Tag Archives: God

Identifying The Hardened Heart

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Hard

As I began to read the book of Exodus this week, the Lord began to unfold to me characteristics of “The Hardened Heart” and how when one has one, it can grow increasingly hard, and is indeed Identifiable.  I’ll show you the hardening heart’s progression in these verses from Exodus that are in progression as well.

I am speaking of a person’s heart, their real inner self, and how their heart responds to God, when His Words and His Will are revealed.

The Number One characteristic of a hardened heart is that it WILL NOT LISTEN TO GOD. Indeed something IS going into the ear or heart, is heard, and its meaning acknowledged, but a hardened heart will not heed what is heard or respond to God in heart-felt obedience. A person with a hardened heart may temporarily respond, for RELIEF, but then will continue back into their own way. God will continue to speak, that He may be heard, until the hardened heart is stone cold.

None of us is exempt from the possibility of a hardening heart. Therefore try recognize yourself as well as others around about you in these identifiers. These are the last days and many will have hardened hearts. It is good, therefore, for all of us to be able to recognize what a hard heart will be like in those around around us, and know the identifiers so we can avoid a hard heart ourselves. In this case, preventative maintenance is indeed better than damage control.

You may desire to print this and follow along in your Bible, as a personal bible study, and I will bullet point the identification of a hard heart. If you don’t have the time to look up the corresponding scriptures, at least glance through the bullet points…please..for I believe that the Holy Spirit gave this important revelation for this hour. God and Christ Jesus must want these identifiers noted… for the Spirit does not reveal things that have no need to be revealed.

Friends, we are and will be surrounded by those with hardened hearts. Let’s see now what the Word of God reveals concerning one with a hard heart.

Exodus 7: 22-23

  • Easy to turn away from the truth of God, his words or instruction, even having heard it clearly declared.
  • Easy to walk away, to disengage from the reality of what they’re facing
  • Easy to ignore and to go back into their comfort zone
  • Don’t even take it to heart; no thought wasted upon it. Conscience seared.
  • Because the world and the occult mimics what God does, oftentimes His Acts don’t receive consideration.

Exodus 8:8-10

  • When to call upon the Lord?
  • Always “Tomorrow”.
  • Hard hearts always want to yield or to make change “tomorrow”…never TODAY…never NOW.

Exodus 8:15

  • When RELIEF was received, back came the hardened heart... and the “not listening”.
  • This is how to differentiate between “worldly sorrow” and “godly sorrow” (II Cor 7:10)

Exodus 8:18-19

  • Even those in Satan’s camp, those into the occult practices, the magicians could not help but believe when they experienced the Finger of God …. But One with a hard Heart can still resist great signs. (This also gives indication that those in the occult may not have hard hearts, but misplaced alliances, and can and will be brought to salvation through Christ, resulting in them “changing sides”.)

Exodus 8:25-28

  • A hard heart will try to bargain or compromise with God. (Sacrifice “here” not there)
  • Even conceding, seemingly, One with the hard heart will not go as far as what God commands. (God said, a distance of three days. Hard heart “don’t go very far”)

Exodus 8:29-32

  • Hard hearts deceive, over and over, to get their own way… All they are after is “relief.” Then they go back to their own will and way.

Exodus 9:7

  • Even knowing the righteous would “receive favor” and that those of hardened heart would “receive judgment”, a hard heart will remain.

Exodus 9:11-12

  • Even if they notice the aspects of sin or judgment in the view of sufferings, griefs, pains around them, One with a hard heart will remain hard.

Exodus 9:17

  • A Hard heart acts arrogantly against the people of God.

Exodus 9:19-21

  • A hard heart will not heed a warning, even when given the option to receive grace! Whereas, when one has the “fear of the Lord”, they will at least take the warning “just in case”.

Exodus 9:27

  • A hard heart can speak words of repentance: “I have sinned” and can acknowledge God: ” The Lord is the righteous one and I am guilty” yet…

Exodus 9:30

  • Though they speak words, to get relief, God knows the real hearts. He revealed his heart: “I know that you still do not fear the Lord God”
  • True repentance is of the heart… not with words.

Exodus 9:34

  • Again, when relief comes, from God’s heavy hand… Those with a hard heart will sin again, and their heart will harden all the more!

Exodus 9:34b

  • At the hardhearted harden still more, they will bring others to the same hardness of heart that they have. (Note, “and his officials”, was added.)
  • Hanging around with someone with a hard heart? Warning: Your own heart will become hardened!

Exodus 10:3

  • God’s words to those of hardened heart: “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?

Exodus 10:4

  • God gives you “TODAY” to repent of your hard heart.

Exodus 10:7-10

  • Devastation realized… those with a hard heart will try ” to control the situation” even in their choice to yield. (men only… ) (God had said: Everyone, with the herds)
  • When the discover that they cannot cause God to compromise with them, anger will ensue from their frustration of not having the control.

Exodus 10:16-17

  • A hard heart may again be speaking words of repentance and even go so far as to speak words of apology to the person representing the Lord (“and against you”), Or who they sinned against…But…”Please forgive my sin once more” remain empty words…for they only do this “for relief” of God’s heavy hand (I.e. a change in circumstances)…. Not because of any genuine fear of, or belief in, the Lord.

Exodus 10:20

  • When they have received grace… in other words, they get RELIEF… they go right back to “resisting” God.

Exodus 10:24-26

  • A hard heart, when going into another time of some kind of conceding to God…will then compromise a little bit more with God… but will still not let obedience or concession be full, or obedience complete.
  • A hard heart STILL wants to have SOME control. Humility Is just out of the realm of possibility!
  • A hard heart is afraid of losing control, power, or the right to dictate. It still holds itself up “as God” and “self” rules.

