You seek me, but do not find me – Are you seeking Him with all your heart?

   I posted this back in December, but have felt strongly that I needed to repost these words.  It’s time to break away from anything that may be hindering our walk with the Lord.  Hebrews 12 tells us to”run the race to win, throwing off any weights or sins” that are slowing us down. Is there anything slowing you down?  King David prayed and asked the Lord to search his heart and show him any hidden sins he was unaware of.  Each one of us should also ask the same.

November 2012:
       You don’t realize that I am watching you. I am watching all of you. Your sinful deeds are all around you, and I,the Lord, see them all. You entertain each other with wickedness and lies and many of you are aflame with lust. Yet, as I watch and listen, not one of you cries out to me. You continue to mingle with godless foreigners and you made yourself as worthless as a half baked cake. Are you for me or do you long for the things of this world? Have they filled your heart so much that you no longer desire me? Haven’t you read the warnings? My people have become lukewarm.
Do you cowardly cringe when you say the name of my Son Jesus? If you deny Him, He will surely deny you before ME. What sorrow awaits those who desert ME. For I sent My only Beloved Son FOR YOU, Yet you consider it as nothing. My fury is about to be poured out like boiling water from an overturned pot. How much longer shall I call out to you?
My heart weeps for you. If you would only open your eyes and see how much I LOVE YOU. You seek me, but you don’t find me. You have looked everywhere but you your sins have weighed you down, you carry them around as ropes tied to you. When will you confess?- for I am an all forgiving God- and Savior. But you don’t admit your wrongs. Have you not heard that there is no sacrifice that will cover your deliberate continual sinning? You don’t cry out to me with sincere hearts.

       Hear the Word of the Lord:

The Lord says :”for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them.”  Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; “I called you so often, but you wouldn’t come. I reached out to you, but you paid no attention. You ignored my advice and rejected the correction I offered. So I will laugh when you are in trouble! I will mock you when disaster overtakes you— when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster engulfs you like a cyclone, and anguish and distress overwhelm you. “When they cry for help, I will not answer.  Though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me. For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the Lord.  They rejected my advice and paid no attention when I corrected them. Therefore, they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way, choking on their own schemes.  For simpletons turn away from me—to death. Fools are destroyed by their own complacency.   But all who listen to me will live in peace,untroubled by fear of harm.” Proverbs 1:24-33 Ez 11:5

“The arrogance of Israel testifies against her; Israel and Ephraim will stumble under their load of guilt. Judah, too, will fall with them.  When they come with their flocks and herds
to offer sacrifices to the Lord, they will not find him, because he has withdrawn from them. They have betrayed the honor of the Lord, bearing children that are not his. Now their false religion will devour them  along with their wealth Hosea 5:5- do your children belong to Him? are you raising them up in the Word of the Lord?

“His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us.  For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’  And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone. “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now He commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him.  For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:27

 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Hebrews 11:6 luke 11

 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:¹¹ There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:   Galatians 1:10   

For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him Ezra 8:22 

The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts   The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God    When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek  God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.  Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart A scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not: but knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth. Proverbs 14:6 .Psalm 119:2 Psalm 53:2 Psalm 10:4 Psalm 14:2  Psalm 27:8

 I asked the Lord; “Lord, what weights do I have that slow me down – what hinders my race?” (I had, on my own wisdom, listed plenty of things that I Thought were hindering me) He told me that my thoughts get in the way. Really? I asked the Lord, what thoughts? I was scared to hear the answer…but He told me that I feel unworthy to go to him when I have sinned. He said ” I love you”- and He wants all of us to run back to Him – not to hide feeling condemned. I wonder if others feel the same way? The Lord was absolutely right and opened my eyes to this. Sometimes I don’t want to pray or read my bible because I remind myself of what I did earlier. Maybe I don’t want to go to the Lord because I don’t want to face or remember what I did. I guess that is the moment when we really need to go back to Him. If we ask Him, He will show us. Set your mind and all your being to seek Him with all your heart and run to win- throwing off anything that slows us down- distractions, sins, thoughts, addictions- go to the throne. He is waiting for you.

