April 16, 2017
Waiting for the Spirit – Acts 8:14-17
No Believer In Christ Will Walk In Power Until The Holy Spirit Of God Comes Upon Them
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Beginning Believers
There is a debate amongst the bodies of disciples of Christ in various regions as to when the Holy Spirit comes upon the believer in power. In order to understand this, the Bible must be taken as a whole. For instance:
- John the Baptist had the Holy Spirit in Power even before he was born!
- The eleven disciples (Judas Iscariot was no longer among the twelve), who spent years with Jesus Christ in ministry, had Jesus breath the Holy Spirit into them, had to wait until Pentecost to have the Holy Spirit come upon them in power!
- The new believers had been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ had hands laid upon them to receive the Holy Spirit in power!
These are just a few examples to illustrate the differing circumstances that surrounded the Holy Spirit coming upon someone in power. The simple fact is, disciples of Christ will NOT BE EFFECTIVE until the Holy Spirit comes upon them in power.
Power of Prayer
Prayer is the most powerful offensive tool that the believer in Christ has in the arsenal. We are given unfettered access to the Throne Room of God at any time through prayer. Anything we ask in the name of – the character of – Jesus, God the Father will do so that He may be glorified.
In this case, Peter and John went to Samaria to greet the new believers there. Notice that the very first thing they did was pray. John the Apostle was known by the nickname “Camel Knees” because he prayed so much! Peter and John first prayed that the Holy Spirit would come upon the new believers (in power). After bathing their requests in prayer, they acted upon their belief. They laid hands upon the new believers.
Holy Hands
When they laid their hands, bathed in prayer, upon the new believers, the new disciples of Christ received the Holy Spirit in power. They recognized from their own lives, having to wait until Pentecost to receive the Holy Spirit, that the new disciples would be ineffective until they had received the Holy Spirit.
The laying on of hands was to designate someone for a specific purpose or task. When hands were laid upon the new believers, they received the Holy Spirit in power to provide them with the necessary means to be effective in ministry. Each of us should greatly desire that the Holy Spirit come upon us in power.
If you are not sure if the Holy Spirit has come upon you in power, you should earnestly pray that God would do so. Examine your life to see if you are living it in a manner that is pleasing to God. Confess all sins, and repent of them. Eagerly seek and desire the deeper understanding of the Bible and God’s will in your life. God greatly desires that His people are ready and prepared to do the works that He has assigned for us to do since before the foundation of the Earth!
A Qualifying Question
Let’s as a question: Has the Holy Spirit come upon me in power?
A short prayer of preparation:
Father in Heaven, You are glorious and full of grace. Father, please help me to walk in Your ways. Forgive me for my sins. Help me to turn away from them and leave them at the foot of the cross, for Christ has born them already. Help me to better understand Your word, that I would be able to live this life in line with Your word more and more each day. May the Holy Spirit come upon me in power, that I would be prepared to do the works that You have prepared in advanced for me to do. Strengthen me as You did when the apostles laid their hands upon the believers. May You and You alone be glorified in what You are about to do. This I ask in the name of Your One and Only Son, Jesus Christ, Amen.
Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?
Baptism
The Bible clearly teaches that baptism is the first step of obedience after surrendering to Christ: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38). Baptism allows a believer to communicate to the world their heart-felt commitment to Christ. It shows that they have decided to put Christ at the center of their life, after coming into life-changing relationship with Him. Baptism is an outward picture of what has already taken place on the inside of a person. Being baptized does not make you right with God, but it shows others that you have already trusted in what Christ did for you on the cross. Like a wedding ring in marriage, the action of baptism is a symbol of a commitment made, a declaration to others of the love and devotion you have for Christ.
Baptism FAQ
What if I’ve already been baptized? Do I have to do it again?
Many people’s parents had them baptized as infants or children, and although we believe that those parents were doing what they thought best as a way to dedicate their children to the Lord, the Bible only gives examples of adults who made that decision for themselves. So even if you were baptized as an infant, we’d love to see you take this step of obedience to declare for yourself that you wish to follow Jesus with your whole life.
Does it matter whether someone is sprinkled or dunked?
Following the examples given in Scripture, we baptize by immersion (Mark 1:9-10). If you have a medical condition which prohibits full-immersion, please let us know and we will discuss alternatives with you, so you can still take this public step of obedience to Christ.
My child wishes to be baptized – what age does Grace Church baptize at?
If your child is 8-13, we’ll ask you to schedule a meeting with our Pastor prior to scheduling a baptism date. We typically do not baptize children under 8 years of age, because we want to make sure your child understands the abstract significance of baptism. We would, however, be happy to schedule a Child Dedication service, where you can publicly dedicate your child to the Lord during a Sunday morning service.
Our Core Values
As we fulfill our vision, we are guided by these values from the Bible…
- People matter to God. He wants a relationship with them. Luke 19:10
- Prayer is the most important work of the people of God. Philippians 4:6-7
- Everything we have belongs to God. 1 Chronicles 29:14
- Knowing and obeying God’s Word is needed to true success. Joshua 1:8
- Completing the Great Commission will require the effort of every fully devoted follower of Jesus. Matthew 28:19
- Without the power of the Holy Spirit, we can accomplish nothing. 1 Corinthians 2:4-5
- Achieving God’s purposes means taking faith-filled risks. This always involves change. Hebrews 11:6
Our Vision
To be a Christ-centered Acts 1:8 family.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
-Acts 1:8
We want to be about one thing – Jesus. In a culture divided by politics, race, secondary doctrine, and endless other issues, we want to be about one thing – Jesus.
We want to be about Acts 1:8. We don’t want to be about human effort and agenda. We want God’s Spirit to fill us and work through us to reach the world with the Good News of the love and grace of Jesus.
We want to be a family. Not just people who happen to occupy the same building together. We want to love one another and build one another up.
Our Mission
Our mission is to help people take the next step in their journey with Jesus…together.
We are here to HELP people in their journey. We want to provide the resources and encouragement necessary for you to know Jesus better. We are not here to force anything on anyone, but we are here to come alongside and help as best we can.
We are here to help people take THEIR NEXT STEP. Everybody is different. No two stories are the same. Therefore, there is no “cookie-cutter” approach to getting to know Jesus better. We want to get to know you, where you are at spiritually, and where you want to be spiritually. We want to work with you to help you move one step closer in that direction.
We are here to help people in their JOURNEY WITH JESUS. After all, following Jesus and 
getting to know Jesus is really a life-long process (a journey). The great thing about a journey is your starting point is less important than your destination. Wrong turns can be course-corrected. It doesn’t even matter how fast you travel. What matters is moving forward.
We are in this journey TOGETHER. We all get tired, discouraged, and frustrated along the way. Therefore, we journey together. We help each other. We work together. We lean on each other when we are weak. We help others when we are strong.
We’d love for you to journey along with us!
Easter Services
Good Friday Service
Friday, April 14, 2017
7:00 PM
Easter Sunday Service
Sunday, April 16, 2017
10:45 AM
Spiritual Warfare and Fasting – John 9:14-29
When Confronting Certain Spiritual Powers, Prayer and Fasting Are BOTH Required
14 When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. 15 As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.
16 “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked.
17 A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”
19 “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”
20 So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”
“From childhood,” he answered. 22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”
23 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”
26 The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
29 He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer [and fasting*]”
Mental Mayhem
The modern world, especially in the West, has turned a blind eye to its roots, and now discounts the validity of demonic possession and oppression among people. It was once said that if the Gospel were told to those in psychiatric wards, most of them would be healed and set free (author unknown). Paul indicates that spiritual battle is not with people, but with the spiritual ranks of the enemy:
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Here we see the evidence of demonic activity: A demon was causing a young boy to do things that were detrimental to his and other’s safety. The father of the boy even identifies the source of the issue as a “spirit”. Since God’s spirit is a spirit of love, this is obviously a spirit of the enemy – of the nature of Satan.
Fact Finding
Most people would think that the first thing that Jesus would do is just command the spirit to leave the boy. But since Jesus is our teacher, He guides us in how we should address the issue. Jesus knows the truth about this (“I am the way, the truth, and the life…”), but for our benefit (just like He asked John to baptize Him even though He never sinned, to set an example for us to follow) He shows us the first step – engage in a little fact-finding. Jesus asks the father about the boy to get a better understanding of what is going on.
Be a Believer
Notice that it Jesus was looking to strengthen the faith of the father of the boy. Even in the midst of this, Jesus is on a mission to seek and save the lost. Jesus reassures the father of the boy that all things can be done for those who believe. We need to remember that when confronted with the activity of the enemy of our souls that has manifested in such a sinister way, we are to use these opportunities to help others to strengthen their belief and trust in God, or to instill a trust and belief in God.
There are two ways that demons can directly afflict people:
- Demonic POSSESSION
- If a person does not have the Spirit of God within them, they are subject to the god of this world, Satan. Once a person is freed from the control of any demons, they need to seek God to fill them with His Spirit:
-
24 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ 25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.”
- Demonic OPPRESSION
- Christians are sealed with the blessed Holy Spirit. Once the Spirit of God has taken residence in a Christian’s body, He locks all the doors and keeps everyone else out. This does NOT mean that Christians cannot do things to give the devil a foothold in our lives. For instance, if Christians willingly participate in divination (witchcraft, Ouija boards, Tarot cards, casting of lots, etc.), this can open a door through which the enemy of our souls can torment us and cause us much grief. This is not demonic POSSESSION, but rather OPPRESSION. While it may FEEL like demonic possession, the Holy Spirit of God seals us against such an opportunity. Turning towards the occult can make us vulnerable to believing the lies of the enemy, which can then cause havoc in our lives.
