“The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak A word in season to him who is weary. The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. (Isaiah 50:4-5 KJV)
According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, “know-how” means knowledge of how to do something smoothly and efficiently : EXPERTISE.
The Lord God gave Christ the “know-how.“ He made Him an expert in hearing and speaking an on-time word to the weary. Why did people flock to Christ Jesus ? He was anointed to speak to them where they were. He loved them where they were. He loved Saul who was a murderer and Mary who was a prostitute. He saw and knew their potential, but He spoke on-time words to them right where they were with no expectations of where they should be.
The Holy Spirit has gifted us with the same gift! Jesus says in Matthew 10:19-20, “But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.”
He gives us what we need to speak, when we need to speak.
The New Living Translation of Proverbs 15:23 puts it like this:
“Everyone enjoys a fitting reply; it is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time!”
Like Jesus, God has given us the ear to attentively hear the words from mouth of our Heavenly Father and pass it along without adding anything to it or taking anything away from it. Jesus Himself received from Father God so that he could so freely give it away. Absolutely, we should follow His example. He has given us the “know-how” to say the right thing at the right time.
I enCOURAGE you to spend time at the feet of Jesus in the presence of the Lord. He has given us the ears to hear Him and the “know-how” to pass along His expertise, whether an encouragement or admonishment. We never know what a word spoken on time may mean in the life of another.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13 NKJV)
But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me, And my Lord has forgotten me.” 15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely, they may forget, Yet I will not forget you. 16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms [of My hands]; Your walls are continually before Me. (Isaiah 49:14-16 NKJV)
As I wait for the past due arrival of our great nephew, the focus verse for today brings back memories of my boys when they were first born. The love I felt for those boys was like nothing I had or have ever experienced. Both of my babies were born big, and they liked to eat every two to four hours. At times I might have liked to forget my nursing boys and caught a few more hours of sleep, however, I think it was quite obvious, they did not miss a meal. As David Gusik so eloquently states reflecting on Isaiah 49:15, “The LORD’s affection for His people is greater than the devotion a woman has for her nursing child!” As a mom who nursed and would do anything for her boys, this is hard to fathom. The love of Father God is far greater!
Often times, we may feel forsaken or forgotten. For instance:
when a loved one betrays and offends us
when we are diagnosed with a debilitating disease
when we have prayed and are waiting patiently for the answer
when a loved one tragically leaves the earth
when hardships and trials seem to overtake us
When the enemy of your soul tells you that you are not on the mind of our Father. Listen to the voice of our loving Father who says: “I WILL NOT FORGET YOU!” This is a promise we can take to the bank. We are not forgotten. Also, Hebrews 13:5 tells us that He said, “I will never leave or forsake you.”
Have you ever written something important on your hand so that you would not forget it? Isaiah 49:16 alerts us to the fact that this is not an original idea. The Lord did it first.
“See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.”
The nail scarred hands of Jesus has every one of our names in it. I find it fascinating that those scars were a witness to the disciples of God’s great love for them. His love was so awesome that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to be scarred, beaten and killed for us. When Jesus was a nursing babe on the breast of Mary, God knew His destiny and He still sent Him to earth. He was born to die so that we would not be forgotten.
I enCOURAGE you not to so easily forget the great love of the Father when you are going through the most difficult times. Remember, His love is greater than any Mother’s. Do not tune into the enemy who says that you are not important or that God has forgotten you. Listen to the loving voice who says, “ I love you. I will not forget you. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you.” Never is a really long time to be continually before Him.
“Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. (Isaiah 45:22 NKJV)
Brayden, my oldest son, is getting married in two weeks. I have been tossing a decision about the rehearsal dinner around in my head for the past couple of weeks. I was supposed to give caterer an answer, yesterday. I have talked to my husband about it. I have discussed it with a friend. I have even asked my son and his fiancé to choose. Even after they finally gave me an answer, I was still belaboring the point. Guess who I did not look to for the answer? You win the prize! No! I hate to admit it. I did not look to the Lord. I really make an effort to talk to God about everything, big and little. I only realized that I had not, this morning, as I read the words from Isaiah 45:22. I know God loves us so much that He cares about every detail of our lives. We just forget that sometimes.
