Something To "go to..."

Psalm 24:1

The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; 

the world, and they that dwell therein. 

In response to an issue I've been struggling with over a period of months which kept me awake the last 2 nights with pressured thoughts,  I cried out to the LORD for help in the early morning hours today.   He answered,  and I want to share with you what He said to me and  the natural way He led so I'd arrive at the right place.  

First,  I opened my journal remembering I had a paper with notes on  the issue I was dealing with and it led me to Psalm 23.  I instinctively picked up The Passion Translation and started  reading. I could still hear my mind and emotions in the background wondering if this was the right direction to go when I found myself reading aloud these words:

...fear will never conquer me, for  you already have!... Psalm 23:4 TPT

I immediately knew He was leading me because a great calm came over me!  This put me in a position to hear His voice and He immediately spoke within saying:

        

"You will  come through this unscathed with an abundance."

(And just so you know, "unscathed" is a word I never use!)  I continued reading  the verse  and the peace I felt deepened.  He was speaking personally to me through His words.  Then He spoke to me again and said:

"Let this be your go to scripture."

He calmed my emotions with both His written Word and His spoken Word. I thanked Him not only for His present help but for the fact that His word, however He sends it, has the power within it to bring itself to pass.  We activate it personally by believing and  receiving it  by faith. Also, even as I'm writing this to share here,  I realized  the "go to" Word  would be for ANY situation that might arise and this makes me happy!    

I'll close this entry with this lovely Word  and maybe it will become one you might want to "go to" sometimes, too!

                                Psalm 23:4  TPT

                                Lord, even when your path takes me through

                                the valley of deepest darkness,

                                fear will never conquer me, for you already have!

                                You remain close to me and lead me through it all the way.

                                Your  authority is my strength and my peace.

                                The comfort of your love takes away my fear.

                                I'll never be lonely, for your are near.

2 Corinthians 4:7

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels,

 that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

Breathe on Us Again, LORD!

Psalm 24:1

The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; 

the world, and they that dwell therein.

It's been awhile, again, since I've written anything here, but now I am ready to share something  which has been on my heart a lot lately.  I wrote sometime back about the "breath of lives"  first mentioned in Genesis 2:7 when God breathed (the breath of lives) into  His new creation according to Derek Prince in his book War in Heaven.  Here's the link to a blog of mine which  contains this information. 

The title of this  entry is pretty self explanatory.  I've never lived in a time such as this; a time where so much violence, sickness, disease, confusion, deception and hatred  has run rampant in broad daylight in the streets of  The  United States of America!  None, I dare say, ever dreamed our country would experience such tragedies as this.   However,  we are now in the perfect place to have our eyes opened to the One who can turn it all around...and many have repented and cried out to Him for His divine intervention and I believe with all my heart He has heard our prayers for an Awakening to God and is answering us!  We need  His life in us now more than ever so we can continue to cooperate with Him to not only heal our country and the nations, but to heal and strengthen us as well! The need to rise up as the Sons of God He created us to be (which Jesus Himself paid the ultimate price in order that it could be so) has never been greater.

He's the One who put in my heart to ask Him to hover over us, His sons and daughters, and breathe the breath of lives into us again!  BUT this breath is not just for us who know Him,  it is for a world of people, individuals, which He desires to know Him  as their God and Father as well.  Through the pain and great difficulty we all have experienced, God has used what the enemy has meant for harm to bring  bring  good, also.  I know He's caused those of us who do know Him or claim to know Him  to see-often on a painfully deep level-how much we were in need of change....and still are and will be while we live in this mortal body.  I for one can attest to this fact, but I continually thank God for His Great Grace and Mercy for taking us through our personal transformation processes and trust Him to continue doing so.  

So Father, I ask You to once again, and then again as necessary, to breathe the Breath of Lives into your people, spirit, soul and body,  that we might be healed and invigorated to continue on with You  to be about our Father's business even as Jesus was while He walked this earth and Who now leads His followers as Captain of the Hosts of the LORD's Army. 

