A Perpetual Covenant of Peace

54 “Sing, O barren,
You who have not borne!
Break forth into singing, and cry aloud,
You who have not labored with child!
For more are the children of the desolate
Than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.
² “Enlarge the place of your tent,
And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings;
Do not spare;
Lengthen your cords,
And strengthen your stakes.
³ For you shall expand to the right and to the left,
And your descendants will inherit the nations,
And make the desolate cities inhabited.

⁴ “Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed;
Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame;
For you will forget the shame of your youth,
And will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore.
⁵ For your Maker is your husband,
The Lord of hosts is His name;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel;
He is called the God of the whole earth.
⁶ For the Lord has called you
Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit,
Like a youthful wife when you were refused,”
Says your God.
⁷ “For a mere moment I have forsaken you,
But with great mercies I will gather you.
⁸ With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment;
But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,”
Says the Lord, your Redeemer.

⁹ “For this is like the waters of Noah to Me;
For as I have sworn
That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth,
So have I sworn
That I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.
¹⁰ For the mountains shall depart
And the hills be removed,
But My kindness shall not depart from you,
Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,”
Says the Lord, who has mercy on you.

¹¹ “O you afflicted one,
Tossed with tempest, and not comforted,
Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems,
And lay your foundations with sapphires.
¹² I will make your pinnacles of rubies,
Your gates of crystal,
And all your walls of precious stones.
¹³ All your children shall be taught by the Lord,
And great shall be the peace of your children.
¹⁴ In righteousness you shall be established;
You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;
And from terror, for it shall not come near you.
¹⁵ Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me.
Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.

¹⁶ “Behold, I have created the blacksmith
Who blows the coals in the fire,
Who brings forth an instrument for his work;
And I have created the spoiler to destroy.
¹⁷ No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the Lord.

God is Faithful and True... :)

Kwave Verse of the Day!

"A man's heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps." ~ Proverbs 16:9

Subscribe on Youtube & enjoy this amazing singer! (my cousin, Arianna Pena :) )

"Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah. 
 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about. 
Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart."- Psalm 32:7-11.

"O how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!... Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD"- Psalm 31:19-24.

That you be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.- Hebrews 6:12

God is a consuming fire. He will consume all in our lives that is not of Him. And even the things He has given us, He may require again. The altar is for all, an absolute surrender to the number one relationship.  “As you say, my lord, O king, I am yours, and all that I have”- 1 Kings 20:4b. I'm not sure that God necessarily wants the things we give back to Him, for the sake of just having them back; God obviously does not need anything. And He desires obedience rather than sacrifice. The point of this life however, is not our earthly kingdom, establishment, or comfort. All can come or go at God's request and by His great wisdom. God has eternity in mind, in all that He does. An act that seems temporal or evil, will actually bring about a greater good somehow. God will not allow anything bad to happen that He will not bring about a greater beauty or goodness from. A fire destroys all, and yet tiny, green seedlings seem to make it through the death, just as fine and strong as ever. The life of Jesus is a thriving and conquering life that brings great victory in all that we face in our trials.

Those who are born again pray earnestly to grow closer to the Lord and desire greater faith and trust in Him. It follows that God will answer these prayers. They are His will for us to pray and for Him to answer. Therefore, God will test our trust in Him, and bring circumstances into our life that will try that trust past its previous limits. So why should I be surprised when God tries my love again and again? Would I still love Him if that fails, or if this is taken away, or if the other disappoints? At first these tests seem cruel and wasteful. Why should Abraham offer up Isaac, the promise, after 20-something years of waiting for him? God made the promise, why now would He take it away? But Abraham loved God more than Isaac, and believed Him at His word. We are called to love God more than life itself, more than any person or thing we hold dear to on this earth. That deepening love, the fellowship we experience with Jesus, is everlasting life. God plays the strings and chords of our hearts, and perhaps the sound is most beautiful in our pain. Nothing on this earth can compare with our communion with God. Our tests bring us into a sweeter fellowship with the Lord, where truly we can assent with our hearts and say, "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever"- Psalm 73:25-26.

Will you still love God if you are separated from conscious blessings? But then we run to the next nearest resource and try that, and again and again, but the same question is asked. When no more resources remain and no plan B's are available. The question comes again, "Do you trust me? Do you love me most?"..... "But God I can't SEE it; now it really is impossible and we are all ready to give up.".... Sarah passed the age of childbearing. Maybe she thought, 'God has forgotten me; how could I have thought He even wanted to use me anyway, of course He meant to use Hagar, a better vessel than I.' Sarah forfeited the promise for herself, but God did not forfeit Sarah. God always intended that Isaac would be borne through her. Will you still trust God when your dreams seem to be taken away or your reputation is deeply humbled? I am encouraged that though Sarah lacked faith and forfeited God's promise, God did not change His plan, or forfeit Sarah.
Sarah bore Isaac, and Abraham did not have to sacrifice him afterall. But, God proved their faith in the tests and accomplished that greater purpose of faith and relationship with Himself. We must lay all we have on the altar of God and trust that He will resurrect the things that are of Him. Lay down all your burdens, plans, gifts, and loved ones on the altar. All must be placed there. Trust that as the fire burns, God is able to resurrect what is of Him. When the fire is burning we may want to give up or disbelieve, but God is able. He will resurrect the right things better and more abundant than before.  And what never gets resurrected, probably would have been toxic and a snare to our spiritual walks anyway. Praise God He removes the chaff and refines the gold. 

