God of Peace

Romans 16:20 ESV The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. 

The Greek word that is translated "crush" here and "bruise" in the KJV means to crush completely or to shatter.  It is the same word that is translated "broken to shivers" in Revelation 2:27.

Generally we would not think of peace and destruction of our enemy going together.  Yet in order to truly have peace our enemy must be crushed. Satan, the enemy of our souls is constantly seeking to disturb our peace. Satan is constantly at war against mankind. Therefore he must be crushed in order for us to have peace.

Our God is a God of peace.  He brings peace to His people by crushing our enemy.  Jesus, who is the Prince of Peace, openly disarmed and defeated Satan and his forces.  The fullness of that victory has yet to be enforced in our lives, but it will be shortly.  Stand firm in the victory that is yours in Jesus Christ and let the peace of God guard your heart and mind.  Let God of peace be the warrior He is on your behalf.

Colossians 2:15 ESV He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

Ephesians 6:13-18 ESV Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. 

Philippians 4:6-7 AMP 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. 
7 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. 

Fear Not

Exodus 14:13-14  And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. 14 The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. 

At the Red Sea the nation of Israel had their backs up against a wall so to speak.  A body of water in front of them and their enemy pressing in hard behind them.  This enemy was one they thought they had just escaped from. Yet here the enemy was pressing in on them.  Even though the enemy was close enough to be seen, God set Himself up as a barrier between the Israelites and the Egyptian enemy. And God made a way for them to escape from the enemy that seemed to be hemming them in.  He will do the same for us.  

God will protect us as the enemy bears down on us and will provide a way of escape. In this situation God's command to the Israelites was to "fear not."  Sometimes that can be difficult. As we face difficult situations like this, we can choose to listen to God or give into our fear.  When we give into our fear it certainly does not help the situation at all.  Fear keeps our focus on the enemy and on the problem instead of on God who is the only one who can bring forth salvation in the situation. When we give in to fear we lack the peace and rest that is to be ours. In that state it is more difficult to hear God and to move with Him.  When our back is up against the wall and the enemy is pressing in hard, may we embrace the Word of the Lord and not walk in fear.  May we see the salvation of our God as He fights for us.  Victory is ours!

 "The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace and remain at rest."  (AMP Bible Ex. 14:14)  

Don't Kindle Your Own Fire

Isaiah 50:10-11 Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.  Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow. 

When we find ourselves in a dark place we must continue to trust the Lord and rely upon Him. When we find ourselves in a dark place it is not a time to kindle our own fire and walk in the light of that fire.   We need to stand still and continue to look to God until He shines His light into the situation. If we seek to come up with our own solution and try to do things in our own strength it will lead to sorrow.

What Is That In Your Hand?

When God came to Moses, He asked, "What is that in your hand?'  What Moses had in his hand was his shepherd's rod.  It was something he used every day in his occupation.  I believe God would say to many, "What is that in your hand?"  In the marketplace or wherever we are, God is asking us to use those every day things for the purpose of furthering His Kingdom.  The rod of Moses became the rod of God that was the instrument used in many mighty acts.  God is looking to perform many mighty acts through His people.  But we need to make ourselves available.  We need to spend the time before God and in His Word until we are endued with power from on high to go forth and do great exploits.  We may not deliver an entire nation as Moses did, but we can be used to see deliverance, salvation, healing come to individuals we come in contact with.

Exodus 4:2  And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. 

LIVING WATER

Jesus told the woman at the well that if she drank of the water that He would give her it would be in her a well of water springing up into everlasting life.  That well is within each believer.  It can be accessed at any time.  Sometimes we clog it up with sin, even as the Philistines stopped up the wells dug by Abraham.  Through repentance the well can be opened and the water allowed to flow once again. That water is available to refresh us and minister life to our beings.  It is also available to be shared with those around us so that they can obtain life and a well that can flow forth to others. 

