thoughts by Sylvia Gunter Archives - Page 10 of 11

Published September 13, 2011

Praying the Names of God

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and are safe.” Proverbs 18:10

In Hebrew and Greek, each personal name communicated something indispensable for distinguishing that person’s character and personality. Names were so important that when the person’s character changed, the person’s name changed, like Jacob to Israel, Simon to Peter, Saul to Paul. Their new name corresponded to their new nature and the purposes of God in their life.

The many names of God present some aspect of His inexhaustible, awesome glory. God made a big deal of making His name known to Israel, and Jesus said that making the Father’s name known was one of His continuing functions, so that we will love Him more and receive His abiding presence (John 17:26). Knowing the names of God causes us to know the riches we have in Him, and we rejoice His heart when we know Him.

God intends for us to see Him through His names. There are 37 names and 120 ways and attributes of God in Revelation. Can you find the 61 names or titles and 300 attributes of God in Psalms? How about the 64 names and titles of God and 150 attributes in Isaiah? Knowing the names of God leads me to know the riches we have in Him. What we call God says a lot about our relationship with Him. As we pray, do we call Him Lord? Abba-Father? King?

For every need and circumstance you are facing there is a name of God to meet that need. Focus your attention on the overcoming God of the universe, rather than on your problem or need. Worship God in any way that is meaningful to you, as His Spirit leads you. Make it your ambition to glorify God and enjoy Him in his many names. The King of kings wants you to personally know Him in all His fullness. Think of it! You are privileged to walk with the Lord of hosts. Think of it! The Living Water invites you to drink deeply of Him. The Bread of Life invites you to feast upon His Word.

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Thoughts by All thoughts by Sylvia Gunter Thoughts by Women

Published August 15, 2011

Be Enlarged with Loving Community

by Sylvia Gunter

Listen to Paul’s prayer for his friends in Ephesians 3:16-19.
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being…that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.“

Be blessed with being enlarged in a community of saints. Although God loves you singly and individually, you grasp the love of God with others in a way that you cannot grasp it alone. Be blessed with strength through his Spirit so that Christ may dwell presently and richly in you to root and establish you in love in community. Be blessed to feel God’s love in the greatest dimension of its great depth, and length, and height, and width. How deep, and long, and high, and wide is God? Infinite! It is not about how much you know about his love but how much you receive his love. Be blessed with the love of God which surpasses knowledge through the Spirit of God. You can never understand it with your mind. Your soul cannot comprehend or receive it, but be blessed in your spirit with being filled to the measure of all the fullness of the love of God.

Be blessed with Spirit-ordained covenants of love in mutual commitment with other Christians of like spirit. Thank God for those who remind you of your deepest identity and legitimacy. Be blessed to reach out and meet others with joy, because both of you will be changed for the better. As the community of spirit is synergistic, the whole is greater than the parts.

Be blessed with a loving network of mutual support, affection, and loyalty. Be blessed with those who care greatly and intimately, so that you face nothing alone. Be blessed with awareness of the life and reality in community and its power to unlock hidden capabilities and joys in yourself and others. Be blessed with coming out of isolation into a safe place where God’s love prevails.

Acts of goodness and generosity to others align you with God and bring out the best in you and others. Acts of bitterness, pettiness, and anger put you at cross purposes with God and diminish you and others. As others express confidence in you, it builds you up and strengthens you. As others bless you, God calls forth passion, warmth, and life from you that are contagious. Spirit, be blessed to stay aligned with God in community to receive life and be proactive in giving life.

Be blessed in the name of the Father from whom his whole family
in heaven and on earth derives its name (Ephesians 3:15).

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Short Thoughts for Cell Phones – God-daily.com

Thoughts by All thoughts by Sylvia Gunter Thoughts by Women

Published August 3, 2011

House of Prayer or Robbers Den

By Sylvia Gunter

Jesus intends for His house to be a house of prayer, but have you noticed that’s only half Matthew 21:13? Listen all the way through, as Jesus says to the defilers of the temple, “My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.‘ “As God watches your life, what robbers does He see (Jeremiah 7:11)? What hinders you from passionately pursuing an intimate relationship with Him? Is it distracted attention or busyness? Is it religious activity? Is it a divided heart? What are you doing that is effectively crowding God out, and why are you doing it? What would you do if you knew that Jesus was in the house? Indeed, he is. We are his temple and he lives in us.