I thank you, Father because I know if we ask anything according to Your will you hear us and will do it!  So let it be done to us even according to Your will!

2 Corinthians 4:7

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, 

that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

It's All About Hearing

Here's a re-post I happened to  come upon.  I enjoyed reading it again and thought you might, too.

Sunday, September 18, 2016

It's All About Hearing

You know, it really is all about hearing and I don't mean just physical hearing, but hearing in order to gain understanding and knowledge concerning all things spiritual.  The it I just mentioned covers every area of our lives whether pertaining to things, people, courses of action, problem solving, anything and everything.  We need to know who or what is speaking the things we hear. 

Jesus spoke often about the importance of hearing,  emphasizing what He was about to say sometimes with, "he who has ears, let him hear."   This reminds me of something He spoke to me not too long ago which I found rather humorous and actually laughed out loud when I heard Him say it to me.  I had been asking Him for a breakthrough in a long standing situation for a family member which had been of great concern to us.  After I had laid it all out to Him, made my request and had become quiet, I heard inside, "All is well, all is exceedingly well."  My response was, "Is that You, LORD, or am I just talking  to myself."  His immediate response to me was, "I hope I wasn't just talking to My self."  I laughed so hard.  He does have a sense of humor!  I always smile when I remember that, and at times laugh out loud all over again.  It's not the only thing He's said to me which made me laugh, but this was to me the funniest!  He definitely knows my sense of humor...and He knows yours, too.

This only re-emphasized another statement He made to me sometime before that.  One day I was putting on my spiritual armor while literally thinking about what each piece represents. When I got to the helmet of salvation, I was declaring in faith that I have ears to hear and that's when He interrupted me right on the spot.  What He said to me was quite effective and it was this: "You have ears that hear,  you need ears that listen."   Oh my.  How the depth of the meaning pierced my heart.  I had heard Him speak many times, but this let me know it was time for a greater awareness to hear what He was saying to me.  From that day I've endeavored to have listening ears on purpose and to receive by faith greater acuity by His Spirit to hear and respond more readily to what He is saying.  I don't have to strain to hear as I did in years past, but I do have to quieten my soul and be still in order to listen to Him speak, and not surprisingly, He always does.  Sometimes it's without words, an impression,  a knowing on the inside, or simply a sense of peace that all is well.  

I've said all this to share at this point that our surroundings and circumstances "speak" to us, also-our bills, jobs, cars, the news, the weather, our body, our bank accounts, or even lack of them- they all have a voice and speak to us in any number of ways even as the fig tree spoke to Jesus.  It definitely spoke to Him because He answered it!  Take a look at Mark 11:14:

Jubilee Bible 2000

Then Jesus, answering, said to the fig tree, Never again shall anyone eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.  (my emphasis)

And in the King James Version

 14And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.  (my emphasis)

The Word lets us know He answered a fig tree.  Isn't that amazing?  That  statement has always captivated me.  What do you think the fig tree said to Him?  I think it was something like,  "Ha, ha, ha!  You're hungry, but you won't get anything to eat from me!"  Kind of like something the enemy would say, don't you think?  (And just so you know, if a fig tree had leaves it should also have something on it you could eat as well.  For more information see paragraph 4 and 5  Here.)

So, if a fig tree spoke to Jesus, you know our surroundings and circumstances speak to us! Especially when we're in need of something, and you can be assured that what they're saying is always going to try to enforce the negative.  Since Jesus answered the fig tree, maybe we should start answering the  negatives coming from the things concerning our lives and well being.  We at least need to become aware of what we hear because often we've become so indoctrinated to hearing all the things that are wrong, we allow them without opposition and that's what the enemy of our soul desires.  The more unopposed his influence, the greater the damage that can be done to us over time.  

Jesus knew how to answer the enemy of His soul and He knows how to deal with the enemy of ours.  This brings me back to what He said to me that made me laugh so hard.  He really is glad when He's not just talking to himself when He so much desires for us to hear what He says to us personally to help us overcome our problems.  There is no greater help in time of need than He is.  As usual, I must add, it's our choice to receive Him and His help.  He won't force His way or thoughts on us, but He's always willing to bring us up increasingly on His level of seeing, understanding, and yes, answering.  But we really do need to ask Him for listening ears and practice hearing what He has to say to us personally.   As He told me, (if we've received Him) we already have ears that hear, now we need to practice listening to what He has to say.  It will always be for our good. 

