Psalm 22
This Psalm describes Jesus' Crucifixion, long before that form of torturous execution was devised by the Romans.
V. 1
My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?
Spoken by Jesus from the Cross (Matthew 27:46).
Vs. 6-8
But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.
All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads:
"He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him, since He delights in him."
Exactly what His mockers said as He suffered on the Cross (Matthew 27:41-44).
Vs. 12-13
Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me.
These were the Jewish leaders who tried Him in their Sanhedrin, three illegal nighttime trials to condemn Him (Matthew 26:67; Mark 14:65; John 18:12-14, 19-24, 28).
Vs. 14-17
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; You lay me in the dust of death.
Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.
I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me.
This is how He felt as His hands and feet were nailed to that Cross. The dogs were the Romans who carried out the execution.
V. 8
They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.
What the Roman soldiers did, they divided up His clothes and rolled dice for His seamless inner garment, so they wouldn't have to tear it (John 19: 23-24).
How did David know all this, to describe in detail something that wouldn't be invented for hundreds of years?
He didn't. But God did, and He inspired David to write these words.
The Lord God Who created us, Who took responsibility within the Godhead for us and agreed before Creation what He would do for us, knew the end from the beginning, and let His people know to write out for posterity what He was planning to do. And what He plans to do, He does, and accomplishes everything He wants to do.
When Jesus was in the Garden of Olives on the night before His death, when He prayed, "If possible, let this pass from me," He knew there was no other way for us to be with Him in Heaven (John 17:24). So it was not possible for Him to not go through with this. So He prayed, "Not My will, but Yours be done" (Matthew 26:39, 42), and I think that, actually in His human body, when it came down to doing it, He dreaded it.
It was the only time in all Eternity from past to future, that the will of the Son was not in complete agreement with the will of the Father.
Just that one, brief moment.
Proving that the Son and the Father are distinct Persons from each other.
But One God.
O my Father, You are God. Jesus, You are the Lord God. Holy Spirit, You are the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus. All three, distinct Persons, yet only one God.
If I could comprehend and understand this, then I would be equal to You, which I will never be. There is no other. You alone are God. You are my God, I am Your servant.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, April 30, 2018
Sunday, April 29, 2018
Abraham's Faith
Romans 4: 20-22
Yet with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God,
And being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform.
Therefore also, "It was reckoned to him as righteousness."
Hebrews 11: 17-19
By faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac; and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son;
It was he to whom it was said, "In Isaac your decendants shall be called."
He considered that God is able to raise men even from the dead; from which he also received him back as a type.
Abraham is one of God's heroes in the Faith. Abraham believed God when He told him that he would have children, and that Sarah would bear him a son. When Abraham's body was "as good as dead," and Sarah had been barren and was even past the age of bearing (was menopausal).
Apparently, God renewed both Abraham's and Sarah's youth, as Sarah was so beautiful even in her "old age" that kings wanted her in their harems! And after Sarah died, he remarried and had six more sons (Genesis 25:1-2). And he also had concubines who bore him more sons (v. 6). This was when he was more than 100 years old, and he lived to be 175 years old.
But Abraham proved his faith when he offered Isaac on the altar. He would have bled him and burned him as a sacrifice, had not God's Angel prevented him. He knew that God was Life, and trusted Him to bring Isaac back to life after the sacrifice, as He had given Abraham's own body "life" to procreate.
Abraham had told the two servants that accompanied them to the Mountain that he and the boy would return to them (Genesis 22:5).
But God counted his faith as righteousness before He renewed the youthfulness of his body (15:6).
I admire Abraham for his believing God, and proving his belief by actually following through in the impossible situation God tested him with.
God's "hall of heroes" in Hebrews 11 all impress me, with the things they went through without wavering. How much would I be able to endure, should I be tested even less than these? Only in the strength of His Spirit living in me will I be able to do anything, to endure anything; and these Old Testament saints only had God with them, not in them.
But God is enough for His people. God is always enough, more than enough. So I know I can trust Him implicitly. Even when I see no out to the situation I find myself in. I know He wants only the very best for me, and if I haven't seen that yet, I know I will. I just don't know when. In His time, not mine.
O my Father, thank You for Your faithfulness and Your goodness, and Your care for me and all of us. Thank You so much for choosing us for Your own family, to fulfill all Your purposes in all Your creation. Thank You for Your Presence with us even as we suffer and as we endure and as we prosper. We are Yours, to do with as You will.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Yet with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God,
And being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform.
Therefore also, "It was reckoned to him as righteousness."
Hebrews 11: 17-19
By faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac; and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son;
It was he to whom it was said, "In Isaac your decendants shall be called."
He considered that God is able to raise men even from the dead; from which he also received him back as a type.
Abraham is one of God's heroes in the Faith. Abraham believed God when He told him that he would have children, and that Sarah would bear him a son. When Abraham's body was "as good as dead," and Sarah had been barren and was even past the age of bearing (was menopausal).
Apparently, God renewed both Abraham's and Sarah's youth, as Sarah was so beautiful even in her "old age" that kings wanted her in their harems! And after Sarah died, he remarried and had six more sons (Genesis 25:1-2). And he also had concubines who bore him more sons (v. 6). This was when he was more than 100 years old, and he lived to be 175 years old.
But Abraham proved his faith when he offered Isaac on the altar. He would have bled him and burned him as a sacrifice, had not God's Angel prevented him. He knew that God was Life, and trusted Him to bring Isaac back to life after the sacrifice, as He had given Abraham's own body "life" to procreate.
Abraham had told the two servants that accompanied them to the Mountain that he and the boy would return to them (Genesis 22:5).
But God counted his faith as righteousness before He renewed the youthfulness of his body (15:6).
I admire Abraham for his believing God, and proving his belief by actually following through in the impossible situation God tested him with.
God's "hall of heroes" in Hebrews 11 all impress me, with the things they went through without wavering. How much would I be able to endure, should I be tested even less than these? Only in the strength of His Spirit living in me will I be able to do anything, to endure anything; and these Old Testament saints only had God with them, not in them.
But God is enough for His people. God is always enough, more than enough. So I know I can trust Him implicitly. Even when I see no out to the situation I find myself in. I know He wants only the very best for me, and if I haven't seen that yet, I know I will. I just don't know when. In His time, not mine.
O my Father, thank You for Your faithfulness and Your goodness, and Your care for me and all of us. Thank You so much for choosing us for Your own family, to fulfill all Your purposes in all Your creation. Thank You for Your Presence with us even as we suffer and as we endure and as we prosper. We are Yours, to do with as You will.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, April 28, 2018
Gentle Boldness
Genesis 26: 28-29
And they said, "We see plainly that the Lord has been with you; ... you are now the blessed of the Lord."
God blessed Isaac, in multiplying his crops a hundredfold, and he became wealthy. He continued to grow his wealth, and had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him (26:12-14).
Then King Abimelek kicked him out of their land, because, "you have become too powerful for us" (v. 16).
So Isaac moved around until he found land enough to sustain all his wealth without argument with the inhabitants, and prospered even more.
Meanwhile, King Abimelek came to him, wanting to make a treaty with him, because he recognized God! That the Lord God was the One Who blessed him so greatly.
May the Lord's blessings on us draw others to know Him also, not just be envious of our prosperity.
May we be humble in the wealth the Lord showers upon us, in the physical realm, as well as the emotional and relational, and especially the spiritual realms, and even the financial, if so be. May our benefits overflow to the needy, to demonstrate God's love for us all, and His desire to bless us all in His goodness.
O Father, open doors for us to enter into the regions of this World where the people are desperate for You, and don't know it yet. Lead us to all Your lost sheep, to find them wherever they are lost in the crags and the swamps and the wildernesses where they have wandered and been trapped in the deceits of our societies. Strengthen us and give us gentle boldness to proclaim clearly Your Good News of the wonderful Redemption You offer all of us.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
And they said, "We see plainly that the Lord has been with you; ... you are now the blessed of the Lord."
God blessed Isaac, in multiplying his crops a hundredfold, and he became wealthy. He continued to grow his wealth, and had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him (26:12-14).
Then King Abimelek kicked him out of their land, because, "you have become too powerful for us" (v. 16).
So Isaac moved around until he found land enough to sustain all his wealth without argument with the inhabitants, and prospered even more.
Meanwhile, King Abimelek came to him, wanting to make a treaty with him, because he recognized God! That the Lord God was the One Who blessed him so greatly.
May the Lord's blessings on us draw others to know Him also, not just be envious of our prosperity.
May we be humble in the wealth the Lord showers upon us, in the physical realm, as well as the emotional and relational, and especially the spiritual realms, and even the financial, if so be. May our benefits overflow to the needy, to demonstrate God's love for us all, and His desire to bless us all in His goodness.
O Father, open doors for us to enter into the regions of this World where the people are desperate for You, and don't know it yet. Lead us to all Your lost sheep, to find them wherever they are lost in the crags and the swamps and the wildernesses where they have wandered and been trapped in the deceits of our societies. Strengthen us and give us gentle boldness to proclaim clearly Your Good News of the wonderful Redemption You offer all of us.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, April 27, 2018
Hostility And Getting Together
Genesis 25: 9
Then his (Abraham's) sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him...
Abraham was 175 years old when he died, and his first two sons came together to bury him. Abraham had many other sons after these two, but none of them came to the funeral.
