Word of Truth Family Church
Many, Louisiana  a  Hemphill, Texas
Celebrating 30 years of ministry
1982-2012
"Come hear and be healed."

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By Suzanne Leitz

February 25, 2005

Psalm 107 continues describing the plights of a people of God who alternately rebelled (verses 11 & 17) then cried out to the Lord, rebelled then cried out to the Lord. Of course, when they cried out to Him, did He say, "Oh, NOOO. You didn't want me. You would hear none of my counsel. Get away!" He could have rightfully done that. But four times--in verses 6, 13, 19, and 28--the psalmist reports that "they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress." Four times--in verses 8, 15, 21, and 31--God's people are encouraged to "give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men."

The last verse of the chapter (43) admonishes:

"Whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great love of the Lord."

Love...It's the only way you can explain someone who keeps forgiving after being rejected and forgotten. Of course, as I Corinthians 13:4-8 tells us, that's what love is. It is patient and kind. It is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. It is longsuffering. It always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres (never gives up). I guess this is why love never fails. This is why God will never fail us. This is why He continues to deliver those who cry out to Him, no matter the way they have treated Him.

That last verse (Psalm 107:43) reminds me of something Jesus used to say to the disciples: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

In other words, "If you're smart, you'll pay attention and learn a lesson here."

I want to be counted among the wise. I want to learn lessons the easy way (through quick obedience to His word) instead of the hard way (initial rebellion leading to tough experiences that could have been avoided).

February 11, 2005

Today's entry actually comes from a verse Craig (my husband) shared with me as we were reading our Bibles together this morning. It's the whole chapter of Psalm 21 (there are only 13 verses). Click here and read it. You should really read it in more than one translation to let it get all over you.

Now, to be fair and to keep it in context, David is writing this psalm about himself. So why did God allow it to be included in the Bible? Because we can get something out of it.

David was a king. What does that have to do with me?

Revelation 1:5-6 says:

"⁵and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, ⁶and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."

Spiritually speaking, Jesus made me a king and a priest when He made me a child of God. If you want another witness, read Revelation 5:9-10.

So, you do what you want to do. But I am putting myself in the place of David and proclaiming this word in faith!

February 9, 2005

How can we NOT be like the Israelites? Put God first. Obey Him. Maintain an attitude of gratitude. Be teachable. Have faith in Him; believe His word.

January 31, 2005

Interestingly, Pastor talked about the power of words yesterday morning at church. He referred to James 3 and Matthew 12:36-37 as well as Proverbs 18:21. No, he hadn't been reading my blog (see previous entry just below). He's not a techie yet, though he does do email. I think it's just the Holy Spirit trying to tell us something. (Duh.)

January 28, 2005

Most of James 3 talks about taming the tongue. The first thing that may come to  your mind is verse 8: "No man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison."

When you read such a strong statement, the first inclination may be to say, "Well, what's the use, then? No man can tame the tongue, so why try?"

My response is, if it is impossible, why would James spend 12 verses addressing this issue? I see a clue to success in verses 9-12. James says, "Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing....This should not be so." Then he gives a natural example that both fresh water and salt water cannot flow from the same spring. As The Message Bible puts it, "You're not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?"

This reminds me of what Jesus said in Matthew 12:33-37 (NKJV):

³³"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. ³⁴Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. ³⁵A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. ³⁶But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. ³⁷For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

This same account can also be found in Luke 6:43-45.

How can we tame the tongue? Change what's on the inside, for "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." A bad tree yields bad fruit. A good tree yields good fruit. If there's good in your heart, good words will come out of your mouth. Out of a bad heart, bad things come out.

What makes a "good" heart? First, it's one that has been renewed and changed by the blood of Jesus. But, let's face it, even Christians can let bad things come out of their mouths. Does this mean they aren't saved? Does this mean their tongue cannot be tamed? No, it means their minds have not been filled and renewed with the Word of God. Bad becomes good when it is cleansed by the washing of water by the Word (Ephesians 5:26). The Word will cleanse us.

January 26, 2005

In the New Testament, I am still in the book of James. Haven't really moved out of the second chapter yet. What jumps out at me this morning is verse 13 (NIV):

¹²Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, ¹³because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

Verse 13 in the Amplified Bible says:

¹³For to him who has shown no mercy the judgment [will be] merciless, but mercy [full of glad confidence] exults victoriously over judgment.

This verse about showing mercy reminds me of Jesus' words in Luke 6. It's best to read verses 27-37 to get the full context of what He's saying, but He sums it up in verse 36 (NIV):

³⁶Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

In Matthew 5:7, Jesus said, "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."

