lead.

Psalm 31:3b

"for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;"

I might have posted this verse before; but I think that often times I seek guidance from God selfishly. I want this to be my prayer:

Lord, lead me and guide me for YOUR NAME'S SAKE!

the God-centeredness of God.

It's easy as human beings to fall into the trap of attempting to make God man-centered. But thankfully God sets us straight and lets us know what focus has always been and will always be. Here are just a few verses that I looked up... There are plenty more throughout scripture...

Isaiah 43:25

"I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake"

Exodus 9:16

(to pharoah)

"But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."

Exodus 33:19

(to moses)

"And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."

Psalm 106:8

"Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make known his mighty power."

Isaiah 42:8

"I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.'

Isaiah 43:7

"everyone who is called by my name,whom I created for my glory,whom I formed and made."

Isaiah 48:9

"For my name’s sake I defer my anger,for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you,that I may not cut you off.

Ezekiel 20:44

"And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD."

Romans 1:5

"Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith."

Romans 3:24-26

"and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Romans 9:11-22

"Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls—she was told, "The older will serve the younger." Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."
What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses,
"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?" But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, "Why did you make me like this?" Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory"

Ephesians 1:4-6

"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace."

1 John 2:12

"I am writing to you, little children,because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake."

Revelation 4:11

"Worthy are you, our Lord and God,to receive glory and honor and power,for you created all things,and by your will they existed and were created."

Revelation 5:12

"saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!"

the honor of suffering

"At thirty-two [John G.] Paton accepted the call to missionary service in the New Hebrides in the South Pacific. In March of 1858 he married Mary Ann Robson, and on April 16 they sailed together for the cannibal island of Tanna. In less than a year they had built a home and Mary had given birth to a son. But on March 3, 1859, one year after their marriage, Mary died of the fever, and in three weeks the infant son died. John Paton buried them alone, and wrote, "But for Jesus... I'd have gone mad and died beside that lonely grave."

One of the gifts that Jesus had given him to sustain him in those days were the words his wife spoke before her death. She did not murmur against God in her final sickness, or resent her husband bringing her to the New Hebrides. Rather she spoke these incredible words: 'I do not regret leaving home and friends. If I had it to do over, I would do it with more pleasure, yes, with all my heart.' "

- The Pleasures Of God (by John Piper)

Philippians 1:29

"For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake..."

10 plagues.

Question:

What is the primary reason why God sent the plagues on Egypt?

Answer? :

To get Israel out of Egypt? No.

A direct assault on individual egyptian gods in the name of God's fame? YES!


Plague......................Egyptian god

Livestock.......................Hathor - Egyptian Cow goddess

Locusts.........................Osiris - god of vegetation

Nile to Blood...................Anuket - nile goddess

Frogs (getting stepped on)......Heket - frog goddess

Hail............................Min - sky god of rain for fertility of land

Flies/Beetles...................Kephri - beetle god

Boils...........................Anubis - healer god

Lice............................Bes - domestic god, protector against pests

Darkness........................Ra - sun god

Firstborn.......................Pharaoh, a god in human form

The last two plagues (darkness and firstborn) were direct attacks on the most important of the egyptian gods: ra (the chief god) and the pharaoh himself.

Egypt was seen by the rest of the world at that time as the greatest empire. The whole world was watching as God demonstrated his power.

Romans 9:17

For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."

Exodus 7:14

"Thus says the LORD, "By this you shall know that I am the LORD: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood."

Exodus 8:10

"And he said, 'Tomorrow.' Moses said, 'Be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God.'"

Exodus 9:14-16

"For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth."

This was the primary purpose for the plagues. In fact, many egyptians were impacted so greatly that they decided to join the israelites on their exodus!

Exodus 12:37-38

"That night the people of Israel left Rameses and started for Succoth. There were about 600,000 men,[a] plus all the women and children. A rabble of non-Israelites went with them, along with great flocks and herds of livestock."

the task remaining.

matthew 24:14

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."

romans 15:20-21

"and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, but as it is written, Those who have never been told of him will see,and those who have never heard will understand."

revelation 5:9
"And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy are you to take the scrolland to open its seals,for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for Godfrom every tribe and language and people and nation"


number of unreached people groups = 6,442
(www.joshuaproject.net)


"His authority on earth allows us to dare to go to all the nations. His authority in heaven gives us our only hope of success. And His presence with us leaves us no other choice."
-John Stott

his glory revealed.

Psalm 19:1

"The heavens declare the glory of God,and the sky above proclaims his handiwork."

I made this video after seeing photos taken from the hubble telescope.

Marriage

"Marriage and sexuality is a stuardship. I must give my wife back better than I received her. And I must give the world we shared back to God better than we received it. Marriage is yet another arena in which to live out your vocation to serve Christ. Dietrich Bonhoeffer once spoke to a love-struck couple in a marriage homily: 'In your love you see only the heaven of your own happines, but in marriage you are placed at a post of responsibility towards the world and mankind.' We do nothing in this life unto ourselves alone. Even a happy marriage is not only for the happiness of husbands, wives, and children; it is for God's glory."
-Ben Patterson

blessed be the name of the LORD

"Every blessing You pour out I'll

turn back to praise

And when the darkness closes in, Lord

Still I will say


Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your glorious name"

I take the words of worship songs for granted sometimes.
I have to ask myself sometimes, "Is God's name being blessed/glorified/hallowed in my actions/life/plans?"
And when the darkness closes in... will i STILL choose to say "blessed be the name of the LORD?"
The darkness is constantly closing in. Whether it be a direct attack or through subtle lukewarmness.

I pray daily that sanctification would be continual and that I would only increase in passion for the Lord's name to be blessed.