Thursday, February 19, 2015
God Delivers The Oppressed
Did you know?
God fights for the oppressed.
Psalm 103:6 GENEVA VERSION
The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment to all that are oppressed.
Also, did you know that God can and does use governmental systems to deliver the oppressed? He does not have to, but He often chooses to do so. Sometimes, He takes governments down, sometimes He works around them. He is the sovereign One and that is His prerogative. But it is OUR responsibility to live at peace, as much as is possible.
Paul told us, to do what is right and be good citizens abiding by the law, for there is no authority except from God. This goes along with how Jesus operated on earth. He supported the notion of paying taxes, living peaceably in the land, and doing the right thing as a citizen. Those who thought Jesus was going to destroy the Roman government were disappointed as that was not His purpose. He came to deliver the oppressed from sin, from Satan, and from death!
So now we too should walk as good and peaceful people.
Romans 13:1-3 GOD'S WORD translation
"1 Every person should obey the government in power. No government would exist if it hadn’t been established by God. The governments which exist have been put in place by God. 2 Therefore, whoever resists the government opposes what God has established. Those who resist will bring punishment on themselves.
3 People who do what is right don’t have to be afraid of the government. But people who do what is wrong should be afraid of it. Would you like to live without being afraid of the government? Do what is right, and it will praise you."
God delivers the oppressed in many ways, often using human government institutions.
Exodus 3:9-10 1599 Geneva Bible (GNV)
9 And now lo, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me, and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.
10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.
That Egyptian government in Exodus 3 refused to obey God, even after 10 chances. So God superseded the government to deliver His own people who were oppressed in Egypt.
But He never called the children of Israel to fight against Pharaoh or lie about taxes or cheat. God did not bypass Pharaoh right away. God wanted to work with Pharaoh and knew in advance that He would harden Pharaoh's heart. See, God established that government. And He controlled the outcome on both ends, with Moses and with Pharaoh. Why? So that His name would be glorified and His power would be known. Also, to deliver the oppressed!
He established and allowed every government on earth. Whether they be right or wrong, God will sometimes use these institutions as a Holy God and for a Holy purpose. It is a mystery. To say that a government in the world today was not established and allowed by God is to say that there is authority outside of God. But Jesus said ALL authority was given unto Him!
We must be careful not to despise government, even when they do take a poor stance on something. We should pray for them, live honestly, and by the law. You can even contact them respectfully and ask for the changes you desire to see in the land. Prayer is by far the most important thing however. The key thought here is that our job as citizens is to "do what is right" (Rom 13:3).
God has used many human governments throughout history for His own Holy purpose.
He used the Chaldeans (Babylon) to punish unrepentant Judah for her idolatry.
Habakkuk 1:6 GENEVA VERSION
"For lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and furious nation, which shall go upon the breadth of the land to possess the dwelling places that are not theirs."
But notice Babylon did not last in the long run. God removed them for their own wickedness. (See Habakkuk 2)
He used Artexerxes the king of the Medes/Persians to reestablish the Wall of Jerusalem.
Nehemiah 2:5-6 GENEVA VERSION
5 And said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, I desire that thou wouldest send me to Judah unto the city of the sepulchers of my fathers, that I may build it.
6 And the King said unto me, (the Queen also sitting by him:) How long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou come again? So it pleased the king, and he sent me, and I set him a time.
He used Cyrus to restore the temple of Jerusalem.
2 Chron 36:22-23 GENEVA VERSION
22 ¶ But in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia (when the word of the Lord, spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah, was finished) the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, and he made a proclamation through all his kingdom, and also by writing, saying,
23 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord God of heaven given me, and hath commanded me to build him an house in Jerusalem, that is in Judah. Who is among you of all his people, with whom the Lord his God is? let him go up.
God is at work amongst our leaders. Pray for them. We can't see all that He is accomplishing in and through these people.
God is a just God and is always on the side of the oppressed. Never will He defend the wicked or the oppressor. In the case of Hitler and his Nazis, God used the Allied forces to take that oppressive system down, and set the captives free. God contends for the oppressed on every level, both individuals and groups of people.
