Proverbs 4: 20-27
My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to My words. Don't lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole being. Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech. Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don't get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.
Jesus explained to us in John 6 about real life. Real life is not physical, it is spiritual (v. 63). When a person's spiritual parts (soul and spirit) leave his body, he is dead. He told us that His Words are Spirit and they are life. So we are to nourish our spirits with His Word: not just reading it, but devouring it, chewing it by thinking on it and meditating on it and studying it. Then when we are ready to apply its Truth to our own life and attitudes, that's when we swallow it and it becomes our life.
O my Father, please help me, lead and guide me to mark out a straight path for my feet, and keep me from being sidetracked. Show me the goals You have for me, that I may strive to achieve Your will in the few days You have allotted to me. Keep me on Your safe path, safe because You walk with me, protecting me from all the dangers on the right-hand and on the left. Let others see only You in me, that You will get all the credit for what You are accomplishing in and through me, and I may be a trophy of Your grace.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, September 24, 2017
Saturday, September 23, 2017
Our Great God!
Psalm 19: 1-4
The Heavens proclaim the glory of God, the skies display His craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make Him known. They speak without a sound or word, their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the Earth, and their words to all the World.
O my precious Father God, You are truly the magnificent sovereign potentate of all the Universe You have created! Your wisdom and understanding have set all the stars in place on their courses.
Yet the wicked still walk in total darkness. Proverbs 4:19 says, The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble. They don't recognize that their very premise that they start on is faulty, and so they continue on in their scientific studies on a wrong track, and totally miss God's Truth.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 6: 22-23, The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes (sight) are good, your whole body is full of light. But if your eyes (sight) are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
If what you consider is light, is understanding, is wisdom, is actually darkness, error, deception; then that darkness will act like light, in dispelling its opposite, truth, and deepening the error. You will continue to be deceived, believing the lie of Evolution instead of the Truth of Creation, and you will base all the rest of your life on this faulty premise. Then when things don't turn out well, you'll have no idea how things went wrong, you'll not see what tripped you.
So I suggest you go back to the beginning of God's Word, read in Genesis, the beginnings of everything, and believe what God said there. Then go on to the Gospels, the Good News of how Jesus fulfilled all the Old Testament Law, beginning with the first sacrifice Leviticus (the book of sacrifices) records first in chapter 1, the personal sacrifice. Jesus died personally for each of us (because we have all sinned and deserve death) for Salvation. He also fulfilled the Corporate sacrifice, to purchase us all as His possession; as our Owner He is our rightful Judge.
God planned it all out before He even began to Create. The Godhead agreed that the Second Person would be the One to deal with this race of Mankind that He would make, and be the One to redeem us with His own Life, given as our Substitute, as that animal did in Leviticus 1. That's how much He loves us, and wants us to be with Him forever, where He lives (see John 17:24, in His High-Priestly Prayer).
My dear Father, thank You so much for giving us Your written Word, to tell us everything that happened in the past, and to lay out all that Jesus, Your Messiah to us, would do, to show us Your love, and to rescue us from ourselves.
You are Great, our Almighty God, Who showed us Your Wisdom in Creating all that exists, and Your Love put Order into the Chaos, so we would see Your Beauty in all the climates and environments You made. Everything I see shows me Your Majesty, my Lord, and prompts me to worship You in Your Goodness and Graciousness and Mercy and great Love that You have lavished on me.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
The Heavens proclaim the glory of God, the skies display His craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make Him known. They speak without a sound or word, their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the Earth, and their words to all the World.
O my precious Father God, You are truly the magnificent sovereign potentate of all the Universe You have created! Your wisdom and understanding have set all the stars in place on their courses.
Yet the wicked still walk in total darkness. Proverbs 4:19 says, The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble. They don't recognize that their very premise that they start on is faulty, and so they continue on in their scientific studies on a wrong track, and totally miss God's Truth.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 6: 22-23, The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes (sight) are good, your whole body is full of light. But if your eyes (sight) are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
If what you consider is light, is understanding, is wisdom, is actually darkness, error, deception; then that darkness will act like light, in dispelling its opposite, truth, and deepening the error. You will continue to be deceived, believing the lie of Evolution instead of the Truth of Creation, and you will base all the rest of your life on this faulty premise. Then when things don't turn out well, you'll have no idea how things went wrong, you'll not see what tripped you.
So I suggest you go back to the beginning of God's Word, read in Genesis, the beginnings of everything, and believe what God said there. Then go on to the Gospels, the Good News of how Jesus fulfilled all the Old Testament Law, beginning with the first sacrifice Leviticus (the book of sacrifices) records first in chapter 1, the personal sacrifice. Jesus died personally for each of us (because we have all sinned and deserve death) for Salvation. He also fulfilled the Corporate sacrifice, to purchase us all as His possession; as our Owner He is our rightful Judge.
