God's Validation part 3

God is Omniscient

God is omniscient[1] which means He knows all. This is an ‘all’ that is incomprehensible to us. From the beginning to the end, He already knows it. He knows the core of our very being and our every thought. He knows us as our creator.



For example, if you have ever made something such as a flower arrangement, built a cabinet, sewed a garment or even cooked a meal, then you created that item. You know what materials you used to create it, how much of what you put into it and exactly where and when you put it. You know that item. Now magnify that in comparison to how God knows His creation. Not only does he know the materials and parts, but he knows beyond the particles that make up the atoms that make up the materials, which He also made.

Because He knows all, He can be truly just. Because He knows all, He can be truly merciful. Because He knows all, He can be truly gracious. It may seem that there is a great inequity throughout the world. It appears that some receive justice and others don’t. It appears that some receive mercy and others don’t. The same is true with grace. But what we see and what is true, or what God sees and knows, is far beyond what we see and know.

How many times have you done something to someone what you felt was just and then you learned more about the situation later and you saw that your treatment of them was not just and in total error? With God, who sees and knows it all, His intervention is just.

How often have we not been merciful until we knew the hardness of their situation, at which point we felt sorry for them and merciful towards them. But God, who is omniscient, is capable of absolute mercy.

It is because His justice, mercy and grace are absolute that we needed a redeemer, a rescuer, a savior.

Scriptures on God's Omniscience

1) Psalm 147:4,5
⁴ He determines the number of the stars
and calls them each by name.
⁵ Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
his understanding has no limit.

2) Acts 15:18¹⁸ things known from long ago.

3) Psalm 33:13¹³ From heaven the LORD looks down
and sees all mankind;

4) Romans 4:17
¹⁷ As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.”^[a] He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.

5) Isaiah 46:10
¹⁰ I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say, ‘My purpose will stand,
and I will do all that I please.’

6) I Samuel 23:5-14 ⁵ So David and his men went to Keilah, fought the Philistines and carried off their livestock. He inflicted heavy losses on the Philistines and saved the people of Keilah. ⁶ (Now Abiathar son of Ahimelek had brought the ephod down with him when he fled to David at Keilah.)
Saul Pursues David
⁷ Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, and he said, “God has delivered him into my hands, for David has imprisoned himself by entering a town with gates and bars.” ⁸ And Saul called up all his forces for battle, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.
⁹ When David learned that Saul was plotting against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod.” ¹⁰ David said, “LORD, God of Israel, your servant has heard definitely that Saul plans to come to Keilah and destroy the town on account of me. ¹¹ Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me to him? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? LORD, God of Israel, tell your servant.”
And the LORD said, “He will.”
¹² Again David asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men to Saul?”
And the LORD said, “They will.”
¹³ So David and his men, about six hundred in number, left Keilah and kept moving from place to place. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he did not go there.
¹⁴ David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands.
and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand.

---

[1] 1. all-knowing: knowing or seeming to know everything



Nancy Jackson, daydreamer extraordinaire
DAY JOB LINKS...
Dreams Do Come True
Dragonfly In Amber Designs

God's Validation part 2

God is Omnipotent

God is omnipotent[1]. He is universal in His power and authority.



Establishing God’s authority is the pinnacle on which all else balances. We must establish that God truly is the highest authority and that no other authority can be established but by Him and through Him. In Romans 13:1 it reads:

Romans 13:1 ¹ Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.

By establishing within ourselves that God is the sovereign authority then we have a firm foundation within ourselves to build upon. Then if He is the supreme authority then His word must also be the supreme authority as well.

We must settle within ourselves that the word of God is true and that no other teaching or written document can contradict or eradicate it. In other words, what the bible says is absolute.

Where conflict often arises is that man seems to have determined that there can be many interpretations to the bible and that any or all can be correct. But this is not true. The bible is exact and must be read and studied in context.

Any document can be misunderstood if you take one sentence from it and attempt to apply it to another scenario other than the one for with it was intended.

