Psalm 51: 10-13
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your Salvation,
And sustain me with a willing spirit.
And the result will be:
Then I will (be qualified to) teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners will be converted to You.
This is the song David wrote, When Nathan the Prophet came to him after he had gone in to Bathsheba (Psalm 51: Title).
David had seen God take His presence and His Spirit away from King Saul, who had such a good beginning. But Saul didn't continue to trust God, and ended up with a demon spirit, driving him insane.
David instead humbled himself before God, confessed his sin, and sought God's forgiveness and favor.
And the result of this was that David would be able to testify of God's great mercy and grace to others who also need His forgiveness.
This is the attitude we all should have, who have experienced God's forgiveness. We also need to testify of God's amazing love and grace, which He offers to every member of this race we call Mankind.
Dear Father, thank you for all You have planned, all You have accomplished so far, and for all you will complete of Your purposes for everything You have created. You do nothing without purpose, and Your purpose for us is to know You. You have revealed Yourself to us in so many ways: In Your Word, in Your Living Word Jesus, in the natural world You placed on this Earth, in the heavenly array of the cosmos around us, and, not least, in our human spirits where You have placed Your own Holy Spirit.
O Father, please continue to draw me ever closer to You, ever searching Your Word and Your Words in all You have made. Help me to want You more than just Your gifts. Help me to want Your Son more than the Salvation He provides. Help me to want Your Spirit more than the knowledge He teaches me.
You have been so good to me, Father, so merciful and gracious. You sent Your Son to be with us as one of us, and He prayed that we could be with Him where He is (John 17:24). So You provided for Him to be sin in our place, so that we could be Your righteousness in His place, on His Throne with Him (II Corinthians 5:21). This is incredible!
I know that You are God, there is no other. You do the impossible that we cannot. You do everything You have decided to do, all Your will. And You will accomplish everything You have planned, to fulfill all the purposes for which You made everything.
Help me, Father, to testify to others of how good and gracious and merciful You are; to show them how You have already met all their needs, as You have mine, and You want them to also know You in the way that You will show Yourself to each and every one that You call to Yourself.
You have chosen to glorify Yourself in us, and I am Your bondslave; sustain me with Your willing Spirit to obey You, doing Your will for me, to promote Your Kingdom and Your rule over all.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
David's Sin
II Samuel 11 and 12
Chapter 11 records David's sin.
Chapter 12 tells us of Nathan's confrontation of David and David's response.
12: 13 says, Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." And Nathan said to David, "The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die."
When David came to his senses, he immediately confessed his sin, and Nathan let him know that he was immediately forgiven. But he still had to face the consequences of his actions:
Because "you struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised Me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own" (12: 9-10)--he always had serious trouble in his own dysfunctional family;
And, Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel (12: 11-12)--His own beloved son Absalom would challenge his throne and humiliate him with his wives (16:21-22);
And, Because by doing this you have made the enemies of the Lord show utter contempt, the son born to you will die (12: 14)--he had to forfeit the child conceived in adultery.
God's plan was to have David's immediate heir to his throne be born of Bathsheba: her son Solomon, who God called Jedidiah, "loved by the Lord" (12:25).
God uses even our foolish, poor, sinful choices to further His Program, then, like David, we need to suffer through negative consequences. How much better, though, to wait on God for His way, and reap positive results from good, godly choices, and enjoy His benefits while giving Him the glory.
O my Father, You are so good! You are so generous with us! If we only will come to You, learn Your ways, and live our lives according to Your will for us; then You will give us all the bounty of this Earth, harmony in our family life, peace in our hearts and in our Nations.
But even when we rebel against You and despise Your rules thinking we know better or can hide from You, then we will have to suffer through the painful consequences of our decisions--but Your Plan will continue to unfold, regardless of our choices. So it's our prerogative to decide how we will live our lives.
Please help me to always and continually seek Your face, Your ways, Your good will for me, to bless me with prosperity in every way, and You will receive the credit, all the glory, for what You are doing in my life and in this World.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Chapter 11 records David's sin.
Chapter 12 tells us of Nathan's confrontation of David and David's response.
12: 13 says, Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." And Nathan said to David, "The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die."
When David came to his senses, he immediately confessed his sin, and Nathan let him know that he was immediately forgiven. But he still had to face the consequences of his actions:
Because "you struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised Me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own" (12: 9-10)--he always had serious trouble in his own dysfunctional family;
And, Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel (12: 11-12)--His own beloved son Absalom would challenge his throne and humiliate him with his wives (16:21-22);
And, Because by doing this you have made the enemies of the Lord show utter contempt, the son born to you will die (12: 14)--he had to forfeit the child conceived in adultery.
God's plan was to have David's immediate heir to his throne be born of Bathsheba: her son Solomon, who God called Jedidiah, "loved by the Lord" (12:25).
God uses even our foolish, poor, sinful choices to further His Program, then, like David, we need to suffer through negative consequences. How much better, though, to wait on God for His way, and reap positive results from good, godly choices, and enjoy His benefits while giving Him the glory.
O my Father, You are so good! You are so generous with us! If we only will come to You, learn Your ways, and live our lives according to Your will for us; then You will give us all the bounty of this Earth, harmony in our family life, peace in our hearts and in our Nations.
But even when we rebel against You and despise Your rules thinking we know better or can hide from You, then we will have to suffer through the painful consequences of our decisions--but Your Plan will continue to unfold, regardless of our choices. So it's our prerogative to decide how we will live our lives.
Please help me to always and continually seek Your face, Your ways, Your good will for me, to bless me with prosperity in every way, and You will receive the credit, all the glory, for what You are doing in my life and in this World.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, February 26, 2018
God's Kindness
Psalm 18: 35c
... And Thy gentleness makes me great.
This is a long Psalm, commemorating that God had given him victory over all his enemies and established his position as king over all Israel. All the mighty and violent battles and all the dangers he experienced; all the hard and sharp things of the battles; yet he claims that God's gentleness is what has made him strong. Not His might and strength and vengeance.
I think that David perceived God's dealings with him personally as very gentle and kind. As I have.
No matter how hard the times are, how prickly the issues, how sharp and piercing the pain; God's rescues reveal His gentleness in His strength, and His kindness in His vengeance.
David wanted to show God's kindness to himself by extending kindness to the grandson of his enemy:
II Samuel 9
This chapter records David's kindness to Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son and Saul's grandson, who was lame in both feet. And Ziba, Saul's servant, became Mephibosheth's servant, along with his 15 sons and his own 20 servants, working Mephibosheth's land that had been Saul's.
And Mephibosheth eats at King David's table with David's own sons regularly.
I am also "lame in both feet," so to say, and I will also sit at my King's table regularly in His Kingdom.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
... And Thy gentleness makes me great.
This is a long Psalm, commemorating that God had given him victory over all his enemies and established his position as king over all Israel. All the mighty and violent battles and all the dangers he experienced; all the hard and sharp things of the battles; yet he claims that God's gentleness is what has made him strong. Not His might and strength and vengeance.
I think that David perceived God's dealings with him personally as very gentle and kind. As I have.
No matter how hard the times are, how prickly the issues, how sharp and piercing the pain; God's rescues reveal His gentleness in His strength, and His kindness in His vengeance.
David wanted to show God's kindness to himself by extending kindness to the grandson of his enemy:
II Samuel 9
This chapter records David's kindness to Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son and Saul's grandson, who was lame in both feet. And Ziba, Saul's servant, became Mephibosheth's servant, along with his 15 sons and his own 20 servants, working Mephibosheth's land that had been Saul's.
And Mephibosheth eats at King David's table with David's own sons regularly.
I am also "lame in both feet," so to say, and I will also sit at my King's table regularly in His Kingdom.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, February 25, 2018
God's Plans
II Samuel 7: 2, 11, 16
The king said to Nathan the Prophet, "See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the Ark of God dwells within tent curtains."
... The Lord declares to you that the Lord will make a house for you.
And your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.
David wanted to build a house for the Lord to dwell in, a Temple, instead of the tent of the Tabernacle that was carried through the desert for 40 years.
God was pleased that David had concern for the Lord's dwelling place, that he considered that the Lord's house should be grander than his own.
But God told him that He would build a house for him, a dynasty that will last forever. And that his son would build the Temple.
His son Solomon did build the Temple, a magnificent edifice. And David's dynasty had an interruption, but God kept track of it, so that Jesus was born with the genetic and legal right to rule; and He will rule as King forever.
O my Father, thank You so much for Your faithfulness to Your Word! You know what You have planned for this World of people on this Earth, and since You see the end from the beginning, You are able to confidently tell us what You will accomplish, before it comes to pass. You will see to it that it works out just as You have planned.
You have Your Grand Plan of the Universe, and You have also planned out each of our lives, as parts of that Grand Plan. Your Plans are our future, but You see them as our past, already accomplished.
