Psalm 36:1-2
Sin whispers to the wicked, deep within their hearts. They have no fear of God at all. In their blind conceit, they cannot see how wicked they really are.
O my Father, I pray for all the "nice guys" who have no understanding at all of Your holiness, so no concept of their own wickedness.
He or she may be a good husband or wife, a good provider or homemaker, a good father or mother. They may even go to church, and help their fellow man. A really "nice guy." But they have no concept of their own sins, how evil they are in Your sight. They do not see their own desperate need for the Savior.
But, Father, You can give them a new heart, You can open their blind eyes to see Your holiness, and how far short they fall from Your righteousness. You can give them the gift of faith to believe and trust in You, and You can cause them to be born into Your own family.
Please, Father, do this for all my loved ones, so that their lives, too, will bring glory and honor to Your Name.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Unfailing Love
Psalm 32:22
Let Your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in You alone.
O my Father, my hope is in You alone. Only You are absolutely faithful to Your Word. Only You can and will strengthen me to do Your will according to Your ways. You alone are strong, and just, and merciful. You alone are wise and discerning the thoughts and intent of every heart. You are the God Who made us all, and the whole Universe around us. You alone have given us Your Word, which is true throughout all the Universe through all time. You account for every day, and we will give account to You for how we have used every day.
Thank You for Your faithfulness, my Lord. Because You have shown faithfulness for everything in the past, I can trust You also to be faithful in the future. I can safely put my trust in You, because of Your great love wherewith You have loved me. Your love and compassion for me is beyond my ability to understand, and I know that Your justice and vengeance for Your enemies is just as great.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Let Your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in You alone.
O my Father, my hope is in You alone. Only You are absolutely faithful to Your Word. Only You can and will strengthen me to do Your will according to Your ways. You alone are strong, and just, and merciful. You alone are wise and discerning the thoughts and intent of every heart. You are the God Who made us all, and the whole Universe around us. You alone have given us Your Word, which is true throughout all the Universe through all time. You account for every day, and we will give account to You for how we have used every day.
Thank You for Your faithfulness, my Lord. Because You have shown faithfulness for everything in the past, I can trust You also to be faithful in the future. I can safely put my trust in You, because of Your great love wherewith You have loved me. Your love and compassion for me is beyond my ability to understand, and I know that Your justice and vengeance for Your enemies is just as great.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, March 13, 2017
Proof
John 13:35
Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples.
These are Jesus' words. He has spent His whole public life ministering to the people, the ordinary people, the ones who were rejected, not accepted into polite society. He loved them; accepting them, healing them and teaching them. Now He is saying that we are also to display this same love, in helping the least of those in our little worlds. And in serving one another, even when we're not required to, to go the extra mile when it's not expected. To always believe the best of our neighbor, even when the evidence points otherwise, to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Jesus said that if we love Him, then we will obey His commands, and His command is to love one another. So we show our love for Him by how we treat our fellow man, even when no one is looking. For He is watching us!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples.
These are Jesus' words. He has spent His whole public life ministering to the people, the ordinary people, the ones who were rejected, not accepted into polite society. He loved them; accepting them, healing them and teaching them. Now He is saying that we are also to display this same love, in helping the least of those in our little worlds. And in serving one another, even when we're not required to, to go the extra mile when it's not expected. To always believe the best of our neighbor, even when the evidence points otherwise, to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Jesus said that if we love Him, then we will obey His commands, and His command is to love one another. So we show our love for Him by how we treat our fellow man, even when no one is looking. For He is watching us!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, March 12, 2017
Treasured His Words
Job 23:10-12
But He knows where I am going, and when He tests me, I will come out as pure as gold. For I have stayed on God's paths; I have followed His ways and not turned aside. I have not departed from His commands, but have treasured His words more than daily food.
May we all, each one of us, be able to pray this prayer as Job testified; to have the confidence he did, even in the midst of all his suffering; that he was not in denial of any sin, but had honesty and fearlessly examined his own life and attitudes and motives and found them pure and righteous, according to all that God had revealed at that time. It was no easier for Job to live transparently than it is for me, or any of us.
