DESERT TIMES

Nehemiah 9:19 “Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the desert. By day the pillar of cloud did not cease to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take.”

The Scene: a desert scene with a pitched tent.

The dry times in our lives can be compared to being in the desert: desert times, those times when Christians wonder where God has gone. They cannot sense His presence in their lives.

Those dry times can seem like bad times or they can be embraced as good times, to hear from from God, listening for His still, small voice speaking to us through His Holy Spirit.

The 40-day experience in the desert by Moses, John the Baptist, Jesus, and the 40 years in the desert by the Israelites are all times when they heard from Father God.  The number 40 can represent a time of testing or proving.

We, too, can embrace the dry times in our lives as good times to draw close to God, communicate with Him. Meditate on His Word, and then hear His voice.

Nehemiah 9:21 ” For 40 years you sustained them in the desert; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.”

The desert is deceiving; it appears dead, lifeless, but beneath the surface there is life abundantly, especially when water is added. So it is with our lives, the living water of God’s Word can awaken us spiritually. Immanuel is with us!

Copyright: Larry Helms & Kathy Helms; hsvisions.wordpress.com 2017; Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s authors and/or owners is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full clear credit is given to Larry & Kathy Helms; hsvisions.wordpress.com, with appropriate and specific direction to original content.

Unless noted otherwise, all Scriptures quoted are NIV

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THE JOY OF THE LORD

Nehemiah 8:10 ” Nehemiah said, ‘Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve for the joy of the Lord is your strength.'”

The Scene: A clump of grapes, symbolic of God’s provision for His children, those He claims as His own, whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  See Revelation 21:27.  Also, the grapes represent the wine that came from the crushed grapes (the atoning blood of Jesus). It was Jesus who said, “Do this in remembrance of me,” when Christians celebrate Holy Communion.

Nehemiah 9:17 “They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them.  They became stiff necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abound in love. Therefore you did not desert them.”

Even when God’s chosen fail Him, He does not fail those He loves, those persons who love Him and accept Him as their Lord and Savior

Copyright: Larry Helms & Kathy Helms; hsvisions.wordpress.com 2017; Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s authors and/or owners is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full clear credit is given to Larry & Kathy Helms; hsvisions.wordpress.com, with appropriate and specific direction to original content.

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KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM

Job 28:12 ” But where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding dwell?”

The Scene: a very large library building–a representation of the extent of man’s limited knowledge.

A grand library cannot hold all the knowledge and wisdom of God that He makes available to His people through His Holy Spirit. The knowledge and wisdom of our God is endless.

Job 28:20, 23-24 ” Where then does wisdom come from? Where does understanding dwell? v. 23-24 God understands the way to it and he alone knows where it dwells, for he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.”

For it is God alone who is omniscient omnipresent, omnipotent and omnificent.

Man, on his own, cannot find wisdom, for wisdom comes from Father God. He, man, can look the world over, search the land, but will not find wisdom without God’s help.

Job 28:21 “It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing, concealed even from the birds of the air.”

Seek wisdom first and knowledge will follow.

Psalm 111:10 ” The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.”

Copyright: Larry Helms & Kathy Helms; hsvisions.wordpress.com 2017; Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s authors and/or owners is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full clear credit is given to Larry & Kathy Helms; hsvisions.wordpress.com, with appropriate and specific direction to original content.

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CHRIST IN YOU

Colossians 1:27 “To them God has chosen to be made known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of the mystery which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

The Scene: Like looking at oneself in a hand mirror–one who is a born-again Christian is seen on the inside of us as by the Lord, different from the one we see ourselves to be on the outside.

1 Corinthians 13:10-13 “but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought  like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror, then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loves me and gave himself for me.”

See Acts 17:28.

Copyright: Larry Helms & Kathy Helms; hsvisions.wordpress.com 2017; Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s authors and/or owners is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full clear credit is given to Larry & Kathy Helms; hsvisions.wordpress.com, with appropriate and specific direction to original content.

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PLANTED BY GOD’S HAND

Matthew 15:13 “He replied, ‘Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots.”

The Scene: Representation of God’s children–a potted plant hanging down. The Holy Spirit quickened, saying, “It is by the hand of the Lord that each of His own people are planted in good soil.”

First started in His living water (the Word) the root system grows. It becomes larger and stronger the longer it stays in Father God’s living Word; then the flora is transplanted  in more good soil and the plant becomes more productive as it matures.

God’s children who desire to mature in His likeness are pleasing to God as they honor and glorify Him. They continue to need His care as He prunes, waters, feeds them. This is an ongoing process that will never end.

Isaiah 60:21 “Then will all your people be righteous and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor.”

Copyright: Larry Helms & Kathy Helms; hsvisions.wordpress.com 2017; Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s authors and/or owners is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full clear credit is given to Larry & Kathy Helms; hsvisions.wordpress.com, with appropriate and specific direction to original content.

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CROWN OF LOVE

Mark 15:17 “They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him.”

The Scene: The crown of thorns* came from a scrubby bush called burnet, which grew in the region Jesus taught (Matthew Henry Commentary). ” He wore the crown of thorns, which we deserved, that we might wear  the crown of glory which He merited.” (Zondervan Edition 1960)

• Three strands make up the crown of thorns–three being the number for the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When Jesus suffered and was crucified, not only Jesus suffered, but Father God suffered as well.”The Son of God loves us so much that He was willing to wear the crown of thorns, that we might wear the crown of life,” said the Holy Spirit.

James 12:2 “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God had promised to those who love him.”

Copyright: Larry Helms & Kathy Helms; hsvisions.wordpress.com 2017; Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s authors and/or owners is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full clear credit is given to Larry & Kathy Helms; hsvisions.wordpress.com, with appropriate and specific direction to original content.

Unless noted otherwise, all Scriptures quoted are NIV

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GOD IS OUR ROCK

Deuteronomy 32:4 * “He is our rock, his works are perfect, and his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.”

• A verse from The Song of Moses that was recited before the whole assembly of Israel.

2 Chronicles 6:14 ” O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on the earth–you keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.”

The scene: a very large rock formation with three peaks; representing the Trinity.

God is our Rock and our salvation. Our God is absolutely faithful. His Word is sure.

Psalm 18:2 ” The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock,  in whom I take refuge.”

1 Corinthians 10:3-4  “They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.”

Copyright: Larry & Kathy Helms; hsvisions.wordpress.com 2017; Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s authors and/or owners is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full clear credit is given to Larry & Kathy Helms; hsvisions.wordpress.com, with appropriate and specific direction to original content.

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