In God's Eyes

Exodus 15:26

Then God said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His eyes, if you pay attention to His commands and keep all His decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, Who heals you."

Here I am focusing on, "do what is right in His eyes." We are to formulate our days and value our own lives by God, what He says about us, what we are to do, how we are to think; not any other human being. When we consider our worth by another person, that is called co-dependence, which is dysfunctional. We each stand before our Master, not before one another. We are not to put another human being above us as the determiner of our worth--that's God's place. 

I don't know how many times I've read in the Bible that we are to "be careful," "listen carefully." "pay attention." To really listen to what God says takes a concerted effort. I can't just read carelessly and expect to absorb God's ways by osmosis; I have to narrow my focus onto what God is actually saying to me. I need to remember what I read and think about it as I go about my day. I need to slow down and really ponder what it means, and how I am to incorporate it into my thinking and my attitudes. I need to constantly muse on how all the principles fit together into a comprehensive program that affects all of my life. 

This is what all the laws, rules, commandments, regulations and decrees were to teach the Hebrews. This whole Law was to direct God's people into living their lives God's way. Then God would bless them with great worldly prosperity and healthy relationships with one another, and they would enjoy exceptional physical health, also. And other Nations would see, and they want to worship the Lord God, also, instead.

Today we can read all these pages and discern the basic principles that underlie the laws. Jesus fulfilled all the letter of these laws; now He has written these principles on our hearts, to understand why He had the Israelis do the things they were to do. So we are to "obey" at a much deeper level: we can align our thinking and attitudes with the ideas behind the statutes, and not just consider our actions. Actions are the final result of what we have already thought about, considered and decided. 

People look at the outward, what we do. But God looks into our hearts and souls, to see our inward motivations and reasons for why we do what we do, and He is the One to Whom we will give account.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

How Will We Escape?

Hebrews 2: 2-4 

For if the Word spoken through Angels proved unalterable, 

This Word is all the instructions and directions and pronouncements of all the Angels that appeared to men and women, even the Angel of the Lord. 

and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, 

Anyone who disobeyed any of these rules suffered the consequences. 

how will we escape if we neglect so great a Salvation? 

What kind of excuse would we be able to give, to turn away from the Words of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and not expect to encounter even greater consequences?  

After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, 

Since Jesus taught the Truth of His death and Resurrection, then went through these events; then those who walked with Him were filled with the Spirit and preached powerfully the same Truth Jesus had taught.  

God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles 

God confirmed the Truth of what the disciples were teaching by having them perform miracles of healing and other signs and wonders that could not be humanly done, only by God's power. 

and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.

God also gave members of His Church spiritual gifts, some of which are listed in I Corinthians 12:28-30; Romans 12:6-8; Ephesians 4:11; and I Peter 4:8-11, all of which talk about how we are to use these gifts. All according to His will, not to use as we would want.

God has given us His Word, His directions and rules and commandments and statutes and laws. If His message as given by Angels was to be obeyed, how much more is the message taught by the Lord Himself to be obeyed. And if the Word as given by Angels carried punishment for transgressions, how much more serious the consequences for disobeying the Lord's own Words!

O my Father, I know that Your Word, whether given through the ministry of Angels or from the mouth of the Lord Jesus Himself, it is still Your Word, still Your directions, how we are to follow Your ways, how You designed this Universe to work, and our World we have built on Your Earth. 

And when we decide we want to do things differently, then the results in our experience will still be chaos, problems, illness, poor relationships, and unrest. And eventually death. 

Father, You have destroyed whole Nations who have done so much damage to Your Earth and the people You placed here, that You saw fit to take them out of the picture. And You will do that again. 

When our King Jesus returns to establish His political Reign, He will remove all the evil Nations and start fresh with a cleansed Earth and Your own children.

To be one who will enter into and flourish and prosper in that Kingdom, we will need to take Your Word seriously, and obey Your directions to put our faith in our Savior and Redeemer to save us, and live our lives as members of Your family, seeing as You see, thinking as You think. 