O Father, I am still waiting to see how You will work out my life from this point on. I thought I could see what is coming, a part of it, but even that keeps getting postponed. And I am still stuck here.
Please help me to not be discouraged, but grow my patience as I learn to depend harder on You. I know You love me more than I can imagine, and what You have for me is better than I could want, or even think of.
Help me to think Your thoughts, Father, not my thoughts, so that my ways will conform to Your ways. Give me Your attitudes on all the controversial issues of this day, so that I can work for the benefit of Your Kingdom, not my own little world. Enlarge my boundaries so that I will see with Your eyes and my influence for Your ways will extend to the uttermost part of the Earth.
Then send me, Father, to those far corners to give credence to what I write, to rejoice with those who You have called to Yourself through my meager efforts, anointed with the oil of Your Spirit.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
The king said to Nathan the Prophet, "See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the Ark of God dwells within tent curtains."
... The Lord declares to you that the Lord will make a house for you.
And your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.
David wanted to build a house for the Lord to dwell in, a Temple, instead of the tent of the Tabernacle that was carried through the desert for 40 years.
God was pleased that David had concern for the Lord's dwelling place, that he considered that the Lord's house should be grander than his own.
But God told him that He would build a house for him, a dynasty that will last forever. And that his son would build the Temple.
His son Solomon did build the Temple, a magnificent edifice. And David's dynasty had an interruption, but God kept track of it, so that Jesus was born with the genetic and legal right to rule; and He will rule as King forever.
O my Father, thank You so much for Your faithfulness to Your Word! You know what You have planned for this World of people on this Earth, and since You see the end from the beginning, You are able to confidently tell us what You will accomplish, before it comes to pass. You will see to it that it works out just as You have planned.
You have Your Grand Plan of the Universe, and You have also planned out each of our lives, as parts of that Grand Plan. Your Plans are our future, but You see them as our past, already accomplished.
O Father, I am still waiting to see how You will work out my life from this point on. I thought I could see what is coming, a part of it, but even that keeps getting postponed. And I am still stuck here.
Please help me to not be discouraged, but grow my patience as I learn to depend harder on You. I know You love me more than I can imagine, and what You have for me is better than I could want, or even think of.
Help me to think Your thoughts, Father, not my thoughts, so that my ways will conform to Your ways. Give me Your attitudes on all the controversial issues of this day, so that I can work for the benefit of Your Kingdom, not my own little world. Enlarge my boundaries so that I will see with Your eyes and my influence for Your ways will extend to the uttermost part of the Earth.
Then send me, Father, to those far corners to give credence to what I write, to rejoice with those who You have called to Yourself through my meager efforts, anointed with the oil of Your Spirit.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, February 24, 2018
Real Love
II Samuel 1: 26
"I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan. You have been very pleasant to me. Your love to me was more wonderful than the love of women."
Ungodly people take this verse and twist its meaning into saying that love means sex, and they say they must have been homosexual. Hogwash!
Jonathan loved David with a simple, pure, brotherly love, even conceding David's right to rule over him as king. Real love is an affectionate wanting the very best for the one loved, regardless of the cost.
None of David's wives really loved him, they had to submit to him as king. Even Michal.
II Samuel 6: 16, 20, 23
Then it happened as the Ark of the Lord came into the City of David that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart
"... How the King of Israel distinguished himself today! He uncovered himself today! ..."
And Michal, the daughter of Saul, had no child to the day of her death.
Michal thought she loved David, but she only loved her image of him as a great man of valor and a king. When David took off all of his fancy king's garments and wore only the sleeveless shift that the priests wore while ministering, she saw him as just a common man, as he was, which violated her idea of who she wanted him to be.
All men and women are equal before God, and David knew that. That's why, "The ground at the Foot of the Cross is level," because every person has an equal chance to accept His Sacrifice on His Altar, the Cross, as their personal Sacrifice. That's why He came. That's how much God loves us, loves you.
So, dear reader, please think about and consider that we all deserve death, and Jesus died for each of us, individually. To, "repent and believe," means to admit you deserve death for your wrongdoings, and believe that Jesus took your place on the Cross.
When you have done this, then God will put His Holy Spirit into your spirit, which has been dead, and make it alive with His own Life; then you will have both your human nature and God's, and be able to fulfill His plan for your life. Then you will be on your way to Heaven.
So if you consider your sins only a part of His sufferings, you are still under wrath: He died for all of us corporately for judgment. His death fulfilled all the sacrifices laid out in the Old Testament.
And He is coming soon. Make sure you are ready to meet Him face to face.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
"I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan. You have been very pleasant to me. Your love to me was more wonderful than the love of women."
Ungodly people take this verse and twist its meaning into saying that love means sex, and they say they must have been homosexual. Hogwash!
Jonathan loved David with a simple, pure, brotherly love, even conceding David's right to rule over him as king. Real love is an affectionate wanting the very best for the one loved, regardless of the cost.
None of David's wives really loved him, they had to submit to him as king. Even Michal.
II Samuel 6: 16, 20, 23
Then it happened as the Ark of the Lord came into the City of David that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart
"... How the King of Israel distinguished himself today! He uncovered himself today! ..."
And Michal, the daughter of Saul, had no child to the day of her death.
Michal thought she loved David, but she only loved her image of him as a great man of valor and a king. When David took off all of his fancy king's garments and wore only the sleeveless shift that the priests wore while ministering, she saw him as just a common man, as he was, which violated her idea of who she wanted him to be.
All men and women are equal before God, and David knew that. That's why, "The ground at the Foot of the Cross is level," because every person has an equal chance to accept His Sacrifice on His Altar, the Cross, as their personal Sacrifice. That's why He came. That's how much God loves us, loves you.
So, dear reader, please think about and consider that we all deserve death, and Jesus died for each of us, individually. To, "repent and believe," means to admit you deserve death for your wrongdoings, and believe that Jesus took your place on the Cross.
When you have done this, then God will put His Holy Spirit into your spirit, which has been dead, and make it alive with His own Life; then you will have both your human nature and God's, and be able to fulfill His plan for your life. Then you will be on your way to Heaven.
So if you consider your sins only a part of His sufferings, you are still under wrath: He died for all of us corporately for judgment. His death fulfilled all the sacrifices laid out in the Old Testament.
And He is coming soon. Make sure you are ready to meet Him face to face.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, February 23, 2018
After God's Own Heart
I Samuel 17: 46-47
Said David to Goliath:
"This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the Earth, that all the Earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
"And that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord's and He will give you into our hands."
This is David's good beginning. I don't know if he was speaking through his fear, but I can see that fear did not control him. His faith in God caused him to trust God to take control of this battle, as He had promised to do on numerous other occasions when Israel came into this Promised Land.
And David continued to trust God, and tried to always do what God would have him do, even if it was not what he wanted to do.
That's why God said that David was a man after His own heart (I Sam 13:14).
O my Father, I know that David was not perfect, but he did take counsel when what he wanted to do was not right. Help me always to humble myself before You and seek counsel to know what would be right to do before You. Help me always to seek You and Your ways in all my choices and decisions. Help me to continually seek Your ways in my days, and do what pleases You.
May I trust You implicitly, as David did here. May Your Love for me cast out all fear that would try to dissuade me from following Your ways, in not doing what You want me to do; or doing what would be contrary to Your ways and goodness.
And I will never be shaken, even when this whole Earth is shaking under Your wrath and judgment, I will stand firm on Your Word, Your Promises to me.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Said David to Goliath:
"This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the Earth, that all the Earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
"And that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord's and He will give you into our hands."
This is David's good beginning. I don't know if he was speaking through his fear, but I can see that fear did not control him. His faith in God caused him to trust God to take control of this battle, as He had promised to do on numerous other occasions when Israel came into this Promised Land.
And David continued to trust God, and tried to always do what God would have him do, even if it was not what he wanted to do.
That's why God said that David was a man after His own heart (I Sam 13:14).
O my Father, I know that David was not perfect, but he did take counsel when what he wanted to do was not right. Help me always to humble myself before You and seek counsel to know what would be right to do before You. Help me always to seek You and Your ways in all my choices and decisions. Help me to continually seek Your ways in my days, and do what pleases You.
May I trust You implicitly, as David did here. May Your Love for me cast out all fear that would try to dissuade me from following Your ways, in not doing what You want me to do; or doing what would be contrary to Your ways and goodness.
And I will never be shaken, even when this whole Earth is shaking under Your wrath and judgment, I will stand firm on Your Word, Your Promises to me.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, February 22, 2018
Saul's Sorry Demise
I Samuel 28
This chapter tells how Saul violated his own edict and consults the witch at Endor. And Samuel actually appears, instead of the witch's familiar, which scares her. And Samuel predicts Saul's sorry demise.
Chapter 31
Records the battle that Israel lost to the Philistines, when Saul and all his sons died.
