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Psalm 91 – He is My Place of Safety!

Psalm 91

These are things I need to go over regularly so that they become part of me.  Having these truths embedded in my heart will eliminate fear and enable me to expect and experience the good and wonderful things God has for me.  Knowing these truths and expecting them is an important part of them working for me.  So is saying them.  I should be regularly muttering these things.

If I speak my fears and anxieties and problems more than the promises of God, I am living in fear and not faith.  My life will not be in the place of protection and blessing spoken of in this Psalm.  To enjoy the benefits of this Psalm, I must stay in His presence and I must trust Him and speak what I believe.

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no foe can withstand].  I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust!  For [then] He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.  [Then] He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust and find refuge; His truth and His faithfulness are a shield and a buckler.

My words have much to do with me dwelling in the secret and protected place.  I trust in Him and say it.  THEN He will deliver me and protect me.

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Written on April 9th, 2012 , Faith, How To..., Knowing God, Presence of God
You Want to KNOW Him Better – HOW?

My greatest desire is to know God better.  How can I do this?  What steps I can follow to take me to this goal?  How can I know what He is like, what to expect from Him and from my times with Him?

People have many experiences and have opinions as to how to get closer to God, but it isn’t from listening to others that I get to know God intimately.  I have to get to know God for myself, and all true knowledge is based on the Word of God.  All things must be measured by His Word.  I must study the word for myself and approach God according to what I see there.

STUDY THE WORD

God has given us His Word to reveal Himself to us, and He sent His Son as the Word in the flesh to show us what He is like.

Christ is the revelation of God.  God made Himself a man in Christ so we can see Him and understand Him.

Hebrews 1:1-3 – God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.  And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. \

God spoke in the past in many portions and many ways.  He has in these last days spoken to us completely and accurately in His Son.  Jesus is the exact representation of His nature.

The Old Testament presents a partial picture of God, but the New Testament presents Him exactly and completely in Christ.

Colossians 1:15 (Amplified) — [Now] He is the exact likeness of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible]; He is the Firstborn of all creation.

Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God.  He is the EXACT likeness of the unseen God.  We can’t see God, but we see Jesus, and seeing Jesus is seeing God.

If there is a conflict between the Old Testament God and Jesus, realize that the Old Testament is a partial picture, but Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God, the exact representation of His person.  Eliminate from your thinking any picture of God contrary to what you see in Jesus.

Look at what Jesus did, how He went about doing good and healing all (Acts 10:38), and know this is how He is to you.

Renew your mind from a wrong picture to a right picture of what God is like by studying Jesus.  He is the same today (Heb 13:8), the same toward you as you see Him in the Word.  Whatever you see Him doing, saying, healing, providing; you can expect Him also to do for you.  Be willing to change what you have thought and beloved to what you see and learn from the Word.  Put aside any beliefs and traditions and what people have told you that is contract to what you see in Jesus.

Accept and appropriate what you see.  The promises and truths of the Word of God are activated towards you only when mixed with faith  Purposely expect Him to act the same way towards you as you see Him in the Word – every day of your life, on every occasion.   This opens the way for Him to reveal Himself to you.

PRAYER AND FELLOWSHIP

Spend time developing a relationship with God.   Spend time in prayer and praise just being with Him.  Practice His presence every moment of every day.  Treat Him always as though He is with you – as He says He is.

Ephesians 3:17(Amplified) – May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts!

He is with me and will never leave or forsake me but it is through my faith that He actually dwells in me and makes His permanent home in my heart.

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Written on March 31st, 2012 , How To..., Knowing God, Prayer, Presence of God
You are Blessed in What you DO not what you KNOW

The blessing of God I walk in is in accordance to my knowledge of the Word that is actually a part of my life.  I am blessed in what I DO not in what I KNOW.

It doesn’t come naturally to be a doer of the word.  People teach to be a doer not a hearer only and everyone puts themselves in the doer category because they want to be.  It is very easy to deceive yourself.  There is more to being a doer of the Word than just deciding to do it.

Not being a doer of the Word is a very deceptive thing.  You think you are a doer just because you have heard and agreed.  But you must do more than hear, you must look carefully at it and thoughtfully observe it and purposely act on it.   Otherwise you will go off and promptly forget what you have heard – and yet think because you know it you are doing it.

