Psalm 51: 16-17
You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. The sacrifice You desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
God does not want us to try to make up for our wrongs by trying to do all kinds of things to pacify Him, or balance out the scales. Nothing we can do, no matter how good or how winsome or how much it cost us, it could never make up for any sin of ours, from the least to the greatest.
We are all born with a sin-bent nature, the Bible calls our "flesh." This is the sin we each are born into, that we inherit by our human nature. That is why we all sooner or later make that wrong choice to do what we know is wrong, but we do it anyway, for whatever reason. Some of us have more private and others more public sins, and some are more deeply affected by our sins and others to a lesser extent.
But the ground is level at the foot of the Cross. We are all guilty, and we each have earned the paycheck of death. That is why Jesus came to this Earth and entered into our World as a human being, just as we are. But He was not born of Adam, who passes on that gene to all of us through our DNA; He was born of Mary, a daughter of Eve, who only had personal sin, being deceived.
So Jesus did not need to give any sacrifice for himself, as all the priests and high-priests were commanded to, before offering the animal for the people; He could give His human life for each of us, which is what He did.
David knew this, and responded as he did, with that broken heart and spirit, in the repentance that God wants us all to experience. To admit to God that we deserve death, and let Jesus take our place on His Cross, paying our full, eternal debt on our behalf.
II Peter 3: 9
The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
God is so gracious to allow His own Son to come forward to offer Himself in our place, as the Lamb of God, sacrificing God's own Blood on His altar, the Cross. Then God raised Him from the dead, with a new, Resurrection Life, proving He accepted that payment in full for each of us, and showing us what He has planned for us--that same Resurrection body that is designed to withstand the very presence of God Almighty to live with Him in His Home, Heaven.
O my Father, thank You so much for choosing me to be Your own. Thank You for sending Your only Son to take my place on Your Cross! I love You with my whole heart, soul, and my human strength.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Monday, October 30, 2017
A Tabernacle Detail: The Lampstand
Numbers 8: 3-4
(Aaron) set up the seven lamps so they reflected their light forward (in front of the lampstand), just as the Lord had commanded Moses. The entire lampstand, from its base to its decorative blossoms was made [in one piece] of beaten gold. It was built according to the exact design the Lord had shown Moses.
Revelation 1: 12-13, 20
When I turned to see Who was speaking to me, I saw seven golden lampstands. And standing in the middle of the lampstands was the Son of Man. . . . The seven lampstands are the seven churches.
The lamps are the seven churches (the seven ages of the church?), all set on one lampstand in the Tabernacle, one universal church.
The light of the lamps is to shine forward. We don't light a lamp then hide it, we set it up to give light to the whole room.
Our Light is to shine before us, we are not to hide our Light.
Father, teach me how to shine Your Light in me out to others without appearing to promote myself, only You!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
(Aaron) set up the seven lamps so they reflected their light forward (in front of the lampstand), just as the Lord had commanded Moses. The entire lampstand, from its base to its decorative blossoms was made [in one piece] of beaten gold. It was built according to the exact design the Lord had shown Moses.
Revelation 1: 12-13, 20
When I turned to see Who was speaking to me, I saw seven golden lampstands. And standing in the middle of the lampstands was the Son of Man. . . . The seven lampstands are the seven churches.
The lamps are the seven churches (the seven ages of the church?), all set on one lampstand in the Tabernacle, one universal church.
The light of the lamps is to shine forward. We don't light a lamp then hide it, we set it up to give light to the whole room.
Our Light is to shine before us, we are not to hide our Light.
Father, teach me how to shine Your Light in me out to others without appearing to promote myself, only You!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, October 29, 2017
God's Blessing
Numbers 6: 24-26
May the Lord bless you and protect you.
May the Lord smile upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord show you His favor and give you His peace.
God told Moses to have Aaron bless His people with this blessing.
I have given others this blessing since I found it, but I realize that God has already blessed me with all the elements of this Scripture.
God has blessed me and protected me. He has smiled upon me and been so gracious to me. He has shown me His favor in so many ways, and His peace has settled my mind and emotions in the midst of turmoil.
It has truly been said that you cannot out-give God. As I have desired that God would be so kind and gracious to others, He has been so much more kind and gracious to me!
O that I would be a vessel fit for the Master's use!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
May the Lord bless you and protect you.
May the Lord smile upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord show you His favor and give you His peace.
God told Moses to have Aaron bless His people with this blessing.
I have given others this blessing since I found it, but I realize that God has already blessed me with all the elements of this Scripture.
God has blessed me and protected me. He has smiled upon me and been so gracious to me. He has shown me His favor in so many ways, and His peace has settled my mind and emotions in the midst of turmoil.
It has truly been said that you cannot out-give God. As I have desired that God would be so kind and gracious to others, He has been so much more kind and gracious to me!
O that I would be a vessel fit for the Master's use!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, October 28, 2017
Our Primary Motivation
I Thessalonians 2: 4
For we speak as messengers who have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He is the One Who examines the motives of our hearts.
Our primary motivation for telling people the Good News that Jesus came to save us by dying for us and rising from the dead, is not to help the people, but to lift up our Lord, obeying Him in teaching everyone in all the Nations. We can help them in many temporal ways, showing them God's love; then He will do for the people what we cannot, lift them up out of the miry swamp and place their feet on the Rock when they believe.
O my Father, please search me and know me, see what wicked ways are still in me; show me my sin that I may confess it and forsake it. Cleanse me and mold me, make me an instrument approved by You to be entrusted with Your Good News.
Strengthen me in my weaknesses, that I would not seek people's approval, only Yours, for You are the One Who examines my heart, and You are the God Who makes me holy in Your sight.
It's all of You alone, and You will get all the credit, You will receive all the glory, for You alone deserve all the glory and honor and praise through all eternity.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
For we speak as messengers who have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He is the One Who examines the motives of our hearts.
Our primary motivation for telling people the Good News that Jesus came to save us by dying for us and rising from the dead, is not to help the people, but to lift up our Lord, obeying Him in teaching everyone in all the Nations. We can help them in many temporal ways, showing them God's love; then He will do for the people what we cannot, lift them up out of the miry swamp and place their feet on the Rock when they believe.
O my Father, please search me and know me, see what wicked ways are still in me; show me my sin that I may confess it and forsake it. Cleanse me and mold me, make me an instrument approved by You to be entrusted with Your Good News.
Strengthen me in my weaknesses, that I would not seek people's approval, only Yours, for You are the One Who examines my heart, and You are the God Who makes me holy in Your sight.
It's all of You alone, and You will get all the credit, You will receive all the glory, for You alone deserve all the glory and honor and praise through all eternity.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, October 27, 2017
A Peek At The Golden Age
Psalm 47: 1-2, 9
Come, everyone! Clap your hands!
Shout to God with joyful praise!
For the Lord Most High is awesome.
He is the Great King of all the Earth.
The rulers of the World have gathered together
With the people of the God of Abraham.
For all the kings of the Earth belong to God.
He is highly honored everywhere.
This describes the future, when Christ Jesus has returned to the Earth as the conquering King over all the World, the Battle of Armageddon has been won, and the Golden Age of the World has begun.
Jesus has set up His Kingdom, everyone who has not submitted to His rule has been dealt with and dispatched, all the saints have received our new bodies, glowing like the sun, and the whole Earth has been cleansed of all that has hindered its running smoothly, as originally designed.
O my dear Father, I long for that great Day when my Lord and Savior, Your Son, establishes His reign as King over all the World! I long for His righteous Rule, for the Day love and joy and goodness and the knowledge of the Lord will fill the Earth as the waters cover and fill the oceans and seas.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Come, everyone! Clap your hands!
Shout to God with joyful praise!
For the Lord Most High is awesome.
He is the Great King of all the Earth.
The rulers of the World have gathered together
With the people of the God of Abraham.
For all the kings of the Earth belong to God.
He is highly honored everywhere.
This describes the future, when Christ Jesus has returned to the Earth as the conquering King over all the World, the Battle of Armageddon has been won, and the Golden Age of the World has begun.
Jesus has set up His Kingdom, everyone who has not submitted to His rule has been dealt with and dispatched, all the saints have received our new bodies, glowing like the sun, and the whole Earth has been cleansed of all that has hindered its running smoothly, as originally designed.
O my dear Father, I long for that great Day when my Lord and Savior, Your Son, establishes His reign as King over all the World! I long for His righteous Rule, for the Day love and joy and goodness and the knowledge of the Lord will fill the Earth as the waters cover and fill the oceans and seas.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, October 26, 2017
To Be Honored By Every Nation
Psalm 46: 10-11
Be still and know that I am God!
I will be honored by every Nation,
I will be honored throughout the World.
The Lord of Heaven's Armies is here among us;
The Lord of Israel is our Fortress.
O my Father, You are the only One Who deserves all the honor. Strengthen me to be still, acknowledging that You are the Great God of the Universe, Commander-in-Chief of Your Heavenly Armies, and You do everything well.
You are the One accomplishing Your purposes in my life and throughout the World. Keep me constantly mindful, moment by moment and day by day, of Your precious Presence with me and in me, my dear Lord. Fill me with Your Spirit this day, that I will see and understand to use each moment of this day wisely, so that my thoughts, attitudes, words, and acts today will bring me another small step forward on that path You have set my feet upon.
May this day bring me and all of us one day closer to the culmination of Your great Plan for this Age, and for all time.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Be still and know that I am God!
I will be honored by every Nation,
I will be honored throughout the World.
The Lord of Heaven's Armies is here among us;
The Lord of Israel is our Fortress.
O my Father, You are the only One Who deserves all the honor. Strengthen me to be still, acknowledging that You are the Great God of the Universe, Commander-in-Chief of Your Heavenly Armies, and You do everything well.
You are the One accomplishing Your purposes in my life and throughout the World. Keep me constantly mindful, moment by moment and day by day, of Your precious Presence with me and in me, my dear Lord. Fill me with Your Spirit this day, that I will see and understand to use each moment of this day wisely, so that my thoughts, attitudes, words, and acts today will bring me another small step forward on that path You have set my feet upon.
