Bible Quiz: "THE RIGHT STUFF"

Good Evening to All!

Tonight's post is a Bible Quiz from the "Old Testament".  I don't know why, but it seems as though we always seem to concentrate more on the New Testament than the Old.  I understand the intrigue, and the desperation to know what God expects from us so that we may be able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but the "Old Testament is important as well.  

It tells us of the forecoming of our Messiah, in many different books.It relates "types and shadows of different aspects of things of the New Testament.  I promise if you will read your Bible through, from Old to New Testament, you will recall things being described in the Old Testament pertaining to things in the New Testament.  

Anyway, ON with the Quiz!

1.  Finish this verse;  "Enter His gates with thanksgiving and . . . "  
(Psalm 100:4)

 
a.  but leave with a heavy heart
b.  go into His courts with praise
c.  for He has done many marvelous deeds
d.  but wipe your feet first.

2.  According to Psalm 90:1 (NIV), who has been "our dwelling place throughout all generations"?

a.  The Lord
b.  Adam and Eve
c.  Abraham
d.  Mother Earth

3.  Finish this verse:  "Wash me, and I will be . . ."  (Psalm 51:7)
a.  faithful all of my days.
b.  clean and upright in your presence, O Lord,
c.  whiter than snow.
d.  out of the dryer in twenty minutes.

4.  Finish this verse:  "Be still . . "(Psalm 46:10, NIV)

 
a.  my child. be still.
b.  because the Lord is nigh to you
c.  and know that I am God.
d.  because your fidgeting is driving me crazy!

5.  According to (Psalm 23, KJV), what will "follow me all the days of my life"?

a.  Your loving footsteps
b.  The dark deeds of my past
c.  Goodness and mercy
d.  The CIA

6.  Who said it?  "I have been going back and forth across the earth, watching everything that 's going on".  (Job 1:7)

 
a.  Satan
b.  Gabriel
c.  Paul
d.  Boeing

7.  According to Satan, why did Job honor God?  (Job 1:9 NLT)

 
a.  Because God had protected him and made him rich.
b.  Because he was foolish.
c.  Because his parents had taught him to.
d.  Because his three friends made him.
 

8.  Which of the following people are not mentioned in (Psalm 1:1) as "blessed" or joyous people?

a.  Those who do not follow the advice of the wicked
b.  Those who do not dance with immoral people
c.  Those who do not stand around with sinners
d.  Those who do not join in with scoffers

9.  Finish this verse:  "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place . . . ."   
(Psalm 8:3-4, NIV)
 
a.  I marvel at your glorious handiwork.
b.  I realize my own insignificance
c.  what is man that you are mindful of him?
d.  wow, like that's really, really awesome.

10.  According to (Psalm 14:1), who say in their hearts, "There is no God"?

a.  The wicked
b.  Fools
c.  Those who use arrogant words
d.  Atheists

Good Night to All and May God Bless!

"God is our Refuge, So Why Do We Seek Out Human Help First?"

Good Evening to All!

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from Him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation;
He is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

My salvation and my honor depend on God;
He is my mighty rock, my refuge,
Trust in Him at all times, O people;
pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge.

Psalm 62:5-8 NIV

Here is the KJV of that same passage:

My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him.
(6) His only is my rock and my salvation: He is my defence; I shall not be moved. (7) In god is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
(8) Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.

Dear Father in Heaven,

What is it going to take, to shake me and make me realize that the ONE I can depend on is You? How many more times will I call upon friends, my husband or my family for help or advice, when in reality, they are not truly equipped to give me what I need?

Help me to remember to come to YOU FIRST, and not as a last resort. Help me God to strengthen my faith in You so that I will be able to discern in my spirit that it is You speaking to me and not me interjecting my own thoughts and feelings. Lord I know that you have given each one of us a "measure of faith" and it is up to us to increase that faith. The only way to do that is to step out in faith and watch You at work.
Father, You are my rock and my fortress, my strong tower. You are my port in the storm, and my refuge in times of trouble. I know this, yet I still run to others before I come to You. I know that You are bigger than any problem which I may encounter. That it is "I" who limit You by my lack of faith. I do have faith, but it is limited because I let my "brain" get in the way of my spirit.

