Week 41 October Theme ‘Blessed is the Nation…’

Please read and meditate on this. No extra commentary needed.

Psalm 33:13-22

BLESSED is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people he chose for his inheritance. 
From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; 
from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth— 
he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. 
No king is saved by the size of his army; 
no warrior escapes by his great strength. 
A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; 
despite all its great strength it cannot save. 
But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, 
on those whose HOPE is in his unfailing love, 
to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. 
We wait in HOPE for the Lord; 
he is our help and our shield. 
In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. 
May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, EVEN as we put our HOPE in you.

A Nation whose God is the Lord.

With the elections coming up, I am going to meditate on scriptures concerning nations whose God is YWH, the Lord. I pray blessings on this nation, the United States of America.

Week 39 The Lord’s Prayer Study

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors…For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.   Matthew 6:12, 14-15

Verse of the week:

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, CLOTHE yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. BEAR with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. FORGIVE as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues PUT ON LOVE, which binds them all together in perfect unity.   Colossians 3:12-14

Directly after Jesus shares this example of prayer in Matthew He immediately explains that we must forgive in order to be forgiven. With all the nuggets He packed into that prayer, this must be the most important element. Maybe He knew it was the hardest to do, so He needed to restate it.

I am about to share an example of something the body needs to work on, but this subject applies to marriage, work, school, etc. I’m not trying to pick a fight, just share what Jesus is teaching ME. The first picture I saw while meditating on the word ‘clothe’ was a black Tshirt with the words BLACK LIVES MATTER.

There is a lot of stuff going on in my state, not least is the shooting of a black man by an officer. Protests have erupted in Charlotte, and, unfortunately, rioting and looting as well. So much anger and unforgiveness on every side of this situation.

Does the destruction mean that black lives don’t matter? I hope not.

Black lives DO matter. I know everyone says, “All lives matter,” and yes that’s true, but right now my brothers and sisters of color are hurting. I could go on and on about just the injustice I have seen for them, but this isn’t about that. I weep with those who weep.

Can I as one of God’s chosen people, put aside the rhetoric for a moment to bear their burdens with them, love into unity, to forgive and ask forgiveness for perceived (and actual) wrongs? Can I clothe myself in compassion for their hardships, humble my privileged self enough to speak gently (or not at all) and patiently listen to their grievances in order to find real long lasting solutions?

If I can’t say “black lives matter” without a “but” I have to wonder why. If I want to pray for peace in my country, I must forgive and ask for forgiveness. 

Dearest Father,
You are the only one I look to for help, no one else has lasting solutions.

Your kingdom works through your people when they seek only your will. Your will is Love. Let the Love that never fails be the standard working mode of your children in order to heal the pain of a disenfranchised people.

Today Lord send us a powerful Word from the throne…throw water on the fires of injustice and the angry retaliation that ensues.

I speak now to my friends of color, forgive me for my pride, judgment, inaction, powerless rhetoric, record keeping and lack of understanding and “buts.” Your life matters to me.

Father, keep me out of the temptation to argue and hurt others, deliver me from the spirits of hate, pride, selfishness, gossip and jealousy. Deliver this diverse nation into the arms of real Love. Your kingdom is powered by it. May your name be glorified forever and so let it be as You have spoken.
Amen

Week 38 The Lord’s Prayer         Verse 11 Give us today our daily bread.

Here is what Jesus says about food and bread:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink… Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

I am the bread of life. 

I have food to eat that you know nothing about… My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.  

It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

(Matthew 6:25-26, John 6:32-33, John 6:48, John 4:32-34, Matthew 4:4)

I don’t think asking for fresh bread is meant to be about my daily provision, but more about a daily connection with Jesus and His fresh Words spoken to me. After all God already knows I need the basics to sustain me. But it is up to me to ask for more of Him. As a gentleman He can only respond to a seeking-first heart. And, like manna, I can’t eat yesterday’s stale bread.

When I seek Him daily, I don’t need to ask for basic provisions, they will be taken care of by my Father.

Week 37  The Lord’s Prayer

This week I have a few verses, you can pick whichever you’d like to create from

Matthew 6:10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

There’s so much packed in that one little verse that I cant share everything I am learning. Here are some bits and pieces.
YOUR KINGDOM COME

It’s an imperative, a command, a decree. We are not told to ask for it, but to declare it as true. Actually it really means that the hidden kingdom is revealed. (Like the Matrix, but not sinister feeling) The kingdom of God is upon you now, it is within you. The whole earth is waiting to see royalty display itself.

