Praise God for Stability,God Never Changes

In Yesterday's post of Praise, I wrote about God's word. Today, I have been thinking about how God Himself never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. So many things in this world change - friendships, Church family, family, environment, jobs, our children grow up, our appearance, food supplies, financial market. Everything changes but God's Word says God does not. He does not grow weary. He never gets worn out. His love is constant. Even the heavens and earth will be changed but God will not.

Many times, we want stability but the only stability we can have is in God.  He can not be manipulated, coerced nor does he compromise like we do. His plan from the beginning of time since He created Adam and Eve has never changed.  We are His people and He is our God. He wants to live with us, be in relationship with us, and guide us. By his love, He created us, his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do the works he created us to do before the foundation of the world (see Ephesians 2:10).

We sometimes may wonder why we are joyful one minute and full of anger the next. We change with our circumstances. If our children are behaving, we are at peace. If they are not behaving or if someone says something unkind to us, our attitude changes. We go from one thing to the next seeking stability. God is our rock, our ever present help in trouble. He does not change. He does not waiver. His love does not increase when we do good nor does it decrease when we do wrong/bad.

Verses to think on:
Hebrews 13:8 - Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Hebrews 1:10-12 - “In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,
    and the heavens are the work of your hands.
¹¹ They will perish, but you remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
¹² You will roll them up like a robe;
    like a garment they will be changed.
But you remain the same,
    and your years will never end.”^[a]Malachi 3:6 - I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.

James 1:17 - Every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadows.

Numbers 23:19 - God is not a man that he should lie nor a son of man that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

Psalm 102:27 - But you remain the same and your years will never end.

Lamentations 3:22 - Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.

Lord, I praise you that you are my rock. You are my stability. I can have joy despite hardship, pain, loss as well as in good times. You are my treasure. Your strength is what lifts me above my circumstances. I thank you that I can always run to you. I thank you that you never leave me or forsake me. 

First Day of Thanksgiving Praise - Praise for God's Word

November is here. At our house, we like to write what we are thankful for on leaves and hang them on our Thanksgiving Tree. Then on Thanksgiving, we can recount our blessings and share them with each other. . This year, my son said we should use our big Christmas tree. I thought this was a good idea because we had more room to write lots of things we are thankful for throughout the day. We are also making loops of thanks to hang all over. We like traditions because they bring our family together to share and celebrate. The tradition for the giving of thanks starts on November 1st when we put up the tree and start writing our leaves of thanks. Then on the day of Thanksgiving, we take down all our leaves of thanks and loops of thanks and read them as a blessing unto the Lord for all He is, has given, has done and is doing in our lives. The day after Thanksgiving (when my parents always put up our tree), we start our Christmas blessings traditions. Actually, the whole thanksgiving four day weekend is filled with much rejoicing.

For the last five weeks, I have been thinking upon spiritual blessings (natural blessings too). In Ephesians we are told "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." Many earthly blessings we have will perish but the Word of God is eternal and unchanging. 

Psalm 119:92 - If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.

God's word brings hope, healing and comfort. We are so privileged to have God's written word to speak to us. We don't have to guess about God and who He is. We don't have to guess about how we are to live in Him.   

The word is eternal and it never changes. We have God's written word that He breathed out and Has spoken. 

The word is:
1.  a lamp onto my feet (Psalm 119:105)
2. a light onto my path  (Psalm 119:105)

3. Alive and active (Hebrews 4:12)

4. Sharper than any two edged sword (Hebrews 4:12)

5. penetrating even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrows (Hebrews 4:12)

6. judges our thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Hebrews 4:12)

7.  breathed out by God  (1 Timothy

8.  profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

9. gives life (Psalm 119:50)

10. Eternal and unchanging (Isaiah 40:8)

11. Sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6)

God says in Psalm 1 that we are blessed if we delight in the law of the Lord, day and night.  Psalm 119 is a great psalm of thanks for God's word. We have been trying to memorize this Psalm as a thanksgiving praise for God's word. God's word is what brings me hope when all else seems loss. God's word is what spurs me on to His good works that He has prepared.  God's word is what fills me with thanks and without his word, I would just complain most of the day. God's word is what directs my life. God says he knows we love him when we do what His word says.  

