Thanks for praying for me. 16. Eph. 1:16 Prayers Particulars part 16 Captivate in a Mark of Perpetual Contemplation

Thanks for praying for me.

16. Eph. 1:16 Prayers Particulars part 16 

  Captivate in a Mark of Perpetual Contemplation

      Prayers method v.16 

Assertive                        making mention 

This phrase “making mention,” is an interesting suggestive implication to what I find myself doing a lot.  I suppose I’ve demonstrated more and more assertive tendencies over the last 10 months.

Now a new door is opening up, after a visit to my Doctor, I’m going to be released back to work, and I feel alert to a variety of changes that are on the immediate horizon.

When I think about shouldering a new obligation, I don’t know how it’s going too play out.  I’ve had some very special freedoms over the last ten months.  It wasn’t the path I chose to walk on, but was a road, which was pre- determined for me, by someone else, who ran me off the road, while I slept in a truck sleeper.

That little explosion of occurrences introduced me to some discomfort.  I’ve tried to regain some comfort and relief from a variety of things and people.

It’s natural to look for help in the world around us.  I concentrated a lot of my new direction from the care of three physicians.  Each of them had a set of methods that were used for relief.

I tried to jump, with some deeper energy into writing, journaling, and prayer.  I wanted to see if I could kick-start my understanding of the Great Physician, and transform the inside of my life while the outside was not all that comfortable.

It’s hard to self assess my progress both physically and spiritually.  The physical is the body pain, the ability to get comfortable and sleep for some rejuvenating.

The spiritual side of things is the emotional, psychological and relational side of life.  I wanted very much to experience a deeper touch with God, and deeper relating with my new wife, and my children, grandchildren, and other loved ones.

I’m looking back over the last 10 months with some deep pathos, wishing I could have plugged into these opportunities more.

I’m still wanting, even more, with this new turn in the path of my life, too know how to fulfill my responsibilities.  I think, I hear the call of God better, and clearer, but then again I know so little, and yet I’m passionate to learn and know.   So I “make mention” and try to trap what I’m feeling with the Lord.

“Making,” means to bring about, to produce to accomplish, to construct with intent.

“Mention,” is the Greek word for memory, remembrance and reminiscence.  It’s the thought of being mindful, thoughtful, alert and attentive.

This, in context, of the book of Ephesians, is the thought of assertiveness in prayer, as we step out in discussions with God about our and others needs.

Jesus calls out to our feelings asking us to make our praying, a firm confidence, a poised of assurance, and a buoyancy of reliance and dependence.

“Making mention,” lends to an interactive communication, between us, and the Lord, where we are doing just that, being thoughtful and filling our minds with others heart needs and feelings.

We make remarks about everything that’s happening around us, of all that comes our way, and by incorporating the Lord in our observations and comments; we grow in our walk with Jesus.

To the degree, that we are continuously practicing His presence, allowing our thoughts to rehearse others concerns, talking over the details with God, we are asking the Lord too construct and increase our faith.

We shouldn’t worry over our lack of prayer, for there are no failures in prayer.  We need to just be “making mention.”

We want to avoid bogging down in religious prayers, and pious attempts at praying, and just allow what we usually are good at when things aren’t agreeable, and I’m very polished at objecting to things.

We all have a large capacity too complain, grumbling is an asset in praying, so this is an opportunity at being proficient protesters.  Instead of nitpicking at those that can’t change our problems, we bring our carping to God, who has the power to transform everything.

I find it intensely motivating to see the yearning, attentive heart of Jesus, in imploring us to ask Him about everything, and seek His involvement.

The ambition that David urges in Psalm 1 is what I view as extreme thinking.  He presses what appears to be an impossible task.  He demands that we immerse ourselves in God’s voice constantly (day & night)

Now meditation can be rendered imagination, it’s us listening to the Lord’s voice through His written word, then interacting and talking back to Him.

It’s more then mental imaging; it’s our spirit and God’s Spirit, interacting, by the means of our inner thoughts, and the Spirit’s collaboration around God’s Word.

What David implores; isn’t legalistic nonsense when he prescribed meditating on the Law day and night. Jesus is our Law.  He lived the Law perfectly, achieved all the laws demand.  To think over the law of God continuously is to engross our thought engagement with Jesus.

He is the completion and fulfillment of the Law.  When He’s the light of our heart, the Spirit lifts out meaning from His Word about Him, and carries our desires toward Him.

Christ is to be seen and enjoyed in all His richness, from in His Word.  Meditating is a passion of values. We’re actually imagining constantly, and we’ve been warned to not let our imagination go wild on one thing or another.

We should allow our imagination to go wild about Jesus.  That is the meditation that has eternal appeal and is worthy of our thought day and night.  It’s thinking deeply, musing, and reflecting with deliberation.

We do that all the time; none of us are shallow thinkers, for we’re contemplating stuff every moment.  But too fix our mind on shallow things, that’s where the waste is made.  We should target our imagination on the depths of God. Then we can make mention of what He touches our heart and mind with about others and their true needs.

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10. Habakkuk 1:12-17 The Embrace Of Faith part 10 Discovering God’s Personality Encourages Prayer

10. Habakkuk 1:12-17 The Embrace Of Faith part 10 Discovering God’s                                                             Personality Encourages Prayer

Pressure Creates Prayer v.1-17  

The Personality Of Faith v.1     ( Faith’s Intricacies )

  The Perplexity Of Faith v.2-11 ( Faith’s Ironies)

The Perfecting Of Faith v.12    ( Faith’s Inspiration) 

Rest In God’s Infinite Purpose           Art thou not from everlasting, 

Now after this interesting intro, we turn a corner to a stream of praiseful thoughts about the majestic perfections of God’s person.

After moaning over the negatives of a coming holocaust of  anticipated destructive conquest and captivity that will be volcanically erupting on Habakkuk’s loved people, He starts with a rather negative question of God’s person, by saying, “Art thou not from everlasting.”

The timelessness of God is the fact in question.  More simply stated in the positive is, the Lord is everlasting. Timelessness contains the perspective of His durable agelessness.  The Lord is ageless, changeless, immutable and enduring.

The word everlasting means God is before all and the one who never ends.  Timeless, involves His personal quality, and means that God is unaltered by time.  He is above, or outside of the limitations of time.  To put it another way, but saying the same thing, to be ageless means God is unchanging and never gets old.  He is always the same.  Immutable means that God is absolute, unalterable and solidly fixed and permanent.

God’s enduring; changeless personality is a stimulus to our faith as He in His unchanging quality is the influence of every area of His enduring relationship with us.

God’s Covenant is Everlasting 

God has made an agreement with us, an eternal pact.  With Israel there was a covenant and with all who have received Jesus there is a new covenant.

In Psalm 105:8-45 the psalmist rejoices and expands in literary delight over his awareness of the historical wonders of the blessing of God’s faithful covenant with His people.

Delight in awareness Psalm 105:8-45

God’s Covenant Involvement from Abraham to Joseph v.8-22

Consistent v.8    He has remembered his covenant forever,

The Lord is reliable, steady and dependable in His care and concern over us.  He remembers us and never forgets our needs.

Competent         the word which he commanded to a thousand generations

I pray over my children and grandchildren which is only two generations.  I miss the prayers of men of a past generation; men of faith who have mentored me, but they have passed on.  My compassion is limited and incompetent.

The Lord has ordered a competent and proficient love over us, it is not limited to just three generations.  He cares over His own for a thousand generations, meaning forever or indefinitely.

Capable v.9        Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; 

God’s promises are capable, efficient and infinite in capacity.

Confirming  v.10-13     And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law

Authenticating v.10 and to Israel for an everlasting covenant

Authorizing v.11       Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of                                                        your inheritance: 

His promises are verifiable, proven and supported.  They are authentic, and they give us an authorization where we are endorsed in the courts of Heaven, and in the pathways of our life.

Approving v.12-13

        The Few v.12        When they were but a few men in number;  

The Feeble             yea, very few, and strangers in it.

The Fragile v.13    When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom                                              to another people; 

We are approved and accepted because God is pouring out His favor on us.  It doesn’t matter how small we are in number, how weak we are in position, or how poor we are in person.  We are given all the permission we need at His throne of grace, and can ask of God for every need and requirement.

We may, due too our circumstances, feel rejected and unacceptable, because we are feeble and fragile from distress or disease, but God stands with us and holds us up with His everlasting arms.

Caring v.14-22

     Particular v.14        He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings                                                for their sakes;

Protective v.15       Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.

