With God...

What’s up with God?? (8 Things)

With God is awesome majesty (Job 37:22)

With God all things are possible (Matt. 19:23, 26; Mk. 10:23, 27; Lu. 18:27)

With God nothing is impossible (Lu. 1:37)

Jesus, the Word was with God in the beginning (Jn. 1:1-2)

Jesus is equal with God (Jn. 5:18; Phil. 2:6)

There is no unfair favoritism with God (Rom. 2:11)

There is no unrighteousness with God (Rom. 9:14)

The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God (1Cor. 3:19)

…and these things are for us to come to with God (8 Things)

everything is about coming into greater friendship

and intimacy with God

We can walk with God like Enoch and Noah (Gen. 5:22, 24; 6:9)

We might wrestle with God like Jacob (Gen. 32:24-28)

We need to meet with God like Moses (Ex. 19:17)

We must work with God like Jonathan (1Sam. 24:45)

We should plead with God like David (2Sam. 12:16)

We ought to assemble with God in His place of meeting like Solomon (2Chron. 1:3)

We could reason with God like Job (Job 13:3; 16:21)

We must seek favor with God like Mary and Jesus (Lu. 1:30; 2:52)

So now…

We can have peace with God though Jesus our Lord (Rom 5:1)

Twenty Great Verses On Prayer

1 . 2Sam. 22:4 – I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.

2. Psalm 5:3 – O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.

3. Psalm 21:2 – You have given him his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips.

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

5. Psalm 37:4 – Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

6. Psalm 40:1 – I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me.

7. Psalm 55:17 – Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice.

8. Psalm 62:8 – Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.

9. Psalm 86:7 – In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me.

10. Psalm 107:6 – Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.

11. Psalm 145:19 – He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.

12. Proverbs 15:29 – The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

13. Jeremiah 29:12-13 – Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

14. Jeremiah 33:3 – Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.

15. Matthew 5:44 – But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

16. Matthew 6:5-8 – When you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

17. Matthew 7:7 – Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

18. Matthew 18:20 – For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.

19. Matthew 18:20 – Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.

20. John 14:14 – If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

7 Things God Directly Promises in Psalm 91

Psalm 91

1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
 Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”

3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler[a]
And from the perilous pestilence.

4 He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,

6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.

8 Only with your eyes shall you look,
And see the reward of the wicked.

9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

10 No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;

11 For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.

12 In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation.”

This is such an interesting psalm - It goes from statements that the psalmist says about the Lord, to direct things that each of us should do...right on into a prophetic passage of 7 things that the Lord speaks in the 1st person through the psalmist:

He directly promises that:

- V14 He will deliver or rescue you

- V14 He will set you on high - this is a place of His protection

- V15 He will answer you when you call on Him

- V15 He will be with you in times of trouble

- V15 He will give you honor when He delivers you 

- V16 He will give you a long life that is fully satisfying

The Lord promises all of these 7 things if we do these 6 things (note...the number 6 is the number for man, and the number 7 is the number for God)

I will:

- V1 I will make His presence my place of abiding

- V2 I will say that the Lord is my refuge and fortress – I will speak this with my mouth

- V2 I will put all my trust in him no matter what I see with my eyes

- V5-6 I will not be afraid no matter what comes against me in the day or the night

- V8 I will look at what God does to the wicked - there are lessons to learn here 
- V13 I will tread on every kind of evil thing no matter how strong it appears to be

As I mediate on this Psalm tonight, I am praying for two men who have recently been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer - this is for Richard W and Terry F - please join me in prayer for all who have serious illnesses, and particularly Richard and Terry - thank you. If you would like prayer for someone who is battling serious illness or personal issues, just leave their name in the comments section below.

Meditating on: "Taste and See"

Psalm 34:8

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see—
how good God is.

Blessed are you who run to him. (Message)

One way to taste the words of God is through meditation - David says in Ps. 119:97 Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.

Also: How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Ps. 119:103.

Meditation is not always silent thought. One of the ways to think about meditation is to imagine “chewing over” the Words of God in your mouth.  Think about the Word, speak it out and “taste” it.

Psa. 77:12        I will also meditate (1897) on all Your work, And talk (7878) of Your deeds._

Psa. 119:15      I will meditate (7878) on Your precepts, And contemplate Your ways.

Psa. 119:27     Make me understand the way of Your precepts; So shall I meditate (7878) on Your wonderful works.

Psa. 119:48     My hands also I will lift up to Your commandments, Which I love, And I will meditate (7878) on Your statutes.

Psa. 119:78       But I will meditate (7878) on Your precepts.

Psa. 119:97       Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation (7878) all the day.

Psa. 119:99      I have more understanding than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. (7878)

Psa. 119:148    My eyes are awake through the night watches, That I may meditate (7878) on Your word.

Psa. 143:5        I remember the days of old; I meditate (1897) on all Your works; I muse on the work of Your hands.

Hebrew words (Strong’s Numbers):

1897. hagah, daw-gaw´; to murmur (in pleasure or anger); by implication, to ponder:—imagine, meditate, mourn, mutter, roar, speak, study, talk, utter.

7742. suwach, soo´-akh; to muse pensively:—meditate.

7878. siyach, see´-akh; to ponder, i.e. (by implication) converse (with oneself, and hence, aloud) or (transitively) utter:—commune, complain, declare, meditate, muse, pray, speak, talk (with), sing.

Take note of those words using the word siyach! This word means "to sing!!" We can sing our meditations

Phil. 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.  (logizomai – logic - to take into account, to make an account of, to reckon inward, count up or weigh the reasons, to deliberate, by reckoning up all the reasons, to consider, take into account, weigh)

1Tim. 4:15 Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.

Greek words (Strong’s Numbers):

3191. meleta, meletao, mel-et-ah´-o; from a presumed derivative of 3199; to take care of, i.e. (by implication) revolve in the mind: — imagine, (pre-)meditate.

4304. promeleta, promeletao, prom-el-et-ah´-o; from 4253 and 3191; to premeditate: — meditate before.