Hebrews 10:24-25
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
"How we may spur one another on." I hope that with this blog I am able to "put the spurs in," as the rider does the horse, "toward love and good works." My prayer for each of you, dear readers, that the words God gives me to post here may poke at you, as the "pricks" Saul kicked against in Acts 6:5 (KJV).
"Toward love and good works." Love for God, and the agape love God has for us, given to one another; then what we do, our "good works," will be in the power of His Spirit in us, beneficial for one another and acceptable to God, for which He will reward us.
"Not giving up meeting together." I appreciate that you come online to my blog, but this is only a personal devotion, between you and God. Please do not let it become a substitute for attending a local congregation, where you can get to know other believers in our precious faith, seeing how you can minister to them according to their needs that you are competent to meet--the "good works."
"As some are in the habit of doing." Some Christians, sad to say, refuse to find a church congregation to join themselves to, thinking that solitary communion with God and online connection satisfies this need. But if we do not meet face-to-face, how can we fulfill this Law of Love?
"Encouraging one another." Meeting together in person regularly is the way God intended for us to "be Christ" to one another. He wants to be with us, to have us with Him, and we also need one another. This is how we can best encourage one another, give one another courage to face life and live the holy life God intends for us.
"And all the more as you see the Day approaching." This Day is when Jesus will return to this Earth to reign as King of the World for a thousand years (Revelation 20:4-7). The signs of the Last Days have been manifesting ever since Jesus ascended into Heaven, but never before have all the signs been present at the same time, as it is today. Jesus is coming soon. How much do we want to be ready to meet Him in the air, in the clouds, and not be ashamed of anything about our lives before Him? God has given us one another, and like all the coals in a fire glow hot together, we must continue to meet together. When a coal is separated from the hearth, it may glow for a while, but will go cold. Put it back into the fire, and it will come back to life again, glowing with the others.
So let us all obey the commands we are given, follow the rules set down, live our lives according to the loving character of our Father in Heaven, through His Son, Christ Jesus our Lord; then we will experience the benefits of cooperating with how God designed this World to work, and we will be ready for His coming.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Friday, January 6, 2017
Thursday, January 5, 2017
The Joy Set Before Him
Hebrews 12:2
For the joy set before Him He endured the cross.
What was that joy?
John 17:24
Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am.
So Jesus endured death on a cross so that we could be with Him. Wow! That's how much He loves us, how much He likes our company and wants to spend time with us, to be with us; and for us to be with Him, enjoying all His glory, all His authority, all the exciting adventures He has planned to enjoy with us throughout all eternity!
I cannot imagine all He has planned to do with us when this time is completed. Our God is the most imaginative Being, having created such a variety of multitudinous objects and beings, everything different from everything else. Even life on this Earth is exciting, when we see with His eyes. How much more enjoyable and fulfilling will our lives be when we are in His very presence, aware of His glorious Being, participating in all the wondrous activities He has in mind for us, what He created us for, just perfect for each one of us.
No matter what happens in the meantime, no matter how the world and the devil and the devil's slaves will persecute, slander and martyr us, none of it will be even comparable to the glory we will experience soon (Romans 8:18). This is our hope; not a wishing of "I hope so," but a settled knowing as fact that what God has promised, He will never fail to do. And He has not appointed us to wrath, so when His wrath falls on those who reject His gift, they may fall at our right and our left, but will not touch us (Psalm 91:7-8). This is amazing. God is amazing.
Let us all be strong in the Lord, and keep in mind our tremendous value and worth to God our Creator, "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2), gaining strength from His Spirit living in us to "throw off everything that hinders, and the sin that so easily entangles" (Hebrews 12:1). Then we will be able to "run with perseverance the race marked out for us (Hebrews 12:2), and withstand all that the world will throw at us in these the Last Days.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
For the joy set before Him He endured the cross.
What was that joy?
John 17:24
Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am.
So Jesus endured death on a cross so that we could be with Him. Wow! That's how much He loves us, how much He likes our company and wants to spend time with us, to be with us; and for us to be with Him, enjoying all His glory, all His authority, all the exciting adventures He has planned to enjoy with us throughout all eternity!
