Scripture for the week of March 18, 2023 By JoBeth Kested
I will stand at my guard post. I will station myself on the wall. I will watch to see what He will say to me and what answer I will get to my complaint. Habakkuk 2:1 (GW)
Have you ever had to wait longingly for an important letter or phone call that would free you from the anxiety of something unknown or for hopes fulfilled? How agonizing the waiting process can be; demanding all of our attention and hindering our ability to focus on anything else! What if we turned that same waiting expectation and anticipation toward hearing God’s voice? It is interesting that this scripture instructs us to watch and wait with the assurance that God will answer our complaints or questions. Or with the Lords gentle reproving correction from some others translations. We are encouraged to take our place like a disciplined soldier standing guard upon the fortress high place and to watch with confident expectation that our loving God will surely answer all our doubts, fears, questions and complaints. Lord, help us to wait on You. Give us eyes to see your ways and ears to hear your voice. Yes, amen.
May grace and shalom be yours in full measure, as you come to a full knowledge of God and Yeshua our Lord. God’s power has given us everything we need for life and godliness, through our knowing the One who called us to his own glory and goodness. By these he has given us valuable and superlatively great promises, so that through them you might come to share in God’s nature and escape the corruption which evil desires have brought into the world.
For this very reason, try your hardest to furnish your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with perseverance, perseverance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if you have these qualities in abundance, they keep you from being barren and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Indeed, whoever lacks them is blind, so shortsighted that he forgets that his past sins have been washed away.
Therefore, brothers, try even harder to make your being called and chosen a certainty. For if you keep doing this, you will never stumble. Thus you will be generously supplied with everything you need to enter the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Deliverer, Yeshua the Messiah. 2Peter 2-11 CJB
We are to try even harder to make your being called and chosen a certainty. We do this not by faking it until we make it. We do this by furnishing our faith … with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with perseverance, perseverance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if you have these qualities in abundance, they keep you from being barren and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.
What is furnishing our faith, you may be asking. Peter makes it very understandable. Move in like weighty furniture: goodness with knowledge; knowledge with self control; self control with perseverance; pperseverance with godliness; godliness with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love.
He further tells us that if we place weight on these things with every thought, deed and action in abundance, they will keep us from being barren and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.
Wow! Abba, we come before You today and repent for our missing the mark. For not lining up with what You place weight on. Our desire is for Your authentic outpouring of Your Holy Spirit. Have it all, Abba. We lay down our agenda, our worship, our plans. We lay it all down before You and receive Your authentic Ruach HaKodesh in Yeshua’s Name.
We declare that we will try even harder to make being called and chosen a certainty. We will furnish our faith from this point forward as You have instructed. We command barrenness to leave!, blindness to leave, eyes and ears to be opened! That we may receive the full knowledge of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah!
We commit to keep doing this. We receive Your Word through Peter that by doing as You have instructed, we will not stumble. That we will be generously supplied with everything that we need to enter the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Deliverer, Yeshua the Messiah. Amen!
Blessing and Shalom-Love Beyond Measure, Beth Auman
Scripture for the week of March 11, 2023 By JoBeth Kested
Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 3:13-14
Are you tired of carry around the heavy baggage of some old disappointments, regrets and sorrows? Wouldn’t it be nice to let go of the weights that keep holding us back and tripping us up? This scripture in Ephesians encourages us to focus on the prize of all God has given us in Jesus that is already within our reach. We must let go of one rung on a ladder in order to reach for the next to climb higher or like a flying acrobat must let go of one swing reaching forward to grab the bar of the next one to swing ahead. We can reach for the Lord’s hand to guide us forward toward a renewed joy and hope in His salvation, goodness and provision. So, letting go of all that old baggage, let’s press toward the high calling and promise of abundant life (John 10:10) that is ours in Christ Jesus. Thank You, God!
The Feast of Purim is in the month of Adar and is the happiest, most joyous celebration time in the Hebraic calendar. This is definitely a month for those who have prevailed with us on the “Quest of the Overcomers” to experience fullness of joy!
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” Galatians 5:22NKJV
Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10NKJV
The Feast of Esther is on the 13th of Adar, which celebrates the story in the book of Esther about the beautiful Jewish girl that became the queen of king Ahasuerus in ancient Persia. The Feast of Purim, on Adar 14, is remembrance of when the wicked schemes of Haman’s bitterness towards the Jew, Mordecai, (Esther’s uncle) to destroy all the Jews in the land, were overthrown and turned into sweetness of joy!