Many times there is a gap in language and culture. To fully understand the bible you must understand that the culture of the times, whether the earliest during Genesis or the latest during the writing of the Epistles, the culture is vastly different from what we know today.

The language is also very different. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew. The Jewish nation was Hebrew and spoke Hebrew even until this day. The New Testament was translated into Greek or Aramaic. The Jews of that time still spoke Hebrew, but could also speak Aramaic because they were under Roman rule.

You could compare it to our multi-cultural society here in America where it is not uncommon for people of a specific nationality to speak their native tongue but to be able to function in the American society they must also speak the English language.

It is important to understand this because the Hebrew and Greek languages are very different and even more so is our current English language. Many times when translating from one language to another the closest word is used even if it is not exact.

For instance one that we can commonly compare this to is the word love. In the English language that one word is commonly and broadly used to refer to many things. But in the Greek, there are several different words for what he consider, love. So you can see where the challenge comes in to provide an accurate interpretation of the gospel.

Through the years the scholars who have translated the bible have done a very good job in keeping with the original Hebrew and Greek. I believe this is the case because I believe that God closely guards His word and provides a strong warning that nothing be tampered with so that it conveys a different message other than the one He intended.

Even with the best of translations to fully grasp the depth of the meaning it is necessary to dig deeper into the original language. Many times it is necessary not just understand, but to see beyond mere human understanding.

Let’s compare for a moment a simple example of terms. In Revelation 22:13 Jesus appears to the Apostle John on the island of Patmos where he had been exiled. Since Revelation is in the New Testament it was translated into Greek.

Therefore Revelation 22:13 reads:

Revelation 22:13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

The first letter of the Greek alphabet is Alpha. The last letter of the Greek alphabet is Omega. The scripture further explains that He is the First and the Last and the Beginning and the End.



Jesus was not just arbitrarily making a statement. He was referring explicitly to Isaiah 41:4, 44:6 and 48:12 where Jehovah God was stating that He was the beginning and the end. Jesus intention was to state that His deity here was the same as God or that He was God.

Jesus was a Jew and to believe that He spoke Hebrew to His fellow Jews is certain. It isn’t a stretch to believe that a Jew would speak their native tongue to another Jew.

So what Jesus would have been saying to John would have been more accurately:

I am the Aleph and the Tav, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

Aleph being the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and Tav being the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Why is this important to tie this translation together?


First of all because it is important to show how different languages are translated. It is imperative that you know the true meaning of the scriptures as they were originally meant to be. We cannot all be Hebrew and Greek scholars, but it is important to take study deeper from time to time to verify that you are interpreting it correctly.

If you ever feel that what you are reading is contradictory to the context or to other scriptures, then it would be good to stop at that point and see what the reading is in the original text. It is good to also read commentaries from Greek and Hebrew bible scholars, but keep in mind that you should take the knowledge in but let the Holy Spirit within you make the final interpretation.

Second of all it is important because every letter and word in the bible is intentional and on purpose. Many times in the original Hebrew Old Testament the letters Aleph Tav are inserted seemingly random in a sentence and are left un-translated. This is literally the signature of Jesus in the Old Testament.

All Hebrew letters are also depicted in picture form. When you ask a Hebrew scholar, who does not believe that Jesus is the Messiah, what these two letters mean when they are shown together in the scriptures they will tell you it is a picture of an open window that points to something. When they are asked what it is pointing to, they do not know what.

Let’s look at

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

In the Hebrew the letters Aleph Tav are inserted and left un-translated like this. In the beginning God (Aleph Tav) created the heavens and the earth.

In tying all this together we can confirm the deity of Jesus as God and the true Messiah. But we can also see the importance of genuine study and accurate interpretation of the scriptures.

---

[1] 1. all-powerful: possessing complete, unlimited, or universal power and authority.