May this day bring me and all of us one day closer to the culmination of Your great Plan for this Age, and for all time.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Looking Forward
I Thessalonians 1: 10
And they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God's Son from Heaven--Jesus, Whom God raised from the dead. He is the One Who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgment.
O my Father, thank You for this wonderful promise, that we are rescued from terror. Just as You rescued Your children Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael (Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego) from the terror of the fiery furnace, and Daniel (Belteshazzar) from the terror of the lions' den, so You will rescue us from the terrors of the coming judgment. Whatever will befall us in these Last Days, we will not need to be terrified, as You will give us Your peace that surpasses all human understanding.
Even if we are in the middle of a maelstrom, we may see a thousand fall at our left hand, and ten thousand at our right hand, but it will not come near us (Psalm 91:7). We are not subject to Your wrath, Father, that You will unleash upon the World, as You have already placed the wrath we deserve on Jesus on Calvary.
Father, I do look to the coming of Your Son Jesus from Heaven. Every time I look up and see clouds in the sky, I admire Your beauty You put there, and think of Jesus, coming with clouds, anticipating His return with excitement. What kind of clouds I don't know: Heavenly clouds? Clouds of glory? Earthly clouds, to shield Him from the World's view as He calls out His own? It doesn't matter; You know, Father, and that is sufficient for me.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
And they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God's Son from Heaven--Jesus, Whom God raised from the dead. He is the One Who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgment.
O my Father, thank You for this wonderful promise, that we are rescued from terror. Just as You rescued Your children Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael (Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego) from the terror of the fiery furnace, and Daniel (Belteshazzar) from the terror of the lions' den, so You will rescue us from the terrors of the coming judgment. Whatever will befall us in these Last Days, we will not need to be terrified, as You will give us Your peace that surpasses all human understanding.
Even if we are in the middle of a maelstrom, we may see a thousand fall at our left hand, and ten thousand at our right hand, but it will not come near us (Psalm 91:7). We are not subject to Your wrath, Father, that You will unleash upon the World, as You have already placed the wrath we deserve on Jesus on Calvary.
Father, I do look to the coming of Your Son Jesus from Heaven. Every time I look up and see clouds in the sky, I admire Your beauty You put there, and think of Jesus, coming with clouds, anticipating His return with excitement. What kind of clouds I don't know: Heavenly clouds? Clouds of glory? Earthly clouds, to shield Him from the World's view as He calls out His own? It doesn't matter; You know, Father, and that is sufficient for me.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Discouraged?
Mark 9: 24
I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!
Psalm 43: 5
Why am I so discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again--my Savior and my God!
O my Father, help me! Lift me out of this despondency! Strengthen me to do what is set before me today and enable me to accomplish the task assigned to me. Help me over this hump as You did before.
Thank You for always being there for me. Teach me Your faithfulness in the small things, for it is the small things that make up, compose, the great things.
(I wrote this journal entry when I was in the midst of a great trial time. And God was faithful, as I trusted Him to be, and brought me out of that despondency into His great joy!)
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!
Psalm 43: 5
Why am I so discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again--my Savior and my God!
O my Father, help me! Lift me out of this despondency! Strengthen me to do what is set before me today and enable me to accomplish the task assigned to me. Help me over this hump as You did before.
Thank You for always being there for me. Teach me Your faithfulness in the small things, for it is the small things that make up, compose, the great things.
(I wrote this journal entry when I was in the midst of a great trial time. And God was faithful, as I trusted Him to be, and brought me out of that despondency into His great joy!)
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, October 23, 2017
God's Parties
Exodus 23: 14-17
Leviticus 23: 4-43
Deuteronomy 16: 1-17
God said, in essence, "Come to My House three times every year for a week-long party!"
There were six feasts God wanted His people to celebrate and commemorate, three of which He wanted all the people to gather together to His Tabernacle or Temple for a joyous party.
(1.) Passover is to remember the time God delivered Israel from Egypt, and the lamb's blood was smeared onto the doorposts and lintel of the houses so the Death Angel would "pass over" those dwellings and the people within.
Jesus is the Lamb of God, our Passover Lamb, whose Blood causes the wrath of God to "pass over" those who put their trust in Him to have paid their debt of sin on the Cross. This is the first week-long feast (party) God wanted us to celebrate.
(2.) First Fruits is the Spring Harvest feast. Jesus is the First Fruits of Resurrection.
(3.) Pentecost comes 50 days after the Spring Harvest (Pente means 50), and it was celebrated with bread that was leavened. This is the only feast that does not require unleavened bread. Leaven usually symbolizes sin.
Pentecost Sunday was the day the Holy Spirit fell on the first believers in Jesus as Messiah, so is the Birthday of the Church. The Church is comprised of members who are still living on this Earth, and we aren't perfect yet. This is the second week-long feast (party) God wanted us to celebrate together.
(4.) Trumpets was to be celebrated on the 1st day of the 7th month (Sept.-Oct.). This was basically a concert, with the trumpets to be played before the Lord and the people.
We are told that at the last trumpet, the trumpet will sound, and the dead in Christ will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed (I Corinthians 15:52), and the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever (I Thessalonians 3:16-17). I believe that this feast will be fulfilled at this time, the Rapture of the Church.
(5.) Day of Atonement is the time of the corporate sacrifice for the whole Nation of Israel, for the past year. This was to be a time of mourning for all the wrongs that had been done, and a time of fasting, rather than feasting. This comes only 9 days after the Trumpets, on the 10th day of the 7th month.
Zechariah 14:3-5 tells us that when the Lord returns to fight against those nations . . . This is when the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with Him.
John also wrote about this, in his book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. In Chapter 19 the Rider on the White Horse is Jesus, Who has come to wage war on the Nations of the Earth at the Battle of Armageddon. This Day of the Lord has included world-wide earthquakes, floods and tsunamis that even overflowed all the islands, humongous storms of 100-pound hail, lightening and fire, signs in the Sun, Moon and Stars, the sky rolled up like a scroll, every kind of "natural" disaster you can think of, all happening on this Day.
And Jesus returns to set up His Kingdom on the Earth. I think that this Day of the Lord is the fulfillment of the Day of Atonement, when Jesus has atoned for, bought, purchased with His Blood on Calvary, this whole Earth and the World upon it. He is now the Owner of us all, our rightful Judge. Now He cleansing it of all that evil people have wrought on it, and all the cities and towns of the World are flattened. And all His "holy ones" came with Him: all the Heavenly Angels as well as all His Redeemed People.
(6.) Tabernacles is the last feast of the year, coming only 5 days after The Atonement, on the 15th day of the 7th month. The people were to gather together to construct and build temporary structures to live in for a week, celebrating with a great joyful feast to commemorate their living in tents after leaving Egypt. This is the third feast God wanted all His people to gather for.
I see the fulfillment of this Feast in our living in temporary housing after the Battle of Armageddon, while we rebuild the cities and towns that have been destroyed, rejoicing in being our Lord's emissaries in setting up His glorious Kingdom, sitting on His Throne with Him ruling this World in its Golden Age.
O my Father, I thank You and praise You for Your wondrous works. You have planned out Your whole Great Plan of the Ages, You have laid out Your whole program for us in the Feasts You told Your people to celebrate, and You are carrying out the fulfillment of Time before our very eyes as we live every day.
Thank You for rescuing me from myself and the twistedness of my own heart. You have delivered me from the bondage of deep sin, lifted me out of the quicksand of mire and placed my feet upon the Rock.
You take me by my hand and lead me in Your paths of righteousness, and You never let go. Your joy is my strength, and I will dwell in Your House (Family) in Your Kingdom, and magnify and glorify Your Name in Your courts forever!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Leviticus 23: 4-43
Deuteronomy 16: 1-17
God said, in essence, "Come to My House three times every year for a week-long party!"
There were six feasts God wanted His people to celebrate and commemorate, three of which He wanted all the people to gather together to His Tabernacle or Temple for a joyous party.
(1.) Passover is to remember the time God delivered Israel from Egypt, and the lamb's blood was smeared onto the doorposts and lintel of the houses so the Death Angel would "pass over" those dwellings and the people within.
Jesus is the Lamb of God, our Passover Lamb, whose Blood causes the wrath of God to "pass over" those who put their trust in Him to have paid their debt of sin on the Cross. This is the first week-long feast (party) God wanted us to celebrate.
(2.) First Fruits is the Spring Harvest feast. Jesus is the First Fruits of Resurrection.
(3.) Pentecost comes 50 days after the Spring Harvest (Pente means 50), and it was celebrated with bread that was leavened. This is the only feast that does not require unleavened bread. Leaven usually symbolizes sin.
Pentecost Sunday was the day the Holy Spirit fell on the first believers in Jesus as Messiah, so is the Birthday of the Church. The Church is comprised of members who are still living on this Earth, and we aren't perfect yet. This is the second week-long feast (party) God wanted us to celebrate together.
(4.) Trumpets was to be celebrated on the 1st day of the 7th month (Sept.-Oct.). This was basically a concert, with the trumpets to be played before the Lord and the people.
We are told that at the last trumpet, the trumpet will sound, and the dead in Christ will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed (I Corinthians 15:52), and the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever (I Thessalonians 3:16-17). I believe that this feast will be fulfilled at this time, the Rapture of the Church.
(5.) Day of Atonement is the time of the corporate sacrifice for the whole Nation of Israel, for the past year. This was to be a time of mourning for all the wrongs that had been done, and a time of fasting, rather than feasting. This comes only 9 days after the Trumpets, on the 10th day of the 7th month.
Zechariah 14:3-5 tells us that when the Lord returns to fight against those nations . . . This is when the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with Him.
John also wrote about this, in his book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. In Chapter 19 the Rider on the White Horse is Jesus, Who has come to wage war on the Nations of the Earth at the Battle of Armageddon. This Day of the Lord has included world-wide earthquakes, floods and tsunamis that even overflowed all the islands, humongous storms of 100-pound hail, lightening and fire, signs in the Sun, Moon and Stars, the sky rolled up like a scroll, every kind of "natural" disaster you can think of, all happening on this Day.