When Saul began to disregard what God had said and instead listened to his own fears, he started down a slippery slope that ended with his consulting a witch (who had somehow eluded Saul's own purge in 28:3). It is so sorry that Saul had to have such a dark and violent end.
I want always to pay close attention to everything God says, and not think that I ever know better, or want to do life my own way! I want always to seek His face and His ways in all my endeavors, to do what God has told me, and let the consequences fall into His hands to deal with for me.
My own thoughts are not His thoughts, and His ways are not my own ways. I want to dispense with my own thoughts and ways, and learn to think His thoughts for me, and to live my life in His way for me.
I know He loves me more than I can imagine, and His plans for me are for my good, no matter how troublesome or painful the times I may face. My God will always bring the good out of whatever assaults me, when I respond in His way to it.
And I will reap the benefits, both in this World and forever, and He will gain all the praise and honor for what He has done in my life, according to how He has planned it all out.
Even so, come Lord Jesus!
This chapter tells how Saul violated his own edict and consults the witch at Endor. And Samuel actually appears, instead of the witch's familiar, which scares her. And Samuel predicts Saul's sorry demise.
Chapter 31
Records the battle that Israel lost to the Philistines, when Saul and all his sons died.
When Saul began to disregard what God had said and instead listened to his own fears, he started down a slippery slope that ended with his consulting a witch (who had somehow eluded Saul's own purge in 28:3). It is so sorry that Saul had to have such a dark and violent end.
I want always to pay close attention to everything God says, and not think that I ever know better, or want to do life my own way! I want always to seek His face and His ways in all my endeavors, to do what God has told me, and let the consequences fall into His hands to deal with for me.
My own thoughts are not His thoughts, and His ways are not my own ways. I want to dispense with my own thoughts and ways, and learn to think His thoughts for me, and to live my life in His way for me.
I know He loves me more than I can imagine, and His plans for me are for my good, no matter how troublesome or painful the times I may face. My God will always bring the good out of whatever assaults me, when I respond in His way to it.
And I will reap the benefits, both in this World and forever, and He will gain all the praise and honor for what He has done in my life, according to how He has planned it all out.
Even so, come Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Sparing Grief By Causing Grief
I Samuel 23: 17
Jonathan said:
"...You will be king over Israel and I will be next to you, and Saul my father knows that also."
24: 20
Jonathan also said:
"And now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand."
20: 31
Saul had said:
"For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the Earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established."
Now both Jonathan and Saul are admitting openly that the kingdom belongs to David.
Then Samuel died (25:1).
Jonathan didn't realize that he will also die with his father Saul. God knew that if he lived, there would be a rebellion against David to continue Saul's dynasty. So He spared David this grief by causing him grief over losing his best friend.
I wonder what grief God spared me, when He took my dear husband of 30 years?
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Jonathan said:
"...You will be king over Israel and I will be next to you, and Saul my father knows that also."
24: 20
Jonathan also said:
"And now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand."
20: 31
Saul had said:
"For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the Earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established."
Now both Jonathan and Saul are admitting openly that the kingdom belongs to David.
Then Samuel died (25:1).
Jonathan didn't realize that he will also die with his father Saul. God knew that if he lived, there would be a rebellion against David to continue Saul's dynasty. So He spared David this grief by causing him grief over losing his best friend.
I wonder what grief God spared me, when He took my dear husband of 30 years?
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
Heavy Responsibility
I Samuel 22:22
Then David said to Abiathar, "I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have brought about the death of every person in your father's household."
David took full responsibility for what Saul had done to the priests. He had lied to Ahimelek the priest, telling him that he was on a secret mission for Saul, instead of running from him. He saw Doeg there, too.
So he knew that he was the cause of the massacre.
But I don't think there could've been anything he could do to protect them, except to take Doeg out of the picture at the time. But that wouldn't be something David would do.
All he could do now was to protect Abiathar.
I hope I never have to face that heavy a responsibility. David was man enough to admit his failure here, and take responsibility for it; and he also took on this priest, another mouth to feed.
O my Father, You brought so much trouble and heartache into David's life, to grow him into the great king he would be. I pray that You would also grow me to fill whatever role You have determined for me. May I continually seek only Your face and Your will for me, regardless of the circumstances You allow into my life, that I might be a faithful servant to You and a bold witness of all You have done. That I may enjoy the benefits and You will receive the glory.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Then David said to Abiathar, "I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have brought about the death of every person in your father's household."
David took full responsibility for what Saul had done to the priests. He had lied to Ahimelek the priest, telling him that he was on a secret mission for Saul, instead of running from him. He saw Doeg there, too.
So he knew that he was the cause of the massacre.
But I don't think there could've been anything he could do to protect them, except to take Doeg out of the picture at the time. But that wouldn't be something David would do.
All he could do now was to protect Abiathar.
I hope I never have to face that heavy a responsibility. David was man enough to admit his failure here, and take responsibility for it; and he also took on this priest, another mouth to feed.
O my Father, You brought so much trouble and heartache into David's life, to grow him into the great king he would be. I pray that You would also grow me to fill whatever role You have determined for me. May I continually seek only Your face and Your will for me, regardless of the circumstances You allow into my life, that I might be a faithful servant to You and a bold witness of all You have done. That I may enjoy the benefits and You will receive the glory.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, February 19, 2018
Pride's Cost
I Samuel 20: 31
For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the Earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Therefore now, bring him to me, for he must surely die.
This is what King Saul told his son Jonathan. Saul knew that God had chosen David to be king in Israel, instead of Saul. But Saul was a proud man, and his pride wanted his own son to be king after him. He wanted to thwart God's plan and have his own dynasty to prevail.
But God cannot be thwarted by any mere man. If Saul had humbled himself before the Lord, his dynasty would have prevailed, he would have been the founder of the unbroken line that would bring our Savior and Redeemer. But his pride kept tripping him up, so he lost out on that distinction. Now he is remembered as a mentally ill failure instead.
O my Father, May I always take note of the details of my life, paying attention to wherever I may assert my own pride, instead of humbling myself before You. May my self-respect and my intrinsic worth to You, Lord, never become selfish pride. Keep me always aware that only in You have I great value, not in my sin-soaked flesh.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the Earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Therefore now, bring him to me, for he must surely die.
This is what King Saul told his son Jonathan. Saul knew that God had chosen David to be king in Israel, instead of Saul. But Saul was a proud man, and his pride wanted his own son to be king after him. He wanted to thwart God's plan and have his own dynasty to prevail.
But God cannot be thwarted by any mere man. If Saul had humbled himself before the Lord, his dynasty would have prevailed, he would have been the founder of the unbroken line that would bring our Savior and Redeemer. But his pride kept tripping him up, so he lost out on that distinction. Now he is remembered as a mentally ill failure instead.
O my Father, May I always take note of the details of my life, paying attention to wherever I may assert my own pride, instead of humbling myself before You. May my self-respect and my intrinsic worth to You, Lord, never become selfish pride. Keep me always aware that only in You have I great value, not in my sin-soaked flesh.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, February 18, 2018
A Little Gossip
I Samuel 18: 8-9
Then Saul became very angry, for this saying displeased him; and he said, "They have ascribed to David ten thousands but to me they have ascribed [only] thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?
And Saul looked at David with suspicion from that day on.
David had just killed Goliath, and the women came out dancing and singing, and Saul didn't like their song. It was just a song, and David wasn't even an experienced warrior yet, but Saul let that song "get" to him, and viewed David as a threat from then on.
O Father, may I never let a little gossip stain my view of anyone! David didn't earn or deserve that song, and whatever I may hear may not be true, either. May my ears be closed to whatever tales would distort the Truth about anyone I may or will know. May I always seek the truth of the reality of those who surround me in this World, and see them through Your eyes of Grace.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Then Saul became very angry, for this saying displeased him; and he said, "They have ascribed to David ten thousands but to me they have ascribed [only] thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?
And Saul looked at David with suspicion from that day on.
David had just killed Goliath, and the women came out dancing and singing, and Saul didn't like their song. It was just a song, and David wasn't even an experienced warrior yet, but Saul let that song "get" to him, and viewed David as a threat from then on.
O Father, may I never let a little gossip stain my view of anyone! David didn't earn or deserve that song, and whatever I may hear may not be true, either. May my ears be closed to whatever tales would distort the Truth about anyone I may or will know. May I always seek the truth of the reality of those who surround me in this World, and see them through Your eyes of Grace.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, February 17, 2018
If Only
I Samuel 13: 13-14
...For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom will not endure.
15: 22, 24
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.
Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have indeed transgressed the command of the Lord and your words because I feared the people and listened to their voice."
Saul feared the people more than he feared the Lord. He didn't listen to that "new heart" God had given him, and listened to the people instead. Now God will rip the kingdom away from Saul and give it to another (15:27-28).
