Tag: #Psalm51:12TPT

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Solid Ground

Has anyone else seen the recently-released Elvis movie? My husband and I saw it and I was glad I did.

The movie revealed a hardscrabble side of Elvis’ story that many, including myself, didn’t know in detail. At times, it was painful to watch, wondering how anyone could endure such extremes.

Viewing it from a Biblical perspective enabled me to see how the enemy tried relentlessly to work poverty and lack throughout this man’s life to gain ground…to steal, kill and destroy” (Jn 10:10).

God alone is our Holy Ground, our Solid Rock, our Solid Gold, our Dominion. He owns it all and is above it all. With Him everything He is and wills for us is possible. With Him, we don’t have to do it our way or the world’s way. We don’t have to depend on fools.

God’s truth in Psalm 23:1 TPT tells us that “Yahweh is my best friend and my shepherd. I always have more than enough.”

God instructs us in 2 Timothy 2:22 TPT to “Run as fast as you can from all the ambitions and lusts of youth; and chase after all that is pure. Whatever builds up your faith and deepens your love must become your holy pursuit. And live in peace with all those who worship our Lord Jesus with pure hearts.”

So, obedience to His instructions is how we can “stand on level ground” as we praise Him in the “great congregation” (Ps 26:12 NIV).

It’s only when we distance ourselves, lose sight of Him as our captivation and go our own way to put other things above Him (instead of in submission to Him) that we set ourselves on a trajectory that misses God’s best. Disobedience, even sins of our youth, can cause us to get caught up in enemy snares and miss longevity’s blessings (De 30:19).

If we don’t return to God through heartfelt repentance, we can miss God’s best life for us to the point of sin overtaking us, which always leads to some sort of death, possibly even physical.

This truth can be found in Romans 8:13 TPT, which says that “For when you live controlled by the flesh, you are about to die. But if the life of the Spirit puts to death the corrupt ways of the flesh, we then taste his abundant life.”

On earth, the kind of end God desires for us to come to is the end of ourselves—our selfishness, lusts of the flesh, all else that doesn’t please God.

Because God is with us, we can hit the wall of our wrongdoings and be awakened to new life as He reveals to us the error of our ways. In our moments of true confession, He can meet us with revelation, where we can come to recognize the only good thing in us at all, is Him and His virtue of goodness—nothing of our own.

This is the beginning of our deeper awareness of our greater freedom in Christ. This gracious revelation makes our dependence upon Him clearer and motivates us to be more obedient with a grateful heart.

God’s truth is that He exalts the humble, which are those who live in submission to Him. So, sometimes, our best prayer is, “Lord, fix me. Get me where You desire I be.”

Colossians 3:2 NIV warns us to “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

Chapter 3 goes on to advise us to “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming” (Co 3:5-6 NIV)

The NIV study note for verse 6 clarifies that the wrath of God comes “on those who are disobedient.”

Still, God will offer us turning points before it’s too late. He may gently work through others before we hit the wall.

Psalm 40:2 TPT reminds us that “He stooped down to lift me out of danger from the desolate pit I was in, out of the muddy mess I had fallen into. Now he’s lifted me up into a firm, secure place and steadied me while I walk along his ascending path.”

To be sure, God has a higher life for each of us.

Do you remember the story of the woman caught in adultery (Jn 8:3)? When Jesus bent over and wrote in the dust on the ground with His finger in John 8:8? The Word “ground” in this scripture means “standing-place” (Strong’s #1093). It is the place where we lay it all at His feet and stand with Him on solid ground. It’s the place where we live out destiny in preparation for eternity.

As Jesus wrote for the woman caught in adultery, He changed her story by giving her a new beginning and a new directive, a true life to be lived—reflective of His mercy and grace—to go and “sin no more” (Jn 8:11).

She could continue with her new life on God’s ascended way for her, because He gave her directives along with His grace-power to fulfill them. He lifted her out of her low-life stupor without condemnation (1 Co 15:34).

I believe that as this woman was set free by Christ, she came to know Psalm 55:22 TPT, which says, “So here’s what I’ve learned through it all: Leave all your cares and anxieties at the feet of the Lord, and measureless grace will strengthen you.”

I believe she knew that Jesus was where Heaven meets earth and that He loved her more than anyone else could (Jn 3:16-17, 1 Jn 2:15).

I wonder whether Elvis ever knew these truths beyond where his talent took him.

When God restores our lives, He restores our dignity, integrity and beauty. Heaviness falls away as we enter His weighty glory. Unchained, we find true answers and walk to a new melody. This is His promise of His grace, without which we would never make it in the land.

Truth always comes as we trust God, and it’s best if it comes sooner than later. Let’s not make deals with the devil (1 Jn 2:16). Let’s take it all to The Lord and follow His lead, so we can keep truly ascending and not get caught in a trap with no way out.