Psalm 146:5-7 GNV
5 Blessed is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 Which made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that therein is; which keepeth his fidelity forever,
7 Which executeth justice for the oppressed, which giveth bread to the hungry; the Lord looseth the prisoners.
God will deliver those who are oppressed through many means. If the oppressed cry to God, God hears them. God hears you, when you pray in Jesus' Name. God has many ways to deliver you from oppression (depending on the kind of oppression you face).
- Miracles and wonders
- Healings/ deliverance ministry
- The local Churches
- Job/vocational opportunities
- the legal system/courts
- the fire department
- the local hospital
- the police department
If you are under any kind of oppression, understand that God is fighting for you. Don't try to do it alone, but let God deliver you. Ask Jesus for help! He has tender mercy for the oppressed! He will judge righteously on your behalf in ANY matter! Focus on being a good citizen that does what is right, and God will take care of those who do wrong, using His sovereign will and power. Being a good Christian means that you are also striving to live peaceably in the land.
Doing what is right as a citizen and as a Christian includes many things, including the following:
- following the government's rules for taxes/marriage licenses/registrations etc.
- treating your neighbour the way you would want to be treated.
- reporting illegal activity/threatenings/harassment/abuse (as opposed to enabling such behaviour, which is bad)
- removing yourself out of physically or mentally or emotionally harmful situations, calling authorities when you are in honest need or danger.
But remember to always talk to God first, and keep in constant fellowship at your local church. Christ and His body should be your focal point! God alone is your Source, your Rock, your Everything!
God bless you!
Pastor Curtis
Thu Feb 19, 2015 3:42pm EST
MORE ON THIS TOPIC: Read my more recent study here: http://view-finder-blog.blogspot.ca/2016/02/god-delivers-oppressed-spouse.html
Friday, February 6, 2015
Are you Stumped?
Ever felt cut down? Ever felt hopeless about certain aspects of your life? I have. The Lord says it is time to regrow. I sense it is time for that which suffered loss to sprout forth afresh! It may have been a stump in your life for a long time. But water is coming and God is going to awaken that stump. It will spring forth from within you! Be encouraged!
I just came across the following passage:
Job 14:7-9 Geneva Version
7For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will yet sprout, and the branches thereof will not cease.
8Though the root of it wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof be dead in the ground,
9Yet by the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughes like a plant.
Job spoke this during a very dark and depressing time in his life. Little did he know, God had plans to make him sprout again and bring forth with abundance!
I wrote a vision called "Hands" a while back about a burning forest and giant hands that protected me on all sides in the midst of that forest fire. At the end of that vision, God showed me a grey dead forest patch. But in the soil, at the base of the stump was a single green sapling. As a result, the Lord sparked hope in me. But there is more hope now as I come across the above passage from Job. It reminds me of my 2014 song "Little Green Tree" which I wrote and recorded in response to the vision of the sapling. God really wants to restore what was destroyed with new growth. Are you ready to do the work of tending a new plant? I believe I am. How amazing it is to see life come back to something that was dead. If you want to see God bring a sprout of hope to you, ask! Then be prepared to work with Him. Plants need care and attention. Get ready for that breakthrough: financial, relational, ministerial, health-wise, etc. I believe there is new life coming to each believer in Christ... to a specific area where they are lacking. God sees when we trust Him and obey Him through thick and thin. And He wants to reward our diligence.
And the biggest fulfilment and example of this passage regarding the Hope of a Tree, is that Jesus gave us hope by DYING on a tree! He rose the third day! Life came back where there was only death! Not even Satan or death could stop Jesus!
So for me, it is amazing that God would speak a new passage to me this year, and remind me of that vision which I saw last year. I was not aware of Job 14's reference to the hope of a tree when I saw my vision or wrote my song. But now, a year later, here is this passage, bringing confirmation. For reasons I don't fully understand, the time to see this passage was right now.
So... Are you ready? There is hope of a tree, and there is hope for you and me! Start expecting a sprout to spring from that stump in your life. You will be "stumped" no longer! God has water for it today! Be prepared to tend that sapling, the little green tree, when it arrives! Be sure to give it good ground in your heart!
God bless!
