A faithful witness

Faithful witness

“It will be as eternal as the moon, MY faithful witness in the sky” Psalm 89:37

Why is the moon called GOD’s faithful witness?

The moon has no source of light from itself.  The reason we can see the moon at all is because the sun shines. The moon just reflects (witnesses to) the light of the sun.  To be a witness is to tell of something you see and the moon’s light is a reflection of the sun shining on it.

So, for us to witness of GOD the FATHER and the LORD JESUS is merely to tell others about GOD the FATHER and our LORD JESUS CHRIST.  So you see anyone who has come to GOD through JESUS (Hebrews 7:25), can be an effective and faithful witness.

Are you witnessing?

Hugs

Sharon

In the dark

Are you in the dark?

Ever gone somewhere not to arrive back home until late and find the house dark? We came home several years ago from a trip to California to see my mom and that happened to us. So, I went to turn on the light and nothing. I tried every light in the house and nothing! No, the power was not off, we had been ripped off and they had even taken the light bulbs. Can you believe that they even took the light bulbs! Praise the LORD! my husband keeps a flashlight in the car, so he traipsed back out and got it.

The flashlight showed that the house was a shamble, what a mess! Stuff was thrown everywhere, things were broken, and no light bulbs were to be found. Over the next few days, time and time again as we went to get something we needed, we would discover that it too had been taken.

As I began Genesis, I saw the same thing. 

We go from Genesis 1:1-in the beginning GOD created the heaven and the earth, to Genesis 1:2 the earth was without form (without structure, waste, and barren) and void (empty) and darkness was on the face of the deep (a Hebrew = all waters). I personally agree with those who feel there is a big gap between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. The reason I believe that, is GOD is light (1 John 1:5) and not the author of confusion (I Corinthians 14:33) while Bible symbolism often refers to darkness as representing evil (1 John 1:5-7).  The gap allows for the fall of Satan, and Satan comes only to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). We are not told what happened, but clues throughout the Bible seem to point to the confusion and darkness coming from Satan’s rebellion against GOD, as seen in Isaiah 14:12-17. We are told that at the end of time, on the New Earth there will be no darkness at all for Satan will NOT be there, but GOD is there, and GOD is light. (Revelation 22:5).

There is a law of 1st mention in Bible interpretation that declares that the 1st time a word is mentioned is its primary use throughout the Bible. In the 1st 3 verses of the 1st chapter of the 1st book we see light shown as good and actually as a correction over the darkness that is associated with emptiness and confusion. That symbolism is clearly portrayed throughout the entire Bible. In other words, GOD is giving us clues to help us understand HIS Word.

John 1:1-5 Takes us back before creation to establish 1) JESUS (the WORD made flesh John1:14) as having no beginning), 2) the truth that light came before darkness, and 3) to establish the supremacy of light over darkness (John 1:5), 4) and that darkness cannot understand or overcome the light. 

The Greek word alambano in John 1:5, means to seize/ take hold of and refers both to an ability to conquer, as well as the ability to understand. Therefore, we see GOD saying that the darkness (the evil one and his demons) no matter how evil cannot take hold of, stamp out or even understand the light. 

Even though we know CHRIST JESUS, sometimes life can get really hard. In fact. JESUS warned us that it would be like that, but in the next breath says “Cheer up! for I have overcome the world (John 16:33). We need to remember the whole world lies in the arms (under the influence- Ephesians 2:2) of the evil one (1 John 5:19), he has limed power and he cannot understand what GOD is doing (John 1:5, 1 Corinthians 2:8) for only to those GOD the HOLY SPIRIT explains GOD the FATHER’s thoughts to can know (1 Corinthians 2:9-12). 

I hope you are encouraged by these clues from the Bible. We fight not against flesh and blood but the demonic and their influence on people Ephesians 6:12. And regardless of what the enemy throws at us, our LORD JESUS CHRIST, the light that shines in the darkness, is bigger, stronger, and better. JESUS stands right at your side to get you through whatever comes your way.

JESUS said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you. So that we may boldly say, the LORD is my Helper, and I will not fear (Hebrews 13:5-6) for the darkness cannot overcome the light.

Looking unto JESUS, the Author and Perfecter of my faith (Hebrews 12:2),

Hugs      

Sharon

Light

We hear of many things happening here in our schools and government and around the world and we see darkness.  We hear lies, and many believe those lies.  Yet lies are from the evil one (John 8:44) who rules over the kingdom of darkness. 