Busyness robs us of intimacy with God. It makes us think we are doing something worthwhile, when we are only piling up a bigger pile of wood, hay, and stubble of activities that are not God’s idea. Do you “Martha” around in a hectic blur, getting farther and farther behind? Have you asked yourself, “What did I choose yesterday that cannot be taken away?” What if Jesus had asked Martha that? How would Mary have responded to that question?

Perhaps you have never set your heart to seek fellowship with God morning by morning. Or maybe you are in a crazy season of your life right now. Could you make a commitment to give him more time than you are now giving Him in two-way conversation with Him? Praise Him, read a passage from one of the gospels or epistles (ask Him where to read), think about it, and pray it back to Him. You have the complete attention of the One who is Truth and the ministry of the Transforming One, and He has all the time in the world. Our American mindset is much too production-oriented. This is not a time for speed reading. John Piper says that he asks God to give him the gift of reading slowly.

This prayer of Charles Spurgeon expresses the heart that pursues God passionately. “Thou hast made me, be pleased to new-make me. I am thy work, complete me; I am thy harp, tune me; I am thy child, teach me.”

Will you make Spurgeon’s heart cry your own? Will you respond to God’s wooing initiative to be conscious of His presence as never before? Will you take another step on your journey, intensely hungering for God, walking in His Spirit? Will you give Him an undivided heart, undistracted attention, and unhurried time as you pursue intimacy with God in the beauty of His presence?

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Thoughts by All thoughts by Sylvia Gunter Thoughts by Women

Published July 8, 2011

Sons/Daughters in the Father Heart of God

by Sylvia Gunter

Listen to the Word of God for you in Romans 8:14. “Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”

Your heavenly Father blesses you with true biblical sonship. He wants you to receive it. Be blessed as he calls you to life, nurture, and enlargement. He is the source of your biblical manhood or womanhood and of the abundant life of generational blessing that is laid up for you. Be blessed with the most profound blessing that you need to receive. Receive the Father-heart of God. Rejoice in his special creation of you, his kind intention toward you, his matchless love for you, and his glory revealed in you. Be blessed with God re-parenting you in ways your earthly mother and father may not have been capable of doing. Be blessed to receive his healing in your soul’s wounded fathering. Be blessed as he completely fills your daddy holes. Be blessed with your heavenly Father giving you all the father’s blessing that you craved from your earthly father.

Be blessed with life-changing encounters with the Father-heart of God. Be blessed with your Father-God’s best healing work in restoring your heart and soul according to his design that he had for you before the foundations of the world were laid. Be blessed with knowing your Father’s heart nurturing belonging, inclusion, and worth. He can bring forth your true birthright, to be all he wants you to be. God can heal you to wholeness, and from that place of wholeness he will send you forth to do all that he designed you to do. Be blessed to be strengthened to implement the will of the Father in your life.

Spirit, be blessed with measurable growth in your being as a son- growth that is mental, spiritual, emotional, and relational. Jesus, the Father’s beloved Son, grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men (Luke 2:52). He lives presently in you with all the power of his Sonship relating to his Father. Be blessed with the Spirit of truth reveals to you the lies you have believed, your fears, your wounds, the nurture you never received, the judgments and vows you made about relationships, the places in you that were not called to maturity, the agreements you made with the enemy, and other things in a fallen world.

That same Spirit of truth bears witness in you of his Spirit of sonship living in you to cover all your deficits. Be blessed with fully realizing the life-changing truth of the Spirit of sonship in you, living in you to possess your birthright as your Father’s beloved son. Be blessed with a rich gold mine of identity and legitimacy from which to live out your birthright and destiny confidently and purposefully.

Be blessed with God’s exquisite fathering, and receive it as a special true son or daughter. Be blessed to know his Spirit speaking to you, beloved one, that you are a delight to him. Be blessed to know without doubt that your Father is extending his favor toward you, assuring you of release into the full rights of your true identity and legitimacy.

Be blessed with knowing this new grace place with your Father. This is the time of your Father’s favor, a time of release of the life of sonship, as foretold in Malachi 4:5-6, “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers.” Be blessed with the alignment with a father’s love that you have been seeking.

Be blessed in the name of your Father to the fatherless (Psalm 68:5).

