CLUES TO UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE

CLUES TO UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE

In a mystery movie, the screenwriter spatters clues along the way, but it’s only when we watch more of the story, that we flesh out the clues and the whole story comes together to make sense—mystery solved.  The Bible is like that. In reading the gospels, there are so many passages along the way that are like those clues in a movie, and I don’t fully understand their meaning. When that happens, I go to a Concordance to start to flesh out what the Lord is really saying. A Concordance gives me the fuller definition of the original language before it was translated into English. Here’s an example, with Matthew 6:22-24.

 

22: “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

 

23: “But if the eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

 

24: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

 

The first word I looked up was “light” in verse 22. In the original language, it is a portable candle, one that can be lit, or it can go out. The next word I looked at was “eye.” Here it is used metaphorically, of ethical qualities.

 

The candle guiding us is our ethical qualities – our moral standards. Our moral or ethical standards guide our whole body. The “body” is the whole natural man—body, mind, and emotions. What we do with our body and soul is maneuvered by our moral standards.

 

In the second part of verse 22, what does it mean, “if thine eye be single “? The word single means simple, clear, with nothing complicated or confused; without folds (not double-minded). Jesus was saying that if our eyes (ethical qualities) are clear and not jumbled, our “whole body will be full of light.” People think they can take some standards from the Bible, some from Buddhism, some from Hinduism, or Islam, or New Age, or situational ethics, but if those standards don’t jive with what the God of the Bible says, there’s going to be double standards, ethical difficulties, and a confused, jumbled mess. Granted, a person needs to understand what the Bible actually says, and not just unquestioningly believe what’s “always” been taught. Asking questions is perfectly okay with our God, and there are plenty of verses documenting that.

 

The first part of Matthew 6, verse 23 goes on to say: “But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.” The word “eye” is again ethical qualities. The word “evil” is “the Evil one,” so this is saying that if a person’s ethics are inspired and motivated or manipulated by the evil one, Satan, then the intent is “wicked, actively bad, actively causing sorrow or pain.” They are actively “bringing toil, hardships, annoyances, and trouble.”

 

If moral codes are so deranged, the whole self is going to be full of darkness. “Full of darkness” is translated from one word that means covered in darkness, like a tent. Things are opaque; vision is blinded. Actions are shady and shadowy. There is “ignorance respecting divine things and human duties.” People whose moral standards begin to deteriorate, becoming prey to the evil one’s ethics, or lack thereof. They become “persons in whom darkness becomes visible and holds sway.”

 

And the last part of verse 23 says: “If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” The word “light” in this part of the verse means the light of God. If that gets compromised, the darkness gets “great,” which means great in number, magnitude, and degree.

 

The Lord has the antidote to going to the dark side. It’s in the next verse, Matthew 6:24: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

 

The word “hate” doesn’t mean what we think it does. In this verse, it’s a relative preference. It means a person prefers one over another. They care about serving the interests of one rather than the other, for whatever reason. A straightforward analysis would be if a person has two jobs, two bosses, and both want the person to work on the same Saturday. The worker can’t do both, so they analyze the pros and cons and pick one.

 

When Jesus says: “He will hold to the one, and despise the other,” it means he’ll “hold fast to, cleave to” one, and not really think much of the other. To “despise” means to think less of, disdain, to look down on.

 

We can’t be disciples (disciplined ones) of the Lord and get all the benefits of God if we play in the devil’s sandbox. The consequences just aren’t worth it.

 

To become true disciples of our Lord Jesus, we need to do what he asks of us, and most of us probably need to re-read the gospels and see with our eyes and our hearts what he says and what he does, so we follow him more intimately and more faithfully in the ethical choices we make. There used to be a phrase spoken by many, “What would Jesus do?” It’s a good one to bring up again, and if we don’t honestly know what Jesus would do, then we can ask him. He’s alive.

 

Just because Jesus gave his life for us once and for all doesn’t mean that afterward he retired to an easy chair in heaven! He just has a different job now, a huge job, leading and guiding every one of us, billions of followers, in the righteous ways of the kingdom of God on earth.