I cannot imagine all He has planned to do with us when this time is completed. Our God is the most imaginative Being, having created such a variety of multitudinous objects and beings, everything different from everything else. Even life on this Earth is exciting, when we see with His eyes. How much more enjoyable and fulfilling will our lives be when we are in His very presence, aware of His glorious Being, participating in all the wondrous activities He has in mind for us, what He created us for, just perfect for each one of us.
No matter what happens in the meantime, no matter how the world and the devil and the devil's slaves will persecute, slander and martyr us, none of it will be even comparable to the glory we will experience soon (Romans 8:18). This is our hope; not a wishing of "I hope so," but a settled knowing as fact that what God has promised, He will never fail to do. And He has not appointed us to wrath, so when His wrath falls on those who reject His gift, they may fall at our right and our left, but will not touch us (Psalm 91:7-8). This is amazing. God is amazing.
Let us all be strong in the Lord, and keep in mind our tremendous value and worth to God our Creator, "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2), gaining strength from His Spirit living in us to "throw off everything that hinders, and the sin that so easily entangles" (Hebrews 12:1). Then we will be able to "run with perseverance the race marked out for us (Hebrews 12:2), and withstand all that the world will throw at us in these the Last Days.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
To Heal Our Land, Updated
II Chronicles 7: 14-15
If My people will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
O my dear Father in Heaven, please have those of Your own to humble ourselves before You, examine our own hearts, and work on that one besetting sin that is the part of our character we know is not of You. Let us pray, asking You for Your strength and power to have victory over that character defect, to let You mold us further into the very image of Your Son. Let us turn from any way in our thinking, our attitudes or our habits that draw us away from You.
And please let our new President be Your Asa to tear down all the altars to the heathen gods and bring Your righteousness back to this great Land that was founded upon Your good principles. Protect him, teach him Your ways, and let him bring us back to our inspired Constitution. May we all bring Your righteousness back from the grassroots up and from the top down, confessing our wrongs. And forgive us, Lord, in Your mercies that are new every morning, and heal this Land, to again be that City on a Hill.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
If My people will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
O my dear Father in Heaven, please have those of Your own to humble ourselves before You, examine our own hearts, and work on that one besetting sin that is the part of our character we know is not of You. Let us pray, asking You for Your strength and power to have victory over that character defect, to let You mold us further into the very image of Your Son. Let us turn from any way in our thinking, our attitudes or our habits that draw us away from You.
And please let our new President be Your Asa to tear down all the altars to the heathen gods and bring Your righteousness back to this great Land that was founded upon Your good principles. Protect him, teach him Your ways, and let him bring us back to our inspired Constitution. May we all bring Your righteousness back from the grassroots up and from the top down, confessing our wrongs. And forgive us, Lord, in Your mercies that are new every morning, and heal this Land, to again be that City on a Hill.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Another Opportunity
James 4:7
So humble yourselves before God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you.
Just as the string holds the kite up on the wind, so our constraints in our troubles and sorrows keep us aloft and hold us up. Our winds of adversity are given to us to draw us nearer to God. So I need to change my views of the troubles and aggravations and interruptions of life, resist the Devil and my own flesh, and thank God for another opportunity to depend on Him.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
So humble yourselves before God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you.
Just as the string holds the kite up on the wind, so our constraints in our troubles and sorrows keep us aloft and hold us up. Our winds of adversity are given to us to draw us nearer to God. So I need to change my views of the troubles and aggravations and interruptions of life, resist the Devil and my own flesh, and thank God for another opportunity to depend on Him.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, January 2, 2017
No Drifting
Psalm 141: 3-4
Take control of what I say, O Lord, and guard my lips. Don't let me drift toward evil or take part in acts of wickedness. Don't let me share in the delicacies of those who do wrong.
O my Father, I pray that as I take Your hand, You will not let go! Lead me in the path You have set before me, straight and true, not turning to the right-hand nor to the left, not pulling away in rebellion, or wandering off the path in my inattention and isolation.
Hide me in the cleft of the Rock, which is Christ, and cover me with Your hand, that others seeing me would not see my flesh or hear my words, which push them away, but that they would see only You, hear Your words of kindness and compassion, and be drawn to You.
