Presumption

Psalm 19:13
Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be innocent of great transgression.

Presumptuous in the Hebrew is zed, Strongs #2086 which means:
1) arrogant, proud, insolent, presumptuous
a) the arrogant ones (as n coll pl)
b) presumptuous (as adj)

The Collegate Dictionary says this about presumptuous:
Overwhelmingly proud, self confident or venturesome, taking undue liberties, overbold.

In the following verse 14 it tells us:
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.

This is letting us know how we can avoid presumptuous sin, by examining the meditation of our heart, and filtering it through the Lord to make it acceptable to Him. Renewing our mind to the Word of God will be helping us along our way. "What does God say about this?".

Faith is not presumption. Presumption is not faith.

Authentic faith is founded on the promises of God in His Word; it is not presumptuous. "Presumptuous" ideas about faith lead to attidudinal or behavioral sin; to missing the mark of faith's true meaning.
Presumptuous attitudes are present when, in the name of "faith," a person either::
1. Thinks "faith" is wishful thinking or a fanciful attitude, assuming God should relieve all their discomfort and "jump" to their request; or

2. Rejects any responsibility on their part to offer a devoted heart and the commitment to serve Him regardless of their life condition.

Presumption desires the promise of God without living a life for God and is hypocritical in His sight.

To protect from a presumptuous attitude:
1. Root your faith in what God in Christ has provided in His redemption, not on what you might gain through presumptuous "faith" exercises
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

2. Develop your own personal faith, and do not attempt to live off another's faith (as, for example, Sceva's sons did - (Acts 19:14-16)

3. Walk in a faith, growing in an intimate relationship with the Author and Finisher of our faith, so that you are known as His, and found in Him

Hebrews 12:2)
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

John 10:27)
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

Philippians 3:9)
and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith

In a commentary to this passage, it noted that presumption is fighting against God to dare Him to do His worst. Willful sin - blasphemy. The sentence that is past on it is dreadful, they will be cut off, as a deleberate law breaker.

What came to my mind after reading this was the account in Leviticus 10 when Aarons sons did what they wanted in the temple, it cost them their lives.
Also the account of Ananias, with his wife Sapphira when they lied to the Holy Spirit in Acts 5, it also cost them their lives.

II Peter 2:9,10, tells us:
9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,
10 and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries,
11 whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.
12 But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption,
13 and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you

In Numbers 15:30, 31, we're told about what God thinks about pesumptuous sin.
30 'But the person who does anything presumptuously, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one brings reproach on the LORD, and he shall be cut off from among his people.
31 Because he has despised the word of the LORD, and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt shall be upon him.' "

God HELP US not to be high handed, proud, arrogant puffed up, insolent. Help us not to dispise Your Word. HELP US to meditate on Your Word - Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight. Father, it is our desire to live our lives honorably, to please You and to bring every thought captive to the knowledge of Your Word. We LOVE YOU Lord, thank You for hearing the cry of our hearts, in the Name of Jesus.

Coming Out of Trouble

It is important to understand that God knows how to bring you out of trouble. There is nothing God doesn’t know how to handle. Psalms 34 outlines eight steps to follow to come out of trouble.

1. The first thing to do is pray.
Verse four begins, “I sought the Lord.” Your part is to pray and invite Him into your life.

2. You must trust God.“Blessed is the man who trusts in Him” (Psalms 34:8). Put the whole balance of your life, your security, in the Lord. Rely on the character, strength and ability of God to deliver you. Fear and unbelief, which are a lack of trust in God, will hinder or stop you from receiving God’s help.

3. Fear the Lord.
This does not mean to be afraid of Him, but to give Him honor and respect. Take whatever you find in the Word, knowing it is true, and put it into your life. When God speaks, quickly make changes or adjustments.

4. Seek the Lord with all your heart.
Listen to the prompting of the inward witness. The counsel of God will deliver you out of trouble. God will protect you, keeping you safe from injury, harm and destruction. He will preserve you by instructing and teaching you, but you must make the effort to listen and learn. Trusting Him causes His mercy to surround you.

5. Don’t criticize and judge others.
There are two times to pray for a person—when he’s right and when he’s wrong. It is the Lord’s job, not ours, to “bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts” (I Corinthians 4:5). Your part is to “keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit” (Psalms 34:13).