"And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life."- Matthew 19:29.

Today I wrote in Tongues... with little symbols that can't be transcribed... But! Here is a little poem instead ;)

I wish I could write some heavenly language to speak a truth of heart that can't be expressed.
The human drama of life continues and I am lost in it. We swim in it. Some of us seem to know exactly the part to play, others drift in dreams. Some, most, are not even conscious of this divine movie playing out or the plot of it.
The spirit of life makes this all worth while. Sometimes a window is given to us, where time stops and we come outer body. Then the wind is different and the sun rays more penetrating. The roll of film is taken out and shown to us, small in all its episodes, yet part of a grand story.
I watch it piece by piece, beholding the tiniest portions I can't understand. Somehow the quiet of these moments make for a sadness, but then a true peace. For what is there to be sad? What is there to be anxious for? All is vanity. It passes as we breathe. But, the spark of life gets ignited by a separate flint and again we are encouraged. There is yet hope and time for all to have life. There is a hope still... as long as we live, there is a chance for life to make it.

"The most saintly spirits are often existing in those who have never distinguished themselves as authors, or left any memorial of themselves to be the theme of the world’s talk; but who have led an interior angelic life, having borne their sweet blossoms unseen like the young lily in a sequestered vale on the bank of a limpid stream." –Kenelm Digby

"The greatest evidence of your new birth, is love."- Pastor Jack Abeelen

Douglas Hamp was one of my teachers in Israel. He is an excellent and humble vessel of God. I love his end times teachings especially, and knowledge of the Bible. He married a jewish woman, and is fluent in hebrew. Here is an amazing teaching on what chosen, predestined, and other words mean in the Bible. It has explained so much for me. I hope it blesses you.

God is Beautiful

 

Sitting alone with God in the Colorado wilderness (CCBC Colorado). This music is from my ipod that I sometimes took with me as I sat and watched creation :) God would put a show for me,sometimes by sending eagles, geese, falling golden leaves, or light rain. I could sit here for hours at Jesus' feet. Spend time with your King of Kings and Lord of Lords. For though He is the Alpha and the Omega, He calls us friends. 

"I am my Beloved's and His desire is for me"

- Song of Solomon 7:10.

The Word of God is Alive!

"So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it"- Isaiah 55:11.

"Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’  Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.  Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves.  I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’”- Ezekiel 37:11-14

Streams in the Desert daily devo

I can't believe it is already November!! Yay. This year has flown by!

Nov. 1 Waiting is Hard:
“When the cloud tarried . . . then the children of Israel . . . journeyed not” (Num. 9:19).
This was the supreme test of obedience. It was comparatively easy to strike tents, when the fleecy folds of the cloud were slowly gathering from off the Tabernacle, and it floated majestically before the host. Change is always delightful; and there was excitement and interest in the route, the scenery, and the locality of the next haltingplace. But, ah, the tarrying.
Then, however uninviting and sultry the location, however trying to flesh and blood, however irksome to the impatient disposition, however perilously exposed to danger-there was no option but to remain encamped.
The Psalmist says, “I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.” And what He did for the Old Testament saints He will do for believers throughout all ages.
Still God often keeps us waiting. Face to face with threatening foes, in the midst of alarms, encircled by perils, beneath the impending rock. May we not go? Is it not time to strike our tents? Have we not suffered to the point of utter collapse? May we not exchange the glare and heat for green pastures and still waters?
There is no answer. The cloud tarries, and we must remain, though sure of manna, rock-water, shelter, and defence. God never keeps us at post without assuring us of His presence, and sending us daily supplies.

Wait, young man, do not be in a hurry to make a change! Minister, remain at your post! Until the cloud clearly moves, you must tarry. Wait, then, thy Lord’s good pleasure! He will be in plenty of time!–Daily Devotional Commentary

An hour of waiting!
Yet there seems such need
To reach that spot sublime!
I long to reach them–but I long far more
To trust HIS time!
“Sit still, my daughter”–Yet the heathen die,
They perish while I stay!
I long to reach them–but I long far more
To trust HIS way!
‘Tis good to get,
‘Tis good indeed to give!
Yet is it better still–O’er breadth, thro’ length, down length, up height, To trust HIS will! –F. M. N.