Monday, November 30, 2015
PJP2 PROLOG 151130 PROLOG Focus Daniel 2:34-35....
Daniel 2:20 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)….“Daniel answered and said: ‘Blessed Be The Name of God forever and ever, to Whom Belong Wisdom and Might.”….
PJP2 PROLOG POST 151130 - Daniel 2:34-35 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)...."As you looked, A Stone Was Cut Out By NO human hand, And IT struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, And Broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were Broken in pieces, and Became Like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; And The Wind Carried them away, SO that NOT a trace of them could be found. BUT The Stone That Struck the image Became A Great Mountain And Filled the whole earth."....
I know I have shared this thought before - but, for any new PJP2 Readers, I have always had a fascination for ROCKS. I know part of this Love is in part due to the influence of my Dad, John A. "Pops" Johnson. I have collected ROCKS since I can remember. I have shared this Love with Cindy, and now she also collects ROCKS. :) Go figure. Anyway, today's PJP2 PROLOG POST 151130, Daniel 2:34-35, zeroes in on ROCKS as well, One ROCK inparticular. (Yes there's an ACRONYM coming for ROCKS, there momentarily.....)
In this Season of Rememberance of our Lord Jesus' First Advent, there are mulitple Passages of the Word Select that Reference Jesus as God's ROCK. Four POWS in particular I would point to today.....Isaiah 28:16; Psalm 118:22 and Matthew 16:18 and Matthew 21:42. I would encourage you to take a moment and check those POWS out.
Thus by ROCKS whenever I see one, or pick one up, I am immediately Reminded....
Rely On Christ our King and Savior.....ROCKS.
Thus my Prayer for us is that we would Open ourselves to Him Building our Lives upon His ROCK of Ages. May His Mercy, Love and Grace be with you and yours.
Blessings/jaj
PJP2 THANKS 151130 THANKS Focus Daniel 3:28-29....
Daniel 2:20 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)….“Daniel answered and said: ‘Blessed Be The Name of God forever and ever, to Whom Belong Wisdom and Might.”….
PJP2 THANKS TEXT 151130 - Daniel 3:28-29 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)...."Nebuchadnezzar (King of Babylon) answered and said, 'Blessed Be The God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Who Has Sent His Angel and Delivered His Servants, who Trusted In Him, And Set Sside the king's command, And Yielded Up their bodies Rather than serve and worship any god Except their own God. Therefore I make a Decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything Against The God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego Shall Be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, For There IS NO other God Who IS Able To Rescue In This Way.'”....
I am Thankful for His Story. It is Amazing, as we Read through His Word to See How The Author of All Time weaves His Story throughout mankind's history. Our God is a Rescuer, as King Nebuchadnezzar learned - not just this time with Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego - but he would be reminded via Daniel, as well as his own close-up/personal experience with YAHWEH (more to come.....). I am Thankful for God The Father being our Ultimate First Responder. I am Thankful for His Consistency and Faithfulness AND that at the End of Time, He Once and For All Rescues us as He Shares via Revelation 19:11-16 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)....{The Rider on a White Horse}....
"Then I saw Heaven opened, and Behold, a White Horse! The One sitting on It Is Called Faithful and True, and In Righteousness He Judges and Makes war. His Eyes Are Like a Flame of Fire, and on His Head are Many Diadems, and He Has A Name written that no one Knows But Himself. He Is Clothed in a Robe Dipped in Blood, and The Name By Which He is Called is The Word of God. And The Armies of Heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were Following Him on white horses. From His Mouth Comes a Sharp Sword with Which to strike down the nations, And He Will Rule them with a Rod of Iron. He Will Tread The Winepress of The Fury of The Wrath of God The Almighty. On His Robe and On His Thigh He Has a Name Written, 'King of kings and Lord of lords'."....
I am Thankful for The Hope He Provides us each and every day regardless of the challenges and storms we may face. My prayer for us is that each of us will Grasp and Cling to Him as our Hope.
Blessings upon you and yours/jaj
PJP2 SIP 151130 SIP Focus Daniel 2:20-23....Lord Jesus, Holy
Spirit, Heavenly Father, we Lift Up Your Great and Awesome Name in Worship and
Praise. Lord Jesus, Guide me today
as I Offer Up a Paraphrase of Prayer and Praise taken from Your Inspired Word
to Your prophet Daniel as he writes in Daniel 2:20-23 (ESV)/(emphasis &
paraphrase added/jaj)....Oh folks, Blessed Be The Name of our God and Savior
Forever and Ever. Lord Jesus,
Indeed it is You to Whom Belongs All Wisdom and Might. Father God it is You Who Changes Times
and Seasons; Holy Spirit, By Your Power You Removes kings. Lord Jesus, in Your Plan of Redemption
and Reconciliation, though we do not necessarily understand or follow, it is
You Who sets up kings as a Part of Your Plan; Father God, Thank You that You
Give Wisdom to the wise and Your Knowledge to those who have Understanding of
Your Ways; Holy Spirit, Open our spirit's Heart and Soul to Your Revelation, as
You Reveal Deep and Hidden things and concepts of Your Will and Work in our
Lives; Lord Jesus we Praise You and Thank You that You Know What is in the
darkness, and That Your Light Dwells with You and within us by Your Gift of
Your Holy Spirit within us. To
You, O Father God, God of our earthly fathers, we Give Thanks and Praise. Holy Spirit, Thank You that You have
Givine us Insight into Your Wisdom and that You Empower us with Your Might to
be Your Witness to a world in desperate need of You and Your Love. Father God, Thank You for Hearing and
Answering our Prayers. Lord Jesus
Thank You and Continue to Open our Minds to You, as You Continue to Make Known
to us what we have Asked of You.
Help us Holy Spirit to Share Your Word of Hope, Encouragement,
Revelation and Calling to our world around us. Lord Jesus, we Ask these Prayers in Your Holy
Name....Amen/Amen/jaj
Sunday, November 29, 2015
PJP2 PROLOG 151129 PROLOG Focus 1 John....
Psalm 57:11English Standard Version (ESV)
11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
PJP2 PROLOG POST 151129 POWS from 1 John....
I have Shared in previous PJP2 PROLOG POSTS that The Holy Spirit's Inspired Word via the apostle John contains a lot of my favorite POWS (Passages of the WORD Select). That remains the same as we read in John's First Epistle. I mentioned yesterday that I have Heard The Holy Spirit's Guidance that the next month's PJP2s will primarily center upon ponderings regards our Lord Jesus' First Advent a broad topic indeed. Thus for today's PJP2 PROLOG POST 151129, the POWS below, all from First John touch upon our Lord's First Advent in a wide and interesting pathway of Love and Light. Appreciate you bearing with me on today's pondering adventure....
1 John 1:5 (ESV)/(emphasis and paraphrase added/jaj - same/same for all these POWS/jaj)...{Walking in the Light}...."THIS Is The Message we have Heard From Him and Proclaimed to you - THAT God Is LIGHT, and In Him Is NO darkness At All."
Multiple times throughout God's Inspired Word to us, He employs this Imagery (as well as Literal Use) of LIGHT to Reflect to us His Holy Character. From Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:5 it is quite clear that God's Light (and as we see in 1 John 1:5, God IS LIGHT) is the Only Light we will ever really need
1 John 2:1-2 (ESV)....{Christ Our Advocate}...."My little children, I am writing These Things to you So That you May NOT sin. BUT If anyone Does sin, we Have An Advocate With The Father, Jesus Christ The Righteous. He Is The Propitiation/Atonement For our sins, And Not For ours only BUT Also For the sins of the whole world."....
When we look upon an infant, we can only wild guess at what/how that baby will turn out. As we ponder our Lord's First Advent, it's simply Amazing and Miraculous that He Became and Is our Advocate Before God The Father. Not only our Advocate, BUT He is our Atonement, meaning He Paid The Ultimate Price to cover our debt of sin. Who would have ever thought the infant in the manger from the backwater town of Bethlehem would have been the world's Supreme Advocate and Atonement....
