Day 4 - Verse100 - I think this is it...I think we're finished...but then again.....

"For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to show Himself strong for those whose hearts are completely His."  2 Chronicles 16:9

There it is...our 100th verse on our last day.  And it is such a good, good verse to close out on, for it shows the faithfulness of God to people who give themselves to Him...completely.

How do we do that while we live on this earth, in this world, that we find ourselves?  How do we do that as we raise families, go to jobs, do all the things that we find necessary to "survive"?  How do we live in this world and not become of this world, still releasing our hearts completely to God?  It is a daily struggle, isn't it?  It is a continuous tension, I believe.  I think it is why we have to start every day with a prayer of submission and surrender.  Who are you and I going to serve on this day?  To whom will our hearts be given?

Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."  Matthew 6:24  We have to claim allegiance to one or the other...we are either spending our lives serving God, or spending them in the accumulation of wealth to serve our selves.  

But don't we have to provide for ourselves and our families?  Yes (1 Timothy 5:8).  Don't we have to prepare for our futures?  Yes (Proverbs 6:6-8).  But we are told over and above providing and preparing, to TRUST!  Listen again to Jesus' words, "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?  Therefore do not worry, saying, "What will we eat?' or "What will we drink?' or "What will we wear?'  For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  "So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today."

If we find ourselves continually stressing over our provisions, either for the present or for the future, and feeling that it is all up to us to ensure that we are well taken care of; if we find ourselves amassing more and more and never feeling that we have "enough"; if we find ourselves unable to enjoy this day that God has given us because we are so consumed with worry for what tomorrow will bring....what do these things reveal about our heart's residence?  It has surely not been given completely to God.

A heart given to God resides in His peace, knowing that He is our good, good Father, ready to give His children exactly what they need.  Does that always look like what we think we need?  No --- just as we, as earthly parents, do not always give our children what they think they need, because we know better than they what is best for them.  "As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!"  Matthew 7:11

A heart given completely to God is one that trusts in Him...no matter what.  Remembering that He has promised us good things.  Better things than we would give our children.  Things that we don't even comprehend!  But they will come...and we will see...our hearts were in a good, good place in His hands!

Well - we're finished.  100 verses!  But we are never finished with God's Word, are we?  Starting in June, we will begin to study Proverbs.  I invite you all to join in that.  In the meantime, I will be adding notes  on what I am reading in the Word and what God is showing me.  I always invite your comments and I love knowing we are being united in His Spirit through the Word of God living in each of us.  

God bless you on this lovely May morning...and give Him your heart today...and then tomorrow...and then each and every day between now and eternity!

Day 3 - Verse 100 - "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to show Himself strong for those whose hearts are completely His." 2 Chronicles 16:9

I say my heart is "completely yours, O God"...but does my life truly reflect that profession?

When I review my day, how is it spent?  Do I truly have no other gods before my God?  Out of my 16+ waking hours, how many do I spend seeking/praying to/worshipping God?  Can I even get an hour in?  Do I count it a "good day" when I spend 15-20 minutes in prayer and another 10-15 reading His Word?

If my heart is to be completely turned over to God, I must dedicate time to Him.  I must seek Him wholeheartedly and get rid of a lot of other "gods" in my life.  Today, I am asking God to help me clean house...to push out the things that are keeping me from living what I say that I truly want...HIM FIRST!

God says, "Love Me the most"...more than anything else.  What is it in my life, and in yours, that steps in front of Him and demands our attention, our loyalty and our time?  Whatever those things are, let's get our lives in line and demote their position.  Let's be able to review our days and see that where we are wanting to spend our time is with our Father, our God, our Savior.  And let's begin to make those times our most coveted of the day.

Here is my intended plan going forward....

• Rise and greet the new day before my feet hit the ground with a prayer of thanksgiving to my God...thanking Him for giving me one more day on this earth to discover more of Him and to share Him with every opportunity, to cleanse me of all my unrighteousness, and to make me strong for Him...for today.
• Sit down with His Word in my lap and read, slowly and intentionally, praying through each passage for understanding and insight...asking Him for His application to my life today. Thanking Him for His unbelievably miraculous Holy Scripture that He has given us, and asking the Holy Spirit to move in my life so that I become just a little more like Him today.
• Enter my day with deliberate purpose of living for my Father.  With each decision, say a prayer of asking for His wisdom whether to turn to the right or to the left, and pausing to wait to feel His hand.
• End my day with His Word again, and then asking Him to bring to my mind those who need my intercessory prayer, praying for my family, praying for our country and for the worldwide body of believers...asking Him "to show Himself strong" for all who are faithful.