The enemy of our souls can also indirectly afflict us by sending thoughts into our minds to try to influence us.
Name the Name
The name of something is very powerful. It reveals the nature of it. Notice that Jesus doesn’t just say, “demon come out of him”. Jesus commands the evil spirit by its very nature. This is important, because it more specifically identifies who/what is causing the issue(s). Jesus elsewhere has commanded evil spirits to name themselves for this very purpose:
6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7 He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” 8 For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”
9 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” 10 And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.
11 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. 12 The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” 13 He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
Command and Control
Jesus then commands the evil spirit to come out of the boy. He doesn’t ask it, he doesn’t plead with it. He commands it. We are to do the same in the name of Christ. All authority and power resides in Jesus, not in us. Jesus has said that we would do what He has done and even greater things. All authority has been given to the disciples of Christ to do these very things to glorify the Father. When people who are not God’s try to do this, they do not have Christ’s authority, which can be detrimental to their well-being:
13 Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.
Fasting Faithfully
So, what to do when faced with an evil spiritual entity that won’t listen? First remember that where two or more are gathered, there God is in the midst. Make sure that you have at least two mature, prayed-up, and fasting disciples present when confronting such a one as this. Fasting draws a person closer to God. By denying the flesh its wants and desires, the spirit of a man can draw even closer to God. Make sure that when fasting, and especially for this purpose, that all known sin is confessed and repented. Let there be nothing that any evil spirit can charge against you. While a water fast is good, a hard fast (no food nor water) may even be better.
We cannot make ourselves any more presentable to God, for the righteousness of Christ does that. By fasting, we are crucifying the flesh so that the spirit can draw even closer to God to do God’s will. When a person has fasted and prayed up, the demon may even flee in the presence of the holiness of God as He shines through you.
Once the person is in their right mind, and the demon or demons have left the person (either come out of them or fled from their presence), talk with the person to have them identify what issue has occurred that allowed this in the first place (sin for the disciple of Christ, or lead that person to the Gospel of Christ, who is probably now in a better position to hear, understand, and accept that God needs to be in control of their lives rather than the enemy of our souls).
A Qualifying Question
Let’s ask a question: Am I drawing close to God as I should?
A short prayer of preparation:
Father in Heaven, You have promised Your children that You would never leave them nor forsake them. Forgive me, Most Holy God, for my every sin. Reveal to me where I have been disobedient to You, so that I may confess my sin, renounce any spiritual activity that is not of Your nor approved by You, and please close every door that I may have opened in this process. Help me to live in Your freedom, for if the Son sets me free, I am free indeed. Help me to draw as close as I can to You, that I would be as far as I can from doing what the enemy of my soul desires for me to do, so that You would be honored and glorified. Prepare me as the sanctuary for Your Spirit, pure and holy, set apart for You and You alone. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?
*Notes: This blog has been edited for formatting and punctuation.
“And fasting” does not appear in all the texts. However, this is a tried and true method to draw the disciple of Christ closer to God. When the flesh is crucified, the spirit can flourish. In spiritual warfare, this is especially true. The value of fasting is very evident in the life of Jesus AND His disciples – “when you fast…” When confronting these issues, engage a more seasoned Christian who has experience in this field. Or contact a Christian group who can point you to someone who can guide you in how to proceed (Focus on the Family offers counceling and assistance with all manners of Christian issues – 1-800-A-FAMILY / 1-800-232-6459)
The Faithfulness of God – Micah 7:18-20
God ALWAYS Keeps His Word
18 Who is a God like you,
who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
but delight to show mercy.
19 You will again have compassion on us;
you will tread our sins underfoot
and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
20 You will be faithful to Jacob,
and show love to Abraham,
as you pledged on oath to our ancestors
in days long ago.
Perfect Pardon
Unlike men, God is perfect in all His ways. When God pardon’s our sin, He pardons it completely. It is as if it had never happened:
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
God no longer holds our sin against us. We who are in Christ, who have believed upon the name of the One and Only Son of God, have been cleared of all charges – past, present, and future. God greatly desires that as former criminals we be reformed and act as He would desire, just as man wants former criminals to be reintegrated into society in a lawful and peaceful way. Sanctification is the tool that allows that to occur.
Faithful Forgiveness
God is not a liar. He is incapable of lying, for God IS truth:
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
God is completely faithful to forgive anything that we have done, anything we bring before Him. We must, however, turn from our sin and turn towards God. When we ask for forgiveness and then immediately (and WILLFULLY) go back to what we were doing, we are basically like the child who says to dad and mom “I’m sorry (that I got caught, please spare me the consequences of my actions, I’ll be more careful to hide what I am doing from you going forward).”
God greatly desires to see us walk in His ways. His faithfulness to forgive frees us from the fear of punishment that the un-Godly will encounter. God is faithful in all things, for His very nature – His character – allows Him no other course of action when we approach Him in good faith, no matter how many times we stumble and fall. Will a loving parent reject a child who falls down and skins their knee when trying diligently to walk carefully and cautiously? If we would not, why would God?
Abated Anger
We are created in the image of God. God has emotions. He gets angry. But God’s anger only lasts a little while. God will not turn His face away from us forever in His anger. God will not turn His face away from those who are faithful to Him. He delights in His children. God tells us to be angry and do not sin. He also tells us that we should not let the sun go down on our anger. God is NOT a hypocrite like men. If God tells us to do something, will He then not model it for us?
Moved to Mercy
God’s heart is a heart of mercy. Knowing that we are unable to do what He commands us to do, He took it upon Himself to pay our debt. In His great mercy and compassion, He sacrificed His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ, to bear our iniquity and to receive our just and due punishment upon the cross. He now has legal authority to show us mercy. God greatly desires for all of us to come to Him. But without His mercy, we are unable to do so.
God’s mercies renew every morning:
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
We fail to remember the mercy and compassion of God because the enemy of our souls, when we transgress God’s law, tries to convince us that God will not forgive us. It is that much more important that we seek out God and his mercy that we may be free from the bondage of sin – our guilt.
Fully Faithful
God is faithful in all that He does. He cannot be unfaithful, for His very nature relies upon it. Imagine that God’s faithfulness wavered. Would not everything that He did be tainted by that? Imagine if gravity only worked some of the time, and it was completely unreliable, working and not working randomly. What would happen?
In the same way that we can trust that the Sun will rise every morning, that the Moon will rise every night, that the stars will cross the sky, that God is faithful in each and every thing He does, and in each and every promise that He makes. God has made many promises to Jacob about his inheritance and descendants. God will keep each and every one of these promises faithfully in just the right time and in just the right way so that God will be praised and glorified to the utmost degree.
Profound Pledge
God has pledged to Abraham millennia ago that He would love his offspring, care for them, and make them so numerous that they would be as numerous as the sand on the seashore and the stars in the sky:
17 “I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
God does not lie, and He does not make promises that He cannot keep nor will not keep. God keeps every pledge He makes, no matter how long He takes to fulfill it. Since He has prophesied through His prophets about these things, He fulfills them at just the right time. And the time has come when God is calling all men to Himself. His angel has gone out into the world and proclaimed the Gospel to all nations. He is gathering His people as He promised to the land He gave to their ancestors, and He is bringing all things to a close. Seek Him while you may find Him, for time as we know it is about to end.
A Qualifying Question
Let’s ask a question: Am I relying on the faithfulness of God through my trials?
A short prayer of preparation:
Father in Heaven, You are completely faithful and trustworthy. Nothing and no one can cause Your plans to fail. You have carefully engineered through millennia the circumstances that have brought about each and every prophesy that You have given to us. Your word will stand now and forevermore. Help me to trust You completely in my pain through my trials. It is very hard to do so because of the lies of the enemy. Stand strong for me and with me as I overcome all things in Your strength. Give me everything I need to grow through my trials, and comfort me as I fend off the stinging rebukes of my enemies. Holy Spirit, plead my case before the Father, and pray for me, for I don’t know how to pray through these things. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?
Prayer Meeting Devotion (March 22, 2017)
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”
James 4:8a
It is interesting to watch people gathered around a campfire. They will sit close to the fire until they warm up, then they scoot away when they get too hot. But as the fire dies down, they get cold and slide closer to the flames again. We like a comfortable temperature – give me 72 degrees at all times, right? 
I find the same principle at work spiritually. We like to stay a comfortable distance away from the presence of God. We certainly do not want to be so far away as to be spiritually cold. But if we get too close, it gets uncomfortable. God starts pruning us. He starts convicting us. So we scoot back to our comfortable distance.
Can I urge you to press in deeper with the Lord? To draw closer to the fire of His presence? To get as close as possible to Him?
Prayer Meeting Devotion (March 15, 2017)
“Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards
are in blossom.”
-Song of Solomon 2:15
For most of us, it will not be the big sins that do us in. Most of us will not commit moral failure. We will not find ourselves in prison for tax fraud. For most of us, it will be the little foxes that undermine our relationship with Jesus. It will be time wasted in front of the television. It will 
be time spent on our favorite hobby. It will be time on Facebook. It will be time at the gym. None of these things are bad. However, it is very easy to allow those things to subtly choke out time in the presence of the Lord in prayer and His Word.
Would you be willing to let God reveal to you the little foxes in your life? The little things that are not wrong, but still crowd out time we could give to Jesus?