God planned it all out before He even began to Create. The Godhead agreed that the Second Person would be the One to deal with this race of Mankind that He would make, and be the One to redeem us with His own Life, given as our Substitute, as that animal did in Leviticus 1. That's how much He loves us, and wants us to be with Him forever, where He lives (see John 17:24, in His High-Priestly Prayer).
My dear Father, thank You so much for giving us Your written Word, to tell us everything that happened in the past, and to lay out all that Jesus, Your Messiah to us, would do, to show us Your love, and to rescue us from ourselves.
You are Great, our Almighty God, Who showed us Your Wisdom in Creating all that exists, and Your Love put Order into the Chaos, so we would see Your Beauty in all the climates and environments You made. Everything I see shows me Your Majesty, my Lord, and prompts me to worship You in Your Goodness and Graciousness and Mercy and great Love that You have lavished on me.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, September 22, 2017
Faith For Victory
After being so discouraged, Jacob (Israel) is now elated, and is even going to go himself to see Joseph again (Genesis 45:28). How God uses the reversals in our lives to bring about His purposes is so amazing! We just need to have faith in Him when we can't see what's ahead.
Jesus chides Peter for his little faith even as Peter just walked on the water (Matthew 14:31).
Psalm 18 is all about having victory over our enemies, with God's strength and power. We need only to pray before giving in to the temptation, for the power to choose the right and have a way out, thereby having victory over our enemies.
And Proverbs 4:11-13 undergirds all this with its admonition to let God's wisdom teach us right ways and straight paths, so we won't be held back or stumble into temptation. God's wisdom is the key to life, both temporal and eternal.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Jesus chides Peter for his little faith even as Peter just walked on the water (Matthew 14:31).
Psalm 18 is all about having victory over our enemies, with God's strength and power. We need only to pray before giving in to the temptation, for the power to choose the right and have a way out, thereby having victory over our enemies.
And Proverbs 4:11-13 undergirds all this with its admonition to let God's wisdom teach us right ways and straight paths, so we won't be held back or stumble into temptation. God's wisdom is the key to life, both temporal and eternal.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, September 21, 2017
Blind Trust
Poor Jacob, feeling so sorry for himself (Why were you so cruel to me? ... Why did you tell him you had another brother? Genesis 43:6).
He finally came to the place where he could say, May El Shaddai [God Almighty] give you mercy. .. But if I must lose my children, so be it (Genesis 43:14).
But only because they were starving. But how "starving" were they, with enough balm, honey, gum, aromatic resin, pistachio nuts and almonds(!) to send as a gift to this Egyptian ruler, who just happened to be Jacob's own long-lost Joseph!
We know the end of this story, but Jacob didn't yet at that time. Not being able to see what lies ahead, he was very discouraged, even though he tried to put his trust in God.
It's so hard for us to trust when we don't see the good God has for us up ahead, only the problems we have now. Only later, after, can we see how today's problems, griefs, and toils are used by God to bring about the best good for our sake, and bring glory to God, Who master-minded the whole process in the first place.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
He finally came to the place where he could say, May El Shaddai [God Almighty] give you mercy. .. But if I must lose my children, so be it (Genesis 43:14).
But only because they were starving. But how "starving" were they, with enough balm, honey, gum, aromatic resin, pistachio nuts and almonds(!) to send as a gift to this Egyptian ruler, who just happened to be Jacob's own long-lost Joseph!
We know the end of this story, but Jacob didn't yet at that time. Not being able to see what lies ahead, he was very discouraged, even though he tried to put his trust in God.
It's so hard for us to trust when we don't see the good God has for us up ahead, only the problems we have now. Only later, after, can we see how today's problems, griefs, and toils are used by God to bring about the best good for our sake, and bring glory to God, Who master-minded the whole process in the first place.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Jacob's Life
I read about Jacob's life, how it is so hard for Jacob to deal honestly with others. He has deceived his father in such a blatant manner in stealing his brother Esau's blessing, then had to leave to go to Uncle Laban (Genesis 27).
Then he, in turn, is deceived by Laban in marrying Leah who he expected to be Rachel (29:21-25), and it seems that Jacob's relationship with Laban is full of mistrust.
When it is time to return home, Jacob steals away while Laban is away from home (31:20). But God has been dealing with Jacob all through these years, and now He even appears to Laban in a dream, telling him to, "leave Jacob alone!" (v. 24). God is so concerned for Jacob, and takes such careful care of him, even in his weaknesses.
And still, when Jacob hears that Esau is coming to meet him with an army, he's terrified (32:6-7). So he divides up his family and possessions, and that night he wrestles with the Angel of the Lord, Who gives him a new name, Israel (vs. 24-30). Now he knows that God really is his God, not just the God of his father and grandfather.