Many times people believe they know God but they never read about Him. They made up who God is in their own mind without getting to know Him. In fact, we all have done that. When God comes to live in our lives and in our heart through being born from above where His spirit comes to live in our bodies (not in temples made by hands but in our flesh), He lives through us. The word comes alive. The words are no longer words on a page we have to read to try to be good. We can't be good. We are sinners. The law shows us what we are doing wrong. Without the hope of God sending his son, Jesus, to die on the cross we would feel hopeless as we try to fulfill the law's demands. We can't even love apart from God for God is love. This is love that he died for us while we were still sinners. We couldn't be good enough to come to God. He had to come to us. He came to earth from heaven to be born in a poor, unrecognized, humble way where only Shepherds were awake to hear the angels tell of his birth. Shepherds who were the lowly in society heard the Good news first.  We think our life may be full and that we don't need God or His word. We think we have everything we need. However, the truth is we are strangers and aliens and this world is fading, perishing and dying. Everything external is dying. God brings hope in Jesus death saying he conquered death and the good news is he died to bring you into relationship with Him. We don't have to run. We don't have to do it ourselves. We don't have to pretend we have everything we need. We don't have to hide from our past. We don't have to be defensive over what we did to hurt others. We don't have to lie. We can come into the light of truth and see God loves us and He wants us to believe onto him and worship Him in spririt and in truth.

God's word is not burdensome but a light. In God's presence is fullness of joy. I pray we pick up His word and have faith for unbelief dies as we read His Word. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. May we decrease and He increase as our faith in Him flourishes.

Lord Jesus, I am so thankful that you are the living Word. I am thankful for your written word as an expression of you that I can pick up and read anytime. Thank you that i don't have to hide my Bible and that I can freely read of you. Others may talk to you, preach you, teach you, share you but really You already did that in my heart and in your word. I thank you that your word never changes even though people's opinions of you do. I don't need to live in confusion or fear wondering who you are or basing my opinions of you on what others said. I can see in your word who you really are. You are awesome, full of glory, deserving of all praise. May every knee bow and every tongue confess that you are Lord. Praise you God.

Article that I found interesting:
http://calvaryhillchurchofgod.com/Sermon_Outlines/I%20AM%20THANKFUL%20FOR%20THE%20WORD%20OF%20GOD.pdf

   

http://www.proverbs31.org/devotions/sparkling-confession-2012-10/

http://www.proverbs31.org/devotions/sparkling-confession-2012-10/

Embracing Serving Our Children, Because Time Goes Quickly

Embracing Serving Our Children, Because Time Goes Quickly

Made in His Image

2 Corinthians 3:18
      But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Have you ever really pondered what it means to be made in the image of God? God does not just say in His Word once that we, humans are made in His image but instead He says it three times. Genesis 1:26: "Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth,".... Genesis 1:27 - "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female He created them." In verse 26, we see we were made in God's image and then in verse 27 God repeats it two more times.

In the past, I always thought of "In His image" as our reasoning abilities, our abilities to worship Him, our abilities to reflect. The more and more God reveals Himself, I see that made in His image has to do with Him and how we are to reflect who He is like a person looking into a mirror.  We have learned that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. In the Word of God, we are told in Isaiah 43:7 that "Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yes, I have made him." Our purpose is to glorify God. Our image does not bear the resemblance of God many times because we want to be God and sit on the throne of our Kingdom. I say this about myself. I love God and I read His Word and with Help do what it says but there are many days where I try to figure it out and accomplish it according to my own plans.

