" Go in the STRENGTH of the LORD GOD "

Psalm 71   " In YOU, O LORD, I put my trust; let me never be put to shame. Deliver me in YOUR righteousness, and cause me to escape; incline YOUR ear to me, and save me. Be my strong habitation, to which I may resort continually; YOU have given the commandment to save me, for YOU are my rock and my fortress. Deliver me, O my GOD, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. For YOU are my hope, O LORD GOD; YOU are my trust from my youth. By YOU I have been upheld from my birth; YOU are HE WHO took me out of my mother's womb. My praise shall be continually of YOU.

I have become as a wonder to many, but YOU are my strong refuge. Let my mouth be filled with YOUR praise and with YOUR glory all the day. Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails. For my enemies speak against me; and those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together, 'saying GOD has forsaken him; pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him.'  O GOD, do not be far from me; O my GOD, make haste to help me !

Let them be confounded and consumed who are adversaries of my life; let them be covered with reproach and dishonor who seek my hurt. But I will hope continually, and will praise YOU yet more and more. My mouth shall tell of YOUR righteousness and YOU Salvation all the day. For I do not know their limits. I will go in the strength of the LORD GOD; I will make mention of YOUR righteousness, of YOURS only. O GOD, YOU have taught me from my youth; and to this day I declare YOUR wondrous works. Now also when I am old and gray-headed, O GOD, do not forsake me, until I declare YOUR strength to this generation. YOUR power to everyone who is to come.

Also YOUR righteousness, O GOD, is very high, YOU WHO have done great things; O GOD, who is like YOU ? YOU, WHO have shown me great and severe troubles, shall revive me again and bring me up again from the depths of the earth. YOU shall increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side. Also with the lute I will praise YOU--And YOUR faithfulness, O my GOD ! To YOU I will sing with the harp, O HOLY ONE of Israel. My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to YOU, and my soul which YOU have redeemed. My tongue also shall talk of YOUR righteousness all the day long; for they are confounded, for they are brought to shame who seek my hurt. "

     Going in the strength of the LORD, what does that really mean ?  If you notice in the Psalm above, strength is spiritually given when we stop trying to do things in our own strength, our own way. See also Psalm 138:3 which reads - In the day when I cried out, YOU answered me, and made me bold with strength in my soul.........and also in Ephesians 3:16 states - that HE would grant you, according to the riches of HIS glory, to be strengthened with might by HIS SPIRIT in the inner man.........and also in 2nd.Timothy 4:17 states - But the LORD stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion....... and we cannot ignore the Apostle Paul's plea for the " thorn in the flesh to be taken away in 2nd.Corinthians 12:9 & 10 which states - And HE said to me, "MY grace is sufficient for you, for MY strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of CHRIST may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for CHRIST's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

     Once we have been Truly Born Again by GOD's SPIRIT, WHO then indwells the new Believer / Christian, we have access to a strength and power that few understand or rely on.  As a Christian, we have been saved by GOD's grace, and by HIS strength and power alone, we live the Christian life.  Yes, we can be a Christian and live without ever accessing this power and strength, but we live as weak, non-effective, carnal Christians always trying to do the work the LORD has for us to do, but impotently, in our own strength. How do we access this kind of strength to do the work GOD has given us to and do it HIS way ? PRAYER, PRAYER, PRAYER, PRAYER.......everything that GOD gives us to do, HE will give you the means, strength and ability to do it, but you have to give it over to HIM in prayer. When you get up in the morning, ask HIM that whatever HE has for you to do that day, whether at work, in the grocery store, caring for that elderly or sick family member, or even doing a blog about the wonders of HIS WORD, give it over to HIM. I used to work for a company that was very exasperating to say the least. The work was not hard but I am a perfectionist when it comes to working for someone, and you know what I would run into if you have ever worked outside the home for even a week. I worked for the same company twice, the first time I was not saved, did not have the LORD in my life and I was able to stay about 10 years. I always tell people that I took an 11 year sabbatical and then started working for them again, this time I was living for the LORD and looked at the job with different eyes.  On the days that I talked to HIM before starting my day, the days went well but on the days I was in a hurry, my old sin nature reared its ugly head and I did not reflect my SAVIOR as I should have.

