It is a blessing to meditate on The Word, Hallelujah!
We are under constant challenges, I am well aware of this. True joy is found in communicating with your Creator! You are “plugged in!” There is no clearer way to state this fact, Amen.

Jesus came and experienced all we experience! Even lower… He stepped so far down, beneath Where He is!

“Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled Himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!”
Philippians 2:6-8

This blows my mind!!!

He KNEW exactly what He would experience. He even shared this openly far before the occurence!
There are several references in the Synoptic Gospels to Jesus predicting his own death, the first two occasions building up to the final prediction of his crucifixion. Matthew’s Gospel adds a prediction, before he and his disciples enter Jerusalem, that he will be crucified there.

We have touched on the ministry that He could have abandoned what He was sent for. Because Jesus though maximally anguished performed perfectly what He was sent for.
Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him The name that is above every name (Angel’s before He was sent to Earth pronounced His Name! That Name that is above every other name, Amen.
That at the Name of Jesus every knee shall bow,
in Heaven and on Earth and under the Earth (a place we have not seen, and/or experienced),
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God The Father.
Philippians 2:9-11

Jesus fielded temptation in growing up. There are accounts, but we stay strictly to The Word, Amen.
But, we can read what He experienced in temptation. Jesus before His ministry was every bit as human as you or I (except He knew Who and What He was!) Yet, as we have shared a 30 year old was still residing with His mother when in His ‘culture’ youth left much earlier to ‘start a family.’ Yes, He was led by The Spirit, but I stress again that His huMan aspect He sought to ‘postpone’ His purpose – which was to stand in our place and take the punishment that was due us secondary to the sin of Adam and Eve.

A HUGE thing occured! Mary His mother invited Him to a marriage in Cana. I have contemplated this; were there no other weddings? What had He done prior? We know that He is The Word; which is in Him. (We can note His knowledge at age 12.
And we read:
Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. When He was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. After the festival was over, while His parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking He was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for Him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find Him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for Him. After three days they found Him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.
Everyone who heard Him was amazed at His understanding and His answers (Amazing, they ‘tested’ Him! Mind you, it was these same elders who handed Him over to be crucified.)
When His parents saw Him, they were astonished. His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for You.”
“Why were you searching for Me?” He asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in My Father’s house?” But they did not understand what He was saying to them.
Then He went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
Luke 2:41-52 New International Version (NIV)

Here, we note that He was obedient to both Mary and Joseph.
Just a brief aside: The circumstances of Joseph’s death are not known, but it is likely that he died before Jesus’s ministry began, and it is implied that he was dead before the Crucifixion (John 19:26-27).

Again, we note the age of Jesus – 30, when He started His Ministry:
Jesus was around thirty years old when He began His ministry. He began His ministry as soon as He was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River.

Again, this is key! Everything was known before time!
So, Jesus knew before His arrival what exactly He came for.

God was so proud, so much so that God raised Him up to The place at His right above EVERYTHING!

What makes God proud? Ponder on this for a second. What?

To understand first: “God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”
The first reason he gives why he is not ashamed to be called their God is that he has done something for them. He made them a city — the heavenly city “whose designer and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10). So, the first reason he is not ashamed to be called their God is that he has worked for them. Not the other way around.
Now, consider the reason he gives in the front. It goes like this: “They desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God.”
“Therefore” signals that a reason has just been given for why God is not ashamed to be called our God. The reason is their desire. They desire a better country — that is, a better country than the earthly one they live in; namely, a heavenly one where God is.
When we desire this heavenly city — this dwelling place of God — more than we desire all that this world can give, God is not ashamed to be called our God. When we make much of all that he promises to be for us, he is proud to be our God. This is good news.
So, open your eyes to the better country, the city of God that he has prepared for us, and let yourself desire it with all your heart. God will not be ashamed to be called your God.

What makes God proud? Jesus ministry was a ministry of obedience among other things: Love, Obedience, reconciliation, Forgiveness, Faith, Sharing, Charity…. Jesus was THE example of obedience. He modeled obedience even to the death.

God is so proud of God! His parts Express His Love.

Examples of God’s pride can be seen in The Word.

Daniel in the lions den, Daniel’s service and commitment to God is an example to follow.

David running from king Saul who sought to kill him. king Saul was ‘handed’ to David, but in knowledge and Love, respect and commitment David took a corner of king Saul’s robe but refused to kill him. He was blessed for this by God.

David Spares Saul’s Life

After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi.” So Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.

He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cavewas there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.

Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.” With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.

Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. He said to Saul, “Why do you listen when men say, ‘David is bent on harming you’? This day you have seen with your own eyes how the Lord delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I will not lay my hand on my lord, because he is the Lord’s anointed.’ See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut off the corner of your robe but did not kill you. See that there is nothing in my hand to indicate that I am guilty of wrongdoing or rebellion. I have not wronged you, but you are hunting me down to take my life. May the Lordjudge between you and me. And may the Lordavenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,’ so my hand will not touch you.

“Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Who are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea? May the Lord be our judge and decide between us. May he consider my cause and uphold it; may he vindicate me by delivering me from your hand.”

When David finished saying this, Saul asked, “Is that your voice, David my son?” And he wept aloud. “You are more righteous than I,” he said. “You have treated me well, but I have treated you badly. You have just now told me about the good you did to me; the Lord delivered me into your hands, but you did not kill me. When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the Lord rewardyou well for the way you treated me today.

1 Samuel 24 NIV

God was proud of Job!
Job was the most influential man in the East!
Job had three daughters and seven sons. He owned vast herds of livestock, had many servants and was the richest man in the East. Job always sought the Lord to forgive his children’s sin.
When the Lord met with His angels, Satan the Accuser was there with them. The Lord inquired of Satan, “Where have you been and what have you been up to?” Satan replied, “I have been roaming around the Earth, checking things out, going from place to place.” Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you ever noticed my friend Job? There is no one on Earth like him. He is a good, faithful man. He respects Me and refuses to do evil.”
Satan replied, “Job’s heart is towards You and he respects You because You protect him, his family and his fortune. You always insure that nothing bad happens to him or his possessions. He is wealthy, influential, and successful because Your hand of blessing rests upon everything he touches. Why wouldn’t he Love and serve You? But, if You destroyed what is dear to him Job would curse You.”
The Lord replied, “Alright, have at it. I will allow you to destroy his possessions and all that is his but do not hurt Job himself.”
God removed the fiery hedge of angelic protection from round Job so Satan could bring loss, destruction and death. God allowed Satan to touch Job’s flesh with boils and great pain. He touched Job’s soul with grief and sorrow. Job lost it all.
Sometimes for us to see beyond the surface into the deep things of God, we need to battle through life experiences. Battles reveal the condition of our heart. Too often we see losses as a hardship because we don’t look beyond the obvious into the hidden truths God is trying to reveal.
Words become spirit and truth when we speak life into an atmosphere. It is for us to know kingdom truth that is hidden in Scripture and the dreams of the night.
“In a dream, a vision of the night, when sound sleep falls on men, While they slumber in their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction, that He may turn man aside from his conduct, and keep man from pride; He keeps back his soul from the pit, and his life from passing over into Sheol.”
Job 33:15–18

The word “dream” in Hebrew is “Chalom” spelled Chet, Lamed, Final Mem. The word itself means the yolk of an egg where life is formed, or to restore to health. This Hebrew word tells us that we can find answers to life in our dreams. Dreams can restore us to health through intimacy with God. The esoteric meaning of the word dream is seen in the spelling. The Chet shows a bonding to or a binding with God. The Lamed shows us instruction from Heaven. The Final Mem represents the hidden mysteries of God. It is in our dreams that we bind ourselves to God as He reveals His hidden mysteries to us.
By looking at the various translations of theses verses in Job 33 we can get a broader understanding. Many scholars agree that sealed instructions mean that we receive personal messages about our future that is hidden in dreams.
In the Hebrew, the word ‘open’ is ‘galah’ which means to lay bare, reveal, to be intimate with, or to have intercourse. Sometimes rabbis’ see this verb ‘open’ as a Piel (meaning intimacy). God will open our ears to hear, and our eyes to see the plans He has for our future. God given dreams can be more than prophetic they can be a way that God reveals His intimate secrets to us.
During sleep, God can become very intimate with us. During sleep our spirit does not slumber but it actively searches for God. Our spirit is not influenced by the limitations of the physical body while we are asleep. In the dreams of the night we are able to see ourselves as God sees us in the past, present and in the future.

This says so much! When our bodies rest (sleep) our minds are active. Many a time we do not recall what we dream about. A key point is to make ALL alright with God. An awesome time to set aside for God is before you sleep and when you get up. If pressed for time – sleep earlier, wake up earlier. It works! In my career, I was a professional with hours none conducive to ‘dedicated’ times for The Lord. I have since learned that this is not how it was meant to be! Search, find and hold tight – you will never regret it!

https://www.companionscross.org/searching-god

http://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/galleries/7-ways-to-find-god-this-week.aspx

https://thelife.com/practical-steps-in-your-search-for-god

Sistren and brethren, a lamp needs an outlet to shine bright. For candles – dark till a light is lit to the wick! For a fuel lantern – kerosene and the flame; For an electric bulb, power is needed. It is not surprising that Jesus is called The Light of the world…

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
John 8:12