Just as Jesus said in Luke 6:31, "Do to others as you would have them do to you," it seems as we do to others GOD will do to us. That is, if we show mercy, we will be shown mercy. If we forgive, God will forgive us. If we do not judge, we will not be judged. If we do not condemn, we will not be condemned. The reverse is also true of these statements.

This is the admonition: Show mercy. Forgive. Don't judge. Don't condemn. We really have no right, as Christians, to do otherwise.

January 23, 2005

January 21, 2005

Psalm 19:14
”May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

January 11, 2005

Psalm 103

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name! (verse 1, NKJV)

David has a certain habit that some of us have…he talks to himself! Whereas WE are saying things like, “Where did I put my keys?” David is exhorting himself in the Lord, reminding himself to praise the Lord, to bless the Lord, to remember all that the Lord has done for him.

“Bless the Lord, O my soul,” he continues, “and forget not all His benefits.” (verse 2, NKJV) The Message Bible says, “…don’t forget a single blessing!”

I just read an article in the February 2005 issue of Ladies’ Home Journal that declares “The Secret to Feeling Energized” is to be thankful, every day, for small, ordinary pleasures.  According to a Research Project on Gratitude and Thankfulness, “grateful people tend to be the happiest.” The bottom line reason is that they are, as the old song goes, “accentuating the positive and eliminating the negative.”

My mom used to sing me that song all the time…well, at least just that line: “ac-CENT-uate the positive and, ee-LIM-inate the negative.” Sometimes it would make me mad. Why? Because sometimes we don’t want to look at the positive. Sometimes it is so much easier to just stare at and meditate on the negative—how bad things seem to be. It takes a little effort to do a hyper-jump and mid-air flip into thinking positively and focusing on the good things that are going on instead of the bad.

The great thing about Psalm 103 is that NO MATTER WHAT we are going through, if we can’t think of ANYTHING else to be grateful for, we can praise the Lord:

³Who forgives all your iniquities,
       Who heals all your diseases,
       ⁴Who redeems your life from destruction,
       Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
       ⁵Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
       So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

It’s really awesome when you think about it. And DO. Think about it. Don’t forget it, O my soul.

January 6, 2005

When going through tough times, many people want to point their finger at God and blame Him for the bad stuff. James wants to make very clear that, first of all, when you are tempted with evil, God is not the source of it. Many bad situations we get into of our own making, and even if it is not of our own making, we can be sure of one thing:

¹⁷Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. (James 1:17)

James prefaces this statement with the admonition that we not be deceived (verse 16).. In other words, he might say today, “Let me make this very clear, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise—the good stuff is from God. There is no bad in Him.”

I like what The Message Bible says in those verses:

"So, my very dear friends, don't get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from he Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle."

If only most people would “get” this one little concept. God is not two-faced. He must be really tired of getting blamed for the bad stuff.

January 4, 2005

James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given him.” This is not a new thought separate from what has come before. We’re still talking about enduring through trials. And when we’re in a trial, many times we need wisdom concerning what to do in that trial to overcome.

January 3, 2005

December 31, 2004

Reading from Psalm 101 this morning, I see a word repeated. Repeated words within a set of scriptures gets my attention. The word: blameless.

Verse 2:
“I will be careful to lead a blameless life—when will you come to me? I will walk in my house with blameless heart.”

Verse 6:
“My eyes will be on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; he whose walk is blameless will minister to me.”

Of course, you really must read the whole chapter in context, for the other verses support the premises in these two verses.

The Hebrew word used here is tamiym (Strong’s number 8549). The King James Version translates it “perfect.” Oftentimes, when we see the words “blameless” or “perfect” we think this is something unattainable. Nobody’s perfect, right? But actually, the word has several meanings: complete, whole, wholesome, having integrity. Also, “what is complete and entirely in accord with truth and fact.”

This is doable. To walk in integrity and truth is not only possible, but something we should continually be mindful to do.

Notice verse 1 says “I will sing of your love and justice…” Many times we are singing of His love and goodness and mercy and grace. But here the psalmist (David) is singing of His love and justice. And in recognizing God’s justice, he is then “careful to lead a blameless life” (verse 2). And to lead this life not only in the outside world (church, the grocery store, where we work, etc.), but also in our own homes.

The Message Bible says it like this:

²I'm finding my way down the road of right living, but how long before you show up?
    I'm doing the very best I can, and I'm doing it at home, where it counts.

Sometimes home is the most difficult place to live our faith, because there’s no one there we feel the need to impress. However—even if you life alone—home is the place where the rubber hits the road. If you can do it there, you can do it anywhere. Someone said integrity is who you are when no one is looking. The very next verse says,

“I will set before my eyes no vile thing.” (verse 3).

