Anya VonderLuft

I really like the middle of Psalm 43 and how the last couple verses are the same as the Psalm before it. “Oh, send out your light and your truth! Let them lead me; Let them bring me to your holy hill And to your tabernacle. Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; and on the harp I will praise You, O God, my God.”

This speaks of the Trinity. The Father, God, sends out His light and His Truth. God is Light and in Him, is no darkness at all. He sends out His Truth, which is the Word and Jesus, the Son of God, is that Word. His Truth is also the Holy Spirit, who is known as the Spirit of Truth. It is the Spirit who leads us into all truth. I will go to the altar of God; i.e., right into His Presence and come boldly before the Throne of Grace. We have exceeding Joy in the Fullness of His Presence. This is where I belong; experiencing His Presence in the Fullest Measure. It is in His Presence where His Praises are Perfected.

“Who can stand on His Holy Hill? He who has clean hands and a pure Heart.”

“Blessed are the Pure in Heart, for they will see God.” There are definitely parallels here.
We must be Pure in Heart, if we have the Desire to see Him.

When we are before the altar of God, we can praise Him in the Fullness of His Presence and His Presence is Beautiful!! What a Wonderful Gift!!

Yearning to be closer to God and thirsting for His Living Waters should be our Greatest Desire, as we were created to live in His Presence and enjoy Him forever. “When shall I come and appear before God?” That is the groaning and longing for the Christian who has the Heart of God and the Mind of Christ. Those who follow Jesus to the end and long for His Appearing, will appear before Him and dwell in His presence for all eternity. They will not face the Judgment of the Unbelievers. We can become cast down when it seems like Jesus is far from us. There was one time when that happened to me and in my desperation, I cried out to Him that He would reveal Himself to me, so I was reassured that even in my trial, He was Close to me. I Saw Him and knew that He loved me. When we praise the Lord, He draws closer to us and we encounter more of Him, His Beauty, a Deeper Measure of His Love, and His Presence, and we should desire that, more than anything because we were created to be in His Presence, glorify Him, and enjoy Him forever. When we are in the Presence of God, our countenance changes, both Physically and Spiritually, and most importantly, the Blood of Jesus has washed us Clean, so we have reassurance that we will be with Him and reign with Him for all Eternity. We are Spotless and Fully Sanctified before Him. This is Unfathomable. What a Glorious Thought and Expectation. Jesus will come back to take us Home to be with Him forever and we will know as we are fully known. Amen!!

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Luke 11:14

Both the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke recount the Lord’s Prayer, when Jesus was teaching His disciples to pray. Luke quotes in this way. “Give us day by day our daily bread.” I think that is significant because when we are sincerely reading the Scriptures and hungry for Jesus, the Holy Spirit reveals fresh insight to us, i.e. Fresh Bread, for our Spiritual sustenance. It’s not the old Bread from the day before, but it’s another piece of our Sanctification, in becoming more like Jesus, until the Day that He Returns. Not only that, but the Fresh Bread of Life, which is Jesus, Himself, if we receive what He says, and seek to apply it to our lives, the Spiritual Bread which sustains us, will be Hot, as we seek to tell others about Jesus and win Souls for Him, to advance His Kingdom on the Earth as it is in Heaven.

In Luke chapter IV, Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah where it says, “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor.” Is Jesus talking about those who are Poor in Spirit, i.e. the ones who are contrite before Him?

At the end of Mark IX, it mentions how everyone will be seasoned with fire and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. In verse L, the Bible tells us to have salt in ourselves and be at peace with one another. In context, does salt refer to encouragement for believers? What is the sacrifice refering to? Any thoughts?

Paul mentions that everyone's works will be tested with fire to see if they endure. Is this what it means to be seasoned with fire? Any thoughts?

In Proverbs Chapter III, it talks about finding Wisdom and gaining understanding. I think it is worth noting that there are two different types of wisdom. There is the wisdom of the world and the Wisdom of God. Proverbs chapter III tells us to keep sound wisdom. Wisdom that is not sound, is wisdom of the world.

In Genesis chapter III, Eve was deceived. She saw that the Tree was desirable to make one wise. Was this worldly wisdom? Sound wisdom is stable Wisdom and it is the Wisdom of God. It is not faulty. "Keep sound wisdom and discretion." I believe these go together. Discretion involves being discerning and discretion comes from God.

In Matthew chapter twenty, Jesus mentioned His Cup and His Baptism. Which Cup was this? Which Baptism was this? If it was "The Cup" of the Lord that was mentioned in the Garden of Gethsemane, how could we drink it? He told them that they would drink His Cup and be baptized with His Baptism. Jesus prayed to the Father, asking Him to remove this Cup from Him, if it was His Will, yet it was the Father's Will that Jesus would die to make atonement for the sins of mankind. Was He mentioning the Communion Supper, which He instituted so we could remember His Death? The Baptism; Was this a foreshadowing of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit which was given on the Day of Pentacost? The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a Dove after He was baptized by John, but He was not fully given to mankind until the day of Pentacost. Or was the Baptism what Christians are commanded to do as one goes down into the water and comes back up to represent Christ's Death and Resurrection? Any thoughts?

I find it interesting that Jesus talks about loving your enemies and blessing the ones who hurt you. In the Beginning, we were all Enemies of the Father and yet He loved us and took pity on us. Jesus forgave Him Enemies even when He was on the Cross, and even one of them on the Cross who was a thief was forgiven and entered Paradise with Him. I wonder what that looked like. In loving your enemies and blessing them, you are taking part in perhaps helping to turn them back to Jesus.

I find it interesting how the dove was sent out three times, but the raven, only once.

Psalm 3 reveals that the Lord is our protection and shield in times of severe trouble and hurt. He protects us from our enemies when we trust in Him, even when it is difficult and He will deliver us from them.

I wonder what it looked like when the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove. Is it a coincidence that Noah sent out the dove three times and that the Holy Spirit rested on Jesus in that way?

It seems to me that Abel is a type of Christ, in that he was a keeper of sheep and Jesus is the Good Shepherd. Abel was killed for obeying God and Jesus laid down His Life for the sheep.

Was Cain's lament true Repentance or was he making excuses?

The Gifts that the wise men brought to Jesus pointed to the Fact that He was appointed to be the Savior and Deliverer of Mankind.

Psalm 2 also seems to point to the crucifixion, the deliverance of mankind, and the Victory of Jesus when He ascends into Heaven and sits down at God's Right Hand.

I find that Psalm 1 is particularly relevant to things in my life right now. When we walk in the ways of the Lord and follow after Him, He causes us to prosper in the things that He has prepared for us and wholeheartedly follow Him in every circumstance you are dealing with. Delighting in the Lord produces Good Fruit that benefits yourself as well as other people.