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Short Thoughts for Cell Phones – God-daily.com

Thoughts by All thoughts by Sylvia Gunter

Published June 6, 2011

Refreshment

by Sylvia Gunter

Hear God’s word for you in Isaiah 40:31. “Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

You may be exhausted and at the edge of your endurance from running the race of life. You may be weary and weighed down by demands and tensions. You may need strengthening and refreshment with God’s holy strength to receive his enabling grace for each day. Be blessed as you are lifted into your Abba’s presence to receive his love. Lift your eyes to him, and receive his eye-to-eye, face-to-face fresh touch of his love in all its fullness. He sets the godly ones apart for himself. He committed himself to you as your Abba, and he will meet all your needs today, because those who seek him will not lack any good thing. He has covenanted to heal and strengthen you spirit, soul, and body. He pledges to defeat Satan’s plans of attack in physical and emotional areas that are vulnerable.

Receive his Spirit of revelation, wisdom and understanding, so that you take only his yoke and do the things that fulfill his divine purposes. You can be confident in his ability and presence at work in your life in everything that touches you. You have his favor and blessing as a shield.

Remember your God-given place in his scheme of things. See the cross and run there and hide from all stresses and pressures. His resurrection power and his ascended authority and glory outshine all the plans of the enemy to oppress you. He will lighten your steps as you mount up with wings as an eagle, as you run and do not grow weary, as you walk and do not faint. That’s his sure word to those who wait on him. Be still inside, and look to him and receive a fresh touch of the power of the Holy Spirit. Let him refill and rejuvenate you so that you will have a full supply from which to water others. Hear God speaking to you as you draw close to him.

God gives you grace for today, and then tomorrow he gives a whole new supply of himself. Receive his sweet presence each moment, and rest in feeling secure in him. When you don’t know the outcome of your situation, it is safe not to know, because he is good. Be blessed to open up to new trust in your Father. It is his will and design that you take your full God-given authority, evicting all fear and doubt and discouragement, because his perfect love casts out your fear.

The blood of Jesus heals where there is pain and hurt. His hands hold the answer in the situations closest to your heart, the ones that have wearied you the most. Know that God holds the key for every person and circumstance that has claim upon your spiritual, emotional, and practical responsibility. God’s reconciling grace is ready for all relationships to enjoy his unity and the sweet fellowship of his presence. Exchange your strength for his. Be blessed in the power and the glory of his great strength.

Be blessed in the name of the Lord who is your strength and your song
(Isaiah 12:2).

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Short Thoughts for Cell Phones – God-daily.com

Thoughts by All thoughts by Sylvia Gunter Thoughts by Women

Published May 29, 2011

Christ My Life

by Sylvia Gunter

“Although He was a son, He learned obedience from what He suffered and, once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him..” Hebrews 5:8-9

What is our source? What sustains us? What do we have or what do we do that we cannot lose without stripping us of identity: ministry, family, job, good opinion of others, success, possessions, etc.? What determines whether we are up or down? Can we say, “Jesus, you’re all the world to me.” Or does something else have our hearts? If everything else were stripped away and I was left with only Jesus, would that be heaven? Would he be enough?

Christ My Life

Christ for sickness, Christ for health,
Christ for poverty, Christ for wealth,
Christ for joy, Christ for sorrow,
Christ today, and Christ tomorrow;

Christ my life, and Christ my light,
Christ for morning, noon, and night;
Christ when all around gives way,
Christ my everlasting stay;

Christ my rest, Christ my food,
Christ above my highest good;
Christ my well beloved, my Friend,
Christ my pleasure without end;

Christ my Savior, Christ my Lord,
Christ my Portion, Christ my God,
Christ my Shepherd, I His sheep,
Christ Himself my soul does keep.

Christ my Leader, Christ my Peace,
Christ has brought my soul’s release;
Christ my Righteousness divine,
Christ for me, for He is mine;

Christ my Wisdom, Christ my meat,
Christ restores my wandering feet,
Christ my Advocate and my Priest,
Christ who never forgets the least;

Christ my Teacher, Christ my Guide,
Christ my Rock, in Christ I hide;
Christ the everlasting Bread,
Christ His precious blood has shed;

Christ has brought us near to God,
Christ the everlasting Word,
Christ my Master, Christ my Head,
Christ who for my sins has bled;

Christ my Glory, Christ my Crown,
Christ the Plant of great Renown,
Christ my Comforter on high,
Christ my Hope draws ever nigh.