James 1:25 – But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

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Written on March 27th, 2012 , Change & Growth, How To...
Two Most Important Things About Prayer

John 15:7 – If you live in Me [abide vitally united to Me] and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.

Jesus gave us two important keys to answered prayer here.  If we want to ask what we will and have it done for us, we will have to do what He said.

  1. Abide in me.  He is talking about praying out of a place of fellowship with God, about being led by the Spirit while you pray.  The Holy Spirit is our best help in prayer.
  2. My Word abides in you.  To be effective in prayer and to pray the will of God, we must know the Word of God and pray according to His word where His thoughts and ideas and will are expressed clearly.

The more thoroughly scriptural our prayers are and the more we hear and follow His leading when praying them out, the more likely we are to get them answered.

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Written on February 22nd, 2012 , How To..., Prayer
Victory Over the Flesh

Last year I uploaded an article on how to keep your New Year’s resolutions. It can be found here. While studying this morning I found some old notes that inspired me on a similar line. Below are the notes and then some facts I drew from scriptures that are at the end of the article.

What is will power?  It wasn’t made to battle against principalities and powers.  It wasn’t given to overcome the flesh.  It was made so that we can say yes to God, so that we can have free choice.  Of course, I can obey the Bible and do what God says, because God is my ability to win over sin and evil; I draw from Him all I need.  It is not improving my flesh but depending on His strength and walking in the Spirit that gives me the ability.  Because of this, all I need do is believe and receive, and what I have been is the past makes no difference.

Keys to scripturally gain control over your flesh:

  • The power of the old man and the flesh was already broken so that I am no longer its slave.  I can do it!
  • Do it by faith not works.  Focus on the Spirit and relationship more than outward things.  You are no longer under law (rules) but under grace (relationship & fellowship).
  • I walk not in newness of spirit and not oldness of letter.  I am joined to Him in order to bear fruit for God.  The fruit of the Spirit comes only by abiding in constant fellowship with Him and yielding to Him.
  • No matter how much I love God and desire to do His will, my flesh is still flesh and has no power to obey the word (which is spiritual) and do what I desire to do.
  • Consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God.  Believe that your flesh no longer has the mastery and that you CAN be in control.
  • It is not in me (in my own flesh or will power) to do what I want to do.  The willing is present, but the doing is not.  There is a law of sin and death that dwells in my flesh.  Because of this God had to provide an alternate way of victory.
  • The only way to not carry out the desire of the flesh is to walk in and through the spirit (this is abiding in Him, joined to Him, walking in newness of spirit and not oldness of letter).
  • Jesus did what I couldn’t do and overcame my flesh for me.  Now I can walk out my victory with Him, yielding to Him and trusting in Him in each instance.
  • Now I can fulfill His requirements and live in control of my life when I walk according to the spirit and not the flesh.
  • I am under no obligation to follow my flesh.
  • He who has given life to my spirit will also give life to my body as I yield to Him.  Since I live by the Spirit I also walk by the Spirit.
  • My victory over the world (including my flesh) is through Faith.  Faith is the victory that overcomes the world.  Faith is the victory to me being in control over my flesh.
  • Through the law I died to the law that I might live to God.
  • I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live but He who lives through me.
  • The life I live in the flesh I live by faith in Him who loves me and did everything for my victory and is there to walk it out with me and through me.
  • I began by the spirit and I walk out my salvation in the same manner.  Since I live by the Spirit I also walk by the Spirit.  He who gave life to my spirit will quicken also my mortal body so that I can live and do what I want to do rather than what my flesh demands.
  • This all works by faith.  I see it in the Word, I believe it and speak it over myself.  Then I walk it out.
  • A key to victory in walking by faith is to believe it and speak it even before I am living it perfectly.  Faith is the victory that overcomes the world.

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Written on January 3rd, 2012 , Change & Growth, How To..., Victory Always
The Importance of Knowledge

2 Peter 1:3-4 – As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

God has already provided all that we need for life and godliness, all things we need for our spiritual lives as well as our natural, earthly lives.