I find it interesting that Ishmael (at 89 years old) would come to be with Isaac (who was 75) to bury their father.
Ishmael doesn't get along with anyone. He was "a wild donkey of a man, his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers" (Genesis 16:12).
But he still came to be with his brother Isaac for the funeral. He probably did it to honor his father, Abraham, but they still didn't dwell together or get along.
A year ago I wrote in my journal that if Isaac and Ishmael can get together, this gives me hope for a reconciliation between by two daughters. If even Isaac and Ishmael can get together, surely my girls will be able to, also; but I hope it's not for my funeral!
During the year since I wrote that, my girls have been able to get together for their children's Birthday parties (sometimes), but they don't get along yet. They both still have a lot of work to do on their own attitudes toward each other. I just want to stay out of their way while this difficult but important work can be done.
Ishmael's 12 sons, the 12 Tribes of Ishmael, also, "lived in hostility toward all their brothers" (25:18).
They are called "Arabs" today, and they are still Ishmael's sons, still under the same "curse," of not getting along.
There are individual Arab people who God is calling into relationship with Himself, just as He is calling individuals from every Nation, every part of the World, every language, every tribe and family; as He said He would do. These are our brothers and sisters, and they are among their own people who are still hostile toward Christians and Habiru (Hebrews, Jews), who the Koran calls, "people of the Book," the Bible. And they are under intense persecution, as they witness the Truth to their people.
O my Father, I pray for these Middle Eastern Christians, who are under intense pressure. I pray that You would let them feel Your close Presence with them, to strengthen them and protect their lives to continue to proclaim Your Good News, and grant them good success in their ministries to further Your Kingdom. Provide for their families, and prosper them greatly spiritually.
And I also pray for my daughters. Thank you for the progress they have made in this past year, and I pray that You would continue to clear away the many obstacles in the way of their relationship as sisters. And I pray that you draw them both close to Yourself as you work in their hearts.
Help me, Father, to be an encourager to all my children and grandchildren, and to look over their many faults to see their positive traits. Show me how to help them meet their needs, and heal my family from the generational trait of "cutting off" one another in anger and hurt. Let that end here, please.
Father, continue to build Your church, the Bride of Christ, in our families, in our towns and cities, in our Nations, in this great World we have built on Your beautiful Earth. Be with all of Your children, Father, to strengthen us and give us boldness in proclaiming and promoting Your Good News and Your Kingdom, until every creature has heard Your Truth that Jesus is Savior and Lord, until every one that You have chosen has come to You, and all the rest who have rejected Your gifts have made an informed decision.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Then his (Abraham's) sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him...
Abraham was 175 years old when he died, and his first two sons came together to bury him. Abraham had many other sons after these two, but none of them came to the funeral.
I find it interesting that Ishmael (at 89 years old) would come to be with Isaac (who was 75) to bury their father.
Ishmael doesn't get along with anyone. He was "a wild donkey of a man, his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers" (Genesis 16:12).
But he still came to be with his brother Isaac for the funeral. He probably did it to honor his father, Abraham, but they still didn't dwell together or get along.
A year ago I wrote in my journal that if Isaac and Ishmael can get together, this gives me hope for a reconciliation between by two daughters. If even Isaac and Ishmael can get together, surely my girls will be able to, also; but I hope it's not for my funeral!
During the year since I wrote that, my girls have been able to get together for their children's Birthday parties (sometimes), but they don't get along yet. They both still have a lot of work to do on their own attitudes toward each other. I just want to stay out of their way while this difficult but important work can be done.
Ishmael's 12 sons, the 12 Tribes of Ishmael, also, "lived in hostility toward all their brothers" (25:18).
They are called "Arabs" today, and they are still Ishmael's sons, still under the same "curse," of not getting along.
There are individual Arab people who God is calling into relationship with Himself, just as He is calling individuals from every Nation, every part of the World, every language, every tribe and family; as He said He would do. These are our brothers and sisters, and they are among their own people who are still hostile toward Christians and Habiru (Hebrews, Jews), who the Koran calls, "people of the Book," the Bible. And they are under intense persecution, as they witness the Truth to their people.
O my Father, I pray for these Middle Eastern Christians, who are under intense pressure. I pray that You would let them feel Your close Presence with them, to strengthen them and protect their lives to continue to proclaim Your Good News, and grant them good success in their ministries to further Your Kingdom. Provide for their families, and prosper them greatly spiritually.
And I also pray for my daughters. Thank you for the progress they have made in this past year, and I pray that You would continue to clear away the many obstacles in the way of their relationship as sisters. And I pray that you draw them both close to Yourself as you work in their hearts.
Help me, Father, to be an encourager to all my children and grandchildren, and to look over their many faults to see their positive traits. Show me how to help them meet their needs, and heal my family from the generational trait of "cutting off" one another in anger and hurt. Let that end here, please.
Father, continue to build Your church, the Bride of Christ, in our families, in our towns and cities, in our Nations, in this great World we have built on Your beautiful Earth. Be with all of Your children, Father, to strengthen us and give us boldness in proclaiming and promoting Your Good News and Your Kingdom, until every creature has heard Your Truth that Jesus is Savior and Lord, until every one that You have chosen has come to You, and all the rest who have rejected Your gifts have made an informed decision.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, April 26, 2018
What Is Love?
I John 3: 16-20
This is how we know what Love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers [and sisters].
John called himself, "the one Jesus loved." He was so vitally aware of how Jesus loved him beyond his understanding, he never got "over" it, but continued to focus on Love in his writings.
If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the Love of God be in him?
This is not "laying down our lives" if we cannot even share our temporary material possessions with one another.
Little children, let us not love [only] with word or with tongue, but in deed and Truth.
To say loving words is not enough. Our tongue and words should always reflect the love we have for one another, but it should never stop there.
This then is how we know that we belong to the Truth, and how we set our minds at rest in His presence whenever our hearts condemn us.
When "our hearts condemn us" is when we experience a guilty conscience. Knowing how much God loves us, to have given us His most precious, His Son, to die, taking our place in death to pay our debt of sin; then forgiving all our sins, and putting His righteousness upon us, washing us as white as snow, as though we never sinned at all because He never sinned.
For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything.
If you think your own heart is more powerful than God to let it condemn you when God forgives you, then you have another think coming.
He has already thought through all the ramifications of every evil that has ever or will ever be perpetrated against His good, and has already taken care of it all, from beginning to end. And has given us the choice to repent and turn to Him.
As we live through Time, we are experiencing the working out of His Plan of the Ages; as He works through every scenario, ties up every loose end, and completes every story of every person He made.
He loves everything and everyone He made, and has gone to every extreme end to show us His love.
Only when we decide to reject His love and goodness to us is when we find ourselves on the wrong path, the road to ruin. God doesn't desire our ruin, but He will not violate the freedom of the will that He granted us so we could choose Him.
So let us love one another as our Father has loved us. Let us always consider other before our own benefit, and be deeply passionate in our care for one another. Anything shallower than that is not God's love for us, so must also be how we see one another. With His eyes.
O my Father, You are Love. You love each one of us as passionately as a newlywed groom is enamoured with his new bride. So You made us the Bride of Christ, to show us how and how much You love us.
Father, help us to love one another as You have loved us. Teach us how to love You and others. You have shown us in what You have already accomplished for us, all written in Your Word.
Help me, Father, to respond to Your Love, Your lovingkindness to me, with the love that will show the World that I am Your disciple (John 13:34-35). Teach me how to see the needs of others that You have enabled me to meet, and give me Your loving words to share with everyone in my world how much You also love them.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
This is how we know what Love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers [and sisters].
John called himself, "the one Jesus loved." He was so vitally aware of how Jesus loved him beyond his understanding, he never got "over" it, but continued to focus on Love in his writings.
Love is more than a mere feeling: it's a passion so deep that we will do anything, pay any cost, for the benefit of the one loved. Like God loves us.
This is not "laying down our lives" if we cannot even share our temporary material possessions with one another.
Little children, let us not love [only] with word or with tongue, but in deed and Truth.
To say loving words is not enough. Our tongue and words should always reflect the love we have for one another, but it should never stop there.
This then is how we know that we belong to the Truth, and how we set our minds at rest in His presence whenever our hearts condemn us.
When "our hearts condemn us" is when we experience a guilty conscience. Knowing how much God loves us, to have given us His most precious, His Son, to die, taking our place in death to pay our debt of sin; then forgiving all our sins, and putting His righteousness upon us, washing us as white as snow, as though we never sinned at all because He never sinned.
For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything.
If you think your own heart is more powerful than God to let it condemn you when God forgives you, then you have another think coming.
He has already thought through all the ramifications of every evil that has ever or will ever be perpetrated against His good, and has already taken care of it all, from beginning to end. And has given us the choice to repent and turn to Him.
As we live through Time, we are experiencing the working out of His Plan of the Ages; as He works through every scenario, ties up every loose end, and completes every story of every person He made.
He loves everything and everyone He made, and has gone to every extreme end to show us His love.
Only when we decide to reject His love and goodness to us is when we find ourselves on the wrong path, the road to ruin. God doesn't desire our ruin, but He will not violate the freedom of the will that He granted us so we could choose Him.
So let us love one another as our Father has loved us. Let us always consider other before our own benefit, and be deeply passionate in our care for one another. Anything shallower than that is not God's love for us, so must also be how we see one another. With His eyes.