How simple is message of salvation? “Look to Me and be saved!” His message is so effortless that even a child can accomplish His elementary and uncomplicated request of “look to Me.” We make things way too hard. We look to everyone else for our answers and He says, “Look to Me! I am God and there is no other!”
Can you hear Him?
When you are confused by the hard hits of life, LOOK TO ME and be saved. When you are burdened by guilt and shame, LOOK TO ME and be saved. When you are carrying the weight of the world, LOOK TO ME and be saved. When your marriage is falling apart, LOOK TO ME and be saved. When your kids are hurt and wonder off the path, LOOK TO ME and be saved. When offense comes knocking at your door, LOOK TO ME and be saved. When sickness is eating away at your body, LOOK TO me and be saved. When you do not know where you are going to live, LOOK TO ME and be saved. When you do not know what to do next, LOOK TO ME and be saved When you do not know how to decorate a room, LOOK TO ME and be saved. When you do not know what to wear to an event, LOOK TO ME and be saved. When you can’t make a rehearsal dinner decision, LOOK TO ME and be saved. When you do not know where you are going to spend eternity, LOOK TO ME and be saved.
I enCOURAGE you with the words of the One and Only, Savior, the Lord God, Creator of the entire universe and you, “Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.”
P.S. I looked to Him this morning and immediately, got the direction I had been searching for. I am at peace. Decision is made. I rest assured that I am saved today and forever. Are you? Look to Him for the big and the little.
“Pay attention, O Jacob, for you are my servant, O Israel. I, the LORD, made you, and I will not forget you. 22 I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.” (Isaiah 44:21-22 NLT)
We learn in Isaiah 44 that Israel had carved out wooden idols and had bowed to them like the idols could save them.
What idols have we carved out in our imagination? Where have we put our faith or adoration? Is our idol in the shape of a football, baseball or basketball? Is it in a man, a sports figure, government official or Hollywood actor? Has our imaginary carved an idol that resembles a job, money or fame? Is our idol food, drugs or alcohol? Have we been so foolish to place our trust and worship in anything other than the Lord God and His Son, Jesus Christ, who died and paid for our salvation with His own blood?
Even though Israel had slipped into the folly of carving images, God continued to love Israel back to Himself. He loves us back to Himself in the same way. In the last verses of Isaiah, the Lord directs us to remember , “I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God.” Can you hear His voice begging us to come home to Him? Listen. Slow read each line. Hear the love and promises of our Father…
I am the Lord.
You are my servant. (I believe here that the Lord is lovingly implying, “You are the Lord’s. You are mine. I have marked you, My own,” as servants were commonly marked or tattooed in the hand with their master’s name.)
I made you.
I will not forget you.
I have blotted out and swept away your sins like a cloud.
I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist.
I have redeemed you.
I have paid the price to set you free.
I am your Redeemer.
Can you hear the Father saying, “COME HOME?”
RETURN TO ME!
Restore our relationship.
Refresh your adoration to me.
Renew yourself to me alone.
Salvation, Redemption and Love—what good news! It should send us running into the arms of our Creator with shouts of joy and songs. There is joy, songs, and freedom in returning to God! You might say, “But, I know God!” I know God, too. I have an intimate relationship with Him, but I had not completely surrendered everything to Him. Honestly, for me, surrender is a daily thing. I must be resolute in my choices. Returning to Him is the first choice I make each morning. I exercise my faith. I crucify my flesh. I make healthy food choices instead of ingesting a tablespoon of peanut butter for a snack. I determine to consistently exercise my body. This is the path of God’s best life for me. Our path’s may look different or maybe they are the same.
I enCOURAGE you to RETURN TO GOD in every area of your life. Work with God. Get on the path of life that will bring you so near to God that you can hear His very heartbeat walking along with you. I promise and 100% guaranteed, you will not be disappointed in the surrender. The surrender, the return, it is actually life, real and free.