Attributed to St. Patrick

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Thoughts by All thoughts by Sylvia Gunter Thoughts by Women

Published May 20, 2011

Mighty Men of Prayer for Spiritual Leaders

by Sylvia Gunter

In a typical year, thousands of Christian leaders leave the ministry. Our “professional” staff is increasingly beat up, discouraged, burned out, frustrated, tired, isolated, and running on empty. Their wives are usually hurting as badly or worse. This ought not to be. All of them could be far more victorious and fruitful for the kingdom if they had the effectual fervent intercession of their people.

Spiritual leaders should be our most prayed-for people. Without prayer, spiritual leaders will accomplish only what they can do in the power of their flesh, which is our tendency with a talented, energetic, educated, well-funded, and well-staffed organization. But with prayer, God will do what He can do. Each leader needs a support-base of trained, seasoned intercessors, who will be committed to lifting up his or her needs each day. As long as Moses held up his hands, God’s side prevailed in the battle for the kingdom in the valley below. When he tired, Aaron and Hur came alongside to hold his hands up until the victory was won.

David knew the power of surrounding himself with battle-seasoned fighters whom he called his “mighty men.” (Using this Scriptural term does not exclude women who are mighty women of prayer.) They were faithful to guard him from danger, to defend him, and to win battles for him. They were covenantally committed to him. This translates today to effective, serious intercessors who are called of God and who faithfully pray for spiritual leadership.

Study the brave and victorious actions of David’s mighty men in 2 Samuel 23:8-39. Study their exploits on David’s behalf and especially their character in 1 Chronicles 11:10-12:40. They were brave warriors who strengthened themselves in the Lord with David. They lived and fought in close fellowship with David. They were experienced soldiers, helpers in war. They were ready for battle, fully armed with every weapon and skill. They stationed themselves in their place at all costs, united in purpose and undivided in loyalty. They were courageous, fearless, and faithful men who strongly supported their leader. They willingly took risks for him, persevering against impossible odds. They got God’s assignments, acted in the power of the Spirit, understood the times, and listened to God to know what to do (1 Chronicles 12:18,32).

Unfortunately, today the body of Christ is usually a very disjointed army of God. You as a member of the body are called to be mighty man of prayer for your spiritual leaders. Pray that your spiritual leader with lead your fellowship of believers to have a sense of the possibility of God. Pray that you will be a fellowship of men and women who seek God, love him, and follow him with the anointing of Spirit that produces vitality in body life.

Pray diligently that your spiritual leadership will be an example of how to seek God, will demonstrate how they follow the Holy Spirit, will challenge you with the word that God has for the church, will equip you by teaching you how to apply the Word, and will release you to serve in the power of the Holy Spirit. People in this kind of spiritual community can best live in the vitality of the anointing of the Spirit and be right with God to do the work of Jesus in the world

to preach Good News to the poor,
to proclaim freedom for prisoners
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.
Luke 4:18-19.

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Short Thoughts for Cell Phones – God-daily.com

Thoughts by All thoughts by Sylvia Gunter Thoughts by Women

Published March 4, 2011

Jehovah-M’Kaddesh

by Sylvia Gunter

Listen with your spirit to God’s Word in Leviticus 20:8. “I am the Lord, who makes you holy.” And Isaiah 41:16 “You will rejoice in the Lord and glory in the Holy One of Israel.” And Isaiah 12:6 “Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.“

God’s holiness is not what he does. Holy is who he is, the Holy One. He is without spot or blemish. His eyes are too pure to look on sin. Yet his plan of redemption called for Jesus to take our sins on himself and die to make us holy in him. We cannot make ourselves holy, no matter how hard we try or how perfectly we live. Our perfection is not holiness. Jesus was the only perfect one. The Hebrew word qadhash implies being pure, devoted to God, set apart for a special task or the worship of God.

Beloved one, I bless you with knowing your holy Father. I bless you with knowing how the holiness of Jesus is counted to your credit in his death on the cross. I bless you with knowing that nothing you ever do can make him love you less or love you more. I bless you with freedom from your perfectionism and the perfectionism of others, because through your Father’s eyes he sees you as perfect in his perfect and beloved Son. I bless you with joy in God’s holiness and your own. Our culture does not associate joy with holiness, but God says that joyful shouting and singing are part of celebration of who he is. I bless you with celebrating the beauty of his holiness and the glory of your Holy One who accepts you completely and calls forth the best in you.