I'll say it again, it really is all about hearing....and that's all I've got to say about that....at least for now.


*Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

His Rest and Ours

Psalm 24:1

The earth is the LORD's,  and the fullness thereof; the  world,

and they that dwell therein.

I'm sharing another page from my journal today.   I'm trusting you'll be able  to "read into it" because I don't want to add an "explanation" since, sometimes, if you're like me, it gets in the way and muddies the water.  So,  I'm trusting understanding to come as you read it from your own perspective.  Here goes!

Sunday, November 24,2019

HIS  PLACE of REST IS US:     See Psalm 132:4-5, 7-9 and 13-14 NASB

                                4                I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids

                      5                Until I find a place for the Lord,                                     

A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.

7 Let us go into His dwelling place;
Let us worship at His footstool.
8 Arise, O Lord, to Your resting place,
You and the ark of Your strength.
9 Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness,
And let Your godly ones sing for joy.

10 

For the Lord has chosen *Zion;
He has desired it for His habitation.
14 “This is My resting place forever; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.  (emphasis mine)

(* Zion is also representative of  the Church and didn't Jesus tell His disciples He would not only be with them but also in them in John 14:20)

I Kings 8:10     Solomon's Temple

My words here: When they finished their works of service (making a place for Him) He entered into His place of Rest and the Glory Came and filled the whole house.

• Deep calls to Deep: (My deep need calls out to the deep kindness of your love. Psalm 42:7a  The Passion Translation)
• The Fire the repentance  and cleansing of the places  in us which He hasn't  been allowed to  fully possess before is the doorway to His rest and ours.
• None of us know the depth of cleansing from the old ways that we need.  Only the Spirit can show us.  (see Hebrews 4 in The Passion Translation)

Now as I write this I'm adding parts of 1 Chronicles 5:11 and 13 and all of 14. MEV  

11 When the priests came out from the Most Holy Place—for all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves--... 13...and praised the Lord saying,

“For He is good and His mercy endures forever,”

the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud. 14 And the priests were not able to stand in order to serve because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.

These verses help tie it all together for me, because surrendering our ways and our works over and over, exchanging them for His  gives us rest from our works and prepares the way for Him to find  His place of rest in us.  And that's when the Glory can begin to  fill  us, His Temple, more and more and more.

          Scriptures taken from the Modern English Version Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Used by Permission. All rights reserved
       

2 Corinthians 4:7 

But we  have this treasure in earthen vessels, 

that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. 

Three Lives Made One

Psalm 24:1

The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof;
the world, and they that dwell therein.

This is a  followup to  my last post, Three Lives Revisited Again, and I don't plan on posting any of the others in that series as I first wrongly assumed I would.  The one I posted was intended to be used as a reminder that we all need to be transformed into what God originally created us to be-a fully functional whole child of God who walks in unity with our Father without schism, confusion, dysfunction or lack of any kind. In the previous blog the dysfunction was pretty much made plain, now I only wish to focus  on Jesus and emphasize restoration. Everything needed was provided in full when we received Him as our Savior,  but we must yield to the process of transformation in order to begin to live as mature Sons of the Living God.  Realizing the need for transformation was the whole purpose of  re-posting the original Three Lives blog.

Since He's the One who created man in the first place He's the only one capable of taking us  up to that high calling we've been restored to and the process it takes to manifest it. So I'm sharing something He said to me Thursday, November 26, 2019.  

[Please note the italicized  personal pronouns in the following word. Truthfully, I just recently received understanding why He chose to use them.  It's because I'm in part an intercessor who prays on my own behalf, my family's behalf, the body of Christ, and people in general.  The word's He speaks to me  generally result from those prayers.]

