Salvation and God – Obadiah 15-18

Jacob Will Be Saved, and Esau Will Be Destroyed

¹⁵“The day of the Lord is near
for all nations.
As you have done, it will be done to you;
your deeds will return upon your own head.
¹⁶Just as you drank on my holy hill,
so all the nations will drink continually;
they will drink and drink
and be as if they had never been.
¹⁷But on Mount Zion will be deliverance;
it will be holy,
and Jacob will possess his inheritance.
¹⁸Jacob will be a fire
and Joseph a flame;
Esau will be stubble,
and they will set him on fire and destroy him.
There will be no survivors
from Esau.”
The Lord has spoken.

Coming Calamity

The great and terrible day of the Lord is coming quickly. It will overtake us with great speed and we will be unaware of its exact arrival. God will redeem Israel, and destroy all whose names are not written in the Book of Life.

One of the most interesting things is that any whose name is not found in the book of Life will worship the beast.

Woeful Wrath

The nations will drink and drink as if they have never been. The wrath of God will come upon all of them. The justice of God is tempered by His love. Eventually, God must mete out justice in accordance with His Holiness. He will destroy everyone who refused to believe Him; for if they believed Him, it would be counted to them as righteousness.

Delightful Deliverance

God will bring about a mighty work on that day. Israel will be redeemed! The seed of Abraham will have the scales removed from their eyes, and they will worship and follow the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Israel in that day will finally receive their inheritance promised to them through Abraham by God.

Esau Eradicated

The interesting side note in this is that the seed of Esau will be destroyed. And who might the seed of Esau be? Those who rejected their inheritance. Both Jacob and Esau came from Jacob, but Jacob’s line received the inheritance. Remember what God has given to you, and stand fast in His love. Do not deny Him, and He will not deny you.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask a question: Am I ready for the return of Jesus Christ (and if not, why not)?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, You have shown me Your love and compassion in revealing Your Son to me. Help me to be prepared and be the faithful servant whom the master finds has everything in order when he returns. Guard my heart against unrighteousness, and help me to walk ever closer with Jesus. Thank You Father, for You keep every promise that You make. And bless Your people Israel. Provide for them, protect them, and save them. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?

Poverty and God – Luke 16:19-23

Poverty does not predispose us to moral depravity.

¹⁹“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. ²⁰At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores ²¹and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

²²“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.”

Luxurious Living

God gives to us that which we are able to use. When we are provided more that we can handle, we either tend to abuse it or lose it. Many dream of having great wealth, but most would not be able to manage it well – we simply do not have the skills. This comes through two things – training and faithfulness.

In this scripture, we see a juxtaposition between one who is rich, and one who is poor. The rich man is dressed in purple (purple dye at that time was VERY expensive to make and use – only the very richest people could afford it) and lived in luxury. The rich man lacked nothing material in his life on Earth. He was well off, and would have been able to address any Earthly need or desire that he had. Most of us, without the wisdom and instruction in the Lord provided by God’s word, would be envious of this man and the apparent ease in which he lived.

Sick with Sores

Jesus then describes a man living in a starkly different lifestyle. Lazarus – the only person in any of Jesus’ parables to actually be named by name – was a beggar at the gates of the rich man’s home. Rather than living in a life of splendor and ease, he was destitute and dependent upon the charity of those who were able to provide him with their overflow of provision by God through empathy.

In stark contrast to the rich man, dressed in purple, the poor man was sporting sores. And to add insult to injury, the poor man’s sores were licked by unclean animals – the dogs. Having no money, no food, and poor health, this man waited patiently for assistance, and would have been willing to eat even the scraps of food thrown out from the rich man’s table.

Righteous Reward

Jesus indicated in this parable that when both died, angels bore the poor man’s spirit to Abraham’s bosom. Many scholars believe that this is the location where the souls of the righteous were kept until the time when Jesus was resurrected, and they could be fully in the presence of the Father. We see, however, that at least two of those who were declared righteous because they believed God were in the presence of Jesus before the resurrection.

The poor man received his reward – he was in the presence of Jesus after death. This is very important since it shows that the physical conditions that the poor man found himself in during life – physical and financial poverty – did not equate to spiritual poverty. Even in his horrific state of life, the poor man – Lazarus – believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Rather than receive his reward on Earth, he received it in Heaven.

Terrible Torment

The rich man, however, received his reward on Earth. Jesus says that Lazarus was at his gate, and longed to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. This indicates that the rich man would have had to pass Lazarus every time he left his home and every time he came back home. He had shown no pity to Lazarus; otherwise, Lazarus would have been eating the scraps from his table.

The rich man, after he had died, then received his spiritual reward as well. He was thrown into Hades, where he was tormented by fire (the same torment that those who are thrown into the lake of fire receive). His lack of compassion for the poor, and his self-serving use of what God had provided to him was evidence that He did not believe God. For if the rich man believed God, he would have obeyed what God had told him to obey – love your neighbor as yourself. Lazarus was his neighbor, as Jesus pointed out through the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Misleading Manifestation

Taking care of the poor is not the job of the government. It is the job of everyone whom God has blessed. However, there are many wicked people who cry out that they are in poverty, and try to exploit the compassion and generosity of those who would help people in need. And often, those who are generous become known among the community of the poor. And the generosity of feeding one beggar might turn into the undesirable state of being mobbed by a multitude of beggars.

And while discernment should be used when engaging in acts of charity, those whom God has blessed should give what they need, not what they ask for, to help them out, and leave the results up to God. Does a person say work for food? Give them food, not money. Most people who say they will work for food will balk if you offer them food in return for their labor. In that, their cry for help is deceitful.

The physical and financial state of a person does not necessarily indicate the person’s spiritual position. Even James warned us about showing favoritism to the rich over the poor in the church. Besides, God has chosen people who are financially poor to be rich in faith. God, because He is sovereign, wants all who are His people to be well provided. And when they are not, we should help them out as we are able to do so, regardless of who they are:

but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

“‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God.'”

“If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you.”

Note that the poor are to be given the opportunity to work for their food. Back when the Bible was being written, it would have been the opportunity to gather the gleanings from the field. In today’s tight profit margins of businesses, what can be done so that the poor can do work and thereby use their hands for the benefit of others rather than just putting out their palms for charity? When we give money and food away, it detracts from the dignity that all human beings find in work. Work is a gift from God to feel useful as well as to provide for a person and their family (if any).

Finally, remember that the condition of poverty does not necessarily predispose a person to moral failure. Moral failure is a choice that each and every one of us makes, regardless of our financial position or the pressures that are placed upon us. It is up to each and every one of us to do what is right in the eyes of God, as we will be required to give an account of all that we have done, good and evil, while we were alive on Earth.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask a question: If financially possible, am I looking after the needs of the poor around me?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, You have said that the poor will always be among us, and that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. Father, show me how I can love the poor around me, as they are my neighbors as well. Give me a heart for those who are poor, and to see the poor through Your eyes. Help me to set aside time, talent, or treasure that it may be used to help the poor as You provide all things to me. This I ask in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?

Justice of God – Isaiah 59:14-15

The Lack Of Justice Displeases God

¹⁴So justice is driven back,
and righteousness stands at a distance;
truth has stumbled in the streets,
honesty cannot enter.
¹⁵Truth is nowhere to be found,
and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.

The Lord looked and was displeased
that there was no justice.

Justice Jilted

Evil people seek to position themselves as far from justice as they can get. Their works demand justice, and they seek to thwart the righteous by escaping what they deserve. Darkness hates the light, and justice has a tendency to restrict evil from its effects. Evil would prefer that justice turn its eyes away from their works so that they would not reap what they sow. In that, those who are tasked to ensure that justice is meted out are threatened or outright bullied into submission, driven back from its rightful place in society.

Righteousness Rejected

Once justice is displaced, the people reject righteousness, because their love grows cold in the darkness of the wickedness that grows in the vacuum. The only path to success when righteousness is rejected is to embrace evil. The righteous will stand at a distance, for wickedness will turn its full force of anger and vitriolic hatred towards anyone brave enough to approach the wicked.

In the United States of America, as long as a person agrees with the wicked societal and political positions and stances that are prevalent, regardless of the person’s past indiscretions, they are left alone. But when any deviation from that worldview is presented, the people who once shielded them become their biggest critics and cry out for their humiliation and destruction. Labels of hater, bigot, hypocrite, and many others are relentlessly spoken about that person, until their character is fully assassinated.

Yet we are called to display God’s character. In Jeremiah 29:7:, God calls the righteous to pray for and seek peace and prosperity wherever we are:

Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.

Truth Trounced

As this turning towards evil progresses, truth is attacked as well. Moral relativism gives birth, and truth can no longer be heard, because, after all, what is truth? Truth is rejected by those who prefer the power that historical revisionism provides to them. If you can change what a person believes about the past, you can skew how that person views future events.

Take, for instance, the viewpoint that being of a specific race (color of skin caused by hereditary genetics) somehow magically makes a person “underprivileged”, “oppressed”, “victimized”, “downtrodden”, “targeted”, and any other number of emotionally charged words; it will have a tendency to affect how a person views events.

Predator and Prey

The innate need for unity in purpose forces evil to destroy that which cannot coexist with its ideology and worldview. Truth and lies cannot commingle. Those who live in lies despise the very thing that exposes their actions for the evil practices that they are. Truth and righteousness are then hunted down and extinguished by the unrighteous, so that they will not be reminded of evilness within them. Wicked people seek to salve their conscience, because their conscience conflicts with their goals and agendas. Or, as we have seen with the LGBT community, it is not enough to merely tolerate the differences of opinion in viewpoints – everyone MUST agree with and publicly endorse their viewpoint, or be destroyed for their “insolence” in rejecting “the enlightened view”.

Almighty Annoyed

God is never pleased when the vehicles that He created to display His character, honor, and glory refuse to act in the manner for which they were created. God is greatly displeased when Truth, Righteousness, and the shunning of evil are sought out and destroyed for doing exactly what they were meant to be doing – displaying Almighty God’s character and His love, mercy, grace, and righteousness.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask a question: Are we suppressing the truth with unrighteousness?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, You are very patient with us given the state of the world today. Your word says that Your mercies renew every morning, but there will come a time when You can no longer be found. Father, work in the hearts of those whose evil predisposes them to shun Your light. Help their hearts to break over their sin. Show them the price that needed to be paid in order to redeem us to You. And guide each of us towards truth, justice, and righteousness. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?

Wisdom of God – James 3:17

Show Your Wisdom Through The Way You Live Your Life

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

Pointed Progression

Paul takes care to show that each of these is part of a progression. They happen in order for a reason – they are the building blocks of love. If at any point we are stuck in a relationship, we should see where we are on this scale to determine if there is something that we are not doing correctly. Of course, there are going to be times when the other person or nation will not respond to love. Even so, we should assure ourselves that we are doing what is right in the eyes of God.

Perfectly Pure

God is holy, and His motives are always pure in nature, as well as other-focused. Since the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, we need to carefully consider our true, deep, inner motives to determine if we are doing what we are doing for the right reasons. Once we establish that we are properly motivated, we can then gauge how we are interacting with our neighbors and our enemies in order to determine if we intentionally or unintentionally causing friction.

Because the ways of God are foolishness to those who reject God, this dichotomy will naturally cause friction, tension, and sometimes even breaks in our relationships with others, including those who are/were closest to us. That is why Jesus said:

³²“Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. ³³But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.

³⁴“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵For I have come to turn

“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
³⁶a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’

³⁷“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. ³⁸Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

⁴⁰“Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. ⁴¹Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. ⁴²And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”

Passionately Peaceful

Peace – it is heavenly! We say that, but do we really think about it? Peace allows us to build and strengthen our relationships with one another. We need the blood of Christ to provide us peace with God. It is only through peace that we can really flourish in the endeavors that we set our minds and hands to.

And when we are not at peace, tensions rise between people and between nations. People are then unable to completely devote themselves to what they are doing, as they need to keep one hand on the job, and one on their weapon. And then it is only through the grace of God that we are able to get anything accomplished.

Carefully Considerate

Once we have established that our motives are correct and that we are seeking peace with others, we can then take the time to consider the needs, wants, desires, and motivations of others. We can then be considerate towards them. In showing consideration towards others, it will draw us into tighter relationship.

When driving, do you appreciate it when other drivers show consideration towards you when they are faced with the option of not doing so? Has anyone recently provided you the opportunity to merge into traffic when they didn’t need to? Have they held a door for you when your hands were full of packages or children? Consideration towards others is the extension of the olive branch of peace towards others.

While there are some that will indignantly scoff at a considerate gesture as though they somehow rightly deserved it, most people’s hearts will soften when it is offered in good faith. Some may even thank you. Considering the state of the world today, depending on what era the person grew up, they may also be grateful, or surprised that consideration is being shown today. Be a light in the world…

Singularly Submitted

Jesus said,

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

We need to be submitted to God in order fully embrace wisdom. Paul had this to say about submission to one another and to the Holy Spirit:

⁵In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
⁶Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
⁸And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

It is through submission to others that we are able to wisely interact with them. As we become more wise, we will become more submitted. And as we become more submitted, we will become greater:

²⁶Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—

Moved to Mercy

It is only after we get to this point that mercy, as a life-style, makes sense. The first inclinations of our heart is to seek justice, and for many, vengeance. But God is merciful, and vengeance is His and His alone. Mercy is much easier to give when you have received it yourself. Remember the mercy that God has shown you, and replicate success. To truly gain wisdom, and flourish in relationship, it is necessary to show mercy to others. Mercy is often the tool that God uses to break the hearts of others. Is that not what we want to occur? That the hearts of others would be broken towards sin, and that they would reconcile through the shed blood of Jesus Christ? In this, it truly is good to be the enabler!

Wonderful Works

Now that we have paved the way, we are ready to bear fruit through our works. Our attitudes towards God and others is correct; we are properly submitted to God and others; we are now showing the fruit of the Spirit. Since we are submitted to God, He can do all that He desires to accomplish through us. As tools in the process, rather than the taking the role of the craftsman, the fruit will be pure and good, untainted by our hands. These are the works that will endure throughout eternity, as they were accomplished by God through us and not our own desires, which bear the taint of our sinful nature.

Inconspicuously Impartial

Since God is not a respecter of persons, we should not be either. This is a further refinement of character and the wisdom of God, which IS His character! When we experience the character of God, we become more like Him, and fulfill what He purposed in us to be – His image-bearers. There is one last thing to consider – are we being truly sincere in what we are doing?