Lord, I am praying this prayer on my blog post, because I know there are others out there just like me and I know that if asked You will help each and every one of us who come to you with this request. You have made many promises to us in Your Word and one of my favorite is "If ye abide in Me and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. (John 15:7).

Therefore, I am here asking that You touch my heart, and the heart and of all of those who read this post and increase our faith.

Father, I love You so much and I have no doubts about anything in your Word, at least in my heart. The problem is when my brain and my heart play tug o war. Help my heart to win out over my brain Lord. I have seen what you can do. I have seen healings which You have done, I've seen miracles such as money come from the most "unexpected places" when I've needed it and other things. I thank you so much.

I guess if I were to be limited to just two things to ask you for, it would be increased faith, and the wisdom I need to be a good witness for You to others.

I asked these things in the powerful name of Jesus Christ,
AMEN

"THE GOOD SHEPHERD"

Good Evening to All!

A Song of Praise for the LORD'S Faithfulness to His People

Know ye that the LORD He is God.
It is He that hath made us, and not
we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of
His pasture.

(4) Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His
courts with praise: be thankful unto Him
and bless His name.

(5) For the LORD is good; His
mercy is everlasting; and His
truth endureth to all
generations.

(Psalm 100:3-5 KJV)


I love this Psalm. Of course, it is a very Long passage, so I chose some of the key verses I would like to talk about. I read the reference to it in my Bible, but I want to tell you what it means to me personally.

This first verse tells me that we need to remember just WHO the LORD is. He's not some inanimate object to be worshiped. He is EVERYWHERE. He is ALL-KNOWING. He is ALL POWERFUL. There is nothing or no one that can out do Him, outsmart Him, or out give Him.

This being said, we must keep in mind, that He is the one who created us, so He knows everything about us down to the number of hairs on our heads. We did not just appear out of thin air. HE formed us from the dust of the earth. Therefore we should remember to thank Him, and to praise Him with all of our being. "Let everything that has breath praise the LORD" (Psalm 150:6)

We are also to remember that we are HIS people and He is our Shepherd. We are to let Him guide us in all ways. In everything we do.

I love the way my Pastor explained this verse. We started EVERY SERVICE out with Singing praises to God and Worshiping Him, ushering in His presence. After all the Lord inhabits our praises according to Psalm 22:3.

His mercy is NEW EVERY DAY. I think truly the only way His mercy would run out on a person is if they were to blaspheme the Holy Ghost (which is unforgiveable according to God's Word, or if a person were to continually turn away from Him. Eventually that person would not be able to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and would turn to a reprobate mind, (or becoming a hopeless case) and falling totally from grace.

His truth endureth to ALL GENERATIONS. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. His Word does not change. God IS TRUTH, therefore He cannot lie, and He says His Word WILL NOT PASS AWAY.

I probably haven't told you anything you didn't know already, I just feel that it is ALWAYS good to be reminded, especially in today's time when the world is causing SO MUCH chaos by condoning immorality, and trying to confuse us about what's right and what's wrong in the eyes of God. If the devil succeeded in doing it to Eve, there's no doubt that he can do it to people who are not fluent in Bible teachings.

Be watchful, keep the eyes and ears of your heart turned upward to hear the nudging of the Holy Ghost and the calling of the LORD.

Good Night to All and May God Bless!

"GOD'S REMEDY FOR DEPRESSION"

Good Evening to All!

I waited patiently and expectantly for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. (2) He drew me up out of a horrible pit [a pit of tumult and of destruction], out of the miry clay (froth and slime), and set my feet upon a rock, steadying my steps and establishing my goings.
(Psalm 40:1-2 Amp.version)

I personally think the author of the devotion which I read tonight should have included verse 3 as well, because it brings clarity to this passage.

It reads: (3) And He has put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.

God's Word tells us to wait patiently on the Lord. First of all, His time is not the same as our time. One day to Him may be a week or a month to us. We don't know. The only reference I remember in the Bible to time is the scripture that talks about one day being as a thousand years.

