March 31, 2023
1 John 3:1 “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not”
The depth of God’s love for us cannot be described and is a point of wonder when we consider who He is and His infinite holiness and perfection. Just trying to understand what kind of being who exists eternally and who created all that we know as reality by just commanding with His words is impossible. This is seen in Psalms 8:3-4, “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?”. Here we are, made of dirt, limited in our knowledge and abilities, and the very moment we are born we begin to die. Yet God loves us so personally, completely, so unconditionally that He chose before we were born to create a way so that His creation could live with Him forever. And not only live, but live as His children and share equally in all things with Jesus Christ. In today’s verse, the Bible is not calling us to consider what kind of love the Father has given us so that we could be saved. Because we could have been forgiven and saved but then destined to live eternally as servants of God or in some other capacity. But the astonishment of the matter is the sonship thing. It is certainly not because we went seeking after God, loving Him, and bowing to His will but the contrary. We ignored Him, chose sin over His fellowship, blocked His efforts to reach us, and even argued He doesn’t exist. Whenever we would hear the truth and the good news of how much He loves us and wants to save us, we would run away from Him and His call. Yet the Father came persistently and sent His only begotten Son to suffer and die in our place so that we could be saved by love. The scriptures tell the wonderous story in Ephesians 2:4-7, “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus”. It’s all about His consuming love for us and not about our abilities, actions, and willingness to love Him in return. Because in all those things we are failures at redeeming ourselves. Sometimes we focus too much on our sinfulness and depravity, things that are inherent in us, things that we can’t change and do not have the power to overcome. We make the gospel message a crusade about our responsibility to do right as if we somehow have some leverage in it all and even then, we’ve twisted the message to make it all about us. When we perceive what manner of love He has for us and what He has prepared for us, His love is the power that motivates us to live more like Jesus.
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March 30, 2023
1 Kings 18:21 “And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word”
When Elijah came on the scene, the people of Israel were in a backslidden condition. They were trying to keep their Jewish beliefs and traditions and worship the false god Baal at the same time. But Almighty God had already made His Word clear on such a matter centuries before when He gave Israel the law. The first commandment as given in Exodus 20:3-5 declared, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them”. Elijah singlehandedly, although anointed of the Lord, confronted 450 of the prophets of Baal on Mt Carmel and delivered the challenge in today’s verse to the Jews. We know how it all came to pass when God answered Elijah by sending down heavenly fire but the premise of what he said is still a message to people today. If God is real and if He is who He says He is, then let’s follow Him. The lukewarm condition of Israel at that time mirrors the lukewarm state of the modern church world and we need to raise the bar of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Social media and some news reporting have been carrying the stories of revivals here and there, many of them led by young people who are crying out to God for renewal and revival. Pictures circulating of packed auditoriums and churches with people praying, singing, worshipping, rededicating, and getting saved have been blessing our hearts. We join with them in calling on the Lord, giving thanks to God that people are turning to the Lord to follow the ways of God as we are reminded of Romans 12:15, “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep”. For those who would criticize and call such gatherings into question, may we be reminded of the account of Luke 9:49, “And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us. And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us”. There’s plenty of room at the foot of the cross and an open invitation from God for all people to follow Jesus. The Bible says in 2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him”. May the Holy Spirit help us to follow Hebrews 12:1-2, “let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith”.
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March 29, 2023
Isaiah 45:22 “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else”
This is one of the greatest verses in the Bible. There have been millions of books and pamphlets, untold millions of sermons, and billions of words spoken in every language that attempt to explain religion, God, salvation, and spirituality. Yet in a few simple words and one verb, “look”, the Lord sums up all that is needed for us to come to Him for the free gift of eternal life. The word for “look” here is the word “pânâh” which carries the meaning to turn one’s face either away or towards and God makes it clear when He says “Look unto me”. When Charles Spurgeon was 15 years old, he was troubled about his soul, and on a Sunday morning, he decided he would go to church. But there was a terrible January blizzard that morning and as he was walking to church, he was not able to make it to the church he had planned to attend. He stopped at a little Primitive Methodist church where maybe a dozen people had made it through the snow to worship. The pastor was not there and a young fellow stood and read Isaiah 45:22, and spoke for 10 minutes about looking to Jesus. Then he looked straight at Charles Spurgeon and said, “‘Young man, you look very miserable. And you will always be miserable. Miserable in life and miserable in death if you do not obey my text. But if you obey now, this moment, you will be saved. Young man, look to Jesus Christ. Look! Look! Look! You have nothing to do but to look and live!”. At that moment Spurgeon was saved. His testimony, which he told hundreds of times throughout his life when he preached, is about the power of God to save those who look to Him. When the Israelites were bitten by poisonous snakes on their journey from Egypt to Canaan, the Lord told Moses to make a snake of bronze, fasten it to a pole, and anyone who would simply look at the snake would be healed. This account becomes the introduction to the words of Jesus when He gave us the simple plan of salvation in John 3:14-16, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”. Again, the Lord is telling us to look to Him and our faith in what He said will save us. The words, “all the ends of the earth”, says anyone and everyone can look to Jesus and we need not and we must not twist God’s saving plan into a complicated religious mess. The authority of this promise is on the grounds of the final words, “for I am God, and there is none else”. Who will you believe? The Almighty One and true God and His simple, infallible promise of salvation? Or the ever-changing and differing words of people, religions, or denominations?
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March 28, 2023
1 Corinthians 10:31 “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God”
Some people’s lives are composed of several compartments. They have a home life, a work life, a church life, and several other lives and sometimes they try to keep all their compartments separate. They may even appear as a different person in each of their lives so the people they work with see an entirely different person than the people they attend church with. The Lord would have us be the same no matter if we’re working, at home, attending church, or spending the day fishing or shopping with a friend. The fellow who appears sanctimonious and reverend in the church should not be screaming insults at the umpire at his son’s little league game. A way to unify all the aspects of how we live is to follow the teaching of today’s verse and allow the Holy Spirit to remind us that no matter where we are or what we are doing, our aim above all else, is to bring glory and honor to our Lord. Concerning our work ethics and actions, the Bible says in Colossians 3:23-24, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ”. The battle against selfishness and self-will will always be ongoing for believers because the nature of our flesh is to please ourselves. In these days of the last church age where the Bible says people are lovers of themselves and lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, a life lived to serve God above all else and look to the needs of others goes against the flow. But having the desire to honor the Lord, to make choices, and follow a course that is for the glory of God, means we regard what we eat and drink as a blessing from God’s hand and faithfully offer thanks for His provision. The words we speak should be spoken in love and respect. The Bible says in Colossians 4:6, “Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man” where “seasoned with salt” means we speak with wisdom and carefulness that as salt flavors and enhances food our words bring blessing and encouragement. Our actions should be from a heart that prays “Lord, not my will but thine be done”. The places we go, the things we buy, and the decisions we make can all be done in the power of this verse, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” when our ways are submitted to God. It is the meaning of Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths”.