Just like these gorgeous tulips, God sees your as His Jeshurun, upright and beloved!
by Tammy Phillips April 16, 2021
Can you see yourself the way God sees you? As God continued to love me back to Him on my weight journey and I continued reading through Isaiah, I came upon the word “Jeshurun.” Jeshurun only appears four times in the Bible. It means upright one or blessed one. I learned that Moses used “Jeshurun” as a synonym for Jacob and a reference to Israel, God’s beloved people. As Christians, we are adopted into the family of God. We are God’s beloved people. We are called righteous in Him. See where I am going? We are Jeshurun, the upright one’s in Him.
It became evident to me as I sought scripture that contained “Jeshurun” that I was looking in the mirror. God was painting a picture of His amazing grace.
The first mention of Jeshurun is in Deuteronomy 32:15,
But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered [with fatness]; then he forsook God [which] made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. (Deuteronomy 32:15 KJV)
Yes, like Israel I grew fat, literally. I forsook God in my eating. I lacked self-control. I turned to food for comfort. I turned away from God in that area and lightly esteemed the Rock of my salvation.
BUT GOD…He still lovingly called Israel, Jeshurun, because of abundant mercy and forgiveness.
The LORD is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. 9 He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. 10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; 12As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:8-12 NKJV)
You can further see God’s mercy toward Israel (and us) in the blessing and words of Moses in Deuteronomy 33:26-27
“There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, Who rides the heavens to help you, And in His excellency on the clouds. 27 The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, And will say, ‘Destroy!’ (Deuteronomy 33:26-27 NKJV)
There is no god like the God of Jeshurun, who runs to help us. He is our refuge, hiding place, den, and our living room. He is where we live and abide. And we only remain upright because He hold us in His everlasting, ever loving arms. He lovingly goes before us and kicks the enemy out of the way, boldly saying, “Destroy!” And that, my friends, is OUR GOD. He removes our sins. He obliterates them as well as our enemy.
Who or what is your “enemy?” Is it fear? Lack? Depression? Addiction? Sickness? Is your God big enough to destroy your enemy? Mine is! My God is the God of Jeshurun. He sees us upright even when we have fallen down.
Can you hear His loving words to Jacob, Israel, Jeshurun and us in Isaiah 44:1-4?
“Yet hear now, O Jacob My servant, And Israel whom I have chosen. 2 Thus says the LORD who made you And formed you from the womb, [who] will help you: ‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant; And you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. 3 For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, And floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, And My blessing on your offspring; 4 They will spring up among the grass Like willows by the watercourses.'” Our Lord says: Hear me! Listen to me. I chose you. I made you. I formed you in the womb.
DO NOT FEAR! I chose you Jeshurun. I chose your upright one. I chose you beloved one. Want to know God’s will? He says:
I WILL HELP YOU! I WILL POUR… water on you if you are thirsty. I WILL POUR…My Spirit upon your children. I WILL POUR…My blessing on your descendants.
God does not take back His promises.
THEY WILLL SPRING UP among the willows and poplars by the watercourses, the rivers and the streams. THEY WILL become trees of righteousness.
The God of Jeshurun is not talking about a sprinkling. He says He will pour His very self into us and our children and our children’s children. God sees us upright in Him! It does not matter what we have done. He freely forgives and gives of Himself.
I enCOURAGE you to ask Him to forgive you where you have missed the mark. Then hear His loving voice, “I forgive you. I forgave you 2000 years ago at the cross. Do not be afraid. I love you I am your God. You are My Jeshurun, my upright one. I will destroy your enemy. I have got you in My mighty arms.”
I enCOURAGE you to:
“Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: 3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, 4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, 5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (Psalm 103:2-4, NKJV)
Before Christ, we are broken. We seek to be loved and accepted. Many will do just about anything to find that love and acceptance. Before Christ, We have darkness inside that we try to fill with anything and everything but God. I have good news. The only thing that will ever satisfy and complete us is to know the love of God and for Him to make His home inside. I am not talking about knowing God. Satan knows God. I am talking about knowing how very much He loves us. Paul explains God’s mystery and His great plan in Ephesians 3. Paul ends Ephesians 3 with a super, encouraging prayer. Below is my prayer, based on Ephesians 3:14-21, for you and your family today. It is a great prayer for you to pray often, too.