In the beginning GOD said, “Let there be light,” and there was light (Genesis 1:1,3).

Light is a property that can be measured. But did you know that darkness cannot be measured? That is because darkness is but the absence of light. If you are in the darkness and just light a match, that speck of light pushes back the darkness. But if an electric light is on during the daytime, when night come and darkness descends, that darkness cannot not put the light out.

Light is the agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible- knowable.

JESUS is the true light and brings light to EVERY person (see John 1:10-14). Yes, every single man, woman and child that is born is given light (Roman1:18-21).  But when we don’t like the truth (light) we are given, we push it away and turn from it and go back into darkness.

GOD said that when people keep suppressing the truth (Romans 1:18) continually refusing to receive the love of the truth and exchange the truth of GOD for a lie (Romans 1:25) as they do not like to retain GOD in their knowledge, GOD will eventually give them what they want.  They don’t want the truth, so HE turns them over to a reprobate mind (Romans 1:28) and they can no longer know good from evil.  Our nation and other nations have refused the light and have pushed GOD out of their schools and governments and darkness has come.

But GOD says we can pray for those in darkness and open their hearts to hear the conviction of the HOLY SPIRIT through our gentle speaking the living word to them in love.  They still must choose, but they for a bit will see the light.

“Thanks be to GOD, who always leads us in triumph in CHRIST, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of HIM in every place” (2 Corinthians 2:14 NASB).

That is why when GOD states, “the path of the just is like a shining light that shines brighter and brighter until the perfect day” (Proverbs 4:18 KJ), HE is saying we take light with us wherever we go. 

But you might say, “It says the path of the just, and I’m not perfect.”  The Bible tells us that GOD has justified {made just-as-if-I’d-never-sinned} every believer in the LORD JESUS CHRIST, (Romans 8:30). Therefore, that means you and I are just.

When one turns to JESUS, that which kept him in the darkness is taken away and he again is flooded with light (see 2 Corinthians 3:13-16).

As JESUS said. “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14-16).  So, shine in the darkness. Let the world see JESUS in you. They desperately need that light. Although the world is in the kingdom of darkness, that darkness cannot put out our light.

Hugs

Sharon

Did you eat bread today?

As a little girl I loved bread and butter. No one ever had to tell me to eat my bread, like the little squirrel I’d tossed bread to, I’d gobble down my bread and want more. Today I feel that way about my Bible.  I love the Word of GOD and hunger for it.

We have entered a New Year and we don’t know what lies ahead.  Already misunderstandings and challenges have come seemingly out of nowhere. Just like when the power goes out and it is pitch black, we need an oil lamp or candle to find our way. We need the light of GOD’s WORD to know which way to go.

Psalm 119:105 THY WORD is a lamp unto my feet and a light for my path.

As never before, deception comes at us from all directions.  Often, we can’t know what is false. If we don’t have the living WORD of GOD directing us it is easy to stumble or drift from the truth.  It is like we are in the dark with no light to show us the way if we don’t have GOD’s WORD to guide us.  We literally need the WORD of GOD every day.

2 Timothy 2:15 Study to show yourself approved unto GOD a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing (rightly handling and skillfully teaching) the WORD of Truth.”  We can only do that as we listen to the guiding HOLY SPIRIT (1 Corinthians 2:10-12).

We shouldn’t just sit back and let someone else figure out what the WORD of GOD is saying. We need to get GOD’s answers directly from HIM for our OWN lives. And we do that as we spend time with HIM in HIS WORD.

EACH of us need to meet with GOD in HIS WORD to study out the WORD of Truth as it applies to us. The more time you spend with GOD in HIS WORD the more prepared you are to meet the challenges of each day.

If you read, think about, and talk to GOD concerning just ONE verse in the Bible today, you will see what GOD has to say to you.  That is if you go expecting to hear from HIM. (Hebrews 11:6).

No one can say I can’t understand the Bible, for GOD has given each and every believer in the LORD JESUS CHRIST the HOLY SPIRIT to help him understand GOD’s WORD and ways and how it applies to you in your situation. You won’t understand every single thing you read, but you can be certain that HE will explain all you need to know to do what GOD wants you to do (Deuteronomy 29:29). What more could we ask? 

JESUS said, “Man cannot live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of GOD” (Matthew 4:4). As bread nourishes our bodies, the Word of GOD feeds our souls. So, like the little squirrel in my back yard last summer, bite into the bread of life -the WORD of GOD today!

hugs

Sharon

What do you look at?

