BE OUR ‘ARK’.

God’s ‘advisors’

God’s ‘advisors’

Matt. 16: 22-23

Then Peter TOOK HIM ASIDE TO SPEAK PRIVATELY

AND BEGAN TO REPROVE AND CHARGE HIM SHARPLY, saying,

God forbid, Lord! This must never happen to You!

BUT JESUS TURNED AWAY FROM PETER AND SAID TO HIM,

Get behind Me, Satan! YOU ARE IN MY WAY! [implying his interference was improper and his views and feelings stood in opposition of the completion of the Saviour' s purpose for mankind]

for you are minding what partakes not of the nature and quality of God, but of men. [your advise is from your human perspective and earthly logic]

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Pray the Word:

Lord, many of us are like Peter - in the sense that we want to serve You but often in the capacity of an ADVISOR. We know it’s preposterous, but to be honest, we find ourselves trying to TELL YOU WHAT TO DO quite often - especially when we want to avoid the next hard thing that You are requiring from us. Bottom line .  .  .  ITS A BAD IDEA TO TRY TO ADVISE YOU WHAT TO DO as our human perspective and earthly logic is so limited and we really don’t know what we’re talking about.

Dust under His feet

Dust under His feet

Nahum 1:3b

The Lord [is in control and] has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, [as soon as God shows Himself - the whole atmosphere is disturbed]

and THE CLOUDS ARE THE DUST OF HIS FEET. [large as they are, God walks on the clouds as man would walk on small dust particles]

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Pray the Word:

Lord, You are large and in charge! You have the power to do whatever You want. No one can stand in Your way. No matter how strong men may feel, or how abundant their power and resources, they are but THE DUST UNDER YOUR FEET and You are able to put down the mighty from their places if You so chose. We leave all justice in Your hands - as You are the Righteous Judge.

Keep from falling on your face

 Keep from falling on your face

Jude 1: 24-25

Now to Him Who is able to KEEP YOU WITHOUT STUMBLING, SLIPPING OR FALLING,

and to present you unblemished ([blameless and faultless] before the presence of His glory in triumphant joy and exultation [with unspeakable, ecstatic delight]—

To the one only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord,

be glory, splendor, majesty, might and dominion, and power and authority,

before all time and now and forever. [unto all the ages of eternity)]

Amen [so be it].
--------------------------

Pray the Word:

Lord, You are the One with the power to look out for us and KEEP US FROM FALLING ON OUR FACE when error presents itself to us that might be harmful to our welfare in any way!  .  .  .  .  and, one day, we will stand before the presence of Your glory in triumphant and unspeakable joy for all You have done for us through our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ! Amen!

Crooked is straight

Crooked is straight

Eccl. 7:13

Consider [and accept] the work of God: [His Divine Providence – the course of events which God orders and controls]

for who can make that straight, [in line with our expectations]

which he hath made crooked? [what we didn’t want to happen]

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Pray the Word:

Lord, there are situations that happen that are beyond our control and is impossible to altar or change with any amount of money or wisdom. What we need to work on are those times we are ready to quarrel with Your Divine Providence instead of keeping our trust in You  .  .  .  .  for it’s You alone that can MAKE THE CROOKED STRAIGHT . .  .  .  if it needs to be!

Seeing the big picture

Seeing the big picture

Is. 43: 18-19

Forget the former things;

do not dwell on the past.

See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.

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Pray the Word:

Lord, You see us for who we are before we actually become that person because You see our potential of who and what we are becoming. You SEE THE BIG PICTURE. Everyday we’re growing, changing, maturing, developing and moving forward  .  .  .  we’re not staying the same. Likewise, help us to SEE THE BIG PICTURE in others and not make assumptions about them too quickly.

Thinking outside of the box

Thinking outside of the box

Gen. 6:14-15, 22

[God said to Noah],

Make yourself an ark of gopher [cypress] wood;

make in it rooms [stalls, pens, coops, nests, cages, and compartments]

and cover it inside and out with pitch. [so it won’t leak]

And this is the way you are to make it:

the length of the ark shall be 450 feet, its width 75 feet, and its height 45 feet. [The size was amazing— it was just like a modern cargo ship - not some whimsical houseboat with giraffe necks sticking out the top]

Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

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Pray the Word:

Lord, what kind of person is it that hears Your voice telling them to build an ‘ark’, when there is no outward indication that there’s a need for such a vessel and even the course of nature and experience seemed against the probability of an kind of occurrence that would require such. Besides that, the opinion of others would ridicule it and the whole world would be turned against him. .  .  .  .  Yet, persuaded the communication was from You, through faith, he started THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE BOX and set about preparing the the means of salvation for all who would get on board with him. We don’t want to be little men with little minds and little imaginations that go through life in little ruts, smugly resisting all changes which would jar our little world.

