Hello Everyone,

When we think about God’s Heart For Us the first thing that we need to understand is He does not resent our prayers (Matt. 7:7-8):

⁷"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Many times, people grow tired of our asking.
Our God does not grow tired; rather, He tells us to ask.
All three words here are in the present tense, “ask, seek, and knock” “which indicates continuous, persistent prayer” .
Remember the parable of the persistent widow who changed the judge’s mind by her persistence (Luke 18.1-8).

One author wrote:

Thou art coming to a King
Large petitions with thee bring
For His grace and power are such
None can ever ask too much!

Paul understood that when he wrote, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5.17).
James tells us, The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. (5.16b).
One writer said, “If we put so little heart into our prayers, we cannot expect God to put much heart into answering them.”
Our God wants us to talk to Him.

This goes way beyond prayers for food, and now I lay me down to sleep etc.
Read Jesus’ prayer in John 17. (Homework for today)
It is not “some mechanical, memorized declaration or speech”.

He is talking to God just as if He is in the same room.

God’s Heart is for us and He wants us to “ask, seek, and knock!

Oh How HE Loves Us!

Pastor Phil

Hello Everyone,

Read with me Matt. 7:7-11.

⁷"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

⁹"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Prayer is one of the most lacking practices in a believer’s life.
The typical believer prays before meals and when they are called on to pray.
Sometimes, we pray when things are bad.
Nevertheless, we often fail to have the attitude where we pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5.17).

pray continually NIV/ Pray without ceasing. KJV

Why is prayer not a regular part of our daily lives?
Maybe we feel that God knows anyway, so why should we pray.

Well, number one reason we should pray is that it is commanded by God.
Also, it helps us to realize our dependence on God.
And, it is only a blessing that Christians can enjoy (1 Pet. 3.12a).

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer,

Maybe we fail to understand God’s Heart for us and how He answers prayer.

And that is what I would like to share with you this week. “God’s Heart For Us”.

Oh How HE Loves Us!

Pastor Phil

Hello Everyone,

There is a war to be fought. And for the child of God we must rally at the standard of Jehovah-nissi, and see the battle turn in our favor.

The battle will always rage between flesh and Spirit as it did between Joshua and Amalek.

But LOOK UP. There on the mountain top is the Son of God with arms raised high, ever living to make intercession for you. (Hebrews 7:25)

ALL POWER and AUTHORITY has been given to Him, and what is His, is yours. You are a joint heir with Christ (Romans 8:17).

So you have no reason to wave a white flag of surrender. Stand firm.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power”. Ephesians 6:10.

“Fight the good fight of faith” 2 Timothy 4:7

Look to the Lord your banner!

It is also His battle. Listen to Exodus 17:16: “The LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation."

It is the Lord’s battle; victory depends on His rod being lifted up.

The flesh is in opposition to the Spirit-God’s indwelling Holy Spirit.

What part do you play in it all?

Do we suppose to sit in the bleachers eating pop corn and peanuts drinking our cokes?

That is where most believers are, and that is why our “team” is losing.

We are to put on the Whole Armor of God and get on the battlefront.

Under His Banner, victory is always certain, but away from it, defeat is a certainty.

When the banner of God’s rod was not held high, Amalek prevailed.

Listen! You can’t do battle against the flesh under your own power.

If you have not heard anything else hear this: “Apart from Him you can do nothing (John 15:5).

Only under the banner of Jehovah-nissi can you have victory over the flesh, the world, and the devil.

What is there in your life that you need to put to death?

Go to war and know that Christ is there with you, interceding on His heavenly mount.

Victory is certain under the bright banner of His name.

And Oh How HE Loves Us!

Pastor Phil

Hello Everyone,

Read with me Deuteronomy 25:17-18

¹⁷ Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. ¹⁸ When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and cut off all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God.

Note the phrase, “they had no fear of God”. The word fear means to reverence, to respect, or to honor God as God.

Amalek had no respect for His great name.

Let’s compare our flesh to Amalek.

The flesh cannot wait; its cravings must be satisfied now. Not later, but NOW!

Like Amalek, the flesh knows no respect or reverence for God or for the things of God; rather the deeds of the flesh are “immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outburst of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing” Galatians 5:19-21.

What is the greatest enemy of the child of God?

What is the first enemy a Christian has to deal with after he is saved?

What is it that stalks and attacks you from behind when you are tired?

Is it not your flesh?

There is a perpetual warfare inside your body.

