Psalm 19:14
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to You, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
May I take to heart God's "thought list" in Philippians 4:8, to meditate on, to think about, only what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or worthy of praise; and may those thoughts filling my heart overflow out my mouth in words that are gentle, compassionate and loving.
Then the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart will be pleasing to my dear Lord, the Rock beneath my feet, the Redeemer of my life and the Savior of my soul.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, February 17, 2017
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Propped Himself Up
II Chronicles 18:34
The battle raged all that day, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans. In the evening, just as the sun was setting, he died.
Ahab consistently rejected the Lord every time he was warned. He had so many opportunities to turn from his evil ways, but he never did. Then, knowing that he would be killed, that he was already dying, he still "propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans."
How many times do we prop ourselves up instead of leaning on the Lord, to face our enemies? It's useless. We have no strength, any more than Ahab did. He still died, and we, too, are destroyed. Our enemy is far stronger than we can ever be in our own flesh.
My strength is in the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, Heavenly armies sent to fight the battles on my behalf. And I know that the war has already been won. I just need to cling to my Protector, my Shield, my Covering, and allow Him to be my Guide and my Authority.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
The battle raged all that day, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans. In the evening, just as the sun was setting, he died.
Ahab consistently rejected the Lord every time he was warned. He had so many opportunities to turn from his evil ways, but he never did. Then, knowing that he would be killed, that he was already dying, he still "propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans."
How many times do we prop ourselves up instead of leaning on the Lord, to face our enemies? It's useless. We have no strength, any more than Ahab did. He still died, and we, too, are destroyed. Our enemy is far stronger than we can ever be in our own flesh.
My strength is in the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, Heavenly armies sent to fight the battles on my behalf. And I know that the war has already been won. I just need to cling to my Protector, my Shield, my Covering, and allow Him to be my Guide and my Authority.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Hope
Romans 8: 20-25
For the creation (the Universe) was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the One who subjected it (the Second Law of Thermodynamics), in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay (everything going from Order to Chaos, death), and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God (the New Heaven and New Earth).
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, which is the redemption (resurrection in glory) of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved.
But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
God's great Plan of the Ages is to work all the way to the New Heaven and New Earth. When He created, everything was good, and Mankind was very good. Then sin entered the picture, and God cursed the whole Universe because of Adam's transgression. Decay and Death had to affect the whole scenario in order for a Savior to be able to die to save Man.
Science is based on the Laws of Thermodynamics. The First Law is the Conservation of Matter, that nothing more can be created nor can what is, be obliterated, only change form. This is God's creation, what He has done, no one else can do, nor can anyone destroy what He has done. The Second Law is Entropy, that all things tend to naturally go from order into chaos. This is the curse that sin has placed on the Universe, decay and death.
When God replaces this cursed order of being with the New Heaven and New Earth, this old order will cease to exist, there will be no more decay or death, and all things will be made new, to never run down, but to endure pristine throughout all eternity. Our bodies will be resurrected to be like Jesus' Resurrection body, and we will shine like the sun. And the curse will be removed from the whole Universe, freeing it to be the glorious creation God meant it to be.
This is the "last chapter" in our story. But I don't think it is the end of God's plans. Isaiah 9:7 tells us that "there will be no end to the increase of His government." This means that God will never "rest on His laurels" but continue to act, to be creative and inventive, and we will, too, as we are made in His image.
What a wonderful future God has for us! But we are still here, now, in this fallen, cursed world. That's why even the Earth is groaning under the strain of the curse, with all the earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and such. And we are beset with trials, tribulations and griefs. But the Blessed Hope of Christ's Glorious Appearing, and the hope of this unimaginable future can sustain us through it all, knowing that God is sovereign.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
For the creation (the Universe) was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the One who subjected it (the Second Law of Thermodynamics), in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay (everything going from Order to Chaos, death), and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God (the New Heaven and New Earth).
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, which is the redemption (resurrection in glory) of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved.
But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
God's great Plan of the Ages is to work all the way to the New Heaven and New Earth. When He created, everything was good, and Mankind was very good. Then sin entered the picture, and God cursed the whole Universe because of Adam's transgression. Decay and Death had to affect the whole scenario in order for a Savior to be able to die to save Man.
Science is based on the Laws of Thermodynamics. The First Law is the Conservation of Matter, that nothing more can be created nor can what is, be obliterated, only change form. This is God's creation, what He has done, no one else can do, nor can anyone destroy what He has done. The Second Law is Entropy, that all things tend to naturally go from order into chaos. This is the curse that sin has placed on the Universe, decay and death.
When God replaces this cursed order of being with the New Heaven and New Earth, this old order will cease to exist, there will be no more decay or death, and all things will be made new, to never run down, but to endure pristine throughout all eternity. Our bodies will be resurrected to be like Jesus' Resurrection body, and we will shine like the sun. And the curse will be removed from the whole Universe, freeing it to be the glorious creation God meant it to be.
