1-26-08 1Peter 1:14:16 Do Not Conform to Evil Desires

1 Peter 1:14-16 (NAS)
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours i n your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY."

1 Peter 1:14-16 (NIVUS)
As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

1 Peter 1:14-16 (Philips)
Live as obedient children before God. Don’t let your character be molded by the desires of your ignorant days, but be holy in every part of your lives, for the one who has called you is himself holy.The scripture says: Ye shall be holy; for I am holy.
1 Peter 1:14-16 (NLT)
Obey God because you are his children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of doing evil; you didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God—who chose you to be his children—is holy. For he himself has said, "You must be holy because I am holy."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
As you learned to obey your father here on earth, so you are now learning to obey and submit yourself to your Heavenly Father. You comply with His counsels and observe His requirements. You listen for Adonai's voice and harken to His every command. As you attend to His word, you gain understanding and perception.

It is now your responsibility to keep yourself from those cravings and lusts that are forbidden. It is necessary that you not covet your former manner of life. Then you were ignorant of divine things. You lacked knowledge of God and were morally blind. You lived in error and sin. Instead of conforming yourself to the old things, you must nourish your new life in Jesus, allowing His wishes and desires to rule you.

The Lord your God has called you to Himself. In that calling, you have received verbal orders and commands from the One who is your Superior. He requests that you become like Him, for your identity is linked to His. He wants you to be holy, displaying purity, reverence, modesty, and cleanness. You should conduct your life and behave, as He would. In this way, you show that you have turned away from your old life and have put yourself in alignment with Jehovah.

Therefore, strive to be holy, even as your Heavenly Father is holy!

1-25-08 Psalm 105:43-45 God's Shout of Joy

Psalms 105: 43-45 (NAS)
And He brought forth His people with joy, His chosen ones with a joyful shout. He gave them also the lands of the nations, That they might take possession of the fruit of the peoples’ labor, So that they might keep His statutes, And observe His laws, Praise the LORD!

Psalms 105: 43-45 (NLT)
So he brought his people out of Egypt with joy, his chosen ones with rejoicing. He gave his people the lands of pagan nations, and they harvested crops that others had planted. All this happened so they would follow his principles and obey his laws. Praise the LORD!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It has always been Adonai's desire to lead His people into good places. He, therefore, has brought you into a place of joy and exultation. He has called you His elect, His chosen one, because He has selected you, deciding to place you in His family.

When you agreed with His plan, if you had listened closely, you would have heard a ringing cry of joy coming from His throne.
Sometimes He was so overcome that He would sing over you.

Now the Lord Jehovah has given you land and your own territory. He has bestowed on you that which belonged to other nations, placing their wealth and substance into your hands. What they had labored and toiled for has now become your inheritance and possession. He brought your enemies to poverty and ruin to bless you abundantly.

Almighty God has brought you here, a place where you can give heed to and observe His statutes and ordinances. You have learned to keep His laws, following His instructions and directions. It has become your custom and manner to watch over and guard all of those teachings that He has cast before you. You have learned to wait for the fulfillment of every decree that the Lord God has engraved on your heart. And you have taken care to protect your heart and every word that Adonai has spoken to you.

Now Yahweh, the One True God, is your praise and your boast. He makes you shine with the light of His glory. You are a fool for Christ and you future is secure in Him

1-24-08 Luke 1:74, 75 Serve God Without Fear

Luke 1:74, 75 (NAS)
To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
Luke 1:74, 75 (Philips)
to make us this gift: that we should be saved from the hands of our enemies, and in his presence should serve him unafraid in holiness and righteousness all our lives.
Luke 1:74, 75 (NLT)
We have been rescued from our enemies, so we can serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness forever.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
You know that the Lord God has done so much for you and when you take time to recall everything, you know that you are extremely blessed.