When I think of God’s cause, seeing the greatness, wisdom and scope of His plan by which we are all built together, I kneel humbly in awe before the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth, whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, the perfect Father of every father and child in heaven and on the earth.
I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources, and favor that He will supernaturally strengthen and empower you. I pray that He will flood your innermost being, your inner man, with his divine might and explosive power through His Spirit.
I ask Christ to live and make His home in your hearts through faith, as you trust in Him to be your Lord and Savior. I pray that you be rooted and grounded in love. I pray that your roots will grow down into God’s marvelous love and keep you strong.
I ask that you have the power to understand and grasp how wide, how long, how high, and how deep the great magnitude of the astonishing love of Christ in all its dimensions is. I pray that you know how deeply intimate and far-reaching His love is! It is endless love beyond measurement.
I ask that you know and experience the love of Christ that is far beyond knowledge, too great to fully understand. It is so great that you will never see the end of it .
I pray that His endless love beyond measurement that transcends our understanding—this extravagant love pours into you until you are filled entirely to overflowing with the fullness of God, the richest measure of His divine Presence, and become a body, made complete, wholly filled and flooded with God Himself.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish exceedingly abundantly, far over and above all, infinitely more than we might dare to ask, dream, hope or imagine.
To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen (so be it).
I enCOURAGE you to make Ephesians 3:14-21 your prayer. Know the love of God. Be empowered by the love of God. Know that if you have questions, He has answers. My sister, Gina Suiter, said it like this yesterday, “GOD IS BIG ENOUGH!” He is powerful enough to do exceedingly abundantly, far over and above all, infinitely more than we might dare to ask, dream, hope or imagine! Glory to God.
Yesterday, we talked about people who get on our nerves: spouses, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, children, friends, co-workers, superiors, and even the President.
We are instructed to love them. One of the ways we can love them best is to pray for them even when we do not feel like it.
In 2014 through the wise advice of Kenneth Hagin and Billye Brimm, I learned to pray Paul’s prayer for spiritual wisdom, Ephesians 1:16-23, for my family. When I first started praying it, I had no idea what it all meant. As I prayed the Holy Spirit began to answer the prayer in my own life. He opened my eyes and heart to the significance of the words that I was praying.
My list has grown and changed through the years. I start with our national leaders, move to spiritual leaders, then family and friends.
No, not every on the list gets on my nerves. That is just a temporary circumstance, anyways. Jesus extended love, grace and forgiveness to all and I must do the same. Lord knows, I get on the nerves of others at times. Ask my husband and my boys. I want that same love, grace and forgiveness extended to me, when I act like a goober.
I wrote Ephesians 1 out in my own words and I pray it like this:
I do not cease to give thanks for you. I thank God for you all the time. I pray for you always and make mention of you in my prayers.
I always pray that Father God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation of insight into mysteries and secrets in the deep and intimate knowledge of Him. I pray that you may abundantly grow in Him.
I pray that the eyes of your heart are flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones),
I pray that you can know and understand what is the incredible, IMMEASURABLE, UNLIMITED, SURPASSING GREATNESS of God’s power in and for us who believe in Him, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength. This is the same might power which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places. This same power is available to us!!!
NOW, Jesus is far above any leader, ruler, authority, power or dominion. He is far above every name that is named, was named or will ever be named. He is above every title that can be conferred, above every disease ever known to plague man, above any problem or situation, not only in this age and in this world, but also in the age and the world which are to come.
God has put all things under His feet and authority and has appointed Jesus the universal and supreme Head of the church, which is His body. The church is His body, made full and complete in Him, who fills all in all [for in that body lives the full measure of Him Who makes everything complete, and Who fills everything everywhere with Himself. TO GOD BE THE GLORY FOREVER. AMEN.