This is my plan...I pray to God to help me live by it.  I do not ever want to proclaim something that I am not ready to try to live by.  He is faithful and He is strong, and I am asking for His strength to overpower my weakness.  For my flesh is so very, very weak.  Mornings are not easy for me...my bed is hard to crawl out of at times.  I have an addiction to stupid TV programs!  I get sidetracked easily by other "not so bad" habits.

But who do I love the most?  Let my life be a testimony to that love!

Day 2 - Verse 100 - "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to show Himself strong for those whose hearts are completely His." 2 Chronicles 16:9

Do you ever have one of those days, or weeks, that you feel like you have to pray, "Lord, show yourself strong for me right now, because I am not feeling strong."  I believe God hears those prayers of ours, prayers of desperation and earnest need.  And I believe, just as this verse tells us, that when we put our trust completely in Him, and give our hearts over to Him, He does show Himself strong for us.

So what does that mean?  What difference does it make in our lives when God "shows Himself strong"?  Does it mean that everything automatically falls into place and whatever was causing us to drop to our knees in desperate prayer is taken care of?  I think we can all say, "obviously not" to that. Because our needs remain the same, the problems don't go away, and circumstances aren't changed in the moments we utter our pleas.

But you know what is changed?  WE are changed.  We are given His strength as we ask for Him to show Himself strong.  We become empowered through His Spirit living in us to face the problems, to get through the tough circumstances, and to do so without fear.  For we are reminded, in every core of our being, that if HE is for us, then who can be against us?

God shows Himself strong as we become strong in Him.  We look back and say,"How did I get through that?"  And we know the answer is:  GOD.  God Himself became the strength that we needed, when we needed it.

When we face times of uncertainty...and there are so many areas of uncertainty in our lives right now...if we have given our hearts to God, placing in His hands our lives and our futures, all we need do is ask Him to show Himself strong in our lives.  To know that, no matter what, He is with us and will never forsake us.

When we face times of doubt...and our enemy loves to throw the darts of doubt at us so that we will not be testifiers to the power of our God...we just ask our Father to show Himself strong, to take those fiery darts and to extinguish each of them before they take hold and cause us to question His plan, His very existence.

When we face times of personal crisis, death of loved ones, our own sicknesses...and those times are bound to come to each of us as we live on this broken planet...we ask God to show Himself strong, to take hold of our emotions and to remind us of His great love for us, a love that we cannot be separated from, no matter what we are going through.  For He is our Good Shepherd, and He will walk with us through the valley of death and sorrow, into a place where He will  anoint our heads with oil and our cup will overflow with His blessings, and we will live in the house of the Lord forever.

The only condition on all of these promises is that we are a people who have given our hearts completely to Him...have we?  Are we?  Every day, that is our choice.  Who has my heart?  This temporary world that I'm living in now, or my God, the Creator of the universe, my Lord and my Savior, my Good, Good Shepherd who opens the gate for me and asks me to follow Him?

Lord, let me make the right decision every morning as to where my heart resides...let it always be placed in Your good and gracious hands.  I give my heart to You.

Day 1 - Verse 100 - CAN YOU BELIEVE IT???

Well it has taken us a while to get here, hasn't it?  There have certainly been ups and downs, and detours and delays, but here we are!  The end of our journey!

Our parallel journey along the Appalachian Trail of 2,185 miles comes to an end as well.  Do you want to see what it looks like from the view in Maine where we would be standing right now?  That's it, Katahdin, Maine.  The goal for many a hiker through the years.

Our goal has been just as "lofty"!  Our goal was to commit 100 Bible verses in our memory.  While I know at this point that I cannot recite all 100 on command, I also know that these verses have brought God's Word to life in me at times when I absolutely needed it the most.  God's Word is unique in its ability to speak to us, and that is because it is His living Word, inspired by Him, through the Holy Spirit.  And that same Holy Spirit lives in us as Christians to speak His Word to us individually, and in ways that we cannot understand, at just the right moments of our need.  There is no other book like the Holy Bible---if you haven't embraced it, you have missed hearing the Word of God speak to you.  Why would you ever want to miss out on that glorious experience?  I urge you to open your Bible and start reading it again, or for the very first time.  Go to it with an open heart and an open mind and pray for wisdom (James 1:3) and God will hear your prayer and allow you to start on another beautiful journey!