I think the very first sin of Adam and Eve in taking the bite of fruit is that they desired to be like God. Being made in God's image and being made to reflect God's image by Glorifying God does not make us God or like gods. Even after having the Spirit of God in us, we are not God nor are we like gods. We are still human and He is still God. Our ways are still not His ways and our thoughts are still not His thoughts.  After being born again, meaning the Spirit of God comes lives in me through Jesus life, death and resurrection, God lives in me. Our only part is that we have been saved by grace THROUGH FAITH.  It is not me becoming like God. All of me is crucified and buried so that He can reign and live in me.

Additional Scripture Readings
 Genesis 1:26-27
Isaiah 43:1-7

Walking the Road

1. Am I trying to be like God or wanting to be like God rather than let God reign and live in me?

2. When I look in the mirror who do I see, who does God see, who does others see?

3. What does it mean to reflect God's?

4. If my purpose is to glorify God, what does it mean to glorify God?

His Sufficiency, My Submission

I have been greatly encouraged by studying Proverbs 31.  I saw areas where God was encouraging me to remain steadfast and I saw new areas God wanted me to grow in. When God puts something on my heart to do, I am encouraged. Satan may want us to despair, feel overwhelmed, or sad but our Great God always wins His battles. God used an ordinary people all the time to accomplish His great purposes. We are all ordinary but our God is extraordinary. He sees the great things He has planned for us to accomplish through Him.

Many times we despair because we try to do God's law without His power and strength. Trying to bey God's Law and rules is a system of religion not a relationship. We can not fulfill the law's demands. The law was a schoolteacher/tutor to lead us to Christ. Everything Christ did on the Cross was sufficient. Jesus' last words were it is finished. God is our sufficient savior. We will be discouraged if we take God's commands and just try to do them. Practices without foundational truth become a system of religion without power. It is like having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof as found in 2 Timothy 3:5. We can not put practical application before proper theology and a right relationship with God.

I have grown in the areas of using my words as an instrument of peace. I have learned much about grace, humility, a gentle and quiet spirit, working hard with hands rather than being idle. As I studied Proverbs 31, God really showed me more about His Sufficiency and my submission.2 Corinthians 3:5 says
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God ... (NKJV) . As I studied the virtues of the Proverbs 31, I rested in God knowing that I was not sufficient in myself. These virtues - hard work, doing good to husbands, gentle and quiet spirit, kind words, clothed with humility were not mine based on my sufficiency. Everything I am and have is from the sufficiency of God. Likewise 1 Corinthians 4:7 says "For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?" No one is superior to another. If you have any qualities it is because you received it from God.

Apart from God, I can not do anything the Scripture says. John 15:5 says "

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.   The last verse of Proverbs 31 states  Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.  Christians are to bear fruit as they submit to God's ways and walk in God's ways. Our part is submission to what God says. We can not obey half heartedly. We have  to live wholeheartedly unto the Lord doing everything with thanks to Him. We are to love Jesus with our whole heart. We are to obey ALL through Him who gives us strength and power. We know that the Proverbs 31 was a wise woman because she feared the Lord. In Proververbs 14:26-27 says "In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and His children will have a place of refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life to turn away from the snare of death." Since this Proverbs 31 study, I have gained more confidence in the fear of the Lord that I have rather than in my false belief of self. My part again is submission. I don't need false confidence, false pride, reverse pride or boasting because I have strong confidence due to my fear of the Lord. He is my refuge. I don't have to act as if I am nothing and don't compare to others and I don't need to exalt my confidence. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. I am learning to be satisfied from above. Proverb 14:14 says "...But a good man will be satisfied from above." As I submit to God, praises rise up. I have much to praise God for. Praise and worship is submission. Psalm 67 is a a great Psalm to read to see the importance of our submission, praise and worship. It leads to the blessings of God so that all the earth shall fear God (which is the beginning of wisdom).  As we,Christians, praise and worship God then God's ways are known on the earth that salvation comes among the nations. (Psalm 62:2). God makes us fishers of men as we submit, praise and worship. The Proverbs 31 woman was a lady of praise and worship as she did all to the glory of God. Additional Resources: www.discipleshiplibrary.com/pdfs/A487B.pdf http://www.slideshare.net/rdc2506/theology-i-gods-attributes-sufficiency http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Books,%20Tracts%20&%20Preaching/Printed%20Books/PTP/ptp-chap_02.htm http://bible.org/seriespage/sufficiency-god-through-his-spirit-2-cor-212821146