Well, this immediately makes me think of TV. You don’t even need to have HBO or other premium movie channels anymore to see rotten junk (sex, gratuitous killings, foul language).

I will be mindful as David was mindful, of God’s love and justice. And being mindful of it, I will then live accordingly. No matter who is or isn’t watching. Outside my home and inside my home, I will strive to live a life of integrity so that I may dwell in HIS house. (verse 7).

December 29, 2004

Here’s another scripture about wisdom that I came across while reading from Proverbs 24 this morning:

“Eat honey, my son, for it is good; honey from the comb is sweet to your taste.”

“Know also that wisdom is sweet to your soul; if you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.” (Proverbs 24:13-14)

I was listening to a Kenneth Copeland “Believers’ Voice of Victory” webcast a couple of weeks ago.  Copeland’s daughters, Kellie and Terri, were sharing from the book of James. Kellie said if you’re going through a trial, it’s good to read this whole book, because it’s full of practical wisdom.

So I went back to the book of James. I recorded an entry on December 17 about perseverance after reading the first couple of verses.  The New International Version (NIV) uses the word “perseverance.” The King James Version (KJV) uses “patience,” and Young’s Literal Translation says “endurance.”

The actual Greek word used here is hupomone, which means “cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy; enduring, patience, patient continuance.” It comes from the word hupomeno meaning “to have fortitude, persevere, abide, endure.” Synonyms include: backbone, constancy, continuance, cool, dedication, determination, diligence, doggedness, drive, endurance, grit, guts, immovability, indefatigability, persistence, pluck, spunk, stamina, steadfastness,stick-to-itiveness, and tenacity.

I suppose the bottom line is, don’t give up. When you’re going through trials, don’t give up on doing what you should be doing according to God’s Word. Proverbs 24:10 says, “If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength!” Use your old-fashioned stubbornness (are you stubborn?) to stick to your spiritual guns during trials!

December 28, 2004

Proverbs is known as the book of wisdom. It’s hard to read a chapter in Proverbs without reading something about wisdom. Sure enough, as I read Proverbs 23 this morning, verse 12 tells me, “Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.” And in verse 19: “Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path.” And again in verse 23:“Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understanding.”

I was just thinking about old Solomon yesterday. I Kings 10:23-24 says that “King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.” Yet with all this wisdom, at the end of his days, “his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been,” and he “did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.”

When we think of David, we inevitably think of his great sins: adultery and murder. He used his power as king to have a beautiful woman that he had seen brought to him, committed adultery with her and impregnated her, then had her husband, his loyal soldier, killed. Wow. We wonder how someone could recover from all that. How? He was truly repentant and was known as a man who praised and worshipped God, who feared the Lord and obeyed Him. In fact, God called David “a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do” (Acts 13:22).

And the Bible says that Solomon, with all his wisdom, did not follow the Lord completely as David his father had done.

Wisdom, wisdom, I need wisdom! “In all your getting, get wisdom,” says Proverbs 4:7. Yet in all our getting of wisdom, we must remember to marry the getting of wisdom with the USING of wisdom.

What was Solomon’s downfall? Well, the Lord had specifically told the Israelites not to intermarry with other cultures for the simple reason that this would cause their hearts to turn away from God and to the gods of the other cultures. This was not a matter of wisdom, but of simple obedience. Solomon ignored the wisdom of God and disobeyed His commands, and ate the fruit of disobedience.

Notice this passage from I Kings 11:

“King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women…They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, ‘You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.’ NEVERTHELESS, Solomon held fast to them in love…and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods….The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command. So the Lord said to Solomon, ‘Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates….” (emphases mine)

Yes, get wisdom! We need wisdom. I need wisdom! And God will give it to me when I ask him for it in faith (James 1:5-8).  But, when I receive His wisdom, I must ACT on it. USE it. NOT ignore it. THEN I will be blessed. Obedience was the secret to David’s success and the reason for Solomon’s downfall.

December 23, 2004

Thanksgiving (the holiday) has past, but thanksgiving (the act) is still in season. In fact, it is in season all year long. This morning I read from Psalm 100:4-5: 

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” 

The issue of thankfulness brings to mind another scripture that has been on my heart a lot lately: 

1 Thessalonians 5:18 -- "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 

It is truly His will for us to be continually thankful. For one thing, it should keep us from murmuring and complaining (one of the sins which kept the Israelites in the desert for 40 years). Thankfulness is a nice attitude to have, continually.