O my Father, You are Love. You love each one of us as passionately as a newlywed groom is enamoured with his new bride. So You made us the Bride of Christ, to show us how and how much You love us.
Father, help us to love one another as You have loved us. Teach us how to love You and others. You have shown us in what You have already accomplished for us, all written in Your Word.
Help me, Father, to respond to Your Love, Your lovingkindness to me, with the love that will show the World that I am Your disciple (John 13:34-35). Teach me how to see the needs of others that You have enabled me to meet, and give me Your loving words to share with everyone in my world how much You also love them.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
Horizontal Or Vertical
II Corinthians 19: 12
For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves,
We are to be bold in our witness for our Lord, but not to compete with one another.
But when they measure themselves by themselves, and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding.
Whenever we get ourselves into comparisons and competetitions with one another in the spiritual realm, we're showing that we don't understand how the spiritual realm works.
Our spiritual focus is not on one another horizontally--it's vertical. If we're just looking at one another down here, counting numbers and adding up sums, we're missing out on the real treasures God has for us.
God's gifts are primarily spiritual--the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23)--these are the results of thinking like God thinks, forming attitudes aligned with God's views, and living out the Love-style God shows us. None of this is physical, it's all spiritual.
So when we try to compare ourselves with one another, we're missing the point. We can't see into each other's hearts, so we can't measure anyone else's closeness to God. We're only responsible for our own relationship with our Lord, and make sure we're relating to our fellow man with the lovingkindness we have received from Him.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves,
We are to be bold in our witness for our Lord, but not to compete with one another.
But when they measure themselves by themselves, and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding.
Whenever we get ourselves into comparisons and competetitions with one another in the spiritual realm, we're showing that we don't understand how the spiritual realm works.
Our spiritual focus is not on one another horizontally--it's vertical. If we're just looking at one another down here, counting numbers and adding up sums, we're missing out on the real treasures God has for us.
God's gifts are primarily spiritual--the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23)--these are the results of thinking like God thinks, forming attitudes aligned with God's views, and living out the Love-style God shows us. None of this is physical, it's all spiritual.
So when we try to compare ourselves with one another, we're missing the point. We can't see into each other's hearts, so we can't measure anyone else's closeness to God. We're only responsible for our own relationship with our Lord, and make sure we're relating to our fellow man with the lovingkindness we have received from Him.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
God's Law
Exodus 5:20: 1-3, 4-6
Then God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God, Who brought you up from Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
You shall have no other gods before Me.
This is the first and foremost commandment. To pray to any other is idolatry; praying to that saint or angel instead of praying to God is putting them before Him. Anything we put first is our god.
The second commandment says:
You shall not make for yourself an idol (statue) in the form of anything in Heaven above, or on the Earth beneath, or in the waters below.
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing Love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments. (Vs. 4-6.)
There is a sect of Christianity that lost it's way in the Middle Ages and never recovered, who pray to statues of the saints in Heaven and light candles to them. This is idolatry.
We are to pray to God the Father in the Son's Name, and no other.
Jesus took each one of our place in death (because we all deserve death) to save us.
He also died for all of us together to purchase us, so He is our rightful Judge.
So if you consider yourself one of many He died for, then you are still under Wrath.
God very graciously gave us all the rules for living our lives here to get along with how He made it. When we know the principle under all this body of Law and follow it (obey it), then we can know the bounty He put here for us.
When Israel followed the Lord God and obeyed His laws, then they had abundant crops (their wealth), and peace with their neighboring nations.
It's only when they were drawn away from God to honor the gods of the peoples living among them and around them, is when the weather went against them to produce draughts and floods, and their neighbors attacked them.
Now the Law is written "on our hearts," in recognizing the foundational principle all these precepts were based on; namely, loving God and loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. When we base our lives on this Love principle, then we will, as the result, be obeying all the Law God gave Moses.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Then God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God, Who brought you up from Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
You shall have no other gods before Me.
This is the first and foremost commandment. To pray to any other is idolatry; praying to that saint or angel instead of praying to God is putting them before Him. Anything we put first is our god.
The second commandment says:
You shall not make for yourself an idol (statue) in the form of anything in Heaven above, or on the Earth beneath, or in the waters below.
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing Love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments. (Vs. 4-6.)
There is a sect of Christianity that lost it's way in the Middle Ages and never recovered, who pray to statues of the saints in Heaven and light candles to them. This is idolatry.
We are to pray to God the Father in the Son's Name, and no other.
Jesus took each one of our place in death (because we all deserve death) to save us.
He also died for all of us together to purchase us, so He is our rightful Judge.
So if you consider yourself one of many He died for, then you are still under Wrath.
God very graciously gave us all the rules for living our lives here to get along with how He made it. When we know the principle under all this body of Law and follow it (obey it), then we can know the bounty He put here for us.
When Israel followed the Lord God and obeyed His laws, then they had abundant crops (their wealth), and peace with their neighboring nations.
It's only when they were drawn away from God to honor the gods of the peoples living among them and around them, is when the weather went against them to produce draughts and floods, and their neighbors attacked them.
Now the Law is written "on our hearts," in recognizing the foundational principle all these precepts were based on; namely, loving God and loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. When we base our lives on this Love principle, then we will, as the result, be obeying all the Law God gave Moses.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, April 23, 2018
The Process
Romans 8: 28-30
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purposes.
We can confidently trust God to be powerful enough to use even the worst, destructive and evil things to fit into His good plan to give us good, in this life and eternal life forever. But only for those who He has called. And it's all to fulfill the purposes for which He made us and called us.
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son,
God knew who would be in His own Family, and determined the destination we would arrive at when He finished changing us from the vile sinners we are into the pure, shining, Resurrected being we will be, like Jesus is now.
That He might be the firstborn among many brethren;
The term "firstborn" is a position in a family given to the preeminent sibling, even if not actually the first one born. Jesus was always the Son of the Father, and holds that preeminent position. He didn't have to be "born" to be the Son. And the Father wanted many, many more, so He makes us brothers and sisters to Jesus in becoming our Father by the New Birth.
And whom He predestined, those He also called;
The ones God chose before He created the Universe are the ones He is calling to Himself to be His children.
And whom He called, these He also justified;
Those who are called to Salvation are saved from the power of sin in their lives, and will be delivered from the very presence of sin, by cleansing by the sacrificial Blood shed on Calvary. That Blood completely washed away every stain of sin, justifying the recipient by putting his sin on Jesus and Jesus' righteousness on the penitent.
And whom He justified, these He also glorified.
The final destination is our glorification, when we are resurrected as Jesus was, and our physical bodies will be changed into glorious spiritual bodies. Because God began this process in each of us, He will finish it. He always finishes what He starts, so our glorification is just as sure and real today as our physical life is right now.
And we can know all this for sure, as we trust our Father in His truthfulness and faithfulness. This is our faith.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purposes.
We can confidently trust God to be powerful enough to use even the worst, destructive and evil things to fit into His good plan to give us good, in this life and eternal life forever. But only for those who He has called. And it's all to fulfill the purposes for which He made us and called us.
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son,
God knew who would be in His own Family, and determined the destination we would arrive at when He finished changing us from the vile sinners we are into the pure, shining, Resurrected being we will be, like Jesus is now.
That He might be the firstborn among many brethren;
The term "firstborn" is a position in a family given to the preeminent sibling, even if not actually the first one born. Jesus was always the Son of the Father, and holds that preeminent position. He didn't have to be "born" to be the Son. And the Father wanted many, many more, so He makes us brothers and sisters to Jesus in becoming our Father by the New Birth.
And whom He predestined, those He also called;
The ones God chose before He created the Universe are the ones He is calling to Himself to be His children.
And whom He called, these He also justified;
Those who are called to Salvation are saved from the power of sin in their lives, and will be delivered from the very presence of sin, by cleansing by the sacrificial Blood shed on Calvary. That Blood completely washed away every stain of sin, justifying the recipient by putting his sin on Jesus and Jesus' righteousness on the penitent.
And whom He justified, these He also glorified.
The final destination is our glorification, when we are resurrected as Jesus was, and our physical bodies will be changed into glorious spiritual bodies. Because God began this process in each of us, He will finish it. He always finishes what He starts, so our glorification is just as sure and real today as our physical life is right now.
And we can know all this for sure, as we trust our Father in His truthfulness and faithfulness. This is our faith.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, April 22, 2018
The Short-Term Versus The Long-Term View
John 5: 18
For this cause therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
The Jewish leaders did not want to give up their power and authority over the people, or stir up the Romans who had conquered them.
They knew that if they recognized a Messiah, then He would be their King, which was a very dangerous proposition in that day. The Romans were notorious for being the bullies that would violently put down any movement that rebelled against their authority.
So that was the "blaphemy" charge with which the Sanhedrin condemned Him. And Pilate wrote the charge, nailed to His Cross: "Jesus, the King of the Jews."
Politicians will do anything they can to hold on to the political power they wield over the little people. They think of themselves as above the law, not subject to the consequences of their crimes. That has never changed.
So these Jewish leaders would refuse to recognize the obvious, that Jesus' miracles could only be done by God's own power. Their denial enabled them to do the unthinkable: to murder their only hope.