“When Haman saw that Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage to him, Haman was filled with rage. But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were; therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.” Esther 3:5-6NASB
“…In the name of King Ahasuerus it was written, and sealed with the king’s signet ring. And the letters were sent by couriers into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their possessions.” Esther 3:12-13
And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:13-14
Esther trusted in the wise counsel of her uncle Mordecai and submitted herself and the eminent destruction of her Jewish people to God. She relied totally on Him alone as she instructed all her handmaidens and the Jews in the city to fast and pray with her. With clear instructions, requiring her trust and obedience, she was not disappointed to see the salvation of God. In the end it was Haman and his entire family that were destroyed and the Jewish people were saved!
“By these letters the king permitted the Jews who were in every city to gather together and protect their lives—to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province that would assault them, both little children and women, and to plunder their possessions, on one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.
The Jews had light and gladness, joy and honor. And in every province and city, wherever the king’s command and decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a holiday.” Esther 8:11-12, 16-17a NKJV
What is our Spiritual warfare assignment in this month of Adar? Pray about this.
Scripture for the week of March 5, 2023 By JoBeth Kested
He gives power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:29-31 (KJV)
Have you ever been so weary with the heaviness of discouragement that you feel like you can hardly hold your head up much less walk or run? Or are you facing situations beyond your control that seem impossible to deal with? This scripture informs us that those who wait on the Lord have access to His power and strength beyond where the young will faint and give up! Though we usually find it hard to wait on anything or anybody, this kind of waiting is not idle with twittleling our thumbs. It is an active, persevering, listening and inquiring kind of waiting with expectation and anticipation for a demonstration of God’s miraculous power working in us and through us and for us. As we wait on the Lord, His supernatural power with His mighty strength renews and empowers us to run our race and also lifts our spirit up to soar like eagles! Lord, please help us and teach us how to wait!
Learning to accept and yield to the sovereignty of God is not an easy process. When it seems our prayers only hit the ceiling. When we can’t understand “WHY!” in all the affliction of our circumstances. Everything we thought we knew about the character and ways of God isn’t making sense. Our faith may be deeply shaken or feeling shattered under the weight of a broken heart. The disappointments and suffering sometimes leads us into a dark night of the soul that no one would ever choose. As believers we are forced to deal with scriptures that we would prefer to quickly pass over.
Is anyone excited about being invited to come and die? “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25). Or, what about those not mentioned by name in the Hebrews Hall of Faith, “of whom the world was not worthy…having attained a good testimony of faith yet did not receive their promise.” (Hebrews 11:38-39).No, that is NOT encouraging! And, none of us go around believing for the promise at the beginning of John 16:33! “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” It’s definitely not easy to embrace this scriptural command to be cheerful in the middle of our trials and suffering. But, that is exactly what we’re told to do in the process of learning how to live in the overcoming power of Jesus.
I once heard a message by a minister that had paid a high price for persevering faith. He said, “Both Satan and God are out to kill us, the choice is ours who gets to do the job!” What a sobering statement! Though I didn’t fully understand his premise at that time, I never forgot that message and have drawn from the truth of it many times. Our best option is definitely to choose a loving Father God that not only promises a glorious eternity, but peace that passes understanding, sufficient grace, merciful kindness, and a future with hope.
Some years after experiencing a radical salvation, I found myself captive in a deep dark pit of depression; and couldn’t see any way out. At some point I came to the realization that I was faced with a choice. I could continue down the slippery slope into the deep dungeon of hopeless despair, defending and holding on to all my dashed dreams, rejected woundedness with self righteous victimizing pity; or choose to believe that God is Who He says He is in His Word. That meant no longer believing in a God that was supposed to fit into all my boxes. It required making the critical choice to believe that the Word of God is more real than my feelings. To surrender to the truth that He is sovereign and worthy of worship even if I never understand His ways or purpose in my circumstances. The light of His Word began to shed light in my darkness. It was a process of learning to discover His sufficient grace with mercy and blessings in each new day, and choosing gratitude instead of victimization with it’s accompanying hopelessness. God’s word truly became light unto my steps.
Father God, I pray for anyone finding themselves relating to these words. Please remove any blinders from their eyes. May Your merciful loving kindness heal broken hearts and help them forgive those that betrayed and wounded them. Break them free from the chains of bondage, victimization and self pity. Let them know your goodness and find your empowering sufficient grace to make the hard choice of surrender to Your sovereignty. Help them accept that Your ways are not our ways, nor are Your thoughts our thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8) May the truth of Your Word shed light in the darkness; revealing Your overcoming path for them. In Jesus’s Name, amen.
May the following scriptures be light in the dark for you as much as they were for me.
“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!” (Psalms 27:13-14)
“But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)
“Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:18-19)
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
“Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’” (Isaiah 41:10)
I truly believe and declare, that like me, you will also discover the resurrection healing power of God in your life. You will not only experience the reality of Isaiah 61, but you will now qualify to walk in an anointing of those called to set other captives free.
