Psalm 37:7-9
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret whenever men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn away from wrath; do not fret--it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.
O my Father, help me! Teach me how to stop and take a breath in the heat of the moment when my emotions kick in instantly and I want to retaliate and strike back. Stop me from reacting, remind me to pause to breathe in Your Grace. Then I will be able to respond by breathing out Your Mercy upon those who are against me. Teach me how to maintain Your Peace and quietness in the midst of the turmoil.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, April 4, 2016
Sunday, April 3, 2016
Why Are There Poor People?
Deuteronomy 15:4-5, 7, 11
However, there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, He will richly bless you, if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today.
If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites . . .
There will always be poor people in the land.
Moses is telling the people all the laws God is giving them to obey and follow in the good land they are entering into to dwell there. He knows that these laws are so just and comprehensive that if the people will only fully obey and always live their daily lives according to it, then the result would be that no one would be poor. Whenever we live according to God's rules, running this world in alignment with how God made it to work, then the result will be that we enjoy all the benefits and bountifulness that is here (there is no "shortage" of anything), and God receives the credit, as the Designer.
But Moses knew that these people were human, and would not always be faithful; allowing themselves to be deceived by all the distractions of the world and the pagans living among them. So there may be some poor; no, there would always be poor people among them.
And there will always be people in the world who are poor. That's one reason why every Christian is to "do the work of an evangelist" (II Timothy 4:5) in sharing God's Truth with the people whose lives touch ours: The Good News of Jesus' substitutionary death on the Cross and His Resurrection, conquering death, which will give them a new life; and His just and comprehensive rules for living that will inform them in how to live in alignment with how God designed this world that will result in receiving its abundance and prosperity. Then "there need be no poor people among you."
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
However, there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, He will richly bless you, if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today.
If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites . . .
There will always be poor people in the land.
Moses is telling the people all the laws God is giving them to obey and follow in the good land they are entering into to dwell there. He knows that these laws are so just and comprehensive that if the people will only fully obey and always live their daily lives according to it, then the result would be that no one would be poor. Whenever we live according to God's rules, running this world in alignment with how God made it to work, then the result will be that we enjoy all the benefits and bountifulness that is here (there is no "shortage" of anything), and God receives the credit, as the Designer.
But Moses knew that these people were human, and would not always be faithful; allowing themselves to be deceived by all the distractions of the world and the pagans living among them. So there may be some poor; no, there would always be poor people among them.
And there will always be people in the world who are poor. That's one reason why every Christian is to "do the work of an evangelist" (II Timothy 4:5) in sharing God's Truth with the people whose lives touch ours: The Good News of Jesus' substitutionary death on the Cross and His Resurrection, conquering death, which will give them a new life; and His just and comprehensive rules for living that will inform them in how to live in alignment with how God designed this world that will result in receiving its abundance and prosperity. Then "there need be no poor people among you."
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, April 2, 2016
What Does God Ask Of Me?
Deuteronomy 10:12-13
And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to Him, to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today, for your own good?
God loves us so much that He's laid out for us all the details of how to have a good life, all our lives. When we admire and appreciate who God is, and understand His ways, then we will form our attitudes and thoughts in alignment with our environments of place and family. Then we will make decisions that will be good for our world and for our relationships, and we will get the benefits ("for your own good"), and God gets the glory, the credit, for planning it all out.
When I find that my world isn't going the way I want it to, or my relationships are strained or broken, I need to see and discern my own attitudes, thoughts and actions to understand where I have not "feared the Lord" or "walked in obedience" to whatever "commands and decrees" God has revealed to me from His word. Then I will know how to make amends for the wrongs I have perpetrated upon others to heal these relationships I have with both the people in my life and the environment in which I live.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to Him, to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today, for your own good?
God loves us so much that He's laid out for us all the details of how to have a good life, all our lives. When we admire and appreciate who God is, and understand His ways, then we will form our attitudes and thoughts in alignment with our environments of place and family. Then we will make decisions that will be good for our world and for our relationships, and we will get the benefits ("for your own good"), and God gets the glory, the credit, for planning it all out.
When I find that my world isn't going the way I want it to, or my relationships are strained or broken, I need to see and discern my own attitudes, thoughts and actions to understand where I have not "feared the Lord" or "walked in obedience" to whatever "commands and decrees" God has revealed to me from His word. Then I will know how to make amends for the wrongs I have perpetrated upon others to heal these relationships I have with both the people in my life and the environment in which I live.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, April 1, 2016
Barbs And Thorns
Numbers 33:55-56
But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live. And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.