I enCOURAGE you to create your own list of people to pray Ephesians 1 over. Pray it often. Breakthrough will come. Let me be clear, sometimes in haste, I simply say, “Father, Ephesians 1 them, you know my list.” He knows my heart. However, God’s words repeated as a reminder, back to Him are a powerful way to pray.
Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; (1 Peter 4:12)
God has an answer for everything. He knew that there would be people who would “try our patience.” Know anyone like that? Perhaps, your spouse, not mine of course! Could it be your mother? Father? Brother? Sister? Children? Co-worker? Boss? Congress? President?
The Lord answers before we ever call for help on this one. He gave Paul the solution in Ephesians 4:1 (AMPC), “I therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, appeal to and beg you to walk (lead a life) worthy of the [divine] calling to which you have been called [with behavior that is a credit to the summons to God’s service…”
How is our behavior? Is it a credit to the summons to God’s service? Almost everyone I talked to in the past few days were having their patience tried by someone. How about you? How did you handle it? How did I deal with it, you ask? Did I breathe in Jesus and blow out Satan? Hmm…Let’s get some more advice from Paul. He tells us to handle it like Jesus:
“Living as becomes you with complete lowliness of mind (humility) and meekness (unselfishness, gentleness, mildness), with patience, bearing with one another and making allowances because you love one another.” (Ephesians 4:2 AMPC)
Let’s look at a few translations to see help us clearly see what Paul was really saying:
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. (Ephesians 4:2 NIV)
With tender humility and quiet patience, always demonstrate gentleness and generous[b] love toward one another, especially toward those who may try your patience. (Ephesians 4:2 TPT)
Always be humble and gentle. Patiently put up with each other and love each other. (Ephesians 4:2 CEV)
Be patient. Love one another. Put up with each other. Many times, instead of putting up with each other, we want to put each other out! Right? Yesterday, one friend put it like this:
“I want to line them up. Run the back of my hand across the right side of their face. Then I want to come back down the line, slap the left side of their face with the palm of my hand. Then I want to blow on them and watch them all fall down!” Ever feel like that? This friend was done with everybody. I quickly got off the phone and wrote this encouragement for her. (LOL).
A final word of encouragement, I love how the Message Bible interprets Paul’s word in Ephesians 4:14:
“While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere . And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences. You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly.
I think that just about sums it up!
I enCOURAGE you to keep on walking in and by faith. Follow in Jesus’ footsteps. Love well, even those who get on your last nerve. “Be eager and strive earnestly to guard and keep the harmony and oneness of [and produced by] the Spirit in the binding power of peace. (Ephesians 4:3 AMPC). This is so much easier said, than done. However, me and the peeps in my world, old friends and new ones, need to hear it. Remember, I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO GIVES ME THE STRENGTH, including loving the ones who get on my last nerve.
For the LORD shall be thy confidence and shall keep thy foot from being taken. (Proverbs3: 26 KJV)
Can I be transparent? I am tired. I have so much to do. I would have honestly like to have slept in this morning. I did not have an encouragement prewritten. I had ideas but they were going to take more effort than I wanted to exert. However, when I opened Word, the computer program this morning, this document was sitting open with Proverbs 3:26 written at the top of the page and waiting on me. (I had copy and pasted it their yesterday for further meditation.)
I did not even want to meditate on it today. Nothing came to me at first. I looked for other things to write. I even looked in some devotionals to see if I could find something from a “guest speaker. ” Holy Spirit stopped me in that path and reminded me of something I said, over a year ago, when I began this writing journey. “If the Lord does not give me something to say, I will say nothing at all.” That has been true thus far.
This morning I felt inspired to just tell you how I felt. Every day, I do not jump out of the bed ready to conquer the world. In fact, I would still be in bed if I had not committed to be an encourager each day online at the beginning of the day.
