HAPPY TO BE MET BY GOD

Greetings -

Scriptures from the King James Bible.

Yesterday, due to some circumstances, I had to do a self-examination.  2 Corinthians 13:5, Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves,...   

I publicly confess here that I need to change - we all do.  My self-examination yesterday came as a result of a matter that I'm not at liberty to share here. The subject matter caused me to focus in deeply with our Lord to learn from Him whether I was wrong.  I said to the Lord last night something like, "I need to know clearly from You, Lord.  I don't want to go out of here until I know from You whether I am wrong.  I know that if I go out of here wrong that I'm an unarmored target for Satan because when I'm wrong, my holy anointing cannot be on.  When my holy anointing is not on, I'm vulnerable because I cannot be in sin mode AND be fully armored in You.  Joshua 7:13 states, "...Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you."  If I'm wrong, Lord, please reveal it to me and I'll repent and seek You, in earnest, about what to do to get right again.  If I'm right, please reveal that to me clearly so that I will definitely know."           

After my heart cry to our Lord, I got on my knees and prayed and also went to His Word for help.  He assured me that I had sought the necessary forgiveness from Him and the person involved.  He further assured me that He honored my awareness that I need to change and that I had sought Him for help in the subject areas.  I was comforted but not entirely settled about the matter.  I prayed and read the Word some more and then went to bed.

This morning I got up with the matter still on my mind and heart.  This time, I read the Word and then got prostrate on the floor before our Lord for a lengthy period of time.  Again, our Lord assured me that all is well with my relationship with Him.  I was pleased but not entirely settled...until... 

At about 7:15 this morning, our Lord led me to watch a live streaming church service.  The pastor used Joshua 14:6-13 as the text.  The part that our Lord gave me as a focus was a portion of verse 9 which states, "...because thou hast wholly followed the Lord my God."  And a portion of verse 12 which states, "Now therefore give me this mountain,..."   Wow!  That put me closer to being fully settled about the matter that had me wrestling for the return of my peace in our Lord.  As I dozed off (I didn't go to bed until after 1 a.m.), our Lord got me alert in time to hear the pastor say these words, "Commitment to GOD + confidence in GOD = courage from GOD = conquest by GOD.  I said loudly in my spirit, "That's it!"   I KNOW that all is well with me and our Lord.  I have my peace back,  people.  Praise be to GOD!

In Exodus 33:15, Moses spoke these words to GOD, "And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence."  In my heart cry to our Lord, I was adamant that I was not going out until it was clear that no sin separated me from Him.  His presence with me is crucial.  Glory to GOD'S awesome name that He graciously met me where I was.  He does the same for "whosoever will."  Thank You, Lord!     

Everyday I read the Holy Bible and pray to our Lord with sincere purpose to obey His will.  Sermons have been preached about the importance of daily reading the Bible, doing it, and spending quality time in devotion with our Lord.  It has been years, but I can remember when I missed just a day reading the Bible.  That one day miss made a difference in my attitude.  My flesh was dominant rather than my spirit.  I shared that with at least two other Christians and they agreed that a one day miss caused less than godly results in their attitude.  

There are, of course, instances when the Holy Bible isn't available to some Christians.  I don't know if that is true in America but certainly it is the case in other countries.  Our Lord holds us accountable for what we can do.  Our awesome GOD, through His amazing love and power, certainly meets, where they are, those Christians who cannot access the Holy Bible.  GOD can conquer ALL obstacles! 

I believe that, here in America, Christians have free choice to daily read the Holy Bible.  As such, I believe that our Lord holds us accountable and responsible to daily partake of it.  On more than several occasions, I have heard pastors preach, with urgency, about the need for Christians to daily read and to know the Bible for themselves - not just through secondary channels, such as pastors, teachers, programs, and schools.  And certainly, there is vital need to do what the Bible instructs and to daily seek GOD in prayer and fellowship.  Keeping it real here, people - I'm suspicious of Christians who don't daily read the Bible.  Based on how I know that missing one day affected me - flesh dominated - I believe that flesh dominates those who neglect to daily read the Word of GOD with purpose to do what it says.  For those who don't daily read it, it can be listened to through various resources.   Hebrews 4:12 states, "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."   GOD'S Word is too vitally important for us to miss daily intake of it. 

Joshua 1:8
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. 

The Acts 17:11
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

Please consider this account:

Fictional or truth?

Trudy and Lydia are Christians who have been in relationship for years.  Lydia is a radical Christian - think the style of John the Baptist.  Trudy isn't spiritually fervent nor is she habitually inclined to daily read the Holy Bible.  One day Lydia rode as a passenger in Trudy's car.  On this particular day, Trudy mistakenly made an illegal U-turn.  Some other unpleasant things had happened to her before she picked Lydia up that day.  Well, a police officer was parked nearby.  The officer came to Trudy's car to question and explain. Trudy told him that her turn wasn't intentional.  She implored him to give her a break. The officer was cordial but firm.  He told Trudy that he would check her information.

The officer walked to the police car.  Trudy laid her head on the steering wheel and began to cry.  Lydia began to, out loud, praise the Lord, thank Him, and to pray and to sing to Him.  Lydia asked Trudy, "Did you read the Word today?"  Trudy responded no.  Lydia responded, "That's what's wrong with you."  Trudy was spiritually unprepared.  The officer came back and stated that he would let her off with a warning.   He didn't issue her a ticket.  She gratefully thanked the officer.  He made a few comments and went on his way.  Trudy thanked Lydia for her prayer. 

Lydia believes that if Trudy had read the Bible that morning, she wouldn't have laid her head on the steering wheel and cried.  Does Lydia mean that when we are fully armored in our Lord that we won't have seasons when we cry?  No, but Lydia does believe that we are definitely better equipped to deal with circumstances when we daily read the Word of GOD, do what it says, and daily fellowship with our Lord.

Lydia's belief is that the best time to do daily fellowship with our Lord is in the mornings.  The Holy Bible has a number of mentions to seek Him early. One such mention is Psalm 63:1, "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land,..."  Lydia is a firm believer of giving our Lord the firstfruits of our day.  That is the mornings.  It sets the tone for the rest of the day.  Some agree and some disagree.  That is Lydia's firm belief.  Repeatedly, circumstances in her life have proven that that is a beneficial practice.

The paragraph below is somewhat connected to the post topic that is placed directly below this one titled, "QUESTION ABOUT THE BIBLE ACCOUNT OF THE LYING PROPHET."

I married when I was nineteen years old.  My spouse choice wasn't a wise one.  He engaged in adultery and other indecent practices.  Soon after our marriage, I accepted JESUS Christ as Savior.  The turmoil of my marriage led me to seek pastoral counseling.  The pastor firmly told me to leave my husband.  Even though I was a baby Christian and the pastor was a seasoned experienced Christian, my spirit didn't agree with his counsel.  I knew that our Lord was not telling me to leave my husband.  Later a non-Christian counselor gave me the same advice.  Again, I knew that that was not the Lord's will for me.  Those advisers meant well.  Then about a year later, after some escalated indecent behavior from my husband, I clearly heard our Lord tell me to divorce my husband.  I obeyed and got the divorce.  We must know from our Lord for ourselves what to do, how and when.   It can be helpful to get advice but we should always seek the Lord and do what He says.  

Written Sunday June 26, 2011

Copyright 2011