Nancy Jackson, daydreamer extraordinaire
DAY JOB LINKS...
Dreams Do Come True
Dragonfly In Amber Designs

God's Validation

This is a 3-part blog. For the next 3 weeks I want to write a study on the Omnipresence, Omniscience and Omnipotence of God. Those of who BELIEVE, know we believe. But sometimes we come across someone who doesn't believe. I know in the past I've struggled at times to 'validate God' to them. I know I believe but how do I convey to them, in a concrete manner that what I believe is valid. SO, I studied and here is what I found.

God is Omnipresent

God is omnipresent[1]. He exists outside of time. He is still in the past, here in the now and already ahead in the future. He is not running back and forth throughout time, He exists throughout all time.

So knowing this, we can also know that He already knew and does know all events throughout all time. He knows what events will take place and why.

He has given man a free will to make our own choices, but He already knows what we will choose, when we will choose it and why.

Having this complete knowledge He has orchestrated key events to unfold at certain times.

Knowing all events, past, present and future, He chose to show the authors of the bible glimpses of many of those happenings precisely as they will happen and many times when. We call this foretelling of events, prophecy.

There have been many throughout history who have claimed a psychic ability to foretell the future, but the only prophecy that has a 100% accuracy rate are the prophecies in the bible.

God uses prophecy to validate His word and forewarn man to coming events. Most of the bible is prophetic.

For instance the prophecy of the coming Messiah, or Jesus, was prophesied about more than 300 times and all of them were fulfilled exactly in the 1^st century AD.

To validate with certainty that Jesus was the Messiah lets discuss the probability of if only the 8 simplest prophesies regarding the Messiah.

1) Micah 5:2 – the Messiah would be from Bethlehem.

2) Zechariah 9:9 – The triumphant entry into Jerusalem prior to crucifixion.

3) Zechariah 11:12 – Betrayal for 30 pieces of silver.

4) Zechariah 11:13 – The casting away of the 30 pieces of silver.

5) Zechariah 13:6 – The wounds of unbelief after resurrection, referring to Thomas.

6) Isaiah 53:7 – Not opening his mouth to defend himself.

7) Isaiah 53:9 – Died among the wicked, but buried among the rich.

8) Psalms 22:16 – Piercing of the hands and feet.

These prophesies were not events that routinely or normally happened. Many were out of the norm for the time period or customs of the day making them stand out even more. How much more unlikely that they would all 8 happen to one man, much less over 300!

The validation of Jesus as the Messiah is certain. These prophesies are exact because God was there already as they were happening and could relay them exactly as they would occur.

---

[1] 1. always present everywhere: continuously and simultaneously present throughout the whole of creation 2.found everywhere: present or seemingly present all the time or everywhere.

Nancy Jackson, daydreamer extraordinaire
DAY JOB LINKS...
Dreams Do Come True
Dragonfly In Amber Designs

My Life As A Pot

I’ve been writing a lot lately about God’s love for us and how we should reject condemnation because it is never from God. It is always from the enemy or our own insecurities. This type of writing is encouraging and uplifting and causes us to move closer to the Lord.

Some of my posts have talked about being yoked with Him and letting Him lead and guide you through life which removes so much of the stress regarding bad choices and wrong decisions. How wonderfully freeing this is!

It has all seemed like such a wonderful message. A true feel good message. It is a message I am clinging to and more than grateful for. If you had known me and the path I have taken, you would understand much more my eternal gratitude for this message.

But I want to talk about something else today. I had another blog on being yoked planned, but couldn't excape the strong feeling that this is what I needed to write for today. My prayer is to keep it blog length. It will be a challenge because the period of time I want to talk to you about in my life, is packed beyond belief with life truths that I could write an entire book about and maybe someday will, should God deem it beneficial to others. So I am warning you now, this may be a longer than normal blog. But bear with me. I believe that you will be blessed.

I want to try and set up one pinpoint in time and hopefully if you are going through a very difficult time right now and have difficulty trusting God to lead you, this will help you.

I’ve been married more than once. My husband now, Rick, is my sweetheart. I love him so very much and he is such a wonderful man. I thank God for him every single day. I truly do. I am very thankful that life has led me to him. I wouldn’t change a thing.