Exodus 10:25-29

  • When one of God’s servants is continuously standing up for and declaring God’s will, one with a hardened heart will not desire further contact with that person.

Exodus 10:28

  • Even a murderous heart will become resident within a person with a hard heart, if he refuses to let God dictate to him.

Exodus 11:4-10

  • A hard heart can even resist a warning “against LIFE” and will even sacrifice “human life” (of others) just to have its own will and way.

This is why it is called “a hard heart” ….there’s no life in it toward God. It is a heart of stone.

If you walked through these identification points regarding one of a hardened heart, you will receive an understanding of what the end times are going to be like.

Let’s look at a few more related Scriptures too:

Matthew 4:18

“They are darkened in their understanding; alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.“

  • They don’t desire to know what God has to say.
  • People around us with hard hearts will not care about understanding, for they don’t want the life of God… and their ignorance is quite notable.
  • Their hard hearts and pride, and self-rule, have kept them from the word of God, or from listening to any one who witnesses to them or preaches the word.
  • Consciences seared, they are alienated from even the great grace of having a guilty conscience to steer them toward God.

Proverbs 28:13-14

“He that covers his sins shall not prosper: but whoever confesses and forsakes them, shall have Mercy. Happy is the man that is always reverent before God, but whoever hardens his heart falls into trouble, mischief, and calamity.”

  • Trouble will mark the life of those with hardened hearts.

NOW HERE IS HOW TO AVOID THE HARDENED HEART YOURSELF:

The book of Hebrews, especially chapters 3 and 4 talk about “TODAY, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled!”  A “Rest in the Lord” is available as our reward… a promise obtained from our obedience!

But the operative word is TODAY.

Hebrews 3:13 says, “Exhort one another daily, as it is TODAY, so you won’t be deceived by sin and become hardened in your hearts.”

Hebrews 4:7
“So God sent another time for entering his rest, and that time is TODAY. God announced this to David much later in the words already quoted: TODAY when you hear his voice don’t harden your hearts.”

Psalms 95: 7 – 11
Excerpt:
…”TODAY if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. I said they are people whose hearts go astray and they have not known my ways…”

Today is the time.

Tomorrow may bring judgment, consequences, reaping of our wrong choices, etc.

But we have TODAY…To affect any “future outcome”…through our heeding the Lord God and Honoring Christ through our obedience and following.

As we choose to soften our own hearts to humbly listen and obey God, we ourselves can avoid a hardened heart.

The most tremendous judgment of God in this world is the hardening of the hearts of men. This occurs when they continually Make Choices Daily NOT TO HEED HIS WILL when it is known.

By the way I read a quote, recently, sort-of a side-line to the subject but not OFF the subject. Hardened Hearts will affect people’s health too! This is the quote:

Hardening of the Heart ages people more quickly than the hardening of the arteries! (Author Unknown)  

Proverbs 3:7-8 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. 8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

In this case, too, I repeat: “preventative maintenance” is way better than “damage control“, for when it is too late…our hearts have become as stone.

Encouragement:  If you are at all concerned about this topic, having read it, I assure you that you do not have a hard heart that is unable to become pliable in the Lord’s hands. So simply guard yourself, turn toward God and make necessary changes, and have your resolve to use TODAY to heed God’s voice. You will be led into sweet victory!! Amen!

Written by Elizabeth Norland   January 25, 2013    http://www.theimageofchrist.com

Christian American versus American Christian

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Today seems a very appropriate time – ELECTION DAY – to share with you an article that my deceased husband wrote two years prior to his death. Yet, may his words LIVE ON, to give someone wisdom today and in the days ahead. I have cut/paste it in its entirety with no editing on my part.  

Christian American

versus

American Christian     

David L. Stephens     Jan. 2007

I watched a U.S. senator, who had announced his Christianity and then addressing the Senate used the Bible to promote the acceptance of “Gays” in society.  I found it interesting to note, even though he acknowledged there are two sections of the Bible, one in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament which condemn homosexuality, he concluded that Jesus had never mentioned the subject and His teaching on love overruled any condemnation.  I wondered, can a man think that his morality is higher than that of God’s?  Jesus preached love, yet He did not endorse sin of any kind, only forgiveness of sin for those that would repent.  He died so that our sins could be forgiven and that we might overcome the life of sin that controlled us.  He gave us the power to choose life and “sin no more”.   Homosexuality is still a sin and the penalty has not been rescinded.

The Blood of Jesus was not a means of licensing a lifestyle of sin free from penalty.

The church has no authority to rewrite the Scriptures and endorse homosexuality as an accepted life style.  It does clearly state that homosexuality is the result of a carnal mind and that a carnal mind cannot know God.  Yet in some denominations, ministers, who can not know God, have risen to the rank of bishop.  Why would Christians submit to a person with a reprobate mind, and one that is an abomination in God’s sight, as a minister of the Lord?  It is only where the Word of God is not accepted as authority, and therefore where Jesus, The Word, is not accepted as the Head of the Church.  If they are not a follower of Christ’s teachings, then they are not true Christians.

We had a former President that went to his pastor, a PHD’d minister within a Baptist denomination, that instructed him concerning abortion.  He said it was all right that the child could be killed in the womb, as it was not life until it was birthed.  Armed with this revelation, the President was now freed from the responsibility of protecting the unborn American child.  God recognized the personage of the unborn child, and called them by name in the womb.  The unborn child, John the Baptist, recognized the presence of the child, Jesus, in the womb of Mary.  If God recognizes the unborn as life, and declares it so, then any one who speaks to the contrary, must be supernaturally ignorant.  Christianity does not endorse abortion or any other form of murder.  Murder is sin and Satan is its author. There is not a Christian ministry or minister of Christianity apart from the Word of God.