Solely Sincere

Most people recognize when you are sincere in your dealing with them. And most people desire – secretly or openly – that other people be sincere with them. This breaks down the barriers that are put up when we appear to be acting in a self-serving manner. Sincerity is respected by people. God shows us the greatest of respect in that in everything He is completely sincere. As God’s image bearers, this should affect our interactions with others and with God. Reciprocity of sincerity is expected. When we don’t act in sincerity, our witness is tarnished, and our relationship with God is harmed. When we rely upon God and His goodness and sovereignty, we are able to be sincere in all that we do, say, and think towards others and towards God.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask a question: Am I becoming wise as I participate in God’s character as His image-bearer?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, You have revealed Yourself to us both through Your Word and Your Son. Teach me the ways of wisdom so that You will be honored and glorified by my thoughts, actions, and speech. Help me to revere You more each and every day, and show me Your wisdom through Your word. Help me to realize the value of wisdom, and to see its value as I participate in Your character. And may You be glorified as I bear Your image properly. Keep me from harm, and strengthen me as I persevere through trials and tribulations. Please prepare me so that I will be the spotless bride, ready for the bridegroom at the appointed time. And Father, I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ would come, and come soon! Amen.

Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?

Famine From God – Amos 8:11-12

Beware A Famine Of The Word Of God

¹¹“The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord,
“when I will send a famine through the land—
not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
¹²People will stagger from sea to sea
and wander from north to east,
searching for the word of the Lord,
but they will not find it.”

Famine Foretold

The first great famine occurred after the last prophecy in Malachi. For over 400 years, no prophetic word had come to the people of Israel. Generations had passed with no communication from God to His people.

This was very disconcerting to the people of God. They had, in the past, received blessing and feedback from God through His prophets. Now they waited in silence. Famine brings great hunger. When people are in a desperate place of hunger, it wears on them. Going hundreds of years without receiving direction from God must have been frustrating to the Israelites. They had been led by the pillar of smoke by day and fire by night for forty years in the desert. They could seek out God’s prophets who were among them when they needed individual direction (even though, as a nation, they scorned and persecuted the prophets when their sinful lifestyles were brought to their attention and rebuked).

But isn’t it also true that the teacher is silent when the student is taking the test?

Desire Defeated

We are told to seek the Lord while He can be found. As God withdraws His sovereign Spirit from a nation, they will soon be given over to their iniquity. And when they seek the Lord, He may not be found. The judgement of God may be at hand. In that day, people will seek direction from God, and they may receive silence.

It is imperative that we seek God every day so that we will not experience a famine of the Word of God. We choose how much time we spend with God and His Word. When we don’t spend time in God’s Word and with God in prayer, we are voluntarily entering into a self-made famine. Don’t be surprised if God doesn’t immediately jump to help you if you don’t spend time with Him. Draw close to the Lord through His Word and through prayer, and you will never experience a famine of the word.

And if/when God is silent, remember: the just shall live by faith.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask a question: Am I spending enough time every day with God in prayer and in His Word?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, forgive me for my many sins. Show me the path of righteousness. Help me to draw close to You through Your Word and through prayer. Strengthen my relationship with You that I would be able to trust You more and more each day. Father, forgive our nation, for the people are not seeking You and Your Word. Soften their hearts that they would seek You and return to You. Only You, Lord God Almighty, are able to break through the hardness of hearts. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?

Restoration by God – Amos 9:14-15

God Does Everything He Promises To Do

¹⁴and I will bring my people Israel back from exile.

“They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them.
They will plant vineyards and drink their wine;
they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
¹⁵I will plant Israel in their own land,
never again to be uprooted
from the land I have given them,”

says the Lord your God.

Prophesy Provided

There are many who believe in replacement theology – that God has abandoned Israel in favor of the church. While there are some areas where the church is being used the way Israel was supposed to be used, God is not done with Israel. This particular prophesy is evidence of it.

God not only provided this prophesy, but others as well, showing that His had is upon His people. God is far from being done with Israel. And the blessings and curses for those that bless or curse her are still binding and occurring. The last two nations on Earth that were Israel’s friends – The United Kingdom and The United States of America – have turned their backs on Israel.

The United Kingdom is now being plagued with descendants of Ishmael who follow the teachings of the one who declared that his god was the greatest of all deceivers. Talking of the one that they follow, Jesus said:

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

The United States of America, whose President has turned away from Israel, and is even now welcoming and transplanting the very same people that are plaguing the United Kingdom and all of Europe into its country, will soon suffer the same fate.

God Gathers

Not only is this prophesy evidence that God still loves and has great plans for the Israelites, but many in this generation have seen it come to pass with their very own eyes. In 1948, the dry bones became as flesh, and Israel, the only nation ever to have been scattered to the four winds, was once again a nation, and her people repatriated to her. What had become a desert began to flourish.

But although God gathered them, they were still under Gentile control. On June 6, 1967, after the Six Day War, God delivered them from their oppressors and Israel once again, the only nation ever to have done so, became completely sovereign over its land after millenia of being scattered. God doesn’t mess around, and He does EVERYTHING He says He is going to do. Even if it takes more than TWO MILLENNIA. And He ALWAYS does it at the exact right time.

Verdant Ventures

Have you ever took a look at what Israel looks like from space? It is a verdant, lush country. What was once desert has been terraformed by Israel with the help of Almighty God. At the Eastern edge of Israel, it looks as if God had used his finger to outline the edges of the country from other land. On one side, it is green and lush. On the other, it is dry and desert. God is blessing Israel and protecting it. They are able to grow their own food, and drink their own wine, because God promised this to them more than TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO.

Is God slow in answering His promises? Absolutely not! God has perfect timing. Why now, you might ask? Because He foretold it in Daniel over 2500 years ago, and then gave Daniel the time for it to occur and only defining the time after the death of Christ. We often find that we must wait for a while in order to come through our issues. But God is faithful, and no matter how long it takes, He will always fulfill all that He has declared. The Israelites have personally experienced this. In 2 Peter 3:8, in the Greek, a hEmera is as a thousand years. While hEmera has been translated as the word “day” here, it can also be translated as a time.

Permanent Planting

The formation of Israel as a nation and the repatriation of its people is not just some random event, or temporary situation. God has promised that He would not allow them to NEVER be uprooted from their land again. Since God keeps all of His promises, any efforts at removing the Israelites from Israel will result in great backlash from God. Nations who try to do so should soberly consider the consequences of their actions should they try to take from Israel what God has now given to them through His promise and give it to anyone else.

Ask any nation who oppressed God’s people what happened to them after God finished using them as His tool of punishment. It might be hard to ask; all have fallen.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask a question: Do we love Israel, the people AND the nation, the same way that God does?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, You are perfect in all of Your ways. You have shown me in Your word how much You love Israel. Help me to love Your people as You do. Give me a desire to show them Your love so that they would desire You in a greater way. Show me how to pray for Your people that they would be blessed, protected, enriched, and turn their hearts to You. Open their hearts that they may see Your Son for who He really is. Restore Your people to Yourself, and help me to be prepared for what is next to come. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?

Holiness of God – 1 John 1:5-7

There Is No Darkness In Pure Light

⁵This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. ⁷But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Glorious Glow

God is perfect. His light is without defect. It is when we look through the lens of our own version of morality that we ascribe any wrongdoing to God. When confronted with the facts, most people object to God based on morality, for God provides us with overwhelming proof of Himself and His Righteousness.

We cannot begin to understand God until we come to the realization that God is perfect. It is only in the lens of perfection that God is able to be seen clearly. John tells us that there is no darkness in Him at all. Any perceived darkness that we think we see in God is our own darkness clouding the truth about God’s light. God allows this to occur for many reasons:

The hearts of the Jews were hardened to allow them to be jealous of Gentile Christians.
We have refused to love the light, and God gives us over to darkness.
Pain and suffering obscure our ability to see clearly.

Darkness of Deception

The bane of the church are those who claim to know Christ, and claim the title of Christian, yet refuse to live in the light. When we walk in darkness, we cannot claim fellowship with the light. It is like water and oil. The two are immiscible – they won’t mix properly. Shake them as together as much as you want, but the oil immediately separates from the water and floats on top.

We cannot claim to be light and hide the very thing that we claim to be. When we obscure the light of God, we suppress the truth with wickedness. This is like a person camping and trying to start a fire by pouring water over the dry wood. Any sane person would be horrified at the results, and counsel the person to stop sabotaging their efforts. Sin effectively sabotages our witness for it extinguishes any claim to light that we have.

There are wheat and chaff. The wheat falls to the ground during the threshing, and the chaff blows away in the wind. We experience trials to perfect our faith and endurance, so that as the mighty winds of difficulty come upon us, we will fall to the ground as kernels of grain rather than be blown away by the pressures of our trials. And it is during persecution that there is a great separation of the wheat from the chaff.

The world watches us in hopeful expectation. Some watch in the hopes that we will fail. When we do, they feel justified in their own sinful behavior. Others watch in the hopes that what we say is true so that they can believe that it is really true and embrace the truth. The way in which we conduct ourselves will impact many others. Walking in darkness is guaranteed to have negative results, not only for us, but also for those who watch us.

Relationship in Radiance

When we walk in the light, we experience fellowship with each other and with God. God intended for us to be with Him from the very beginning. It wasn’t until Adam sinned that there was a separation between God and man. Walking in the light is to enjoy the character and company of those who are like us and in the presence of God.

When we walk in the light, we are sanctified. The light exposes our deeds of darkness, and gives us the opportunity to turn from darkness and turn towards the light. The more we turn towards the light, the sweeter the fellowship is between us, God, and the ones who choose the light. The blood of Christ is able to wash away our sins. We can only do that when we turn from darkness and head towards the light.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask a question: Are we allowing the light of God to penetrate and expose any darkness in our ways?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, You are pure light, and there is no darkness within You. You are perfect, and do not change like shifting shadows. In all things, You are holy and righteous. My ways are not Your ways, and my thoughts are not Your thoughts. Help me, Father, to align my heart to Yours, that I would better understand Your ways and Your thoughts. Purify me of all darkness that is within me. Cleanse me of my unrighteousness. Peel back the layers of darkness and deception that have infiltrated my life through the world, the flesh, and the devil. Father, help me to turn to You at all times. Guard and guide me so that I may walk in the way everlasting. Help me to be a beacon of light on a hill, that it would lead others to You. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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Obedience to God – Micah 6:6-8

Do What Is Required Of You

⁶With what shall I come before the Lord
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
⁷Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
⁸He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

Sacrifices Scorned

A rhetorical question is asked by the prophet Micah. What sacrifice is acceptable to God? What can be offered for the sin of the soul? The sacrificial system was set up in Levitical Law to show that there was a price that needed to be paid for sin. The price was originally the life-blood of a creature – it’s very life was demanded. These sacrifices pointed to the final, substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus’ perfect blood.

But God’s people had become prosperous, and the impact of the sacrifices were lost on the people. After all, if you sinned, all you needed to do was to offer your sacrifice, and everything was OK. The breaking of one’s heart over sinning against God had been dulled. Even in the Christian churches today, we lean heavily upon the grace and mercy of God. The impact of sinning against a Holy God doesn’t seem to grasp us as it once did when we were first saved from our sins. It is only as we recognize the Holiness of God, and His view of sin, that we again realize the impact that sin has in our lives.

Micah even puts forth as a type of sacrifice something that was loathsome to God – the sacrifice of the firstborn. This was a type of sacrifice that was required by false gods. This was egregious to God, and should have startled those who heard and read these words. But the Israelites had often worshiped both God and false gods. We must always remember that God has required a specific sacrifice from us – Obedience.

Royal Requirements

Micah now points out the sacrifice of obedience:

To Act Justly
- When we act justly, we are not taking advantage of our neighbors, but rather we are doing all things with them in mind.
- Justice is one of the recurring themes in the Bible. The people of God seem to lack the ability to give justice to those who need it most. We have been warned by God to mete out justice, or the One who is Just will judge us.
To Love Mercy
- The first inclination of human nature is to retaliate when we are wronged. But God’s mercies renew every morning. We need to adopt the character of God as we grow in our faith. Mercy is a Godly characteristic that integrates with justice. It is the tempering force that encourages peace and tranquility in relationship between two people. It is the olive branch that helps to mend relationships and encourages friendship. To withhold mercy is to promote the eventual severing of the relationship. This does not mean that we should enable wicked people by excusing their behavior; we are to show mercy to help them see the goodness of God.
- Even within marriage, God allowed divorce only in certain circumstances, and only because of the hardness of human hearts.
To Walk Humbly with your God
- God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble. When we are humbled before God, He is able to shape us, guide us, and use us for His purposes. Humbleness is a Godly characteristic that is antithetical to western culture, which now promotes self over all. Western culture promotes pride in advertising, music, literature, art, and just about every facet of the human experience. Humble people are looked upon as doormats by others who seek to elevate themselves at the expense of those who will not (or cannot) do the same.
- Only in humility are we able to be in right relationship with not only God but with man as well.

Each of these points towards relationship with God – Justice, Mercy, and Humbleness. If we seek to draw close to God, we should embrace these and put them into practice. Since Christ is our final and complete sacrifice for sin, we have nothing else to present to God for our sin, for nothing else is needed. Let us embrace these Godly characteristics as we draw close to the One who sacrificed His one and only Son to reconcile us to Him. It is only proper that we offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, as our spiritual act of worship.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask a question: Am I broken by my sin, or do I take the blood of Christ for granted?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, I thank You for the sacrifice of Your one and only Son on the cross for my sins. Thank You for Your mercy and grace. Help me to see my sin in the same way that You see it. Help me, Father, to be broken when I sin, that the hardness of heart that comes with sin would not infect me. Help me to love justice, mercy, and walk humbly before You. May Your character be found in me as I am on display for the world to see. Strengthen me as I walk with You today. Help me to draw close to You through Your word and Your spirit. Guide me in all that I do. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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Thankfulness for God – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

God’s Will For You

¹⁶Rejoice always, ¹⁷pray continually, ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Remember to Rejoice

Rejoicing at all times is not the easiest thing to do. Pain, misery, and other terrible circumstances can all damper our desire to rejoice. But we see in the Bible time and time again where God’s people rejoice in times of great difficulty:

Paul rejoiced while in prison
David rejoiced when he was pursued
Isaiah instructs the afflicted to rejoice in the Lord

Persist in Prayer

Prayer is something that every Christian should be an expert. We have many examples in scripture to draw upon. We can openly pour out our hearts to God in praise and petition. Prayer can be silent or spoken. The only thing that stops us from praying is ourselves. We need to take more time to be in the presence of our Almighty God. As in all things, we need to practice to become good at prayer. And as we grow, we will notice our prayer life changes from our immediate needs to the needs of others and praise of the One who hears our prayers.