 

Let’s come to the feet of our merciful Lord and learn what it means to truly surrender all to Him.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

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I publish every Sunday on FB and Blogger, and send them out to email friends too. If you’d like to get them by email or even to a physical address, let me know. 😊

 

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FREE ZOOM CLASS ON DELIVERANCE

  

This class is available to those in the USA and aound around the world :-)

Next Thursday, the 13’th, starts a new FREE Zoom class on BREAKING CHAINS OF DARKNESS: SETTING THE CAPTIVES FREE by James Fent. We’ll be reading this book and having an open discussion about what we read. If you’re interested in Bible deliverance and casting out devils, please join us. Mark it on your calendar: August 13, starting at 6:30 pm PST. It’s going to be a great class. Text Apostle Philip Peters at:

1-702-767-2059 for the link. I’ve included a photo of the book cover, and you can get it at Lulu.com for about $27, which includes postage. I’ve also included photos of some of the pages from the table of contents. Hope to see you there 😊

 

The last instructions the Lord Jesus gave his disciples before he ascended: “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” (Mark 16:15-18).

 

Love, Carolyn

 

FROM GLORY to GLORY - WHAT ABOUT THE 'to"?

GLORY to GLORY – WHAT ABOUT THE “to”?

A friend was traveling across three states to take his son to school. He was experiencing car trouble, financial drama, and now his son was having a terrible allergic reaction that was causing the boy’s eyes to swell nearly shut. Traumatic! But he still had a good attitude and continued to pray and look for the blessings.

 

2 Corinthians 3:18 tells us that when we seek the Lord, we are being changed from glory to glory. “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass [mirror] the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” It’s not just the one time when we get born again, but the many times God requires us to drop aspects of our old nature and put on the new nature of the Christ within. The glory part on either side is awesome, but what about the “to” in between?

 

CHANGE – OUCH! Keeping the status quo may not be exciting, but at least it’s somewhat comfortable—it’s what we’re used to. But when we’re looking in the mirror, wanting to see more of the Lord in our lives, we’re going to be going from glory to glory. The increasing levels of glory are great, but we have to get through that little “to,” and it can be tough, as my friend was finding out.

 

Psalm 23: 1-4 reads: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want [lack]. He maketh [is making] me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth [is leading] me beside the still waters. He restoreth [is restoring] my soul. He leadeth [is leading] me in paths of his righteousness for his namesake.” (vv. 1-4).

 

An important key to understanding the King James Bible is to recognize that when there is “eth” at the end of a word, it means it’s an ongoing action, not something of the past.

 

I watched a video on a section of this Psalm. The video took place in Israel, where a group was in the Negev desert. The guide had the group look across at a bare hillside traversed with well-worn sheep paths. The group watched as two shepherd girls led their flock across the landscape. He explained that this area was called “green pastures!” It looked totally brown and barren in the video.

 

The guide said the sheep paths were just far enough apart so that a sheep on either side could reach into the area between paths to eat. Eat what? It didn’t look like there was anything there. He explained that there was a little moisture in the morning, and it was only enough to moisten around the bottom of the rocks. That’s where small tufts of grass would grow. The video panned in, and sure enough, you could see the damp, darkened part at the bottom of the rocks, and there popped up 3-inch to 5-inch thin tufts of what looked like a small weed-like grass. The take was so little, the sheep had to keep moving from one tuft to the next, but as they went, they were rewarded with enough food to satisfy them.  

 

That’s how it is when we traverse the “to” between the glory spots. It is in these times that the Lord does some restoring of our souls. Our spirits are perfect the minute we get born again, but our souls need help, and it’s in the times between the glory levels that the growing pains take place in our souls. A great example of this is with Joseph.

 

Joseph was the youngest son and the favorite of his father. He was happy and blessed, but he had one recognizable downfall: his pride. He had a dream, and instead of keeping it to himself, he bragged about it to his brothers, who already didn’t like him because their father liked him best.

 

“Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, ‘Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.’

 

“His brothers said to him, ‘Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?’ And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said” (Gen. 37:5-8).

 

Joseph was young and excited about his dream. He wanted everyone to know how blessed he was, so he told his brothers and his parents about the prophecy God gave him. But this was rude. The prophecy was for him alone. It was prideful of him and unthoughtful to blatantly blast his family with his private revelation. He was a child and probably meant no harm, but sometimes we as adults also want to blast people with how great and righteous we are and all the wonderful things we’re doing. But as we go through the “to” from glory to glory, the Lord has the knack for humbling us so we remember that we are not so smart without Him!