I am far more knowledgeable of God and His ways and His Plan of the Ages than Job was, so I am far more accountable; I also have God's strength in His Holy Spirit given to me, dwelling in me, as Job did not. So I have no excuse.
Dear Father, help me to really do what I know I must do, not just say I will. Strengthen me to live an honest, transparent life before You and in the sight of all Mankind.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
But He knows where I am going, and when He tests me, I will come out as pure as gold. For I have stayed on God's paths; I have followed His ways and not turned aside. I have not departed from His commands, but have treasured His words more than daily food.
May we all, each one of us, be able to pray this prayer as Job testified; to have the confidence he did, even in the midst of all his suffering; that he was not in denial of any sin, but had honesty and fearlessly examined his own life and attitudes and motives and found them pure and righteous, according to all that God had revealed at that time. It was no easier for Job to live transparently than it is for me, or any of us.
I am far more knowledgeable of God and His ways and His Plan of the Ages than Job was, so I am far more accountable; I also have God's strength in His Holy Spirit given to me, dwelling in me, as Job did not. So I have no excuse.
Dear Father, help me to really do what I know I must do, not just say I will. Strengthen me to live an honest, transparent life before You and in the sight of all Mankind.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, March 11, 2017
Keep Moving Forward
Job 17:9
The righteous keep moving forward....
My dear, departed mother had many "momisms," "old wives tales" that she brought her family up with. One of these referred to our never standing still, we are either moving forward or sliding backward. Now, here, Job tells us that God's people are to keep moving forward, as we live our lives in a righteous manner.
I have felt lately that I have been more or less standing still, in a desert, in between this and that. But I have not been motionless; I've been actively waiting on the Lord to move in my life, this way or that; and while I wait on Him, I will continue to seek His face, share His Word, and seek to do what I can to serve Him by serving others. So I'm not really standing still.
We read about Joseph, who was sold into slavery and then found himself in prison. But we see that he didn't stand still, he waited on God and interpreted dreams, along with his other duties.
And Moses spent 40 years learning all the wisdom of the Egyptians, then spent another 40 years in the desert. But he wasn't really standing still, either. After his royal upbringing, God knew he needed to learn humility, and became the meekest man on Earth.
So I trust God to be preparing me for whatever role He has planned for me to play in this life, to do my part in His great Plan of the Ages. And in His time, when He knows I'm ready, He will move me out of this desert and onto His stage.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
The righteous keep moving forward....
My dear, departed mother had many "momisms," "old wives tales" that she brought her family up with. One of these referred to our never standing still, we are either moving forward or sliding backward. Now, here, Job tells us that God's people are to keep moving forward, as we live our lives in a righteous manner.
I have felt lately that I have been more or less standing still, in a desert, in between this and that. But I have not been motionless; I've been actively waiting on the Lord to move in my life, this way or that; and while I wait on Him, I will continue to seek His face, share His Word, and seek to do what I can to serve Him by serving others. So I'm not really standing still.
We read about Joseph, who was sold into slavery and then found himself in prison. But we see that he didn't stand still, he waited on God and interpreted dreams, along with his other duties.
And Moses spent 40 years learning all the wisdom of the Egyptians, then spent another 40 years in the desert. But he wasn't really standing still, either. After his royal upbringing, God knew he needed to learn humility, and became the meekest man on Earth.
So I trust God to be preparing me for whatever role He has planned for me to play in this life, to do my part in His great Plan of the Ages. And in His time, when He knows I'm ready, He will move me out of this desert and onto His stage.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, March 10, 2017
Going Through The Motions
Proverbs 21:3
The Lord is more pleased when we do what is right and just than when we offer Him sacrifices.
God gave all the sacrifices and all the rest of the laws in order to teach His people how to humble themselves before God and how to treat their fellow man. Doing the "letter of the law" was to show them God's heart for them.
