A Lamp Powered by Faith

Lord you keep my uncovered lamp burning brightly,
An amazing, almighty God is my God; he lights the path before me.
My obstacles can be scaled, when God is with me.
Powered by faith; saved by grace

by Sallee Bonham
01.26.2014

Inspired by Psalm 18: 28-29; Psalm 119:105; and Luke 8:16

Psalm of the Week - Psalm 18: 28-29 - Week of January 27, 2014

28. You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.
29. With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall

Personal Application
Lord, you are the fuel that keeps my light shining. You light my lamp. Lord you are with me when I am at my darkest and you, O Lord, turn my darkness into light. With your help Father, I can keep going forward against opposition and overcome obstacles. You are the oil that keeps my lamp burning brightly.

For more on this topic read:
http://joyfilledwoman.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-lamp-kept-burning-by-oil-of-spirit.html

ATTITUDE -- An Acrostic Message

All it

Takes is to

Trust

In Jesus

Turn to Him and he will

Uplift you from your pit and

Deal with your trouble

Exactly as he promised!

All poetry is the property of the author, Sallee Bonham, and is copyrighted. If you share this poem, include the author and website. Feel free to link to this poem.

Psalm of the Week - Psalm 18: 1-3 - Week of January 20, 2014

Are you old enough to remember Telly Savalas in the television series Kojak? His signature line was, "Who loves ya baby?" Today, I know who loves me. Jehovah, the great I AM.


1.      I love you, O LORD, my strength.
2.      The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take                refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3.      I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.

Personal Application

I love you Jehovah. You are the great I AM. You are my strength, my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. You are Jehovah-Shammah, or the Lord who is there, and in whom I take refuge. You are my shield and the horn of my salvation. You are my stronghold. I call to you Jehovah-Shammah, you who are worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies. Amen.

Personal Revelations

I wanted to share two of my personal revelations.

1. God's blessings are so much larger than my dreams. 

2. My best thinking put me at the bottom of my deepest pit. THEN I reached out to God.

Relationship Lost

Adam

Clay in His hands

Born of the earth and filled with His spirit

A fragile vessel shaped and molded for His use

Disobedience cracked the perfect relationship

Eve

Clay in His hands

Born of earth and Adam’s rib

Filled with His spirit

A fragile vessel shaped and molded for His use

Disobedience cracked the perfect relationship

Jesus

Clay in His hands

Born of a virgin and filled with His spirit

A fragile vessel shaped and molded for His use

Obedience healed the perfect relationship

Me

Clay in His hands

Born of man and woman

Filled with His spirit

A fragile vessel shaped and molded for His use.

Obedience promises the perfect relationship

April 13, 2011

By Sallee Bonham

What does it mean to be pure in heart?

While I was studying for last week's post, I found an interesting piece of information at www.gotquestions.org. The Greek word for pure (katharos) usually means clean, or blameless. However,  it can also mean refined by fire or pruned. I know I have been pruned by the Lord. My pruning was voluntary. The baggage of my past was pruned away like dead, or unproductive, branches from a vine. Click on the question below to read the interesting, short article and the bible verses.
What does it mean to be pure in heart?

Psalm of the Week - Psalm 24:1-5 - Week of January 13, 2014

1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,
    the world, and all who live in it;
2 for he founded it on the seas
    and established it on the waters.

3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
    Who may stand in his holy place?
4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
    who does not trust in an idol
    or swear by a false god.

5 They will receive blessing from the Lord
    and vindication from God their Savior.

Personal Application of Psalm 24:1-5

I am the Lord's because I live on the earth. Everything in the earth belongs to the Lord. He founded the earth and everything in it. Nothing in the earth belongs to me because He is the creator. 

I do not swear by a false god or trust in an idol. I am doing my best to keep my hands clean and my heart pure so that I may ascend the mountain of the Lord and stand in his holy place. I believe his holy place is heaven. 

I will receive blessing and vindication from God my Savior if I have clean hands and a pure heart. My heart belongs to God. My hands belong to God. God will vindicate me, or protect me from accusations and suspicions. He will claim me for Himself and defend me from opposition. God will uphold me as his. 

Heart Mania aka Valentine's Day and God

Valentine's Day is four weeks away. 

The celebration of love is already appearing in retail stores across America, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia. On a shopping trip last week, masses of red, white, and pink color attracted my attention as I wheeled my shopping cart past the end of an aisle. Heart shaped cookies, heart shaped candy boxes, and heart adorned cards lined both sides of the store aisle. I will admit that I did turn my shopping cart down the Aisle of Love and look at the displayed candy. Did you know that candy corn comes in red, pink, and white for Valentine's Day? As I looked at the wide variety of heart adorned and heart shaped candies, I wondered what God thinks about all of this heart mania. Hearts mean love, right? Following this idea, I decided to see what the Book of Matthew has to say about hearts and love.

 God Loves Jesus

First, at Jesus's baptism, God announced that Jesus is His Son, He loves him, and He is well pleased with him. Later on, God repeated this message to the disciples, but added, "Listen to him!" Sounds like love to me. A father loves his son, approves his son, and lets the important people in Jesus's life know they need to listen to him.