Ostriches are amazing flightless birds that have been clocked as running 43 MPH. They have some quirks, one leading to the idiom bury your head in the sand (which means to ignore or hide from obvious signs of danger). It alludes to an ostrich, which is believed (incorrectly) to hide it’s head in a hole in the ground when it sees danger. Actually, when lying down and hiding from predators, the birds lay their heads and necks flat on the ground, making them appear like a mound of earth from a distance, aided by the heat haze in their hot, dry habitat. This defensive behavior of lying low makes them appear from a distance to have their head buried.

As I soaked in the tub, I was reading a fiction historical novel, by a Christian author, about the times just before, and during JESUS CHRIST’s life. I love to read, and the author had a neat style but graphic details triggered thoughts that were not good. So, I gave those thoughts to GOD, shut the book and later took it back to the library.  It is too easy to think about what we should not think of.

I opened an email from a dear, dear friend and it contained slurs about people, that although may be true, at least in part, it directed my thoughts to judging.  Thoughts I should not have.  Judging with only partial facts is just too easy to do but totally forbidden and must be guarded against. So, I deleted the email.

The Bible is jam packed with injunctions I might want to ignore.  But although GOD’s thoughts and ways are not ours (Isaiah 55:8-9) they work because HE is always right.  Therefore, if I want to do right I need to pay attention to what the Word of GOD says and act accordingly.

JESUS said, “Man cannot live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of GOD” (Matthew 4:4).

Some call me closed minded, saying I bury my head in the sand and don’t know the times because I choose to use the Bible as my standard. It is not always easy, it is not always comfortable, but I’ve learned through the years of falling on my face by doing things my own way, that the LORD’s way is best.  HE made the world and everything in it, therefore HE knows how things work plus HE knows all things past, present and even future so know what I need to look for.  That makes HIM the only ONE qualified to give me instructions.

GOD honored my shutting that book, and deleting that email, by confirming my choices as I opened the Bible and read HIS words.

“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore your eye be single (looking at the right things), your whole body shall be full of light (and you will understand what to do).  But if your eye be evil (you look at and think about wrong), your whole body shall be full of darkness (and you will stumble and fall). If therefore the light that is in you (that which you think is right) be darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-23).

“And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of GOD” (Romans 12:2).

Why is that so important?

Wherein in time past, (before you were saved and knew better) you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the (evil) spirit (the devil) that now works in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2).

There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12).  Remember, Eve in the garden.

Just a little bit of human standard defilement brings in darkness.  It clouds things so much that it can throw off my perspective to the degree that I don’t know the right way to go. That is what has happened in our country for now right is called wrong and wrong is called right.

It is so important what we focus on is.  Where do you find the answers?

Looking unto JESUS the Author and Perfecter of my faith

Hugs

Sharon L Manning

Do you shine?

I heard a mind-blowing statistic from a reliable source last night that I can’t get out of my mind. Twenty years ago, one specific Bible absolute was accepted as truth by over 96% of the people (both secular and religious), today less than 12% from those 2 groups think that same absolute is truth.

What happened?

When we believed in JESUS, GOD the FATHER delivered us out of the power of darkness and placed us into the kingdom of HIS dear SON (Colossians 1:13). We have not attained perfection but as JESUS is praying for us (Hebrews 7:25, Romans 8:34) as is the HOLY SPIRIT who now lives within us (Romans 8:26-27, Ephesians 1:13-14) is teaching and leading us we are little by little being changed into the likeness of JESUS (2 Corinthians 3:18, Romans 8:29).

CHRIST JESUS called believers “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14) and declared we were not to cover up our light but to put it where everyone could see it.  GOD’s values, the fruit of the SPIRIT, should be flowing increasingly through our lives (Galatians 5:22-23).

I think as the prophet Haggai told the Jews, so we who have come to GOD though JESUS need to “consider our ways” (Haggai 1:5).   

We are to be a light in this dark world, a light guiding those wandering or lost not just by the things we say, but how we act day in and day out.

What can you, what can I do to lovingly shine our light brightly in our increasingly wicked world?  Are you and I ready, if need be, to suffer persecution as many of our brothers and sisters in CHRIST do around the world?

I’m considering my ways, and asking GOD to show me what I can do to lovingly shine my light in the darkness.

Hugs

Sharon

How can you know?

Within a half hour I heard two prophesies.  The 1st one sounded right on- the 2^nd one sounded right except for one small part and I knew I had to get with the LORD and ask HIM about it.  But before I had an opportunity, (although one of the verses that follow came to mind), one of the gals in my class text me wondering about the 2^nd prophesy and wanting my opinion.  Again, that verse in Jeremiah 23 came to mind but I still wanted to check it with the LORD.