We may feel under attack and vulnerable but no one can touch us without the Lord’s permission.  He has every hair of our head numbered and is with us protecting even the slightest stub of our toe.

God’s Everlasting Rule 

Psalms 10:16 The Lord is King for ever and ever: 

Daniel 7:14 and there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. 

Daniel 7:27 His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.  

God’s Everlasting Love

Psalms 103:17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, And his righteousness unto children’s children; 

Isaiah 54:7-13  Gives us promises of God’s eternal love.

The Forsaken v.7,8

The Minor Moment v.7 For a small moment have I forsaken you 

The Lord is so rich in mercy and compassionate forgiveness that He views our departures from Him as only a small moment.  The hard checks of life, from our perspective, may seem massive and overwhelming, but God is working in every intricate trial by His infinite kindness and love.

 The Major Mercy          but with great mercies will I gather you. 

God is the aggressor and just as when the prodigal turned to the father, so God, as our Father, runs to us, falls on our neck, and covers us with affectionate kisses.

The Mediocre Madness v.8 In a little wrath I hid my face from you for a moment;

God’s correction is momentary but His compassion is eternal.

  The Forgiven v.8-10

    Everlasting

Charity v.8   but with everlasting kindness 

God’s Everlasting kindness is exhaustless, permanent and infinitely Continuous.

 Compassion   will I have mercy on thee, 

The Lord’s mercy, as Lamentations says, is compassion that fails not because it’s new every morning;  which is another way of saying new every moment, or constantly available.

Calling           says the LORD thy Redeemer. 

God has called us and paid an infinite price for our purchase, and the complete extent of this cost is that He bankrupted heaven, or gave everything that He had for us.

     Covenant v.9-10

 Secure         For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the                                 waters of Noah should no more go over the earth;

This act, of securing one family in the midst of a worldwide rejection of God, was to preserve a people that He could commit too, in covenant faithfulness, to pour out His love on.

 Set              so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. 

He wills no longer to vent from feelings of rejection, or actions of critical reproach, for now we are those He loves.

 Safe

Saved From Tragedy  For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; 

Even when surrounded by extreme climate changes and raging tempestuous conditions.

Saved By Tenderness but my kindness shall not depart from you

Saved In Tranquility neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed,

Saved By Tolerance   says the LORD that has mercy on you 

God promises tenderness, tranquility and tolerance.  What  great promises to pour out in prayer over those that we love.

   The Foundations v.11-13

Of Culture v.11

 The Suffering                       O thou afflicted,

The Storm-Tossed              tossed with tempest,

The Saddened                      and not comforted,

           The Stabilized

Stunningly Attractive behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors,

Stably Assured              and lay thy foundations with sapphires

Dean Alford’s poem is worthy of mention:

“Far o’er yon horizon, rise the city towers,

Where our God abides; that fair home is ours!

Flash the streets with jasper,

Shine the gates with gold,

Flows the gladdening river, shedding joys untold.”

       Of Cities v.12

Radiant                   And I will make thy windows of agates,

Receptive

Flaming                 and thy gates of carbuncles,

Formidable           and all thy borders of pleasant stones.

The precious stones are a image of the new Jerusalem glinting in the sunshine of the love of God.  The beauty of Christmas lights are comparatively weak in contrast to the architecture of Lord who has gone to prepare a place for us.  He has told us that in His house are many mansions.  He is making for us a palatial castle.  This extravagant dwelling is radiant in the transparency of enduring beauty.

Children v.13

                       Skilled And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD

 Serene and great shall be the peace of thy children.

O that all our children will glow in their relational intimacy in Christ, resting in the unflustered tranquility of God’s peace.

We will examine the rest of Habakkuk in future journaling.

Rest In God’s Involvement Personally O LORD my God,

Rest In God’s Intrinsic Perfection        mine Holy One?

Rest In God’s Impeccable Protection   we shall not die.

Rest In God’s Intended Punishment     O LORD, thou hast ordained them for                              judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction

 The Pleading Of Faith v.13-17 ( Faith’s Involvement) 

Based On God’s Purity v.13              Thou art of purer eyes

(they’re wickedness is worse then ours)

Don’t Allow Disloyalty   than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity:

Don’t Allow Deception    wherefore look You upon them that deal,

                                                           and hold Your tongue 

Don’t Allow Destruction when the wicked devours the man that is more

                                                            righteous than he?

Based On God’s Pity v.14-17

(they treat us like we’re worthless fish)

They Trap Us Like Fish v.14-15          And make men as the fishes of the sea,

Devalue us like Insects                      as the creeping things,

Degrade us as Insignificant             that have no ruler over them?  

Deceive us with Ingenious Traps  They take up all of them with the angle,

               they catch them in their net, and gather them In their drag: therefore they

               rejoice and are glad.

 They Trust In Ludicrous Fortifications v.16 Therefore they sacrifice unto

                                                                        their net, and burn  incense unto their drag;

They Thrive In Luxurious Fulfillments because by them their portion is fat,

                                                                                          and their meat plenteous.

          They Traffic In Loads Of Fish v.17

(when will you stop them from destroying lives)

Shall they therefore empty their net, Turn & Intervene & Obstruct Their Fury  and not spare continually to slay the nations?

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15. Eph. 1:16 Prayers Appreciation part 15 Captivate in a Mark of Perpetual Celebration

15. Eph. 1:16 Prayers Appreciation part 15 

Activate in Making Continual Requests                                                          Captivate in a Mark of Perpetual Celebration

      Prayers Method v.16 

Appreciative                 to give thanks for you, 

Gratitude in the setting of this letter is a aiming at ceaseless appreciation. This positions the standard of thankfulness as high as it could be stretched.

Paul generously highlighted gratitude in his writings.  He mentions it 23 times in his works.  The rest of the New Testament only refers to giving thanks 14 times.

In Ephesians 5:20 he calls thankfulness, his desire; he wanted to do it always.  He also described expressing appreciation as a consequence of the Spirit’s filling.

We are to give thanks always for all things unto God

This is an ambitious perspective.  But it is achieved by our occupation with all the riches and blessings that God is constantly pouring out on us, and others around us.  When our focus is clear we’ll fill the air with appreciation.

Really, the more we pray, the deeper our gratitude.  For the greater we are engulfed in the blessing of prayer, the more our experience of propelling, from strength-to-strength, from faith-to-faith and blessing upon blessing.

The reality is, prayer doesn’t gain credit to us, as performance criteria.  Every prayer is merely our opening of our heart to the knocking of Jesus on our heart.

He allows things into our life to show us how weak and destitute we are.  The only solution is to open the door of our heart to Him.  He tells us to seek His face and talk in His ear about everything.  To give Him every care, each concern with itemized consternating detail.

This is not an argument grueling activity, but a exhibition of apprehending our need.  We’re coming on board to reality.  He’s the Lord of prayer and our advocate night and day.

He’s given the Spirit of prayer into our hearts, crying Abba Father.  When we don’t pray we are resisting His Spirit, we are ignoring His step-by-step, moment-by-moment coming along side of us.

As He puts His arm of comfort and encouragement over our shoulder to draw us to His side, how in the world can we not respond to His invitation to share our needs?

When we decline to pray it’s like shoving his arm of love away from our shoulder.  He has told us to be filled and to keep on being filled with the Spirit.  Speaking to ourselves, and expressing all around us, in Psalms and Hymns and Spirit motivated songs.  Giving thanks always for all things.

In Luke 17:11-19, The Lord is making His way to Jerusalem and as He traveled He was at the border of Samaria and Judea.  He healed ten lepers, the most devastating disease of that time in history.  Leprosy caused public rejection and the plighted were placed into exclusion and banishment from society.

Jesus provided radical and complete healing removing all their ugliness and pain.  What a terrible snub to Christ, of the ten that were healed, only one returned to offer appreciation and thankful admiration.

Is the Lord suggesting in this historical account the general ratio or a statistical percentage?  Do only 10 percent of those He pours loving care out on, and helps miraculously give the Lord credit with gratitude?  Are 90 percent unappreciative?

Do we only express 10% of the pray gratitude, one tenth as much as we should, and only one out of ten times identify with thankfulness the blessings of good that Christ is doing for us?

That’s a pathetic story to reject the recognition and tribute the Lord deserves from us.  It’s hard to go through life feeling discredited and unnoticed.

But our Lord is perfect in His care of us.  He is the source and provider of every good and perfect gift.  He gives with no barbs or strings attached.  He is worthy of appreciation and honor. That He has spends so much, and sees so little in return is something we should admire and appreciate on its own.