God's Plan will succeed. But He has given us free will. Even if we take ourselves out of the realm of obedience to Him when He's chosen us to do something significant, like He did Saul, He will still accomplish what He has planned. But what a loss we would sustain. Saul lost not only the present kingdom, but also the future, forever Kingdom, and to produce the Messiah. Saul may never have known just how much he lost, but God chose another to receive all these blessings.
Instead, Saul just keeps sinking lower, away from God.
This is a strong warning! God would've had Saul sit on His Throne, and father the Dynasty that would produce Jesus and reign forever. If only!
If God wants me to do something significant for His Kingdom, I want to be sure to seek Him and not my own devices, to be the one to do His Will to further His plan; and to receive His reward at the (Bema Seat) Judgment Seat of Christ.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
...For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom will not endure.
15: 22, 24
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.
Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have indeed transgressed the command of the Lord and your words because I feared the people and listened to their voice."
Saul feared the people more than he feared the Lord. He didn't listen to that "new heart" God had given him, and listened to the people instead. Now God will rip the kingdom away from Saul and give it to another (15:27-28).
God's Plan will succeed. But He has given us free will. Even if we take ourselves out of the realm of obedience to Him when He's chosen us to do something significant, like He did Saul, He will still accomplish what He has planned. But what a loss we would sustain. Saul lost not only the present kingdom, but also the future, forever Kingdom, and to produce the Messiah. Saul may never have known just how much he lost, but God chose another to receive all these blessings.
Instead, Saul just keeps sinking lower, away from God.
This is a strong warning! God would've had Saul sit on His Throne, and father the Dynasty that would produce Jesus and reign forever. If only!
If God wants me to do something significant for His Kingdom, I want to be sure to seek Him and not my own devices, to be the one to do His Will to further His plan; and to receive His reward at the (Bema Seat) Judgment Seat of Christ.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, February 16, 2018
A Good Beginning . . .
I Samuel 10: 6, 9
Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man.
Then it happened when he turned his back to leave Samuel, God changed his heart; and all those signs came about on that day.
Saul had such a good beginning. It looks like, at this point, that had Saul continued to listen to this "changed heart" God gave him instead of (what is coming) giving in to popularity with the people instead of staying strong in the Lord, he could've been (see 13:13) the one the Lord gave His Throne to sit upon and rule. But he didn't. David was chosen instead.
God is never at a loss--His Plan will succeed, even if I get sidetracked. But I don't want to be turned off the path, I want to do and succeed at whatever it is God wants for me. Even though it won't be as prestigious as being in the line of the Savior and ruling from His Throne.
Come to think of it, I will rule from His Throne! But not in this time.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man.
Then it happened when he turned his back to leave Samuel, God changed his heart; and all those signs came about on that day.
Saul had such a good beginning. It looks like, at this point, that had Saul continued to listen to this "changed heart" God gave him instead of (what is coming) giving in to popularity with the people instead of staying strong in the Lord, he could've been (see 13:13) the one the Lord gave His Throne to sit upon and rule. But he didn't. David was chosen instead.
God is never at a loss--His Plan will succeed, even if I get sidetracked. But I don't want to be turned off the path, I want to do and succeed at whatever it is God wants for me. Even though it won't be as prestigious as being in the line of the Savior and ruling from His Throne.
Come to think of it, I will rule from His Throne! But not in this time.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, February 15, 2018
Is He Your King?
I Samuel 8: 5
...Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the Nations.
8: 7
...They have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being King over them.
8: 19-20
Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, "No, but there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the Nations..."
The Lord God wanted them to recognize Him as their King Who ruled over their hearts and lives of His people Israel. He wanted them to obey all His laws and receive all His blessings to show the World what a good, generous, fair and just, and powerful a God He is and draw the other Nations to worship Him also.
But they wanted to be like the World.
O my Father, may I not want to be like the World, but may I be different from the World, to draw those in the World to know You as the God You are.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
...Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the Nations.
8: 7
...They have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being King over them.
8: 19-20
Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, "No, but there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the Nations..."
The Lord God wanted them to recognize Him as their King Who ruled over their hearts and lives of His people Israel. He wanted them to obey all His laws and receive all His blessings to show the World what a good, generous, fair and just, and powerful a God He is and draw the other Nations to worship Him also.
But they wanted to be like the World.
O my Father, may I not want to be like the World, but may I be different from the World, to draw those in the World to know You as the God You are.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Words And Musings
Psalm 19: 14
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Like David, I want my very thoughts and attitudes to align with all the good God has placed into this Earth; to know Him well enough to be able to think along His lines, and fill my heart with His ways, so that my words that overflow from my heart out of my mouth will be positive and encouraging, lovely and beautiful, thinking only the best of others and events and happenings (Philippians 4:8-9).
O my Father, You are good, and everything You do is good, because You are Love. Continue to instill in me, in my heart, Your Love for what you have made; to love you back and to love others as You love me. Help me always to remember who I am in You, and think and live according to Your graciousness and mercy. Let the words of my mouth and the musings of my heart be pleasing to You, Father, and cause You to smile upon me.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Like David, I want my very thoughts and attitudes to align with all the good God has placed into this Earth; to know Him well enough to be able to think along His lines, and fill my heart with His ways, so that my words that overflow from my heart out of my mouth will be positive and encouraging, lovely and beautiful, thinking only the best of others and events and happenings (Philippians 4:8-9).
O my Father, You are good, and everything You do is good, because You are Love. Continue to instill in me, in my heart, Your Love for what you have made; to love you back and to love others as You love me. Help me always to remember who I am in You, and think and live according to Your graciousness and mercy. Let the words of my mouth and the musings of my heart be pleasing to You, Father, and cause You to smile upon me.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
To Receive The Adoption
Galatians 4: 4-5
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
Just at the right time (God is never early or late), Jesus was born into our human family. As He placed Himself under the Law, He fulfilled all of the letter of the Law, including all the sacrificial rites associated with it.
He became our Kinsman-Redeemer. He became our human Brother, our Kinsman, and His death in our place paid off our entire, eternal debt we owed to God for sin. That way, in taking our death upon Himself, He can give us His life (substitutionary atonement). He has saved us from the power sin has over us today, and He will complete our redemption in our very bodies when He returns (the Rapture) and our bodies are changed into the spiritual, radiant, resurrection bodies (I Corinthians 15, esp. vs 51-52). Then we will be "adopted" as God's adult sons and daughters, with all the rights and responsibilities of running His family business, the Kingdom.
We think of adoption today as a parent taking a child not born to them into their family as though born into it. This is appropriate, as we are all born into this family of humankind, defective spiritually with dead spirits.
That's why Jesus told Nicodemus of the necessity of being "born again," or "born from above." He then explained it to him as the first birth being physical, the water breaking and the baby being born; then the second birth being a spiritual event in receiving spiritual life (John 3:3-6): God's Holy Spirit entering into our dead spirit makes it alive, and able to communicate with God (Ephesians 2:3).
This Holy Spirit is also the Seal (Ephesians 1:13-14), that guarantees that we can never again be separated from God's Love (Romans 8:38-39), and that He will complete everything He started in us when He saved us (Philippians 1:6). We will, with no shadow of any doubt, eventually be fully redeemed. This hope is not a wish, but a secure anticipation of what God is doing in our future, which is all "now" in God's view.
O Father, thank You so much for sending Your own Son to be one of us and to save us and redeem us and make us Your own children, Your princes and princesses, to one day be kings and queens, ruling with our King Jesus in Your great Kingdom! This is who I am. Help me to remember who I am in all the turmoils and upsets and stresses in this life.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
Just at the right time (God is never early or late), Jesus was born into our human family. As He placed Himself under the Law, He fulfilled all of the letter of the Law, including all the sacrificial rites associated with it.
He became our Kinsman-Redeemer. He became our human Brother, our Kinsman, and His death in our place paid off our entire, eternal debt we owed to God for sin. That way, in taking our death upon Himself, He can give us His life (substitutionary atonement). He has saved us from the power sin has over us today, and He will complete our redemption in our very bodies when He returns (the Rapture) and our bodies are changed into the spiritual, radiant, resurrection bodies (I Corinthians 15, esp. vs 51-52). Then we will be "adopted" as God's adult sons and daughters, with all the rights and responsibilities of running His family business, the Kingdom.
We think of adoption today as a parent taking a child not born to them into their family as though born into it. This is appropriate, as we are all born into this family of humankind, defective spiritually with dead spirits.
That's why Jesus told Nicodemus of the necessity of being "born again," or "born from above." He then explained it to him as the first birth being physical, the water breaking and the baby being born; then the second birth being a spiritual event in receiving spiritual life (John 3:3-6): God's Holy Spirit entering into our dead spirit makes it alive, and able to communicate with God (Ephesians 2:3).
This Holy Spirit is also the Seal (Ephesians 1:13-14), that guarantees that we can never again be separated from God's Love (Romans 8:38-39), and that He will complete everything He started in us when He saved us (Philippians 1:6). We will, with no shadow of any doubt, eventually be fully redeemed. This hope is not a wish, but a secure anticipation of what God is doing in our future, which is all "now" in God's view.