Whenever we see only the temporary we are also vulnerable to Satan's subtile little lies that lead us into faulty thought processes. Once we start down that wrong road, it leads us further and further away from the good that our Father wants for us.
God will not violate the free will He gave us. We are free to destroy ourselves and everyone around us. We are also free to choose to do what is right, the hard thing that may look foolish in the short-term.
We always need to see the final consequences, drawn out to its logical conclusion, to know which path will lead us to where we really want to go.
So many will embark on the road to ruin, following those who have gone before. That is the broad way, where the crowds run (Matthew 7:13).
But the narrow way has a small entry, and only those who are wise will search for it and find it. Once entered the path is hedged in, with a definite path to follow (Matthew 7:14).
God's Word is the footlight we need to see each step forward, as our car headlights only light the portion of the street we are driving on, not the whole way to our destination. Only enough light to show up the potholes and stumbling stones in the way, so we can bypass them or step over them (Psalm 119:105).
The Jewish leaders were politicians, only looking at their own temporary advantages in the Roman system they lived under. They couldn't see the final ramifications of their efforts to rid themselves of this "problem."
When I need to make a decision that will affect my future, I try to look far enough ahead to see where this way will take me. My intent is to go the way that will lead into the very best that my Father has planned for me, so I seek His Word on how to think.
My thoughts lead to my opinions, which form my beliefs and convictions, which lead into my words and actions. It all starts in my mind.
O my Father, thank You for Your Word! Thank You for giving us Your thoughts, for sharing with us Your Love and Your bounty (II Timothy 3:16-17).
Lead me, Father, in the way I should go. Show me the path You have placed my feet upon, that I may do the things only I can do, and accomplish the works You have prepared me to finish in this my time in this society at this period of the history of the World. Help me to know that only Your Spirit in me is what will enable me to do this.
Thank You for showing me how everything fits together, how the whole Bible describes this Earth and Universe from its very beginning, its Creation (Genesis 1:1ff), all through the human history of the World of Societies we build on it, to its final culmination, its pinnacle, and its end (Revelation 20), to be re-made into a New Heaven (Universe) and a New Earth based on a whole different basis of being (Revelation 21-22). So all our knowledge, our Science, will become obsolete then, and we will learn a whole new way of existing (I Corinthians 13:10).
And Your Kingdom will continue to grow. The increase of Your reign will never end (Isaiah 9:7).
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
For this cause therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
The Jewish leaders did not want to give up their power and authority over the people, or stir up the Romans who had conquered them.
They knew that if they recognized a Messiah, then He would be their King, which was a very dangerous proposition in that day. The Romans were notorious for being the bullies that would violently put down any movement that rebelled against their authority.
So that was the "blaphemy" charge with which the Sanhedrin condemned Him. And Pilate wrote the charge, nailed to His Cross: "Jesus, the King of the Jews."
Politicians will do anything they can to hold on to the political power they wield over the little people. They think of themselves as above the law, not subject to the consequences of their crimes. That has never changed.
So these Jewish leaders would refuse to recognize the obvious, that Jesus' miracles could only be done by God's own power. Their denial enabled them to do the unthinkable: to murder their only hope.
Whenever we see only the temporary we are also vulnerable to Satan's subtile little lies that lead us into faulty thought processes. Once we start down that wrong road, it leads us further and further away from the good that our Father wants for us.
God will not violate the free will He gave us. We are free to destroy ourselves and everyone around us. We are also free to choose to do what is right, the hard thing that may look foolish in the short-term.
We always need to see the final consequences, drawn out to its logical conclusion, to know which path will lead us to where we really want to go.
So many will embark on the road to ruin, following those who have gone before. That is the broad way, where the crowds run (Matthew 7:13).
But the narrow way has a small entry, and only those who are wise will search for it and find it. Once entered the path is hedged in, with a definite path to follow (Matthew 7:14).
God's Word is the footlight we need to see each step forward, as our car headlights only light the portion of the street we are driving on, not the whole way to our destination. Only enough light to show up the potholes and stumbling stones in the way, so we can bypass them or step over them (Psalm 119:105).
The Jewish leaders were politicians, only looking at their own temporary advantages in the Roman system they lived under. They couldn't see the final ramifications of their efforts to rid themselves of this "problem."
When I need to make a decision that will affect my future, I try to look far enough ahead to see where this way will take me. My intent is to go the way that will lead into the very best that my Father has planned for me, so I seek His Word on how to think.
My thoughts lead to my opinions, which form my beliefs and convictions, which lead into my words and actions. It all starts in my mind.
O my Father, thank You for Your Word! Thank You for giving us Your thoughts, for sharing with us Your Love and Your bounty (II Timothy 3:16-17).
Lead me, Father, in the way I should go. Show me the path You have placed my feet upon, that I may do the things only I can do, and accomplish the works You have prepared me to finish in this my time in this society at this period of the history of the World. Help me to know that only Your Spirit in me is what will enable me to do this.
Thank You for showing me how everything fits together, how the whole Bible describes this Earth and Universe from its very beginning, its Creation (Genesis 1:1ff), all through the human history of the World of Societies we build on it, to its final culmination, its pinnacle, and its end (Revelation 20), to be re-made into a New Heaven (Universe) and a New Earth based on a whole different basis of being (Revelation 21-22). So all our knowledge, our Science, will become obsolete then, and we will learn a whole new way of existing (I Corinthians 13:10).
And Your Kingdom will continue to grow. The increase of Your reign will never end (Isaiah 9:7).
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, April 21, 2018
What Else Can This Mean?
Genesis 50: 20
And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.
This is what Joseph said to his brothers, the other sons of Jacob, who God renamed Israel. They had wanted to kill him, but instead they sold him into slavery, thinking that they'd never see him again.
But God was with Joseph, and caused him to rise in Pharaoh's Egypt.
Joseph "re-framed" how his brothers treated him. He faced that they meant to do evil to him, but he considered God's purpose as much higher than his brothers'.
We also need to "re-frame" the bad things that happen to us; the insults, the betrayals, the losses, our own failures. Our Father always fits whatever happens into His good plan for each of us, and for all of us.
Whenever we find ourselves in a negative frame of mind, we need to think, "what else can this mean?" We don't need to understand all the details of how God will use even the worst that happens to us for our good; we only need to trust Him. He knows more than we do, He sees the whole picture and causes all things to promote His timeline, to bring His Kingdom to this Earth.
He is the One Who is wise, and clever enough to bring good out of bad. He never calls "bad" "good," He just arranges it all to come out right in the end. We can trust Him to do that.
Joseph's brothers carried the guilt of what they did to him all those years, and when they found themselves in front of him, they were afraid of him, thinking that he would be like them. But Joseph had forgiven them a long time ago, and was glad to have his family around him again.
When someone is mean to us, or insults us, or cuts us off on the highway; we need to remember that, "hurt people will hurt people." Everyone is living his/her own story, and will sometimes take out their frustrations on someone else. We're all susceptible to this.
O my Father, please help me to always remember how much You love me and want good for me. Help me to remember to pray for whoever would mistreat me in any way, that You would comfort and heal their hurts, and draw them to Yourself. Keep my attention off of myself and my own little hurts, knowing that You have comforted and healed me.
Show me how to re-frame every negative memory that is dredged up in my mind. Replace the anger and pain with Your own Presence, as the Great Physician Who loves me more than I am able to imagine.
And may You receive all the glory for planning it all out, for our good and Your honor.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.
This is what Joseph said to his brothers, the other sons of Jacob, who God renamed Israel. They had wanted to kill him, but instead they sold him into slavery, thinking that they'd never see him again.
But God was with Joseph, and caused him to rise in Pharaoh's Egypt.
Joseph "re-framed" how his brothers treated him. He faced that they meant to do evil to him, but he considered God's purpose as much higher than his brothers'.
We also need to "re-frame" the bad things that happen to us; the insults, the betrayals, the losses, our own failures. Our Father always fits whatever happens into His good plan for each of us, and for all of us.
Whenever we find ourselves in a negative frame of mind, we need to think, "what else can this mean?" We don't need to understand all the details of how God will use even the worst that happens to us for our good; we only need to trust Him. He knows more than we do, He sees the whole picture and causes all things to promote His timeline, to bring His Kingdom to this Earth.
He is the One Who is wise, and clever enough to bring good out of bad. He never calls "bad" "good," He just arranges it all to come out right in the end. We can trust Him to do that.
Joseph's brothers carried the guilt of what they did to him all those years, and when they found themselves in front of him, they were afraid of him, thinking that he would be like them. But Joseph had forgiven them a long time ago, and was glad to have his family around him again.
When someone is mean to us, or insults us, or cuts us off on the highway; we need to remember that, "hurt people will hurt people." Everyone is living his/her own story, and will sometimes take out their frustrations on someone else. We're all susceptible to this.
O my Father, please help me to always remember how much You love me and want good for me. Help me to remember to pray for whoever would mistreat me in any way, that You would comfort and heal their hurts, and draw them to Yourself. Keep my attention off of myself and my own little hurts, knowing that You have comforted and healed me.
Show me how to re-frame every negative memory that is dredged up in my mind. Replace the anger and pain with Your own Presence, as the Great Physician Who loves me more than I am able to imagine.
And may You receive all the glory for planning it all out, for our good and Your honor.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, April 20, 2018
Thorns And Snares
Judges 2: 12-13, 20-21, 3
They forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, Who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the Lord to anger because they forsook Him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.
Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and said, Because this Nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to me, I will no longer drive out before them any of the Nations Joshua left when he died.
I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their forefathers did.
...They will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.
God gave His people every advantage. He wanted them to know how powerful He is and how much He loved them, and wanted the very best for them.
But they didn't drive out all the people who were already there, as God told them to; instead they let them stay and work for them, to be their slaves.
God wouldn't drive them out if the people wouldn't cooperate, so they became "thorns in their sides" and their idols became "snares" to trap them.
And that's what happened. When that whole generation died, the new generation didn't even know their history, of how God brought them out of Egypt, gave them His Law, and brought them to this good land. And they were caught in the snare of these gods, worshiping and serving them instead of their own Lord God (verses 10 & 11).
It only takes one generation to forget our history of where we came from and how we got here. To know who we are we need to be acquainted with what went before us. If we forget that, then we become a people without identity.
This has been deliberately planned and carried out by our enemy, in taking out of our schools the important history they need to be taught, and the culture into which they've been born and should be a part of.
We now have a generation who have no identity, so they grasp whatever the World is holding out to them, causing division, hatred, and violence. Exactly the opposite of what our loving Father wants for us.
We need to know who we are. We need to learn what our forefathers learned, and build on it. We really need to go back to our foundations, the concepts that enabled us to have such great prosperity in the past.
Just like Israel, we need to turn back to the Source of all of our well-being--our finances, our relationships, our physical and mental and psychological health; and God will see to our environmental health with the weather and the "acts of God" as He did for Israel when they followed Him in His ways of thinking and living.
When they obeyed His Law, the fields yielded abundant crops (the source of their wealth), and they had peace with the Nations around them. Life was good.
It was when they forgot God that they were ensnared in the traps of the gods (demons) of the peoples among them, and the weather destroyed the crops, and neighboring Nations rose up and conquered them.
We see this recorded in Judges, the cycle repeated over and over. You'd think that they (we) would learn to follow God.
But, no, Israel asked for a king they could see, instead of their King who took care of them. He made them special, but they preferred to be like the other Nations of the World instead.
God honored Jacob's family in giving only them His Law. He wanted for them to display to the World how wonderful God is--how He elevates His own people above all the other people who don't revere Him. So they will see, and want to also follow this God Who is so good and generous and fair and just (I Kings 8:41-43).
Today God is calling to Himself people from every Nation, every region, every language, every tribe, every family, all over the World. Christ's church, His bride, is a new kind of Nation, that the World has never seen before. We are called out of darkness into His marvelous light, to be a nation of holy priests, belonging to Him as His own possession; so that we will proclaim His excellencies (I Peter 2:9).
It is up to us to teach our children and grandchildren. We cannot afford to let them forget who they are, who God is, and how much He loves all of us so much. It's so important, both for now and for eternity.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
They forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, Who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the Lord to anger because they forsook Him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.
Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and said, Because this Nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to me, I will no longer drive out before them any of the Nations Joshua left when he died.
I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their forefathers did.
...They will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.
God gave His people every advantage. He wanted them to know how powerful He is and how much He loved them, and wanted the very best for them.
But they didn't drive out all the people who were already there, as God told them to; instead they let them stay and work for them, to be their slaves.
God wouldn't drive them out if the people wouldn't cooperate, so they became "thorns in their sides" and their idols became "snares" to trap them.
And that's what happened. When that whole generation died, the new generation didn't even know their history, of how God brought them out of Egypt, gave them His Law, and brought them to this good land. And they were caught in the snare of these gods, worshiping and serving them instead of their own Lord God (verses 10 & 11).
It only takes one generation to forget our history of where we came from and how we got here. To know who we are we need to be acquainted with what went before us. If we forget that, then we become a people without identity.
This has been deliberately planned and carried out by our enemy, in taking out of our schools the important history they need to be taught, and the culture into which they've been born and should be a part of.
We now have a generation who have no identity, so they grasp whatever the World is holding out to them, causing division, hatred, and violence. Exactly the opposite of what our loving Father wants for us.
We need to know who we are. We need to learn what our forefathers learned, and build on it. We really need to go back to our foundations, the concepts that enabled us to have such great prosperity in the past.
Just like Israel, we need to turn back to the Source of all of our well-being--our finances, our relationships, our physical and mental and psychological health; and God will see to our environmental health with the weather and the "acts of God" as He did for Israel when they followed Him in His ways of thinking and living.
When they obeyed His Law, the fields yielded abundant crops (the source of their wealth), and they had peace with the Nations around them. Life was good.
It was when they forgot God that they were ensnared in the traps of the gods (demons) of the peoples among them, and the weather destroyed the crops, and neighboring Nations rose up and conquered them.
We see this recorded in Judges, the cycle repeated over and over. You'd think that they (we) would learn to follow God.
But, no, Israel asked for a king they could see, instead of their King who took care of them. He made them special, but they preferred to be like the other Nations of the World instead.
God honored Jacob's family in giving only them His Law. He wanted for them to display to the World how wonderful God is--how He elevates His own people above all the other people who don't revere Him. So they will see, and want to also follow this God Who is so good and generous and fair and just (I Kings 8:41-43).
Today God is calling to Himself people from every Nation, every region, every language, every tribe, every family, all over the World. Christ's church, His bride, is a new kind of Nation, that the World has never seen before. We are called out of darkness into His marvelous light, to be a nation of holy priests, belonging to Him as His own possession; so that we will proclaim His excellencies (I Peter 2:9).
It is up to us to teach our children and grandchildren. We cannot afford to let them forget who they are, who God is, and how much He loves all of us so much. It's so important, both for now and for eternity.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, April 19, 2018
Prosperity And Success
Joshua 1: 8-9
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
God made this Earth for us, then made us of it. He put into this World everything that we need because He loves us and He wants us to love Him back and enjoy all His provision. So He gave His rules for cooperating with how He designed this World to function.
He told Joshua here that if he would study His Word, and immerse his consciousness in how all the stipulations work together, thinking about it day and night; then he will understand how God is our Source, and he will be able to have the abundance this World will provide and enjoy prosperity.
We would be well advised to also follow this direction God gave Joshua.
When we read the Bible, and think about how all 66 books together give the whole story of this Earth from beginning to end, and it's all His story (History); then we will be able to put it all together to cooperate with our Lord in honoring Him and loving our neighbor, doing all the good we can for one another, operating our businesses with integrity, and enjoying wholesome leisure with one another. This is the prescription for a good, healthy, productive and satisfactory life (Ecclesiastes 5:18-20).
Jesus told us to ask, seek, and knock (Matthew 7:7 and Luke 11:9).
To ask, we need to know what to ask for; what is it we need? What has the Bible told us to ask for? When we know God, then we'll know the kinds of things He wants to give us. Then we'll ask Him and He will give them to us to enjoy.
To seek is to go after whatever it is we're wanting, not just sit around waiting for it to come. Do we want it enough to put the effort into seeking it? Is it our passion?
To knock is to actually do what needs to be done. To be active and energetic in making it happen. We don't do it on our own, we're not alone in accomplishing this, but if we're lazy in waiting for someone (or Someone) else to do it, then we're not doing our part.
Then when we ask, and we seek, and we knock; and we know that God hears us and sees that we are serious, then He will move Heaven and Earth to make our desires come true for us (I John 5:14-15).
Then He will smile on us as a father enjoys his children. He is our Father, and He wants us to have everything we want. But He won't spoil us, and He won't give us anything that would harm us.
Sometimes what He allows hurts. But in the end, it is all for our good (Romans 8:28).
And He will get all the glory for what He has accomplished in us and through us, in His Kingdom that will last forever!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
God made this Earth for us, then made us of it. He put into this World everything that we need because He loves us and He wants us to love Him back and enjoy all His provision. So He gave His rules for cooperating with how He designed this World to function.
He told Joshua here that if he would study His Word, and immerse his consciousness in how all the stipulations work together, thinking about it day and night; then he will understand how God is our Source, and he will be able to have the abundance this World will provide and enjoy prosperity.
We would be well advised to also follow this direction God gave Joshua.
When we read the Bible, and think about how all 66 books together give the whole story of this Earth from beginning to end, and it's all His story (History); then we will be able to put it all together to cooperate with our Lord in honoring Him and loving our neighbor, doing all the good we can for one another, operating our businesses with integrity, and enjoying wholesome leisure with one another. This is the prescription for a good, healthy, productive and satisfactory life (Ecclesiastes 5:18-20).
Jesus told us to ask, seek, and knock (Matthew 7:7 and Luke 11:9).
To ask, we need to know what to ask for; what is it we need? What has the Bible told us to ask for? When we know God, then we'll know the kinds of things He wants to give us. Then we'll ask Him and He will give them to us to enjoy.
To seek is to go after whatever it is we're wanting, not just sit around waiting for it to come. Do we want it enough to put the effort into seeking it? Is it our passion?
To knock is to actually do what needs to be done. To be active and energetic in making it happen. We don't do it on our own, we're not alone in accomplishing this, but if we're lazy in waiting for someone (or Someone) else to do it, then we're not doing our part.
Then when we ask, and we seek, and we knock; and we know that God hears us and sees that we are serious, then He will move Heaven and Earth to make our desires come true for us (I John 5:14-15).
