Post Eighteen, There Is A Fountain

Sunday 20 October 2013

I have not posted in awhile. I got stuck on Jehovah-rapha, the Lord that heals. There is so much to be said on this subject. I pondered it for a few days and then... distraction, shiny objects, whatever the excuse; I am back now. The Lord is gracious and He is faithful. I am still not ready to discuss Jehovah-rapha, but I did discover something I thought was interesting.

I have loved the Hymn, There Is A Fountain, for so many years. It may not be one of the most popular hymns, but it brings tears to my eyes. I did a Google search on it the other day and discovered that it was written by William Cowper not long before his death on 25 April 1800.

I am a big fan of Jane Austen and, as it turns out, Jane Austen was a big fan of William Cowper. She quoted him in Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Emma, and Sanditon. He was her favorite poetical moralist.

William Cowper, himself, is interesting. He sometimes suffered from melancholia and depression and spent some time in an asylum. But, Romans 8:28 came into play in his life. He moved into a little house in Olney, England who's backyard connected with the parsonage backyard. And, guess who was the reverend of the parish; it was John Newton, the man who wrote Amazing Grace!

William Cowper and John Newton became very close friends. They worked together to write poetry for the services at the parish and collaborated to write a book called Olney Hymns. This book contains 349 hymns and became one of the most important contributions to musical worship in Evangelical Christianity.

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." - Romans 8:28

William Cowper had bouts of doubt about his salvation and God's love for him, but one day while sitting alone at his desk after reading

Zechariah 13:1-"In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity."

the Holy Spirit inspired him to write these words:

There is a fountain filled with blood
drawn from Immanuel's veins
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains

The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
and there may I, though vile as he
Wash all my sins away

Dear dying Lamb, thy precious blood
Shall never lose it's power
Till all the ransomed church of God
Are saved, to sin no more

For since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply
Redeeming love has been my theme
and shall be till I die

When this poor lisping,
stammering tongue
Lies silent in the grave
Then in a nobler, sweeter song
I'll sing thy power to save

There Is A Fountain by Selah

Lamentations

3:21-"This I recall to my mind,

          Therefore I have hope.

3:22-"The LORD"S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,

          For His compassions never fail.

3:23-"They are new every morning;

         Great is Thy faithfulness."

Praise the Lord Jesus!

Terrie

Post Seventeen, Jehovah-jireh

Friday 2 August 2013

Today we will discuss Jehovah-jireh - The Lord will provide!

The first time this name is used is when Abraham took Isaac to Moriah to offer his son as a burnt offering in Genesis 22:1-19, where God provided the ram as the burnt offering instead of Isaac.

All along in this story Abraham kept his faith that God would provide. He told the men with them, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go yonder, and we will worship and return to you."

He told Isaac, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son."

And even as he built the altar, arranged the wood, bound Isaac, laid him on the wood, stretched out his hand, and took out the knife to slay Isaac, he showed his faith in God, that He would make everything all right. And the Lord did!

But not only in this instance, the Lord Jesus has shown Himself to provide in every book of the Bible.