John 4:10, 13-14 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.......Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

NO MORE CISTERNS

God is the fountain of living waters from which we are to drink and be refreshed.  To often we are like the people of Judah who dug cisterns to try to sustain them instead of looking to God.  The water from cisterns dug by the hands of man does not give life.  It may temporarily quench our thirst, but is lacking the life giving substance of the water that flows forth from God.  The cisterns leak and get stagnate and contaminated.  Religion is a cistern dug by man that does not give life. Man's ideas and fleshly attempts to satisfy his needs is a broken cistern.  The ways of this world are broken cisterns.

Father forgive us for the times we have dug cisterns with our own hands.  Forgive us for failing to come to You and drink of the water of life that flows forth from You.  Forgive us for the times we have tried to offer that water to those around us instead of Your life giving water.  Cause us to come daily to drink from You the fountain of living waters.


Jeremiah 2:13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. 

WILL NOT BE MOVED

Recently while waiting on the Lord I saw people standing under a canopy.  There was a strong wind blowing.  As the wind passed over it the canopy fluttered a bit, but it did not go anywhere. 

The people were unmoved by the very strong wind.  I heard these words, "the winds of change are blowing and everything that can be shaken will be shaken." 

The canopy was solidly anchored in rock and the people were standing on a solid rock.  The following scriptures came to mind:

Hebrews 12:25-29 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: ²⁶ Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. ²⁷ And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸ Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: ²⁹ For our God is a consuming fire.

Matthew 7:24-25 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: ²⁵ And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

Psalm 62:2, 6-7 He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved..... He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. ⁷ In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.

NEVER FORGOTTEN

Sometimes we may feel like God has forgotten us. Although it may seem that way because of how we feel or what we see going on around us, it is not true. Sometimes the enemy will be blasting that lie into our ears.  It is just that, "a lie."  The truth is found in God's Word and we can stand on that.  And at the times we feel forgotten or hear that lie in our ear we can declare the truth.  We must declare and stand on the truth of God's Word to us.

Isaiah 49:14-16 But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. 15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. 16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

Hebrews 3:5-6 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

FATHER'S FULL ATTENTION

Recently I was moved by the fact that my Father's full attention can be on me at the same time He is fully attentive to the billions of other people on the planet.

I believe that sometimes we think of Father God more in terms of our earthly fathers.  We think of Him in terms of the limitations and weaknesses and strengths of our earthly father. Yet Abba Father is far beyond what we have experienced in our relationship with our earthly father, no matter how wonderful our earthly father may have been.  Our earthly fathers still had limitations.  Our earthly fathers cannot be fully attentive to every child all the time and sometimes things get missed.

Thank you Abba Father for Your great love and for Your unbroken gaze upon me.  Your eye is always on me and looking for my gaze to be upon you so that we can have a face to face relationship. Your heart is always for me. Your desire is always toward me.

Proverbs 5:21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings

Matthew 10:29-31 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Song of Solomon 7:10  I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.

Song of Solomon 4:9-10 Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck. 10 How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices! 

Promises of God

I love rainbows. They always remind me of God's covenant and God's promises to me.  Whenever the conditions seem right to see a rainbow I am out with my camera looking for one.  Two night ago I wasn't looking for one and there it was.  I was out for a walk and on the way back home I looked up and there was a rainbow. Actually the entire rainbow was not visible. Both ends could be seen.  The middle section was obscured by clouds.  Even sections of the ends that could be seen were covered by clouds at times.  The portion that  could be seen would get more distinct and then it would fade.  I would head back toward the apartment and then the colors would get more vivid again.

As I thought about it, I thought what I was seeing in the rainbow is much like the promises of God to us.  No matter whether we see them in their fullness or whether they are partially covered and hid from us, they are still there.  No matter how clear and vivid they are to us at the present time or whether the promise seems to be fading unfulfilled, it is still there.  God's promises never fail. He is faithful.  What He has promised He will do.  Be encouraged!  Our God is a faithful, promise keeping, covenant keeping God!!