O Father, teach Your children how to live each moment of each day in Your Presence, because You are here with us. Keep us mindful of being with You every day, and love You back, and our neighbors as You love us. 

Strengthen us and help us up when we slip, that we not fall. Hold us in Your hand, Lord, so we will not pull away, or wander off, or go to the right hand or to the left, or run ahead or lag behind. Keep our steps in Your footsteps, and lead us along that Narrow Path into Your Great Light. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Pay Close Attention

Hebrews 2: 1

For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. 

What is the reason? Because Jesus is so much higher than Angels (yesterday's blog entry, Hebrews chapter 1). 

I've never counted the times I've seen in Scripture to "pay attention" to what was written, but I seem to come across it in every other chapter, if not more frequently. All through the whole Bible we are advised and warned to take seriously what God is saying. No matter where I am reading in this Book, I keep being reminded to "take heed" of what God is telling me.

God is not making suggestions, He's giving us the Laws that He has established as the Lawgiver to govern and give order to the Universe, including this World we have built on His Earth. 

We like to separate the Natural Law from the Moral Law, but they are still both Law. We cannot "break" any of God's Laws He gave us, whether they be Natural or Moral; we only break ourselves on them when we transgress. 

For instance, if we try to break the Law of Gravity, we will experience the immediate consequence of a nasty fall. So we tend to take those Laws more seriously. 

Airplanes do not "break" the Law of Gravity, they are following a higher Law, of Aerodynamics. 

When Jesus "broke" the Pharisees' law concerning the Sabbath, He was obeying a higher Law, too: the Law of Love. 

People have always thought they did not need to pay attention to God's Moral Law, being deceived into thinking that "freedom" was license to disobey without consequences. But the consequences can't be denied: Rome rotted out from within, and America has been going that same route. Just because the consequences are not immediate, they are no less real. 

O my Father, please impress upon us the importance of knowing and obeying Your Laws, the rules by which You govern, in order to have order instead of chaos. Please show Your children how to demonstrate to the World the benefits of following Your ways, in bringing peace in the midst of turmoil, and confidence in the face of trials. 

Help each of us to show our little worlds how good You are by Loving one another as You have Loved us. Help us to be courteous in response to rudeness, gentleness in the presence of harshness, and compassion in the face of bondage to sin. 

Teach us how to see others as You see them, Father: even when what they are doing makes You "sick to your stomach," You still draw them into relationship with You when Your children show them Your Love. 

Protect those who are going into battle at the very gates of Hell, in prisons and in hospitals and in political areas that are opposed to You.

And, Father, even when our own neighbors and family members are hurting so much that they lash out at us, please protect us from reacting; slow us down to consider why they're doing what they're doing. Then respond in Love. 

We cannot do that in our flesh, so You have given us Your Spirit to strengthen us. O Father, help us to pay attention to all the nuances of the rules that are laid out in Your Law, so that we will be able to apply them to our thinking processes and our daily interactions with those in our lives and neighborhoods in a continuous and ongoing way, as our lifestyle.

Let the sweet fragrance of Christ emanate from our lives to others, to draw them to Yourself, Father; and give us Your words to speak Your Truth to them in Love, in the power of Your Holy Spirit. 

Send out Your workers, Father--send even me! Let me go into Your fields, white for harvest, and help You in Your work of redeeming precious people out of the slave-market of sin. Let all Your little lost lambs be found, and carried into the safety of Your fold, so that there will be One Fold with One Shepherd. 

And may Your House be full, and every place at Your Banquet Table be taken. 

And every eye will see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord God Almighty, to the glory of the Father.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Jesus Versus Angels

Hebrews 1: 1-14 

The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrew Christians needed to explain how Jesus is not an Angel. So he begins this letter by diving right in.