Thoroughly Thankful

Thankfulness is a state of the heart. It is dependent upon the level of contentment that we experience. If a person is not content, they will not be inherently thankful. And when difficulties arise, they will find it even more challenging to be thankful. It is easy to be content in times of plenty. Let us practice thankful contentment when we can so that in times of difficulty we can apply ourselves to that difficult task. Job first set the example:

Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.

Paul tells us he learned to be content:

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask a question: Am I thankfully content, praying continually, with rejoicing?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, may my heart be content with my circumstances, and may Your praise be continually on my lips. Even in my worst circumstances, You are with me, guiding me and providing for me. Help me to remember that You are constantly involved in my life, regardless of the pain I feel. Help me to praise Your name, even if it is with tears, for You treasure them. And when there are terribly long times of difficulty, with no end in sight, give me the strength to continually praise You, pray to You, and be thankful; for this life is very short, no matter how painfully long it feels. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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Combat Training With God – 2 Timothy 2:3-6

Be Engaged In The Work Entrusted To You

³Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. ⁵Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. ⁶The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops.

Equally Engaged

No one is above their master. Jesus suffered at the hands of the very people that he was trying to bring the message of salvation – God’s people! We have been charged with spreading the Good News to every nation and people. We are going to experience the same resistance and, in some cases, the same persecution that He experienced.

No matter how many times we hear this, we need to hear it again and again. God had directed the Israelites to build monuments of stone in certain places to remind them of what He had done for them. When children would ask what the monuments were for, the parents were to explain it to their children. It was also there so that the parents wouldn’t forget what God had done for them either.

Imagine being led by a pillar of smoke by day, and a pillar of fire by night FOR FORTY YEARS. Imagine walking in the desert in circles FOR FORTY YEARS and your clothing and shoes NEVER WORE OUT. Imagine gathering manna every day FOR FORTY YEARS in the desert where God provided all the food, shelter, and water that you needed. And now imagine that the same people who witnessed this amazing power of God FOR FORTY YEARS so quickly forget His wonderful provision to them.

It would appear that we have the memory equivalent to that of gnats.

Committed to the Commander

In the same way that a soldier is committed to his commanding officer, we are to be committed to our commanding officer – Jesus Christ! This requires discipline and the ability to do what our commander says. To the extent that we listen to our Commander-In-Chief will be to the extent that we are successful in completing the missions that we are assigned.

And just like in the military, promotions and better assignments come to those who are obedient in their callings. The committed military person doesn’t get involved in civilian matters, because they are dedicated to military matters. In the same way, those who are Christ’s don’t pursue the pleasures and desires of this world, but instead pursue the instructions of Christ. And like military members, we can be called at a moment’s notice to serve in whatever capacity that Christ desires us to serve – whether temporarily or permanently, often relocating our family to our deployment site.

Don’t Disqualify

Just as in the world of sports, we are not to cheat our way to success. Jesus was given the opportunity by Satan to have what He was competing by submitting to Satan. This would have been cheating. God had rules in place that Jesus needed to follow in order to accomplish the goal that was set before Him in order to achieve complete success.

Moses learned this the hard way when he was faced with an obstinate and forgetful people. God was trying to reveal Himself in a greater way to Moses when He asked him to speak to the rock to bring forth water. This was far different from the previous method of striking the rock with his staff. When Moses, in a fit of anger, disobeyed the revealed will of God by striking the rock twice with his staff, he forfeited his life early, and was not able to see the people that he had shepherded for forty years enter into the promised land. Keep in mind that Moses appeared with Elijah on the mount of transfiguration with Jesus. Nonetheless, ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES. Disobedience is not looked upon very kindly by God. There is always a penalty for disobedience.

It is only by obeying the rules that we win the race. Jesus said that many will come to Him saying, “Lord, Lord”, but He will turn them away because of disobedience:

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!‘”

When tempted to go around what appears to be obstacles by doing what is specifically delineated as wrong in order to avoid pain, suffering, or a perceived delay in timing, remember that Jesus didn’t take the easy road. And by doing so, He won the keys to Death and Hell for us. It took a long time, effort, and pain. Jesus willingly submitted Himself to all of this and more for us. Should we not do the same for Him?

Receive the Reward

Paul planted, Apollos watered, and God gave the increase. The use of agrarian principles to illustrate spiritual truths was widespread because the people at that time would have fully understood the implications of what was being said. They lived it each and every day. The farmer should receive the reward for his effort. Paul was planting and watering the seeds of Godliness in Timothy as well as his grandmother and mother. Paul had laid his hands upon Timothy, apparently with other elders, and God has provided Timothy with his spiritual gifting. Timothy was to teach others. Their spiritual growth and resulting efforts would be reflected back upon Timothy as he sowed and watered their seeds.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask a question: When engaged in my work, am I following the rules?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, I thank You for Your love, patience, and persistence with me as I try to obey You and do Your will. Thank You for Your many mercies that renew every morning. Thank You for showing me the Truth, and giving me the opportunity to do Your will. Thank You for freeing me from the bondage of sin, and giving me the freedom to follow and obey You. Thank You for revealing Your Son to me. Help me to do all that You have instructed me to do, in the way that I should do it, so that it would honor and glorify Your name. This I ask in the name of Your Precious Son, Jesus Christ, Amen.

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Blessing of God – Psalm 5:11-12

The Lord Is A Shield About The Righteous

¹¹But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you.
¹²Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

Royal Refuge

God desires us to seek refuge in Him. We are to go to God for all of our wants and desires. It is God who is able to provide us with refuge from all things. We can seek refuge from God in three ways:

Protection from enemies
- God is able to provide us protection from our enemies. God has shielded His people on many occasions (here are just a few examples):
  - David was protected from Saul’s murderous desire to destroy him.
  - Elisha was protected from King Ahaziah
  - Paul was protected from the Jews who sought to kill him
  - Peter was released from prison by an angel
Protection from circumstances
- God has provided protection from circumstances in His people as well. Here are three of the more famous examples:
  - Noah was protected from the flood
  - Jonah was protected from drowning
  - Lot was protected from destruction
Protection through character
- We can seek protection through character. Daniel was protected from the lion’s den because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent, following God rather than the rules of men. His friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were spared from fire when they refused to bow down before King Nebuchadnezzar. We can find protection as we yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit and live our lives in the character of Almighty God.

Singing Songs

David was one of the most prolific song writers that we know of in the Bible. Many of the Psalms were written by him. David provided us with an example of joyful singing before God in praise and worship. The Lord enjoys it when we worship Him in song.

Even for those who have not been blessed by God with a voice to sing, we are given a command to make a joyful noise to the Lord. The Hebrew word eriou is a command and is literally translated “[raise a] shout you!” Let your heart give praise to God in a shout for all He has done!

Bathed in Blessing

God blesses the righteous, and with the blood of Christ we are declared righteous before Him. Oh, the many blessings of God! We are blessed in that we are blessed! If you ever want to see a short list of some of the most important blessings of God, read Ephesians chapters 1-3.

Sovereign Shield

God is a shield about us and the lifter of our heads. He desires to gather us like chicks under His wings. He is our refuge. God is our shield. No one can snatch us out of His hand. God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. Even when we are in the valley of the shadow of death, God is with us. He shields us from the second death.

There is nothing that God cannot sovereignly shield his people. Yet we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. God may use you as a witness to the unbelieving. If this is the case, do not fear the tribulation that God has appointed you to bear.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask a question: Am I praising God as I seek refuge in Him?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, You are glorious and beautiful beyond description. You shield us from so much more than we can possibly imagine. Thank You for your vast and encompassing protection. Help me, Father, to not forget all that You do in my life. May my life be a blessing to You. May Your praise be on my heart and my lips even as I suffer in this life, knowing that You will remove all pain and all tears in Your time. Help me to endure and to faithful until You call me home. This I ask and pray in the name of Your Perfect and Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, Amen.

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Combat Training with God – Ephesians 4:29

What Comes Out Of Our Mouths Is Important

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Worthless Words

Words have meaning. The culture around us encourages us to use words that are crass, filthy, empty, and self-serving. We often find ourselves exposed to this in all forms of media, and social interactions with others. Whether it is political posturing, movies, music, literary art, or any form of communication, we are told to stop morally tainted and filthy speech from coming out of us.

What we say is the overflow of our hearts. Our hearts have been transplanted with new ones by Christ when we accepted Him. It is important as image-bearers of God that what we say reflect His image properly.

Strategic Speech

Not only are we to stop the way we used to talk, and the way that people speak today, but we are to build up one another with our words. Our words have great power, to build up, or to tear down. Words spoken today will have a lasting impact not only in the present, but into the far future as well.

It is important that the words we choose have the intended effect that we are trying to bring about. Each of us should be encouraging one another as the days grow short. Even for those who do not know God, they should hear what builds them up as well. The Bible is the revealed Word of God, but we also are God’s mouthpieces as we spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Building up those around us is part of the business that God is involved. He restores and rebuilds upon the foundation of Christ, the solid rock. It is with this in mind that we are to be building up those who are around us so that they can be prepared for His imminent return.

Profound Principles

What good are words if they don’t benefit the person that hears them? While we need to be able to communicate joy, sorrow, excitement, loss, and other aspects of the human experience, we should make it a point to ensure that the words that we speak benefit those who listen.

It is imperative that we remember that every word that we speak is being listened to by those around us. Some seek to put us to the test to verify if what we say matches what we do. Others may see our joy and try to determine how we are experiencing it in tough circumstances. In all things, God is working them to good for those that love Him and are called according to His purpose. As part of His plan, let us be a fountain of insight, wisdom, and profound benefit to all who hear us speak.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask a question: Is what comes out of my mouth benefiting others?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, You have given me a great opportunity to be a blessing to others through what I say to them. Lead me, guide me, strengthen me, and fill me with Your words that it would be a benefit to all that hear them. Guard my heart against unrighteousness, and fill my heart with joy and wisdom. Use my words to build up others and to glorify Your holy name. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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God the Son – Colossians 1:15-20

The Supremacy Of God The Son

¹⁵The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. ¹⁹For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Invisible Image

Jesus was sent so that the invisible would be made visible. Jesus has said,

“And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form,”

“If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

“…Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”

Jesus came not only to bear witness to the truth; to seek and save the lost; but also to display His Father to all through Himself. Through the submission of Jesus to the Holy Spirit, He was able to display His Father through His words and actions. Jesus displayed relationship with the Father as well as the Father’s mercy, grace, righteousness, and justice. We get a clear picture of God the Father through God the Son.

Righteous Resurrection

Jesus was the firstborn among creation. He was the first person to experience resurrection in its fullest. Although other people were brought back to life from the dead, they eventually died again. Jesus has died, and was resurrected as the firstborn of creation. He has taken His place at the head of creation at the right hand of God.

Creator’s Command

There was nothing created that was not created by God the Son, Jesus Christ. He spoke everything into existence that was created, whether it was invisible or visible. Jesus created Satan and the heavenly host. He created the sun, the moon, the stars and the Earth. He created Adam and Eve, and even now, He knits us together in our mother’s wombs as we are created through childbirth. Everything that is created was created by Him and for Him. And God the Father gave Jesus all of creation, with the Earth as His footstool. He has won it back from Satan’s control through His perfect life, death, and resurrection.

Supremely Sovereign

Jesus holds all things together. He is rightly the head of the Church, for He founded it. He again was the firstborn through resurrection so that in all things, Jesus Christ is declared sovereign over all. There is nothing in the heavens or on Earth or below the Earth that Jesus is not sovereign. He rules from Heaven, and awaits the time for God the Father to reveal Him again to the world. His second coming will be as lion, though He first came as a lamb. All things will be completed when He arrives again.

Resulting Reconciliation

Jesus chose to put aside His glory and majesty to show us the Father, and to reconcile us to the Father. All things will be reconciled to Him since He has paid the price to have them reconciled. It is through His perfect, sinless, shed blood that we are reconciled. He was the perfect and final sacrifice for all sin. Jesus has rightfully restored what Adam lost.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask a question: Are we remembering the sacrifice that Jesus made to reconcile us to the Father as we live our daily lives?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, You are glorious to behold. You have shown us Yourself through Your Son, Jesus Christ. I am grateful that You love us so much to have sent Your Son to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Remember me this day, Father. Help me to keep in mind the great and terrible sacrifice that Jesus made to reconcile me to You. Even now, as I pray, You have given me this opportunity to come before You to praise You, present my concerns to You, and experience relationship with You, all because of the blood of Jesus Christ. May I never forget what it cost You to bring this about. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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Morality with God – Isaiah 5:20a,23

Moral Relativism Is Abhorrent To God

²⁰Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
²³who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
but deny justice to the innocent.

Opposing Opinions

Free will is a gift and a curse. It allows us to both make decisions in life, and have opinions, that are far outside the will and ways of God. The author of the Book of Romans gives us some insight into how this process occurs:

¹⁸The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, ¹⁹since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

²¹For 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. ²²Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ²³and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

The first steps are:

Ignoring God and his commands
Belief that God does not exist
Belief that Man’s deductions and interpretations of life are correct
The worship of the Creation rather than the Creator

Moral Morass

The author of the Book of Romans now breaks it down for us. Once God is removed from the picture, absolute Truth is no longer a possibility in their minds. Given that opinions and desires change from time to time, as well as from individual to individual, people no longer adhere to Truth and Righteousness, as they have no external, immutable standard with which to base any semblance of morality upon.

Morality is now subject to the whims of man’s depravity, and thus, moral relativism is born. What is right for you may not be right for me, but I must tolerate (read: agree with) whatever YOU think is right, even though YOU may not have to tolerate what I believe is right. As such, truth no longer holds any value, as it has no basis with which it can be moored and evaluated.