Listen to Isaiah 43:1-3. “This is what the Lord says… ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.’ ”

Beloved one, your Father treats you with special care because you are set apart to him for his purposes, for his pleasure, and to his glory. I bless you with knowing deeply in your spirit that you are clean, you are dedicated, you are consecrated to God. I bless you with freedom from anything that would make you unusable for your Father’s glory. I bless you with being reserved exclusively for heart’s devotion and life’s affection for your holy Father. I bless you with appreciation that your Father knows you by name and will change the course of rivers and the nature of flames, if necessary, to keep his holy promises to you to be with you. I bless you with freedom from fear because of his guarantee that nothing can destroy you. I bless you with the power and authority of his names by which he identifies himself as your God, your Holy One, and your Savior.

I bless you in the name of Jehovah-M’Kaddesh.

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Thoughts by All thoughts by Sylvia Gunter Thoughts by Women

Published January 9, 2011

Sound of Heaven

Beloved, listen with your spirit to God’s Word in:
1 Samuel 3:10.
“The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Then Samuel said, ‘Speak, for your servant is listening.’ “

I bless you with awakening your spirit to the voice of God and tuning your spiritual ears to him. I bless you with being fully engaged with listening as a deliberate choice you make, a training you practice, and a process. Ask God to cleanse and alert your ears so that what you hear will not be dull or defiled. I bless you with fine-tuned ears to hear, so that the sound of heaven will open the heavenly spirit realm to you.

I bless you with quieting your soul in order to hear more clearly with your spirit ears. Your listening is very active, not passive. God speaks to you in many creative ways, and I bless you with setting your spiritual ears to his frequency to hear his voice in all its manifestations. I bless you with hearing the Father of your spirit in his Word, by faith, through revelation, by his Holy Spirit, through others, through his creation, etc. The heavens declare the glory of the Lord, and I bless you with hearing their declaration.

I bless you with willingness of spirit that makes you ready to hear every word from God. I bless you with focused spiritual attention on God, so that you are tuned to him. I bless you with clearing out the static and interference so that you have clear reception. I bless you with a hearing spirit and an understanding heart to discern between good and evil, but also to discern between good, better, and best.

Enlightened spiritual hearing is vital to your spirit life, service, spiritual warfare, and worship. From the very beginning Israel was called to listen. “Hear, O Israel, the LORD your God is One.” I bless you with listening on the inside with commitment to obey. God has called every generation to hear him and act on what he says, from the children of Israel gathered to receive the Ten Commandments, to the voice of the prophets crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord,” to the words of our Lord Jesus in Revelation, “He who has ears, let him hear.” God will honor your spirit’s commitment to hear and to respond obediently and positively to the Holy Spirit.

I bless you with worship that is an echo of the sounds of heaven. I bless you with resonating in the same key, with keeping time with heavenly rhythm. There are new songs to sing to the Lord, songs of deliverance, songs of victory, sweet love songs from your Bridegroom, songs of comfort, songs of joy, songs of praise, and songs the Lord sings over you. I bless you with open heavens to hear and respond. Hearing leads you into deeper and sweeter intimacy and more responsiveness to him.

I bless you with a warrior’s keen hearing in your spirit. In times of spiritual battle, it is crucial to hear your commander. I bless you with active and accurate listening for deliverance, for freedom, for victory, for direction, for comfort. Through listening with your spirit, I bless you to possess your birthright, to understand your legitimacy, to receive affirmation, to know your Father’s time, timing, and seasons. I bless you with satisfaction of your longing to hear him say, “This is my child in whom I am well pleased.” I bless you in the name of the Father of your spirit (Hebrews 12:9).

By Sylvia Gunter

To learn more about Sylvia Gunter: www.thefathersbusiness.com

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Thoughts by All thoughts by Sylvia Gunter Thoughts by Women

Published December 27, 2010

Widow’s Oil

by Sylvia Gunter

Listen to God’s Word in 2 Kings 4:1-7. “The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, ‘Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.’ Elisha replied to her, ‘How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?’

