Month: December 2024

AWESOME GOD (3) The Attitude of Obedience:

This verse from Proverbs 3:1b, which says,

“…let thine heart keep my commandments” (Proverbs 3:1b) stood out during my spiritual exercise of today.

It’s no wonder the Bible says, “the letter kills,  but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6)

Keeping the law is a heart thing. It is not a religious obligation nor denominational dogma.  

It is an attitude of obedience by which we are distinguished as children of the Most High God, and we choose to do His will, irrespective of contrary opinions.

I am so thankful that Jesus Christ who already fulfilled the just requirements of the Mosaic Law, gave us a summarized version of the Ten Commandments,  as stated in  the Bible Thus,   

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

(Matthew 22:37-40 KJV)

Soul Searchlight:

a). How can I improve on loving God with the entirety of my being?

To do so might involve reprioritizing my priorities in life. 

In everything, God has to be number one- not my spouse, my kids, my siblings, my friends, or even my status, reputation or aspirations.  No one takes that place in my life, ever!

No friend, family or foe gave his life for me (John 3:16)

Eventually, spouses die,  children grow up and keep busy, and friends abandon or drift apart.

Only God is Eternal and will be there for me forever, as His Word says:

 “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (Hebrews 13:5 KJV)

I refuse to allow covetousness dominate my thinking, and choose to revel in the love of God.

HE alone is worthy of my reverence, respect, recognition and recommitment. 

b) In order to not be covetous and love others as I love myself, ( which is the second commandments)  I will have to function under the Golden Rule that says, 

”Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 7:12 KJV)

Summary:

The love of God and love for others is actually a constraining force which enables you to become a better version of yourself. 

Our progression shall continue to excellence  in Jesus’s Name.

Let us Pray:

Father God,  thank You for showing me that I have to improve on how I love you and others.

I ask that you cut off everything that distracts me from spending time with you in personal Bible study, prayer and meditation on your Word.

Prune me Father, so that I will not grow wild, stagnate, and die prematurely. 

Help me Father, to confront and overcome all deep seated resentment in my life and guide me to be more accommodating and respectful of the views and choices of others. 

Help me Father, to pray more about issues instead of offering despicable and inappropriate suggestions. 

Help me God to bridle my tongue and to speak words that build up, encourage and comfort others.

Thank You Father for the grace to be more outgoing and resourceful, as I seek ways to make positive impacts in the life of others.

Be magnified O God .  Be big in my life and families, in the matchless name of Jesus Christ ♥️ 

Gem:

Shalom everyone. Make every effort to read Proverbs chapter 4 tomorrow.  Make notes,  and pray at all times.  Use your time at work well. Think on the Words you read, and write down the insights you receive,  immediately! Lest you forget. The things of the Spirit are swift!.

 Rest well.

From Hephzibah Christly, Ph.D., #TheSpiritualWarrior, December 3rd 2024.

AWESOME GOD (2b) Respect:

 I had a great time after I shared the first part.

I worshipped God with songs, prayed and sang in tongues, and danced before Him. 

You need to do this always. It’s a beautiful experience to sing and dance by yourself to God 

As we make progress in our prayers, Bible reading, and meditation, it is important to understand the fear of the LORD and to discover the knowledge of God (See Proverbs 2:5).

For God’s Word says, “True humility and the fear of the LORD lead to riches, honor and long life” (Proverbs 22:4 NLT).

Question: What then is the fear of the LORD?

Answer: The fear of the Lord involves having respect for God’s power and wisdom.  

Do you respect God?

Do you believe that He is All-powerful (Omnipotent), and All-Wise (Omniscient)?

Remember all the times you have doubted God’s power to deliver, save, heal, provide etc for you?

That was disrespectful!

How about those times you accepted the verdict of your scientist above the Word of God who created you?

As I read and meditated on this scripture verses today,  I was broken for how we have failed God, disrespected Him and discounted His Word.

From henceforth, we should resolve to no longer disrespect God by not valuing His Word.

We should recommit to Him and acknowledge Him in all our ways, and He will direct our paths (Proverbs 3:6)

One of the things that has helped me stay healthy has been  obeying God’s hygiene laws in the Bible, as well as living by Biblical Principles. 

Hence I can boldly declare that surely, God’s goodness and mercy follows me, and the prince of this world will find nothing of his in me.

It will be greatly appreciated if you will share your insights from today’s Bible Reading.

Let Us Pray.

Thank you Father for the grace to come boldly to Your Throne of grace to obtain mercy.

We acknowledge we have been disrespectful, and have disregarded your Word. 

Help us Father to hold fast to your Word always and to make it our go-to-Word for everything.