1 John 3:1-3 (ESV)...."See What Kind of LOVE The Father Has Given/Lavished to/upon us, That we Should Be Called children of God; And So we Are. The Reason Why the world Does NOT Know us Is That it Did NOT Know Him. Beloved, we Are God's children Now, and What we Will Be has Not Yet Appeared; BUT we Know That When He Appears (our Lord Jesus' Second Advent - Revelation 1-22/jaj) we Shall Be Like Him, Because we Shall See Him As He Is. And everyone who Thus Hopes in Him Purifies himself As He Is Pure."....
1 John 3:1-3 is a fascinating bridge, at least in my noggin', between our Lord Jesus' First and Second Advent. First and foremost, which is a hallmark of John's First Epistle, is the Central Theme of God being LOVE, and His Sharing His LOVE upon us. Note - His Sharing is not just a 'here you go' - No, God The Father's Giving of His Love is LAVISH, Over-the-Top, Way Outside The Box.....there's not enough adjectives to describe how far Above the Top His LOVE for us is. Then The Holy Spirit Weaves in that God's LOVE continues on into our Lord's Second Advent....too cool!
1 John 4:4 (ESV)...."Little children, you Are From God and Have Overcome them (those deceived by the darkness of this world), For He Who Is In you Is GREATER Than he who is in the world."....
What a Phenomenal Word of Encouragement - I would strongly recommend we Memorize this POWS.....in the midst of the storms and challenges that continue to come around - May we Ever Remember that He is with us - AND He is Greater than any challenge or storm we may face
1 John 4:16-19English Standard Version (ESV)
16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us.
Thus for my prayer for us today, Lord Jesus Help me as I draft of Paraphrase of Prayer and Praise using Your Inspired Word via John's writing in 1 John 5:13-20 (ESV)....Father God, Thank You for Sharing Your Word and Your Light in our Lives that we May Know You and Your Love for us. Lord Jesus, Thank You for Your Help as I write these ponderings. First May Your Word Help and Encourage those who Believe in Your Name. You Are Lord Jesus, The One and Only True Son of God. Holy Spirit, Continue to Dwell in us and Help us Better Know that In You we Have Eternal Life. Father God, Because of Your Son and Your Holy Spirit, we Have This as The Confidence that we have Toward You. Lord Jesus, Thank You for Your Promise and Your Word that If we ASK Anything According to Your Will, God The Father Hears us. Holy Spirit, Because of Your Intercession for us, we Know that God The Father Hears us in whatever we ASK, we Know That we Have The Requests That we Have Asked of Him in Accordance with His Love, Will and Grace. Lord Jesus Help us for we Know that everyone who has Been Born of God Does Not keep on sinning. BUT he who was Born of God Protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. Holy Spirit, Thank You for we Know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. Father God we Praise You that we Know that Your Son, our Lord Jesus, Has Come and Has Given us Understanding, So That we May Know You, Father God, Who is True. Holy Spirit Thank You that You are in us, and that we Are in Him, our Lord Jesus Christ Who is True. Father God it is in Your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ that we Pray. O people Hear His Truth - Jesus Christ is The True Son of God and in Him we find Eternal Life.
Amen/Amen....jaj
PJP2 THANKS 151129 THANKS Focus 1 John 4:7-9....
Psalm 28:6-9 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)...."Blessed Be The Lord! For He Has Heard the voice of my pleas for Mercy. The Lord is my Strength and my Shield; in Him my Heart Trusts, and I am Helped;
my Heart Exults, and with my Song I Give Thanks to Him. The Lord is The Strength of His people; He is The Saving Refuge of His Anointed. Oh, Save Your people and Bless Your heritage! Be their Shepherd and Carry them Forever."....
PJP2 THANKS TEXT 151129 - 1 John 4:7-9 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)....{God Is Love}...."Beloved, Let us Love one another, For Love Is From God, And whoever Loves has been Born of God And Knows God. Anyone who does Not Love Does Not Know God, Because God Is Love. In This The Love of God Was Made Manifest Among us, That God Sent His Only Son Into the world, So That we Might Live Through Him."....
I am Thankful the God Defines Himself with One Word that we can all understand and relate to. That One Word is Love. I am Thankful that not only does God Give us One Word to Know Him by, BUT, as He Always Does, God Goes Beyond just a One Word Definition - He Gives us the Ultimate and Perfect Example of Him Being Love via His One and Only Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. At times such as we have seen in our recent past, The Need for His Love, and our Reflection of His Love among us is critical. As we hear and read of the continued tragedies and challenges we collectively face, the pressure to abandon God's Love and His Presence grows. Yet The Need for us to Cling ever Tighter to His Truth is far greater. It is in Trusting Him and Knowing that He is indeed Ultimately In Control that in His Perfect Timing, His Truth and Love will Overcome the world. God The Father Shares with us via His Word that though we may not understand His Methodology (be that guiding His children to wander a desert for 40 years, or Saving the world via the Birth of His Son in a manger in the small insignificant town of Bethlehem), we do Understand that He Is Love.
So as we began this PJP2 THANKS TEXT 151129, let us end with this Prayer from Psalm 28:6-9....
"Blessed Be The Lord! For He Has Heard the voice of my pleas for Mercy. The Lord is my Strength and my Shield; in Him my Heart Trusts, and I am Helped; my Heart Exults, and with my Song I Give Thanks to Him. The Lord is The Strength of His people; He is The Saving Refuge of His Anointed. Oh, Save Your people and Bless Your heritage! Be their Shepherd and Carry them Forever."....
May His Blessings be upon you and yours/jaj
PJP2 SIP 151129 SIP Focus 1 John 1:1-4....O Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, Father God, we Thank and Praise You for Your Presence and Peace. Lord Jesus as I prepare to Lift Up a Paraphrase of Prayer and Praise based on Your Inspired Word to Your apostle John, as he Shares from his writing in 1 John 1:1-4, I would also lift up a Prayer for our Brother in Christ Officer Garrett Swasey and his family. May Your Comfort and Presence surround them. I would also Lift Up my Sister-in-Law, Yvonna Wolfe at the loss of her older brothter Mike.
O Father God, we Thank You as You have Shared with us from The Beginning of Creation. Lord Jesus, via Your Word and Spirit, we Praise You for Your Story that we have Heard. Holy Spirit, Thank You for Your Work all around, in and through us which we have Seen with our eyes, which we Looked Upon and have even Touched with our hands, all Focused and Concerning Your Word of Life. Father God, Help us to Share that You have Made The Life Manifested in Your One and Only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and we Have Seen It all around us. Lord Jesus, Empower and Embolden us to Testify and Proclaim You, and Your Gift of Salvation and Eternal Life. Holy Spirit, we Know that through You in our Lives that The Father continues to Manifest to us. Father God, Open our Hearts and Souls to All that You have Presented to us — ALL that which we have Seen and Heard from You, Help us that we May Proclaim such in Witness of You. Lord Jesus, Help us so that those who do not yet Know You as Lord and Savior May Also have Fellowship with You and us as Your Body still here at this time; and Holy Spirit we Thank You that indeed our Fellowship Is with The Father, and You, and With His Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus Continue to Help us as we Write and Speak of You and Your Way that our Joy in You May be Complete. We Lift Up our Prayers to You, Lord Jesus, in Your Holy Name....Amen/Amen....jaj
Saturday, November 28, 2015
PJP2 PROLOG 151128 PROLOG Focus Matthew 2:5-6....
Psalm 86:11-12 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)...."Teach me Your Way, O Lord, that I May Walk in Your Truth; Unite my Heart to Fear Your Name. I Give Thanks to You, O Lord my God, with my Whole Heart, and I Will Glorify Your Name Forever."....
PJP2 PROLOG POST 151128 Matthew 2:5-6 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)...."They told him (King Herod), 'In Bethlehem of Judea, For So It Is Written by the prophet (Micah 5:2): 'And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are By No Means least among the rulers of Judah; For From you Shall Come a Ruler Who Will Shepherd My people Israel.’”....
