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"So the priest gave him (David) hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the Lord, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away." I Samuel 21:6 Young David, escaping from Saul, finds refuge at the city of Nob. He is looking for physical nourishment ~and finds~ "hallowed bread." In his confusion from having to escape the palace, knowing he is anointed the next King of Israel, he finds the Lord provides him with holy bread as his food ~ strength for the journey ahead. Eight long years he spends hiding and waiting for the appointed time for God's call on his life to be fulfilled as Saul continues to reign. How long have you waited, looking for God's promises to come to fruition? And in this long wait you have seen hardships and trials along the way. You may be feeling emptied...dry. ~ But God ~ has His purposes ~ no matter what the road has been like or the way so steep your strength is failing. He has a plan. David was called and anointed by God to be king, but...God had work to do in his heart to prepare him for the throne. The workings of God and the dealings of man are quite different ideas. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:9) God is interested in His wisdom, His nature, and His character being developed in us, just like David. The man "after God's own heart." If we are emptied of our own plans, our own ways, our own anything...it is so we can be refilled...with the holy. As God's Spirit begins to search out the deep places in our lives and the recesses of our hearts it can be painful from our viewpoint, but He is looking to rid our lives of the things that He knows is best and to bring maturity into our lives. Emptied...to be Filled ~ A lifelong pilgrimage. David ended up being called, "A man after God's own heart." He made mistakes, just as we may, but God was able to work in him the kind of heart He needed for the throne. No matter how long the road, or how long the wait, He has a plan, and His plan is to work in our heart His nature and character and wisdom. Let Him. As Women Finding Grace ~ Let us allow the Lord to empty us so we can be transformed into ~ "A woman after God's own heart."
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"Furthermore brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are worthy love, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, or if there be any praise, think on these things." Philippians 4:8 I find sparkling, crystal clear water very refreshing ~ water that has been filtered to take out any chemicals or impurities. I own a water filtration system with multiple filters responsible for different levels of cleansing which leaves us with pure water. Just as this filter purifies our water, God is in the process of purifying our minds...cleansing our thoughts. Purity ~ freedom from anything that debases, contaminates, pollutes, etc. "That is that ye cast off, concerning the conversation in time past, that old man, which is corrupt through deceivable lusts, And be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, which after God is created unto righteousness, and true holiness." Ephesians 4:22-23 In Philippians 4:8 there is a perfect filter for our minds to use and a standard that Paul gives us for our thoughts to be established in God's peace. In the next verse he says, "Which ye have both learned and received, and heard, and seen in me: those things do, and the God of peace shall be with you." In other words, Paul is saying you have seen in me and I have taught you to filter your thoughts by thinking on these things: whatsoever things are: true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report. Keeping our thoughts filtered within the standards of God's Word is an incessant battle, but a worthy one. It has much to do with the things we allow to infiltrate and bring impurities into our thoughts. There is a ceaseless deluge of corruption contending for our thoughts ~but~ we have God's Word to keep our thoughts established in truth and purity. "For the word of God is lively, and mighty in operation, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and entereth through, even unto the dividing asunder of the soul and the spirit, and of the joints, and the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts, and the intents of the heart." Hebrews 4:12. In Thomas Watson's book, "The Great Gain of Godliness", written in 1682, he says, "The profaneness of the times should not slacken our zeal, but heighten it." The echo of Mr. Watson's writings are still imperative today as we face this assault against truth in every form. I pray that the truth found in God's word sustain us and keep us. As Women Finding Grace ~ Let us be found as women filtering our minds through the truth of God's Word.
I could not let this Resurrection season pass without sharing this timely message from Charles Spurgeon. It's quite obvious I cherish his writings. This message sums up so much of why we 'remember' to celebrate His Resurrection. Take time...to look back and ponder His death and His rising again. He is so worthy of our time and energy...and stillness. Let these words from a time gone by permeate our hearts and we become a reflection of its message. "'Behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.' Matthew 27:51 No mean miracle was wrought in the rending of so strong and thick a veil; but it was not intended merely as a display of power—many lessons were herein taught us. The old law of ordinances was put away, and like a worn-out vesture, rent and laid aside. When Jesus died, the sacrifices were all finished, because all fulfilled in him, and therefore the place of their presentation was marked with an evident token of decay. That rent also revealed all the hidden things of the old dispensation: the mercy-seat could now be seen, and the glory of God gleamed forth above it. By the death of our Lord Jesus we have a clear revelation of God, for he was 'not as Moses, who put a veil over his face.' Life and immortality are now brought to light, and things which have been hidden since the foundation of the world are manifest in him. The annual ceremony of atonement was thus abolished. The atoning blood which was once every year sprinkled within the veil, was now offered once for all by the great High Priest, and therefore the place of the symbolical rite was broken up. No blood of bullocks or of lambs is needed now, for Jesus has entered within the veil with his own blood. Hence access to God is now permitted, and is the privilege of every believer in Christ Jesus. There is no small space laid open through which we may peer at the mercy-seat, but the rent reaches from the top to the bottom. We may come with boldness to the throne of the heavenly grace. Shall we err if we say that the opening of the Holy of Holies in this marvellous manner by our Lord's expiring cry was the type of the opening of the gates of paradise to all the saints by virtue of the Passion? Our bleeding Lord hath the key of heaven; he openeth and no man shutteth; let us enter in with him into the heavenly places, and sit with him there till our common enemies shall be made his footstool." - Charles Spurgeon As Women Finding Grace ~ Let us always allow the wisdom of God to permeate our hearts.
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