This is too much, too wonderful

God, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand.
I am an open book to you; 
even from a distance, you know what I'm thinking.
You know when I leave and when I get back;
I'm never out of your sight.
You know everything I'm going to say before I start the first sentence.
I look behind me and you're there, 
then up ahead and you're there too - 
your reassuring presence, coming and going.
This is too much, too wonderful - I can't take it all in!
Psalm 139:1-6 MSG

As I read this scripture my heart is saying, this is truly is wonderful, and indeed I can't take it all in. The thought that the creator of the universe knows me, Wendy Robinson, so intimately. And guess what, He knows you so intimately too!

Jehovah-rohi, God as the shepherd. Here is what Nathan Stone in His book, Names of God, has to say about God the Shepherd and Psalm 139,

"Jehovah-rohi is not only the Shepherd of His people, He is my Shepherd, the Shepherd of each one of His people. As the God of the individual He was intensely personal ..... The psalm (139) is full of personal pronouns. It is the psalm of personal experience with a personal God to whom every sheep of the fold is precious and His particular care. Since its experiences are common and its emotions familiar, we may claim it each one for himself ."(p171)

Our God is a personal God. He knows absolutely everything about us from from our very beginnings. Nothing about us is hidden from Him. Absolutely nothing, as Psalm 139 reminds us.

My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret [and] intricately and curiously wrought [as if embroidered with various colours] in the depths of the earth [a region of darkness and mystery]. Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them. How precious and weighty also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I could count them, they would be more in number than the sand. When I awoke, [could I count to the end] I would still be with You. Psalm 139:15-18 AMP

It really is very hard to comprehend that God has that 'uncountable' number of thoughts, not only about you and me, but about every human being on the planet.  That is over 7 billion people according to worldodometers. 

It is even harder to comprehend, for me anyway, that even though He know all about me, the thoughts in my head, the words I am going to say, the actions I am going to do, both the good and the bad and the very ugly, He still loves me. He loves me with an intense love. He still wants to have a personal relationship with me. 

But God - so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us, even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favour and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgement and made partakers of Christ's salvation). Ephesians 2:4-5 AMP

He wants to have a personal relationship with you. He has a great and wonderful and intense love for you too. His grace, favour and mercy, is available to you too, today!

Question for today, have you recently taken time to sit in wonder at the wonderful love God has for you? Why not take the time right now to mediate on the above scriptures and let God speak His intense love for you directly into your heart. Be an open book to Him and feel His reassuring presence.

O LORD, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things, even purposes planned of old [and fulfilled] in faithfulness and truth. Isaiah 25:1 AMP

God's dear child

For anyone who says yes to Jesus

For anyone who believes what Jesus said

For anyone who will just reach out to take it

Then God will give them this wonderful gift:

To be born into a whole new Life

To be who they really are

Who God always made them to be –

Their own true selves – God’s dear child

Paraphrase of John 1:12-13 from the Jesus Storybook Bible

Recently we visited a friend’s church and the sermon that morning was about all that God, as our Heavenly Father, has made available to us, His children. When we returned home that night and I read the bible with the children, it was interesting to see that the page we were up to (in fact the very last page of this particular bible), had only one scripture on it. The same scripture we had heard about this morning, John 1:12-13.

So I guessed that God was trying to give me a message! And He thought it was worth repeating in the night, just in case I hadn’t gotten it completely in the morning. What an amazing, loving Heavenly Father we have. He wants to make sure that we have absolutely no doubt about who we are and what we are given when we make the decision to say yes to Jesus.

One challenge we have, particularly in today’s society,  is that once we have received Jesus, and heard this truth about our inheritance, purpose, favour and blessing on our lives, we need to not let go of the truth. We need to be purposeful about guarding His truth in our hearts.

Stay with what you heard from the beginning, the original message. Let it sink into your life. If what you heard from the beginning lives deeply in you, you will live deeply in both Son and Father. This is exactly what Christ promised: eternal life, real life! I’ve written to warn you about those who are trying to deceive you. But they’re not match for what is embedded deeply within you – Christ’s anointing, no less! You don’t need any of their so-called teaching. Christ’s anointing teaches you the truth on everything you need to know about yourself and him, uncontaminated by a single lie. Live deeply in what you were taught. 1 John 2:24-27 MSG

We need to stay focused on God, so we can be all He always made us to be, our own true selves, firm and unshaken.