Pastor Curtis
Fri Feb 6, 2015 10:17pm EST
I just came across the following passage:
Job 14:7-9 Geneva Version
7For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will yet sprout, and the branches thereof will not cease.
8Though the root of it wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof be dead in the ground,
9Yet by the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughes like a plant.
Job spoke this during a very dark and depressing time in his life. Little did he know, God had plans to make him sprout again and bring forth with abundance!
I wrote a vision called "Hands" a while back about a burning forest and giant hands that protected me on all sides in the midst of that forest fire. At the end of that vision, God showed me a grey dead forest patch. But in the soil, at the base of the stump was a single green sapling. As a result, the Lord sparked hope in me. But there is more hope now as I come across the above passage from Job. It reminds me of my 2014 song "Little Green Tree" which I wrote and recorded in response to the vision of the sapling. God really wants to restore what was destroyed with new growth. Are you ready to do the work of tending a new plant? I believe I am. How amazing it is to see life come back to something that was dead. If you want to see God bring a sprout of hope to you, ask! Then be prepared to work with Him. Plants need care and attention. Get ready for that breakthrough: financial, relational, ministerial, health-wise, etc. I believe there is new life coming to each believer in Christ... to a specific area where they are lacking. God sees when we trust Him and obey Him through thick and thin. And He wants to reward our diligence.
And the biggest fulfilment and example of this passage regarding the Hope of a Tree, is that Jesus gave us hope by DYING on a tree! He rose the third day! Life came back where there was only death! Not even Satan or death could stop Jesus!
So for me, it is amazing that God would speak a new passage to me this year, and remind me of that vision which I saw last year. I was not aware of Job 14's reference to the hope of a tree when I saw my vision or wrote my song. But now, a year later, here is this passage, bringing confirmation. For reasons I don't fully understand, the time to see this passage was right now.
So... Are you ready? There is hope of a tree, and there is hope for you and me! Start expecting a sprout to spring from that stump in your life. You will be "stumped" no longer! God has water for it today! Be prepared to tend that sapling, the little green tree, when it arrives! Be sure to give it good ground in your heart!
God bless!
Pastor Curtis
Fri Feb 6, 2015 10:17pm EST
PS- Below is the new and updated version of my song "Little Green Tree" with a new third verse I added this year, 2015. Be encouraged!
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Wounds of a lover are faithful
Here are some interesting thoughts to consider. There are two different angles from two different Bible translations to help us to understand love and faithfulness a bit more deeply, from God's Word.
6The wounds of a lover are faithful, and the kisses of an enemy are pleasant.
Proverbs 27:6 KJV (King James Version)
The word "faithful" in the original Hebrew is
Strongs #539
"aw-man"
"A primitive root; properly to build up or support; to foster as a parent or nurse; figuratively to render (or be) firm or {faithful} to trust or {believe} to be permanent or quiet; morally to be true or certain; once (in; by interchange for 541) to go to the right hand: - hence {assurance} {believe} bring {up} {establish} + {fail} be faithful (of long {continuance} {stedfast} {sure} {surely} {trusty} {verified}) {nurse} (-ing {father}) ({put}) {trust} turn to the right."
"aw-man"
"A primitive root; properly to build up or support; to foster as a parent or nurse; figuratively to render (or be) firm or {faithful} to trust or {believe} to be permanent or quiet; morally to be true or certain; once (in
Those who love us will say or do things that build us up and support us. But on occasion, those very same actions can sometimes hurt.
Just remember that Godly love is not all about the roses and kisses. It is about permanence according to this word above. It is about being morally true and certain. It is about being established. It is about being firm. When someone loves you, you will know because they will not always agree with you. Sometimes they will take you to task from the Word of God. Immature people will say this kind of confrontation is "unloving" and "unkind". They run away from truth and accuse their lover of being unloving. But in reality, when truth is spoken in love, it is the purest form of love. When someone is in love with you, you will know because they will not hide the truth from you. They will present it to you as gently and kindly as they can, but it will be undiluted and uninhibited truth. Love and truth cannot be apart. They must both exist within the framework of any Godly relationship. This applies to romantic relationships, and also to friendships. It all starts and ends with Christ.