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March 27, 2023
John 11:33-35 “When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept”
We see into the heart, into the very being of Jesus Christ in these verses. He was at the tomb of His good friend Lazarus and Mary, Lazarus’ sister fell down before the Lord and was crying in her grief. The word “weeping” here is the Greek word “klaiō” and is the word we would use for someone sobbing and crying aloud, not just crying silently or shedding tears. Mary was overcome by her grief and her heart was utterly broken in sorrow. The Bible says when Jesus saw her and others also weeping, He groaned from within and was troubled and the scripture says, in the shortest verse in the Bible, “Jesus wept”. What a blessed consolation to know our Lord identifies with us in our times of trouble and He goes as far as to feel and experience our pain. The tears in the eyes of Jesus were shed because He knows our sorrows, knows our weaknesses, understands our sinful condition, and is moved toward us with compassion and mercy. He knows we are hopeless without Him, helpless without Him, and trapped in the misery of sin without Him. The compassion of the Lord was publicly displayed at the tomb of Lazarus because when the people saw Him weeping and groaning, they said in verse 36, “Behold how he loved him!”. But Jesus did not weep because Lazarus had died for the Bible says the Lord knew before He ever got to Bethany that He would raise Lazarus from the dead. He was crying because of the human condition of unbelief, suffering, sorrow, and pain. He was crying because instead of believing in Him and trusting that He could raise the dead, many were finding fault with Him because they thought He should have gotten there sooner or healed Lazarus before he died. Our sinful nature, filled with unbelief, wants us to look at what we think God could have done instead of looking at what He is able to do. It would have been a wonderful thing had the Lord healed Lazarus and kept him from dying. But it was a far more wonderful thing, an amazing and glorious thing to behold when Jesus raised him from the dead four days after he had been buried. How quickly Mary and Martha’s grief turned to joy when Lazarus stepped out of the grave. The Lord is with us in our pain and sorrows and He knows our sufferings. The enemy wants us to think we are alone and that no one understands but he is a liar. Jesus knows our situation, He feels our pain, and He understands our weaknesses. In the words of the old hymn, “No, Not One!”, “Jesus knows all about our struggles. He will guide till the day is done. There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus–No, not one! no, not one!”.
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March 26, 2023
James 2:19 “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble”
There is a widespread misconception that all we have to do is believe in God and it doesn’t matter how we envision Him, just faith that He exists is enough. Some people, when asked about the eternal destination of their soul, respond with something like, “Oh, I believe in a higher power” as if that’s all it takes to get to heaven. We can believe then that Jesus is one of many paths to God and we don’t need to believe in Jesus as the only door to heaven. Today’s verse points out that just believing in God, although it is a good thing, does not save us. The devils, referring to demonic beings or the fallen angels, believe in God. They even acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God as startling verses such as Mark 3:11 tell us, “And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God”. The very people Jesus first came to save, the Jews, believed in God and their religious rituals were the centerpiece of their society. The temple mount and its continual sacrifices, offerings, and festivals appeared to prove that of all people on the earth if any of them were saved and in right standing with God, surely the Jews were. The priests, Levites, and religious leaders like the Pharisees all seemed to show the nation of Israel was God-centered. But we know religion and faith in God, apart from the obedience of faith, will never save us. If we examine the next verse, James 2:20, we find the Bible says, “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?”. Faith that is alive must produce something. Not that works pay for our salvation, but faith that saves us causes a response. Look at what the people asked Jesus in John 6:28, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?”. The response is in the next verse 29, “Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent”. We know that when we believe Jesus died for our sins and we believe it personally, it produces a Godly sorrow, and that in turn leads us to repent. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 7:10, “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of”. This does not mean repentance itself is the method of salvation but that it is a part of the effect of our faith in Jesus to forgive our sins. Not just believing in God and Jesus Christ but believing to the point where we acknowledge Jesus as our Savior and that acknowledgment of faith produces repentance. This is why when John the Baptist came on the scene, he preached “repent” and when Jesus began preaching, the Bible says in Matthew 4:17, “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. Faith that goes beyond just believing in God and causes us to turn from our sin and trust the blood for salvation is faith that is alive and filled with action and is not the faith of devils.
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March 25, 2023
John 14:18 “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you”
Jesus spoke these words to His disciples not long before He was arrested and crucified and are part of the opening words of this chapter, “Let not your heart be troubled”. He knew that when He was taken away from them and they no longer had His physical presence, they would miss the comfort He brought them. When He said, “I will not leave you comfortless”, the word “comfortless” is from the Greek word “orphanos” from which we get “orphan”, someone who is parentless. The thought of a child being left without parents, orphaned, is a picture of uncertainty, insecurity, and perhaps loveless and unwanted. But God’s plan for us is to be part of His family, never separated from Him, and always in a place where we are safe, secure, provided for, and unconditionally loved. There is no doubt that the disciples experienced a wonderful kind of life when they were called to be in Christ’s intimate circle of followers. There was always friendship, fellowship, food, safety, joy, peace, and every other blessing we could imagine when with the Lord. The promise in today’s verse is one of the unfailing presence of the Lord and just as He spoke these words to the disciples, the promise does not end with them because He has promised us the same thing. When He was declared to be Emmanuel, God with us, centuries before His birth, that wasn’t just prophetic of His life on earth for 33 years but was a declaration that He will always be with us. The Holy Spirit’s name is the “Comforter” described in verses 16, 26, and in Chapters 15:26 and 16:7. He is the One who replaces the physical presence of Jesus on this earth and we can never be separated from the Comforter because He lives in us. What a blessed promise “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you”! We need these words in these perilous times when the darkness of the world is all around us. When the enemy comes in like a flood and when the best of human efforts fail to give us hope. We need these words when our children are in trouble, when death knocks at our doors, when the medical report is against us, and when we are greatly burdened with problems and there seems no way out. Not only do we need these words for ourselves but we need them to pass on to others when they have no comfort. They need to know the Lord is not a God who is far off but He is close at hand and ready to help. In 2 Corinthians 1:3, He declared Himself to be, “the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort”. And then there are the words, “I will come to you”. In our deepest troubles, we do not have to power ourselves through by our own strength and reach Him but He said He will come to us. Praise the Lord He knows our situations and will never cease to be our Comforter who reaches down to help when we have no strength to reach up.
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March 24, 2023
John 11:25-26 “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”
To be saved, we believe Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and three days later arose bodily from the grave and we confess these things as our confession of faith. This is the reason for Romans 10:9-10, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. We will celebrate all this in a few days on Easter weekend. But the question Jesus was asking Martha in today’s verse, at the tomb of her brother Lazarus, was not about Himself. But it was about all of us who believe in Jesus: do you believe when we put our trust in Jesus Christ we will never die? When the early church recited their creed and came to the part where they said, “I believe in the resurrection of the flesh”, they would point to themselves and say, “I believe in the resurrection of this very flesh”. Somewhere along the way, many Christians have lost sight of what it means to believe that we will never die and even though death has no power over us, we dread its sting. The reality is that we close our eyes here and open them in the presence of our Lord. There is no soul sleep, no sleeping in the grave, and no holding place where we go to wait for the final resurrection. All that is poppycock and contradicts 2 Corinthians 5:8, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord”. When my wife and I talk about our departed parents, we do not think of them as “having existed” but rather that they are alive this very moment in the presence of our Lord. We never visit their graves and mourn as if they are gone forever or think of them lying beneath the sod but we see them rejoicing with all the other departed saints while they await the new heavens and the new earth where we will all be together for eternity. One place where people have imagined “soul sleep” is 1Thessalonians 4:14, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him” where the word translated sleep is a metaphor because on this side of eternity the flesh, emptied of the soul, appears to be asleep. But the soul departs the instant the flesh dies and we have the understanding of Philippians 1:23-24, “For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you”. Jesus is telling us that saved people never die. Do you believe this?
