Under Construction 'Till 19th

I am working on the Manna and it is under construction.

Dorothy

Peace of God

Colossians 3:15 “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts …” Philippians 4:17 “And the peace of God … shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

            When we call on God from hearts that sincerely tried to abide in His Word, then the peace of God will flood our troubled souls. Holy Spirit helps us to mediate His Word and witness to our hearts that Jesus is near and that God’s love will be active in our lives.

            When we put our troubles before God in prayer, this peace will stand guard at the door of our hearts and minds, preventing the cares of life and the heartaches of disappointment from destroying our lives and hope in Christ. [Some notes from The Full Life Study Bible, D.C. Stamps]

                Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). The disciples’ hearts were troubled because Jesus was leaving them and going back to heaven. Jesus had been with them for three years, preparing them for the missionary work. Eventually, they received the gift of Holy Spirit who helped them throughout their lives.

            The Word of Jesus still apply to us, “I give you peace. I give you a state of quiet mind. I give you peace from the disturbance of war. I give you peace and freedom from upsetting thoughts or feelings. I make you feel calm and quiet. I give you relieve and wholly free from a burden of distress.”

           

Let the Word of Jesus’ peace be rooted and grounded into our hearts!

Dorothy

PS. The next Manna will be on August 13, 2013. We will be attending the Memorial Service with Tony’s family in honor of his oldest brother, Jack Callies in Minnesota/Wisconsin.

Taking Root 3, Offended

Matthew 13:21b “… because of the word, by and by he is offended” [KJV].

The word, offended interests me from the Word of Christ, the interpretation of Matthew 13:5-6, the seeds fell on rocky ground and they had no root. Tony has a book called, Satan’s Bait and we use this for our devotion and I learned that there are many subjects related to what causes the “offended.”

The word, offended = 1. to do wrong: SIN; 2: to cause to be angry or annoyed: DISPLEASE <that language offends me> … Sin = 1. a breaking of a moral law; 2: an action that is or is felt to be bad; Displease = to cause to feel disapproval, dislike, or annoyance <was displeased by the delay> [Merriam-Webster Dictionary].   Really, the word offended is a broad subject even related to offense like in a game, defense and offense.

But here Jesus talked about trials and persecutions that might come and because of the word, he is offended. A person may become angry because it is not what he thought it should be. To become “offended” may be something like: “I thought this is how it should be. I thought … I thought …” Where do “I thought” come from? This is where one needs to read a book, “Satan’s Bait” where it shows how he uses a mind, a “thought” that influence the person’s thinking. It had taken me years to realize how to identify whose “thought” came from. I often say, “Hey, wait a minute! Where did that “thought” came from?” I would check the Word of God against my “thought,” my “imaginations.” 

II Corinthians 10:5 “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” Here the word, imagination means the act, process, or power of forming a mental picture of something not present and especially of something one has not known or experienced; 2: a creative ability; 3: a creation of the mind. [Merriam-Webster Dictionary] Thought is past and participate of THINK. The mind, what we think is a powerful stuff. It could influence our destiny, hell or heaven.

Taking root, Christ’s teaching is the key to our spiritual growth. Paul, the Epistle’s prayer is found in Ephesians 3:14-21 and there is one verse 17 that he prayed, “that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being ROOTED and GROUNDED IN LOVE …” If we have this in our heart, then we would not be offended. Why? It is because Christ lives in our heart by faith; we are rooted and grounded in the love of God. How wonderful it is to have Christ dwell in our heart!

So let us trust God today!

Dorothy

Taking Root 2

Matthew 13:20 “As for what was sown on thin (rocky) soil, this is he who hears the Word and at once welcomes and accepts it with joy” [Amplified Bible].

This is an example of a person who began in the emotional joy of the Word and in his decision to change his life. But a person has continued to live in the emotions of his experience and his new found Christian friends. A person does little about the hard demands of Christ that come only through diligent study and prayer. A person knows little about sacrificial obedience: “Study to show thyself approved” (2Tim.2:15).

           

The word emotional is an important word to know as a Christian. The word, emotion means a strong feeling like excitement; 2: a mental reaction like an anger or fear marked by strong feeling and usually causing physical effects. The other word, emotional means relating to the emotions like an emotional upset; 2: likely to show or express emotion: easily moved like an emotional person. [Merriam-Webster]

The emotional issue talked about a person who always lives on his or her feelings. It would be interested to learn this because many Christians depend on the “feelings.” Is this a good thing? Feeling is a broad subject so let’s focus on a person who depends on feelings all the times. A person who depends on the feelings all the times may not be a reliable person to trust to. An emotional person is up and down.

Why? Like Jesus said, “Yet it has no real root in him, but is temporary (inconstant, lasts but a little while); and when affliction or trouble or persecution comes on account of the Word, at once he is caused to stumble [he is repelled and begins to distrust and desert Him Whom he ought to trust and obey] and he falls away” [Matt.13:21 AMP].