But several years ago before I met Rick, I was married to someone else. Before I married this man I was conscious of making wrong choices and was terribly fearful of making them. When I met the man I just referred to I prayed diligently daily asking God if this was a relationship I should be in or not. I did not want to be in a relationship that I had chosen and was not God’s will. I knew how horribly that could/would turn out.

So I prayed, and prayed and prayed some more. We dated. He prayed. We counseled with pastors at the church and got the green light. They all knew us well. We were so in love and were best friends.

A hiccup on my career road led us to move to Arizona. It was not a popular decision for my friends and family, but I loved living there and do not regret the move. I still today feel like I am coming home every time I go back there.

I loved our life there. I loved our life together there. But one day because of several extenuating circumstances we decided to start migrating back towards Oklahoma. A decision was made that he would move back before me, go to work and then I would job hunt long distance and then move back, too.

So we separated by distance for a time to achieve a goal. Did we pray about the decision or did we just reason it out and act? I don’t know. What would I do different looking back on it? I don’t know.

But not long after that he left me. He suddenly and abruptly ended our marriage. We were so in love and then, it was over and done and I was left reeling. There was no warning, no preparation or opportunity to build up anger that would help buffer the pain. There was only pain.

So,

My husband whom I loved dearly just up and left me.

My job ended and I was laid off.

I began to suffer physically, literally hemorrhaging on a daily basis.

The church I moved back home to, suggested that I ‘take some time’ and not volunteer while allowing him to continue to do so.

The person who had been my best girlfriend for years would no longer speak to me.

I know there were also other things that I just prefer to not mention right now. The items listed above were enough. I felt I had no one, no money, no health and no purpose.

But the one thing I did know, without a doubt, was that I had the Father and His loving son Jesus and the comforter – the Holy Spirit. I literally clung to the trinity daily. Each day I would spend hours with Him and He would talk to me. I believe I heard His voice more during that period of time than ever before or since.

The hardest part of the entire ordeal for me was that I had prayed before marrying this man and had asked God if I should do it. I felt so good about the decision because God confirmed it on so many levels to me. I was convinced that that marriage would not only succeed, but flourish. After all, it had God’s stamp of approval all over it.

So why did it end and why was I hurting so badly? Why oh why? I cannot describe the pain I felt. I am sure each one of you reading this can relate to a point in your own life when you have felt pain on this level.

I struggled with feelings of betrayal from God. Why would He tell me to go ahead, knowing that it would come to this, knowing that he would leave me and I would have to suffer like this? I really did not understand.

I am a survivor. I’m a shake the dust off of my feet kind of girl. So, I pulled up my big girl panties and proceeded to get on with my life. You don’t want me, fine! I’ll be better than fine without you. Then God said, “I want you to pray for your marriage.”

I groaned and we had an argument. I didn’t want to think about him much less pray for our marriage. That would take love, forgiveness and effort, none of which I was willing to muster up at that time.

I try to be an obedient child to Father God and I truly did love my husband so I agreed to pray for our marriage. I once again had hope. If God was asking me to pray for our marriage, then certainly that marriage would be restored, right? So I dove in with both feet believing and praying.

Then one morning God said, “Just pray for him personally, not your marriage”. My reasoning was that if I prayed for him then the marriage would naturally be restored, right?

What I found was that praying for him kept my emotions raw. There was no healing or moving on. Praying for him fervently in the manner we are called to pray kept the deep love I had for him alive, and the pain even more alive. The raw pain I felt when he first left was experienced over and over on an almost daily basis.

During the whole process of the divorce he kept making unreasonable demands on me. I was asked to pay him $250 a month for two years even though I was the one who had supported us while we were married. He had worked some, but finding a job in Arizona was difficult for him. I understood that, but not him asking me for money.

I went into fight mode. Then God said, “Agree to pay it.” I said, “But it is wrong”! God said, “Let him do you wrong”.