The next steps are as follows:

²⁴Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. ²⁵They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

After abandoning God, the strongest desire that God has placed in mankind is corrupted:

God withdraws His hand from guidance in man’s sexual desires
People engage in sexual ways that deviate greatly from the pattern that God set forth in the Bible. This step involves sexual relationships that occur between men and women:
1. Swinging
2. Adultery
3. Lewdness
4. Orgies
5. Etc.
As time goes on, even more people worship the creation rather than the Creator

Pushing further, Man delves deeper into sexual unrighteousness:

²⁶Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Being unable to satisfy their desires with the opposite sex (natural relations, as described by Paul the Apostle), they now choose same-sex partners with which to satisfy their ever-increasing desires and lusts. We see this in the world today, but this is not the first time that sexual depravity has been reported in history:

Solomon reported, and rightly so, that there is nothing new under the sun.
Lot dealt with this issue during his days (including his daughters’ unrighteous acts of incest)
Amnon took his sister Tamar
Paul witnessed them during the Roman Empire
Monarchs and their families have been dealing with incest for generations (in order to keep the leadership in the existing families

Once they have embraced sexual impurity, the gateway to complete depravity is opened:

²⁸Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. ²⁹They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; ³¹they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. ³²Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

After the people become sexually “liberated”, they become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They don’t just do them; they approve of those that do the same. Because of this, justice is no longer to be found in them.

Bought with Bribes

The Bible has quite a bit to say about taking and giving bribes. God does not approve of bribery. Yet, once God has given people over to a depraved mind, the idea that accepting and giving bribes is now excusable and may even become the way to do business. Truth and honor have no part in the life of people who have been given over to their shameful lusts and desires.

Since they have abandoned the belief that God exists, provides for them, and that they are accountable to Him, they begin to believe (and as their viewpoint excludes God, it appears to them to be valid) that they have to take care of themselves because no one else will. This opens the door to justifying all unrighteousness for the sake of self-preservation.

Inexcusable Injustice

Now that people have been compromised by accepting bribes, if there are laws against such things, they can be blackmailed to do what others want them to do. Justice has been corrupted. People who were once stalwarts of truth crumble in light of the possible exposure of their misdeeds. The very people who provided the opportunity and pressure to cave are now the very people who threaten others’ livelihoods and loved ones if they don’t comply. We begin to see where people who have always been strong in conviction do something that is antithetical to their stated and previously lived-out life.

Justice is now bought and sold. The rich and powerful get a pass for unrighteous behavior, while the lowly and poor are given the maximum penalty allowed. This truly becomes a two-tiered justice system. Those who agree with the people running the country are given special privilege, and those who dissent are destroyed. The courts are used as a battering ram to financially destroy their opponents, incarcerate the righteous, and provide such terrible consequences that anyone with lesser character will be easily cowed into silence or into publicly agreeing with their world view (if only in words).

To God, who is Holy and Righteous, this must be infuriating.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask a question: What or whom is our basis for truth?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, You are full of mercy and compassion. Yet You allow us to go our own way. You seek after us and watch expectantly for us to return, even though you know the outcome of all things. You are to be praised and glorified forever. Father, help me to be strong and to reject any bribery that is offered to me. In all my ways, keep me from sinning against You. Help me to keep You in mind at all times. As I am pressured by people and circumstances in life, give me strength to resist and to stand fast in Your Word and in Your character. Deliver me from my enemies, and thwart their every effort to oppose You and Your people. Guard me and guide me this day, in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?

Combat Training with God – Romans 8:12-14

Live According To The Spirit.

¹²Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. ¹³For 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. ¹⁴For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.

Outstanding Obligation

God greatly desires that we keep our obligations. His very character is one that ensures that any promise that He makes is kept. We can trust His word, no matter what.

Because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, we have an obligation to God – to stop living by the flesh. When we live by the flesh, we are suppressing the Truth, and bring shame upon our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Fleshy Failure

We live by the flesh when we listen to our desires rather than to the Spirit of God. When we seek to bring about the fulfillment of personal pleasure rather than obedience to God, we are setting ourselves us for failure. Adam and Eve did this very thing when they disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden and ate the fruit of the knowledge of Good and Evil. We do the same when we seek out our selfish desires rather than the express will of God.

We have available to us the whole counsel of God, yet we often ignore it as we seek to alleviate the pain or pressures of this life in following our desires. We are told that the heart is deceitful. We must therefore rely upon the Holy Spirit to guide us in all things. When we begin a path of ignoring the Holy Spirit of God in order to follow our own desires, we are setting ourselves up to spiritually die.

Spiritual Superiority

God reminds us that if we put to death the flesh by the Spirit, we will live. This is accomplished through reading and applying the Word of God under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit of God. He will lead us into all righteousness, for He knows all things. When we put to death (starve) the flesh, we are feeding the spirit. And when we feed the flesh, we are starving the spirit. Whichever one you feed, that is the one that grows.

God says that if we are led by the Spirit of God, we are His children. Jesus has told us that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We need to follow in His footsteps. We can only do that if we submit ourselves to the Spirit. Jesus did the very same thing. Jesus said that if we love Him we will obey his commands. Jesus also said that He is the vine and we are the branches. The branches receive nourishment from the vine, and cannot live on their own. Let us be known as the children of God by how faithfully we are obedient and submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit of God.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask a question: Are we feeding the flesh or are we feeding the Spirit?

A short prayer of preparation

Father in Heaven, I thank You for Your Word and Your patience with me. Show me in Your Word how to put to death the deeds of the flesh. Empower me to live according to Your Word, and strengthen my spirit that it would submit to You. Help me to starve my flesh from its evil desires, and to desire You. Fill me with a sense of purpose as I kill off that which does not conform to Your image, for all change is painful. Help me to deal with the consequences of obedience, that I may not flinch in the face of opposition or with any loss that may occur. Show me your beauty and grace as I move closer to You. This I ask in the precious name of Your Most Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?

Taught by God – Isaiah 48:17

Choose Your Instructor Wisely

This is what the Lord says—
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you what is best for you,
who directs you in the way you should go.”

Time of Teaching

Whether or not we admit it, we are always learning. We (hopefully) learn from our mistakes. Technology forces us to learn new skills. Television shows us new things. When we read books, magazines, pamphlets, and words put together in any medium, we see new ideas. People talk to us about new products and experiences. Satan whispers in our ears. In everything, unless we close our eyes, put our fingers in our ears, and shout “La la la la la la la” over and over again, we are learning something.

We can choose from whom we will learn. For those who can see, what you allow your eyes and mind to be exposed to will influence you. For those who can hear, what people, music, and other audio you allow yourself to be exposed to will influence you. We choose, whether we realize it or not, what programs our mind.

God states that He is the one who is able to teach us what is best for each of us. It should be noted that what is best for you may not be best for me. Being created by God for specific purposes, not every person has the same purpose nor is given the same gifts:

¹²Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. ¹⁴Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

¹⁵Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁶And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

²¹The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” ²²On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, ²⁴while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

²⁷Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. ²⁸And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. ²⁹Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.

Because this is the case, we need God, who is all-knowing, to teach us how to use the very gifting that He has provided to each and every one of us. When we don’t do that, we will not be able to fully honor Him nor glorify His name for His purposes in His timing.

Directionally Driven

Everyone is driven to move in a direction. Whether that is standing tight, in circles, or towards a specific location which is the goal, we are moving in a direction. We can choose which direction we want to take. Do we:

Listen to the world where everyone tells us where we should go, what we should do, how we should act, and how we should think, and what we should say?
Listen to the devil who tells us where we should go, what we should do, how we should act, and how we should think, and what we should say?
Listen to our own flesh that tells us where we should go, what we should do, how we should act, and how we should think, and what we should say?
Listen to God who directs us where we should go, what we should do, how we should act, and how we should think, and what we should say?

Each of us chooses one or more of these influences when choosing a direction. It is only by consciously choosing which influence (or influences) that we pay attention to and heed that will ultimately determine which direction that we will take.

Particular Path

We are told in the Bible that, effectively, there are really only two directional paths that we can take:

The small gate and narrow road
The wide gate and broad road

Any path that was not entered through the small gate and is on the narrow road was entered through the wide gate and broad road. Only one path leads to heaven. Jesus has said:

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

We all make our own choices because God has given us free will. We need to carefully examine the advice that we have available to us, and choose wisely, for actions have consequences. The good news is, if we are on the wrong path, we can stop, ask God for directions, and get on (or back on) the narrow road that leads out of the small gate. And Jesus is the small gate. Allow the Good Shepherd lead you into the way everlasting. It is only there that you will find rest and provision, not only in this life, but in the next life as well.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask a question: What influences am I allowing into my life that are directing my path?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, You have provided for all my needs. You seek me out when I am lost and stray from You. The Holy Spirit provides me with instruction, encouragement, and empowers me to do what You desire. Help me to stay on the straight and narrow path, that You would be honored and glorified. Forgive me today of my sins. Bring to memory all that I have done that displeases You, that I may turn from it, and walk in righteousness. Show me where I should go, how I should think, and how I should act. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?

Perspective of God – Genesis 1:27

Who Is Sovereign?

So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

Two Thoughts

In the United States of America, there are currently two prevailing thoughts on the idea of person-hood:

Man has evolved from a primordial ooze brought about by a “big bang” ex nihilo.
1. Purpose: to fulfill his own needs and desires as man sees fit
Man was created in the image of God
1. Purpose: to worship God and have relationship with Him

In the first case, many take the position that man just evolved from lower life forms, such as apes. This particular thought process identifies man as the chief architect over his life, goals, desires, motives, and directions. In other words, it establishes that man is sovereign over his own life, and all life. The complete end of accountability is with himself. This is the model of self-focus.

In the second case, others take the position that man was sovereignly created by God for the purposes and pleasure of God. Rather than having any sovereignty of his own, man is charged with stewardship over what God has created. Because of this, man is accountable to God for everything that is done while man is alive. This is the model of other-focus.

Sovereign Selection

This is effectively a question of sovereignty. Is man sovereign, or is God sovereign?

From the perspective of sovereign man, it doesn’t really matter what man does. There is no afterlife, there is no accountability, there is no real purpose in life. Life is meant to be enjoyed, regardless of the outcome, because there is nothing else. This is the natural extension of this particular viewpoint. And as an added bonus to this viewpoint, there are no consequences to be endured after man has ceased to physically be alive. This viewpoint allows for any and all things to be done while alive.

Additionally, it removes responsibility for actions. Since the chief end of man in this perspective is that he will be growing daisies with his decomposing body, he has the full right to extinguish the lives of others. Since there is no inherent value in life, apart from enduring it until one pushes daisies from six feet under ground, man can say that his body is his own to do with whatever he wants. And while certain actions decrease the success of the propagation of the species (such as the choice of a woman to prematurely end the growing process of a child in her womb), the belief is that enough people will want to continue the process of life so that any particular single decision regarding this matter is not significant and does not directly impact society as a whole.

In the other perspective, because of the position that man has in relation to God, there is great impact and accountability with what man does while he is alive. Man has a specific purpose, and that purpose is expected to be fulfilled by God. There is not only responsibility and accountability to someone other than himself, but carries with it the knowledge that there are consequences to these choices beyond the physical life. There is a sense of eternity in this view, and the consequences of life will follow the person into eternity.

Due to the responsibility for their actions, man is held accountable for his views and actions. With regards to person-hood, this reveals itself as a deep respect for all life, and specifically the life of man, as man is an image-bearer of God. The act of depriving another person of life is very serious. This includes life that is growing but has not yet fully developed. Because of eternity, man must pay very careful attention to how he conducts his life and affairs, knowing that these things will follow him into eternity.

Eternal Effects

These boil down to a question: Is there life after death (eternity), or is there just death? Is there a God, or isn’t there a God? If there is a God, and man believes otherwise, he is in for a rude surprise once he physically dies. If there is no God, nothing matters, and man can act in any way that he desires (regardless of his desire to act in any particular way, either in partnership with others or in opposition to others):

The strong can rule over the weak with impunity
Retaliation is not only allowed but should be encouraged to extend the natural life of man, as laws would only be a false construct of man to control the behavior of others
Anarchy and emotion will rule over man
Reason will have no part in deciding whether or not to act in a particular way, as life is over when you die anyway.
Buy bigger guns – you will need them to fend off the people around you as they seek to acquire your resources and force you to do their bidding

This is not to say that this viewpoint precludes people from acting morally. It is just that since there are no consequences for actions after death, there is no driving reason to do so. And once a situation arises that places the person’s self interests into direct conflict with the interests of others, the average person will choose their own interests (self-preservation) over the interests of others.

If there is a God, and we are accountable for everything we think, say, and do, we had better be ready to give an accounting for what we have done with the life that has been graciously given to us, and face any consequences that our thoughts, words, and deeds may carry into eternity.

The choice is yours. Choose wisely.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask a question: Regardless of what we say publicly, do we believe that God is sovereign, or that we are sovereign?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, help me to have a perspective that sees You as my provider, protector, and instructor. Guide me in every way I should go. Help me to see how my actions will affect myself, others, and You. Place within me a desire to see from Your perspective. Guard my heart as I am bombarded with ideas and beliefs that directly or subtly contradict Your word. Help me to have a Kingdom perspective of Your sovereignty and my role as Your child. This I ask in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?

Justice of God – Jonah 3:6-10

Justice Must Be Tempered With Compassion

⁶When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.
⁷This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:

“By the decree of the king and his nobles:

Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. ⁸But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. ⁹Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”

¹⁰When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

Doctrinal Dilemma

Many people have said the following:

“I can’t believe in a God who would send people to hell.”

What many people fail to realize is that God doesn’t sent them to hell; they send themselves to hell. God does not arbitrarily point His finger and say, “OK, I’m going to send him and her and her and him to hell.” Rather, God says the following:

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.

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.

And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

It would appear that God desires everyone to be saved from their Adam-inherited sinful, rebellious nature. God is patient and seeks people for a long time. We are told that should we hear His call, we should respond while He is near. God has made Himself known to us, so that no one is without an excuse:

¹⁸The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, ¹⁹since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

So it would appear that:

God is compassionate
God is a just judge

This brings up an interesting dilemma: How can a perfect God, who is full of mercy and grace, be a God full of perfect justice as well?

Beautiful Balance

We often impose our own moral values on situations, rather than look at them through the lens of God’s perspective. Love cannot be merciful, graceful, and compassionate without being just:

Compassion without justice is anarchy
- Without application of punishment for wrongdoing, we are effectively endorsing the person’s wrongdoing, and enabling them to repeatedly inflict harm upon others.
- Without punishment, there is no recourse for the protection of law-abiding people from the wickedness of the evil people who disregard the law
Justice without compassion is emotionally void and cruel
- There are appropriate penalties for wrongdoing based on the severity of the wrongdoing. Actions have consequences. We wouldn’t take a person’s life for a misdemeanor. Nor should we give a slap on the wrist to someone who purposefully extinguishes the lives of others.
- In each case, the severity of the transgression should be met with appropriate consequences.