 

Joseph’s brothers were so jealous and hateful, they intended to kill him. The older brother talked the others out of it, but they decided to leave him in a pit to die. Then they sat down to eat, and when they looked up they saw a company of Ishmaelites and decided they could sell Joseph instead and make some money. But there was another tribe, the Midianites, who came by just then.

 

“Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.

 

“And Reuben [the older brother] returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes” (Gen. 37:28-29).

 

And this was just the beginning of Joseph’s travel through the “to,” between his glory with his father and the glory he ended up having as Pharaoh’s right-hand man.

 

What do you think Joseph thought about? What emotional trauma did he go through during this time? He found out his brothers hated him enough to want to kill him. They not only stole his prized jacket, a gift from his father, but they didn’t even leave him with any water. He never knew that they were going to come back for him and sell him instead, though the idea they would trade him for money would hardly be much of a consolation in such a situation. Then he was probably tied up by the Midianites, then handed over to the Ishmaelites, who also probably treated him harshly as a foreigner and a prisoner till they could get him to Egypt, where they’d also sell him as merchandise.

 

Then when Joseph got to Egypt, he had some glory times and went through more “to” experiences as well. But you never see that pride coming up again. He grew in the “to.”

 

God is with us in these tough life experiences so that we can grow. Each experience where we are challenged to get rid of some old man characteristic like pride, bitterness, anger, laziness, or whatever it is, we come through to a higher place of glory if we continue to seek the Lord and his ways.  

 

As Joseph said about his experience: “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive” (Gen. 50:20).

 

So, let’s not stop where we are spiritually, but continue to seek an even closer relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ, by heeding his words and continuing in his works. As we follow in paths of righteousness, in green pastures, we are changed from glory to glory. We refuse to be deterred by anything we must go through in that “to” area, for the Lord God says: “Be not afraid, for I am with YOU.”

 

Love, Carolyn

 

Check out Amazon to see what other TRUE LIFE STORIES I have available. They all deal with APPLYING BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES TO OUR EVERYDAY LIVES.

 

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BIBLE STUDY ON THIS BOOK: BREAKING CHAINS OF DARKNESS - SETTING CAPTIVES FREE

 

Are you interested in Spiritual DELIVERANCE for yourself or others needing help?

 

I’ve been listening to a ZOOM call from Apostle Philip Peters for the past several weeks, where we’re reading and discussing the book PIGS IN THE PARLOR. We’re nearly at the end of the book and will be starting on a new ZOOM call on:

 

Thursday, August 13th, 6:30 p.m. PST.

 

Txt Apostle Philip Peters at 1-702-767-2059 for the link.

 

The new Bible study will be on casting out demons from the book BREAKING CHAINS OF DARKNESS: Setting the Captives Free by Dr. James Fent. We’ll be reading it together and having open discussion on what we read.

 

If this spiritual subject is something you’d like to know more about, you can get the book at https://www.lulu.com. Go to the bookstore there, and it’s about $20 plus $6 shipping. Mine came in 8 days. I’m really excited about the opportunity to learn more about how our spiritual enemies operate and how to cast them out effectively. I hope you will join us.

 

Love, Carolyn

MORE ON FORGIVENESS

MORE ON FORGIVENESS

The other day I heard some very insightful words about forgiveness and holding grudges. For many of us, it may be time to take another look at our hearts and see if there are any people we still have not truly forgiven. How do you know? Ask yourself about who pops up in your mind. How often do you think about that person? How recent? What’s your first thought about them? That will tell you a lot about what you really feel.

 

Most likely, the people who hurt us have forgotten about it.  But the devil uses unforgiveness to torment us! In Matthew 18, Jesus speaks an important parable to his disciples:

 

“Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, ‘O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?’

 

“And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses” (Matt. 18: 32-35).

 

God promises that we don’t have to be concerned about people who wronged us getting what they deserve. Consequently, if we are still holding grudges against people who wronged us, then it's us who are hurting, not them. We don’t need nor want them occupying even one little part of our brains.

 

The only way to get rid of a negative person’s vibe in our brains is to forgive them. They did what they did, and that isn’t going to change.

 

The only change will be in how we respond. And for me, that has been the hard part.