I was in the worst nightmare you could imagine. I could NOT get my head around it all. I am not an advocate of allowing your bible to fall open to get a word from the Lord, but this particular morning it just happened to fall open to this…

1 Corinthians 6:7 (Amplified Bible)

⁷ Why, the very fact of your having lawsuits with one another at all is a defect (a defeat, an evidence of positive moral loss for you). Why not rather let yourselves suffer wrong and be deprived of what is your due? Why not rather be cheated (defrauded and robbed)? CLICK HERE TO READ IN CONTEXT

So I agreed to pay up even though I had no job at the time. It just seemed that insult kept adding to injury. As I said, to list everything would take pages. But let me get to the point.

One day during the midst of all of this I was out back on my deck. I still remember it vividly. It was several months into this ordeal and was about sundown. I remember the intense pain I was still feeling. It was almost debilitating. I was literally doubling over in physical pain.

I asked God, “When will it stop? When will it be over? I feel like I can’t endure this any longer! Where are you? Please make it stop”! I was begging and crying out to God.

This is what God said so clearly. Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but nevertheless profound.

“You are like a pot being fired in a kiln. I know you have been through the fire many times, and this feels like the worst, but the more precious a pot is to be, the more firings it must go through. And just like the potter, I will not remove you before it is time. But know that I am here standing right outside the kiln and I will not leave you.”

He then began to flood my heart and mind with all the things I knew about pottery and clay and firing and porcelain versus standard clay pots. I knew I wanted to be porcelain, precious, and that took going through the fire many many times. You see I loved my Father God and I wanted to be His workmanship, the finest workmanship. So I submitted myself to Him while hoping this would be the last firing.

Then something happened to break through the pain. A thought – 'So, my life as a pot!' I smiled. I almost chuckled. But the pain eased and once again I was at peace.

When we yoke ourselves to Jesus, He will take us on the path we should go on. That doesn’t mean there will never be pain. We all experience pain. Even if you decide to choose your own path, you will not avoid the pain that life provides. But if you yoke yourself with Jesus the pain you experience will have a purpose.

Porcelain Vase

The time period I have described above lasted for about two full years and our marriage was never reconciled. It was the most painful journey I have ever been on, but through that time I wasn’t just fired like a porcelain pot, I was forged like steel. The strength that God forged in me during that time is priceless – precious. I would do it all over again, yet pray to God that I never have to.

Still, I know that pain will come, but I believe being yoked with Jesus will guide us away from the meaningless pain of our own silly decisions and blinded sight, into life experiences where the pain will shape us. I don’t believe all pain is the firing kiln. I believe a lot of the pain we experience is avoidable, from wrong decisions or disobedience, from wanting to go our own way. Being in control of our own path usually leads us into unnecessary pain rather than away from it.

So if you are going through pain today, ask the Father to send the Comforter. If you are in pain from your own poor choices, ask Him to deliver you out. He will. If you are in pain from being in the kiln, seek Him to show you how to let the pain fire you properly and forge you into steel.

If you need prayer today because you are in pain, please email me. I will pray for you. I will stand with you.

Nancy Jackson, daydreamer extraordinaire
DAY JOB LINKS...
Dreams Do Come True
Dragonfly In Amber Designs

Go and Sin No More

John 8:10-11
10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”

11 “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” Click to read in full context

This is a beautiful story of a woman caught in the act of adultery receiving no condemnation from Jesus.

But I think that this message of freedom from condemnation has turned into a precept of the church that ultimately brings more condemnation than we could have ever dreamed.

First of all, before I explain my statement above, let’s think about the time period here. Jesus had come; He was here on the earth working in His ministry. But He had not yet died on the cross. So, the Levitical and Rabbinical laws were still in effect.

When the men brought the woman to Jesus to gain agreement in stoning her, they already knew that they had full right to do so under the Law. Breaking any of the Law at any time brought about severe punishment. Remember, it was a law that was literally impossible to keep. Failure was a certainty.

Jesus was the only one at that time who had the power to forgive sins. We may never know what He wrote in the sand, but it was powerful enough for the men to drop their stones and walk away.