Then He will smile on us as a father enjoys his children. He is our Father, and He wants us to have everything we want. But He won't spoil us, and He won't give us anything that would harm us.
Sometimes what He allows hurts. But in the end, it is all for our good (Romans 8:28).
And He will get all the glory for what He has accomplished in us and through us, in His Kingdom that will last forever!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
Me And My House
Joshua 24: 15
If serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.
This is at the end of Joshua's life, after he had led the Hebrew armies to conquer all the peoples who had previously settled in the land of Canaan and they took over their cities. They were in "a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant" (24:13).
The houses they were living in were filled with the shrines and altars to these idols that were the reason God had the Israelites destroy them. God called these gods "detestable" because they demanded rites that were degrading and disgusting.
But since the land was filled with them, and some of the people remained who worshiped them, they were a snare to the Hebrews. The next chapter starts the book of Judges, that records several cycles of God blessing the people, then they get complacent, then they forget God and start giving their allegiance to these idols, then they're overcome by an enemy, then they call out to God, and He sends a rescuer (a Judge) to deliver them, and they turn back to God, who prospers them again. Over and over.
Joshua told them that they would not be able to consistently obey God (24:19). But he had determined that he would ignore all these idols and worship only the Lord.
I have also determined that the Lord God, Jesus Christ, alone will be Lord in my home. And He has been.
Whatever house becomes my home will have the blessing of my Father and my Lord Jesus upon it. And I trust as I leave one home to go to another, that my Lord will still be Lord in the home I am leaving, with the new occupants uplifting His Name as I have.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
If serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.
This is at the end of Joshua's life, after he had led the Hebrew armies to conquer all the peoples who had previously settled in the land of Canaan and they took over their cities. They were in "a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant" (24:13).
The houses they were living in were filled with the shrines and altars to these idols that were the reason God had the Israelites destroy them. God called these gods "detestable" because they demanded rites that were degrading and disgusting.
But since the land was filled with them, and some of the people remained who worshiped them, they were a snare to the Hebrews. The next chapter starts the book of Judges, that records several cycles of God blessing the people, then they get complacent, then they forget God and start giving their allegiance to these idols, then they're overcome by an enemy, then they call out to God, and He sends a rescuer (a Judge) to deliver them, and they turn back to God, who prospers them again. Over and over.
Joshua told them that they would not be able to consistently obey God (24:19). But he had determined that he would ignore all these idols and worship only the Lord.
I have also determined that the Lord God, Jesus Christ, alone will be Lord in my home. And He has been.
Whatever house becomes my home will have the blessing of my Father and my Lord Jesus upon it. And I trust as I leave one home to go to another, that my Lord will still be Lord in the home I am leaving, with the new occupants uplifting His Name as I have.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
The Spirit Of The Lord
I Samuel 16: 13-14
Samuel anointed him, and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward.
--But--
The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.
When Saul disobeyed God, resulting in God rejecting him as king, God had Samuel anoint David to be the next king, even while Saul was still reigning.
So God took His Spirit away from Saul and gave Him to David, and allowed an evil spirit to torment Saul instead. This resulted in mental illness bordering on madness.
David saw God take His Spirit away from Saul, and later prayed that God not take His Spirit away from him as well when he sinned (see Psalm 51:11).
We don't need to have this worry today. Since Jesus has come, has died and risen and ascended to Heaven to send His Spirit at Pentecost; now we can trust His promise to be with us until the end of this whole Age, no matter what (Matthew 28:20).
If we leave Him and turn to our own way, He will only let us go so far then draw us back to Himself again. If we continue in our self-will, and God does not turn us around, then we should question whether we really are His child, or if we just professed a religion. Religion cannot save.
Jesus saves, by taking our place in death, individually, because we all deserve death. When we repent, admitting that we deserve death and believe that Jesus died our death on the Cross; then God accepts His payment for sin on our behalf and gives us His own Holy Spirit in our spirit.
That is being "born again," or "born from above." We gain spiritual life, comparable to how we got physical life from our mother. (see John 3:1-18.) Then we don't have "religion," we have the relationship with God that makes Him our Father--we are His children.
And God will never cause us to be "unborn" from His family, He will stay with us permanently.
Praise God for all He is! For His wisdom, for His goodness, for His love, for His mercy and grace, for His wonderful Plan of the Ages, for His giving us His Word and protecting it through all the times of Man.
Praise Him for His greatness, His majesty, His immensity. Praise Him for being our Source of everything that exists.
Praise Him for executing His Plan through the choices of Men, to unfailingly bring the culmination to our World that He planned from before the beginning.
Praise Him for calling His own out of the darkness and dispair of this World from every age, every Nation, every tribe and language, into His glorious Light, to transform us into His creatures of light.
Praise God from Whom all blessings flow. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Samuel anointed him, and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward.
--But--
The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.
When Saul disobeyed God, resulting in God rejecting him as king, God had Samuel anoint David to be the next king, even while Saul was still reigning.
So God took His Spirit away from Saul and gave Him to David, and allowed an evil spirit to torment Saul instead. This resulted in mental illness bordering on madness.
David saw God take His Spirit away from Saul, and later prayed that God not take His Spirit away from him as well when he sinned (see Psalm 51:11).
We don't need to have this worry today. Since Jesus has come, has died and risen and ascended to Heaven to send His Spirit at Pentecost; now we can trust His promise to be with us until the end of this whole Age, no matter what (Matthew 28:20).
If we leave Him and turn to our own way, He will only let us go so far then draw us back to Himself again. If we continue in our self-will, and God does not turn us around, then we should question whether we really are His child, or if we just professed a religion. Religion cannot save.
Jesus saves, by taking our place in death, individually, because we all deserve death. When we repent, admitting that we deserve death and believe that Jesus died our death on the Cross; then God accepts His payment for sin on our behalf and gives us His own Holy Spirit in our spirit.
That is being "born again," or "born from above." We gain spiritual life, comparable to how we got physical life from our mother. (see John 3:1-18.) Then we don't have "religion," we have the relationship with God that makes Him our Father--we are His children.
And God will never cause us to be "unborn" from His family, He will stay with us permanently.
Praise God for all He is! For His wisdom, for His goodness, for His love, for His mercy and grace, for His wonderful Plan of the Ages, for His giving us His Word and protecting it through all the times of Man.
Praise Him for His greatness, His majesty, His immensity. Praise Him for being our Source of everything that exists.
Praise Him for executing His Plan through the choices of Men, to unfailingly bring the culmination to our World that He planned from before the beginning.
Praise Him for calling His own out of the darkness and dispair of this World from every age, every Nation, every tribe and language, into His glorious Light, to transform us into His creatures of light.
Praise God from Whom all blessings flow. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, April 16, 2018
To Obey
I Samuel 15: 22
And Samuel said, "Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams."
Samuel is talking to King Saul, Israel's first king. God had told him to destroy all the people and all their possessions, including all the animals; but Saul had listened to his soldiers who wanted to keep some of the animals to sacrifice to the Lord. So Saul had disobeyed the Lord by only doing part of what he was told to do.
This has a lesson for us, also. When we know what God wants us to do, but we do something else that seems like we're doing a favor for God; that is disobedience. God doesn't need favors from us, and He is the One Who sees the big picture. When He speaks, He says what He means and means what He says.
God may have seen disease in these animals, as a result of the depraved and twisted kinds of worship these people gave to their idols. I don't know why else God would have commanded the complete destruction of one town, then told them they could have the cattle of another town. That's what would make sense to me, but that's my opinion. God knows why he says what He does, He doesn't answer to me, or any other person. He is God, we are not. We are simply to trust Him. Even if it doesn't make "sense" to us.
Saul didn't have the trust in the Lord that God commanded, he listened to his men instead of valuing what God had clearly told him to do. So God rejected him as king over His people.
This is very serious. Am I listening to what my Father is saying to me in His Word, or am I putting my own spin on it to be more palatable to my understanding?
I want to have a clear understanding of what it is God wants of me as His child, so that I can obey Him confidently and cheerfully. I don't want to leave anything out of what is mine to do, and I don't want to add to it, either.
O my Father, please help me to never fudge on what I know You want of me. Help me always to actually do what I know You want me to do, and be aware of anytime I may tend to add anything to Your will for me.
Thank You so much, Father, for always meeting all my needs, and even some of my wants. Thank You that Your generosity comes from all Your riches in glory, and You delight in lavishing Your love upon me in so many ways. Teach me to be a channel, to pass on these blessings to others in need, to be a blessing to them, to draw them to You, the Source of everything.
And I will praise Your Name forever!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
And Samuel said, "Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams."
Samuel is talking to King Saul, Israel's first king. God had told him to destroy all the people and all their possessions, including all the animals; but Saul had listened to his soldiers who wanted to keep some of the animals to sacrifice to the Lord. So Saul had disobeyed the Lord by only doing part of what he was told to do.
This has a lesson for us, also. When we know what God wants us to do, but we do something else that seems like we're doing a favor for God; that is disobedience. God doesn't need favors from us, and He is the One Who sees the big picture. When He speaks, He says what He means and means what He says.
God may have seen disease in these animals, as a result of the depraved and twisted kinds of worship these people gave to their idols. I don't know why else God would have commanded the complete destruction of one town, then told them they could have the cattle of another town. That's what would make sense to me, but that's my opinion. God knows why he says what He does, He doesn't answer to me, or any other person. He is God, we are not. We are simply to trust Him. Even if it doesn't make "sense" to us.