To digress for a moment look at the prayer of the ten lepers.

Their Fervor      Luke 17:12-13                 They lifted up their voice 

They Felt their Disability

They Felt their Despicableness

They Felt their Distance                             stood afar off 

Hebrew health laws quarantined and enforced isolation seclusion on these ten so they must have felt devastated

THE PRAYER WAS FULL OF:
FUNDAMENTALISM                       Jesus, Master, have mercy on us

THEY KNEW HIS PERSON           Jesus,

THEY KNEW HIS POWER            Master,

THEY KNEW HIS PITY                  have mercy on us 

Our pleas are based on who Christ is, what he can do and how He feels toward us in sympathetic compassion and gentle forgiveness.  We see them come not based on how good they are. They didn’t approach according to a position of merit they had achieved, but on the person, power and pity of God.

THE PRAISE OF THE ONE LEPER LUKE 17:15-19

HE WAS FAST           When he saw that he was healed… he

                                         glorified God… giving him thanks 

It’s important to be prompt in our gratitude; we overlook who gets the credit for our privileges.  We take things for granted.  Meetings of remembrance and recollection where we identify the Lord in respectful acknowledgement are essential.

We’re easily deceived into a disposition of ingratitude.  As weird as it may seem we feel we merit and deserve more then we really do.  We forget where it all really comes from and demand our rights and mandate exacting stipulations.

HE WAS FOREIGN  One of them…he was a Samaritan…this stranger 

This is a sticky point that Jesus points out.  The Jews had all the rights in there stuffy religious we know it all status.  The Samaritans were considered half breeds, dogs and low class.

All the spiritual privilege and opportunity the Jews had and they failed to compute it out into real character.  We are treated by God according to our advantages and concessions of freedoms, benefits and favorable circumstances.  Look at the freedoms, luxuries and literary opportunities we’ve had in the culture of the U.S.A. and we have to be a little shocked at our spiritual illiteracy and attitude of gratitude.  We so easily get all cranky and whiney over the problems when we should be lost in an ocean of praise.

HE WAS FULL OF FERVOR   With a loud voice glorified God 

Often we like to keep our gratitude and praise in check.  Not this guy he was blowing a cork over his God and making a verbal scene.

HE WAS FULL OF FEELING  Fell down on his face at Christ’s feet 

The praise and gratitude was not only passionate but it was respectful, unassuming and humble.  He wanted to honor the Lord with every fiber of his being but didn’t embarrass Jesus in the expressions of admiration and tribute for the nobility and distinction of the Lord.

Genuine gratitude is the reality that we owe our enrichment to others and ultimately God.  This is the foundation of humility, deflecting the credit.  The danger zone is getting wrapped up in what others owe us.  In John 12 when the notorious Mary pours her gift of gratitude on Jesus feet the room was full of the fragrance.  Gratitude fills our life with an incredible fragrance and charm.

HE WAS FUNCTIONAL     “He [Christ] said unto him

[the healed leper], Arise, go thy way;

                                                   your faith has made you whole”

This is such a cool thing and the real value in the healing and gratitude expressed.  We get the greatest blessing from giving all the glory and credit to the Lord.  Our faith is ignited into a full flame and our life is incited with the inspiration of wholeness. Spiritual healing is really greater than physical healing and often if not most the time they are interrelated.  Our wholeness and completeness in the fullness of the Spirit and the filling of Christ is directly related to our gratitude.  Gratitude is from the same root word as grace. If we have experienced God grace, we need to be grateful for all God has done in the riches of His grace to us. Thank and think also come from the same root word. The truth would seem that when we think correctly and deeply, we thank approval and loyalty.

DAVID GIVES US A DESCRIPTION OF GRATITUDE

1 CHRONICLES 16:8-15  HE DESCRIBES APPRECIATION AS: 

OUR DUTY V.8                 Give thanks unto the LORD,

OUR DELIGHT                  call upon his name,

OUR DECLARATION      make known his deeds among the people.

OUR DISSERTATION V.9-10

MELODIC                         Sing unto him,

POETIC                              sing psalms unto him,

SYMPHONIC                   talk ye of all his wondrous works.

SPLENDOROUS             Glory ye in his holy name

JOYOUS                            let the heart of them rejoice

PURPOSEFUL                that seek the LORD.

DAVID FURTHER SAYS WE’RE GRATEFUL BECAUSE OF THE LORD:

HIS DOMINATION          Seek the LORD and his strength,

HIS DESIGN                       seek his face continually.

HIS DEVELOPMENTS   Remember his marvelous works

HIS DOINGS                     that he hath done,

HIS DRAMA                      his wonders,

HIS DECISIONS               and the judgments of his mouth;

HIS DELIGHTS V13

THE ROYAL               O ye seed of Israel his servant,

THE RUTHLESS       ye children of Jacob,

THE REWARDED    his chosen ones.

HIS DEITY V.14

PERSONAL          He is the LORD our God;

POWERFUL        his judgments are in all the earth. 

HIS DIMENSIONS V.15

TENDER               Be ye mindful always

THOUGHTFUL  of his covenant;

THOROUGH       the word which he commanded

                                     to a thousand generations

 

 

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9. Habakkuk 1:4-11 The Embrace Of Faith part 9 God Describes In Detailed Analysis So We Can Pray In Discernment

9. Habakkuk 1:4-11 The Embrace Of Faith part 9

God Describes In Detailed Analysis So We Can Pray In Discernment    

The Defense Of God’s Response v.5-11

   The Coming Catastrophe v.5

   The Caustic Chaldeans v.6-11

They Are Bitter v.6  For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter   

 They Are Brash          and hasty nation, which shall march through

They Are Broad       The breadth of the land,

They Are Bombastic to possess the dwelling places that are not theirs 

The word bombastic may look like a non-fitting association as we appraise this group of scathing, mob-like invaders, who are ambitiously chomping at the bit to overtake the Israelis’ homes.

But to take something that’s not yours, and to achieve and secure it by force, is a pretentious and pompous arrangement.  It’s overbearing, arrogant and imperious.

God reveals what is going to happen to Habakkuk, in all this descriptive array of definitive phrases.  Could all this detail of anguishing prospects be an answer to prayer?  This forecast was outlandish and bazaar.  What a frustration of unimaginable grief, that God would allow such disruption to take place on His people.

They Are Brutal v.7    They are terrible and dreadful:  

These invaders were terrifying; they were awe inspiring in their demonstration of power.  The impactful aspect of all this was, that yes, God is mighty too save, able and willing to deliver, but His people had snubbed Him as their Lord.  They had blatantly turned away from God, to false idols, and lurid phony experiences, and now God was backing away from them, to allow them to taste the end result of their stupidity and sin.

They Are Boastful   their judgment and their dignity

                                           shall proceed of themselves. 

This is a strange statement, possibly alluding to the idea that these invading armies didn’t have to answer to anyone, in their mind.  They felt their judgments and decisions were unchallengeable.

Hard to imagine someone being so arrogant, but they were. They felt that their mind was superior.  They concluded they had such dignity and renown, so much so that it preceded them.  This aspect of preceding means it shot ahead of them as a glorious aura and daunting reputation.

They Are Baffling v.8  Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, 

In combat strategy there is great prowess in being faster then a speeding bullet and more powerful then a locomotive.

Having this kind of baffling speed and mystifying swiftness makes for a slick advantage in overwhelming their prey.  It is an amazing combination to be powerful as a horse and as swift and stealthy as a leopard.

They Are Bloodthirsty and are fiercer than the evening wolves:

Wolves have a reputation as savage and ravenous, with incredible jaw strength.  The word fierce is defined sharp, keen and clever in the Hebrew.  The wolves stalk prey in the cover of evening and are intensely sneaky, covert and crafty.

 They are Brisk    and their horsemen shall spread themselves,

                               and their horsemen shall come from far; 

“Shall spread themselves,” means to frisk about, be very spirited and cover the territory rapidly coming from every direction.

They are a Blur   they shall fly as the eagle that hast to eat. 

The significance of the eagle is blazing swiftness and suddenness, in swooping in and surprising his victim.

They are Blinding v.9   They shall come all for violence: 

The intent of these images of predators and warhorses is to demonstrate the raw nature of these invaders that were gobbling up the surrounding civilizations.

They come with the intent of ferocious violence and destructive goals.  We see this on various levels in our world.  The obvious would be terrorist attacks; although, this is carried on by small numbers and under a variety of secret cloaks.  We see an explosion of gang war in our inner cities, but the worst of all violence is sin in our natures and in the lives of our communities.