 

I would say, “I forgive them.” I give them to God, but later on, when I asked myself the questions above, I found that I was still holding a grudge. Then recently the Lord opened a new revelation to my heart.  He first reminded me that when Jesus hung on the cross, he said: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

 

Then the Lord showed me that a big part of what they did was not only sin against Jesus, but brought more sin upon themselves if they didn’t repent. They opened the door for devils of all sorts to enter them and bring hurt upon themselves, the people around them, their children, and their whole bloodline!

 

So, as Jesus did, we follow in his steps: we forgive because, by sinning against us, they have brought evil upon themselves and their bloodline, and they need Jesus. So we pray for their salvation and restoration to the Lord, whichever is necessary for them to get right.  

 

This is a worthy challenge for us, but we can do it, and we must do it for our own wholeness and for theirs.

 

When his disciples asked Jesus how they were to pray, He said: “And when ye stand praying, forgive” (Mark 11:25). And in Matthew 6:15, He said: “But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” We know we do wrong things, and we want God to forgive us: we get mad, we say mean things, and sometimes we do wrong things that we don’t even know are wrong until later, when we find out. We want forgiveness, and Jesus says we don’t get it unless we forgive too.

 

The more intimately we get to know the Lord Jesus, the more we can operate as his followers, his disciples. Disciples are disciplined ones. The Lord strengthens us and doesn’t ask anything of us that we can’t do. Forgiving is one of those things the Lord requires.

 

Jesus says in John 14:15: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

 

We see a prophecy of the coming of Jesus in Isaiah 61, where it says of Jesus:

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.

 

“To give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified” (Isaiah 61: 1,3)

 

When we are obedient to what the Lord has asked of us, he takes our grudges and miraculously changes them out and replaces them with love. Our God is a God of miracles.  That’s part of the mystery and miracle of the Christ in us. We live for our God, and we are blessed with the privilege to glorify the one true God of heaven, our Jehovah, our Creator, with our actions. Forgiveness is a gift from God to us and a gift we are to pass on to others, for the glory of God to spread in the earth.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

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A TIP TO ENHANCE YOUR SUPERNATURAL EXPERIENCE EVERY DAY

This is a preach letter I wrote last year, but I was led to put it out today, as a good reminder of how to walk with the Lord every day. 😊:

 

Genesis 24:40 is one of the scriptures I pray every morning. It gets me to expect the Lord to interact with me supernaturally every day, and He does.    

 

The context of this scripture is that Abraham wanted his servant to return to Abraham’s homeland to find a wife for his son, Isaac. Abraham was sending his best servant, along with other servants, and camels loaded with riches for the dowry. It was well known that there were bandits along the route, and the trip could be very dangerous.

 

We never know what a day can bring, but there’s a great thing God teaches us early in the Bible, in Genesis 24:40. It’s a very important, life-enriching key God wants us to believe and trust.

 

Abraham’s servant arrives safely in Abraham’s homeland and tells the story of what Abraham told him before he left: “And he said unto me, ‘The Lord, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way’” (v. 24:40a).

 

We have angels available to us, too. And we have “Christ in us,” as it says in Colossians 1:27. God sent an angel ahead of the servant to “prosper” his way—no bandits stealing from him, no major injuries, but instead, a good and successful journey. Can you see why I pray this scripture every morning, for every day?!

 

But there’s another part of this scripture that is equally important to having a great journey. The second half says: “and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father’s house’” (v. 24:40b). The servant did find the perfect wife for Isaac. Not only was the journey good, but he reached his Godly destination! Isn’t that what our hearts desire from our life experience every day—to reach our Godly destinations?

 

What the Almighty God made available to Abraham’s servant is what he makes available to us today. God put this in the first book of the Bible for a reason, and He has not changed His mind about it one bit!

 

Here are just two incidents that happened this week, illustrating this important key of praying Gen. 24:40 at the start of our day:

 

On Wednesday of last week, we were delayed by just a few minutes getting out of the house at our usual time.  As it turns out, there was a huge accident at a busy corner near our house—three police cars, a fire engine, and the EMTs lifting someone into the ambulance. Had we been at that corner any sooner, we would have been in that accident!

 

Yesterday we went to our favorite grocery store. Our friend Stella has been promoted to a higher position at a different store, and when we didn’t see her on what we thought would be her last day earlier this week, we were super disappointed.  So yesterday, when we went, we were kind of down in the dumps about Stella not being there anymore. But then, out she came, and it happened that the Lord got us there only five minutes before she was leaving the store for good! So, we got to exchange numbers and say our goodbyes.

