LaNora Means Ministries

KJV Luke 11:13 - If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your

children: how much more shall

your

heavenly Father give

the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

LaNora Means Ministries

Are we fully aware of God’s greatness of giving His best

to us through His Spirit?

If there is so much emphasis upon how an earthly father should

want the best for his child who asks, how much more The Almighty God,

our Heavenly Father, gives of His Spirit who desires His presence!

When He is petitioned, it never wearies Him as it would

someone of the earthly sort, for He alone gives us His best with

continual blessings we do not deserve.

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Consider this thought! Taking the meaning of the word,

“empty”, (in the sense of lacking value, sense, or purpose),

you could note the fact of a deficiency of fidelity in true

direction; also, not realizing or becoming aware in a capacity

of thinking in truth; moreover, having no purpose to accomplish

what is truly utmost and healthy in the sight of the Supreme

Judge, who is God Himself.

Keeping the above statement in mind, one could draw the

conclusion in observing Psalm 14:1 that “the fool” spoken

of is one who lives in such a way as if God didn’t exist.

A “fool” is someone who is corrupt morally, disregarding

moral restraints that is purposed in God’s Word that brings

a right standing with Him in the sight of Christ Jesus our Lord.

Being aware that there is no actual “good” that a person

could “be” or “do” brings us to a point to acknowledge the

need for the True Mediator, Jesus Christ, and the ability

through The Holy Spirit to live “by” that grace He gave through

accepting His mercy, then live “in” the strength of The Holy Spirit.

The furtherance of this understanding would bring one to the

point to grow healthy in God’s ways and becoming even more

conscious of the fact that we are to live our lives fully devoted

to Him according to what is pleasing in His sight. In turn, this

brings true “fullness” to our lives rather than “emptiness” that

leads to destruction.

Psalm 14:1 - The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.

They are corrupt, they have done abominable

works, there is none that doeth good.

A beautiful verse for us to consider is filled with a wealth of

blessing to those who apply it.

Ephesians 4:32- And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,

forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath

forgiven you.

Let’s look at the words, “kind”, “tenderhearted”, and “forgiving”.

The word “kind” in this verse describes how we should be in our

usefulness in our demeanor to others. This word correlates with

the noun used in Galatians 5:22, “gentleness”. We could never truly

put this into practice in a useful quality that is pleasing to God without

the love of Jesus in our hearts. His Spirit gives us the ability

to put this into action thus giving us a distinguishing quality

in attitude and conduct.

Next, we notice the word, “tenderhearted”. This is how we are

to conduct an inward affection with an ability to understand in great

depth of feeling and expression the compassion we are to extend

toward others. Walking in a Christ-filled life, we will live a pleasing

life before Him and others in our conduct and lifestyle.

These words actually work together by the divine influence of God

through a heart and life in humble submission by His gracious act of

love toward us in Christ Jesus and gives us favor with Him to be “forgiving”

to extend favor to others in the kindness of the love of Christ

Jesus our Lord and Savior.

Taking another look at Psalm 138:2, as also with the comments page,

it can be noted that His Word is pure and His promises are sure

through Christ Jesus. God has magnified in all and above all in an

intensity of enlargement of His faithfulness and truth according to

everything His mighty name stands for. He is that living Word that

is alive and well today! He lives within hearts by His Holy Spirit giving

us every reason to rejoice at His existence and praise His mighty name

for His everlasting promises that He perfects all things concerining us in

the light of His promises He gave us through Jesus Christ.

With all this known to us, we should in all acceptance give ourselves

fully to Him by humbly asking Him to help us to submit our whole lives

to prostrate ourselves toward His Holiness in utmost reverence to

Him.

If words of promise are of importance to us, and the frailness of

pronunciation of every human life, then a clear look at saying

the word by writing it this way, “

shaw-khaw’

” makes the point

absolutely plain that we are to bow ourselves down all the while

elevating our attention to God, for He alone is worthy of all praise!

Psalm 138:2 - I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise

thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast

magnified thy word above all thy name.

We see how subjection in this life has a place in the reason of

work as we see it; but one must keep in mind that only God our

Savior has done the ultimate work to bring us in line with His

standard for our lives. We could never be right before Him apart

from His grace, and that can only come through Christ Jesus our

LORD. Remembering His mercy is of utmost importance in the

Christian life, applying those principles of the love of Christ to

our lives in full assurance of faith in Him.

Take a look at Titus 3:5- “Not by works of righteousness which we

have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of

regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;”

First of all, there is nothing we can work of our own efforts

to be justified before God. It is of His compassionate mercy

and ultimate love that gives us our right standing with Him.

That could only happen with HIs grace applied to our lives,

saving us, cleansing us from sin, and filling us with His presence.

If we would inspect the word “regeneration” in context of “washing”,

we would note that a cleansing takes place at salvation; and that,

in turn would mean a changed life, a renewed life. For, “regeneration”,

in this sense denotes a change from the carnal nature to a life

renewed by the grace of God in His loving mercy of salvation in

a life and heart. It places us “at one again”, which means the right

standing of our lives accepted before The Just and Almighty

God being justified by His grace that can now be put to practical use

in our lives that we may live pleasing in His sight. It is by this that

we may then understand “renewal”.