The Heart of the Matter – Deuteronomy 6:6-7
The Word Of God Penetrates The Deep Areas Of The Heart
6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
Heart and Honor
Every disciple of Christ should be filling their mind and their heart with the word of God:
1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
Our minds have a tendency to be filled with something. When we give our lives to Christ, we now have the opportunity to choose what we can fill our minds with. The world, the flesh, and the devil are constantly offering suggestions on what we should use to fill our minds and hearts. But God says we should be filling them with His law. Additionally, we are to fill our minds with the following:
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
By filling our minds with the things of God – His law and the affairs of Heaven, we crowd out the thoughts that compete with the will and ways of God. This should be a priority for disciples of Christ, for we cannot effectively train our minds to intercept and process as garbage that which deserves such a fate without having the ability to recognize what is good for us and what will cause us problems:
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Teach and Train
In addition to doing this for ourselves, we are to impart the knowledge of God – God’s holy word – to our children. We are to impress upon our children the importance of following God’s law. We are to impress upon them value of God’s law. We are to impress upon them the holiness of God’s law by showing through OUR actions and words the very principles that we espouse. Children learn more from our actions than from our words. Even when they appear to be ignoring us, they are most carefully watching us to see if we practice what we preach. Children look for hypocrisy to validate the truth. Teach them not only with words, but with works.
Talk and Travel
Not only should we be talking to our children about the law of God when we are at our home, but also when we travel. In the West, there is a movement by certain individuals to try to restrict the ability of people to practice their religion only in the home and their place of worship. They believe that people should not practice it anywhere else, because it might “offend” someone. But Jesus said:
Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.
If we limit our teaching to the home, we will not have the opportunity to fully impart our wisdom to our children. “Teachable Moments” arise in everyday life, and it is important to impart the wisdom of God to our children at all times. We can only do this if we take the time to teach them wherever we may be.
Sleep and Stand
God’s word is so important that we should even take the time to teach it to our children when we are getting ready to sleep, and when we first rise. There is no time that we shouldn’t be imparting the wisdom of God to our children. When we don’t CONSISTENTLY teach our children, their minds wander to the things of this world. God implores parents to teach their children His laws during EVERY WAKING MOMENT. To do otherwise is to invite other influences into their lives that could harm them. Children observe EVERYTHING, so rather than let the world, the flesh, and the devil train them, take the time and effort to train them up in the law of God.
A Qualifying Question
Parents, let’s ask a question: Am I training up my child(ren) in the way that they should go?
A short prayer of preparation:
Father in Heaven, I love you and adore You. Your law is beautiful to behold. When it is practiced, great righteousness proceeds from the ones who adhere to it. Father, You have made it plain to us that we cannot keep Your law the way that we should. Thank You for Your Son, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for my sins and the sins of the world. Thank You for your law, to teach me that I cannot please You without accepting Jesus’ sacrifice for my sin. And thank You for the opportunity to speak into the lives of others about Your love and grace, and Your holiness and righteousness. Father, help me to mindful of what I do every waking moment that I would honor and glorify You in every thought, word, and deed. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?
Effects of the Curse – Romans 8:18-25
Creation Groans In Anticipation For The Return Of The King
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
Eager Expectation
Paul gives us some indications of what the creation is experiencing due to the sin of man. It is interesting that creation itself is experiencing an expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For it is only after ALL of the children of God are revealed will Christ come to redeem creation and burn with fire the curse that has been placed upon it. Just as we are baptized with the fire of the Spirit, creation will be baptized with fire when then elements melt away.
Forcefully Frustrated
Up until now, creation has been frustrated by the curse placed upon it by God:
17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
18It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”
The Earth, and everything upon it, is under the curse. It doesn’t do what it is supposed to do. It is unable to reach its potential. While many say that even the stars are “inanimate objects”, scripture indicates that day after day they pour forth speech. Even the plants are to respond to God.
Bondage to Blight
There is decay in the world. Iron turns to rust. Cement crumbles to dust after centuries. Mold, mildew, and other bacterial agents infect and destroy. Disease strikes everywhere. Prior to the curse, there would have been no “dis-ease”. Even now, we see the effects of decay in everything that is around us. The scientific name is Entropy. Systems in order have a tendency to move towards chaos (not the other way around – that requires an intelligent force redirecting the efforts of the cursed physical material). All of creation is in bondage to decay that the curse has wrought.
Great Groaning
Paul indicates that the creation is groaning. That seems odd to us, since we don’t hear it with our ears. But even Jesus said that the creation speaks to us:
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
Even we who are redeemed groan in anticipation of the return of Christ. Facing sin day in and day out is mentally, physically, emotionally, and psychologically draining. Walking in the world with the curse constantly interfering with every aspect of reality – including relationships, business, health, hopes, and dreams, along with the flaming arrows from the enemy, life can be draining and miserable. Those who are “in the thick of it” long for the day when curse of sin is broken, and the glory and righteousness of God is revealed to all of the world, and that which was corrupted is finally redeemed by the one who paid the ultimate price.
A Qualifying Question
Let’s ask a question: Do I long for the return of Jesus?
A short prayer of preparation:
Father in Heaven, Your creation speaks to us. The heavens declare Your glory, and creation reveals your eternal power and divine nature. Help me to draw close to You today, Father. Give me a greater sense of Your power and presence in my life. Reveal to me what You would have me do, and help me to have such a longing in my heart for the return of Jesus that it aches for it. Remember me today and help me to draw close to You. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?
Flesh vs. Spirit – Romans 8:5-14
Living According To The Flesh Leads To Death
5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation-but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.
Fleshly Failure
Carnal Christianity is a danger that faces the every disciple of Christ. The world, the flesh, and the devil try to draw us away from the Spirit of God through the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. In the United States, the blessing of God has provided a petri dish where it is easy to focus on the pleasures of the flesh. Financial prosperity clouds the judgment, and can provide an environment where people can forget that it is God that provides. Culture seeks to please the flesh, rather than the Spirit, and leads people into every manner of evil. Moral Relativism, self-actualization, Secular Humanism, the media, the entertainment industry, and advertisements all seek to draw people away from reliance upon God to reliance upon self, or the goods and services that are for sale.
Spiritual Specialization
Disciples of Christ are called instead to submit to the Spirit of God. This is how we know that we are in Christ. For the flesh desires what the flesh wants, and what our spirit wants is contrary to the flesh. The Holy Spirit of God woos us through the word of God, gentle prodding and encouragement.
Yielding to the Spirit gives life. Even though the flesh is subject to death because of the curse through the disobedience of Adam, the Spirit gives life, and life abundantly through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Though the flesh may fail, the Spirit gives us life. The Spirit can do this because of righteousness. God is holy, and cannot abide rebellion to righteousness. When we submit to the Holy Spirit, He conforms our desires to pursue righteousness instead of that opposes that which is righteous.
Careful Commitment
If a person claims to be:
- A child of God
- Saved
- A Christian
- A disciple of Christ
then they have an obligation to submit to the Spirit so that they will grow and draw close to righteousness, for the image-bearers of God should not be bearing the image of any other. Salvation is not fire-insurance; it is the opportunity to be reconciled to a holy and righteous God.
Just as a criminal who claims to be reformed should act reformed, so should we as redeemed sinners. What good does it do a criminal who has been freed to go back to the same life that they lived before? Their actions will certainly catch up to them, and they will face judgment again for what they have done. In the same way, disciples of Christ have an obligation to allow the Spirit of God to conform us to the life that lives in harmony with God.
The signature evidence that a disciple of Christ is a true child of God is that their life gives evidence that they are being led by the Spirit of God.
A Qualifying Question
Let’s as a question: Am I being led by the Spirit of God?
A short prayer of preparation:
Father in Heaven, Thank You for the opportunity to draw close to You. Thank You for giving me Your Holy Spirit to lead me, teach me, guide me, encourage me, convict me, pray for me, and advocate for me. Father, help me to walk in righteousness before You. The temptations of this world are strong, and I pray for the strength to resist their pulls on my life, and the wisdom to recognize that which will cause me harm. You have provided the things on Earth for our pleasure, but to be enjoyed, not worshiped or pursued. Help my heart to also pursue You first. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?
Enemies of Israel – Isaiah 17:12-14
Great Destruction Will Come Up Against Those Who Oppose Israel
12 Woe to the many nations that rage-
they rage like the raging sea!
Woe to the peoples who roar—
they roar like the roaring of great waters!
13 Although the peoples roar like the roar of surging waters,
when he rebukes them they flee far away,
driven before the wind like chaff on the hills,
like tumbleweed before a gale.
14 In the evening, sudden terror!
Before the morning, they are gone!
This is the portion of those who loot us,
the lot of those who plunder us.
Reckless Roaring
God does not take kindly to those who would overwhelm His people. Even when He raises up those whom He would use to chastise Israel, their eventual end is destruction. Even now, the offspring of Ishmael and many nations rage against Israel. They roar against her like the sea of incoming tide, seeking to wash her from the face of the Earth, to remove her as her very presence is a painful thorn in their side.
The nations rage against her because they hate who protects her. Her very presence, they beloved of God, is like the brothers of Joseph, watching him in his ornate coat, favored by their father, made them hate him and jealous of him. And the nations do that today. They fabricate lies against her and try to cheat her out of her inheritance – the land of Israel, given to her by The Lord God Almighty. For years they tolerated her, broken and scattered among the people, scoffing at her and gloating over her as God disciplined her. But when God did the impossible and gathered her again to her home and gave it back to her, it was too much for them to bear. And even now, they seek to undermine, impugn, and utterly destroy what God has wrought – the fulfillment of His Holy Word.
