What to Put On Today?

 

The question that most people ask every morning-"What will I wear, or put on today?" The weather and my mood are usually the determining factors for me! But, more importantly than the question of physical clothes I put on, I should be concerned with "What Spiritual  Clothes will I put on?"

 

When we wake up in the morning, we are wearing pajamas, as we call them, or "night clothes." These are the clothes we were wearing when we were supposedly "DEAD to the world." We take them off once the Sun has risen, and the NEW DAY starts. This is what happens to us spiritually as well when we are brought from death to life, from the darkness to the light, when we are saved. We are no longer DEAD in our sins and in the darkness, but ALIVE unto Christ, the SON and TRUE LIGHT OF THE WORLD! We are no longer of child of the darkness, but a child of the light! Just as we leave our "Grave clothes" behind when the Lord saves us, we need to take them off every morning when we awake. Even though we now have a new nature, our spiritual, we still have our old nature, or our flesh, to deal with. We have to daily PUT THEM OFF!  "MORTIFY (OR KILL) therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:...... In the which ye also walked some, when ye lived in them. But now ye also, PUT OFF all these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have PUT OFF the OLD MAN and his deeds." Colossians 3:5,7,8 &9. Daily we need to determine to take off our clothes of the night, and put on our day clothes, so that we are prepared to live and work for the Lord. 

 

 Usually our night clothes show more of our physical body, or more of our self. Our day clothes SHOULD cover more of us, so that the world see less of us.(That's a whole different blog post in itself!) So should it be with our spiritual clothes. We should purpose to "die to self" and let the world see more of Him. " ...I die daily." I Corinthians 15:31. "He must increase, but I must decrease." John 3:30.

 

Not only do we have to PUT OFF grave clothes every morning, we have to PUT ON our GRACE clothes. "Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by GRACE ye are saved.)". Ephesians 2:5. "And have PUT ON the NEW MAN, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of HIM that created him." Colossians 3:10. "PUT ON therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;......And above all these things PUT ON charity, which is the bond of perfectness." Colossians 3:12& 14.Once we have put on our Grace clothes in the morning, we are ready to walk in His way and do what He would have us to do for Him. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we SHOULD WALK IN THEM." Ephesians 2:10.

 

Once we have determined to PUT ON the Grace clothes provided by the Lord, we are ready for His service. Is this not what He has left us here to do? May the Lord help us to not be guilty of INDECENT SPIRITUAL EXPOSURE! One day, we won't have to worry about these Grave clothes, or our flesh, We will be before Him in our ROBE OF WHITE-Revelation 19:8 "And to her (church) was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen IS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF SAINTS!" So, today may we purpose to "PUT ON the new man, which after God is created in righteousness, and true holiness." Ephesians 4:24.  "For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:" Ephesians 4:12.

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

Dead Weight

 

Ever felt like there was just something holding you back, or keeping you from reaching a goal? Have you felt like you have been dragging something along with you and slowing down progress? You may be carrying DEAD WEIGHT!

 

This is exactly what happened to the children of Israel, and I do mean THE CHILDREN! After Moses had brought them out of Egypt, and sent 10 spies into the Promised Land to view it, only two brought back of report of faith-Joshua and Caleb. The other eight gave an "evil report" Numbers 14:37. Because of their sin of unbelief, or lack of faith, all adults over the age of 20 were punished to die in the wilderness for 40 years! They could not enter the Promised Land. Only their children could! They had harmed themselves, each other, and most importantly, their CHILDREN! This is what the sin of UNBELIEF can do to us! It acts as a DEAD WEIGHT- its halts, hinders, and hurts EVERYONE!

