New bowl of salt.

2 Kings 2:20-22 (Amplified Bible)
He said, Bring me a new bowl and put salt [the symbol of God's purifying power] in it. And they brought it to him. Then Elisha went to the spring of the waters and cast the salt in it and said, Thus says the Lord: I [not the salt] have healed these waters; there shall not be any more death, miscarriage or barrenness [and bereavement] BECAUSE OF IT. So the waters were healed to this day, as Elisha had said.

The salt taken from the new bowl and cast into the water symbolized the cleansing of the water for new use; it was a purification ceremony.

Lev 2:13 NLT
Season all your grain offerings with salt to remind you of God’s eternal covenant. Never forget to add salt to your grain offerings.
Salt seasons, preserves and brings healing, it purifies!

Mark 9:50
“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”

Notice: having peace amongst us comes from having salt....no peace then there is probably no salt! (see Gal 6:11...we are circumcised instead of new)
Add salt to your grain offering....this leads me to ask, what is a grain offering?

Ex 29:38 “This is what you are to offer on the altar regularly each day: two lambs a year old. 39 Offer one in the morning and the other at twilight. 40 With the first lamb offer a tenth of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil from pressed olives, and a quarter of a hin of wine as a drink offering. 41 Sacrifice the other lamb at twilight with the same grain offering and its drink offering as in the morning—a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the LORD. 42 “For the generations to come this burnt offering is to be made regularly at the entrance to the tent of meeting, before the LORD. There I will meet you and speak to you; 43 there also I will meet with the Israelites, and the place will be consecrated by my glory.
Every morning and evening the grain offering was offered. It was to be made at the tent of meeting (the church).  This is where God will meet with us and speak to us....and consecration occurs.

Consecrate means to make or declare sacred; set apart or dedicate to the service of a deity

So I draw the conclusion that we need to pray in the morning and evening (preferably at the church) to be set apart by God for service. (Grain offering)
2 Corinthians 5:17
The second thing I wanted to study was the "new bowl". It was the vessel that carried the salt. A new bowl, is very important.

2 Co 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

A new creation...are you a new person, have you experienced a changed life? This is what God promises! I always thought I was a christian...but I hadn't experienced anything new....I continued i my old ways. Now i have experienced change but I want to take it a step further...am I still experiencing change? God doesn't just bring change once and that's it. It is supposed to be continual. Ask yourself if you are going forward...changing that is. Have you experienced change lately? You wont unless you pursue God. We are to be constantly changing....like the grain offering, we need to be offering our prayers day and night otherwise we wont be new vessels.

Galatians 6:11
[ Not Circumcision but the New Creation ] See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!

Circumcision would be a one time event....new creation is always taking place. Circumcision is physical and new creation is spiritual. Going through the motions of Christianity, having a form of godliness....this would be circumcision.....being renewed daily, actually experiencing God daily will make us new.....Being new, will eventually like a garment or a car, eventually it will become old. We need to be renewed daily. New everyday. IT IS NOT a one time thing.

2 Corinthians 4:16
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
It is a scary thing to see so many people come to know Christ and then fall away. It shakes me up. I was lead to study this because of the continual backsliding I see. I want you to notice that the water was the cause of the death, miscarriage or barrenness. I don't want to be the cause of death, miscarriage or bareness! I want to be healing the waters, I want life not death. I will be doing a study on salt because that is what was thrown in the water, We are the salt of the earth!
We can experience death miscarriage and barrenness in many areas of our lives. Our church, our families, finances, school, grades, friends, work ect...We need to analyze our lives and check ourselves for these things. If they are occurring we need to be sure we are not the cause. If we are we need to ask for forgiveness and repent. We need to start seeking God...not lip service but with our whole hearts. We so often just talk the talk and we don't walk the walk.

Do we really love God? Do our lives testify of it?

Pearls...

Matthew 13:45-46

[ The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price ] “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

It is mentioned 9 times in the new teatiment. It is a picture of Jesus coming and purchasing our salvation on the cross. Many people beleive this is a picture of what we do as christians; however, we cant buy our salvation.

The pearl is the only jewel that is a product of an injury, it grows out of irratation and hurt. The pearl is produced when a clam or an oyster gets a peice of sand or foreign object in its muscle. It produces a substance that covers the sand or irrattion and as time passes becomes a priceless pearl. The longer the time the bigger the pearl. We are the pearl and Jesus was the merchant. He took the lashes, crown of thorns, beating, and He paid the price for our sin.

Now, I do want to say that it will cost us to follow Jesus, it will cost us to serve in the kingdom of God. It will cost us everything sometimes.


Matthew 10:37
“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Matthew 20:23
Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup

Philippians 1:21
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

How we should live....

Recently I posted this to my facebook........I was just thinking about how spontaneous we make decisions.....sometimes without thinking, let alone without asking God what He wants or our husbands how they feel. Our decisions effect everyone....good or bad, and sometimes God isn't pleased with our decision.