Galatians 5:17 (English Standard Version)

For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

We must always be on the alert and come to the understanding that if we “Walk in the Spirit, and will not fulfill the lust of the flesh”. Galatians 5:16

The flesh must constantly be put to death.

It can’t be tolerated.

It can’t be catered to.

It can’t be spared in any way.

If it is, it will destroy you!

Paul says in Galatians 5:24, “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires”.

Death to the flesh is to be the battle cry for every child of God.

There comes a time when every believer must determine that he will walk by the Spirit that dwells within them.

And under the banner of Jehovah-nissi we can have victory.

Oh How HE Loves Us!

Pastor Phil

Hello Evereyone,

Read with me Exodus 17:8-16:

⁸ The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. ⁹ Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands."

¹⁰ So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. ¹¹ As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. ¹² When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. ¹³ So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

¹⁴ Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven."

¹⁵ Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner. ¹⁶ He said, "For hands were lifted up to the throne of the LORD. The ^[a] LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation."

At the end of the day Israel had learned a new name for their God. They had witnessed the power and deliverance of Jehovah-nissi.

God was telling them that they needed to remember where to look for victory! THE LORD IS YOUR BANNER!

Most Bible students believe that Amalek is a “type of flesh”.

A type is a symbol in the O.T. that is a foreshadow of a N.T. truth.

Amalek was the first and constant enemy of Israel.

They just would not go away. Israel would win the present battle but Amalek would be waiting down the road to try again.

Isn’t the flesh your first and constant enemy also?

The believer’s life is warfare, and it will be warfare until you walk through those pearly gates.

The flesh will never stop attacking you and trying to drag you under.

But you need to remember that you have a Jehovah-nissi, and there is victory under His banner, under the pole of His Name.

And Oh How HE Loves Us!

Pastor Phil

Hello Everyone,

On those days that you feel defeated. When you are overwhelmed by the desires of your flesh, desires that run counter to God’s Word and His Will for your life.

Where do you turn for courage to fight the GOOD fight of faith?

Where do you turn for strength to be a victor?

Turn to Jehovah-nissi.

Find your deliverance in “the Lord our banner”.

A banner was a standard carried at the head of a military group.

It showed the line of march or became the rallying point in time of war.

Most of the time it was a pole topped with a bright ornament that caught the light of the sun.

In times of battle soldiers would look across the chaos and the confusion to see a glimpse of their king’s banner.

As long as the banner was held high they would fight with all their heart and all their courage.

As children of God, the Lord Himself is our banner.

He is our confidence.

He is the source of our strength in battle.

We only have to look across the darkness and confusion in our lives and see our Great Kings Banner flying high!

He is our assurance of victory.

That is what the new nation of Israel needed to learn in the book of Exodus.

Instead of a great nation as God had pictured they looked more like a grumbling, distressed, disoriented, group of former slaves.

God has great plans for you. Do not get stuck in the wilderness by grumbling and complaining look to the “LORD our Banner”.

Oh How He Loves Us!

Pastor Phil

Hello Everyone,

Was eternal life all that Jehovah-jireh provided? NO. There are many things that we need this side of Heaven in order to be more than conquerors.

Now I want you to get this. The word for provide, jireh, in the Old Testament is literally “to see.”

So what does that mean to us? He is God, when He sees, He foresees.

Our all knowing, ever present, eternal Father knows the end from the beginning and so, He is Omniscience, He provides.

When Abraham said in Genesis 22:8, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son," He was literally saying, “God will see for Himself the lamb”.

The word sees is speaking of provision, for when “Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns”. Genesis 22:13

I do not want you to miss this. I want you to know all that it means to call on Jehovah-jireh, because He provides more than salvation.

Not only has Jehovah foreseen your need for salvation, He also sees your every day needs as well! There is nothing to small or insignificant to escape His attention.

This is why Jesus said, And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Yes, our Father, Jehovah-jireh, sees our needs and knows them, but He still tells us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11).

Do you feel that it is unnecessary to come to the sovereign ruler of the universe with your little insignificant needs?

Do you wonder why God would bother with you anyway?

Our God, our Jehovah-jireh, is telling us to come.

We are coming to the One that is for us.

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32).

He is a God who is for you not against you. In any test you can lay your Isaac on the altar.

You can worship Jehovah-jireh in your everyday living and know that whatever you need, the Lord will provide it.

He is the Lord who provides, and you may know Him by name.

“The name of the LORD is a strong tower the righteous run into it and are safe”.

Oh How HE Loves Us!

Pastor Phil

Hello Everyone,

Something else we need to know about Mount Moriah besides being the place where Abraham offered up Isaac.

