Jesus, the Name that is above every other name... 

I was having some quiet time with the Lord the other day.  It's seems that has been really hard to do lately.  The more I try to do, the faster life seems to go.  Except I'm getting to be old and life is supposed to be slowing down right.  Let me tell you something about getting older, it's not like they tell you.  You spend your time as a child wishing to be an adult only to arrive and find out, being an adult ain't so great.  Then, as an adult, you wish and hope for your 'older' years so you can retire and have a freer life and rest more so you can recover from the stress of 'Adulting.'  Ha!!!  It seems there has been some lying going on...and if you are like me, you have tried to fix yourself, physically, spiritually, emotionally.  You've read so many 'how to' books, said and did all 'they' (who are they again?? I wanna have a talk with 'they'), only to find those books make great bonfire materials.  There is only one truth, His Name is Jesus.  

So, I've done my research.  I've had my lab tests done.  All the lab tests came back normal.  Hmmmm, things that make you go hmmm...What looks like a duck, squawks like a duck, waddles like a duck, and yet, is not a duck?  Any good discerning Christian can tell you - IT'S A DEMON!!! This thing they say 'you have' and yet - your lab values come back normal..??? now honey, that just don't make sense.  The number one concept that is so hard to teach others and yet, is of the most absolute important principles in Christianity is that because we are created in God's image and God spoke the world in to order, our words - when we speak have power.  If you want to see effective change in your life put a muzzle over your mouth.  Speak God's promises.  Stop just saying things like "I'm sick, I'm (fill in the blank)" and say God's Words over your life and you will see effective change for your circumstances.  

For quite some time, I have carried the words a friend spoke over me.  I did not understand at the time, but I do now.  She relayed to me "You are coming in to a time of like where you will not know what to do, you are going to laugh, you are going to cry and when you don't know what to do, laugh, just laugh."  And as she was turning away to leave, she turned back and said, "Oh yeah, learn to sleep on your back."  I was like ???  what does that mean?  She was right though - After that time period, I entered a phase of life where the spiritual attacks where happening like we were on the starship Enterprise traveling at warp 10.  I also had more than one incident happen where I had to learn to sleep on my back.  The quick and easy answer would have been to say, "God's gonna teach you about spiritual attacks."  Well, first off, I would have been like...me?  Yeah right?  You know that mocking little thing that says, "God's gonna use you?"  Ha!!! Right!!! we'll see about that.  But, that my friend is exactly what the enemy does and wants you to believe.  He want you to sit down and be quiet.  He wants you to give up.  He wants you to go along with the flow and not stand up for truth.  He wants you to doubt and be in unbelief.  And then, there we are - confused, dazed, asking ourselves "How did I get here?"  

So as I was sitting in that chair, asking what's next?  I have a 'condition' that man cannot fix.  No medicine, no cures...you can manage it but even then it's a hit or miss target to 'it might work, it might not work.'  I also have been battling standing on God's Word when I just want to give up and say, 'that's it, I'm done.'  Yet, there is a little flame, a little spark that goes off and says, "Rise up!  You are a warrior!  You are not done!!!Stand and decree!  Speak my Word, Claim my promises.  What about that woman with the issue of blood.  Well, I have an issue of blood, not like the woman in the Bible we read about, but mine is an issue of blood and just like the woman who grabbed ahold of Jesus' hem of his garment, I'm grabbing Jesus' hand.  He's the only one who can 'fix me.'  

Through all this process, the Lord has taught me and He has reminded over and over, yea, I gave up that many times, yet... He is faithful to pick me back up and carry me when I cannot or was not faithful to Him and stood me up again and again.  Proving that it's not about me, it's about Him!  It's who He is...Jesus THE NAME ABOVE EVERY OTHER NAME!!!  I'm not sick, a decrepit, broke, poor, or sad, depressed, or even angry.  I am an OVERCOMER.  I DO NOT HAVE TO FIGHT.  THE BATTLE IS ALREADY WON!  I just have to stand and say, "Thank you, Jesus."  Receive the gift He has given me and remember that no matter what it looks like, what it feels like, I am healed. I'm calling it what God calls it and I'm agreeing with God and His Word.  He said it, not me.  My physical condition is what it is...I don't ignore it, but I also don't let it rule me.  I stand until I cannot but I'm  not giving up and I'm not giving in.  I'm saying Jesus has stood me up again.  