For we have become fellows with Christ (the Messiah) and share in all He has for us, if only we hold our first newborn confidence and original assured expectation [in virtue of which we are believers] firm and unshaken to the end. Hebrews 3:14

Question for today, do you recognise yourself as God’s dear child, fearfully and wonderfully made by Him? Do you know how much your Heavenly Father wants to lavish you with His love? If not, ask God today to show you how much He loves you, and wait expectantly for His answer. He wants His message of love and grace to get to you, just as it did to me this week.

He guards you

God guards you from every evil, he guards your very life. He guards you when you leave and when you return, he guards you now, he guards you always. Psalm 121 MSG

As we read this scripture it can be easy to start to recall all the times when we feel we haven't been guarded in our lives. The times when things went really wrong and people got hurt, physically or emotionally. The times when people lost their lives and are no longer here on earth. With all these negative and evil circumstances happening what is God actually guarding us from?

The scripture says that He guards us when we leave. When we leave where?  And when we return to where? What is our final destination in life? Could it be that He is guarding us, not so that we will have a long life on earth, but rather He is guarding us so that we will return to Him in heaven at His appointed time? He is guarding us from the time we first left Him, until the time we return to Him. He has one sole purpose in mind, to reunite us with Him, our Heavenly Father, for eternity in heaven. He provided Jesus as the way for the reunion to be possible.

For God so greatly loves and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life. John 3:16 AMP

The eternal perspective of our lives is so different from the daily perspective that we so often live with. I find it difficult to continually have that eternal perspective as the events of life cause pain. That pain then causes me to focus on myself and become very self-absorbed. I loose the eternal perspective completely. It is only spending time in prayer and worship that brings me back to God and gives me glimpses of His perspective on the situation.  Only then do my emotions get back into line and I do indeed feel His precious peace over my life.

You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You. So trust in the Lord (commit yourself to Him, lean on Him, hope confidently in Him) forever; for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages]. Isaiah 26:1-4 AMP

He, the Lord God is guarding us, not always in the way we think or expect Him to guard us. But rather, I believe He is guarding us for His eternal purposes. We can trust Him to guard us forever.

Question for today, are you feeling 'unguarded' in some area of your life? Ask God to help you to see His eternal purpose for that area of your life. Give thanks for all He is doing in your life despite your circumstances. Ask for His perfect peace to mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. And God's peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 AMP

The Word

For as the rain and snow come down from the heavens, and return not there again, but water the earth and make it bring forth and sprout, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my Word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:10-11 AMP

How reassuring it is to know that when God's Word goes forth, it does not return void. But rather, it prospers in the thing for which He sent it. What or who is the Word and what or who is 'the thing for which He sent it'?  The Word in this context is Christ.

In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ) and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. He was present originally with God. All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being. John 1:1-3 AMP

Jesus, is the Word. Jesus is who God sent to accomplish what He purposed. Jesus reminds us of that in John 8:42

Jesus said to them, If God were your Father, you would love Me and respect Me and welcome Me gladly, for I proceeded (came forth) from God [out of His very presence]. I did not even come on My own authority or of My own accord (as self-appointed); but He sent Me. 

God sent Jesus here for those who had strayed from His ways. Us, the sinners. You and Me.

And when Jesus heard it, He said to them, Those who are strong and well have not need of a physician, but those who are weak and sick; I came not to call the righteous ones to repentance, but sinners (the erring ones and all those not free from sin). Mark 2:17 AMP

You and me, we are the 'things' that He wants Jesus to prosper in. Jesus tells us this in John 10:10 AMP

The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).  

Jesus has the power to give us a life of abundance. Abundance in every aspect of our lives, spiritually, physically, relationship-wise, financially and the list goes on. He is Life and Light.