They are Blustery   their faces shall sup up as the east wind, 

The Bible Knowledge Commentary interprets this phrase as saying that their faces, or the countenance of this invading power will be like a hot enveloping desert wind.

The phrase “their faces”, speaks of their identity, uniqueness and individuality.

“Shall sup up” is a combination of Hebrew terms or combined thoughts.  It almost seems like the thought is that there faces all band into one expression, a countenance that is the longing of intensity, and a panting urgency on something.  And that goal of earnestness is that they are going to be hotter then a desert blast furnace in scorching wind like torrents.

They are Beyond Measure  and they shall gather the captivity

                                              as the sand. 

The desert wind scorches all vegetation and flora and after its blowtorch breath, it leaves only sand.  The Israeli people who survive this singe, after the hordes explode their violence on this exposed, fragile, defenseless people, will be nothing but captured grains of sand, gathered in large dump trucks.

They Are Belligerent  v.10 And they shall scoff at the kings, and

                                             the princes shall be a scorn unto them: 

Whatever royalty was reigning at this time, all of the political elite and leadership class in Israel would be nothing but a disdainful pile of ridicule.  Their former positions of honor will be rejected in derision and contempt.

They Are Belittling   they shall deride every strong hold; 

                                       for they shall heap dust, and take it.

The structures of security and the places of safe refuge will fall like a house of shaky cards and end up like collapsed toothpicks in a jangled mess, like a heap of rubble.

They Are Blasphemous Then shall his mind change, and he shall 

             pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god

A blasphemer is someone who profanes something that is seen as valuable, or of worth to group, or an item that is treasure and appreciated by an individual.

When it refers to changing the mind it could allude to the fact that initially these invading armies had a respect to the power and protective walls and towers of the Israelis.  Or maybe they said that from one side of their mouth, that their life was impressive, inspiring or notable.

People who have a duality of motives can praise us on one hand, and then change their mind in midstream and fire out an ultimate put down of our beliefs and convictions.  They are passing over us and offending in a double intent.

What are we too think of all this rage and destructive force that defies our earthly defenses?

The prophet Isaiah tells us to wait on the Lord.

Isaiah 59:19 When the enemy shall come in like a flood, The Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.

We fight with all kinds of insecurity, self-doubt and uncertainty.

We can feel ugly, stupid, rejected and even hated.  When we feel that way we’re listening to the whispers of the evil one. This is the enemy coming in like a flood.

The Spirit of the Lord has raised up a standard placing us in Christ.  We are decked in His beauty, we have the mind of Christ, and the Spirit has given us a sound mind.

We are accepted in Christ and loved with an everlasting love by God and the love of Christ is our controlling strength.

The Psalmist has said in Psalms 11:3-5 If the foundations were destroyed, what can the righteous do?

The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD’S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.  The LORD tries the righteous:

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8. Habakkuk 1:4-11 The Embrace Of Faith part 8 God Allows Bitter Storms To Provoke Our Prayers are we listening

8. Habakkuk 1:4-11 The Embrace Of Faith part 8 

God Allows Bitter Storms To Provoke Our Prayers are we listening 

The Defense Of God’s Response v.5-11 

   The Coming Catastrophe v.5 

It Will Be A Spectacle Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder                                                            marvelously

It Will Be Surprising   for I will work a work in your days, which you will not                                                              believe, though it be told you. 

   The Caustic Chaldeans v.6-11 

They Are Bitter v.6     For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter   

They Are Brash            and hasty nation, which shall march through

 They Are Broad            The breadth of the land,

They Are Bombastic    to possess the dwelling places that are not theirs 

Psalm 24:1 the earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in                      it. 

One day when John Wesley was away from home, someone came running to him, saying, “Your house has burned down! Your house has burned down!” Wesley replied, “No, it hasn’t, because I don’t own a house. The one I have been living in belongs to the Lord, and if it has burned down, that is one less responsibility for me to worry about.”

The Lord, in Habakkuk’s time, was bringing a caustic storm down on the rebellion of Judah.  The storm was coming from the empire of the Chaldeans.

As we look at our World, all around from country to country. The power, possessions and privileges are not as it appears.  We see various individuals, nations and political posturers of our world, but the reality is that the Lord has allowed them the positions they have achieved.   Jesus in the great commission stated clearly, all power is given unto me in heaven and earth.  But was important to the Lord is that we go reach hearts for Him.

Psalm 50:10 for every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.   

What would PETA think of Jesus destroying 2000 pigs by casting a horde of demons into them?  The value was He was saving a man’s soul in the process.  It’s not what’s being destroyed; it’s who’s responding to Jesus, who’s letting Him in?

Daniel 2:20-22 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:  And he changes the times and the seasons: he removes kings, and sets up kings: he gives wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: He reveals the deep and secret things: he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.

It’s not the Electoral College that controls who gets the nod to huff n puff ideas in the Whitehouse.  The Illuminati isn’t the one in control, nor is it some elitist group of president makers or war brokers.  It’s not the United Nations that decides national events.  It’s not even the hand that rocks the cradle that rules the world.

Samuel was told; don’t look on the countenance and stature, when he was called to anoint a King over Israel.  It’s not an IQ or personality evaluation, which tests the candidate or controllers of our World.  God looks on the heart, and He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him.

Jesus knew that a caustic storm was brewing at the Sea of Galilee in Mathew 8:23-27

The Sea was really just a massive lake about 13 miles long and 8 miles wide.

This Sea is like a symbol of our World, and the various upheavals that grip it as it inches slowing in the contractions and birth pangs of prophetic labor.

Jesus could have prevented this storm, as He boarded this boat with this handful of followers; God could have kept it from brewing over the head of His Son. But God allowed it to burst down, with bitter fury.  Jesus didn’t stop it, but He used it to instruct His disciples, and to teach us.

The storm didn’t stir because the disciples we’re rebelling or disobedient.  They we’re with Jesus, following Jesus, had boarded the boat with Jesus.

Now the strange thing is the Lord curls up and peacefully snoozes while the storm is going so crazy to the point of the ship being on the verge of capsizing.

It was different when Jonah had boarded a cruise ship and a storm hit him.  He was in blatant bold-faced rebellion and aggravated revolt against the Lord.  Yet even in that incident with a raging sea the Lord over ruled and calmed the violent storm.

Mutiny wasn’t the case in this group of faithful sailors for Christ.  They were in God’s will for their life.  They followed Jesus up to a point, but when things got messy and chaotic, they yelled at Jesus, and they accused Him of not caring about them. They we’re terrified in the storm.

Someone has written when Jesus falls asleep all hell breaks loose. 

Baker wrote:

Master, the tempest is raging! 
  The billows are tossing high! 


The sky is overshadowed with blackness,
 No shelter or help is nigh;


Carest Thou not that we perish?
 How canst Thou lie asleep,


When each moment so madly is threatening
 A grave in the angry deep?

The winds and the waves shall obey Thy will,
 Peace, be still!


Whether the wrath of the storm tossed sea,


Or demons or men, or whatever it be


No waters can swallow the ship where lies


The Master of ocean, and earth, and skies;


They all shall sweetly obey Thy will,
 Peace, be still! Peace, be still!


They all shall sweetly obey Thy will, 
Peace, peace, be still!

Master, with anguish of spirit 
I bow in my grief today;


The depths of my sad heart are troubled  Oh, waken and save, I pray!


Torrents of sin and of anguish
 Sweep o’er my sinking soul;


And I perish! I perish! dear Master
 Oh, hasten, and take control.

Master, the terror is over,
 The elements sweetly rest;


Earth’s sun in the calm lake is mirrored,
 And heaven’s within my breast;


Linger, O blessèd Redeemer!
 Leave me alone no more;


And with joy I shall make the blest harbor,
 And rest on the blissful shore.

Mark 4:39 says when Jesus woke he yelled at the waves, peace be still.  It’s like telling a growling dog, be muzzled.

In His Word is the power to hush anything.  All fever, every disease, mental anguish, emotional heartache, all the waves and billows of life, and every demonic terror and tempest bow to His voice.

Jesus looked at His disciples, as He looks at us right now, and says: why aren’t you confident in me, why can’t you trust in me.  How is it that you have such little faith?

Now what is His choice, does He chooses not to heal us in this temporary, mortal life that we know and love.  Is it possibly because His will is a new body and perfect healing with Him in Eternal Life?

They Are Brutal v.7    They are terrible and dreadful:

They Are Boastful   their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.