Then he turns to the woman and says that He does not condemn her. Wow, that is the love and forgiveness of our Jesus. Then He said, “Go and sin no more”.

We have used this story as one of the foundational pillars of the church. “You are forgiven, NOW go and sin no more.”

If you are a true believer and follower of Christ, I’ll just wager that you have struggled with this very thing. Not the forgiveness part, but the ‘sin no more’ part. Unfortunately when we DO sin again, we feel condemned because we were instructed to ‘sin no more’. It is a cycle that continually repeats itself.

Well, let’s just talk about this a little more.

Remember that when this situation happened EVERYONE was still under the law. It was a time when a sacrifice was still needed to temporarily cover your sin. God’s holiness cannot leave sin unpunished.

When Jesus told the woman to go and sin no more, He did desire that she sin no more. He did not want her to be condemned and therefore stoned to death. Because under the law, should she be caught committing adultery again, she would be put to death by stoning.

Do you think that she walked away from there and never committed any kind of sin again? Now keep in mind that sin was defined by the law and there were thousands of laws to be kept. No, I believe it was impossible for her to not sin again, but I do believe that she never committed adultery again.

What we have envisioned when reading this passage or hearing this word taught was the ideal that once we are forgiven, we are to go and never sin again. This has put a huge weight of condemnation on the body of Christ that was never meant to be there.

If all that needed to be done to eliminate sin was for Jesus to tell someone, go and sin no more, then there would have been no need for Him to have died on the cross. But He HAD to die on the cross, because we cannot eliminate sin from our lives by sheer will and a desire to not sin.

Jesus freed this woman from condemnation; He never meant to place a burden on her that she could not resolve, thus further condemning her.

John 3:17
17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. Click to read in full context

Jesus was sent to free us from condemnation forever! He came so that when we DO sin, and we will, we will not be condemned.

As I mentioned above, God is a holy and pure God and must punish sin. But His desire was to have a people who were completely free from the punishment of that sin. Being free from condemnation, we can approach Him freely and in that freedom there is power to do that which He has called us to do.

So what was the answer to be? To provide the perfect sacrifice, once and for all, receiving the full punishment of all sins committed, past, present and future! When we sin, and we will, the punishment has already been administered. We can go free, knowing that we will not be condemned and punished.

Now some might say that this freedom will cause us to sin even more! But in fact the opposite is true. When we continually focus on sinning, or rather not sinning, it creates in us an even stronger desire to sin. We then feel condemned and it is a continual struggle that Jesus truly died to set us free from.

To bring this thought closer to home and make it real to you, what do you struggle with or consider to be sin in your life? Do you desire to lose weight and feel that your overeating is sin? Do you battle with constantly trying to ‘be good’? You work hard to do right, eat right, so that you will be right. But the end result is always the same fatigue and a feeling of failure. The more you focus on it, but harder it becomes to do what you feel is right. It is a cycle of self condemnation that must be broken.

You could replace that scenario above with a host of others such as gossip, alcoholism, lying, and on and on and on. The harder you try to do right, the less right you do.

BUT, there is good news! When we realize we really are truly free from the condemnation or punishment of sin, it does not create in us a desire to just go out and sin, but an overwhelming love for the Father who sent His only son Jesus. That type of pure love and acceptance give us the power (grace) to not sin. Not from our own power or effort, but from the grace that is continually flowing from Him through us.

His grace is sufficient. We can’t conjure it up. We can’t make it happen. But by clinging to the one who IS grace and focusing on Him, grace will automatically flow from Him through you. There is NOW no condemnation.

Romans 8:1
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. Click to read in full context

That is why Paul said in regards to his ‘thorn in the flesh’, His grace truly is sufficient. Sufficient to overpower any thorn without condemnation.

2 Corinthians 12:9
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Click to read in full context

So when you tell yourself to break free from your stronghold of sin, don’t tell yourself, I’ll just work harder and be stronger. Tell yourself, you are forgiven and not condemned. Feel the power of freedom and forgiveness and watch that stronghold melt away.

