Wait

On December 8, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 27: 14

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.

That is some good advice from someone who knew how to work with the Lord, King David. From the time David was a small boy through the time of his death he faced giants of all sorts. With the help of the Lord, he slew them all. David learned, while he was still a young shepherd boy tending his father’s flocks, how to trust the Lord. He encountered predators that stalked on his flock and he had to fight them off. He relied on the strength of his God to defeat the bear and the lion.

He slew the giant Goliath who dared profane the Lord God. As the King of God’s flock, David had the same kind of problems. By this time, though, he knew how to defeat every kind of foe. Wait on the Lord. Be of strong courage, let your heart take courage and stand steadfastly trusting the Lord. It worked for David time after time, year after year. This is the message to us. Stand and trust the Lord. Let him defend you and defeat your foes for you. Be of stout heart because you know the Lord will overcome every challenge that is hurled your way.

Only let your heart be strong and unafraid. You have the God of David over your right shoulder. He can teach you just as He did David. Don’t worry; let God be your strong right hand in every situation. Wait on Him. Wait and hear His voice. Then you can go where He leads without fear.

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Entrusted

On January 14, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 37: 5 & 7                    God’s Word

Entrust your ways to the Lord. Trust him, and he will act on your behalf. Surrender yourself to the LORD, and wait patiently for him.

This is one of my favorite Bible passages. It is important to me because it speaks to an issue that I constantly must consider. This passage is about the partnership with God. When we partner with Him, then the work load is shared. We have our part and He has His. The key is for us to do our part and to stay out of His part. Therein lies the challenge but also ultimate success.

I believe in working. In fact, I believe in hard work and working smart. Most of all, though, I have learned that neither of those eclipses the number one guideline which is, let God lead. This reminds me of a verse that we should all memorize. It is Proverb 10: 22. The NASB and the King James read essentially the same, “It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich, and He adds no sorrow to it.” I think few of us have understood what “He adds no sorrow to it means.” The Hebrew Bible clears this up for us. It reads, “It is the blessing of the Lord which makes rich, and your toil adds nothing to it.” The “sorrow” written of in the other translations is the sorrow from toil. There is no travail in success when the Lord is in it with us. Our “toil” isn’t what will bring success. It is He and His blessing which provide the success for each undertaking. The New International Version reads, “The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, without painful toil for it.”

God isn’t against hard work, nor is He against working smart but what He really wants us to learn is to work wisely. That is an entirely different deal. Spiritually appraised people learn to work first in their spirits by connecting with the spirit of wisdom. Here is where patience comes in. The Passion Translation says to “commit everything you do to the Lord.” We are to entrust all our ways, all our plans, dreams and assignments to Him as the first step. Then we surrender ourselves and our projects fully to Him. He may have you working really hard for a time, but it is to be at His direction. Sometimes the thing He will tell you to do is to meditate. Okay, that does not fit into western thinking, but God knows that sometimes that is the best thing to do. And that is the point. We are supposed to surrender our thinking to His ways.

One last thought, none of this works without first seeking the Lord. The whole idea is partnering with Him, tuning into Him and allowing Him to guide you. Your work load is to be managed by the Father. We are supposed to wait patiently for Him but only after we have surrendered ourselves to Him and entrusted Him with our goals. So, this does not mean watching television while we wait upon God. It means seeking Him and meditating on Him and His Word. See, that is your part. Then the answers to all the questions will be presented to you. This waiting is in faith. It is expectantly listening. You are to be co-laborers. That does mean you work but it is at the Father’s direction. He will show you the way when you commit all your plans and hopes to Him.

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Rest, Relax

On August 29, 2018   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 37: 7

Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him.

Here is faith and trust in action. Patience is not supposed to be a nail-biting period of endurance. It is supposed to be easy for us because of our faith in God. We should be able to rest during the time of patience rather than being in a barely contained frenzy. Patience is the product of absolute faith that God is well able to carry out all of his good promises. When you have that kind of trust in Him, you are able to relax. Rest and await His deliverance. Do not be anxious. He has your every need in mind and is already moving resources to their proper place so that at the appointed time, all will be in readiness. Rest. Relax. He has it all well in hand.

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No Problem

On June 20, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   1 Comment

Psalm 40: 1 – 4

I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay; and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. And He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many will see and fear, and will trust in the Lord.

I found this today while I was searching out another topic and thought it was the sort of good news you may be happy to hear. It is all good and reassuring but what struck me was that the writer, David, waited patiently for the Lord. Maybe that is where I miss it sometimes.

His patient waiting is an indication of his trust in the Lord. Despite the circumstances, regardless of the fear and worry raging in his heart, David learned how to stay at peace and trust that God was going to make an appearance. It worked too. David waited and God showed up and took care of all of the problems. The next thing we hear from David is that he is singing praises to the King.

David’s example can be an example to us all and that is what David expected. Many will read his words and, through him, experience the grace of God. Through this vicarious encounter with God, we can all learn to trust in the Lord.

I know you have struggles. If you are breathing, there are still challenges to be worked out. No problem! We have a God who specializes in problems. We just need to learn to roll the care of all of those situations over onto Him and then in fullness of trust, wait patiently for our savior to work it all out. Our part is to believe, trust and sing. I think I can do this. How about you?