They Are Baffling v.8  Their horses also are swifter than the leopards,

They Are Bloodthirsty and are fiercer thanthe evening wolves:

They are Brisk    and their horsemen shall spread themselves,

and their horsemen shall come from far;

 They are a Blur   they shall fly as the eagle that hast to eat.

They are Blinding v.9   They shall come all for violence:

They are Blustery   their faces shall sup up as the east wind,

They are Beyond Measure  and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.

They Are Belligerent v.10 And they shall scoff at the kings, and the

princes shall be a scorn unto them:

They Are Belittling   they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust,

                                                and take it.

They Are Blasphemous  then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and        

                                                       offend, imputing this his power unto his god

 

 

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14. Eph. 1:16 Prayers Persistence part 14

14. Eph. 1:16 Prayers Persistence part 14

Ephesians 1:15-23 Pleasure in Persistent Prayer

Activate in Making Continual Requests v.15-23

  Captivate in a Mark of Perpetual celebration

      Prayers method v.16

          Aggressive                     Cease not

To be ceaseless is not easy.  To cease not means we’re continual, constant, incessant, perpetual and never ending.

If we really accept that God is receptive to our desires and wishes.  If we comprehend that He’s not only accessible but also interested in our heartaches.  Then it would be logical that we would be unrestrained in talking to Him.

In addition, if we really felt He had the power to change things, and that He could impact every detail of our life and surroundings, we would be uninhibited in motor mouthing incessantly too Him.

Now that’s what I would call laying hold of God in prayer.  Now why wouldn’t we seize Him with every bit of our energetic grasp? Isn’t He encouraging us with the idea that He likes us touching Him and even hanging on Him?

I remember reading an article, years ago, on what the writer called “praying through.”  The thought is, if the Lord has placed the burden in our heart to pray, we need to be incessant until the weight is lifted.

So what if the weight keeps pressing in, will it doesn’t take a Philadelphia law degree to figure that one out.  You keep crying out about it, until the Lord impresses otherwise.

Jesus said in Luke 18:1 And he spoke a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.

Gal.6:9 says and let us not be weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.  

What causes us to grow weary really?

Mark 14:38 Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation.  

As we try to live a life of faith, where we look to include the Lord in everything, temptation will jump out to clobber us. It’s only prayer that gives freedom from the defeats of Satan.

There are constant lures to not pray, the pull and attraction to do something else is continual, the enticement and constant appeal to quit praying or get discouraged about prayer, that’s all from wrestling with unseen force.  We don’t know we’re struggling and grappling but that’s why we faint, we get tired and bored, we lie down or do something easier instead of pray.

We are not wrestling with flesh and blood, it’s not human elements that tussle and brawl with us.  It’s the invisible forces of darkness.  Demonic chains of command are fighting against us.  Their invisible and we don’t recognize or know they’re even there, but they do everything imaginable to keep us from prayer.  Why, because prayer is effective.

So when all this stuff clamors for our attention we need to let the uproar and commotion, the turmoil and tumult to not pull us away from the Lord, but to push us into God’s presence.  Disorder and unscheduled hullabaloo exposes our inadequacies and helplessness.

This vulnerability is ultimately what the Lord wants us to be conscious of.  He says without me you can do nothing, so in the vortex and swirl of all this susceptibility, incompetence and insufficiency we need to see ultimately that it is the Lord drawing us, saying abide in Me, stay close to Me, become and stay intimate with me.

We need Christ, and some of us, if not all of us, won’t open up to Him, and cry out to Him, or deepen our trust in Him, without a crisis.  Satan is God’s slave in these unscheduled obstacles; he’s a master of crisis and catastrophe.  But the Lord is master of all and He’s maneuvering us to prayer.   It may seem uncomfortable, and we are so easily lulled into a time warp of lethargy and a stupor of sluggish indolence.

The prophet Elisha is contemporary during King Joash.  Elisha had served as a prophet for over 60 years.  He was in his 90s and sick, he new he would die soon.  As Joash faced the departure and reassurance of having this great man of God nearby, the king wept over him, asking his advice, he could see that all the surrounding enemies were going to explode on his kingdom.

He feared that everything would ignite into chaos and pandemonium.  The insane madness of anarchy and the departure of this true spiritual prayer warrior created insecurity and psychological stress for Joash. 2Kings 13:13-19.

Elisha’s advice was full of symbolic uniqueness on the need of aggressive persistent relentlessly determined prayer.

Now Elisha was fallen sick of a sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. 

And Elisha said unto him, Take a bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows.  And he said to the king of Israel, Put your hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands.  And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the LORD’S deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for you will smite the Syrians in Aphek, till you have consumed them.

And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed.

And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, you should have smitten five or six times; then had you smitten Syria till you had consumed it: whereas now you will smite Syria but thrice.

Are we shooting endless arrows of prayer to the throne of grace and are we smiting the ground with our lives and hitting our surroundings with multiplied and relentless prayer.  We will persist in what we believe and if we’re confident it will be heard and responded too we will cry out about everything.

Our existence and experiences need arrows of prayer hitting everywhere and on everything.  Are we shooting enough arrows of prayer, are we trying to hit everything sufficiently and completely?

There is great instruction for prayer in this story.  Elijah and Elisha were men whose lives were examples of greatness and there significance as giants was that they were given to prayer.

The king, Joash, saw Elisha’s life example of prayer power, he realized his influence was coming to a close.  The king felt a need of that power and in his loneliness and insecurity went to Elijah.

In verses 15-16 Elisha gives the king the steps to knowing prayer power.  Then in verse 17 tells him the strategy of prayer power.  Then in verses 18-19 Elisha scorns the stupidity of neglecting the power of prayer and the tragedy of narrowing effectiveness and succumbing to the enemy of prayer.

The bow and arrow were ancient weapons and are symbolic here of power.  The bow is power in distance and the arrow power in directness.  The quantity of arrows would be power in degree or determination.  The smacking of the ground with the arrows could lend the thought of dealings in prayer with every detail of our surrounding territory with a determination of continual slashing and smiting of strokes as we bow to God asking that our arrows of prayer would be efficient for His intervention in our surroundings.

I know that prayer power is not limited in distance, directness, degree or determination or our many details.  We are in touch through prayer with God’s ability.   He is able to answer in infinite ways, but our attitude is vital, and our aggressive anticipation in asking needs to be rejuvenated and invigorated.

We represent the winning side, why would we place limitations on the score of things?  The Lord has placed into our hands, based on human responsibility, and the obedience of faith, multiple issues of His kingdom.

This is the free will issue of His love and His delight.  Prayer is an opportunity to express our adoration and full love for Jesus and others in our prayer determination.  Is it all explainable, no, but it goes beyond just a blind obedience, it’s an interactive communion of affection in the communication of prayer, faith and the committed loyalty of merging our feelings and inner spirit with His.

We get in a hurry, but the Lord would teach us His longsuffering as He doesn’t want any to perish but all to come to repentance in a change of mind, heart, and life.

We need to rouse every fiber of our being to stand in the gap of need and build up the hedge of protective shielding for God’s glory and cause.

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7. Eph.1:7c Rich in Forgiveness part 7 A Candidate for Change

Eph.1:7c Rich in Forgiveness part 7

A Candidate for Change

   Captivate in Our Riches From Our Savior

        Explain To Us How We Are Prospered     according to the riches of his grace

Forgiveness of sins is according to the riches of God’s grace. It’s according to God, we look disproportionately at forgiveness from the human side but this term “according to” is God’s side.

The words “according to” is the idea of down from or under the control of. This is the amount and degree of forgiveness that is controlled, dominated by the riches, the affluence, abundance, and copious wealth of God’s grace.

Yes from our side forgiveness is taking the roof off and placing our selves in front of Jesus.  Forgiveness is opening our hearts door to Jesus.  It’s us exposing our soul to His full, abundant, super abounding grace.  We read of Christ’s continuous loving desire to forgive and from our viewpoint we’re accessing it.

But here the text is looking at forgiveness from God’s side.  That’s the thought of the phrase according to the riches of His grace.  Forgiveness is His yearning; it’s what God craves. His deep love implores us to bow to His forgiveness.

Jesus stated with desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you.  The Passover was a festival celebrating deliverance and forgiveness of sins.  In Heb.2 we get a view of the joy of Jesus in proclaiming forgiveness saying: I will declare your name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto You.

In Luke 24:46-47 Jesus explains His deep desire expounding it through the entire timeline of scripture, when He meets with the disciples on the road to Emmaus after He had risen from the dead and the men’s hearts burned within them with adoration and joy.

it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

First He says this is a fulfillment of all that the Old Testament had written.