 

HALT! That is exactly what the nation of Israel did when they heard the report of the eight unbelieving spies! They stopped their journey forward and froze DEAD IN THEIR TRACKS! They gave no heed to the report of FAITH given by Joshua and Caleb! Instead, they listened to the lie of the other spies. Just as in I Kings 18:21 when Elijah asked the people "how long HALT YE ", they were HALTED BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS! They chose to not have FAITH in the Holy One of Israel! This in turn led to their own doom. In Numbers 14, they murmured against God, blamed HIM FOR THEIR TROUBLE, and even accused HIM of allowing their children to become prey in the wilderness! In reality, THIS IS WHAT THEY HAD JUST DONE! THEY WERE NAMING THEIR OWN SIN! How many times when things go wrong, all of our OWN ACCORD, do we start to complain, blame someone, and then accuse them of inflicting the hurt? Just as the children of Israel, we will blame our sin of UNBELIEF on the Lord, others, and then blame the Lord for the hurt WE have caused! Anytime we choose the route of NO FAITH or  NOT TRUSTING in the Lord, we will halt the work of the LORD! Just as the people were punished to die in the wilderness over 40 years, walking in circles, so will we run go 'round and 'round!

You can't advance when you can't see, through they eyes of FAITH, where you are going! Just as sand in the eyes will cause you to stop until you get it out, so you can see clearly, so will sin in your Christian walk! Get it out of there so you can keep on walking in the way the Lord WANTS YOU TO GO!

 

They were HINDERED! The adults that didn't believe were not hindered. They were halted! Their chance was gone, verdict passed. They were literally DEAD MEN WALKING, OR DEAD WEIGHT!  The ones that were hindered were the BELIEVING! Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Caleb, and all of the children of Israel, 20 years and under, were HINDERED from entering the Promised Land! They were now off schedule from when the Lord had wanted them to go in! This same thing will happen today if we don't trust in the Promise the Lord has given to us! The Lord had told them they WOULD HAVE THE PROMISED LAND, all the way back to Abraham's day. So, this was not news to them! It was known by all just as well as we know where the local Walmart is! They just chose to ignore the Promise, which hindered the ones that gave it heed! The faithless kept the ones that wanted to go forward, believing in the NAME OF THE LORD, from doing so. How about us? When our church wants to go forward, are we the first to agree or object? When our spouse shares with us a desire the Lord has placed on their heart, do you listen or cut them off? When our children tell us of the thoughts the Lord has given them, for plans to follow HIM for their lives, do we encourage, or discourage? Instead of being a hindrance, we should be a HELP! We should encourage our church to keep moving forward! We should pray, being a true HELP MEET with our spouse about the desires from the Lord! We should guide our children with godly counsel from the scriptures and pray daily for them, even if it isn't what WE WANT FOR THEM! HELP and not HINDER TODAY!

 

Lastly, their faithlessness HURT! It hurt not only themselves, but ALL of those around them! Moses was hurt from being turned and wanting to stone him. The spies were hurt in that they were not believed and stopped from fulfilling the desire to take the land then! The children were hurt, in that they were forced to wander in the desert for 40 years, being 60 years old before they could finally make it home! But, most of all, it hurt the heart of God, when HIS CHILDREN didn't obey HIM! He wanted to bless, and instead had to chasten. He had promised untold blessing in reward for obedience, and instead had to give severe curse, or punishment! Our lack of faith does the same thing. Are we living on tidbits of blessing instead of by the bucketfuls? Is our lack of faith in the Lord's Promise to open the "windows of heaven" Malachi 3:10, keeping us from receiving God's abundant blessing for obedience to His Word? Most of the time, we inflicting our own wounds! No Faith is not working, No faith is not growing. To sum it up, No faith is no blessing! "But without FAITH it is impossible to please HIM; for he that cometh to God MUST BELIEVE that HE IS a rewarder of them that diligently seek HIM." Hebrews 11:6. Does this mean "name it and claim it?" NO! It is faith in what He has promised to give, and what we NEED, that we will receive! We are hurting ourselves, our family and our church when we don't have the faith the Lord wants us to!

