God is . . . not jealous

On February 22, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Corinthians 13: 4

Love is patient, love is kind, and [love] is not jealous.

We have heard that God is a jealous God (Exodus 20: 5), so how does this make sense? Well, it is true. As the song says, “God don’t play second fiddle.” He will have no other gods before Him. However, His love is not jealous and in a general sense He is not. He just will not abide idolatry and that is very different. I think you can easily distinguish these expressions of God’s preeminence as your God from jealous love.

He is more than happy for you to have many loves. In fact, He has told us that we ought to love one another even as He has loved us (John 13: 34). He desires that we be unified in love even as He and Jesus are one (John 17: 21). You see, love is not jealous.

Love, and therefore God, always wants the best for us. It isn’t selfish or controlling. It doesn’t take things or people away from us because it wants all of our attention. If someone in your life demonstrates these traits, then their love for you is not mature. This should be an immediate danger sign for you. Jealousy is not of God and is not godly. Further, there is no place in love for jealousy. What that person feels for you may be need or desire but it is not love.

God wants your time but He does not want to dominate your time or attention. His plan would be for you to take Him along on your run or your dinner out with friends. He does not have to be the center of attention and He does not want you to neglect the other parts of your life. His is a healthy love and as such is the model we should use in our interpersonal relationships. If people need to control us, they don’t love us. God wants you happy and healthy. His is a true love. He is not jealous.

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God is . . . kind

On February 21, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Corinthians 13: 4

Love is patient, love is kind.

Kindness is a consistent theme all through the Bible. God has continually shown His kindness to mankind. In the 25th Psalm David wrote, “Remember, O Lord, Your compassion and Your lovingkindnesses, For they have been from of old” (v. 6). David recognized and proclaimed that the kindness of God has been ever present. He has a heart of compassion towards us in all of life’s situations. There is never a moment in our lives, has never been a minute in all of history when the Lord’s thoughts towards us have not been thoughts of kind compassion.

What does the word “kind” bring to your mind? One observation from my dictionary is that it takes many words to describe kindness: 1. Of a friendly nature; generous or hospitable; warmhearted; good. 2. Charitable; helpful; showing sympathy or understanding. 3. Humane; considerate. 4. Forbearing; tolerant; charitable. 5. Courteous; thoughtful. It goes on but one other description included is that kindness shows a desire to promote others’ welfare.

Our Father is all of these things. I especially like the idea that His intent is to promote our welfare. If you really want to get the big picture of God’s kindness, run a thesaurus on each of the words from the dictionary. Already we see that kindness involves being aware of other people and their needs. God didn’t call us to Himself so that we could meet His needs. He calls us to Him so that He can care and provide for us. He is gentle and generous. He is tolerant rather than critical. Psalm 25: 10 reads, “All the paths of the lord are lovingkindness and truth to those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.” All that He thinks, all that He does is bathed in kindness.

Knowing God’s essential traits will help you to relate to Him better. I hope it will also cause you to trust Him at a deeper level. He is safe. He is kind.

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God Is . . .

On February 20, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Corinthians 13: 4

Love is patient . . .

Would you like to know the character traits of God? Did you realize they are listed in the Bible? Yep, they are. You see 1 John 4: 8 tells us that God is love. Then we read here in Corinthians that “love is” patient . . .. So translate that and you get God is patient. Are you with me?

You can prove He is patient. One way is by reading the Bible. When you read the Old Testament you begin to wonder how humanity survived. The people sorely tried God’s patience but His patience won out and here we are. Then read the New Testament. Was not the people’s treatment of Jesus enough to provoke even the most patient of people? Yet God’s love prevailed. He and Jesus endured the ignorance and abuse hurled at them for the prize set before them. And what was that prize? Us. Wow. That doesn’t sound like much of a prize to me; certainly not reward enough to endure the cross. Apparently, that is what love does.

Another way to prove God’s patience is to look in your own life. Sometimes as I look back in my own life I shudder at my complete foolishness. I shout, “Glory” to God that He had the patience to wait out my wandering years and “Thank you Lord,” for His continuing patience as I try to find my way daily. Do you feel the same way? Can you feel His patience and love coating you right now as you think about the trials you put Him through? He will never fail you, never forget or forsake you. God is patient.

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The Prodigals’ Father

On February 17, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Luke 15: 20

And he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him, and kissed him.