As I follow The Holy Spirit's Guidance, we will be Focusing our PJP2 PROLOG entries, during this time of Advent, upon our Lord Jesus's Coming - I have a Sense that this will involve both His First Advent, along with overtures towards His Second Advent as well. Bear with me, I have a strong feeling this is going to be an interesting ride for the next month. :)
Just for grins and giggles, did you know if you Search the Word 'Bethlehem', at least in the English Standard Version (ESV) of His Holy Word to us - Bethlehem appears 52 times. Now from a percentage perspective, giving that there's +/- (depending on the Version of The Bible being used)
807,361 words in The Word, that means that Bethlehem appears .000124% of the time in His Inspiration to His writers. Bethlehem is only mentioned in 15 of the 66 books (that equals 22.7% of the Books of The Bible mention Bethlehem.) Bethlehem is mentioned 8 times in Judges and a combined total of 14 times in 1 & 2 Samuel. But we find in the minor Prophet Micah (5:2) The Spirit's Prophesy of The Coming Ruler from Bethlehem, confirmed in Matthew 2:5-6, that though a small entity in the scheme of The Life of Israel, Bethlehem would Change the Course of History from that very special night. FYSA - O Little Town of Bethlehem, one of my favorite Christmas Carols, takes on a bit of new meaning in light of this simple word search.
Ok, so I'm sure by now you are pondering (along with me) where The Holy Spirit's guiding us in today's PJP2 PROLOG POST 151128 Pondering.....Hear's what I am Hearing Him Share with me regards these thoughts.....Bethlehem can be an allegory of our own Hearts. I mean my Heart in comparison to all the Hearts in our world....wow....It is estimated that there's 7.3 Billion people in our world today (give our take)....my heart is only 1/7.3 Billion.....that's far smaller than the number of times Bethlehem is mentioned in The Bible - BUT I know you catch the drift. Out of all the 'Chapters' of mankinds history, well we will leave that one alone....My point though is that indeed my Heart falls well into the obscurity of Bethlehem when overlayed onto the scope of our collective History. Yet, God The Father has Prepared each of our Hearts to be His Bethlehem to Send His One and Only Son to Dwell and Walk among us again via His Holy Spirit's Presence within us.
The Question, then, are we Open to let Him do just that?
I know my Response has been, and continues to be, "Yes! Come Lord Jesus!" For those who have made the Same Reply - Outstanding! For those who have yet Heard Him, or His Story, I Pray His Spirit Soften the Heart and Open the Ear to Hear His Call to Light and Life.
My prayer for us today would be a Paraphrase of Prayer and Praise via His Inspired Word found in Psalm 86:11-12 (ESV)/(emphasis & paraphrase added/jaj)....O Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit and Father God, we Praise and Worship Your Holy Name. Lord Jesus, Teach us Your Way, O Lord. Holy Spirit Help us That we May ever Walk in Your Truth and Light; Father God, Unite our Hearts to Faithfully venerate You in our Word and Deed; Lord Jesus to Offer up our Adoration and Awe at Who You Are in our Lives; Holy Spirit May we Ever Esteeem and Exalt Your Name; Father God, May our Worship be Ever one of Respect and Reverence towards Your Name. Lord Jesus, we Give Thanks to You, O Lord our God. Holy Spirit, with our Whole Hearts, our Hearts of Behtlehem, we Will Glorify Your Name Forever. Lord Jesus in Your Perfect and Precious Name we Pray....Amen/Amen/jaj
PJP2 THANKS 151128 THANKS Focus Ezekiel 47:12....
Psalm 40:5 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)...."You Have Multiplied, O Lord my God, Your Wondrous Deeds and Your Thoughts Toward us; None Can Compare With You; I Will Proclaim and Tell of Them, YET They Are More Than Can Be Told."....
PJP2 THANKS TEXT 151128 - Ezekiel 47:12; John 7:37-38; Revelation 22:2....
I am Thankful for our Lord Jesus. I am Thankful that our Heavenly Father used His Only Son to be His Ultimate Bridge between His Old Covenant with us and His New Covenant. I am Thankful that The Holy Spirit Inspired the authors of His Word, giving them Insight to Prophesy God's Plan of Redemption, even though, as we see in Ezekiel, there's no way, other than The Holy Spirit's Sharing God's Thoughts with him, that Ezekiel could have seen the Projection of our Lord Jesus' Second Advent. I am also Thankful that our Lord Jesus Shares (as seen in John 7:37-38) that He Is not only The Connection, The Bridge, BUT, He is Indeed our Living Water that He Reveals to the Samaritan woman at the well...."John 4:13-14 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj) - Jesus said to her, 'Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, BUT whoever Drinks of The Water that I Will Give him Will Never be Thirsty again. The Water that I Will Give him Will Become In him A Spring of Water Welling Up to Eternal Life.".....
Thus let me step aside - I Pray that The Holy Spirit Speak to you via His Inspired Word.....
Ezekiel 47:12 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)...."And on The Banks, on Both Sides of The River, there Will Grow All Kinds of Trees for Food. Their Leaves Will Not wither, Nor Their Fruit fail, BJT They Will Bear Fresh Fruit every month, Because The Water for Them Flows from The Sanctuary. Their Fruit Will Be for Food, and Their Leaves for Healing.”....
John 7:37-38 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)....{Rivers of Living Water}...."On the last day of the feast, the Great Day, Jesus stood up and cried out, 'If anyone Thirsts, let him Come To Me and Drink. Whoever Believes In Me, as The Scripture has Said, ‘Out of his Heart Will Flow Rivers of Living Water.’”....
Revelation 22:2 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)...."Through The Middle of The Street of The City; also, on either Side of The River, The Tree of LIFE with Its Twelve Kinds of Fruit, Yielding Its Fruit each month. The Leaves of The Tree were for The Healing of the nations."....
Let me leave us today with this Prayer from Revelation 22:17 (ESV)/(emphasis and paraphrase added/jaj)....O Holy Spirit, Help us as The Bride of our Lord Jesus Christ, that is His Church to Say, “Come Lord Jesus, Come.” Father God, Let the one who Hears you, also say, “Come.” And Lord Jesus, Help those who do not know you, indeed Let the one who is Thirsty for You and You in their Life Come to You; Holy Spirit, Let the one who Desires Take The Water of Life without price. May we Ever Reflect You in our Lives via our Word and Deed. All in Your Name we Pray....Amen/Amen/jaj.
PJP2 SIP 151128 SIP Focus Psalm 4:3-8 (ESV)/(emphasis &
paraphrase added/jaj)....O Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, Father God, ever do we Lift
Up Your Name in Worship, Praise and Thanksgiving for Your Amazing Love, Grace,
Mercy and Forgiveness. Lord Jesus,
as we begin to prepare our Hearts and Souls to Celebrate and Remember Your
First Advent among us, Guide me as I Offer Up this Paraphrase of Prayer and
Praise to You. Help me as I use
Your Inspired Word from Psalm 4:3-8....O Heavenly Father, we do Praise You and
Know that Your Righteous Judgement is Faithful and True. We Know as well that we have all fallen
short of Your Glory. BUT we also
Know that Because of You Lord Jesus, and Your Sacrifice & Resurrection,
Lord, You Have Set Apart those who Have Come to You as Lord and Savior. Thank You, Holy Spirit, that You have
Claimed us for Your Own; Father
God we Know, By Your Son's Work of Reconciliation, that You do Hear us when we
Call to You. Lord Jesus, Help us
to Not Be angry when Life throws us curve-balls. Holy Spirit Guide us that we Do Not sin; Father God, Open our Minds that we may
Ponder in our own Hearts as we Meditate upon our beds; Holy Spirit, Calm our
Souls that we May Be Silent Before You and Simply Listen. Father God, Lead us to ever Offer to You
the Right Sacrifices, that being ourselves, our Hearts, our Everything to
You. Lord Jesus, May we Ever Put
our full Trust in You, our Lord and Savior. Holy Spirit, Prepare us to Be Able to Answer in Your Truth
and Word when the many about us who say, “Who will show us some
Good?" Lord Jesus Inspire us
to Respond, "Lord Jesus, Lift Up The Light of Your Face upon us, O Lord,
that they May See and Believe that You are Good!” Father God, Thank You for Sending Your Son, our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ, to Walk and Dwell among us, as The One True Man. Lord Jesus You Have Put more Joy in my
Heart than I can ever describe.
