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Devotions

By Leona Karni

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1.  My Thoughts from Afar

2.  Significance of the Blood

3.  Psalm 139

 

 

My Thoughts from Afar

Psalm 139: 1-7

O Lord thou hast searched me, and known me…thou understands my thoughts from afar…there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether…Wither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

Have you ever wondered how it is possible for the Lord to be in tune with each and every human being on the face of the earth, to the degree the Bible states He is? There are today (2006) approximately 6.5 billion people in the world. How is it possible for God to be in tune with everyone at every moment?

John Dawson, in his teaching on The Father Heart of God, explained that it was possible for God to be thinking focused thoughts on each individual in the world through understanding the structure of something so simple as quartz. The molecular structure of quartz vibrates 9 billion times per second. That means the creator of quartz is able to think at least 9 billion times per second. If we divide the world population into 9 billion we arrive at 1.4, let’s round it off to one. This means that God is able to think, at the very least, a totally focused thought for each person in existence, every second of the day!

There are 60 seconds in a minute (60 focused thoughts) and 60 minutes in an hour (3,600), 24 hours in a day (86,400). That means, that every day it is possible for the Lord to be totally focused on you at least 86,400 times! Take the next minute and count off the seconds. One-one thousandth (one thought) two-one thousandth (two thoughts) and so on, for as long as is necessary for the reality of this to penetrate through your being.

There is not a second in the day when you are not in the Lord’s thoughts and when He is not aware of your thoughts. There is not anything about you that is, or can be, hidden from God. He knows you to the depths of your being. He knows you better than you know yourself! In fact, the closer you draw to Him the more you will know and understand who you are. And although He knows you completely, He loves and accepts you and longs to have greater intimacy with you!

Is there something you feel you can’t talk to the Lord about? Don’t struggle to try to put it into words—He knows your thoughts…surrender them to Him.

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Significance of the Blood

Have you ever wondered why in Christianity there was so much emphasis on blood? I have, and my curiosity led me into a study of blood and the significance of Christ’s blood. Before beginning this study, I believed that because of sin I needed to be cleansed, and that the death of Christ had made that possible, but I didn’t understand it intellectually. I am now comfortable with the understanding the following study has afforded me. But, I do not believe in this life, one can ever fully comprehend the significance of our Lord’s blood sacrifice.

And the Lord commanded the man saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die [Genesis 2:16-17].

If death was the price to be paid for rebellion, then the cost of that rebellion was life.

For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul [Leviticus 17: 11].

The fact that the life of all living flesh is in the blood is repeated through to the end of the chapter.

The cost of rebellion (sin) is therefore blood (life). A living sacrifice!

It is interesting to me that the Bible gives us this insight into human anatomy long before modern science determined that blood was our life source. Today we know that; blood is pumped through the heart carrying oxygen to the organs throughout the body. We know that the white cells fight off infection and the red cells give us energy. But at the time the Bible was written man had only God’s word!

In the garden, God killed an innocent animal and provided skins as a covering for Adam and Eve. The sacrificial system, which enabled man to gain access to the living God, was inaugurated. In Levitical law the instruction regarding sacrifice is detailed, and in those instructions, there is the requirement that the animal sacrificed be without blemish. This sacrificial system not only provided man with the covering needed to commune with God, but also served as a prophetic example of the ultimate sacrifice; Jesus Christ.

It is now definitely known that the blood, which flows in an unborn babe’s arteries and veins, is not derived from the mother but is produced within the body of the fetus itself only after the introduction of the male sperm. An unfertilized ovum can never develop blood. It is only after the male element has entered the ovum that blood can develop…The male element has added life to the egg, since there is no life in the egg until the male sperm unites with it, and the life is in the blood. The Chemistry of the Blood, M.R. DeHann, M.D. pages 31, 32.

In the gospel accounts of our Lord’s birth it is recorded that Mary was overpowered by the Holy Spirit and miraculously conceived.

Now the birth of Jesus was on this wise; When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost [Matthew 1:18].

In some mysterious way, the ovum developed blood and added life to the egg in Mary’s womb. The blood flowing through the veins of Jesus Christ was the blood of God! Pure and without blemish, suitable for sacrifice. Thank you Jesus!!!

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Psalms 139: 17-18

How precious also are Your thoughts to me O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand….

The first year I taught fifth grade I was reading this scripture and mentioned to the class that I wondered how many grains of sand there were in just one teaspoon. Christopher Morgan Wilson, one of my students, decided to find out.

About a week later Christopher reported, that according to his count, there were 1,723 grains of sand in one teaspoon. He had painstakingly counted each one! I made a math project to find the number of grains of sand in one bucket. We determined there were approximately 5,169 grains of sand in a tablespoon, there are 16 tablespoons in a cup, therefore, approximately 82, 704 grains of sand. There are approximately 27 cups in an average sand bucket giving the grand total of approximately 2,233,008 grains of sand in one bucket! The following year Ryan Golgosky challenged Christopher’s count. He counted 21,986 grains of sand in a tablespoon. Going through the same math process Ryan determined that there were approximately 9,497,952 grains of sand in a bucket. Regardless of which count is closer to being accurate, there are a whole lot of grains of sand in one bucket!

According to God’s Word (which I believe is infallible) the Lord’s thoughts for us outnumber all the grains of sand. In Jeremiah 29:11 the Lords states: "For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." The word expected is translated from the Hebrew word tiqvah which has the figurative meaning of hope, or thing that I long for. Imagine that!

The next time you are standing on the beach, stop for a moment and reflect on the fact that under your feet there is more sand than will fit into one bucket. Then try to imagine the innumerable grains of sand on the bottom of the seas, and on other beaches throughout the world. Then ask the Lord to flood your being with the thoughts He is having toward you at that moment.

"How precious also are Your thoughts to me O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand…"

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