O Father, thank You so much for sending Your own Son to be one of us and to save us and redeem us and make us Your own children, Your princes and princesses, to one day be kings and queens, ruling with our King Jesus in Your great Kingdom! This is who I am. Help me to remember who I am in all the turmoils and upsets and stresses in this life.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, February 12, 2018
The Kinsman-Redeemer
Ruth 3: 14
"... Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor ..."
Boaz is an honorable man, with high personal standards, as we are told at his first introduction (in 2:1) and is proving it here in protecting Ruth's reputation. He is older than she is, probably of her father-in-law Elimelek's generation.
V. 18
"... The man will not rest until he has settled it today."
Boaz' concern and protection for Ruth shows that he will be responsive to her initiative in choosing him to perform the responsibility of levirate marriage to her.
Naomi has recognized this, and assures her that Boaz will not let any grass grow under his feet, but will take care of the matter immediately.
4: 10
"... In order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance, so that the name of the deceased may not be cut off from his brothers or from the court of his birth place; you are witnesses today."
Levirate marriage was to assign the first son as to be the son of the man who had died, here that would be Mahlon, who Ruth had married.
V. 21
... and Boaz begat Obed.
But the genealogical record shows the actual, biological father to the boy, which was Boaz, not Mahlon.
Boaz was willing to be Ruth's kinsman-redeemer, and fully intended to allow his son to be considered as Mahlon's son. God determined, however, that the actual bloodline be recorded, as this is the bloodline into which His own Son will be born, physically.
We are given Jesus' ancestry through His mother Mary, His actual bloodline, in Luke. Matthew gives us His legal lineage through Joseph, whose royal line gave Him the legal right and authority to claim David's throne.
Both Mary and Joseph are descended from King David, Obed's grandson.
And this foreign woman is named in Jesus's genealogy, as well as another foreign woman, Rahab, who was Boaz' grandmother.
The Israelites were warned not to marry foreign women, because these foreigners would draw them away from the Lord God to honor and worship the other gods who demand awful stuff.
But both of these women abandoned those shameful deities, recognizing how far superior our real God is over them, over any other. They assimilated into the culture and religion of Israel, and didn't try to bring their old cultures in. This is the only way God could accept them.
God wants everyone everywhere to recognize Him as the only God over the Universe; anything else that is worshiped or honored instead are false idols, and the only power they would have would be through demons.
O my Father, thank You for revealing Yourself to us. You want to be known. And You know me. You know every detail of who I am, down to the molecules and cells, and every hair counted.
As You know me, You also want me to know You, as much as possible. You are eternal, and I am temporal: in this state I am very limited in how much I am able to understand Who You are, Father, and what I know so far overwhelms me!
I am looking forward to being fully redeemed, to see You face-to-face, and to get to know you throughout all future eternity. I think I will never come to the end of knowing Who You are, my Lord and my God and my King.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
"... Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor ..."
Boaz is an honorable man, with high personal standards, as we are told at his first introduction (in 2:1) and is proving it here in protecting Ruth's reputation. He is older than she is, probably of her father-in-law Elimelek's generation.
V. 18
"... The man will not rest until he has settled it today."
Boaz' concern and protection for Ruth shows that he will be responsive to her initiative in choosing him to perform the responsibility of levirate marriage to her.
Naomi has recognized this, and assures her that Boaz will not let any grass grow under his feet, but will take care of the matter immediately.
4: 10
"... In order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance, so that the name of the deceased may not be cut off from his brothers or from the court of his birth place; you are witnesses today."
Levirate marriage was to assign the first son as to be the son of the man who had died, here that would be Mahlon, who Ruth had married.
V. 21
... and Boaz begat Obed.
But the genealogical record shows the actual, biological father to the boy, which was Boaz, not Mahlon.
Boaz was willing to be Ruth's kinsman-redeemer, and fully intended to allow his son to be considered as Mahlon's son. God determined, however, that the actual bloodline be recorded, as this is the bloodline into which His own Son will be born, physically.
We are given Jesus' ancestry through His mother Mary, His actual bloodline, in Luke. Matthew gives us His legal lineage through Joseph, whose royal line gave Him the legal right and authority to claim David's throne.
Both Mary and Joseph are descended from King David, Obed's grandson.
And this foreign woman is named in Jesus's genealogy, as well as another foreign woman, Rahab, who was Boaz' grandmother.
The Israelites were warned not to marry foreign women, because these foreigners would draw them away from the Lord God to honor and worship the other gods who demand awful stuff.
But both of these women abandoned those shameful deities, recognizing how far superior our real God is over them, over any other. They assimilated into the culture and religion of Israel, and didn't try to bring their old cultures in. This is the only way God could accept them.
God wants everyone everywhere to recognize Him as the only God over the Universe; anything else that is worshiped or honored instead are false idols, and the only power they would have would be through demons.
O my Father, thank You for revealing Yourself to us. You want to be known. And You know me. You know every detail of who I am, down to the molecules and cells, and every hair counted.
As You know me, You also want me to know You, as much as possible. You are eternal, and I am temporal: in this state I am very limited in how much I am able to understand Who You are, Father, and what I know so far overwhelms me!
I am looking forward to being fully redeemed, to see You face-to-face, and to get to know you throughout all future eternity. I think I will never come to the end of knowing Who You are, my Lord and my God and my King.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, February 11, 2018
The Wings Of The Lord God
Ruth 1: 16-17
And Ruth said, "Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee; for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:
"Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me."
This is Ruth's statement of commitment to her mother-in-law, which is used in many marriage ceremonies. Ruth is irrevocably leaving her family, her people, and her religion; everything she knew in Moab.
She had recognized the higher quality of life under Yahweh, the God of Israel, over Chemosh, the cold, cruel god of Moab. She is ready to give up all she knew for a whole new environment, a whole new attitude of life. This is immense!
2: 12
"May the Lord reward your work, and your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, under Whose wings you have come to seek refuge."
This is the first mention in Scripture of God's "wings" (also in Psalms and in Matthew 23:37). God's protection extends over us as a mother bird extends her wings over her brood to protect them.
Boaz has recognized that this foreign woman has more faith in God than many of the local girls, and he admires her for that. This is the start of a great romance!
God also protects me. I need to notice and avail myself of this "umbrella" of protection whenever I'm tempted to give in to some circumstance in life.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
And Ruth said, "Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee; for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:
"Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me."
This is Ruth's statement of commitment to her mother-in-law, which is used in many marriage ceremonies. Ruth is irrevocably leaving her family, her people, and her religion; everything she knew in Moab.
She had recognized the higher quality of life under Yahweh, the God of Israel, over Chemosh, the cold, cruel god of Moab. She is ready to give up all she knew for a whole new environment, a whole new attitude of life. This is immense!
2: 12
"May the Lord reward your work, and your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, under Whose wings you have come to seek refuge."
This is the first mention in Scripture of God's "wings" (also in Psalms and in Matthew 23:37). God's protection extends over us as a mother bird extends her wings over her brood to protect them.
Boaz has recognized that this foreign woman has more faith in God than many of the local girls, and he admires her for that. This is the start of a great romance!
God also protects me. I need to notice and avail myself of this "umbrella" of protection whenever I'm tempted to give in to some circumstance in life.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, February 10, 2018
Is He Your King?
Judges 14:15
Lest we burn you and your father's house with fire.
The Philistines threatened Samson's wife to get her to betray him, so she did.
15: 6
So the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire.
But then they turned around and burned her and her father anyway. These people were awful to their own, no wonder they were cruel to Israel.
16: 21
They gouged out his eyes ...
Samson really had "bad luck" with his women. He never learned to make good choices, and allowed himself to fall in love with women who betrayed him: his wife under threat, then Delilah for money.
17: 6, also 21:25
In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.
This is the theme of the Book of Judges. They had no king, because the Lord God wanted to be their King. Instead of seeking God and His rules, each man decided in his own understanding.
Well, don't we all do what is right for us in our own eyes?! That's how we get into trouble--we decide for ourselves instead of asking God what we should do.
That's how Satan deceived Eve, telling her that she would be able to make her own decisions instead of depending on God.
And his tactics have never changed. He is still telling us that we're smart, we're intelligent, we can decide what would benefit us; we don't need God.
God knows that His thoughts aren't our thoughts, and our ways aren't His ways. So He gave us His rules, the guidelines by which He made this Earth to operate on, so we could form our societies and make this World in righteousness and Truth. Then we would all prosper in every way.
But our propensity is to rely on our own understanding, just like the Israelites in the time of the Judges. And we also fall into problems and troubles and bondage to our own bad habits. It just isn't easy to follow Someone we can't see with our eyes.
So God has now put His Law into our hearts; the principle of Love. Because God loves us, He has provided for all we need. He has told us how to love one another by sending His own Son to be one of us, to show us how His love works out in life. Then He died for each of us, as the Sacrificial Lamb of God, fulfilling all the sacrifices they performed in the Old Covenant.