Holy Spirit You Inspire us more than any earthly/mortal meal or drink
could ever come close to doing.
Father God Thank You that In Your Peace we Will both lie down and sleep
in Blessed Rest; For You Alone, O Lord Jesus, Make us Dwell in safety. Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, Father God, in
Your Name we Lift Up our Prayers.....Amen/Amen....jaj
Friday, November 27, 2015
PJP2 PROLOG 151127 PROLOG Focus John 1....
Psalm 18:28 (ESV)/(emphasis & paraphrase added/jaj)...."For it is You, O Lord, Who Lights my Lamp; The Lord my God Lightens my darkness"....
PJP2 PROLOG POST 151127 - John 1:1-18 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)
As most of the PJP2 PROLOG POST Team knows, I normally share the PROLOG POST Scripture, then delve into my ponderings. This morning, I Hear The Holy Spirit Saying I need to offer a wee-bit of pondering first.... :)
As I was mulling over what Vector He would lead me on this morning, it struck me that This Sunday (29Nov15) is the First Sunday in Advent 2015. Advent, for those who may not know about it, is the Celebration of the Coming of our Lord Jesus First Visit, His Advent to us as one of us. In the four Sundays prior to Christmas, many Churches will hold a brief ceremony where a candle is lit on the Advent Wreath, each candle representing a different celebratory point of purpose regarding our Lord's Coming. The Advent Wreath is one of my favorite traditions of our Christmas Celebration. Thus brings me to Where The Spirit's Guiding me for the next months worth of PJP2s, at least with regards to PJP2 THANKS and PROLOG, though I'm sensing that PJP2 SIP will be wrapped in as well at times. The focus will be on our Lord's First Advent. Today I'm Hearing The Spirit Say to Focus on His Light Coming into our world. Apart from Genesis 1, where we find the familiar wording, "In The Beginning", John 1:1-18 is one of the most Descriptive, for me anyway, of our Lord Jesus' coming to us as God's Living Word and His Living Light.
Let me step out of The Holy Spirit's way and Let Him Speak.....
John 1 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)....{The Word Became Flesh}...."In The Beginning was Tthe Word, and The Word was With God, and The Word Was God. He Was in The Beginning With God. All things were Made Through Him, and without Him was NOT any thing Made that was Made. In Him was Life, and The Life was The Light of men. The Light Shines in the darkness, and the darkness has NOT overcome IT.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a Witness, to Bear Witness about The Light, that all might Believe Through Him (our Lord Jesus/jaj). 8 He (John) was NOT The Light, BUT Came to Bear Witness About The Light.
9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own,[b] and his own people[c] did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
And The Word Became Flesh and Dwelt among us, and we have Seen His Glory, Glory as of The Only Son from The Father, Full of Grace and Truth. (John Bore Witness about Him, and cried out, “This was He of Whom I said, ‘He Who Comes after me Ranks Before me, Because He Was Before me.’”) For from His Fullness we have All Received, Grace Upon Grace. For The Law was given through Moses; Grace and Truth Came Through Jesus Christ. No one has ever Seen God; The Only God, Who Is at The Father's Side, He Has Made Him Known."....
My prayer for us today would simply be, as we begin Advent 2015, May The Light of Christ's Coming fill your LIfe with His Love, Mercy, Grace, Peace and Presence. Come Lord Jesus Come. Holy Spirit, Renew Your Presence within us. Father God, Open our Eyes, Hearts and Minds to Your Living Word. Lord Jesus may we Ever Reflect Your Light. Help us to Be Your Encouragement to those in need, and Your Hands and Feet to those still lost.
May His Grace be with you and yours in all your ways/jaj....
PJP2 THANKS 151127 THANKS Focus Isaiah 60:1....
Psalm 27:1 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)....{The Lord Is My Light and My Salvation}...."The Lord is my Light and my Salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is The Stronghold of my Life; of whom shall I be afraid?"....
PJP2 THANKS TEXT 151127 - Isaiah 60:1English Standard Version (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)....
....{The Future Glory of Israel}...."Arise, Shine, for your Light Has Come, and The Glory of The Lord Has Risen Upon you."....
I am Thankful for His Light in our Lives. As we start anew from our Day of Thanksgiving, we find ourselves squared up to dive into experiencing our Lord's Advent in Rememberance of His First Coming to Make Atonement for us Once and For All Time. I am Thankful for God The Father's Employment of Light as a Key Tool to draw us out of our self-imposed darkness to His Love, Mercy and Grace. During this Season of Light, May His Truth touch our Hearts and Souls. Holy Spirit, Help us ever be a Reflection of Your Light in us.
Blessings/jaj
PJP2 SIP 151127 SIP Focus Ephesians 1:3-10 (ESV)/(emphasis & paraphrase added/jaj)....O Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, Father God, we Raise You Up in Worship and Praise. Lord Jesus Guide me today as I pen a Paraphrase of Prayer and Praise employing Your Inspired Word to Paul as he writes in Ephesians 1:3-10. Thank You for all our Spiritual Blessings You have Provided via our Relationship with Your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. O Blessed Be The God And Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord Thank You. It is You Who has Blessed us in Your Son Jesus Christ with Every Spiritual Blessing in The Heavenly Places. Holy Spirit we are amazed that even as You Chose us in The Lord Jesus Before the foundation of the world, That He would have Determined that we Should Be Holy and Blameless Because of our Lord Jesus Presenting us Before Him. Lord Jesus, Thank You that it is In Your Love that You Set-us-Up for Adoption as sons through You. Holy Spirit Thank You for Teaching us that His Plan of Redemption and Reconciliation has all be According to The Purpose of God The Father's Will. O Father God, this is All to Your Praise. Thank You for Your Glorious Grace, with which You Have Blessed us in Your Beloved Son. Lord Jesus it is In You that we Have Redemption through Your Blood, Sacrifice and Resurrection. Holy Spirit, Thank You for God The Father's Forgiveness of our trespasses/sin. Father God we Know that This is All According to The Riches of Your Amazing Grace, which You Have Lavished upon us, in all Wisdom and Insight. Lord Jesus Help us to Share Your Story, Making Known to others What You Have Made Known to us. That is Sharing The Mystery of Your Will. Father God, All our Word and Deed is According to Your Holy Purpose. Holy Spirit, Open our Hearts and Minds, as You Have Set Forth in our Lord Jesus Christ. Father God we Praise You and Know that Your Plan for The Fullness of Time is Perfect. Come Lord Jesus! Come to us to Unite all things in You. Holy Spirit we Know that on His Second Advent, all things in heaven and things on earth will at last be made one in Him! Lord Jesus, in Your Perfect and Precious Name we Lift Up these Prayers....Amen/Amen....jaj....
Thursday, November 26, 2015
PJP2 PROLOG 151126 PROLOG Focus 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 (ESV)
Isaiah 12:4 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)...."And you Will Say in That Day: 'Give Thanks to The Lord, Call Upon His Name, Make Known His Deeds Among the peoples, Proclaim that His Name Is Exalted.'"....
PJP2 PROLOG POST 151126 - 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)....{Thanksgiving}
"I Give Thanks to my God Always for you Because of The Grace of God That was Given you in Christ Jesus, That in Every Way you were Enriched in Him in all Speech and all Knowledge— Even as The Testimony about Christ was Confirmed among you—So that you are NOT lacking in any Gift, as you Wait for The Revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who Will Sustain you to The End, Guiltless in The Day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God Is Faithful, By Whom you were Called Into The Fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."....