2Chronicles 3:1 tells us: “Then Solomon began to build the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah”

From then on at Mount Moriah every temple sacrifice for sin would declare Abrahams words: “The Lord Will Provide [Jehovah-jireh], as it is said to this day, ‘In the mount of the LORD it will be provided’ “ (Genesis 22:14).

Every lamb, every goat, every ram, every sacrifice would point to the one ultimate sacrifice, God’s ultimate provision for sin.

Hebrews 10:4-5 ⁴because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

⁵Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me;

Then at an appointed time, Jehovah took His Son, His one and only Son whom He loved, and led Him to Calvary.

There He laid Him on the cross.

But this time there will be know voice from Heaven to stop the hand of death.

This time there would be know ram in the bushes to take His place.

This time there could be no substitute.

This time the knife would fall.

For this lamb the spotless Lamb of God was the only provision of Jehovah-jireh for the sins of the world.

What man could not provide, Jehovah-jireh did! Abraham declared it by faith, “God will provide for Himself the lamb”. AND HE HAS!

You I deserve death. But God provided His own precious Son.

John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.”

Jehovah-jireh provided through His Son eternal life.

Oh How HE Loves Us!

Pastor Phil

Hello Everyone,

Do you think that with every step that Abraham took he was saying in his heart “God will provide. God will provide. Somehow, God will provide.

Hebrews gives us a little more insight in chapter 11:17-19:

¹⁷By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, ¹⁸even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." ¹⁹Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.

God would provide, Abraham reasoned. God would keep His covenant even if He had to raise Isaac from the dead!

With a determination that is beyond our ability to comprehend, Abraham built an altar, arranged the wood, tied up his son the love and joy of his life and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.

Do you think that the father and the son said their good byes?

God’s Word does not tell us. All is recorded is that “Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to slay his son” (vs.10).

That’s when Jehovah-jireh showed up.

That is when Abraham learned beyond all doubt that “the Lord will provide”.

¹¹ But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.

¹² "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

¹³ Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."

The LORD Will Provide!

Oh How HE Loves Us!

Pastor Phil

Hello Everyone,

There is a ram with its horns caught in the thicket. To Abraham I’m sure that it was the most beautiful sight in the world.

God had provided for Abraham for many years, but never at just the right time as this.

What this ram meant to Abraham was life, life for his own son Isaac the child of promise.

In the joy and relief of that moment Abraham declared one of the Lord’s titles Jehovah-jireh.

The Lord will provide.

We read this account in Genesis 22.

God had told Abraham to take his son, Isaac, to Mount Moriah and offer him as a burnt offering.

Scripture tells us that Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey and set out for Moriah with his son.

We have know record of what kind of night Abraham had.

You wonder if he slept any, did he plead to God for the boy’s life. God’s Word does not tell us.

Abraham simply obeyed even though his heart was breaking.

He knew that El Elyon was sovereign.

He knew that his Adonai (Lord and Master) deserved complete obedience.

And just maybe deep in his heart he must have known that his El Shaddai would be sufficient for every need.

Abraham, Isaac, and two servants walked for three days. When Abraham saw the mountain in the distance, he left the donkey behind with the two servants.

Then he and his son walked the rest of the way together: Isaac carried the wood; Abraham carried the fire and the knife.

What do you think he was thinking while he was walking along with his son?

In Genesis 22:7-8 we get a hint.

Genesis 22:7-8 ⁷ Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?" "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.” The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" ⁸ Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.

Do you think that with every step that Abraham took he was saying in his heart “God will provide. God will provide. Somehow, God will provide.

This week we will be looking at the name of God that declares just that.

Jehovah-jireh “The LORD Will Provide”.

Oh How HE Loves Us!

Pastor Phil

Hello Everyone,

Why do we look in other places? Why do we not just rest in His unchangeableness?

He has never failed. He cannot fail! He is JEHOVAH, the self-existent, covenant keeping God.

Some of you might have a list of what if’s.

What if I lose my job?

What if my husband dies?

What if I get sick?

Listen to me, the ETERNAL I AM says, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,’ so we can confidently say, “The LORD [JEHOVAH] is my helper, I will not be afraid. What shall man do to me?’ ” Hebrews 13:5-6

Latter in Exodus 6:2-4:

² God also said to Moses, "I am the LORD [Jehovah]. ³ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty [El Shaddai], but by my name the LORD [Jehovah] I did not make myself known to them.^{] 4} I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as aliens.