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March 23, 2023
2 Corinthians 1:12 “For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward”
Most of us live life expecting to be lied to. We know a lot of the people we hear flapping their jaws are unscrupulous and can look us in the eyes with an expression of unblinking honesty but every word they speak is false. The Lord said of unregenerated human nature in John 8:44, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it”. The religious world is not exempt from this wariness. There have been so many negative and hurtful things we’ve seen from church people and ministers that we’ve come to distrust religion in general. The scale of trust, a measure by surveys over several years, shows the most distrusted people in America are members of congress with 92% of people distrusting them (they are tied with car salespeople). Ministers are distrusted by 61% which has fallen over the years from a time when most people respected the clergy until now when many people are cynical and consider ministers irrelevant in our society. God’s will is that we live as He declared in today’s verse “in simplicity and godly sincerity”. The word “simplicity” means to be free from pretense and hypocrisy, open-hearted, and not self-seeking but honoring others. The church at Corinth was filled with leaders who tried to manipulate people to follow them and their cliques (1 Corinthians 3:3-5) and people were used to being wary of anyone who professed that they were ministers. The Apostle Paul told the believers at Corinth he was glad and had a clear conscience about the way he lived his life: with reverence for God and open, honest actions and not in fleshly wisdom. The phrase “with fleshly wisdom” is referring to leaders who use calculating, scheming methods in an attempt to control or influence people to do and live a certain way rather than just living before them transparently, allowing the grace of God to be the teacher and guide. A life well lived for the Lord, one that is filled with a love for God, love for people, steeped in forgiveness and mercy, and showing no hypocrisy or hidden agendas is a greater witness for our Lord than 10 million words spoken to instruct but coming from a place of confusion, strife, selfishness, and worldly wisdom. The Holy Spirit is the teacher and all our words, instructions, sermons, and Bible studies are worthless unless He opens the understanding. We help others most when we live simply, with godly sincerity, and acknowledge that if there is anything good about us it is because the grace of God is working in us.
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March 22, 2023
Song of Solomon 2:11-12 “For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle(dove) is heard in our land”
Springtime speaks to us of renewal and new life. There’s a willow tree across the road from us and every year it’s the first to show the bright green of spring followed by the spring flowers, wild onions, and gradual greening of the grass. All that seemed dead and dark in the cold winter months give way to rebirth and brilliant life. In our spiritual life, we go through winter seasons when we face trials and tests when we feel cold and far from God. We need revival and renewing and although we pray and keep looking to the Lord, the seasons of spiritual winter can seem long and arduous. A few years ago, I went through a personal season of difficulty that I thought would never end. The enemy would tell me that my best days were over and that all the dreams and expectations I had would never be fulfilled. He was trying to shake my faith in the power of God to bring me through the storm. He pointed out all my mistakes and shortcomings and tried to make me give in to the doubt and fear that I was stuck where I was and there was no hope of a better future. But just as the seasons change in the natural world and the icy cold of winter gets thawed by the spring sunshine, the warmth of God’s power and love began to restore and renew me. By the grace of God, the Holy Spirit filled me with new desire, new hope, and new expectations and my wife and I began the leg of our journey that we are traveling today. That’s why the words of today’s verse ring so loudly whenever we have been through a blast of wintertime and then the signs show us that the season is past and the freezing rain is gone. Hope is renewed, strength is restored, and the beauty of salvation appears brighter than ever. A song of praise arises in our hearts and we know the Lord has a purpose and plan for us that confirms His goodness and faithfulness to us. It may be that He is redirecting our path as He did with Joseph, Moses, and Saul of Tarsus. Or it could be He has been actively delivering us from circumstances and situations that have kept us bound for years. What we know is that He is moving us forward so that we can be closer to Him and separated from all that distracts us from His will. Winter seasons are not times when the Lord has abandoned us but times when we are being prepared for our next spring, our next season of the revival of renewed hope and vision. The Bible is filled with accounts of People who went through winters of distress and trials” Job, David, Ruth, Esther, Daniel, Jeremiah, and the list continues. Yet their stories were completed when the Lord raised them out of their situation and gave them great victories. May we use the wonderful days of this new Spring to remind us that Lord never fails us and that He will always give us life and restoration throughout every season of our lives.
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March 21, 2023
Luke 11:8-9 “I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you”
The word “importunity” appears only once in the KJV, in this verse. In the parable here, a fellow has a friend come to his house at midnight and there is no food ready to give the weary, hungry traveler. The man of the house goes to a neighbor friend and begins knocking on the door asking for some food to feed his hungry guest. The neighbor tells him to go away because it’s late and everyone is in bed asleep yet the man continues to knock and ask for some food. The word “importunity” means persistence, shamelessness, and without regard to time, place, or person and the neighbor finally got out of bed and gave the man the food he was asking for. The lesson is not that we are bothering the Lord with our prayers but rather it is teaching us the importance of persistence in praying when we do not get the answer immediately. We, like the fellow asking for bread, might be tempted to go away when we do not get an answer right away because there is an awkwardness or feeling of being rejected when we’ve come boldly to the throne of grace and yet it seems the Lord isn’t listening or is not interested in helping us. But God waits for us to continue to seek Him and to continue to ask for our petition, not so we can persuade Him because He already knows what He will do, but it is for us to learn to trust Him and learn to wait upon His perfect timing. Some prayers are answered immediately but others unfold before us over time or at a time when the Lord has arranged their answer. When the man in the parable didn’t at first get the bread he was asking for, he boldly continued to knock and ask shamelessly and this is the meaning of importunity. It is also the underlying foundation for the promise, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you”. God is listening to us and has promised repeatedly in His Word that He will answer our prayers so we boldly and persistently, with importunity keep asking, keep seeking, and keep knocking. This was how the gentile woman in Matthew 15:22-28 got her request when the Lord at first seemed to put her off. She didn’t walk away and say, “oh well, I guess at least I tried” but she kept asking persistently with faith that Jesus would help her, and He did. Some of us are praying for things that seem impossible and as of yet, we have no answer that we can see. But with importunity let’s keep asking, seeking, and knocking. God gave us His Word of promise on this matter and by His grace let’s take our stand in prayer and refused to be moved away from our faith.
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March 20, 2023
2 Thessalonians 3:3 “But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil”
Throughout the scriptures, the Lord is revealed to us by His many names and one of them is “Faithful”. We find it in Revelation 19:11 where the appearing of Jesus is described, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war”. The word “faithful” means trustworthy, that which can be relied upon, and one who has kept the confidence given to Him. There are times we may refer to people as faithful but we do so in a human sense that we take for granted that even the most faithful sometimes don’t or are not able to for some reason, remain faithful. An example is Moses of which the Bible says in Hebrews 3:2 when comparing him to Christ, “Who (Jesus) was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house”. We know Moses was not perfect in following the ways of the Lord as Jesus was perfect in obeying His Father but overall, the life of Moses was a life of faithfulness. The same is true of Abraham where the Bible says in Galatians 3:9, “So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham” and we know the scriptures record several errors Abraham made yet the Lord declared him faithful. As a loving father might walk alongside a tottering toddler that’s learning to walk and help it and steady it whenever it stumbles, our Lord, Faithful and True, holds us and helps us as we walk this life so that we can remain faithful to Him. Our scripture says our faithful Lord “stablishes” us where that word means to make stable, strengthen, to guide firmly in a certain direction, and to fix steadfast and firm. The great hand of God with His power and grace is the cause of our faithfulness and not our own resolution and determination. Although it is a wonderful thing when we are persuaded in our hearts and minds that the will of God for us is to be faithful and we set our goal to that end. Yet the Word of God stands eternally true when Jesus declared in St John 15:5, “for without me ye can do nothing”. Not only does our faithful Lord help us to remain faithful, but the Bible says that He keeps us from evil where the word “evil” alludes to both “the evil one” and “evil or wicked people” mentioned in verse 2, “And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith”. It reminds us of the Lord’s prayer where Jesus taught us to say, “And lead us not into temptation (by the path of trials), but deliver us from evil”. God’s faithfulness means He will never leave us and that He always stands strong on our behalf. Even in our weakest moments when our faithfulness fails, the Word of God assures us in 2 Timothy 2:13, “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself”.