God knew that the inhabitants of Canaan had lived their lives against the good that God desires for His creation, and embraced darkness and evil instead. So God chose one particular nation to have His actual "rule book" to explain how to live in accordance with how God designed life to work in this world. He wanted this nation to be the example to teach other nations His goodness and how He prospers those who live in accordance with His ways. So He warned them, that if they allow these pagans to remain among them in the land, then they would learn their errant ways and do the things that bring destruction.
God always provides His Word for us to learn His ways, and whenever anyone, Hebrew or not, pays attention to Him and obeys His rules, then they will be sowing good seed in their lives, and reap the benefits and bountifulness God designed into His creation, and God gets the credit. But anyone who refuses His ways, or ignores His rules, doing something else instead; they will not be aligned with the way God designed this world to work, and will suffer the consequences of their poor choices. They will reap disease (dis-ease), poverty and brokenness.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live. And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.
God knew that the inhabitants of Canaan had lived their lives against the good that God desires for His creation, and embraced darkness and evil instead. So God chose one particular nation to have His actual "rule book" to explain how to live in accordance with how God designed life to work in this world. He wanted this nation to be the example to teach other nations His goodness and how He prospers those who live in accordance with His ways. So He warned them, that if they allow these pagans to remain among them in the land, then they would learn their errant ways and do the things that bring destruction.
God always provides His Word for us to learn His ways, and whenever anyone, Hebrew or not, pays attention to Him and obeys His rules, then they will be sowing good seed in their lives, and reap the benefits and bountifulness God designed into His creation, and God gets the credit. But anyone who refuses His ways, or ignores His rules, doing something else instead; they will not be aligned with the way God designed this world to work, and will suffer the consequences of their poor choices. They will reap disease (dis-ease), poverty and brokenness.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, March 31, 2016
"A Consuming Fire"
Hebrews 12:25-29
See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks --
We are responsible to pay attention and take to heart into our personal lives what God is saying to us.
If they did not escape --
They were called to account.
when they refused Him who warned them on Earth, --
From Mount Sinai with Moses.
how much less will we, --
We won't escape from accountability, either.
if we turn away from Him who warns us from Heaven? --
God is on His Throne in Heaven.
At that time --
Back in Moses' time.
His voice shook the Earth, --
The Mountain was quaking, an earthquake.
but now He has promised, --
God always does what He said, this is stronger, a promise.
"Once more I will shake not only the Earth but also the Heavens." --
God will "shake;" dislodge, scramble (like dice), destroy, not just the Earth, but also all the "Heavens," the whole Universe!
The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken--that is, created things--so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
So all Creation, the whole material Universe, will not only be re-arranged, but totally destroyed, completely burned up, and what will remain will be what always was, God and His Kingdom.
Therefore, since we are receiving a Kingdom that cannot be shaken, --
God's own, that can never be damaged or destroyed, that will last, perfect, forever.
Let us be thankful, --
Remember to thank God.
and so worship God acceptably --
This is the worship He wants, that He will accept.
with reverence and awe, --
Recognizing His holiness, power, sovereignty, greatness, etc, etc, etc.
for our "God is a consuming fire." --
God is the Maker of all, owner of all, and can dispense with all whenever He wants.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks --
We are responsible to pay attention and take to heart into our personal lives what God is saying to us.
If they did not escape --
They were called to account.
when they refused Him who warned them on Earth, --
From Mount Sinai with Moses.
how much less will we, --
We won't escape from accountability, either.
if we turn away from Him who warns us from Heaven? --
God is on His Throne in Heaven.
At that time --
Back in Moses' time.
His voice shook the Earth, --
The Mountain was quaking, an earthquake.
but now He has promised, --
God always does what He said, this is stronger, a promise.
"Once more I will shake not only the Earth but also the Heavens." --
God will "shake;" dislodge, scramble (like dice), destroy, not just the Earth, but also all the "Heavens," the whole Universe!
The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken--that is, created things--so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
So all Creation, the whole material Universe, will not only be re-arranged, but totally destroyed, completely burned up, and what will remain will be what always was, God and His Kingdom.
Therefore, since we are receiving a Kingdom that cannot be shaken, --
God's own, that can never be damaged or destroyed, that will last, perfect, forever.