 I have found alot of times... things I have done....if my husband would have done them, it would offend me, I don't hold myself to the same standards. I have to ask myself, if he did this very thing I am going to do, how would I feel? It all goes back to the golden rule....

I believe there were some misunderstandings on what I meant....I hope this helps.

Matthew 7:12
So then, whatever you desire that others would do to and for you, even so do also to and for them, for this is (sums up) the Law and the Prophets.
Our decisions will effect our husbands, kids, families, church and even our friends! Our future can be altered in seconds...we need to be careful not to be selfish and to be sure we are doing what God wants us to. SOMETIMES WE WILL MAKE DECISIONS THAT NO ONE WILL AGREE WITH, BUT GOD HAS TOLD US THIS IS THE WAY... AND TO WALK IN IT.

Galatians 5:16 (Amplified Bible)
But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God).
We don't live on an island....alone, everything thing we do effects everything else.

Romans 14:7 (New Living Translation)
For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves.

We are wise to plan and make plans but we need to keep our hearts soft and ears open to the lord. He will change the path once in awhile and redirect us...if we let Him. When we allow Him to change our plans and direct our path, we are more Christ like.

Proverbs 16
We can make our own plans, but the Lord gives the right answer.
If we don't ask God what to do in even the smallest decisions or what He thinks... we can put ourselves in danger of many things that can be prevented (read the story in Josh 9). Sometimes we will regret not inquiring of the Lord. Don't make a decision and then later regret it. Asking God will bring regrets to a halt!

Joshua 9:14 (Amplified Bible)
So the [Israelite] men partook of their food and did not consult the Lord.

We love our kids so much....every decision we make will effect what they do later on in their own lives....every decision will bless us or curse us.....life or death.....choose life!

Deuteronomy 30:15-16 (Amplified Bible)
See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil. [If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which] I command you today, to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His ordinances, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land into which you go to possess.

The Ostrich...

Job 39:13-18 (The Message)

 "The ostrich flaps her wings futilely—all those beautiful feathers, but useless!

She lays her eggs on the hard ground, leaves them there in the dirt, exposed to the weather,

Not caring that they might get stepped on and cracked or trampled by some wild animal.

She's negligent with her young, as if they weren't even hers. She cares nothing about anything.

She wasn't created very smart, that's for sure, wasn't given her share of good sense.

But when she runs, oh, how she runs, laughing, leaving horse and rider in the dust.

Lamentations 4:3 (The Message)
3Even wild jackals nurture their babies, give them their breasts to suckle. But my people have turned cruel to their babies, like an ostrich in the wilderness.

A couple of months ago, I was experiencing trials that brought pain to my soul. I prayed that God would help me not to care so much about the things happening around me. I prayed that I would be able to not care, I felt like I cared to much. I felt like, if I could learn not to care so much I would be better off, less pain and hurt. People or citations wouldn't be able to take my joy and happiness.

When I heard this scripture....I felt shame for even praying for such a thing. My heart even though it hurt, it was still soft as flesh.

The scripture implies that we are useless if we don't care; that we are cruel when we don't care. So my new prayer is that I am able to still have my joy and happiness even through the trials. That I would have wisdom and understanding to be victorious.

Job 39:17 (New King James Version) Because God deprived her of wisdom,
And did not endow her with understanding.

We need to understand that just because we have problems.....doesn't mean we shouldn't bury our head in the dirt and act like its not there like an ostrich! 

 Don't run from it.....like an ostrich runs, faster and swifter than a horse!

We are the head not the tail, above not beneath! If you stay on the attack.... you wont be under attack! Like David ran to Goliath in the battle...we need to run to the battle, face it! The bible never says we wont be in the battle but how does the battle take place? Do you pursue the enemy or does the enemy pursue you?

The enemy will come...to kill, steal and destroy....are you prepared to fight to keep the dominion?

The ostrich doesn't fight, he hides and runs! The Scripture says in Lamentations 4:3 But my people have turned cruel to their babies, like an ostrich in the wilderness. The don't think about their kids. She doesn't care; She lays her eggs on the hard ground, leaves them there in the dirt, exposed to the weather, Not caring that they might get stepped on and cracked or trampled by some wild animal. She's negligent with her young, as if they weren't even hers. This is what we are when we don't run to the battle. If the enemy pursues us it also pursues our children. When we go to war with other countries, we don't want the war to be here....we want to keep the war in the other country. So our kids and families stay safe! If you aren't fighting and pursuing the enemy, then you r kids are in danger, its just like war. The scripture says even wild jackals nurture their young!

Whats crazy is the ostrich is the biggest bird! BUT she can not fly! How often we want these positions and titles....we want to be the biggest bird! If you are the biggest bird, will you fly? God has called us to be like eagles not ostriches!

There will always be storms, the eagle fly above the storm and sees the storm coming from afar.

The eagle lives prepared for the storm.

Will you?