This is the "last chapter" in our story. But I don't think it is the end of God's plans. Isaiah 9:7 tells us that "there will be no end to the increase of His government." This means that God will never "rest on His laurels" but continue to act, to be creative and inventive, and we will, too, as we are made in His image.
What a wonderful future God has for us! But we are still here, now, in this fallen, cursed world. That's why even the Earth is groaning under the strain of the curse, with all the earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and such. And we are beset with trials, tribulations and griefs. But the Blessed Hope of Christ's Glorious Appearing, and the hope of this unimaginable future can sustain us through it all, knowing that God is sovereign.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
God's Love
Romans 8:38-39
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love; not death or life, not angels, not things present or things to come, not height, not depth, nor any other created thing or being shall ever be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus.
Happy Valentine's Day. Jesus is my Valentine, and I am His.
God has loved us with an everlasting love; so deep, so wide, so high that we cannot begin to understand it. It has no boundaries, no limits. And in God's great wisdom and knowledge and power, He makes even the evil things, the hard things, the sad things, the painful things to work for our good. While we are in the midst of trouble and trial and travail, He is with us, covering us with His blanket of peace and protection, and He gives us the hope, the certain knowing, that He will resolve all the questions and problems and situations that work against us. Because God is for us, no one can succeed against us.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love; not death or life, not angels, not things present or things to come, not height, not depth, nor any other created thing or being shall ever be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus.
Happy Valentine's Day. Jesus is my Valentine, and I am His.
God has loved us with an everlasting love; so deep, so wide, so high that we cannot begin to understand it. It has no boundaries, no limits. And in God's great wisdom and knowledge and power, He makes even the evil things, the hard things, the sad things, the painful things to work for our good. While we are in the midst of trouble and trial and travail, He is with us, covering us with His blanket of peace and protection, and He gives us the hope, the certain knowing, that He will resolve all the questions and problems and situations that work against us. Because God is for us, no one can succeed against us.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, February 13, 2017
Loveable
Isaiah 54:10
The mountains and the hills may crumble but My love for you will never end, so says the Lord Who loves you.
Jeremiah 31:3
I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you to Myself with lovingkindness.
John 3:16, 17
For God loved the whole world so much that He sent His only Son into the world so that anyone who puts their trust completely in Him would not perish, but be given eternal life.
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the whole world could be saved by Him.
John 16:27
Jesus said, The Father, Himself, loves you.
Ephesians 2:4
His great love wherewith He loved us.
No matter who we are, where we are, when we are, what we have done, or haven't done, God loves us. God loves each one of us. The Blood Jesus shed on the altar of His Cross was the Blood of God, with infinite worth, more than enough for every person who ever lived. Every single person is savable, if only they will turn to God and accept His gift.
The great tragedy is that most of Mankind will not even want to consider that they need a sin sacrifice to die in their place. The most important decision each of us could ever make concerns the over-arching need to take care of our forever. Nothing in this life will ever compare with what will be in the next realm of our existence, either with God or without Him.
God loves what He made, enough to send His own Son to become part of it, to take care of our most pressing need, because He wants us to be with Him. The only way we could be in His presence is to be cleansed and purified, through the only way that "works," the Blood of Christ.
If you examine your own heart, and you realize that you have never let Jesus be your Sin-Sacrifice, dying in your place; then pray and ask God to grant you in His grace, the gift of saving faith, to place your complete trust in Christ to rescue you from the sin that entangles us all by paying the eternal debt you owe and redeeming you from the slavery of sin.
That's how much God values you and me, and loves us more than we can imagine.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
The mountains and the hills may crumble but My love for you will never end, so says the Lord Who loves you.
Jeremiah 31:3
I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you to Myself with lovingkindness.
John 3:16, 17
For God loved the whole world so much that He sent His only Son into the world so that anyone who puts their trust completely in Him would not perish, but be given eternal life.
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the whole world could be saved by Him.
John 16:27
Jesus said, The Father, Himself, loves you.
Ephesians 2:4
His great love wherewith He loved us.
No matter who we are, where we are, when we are, what we have done, or haven't done, God loves us. God loves each one of us. The Blood Jesus shed on the altar of His Cross was the Blood of God, with infinite worth, more than enough for every person who ever lived. Every single person is savable, if only they will turn to God and accept His gift.
The great tragedy is that most of Mankind will not even want to consider that they need a sin sacrifice to die in their place. The most important decision each of us could ever make concerns the over-arching need to take care of our forever. Nothing in this life will ever compare with what will be in the next realm of our existence, either with God or without Him.
God loves what He made, enough to send His own Son to become part of it, to take care of our most pressing need, because He wants us to be with Him. The only way we could be in His presence is to be cleansed and purified, through the only way that "works," the Blood of Christ.
