dhouston

I have a protector and judge. Someone I can go to in times of need in order to be granted justice. He is a deliverer and Savior. I am co-heir to the throne by my acceptance of His son Jesus. I have all the rights and priveleges of Sonship. The Scriptures say that I can come boldly to the throne and that my Heavenly Father is pleased to give me the Kingdom. It requires obedience and submission. I have to seek His counsel and will through prayer and study of His word. I have to become attuned to His voice and His leading so that I understand the path He is directing me towards. But I also understand that if I fail, and I am quick to confess my sins and honestly repent of them that He forgives me and our relationship is renewed again. When I want to do things my own way without God's direction, approval, or counsel I become arrogant and sinful in believing that my way is best. I reject Him by trying to do things my way without seeking Him first.

As far back as Abraham, tithing was a principle adhered to by Old Testament followers of God. They recognized Him as King and followed His instructions about how to honor Him and make sure that His servants (priests) were cared for. If we truly accept Jesus as our King, then we should have no issue at all with continuing to follow God's direction about tithing. Tithing is as relevant now as it was in Old Testament times. In my own life I have entered a period where financially I have had to make some decisions about where my money goes, and I have to admit, and ask forgiveness for, the fact that I have chosen not to honor God with a tithe as I should have. I recognize now that some issues I have been dealing with lately are no doubt directly related to my disobedience in this area. I have sincerely asked God for forgiveness for this sin, and believe that I will remedy this problem as soon as possible.

"Justice is rendering to every one that which is his due. It has been distinguished from equity in this respect, that while justice means merely the doing what positive law demands, equity means the doing of what is fair and right in every separate case." (Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary) Vengeance is the act of taking revenge (harming someone in retaliation for something harmful that they have done). Mercy is leniency and compassion shown toward offenders. I believe God can and does forgive sins without punishing. I can think of many instances where I willfully disobeyed God and knew when He was allowing me to suffer the results of my disobedience. But there have been other times when I sinned and threw myself on God's mercy, and I really believe that His compassion was great enough that He spared me the result of that sin. The cross represents God's compassion for us. By allowing Jesus to suffer in our place, He ensured that we have a "place" of mercy and forgiveness to turn when we inevitably mess up.

We as Christians probably don't always see ourselves in this role. We don't want to take a stand, or we only take a stand if it's safe and we don't have any fear of ridicule or embarrassment. But Jesus says when we protect, serve and bless even the least of these, we are doing it to Him. Our actions should definitely be guided by Jesus' actions. He never hesitated to help the least who needed it, and we shouldn't either.

God has given us His Word which explains in great detail how we are expected to conduct ourselves. Through careful and prayerful study of His Word, we begin a lifelong journey of understanding God. We will never complete that process here on Earth, but we should at least begin to grasp the concept that God's ways are the ways we should follow. His truth is the only truth.

In the presence of God's holiness, Isaiah realized how unclean and unholy he was. He understood that even the people he surrounded himself with were not worthy to be close to God. He was afraid because his experience was like no other. He was in the presence of the living, holy God and he realized how totally inadequate his attempts to be righteous really were. A heavenly being (seraphim) takes a live coal and touches it to Isaiah's lips. This is symbolic of the holy fire from God which cleanses all it touches. He is told that his sin is now completely atoned for and forgiven. Isaiah's response is to immediately volunteer for whatever God has ready for him to do. He knows he has been made clean and he is ready to serve God.

-Do you not know? Have you not heard? Power and strength. It should be obvious to us as we observe our surroundings that God takes care of His people. He will never let us fall or become weary or faint. By repeating the first 2 phrases, we are being asked, "How could you possibly ignore what is going on around you? Don't you understand that God is in control? Haven't you known this from the beginning?" By repeating the words power and strength, we are reminded that God can sustain us for as long as necessary because of that strength. Even though we may give up, God never will.

-Lord -Rock of our salvation -great God -King above all Gods -maker -former -Lord our maker -our God -our shepherd (implied in v. 7) We are told to sing for joy, shout aloud, come before Him with thanksgiving, extol Him with music and song, bow down in worship and kneel before the Lord our Maker. These acts of worship are an appropriate response to our Creator who loves us and cares for us deeply.