The point I'm trying to make here is that God's timing is the best timing. He knows what is best for us more than we do. What we want, when we want, may not be right for us at the time. So God waits.

Something else about this passage tells me that Jesus is always talking about "servitude". He washed the disciples' feet to get His point across about being a servant. In Matthew 25:35-40, He said (35) For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you brought Me together with yourselves and welcomed and entertained and lodged Me, (36) I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me with help and ministering care, I was in prison and you came to see Me. (37) Then the just and upright will answer Him, Lord, when did we see You hungry and gave You food, or thirsty and gave You something to drink? (38)And when did we see You a stranger and welcomed and entertained You, or naked and clothed You? (39) And when did we see You sick or in prison and came to visit You? (40) And the King will reply to them, Truly I tell you, in so far as you did it for one of the least [in the estimation of men] of these My brethren, you did it for Me.

It brings to my mind when I was a server in a restaurant. It was our job to make sure our customers were satisfied and had what they needed. We should do the same for God. Not that He "needs" anything, but we, as the body of Christ, are His hands, feet, and mouths. We are to be about our Father's business, which means we are serving God. We are to do His bidding whether it means witnessing to someone, by telling them about God's love and His Word, or witnessing by our actions and deeds. According to His Word, it should be a combination of all three. Deeds alone will not get us into Heaven. As we are suppose to be "planters of seeds", then someone else will come along and water, then God will do the increase.

I know this passage speaks about God bringing us out of depression and despair. We have to put our trust in Him to do this. We have to believe that He can and will do this. The joy of the Lord is our strength. Therefore, the feelings of depression, and despair are not of God. When we feel these "spirits" (and that is what they are) coming on, we need to turn our focus to God. Think about how great He is, and remember that He is more powerful, and bigger than any problem that may arise. He can handle anything. There are no problems to big for Him because He is all powerful. There are no problems to small for Him either. If he thinks that something as trivial as the number of hairs on our head is important enough for Him to remember, then any problem we are going through is important to Him as well.

I love this passage because it brings several things to mind for me. The Bible tells us to expect miracles. This is called "faith". Without faith, we cannot please God.

The reason I say this is simple. It is a conclusion. It is the answer. In our prayers, when we include praising and worshiping God, by acknowledging how wonderful He is, how much we love Him, that we love Him not just for what He has done for us, but also for WHO HE IS, this will envelope us into His complete presence even deeper.

He always listens to our prayers, but to allow ourselves to be engulfed in His presence will take us to a deeper level in our prayer life.

When I start feeling depressed or even just having a momentary "pity party" because of a bad day, to bring me out of it, all I have to do is change my focus. I start thinking about what God has done for me in the past. Where He has brought me from. I start singing hymns and praise songs to Him and it brings me into His presence and lifts my spirit immediately. I even sing songs that I remember from my childhood days in Sunday School. It brings joy flooding back into my soul.

When you are experiencing feelings of depression, or even just sadness, I hope you will think of this passage and what I have suggested. Refuse to give in to those feelings because THEY ARE NOT OF GOD. They are Satan's way of getting your mind off of the things from God, meaning happiness, love contentment, patience, love, and anything else GOOD you can think of. Don't let Satan have his way by letting yourself be consumed by sadness and depression, or anger. Start singing God's songs and Satan will flee. He cannot handle being around God's praises.

Good Night to All and May God Bless!

"FULFILLMENT OF OUR HEARTS DESIRES"

Good Evening to All!

(4) Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of
your heart,

(5) Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
(6) He shall bring forth your
righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.

(7) Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently
for Him;
Do not fret because of him who
prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings
wicked schemes to pass.
(8) Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret--it only causes harm.

(9) For evil doers shall be cut off;
But those who wait on the LORD,
They shall inherit the earth.
Psalm 37:4-9

Do not fret is the theme of this psalm. When the wicked seem to prosper, the psalmist calls for patience, a renewed sense of dependence on the Lord, and a new sense of pleasure in know Him. Now lets discuss the "desires of our hearts.


How many times I have heard people whine and complain about "I prayed, but God didn't answer my prayers. I need (want) a pay raise, but I prayed and God didn't give it to me. I want a new car, but I prayed and God didn't give me what I ask for. What do you mean He gives you the desires of your heart?

