The Lord’s Prayer

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Matthew 6: 9-13

https://biblehub.com/esv/matthew/6.htm You may want to study the entire chapter or choose the version you prefer.

Jesus explains how we should pray after warning them not to pray like others do. And true, some people do pray just to be seen or heard by others. I have heard them, no hurt intended to use the terms beseech and bestow, even standard phrases thy have heard and repeat. Jesus just wants us to pray like we should.

We should pray to love and honor Him, prayer is merely talking to Him, anytime and anywhere. It should not be just repetitive, what we have heard others pray. Not just a repeat after me prayer, that one makes me question if some have truly believed or just going along with the crowd.

We should however, pray the Scriptures. There are verses for every need, healing, deliverance, even to prosper, prayers to pray for others, peace, wisdom, for the Word to enlighten them and open their hearts, for the mind of Christ to be in them.

We pray to give God glory, but Christ is the intercessor and the Spirit prays for us also, Romans 8:26. We can pray using Jesus name, but He is all the names of God rolled into one, when we need Jehovah Rapha, the healer is there. And El Gibbor is a mighty warrior, He has been wonderful to me. Isaiah 6:9

The Jews wore bands on their heads and forearms called phylacteries, the contained verses, Jesus said some made them larger to be seen. Jews also sways and leave prayers at the Western Wall. Catholics use rosaries, but you can just talk to Him, as a believer, He is present in your heart. He is always close, as close as a whisper or His name.

Jesus taught the Lord’s prayer as a model, we honor God in Jesus name that is what hallowed means, when we come boldly in prayer, we are on holy ground. He ask for His kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it in heaven.

Man people miss a heaven on earth with the idea of just waiting for it when passed on. And still others don’t always understand God’s will, that He has a perfect one, and that sometimes, we get out of it.

How often do we remember to bless our food, at every meal. Guilty! I don’t always do that. It not be just a Sunday dinner or Thanksgiving ritual. We should be thankful for our daily bread, and for Jesus, our bread from heaven. Like miraculous manna, we can have as much or little of Jesus as we need each day. I need Him a lot!

Finally, we are to forgive our debtors. And we are not just talking those who owe money here. Like Jesus paid a debt He did not owe to wash away our sins, a debt we could not pay or ever repay Him for, why salvation is a gift, we have to forgive what people owe us in other ways. We do this so God will forgive us.

He closes with asking that we are not led into temptation, but be delivered from evil, and there is also for His is the kingdom, power and glory, forever. And we can amen that, God answers prayers, and we are free to amen what He says about us, which means so be it.

And we really need to not be led into temptation but delivered from evil. It is so easy to be tempted into sin and anger, so when there is evil rampant we should be abounding in His grace and praying the Lord’s Prayer.

Emanuelis Gospodaric / Pexels / Canva

The Brightest Star

Day star or morning star? The reference in Isaiah 14:12 is to the fallen angel, the devil, but we must never forget how he is a defeated foe, thanks to the brightest star, our Lord.

We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 2 Peter 1:19

God answers Job asking him where he was when the morning stars were created. God is calling His angels this, they are even referred to as sons. Now, we read many times of angels in the Bible. They appeared often in the Old Testament to teach people and resembled men having no wings, but many of these fell as well, not only the third with the devil.

Angels have ranks, and the highest is archangel. That is what the devil was when he decided that he would be God and was tossed out of heaven. Of course, he had been created perfect but sinful pride and foolish jealousy of Jesus was his downfall.

Jesus, Himself, is not an angel, though He too, appeared in a pre-incarnate form as the Angel of the Lord. It is He who tells Sarah about Isaac, speaks to His friend Abraham before fire and brimstone rain on Sodom and Gomorrah, gives Hagar water and wrestles with Jacob, gives Manoah and Hazeleponi the news of Samson, He even fed Elijah when he wanted to die.

So, Jesus, really is the true bright and morning star, the day star that arises in us shining His light into our souls. He is the brightest star of all. No wonder, the angels rejoiced and sang glory to God in the highest when the Prince of Peace was born, it was His glory shining from heaven that was the brightest star rejoicing over the little star that lay in a manger in Bethlehem, that left as He died for us, and returned to raise Him from the dead. The New Living Translation says Christ, the Morning Star shines in our hearts/

It is that glory from the brightest star that burns in us from our salvation, given by a risen Lord, who is now the beloved High Priest of heaven, sitting beside His Father and watch to see how we shine for Him, and one day soon we really will when we see Him face to face and forever.

You can almost see Him walking and a reflection in the light of this picture, He is closer than we think.

