Faith sees the future as a moment of God's action seamlessly being woven into the present. Faith is a past tense thing. Faith is believing that God is going to catch you up to where He eventually has you.
But really, faith is trust! Faith and trust go hand in hand. Trust overcomes fear and insecurity. Trust acknowledges our Heavenly Father's goodness in all things. Trust allows the Comforter to do one of His many jobs and comfort us! Below is an excerpt on this subject by Smith Wigglesworth:
"For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (Mark 11:23, 24)
These are days when we need to have our faith strengthened, when we need to know God. God has designed that the just shall live by faith. Any man can be changed by faith, no matter how he may be fettered. I know that God's word is sufficient. One word from Him can change a nation. His word is from everlasting to everlasting. It is through the entrance of this everlasting Word, this incorruptible seed, that we are born again, and come into this wonderful salvation. Man cannot live by bread alone, but must live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. This is the food of faith. "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."
Everywhere men are trying to discredit the Bible and take from it all the miraculous. One preacher says, "Well, you know, Jesus arranged beforehand to have that colt tied where it was, and for the men to say just what they did." I tell you God can arrange everything without going near. He can plan for you, and when He plans for you, all is peace. All things are possible if you will believe.
Showing posts with label The Comforter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Comforter. Show all posts
Monday, February 15, 2016
Friday, March 6, 2015
Spirit-led Gardening??
All throughout the winter, the Lord has been prompting me to look into farming. And the more I thought about it, the more I realize that I like the idea! And God has kept confirming the message. The situations have been right going into the Spring, and the Lord has made it easy for me to order seeds, learn about techniques, and have good land to farm on. For now, I'm taking things small scale...so 'gardening' is probably a more apt way to describe what I'm doing. But I do plan on doing more extensive farming in the future!
This morning, I was doing some research on vegetable growing--just looking into basic things. Now, I'm new to farming, so today I was mostly looking into general guidelines. I wanted to have the Lord's backing, though--I wanted to know that He was making my way perfect (Psalms 18:32). So, I asked the Lord for a sign to confirm that He did indeed want me to be doing this--researching vegetables! And right away, God was gracious to give me His Word--and I was led to the below verse at random!
"The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."
Genesis 2:15
Praise the Lord! With that, the Lord gave me new hope. I knew His backing, and I felt it, too! In continuing my research, I was looking into using raised beds for my gardening. So I looked into that a little bit. And I decided that raised beds were the best method to use. After a little more research on this, all of a sudden, I heard the Lord speak. He said:
"Look at the time..."
There was some urgency there--not harshness, but a pressing command. So I did, and it was 10:42. OK, now what?
His voice was quick to give me a next step. He told me to enter that time, 10:42, into this Hebrew Lexicon. I knew He was telling me to enter it in as the time 1042. Now, I've used this online concordance before, but this time, the Lord was so specific to guide me into it.
I heard the Lord continue:
"Enter it into the second one, not the first, not into Hebrew but to Greek".
Woah, OK! So, I used the Concordance search on the second row, 'not into Hebrew but to Greek', and entered into it the number 1042. Normally I use the top concordance, and do my word / number searches in Hebrew, but I knew the importance of obedience here. I knew all of this from God--His voice was powerful and clear. So, I obeyed this Word from the Lord. I entered the number in, not knowing what to expect. And there it was:
1042 Gabbatha= "elevated or a platform"
--a raised place, elevation
Wow! I was a little taken back by this. Raised beds?? I had just been wanting to have God's approval on my farming, and He had given it, through the scripture in Genesis. He even gave me His backing on my choice to use raised gardening beds. Praise the Lord! With so many gracious confirmations, I'm believing that all this farming research was more of God's idea than mine.
It's so nice to know that God is for so many details in our lives. He even loves my raised beds research! The more I get to know Him, the more His intricacy amazes me. It's so worth it to want to please Him. We need to wait on Him, making sure that we please Him. We need to wait until we are filled with the Spirit. That's when we can stay in step with the Spirit; that's when we can be continually approved (Galatians 5:25).
So we need to be very led. That's when we can receive true comfort! That's when we can be justified by faithful steps in Him. That's when we can be confident. We can be led, and we can have God bring us into great rewards right now!
"Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward"
Hebrew 10:35
This morning, I was doing some research on vegetable growing--just looking into basic things. Now, I'm new to farming, so today I was mostly looking into general guidelines. I wanted to have the Lord's backing, though--I wanted to know that He was making my way perfect (Psalms 18:32). So, I asked the Lord for a sign to confirm that He did indeed want me to be doing this--researching vegetables! And right away, God was gracious to give me His Word--and I was led to the below verse at random!
"The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."
Genesis 2:15
Praise the Lord! With that, the Lord gave me new hope. I knew His backing, and I felt it, too! In continuing my research, I was looking into using raised beds for my gardening. So I looked into that a little bit. And I decided that raised beds were the best method to use. After a little more research on this, all of a sudden, I heard the Lord speak. He said:
"Look at the time..."
There was some urgency there--not harshness, but a pressing command. So I did, and it was 10:42. OK, now what?
His voice was quick to give me a next step. He told me to enter that time, 10:42, into this Hebrew Lexicon. I knew He was telling me to enter it in as the time 1042. Now, I've used this online concordance before, but this time, the Lord was so specific to guide me into it.
I heard the Lord continue:
"Enter it into the second one, not the first, not into Hebrew but to Greek".
Woah, OK! So, I used the Concordance search on the second row, 'not into Hebrew but to Greek', and entered into it the number 1042. Normally I use the top concordance, and do my word / number searches in Hebrew, but I knew the importance of obedience here. I knew all of this from God--His voice was powerful and clear. So, I obeyed this Word from the Lord. I entered the number in, not knowing what to expect. And there it was:
1042 Gabbatha= "elevated or a platform"
--a raised place, elevation
Wow! I was a little taken back by this. Raised beds?? I had just been wanting to have God's approval on my farming, and He had given it, through the scripture in Genesis. He even gave me His backing on my choice to use raised gardening beds. Praise the Lord! With so many gracious confirmations, I'm believing that all this farming research was more of God's idea than mine.
It's so nice to know that God is for so many details in our lives. He even loves my raised beds research! The more I get to know Him, the more His intricacy amazes me. It's so worth it to want to please Him. We need to wait on Him, making sure that we please Him. We need to wait until we are filled with the Spirit. That's when we can stay in step with the Spirit; that's when we can be continually approved (Galatians 5:25).
So we need to be very led. That's when we can receive true comfort! That's when we can be justified by faithful steps in Him. That's when we can be confident. We can be led, and we can have God bring us into great rewards right now!
"Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward"
Hebrew 10:35
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Rest and Comfort
God has been speaking to me a lot about rest and comfort recently. It's great to enter His rest! It's great to be comforted by Him! It's amazing to be perfectly set at peace by the Lord. And this rest, this comfort, really came to pass in my life yesterday, and it was such a blessing from the Lord. In many ways, it came as a fulfillment of prophecy.
Like I said, the theme of rest was fulfilled throughout the day yesterday. And He gave me rest, so that I could praise Him fully. He gave me time alone to spend with Him. He gave me rest on every side. Wherever I turned, I saw him at work, and I was comforted with a message from Him. I watched a lot of TV, yes, but I received from the Lord even more quickened messages. I received from the Lord's mercy such rest and comfort.
Below are confirmations that led up to that point. In hindsight, God was showing me about the reality of His rest long before I experienced it yesterday!
Confirmed 1/12/15: That night I was reading in 1st Kings. I kept reading about peace--the Lord was giving Solomon rest on every side. What strikes me as important is why God did this. He did it because Solomon pleased Him! He did it because it pleased Him that Solomon would build Him a temple. God honored the desires of His servants, firstly with David and then with his son Solomon. God gave Solomon rest so that Solomon could set up a life of worship for the people.
"But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster." 1 Kings 5:4
Confirmed Yesterday: The Holy Spirit brought to remembrance Psalm 23:5. There were several confirmations for this verse...and I had it playing and replaying in my hear for much of the day:
"You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows."
Spiritually speaking, believers today have enemies as real as those of King David. However, our enemies are not flesh and blood like his. Instead, they are systems of this world and spiritual powers of darkness in high places (Ephesians 6:12). The good news is that God still protects us! He still gives us messages and words--the bread of life--amidst chaos and darkness brought about by the enemy. He invites us to feast with Him on the Word, and still, enemies and accusers lurk nearby. But God protects us from these things! That's what Psalm 23:5 testifies to--the faithfulness of God overcoming all else.