     GOD never intends that HIS children live the Christian life outside HIS will or HIS strength, because to do so is a life lived nearly fruitless, spiritually.  But now, to those who are not Christians, who have never accepted or believed the fact that you as a sinner have NO CHANCE at an eternity outside of a devils hell.  I give you a gift, a gift called the GOSPEL.  We are ALL born sinners, we sin because we are born sinners and as sinners we are completely separated from the GOD of all creation. Only forgiven, blood washed people have a place reserved for them in heaven (John 14).  We just celebrated the birth of our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST, who as GOD the SON, came to earth in the form of a human baby.  HE was the only completely sinless baby who was born for one reason and one reason only, to die on a Roman cross to pay the price for YOUR sin and for mine. This HE did willingly, because HIS love for us was greater than the shame and humiliation of dying on a Roman cross. After HE gave up HIS SPIRIT, they buried HIM in a tomb(cave)and on the third day HE arose from the dead. HE had to raise from the dead to show that HIS FATHER was satisfied by HIS SON's sacrifice for our sin. Now you have 2 choices - 1.) You can ignore what I just wrote and go about your life anyway you want & die and go to a devils hell to be tormented for all eternity because you refused the GREATEST GIFT that GOD the FATHER could give to pay for your sin and redeem you to HIMSELF, HIS ONLY SON, the LORD JESUS CHRIST. or 2.) You can bow your head in prayer to the LORD JESUS and admit to HIM that you know that you are a sinner and that you know and believe that HE died and rose again to pay the price for your sin, and ask HIM to come into your heart and life to save you - AND HE WILL !!!  HIS WORD says that TODAY IS THE DAY OF SALVATION,  you may not have another chance except the one you are now reading. PLEASE accept HIS most precious GIFT OF SALVATION today !!!
Your servant in CHRIST,

Julie

" ONCE "

Free from the law O happy condition ! JESUS hath bled,

               and there is remission, Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall,
               Grace hath redeemed us ONCE for all.
               ONCE for all O sinner receive it! ONCE for all O brother believe it !
               Cling to the cross, the burden will fall, CHRIST hath redeemed us
               ONCE for all !

     For those of you who do not know the above quote is actually the first line of a hymn by Phillip Bliss. When I was working on and waiting for the LORD to impress upon me what to Blog about this week, the word ONCE kept standing out in my readings and so did the above hymn. How many things in our life do we have to do over and over and over again. Go to work, do the dishes, dust, laundry, chores of all kinds. We have a never ending list of things that we have to do over and over again. But there was something that JESUS did that was done ONCE and would never have to be repeated. This great and wonderful accomplishment was so horrible to endure, so degrading for our most HOLY SON of GOD, and yet HE did it willingly and without hesitation. Hebrews 12:2 states - looking unto JESUS, the author and finisher of our faith, WHO for the joy that was set before HIM, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of GOD.

     We as humans, in our finite minds, cannot even come close to grasping how horrible it was for the SON of GOD to take upon HIMSELF, like a cloak, the sin of every man, woman and child who ever existed and who will ever exist. Go ahead think about some of the most criminally hearted men that have walked this earth - Hitler, Stalin, Nero, Henry the 8th., Son of Sam serial killer, Jeffrey Domer also a serial killer,  and YOU and ME.  We say our sins are not as bad as those listed, but to an all HOLY GOD, sin has separated us from HIM, whether a white lie or a murder, all is sin and must be paid for, and that is where JESUS's one time gift comes in.

     In the book of Hebrews it talks of JESUS as our HIGH PRIEST. Heb.7:26 thru 27 states - For such a HIGH PRIEST was fitting for us, WHO is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; WHO does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for HIS own sins and then for the people's, for this HE did ONCE for all when HE offered up HIMSELF........Then again in Heb.9:11 thru 12 and 24 thru 28 states - But CHRIST came as HIGH PRIEST of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with HIS own blood HE entered the MOST HOLY PLACE, ONCE for all, having obtained eternal redemption.     For CHRIST has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of GOD for us, not that HE should offer HIMSELF often, as the high priest enters the MOST HOLY PLACE every year with blood of another-HE then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now ONCE at the end of the ages, HE has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of HIMSELF. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so CHRIST was offered ONCE to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for HIM, HE will appear a second time, apart from sin, unto salvation.......... And lastly in the book of 1st.Peter 3:18 it states - For CHRIST also suffered ONCE for sins, the just for the unjust, that HE might bring us to GOD, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the SPIRIT.

     Now to those of us who are Truly Born Again Believing Christians, the above hymn goes on like this:
               Now are we free there's no condemnation ! JESUS provides a perfect
               salvation, Come unto ME O hear HIS sweet call ! Come and HE saves
               us ONCE for all.