In Him was Life, and Life was the Light of men. And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it [put it out of absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it]. John 1:4-5 AMP

Question for today, have you made a decision to accept Jesus, who was sent by God for you, so that you can prosper as He wants you to do? If not, click on this link to take the step of asking Jesus to be your Saviour - Deciding to follow Jesus

If Jesus is your Saviour, I pray that the scriptures I have shared today, will remind you that Jesus wants you to live in abundance. Seek Him first.

The humble shall see it and be glad; you who seek God, inquiring for and requiring Him [as your first need], let your hearts revive and live! Psalm 69:32 AMP

What is True Freedom?

What Is True Freedom? So, since we're out from under the old tyranny, does that mean we can live any old way we want? Since we're free in the freedom of God, can we do anything that comes to mind? Hardly. You know well enough from your own experience that there are some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom. Offer yourselves to sin, for instance, and it's your last free act. But offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits. All your lives you've let sin tell you what to do. But thank God you've started listening to a new master, one whose commands set you free to live openly in his freedom! Romans 6:15-18 MSG

What does Freedom mean to you? What do you think when you read this truth 'You know well enough from your own experience that there are some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom.'? As I read it the Holy Spirit reminded me about times when I have done selfishly exactly what I wanted to do because I felt I had the freedom to do it. These selfish actions or words then resulted in pain for either myself or others. They certainly did not bring freedom and peace. In Galatians we are also reminded that our freedom in Christ is not an opportunity for selfishness.

For you, brethren, were [indeed] called to freedom; only [do not let your] freedom be an incentive to your flesh and an opportunity or excuse [for selfishness], but through love you should serve one another. For the whole Law [concerning human relationships] is complied with in the one precept, You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself. Galatians 5:13-14 AMP

Thankfully, once again God has not left us alone to struggle in our own strength, trying to live as He wants us to live. It is hard to live an unselfish life when we all have fleshly desires that want to control us. But we also have the Holy Spirit, our permanent counsellor and helper. The one that Jesus said would come after Him to be with us always and teach us His ways.

But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you. John 14:26 AMP

Question for today, are there actions and thoughts in your life that don't line up with the freedom Christ wants you to have? Repent and ask the Holy Spirit to help you to learn how to live with the freedom Jesus gives, in that area of your live. The Holy Spirit is there for you, your personal comforter, counsellor, helper, intercession, advocate, strengthener and standby! 

But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God). Galatians 5:16 AMP

Worship Him

​On your feet now—applaud God! Bring a gift of laughter, sing yourselves into his presence. Know this: God is God, and God, God. He made us; we didn't make him. We're his people, his well-tended sheep. Enter with the password: "Thank you!" Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank him. Worship him. For God is sheer beauty, all-generous in love, loyal always and ever. Psalm 100 MSG

We have just returned from a week's family holiday. It was wonderful to be away and have a break from the normal routine of school and children's activities. It became apparent to me (well, my son pointed it out to me) that I was becoming crankier and crankier as each day of our holiday passed. I wasn't sure why this was, as there wasn't really anything to be cranky about! 

So as I went to sleep that night I asked God to show me what was going on. During the night I woke up and I felt God say the word 'worship' to me. I knew exactly what He was telling me. With having the holiday break from routine, whilst I was reading God's word and praying each morning, I had inadvertently taken a break from having worship music on in the morning, and taking time to sit and worship Him. I immediately put on some worship music and promptly felt a peace, thanked God and went directly back to sleep.

When I awoke in the morning and started to pray, I felt on my heart to ask God for a day of laughter, lots and lots of laughter. After I had finished praying, God led me to Psalm 100. I read it aghast! This scripture was not only talking about laughter, but also about singing, worshipping and thanking God. I knew that the day was going to be a peaceful day, with no crankiness, because God had shown me what I had been missing. I didn't realise how reliant I had become on spending time worshipping God, which enabled me to put Him in His rightful place in my life, and keep my emotions under check. He had reminded me, that God is God and He needs to always be on the throne of my life.