Let’s define our words so that we understand what we are talking about:

Justice is the situation where the penalty for breaking the law has an appropriate disciplinary action based on the severity and type of crime committed.
Mercy is not getting what you justly deserve
Grace is getting a favor or blessing that was not earned (not based on merit)
Compassion is a deep sympathy or sorrow for someone who is in pain or suffering, with a strong desire to alleviate the pain and/or suffering
Holiness is the act of being set apart from ANY wrongdoing and set apart to complete and total righteousness (the inability to do anything wrong, and do everything right). With the absence of wrongdoing, holiness is considered PERFECTION.

In order for Justice to be perfect, it must be tempered with compassion, mercy, and grace. Otherwise, we have the knee-jerk reaction of the emotionless dictator who yells, “Off with his head!” to even the most trivial perceived rebellion.

Perfect Position

Since God is holy (and thus perfect), any rebellion of any nature must be punished appropriately. The level of the rebellion must be met with the correct level of punishment. God is infinitely holy and perfect, so any rebellion, no matter how small, needs to be dealt with justly. The only just way to deal with rebellion, when perfection is the standard, is to remove the person from the population (through incarceration) so that they won’t harm anyone else. Every country in the world has laws to protect its people from the evil of others.

So, why should we hold God to a lower standard? People want God to just accept them as they are (which He does) and to not expect them to change. This is the equivalent of a murdering cannibal going before a judge and saying, “You are an intolerant, racist bigot. Just because I kill and eat people, you would deny me my freedom to be with other people? How dare you! I shouldn’t have to change to conform to your perverted sense of reality, judge! My view of life is the correct one! You must conform to my views! You have no right to ‘judge’ me! I demand that you immediately drop all charges, and I will be suing you for wrongful arrest and harassment! You will see me in court!”

(Hopefully) No one would ever agree with that position. Yet, when we say, “I can’t believe that God would judge me because I (fill in the blank), are we not doing the same exact thing? Are we not saying that our morality and ethics are of a higher, more pure, more righteous, and more perfect nature than that of God?

God, recognizing that we have a sinful nature, has shown us compassion in His infinite wisdom. He gave us an opportunity to be reformed and rejoined back to Him in relationship from isolation by sin. God sent His One and Only Son, who never sinned, to die upon the cross to be a perfect substitutionary sacrifice for us. In this, he has shown:

Compassion – God wants to alleviate our pain and suffering by giving us the opportunity to repent
Mercy – When we accept Christ as Lord and Savior, we are no longer going to get the punishment that we rightly deserve
Grace – God didn’t have to provide a way – He is perfectly justified in sending the whole lot of humans to permanent incarceration within His holding cell – the Lake of Fire. Instead, He gave us unmerited favor through the sinless shed blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, as an atonement (payment for wrongdoing) for our sinful rebellion against Him.

God has shown that He, and only He, has the perfect balance between Justice and Compassion.

Jesus paid our fine. But who would consider a person “rehabilitated” if they refused to acknowledge that their actions were wrong by willfully continuing to do the same things over and over again without any regret or attempt to rectify the behavior? God loves us just as we are, but He loves us too much to allow us to stay where we are.

With reprieve comes the implicit understanding that the actions that led to the crime would not continue. God calls this process sanctification. We are being transformed from desiring evil and acting upon those desires into desiring righteousness and acting upon these new desires. Even people who aren’t able to control themselves (the mentally ill) are placed away from the ability to do harm when they are unable to change.

Positional Preference

Our perception of God’s justice is marred by our sinful nature. It is only when we see Him through the lens of Truth and Perfection that we can better understand and begin to grasp the wisdom, balance, and perfection that He displays when He operates in our lives. We can no sooner fault God for injustice as we can exonerate ourselves from law by merely saying we don’t agree with the law.

While the laws of men may be (and often are) flawed, the laws of God are perfect. They will withstand any criticism with one exception: those who are unable to critically think, and instead think with their emotions as it best serves them and their own desires – always at the price of others. It is the self-serving that so piously and loudly denounce ethics and morality as unjust, antiquated, mean-spirited, racist, uncaring, and intolerant. And the last is true: Morality is intolerant of immorality (and, therefore, evil). That is exactly why we have laws…

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask a question: Are we of the mindset that our morality is superior to that of God?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, I thank You that You are holy and just. Help me to see past my own faults to gaze at Your glorious face, and see how far short of Your glory I fall. Help me to remember that You and You alone are able to see without impaired judgement, as You and You alone are holy. Help me to shed any and all attitudes, thoughts, and beliefs that do not conform to Your holy revelation of truth in Your Word. Guide me in all that I think, say and do, that I would see everything through Your perfect eyes and perspective. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?

The Timing of God – Mark 6:46-52

God Arrives in the Fourth Watch of the Night

⁴⁷Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. ⁴⁸He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, ⁴⁹but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, ⁵⁰because they all saw him and were terrified.

Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” ⁵¹Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, ⁵²for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

Training Through Trials

Everyone goes through trials. Some trials seem longer and more difficult than others. The worst ones are where you feel like you are fighting for your very life. Your circumstances are pulling at the very fabric of your soul, and your strength has been depleted by non-stop battering. You feel like just after a fresh gulp of air the waves come crashing over your head, and you get water for what you thought was your next breath.

The disciples were fighting for their very lives. Life on the Sea of Galilee could be very dangerous. Storms would often appear out of nowhere, and for a small fishing boat, capsizing in the water at night with high waves was a terrifying thought. But we need not be terrified by our trials, for God is sovereign and has everything under control.

James has this to say about our trials:

²Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Trial of Trust

When fighting for your life in a trial isn’t enough, it seems that God adds insult to injury by letting us struggle through it for a very L O N G time. We cry out to God, but often He doesn’t seem to answer immediately. We wait and wait (and wait some more), and no help comes. This is the trial of trust.

God has this way of showing up in the fourth watch of the night. The night back in the time of Jesus was set up in four – three hours segments:

First Watch: 7:00 – 9:00 pm
Second Watch: 10:00 – 12:00 pm
Third Watch: 1:00 – 3:00 am
Fourth Watch: 4:00 – 6:00 am

The fourth watch was the longest watch of all. Most of the night had already passed, and through exhaustion and anticipation of daylight, it made the fourth watch go very slow. Jesus had seen in the night that the disciples were struggling, but waited until just before dawn to go out to them. This allows our faith to be tested, to see if we really believe that God is going to intervene and help us with our needs. This is the secondary trial of trust – patience.

Strategic Support

Jesus has a tendency to wait until the very last minute to come and help us with our problems. He is trying to show us where we are in our understanding of His sovereignty, character, and love for us. By denying us immediate relief, we must decide whether we can trust God to act as our situation becomes more bleak second by second.

As you feel like you are trying to stop tumbling down a mountainside, you can see the cliff in front of you that drops thousands of feet. Unable to stop, you fight for your life. It is just before you go over the cliff, or sometimes after you start falling, that God will intervene. He does not do this to cause us emotional harm, but to give us the opportunity to trust Him more. If you have prayed that God would help you to trust him more, expect these types of trials to enter into your life. This is about on the same level as praying for patience.

Regardless, it is the timing of the response that careful attention should be paid. God has a plan much larger than our myopic short-term vision. Each and every moment is moving towards an unstoppable event – the second coming of Christ, and the end to sin. We need to remember as we are in the storm that God’s timetable isn’t always ours. That is why “trust and obey” is our only way…

Stopping Storms

When God does calm the storm, we are often just as amazed as the disciples were when Jesus stepped into the boat and everything calmed down. Jesus demonstrates that He is sovereign over all. Sometimes, the storm doesn’t stop until we pass away into glory, but nonetheless, the storm stops. We can be assured that whatever our problems are, God is working through His plan to bring glory to His name. For there is no purpose of God that can be thwarted, and God works everything to good for those who love Him.

Regardless of the emotional, financial, and/or physical damage that the storm has wrought, we can confidently rest in the knowledge that when God does come, He will help us to pick up the pieces. And we will have the scars to remember His help, and never forget what we went through to get there. It is also important that we don’t allow our hearts to be hardened by our training through trials.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask a question: Are we trusting in God’s goodness, mercy, and grace as we are fighting for our lives in our trials?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, You are full of mercy and grace, and your mercies never cease, but renew every morning. Grant me patience as I trust in You to deliver me through my trials. Help me to overcome through perseverance, so that I may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. Give me the strength to endure the trials I am facing, and guard my heart against the attacks of the enemy as they taunt me and tell lies about You. Father, help me to remember Your word, that Your promises will never be far from my heart or my lips. For You have promised to never leave me nor forsake me. You have promised to work all things to good for those who love You. You have promised that none can snatch me out of Your hand. I will stand on Your promises, oh God, so that Your name may be glorified and magnified, regardless of the outcome of the trials. This I ask in the precious Name of Your Most Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?

Combat Training with God – Matthew 7:21-23

Obedience is the Key to Discipleship

²¹“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ ²³Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'”

Only Obedience

Anyone who would call themselves a disciple would be obedient to their master. Disciples would follow along behind their master and copy everything they did. They would even copy how they went to the bathroom. In the time of Jesus, disciples would want to learn EVERYTHING about their masters so that they could replicate their success. Obedience is more than just mentioned in scripture – it is a foundational principle of discipleship:

²³Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ²⁴Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

“We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.

But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance.

He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

Knowledge without obedience is a trophy. It sits on the shelf of your mind, gathering dust, pretty to look at, but of no real value to the one who ignores its commands and calling. Sanctification comes through obedience to the Word, not just knowing the words. A person can read every book and manual on how to create software through coding. But if they never put it to use, how much software do you think will come out of it?

Wasted Works

We are declared righteous through the perfect blood of Jesus. Our works are as filthy rags. It is only through submission to the Holy Spirit that He is able to do His work through us. We may try to do great and mighty things in God’s name, but it is us who are doing it rather than God through us.

Works do not ingratiate us with God. God desires relationship with us. When we have that relationship, we are in tune with what God wants to do with us and through us. Many will say that they have been doing things for God. But what they are really doing is going off on their own. People may see the miraculous, but we are also told that Satan will perform signs and wonders. Satan has already performed false miracles.

Anything that we do in the flesh will be counted as hay and stubble, and will burn up when tested by fire. It is only what God does through us that will withstand the test of fire and be shown to good and lasting.

Character Counts

Without obedience, we will go and do our own thing. We will not experience sanctification, nor will we, through relationship and the Word of God, be transformed into the character of God. We will not be able to experience Him, and who He is, if we are not obedient to His Word and His Spirit.

God will rightly declare us evil in His sight if we do not obey Him. Without character and relationship, all of the works in the world will be meaningless. If anyone tells you that your good works will get you into heaven, be forewarned that Jesus has already addressed that heresy:

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask a question: Are we being obedient to God, or trusting in our “good works”?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, I thank You for the example that You have given to me in Your Son, Jesus Christ. Help me Father that I may live a life of total obedience and submission to Your will. Help me to humble myself that I may be totally obedient to Your Word and Your will. Remove from me the desire to rebel, and replace it with a desire to serve. Strengthen me in my walk today that I would learn and grow in Your grace and mercy. Show me the way everlasting, and forgive me for my many sins against You. Help me to turn from sin and turn to righteousness. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?

Sin Is Sin – James 2:10

God Views All Sin As Egregious

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

Pet Peeves

In a previous post, one of the most divisive, permitted sins within the body of Christ – by the body of Christ – was mentioned. Those who do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior act out of ignorance. The body of Christ acts out of insolence when it is embraced internally by the children of God. This, of course, is Sexual Sin, and today in particular, the acceptance of the acted-upon desires of some to have sex with people who have the same chromosomal pairs that they do. We used to be able to call this homosexuality. However, with today’s cultural acceptance of gender reassignment surgery and “gender identity”, it is becoming harder to assign that specific label to it from a cultural sense.

Each of us, whether we realize it or not, assign specific a “severity” to certain sins. For some, historical revisionism (lying) is the absolutely worst sin a person can actively entertain. After all, Jesus had rebuked the Pharisees when He called Satan their father for telling lies. For others, it might be theft, adultery, or <fill in the sin that you find most “vile” here>.

How about murder? Most of us would be quite uncomfortable being around a person who intentionally took someone else’s life in an unjustified, non-accidental way. How many people would have been comfortable being around Jeffrey Dahmer? Yet many people who were murderers – King David, Saul (who became Paul the Apostle), and others were murderers in the Bible! We applaud their lives, and would gladly break bread with them. What is the difference?

They were chosen by God and redeemed. They repented of their sin. So did Jeffrey Dahmer. Wait – did your opinion of Jeff suddenly change with that revelation? If so, ask yourself why? Of course, the answer if that once a person gives themselves to God – AND REPENTS OF THEIR SIN – they are considered blameless before all. It is the act of REPENTANCE and the grace of God that does this.

But let’s look at this in view of the “open acceptance” of “active homosexual practice” within the body Christ. Paul reprimanded the Corinthian Church for permitting – and being accepting of – sexual sin by members of that body of Christ (in this particular instance, incest). Why is this important?

We are image-bearers of God. As such, we should be acting in the character and nature of God. When we continually engage in sin without repentance, we are obscuring the holiness of God and bringing shame upon His name – His character.
A little leaven leavens the whole lump. When we allow open sin to be tolerated within the body of Christ, others will see it, and think that it is perfectly acceptable to engage in that sin. Once sin begins to take a hold of our lives, it leads to the obscuring of our judgment of other sin, and it will be like a snowball rolling down a snow-covered mountain – it will get bigger and move faster, until it becomes nearly unstoppable, or starts an avalanche of snow.
We will be JUDGED. When we engage in open sin, knowing that it is sin, and accept it (and maybe even be proud of our acceptance of it), we are engaging in the same behavior that the Israelites did when God sent conquering nations to overcome and disperse them. If you like being “spanked by God”, feel free to slap God in the face and say, “I’ll do whatever I want to do, and You can’t tell me otherwise. After all, God, You have to give me grace when I sin, so back off – I’m going to do this because it makes me feel good.”

