Hello everyone!!! Hope you are well today. God has been at work in your life and mine all along, quietly but surely. He has revealed some things to me over time that shows His goodness and intricate thought towards us. One thing he showed me is that our breath speaks His name, “YHWH.” Therefore, without knowing it, our first breath is His name and our last. In between that time, we are always worshiping God as we breathe. So amazing. It then reveals to us that we have power in our tongue, making it real important to be aware of what we are saying. This is the importance of when the bible tells us, life (positive consequences) and death (negative consequences) are in the power of the tongue. (Proverbs 18:21)
More on that…
God used His words to speak everything into existence in the beginning. Genesis chapter 1 through 2:3 reveals all that God spoke into existence. He put His breath in Adam’s lungs and that very breath is in each of us. We, as humans, were last to be created with Eve being the exclamation point at the end of His creative work. This is shown in Genesis 2:4-25. With all that being said, it leads to the knowledge of what we say and repeat matters. When we complain all the time, chaos comes into our lives. On the contrary, if we are thankful, our focus and words changing bringing a thankful and happy heart. What we focus on will become what is surrounding us.
This makes you think…
A good movie to watch on this is the Veggie Tales movie Madame Blueberry. She is ungrateful for what she has in her home and is yearning for more. A new store opens up down the street where she buys all the stuff she wants. This ends up destroying her house resulting in her having nothing. The more she had with the new stuff didn’t make her happy. She had everything she thought she wanted and more. Yet, it wasn’t enough. A little boy and girl along the way reveal to her that being thankful for what you have makes you happy. Stating to her, “A happy heart is a thankful heart.” All of us have so much, yet are we really fulfilled with what we have?
One side of my perspective…
Jesus is all we need. We need nothing else in our lives. Therefore, everything else is considered a blessing. I have had many things, and I have lived out of my car. The nicer road of being provided for as a child. Then to a young adult living day to day. Going to work and living on the go. God provided what I needed to get me through in each situation. I had just enough to get by and survive. What an amazing, loving, Heavenly Father we have. I could have nothing and yet have everything I need if I have Jesus and His Word in my heart.
The other side of my perspective…
I have a habit of going to the store for clothes, bringing them home, wearing them, and realizing I didn’t really need/want them. This only leads me to more clutter. I hoard all these things, thinking they are important or just not getting to really go through them well, and there are piles of things and papers everywhere. They were all cleaned with the help of an organizer, but then the mess is back. I didn’t undo what we did, fully, but some areas collected stuff again. The stuff around is stealing my peace. Leaving me to clean and clean and get nowhere, especially the paper piles. I bring home more stuff when I haven’t dealt with the stuff I have. It’s a wonder my house is still standing. This stuff is causing debt to be accumulated or maintained as an issue and we had been stuck.
No longer stuck…
God showed me today that I need to eliminate my mess. I took time the other day going through my clothes to rid of some. They stayed in a bag on the floor next to my bed for months. Today, they had to be placed in a new bag, since the bag ripped, and I took them out to my car. I will drop them off today and tomorrow to get them out of here. A tip from my organizing friend. Do little piles… Trash, Keep, and Donate, then get it out. There is less for me to climb over in my room. This girl, Victoria, aka vicky.the.og, talked about a broken wired box/basket in her room that she would walk by and get scratched by. She said that she became comfortable with broken things in her presence.
More from Victoria’s reel…
She started with certain objects needing gotten out of your room, one being broken objects that no longer serve a purpose. She continued… a lot of the times things from our past that we look back at that we go to, even though we’re a new creation, still triggers us and hurts us and scars us. We keep walking by it and going near it and getting in the space of it because we haven’t actually removed it. We haven’t taken away the physical things that remind us of that person or left that environment if possible. Ask God to help you deal with it if it’s spiritual, remove it if it’s a physical thing that triggers the memory. This was a word for me that I need to complete with God’s help. He is my strength in my weakness, as He can be for you too.
Back to the unsticking…
I am thinking through each thing I need to look at. Finances, relationships, food, and more. In my finances, we are no longer using the credit cards. We are on the way to saving while paying off debt. In the first time in our marriage, we are working more together on our finances. We agree and will utilize God’s help in what steps to take and how to take them. My husband rarely talks to me about ideas for finances. So, when he does, especially when the Holy Spirit is activated in me by his words, I am listening. God is at work with us in unity. It’s so amazing when God is in it and you see Him at work. Today they said to trust God and it will give perfect peace, Shalom Shalom.
Where am I at with this?
I am at the point of taking care of my part. There is a room of mess where I sleep. It is not peaceful now, but it can be. I am going to clean it and make a home for what I need and rid of what I don’t need. There are things I need to take seriously and take care of. Today, I did do that small part. Then, I decided to take a break and do this blog. Why? God put something in front of me. It says, Put God first in your life. If Satan cannot make you sin, he will steal your time. He will make you so busy with work that you have no time to read the Bible. Satan will make you so occupied with social events that you have no time for church.
