ONE MESSAGE. ONE FAITH.

PRESS. image from web My desire for God must  drive  me to the throne of God. I must press, like the woman with the issue of blood-- I must persevere. There has to be an inner desperation, a dire thirst in my soul that longs for God. O God, You  are  my God; Early will I seek You; My  soul  thirsts for You; My flesh  longs  for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.- Psalm 63:1 My  soul   longs , yes, even faints For the courts of the  Lord ; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.- Psalm 84:2   I spread out my hands to You; My  soul   longs  for You like a thirsty land. Selah- Psalm 143:6 What brought David to the point of his flesh - his flesh(!)- longing for the Lord? Well the flesh [ basar]  used here is in context of the tangible body- rather than the carnal nature of man as we'd normally translate it in the new testament. So David was saying his soul and his physi...

image from www.davidmbn.com In prayer this morning  I was humbled as I marveled at  the turning of God's attention to me the minute I called his name. The fact that I can call on his name and he respond- for I can sense the wafting in of the ever-presence of God- astounds me.  It overwhelmed me to recognize his loving kindness. I relate to David when he poses the question, "What is man that you are mindful of him?" The song that declares "OH! how he loves us" reverberates in my thoughts and I double over smitten by the undeserved affection and attention the Lord gives me. Again, in David's words, " these thoughts are too wonderful for me." But it did not begin there. Before the the presence of God was able to overtake me I was overtaken by the pursuit of HEBEL. You know, the HEBEL that Solomon writes about in Ecclesiastes 2:1. I said [ amar] in my heart [ leb] , “Come now [ yalak] , I will test [ nacah] you with mirth[ simchah ]; ther...

“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel      after that time,” declares the  Lord . “I will put my law in their minds      and write it on their hearts. I will be their God,      and they will be my people. -Jeremiah 31:33 "The festival of Shavuot is a Jewish holiday that occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan (late May or early June). Shavuot commemorates the anniversary of the day God gave the Torah ( or the law) to the entire Israelite nation assembled at Mount Sinai, although the association between the giving of the Torah (Matan Torah) and Shavuot is not explicit in the Biblical text. Shavuot follows Passover by 50 days." ' ( from https://www.hebcal.com/holidays/ shavuot) This is where we get the celebration of Pentecost. It is no wonder that the outpouring of God's Holy Spirit was on this day- 50 days after Passover, of which Christ was the Passover lamb. In Jeremiah...

from debrapauli.com Joshua 9: 8-15 And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye? 9  And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come because of the name of the  Lord  thy God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt, ... 12  This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is mouldy: 13  And these bottles of wine, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they be rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey. 14  And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the  Lord . 15  And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them. John Bevere wrote a book titled "Good or God", that...

Acts 2:4, 7, 12-17 4  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 7  And they [the observing crowd] were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? 12  And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? 13  Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. 14  But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: 15  For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 16  But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17  And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: This is That. What is this? "This" was referring to the marvelous phenomenon ...

Luke 3:7-14 NLT   When the crowds came to John for baptism, he said, ...Who warned you to flee God’s coming wrath?   8  Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones.... 10  The crowds asked, “What should we do?” 11  John replied, “If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry.” 12  Even corrupt tax collectors came to be baptized and asked, “Teacher, what should we do?” 13  He replied, “Collect no more taxes than the government requires.” 14  “What should we do?” asked some soldiers. John replied, “Don’t extort money or make false accusations. And be content with your pay.” True repentance is more than a inside-the-heart feeling. It's an action of turning away from old ...