Nancy Jackson, daydreamer extraordinaire DAY JOB LINKS... Dreams Do Come True Dragonfly In Amber Designs

so what am I supposed to do?

I’ve been writing a lot lately about resting in Christ and abandoning works of the flesh. About how we aren’t to work to be approved in God’s eyes; just receive His grace and favor. If this is all a new concept to you, as it once was to me, then you may be asking yourself, “So, what is it that I AM supposed to do?”

Without a doubt we are to do something, so how is it we can be certain that what we are doing is truly what we should be doing?

I spent the majority of my life agonizing over decisions and fear of doing the wrong thing. I didn’t want to be out of God’s favor and was concerned that I would make the wrong choice, do the wrong thing and there I would be – out of God’s favor.

I spent so much time battling with this through the years. I now look back on that with such sorrow in regards to the time that was wasted when I could have experienced true freedom and in that freedom, touched lives daily, joyfully.

During these struggles I would read verses such as Matthew 11:30 and wonder how that fit with what I was experiencing; working so hard to be just what I thought Christ wanted me to be.

Matthew 11:28-3028 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL CONTEXT

His yoke did not feel light to me and I was weary. I knew God’s grace was freely given, but in my altered perception of grace I thought that once I had received that grace, then I was to ‘be good’ or perform to meet a certain Christian standard which I continually seemed to fall short of.



Well, let’s talk about His yoke and the scripture above. Here it appears a contradiction in terms again. Remember previously when I wrote about ‘laboring to rest’ as it says in Hebrews 4:11-16? CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL CONTEXT

The contradiction is between the words ‘yoke’ and ‘find rest’. The word yoke in the dictionary has many meanings, but the two that stood out to me were these two:

1) A frame designed to be carried across a person's shoulders with equal loads suspended from each end.

2) Something that connects or joins together; a bond or tie.

We have seen pictures of oxen with that heavy wooden yoke across their backs and around their necks. It portrays to us a heavy load and something hard to bear. But we must remember that for a muscled up sturdy ox, the load of the yoke isn’t heavy. It might possibly resemble something like a purse slung over our shoulder or a backpack.

I like #2 – something that connects or joins together; a bond or tie. I consider myself yoked to Him, tied to Him or bonded to Him by my free will.

But let’s talk more about the ox and the wooden yoke we’ve come to picture. I believe that the crowd who were around Jesus in that day understood more completely what He was talking about because they used oxen and knew how to use them to achieve the best results.

This is how it was explained to me. When a farmer would yoke two oxen together they would not take two experienced oxen, but one very experienced, strong and mature ox and one new, younger and weaker.

The purpose of this was that the stronger ox would know the path and be able to pull the weight. The purpose of the younger weaker ox was just to follow along WHEREVER the stronger more experienced ox led.

Basically the younger, weaker ox had no responsibility of choice or decision or power, only the older stronger ox. The weaker one was just to follow.

When I saw this I broke free into another level of freedom. I am JUST to follow. But what if I made a bad decision in my career or home life and pulled to the left? Well, the stronger, more mature ox would pull me back to where I needed to be. In fact, the weaker ox can’t pull the stronger ox at all.

In real life, should the weaker ox pull in another direction the stronger ox would stop until the weaker one would stop pulling in the opposite direction and they would once again begin their journey. In our own lives when we pull in the other direction, Jesus stands there lovingly, patiently waiting for us with no guilt or condemnation.

His love is one that wants to give us our dreams and hearts desires. He is the one who best knows the way to get there and if we will follow His lead, we will. How much time have we wasted pulling against the yoke thinking we knew where we were going and what we were doing while Jesus stood patiently by waiting, ready to resume once we were ready to follow along again!



This is a portrayal of those of us who have chosen to be yoked with Christ Jesus. This is not a picture of those who have chosen otherwise.