We thank you for the gift of discernment and for making Christ wisdom for us.

Father,  teach us to fear you and no longer take you for granted.

Teach us to love you more than we do, dear God.

 Thank you for your  grace that enables us to grow in knowledge and understanding.

We acknowledge that you are our shield, and you will preserve our ways,  protect us from all injustices, and help us continually walk in integrity, in Jesus Christ matchless name ❤️. 

 Shalom from Hephzibah Christly, Ph.D., #TheSpiritualWarrior . December 2nd 2024

AWESOME GOD 2 (a): 

Today is day two of the yearly Spiritual exercises which helps me to grow in my relationship with God and others,  as well as reinforce the guiding principles of my life.

Before we go further, let us read the Bible from Proverbs chapter 2:1-end.

Don’t forget to highlight the verses that catch your attention, so that you will further explore them at the place of prayers and meditation.  

What that means is that you should simply think deeply on those verses, in order to catch what God is saying to you. Which could be God giving you directions or responding to your prayer requests. 

How would you know unless you read and then meditate (think on what you read).

Stop and think: Selah

When we come back, we shall share what verses caught our attention.  

And later, we shall eulogize God’s awesomeness and pray from that perspective. 

Shalom from Hephzibah Christly,  Ph.D., #TheSpiritualWarrior   December 2nd, 2024

AWESOME GOD: Commencing the Spiritual Exercises. 

Welcome to this season of eulogizing the awesomeness of God from two major perspectives.

When I received the word for the season, I was both excited and amazed!

Amazed at the thought of what next year holds for us who believe that God still communicates His moves to His people.

As is my usual practice, every December 1st to January 9th, I engage in the Spiritual exercise of “fasting off food and entertainments”,  in order to give more time to Prayer,  Bible Study, and Meditations on God’s Word. 

Doing these Spiritual exercises helps me to tune out the physical world and tune in to the spiritual frequencies, as well as proclaim my expectations for the upcoming season. 

Two major Reasons for this Spiritual exercises:

1). This holiday season helps me to reflect over my life, and review my performances.

The Bible admonishes us in 2 Corinthians 13:5 to

“ Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” 2 Corinthians 13:5 KJV.

In order to Examine myself appropriately, I will deeply search my soul for answers to 

the following questions:

A). Am I still in the faith?

 i) Do I still believe in God as Omniscience?  or

ii) am I now following science- allowing science to frustrate my faith in God?

B). Has reprobacy crept in unwittingly/subtly? :

i) where did I fall away?

ii) am I still relevant in God’s plans for the world- doing what HE called me to do or have I gone the way of Balaam- seeking financial blessings instead of obedience and selflessness?

2).These Spiritual exercises also empowers me to call things into existence and not live by happenstance. 

As Christians,  we do not live by happenstance, we cause things to happen. We have the creative ability of God in us. His enabling grace is at work in us to will and do His good pleasure.

As the Bible states, 

 “Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are your’s;” 1 Corinthians 3:21-22 KJV.

Even though “all things are yours”, the devil and the forces of evil always try to frustrate your faith in God. 

Don’t forget also that we are still growing in faith and in the knowledge of God. Therefore, we fall into temptations or allow contrary situations and circumstances to overwhelm us.

Life just happens. 

But as you give yourself to these Spiritual exercises,  you will be on top of your game and no longer allow the oppressive forces to get you.

During this season, you line up all your ducks in a row. 

You may join me in this Spiritual exercises.  

I will try to share insights as I receive them, and I look forward to having you share yours with me too.

Outline for the Spiritual Exercises:

You can make some adjustments to personalize it to fit your work schedule. But stay the course.

Prayers Times: 

9am, 12 noon, and 3pm daily

Duration:  

Be Flexible- Pray as you are led by the Holy Spirit.  Just be consistent.

Write a Prayer List: 

It is important to have a prayer goal. I have a long list of things I need to happen for me in this upcoming year. 

Bible Reading:

i) Proverbs 1-31.

 One chapter daily will cover  the 31 days of December. 

ii) Psalms 1-9 will add up to get you the 40 days.

I apologize for not sharing this earlier. My eyes wanted to quit working,  so I just shut it down. 

I love you all and do appreciate that many people join me for these yearly Spiritual Exercises. 

#MyPrayer4you:

I pray that you receive more Grace to be able to do this for yourself.

I pray that you will grow stronger in faith and that you will experience the awesomeness of God in your life and family, in the matchless name of Jesus Christ ♥️ 🙏🏽 

Shalom from Hephzibah Christly, Ph.D., #TheSpiritualWarrior.  December 1st, 2024.