In Genesis - the Ram at Abraham's Altar
Exodus - the Passover Lamb
Leviticus - the High Priest
Numbers - Cloud by Day and the Pillar of Fire by Night
Deuteronomy - City of our Refuge
Joshua - Scarlet Thread out Rahab's window
Judges - He is our Judge
Ruth - our Kinsman Redeemer
First and Second Samuel - Trusted Prophet
First and Second Kings, First and Second Chronicles - our Reigning King
Ezra  - our Faithful Scribe
Nehemiah - Re-builder of everything that is broken
Esther - Mordecai sitting faithful at the gate
Job - our Redeemer that ever liveth
Psalms - He is my Shepherd and I shall not want
Proverbs and Ecclesiastes - our Wisdom
Song of Solomon - the Beautiful Bridegroom
Isaiah - Suffering Servant
Jeremiah and Lamentations - Jesus is the Weeping Prophet
Ezekiel - Wonderful Four-faced Man
Daniel - Fourth Man in the midst of a fiery furnace
Hosea - My Love that is ever faithful
Joel - He baptizes us with the Holy Spirit
Amos - our Burden Berrer
Obadiah - our Savior
Jonah - Great Foreign Missionary that takes the word of God into all the world
Micah - Messenger with beautiful feet
Nahum - the Avenger
Habakkuk - the Watchman that is ever praying for revival
Zephaniah - The Lord Mighty to Save
Haggai - the Restorer of our lost heritage
Zechariah - our Fountain
Malachi - the Son of Righteousness with healing in His wings
Matthew - Thou are the Christ the Son of the Living God
Mark - the Miracle Worker
Luke - The Son of Man
John - The Door by which everyone of us must enter
Acts - The Shining Light that appears to Saul on the road to Damascus
Romans - our Justifier
1 Corinthians - Our Resurrection
2 Corinthians - Our Sin Berrer
Galatians - He redeems us from the law
Ephesians - our Unsearchable Riches
Philippians - He supplies our every need
Colossians - the fullness of the Godhead
First and Second Thessalonians - our Soon and Coming King
First and Second Timothy - the mediator between God and man
Titus - our Blessed Hope
Philemon - a Friend that sticks closer than a brother
Hebrews - the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant
James - He is the Lord that heals the sick
First and Second Peter - the Chief Shepherd
First, Second, and Third John - Jesus who has the tenderness of love
Jude - He is the Lord coming with ten thousand saints
Revelation - Lift up your eyes church for your Redemption draweth nigh
THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORD!

God Will Make A Way by Don Moen. This list is from a version of this song. I wrote it down and it has been in my Bible for many years, from the 80's I think.

If we call upon Him He will provide for us.

Philippians 4:19
"And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

Post Sixteen, Jehovah

Wednesday 31 July 2013

Since I found the Precepts Austin web site I was not going to continue with the names of God study. This web site is so comprehensive I thought there really was no need, but, I have come to realize that I need to finish this study. It has been my desire to know the names of God, to be able to call upon Him by His name, to know Him by these attributes, and I have found that I can only remember those names that I have put in a post. So, even if this is only for me, I need to finish this.

Having said that, I know God's word does not return void, and I pray this will bless you also.

Let's pick up at Jehovah. The first time this name is used is in Genesis 2:4 - "This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD GOD made earth and heaven."

Any time you see LORD in the Old Testament it means Yahweh or Jehovah, and when you see Lord it means Adonai.

Nathan Stone said, "Thus when we read the name Jehovah, or LORD in capital letters, in our Bible, we think in terms of being or existence and life, and we must think of Jehovah as the Being who is absolutely self existent, the One who in Himself possesses essential life, permanent existence."

In Exodus chapter 3, when God called Moses from the burning bush, Moses responded,

Genesis 3:13
"Then Moses said to God, 'Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I shall say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name? What shall I say to them?'"

Genesis 3:14
"And God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM'; and He said, 'Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

I AM WHO I AM is the inner meaning of Yahweh, "I am the One who is." This emphasizes "God's dynamic and active self-existence." I AM WHO you need Me to be when you need Me to be it. He is the Alpha and the Omega (the Beginning and the End), the same yesterday, today, and forever. He never changes.

James 1:17
"Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow."

My daughter reminded me that when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, when the soldiers came to arrest Him this exchange occurred,

John 18:4
"Jesus therefore, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth, and said to them, 'Whom do you seek?'"

John 18:5
"They answered Him, 'Jesus the Nazarene.'" He said to them, "I am He." And Judas also who was betraying Him, was standing with them."

John 18:6
"When therefore He said to them, 'I am He,' they drew back, and fell to the ground."

"He" is italicized because it was added by the translators. Jesus actually said, "I Am" and so powerful was His statement that men, those who did not even know Him, who had come to arrest Him, fell back to the ground. Hallelujah - what a mighty God we serve!

