Luke 6:41 –  ^“Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own?”

Exodus 16:4  – “Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people will go out and gather the amount for each day, so that I may test them will they walk in my law or not?”  

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, God’s unfathomable mercy filled my heart and mind. His long-suffering patience, mercy, and love are off the charts. I’m grateful but awed beyond measure.

Israel watched God’s amazing miracles yet allowed their flesh and human reason to pollute their progress and prevent their attaining their purpose. God’s incredible mercy was nowhere more apparent than in the declaration found in Exodus 16:4. God told Moses that He was going to provide for them regardless of whether they kept His laws or not! That is Amazing Grace!

That Grace should make us gracious.  That Mercy should cause us to be merciful. That Patience should compel us to be patient. Sadly, it does not happen too frequently.  

In Luke 6, we have the life guides of Jesus called the Beatitudes.  We see the Law of Harvest in what we do, including judging others and criticizing. In Luke 6:41, Jesus gives a revelation we need, but too often we fail to heed. “Why do you see the splinter in your brother’s eye, and do not see the beam in your own eye?”

We criticize and judge others, failing to look in the mirror. We openly attack others as flawed, yet fail to consider that we are flawed, too. Who among us is perfect? We need mercy, and to receive mercy, we must be dispensers of mercy. How grateful we are is revealed in our treatment of others.

 All judgment and criticism should be done from a position of facing God’s mirror of our own hearts and lives. What is God’s desire? Restoration! What is our desire? Self-elevation? Verse 45 is a key. How we treat others, view others, and judge others reveals what is truly in our hearts. The overflow of the heart reveals the true condition of the heart.

Psalm 51:10-13 is my prayer.  Lord, always help us to be conscious of our own flaws and Your immeasurable grace, and make Luke 6:31 our rule of life – “Just as you want men to do to you, do to them likewise.” We are forgiven because we are flawed, so how can we not be merciful to others who are flawed?

God’s Grace and Mercy overwhelm me! I am overjoyed but awed!

May the Amazing Grace of God make us Gracious!

Exodus 16:1-4  “When they journeyed from Elim, the entire company of Israelites came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their exodus from the land of Egypt. ² The entire company of Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. ³ The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger!  ⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people will go out and gather the amount for each day, so that I may test them. Will they walk in my law or not?”

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, God’s unfathomable mercy filled my heart and mind.  His long-suffering patience, mercy, and love are off the charts.  I’m grateful but awed beyond measure.

Israel watched God’s amazing miracles yet allowed their flesh and human reason to pollute their progress and prevent their attaining their purpose. God’s incredible mercy was nowhere more apparent than in the declaration found in Exodus 16:4. God told Moses that He was going to provide for them regardless of whether they kept His laws or not! That is Amazing Grace!

That Grace should make us gracious. That Mercy should cause us to be merciful. That Patience should compel us to be patient. Sadly, it does not happen too frequently.

In Luke 6, we have the life guides of Jesus called the Beatitudes. We see the Law of Harvest in what we do, including judging others and criticizing. In Luke 6:41, Jesus gives a revelation we need, but too often we fail to heed. “Why do you see the splinter in your brother’s eye, and do not see the beam in your own eye?”

We criticize and judge others, failing to look in the mirror. We openly attack others as flawed, but fail to consider that we are flawed too. Who among us is perfect? We need mercy, and to receive mercy, we must be dispensers of mercy. How grateful we are is revealed in our treatment of others.   
All judgment and criticism should be done from a position of facing God’s mirror of our own hearts and lives. What is God’s desire? Restoration! What is our desire? Self-elevation?

Verse 45 is a key.  How we treat others, view others, and judge others reveals what is truly in our hearts. The overflow of the heart reveals the true condition of the heart.

Psalm 51:10-13 is my prayer. Lord, always help us to be conscious of our own flaws and Your immeasurable grace, and make Luke 6:31 our rule of life – “Just as you want men to do to you, do to them likewise.” We are forgiven because we are flawed, so how can we not be merciful to others who are flawed?   I am overwhelmed by God’s Grace and Mercy! I am overjoyed but awed!

May your day be joyous and your vision be filled with God’s goodness!

Revelation 1:10, 17 – ¹⁰ I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day when I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet… ¹⁷ When I saw him I fell down at his feet as though I were dead, but he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid!  I am the first and the last…”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, my heart was drawn to Revelation 1:9-18 and especially verses 10 and 17.  John was in the Spirit and heard God’s voice.  When he saw Jesus, it was so moving; he fell at the Lord’s feet and received God’s life-infusing touch!  He was transformed mightily.  We need that today!

• Today’s Church is engaged in the greatest warfare of human history.
• Today’s Church is facing enemies in areas many never dreamed would become a reality.   We are facing pressures to a degree and at a rate that exceeds our measures.
• Today’s Church (Body of Christ) and its message are being maligned and threatened from the outside and within the ranks of “Christianity.” Lies, innuendos, half-truths, and haphazard living are creating a crisis in the church!