So about the spiritual attacks, warfare...The Lord has told me and every time I doubted, God reaffirmed and  showed me again and again - nope, you're not wrong. You're not wrong, it's warfare and how can I teach you except by taking you through it.  He has taken me in to some very uncomfortable places.  I have prayed and asked the Lord to cover me with His blood before reading some of the things He led me to study all to learn about the enemy.  The enemy is more sneaky than any of us realize.  The like-minded fellowship of believers is so very important.  It seems the enemy is really winning now with all the in-fighting going on in the Kingdom of God.  Another tactic to keep Christians down and quiet so the Kingdom of God cannot advance against the darkness.  Distractions, chaos, and crying out, why Lord, why???  To hear Him say, "My son, Jesus.  The name above every other name."  

I'm here today to tell you again, Jesus is the answer.  Immediately, in that moment of feeling intense feelings of hopelessness - Memory verses started rising up - We live by faith, not by sight.  It doesn't matter what I'm seeing, hearing, feeling...God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind.  Your issue does not have a name bigger or more powerful name than Jesus.  Jesus, the Name above ALL NAMES!  Even the name of porphyria.  Amen.  I'm holding to that garment.  But Jesus has my hand and He is walking me through the flames of attacks in every area of my life.  Jesus, the Name above every other name on earth, beneath the earth or in Heaven.  Jesus! Jesus!  Jesus!  Rise up, Firewalkers!  You walk on the flames that the enemy has thrown and you're putting them out with the Washing of the Water of the Holy Spirit (God's Words) speaking God's Words to bring calmness and peace .  Jesus, THE NAME ABOVE EVERY OTHER NAME!!!

 Wow!!!  What a couple of weeks it has been...and so many bunny trails.  Sheesh!!!

You know, a lot of life's issues would be fixed if people would just read their Bibles.  Yep, seriously.  It's all there.  Nothing secret.

I decided to do some research on idols after the Lord had told me to 'study the word, Idols.'  If you believe as the pagans do, you have to have more faith, in my opinion, than you do to believe on Jesus Christ.  Yep, that's my conclusion.  This blog posting is going to squish a couple of things in here as time has been really short lately for me although, with what, it seems elusive.  It's like the older I get, the more time just vanishes.  

As I started my Bible Word study on idols I really fell in to a bunny hole.  First of all, I ran across a verse in Numbers that as I read it, I heard the Lord say, "Maybe Trump is not a Cyrus but he's a Phinehas..".  I never knew there was a 'good' Phinehas.  I only knew of the Phinehas who was one of the sons of Elisha that did evil.  So as I was studying about the name of an idol, somehow, I wound up on a verse not talking about an idol.  However, it was dealing with Israel and Moses, we all know how messed up Israel was during that time and the problem they had with, yep, you guessed it, IDOLS!!!  I felt this was a good time to write on the sacrifice God made when He sent His son, Jesus, as the sacrificial lamb for our sins to restore us to right relationship with Him.  Israel saw this played out as the blood on the doorpost and the Passover Lamb which is what I tend to think of at this time of year vs. the esoteric goddess that it seems Christianity never learns and keeps praising and honoring her name, Easter.  Hmmm, I wonder how pleased God really is with that???  Yep, I'm gonna keep on saying, "Happy Ressurection Day!"  My thoughts, "Thank you, Lord, for being my passover lamb.  For taking my sins upon that cross, dying for me and raising up on the third day!  Thank you for sending your Holy Spirit to live in me."  Yeah, that one...that's what I'm going to think on and am thinking on...Back to Phinehas...