There are yet  places in the Heavenlies we haven't gone to before because there are places in our own hearts we haven't gone to before with Him. We must allow Him to plumb the depths of our own hearts so He can have full access, so we can be filled with  the fullness of God. And all this must come through an intimate knowledge of His love.  

         Ephesians 3:19   

And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. 

For only His Heart beating in ours as one will *suffice.

[* I questioned the use of the word suffice but He was adamant in the use of it, so I looked it up in Websters 1828]

      suffice:

• To be enough or sufficient to the end proposed.
• To satisfy; to content; to be equal to the wants or demands of.

End of Word to me.

Wow! One within ourselves and one with Him!  That's restoration! He was saying exactly what He meant to say! Using THE word which emphatically stated what He wanted to do could only be accomplished the way He said to do it! In other words He wants to transform us into what He created us to be in the beginning with each of us with our own unique gifts and personalities fully functioning without schism within or with our relationship with God our Father. It is only with an intimate knowledge of His great love for us and in partnership with Him can we rise to be all He created us to be, have all He wants us to have and do all He wants us to do.

And here's something He said to me Friday, December 20, 2019:

He's given us the divine nature with His indwelling Spirit-we should give Him room to develop it.  (see 2 Peter 1:4)

After choosing Him the first time as Savior and LORD,  let's keep choosing Him over and over again.  Let's  choose to agree with His written Word whether we understand it or not.  Let's choose to agree with His love for us whether we feel like its true or not. When His Word says we are the righteousness of God In Christ Jesus, let's choose to agree with what He says in order to experience knowing more and more we are righteous In Him.  When we read we are dead to sin and alive to Christ, let's agree with it whether our minds can grasp it or not and we will begin to KNOW we are!

 In John 6:63 Jesus said the words He speaks are spirit and they are life. Every time anyone chooses to believe His Words and receives them are at the same time receiving the transforming power that comes with them!  Since  those of us who have received Him are already one spirit with Him according to I Corinthians 6:17, let's choose to enter His rest concerning His word.  And look at John 17:23 in The Passion Translation.  O, how it melts my heart!

John 17:23 The Passion Translation (TPT)

    You live fully in me and now I live fully in them
    so that they will experience perfect unity
    and the world will be convinced that you have sent me,
    for they will see that you love each one of them
    with the same passionate love that you have for me.

Since Jesus already paid the price and we've already been restored to oneness with Him and the Father, if we choose to cooperate with Him He fully knows how to bring us into the manifestation of that reality.  If there's a roadblock anywhere within us He's the ONE to shine the Light of His Love  within in order to bring us into wholeness. Allowing Him to plumb the depths of our hearts will take us to new heights with Him and In Him. 

Since God's original plan is still His plan, and He's provided everything we need to receive it,  I believe I'll choose Him and His way, and with His help, choose it over and over again, and allow Him to do what He promised in  2 Corinthians 3:18

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. 

2 Corinthians 4:7 

But we  have this treasure in earthen vessels, 

that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. 

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Three Lives? continued

The title of the previous blog Three Lives? with the question mark calls for a response upon considering the information presented. So I'll be the first to respond with a resounding, "Yes!"  I have led three lives.  No, I'm not a communist or a counter spy as intriguing as it may sound, just a woman who's been divided within herself more than I ever understood. Unfortunately many of us can answer it the same way, but now is the time to begin the process of leading one life, unified, integrated, whole...and boy, am I ready!  Since it was God's original design and plan for man whom He created in His image and likeness-in the God class-when He breathed the "breath of lives" into Adam and Eve, Jesus provided the way for all who receive Him to be restored to oneness within ourselves and with Him.

into Adam making him a a triune living spirit, soul and body, and though three (like God), also  one whole being without schism under God's influence, it would be to our great advantage to pursue Him to receive that unity of ourselves under His influence restored. 

Though the process has begun, "MY Goodness!"  it's not necessarily fun...just being honest here.  I've been on this journey for a while now, but it seems the farther I go, the greater the obstacles.  Not because God intended for it to be that way, but because our old nature has to be dealt with along the way, and we have to be strengthened to "see" ourselves, our condition, and our lives the way they really are, and deal with them head-on without excuse or blame, by taking ownership for how we've lived our lives-deceived or not!  It kind of stings a bit just writing that down!  Woo hoo....not fun at all to have to get down in the the middle of this sort of thing....