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March 19, 2023
Psalms 38:9 “Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee”
The word “desire” in today’s verse means what we long for, what we crave and wish for. No matter how close we are to our spouses, families, and friends, only the Lord knows us completely. He knows what we really want better than we do ourselves. When we consider how much the Lord loves us, we know when He searches us to know us completely, He is not doing so to find fault but to reveal Himself to us and do for us what is best. We have God’s promise in Psalms 37:4, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart”. The Holy Spirit would have us look to Jesus with the prayer of Psalms 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting”. There may be times when we wished God didn’t know everything about us because our nature, like that of Adam and Eve who ran from God, is to hide our sins and errors from the Lord. But the goodness and grace of our Lord draws us to an honest and transparent relationship with Him and reminds us in Proverbs 28:13, “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy”. In every situation and circumstance, we want something even if we can’t identify exactly what it is. God knows what is within us and He is able to reveal to us the substance of our desire. When He told Solomon He would give him whatever he wanted, the desire of Solomon’s heart pleased the Lord when Solomon asked for wisdom to be the best king he could be. What if God made the same offer to us today? What would our request be? When we are led by the Holy Spirit we want to be like Jesus and we want our lives to be filled with the things of the Lord. We want our children and grandchildren to be saved along with the people around us. We want to completely submit to the will of God until our desire is to have only what He has purposed for us. The desire of the flesh is the pleasure offered by this world but when we have the world’s pleasure, we have the warning of 2 Thessalonians 2:12, “That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness”. May the Lord shine the light of truth within us and help us honestly answer the question, “What do I desire?”. May the Holy Spirit cause us to ponder the path of our feet and show us what we are groaning for, what we’re searching for, and what it is that we think will make us happy. He already knows and, in accordance with His will for us, He is ready to give us the desires of our heart”.
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March 18, 2023
Isaiah 40:25-26 “To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth”
The Bible says in Psalms 19:1-2, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge”. The natural world testifies to the power and glory of our God, creator of all things and the Lord is calling us to pay attention to what He has made and let it speak to us of who He is. Day after day, and night after night a story is being told of the glory of God and teaching us how great is our God. We can imagine ancient people, lying on their backs at night looking up at the heavens before light pollution and man-made structures obscured the sky and staring in wonder at the billions of stars and the cloud-like milky way. What fools we have become when we declare, as if we are wise and all-knowing, that there is no God and all of creation just happened. Even though we have no explanation as to how such a thing could have happened. We say, “Everything that exists was created from nothing without a creator”. Such arrogant baloney gets academia’s golden stamp of approval and those who belch its vile rhetoric are praised as the wisest and most intellectual “thinkers” on the planet, which they say, “God didn’t make and just happens to be here because of a big bang where nothing created everything”. Take two steps back from this trash, which coincidentally reminds me of the dump where I dump our weekly garbage, and pure common sense will show you what a bunch of nuts the people of this planet have become. And all the time creation is still speaking to us about our creator and calling us to honor Him, approach Him, and take the cup of salvation He offers us. In our foolishness, we cry we love the planet and worry about destroying it with rising global temperatures while at the same time, we dishonor the One who created it all and argue that He doesn’t exist. We beg our governments to stop pollution and the destruction of nature but we increase the pollution of ourselves and our morality and use every effort to encourage people to destroy themselves with sin. The Lord is patiently telling us, as in today’s verse, to look up, away from the junk that holds our attention, and “behold who hath created these (natural) things”. He can be seen as existing in His creation as the Bible says in Romans 1:20, “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse”.
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March 17, 2023
Jeremiah 20:1-2 “Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things. Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD”
The account of Jeremiah’s ministry shows how the Word of God is rejected by an unbelieving world. The Lord sent Jeremiah to publicly preach against Israel’s idolatry and warn them that if they did not turn back to God, they were going to be destroyed by the Babylonians. Enraged at the sermons, Pashur, the son of the priest and a government official who didn’t attend the preaching himself but heard about it second hand, smote Jeremiah where the word “smote” conveys the meaning that Jeremiah was beaten according to the custom of 39 stripes with a whip. Then he fastened Jeremiah in a torture device where he suffered and was publicly humiliated. Israel, especially the priests who prophesied lies and deception, did not want to hear the truth. The Bible says in Isaiah 30:9-11, “That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us”. Jesus preached the Word of God and they spit on Him, tortured Him, and crucified Him. When Stephen preached the truth of God’s Word in Acts 7, people covered their ears, screamed at him, and stoned him to death. The scripture tells us about our generation in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables”. Man’s fight against the Lord and God’s Word is part of our fallen nature and in the end times when God sends two prophets in Revelation 11, people will kill them and declare their murder a worldwide holiday, sending gifts to each other in celebration of their deaths. The error of Laodicea is that we think we can somehow slip the truth into God-resistant people just like a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down. We attempt to win them over by making the message smooth, non-offensive, culturally appealing, and loaded with technology, feel-good psychology, and casually appearing ministers, not saying all that is bad of itself. But we can only be changed by the power of the Holy Spirit and only He can penetrate the Word of God past our carnal, hardened, and sin-loving barriers and sink it deep into our hearts. God has to plow and prepare the ground of our hearts, sometimes a most uncomfortable process because the thorns and rocks have to be removed. Then the seed of the Word of God, with all its eternal life-giving power, can be planted within us. When the seed is planted in good, prepared ground, it grows and produces fruit.
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March 17, 2023
Jeremiah 20:1-2 “Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things. Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD”
The account of Jeremiah’s ministry shows how the Word of God is rejected by an unbelieving world. The Lord sent Jeremiah to publicly preach against Israel’s idolatry and warn them that if they did not turn back to God, they were going to be destroyed by the Babylonians. Enraged at the sermons, Pashur, the son of the priest and a government official who didn’t attend the preaching himself but heard about it second hand, smote Jeremiah where the word “smote” conveys the meaning that Jeremiah was beaten according to the custom of 39 stripes with a whip. Then he fastened Jeremiah in a torture device where he suffered and was publicly humiliated. Israel, especially the priests who prophesied lies and deception, did not want to hear the truth. The Bible says in Isaiah 30:9-11, “That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us”. Jesus preached the Word of God and they spit on Him, tortured Him, and crucified Him. When Stephen preached the truth of God’s Word in Acts 7, people covered their ears, screamed at him, and stoned him to death. The scripture tells us about our generation in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables”. Man’s fight against the Lord and God’s Word is part of our fallen nature and in the end times when God sends two prophets in Revelation 11, people will kill them and declare their murder a worldwide holiday, sending gifts to each other in celebration of their deaths. The error of Laodicea is that we think we can somehow slip the truth into God-resistant people just like a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down. We attempt to win them over by making the message smooth, non-offensive, culturally appealing, and loaded with technology, feel-good psychology, and casually appearing ministers. But we can only be changed by the power of the Holy Spirit and only He can penetrate the Word of God past our carnal, hardened, and sin-loving barriers and sink it deep into our hearts. God has to plow and prepare the ground of our hearts, sometimes a most uncomfortable process because the thorns and rocks have to be removed. Then the seed of the Word of God, with all its eternal life-giving power, can be planted within us. When the seed is planted in good, prepared ground, it grows and produces fruit.
