Mood:  a-ok

INVESTING MY TIME IN JESUS

S. Mark 4:24, 34

And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you--and more [besides] will be given to you who hear.

34 He did not tell them anything without a parable; but privately to His disciples (those who were peculiarly His own) He explained everything [fully].

O. However much of our 'precious private' time that we spend meditating, studying and thinking on something, is the measure of understanding that will come back to us. (wheather it's the Word of God or a TV shows, 'things', iphone, etc.)

Jesus gave the example of planting a mustard seed. If we plant a tiny mustard seed of God's Word in our minds, spending our 'precious private' time there, it will grow, spread and become huge with understanding. The knowledge and understanding of Jesus' and all that He really is' can then spread to our actions and words...and we will KNOW Him inside and out!

A. When I want to get to know another person I automatically want to listen intently to what he/she says, watching what they do and how they do it. I want to know that person through they're words and actions while searching to know they're thoughts and feelings, too.

This is how I can come to know Jesus deeper. The more time I spend with Him, studying Him in the Bible, the more I get to know Him. If I take the time spent on the OTHER things I 'want to know about' (i.e. tv shows, rock stars, dancing stars, iphones) and invest THAT time in getting to know HIM, He can reveal more of Himself to me. The amount of time and 'heart' I give to Him, is the amount of understanding and 'heart-change' I will receive from Him.

P. My desire, Father, is to come to a new and deeper understanding of Your Son. I desire to have a renewed relationship...more intimacy...with Your Son! Open my heart wide to that, Father! Fill me so full of Jesus that He flows out of me AUTOMATICALLY as my FIRST NATURE! Invest my time in Jesus!

Mood:  a-ok

SPEAKING ONLY WHEN MY LIFE IS PROOF OF MY WORDS

S. Mark 1:44 (Jesus said to the healed leaper:)

"See that you tell nothing [of this] to anyone; but begone, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your purification what Moses commanded, as a proof (an evidence and witness) to the people [ that you are really healed]."

O. This is a parallel to a saved person, (leaper=disease of the skin/flesh...a sinner). Jesus tells this leaper/sinner that he is not to tell anyone he has been healed/saved until there is proof. The now-healed leaper/sinner must show proof of his healing/salvation by obeying the law of Moses concerning being shown proved/clean/saved.

 The Law of Moses says that the leaper must 'show himself cleansed' by proof. This proof, according to Moses' law, involved blood, oil and water...sacrifice, cleansing and anointing (Leviticus 14:2-32).

*The oil/anointing was applied to the ear, thumb, toe and head of the new Believer by the 'priest/Mature Believer/US. This is a parallel of being able to hear and understand what the Spirit says; where He leads us in our works; where He leads us in our 'walk of life'; where He leads us in our thoughts and minds (HIS thoughts)

*The same was done with the blood, giving us a cover of protection by the blood of Jesus over our hearing, works, and walk of life. The blood was not poured over the head, freeing our thoughts up to choose, on our own, the ways of God.

ALL of these things, Jesus said, had to be done BEFORE he was shown to the public as CLEANSED/HEALED/SAVED!

The point:

Jesus commands the 'sinner' NOT to speak about his salvation UNTIL he lives it out...until he shows 'Jesus' through life and action, not with words...lead by HIM and His Spirit. This guarantees that the new convert is lead and protected by Holy Spirit and the blood of Jesus...THE TRUTH SHOWS THROUGH A PURE WALK OF LIFE, NOT WORDS ALONE!

A. My life has to be proof that Jesus is my Savior. Only THEN can my words back that up.

P. If my words are not from a 'heart-and-life-known' experience', CUT THEM OFF, Father! I want to live REAL,...full of PROOF that You are my LIFE! Shut my mouth UNTIL I can be YOUR proof!

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Mood:  a-ok

S.Acts 27:41 But striking a crosscurrent (a place open to two seas) they ran the ship aground. The prow stuck fast and remained immovable, and the stern began to break up under the violent force of the waves.

O. Daylight came during a huge storm, allowing Paul and the other men see land. They had hit a 'crosscurrent', a storm; a stream moving across a main current. The men 'took counsel', and decided to run the front of the ship into the land, so that the 'prow stuck fast and remained immovable'. This meant that the rest of the ship that could be 'broken' was allowed to "break up under the violent force of the waves".

A. I get a picture of ramming my head (the 'prow of my ship') into the Word of God/solid ground or TRUTH, and it gets 'stuck' there, while the troubles of life (crosscurrents) work away at destroying what God can not use in my life.