Most of the people didn't understand that, though. They thought that "going through the motions" of the things God said they were to do were sufficient. And most people today also do not get it.
Jesus fulfilled all the "letter" of all the laws that were established before, that God required the people to perform: He celebrated all the feasts, made all the required sacrifices, and, most of all, He loved others in a way no one else ever had.
And He became the most fundamental sacrifice God had individual people to offer. The first chapter of the book of Leviticus, the very detailed and boring listing of all the laws, begins with this individual sacrifice. The person was to lay his hand on the head of the animal, to confer his sin to the beast, which was then slaughtered in sacrifice, dying in the place of the person for his sin. And its blood was splashed onto the sides of the altar on which it was burned, to cover the person's sins so he could then be forgiven.
Jesus is our Lamb of God, who offered Himself on the altar of His cross, His blood flowing down its sides. Jesus poured out His precious, divine blood for each of us, which does not just cover, but actually washes away our sins. But we each need to figuratively lay our hand on His head, admitting that our own, personal sins deserve death (the paycheck we earn for sin is death), and let Him die in our place. Then, with our debt paid, we go on with our life, along with the spiritual life God gives us as we are "born again" into His own family.
I know that each one of us tries to live our life in the best way we know how to live, we all try to be good people. But we all fall down, not living up to what we know is right. That's because of our damaged DNA we inherited from our fathers, all the way back to Adam. This is called "original sin" or "the sin-nature." It's why we're not perfect. It's also why we need a Savior. Even the best of us has earned that paycheck. And God is not willing that any should perish, but that we all would come to the repentance of admitting that lack of standing before God, and let Jesus die our death on that cross.
If you have never realized that Jesus died for you, then I suggest that you ask God to give you the gift of saving faith, to be able to believe God and trust Jesus to pay that debt for you. Then you will realize how much God loves you.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
The Lord is more pleased when we do what is right and just than when we offer Him sacrifices.
God gave all the sacrifices and all the rest of the laws in order to teach His people how to humble themselves before God and how to treat their fellow man. Doing the "letter of the law" was to show them God's heart for them.
Most of the people didn't understand that, though. They thought that "going through the motions" of the things God said they were to do were sufficient. And most people today also do not get it.
Jesus fulfilled all the "letter" of all the laws that were established before, that God required the people to perform: He celebrated all the feasts, made all the required sacrifices, and, most of all, He loved others in a way no one else ever had.
And He became the most fundamental sacrifice God had individual people to offer. The first chapter of the book of Leviticus, the very detailed and boring listing of all the laws, begins with this individual sacrifice. The person was to lay his hand on the head of the animal, to confer his sin to the beast, which was then slaughtered in sacrifice, dying in the place of the person for his sin. And its blood was splashed onto the sides of the altar on which it was burned, to cover the person's sins so he could then be forgiven.
Jesus is our Lamb of God, who offered Himself on the altar of His cross, His blood flowing down its sides. Jesus poured out His precious, divine blood for each of us, which does not just cover, but actually washes away our sins. But we each need to figuratively lay our hand on His head, admitting that our own, personal sins deserve death (the paycheck we earn for sin is death), and let Him die in our place. Then, with our debt paid, we go on with our life, along with the spiritual life God gives us as we are "born again" into His own family.
I know that each one of us tries to live our life in the best way we know how to live, we all try to be good people. But we all fall down, not living up to what we know is right. That's because of our damaged DNA we inherited from our fathers, all the way back to Adam. This is called "original sin" or "the sin-nature." It's why we're not perfect. It's also why we need a Savior. Even the best of us has earned that paycheck. And God is not willing that any should perish, but that we all would come to the repentance of admitting that lack of standing before God, and let Jesus die our death on that cross.
If you have never realized that Jesus died for you, then I suggest that you ask God to give you the gift of saving faith, to be able to believe God and trust Jesus to pay that debt for you. Then you will realize how much God loves you.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, March 9, 2017
Love Never Fails
I Corinthians 13: 8-13
Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophesy, they will be done away;
When everything that has ever has been prophesied all comes true in time.
if there are tongues, they will cease;
Languages will one day be moot when we will all be able to converse without regard for words except for the language of the heart.
if there is knowledge, it will be done away.