We took the God and His Word out of the schools.  Apart from the Word there is no knowledge other than that discovered by man.  Science does not acknowledge God or morality.  We effectively removed the lessons of discerning of Good from Evil.  We have removed the knowledge of sin from society with the removal of the God’s Word.  With the acceptance of Gay Rights we have unleashed the destruction of the family and the doctrine of marriage.  Every time we compromise Biblical Standards we unleash evil destruction in our midst.  When we accepted the idea of banning Religious men’s influence in the government as the interpretation of “the government’s non interference with religious institutions” we allowed ourselves to be gagged and bound legally.  Now that our legal system has cast out God’s Law, in its place can only be godless law.   The law of the land is now murder for life, gay rights in place of morality, foolishness for wisdom, and fools replacing righteous judges.  Instead of peace and wisdom in the government, we have strife, and where there is strife there is every evil work.  We have a divided senate and a divided house, not “ONE NATION UNDER GOD.”  How long can a divided nation stand?

We sing God Bless America and then we fail to honor Him with our lifestyles.  We point the finger at the ungodly in office as the fault, but we accepted their promises and supported their party instead of promoting the Word.   We pray in faith but fail to act in faith.  We have forgotten that faith without works is dead, and our nation is dying spiritually.  We have endorsed freedom of religion in the place of going out and preaching the Gospel to all men.  There is no freedom of any kind apart from the Word of God, only the bondage of evil.  We stand at the threshold of decision, the choice of having a Christian America or America without Christ.  There is no compromise between the Powers of Light and darkness.  To compromise is to separate oneself from God by choice.  If you put America before Christ, then you have made America an abomination without Christ.  “Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done in America as in Heaven.” is the prayer that needs to be sent towards Heaven.

When the Kingdom is sought first, then all the blessing will be added unto America.      

Amen.

Our Relationship – A Matter of “Hearing”

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Let’s listen in on a couple “familiar” conversations:

The woman despairs within: “He doesn’t hear me!” And then she says aloud to her husband, totally exasperated: “You’re not hearing me!” And he, frustrated to equal degree as she, gives his emphatic response:  “I hear you! You’re not hearing me!”

Or…

A teenager shouts aloud to his parent, “Quit yelling at me! I heard you the first time! And the parent responds, “If you heard me, the first time, you would have listened to me!”  Then, the teen responds, “Well, you don’t need to keep telling me over and over!” and the parent pleads “Well, if you’d hear me, I wouldn’t have to repeat myself!”     

Now, tell me: What is it that their “not hearing” leads to? What is the “fruit” of it?

Right!  A stalemate!  A breakdown in the communications!  Their “good” relationship comes to a halt!

Neither party is listening to the other, because they both want to be heard!  And if they are not heard, they stop listening to each other!  They “shut off”… and their relationship suffers greatly… intimacy decreases, and maybe even ceases.

Now, let’s look at this in light of Father God, Christ Jesus our Lord, and the Holy Spirit within us who pleads: “He who has ears, let him hear!”

Why does the Lord want us to hear?  Because He wants to have a “good” relationship with us! (smile)

———————————————————————-

In the last week, I have been hearing God, in the Word, mention “hearing”. So today, I will speak of some of what He has taught me. Please do read the entire article to get the full impact of the message the Lord wants me to speak, and you TO HEAR. As you read, do not assume anything. Instead try to hear. Truly listen to Him…okay? He may even speak completely different from what I speak, or what you read, for He does that. (smile) Consider this whole thing to be A Matter of Hearing.

Let’s begin:

Most of you are familiar with the parable of the soils that is in Luke 8. The seed is The Word of God, and it falls upon different soils, of heart.  Now, let’s talk about The Matter of Hearing.  First of all, I just want you to glance quickly down upon the words I have bolded from each of the interpretive verses.  From this scan, you will note that they all heard.  Then read back through to get the meaning of Christ’s words.

Luke 8:12-15

King James Version (KJV)

12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.

14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

These scripture verses emphasize that “the Word WAS HEARD” and yet what was the difference in the listeners to the Word? I venture to say, only one described set of listeners REALLY HEARD.

In the human conversations that I begin this article with, each speaker desired to receive a “certain response” from their listener, to indicate they were really being heard. If they did not receive this “needed response” it was a definite indication to each speaker that their listener wasn’t really HEARING them. Right?

Well, can we suppose it is the same with the Lord ?

From these verses in Luke, we understand our hearing the Lord does not infer to having something “go into” our ears, or even “into” our minds, through the spoken or written Word of God.  Hearing has not even anything to do with “receiving” what “goes in”.  We can hear with our ears, and even nod our head as if receiving, but if we do not have “the heart” to HEAR… the proper heart attitude… we will NOT HEAR. We will not be giving the “response” our Lord is desiring from us hearing Him.

Note Verses 13 and 14; these listeners heard and received, yet likened to soil: they had no root ….or they were choked out.

So they really did not “hear” God. Did they?

So what did they NOT have? What did they lack that would have enabled them to truly “hear”??

According to verse 15, the missing ingredients are: one can be interpreted as “a noble and good heart” as we hear, and the second is in the “keeping it” once we hear.

So now we are at “the heart of the matter” … “the matter of hearing”!

It is our heart that will take what we hear and receive, and cause us to keep it, and to bear fruit, with patience.