Saul didn't have the trust in the Lord that God commanded, he listened to his men instead of valuing what God had clearly told him to do. So God rejected him as king over His people.
This is very serious. Am I listening to what my Father is saying to me in His Word, or am I putting my own spin on it to be more palatable to my understanding?
I want to have a clear understanding of what it is God wants of me as His child, so that I can obey Him confidently and cheerfully. I don't want to leave anything out of what is mine to do, and I don't want to add to it, either.
O my Father, please help me to never fudge on what I know You want of me. Help me always to actually do what I know You want me to do, and be aware of anytime I may tend to add anything to Your will for me.
Thank You so much, Father, for always meeting all my needs, and even some of my wants. Thank You that Your generosity comes from all Your riches in glory, and You delight in lavishing Your love upon me in so many ways. Teach me to be a channel, to pass on these blessings to others in need, to be a blessing to them, to draw them to You, the Source of everything.
And I will praise Your Name forever!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, April 15, 2018
The Outward Appearance Versus The Heart
I Samuel 16: 7
But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as Man sees, for Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
God has sent Samuel to Jesse of Bethlehem in order to anoint one of his sons to be the next king over Israel. When he saw Jesse's oldest son, Eliab, he was so impressive, Samuel thought this must surely be the one. But God told him otherwise, in this verse.
And we can see a very basic principle here about people that is important to know and consider in our own lives: people make first impressions based on how they look, but what is in their hearts will determine if they are the kind of people we want to associate with.
So often people with golden hearts are discounted by the World because their looks don't measure up to the World's standards. Maybe they're misshapen, or they're not as bright as the norm, or in some way they're different from the crowd. These are the ones who tend to slip through the cracks from being famous or honored. These are the ones who are more precious to the Lord.
And if we are going to be like our Father, doing life according to His ways, then we will befriend the ones who are not accepted by society. We will give them the respect every person deserves as being made in God's image, and loved by Him. (See James 2:1-13.)
And in doing this, we may experience the same side-lining by society, being judged by them by our associations. But if we're concerned with what our neighbors think, rather than how God sees, then we need to reorder our priorities by getting into the Word to learn to align our thinking processes with how God thinks.
O my Father, please teach us how to see with Your eyes, how to think Your thoughts. Help us to see others' true character, to make friends with those who have made You their friend, and to have compassion on those who have not known Your ways yet.
Keep us faithful to You, Father, according to Your Word and Your ways. And may our lives shine forth into the World with Your light, to draw the victims of our enemy out of the darkness that enslaves them.
Help us to make Your other children our nearest friends, who will hold us accountable, and walk with us as we seek Your face.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as Man sees, for Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
God has sent Samuel to Jesse of Bethlehem in order to anoint one of his sons to be the next king over Israel. When he saw Jesse's oldest son, Eliab, he was so impressive, Samuel thought this must surely be the one. But God told him otherwise, in this verse.
And we can see a very basic principle here about people that is important to know and consider in our own lives: people make first impressions based on how they look, but what is in their hearts will determine if they are the kind of people we want to associate with.
So often people with golden hearts are discounted by the World because their looks don't measure up to the World's standards. Maybe they're misshapen, or they're not as bright as the norm, or in some way they're different from the crowd. These are the ones who tend to slip through the cracks from being famous or honored. These are the ones who are more precious to the Lord.
And if we are going to be like our Father, doing life according to His ways, then we will befriend the ones who are not accepted by society. We will give them the respect every person deserves as being made in God's image, and loved by Him. (See James 2:1-13.)
And in doing this, we may experience the same side-lining by society, being judged by them by our associations. But if we're concerned with what our neighbors think, rather than how God sees, then we need to reorder our priorities by getting into the Word to learn to align our thinking processes with how God thinks.
O my Father, please teach us how to see with Your eyes, how to think Your thoughts. Help us to see others' true character, to make friends with those who have made You their friend, and to have compassion on those who have not known Your ways yet.
Keep us faithful to You, Father, according to Your Word and Your ways. And may our lives shine forth into the World with Your light, to draw the victims of our enemy out of the darkness that enslaves them.
Help us to make Your other children our nearest friends, who will hold us accountable, and walk with us as we seek Your face.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, April 14, 2018
Fully Accomplished
II Timothy 4: 17-18
But the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me, in order that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was delivered out of the lion's mouth.
And the Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to His heavenly Kingdom. To Him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Paul wrote this to Timothy from prison in Rome.
His testimony was that God was protecting and delivering him, so that he could finish the task God had given to him: to preach Jesus to all the Gentiles in the whole known world of the time. Paul knew that his life would soon be over, and that he had finished that work (see vs. 6-8).
Jesus had said that the Gospel of the Kingdom would be preached throughout the whole world, then the end would come (Matthew 24:14). So when Paul finished his course, and the Gospel was preached to the whole world, then why did Jesus not come then?
God wanted Jesus as His Son to have "many brothers" (Romans 8:29); so I think that He wanted so many more brothers and sisters for His Son that He continued to let the World carry on, generation after generation, gathering more and more children into His Family from every tribe, every Nation, through all this time.
Now that all the signs for the end of the World are present in this time right now, I think that when all people in all the Nations have heard, of whom many have not, then it really will be the end of this age of mankind, and Jesus will return in our lifetimes.
But Paul also thought Christ's return would be in his lifetime. So I am in good company. But will God still delay the culmination of this World in order to grow His Family even larger? How many is "many"?
Or maybe "all" the signs aren't present, and I missed some. Then God will continue to work His Plan for this World through our indvidual personal lives, and we must continue to carry on.
Like Paul, the Lord will also stand with us to strengthen us, and deliver us from every evil attack, to bring us safely to His heavenly Kingdom.
And He will receive all the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
But the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me, in order that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was delivered out of the lion's mouth.
And the Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to His heavenly Kingdom. To Him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Paul wrote this to Timothy from prison in Rome.
His testimony was that God was protecting and delivering him, so that he could finish the task God had given to him: to preach Jesus to all the Gentiles in the whole known world of the time. Paul knew that his life would soon be over, and that he had finished that work (see vs. 6-8).
Jesus had said that the Gospel of the Kingdom would be preached throughout the whole world, then the end would come (Matthew 24:14). So when Paul finished his course, and the Gospel was preached to the whole world, then why did Jesus not come then?
God wanted Jesus as His Son to have "many brothers" (Romans 8:29); so I think that He wanted so many more brothers and sisters for His Son that He continued to let the World carry on, generation after generation, gathering more and more children into His Family from every tribe, every Nation, through all this time.
Now that all the signs for the end of the World are present in this time right now, I think that when all people in all the Nations have heard, of whom many have not, then it really will be the end of this age of mankind, and Jesus will return in our lifetimes.
But Paul also thought Christ's return would be in his lifetime. So I am in good company. But will God still delay the culmination of this World in order to grow His Family even larger? How many is "many"?
Or maybe "all" the signs aren't present, and I missed some. Then God will continue to work His Plan for this World through our indvidual personal lives, and we must continue to carry on.
Like Paul, the Lord will also stand with us to strengthen us, and deliver us from every evil attack, to bring us safely to His heavenly Kingdom.
And He will receive all the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, April 13, 2018
The Wise And The Fool
Proverbs 1: 7
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
What is the "fear of the Lord"? Is it being afraid of a stern, harsh Judge?
Not at all. Only the wicked need to have that fear. Because we know God is a just Judge that will give each person what they deserve, He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, because all their chances to turn to Him are gone.
The "fear of the Lord" is a reverential respect for His power and authority. And it brings the knowledge of His gentleness and mercy, His kindness and grace, His goodness and compassion.
But fools despise wisdom and discipline.
Who is a "fool"? The jester in the colorful costume? When someone disdains wise counsel and decides for himself instead, this is foolish. And when he resents the consequences of his own choices, putting the blame on someone else, that's foolish, too.
So the "fool" in the book of Proverbs is someone who is morally deficient, not being able to discern what's right from what's wrong and harmful.
The Book of Proverbs contrasts mainly the wise person and the fool. It repeatedly links wisdom with understanding, and foolishness with lack of understanding.
If we have wisdom, then we will understand the reality of the situation. If we don't understand, then we will see the situation in a twisted or distorted manner, which would rob us of the blessings we otherwise would have enjoyed.
Proverbs has 31 chapters, which lends very handily to reading a chapter each day, reading the book in a month, every month.
Its practical wisdom will permeate our hearts if we familiarize ourselves with this book, immersing ourselves in it each month, reading it through 12 times in a year.
O my Father, Thank You for this Book among all the Books of the Bible. Thank You for the practical counsel it provides for getting along with our fellow humans in the World. Please clarify Your Truth in our minds, so that we will be able to see and understand how Your ways are so far above our ways, and follow Your path in our thinking processes and living our lives.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
What is the "fear of the Lord"? Is it being afraid of a stern, harsh Judge?
Not at all. Only the wicked need to have that fear. Because we know God is a just Judge that will give each person what they deserve, He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, because all their chances to turn to Him are gone.
The "fear of the Lord" is a reverential respect for His power and authority. And it brings the knowledge of His gentleness and mercy, His kindness and grace, His goodness and compassion.