6. Depart from evil.
Psalms 34:14 says, “Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” Consider yourself dead to sin and alive unto God. When sin calls your name, don’t respond to it. When God calls your name, be quick to respond.

7. Determine to do good (verse 14).
You are to be like Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil (Acts 10:38). Be busy doing good, praying and ministering to others.

8. Seek peace.
Don’t be the one who brings discord, quarreling, fighting and strife. Instead, be the one who brings peace, calmness and harmony (verse 14).

Receiving God’s power and deliverance is not automatic. Your deliverance is controlled by how you see God, how you treat God, how you listen to Him and how you obey Him. You must come to a new place of faith and trust in God. You will never be able to fathom with your mind the counsel of the Lord. His wise counsel may even appear to us to be foolishness. But He is far smarter than we are. When you seek God, trust Him, hear His counsel and do what He tells you. He will bring you out of trouble.

Father, HELP US to humble ourselves when need be. Help us to listen to Your Word and honor it in our lives. Thank you for showing us HOW to bring ourselves out of any troublesome situation. We need YOU Lord, we need your HELP, your guiding hand, comfort and forgiveness. Help us not only to GET right, but show us how to STAY right. In Jesus' Name.

The Rapture. The Catching Away. The Gathering Together Unto Him.

Every since I was a little child, I've heard that Jesus is coming soon. It's always been true, and none of know WHEN, not even Jesus. Father will allow Jesus to know WHEN it's time to gather His Bride, and bring us to a great marriage supper of the Lamb.

This passage marks an event that some have termed "The Rapture".
Verse 17 goes on to say:
Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

It's also been called "The Catching Away."
It's also been called "The Gathering together to Him."

In II Thess. 2 we're told:
1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you,
2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.
3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

What exciting times we are living in.

We are living in days where things are happening that none of us on Earth have ever seen before. All around us we hear such things as "The End Times" - "The Last Days." There's danger all around us, and it could cause fear if we allow it.

To insure the safety of our lives and those of our families, we all need to get right and stay right with Jesus.

How do we do that?
John 3:16 tells us:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Romans 3:23 says:
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Romans 6:23 says:
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 10:8-10
8 But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Over in Psalm 91 we're told how to dwell safely.

1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust."
3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.
4 He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.
8 Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
10 No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.
12 In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
14 "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation."

FIRST He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. and the benefits of that decision bring us PROTECTION that is mentioned in the next 15 verses. WHAT WONDERFUL PROMISES we have here.

God thought of everything.

II Timothy 3:1 tells us:
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come

Even though we're living in strange - perilous times...
peril meaning:
1. exposure to injury, loss, or destruction; grave risk; jeopardy; danger
2. something that causes or may cause injury, loss, or destruction.

....we're shown HOW we can be safe.

Father, THANK YOU for showing us Your Son, Jesus. THANK YOU for HELPING US and showing us how to be safe. Help us to use Your Word to lead us all of our days. We need YOU, Lord. We look forward to the time we can BE WITH YOU, and in the mean time, I ask You to speak to our hearts to show us how to get right and stay right with You. In Jesus' Name.

Hungry and Thirsty?

Haven't we all been invited to either eat or drink something and realize that we're neither hungry or thirsty, and declined the invitation?
When we have an "invitation" to eat and drink from the Lord and His Word, and realize that we're not interested...what have we filled ourselves with? We're full of something if we're not hungry for the Lord.

We've got to come to a place to where we are fed up with how things in our lives are, in order to begin to make changes.

What happens between the time we've asked God for some answers and say "Amen" and the time we can say "There it is!". None of us, will be able to reach "There it is!" unless we are hungry and thirsty after God and His Word.

GOD HELP US!!!

There are seven things that we can put on a check list that will help to remind us how to stay on course and to remain hungry and thirsty after God. They are not original with me...but I have heard them from a minister named Jerry Savelle, of late.

#1. Get into God's presence.
We don't want to be in an arena of doubt, fear and discouragement. We need to surround ourselves with Godly teaching, Praise and Thanksgiving, get good praise and music going into us.

#2. Don't rely on what I already know about God.
Keep learning about Him and His Word. We've got to understand that we cannot live on yesterday or yesteryears food we've had from God. Need FRESH MANNA.