David Kopacz / Pexels / Canva

I tried to post once a week for July, this concluded our series. If I don’t post before, please join me on August 1st, as we study the parables of Jesus.

Praise Him

I love Psalm 148, the line about the stars that are to praise Him and all of it.

Praise Him, sun and moon, praise Him, all you shining stars! Psalm 148:3

https://biblehub.com/esv/psalms/148.htm

It begins with praise to Him in the heights, and goes on to angels and stars, which angels are referred to as in .Job. It moves on to the sea, the mountains, the mist. All creatures and people, men, maidens, kings and saints.

I like this verse about the stars praising Him. Of course, angels do. And what about the Queen Esther? Her name was changed from Hadassah, myrtle tree, to Esther, meaning star. No doubt, some of the sages of that day were privy to that. God was saving His people. Esther with either name praised Him.

And then God sent another star to herald the birth of Jesus, wise men saw it and followed it. It disturbed Herod. Fearing the Messiah would take his throne, he ordered the murder of infant boys two and under.

But the star praised Him, and I believe that star, was the very shekinah, pronounced, shek -in -yah, glory of God. The angels were certainly praising Him then. And the star danced with delight at the birth of the Lord.

Revelation is full of angels, and surely, the heavens will ring with praise at His return, as His saints meet Him, so shall we always be with our Lord. During the millennial reign, and as we are able to go between the new heaven and earth in eternity, there is always something to praise Him for if we just look for it.

You know Jesus was asked to quiet the crowds as He rode in on the donkey, on what we now call Palm Sunday. His response was that if they did not praise Him, the rocks would, and you know they probably do, and all the shining stars.

Psalm 33:6 says that God simply breathed and the stars were born, though they burn up or fall, there are galaxies and constellations in motion and forming all the time, perhaps, even angels are still being created. He spoke it and it was in effect forever. It is up to us where we spend our forever, and we can praise Him for that as well. I like this picture by Kristen Dawn, Pexels, that I found on Canva. It is like the stars are breathing praises back to God.

What do you have to praise Him for? Overcoming obstacles and healing come to mind for me. Believers certainly will overcome, and the wise still seek Him, and we can praise Him for the verse in Daniel, that prophetic and coming soon. So praise Him all you shining stars.

Everyone who has been wise will shine as bright as the sky above, and everyone who has led others to please God will shine forever like the stars. Daniel 12:3 Contemporary English

The Eye Of God

I love looking at stars and the pictures from the Hubble telescope. They are far away but they can feel close enough to touch, I have seen the sparkle against a blanket of black velvet, and beyond a violet cloud. They can make you feel so small in the eye of God. Why would He even bother with us? The angels even wonder about us.

But the answer to that is in the story of the rich, young ruler. It says that Jesus looked at Him and loved him. I am certain He did the many that He touched and healed and even preached to. We are told the young ruler walked away preferring his wealth. Jesus was not asking him to actually give it all up, He was trying to take him down a notch. His answer was that He had kept the Commandments, he was answering from the flesh.

Jesus was full of the Spirit and would give His life to breathe the Holy Spirit into us a believers. None of us could keep the law and commandments, there were more than ten. When He fulfilled them, He gave us grace and truth and the Spirit to teach and guide us. He breathed on us at salvation, offered the baptism of the Spirit and many gifts as He sees fit.

God asked Abraham to offer Isaac, but He did not allow him to give him up. God would give Jesus instead. He looked at us and loved us. The rich, young ruler walked away, as do many, rich and poor alike, though Jesus has looked at them and loved them. Ananias and Sapphira lied to Peter and fell dead from their deception. Peter never asked for all they had either, Sapphira was especially foolish, having had three hours to reconsider. God will allow some, perhaps many, to be turned over to the enemy, even if the body is destroyed the soul will be saved.  I have never understood how people could risk their eternity, We should make better decisions knowing He is watching, He even sees every fallen sparrow. Death was never His will, but Adam gave up his authority, and mankindcould not live forever in a fallen state, so He sent Jesus.

The Spirit will not always strive with you to get you into obedience. We have a free will. Obedience to Christ is reasonable, we are living and acceptable sacrifices to God. Obeying His Word is better than all the sacrificing. Jesus was the once and for all time sacrifice for all who would believe. He looked at us and loved us.

So, this picture and others testify to the fact that God is watching us, He even has angels that are called watchers. Hagar encountered Jesus as the Angel of the Lord when she had no water in the desert, she gave Him the name El Roi, the God who sees.