December 20, 2004

As I read Psalm 99 this morning, I notice a repetition of an attribute of God in verses 3, 5, and 9: 

3 Let them praise your great and awesome name -- he is holy. 
5 Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy. 
9 Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the LORD our God is holy. (emphases mine) 

The holiness of God is a familiar concept. I suppose you could ask a six-year-old to describe God and one of the words would probably be “holy.” But I’m sure we will not fully understand what that means until we see him face to face. Meanwhile, we can grow in understanding of this concept as we worship Him. We praise and worship Him because He is holy, but we also gain another glimpse into His holiness as we praise and worship Him. 

In Revelation, as John beholds the awesomeness and majesty of the throne of God, he sees four living creatures around the throne. “Day and night they never stop saying: ‘Holy, holy holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” (Rev. 4:8) Day and night they NEVER stop saying this. They are ALWAYS saying this. They CONTINUALLY proclaim the holiness of God. Someone said the reason they can keep doing this without getting bored is because each time they say it and behold the Lord, they get another glimpse into yet another facet of His holiness. So they proclaim with renewed awe, “Holy! Holy! Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is and is to come!” 

Isaiah saw the Lord. He described it like this in Isaiah 6:1-7: 

I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." 6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." 

Interestingly, when Isaiah beheld the holiness of God, he was instantly struck with his own UNholiness. But then a seraf touched his lips with a coal from the altar and proclaimed that his guilt and sin were taken away. 

If you really want to see how important holiness is to God, go to BibleGateway.com and do a keyword search of the word “holy.” Read all those instances where the Lord is instructing Moses about the temple and the priests who are to minister there. You will see the word “holy” over and over again. Then he tells these unsaved Israelites to “be holy, for I am holy.” How can they do it? There are lots of rules they must follow. But he also says the He is the one who makes them holy. 

Leviticus 20:7 " 'Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the LORD your God. 

Leviticus 20:8 Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the LORD , who makes you holy. [ Or who sanctifies you ; or who sets you apart as holy ] 

Leviticus 20:26 You are to be holy to me [ Or be my holy ones ] because I, the LORD , am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own. 

Leviticus 22:32 Do not profane my holy name. I must be acknowledged as holy by the Israelites. I am the LORD , who makes [ Or made ] you holy [ Or who sanctifies you ; or who sets you apart as holy ] 

I could go on and on. You’re on the Internet. Go see for yourself. The people were to be holy, and the priests were to be holy. That hasn’t changed for us, the New Testament church. When we receive the sacrifice of God’s son, Jesus, His precious and powerful blood washes away our sin and makes us holy. However, we must also live holy. There’s like a maintenance factor here. We can do things that cause us to “get dirty” again (though not in the sense of having lost our salvation). We simply must live in a manner that is consistent with holiness, since He made us holy. 

Lest someone say that all those Old Testament scriptures don’t apply to us New Testament Christians, consider these scriptures: 

Romans 12:1 [ Living Sacrifices ] Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual [ Or reasonable] act of worship. 

Ephesians 1:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. 

Ephesians 5:3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. 

Colossians 1:22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation– 

Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 

1 Thessalonians 3:13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones. 

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 

We have been made kings and priests. We are ministers unto the Lord in this day just as the Levites were in the Old Testament. Paul tells the church of God in Corinth (and us) that we are “called to be holy.” (1 Corinthians 1:2) Jesus died to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 

I Thessalonians 4:7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 

2 Timothy 1:9 [God,] who has saved us and called us to a holy life 

2 Timothy 2:20-22 ²⁰In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. ²¹If a man cleanses himself from the latter [ignoble purposes], he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. [How do we cleanse ourselves of the ignoble purposes so that we will be made holy and useful to the Master? Read the very next verse:] ²²Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 

What exactly is “ignoble,” by the way? My guess is that it is the opposite of “noble.” According to www.yourdictionary.com, that’s exactly what it is, along with some synonyms: “Having or proceeding from low moral standards: base, low, low-down, mean, sordid, squalid, vile.” Well, I could go on and on (though it seems I already have; time flies when you’re having fun). I started out talking about the holiness of God and ended up talking about my own holiness. But that’s as it should be. As I mentioned earlier, beholding His holiness should cause us to behold our own, and to make adjustments as necessary. This is an ongoing process.

December 17, 2004

James 1:2-3 – “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.”

December 13, 2004

In John 17:22-23, Jesus prays aloud to the Father, in front of His disciples:

"And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: ²³I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me." (emphasis mine)

Jesus prayed this out loud, in front of the disciples.  John then recorded it in his book. This is my emphasis today: God loves us as much as He loves Jesus.