It is time that the Body of Christ exposes the devil for who and what he is.  It is time for the Body of Christ to come to a life-altering knowledge of Jesus and learn to fully manifest Him, bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

• We Need Reality – Knowing Who God Is.
• We Need Reliability—Knowing What God Does.
• We Need Restoration—Becoming Who God Says We Are.

All of us need external help; we are not islands and cannot make it alone.  The devil is relentless in his desire and pursuit to destroy the Church, but we have the Spirit and Power of God available to us!  That strength is learned, embraced, and implemented in times of being ‘Shut in With God.’

• We Need the LORD’s Touch that comes through a Vision.
• We Need the LORD’s Touch that communicates His Purposes. 
• We Need the LORD’s Touch that is embodied in His Word.

God wants us to be free of Fear.  Free from the Fear of Life.  Free from the Fear of Death.  Free from the Fear of Eternity.  Therefore, my prayer is, LORD, restore us with a Vision, a Touch, and a Word.  Help us to crave Your Presence so much that we long to be “Shut in With You!”

God bless you as you spend time in His presence!  It will liberate you like nothing else!   Have a fantastic day in Jesus!

Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, God became my focus.  God?  Isn’t He always the focus and the subject?  Yes and no.  Genesis 1 was my beginning as I set out on a new journey through the Bible.  God is the originator, designer, creator, and LORD of all.  God’s creation has always been in God’s heart from the beginning.  He designed everything exactly as He purposed.

In Matthew 25:15, we see that the gifts and giftings we receive depend on our ability to handle them.  God never gives gifts beyond our measure.  Therefore, if we recognize His sovereignty and trust Him, we learn to flourish in our gifts and abilities rather than longing for what another has.  Let me be the best me I can be with efficiency.

Created is the word (bara), which means bringing something forth from nothing.   God created out of Himself, and God is perfect.  He created a perfect world that Isaiah 45:18 declares was to be inhabited.  The word “was” (hayetah) means “to become,” indicating progression.  It was transitioning from perfection to chaos and confusion.

In verse 3, it reads “tohu va’ bohu,” formless and void.  How did it transition from perfection to imperfections?  I believe it was the fall of Lucifer as he sought to corrupt God’s design.  He does that in man.  We move from Adam, the perfect man, to Adam, the fallen man who passed on iniquity to his posterity. 

In the Gospels, we see Jesus, the perfect man, restoring mankind to God, enabling us to be transformed into the restored place Adam knew.  It is by the blood.  If we are in Christ, we are new creations being transformed from formlessness and voidness to completion in Jesus.  In Him, we are one with God and more than conquerors!  Let us embrace His work and be who we are created to be!

May the God of Peace guard and guide you each day!

2 Timothy 3:16-17 – “Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the person dedicated to God may be capable and equipped for every good work.”

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, I was reminded again of something that I had let slip.  I was reminded of the incredibleness of God as revealed in the compilation of the Bible.  The Bible, although not compiled chronologically, is a purposeful progression.   We do not read or study it that way to our loss.   We pick and choose isolated passages for particular purposes or proofs of our position.  God compiled it for our total enlightenment.

I do not have time, and you do not have the patience to let me detail what I am saying and what I am seeing.  So, a snippet will have to suffice.

Haggai 1:6-8 reveals both a condition and a cure for the heart.  Zechariah 1:3 builds on that, giving the pathway to restoration.  That is followed by Zechariah 2:5.  The revelation and promise of the restored heart being the demonstration of God as a Wall of Fire to protect us.

Another progression is seen in Matthew 11 when John’s disciples asked, “Are you the One?” Jesus responded with, “Pay attention to what I am doing, and you will know.”

In that condition, we realize God’s peace, power, provision, and protection.  Building from that revelation, we get verse 25.  Then, in that condition and position, we hear the incredible words of verses 28-30.  His yoke is easy, and His burden is light.   Not ours, but His.  Our burdens and yokes are anything but easy and light.  Total surrender brings total rest.

Then Matthew 12:10 surfaces, and it blows my mind.  Why was the question even a question?  “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”   If they had been in the position and condition of Haggai and Zechariah, as described in Matthew 11, it would not have been asked.  The focus was not God, not good, and not people; it was RULES!

That led to the revelation of divided kingdoms and the picture of the heart as a house or kingdom.  Then it sounded the alarm about failure to return to and keep returning to God, as seen in Matthew 12:43-45.  Being set free requires filling the house with God to stay free!

In Matthew 13:29-30, we realize that in the restored condition, we are enabled to nurture the wheat.  Our job is not to root out the tares but to nurture the wheat.  God will sort it out at the harvest.

We move along in the development of the heart and come to the realization that the external is secondary.  The heart is the mainspring.  If there is no filter on the tongue, it reveals the true condition of the heart.

The Bible progressively moves our focus from self to service and from self to God.  God has given us a road map to victory, but we don’t follow the GPS.  We ignore turns and map out our own pathways.

The Bible is inspired and profitable as a road map.  Using it the way God designed it produces the benefits God planned.  We rob ourselves if we don’t use the guide.

LORD, help us to have a renewed appreciation of the purposeful progression of your Word!