So as we look back through the passage, our heart as described these verses, ought to be:

HONEST AND GOOD - OBEDIENT - RESPONSIVE - PATIENT – FRUIT BEARING

Sounds like the ingredients of any “good” relationship, doesn’t it? (smile)

To hear, then, we conclude that we must first set our hearts aright.

An honest and good heart, will “consciously choose” TO HEAR, for we will have a respect and honor for who is speaking. We will have “an attitude” of DESIRE TO HEAR.

Will I choose to hear what God has to say to me, whether by His Spirit or the Written Word, His still small voice within (conscience), or his voice heard through my brothers and sisters?

This is a conscious decision, to be God conscious. To “tune in”…to “want to hear” and to “heed” what we hear…

Let’s look at the verse Luke 11:28,

“But He (Jesus) said, Yea, rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it.”

Notice hearing and keeping cannot be separated. If you are not keeping, you are not really truly hearing.

And let’s hear the invitation of Christ in Revelation 3:20,

“Behold, if any man HEAR my voice, AND OPEN the door, I will come into him, and sup with him, and he with me.”

Notice, we have to open ourselves up, which is a heart issue again, in order for Jesus to come in and fellowship with us.

If you close tightly the door of your heart, you close yourself off to hearing.  You leave the door shut to Jesus. Just as we do in human relationships. We can shut Him out, or slam the door in his face if it gets part way open… Yet he continues to speak.

For it says, it is IF we hear, right? So that means he’ll take the initiative TO SPEAK, and once we perceive he IS SPEAKING, we need to “tune in.”  We must want to find his frequency, just as we would tune in a radio station.  If you keep moving the knob fast you will just get a jumbled up mess, and make no sense of anything you hear.  You have to WANT TO HEAR.

Why don’t we hear? Or want to hear?

For we know, deep inside, that hearing and responding DO go together. (smile)

Sometimes we subconsciously think if we don’t hear, we don’t have to heed. Like, if I don’t read this article, I will not be held accountable for what I receive from its words.  Or subconscious reasoning says: If I don’t open up the Bible, I won’t be held accountable for what it says, or… If I don’t attend church meetings, I won’t obey what the Spoken Word declares.

Let’s talk about that.

Does your not hearing this article make it less true? Does your not hearing the word of God, make that much less God’s Will for you? Of course not! It is deception! We deceive ourselves.

The Lord pleads with all of his people… TO HEAR… for the hard-hearted are described in scripture by their curse: “seeing they may not see, hearing they may not understand”…and why Christ spoke in parables. (see Matthew 13:13)

Why will they not hear? It’s because their hearts won’t enable them to hear! Their hearts, neither honest or good, as one who listens.

And yet Jesus gives the invitation to all: “He who has ears, let him hear!”

Jesus declares in the Luke 8:21, “My mother and my brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”  . Sounds pretty similar to his words of Luke 11:28 shared earlier, doesn’t it?

Only this time, his words may be interpreted: “We are His Family IF we hear him and if we keep His Word”.  According to these passages, it’s not just if we have heard and received his word, but we must also keep it, to fulfill righteousness…to bear fruit…to please our Lord.

Now let’s take this a step further. Let’s talk relationship.

Do we only hear him? Or do we expect him to hear us?

Back to the relationships described at the beginning.  What did each of them do, when they felt that they were not heard themselves?  Each GAVE UP.  Each HARDENED their heart. Why? Because we all have the need to BE HEARD.  We are created this way. We need to be heard, and we need to hear. This IS relationship, after all.

Is this not also the way of believers with Christ? Do we believe he hasn’t heard US? So we have stopped hearing HIM? Have our hearts gone hard against HIM, because we don’t feel we are heard?

I believe this could very well be.

There is only one thing wrong. Why this is deception. It cannot be true. That is, our thinking that our LORD has not really heard us. God does hear. Why? Because his heart is NOT hard… He is able to respond to us…. He acts and reacts in purest love. He has nothing on his end to prevent his hearing of us.

So then what can we conclude?

We have failed to HEAR HIM.   

Let’s look at HIS HEART, shall we?

I am going to take you to an example from Luke 10:51-56. The people… actually a whole Samaritan village… did not receive Christ, as his disciples went ahead of him to prepare the way, for his coming to them. So his disciples, being appalled at this rejection of Jesus, said. “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” And Jesus replied, with a stern rebuke:“You do not know what manner of spirit you are.”  “The Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them”… and they went to another village.

In today’s interpretation, He was clearly telling them that their mindset/attitude was not of the Holy Spirit! Their hearts hardened when Jesus was NOT HEARD (responded to). But Jesus went on to declare this very important revelation about HIMSELF: “The Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them”…. And they went to another village.

Why was it stressed that they moved on to another village?????

And why do you suppose, this week, the Lord was illuminating that last line to me, amidst all this talk of “hearing”?

Firstly, Jesus wanted His Heart revealed: to save not destroy…and that it was an honest and good heart…toward them. Secondly, it was to show us all: Jesus will not press himself upon those who DO Reject Him… He, instead of trying to convince them TO HEAR HIM, He went on his way to another village!!

So the sober end of this matter of hearing, receiving, and heeding is the fact: WEhave to want to!

Jesus will speak… yet, if we don’t want to hear him, He’ll move on to another.

If a certain Church will not hear, he’ll move on to another.

If a particular missionary compound, will not hear, he’ll move on to another.

If a people group will not hear, he’ll move on to another.

If one of us is given an assignment, and we do not hear (heed it), he’ll move on to give it to another.