The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. Proverbs 15:3

God had to look away from the sin as Jesus hung on the cross. He could not bear to see all the evils heaped on His beloved Son. Now, He can look at believers with fresh eyes, no more tears for Jesus, He accepts us in Him. He looks at us and loves us. Still not sure He is watching?

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars. 2 Chronicles 16:9

Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in His steadfast love, ( or mercy ) that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine. Psalm 33:18,19

The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. Psalm 34:15

But my eyes are toward you, O GOD, my Lord; in you I seek refuge; leave me not defenseless! Psalm 141:8

For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and He ponders all his paths. Proverbs 5:21

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. 1 Peter 3:12

This is the Whirlpool Galaxy, see the cross. The other one appears to be Ring Nebula, though Canva credits Kristen Dawn and Pixabay, I believe both have been photographed by NASA.

Aionos Zoe

Have you ever done any word studies? I sure have.  And this morning which is actually still in June,  puts me in mind of a good July post. It is Saturday, and the sun woke me and I felt bathed in its warmth as I am still recovering from my hospital stay, and cold baths at at night, though a few nurses would warm the wipes or water. The words aionos zoe came to my spirit from the Holy Spirit.

So what is iaonos zoe? It is eternal life. Do we ever really think about eternal life? It is much more than just being saved and not going to hell. We all know John 3:16, but eternal life is so much deeper.

God breathed and the stars were born, He spoke light into existence and brought us into the world. Then He spoke eternal light, life and love into us as  we were born again. Aionos zoe, in the Greek. Now, I won’t go into the once saved always saved debate, though I do believe if you are truly saved, it is eternal. I do know some who have no fruit but claim to be saved and some who believe they are and still just live any old way, it is not for me to judge, God knows the heart, but I do not believe that we can truly have eternal life and abuse His love and grace.

What do you think about living forever? It actually puts me at ease, that I have not wasted time, there is plenty, and He makes life even more beautiful in His time. We are born again of that incorruptible seed, Jesus Christ, and one day we will be forever with Him,  many will still be here when He comes, I want to be one of them. How about you?

I started seriously studying when I was about thirty, though I was saved at eleven, and have been writing off an on since I was four. Surely, my eternal life was in the making even way back when and I look forward to being forever young.

God is the giver of eternal life and John 10:10 explains the revelation of how Jesus came to save, God had to wait a long time, but Jesus, the Prince of Peace came to seek and save, to give us life, and not only life, but aionos zoe, eternal life, and life more abundantly. I think we often lose sight of the flip side that it it the devil who comes to still, kill and even destroy life.

I pray my readers are aware of the time we are in prophetically, and though it is alright to pray for the lost, I know He is more than merciful giving everyone every chance to believe, but let’s pray for ourselves as believers to receive and speak His wisdom, peace and love. Kind and healing words, uplifting one another in the faith.

We can all meet some day in our eternal lives but until we do let’s receive it, live it, sing in it and be joyful. Every gift He gives is precious, my salvation is a treasure to me, a well to keep drawing from, the living water of Jesus in Spirit, aionos zoe.

Canva / Geralt / Pixabay

Stars In My Crown

Stars In My Crown is not only a wonderful old hymn but movie as well. Will there be any stars in my crown, it asks? If you are wondering if it is in the Bible, yes, it is. Revelation 12:1 depicts a woman and a crown and twelve stars above it.

John would have used this imagery in his book, or rather Jesus showed him in the Spirit. It was a familiar symbol to have a woman on Roman coins, but believers would have recognized the Virgin Mary as the woman is with child and the stars are the disciples, or possibly a reference as well to twelve tribes of Israel. And of course, the dragon is after her, representing the devil.

These symbols are in the Zodiac, which was originally God’s calendar for signs and seasons. not horoscopes or divination. I studied a book about its real meaning, written by Dr. D. James Kennedy, who pastored in Coral Gables, Florida. It was interesting, and a little eye opening, probably not going to be understood by all. It was highly informative, but I am not a scientist. Zodiac calendars have been excavated in Israel. Since most people could not read, they would have been taught by the patriarchs.

Joseph dreams of stars, representing his brothers, bowing to him. The dream was a gift or revelation, God showed him to give him hope as he would be sold and imprisoned in another land. But it was Nimrod who corrupted the study of astronomy into astrology. God does use numbers, seasons, signs and even dreams and visions. What is important is to use wisdom and learn to discern by the help of the Spirit. It takes being born again and spiritual gifts as you grow in grace, I always warn people to avoid occult practices.