This message of communing with God in the midst of darkness was so timely yesterday. I was alone in the house all day, and at times I did feel the enemy encroaching. But God took me through it. He took me through it and ensured that I was spiritually nourished throughout my time with Him. More than anything else, I knew He was there with me, preparing a table. Praise Him!
Confirmed Yesterday: I felt prompted by the Lord to obtain a "verse of the day". Something to summarize His lessons; something to paraphrase what He wanted to say...and He gave me John 14:26:
"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
Glory to God! What a fit. The Comforter Himself was teaching me how to find His rest. The Comforter was comforting me! He was giving me rest on every side. It was the Holy Spirit that first brought to my memory Psalm 23:5. And it was this same Holy Spirit that then gave me the fulfillment, through my experiences later on. He is the one who gives a word and always fulfills it! He is the one who comforts us with the truth. He is the one who gives us rest, regardless of how many enemies attempt to surround us.
God wants to draw us close. He wants to teach us all things. He is faithful to remind us of His rest and comfort. He is so faithful to protect us and lead us on in the truth. God wants to bring us rest so we can worship Him. He wants to give us the Spirit so we can be true worshippers (John 4:24). In Him, we can draw near and experience true peace.
Like I said, the theme of rest was fulfilled throughout the day yesterday. And He gave me rest, so that I could praise Him fully. He gave me time alone to spend with Him. He gave me rest on every side. Wherever I turned, I saw him at work, and I was comforted with a message from Him. I watched a lot of TV, yes, but I received from the Lord even more quickened messages. I received from the Lord's mercy such rest and comfort.
Below are confirmations that led up to that point. In hindsight, God was showing me about the reality of His rest long before I experienced it yesterday!
Confirmed 1/12/15: That night I was reading in 1st Kings. I kept reading about peace--the Lord was giving Solomon rest on every side. What strikes me as important is why God did this. He did it because Solomon pleased Him! He did it because it pleased Him that Solomon would build Him a temple. God honored the desires of His servants, firstly with David and then with his son Solomon. God gave Solomon rest so that Solomon could set up a life of worship for the people.
"But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster." 1 Kings 5:4
Confirmed Yesterday: The Holy Spirit brought to remembrance Psalm 23:5. There were several confirmations for this verse...and I had it playing and replaying in my hear for much of the day:
"You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows."
Spiritually speaking, believers today have enemies as real as those of King David. However, our enemies are not flesh and blood like his. Instead, they are systems of this world and spiritual powers of darkness in high places (Ephesians 6:12). The good news is that God still protects us! He still gives us messages and words--the bread of life--amidst chaos and darkness brought about by the enemy. He invites us to feast with Him on the Word, and still, enemies and accusers lurk nearby. But God protects us from these things! That's what Psalm 23:5 testifies to--the faithfulness of God overcoming all else.
This message of communing with God in the midst of darkness was so timely yesterday. I was alone in the house all day, and at times I did feel the enemy encroaching. But God took me through it. He took me through it and ensured that I was spiritually nourished throughout my time with Him. More than anything else, I knew He was there with me, preparing a table. Praise Him!
Confirmed Yesterday: I felt prompted by the Lord to obtain a "verse of the day". Something to summarize His lessons; something to paraphrase what He wanted to say...and He gave me John 14:26:
"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
Glory to God! What a fit. The Comforter Himself was teaching me how to find His rest. The Comforter was comforting me! He was giving me rest on every side. It was the Holy Spirit that first brought to my memory Psalm 23:5. And it was this same Holy Spirit that then gave me the fulfillment, through my experiences later on. He is the one who gives a word and always fulfills it! He is the one who comforts us with the truth. He is the one who gives us rest, regardless of how many enemies attempt to surround us.
God wants to draw us close. He wants to teach us all things. He is faithful to remind us of His rest and comfort. He is so faithful to protect us and lead us on in the truth. God wants to bring us rest so we can worship Him. He wants to give us the Spirit so we can be true worshippers (John 4:24). In Him, we can draw near and experience true peace.
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