How do we partake of it? Since He  has given us everything we need through the knowledge of Him, the more knowledge of Him we have, the more of the “things” He has provided we will live in and enjoy.  If we want to live in more, we will need to increase our knowledge.

We don’t pray for God to do for us what He has already done; we pray for wisdom and understanding so that we may know it and live in it. But we do more than pray for understanding. It if also of utmost importance that we study God’s Word for ourselves in order to gain knowledge of what God has provided. We must also listen to God called, God anointed teachers because without them, we can’t grow up into all we are made to be.

What we live in and enjoy of what God has provided is limited by our knowledge of it. We can only live in what we know. We can only prosper to the degree our souls prosper. We can only live in the perfect will of God to the degree our minds are renewed to know it and apply it. We can live like God only to the degree that we THINK like God.

Mark 4:22-24 (amp) – Things are hidden temporarily only as a means to revelation.  For there is nothing hidden except to be revealed, nor is anything kept secret except in order that it may be made known.  If any man has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him perceive and comprehend.   And He said to them, be careful what you are hearing.  The measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you—and more [besides] will be given to you who hear.

2 Timothy 2:15 – Study and be eager and do your utmost (be diligent) to present yourself to God approved, a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth.

Be diligent in the word.  Continue to study it.  Be diligent to fill your heart with the Word.  What is in your heart will control your life.

It is all based on a measure.  And it isn’t a measure set by God.  You determine the measure of blessing in your life.  You determine the degree of the knowledge of God in your life.  It is up to you!  It is up to you not God how far you go in life, how much you grow in the knowledge of God, how much wisdom you gain and how much you prosper.

He has given us all His word.  Through this Word, we partake of His promises and His nature. But the measure of time in thought and study you give it will be the amount of wisdom and knowledge that come to you and in return, it will be the amount your soul prospers, and that will be how much you actually prosper and have success in life.

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Written on July 2nd, 2011 , How To..., Knowing God
Freedom from Fear – The Bible Answer

2 Timothy 1:7 – For God has not given me a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind.

In this one very popular verse on fear is the perfect and complete answer to victory over fear.

  • Power
  • Love
  • A sound and disciplined mine

These are three forces that will overcome fear when applied.  It isn’t just a matter of saying the scripture, but of doing what it says.  God tells us over and over again not to fear.  This verse contains tools that will lead to your victory.

POWER – Jesus has defeated the enemy. He has taken away his power against us, completely disarmed him and given us the authority over him. He has raised us up to it in heavenly places with Him far above all of the troubles of life.

Colossians 1:13 – We are delivered from the authority and dominion of darkness.

Matthew 28:18 – All authority in heaven and earth was given Him (and us in Him).  (See Ephesians 1:20-22; 2:6)

Luke 10:19 – We have power over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall harm us.

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Written on February 26th, 2011 , How To..., Victory Always
Prayer in the New Testament

Patterns in New Testament Prayers

The Bible teaches much on prayer. There are many specific instructions as to how to pray, and there are also many examples of prayer we can learn from.  Look at how the New Testament church prayed.  There are patterns there that we can follow. The more closely we know the Word of God and conform to it in our prayers, the more results we are going to have. There are patterns we can see in the prayers that the Apostle Paul prayed in the Epistles as well as actual examples of prayers he prayed.

For example, he mentions praying with thanksgiving in almost all of the prayers he prayed for the churches, much more than heavy or travailing prayer. I have been to prayer groups where everyone put on their sad face and whiny voice when it came time to pray. But this isn’t scriptural. From Paul’s example, we can see that that most of our prayer should be clothed in thanksgiving. Unceasing prayer is also mentioned many times. See the below scripture references where these things are mentioned.

The closer our prayers are to the Word, the more full of power they are.  The Word is God’s power unto our salvation.  When we have scripture on a specific subject, that is the will of God.  We shouldn’t pray out of our own understanding and knowledge, because there is a danger of trying to pray what we want to happen or what we think should happen rather than the will of God.  Many pray tradition and the ideas of men for others rather than the will of God.

It is of utmost importance, therefore, that we learn what the New Testament teaches on prayer. We should study it out for ourselves and not just learn to pray by listening to others.

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Written on February 19th, 2011 , How To..., Prayer
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Adventures in God

The Teaching Ministry of Emily Bernardi