True Humility

Proverbs 27:2 says "Let another man praise you and not your own mouth; A stranger and not your own lips." As I read this verse and ponder its meaning, I realized that many times people are praising themselves because they don't feel worthy or they feel worthy based on what they do or know. Then there are those who don't praise themselves but put themselves down by feeling like they don't measure up. These people too don't feel worthy. They also don't feel worthy because they feel they don't do something or don't know something. The people who don't boast look at those who do with jealousy, contempt, envy and bitterness (even if they will not admit it). Those who boast go around having an inflated self image that they are better than others. Both sets of people do not realize that true humility is based on who we are in Christ not on what we do or what we know.

Psalm 100:3 says "Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people..." This verse tells us that it is about God. It is He who made us. We are His people. This helps the person who is always comparing self to others and feeling like they come up short. It helps the person who thinks they are better than others.

As I observed Proverbs 27:2, I saw that our lips and mouth are to praise others as gifts from God. We need to work at valuing others. The more we value others, the more freedom we will see to value ourselves for who we are in God's sight. True humility is not putting oneself down or denying God given gifts.

We learned in Church that it is "reverse pride" to feel like you don't measure up. You are actually the same as the prideful person (just another side of pride) to think of yourself more lowly than you should. These people struggle with comparing self to others. They feel they are not worthy or don't measure up. These feelings prevent people from becoming what God has for them. These feelings also cause jealousy, envy, bitterness and anger against others and who they are and what they have.  They end up having a critical spirit and think about self too much. The problem is they do not know worth in God's eyes and that all gifts are from God not self.  Saul ended up feeling jealous of David due to the people praising David. Saul's jealousy resulted in anger that then resulted in attempted murder of David. Saul failed to appreciate David's talents. It is important to take any jealousy to God and ask for help to appreciate others; talents while showing us how best to use our God given talents.

We are extremist people. We usually struggle with reverse pride or regular old pride. If we are not putting ourselves down, we end up praising ourselves and elevating our worth based on what we do or know rather than praising God and others.  We end up thinking we are better than others. We too can get a critical spirit because we think others are lazy or not doing a good enough job because we can do it better.  We too need to work on valuing others for who they are in God's sight.  Blessing others and thanking God for other people and their gifts helps to develop humility because we see we are dependent on God and others. We can not do everything by ourselves.  In James 3, we are told that we should not bless God and curse others as men have been made in similitude of God. We should be blessing others.  We are to encourage and build each other up in the Lord.

As I think about application steps, I see I tend to fall more in the regular old pride. God has been working on me over the last 8 years on this and I see that I am seeing His fruit of pride being rooted out of me and developing the proper image of Who He is, who I am and who other are.  God has gifted me with many good gifts and I praise Him for them. He has also gifted others and I am praising Him and others for these wonderful gifts and talents. I have to remember when others are jealous of what they see that I need to pray for them and share how God is the giver of every good gift. He gives us all gifts and talents so there is no need to compare.  I am also learning how to respond to praise from others. Many times the problem I am seeing is that others do praise me and my family. I don't need to do it. However, there are others who look on and get jealous because someone other than themselves are receiving the praise. The people who feel jealous end up saying hurtful things or acting distant or making faces. I am learning, however, to hug them and praise them for what God has given them. This requires thinking soberly and with absolute honesty. We don't want to praise them for what they know or what they do but because of true gifts God has given them and who He is in making them. I am learning to direct their attention to our Great God. It is not because of what I did or know that resulted in praise but because of who God is and what He has done.

My prayer continues to be that God increase and I decrease. I pray that I continue to have gratitude and sing praises to God for Who He is. I also have been reading a lot about blessing others and giving thanks for people.  I thank God that He is developing true humility in me and I am seeing His grace abound.
posted by a friend - Patty Birchard.