Regal Rebuke
God, however, does not take this sitting down. He has prepared a rebuke for the nations that oppress, antagonize, and refuse to recognize the sovereignty of Israel. This is not some simple rebuke. The people of the nations that are seeking the eviction and/or the eradication of every descendant of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob (now Israel) will come under a most difficult rebuke. They will come under a rebuke that is even more terrible than that which they intend to inflict upon Israel
Terrible Terror
God will drive Israel’s enemies far from their homes. They will flee with such speed that they will look like tumbleweeds in a great windstorm. They will fly under the pressure of God’s rebuke. There will be sudden terror in the evening, when light has fallen and they cannot see their attackers. Terror will fill their hearts, and in a measure that pales in comparison to what they intended for God’s people. So swift will be their flight, that by morning they will no longer be there. No one will be exempt – they will all flee.
Guarantee from God
God has declared that this is the portion, the judgment upon and rewards reaped from their actions. Any who loot Israel, any who plunder her, will be utterly destroyed and driven from their homeland. Because God’s judgment is not swift and immediate, the nations brag that God does not see, or does not exist, because they do not immediately reap the consequences of their actions. They incorrectly interpret God’s grace and mercy for impotence or imagination. But God will certainly cause this, for He has spoken it, and it is the portion of God’s enemies to be reaped in its proper time.
A Qualifying Question
Let’s ask a question: Am I praying for Israel’s enemies to repent?
A short prayer of preparation:
Father in Heaven, You are holy and righteous, and every word that You have ever spoken has or will come true. Father, remember the enemies of Israel. Plow through the hardness of their hearts so that they will be positioned to receive the seed of the Gospel. Grant them mercy in their cruelty, that they would see how good You are. And when it is time, Father, may your rebuke upon them be so overwhelming that the nations would tremble, and that the fear of You would come upon all the Earth. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?
Wisdom and Well-Being – Proverbs 3:1-4
Wisdom Will Bring Spiritual Well-Being As Well As Long Life
1 My son, do not forget my teaching,
but keep my commands in your heart,
2 for they will prolong your life many years
and bring you peace and prosperity.
3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man.
Cherish Commandments
Solomon urges us to keep God’s commands in our heart. This is a calling to accept them as more than mere moral teachings or wonderful ideas. Ideas are worthless unless they are put into action. Solomon encourages us to embrace the teachings and commands of God and put them into action. When we do not put into practice the teachings of the Bible, they are like a sports team’s trophies put on a shelf, looked at in admiration, while the players gorge themselves in food, gaining pound after pound of fat, refusing to practice, and expecting to triumph over the team who has been diligent in training and practice.
Prolong Presence
By putting the teachings of God into practice, they will guard your life against many of the pitfalls that are caused by careless and dangerous living as God views such lifestyles. This is not a blanket guarantee that says that if you do A, then B will result. This is rather a generalization that, all other things being equal, will have the TENDENCY to prolong your life. Drunk drivers still kill people via vehicular homicide. Earthquakes and Tsunamis and Floods and other natural disasters occur. Yet over time, the commands of God will help a person to live in such a way that they will benefit their life with longevity.
Peace and Prosperity
When a person lives according to the commands and teachings of God, they will find themselves at peace with others (generally). There are always going to be people who, no matter what you do, no matter what you say, will have it in their heart to despise you, be angry with you, abuse you, torment you, and otherwise be in conflict with you. But for the rest of humanity that surrounds you, they will see a life lived in Godliness and will praise God for it, or desire the peace that you have. They will see the prosperity in joy that you have, even if God has not blessed you with financial prosperity. To the millionaire that is miserable, depressed, suicidal, and otherwise miserable, being poor and happy may appear to be a significant blessing. Money cannot buy happiness, nor even rent it. It can merely assist with some of our physical needs. But who needs to be concerned with that when God is sovereign, owns everything, and will provide for your every need?
Labor in Love
Love and faithfulness go hand-in-hand. Both love and faithfulness are commitments towards others. They are inextricably wound together, forming two strong cords that hold each other steady in the storms of life. God is love. We are to be image-bearers of God. To bear the image is to outwardly show the same characteristics. Since God is love, we too ought to love others in the same manner.
Noble Name
When we labor in love and faithfulness, we will win a good name in the sight of God and man. People honor the noble ones among us who labor for our good. Love does exactly that – it labors for the good of another. When we do this, we please God by obeying what He has commanded us to do. We also gain a good name among men who recognize the good that we do in the light and in the sight of God.
A Qualifying Question
Let’s ask a question: Am I embracing the wisdom of God so that it transforms my life?
A short prayer of preparation
Father in Heaven, You are able to do more than we could ever ask or imagine. And You give us a good name when we honor You by heeding Your teachings and wisdom through the practical application of them in our lives. Teach me to live according to Your will and Your way through Your word. Help me to embrace You in a greater way so that I can honor and glorify Your name before men. Help me to shine Your light before all so that they may see how good You are. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?
Moral Value of Wisdom – Proverbs 2:1-11
Morality Is Rooted In The Wisdom Of God
1 My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding-
3 indeed, if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He holds success in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
8 for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
9 Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair—every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.
Desire Discernment
Each of us is given the opportunity to seek God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom. We are to seek out wisdom and accept the commands of God. Without the desire to be wise, we will act in foolish ways. Each of us should desire wisdom and discernment so that we can grow in Godliness.
Wisdom is to be desired like silver or gold. We are to place an even greater value on it than on any Earthly possessions. Men will go to great lengths to find and extract precious metals from the Earth, but will they take the same time and energy to seek wisdom from God in prayer and through His word?
It is important to realize that without God as the source of wisdom and morality, our understanding of wisdom AND morality will be greatly skewed. We will be subject to the whims of those who would try to convince us that their ideas of what is good and right is the truth. However, the holy word of God clearly says that Jesus is the embodiment of truth. We need to embrace the revealed truth of God as wisdom, and not the subtly or radically altered versions of morality that come from our fallen nature and the activity of the enemies of our souls. Only in God will we find true wisdom. Any source apart from God is suspect.
Wonderful Wisdom
Knowledge and understanding come forth from the mouth of God:
He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
We will find success and fulfillment as we pursue a life of Godly wisdom. It is in the instruction of the Lord that we find contentment concerning living our lives in ways that please and honor God. It greatly pleases God when men are living in accordance with His ways. Like finding a friend who shares your inner core beliefs in whom you can freely and openly be yourself, God desires to reveal through wisdom more of His character and ways so that we can draw close to Him.
Powerful Protection
Wisdom also provides us with protection. It keeps us from engaging in evil ways, and helps us to avoid the pitfalls of certain temptations that can cause ruination in our lives. King Solomon, son of King David, helps us to protect our lives from certain influences, such as promiscuity, financial indiscretion, and spiritual darkness. Wisdom provides a shield to those who embrace her. God guards the live of those who are just in their dealings and faithful to Him.
Divine Discretion
When we embrace Godly wisdom, we be able to rightly know the difference between good and evil. Discernment and discretion will be hallmarks in our lives. We will be better able to answer others, and to refrain from doing and saying what is not Godly. While this seems simple and evident, look at the state of the world. When God’s people begin to accept worldly wisdom, their Godly discernment begins to fade, and they seem less able to make good judgments when presented with subtly skewed situations that may look OK, but lead to ruination. Discernment and discretion protect the Godly from the wiles of the enemy. The word of the living God shows the basis of wisdom, and His Holy Spirit reveals the unknown to those whom have given their lives to God and seek His guidance in their lives.
Umbrella of Understanding
Discretion protects us from wrongdoing if we are willing to accept the consequences of doing what is right. There are times when we are forced into corners by the actions of evil people. What seemed innocent becomes evil and ruination may result. Understanding provides us with the ability to see where something will lead. It is said that good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment. With discretion and knowledge, a lot of bad judgment can be avoided. God has provided His word to give us instruction so that we can learn from those who have come before us.
A Qualifying Question
Let’s ask a question: Do I embrace wisdom as I should?
A short prayer of preparation
Father in Heaven, You are generous with Your wisdom to all who ask in faith. Grant me the wisdom, discernment, and discretion needed to protect me and my family from the pitfalls of error that accompany bad judgment. Help me to rely more upon You and less upon myself as I am faced with situations that could have immense consequences in my life. Grant me the wisdom and knowledge to avoid that which will cause harm, and help me to be vigilant when the Holy Spirit guides me to be tested, that I may be victorious. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?
The Value of Labor – Ecclesiastes 2:24-26
Work Is A Gift From God
24 A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26 To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Subtle Satisfaction
Labor was never intended to be loathsome. It was intended by God to be something else. Work was to be so wonderful that people would want to do it all the time. Work was originally intended to be so joyful that it was its own reward. The fall of man changed all of that.
Rather than joy, work became difficult and drudgery. Thorns and briers would pollute the ground, and weeds would choke the good plants out. Man would labor in great difficulty for that which he planted. Moving forward in time, we now have technological advances that set the pace for our work, which is at breakneck speed. Slow down for a mere second, and management will replace you for someone younger and a little faster, to shave a penny off their costs every hour.
And even if you become an entrepreneur, manufacturing amazing and innovative products, online shopping markets like alibaba dot com will house counterfeits of your work, being advertised with your own website’s photos and descriptions, at a fraction of the price, reaping the benefit of your hard work, sweat, and intellectual capital for pennies on the dollar, putting you out of business.
Gift of God
But work was meant as a gift from God! For the righteous, work was meant as its own reward. A person could see the fruit of their labor at the end of the day, and rejoice that God had given them the intellectual ability, resources, and physical skill to do the work that they were doing.
God intended work to be so pleasurable, that He added a commandment in Exodus 20 to remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. The idea was that people would enjoy work SO much, and the reward that comes with it, that they would forget that the Lord their God gave them the ability, means, and desire to work.
