The Answer Of The Tongue

Proverbs 16: 1, 9

The plans of the heart belong to Man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.
The mind of Man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.

We are supposed to make our plans to live our lives, but they are not set in stone. While we're going, God will direct us. It's much easier to steer a vehicle when it's moving, so we're not to just sit and wait for His leading. 

I can ask my Father to help me in an interaction: I recall a time when my attitude was very critical and I recognized this. So I prayed on my way, and when I got there, I heard myself saying very encouraging things instead of the criticisms I'd been thinking about on the way. This is proof to me of the practical truth of this Psalm. 

Now I am depending on Him to direct my steps, in the things I see before me to accomplish. Whenever I find myself trying to work out all the details by myself, I realize that my pride is hiding from me the concern my Father has for even the tiny details of my living each day. Then I turn to Him, and let Him steer me in the right direction. Then I can relax, and not fret over what is going on around me. I can rest in His loving arms, knowing that He has my back, and wants the best for me. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Wiser, More Insight, Understand More

Psalm 119: 97-101

O how I love Thy Law! It is my meditation all the day. 
Thy commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever mine. 
I have more insight than all my teachers, for Thy testimonies are my meditation. 
I understand more than the aged, because I have observed Thy precepts. 
I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Thy Word. 

O my Father, Your Word and Your ways are my delight! I keep my mind continually on You all the day: Who You are, how You are, Your qualities and characteristics; what You do, what You have done in the past, what You are doing now, and will accomplish and finish; Your faithfulness to Your promises throughout Time and Eternity; how I can trust You implicitly, even when I don't understand what You're doing in my life. 

Your rules and regulations give me a wisdom that goes beyond this World. Even those who are teachers don't understand when they don't consider Your ways. Even when people get old, if they've not spent their days in Your Word, then they won't have learned Your ways. 

I wait on You, I do not want to run ahead of You or lag behind, I don't want to wander off or pull away; keep my feet from turning to the left or to the right, but only following hard in Your steps, straight on this path on which You have placed my feet. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

To Be Useful And Fruitful

II Peter 1: 5-8

Applying all Diligence in your 
Faith, supply 
Moral Excellence, and in your Moral Excellence, 
Knowledge, and in your Knowledge, 
Self Control, and in your Self Control, 
Perseverance, and in your Perseverance, 
Godliness, and in your Godliness, 
Brotherly Kindness, and in your Brotherly Kindness, 
Love. 

For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

O my Father, please let me be neither useless nor unfruitful in my service to You! Prepare me; prepare my heart, my mind, my attitude, my mouth and words, for the work You have prepared for me to accomplish toward Your Kingdom. 

Grant that I would apply all diligence in my trusting You to supply moral excellence in me, leading me into greater knowledge of Your ways, having self control over my perverse ways, persevering in the godliness You are building in me, producing the brotherly kindness to be gracious to others, loving them as You have loved me. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Appointed To Doom

I Peter 2: 8

"A Stone of stumbling and a Rock of offense;" for they stumble because they are disobedient to the Word, and to this doom they were also appointed.

This Stone of stumbling and Rock of offense is none other than Christ Jesus, the Rock of Ages, the living Stone which the builders rejected. Those who disbelieve (v. 7) are the ones who are disobedient to what God tells us is right, so they were appointed to doom. The doom is put forth to them.

Those who come to God, believe that Jesus took their death for them, and receive His life in His Holy Spirit, are also appointed, to a Kingdom, to inherit with King Jesus (Luke 22:29); and also appointed to suffer as Christians, to be set up for afflictions (I Thessalonians 3:3). 

Also Mankind is appointed to die once, then face judgment; this death is reserved for each of us (Hebrews 9:27). 

These are all different but related Greek words to bring out the nuances of meaning, so we can understand what God is saying to us. 

So have some people been appointed to doom while others are appointed to rule a kingdom? Is God playing favorites here? Picking out some for good, and picking on others to punish them? 

I have thought and prayed on this, and wrestled with this concept. 

Now I think that God may choose individual people, but I think He chooses to put individual people into which camp, according to the individual's willingness to come to God or reject Him. He will not force Himself on anyone. But God is sovereign, and is not dependent on our will. 

He chose before He created to have some become His own children through believing Him and trusting His Son, and some who refuse Him to be accountable for their sins and suffering doom. Whether He places individual people into these camps or whether He allows us to choose for ourselves which camp to be in, is His prerogative. 