If you have made a conscious decision to be yoked with Christ, you do not need to worry about making wrong choices or decisions. That doesn’t mean you won’t, but that when you do, being yoked to Christ will keep you where you need to be.

It is not up to the weaker ox to know the way, just to follow. Follow Christ today and be free.

Nancy Jackson, daydreamer extraordinaire DAY JOB LINKS... Dreams Do Come True Dragonfly In Amber Designs

Patience

Do you think we will ever have all the patience we will need? As for me...

I DOUBT IT!!! Oh my!! Just about the time I see myself exhibiting extreme patience, well then you know how that goes...

But lets consider a few whose patience was more than I can ever hope to achieve.

In John 1:10, 31 and 33 John the Apostle declared that when Jesus came into the world, the world, even John himself, did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah, as the deliverer, as the Word made flesh.

John 1:10 He came into the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him (did not know Him).

John 1:31 And I did not know Him and did not recognize him [myself] …

John 1:33 And I did not know Him nor recognize Him … Amplified

Pondering on this for sometime, curious at how some most assuredly knew and some could not have known or recognized the deity of Jesus as the Messiah.

John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, and his mother Elizabeth, knew and believed when Mary came to her to share the news of Jesus’ conception. For John the Baptist recognized Jesus even from the womb and leapt for joy.

To imagine what directives must have taken place regarding sharing this revelation with others can only be measured by other happenings and statutes in the Word.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven. Amplified

Because there was a specific purpose for the Son of Man to be revealed at a designated time, those who knew could not take it upon themselves to reveal it.

What self control and discipline must have been exercised by these men and women of God, certainly a standard by which to gage our own discipline.

We get so excited over each little new word or revelation or event, immediately seeking out someone to share it with. We feel an instant urge to act on it; to proceed forward accordingly.

I have to ask myself, could I have kept this glorious revelation to myself until the appointed hour, sharing it only with the single person that God chose for it to be shared?

We frequently ask God in prayer over and over for knowledge about our future, our call and our purpose. We ask Him to show us what is ahead for us, usually out of a zealous heart which is willing to follow God’s designated path for us.

But can we be trusted with future revelations? Do we posses the discipline and self control to ‘wait on the Lord’ until His appointed time? Are we content to patiently wait, only preparing for that time and not rushing ahead?

Since He created us, God knows our human nature well. He will give us only what we can be trusted with. Beyond that we must simply wait, trusting Him. Waiting develops trust and when full trust is achieved, the fruit of the Spirit flourishes, particularly self control.

True trust is abiding in Him, waiting. II John 1:9 says that anyone who runs on ahead of God, not abiding in the doctrine of Christ, does not have God.

II John 1:9 Anyone who runs on ahead [of God] and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ [who is not content with what He taught] does not have God … Amplified

God’s purpose for our lives consists of a plan and a time for that plan. When He shows us the plan, we must wait patiently for the time. Attempting to bring to pass the plan in our own time and in our own way, removes the plan out of the will of God. When that happens, the plan is no longer God’s plan because the timing is all wrong.

In our fast paced world, I believe it is much more difficult to wait patiently. God and His purpose for our lives are not instant. By rushing ahead of God we expend unnecessary energy. By waiting on God, we gain strength as it says in Isaiah 40:31.

Isaiah 40:31 But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired. Amplified

But a day will come for the appointed hour.

John 2:1-5 1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited with His disciples to the wedding. 3 And when the wine was all gone, the mother of Jesus said to Him, They have no more wine! 4 Jesus said to her, [Dear] woman, what is that to you are to Me? [What have we in common? Leave it to Me.] My time (hour to act) has not yet come. 5 His mother said to the servants, Whatever He says to you, do it. Amplified

How precious it was that when it was time for Jesus to begin His ministry, the one who knew first, the one who had kept the secret the longest was the one to declare that the time had come. Oh my, what patience.

Nancy Jackson, daydreamer extraordinaire
DAY JOB LINKS...
Dreams Do Come True
Dragonfly In Amber Designs