To those who have never come to JESUS or have heard HIS WORD before and continue to turn away, HE says to YOU that, " today is the day of salvation ". As a sinner, bough your head and pray to the LORD JESUS that you know that you are a sinner, in need of a SAVIOR. Tell HIM that you know that HE died for you and rose again on the third day as the Scriptures has said. That you believe in HIM and ask HIM to come into your heart and life to save you.  HE WILL !!!   If you truly come to HIM in repentance and for salvation, this is something that you will only have to do ONCE and you will be HIS forever !!!   AMEN & AMEN !!
Your servant in CHRIST,
Julie

" WHO Instructs You ? " From Psalm 94

O LORD GOD, to whom vengeance belongs --
O GOD, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth !
Rise up, O JUDGE of the earth, render punishment to the proud.
LORD, how long will the wicked, How long will the wicked triumph ?

They utter speech, and speak insolent things;
All the workers of iniquity boast in themselves.
They break in pieces YOUR temple, O LORD, and afflict YOUR heritage.
They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless.
Yet they say, "The LORD does not see, nor does the GOD of Jacob understand."

Understand you senseless among the people; and you fools, when will you be wise ?
HE who planted the ear, shall HE not hear ?
HE who formed the eye, shall HE not see ?
HE who instructs the nations, shall HE not correct, HE who teaches man knowledge ?
The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile.

Blessed is the man whom YOU instruct, O LORD, and teach out of YOUR law.
That YOU may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit is dug for the wicked.
For the LORD will not cast off HIS people, nor will HE forsake HIS inheritance.
But judgement will return to righteousness, and all the upright in heart will follow it.

Who will rise up for me against the evildoers ?
Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity ?
Unless the LORD had been my help. my soul would soon have settled in silence.
If I say, "My foot slips," YOUR mercy, O LORD, will hold me up.
In the multitude of my anxieties within me, YOUR comforts delight my soul.

Shall the throne of iniquity, which devises evil by law, have fellowship with YOU ?
They gather together against the life of the righteous, and condemn innocent blood. 
But the LORD has been my defense, and my GOD the ROCK of my refuge. 
HE has brought on them their own wickedness; the LORD our GOD shall cut them off.      Psalm 94:1-23

     Teaching or giving instruction in anything is an awesome responsibility, especially when it is the WORD of GOD. GOD gives gifts to all of HIS children. In Eph. 4: 11 thru 12 - And HE HIMSELF gave some to be apostles (no longer applies to this church age), some prophets (also no longer applies to this church age), some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of CHRIST....... There are many other gifts that GOD gives but I am focusing in on the teaching / instruction in GOD's WORD.

      There is nothing that GOD HIMSELF cannot teach us, but the way HE teaches and by whom may change.  Of course HIS wonderful WORD is our main and inerrant single source of all truth. And HE says also that there is no private interpretation of GOD's WORD. When JESUS CHRIST went back into heaven at the beginning of the book of Acts, HE did not leave us orphans. On the day of Pentecost, the blessed HOLY SPIRIT was deployed to permanently indwell the new church age believers.  The SPIRIT gives us the final and only interpretation of GOD's WORD.

     HE, the SPIRIT of truth, helps Pastors and Teachers to give instruction in GOD's WORD.  The believers spirit listens to what is being taught and the HOLY SPIRIT testifies with our spirit that what is being said is true. In the book of Acts there was a group of people called the Berean's who took no ones instruction at face value but would search the Scriptures to make sure that what was being taught was true.

     In the book of 2nd Timothy 4:2 thru 5 - Preach the WORD ! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the TRUTH, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry..........GOD's WORD says that in the last days that many will heap up for themselves teachers that will not teach the whole truth of GOD's WORD, but they will listen only to those that will make them feel good;  that will leave them alone in their sin that they so much enjoy.

     What kind of church do you go to ? Does the Pastor ever preach against sin ?  Does he preach on the blood of CHRIST that can wash away your sin ? Have you ever been told that you are a sinner on your way to a devils hell ? Has there ever been a time or place that you have come to GOD in prayer through the LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST and ask HIM to come into your heart and life and save you ?   WE ARE ALL SINNERS and NEED THE ONE and ONLY SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST.   When I asked JESUS to come into my heart and life and change me, HE did.  I used to have a "pottie" mouth. I swore, told dirty jokes and anything else that sinners do or say. But when JESUS came into my heart, HE changed me, slowly at first, but the swearing and the dirty jokes stopped immediately.  HE has taught me so many things and I am still sitting at HIS feet, ever ready to learn more. I know that a single lifetime will not be enough time to learn all HE has for me, but I think eternity may give me all the time I'll need, and it is all because of HIS love for me AND FOR YOU !!!
Your servant in CHRIST,
Julie