Jesus is speaking! He is moving until He finds one who hears! i.e. one who receives his word, and will, and obeys.  Then he will COME IN TO HIM, AND FELLOWSHIP WITH HIM, AND YOU WILL BE HEARD TOO! (Rev 3:20). Relationship will be yours.

SO, IN RESPONSE, WILL YOU HEAR TODAY?

Will you prepare your heart to hear, from this hour forward?

Will you heed and obey, what you hear, when you hear?

It is indeed

A MATTER OF “HEARING”

For us all…

 

 

A Prayer of Response:

Lord God,

Open my ears to hear you… really hear you… that I become more-and-more responsive TO YOU.  Keep on speaking, Lord, until I heed what you say.  Please do not move on. Please know I welcome you, and desire you to keep talking to me.  I ask you to forgive me for closing my ears to so many things you’ve been speaking to me of late.  Open my heart, as I daily open your word and spend time with you. And give me the ability to obey you God.  Fill me with your Holy Spirit, and enable me to hear your still, small voice throughout my day, no matter how busy life is… giving me guidance and comfort.  May your voice become louder, so it drowns out the voices of this world that distract me and turn me from you.  Thank you Jesus, for your blood that washes away all sin. Wash away the hardness of my heart, that has kept me from fully hearing you.  And bring me great grace to respond to you with EARS THAT HEAR. I want to obey and to please you, for I love you Lord, and honor your name and your rightful authority over my life.  May I be ever increasingly God-conscious…that I give you, my Lord, the gift of true love and relationship: EARS THAT HEAR.               

In Jesus Name, Amen        

Written by Elizabeth Norland – 10/27/2012

Faith and Unbelief – Humility and Pride

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FAITH – Deeply believes God will do what HE SAYS – and it subsequently produces WORDS of agreement, and ACTIONS of obedience.

FAITH – Need not understand.  It doesn’t look at the natural. But believes GOD WILL do and GOD CAN do what GOD SAYS He will do.

Luke 1:37 says, For nothing is impossible with God.”

It’s one thing to Believe IN HIM, it is an entirely different matter to BELIEVE HIM.  This is where our faith is tested.  Do I take Him at His Word? Do I truly HEAR Him? Have I “REALIZED” His Promises?

PRIDE and FAITH are Opposites, just as UNBELIEF AND FAITH are Opposites.

UNBELIEF is really masked, or camouflaged PRIDE.

Let’s consider the 12 spies that returned from beyond the Jordan to report back to Moses and Aaron and the Children of Israel in the wilderness. The account is in Numbers 13:26-33.

10 of these spies  - we, in modern day, would consider “humble” – for they said “we are as grasshoppers”, and 2 of these spies – we’d consider “proud and arrogant” for they said “we can take the land!”

YET IN REALITY:

10 were PRIDEFUL – “relying on their own strength”  - their report was given according to a human perspective, not according to God’s perspective.

2 were HUMBLE – “relying on God’s ability to do as He said, and relying on God’s strength to make it all possible”.

DO YOU SEE, MY FRIENDS, HOW PRIDE LOOKS DECEIVING?  How it is a false humility? and “appearing humble” is in actuality UNBELIEF disguised?

True humility BELIEVES who God is and understands who we are. We maintain hope, and strength….and are more than conquerors!  For we know it all has to do WITH GOD, and NOT US, except to step out in FAITH that He will do as he says. We have to do OUR PART to do that stepping into what He says to.

NOT YET CONVINCED? Let’s look at the 10 spies report: Numbers 13: 26-33

“It truly flows with milk and honey” – what God had promised about the land was indeed true.  These men acknowledge it was as He SAID, and an awesome land of milk and honey, and they revealed its wonderful fruits.

YET THEN THEY SAY THIS:

“Nevertheless”

“nevertheless” means “despite all of that.”

At that moment, Moses, and every man of faith in Israel should have cried out and said, “Nevertheless nothing! How can one say, ‘We went to the land, found it good, and God’s promise true,’ and then say, ‘Despite all this . . .’?”

The 10 spies continued:

Despite God’s words and His promise….” the people there are strong.”

We will disregard God’s faithful promise… “for their cities are large and fortified .”

and Who cares about God’s Words… “we saw with our own eyes the descendants of Anak, a tribe of large men! “

and despite God’s Ability…. “the land is taken up! the Amalekites dwell there, and  the Amorites . . . and so do the Canaanites.  “There is no room for us.”

Their UNBELIEF was revealed in their WORD: “Nevertheless”…and JUSTIFIED in their WORDS spoken thereafter…

It is hard to imagine a report more unbelieving and unfaithful to God than this; a report that recognizes the faithfulness of God’s promise, the truth of His word, and yet says, “Despite all that . . .”

UNBELIEF IS NOT HUMILITY.  FOR IT DOES NOT GIVE GOD HIS PROPER PLACE OF HONOR AND RESPECT. FAITH IS RESPECT FOR WHAT GOD HAS SAID.

So, let’s look at Caleb’s bold report of Numbers 13, and Joshua’s concurring:

“Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.”

Then Caleb quieted the people: Caleb – blessed forever! – commanded the people to immediately (at once) trust and obey God and to take the land, because God had made them able.  It took great courage for Caleb and Joshua to stand against the tide of unbelief, of doubt and “despite all that“ attitude.

Caleb, for sure, had the spirit of Romans 3:4: Let God be true but every man a liar. Numbers 14:24 describes Caleb AND HOW GOD LOOKED UPON HIM:  ”But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.

FAITH is really HUMILITY. We believe and follow another, ONE, greater than ourselves.

BUT, the majority sometimes rules, even if they are all “dead wrong”, for the other 10 men who had gone up with him countered this rally for faith to rise up, with their own declarations of UNBELIEF:

“We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.”

