This study came about from pondering the word acceptance and love of self, an issue I have been dealing with. We have been lied to by the enemy and have strongholds that have held us captive for various reasons. For example, picture a spacious green golf course full of holes. None of us go through life without some holes in our "soil". Some have more holes than others due to hurts or traumas, but we all have holes. God can help us when we recognize how vulnerable those holes make us and decide if we will fill them with useless things or seek wholeness in Christ alone. The Word is available and the gift of God is so great that we may take the various enemies that fight us and the forces that come against us and make the steps to enter the Presence of God. We will become that beautiful person He sees us to be already as we walk with Him.

Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

Love - by choice, deliberate act of the will, unconditional, an unconquerable benevolence (in other words, this generous gift given is incapable of being subdued!)

Romans 15:7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

Accept - to take to oneself, or receive from the heart, to take intimately, pulling closer to you.

Sometimes, circumstances arise in our life causing us to look into ourselves to see what God may be trying to say to us. David offers a prayer for us. (Psalm 51:7,8) Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

Cleanse me - is a symbol of cleansing the soul

Wash me - implies a thorough cleansing

Let the bones - "poor in spirit " Dependent on God alone. Only You have what I need. I depend on You alone to show Your way in Your time. Recognize spiritual poverty, cast aside old self-dependence, and seek God's grace.

1 Corinthians 3:12-13 12If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.

God wants to accomplish a work in our lives that stand up to fiery trials. Wood, hay and straw represent the works that go up in flames the moment the fire ignites. Let God bring us forth from our time of slavery with gold, silver, and costly stones.

Isaiah 60:1 ARISE [from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you--rise to a new life] Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord), for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!

The glory of the Lord has risen upon us due to what Jesus has done on Calvary. We, His church, can call on the Risen Christ to cast down forces that hinder God's Word in the present world (or our lives) to bring about blessings.

7All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you [as the eastern pastoral tribes join the trading tribes], the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you; they shall come up with acceptance on My altar, and My glorious house I will glorify.

Acceptance - delight

He has turned our slavery (or whatever stronghold we have) into victory! His glory is seen and it is an acceptable offering!

Minister -self-authority, conveys yielded ness, servant hood, obedience

Exodus 12:31-36 The Exodus
31 During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested. 32 Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me."
33 The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. "For otherwise," they said, "we will all die!" 34 So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing. 35 The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. 36 The LORD had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.

God delivered them with the riches of the Egyptians. To be more than a conqueror is to take the spoils from the enemy and appropriate them for yourself.. God wants us to learn to enlarge our borders and teach us to possess the land we never knew existed. God is made strong in our lives as a result of this. Are we going to let whatever is standing in the way to hinder us from going forward? NO!

Isaiah 30:18 And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship] Other scriptures: John3: 27, 1 Corinthians 2:9, 11 Corinthians 12:9, Hebrews 12:2

Let's lift our heads up in expectation! Keep a merry heart despite the circumstances.

Proverbs 15:13 A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit. Proverbs 12: 25 An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up. Proverbs 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 15:15 All the days of the desponding and afflicted are made evil [by anxious thoughts and forebodings], but he who has a glad heart has a continual feast [regardless of circumstances].

We are more than conquerors in Christ! We will go forward with a happy heart at all Christ has done for us! Praise His Name! He is the Risen Lord of our lives!