So here's a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down.  God  is for us, not against us. He's forgiven everything already, all we need to do is to remember that and receive cleansing.  No condemnation here!  He just wants us to be healed and whole-fully functional sons and daughters participating in the family business under His healing influence.  Remember what Jesus said to His disciples about having much more to say to them, but they were not yet able to bear it, (John 16:12)?  That's what it's still like today.  It takes not only a head knowledge of this love for us as individuals but a revelation of His goodness and a receiving of His love and grace for us personally to be empowered to go to the deep places with Him.  How else can we deal with a real issue without taking full ownership of it?  Otherwise it must be someone else's fault we're the way we are and if that were true, it would leave us in the VICTIM status having given up all control over our own lives and condition-and that's exactly what Adam and Eve did once they were already in disobedience to the Divine order.  Taking no responsibility for our actions comes with the territory- it's the lower nature's way, the deceivers way, the way of darkness.  Granted, there might be reasons and very good ones,  that we have come to the place we are-even through no fault of our own- but however we got there or here is not the issue. The issue is coming out of it into wholeness, into the Light.  If we play the blame-game or if we're in denial concerning our true state, then we can go no further with Him in a particular area, and in this case, we can go no farther on a particular journey until we deal with the obstacles in the way.  The Good News here is this:  He will take us as far as we can go and strengthen us to go farther on the next go round as we're willing.  He won't make us go anywhere we don't want to go.  He won't overrule our choice, our will.  He's not a thief, He's our advocate, our Helper.

Often the most valuable assets  are attained by doing whatever it takes to achieve them no matter how difficult the task at hand.  So again I'll add, things in the spirit realm are often gained by similar processes as in the natural. We find the laws or procedures that govern what we desire and co-operate with those laws or rules necessary to reach a given destination, or to achieve the desired goal.

I hope to share more concerning this journey that I'm on of coming into a more integrated life with a heart less divided.  For now I'll end with a link to The Message Bible in Matthew 11:27-30.  It's one of my favorites and one  I've shared it before concerning the "unforced rhythms of grace..."

               http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2011:27-30&version=MSG

Three Lives? Revisited Again

Psalm 24:1

The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof;

the world, and they that dwell therein.

For a number of days now, I've felt impressed to share a series of three  blogs which I originally posted in 2013.  So here's Three Lives? the first of the three I hope to post here.  I trust you'll receive something beneficial if you choose to read it.   Nevertheless,  The Blessing of  the LORD overtake all who stop by.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Three Lives?

I Led 3 Lives  was a television series in the 1950's  loosely based on an American guy who joined the communist party for the FBI and assumed the role of a counter spy- thus the three lives, U.S. citizen, communist and counter spy.  Though I was a child I remember the series and watched it a few times, but  recall very little about it.   It was very much a show for grown-ups, and I was much more interested in  watching  Hopalong Cassidy-loved his white horse and, of course, his good-guy white hat. Oh, I digress, but the thought of it made me happy...so back to the subject.

Nonetheless, even as a child I found the title and the thought of leading 3 lives very intriguing and mysterious. Considering this I find it no surprise that several years ago while reading Derek Prince's book War in Heaven, I came across a  statement which very much appealed to me, and have thought much about it since. In order to arrive at the destination I desire a little background information is in order, so I'll share some interesting facts from his book which will help clarify my basic premise.

In referring to Genesis 2:7 Mr. Prince shared that the word "life" is plural! This discovery truly captivated me!  I wondered how this new understanding might broaden the meaning of the intent of its use in this particular verse. And further, how it might bring greater enlightenment regarding how we were created by God and how He intended for us to function. After all, He didn't change His plan.  His original plan is still His plan. Check out the verse I'm referring to and see for yourself. The following is from the King James Version, Genesis  2:7: (emphasis mine)

And the Lord God formed man of the

dust of the ground, and breathed into

his nostrils the breath of life; and

man became a living soul. 