To delight one's self in the Lord is to Love Him, Spend Time with Him, Pray to Him, and Study His Word which will help us to learn about Him and Get to Know Him. That my friends is "delighting ourselves in the Lord. As we do this, we gain closeness to Him and want to please Him. Therefore, His desires become our desires. Our desires change. We no longer concentrate solely on worldly things, but to be more Christ-like. We take on spiritual desires and desires which will bring us closer to God and to the Kingdom of Heaven.

When the righteous have desires that spring from the Lord, the Lord will surely fulfill those desires. I like the way The Message Bible states verse 5 about committing our way. It says Open up before God, keep nothing back; he'll do whatever needs to be done. Now to me that is everything. I can bear my soul, I can cast all my problems on Him and He will do what is necessary to get me through my situation.

If we will abide by verse 8, and not fret or (worry) God will take care of it. Don't worry when people seem to get getting rich from being unethical or cheating. God will handle it. Now this verse is not included in this passage, but remember what God said about seeking praise here on earth? He said that is their reward. The righteous will get their rewards in heaven and (they will even be blessed here on earth. If He says this about praise, can you imagine what He must think about it when people prosper by taking advantage of others?

In verse 8 when David speaks about resting and waiting patiently, he is re-emphasizing the theme of the psalm about not fretting or worrying. This doesn't mean to be inactive, but to depend actively on the "living" God. Speaking of the "living God", did you ever stop to think about "who" the Holy Ghost is? He is "God in Action". (I just had to tell you that) I think that description is awesome.

This psalm also gives us a commandment to cease from worry. It is not a request, or a suggestion. It is a commandment. God has told us to cease from worry, He told us to cast all our cares upon Him, and many other commands to let us know that He has our backs. He will take care of us if we will let Him. If we worry, then we are as much as telling Him we don't think He is capable of handling our problems.

Don't worry about what others are doing, whether they are prospering through illegal or unethical ways. They are not your concern. God will handle their situations. We must concentrate on doing what we know as right to do according to God's Will. Keep positive and remember for one thing having everything we want is not all that it's cracked up to be. If it is not according to God's Will, sometimes we can get into a lot of trouble or problems from it. We have to keep our eyes on the "prize" (heaven), and remember that our treasures are laid up there, not here on earth, because THIS World is not our home.

We as Christians must keep our priorities straight. We must realize what true "riches" are. God doesn't say we can't have decent cars, clothes or homes. He just doesn't want those to be the focus of our lives. Not only that, I would imagine in the end, when it is time to be judged, He will also be looking at how the rich prospered. After all, in Matthew 19:24, He did make the statement that it is easier for a camel to get the the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into the Kingdom of God. That tells me a lot right there. I don't think He was referring specifically about having a lot of money. He was also talking about how a person obtains that money and also what they did with it after they got it.

Unfortunately, a lot of well-to-do people tend to lose sight of the important priorities at that point. We must also remember that God says that evildoers shall be cut off; but those who wait on the Lord will inherit the earth. Verse 10 was not included in my original passage, but I like what it says. It also reminds me that "for yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more.

If we will remember to concentrate on Him, learn all we can about Him by studying His Word, Love Him and want to please Him, and talk to Him, our desires will be completely fulfilled according to His Will and ours because they will be one and the same.

Good Night To All and May God Bless!

"SAFETY OF ABIDING IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD"

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Good Evening to All!

The Book of Psalms is one of, if not the Most liked books of the Bible.

Psalm 91 is a passage that has been quoted many, many times.

(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.
(Psalm 91:9-16 NKJV)

This is a passage that I like to refer to when I am wanting to encourage people. We tend to make our problems SO BIG, and forget how big God is. If we will stop focusing on our problems until the seem to big to handle and go to God with them, we would see that they aren't near as bad as we seem to have originally thought. My Pastor used a great example one day while teaching on this. He pointed to a point on the wall, and ask if we could see it. Naturally, we said no, because it was just a small pencil mark. then he had some people come up to the wall and asked them again. Of course then they could see the point on the wall. What he was trying to get at is that by completely focusing on the problem and worrying about it, we allow it to get bigger and bigger until it consumes us. If we would STOP and think about God and How BIG HE is, and that there is NOTHING that He cannot handle, our problems would seem a lot smaller.