Unbelief often presents itself as being “factual” or “practical” or “down to earth.” Yet, the most factual, practical, and down to earth thing we can to is trust the word of the living God. Their unbelief was not according to the facts, but despite the facts.  They left out their BIGGEST FACT – that what God SAYS is greater than Man’s abilities or inabilities.

WHEN WE DO NOT REPLACE OUR WEAKNESS, WITH HIS STRENGTH… WE ARE PARALYZED…UNABLE … TO DO WHAT GOD TELLS US TO DO.

God’s ABILITY must be taken into consideration!

FAITH IS HUMILITY.  UNBELIEF IS PRIDE.

Significantly, we see that two spies, Joshua and Caleb, could see the exact same sights – the same grapes, the same men, the same land, the same cities – and they come away singing in faith and encouraging the others to BELIEF not only could God do it, but that THEY COULD DO IT through faith and obedience…by going forward.

While at the same time, the others were filled with a sense of certain doom.

Ultimately, faith or unbelief does not spring from circumstances or environment, but from our hearts, which God must change.

To confirm scripture with scripture, let’s look at Jeremiah 17:5-7, and think of what was just shared:

5 This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.

7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.

Their UNBELIEF indeed brought about their desert experience.  It led them away from prosperity when it was presented.  It took them into a salt land where death is imminent.

Now let’s skip to the New Testament, and talk of Jesus Christ.

What GRIEVED Jesus the most, as he walked this earth?  Was it not UNBELIEF?  Can you not hear his words, “O, Ye of Little Faith!” as he went along life’s way?

Now, tell me, what PLEASED Jesus the most, as he walked this earth? Was it not BELIEF? Can you not hear his words joyously declared to the centurion, “ I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!”  or the words to the blind men “Do you believe I am able to do this? and then “According to your faith, it will be done for you.”

God does not respond to our need. He responds to OUR FAITH.  Jesus responded to FAITH.

My prayer for you, my reader, is that FAITH WILL ARISE WITHIN YOU. AND YOU WILL KNOW GOD’S ABILITY, AMIDST YOUR PERCEIVED INABILITY against what the Enemy may be doing in your household, neighborhood, workplace, or your country.  WE HAVE GOD!

There is no inability in God.  You can’t go wrong if you will trust Him and follow Him when He gives you his leading to advance forward in obedience to something He has told you.  DO NOT LET YOURSELF BE “INTIMIDATED” BY UNBELIEVERS…and Un-BELIEVE-ers. The latter can be God’s own people, if they are not actively believing God, and walking in their faith. Stand your ground, Humble yourself before God and walk in FAITH and HUMILITY BEFORE GOD. (Even if the World around you labels you as Proud!)

I Peter 5:6 “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.”

Written and Shared by Elizabeth Norland, October 19, 2012

MY Part – HIS Part

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Sometimes, I have discovered, it is beneficial to take a scripture and break it down between what is MY Part  versus what is GOD’S Part of a promise.  When doing this, I came across Psalm 91:14-16, and was desiring to share my LIST of this breakdown, for I believe you will SEE actually that it is GOD who carries us, and who is the strong one.  We can become “comfortable” in depending UPON HIM, and NOT UPON OURSELVES.

Here is the scripture:

Because he has set His Love upon me, therefore, will I deliver him;  I will set him on high, because he has known my name.  He shall call upon me, and I will answer him.  I will be with him in trouble.  I will deliver him, and honor him.  With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.

NOW LET US PONDER and SEE from this list,  MY PART  versus  HIS PART:

MY PART

  • Set My Love Upon Him
  • Know His Name
  • Call Upon Him

HIS PART

  • To DELIVER me
  • To RAISE ME UP
  • To ANSWER me
  • To BE WITH ME, giving me His Presence, in trouble.
  • To DELIVER ME  *note this is repeated, emphasizing “over and over” He will deliver.
  • To HONOR me
  • To SATISFY me
  • To GIVE ME LONG LIFE
  • To SHOW ME  HIS SALVATION  (in this life and in the life to come)

NOW,  who has the HARD PART ??  It is GOD, isn’t it.

LOOK AT  ”MY PART” – Not too heavy a yoke, is it?

I think of Jesus’ words also, “Come to Me, ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for my yoke is easy and burden is light.”

MY PART

  • Come TO HIM
  • Attach myself to Him (as being yoked together, as oxen are, side by side in unity of purpose)
  • Learn OF HIM

HIS PART

  • To CARRY my burden, making it light for me
  • To BEAR the yoke, so the end upon my shoulders is LIGHT and EASY
  • To give me REST

GOD can be counted upon to do His Part, and he is more than ABLE to do His Part.

AND

I can do my part, for I am ABLE to do My Part.

WHO HAS IT HARD?  Neither My BIG GOD, nor me!

IF I WILL BUT EMBRACE, AND DO, MY EASY PART -I WILL SEE GOD COME THROUGH FOR ME!  (smile)

TO CLOSE:

May the REALIZATION that you don’t have to DO HIS PART, bring you to freedom of trust.

May the REALIZATION that HE does require you TO DO your part, bring you to doing that part. Believers are “in covenant” with God, through Christ, and each one of us must perform our part of the promises that they might be fulfilled in our lives.

AND MAY WE SEE THE SALVATION OF THE LORD!  Amen?!