The Creator has every right to shape, form, and fashion his creation as He sees fit. However, our Creator has given us the freedom to choose whether or not we will accept His loving guidance and leading, or whether we will choose our own way and disregard His vision for our life. Knowing that we have been created for a purpose should give our lives meaning. We should know that our Creator has something very specific in mind for us if we will obey Him and trust Him to guide us. Our lives should reflect that knowledge as we try to be obedient and understand that by following the Creator's plan for our life, we will find true contentment and happiness.

Not only is it ridiculous for us to question our Creator, it is sinful. Who are we to dare question our Father about how He made us? He is perfect, all-knowing, and all-seeing. We can barely make it through the day sometimes without major catastrophies, and we dare to whine and complain to God that He didn't do a better job when He created us. No wonder we feel sometimes that God isn't listening to us and that our prayers are going unanswered. When my child whines and complains I turn a deaf ear to the complaint. Whining is ungratefulness, disobedience, and a lack of faith in God. Instead, we should bring praise to God whatever our circumstances. It's OK to ask God about our situation as long as we maintain an attitude of thankfulness. But when we start thinking we know better than God how to fix a situation, we have crossed the line and need the forgiveness that can only come from our Creator.

David understood that the God he served was no dead idol but a living, caring, God who defends His children. Even though it appeared that David was no match physically for Goliath, he knew that his strength came from God and not from his own might. It is dreadful for those who oppose God. The Amplified translation says, "It is a fearful (formidable and terrible) thing to incur the divine penalties and be cast into the hands of the living God!" Those who follow God and His commands have nothing to fear. Because God is everlasting, His is the final judgment. He knows right from wrong even when we may pretend not to. We cannot hide our iniquities from God, as He sees all.

God has no beginning and no end. He has always been and always will be. He is the only true God. The Creator of all things. When all things have passed from Earth, He will still be present. God's revelation to Moses takes on much the same meaning in Revelation 1:8: "I am...He Who is and Who was and Who is to come, the Almighty-the Ruler of all." (AMP) He is called in Isaiah 9:6, "Everlasting Father (of Eternity)" (AMP). This is the meaning of His name that He spoke to Moses. From the beginning of the Scriptures to the end, just as in eternity. God has remained the same.

I'm not sure that I can stretch my mind around the concept of eternity. The thought of everlasting life is staggering if you sincerely meditate on it. I can only think of the most pleasurable things here on earth and realize that the comparison is entirely inappropriate. As scripture says: "...No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him." (1 Corinthians 2:9) I can take heart in the fact that since Jesus has already prepared a place for me, it will be beyond anything my finite, limited mind can imagine.

The name I AM is the most holy name for God. Later Jewish leaders would not even speak the name aloud. This name probably caused the Israelites to be reminded of God's absolute supremacy and their special, unique relationship with Him. Egyptians worshiped many gods. but I AM makes the case that there is only ONE true God that is everlasting and supreme over any other gods. The God of the Israelites is able to perform miracles (witness the plagues, which were God's response to individual Egyptian deities and their supposed power) while the Egyptian gods are simply idols of no power whatsoever.

There should be an unbelievable freedom in our circumstances. God stands up for us against our enemies and all that He requires is that we trust Him and allow Him to take control of the situation. Timidity and brashness are the result of fear and ego, neither of which are of any use to us or God. I think the story of Joshua and Caleb is a perfect example of this. When they and the other 10 spies had returned from 40 days of scouting the Promised Land, they reported that the people who dwelt there were very strong and the cities were large and well fortified. Even though they found the treasures and richness of the land just as God had said it would be, the fear of the unknown was too much for all but Joshua and Caleb. I love how Caleb handles the situation. He basically shuts up the fearful, cowering Israelites and says, "Let us go up at once and possess [the land]; we are well able to conquer it." (Numbers 13:30) A casual reader might see this as brashness or ego, but Caleb is simply remembering God's promise that the land was already theirs, all they had to do was obey God and go in and take possession of it. Instead, the timidity of the other spies outweighed the faith of Joshua and Caleb, and the Israelites would wander the wilderness for 40 years, until only the two men who took God at His Word would enter the Promised Land. The Lord is not under obligation to fight any of our battles. He does so because He loves us and because we have accepted Jesus. I tend to think that when we have ignored His commands and willfully disobeyed Him, He allows us to suffer the consequences of our actions, even when those consequences may be extremely painful. I think that when we sincerely repent and come back to Him, God can "clean up our messes" and take us back into a right relationship with Him.