Pray with me if you will…

Dear Lord,

Thank You for releasing me into Your best plan for me. “See if there is any path of pain I’m walking on, and lead me back to your glorious, everlasting way—the path that brings me back to you” (Ps 139:24 TPT). Help me put my trust in You. Whatever has gotten out of control in my life, help me bring it into submission to You. And “Let my passion for life be restored, tasting joy in every breakthrough you bring to me. Hold me close to you with a willing spirit that obeys whatever you say” (Ps 51:12 TPT).

In Jesus’ Mighty Name,

Amen.

This devo was graciously re-posted by the Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.

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Master-Peace

Every time I gaze at a sunset, I am reminded of my future. We all have one, you know. We’re all going somewhere. 

Jesus endured the agony of the cross for the joy that was set before him (He 12:2). He knew His future was joyous and involved mercy and honor on the other side of our painful judgment that He took upon Himself. He knew He was returning home and being established in a higher place of eternal life with exponential reach.

He was kind in leaving us with His peace of reconciliation to strengthen us for our journeys on earth (Jn 14:27, Ps 29:11, Ep 2:14 TPT). We know we are to follow Him as our Prince of Peace and allow His peace to rule in our hearts, since we were called to His peace (Co 3:15).

So, what is He leading you through and to?

What does mercy look like now and on the other side of your challenge?

It should look like Jesus in the midst and Jesus exalted when our eyes and thoughts are fixed on Him (He 12:2, 3:1).

He is where we find our resolve and rejoice of shalom (peace), which is “wholeness, health, security, well-being and salvation” (Tyndale Bible Dictionary).

He is about masterfully restoring and transforming us as we run to Him and come to know our glorious Jesus more. He is about having us receive and extend His love, truth and grace as He works out our salvation on earth. And about walking with us in His victory of purpose and vision for our lives, no matter what.

Shalom (peace) inherently points to our blood covenant with God. As a reflection of this, and as an expression of peace as fruit of His Spirit, it also points to our covenant relationships (with His people), including marriages.

In this light, a little more than two weeks ago, Holy Spirit revealed to me that He is supernaturally reconciling people to one another on a level that none of us could ever do in our own strength. He showed me that He is working to restore relationships that we thought were way beyond impossible and that we are going to see a fountain of life come through these to bless many.

Holy Spirit gave me a glimpse of how patiently and intricately He has worked to reconcile people on a generational level, while working out their salvation over years at the root. He has been masterfully working this wholeness to shift people’s legacies for dramatically better, fortified, lasting, more Godly futures. Legacies that can endure.

Holy Spirit revealed specific people to me, as a close-up example in my own life, and how He has strategically and miraculously linked them. How He is working to revive them and restore their bloodlines now and forward for higher blessing and much greater outward fruit for His Kingdom.

Soon, these manifestations of reconciliation will come into their fullness of purpose. Soon, as we continue to grow in God’s grace, we will see a greater shift toward these life-changing divine connections to be blessed through them and alongside them as we work together in newfound ways (1 Co 16:9). 

We will discover joy that overflows exponentially as God brings our brokenness into more of His Shalom (peace) of wholeness that delights our hearts.

We will experience our role in kingship in a new and more above-ground way. We will see how our David, Joseph and Job preparations paid off, where, like them, we ran to and with The Prince of Peace and were protected and restored to come into the authentic places to which we were called, anointed and appointed. 

We will experience the establishment of Psalm 85:10 TPT, which says, “Your mercy and your truth have married each other. Your righteousness and peace have kissed.” And Psalm 72:7 TPT, which says, “In the days of his reign the righteous will spring forth with the abundance of peace and prosperity forevermore.”

We will know, even more, Holy Spirit as our Person of Peace as we continue to experience His strategy of peace as our path to provide us with a more fruitful lifestyle of protection and projection in the earth that rules victoriously.

So, there are more walks of faith and sprints of new order before us as God continues to bring shifts in our marathon for the betterment of our lives and others. From darkness to light, where one day ends and another begins, He is with us working His plan. We must keep this at the forefront of our minds as we progress, lest we become self-sufficient and limit God’s best in our lives.

We can invite His super into our natural to help us by His grace-power. It’s the only way to receive and give maximum benefit. We cannot fail with Him.

So, pray with me if you will…

Dear Lord, 

Thank You for blessing us with peace and for giving us an “[unyielding and impenetrable] strength” (Ps 29:11 AMPC). Thank You for giving us “abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control” (2 Ti 1:7 AMPC, Ro 8:6). Let peace rule in our hearts and let our passions for life be restored, tasting joy in every breakthrough you bring to us (Co 3:15, Ps 51:12 TPT). Hold us close to You with a willing spirit that obeys whatever You say. Help us to put into practice the example of all that we have heard from You and seen in our lives so that You, as our God of peace, will be with us in all things, including in our relationships (Ph 4:9 TPT, Ps 34:14). 