You all know the story of the prodigal son and how he went off to another town and lived there until he squandered his inheritance. Realizing the slaves of his father’s house fared better than he was in that foreign town, he decided to return home. He didn’t have a cell phone (I guess he squandered that too) so he did not call his father to say that he was returning home. His plan was to show up and beg his father for a position as a hired hand since, he believed, he no longer deserved the title and position of a son.

Obviously, this is a picture of each of us. Jesus told this story in order to illustrate to us how Father God loves us. We don’t deserve to be called the children of our Father either. Some of us have squandered our time, our money and our skills on the wrong pursuits. For many of us we spent those resources which God gave us on our flesh or, in other words, on worldly desires. Then we come to the end of ourselves and realize that we have wasted so much precious time. So, we turn our faces back towards home, knowing we deserve nothing but hoping that we can at least have the leftover crumbs of His grace.

The thing that astounds me about this verse is that the father saw the prodigal approaching in the distance. Let’s read this again, “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him, and kissed him.” How did the father see him while he was still a long way off? The answer is that he, the father, was looking for him. Imagine the father. Every morning he arises early and looks out to the horizon anticipating the return of his beloved son. He stands there and watches for his kid. He was not reclining in his tent bemoaning the fact that the boy went off and wasted what the father gave. He didn’t judge the boy. He just searched for him every day until one day, there upon the horizon, was a dust cloud. He kept watching and praying that it might be his lost one. When the boy came into view the father ran to him.

Glory to God! This is the image of our heavenly Father who searches and watches for us. When we return to Him, He runs to embrace us. He feels compassion towards us, not hate and anger. Let this sink down into your spirit. Feel the compassion of this father towards his lost child. Now become the child as you receive your Father’s embrace. Bask in the warmth of His joy at your presence. This, Jesus said, is the way the heavenly Father feels towards you. Of course He has never forsaken those who seek Him. He longs to have us return to Him so that He can express His compassion and love towards us. He is watching for you daily, searching the horizon for your visage to appear over the hill. There is nothing which gladdens His heart more than for you to want to spend time with Him. You are the beloved. You are the apple of His eye.

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Big Promise

On February 16, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   1 Comment

Psalm 9: 10

For Thou, O Lord, hast not forsaken those who seek Thee.

There are thousands of promises in the Bible. However, they aren’t numbered so that you can go look them up one by one. Here is one though, which perhaps you should mark with a tab and some highlighting so that you can always find your way back to it. What great assurance and grounding for our soul we find in these few simple words.
God has never and will never forsake those who seek Him. Even when people kept sinning, they would run back to God and He was always awaiting their return. He was always keeping a vigil watching for them. He will not forsake us, even when we deserve it.

In truth, all of the power over your relationship with God is in your hands. He has given you His Word. He has taken His position. He says, “I am here. I make Myself available to you and furthermore, I will never, ever forsake you.” We are the ones in control. We choose to seek Him or not. Do we let the world, work, our social lives and all of the other distractions supersede our seeking? Sure we do. I do. Sometimes I awaken myself to the truth and realize that I have not been seeking Him as I should, even as I once did. Then I start again because I have the power over my relationship with God, even as you do.

The question, then, becomes, “How does one seek Yahweh?” The two principle ways to seek Him are prayer and The Word. I wouldn’t suggest you omit either one. You will find Him if you believe you will and you honestly search for Him in the Word. Just talk with Him about scripture. Ask Him what He was thinking when He had those words you just read penned. Ask Him why it was important to Him that those words find their way into our Bible. Ask Him what further revelation He can show you from that scripture. You will be amazed how many messages He can speak to your heart from one short scripture. Talk to Him about today’s verse. Go read the verses before and after it. Find out the context in which it was written. And listen. Look out your window at the trees blowing in the wind and let His thoughts gently float across your mind. I will promise you this, if you seek Him, honestly seek Him, you absolutely will find Him.

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So Precious

On February 15, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 36: 5 – 12                God’s Word

O Lord, your mercy reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies.
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God,
your judgments like the deep ocean.
You save people and animals, O Lord.
Your mercy is so precious, O God,
that Adam’s descendants take refuge
in the shadow of your wings.
They are refreshed with the rich foods in your house,
and you make them drink from the river of your pleasure.
Indeed, the fountain of life is with you.
In your light we see light.
Continue to show your mercy to those who know you
and your righteousness to those whose motives are decent.
Do not let the feet of arrogant people step on me
or the hands of wicked people push me away.
Look at the troublemakers who have fallen.
They have been pushed down and are unable to stand up again.