Now we have the New Covenant, where we no longer offer animals in sacrifice on an altar, because Jesus died once for all--all people and all time (Hebrews 7:27; 9:12; 10:10). Because by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy Hebrews 10: 14.
This means that Jesus' death on the Cross was totally sufficient to save every person who ever, who is, or whoever will, live on this Earth. Not every person wants to come to God to receive this gift, however, because we naturally want to turn to our own ways, so we aren't open to God.
When a person comes to the end of his rope in life, that's when he or she will be open to what God wants to do for them. That's when they come to the crisis of faith, to trust God or not.
I came to that place several decades ago. I had been disillusioned by religion, and I was looking for Truth. When I thought that it must have something to do with God, that's when He showed me Jesus on His Cross, and I knew that He didn't deserve it, because I did. It was so obvious to me, I wasn't aware of any "decision" to make, because it was real. God is real. And that's how much He loves me, even when I'm living my life totally against what I know are His ways.
And He loves you, too, my dear reader. Jesus died for you, too. If you are open to receiving this gift of faith to believe that Jesus took your place in death, then God will also give you that new life He gave to me, powered by His Holy Spirit in your spirit, making your dead spirit alive, and able to commune with God.
Tell me how God drew you into His own Family; I love to hear the stories.
And I look forward to getting to know you through all Eternity in that New Jerusalem.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Lest we burn you and your father's house with fire.
The Philistines threatened Samson's wife to get her to betray him, so she did.
15: 6
So the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire.
But then they turned around and burned her and her father anyway. These people were awful to their own, no wonder they were cruel to Israel.
16: 21
They gouged out his eyes ...
Samson really had "bad luck" with his women. He never learned to make good choices, and allowed himself to fall in love with women who betrayed him: his wife under threat, then Delilah for money.
17: 6, also 21:25
In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.
This is the theme of the Book of Judges. They had no king, because the Lord God wanted to be their King. Instead of seeking God and His rules, each man decided in his own understanding.
Well, don't we all do what is right for us in our own eyes?! That's how we get into trouble--we decide for ourselves instead of asking God what we should do.
That's how Satan deceived Eve, telling her that she would be able to make her own decisions instead of depending on God.
And his tactics have never changed. He is still telling us that we're smart, we're intelligent, we can decide what would benefit us; we don't need God.
God knows that His thoughts aren't our thoughts, and our ways aren't His ways. So He gave us His rules, the guidelines by which He made this Earth to operate on, so we could form our societies and make this World in righteousness and Truth. Then we would all prosper in every way.
But our propensity is to rely on our own understanding, just like the Israelites in the time of the Judges. And we also fall into problems and troubles and bondage to our own bad habits. It just isn't easy to follow Someone we can't see with our eyes.
So God has now put His Law into our hearts; the principle of Love. Because God loves us, He has provided for all we need. He has told us how to love one another by sending His own Son to be one of us, to show us how His love works out in life. Then He died for each of us, as the Sacrificial Lamb of God, fulfilling all the sacrifices they performed in the Old Covenant.
Now we have the New Covenant, where we no longer offer animals in sacrifice on an altar, because Jesus died once for all--all people and all time (Hebrews 7:27; 9:12; 10:10). Because by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy Hebrews 10: 14.
This means that Jesus' death on the Cross was totally sufficient to save every person who ever, who is, or whoever will, live on this Earth. Not every person wants to come to God to receive this gift, however, because we naturally want to turn to our own ways, so we aren't open to God.
When a person comes to the end of his rope in life, that's when he or she will be open to what God wants to do for them. That's when they come to the crisis of faith, to trust God or not.
I came to that place several decades ago. I had been disillusioned by religion, and I was looking for Truth. When I thought that it must have something to do with God, that's when He showed me Jesus on His Cross, and I knew that He didn't deserve it, because I did. It was so obvious to me, I wasn't aware of any "decision" to make, because it was real. God is real. And that's how much He loves me, even when I'm living my life totally against what I know are His ways.
And He loves you, too, my dear reader. Jesus died for you, too. If you are open to receiving this gift of faith to believe that Jesus took your place in death, then God will also give you that new life He gave to me, powered by His Holy Spirit in your spirit, making your dead spirit alive, and able to commune with God.
Tell me how God drew you into His own Family; I love to hear the stories.
And I look forward to getting to know you through all Eternity in that New Jerusalem.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, February 9, 2018
What He Has Said, He Has Said
Judges 13: 13-14, 16
So the Angel of the Lord said to Manoah, "Let the woman pay attention to all that I said.
"She should not eat anything that comes from the vine nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; let her observe all that I commanded."
The Angel had appeared to Manoah's wife to let her know that she would conceive and have a son, Samson, to be the next Judge (military commander) for Israel, and he was to be a Nazarite, one who has made a vow to God.
The Angel had already told her all this, but Manoah had asked Him how to raise this boy, and the reply was, in effect, Just do what I already said!
"...I will not eat your food ... offer it to the Lord..."
He would not eat a meal with this man. The Lord sat and ate with Abraham (Genesis 18:8), the Friend of God, but would not eat Manoah's food.
Jesus is my Friend; am I a friend to Him?
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
So the Angel of the Lord said to Manoah, "Let the woman pay attention to all that I said.
"She should not eat anything that comes from the vine nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; let her observe all that I commanded."
The Angel had appeared to Manoah's wife to let her know that she would conceive and have a son, Samson, to be the next Judge (military commander) for Israel, and he was to be a Nazarite, one who has made a vow to God.
The Angel had already told her all this, but Manoah had asked Him how to raise this boy, and the reply was, in effect, Just do what I already said!
"...I will not eat your food ... offer it to the Lord..."
He would not eat a meal with this man. The Lord sat and ate with Abraham (Genesis 18:8), the Friend of God, but would not eat Manoah's food.
Jesus is my Friend; am I a friend to Him?
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, February 8, 2018
In This Your Strength
Judges 6: 14
And the Lord looked at him and said, "Go in this your strength . . ."
Gideon was to go, to start forth, in the strength he already had. He was to begin the task before receiving anything for it.
It's easier to steer a cart if it's already moving.
I need to begin today to do what I can with what I have already, moving in the direction God is leading me in. I must remain pliable in His hand, and allow Him to shape me into the person He wants me to be, going with His flow.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
And the Lord looked at him and said, "Go in this your strength . . ."
Gideon was to go, to start forth, in the strength he already had. He was to begin the task before receiving anything for it.
It's easier to steer a cart if it's already moving.
I need to begin today to do what I can with what I have already, moving in the direction God is leading me in. I must remain pliable in His hand, and allow Him to shape me into the person He wants me to be, going with His flow.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, February 7, 2018
Deborah And Jael
Judges 4: 8-9
Barak said, "If you go with me, I will go; but if you don't go with me, I won't go."
"Very well," Deborah said, "I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will hand Sisera over to a woman." So Deborah went with Barak to Kadesh
(Read Judges chapter 4 for the story.)
When the Israelites turned away from the Lord again, God gave King Jabin, a Canaanite king, power over them. The commander of his army was Sisera, and he had cruelly oppressed them for twenty years.
So they cried out to the Lord again, and He had Deborah, the wife of Lappidoth, a prophetess, to call for Barak, and tell him to lead an army against this Sisera.
But Barak was lacking in confidence, and wanted Deborah to go with him. Women were not considered able to fight as warriors, so when Barak insisted that she go with him to the battle, he was depending on her for his confidence.
So God did allow him to defeat this Canaanite commander and his army, but Sisera himself got away, and went to Heber the Kenite because there were friendly relations between King Jabin and the Kenites.
Jabin's wife, Jael, welcomed Sisera into the tent, gave him a soothing drink, and let him sleep, as he was exhausted from the battle. In that society it was the women who pounded the tent pegs into the ground when they set up their tents, so while he slept, she just hammered the tent peg into his temple, into the ground, killing him.
So Jael got all the praise for winning the battle (see The Song of Deborah, chapter 5).
Today in Israel the women as well as the men are all drafted into the military to serve.
I wonder, would I be a Deborah, giving confidence to the man in the battle; or would I be a Jael, taking the tool in my own hand to execute justice?
There may be many battles ahead. But when Jesus returns to fight the Battle of Armageddon, I will be there; not to give confidence, nor to participate in the fighting, but to witness my Lord's great victory.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Barak said, "If you go with me, I will go; but if you don't go with me, I won't go."
"Very well," Deborah said, "I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will hand Sisera over to a woman." So Deborah went with Barak to Kadesh
(Read Judges chapter 4 for the story.)
When the Israelites turned away from the Lord again, God gave King Jabin, a Canaanite king, power over them. The commander of his army was Sisera, and he had cruelly oppressed them for twenty years.