Exodus 33:18
"Then Moses said, 'I pray Thee, show Me Thy glory!'"

And God's response was:

Exodus 34:5
"And the LORD descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the LORD."

Exodus 34:6
"Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, 'The LORD, the LORD GOD, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;'"

Show Me Your Glory by Jesus Culture

I put a link to the Precepts Austin page under blogs I read, or something like that, on the side under followers and about me.
So much for shorter posts!
I pray the Lord rains down showers of blessings on you today!!

Post Fifteen, God's Passion

Tuesday 30 July 2013

Yesterday we discussed peace. Today is God's Passion!

Hosea 2:19
"'And I will betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice.
In lovingkindness and in compassion.

Hosea 2:20
"And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.
Then you will know the LORD."

First, we should talk about the word "lovingkindness." The meaning of this word is so deep into God's passion and concern for us. In the Hebrew the word is hesed and it means loyal, steadfast, or faithful love and stresses the idea of a belonging together of those involved in the love relationship.

Lovingkindness is used about 250 times in the Old Testament. Communion, deliverance, enablement, enlightenment, guidance, forgiveness, hope, praise, and preservation are all based on God's hesed.

But here, it connotes God's faithful love for His unfaithful people. The Lord does everything. He provides everything. This whole passage requires nothing from us. His love for us is not based on anything we do. It is not based on works. There is nothing we can do to make God love us more. We are already His passion! He wants us to know Him, to seek Him, to be with Him in a close relationship. Then we can worship Him in Spirit and truth. This is the reason we were created. We belong to Him!

You Won't Relent by Jesus Culture

Thank you Lord Jesus!

Post Fourteen, Peace

Monday 29 July 2013

Yesterday we discussed victory and freedom. Today we will discuss Peace.

Hosea 2:18
"'In that day I will also make a covenant for them
With the beasts of the field,
The birds of the sky,
And the creeping things of the ground.
And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land.
And will make them lie down in safety.'"

Psalms 23 by Keith Green

This Psalm offers such provision, protection, and promises that it is often offered as a comfort at funerals. But, truly, in just six verses it creates such a sense of security and trust in the Lord that if we could get a hold of this for our everyday life we would walk in peace. This Psalm should be a study of it's own.

One more day left...

Post Thirteen, Victory and Freedom

Sunday 28 July 2013

Last time we talked about a deeper relationship with the Lord; one where we will call Him husband and no longer owner. One where we will have a close, intimate relationship with Him.One where we can openly and freely worship Him, with our whole heart, coming to understand who He is and who we are in Him. We are His bride, clothed in white. Thank you Jesus!

Today we will talk about Victory and Freedom.

Hosea 2:17
"For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth,
So that they will be mentioned by their names no more."

What victory and freedom to have the things that we put before God, the things that keep us from completely surrendering to Him, the things that keep us from worshiping Him in Spirit and truth, removed from us so much so that we do not speak of them and they are no longer even mentioned by name.

In essence, those things are no longer any part of our life. We have moved on. We have been made new.

2 Corinthians 5:17
"Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

2 Corinthians 5:18
"Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,

2 Corinthians 5:19
"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.

Jesus is worthy of our praise!

Jesus Reigns by Jesus Culture

Again, this is not the end! Still more to come! Oh, how He loves us!!!

Post Twelve, A Deeper Relationship

Friday 26 July 2013

Yesterday we talked about restoration and dealing with sin.

Today we will talk about coming to a deeper relationship with the LORD.

Hosea 2:16
"'And it will come about in that day,' declares the LORD,
"'That you will call Me Ishi
And will no longer call Me Baali."

Ishi means my husband and Baali means my owner. How beautiful is this? To have such a close relationship with the LORD.

Isaiah 54:4 says
"'Fear not, for you will not be put to shame;
Neither feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced;
But you will forget the shame of your youth,
And the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.

Isaiah 54:5
"'For your husband is your Maker,
Whose name is the LORD of hosts;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,
Who is called the God of all the earth.