Spirit Fall by Chris Tomlin – Pentecost song- Have a blessed day

Thank Marilyn for this link 🙂

and another beautiful song

Thanks, Pete at Natsab.wordpress.com for sharing this beautiful song 🙂

Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Psalm 23 New discovery!!!!!!

     Sometimes, when I see a sermon or teaching on Psalm 23, I quickly pass it by. I mean…..what more can I really learn here?  Don’t get me wrong, I love Psalm 23! I’ve had it memorized since I was 7 years old. I say it to myself often and teach it to my children. I recite it when I shop: “ I shall not want”, I recite it when I’m scared at night: “I will fear no evil”, I say it when I’m hyper: “He leads me along still waters”, I remember all my blessings and say “thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over”, I say it when those around me are angry or disapprove of my christian beliefs “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies” and sometimes for no reason at all, I will say out loud “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life”. I love it. I’ve heard all the sermons, done all the studies, and I thought, what more can there be?

   Recently I was finishing up a bible study on Psalms at Sheridan House Ministries . The ending study was Psalm 23. I thought, really? Can’t I do something new?  What more can I learn here? I sat down to answer the questions and decided to change my thoughts. I said to myself, I am going to dig and dig into this until I find something new…and I DID!!! Super cool!….. and so what if I’m not the first, I mean it has been written for 3000 years, but still! I’m happy…

The Lord is my Shepherd
Thy Ruling Scepter and thy Staff to lean on, they comfort me

 And here’s my discovery- or theory:  The Shepherd, the rod and the staff may symbolize – The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

And here is why…..

I.The word “rod” from Psalm 23 is “Shebet” in Hebrew (H7626) and has 4 meanings:

          1- Sceptre:ruling scepter
          2- Branch
          3-Stick for fighting or to punish the Nations
          4-Tribe/ruling tribe

 Sceptre: (Shebet used 10X in scripture at a scepter):Scepter means rule or ruling power. Look at the verses below and you will see that each verse with Shebet as scepter speaks of the Messiah: 

The sceptre (shebet) shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes, and in Numbers 24:17  Balaam (the one who beat the talking donkey) prophesied: “I perceive Him, but far in the distant future. A star will rise from Jacob , a scepter (Shebet) will emerge from Israel” Balam prophesied this of a distant ruler-called shebet- the Rod” Gen 49:10

 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Hebrews 1:8 KJV

Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever.  You rule with a scepter of justice. You love justice and hate evil.  Therefore God, your God, has anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else Myrrh, aloes, and cassia perfume your robes.  In ivory palaces the music of strings entertains you. Kings’ daughters are among your noble women.  At your right side stands the queen,  wearing jewelry of finest gold from Ophir! (Wow! This reminds me of us, the bride of Christ, and the Wedding feast of the Lamb.- and buy from me gold- so much in this verse!- He rules with a scepter of Justice, God has anointed Him with Oil of Joy) Ps 45:6-10

New Testament proof to back up the kingship: The angel spoke this to Mary  “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Luke 1:32-33, Luke 3:23-34, Revelation 5:5  “And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof Jacob”

   What does this prove? It proves in Numbers, that a ruler, shebet, will rise from Israel/ Jacob. We know this is Jesus and confirmed in Luke 1 when the Angel tells Mary that her son will rule the house of Jacob forever and in Luke 3 and Matthew 1 we are given the genealogy of Jesus which goes back to Judah, Jacob, and Abraham. Revelation’s verse also confirms that He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the root of David- the Lamb, the only one worthy enough to loose the seven seals. So we can conclude that Shebet in this verse represents Jesus, the Son of God.These verses are about Jesus- The Ruler, the Shebet- the Rod in Psalm 23.