This is not blasphemy, though it almost seems to be, since most of us have such a lowly opinion of ourselves. The Bible does say for us not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think (Romans 12:3), which implies we should think SOMETHING of ourselves. Jesus said the greatest commandment was that we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. How can we love our neighbors if we don't love ourselves? I have come to a conclusion, and this statement is either totally false or brilliant: People who don't love themselves have very little capacity to love others.

God loves us. Sure, we can quote John 3:16..."For God so loved that world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish, but would have eternal life." God loved the world--us--so much, that He gave Jesus to get us back, to snatch us out of darkness into the light (if we believe in Jesus as The Way God has provided to Himself). God loved the world. God loved us. God loved me. God loves me.

Sure, sing the song: Jesus loves me, this I know...We know it, but is it really REAL in us? The fact that God values us so highly?

The reason I harp on this is because it is a foundation for a real, vital relationship with God. God loves ME, and desires to fellowship with me. He's literally done everything that needs to be done for me to come to Him. Now it's up to me.

I'm not talking about salvation. Sure, I'm saved. I'm filled with the Holy Spirit. But, to use an example, being married doesn't make a relationship automatic. We must communicate with each other ON PURPOSE. We must set aside time to be together. We must prioritize our relationship with each other.

Same with God, except our relationship with Him should be number one. We must communicate with Him on purpose. He WANTS, He REALLY wants to communicate with me. I should realize this. I should realize His great, awesome, mind-blowing, over-the-top, passionate, boundless LOVE for ME. And not take it for granted. Value Him as He values me.

God loves me as much as He loves Jesus. Saying it out loud puts some weight to it. "God, you love me just as much as you love Jesus, and you really love Him a LOT. After all, He is your only begotten son. You gave Him so I could be your daughter and we could all be one. So I could be included in the group. Thank you, Father. Help me to more fully realize this."

December 9, 2004

Psalm 145:16 (NKJV)
You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

December 8, 2004

Sing, sing, sing, praise, proclaim, declare, ascribe, ascribe, ascribe, bring, worship, tremble, say. These are the commands we are given in Psalm 96. How important are the words of our mouth! How important is audibly proclaiming His works and majesty!

Be vocal, be loud, be verbal, be bold. Proclaim the decree of the Lord!

December 7, 2004

Psalm 4:3. David said this: “Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; he will hear when I call to him. He will hear, he will hear, he will hear.

December 3, 2004

I can’t seem to get out of the first three chapters of Proverbs. Wisdom, wisdom, wisdom. That is the principle thing. Heeding wisdom brings victory (2:7), protection of your way (2:8), understanding of every good path (2:9), prolonged life and prosperity (3:2), favor and a good name in the sight of God and man (3:4), health to your body and nourishment to your bones (3:8), long life and riches (3:16), pleasant ways and peaceful paths (3:17), safety (3:23), and sweet sleep. I want it!

November 30, 2004
 

As I open my Bible this morning to read Psalm 93, my eyes fall to the last verse in Psalm 92 that I read yesterday. It is highlighted. Verses 12-15 tell how the righteous will flourish like a palm tree, growing like a cedar of Lebanon planted in the house of the Lord, bearing fruit in old age, staying fresh and green,

“proclaiming, "The LORD is upright;
he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him."

What immediately strikes me is something I already know but that the Holy Spirit wants to make fresh to me today: the Lord is upright.  There is no wickedness in Him. Duh. But I have to get it again this morning. The Lord is upright! There is no wickedness in Him! God is not a man that He should lie!  In fact,

Numbers 23:19 (NIV)
¹⁹"God is not a man, that He should lie,
        Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
        Has He said, and will He not do?
        Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”

If He said it, He will do it! He is not like some people we know who disappoint us or let us down, who make empty promises. He is God and He doesn’t lie. His word is good. Or, should I say, He is good for His word.

Isaiah 55:11 (NIV)
¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55:11 (MSG)
¹¹So will the words that come out of my mouth
not come back empty-handed.
They'll do the work I sent them to do,
they'll complete the assignment I gave them.
 

Or, as the angel told Mary when questioned about the virgin birth, “Nothing is impossible with God.” The Amplified Bible really brings out the true shades of meaning:

Luke 1:37

³⁷For with God nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment.

Said another way, every word from God contains within itself the power to accomplish what God has put into it.

Same song; we’ve heard it before. God doesn’t lie. However, I don’t know about you, but my faith needs to be refreshed every once in a while. Like it is this morning.  Thank you, Father. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for illuminating God’s word to me.

© 2005 Suzanne Leitz

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Last updated April 17, 2012