God’s Blessings of Redemption Thursday, Nov 30 2017 

Ephesians

The Blessings of Redemption

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus [a]by the will of God,

To the [b]saints who are [c]at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before [d]Him. In love [e]He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the [f]kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In [g]Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He [h]lavished on [i]us. In all wisdom and insight He [j]made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His [k]kind intention which He purposed in Him 10 with a view to an administration [l]suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things [m]in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him 11 [n]also we [o]have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, 12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in [p]Christ would be to the praise of His glory. 13 In [q]Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also [r]believed, you were sealed in [s]Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is [t]given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

15 For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and [u]your love for all the [v]saints, 16 do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the [w]knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart [x]may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the [y]saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

God’s Forgiveness Tuesday, Nov 28 2017 

Psalm 32New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Blessedness of Forgiveness and of Trust in God.

A Psalm of David. A [a]Maskil.

32 How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!
How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit!

When I kept silent about my sin, my [b]body wasted away
Through my [c]groaning all day long.
For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My [d]vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. [e]Selah.
I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”;
And You forgave the [f]guilt of my sin. Selah.
Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You [g]in a time when You may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.
You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with [h]songs of deliverance. Selah.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will counsel you with My eye upon you.
Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding,
Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check,
Otherwise they will not come near to you.
10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
But he who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness shall surround him.
11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones;
And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.

The Widow’s Oil Wednesday, Nov 8 2017 

2 Kings 4:1-7

Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to [a]Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord; and the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels at large for yourself from all your neighbors, even empty vessels; do not get a few. And you shall go in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour out into all these vessels, and you shall set aside what is full.” So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons; they were bringing the vessels to her and she poured. When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not one vessel more.” And the oil stopped. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”

Now the reason I bring you this story this morning is because last night, I had a dream where I was attempting to put some left over oil I had into suitcases in order to take them out. But when I put the suitcases upright the oil ran out onto the table.

I believe that this section of scripture holds the key to the interpretation of my dream.

Oil is representative of the Holy Spirit. It is my custom each morning to spend time in prayer, in the Word, and studying the bible. As I told you in earlier posts that the Lord had told me at the very beginning of this year, 2017, He would be my teacher and I no longer needed to purchase study guides from other people. He said, “It is just you and Me, kid.”

At the beginning of the year, I was pastoring a community group where all that He had been teaching me I was able to share, give, distribute to others. But after the summer break, we did not start the group up again but instead, I just continued my practice of morning quiet time.

I believe the dream is telling me that in order to be able to “use” my oil, I must “Go, borrow vessels at large for yourself from all your neighbors, even empty vessels; do not get a few”; that is to say there are still “empty vessels” i.e. those without Christ, that He has ordained that I should “fill”.

I appreciate any comments you would like to make to add to this interpretation as the Spirit gives them to you.

 

 

Seasons of Life Tuesday, Nov 7 2017 

Seasons of Life

A Time for Everything

3 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every [a]event under heaven—

A time to give birth and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
A time to kill and a time to heal;
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance.
A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
A time to be silent and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate;
A time for war and a time for peace.

Righteous
1. A time to give birth
2. A time to plant
3. A time to laugh
4. A time to embrace
5. A time to search
6. A time to keep
7. A time to love
8. A time for peace
9. A time to speak
10. A time to sew together
11. A time to gather stones
12. A time to dance
13. A time to build up
14. A time to heal

Wicked

1.       A time to die

2.       A time to uproot what is planted.

3.       A time to weep

4.       A time to shun embracing

5.       A time to give up as lost

6.        A time to throw away

7.        A time to hate

8.       A time for war

9.       A time to be silent

10.   A time to tear apart

11.   A time to throw stones

12.   A time to mourn

13.   A time to tear down

14.   A time to kill