And Jesus returns to set up His Kingdom on the Earth. I think that this Day of the Lord is the fulfillment of the Day of Atonement, when Jesus has atoned for, bought, purchased with His Blood on Calvary, this whole Earth and the World upon it. He is now the Owner of us all, our rightful Judge. Now He cleansing it of all that evil people have wrought on it, and all the cities and towns of the World are flattened. And all His "holy ones" came with Him: all the Heavenly Angels as well as all His Redeemed People.
(6.) Tabernacles is the last feast of the year, coming only 5 days after The Atonement, on the 15th day of the 7th month. The people were to gather together to construct and build temporary structures to live in for a week, celebrating with a great joyful feast to commemorate their living in tents after leaving Egypt. This is the third feast God wanted all His people to gather for.
I see the fulfillment of this Feast in our living in temporary housing after the Battle of Armageddon, while we rebuild the cities and towns that have been destroyed, rejoicing in being our Lord's emissaries in setting up His glorious Kingdom, sitting on His Throne with Him ruling this World in its Golden Age.
O my Father, I thank You and praise You for Your wondrous works. You have planned out Your whole Great Plan of the Ages, You have laid out Your whole program for us in the Feasts You told Your people to celebrate, and You are carrying out the fulfillment of Time before our very eyes as we live every day.
Thank You for rescuing me from myself and the twistedness of my own heart. You have delivered me from the bondage of deep sin, lifted me out of the quicksand of mire and placed my feet upon the Rock.
You take me by my hand and lead me in Your paths of righteousness, and You never let go. Your joy is my strength, and I will dwell in Your House (Family) in Your Kingdom, and magnify and glorify Your Name in Your courts forever!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, October 22, 2017
I Long For You, O God!
Leviticus 19: 2
... You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.
Psalm 42: 1-2
As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before Him?
O my dear Father God in Heaven, You are so great, so powerful, so wise. Hide me, I pray, in the cleft of the rock and cover me with Your hand; keep me out of Your way as You work in the lives of those around me and the circumstances that surround us.
Forgive my selfishness, and teach me to be aware of Your presence with me and Your arms around me; and of the people around me and the events transpiring around us. Cleanse me and use me so that I will think Your thoughts, not mine; that I would say Your words, not mine; that I would do Your works, not mine. Help me to consider others before myself.
Though I only take one or two tiny steps each day, hold my hand tightly and guide me through everything that is thrown at me each day, straight on Your path for me, that I not be knocked to the right or to the left.
And may all the honor and glory redound to You, my Lord and my God, as You have planned it all out and executed Your plan exactly as You wanted.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
... You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.
Psalm 42: 1-2
As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before Him?
O my dear Father God in Heaven, You are so great, so powerful, so wise. Hide me, I pray, in the cleft of the rock and cover me with Your hand; keep me out of Your way as You work in the lives of those around me and the circumstances that surround us.
Forgive my selfishness, and teach me to be aware of Your presence with me and Your arms around me; and of the people around me and the events transpiring around us. Cleanse me and use me so that I will think Your thoughts, not mine; that I would say Your words, not mine; that I would do Your works, not mine. Help me to consider others before myself.
Though I only take one or two tiny steps each day, hold my hand tightly and guide me through everything that is thrown at me each day, straight on Your path for me, that I not be knocked to the right or to the left.
And may all the honor and glory redound to You, my Lord and my God, as You have planned it all out and executed Your plan exactly as You wanted.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, October 21, 2017
Like Jesus
Philippians 2: 1-5
Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from His love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and sympathetic? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one heart and purpose.
Don't be selfish; don't live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself. Don't think only of your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing. Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had.
WWJD, What Would Jesus Do? What would Jesus think? What attitude would Jesus have on "this" matter?
Can I think like Jesus? Can I fill my heart with what fills His heart? Can I live my life among the people in my little world as Jesus would live with these people?
Am I encouraged in my belonging to Christ? Do I have any comfort in His love? Am I aware of being friends, having fellowship, with His Spirit? Is my heart tender or sympathetic toward others, especially when I don't agree with their views or lifestyles?
Father, You are my Provider of everything I need to be like Your Son, My Lord, Christ Jesus. Your great mercy in not giving me the wrath I deserve, having put it all on Jesus on the Cross; Your great grace, cleansing me and giving me all the abundance of Your riches in glory that Jesus deserves and earned for me.
You are now my Daddy (Abba), my good Father. You want only the best for me, so You will train me, discipline me, teach me, lead me and guide me. I put my hand in Yours, but even if I pull away, You will hold my hand firmly, as the good Parent Your are. You will never allow me to get away from You into the path of a speeding truck bearing down on me. You will never allow me to pull away over the edge of a cliff. Your light of Truth illumines each step I take, just as my car headlights light the road before me but not the entire journey.
I trust You, Father, to keep me on Your narrow path, avoiding all the boulders and potholes and away from the ditches on the right hand and on the left. I don't know what lies around that corner I see up ahead, but I know You do, You have planned out what You want to accomplish in my life, and I don't want to miss any of the details of the good You want for me. Keep on keeping on with me, Father, molding me and shaping me, teaching me and disciplining me, making me into the very image of Your dear Son, Who is the image of the Father. You are God, God Almighty, and You are building Yourself a family. Thank You for including me in Your family, Dad.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from His love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and sympathetic? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one heart and purpose.
Don't be selfish; don't live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself. Don't think only of your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing. Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had.
WWJD, What Would Jesus Do? What would Jesus think? What attitude would Jesus have on "this" matter?
Can I think like Jesus? Can I fill my heart with what fills His heart? Can I live my life among the people in my little world as Jesus would live with these people?
Am I encouraged in my belonging to Christ? Do I have any comfort in His love? Am I aware of being friends, having fellowship, with His Spirit? Is my heart tender or sympathetic toward others, especially when I don't agree with their views or lifestyles?
Father, You are my Provider of everything I need to be like Your Son, My Lord, Christ Jesus. Your great mercy in not giving me the wrath I deserve, having put it all on Jesus on the Cross; Your great grace, cleansing me and giving me all the abundance of Your riches in glory that Jesus deserves and earned for me.
You are now my Daddy (Abba), my good Father. You want only the best for me, so You will train me, discipline me, teach me, lead me and guide me. I put my hand in Yours, but even if I pull away, You will hold my hand firmly, as the good Parent Your are. You will never allow me to get away from You into the path of a speeding truck bearing down on me. You will never allow me to pull away over the edge of a cliff. Your light of Truth illumines each step I take, just as my car headlights light the road before me but not the entire journey.
I trust You, Father, to keep me on Your narrow path, avoiding all the boulders and potholes and away from the ditches on the right hand and on the left. I don't know what lies around that corner I see up ahead, but I know You do, You have planned out what You want to accomplish in my life, and I don't want to miss any of the details of the good You want for me. Keep on keeping on with me, Father, molding me and shaping me, teaching me and disciplining me, making me into the very image of Your dear Son, Who is the image of the Father. You are God, God Almighty, and You are building Yourself a family. Thank You for including me in Your family, Dad.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, October 20, 2017
Thought - Heart - Life
Mark 7: 20-23
And then He added, It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person's heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.
All these horrible things come out as the overflow of what is filling the heart. The first item on this list is "evil thoughts." We choose what we want to think about. Everything we do always begins with a thought, whether good or bad. So it is very important to choose to think good thoughts. (See Philippians 4:8-9 for God's thought list.)
Whenever a thought crosses my mind that happens to be selfish, or lazy, or unkind, I don't want to dwell on that idea; I try to deliberately replace it with something more wholesome. I'll think of a Bible verse that counteracts that temptation, as Jesus did. Or if it's a song that's playing in my head, then I'll turn on Christian Radio to replace it with something honoring.
Everything we do starts with a thought, then fills the heart, then overflows into our life. I need to remember this, especially when I'm in the heat of the battle. I don't want to go on automatic at those times, so I need to plan ahead, before the stuff hits the fan, to know what I'll do. Then I'll be able to think more clearly, without my brain being muddled in the passion of the moment. That's my goal concerning this.
O my Father, please search my heart and know me. Show me any of these vile things You find there, that I may confess and forsake them and be forgiven and cleansed. Wash my inner parts that I may be a fit sacrifice, a vessel suitable for Your use.
O Father, please continue to help me fill my heart with Your good ideas and attitudes and emotions, by having self-control over what I allow to play in my head, and in my thought processes. Help me to always remember how sweet and kind and strong is Your love for me, so I will fill my heart with that to overflow onto all the other people in my little world.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
And then He added, It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person's heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.
All these horrible things come out as the overflow of what is filling the heart. The first item on this list is "evil thoughts." We choose what we want to think about. Everything we do always begins with a thought, whether good or bad. So it is very important to choose to think good thoughts. (See Philippians 4:8-9 for God's thought list.)
Whenever a thought crosses my mind that happens to be selfish, or lazy, or unkind, I don't want to dwell on that idea; I try to deliberately replace it with something more wholesome. I'll think of a Bible verse that counteracts that temptation, as Jesus did. Or if it's a song that's playing in my head, then I'll turn on Christian Radio to replace it with something honoring.
Everything we do starts with a thought, then fills the heart, then overflows into our life. I need to remember this, especially when I'm in the heat of the battle. I don't want to go on automatic at those times, so I need to plan ahead, before the stuff hits the fan, to know what I'll do. Then I'll be able to think more clearly, without my brain being muddled in the passion of the moment. That's my goal concerning this.
O my Father, please search my heart and know me. Show me any of these vile things You find there, that I may confess and forsake them and be forgiven and cleansed. Wash my inner parts that I may be a fit sacrifice, a vessel suitable for Your use.
O Father, please continue to help me fill my heart with Your good ideas and attitudes and emotions, by having self-control over what I allow to play in my head, and in my thought processes. Help me to always remember how sweet and kind and strong is Your love for me, so I will fill my heart with that to overflow onto all the other people in my little world.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, October 19, 2017
A New Song
Psalm 40: 3
He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what He has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord.
O my dear Father in Heaven, You are continually blessing me day by day with such great and wonderful things. Your plans for me really are wonderful, and are so good for me and in me.