God is also careful to take good care of me. He doesn't "appear" to me, because His Spirit lives in me! His plans for me are what I see being worked out day by day, and they are a tiny part of His grand Plan of the Ages.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Then he, in turn, is deceived by Laban in marrying Leah who he expected to be Rachel (29:21-25), and it seems that Jacob's relationship with Laban is full of mistrust.
When it is time to return home, Jacob steals away while Laban is away from home (31:20). But God has been dealing with Jacob all through these years, and now He even appears to Laban in a dream, telling him to, "leave Jacob alone!" (v. 24). God is so concerned for Jacob, and takes such careful care of him, even in his weaknesses.
And still, when Jacob hears that Esau is coming to meet him with an army, he's terrified (32:6-7). So he divides up his family and possessions, and that night he wrestles with the Angel of the Lord, Who gives him a new name, Israel (vs. 24-30). Now he knows that God really is his God, not just the God of his father and grandfather.
God is also careful to take good care of me. He doesn't "appear" to me, because His Spirit lives in me! His plans for me are what I see being worked out day by day, and they are a tiny part of His grand Plan of the Ages.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
The Light Of Understanding
Matthew 13: 12
Jesus, in explaining the Parable if the Soils, tells His disciples, To those who listen to My teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.
How serious are the ramifications of heeding or ignoring God's Word! His Word is Truth that sets us free; it is Light that dispels the darkness. To ignore it is to bring upon ourselves a deepening spiritual, mental, and psychological darkness; to allow ourselves to slip into the quicksand quagmire of bondage. How black-and-white Truth really is, with no grey area at all!
May we all take God seriously, never brushing off His revelations of Truth in even the small details of our lives. It's all the little things that build into the big things of life.
God is serious with us; we need to take Him at His Word. Otherwise we will find ourselves slipping down that steep slope to oblivion and destruction, away from all light, all good, all beauty.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Jesus, in explaining the Parable if the Soils, tells His disciples, To those who listen to My teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.
How serious are the ramifications of heeding or ignoring God's Word! His Word is Truth that sets us free; it is Light that dispels the darkness. To ignore it is to bring upon ourselves a deepening spiritual, mental, and psychological darkness; to allow ourselves to slip into the quicksand quagmire of bondage. How black-and-white Truth really is, with no grey area at all!
May we all take God seriously, never brushing off His revelations of Truth in even the small details of our lives. It's all the little things that build into the big things of life.
God is serious with us; we need to take Him at His Word. Otherwise we will find ourselves slipping down that steep slope to oblivion and destruction, away from all light, all good, all beauty.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, September 18, 2017
The Foolish And Wise Woman
Proverbs 3: 13-15
Joyful is the person who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding. For wisdom is more profitable than silver, and her wages are better than gold. Wisdom is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her.
Without wisdom, I am a fool: with God's wisdom I have understanding and discernment, and can gain His power to act on that wisdom. It's worth more than money, and it has more value than gold.
I'm thinking about Proverbs 14:1 that says, The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish woman tears it down with her own hands. This can refer to the tents the Israelites lived in in the desert. The wife would make a new panel each year, adding it to the front of the tent, and removing the oldest panel in the back. It can also refer to the "house" as the household, or family.
As I don't live in a tent, I would apply this principle to my family. As I look back I see all the harm I've done in my relationships with my own loved ones, like the foolish woman, tearing down my own "house" with my words.
My prayer is for the wisdom to repair the breaches and rebuild the broken-down walls of my family relationships. That I would guard my tongue to keep silence when I have no words of encouragement or helpfulness.
And may my Father put into my mouth and on my tongue those words of edification that will build up the self-esteem of my dear ones, repairing what has been damaged and helping them to realize how precious they really are, in God's eyes and in mine, as I see them the way He does.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Joyful is the person who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding. For wisdom is more profitable than silver, and her wages are better than gold. Wisdom is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her.
Without wisdom, I am a fool: with God's wisdom I have understanding and discernment, and can gain His power to act on that wisdom. It's worth more than money, and it has more value than gold.
I'm thinking about Proverbs 14:1 that says, The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish woman tears it down with her own hands. This can refer to the tents the Israelites lived in in the desert. The wife would make a new panel each year, adding it to the front of the tent, and removing the oldest panel in the back. It can also refer to the "house" as the household, or family.
As I don't live in a tent, I would apply this principle to my family. As I look back I see all the harm I've done in my relationships with my own loved ones, like the foolish woman, tearing down my own "house" with my words.
My prayer is for the wisdom to repair the breaches and rebuild the broken-down walls of my family relationships. That I would guard my tongue to keep silence when I have no words of encouragement or helpfulness.
And may my Father put into my mouth and on my tongue those words of edification that will build up the self-esteem of my dear ones, repairing what has been damaged and helping them to realize how precious they really are, in God's eyes and in mine, as I see them the way He does.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
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