Living on feelings set apart from a person who depends on beliefs in the Word of God and a disciplined life. Once I depend on feelings when I thought God was leading me, but those feelings has gotten me into troubles. Why? If I had a strong belief in God’s Word against my feelings, I would not have gotten into troubles or problems. So the answer is having a strong faith to stand on God’s Word often gives me peace. The feelings are often set aside.

“I hate this person and he or she is giving me a hard time. I can’t stand it.” Doesn’t this sound like a person with a feeling of hatred? Where is God’s love in this? Didn’t the book of John tell us that we are to love our brethren? Didn’t Jesus tell us “to love our enemies? Do good to them that hate us? Bless them that give us hard time? These are “the root” that Jesus was talking about, His Word.

So let’s study His Word and take a deeper root in Him!

Dorothy

Taking Root 1

Matthew 13:5-6 “Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth. And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away” [KJV].

     Some received the Word in stony places. In some parts of Palestine lying right beneath the ground is a layer of limestone. When seed falls upon this ground, something dramatic happens. The limestone holds the rain and heat from the sunlight right under the surface; therefore, the fallen seed sprouts quickly and dramatically. But it has no root.

     The application is clear: this person has what appears to be a dramatic conversion. He makes a decision for Christ, and he stands out as an example of a changed life and quick growth. However, the change lasts only for a season, perhaps an extended season, but in the end it fails. [Footnote from Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible]

     Why this person fails? He has not rooted and grounded himself in the Word and in prayer. He has not learned the doctrines of Christ. He has not come through the diligent study to show himself approved and disciplined prayer. He does not have the spiritual strength to withstand the trials and persecutions of life. When there’s pressure from circumstances or things that happened to him like former friends of the world who mocked and abused him, that would causes him to cave in or fell through.  

    New Living Translation quoted, “But anyone who listens and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will crumble into a heap of ruins” [Luke 6:49].

I read the devotion from the Daily Bread about “Taking Root” and it had led me to study more of this research which I had written on the first part of the Manna. I admit that I was surprised to learn something about the limestone they had in Palestine. So the people there knew what Jesus was talking about from the nature’s view.

Jesus talked about the seed and soils. In a parable in Matthew 13 about what happens when the seed of the gospel is sown on various kinds of ground, He said that seeds that land on stones and “not much earth” grow quickly but then die in the sun (Mt. 13:5-6). He is speaking of one who has heard and received the gospel, but in whose life the message doesn’t take root. When trouble comes, this person who is not a “rooted” believer, he would fall away.

The word of encouragement from Jesus saying, “The good soil represents the hearts of those who truly accept God’s message and produce a huge harvest—thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted” [Mt.13:23]. The key word: produce means to bring something out by work. So studying the Word of God will produce a huge harvest inside of our souls and when we share them, it will grow so much as we have “planted” His Word in us. And when we are “rooted” in Christ, we would not fall away.  

So let’s trust God to be rooted in Christ and be strong in the Lord!

Dorothy 

Revive Me

Psalm 138:7a “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me.”

The word revive, means 1: to bring back or come back to life, consciousness, or activity: make or become fresh or strong again. 2: to bring back into use <trying to revive an old custom> revive is a verb.  

Prayer to my heavenly Father:

I went through the middle of trouble, O Lord, revive me. I am silence, O Lord, bring back my inner spirit to life. Open my consciousness to the Holy Spirit once again, O Lord. Bring me into activity into Your Word and make my inner spirit be fresh again. O Lord, make me strong again.

For Thou are with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me (Ps. 23:4). In times of danger and difficulty, I fear no evil because You are with me in every situation of life. You use the rod (a short club) as a weapon of defense against the wolves, the forces of demons around me. Your rod symbolizing Your strength, Your power, and Your authority against the force of evil. I praise You for being my marvelous Father who delivered me from evil.

Your staff, (a long slender stick with a hook on the end) You use it to draw me as a sheep to stay close to my Shepherd, Jesus. Your staff guides me in the right way. Your staff rescues me from trouble. Your rod and Your staff reassure me of Your love and Your guidance in my every day life.

You restore my soul. You re-energize my soul through Your power and Your grace. You lead me through the Holy Spirit who guides me into the path of righteousness. You encourage me to study Your Word of wisdom for they are life to my soul. I thank You and I praise You for the marvelous prayer that the Holy Spirit has given to me.

I pray for my friends who read this prayer to be revived, to be delivered, and to be healed in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Savior who saved us from the depth of our sins and covered us with the precious blood of Jesus, who died to set us free and rose again as a Victor and Conqueror of our lives in the name of Jesus Christ, amen and amen!

My friend, look up to Jesus who is the author and the finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and now He is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hallelujah!

So let us trust our heavenly Father today!

Dorothy

July 2013 Construction Month

There was no manna for the month of July 2013.