‘Your servant has nothing there at all,’ she said, ‘except a little oil.’ Elisha said, ‘Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.’

She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, ‘Bring me another one.‘ But he replied, ‘There is not a jar left.’
Then the oil stopped flowing. She went and told the man of God, and he said, ‘Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.’ ”

At the place where you have nothing at all, in your desperation, look and see the “little oil” that you have, not what you don’t have. It may be financial need, or the grace to handle a difficult person, or the courage to try something new. Your identity may be at stake, because in the Old Testament world when a woman’s husband died, she lost her identity and standing in the community. Do not major on your inadequacy or lack. Don’t bind yourself with vows like “I can’t...” “It’s impossible...” “I’ll never be able to…”

Look into the face of God, listen for his voice, and follow his instruction. Whatever he says, do it quickly and thoroughly. Gather “empty jars,” as many as he says. Behind closed doors, in your prayer closet, present the vessels to him in the secret place. The widow poured oil into each one until it was full. Keep doing whatever God says. The oil flowed until all the vessels were filled, as many as the widow presented to God. Today be blessed to know that whatever “jars” of your emptiness you present, God will fill them full with provision for today and for the future.

Watch over this process of obedience to him. The widow did not tell the neighbors what she was doing. Some people cannot understand your journey. Everyone does not see what you see or have the relationship with God that you have. You are uniquely in process with him. Others may try to talk you out of your faith, or discourage you, or make you feel inadequate and unworthy. Listen to God and protect his communication with you by knowing when to speak and when to be silent.

Be confident that your Father takes good care of what is his. Sparrows find nesting places, and panting deer find water. You are more valuable than all of these (Matthew 6:26). He numbers the hairs on your head, and he knows your needs (Matthew 6:32). He promises to feed you with the finest wheat and satisfy you with honey from the rock (Psalm 81:16). He himself is your provision. Be blessed in his daily blessings, answered prayers, and undeserved favors.

Be blessed in the name of the Eternal God,
whose everlasting arms uphold you (Deuteronomy 33:27).

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Thoughts by All thoughts by Sylvia Gunter Thoughts by Women

Published December 11, 2010

Praying the Beatitudes – 2

by Sylvia Gunter
After “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” the Beatitudes turn outward toward our relationship with others.

Blessed are the merciful. Matthew 5:7
Help me open my heart to others. Through me, show them the mercy they need, setting off a chain reaction of grace. I choose to forgive in the measure as I have been forgiven, because Jesus lives in me with His infinite forgiveness. Your promise is, “Give, and it will be given to you.” You have already poured out to me overflowing mercy. Keep before me that by the same measure I use, it will be measured to me (Luke 6:38).

Blessed are the pure in heart. Matthew 5:8
Wash me with Your holiness, holy God. Burn out the impurities with Your refining fire. I present my hands and my heart for sweet daily cleansing from the pollution and guilt of sin (Psalm 24:3-4). Separate the precious from the dross, the worthless, insincere, and unholy (Philippians 1:9).

Blessed are the peacemakers. Matthew 5:9
Prince of peace, I renounce jealousy and competition. I am content with who I am before You. I receive Your peace in my heart. I choose to be at peace with everybody in all circumstances. As much as I can, I will make peace where there is discord. As a peacemaker, I will sow in peace and reap a harvest of righteousness (James 3:13-18). I am an ambassador of reconciliation.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. Matthew 5:10
Help me to suffer for the right reason, for Jesus’ sake, for God-likeness and commitment to Him, not for self-pity or petty sensitivity. In the past I have tried to create my own righteousness; it is futile. Jesus is the righteous One. I will stand strong when opposed for pursuing Jesus, and I will fall deeper into His arms. I am a citizen of another kingdom, and I bow only to God’s rightful claims on my life by His Spirit.

What does blessed mean? It means happy, to be envied and spiritually prosperous, with life, satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of outward conditions. It means joy produced by the revelation of His matchless grace. It means living in God’s kingdom in our heart, so that our satisfaction comes from God, not from favorable circumstances.

Thank God for these promises of the blessings of His kingdom: His relentless mercy, seeing His face, being conformed to the family likeness as His child, and more of heaven’s reign here on earth.

Ask God how to intercede for others using the Beatitudes as the model of the character of Jesus that He wants to work in them. Pray for Jesus to fulfill all His blessings in their lives.