~CJA
===Thurs. January 22/15 4:18pm EST===
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Single and Complete
Colossians 2:9-10 KJV
9For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
10And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
Today, I want to declare that I am single, and I am complete in Christ. Am I perfect? Not at all! But I have all the "tools" and supplies I need to grow in Christ. In that way, I am complete. Christ alone helps me to be restored to the original state of being created in the image of God.
Since all of God's fullness dwells in Christ, and Christ is now living in me, I have everything I need in Him. I am connected to Jesus the Head of the Body, and I am in fellowship as a member of His Body.
If you truly take the Bible as inspired by God, then you must contend with Paul's letter to the Colossians here. Paul the Apostle was a single man, declaring that in order to be complete, one needs Christ. Yet some people look to romance or other relationships in order to be complete. But no one completes you like Christ.
That means, you can be married, and INcomplete. You can be single, and INcomplete. What makes the difference? Or rather, WHO makes the difference? It's CHRIST THE LORD! Each and every human being on earth is INcomplete until they enter into a life-giving, soul-saving, Spirit-breathing relationship with Christ Jesus. Your marital status has nothing to do with it.
Now if you are single, and wish to get married someday, by all means, please do! But I am telling you now: your spouse will not complete you like Christ the Lord. As a single, you need to allow the Holy Spirit to enter more fully into your life and let Him SHOW you the daily reality of this verse Col. 2:10.
Fellow believers, if you are in Christ, you are complete. You are NOT half of a person, and you are NOT a second-rate person. You have all that you need to complete the race in Jesus. That Greek word translated as "complete" is "playroo":
4137 πληρόω [PLHRO/W] {plēróō} \play-ro'-o\
from 4134; to make replete, i.e. (literally) to cram (a net), level up (a hollow), or (figuratively) to furnish (or imbue, diffuse, influence), satisfy, execute (an office), finish (a period or task), verify (or coincide with a prediction), etc.:--accomplish, X after, (be) complete, end, expire, fill (up), fulfil, (be, make) full (come), fully preach, perfect, supply.
See Greek 4134.
Wow! Did you catch that?
According to the inspired words of Paul, Christ packs the blessings into us!
It is like a net, crammed with a supply of fish (as in the story of Jesus telling Peter where to let his fishing net down). In Christ, you are satisfied. You are perfected in Him. You are "fulfilled". You are accomplished. You are furnished. You are supplied.
Get the picture? Christ completes you. Not any other person, spouse or friend can do what Christ does for you.
Why? Because ALL the FULLNESS of the Godhead dwells in Christ in bodily form. Christ is God. And God is all in all.
I am single and complete, in Christ! I challenge you to say the same! Especially those of you who are single, I challenge you to really meditate on this word. Do you believe that this single man, Paul the Apostle was inspired by God? Will you take this chapter, and process it, munch on it mentally, and let it nourish you spiritually?
Say it with me, "I am complete in Christ". Now of course, there is a process involved. No tree pops up overnight from a seed. But the tree is contained in that seed. Just give that seed the right conditions and time, and there will indeed be a tree. I witnessed a tiny sapling of a pine grow up over the course of 20 years. I took pictures of it as a baby tree. Now... that same tree is one of the biggest on the block, producing pine cones.
So Christ is in you, if you accepted Him. All you need is in the Seed, Christ Jesus.
Stay in Christ, and stay in fellowship with His Body, at one of His local churches.
Pursue those human relationships you desire, according to God's standards. Get married if you so desire. But do not look further than Christ to be complete. That is your present reality, as a believer in Christ and in His Word!
God bless!
-Pastor Curtis
~~~ Sat. January 10, 2015, 5:42am EST ~~~
9For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
10And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
Today, I want to declare that I am single, and I am complete in Christ. Am I perfect? Not at all! But I have all the "tools" and supplies I need to grow in Christ. In that way, I am complete. Christ alone helps me to be restored to the original state of being created in the image of God.
Since all of God's fullness dwells in Christ, and Christ is now living in me, I have everything I need in Him. I am connected to Jesus the Head of the Body, and I am in fellowship as a member of His Body.