The Pure in Heart

Then, Jesus preached that the pure in heart are blessed because they will see God. Pure in heart is expressed at Valentine's Day by the white trim on the red hearts. I can see where the holiday symbols actually relate to scripture. However, I do not remember ever seeing a scripture based Valentine's Day card.

Love, Prayer, and Persecutors

 Jesus also said," But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," Love and pray for your enemies. You really do have to love Jesus a lot to pray for your enemies. Actually, when I have practiced praying for those whom I dislike, it removed my anger towards them. Hmm I actually have given cards to people because it was the "right thing to do." Last year I saw chocolate praying hands in the Valentine's Day section of a store. Maybe the candy manufacturers are trying to appeal to Christians on Valentine's Day.

Do You Treasure God or Money?

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also...No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." Such a familiar scripture. Income issues are when I have trouble staying focused on God. However, I do treasure God more than money.  Valentine's Day does cause me to think about how much I treasure my family. That is one reason for giving your loved ones a card for Valentine's Day.

And Jesus Says...

Later in his ministry, Jesus told a rich young man to "honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself. Again, Jesus wants us to love family and acquaintances. 

Finally, Jesus said the greatest commandment was to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." The next greatest commandment is to" Love your neighbor as yourself."

In Conclusion

The scriptures tell me that God and Jesus want us to love each other all the time, not just on Valentine's Day. Heart mania is okay, but do not forget to carry it through the year.

Scriptures

Matthew 3:17; 5:8; 5:44; 6:21; 6:24;17:5; 19:19; 22:37

Emergency Bible Numbers | Bible Study Planet

Emergency Bible Numbers | Bible Study Planet
Got an emergency and don't know where to look in the Bible? Use this directory.

Psalm of the Week - Psalm 23 - Week of January 6, 2014

Hello, the Psalm of the Week feature was on Christmas Break too. Psalm 23 is a great way to start the first full week of 2014.

1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2     He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3     he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

Spiritual Dyslexia

A New Term  - Spiritual Dyslexia

 Bill was in the living room, watching Andrew Wommack's daily program on TV. I was in the kitchen, completely focused on my computer screen. I could hear Andrew Wommack's words, but I wasn't listening. Shopping for birthday presents at Amazon.com was all I was paying attention to. The barely heard words from the living room were not enough to distract me. Suddenly, two words sank through my focus. Spiritual dyslexia. What could that be? Curious now, I grabbed my notebook and pen before joining Bill in the living room.

What is Spiritual Dyslexia?

Spiritual dyslexia is having a backwards relationship with God. You believe you have to follow God's word to earn God's love. Keeping God's law = having God's love.

The Law, or Legalism

The Old Testament set out rules the Jewish people were to follow because they were God's people. Their sins were forgiven through sacrifices. Each sin had rules for how to make a sacrifice to atone for the sin. God's people achieved righteousness by following the rules and making the appropriate sacrifices. They did not live under grace, they lived under the law.

 A Spiritually Dyslexic Rule Follower

I am a rule follower. Give me directions to read, and I will happily read them all the way through. Then, I will follow the directions. The 10 Commandments and the Golden Rule were what I had been taught to follow to be a good person. I tried hard to be good. Every time I broke a rule, or failed to follow directions, I felt guilty. I wasn't good enough and sin was winning.  After awhile, I gave up on trying to be good and just tried to make it through each day the best I could. Sin was ruling my life and guilt was weighing me down.

Born Again and Still Spiritually Dyslexic

When I was born again, I was happy for awhile. However, I still wasn't able to follow the rules and the guilt came crashing back in. I was suffering from spiritual dyslexia and didn't know it. My day began with thanking God for everything and asking to do his will. Then, I tried to follow the rules -  the 10 Commandments and the Golden Rule. Following rules isn't a bad thing. However, I didn't realize that God doesn't need me to follow rules to achieve salvation. I am living under grace, or the new way of the Spirit and first, God wants me to love him. Then, that love will cause me to want to do his will with all my heart. To further complicate my misunderstanding, I blamed myself for not being able to be good.


But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
Romans 7:6 NIV

 My Personal Revelation and Cure

My life changing moment happened one morning after I had to discipline my children. Repeatedly I said to them, "I will always love you, but your choices are why you are in trouble." Afterwards, a silent explosion of new knowledge occurred inside me.

God loves me the same way I love my children. No matter what they do, I love them. I don't love their choices, but it does not change how I love them.

I started to understand God's grace. God loves me no matter what I do. He does hold me responsible for my choices, but He continues to love me. I am safe and secure in God's love. I do not have to earn love by following rules;I have love so I want to follow the rules. My life hasn't been the same since I had that revelation.

"Make level paths for your feet," so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
Hebrews 12: 13-15

Having God's Love = Obeying God's Word

I no longer worry about not being "good enough" for Jesus. I have always been good enough. Today my desire is to do God's will in all things, because I know He loves me unconditionally. Jesus is the model for my behavior and relationships. Occasionally I have a bad day, but prayer, meditation, and Bible study keep my path level.

We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
1 John 2:3-6 NIV