You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2010/12/11/sg_the-beatitudes-2/
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Thoughts by All thoughts by Sylvia Gunter Thoughts by Women

Published November 15, 2010

Time

by Sylvia Gunter

Beloved child of God, listen to God’s Word for you in Ecclesiastes 3:1. “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven. “And, in Ephesians 5:15-16 (NKJV). “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time.”

Your Father loves you so much that he has given great thought and care to the days and times of your life. He planned you in his mind before the foundation of the world. He has recorded all your days in his book, and then he spoke you into existence. In the instant of your conception, he said, “Let there be you!” He placed you in this place and in this time to display his heart and his purposes in your generation. Be blessed to know that he determined for you an appointed place, time, and purpose (Acts 17:26).

God is outside time as we know it on earth. He is the eternal I AM. The past, present, and future are all the same to him (Hebrews 13:8). God’s reality is a present-tense now. But we live in the chronology of time and history. There are some things that only make sense in the convergence of events and people in this particular time. If they had happened or been spoken or written at any other time, they would not have the same meaning as they have now. Be blessed as God causes these things to come into alignment in this precise window of time. God is synchronizing and aligning your spirit, soul, and body with time, space, matter, energy, light, and revelation. God will redeem time. Receive the significance of his alignment of time.

Jesus said in Luke 4, “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me… to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor...” The favor of the Lord in this time is your rightful spiritual inheritance in Jesus. It is the fruit of his incarnation into earth time and existence. Be blessed in God’s appointed time for you. He chose for his Son to live in you in this time. Receive and agree with the seasons of God. Be blessed as God’s favor permeates his time for you. God invites you to see with your eyes, to hear with your ears, and to understand the time of his favor.

Recognize the time, seize the moment of God’s favor, and open the door for yourself and others. Expect and receive the acceptable time of his favor. This is a time of sowing and a time of reaping. Sow to the spirit to reap the things of the Spirit. Be blessed in the law of Spirit and life, not the law of sin and death. Be blessed with sowing some things that others will reap. Be blessed with a harvesting time for which you have not sown, as you reap what your righteous ancestors have sowed. Be blessed to reclaim the righteous deposit of your godly ancestors.

Be blessed with the full purposes of God, which he planned before time, to be released to you in this time, in this season. Be blessed with anticipation, active participation with him, and hope of fulfillment. Be blessed in the dawning of greater light within you that is a union of you and the Spirit of God. Be blessed as his light radiates and shines forth from you in this time.

Be blessed in the name of the eternal I AM (Exodus 3:14).

You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2010/11/15/sg_time/
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Thoughts by All thoughts by Sylvia Gunter Thoughts by Women

Published October 28, 2010

Fruit of Patience

by Sylvia Gunter

< Beloved child of God, listen to your Father’s heart and his ways for you in Galatians 5:22-23,25. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control… Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

Paul said in 1 Timothy 1:16. “I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.”

Be blessed to know that your Father’s patience toward you is his mercy flowing to you. He is a God of second chances, for you and others. He welcomes you back to the Father’s house after the most outrageous violations of his covenant (Luke 15:20-24&32). He remembers your frame, and he knows you are dust. Be blessed to know that you are a work in progress, and he is not finished with you yet. He doesn’t give up on you, and he intends for you to mirror the likeness of Jesus.

In the gospels we see examples of the patience of Jesus with people in every circumstance of life…
…with the woman caught in the act of adultery and with her accusers (John 8:2-11). “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone. Woman, neither do I condemn you.” What restraint produced by patience!

…with his disciples, when they provoked him to cry out “O you of little faith!” or “Have I been so long with you and you don’t know me?”

…with his three closest companions whom he took into the garden in the hour of his greatest agony, only to find them sleeping. He gently and patiently said, “Can you not keep watch with me for one hour? The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

You come to One who was like you in every way, so that he might become your merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Since he himself has gone through suffering and temptation, he understands your weaknesses. He can patiently help you (Hebrews 2:17-18). Be blessed with the unlimited patience that Jesus displayed, because he lives in you to show you his patience to you and through you. Let him work his patience in you to bring about his purposes and plans.

