No More Tears

O GIVE thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His mercy and loving-kindness endures forever. ~ Psalms 107:1 Amp

There are days when our tears fall like rain, and usually in those hours we do not have anyone around to tenderly wipe them away and tell us things will soon be okay.  If you have never had one of those days, I pray to God that you are able to leave this world without experiencing one.  But if your life has had moments like mine, then I pray you will find encouragement in the psalm below, it is the reason for my hope; always…………..

In the stillness of these moments I still my own thoughts and plans, by laying my heart, mind and muscles at the feet of your precious thrown. Spill out your desires upon me; let your divine will be known. Then strengthen me, give me courage to live today no longer bound.  Only your truth will keep other things away.  Only when the words which I speak are our words, will my eyes see your glory brightly shine. 

You are, unto me, a strong tower; not a stronghold which grips till I break.  But a place, with open arms I can run into; with a blanket of love willing to embrace.  You wipe every tear with your right hand.  Your kindness, as I cry builds my trust.  Your patience to listen till I’m spent is so gracious; you endear me to be honest with my thoughts.

The tender way you speak of my troubles and the promises of never turning from my face, let me know that of me, you are never dismayed.  Why do I choose to prefer other; their opinions, their demands and their shame?  Why do I listen to their judgments and then allow them to boldly lock me away?  Why will they disguise themselves as “loyals” and my eyes not perceive their lofty plans? 

You say to be innocent as doves,  but to be aware of the crafts which ensnare.  You dwell with us each and every moment; your presence always tells us the truth.  You set before us all pathways; you implore us to listen and discern.  You said that the enemies were prowlers, they encroach so they must be really close.  You tell us to not be defensive, using futile weapons of fear.  You tell us that this battle is much higher, it is within and surrounding every hour. http://www.just1word.com/#!/bible/verse/psalms_3:1?version=amp

These things I know are truly spoken, for those you desire to be saved.  You tell us to pray without ceasing: to implore, come together and have faith; to see beyond our raised emotions and to want beyond a payment we can feel.   You ask us to make the tough decisions, so that others see integrity and our trust.  You ask us to do the impossible and to not give in when the going gets tough.  You ask us to rely on your mercy, when the judge and the jury all surround.  You tell us to walk out the right way and to keep peace as we exit their courts. You tell us the angels will come minister, to us they will comfort and provide. Others will fight the vicious battles, so we do not have torment in our heart and mind. 

I plead with you based on your character, to change me to align with your will.  The ways this world teaches will break me, and I have nothing left not touched by its hand.  You promise they will press but not crush me; and then the end will surely come.  So today my heart cries out, “Hosanna”! “Dear Lord, God of Armies please come”!  I know we all have our moments, so keep these hopes and truths close at hand.  Bend low in the trust that He is running toward us and they are running off the cliff as the swine!

Be of God’s good cheer; our Lord is not slow…..He is just!

 

Kisses,

Candace

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Job Description: Kill, Steal and Destroy

Today we are picking up in Job 1 by looking at what satan did to show God he was right about Job and the things he elaborately planned in order to provoke Job to curse God to His face.  First, I would like to start by framing our mind with some truths to enlighten our view points.  All the scriptures are from the NAS translation:
John 10:10-13

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have  it abundantly. 11 "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12 "He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd,  who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 "He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep.

  Romans 8:20 and 21 where Paul states:

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because  of Him who subjected it, in hope  that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And  not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan  within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the  redemption of our body.  For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

Luke 11:21-23:

“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own mansion, his property is safe.  But a stronger man than he may attack him and defeat him.  Then the stronger man will take away all the weapons in which the strong man trusted and will divide the loot.

Genesis 2:15,16 and 3: 16, 19

Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to farm the land and to take care of it.  The Lord God commanded the man.  He said “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden.  But you must never eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because when you eat from it you will certainly die.
……"I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children……………
………For you are dust, And to dust you shall return."

                 ______________________________________________
With this frame of thought let’s read about the next few pieces of Job’s journey as satan goes about killing, stealing and destroying what God has created.  Job 1:13-22 (GWT):

One day when Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s home, a messenger came to Job.  He said “While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, men from Sheba attacked.  They took the livestock and massacred the servants.  I’m the only one who has escaped to tell you.”
While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “A fire from God fell from heaven and completely burned your flocks and servants.  I’m the only one who has escaped to tell you.” 
While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three companies and made a raid on the camels.  They took the camels and massacred the servants.  I’m the only one who has escaped to tell you.”
While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine at their oldest brother’s home when suddenly a great storm swept across the desert and struck the four corners of the house.  It fell on the young people, and they died.  I’m the only one who has escaped to tell you.”
Job stood up, tore his robe in grief and shaved his head.  Then he fell to the ground and worshiped.  He said, “Naked I came from my mother, and naked I will return.  The Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away! May the name of the Lord be praised.”
Through all this Job did not sin or blame God for doing anything wrong.