So they cried out to the Lord again, and He had Deborah, the wife of Lappidoth, a prophetess, to call for Barak, and tell him to lead an army against this Sisera.
But Barak was lacking in confidence, and wanted Deborah to go with him. Women were not considered able to fight as warriors, so when Barak insisted that she go with him to the battle, he was depending on her for his confidence.
So God did allow him to defeat this Canaanite commander and his army, but Sisera himself got away, and went to Heber the Kenite because there were friendly relations between King Jabin and the Kenites.
Jabin's wife, Jael, welcomed Sisera into the tent, gave him a soothing drink, and let him sleep, as he was exhausted from the battle. In that society it was the women who pounded the tent pegs into the ground when they set up their tents, so while he slept, she just hammered the tent peg into his temple, into the ground, killing him.
So Jael got all the praise for winning the battle (see The Song of Deborah, chapter 5).
Today in Israel the women as well as the men are all drafted into the military to serve.
I wonder, would I be a Deborah, giving confidence to the man in the battle; or would I be a Jael, taking the tool in my own hand to execute justice?
There may be many battles ahead. But when Jesus returns to fight the Battle of Armageddon, I will be there; not to give confidence, nor to participate in the fighting, but to witness my Lord's great victory.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, February 6, 2018
A Snare
Judges 2: 3, 10
...And their gods shall be a snare to you.
This means that their ways will be very attractive and enticing, to trap them into doing things that are not right.
Our enemy knows our weaknesses, and always presents his alternate way as reasonable and beneficial and good for us. But he lies to us and entices us with what seems to be good for the moment; and he uses these silver-tongued tactics to deceive us into believing that bad is good, and twists what is right.
And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel.
Oh-oh, they didn't talk about these things with their kids when they got up and went to bed, when they walked the roads and sat in their houses (Deuteronomy 6:7). The children grew up not knowing the stories.
Judges 2:16-19 gives us the cycle of what was going on in those days in Israel: Abundance then Forget then they do evil then they suffer then they cry out to God then He delivers them then they have abundance again; over and over and over again throughout this whole book.
It's just so easy to slide away into sin when I'm not paying attention!
O my Father, keep me aware of Your Presence with me every moment of every day, so that I will focus on Your ways, Your thoughts, Your attitudes and Your view of things. Let me learn more of You fresh every day, as Your mercies are new every morning. Take pleasure in what I do each day, as I seek Your face.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
...And their gods shall be a snare to you.
This means that their ways will be very attractive and enticing, to trap them into doing things that are not right.
Our enemy knows our weaknesses, and always presents his alternate way as reasonable and beneficial and good for us. But he lies to us and entices us with what seems to be good for the moment; and he uses these silver-tongued tactics to deceive us into believing that bad is good, and twists what is right.
And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel.
Oh-oh, they didn't talk about these things with their kids when they got up and went to bed, when they walked the roads and sat in their houses (Deuteronomy 6:7). The children grew up not knowing the stories.
Judges 2:16-19 gives us the cycle of what was going on in those days in Israel: Abundance then Forget then they do evil then they suffer then they cry out to God then He delivers them then they have abundance again; over and over and over again throughout this whole book.
It's just so easy to slide away into sin when I'm not paying attention!
O my Father, keep me aware of Your Presence with me every moment of every day, so that I will focus on Your ways, Your thoughts, Your attitudes and Your view of things. Let me learn more of You fresh every day, as Your mercies are new every morning. Take pleasure in what I do each day, as I seek Your face.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, February 5, 2018
All Are Accountable
Joshua 8: 32, 35b
And he wrote there on the stones a copy of the Law of Moses, which he had written in the presence of the sons of Israel.
...There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel with the women and the little ones and the strangers who were living among them.
Everyone needed to know what the Law said: men, women, children, little kids, and even what "strangers" came to live with them. All were equal under the Law in that they were all accountable to obey everything that God told them. Even people who were not descended from Jacob.
Who were these "strangers"? Not of the peoples around them that they were not to fraternize with--Unless they were individuals who assimilated into the Hebrew culture and beliefs, forsaking their original ways and worships. Like Rahab and Ruth.
God loves all people, and wants them all to recognize His sovereignty and goodness.
The fields are ripe, ready to harvest. Lord, send Your workers into the fields--even send me!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
And he wrote there on the stones a copy of the Law of Moses, which he had written in the presence of the sons of Israel.
...There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel with the women and the little ones and the strangers who were living among them.
Everyone needed to know what the Law said: men, women, children, little kids, and even what "strangers" came to live with them. All were equal under the Law in that they were all accountable to obey everything that God told them. Even people who were not descended from Jacob.
Who were these "strangers"? Not of the peoples around them that they were not to fraternize with--Unless they were individuals who assimilated into the Hebrew culture and beliefs, forsaking their original ways and worships. Like Rahab and Ruth.
God loves all people, and wants them all to recognize His sovereignty and goodness.
The fields are ripe, ready to harvest. Lord, send Your workers into the fields--even send me!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, February 4, 2018
The Fear Of The Lord
Joshua 7: 19
Then Joshua said to Achan, "My son, I implore you, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and give praise to Him, and tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me."
When they were going to attack Jericho and God did such a wonder for them, He had told them exactly how to do it, and He also gave them instruction concerning all the goods they would find there: it all belonged to the Lord. They were to burn up everything that would burn, and all the metals were to be put into the Lord's treasury (6:18-19).
Then God fulfilled His part, the walls fell down, and they all ran straight in and took the city (6:20).
But one of the soldiers stole what belonged to God. Achan showed a disregard and distain toward God to take these items for himself. And his family were all complicit in this, helping him to hide them. They had no fear of the Lord.
Joshua called out Achan for this disobedience, and implored him to give God the respect He deserves by confessing what he had done.
And he did.
So that this attitude of nonchalant disregard for obeying the details of God's commands would not spread, dire consequences had to happen: they stoned him and his family, then burned them up and buried them under a great heap of stones (7:24-26).
His disobedience had cost them casualties and lost the battle for Ai (7:4-5).
So even this little bit of plunder caused them to lose God's blessing and power. God wanted to live in their midst, so He wanted them to be pure and righteous, to obey His rules and directives. He wanted them to understand how much He loved them. So this rebellion had to be nipped in the bud before it could spread.
The first time I read this, I thought as the World thinks, and considered this to be cruel, an overreaction. But my civilized attitude was just as dismissing of God's holiness as Achan's was.
The more I read and studied God's ways in all that He did to teach His people, the more I came to understand how great, how powerful, how dangerous our God really is, and how we really do need to respect His justice and righteousness and authority to do everything He wills. This is the Fear of the Lord we are to have.
And I also came to understand how much God loves us, cares for us, and is persistent in continuing to reveal Himself to us so that we will want to love Him back.
God is still the same God, He still wants us to know Him. And He has now even given us His Spirit to live inside each of us who know Him, to teach us and strengthen us and help us to produce the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives (Galatians 5:22-23) in loving others the way He loves us.
This is His Law written in our hearts, as He told His people He would do in The Last Days (Jeremiah 31:31-34). It's the New Covenant that Jesus said He was instituting with His Blood as He sat at the Passover Meal with His disciples (Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; and John calls it a new command to love one another 13:34-35).
When we understand what Love really is, and love one another with this pure, strong, compassionate love (instead of the controlling or possessive or permissive attitude that passes for "love" in the World), then we will be obeying the spirit, the underlying foundation, of all the Commandments, Precepts, Decrees, and Laws, and not need to worry about the details. We'll be going beyond the perameters of the Law to do what is right and fair and just toward one another, as well as putting God first in our worship and adoration (see Matthew 22:37-40).
God loves us just the way we are, but He loves us too much to leave us where we are; He will work in our lives in ways we might consider "meddlin'," to shape us up into the image of His dear Son. He will burn out of us all the attitudes and frames of mind that war against His ways rebelliously. He will do interventions to draw us out of dangerous situations (as He did for Saul of Tarsus, Acts 9:1-6). God's "tough love" does to and for us what we need, even when it is painful for us.
Our love for one another must be as powerfully strong as His is for us. We must consider other before self, as He did in the sending of His own Son, which had to be as painful for the Father as it was to Jesus.
O Father, help me to know You better, and love You more every day. Teach me Your ways, that I may obey Your Law of Love. Check me when I am about to stray to the right or to the left, keep me in Your path for me. Let my Fear of God help me do right. Let Your love in me be poured out onto others, even those who have tried to make themselves unloveable.
And use my life to bring the glory to Your Name, for it is You Who are doing all these things, and You alone deserve the credit.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Then Joshua said to Achan, "My son, I implore you, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and give praise to Him, and tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me."
When they were going to attack Jericho and God did such a wonder for them, He had told them exactly how to do it, and He also gave them instruction concerning all the goods they would find there: it all belonged to the Lord. They were to burn up everything that would burn, and all the metals were to be put into the Lord's treasury (6:18-19).