2- Branch and who is the branch?- It’s Jesus!!!! Look at the verses below using the word Shebet as branch:

 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:  But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked Is 11:1-4

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch , and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. Jeremiah 23:5

In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land Jeremiah 33:15

 It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth (are you going to be happy about this)? it contemneth (rejected or cast off) the rod(rule) of my son, as every tree. This verse is a warning from the Lord about the slaughter about to come on the people because of their sins. He asks- are you going to be happy about this?  It varies according to translations – but the original says they cast off or rejected the rule (shebet/rod) of the son– interesting. Ez 21:3 -10

3-Stick for fighting or to punish the Nations– sounds like the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God and the Word was God and was with God and that is Jesus!  Also Revelation 19:11 comes to mind. Also
Is 10:5, 10:15, 10:24, 14:5 mention Shebet at a Rod of punishment

The king proclaims the Lord’s decree:“The Lord said to me, ‘You are my son. Today I have become your Father. Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance,the whole earth as your possession. You will break them with an iron rod (shebet-sceptre)  and smash them like clay pots.’” Psalm 2:7-9

4-Tribe/ruling tribe.140x  The ruling tribe was Israel and out of Israel came Judah and out of Judah shall come a ruling scepter from the house of David and His name shall  be called wonderful! Counselor! Mighty God!

II. Who is the Shepherd in the Old Testamant? 

For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.  As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. ez 3411-12

See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.  He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young is 40:11-

By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. ²² Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people Exodus 13:21

The Lord is my Shepherd. Psalm 23

O God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture? ps74:1

Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones Zechariah 13:7 

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth Psalm 80:1

III. Does the STAFF represent the Holy Spirit? (H4938) mish‛ênâh mish‛eneth: means support of every kind, to lean on. The staff was used to lean on, to strengthen, and help when the shepherd got tired. That is what the Holy Spirit does for us – and much, much more. The Holy Spirit supports us, guides us, and leads us unto the truth- just as a staff would be used to lead the sheep.

 And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit 1 Corinthians 2:4

 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. Romans 8:26

 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.  He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.  All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” John 16:13-15

The church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged(comforted) by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers. Acts 9:31

“If you love me, obey my commandments.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate (comforter, consoler) who will never leave you.  He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth.  John 14:15-21

The Spirit of God within me- convicts and shows me when I’ve been wrong, teaches me, leads me along the best path for my life, tells me what the Father says,  gives me strength, and loves me. The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth, strengthens our spirit when we are weak and tired(Eph 3) Helps us obey the truth (1Peter 1) When I cannot rely on my own strength, the Holy Spirit is always there for me. The Holy Spirit fills me with love, power, and a sound mind. With the Spirit of God, there is no fear. In Him I rely on, I trust, I lean on and I follow.

  John 3:14  And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

The Lord is my Shepherd
Thy Ruling Scepter and thy Staff to lean on, they comfort me

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. Amen and Amen.

He will not shout or break the weakest reed: Isaiah 42:1-3

He will not shout
    or raise his voice in public.
 He will not crush the weakest reed
    or put out a flickering candle.
    He will bring justice to all who have been wronged
Isaiah 42

 

     This verse was like a sword to me one day, surely it sliced between bone and marrow. There was no escaping or making excuses for my behavior.

     Let me explain…..

           A pair of my favorite white pants went missing at the dry cleaners- and in it’s place- were a pair of worn out white pants that looked like they were from 1980- and they were the same size….hmmmm. My husband usually picks up the dry cleaning so he mentioned the situation a few times to the staff, but they insisted we had the right pants. I decided to go in, return the wrong pants and see if they could look for mine. The woman at the counter insisted that her tickets don’t lie and angrily told me that the worn out pants I had in my hand were mine. (oh and she was the same size as me- you know I’m thinking she took my pants- I know I’m crazy! Over a pair of pants)  So anyways, the conversation got heated as she yelled about how tickets don’t lie, but what really irked me was her! And her attitude…so I gave it back to her- and said: please, don’t insult me, I know my clothes. She just about jumped over the counter and growled “don’t insult me”, so long story short- I raised my voice and wasn’t nice

 Later that day….       I went to my parents house for my mom’s birthday. I began washing dishes and called all the kids over to help dry the dishes- it was grandma’s birthday. They all came over and began to help out except for my one niece, who at the time was 10 years old. She watched as we all worked away and replied to me nonchalantly, “Oh sorry, I have too much to do, I can’t help you”.  I replied; “Really? You can’t dry 5 dishes for  your grandmother?”.  She, either ignoring me or blind to the smoking fumes coming off my head, said calmly; “Yea (pause and stare) sorry, I can’t, I just have too much to do”. She turned and sat on the couch in front of us as we busily worked away cleaning up the kitchen.  Ms. “too busy”  sat and watched us as she tapped her pencil on her chin the entire time- pretending to be Aristotle deep in thought. I was livid! I was grumbling my thoughts aloud to my helpers- well, I blew up- told her how rude and disrespectful she was and that I knew Exactly! What she was up to……….. Oh whatever- like you’re a saint-