I challenge you. Copy this Passage down or print this out and put it somewhere you can see it all of the time. When you start worrying about your problems, or even just getting depressed Say a little prayer and ask God to take over this problem. Remind Him that He says in His Word that the battles we face are NOT our battles they are His because He said He would fight them for us, then READ THIS PASSAGE. I guarantee God will hear your prayer and this passage will help you and lift your spirit. As long as we have a power like this to hold us up, how can we be afraid? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31 NKJV

Good Night to All and May God Bless!

"GLORIOUS PRAISE"

Good Evening to All!

As promised I am concluding my topic of "Praise" tonight. I kind of "ran through numbers 10 and 11 at the end of last night's post, which were:

(10. ) The Glorious Garment of Praise and (11.) Honest Worship.

12. Spiritual Worship (Phil. 3:3) Paul identifies the worship of those who have identified with Christ (having their heart circumcised, which is cutting away the carnal reserve in worship as well as removing all dependence on the works of the flesh for their salvation). This worship is to be "in" or "by" the spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is to be invited into and involved in our worship--enlarging, equipping, and expanding us in praise-filled, Christ-exalting, God-honoring ways that bring the spiritual impetus required for true worship. I looked up the word impetus and the dictionary states that it is a moving force; impulse; stimulus. I liked this definition the best: the force with which a moving body tends to maintain its velocity and overcome resistance. This tells me that to truly have "spiritual worship" one must have impetus. We must remove or get past all resistance telling us that we should stand still and be reverent, we mustn't shout. we should not do anything that someone may think looks silly. We must get past all of that resistance placed in our way by Satan to keep us from honoring our God as He should be honored.

13. Songs of the Holy Spirit (Col. 3:16) Paul taught the churches (see also Eph.5:18, 19) not only to sing psalms (biblical lyrics) and hymns ( songs we write about God), but also spiritual songs." The Greek odais pneumatikais reveals the Holy Spirit as a composer, ready to enable and expand the song of the Lord through believers now as then. Interesting is the thought that this song is participating in \heaven's song by the Spirit's enablement, a song described as the sound (or voice) of many waters (Rev. 14:2, 19:6). Joined to Jesus' description of the "rivers of living water" (John 7:38) springing from within those who believe in Him, it appears that "spiritual songs" may be one of those "rivers"--springing with praise from the inner being of the worshiping believer.

Now to be completely honest, I don't quite understand this one. After reading these scriptures, I definitely know there is a heavenly choir, as the verses talk about a sound of a multitude of voices, and harpers playing their harps. I do believe that
the Holy Spirit can give a person the words to a song which God wants to be written. I also believe in the Holy Spirit having everything to do with spiritual songs. I don't know if I am getting my thoughts mixed up with a different context or not, but I have heard people sing in "tongues" (which is a heavenly language between our soul and God), and it is beautiful. I just am not sure if I'm confusing the context.

14. Jesus Sings Praise with Us. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, (12) Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.(Heb. 2:11-12) This quotation from a messianic prophecy I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. ,(Psalm 22:22) reveals how the Spirit of the Christ fills the New Testament Church, as Jesus identifies Himself so closely with His people and enters into songs of worship and praise with them. Note: (1) how the Lord Himself enters into the gathering (in the midst) and (2) how the joint-praise releases the spirit of prophecy ") as the holy power of praise ignites "the testimony of Jesus" And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus : worship God for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. (Rev. 19:10)

15. The Sacrifice of Praise (Heb.13:10-15) Why is praising God a sacrifice? The word "sacrifice" (Greek, thusia) comes form the root "thuo", a verb meaning "to kill or slaughter for a purpose." Praise often requires that we "kill" our pride, fear, or sloth--anything that threatens to diminish or interfere with our worship of the Lord. We also discover here the basis of all our praise: the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by Him, in Him with Him, to Him, and for Him that we offer our sacrifice of praise to God. Praise will never be successfully hindered when we keep its focus on HIM --the Founder and Completer of our salvation. His Cross, His Blood--His love gift of life and forgiveness to us--keep praise as a living sacrifice!