If you truly take the Bible as inspired by God, then you must contend with Paul's letter to the Colossians here. Paul the Apostle was a single man, declaring that in order to be complete, one needs Christ. Yet some people look to romance or other relationships in order to be complete. But no one completes you like Christ.
That means, you can be married, and INcomplete. You can be single, and INcomplete. What makes the difference? Or rather, WHO makes the difference? It's CHRIST THE LORD! Each and every human being on earth is INcomplete until they enter into a life-giving, soul-saving, Spirit-breathing relationship with Christ Jesus. Your marital status has nothing to do with it.
Now if you are single, and wish to get married someday, by all means, please do! But I am telling you now: your spouse will not complete you like Christ the Lord. As a single, you need to allow the Holy Spirit to enter more fully into your life and let Him SHOW you the daily reality of this verse Col. 2:10.
Fellow believers, if you are in Christ, you are complete. You are NOT half of a person, and you are NOT a second-rate person. You have all that you need to complete the race in Jesus. That Greek word translated as "complete" is "playroo":
4137 πληρόω [PLHRO/W] {plēróō} \play-ro'-o\
from 4134; to make replete, i.e. (literally) to cram (a net), level up (a hollow), or (figuratively) to furnish (or imbue, diffuse, influence), satisfy, execute (an office), finish (a period or task), verify (or coincide with a prediction), etc.:--accomplish, X after, (be) complete, end, expire, fill (up), fulfil, (be, make) full (come), fully preach, perfect, supply.
See Greek 4134.
Wow! Did you catch that?
According to the inspired words of Paul, Christ packs the blessings into us!
It is like a net, crammed with a supply of fish (as in the story of Jesus telling Peter where to let his fishing net down). In Christ, you are satisfied. You are perfected in Him. You are "fulfilled". You are accomplished. You are furnished. You are supplied.
Get the picture? Christ completes you. Not any other person, spouse or friend can do what Christ does for you.
Why? Because ALL the FULLNESS of the Godhead dwells in Christ in bodily form. Christ is God. And God is all in all.
I am single and complete, in Christ! I challenge you to say the same! Especially those of you who are single, I challenge you to really meditate on this word. Do you believe that this single man, Paul the Apostle was inspired by God? Will you take this chapter, and process it, munch on it mentally, and let it nourish you spiritually?
Say it with me, "I am complete in Christ". Now of course, there is a process involved. No tree pops up overnight from a seed. But the tree is contained in that seed. Just give that seed the right conditions and time, and there will indeed be a tree. I witnessed a tiny sapling of a pine grow up over the course of 20 years. I took pictures of it as a baby tree. Now... that same tree is one of the biggest on the block, producing pine cones.
So Christ is in you, if you accepted Him. All you need is in the Seed, Christ Jesus.
Stay in Christ, and stay in fellowship with His Body, at one of His local churches.
Pursue those human relationships you desire, according to God's standards. Get married if you so desire. But do not look further than Christ to be complete. That is your present reality, as a believer in Christ and in His Word!
God bless!
-Pastor Curtis
~~~ Sat. January 10, 2015, 5:42am EST ~~~
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
God loves you, even when you feel unloved
Genesis 29:31-33 [1599 Geneva Bible (GNV)]
31 When the Lord saw that Leah was despised, he made her fruitful: but Rachel was barren.
32 And Leah conceived and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Because the Lord hath looked upon my tribulation, now therefore mine husband will love me.
Lack of fertility is not a punishment to Rachel here. Rather, fertility to Leah was the Lord's way of consoling a woman who was not loved by her husband. God cares about all the little details and big details of your life. He cares and hears if you are feeling unloved. Regardless of whether you are married or unmarried, male or female: God loves you NOW, TODAY. He sent Jesus as proof!
Jacob was married to Leah and the also to Rachel. But he was wrong to ignore Leah and give all his love to Rachel. Leah was feeling neglected both emotionally and sexually. She was hoping the birth of a son was going to win her the love of her husband. That Hebrew word for love actually means "human love, including family and sexual" according to Blue Letter Bible . Yet she initially missed the point: GOD LOVES HER!! She eventually caught on when she later gave birth to Judah and praised the Lord.
