relationship – Page 2 – James G. Owen, Author

The Glory Shield

In the year 2019 in about the early Fall I believe, my pastor prophesied over me that God wanted me to write a book on the Glory of God. Soon after this prophesy, I began the study on the glory of God. My studies went into the hundreds of scriptures seems like and I sat and listened to God’s voice. I have several pages in my diary type notebook on this subject. Since I have done the study, I have not started on a book but began on other studies. As we are currently in a pandemic, I thought I would begin to share my thoughts, what I believe God has laid on my heart. I will do my best to relate to you these thoughts and lay out my heart to you. Now more than ever this study is needed to impart to the people. As devotionals go, they are small chunks of study in scripture. Small chunks that we can chew on during the day as we work, stay at home doing chores, or whatever we want to fill our days. I will give two chunks to think on and I do suggest and invite you to investigate the scripture I will give, and to think for yourself. To think as we read scripture is vital and then stopping to meditate and reflect on what we read because during this time God may lay something on your heart that is pertinent to your personal life.

First, let’s investigate Psalm 104:1-3.

“Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.

Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:

Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:

His glory is described in these three verses as honor, majesty, and light. To expound on these three aspects of his glory would be to define them. Honor is seen has having a good name. God in his attribute’s integrity is what comes to mind, and purity. His manner and ways show perfection as well. In majesty he is sovereign, supreme, and has dominion over everything. His sovereignty is stated in his name, and that name is I AM. The I AM is described many times in the book of John and is his son Jesus. There is no other God. He is all there is, and he was at the beginning and will be at the end. He is everlasting. He is light, and this is the way glory has been taught from the pulpits. His light radiates and permeates everything, and he is everywhere at the same time. Our God is awesome and a big God. He controls everything and his glory is seen everywhere we look on earth. In this scripture his light reflects from the surface of the water. Even his light was seen through his son Jesus. His glory is everywhere!

Secondly, his glory is a shield. In Psalm 84:11 this is what he says to all men.

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.”

In his shield of glory is light. He imparts his light through his grace, in unmerited favor to us, and he provided salvation to us through a man that was promised to us as a messiah in Genesis 3:15. This salvation came to us as a messiah for all mankind to believe upon him that he is able to forgive sin, and to conquer death. Death being the result of sin. He gave us grace and salvation because of his love for us.

He is a shield for those who know him, who know his son Jesus. A protector in time of trouble just as Psalm 3:3 says,

“But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.”

Through his wisdom, and glory he imparts to us knowledge of a shield of faith. It is in Ephesians 6 that we come to the knowledge of the shield of faith and the armor that we must put on everyday to fight life’s spiritual battles. During my study I looked at the Greek word for faith. Pistis which is found in Strong’s Greek lexicon as SG 4102 defining it as persuasion, to come to trust, having confidence, a guarantee, a revelation, and a reflection of the redeemed. What do you think when you read this definition? God tells us to enact our faith and that through his son Jesus’s name that we defeat the plans of Satan because we believe and have the confidence that what we spoke will come to pass. It is a demonstration that we have placed our trust in God. Sometimes when we enact our faith we will prophesy, give exhortations to encourage others, and having faith shows that we are his children.

As I studied on this last year, this is the thought that came to me on a Sunday morning. That thought is that his shield that we pick up is part of his glory. I saw this shield as a diamond shape with four points. At the top was his name, that is Jesus. To the right was power, to the bottom of the diamond I saw His light which incurs life, knowledge, wisdom, and these four aspects gave us the courage and strength to stand, to endure, knowing that the battles we face the victory has been assured because of our trust and faith in him. On the left part of the diamond I saw authority, and in my notes, I have 2 Corinthians 1:24, which is:

“Not for that we have dominion over your faith but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.”

It is by our faith we find the courage, strength, and trust to endure anything that we will face now in the times we are living and in the future.

In conclusion, I have given you a lot to think on. Sit and read. Pray and let all this sink in and let God speak to your heart. Tell him what you need. Tell him your heart. Ask him to give you everything you need to pick up the shield of faith and glory. Ask him to protect you and walk with you. He will go before you.

Notes:

All scripture used was taken from the King James Version, Public Domain, Biblegateway.

Strong’s Lexicon of Hebrew and Greek.

Troubles and Trials Shall Come, but there is Rest from the Storm

As I have spent my day listening to videos and taking care of needful things, my spirit hears the psalmist who wrote the 23rd Psalm. Who was this psalmist? He is a boy who defeated a giant, and grew to become king.

My thoughts on this psalm is how good God—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has been good to me. I have had many troubles, trials, temptations, and the stress that life brings, but I am still here on Earth to testify that God gives peace and rest from all life’s storms.

God is my shepherd. One I can count on to come to me when I am in trouble, and always hears my cries. He is a father to me, and I am his child. He hears my distress in my voice, turns his ear, and says, “what is it my child?” I know I can trust God and tell him all my troubles because I have done so before, and he has always brought me through. God encompasses about me, protects me each day because I live in his covenant as a tithing, born again disciple. He is with me when I need and ask for knowledge, understanding, and wisdom so that I can mature and grow spiritually.

Jehovah is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;
He leadeth me beside ^[a]still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
He guideth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Psalm 23: 1-3 ASV

God, my father and I have a special place we can go, a quiet place of my choosing, whether it be in the woods, my bedroom, or under my tallit. A place to listen to him after I have emptied my heart before him, and in this place I can find peace, and rest from the stress, the trouble that the devil has put me through, and also the distress I placed on myself.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of
he shadow of death,
I will fear no evil; for thou art with me;
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Psalm 23: 4 ASV

He provides for me in every way, forgives, and restores me. He sets my feet again on the path of righteousness when I make a mistake, or sin, and I ask him to forgive me once again. There are times I find myself in darkness because of the sin when I stumble.