We still daily need Jesus, to explain over and over to us the full plan of salvation.  These disciples, while on the road, are emblematic of each of us, they act as if they’re confused and depressed, and we get the same way, we don’t get it, or we forget the little bit we understand.

Then He says, it behooved Christ to suffer, and rise on the third day.  Behooved means, it was His responsibility, duty, the appropriate response, it’s a must and inevitable.

All this was done so that repentance, which means a change of mind and a change of life style, and remission of sins which means forgiveness, release, pardon and liberation, all this took place so these truths could be communicated to every person in the world.

God had a plan and Jesus took the complete responsibility on Himself to accomplish Gods plan of love and grace.  Now the Lord is saying that this liberation and forgiveness needs to be declared and explained thoroughly to the entire planet and to every person.

Repentance in life doesn’t come before forgiveness but is the result of understanding the forgiveness of sins.  Our initial repentance is in recognition of our need.  This is how we receive Jesus.  We change our mind from the deception that we don’t need His offer of love and forgiveness to accepting Him and His forgiveness.  This is the beginning of a total life change.  The more we comprehend it the more we will change.  Change, is not the means of earning forgiveness, God’s forgiveness elicits and extracts change.

Jesus says the one who is forgiven much, loves much or really has the biggest changes in their life.  If we don’t grasp the depths of our forgiveness we have a problem forgiving others, we don’t exhibit much love.  For forgiveness is the fruit of love.

When we find fault with others, are critical of their flaws, agitate in anger and irritation over aspects of our daily human interactions and experiences, and feel raw regularly with those around us, boiling with an attitude of aggravation, exasperation, and stress provocation, it’s a problem of failing to cash in on the riches of God’s forgiveness.

His forgiveness is according to the riches of His personality, compassionate character, beautifying grace and the perfect attributes of His relational love.

Paul presented the importance of forgiveness in Acts 13:38-39

Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

It’s all God’s part; it’s according to the riches of His grace.  None of it is man’s part, there is nothing we could do or can do, the  Law of Moses does not justify us, it’s not performance based.

Our problem is we’re hardened by sin, full of pride, haughty and in love with self.  Our arrogance makes it so we can’t feel our needs and we strut in blindness.

While we we’re alienated, enemies of God, Christ came and gave His life for us to forgive us.  It’s all of God.  Even while hanging on the cross He was proclaiming forgiveness to His haters and torturers.  It’s in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that forgiveness is proclaimed.

His name is the quality of His character, the renown of His reputation, the distinction of His dignity, and the grandeur of His glory. His grace is greater than our sins and the presentation of His name is the impressiveness of His forgiveness.

The glory of His grace is that it is all of Him.  This forgiveness is the attractiveness of His honor, this One is the one who overcame death, vanquished Satan, spoiled principalities and powers, and glorified God removing sin totally.

Christ was behooved to accomplish all; He fulfilled all prophecy and promises.  So what about the sin which comes up?  If anyone sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Our forgiveness is secure and assured.  He is the satisfaction of constant forgiveness as Peter communicated in Acts 10:43

To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive forgiveness of sins.

There are no conditions on us, it’s according to the riches of His grace and based on the honor and worthiness of Christ.  God sees only His value and perfection, His sinless, flawless substitution, and God is completely satisfied.

Col.1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.  

It’s not the quality of our faith, it’s the excellence of His faithfulness, it’s not the condition or measure of our repentance or confession, it’s the superior eminence of Christ and the fullness of His grace.

The more we value in His worth, and assess with comprehension the treasure of our riches of His presentation of forgiveness, the deeper our change and repentance will be.

According to Heb.10 our conscience is purged, completely clean, so we can boldly enter God’s presence.  Having a perfect conscience seems impossible, but it’s based on knowing. It’s all of God, so that we can draw near with a true heart.

We are set apart, perfected forever Heb 10:10, 14 by the perfect sacrifice Christ, who gave infinite efficacy.

Efficacy means effectiveness, efficiency, perfect worth and value, and that is the forgiveness He has provided, which is based on the totally efficient removal of all sin.

Our sins have been fully erased, completely dealt with, and God is pleased for all eternity with the offering of the body of Jesus Christ.  We are uncontaminated; everything is cleared and cleaned in God’s estimation. We enter and abide in His presence in the beauty of divine sanctification.

Sin is settled, we are justified, viewed with Christ’s righteousness wrapped around us, perfected forever.  It’s not our good behavior that gets us there, not our exemplar performance; no it’s all the riches of His grace.

There is one other aspect I thought would be worthy of comment which lands under this umbrella of forgiveness.  Israel has been given a new covenant and we as individuals can apply personal applications from that.

Heb.10:16  I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. 

The Spirit of God places affection for His principles in our heart.  God’s Spirit places the desire and craving to be controlled by God’s plan and will.  That is the incredible effects of grace, or living according to the riches of His grace.

This may seem to be an odd illustration but I have had dogs which want to get right up close to my face and some of them have terrifically bad breath.  My present pooch likes to be close but his breath isn’t fetid with this fusty putrid foulness.  There is nothing more rotten then a squalid foulness breathing up into you’re intake manifold.

Meditating on God’s word and getting close to its living truth is like having the Lord breathing on us and in us the spiritual breath of life.  His breath is the sweetest and most attractive of all fragrances.  He wants to be close to us in intimate companionship.

Jeremiah said it this way: your words were found and I did eat them and they are the joy and rejoicing of my heart, for I am called by your name.  What a blessing to be called by the name of the Lord, to have the richness of His name, character and loving graces in us, on us and all over us.  As the song writer wrote,

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!  My sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Forgiveness means we’re before God with nothing outstanding in the debt category against us, everything has been disposed, and all liabilities are eternally removed.

There is nothing to distract us, we’re free, and the more we fathom the riches of our forgiveness and the bounty of His grace the deeper will be the passion of joy in His delight of us and our delight in Him.  There is a liberty in knowing that there is nothing between us in Him.

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7. Habakkuk 1:4-11 The Embrace Of Faith part 7 God lifts and adjusts are we learning?

7. Habakkuk 1:4-11 The Embrace Of Faith part 7

God lifts and adjusts are we learning?

The Defense Of God’s Response v.5-11

   The Coming Catastrophe v.5

It Will Be A Spectacle Behold ye among the heathen, and

                                          regard, and wonder marvelously

It Will Be Surprising   for I will work a work in your days,   

                     which you will not believe, though it be told you.

   The Caustic Chaldeans v.6-11 

They Are Bitter v.6  For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter  

They Are Brash  and hasty nation, which shall march through

According to the Theological Workbook of terms the word “lo” means to pay attention, to behold, it’s a term, which alerts us by demanding our attentiveness, responsiveness and consideration.

The item we’re to reflect on with deep reflection is that God is the one who allows things to unravel as they do.  When things advance it’s the Lord.  When things decline, again it’s the Lord.  We need the Lord to rebuke the destroyer. We constantly need to bow in recognition to the reality that without the Lord we can do nothing.

Psalms 75:6-8 For promotion comes neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.  But God is the judge: He puts down one, and sets up another. For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; It is full of mixture; and he pours out of the same: But the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them. 

The Facts of Advancement v.6-7

   Where promotion doesn’t come from v.6

       Not From Sunrise For promotion cometh neither from the east, 

Ben Franklin was wrong.  It’s not early to bed early to rise that makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise.  The east is a symbol of the days beginning, and as valuable as it is to get a good nights rest, and start out early, and wakeful, the real key to promotion, or getting ahead, is not the beginning of our day, but the beginner of our life, the source of all of life is Jesus Christ.  He is one we’re to draw from and focus on.

Not From Sunset nor from the west, 

The west is symbolic of sunset.  We don’t advance in life by being a workaholic and whacking our fingers too the bone with late night endeavors.

Not from sacrifice nor from the south.  

The Lord has said he wants obedience not sacrifice, what a crazy sacrifice to wander in the wilderness for 40 years and fill the Sinai dessert up with the corpses of the rebellious.

How much easier, too by faith, enter in to the land of promise, with the Captain of our Salvation, who goes before us to defeat our enemies and collapse the walls of opposition against us.  The south is symbolic of the wilderness wanderings.  God gives grace to the humble, and promotion to the wise, but shame is the promotion of fools.

  Where Promotion Does Come From v.7 

God’s Providence But God is the judge: 

Abraham, as he prayed over Lot, and Lot’s family, and over the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, as He negotiated in prayerful arguing with God, He bowed in worship before the Lord.