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways [at sundry times and in divers manners, KJV], 

God spoke to His prophets in the Old Testament days in many ways and in several different countries of the World.

in these last days 

He is saying that the "last days" period of time had already begun.

has spoken to us in His Son, 

Jesus is the one we need to listen to now.

whom He appointed heir of all things, 

Jesus will inherit all of Creation, as having purchased it all with His Blood, He is the Owner.

through whom also He made the World. 

God the Father spoke matter into existence, and the Word He uttered is Jesus (John 1:1-3). So Jesus is the Creator, along with the Father and the Spirit.  

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His Nature, 

In John 14:8-11 at the Last Supper, Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, and Jesus replied that He who has seen Me has seen the Father, because He is in the Father and the Father is in Him, and everything He does is what he is seeing the Father doing. So Jesus is the exact picture of God the Father's character.  

and upholds all things by the Word of His power. 

Jesus holds up everything in the Power of His Intention. He holds all Creation together. Colossians 1:17 tells us that By Him all things consist, or are constituted. He is the force of energy that gives substance to material things.

When He had made purification of sins, 

When Jesus finished the work He was given to do, to be our, "Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the World." His Blood had unlimited value to be able to cleanse away all sin everywhere in the Universe, including every person who ever lived. But not every person wants to come to God--but that is another study. 

He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 

He could only sit down when His work was finished. The Tabernacle and the Temple had no provision for any of the priests to be able to sit down, because their work was never finished. They were required to continue to bring more sacrifices continually, every day, with no end. The blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin, only cover it (Hebrews 10:4). Only the precious Blood of Christ can wash it away.

having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent Name than they. 

His rank of authority is as far above that of the Angels as His position is.

For to which of the angels did He ever say, 

"You are My Son, Today I have begotten You"? (Psalm 2:7) 

And again, 

"I will be a Father to Him and He shall be a Son to Me"? (Psalm 89: 26-27)

Jesus is the only-begotten Son of the Father. No one else has that distinction. No Angel has ever had the opportunity to be born into God's own family. 

And when He again brings the Firstborn into the World, He says, 

"And let all the Angels of God worship Him." (Psalm 97:7)

Jesus is the Lord God Almighty, and all the Holy Angels worship Him as God, as they worship the Father. 

And of the Angels He says, 

"Who makes His Angels winds, and His ministers a flame of fire." (Psalm 104:4)

Angels are part of the Creation of God, He made them, and He made them spirit (wind, breath), and able to consume like fire.

But of the Son He says,

"Your Throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His Kingdom. 

 The Father God calls the Son God, and has given Him a Throne (authority to rule as sovereign King) that will last forever and be based on right-ness, Truth.

"You have loved Righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the Oil of Gladness above Your companions."(Psalm 45:6-7)

Because of the sterling qualities of His character, God has given Him more joy and gladness and happiness than any of His creation. His Holy Spirit is also the Spirit of Joy.

And, 

"You, Lord, in the Beginning laid the foundation of the Earth, and the Heavens are the works of Your hands; they will perish, but You remain; and they will all become old like a garment, and like a mantle You will roll them up; like a garment they will also be changed. (Psalm 102:25-27)

 Jesus is the Creator God who made everything that exists. This is the First Law of Thermodynamics, that all of our Science is based on. The Conservation of Matter; to be able to change form but not become any more or less.

The Second Law of Thermodynamics is Entropy; that everything goes from order to chaos. This is why everything wears down and wears out. This is the Curse that Man's sin placed on our whole Universe. Death.

"But You are the same, and Your years will not come to an end." (Isaiah 34:4)

But Jesus is not part of the Creation, so is not subject to our Science or sin's curse. He is God, and will continue to be God forever.

But to which of the Angels has He ever said,

"Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet"? (Psalm 110:1)

Only the Son of God and Son of Man has earned the right to hold ownership over the World by both Creation and Purchase. 

Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit Salvation? 

Angels are servants, obeying God by ministering to us human beings who are being called into God's family through His Son. They are assigned to us, to protect us from dangers we don't even see. They have also brought God's message to the prophet for the Holy Spirit to guide them to write God's Word accurately. 