All the scientific knowledge mankind has accrued to that point in time will suddenly be obsolete in the light of the reality of the New Heaven and the New Earth.
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part
We only know a small portion of the whole story of what God has planned and is carrying out in the line of Time; of everything we can know, or be able to predict will happen in the future, we will never be able to fill in all the gaps.
but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.
When what is complete and finished becomes our reality, then all the pieces of what we thought we knew will all fall into place, displaying how all the dots are connected and what it really looks like, and what all the pieces we knew really meant.
When I was a child, I used to speak as a child, think as a child, reason as a child;
Before I grew up or attained any maturity, I lived a little child's life: assuming that all was well in the world and that I would always have everything I need, as I didn't need any more than the bare necessities, and was satisfied with that.
when I became a man I did away with childish things.
When I became an adult, I realized that everything wasn't automatic, that I needed to bear my responsibilities to see that my needs and the needs of my family would be met, and I "did away" with the attitude that the world owes me a living.
For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face-to-face;
Now what we see is merely a dim reflection of the reality we will understand when God draws to a close this era of Man, to give way to a new Era of Christ's Rule. Then we will perceive clearly the new reality.
now I know in part, but then I shall know fully just as I also have been fully known.
Now what we can understand is only a tiny piece of what is actual, and when this new Era dawns, we will be learning and knowing fully the whole picture of Human History, and how God guided the movers and shakers to accomplish the working out of His Plan for all of us all along. Just as God already knows every molecule of my being intimately.
But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
So we will always believe God (faith), we will always have confidence in His Plan working out His Way in whatever system He will be focused on throughout Eternity (hope), and we will always respond to God's love for us with love for Him and those He loves, which will continue to be the foundation that all of His Creation runs on. (Love makes the World go 'round--God's love!)
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophesy, they will be done away;
When everything that has ever has been prophesied all comes true in time.
if there are tongues, they will cease;
Languages will one day be moot when we will all be able to converse without regard for words except for the language of the heart.
if there is knowledge, it will be done away.
All the scientific knowledge mankind has accrued to that point in time will suddenly be obsolete in the light of the reality of the New Heaven and the New Earth.
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part
We only know a small portion of the whole story of what God has planned and is carrying out in the line of Time; of everything we can know, or be able to predict will happen in the future, we will never be able to fill in all the gaps.
but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.
When what is complete and finished becomes our reality, then all the pieces of what we thought we knew will all fall into place, displaying how all the dots are connected and what it really looks like, and what all the pieces we knew really meant.
When I was a child, I used to speak as a child, think as a child, reason as a child;
Before I grew up or attained any maturity, I lived a little child's life: assuming that all was well in the world and that I would always have everything I need, as I didn't need any more than the bare necessities, and was satisfied with that.
when I became a man I did away with childish things.
When I became an adult, I realized that everything wasn't automatic, that I needed to bear my responsibilities to see that my needs and the needs of my family would be met, and I "did away" with the attitude that the world owes me a living.
For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face-to-face;
Now what we see is merely a dim reflection of the reality we will understand when God draws to a close this era of Man, to give way to a new Era of Christ's Rule. Then we will perceive clearly the new reality.
now I know in part, but then I shall know fully just as I also have been fully known.
Now what we can understand is only a tiny piece of what is actual, and when this new Era dawns, we will be learning and knowing fully the whole picture of Human History, and how God guided the movers and shakers to accomplish the working out of His Plan for all of us all along. Just as God already knows every molecule of my being intimately.
But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
So we will always believe God (faith), we will always have confidence in His Plan working out His Way in whatever system He will be focused on throughout Eternity (hope), and we will always respond to God's love for us with love for Him and those He loves, which will continue to be the foundation that all of His Creation runs on. (Love makes the World go 'round--God's love!)
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
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