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March 16, 2023
1 Corinthians 3:13-15 “Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire”
The judgment seat of Christ will not be to determine whether or not we are saved because salvation is ours as a free gift from God. But at the judgment seat, we will give an account of our works from the time we were saved to the day of our death and the Bible says here, “every man’s work shall be made manifest” by the fire of our Lord’s piercing gaze. The test will be whether we did what we did for the honor and glory of the Lord or if we served another purpose. Much of what is done in the name of the Lord is done through the energy and purpose of the human will. Some ministries are career choices and much religious activity is done through the desire and motivation of the flesh. Churches have been built that do not honor God, entire religious systems erected that peddled false teaching, and great sums of money poured into religious pockets that was used for everything except the things of God. These last days have seen some professing believers fulfill 2 Timothy 3:5, “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof”. Some good questions to filter what we do, is to ask and answer honestly, “Am I doing this in any way to promote myself or for some gain or attention I hope to receive? Are these my plans, thought up from my imagination or, am I following close to the Lord and desiring only to honor Him and His great Name? If no one notices what I am doing and if I get nothing from what I am doing can I still do my best for the Lord even if no one knows I did it? What do I want to see as a result of my labors: a bigger church, a better salary, or greater advancement or opportunities? Or do I want only to please Christ and desire that He is honored and exalted? It will not be just great acts or deeds that will be brought to light for the Bible says in Mark 9:41, “For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward”. The fire of Christ’s judgment will put it all to the test. All that is done for the glory of the Lord will be rewarded but all that is done for other reasons will be burned up. God could do all His work without us but He gives us the privilege and opportunity to do the works of the Lord, in the name of Jesus, and then find reward when this life is over. May our prayer be that we will be faithful in the few things we are given to do down here and then find reward when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
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March 15, 2023
Romans 14:1-2 “Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs”
Since its beginning, the church has been influenced by people who believe they cannot please God unless they live by lists of certain moral codes as if we are justified by our works. Mature believers, rooted in the foundation of grace, unwaveringly believe Jesus Christ is our righteousness and when God sees us, He does not justify us because we measure up to His holy demands. But He justifies us because Jesus alone lived up to God’s holy demands and we are covered in the righteous robe of the works of Jesus Christ. Or, as some like to say, when He sees us, He sees the blood of Jesus. Dietary practices were a hot topic in the early church and serve as an example of how we can twist opinions into rules that we argue are Biblical when they are nothing but personal views. Some of the Jews who converted to Christianity held sway over people by demanding they only eat things that were considered Kosher by the law, arguing that the Old Testament laws were still guidelines on how to please God. Other believers, coming from pagan backgrounds, believed that it displeased God if one ate food that had been presented as a sacrifice to pagan gods. Then there were those mentioned in today’s verse that believed they could eat anything because Christians are not bound by the works of the law and pagan gods were just a bunch of nonsense, to begin with. While we may not have the same issues with what food to eat (except for some denominations that try to make people obey Levitical dietary law and Sabbath observance), there are plenty of issues where some people believe one way and some another. Some of those who hold to rules and convictions that they link to Old Testament laws given to the Jews, see their views as more spiritual and holy but today’s verse calls those who follow such convictions, weak. Legalism, which requires us to follow certain rules or live in a certain way to be righteous and thereby pleasing to God, is weak Christianity although its proponents are like old west gunslingers ready to shoot and kill anyone who disagrees with their weak point of view. Sometimes I’m taken aback when I read their posts and there they go, dragging Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy into their weak theology as if we are all Jews, living before Jesus came, and being compelled to keep laws which no one for thousands of years could keep anyway else Jesus would not have come. I wonder, have they never read or understood Galatians 2:21, “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain”? If we have personal convictions, like my dad who believed it was a sin for him to drink coffee, the Bible tells us in Romans 14:22, “Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth”. Keep personal convictions to ourselves and be wise enough to know that although we are free, the Bible says in Galatians 5:13, “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another”.
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March 14, 2023
Jeremiah 48:47 “Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab”
It is amazing how the Lord, in one verse, can reveal His mercy and grace on a level that opens our understanding as to who He is concerning redemption. The Moabites were descendants from Moab, a son born from an incestuous encounter between Lot and one of his daughters in Genesis 19:37. The Moabites were enemies of the Jews and the Lord passed judgment on them, some of it clarified in this chapter 48 of Jeremiah. But the ways of God are declared through the lens of grace as stated in Romans 5:20, “But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” and while the holiness of God demands judgment, the mercy of God counters with forgiveness and pardon. Today’s verse literally means that the Lord will restore Moab in the last days and that the judgment against them will end. This is foreshadowed in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1 where verse 5 says, “and Boaz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse”. Ruth, the main character in the book of Ruth, was a Moabite woman who ended up married to a Jewish man, Boaz, in a series of events that are a picture of redemption that can only be seen as the wonderful plan and providence of God. So, the Moabites, represented by Ruth, are in the lineage of Jesus Christ and show us that the Lord, rich in mercy and grace, weaves together this breathtaking tapestry as a testimony of His willingness and desire to redeem the human race from its deepest depths of sin. Our human nature, short on mercy and long on blame and finding fault, would have ended the story of the Moabites soon after Lot’s disgracing actions and when the nation of Moab took its stand against the Jews, we would have sent them into the pit. But the whole plan of creation and the fall of man is to display and eternally testify to the goodness and grace of God and His willingness to forgive in love and mercy. The redemption of Moab along with a host of other nations and people that have been the enemies of God and His people will set the stage for the kingdom of peace promised by our Lord. For us in this dispensation, we proclaim the Lord is reaching into the gutters of sin, deeper than we can imagine, and pulling us out of the fire. Heaven’s door is open and He is ready and willing to save anyone and everyone that will look to the cross of Jesus and believe in the Son of God. One day, the story of creation, its fall, and redemption along with all judgment because of sin will be over forever, and never again will the Lord deal with wickedness and its curse. What will remain, on display for eternity, is stated in Malachi 3:17, “And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels”.
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March 13, 2023
Matthew 25:5-6 “While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him”
The parable of the 10 virgins or maidens, is a representation of all that we refer to as the church, the body of Christ. There have been other attempts to twist and stretch the parable to make it appear that it is speaking of the Jews during the tribulation but the conclusion made in verse 13, “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh” is a summary of the story and a warning that Jesus is coming and that we should make sure we are ready to meet Him. In the history of the church from its beginning on the day of Pentecost until today, there was a period during the Middle Ages when the coming of Christ was obscured. The Roman Empire had collapsed and all of Europe was plunged into what we call, “the dark ages”. Centuries of wars, plagues, and upheavals of societies and cultures along with the wickedness that crept into the church, corrupting it from the top down, made it appear Christianity had failed and the gospel silenced. All professing believers slumbered and slept. But the Lord sent a great miracle, a time of the reformation which changed the direction of the church. Along with it, came a renewed cry, “Jesus is coming” and that cry grew louder and louder and began to permeate the preaching and teaching with increasing clarity until waves of revivals and awakenings brought the hope of Christ’s return back to God’s people. The parable of the 10 virgins has two types of professing believers: all of them have lamps but there are those with oil, representing the indwelling Holy Spirit, and those without oil. Regarding the oil, the Bible says in Romans 8:9, “Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his”. The parable tells us when the bridegroom, that is Christ, came, some professing to be looking for Him were ready and some were not. The Bible says those who had no oil were scrambling about trying to find what they were missing and in verse 10, the scriptures tell us, “And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut”. Jesus is coming and many people say they know Him but like Nicodemus, some are religious but lost. They may go to church, have been baptized, and identify as Christians. But The Bible says in St John 3:3, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”. Salvation, the new birth, is when we place our faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, believing that He died in our place. Is your faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God? Do you believe He died on the cross for you and that he was buried but 3 days later arose from the dead? Have you asked Him to come into your heart and forgive your sins? If you haven’t, I ask you to do that simple thing right now and believe that when you do, God is listening and by His grace, you will be born again.