 

How does it happen that we were minutes from being in an accident, and got to see our friend in the few minutes before she would be gone?

 

I could give you several other incidents from this past week that illustrate this key point, but I’m sure you can think of wonderful things you have seen in your own lives as well. If you want to start seeing even more, I encourage you to start praying this scripture at the beginning of your day, and let me know what happens.

 

“And he said unto me, ‘The Lord, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way [and get me to my Godly destinations] (my add)’” (Gen. 24:40).

 

I feel much the same way as Paul and Timothy express to the church at Philippi in Philippians 1:1-7:

 

 “Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

 

“Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.”

 

Enjoy your journeys and successful outcomes this week.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

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DON'T BE AFRAID TO FAIL - GOD IS FAITHFUL TO A HUMBLE HEART

DON’T BE AFRAID TO FAIL - GOD IS FAITHFUL TO A HUMBLE HEART

I remember the day when I discovered I was totally okay with my own failure. After three days of trying to make a piece of Masonite look like a piece of maple, I’d run out of ideas. I’d completed hundreds of wood samples that looked great, so I was shocked with myself when I realized I just could not do this one. I had to admit failure, and the result was surprisingly wonderful! In that moment, I was totally set free. I did fail, and I was actually happy for myself. Odd, yes, and yet this was a deliverance for me! I was very prideful growing up. Failure was never an option. I was good at almost anything I tried, and I avoided activities I couldn’t do well. No one really likes the idea of failing. But sometimes it can be a good thing – a lifesaver, actually.

 

Though I’d accepted Jesus as my Lord and confessed my sins, pride kept popping up in other categories. It’s funny how God can use the most mundane things in our lives to show us the most important spiritual things we will ever experience. This incident with the wood sample was one of those things.

 

Many of you have experienced similar awakenings. We go along in our regular life, no real “Las Vegas” moments to speak of, no bells and whistles, just plodding along, and all of a sudden we’re doing something we normally do, and God opens an amazing realization about a very big thing in our lives that we never expected.

 

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that if we are faithful to seek God and read His life manual, the Bible, He is faithful to us, to reward us with revelations, insights, and deliverances that we not only wanted but some we didn’t even know we wanted! A preacher once said: “God can make taking out the garbage the most exciting thing you’ve ever experienced.” I‘ve found this to be absolutely true.

 

The key on our part is to be faithful to Him. Jesus tells us a parable in Matthew 25 about a man going to a far country who gives his goods to his servants to take care of while he was away. 

 

“And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several [own] ability; and straightway took his journey. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.

 

“And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.

 

“After a long time, the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.

 

“And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, ‘Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.’ His lord said unto him, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.’

 

“He also that had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them’. His lord said unto him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.’

 

“Then he which had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.’

 

“His lord answered and said unto him, ‘Thou wicked and slothful servant’” (Matt. 25:15-24).

 

The servant that received one talent was afraid of failure. He didn’t even try, didn’t risk anything, didn’t step out in faith to gain anything more. He buried what he had. He reminds me of Christians who stop reading the Bible, stop praying, stop exploring and questing after more of the Lord’s intimacy in their lives. They bury their desire for Him or get snared by fear that it might not work, or they may look foolish even trying.

 

In the above parable, the two servants who were faithful to do more with what they had, were the ones who were brave enough to step out. And look what the Lord told them: “Enter into the joy of thy Lord.”

 

As Christians, we are still human, and we are going to fail sometimes. But failure isn’t a crime. “As it is written, ‘There is none righteous, no, not one’” (Rom. 3:10).

 

We were failures when we came to Jesus the first time and admitted we weren’t very good at being our own Lord. Don’t be afraid of being a failure at something. It’s worth a try.

 

We must pick ourselves up when we fall and continue to seek the Lord’s guidance. Let’s be like David, who said to God: “Unto thee lift I up mine eyes” (Ps. 123:1).

 

Humility is a sweet smell to our God. And pride is a stinker. Shut it down by going back to the scriptures with a humble heart for truth.

 

God is faithful to us. “Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations” (Deut. 7:9).

 

In the New Testament, the Lord promises: “He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6). And God keeps His promises.

 

Love, Carolyn