It continues…
Satan will keep you so engaged in entertainment that you have no time to pray. He will make you so busy with household chores that you have no time for closeness with God. (Huh, look at that. I was about to be consumed in household chores instead of His work in this blog. This goes with today’s message at Church. Good things can become idols.) He will keep you endlessly busy, leaving no room for your soul. Let us always place God first in our lives. He will never disappoint you! Amen! Today, we discussed idols in our lives. Idols are not statues that you bow down to only. They can consist of work, people, coffee, and anything we put ahead of God. Food for thought.
Jacob to Israel…
Esau and Jacob are twins who came out, with Jacob holding Esau’s heel coming second. Twins inside the womb fighting. Rebekah asked the Lord, and he told her that 2 nations are in her womb warring. Isaac’s favorite son was Esau and Rebekah’s favorite son was Jacob. One will be stronger than the other. Our pastor pointed out that it says in the beginning, Genesis 25: 23, that the older son would serve the younger. This is before the scheme came with his mother tricking his father, Isaac, to give the blessing to Jacob. It was also before Esau gave up his birthright for food. We thought they were scheming, but God already stated this would be the case.
More details…
Even though it was in the plan, Jacob did reap what he sowed. Laban, Rachel’s father, tricked him into marrying Leah first. He had to wait 7 years and was given Leah, then another 7 years for Rachel. It makes me think God would have given it to him as He promised. Then, Jacob may have not had the trickery with Laban over tradition of the first born being we first. Did God need tradition to be followed in this sense? Just thoughts, but not what happened. Later on, Jacob wrestles with a man until daybreak. In Genesis 32:28, Jacob’s name is changed to Isreal. This is because he has contended with God and with men and has prevailed. If you look a little further, Psalms 32 is a Psalm of forgiveness. Jacob is fully forgiven of his past and has a new name and is made new.
Abram to Abraham…
Abram was promised a son in Genesis 13. As the wait was long, Sarai told Abram to lay with Hagar to have a child, and she had their son, Ishmael in Genesis 16. What a timeframe of waiting. At last, in Genesis 17, God changes Abram’s name to Abraham. He also changes Sarai to Sarah. Abram and Sarai tried to take the plan into their own hands when it came to children. Abram listened to Sarai without consulting the Lord, just as Adam listened to Eve in the beginning. Three examples of people trying to do it in their own way and not waiting for God’s plan and God’s timing. After being renamed, they were able to receive God’s promise of bearing a son together. Psalms 17 says it’s a prayer for protection against oppressors. God’s strength shown through Abram’s and Sarai’s weakness.
Elizabeth to Olivia…
A quick look up to what Elizabeth means in Hebrew. It means “God is my oath,” or “God is abundance.” This reflects a deep reverence for the divine. Wow, what life has been spoken over me in my name. I have always felt strongly about following rules and God’s rules are the most important. A name change, in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” The name change to Olivia makes it “oak tree,” or “strong as an oak.” The Latin word means “olive.” An olive tree in Hebrew culture symbolizes peace, prosperity, and divine blessings. Side note, we did buy an olive tree to be planted in Israel. With the war, I have wondered if it still stands and how to find out. I will have to ask.
Back to the Bible…
In Jeremiah 17:7-8, it talks about a metaphor of a person like a tree being planted by the water in this parable. Trusting in the Lord will make you this tree planted by the water. Trusting in humans or mankind makes you like a bush in the desert, where you won’t see when prosperity comes. Instead, you live in stony wastes in the wilderness, a land of salt that isn’t inhabited. I remember the tree part, but the first part is good to know for what you don’t want to strive for. It also tells you in verse 9 that your heart is deceitful. Romans 7:15 says that I don’t want to do this but do it anyways because of the heart. Then Galatians 5:17 reiterates it in a different way, talking of the flesh in conflict with the Spirit.
In Conclusion…
What is your new name? Pray that God reveals your new name to you. God, cover these readers. Help them see You in all of Your glory. Help them know that You love them where they are, but You won’t leave them there. You want healing and abundance for each of them. Jesus, your only begotten son, was sacrificed for all of them and all of their sin. Ask Jesus to come into your heart if you haven’t. Self-reflect and move away from sin gradually with God’s help. Pray, fast, move in step with God as He leads. Your path will be different than mine and God knows all. He knows all about you and all about others around you. Turning away from sin means repenting and saying you’re sorry, then turning away from it and not doing it again.
Prayers…
Heavenly Father, touch each person who reads this. Please, help awaken them to their needs. Show them the way You have for them. Give them just what they need when they need it. Show them You care through reaching them in their love language. Show them a cardinal, a turtle, a horse, a bee for prosperity, and anything that people will know that You are reaching out to them. Bring people around each of them to lift them up and bear up each other’s burdens. This can be listening and having compassion on what they’re going through. Listening to understand. It could be spending time with them. Show them and lead them in each situation to what it looks like. Thank You, Heavenly Father, for covering our sins through the blood Jesus shed for us on the cross. Bless everyone through their trial and tribulation. (John 16:33) We ask this in Jesus’ mighty and precious name, Amen.