Isaiah 54:6
"'For the LORD has called you,
Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
Even like a wife of one's youth when she is rejected,'"
Says your God.

Isaiah 54:7
"'For a brief moment I forsook you,
But with great compassion I will gather you.

Isaiah 54:8
"'In an outburst of anger
I hid My face from you for a moment;
But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,'"
Says the LORD your Redeemer.

There is even still more to this story...

Post Eleven, Restoration

Wednesday 24 July 2013

The word for today is:
Romans 8:28 - And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Okay, let's continue with Hosea chapter two. Yesterday the LORD took the harlot into the wilderness, began to romance her, and speak kindly to her - He forgave her. Hosea 2:14

Then restoration began.
Hosea 2:15
"Then I will give her her vineyards from there,
And the valley of Achor as a door of hope.
And she will sing there as in the days of her youth,
As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt."

The valley of Achor is mentioned in Joshua Chapter 7, but we need to start in chapter 6 where Joshua and the people of Israel march around Jericho, before the seventh time Joshua tells the people,
Joshua 6:17
"And the city shall be under the ban, it and all that is in it belongs to the LORD; only Rahab the harlot and all who are with her in the house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent.
Joshua 6:18
"But as for you, only keep yourselves from the things under the ban, lest you covet them and take some of the things under the ban, so you would make the camp of Israel accursed and bring trouble on it.
Joshua 6:19
"But all the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are holy to the LORD; they shall go into the treasury of the LORD."

Now to Joshua Chapter 7; The LORD gave Israel a miraculous victory over Jericho and they went on to the next battle at Ai. They were greatly defeated. Joshua sought the LORD and the LORD said,
Joshua 7:11
"Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things.
Joshua 7:12
"Therefore the sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst."

It is found out that Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah took "a beautiful mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight, then I coveted them and took them;" - Joshua 7:21

Joshua 7:24
"Then Joshua and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the mantle, the bar of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent and all that belonged to him; and they brought them up to the valley of Achor.
Joshua 7:25
"And Joshua said, 'Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day.' And all Israel stoned them with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.
Joshua 7:26
"And they raised over him a great heap of stones that stands to this day, and the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the valley of Achor to this day."

All of that said to say how seriously God takes our sin. It has to be dealt with, otherwise we cannot stand before our enemies and the Lord cannot be with us, by this I mean, we cannot worship Him, not in Spirit and truth anyway, not with a pure heart.

It is so true that when we get saved, when we accept that Jesus died on the cross for us, for our sins, our sins are forgiven and there is no taking that back, thank you Jesus! We belong to Him and that is God's will! God's purpose!

I am talking about the day-to-day sins that bother us, that keep us irritated, like a fly in the room that keeps bugging you. Just get up and kill it, be done with it. Sometimes the only way to do that is to keep your eyes on Jesus, calling out Abba Father, and standing firm.

Anyway, I believe this is what He means when He says He will give her the valley of Achor as a door of hope; that her sins will be dealt with and the restoration will begin.

Then "she will sing there as in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt." How sweet this is - to sing as a child, uninhabited, joyful praise! as in the day of deliverance!

Your Love Never Fails by Jesus Culture

This is still not the end of the story; there is more to come!

Post Ten, Forgiveness

Tuesday 23 July 2013

We left off yesterday with the harlot having acted shamefully.
Hosea 2: 5...
For she said, "I will go after my lovers.
Who give me my bread and my water,
My wool and my flax, my oil and my drink."

And God having said,
Hosea 2:8
"For she does not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil,
And lavished on her silver and gold,
Which they used for Baal.
Verse 2:9
"Therefore, I will take back My grain at harvest time
And My new wine in its season.
I will also take away My wool and My flax
Given to cover her nakedness.
Verse 2:10
"And then I will uncover her lewdness
In the sight of her lovers,
And no one will rescue her out of My hand."

