Category: Change

“Is There Not a CAUSE?”

OPERATION FIRM FOUNDATONS

I Samuel 2:8b,9a (MSG)

“For the very structures of earth are God’s;

he has laid out his operations on a firm foundation.

He protectively cares for his faithful friends, step by step…”

More Founding Truths/Scriptures:

“God’s Business is putting things Right; He loves getting the lines straight, setting us straight. Once we’re standing tall, we can look Him straight in the eye.” Psalm 11:7 (MSG)

“The LORD is our Rock.” Psalm 31:3; 89:26 (thru 37)

Isaiah 28:16; 42:11b; 51:3; 58:12; 60:18

“The LORD our Home.”  Psalm 90:1(&2); 91:1,2,9,10

“And I will place the solitary in families…” Psalm 68:6

“I will bring you back Home…” Zephaniah 3:17-20

What’s important to God is beautiful to me. In other words, when I follow Jesus with all my heart, I am fulfilled (because I’m not ‘only’ pleasing God but I’m also doing what I was created and called to do!). Rhema rooted in the belief that God is Good…and looking out, ultimately, for ‘only’ my good; i.e., ‘Father (Abba) knows best’!

II Samuel 22:17-25 (MSG)

I Samuel 15:29 (KJV & MSG)

Yes, God hates sin because it separates us from Him. But also because it fosters condemnation AND causes us to become doubtful and (even) more selfish.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

The ULTIMATE Experience in Life

“The only thing that will remain in Heaven of our earthly time is our prayers.” (Vesta Mangun.) “Yet, why do so many struggle with prayer? Prayer is the ultimate experience of life; it reaches into eternity. It is our opportunity to become a part of the eternal purpose of God. Prayer is often constricted to a narrow focus or it may sprawl in our mind without parameters. The ‘sweet hour of prayer’ becomes a dreaded responsibility instead of a privileged relationship. Prayer has been perceived as drudgery, when it is a pleasure- as a hard self-discipline, when it is a self-rewarding sacrifice – as a commitment you can never quite keep, when it is an unlimited communion with God. A lot depends on how our prayer life is conducted.” Teri Spears and Thetus Tenney, in loose-leaf (note/work) book, ‘…first of all…Prayer’ pg. 1 (Introduction). (Italics and bold added by me.)

Live it…UP!

“Hold on to things lightly (not tightly), love deeply (not shallowly), forgive always (not sometimes) and LIVE without regrets (FOR GOD, ‘the same merciful Savior yesterday, Today & FOREVER’)!” Pastora Patty Conner, The Rock Church/Pentecostals of Simi Valley, Mother’s Day 2024 (words in parenthesis added by me).

Priceless, Efficacious Tears.

“In one of the six ‘Golden Psalms’ (michtam, in Hebrew), David describes how God values tears:

Psalm 56:8-‘You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book?’ God is an avid collector of tears. Tears are the silent, eloquent testimonies to God’s nearness: “He remains close to those who are brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).

Did you know what’s physiologically in our tears? A tear is comprised of more than ‘just’ water and includes proteins, enzymes, lipids, metabolites, electrolytes, and even our DNA! If our eyes get irritated, tears are more aqueous (comprised of water). If we are under high stress, our tears are filled with stress-related hormones.

But the chemistry of tears pales in comparison to their (spiritual) value (to God…and us): “There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable (hope and) love.” Unknown.

Contrition. Unspeakable love. Not ordinary, everyday words…nor occurrences, sadly, though tears might be.

Is that why God has a supreme interest in…and pays undying attention to…our tears? He is love personified and, therefore, “near to the brokenhearted.” The Psalmist said that ‘God collects tears, even stores them in his bottles.’ ” The Book on Prayer, pg. 248, by Psr. Ken Gurley (italics and words in parentheses, etc., added by me, dkb).

“Try Tears.” General William Booth, The Salvation Army.

“Grown men don’t cry. Again, life lies. Jesus wept. Shouldn’t I?” Ken Gurley, in The Book on Prayer, pg. 258 (italics added by me, dkb, and: I have, time and again, personally experienced powerful breakthroughs to Christ…when I’ve sought Him with all my heart, by His Grace!).

Perfecting Your Practice

“Practice (alone) does NOT make perfect (nor even does “perfect practice make perfect,” as I once heard a Ventura County Fire Dept. Captain teach us at a City of Simi Valley CERT training class); practice WITH EVALUATION makes perfect.” John Maxwell, in his (NKJV) Leadership Bible Commentary, pg. 1249.

Tears of Faith…Tears of JOY.

“My mother would not be satisfied but urged him (a bishop) with repeated entreaties and floods of tears to see me and discuss with me. He, losing patience, said: ‘Go your way; as surely as you live, it is impossible that the son of those tears ahould perish.” Augustine and F. J. Sheed, Confessions, Book 3, pg. 51 (as noted in Ken Gurley’s, The Book on Prayer, pg. 254).

Tongue-in-cheek Optimism

“Success consists of going from one failure to another failure without losing enthusiasm.” The late Sir Winston Churchill, renowned Prime Minister of England during WWII.

Fast…or Feast?

“Like all the Spiritual Disciplines, fasting hoists the sails of the soul in hopes of experiencing the gracious wind of God’s Spirit. But fasting also adds a unique dimension to your spiritual life and helps you grow in Christlikeness in ways that are unavailable through any other means. If this were not so, there would have been no need for Jesus to model and teach fasting.” Donald S. Whitney, in his book Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, pg. 171. See Isaiah 58 for Inspiration re. ‘Acceptable’ Fasting…and note that Fasting is Truly Feasting When You’re Focused on Jesus and His Call.