 

Now look at the difference when you add the word 'life" in its plural form:

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives; and man became a living soul. 

It's truly fascinating!  Not only does this suggest the character and functionality of God in three persons,  but also man whom He created in His Image--all of this in the opening account of his creation.  What a foundation He laid, but before I can go on, it's also necessary to take a look at another plural word in Genesis 1:1 (emphasis mine)

In the beginning God created the heavens

and the earth.

The word "God"  in the original language is the word Elohim. Mr. Prince explained that though we in the U.S. add the letter "s" to  change the form of a word to make it plural, in Hebrew it is normal to add "im" to change a word to the plural form.  It's pronounced "eem"as in "seem", thus the first mention of God  referring to Himself in the plural form. Another interesting fact is that verbs in Hebrew can either be singular or plural and must match the form of the words to which they are connected. A plural word such as Elohim normally would be matched with a plural form of the verb, but such is not the case in this instance.  Mr. Prince writes that the word "created" is singular in form indicating that in God there is both plurality and singularity or unity. As Christians we've known God to be a triune Being (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit), but to find it so clearly stated in the first words of the Bible in the creation account was quite an amazing discovery to me further verifying our own three part being!  Very interesting indeed and there is so much more information, knowledge and revelation available to us than we can begin to imagine, but He is willing to teach us all things! Wow!

Now that the foundation is laid, I'll return to my point: God created us in His Image and Likeness.  We all, to some extent, have understood this, but I'd like to expand on it.  Since God is 3 in 1 and has both plurality and unity within Himself, when He breathed the breath of lives into man, man became a living soul with both plurality and unity within himself just like God our Father.  Now isn't that a wonderful fact, especially since God's purpose for man has never changed. As I said before, His original plan is still His plan though it was delayed for a time. While  Man enjoyed unbroken fellowship with his Creator before the Fall, his unity within himself (his spirit, soul and body) as well as his continuous life source remained unbroken. Though they, man and woman, were made to be fully functional  living spirits, they were also fully functional living souls who lived in a fully functional living body without schism fully operating as one whole being while they remained in oneness with each other and most importantly, with God.

We know Satan entered in to cause separation and we also know he was successful.  His plan was to separate man from God and steal the ruling authority God had given man when He blessed them. The way he so subtly chose to do this was to present them with something which would first divide them within themselves which, if received, would lead to their downfall.  He needed to confuse and change the natural order in which they were created by God to function-as one, spirit, soul and body in cooperation with God Himself-to accomplish his plan. This is clearly demonstrated in Genesis 3:6 when after the woman listened to the strangers voice and seeing that the forbidden fruit was good for food, pleasant to the eye and desirable to make one wise she, being deceived, gave in to temptation. She gave some to the man who was with her  and he chose to eat.   By this act of disobedience they put their spirits in subjection to the sensual desires of their souls departing from God and the laws He had established to govern spiritual beings such as themselves-those created in the God class in need of a spiritual overlord. And the rest is history.

But now through God's great graciousness to us, Jesus restored the privilege of choosing Him as our spiritual overlord!

Though the fall of man was great,  we as men have had little understanding of how greatly we all have been affected by the lower nature we inherited because of it.   The segregation of our spirit, soul and body  because of our separation from God  and His original design has been devastating.  However, The Very Good and Great News is this truth found in Romans 5:17:

For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. 

The purpose of all I've written is to share a little about the separation of our "3 lives" which were designed to function as one integrated whole person, but now we are often at odds within.  At times we might follow our spirit, sometimes we might follow our emotions, and other times we might just follow our appetites depending on our circumstances or how we might feel at the moment. I know I mentioned several times that God's original plan for man is still His plan, however,  the deceiver's original plan is still his plan, which is to divide and conquer, to separate man from his Creator and to keep man from the reunification of his "three lives".

I'll end this first installment with the following scripture which Jesus Himself  said so very plainly:

John 10:10 KJV

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

2 Corinthians 4:7

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.