Complete in Him

by Tammy Phillips
June 22, 2021

The only way that I am still here on this earth is because the LORD is and has been my Keeper.  Thank the Lord that He looks past stupid, careless, and reckless.  One rainy day about thirty years ago, I was driving west on two lanes of 316 headed from Athens to Atlanta. Unexplainably, I lost control of my car, spun around, and ended up nose to nose with an eighteen-wheeler truck.  There were literally inches between us, but not a scratch on either of us.  The LORD was my KEEPER.

In my early twenties in the pre-cellphone era, I helped move my best friend to Tampa, Florida. We got separated and I ran out of gas at night on I-75S which was then called cocaine alley.  I was picked up by two men in a van who did not harm me.  They kindly took me to a gas station but later stole my money. The LORD was my Keeper.

Brayden, my oldest son was born by c-section.  At some point he swallowed meconium which went to his lungs.  He had difficulty breathing and was not getting better.  I gave him back to the Lord, laid him at the feet of Jesus, and ask for healing.  Shortly after, we went home.  Also, I stopped breathing on the operating table during his delivery.  We both survived.  The Lord was and is our Keeper from birth to earth to heaven and all places in between. 

There are more of those God stories, but I will stop for now and  remind you…

The LORD is your Keeper.
The LORD is your Watchman.
The LORD is your Guard.
The LORD is your Preserver.
The LORD is your Protector.
The LORD is your Hedge of Protection.
The LORD is your Overseer.
The LORD is your Cover.

The Keeper will not allow your foot to be moved.
The Keeper will not slumber.
The Keeper will not sleep.
The Keeper is the shade at your right hand.
The Keeper will preserve you from all evil.
The Keeper will preserve your soul.

The Keeper shall keep, watch, guard, preserve, protect, circle, oversee, and cover your going out and your coming, now, and forever. (Psalm 121)

Of course, we are to imitate our Keeper, the LORD.  We are to be watchmen and keepers.  We are instructed in 1 Peter 5:8: “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”   Our “keeping rooms” should be keeping the enemy from carrying out his plans.

Paul tells us that we should be watchful in prayer, praying always and for everyone. “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— (Ephesians 6:18 NKJV)

In Philippians 4 Paul also tells us to pray about everything.  I think “everything” just about covers. It.  Pray all the time, for everything and everybody.  Prayer is watching out.  Prayer is keeping guard. Prayer is preserving.  Prayer is a hedge of protection.  Prayer is covering.

I enCOURAGE you, watchmen, to trust your Keeper, the Lord Jesus.  Remember, the many times that He has kept you.  He is always watching and ever interceding for you.  I enCOURGE you to imitate Him.  Pray and cover EVERYTHING:  leaders, the nation, your state, your city, and your community.  Keep your spouse,  children, family and friends at the feet of Jesus in front of the throne of God.  “Keeping on keeping on,” just like the Lord, Your Keeper.

by Tammy Phillips
June 21, 2021

“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” (Luke 6:38 NKJV)

Let them have it.  Whoever needs it, give it away!  Give to everyone who asks of you. (Luke 6:30 NKJV).  Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive. “ (Acts 20:35 NKJV) And, of course, He was right.  Don’t you like getting gifts, but love giving so much more?  It is so fun when you find the perfect gift and wait in anticipation to give it away.   I am not just talking about precious things wrapped in pretty bows.  I am talking about serving, time, texts, recipes, cookies, phone calls, hope, encouragement, words of life and love. We have so much more to give than “things.”  

“God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7 NKJV). Quite honestly, we cannot out give God.  He says give and it will be given to you running over.  We do not give to get back.  It is the right thing to do.  It is the God thing to do.  It is His heart.  So…

“Give, and it will be given to you.”
Bestow bravery and bravery will bestowed to you.
Commission compassion and compassion will be commissioned to you.
Endue encouragement and encouragement will be endued to you.
Deliver deliverance and deliverance will be delivered to you.
Fork over forgiveness and forgiveness will be forked over to you.
Grant grace and grace will be granted to you.
Gift goodness and goodness will be granted to you.
Hand out help and help will be handed out to you.
Heap up happiness and happiness will be heaped upon you.
Lavish love and love will be lavished on you.
Present peace and peace will be presented to you.
Pass out patience and patience will be passed out to you.
Render richly and richly will be rendered to you.
Show mercy and mercy will be shown to you.
Supply freely and freely it will be supplied to you.