To the end that my tongue and my heart and everything glorious within me may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever. Psalm 30:12 AMP

I was so thankful that God had heard my prayer and answered it so quickly. Indeed God is all-generous in love, loyal always and ever. I love it that when he surrender our 'bad attitudes' He is always there, loyal, waiting to help us have the 'right heart attitude'. 

When the rest of the family woke up, I shared with them my prayer, how God had spoken to me, the scripture He had given me, and what I was now expecting for this day. I felt it was important to share this with the family, so they too could pray and be expectant for the day.

Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]. James 5:16 AMP

At the end of day we reflected back on how the day had been. We were amazed at the amount of laughter we had had, the challenging situations that had arisen and that I had responded with patience and grace. We were all very grateful to God and we all applauded Him. It was an excellent lesson for us all from the school of the Holy Spirit!

Question for today, is the some attitude that you are displaying that you know is wrong and you want to change it? Surrender that attitude to God today. Ask Him to show you the reason for the attitude and what you need to do to get rid of it. God is all generous in love, He doesn't want you to struggle in your mind. He wants you to be healed and restored to a spiritual tone of mind and heart.

Foundational words

"These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit - but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards." Matthew 7:24-27 MSG

Today, let's start with the question, 'Where are you getting the instructions on 'how to live your life' from? Is there one particular source you seek out? Do you have multiple sources? Do you have none, and just 'wing it' each day, finding your own path and direction?

God is telling us that His word is to be our guide for life. His truth is not just to be some 'words' we listen to on Sunday at church. Or some 'words' we discuss the meaning of at a Bible Study group. Or some 'words' we take a few moments to think about how they might apply to our lives. Those are all good things to do. But doing those things alone is like 'peppering our lives' with God's word. God wants us to live  out His word, every moment of every day.

But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night. Psalm 1:2 AMP

If we habitually mediate on His word, and make them foundational words in our lives, not only will we be like an 'immovable house', fixed and stable, but as Psalm 1:3 promises, 

And he shall be like a tree firmly planted  [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity]. Psalm 1:3 AMP

Speaking from personal experience, always living completely out of God's word is a big ask and impossible to do by ourselves. Thankfully, if we believe in Jesus, God gives us a helper to enable us to 'habitually mediate' on His word day and night. A helper that 'tends' to us.

He who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water. But He was speaking here of the Spirit, Whom those who believed (trusted, had faith) in Him were afterward to receive. John 7:38-39b AMP

Praise God, that we don't have to do this life alone. God has provided us with His word to live by. And our very own Helper, the Holy Spirit, to help us to learn how to live by it. And Jesus, the grace we need when we fail! Thank you Heavenly Father for your instruction, love and grace.

Question for today, do you want to 'work' more of God's word into your life? Ask the Holy Spirit to show you where in your life you need to have more God's word as your source. Ask forgiveness for letting sources other than God's word, guide you in that area. Accept God's forgiveness, and ask Him to place a hunger in your heart for His word and His word alone, In Jesus Name.

Perseverance

[We pray] that you may be invigorated and strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory, [to exercise] every kind of endurance and patience (perseverance and forbearance) with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified and made us fit to share the portion which is the inheritance of the saints (God's holy people) in the Light. Colossians 1:11-12 AMP

Perseverance is such a big word! Synonyms for perseverance include persistence, determination, tenacity, resolve, staying power, commitment and dedication. Sometimes when things aren't going as you want them too, and they don't look like changing, it is difficult to continue on and persevere until the circumstance changes. It is even more difficult to persevere with joy, as Paul encourages us to do.

Sometimes we can be so focused on our circumstances and what isn't happening, that we can easily loose sight of the truth that God is in the midst of what is happening, and He has a plan and a purpose for us.  This scripture often comes to mind when I am in a trial.

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character , hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5: 3-5 NIV

It is worth persevering as it is in the waiting that God, through the Holy Spirit, does more of the refining that is so very necessary in us. The refining that moves us to a place of deeper of trust in God, and a deeper understanding of His love for us. A place where we can say without doubt,  the Lord is my God.