And yet.... she felt unloved by her husband, he did not give her his love either emotionally or sexually. That matters to God. God desires to fulfill our God-given desires. But it starts when we recognize HIM first, as Leah eventually did, and LOVE HIM BACK!
Today, in New Testament times, we have returned to God's actual plan for marriage: monogamy. One husband has one wife only, not multiple ones. And God hears the cry of the ones who feel unloved. This can also apply to faithful men, who have been left or abandoned by their wife. God wants to show both men and women, all people of all nations, His perfect LOVE.
God gave Leah a child, Reuben ("a son"), to show His love for her, even when her natural husband did not love her.
Later on, God gave His OWN Son, Jesus Christ, to show His love for ALL of us. John 3:16
God bless!
31 When the Lord saw that Leah was despised, he made her fruitful: but Rachel was barren.
32 And Leah conceived and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Because the Lord hath looked upon my tribulation, now therefore mine husband will love me.
Lack of fertility is not a punishment to Rachel here. Rather, fertility to Leah was the Lord's way of consoling a woman who was not loved by her husband. God cares about all the little details and big details of your life. He cares and hears if you are feeling unloved. Regardless of whether you are married or unmarried, male or female: God loves you NOW, TODAY. He sent Jesus as proof!
Jacob was married to Leah and the also to Rachel. But he was wrong to ignore Leah and give all his love to Rachel. Leah was feeling neglected both emotionally and sexually. She was hoping the birth of a son was going to win her the love of her husband. That Hebrew word for love actually means "human love, including family and sexual" according to Blue Letter Bible . Yet she initially missed the point: GOD LOVES HER!! She eventually caught on when she later gave birth to Judah and praised the Lord.
And yet.... she felt unloved by her husband, he did not give her his love either emotionally or sexually. That matters to God. God desires to fulfill our God-given desires. But it starts when we recognize HIM first, as Leah eventually did, and LOVE HIM BACK!
Today, in New Testament times, we have returned to God's actual plan for marriage: monogamy. One husband has one wife only, not multiple ones. And God hears the cry of the ones who feel unloved. This can also apply to faithful men, who have been left or abandoned by their wife. God wants to show both men and women, all people of all nations, His perfect LOVE.
God gave Leah a child, Reuben ("a son"), to show His love for her, even when her natural husband did not love her.
Later on, God gave His OWN Son, Jesus Christ, to show His love for ALL of us. John 3:16
God bless!
Saturday, January 3, 2015
You are beautiful
You are Beautiful in God's Eyes
17Leah had attractive eyes, but Rachel had a beautiful figure and beautiful features.
Genesis 29:17 GENEVA
17And Leah was tender eyed, but Rachel was beautiful and fair.
So I was looking through the Scriptures today and I discovered this little verse.
It is found in Genesis 29, when Jacob was making a deal with Laban to work for seven years in exchange for Rachel. Rachel was the woman he wanted to marry, yet he ended up with Leah first.
Now I had to ask myself, why is this verse in Holy Scripture? Why are the daughters' appearances described? Because they do matter in this historical account, for one thing.
But then the Lord reminded me of another reason: all women were created beautiful by God. Rachel was never described as "more beautiful than Leah". People read it and assume so. After all, Jacob favoured Rachel. But in reality, it was just his preference. God saw Leah and Rachel as both beautiful in their own ways. In fact, despite the beautiful shape of Rachel's body, Leah had prettier eyes. Eyes are like the window to the soul. That Hebrew word for eyes can also refer to the face in general. There is nothing quite like a beautiful face and pair of eyes. And what makes a face beautiful? The fact that God made you and chose you. What makes your body attractive? The fact that you are a creation of God. Variety is God's idea, and it was never meant to be used as a weapon to make one person feel inferior to another.
There was no indication that Leah was "ugly" in Scripture, only that Jacob loved Rachel more.
So what I am getting at, is that you ladies all have something beautiful about you, every single one of you. Physically, emotionally, intellectually, and most importantly, spiritually. If you are in Christ, then you are being perfected in the Holy Spirit.
Don't let men, other women, or society tell you what beauty is. Let God show you. Find acceptance in how HE has made you beautiful both inside and outside... and thank Him. Don't complain. Don't compare yourself to another. But compare yourself to Christ. Paul tells us that women are beautiful when they adorn a quiet and humble spirit. Indeed, all people would benefit from a humble spirit.