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March 12, 2023
Luke 21:34 “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares”
This section of Luke 21 speaks to us about the events and signs pointing to the return of our Lord and what is mentioned here, sounds like the current news headlines. Today’s verse reminds us to not allow the distractions of this life and the traps the enemy sets to keep us from being prepared for the Lord’s appearing. The first warning is about drunkenness and what the Bible calls “surfeiting” a word used only once in the KJV and refers to the stupor and headaches, the hangovers, that follow drunkenness. The Lord knew long before our time that we would be plagued by an epidemic of alcohol and drugs before His return. Every grocery store, convenience store, Walmart, Dollar General, pharmacy, Sam’s Club, and every hole-in-the-wall mom-and-pop store is an alcohol distribution point. State after state is legalizing marijuana to roll in the revenues and the illegal drug business with its synthetic opioids is addicting people until almost every family is being torn apart by the fallout. People are dying in mass, little children on up, from the blatant distribution of fentanyl. The pulpits have gone silent in their stand against alcohol because many church members are unadmitted functioning alcoholics. Drunkenness is not just about alcohol and drugs. In the revivals of the past few weeks, many of the young men crying out to God for help on the altars were praying for deliverance from pornography which releases dopamine in the brain at increasing levels just like an addictive drug. Pastors, ministers, youth leaders, dads, husbands, teenagers, elderly men, and younger are addicted to ever-increasing extreme and violent pornography and watch it continually on their phones and computers. We are no longer shocked when the news tells us that scores of people, even the leaders of our communities, are caught with child pornography or soliciting children for sex. And then the scriptures warn us about the cares of this life which interestingly carries the meaning of being anxious or worried about maintaining an affluent lifestyle. Many in America who are ridden with anxiety are not worried about where their next meal is coming from. But they are overwhelmed and concerned about all the stuff they’ve junked up their lives with. The houses and furnishings, much larger than they need, and all the other trappings of this life they’ve obligated themselves to, have made them feel they can’t live without them, and their hearts are overcharged, weighed down, and suffocating. All the time, the clock is ticking ever so surely to the moment Jesus Christ will appear and the things of this world will be as described in 2 Peter 3:10, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up”.
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March 11, 2023
Isaiah 63:3 “I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment”
This reference is to the return of Jesus Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords and is spoken of in Revelation 19:11-16. The Bible says that He and the armies of heaven will appear visible to the people of the earth and He will be wearing clothes stained with blood. Verses 15-16 tell us, “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS”. The picture of the winepress mentioned both in Isaiah and Revelation uses the occasion of pressing juice from grapes to allude to the final battle when Jesus faces the antichrist and the armies of the world in Israel’s valley of Megiddo. By His power, the Lord will crush the world’s armies that will be marching toward Jerusalem to destroy God’s people. Isaiah tells us that this final battle will not be that of two armies facing off but the Lord will fight alone on behalf of Israel. The Bible says in John 5:22, “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son” meaning that although heaven’s armies will accompany Him, the judgment levied against the antichrist and his armies belongs to Jesus Christ and no other. Our view of salvation is usually personal and centered around the saving of our souls but the scope of salvation is much broader and includes the redemption of Israel and the redemption of all creation. The big picture is that of the devil being abolished from God’s creation, Israel gloriously restored far surpassing the glory of Solomon’s kingdom, and the earth with all its people and animals living harmoniously and at peace. Maybe we don’t realize it, but every time we pray the Lord’s prayer, we are praying for the fulfillment of this when we say, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven”. Right now, the kingdom we know about is the kingdom of God that exists and rules within us as the Lord said in Luke 17:21, “for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you”. But there will come a time when the words of Revelation 11:15 are fulfilled, “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever”. This world and its governments are a mess that no human efforts, politics, science, diplomacy, or war can fix. But soon our Savior, the King of heaven and earth will appear and of him, the Bible says in Daniel 7:14, “And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed”.
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March 10, 2023
Psalms 68:19 “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah”
Some people believe this verse should say that “the Lord carries our heavy burdens, or load” but the Hebrew word for “loadeth” means to impose a load upon and in that sense, it’s a beautiful picture of the Lord loading us down daily with benefit after benefit and it’s on that view that we pause and reflect today. The enemy and our flesh always want us to forget how good the Lord is to us and how greatly we are blessed. That’s exactly what happened in the garden when Adam and Eve had everything they needed, and more, in a perfect, pristine environment. But the tempter lied and persuaded them to believe God had held out on them and pointed out the one thing the Lord had forbidden them from having. Believers trust that the Lord always provides all we need and if we desire something else, we can ask the Lord and if it’s something He wills for us, He will give it. But even without asking, we are already full and running over with blessings and provisions. We used to sing a song that says, “Count your blessings, name them one by one; Count your blessings, see what God hath done” and it is a reminder to us that God has promised us in Psalms 23:1, “The Lord is my Shepard; I shall not want (lack)”. Sure, there are trials and times of trouble. We face illness, adversities, and find ourselves in situations where we cry out to God for help. But the Lord never fails us. Blessing after blessing, answered prayers, opportunities, healings, strength for the journey, and the joy of the Lord are ours daily. He provides forgiveness, mercy, and grace through all our hard times and shortcomings. The angels of the Lord are encamped around us and the Holy Spirit is living within us. Our sins are washed away and forgotten and the hope of heaven shines brightly before us. We are healed by the stripes of Jesus and made whole by the everlasting Word of God. He gives us our daily bread and protects us like a shield from all the darts of the wicked. Jesus is our water from the rock, our manna from heaven, our dearest and closest friend, and he is working all things for our good. We are death-proof, hell-proof, and indestructible because our life is hidden with Christ in God. Nothing can separate us from the love of God and nothing can shake us off the Rock of Ages. We are more than conquerors, He causes us to always triumph, and God, who does not live by a linear timeline and calls what we call the future as already existing, sees us right now as with Him in heaven and nothing can change that! Blessed be the Lord! There will never be a split second when we are not God’s children and His unfailing promise is that He will never leave or forsake us. These are daily and eternal benefits and He alone is worthy of our praise.
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March 9, 2023
Psalms 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer”
The words of this verse make a good prayer and show us that the two elements: our words and our heart are connected. The Bible says in Matthew, “for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh”. The prayer is a plea to the Lord for help in completely surrendering what is within us and what we speak, to the will of God. The unregenerate heart, the fountain of fallen human nature, is described in Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”. Our Lord taught in Mark 7:21-23, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man”. The source of sinfulness is not external temptations or forces around us drawing us and wooing us into depravity and error, but is it our driving degenerate nature within us. Salvation changes us from within and the new birth means God gives us a new nature, a new heart. This is why we look to the cross of Jesus and cry, “change my heart Oh God!” because without God’s intervention, we are doomed by our very nature. Apple trees produce apples because that’s what they are and sinners produce sins because that’s what we are. When the heart is fixed, the words then follow beginning with the words of salvation, the confession of faith, revealed in Romans 10:9-10, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”. When we are filled with the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, what we speak is far different than what we once spoke in our unbelief. The world around us is sometimes angry and anti-God, and their mouths are spewing profanity and lies. My wife and I often mute the TV or change the channel because of the garbage being aired and we do not want our home or our minds open to the world’s poison. When your heart and your words are aligned with the things of the Lord, what you think and what you say helps others, encourages them, points them to Christ, and proclaims the goodness of God and the hope of salvation. We do not grovel at the feet of a culture that kisses and honors depravity and mocks the truth but we pray the prayer of today’s verse as a separated, redeemed, Spirit-filled, and heaven-bound child of the most High God. Our world needs the desire and prayer of King David when he confessed his sins and prayed in Psalms 51:10, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me”.