Good measure! No skimping from our limitless Father!
Pressed down! So more can be added.
Shaken together!   Compacted and compressed!
Running over, abundant, uncontainable,
will be put into your bosom.
For with the same measure that you use,
it will be measured back to you!

I enCOURAGE you to give, give, give.  Think of new ways to give.  Give your time.  Give your words. Give a smile.  Give yourself. Give God.  Give love.  Give because it is the right thing to do.  It makes God happy.  Don’t you like making GOD happy?  The reward is He will not let you out give Him. 

He who has mercy, shows favor, and is gracious to the poor, weak, low, needy, empty, dried up, dangling, hanging down, he lends to, unites with, and entwines with the LORD, and the LORD will pay back what he has given. (Proverbs 19:17 NKJV).  Let them have it.  Give away.

by Tammy Phillips
June 20, 2021

“Be merciful, just as your Father, also is merciful.” (Luke 6:36 NKJV)

Caution before you read this!   Holy Spirit has been transforming me and turning my disgust to mercy in many areas of my life since early 2021.   He has been teaching me the precept of mercy from Luke 6 pretty much all year.  Do not read further, if you have mercy down.  If you are always loving and kind and good, you are wasting your time with this encouragement.  If you never take offense, then move on.  I promise you; the enemy has tried to move me from a place of mercy to offended, more times than I can count on my hand in these last few months.   I am attempting a permanent move to mercy land.  I know as I write this to be prepared for the offense, Jesus said, ““It is impossible that no offenses should come…!”  I am prepared to throw it back and exercise mercy.  I choose to follow our Father’s example.    He gives great mercy, and He expects us to do the same. He gives us some pretty clear instruction throughout His word how to be merciful.

1. PLAN TO DO GOOD.

“Do they not go astray who devise evil? But mercy and truth belong to those who devise good.” (Proverbs 14:22 NKJV) 

It is easy to do good and love the lovable.  We must plan to do good to the person who has hurt us, the person who does not agree with us and the ones less fortunate than us.  We have to look at all through God glasses that have the lens of truth and mercy.  Those glasses include offense and pride blockers.  We may have been hurt, but the truth is the hurt is not ours to own, forgiveness is.  Mercy and truth are then ours when we make the plan to do good.

2. PLAN TO DO RIGHT.
   

“He that follows after righteousness and mercy finds life, righteousness, and honor.” (Proverbs 21:21 KJV)

It is not always easy to do the right thing and to follow after righteousness, particularly, when we have been wronged.  When someone slanders our name, our first response is to react and not turn the other cheek.  Our first thought is not, “let me crucify my flesh so that I can be loving and kind.”  When Jesus was spat on, arrested, and falsely accused, He chose the “right way.”  He chose silence. 

3. DO NOT FORGET OR LEAVE MERCY BEHIND

“Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart.” (Proverbs 3:3 KJV) 

We already have put our mercy and truth glasses with the plan of lovingkindness and good.  Now we are instructed to put on our mercy and truth scarf and tie it around our neck so they always with us. And it is so important that they are always with us, write them on the tables of our heart as a permanent reminder, never to be left behind.   Nothing like a double reminder to keep mercy and truth at the forefront of our minds.

4. LOVE YOUR ENEMIES
   

“But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil…” (Luke 6:35)

This is a hard one to chew up and swallow. Love the hateful. Love the hater. Love the opposition. Do good to those who hate us and pray for those who persecute us. This is imitation of Father God who is love.  He chose us when we were opposed to Him.  He chose His only son to die for the whole creation who was opposed to Him. 