Then God fulfilled His part, the walls fell down, and they all ran straight in and took the city (6:20).
But one of the soldiers stole what belonged to God. Achan showed a disregard and distain toward God to take these items for himself. And his family were all complicit in this, helping him to hide them. They had no fear of the Lord.
Joshua called out Achan for this disobedience, and implored him to give God the respect He deserves by confessing what he had done.
And he did.
So that this attitude of nonchalant disregard for obeying the details of God's commands would not spread, dire consequences had to happen: they stoned him and his family, then burned them up and buried them under a great heap of stones (7:24-26).
His disobedience had cost them casualties and lost the battle for Ai (7:4-5).
So even this little bit of plunder caused them to lose God's blessing and power. God wanted to live in their midst, so He wanted them to be pure and righteous, to obey His rules and directives. He wanted them to understand how much He loved them. So this rebellion had to be nipped in the bud before it could spread.
The first time I read this, I thought as the World thinks, and considered this to be cruel, an overreaction. But my civilized attitude was just as dismissing of God's holiness as Achan's was.
The more I read and studied God's ways in all that He did to teach His people, the more I came to understand how great, how powerful, how dangerous our God really is, and how we really do need to respect His justice and righteousness and authority to do everything He wills. This is the Fear of the Lord we are to have.
And I also came to understand how much God loves us, cares for us, and is persistent in continuing to reveal Himself to us so that we will want to love Him back.
God is still the same God, He still wants us to know Him. And He has now even given us His Spirit to live inside each of us who know Him, to teach us and strengthen us and help us to produce the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives (Galatians 5:22-23) in loving others the way He loves us.
This is His Law written in our hearts, as He told His people He would do in The Last Days (Jeremiah 31:31-34). It's the New Covenant that Jesus said He was instituting with His Blood as He sat at the Passover Meal with His disciples (Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; and John calls it a new command to love one another 13:34-35).
When we understand what Love really is, and love one another with this pure, strong, compassionate love (instead of the controlling or possessive or permissive attitude that passes for "love" in the World), then we will be obeying the spirit, the underlying foundation, of all the Commandments, Precepts, Decrees, and Laws, and not need to worry about the details. We'll be going beyond the perameters of the Law to do what is right and fair and just toward one another, as well as putting God first in our worship and adoration (see Matthew 22:37-40).
God loves us just the way we are, but He loves us too much to leave us where we are; He will work in our lives in ways we might consider "meddlin'," to shape us up into the image of His dear Son. He will burn out of us all the attitudes and frames of mind that war against His ways rebelliously. He will do interventions to draw us out of dangerous situations (as He did for Saul of Tarsus, Acts 9:1-6). God's "tough love" does to and for us what we need, even when it is painful for us.
Our love for one another must be as powerfully strong as His is for us. We must consider other before self, as He did in the sending of His own Son, which had to be as painful for the Father as it was to Jesus.
O Father, help me to know You better, and love You more every day. Teach me Your ways, that I may obey Your Law of Love. Check me when I am about to stray to the right or to the left, keep me in Your path for me. Let my Fear of God help me do right. Let Your love in me be poured out onto others, even those who have tried to make themselves unloveable.
And use my life to bring the glory to Your Name, for it is You Who are doing all these things, and You alone deserve the credit.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, February 3, 2018
Spectacular Things
Joshua 6: 20b
...And the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight ahead, and they took the city.
Archaeologists have found Jericho's walls lying flat, having crumbled outward! They couldn't have been pushed in from outside, it fell outward. So there is no question that it was God pushing those walls down so that Israel could conquer them.
They obeyed Joshua as he told them what God had told him. This was the only time they staged a battle this way, which doesn't make much sense at all: To march around the city once each day, giving them a trumpet concert. Then on the seventh day, to extend the concert to last through seven times marching around the city; then the people shouted and the walls fell! Not a recommended battle strategy.
God always makes it obvious when He does something spectacular, doesn't He? If we're only willing to see it.
God is still the same God He was back then. He works with His Word, as He always has, and still performs miracles today. He's doing spectacular things today in the World, and we must be willing to see Him in the workings and doings that are taking place around us all.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
...And the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight ahead, and they took the city.
Archaeologists have found Jericho's walls lying flat, having crumbled outward! They couldn't have been pushed in from outside, it fell outward. So there is no question that it was God pushing those walls down so that Israel could conquer them.
They obeyed Joshua as he told them what God had told him. This was the only time they staged a battle this way, which doesn't make much sense at all: To march around the city once each day, giving them a trumpet concert. Then on the seventh day, to extend the concert to last through seven times marching around the city; then the people shouted and the walls fell! Not a recommended battle strategy.
God always makes it obvious when He does something spectacular, doesn't He? If we're only willing to see it.
God is still the same God He was back then. He works with His Word, as He always has, and still performs miracles today. He's doing spectacular things today in the World, and we must be willing to see Him in the workings and doings that are taking place around us all.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, February 2, 2018
No Longer Needed . . .
Joshua 5: 11-12
And on the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate some of the produce of the Land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. And the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the Land, so that the sons of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate of the yield of the Land of Canaan during that year.
The manna had continued to be provided even in the Land, until they could actually eat of the Land. Now that they could eat the good things from this bountiful Land, they didn't need the miracle of manna any longer.
God is making changes in my life right now. When I have come into the new situation in life, I will no longer need some of the things I had before. My hope is that I will not miss these things, or regret that they are gone; but instead rejoice in and enjoy all the good things God will provide for me then.
I want always to look forward, anticipating all the things God is doing, while enjoying today what He has given me right now. I don't ever want to long for what has passed, because what is coming is so much better.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
And on the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate some of the produce of the Land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. And the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the Land, so that the sons of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate of the yield of the Land of Canaan during that year.
The manna had continued to be provided even in the Land, until they could actually eat of the Land. Now that they could eat the good things from this bountiful Land, they didn't need the miracle of manna any longer.
God is making changes in my life right now. When I have come into the new situation in life, I will no longer need some of the things I had before. My hope is that I will not miss these things, or regret that they are gone; but instead rejoice in and enjoy all the good things God will provide for me then.
I want always to look forward, anticipating all the things God is doing, while enjoying today what He has given me right now. I don't ever want to long for what has passed, because what is coming is so much better.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, February 1, 2018
Walk, Stand, Sit
Psalm 1: 1-2
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the Law of the Lord, and in His Law he meditates day and night.
We see a progression here, from walking to standing to sitting. Once we start on something inertia carries us along, so we need to be careful to pay attention to what we're doing, what we're believing, and what and Who we're trusting in.
If we're just following our own ideas (because, after all, we're smart), then they probably aren't God's ways, because His ways are so far above ours that we need Him to lead us.
When we turn to the Lord and His Word; and we read it and study it, and think about it continually; then we will know what to ask Him for, what He wants to give us, and we will expect to receive His blessings and enjoy His bounty.
Do you have children? Don't you want to see them living good lives, enjoying what they have? God is a Good Father, a loving Parent, Who wants to see us enjoying what He provides, too.
We can get swept up in the wrath God pours out on the World that rejects Him; but if we are paying attention to what is going on around us, then we can "come out" of where people are about to be judged by the weather or climactic events (Revelation 18:4), separating ourselves from their practices and their presence.
We are told to run away from the temptations to sin (I Corinthians 6:18; 10:14; I Timothy 6:11; II Timothy 2:22), and to put on the Armor of God to resist and fight the Enemy (James 4:7; Ephesians 6:10-17).
That way we will be open to receiving the Good God wants to give us, and we will be able to rejoice, even in hardship or downturns.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the Law of the Lord, and in His Law he meditates day and night.
We see a progression here, from walking to standing to sitting. Once we start on something inertia carries us along, so we need to be careful to pay attention to what we're doing, what we're believing, and what and Who we're trusting in.
If we're just following our own ideas (because, after all, we're smart), then they probably aren't God's ways, because His ways are so far above ours that we need Him to lead us.
When we turn to the Lord and His Word; and we read it and study it, and think about it continually; then we will know what to ask Him for, what He wants to give us, and we will expect to receive His blessings and enjoy His bounty.
Do you have children? Don't you want to see them living good lives, enjoying what they have? God is a Good Father, a loving Parent, Who wants to see us enjoying what He provides, too.
We can get swept up in the wrath God pours out on the World that rejects Him; but if we are paying attention to what is going on around us, then we can "come out" of where people are about to be judged by the weather or climactic events (Revelation 18:4), separating ourselves from their practices and their presence.
We are told to run away from the temptations to sin (I Corinthians 6:18; 10:14; I Timothy 6:11; II Timothy 2:22), and to put on the Armor of God to resist and fight the Enemy (James 4:7; Ephesians 6:10-17).
That way we will be open to receiving the Good God wants to give us, and we will be able to rejoice, even in hardship or downturns.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
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