As I said, I heard the Lord say, "Maybe Pres. Trump is a Phinehas."  I looked up the scripture in the Blue Letter Bible and found out Phinehas means a "voice of brass."  Hmmm, interesting, that could fit.  Not a put down, but when a trumpet, which is a brass instrument plays, it is heard.  President Trump has a voice that is heard.  I also thought how everyone refers to him as King Cyrus...what I saw about Phinehas, who was the son of Eleazar which means "whom God aides."  I just found that really interesting.  Pres. Trump does seem to have 'aides.'  He is very smart.  He seems to know just how to defeat the enemy.  The deal with Phinehas though, the good Phinehas, is that he saved Israel's butt from God's wrath.  I found that really interesting.  He helped to restore the Israelites back to right covenant with God for a time.  I believe this is what Pres. Trump is attempting to do for our country.  Restore us back to a biblical foundation like our country was built on, Christian principles.  And, AND as a musician, to find another verse referencing the importance of singing songs of praise to the Lord and playing instruments was just awesome!!!  I then saw Pres. Trump with his hands lifted up praising the Lord.  I don't know...I do not know him.  But things I have seen him post and say make me think 

Pres. Trump is a Bible believing Christian... but I did feel more than ever to remind myself and anyone that will hear to pray for Pres. Trump.  If you are a psalmist, you know the battle Pres. Trump is in and he is the front-man 'Phinehas.'  

Num 25:10  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 

Num 25:11  Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. 

Num 25:13  And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel. 

Num 31:6  And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand.

These are my colors....

This led me to other studies that led to other bunny trails that I am not feeling led at this point to share.  But I can say, if you will take time to spend with the Lord, hear from Him, and do what He says to do, He will bless your socks off.  Squishing on to the next topic, The Lord is my Light and my Salvation.  I woke up with an old song in my head, "The Lord is my light and my salvation.."  Sing, sing...sing, sing...hmmm, whistling, it was just in my head.  Then same day an hour or two later, I'm reading in my Bible Psalms 27, "The Lord is my light and my salvation."  LOL!!!  Thank you, Jesus!!!  He's always working that way confirming Himself to next, we get a package in the mail.  Hmmm, not expecting a package... what is it???  My husband opens it and pulls out this beautiful, fuzzy, velvety blanket with the most beautiful orange, brownish colors (which are not our colors per se), but we love this blanket.  It's beautiful - even the orange colors.  Our cat, Slim, who is an orange tabby loved it too.  He hopped on it like 'These are my colors!"   The wording on the blanket "The Lord is my light and my salvation" Bible verse.  Thank you, friends!  We are blessed!  We pray the Lord is abundantly blessing y'all too!!!  Psalms 27 was my passage for that whole week.  Everyday, meditating on it.  Reading it over and over, the whole chapter.  Strange how God works to prepare us for the next steps and what is coming when He is teaching us and leading us.  We are so much better off obeying Him than anything else.  

 So about those idols...

You know how we have all these cute little sayings.... like for instance the phrase, if you see a blue bird it means happiness.  Well, I guess there is a little truth in that for me.  I always get excited and 'happy' when I see a blue bird.  Why is that?  Maybe I'm expecting happiness...hmmm....and so, this morning, I see a blue bird and sure enough I don't have my handy dandy phone camera to snap a quick pic.  I run over to get my handy dandy phone with it's handy dandy camera and it was as expected the elusive blue bird of happiness has always flown away.  No picture obtained and then I hear...ERRPPPPPP!!!!  COUGH, HACK HACK, ERRRUUUPPPPTTTT AND UP THE OLD HATCH SHE COMES, my cat has thrown up.  He did not even produce a fur ball but he did leave a mess.  Ummmm, about that blue bird of happiness.  Well, in this life you will have trials and tribulations, however, I really don't think the Lord was speaking of fur balls and such.  My fleeting moment of happiness quickly vanished and now it's down to the business of cleaning up this mess my cat has made.  

Slim always helping me out....