Be blessed with long-suffering, not just tolerance, and with grace and compassion with yourself and others. Be blessed with knowing that God is working patience in you, especially when others are trying you. Be blessed with his patient endurance and encouragement in long battles. Be blessed with a holy infusion of your Father’s patience when yours has run out. Patience is a marathon, not a sprint. Be blessed to keep the marathon of patience, even when your legs feel like lead and your lungs are screaming for relief.

Be blessed with the fruit of patience that the Holy Spirit produces in you, your grateful response to his patience (Galatians 5:22).

You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2010/10/28/sg_fruit-of-patience/

Thoughts by All thoughts by Sylvia Gunter Thoughts by Women

Published October 18, 2010

Alignment of Your Times

by Sylvia Gunter

Hear God’s Word for you in Psalm 31:15. “My times are in your hands.” In Daniel 7:25. “He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws.” In Revelation 1:8. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Let God bring your spirit, soul, and body into alignment with his divine time. Choose to stay in the present tense of God’s time. Be blessed as you understand the wiles of the enemy to change God’s times (Daniel 7:25). Ask God to deal with all warping of your time. Be blessed in every part of your spirit to be in harmony with God’s time. Ask him about time, timeliness, and bringing time into alignment, so that you stand in his victories and the breakthroughs already won.

Be blessed with lining up with your birthright and with God’s divine time, so that no portion of your being or spiritual identity or inheritance is out of kilter. God who is out of time can keep your spirit, soul, and body in right relationship to the flow of his days for you. Anticipate his timing on your coming and going. Be blessed to see his fingerprints upon everything that concerns you. If it concerns you, it concerns him. Look for and receive his nurture, and grow and increase and be strong in all that your Father has for you to receive. You have worked hard over time to overcome brokenness. Trust God to propel you forward, because he is nurturing your whole being. Fragmentation is a thing of the past as God brings all of you to full stature, as Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. Be blessed with being whole in every part: spirit, soul, and body.

Be blessed to know the fullest dimensions of what God has placed inside you. Be blessed in the perfect harmony of all his gifts, all singing the same tune in the same key of music. One may sing the lead at times, and then another, but none will overpower the beauty of all the gifts together in divine symphony. Be blessed with knowing your identity in Christ for such a time as this. Understand what your Father designed you to do and how he wants to implement your gifts to accomplish that work with authenticity. He is mentoring and coaching you in the completeness of Christ’s likeness. Be blessed with receiving that spiritual deposit now. You have a powerful destiny and purpose. He is guiding and equipping you to demonstrate his magnificence.

Recognize that God’s hand is on every circumstance of your life, as he gives you opportunity to learn and to express all of himself in you. Be blessed as you accept the giftedness he has placed in you, and know that you are a gift from him to all the people in your circle of influence. Be blessed today in God’s redeemed time. He made everything beautiful in his time.

Be blessed in the name of the Alpha and Omega,
with whom time has no beginning or end (Revelations 1:8).

You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2010/10/18/sg_alignment-of-your-times/

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Thoughts by All thoughts by Sylvia Gunter Thoughts by Women

Published September 1, 2010

Possess Your Freedom

by Sylvia Gunter

Beloved one, listen to God’s Word for you in Galatians 5:1. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

Be released into your full freedom in Christ to be entirely whole in your spirit, soul, and body. Receive ministry from your Father until your inner being knows exactly who you are and is strong, as he takes all hindrances and baggage and replaces them with the life of his authority, grace, and freedom in you. You are not meant just to survive. You are meant to thrive and be whole, and free, and complete.

Right where God has placed you, there are things that he has put in you that you don’t know now and fruits in your character that he is building in you in this season and treasures in you that he has not yet revealed. Be released from all yokes of bondage to be the man/woman after God’s own heart that you are. Be blessed to possess your freedom to which he has called you.

Receive the tender correction of your Shepherd. Sometimes he uses his rod and staff to guide you, lest you stray from his care in paths of righteousness, but your soul resists. Welcome your Shepherd’s discipline for your good. He guides you to persevere into full freedom in himself that is your right in him. Persist and stand firm in him. Be blessed with all the liberty of the Lord. It’s yours, because Jesus set you free at the cross, and today he sets you free. Be blessed in his purpose for you to live free in full confidence in him.

Be blessed in the name of your Deliverer (Jeremiah 15:11).

You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2010/09/01/sg_possess-your-freedom/

Thoughts by All thoughts by Sylvia Gunter Thoughts by Women

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