Wonderful Wealth
In yielding to God’s will and laboring with their hands, not working as unto men but as unto the Lord, God grants us knowledge, wisdom, and happiness. The person laboring will be tired at the end of the day, but knowing that what they did was meaningful, had purpose, and was important.
Loathsome Labor
But for the sinner, labor takes on a different hue. The sinner, unwilling to acknowledge God as provider and overseer of their work, labors to gain as much as possible so that they can have some measure of “safety”. The sinner works their fingers to the bone, does whatever they can to get as much as they can to hedge against bad times, and places their trust in the work of the hands rather than the One who gave them hands.
They labor in vain, gathering and storing as much wealth and material possessions as possible, no taking into account that when God demands their very life, that the endless toil of their hands will pass on to someone else, who may squander it or use it in ways that the person who worked so hard to obtain it would find objectionable. Work then becomes drudgery, misery, and a central focus of all time and energy, for who knows when the bad times will occur?
Meaningless Maneuvering
Work without God at the center of it is meaningless. It has not real purpose, no real value, and no real reward. For even if evil people come and steal it away from you, either illegally, or through lawful methods, when God is at the center of it, the person is secure in their knowledge that justice will be done.
When work is undertaken without God at the center, only grief, heartache, and disaster will occur. Even if the person finds the labor of love, it will only provide happiness for so long, for God has placed in the hearts of men and women the desire to be in relationship with Him. And no amount of work, success, money, or power will fill that God-placed desire.
It is for this reason that those who are so successful and don’t know God are so prone to depression and suicide. Culture teaches them that they will find fulfillment in self-actualization. Fulfillment, however, only comes when a person embraces a relationship with their Creator. False advertising destroys the hope of people, pushing them to greater heights of intensity at work, only to find that they have no real peace. And so the cycle continues…
A Qualifying Question
Let’s ask a question: Do I view labor in the same way that God does?
A short prayer of preparation:
Father in Heaven, Thank You for the ability to use my mind and body to honor and glorify You. Help me to adopt the same attitude towards work that Your holy word reveals to me that it should be. Help me to enjoy the fruit of my labor in that I labor for You and You alone. Help me to be content in that, even and especially when evil people and difficult circumstances strip me of the fruit of my labor. Guard my heart against bitterness, and help me to be content in whatever You allow in my life. Give me strength to overcome the difficulties that I find myself in today. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?
Developing Discernment – Proverbs 1:10-19
Don’t Gain The Whole World Just To Lose Your Soul
10 My son, if sinful men entice you,
do not give in to them.
11 If they say, “Come along with us;
let’s lie in wait for innocent blood,
let’s ambush some harmless soul;
12 let’s swallow them alive, like the grave,
and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
13 we will get all sorts of valuable things
and fill our houses with plunder;
14 cast lots with us;
we will all share the loot”-
15 my son, do not go along with them,
do not set foot on their paths;
16 for their feet rush into evil,
they are swift to shed blood.
17 How useless to spread a net
where every bird can see it!
18 These men lie in wait for their own blood;
they ambush only themselves!
19 Such are the paths of all who go after ill-gotten gain;
it takes away the life of those who get it.
Wicked Works
Solomon, the wisest man to ever walk the Earth (with the exception of Jesus Christ), penned these words to help his son, and us, to glean from the supernatural wisdom that God imparted to him.
While it may be obvious to many that aligning ourselves with wicked men (and women!) is to be avoided, the wicked acts of men are readily seen and understood. It is the more subtle acts of men that do not seem on the surface to be wicked that we are to avoid as well.
Wicked Words
Men (and women!) have learned how to play on the fears of others to get them to do what they want them to do. The modern term is social engineering. Most people will respond to someone who speaks in an authoritative voice to them, because they have been taught by their parents to be respectful and obey authority. Although that may no longer be the case with our youngest generation, we react this way naturally. Other types of psychological manipulation are used by these people as well.
Men (and women!) will also try to lure us into doing evil things by making good sound evil, and evil sound good. They will play on our desire to “get ahead”, or fulfill a need in a way that does not honor God. Humans have a natural capacity to justify our actions when our consciences bother us. We avoid pain as much as possible, and we are then placed in circumstances where we will have to make a (often life-altering painful) decision to honor God, or go another way.
Wondering Why?
There are many reasons why we should avoid the advice of wicked people. Solomon lists several:
- Their feet rush into evil.
- Rather than seek God to honor him with their minds and hands, they rush headlong into evil, both ignorant of its eventual outcome, as well as the consequences here in the physical realm.
- They are swift to shed blood.
- These people care nothing about each other, nor others. They are swift to shed blood, as long as it benefits them somehow. They do not have any concept of the value of human life, and may even traffic in it so that they can gain wealth and power.
- The consequences are that others will see our actions plainly.
- These people think that they are operating in darkness, when their deeds are made plain to the world! But the question becomes, does the world even care?
- The outcome is that they figuratively (and sometimes literally) shed their own blood!
- Rather than do harm to their intended victims, they harm the very people they are attempting to protect – themselves! Like Esau, they spurn their inheritance and gladly trade it for a little physical comfort.
- Their eventual end is that they have ambushed themselves towards a specific end.
- Their eventual outcome is that when they die, they cannot take their ill-gotten gains with them. They must then face Almighty God before the White Throne Seat of Judgment, and pay at that time the most steep price imaginable – their eternal soul – for what they have done in the flesh.
Death and Destruction
The eventual outcome of these people is that they face death and destruction of their souls. Discernment is required to avoid the schemes that others use to try to entice us into doing what they want us to do:
- Balaam advised the enemy women to use their bodies to entice the men of Israel to sin and so cause a plague to come upon them.
- Shemaiah tried to get Nehemiah to sin against God by hiding in the temple by falsely prophesying, being paid by Tobiah and Sanballat to do so…
- The serpent convinced Eve that the fruit of the knowledge of Good and Evil was good to eat, would not cause death, and impugned the character of Almighty God.
The only way to avoid these schemes is to put on the full armor of God, spend time with God in His word and prayer, and learn to discern when to spurn that which will burn.
A Qualifying Question
Let’s ask a question: Am I rightly discerning good and evil?
A short prayer of preparation
Father in Heaven, You are pure, holy, without blemish or spot. You greatly desire all people to walk in holiness and righteousness before You. Help me to rightly discern when others are trying to do me harm. Help me when I inadvertently find myself cornered by the deeds of wicked men intent on destroying me, my family, my career, or my character. Father, protect me from the wickedness of others, and help me to see Your wisdom, will, and way so that I may keep myself and my family from harm’s way. And when You do allow wicked men and women to place me in circumstances that I did not willingly choose, I pray, Father, that You would deliver me from them just as You delivered Peter from the jailers. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?
Praise the Lord – Psalm 148:7-14
EVERYTHING Under The Earthly Heavens Should Praise God
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding,
9 you mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all cattle,
small creatures and flying birds,
11 kings of the earth and all nations,
you princes and all rulers on earth,
12 young men and women,
old men and children.
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
14 And he has raised up for his people a horn,
the praise of all his faithful servants,
of Israel, the people close to his heart.
Praise the Lord.
Earthly Encounter
The Psalmist begins this part of the Psalm by entreating all creatures, weather, and even the Earth to praise God:
- Ocean Creatures
- Every creature in water is commanded to praise God. From the fish to whales, from shrimp to sharks, every creature should give praise to their Creator.
- The Ocean Itself
- The Psalmist also commands the ocean to give praise. God’s word tells us that the water of this world has a mind of its own, and without boundaries, would once again cover the Earth.
- Weather
- Every manner of weather should praise the lord – lightning, hail, snow, clouds and winds. The Psalmist covered water in earlier verses.
- Mountains and Hills
- Even the mountains and hills should praise their Creator. After all, if the rocks can cry out…
- All Trees
- The Psalmist entreats the trees of the Earth to praise God, and by implication, all plants.
- All Animals
- Every creature, cattle, and small animal should praise God as well.
- Every Creature That Flies
- The birds of the air already cry out to God in the early morning hours, seeking food, shelter, and assistance from their Provider.
- Humans Placed By God In Authority
- All people whom God has placed in authority over others should praise the Lord. Their Creator has given them special privilege, and with great privilege comes great responsibility. One of these responsibilities is to praise the One who raised them up, and to do His bidding.
- All People, Young And Old
- Every person on Earth should praise their Creator. We have voices to sing, hearts to rejoice, and life to give thanks. Every person on Earth should praise the One who gave them life and provides for their every need.
Present Praise
Everyone and everything should present praise to the One who is worthy of all praise. God deserves praise for all He has done. It is man who sinned and brought the curse of sin upon this universe. God created everything good, and it was good until the fall of man.
Excellent Exaltation
It is God and God alone who is to be exulted. Men, in pride, want to exalt themselves before others, to establish their pecking orders and to feel important. But God should receive that Exaltation instead, being the one who gave each man life, appointed him in his proper place, and provides for him everything he has, even his very breath.
Prominent Position
God’s position in Heaven should be sufficient for us to realize that He and He alone is worthy of praise. Man seeks to go to the heavens, but that is only a physical distance from where God created and grounded us. God sees us through the glassy sea and knows our every move. God’s position is far and above any vantage point that man could even conceive of occupying.
Supreme Strength
God has raised up for His people a horn. The horn represents strength. That strength is the God-man Jesus Christ, who was born among men, and now sits at the right hand of God, interceding for us in prayer day and night. All authority in Heaven and the universe has been given Him by the Father. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. God has raised Him up to His proper position. He has regained the keys of Death and Hades which man had lost. He is able to deliver us from all of our troubles. He is worthy of praise.