Uncomfortable Union

So, let’s put all of this into perspective. For the “sake of argument”, let us say that a person in the body of Christ is murdering other people. It doesn’t matter how they do it – strangulation, knifing, shooting, raping to death, vehicular homicide, the method is not important. What IS important is that they are doing it CURRENTLY. Would you feel comfortable sitting beside a murderer who continues to practice murder, and then comes into the body of Christ AS IF THEY HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG, and sit beside you and your family?

OK, while that is highly unlikely (as most of us would have reported them to the authorities for prosecution), let’s look at another sin that is more likely to occur. How about the serial adulterer? Would you be comfortable if your family and friends were sitting next to a man who was giving you or your spouse or children the “winking eye” looking at them as though they were a delicious meal waiting to be devoured, in a sexual sense? That in every glance, it appeared that they wanted to just “take you” (or perhaps, everyone [as in an orgy]) right then and there?

Or how about an attractive, well endowed, shapely young woman who dressed with a low-cut blouse and a very short skirt, showing most of God gave to her through her near lack of clothing, making puckered lips with half closed eyes, winking at everyone, legs spread, nearly offering herself to any that would take her? While I understand that this is a horrid picture of behavior in the body of Christ, most people would be uncomfortable with such an overt display of sinful behavior.

Most sins are within, or well hidden from the view of others. It is the visible ones that we tend to assign greater disgust as we are aware of them. But God doesn’t distinguish between them. Whether we tell little white lies, secretly lust for someone, or any other attitude of the heart that is not only left unchecked, but actively pursued, is just as evil in the eyes of God as the man and woman mentioned above. Or the man and his stepmother engaging in incest. Or actively pursuing homo/bisexuality.

Know this: every person that you sit beside while worshiping has committed sin, including YOU. We don’t have a problem sitting next to them, even though they may have committed the most egregious of sins. So why do we place such an aversion to recovering homosexuals? Aren’t we all:

Recovering liars?
Recovering adulterers (in attitude if not practice)?
Recovering murderers (in attitude if not practice)?
Recovering thieves (in attitude [covetousness] if not practice)?
Recovering idolaters (and many of us still ARE idolaters!)?
The list goes on and on…

Fantastic Friend

The good news is that Jesus is a friend of sinners. Look at the company he kept:

Tax collectors (Matthew, Zacchaeus)
Sinners
Demon-possessed people (Mary Magdalene)
Adulterers
Ceremonially Unclean
You and Me

Jesus befriended them, and us, because we were/are sick and are in need of spiritual healing. We should do the same. We acted in ignorance, and God gave us grace. We need to do the same for those who are acting out of ignorance (those who do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior), regardless of their sin. We need to embrace them as Jesus did. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

However, within the body of Christ, that is something else. We are to keep leaven (sin) as far from the body of Christ (within the body of Christ) as possible. We should not tolerate any sin within the body. We are to encourage one another to be sanctified in the Word without being judgmental (judge the sin, not the person), confessing our sins to one another, and praying for one another so that our sins might be forgiven and we would be healed. All of this is to be done with tenderness, compassion, and love; discipline without love is harsh and not well-received. We look for a gentle rebuke from our Father in heaven, not a drill-sergeant screaming in our face at how poorly we have acted. We should engage in discipline in the same way.

Jesus had the greatest compassion for those whose hearts were broken over their sin, and the harshest words for those who knew the law and didn’t follow it. Let us, as the days grow darker and more evil, encourage one another along in our faith, our sanctification, and our hopeful expectation that our Lord Jesus Christ will soon appear again. Make SURE you are like the five virgins who had stocked up on oil waiting for the bridegroom. Don’t be caught abusing the servants – be about the master’s work, getting everything prepared for his return.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask a question: Are we viewing some sins as more grievous than other sins as we see them in others?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, You cannot tolerate sin in Your presence. Help me to view You as the Holy God that you are. Show me in Your word where I am falling short, and help me to turn from unrighteousness to You. Help me to be broken over my sin, and to seek You in forgiveness. Father, help me to see others as You see them, that I would not categorize sin as anything other than what it is – disobedience to You. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?

Love Like God – Matthew 5:38-42

Love Fulfills The Law

³⁸“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ ³⁹But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. ⁴⁰And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. ⁴¹If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. ⁴²Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Remove Resistance

When we are offended by someone, our first human inclination is to retaliate. the Israelites were permitted by law to do unto others as had been done unto them:

²²“If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. ²³But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, ²⁴eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”

¹⁹Anyone who injures their neighbor is to be injured in the same manner: ²⁰fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. The one who has inflicted the injury must suffer the same injury.

¹⁶If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse someone of a crime, ¹⁷the two people involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. ¹⁸The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against a fellow Israelite, ¹⁹then do to the false witness as that witness intended to do to the other party. You must purge the evil from among you. ²⁰The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. ²¹Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

These rules were designed to help the Israelites think before they acted. If they had intentionally inflicted harm upon someone, the same harm would be inflicted upon them. But rather than deter them from doing harm to their neighbor, it was used to exact vengeance upon wrongdoers. Once the Roman occupation of Israel took place, they faced an interesting quandary: how would they apply the law to an occupying force that was oppressing them?

Roman Rules

Jesus was trying to address the attitudes of their hearts. He told them not to resist an evil person – and the Romans were indeed acting evilly towards them. With regards to turning one’s cheek, it needs to be placed in context:

This specifically refers to a hand striking the side of a person’s face, tells quite a different story when placed in it’s proper historical context. In Jesus’s time, striking someone of a lower class ( a servant) with the back of the hand was used to assert authority and dominance. If the persecuted person “turned the other cheek,” the discipliner was faced with a dilemma. The left hand was used for unclean purposes, so a back-hand strike on the opposite cheek would not be performed. Another alternative would be a slap with the open hand as a challenge or to punch the person, but this was seen as a statement of equality. Thus, by turning the other cheek the persecuted was in effect putting an end to the behavior or if the slapping continued the person would lawfully be deemed equal and have to be released as a servant/slave. (Source)

In the case of being slapped, the person slapping was giving a great insult to the one being slapped. This was often seen in that time by the Roman soldiers who felt above the ones they had oppressed. But when a person turned the other cheek, if they were slapped again, they would be seen as an equal. The Roman soldier would never want that to occur, and the abuse would stop. Jesus was showing submission as a way to show the attacker that they were not in control of them. It was meekness in action – strength under control. It also showed love, in that they did not retaliate – even in their heart.

In the case of being sued, the person suing is trying to cause the other person financial hardship. Jesus was showing that true righteousness – love – overcomes all. The cloak was one of the most valuable possessions that people had at that time. It kept them warm at night, and was supposed to be returned by sunset if it was used in pledge (on deposit for some transaction). Jesus was showing that if a person was trying to wrongfully take from you what God had provided to you, rather than give it over reluctantly, hand it over to them as well as your cloak, that it would show compassion towards that person. Now instead of them oppressing you, you have shown them generosity of a nature that was unheard of.

In the case of traveling one mile with someone, Jesus was referring to Roman law that allowed the conscription of subjugated people to be required to carry their equipment for them one Roman mile (Source). Jesus, in His characteristic approach to things, indicated that the person forced to act as a porter for the Roman soldier should do it for two miles. This indicated that there was a love and concern for the other person, rather than a dutiful action that could result in bitterness. Each of these illustrations was designed to both address issues that were unbearable at that time to the Jews in order to show them where their hearts were, and where they needed to be.

After all, the best way to destroy your enemies is to turn them into your friends.

Genuine Generosity

Lastly, the Jews would not lend to people that they didn’t think could repay them. On the surface, that is just “good business”. But God had instructed them before to be generous, as He was generous to them. God also promised to bless them and the work of their hands and all they did if they gave freely:

⁷If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. ⁸Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. ⁹Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. ¹⁰Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. ¹¹There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.

In each case, Jesus was dealing with an attitude of the heart. The occupation by Roman soldiers was indeed oppressive to the Jews, but they forgot that God loved them even though they acted as enemies towards Him. Evil people often try to exert themselves over us, and deprive us of what we have, whether it is out of hate, spite, greed, perceived need, or whatever is driving them. And the poor will always be among us. Let us remember that God lifted us out of the mire and muck, and cleaned us off with the perfect, sinless blood of Jesus. The next time someone throws evil your way, respond in the character of God – Love them as God loves you.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask a question: Am I responding to evil with love the same way that God responded to me when I was acting evilly towards Him?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, You have shown me great love in that You revealed Your Son to me. You have picked me up, cleaned me off, and given me access to You. Your love, mercy, and grace abound. Father, help me to respond to people who treat me wrongly. Give me the strength and ability to show Your love to them so that all would see Your character and glorify Your name. Remember me when I feel slighted, and help me to honor You by acting in love. Help me to not be a doormat for evil people’s feet, but rather to respond in love to their insults, injuries, and actions. Guard my heart against all bitterness as I endure the increase in lawlessness that grows every day. Help me to keep my eyes upon You that Your glory would drown out the tyranny that I face. This I ask in the precious name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?

Wolves Among The Sheep – Jude 3-4

Beware Of Those Who Are Wolves In Sheep’s Clothing

³Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. ⁴For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

Foundational Faith

As God’s people, we should rejoice and hold sacred the charge that has been given to us – the message of salvation from sin and reconciliation to God through Jesus Christ our Savior. We are told to contend for the faith, and also to have an answer for anyone who would ask why we believe what we believe.

And while we don’t have the full picture, we should still learn and grow in our faith through the doctrines that have been laid out for us in Scripture. Just as a soldier without a gun will be caught off-guard when faced by their opponent in war, so are Christians who don’t pick up their Bible, read it, learn it, and live it.

The sad part about the introduction to this short letter by Jude is that the invasion by the enemy into the people of Christ had begun just a few short years after Jesus was among them. Although the apostles and the primitive church started in near spiritual purity, opportunity was seen by those whose father is the devil, and they promoted (and even to this day promote) themselves as beacons of light. Paul had praised the Bereans for their trust-but-verify attitude, and they checked EVERYTHING that Paul said against scripture to see if it was true. Regardless of who we listen to, we should do the same. The enemy is planting tares in with the wheat.

Troublesome Tares

Tares are a plant that, when first sprouting, appear identical to wheat in appearance. It is only after they begin to mature that the difference is noticeable. Tares in the Church have an interesting appearance. Although they look right at first, there are subtle differences. When the church service is over, and during the week, their actions and words in public do not seem to match up with their profession of faith. Great caution should be taken as they are evaluated, because the babes in Christ will act the same way as they are throwing off their grave-clothes.

But tares are different. When confronted, they will say things like: “I’m just a babe in Christ” (even though they have been “walking with God” for more than a few years); “Don’t judge me – you aren’t the Holy Spirit”; “I’m working on that” (when they have been working on it for 20+ years, and there is no indication that they are even trying to address the particular issue).

Tares will also become proud, especially if they have successfully conned the sheep of God into believing that they are one of them and believe that the sheep can trust them. Watch for such things as belligerence and turning on the people who approach them with a proper Biblical viewpoint. “Attack your attackers” is a common way tares shut down people who come too close to unveiling them. By turning the attention to the other person (and almost always in public, even if they were confronted in private), they try to place peer pressure on the one who confronted them. But the person who confronts must be strong, even if the person is powerful enough and influential enough to have the person who confronted them removed the them from any office they hold in the church, or are asked to leave the church.

Penetrating Perversion

The tares desire to change the views of the sheep to their way of thinking and away from Biblical ways of thinking. In just one specific example, within the Protestant churches there is a movement to allow the attitude of sexually desiring people of the same chromosomal pairings to be accepted not only as normal in the church, but also to promote them into leadership positions. They have successfully moved the sheep away from the Word of God, even though there are multiple scriptures that refute this position:

²⁴Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.²⁵They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. ²⁶Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

⁹Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men ¹⁰nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

When the people of God agree that the current cultural position on any subject is more relevant than God’s position, they have strayed from the faith, and should be brought back with the Word of the Living God. If they refuse (see Matthew 18:15-20), then no longer treat them as fellow brothers or sisters in Christ until they have repented.

Doctrinal Destruction

In doing these things, they say that God is love and grace. Since all of our sins are moved as far as the East is from the West, they promote that God surely understands our circumstances and will surely give us grace as we engage in sin. We just need to work on other areas of life first, and if we don’t get to that one before we die, we’ll be just fine.

We will be judged by what we know, and what we did with what we know. We can either choose to accept that all scripture is God breathed, or not. When we love our sin more than our Savior, we are in big trouble. When our spiritual leaders say it’s OK to sin, and that God will forgive us because grace abounds, people flock to the message because they no longer have to deny themselves, pick up their cross, and follow Jesus. This is a great abuse of grace. People begin to lose their sense of the Holiness of God when they choose to openly sin, refuse to be obedient, and rely on the grace of God. God views that as insolence. And human parents tolerate that about as well as God does.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask a question: Are we carefully vetting what we hear from everyone to ensure that it is scripturally sound?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, You are full of mercy and grace. Your mercies renew every morning. Father, please help me to be obedient to what I have been shown by You in scripture, and grant me mercy and grace when I fail. Father, show me any areas where I am falling short, and help me to have the strength to overcome them. Give me a sense of urgency in addressing sin in my life, regardless of the outcome, for I know that You are sovereign, and that I can trust You in all things. Help me to have proper discernment when others tell me what You have shown them, so that I will not be misled into bondage or sin. Guard my heart against the unrighteousness of the wolves in sheep’s clothing that the enemy has planted as tares among the wheat. Protect me from them that I may honor and glorify Your name. This I ask in the name of Your Most Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?

Combat Training with God – Matthew 5:43-48

Love One Another As I have Loved You – Jesus

⁴³“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? ⁴⁷And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? ⁴⁸Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Lavishing Love

God showers us with His love every moment of every day. From every breath that we take, to the greatest of accomplishments made, God is helping us with every little thing. He sought us and bought us with the redeeming blood of Christ. For some, He sought them for decades before they came to Him.

To the crowds that Jesus was teaching (the Jewish people), they had the law to help guide them. Leviticus 19:18 stated:

Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

This left a lot of wiggle room, since it only mentioned “anyone among your people”. The Israelites took this to mean that it ONLY applied to them, thus giving them the opportunity hate their enemies. But Jesus died for all people:

“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

Lest we forget, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And God wants us to display His character for all to see. Since that is the case, we must love others as God loves them.