Let this new year bring me around the corner that I cannot see from here, into the next stage of my journey in this world. Hedge me in, Father, on that Narrow Path in which You have set my feet, that wanders throughout the Earth, to the people who are in need of Your message. May Your protection be above, below, behind, before, to my left, to my right, and all around me, every moment of every day, as I seek to serve You by meeting the needs of Your least in the Kingdom as I walk these lands; until I meet my Lord, my Husband, my King, in the clouds of His coming.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Take control of what I say, O Lord, and guard my lips. Don't let me drift toward evil or take part in acts of wickedness. Don't let me share in the delicacies of those who do wrong.
O my Father, I pray that as I take Your hand, You will not let go! Lead me in the path You have set before me, straight and true, not turning to the right-hand nor to the left, not pulling away in rebellion, or wandering off the path in my inattention and isolation.
Hide me in the cleft of the Rock, which is Christ, and cover me with Your hand, that others seeing me would not see my flesh or hear my words, which push them away, but that they would see only You, hear Your words of kindness and compassion, and be drawn to You.
Let this new year bring me around the corner that I cannot see from here, into the next stage of my journey in this world. Hedge me in, Father, on that Narrow Path in which You have set my feet, that wanders throughout the Earth, to the people who are in need of Your message. May Your protection be above, below, behind, before, to my left, to my right, and all around me, every moment of every day, as I seek to serve You by meeting the needs of Your least in the Kingdom as I walk these lands; until I meet my Lord, my Husband, my King, in the clouds of His coming.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, January 1, 2017
Happy New Year!
II Corinthians 5:20-6:2
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ,
Personal representatives of Christ Jesus in an official capacity.
as though God were entreating through us;
Just like God is the One pleading with you.
we beg you on behalf of Christ,
We are begging you, imploring you, please, as though Christ Jesus is asking you.
be reconciled to God.
Change yourself, your attitudes, your beliefs, to agree with God's character and God's Truth. When I reconcile my checkbook to my bank statement, I don't ask the bank to change, I change my checkbook to agree with the Bank.
He made Him, Who knew no sin, to be sin
God the Father caused God the Son to actually bear our sin-nature that three hours on the Cross that the sun did not shine. Jesus was born as a human in order to be able to die our human death. He did not die for certain sins, but He carried the whole basket, and everything in it. His Blood had enough value to purchase all of Creation, which makes Him the rightful judge of us all.
on our behalf
For us, in our place, as the penitent would bring the animal to the priest, laying his hands on the head of the beast conferring his sin onto the animal, which then died in his place in sacrifice. Jesus is our Sacrifice, not just covering, but actually taking away our sins forever, for each one of us. The wages of sin is death, and He took that death for each one of us. That's how much He loves me and you.
That we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Just as Jesus became sin, not just some, but the very root and fountainhead of all our sins, small and great; so we might become, not definitely will, but might if we recognize that, as having sinned, we deserve the death we've earned, and let Jesus die in our place; then we can actually be, not just have, God's very righteousness. This is amazing to me, it boggles my mind.
And working together with Him,
Again, cooperating with God in His plans and His ways.
we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain--
God really doesn't want you to take His grace for granted.
For He says, "At the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the Day of Salvation I helped you" (Isaiah 49:8 Septuagint);
God says that He would listen to our requests and would help us at a time He will accept, and a Day that He would provide Salvation.
behold, now is the "acceptable time," behold, now is the "Day of Salvation."
"Look, right now is the right time, see, today is when you can be saved!"
Today is a new beginning, the first day of this New Year of 2017. My prayer is that we all can begin this new year with new life, God's life living inside our own bodies, His Holy Spirit making our own dead spirit alive.
Then it will really be a New Year! A fresh start, not held back by any of the things that have ever held us back before. With a new, unshakable faith, a trust that is invincible in our Lord God, Jesus Christ, and our Father in Heaven.
Happy New Year!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ,
Personal representatives of Christ Jesus in an official capacity.
as though God were entreating through us;
Just like God is the One pleading with you.
we beg you on behalf of Christ,
We are begging you, imploring you, please, as though Christ Jesus is asking you.
be reconciled to God.
Change yourself, your attitudes, your beliefs, to agree with God's character and God's Truth. When I reconcile my checkbook to my bank statement, I don't ask the bank to change, I change my checkbook to agree with the Bank.