If you examine your own heart, and you realize that you have never let Jesus be your Sin-Sacrifice, dying in your place; then pray and ask God to grant you in His grace, the gift of saving faith, to place your complete trust in Christ to rescue you from the sin that entangles us all by paying the eternal debt you owe and redeeming you from the slavery of sin.
That's how much God values you and me, and loves us more than we can imagine.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, February 12, 2017
I Am Forgivable
Isaiah 43:25
I am the God Who forgives your sins, and I do this because of Who I am. I will not hold your sins against you.
Ephesians 1:4
Long ago, even before He made the world, God chose us to be His very own through what Christ would do for us; He decided then to make us holy in His eyes, without a single fault--we who stand before Him covered with His love.
I am forgivable. If I deserved forgiveness, I wouldn't need it. But I am a sinner, born with a defective nature that causes me to be susceptible to making poor choices, deserving God's wrath. Because of Who God is, He chooses to have mercy on me, not giving me the wrath I deserve, but instead to shower His grace upon me, forgiving me and cleansing me of all unrighteousness. This fits me to be in His presence, since He cannot be in the presence of sin.
John 17 records Jesus' High Priestly Prayer, and in it He prays, "Father, I want that all those You have given Me be with Me where I am" (v. 24). This is the joy that was set before Him to enable Him to endure the Cross. He knew that the only way we could be pure and holy to be in God's presence was by the washing in His Blood that He shed. He is the only Way to God, He is the Truth we need to believe, and He is the Life we can live with Him forever.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
I am the God Who forgives your sins, and I do this because of Who I am. I will not hold your sins against you.
Ephesians 1:4
Long ago, even before He made the world, God chose us to be His very own through what Christ would do for us; He decided then to make us holy in His eyes, without a single fault--we who stand before Him covered with His love.
I am forgivable. If I deserved forgiveness, I wouldn't need it. But I am a sinner, born with a defective nature that causes me to be susceptible to making poor choices, deserving God's wrath. Because of Who God is, He chooses to have mercy on me, not giving me the wrath I deserve, but instead to shower His grace upon me, forgiving me and cleansing me of all unrighteousness. This fits me to be in His presence, since He cannot be in the presence of sin.
John 17 records Jesus' High Priestly Prayer, and in it He prays, "Father, I want that all those You have given Me be with Me where I am" (v. 24). This is the joy that was set before Him to enable Him to endure the Cross. He knew that the only way we could be pure and holy to be in God's presence was by the washing in His Blood that He shed. He is the only Way to God, He is the Truth we need to believe, and He is the Life we can live with Him forever.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, February 11, 2017
I Am Capable
II Corinthians 3:5-6
Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant--not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
The capacity we have comes from God; it is He Who made us capable of serving the New Covenant. The Old Testament records The Law, the first covenant, or contract with His people. In this arrangement God required His people to conform to specific actions and rituals. These rituals were to keep the people's attention on what God wanted to do for them, in the sacrifices, to have the animals die so their sins could be covered.
The New Covenant is founded on what God has now done and completed for us: Jesus has fulfilled all of The Law, He became our sacrifice that the individual had been required to bring to the priest to die for his sins by being God's perfect Lamb, whose Blood would not merely cover, but actually take away our sins. Now God has written His Law in our hearts, not requiring all the outward rituals any more, but understanding the Spirit of the Law, the principles that the Law was founded on.
Now we are able to obey God's purposes in ways that are much deeper than ancient Israel understood. And it is God Who has given His Holy Spirit to live inside our human spirit of life, making our dead spirits alive, and making us competent, capable of sharing this Good News of Salvation with other people who wouldn't know without our telling them. The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Just going through the motions is deadening, but living according to the principle of Love that underlies God's plans and purposes for us will enliven us to show the World Who God is, and how He loves us all.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant--not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
The capacity we have comes from God; it is He Who made us capable of serving the New Covenant. The Old Testament records The Law, the first covenant, or contract with His people. In this arrangement God required His people to conform to specific actions and rituals. These rituals were to keep the people's attention on what God wanted to do for them, in the sacrifices, to have the animals die so their sins could be covered.
The New Covenant is founded on what God has now done and completed for us: Jesus has fulfilled all of The Law, He became our sacrifice that the individual had been required to bring to the priest to die for his sins by being God's perfect Lamb, whose Blood would not merely cover, but actually take away our sins. Now God has written His Law in our hearts, not requiring all the outward rituals any more, but understanding the Spirit of the Law, the principles that the Law was founded on.
Now we are able to obey God's purposes in ways that are much deeper than ancient Israel understood. And it is God Who has given His Holy Spirit to live inside our human spirit of life, making our dead spirits alive, and making us competent, capable of sharing this Good News of Salvation with other people who wouldn't know without our telling them. The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Just going through the motions is deadening, but living according to the principle of Love that underlies God's plans and purposes for us will enliven us to show the World Who God is, and how He loves us all.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
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