I would rather you read this psalm again rather than words from me today. It is so beautiful. Which statement is your favorite? It is very hard to say, isn’t it? What about “Your mercy is so precious, O God” or “you make them drink from the river of your pleasure?” In these verses we see God’s heart towards us. He wants to bring us under his wings to protect and provide for us. He wants us to soak up His goodness and light. If you pause and quiet yourself down for a moment, can you feel His abundant love and compassion for you? Let Him whisper in your ear today.

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Washy, Washy

On February 14, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 36: 1 – 4                  God’s Word

There is an inspired truth about the wicked person
who has rebellion in the depths of his heart:
He is not terrified of God.
He flatters himself and does not hate or even recognize his guilt.
The words from his mouth are nothing but trouble and deception.
He has stopped doing what is wise and good.
He invents trouble while lying on his bed
and chooses to go the wrong direction.
He does not reject evil.

This is an interesting psalm. It is twelve verses long; the remaining verses are in tomorrow’s Word of the Day. It is a study in contrast, as you will see. Ultimately we observe the grace of God which saves us and praise God for that. These beginning verses are beyond sad. They speak of a tragedy. David wrote this psalm so recall to your mind who his audience was. He, as I, wrote to God’s children. His psalms are an expression of what his heart experienced with the people God chose as His own. This is the lens through which you should read this psalm and this Word of the Day. We are talking about God’s kids here, not the unsaved heathen of a savage land.

The beginning of this passage in the New American Standard Bible reads, “Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart.” In other words, the voice of transgression is the rebellion in the heart of the one who is not wearing his godly mantle. To be ungodly is just that. We have been reborn into the family of God. That makes us godly, “of God.” However, we don’t always behave as if we are “born of God.” Sometimes we appear to the world around us the same as any unsaved person. Why is this so?

Today’s devotional is not a call to behavioral modification. It is a call to nurture and heal our hearts so that transgression does not keep us bound by its deception. See that this person has “stopped doing what is wise and good.” He used to but now he has begun to listen to a voice which is misleading him. He has allowed his heart to be corrupted; contaminated. He listens to his own counsel which has become perverted so that he no longer even recognizes his guilt much less hates it. The Amplified version says, “For he flatters and deceives himself in his own eyes thinking that his sinfulness will not be discovered and hated [by God]” (v. 2). Do you see what is happening here? It is a very important point. God is telling us that we deceive ourselves. Our own words, the words we speak to ourselves convince us as to our course of action. Do you see why this is so tragic. You cannot rescue yourself. Your wisdom and your counsel can mislead you. That is why we need Jesus and his word. Christians experience this misleading everyday all over the world. Well intentioned people have allowed a little slippage here and a little there until they no longer even see their sin. It isn’t only denial. They have become blind to it. But there is hope. There is always hope. Jesus and Yahweh have remedied every problem we have.

Have you ever heard the expression, “washed in the Word?” That comes from Ephesians 5: 26. Jesus’ words are a cleansing river. They fill us and simply wash out the old. It is not a painful process. It is like soaking in a hot tub. Grace and mercy flow in; lies and deception flow out. You cannot stand in Jesus’ presence and lie to yourself. He is truth. Fear not, though, because truth sets you free. Truth isn’t painful. It is liberating. Jesus wishes to show you the way. He is the way. He didn’t come here to accuse us but rather to save us so refresh your hope. Be renewed in joy. The root of Jesse has come to restore you and give you hope for tomorrow and the day after that and on and on.

Obviously, the big secret is abiding in the Word, Jesus and the Father. It is in being intertwined with the savior. Within his abiding presence is a host of help and tools. Do not feel alone, do not be alone. Reach out to others. Let your heart hear the truth from the Word and also from your pastor and other Christian friends. Listen to some of the most anointed preachers in the world through free internet programming. A theology which grows in isolation is rarely a healthy one. We need to hear other voices speaking into our lives. You should not be your only adviser. Reach out to others who are in the Word and share your experiences with each other. They can benefit from your voice too!

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