Genesis 18:25 be it far from You to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from You: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? 

We cry out to God for those He has given us too love, for all He has burdened our heart with.  We beg that He would touch them, heal them and make them whole and complete in Jesus.

God, does every thing right, we don’t understand the end from the beginning, or why things play out as they do, but we can cry out in pray, and rest in God’s actions, for everything He does is perfect.

God puts down he puts down one,

We are told that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. We are to humble ourselves into the mighty hand of God that He will choose when to exalt us in His time and way.

God Privileges and sets up another. 

Col. 1:17 tells us that Jesus Christ is before all things and that by Him all things consist. 

It’s not the atomic structure that’s holding every thing together, and it’s not gravity that keeps everything on the ground.  We can get caught up looking at the outer appearance of everything, but we need to behold, be alert, and look at the heart of the issue.  Behind it all, underneath everything, and the inner core and root of the burdens of our life is the Lord.

The Finality of Adjudication v.8  

God’s Punishment is Prepared   For in the hand of the

                                                                    LORD there is a cup, 

Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane held a full cup in His hand.  He asked His Father that the cup might pass from Him.  But He added in obedient willingness, not My will, but Your will be done.

The cup was representative of all the sins of the world and the infinite wrath of God for those sins.  The contents of the cup were all the judgments, to be poured out on those actions.  Acts of hate, and performances of rebellion against God were all going to be dealt with.  We can’t really measure the contents, as the fluid was not finite in amount, and it presses beyond our ability to measure and estimate.

A.R. Cousin writes of this full cup:

Death and the curse were in our cup, O Christ, ’twas full for Thee;

But Thou, hast drained the last dark drop, Tis empty now for me.

That bitter cup, love drank it up; Left but the love for me.

God’s Penalty is Potent and the wine is red; 

Isa. 51:17 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, Which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury; Thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out. 

We need to wake up to the fact that whatever negative the Lord allows into our life, that He means it for our good, and profit.  No chastening is pleasant, but it grieves, and is harsh, but it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness, as we open ourselves up to His process.

Jesus has taken the entire destructive wrath, and dealt with the results of sin, which is eternal death.  By receiving the Lord, and accepting what He has done for us, we are now placed in Him as our life. In Jesus is life, abundant life, eternal life.

Whatever He allows into our life is for our good and His glory.

But for those who reject Jesus, and refuse the sacrifice He has made in love to pay for all sins, there is another cup to be poured out.  This is the mixture that is the result of rejecting Him, and refusing to accept his offer of love and forgiveness.

God’s Price is Packed it is full of mixture; and he pours out of the                                                      same:

God’s Pour is Pointed  but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the 

                                               earth shall wring them out, and drink them. 

The Dregs of the Cup are the residues and deposits that settle at the bottom of the cup.

Revelation 14:8 Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. 

Babylon represents this vast commercial and religious conglomerate with headquarters in Rome. All nations will have become drunk with the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

There is an intoxication that slams a person, or in this circumstance, an entire population, with the titillating inebriation of fornication.

The double phrase, fallen, fallen means they are totally obliterated and drown in the cup of God’s wrath right down to the very dregs of the cup.

The reason for the smashing of all this Christ rejecting populace, is that in turning from Jesus in there rejection, they have embraced a full cesspool of inordinate relations, religiously, economically and politically.  The entire focus of the spirit of Babylon, is cheating and debauchery in the total rejection of God.

This is the final apostasy of Revelation 18:3 if any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture [undiluted] into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb Revelation 14:9-10). 

We read, in the same chapter, of “the great winepress of the wrath of God” Revelation 14:19. 

Our Lord has drunk that cup for all. But those who will not accept the cup of blessing and joy He now extends will have to wring out the dregs of God’s wrath and face His fury.

There is no logical reason to reject Jesus.  We can have all His resources, all His blessing as He gives His love for us.

But for those of us who have received the Lord we need to rest in the fact that when He allows bitter things in our lives, and we think He’s ignoring our prayers, we need to lean on His promises, for He will make a way through everything for us.

We can’t allow a bitter root to stem out in our heart, but allow the joy of His presence to take over in ever circumstance, knowing He is the one who sets down and the only one who lifts up.

They Are Broad       The breadth of the land,

They Are Bombastic to possess the dwelling places

                                          that are not theirs

They Are Brutal v.7    They are terrible and dreadful:  

They Are Boastful   their judgment and their dignity

                                           shall proceed of themselves.

They Are Baffling v.8  Their horses also are swifter than the leopards,

They Are Bloodthirsty and are fiercer than the evening wolves:

They are Brisk    and their horsemen shall spread themselves,

                                  and their horsemen shall come from far;

They are a Blur   they shall fly as the eagle that hast to eat.

They are Blinding v.9   They shall come all for violence: 

They are Blustery   their faces shall sup up as the east wind,

They are Beyond Measure  and they shall gather the captivity

                                                       as the sand.

They Are Belligerent v.10 And they shall scoff at the kings, and

                                             the princes shall be a scorn unto them:

They Are Belittling   they shall deride every strong hold; 

                                                  for they shall heap dust, and take it.

They Are Blasphemous Then shall his mind change, and he shall 

                     pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god

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6. Habakkuk 1:4-11 The Embrace Of Faith part 6 God always Answers are we listening

6. Habakkuk 1:4-11 The Embrace Of Faith part 6  God always Answers are we Listening

The Defense Of God’s Response v.5-11  

The first four verses of Habakkuk 1 are a narrative of the prophet asking the Lord about why things are happening the way they are, to Judah, the people he was burdened for as a spiritual watchman.

The Lord has put spiritual watchmen and shepherds over His people to care, pray over, and protect them.

Moses was a spiritual watchman.  In his prayer of Numbers 11:11-12 he complained and demanded an explanation.

The Israeli’s we’re driving him stark raving mad.  It is an amazing display of feelings.

And Moses said unto the Lord, Why have You afflicted me, Your servant?  Why have I not found favor in thy sight?

Why aren’t you answering my prayer like I expected You to do?  I had a timetable and according to my expectation You are off target.

You lay the burden of this entire people upon me?  Have I conceived all these people?

Now that’s a hard line, if we’re complaining in our prayers about our children.  But we can get frustrated when others don’t enter into the burden we have for those we love.  When we want someone to step up to the plate and hit a home run for us, because we think they can have an impact, we can yell at God for not working it all out.

Have I begotten them, that You should say unto me, Carry them in Your bosom, as a nursing father bears the sucking child, unto the land which You promised them?

As fathers, we may have walked with our children at night when they were babies.  Rocking and comforting them while we pace and pray over them.  When they are grown and physically mature it doesn’t change.

We still pace and pray over them, we cry out for them, that they would walk with Jesus.

Moses was a road weary, worn out, frustrated watchman.  We can get in the same shape and become hacked off with God.

The function of a watchman was to give warning of impending danger to the city.  The cities we’re vulnerable to sudden attack just as we as individuals are susceptible to spiritual assault by the forces of darkness.

The watchman occupied an apt vantage point where they could survey the surrounding countryside; he would blow a trumpet to give warning of any approaching individuals, whether friendly or not. The amount of time a city would have to get its inhabitants safely into its city walls and ready for defensive action against marauders depended largely on the swift actions of its watchman.

The lives of people were dependent upon the vigilance of watchmen. The watchman had a responsibility; to warn of approaching danger. But the people were likewise responsible to react to the warning.  If they failed to run into the protection of the city, they had only themselves to blame if they fell under the sword of the invading army.

Habakkuk as a prophet, and man of God, was a spiritual watchman.  We are to be spiritual watchman bearing accountability for each other.  We are to be watching with scrutiny and praying over each other with aggressive praying faith.

We are in a war, a spiritual battle with invisible forces arraying a siege against us.

In Ephesians 6:11 Paul refers to the battle as fought through the devil’s ‘schemes’ or his ‘wiles’

He is crafty Gen. 3:1, and cunning 2 Cor. 11:3; he will seek to outwit us 2 Cor. 2:11, and set traps 1 Tim. 3:7; he’s the father of lies Jn 8:44, & can even perform miracles Matt. 24:24.

The battle isn’t always obvious, and sometimes we lose a clash before we’re even aware that we’re in it. We’re constantly to be on our guard. We can fall into sin through something that seems innocent and harmless. That’s part of the reality of demonic invisible trickery; it can be clever, concealed wiles, and obscure schemes of the devil.

