Because He Loves Me

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Psalm 91:1-16
“He who [a]dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no foe can withstand]. I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust! For [then] He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. [Then] He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust and find refuge; His truth and His faithfulness are a shield and a buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror of the night, nor of the arrow (the evil plots and slanders of the wicked) that flies by day, Nor of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor of the destruction and sudden death that surprise and lay waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you. Only a spectator shall you be [yourself inaccessible in the secret place of the Most High] as you witness the reward of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place, There shall no evil befall you, nor any plague or calamity come near your tent. For He will give His angels [especial] charge over you to accompany and defend and preserve you in all your ways [of obedience and service]. They shall bear you up on their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the serpent shall you trample underfoot. Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he knows and understands My name [has a personal knowledge of My mercy, love, and kindness—trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never forsake him, no, never]. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him My salvation.”

There are great benefits for loving God. Not just recognizing that He is, not just believing He took away your sins, but LOVING Him.

In verse 14 God promises to do all of these things, to rescue us, and protect us, because of our love for Him. Do you want long life? Love Him. Do you want Him to answer when you call? Love Him.

There are many people who say, “God has never done anything for me.” They have spouted out a few requests, maybe even begged and wept, tried to bargain or broker a deal. But do they love Him? Or are they just going thru ‘drive thru’ and placing an order on a fast food deity they expect a quick fix from? They don’t know Him, They don’t have “personal knowledge of My mercy, love and kindness.” He has done everything for them. He has made a way were there was no way, reconciled them back to Himself by shedding His own blood. He has loved them, even in their sin, and misunderstanding of who He is. All they have to do is accept His love and love him back and He is so easy to love.

I love Him, because He loves me.

Book Review for “Havah” by Tosca Lee-Fiction

I love the author, Tosca Lee and have read some of her other work. This book is great. I often have speculated on what it was like for Adam and Eve to just BE, and what became of them after they were expelled from the garden. Tosca Lee does a wonderful job of giving us a possible scenario. I wanted to love it, but it is overwhelmingly sad for me. Not the writing or even the story, but the whole fall of mankind thing. The book is one of hope, they do go on with life after all. Good fiction. I give it 4 stars.

The Dead Do Not Inherit

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An inheritance is for the living. When you go to hear the reading of the last will and testament of a person who has passed on, the room is not full of corpses. Instead it is full of the living relatives, and beneficiaries of the deceased.
God says that we are heirs and joint heirs with Christ, (Romans 8:17). He also says that we are seated in Heaven with Christ, (Ephesians 2:6). God gave Adam everything. Adam gave it over to Satan. Jesus took it back on the cross and went to hell to even get the keys to Satan’s eternal home. At Jesus’ death on the cross-we inherited everything from Him. At His death, a New Testament came into being. We inherited the Kingdom of Heaven, as well as all things on this earth. We don’t have to wait until we die to have Heaven. Heaven isn’t just a place. It’s a Kingdom. Jesus is the King, and we are His royal family. Heaven is ours, now! Salvation and everything that comes with it, is our now, isn’t waiting for us to die. Only the living receive an inheritance.
Jesus didn’t die to bring us to Heaven. If that was His only purpose, we’d be there now. Jesus came to bring Heaven to us, here on earth. His Kingdom needs to be enlarged. That can only happen if we stand in our rightful places as sons and daughters of the Most High God. We have to accept the inheritance, use it, and do what God asks us to do-love Him with all our hearts, and to seek and save the lost. It’s not just for our benefit. We are to heal the sick, raise the dead and set the captives free. That’s our job. We can sit around a pray about it, (and prayer is wonderful!), but God wants us to act on our faith. We are Royalty with authority.
No longer say, “I am a sinner saved by grace.” You were a sinner, and you were saved by grace. But if you have accepted Jesus and his finished work on the cross, you aren’t a sinner any longer. Sin is the nature of another kingdom, the kingdom of darkness. It’s no longer our nature. We have the nature of the King and the Kingdom that we submit ourselves under. God has made us brand new creatures, our old nature is dead, all things are new.
So what’s allowed in heaven? Is guilt, condemnation? Of course not. Then you can’t be guilty or condemned. You are seated in Heaven with Christ. He took our guilt. It’s gone! Now only one is judged, and that is Satan. He is judged guilty. His attacks against born again children of God is unlawful. Jesus followed all the legalities in getting our inheritance for us. Satan can find nothing in us to accuse us of to The Father. The Father only see’s us as righteous. The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, yes, so that we can turn back to God, but He also convinces us of righteousness. He constantly reminds us of who God is and who we are in Christ. Jesus redeemed us from the curse and reconciled us back to right standing with The Father.
Does that mean we never sin? No-but if our hearts are given over to a New King, He is quick to forgive and chooses to forget. He doesn’t hold it against us. If we aren’t guilty is that the “ok” to sin. Paul says, “God forbid,” to that. All things are lawful, but all things are not beneficial. The closer we get to Him, the less we will sin. You’ll see that things that once tempted us will no longer pull us away from God. Don’t let Satan, the world, or even your own flesh tell you who you are or what to feel. Only God sees us for who we truly are. He says you are accepted in the beloved. He calls you blessed. He has called us sons and daughters. You aren’t who you once were. God didn’t scrub us clean-He made us brand new. He didn’t remodel or remake, He built you brand new from the foundation to the attic and filled you with good things!

Book Review for “Tear of Min Brock” –Allegory/Fantasy

I was given a copy of this book by the author, J.E. Lowder in exchange for an honest review.
I really loved this book! It just kept getting better the farther I got. I loved the storyline, the characters are loveable. I found myself wiping away a few tears as I read. A great fantasy world. Will definitely be reading more from this author. There are several main characters, similar to Lord of the Rings. You have to pay attention to keep them all straight. For this reason I think that ages 14 and up would best understand it all, but a good read for jr. high students as well. The story is set in a society with strict rules and regulations about everything. The people live in fear and have given up on thing ever changing, but there is a whisper of hope! I give the book 5 stars.

Book Review for “The In-Between: Embarrassing the Tension Between Now and the Next Big Thing” Non-Fiction

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I try to read at least one non-fiction book per month along with my fiction. Sometimes they end up being informational, but dry. This one is not. It’s a good read as Jeff’s writing style is that of a true storyteller. This book is full of true life stories, his own and some short stories of others. The book invites us to look at the waiting times in our lives in a different light. I found it very though provoking and encouraging. I recommend it for everyone, especially young adults fresh out of high school or college. I am giving it a strong 5 stars and will be reading more from this author.