O Father, may others see the good things You are doing in me, that they hear that new song You have given me to sing, and be drawn to You to put their trust in You. May others see not me, but You in me, as a sweet savor, a healing perfume, and a joyous song of praise.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what He has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord.
O my dear Father in Heaven, You are continually blessing me day by day with such great and wonderful things. Your plans for me really are wonderful, and are so good for me and in me.
O Father, may others see the good things You are doing in me, that they hear that new song You have given me to sing, and be drawn to You to put their trust in You. May others see not me, but You in me, as a sweet savor, a healing perfume, and a joyous song of praise.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Soft And Beautiful Cover
Ephesians 2: 1-4 says that we were all dead in our transgressions and sins, gratifying the cravings of our flesh, born by nature objects of God's wrath. Then His great love for us in the richness of His mercy made us alive with Christ.
The song says, "All my soul needs all Your love to cover me so all the world will see that I am nothing without You."
As the snow covers the junkyard and garbage heap with a thick blanket, soft and beautiful, over all the stench and sharp points and rough edges; so I need God's love to cover all my sharp points and rough edges in my relationships, especially within my own family, to soften my barbed tongue (and keyboard) and my attitudes toward their lifestyles.
I need to love them with God's soft and beautiful love, tough only in maintaining my own boundaries, but gentle in all other areas regarding them and their views.
O my Father, since I wrote this in my journal, You have been working in my attitudes and my self-control to try to think before I express myself. It has been a long road, but You will never give up on me. Thank You, Father, for Your love, sweet and gentle, as it is strong and resilient. O Father, Your love goes beyond anything I could ever even imagine, it is so much more than any words I can use to describe it.
Please continue to teach me how to love with Your love, not my own. Only Your love will heal and mend all the tangles and misunderstandings in our faulty and unreliable relationships. Only You, God, are the answer to every question.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
The song says, "All my soul needs all Your love to cover me so all the world will see that I am nothing without You."
As the snow covers the junkyard and garbage heap with a thick blanket, soft and beautiful, over all the stench and sharp points and rough edges; so I need God's love to cover all my sharp points and rough edges in my relationships, especially within my own family, to soften my barbed tongue (and keyboard) and my attitudes toward their lifestyles.
I need to love them with God's soft and beautiful love, tough only in maintaining my own boundaries, but gentle in all other areas regarding them and their views.
O my Father, since I wrote this in my journal, You have been working in my attitudes and my self-control to try to think before I express myself. It has been a long road, but You will never give up on me. Thank You, Father, for Your love, sweet and gentle, as it is strong and resilient. O Father, Your love goes beyond anything I could ever even imagine, it is so much more than any words I can use to describe it.
Please continue to teach me how to love with Your love, not my own. Only Your love will heal and mend all the tangles and misunderstandings in our faulty and unreliable relationships. Only You, God, are the answer to every question.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Dying To Self
Matthew 16: 24-26
Then Jesus said to His disciples, If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for My sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole World but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?
A cross is an instrument of death. No one takes up a cross with the intention to live, but to die. So when we turn from our selfish ways and not let apathy continue in our hearts toward others, determine that we will not focus on ourselves but on others and decide to serve them as serving the Lord; then God will reward us with gifts that we would not even think of or imagine, right here in this World, and eternally in the next.
Nothing in this life will endure beyond this Earth; it had a beginning and it will have an end. But God gave us a soul, which is who we are, our person-hood and person-ality, and it will never die like our bodies, but will live on forever.
So will we die to this life and live with God forever, or will we cling to this worldly life of pleasure and end up suffering forever, paying our own debt?
Each one of us has been born through Adam, and inherit his sinful bent in wanting to make our own decisions, not listening to anyone else, being our own god. It's because of this sinful bent in our persons that we make foolish choices, to please ourselves. We become selfish and apathetic toward others, always considering "Number 1" first.
That's why Jesus came the first time. The Lord God of the Universe we got to know in the Old Testament has always been the One Who communicated and dealt with His creation, Mankind. He is the One Who decided before Creation was ever begun, that He would be the go-between between God the Father and Man. And He would be the One to rescue Man if/when he sinned.
And we sinned. So He gave His people His Law, including all the sacrifices, to show what the Lord God would do when He came to rescue us. He is called the Lamb of God because He fulfilled those animal sacrifices that were acted out then. He is the Final Sacrifice, shedding God's own Blood, with endless power to not just cover, but take away sin.
Now when we consider ourselves dead to sin, because Jesus died for us, and we deny our own longings to satisfy ourselves, focusing on others instead; that is dying to ourselves, giving up our lives for Him. And then we will find that God sees to it that we gain so much more than we ever gave up, maybe not in the same way we envisioned it, but so much better!
I trust my Maker to know me better than I know myself, and His love for me which is more than I can imagine, to give to me everything He knows I need, and more, and to do in me and to me and through me what I can never do myself. Then He will get all the credit for what He has done, all the glory.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Then Jesus said to His disciples, If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for My sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole World but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?
A cross is an instrument of death. No one takes up a cross with the intention to live, but to die. So when we turn from our selfish ways and not let apathy continue in our hearts toward others, determine that we will not focus on ourselves but on others and decide to serve them as serving the Lord; then God will reward us with gifts that we would not even think of or imagine, right here in this World, and eternally in the next.
Nothing in this life will endure beyond this Earth; it had a beginning and it will have an end. But God gave us a soul, which is who we are, our person-hood and person-ality, and it will never die like our bodies, but will live on forever.
So will we die to this life and live with God forever, or will we cling to this worldly life of pleasure and end up suffering forever, paying our own debt?
Each one of us has been born through Adam, and inherit his sinful bent in wanting to make our own decisions, not listening to anyone else, being our own god. It's because of this sinful bent in our persons that we make foolish choices, to please ourselves. We become selfish and apathetic toward others, always considering "Number 1" first.
That's why Jesus came the first time. The Lord God of the Universe we got to know in the Old Testament has always been the One Who communicated and dealt with His creation, Mankind. He is the One Who decided before Creation was ever begun, that He would be the go-between between God the Father and Man. And He would be the One to rescue Man if/when he sinned.
And we sinned. So He gave His people His Law, including all the sacrifices, to show what the Lord God would do when He came to rescue us. He is called the Lamb of God because He fulfilled those animal sacrifices that were acted out then. He is the Final Sacrifice, shedding God's own Blood, with endless power to not just cover, but take away sin.
Now when we consider ourselves dead to sin, because Jesus died for us, and we deny our own longings to satisfy ourselves, focusing on others instead; that is dying to ourselves, giving up our lives for Him. And then we will find that God sees to it that we gain so much more than we ever gave up, maybe not in the same way we envisioned it, but so much better!
I trust my Maker to know me better than I know myself, and His love for me which is more than I can imagine, to give to me everything He knows I need, and more, and to do in me and to me and through me what I can never do myself. Then He will get all the credit for what He has done, all the glory.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, October 16, 2017
Two Or Three
Matthew 18: 19-20
If two of you agree here on Earth concerning anything you ask, My Father in Heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together in My Name, I am there among them.
What a wonderful promise! I know from this that God has already answered my prayers, our prayers.
Thank You so much, my most gracious and precious Father, my Abba Daddy. Thank You for Your power and Your goodness and Your love and mercy, showered upon me and us.
You have lavished Your love upon us, dear Father, though we'll never deserve Your love. You have made us worth Your attention and care, You value us that much. But we don't deserve it or can never earn it. You give to us freely, from Your great, majestic abundance.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
If two of you agree here on Earth concerning anything you ask, My Father in Heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together in My Name, I am there among them.
What a wonderful promise! I know from this that God has already answered my prayers, our prayers.
Thank You so much, my most gracious and precious Father, my Abba Daddy. Thank You for Your power and Your goodness and Your love and mercy, showered upon me and us.
You have lavished Your love upon us, dear Father, though we'll never deserve Your love. You have made us worth Your attention and care, You value us that much. But we don't deserve it or can never earn it. You give to us freely, from Your great, majestic abundance.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, October 15, 2017
Tamar's Pregnancy
I find a curious event recorded in Genesis 38 concerning Tamar's pregnancy. As a mother, I wonder how this pregnancy progressed, since it wasn't known there were twins until the birth.
It seems the boys were struggling and competing with each other to be born first, as Zerah put his hand out of the birth canal long enough for the midwife to tie a scarlet string around the wrist. Then it was pulled back into the womb and Perez was born first, then his brother with the scarlet string.
Is this another example of God choosing the second over the first? Perez is now in the direct line to David the King, so also in the line to Christ Jesus, too.
There is nothing else written about Zerah, he drops out of sight in Scripture, yet he actually had his hand out first. Such competition! For such a distant reward!
O my Father, You are great! You know who You have chosen: for salvation, for destruction, for their places in Your great Plan of the Ages; as well as Your plan for each one of us, our place in Your grand scheme.
Thank You, Father, for designing everything and making it all according to Your design, causing it all to function and work out to fulfill Your purposes for everything, and Your great, grand Purpose for us all!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
It seems the boys were struggling and competing with each other to be born first, as Zerah put his hand out of the birth canal long enough for the midwife to tie a scarlet string around the wrist. Then it was pulled back into the womb and Perez was born first, then his brother with the scarlet string.
Is this another example of God choosing the second over the first? Perez is now in the direct line to David the King, so also in the line to Christ Jesus, too.
There is nothing else written about Zerah, he drops out of sight in Scripture, yet he actually had his hand out first. Such competition! For such a distant reward!
O my Father, You are great! You know who You have chosen: for salvation, for destruction, for their places in Your great Plan of the Ages; as well as Your plan for each one of us, our place in Your grand scheme.
Thank You, Father, for designing everything and making it all according to Your design, causing it all to function and work out to fulfill Your purposes for everything, and Your great, grand Purpose for us all!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, October 14, 2017
The Song Of Moses
Exodus 15: 1-18
This chapter records the Song of Moses:
I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously . . . The Lord is a warrior, Yahweh is His Name . . . Your right hand, O Lord, is glorious in power, Your right hand, O Lord, smashes the enemy . . . Who is like You among the gods, O Lord, glorious in holiness, awesome in splendor, performing great wonders? . . . With Your unfailing love You lead the people You have redeemed, in Your might, You guide them to Your sacred home. . . .
