Hi Brian!

The word for this week is "precept". We'll be looking at these verses in the Old Testament:

Isaiah 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: 11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. 12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. 13 But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. 14 Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. 15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: 16 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.  KJV

This is the Hebrew word "tsav". Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon says; a command, an ordinance, oracle. The Theological Word Book of the Old Testament says: command is used for instruction. What God commands, He provides the means to accomplish. God commands His Word to be obeyed and acted on. Blessing accompanies obedience to God's command; rebellion, however, brings curses.When God's people under the Old Covenant obeyed Him, things went well for them and when they disobeyed, things did not go so well. The above passage of Scripture is referring to people who should have known to obey God, instead they mocked the men God sent with His message! There is no other way to learn of HIM than to learn "line upon line and precept upon precept"! Learning little by little, and receiving layer upon layer of kowledge and understanding, which causes every believer who does so to flourish and to walk in the blessings and promises of that WORD! It really is a quite SIMPLE, yet POWERFUL, life that we have been anointed and appointed to live! With great rewards when we see HIM face to face! Here is Hillsong with "Love On The Line":

Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!

Hi Brian!

As you can tell from recent blogs, I have been impressed with the depth of meaning in some of the daily devotionals from Charles Spurgeon. I do not know if he was Spirit-filled, but he definitely had some Wisdom to share! This one is another that I really loved!

"Lo, in the midst of the throne . . . stood a Lamb as it had been slain." — Revelation 5:6

Why should our exalted Lord appear in His wounds in glory? The wounds of Jesus are His glories, His jewels, His sacred ornaments. To the eye of the believer, Jesus is passing fair because He is "white and ruddy" white with innocence, and ruddy with His own blood. We see Him as the lily of matchless purity, and as the rose crimsoned with His own gore. Christ is lovely upon Olivet and Tabor, and by the sea, but oh! there never was such a matchless Christ as He that did hang upon the cross. There we beheld all His beauties in perfection, all His attributes developed, all His love drawn out, all His character expressed. Beloved, the wounds of Jesus are far more fair in our eyes than all the splendour and pomp of kings. The thorny crown is more than an imperial diadem. It is true that He bears not now the sceptre of reed, but there was a glory in it that never flashed from sceptre of gold. Jesus wears the appearance of a slain Lamb as His court dress in which He wooed our souls, and redeemed them by His complete atonement. Nor are these only the ornaments of Christ: they are the trophies of His love and of His victory. He has divided the spoil with the strong. He has redeemed for Himself a great multitude whom no man can number, and these scars are the memorials of the fight. Ah! if Christ thus loves to retain the thought of His sufferings for His people, how precious should his wounds be to us!

"Behold how every wound of His
A precious balm distils,
Which heals the scars that sin had made,
And cures all mortal ills.

"Those wounds are mouths that preach His grace;
The ensigns of His love;
The seals of our expected bliss
In paradise above."

I had someone tell me once that they could never watch the movie "The Passion of the Christ" because it was so hard to watch what JESUS endured. My thought was, watching what He went through - FOR ME- caused my heart to really grasp His LOVE that knows no end! All of that, plus more, was the price that He paid FOR ME! I can't ever take this new life IN HIM lightly after that! And this reminds me of the Hillsong UNITED song called "Whole Heart (Hold Me Now)" where we find this verse:

Find me now   -    Where the grace runs as deep as your scars

And here is that song! 

Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!

 Hi Brian!

The WORD of this a week is "shining". We see it in these  portions of Scripture!

Mark 9:2 And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. 3 And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. KJV

Luke 11:36 If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light. KJV

John 5:35 He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. 36 But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. KJV

In Mark we have the Greek word "stilbo".  Strong's Concordance says: to gleam, flash intensely. Thayer's Greek Lexicon says: to shine, to glisten. In Luke we have the Greek word "astrape". Strong's Concordance says: lightning, glare. In John we have the Greek word "phaino". Strong's Concordance says: to lighten, to show. Thayer's Greek Lexicon says: to bring forth light, to cause to shine, to show, to be bright or respendent. These examples are not only speaking of JESUS 'shining', but also of US shining in our world in order to being JESUS fame! Every time you, Kristine, or one of your beautiful daughters thinks, speaks anf acts like JESUS would, YOU cause HIS light to shing and YOU bring GLORY to His Name! Keep up the great work! More people are watching than you realize! There is an older song that we used to sing for worship called "Shine, Jesus, Shine". Here is another song by Hillsong Worship that speaks of His "shining"! "Hope of the Ages"! 

Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!

Hi Brian!