" What Is In Your Mouth ? "

     Have you ever listened to peoples conversations. I don't mean that you purposely eavesdrop but you randomly hear conversations in restaurants or waiting in line or just about anywhere you happen to be these days. If you are like me you've noticed that there is a lot of unhappy and unkind people talking into their hands....OOPS !!! I mean their Smart phones. I don't have one of those things because I have enough trouble just maneuvering around on this laptop !!! But it amazes me what tiny, insignificant things seem to get under the skin and eventually out through the mouth of people. I suppose if it were happening to me I wouldn't be so glib about these annoyances. But of all those conversations that I have been privy to, there is only one person that I know of, from HIS conversations HE was gracious, loving and straightforward with HIS hearers.
     In 1st.Peter 2:18 thru 25 Peter was inspired by the HOLY SPIRIT to pen these words to those who have to deal out in the world of business, and I think that is just about any True Born Again Christian these days.............. Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward GOD one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently ? But when you do good and suffer for it, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before GOD. For to this you were called, because CHRIST also suffered for us, leaving us and example, that you should follow HIS steps:

          Who committed no sin,
          Nor was guile found in HIS mouth.

WHO when HE was reviled did not revile in return; when HE suffered, HE did not threaten, but committed HIMSELF to HIM WHO judges righteously; WHO HIMSELF bore our sins in HIS own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by WHOSE stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the SHEPHERD and OVERSEER of your souls.
     Now no guile was found in our LORD and SAVIOR's mouth and I am pretty sure that is what is being taught here to us who are HIS followers. James was also inspired to write about the tongue, which is part of your mouth, in James 3:1 thru 12 that it is full of deadly poisons and cannot be tamed. Here is a portion from 5 thru 12............ Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles ! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of nature and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue, it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our GOD and FATHER, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of GOD. Out of the same mouth proceed blessings and cursing's, MY brethren these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening ? Can a fig tree, MY brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs ? Thus no spring can yield both salt water and fresh.

     As Christians, I know that it is sometimes hard to hold our piece, but if we do, HE will give us HIS gracious and wise words at the proper time. HE even said that we are not to worry about what to say if and when we are persecuted for the faith.  The SPIRIT will give us the WORDS and the power in which to use them when the time is right. Our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST was absolutely the most gracious user of HIS mouth. HE looked down from the cross and gave instructions to John about the caring of HIS Mother after HE was gone back into heaven. From the cross, HIS mouth was full of forgiveness not only for one of the thieves who admitted his need of forgiveness but also to all, FATHER forgive them for they know not what they do.
     Now I also know that the LORD was an advocate for " Righteous Anger " which HE displayed in the Temple, when the moneychangers and the sellers of sacrificial animals were doing so in the Temple area and not outside. Of course they were also price gouging the people who traveled from afar and had to buy their animals or birds there instead of bringing them from home. But even in HIS "Righteous Anger",  HIS WORDs were truthful and to the point. GOD the SON loved GOD the FATHER and the men had made HIS FATHER's House into a den of thieves, and this should not have been allowed. It actually was a condemnation of the Temple leaders. They knew the law and the purchasing of the sacrificed animals was to be done in the Marketplace not in the Temple area. But this type of anger is only called for in certain instances and if you are clean and open to the SPIRIT's leading, HE will give you the WORD's to say and at the proper time.

     Now this info is for the Believer, the Truly Born Again Christian and not for one who has never accepted the LORD JESUS CHRIST as his personal SAVIOR.  Now to you I speak, GOD's WORD says that today is the day of Salvation. YOU ARE A SINNER, so am I but I, through the SPIRIT of GOD's leading, recognized that I was a sinner, condemned to a Devils Hell, without hope, nor was I able to DO anything to get myself into heaven or DO anything to pay for my sins.  But THANKS BE TO GOD FOR HIS GREAT GIFT OF SALVATION.  John 3:16 still sums it up best...... For GOD so loved the world that HE gave HIS only begotten SON that whomsoever believes in HIM shall not perish but have everlasting life.
Bow your head, call on the LORD JESUS, admit you are a sinner in need of a SAVIOR, believe that HE died for you personally and rose again, ask HIM into your heart and life to save you, HE WILL, and then the words coming out of your mouth will be in a song of PRAISE HIM, PRAISE HIM, JESUS our blessed REDEEMER, for our sins HE suffered and bled and died, JESUS SAVIOR reigneth forever and ever, crown HIM, crown HIM, JESUS the crucified !!!!!
Your servant in CHRIST,
Julie