The one time when I was betrayed and hurt the very worst, I went to God yelling for help.  I needed comfort.   I did not understand.  Guess what our Father’s first comforting words were to me?  The scripture He brought to my mind- LOVE!  LOVE YOUR ENEMY!  I was gut hurt and He said choose Me.  Choose love not hate.  At that time, I could not get passed those three words.  Today, I see the reward at the end of the verse!  Love and your reward will be great.  Hallelujah.  Love and you will be the sons and daughters of the Most High.  

5.  DO WHAT IS GOOD

“He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8 NKJV)

The Lord really does not ask too much of us. We do not have to follow the multitude of rules from the Old Testament. He has shown us what is good.  We have simple directions to follow Him-do it.  
a.  Do the right thing.  Do truth. 
b.  Love mercy.  Love kindness. Love good. Love love.
c.  Walk humbly. Walk it out with Him. We have to be humble if we are going to walk out mercy.

I enCOURAGE you to give mercy as freely as you have received it.  Imitate our Father.  Pass it one.  It is NOT easy, but in the end, it is so worth it.  “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”  (Matthew 5:7 KJV)

 

 

by Tammy Phillips
June 19, 2021

Psalm 138:1-8 NKJV

This song of David rocked my world early this year.  God used it to love me back into His merciful arms.  He did the same last night and this morning.  I was wound up tight from lack of sleep.  Sleep eluded me this whole week.  I was in a tight place.  I literally felt like my skin was crawling off my back.  I was hot and I was cold.  I wanted cover off, then I wanted it on. The Lord mercifully brought me five hours of sweet sleep and this song was waiting for me, again,  this morning. This is a slow-read, deep-dig into Psalm 138.  Enjoy.

I will praise
I will throw
I will shoot
I will cast
I will hold out my hand
I will celebrate
I will confess
I will point out

YOU LORD

with my whole heart
with my inner man
from my midst

Before the gods I will sing praises to You.

I will worship
I will bow down
I will lay prostrate

toward Your holy temple and praise Your name for

Your lovingkindness
Your mercy
Your goodness

And

Your truth
Your stability
Your trustworthiness
Your faithfulness
Your certainty
Your uprightness
Your firmness
Your support
Your staying power
You who props up
You who builds up
You unshakeable
You who bears me in Your arms

You have magnified Your word above all Your name

In the day
In the heat of the day
In the heat of the battle
When it was hot
When I cried out

You answered
You had your eye on me
You paid attention
You responded
You spoke
You sang over me
You shouted over me

You made me bold
You urged me on
You sured me up
Your strengthened me
You made me be fierce
You made me courageous

with strength, boldness, might and power

in my soul
in my inner man
in my breath

All the kings of the earth shall praise You,
O LORD, when they hear the words of Your mouth.

Yes, they shall sing of
the ways, the trodden road, the journey, and the distance

of the LORD,

For the greatest is the glory, the weight, and the heaviness
of the LORD.

The LORD is on high, yet

He regards me
He respects me
He considers me
He looks at me
He sees me
He sees the lowly
He sees the “Lowe”
He sees the depressed
He sees the cast down

But the proud He knows from afar, remotely

Though I walk in the midst of trouble
Though I walk in a tight place
Though I walk in a narrow place.

You will revive me
You will breathe on me
You will cause me to flourish
You will cause me to live well
You will prosper me
You will keep me safe and sound
You will heal me
You will refresh me
You will restore me to life
You will me call back to life
You will keep me alive

You will stretch out Your hand
against the wrath, anger, the hard breathing, nose, and face
of my enemies
of the persecutor
of the one who hatefully huffs and puffs down my neck

Your “right” hand will save me
You will open up things for me
You will make things wide and free
You will avenge
You will defend
You will deliver
You will help
You will preserve
You will rescue
You will get the victory

The LORD will perfect
The LORD will complete
The LORD will finish  
that which concerns me.

Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever
Your lovingkindness, O LORD, endures forever
Your goodness, O LORD, endures forever

Do not forsake
Do not let go
Do not throw down
Do not slack
Do not idle
Do not desert
Do not be lazy with

the works of Your hands
the doing of Your hands
the intricate needlework where you weave various colors of my life together
the art, every master stroke of your masterpiece.

I enCOURAGE you today with merciful, good, kind, loving words of our Father.  This song of David was salve that healed a wounded heart. Be encouraged by God’s words.  Slow read this again. Say it out loud.  This belongs to you as much as it was and is for me. Be healed. HIS MERCY SEES YOU, SAVES YOU, COMPLETES YOU, AND GAINS THE VICTORY!  Glory to God.

by Tammy Phillips
June 18, 2021

The LORD is merciful.  Merciful is the LORD (Psalms 103:8)

According to Webster’s 1828 dictionary mercy is that benevolence, mildness, or tenderness of heart which disposes a person to overlook injuries, or to treat an offender better than he deserves; the disposition that tempers justice and induces an injured person to forgive trespasses and injuries, and to forbear punishment, or inflict less than law or justice will warrant. In this sense, there is perhaps no word in our language precisely synonymous with mercy.

In the Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon the word for mercy is chesed.  Chesed is defined as zeal toward anyone; passionate ardor in the pursuit of anything. In general, zeal is an eagerness of desire to accomplish or obtain some object, and it may be manifested either in favor of any person or thing, or in opposition to it, and in a good or bad cause.

The Strong’s Concordance defines chesed as loving kindness and goodness.

Mercy is like love in that it is a quality of God that cannot be defined in a single word.  Again, if Holy Spirit is whispering that He wants to turn our disgust into “His mercy.”  Let us further look through the word of God to see what mercy is and does. 

HIS MERCY PURGES OUR INIQUITY.
“By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.” (Proverbs 16:6 NKJV)

 HIS MERCY FORGIVES.
“He that covers his sins shall not prosper but whoso confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy.” (Proverbs 28:13 NKJV)

HIS MERCY DELIVERS BORN AGAIN LIFE AND LIVING HOPE
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Peter 1:3 ESV)

HIS MERCY IS ABUNDANT TO ALL WHO CALL HIM.
“For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You”. (Psalm 86:5 NKJV)

HIS MERCY IS ABOUNDING.
“The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.”  (Psalms 103:8)

HIS MERCY IS GREAT.
“For His merciful kindness is great toward us.” (Psalm 117:2)

HIS MERCY CAN BE TRUSTED.
“I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.” (Psalm 52:8 KJV)

HIS MERCY NEVER FAILS.
“It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.” (Lamentations 3:22 KJV)

HIS MERCY IS NEW EVERY MORNING.
“They are new every morning: great [is] thy faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23 KJV)

HIS MERCY IS A COURAGE BOOSTER AND KEEPS US FROM WEARINESS
“Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not.”  (2 Corinthians 4:1 KJV)

HIS MERCY LEADS
“All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth, to such as keep His covenant and His testimonies. (Psalm 25:10 NKJV)

HIS MERCY SURROUNDS.
“Many sorrows [shall be] to the wicked; But he who trusts in the LORD, mercy shall surround him.” (Psalm 32:10 NKJV)

HIS MERCY IS FOR US.
“Blessed [be] God, Who has not turned away my prayer, Nor His mercy from me!” (Psalm 66:20 NKJV)

HIS MERCY IS OBTAINABLE.
“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16 NKJV)

HIS MERCY IS EVERLASTING
“For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.” (Psalm 100:5 NKJV)

HIS MERCY IS TO THE VANISHING POINT AND BEYOND, ALWAYS HAS BEEN AND ALWAYS WILL BE
“But the mercy of the LORD [is] from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children.” (Psalm 103:17 NKJV)

HIS MERCY ENDURES FOREVER
“Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for [He is] good! For His mercy [endures] forever”. (Psalm 106:1 NKJV)