I must say, I have done both. I have left a church service having NOT given my all (praise and worship) to God, and I have left having given my mind, body and soul to Him in praise and worship. When I have done the latter, I feel a warmth of love and refreshment, a renewal of spirit. When I don't, I leave with a sense of tiredness, and dreading the coming days. He gives me strength for my praises.

I hope that when you enter your church tomorrow, or even if you are a person who doesn't go to church, take time to think about WHO GOD truly is, and why He deserves all of our praise. Look to the heavens and praise Him with all your being. Let Him know just how much you love Him. Not just for what He's done for you, but for WHO HE IS. He deserves to be praised with all of our hearts, minds and souls.

Everyone Have a Wonderful Evening and May God Bless!

Our Love of Psalms

Good Evening to All!

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.

Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.

Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that yo are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.

Psalm 51:1-4

Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness;...
Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

I must note that this bold verse above is one of my favorites. I pray this every morning, although I pray the KJV. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. To me the words steadfast and right do not mean the same thing. To me, steadfast means steady, or faithful, whereas right means (righteous or "in the will of God". Of course there are probably as many opinions as there are doctrines, but that is just the opinion of PJ. What I am asking God for when I pray this verse is to keep my heart clean or "pure" against all things that would take me out of God's will, such as, R rated movies, anything illegal, or immoral, greediness, selfishness, anyway, you get the picture, then to renew a right spirit within me, which is really self-explanatory such as being humble, helpful, generous with time, effort or money, meekness, (which I definitely need to work on some of these) and so on. Really to have the same attitude as Christ.

Another one of my favorites is Psalm 100. I remember having to memorize it when I was a child. It's the one about Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands.....

Psalm 103, Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me.....

I also like ever-faithful 23rd Psalm, although it is a beautiful poem, it is not one of my preferences. I guess because I have heard it at so many funerals that is what I associate it with.
The Psalms also have a rich history of worship and congregational use. King David organized choirs and orchestras, and appointed skilled conductors and composers to lead the worship
(1 Chronicles 25). He also invented musical instruments (1 Chronicles 23:5).

The first Christian church was comprised mainly of Jewish people, so it was natural that they incorporated the singing of psalms hymns and spiritual songs into their worship (Col.3:16) and this has evolved through the centuries into congregational singing. In modern times, the worship the Christian churches have adopted incorporates not only the lyrics and musical instruments of the psalms but involves clapping ( 47:1), lifting up hands (141:2), bowing (95:6) , standing (134:1), shouting (47:1), and dancing (149:3).

Psalms is one of the most intimate and relational books of the Bible and for each emotional need expressed by the worshiper, Psalms points us to an attribute of the Lord. He is an anchor when we are buffeted, a comfort when we feel abandoned, and an encouragement when support is desperately required.
I never realized how many types of Psalms there were. I knew that David only wrote 73 out of the 150 although he seems to be given most of the credit for them. He did however

I must say I am really enjoying this post. I am learning soooo much! I am getting my information from the Hayford Bible Handbook. It is truly an awesome book for referencing the Bible. For those of you who are really interested in studying the Bible and like to do referencing, this book is a "must". I really haven't run across anything as far as referencing that it couldn't answer as far as technical book learning. The rest I rely upon prayer and the Holy Ghost to lead me into all truth. This book has summaries of each book of the Bible, Keys for applying the principles of the Spirit-Filled Life, to each book, Kingdom Life Insights, Unique Spirit-Filled Life, Encyclopedic Dictionary, Informative Surveys for every book in the Bible, Visual Surveys of the Bible, Time Lines, and a lot more. I think next to the Actual Bible, this is my favorite book. I hope you have enjoyed this post, if so, I will start using my Hayford Book more often and do this type of post more often.

For those of you who stopped by and wished me a happy birthday, once again I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Good night to All, and May God Bless!

Love & Prayers,

God's Miracles and Bible Seeds

Image via Wikipedia

Good Evening to All!