Our God is God. He always gets the victory. He always wins every time. No other being is equal to Him, as He is the Designer and the Maker and the Creator of everything that exists.
Just like my son made Lego castles and forests and villages, and he was able to move them around any way he liked, and took them down whenever he wanted; so our God is our Master Who moves us around in the ways He likes. He has given us a will that is free enough to make our own decisions, but limited to what is available to us to decide. Nothing we choose to do can alter His plan for His Creation; He will fulfill all He has determined.
And He is Love. He loves us with a greater love than we can imagine. So He fights for us: against our enemy, the angel of light who has become our adversary and accuser; against the forces of this World system that try to draw us away from His ways; and even against our own flesh, our hearts, that lure us into the lies we tell ourselves.
He gains the victory over everything that works against our good. God is a good Father Who cares for us His children with His strong and gentle hand, to lead us into His righteousness and into His sacred home.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
This chapter records the Song of Moses:
I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously . . . The Lord is a warrior, Yahweh is His Name . . . Your right hand, O Lord, is glorious in power, Your right hand, O Lord, smashes the enemy . . . Who is like You among the gods, O Lord, glorious in holiness, awesome in splendor, performing great wonders? . . . With Your unfailing love You lead the people You have redeemed, in Your might, You guide them to Your sacred home. . . .
Our God is God. He always gets the victory. He always wins every time. No other being is equal to Him, as He is the Designer and the Maker and the Creator of everything that exists.
Just like my son made Lego castles and forests and villages, and he was able to move them around any way he liked, and took them down whenever he wanted; so our God is our Master Who moves us around in the ways He likes. He has given us a will that is free enough to make our own decisions, but limited to what is available to us to decide. Nothing we choose to do can alter His plan for His Creation; He will fulfill all He has determined.
And He is Love. He loves us with a greater love than we can imagine. So He fights for us: against our enemy, the angel of light who has become our adversary and accuser; against the forces of this World system that try to draw us away from His ways; and even against our own flesh, our hearts, that lure us into the lies we tell ourselves.
He gains the victory over everything that works against our good. God is a good Father Who cares for us His children with His strong and gentle hand, to lead us into His righteousness and into His sacred home.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, October 13, 2017
The Greatest Commandment
Matthew 22: 36-37
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
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. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
What does Jesus mean when He says that "the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments"?
"The Law and the Prophets" was a term used in that day to refer to the whole body of works we know today as the Old Testament. So Jesus was saying that all of what God has told us about everything He has made and how it is designed to work is dependent on this principle of Love. For us to love God, and to love one another, is the foundation of how we are to cooperate with how God wants this World to operate.
There was a popular song that said, "Love makes the world go 'round," and it's true: God's love for what He made put His order into this Universe, which is what makes the Earth rotate on its axis, tilted just right to give us the seasons, and just exactly far enough from the Sun to not burn us up or freeze us.
Another song says, "To know him is to love him," and when I apply this to God, it is also true for me: the better I get to know God, the more my heart swells with love for Him. He must be first in my heart, my thinking, and my priorities. I will never pray to anyone else, for He alone is God; I will never place anything else in my life that would be a barrier between us. My love for Him is in response to all He has done to show His love for me. It is like an umbrella that shields me in the storms of life, the banner He has stretched over me (Song of Solomon: 2:4).
This can also be applied to how the World System is to work: this is how we love one another. When I love God, then I want to love what He loves, which is primarily people. When I see others through His eyes, then I will be kind and compassionate toward them, I won't want to kill them, or steal from them, or lie to them. I will automatically follow all the laws regarding interpersonal relationships and consider the other person before myself.
When Jesus fulfilled all the Law (Matthew 5:17) with His life and death and Resurrection, He left us with the principle that the Law was based on, Love. Now this principle of Love has us going beyond what the letter of the Law demanded. We will not only not kill our neighbor, we won't even think evil against him. We will not slander our neighbor, we will encourage him. We will not covet what he has for ourselves, we will commend him and take joy in what he has accomplished. We won't commit adultery, we will take care to respect one another and clothe ourselves modestly and appropriately.
O my Father, thank You so much for Your great love, for me and for everyone You made, and for all of Your creation. Thank You for giving us Your Word, to teach us everything we need to know and apply in this life to know You and to understand how to function in this World. Thank You for giving us everything we need to prosper in this World in getting along with one another, and in living our lives to be pleasing to You, and that You will even reward us eternally for what You are giving us the strength and ability to do here, now. You truly are magnificent, my Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
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. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
What does Jesus mean when He says that "the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments"?
"The Law and the Prophets" was a term used in that day to refer to the whole body of works we know today as the Old Testament. So Jesus was saying that all of what God has told us about everything He has made and how it is designed to work is dependent on this principle of Love. For us to love God, and to love one another, is the foundation of how we are to cooperate with how God wants this World to operate.
There was a popular song that said, "Love makes the world go 'round," and it's true: God's love for what He made put His order into this Universe, which is what makes the Earth rotate on its axis, tilted just right to give us the seasons, and just exactly far enough from the Sun to not burn us up or freeze us.
Another song says, "To know him is to love him," and when I apply this to God, it is also true for me: the better I get to know God, the more my heart swells with love for Him. He must be first in my heart, my thinking, and my priorities. I will never pray to anyone else, for He alone is God; I will never place anything else in my life that would be a barrier between us. My love for Him is in response to all He has done to show His love for me. It is like an umbrella that shields me in the storms of life, the banner He has stretched over me (Song of Solomon: 2:4).
This can also be applied to how the World System is to work: this is how we love one another. When I love God, then I want to love what He loves, which is primarily people. When I see others through His eyes, then I will be kind and compassionate toward them, I won't want to kill them, or steal from them, or lie to them. I will automatically follow all the laws regarding interpersonal relationships and consider the other person before myself.
When Jesus fulfilled all the Law (Matthew 5:17) with His life and death and Resurrection, He left us with the principle that the Law was based on, Love. Now this principle of Love has us going beyond what the letter of the Law demanded. We will not only not kill our neighbor, we won't even think evil against him. We will not slander our neighbor, we will encourage him. We will not covet what he has for ourselves, we will commend him and take joy in what he has accomplished. We won't commit adultery, we will take care to respect one another and clothe ourselves modestly and appropriately.
O my Father, thank You so much for Your great love, for me and for everyone You made, and for all of Your creation. Thank You for giving us Your Word, to teach us everything we need to know and apply in this life to know You and to understand how to function in this World. Thank You for giving us everything we need to prosper in this World in getting along with one another, and in living our lives to be pleasing to You, and that You will even reward us eternally for what You are giving us the strength and ability to do here, now. You truly are magnificent, my Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, October 12, 2017
Wisdom And Discernment
Proverbs 8: 12-13a
I, Wisdom, live together with good judgment. I know where to discover knowledge and discernment. All who fear the Lord will hate evil. ...
O my Father, You are the One Who holds all wisdom and understanding and all knowledge. Please remove from me the stony places that still remain in my heart, my wellspring of the issues of my life. Replace them with flesh molded into the shape of Your wisdom and discernment.
Then may I make wise decisions according to Your ways and Your plan and purposes, and You will receive all the credit, all the honor and glory that You alone are worthy to receive.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
I, Wisdom, live together with good judgment. I know where to discover knowledge and discernment. All who fear the Lord will hate evil. ...
O my Father, You are the One Who holds all wisdom and understanding and all knowledge. Please remove from me the stony places that still remain in my heart, my wellspring of the issues of my life. Replace them with flesh molded into the shape of Your wisdom and discernment.
Then may I make wise decisions according to Your ways and Your plan and purposes, and You will receive all the credit, all the honor and glory that You alone are worthy to receive.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
A Heart For The Lord
Psalm 27: 4
The one thing I ask of the Lord--the one thing I seek most--is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord's perfections and meditating in His temple.
David's heart was true to the Lord, he is called, "a man after God's own heart." This verse tells us one of the major reasons God said that of him.
David wanted to concentrate on the Lord with no other considerations to occupy his mind, but, of course, he couldn't. But He wanted to. He couldn't spend all his time in the Tabernacle because he was the king over the nation, and needed to attend to all the matters of state. But I'm sure his mind was on what the Lord wanted him to do, even if he wasn't in the Temple. Most of the time.
I know David wasn't perfect, and didn't consult the Lord for every decision he needed to make every day, because we're told about some of his poor choices, and the consequences.
But he is still a good example of one who we may want as a life model. His heart, for the most part, did belong to the Lord.
O my Father, may my heart belong to You! Let me live in Your house: Your thoughts, Your path for my feet. Let me not turn to the right hand nor to the left, neither trying to control others nor withdrawing into isolation. Allow me to participate, or at least observe, and keep out of Your way in Your workings in others' lives, especially my adult children's.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
The one thing I ask of the Lord--the one thing I seek most--is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord's perfections and meditating in His temple.
David's heart was true to the Lord, he is called, "a man after God's own heart." This verse tells us one of the major reasons God said that of him.
David wanted to concentrate on the Lord with no other considerations to occupy his mind, but, of course, he couldn't. But He wanted to. He couldn't spend all his time in the Tabernacle because he was the king over the nation, and needed to attend to all the matters of state. But I'm sure his mind was on what the Lord wanted him to do, even if he wasn't in the Temple. Most of the time.
I know David wasn't perfect, and didn't consult the Lord for every decision he needed to make every day, because we're told about some of his poor choices, and the consequences.
But he is still a good example of one who we may want as a life model. His heart, for the most part, did belong to the Lord.
O my Father, may my heart belong to You! Let me live in Your house: Your thoughts, Your path for my feet. Let me not turn to the right hand nor to the left, neither trying to control others nor withdrawing into isolation. Allow me to participate, or at least observe, and keep out of Your way in Your workings in others' lives, especially my adult children's.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Nothing Can Compare
Proverbs 8: 10-11
Choose My instruction rather than silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold. For wisdom is far more valuable than rubies. Nothing you desire can compare with it.