HIS MERCY IS GREAT, BOUNDLESS, UNLIMITED, IMMEASURABLE, INNUMERABLE, and INFINITE.
For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him. (Psalm 103:8, 11 NKJV)

 HIS MERCY TRIUMPHS
Mercy triumphs over judgment. (James 2:13 NKJV)

 His mercy purges, pardons, finds, forgives, delivers, is abundant, abounding, and great.  It can be trusted. His goodness never fails, is new every morning, is a courage booster, keeps us from losing heart and growing weary. His loving-kindness leads, guides, surrounds, is for us, is obtainable, is everlasting, endures forever, is great, boundless, unlimited, immeasurable, innumerable, and infinite.  His mercy triumphs. And that is what His mercy does for us! 

I enCOURAGE you with my concluding answer:  His mercy holds back what is justified and instead, envelops us with undeserved, tender, loving-kindness, and goodness.  I urge you to hope in His mercy because “the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His mercy.” (Psalm 147:11 NKJV) Surely, His mercy stirs hope deep within.  I pray that “mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you” and that you “keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” (Jude 1:2, 21 NKJV)

His mercy held back the Red Sea, set the captives free and died for you and me.

by Tammy Phillips
June 17, 2021,

The LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them. (Deuteronomy 4:31 NKJV)

 The word of God says in Psalms 94:18 that the mercy of the Lord holds us up when we slip so we don’t slide. What is the mercy of the Lord?  If He is willing to transform our disgust to His mercy, what is His mercy?  As I dug for this treasure through my love letter from God, I discovered that there are several words for mercy in the Old Testament.  The text below is the definition for merciful from the Hebrew word raḥûm which is a derivative of rāḥam.  This paints a picture of our merciful God.

The Lord is a merciful God.
The Lord is a God full of compassion.
The Lord is tenderly affectionate.
The Lord is a loving God.
The Lord loves deeply.

The Lord will not forsake you.
The Lord will not destroy you.
The Lord will not forget you. It is not who He is. 

The Lord loves your tender.
When the He says, “I love you,”
it is not a superficial sentiment.
The Lord  means it from His heart.
The Lord God is so into you.
The Lord  loves you tender.
The Lord is merciful to you.

I enCOURAGE you in the  tender mercy of the Lord.  He is not angry with you.  He is not out to get you because you did wrong or chose wrong.  He is not trying to hurt you.  He loves you right where you are.  He loved you and was willing to save you at your worst.  His love for you is unconditional.  The Lord is merciful.

by Tammy
June 16, 2021

If the Lord had not been my help, My soul would have soon lived in the land of silence. When I said, my foot slips, thy MERCY, O LORD, held me up.  (Psalm 94:17-18)

When we invite Jesus into our life, I think there is a common misconception.   It is not like, “Hey Jesus come on in” and poof, we are perfect.  I wish.  I have come to learn that as followers of Christ, the carpenter, we are an ongoing renovation project.  When we seek Him and dive into His word, He renews our minds.  He directs us back on track.  He gently loves us back to Him and the life He has planned for us.

February 20,2021 was my youngest son’s birthday and a time for celebration.  I should have been very happy, yet it began as a sad and tearful morning.   My plea to our Father for over a month had been, “TURN MY DISGUST INTO YOUR MERCY!” On this somber morning, I was full of disgust with the sinful, evil direction of our country.  I was disgusted by national and state “leaders;” with the deception and leadership in church; by my people who say they know Jesus as their Savior, but have turned their backs on Him as their Lord; by the narcissistic selfishness of others.  What made me the most disgusted is that it took so long to get the log out of my own eye.  I was disgusted with me. 

I thought of the failures of my past year.  I had been given extra time to lose weight for my oldest son’s wedding and I had not been resolute in the process.  I was done with my own self. I concluded that I a big problem with self-control, specifically food. How could I be resolute in so many things, but not this stupid battle? I felt like a fake and liar.  My maiden’s name was “Lowe”, and I was living up to my name.