Every once in awhile, I NEED a shipwreck! With my head stuck in the Word of God's Truth, my faith is strengthened and all that isn't needed by God can be bashed to bits! There are 'crosscurrents' in life (conflicting opinions, where God's opinion crosses over man's opinion). The 'crosscurrent' goes against the rest of the world, conflicting with the majority. This is the Way of the Kingdom and, like Paul and his shipmates, I am to run my 'mind' (the front of my 'ship') into 'solid ground/TRUTH' where my mind is 'stuck fast and remains immovable'. 

It's CHOOSING Truth and STAYING there while the 'crosscurrents' bash away.

P. Thank You for the shipwrecks, Father! Keep me strong and STUCK in Your Truth!

Mood:  sharp

S.ACTS 25:16 But I replied to them that it was not the custom of the Romans to give up freely any man for punishment before the accused had met the accusers face to face and had opportunity to defend himself concerning the charge brought against him.

O. When satan uses my thoughts to accuse me with shame and guilt, I am to STAND UP against him...meet the accusers face to face... (Acts 26:16 "But arise and stand upon your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, that I might appoint you to serve as [My] minister and to bear witness both to what you have seen of Me and to that in which I will appear to you"), uttering the 'TRUTH' (Acts 26:25 But Paul replied, I am not mad, most noble Festus, but I am uttering the straight, sound truth) 

A. The TRUTH dispels all lies! Telling satan right to his face that he is a liar, then speaking God's truth to him, makes him flee. No lie can overshadow TRUTH!

P. Thank You, Father, for the power of Your Truth over satan's lies!

Mood:  a-ok

s.Acts 17:8,9 Then Saul got up from the ground, but though his eyes were opened, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was unable to see for three days, and he neither ate nor drank [anything].

o. Saul was stripped of fleshly 'sight' and his spirit received no food or drink for 3 days. He was being emptied of all fleshly things so that he could be filled up with the spiritual things of God. God then told him to go to Annanias (the 'cloud/blessing' of the Lord) on the Road called Straight ('to place well/good'). God renewed all of Saul's old self with spiritual newness...the renewal of God in sight, food and drink...including a new path of life, placed well in God's good things.

a. I have to be stripped of my old way of looking at things, of the old knowledge of this world (food), of the old spirit of this world (drink) in order that God can put inside of my spirit HIS eyes, food, and drink (vision, knowledge, Spirit). He then will place me on the right path of life, the STRAIGHT path that leads me where HE wants me to go...the place of His 'goodness' and where all is 'well'.

p.Thank You, Father, that You care enough about me to take the 'crap' out of me and put inside of me all of Your goodness...your way of seeing things, Your wisdom and knowledge, Your Spirit, and Your Way. Keep me there, Father, because I know, without doubt, that there is no other 'Life' but Yours!

Mood:  accident prone

John 19:41, 42a  Now in the place where He was

crucified (to utterly distroy the flesh by using a pointed, upright stake; to stand immovable)

there was a

garden( A plot of land used for the cultivation of flowers, vegetables, herbs, or fruit. A delightful spot),

and in the garden a

new tomb (a fresh memorial, monument in order to remember something or someone)

in which no one had yet been laid (fixed, established).

So there they laid Jesus,...

Observation:

We can take a fixed and established stand in our faith in order to distroy our sinful inner selves. Like Jesus, we are laid/set in a delightful spot as we stand, pierced. We are given this 'spiritual garden place' in order that we can remember what God has done for us, refreshing and renewing the memories of these things in order to strengthen us.

Application:

When I am pierced by being changed, cleansed and tested, I can stand firm and fixed in the position of the 'delightful spot', the garden. Even in the pain of piercing, I receive refreshing memories of what God has done for me. Remembering these things brings renewed spiritual strength and hope and a searching for what He is teaching me through these new tests and trials.

Prayer:

The garden of memories that You give me is so beautiful. Refresh that garden in me daily, Father! Help my memories of our times together to be ever renewed in my mind and spirit in order to keep my spirit strong!

Mood:  lazy

John 18: 1 HAVING SAID these things, Jesus went out with His disciples beyond (across) the winter torrent of the Kidron [in the ravine]. There was a garden there, which He and His disciples entered.

Observation:

In the middle of 'Kidron' (a 'dusky place' during a 'winter torrent') Jesus took His disciples to a 'garden'. (dict. "A rich, well-cultivated spot or tract of country; a delightful spot.") Here, herbs, flowers and plants of many kinds, grew. It was a 'delightful spot' full of life, growth and things to eat to promote growth. Jesus took His 'pupils' to THIS spot during 'torrents'...troubled times. And in this place, we, His pupils, can still go during 'torrents'.

Application:

When life gets rough, I can ALWAYS go to the 'garden' that God has provided for us....in my mind and spirit. Here is the peace He brings, the growth and food He provides for us during troubled times. Jesus took His pupils there. In my spirit/mind, I am provided with this place, too. I just follow Jesus there.