 

Don't HALT! Keep on going! Don't HINDER! HELP the work of the LORD! DO NOT HURT! Help Heal! Let the Lord work in your life, family and church! "...lest we should hinder the Gospel of Christ." I Corinthians 9: 12. Get rid of THE DEAD WEIGHT of NO FAITH! "..let us lay aside EVERY WEIGHT, AND THE SIN that doth so easily beset us.." Hebrews 12:1.



I've Fallen and I CAN GET UP!

As I said in the last post, it was written "FOR ME", not just by title, but because it had helped me. Little did I know that when I published it that I would have my test come within the next few days. Didn't see it coming-wasn't looking for it-boom-it happened! In all reality, I should have known spiritually it would after the topic that was covered, but that seems to be when the Lord sends them to us-- When we don't see it coming. I believe this is in order to allow us to see our TRUE RESPONSE TO THE SITUATION! Yes, I said to let US SEE OUR RESPONSE. He ALREADY KNEW what we would do. Needless to say-I BLEW IT!

 

It was not just one situation, but three separate instances that took place in one day. They were not haphazard. Everyone of the "DARTS" that Satan shot at me were aimed right at where things had been bothering me-my weak spots. Is this not what a lion does when it is seeking its prey? It ALWAYS  GOES for the weaker one usually at the back of the pack. "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:". Even though I knew this and had been in the same test or problem before, I STILL responded wrong! I FELL AGAIN OVER THE HURDLE! I should have leaped over it in flying colors! Have we not been given every resource from the Lord Himself in order to do so? " Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." Ephesians 6:11&13.

 

I get tired of doing the wrong thing and failing. I agree with Paul when he said "O wretched man that I am: who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.." Romans 7:24 & 25a. Thank the Lord for the promise of I John 1:9 that says "If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." When I said, My foot slippeth; THY MERCY, O Lord held me up." Psalm 94: 18. "For a just man FALLETH seven times, and RISETH UP AGAIN; but the wicked shall fall into mischief." Proverbs 16:24.  Even though I may slip and fall, thank the Lord for the forgiveness He gives through His Blood! HE WILL PICK ME UP WHEN I FALL! I can get UP AGAIN! I do not have to stay in the "slough of despond" as John Bunyan wrote in  The Pilgrim's Progress. "The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and RAISETH UP all those that be bowed down." Psalm 145: 14. 

 

Is this promise from the Lord to forgive us, help us and pick us back up an excuse to keep sinning or failing our tests? THE ANSWER IS NO!! Although we are still in our flesh, through God's grace, we can LEARN AND GROW through tests and from the strength of His Spirit and Word! His Word is what smote my heart as soon as I had reacted wrongly! Even though I was treated wrongly by another, the Lord said to me " Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds." Hebrews 12:3. "See that none render evil for evil unto ANY MAN; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves and to all men." I Thessalonians 5:15.  "In EVERYTHING give THANKS; for this IS THE WILL OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS concerning you." I Thess. 5:18.  The Lord was allowing me to see sin that was in me that I didn't realize. Pride, in thinking that I should not be treated in such a way, thoughtlessness of others  and their spiritual state, and Unthankfulness for even being able to go WHERE I was treated wrongly! Things could have been A LOT WORSE! I was taking for granted the blessings the Lord had given me and His Power that was available to me for help! Worst of all, I had possibly hurt my testimony toward those people!

 

Yes, I'm human and I have fallen time and time again. Sure, I will fall again because I am still in this "ole dirty rotten flesh" as my husband calls it. But, may the Lord help me to grow and learn from each test and LET IT BE LESS AND LESS! "I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies." Psalms 119:59. "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory:". II Corinthians 4:17. Thank the Lord for His forgiveness and loving care. May the Lord help me today to die to self, and walk soberly, leaning on Him. Even though I have fallen again, THANK THE LORD I CAN GET UP!



For Me?