But fools despise wisdom and discipline.
Who is a "fool"? The jester in the colorful costume? When someone disdains wise counsel and decides for himself instead, this is foolish. And when he resents the consequences of his own choices, putting the blame on someone else, that's foolish, too.
So the "fool" in the book of Proverbs is someone who is morally deficient, not being able to discern what's right from what's wrong and harmful.
The Book of Proverbs contrasts mainly the wise person and the fool. It repeatedly links wisdom with understanding, and foolishness with lack of understanding.
If we have wisdom, then we will understand the reality of the situation. If we don't understand, then we will see the situation in a twisted or distorted manner, which would rob us of the blessings we otherwise would have enjoyed.
Proverbs has 31 chapters, which lends very handily to reading a chapter each day, reading the book in a month, every month.
Its practical wisdom will permeate our hearts if we familiarize ourselves with this book, immersing ourselves in it each month, reading it through 12 times in a year.
O my Father, Thank You for this Book among all the Books of the Bible. Thank You for the practical counsel it provides for getting along with our fellow humans in the World. Please clarify Your Truth in our minds, so that we will be able to see and understand how Your ways are so far above our ways, and follow Your path in our thinking processes and living our lives.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, April 12, 2018
Our Unformed Substance
Psalm 139: 15-16
My frame was not hidden from Thee, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the Earth.
Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance, and in Thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.
This is from the same Psalm as yesterday. David had insight that people even today lack. Not everything that is legal is right.
David acknowledges here that God sees us before we're born, while we're growing in our mother's womb. God sees our "unformed substance" and already has planned out our lives, writing every day we are to live "in Thy book."
Every child that is conceived is another person, who God sees and cares for, from the moment of conception. That moment, the father's and the mother's DNA join to form a new person, different from every other person.
This "foetus" or "fetus" (the Latin word for "offspring" or "baby") is similar to both parents, but different from either one. And twins are different from each other, even when they're identical.
Each member of Mankind is a unique individual. "When God made you, He broke the mold!" is a saying I heard as a child. It's true, though, God made each one of us as a unique Creation, God loves a variety. We are all the same race, the human race, so we can be categorized into groups with similarities, but every member of each group also has differences from the others.
We are all made in the image of God, in His likeness; and in that distinction, each person is to be respected, loved, and honored as valuable. Each of us is of tremendously great worth, even the worst criminal. Every person is offered that great Salvation that not even the best of us deserves. "The ground is level at the foot of the Cross." No one has any easier or harder choice than any one else to choose Him. We all need to humble ourselves before Him, admit that we deserve to die, and let His death be our own.
I think those who think that they are righteous have a more difficult time turning around their thinking processes, because their pride gets in their way. But when God calls them to faith, they also know that they need Christ.
No one is exempt from this need, because, unlike Jesus, we are all born of Adam, and have that damage in our DNA that pollutes everything we do, even our very best altruisms.
O my Father, thank You for all You have done for all of us! Thank You that You are calling people to Yourself from every Nation, from every part of the world, from every ethnic group, from every economic strata. Thank You that You are no respecter of persons, but You made us all and You value us all, and You have already met all of our needs, for both now and forever.
Please continue to call Your chosen to Yourself. I don't understand why You don't save everyone, but I know You know best. I know that those who refuse You don't want any part of You, and You will never force Yourself on them. So they will experience the consequences of their own choices, to spend eternity away from Your Presence.
I do hope that my humble writings will be clear to those who don't yet have God's Holy Spirit living in them to teach them the Truth, so they will repent and come to You, Father, as You draw them.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
My frame was not hidden from Thee, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the Earth.
Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance, and in Thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.
This is from the same Psalm as yesterday. David had insight that people even today lack. Not everything that is legal is right.
David acknowledges here that God sees us before we're born, while we're growing in our mother's womb. God sees our "unformed substance" and already has planned out our lives, writing every day we are to live "in Thy book."
Every child that is conceived is another person, who God sees and cares for, from the moment of conception. That moment, the father's and the mother's DNA join to form a new person, different from every other person.
This "foetus" or "fetus" (the Latin word for "offspring" or "baby") is similar to both parents, but different from either one. And twins are different from each other, even when they're identical.
Each member of Mankind is a unique individual. "When God made you, He broke the mold!" is a saying I heard as a child. It's true, though, God made each one of us as a unique Creation, God loves a variety. We are all the same race, the human race, so we can be categorized into groups with similarities, but every member of each group also has differences from the others.
We are all made in the image of God, in His likeness; and in that distinction, each person is to be respected, loved, and honored as valuable. Each of us is of tremendously great worth, even the worst criminal. Every person is offered that great Salvation that not even the best of us deserves. "The ground is level at the foot of the Cross." No one has any easier or harder choice than any one else to choose Him. We all need to humble ourselves before Him, admit that we deserve to die, and let His death be our own.
I think those who think that they are righteous have a more difficult time turning around their thinking processes, because their pride gets in their way. But when God calls them to faith, they also know that they need Christ.
No one is exempt from this need, because, unlike Jesus, we are all born of Adam, and have that damage in our DNA that pollutes everything we do, even our very best altruisms.
O my Father, thank You for all You have done for all of us! Thank You that You are calling people to Yourself from every Nation, from every part of the world, from every ethnic group, from every economic strata. Thank You that You are no respecter of persons, but You made us all and You value us all, and You have already met all of our needs, for both now and forever.
Please continue to call Your chosen to Yourself. I don't understand why You don't save everyone, but I know You know best. I know that those who refuse You don't want any part of You, and You will never force Yourself on them. So they will experience the consequences of their own choices, to spend eternity away from Your Presence.
I do hope that my humble writings will be clear to those who don't yet have God's Holy Spirit living in them to teach them the Truth, so they will repent and come to You, Father, as You draw them.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Searched Me And Known Me
Psalm 139: 1-3
For the choir director. A psalm of David.
O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me. Thou dost know when I sit down and when I rise up; Thou hast understood my thought from afar. Thou dost scrutinize my path and my lying down, and art intimately acquainted with all my ways.
David knew God. He had such a close relationship with the Lord God that he was able to express in his music so many details of Who our God is.
I am impressed by David's openness with God. Acknowledging how God knows every detail of his personal day-by-day living kept him from sin, from anything that would put a barrier between him and God.
Only when he wasn't acutely aware of His presence did he even consider taking matters into his own hands, like when he was upset that a wealthy man would refuse to help him in return for protection of his flocks, in I Samuel 25, when he was about to attack Nabal and his wife Abigail reminded David of God's care (v. 26).
David appreciated Abigail's faith that gave her boldness to confront him, and when she became a widow he took care of her by making her his wife.
I know that God also knows me that intimately. He knows when I rest and when I am active. He knows when I am at home or away somewhere. He knows when I'm eating and when I'm napping. He knows what I'm going to think about before the thought comes into my mind! Only God can do that, because only He is God.
O my Father, thank You for Who You are! Thank You that I need not be afraid of You knowing me that deeply and thoroughly, because You are Love. I trust You to always sift my every day to strain out everything that the World, the devil and my own flesh would throw into my path, to lead me past it and guide me around it. And when I stumble, Father, You lift me up by the hand, so that I will not utterly fall.
Thank You for including me in Your great Plan of the Ages, to give me a small role in the unfolding of Your Grand Agenda. Continue to lead and guide me, Father, so that I will not wander to the right or to the left, but step every step firmly and confidently in the path You have determined I will walk.
And let me me a conduit through which Your love and grace and blessings flow to others. Let Your light shine through me into the darkness of this World. And use me to bring many others to Yourself.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
For the choir director. A psalm of David.
O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me. Thou dost know when I sit down and when I rise up; Thou hast understood my thought from afar. Thou dost scrutinize my path and my lying down, and art intimately acquainted with all my ways.
David knew God. He had such a close relationship with the Lord God that he was able to express in his music so many details of Who our God is.
I am impressed by David's openness with God. Acknowledging how God knows every detail of his personal day-by-day living kept him from sin, from anything that would put a barrier between him and God.
Only when he wasn't acutely aware of His presence did he even consider taking matters into his own hands, like when he was upset that a wealthy man would refuse to help him in return for protection of his flocks, in I Samuel 25, when he was about to attack Nabal and his wife Abigail reminded David of God's care (v. 26).
David appreciated Abigail's faith that gave her boldness to confront him, and when she became a widow he took care of her by making her his wife.
I know that God also knows me that intimately. He knows when I rest and when I am active. He knows when I am at home or away somewhere. He knows when I'm eating and when I'm napping. He knows what I'm going to think about before the thought comes into my mind! Only God can do that, because only He is God.
O my Father, thank You for Who You are! Thank You that I need not be afraid of You knowing me that deeply and thoroughly, because You are Love. I trust You to always sift my every day to strain out everything that the World, the devil and my own flesh would throw into my path, to lead me past it and guide me around it. And when I stumble, Father, You lift me up by the hand, so that I will not utterly fall.
Thank You for including me in Your great Plan of the Ages, to give me a small role in the unfolding of Your Grand Agenda. Continue to lead and guide me, Father, so that I will not wander to the right or to the left, but step every step firmly and confidently in the path You have determined I will walk.
And let me me a conduit through which Your love and grace and blessings flow to others. Let Your light shine through me into the darkness of this World. And use me to bring many others to Yourself.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
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