Eating Sour Grapes

Eating Sour Grapes

 

Jer. 31:30

But everyone shall die for his own iniquity; [every person will be held responsible for and will suffer for their own calamities]

EVERY MAN WHO EATS SOUR GRAPES  [every person who intentionally partakes of what they know to be putrid before God]

HIS TEETH SHALL BE SET ON EDGE. [every person will suffer the consequence of going against God sooner or later]

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Pray the Word:

Lord, how many times have we used the excuse ‘it’s not my fault!’ to blame our miserable condition on anyone else besides ourselves? We know there are things and people that we don’t have control over – but, for the most part, we are at the controls of our own lives. We need more personal stamina and spiritual boldness to go forward with those things we know we’re supposed to do or say .  .  .  .  and to be big enough to take responsibility for success or failure and still go on!

Dead Flies

Dead Flies

Eccl. 10:1

DEAD FLIES cause the ointment of the dealer in spices and perfumes to putrefy and send forth a vile odor; [a small, but irritating and disgusting little thing that do a world of mischief]

so does a little folly [in him who is valued for wisdom] outweigh wisdom and honor. [cautioned to protect our reputation and be the sweet ointment and not the disgusting flies]

--------------------------------

Pray the Word:

Lord, just as that sweet fragrance of ointments attract the aggravating, irritating and disgusting flies; so it is with an honorable man with a good reputation that can attract those who do not wish him well and would like to see him fail and destroy his reputation. We pray, by the name of Jesus Christ, that all flies – dead or alive – are removed from around us and are ‘cast into the sea’! We will win!!!!

By the skin of my teeth

 By the skin of my teeth

 

Job 19:20

My bone clings to my skin and to my flesh, [state of great emaciation after a long, difficult trial]

and I have escaped BY THE SKIN OF MY TEETH. [the most narrow escape - nothing was left but his lips; he was just able to speak]
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Pray the Word:

Lord, we feel like Job, at times, when we feel that we’re hanging BY THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH during a long and difficult time of trials and we’ve gone as far as we can go - we want to give into one of our ‘it’s not fair!’ speeches and really get it all off our chest and scream – ‘there is no justice'!!  .  .  arrgh!’ .  .  .  .  .  then  .  .  .  .   we say, ‘Thank You, Lord, for listening to me! I know that this too shall pass and, though all else fades away, I know You see, know and understand what’s going on with me and will see me through with victory!’

Divine knowledge

Divine knowledge

Prov. 1:33

But whosoever LISTENS AND PAYS ATTENTION TO WISDOM [the whole of that heavenly teaching that shows us both ourselves and God and directs us into all truth]

SHALL DWELL SAFELY [in confidence, completely safe, secure and quiet from the fear of harm - having a full consciousness of innocence and God' s protection]

and SHALL BE IN CONFIDENT TRUST [hopeful reliance on what will happen in the future]

and SHALL BE QUIET, [at ease and relaxed]

WITHOUT FEAR OR DREAD OF EVIL. [not afraid or reluctant or frightened to do something because it is unpleasant, upsetting, or annoying]
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Pray the Word:

Lord, we don’t have within us the ability to take the raw material of our lives and shape it into the lifestyle You desire us to live. So, we ask for WISDOM – that DIVINE KNOWLEDGE that gives us the ability in the art of living our life with every part under Your control with unwavering trust in the face of dangers or challenges.

That’s the gospel truth

That’s the gospel truth

Col. 1:5

BECAUSE OF THE HOPE of experiencing what is laid up for you in heaven. [a treasure laid up so as to be out of danger of being taken by an enemy; reserved and waiting for you]

THIS HOPE you heard in the past [remember all the way back to the beginning of what you had faith in then – it hasn’t changed!]

in the message of THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL. [which came from the God of Truth, is brought about by the Spirit of Truth, is concerning Christ the Truth, and which contains nothing but the truth]

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Pray The Word:

Lord, it’s evident that hope is the root of our faith that leads us to a greater trust in You and to a deepening love for others. in spite of the world’s ways, there’s no doubt that Your way of love has the last word.  .  .  .  and THAT’S THE GOSPEL TRUTH!