Peter Jeffery in “Opening Up Ezekiel” says: Satan prowls around like a roaring lion & at other times impersonates and masquerades as an angel of light 1 Peter 5:8; 2 Cor. 11:14.

The angel of light is far more dangerous than the prowling lion because, the lion will put you on your guard, the angel of light will take you unawares.

I’ve been amazed how professing believers can ape and mimic almost as if they are under an alien influence and that in the strangest moments, when you want to help them get on there feet in the Lord, they act like complete cave in’s to the evil one.

In the Acts of the Apostles we see the devil as the roaring lion, stirring up his puppets into a fierce and bitter persecution of the Christians.  It was always under the guise of religion and serving some god representation.  He still works like this and will mount direct assaults upon us through various channels.

We find the classic example of his coming as an angel of light in Genesis 3, when he approached Eve full of superficial friendliness and concern, and yet craftily casting doubt on the truth of God’s Word and character v. 5.

When the enemy comes as an angel of light, it is the truth of God that exposes him for what he is. No matter how cleverly his pretenses, or how crafty his approach, the devil will always be in conflict with the truth of God as revealed in the Scriptures. God’s Word is the spotlight that exposes the wiles of Satan.   Intense study of the Word and prayer are our only weapons. 

As a watchman we’re not only to warn each other but we are to advise all humanity with a bold and consistent warnings to wake up to the consequence of sin.

Lives are at stake, anyone who is lulled to sleep and living on the edge of societies cliff is vulnerable to catastrophe.  We are to bear each others burdens, and if we see another overtaken in a fault, we are to humble ourselves to the Lord and cry to Him for there liberation from the destructive thing that is hampering and endangering them.

   The Coming Catastrophe v.5 

It Will Be A Spectacle Behold ye among the heathen, and 

                                                   regard, and wonder marvelously

God is answering Habakkuk and us in our concerns of those we are burdened over.  He says behold, which means get your eyes in focus to see clearly.  Behold means study with intent.

The heathen means all the nations, the people all around who reject the one true God and are either atheistic or mono theistic with a variety of idol type religious confusion.

We’re facing a seeming immediate havoc, maybe one heartache after another.  A pile of turmoil and grief, but we need to look out on a broader horizon.

Develop a worldview see the nations and their needs and burdens.  We need to also be attentive to the signs of what God is doing in the world.  There are prophetic keys that are rattling and opening doors of God’s actions all around us.

God is rising up various enemies that are furious in hatred against God’s people but it’s for a purpose. 

 It Will Be Surprising   for I will work a work in your days, which 

                                                 you will not believe, though it be told you.

In the middle of thinking that nothing is happening, the Lord is doing many things. I will work a work in your days means I’m doing something right now and it’s going to happen before you can shake a fist.  I’m about to burst onto the scene.  In your days, is a way of saying in your lifetime, or real soon.

You will not believe even when it’s told to you, means that it is going to be so shocking and outrageous that explaining it all out will not cushion the fact that you are going to be overwhelmed with the surprise and amazement of it all.

Answered prayer can be so wonderful that it’s breath taking.  There are times in our life when it helps to rehearse what the Lord has done in our lives to realize what He is doing at the present.  This is a way of tasting the Lord and savoring the beauty of His goodness and grace.  The evil one is always stirring the fog and dread of the moment to try to keep us in a state of discouragement and grief.

   The Caustic Chaldeans v.6-11 

  They Are Bitter v.6  For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter

They Are Brash  and hasty nation, which shall march through

They Are Broad The breadth of the land,

They Are Bombastic to possess the dwelling places that are not theirs

They Are Brutal v.7    They are terrible and dreadful: 

They Are Boastful   their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.

They Are Baffling v.8  Their horses also are swifter than the leopards,

They Are Bloodthirsty and are fiercer than the evening wolves:

They are Brisk    and their horsemen shall spread themselves, 

                                        and their horsemen shall come from far;

They are a Blur   they shall fly as the eagle that hast to eat.

 They are Blinding v.9   They shall come all for violence: 

 They are Blustery   their faces shall sup up as the east wind,

They are Beyond Measure  and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.

They Are Belligerent v.10 And they shall scoff at the kings,

                                                         and the princes shall be a scorn unto them:

They Are Belittling          they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust,

                                                     and take it.

They Are Blasphemous Then shall his mind change, & he shall pass over, & offend,        

                                               imputing this his power unto his god

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7. The Palace Of Blessing Psalm 1:1-3 part 7 We’re Designed by our Desires & Determined by our Delights

7. The Palace Of Blessing   Psalm 1:1-3 part 7

We’re Designed by our Desires & Determined by our Delights

Saturate in Your Blessings v.1  Blessed is the man

  Direct Our Steps that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly

  Determine Our Stands              nor stands in the way of sinners

  Defend Our Surroundings         nor sits in the seat of the scornful 

Saturate us in Your Beauty v.2

  Delight Us in Your Satisfaction  But his delight

  Delight Us In Your Structure      is in the law of the Lord

  Drench Us In Your Speech           and in his law doth he meditate

  Delight Us in Your Schedule       day and night 

Delight Us in Your Satisfaction   But his delight 

All earthly delights are but “streams”. But God is the ocean.

Jonathan Edwards

Delight is a search of desire, and what we are trying to capture is pleasurable gratification.  We may find ourselves on a quest for health, or a sense of wellbeing and strength that we all normally crave after?  Or it could be any number of fads or even obsessions.   It’s interesting that energy drinks are one of the crazes of our day.  We lose tone, conditioning and are easily knocked out of shape.  Then we want a potion to kick-start the dilemma.

Psalms 37:4 alerts us to the Lord’s solution of what we are all trying to seize.

Delight your self in the Lord. And He will give us the desires of our heart.  

The delight and desire of our heart is the Lord.  Feeling His loving acceptance, is the condition of our inner being exposure to His presence.

But there is this fear of rejection.  It is as if dread and delight coexist.  I think that is always an obstacle.  But the dread is more a tendency to cover up from exposure.  I’m referring to the dread of being visible, the disappointment of grief, and the depression of regret, sorrow and loneliness.  We push it away with amusements, which is the opposite of musing and meditation.  We refuse to think and we think we are gaining rest and relaxation in the clutter.

We can’t unravel the good from the bad, the pure from the impure or the wheat from the tares.  But Jesus can and He will and does.  And we have to be unclothed of self and all it’s pretentions and pain to be clothed upon by His Spirit.  So real delight is bringing every aspect of our self to Jesus, all the stress, loss and heartache.

Listening for God’s voice and communicating in our inadequacies back to Him in longing prayer is where our heart can rest.  Not in some feeling of delight and pleasant emotions that ebb and flow, but in realness of pleasure and delight in God accepting us as we are and our experiencing His grace.  He receives our prayers as we learn His voice and this is meditation of delight in Him.

Taking each thing God has said, each word the Lord has written to us, treasuring His testimonies and truths and basking in them as our own personal love feast.

Then we hope for others to love what we love, to value Jesus and His words along with us.  To join us, pray with no masks to Him, and to delight in our delights and multiply in His blessing together.

So the relationship of delight is when we delight in the Word of God and find our pleasure in His expressions; then He delights in our prayer to Him.

Prov.15:8 the prayer of the upright is His delight.   

This is such a motivation to pray, because we bring delight to God’s heart when we bow to Him, humble ourselves and express our dependence and need.  This is adoration and love, our affection of being drawn by the Lord and His delight for us in drawing us out.  The Spirit excites us to pray,

Calvin wrote, “Unceasing continuance in prayer is the remedy to fatigue”.

Are we only giving limited time to thinking over God’s loving expressions to us and do we offer only limited abbreviated expressions to Him in pray?  The Lord is jealous of our time spent with Him and wants our undivided attention.

In Gal.5:16 we read that the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: 

The word lust means to long for, desire after and delight in.  We walk in the Spirit by allowing His jealousy for us to win, His longing after us to conquer us, His desire in us to be our everything.  We can find our all in delight by sharing our feelings with Him and allowing this to be our excitement and pleasure.

Should we spend increasing time with Christ?  Should we be listening for His voice, pouring over His Word to hear Him?  Is it of value to pour our feelings out to Him, tell Him all our thoughts and let Him in on everything?  The conclusion is obvious.  How much do we need Him?  Sure He knows everything, but His delight is our yielding and asking Him into every need, lifting our voices to Him adoringly, enjoying all He is, and telling Him that our pleasure is involvement.

What a wonder that He would honor us as we honor Him.

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