It was SO good to see you all this weekend! Thank you again, so very much, for allowing us to use your home for our mini vacation escape! The atmosphere in your home is so very inviting, peaceful, and relaxing! You all are SUCH a blessing!!! Which brings us to this weeks blog post! This from Charles Spurgeon made me think of you and Kristine! 

"Thy gentleness hath made me great." — Psalm 18:35

The words are capable of being translated, "Thy goodness hath made me great." David gratefully ascribed all his greatness not to his own goodness, but the goodness of God. "Thy providence," is another reading; and providence is nothing more than goodness in action. Goodness is the bud of which providence is the flower, or goodness is the seed of which providence is the harvest. Some render it, "Thy help," which is but another word for providence; providence being the firm ally of the saints, aiding them in the service of their Lord. Or again, "Thy humility hath made me great." "Thy condescension" may, perhaps, serve as a comprehensive reading, combining the ideas mentioned, including that of humility. It is God's making Himself little which is the cause of our being made great. We are so little, that if God should manifest His greatness without condescension, we should be trampled under His feet; but God, who must stoop to view the skies, and bow to see what angels do, turns His eye yet lower, and looks to the lowly and contrite, and makes them great. There are yet other readings, as for instance, the Septuagint, which reads, "Thy discipline"—Thy fatherly correction—"hath made me great;" while the Chaldee paraphrase reads, "Thy word hath increased me." Still the idea is the same. David ascribes all his own greatness to the condescending goodness of his Father in heaven. May this sentiment be echoed in our hearts this evening while we cast our crowns at Jesus' feet, and cry, "Thy gentleness hath made me great." How marvellous has been our experience of God's gentleness! How gentle have been His corrections! How gentle His forbearance! How gentle His teachings! How gentle His drawings! Meditate upon this theme, O believer. Let gratitude be awakened; let humility be deepened; let love be quickened ere thou fallest asleep to-night.

When we spend time with JESUS, people will take note! Acts 4:13 says this:

13 Now when they saw the boldness and unfettered eloquence of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and untrained in the schools [common men with no educational advantages], they marveled; and they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

The kindness, love, generosity, considerateness, patience and care that you two have shown toward us, and others, shows more than any words that you both have "been with Jesus"! Your daughters also show such love and interest in us! You are training them up well! They are lovely and kind and interested and loving and thoughtful! Just like their parents! Just like JESUS! We love you so much! Here  is Hillsong with "Thank You":

Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!

Hi Brian! 

This week I want to share this by Charles Spurgeon from my PC Study Bible concerning JESUS and how He reacted to the people who abused Him leading up to and including the cross!

"He answered him to never a word." — Matthew 27:14

He had never been slow of speech when He could bless the sons of men, but He would not say a single word for Himself. "Never man spake like this Man," and never man was silent like Him. Was this singular silence the index of His perfect self-sacrifice? Did it show that He would not utter a word to stay the slaughter of His sacred person, which He had dedicated as an offering for us? Had He so entirely surrendered Himself that He would not interfere in His own behalf, even in the minutest degree, but be bound and slain an unstruggling, uncomplaining victim? Was this silence a type of the defenselessness of sin? Nothing can be said in palliation or excuse of human guilt; and, therefore, He who bore its whole weight stood speechless before His judge. Is not patient silence the best reply to a gainsaying world? Calm endurance answers some questions infinitely more conclusively than the loftiest eloquence. The best apologists for Christianity in the early days were its martyrs. The anvil breaks a host of hammers by quietly bearing their blows. Did not the silent Lamb of God furnish us with a grand example of wisdom? Where every word was occasion for new blasphemy, it was the line of duty to afford no fuel for the flame of sin. The ambiguous and the false, the unworthy and mean, will ere long overthrow and confute themselves, and therefore the true can afford to be quiet, and finds silence to be its wisdom. Evidently our Lord, by His silence, furnished a remarkable fulfillment of prophecy. A long defence of Himself would have been contrary to Isaiah's prediction. "He is led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth." By His quiet He conclusively proved Himself to be the true Lamb of God. As such we salute Him this morning.

As a passionate person who can and has responded fiercly when people I love are hurt, I know that this is NOT always the right asnwer! Things said in haste, anger and passion can sometimes do more harm than good in the one who has hurt us or our loved ones. It has taken me a long time to realize that JESUS has the very same love for THEM as for ME and MINE! I appreciate your very calm demeanor and though I cannot change who God made me to be, I MUST tone down the flesh part of my responses and allow Holy Spirit to lead in the correct way to respond! Things work out SO much better when I do that! For them AND for me! I thought, as a calmer person, you might appreciate this! Here is Hillsong Young and Free with "Song For His Presence":

Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!