Team PJP2 - It is quite hard to believe we are already upon Thanksgiving Day 2015. This year has literally flown by. I mean, as of today, we have 29 days until Christmas Day 2015, and 36 days until 1Jan2016! Yikes.....I guess I better get on it for those projects I want to nail down before New Years. Sorry, I digress....What I Hear The Spirit Sharing with me today is of course focused on the word THANKS.....Thank Him AND Know Salvation. Indeed I know, as I've Shared through the other PJP2s (SIP and THANKS) Team Johnson has so very much to be Thankful for. Taking these few moments to stop and ponder All His Amazing Grace is simply overwhelming. Then, as I continue to read and pray, The Lord Opens that second door, the One of His Second Advent - wow - The Best is Indeed Yet to Come. So, Dear Friends, I would first Thank The Lord for your connections with Team Johnson. I appreciate and pray for each of you and yours. I would also Lift Up His Word of Encouragement for us, regardless of what our circumstances or life's storms we may be facing. He is with Us and He Fights For us. Lastly I would Pray that your Thanksgiving Day be one Filled with His Presence and Joy.
Lord Jesus, I would close today's PJP2 PROLOG POST 151126 asking Your Help in Offering Up a Paraphrase of Prayer and Praise using Your Inspired Word via Isaiah 12:4 and 1 Corinthians 1:4-9....
(emphasis & paraphrase added/jaj)....Father God, May we Say both Today, in our Day of Thanksgiving, and Upon That Day Your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Comes Again: 'Give Thanks to The Lord, our God Almighty. May we ever Call Upon His Name. Join us and Make Known His Marvelous Deeds Among all the people. May we Ever Proclaim that His Name Is Exalted.' Lord Jesus, I Give Thanks to You Always. Holy Spirit Thank You for Your Presence in our Lives. Father God Thank You for Your Grace That You Gave us via Your Son, our Lord Christ Jesus. Lord Jesus, Help us That in Every Way may we be Enriched in You. Holy Spirit Help us that in all Speech and all Knowledge we Reflect You in our Lives. Father God, Empower and Embolden us that Even as we Share The Testimony about our Lord Jesus Christ, May You Confirm His Story among us. Holy Spirit , May we NOT be lacking in any Gift that You can use in us to Help Further God The Father's Kingdom. Lord Jesus Encourage us as we Wait for Your Revealing as The Lord Jesus Christ to all the world. Father God we Know it is You Who Will Sustain us to The very End of Time. Holy Spirit, we Thank You, Because of You in our Lives, we are Guiltless. Father God, Thank You for Cleansing us, and that In The Day of our Lord Jesus Christ's Second Advent, You will See us as Spotless in Him. Lord Jesus we Praise You and Know that You are Faithful. In Your Name, O Lord, By Whom we have been Called Into this Fellowship, the Fellowship of Your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ we Lift Up these Prayers.....Amen/Amen.....jaj
TO: My Readers of the PJP2 Series - My Apologies - you will see to PJP2 THANKS TEXT postings today (151126). The first one (based on 1 Chronicles) is actually the PJP2 SIP 151126 for today - in my haste and focus regards being Thankful today, I titled the first PJP2 as a THANKS vs actually being a SIP..... smile emoticon Ooops .... Appreciate your patience and understanding / jaj
Happy Thanksgiving
PJP2 THANKS 151126 THANKS Focus Psalm 7:17 (ESV)....A Blessed and Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
PJP2 THANKS TEXT 151126 - Psalm 7:17 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)...."I Will Give To The Lord The Thanks Due to His Righteousness, And I Will Sing Praise to The Name of The Lord, The Most High."....
I am Thankful for so very many things - too many to list here for certain. Let me crystallize my Thanks, on this Thanksgiving Day 2015. First and foremost I am Thankful for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, God's Only Son, Who through His Sacrifice and His Resurrection has Cleansed me of my sin Once and for All Time. I am Thankful for His Gift of His Holy Spirit Residing within me. I am Thankful that our Creator, God The Heavenly Father Loves us so much that He Who was and is and is to come Continues to Fight for me and Guide/Protect me (often times from my own foolishness). Lastly I am Thankful for The Life The Lord has Given me to Live. Contained within this Thanks is my Thanks for All my Loved-ones, Family, Friends, Co-workers and Friends I have yet to meet.
I would Pray this Day that His Grace and Love overflow upon you and yours. May He Continue to Bless you and watch over you in all your ways. You are all ever in our thoughts and prayers, and I know, from His Promises and His Word, He is with you.
Blessings/jaj
PJP2 THANKS 151126 THANKS Focus 1 Chronicles 16:8-12....O Lord Jesus, we Thank You for Your Gift of Salvation and Reconciliation. Holy Spirit, we Praise and Worship You for Your Presence in our Lives. Father God, we Lift Up Your Name in Praise, for Your Amazing Love and Grace towards us. Lord Jesus, on this Thanksgiving Day 2015, I would Ask Your Help as I Offer Up a Paraphrase of Prayer and Praise based on Your Inspired Word to the writer(s) of 1 Chronicles as we find in 1 Chronicles 16:8-12 (ESV).....Folks would you join me as we Give Thanks to The Lord. Father God we Call Upon Your Holy Name; Holy Spirit Empower and Embolden us to Make Known His Workds and Deeds among the peoples! Lord Jesus we Lift Up our voices and Sing to You. Holy Spirit, we Sing Praises to You and Tell of All Your Wondrous Works to all the world! Father God, Because of Your Grace and Eternal Love, we Glory in Your Holy Name; Holy Spirit, Let the Hearts of those who Seek You Rejoice! Lord Jesus, Help and Guide us as we Seek You Lord. Father God, Encourage us as we Seek Your Strength; Holy Spirit May we ever Seek Your Presence continually! Lord Jesus Help us to ever Remember the Wondrous Works that You have done and Continue to do within, around and through us. Father God May we ever Recall and Proclaim Your Miracles and Your Righteous Judgments. We Lift Up these Prayers in Your Holy and Precious Name. Thank You Lord! Amen/Amen....jaj
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
PJP2 PROLOG 151125 PROLOG Focus Ezekiel 39:7-8....
Psalm 100:4-5 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)...."Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving, and His Courts with Praise! Give Thanks to Him; Bless His Name! For The Lord Is Good; His Steadfast Love Endures Forever, and His Faithfulness to all generations."....
PJP2 PROLOG POST 151125 - Ezekiel 39:7-8 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)....“'And My Holy Name I Will Make Known in the midst of My people Israel, And I Will NOT Let My Name be profaned Anymore. And the nations Shall Know That I AM The Lord, The Holy One in Israel. Behold, The Day, It Is Coming And It Will Be Brought About,' Declares The Lord God. 'That is The Day of Which I Have Spoken.'"....
A Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving Eve to you all. As many begin the tradition of traveling over the river and through the woods to visit kith and kin, you are all in our thoughts and prayers for safe travels and Blessed visits.
We find ourselves in that part of Ezekiel (Chapters 37-38-39) where The Lord interacts with Ezekiel first through the Vision of God's Raising an Army via the Valley of Dry Bones (Chapter 37). Chapters 38 and 39 are God's Prophesy through Ezekiel towards and fully against Gog, 'the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal' (see Ezekiel 39:1). What I Hear The Holy Spirit Sharing with me this morning is NOT to dive into a discussion in regards to The Second Advent of our Lord Jesus. No, there's plenty of writing on that subject (Note: One of my favorite authors regards this topic would be Joel Rosenberg - if you've not read any of his writings - good reading indeed/jaj) What I do Hear The Spirit nudging me towards is, especially in light of all the current world tensions that have cropped up over the past several weeks (now adding the latest where Turkey has downed a Russian fighter), I am Aware more than Ever that our Lord is Indeed at Work in the Midst of mankinds continued fumbling and bumbling around. The BottomLine.UpFront (BLUF) - We will All Know that He Is The Lord.
My prayer for us today would be quite straight-forward - IF you have Heard Him Ask The Question of Life - "Who do you Say that I Am?" and Answered that with, "You are The Christ, The Son of The Living God." Then, May His Grace and Love Surround You and Guide you. If you have not Heard or Answered His Question - My prayer would be that His Spirit would indeed continue to Reach Out to you, and Guide You to Come to His Loving Embrace of Grace.