Favoritism Forbidden

God shows us that He does not show favoritism. Jesus died for all; the sun doesn’t only rise on the good (wouldn’t that be an odd sight – if sunlight only fell on the people and their property who were good? What a dark place the Earth would be!); and the rain doesn’t just fall on the property of the righteous. God, through His creation and His love, provides for everyone these basic things as an example of His character.

We are quick to love those who are easy to love, and usually not so quick to love those who are difficult to love. Yet God loves us all. Peter learned this with the centurion Cornelius and his family. After God manifested His favor upon them, Peter stated:

…I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism

Otherworldly Outreach

Even the pagans love their own. We are shown that we need to love with the love of Jesus. He walked completely out of His way to see a Samaritan woman at a well. Loving our enemies and people who are hard to love is a Godly characteristic that we all need to display. We don’t need to go to the deepest, darkest regions of unexplored Africa to do this; we simply need to love the people who we come in contact with. If we only spend time with our friends and family, how can we display the love of God to people that need to be reached?

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (emphasis and bold added)

Reaching “all nations” starts with your own. It starts with your own community, then surrounding areas, and wherever you may travel. It was once said, “If you aren’t engaging in mission work at home, please don’t export that somewhere else.”

Carefully Complete

The phrase, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” can be difficult to understand, since none of us are perfect, and even after we are redeemed by God, we still occasionally sin, whether by sins of commission or omission. But we need to have a proper reference for this. In the Greek, the word for “perfect” is teleioi, and is literally translated as mature, complete. It infers a completeness, and that completeness, with regards to the character of God, is perfection. Let sanctification through trials complete its work in you that you would be mature and complete, not lacking in anything.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask ourselves a question: Are we loving those who are difficult to love the way that Jesus asks us to love them?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, You are perfect and complete in all Your ways. Help me this day that I would be transformed by the renewing of my mind with Your holy word and with the trials that You allow in my life that I would be complete like You. Strengthen me and soften my heart that I would learn the lessons needed for maturity in life and in faith. Please have mercy upon me, for all discipline seems unpleasant as I go through it. Give me a better sense of Your love for others as I encounter an increasingly wicked people everyday. Help me to engage them, and to show them Your love, regardless of the outcome. For even Your Son, Jesus Christ, died at the hands of those He was trying to reach. Show me the straight and narrow path that I would walk on it and see the light of Your Glory. This I ask and pray in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?

Loyalty of God – Ruth 1:16-17

God Will Never Leave Us Nor Forsake Us

¹⁶But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. ¹⁷Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”

Lasting Loyalty

There is something very special about loyalty. It can’t be bought, and it is highly sought after by most people. We may have good friends, but when our circumstances become bleak, will they scatter? Ruth, a Moabite, was different from most people. She clung to Naomi and loved her dearly. She pledged herself to Naomi in a way most of us would not do. Even the disciples (with the exception of John, and possibly Peter) scattered when Jesus was arrested.

Ruth displayed for us the loyalty that God has for us. God has said numerous times in His word that He was with us:

And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Long-suffering Love

It takes great patience to persist in a friendship. Ruth had this patience with Naomi. She stood by Naomi through good and bad. Even when Naomi changed her name to Mara (which means bitter), Naomi never left her and was her constant companion.

God has unimaginable patience with us. We have been given a down-deposit when we accepted Christ of the continual companionship of the Holy Spirit. He is very loyal. We have also been told not to grieve Him. The Holy Spirit stays with us regardless of where we go, what we do, or how we think. We should always remember His love for us as we stumble through life, tripping over sin and falling flat on our face. The good news that this is the perfect position from which to humbly seek God in repentance.

Faithful Friend

But it isn’t duty that Ruth felt that bound her to Naomi. It was friendship. Ruth saw the Godliness of Naomi and wanted to be her friend. Her friendship with Naomi was so powerful that she pledged herself as Naomi’s companion. God has been treating us like a friend even before we come to His Son. Through the lens of eternity, God sees us as we will be, not as we are, and treats us that way now.

Jesus died on the cross for sinners who hadn’t even been born yet by our reckoning of time. But to Jesus, He sees the end from the beginning, and treated us as His most precious friends, dying for us on the cross. And just like Ruth, who said that even death could not separate her from Naomi, Jesus conquered death so that we could be with Him.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask ourselves a question: Are we being as faithful and loyal to God as He is to us in our friendship with Him?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, You have shown me through Your word just how faithful and loyal You are. You have never broken any of Your promises. I thank You for Your patience in my life as I seek to honor and obey You. Forgive me of my sins, and help me to turn to You and Your ways as You reveal them to me. Help me to be loyal and faithful to You in all that I think, say, and do, that Your character would be on display as a light on hill. Remember me as I walk in the world, for my feet keep getting dirty with the attitudes, thoughts, desires, and ways of those who do not know You. Wash me in Your Word and in the precious perfect blood of Your Son, that I may be washed clean and renewed. This I ask in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?

Humbled by God – Jonah 1:17

It Is A Terrible Thing To Fall Into The Hands Of The Living God

Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Angry Answer

Jonah was faced with, in his mind, an impossible situation: Preach destruction to a people that he wanted God to destroy, knowing that God would show them mercy. Rather than proceeding with God’s plan, Jonah fled in the hopes that he would not be embarrassed should God relent of his stated position to destroy Nineveh, also greatly desiring the destruction of his enemies.

The sailors who drew lots to determine who was responsible for their difficulties determined it was Jonah. When confronted with his disobedience by the sailors, Jonah does something odd. Rather than repent, or tell them to take him to a port near Nineveh, he instructs them to throw him overboard! He would rather die, drowning in the water, than be responsible for the Ninevites repenting to the Lord.

Powerful Provision

God calmed the storm immediately after Jonah was thrown overboard. Not only did God relent against the ship and crew, they began to fear God and worship Him. God, rather than destroying Jonah, wanted to bring about some character refinement in him, and instead of letting him drown, sent a fish to swallow him.

God often wants to do more with us and through us that we would like. We sometime fight Him kicking and screaming, because our flesh interferes with our obedience. And, as in the case of Jonah, it was so much so that he forgot to take into account the lives that were with Him, to the point that he probably didn’t really care if the sailors died with him. But even in that, God provided for both the sailors’ safety, and for the safety of Jonah. We can be assured that God will provide for us in our time of need.

Contemplative Confinement

Imaging the stench of being in the belly of a fish for three days and nights. Jonah was so angry and distraught with what God was asking him to do, that it took him THREE DAYS AND NIGHTS before he could bring himself to repent. How much anger would that take? It must have been something very powerful to compel Jonah to wait so long in such a difficult situation.

Most likely, a root of bitterness had taken great hold in Jonah’s heart towards the Ninevites. God will often use a situation where we are called to be compassionate towards, and reach out to, our enemies to remove a root of bitterness that grown within us. Jonah’s root was very well entrenched. How many of us would have waited THREE DAYS AND NIGHTS to finally surrender to God? Most of us would probably, in that miserable condition, have surrendered in the first few minutes.

Regardless of the situation that we find ourselves in, God will use the perfect situation to humble us in our pride, anger, bitterness, or whatever situation that we have that causes us to act contrary to the will of the Living God. For it is only God who is able to get us to see ourselves for who we really are, and to provide opportunity for reflection and repentance. We can only hope it won’t take being in the belly of a fish to do it.

Awesome Acknowledgement

And out of these trials comes a greater understanding and acknowledgement of the character and nature of God. Jonah’s prayer to God shows that He yields to God’s sovereign rule in his life:

¹From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. ²He said:

“In my distress I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,
and you listened to my cry.
³You hurled me into the depths,
into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers
swept over me.
⁴I said, ‘I have been banished
from your sight;
yet I will look again
toward your holy temple.’
⁵The engulfing waters threatened me,
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
⁶To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, Lord my God,
brought my life up from the pit.

⁷“When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered you, Lord,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.

⁸“Those who cling to worthless idols
turn away from God’s love for them.
⁹But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.'”

When we come out of the other side of our humbling, we will praise, honor, and glorify God in Heaven for who He is and for our salvation through the difficulty.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask ourselves a question: What does it take from God to help us to change our minds and humble ourselves before Him?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, You are able to humble the proud and bring low all who resist You. You are full of mercy and grace, patiently dealing with me in Your own way. Help me to not resist Your discipline, Lord, but rather to embrace it and be changed by it so that You would be glorified. Help me to remove all resistance to You in my heart, that You would have unfettered access to the deepest, darkest regions of my soul, places where even I dare not visit. Shed Your perfect light in all of the areas of darkness, and redeem what was lost by me through sin and pride. Show me what You desire of me that I may do it, and do it with a cheerful heart, knowing that it is Your will. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?

Return to the Lord – Joel 2:12-17

We Need a National Call to Repentance

¹²“Even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”

¹³Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.
¹⁴Who knows? He may turn and relent
and leave behind a blessing—
grain offerings and drink offerings
for the Lord your God.

¹⁵Blow the trumpet in Zion,
declare a holy fast,
call a sacred assembly.
¹⁶Gather the people,
consecrate the assembly;
bring together the elders,
gather the children,
those nursing at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room
and the bride her chamber.
¹⁷Let the priests, who minister before the Lord,
weep between the portico and the altar.
Let them say, “Spare your people, Lord.
Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,
a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?'”

Regretful Return

God asks that Christians return to Him in mourning, fasting and prayer:

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.

Revival in the Church has been a recurring theme throughout the last two thousand years. Just as Israel returned to God after He disciplined them, they quickly turned from God again and again. We have a tendency to do the same. In UNITY, the body of Christ should gather as God’s people and mourn, fast, and pray to God for His deliverance from the evil that has beset us. And while we are doing that, we need to remember that the justified shall live by faith.

How must we appear to God when we cannot even put aside our differences and get the local bodies of believers to come out in unison and seek the One we call upon for our deliverance together? Can we not designate a call to repentance? Are our egos and pride so great that brothers in Christ cannot come together? How sad must our God be with us.

Compassionate Care

God IS gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and when we return to Him, He relents from sending calamity. We are told here that God may even be gracious and restore some of what He has taken so that we may be able to give offerings to Him.

In the time that this passage was written, the locusts had destroyed the crops, and the people were facing great hardship. God needs to get our attention, and what better way than taking away that which He has already provided? We are God’s children, and we are disciplined like children. But God relents because of His Mercy and Grace. We should always remember that.

Sacred Session

In this passage, everyone is asked to gather, regardless of their station or circumstances. Even the newlyweds are to interrupt their nuptial bliss to participate. This is not just the church regulars, but all who are called according to God’s name are to gather at the assembly.

And once the assembly is gathered, we are to be consecrated to the Lord. We are to shed our desires for the things of this world and seek the One who created all things and desires for us to be with Him eternally in the next. We are to put on Christ; let us remember our calling and do as we are directed. Is it not disobedience that causes this issue in the first place? Does God, when His people are doing His will, not protect and proper them? For what purpose would God, if His people are living according His will, send in their enemies to overtake and destroy His people? To bring them closer to Him? If so, where is the evidence in the Bible?

And lest we forget, He reminds us several times:

but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.

He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he made, for a thousand generations

He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he made, for a thousand generations

Ardent Appeal

Once we have gathered and have been consecrated, we need to make our impassioned plea to God to spare us lest the nations say, “Where is your God?” He will not tolerate sin among His people. He is long-suffering, and waits patiently for us to turn from our sin. But we should not mistake His patience for a seal of approval. Let us not give God any reason to display His displeasure at us.

We need to individually and corporately seek out the Lord in tears of repentance, crying out for mercy. If some of our brothers or sisters won’t join in, we need to pray for them as well, for are we not a royal priesthood? Where is our longing to be free from sin, united in Christ, seeking the lost sheep, and protecting the flock? What has happened to harden our hearts so much that we are disconnected from each other and from God? Let us cry out to Him and beg Him for mercy. If you hear a voice saying that it is too late, that is not from God; evaluate everything based on His word, not on your emotions

And the God of mercy will relent and restore what He has taken. Do not despise His discipline, for all discipline is unpleasant at the time it takes place. But it will yield a great harvest of righteousness when it has been completed. Let us seek the Lord for our sanctification and dedicate ourselves to our God in holiness.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask ourselves a question: Why aren’t we able (or willing) to be united with all of the body of Christ in national prayer, fasting, and repentance in accordance with the will of God?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, You are a Holy God, and You cannot tolerate sin. Place within the hearts of Your people a desire to return to You. Begin a revival within Your church, and help me to change my heart attitudes to match Yours. Please help our leaders to unite together and work for unity within the body. And remember me as I seek Your face, humbling myself in prayer and fasting, desiring that I would be sanctified and live righteously before you. This I ask and pray in mighty Name of Jesus, Amen.

Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?

The Law of God – Psalm 119:17-20

We Should Meditate Upon God’s Law Day and Night

¹⁷Be good to your servant while I live,
that I may obey your word.
¹⁸Open my eyes that I may see
wonderful things in your law.
¹⁹I am a stranger on earth;
do not hide your commands from me.
²⁰My soul is consumed with longing
for your laws at all times.

Following Faithfully

The psalmist recognizes that it is much easier to obey God’s law when we are experiencing the goodness of God. When we are in the midst of trials, being tormented by our enemies, and trying to deal with our emotions, it takes a significant amount of concentration, control, and effort to react appropriately. It is especially difficult when we are being tested, and the awareness of the presence of God about us seems to have disappeared. God has not forsaken us, but is showing us what is really within us as He watches at a short distance, just like a teacher who is observing the student take a test.

There is nothing wrong with asking God to reveal His presence and peace to us during trials. But in order to grow, God must take the training wheels off of our bicycle, and we need to put more effort into it to learn our lessons. It is especially difficult when God does the opposite of what you request as you seek to honor and glorify His name.

Precious Perceptions

Sin clouds our perceptions and judgments. We need God to remove the blinders from us so that we can see clearly. When our blinders are removed, God can show us wonderful new things in His law. As we are more obedient to the revealed truth of God, He entrusts us with more of Himself.

We will be judged not for how much we know, but for what we did with the truth that was revealed to us and that we understood. As we are faithful in observing God’s laws and statutes, the blinders of sin will begin to fall away. The psalmist greatly desires to know more of God’s character and insight. We should do the same.

Concealed Concerns

The Earth is not our home. We need God to reveal Himself and His truth to us so that we can live faithfully for Him. We cannot live faithfully for God if He conceals His truth from us. The psalmist knows that if God hides His face from him, he will not know the truth. And since we are not yet with Him in Heaven, we need Him to show Himself to us as we patiently await the glorious day when His Son, Jesus Christ, returns in Glory, and we will know Him as we are fully known.