And how does that relate to idols, you ask?  Well I, for one, if I'm writing about something want to do some research and it's kind of hard to do research if you are having to clean up throw up or whatever else life decides to throw your way.  So I guess you could say that's how throw up (emesis) and idols got put in to a conversation together.  Ah yes, that elusive blue bird of happiness, but they still make my heart jump a little and expectation.  Hey Lord, could we work on what I get with my expectation.  I am trying to walk in faith here.  No throw up today, no throw up today, no throw up today...  and sometimes, it feels and I hear the enemy speaking saying, "See, it doesn't work.  Give up...give in..." and something rises up in me and yells back "No!  I will not give up.  I will not give in, because God's Word says ______________ (fill in the blank with what applies to your situation...).

I had been studying healing, healing and more healing, and wondering why it hasn't happened.  The Lord has been faithful to show me things I need to work on such as not doing it in my faith but in the grace of the Lord because it is of grace by faith and that not even of yourself but Christ's faith...  ding, ding, ding, a lightbulb went off for me because I most assuredly was trying to do it by my faith.  I'm so glad that God (Jehovah) makes it really simple and easy, child-like faith.  No striving, no works, yet there are works involved and boy, does that ever get convoluted trying to explain to someone how it's not of works, yet you do have works, because faith without works is dead.  So as I'm studying out this healing topic I hear God say "Study idols."  Okay...I started studying idol/idols.  Going through some of the names was fascinating.  Who says Bible study can't be interesting and fun?  I've had to remind myself that I needed to get other things done because I wanted to spend more and more time studying.  God can make learning fun...Yeah, most people, that's what you hear...The Bible is boring.  If your Bible study is boring, I'm going to suggest that you might need to look at how and what you are studying.  I got in to more by studying symbolism.  I wanted to understand better how the terms 'spirit of leviathan' came about, or some others.  It has opened up this area of interest which has led me back to my foundation which I'm happy to say was built upon the solid rock of Christ.  It's always good to go back and check your foundation though.  Repair any cracks.  Smooth out the rough edges.  Repair what needs to be corrected, etcetera, etcetera.  

1 Corinthians 8:4 (KJV):
"As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one." 

With the high holy days of pagans coming up, one of the first things I ran in to while studying was the eating of food sacrificed to idols.  Make sure you know who you are honoring on those days of the calendar that men like to celebrate the traditions of men that make void the Word of God.  No bunny rabbits or easter eggs here.  We will, however, joyfully give thanks to God for sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place on the cross and that on the third day, Jesus rose up from the dead and won the victory.  And that He ascended to Heaven and sent His Holy Spirit to dwell in us, His children, the Ones who believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  That He was born of a virgin and that He is the only Son of God and the only one who was able to make the sacrifice.  Have I covered all the bases?  How did we get so many bases?  NEXT...

The next bullet point He gave me was - knowledge.  Anything can be an idol.  Anything you put before God and as more important than God in your life.  This could be sports, a favorite hobby, what you want to do but did call you to do it, we really have to evaluate where God wants us and what He wants us to be doing.  Yes, it is that important.  Seek Him, obey Him, no matter the cost.  Choose God over people, but all you do, do in love.  We'll have to leave that definition for another day.  

¶

Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/1co/8/1/t_conc_1070001https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/1co/8/1/t_conc_1070001

It's pretty simple actually, always seems to come back to childlike faith.  So next I'm on to some old testament verses reading about Idols and led to 2 Chron 33:7.  The words 'a carved image' stood out to me.  So using the Blue Letter bible website I research that phrase.  This led me to a discussion with the Lord about what images were allowed to be used in the building of the temple.  It matters what you bring in to your home.  You want to remodel (decorate) your home, you might want to ask God if He's okay with what you are doing...jus' sayin'  I asked the Lord and felt impressed that He has a reason certain things are totally not okay.  Well, I can hear it now..."It's my home. I can bring in to it whatever I want."  All I'm saying is you might want to check with God first.  See people don't understand that there are some things that are tied to evil that go back thousands and thousands of years.  You bring it home to your house, invite it in, and then wonder why your prayer is not being answered.  I can also hear some of my friends saying "I'll just cast it out in the name of Jesus."  Well, yes, if God is okay and you've asked Him and He said pray over it, I fully believe that will work, but what if God says, "No, get rid of it."  It's all the matter of obedience.  Are you willing to be obedient to God no matter what?  And some people, some people just do not understand because the church has let the foundation become corrupted by allowing the doctrine of demons in and the foundation has a major crack in it.  NEXT...