He has given us choice. We are free to choose to do whatever we want, but we are not free to choose the consequences of our choices. Therefore, it is to our advantage to consider the consequences before we make our choices. 

O my Father God, Your ways are so far above my ways, I seem to have no comprehension of what You are doing sometimes. I can only trust You, because I know that You are good, and everything You do is righteous. 

Father, give me Your eyes to see Your ways. Give me Your understanding to comprehend Your great Plan of the Ages. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Perfected In Unity

John 17: 21, 23

That they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

I in them, and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the World may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.

Jesus prayed this prayer as our High Priest, interceeding for us, revealing His desires for us. 

Here He is asking the Father to grant us, His church, a unity, a oneness of agreement that is extraordinary, so much so that the World will see it and have to acknowledge Jesus. 

O my Father, You do care about this whole World of men and women. Jesus prayed for the whole World to believe and know.

I know from Your Word that You have not chosen to redeem every person in thus mileu, this stream of Time from Eternity past to Eternity future; but You do want them all to recognize the unity of the Godhead, and our unity in You as Your chosen out of the World.

So I suppose that You want to verify to those of the World their personal rebellion and worthiness of the wrath You will pour out on them.

Father, grant me to see with Your eyes, that I may "understand the times, with knowledge of what [America] should do" (I Chronicles 12:32). 

Continue to wake up Your church, Lord, along with all those patriots who love America. Enable us to return to Your righteous ways that prompted You to bless this Nation in the past above all the other Nations. Please show us how to return to the greatness You want for us, before the end.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Scepter Of Wickedness

Psalm 125: 3

For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the land of the righteous ...

This Psalm is a "Song of Ascents," which was sung by the people as they ascended the mount where the Temple stood. They sang on their way to worship. 

They sang that the "scepter of wickedness," the kingly rule over the land that would make decrees against the Lord's Law, would not "rest" there permanently.

So that the righteous will not put forth their hands to do wrong.

When the laws of the land allow for license to do things that are not right, then even righteous people will tend to look at what's legal rather than what's right, and end up doing wrong. 

O my Father, I pray for the peace of Your city, Jerusalem! I pray that the rulership of evil men who desire to take over Your holy city to defile it would never take any hold there upon that place, but only transiently pass through briefly, if at all; that Your Name, that You have set there, may be settled and rest in that land in peace. 

O my Lord, I desire to see Your glory there, in Jerusalem, the center of the World, where You shall reign. One day, the Day will come, when I shall see with my own eyes, Your beautiful dwelling that You have chosen on this Earth. 

Please allow Your protection to be upon that land, that it not ever be handed over to Your enemies! Allow this city to have the glory and standing it once had under King David and King Solomon, and more! Let the beauty of Your dwelling place shine through!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Fixed Our Hope

I Timothy 4: 10

... We have fixed our hope on the living God, Who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. 

Our good, good Father has made provision for all men, all mankind, so His offer is to everybody. No one is excluded from the availability of His great Salvation, except those who exclude themselves, by choosing their own ways in opposition to His way.

His gifts of repentance and faith and regeneration are for those who have been chosen before He laid the foundation of this World. Those who have been called, therefore have chosen to humble themselves before Him, receiving His gracious, generous Redemption. 

I John 2:2

And He Himself is the propitiation [full satisfaction] for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole World.

The Blood Jesus shed on the Cross of Calvary was God's own Blood, with endless value, more than enough to pay for all the sins of every person who ever lived. Indeed, Jesus didn't just die for certain sins, He took upon Himself humanity itself, so that He could "become sin," bear the sinful aspect of our human nature.  That is the wellspring from which come all sins, from the slightest thought to the grossest overt evil done. He took the whole basket, which includes everything in it: all the sins everyone has ever sinned. 

Jesus fulfilled the first Sacrifice God wanted the Levites to teach the people, the Personal Sacrifice, in the first Chapter of the book of Leviticus. He died for each of us individually, taking our place in death, to save us and give us His life. 

He also fulfilled the Corporate Sacrifice, for the whole Nation, to purchase the whole World as His own possession, which makes Him our rightful Judge. 

So those who consider themselves one of many He died for are still under judgment. Those who know He took their place in death, individually, are the ones born into God's own Family, and will one Day receive Resurrection bodies like His. 

God is not willing that any should perish, though, and desires for all to come to the repentance of admitting they deserve death for their sins, and let Jesus take their place on the Cross. 

If you don't yet believe that, then I would tell you to ask God for saving faith to believe Him. Then you will receive His Holy Spirit of Truth to teach you to discern between Truth and deception. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!