God was saying to Moses, “I am the same One who appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and made My covenant with them. Now I am revealing Myself as the One who keeps His covenants!

I am about to deliver my people according to my own Word.”

God reveals Himself to His covenant people as the unchanging God who remains faithful to His word throughout many generations.

He will be who He is, and He will do what He has said He will do.

In a day of broken promises we need someone who will always be there, we need someone who will never change.

When you need assurance know that God is there keeping His promises, never changing, even though you have broken your promises to Him, run into the strong tower of His name Jehovah.

Trust in His name. It’s a name that cannot change, because HE cannot change.

He is Jehovah, the same yesterday, today, and forever.

And He is as good as His name.

“JEHOVAH”!

And Oh How HE Loves Us So!

Pastor Phil

Hello Everyone,

Everything that came into being came from the self-existence God who simply spoke and brought the universe into existence.

Back at the burning bush Moses was wrestling with God’s call to return to Egypt and free His nation form captivity.

After four decades of lonely isolation, the command was overwhelming.

But right in the middle of Moses’ doubt and fear and feelings of inadequacy, he was about to learn about the limitless POWER of a single name-the personal name of God Himself.

Exodus 3:13-15

¹³ Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"

¹⁴ God said to Moses, "I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "

¹⁵ God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD [Jehovah], the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.

God is saying here, “I am that I am. I am the self-existent One.

I am everything and anything you will ever need.

Moses, it doesn’t matter who you are, where you’ve been, are where you come from. It doesn’t matter what you have or don’t have.

Nothing else matters, Moses. If I am with you, you have everything you need! MY NAME IS JEHAOVAH! I am that I am.

I am everything and anything you will ever need.”

He is eternal I AM.

He is the Alpha and Omega.

He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

All of life is contained by Him.

And Oh How HE Loves Us So!
Pastor Phil

Hello Everyone,

Of all the names of God, Jehovah (or Yahweh, as some say today) is the name most frequently used in the Old Testament.

The name Jehovah is used 6,823 in the Bible. The first time it is used is in Genesis 2:4 where Jehovah is compounded with Elohim.

The name Jehovah comes from the Hebrew that means “to be, to become”.

So Jehovah speaks of God’s being or essence.

When we read the name Jehovah or LORD in capitol letters, in our Bible, we are reminded of One who is totally self-existent.

This is the One that Jesus said in John 5:26: “has life in himself”.

The world says, “Where is God? Who made God? How did God come into existence? All things have to have a cause. Therefore God had to have come into existence at some point in time.”

But the answer to these faithless questions can be found in His very name-Jehovah.

He is the self-existent Creator who made the heavens and the earth.

His name says, “I always have been, I always am, and I always will be.”

Of all the names of God, Jehovah (or Yahweh, as some say today) is the name most frequently used in the Old Testament.

The name Jehovah is used 6,823 in the Bible. The first time it is used is in Genesis 2:4 where Jehovah is compounded with Elohim.

The name Jehovah comes from the Hebrew that means “to be, to become”.

So Jehovah speaks of God’s being or essence.

When we read the name Jehovah or LORD in capitol letters, in our Bible, we are reminded of One who is totally self-existent.

This is the One that Jesus said in John 5:26: “has life in himself”.

The world says, “Where is God? Who made God? How did God come into existence? All things have to have a cause. Therefore God had to have come into existence at some point in time.”

But the answer to these faithless questions can be found in His very name-Jehovah.

He is the self-existent Creator who made the heavens and the earth.

His name says, “I always have been, I always am, and I always will be.”

And Oh How He Loves Us!

Pastor Phil

Hello Everyone,

Knowing God by name has been one of the most exciting studies that we have ever attempted. As we continue this study this week we will be looking at the actual name of God. This is not just a title that God would use but His name. Read with me in Exodus 3:3-6.

³ So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up."

⁴ When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!"
And Moses said, "Here I am."

⁵ "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." ⁶ Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

It was for a good reason that Moses hid his face, because he was about to learn the name of his God.

And it was the most sacred name of all. “Jehovah”.

All throughout history, the Jews have regarded this name as the most holy, most glorious name of names.

It is a name that gripped them with fear and filled them with awe.

This was such a name that they would not even pronounce it.

So much so that every time that they encountered it as they translated or copied the Old Testament, they would stop, take off their clothes, take a complete bath, put on clean clothes, and then taking up a new quill or pen that had never been used before-they would copy the name.

Sometimes they would do this ritual two or three times in one verse.

“Jehovah”!

Oh How He Loves Us!

Pastor Phil