Matthew 6:33 Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you.

Right after Jesus teaches us to pray, He reassures us that our basic human needs are already covered by God. I am learning prayer is more about seeking the Kingdom of God and revealing it to the earth.

“You take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” Morpheus from The Matrix

YOUR WILL BE DONE…

What is God’s will? I do know that it relates to His greatest desires for heaven, man and this planet. In studying His will as recorded in the Word, I found His greatest desire is that Jesus ‘would lose none of all those God has given Him, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and Jesus will raise them up at the last day.’ (Jn 6:39-40)

Sometimes I pray for an end to sin, change of government leaders, etc. But if I pray that all would come to the knowledge of Christ and be saved then it sort of solves the other issues.

Nevertheless, if I seek to know His will in prayer, and we know nothing can be found without seeking first, then transforming my thoughts through His word will lead me to it.

Romans 12:1-2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

…ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN

Matthew 16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

You could study the words Earth and Heaven and get more interpretation, but I am focusing on the fact I am made from the dust of the earth. In conclusion, my prayer is that His will be done in us first, so then His glory covers the whole Earth.

Week 36

The Lord’s Prayer focus:
MT 6:9 Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Verse of the week:
Romans 8:14-16 “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”

Mt 6:9

Jesus teaches me to approach my Heavenly Father in prayer before I do anything else. Yes, He is holy, and I acknowledge that, but first I come as His child. And if an earthly father melts at the sound of his child’s cries of “Daddy,” how much more does my Heavenly Father turn His face in joy at my cry.

If I can remember that He is my Daddy, I will have a different faith level when I pray. My dad would do anything for me because I’m family. I do not need to earn the right to speak to Him or to expect His answer. My position in Him allows me the right of expectancy.
Even better, it just so happens that my Daddy is the Holy Lord, creator of the universe. As His child I carry His name. It is my safe place and no other name has authority in my life.
So from now on I shall start all my prayers from the position of the child of YHWH, the LORD of the universe.

Matthew 6:5-15 NIV
This, then, is how you should pray: ‘OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN, HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

September Theme is the Lord’s Prayer.

This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ’ 
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6:9-15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Wherever we go, we want to change the atmosphere. That’s what the Kingdom of God is, you know. It’s not just eating and drinking and talking; that’s what a person’s conscience decides. Not what the Kingdom IS. What the Kingdom of God really IS, is righteousness, peace, joy and power.” – Pj’s version based on of Jack Sparrow’s speech (1Co 4:20, Ro 14)

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.

               Romans 14:17-18 NIV
I can tell you what the Kingdom of God is not… Pork or vegan, Beer or Water only, Republican or democrat, etc.

But what the Kingdom of God is, and get this- these please God AND man: Power, Righteousness, Peace and Joy in the Holy Spirit. 

If I want to share the story of the Kingdom, having joy is as important as righteousness and peace.

Week 34

KEEP and protect me, O God, for in You I have found refuge, and in You do I put my trust and hide myself. I say to the Lord, You are my Lord; I have no good beside or beyond You…The Lord is my chosen and assigned portion, my cup; You hold and maintain my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; yes, I have a good heritage. I will bless the Lord, Who has given me counsel; yes, my heart instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad and my glory [my inner self] rejoices; my body too shall rest and confidently dwell in safety, For You will not abandon me to Sheol (the place of the dead), neither will You suffer Your holy one to see corruption. You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is FULLNESS OF JOY, at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:1-2, 5-11 AMP

So after a month of going on a Joy Hunt in scripture, it all comes down to this… In His Presence.

As I’ve shared before, presence means His Face. The more I seek His Face, the more joy just naturally comes upon me. And who sits at the right hand of the Father? Jesus! In Him I have pleasures forever! 

I remember when my youngest was a baby, she didn’t cry very much. Crying usually happened when she was hungry, but as soon as I showed up she stopped her tears and smiled, knowing she was about to be fed. Even in sadness, anxiety or tears, when we seek our loving Father we see His face turned towards us.

I don’t strive for joy, I just rest in it as I seek after the joy-giver.