But today we  must look back!  We've covered a lot of ground over our 2,185 miles!  If you'll remember, the verses have been grouped into several different categories.  We started out with the Bible's Fantastic Four, went on The Roman Road of Salvation, learned of The Word of God and Prayer, Inner Peace and Security, Worship and Thanksgiving, had 10 Verses to Stand On, viewed Holiness by Obeying God's Commands and Fullness by allowing the Holy Spirit to Rule in our , Lives, gained Joy through God's Kind of Happiness, increased Faith by Trusting God and Resting in His Word, heard The Great Commission of proclaiming Jesus, rested in the 23rd Psalm, and concluded with the Alpha and Omega, remembering the first and envisioning the second coming of Christ.

This last verse is one of my very favorites that when I first heard it, I almost gasped in wonder that God's eye had found me!  It is a beautiful picture of our loving God, keeping His watchful eye on everyone on this planet earth.  I'm choosing it to end with because I want to encourage each one of us to be the person that this verse describes:

"For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to show Himself strong for those whose hearts are completely His."  2 Chronicles 16:9

My heart has not always been completely His, but as of today, as of this morning, as of this moment, I give my heart to Him so completely.  He has me!  He can do what He wills in my life and I am content.  My trust is in Him.

Because of those things...He promises me to show Himself strong to me.  I have no need to fear, for He is with me, always.  He will strengthen me when I am weak, and He will lift me up when I fall down.

Oh what a God we serve!  What a marvelous Book He has given us.  Let's spend a few days camping out at this last stop, and then....let's see where God takes us next!

In His Amazing Love!!

Janice

Day 4 - Verse 99 - "He who testifies about these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!" Revelation 22:20

"He who testifies about these things...."

Do you know the "He" that brings us His testimony?  Jesus, Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Lord. Do you know Him?

For He is coming, and it will be soon.  Whether I am here to see Him come in majestic glory to the earth or not, He is coming for me, and for everyone now living, soon.  Our lives are just a vapor, and then....He is coming.

In praying for those I love who do not yet acknowledge Jesus as their Lord and Savior, I often repeat Jesus' prayer as relayed in John 14:24,  “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world." I want all those that God has given me in this life to love the most dearly to be with me, and to see the glory of Jesus, bestowed upon Him by His Father.  I cannot even imagine what that is going to be like, but I want to be there and I want all who I love to be there.

But, in writing this, I realize that I have been commanded to love everyone, as God has loved me. EVERYONE!  Not only those that it comes naturally to me to love, but those that, in my human nature, I would choose to separate myself from and never consider entering into a relationship based on love.  That's what sets Christianity apart in my eyes...the command that we have to choose to love ALL, and to see others as just as worthy as us to receive God's wonderful gift of life through Jesus.

Christian love, then, has to be about proclaiming the love of God.  We cannot say that we love others if we are withholding THE WAY to everlasting life from them.  What good is loving someone in this life if we are keeping them from eternal life when they leave this earth?  And we all will leave...Jesus will come!

This is where it gets difficult.  Loving so much that we cannot keep silent.  And this is where, to some, Christianity becomes offensive.  To say that there is one way makes some people cringe. It makes some people mad.  And it makes some people shut down.

I recently heard an allegory that, to me, made sense.  If you're on a plane that's about to certainly crash, and the flight attendant announces, "Listen to me...when this plane crashes, there is only one way to get out of it and live.  Do what I say, and I will show you that way.  No other way will get you out. If you choose another way, you will die."  Is that flight attendant being narrow-minded?  Are they being mean?  Is it cruel of them to say that they know the only way?  Or is it an act of supreme kindness and love to share with you the way to survival?

That is what God has done for mankind.  He understood that we would grow confused about who He is and about what this life is about.   He knew our minds were not capable of embracing His truth without seeing it and hearing it first-hand.  He sent His Son, Jesus, to say, "I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life"....follow me and I will lead you out of this life and into the next.  (John 10:1-18)

"He who testifies about these things says...."

Believe the testimony of Jesus.  Read the Bible and hear His words to us.  He came for us.  He is coming again for us.  Believe in His name and be saved....for He is coming soon.