Next, if we would examine the word “renewing” in light of The

Holy Ghost, we would notice as what could be called a “renovation”.

This is the change that makes all the difference from the state of

being lost to a saved life, changed by The Spirit of God to live a life

consecrated by The Holy Spirit now living within. This is what makes

a person different in the life to be lived now verses the way one lived

before. Now, with The Holy Spirit enablement within a life, there is

not only a change of heart but a renewed mind. Our thinking should

then be transformed and have a capacity to grow and mature into a

life well pleasing in God’s sight with a hunger for His Word and

work within our lives. (Refer to Romans 12:1-2).

One might think that blessings are only based on an ideal situation,

but that is not always so, as with taking a look at the Beatitudes in

Matthew 5:3-12; for, being blessed is the favor of God received making

those “well off” no matter what the circumstance may be. So the

Greek word “makarios” in this context has a much richer meaning

than just what one would think of as being “happy”, for then that

would just seem to derive from a favorable condition. It is every

bit possible to be “fully satisfied” in a state of “blessedness” by

accepting salvation through Jesus and what He taught in instruction

of a life well lived in the blessings of Him. The demonstration of

our lives in the principles He gave us assures the fact of His blessings

upon our lives and the greatest experience of that when we partake

of the eternal blessings to come.

Keeping in mind of the “blessings” we have in Jesus, take a look

at a word in pronunciation, “eh’-sher” in Hebrew. While noting it

stated both in the KJV as well as in the AMP as “Happy is…” in

Proverbs 3:13, it is stated “How blessed is..” in the NAS and

“Blessed is..” in the NIV. Although a happiness and joyousness

does exist in living a godly life developed in the wisdom of God’s

Word applied to one’s life in the knowledge of Him, one must

fully acknowlege that the true wisdom of Him brings about a more

lasting advantage by the awareness that it is not mere knowledge

in the terms of material advantage, but a peace filled life centered

on His promises in a quality that is lasting and in direction of His

ways. That is why the word “blessed” is so important in Psalm 1:1

in the terms “well off”; for, one is “well off” not to go astray from

God’s principles that guide the right way to live. The “blessing”

then is in the conduct of living a life well pleasing before God in

His Precious Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

A person’s life is either filled up in reward of either good or bad

of what is spoken. For it produces in communication gain in

really opening up of what is inside to come out. It has consequence

in one’s self because the power it has upon the life one lives.

That is why one should take the time to discover just what

impact it has and real meaning in the influence of the love of God.

Taking a look at Proverbs 18:20, the word “satisfy” and the

pronunciation, saw-bah’ or saw-bay’-ah as with the meaning

“filled” certainly views this whole situation of what one’s self

is filled with in basis of what is said and the action of what

is felt in the heart. So, if one really means well, one should

be more careful what is said and how it is delivered forth

out of one’s mouth through the door one’s lips. It feels one’s

insides and produces forth in either a good moral standing

or a corrupt demeanor. Also read Proverbs 18:21, and ask

God to examine your heart and life by what you say!

Also see the words of Jesus in Matthew 12:33-37, and

allow yourself to be pricked in heart to repent from ill

words and turn to Jesus in the forgiveness extended

to live in victory with words of life that produce

eternal effects.

If one could only realize, in postion of Christ’s love,

the servant attitude of humbleness displayed to those

learning His ways long ago, then, Oh, how much more is

required of us today to trust the Holy Spirit’s presence in

order to follow His example, which reminds us to open

our eyes and stir us day by day with a broadening of

our understanding by His instruction to both learn and

and instruct of His ways of how He sustains and helps

in every hour of need. So the use of things said by

direction of His Sovereign care is of utmost importance

as noting Isaiah 50:4. The “learned” is a descriptive word

describing the tongue, (the instrument that God uses of us,

that is to bring forth the goodness of the Sovereign Lord),

“of the learned” that we would understand with a learned tongue.

For we hear and understand by what we know and are familiar

with. Then those who are of God would understand by His Spirit,

a language spoken by the heart, sometimes not even in terms

of any other understanding than the sure mercies of God,

for any purpose that He sees by His Almighty direction of

use to admonish, save, console, instruct, any way He chooses

upon a heart and life is God’s business not ours. So taking

a glimpse at the word “limmud”, we can understand this as

the skillfull way we are to use what God gave us by His Spirit

by being receptive to the voice of the Holy Spirit upon our lives

to both hear His voice speaking to our hearts and be instructed

in His presence that we may skillfully instruct of His help

He extends to those that need it at whatever time necessary.

In these terms, no matter how much failure and rebellion, God

holds true to the promises He has made through the deliverance

of what Jesus gave us. So the “learned” are those with a firm

grasp in a skillfull way, yet Spirit driven to lean on the Spirit,

showing forth in example as being taught by Jesus, His disciples,

by principles of HIs grace and mercy extended to those who need

the comfort that He alone can give.

LaNora G. Means