There are several things that we need to be aware of here.  First satan uses the people in our lives who are easily manipulated to carry out his plans.  This does not mean that the people are evil or possessed.  It simply means they do not guard against false imaginations by casting them down and filling that space with a truth of God.  Satan spared a mouth piece in each situation who believed exactly what he wanted them to believe and ran in fear to make the report he wanted made to Job.  God did not send the natural disaster, satan did.  Satan must have loved the fact that he was being called God Almighty, he must have felt so very powerful in those moments. 
Can you imagine how his ego shriveled up and he ran when his scheming didn’t overtake Job’s love and trust in the faithfulness of our Lord God Almighty.  Even though Job did not understand that it was not God that took anything away, He only gives blessing.  Job did not allow satan to be the strong man in his land.  Job was righteous as God had stated.  Satan was proven once again to be the deceiver and God was magnified even on the worse day Job had ever imagined possible. 
Satan left a loser but that is not the end of this journey.  Satan does not give up when he sees that we do not fully comprehend the truth.  When he sees a foot hold you can sit back and collect bets, cause he will return…..as soon as we have our house swept and put in order.
Today, just read through this and think about it.  Tomorrow I want you to read it again, and write about it.  I will come back and post notes from one of our groups meeting tomorrow morning to give you some feed back.
Today I give thanks for the things we already see, I give thanks for the hopes that we have in our heart and I ask for his sight to keep your eyes set on the horizon where they will appear before you.  I lift His name on High to receive all praise honor and glory for all eternity.
In Christ, with Love,
Candace

The Hope In Us All

With our salvation comes true hope. It is in us all the time. We just have to grab onto it and never release it.  Our hope is really more of an understanding of a wish.  I believe that is the reason the messenger of the church in Laodicea in Revelation states: I know what you have done, that you are neither cold nor hot.  I wish you were cold or hot.  But since you are lukewarm and not hot or cold, I'm going to spit you out of my mouth.  You say, I'm rich, I'm wealthy.  I don't need anything.  Yet, you do not realize that you are miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.  I advise you: Buy gold purified in fire from me so that you may be rich.  Buy white clothes from me.  Wear them so that you may keep your shameful, naked body from showing.  Buy ointment to put on your eyes so that you may see.  I correct and discipline everyone I love.  Take this seriously, and change the way you think and act.  Look, I'm standing at the door and knocking.  If anyone listens to my voice and opens the door, I'll come in and we'll eat together.  I will allow everyone who wins the victory to sit with me on my throne, as I have won the victory and have sat down with my Father on his throne.  Let the person who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches."  

Yet when we are pressed to make a choice - to stand firmly and the pressure is on, we open up the flood gates to the rivers of ambiguous voices.  The next thing you know we are neither hot not cold.  So I ask us all, is there ANY ground on which we stand that we will be committed to standing one the waves of misconception have rolled back behind the flood gates?

Think back about all our conversations on "The Beginning".  Remember when we were discussing God creating light so we could see in the darkness?  He did that so we could see.  He is the light, the truth and the way.  He said He is deliberately right here to show us the way out.  His whole motivation is Love.

He loves us deeply and wishes to show us the way to the brightness life has to offer. It is a small opening at times when we have gotten so wedged into difficult situations. But his light is so intense, making it very easy to stay focused on. He is there gently encouraging us as he let’s us know we are not alone saying “ Can’t you see the light around the way to go: I make it a very clear pathway.” “There are no obstructions anymore”.

What is so perplexing is that God doesn't change our circumstances usually, he changes the way we see them.  Then we have to trust Him while we make our way out.  He is doing this to train us how "not" to be overwhelmed by diversity. We actually get to the point where we don't need to fight useless battles. His peace allows us the strength, courage, mercy and grace to walk around or away from it.

When we are in conflict with others along our path, we must remember we are not responsible for them only to them. Christ is responsible FOR them. We all must be at peace with others only as far as it depends on us. So Today, let's just focus on Hope......and having resolve in the reason for our Hope.

In Christ - I lift us up so that He may be magnified,
Kisses,
Candace

Not Today!

I do not want to leave you guys high and dry today, but I am in need of some alone time with God. When we have done all to stand ...that is when the rubber hits the road in testing us. Do we cave in and quit as all the forces of Hell seem to be pummeling us or do we pick up our armor and say "You will not win, Oh heavy spirit of burden; Not Today!

I wrote this a few years ago when I was going through some similar, yet far more strenuous battles. I thought it was a good time to remind myself....and a good time to share.

You will not win, oh heavy spirit of burden "Not Today!"
Today, I fight!
Today ,I fight the good fight,
Today ,I fight the righteous fight.
Today, I overcome,
Today, I lead in battle,
Today, my strongholds are broken,
Today, my spirit stands true
Today, I hear your voice,
        and today your victory is true
Today, I fight for YOU!


Isaiah 42
This is what the LORD God says: I, the LORD, have called you to do what is right.I will take hold of your hand.I will protect you.I will appoint you as my promise to the people, You will give sight to the blind,bring prisoners out of prisons,and bring those who live in darkness out of dungeons.  I am the LORD; that is my name.I will not give my glory to anyone else or the praise I deserve to idols.  What I said in the past has come true. I will reveal new things before they happen.