Shine God's Light

Let there be light. Gen 1:3
Let your light shine. Matt 5:16

God created light by speaking. We create light by working. Was speaking the first thing God did? And is working the first thing we do?

Faith has works. But before works comes there is belief. And with belief there is speaking. Hope births faith. Love brings the acceptance to believe. Love births a response. Our message without love is just a gong. With love it shows the way.

Our response to God comes from His love for us. We love Him because He first loved us.

Faith grows from hearing the Bible. Love grows from commitment to serve in obedience.

Just as God spoke and light was, so let us decide to shine for Jesus.

Knowledge of God

2 Peter 1:3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

Reading this Scripture caused me to look more fully into the knowledge of God.

John 8:31 is key to knowing the truth of John 8:32

“So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 

32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

Jesus is the Word and the Truth. John 1:1; 14:6

A decision to be a disciple is key to knowing God. Matthew 28:20 says we are to go and make disciples teaching them all Jesus has commanded. Without this commitment there can be no true knowledge of God.

This idea is also alluded to in Exodus 15:23-25 about throwing in a tree into the bitter water making them sweet. The tree represents the cross of Christ and the water represents the teachings of the Bible. By picking up our cross to follow Jesus in obeying His commands we then are able to understand the truth.

How do we start to know God?

What does it mean to know God?

What are the benefits of knowing God?

How do we come to know God?

What proves we know God? Or how do we know if someone knows God.

How do we start to know God? Eph 1:17; Jn 17:3

What does it mean to know God? Jer 22:16; Jer 9:24

What are the benefits of knowing God? 2 Pet 1:3

How do we come to know God better? Jn 14:21,23,26,27; Phil 3:9-11

What proves we know God? Or how do we know if someone knows God. Jer 9:3; Ps 9:10; Titus 1:16; 1 John 2:3,4

Ephesians 1:17  that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the (true) knowledge of Him.

John 17:3 This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

John 14:21,23,26,27

14 He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”

23  Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.

26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

27  Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

Philippians 3:9,10,11  and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,

10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Jeremiah 22:16 “He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy;

Then it was well.

Is not that what it means to know Me?”

Declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 9:3

 "They bend their tongue like their bow; Lies and not truth prevail in the land; For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me," declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 9:24

 but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD.

Psalms 9:10

 And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

Titus 1:16

 They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.

1 John 2:3

 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.

1 John 2:4

 The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;

John 5:39,40 It is important to not only know the Scriptures, it also important to develop a relationship with Jesus.

Jewish Prophecy of Jesus Coming

A prophet and rabbi predicts the coming of Jesus.

An appeal to consider Jesus.

God's Protection Psalm 91

Psalm 91

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Security of the One Who Trusts in the Lord.

91 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!”
3 For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
And from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

5 You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that flies by day;
6 Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
7 A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But it shall not approach you.
8 You will only look on with your eyes
And see the recompense of the wicked.
9 For you have made the Lord, my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
10 No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your tent.

11 For He will give His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.
12 They will bear you up in their hands,
That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.

14 “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
15 “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
16 “With a long life I will satisfy him
And let him see My salvation.”

Promise of Victory Psalm 125

Why would God give us a sword and shield if we were not in a fight?


Psalm 125 Those who trust in the Lord will not be moved. Ps 125:1 The scepter of wickedness will not rest on the land (promise) of the righteous. Ps 125:3


Here in Psalm 125 is a promise that we will not be moved from the promise of God.


Unfortunately Satan does play by the rules. If we know who we are in Christ and the power of Christ within us, we can dislodge Satan our enemy and gain the victory.


1 The force of faith of perseverance, expectation, speaking and acting on the word of God. Rom 16:19,20; Romans 10:9,10
2 The violence of the kingdom. Matt 11:12
3 The perseverance of the saints. Rev 14:11,12
3 The prayer of faith. James 5:15
4 Casting down strongholds. 2 Cor 10:3-5
5 Taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. 2 Cor 10:3-5
6 Persistence of standing on the promises. Eph 6:13
7 Being led by love of God and others and the peace of God. Isaiah 55:12; 1 Peter 1:22
8. The blood of Jesus, our testimony of Christ and love Rev 12:11


Proverbs says that if a person steals from us we get 7 fold back Proverbs 6:30,31. Isaiah says that if we are under loss we will get a double portion. Isaiah 61:7 We can cast out the enemy and gain more than if he just left us alone. So in view of this, we can relish a fight, looking for the reward to come. God will crush Satan under our feet. Romans 16:19,20

Not that we would want to fight, but if a fight comes, we can know we will be rewarded for it.