One of the benefits that Adonai has bestowed on you isdeliverance from your enemies He has rescued you . Satan used to have a firm grip on you, holding you in a chasm. In your own strength and power, you could not escape his control and punishment. Your life was as cold and dead as the severest winter; storms and tempests constantly raged around you. However, Yeshua, your Messiah, having broken the devil's hold, drew you to Himself.

Now your desire is to serve and worship the Lord God Almighty. Although Jesus Christ has set you free, you have made yourself His slave in order to minister to and for Him. You honor Him by giving the homage that is due Him. Now you can come before Him boldly without fear. The Lord's presence does not cause you terror, for you reverence Him.

You are no longer defiled by sin and have been set free from all wickedness. God has made you pure and holy. You are acceptable to Him, for Jesus has exchanged your sinful nature for His righteous one. You now display integrity, virtue, and purity. Your thinking, feeling, and acting have been corrected through Yeshua's sacrificial blood. Now you are innocent, faultless, and guiltless. You are becoming wholly conformed to the will of God. For all the days of your life, you will reflect the glory of the One who saved and restored you.

1-23-08 Acts 3:18, 19 Repent and Turn to God

Acts 3:18, 19 (NAS)
But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ should suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;
Acts 3:18, 19 (Philips)
But God had foretold through all his prophets that his Christ must suffer and this was how his words came true. Now you must repent and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, that your souls may know the times of refreshment which come from the presence of the Lord.
Acts 3:18, 19 (NLT)
But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had declared about the Messiah beforehand—that he must suffer all these things. Now turn from your sins and turn to God, so you can be cleansed of your sins.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adonai, the Lord God Almighty, has taken great steps in revealing His will to mankind. He, therefore, sent men who were prophets, to announce and publicly proclaim His promises. These were moved under the inspiration of God's Holy Spirit to speak of future events referring to the Kingdom of God and His plans for human salvation. These men were filled with the Spirit of God and were given His authority to instruct, comfort, encourage, rebuke, convict, and stimulate those who listened to their message. They inspired others to follow and seek after the Lord.
They understood God's thoughts and declared them openly to mankind. They pre-announced and brought to light the coming of Yeshua, the Messiah. Through them, the Father revealed the truth that Jesus Christ, His Son, would suffer greatly to complete the plan of salvation. Jesus would fulfill every last detail and become God's perfect blood sacrifice.

When you heard the words of these inspired men of God, you repented, changing your mind in favor of Adonai and His laws. You found your past sins abhorrent and ,therefore, made a deliberate, well thought out choice to submit to the Almighty and to be conformed to His ways. He gave you perception of divine things and allowed you to recognize true goodness and to hate evil. As you grew in this knowledge, your relationship with the Lord your God became more intimate.

You returned to the true worship of God, living your life in love and obedience to Him. You turned away from unrighteousness and turned to God's wisdom and righteousness. When you did this, your sins and offenses were erased and wiped away; they were blotted out and obliterated.

Now you are experiencing a time of refreshing and revival. No longer are you concerned with the heat of punishment, but you are able, like Adam and Eve, to walk with God in the coolness of the day. You can come before His face without fear; for He has become your Lord and Master

1-22-08 Isaiah 44:22 Your Sins Wiped Away

Isaiah 44:22 (NAS)
I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud, And your sins like a heavy mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.
Isaiah 44:22 (NLT)
I have swept away your sins like the morning mists. I have scattered your offenses like the clouds. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
At one time you had broken away from the just authority over you. You rebelled and revolted against Adonai. You did all that you could to stride quickly away from Him and His commandments.

However, when you were enveloped by that dense darkness, the Lord Jehovah had mercy upon you. He rubbed out and erased your transgressions, covering them over just as thick cloud covers up the sun. They have been utterly abolished, blotted out, and destroyed. Your sins and offenses have been covered as thunderclouds cover the sky. Even as no sky showed through the clouds, so also your sins did not penetrate the blood of Jesus.