O my Father in Heaven, You truly are much more desirable than any form of riches or wealth this World can provide. Your value is far above any precious gem or substance of this Earth.
Knowing You gives my life so much more value than any manner of fame or notoriety this World can offer. You Who made all these things, for our use, are far more; more than more--You are completely and absolutely other than everything You have created.
Knowing You and loving You gives value and purpose to the few days You have seen fit to grant me on this Earth. Your wisdom and understanding enlighten my eyes to perceive Your glory, Your beauty, in all You have made and in how You are working Your great Plan of the Ages. You are using the details of my life and every other individual life, working them all together as threads, strands of color, You are weaving into a great, grand Tapestry to be displayed through all eternity for Your glory.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Choose My instruction rather than silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold. For wisdom is far more valuable than rubies. Nothing you desire can compare with it.
O my Father in Heaven, You truly are much more desirable than any form of riches or wealth this World can provide. Your value is far above any precious gem or substance of this Earth.
Knowing You gives my life so much more value than any manner of fame or notoriety this World can offer. You Who made all these things, for our use, are far more; more than more--You are completely and absolutely other than everything You have created.
Knowing You and loving You gives value and purpose to the few days You have seen fit to grant me on this Earth. Your wisdom and understanding enlighten my eyes to perceive Your glory, Your beauty, in all You have made and in how You are working Your great Plan of the Ages. You are using the details of my life and every other individual life, working them all together as threads, strands of color, You are weaving into a great, grand Tapestry to be displayed through all eternity for Your glory.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, October 9, 2017
The Best Pathway
Psalm 32: 8
The Lord says, "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you."
God knows the best path of life for each one of us. If only we will submit to His Lordship over us, letting Him love us with His enormous love, and in loving Him in return, following His ways; then He will guide us, advise us, and watch over us.
Repeatedly in the Bible I've seen that we are to "be careful" to recognize God's ways, to "pay attention" to everything He says and what He means by it, scattered all through the whole body of Scripture.
So we will never just "fall into" doing what is right, we need to take care and be aware. Every time I find myself going on "automatic," that's when I have troubles and sorrows and difficulties. Then I need to confess to God what I've done and turn back around to observing His ways, the principles He based all His Laws upon.
I know that it's possible for me to miss the great things God has planned for me to do to further His great Plan of the Ages toward His Kingdom; I read about Israel's first king, King Saul, and how he did what was just little things that were not what God told him to do, and he missed out on tremendous blessing that he was never even aware of while he lived (see I Samuel 13:13-14). God wanted to set up a dynasty for Jesus to come through, but when King Saul listened to his "good sense" and yielded to "the people" instead of fully obeying what God told him to do, he missed this great benefit, and God chose another man for that role.
If I don't do what He wants me to accomplish, then He will just choose someone else to do it. But I will lose out on what He wants for me. Nothing I can do will ever interfere with or deter God's Plan, He will see that it is carried out. But I will miss out on great blessing if I'm not "careful" to "pay attention" to all the little things He is directing me to do as He guides me along the path. All the little things build into the great thing.
O my Father, Your love to me is better than anything I can ask for, think of, or even imagine. Because You love me, You are leading me along Your path set before me; Your plans for me are for my good, so that when others see all the good You do for me, they will be drawn to You, and You will receive all the credit, all the glory and honor for all You are doing in my life.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
The Lord says, "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you."
God knows the best path of life for each one of us. If only we will submit to His Lordship over us, letting Him love us with His enormous love, and in loving Him in return, following His ways; then He will guide us, advise us, and watch over us.
Repeatedly in the Bible I've seen that we are to "be careful" to recognize God's ways, to "pay attention" to everything He says and what He means by it, scattered all through the whole body of Scripture.
So we will never just "fall into" doing what is right, we need to take care and be aware. Every time I find myself going on "automatic," that's when I have troubles and sorrows and difficulties. Then I need to confess to God what I've done and turn back around to observing His ways, the principles He based all His Laws upon.
I know that it's possible for me to miss the great things God has planned for me to do to further His great Plan of the Ages toward His Kingdom; I read about Israel's first king, King Saul, and how he did what was just little things that were not what God told him to do, and he missed out on tremendous blessing that he was never even aware of while he lived (see I Samuel 13:13-14). God wanted to set up a dynasty for Jesus to come through, but when King Saul listened to his "good sense" and yielded to "the people" instead of fully obeying what God told him to do, he missed this great benefit, and God chose another man for that role.
If I don't do what He wants me to accomplish, then He will just choose someone else to do it. But I will lose out on what He wants for me. Nothing I can do will ever interfere with or deter God's Plan, He will see that it is carried out. But I will miss out on great blessing if I'm not "careful" to "pay attention" to all the little things He is directing me to do as He guides me along the path. All the little things build into the great thing.
O my Father, Your love to me is better than anything I can ask for, think of, or even imagine. Because You love me, You are leading me along Your path set before me; Your plans for me are for my good, so that when others see all the good You do for me, they will be drawn to You, and You will receive all the credit, all the glory and honor for all You are doing in my life.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, October 8, 2017
The Joy Set Before Him
Matthew 26: 32
But after I have been raised from the dead...
Hebrews 12: 2
... But for the joy set before Him, He endured the Cross. ...
Jesus knew that the only way to win us back to Himself was to sacrifice Himself; to suffer a most gruesome and horrendously painful death; but more--to be actually separated from His Father while He "became sin for us." This anguish of soul is incomprehensible to me!
Yet through it all He was sustained and strengthened by that sure hope that He would be successful, accomplishing the purpose for which He was born, and be "raised from the dead." Even making a date with His disciples to meet with them, at a specific date and time and place. That's confidence.
That "joy set before Him" was the answer to His High Priestly Prayer, that we could be with Him where He is (John 17:24). He came down here to be with us where we are, now He wants us to be with Him where He lives. He knew that, as the Lamb of God He would wash away our sins completely with His Blood.
The blood of all the Old Testament sacrifices could not take away sins, only cover them (Hebrews 10:4). So they could be forgiven, but still could not go to Heaven, but to the Place of the Dead, Sheol. Jesus described this place as having two areas, a Paradise side and a fire side (in Luke 16:19-31, The Rich Man and Lazarus). He told the "good thief" being crucified beside Him that "today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). While His body was in the tomb He went down to this Paradise to gather all those there who had let their sacrifices take their place in death, to bring them to Heaven, as His Blood had now cleansed them (Colossians 2:15).
Jesus has now finished all the work of Salvation for us, available to every single person alive. The ground is level at the foot of the Cross. We all deserve death, by just having been born in the line of Adam (John 3:18).
Having that sin-nature causes us to make the poor choices to do what is convenient, or what we don't think we'll get caught at; or just thinking that we can make our own decisions in life without considering God, leaving Him out of our lives.
God is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance (II Peter 3:9); that every person would realize that they deserve death, and turn around (repent) to recognize that Jesus died in their place. Then they will be cleansed and made suitable to be with Jesus in Heaven. That's the only way.
He's the only Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
But after I have been raised from the dead...
Hebrews 12: 2
... But for the joy set before Him, He endured the Cross. ...
Jesus knew that the only way to win us back to Himself was to sacrifice Himself; to suffer a most gruesome and horrendously painful death; but more--to be actually separated from His Father while He "became sin for us." This anguish of soul is incomprehensible to me!
Yet through it all He was sustained and strengthened by that sure hope that He would be successful, accomplishing the purpose for which He was born, and be "raised from the dead." Even making a date with His disciples to meet with them, at a specific date and time and place. That's confidence.
That "joy set before Him" was the answer to His High Priestly Prayer, that we could be with Him where He is (John 17:24). He came down here to be with us where we are, now He wants us to be with Him where He lives. He knew that, as the Lamb of God He would wash away our sins completely with His Blood.
The blood of all the Old Testament sacrifices could not take away sins, only cover them (Hebrews 10:4). So they could be forgiven, but still could not go to Heaven, but to the Place of the Dead, Sheol. Jesus described this place as having two areas, a Paradise side and a fire side (in Luke 16:19-31, The Rich Man and Lazarus). He told the "good thief" being crucified beside Him that "today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). While His body was in the tomb He went down to this Paradise to gather all those there who had let their sacrifices take their place in death, to bring them to Heaven, as His Blood had now cleansed them (Colossians 2:15).
Jesus has now finished all the work of Salvation for us, available to every single person alive. The ground is level at the foot of the Cross. We all deserve death, by just having been born in the line of Adam (John 3:18).
Having that sin-nature causes us to make the poor choices to do what is convenient, or what we don't think we'll get caught at; or just thinking that we can make our own decisions in life without considering God, leaving Him out of our lives.
God is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance (II Peter 3:9); that every person would realize that they deserve death, and turn around (repent) to recognize that Jesus died in their place. Then they will be cleansed and made suitable to be with Jesus in Heaven. That's the only way.
He's the only Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, October 7, 2017
God's Description Of Himself
Exodus 34: 6-7, 14
The Lord passed by him and proclaimed, "Yahweh, The Lord God, the God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren, the entire family is affected--even children in the third and fourth generations. ... You must worship no other gods, for the Lord [Yahweh], Whose very Name is Jealous, is a God Who is jealous about His relationship with you."
God will not share with any other any of His worthiness to receive adoration. He must be first, He must be recognized as the Only One Who deserves to be worshiped and adored.
He alone is our Self-Existent One Who has designed and made everything that is by creating it, everything else that exists other than Himself. He is our Owner and Master by Creation. He is also our Owner and Master by purchase, when Jesus bought the whole World by fulfilling the Corporate Sacrifice (Leviticus 4:13-21. I believe He will fulfill the Day of Atonement [Leviticus 16:29-34] at His Return.) As our Owner, He is our rightful Judge.
Jesus also fulfilled the first Sacrifice every person was to bring, the Personal Sacrifice, listed first in the Book of Sacrifices, Leviticus.
So Jesus died for each of us for Salvation, and for all of us for Judgment.
O my Father, You are the very God Who is filled with love and faithfulness to send Your Son to take upon Himself the death each of us deserves, to suffer Your wrath for our sins in our place; and Who is also just and will call the guilty to account to the third and fourth generation of those who refuse to admit their culpability before You in deserving death.