I would leave us today with this Paraphrase of Prayer and Praise employing Ezekiel 39:7-8 and Psalm 27:13-14 (ESV)/(emphasis & paraphrase added/jaj)....Father God, Help us to be Your Reflection that we can Proclaim Your Holy Name. Holy Spirit, Guide us and Empower us to Make Known in the midst of Your people. Lord Jesus, Strengthen us that we will Stand and NOT Let Your Name be profaned Anymore. Father God May our Lives be Your Banner, Raised on High so that the nations Shall Know That You are The Lord, The Holy One in Israel. Come Lord Jesus Come! We Know that Behold, Your Day, It Is Coming. Father God, we Know that You are Faithful and True and that Your Word Will Be Brought About. Holy Spirit, Give us Your Word to Share, and to Sound the Alert, 'That is The Day of Which The Lord has Spoken. Lord Jesus, we do Believe that we Shall at last Look Upon Your Goodness in the land of the living! Holy Spirit we do Wait for You; Father God, Help us to Be Strong. Lord Jesus, Encourage us and Help us to let our Hearts Take Courage in You. Father God we do Wait for You! We Lift Up these Prayers in Your Precious Name....Amen/Amen/jaj
PJP2 THANKS 151125 THANKS Focus Ezekiel 39:28-29....
Psalm 52:9 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)...."I Will Thank You Forever, Because You Have Done IT. I Will Wait for Your Name, for It Is Good, in the presence of the godly."....
PJP2 THANKS TEXT 151125 - Ezekiel 39:28-29 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)...."'Then they Shall Know That I AM The Lord their God, Because I Sent them into exile among the nations AND Then Assembled them into their own land. I Will Leave None of them remaining among the nations anymore. And I Will NOT Hide My Face Anymore from them, When I Pour Out My Spirit Upon the house of Israel', Declares The Lord God.”....
This being Thanksgiving Eve, I want to say I am so Very Thankful for God The Father's Persistence and Consistency in His Ever Striving to Demonstrate to us His Eternal Love for us. I am Thankful for His Holy Spirit's Presence, and His Helping us to Hear and Interpret His Word at just the Point we need to be aware of at that moment in Time. I am also Thankful for His Son, our Savior, The Lord Jesus Christ, Who Walks Among us still today via His Holy Spirit that He has Poured Out Upon us as He Promises still.
My Prayer for you and yours would be that you have a Blessed and Safe Thanksgiving. You are all in our thoughts and prayers. May His Love and Grace ever be with you all. Amen/Amen....jaj
PJP2 SIP 151125 SIP Focus Ezekiel 37:1-6....O Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit and Heavenly Father, we Bow and Raise Your Name In Worship and Praise. Lord Jesus Guide me today as I use Your Inspired Word to Your prophet Ezekiel as he writes in Ezekiel 37:1-6 (ESV) in a Paraphrase of Prayer and Praise. Father God, we Thank You for we Know that You Still are Laying Your Hand upon us to Guide and Help us on our Way with You. Holy Spirit, Open the Eyes of our Hearts and Souls to See The Vision that You have Laid out before us. Lord Jesus Teach us through Ezekiel's Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones. Father God, we Know that You Indeed have The Power and Love to Revive our own dry bones that have faltered and stumbled because of our distractions and tendency to deviate from Your Holy Path. Holy Spirit Help us to Listen when You Ask us, 'Can these bones Live?' Lord Jesus, Open our Minds to be able to answered Truthfully, 'O Lord God, You Know.' Father God, as You Brough New Life to these bones before Ezekiel, Help us to Hear You Say, 'O dry bones, Hear The Word of The Lord.' Holy Spirit Revive us in Your Loving Power. Lord Jesus, Open our Ears to Hear You say to us, 'Behold, I Will Cause Breath to Enter you, and you Shall Live.' Father God, Help us to Fully Surrender to You and Transform us by Your 'laying on of New Sinews' within our spirits. Holy Spirit Cleanse us and Cause New Flesh to come upon us, removing our sin. Lord Jesus May we Connect to Your New Breath of Life within us. Father God May we ever Reflect that we Know You are The Lord our God. Lord Jesus, in Your Precious Name we Pray these Prayers. Amen/Amen.....jaj
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
PJP2 PROLOG 151124 PROLOG Focus Ezekiel 34:11-16....
Psalm 101:1 (ESV)/(emphasis & paraphrase added/jaj)...."I Will Sing of Your Steadfast Love and Justice; To You, O Lord, I Will Make Music."....
PJP2 PROLOG POST 151124 - Ezekiel 34:11-16 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)....{The Lord God Will Seek Them Out}....“For Thus Says The Lord God: 'Behold, I, I Myself Will Search for My Sheep and Will Seek Them out. As A Shepherd Seeks Out His Flock when He is Among His Sheep that have been scattered, SO Will I Seek Out My Sheep, And I Will RESCUE them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I Will Bring Them Out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, And Will Bring Them Into their own land. And I Will Feed Them on the mountains of Israel, By the ravines, and IN all the inhabited places of the country. I Will Feed Them with Good Pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be Their grazing land. There They Shall Lie down in Good Grazing Land, and On Rich Pasture They Shall Feed on the mountains of Israel. I Myself Will Be The Shepherd of My Sheep, And I Myself Will Make Them Lie Down', Declares The Lord God. "I Will Seek The Lost, And I Will Bring Back The Strayed, And I Will Bind Up The Injured, And I Will Strengthen The Weak....I Will Feed Them in Justice."....
This is one of those PJP2 PROLOG POSTs that I clearly Hear The Holy Spirit saying, "Jeffery, step back and Let My Word do the Talking." Amen and Amen.
My Prayer for us today would simply be.....O Lord Jesus, our Great and Only Shepherd, may we, as Your Flock, Heed Your Voice, and Follow You in all our ways. Father God Thank You for Your Amazing and Saving Grace. Holy Spirit, Guide us as we Surrender and Strive to Walk in Your Way. Lord Jesus, we Thank You and Praise You for being our Shepherd. In Your Precious and Holy Name....Amen/Amen/jaj
PJP2 THANKS 151124 THANKS Focus Ezekiel 34:22-24....
Psalm 75:1 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)....{God Will Judge with Equity}...."We Give Thanks to You, O God; we Give Thanks, for Your Name is Near. We Recount Your Wondrous Deeds."....
PJP2 THANKS TEXT 151124 - Ezekiel 34:22-24 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)...."I Will Rescue My Flock; they Shall No longer be a prey. And I Will Judge between sheep and sheep. And I Will Set Up Over them One Shepherd, My Servant David, and He Shall Feed them: He Shall Feed them and Be Their Shepherd. And I, The Lord, Will Be their God, and My Servant David Shall Be Prince among them. I AM The Lord; I Have Spoken."....
I am so Very Thankful for our Heavenly Father's Promises. As we see here in Ezekiel 34:22-24, God The Father's Promising to Rescue us, as well as Provide His On Shepherd to ensure our Care and Feeding. I am Thankful that He is Faithful and True, and I can Count on Him and His Word to come to fruition in His Perfect Timing.
I am also Thankful that our Lord Jesus Corroborates Ezekiel 34:22-24 when He says to us via His Inspired Word to the apostle John, as John records in John 10:7-18 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)....
...."So Jesus again Said to them, “Truly, Truly, I Say to you, I Am The Door/Gate of the Sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, BUT the Sheep Did Not Listen to them. I Am The Door. IF Anyone Enters By Me, he Will Be SAVED and Will Go In and Out and Find Pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I Came That they May Have Life and Have It Abundantly. I Am The Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd Lays Down His Life for the Sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a Shepherd, who does not own the Sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the Sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches Them and scatters Them. He flees Because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the Sheep. I Am The Good Shepherd. I Know My Own and My Own Know Me, just as The Father Knows Me and I Know The Father; And I Lay Down My Life for the Sheep. And I Have other Sheep that are Not of This Fold. I Must Bring Them Also, And They Will Listen to My Voice. So there will be One Flock, One Shepherd. For This Reason The Father Loves Me, Because I Lay Down My Life That I May Take IT Up Again. No one Takes IT From Me, BUT I Lay IT Down of My Own Accord. I Have Authority to Lay IT Down, And I Have Authority To Take IT Up Again. This Charge I Have Received from My Father.”....