Look unto me, and be ye saved , all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. Isaiah 45:22


He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Mark 16:16

But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved.  Acts 15:11

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.  Acts 16:31

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved .  Romans 10:9

Day 3 - Verse 99 - "He who testifies about these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!" Revelation 22:20

The sun comes up

It's a new day dawning

It's time to sing Your song again

Whatever may pass

And whatever lies before me

Let me be singing

When the evening comes

Bless the Lord oh my soul

Oh my soul

Worship His Holy name

Sing like never before

 Oh my soul

I'll worship Your Holy name

Matt Redman - 10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord) 

Just as quickly as the night changes to morning (I wondered again as I looked out of my kitchen window this morning, can you ever catch that exact moment?), our world will change from one of darkness to eternal light with the coming of our Lord Jesus.  

On that glorious day, it will truly be time to sing like never before!  For we will never see the darkness of evening again...we will live in His eternal presence and light.

Oh, bless the Lord!  Worship His Holy name!  He has made all things new while He also is the Alpha and the Omega!  God truly is everything!  And all things will praise His name forevermore.

It really does take your breath away when you let it sink in, doesn't it?  God, who has been forever, who is the Creator of all, longs for us...created this realm of time for us...and has planned from the beginning of time a place where we will live with Him, forever.  Bless the Lord, oh my soul!

Coincidentally, I read Isaiah 40:28 the other morning and talked about it with Robert (husband)...

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.

I love the way Isaiah phrases his testimony...it's like he's saying, "Of course you know...of course you've heard....REMEMBER!"  We know that God is everlasting...that HE is the Creator of all that we know and see...and that He will never wear out, will never give up on us, and has wisdom and knowledge that we cannot even begin to comprehend.  

I said, "coincidentally", because the very next day my darling 9 year old granddaughter, Genevieve, texted me this same verse.  Since she moved to Kansas City eight months ago, we have had a habit of texting each other Bible verses that we read and want to share with each other.  I loved that God was speaking His same words of reassurance to both of us at the same time in our lives.  

His words of reassurance can ring in all of our ears..."Do you not know?"  Yes, we know!  "Have you not heard?"  Oh yes, Lord, we have heard!  You are great, you are mighty, and YOU ARE COMING QUICKLY!

Bless the Lord, oh my soul...whatever may pass and whatever lies before me, let me be singing....

WHEN HE COMES!

Day 2 - Verse 99 - "He who testifies about these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen! Come Lord Jesus!" Revelation 22:20

Jesus is our Promiser --- He promises His return!  Three times in Revelation He makes this same promise, in verses 7, 12, and here in 20.  "Look, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he one who keeps the prophetic words of this book...Look! I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me...Yes, I am coming quickly!"

When the Bible states something in threes it is a point of emphasis.  Jesus wants us to hear His promise and know deep within us that it is true and sure...He IS coming soon!

Robert Morgan states, "The immediate response of John in verse 20 was "Amen!" This is a term of agreement, meaning, "so be it!"  Then John offered the Bible's concluding prayer, "Come, Lord Jesus!" This is the equivalent of the Aramaic term Maranatha.  It's a prayer for us to repeat frequently  What a tragedy that Christians seldom pray specifically for the Lord to return.  Let's start including Maranatha in our prayer vocabulary."

Join with me today in praying for Christ's return, praying that His church will be prepared for Him like a bride waiting for her bridegroom, praying that He will find us faithful and anxiously awaiting His arrival!  Pray that every person that is to hear His Word hears it soon and that we take seriously the responsibility of proclaiming His coming...both His first arrival as a baby, teacher, suffering servant, Son of Man, crucified Son of God and risen Savior, and His second as our victorious King and Lord of Lords!

Every day we are given here on this earth is a day of opportunity to share Jesus' promise...every morning that we see dawning could bring with it the day of Jesus' return.  "Come, Lord Jesus!" Maranatha!

We need to review our last set of verses of the Alpha and Omega...starting with Isaiah 9:6 and going through Revelation 22:20....

Isaiah 9:6  "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be on His shoulders.  And His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,The mighty God, The eternal Father, The Prince of Peace."

Luke 2:10   "But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all the people.' "

Luke 2:11  "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."

Luke 2:12  "This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped snugly in a cloth and lying in a manger."

Acts 1:11 "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven?  This Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen Him going into heaven."

Revelation 21:1  "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea existed no longer."

Revelation 21:2 "I also saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband."

Revelation 22:20 "He who testifies to these things say, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!"