He made Him, Who knew no sin, to be sin
God the Father caused God the Son to actually bear our sin-nature that three hours on the Cross that the sun did not shine. Jesus was born as a human in order to be able to die our human death. He did not die for certain sins, but He carried the whole basket, and everything in it. His Blood had enough value to purchase all of Creation, which makes Him the rightful judge of us all.
on our behalf
For us, in our place, as the penitent would bring the animal to the priest, laying his hands on the head of the beast conferring his sin onto the animal, which then died in his place in sacrifice. Jesus is our Sacrifice, not just covering, but actually taking away our sins forever, for each one of us. The wages of sin is death, and He took that death for each one of us. That's how much He loves me and you.
That we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Just as Jesus became sin, not just some, but the very root and fountainhead of all our sins, small and great; so we might become, not definitely will, but might if we recognize that, as having sinned, we deserve the death we've earned, and let Jesus die in our place; then we can actually be, not just have, God's very righteousness. This is amazing to me, it boggles my mind.
And working together with Him,
Again, cooperating with God in His plans and His ways.
we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain--
God really doesn't want you to take His grace for granted.
For He says, "At the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the Day of Salvation I helped you" (Isaiah 49:8 Septuagint);
God says that He would listen to our requests and would help us at a time He will accept, and a Day that He would provide Salvation.
behold, now is the "acceptable time," behold, now is the "Day of Salvation."
"Look, right now is the right time, see, today is when you can be saved!"
Today is a new beginning, the first day of this New Year of 2017. My prayer is that we all can begin this new year with new life, God's life living inside our own bodies, His Holy Spirit making our own dead spirit alive.
Then it will really be a New Year! A fresh start, not held back by any of the things that have ever held us back before. With a new, unshakable faith, a trust that is invincible in our Lord God, Jesus Christ, and our Father in Heaven.
Happy New Year!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, December 31, 2016
New Year's Eve Thoughts
Psalm 144: 3-4
O Lord, who are we that You should notice us? Mere mortals that You should care for us? For we are like a breath of air; our days are like a passing shadow.
This year has gone by like a breath taken, in and out; or a shadow passing by. This is the finale of 365 days; what have I done with them? What differences have I made in this world or another's life? Or my own life? Have I brought light where there was darkness? Have I brought life where there was deadness? Have I brought any joy where there was sadness or grief?
Or have I pushed people away from the light; from life; from joy? Have I blundered forth in the weakness of my own flesh, instead of resting in the strength and power of my Lord and His Spirit that lives inside me?
O my Father in Heaven, please forgive me and cleanse me of all the foolish and selfish choices I have made this year. Strengthen me to start this new year tomorrow fresh, with a new dependence on You, disregarding my own understanding for Your wisdom, my own comfort for Your training in righteousness, my own will for Your plans for me.
For I know that only You are righteous, only You are wise, only in You is there life. Without You there is only darkness, despair, loneliness. Show me Your ways, Your path for my feet, Your frame of mind in all the situations I find myself in. Teach me to hear Your voice in my quietness, and to follow Your ways all the days of this new year. Bless this year to draw Your own ever closer to Yourself, protect us and bring all the honor and glory to Your Name.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
O Lord, who are we that You should notice us? Mere mortals that You should care for us? For we are like a breath of air; our days are like a passing shadow.
This year has gone by like a breath taken, in and out; or a shadow passing by. This is the finale of 365 days; what have I done with them? What differences have I made in this world or another's life? Or my own life? Have I brought light where there was darkness? Have I brought life where there was deadness? Have I brought any joy where there was sadness or grief?
Or have I pushed people away from the light; from life; from joy? Have I blundered forth in the weakness of my own flesh, instead of resting in the strength and power of my Lord and His Spirit that lives inside me?
O my Father in Heaven, please forgive me and cleanse me of all the foolish and selfish choices I have made this year. Strengthen me to start this new year tomorrow fresh, with a new dependence on You, disregarding my own understanding for Your wisdom, my own comfort for Your training in righteousness, my own will for Your plans for me.
For I know that only You are righteous, only You are wise, only in You is there life. Without You there is only darkness, despair, loneliness. Show me Your ways, Your path for my feet, Your frame of mind in all the situations I find myself in. Teach me to hear Your voice in my quietness, and to follow Your ways all the days of this new year. Bless this year to draw Your own ever closer to Yourself, protect us and bring all the honor and glory to Your Name.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
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