Trials come, and trials go, and I have learned to keep my eyes forward so that soon the trial will cease. These trials are learning periods of hard knocks which gives me the experience to teach others, and to steer them away from the path I sorrowfully took, so that these students will not go the path I once traveled.

He sets before me a table to dine, with fine linen cloth and tableware and treating me as royalty showing me grace, mercy, and love. My enemies observes his goodness and kindness by the actions of my living, and my light shines before men.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
Thou hast anointed my head with oil;
My cup runneth over.
Psalm 23:5 ASV

Surely goodness and lovingkindness shall follow me all the days of my life;
And I shall dwell in the house of Jehovah ^[d]for ever.
Psalm 23:6 ASV

His love is forever, and I have favor as long as I stay in his covenant, revere, and respect him by obedience in keeping his covenant. Jehovah is my Lord, my Savior, and his son is the Messiah. Forever will I trust, love, and praise his name for the peace of knowing I will reach heaven.

Notes:

All scripture given has been taken from the American Standard Version, Public Domain, Biblegateway.

The Watchman On the Wall

Sin is in the world. The curse of sin has been upon man as a curse since the fall of Eve and Adam in the Garden of Eden, and the curse has been sent down through the generations spiritually.

I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence,
Isaiah 62:6 KJV

We experience sin every day by our actions and others. We turn on the TV’s and see in the news broadcasts of trouble, strife, regrets, mental distress, disease, hatred, and more. All of this is caused by our choice of actions and sin.

What are we to do? Repent is the first action. When we have our heart straight with God, then our next action is to read the Bible and learn his commandments, and what he expects of us so that we can live righteously working toward our goal, which is eternal life. We are to pray, purge our sins daily, and ask God to help us overcome our weakness so that we may avoid the temptations when they come, and they will come. We are to watch to make sure we don’t fall into sin. Sin comes unexpectedly, meaning we did not mean to sin, meaning unintentional. Yet, there are times we see it coming and make a choice, and that choice of sin is intentional because we let that sin overtake us. When intentional sin happens we must take inventory to learn why we participated in the sin. My thought is that the intentional sinner has their thoughts on the past, and the “fun” so to speak that we think it held, but there will come a time in our lives when we wake up and see we are not happy. That is the time we must realize that sin is not “fun” and dangerous to our life after death. We have the choice of living in eternal life and enjoying all that God has created after the physical death, or we will make the choice of eternal torture. When we realize that we are tired of sinning and want to make a change, then that mindset will set us on a path to learn more about the God the Father, His son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Luke 21:36 KJV

We must make the choice to become the watchman on the wall for not only ourselves, but also for others. To be that watchman is to tell others about the dangers of sin, warn them, and to tell the gospel of Jesus, and be able to understand the stories of the bible, it’s concepts and law, so that we may be able to responsibly teach scripture to others.

Notes: All scripture is taken from the King James Version Public Domain, Biblegateway.

Receiving the Wisdom of God

How do we receive wisdom from God? First, we must make repentance to God-the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob asking him to forgive us of our sins—to remove all the evil deeds we have done in our lives. In Hebrew, this would be teshuvah. We are to establish a relationship with him in righteousness, and to be able to receive anything we desire from him by asking. For sinful men, women, and children will not receive from God when we are living in sin.

After repentance and forgiveness is established in our hearts, we begin by listening to God as we pray, obeying his commandments, and what he tells us to do when he speaks to us. We must hide his word in our hearts, and we do this by serious study, memorization of scripture, and breaking down the passages to understand and find the meaning as it applies to our lives by meditating. If we do not understand what we are reading, then we can ask God to give us the meaning and learn by his Holy Spirit. For he will reveal it to us. So, stop and listen. If it doesn’t come soon, then think about it during the day.

Keep God and his word on your mind. As I read a scripture I may think about it during the day to see what God is going to say to me, or place a thought in my mind that I haven’t thought of before, and be prayerful throughout the day by unceasing prayer. Find moments during the day to pray privately, or voice a whisper as you go along. Apply his word in your heart and you will begin to understand.

My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
Proverbs 2:1-3 KJV

Ask God for wisdom and understanding. Maintain these gifts by daily scripture readings, daily prayer, and keeping the line of communication open. Listen for his voice, or any other means in which he will speak to you. It may come through an audible voice, a voice that seems like someone is there but not, or he may choose dreams that usually occur in the last portion of the morning, being 0300 am to 0600 am before sunrise.

As you gain wisdom and understanding, you will find that you understand the reverence of God. As you become closer to him in a relationship to him, you will discover you understand him more and his knowledge. For he speaks to us as a father would speak to his children in instruction, and we gain from his experiences, knowledge, and wisdom. As we walk with God in righteousness and holiness we will understand his law, righteousness, and his judgments. We will discover we have discernment and know what is sin and what is not. We will know the path to walk because of our conscience leading us telling us right from wrong.

If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.
For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
Proverbs 2: 4-7 KJV

So, how do we know when wisdom is present? Discretion will commence and subsist. It will subsist as long as we are walking in righteousness. This discretion will deliver us from evil, and that means listening to his Holy Spirit, the visions he gives us, and instructions from his messengers.

He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.
Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.
When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
Proverbs 2:8-11 KJV

As we establish a relationship with God and we repent of our sins, we must not look backward any longer. For he forgave us, delivered us, and over time will bring us to maturity through hardships, troubles and trials, that will cause us to grow so that we may open new doors of spiritual opportunity for us with him. Through all of this is how we receive the wisdom of God.

Notes:

All scripture is taken from the King James Version Public Domain Biblegateway.