Indeed I am Thankful that The Lord Jesus is my Promised Shepherd. My prayer for us would be that IF we are His Sheep, Holy Spirit, Help us to Ever Heed Your Voice. If we are not yet a part of His Flock, May His Calling reach us and draw us to Him.
Blessings to you and yours....jaj
PJP2 SIP 151124 SIP Focus Ezekiel 36:23-33....O Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, Father God, Holy, Holy, Holy, Only You are Holy. Lord Jesus, I ask Your Help as I Offer Up a Paraphrase of Prayer and Praise via Your Inspired Word You Shared with Your prophet Ezekiel as he writes in Ezekiel 36:23-33 (ESV)....Father God, May Your Holy and Great Name be Vindicated. Forgive us, Lord Jesus when either we have directly, or we have stood idly by when Your Precious Name has been profaned among the nations. Holy Spirit, Employ us to be a Reflection of You. May we Help You Lord as You Demonstrate Who You Are, and that Through Your Work within us and through us, then May the nations Know, Lord Jesus, that You Are The Lord. Indeed, Father God, We Know You will Vindicate Your Holiness before all of mankinds' eyes. Lord Jesus, as You have Done with Your children of Israel, we also Know You will, on Your Second Advent, Gather All the Sheep of Your Flock from all the countries that we are scattered. Holy Spirit, Thank You that On That Day, You Will finally Bring us into Your own land. Father God, Cleanse us please. Lord Jesus, Sprinkle Your Clean Water of Grace and Mercy upon us. Holy Spirit, Help Your Cleansing to Seep into our Souls that we May Know that we are Clean from all our uncleannesses Because of You. Father God Protect us and Help us to Fully Surrender from our idols that distract us from You. Lord Jesus Thank You that You have Cleansed us. Holy Spirit, Please Give us a New Heart. Lord Jesus Fill us with Your Spirit. Father God Please Remove our heart of stone and Replace it with Your True Heart of Your Flesh. Lord Jesus, As You Instill in us Your Holy Spirit, Open our Soul's Eyes and Ears that we May Listen and Walk in Your Statutes. Holy Spirit Help us to be Obedient. Father God, as we begin to Dwell with You, May we Be a Reflection that we Are Your people, and that You Are our God. Lord Jesus we Praise You that You have Delivered us from all our uncleannesses and sin. Father God, especially at this time of Thanksgiving, but also every day, we are Thankful that You have Summoned the grain, and Your Blessings that make our Lives Abundant in Your Grace. May we Become Your Bread of Life that there be no phyiscal or Spiritual famine around us. Lord Jesus, as we Remember our evil ways, and our selfish deeds, Give us Your Insight and Understanding that they were not Good. Holy Spirit, indeed as we loathe ourselves for our sins, iniquities and abominations towards You. Thank You for Your Amazing, Cleansing and Saving Mercy and Grace. Father God, we Know that On That Day that You Cleansed us From All our iniquities, You Began Again our Transformation, via Your Son's Holy Spirit within us, to Be once more Inhabited by Your Presence. Lord Jesus, May our hearts that had been desolate due to our sins, now Become Gardens of Your Grace Calling to those so desperate and in need of Your Fruit of Faith. In Your Precious Name, O Lord, Amen/Amen....jaj
Monday, November 23, 2015
PJP2 PROLOG 151123 PROLOG Focus Ezekiel 33:1-6....
Psalm 52:9 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)...."I Will Thank You Forever, Because You Have Done It. I Will Wait for Your Name, for It Is Good, in The Presence of The Godly."....
PJP2 PROLOG POST 151123 - Ezekiel 33:1-6 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)....{Ezekiel Is Israel's Watchman}...."The Word of The Lord came to me (Ezekiel): 'Son of man, Speak to your people and say to them, 'If I Bring the Sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their Watchman, and IF he Sees the Sword Coming upon the land and Blows The Trumpet and Warns the people, Then IF anyone who hears The Sound of The Trumpet Does NOT Take Warning, and the Sword Comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He Heard The Sound of The Trumpet and Did NOT Take Warning; his blood shall be upon himself. BUT IF he Had Taken Warning, he Would Have Saved his Life. BUT IF the Watchman Sees the Sword Coming and Does NOT Blow The Trumpet, So That the people Are NOT Warned, and the Sword Comes and Takes any one of them, That person Is Taken away in his iniquity, BUT his blood I Will Require at the Watchman's hand."....
I have shared over the past few days, during our reading through Ezekiel, that similar to what we find in Jeremiah, God's Message to His prophet Ezekiel, can be a bit of a challenge. We must, of course, keep the Context of Ezekiel's Sharing of The Holy Spirit's Inspired Word to him in mind. Ezekiel (as was Jeremiah) was dealing with a world that had gone astray from YAHWEH's Plan for them as His children. Idolatry, willfulness, selfishness and pride were running rampant, even some of this wickedness being under the 'guise' of within their 'worship' of YAHWEH! Yikes. Likewise, as we've seen Consistently within God's Word and His Story to us He Repeatedly Called His children to Repent and Return to Him and His Way of Life, Truth and Light. I find it fascinating that in Ezekiel 33, God Appoints Ezekiel as a Watchman for Israel (see Ezekiel 33:7). I do appreciate that God The Father Clarified for Ezekiel just exactly what Ezekiel's Watchman's Duties would entail (Ezekiel 33:1-6). Yep, that is quite some big-time Roles and Responsibilities that God's Placed on Ezekiel's shoulders. (Though, Praise God, He is also Encouraging Ezekiel that God The Father will be with him each and every step.)
So, what I Hear The Holy Spirit laying on my heart this morning is that we too have an opportunity to Be His Watchman. We too can Share His Story as both a Call to Action to Return to Him and Repent of our turnaround way. As well as Sounding His Alarm that He is Coming to Make Things Right. No doubt there will be those, as noted in Ezekiel 33:1-6, who will Hear His Alarm, yet refuse to take the appropriate actions. I will assure you that I continue to Pray in Earnest that those who do not yet Know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will Hear and Respond to His Trumpet Call to Salvation.
One additional Word of Encouragement - if even just one Hears and Responds - our Lord Jesus says {Luke 15:10 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)}...."Just So, I Tell you, There Is JOY Before the angels of God Over ONE sinner who Repents.” Thus it strikes me that it is far better for us to Blow His Trumpet, Sound His Alarm by Sharing His Story, than to stay silent, and all suffer the consequence of our inaction.
My Prayer for us today would be that His Holy Spirit Open the Eyes of our inner spirit to just exactly where He needs us to Sound His Story and His Alarm. Lord Jesus Encourage us and Empower us to be Your Reflection to all in our Word and Deed for You. Father God, Bolster our Boldness to Speak Out as Your Watchman. We Thank You and Praise You Lord Jesus for Showing us Your Way. In Your Blessed and Precious Name we Raise these Prayers and Praise....Amen and Amen/jaj....
Blessings to you and yours/jaj
PJP2 THANKS 151123 THANKS Focus 1 Corinthians 6:11....
Psalm 86:5-7 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)...."For You, O Lord, Are Good and Forgiving, Abounding in Steadfast Love to All who Call Upon You. Give Ear, O Lord, to my Prayer; Listen to my Plea for Grace. In the day of my trouble I Call Upon You, for You Answer me."....
PJP2 THANKS TEXT 151123 - 1 Corinthians 6:11 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)...."And such were some of you. BUT you were Washed, you were Sanctified, you were Justified In The Name of The Lord Jesus Christ and By The Spirit of our God."....
