What an amazing event touched my heart recently. God sure likes to bless us, even when we are not asking for it.
I pulled up to a major traffic intercession at the light. It contained five lanes. As I pulled up to the car in front of me and stopped, I looked right and there was Barney. I was so blessed to see him. He smiled and waved and then pointed across to my left, and lo and behold there was Al! Two mighty men of God were on either side. Now I really got excited. What a blessing plus!
Psalm 86:10: For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.
It confirmed in my heart the endearing connection our Heavenly Father has with us.
1John 5:20: And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
Why did it happen? I do not believe this was some co-incident. I wonder if God just gets a kick out of blessing us. I know it is kind of neat to surprise my kids in an unexpected way, but God surpassed Himself with this loving gesture.
Psalm 77:14: Thou art the God that doest wonders: …
We will grow in our believing when we accept the spiritual realities over the fleshly stuff.
When the Father had the three of us arrive at a busy signal light intersection to the point we came exactly side by side, it blew our hearts!
Psalm 57:2b: ….unto God that performeth all things for me.
What did I learn from this? I know that my Father is working to bless me all the time. Look for it. Expect it. Believe in it. He is so awesome!
Psalm 52:9: I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.
Agape,
Bob
Psalm 62:5: My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.
When man reaches out and gives, it usually is after self-reflection and weighing out the options on how much to give, making sure he does not short himself. Thankfully God is not like man when He gives.
God, as our Heavenly Father, is a spectacular giver! He does not hold back in giving us what He desires for us to have. Two incredible resources He gives us in full at the time of our new birth are His power and His love. This is realized in the new birth when a person gets born again by confessing Jesus as Lord and believing God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9). The power aspect is wrapped up in the gift of holy spirit. Jesus said when he ascended up into heaven 10 days before Pentecost, that you will “receive power after the holy spirit is come upon you” (Acts 1:8). Along with power came the love of God. “…the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans 5:5).
These amazing resources were not given in small parts, but was given in full measure.
Ephesians 3:17-20:
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
I purposefully bold typed and underscoreded the part that we are filled with ALL THE FULNESS OF GOD! So you would not miss this point. Think about it. We are filled with, not given a part or a token, but filled with ALL THE FULNESS OF GOD. God, our Father, did not hold back in giving us, His children, all that He had.
What should our response be to this? We should be so excited, so inspired, so turned on, so grateful that we live it and demonstrate it in living our life. We, “heal the sick, cleanse the leper, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8).
Don’t hold back in living for Him. Why? Because you are FULLY LOADED!
Agape,
Bob
Recently in our fellowship, as we have been working on keys to understanding the Bible, we rediscovered the value of figures of speech. Figures of speech are a legitimate part of speech that gives emphasis to something. A literal statement is enhanced when a figure of speech is used. When it comes to the Bible, figures of speech are the Holy Spirit’s markings of what is really important.
This Easter season, many will be partaking in communion where they recognize the value of Jesus Christ’s broken body and His shed blood. It is interesting to note that in God’s Word, the statement that describes the two parts of communion are a dynamic figure of speech. In fact the figure of speech employed is one of the more emphatic ones.
God does not describe or associate the eating of the bread is like or similar to Jesus’ broken body and the drinking from the cup is like or similar to Jesus’ shed blood. This would be the figure of speech called simile. But the Heavenly Father uses a much stronger figure of speech, a metaphor, stating the bread is Jesus’ broken body for our healing and the drinking of the cup of wine is Jesus’ shed blood for the forgiveness of sins.
While some denominations literally interpret the bread being His physical body and the blood being His physical blood, we should recognize the figure of speech used and take to heart what we are doing during the communion service.
Jesus Christ shared this act of eating and drinking to bring to remembrance the magnitude of His broken body and His shed blood. As we partake of the bread we remember that “by His stripes we are healed,” we come away from communion physically delivered. As we partake of the cup representing His shed blood, we remember that we have been forgiven of our sins and broken fellowship. We come away from communion mentally delivered, having no sense of condemnation because of His shed blood.
Take to heart when you partake of the communion service, the incredible deliverance you have in the finished work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You are healed! You are free from sin! Praise the Lord! “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made [you] us free,…” Galatians 5:1.
Agape,
Bob
Life is fickle. As we navigate our life through all the challenges presented to us, we find it difficult to find that safe habor to anchor our life in.
Thankfully God has provided a certainty to the uncertainty of our times. He has given to us the hope of the Lord Jesus Christ’s return.
Thankfully at the young age of 20 I got born again, filled with the gift of holy spirit, speaking in tongues much. Now my anchor is completely hooked onto Jesus Christ. The storms of life cannot break Him away.
Hebrews 6:19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
Jesus Christ is what gives us assurance and hope for the future.
Colossians 1:23b: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven;
What is the hope of the gospel? It is the return of our Lord and Savior coming back to earth, picking us up and giving us a new body and a new mind, so that we will be ever with the Lord. Our hope is etched in God’s Word so that we can put our anchor solidly onto Christ.
1Thessalonians 4:16 & 17: For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Corinthians 15:52: In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Hebrews 6:11: And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
What a victorious life-style we have to live. We do not live in fear, but with confidence having the full assurance of Christ coming back to gather us together to be ever with Him.
Agape,
Bob
I Corinthians 15:57: But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.