The Angels make sure that our enemy cannot destroy any of us who God knows will turn to Him, before we are saved. I know that an angel or two or three must have kept me safe from dying prematurely by driving off of a mountain before I became a Christian. That occasion I can point to, but I don't know how many other times God sent His messenger to protect me. 

The writer of this Epistle wanted to make sure we knew that Jesus our Redeemer and Lord is so much more than just an Angel. That was a heresy that was going around then, as it still does today. This first chapter refutes that. 

O my Father, I pray for those who are being deceived into not recognizing who Jesus really is. This is so foundational. We must know who He is before we can recognize what He has done for us. 

Father, I pray for all those who will inherit that great Salvation You have provided. I pray that You would draw them to Yourself with Your irresistible power, teaching them Your Truth, and cleansing them in the precious Blood of the Sacrificial Lamb of God, given for us. 

I pray for our loved ones, Father, who are in our own families and circles, who don't know You yet. I pray for them by name, as You know who they are. Call them to Yourself, Father; dispel all the lies that have sucked them in, release them from the bonds of sin that have ensnared them. 

Father, choose my loved ones, as I know You love them even more than I do, and You are not willing that any perish. Pull them away from what has seduced them, into the freedom of Your grace.

And every knee will bow, every tongue will confess in every language, that Jesus Christ is Lord God Almighty, to the glory of the Father.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Work Of God

Matthew 7:21-23

Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father Who is in Heaven. Many will say to me on that Day, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your Name and in Your Name drive out demons, and in Your Name perform many miracles?" Then I will tell them plainly, "I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!"

Wow! All these church leaders, these missionaries, these Bible College professors, all the good people who thought that they were serving God and doing His work, called "evildoers" by the Lord? So who is "the one who does the will of my Father," if not these?

John tells us very specifically, in 6:28-29, Then they asked Him, 'What must we do to do the works God requires?' Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent."

So what does that mean? How could so many miss this? John used the Greek word, pisteuo for "believe," which comes from the word for "trustworthy." So we are to "entrust" ourselves to Jesus, to trust Him totally, implicitly, without reservation. 

Trust Him to do what? To be our "sacrificial Lamb," to die for us individually in payment for our debt of sin. When the penitent brought the lamb according to the Old Testament sacrificial system, in payment for the sin he was confessing, he would put his hand on the lamb's head, conferring his sin onto the lamb, then the lamb died in his place (Leviticus 1:1-13). 

That is what Jesus came to do, He is the "Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world." The Lamb God provided, to pay off the whole principle of our debt, not just the interest due on it year-by-year. 

Now, when each of us realizes that we deserve death for all our sins, and that Jesus died for us as though we're the only one, to pay off our whole debt; that is putting our trust in Him to accomplish in time for us what would take us forever to do. 

We are all "born in sin," with that Original Sin that Adam passes on in his DNA to all his children, all of mankind; the sin-nature that prompts us to make all those poor choices that "miss the mark" (sin) of what is best for us. 

Romans 6:23 tells us that, The wages of sin is death, and our "sin" is our sin-nature, that is the source and fountainhead of all our "sins." So if you ever made any decision to do what you knew was wrong and did it anyway, that proves that you have that sin-nature that Jesus bore on the cross when He came "to be sin," "for us," in our place (II Corinthians 5:21). 

So even "good people" still have that sin-nature, and need a Savior to rescue them from having to spend eternity paying that eternal debt to God. Only the Eternal Person could pay our eternal debt in time. That is why He came, why He "became flesh," to qualify as human to die the human death we each deserve, yet still be the Eternal God, the Son that Isaiah said was "given" (9:6), Who was the Son from eternity past.