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.” Isaiah 61:1-3, 6a-7 NIV
Scripture for the week of February 26, 2023 By JoBeth Kested
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” Lamentations 3:20-24 (ESV)
Do you ever struggle to find your faith to trust God in the midst of overwhelming situations? It can be especially hard when it seems like the cries of your prayers bounce off the ceiling and all you hear is silence. In the verses before these scriptures, the Prophet Jeremiah describes in great detail his sufferings and that he feels like God caused it all. He was not afraid to talk to God about his disillusionment, frustrations and anguish. But, he then reminds himself of God’s love, mercies and faithfulness in the past. How amazing that even though the circumstances have not changed, Jeremiah is able to declare with renewed hope that the Lord is all he needs! Take your list of problems to God today and pour out your doubts, fears and pain. Then be encouraged with new hope recalling all of the Lord’s unshakeable love, unending mercies and great faithfulness to you always. Selah (ponder and think on these things).
Scripture for the week of February 19, 2023 By JoBeth Kested
JoBeth Kested – Photo Credit
I pray … that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe… Ephesians 1:17-19 (NASB)
Are you in need of wisdom to solve a baffling situation or revelation to grasp something beyond your understanding? Do you need renewed hope to see beyond impossible mountains to difficult to overcome? Wisdom requires discernment sometimes beyond our awareness, revelation can breakthrough as a dawning truth and hope is the anticipation of a fulfilled need or desire. We are reminded in this scripture that in knowing Him, our Father God gives to us the gift of His spirit of wisdom and revelation. We can also expect to “see” a lightening in our hearts to KNOW the hope of His calling. As His chosen ones, there is an awesome greatness of His power toward us who believe in Him. And, there is a wealth of glory that is His inheritance in us! May you know the greatness of His wisdom, power, and love for you! Amen!
Dear friends, don’t trust every spirit. On the contrary, test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Here is how you recognize the Spirit of God: every spirit which acknowledges that Yeshua the Messiah came as a human being is from God, and every spirit which does not acknowledge Yeshua is not from God — in fact, this is the spirit of the Anti-Messiah. You have heard that he is coming. Well, he’s here now, in the world already!
You, children, are from God and have overcome the false prophets, because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore, they speak from the world’s viewpoint; and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God doesn’t listen to us. This is how we distinguish the Spirit of truth from the spirit of error.
Beloved friends, let us love one another; because love is from God; and everyone who loves has God as his Father and knows God. Those who do not love, do not know God; because God is love. Here is how God showed his love among us: God sent his only Son into the world, so that through him we might have life. Here is what love is: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the kapparah for our sins.
Beloved friends, if this is how God loved us, we likewise ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God remains united with us, and our love for him has been brought to its goal in us. Here is how we know that we remain united with him and he with us: he has given to us from his own Spirit. Moreover, we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent his Son as Deliverer of the world. If someone acknowledges that Yeshua is the Son of God, God remains united with him, and he with God.
Also we have come to know and trust the love that God has for us. God is love; and those who remain in this love remain united with God, and God remains united with them.
Here is how love has been brought to maturity with us: as the Messiah is, so are we in the world. This gives us confidence for the Day of Judgment. There is no fear in love. On the contrary, love that has achieved its goal gets rid of fear, because fear has to do with punishment; the person who keeps fearing has not been brought to maturity in regard to love.
We ourselves love now because he loved us first. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar. For if a person does not love his brother, whom he has seen, then he cannot love God, whom he has not seen. Yes, this is the command we have from him: whoever loves God must love his brother too.
Today, we come before Your Throne Abba and thank You for Your Love. Your Love, Your way of Love far exceeds anything that any of us could ever imagine. Anything that this world could offer us.
Thank You for Loving each of us. We choose You, Your will, Your way, Your Son Jesus Christ-Yeshua HaMashiach and declare that He is our Anointed Salvation.
Fill each of us a fresh with Your Ruach HaKodesh today to overflowing measure that we may share Him and impart Him to others who need Him.
Be who You are in fullness Abba. We place no limits on You! Be who You are on our behalf.
In Yeshua (Jesus) Name Amen
Blessings and Shalom- Love Beyond Measure, Beth Auman
Scripture for the week of February 12, 2023 By JoBeth Kested
“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Luke 11:9-10 (NIV)
If God supposedly knows everything and has a plan, why should we bother with prayer and asking for His help? Do you have childhood memories of playing hide-and-seek and how much fun it is to surprise someone in their hiding place? And how special it is to see the joyous expression on a loved one’s face when they walk into a surprise party in their honor? These verses reveal God’s heart in that He longs for us to seek Him and to find the overwhelming joy of how much He loves us. How awesome that God loves to reveal Himself to us and to surprise us with signs and wonders in answering our prayers. Be encouraged to keep on asking to receive, seeking to find and knocking for the open doors of God’s blessings and abundant provision for you today.