Delightful Desires

As we are yielding ourselves to the Holy Spirit, He will put an ever-increasing desire to know God’s character and to live it out within us. The desire to live righteously and to see righteousness be done will increase greatly. We will become so driven that the desire to live righteously will consume us. We will long for it as the pants for the water.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask ourselves a question: Is the desire to live righteously for God a consuming desire in our heart?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, Your love for me is amazing. You greatly desire that I be consumed with You. As the desire of my heart is increasing for You, You have said that You will give me the desire of my heart. Please do not hide Your face from me, but rather, help me to know Your holy character and live it out in faith. Strengthen me as I am being tested, and keep me from stumbling. Father, place such a great desire in my heart to know You and to live righteously that I will be consumed with it. For Your Son has said that if we love You we will obey Your commands. Reveal them to me, and help me to be faithful in following all of them, regardless of my circumstances. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?

Can God Trust You? – Daniel 6:4

Can God Trust You to be Faithful?

At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.

Capable Character

God seeks to inculcate within us great character – HIS character. Our trials are designed to challenge us to rise to the occasion, and to cast aside our way of doing things in favor of doing things God’s way. The Holy Spirit not only guides us in the way we should go, but provides the very means to do it, whether it is strength, endurance, wisdom, words, or anything else that is needed for God to accomplish His goals through us.

God greatly desires and has planned to do just that – to use His people to showcase Himself, rather than just appear as a great tower or smoke or pillar of fire as He once did for Israel. We are to be used as His hands and feet and mouths so that His work in our lives can be displayed, rather than just signs and wonders to behold and possibly be ignored. He seeks to have a relationship with His creation, and particularly with us humans. This is shown in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, as well as the way that God has worked through people all throughout the Bible.

God doesn’t have a “Plan B”. Christians are it. If we fail to do what we are supposed to do, then God’s plans won’t be completed the way He desires them to be completed. Even now, God must reveal Himself through dreams and visions to people who live in the Middle East under Sharia law, as the evil there is so bad that even mentioning Christ will get you beheaded. It’s hard to get the message out when the messengers are murdered before the message is completely delivered! Speaking of messengers, Proverbs 25:13 tells us something about the ones with good character:

Like a snow-cooled drink at harvest time
is a trustworthy messenger to the one who sends him;
he refreshes the spirit of his master.

Trustworthy Through Trials

God is seeking men and women who are willing to deny themselves, pick up their cross, and follow Jesus. God needs people who are able to trust in Him to deliver them through the most difficult of trials. Jesus experienced great hardship at the hands of men and His trials. God appoints those who are trustworthy through trials to different positions depending on their ability and need.

God calls people to different many different responsibilities. He who knows all things determines what and where His people should be called. He selects them as He sees fit.

Administration Acumen

Many are selected to be leaders. People should not seek a position of leadership without the calling of God. The burden of leadership is great, and requires a specific personality and mentality to do it right. Look at how many people are in leadership today that are causing so much grief to the ones that they have been placed over. We should soberly look at this and give great consideration before accepting any position of leadership. Remember – leaders will be judged more strictly than others because of the responsibility of their role.

Monetary Mindfulness

Some are selected to be the overseers of great wealth. Although many (if not most) of us would say, “Sure – I’ll take that!”, it is most probable that they would fail miserably at the task. The Bible says that if we can be trusted with little, we can be trusted with much. Many Christians are living paycheck to paycheck. It’s not that they don’t have enough money to live frugally and save, it is just that the call of culture and desire of our hearts is to spend the money provided to us by God on ourselves. Many people are not fiscally prudent, nor even know how to be. Self-control in this department sometimes seems absent, and the wisdom to know what to do with money, as well as what not to do with money, seems to be missing from many Christians’ lives.

It takes someone who have been trained by a knowledgeable mentor to understand these concepts and put them in practice. For instance, in a perfect world, where the average rate of return on an investment is 12% per year (don’t laugh – we know times are tough and something like this is very unlikely at present), that a person that is eighteen years of age who puts $1000 U.S. into a Roth IRA investment every year for just 10 years, and leaves it alone, will have over one million U.S. dollars waiting for them at age 65 – TAX FREE.

How many people are willing to do that at that age, or consistently? What if the return is only 8%, but they invest the maximum allowed per year every year (at this time, through two separate employers [you can be self-employed as well] a person can put in $5,500 U.S. dollars TOTAL) for just 20 years? At age 65, they will have almost two and a half million U.S. dollars waiting for them. Who knew?

In any case, it would be a terrible thing to have to give an accounting to God of how great wealth was lost through fiscal mismanagement or spent on personal enrichment.

Taken Through Trials

There is a reason that Jesus suggested that we pray, “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” He Himself was led by the Spirit of God to be tested by Satan himself. We are going to be taken through trials to purge the dross that we have within us. We shouldn’t be surprised at the trials that we face. Regardless of what we are selected to do, we will face trials of many kinds. Sometimes, they can take decades before we are ready (it took God forty years to get the Egypt out of Moses before He called him to service…) But there is one specific calling that no one wants to receive, and that God requires the greatest trust from His people .

Selected for Suffering

God trusts us with what we are able to do and won’t allow us to be tempted beyond our ability to endure without providing a way. God DOES give us more than we can handle so that we can grow in faith and character as we overcome our deficiencies with HIS strength, power, and ability.

One of the most difficult callings, or selections, is to be called to suffering. God will eventually remove all suffering and pain. Sometimes these things happen because it is God’s will that they happen and are not a direct result of sin:

¹As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. ²His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

³“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

⁶After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. ⁷“Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

It is very difficult for a person when God selects them for suffering. Having to bear that tests a person’s faith down to its very core. When the trial is prolonged (especially accompanied with excruciating pain) without help from others who support and encourage rather than assume and accuse, depression can set in, because the suffering is so great.

God greatly desires that Christians be patient and compassionate with people who have been called to this. This does not include whiners who have a hangnail and act as though they have been skewered with a spear like a stuck pig. These are people who have crippling diseases (like Lyme’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy, and the like). Not every disease manifests itself on the outside for all to see. And the mental and emotional abuse afflicted upon people is much harder to see than physical abuse.

Even though God’s people are called to suffering, God assures us that eventually all pain and suffering will end for those who believe in His Son, Jesus Christ. Sometimes that will be addressed in this life (like the blind seeing, the lame walking, the sick cured, and the like), or in the next. Either way, God will eventually provide an end to it. But just as Jesus said concerning the blind man who was that way from birth, there is purpose to it – not only for character development, but so that the works of God can be put on display.

Special Service

There was once a story about a man who came into a logging camp. He was shown the logging operations, and was given the grand tour. When they came to the river where the logs were being floated down to the logging plant from where they were cut, a logger stood at the edge of the river. Every now and then, he would use a pole that he was carrying and reroute a cut tree down a smaller fork in the river.

The man asked the logger who was directing the trees what he was doing. The logger replied, “oh, those are special trees”. The visitor asked, “What is so special about them, and how can you tell?” The logger replied, “The trees I am selecting are very special. They were harvested from the very tops of the mountains. The winds are ferocious up there, and these trees are bent as the storms wail against them, but they stay strong and resilient. Although all of the trees are profitable, these trees have endured the greatest of trials, and are greatly prized by furniture makers and artists, and are worth many times more than what the other trees are worth. They will be used in ways that show their beauty, and when they are finally shaped, will endure for generations as priceless antiques and masterpieces.”

¹Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

If you have been selected for great suffering, rejoice: God plans to use you in the most beautiful of ways. Once you have been tested, expect to be put on display.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask ourselves a question: Am I demonstrating to God that I can be trusted with whatever He is selecting me to do and be?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, You are good and gracious. Help me to both find the area where I am called, and to do thrive in it so that You may be glorified. Strengthen me so that I will be able to endure all the trials that I have been appointed to, and to overcome any difficulties that I encounter. May Your character be put on display at all times, that as an image-bearer for You, I would be able to fulfill all that you have planned for me to do since before time began. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?

Waiting for God – Psalm 42:8-11

The Long Dark Night of the Soul Will Be Redeemed by God

⁸By day the Lord directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.
⁹I say to God my Rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?”
¹⁰My bones suffer mortal agony
as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
¹¹Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

Lavished Love

God pours out his love to us all of the time. By day we see His hand as He provides for our every need. He is involved in every aspect of our lives as we struggle in our daily lives. Even when we cannot feel His presence, He is there, just as a father is running behind a child learning to ride a bicycle without training wheels as the front wheel wobbles back and forth.

Solemn Song

By night we experience His comfort as our souls cry out to Him. God tests us even as we sleep, yet still we seek Him out in song and prayer. This does not happen automatically. We must make every effort during our waking hours to instill this desire in our hearts so that at night, it will reveal itself in our subconscious wanderings.

Oppressed by Opposition

An old nursery rhyme says, “sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” This is given to children to counter taunts and jeers, but it is not accurate. Words CAN and DO hurt. And the enemy knows this well. Whether they try to attach a label to the focus of their wrath, or merely mock us as we go through our trials (many of which THEY have caused), the pain of enduring the trial is greatly amplified when God appears silent, and deliverance is not quickly forthcoming. This is especially true when the trial is prolonged and filled with physical as well as emotional suffering.

Downcast with Despair

The authors of this Psalm challenge themselves and us to ask ourselves a very important question: Why should our souls be downcast? Why should we be in emotional and spiritual despair? Is not our God YHWH, who exists eternally and is dynamically involved in our lives? Is God even able to break His word when He said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you“? What part of our despair is based in truth given the Word of the Living God who says that we are more than conquerors through Christ? Or that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing? Or that He knows the plans He has for us to give us hope and a future?

Heavenly Hope

The sons of Korah encourage us to put our hope in God our Savior. Let us not forget His benefits, His lavishing of love, grace, and mercy upon us. Let us breathe strength into our weary bones and emotional pain by remembering the Character and Nature of God and what He has done for us. Remember also that God has a tendency to come during the fourth watch of the night – at the very last second. Our faith is stretched and we grow when we are able to endure through the trial, especially when the devil and his demonic minions are hurling their insults, accusations, doubts and ideas of fear at us while his earthly minions are doing their best to oppress us and make us feel even worse.

It is never easy to wait for God. As we are standing and waiting to be delivered, God will often allow great difficulty into our lives. Let us not forget that we may even be called upon to bear His witness through isolation, torture, and even gruesome death. Yet Jesus has overcome death itself! We can be assured that regardless of the outcome, our hope in God is not misplaced. Patiently endure your trials so that God may be glorified.

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask ourselves a question: Are we filling ourselves with God and hope in His promises as the devil and his minions are beating us up, having backed us into a corner, as we wait for God to deliver us?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, blessed be Your name forever and ever! It is always so difficult for me as I endure these trials. Help me to overcome them, Lord God, and to do so with joy in my heart. I know that You are never far from me, and that You are watching in expectation to see my faith grow. Why must this always be so painful? Remember me, Father, as my enemies lie about me to others, accuse me falsely, and seek to destroy my reputation and character. May I find strength in Jesus, that He has provided me with His reputation and His character. I know, Father, that my enemies don’t understand what they are doing. They, like all truly evil people, lash out at the loved ones of their true target to cause the object of their fury the greatest amount of pain. I pray, Father, that You would have mercy upon them and bring them to a saving knowledge of Your Son, Jesus Christ, that they would cease from bringing shame to You as Your image-bearers, and instead bring You the glory and honor that You so rightly deserve. Strengthen me during these trials that regardless of the outcome, my faith would grow and when Your Son comes in glory, that All would glorify Your name. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Want more? Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?

Jacob Will Be Saved, and Esau Will Be Destroyed

Coming Calamity

Woeful Wrath

Delightful Deliverance

Esau Eradicated

A Qualifying Question

A short prayer of preparation:

Poverty does not predispose us to moral depravity.

19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.”

Luxurious Living

Sick with Sores

Righteous Reward

Terrible Torment

Misleading Manifestation

A Qualifying Question

A short prayer of preparation:

The Lack Of Justice Displeases God

14 So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. 15 Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.

The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice.

Justice Jilted

Righteousness Rejected

Truth Trounced

Predator and Prey

Almighty Annoyed

A Qualifying Question

A short prayer of preparation:

Show Your Wisdom Through The Way You Live Your Life

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

Pointed Progression

Perfectly Pure

Passionately Peaceful

Carefully Considerate

Singularly Submitted

Moved to Mercy

Wonderful Works

Inconspicuously Impartial

Solely Sincere

A Qualifying Question

A short prayer of preparation:

Beware A Famine Of The Word Of God

Famine Foretold

Desire Defeated

A Qualifying Question

A short prayer of preparation:

God Does Everything He Promises To Do

14 and I will bring my people Israel back from exile.

“They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. 15 I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,”

says the Lord your God.

Prophesy Provided

God Gathers

Verdant Ventures

Permanent Planting

A Qualifying Question

A short prayer of preparation:

There Is No Darkness In Pure Light

Glorious Glow

Darkness of Deception

Relationship in Radiance

A Qualifying Question

A short prayer of preparation:

Do What Is Required Of You

Sacrifices Scorned

Royal Requirements

A Qualifying Question

A short prayer of preparation:

God’s Will For You

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Remember to Rejoice

Persist in Prayer

Thoroughly Thankful

A Qualifying Question

A short prayer of preparation:

Be Engaged In The Work Entrusted To You

Equally Engaged

Committed to the Commander

Don’t Disqualify

Receive the Reward

A Qualifying Question

A short prayer of preparation:

¹⁹“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. ²⁰At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores ²¹and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

²²“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.”

¹⁴So justice is driven back,
and righteousness stands at a distance;
truth has stumbled in the streets,
honesty cannot enter.
¹⁵Truth is nowhere to be found,
and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.

The Lord looked and was displeased
that there was no justice.

¹⁴and I will bring my people Israel back from exile.

“They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them.
They will plant vineyards and drink their wine;
they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
¹⁵I will plant Israel in their own land,
never again to be uprooted
from the land I have given them,”

¹⁶Rejoice always, ¹⁷pray continually, ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

¹¹But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you.
¹²Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

²⁰Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
²³who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
but deny justice to the innocent.

This is what the Lord says—
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you what is best for you,
who directs you in the way you should go.”

So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.