But then... and this is where the story becomes so sweet...God never turns His back on her, He never just leaves or walks away, He stays... He is committed to her even though she became discontent, sought other lovers, and did not even recognize that it was God who had given her everything she had, everything she needed.

No, He did not walk away, He forgave her.
Hosea 2:14
"Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
Bring her into the wilderness,
And speak kindly to her."

How He Loves Us by The David Crowder Band

He not only forgave her, He romances her, He speaks kindly to her, and He separates her from everything that would take her attention away from Him.

I think this is something that God does when He wants to do something beautiful in us, He separates us to get our attention. Just look at Noah, Moses, Joseph, David - as a shepherd, and so many others, Paul. And Jesus, Himself, shows this example in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. I think this has something to do with worship - I am still working on it, but to worship the Lord in Spirit and Truth it has to be personal, separate, even if you are standing in the midst of a congregation.

The Lord loves us so jealously that He will not turn His back on us. There is nothing that we can do that would surprise or shock Him. Once we are His, we are His, we belong to Him and nothing can "rescue" us out of His hand.

Thank you Lord Jesus!

This is not the end of the story, not even close. There is much more to come...

Post Nine, Hosea Chapter Two

Monday 22 July 2013

Let's start with a worship song, shall we?

Brokenness Aside by All Sons and Daughters.

This is something the Lord allowed me to see a little while back. It is so very sweet I wanted to share it with you.

Hosea chapter two:

In chapter one, verse 2 - The LORD tells Hosea to "Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry, and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the LORD."

Verse 3 - "So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim..."
They had three children, two sons and a daughter.

But, Gomer became discontent and decided she could do better for herself and that her lovers had provided better for her.

Hosea 2:5 - "For their mother has played the harlot;
She who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, 'I will go after my lovers,
Who give me my bread and my water,
My wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.'

Verse 2:6 - "Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her way with thorns,
And I will build a wall against her so that she cannot find her paths.

Verse 2:7 - "And she will pursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them;
And she will seek them, but will not find them.
Then she will say, 'I will go back to my first husband,
For it was better for me then than now!'

Verse 2:8 - "For she does not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil,
And lavished on her silver and gold,
Which they used for Baal.

Verse 2:9 - "Therefore, I will take back My grain at harvest time
And My new wine in its season.
I will also take away My wool and My flax.
Given to cover her nakedness.

Verse 2:10 - "And then I will uncover her lewdness
In the sight of her lovers,
And no one will rescue her out of My hand.

Verse 2:11 - "I will also put an end to all her gaiety,
Her feasts, her new moons, her sabbaths,
And all her festal assemblies.

Verse 2:12 - "And I will destroy her vines and fig trees,
Of which she said, 'These are my wages
Which my lovers have given me.'
And I will make them a forest,
And the beasts of the field will devour them.

Verse 2:13 - "And I will punish her for the days of the Baals
When she used to offer sacrifices to them
And adorn herself with her earrings and jewelry,
And follow her lovers, so that she forgot Me," declares the LORD.

Gomer did not realize that everything she had had been given to her from the LORD. He had even covered her lewdness and nakedness.

This does not sound like a very sweet story at this point does it; but, there is another page, the next page... and God willing, we will cover it tomorrow. I am hoping to not have such long posts in the future, easier for you to read, easier for me to write.

Post Eight, Sunday 21 July 2013

Sunday 21 July 2013

I was asking the Lord as I was dressing for church this morning about this blog. I stopped posting because I was just not sure, about what, I am not sure about that either. I just felt apprehensive. So, I stopped, a good while back as you can see.

Anyway, I asked the Lord to give me an answer as to posting on this blog.

This morning at church, during worship, we sang this song. I had never heard it before.

All The Poor and Powerless by All Sons and Daughters.

And being dull of hearing, we sang the chorus:
  Shout it,
  Go on and scream it from the mountains,
  Go on and tell it to the masses,
  That He is God
At least three times before it hit me! My answer!

He is God! Thank You Jesus! You are so kind!

Hallelujah - Praise the Lord!
Amen - So be it