I began to pray:  

  The day was coming to an end and super sister Christian me went to my prayer place. I began to pray, but something wasn’t right. “Lord, where are you? I feel like you are so far away.” There was silence. I didn’t feel that close presence I usually feel when I pray. “Lord, where are you? Why aren’t you listening?” I asked again. I sat in silence, wondering why I felt like something wasn’t right. Suddenly, I heard within my heart:

“look what you did today” Uhmmmm, I thought, ooooookay….yeaaaahhhh- okay Lord, the dry cleaning lady..and I heard again:

“and your niece” Ouch! I didn’t like that! So I told the Lord; “But God- I was right and they were wrong” and I heard the Lord tell me:

“It doesn’t matter who was right and who was wrong”  I replied “but I’m right, I’m right, I’m right” and the Lord responded to me again;

“what matters is that you hurt them”. Waaaaaa! That did not feel good! In fact, I didn’t like it.

I ran away, I didn’t want to admit my fault

   I said to myself; “I  think I’ll pray later and just read my bible for now.”   I sat down and opened up my bible to wherever, hoping to get a super feel good verse- I opened up to Isaiah 42:3

He will not shout or raise His voice
(what! I did this today, okay, calm down -it’s just a weird coincidence that I opened here)

He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle
(oh no! I suddenly realized I had hurt someone who was already hurting! The parents of my young niece had just separated and she was far from her father and hurting deeply.)

He will bring justice to all who have been wronged.
(oh great! Are you serious? I have to fix this mess I made? I have to say I’m sorry? I didn’t like this)

I ran away again
       I decided this was just a weird coincidence. I decided to flip to the New Testament to find a feel good parable to ponder or some other good words for the day. I flipped over to the New Testament and guess what I landed on? Matthew 12:19, I’m thinking – this is going to be good- and I read………

He will not fight or shout or raise his voice in public
(Whaaaat! For real? Are you kidding me?)

He will not crush the weakest reed

or put out a flickering candle
(great!, just great! I can’t run away from this. I need to face this if I want to get right with the Lord)

He will cause justice to be victorious.

  

No more running away, I had to acknowledge what I had done
 I took my humbled self back to my prayer time and told the Lord that was not real happy about this or what I did , but I will be obedient and apologized. Then the Holy Spirit reminded me : “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you,  leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”

I thought to myself: Please tell me I heard that wrong….. that had to be in my brain, so I began to pray again and heard it again… “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you,  leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift

    So I had to humble my obnoxious self and say I was sorry to the people!!!!!!! Now for sure I’m an alien – not of this world- but that’s my story. While I’m embarrassing myself, Ill share another verse that would smack me in the face for about 10 years in a row until I finally learned to behave. It was Psalm 52:1-3

Why do you boast about your crimes, great warrior?
    Don’t you realize God’s justice continues forever?
(Uhhmmmm, yes, I did just boast about my obnoxious self)

^….Your tongue cuts like a sharp razor;
(oh dear, God is watching me again. Im in big trouble! Big trouble!)

………. You love evil more than good
(oh no! I do! This is not good!)

 Thank God!  The Lord changes me day by day and I’m not who I used to be- “ Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ”  Sometimes I wonder if rudeness is contagious like the yeast of the Pharisees – wickedness spreads like wildfire. It’s so easy to fall off track in this world full of sin and wickedness. I’ve heard people say S.Florida has the rudest city in the US- and certainly I’ve run into a few this week. I guess at times, I put up a barrier to tolerate some and in doing so, I can become rude and hurtful too.

“anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you,  leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

“When you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.

He will not shout
    or raise his voice in public.
 He will not crush the weakest reed
    or put out a flickering candle.
    He will bring justice to all who have been wronged
Isaiah 42, Matthew 12

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
 Point out anything in me that offends you,
    and lead me along the path of everlasting life

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