So pulling a few more verses on idols and I found myself back to the Hebraic roots, who they were worshipping and why God was so upset with them.  It's all in the names...  

Jeremiah 50:2

“Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.”

King James Version (KJV)

https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Jeremiah-50-2/#:~:text=Jeremiah%2050%3A2,James%20Version%20(KJV)

The sauce is in the names.  Merodach, planet Mars.  

and then my eyes caught the word strange in Ezra 10:44

Now, since I married an original conspiracy theorist, and have heard of the nephilim - none of which I ever heard about in church, and I'm so thankful for the men and women who have channels on youtube who have studied out and done the hard work of understanding Hebrew, the language.  Back to the Word...

 I had to ask myself, what was meant by 'strange?'  I had always read this and wondered - You know, Jews/Gentiles.  Accepted of God/Rejected by God except that's not in God's character.  God accepts ALL WHO COME TO HIM and ask for forgiveness.  So the term strange could not be just because they were foreigners.  No, it had to mean something different because otherwise, that would make God a liar, that He does not love every one if He is playing favorites.  Now, it's really not that simple, but it is...God has His chosen people.  He will always have them.  Why?  His Word says so, but He also has us.  Why?  His Word says so.  That's Good enough for me - Why?  Because God says so.  Say so!  

Ah, I hear the eyeballs rolling now...STOP IT!  Just stop it and think.  Does it make sense that God, who is love, would ask them to give up their wives and children.  No, it does not.  So you have to ask what fits?  The only thing that fits is the story we were never told in Sunday School or Church and pastors still won't talk about it today.  Oh, well, wait a minute.  There are a few, but they are few and far between and you don't hear about them everyday.  So the short answer is 'strange' meant something really strange...not just a foreigner and no, I don't believe in aliens, but I do believe demons exist.  So there must be something to that and I hear people shutting down, turning off, shutting off because you just rocked their theology.  I'd rather have my theology rocked than to sit in ignorance ignoring it all because I just can't fathom any other understanding of scripture than my own version.  If you are like that, I'm sorry to say friend, but you really need to get saved because aliens, UFOs and ancient blood lines - God is not afraid of your questions.  He can address all of it and He does it very well in His Word.  It really is all in His Word, The Holy Bible.  All these people running to other false gods in massive numbers thinking "they got the power," not understanding that God is talking to them about witches, warlocks, and demons and God does have the power.  The power!  The power to send them to hell and destroy their souls here and in the afterlife.  Whose side do you want to be on?  Now, is it worth your time to search out a little more... NEXT

All my studying, looking up names, and I find I'm back to a basic foundational truth in Christendom - that reaffirms my faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ, born of a virgin name Mary, took my sins, shed His blood and died on that Cross, rose from the grave and sent His Holy Spirit to dwell in me.  Very simple, child-like faith.  When Christ did this, He did not do away with the laws of the God, but He did reaffirm the covenant that God made with Abraham.  That being, He adopted us as joint-heirs with Him in Christ.  So that now, we are the sons of God, if you believe.  Remember, the demons believe and tremble, but they do not obey God.  They worship their father, satan, the father of all lies.  God simplified it even more from the Ten Commandments down to "Love the Lord, your God, with all you heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself."  Jesus did give us the authority to use His name.  He seated us in the heavenly places at His side to be joint -heirs with Him under a new covenant.  Jesus is our High Priest.  Because of Him, I have victory over the enemy.  And very strange things happen with God like, for instance, I had a paper with verses highlighted and written down.  I wanted to use it to reference in this blog posting and I kept picking up the paper looking for them and could not find them until now.  I'm only on page three of my pages of verses to look at for idol/idols.  I have six pages, front and back, of scripture verses that reference idol/idols.  So in my conclusion, I'm just going to list the verses I highlighted.  I hope something will resonate to God when He says, "My yoke is easy.  My burden is light."  My next posting will be about Psalms 27, the whole chapter, but specifically when God speaks and the day I had three separate times of God saying to me, "The Lord is my light and my salvation."  