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Intertwined with Jesus

On February 1, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   1 Comment

Isaiah 40: 31

Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.

When you go to our webpage (www.iveyministries.org) you will see this verse on the leading banner. One might question why we have chosen this verse when there are others which seemingly fit the logo better. Of course, one thinks of John 15: 5, “ I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.” Yes, I love that verse. It is rich, but so is today’s verse.

To really appreciated today’s verse one needs to look a bit deeper. If you stopped reading this and looked at our website, you undoubtedly noticed a difference. Above reads, “those you wait for the Lord.” The website verse reads, “those who hope in the Lord.” That is the NIV reading whereas for the Word of the Day I used the New American Standard Bible. Which is right? Well, they both are. The God’s Word version deals with this verse well. It says, “Yet, the strength of those who wait with hope in the Lord will be renewed.” Certainly that adds clarity between the various readings but still, I have not answered why this verse in any version would be appropriate for Ivey Ministries other than it is just a great verse and inspiration from the Lord. In order to reveal the very essence of this verse we must look in the concordance.

When you look up the word “wait” in Strong’s Concordance (Strong’s no. 6960) you find it is the Hebrew word “qavah”. It is a root word which means to bind together perhaps specifically or particularly by twisting. So let’s look at today’s verse in this light, “Those who are ‘twisted together with the Lord’ will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.” Now, that makes sense, doesn’t it? Let me restate it, “Those whose lives are twisted together, intertwined, with the Lord, shall have great strength.”  One would expect nothing less. The word qavah also implies a sense of expectation. Truly, if we each had a revelation of being inextricably intertwined with Jesus wouldn’t we have enormous expectations of goodness, power, strength and blessing flowing in and through our lives?

That is what I want for you, a life so full of the indwelling presence of the Lord that when you breath, he breathes; when you speak, he speaks. I want the blessing of the Lord to fill you to overflowing. The overflowing grace of the Lord will bless all people you come in contact with. You have the right to walk in the power of the Lord, yes, but also in his majesty. I want you so full that you have the answers, authority, words and power for every situation. I envision each one of you so full of Jesus that he literally overflows from you. All victory, all glory is yours in Christ and that is what you are entitled to. Do you want to talk about entitlement? This is your inheritance in Christ, full victory and glory of the Father. Everything that Jesus is belongs to you through him. He so desired to give you full access to all the glory of God that he chose to go to the cross. Let us not stop short of everything. Let us not settle for anything less than Jesus’ absolute best. This is the Kingdom of God, that we should be intertwined with the Beloved and behold His face. Glory to God and to His children.

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Strength and Courage

On July 18, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 27: 14

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.
This is certainly a good verse for teaching about waiting on the Lord. I was really intrigued, though, over the line, “let your heart take courage.” I see in those words that we must make a decision to be encouraged. We have to decide to let our hearts fill with encouragement. You can choose to be discouraged or you can choose to be encouraged. Perhaps it takes strength to allow yourself to stand in courage instead of living in discouragement because David tells us to be strong. Certainly, in waiting on the Lord, you must decide to “faint not.” That means, don’t give up. Don’t give up on God or let your faith founder while you are waiting. Waiting in faith does take backbone. You have to decide to stand regardless of the appearance of the situation around you. You must decide to keep on confessing words of faith even when the circumstances appear bleak. You have to decide to let your heart be filled with courage. You can even learn to encourage yourself when you don’t have an encourager to do it for you. You purposefully decide to be of good courage. You purposefully decide to believe God and his word instead of letting your heart fall into discouragement. If you have felt discouragement lately, take heart; be of good courage because now you know that you can affect the condition of your heart. Allow yourself to be encouraged. Allow your heart to be filled with courage. The Word of God is the best encourager there is. Get in there and let your heart be full of the encouragement of the Lord.
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No Weariness Here

On March 23, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 40: 28     (paraphrase)                               Index Card 7

I do not faint or grow weary, or tired.

This is a good word that most of us need to hear weekly if not daily. Our strength really isn’t in our bones and muscle. It is in our interconnectedness with the Lord. When I am in Him, I am strong. When I rely on my own strength I get run down and bone tired. That makes me think that if I am complaining about being tired, it is probably a good indication that I am relying on my strength rather than the Lord’s.

The slogan for Ivey Ministries is “Intertwined with Jesus”. The image in my mind is of an Ivy vine being inexorably intertwined with Jesus so that you cannot separate the two. The Lord, our God, showed me this while pondering Isaiah 40: 31 which reads, “Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.” The word “wait” in that passage means to become intertwined with. The fruit of becoming intertwined with Jesus is much more expansive than in this context alone but here is our promise of physical strength and vitality. You know, when Moses was one hundred and twenty years old the scripture says of him, “his eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated” (Deuteronomy 34: 7).

There is one other thing I would like to point out about this passage. If you look it up you will find that I have paraphrased it rather than quoting it. Remember, I am taking these from my index cards. So, what I have done here is make this personal. This is a personal promise from God to me. Father never grows weary, tired or faints and since we are inextricably intertwined, I don’t either. No weariness here!

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