Snow and ice covered the ground that day. I suddenly grasped why we have to stay in the footsteps of Jesus and walk by faith.  When we get out of step with Jesus, it is so easy to backslide.  When we get out of alignment, it wreaks havoc. When we get out of love into disgust it is not the place to be.

If the Lord had not been my HELP, My soul would have soon lived in the land of silence. When I said, my foot slips, thy mercy, O LORD, held me up.  (Psalm 94:17-18)

MERCY…MERCY…MERCY…thank God for His mercies, lovingkindness, and goodness that are new every morning.

I enCOURAGE you to let the mercy of the Lord hold you up when you slip and when you are walking along in faith.  Allow Him to turn your disgust into His mercy.  It is your choice.   It is easier to be kind, loving and good to others, but be kind to yourself.  Love and be good to yourself.  The truth is Jesus believes you are worth it.  He loves you!

(Photo Credit:  Pasi Hyttinen)

by Tammy Phillips
June 15, 2021

 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1 NKJV) 

I cannot do it by myself.  I have tried and failed and failed.  Without faith it is impossible to please God. He who comes to God must believe that God is, and that Lord is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6 NKJV) What is faith?  Faith is not a wish.  Faith is not “wishy-washy.”   Faith is…

Now faith, the moral conviction of truth, knowing the truthfulness of God.  Knowing God was, is and will always be Who He said He was.  Knowing God will do what He says He will do.

Now faith… the belief: the assent, the step, of the mind to the truth of what is declared by God, resting on his authority and His veracity (habitual observance of truth) …

is the substance, a placing under, substructure, foundation, confidence, assurance, resolution, firm trust, steadfastness of mind, firmness…

is the substance, the UNDER STANDING, THE STANDING UNDER, the understanding, the place where we stand immovable, immutable, unbendable, unshakable, unstoppable, firm, persistent, perseverant, resolute, the place under Him where we stand by His promises.

Faith is knowing and believing God is who said He is and that His promises are true.

Faith is the substance of things:  business, matters, work, that which has been done, an accomplished fact, that which is or exists…

hoped for, the hopeful, joyful, confident expectation of good

the evidence, conviction brought to light, that by which invisible things are proved (and we are convinced of their reality), the exposition of God’s word, work, accomplishments, and His business…

not yet seen but done.

Faith is a place. 
Faith says I am not moving.
Faith says I am resolute.
Faith is to know.
Faith is to know by experience.
Faith is to have the same ideas as He who speaks.
Faith says I under-stand and stand under.
Faith is what we support or hold in the mind.

We either have faith in God or the whispers of the enemy.  Everyone chooses to listen to the Truth or to the Liar.  The truth will set you free. The lie will keep you bound. Who are you listening to?  Where are you standing, in or out of faith?   Are you in good place or bad?  Are you in the place of faith or fear? 

I enCOURAGE you to have faith in God. Stand saying: “I am a believer. I am an overcomer. I am confident. I am resolute.  God said it and I believe it.  God is who He says He is, and He will do what He says He will do.  I have hopeful, joyful, confident expectation of God working even though I do not see it.  I cannot see it, but I believe it.  However, I know by faith in God that it is done.”

Saturday over the Cumberland River, Clarksville, TN   (June 12, 2021)

by Tammy Phillips
June 14, 2021

For by grace, you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; [it is] the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV) 

A young man asked for prayer.  His request was that He would remember God’s love for Him and that it is has nothing to do with what He does.  We encouraged him.  Holy Spirit led me to Psalms 139:13-17 and Ephesians 2:10.

The paraphrased reminder I gave Him and now you…

He knows you.
He formed your insides.
He knit you together in your mother’s womb.
You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
His works are wonderful and you are one of them!

Your frame was not hidden from Him,
When you were being formed in secret.
The LORD intricately and skillfully wove you together
like you were embroidered with many various colors of thread.

You are His workmanship
You are His own master work.
You are a work of art.
You are created in Christ Jesus. 
You are reborn from above.
You are spiritually transformed.
You are renewed.
You are ready to be used for good works.
God prepared the path before you.
so that you would walk in them…
Living the good life which He prearranged and made ready.