Live ready. Luke 12:35

Pruning

Pruning
Thinking about John 15:2
"Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit."


There are times when what we are doing is taken away from us. As this verse points out, there would be 2 reasons for this happening. One; the activity is not bearing fruit. It is not productive. So it is stopped. Then on the other hand Two: it is taken away so that more fruit can be produced.


Either way the reason for the stoppage is for more fruit to be produced. When I experience a hindrance to ministry for the Lord I am looking at producing more fruit in the future. Sometimes it is not God that has stopped the ministry. Sometimes it is Satan.


1 Thessalonians 2:18
"For we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, more than once—and yet Satan hindered us."


What is our response to be in this stoppage?


It is my thinking that we should be praying. If we are ministering, we pray to prepare for the ministry. And if there is a stoppage of ministry we should be praying for the ministry that we are not able to do. Pray for the people that are not being ministered to, that they will receive from the Lord.



So we are praying and ministering, or we are praying and preparing to minister in the future, by further prayer.

Charles Capps The Tongue A Creative Force - Notes

It's not christian science, it's Christian sense.

-don't deny the existence of the mountain, deny the right for it to exist in your way. Live by faith not by sight. You see the mountain but when you get there it will be gone.

-Jesus said you can have what you say, and you say its getting worse or its still there. You will have what you say.

-Plant the seed. Prayer without faith won't work.

-Grace and peace are multiplied through the knowledge of the word. 2 Pt. 1:2

-2 Cor 4:13 faith speaks.

-2 Pt 1:3 God has given to us all things pertaining to life and godliness.

-If you say what God says until it gets into your spirit then you'll get it.

-James 1:21 the word of God grafted into your spirit will save you.

-2 Pt 1:4 we are partakers of the divine nature by the promises.

-The tongue can stop the course of nature.

-Everything can be tamed by the tongue.

-Man can't tame the tongue but we can speak by the spirit.

-Peter's tongue changed after Pentecost.

-Don't deny disease, deny the right of the disease to live in your body.

-We are free from the curse.

-I beg your pardon, the Word says you are healed.

-How you feel has nothing to do with God preforming His word.

-They prayed in faith, I know they prayed in faith and I believe God, I'm getting up in the name of Jesus. (While they don't feel any different)

If you have lack and you confess the word of God which says God supplies all your needs. Are you telling a lie or are you confessing the truth? God's word is truth.

There is a process of weeding out religious traditions from the truth.

And having done all to stand. Watch what you say and stand. Stand on the word and your confession.

-Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. Watch your idle words.

-If you don't feel healed, go to the Word of God and get some feelings.

-Prov 4:22 God's word is healing to all our flesh. WOW

Romans 3:4 "that thou mayest be justified in thy sayings?  When people would disbelieve what we say in faith!

-!-! Matt 10:32 If we confess God before men Jesus will confess us to the Father. And if we are confessed before the Father we will have the answer. 1 Jn 5:14,15

-When the dry winds of doubt come just proclaim more boldly what God has said to your spirit.

-Speak what God says and not what you think.

-Putting the tongue to our faith ignites it to power. The word of His power. Hebrews 1:3

-Acts 1:8 we receive power by Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit causes us to be witnesses of the word of God.

-We overcome the world by our faith. Faith works from obedience. And obedience starts with our confession.

-Proverbs 6:2 You are ensnared by the words of your mouth.

-God releases His faith in words. Heb 1:3; 11:3 Gen 1:. We are to imitate God Eph 5:1 so talk and act like God.

-We are doing the binding, and God stands behind what we say in faith. Matt 16:19 Mark 11:22-24

-Words are containers they carry faith or fear and they produce after their kind.

-Prov 4:20-22 Ps 107:20 God's word is medicine to all our flesh.

Your faith can't rise beyond your confession.