Thank You for calling me to Yourself, granting me the gift of faith to believe You and put my trust in You to accomplish everything You have said You would do. Thank You for forgiving me and cleansing me in the precious Blood that washes away every stain inside and out. Thank you for giving me Your Holy Spirit, placing Him into my spirit to make it alive and teach me everything I need to know from Your Word to live my life following Your will for me.
You are so good, Father, and so generous with Your blessings to us all. I don't understand other people who don't recognize You, who don't see Your goodness and Your greatness and Your authority over them; who choose the darkness over Your wonderful Light (John 3:19-20).
I praise You, Father, for Your justice in judging those who refuse You, those who hate You, and those who want to destroy Your people. You are just, and Your justice will prevail.
Thank You for Your glory, Your love, Your faithfulness, Your power, and Your wisdom. Thank You for Your great Plan of the Ages, which no one is able to defy or deter. Thank You that You are working out Your Plan in this World, upon this Earth that belongs to You. Thank You that Your Plan will give You all the credit, all the glory, as it plays out to the good of Your children here. Thank You.
Even so, come Lord Jesus!
The Lord passed by him and proclaimed, "Yahweh, The Lord God, the God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren, the entire family is affected--even children in the third and fourth generations. ... You must worship no other gods, for the Lord [Yahweh], Whose very Name is Jealous, is a God Who is jealous about His relationship with you."
God will not share with any other any of His worthiness to receive adoration. He must be first, He must be recognized as the Only One Who deserves to be worshiped and adored.
He alone is our Self-Existent One Who has designed and made everything that is by creating it, everything else that exists other than Himself. He is our Owner and Master by Creation. He is also our Owner and Master by purchase, when Jesus bought the whole World by fulfilling the Corporate Sacrifice (Leviticus 4:13-21. I believe He will fulfill the Day of Atonement [Leviticus 16:29-34] at His Return.) As our Owner, He is our rightful Judge.
Jesus also fulfilled the first Sacrifice every person was to bring, the Personal Sacrifice, listed first in the Book of Sacrifices, Leviticus.
So Jesus died for each of us for Salvation, and for all of us for Judgment.
O my Father, You are the very God Who is filled with love and faithfulness to send Your Son to take upon Himself the death each of us deserves, to suffer Your wrath for our sins in our place; and Who is also just and will call the guilty to account to the third and fourth generation of those who refuse to admit their culpability before You in deserving death.
Thank You for calling me to Yourself, granting me the gift of faith to believe You and put my trust in You to accomplish everything You have said You would do. Thank You for forgiving me and cleansing me in the precious Blood that washes away every stain inside and out. Thank you for giving me Your Holy Spirit, placing Him into my spirit to make it alive and teach me everything I need to know from Your Word to live my life following Your will for me.
You are so good, Father, and so generous with Your blessings to us all. I don't understand other people who don't recognize You, who don't see Your goodness and Your greatness and Your authority over them; who choose the darkness over Your wonderful Light (John 3:19-20).
I praise You, Father, for Your justice in judging those who refuse You, those who hate You, and those who want to destroy Your people. You are just, and Your justice will prevail.
Thank You for Your glory, Your love, Your faithfulness, Your power, and Your wisdom. Thank You for Your great Plan of the Ages, which no one is able to defy or deter. Thank You that You are working out Your Plan in this World, upon this Earth that belongs to You. Thank You that Your Plan will give You all the credit, all the glory, as it plays out to the good of Your children here. Thank You.
Even so, come Lord Jesus!
Friday, October 6, 2017
Radiance Of The Glory Of The Lord
Exodus 33:19-20
The Lord replied, "I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out My Name, Yahweh, before you. For I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose. But you may not look directly at My face, for no one may see Me and live."
So God hid Moses in the cleft of the rock and covered him with His hand (v. 22), and Moses was permitted to hear the grand procession, and see Yahweh from behind, as He passed by. (Our human eyes cannot even look at the Sun without damage--looking directly at Yahweh would probably burn us up!)
And when Moses came down from the mountain, he didn't realize it, but his face glowed with the radiance of the Glory of the Lord (v. 29).
O my Father in Heaven, as Moses' face shone with Your glory, having been in Your very presence, may my life also shine with the radiance of Your glory as I spend time in Your presence each day.
May Your Light shine through my attitudes and thinking processes and the decisions I make to do what needs to be done each day. Let others see Your Light in my life, and be drawn to Your glorious radiance, Your love and compassion, Your mercy and grace.
Make my life a channel of Your blessings and Your light shining through me to draw others to You out of their misery and sorrow.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
The Lord replied, "I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out My Name, Yahweh, before you. For I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose. But you may not look directly at My face, for no one may see Me and live."
So God hid Moses in the cleft of the rock and covered him with His hand (v. 22), and Moses was permitted to hear the grand procession, and see Yahweh from behind, as He passed by. (Our human eyes cannot even look at the Sun without damage--looking directly at Yahweh would probably burn us up!)
And when Moses came down from the mountain, he didn't realize it, but his face glowed with the radiance of the Glory of the Lord (v. 29).
O my Father in Heaven, as Moses' face shone with Your glory, having been in Your very presence, may my life also shine with the radiance of Your glory as I spend time in Your presence each day.
May Your Light shine through my attitudes and thinking processes and the decisions I make to do what needs to be done each day. Let others see Your Light in my life, and be drawn to Your glorious radiance, Your love and compassion, Your mercy and grace.
Make my life a channel of Your blessings and Your light shining through me to draw others to You out of their misery and sorrow.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, October 5, 2017
A Clean Heart
Psalm 51: 10, 12
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
Renew a right spirit within me.
Restore to me again the joy of Your salvation,
And make me willing to obey You.
I cannot clean my own heart, I can only reform my actions. Only God can reach into my inward parts and cleanse away all the stains on my heart by washing me in the blood of Christ. Only God can renew my human spirit, by giving me His Spirit to live there.
Then when I am clean in and out, that's when God's salvation creates joy in my heart. As I reflect on all God has done for me that I would never be able to do for myself, in His mercy and grace, then His love for me prompts me to love Him back, and to want to do what He wants me to do.
Philippians 2: 13
For it is God Who works in you both to will and to act according to His good purpose.
This is how He works in my life. I think about Who God is, what He has done, and what He has accomplished for me in my life. And my response is, I want to know more about His ways: how I can think like He thinks, to do what I need to do each day in light of how He would have me do it, or say it, or feel it. This is God working in me.
I know that in myself, before God found me, I thought that I could make my own decisions, that I didn't need anyone to tell me what to do; I was smart, I could do it all myself.
Now I know that I know nothing! I only know that God knows, and I trust Him to lead me through this darkness I can't see into, with His light of Truth. It's a narrow path, but as long as I keep my hand in His, He won't let me slip off that path into a ditch on the right hand or on the left. And He shines His Light on all the rocks and potholes to avoid, step by step each day.
It's when I try to go my own way that I always get into trouble. So I just turn around, back to Him, and He forgives me, washes my feet again, and shows me how to get back to His path for me.
O my Father, in spite of all my rebellion, You have had mercy on me to not give me the punishment I deserve, but to pour out Your grace upon me, giving me all the goodness and rightness of Your Son. It is You alone Who is due all the credit for everything that is pleasant or beautiful in me.
Please continue to create in me that clean heart, removing all the stony places that still try to deceive me, so that the wellsprings of my life will flow with Your graciousness and lovingkindness.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
Renew a right spirit within me.
Restore to me again the joy of Your salvation,
And make me willing to obey You.
I cannot clean my own heart, I can only reform my actions. Only God can reach into my inward parts and cleanse away all the stains on my heart by washing me in the blood of Christ. Only God can renew my human spirit, by giving me His Spirit to live there.
Then when I am clean in and out, that's when God's salvation creates joy in my heart. As I reflect on all God has done for me that I would never be able to do for myself, in His mercy and grace, then His love for me prompts me to love Him back, and to want to do what He wants me to do.
Philippians 2: 13
For it is God Who works in you both to will and to act according to His good purpose.
This is how He works in my life. I think about Who God is, what He has done, and what He has accomplished for me in my life. And my response is, I want to know more about His ways: how I can think like He thinks, to do what I need to do each day in light of how He would have me do it, or say it, or feel it. This is God working in me.
I know that in myself, before God found me, I thought that I could make my own decisions, that I didn't need anyone to tell me what to do; I was smart, I could do it all myself.
Now I know that I know nothing! I only know that God knows, and I trust Him to lead me through this darkness I can't see into, with His light of Truth. It's a narrow path, but as long as I keep my hand in His, He won't let me slip off that path into a ditch on the right hand or on the left. And He shines His Light on all the rocks and potholes to avoid, step by step each day.
It's when I try to go my own way that I always get into trouble. So I just turn around, back to Him, and He forgives me, washes my feet again, and shows me how to get back to His path for me.
O my Father, in spite of all my rebellion, You have had mercy on me to not give me the punishment I deserve, but to pour out Your grace upon me, giving me all the goodness and rightness of Your Son. It is You alone Who is due all the credit for everything that is pleasant or beautiful in me.
Please continue to create in me that clean heart, removing all the stony places that still try to deceive me, so that the wellsprings of my life will flow with Your graciousness and lovingkindness.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
"Inward Parts"
Leviticus 1: 9 & 13
But the internal organs and the legs must first be washed with water.
This concerns the animal that is to be sacrificed and burned on the altar. It was to be cut up, butchered, into its parts. The internal organs were part of the burned part, as well as the legs, and were to be washed with water before being placed on the altar to be consumed by fire.
When Jesus washed His disciples' feet at the Last Supper, he told them that they wouldn't understand the full import of what He was doing until later. When Peter objected to having his feet washed, Jesus told him that they were already clean, but not every one (referring to Judas), only their feet needed the dust cleaned off. He meant that His coming Sacrifice would wash away the stain of sin from their "inward parts" and they would be completely clean in God's sight (see John 13:4-11).
