Our Father -2 Corinthians 6:16-18, 7:1

This is such an amazing promise...I read it today, and instantly knew that I wanted to share it.

"And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people." Therefore "Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you." "I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty."

The beginning of the next chapter really summarizes what our response should be to all of the promises we've seen in 2 Corinthians.

"Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."

 

Transformed -2 Corinthians 3:17-18

"Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."

What a promise! We are being changed into His Image...

The Veil is Taken Away -2 Corinthians 3:12-16

"Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech-unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away." 

Forgave My Sin -Psalms 32:5

"I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," And You forgave the iniquity of my sin."

Speak Peace -Psalms 85:8

"I will hear what God the LORD will speak, For He will speak peace To His people and to His saints; But let them not turn back to folly."

You Will Live -Romans 8:12-13

"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors-not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live."

A Broken Spirit -Psalms 51:16

This is such a powerful chapter. To me, this chapter is the perfect example of being broken before God as we see David pour out His heart to God after his sin with Bathsheba.

This verse that I'm sharing gives us the promise that God won't reject us as we come in brokenness to Him.

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart-These, O God, You will not despise."

Repentance -Acts 2:37-39

"Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.""

God Has Heard Me -Psalms 66:16-20

"Come and hear, all you who fear God, And I will declare what He has done for my soul. I cried to Him with my mouth, And He was extolled with my tongue. If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed by God, Who has not turned away my prayer, Nor His mercy from me!"

Zealous for His Land (Part 2) -Joel 2:18-19

Here is the continuation of God's Promise in the book of Joel. If the people repented, God promised them this:

"Then the LORD will be zealous for His land, And pity His people. The LORD will answer and say to His people, "Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil, And you will be satisfied by them; I will not longer make you a reproach among the nations."

To be continued...

Heal our Backsliding -Hosea 14:1-4

This the first of two posts....I really like this chapter in Hosea.

"O Israel, return to the LORD your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity; Take words with you, And return to the LORD. Say to Him, "Take away all iniquity; Receive us graciously, For we will offer the sacrifices of our lips. Assyria shall not save us, We will not ride on horses, Nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, 'You are our gods.' For in You the fatherless finds mercy."

I love God's response to this:

"I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from him." 

I few phrases really stand out to me.

• "Assyria shall not save us..." -the idea that we can't rely on anyone or anything else to rescue us...Jesus is the only way.
• "Nor will we say...to the work of our hands, 'You are our gods." -Not letting anything in our life get a higher pedestal than God does.
• "For in You the fatherless finds mercy." -Just really like the wording...that only in God we find mercy.
• "I will heal their backsliding." -He will put us in a right standing with God!
• "I will love them freely." -God's Love is no longer withheld from us! 

Hold on to these promises! If we repent and turn to Him, not only will God heal and forgive us, we will experience His love.

Repent! (Part 1) -Joel 2:12-13

""Now, therefore," says the LORD, "Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning " So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm."

One thing that stood out to me in this passage is how it says to "rend your heart, and not your garments...." It's easy to show outward repentance, but to repent truly with our whole heart is what is often lacking in our lives...

Depart From Evil -Psalms 37:27-28

So, I'm back at Psalms 37 again...this chapter really does have a lot of promises!

"Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell forevermore. For the Lord loves justice, And does not forsake His saints; They are preserved forever, But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off."

 These verses were a good reminder to not continue sinning! God promises here that He will not forsake those that are His...but those that are not His will be cut off.

Lately I've been realizing that sin is really a lack of trust.

I mean if you think about it, when we sin we are really saying that we don't believe what God says is true. We don't believe that He will satisfy our every need, that He will protect us, and that we can rest in Him.


God, please help me to trust you more!

Torn to Healed -Hosea 6:1-2

I saw these verses and I wanted to share them with you...I found them extremely encouraging.

"Come, and let us return to the Lord; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight." 

Part of me wonders if the second verse is partially a prophecy regarding Christ's Resurrection...but regardless, I found this promise a good one to remember.

If there is anything separating us from God, we need to repent! God promises that even though He has "torn" us, He will heal us.

The trials in life that beat us down are only the beginning if we turn towards Him. However, these verse's don't promise that everything will be perfect if we repent. What these verse do promise for the Christian is that God will heal us and help us through those hard times.

That's something the world can't offer.