People of Praise
Because of the great work that God has done, His people should be a people of praise. Life is difficult. Many encounter situations that overwhelm us and threaten to crush us emotionally, physically, and even spiritually. But God is able to help us to overcome. And in His continual outpouring of provision, power, and His presence, His people should be a people who offer continual praise to the One who so richly deserves it.
A Qualifying Question
Let’s ask a question: How can I praise God today?
A short prayer of preparation:
Father in Heaven, Thank You for all that You are, all that You have created, and all that You provide. Help my heart to be in continual praise to You for all things, even my difficult challenges. Remove from me the enemy of my soul as he tries to drag me down with lies and leverages my pain against me and You. I pray, Father, that the ones who try to torment me would be sent to their permanent place of dwelling, the Lake of Fire. Remove them from their position of power and strip them of their ability to cause harm. Protect me and my family from their actions, and remove all strongholds from our minds that we would be able to praise You at all times for all things. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?
Praise the Lord – Psalm 148:1-6
All Creation Should Praise The Lord
1 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights above.
2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars.
4 Praise him, you highest heavens
and you waters above the skies.
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for at his command they were created,
6 and he established them for ever and ever-
he issued a decree that will never pass away.
Powerful Praise
The Psalmist commands that all creation praise the Lord! God is worthy of all praise and honor and glory. The majesty of God is being called to remembrance by the Psalmist as he ponders how great God’s creation truly is. And then the Psalmist begins to call individual parts of creation in the heavens to join him in his praise of God:
- All Angels
- Angels throughout the Bible have praised God. We are instructed in the word of God that four creatures surround the throne of God and continually praise Him day and night, forever and ever:
-
6 Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.
In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:
“‘Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,’
who was, and is, and is to come.”
9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”
- Heavenly Hosts
- The Psalmist then entreats the Heavenly Hosts to join:
- Solar System
- The Sun and the Moon are called to praise God.
- Silvery Stars
- All of the stars in the sky are called to praise God.
- Highest Heavens
- There were three heavens according to the Jews. The first heaven was the clouds. The second heaven was the great expanse of the Universe where the sun, moon and stars existed. The highest heavens was where God’s throne exist, in the spiritual realm. Here, the highest heavens were called to worship God. Any aspect of heaven apart from angels was also called to worship God. Today, that would be both heaven itself, and all the captives who were freed and now are in the presence of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
- Wispy Waters
- The waters above the skies is a bit of a mystery. Is the Psalmist referring to the clouds? Thunderstorms? Jet streams? This is not very clear here, but by inference it is referring to any aspect of the sky that is not air.
Created by Command
The Psalmist reminds us that God has created everything through His spoken word by command. We are to remember that we are created creatures, and the creators has the authority over the creation. Because of the beauty, perfection (before the fall), and the ongoing care and involvement of our Creator, creation itself is called to praise God.
And as Jesus said:
37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
Forever Faithful
God has established the heavens, including the Sun, Moon, and stars forever. When the Son of Man returns in Glory, He will purify them of the curse of sin, wiping away their shame and replacing their groaning with rejoicing in the One who created them, forevermore crying out in praise to The Lord God Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth, and thus restoring that which once was before the fall of Adam. For God is faithful in all that He does, and He has promised to restore that which was tarnished by sin.
A Qualifying Question
Let’s ask a question: Am I praising God as I should?
A short prayer of preparation:
Father in Heaven, Thank You for reminding me of Your goodness, faithfulness, and creativity. Help me to praise You as You deserve. Even in my most terrible circumstances, give me the same heart-attitude that You gave to Paul when He was praising You in song while shackled in prison. May my praise to You be pleasing to Your ears, and may it lift my heart. Help me to be filled with Your joy, that I may have the strength to do all that You command me to do, and be. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?
National Sovereignty and God – Revelation 21:10-12,25-27
God Reserves The Right To Exclude Those Who Can Enter His City
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel…25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Why Walls?
Many have wondered why, if we are all created equal and in the image of God, we should build walls, defenses, obstructions, barriers, or any other kind of impediment to people who wish to enter the borders of a nation. For example, let’s choose a nation in particular, the United States of America.
The President of this nation as of this writing, Donald J. Trump, has made the very bold suggestion that a wall be built to separate the national borders between itself and its Southern neighbor, the country of Mexico. Many have spoken out and said that building walls to keep people out of a country is RACIST, BIGOTED, and ANTIQUATED.
Yet, we see that GOD HIMSELF has built walls for His city, The New Jerusalem. Let’s take a moment to look at the CHARACTER of God to see if God is RACIST, BIGOTED, and ANTIQUATED:
- Is God RACIST?
- There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. – Galatians 3:28
- Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. – Colossians 3:11-12
- Is God BIGOTED?
- And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls. – Joel 2:32
- And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. – John 12:32
- For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16
- You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. – Jeremiah 29:13
- But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. – 2 Peter 3:8-10
- Is God ANTIQUATED?
- All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness – 2 Timothy 3:16
- What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. – Ecclesiastes 1:9
- He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything [continually*] new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” – Revelation 21:5
These are just a few passages from God’s holy word about HIS character. From what can be gleaned here, it would not appear that God is RACIST, BIGOTED, nor ANTIQUATED. If that is the case, then building a wall around a sovereign area is NOT RACIST, NOT BIGOTED, and NOT ANTIQUATED. Therefore, when a leader of a nation, such as Donald J. Trump, POTUS, desires to build a wall around a sovereign nation, he is not RACIST, BIGOTED, nor ANTIQUATED (for wanting to build a wall around the sovereign nation that God has appointed him in his position of governance).
These arguments are instead a deceitful, emotionally charged, slanderous and/or libelous attempt to defraud, defame, and otherwise impugn the character of a leader of a nation for the purposes of influencing public opinion on a particular subject. This type of distraction is very effective when directed towards people who have been trained to think with their emotions rather than logical and ethical/moral reasoning.
Guardians at the Gates?
God has placed angels at the gates. The word angel is used to denote a messenger. But angels have had specific duties in addition to delivering messages to people. Usually these involve protection, or destruction. In this case, although the Bible does not clearly say so, it is most likely protection (when taken together with the verses that are after it). Why place guardians at the gates of your city? Should we not allow EVERYONE to have complete, unrestricted, access the city, its people, and it treasures?
Access Allowed?
God has, in His sovereign decree, restricted access to His holy city, The New Jerusalem, to ONLY those who names are written in the Book of Life. By sovereign decree, God is specifically EXCLUDING some who may desire to enter His city.
Viable Vetting?
God is in the process of vetting those who can access the city. For instance, only those whose names are written in the Book of Life can enter. So, what is the exclusionary criteria for barring entry into the city?
- impurity
- shameful acts
- deceitfulness
Why would God specifically exclude anything impure, or shameful, or deceitful? After all, isn’t God “inclusive” and “wanting everyone to come to Him” and “wanting no one to perish”? Why would God NOT allow some people access to the city? What possible motivation could God have that would even place the thought of being “EXCLUSIVE” into His thinking?
- God is HOLY
- God is RIGHTEOUS
- God is PURE
God cannot stand wickedness in His presence. God’s very nature abhors that which is antithetical to the truth. And those who cannot accept that there is truth (a measurable and quantifiable definition of the absolute nature of reality) will not understand the concepts of HOLY, RIGHTEOUS, and PURE, because to them, these are all RELATIVE TO THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE PERSON VIEWING THEM, rather than objective and concrete and universal. Sin is like yeast. It alters and distorts that which it comes in contact with.
“A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.”
A Qualifying Question
Let’s ask a question: Do leaders have the right to impose restrictions of entry to people within the sovereign borders of their nations?
A short prayer of preparation:
Father in Heaven, You are merciful and gracious. Yet You are also holy, righteous, and pure. Thank You for having the iron fist with the velvet glove. Blessed be Your name. You and You alone are able to completely, without error, rule in correct judgment all created things, including me. Help me to understand Your position on National Sovereignty. If my views do not align with Your views, please change my heart to align with Your heart. Break down every stronghold in my mind that the world, the flesh, and the devil have erected to stand in opposition to Your revealed word. Help me to embrace Your character and Your heart, that I may draw closer to You as the last day approaches. Help me witness with my actions, but more importantly, with my words, about who You are and what You believe. Strengthen me as I encounter opposition to You and Your word. Remember me in my efforts to faithfully tell about Your Son and what He has done for everyone. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?
Notes: This blog has been edited for clarity
*The Greek verb here for making, poiO, does not have a direct English single-word translation. Strong’s notes on this verb indicate that it is:
- apparently a prolonged form of an obsolete primary;
- to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct).
The implication is that God will, for all eternity, be making His creation continually new. Imagine being in a finite place that never changes and is always the same. Many people call that JAIL. God, understanding that He has imbued us with His creativity and curiosity, will be forever subtly or drastically altering the very Universe He created so that we will not become bored. His glory, majesty, power, and dominion will be continually demonstrated and experienced by us for all eternity.
“Going All In”
The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit (Part 3)
Prayer Meeting Devotion (March 8, 2017)
“THIN PLACES”
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Acts 16:25-31
As Paul and Silas sit in prison, praying and singing hymns, where is God? Well, we know that God is everywhere at all times. Theologically, we call this the omnipresence of God – there is no where that God is not. But something interesting happens in this passage. God shows us in a way that is beyond His omnipresence. Writers of old referred to these moments as “thin places” – where the divide between heaven and earth is thinner than normal. Some refer to these moments as God’s manifest presence.