Looking at the focus verse, I was reminded that the Lord is our confidence to face the day, to trust for words when there are no words, and to look into the giant’s eyes fearlessly. He will keep our foot from being taken by the enemy. Holy Spirit gave me the words today. He softly, whispered Psalms 26 in my ear as I began to write. Now, I can confidently say: “I have expectantly, trusted in the Lord, leaned on, and relied on the Lord without wavering and I shall not slide.” (Psalms 26:1 AMP)
Holy Spirit gave me the words. He showed me the way. He will do the same for you.
I enCOURAGE you to face this day head on. Intentionally, put your feet on the floor. Arise to what the Lord your God has called you to do this day. Keep the word in your heart and He will keep you. He is your Confidence. He will not allow your foot to be taken. He will not allow you to slip and slide when you look to Him first.
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; (Ecclesiastes 3:6-7 KJV)
The Lord tells us in Ecclesiastes that there is a time for everything. He recently took the time, again, to tell me to guard my mouth. I really need to go to a seamstress and let her install a zipper to my lips. I then would have consciously zip and unzip before I spoke.
I kind of followed the Holy Spirit down a rabbit trail. I read Ecclesiastes 3:6-7. It was right in front of my eyes. “There is a time to keep silent and a time to speak!” I responded, “Ok, Lord. I really do hear you. I am going to watch my mouth, what goes in and comes out of it.” I also saw that there is “a time to keep.” If we are to keep our mouth, what else are we to keep. What does keep mean? Several different words for “keep” exist in the Hebrew and Greek, but they all mean pretty much the same thing: to guard, watch, protect, attend to, observe, preserve, regard. Here are a few things I found in the word that we are to keep:
Keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. (Deuteronomy 8:6) Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. (Psalm 34:13) Keep his way and wait on the Lord. (Psalm 37:34) Keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me. (Psalm 39:1) Keep his covenant and remember his commandments to do them. (Psalm 103:18) Keep judgment, do righteousness at all times and be blessed (Psalm 106:3) Keep His testimonies and seek Him with the whole heart. (Psalm 119:2) Keep His precepts diligently. (Psalm 119:4) Keep His word. (Psalm 119:17) Keep His law continually for ever and ever. (Psalm 119:44) Keep the door of my lips. Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth. (Psalm 141:3) Keep the paths of the righteous. Walk in the way of good men (Proverbs 2:20) Keep sound wisdom and discretion. (Proverbs 2:21) Keep instruction; Take fast hold of let her. Do not let go for she [is] thy life. (Proverbs 4:13) Keep His words in the middle of your heart Let them not depart from your eyes. (Proverbs 4:21) Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. (Proverbs 4:23 KJV) Keep my words and lay up my commandments with you. (Proverbs 7:1 KJV) Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye. (Proverbs 7:2) Keep my ways and be blessed. (Proverbs 8:32) Keep mercy and judgment and wait on thy God continually. (Hosea 12:6) Keep My saying and you shall never see death. (John 8:51 KJV) Keep my commandments, If ye love me. (John 14:15) Keep my words, if you love me and my Father will love you, and We will come to you, and make our abode with you. (John 14:15, 23 KJV) Keep under my body and bring it into subjection. (1 Corinthians 9:27) Keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:3) Keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus And the peace of God, which passes all understanding. (Philippians 4:7 KJV) Keep thyself pure. (1 Timothy 5:22 KJV) Keep his commandments and hereby we do know that we know Him. (1 John 2:3) Keep his commandments for this is the love of God and his commandments are not grievous. (1 John 5:3) Keep yourselves from idols. Amen. (1 John 5:21 KJV) Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. (Jude 1:21)
In all these “keeps,” I did not one time see,“Keep house, you wives of men.” Actually, a couple of times the Bible talks about concubines and a large group of women keeping the house, but nothing specific. Woo hoo! Other than that, I think He wants us to keep ourselves from the top of our head to the tip of our toes and everywhere in between. But God…He knew we could not do this on our own. He sent us help. (I keep my angels on high alert with my none too cautious self.)
For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. (Psalm 91:11 KJV)
I enCOURAGE you to keep. Keep your mouth, your body, your mind, your heart, your way, and His word. It all leads to His best for us. Keep on keeping on!
Complete in Him 