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March 8, 2023
Hebrews 12:5-6 “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth”
Very little is ever mentioned from our modern pulpits that those whom God loves, he disciplines. It is an uncomfortable matter especially when we like to trumpet nonstop about blessings, prosperity, deliverance, and rising to higher levels. But God will not change the way He deals with us just because our theology gets watered down and softened to mirror the correctness of society. So, it is a hard lesson for believers to learn that the Lord gives but He also takes away. And we like to forget about the part that to mature in our faith and become what God has purposed for us requires the Lord to correct us. In the natural, parents must correct their children as part of their responsibility of raising them and while the methods have changed from the old-fashioned spankings to the more current time-outs, the need is still the same. We want our children and grandchildren to be honest, treat others with respect, and stay away from stealing, violence, and all such stuff. God has a purpose for us that moves us away from the works of the flesh and He fulfills that purpose by correcting us in His infinite wisdom. When we despise His correction, a word that means to have little regard for, then He moves to the methods of scourging which can increase in severity until we surrender to His will. Only those who are so lifted up in pride that they will not admit they need correction do not see the joy of Psalms 119:71, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes”. The Bible says in Hebrews 12:11, “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby”. We grow our muscles stronger by exercising them with increasing resistance. We grow spiritually by enduring trials and as we grow, the weights of this world drop off and we run this race with increasing patience, knowing the Lord is working all things for our good. Some of the valleys we go through, the troubles we face, and the hardships we sometimes have to feel are not all attacks of the enemy but may well be an obstacle course of God’s correction. It is far better to yield to the loving hand of God’s chastisement than to resist His sovereign will. A wonderful prayer concerning this is made in the verses of the hymn, “Have Thine Own Way Lord”: “Have Thine own way Lord, have Thine own way. Thou art the potter I am the clay. Mold me and make me after Thy will, while I am waiting yielded and still”.
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March 7, 2023
Galatians 6:1 “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted”
All of us have either been a prodigal at some time or someone dear to us has been. Sometimes, much emphasis is placed on the choice of the prodigal, the description of the sins of the prodigal, and the foolishness of walking away from the father’s house to pursue the things that ultimately destroy us. But the supreme lesson in the story of the prodigal is the love, patience, and forgiveness in the heart of the Father. Who of us that have children would not give all we have, and many do, to see our children that are trapped in the mire of this world’s sin be delivered and completely restored? The love of God is not only displayed in our initial salvation but also in the many times we fall short of His glory or as in today’s verse, the times we get overtaken in a fault. The word “overtaken” means to be trapped, caught, and taken by surprise. If we believe Jesus suffered and died to pay all our sin debt, completely and eternally, then we know God’s love is not given just in our initial forgiveness but follows us in mercy and grace throughout our lives. When we are living as spiritual believers as referred to in today’s verse, we are walking in the forgiveness, love, and mercy of God and looking to Him as our all-in-all. When we see someone stumbling in their Christian walk our immediate desire for them is that they are restored. We want them free from the trap they’re in and back with their Father. Whenever we have any other response such as finger-pointing, blaming, judging, or pointing out their overtaken condition and we make no humble, meek efforts at restoration, we are far from “spiritual” and do not reflect the Father’s love for His children. Just as much as coming to another’s aid when they are caught in a sin is the part where we admit it could just as well be us as the verse says, “considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted”. The father’s response to the prodigal’s return in Luke 15 was to restore his son to the family complete with a ring that carried the family’s insignia which was common in those times. New clothes, complete acceptance, a joyous celebration, and a fullness of joy were the atmosphere of the occasion. It seems the elder brother would have been happy if his brother had stayed in the pig slop and destroyed himself and sadly, this seems to be the view of many who claim Christ when they see someone who has stumbled. It’s as if they’re saying, “if you can’t get it right and do better than you are, then just rot in your errors”. What a terrible way to treat those whom Jesus died for and who are stumbling just as we all stumble sometimes! God’s will and plan is restoration and the power of His restoration is found in His love, mercy, and grace.
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March 6, 2023
Galatians 6:14 “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world”
People look for glory in a lot of things. Adam and Eve were created glorious but wanted more. When they sinned, they lost the glory of their sinless innocence and tried to find glory by sewing fig leaves together for clothes. Lamech wanted glory and recognition, murdered someone, and bragged about it. Wherever people look for glory, it is always a futile search and if they find human glory, it is always temporary because circumstances, age, and ultimately death take it all away. Statues erected in honor of people who were deemed glorious are torn down by subsequent generations that spit on their graves. But today’s verse points us to a glory that is steadfast and eternal: the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. When we find our place at the foot of the cross, we are not finding glory in the wood but in the doctrine of substitution, redemption, and justification that the cross brings. The picture of the Savior mangled, bleeding, and suffering on the cross is not a glorious thing but what happened there is the most important and valuable thing that has or ever will happen. By faith in what took place on the cross, sinners are washed pure and clean in the blood of Jesus and forgiven of all their sin debt. All those who trust in the crucified Savior step through the open door into the presence of God and are adopted into His family. The cross speaks of healing, restoration, protection, security, and abundant grace. The cross is a glorious thing and when we identify with it, we find glory that is humble yet powerful and lasting. I would rather be known as a Christian, belonging to Christ because of the cross, and wear that glory than be known as a king, a president, a sports hero, or any other thing this world might esteem glorious apart from the cross of Christ. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God”. The world looks down on and scorns the doctrine of the cross and all who claim it. That’s because they are spiritually dead to its truth and we, crucified with Christ, are dead to the world. The cross separates faith and unbelief, saved and lost, heaven and hell, and its doctrine separates truth from lies. The world looks for glory in anything except the cross but we see no glory in anything but the cross because the cross has done what nothing else could do: it brought us back to God. The Scripture says in Colossians 1:20, “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven”. The cross makes us victorious, free, and fit subjects for God’s eternal heaven. We glory in the cross.
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March 5, 2023
Hebrews 11:39-40 “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect”
The book of Hebrews was written to the Hebrew believers that were coming out of Judaism into Christianity. The Holy Spirit is revealing that the way of faith in Jesus Christ is far better than the faith they had in the elements of the law. In fact, the word “better” is used at least 12 times as the law is compared to the new and living way of Jesus. The book of Hebrews alone should be enough to convince us that trying to go back to the Old Testament system to establish our faith is looking to a past that has been superseded by the new birth. Speaking in this light, the Word of God says in Hebrews 8:13, “In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away”. The church has been plagued by Old Testament legalism since its inception and that false narrative continues today. Entire denominations have been built around the erroneous mixing of law and grace and congregations taught that to please God, they must keep certain parts of the Old Testament laws or at least interpret the gospel from an old covenant perspective. All people before the day of Christ, those before the law including the antediluvians, Jews before the law, Jews under the law, and all gentiles that were not a part of the covenant, if they were saved, were all saved by faith in God and they all were saved looking forward to the day the Messiah would come and “perfect” their faith. The word “perfect” means to complete. Jesus said in John 8:56 of Abraham, who lived over 600 years before Moses and the giving of the Law, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad”. Just because we do not understand exactly how God dealt with individuals before the coming of Christ, especially those who were not part of the covenant of promise, does not mean He did not have compassion on them and show them mercy when He recognized faith in their hearts. It is a serious error to doom all the human race before Jesus came to hell just because we can’t understand how God deals with them and how He will deal with them in the judgment. Those who were not part of the covenant are mentioned in Rom 2:14-16, “For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. For Jews, the purpose of the Old Testament covenant is spelled out in Galatians 3:24, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster”. The plan of salvation by faith alone in Jesus Christ, plus nothing and minus nothing is better, far, far better than anything offered by the law or the legalism of man.