O my Father, thank You so much for showing me Jesus there on His Cross, letting me know that He took my place, my death, so that I could live forever with You. Thank You so much for loving me that much, to sacrifice Your own Son for me. Praise You, Almighty, Loving God, Omnipotent King of the Universe.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

All Things

Philippians 4: 11-13 

I am not speaking in respect to want, for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 

I've learned to be content in humble circumstances, as well as not be self-conscious with an abundance. 

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 

I am able to do everything God calls me to do, no matter how things are swirling or settling around me. Whether I'm counting my pennies or writing the check. Whether I have boundless energy or feel under the weather. 

No matter the situation I face today, God is with me, and I know He will provide whatever I need for today, whether that is social, or physical, or financial. Or in any other realm of living. 

I don't need to worry about anything. I don't need to fret about the ants or the downed tree limb. God makes me able to deal with everything He allows into my life, and provides me the means to deal with it. 

O my Father, please continue to teach me to make all this real in my life. Help me to set my focus on what I need to focus on from moment to moment, and not be distracted by peripheral stuff. 

Teach me to use each moment and not waste any. Help me to accomplish each day what You want me to do, to take another step or two in the path You have set my feet on. Keep my hand in Yours, my Father, to not let me pull away; or to not wander off; or not to sidetrack to the left or to the right; to walk in Your pace, Father, not running ahead of You, or lagging behind.

Show me everything You want to teach me, Father, in Your time, in Your way, for Your purposes for me, to bring all the glory and honor to You. 

O Father, You have planned out all of my whole life for me, to work out Your project in me, to accomplish all the purposes You have decided to do. You have planned out that my tiny thread in Your Great Tapestry of Time would shine out against the dark background where You have placed me. 

You are Great. You are Good. You are Light. You are Life. You are the Source of everything that exists, and You are my Source for everything I will ever need.

Teach Your children, Father, so we all will learn to trust You implicitly, no matter what each of us will face each day. Teach us all to look to You and Your ways to structure our lives each day.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Follow Good Examples

Philippians 3: 17-21

Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. 

We are to watch and observe to see how Paul and others we know live their daily lives. What is their highest priority in life? Are they seeking the Lord daily? 

For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the Cross of Christ, 

Most people today, especially in the US, who consider themselves to be Christians, do not have that relationship with God that He wants with them. They have never let Jesus take their death for them, so He's not washed them in His Blood. 

And a lot of these people are pastors and teachers. 

whose end is destruction, 

If they're not saved by the Blood, then there's no hope for them.

whose god is their appetite, 

Their first priority in life is the satisfaction of their physical needs.

and whose glory is in their shame, 

These people are depending on what they can do, which is not acceptable to God because it is tainted by our sinful flesh. Only what is done in the Spirit is acceptable to Him. And they don't have His Spirit.

who set their minds on earthly things. 

All their goals are in this World.  

For our citizenship is in heaven, 

We fix our eyes on that Heavenly country, as Abraham did, we're told in Hebrews 11:10 and 13-16.

from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 

Jesus is coming back, and I believe, very soon now. He will call us out by name, and we will come with Him through the clouds to set up His Kingdom.

who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, 

This is when He will change our fleshly bodies into shining spiritual bodies, like His Resurrection body.

by the exertion of the Power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.  

This is the Power of the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, and the same Power by which He holds authority over all Creation. 

This is the Power of Absolute Authority over all that He has made, as Creator and Purchaser of everything that exists. Owner of every person.

This is the Power that He has given us, to live inside our bodies, in our spirits, giving us Life and Power to defeat all our foes, including our own flesh.  

O my Father, only Your Power is absolute! Only Your Power has the Strength to overpower every evil and every weakness and every particle that is not perfect. 

Father, You are cleansing and purifying and refining Your creation from the Galaxies of Stars down to the molecules of our bodies. Everything will be made clean and pure and whole and perfect. 

Father, teach us how to live our lives every moment of every day as Your Royal children, remembering who our Father is, and becoming every day more the sons and daughters You intend for us to be. 

And every knee will bow, every tongue confess, that Christ Jesus is Lord God Almighty, to the glory of God the Father. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!