With the state of the world and especially our nation of the USA there are a lot of people saying they are prophets and speaking for GOD.  Many of those things contradict. We are warned in the WORD of GOD about this.

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of GOD: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).  That makes it extremely clear that some who say they know what is coming are lying.  And there are plenty of conflicting prophesies out there and even more so since Covid-19 and the riots hit.

But we can’t just ignore the prophesies that come our way for we are also instructed in GOD’s HOLY WORD:

“Despise not prophesyings, Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21).

GOD is telling us that not all who speak of the future are lying and we are supposed to pay attention to those telling the truth for they are speaking for HIM.  But, how can we tell the difference?  How do we prove if something is true?

The persecuted Old Testament prophet Jeremiah was proven accurate and was quoted by other prophets.  In Jeremiah 23 he speaks concerning how you can tell the difference between a godly prophet and a false prophet.  Let’s look at what he was led to say by the HOLY SPIRIT (1 Peter 1:21).

False prophets -speak a vision out of their own hearts and not from the LORD (Jeremiah 23:16).

“Who has stood in the counsel of the LORD and has perceived and heard HIS Word? Who has marked HIS Word and heard it” (Jeremiah 23:18). “But if they had stood in MY counsel, and had caused MY people to hear MY words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings”,(Jeremiah 23:22).

“The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath MY Word, let him speak MY Word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. Is not MY Word like as a fire (it will burn up the chaff or useless prophesies- showing them wrong)? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces (it will shatter lies exposing them as false)? (Jeremiah 23:28-29).

Then GOD says something very interesting. “Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal MY words (say I didn’t mean what I said in MY word) everyone from his neighbor” (Jeremiah 23:30).  This is not speaking of plagiarism!

Plagiarism is when someone steals another’s idea.  This verse speaks to when a false prophet steals the truth out of a person and supplants it with a lie.

So, the answer as to “How to tell if a prophet is speaking GOD’s word or just his own idea?” is check it out in the Word of GOD.  Don’t be fooled by those who try to add or subtract from GOD’s Word.

“To the law and to the testimony (GOD’s Word); if they speak not according to this Word, there is no light (wise understanding and truth) in them” (Isaiah 8:20).

Hugs

Sharon

Light in the darkness

As a counselor with a group of young girl campers, I had the responsibility of giving a short devotion each night.  One night I had my co-counselor keep the girls outside the cabin while I went in and booby-trapped the cabin by putting chairs and suitcases in the middle and all around the floor.  Then I lead the girls into the cabin without turning on the light. One right after another bumped into things.  After a little bit of that, I signaled my co-counselor to turn on her flashlight and then we had no trouble finding our way through the maze without bumping into anything.

That night I was instructing the girls in the truth found in Psalm 119:105.

THY word is a lamp unto my feet and a light (flashlight) to my path (Psalm 119:105).

JESUS said, I am the light of the world: he that follows ME shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life (John 8:12).  JESUS brings light to everyone who comes (is born) into the world (John1:9) The one who believes in HIM (JESUS) is not condemned, but the one who believes not (refuses the light given him) is condemned already for he believes not GOD.  He loves darkness rather than light so he can do his own thing (John 3:1-20).

If the light that is in you is darkness (if you believe a lie and live by that lie’s direction) how great is that darkness (Matthew 6:23).

Even we who believe in JESUS can at times listen to the lies of the enemy and believe him.

LORD GOD ALMIGHTY in YOUR great mercy, longsuffering and love shine your light into our lives showing us and those that rebel against light (truth) that which we each individually need to see.  For I believe YOUR word that the light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot extinguish it (John 1:5).  I know, I know that will demand a choice of each of us, but YOU can expose the lies we believe by shining YOUR light on them.  Help us to want YOUR truth I ask in the name of JESUS CHRIST my LORD.  THY will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

I urge you in CHRIST’s stead to consider these things and may the good LORD give you wisdom and understanding (James 1:5, 1 Corinthians 2:10) as HE guides you with HIS peace (Colossians 3:15), strengthens you with HIS joy (Nehemiah 8:10), and enables you with HIS grace (Hebrews 4:16). Now may the GOD of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the HOLY SPIRIT.”(Romans 15:13) Keep looking unto JESUS (Hebrews 12:2) and talk over your thoughts with HIM (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Hugs

Sharon