I would like to elaborate on the word commandments. So many of us think of the word "commandments" as automatically meaning the Ten Commandments and that's the extent of it. We could not be further from the truth. According to Psalm 119:127, Commandments pertain to anything the Lord God has ordered. The word alludes to God's authority to govern His people. The commandments of God are positive and negative, specific and general, restrictive and permissive. Yet most important, they help a person to identity his or her way in a would that is filled with confusion, sin, and error. In other words, they are there to guide us on our journey through life to help keep us on the path to righteousness and Salvation. They are not all written in the form of "you will do this, or you better do that, or else. Some are written in a parable for example the "sower" , you reap what you sow. If you so discord, you will get discord back. If you treat people with love and respect, you will gain love and respect from others.

I have heard so many people say, "I don't read the Bible because I can't understand it. First of all, there are too many versions out there written in today's language to use that reason. Besides that, If you pray for God to give you understanding before you read, He will do so, and last but not least, the Bible isn't rocket science. Think of it as an instruction book for living. It is one of the most interesting books ever written. It's a romance novel, a history novel, a murder mystery, a how-to book, poetry and more all rolled into one.

According to Psalm 119:130, the entrance of God's Word brings light, which is something we all need. We do not always know or see what we need to do, and many times we do not recognize our own problems. We need God's light to understand ourselves and too see how we need to change and how we can cooperate with God to make things better. Reading God's Word is like looking in a mirror. It enables us to see what needs to be cleaned up in our lives.

Before I start Bible Seeds, I want to acknowledge two different blogs which have had miracles happen recently. My Charming Kids blog had their miracle in the form of Stellan's successful procedure. I truly believe he will be if not already completely healed, praise God.

The other is Yaya and Josh becoming parents! Be sure and check out their blog for the details! God is sooooo Great! His miracles never cease, we just don't look hard enough.

I am so happy for all the precious people involved in receiving these miracles!

God Bless you and may God keep His hand upon your families!

Bible Seeds Devotion:

Seeking His Face

Today's Seed: "I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven. Psalm 123:1

Have you ever searched for an important face in the crowd? Perhaps this happened when you walked into a darkened movie theater or when you were lost in a mob at the stadium. You may catch a glimpse of the person, only to have them disappear again.

Is God's face equally hard for you to locate? Or is He standing out above the crowd, looking directly at you when your eyes meet His? And once your eyes lock on His, are you able to maintain a steady gaze to see into His heart and soul for your life?

The psalmist who wrote today's seed was looking for God. His hope was tied to his knowledge that if he looked hard enough, he would witness God's mercy in his lifetime. God never hides His face from us. He does not play peekaboo, discounting our present condition.

When we have difficulty seeing God, it is often because we have focused our eyes on someone or something else. Our point of focus shifts too easily. Material possessions, self-worth, and personal fulfillment--all considered "noble" causes in today's society--have clouded our eyes. Unfortunately, we fixate on God for shorter periods of time and are quickly distracted by these so-called causes.
God's Word repeatedly reminds us to seek His face. The greatest blessing of seeking God's face may be that he also has His eyes trained on each one of us.

Background Bulb: Psalm 34:15 says, "The eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in His mercy." How He does this we may never know, but we can trust in the Almighty's ability to watch over us. His majestic throne is in heaven, not here on earth.

Weed & Water: How can we seek the face of the Lord? God reveals Himself through His written Word, through prayer, and through fellowship with Himself and other believers. Eventually we won't have to look so hard to find His face. And we'll find that He was there all along. So keep seeking!

Think about it:

* Think abut the last time you couldn't see God's face. Why couldn't you?

* What benefits or blessings will come to you as a result of lifting up your eyes and seeing God's face?

Prayer Pot:

Dear Lord, I confess that my eyes... (insert in what way you need help focusing on God and His Word.

This isn't the exact picture I was looking for, but it really has some relevance as according to the Bible, we are to believe as little children in the Word of God. Therefore a child planting or harvesting seeds or flowers definitely shows relevance to this post.

Look up, not in.

Good Night to All and May God Bless!