They Lord gave this devotional 7 years back. His WORD never fails! I needed this! You know it TRULY comes from the Lord when you can't remember it all. I'm sooo thankful for His Word! I pray it helps you like it did me! I TRULY still need you pryaes VERY much! They are what is sustaining me!~ Marcie

I watched a revival service online last night from a sister church. The message that was preached was for me! The evangelist preached on Job Chapter 23. I want to share with you what the Lord spoke to my heart about.

All of us go through trials. It is a given! My favorite Bible verse is Psalms 34:19-"MANY are the afflictions of the righteous, BUT the LORD delivereth him out of them ALL!" As long as we are here on this earth, we will have troubles and trials. Some do have more than others, and some are more severe than others. Regardless of what our trouble is though, the Lord is the one that allowed it and is in control of it. As promised in the verse above, HE WILL NOT LEAVE US IN IT! He WILL DELIVER US in one way or another. It may be deliverance here, or He may promote us on to glory! We are winners either way! But, one thing the preacher said really spoke to my heart. Job 23:14 says, "For he performeth the thing that is APPOINTED FOR ME: and MANY such things are with Him." Whatever it is that we are going through, even RIGHT NOW, is appointed FOR YOU!

We might not know WHY we are going through a problem, but HE DOES! IT IS APPOINTED! He has orchestrated the whole situation! In essence, they are hand-picked! Job 1:8-12 tells of how the Lord asked Satan if he had "considered my servant Job..?" He knew that the Devil wanted to get at Job, and for His own reason, He ALLOWED it! He ALWAYS has a reason for us to go through certain things. ".. when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." Job 23:11. Just as dross is removed from gold, so is the sin refined by THE GOLDSMITH from our lives! It may not be that it is sin of commission, but OMISSION! HE may be trying to bring something to our attention that we have not done or left off of doing. Which ever the case may be, He knows and will show us just as He did Job: "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." Job 42:4&5.

As the trouble is APPOINTED, so is it ALLOCATED. The definition of allocated is "to set apart for a special purpose; designate: to distribute ACCORDING TO PLAN; ALLOT." The Lord allocates the trial to us for A SPECIAL PURPOSE ACCORDING TO PLAN! None of our problems have taken the Lord by surprise! They are being delivered right on schedule as planned by Him! Even if we can't see why or the way, we can know that He is there! We can follow even where we can't seem to find Him! "For He knoweth they way that I take...' Job 23:10. "For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish." Psalm 1:6. "...he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake." Psalm 23:3b. He IS leading the way and has promised " .... I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." Hebrews 13:5b.

Our APPOINTED troubles are ALLOCATED to us because He is the ALMIGHTY! We may not know why but HE DOES! It's not what we do know about trials, but we DO KNOW that will bring us through! "Why, seeing times are not hidden from the ALMIGHTY, do they that know him not see his days?' Job 24:1 "For His eyes are upon the ways of man, and He seeth all his goings." Job 34:21 "And He said unto, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the POWER OF CHRIST may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake; FOR WHEN I AM WEAK, THEN AM I STRONG!" II Corinthians 12:9&10. "But the LORD IS FAITHFUL, WHO SHALL STABLISH YOU, AND KEEP YOU FROM EVIL." II Thessalonians 3:5.

Just as Job endured some of the worst trials and tribulations recorded in the Bible, we can too. Is it that Job was super-spiritual, or had some secret to help him through them? The answer is NO! What brought him through was knowing that the Lord had APPOINTED it, ALLOCATED it, AND THAT HE IS ALMIGHTY!  By his own testimony, He knew that the Lord was there, in control, and giving him His Strength! "For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth;" Job 19:25. May we all remember that He ever lives and is in control. When problems  come our way , may we NOT say the Lord did this TO me, but HE did this FOR ME! He ever cares for His own, and "He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I SHALL COME FORTH AS GOLD." Job. 23:10.

God never moves, without purpose or plan,
When trying His servant and molding a man,
Give thanks to the Lord, though your testing seems long,
In darkness, He giveth a song.