Therefore, continue to turn away from those rebellious attitudes and turn to God. Lay down your sinful nature and do not feed any evil that is still lodged in your flesh. Allow the Lord to continually convert and deliver you, for He longs to bring you home again. Recall to mind how Adonai through Yeshua has relieved, restored, and refreshed you. He has reversed the curse that was put on you and He has rewarded your faith.
Jehovah has redeemed you, for you are His next of kin. He bought you back from the enemy. He is your avenger because vengance belongs to Him. He has purchased and ransomed you.

1-21-08 2 Cor. 5:18, 19 Reconciled to God Through Jesus

2 Corinthians 5:18, 19 (NAS)
Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:18, 19 (Philips)
All this is God’s doing, for he has reconciled us to himself through Christ; and he has made us agents, of the reconciliation. God was in Christ personally reconciling the world to himself—not counting their sins against them—and has commissioned us with the massage of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:18, 19 (NLT)
All this newness of life is from God, who brought us back to himself through what Christ did. And God has given us the task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
You know that everything originates from Adonai, who is the supreme Divinity and the only true God. Through His Son Jesus, He reconciled you to Himself, restoring you back into His favor. You were at variance to the Lord, but He exchanged your old sinful nature for your new righteous one. Through Him you were totally transformed, becoming something that you never were before.

Jesus was anointed of His Father to become your Savior and your salvation. He now controls your destiny. Because you eagerly and earnestly seek Yeshua, He has rewarded you by placing you in the position to execute His commands. He is your Master and you are His servant and minister.

You, therefore, swiftly run to reach that goal that He has put before you. He has endued you with His power; with it, you put to flight and drive away the enemies of the gospel. They flee before you in fear and timidity. You also show and declare to others the reconciliation that Jesus has already established. You lead sinners to repent and to put their trust in Jesus's death that paid the penalty and atoned for their sin.

Now God Almighty does not even consider your sin and does not count it against you. He has raised you from the lower position where you used to dwell and has brought you to a higher place, a place of uprightness and prosperity. He has committed Himself to you and your salvation. His word has permanently fixed and established you in His reconciliation and favor. And His word in your mouth does the same for others.

1-20-08 Psalm 119:173-176 God's Hand Ready to Help

Psalm 119:173-176 (NAS)
Let Thy hand be ready to help me, For I have chosen Thy precepts. I long for Thy salvation, O LORD, And Thy law is my delight. Let my soul live that it may praise Thee, And let Thine ordinances help me.I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Thy servant, For I do not forget Thy commandments.

Psalm 119:173-176 (NLT)
Stand ready to help me, for I have chosen to follow your commandments.O LORD, I have longed for your salvation, and your law is my delight. Let me live so I can praise you, and may your laws sustain me. I have wandered away like a lost sheep; come and find me, for I have not forgotten your commands.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
You have chosen to follow the Lord and have decided to abide by His precepts and statutes. You continually deposit Adonai's word into your heart, so that there is nothing missing or lacking in your life. You know that if you should be called to account, you will measure up to the muster, for you have not sought the Lord God Almighty in vain.

You know that when you need help or support from Jehovah, that He will not turn away from you. He will uphold you with the strength of His hand. You will be satisfied with His fullness and abundance. Because your life is consecrated to God, you will accomplish and complete all that you have been appointed to do.

You have longed for the salvation and deliverance of Yeshua. You have sought the welfare and prosperity that only comes through His grace. Your Lord and Master has given you victory in all things. His direction and instruction have brought you great delight. As you observe and keep Adonai's laws, you are blinded to the ways of the world.

Your soul is alive with the praises of God. Your life shines with the glory of Adonai. With every breath you boast of Jehovah, for He has delivered you from condemnation and punishment.If you should go astray and lose your way like a sheep, wandering from the flock, you know that Jesus will seek you until He finds you.

You have proven yourself to be a true worshipper of Adonai, for you labor in His Kingdom and serve Him with your whole heart. You do not forget or ignore the Lord's commands, but you always carry out His orders. You, therefore, will not be be destroyed or perish. God will not blot you out, but He will keep you secure.