Prayer:

Take me to Your garden, Lord. Remind me that You have provided the food and growth and peace I need to grow...in that place...even during troubled times.

John 17:23 I in them and You in Me, in order that they may become one and perfectly united, that the world may know and [definitely] recognize that You sent Me and that You have loved them [even] as You have loved Me.

Observation:

Oh how we have messed this up! If God is in Christians, then why doesn't His love shine out in order that ALL can see it? Why doesn't the Love of Jesus flow out from us, drawing others? Because, we have failed in this. No, there is not unity in the Church. And we are far from where we need to be in order that God's love would flow out from us. Aparently, we really don't 'GET' this.

Application:

I, too, have lacked in loving others as God loves me. I, too, lack unity with the church. I just want to 'catch' this love and unity for others and be able to really shine it out. So, the question is, why haven't I 'caught' it? Am I truly on the right track? Searching, always searching....

Prayer:

Help me to find the REAL truth! What is the answer to Christian love and Christian unity? WHERE IS IT?

Mood:  d'oh

S.

Hebrews 12:13 (AMP) And cut through and make firm and plain and smooth, straight paths for your feet [yes, make them safe and upright and happy paths that go in the right direction], so that the lame and halting [limbs] may not be put out of joint, but rather may be cured.

O.

This scripture directs us to remove the obsticles from our 'walk/conduct of life' that causes us to 'vear off the right/straight path' and could cause us to 'limp' and become weak and spiritless. Having a 'rutted' path could cause us to 'trip up' and make us 'lame'. If we become 'lame' then it is harder to walk straight...we may 'favor' that leg and not be able to 'turn' from 'sin and error'. This would be because we have formed a 'habit' or a 'rutted course' that is a fixed routine in our life's course. We need to 'turn from that habit/fixed course, in order to get out of that 'rut' before we become 'lame'...and are unable to 'turn' because our 'rutter is broken'.

A.

When I am 'stuck in a rut', I get bored. When I have a same routine, I get bored and it causes me to think and act more desperate. This causes me to 'vear off the course' that God has given me. We are not to be 'rituolistic', doing things over and over in order to 'please God'. This is actually a 'habit' and not a good one. Life is full of change, and we have to change to be renewed. We are to get out of that 'rut' and watch out for obsticles that can cause us to trip up in our walk of life. We are to fill in those 'ruts' and make the path straight, so as not to come into sin and temptations. The 'ruts of life' can cause our 'rutters' to be broken.

P.

Father, You know me better than anyone! You know that I get stuck in the 'ruts of life'...causing me to be bored. I know that You set me here to help me crave change. I do, Father, crave the adventures You have for me. Keep me OUT OF THAT RUT, and without a LIMP! Heal my 'rutter', Father, as to keep me going on Your straight path of life!

Mood:  chatty

 (PERSONAL NOTE): Bringing hope to others by using God's Word is the job of every Believer in God. If our words are not trustworthy...if we don't follow through on what we say in order to show ourselves as trustworthy...then why would anyone believe us when we say God exists and He is the Bringer of hope? If OUR words don't stand up as truth, we are NOT telling the TRUTH of God to others...they just won't believe us!

S.

Hebrews 11:1,3 (AMP)   NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].

By faith we understand that the worlds [during the successive ages] were framed (fashioned, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose) by the word of God, so that what we see was not made out of things which are visible.].

 O.

Becoming certain and assured that something is trustworthy...this is the 'support' in which we can trustingly expect. This is the tried-and-tested-proof of the existance of some action that we do not understand.

Hope comes from trusting something. If we trust something, we stand on that as a foundation of truth...we rely on it and expect it to become true.

God's words created/prepared/restored eternity for us.

His words are creative, and if we trust His words...by proving them in testing...then we know this is truth. We then have hope in what God's words/His Bible says. We believe in and trust that He has told us truth and it raises our hopes for His promises/words to happen...His words that are producing and creating.

A.

My hope comes from trusting and being certain that something will happen...expectation in the trusting of something. God's words have created this world that I am standing in right now. If He said the 'word' and it happened when it comes to creating the universe, how much more can I trust Him for the little things that He said I could have...?

So, I am putting my trust in His Words. I am believing and having confidence and trusting in what He said I could be and could possess. I am hopeing in God!

P.

I trust You, Father. I have conficence in You. My hope comes from Your Words, those thoughts that You speak in order to create. I will speak Your words, Father, that my hope and expectations will be manifested. Thank You, Father, for Your hope!

P.S. Bringing hope to others by using God's Word is the job of every Believer in God. If our words are not trustworth...if we don't follow through on what we say and show ourselves as trustworthy...then why would anyone believe us when we say God exists and He is the Bringer of hope? If OUR words don't stand up as truth, we are NOT telling the TRUTH of God to others...they just won't believe us!