Your Christian Walk Likened to a Commuter Train

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This YouTube presentation, which I created as it was given me from the Lord, will give you a change of perspective in how to look at your own christian walk. It is likened to a commuter train in so many respects. I admit the presentation is not “exciting” (for it was my first attempt at a youtube), yet I still encourage you to view it in its entirety, for each page is full of revelation that could only be given in “modern day”and “for such a time as this”.  Indeed, the change of perspective it will bring, will give YOU strength in the days ahead in your own Christian walk. Of this, I am confident.

Now, May God grant YOU His Encouragement as You View This:

If this presentation has ministered truth to your own heart, then I ask that you will help me share its message by forwarding this post on to others via email, or embedding the presentation itself into your own facebook page or blog.

Thank you,

Elizabeth Norland, Handmaiden Music

We are ALL a WORK OF ART

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WE ARE ALL A WORK OF ART - BY ELIZABETH NORLAND

*Elizabeth Norland images are used below to simply illustrate this valuable Spiritual Lesson given her by the Holy Spirit, so pay attention to the narration under each photo.

SOMETIMES ONLY THE ARTIST (Our Creator) SEES US…

WE ARE “HIS” WORKMANSHIP… DESIGNED…ULTIMATELY…

TO BE PUT ON DISPLAY…FOR HIS GLORY.

THE ARTIST KNOWS “WHO” WE ARE TO BE.

ALREADY IN THE ARTIST’S MIND IS WHERE WE ARE TO BE DISPLAYED…

OUR PURPOSE KNOWN EVEN AS WE WERE BEING CREATED FROM NOTHING BUT HIS IMAGINATION FOR US.  CREATIVELY-DESIGNED.

OUR LORD TAKES GREAT CARE WITH THE DETAILS,

AND TAKES HIS TIME… (EACH OF US A MASTERPIECE!)

WE ARE HIS PRIDE AND JOY!

TREASURED AND VALUABLE!

HIS THOUGHTS ALWAYS TOWARD US.

AND THEN WE ARE PUT ON DISPLAY FOR OTHERS TO SEE.

WE INFLUENCE OTHERS BY OUR VISIBILITY.

THEY WILL COME TO KNOW “THE ARTIST” AS THEY SEE HIS HANDIWORK…

VIEWING HIS WORKMANSHIP.

THIS MAY BE IN A SMALL GROUP – OR FAMILY -

OR WE MAY BE DISPLAYED TO THE BUSINESS WORLD

OR BE GIVEN VISIBILITY IN OUR COMMUNITY.

SOMETIMES WE MAY BE DISPLAYED UNDER “NOT SO PLEASANT” CIRCUMSTANCES…

AND IN THE END FEEL A BIT TATTERED AND WORN OUT…

ABUSED AND USED… FOR BEAUTY IS NOT ALWAYS RECOGNIZED

BUT BEAUTIFUL WE ARE… ANYWAY…AND THE ARTIST CAN “RESTORE US”.

WE MUST BECOME ALERT, THAT WE ARE DISPLAYED AT PLAY, AT CHURCH, DOING YOUR HOBBIES, ETC.  WE ARE BEING OBSERVED BY MANY…

EVEN IF IT APPEARS OTHERS ARE PASSING BY…NOT PAYING ATTENTION.

OUR JOY IN THE LORD TAUNTS THE ENEMY…SO LET THAT JOY SHOW TO OTHERS! LET THEM KNOW HOW THANKFUL AND BLESSED YOU ARE IN CHRIST!

LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE!!  SMILE AND ENJOY LIFE IN CHRIST!

HE IS THE FAIREST ONE OF ALL!

AND WE REFLECT HIS GLORY!

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, WE ARE TO LOVINGLY DISPLAY OURSELVES

TO OUR SPOUSES.

APPRECIATE ONE ANOTHER’S BEAUTY

AND TAKE CARE TO LOVE AND VALUE ONE ANOTHER

AS  PRECIOUS WORKS OF ART.

FOR OUR TRUEST BEAUTY WILL BE MOST APPRECIATED BY

THOSE WHO LOVE US, AND WHO WE DESIRE INTIMACY WITH.

OUR GREATEST BEAUTY

IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

OUR CREATOR

WHO MADE US – LOOKED BACK – AND SAID SMILINGLY (as in Genesis 1)

“GOD SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD”

REGARDLESS OF HOW WE ARE DISPLAYED, EVEN IF WE FEEL BLACK AND WHITE (BLAH AND UNCOLORFUL)… THE FACT REMAINS, THAT WE ARE ALL A WORK OF ART.

WE ARE BEAUTIFUL IN GOD’S SIGHT.

ON DISPLAY FOR “THE ARTIST’S GLORY” AND

“HIS RECOGNITION FOR HIS WORKMANSHIP”.

SO LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE BEFORE MEN THAT THEY MAY SEE YOUR GOOD  WORKS AND GLORIFY YOUR FATHER WHICH IS IN HEAVEN. MATTHEW 5:16

“Hide it under a bushel…NO! I’m going to let it shine!”

YOU ARE A WORK OF ART!

BE CONFIDENT.. THAT YOU ARE JUST AS YOU SHOULD BE…IN CHRIST!

AND BE YOURSELF!

AND IF HE TAKES YOU ASIDE

FOR SOME “RESTORATION” – LET THE ARTIST HAVE HIS WAY.

HE CREATED YOU TO SAY WITH CONFIDENCE:

I AM FREE TO BE ME!

ENJOY YOURSELF! AND SMILE!

YOU’RE PERFECT WORK OF ART.

YOUR SMILE REFLECTS HIS GLORY MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE!

Is Your Net WORKING?

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LISTEN IN on a conversation between the Spirit of God and myself, Elizabeth Norland,

which began with His words to me, in the form of a question, “Is Your Net WORKING?”