We see many of these moments in the Bible. We also see many of these moments in church history. We have become accustomed to not experiencing these moments, so we have made a theology that leans heavy on God’s omnipresence. However, we must long for and pray for these moments when we experience “thin places” when God manifests His presence in life-changing ways. This is the only way to see His Kingdom advanced with power in our lives and in our churches today.
The Blessing of Protection – Psalm 147:13-14
God Blesses Through Protection As Well As Provision
13 He strengthens the bars of your gates
and blesses your people within you.
14 He grants peace to your borders
and satisfies you with the finest of wheat.
Sovereign Safety
God delights in sovereignly protecting His people. He is greatly concerned with and involved in securing the national borders of Israel, and considers national borders to be of vital importance to a nation. It is God who watches over the city (and, by inference, the nations):
Unless the Lord builds the house,
the builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the guards stand watch in vain.if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
God is very involved in the raising up of leaders and nations (for His sovereign purposes):
5 “Look at the nations and watch-
and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told.
6 I am raising up the Babylonians,
that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth
to seize dwellings not their own.”
Bountiful Blessing
God is the author of all provision and blessing. He provides for our physical blessings as well as our spiritual blessings. God provides us with great blessings, as well as plentiful blessings:
“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
God desires to bless us in abundance with everything that we could every need or desire. He greatly desires that we desire Him; for when we desire Him, He will provide Himself in even greater measure:
Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Protected in Peace
The traditional greeting in Hebrew is “shalom“. This is a blessing upon either an individual or a group of people. It is a blessing of peace to another. God greatly desires to protect us in peace:
When the Lord takes pleasure in anyone’s way,
he causes their enemies to make peace with them.
Here is another translation:
When a man’s ways please the Lord,
he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
God desires is that we live in peace with everyone. When we are being obedient to Him, and pleasing Him with our ways, even our foulest, most despicable, war-like, offensive, murderous, odious, and otherwise ill-willed enemies will be forced to be at peace with us. How great a blessing is that!
Finest Food
God provides richly for his children, and greatly desires to provide the finest goods for them. This is not a “name it and claim it” blessing, but rather an indication that when God’s favor is upon us, we will have the opportunity to partake of the finest goods that the land has to offer.
The United States of America, in previous years, had been greatly blessed by God. The standard of living of the people in her borders was far and above that of just about every other nation on Earth. The finest goods and services were both produced and consumed in her by her citizens. God’s blessing upon her was abundantly apparent, and she was the envy of the nations. People willingly forsook their countries of birth for the mere chance at the opportunity to come to her shores and partake in the opportunity and blessing afforded in righteousness before God.
But as her people turned their hearts away from God, banishing Him from her schools, government, businesses, laws, and every other nook and cranny within her, God, being the gentleman that He is, politely nodded His head in acknowledgement of her people’s collective decision, and has withdrawn both Himself and His blessing from her people. And as her people indulge themselves in wickedness and self-centeredness, they are reaping what they have sown. For although her people still have a significantly higher standard of living than most of the world, her people are now, in comparison, poor and living in wretchedness as a result of their wickedness.
Providential Protection
God greatly desires to protect and provide for those who would seek Him out in righteousness. This is not a bribe to people, but rather the way that He seeks to display His mercy and glory. Not everyone who seeks the Lord will become well-off financially. Rather, they will reap a reward of abundance in righteousness. And God, who is sovereign, will secure their future with Him in salvation purchased through the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, as it washes those who have sought Him clean of their stain of sin. Being reconciled to God, they can now live in freedom from sin and in peace with God and man. Regardless of whether monetary and/or Earthly riches are provided in this life, God has abundantly provided riches in spiritual blessings for all eternity to those who would kiss the Son.
A Qualifying Question
Let’s ask a question: Am I partaking of the abundant blessing that God offers in His Son?
A short prayer of preparation:
Father in Heaven, Thank You for Your protection and blessing. Thank You for watching over my household, my city, and my nation. Thank You for your abundant provision through the blood of Your Son, Jesus Christ, that I have been blessed with every spiritual blessing. I know, Father that you know of my needs, and I confess them to you now. Help me that I may seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness that all of these may be added unto me. Help me to treasure my inheritance, and to look forward to the future when my present circumstances appear bleak. Reveal to me Your glory, power, presence and peace so that I may have the strength to endure the trials that I face. Forgive my nation for its many sins. I confess them to you now, for we have forsaken You, My Lord and My God. Help change the hearts of those who have indulged in the pleasures of this world so that they would seek the beauty and peace that only You can provide in relationship with You. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?
The Weather and God – Job 37:5-6
God Controls The Weather, Not Us
5 God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways;
he does great things beyond our understanding.
6 He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’
and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’
Marvelous Mysteries
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
We read these words, and we look up in the sky, and we say to ourselves, “Oh, God created light!” What we may not think about is that God created light on day one of creation. He created the Sun, Moon, and Stars on day four of creation. What was the light that He created on day one?
There are marvelous mysteries waiting for us to learn. Was light, as a construct, created first, then the objects to display the light created later? The good news is that God has revealed some of those mysteries to us. One of them is the weather. God, in His infinite wisdom, chose to make known to man that He, and He alone, is sovereign over the weather.
Wonderful Weather
We have been greatly blessed to have different kinds of weather. It was not always so. Until the flood, there is reason to believe that it had never rained on the Earth*. God commands His creation to give rain and snow and sleet and wind and every other type of weather that we experience:
8 He covers the sky with clouds;
he supplies the earth with rain
and makes grass grow on the hills.15 He sends his command to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
16 He spreads the snow like wool
and scatters the frost like ashes.
17 He hurls down his hail like pebbles.
Who can withstand his icy blast?
18 He sends his word and melts them;
he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow.
Christ Commands
All power and authority over the Earth and the Universe has been given to our Lord Jesus Christ. There is nothing that he does not have authority over in the physical and spiritual realm of all created things. Because of this, we know that Jesus is master over the weather:
24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.
Jesus not only commands the weather; He has it stored up for His express purposes:
22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of the hail,
23 which I reserve for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?
24 What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,
26 to water a land where no one lives,
an uninhabited desert,
27 to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?
28 Does the rain have a father?
Who fathers the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
30 when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?”
Powerful Pride
Since we know that Christ is sovereign over the weather, we must now re-evaluate our position on human-induced climate change:
- Who warms the Earth? Is it man, or is God?
- Who cools the Earth? Is it man, or is God?
- Are we arrogant enough to believe that we, through our feeble efforts, are able to influence the weather in such a grandiose way that we are now sovereign over it?
- Though ants can move a mountain of dirt from a hill, what significant impact does that have on the rest of the world?
We deem ourselves too important in our own eyes when we say that it is we who are causing the temperature to change in the atmosphere of the Earth. How convenient!
Forty or so years ago, scientists were warning us that “Global Cooling” was going to plunge us into another ice age (ask your parents and/or grandparents about that if you aren’t old enough to remember. And try to find the write-ups anywhere now – most have been expunged. Is it not Satan who is the author of Historical Revisionism [i.e., lying and deceit]?).
When they were wrong about that, about a decade and a half later, we were told that in a decade or so “Global Warming” would be so bad that the polar ice caps would melt, all the polar bears would die, and the world’s ocean levels would rise to such a point that our coastal lines would change.
When THAT didn’t happen, they came up with “Global Climate Change.” Not content to attribute one swing in temperature to ourselves, we are now taking full credit for changes in the weather:
- If it is cold, WE DID IT!
- If it is hot, WE DID IT!
- If it is neither, SOMETHING THAT WE DID MUST HAVE CAUSED IT!
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
A Qualifying Question
Let’s ask a question: Whom do I believe when it comes to changes in the weather?
A short prayer of preparation:
Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?
Notes:
*In Genesis 2:6, there is indication that rain had not fallen on the Earth, but that either springs came forth or a mist came forth to water the plants. When Noah made the Ark, and preached righteousness, if there had EVER been a flood before (no matter how small), people most likely would have believed him. After all, if a person had survived the flooding of the Nile every year, and could see that the rains caused it, would they not have believed Noah at least about the flooding portion of His message? Even now, we have hundred-year floods that cause great devastation. People generally lived along streams and rivers, because water was so important in agriculture. Noah was six hundred years old when it flooded (Genesis 7:6). He and others would have survived AT LEAST FIVE hundred-year floods in his lifetime. Unless there had never been a flood before…
Provision From God – Psalm 146:6-10
God Is The One Who Supplies All Of Our Needs And The Needs Of Others
6 He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them-
he remains faithful forever.
7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
8 the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
10 The Lord reigns forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord.
Capable Creator
God is a most wonderful creator. He created the heavens and the Earth. Every day he paints the sky with clouds and the light of the Sun. He continually creates as life abounds of every type, knitting together children in their mother’s wombs, causing seeds to burst forth from the ground to grow into plants, and eggs hatching to become other creatures. There is no aspect of life that God is not intimately involved.
Faithful Forever
God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. And He has shown Himself faithful in every aspect of His character. Because God is love, He cannot be unfaithful in anything. God’s love always seeks out the betterment of others, and His word will never pass away. His faithfulness is a sign that He can be trusted, and that His character is rooted in goodness and righteousness.
Compassionate Caregiver
As creator, God is also compassionate towards His creation. He especially shows this aspect of His character in how He upholds the cause of the oppressed. When men (and women) seemingly abandon others, God rises up to defend their cause. God created ALL men and women in HIS image, and He assists the oppressed among us, as well as feeds the hungry.
