He is near

I felt drawn to Deuteronomy 4 this morning. The Lord spoke at least three different times to me, highlighting certain things, even a confirmation for Saturday’s post about not being deceived by removing things from the Scriptures! My favorite verse in Deuteronomy chapter 4 was quickened to my heart this morning too:

“For what great nation has a god as near to them as the LORD our God is near to us whenever we call on Him?”

The Lord is so near to you whenever you call upon His name! The nation referred to here is not the same anymore–instead, as it says in 1 Peter 2:9–

“… You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”

–now YOU and ME and all believers are the holy nation whose God is near to us whenever we call on Him! Praise the Lord. After I read that and posted it as my Facebook status, I went downstairs to do some laundry. As I was down there, a song popped into my head, and I quickly realized God was continuing to speak! Here are the song lyrics:

“And I’ll be by your side
Whenever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call.”

-Tenth Avenue North ‘By Your Side’

Thank You Jesus! He is by your side whenever you fall, and absolutely whenever you call on Him!
Romans 10:13 “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED“

Call on His name, He will come running. He is your Shepherd and He will lead and guide you! God bless you!

(PS I guess today’s tip is that God speaks to you when you get a song randomly in your head! Pay attention to what is going on in your mind, so often He speaks there–we have the mind of Christ! (1 Corinthians 2:16))

Do not be misled.

Hi everybody 🙂 I come to you today with what I believe is an important message from the Lord!

First of all I have to mention how seriously BIG and STRONG His love is for you. He is all encompassing. He doesn’t miss a thing about you, you are open and laid bare before Him. In His greatness He sees you as you are, and He knows your sensitivities and what makes you smile and what makes your heart leap or pound with anxiety. He is the answer to all of your problems. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. He is the one who knows your heart’s deepest longings. He is so awesome!

🙂 🙂 🙂

After that beautiful exhortation (which I feel very refreshed now after writing!! Thank You Lord You are so good, Your truth is amazing!) I go on to another!

I was at a Beth Moore Bible study last week, and she was talking about knowledge and what God shows us in His Word and how important it is to know it. There is so much information that the Father wants to impart to us. Much of it (I think it’s safe to say all of it) is already in His word, ready for us to read, ready for us to read & receive revelation on.

Since we have this wonderful tool, —whoa I am coming to another understanding, praise God! Okay! So, (lol, hope I haven’t lost you yet!) —God has been teaching me this past year about how to use the Bible as a “sword”.

For example:

Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

&

Ephesians 6:17
“…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. “

So the Bible is our sword. Earlier this year I asked God what that means. Here I see He is giving me another answer!

So look at these verses about the end times: “Jesus answered and said to them, ‘See to it that no one misleads you.” Matthew 24:4
2 Timothy 3:13 “But evil men & imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”
Luke 21:8 “See to it that you are not misled“!!!

With warnings like these, it’s clear that Jesus must have made it possible for us to not be misled. “See to it” that you are not deceived. “See to it” that you not misled. It’s our responsibility to make sure that we know the truth so that we may not be led astray! Wow. And one of the signs of evil men and impostors is that they will go from “bad to worse” “being deceived”. Whoa! I was surprised to see here that being deceived is the mark of an evil man or an impostor. It’s not just deceiving, but by being deceived you are taking part in evil.

Surely, we must “know the truth and the truth will make [us] free.”

The Lord has given us His word to guard us from falsehood, to protect us from being deceived. We have to use it as a sword to cut through any lies that we hear or see. We have to start believing that God still does miracles, the gifts of the Spirit are true, prophecy is real and God still physically heals! Our churches must walk in understanding, wisdom, and knowledge of the Scriptures while we also walk in the Spirit! We must not be deceived! We must know & understand that there is a lot we do not currently understand, but Jesus says that we are able to make sure that we are not deceived, so let’s do it, with His help.

Father, I bless the Church! I pray for Your power and Your word and Your love to be known among Your peoples. May we not be deceived, in Jesus’ Name! There are so many heresies to watch out for–both when people add to Your word and when people take away from Your word and say that something isn’t true. Father I pray You will give us Your spirit of wisdom and understanding so that we know the truth and spot lies! I pray for Your protection to be on and around us. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear that we may walk in the truth, without adding to it or taking away from it! Thank You Jesus that You said we can prevent ourselves from being misled. May we know the truth and may it set us free!! Thank You! In Jesus’ name, Amen!

Be yourself.

[I feel like I titled a post the same title a while ago! haha, I did! It’s here. This is definitely something God is highlighting to me in this season of my life. Being real.]

This morning I read a blog that challenged me to read Matthew 5,6,7 every day during the month of October. While I can’t promise that I’ll do that, (remember, I’m freeing myself from man-made rules that block me in–see this post and remember Galatians 5:1 “It was for freedom that Christ set us free, therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery“) I did decide to read it today. But I only got to verses 14, 15, and 16…

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see our good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” 

In the past I have read this simply as showing everyone that you are a Christian, however that might look. Today the Holy Spirit spoke differently.

Today here is how I understood what Jesus was saying.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand.”

I am the light of the world. I am a city on a hill. I am a lamp.
I can’t be hidden. But I try to hide myself.  I should not be put under a basket. But I try to anyway. I hide my feelings, because I’m scared of what others will think of them. Or because I know I shouldn’t feel them. I try to hide from God. But I’m finding that the more I reveal myself, the more I feel known.

Father, help me to let my light shine before men in such a way that they may glorify You. Lord I’m tired of trying to hide. It creates more problems. I know that “there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known” (Matthew 10:26). Make me open, see-through and vulnerable. May I let my light shine! I want to be known as You know me, I want to know myself and recognize my own faults, mistakes and talents and gifts! Make me quick to repent and make it easy for me to say exactly what I’m feeling without fear of judgment from You or from others. May I be confident and let that light shine so others may glorify You! I am open and laid bare before You. Be glorified God, make me honest about all I fear and all I feel. Thank You Jesus for tearing the veil between the Father and us. Tear down the walls that separate me from others, too! Thank You Lord! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Psalm 38:9
“Lord, all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You.”

Hebrews 4:13
“And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”

Psalm 69:5
“O God, it is You who knows my folly, And my wrongs are not hidden from You.”

Luke 12:3
“Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon the housetops.”

Hallelujah. I am free to be me!