Get alone, and allow yourself TIME – quiet time  - to SLOWLY LISTEN to our dialogue,

and to ponder even my thoughts between our words spoken, for they hold meaning too.

This is an end-time revelation that will indeed equip you for the days ahead.

Pray before beginning the read, that your own heart would hear what the Spirit of the Lord desires to communicate to YOU, personally. As you are blessed, please pass this along to those within you own NetWork! You’ll understand why that would be a good idea, after you read the dialogue. (smile)

Click the link below, which will take you to my Handmaiden Music website, and the article is at page center, for you to read, scrolling down).

http://handmaidenmusic.com/net_working/

I Love you,in Christ, and ask you to pray with me that this conversation will hold great impact upon the Body of Christ, and that my sharing of it would bear fruit in each reader’s individual life, for I want my own net working! and most of all I desires GOD’S NET WORKING!(smile)

Elizabeth Norland

One With God

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One With God

The Word of God can be summed up in one simple revelation, God desires intimate fellowship with mankind.

The Book of Genesis begins with God creating man and of His visiting man in the garden of Eden.  It is man who chooses to separate himself from fellowshiping with God through disobedience. God extends the offer of renewed fellowship by means of a redeemer.   In the interval of time between  the promise and the coming of Christ, the promised Redeemer, God continues to establish communication with mankind.  It is interesting to note that God talked to man immediately after his fall.  And when Cain killed his brother, God again communicated with the sinner.

Sin does not end man’s ability to hear from the Lord.  It does limit our ability to fellowship with God.  The very act of salvation of the sinner requires one to hear from the Spirit of God.  Only the Spirit of God can bear witness to the heart of the hearer that Jesus is Lord.  For the “faith” necessary to believe “comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God”.

If the sinner can and does hear from the Lord then the Believer, one who has accepted Jesus as Lord, should have very intimate contact with God the Father. He is made Righteous through the Blood of Jesus, and thus is Holy in the sight of God.

The cause of not entering into dialogue with the Father is lack of knowledge of what we are in Christ Jesus.  There can not be any other force that could inhibit fellowship with God, our Father, than the force of ignorance.

It is Not the matter of:

1)     Being good enough, because we come in the Name of Jesus, who has been made goodness for us. Jesus has been made righteousness for all of us.

2)    Having earned the right because no man can earn the right, for making one mistake makes you guilty of having broken all the  Laws of God.

3)   Having obtained a spiritual Maturity, no one obtains a spiritual maturity that entices God into fellowship.  Paul stated that he had not obtained such a spiritual maturity.  Yet it is obvious that Paul heard from God.

4) Having a special calling or God given position which requires you to hear from God so that you may fulfill that office.  We are all partakers of the covenant of faith which comes by hearing and being led by the Spirit of God. We all qualify to hear from God by the grace extended to us through Christ Jesus. God is not a respecter of persons, even though He may require some to walk in a position of greater responsibility than others. There are no “special saints”.

God has called Jesus the “First Born”of many children to be “Born Again” into the Family of God.  We are called to be led by His Spirit as He directs us ,as a father directs and instructs his children.

*This is an article shared, written by my deceased husband, David Stephens.

USA – As Sodom and Gomorrah?

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Reading some sobering verses today, in light of the fact that Obama came out in support of same sex marriages this past week. And then hearing all the heathen rejoicing in it, it has disturbed my soul, especially as I read these verses today.

Psalm 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
Psalm 9:20 Put them in fear, O Lord: that the nations may know themselves to be but men.

And then I read on and saw this verse:
Psalm 12:8 The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.

God have mercy on the USA.

We are becoming as Sodom and Gomorrah of Genesis 19:  The angels went to rescue Lot at Abraham’s persuasion, and yet the angels words (vs 12) were:

“Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”

The Bible plainly states in the New Testament what the sin was of that city that met with God’s wrath, in Jude 1:7…”Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange(Greek: different, other) flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”

“Going after strange flesh” in the Bible is not necessarily homosexuality, as we are warned about the “strange” adulterous woman in Proverb 5:20; 7:5; but, the context of Jude 1:7 clearly implies homosexuality.  “Going after strange flesh” means going after flesh “different” than what is rightfully ours to claim (our spouse’s body -1st Corinthians 7:4).  Notice that Jude mentions both “fornication” and “going after strange flesh.” 

Obviously, Sodom’s sins were more than fornication. The “strange” flesh simply refers to that which is forbidden by God for us to have, it is flesh outside the bounds of God’s laws; hence, the term “sexual deviance” (to deviate from what is acceptable to God).

We also read in 2nd Peter 2:6,7…“And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked.”

The “filthy conversation” of the wicked, literally means, the “filthy manner of life” of the wicked.  The Greek noun for “conversation” is “anastrophe,” which means, “behavior.”  Hence, Sodom and Gomorrah were saturated with sexual deviance, filthy behavior, and every form of godlessness known to mankind.

Oh, but my heart is heavy, with the condition of society today.  God is a Just Judge. I have been reading about His Judgment Written.  It is clear, so clear, in the scripture, that which the heathen and unrighteous will receive.

Believers and those who have known Christ but have backslidden into the corrupt ways of the world, Pray and turn yourselves unto the Lord, and receive his mercy.  If enough people turn, to God, we may be able to turn away the impending judgment that the USA faces.  Otherwise, knowing God has the right to judge the wicked, and our nation, may we pray for deliverance of ourselves, His righteous ones.

The safest place to be right now is secure in the hands of Your Loving Lord. So if you are “out of his hands” – get back in! And be quick about it!  Time is running out.