Freedom Fighter
God desires that no one be a prisoner to sin. He sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to come and free the captives. Even those who have been wrongfully imprisoned by men can have their souls freed by God. Physical imprisonment cannot stop God from freeing men for eternal relationship with Him. God will go to great lengths to set the captives free, bending Heaven and Earth to do so when someone seeks Him out with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength. And if God so chooses, He can free them physically as well.
Rejoicing in Righteousness
Part of God’s very nature is righteousness. He is greatly pleased when He sees it, because His very existence is bathed in it. It resonates true with Him, and He rejoices when He sees His children walking in righteousness. Just as a parent is proud of their child when they are being polite towards others and living a life of serving others in joy, so does God when we do the same.
Helpful Hospitality
The Psalmist reminds us that God has a special place in His heart for the foreigner among us. To be sure, God is referring to the foreigners who are among us lawfully. God gives the sword to rulers to punish those who refuse to obey the law. Civil disobedience is only tolerated by God when the rulers of a nation are using laws to oppress the people, obfuscate the truth, and deny lawful image-bearers of God their freedom.
God provides great hospitality towards the foreigners among us, as well as the fatherless and widows. God does not forget those people who are unable to provide for themselves. He fully expects the righteous among us, whom He has blessed with plenty, to help those in need. And while He expects this of us, He does not expect us to give out free food and cash to lazy, indignant, self-righteous, and discontent people purveying a victim mentality:
For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.“
Just Judge
God is not indifferent to the suffering of people. Neither will He put up with wickedness:
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
God is righteous, and although wicked people may be allowed to continue on in their wickedness for what appears to humans to be an eternity, God is giving them every opportunity to change their mind and be saved. Although it is a burden upon us when wicked people oppress us, and may even cost us our livelihoods, the material possessions that God has provided to us to manage, and perhaps our very lives, we are sheep being led to the slaughter, witness for God, so that the wicked might turn towards God.
And if they do not, let your heart be at rest. For in death, they will surely pay in full for what they have done here on Earth. Jesus came to pay our fine, but in refusing payment, they will endure for all eternity the punishment that is justly received since they cannot pay the price to redeem themselves.
Righteous Ruler
The Lord God Almighty reigns forevermore in Heaven upon His throne, rightfully in His play of power and glory, overseeing all that He created and ruling in righteousness as He pleases. Let us not forget the sovereignty of God, and the wonderfully good implications that His righteous rule entail. For nothing can happen in the universe without the express prior knowledge and permission of Almighty God, who is righteous, protector, provider, overseer, and master over all.
A Qualifying Question
Let’s ask a question: Where do I go first when I am in need?
A short prayer of preparation:
Father in Heaven, You show Yourself to be righteous in all that You do, even in allowing the wicked to prosper. Help me to have a perspective that places You in Your proper role in all things. Give me the wisdom to recognize in my darkest situations that You are right in the center of them. Help me to be Your eyes, ears, hands, and mouth as other struggle in their daily lives. May Your light show through me that people will be drawn to the light and seek freedom from darkness. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?
Witnessing Without Words – 1 Peter 3:1-2
Witnessing Without Words Only Works In Marriage
1 Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.
Simple Submission
What’s the quickest way for a wife to win over her husband to God? When she submits to him as leader of the home, he will be won over. No amount of words can replace the simple act of reverential submission. When a wife submits to her husband, there is a special provision that God makes for her so that her husband’s heart connects to her and God.
Won Without Words
When a husband’s wife submits to him, he feels appreciated and fulfilled. His desire to step up to the plate as the head of the household is aroused, and he will be convicted by the Holy Spirit if he does not know God, as her Godly behavior will point out his less than Godly behavior. He will be in a position to be won over by her conduct. No amount of words can convince a man, but the simple act of submission of his wife can do this. He will become curious as he is convicted, and ask what happened? His heart will then be open to the words that were previously merely bouncing off of him. While this does not guarantee that a man will respond correctly, it certainly sets the stage for the Spirit of God to prepare his heart for what both you and God desire – his obedience!
Beautiful Behavior
Actions speak louder than words. When a wife acts in a Godly manner, she is able to influence her husband in ways that were previously unavailable to her. He will be willing to listen as he ponders her behavior, and may be more open to coming to church, reading from the Bible, and other spiritual activities that nagging and gentle rebuking had no effect in the past. It is so true that you catch more bees with honey than with vinegar…
Powerful Purity
When a wife is acting in purity, it does something to a man. It awakens a desire to be worthy of that purity. A man may even break down in shame when his wife is acting in purity and he is not. He may very well need to see the proper example before he is able to start desiring purity in his own life. And while there are cases where a man may simply reject God as he sees his wife display purity in her life, this will give him every opportunity to see out God as the pattern of holiness is displayed before him.
Respectful Reverence
And men do respond to respect. It is their love language. Just as women need to feel loved in order to grow and prosper in God, men need to feel respected in order to grow properly and prosper in God. A man will be influenced more by the respect of his wife than a million words by her in helpful assistance. Respect will resonate within him, and allow the wife to connect with him in a way that she may not have been able to connect before. It opens a door and shows him that He needs to respect God and his wife in return. That usually begins the process of reconciliation between him and God.
A Qualifying Question
Wives, let’s ask a question: Am I respecting my husband in such a way that he sees how he should respect God?
A short prayer of preparation:
Father in Heaven, You are able to do more than we could ever desire. Please help me to respect others in the way that they need to be respected. Help me to respect You as the best and highest example of love for men. Help me to live a life that is submitted to You and to others. Help me to overcome any difficulties that I may have that would hinder my ability to submit to You and to others. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?
Inner Beauty and God – 1 Peter 3:3-6
God Sees The Heart. So Should Everyone Else.
3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. 4 Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, 6 like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.
Flashy Fashion
Culture teaches us that we need to be noticed. And the only way to be noticed is to flaunt what we have. Women in particular have been listening to this lie for millennia. During the time when the writer of this Scripture lived, they women adorned themselves with beautiful hair styles, heavy perfume (quite costly and showed the potential of their dowry if unmarried, or the affluence of their husband if they were married…), and precious metal jewelry.
Today, it is how much skin can you show, how tight can you make your clothes, and how much bling you can safely wear without tipping over. And while that certainly will get a woman attention from all who see her, is it the type of attention she is truly seeking? Fishermen know that whatever you bait your hook with will determine what type of fish you will catch. For disciples of Christ, this type of adornment is not at all in keeping with God’s plan for attractiveness and beauty. This type of adornment is designed to evoke worldly desire from men and envy from women. While that may seem desirable because it provides immediate feedback to the woman, it underscores the problem that the Christian community has in general: Disciples of Christ have adopted modern cultural definitions of beauty rather than the Biblical model for beauty.
Carefully Clothed
Peter then goes on to remind women (remember, this is nothing new – it was going on two thousand years ago as well…) that they should adorn themselves with a gentle and quiet spirit:
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
If a woman dresses like a street-walker, there should be no surprise if salacious men cat-call and undress her (and more than she already is) with their eyes. If a woman dresses in Armani and Pravda and (name any other fashion mogul who designs outlandishly priced clothing and accessories), they should not be surprised when thieves and burglars stalk her to lighten her burden of wearing and carrying all of her clothing and accessories, or the vacuous playboys who will try to woo her heart to make her their sugar-mama. People will crowd around like friends until the money dries up. Then the leeches of society will move on to other feeding grounds.
Women must ask themselves a question: What “bait” will I put on to attract a Godly man? Godly men are attracted to women who have a gentle and quiet spirit. Godly men attune their eyes and hearts to women who display this type of beauty.
Reverent Respect
When women put on a gentle and quiet spirit, they exhibit the character that Godly women of old used to display. They showed great respect for their husbands and others, didn’t gossip, and dressed modestly so as not to entice LUST in the hearts of potential suitors or even other Godly men trying to keep their hearts pure. When people can’t determine what’s beneath the clothing, they look to see what’s in the character. When women show respect to God and others, that is like a bright light to moths for potential Godly husbands. Proverbs has a lot to say about women and character. Proverbs 31 tells of a woman of noble character. And here are a few choice other ones as well:
It is better to live in a corner of the housetop
than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.A quarrelsome wife is like the dripping
of a leaky roof in a rainstorm;
restraining her is like restraining the wind
or grasping oil with the hand.A foolish child is a father’s ruin,
and a quarrelsome wife is like
the constant dripping of a leaky roof.Better to live in a desert
than with a quarrelsome and nagging wife.
Forego Fear
Women are prone to fear. Their very nurturing nature predisposes them to assess potential dangers and to avoid them. While this is a very useful skill, it has a tendency to bleed into all other areas of life, and can cause great distress as they try to fight the response to flee. Women are able to summon great courage, and fiercely protect their families, but this generally comes out when they are cornered. It is when they are blind-sided or can see danger at a distance that fear envelops them.
Peter encourages women to let go of fear, for God is sovereign and is MORE THAN ABLE to protect them through their circumstances. When women can let go of fear, God is able to use them more powerfully in every situation. While the fear response has its place (seek shelter from tornadoes and lightning storms, lock the doors and go to the panic room when crowds come shooting up and burning down the town, etc.), so does trusting God in every circumstance.
A Qualifying Question
Women, let’s ask a question: Do I exalt myself before men, or do I let God exalt me before men?
Men, let’s ask a question: What attracts me most to the woman I desire?
A short prayer of preparation:
Father in Heaven, You have shown me that it is You that I need to please, and not men. Help me to dress in a way that honors You. Help me to cloth myself with the character of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Help me to live this life free of fear, for You are sovereign over all. Help me to do what is good and right so that I will honor you with my body, words, and thoughts. This I ask in Jesus Name, Amen.
Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?
CHRIST ALLIANCE CHURCH 