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March 4, 2023
Matthew 11:28 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”
Our Lord promises that He will give us rest. Yet for many of us, our Christian life is anything except rest. We have phrases like, “no rest for the weary”, and, “you can rest in your grave. Yet the Word of God is clear when Jesus said “I will give you rest”. Remember that first, He was speaking to the Jews who had added so many man-made rules and details of obedience to God’s law that from the moment they woke up until they fell asleep if they determined to live in obedience to what they were taught the law required, every action, every word, and every thought was governed by rigid commands. Things like which shoe to put on first, how to groom yourself, and a myriad of customs, observances, and routines that were added to the law by rabbis. These rules became such a burden that Jesus spoke of the Jewish religious leaders in Matthew 23:4, “For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers”. So, our Lord spoke the promise of rest to all who labored continually under the law to achieve righteousness. The sad truth is that all of that labor was, and still is, unable to make anyone righteous. Notice carefully the words of Galatians 2:21, “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain”. And then there is the labor, and the anxiety that accompanies it, that we are on our own, and if we survive or have anything, the pressure is on us to perform. Jesus provides rest when we begin to see God as our source and while our jobs and such may provide us a paycheck, the Lord is still the source of all good and all blessings and He has promised to supply our every need. He is the provider as declared in 2 Corinthians 9:8, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work”. It’s not a situation where we sit around doing nothing and expecting abundant blessings because God’s Word says in 2 Thessalonians 3:10-11, “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies”. We should always keep doing what is right, keep doing our best, enjoy opportunities when they come our way, and set a good example of faithfulness and loyalty in our work but all the while, we acknowledge the Lord as our source. A clear conscience gives rest. Faith in Christ Jesus alone for salvation gives rest. A life patterned to follow the ways of Jesus gives rest. Knowing the Lord will always supply our needs gives us rest. And believing that God is always working all things for our good gives us rest.
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March 3, 2023
Galatians 3:13 “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree”
This verse looks back to Deuteronomy 21:22-23 where under the law if someone committed a crime that was punished by death, capital punishment, the dead body of the executed was hung on a tree or wooden post until nightfall. Displaying the corpse in this way was a message to the community that criminals were a disgrace and all such lawbreakers would be punished. In the same way, the law of God cursed us because we were not able to keep it, and breaking the law in any part made us guilty of the whole law. For that, God’s righteous decree is that the person that sins shall die. Notice here that although Jesus never sinned and He kept the law perfectly, He was made a curse for us. And just like the Old Testament criminal whose body was hanged up as a public display, a statement and proof of the criminal’s sin, Jesus was nailed to the cross to die a criminal’s death for us. He openly identified with our sinfulness and while people cursed Him as He died in our place, the greatest curse was when God the Father, seeing our sin on the body of Jesus, turned His back on Him in disgrace. Jesus did not pay our sin debt by offering something as a token for our forgiveness like paying a heavy fine or some years of incarceration to absolve our debt but He willingly, and in love for us, offered Himself. We are no longer cursed by our sins but completely forgiven by the blood of Jesus once and for all. Some who do not see the complete and eternal forgiveness we received by the cross of Jesus, still live as if they are cursed or at least partially cursed and feel they have to somehow atone for their sins. They carry guilt as if they have not been completely forgiven and even though Jesus freed us from the curse of sin, they can not forgive themselves or believe the forgiveness of Jesus Christ is theirs forever. The enemy hates the truth of redemption and tries to blind us to it by always pointing out our failures and shortcomings. The enemy is cursed made clear by Genesis 3:14-15, “And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel”. Consequently, he wants every person to believe they can never be completely set free from the curse. But Jesus set us free and verse 14 of today’s selection says, “That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith”. We are delivered, set free, redeemed, and walking in the blessing of Abraham. No more curse.
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March 2, 2023
2 Peter 3:18 “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen”
At some time or another, we’ve had the desire to be a “better Christian”. We’ve heard personal prayer requests from people who asked others to pray for them that they will become stronger in the faith and more obedient to Christ. This is not a matter of becoming more saved but a desire of the heart as reflected in 2 Timothy 2:4, “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier”. Sometimes we might think being a better Christian means we work at becoming more holy, more sanctified, more separated from this world, and so on. All those things may be good goals to help us disentangle ourselves from this life’s messes but we are wrapped in the holiness and infinite righteousness of Jesus Christ and God sees us as if we have never sinned. If we follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit, He moves us to worship our Savior and also to become more like Him. That’s what being a better Christian means: to be more like Jesus. Today’s verse tells us to grow in grace. If we push in the opposite direction, away from the unmitigated grace of God, there is no other destination but self-righteousness. We become like the Pharisees of Christ’s day where we labor to achieve some level of holiness that is impossible to obtain but has already been obtained for us by the grace of God. Notice what the Lord said in Romans 10:3, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God”. While He was pointing at Israel, this foundational truth of grace remains for believers as stated in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him”. We do not become progressively righteous or holy so that we may become better Christians, we have been made righteous by the blood of Jesus so that we can become more like Him. Better Christians do not become more like their church, their pastor, their denomination, and their rules of sanctification, but they grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We can attend church and be on time, worship on cue when the Sunday program hits the “worship segment”, take fastidious notes of whatever the minister says, tithe a percent of our income, attend all church functions and outreaches, and whatever else our religion offers up and still be a poor example of who Christ is. May our prayer be that we will grow in grace and walk in the footsteps of Jesus. May we ransack the Word of God like a starving person, looking for the meat of the scripture that will produce hearts and minds like Christ. May the Holy Spirit give us the understanding to see Jesus as we have never seen Him before. And may we turn away from all that is not like Him and addict ourselves to imitating Him. May we become better Christians.
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March 1, 2023
Philippians 3:20-21 “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself”
The word conversation here means community or citizenship. As far as being in this world, the Bible says in John 15:19, “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you”. Our citizenship in America is a temporary thing because the Scriptures tell us we are pilgrims and strangers down here. Even our body is a temporary house for our immortal soul and is referred to as a tent and as being mortal. But because we are citizens of heaven, the Bible tells us when we make the move from earth to glory our bodies will be changed from earthly to heavenly. In today’s verse, we’re told that when Jesus comes for us, He will change our vile, that is lowly and inferior body, into a body like His glorious resurrected body. It is a part of Him bringing all things into subjection to Himself. Praise God our souls will not be left as bodiless spirits, wisping through the eternal ages like ghosts as many people believe. Let’s remember that on the day of resurrection, the tomb of Jesus was empty except for the wrappings that had been wound around his corpse. His body was changed and the Bible tells us at the appearing of Jesus we too shall be changed. The scriptures describe this in 1 Corinthians 15:52,” In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality”. Jesus Christ was raised from the dead with a different body than the one He had before His death and we will live in a body just like His for eternity. The Lord’s glorified body was not some spiritual gossamer apparition for the Bible says He could be touched, He ate solid food, and was seen as if He was a mortal being. When the resurrected Savior appeared to His disciples, the Bible says in Luke 24:37-39, “But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have”. All the time and attention we give to this earthly body to stay clean, healthy, groomed, and looking our best will be forgotten when our soul slips into our glorious body. No pain, no limitations, no handicaps, and we will never grow old. Hallelujah!
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