O Rejoice in the Lord,
He makes no mistakes,
He knoweth the end of each path that I take,
For when I am tried and purified,
I shall come forth as gold.

Open Wide!

My little niece likes to play with my daughter's babies in the highchair when I keep her. She pretends to be "little moma," and feeds the babies and brushes their hair in the chair! I thought about this when I read Psalm 81:10 last week -" I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt; OPEN THY MOUTH WIDE, and I will fill it." Just as we would place our children in a high chair in order to feed them as babies, so the Lord puts us in our "spiritual" high chair to feed us as His children!

In order for our child to eat, we place them in the chair. It is a certain PLACE OR POSITION that they have to be in. If they are not, they more than likely won't eat or will be too busy playing and interested in other things to stop and eat like they should! Just as this is physically, so it is spiritually. Sometimes the Lord has to put us in His certain PLACE OR POSITION to get our attention. He puts us where HE WANTS US in order to make us listen. He is trying to give strength to "the health of our countenance" Psalm 42:11. He wants to feed us with the manna of His Word and speak to us through it! "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters." Psalm 23:2.

 This brings about His PURPOSE! How busy have we become in our daily routine that we do not even take the time to read our Bible or tell someone else about the Lord? Do you feel frustrated that God is not moving in your life? Do you feel like you are stuck in one place and nothing is happening? Maybe the Lord has you in His Spiritual "high chair" trying to get your attention and feed you with what He wants for you now!" For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jeremiah 29:11 He may keep us in that place until we give heed to what He is trying to feed us with and help us!

Along with His PURPOSE, comes His PORTION! Just as most of the time it's just the Moma or Daddy alone with the baby feeding it, Jesus wants us to have one on one time with Him! He wants spiritual feeding time with us! His PORTION! " I am that bread of life." John 6:48  "Give us this day our daily bread." Matthew 6:11. The Lord wants to feed us DAILY, just as a parent feeds his child daily, USUALLY MORE THAN ONCE! "The LORD is the PORTION of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot." Psalm 16:5. The more spiritual bread we eat, the more our desire will become to have more of it!

Just as a baby will keep its eyes on the next spoonful coming to its mouth in anticipation, we should be looking for the next good thing from the Lord! Feasting on His WORD will change our PERCEPTION of our wants and desires! I remember when my son was a baby and I would feed him, and if I turned around to say something to someone, he would be leaning forward trying to reach the food before I could get it there! He had his mouth WIDE OPEN, following the spoon, like he was trying to catch the little "airplane" that was coming in for landing! He was ready and hungry for that next bite! This is how the Lord wants us to be! You can't feed a child that won't open its mouth. They have to WILLINGLY OPEN IT! "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: FOR THEY SHALL BE FILLED." Matthew 5:6."

 After the child has finished his meal and is FILLED with all of the portion that the PARENT wants it to be fed, they can move on out of the high chair! Once we have learned what the Lord would have for us, and have been strengthened by His Manna, He will PROMOTE US! "Thou wilt shew me the path of life: IN THY PRESENCE IS FULNESS OF JOY; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." Psalm 16:11. When we are FULL OF HIS JOY and PRESENCE, the Lord IS our STRENGTH! "..for the Joy of the LORD is your STRENGTH." Nehemiah 8:10. "Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst." Nehemiah 9:20. Just as the LORD "strengthened their hands for this good work" ( Nehemiah 2:18), so will He strengthen us for what He has called us to do!

Are you hungry? Are you sitting still where the Lord can feed you? Get in Position for His Purpose. Feast on His Portion to increase your Perception of His Word and Will for your life. The Lord's Promotion will lead you to the work that He has for you!

"O taste and see that the Lord is good : blessed is the man that trusteth in HIM." Psalm 34:8
 
"Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?" Psalm 78:19-GOD CAN!
 Open Wide!