In Jesus’ Mighty Name,

Amen

“Now, may the Lord himself, the Lord of peace, pour into you his peace in every circumstance and in every possible way. The Lord’s tangible presence be with you all” (2 Th 3:16 TPT). May His peace cascade over you and rest upon you (Ju 1:2, 2 Th 1:2 TPT).

To God be the glory.

This video-devo was graciously re-posted by the Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.

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Redeeming Your Time – Part 2

The best way to reconcile issues of the soul, unfinished business or any other outstanding matter is by the living, redeeming work of the cross. 

Colossians 1:17 TPT says that “He existed before anything was made, and now everything finds completion in him.”

The AMPC version reveals that God is our supreme binder, saying, “…He Himself existed before all things, and in Him all things consist (cohere, are held together). [Prov. 8:22-31.]”

So, we must do as Hebrews 4:16 AMPC says, which is to “find grace…to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].”

We can hold on to the Spirit of Grace and release matters to Him to bring complete wholeness, which honors Him (Ps 55:22 TPT, Phil 1:6). By God’s authority, we can also bind the enemy that tries to keep us spinning in un-resolve so that life doesn’t continue on without us (Lk 10:19).

The revelation God gave me on this is that His grace not only works outwardly as explosive power but also works inwardly as an implosion, where internal fragments are made whole or redeemed. 

Just as in the military command to “fall in,” this means that we must break away from a former or present place and meet with God to come into a new alignment under His authority for transformation. In this way, He will bind our matters into a glorious new whole to demonstrate His goodness (Ps 18:25).

So, as we trust our Kinsman-Redeemer, we can give Him all of our fragments, and ask Him to resolve them to His liking, and then grow them exponentially (multiplicity) for His glory (Jn 6:11, Lk 6:38, Is 43:1). We can ask Him to awaken our minds and hearts to see and know Him more in this way—as our God who redeems our lives on earth as it is in Heaven. 

Because redemption doesn’t stop at the altar of salvation (Ps 50:23 TPT).

Redemption continues to work on our behalf as we walk out our salvation, submitting our limitations to God and trusting Him with transformation and multiplicity.

Sometimes, it may look and feel worse before we see better. But God, in His faithfulness, will get us to the place of fewer hindrances and more shalom peace and abundant true (zoe, Strong’s #2222) life than we’ve ever known.

God is in the redemptive work with us, so we can “fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace” (He 4:16). Know there will come a time, when we will begin to see the outward work of His redemption. 

We will see the promised fruit. 

Just as God is the perfect binder, He is also the perfect sower, who multiplies good fruit in our lives forward. Luke 8:15 NIV says, “But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.”

Multiplicity is a part of God’s redemptive work as explosive growth. Multiplicity is a time-saver. 

Job’s life is a noble example of abiding-ascension and multiplicity, where God restored him double for his losses. 

And God will do the same for us. 

We see God do double miracles of brokenness to abundance for the multitudes in John 6:11 NLT, which says, “Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted.”

When I read this scripture, during this writing, Holy Spirit highlighted the Word “distributed” to me.

I believe He revealed it’s time for those of us who have followed Him in the deep implosive work of our souls to now explode on the scene into the distribution phase. In other words, it’s time to get the message out, to share the blessing or the feast of manifest miracles God has done in us with the world around us in whatever form He as ordained.

As we obey, God will use the life-work He did in us to extend life to others as He expands our reach outwardly by His explosive grace-power.

As Redeemer, He will do the impossible on our behalf.

As we go about this new phase of distribution with our Lord, as redeemed vessels with a message of redemption for others, a critical element to practice is the acknowledgment of Him “as our Provider of all we need each day,” as is written in Matthew 6:11 TPT. Abiding in Him is everything, as it was for Job. 

So, our righteous prayer today is…

Dear Lord,

Thank You for Your victory-redemption. Where I have felt defeated in the past, help me live in Your miraculous abundance as I abide in You and obey You. “Let my passion for life be restored, tasting joy in every breakthrough you bring to me. Hold me close to you with a willing spirit that obeys whatever you say” (Ps 51:12 TPT). Thank You, Lord, for making my path increasingly bright as I continue to come into greater life-union with Your righteousness (Pr 4:18, Ps 23:3).

In Jesus’ Mighty Name. 

And now, I declare over you that “…God himself, the heavenly Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, release grace over you and impart total well-being into your lives” daily (Ep 1:2 TPT).

Amen.

This video-devo was graciously re-posted by the Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.