O Lord, thank You for washing me, for washing my inner parts. Continue to wash my hands and feet daily as I walk in the dust of this World, so that I will be clean, whiter than snow, a vessel suitable for Your purposes.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
But the internal organs and the legs must first be washed with water.
This concerns the animal that is to be sacrificed and burned on the altar. It was to be cut up, butchered, into its parts. The internal organs were part of the burned part, as well as the legs, and were to be washed with water before being placed on the altar to be consumed by fire.
When Jesus washed His disciples' feet at the Last Supper, he told them that they wouldn't understand the full import of what He was doing until later. When Peter objected to having his feet washed, Jesus told him that they were already clean, but not every one (referring to Judas), only their feet needed the dust cleaned off. He meant that His coming Sacrifice would wash away the stain of sin from their "inward parts" and they would be completely clean in God's sight (see John 13:4-11).
O Lord, thank You for washing me, for washing my inner parts. Continue to wash my hands and feet daily as I walk in the dust of this World, so that I will be clean, whiter than snow, a vessel suitable for Your purposes.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Good Sense And Joy
Psalm 119: 73, 74
You made me, You created me. Now give me the sense to follow Your commands.
May all who fear You find in me a cause for joy, for I have put my hope in Your Word.
King David considered that following everything God commanded in all His rules and regulations was only "good sense," since He is the designer of this World and how it works.
I've heard the saying,"What you don't know can't hurt you," but this is a lie. If I don't realize that the "sugar" I put in my coffee is rat poison, my lack of knowledge won't protect me from harm. I need to pay attention to the labels on what I sweeten my beverage with, the same way I need to pay attention to what my Maker says about how I am to live my life according to His ways.
Then when I follow the path He has set before me in my thinking patterns, my attitudes and what I spend my time doing, then others in my life may find cause to rejoice in the good that results for all of us.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
You made me, You created me. Now give me the sense to follow Your commands.
May all who fear You find in me a cause for joy, for I have put my hope in Your Word.
King David considered that following everything God commanded in all His rules and regulations was only "good sense," since He is the designer of this World and how it works.
I've heard the saying,"What you don't know can't hurt you," but this is a lie. If I don't realize that the "sugar" I put in my coffee is rat poison, my lack of knowledge won't protect me from harm. I need to pay attention to the labels on what I sweeten my beverage with, the same way I need to pay attention to what my Maker says about how I am to live my life according to His ways.
Then when I follow the path He has set before me in my thinking patterns, my attitudes and what I spend my time doing, then others in my life may find cause to rejoice in the good that results for all of us.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, October 2, 2017
Even Unawares
Leviticus 4 & 5
(4:1-2) The Lord said to Moses, Say to the Israelites, When anyone sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord's commands--
(4:13) If the whole Israelite community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord's commands, even though the community is unaware of the matter, they are guilty.
(4:22) When a leader sins unintentionally ... he is guilty.
(4:27) If a member of the community sins unintentionally ... he is guilty.
(5:2) Or if a person touches anything ceremonially unclean, ... even though he is unaware of it, he has become unclean and is guilty.
(5:3) ... Even though he is unaware of it, when he learns of it he will be guilty.
(5:4) ... Even though he is unaware of it, in any case when he learns of it he will be guilty.
(5:17) If a person sins and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord's commands, even though he does not know it, he is guilty and will be held responsible.
(5:5) When anyone is guilty in any of these ways, he must confess in what way he has sinned ...
The Book of Leviticus is the record of all the technical aspects of the different sacrifices, and in later chapters of all the various and sundry protocols to do to take care of many different circumstances they may confront.
What I realized in going through these two chapters, is that God's standards never change, never waver, never vary, even if we're not even aware of them. God designed this World to run and operate like clockwork. Even extreme environmentalists preach an essential doctrine of "human hands off, let Nature take care of itself." They just don't recognize that it's God's Plan that works, when you take sin out of it. But we always have to "throw the monkey wrench into the works," then we wonder why all of our "good ideas" don't work out the way we'd planned.
Even when we're not cognizant of the ways God designed this Earth to "run," it still "runs" according to His Plan. Then when we violate His rules, we suffer the consequences. How much better to read the "Manufacturer's Instructions" and follow them in our attitudes, reasoning, and actions--and realize the successful outcome of our endeavors.
O my Father, search me and know me and reveal to me my sin that is still lurking in my heart and mind and attitudes, so that I may confess the truth of what I've done. Then I will be able to follow Your ways of righteousness in every aspect of my life, in Your wisdom and power and authority.
May Your will be done on this Earth, the same way it is done in Your Heaven, my Lord and my King.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
(4:1-2) The Lord said to Moses, Say to the Israelites, When anyone sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord's commands--
(4:13) If the whole Israelite community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord's commands, even though the community is unaware of the matter, they are guilty.
(4:22) When a leader sins unintentionally ... he is guilty.
(4:27) If a member of the community sins unintentionally ... he is guilty.
(5:2) Or if a person touches anything ceremonially unclean, ... even though he is unaware of it, he has become unclean and is guilty.
(5:3) ... Even though he is unaware of it, when he learns of it he will be guilty.
(5:4) ... Even though he is unaware of it, in any case when he learns of it he will be guilty.
(5:17) If a person sins and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord's commands, even though he does not know it, he is guilty and will be held responsible.
(5:5) When anyone is guilty in any of these ways, he must confess in what way he has sinned ...
The Book of Leviticus is the record of all the technical aspects of the different sacrifices, and in later chapters of all the various and sundry protocols to do to take care of many different circumstances they may confront.
What I realized in going through these two chapters, is that God's standards never change, never waver, never vary, even if we're not even aware of them. God designed this World to run and operate like clockwork. Even extreme environmentalists preach an essential doctrine of "human hands off, let Nature take care of itself." They just don't recognize that it's God's Plan that works, when you take sin out of it. But we always have to "throw the monkey wrench into the works," then we wonder why all of our "good ideas" don't work out the way we'd planned.
Even when we're not cognizant of the ways God designed this Earth to "run," it still "runs" according to His Plan. Then when we violate His rules, we suffer the consequences. How much better to read the "Manufacturer's Instructions" and follow them in our attitudes, reasoning, and actions--and realize the successful outcome of our endeavors.
O my Father, search me and know me and reveal to me my sin that is still lurking in my heart and mind and attitudes, so that I may confess the truth of what I've done. Then I will be able to follow Your ways of righteousness in every aspect of my life, in Your wisdom and power and authority.
May Your will be done on this Earth, the same way it is done in Your Heaven, my Lord and my King.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, October 1, 2017
Becoming Holy
Leviticus 6: 18, 27
... Whatever touches these offerings shall be holy ... Whatever touches the sacrificial meat shall be holy ...
Leviticus 11: 45
... Therefore be holy, because I am holy.
These are two related Hebrew words for "holy." Whoever or whatever touches the holy sacrifices will be made holy, or will have been made holy. This word is qadash which means "to appoint, to bid, to consecrate, to dedicate, to hallow." So whoever is handling the holy sacrifices in a way that he touches the meat or bread offered to the Lord must have consecrated himself in setting himself apart from the common people and things, as touching these things will also set him apart, making him holy.
Then God says we are to be holy, in the way God is holy. This word is qadowsh which means "sacred, a holy one, a most holy place." This refers to God as already totally pure, sacred, and distinctly separate from everything else. He is the Creator, and we are all what He has made. He is saying here that He wants us to set ourselves apart from the World and Worldly ways and thinking, and think the way God thinks, and live our lives the way He would have us live, always considering what He has told us, rather than what would be worldly or convenient.
We are to live in the World, but not be of the World. We are to live as citizens of His Kingdom, which would have us obeying all the laws of this World, as well as going above and beyond this World's ways in our attitudes and our relationships with one another. We are to love one another, which would have us living according to all the laws of the land and all the Law of God.
Psalm 37: 1-8
Don't worry ... or envy ... Trust in the Lord ... Take delight in the Lord ... commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him ... Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for Him to act ... Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper. ...
O my Father, forgive me and cleanse me and I will be whiter than snow. Carry me in Your strong and gentle arms, and Your touch will make me holy.
I refuse to worry or fret, or envy, or allow anger to dominate my emotions and passions. I trust in You, my heart delights in You. I commit all my life and my self to You. I rest in Your arms today and patiently wait for You to act, to accomplish Your purposes this day in my life, in my family, in my friends, in my Nation, and in this World where You have placed me. I trust You to continue to do Your work of preparing everything for the return of our King.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
... Whatever touches these offerings shall be holy ... Whatever touches the sacrificial meat shall be holy ...
Leviticus 11: 45
... Therefore be holy, because I am holy.
These are two related Hebrew words for "holy." Whoever or whatever touches the holy sacrifices will be made holy, or will have been made holy. This word is qadash which means "to appoint, to bid, to consecrate, to dedicate, to hallow." So whoever is handling the holy sacrifices in a way that he touches the meat or bread offered to the Lord must have consecrated himself in setting himself apart from the common people and things, as touching these things will also set him apart, making him holy.
Then God says we are to be holy, in the way God is holy. This word is qadowsh which means "sacred, a holy one, a most holy place." This refers to God as already totally pure, sacred, and distinctly separate from everything else. He is the Creator, and we are all what He has made. He is saying here that He wants us to set ourselves apart from the World and Worldly ways and thinking, and think the way God thinks, and live our lives the way He would have us live, always considering what He has told us, rather than what would be worldly or convenient.
We are to live in the World, but not be of the World. We are to live as citizens of His Kingdom, which would have us obeying all the laws of this World, as well as going above and beyond this World's ways in our attitudes and our relationships with one another. We are to love one another, which would have us living according to all the laws of the land and all the Law of God.
Psalm 37: 1-8
Don't worry ... or envy ... Trust in the Lord ... Take delight in the Lord ... commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him ... Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for Him to act ... Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper. ...
I refuse to worry or fret, or envy, or allow anger to dominate my emotions and passions. I trust in You, my heart delights in You. I commit all my life and my self to You. I rest in Your arms today and patiently wait for You to act, to accomplish Your purposes this day in my life, in my family, in my friends, in my Nation, and in this World where You have placed me. I trust You to continue to do Your work of preparing everything for the return of our King.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
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