Will there be any stars in my crown? I I hope so.. There is  crown of life given to all believers, and also a soul winners crown. I never really saw myself as a soul winner but I have prayed for many people, it is their choice whether or not they receive Christ as Lord. I recently had an encounter that made me think God was working through me in ways I did not even realize, although I have prayed many intercessory prayers. I was told that I had been observed in a situation, and my response made someone think. I don’t want to be more specific.  I once wrote  a post called Do You See Jesus In Me?, many times I have thought that people do and go on the defensive or attack, but this person saw Jesus in me.

Stars in my crown? I hope so, but it will be at His feet anyway, like I have tried to always be. I have a few posts on stars if you care to use the search box. I had a fellow blogger use one in a series she did a while back and she said it was whimsical. I think it was a compliment. It has been fun reading and researching Bible verses on stars.

He spoke them into existence in Genesis. Psalm 33:6 says He breathed and they were born. Jesus is referred to as the Daystar, angels are called morning stars and even watchers. A third of angels fell with the devil, but there are twice as many working for us, and perhaps, He is still creating them, life does go on and the enemy can’t compete. The devil and his demons are just fallen angels, thankfully, Jesus, the Angel of the Lord, is so much greater.

We’ll get some more star study in this month.

Stars In My Crown / Joel Mcrea 1950

Susannah Townsend / Corelens

Scars And Stripes

Have a blessed and safe July 4th.

No, it isn’t a typo. It is supposed to say scars. This verse has been a favorite of mine since I was very young. Let freedom ring, but more so, our freedom in Christ. Let it ring the church bells. And throughout the nation, to the halls of heaven’s throne.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  ( liberty ) 2 Corinthians 3:17

Our post today is about freedom and healing in the Lord, and it does come in the presence of the Holy Spirit. I am finding too that there is healing even in the presence of evil. I was in the hospital, and surgery and a skin graft had put me in a burn unit. There was sickness, disease and death all around me but He saved me from it. I know that I have walked through the shadow of death, and there was  evil to fear, I felt it, but I knew with Jesus I would not fear it.

Another place to read and study is Isaiah 53, it is definitely the passage to learn the prophetic words of healing. Now, that He made the sacrifice, He sees healing as His finished work on the cross. God definitely loved us enough to send Jesus, He sent His Word and healed us, if we can believe. Isaiah, just like Abraham saw Jesus coming, but 1 Peter 2:24 says that by His stripes we were healed putting in the past tense.

Jesus paid the price for our salvation, freedom in the Spirit, and all the benefits of Psalm 103. Healing is one of them. And I know when you are hurting it is difficult to believe, but hold onto Him, He certainly held onto me. It was His scars and stripes that brought me home.

I like to tell people that I live in the book of John, that he ” got ” Jesus, and it is all about His love. John calls Him the Word made flesh, Jesus healed many but not all were thankful. Remember, He asks where the other nine lepers were. There were places where He could do no mighty works because of doubt and unbelief. 

We, as believers have the Spirit. Jesus was anxious, for the lack of a better word, to send Him. If John ” got ” Jesus, He certainly ” gets ” us.  He understands doubts, and even unbelief. But He doesn’t want us to have either. We don’t want to hinder His healing words from working in us. He told His cousin John the Baptist, that he had seen what He had done, and Jairus asked Him to help his unbelief.

We are warned in Hebrews 3:12, not to have an evil or unbelieving heart. It can happen even to believers. I tell everyone to take their medicine and go to the doctor, even have operations if need be. I have been through quite a health crisis, and knowing Jesus as the Son of God, as Jehovah Rapha, kept me going.

I pray His healing hand is upon you all, He defeated death, hell and the grave. And I want to be here healed and restored when He comes. Here are some verses to study and let His freedom ring. His scars and stripes. wounds is more accurate, have brought healing.

But He was pierced for our transgressions;
He was crushed for our iniquities;
upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, ( or punishment )
and with His wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:5

I am the Lord who heals you. Exodus 15:6

I have heard your prayer and seen your tears and I will  heal you. 2 Kings 20:5

He heals the brokenhearted. Psalm 17:3

Lord, my God, I called to you for help and you healed me. Psalm 30:2

He sent His word and healed them. Psalm 107:20

Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise. Jeremiah 17:14

I will restore health to you and heal your wounds says the Lord. Jeremiah 30:17

I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security. Jeremiah 33:16

I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the Lord, “and I will heal him. Isaiah 57:18,19

The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have You come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. Matthew 8:8

Take heart daughter, your faith has made you well. Matthew 9:22

Canva / AStoKo / Pixabay