#3. Deepen your relaitonship with God.
We need to become more intimate with God than we have ever been.

#4. Press Into Jesus.
Cast down worry, frustration, doubt, unbelief with the Word of God in your mouth.
Opposition against us, is designed by the devil to discourage us. We cannot afford discouragement while we're waiting for "There it is!". When we're on the brink of a breakthrough in our lives, satan will certainly bring what would appear to be overwhelming circumstance that we've got to be prepared to pull down with God's Word.

#5. Rekindle your desire for God's Word.
Purposefully make it a point to stay in God's Word. It's there that we'll be encouraged - receive instruction, and be motivated by His Mighty Word. It will always point us to victory that He's provided for us through the finished work of Jesus. The thing satan hates more than anything else is one that is in the Word. The worst thing we can do between "Amen" and "There it is!" is listen to the lies of the devil. he will continually try to distract us and keep us from God's Word.

#6. Make sure you keep your life pure.
Discouragement can lead to compromise. If we're not feeding on the Word, staying in His presence we can open the door to sin. Don't open a door to the devil in any way. There's much at stake here, when we're on the brink of victory the devil will do what he can to distract us, and cause us to compromise our lives.

#7. Give Yourself to Prayer
It's hard to get discouraged when you're in communication with God. It's two way communication. Me talking to and also listening to God. We're to keep ourselves encouraged. We're to get our mind off ourselves and our needs, and pray for others.

Father, I ask You to HELP US. Help us not to be so full on everything else around us and give other things the place that is meant for ONLY YOU! Help us to BECOME and STAY Hungry and Thirsty after YOU, In Jesus' Name.

In Remembrance Of Me

I Corinthians 11:25, 26
25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes.

Different churches make use of communion in different ways, at different times. All the Lord said was that as often as you do it, do it in remembrance of Him.

While growing up I understood that I needed to get my life right with the Lord BEFORE taking communion, as well we should, as Scripture bears that out. But that's not all what this is about.

Taking Communion is not just a ritual that most do once a month, twice a month or even each week.
It's not a ceremonial thing.
It's a LIFE thing.

What we are doing is reminding ourselves of the Body and Blood of Jesus, taking it, the New Covenant that He cut FOR US.

All that is in the provision of that Covenant is OURS.
Do we need healing?
Do we need peace?
Do we need forgiveness?
Do we need our lives in God's order?
Do we need HELP FROM GOD?

Whatever it is that I need, while I'm receiving communion, I call out to God for it.
When Jesus came, shed His Blood and died, was raised from the dead - He bought us salvation. Salvation is not just our ticket out of hell. THANK GOD FOR THAT TOO. But salvation is EVERYTHING we need from God's bosom in THIS life. He thought of it all.

None of us can put one foot in front of the other by ourselves. :)
All the provision that He's made, He also put it in one of His names. El Shaddi, which means the all beasted one. When a baby comes into our arms and a mother nurses that child, that breast milk has everything that child needs.

God has everything that we need in our lives. Often we don't even KNOW what we need.
While we find ourselves close to the Lord, calling out to Him and bearing our heart to Him, His provision is THERE for US ALL, all the time. We can depend upon Him meeting those needs.

In the Gospels we're told to pray God's will be done in earth as it is in heaven.
There's no sin, sickness, disease, lack, torment...etc etc., in heaven. I don't need provision for those things in heaven. I NEED THEM NOW, in this life.

That BLESSED Covenant! How wonderful to be able to call out to God for all it is to us. Often, after praying, I'll reach for communion elements to seal my prayers in His Blood and through the provision of His Covenant.

In Galatians 3:13-14 we're told:
13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"),
14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Jesus took the curse of this life for us. Thank God!

I want to encourage you to reach for the elements of communion often. Enjoy the blessings in the New Covenant Jesus bought for us. Don't allow the power of communion be relegated to a mere ritual. It's powerful. It's lifegiving.

Father, thank You for sending Jesus FOR US. Jesus, thank You for being obedient unto Your own death. Thank YOU for providing everything that we need in THIS LIFE. HELP US to look to YOU the author and finisher of our faith, our GREAT provider and Mighty deliverer. Teach us how to pray, Lord. Help us to understand what this "communion" is all about, and make use of it the way YOU intended for us to. :) Lord, thank You! In Jesus' Name.