10 Houses

~  The “House of the Lord” in the Psalms  ~

House of Contemplation  ~  “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple” (Psalm 27:4).

House of Satisfaction  ~  “How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light” (Psalm36:7-9). 

House of Fellowship  ~  “We took sweet counsel together, and walked to the house of God in the throng” (Psalm 55:14).

House of Offerings  ~  “I will go into Your house with burnt offerings; I will pay You my vows, which my lips have uttered and my mouth has spoken when I was in trouble. I will offer You burnt sacrifices of fat animals, with the sweet aroma of rams; I will offer bulls with goats” (Psalm 66:13-15).

House of Growth  ~  “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing, to declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him” (Psalm 92:12-15).

House of Holiness  ~  “Your testimonies are very sure; holiness adorns Your house, O Lord, forever” (Psalm 93:5).

House of Testimony  ~  “I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all His people, in the courts of the Lord’s house, in the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 116:18-19).

House of Blessing  ~  “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We have blessed you from the house of the Lord” (Psalm 118:26).

House of Constraint  ~  “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord.’ Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem! Jerusalem is built as a city that is compact together, where the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, to the Testimony of Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord. For thrones are set there for judgment, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ‘May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls, prosperity within your palaces.’ For the sake of my brethren and companions, I will now say, ‘Peace be within you.’ Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek your good” (Psalm 122).  

House of Praise  ~  “Praise the Lord! Praise the name of the Lord; praise Him, O you servants of the Lord! You who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God, praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing praises to His name, for it is pleasant” (Psalm 135:1-3).  

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

For—With—In

~ God Interacts With His Own People ~

God Is For His People (saving)  ~  “What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?  Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.  Who is he who condemns?  It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us” (Romans 8:33-34).  God is for us and He is our Justifier.   

God Is With His People (keeping)  ~  “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have.  For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’  So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear.  What can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5-6).  “But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.  And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, both that you do and will do the things we command you” (2 Thessalonians 3:3-4).  “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’  Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35-39).  God is with us and He is our defender.

God Is In His People (dwelling)  ~  “And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?  For you are the temple of the living God.  As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them.  I will be their God, and they shall be My people’” (2 Corinthians 6:16).  Jesus praying to the Father said, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.  Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father!  The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.  And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:20-26).   God is in us and He guides us.   

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

Faith Word Pictures

~ Graphic Images of Faith ~

Christian faith can be seen in a variety of word pictures.

Faith is like a Heart  ~  “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10).

Faith is like the heart’s response to the call of the Lord.

Faith is like a Hand  ~  “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (John 1:12-13).  Faith is like an outreached hand that reaches out and receives the gift of God gaining great wealth.  

Faith is like the Soul  ~  “For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day” (2 Timothy 1:12). 

Faith is like the soul’s reliance on the Lord Jesus Christ.  

Faith is like an Eye  ~  “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, ‘and was not found, because God had taken him;’ for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:1-10). 

“So he answered, ‘Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ And Elisha prayed, and said, ‘Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.’ Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, ‘Strike this people, I pray, with blindness.’ And He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha” (2 Kings 6:16-18). 

Faith is like the spiritual eye of the soul, that looks into the unseen, and sees things which are beyond the vision of the human eye, knowledge, or understanding.

Faith is like a Link  ~  “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:19-22). 

Faith is like a link that connects us with Christ and God the Father. 

Faith is like a Wire  ~  “Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?—just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’” (Galatians 3:5-6). 

Faith is like a wire along which the electricity of God’s power runs and communicates with us. 

Faith is like an Operator  ~  “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace” (Hebrews 11:30-31).

Faith is like an operator which causes the feet to run in glad and swift obedience, as is illustrated in Israel’s marching around Jericho according to the divine direction. 

summary:  Obedience is the proof of faith.  Where there is no obedience there is no faith.  Therefore if we would triumph, we must obey. 

How about you? Can you add some word pictures of faith? We’d love to hear a comment from you.

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

Christ—Jehovah, 2of9

~ The Title “Jehovah-Jireh” ~

Jesus said, “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30). 

There are quite a number of Jehovah titles.  This series will focus on seven Jehovah titles which embrace the fullness of Jesus Christ for His people.  These titles include the completeness of Jehovah’s name as it is manifested in the life of Jesus Christ for His people.  These titles show how the Messiah completely meets His people’s need from their guilt to their future glory. 

Jehovah-Jireh ~  means “the Lord will provide,” “God will provide,” or “God my provider.” 

This name was revealed in Genesis 22:14 when Abraham was about to offer up Isaac and the Lord stopped him and provided a lamb...the substitute for Isaac.  This powerful story from the Old Testament has strong overtones deep within the message of the New Testament through Jesus and His work on the cross. The name Jehovah-Jireh speaks of the Lord God providing a lamb, His Son, for our redemption and being our provider for all that we need.  “So Abraham called that place ‘The Lord Will Provide.’ (Jehovah-Jireh)  And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided." (NIV)    

“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, in that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9). 

the key question: “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15). This is the most important question you will ever answer. If you do not answer it, or answer it incorrectly, you have made the biggest mistake anyone can make!

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW