April 30, 2022
Exodus 16:8 “for that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD”
The Israelites had been delivered from Egyptian slavery, crossed the Red Sea in a glorious miracle, and witnessed another miracle at Marah where Moses threw a tree into undrinkable, bitter water and the water became sweet. But in their next phase of the journey, they became hungry and instead of having faith, believing the Lord was with them and would provide for them, they began to grumble against Moses and Aaron saying in verse 3, “Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger”. In their uncomfortable situation, they forgot all about the suffering hardships of years of slavery and only remembered what they ate in Egypt to the point they became despondent, wishing they had died in Egypt. This was after the Lord had promised them He was taking them to a land of blessing and plenty yet they blamed Moses and Aaron for their unpleasantness. They could have thought about how God lowered the boom on Egypt with ten plagues and gave them favor with the Egyptians so they left Egypt loaded with wealth. Then they could have remembered how the Lord parted the Red Sea for them but drowned Pharoah’s mighty army in the same place where they had walked. They could have rejoiced because they were free, protected, and headed to a place where wonderful blessings awaited. But they saw their situation from a negative, defeated, and false perspective and turned their hearts away from the goodness of God and blamed the men God had sent to deliver them.
Today’s verse tells us when the people grumbled against Moses and Aaron, the Lord heard it and said they were actually grumbling against Him because He was the one responsible for them. Believers completely belong to the Lord and everything about them is under the Lord’s authority. We can be like Israel and view our life and circumstances from a negative view but when we blame others or take the stance we are at a loss, we are saying the Lord has failed to keep His promises and that He lied when He said He is working all things for our good. Those who complain are pointing the finger of blame heavenward and dishonoring God. Situations get uncomfortable, even painful and it’s human nature to want relief but nothing that comes to us has circumvented God’s purpose. May the Holy Spirit help us to always pray as did our Lord, “if it be Your will take this from me but nevertheless, Your will be done” believing God has promised to do us good no matter how our situation might seem to our natural understanding. In Israel’s case, the Lord was not going to let them starve and what a blessing they would have received if they had just bowed their knees, thanked God for delivering them out of Egypt, and prayed “Lord we look to You because we know You’re the one that will provide for us. We must unlearn what the world has taught and allow the Holy Spirit to remove the poison of unbelief, replacing the spirit of heaviness with a garment of praise, thanksgiving, and expectation of blessing and favor.
Psalms 118:1 “O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever”
A thankful heart is the measure of maturity in believers because it marks the place where they recognize God is their all in all and the foundation of a thankful heart is contentment. We have Hebrews 13:5 which says, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” underlining the fact it is the Lord that is with us, who knows our need and has promised to faithfully supply it. So, we see ourselves not as victims of circumstances or “bad luck”, dependent on this world for our existence, relying on our own abilities, or beggars at the feet of society, but living as the blessed, redeemed, and well-favored heirs of God. Today’s verse tells us to be thankful because God is good. Spurgeon once preached “Those who only praise God because he does them good should rise to a higher note and give thanks to him because he is good” meaning we see the Lord as good not because He is giving us things but because goodness is the essence of who He is. This is followed by “because his mercy endureth for ever”, a phrase that appears at least 42 times in the scriptures, 5 of which are in this chapter and form the thought of the first and last verse. Here are two characteristics of God’s nature, goodness and mercy, that put us in the mind that God’s lovingkindness, displayed to us in His faithful mercy, will never change. The words “endureth forever” carry the meaning of the vanishing point. We look forward in time but there is never an ending because we are looking at infinity: the mercy of God will never cease to be. From our human perspective, every moment of every day of our lives and then when we translate into our eternal home, we can count on the goodness and mercy of God as the Bible says in Psalms 23:6, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever”. Again, “O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever”.
Exodus 15:25 “And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet”
As the Israelites journeyed from their Red Sea crossing to Horeb, the mountain of God, they were a 3-day distance into the desert and had no water. They came to a place, Marah, where there was water but it was undrinkable due to its bitterness and the people grumbled against Moses in their distress. It is uncertain what made the water bitter, perhaps high mineral content or some contamination like Sulphur but when Moses cried out to the Lord for help, today’s verse tells that God showed him a tree which, when he threw it into the water, the water was healed of its horrid qualities and became sweet. It’s unfortunate and very sad that many translations render the Hebrew word here, “ets”, as “log” or “piece of wood” when even today’s Hebrew scholars show the primary meaning is tree. It’s a beautiful picture of the cross of Jesus called a tree in places like 1Peter 2:24, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree”. The predicament of Israel here as a type, fits the message of our mercy in Christ so well as we are miserable in our sinful state, thirsty for God’s righteousness, and doomed to death. Then Jesus, the water of life, comes to us by the tree of the cross being thrown into the human condition. The horror of our fall and its consequences and what was bitter, poisonous, and deadly becomes sweet and life-giving. On a personal level, we can be filled with bitterness as referenced in Hebrews 12:15, “lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled”. The bitterness of holding grudges, past failures and sins, consuming jealousy, lack of self-control, anger against the Lord and others, and so on can contaminate us until our lives are a miserable mess. But Jesus, the healer, turns the bitterness into the sweetness of His joy and peace. Praise the Lord for the tree of Christ.
Genesis 32:28 “And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed”
Jacob’s name, given to him at birth, means “supplanter” one who by trickery, deceit, or illegal means takes the place of another. We see Jacob in this capacity when he steals his brother’s identity and takes the family birthright from his father Isaac in Genesis 27. Some renderings of the meaning of the Hebrew for Jacob, are deceiver, con man, and charlatan. But Jacob’s ways began to change and today’s verse tells of the time in his life when he met the Lord face to face and wrestled with Him. We take this from Jacob’s words in verse 30, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved”. The encounter changed Jacob so drastically that the Lord gave him a new name, “Israel” which means “Prince”. The enemy wants people to believe they can never change and that they are stuck with their old nature and their unsavory ways but God has a better plan for us. Jacob stopped his scheming and underhandedness and became the man God had called him to be. The Lord’s plan for us is for us to be the new creations we are in Jesus Christ and when He saves us, He forgives all our past, forgets all our past, and begins His transformation of us and our lives. He leads us on a different path with different behaviors, gives us the mind of Christ, and we are no longer bound by our old nature. Jacob was set free from his past and became the prince the Lord purposed for him. Maybe it’s time we change our name to what God calls us: A child of God, blessed, highly favored, an heir of God, and a citizen of heaven. With the eternal view, we are referred to in Revelation 1:5-6 “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father”. We also have the hope of an eternal new name given in Revelation 2:17 “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it”.
Psalms 30:1 “I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me”
Yesterday we looked at the truth that when we become a Christian and identify with Jesus Christ, the enemy and the world singles us out as a target of attack. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to us for the Bible tells us this is the way it is in such places such as 1 Peter 4:12 “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you”. The enemy knows we belong to the Lord and his attacks on us are efforts to stop us and derail God’s purpose for us. He sometimes stirs up people around us, even some who we think are trusted friends or even family members, to come against us and try to hold us back. But today’s verse tells us the Lord has lifted us up, a phrase that means He has pulled us out of a pit, perhaps of water, a trap the enemy has set for us. God will not allow our foes, our enemies, to rejoice over us as if they are victorious over our demise. Our heavenly Father has a plan and purpose for us that can not fail no matter how hard the enemy tries and how many traps he sets. God promises that He will prepare us a table in the presence of our enemy and our cup of blessings will overflow. Let’s take the attention off the enemy and his plans and look to Jesus because He will never fail us. The Bible says the devil is “as a roaring lion” meaning he is not a lion but he just yells like one and we know our Savior is declared in Revelation 5:5 to be “the Lion of the tribe of Juda”. Satan is an imitator and tries to make us think he is the lion and that we are under his control and doomed to fail but the Lord has already declared him defeated. Our life is safely in God’s hands and through Him, we are more than conquerors, we’ve already been delivered from the enemy’s traps, and no one or nothing will rejoice in victory over us.
Hebrews 13:14 “For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come”
Today’s verse follows verse 13 which tells us we will have to carry the reproach of Christ. A lot of effort is made trying to get the world to see us in a good light, that is, to make Christianity acceptable. We don’t want to be the laughingstock of society, the brunt of bad jokes, and the villains of the culture. We don’t want to be blamed for impeding progress, holding outdated views, and living narrowminded. Yet the Bible says that when we take up the cross of Jesus, we automatically become a target for the enemy and are despised by the world. The answer for us is given that we are not permanent residents here, we have no continuing city meaning a lasting place to live. It’s a picture of Abraham who all his life, was continually on the move with his tent as a home. Believers set their desire and ambition on what is above and that is where their treasure is. We do not need nor should we seek validation from this world because it was this world that crucified our Savior. And while we should always serve our God with humility and remain in subjection to Him, we will not bow to the standards and gods of this age especially when it’s an attempt to gain the world’s approval. A compromised life is one that tries to hold to this life with one hand and heavenly things with the other and the scripture says 1 John 2:15 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” and Jesus told us we cannot serve two masters. Our hope is that we are just passing through and we will not settle for what is offered here. Those who settle for what’s offered here, are like Lot who, unlike Abraham, decided to abandon his tent and moved his family into Sodom and we know the end of his story. There is too much at stake for the future of our families to try to gain the world’s acceptance so we can avoid the reproach of Christ. May we see the world as a junkpile, a place of poison and bondage, and reach for and live for that which is above and beyond. 2Corinthians 5:1 “we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens”.
2 Peter 1:4 “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust”
The new birth makes Christians different from anything the world’s religions offer. Followers of those beliefs are promised that someday, somewhere in the future, if they are devout enough, if they cleanse themselves, if they work harder at their religion’s lists of commandments, and so on they have a chance of ascending to a higher level and possibly achieving immortality or some other state of being. The Bible assures us that when we receive Jesus as our Savior, instantly we are transformed as a child of God, the Holy Spirit moves inside us, and from that moment forward, as today’s verse declares, we are partakers of the divine nature. Some people say, and some translations hint, that we are not yet in that state, but the scripture says in 1John 3:2 “Beloved, now are we the sons of God” and again in Galatians 3:26 “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus”. We are not waiting to become partakers of the divine nature, not progressing towards that goal, and not hoping to succeed, it has already happened when we were born again and that’s the whole idea of having a new birth: becoming a new creation. 2Corinthians 5:17 also makes this crystal clear, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new”. It does not mean we’ve started over, turned over a new leaf, or reinvented ourselves. We are new and the Bible says of us in 1Johnn 4:17 “because as he is, so are we in this world” and is referring to our new identity in Jesus Christ. No wonder the enemy tries to blind us as to who we are and what God has created us to be. He wants us to be unaware of what the Lord has promised us because when we know those promises and make them our foundation, walking in the divine nature, that’s when we are living as who we really are: A born again, Holy Spirit-filled, indestructible, and highly favored child of the Creator of all things. We are partakers of the divine nature.
April 23, 2022
Exodus 16:19-20 “And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank”
When the Lord sent the Israelites manna, one of His instructions was that they gather enough in the morning to eat that day but not to keep any of it over to the next day. This verse tells us some of them didn’t listen and tried to keep some overnight and it spoiled and bred worms. The manna was God’s blessing and He provided it faithfully but He wanted them to trust His providence that every morning when they woke up, the manna would be provided. They had to gather it and prepare it early each day because whatever they didn’t pick up from the ground, the Bible says when the sun came up, it melted away. For us, it speaks of Psalms 68:19, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation” and points us to the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6:11, “Give us this day our daily bread”. The Lord supplies us with fresh blessings and never intends for us to eat the stale, moldy bread of the past. It’s easy to get stuck, trying to hold on to the past when God is moving us to our next encounter with Him. Our testimony should not be centered around past manna but on the truth that today is the day the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it. The past does not represent our glory days but right here and right now is our opportunity to make our lives count for the Lord. The manna, like our daily bread we receive as the Lord’s blessing, is ours today and by God’s grace, we will take it with thankful hearts and enjoy it right now. Often there’s too much looking back as if a backward view will give us present joy and then there’s the wasted time of looking to an earthly tomorrow which may never come when we have all we need right now, provided by our loving Heavenly Father.
Revelation 10:7 “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets”
Once we move past the basics of the gospel and the facts of the life of Christ and His ministry, the human experience and for that matter, all of creation as it relates to the Creator, the Almighty God, is a series of mysteries. The Bible doesn’t seem to provide clear answers to a lot of questions. If God knows everything beforehand, why did He create humans knowing they would choose sin, fall, and most of them spend eternity separated from Him? Why did He create Lucifer knowing he would rebel and lead a third of heaven’s angels with him in his insurrection against God? And there are the questions on a personal level no one can answer. Why do some children suffer? Why are leaders like Putin allowed to command the massacre of people? Why do some of the world’s countries live in perpetual starvation while others have more than enough of everything? The list of mysteries is endless yet there’s coming a day in the near future when the Lord will dispatch what the Bible calls the seventh angel who will declare “that there should be time no longer” (v6). That’s when today’s verse tells us that the entire mystery of creation with all its questions and complexities will be wrapped up and the resolution, the ending of all things will occur. The creation of the universe including this earth and all its life was an act of God in the realm of eternity and all that He created He did so as a temporary thing as the scripture says in 2 Corinthians 4:18 “for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal”. The Bible says in 2 Peter 3:10 “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”. Except for the limited view we have of eternity given to us in the Bible, this earth is all we know and this life with its mysteries and unanswerable questions is our experience. But soon the Lord will bring time to an end and along with it, what we know and have experienced here. The Bible says in Isaiah 65:17 “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind”. Until then, we will take it all by faith and what we can’t answer now we know will be answered when the mystery of God is completed!!!
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”
The earth does not appear to be moving. This chair I’m sitting in seems motionless while I type this but it is moving with the earth, spinning about 1,000 miles an hour. As it spins, the earth also oscillates and is orbiting the sun at 67,000 miles an hour. Then our sun and all its planets are moving through our galaxy at 448,000 miles an hour. On top of all that, our entire galaxy, the Milky Way, is moving through space at 25 miles a second. Things are not always what they appear. In the spiritual sense, today’s verse tells us that when the Lord corrects us and disciplines us, it does not seem to be a good thing that we should be happy about but seems to be the opposite: a grievous thing meaning sorrowful, painful, sad, and annoying. But God is calling us to look at where the experience is taking us and promising it will always lead us to a good place. He says it will produce the peaceable fruit of righteousness when we learn to choose and do what is right. It reminds us of Proverbs 13:1, “A wise son heareth his father’s instruction: but a scorner heareth not rebuke” and carries the wisdom that when we yield to what our Heavenly Father is doing in our lives, it will always be well for us and the result will be for our benefit. Good parents correct the things in their children’s behavior that will harm them and others and children who are not corrected bring themselves and their parents to shame (Proverbs 29:15). God loves His children but will always correct us and sometimes what may seem like a trial, a detour, or a setback may be the Lord directing our path and pointing out our errors. Because things are not always as they seem, may we live in willful subjection to our Heavenly Father, believing and trusting He will always do what is right for us.
Isaiah 26:3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee”
Jesus promised peace and He is called “the prince of peace” but so many people have Christ as their Savior yet still live in fear, doubt, and anxiety. Today’s verse points us to the point of our peace which is in our mind and says when we “stay” our minds on the Lord, which means to fasten, focus, establish, and rest on our Savior and His promises. A pattern for us is to begin daily looking to the Lord early in the morning (Ps 63:1) and in every circumstance, every decision, and every area of our lives become aware of His presence because He said He is ever-present with us. We speak words of faith such as, “Lord, thank You that You are with me, You are protecting me, and You are working everything for my good” and as our daily situations develop, we keep looking to Him thanking Him for His perfect love that casts out fear (1John 4:18). The second part of this promise is the reason for our peace and it is because we trust in the Lord. The Old Testament Hebrew word rendered trust here, is “batach” which means the sense of safety and assurance that we will be protected and cared for by the person we are relying on. This is the basis for the word “faith” used in the New Testament and speaks of our confidence in the Lord because His Word is who He is and He will never fail in His promises to us. Mush has been made of the phrase “we walk by faith and not by sight” but unless we know what God has promised and place our trust in those promises, the phrase is just another religious slogan and will not bring us peace. But when we keep our minds fixed on the Lord and trust in what He has promised, we are assured of perfect peace which rendered in the Hebrew, is “shalom shalom” and by doubling the word God sends us a strong message that we can have Divine confidence of peace peace.
John 4:47 “When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death”
What do we want, more than anything, for our children? There were times in the past when parents just wanted their children to survive all the childhood diseases, grow up and find steady jobs. Nowadays In this country, things are a lot different because many people have so much that their children live on a much higher plane of materialism than at any time in history. People want their children to get into a good college, pursue a professional career, and rise to the top financially and socially. In Today’s verse, the nobleman came to Jesus because his son was dying, and he wanted him healed. Surely at that moment, nothing else mattered and he would have given his possessions for the life of his son. The Lord was there to help him but told him he must have faith. He did and his son was healed. Can we see the greatest need for our children is to know the Lord personally and have a relationship with Him or is that something that is not on our list? It’s hard to keep the eternal view of their souls in front of us when they are growing up and there’s so much energy and kid-stuff going on but the time span between the cradle and their adulthood is so short it passes in a flash and there they are: all grown up with children of their own. Yet God loves us and while we pass our days in our routines, He is calling to us as He did Matthew 19:14 “But Jesus said, Suffer (allow) little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven”. The most important thing we could want for our children is that they know Jesus as their Savior and live a life that follows Him. May that be our daily prayer for our families and may we refuse to allow anything else to replace it as the highest priority on our list of desires for our children.
For almost a year and a half, I’ve written the daily devotions as a sort of small Bible study each day and I do enjoy writing them. But starting today I’m going to make them a bit smaller and aim more towards a devotional thought for the day, at least for a while. Many people who read the website, just need an inspirational verse and some commentary to give them some focus and not a daily little sermon. Thank you, to all of you who read the daily devotion and I pray the Lord will bless us all together as we reflect on God’s Word.
Matthew 6:31-32 “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things”
In today’s verse, the Lord is encouraging us to trust our Heavenly Father for our needs instead of being swallowed up in anxiety. If worrying about the future was a problem in Christ’s day, how much more so in our world with uncertainty and confusion running rampant. Notice that in verse 31, the Lord says, “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?”. When He says “take no thought, saying”, He’s telling us to watch what we say, how we verbalize what’s running through our minds because with our mouth we either, by faith, confess what is true according to the Word of the Lord or what is false coming from our unbelief. For example, if you are saved, why would you keep saying things like, “I don’t know how I’m going to make it to heaven”? When you believe Jesus saved you, you begin to confess, “I know I’m saved because the Lord gave me the promise, He would save me”. It’s the same way with everything in your life. When we talk like our future is uncertain, that we don’t know how we’re going to make it, and we’re not sure where our next meal is coming from, we are dishonoring God who has already promised to take care of us. He knows what we need and He is telling us to trust Him and in trusting Him, we declare His unfailing faithfulness. Words of faith say, “My Heavenly Father will take care of me and supply my needs and there will never be a moment when He will fail to keep His promises”.
John 20:8 “Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed”
On the first resurrection morning, several women, including Mary Magdalene, went to the tomb of Jesus to anoint the body with spices and discovered the stone that had sealed the entrance of the tomb had been rolled away. The Bible says Mary Magdalene ran to tell Peter and John about it and Peter and John ran to the tomb and found the stone rolled away. John stooped down, looked inside, and saw the linen cloth that had wrapped the Lord’s body but Peter went inside and saw the linen cloth and the piece of cloth the Bible calls a napkin that had covered the Lord’s face folded and lying by itself. Peter was confused about what had happened to Jesus’ body and walked away, recorded in Luke 24:12, “Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass” But today’s verse tells us that John then went into the tomb and saw and believed. An interesting word study for these scriptures is to look at the Greek words for the verb “saw” as it appears in the order of events. First, when John arrived, looked inside the tomb, and saw the linen, the word “blepo” is used, meaning “to look around, to use the eye to discern by ocular vision”. Then when Peter entered the tomb and saw the linen and napkin the word “theoreo” is used meaning “to view as a spectator, to mentally consider”. Finally, when John went inside the tomb and saw, the word “eiden” is used meaning “to understand, to perceive the significance of”. Peter saw the tomb was empty except for the grave clothes and walked away confused as to what it meant. John saw the same things Peter did but reached a conclusion by faith, believing that Jesus had risen from the dead.
Even though John believed at that moment the Lord had risen from the dead, the Bible says in the next verse 9, “For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead” where the meaning implied here is that they did not know the significance of what had just happened. The facts of the resurrection are the beginning of our faith that God has a purpose for us that extends past this life into eternity. Without the hope of a resurrection, all things on planet earth face the inevitability of death and this cloud overshadows everything we do and accomplish because it’s the one certain common denominator. It’s the meaning behind 1Corinthians 15:19, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable”. It is the assurance that Jesus rose from the dead and thereby conquered death that tells us that just as He was not defeated by death, we too will not be destroyed. It is the promise of the Lord given in 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?”. The question at the end of the sentences remains valid for us today: “Believest thou this?”.
The words of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 have been read at millions of funerals and gravesides, giving hope to those whose loved ones have died: “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him”. The resurrection of Jesus becomes personal for us because it is declared that His resurrection is the first one in the resurrection of all those that trust in Him (1 Corinthians 15:20). Jesus is the only religious leader that proved He had power over death by rising from the grave. All the others died and people visit their graves, paying tribute to the dead. Jesus offers eternal life to those who believe in Him and proved He can give it to us by showing Himself alive as the Bible says in Acts 1:3, “To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God”. Our hope lies not in what we have done or are able to do but in what the Lord did for us and on this Easter Sunday, we have glory and rejoicing that of our redeemer it is said in Hebrews 7:16, “Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life” and in His promise to us is given in John 14:19, “because I live, ye shall live also”.
April 16, 2022
John 19:36-37 “For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced”
One of the encouragements we have to believe the Bible is the Word of God is that there are so many prophecies that spell out future events long before they happened. Studies have shown that over 500 prophecies in the Old Testament make reference to or describe the coming of the Messiah and Jesus fulfilled at least 300 prophecies during His earthly ministry. In today’s verses, the first refers to Psalms 34:20 “He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken” and was fulfilled on the evening of the crucifixion. The beginning of the Jewish Sabbath was nearing and the Jews didn’t want the bodies of Jesus and the two thieves still hanging on the cross, barely alive on the Sabbath, and asked Pilate to have the soldiers break the leg bones of the men on the crosses. While crucified, prisoners were forced to use their legs to push their bodies upward on the cross each time they took a breath, an unimaginable, horrifying, and excruciatingly painful process because with each breath they were pushing the weight of their bodies against the nail that was through their feet. When they broke their legs, the prisoners could no longer push upwards to breathe and would suffocate. The Bible says when they examined the two thieves and found them to be still alive, they broke their legs but they found Jesus to be already dead so they did not break His legs, something that was prophesied almost a thousand years before Jesus was born.
The second verse in today’s passage, “they shall look on him whom they pierced”, refers to a prophecy in two parts. The first instance is in Psalms 22:16-17 “For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me” and, again, declared about a thousand years before our Lord was crucified, describes them nailing Him to the cross. But another reference, one that was first fulfilled the day Jesus was crucified but also looks ahead to a time in the future, is found in Zechariah 12:10, “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn”. Those who loved Jesus looked on Him as He was nailed to the cross and mourned for Him. But there is coming a day when He will present Himself to the nation of Israel and their eyes will be opened to what they did to their Messiah when He first came and they will repent and turn their hearts to Him, grieving at their sin of unbelief and rejection two thousand years ago. So the fountain that was opened in John 19:34, “But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water”, covers our sin today and reaches out to the time which the Bible foretells in Romans 11:26-27, “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins”.
Sometimes we celebrate the Easter weekend while looking back to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus as an event that took place 2 millennia ago and is confined as something in the past. But it was just the beginning of a much larger picture that has yet to be completed. And, as we watch world events unfolding, we see more clearly than ever that the prophecies concerning our Lord are getting ready to explode in fulfillment. The death and resurrection of Jesus as the Savior of the world is about to give way to the revelation of Jesus as King of King and Lord of Lords and the rejected, tortured, and hated Son of God is about to arise with healing and grace to cover His covenant people with favor and forgiveness, fulfilling all the promises given to Abraham and all the prophecies concerning His kingdom.
April 15, 2022
Luke 23:42-43 “And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise”
The two thieves, crucified on either side of our Lord, represent us all. A majority of the world can be seen in the one that spoke out against the Savior in unbelief, as the scripture says he “railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us”. The word “railed” is from the Greek word “blasphemeo”, the root of our word blaspheme. The name of the Lord is blasphemed continually, people swearing, mocking the Lord, and attributing His work and creation as a cosmic accident. Humans, who were made in the image of God, are seen are descendants of lower life forms and not the reflection of a gracious, wise, and loving God. That thief, in his dying moments, chose to dishonor the Creator of all things and sneered at the only One who could give him hope and life. It is no different with people today all over the world. They hear the message of truth, stop their ears, and shout back that they will not believe. Even those like the Jews in Jeremiah 6:16 when the prophet confronted them to examine their ways and make a choice to walk in the ways of God and return to the way of peace, the Bible says “But they said, We will not walk therein”. The hardened human heart of unbelief, totally depraved and unclean, apart from faith and the grace of God, has no ambition except to reject the Word of God and choose death instead of life.
The other thief on that crucifixion day looked at Jesus in a different light and believed He was no ordinary man. He called Him “Lord” and asked for mercy, looking ahead to when Jesus would receive His kingdom. What a statement and what a request! Dying beside the Christ and believing the Lord was who He said He was, this criminal reached out in faith in the last moments of his life and found Jesus still doing what He said He was sent to do in Luke 19:10 “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost”. For everyone who thinks they have gone too far in sin to be saved or waited so long that their window of opportunity has passed, may they take a lesson from this story of salvation. Jesus didn’t say, “well fellow, you’ve passed up too many chances and you’ve lived too long in life’s gutter for me to give you forgiveness”. Instead, Jesus said, “Verily (truly) I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise” and just like that, a lifetime of sin and shame was erased and this thief who was crucified a sinner, died a saint. He is a testimony to us all that the Words of 1Timothy 1:15, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” is the summation of what this life is all about.
There’s an old saying that as long as there’s breath in the body there’s hope for the soul and the story of that dying thief compels us to have hope for all those around us who seem indifferent or outright hostile to the gospel of Christ. It’s much better if we choose to follow Jesus early in our lives for it can keep us from grievous mistakes that leave us with scars, we will carry all our days. But in the eternal view, we know God is keeping the door of heaven open and as in the parable of the householder in Matthew 20, those who enter at the last hour receive eternal life just the same as those who came in much earlier. The Bible tells us how the thief came to repentance as he rebuked the other, blasphemous thief in Luke 23:40-41 “But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss”. But we are not told of his frame of mind and heart as he took his final breath. But knowing what we know about the Lord’s love, mercy, forgiveness, and peace, we can be sure he knew himself blessed and honored to die beside the Christ.
April 14, 2022
Hebrews 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God”
Every year as we approach Good Friday, the day we traditionally remember the crucifixion of Jesus, we think about the suffering He endured before and during His death. When the movie, “The Passion of the Christ” was released it was reported that people became ill while watching it in theatres. Some said they became nauseous, dizzy, and felt agitated and nervous, breaking out in perspiration. It was reported that at least one person suffered a heart attack. Yet the movie could not come close to depicting the torture and pain heaped upon our Lord, pain that continued for hours with no relief. There was no morphine drip or no sedative cocktail to help Him because the suffering was part of the imposed punishment for criminals, to make them pay with pain as they died for their alleged crimes. The eighth amendment of the United States constitution guarantees no cruel and unusual punishment for condemned people and quite the opposite is true. For in our nation even the vilest of offenders are housed away from the elements of the weather, served food daily, and offered opportunities for recreation and education. Not so with our Lord because though the Romans did not invent crucifixion, they perfected it to be the most horrible punishment imaginable. Perhaps this answers part of the question as to why Jesus came to us at the point in history when Rome ruled the known world and it is possible only the suffering and pain of a perfect sinless human sacrifice by crucifixion could turn God’s wrath from sin. It leaves us with the thought: Praise the Lord, He did it all for us.
As declared in today’s verse, when we look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith we see Him as He was being beaten, tortured, and suffering the pain of the cross, looking beyond all that to what lay ahead. Our Lord knew how everything in God’s plan and purpose would one day come to an earthly end and He set His eyes on that while He was being betrayed, arrested unjustly, beaten unmercifully, condemned and humiliated, and then nailed to the cross to suffer as no man has ever suffered. Jesus looked into earth’s future and saw the moment He would present Himself to the Jewish people and show them the wounds in His hands as prophesied in Zechariah 13:6, “And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends”. He knew the joy of that day when the plan of redemption was completed and He would hear the fulfillment of Revelation 11:15, “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”. He saw us, those who are saved by His blood, with Him in glory, sharing eternity with God as heirs of God and joint-heirs of Jesus Christ.
As our example, the Lord shows us that sometimes when our load is heavy to bear, when we are in a trial that is causing us pain, or our difficult situation seems to have no solution, we can look ahead in faith knowing that weeping may endure for the night but joy comes in the morning (Psalms 30:5). We hear the words of Job in Job 23:10, “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold”. And we have complete assurance that the Lord is with us in our afflictions and that anything He allows to touch us and our lives is for our good. We know how our story will end and how the saints of God will inhabit eternity in the New Jerusalem because we have God’s promises clearly revealed in His everlasting, infallible Word. The verse that precedes today’s verse, encourages us when we are being tried to “let us run with patience the race that is set before us” as we look to Jesus. In the moment, the Lord endured the cross and we will also endure afflictions (2 Timothy 4:5) but the Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 4:17, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory”. This week of Easter points back to a time of suffering and death for Jesus but that was not the end and He endured the cross, set aside the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father, waiting until the command is given for Him to return for His church and begin an eternity of Joy,
April 13, 2022
1Corinthians 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”
What is the preaching of the cross? It’s not displaying the symbol of a cross on our church steeples, the wall behind the pulpit, or wearing it around our necks. It’s not the cross itself, the wood device on which our Lord was crucified for that item has no power. But the preaching of the cross is the declaration of what happened that day when Jesus, the sinless Son of God, surrendered His life to the will of His Father and was nailed to the cross, bleeding and dying in our place. Verse 17 says, “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect”. This gives us the understanding that first, the gospel is not baptism even though that’s what many teach it is for Paul, God’s apostle to the gentiles, says here the Lord did not send him (order, call) him to baptize. If Baptism were the method of receiving Christ Paul would not have said in verse 14, “I thank God that I baptized none of you” but instead would have stated the opposite and declared how with joy he had performed the work of the gospel by baptizing everyone he could. Also, human rhetoric can render the message of the cross powerless, something that happens continually by this lukewarm Laodicean church-age with their form of godliness. So people may be preaching about the cross, mentioning it in their words but missing the real message of what it is and not preaching the truth of what happened that Easter weekend.
The power of God, the power to save anyone who will trust in Jesus, is found when the blood Jesus shed on the cross is preached as the only way sinners can come to God and be saved. That message is what the world sees as foolishness because they believe there are many paths to God and it doesn’t matter what people believe as long as they believe in a “higher power” and are trying to be good people. When the gospel is preached that Jesus is the door to heaven and that salvation is only through Jesus, St John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me”, it is immediately rejected by this world. And when the gospel is proclaimed that we are saved when we simply believe that on the cross, Jesus became our substitute and that all God requires is that we place our trust in Him, the world cries that it can’t be that simple and begins to attach their ideas, religious systems, human actions, and human reasoning. They make the preaching of the cross powerless to save by the time they get through twisting its message with their mess. Their message is that the faith in the death of Jesus, dying in our place isn’t enough and we must add the sacraments like baptism, trust in our works and abilities, belonging to some group or denomination, giving money, and their list goes on.
The preaching of the cross is all we need to know of God’s love for us and His willingness to save us. The Lord is not making the entrance requirements for heaven an obstacle course we have to navigate to be considered worthy of eternal life, He has opened the door through faith in Jesus Christ that anyone and everyone can enter and be eternally saved. Jesus declared in Revelation 1:18 “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death”. What hope, what confidence we have knowing we can be saved because God planned our complete salvation before He created the world and that His desire is that anyone who wants to live forever with Him, can do so by just placing their trust in the preaching of the cross and that message is the power of God. The charlatans, all wrapped up in religious symbolism and masquerading as representatives of the cross will appear on pulpits across the world this Easter Sunday, as they do every Sunday with their own brands and concoctions of what they call “God’s message” but praise God for those messengers who still preach the truth of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, buried, resurrected, and coming soon in power and glory.
April 12, 2022
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”
The Bible says in 1Peter 1:24, “For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away”. Yet it’s our nature to want glory and it doesn’t seem to matter to many if it’s glory for being good or glory for being evil, they just want to claim anything that puffs them up. It was to Adam and Eve’s shame that they disobeyed the Lord and their sin removed the glow of their glory. The result was that they realized they were naked and while we have sometimes thought this referred to their physical nakedness, it spoke about who they were without the glowing covering of their glory of sinless perfection. What is it that gives people glory? By the standards of the world, it can be almost anything like money, fame, beauty, athletic prowess, achievements, intellect, and almost any other things that sets them apart from what we perceive as average. In the negative areas, a fallen world will recognize evil and sinfulness as a twisted glory and honor those who blatantly mock goodness, truth, and the ways of the Lord. But as we begin this Easter week, remembering the death and resurrection of Jesus, our view is of the cross of Christ and what took place there, and how it relates to us today. Today’s verse says there is some sort of glory for us in the cross and we want to take a look at what this means.
The human writer of this passage, the Apostle Paul, had many reasons he could have received glory in his earthly life. He was intelligent, well educated, successful in his religious standing, a member of the Pharisee’s inner circle, and morally blameless. If he had continued in his way of life before his encounter with Jesus, he would have risen to the top of that society. But when he became a Christian and made a fervent commitment to the Lord, he lost all the will to look for glory in anything this life offered. He said God forbid that he should glory in anything except the cross of Jesus. He was not speaking of the wood cross itself, but of what happened there and the truth of eternal salvation and imputed righteousness that come to us through the Lord’s death on that cross. How can a person find their glory in such a place where unimaginable torture was done to an innocent, good, and perfect man? The events of the cross should cause everyone to look away with broken hearts and horror. Glory, it seems. Should come by identifying with someone who is esteemed because of their stature in life, their accomplishments, and their earthly recognition and power. But identifying with a man who was rejected as a liar and troublemaker who died a criminal’s death seems not to be a way to achieve glory.
When we seek the glory of the cross of Jesus Christ, we are choosing a stance that puts us apart from anything this world sees as glorious. The world condemns our identity with Jesus and we condemn this world’s pattern of glory. What becomes glory for us is a life that exalts the Lord, one that seeks not its own glory but the honor of Him who is alone only worthy of such glory. Just as the moon, having no light of its own reflects the glorious light of the sun, we reflect back to this world the righteous glory of the only true God, manifested in the person of Jesus Christ. This is heaven’s glory as declared in St John 1:14, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth”. Adam and Eve received their initial glory in that they were created in the image of God and we find our glory in that we have received the person of Jesus Christ as our Savior and the life we now live in this flesh, we do not live it to achieve the glory of this world that passes away but the glory of the Lord that will remain eternally Daniel 12:3, “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever”.
April 11, 2022
Exodus 12:13 “And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt”
As the day came closer that God would deliver Israel from Egypt, He gave specific instructions as to what they were to do to escape the final plague He was going to send, the death of all the firstborns in the land. He said death would come to the firstborn of every family from the house of Pharoah to the house of the lowest slave and the firstborn of all the animals. The Lord told the Jews to take a lamb, one without any flaw, and on the tenth day of the month, bring it into their home for four days. In doing so, the family bonded with the lamb and the lamb to the family. This is a beautiful picture of our Savior who came to earth and lived among the people, as a part of the human family that He would die to save. Then on the fourteenth day, the Jews were to kill the lamb, dip a sprig of a small local shrub called hyssop into the blood of the lamb and smear the blood on the sides and top, the lintel, of the door frame of their houses. Today’s verse tells us that when they acted in obedience to God’s command, when He came to destroy the firstborn, He would see the blood and “pass over” that house without destroying anyone inside. It is here we get the sense of the Jewish celebration of the Passover, commemorating that event. The difference that night of death was not the nationality even though the Jews were favored because of the promise to Abraham, but it was the blood on the doors that protected them from death.
When Jesus died on the cross, His death did not save us because He was perfect, because He was the Son of God, or because He died as an innocent man. It was when His blood was spilled that God’s wrath towards our sin was appeased. The Bible says in Hebrews 9:22 “without shedding of blood is no remission” (forgiveness) and this looks back to God’s Word in Leviticus 17:11 “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul”. Animals under the Law were offered as a sacrifice on an altar but Jesus was offered on the altar of His cross that His blood would cover the sins of anyone who will trust in Him as their Savior. It is not the cross itself that saves us for if Christ had been tied to the cross and hung in the sun without food and water for several days until He died of dehydration and exposure, He would not have been the sacrifice for our sins. Notice what 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”. It is the blood of his cross that makes the difference. Certainly, it looks back to that day when the Lord gave the Word of hope to the Israelites that their little lamb, the one that had lived with them in their home for four days, that they had touched and grown to love when its blood was offered in God’s sight, He would not pass judgment on them but would pass over their household.
The world lies in blindness and unbelief as to what Easter means and we are awash in bunnies, chocolate, new clothes, and festive dinners. There is scarcely a glance at the suffering, the bleeding, and tormented death of our precious Savior and His blood-stained visage and cross. There are very few who will thunder its truth from our pulpits and warn us again that without the shed blood of our Lord Jesus there can be no salvation no matter how elaborate and meticulously executed our forms of religion appear. Religion will not save us, our attempts to soothe people’s guilty consciences will not save us, nor will our steadfast beliefs that were just fine because of our imagined good moral standing. Only faith in the bloody death of Jesus Christ who died was buried, and rose victorious on the third day will save us of which the Bible says in Ephesians 1:7 “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace”.
April 10, 2022
Exodus 8:22-23 “And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth. And I will put a division between my people and thy people”
Next week the Jewish people celebrate their Passover, looking back to when the Lord delivered them from slavery in Egypt. The night before they left, families smeared the blood of the sacrificial lamb on their door frames, ate the Passover meal, packed up their belongings, and got ready to march out of Egypt. God had visited the Egyptians for several months, sending one plague after another and all the while, Pharoah’s prideful heart would not acknowledge God’s authority and refused to allow the Israelites to go a three-day journey into the wilderness to worship the Lord. Each plague became increasingly severe, systematically destroying the land of Egypt until the Egyptians began to beg Pharoah as recorded in Exodus 10:7 “And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?”. For the first three plagues, the water turned to blood, frogs covered the country, and swarms of lice (biting, stinging insects), it appears the Israelites also experienced the effects. But when God sent the fourth plague, swarms of flies, He promised in today’s verse to make a separation between His people Israel and where they lived in the land of Goshen, and the people of Pharoah in Egypt. God said His people would not be plagued.
The Lord allows His people to experience some of the same things that come to this world. Solomon addressed this in Ecclesiastes 9:2, “All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked” and in the context of his statement, he was viewing the natural flow of life from an earthly point of view what he referred to as life “under the sun”. But as seen in today’s verse, there is a point when the Lord, in His sovereignty and grace, will put a division between His people and all others and will build a wall of protection around them. All that He allows for us and all He brings to our lives will always be for our good and we learn to accept that as eternally true by faith in His word. He allowed Israel to experience some of what Egypt experienced to demonstrate His power over all creation but when He continued to affect Egypt to show, as He declared to Pharoah in Exodus 9:14, “For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth”. Perhaps this is a direct answer to Pharoah’s arrogant statement at the beginning when he said in Exodus 5:2, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go”.
There is no more judgment of God upon His people because our judgment was completed in the precious body of our Lord Jesus when He became our Passover lamb which we will commemorate this week of Easter while the Jews are reflecting back on their Passover. The Bible says in Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” where the word condemnation means the carrying out of the sentence imposed on us by God’s judgment of our sin. All that is associated with judgment such as the plagues of death upon Egypt, was placed upon our blessed Savior and we are free. The scripture speaks of the judgment seat of Christ in Romans 14:10 but that is not the judgment of our sins to determine our eternal fate, but the evaluation of our deeds to determine our rewards. The Greek word for judgment in that passage is “Bema”, meaning a tribunal platform of evaluation. This differs from the places rendered judgment such as in Romans 2:2, “But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things” where the Greek word “Krima” is used and means to avenge, condemn, and execute damnation”. The Lord, as He did in the land of Egypt, makes a difference between His people and the people who reject Him.
April 9, 2022
Deuteronomy 8:10-11 “When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day”
We can focus on the events of the early history of Israel like their years of servitude in Egypt, their backsliding with the golden calf, and their failure of faith in the 40 years of wilderness wandering. But God had a plan for His people beyond their trials and failures, a plan that would place them safely in the land He had promised and bless them abundantly. The setbacks they experienced in their journey did not change the Lord’s purpose for them and still on an even grander scale, that purpose is still in force today and will be carried out in eternity. Yet there is a problem, a flaw in our human nature that whenever we are greatly blessed, we begin to forget where it came from and start down a path that leads us away from God. Then the more we are favored and the more we get in abundance, the more unthankful we get and the further we walk from God’s ways. It’s really a stupid thing yet we do it as if it’s the wisest thing a person could do and when we read the continued story of Israel it has us wondering, “What on earth were they thinking?’. They turned away from the Creator of all things and the only source of blessings, goodness, and truth and chose to follow demon spirits and wicked religions that brought violence, destruction, famine, sickness, and death and when the Lord sent them prophets to convince them to return to Him and a life of honor and blessings, they killed the prophets.
Today’s verses are the words the Lord gave His people to implant truth into their minds and hearts about who they were and from where they received blessings and goodness. There’s something about having plenty to eat that should satisfy us and cause us to reflect that our life is good and God says when this happens, look up to me and give thanks and praise because I am your source of all that satisfies. It is God’s will for us to have what we need and as He blesses us, He has promised we are like a tree planted beside ever-flowing water and that whatever we do will prosper. Sure, there are seasons of testing, times of growth, periods we go through when we face adversity and uncertainty but the Lord does not want us living in the wilderness all our lives. He uses those times to develop us, to prepare us for the next steps in our journey and His Word is filled with promises that He loves us and has purposed to not hold back any good thing from us (Psalms 84:11). The Bible says in Psalms 4:3 “But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself” and we know that we are godly through the righteousness of Jesus that is imputed to us (Romans 3:22). Like Israel whose purpose and destination and place of fulfillment and blessing was their promised land, we too have a life of blessing God has prepared for us and though some may say we are stuck in this world of tribulation and destined to suffer here, the Lord said in John 16:33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world”.
Don’t forget the Lord. These words appear many times in the scriptures because God knows we are inclined to forget especially when we are in a good place in Life. It’s strange that we do our most fervent praying, our agonizing and bowing at the throne of grace when we’re in the middle of storms but when we emerge and God has answered our cries, we walk away with hardly a “thank You” to Him. May the Lord help us to get to a place in our journey when we’re always mindful of His presence, continually thankful for His goodness, sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and daily acknowledging that it is only by and through God that we are blessed and satisfied. The Bible says in Hebrews 13:15 “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name”. We declare the words of Nahum 1:7, “The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him”.
April 8, 2022
James 5:7 “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain”
We have become so accustomed to our pace of life in today’s world, we are very impatient when things don’t happen quickly. All of us are like drivers in the large cities, waiting for the traffic light to change to green and when it does, and the first car in line doesn’t takeoff with screeching tires, everyone lays down on their horns and begins shouting at him. The fastest fast-food drive throughs aren’t fast enough for us and even our cell phones need to operate at lightening speeds or we get stressed and frustrated. But the Lord does not operate on our time schedules and expectations and when we follow His purpose and ways, we may as well turn off the engines of our lives and get prepared to wait. God will always do everything He does according to His plans and His timing because His ways are perfect. His view is eternal and He will not alter His course and be squeezed into the timeslots we try to push Him into. The accounts He reveals of how He has worked in the lives of people in the past help us understand He is not driven by our impatience and agenda but by His sovereign purpose. When He ordained that Moses would be His prophet to deliver the Jews from Egypt, He waited until Moses was 80 years old before He sent him down to Egypt to begin the process of deliverance. For 40 years of that time, Moses was just waiting, wandering around in the wilderness with a bunch of sheep and didn’t even know the Lord had plans for him and that the last third of his life was going to be an unbelievable adventure and encounter with the Almighty God.
Today’s verse reminds us that Jesus is coming and encourages us to just be patient and wait. The example is given of a farmer that plants the seeds then just waits for the rain to fall and the seeds to do their thing. We have the Lord’s promise that He will return and the Word of God declares in Acts 17:31, “Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained”. There’s not a question that if it will happen, it’s just that in the time of waiting for it, it seems it’s never going to happen. The impatience and unbelief of people concerning the appearing of the Lord is mentioned in 2 Peter 3:4 where it says they say, “Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation”. The Lord knows our skeptical nature and the unbelief of our hearts so He gave us many signs that point to the return of Jesus and the end of the age but still people write it off as nonsense. Even churches and ministers, fearing they’ll appear as imbeciles if they dare mention the return of Christ, have grown silent in the matter, suppressing the truth of the blessed hope of believers.
But in the hearts of those who take God at His word and treasure the promises of the Bible, the coming of Jesus rings strong and true. Whenever we listen to the news, look around at the mess of society, and sense the apathy and self-centeredness of our church world, we are confident more than ever that we stand on the threshold of the appearing of the Lord and the departure of the church. We are just waiting for God’s plan to unfold as we move towards the events, He said are sure to come and while it may seem it’s taking too long or that something is amiss, it’s all right on track in God’s purpose and will happen when He has already ordered it to be. The seeds of His promise have been planted, watered, and are alive and well although they are partly obscured from our view but praise the Lord very soon, they will become visible to the whole world and as a part of that fruiting, we have such promises as Revelation 1:7-8 “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty”.
April 7, 2022
Psalms 126:5-6 “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him”
We want seasons and showers of blessings and there are times when they come to us unexpectedly. Like the image in verse 4 of this Psalms that refers to the streams in the south. That’s when the Autumn rains fall in the distant mountains of Israel and rapidly run towards the Dead Sea like flash floods. As they pass, soaking the parched land, they activate seeds in the desert areas and wildflowers and vegetation appear almost overnight. This phenomenon is also used to describe the glory of Israel in the millennium as in Isaiah 35:1 “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing”. Rain, a type of blessing and a symbol of hope, brings the abundance of a harvest of joy and rejoicing. Interestingly, those that encountered Israel since the Romans devastated it in 70AD, dispersing the inhabitants worldwide until the Jewish people began returning after the Balfour Declaration in 1948, often described it as a barren, parched, and desolate place. This helps us understand that the land of Israel is only fruitful and productive when God’s people are in the land, He gave them.
What is more difficult than just waiting on the rain of God’s blessing, is described in today’s verse. It speaks of someone bearing, carrying a bag of precious seed. As they go, they are dropping the seed and water it with their tears. It’s a picture of effort, involving plowing, carrying the burden of valuable seed, and sowing while weeping. Its earnest work is accomplished purposefully and sourced from deep within us. The aspects of passion and emotion, of heartfelt concern and diligence, are presented here and remind us of such verses as James 5:16,” The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much”. The Lord could do it all, all His purpose and all the earthly part of the progression of His kingdom, without us doing anything. But He chose to make our part in the matter a significant piece of His plan. There is a wonderful and great promise that when such efforts are made, we will doubtless, positively return with rejoicing, shouting, singing bringing a great harvest. Notice that single seeds are planted but reaping of bundles of grain is the result. The Hebrew word studies show the verbs telling of going out and coming home are double verbs meaning if we surely go forth, we will surely return in the authority of God’s promise.
In these perilous, uncertain times we sometimes feel powerless and our plans futile against the forces of this world that push us. But the Word of God is eternal and if we take today’s verse to heart, we have the assurance that every effort to sow the precious seeds of truth, faith, goodness, and love, planted in the lives of others while we pray earnestly for them, weeping for their situations, will see joyful conclusions. It reminds us of Galatians 6:9, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not”. This passage has been used to encourage soul winning and rightfully so for the Holy Spirit urges us to want the salvation of others above all else. But it also points us to do what is right as referred to in the verse of Galatians above and the promise of Hebrews 6:10 “For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister”. May we pray that the Lord will give us tears of compassion and mercy and open doors and opportunities to sow the precious seeds.
April 6, 2022
Matthew 9:37-38 “Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest”
This chapter of Matthew records a very busy time for the Lord as He healed sick people, called Matthew as a disciple, answered the scribes and Pharisees, healed a woman who touched His garment, raised a girl from the dead, healed 2 blind men, delivered a mute man, taught in synagogues, and concludes with Jesus in verse 35, “healing every sickness and every disease among the people”. The Bible says in verse 36, “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd”. The Lord’s eyes of compassion saw people suffering, burdened down with trouble, and wandering through their lives confused and with no one to help them. In today’s verse, He pointed out, to His disciples, the situation people were in and the great opportunities to help them and point them to God but He said there were only a few people involved in that ministry. If we take a good look at the scenario, there were many religious leaders, lots of temple workers, and synagogues in almost every town, and the nation claimed they belonged to God and proclaimed they were representatives of the true God. Yet all over the place, people were hurting, hungry, begging for necessities, unable to work because of illness and injuries, and outcasts from society and the religious system because of illness or alleged sins.
Jesus called for prayer to the Heavenly Father, the Lord of the harvest, that He will send out people to help those in trouble. He did not say pray for people that God will help them, He said to pray that God will send people to help them. It’s easy to pray “Lord, help those people down the street” but it’s a different prayer to pray “Lord send someone to help them, and if it’s me, give me the courage and grace to do it”. Maybe that’s one reason we just want the Lord to take care of it all, we fear He might want us to participate. Some frown on what they call “the social gospel”, referring to outreach ministries that target people’s physical needs. They say the churches’ mission is to evangelize the unsaved and when they are converted, the Lord will bless and prosper them and if we spend time and resources on clothing, food, and other humanitarian efforts, people’s cycle of dependence will continue and we’ll get stuck in things we can’t get out of without looking like quitters. Maybe we’d better take another look at the people Jesus touched in His ministry and recognize He was healing, blessing, and helping all who came to Him with their arms reaching to Him.
The words “send forth” are from the Greek word “Ekballo” which means to shove out, push with force, and command with authority. Clearly, this is not a passive calling that involves us timidly holding back, waiting for some divine inspiration. God calls us with an urgent necessity and while we linger, debating, arguing with ourselves if we should step up and head the call, souls are suffering. Or maybe churches are waiting for the finance committee, the deacon committee, the board of directors, and the other religious procrastinators to crunch the numbers, solicit votes, and check what other churches are doing before they make any decisions to reach the people in their communities with real, tangible help. The Bible is clear as to our responsibilities in the natural realm concerning people’s needs for it says to meet those needs even if it is the needs of our enemies (Romans 12:20). May the Lord call us back to the scriptures such as Isaiah 6:8, “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me”. We can not truly pray for the Lord to send people into His work until we first are willing that if He so purposes, He sends us and our families.
April 5, 2022
1 Thessalonians 5:21 “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good”
We are in the times the Lord prophesied to Daniel in Daniel 12:4 “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased”. The words “run to and fro” are a word picture of a sailor in a boat, rowing fast, and imply traveling quickly. It’s like everything is in constant motion and almost everyone feels the days, months, and years are flying by. We look for ways to slow the pace, to carve out some quality time with our families but we’re all running to and fro. Today’s verse calls us to put everything to the test, to prove everything, and then hold on tight to the things that are good. We have so many choices available at our fingertips and are constantly bombarded with things that want our attention and allegiance and much of it packaged in religious appearances. But we know things that are harmful to us and our families, things that are not God’s best for our lives and homes are hard to get away from once they become embedded in our thoughts and practices. Even though we’re traveling at light speed, for the sake of our families and our relationship with our Lord we have to take the time to evaluate the stuff that’s trying to become a part of our lives.
The Bible says in Galatians 5:9, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” and is referring to bread dough that just a minute pinch of yeast, added to the lump of dough, will grow and spread until the entire batch is fermented. We must guard our hearts, and our homes, and keep a diligent watch on what our families are being subjected to. The litmus test that we compare everything to is the Word of God and when we purpose to “prove everything”, whether it’s good or bad, God’s will or not, we hold it against the eternal truth of God’s Word and see how it lines up. It may seem overwhelming at first because we’re involved in so much, so many activities, and so much is continually coming down the chute at us but the Holy Spirit is within us to bring the truth of the Word of God into our hearts and minds as the standard by which all things are tested. In Revelation 20:12, at the final judgment of all things, it says “the books were opened” referring to God’s Word as the means by which God will hold humanity accountable. The scripture says, “and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works”.
When we’ve tested all things, the verse tells us to hold on tight to the things that are good. The Lord doesn’t want His children living their lives based on a negative perspective, that is, just following a list of don’t do this and don’t do that, staying focused on what we’ve seen to be wrong or bad for us. He wants us to be filled with joy, peace, and abundance. As we identify what is good, what benefits our lives and family, the things that promote blessings and favor, we should latch on to those things and make them our foundations. Sometimes we hold tight to the things that hurt us, that hold us back, and that tie us to things and situations that rob us of victory and God’s best. Sins of the flesh, addictions, lifestyles that are against the Lord’s plan, and behaviors that grieve the Holy Spirit. Attitudes, anger, grudges, vengeful motives, arrogance, and pride are things we should test and judge within ourselves and allow the Lord to cut us free from them. May we be mindful again of Phil 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things”.
April 4, 2022
1 Corinthians 6:11 “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God”
The Apostle Paul, writing inspired by the Holy Spirit, pointed out to the church at Corinth in verse 8 that some were doing wrong, dishonest deeds and defrauding, cheating others. It’s terrible enough when people identify as Christians and then prove themselves to be dishonest cheats but these Corinthians were doing that to each other. Maybe the people had deluded themselves into thinking their sins were not so bad and we know our sinful nature can justify anything from murder to lying and excuse it away but God calls it all out here. The Lord places the sin of dishonesty, committed by those who claim to be saved, in the same company with a list that reads like a most wanted poster: fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, abusers of themselves with mankind, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, and extortioners. He said none of these shall inherit the kingdom of God. While He’s not outright calling the offenders unsaved, He’s pointing out that anyone who can scheme and cheat others without being convicted by the Holy Spirit should examine themselves whether they be in the faith. The self-test test he is speaking of is given to us in 2Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” where the word translated here for reprobates comes from the Greek “Adokimos” which means to fail the test.
Our deeds, which the Bible refers to as our works and includes how we treat others, our choices between right and wrong, and our allegiance to the truth of God’s Word, are the proof that our faith is in Jesus Christ and that we’ve been born again. When people live with lifestyles and deeds that are no different from the unregenerated world and can do so without conviction or chastisement from the Lord, they should question if they have truly repented and turned to Christ. Anyone can say they have faith and claim to be a Christian but the scripture points out in James 2:20, “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?”. What we do, or in the case of refraining from sin what we do not do, shows whether or not faith is at work in us and we should examine our behavior and the way we live as proof of what is in our hearts. No one lives a sinless life and we all bobble in our walk but believers have the Holy Spirit inside them and when they are not living in line with God’s will for them, the Holy Spirit moves to convict them by pricking their spirit and reminding them they belong to the Lord. If a person can sin willfully and sense no remorse, no guilt, no condemnation, and no reminder in some way that they are going against God’s purpose, something is amiss and they need to examine themselves as 2 Corinthians 13:5 says.
Believers are not to live self-righteous because today’s verse reminds us that we were once just like the world around us. The difference is that we have been washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus by the Holy Spirit. We look back, not with a prideful stance that we are better than others but that we have been delivered, set free by the mercy, grace, and power of God. It’s also a reminder for us that when we see people enslaved by sin and addicted to the things that are destroying them, we reach out in love and with hearts declaring Titus 3:3, “For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another”. God’s grace not only saves us, but it also teaches us to turn our backs on the nature of the flesh and the behaviors that it produces and walk in the Spirit as stated in Titus 2:11, “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world”.
April 3, 2022
1John 4:4 “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world”
This chapter of the scriptures tells us about the spirit of the antichrist which it says is already in the world. Christians are encouraged to test the things we hear and what we allow into our hearts and minds because we are no longer part of this world system. This world has a message that may appear to be the truth but it is not of God and according to verse 1, there are many false teachers that claim they represent God but they are called in the Greek here, pseudoprophetes meaning religious imposters, pretenders. The Bible tells of this again in 2Peter 2:1 “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies” and explains their purpose is to take money from people under these false claims as verse 3 calls their work “selling merchandise”, not a ministry. The enemy is crafty and the Bible says that he has his own ministers as the scriptures tell in 2Corinthians 11:13 “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ” and Satan himself is disguised as an angel of light.
Our great comfort is that the Holy Spirit within us is greater than anything this world or the enemy has to offer and this is the message of today’s verse. The primary meaning is that we belong to God and in Him, we are victorious over all the forces of antichrist and darkness. God is for us, in us, and He is greater than the whole universe. Yes, there is darkness, false religions, wickedness in high places, forces that oppose us, and preachers with lying lips. There is corruption in government, temptations galore, deceptive people, unfair circumstances, and the list goes on but all that, the whole sum of it, is no match for the power of the Holy Spirit within us. When we seem overwhelmed and when the enemy launches a full-scale war against us, our home, and our families, we can hold to this truth and declare it in faith that God is in us and for us and we have His unfailing Word that Him being in us and for us is greater than the whole world being against us.
A secondary meaning of this verse is that by the new birth we are a new creation and even though our flesh still walks in this world, the new creation that we are is greater than who we are in our flesh. We battle with ourselves, with our flesh as much as we war against the evil of the world around us. Our flesh is prone to anger, unbelief, slothfulness, and pride. We are liable to slander others, hold grudges, pass judgment, condemn and criticize, and do a host of other non-Christlike things. But who we are in Christ is greater than our flesh and part of the victory is believing and confessing what the Bible says in Romans 7:18, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing”. There is no temptation and no will of our flesh that we can’t overcome in the power of the Holy Spirit. Our daily prayer is that the Lord will fill us with the Holy Spirit, open our understanding of the Word of God, and direct our minds and will to walk in victory.
April 2, 2022
Colossians 3:12-13 “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another”
Most of us have some sort of clothing style. Whether it’s jeans and a t-shirt or a hand-picked outfit from a designer store the way we dress seems to be fairly consistent with our individual choices of colors, cuts, and comforts. Sometimes I look at myself and realize I’ve been stuck in the same Levi’s and cotton t-shirt rut for years and if I wear anything else it just doesn’t feel good to me. Part of the joy moms get when raising children is picking out their clothes and dressing them up. Everything from the outfit they pack to take the newborn home from the hospital to what they wear on school picture day is an important part of life and many see it as a reflection of the home and parents. As a side note, we are blessed beyond understanding to live in a country that’s overflowing with clothes, and even most who struggle financially have access to clothing banks and clothing ministries where they and their children can get good clothes, shoes, and coats. Civic organizations, churches, and businesses have stepped up to participate in the efforts to provide people with clothing. Whether or not we want to admit it, the way we dress sets us up in the world’s eye for success or failure, acceptance or rejection, and honor or dishonor.
The Bible uses clothing as a metaphor to explain that how we present ourselves to others in our attitude, actions, words, and overall demeanor is our spiritual wardrobe and attire. This chapter in Colossians speaks about us taking off our old man like removing an old set of clothes that are dirty, stained with sins, reeking of bad habits, and displaying the unregenerated nature. We then put on what the Lord has provided us as a Father who provides for His children, and we are dressed in mercy, kindness, humility, patience, and forgiveness. When we reflect Jesus back to others, it makes a statement that honors him as a child’s clothes can show its parents’ care. We can not be effective in the Lord’s work when we are vengeful, mean-spirited, arrogant, prideful, and impatient. The scripture gives us 1Peter 5:5 “Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble” as a picture of clothing and tells us how we dress spiritually affects our Lord’s willingness or not to shower us with great grace.
A good attitude is a greater factor in our success in everything in life than our intellect, skills, and education. People want to be around those that are clothed in kindness, those who are respectful, considerate, and patient. The scripture speaks of Daniel in Daniel 6:3, “Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm” showing that although Daniel was a foreigner and had been brought to Babylon as a captive, his good attitude helped set him up as a leader and one of the King’s favorites. When Jesus was brought before Pilate, His respectfulness and attitude caused Pilate to say, “I find no fault in Him”. Believers should be the kindest, most trustworthy, and good-natured employees and neighbors of all people in the community but unfortunately, it’s not always that way. The Lord is calling us to put on spiritual clothes that set us apart from the mean, vengeful, selfish world and show a wardrobe that mirrors the mercy and goodness of our God. Legalism sometimes tries to force people to dress a certain way which they say makes them stand apart from the world but often, dressed in their church-approved garb, they display a snobbish, unkind, judgmental, and self-righteous attitude that, instead of pointing people to the Lord, puts a bad taste for their view of Christianity in people’s mouths and they want no part of it. May our prayer be that every day before we dress in our jeans, t-shirts, or whatever we wear, we first put on the garments of truth, humility, kindness, and love.
April 1, 2022
Romans 10:8, “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach”
Romans 10 is regarded as a key chapter in the Bible because it contains 2 verses that are the foundational truth of the message of salvation. 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”. Within this framework, there are the two elements of confessing Jesus with the mouth and believing in the heart God raise Him from the dead and these are followed by the promise, “thou shall be saved”. Based on these verses, if we believe these simple truths, we could take away all the rules that religion has attached, all the pomp and ceremonies churches are known for, all the gargantuan buildings, programs, and piles of money pumped into it all, and we’d be just as eternally saved. But just like the “teachers” of the law of Moses who twisted and made God’s Word back then into a mess of interpretations, human ideas, and traditions, people have taken the simple truth of the gospel, added a bunch of malarkey, and handed people a confused mishmash of wackiness, calling it “the way of salvation”.
Today’s verse sets up the simple message of the gospel by showing us that our faith in what the Lord is offering us, comes from the word of the Lord. Even this verse has been used to confuse by telling people some of them were “believing in the heads and not in their hearts” and by the time these legalists were finished bashing people with this craziness, whole congregations will lose sight of the pure truth of what God promised. H.A. Ironside said it like this: “The heart is simply another term for the real man. The apostle is not trying to draw a fine distinction, as some preachers do, between believing with the head and believing with the heart. He does not occupy us with the nature of belief; he does occupy us with the object of faith. We believe the message that God has given concerning Christ. If we believe at all, we believe with the heart. Otherwise, we do not really trust”. God has made sure His word is near us and available because His purpose is to save anyone and everyone who will just believe Him and receive His offer.
God wants all men to be saved and has made it so we can just hear His Word, believe what He says, confess with our mouth, and He will transform us by the new birth. His purpose is not for us to then get swamped under an unbearable load of people-made religion, hour-long Sunday sermons of church history and dead orthodoxy, and guilt-producing lists of rules and expectations. The Lord has called us to peace, joy, freedom, hope, and faith in His promises. His word is near us and doesn’t have to be channeled through a religious leader with multiple doctrinal degrees but God is planting it in our hearts and the Holy Spirit is bringing it to our mouths if we will but just declare it. It is here called “the word of faith”, another term that people have taken out of context and used to create an entire body of unbiblical doctrine but it just means God’s words are words of faith and they work in us to produce all that’s needed for us to believe, confess our belief, and receive the everlasting gift of life.