Let us be thankful, --
Remember to thank God.
and so worship God acceptably --
This is the worship He wants, that He will accept.
with reverence and awe, --
Recognizing His holiness, power, sovereignty, greatness, etc, etc, etc.
for our "God is a consuming fire." --
God is the Maker of all, owner of all, and can dispense with all whenever He wants.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Skin Color
Numbers 12:1,9-10
Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. ... The anger of the Lord burned against them, and He left them. When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam's skin was leprous--it became as white as snow. ...
Moses' wife was a Cushite, she had black skin. The Israelites were Middle-Eastern, people with light brown skin. When Aaron and Miriam complained because of her shade of complexion, God, in effect, said, "You object to black skin? You want white skin? Okay, Poof! your skin is white!"
When God told the Israelites not to intermarry with the peoples in the Promised Land, He wasn't concerned about skin color; He was keeping them from idolatry and immoral practices. He allowed Rahab, the prostitute from Jericho, to marry Salmon, and be the mother of Boaz, then Boaz married Ruth, who was a Moabitess, whose son was Obed, who was King David's grandfather, in Jesus' genealogy (Matthew 1:5-6). These foreign ladies had embraced Israel's God, rejecting the idols they had previously worshiped. God is always wanting the very best for each of us, morally and eternally, and He is not concerned about our skin color: He made each of us just the color He knew would be best for us. His primary concern is the "color" of our souls: are they scarlet, the deep red of sin? or are they as white as snow, having been washed in the "crimson flood" of the Cross?
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. ... The anger of the Lord burned against them, and He left them. When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam's skin was leprous--it became as white as snow. ...
Moses' wife was a Cushite, she had black skin. The Israelites were Middle-Eastern, people with light brown skin. When Aaron and Miriam complained because of her shade of complexion, God, in effect, said, "You object to black skin? You want white skin? Okay, Poof! your skin is white!"
When God told the Israelites not to intermarry with the peoples in the Promised Land, He wasn't concerned about skin color; He was keeping them from idolatry and immoral practices. He allowed Rahab, the prostitute from Jericho, to marry Salmon, and be the mother of Boaz, then Boaz married Ruth, who was a Moabitess, whose son was Obed, who was King David's grandfather, in Jesus' genealogy (Matthew 1:5-6). These foreign ladies had embraced Israel's God, rejecting the idols they had previously worshiped. God is always wanting the very best for each of us, morally and eternally, and He is not concerned about our skin color: He made each of us just the color He knew would be best for us. His primary concern is the "color" of our souls: are they scarlet, the deep red of sin? or are they as white as snow, having been washed in the "crimson flood" of the Cross?
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Protection From The Ark Of The Covenant
Numbers 1:52-53
The Israelites are to set up their tents by divisions, each of them in their own camp under their standard. The Levites, however, are to set up their tents around the Tabernacle of the Covenant Law, so that My wrath will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are to be responsible for the care of the Tabernacle of the Covenant Law.
God protected the Levites from the lethal effects of proximity to the Mercy Seat where God appeared between the Cherubim. They were the barrier between the Ark and the Israelites. Others who got too close to it or touched it either died (see I Chronicles 13:9) or were afflicted with tumors (see I Samuel 6), or to be put to death, maybe so as to not spread its effects to the rest. Even the Kohathites who were to carry them were never to look at or touch the holy things: they were to first be covered by Aaron and his sons first, then the Kohathites could come in to carry them out (Numbers 4:20). God gave us guidelines to observe so we could be healthy and prosper, while honoring His holy Name.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
The Israelites are to set up their tents by divisions, each of them in their own camp under their standard. The Levites, however, are to set up their tents around the Tabernacle of the Covenant Law, so that My wrath will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are to be responsible for the care of the Tabernacle of the Covenant Law.
God protected the Levites from the lethal effects of proximity to the Mercy Seat where God appeared between the Cherubim. They were the barrier between the Ark and the Israelites. Others who got too close to it or touched it either died (see I Chronicles 13:9) or were afflicted with tumors (see I Samuel 6), or to be put to death, maybe so as to not spread its effects to the rest. Even the Kohathites who were to carry them were never to look at or touch the holy things: they were to first be covered by Aaron and his sons first, then the Kohathites could come in to carry them out (Numbers 4:20). God gave us guidelines to observe so we could be healthy and prosper, while honoring His holy Name.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
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