I must admit, I did not expect to write this today, but I really felt the words come to me suddenly from the Lord as I read the passage. So I wrote them down, here for you! I hope this resonates with you. It is not a big revelation, just a simple truth. It does not matter if you have been single all your
life or if you have been divorced or a widow. Your marital status and age have no bearing on your beauty. Beauty comes in many varieties. But nothing compares to the soul made beautiful by salvation in Christ.
You are beautiful inside and out. Christ made you, spirit, soul and body, a triune being. You are in His image.
life or if you have been divorced or a widow. Your marital status and age have no bearing on your beauty. Beauty comes in many varieties. But nothing compares to the soul made beautiful by salvation in Christ.
You are beautiful inside and out. Christ made you, spirit, soul and body, a triune being. You are in His image.
God bless
Sat Jan 3, 2015 7:02am EST
Thursday, January 1, 2015
What it's like to be sanctified
Have you ever experienced the process of sanctification? Perhaps you will relate to what I am about to describe from personal experience.
Perhaps you have regular fellowship with believers in your church. Perhaps you live alone, but you visit family once in a while. You are a single man, and in love with Christ the Lord. Every woman you meet is a dead end. Every email you send on dating sites is dismissed or missed. Those who did reply to you no longer reply. Those who are not believers try to woo you, and you distance yourself, knowing a marriage is doomed to fail when it is on unequal footing. God's calling is clear on your life, and on your location. He has maintained you and actually increased your abilities and resources over the years. He has made you productive and useful, despite your personal failures and utterly ignored desires.
You have been abandoned in marriage. You ended up divorced, but God protected and ministered to you through family and church. Now you are shaped into a message that God wants to share with other singles, and other divorced Christians. People who are hurting need to read your life. They need to see how you lean on Jesus. They need to see you, a broken yet healed minister of the Gospel, reaching out to help them from a place of true fellowship - the fellowship of suffering. They need hope that Christ is MORE than sufficient for a single Christian. They may be in regular fellowship, yet they often feel isolated, just like you. These people need healing and they need direction. They need to use their God-given gifts and their time to serve Jesus and His people. They look to you to help them see God's plan for singles in Scripture. He sets the solitary in families. Church families.
Perhaps you didn't understand the isolated feeling at first. You thought God didn't care about your desires for remarriage. You told yourself that your desires no longer matter because it was less painful than hoping for a miracle that never came.
Perhaps then, just in the last day or two, God has given you a word: "Sanctify". He has given you this word now, after 5 years of struggle and defeat and growth and victory.
So, after you received this word from the Lord, you sit down. You look it up in Scripture. You come across the prayer of Jesus for His disciples, both current ones and future ones:
John 17:16-21 GNV
16 They are not of the world, as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them with thy truth: thy word is truth.
18 As thou didst send me into the world, so have I sent them into the world.
19 And for their sakes sanctify I myself, that they also may be sanctified through the truth.
20 I pray not for these alone, but for them also which shall believe in me, through their word,
21 That they all may be one, as thou, O Father, art in me, and I in thee: even that they may be also one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Then you thank the Lord for helping you to understand what He has been doing for the past 5 years: He has been answering Jesus' 2000-year-old prayer request for you... requesting that God would sanctify you, set you apart from the world, make you holy to be used in service to God. He has been making you into a living letter, written with God's Spirit. Jesus has been praying for you to be ONE with Him and the Father, that the world might believe that Jesus Christ really did come from God.
You log in to your dating site. That person you were corresponding with has vanished, and is no longer a member. It serves to further prove what God spoke to you. You are sanctified for Him.
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If you ever sense that isolated feeling, where the world is so far away, yet God is so close.... then count on it... you are yielding to the process of sanctification. He is preparing you as a chosen vessel. It is an ongoing process, and none of us have been perfected in that process just yet. But He is faithful and just to finish the work He began.
The music video below is my own completely original song from 2014 based upon Psalm 51 and upon my testimony.
God bless,
Pastor Curtis
Thurs. Jan. 1st, 2015 7:37pm EST
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