Psa 104:15  And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart.  (reference to Holy Spirit - New wine)  New Wine

Isaiah 65:25  The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD. 

Job 37:19  Teach us what we shall say unto him; for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness. 

Psa 92:10  But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.  

New Wine

Psa 132:13  For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. 

My apologies for the length of this posting.  But I'm not sorry if it helps someone to go pick up their Bible and read what their Bible has to say.  God is still speaking, moving and acting in lives today.  I believe in the Word of Faith movement of  "I believe my Bible more than what I can see, touch, taste, hear or feel"  Jesus Is Alive.  He is still saving, healing and delivering.  Prayer is effective and effectual.  The verses I forgot to write down, now, isn't that kind of how the enemy works?  You forget to write down the most important reference so you can't direct someone to it.  It's a real battle, the fight between good and evil.  To all the faithful, I'm thankful!  Be blessed!  If you don't know Christ, let me issue you an invitation to not wait, run to your local Bible preaching church and join in studying and getting to know Christ, hopefully to turn your life over to Him and become a believer in Christ.  No better place to be than in God's presence and that you can do right now, wherever you are, but do find yourself like-minded believers to fellowship with who place priority on God's Word, and follow it over everything else.  

So, Jesus had me reading about false gods and symbols in Amos, especially in chapter five, about two weeks ago.  He then told me to start reading and studying on idols . 

Life interfered, as it always seems to in my life, and I have not been able to devote as much time as I would like to study.  So this will be another partial, but important to share, topic that I will come back and finish at another time.  

The cynic in me is crying out as I'm sure the mocker in you will cry out, "Sure, it's super bowl week.  Of course you're going to address the topic of idols..."  Well, the truth is two weeks ago God told me and part of my hesitation to do so is the exact reason behind my thinking.  Then I got to thinking, ruh roh, we're in trouble now.  I got to thinking...hmmm, I started because of an interest in Bible history, symbology, symbolism, and voila, Jesus says, "Idols.  Look up idols."  

I can tell you right now I, for one, will NOT BE WATCHING the super bowl.  I'm not going to rain on your party though, you do you.  I'll do me.  As for me, I'm choosing Jesus over super bowl period.  You cannot eat at the table of devils and the table of the Lord.  I think this is clearly one of those instances and I'm wondering, "are we at the separating of the sheep and the goats?"  Hmmm, things that make you go hmmm.  I can't help but feel that someone is being elevated to a idol status.  I'm all for patriotism, fun, and good times, but not at the expense of my salvation and being separated from God for all eternity; from what I understand, the super bowl has been found to be one of the major traffickers of humans.  I don't know, I'm not an investigative journalist.  I'm a plain ole' ordinary person who reads news articles expecting there to be accountability if someone lies, cheats, or steals.  Now, we find out everyone is lying, cheating and stealing and it makes it so hard to know what is truth.  Who needs to be hauled off to jail and who needs pardoning and maybe some counseling...

Yea, I think I'm going to be praying and asking for forgiveness for myself and my wrongs, for my country that the USA will turn back to God and return to a standard of truth, integrity and honor and your word meant something because everyone knew you were that kind of person from the start, not a sneaky, manipulative, lying, cheating, blankity, blank, blank, blank...and now we have to go repent for cussing.  Maybe I'll spend some time reading my Bible on the topic of idols and why God said, "You shall have no other Gods before me."  A return to the basics so to speak, shoring up my foundation at the leading of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus, thank you for all you do for me.  I choose you, Lord.