PJ

I don't know how formal I['m supposed to be about sources I use, so just in case, I use "Bible Seeds A Simple Study-Devotional for Growing in God's Word" and "The Everyday LIfe Bible (Amplified Version) Featuring Notes and Commentary by Joyce Meyer.

AFFIRMATION!

Image by SarahWynne via Flickr

Good Evening All!

The title of this picture is "The Lord is My Strength". Actually the verse showing is Psalm 46 which states: (1)God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. I love to read this verse when I am worried about things and don't know how things are going to turn out.

I would like to start off by saying, I love affirmations! I am just now starting my post because I have been on the Facebook Page called "The Bible". I tend to get carried away sometimes when I on there and don't look at the time. This page I think I told you about the other night. It's where people can go and discuss the Bible, or ask prayer requests or just Praise the Lord. Anyway, last night I was on there and there happened to be a lady who is an ordained preacher. Now, I know what your probably thinking and you'd be correct. The Bible does say for women to stay silent in church, but I thought to myself , who are we to judge, and personally, I enjoy listening to Joyce Meyers. Anyway, this other person comes on there blasting this poor woman for saying that she's ordained, when she doesn't even preach in a church. I chimed in trying to defend the preacher and another guy interjected, but he directed his comments to me, using foul language, accusing me of saying something about Satan writing the Bible, (where he got that from I have No idea) and all kinds of weird stuff. When the main thought I was talking about was Salvation, and how I had been told by a learned Bible studier that they understood that back in the old churches women sat on one side and men on the other. Sometimes women would holler across the room asking their husband's what the preacher meant when he said so and so, thus usurping the authority over a man, so the "command" came into being that women should be silent in the church. Now none of what I said just now came out of the Bible, it was what she had been told. Anyway, he got all bent out of shape about what I said. Tonight, the Verse affirms what happened last night. As it talks about being persecuted, and reviled and spoke falsely about, and spoke evil of for His Name, which is essentially what happened. Not all of that happend, but the filthy language,falsely accused, did occur. I was kind of proud of myself ( if I can say that). I didn't lose my cool, or get snooty back. I addressed my comment to the lady pastor, because she came to my defense, and just said that people who don't understand tend to "lash out in fear". LOL. The guy never did respond so I guess it made him stop and think.

Anyway, that page is really fun. I hope to see some of y'all join me there sometime. I think last night was a fluke. Tonight, everyone was either asking for prayer, advice, trying to help someone else, or just praising God and quoting scripture.

Have y'all noticed? I'm learning to add things to my Blog slowly, but surely. I need to sit down and start reading my "Blogging for Dummies" book that I got yesterday (I think). I need to start studying about keywords and that sort of stuff if I'm ever gonna get to start advertising in a couple of months. I want to be "on top of my game" when that time comes. Right now my posts are so "all over the place" it's hard to pick out key words, so I just choose them all. Can't go wrong that way I suppose. Not right now anyway.

I keep thinking I'm getting better, but then I look at my keywords and don't see much change. I'll get there I suppose. I see so many nice blogs that have a purpose, a mission, and then there's me. UH OH! Did that sound like a pity party starting? Nope! Not gonna happen! I'm gonna get this thing rolling one way or the other! I do have some passions I just don't know what I could do for them on here. As I said before, I used to teach Literacy and ESL to adults. I really enjoyed it, but I couldn't do that now because my husband likes to go on trips with very little notice. He's a "spur of the moment" kind of guy. Needless to say, I couldn't hold classes with any kind of dependability and I don't know what I could do for this cause on my blog. Any suggestions? Let me know . Hey if I were past the "ranking" stage, that would be a neat contest! Too Bad! Unfortunately, I still have until December 9, which will be 3 months.

It's close to midnight so I guess I'd better go before I turn into a pumpkin. Speaking of Pumpkins, a friend sent me the cutest e-mail about the beginning of Fall. It was comparing how to make a jack-o-lantern to how God takes care of His children. Talking about getting the pumpkin out of the pumpkin patch (the world) taking it in and washing it (baptism) cutting the top off and scooping out the Yucky stuff ( learning the Bible and how to live for God). It's really neat. If anyone would like a copy, let me know. I always keep my good e-mails for a long time.

Good night All and May God Bless!

PJ