And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined and will test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will hear and answer them. I will say, It is My people; and they will say, The Lord is my God. Zechariah 13:9 AMP

How our perspective of 'trials' change, when we know that God is with us as we go through them. He hasn't left our side, but rather is guiding (or in some cases carrying) us through them, preparing us for the next part of our purposeful life in Christ. The Message bible, in it's version of Romans 5:3-4 puts it this way.

There's more to come: we continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. Romans 5:3-4 MSG

Questions for today, are you in the midst of a trial, waiting for some unwanted circumstance to change? Are you having difficulty persevering and sticking with God despite what is happening in and around you? Take time to meditate on the scriptures above, getting their truth into your heart. Ask God to give you the strength to persevere until the circumstance changes, and to bring you to a place of joy and praise today. He loves you and He has a plans for welfare and peace for you (Jeremiah 29:11).

That act of belief

Answer this question: Does the God who lavishly provides you with his own presence, his Holy Spirit, working things in your lives you could never do for yourselves, does he do these things because of your strenuous moral striving or because you trust him to do them in you? Don't these things happen among you just as they happened with Abraham? He believed God, and that act of belief was turned into a life that was right with God. Galatians 3:5-6 MSG

Over the past couple of months, there have been times when it has been very difficult for me to trust God with a circumstance in our lives. I have oscillated between 'Yes God, I know you are in control' and 'This is such a terrible situation, how can it every change, how will we make it through?' When these negative thoughts come into my mind, the Holy Spirit reminds me of a passage of scripture our pastor has preached about, Mark 9:24. Here is the passage of scripture starting at verse 21,

And [Jesus] asked his father, How long has he had this? And he answered, From the time he was a little boy. And it has often thrown him both into fire and into water, intending to kill him. But if You can do anything, do have pity on us and help us. And Jesus said, [You say to Me], If You can do anthing? [Why] all things can be (are possible) to him who believes! At once the father of the boy gave [an eager, piercing, inarticulate] cry with tears, and he said, Lord, I believe! [Constantly] help my weakness of faith! Mark 9:21-24 AMP

How difficult it is when your circumstances are 'screaming' one thing, your heart knows and loves Jesus, and your mind is caught in the middle! Jesus can help us with our 'weakness of faith' and that is my personal prayer this morning. Added to that prayer, is the request for Jesus to help me take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ, as Paul tells us to do in 2 Corinthians.

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV

I thank Jesus that he will answer both these requests and help me with my areas of weakness of faith, and take every thought captive. Jesus wants me to live with joy and peace.

The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). John 10:10 AMP

Question for today, is there a circumstance you are facing that you are having difficulty believing God's best for? Ask Jesus to help you with your weakness in faith, to take your thoughts captive, so that you can get to the place where you can enjoy life and have it in abundance.

Keeping it plain and simple

You'll remember, friends that when I first came to you to let you in on God's master stroke, I didn't try to impress you with polished speeches and the latest philosophy. I deliberately kept it plain and simple, first Jesus and who he is, then Jesus and what he did - Jesus crucified.  1 Corinthians 2:1-2 MSG

Keeping it simple is a challenge in today's world. All around us we are being told overtly or covertly that we should have more of this or that, or that we should be doing more. As a Christian too, it can be easy to get caught up in the 'should be, should have' world and lose sight of Jesus. Sometimes I think we need to 'Selah' Jesus more, 'pause and think of' Jesus more.

Jesus, who declares in the gospel of John,

I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to Me will never he hungry, and he who believes in and cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me will never thirst any more (at any time). John 6:35 AMP

Jesus is everything we need, all the time. When the temptation comes to look elsewhere to other things or people for peace, purpose, approval, instant gratification etc etc, take a moment to consider what Jesus would do. Would He buy the latest gadget? Would He winge to His closest friend? Would He eat the biggest chocolate bar He could find? Or would He do as He did in Gesthsemane, and withdraw and pray, seeking His Father's will for the situation? (Luke 22:41,42)

Question for today, is there some area of your life that you are fulfilling with something or someone other than Jesus?  Invite Jesus into the situation. Ask Him to show you what needs to change so He is in His rightful place?  Wait for His response and then act accordingly. 

I say to myself "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.  Lamentations 3:24 - 26 AMP