The LORD saw your unformed substance.
The days that were appointed for you were
all written in His book before you were even born!

We continued to pray and then later “I” looked down at my open Bible and read a note that I had written to my self of January 27, 2015.  It is what I call a little love note from the Lord.  It is when God reveals Himself through His word in a different way. This is what I wrote in response to Ephesians 2:8-9…

“For by favor you are SAVED through faith and all that means …
IT IS NOTHING YOU DO.  It is…the GIFT OF GOD.”

This brought me back to a time when God gave me a gift that I thought I did not deserve.  It is a time when He “saved” me from myself.  I just could not fathom such favor in the middle of such imperfection and honestly, incomplete surrender and disobedience.  God did this for us all when He sent Jesus. He gifted us salvation in Jesus when we sure did not deserve it. 

This young man shared His heart and at the same time God wrecked mine.   He reminded me, AGAIN, that He is big enough to love us right where we are. Every day, every moment, every breath is a chance to begin again with God.

I enCOURAGE to take time today and remember how very much the Lord loves you. He loves you in the middle of your mess.  He loves you in the middle of your victories and failures.  It is nothing you do.  It is who He is.  Spend time loving on our Good Father. 

by Tammy Phillips
June 13, 2021

“Who led them through the deep, as a horse in the wilderness, that they might not stumble?”  (Isaiah 63: 13 NKJV)

“I like a bumpy ride.  I like driving on cobblestones roads and interstate lanes lined with cones that have been scraped for resurfacing,” said no one ever.  When I take off on a long journey, I hit the wide-open space of the interstate.  The very best ride is when the highway has just been completed resurfaced and it silky smooth with no potholes or obstructions.

When God led Israel though the high congealed walls of the deep in the Red Sea, He gave them a smooth, “newly-resurfaced-interstate” ride.  According to Isaiah 63:13, their way was like a wide-open field where a horse could freely run or where cattle could effortlessly be driven, obstacle free.   He cleared the obstructive path so they would not stumble, fall, waver, totter in the ankles or be weak in the knees.

Can you imagine being called to the Red Sea with an enemy in fast pursuit?  You arrive at the edges of the shore.  No boats are insight to deliver you from the oncoming attack   the thought crosses your mind of emanate doom.  There is NO WAY and then a way is made.  You witness the sea part.  Your mind is blown and then you must muster up enough courage to take the step of faith to walk through it to the other side.

When we are called into the deep, to places unknown, and into unchartered territory like the bottom of the Red Sea, the Lord said three things that help us go through to the other side:  

1. “The path of the righteous is level; you, the Upright One, make the way of the righteous smooth.” (Isaiah 26:7 NIV)

The LORD say that He will do the same thing for us, His chosen, that He did for His people at the Sea.  He will make our journey level and smooth.  We will be free to release the horsepower and drive wherever He is leading. 

2. “The LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones;You shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.” (Isaiah 58:11 NKJV)
   
   “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.” (Psalm 32:8 NKJV)

When we choose to follow, He will guide us continually. He will teach us the way to go. He will keep His eye on us. Like a mother who does not ever let her child get fully out of her sight. And He will give us unfailing strength to stand, stand and stand.   No weak knees. No tottering ankles.  Strong and progressing through the deep to the other side.

3.  “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called [you] by your name; You [are] Mine. When you pass through the deep waters, I [will be] with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. 3 For I [am] the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; (Isaiah 43:1-3 NKJV)

Got does not call us to walk alone though the “deep.” He is always with us.  When we take the step of faith to trust Him, He promises that “deep” will not overtake us. 

“The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” (1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT)

I enCOURAGE you to follow the Lord through the “deep.”  Whatever you are going through, be led by Him.  He will take you to and through the unimaginable.  If you follow Him, no bumpy rides.  He will make a smooth and level way for you to gracefully speed like a galloping horse through the wide-open, unobstructive spaces. 

I see peace and freedom!  Can you?