Tag: Bible

Saturated

God speaks to me in words. Sometimes it is just one word and I know I am to study what the word means and how it is spiritually significant. My word for today is ‘saturated.’ When I think of saturated, I think of a sponge which cannot contain any more liquid. I decided to see if there were other meanings. Even though the thought of being so full (my cup runneth over) that my heart spills the love of God is exciting, I know there is more. I am thrilled with the definitions from the online dictionary:

  • soaked, impregnated; charged thoroughly or completely; brought to a state of saturation.
  • (of colors) of maximum chroma or purity; free from admixture of white. 
  • Saturated as related to Chemistry: (inorganic compound) having no free valence electrons. 

Now, let’s take a look at these definitions. Impregnated: to be with child (to have the Word Living inside of us so that we can draw on it at any time.) To cause to be infused or permeated throughout, Ex: a piece of cloth can be ‘impregnated’ with perfume. Our lives saturated with him and his love is a sweet perfume to God and our worship is as fragrant as the costly perfume Mary used to pour on our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ! 

Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. 2 Corinthians 2:15

Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance. John 12:3

Charged thoroughly or completely – charged with the Words of our Lord! Brought to a state of saturation – so there is hope to be in the process of being saturated. When we become saturated by the Word, it is life to us.

My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body. Proverbs 4:20-22

Of maximum purity and free from admixture mean to be free from any alien element. What is alien to a believer? Anything that is not from God or pleasing to God. If you look up the word pure in the Bible, you will see that all the fragrances in the temple were pure, as well as the silver and gold. We are called to pureness and we are his temple.

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Philippians 4:8

And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight. 2 Peter 3:14

But when Jesus said “this temple,” he meant his own body. John 2:21

In chemistry, it relates saturated to having no free valence electrons. This means if a substance is saturated, it cannot bind to foreign matter – it is pure. There is nothing free to allow a bonding with a saturated substance, nothing can penetrate it. If we are saturated with the word of God, the truth, then nothing else can bind to us or penetrate our hearts. When we are saturated, none of the evil gets in, nothing can pull us away, because He has filled our hearts and minds. Furthermore, we are in unity with Jesus and those who follow God with their whole heart.

Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all. Ephesians 4:3-6

“I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began! John 17:22-24

Prayer: Father, help me to be saturated with your word. Bring it to my remembrance in every situation. I want to be so saturated that your Word flows out of me and rids me of anything that is not pleasing to you. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Banished for Our Good…

God banished Eve from the garden of Eden so that she would learn to Trust Him again and be obedient. She tried to learn things in her own time and in her own way when she followed the serpent. She decided God did not know what was best for her when she listened to the serpent. She Allowed the serpent to convince her that God was withholding something from her. How often do we think we know better than God? How often do we seek out the advice of others before we seek out God’s advice? God instructs us through His Word to ask him for wisdom in James 1:5-8.

Anything we put before God, we risk losing. For some it is their career, their family, or something they value more than their time with God. Whatever we devote more time to and give our heart to is our treasure. Matthew 6:21

All He asks for is our Trust in Him and our obedience, it still comes down to that after All these years: Obedience to His word and Trust in God.

If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: Isaiah 1:19 (KJV)

This verse in Isaiah is simple. In the Hebrew, the word willing means to rest content, the word obedient means to hear attentively. We (as Christians) make it so difficult. When we rest in His will for our lives, when we Trust Him and are obedient to His Word, we are blessed (eat the good of the land)! When we Trust with our Whole Heart (spirit, soul, and body) He provides for us Anything we Need.

Even when we fall away, He promises to be there for us, when we seek him with All our heart and soul:

“But from there you will search again for the Lord your God. And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him.” Deuteronomy 4:29 (NLT)

But that is no excuse to fall away, it is not a safety net to fall back on. We are called to live by His Spirit which makes us holy and not return to our former ways.

God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and more grace and peace… So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:2, 14-16 

But let’s not think that solely through our obedience we will be blessed by God. Following God is not through rote. (definitions of rote: routine; a fixed, habitual, or mechanical procedure; without thought of the meaning, done in a mechanical way.) We must have Faith (which is Trust) in God!

“Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless.” Romans 4:13-14 

Prayer: Father, help me to Trust in your ways and be obedient to your will for my life. Thank you for loving me. Help me to know when I don’t hear your answer that I have not asked correctly or I’ve allowed my own thoughts to take precedence. I know you have my best interest in mind, help me to walk in your timing and not my own. In Jesus’ Precious name, Amen.

Unity of Faith

From dictionary.com: 

unity (noun) 
  • the state of being one; oneness.
  • a whole or totality as combining all its parts into one.
  • the state or fact of being united or combined into one, as of the parts of a whole; unification.
  • absence of diversity; unvaried or uniform character.
  • oneness of mind, feeling, etc., as among a number of persons; concord, harmony, or agreement.
Synonyms: accord, agreement, harmony, integrity, peace.

Unity of faith brings maturity, peace and perfect love.

Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. Ephesians 4:14-15

What will bring this maturity about?

This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Ephesians 4:13

When will we have this unity of faith; what has to happen?

He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. Ephesians 4:16

Unity of faith brings maturity. Then we will live as we were created to live, by complementing each other in the body. We will live in peace and grow in perfect love – God’s love.

In Jesus Christ’s own words:

“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.”  John 17:20-23

(Emphasis by underlining is added.)