I am Thankful that God The Father, in His Plan for Redemption of All mankind Sent His One and Only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and His Holy Spirit to Wash, Sanctify and Justify us despite our true worthiness to be judged for our sinfulness. If I had nothing else to be Thankful for, This Fact and This Alone would be Enough to Sing His Praise, and Bow in Worship to Him, our God and Savior. Three overlaying Concepts of our Lord Jesus are Reflected, though unspoken, in 1 Corinthians 6:11 - God's Love, Mercy and Grace for us, through Jesus' Sacrifice and Resurrection provide the Bridge for us to Be Cleansed, Set-Apart, and Guilt-Free. To Summarize, I am Thankful that By God's Grace we are Reconciled to Him. Now that is something to be Encouraged By.
Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, Father God, I sense Your Moving me to Prayer. I would offer up yet another Paraphrase of Prayer and Praise from Your Inspired Word, O Holy Spirit, as we find Written in Psalm 86:5-7 and 1 Corinthians 6:11 (ESV)/(emphasis & paraphrase added/jaj)....O Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, God our Heavenly Father, for You, O Lord, Are so Very Good and Forgiving to us. Father God, You are ever Abounding in Steadfast Love to All who Call Upon You. Holy Spirit, Give Ear, O Lord, to our Prayer. Lord Jesus, Please Listen to our Plea for Your Grace, that we May Be a Reflection of You in our daily Lives. Father God, in the day of my trouble we Call Upon You for Your Help. Holy Spirit Thank You for we Know that in Your Perfect Time You Will Answer us. Even though, Lord Jesus, You Know full well that because of our sin and selfishness, we are in no way worthy of Your Love for us. BUT, Praise Your Holy Name, Because of Your Sacrifice and Your Resurrection, You have Washed us Clean of all our sin, Father God, it is You by Your Grace that we are Sanctified and separated to Be Your children. Holy Spirit, By Your Power we are Justified In The Name of The Lord Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, Father God, Empower and Encourage us to ever Share Your Word with those who do not yet Know You and Your Amazing/Saving Grace. In Your Precious Name we Lift our Prayers....Amen/Amen....jaj
PJP2 SIP 151123 SIP Focus Ezekiel 33:30-33....Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, Father God, I Give Thanks to You, O Lord. I Call upon Your Holy Name. Help Me Lord to Make Known and Proclaim Your Marvelous Deeds. Lord Jesus, Guide me today as I use Your Inspired Word as You Shared with Your prophet Ezekiel as he writes in Ezekiel 33:30-33 (ESV). I would Offer Up this Paraphrase of Prayer and Praise to You, Father God. Holy Spirit, Empower and Encourage us to Share Your Word. Lord Jesus, as we Share Your Gospel, may those who have never Heard Your Story before respond by saying, "Come, and Hear what The Word Is That Comes From The Lord." Father God Soften their Hearts, Help them to Come to You as Your people Come. Holy Spirit Protect them and us, not to be those that Hear What You Say BUT then do Not go forth and Live It; Lord Jesus, Forgive us when we are swayed and distracted by wrongful thoughts and acts. Father God Help us to overcome our tendency to selfishness and greed. Holy Spirit, Open our inner spirit's Ears that When You Speak we Hear Your Truth. Lord Jesus May we Not fall into that trap of saying, "Behold, You are to us like One Who Sings wonderful songs with a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument." No Lord, May Your Word be Your True Seed of Life and Light. Father God, May we Ever Hear Your Word, and What You are Saying to us, and Then Respond by our Obedience and Surrender to Your Love and Grace. Lord Jesus, Open our Hearts and Minds that we May Know and Share that Indeed God's Prophet, His One and Only Son has and is Among us. In Your Precious Name we Lift Up our Prayers....Amen/Amen....jaj
Sunday, November 22, 2015
PJP2 PROLOG 151122 PROLOG Focus Colossians 1:21-23....
Psalm 68:19-20 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)...."Blessed Be The Lord, Who Daily Bears us up/Bears our burdens; God Is our Salvation....Our God Is a God of Salvation, And to God, The Lord, Belong Deliverances from death."....
PJP2 PROLOG POST 151122 - Colossians 1:21-23 (ESV)/(emphasis added/jaj)...."And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He Has Now Reconciled in His Body of flesh By His death, in Order To Present you Holy and Blameless and Above Reproach Before Him, IF Indeed you Continue In The Faith, Stable and Steadfast, NOT shifting from The Hope of The Gospel that you Heard, Which has been Proclaimed in All Creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister."....
Team PJP2 - first let me simply say Thank You. I know there are folks that follow PJP2 and I appreciate your reading the flow. As I have shared in prior PJP2s (SIP; THANKS; PROLOG) I most often have no clue on the Vector The Holy Spirit is going to Guide me towards with regards to that PJP2 Entry for that day. Second, I appreciate your patience as I have been fixated this past week with the tragic events that have unfolded across our globe. I have not even mentioned the recent events in Mali. Simple to say there is so MUCH going on, it is challenging at best to keep up. Again, I appreciate your patience as I muddle through these ponderings. Lastly, this brings me to today's PJP2 PROLOG POST 151122. What I Hear The Spirit Sharing in my spirit this morning is His Focus on Three Concepts....(1) Alienation from Him; (2) Reconciliation with Him via our Lord Jesus' death (and Resurrection); (3) Eternal HOPE of His Gospel - our Sure Foundation of FAITH
(1) Alienation from Him - I am convinced our ongoing tragedies that seem to be happening more and more on a frequent and regular basis can be, in some form or fashion, drawn back to our world's headlong rush away from Him. I can assure you this has become part of my regular daily prayers that His Holy Spirit would Soften our Hearts and Draw us Back to Him and His Way of Love, Mercy and Grace;
(2) Reconciliation with Him via our Lord Jesus' Death and Resurrection - What a Concept to both be Encouraged by and to Be Thankful for. I had a very recent scenario where due to my position at work, I was the one who had to enforce discipline upon a young Airmen who had unfortunately crossed the line too many times, and thus Reconciling him back into the USAF simply was not going to happen. Thus this Airmen is being administratively discharged from the AF. Contrast this to God's Plan of Reconciliation for us with Him. In reality, because of our Alienation from Him due to our sins, there is no way we can be Reconciled by our own hand. Our Reconciliation Requires Divine Intervention and a Miracle well beyond anything we could ever even think of doing. God The Father's Plan of Reconciliation is Encapsulated all in One Name - Jesus Christ;
(3) Eternal HOPE of His Gospel - our Sure Foundation of FAITH - Two Acronyms to Share that some this up....HOPE - He is Our Promise Eternal and FAITH - Follow Always In Touch with Him....The Lord Jesus is indeed our One and Only HOPE and it is our FAITH through which He Will Guide us Home;
Thus my Prayer for us today is to ask The Spirit to Aid me in Crafting a Paraphrase of Prayer and Praise employing His Inspired Word as found in Psalm 68:19-20 and Colossians 1:21-23 (ESV) / (emphasis added/jaj)....O Father God, May You Be Blessed, O our Lord. Lord Jesus, Thank You for it is You Who Daily Bears us up. Holy Spirit, we Thank You to You ever Bear our burdens. Indeed, Father God You are our Salvation....Lord Jesus, You are our God. Holy Spirit, You are our God of Salvation. Father God, Thank You that You are The Lord. To You, Lord Jesus, Belong Deliverances from death by Your Sacrifice on Your Cross, and Your Resurrection from Your Grave. O peoples, Hear His Word of Truth and Life. To us, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, Be Aware that our Lord Jesus Has Now Reconciled us in His Body of flesh, By His death on His Cross, in Order To Present us Holy and Blameless and Above Reproach Before God The Father. Holy Spirit, we would Ask Your Help that Indeed we Continue In This Faith, Stable and Steadfast. Lord Jesus Protect us and Help us NEVER to shift from The Hope of Your Gospel of Truth and Life. Holy Spirit Encourage us and Empower us to Help Share This Gospel of Reconciliation to those who have not yet Heard it be Proclaimed. Father God, Thank You that in All Creation under heaven, You Still are Reflecting Your Steadfast and Eternal Love for us. Lord Jesus, we Lift Up our Prayers in Your Holy Name. Amen/Amen....jaj
A Blessed Thanksgiving to you all....jaj
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