Psalms 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
Talking to people about God has become a regular part of our lives. Between meeting people on the boards and in our chat rooms (which you should really come and visit at www.worthychristianforums.com!) and the opportunities which open up in our daily lives, we find ourselves sharing with people from all walks of life – unbelievers, new believers, people who have come and gone from the faith and back again.
It’s so typical of human nature to want all our questions answered before we decide to make any commitments, isn’t it? We want proof that God is real and that the Bible is accurate. We want to know why sometimes those who call themselves Christians do awful things and how God could allow bad things to happen to good people. Sadly, as soon as we think all our questions are answered to satisfaction, undoubtedly more appear. It happens to the best of us.
While they are numerous answers and proofs to these questions, we have come to realize that some things just can’t be answered with our minds – they have to be answered with our hearts. The deepest faith doesn’t come by getting all our questions answered – it comes simply when we open our hearts to the Lord and invite Him to search it through and through.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s good to ask questions and be knowledgeable of our faith, but the fact of the matter is that there are some questions to which we won’t find answers until we can see the Lord face to face and ask Him ourselves.
Regardless of whether we’re new believers, old believers, or not yet believers at all, let all of us open our hearts to God today and ask Him to do a work in us. May you be blessed as the Lord reveals new and wonderful treasures to your hearts.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]When God set apart the Seventh Day it was after He Himself had worked for six, and then rested. Shabbat is therefore, “primordial” in a real sense, something established from the beginning of time. This makes the pattern of working six days and resting on the seventh something fundamental to human existence, and something exceedingly blessed.
The expectation of the coming Kingdom of God is intimately connected with the restoration of Israel and the city of Jerusalem. The preceding passage describes Zion in labor, as once again, we find the metaphor of birth used to convey this scriptural promise. It is a national gestation which will not be aborted, but will come to fruition. But first, before this labor begins…a “male child” is born… This can be none other than Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah, Israel’s King, Himself, arriving beforehand, (on a donkey, at that), quite some time before the labor which gives birth to the nation; and causing the prophet to wonder if a nation can be born in a day.
Yesterday, we began our series of devotions focused on the birthing of the Kingdom. Continuing to develop these insights, let’s look at day 2 of creation and its focus upon water.
Here’s an interesting fact about American church history that you may not know. Years ago, when the first New England churches were designed, they were built with clear windows rather than the stained glass ones we see so often today — and the graveyard was usually built in the churchyard, which would normally be seen from the pulpit. Why?
For several years now, I’ve been focusing on the Kingdom of God, a central theme of Yeshua’s preaching [Luke 4:43], and will be offering a series of devotions on this topic with particular emphasis on our present season, which I believe portends the birthing of this Kingdom. A study of the gestation process from conception to birth yields insight as a natural parallel into the historical process we’re witnessing and taking part in. This theme will be developed in the coming days.
One of the sacrifices mentioned in the Tenach (Old Testament) is mentioned as a Peace sacrifice or sometimes translated as the Thanksgiving sacrifice. It is known as the ‘shalem’ sacrifice. The root behind this word is the word ‘shalom’ whereby we get the word, peace.
From the beginning of Genesis (Genesis 4:4) to the end of the Bible (Revelation 22:3), there is a common theme — the Lamb! In Revelation 6 we read about the Lamb who sits in the midst of the throne — worshiped by all of heaven because the Lamb was worthy to take the book and open the seals therein. The most harmless of creatures — the object of sacrifice, becomes the authority of heaven. Isn’t it interesting that the focal point of heaven is a Lamb?