Moving Up

On November 4, 2024   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 3: 11 – 12

My son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord or loathe His reproof, for who the Lord loves, He reproves, even as a father, the son in whom he delights.

No one loves discipline, few want to even hear about it, but you may have reason for concern if God does not correct you from time to time. If you never receive reproof or correction from the Lord, then you could be ignoring His direction. Worry more about not receiving correction than having to endure discipline because he who the Lord loves, He disciplines.

It is for our benefit that He corrects us. He wants us to live the best life, and the best is that lived through and by Him. The book of Hebrews says it this way, “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness” Hebrews 12: 11.

Few people want to receive discipline but the wise know that it is to their benefit and even consider it a compliment that God loves them enough to correct them.

God wants you to have a good life and moreover, He wants you to attain to an even higher life once you leave earth. So, He keeps leading you in paths that will take you to that higher life both here and afterwards. If He has to instruct, correct and discipline you then it is just because His love for you requires it. He doesn’t want you wandering around lost nor does He want you behaving in ways that lead you away from His awesome plans for you. Listen for the correction of the Lord so that you will become the person He has designed you to be. He will use preachers’ voices to minister correction to you but very often He uses His Word, The Bible, to discipline and instruct. He will also speak to you himself but when you have become accomplished at ignoring His discipline, He usually has to use a human voice to get your attention. Therefore, don’t ignore what the Spirit of the Lord is saying through scripture and ministers of the gospel. And yes, this does mean you. God is trying to get a good word to you because He loves you and wants to bless you. He can’t bless you where you are right now so stop ignoring Him and listen to the voice of correction. Follow His instructions because they lead to a great place.

You know Yahweh loves you. You know Jesus’ burden is light. Further, there is nothing Father instructs you to do that He will not also help you with. Embrace instruction and move up to the next level.

Back to Top

Hope

On October 28, 2024   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Hebrews 10: 23

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

Hope is the beginning of faith. Without hope, one will not even look forward to the promise. But we can have great hope and hence great faith because the one who has made promises to us is more than faithful. He is honest and true without the ability to lie. And as we think of Him, our hope grows. We can feed that hope with the Word of God too, and it is just like applying fertilizer and water to a young plant. That Word causes our faith to grow the same as fertilizer and water cause the plant to grow. Our faith then develops and when it reaches maturity, it produces a crop. But it all begins with hope like a small seed faithfully sown.

We are to hold our confession of hope without wavering which means we keep speaking the word of hope and then the word of faith even when we cannot yet see the offshoot of the seed. We hold onto our belief that the seed will produce a plant whether or not we see the evidence of that plant. The evidence is our faith because our confidence is in He who promised. We keep our words (our confession) aligned with our hope and His promise despite any evidence. Then, when the proper time is come, the seed gives forth the plant which then gives forth the fruit.

Keep your hope and keep your faith. Fear not. Trust He who is faithful and worthy of our trust. Don’t dig up your seed with contradictory language, rather keep your confession consistent with His promise for in due time you will reap if you don’t grow weary.

Back to Top

Be Encouraged

On October 21, 2024   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Thessalonians 3: 2

. . . and we sent Timothy, our bother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith.

Several times I received the high compliment that I am an encourager. It really blessed me for people to tell me that because I really like to encourage folks. If I am indeed an encourager, then this passage shows why. God has sent me and others to be encouragement. He wants to encourage His people. Now, sometimes God has to teach us and sometimes He even must reprove us at times, but underlying it all is His great hope that we receive instruction and improve our situations. He wants to give hope and encouragement and then instruct us in the way to go in order to have those hopes realized. If He gets on you sometimes, don’t take it hard. Just understand that He is showing you things that you help you move towards His great desire for a better life for you.

In Jeremiah 19: 11 God said, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” God has really great plans for you. He has plans to prosper you and to give you a good and glorious future. His plans for you are pleasing, full of love and full of His glory. He has so much goodness that He wants to rain into your life. Never give up! Never, ever quit! God has a plan for a good future for you and you need to set your mind on that plan of His and ignore this present uncomfortableness. I know some days are tough but, it will surely pass and you will get on to the better things.

Be encouraged today because your Father loves you and wants great things for you.

Back to Top

Cleansing the Temple

On October 14, 2024   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Matthew 21: 12 – 13

And Jesus entered the temple and cast out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers den.”

Some Bibles have topical headings describing the passages. Mine is one of those and this passage is headed by the title, Cleansing the Temple. This is a familiar passage, but I want you to read it with new eyes, as if you have never heard this story before.

My first question to you is this. Jesus had been to the temple many times before and He had never upset the cart, so to speak, before. Why this time? The second question is, why did He do it at all? The conduct of commerce at the temple was not an uncommon situation. He, His disciples and everyone in Jerusalem were accustomed to seeing trade going on at the temple.

The reason this passage is so important is because of 1 Corinthians 3: 16- 17, 1 Corinthians 6: 19 and 2 Corinthians 6: 16 all of which tell us that we have become the Temple of God. Jesus’ storming of the temple in Jerusalem happened immediately upon His triumphal entry into the city on a young, donkey colt. The crowds shouted, “Hosanna” as He entered and threw their cloaks and tree cuttings on the road so that not even the hooves of His colt would touch the ground. This entry into Jerusalem marked the end of the journey for Jesus. He would never leave. When He left for Jerusalem, He went with the intention of sacrificing Himself for our sins. He knew that He was about to be offered up as the sin offering for all mankind.

Jesus cleansed the building that was used as the Old Testament temple as He entered the city and He cleansed the temple of the New Testament, you and I, as He left, “For we are the temple of the living God, (2 Cor. 6: 16). Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross cleansed all of us for all time and now the Father, Son and Holy Spirit come and make their abode in us. You are now that house of prayer of which Jesus spoke. You are the living temple of Christ. We are the reason that Jesus made a message out of a spectacle. He proclaimed us clean and entrusts us to maintain the temple until his next coming.

Back to Top

Be the Tree

On October 7, 2024   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Jeremiah 17: 7 – 8

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. For He will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.”

Compare Jeremiah 17: verses 5 & 6 to verses 7 & 8. What a difference. While they both use very picturesque speech, the picture they paint is quite disparate. In today’s passage we have the picture of a lovely green tree that is well watered and never fails to yield fruit. It does not fear the drought because it is secure. Nothing causes it anxiety or worry.

Now how would you like to be that tree? You see, the entire difference between being a bush planted out in the barren desert and being a well watered tree that bears fruit in season and out is in trusting the Lord. This is a choice that you can make, and God will honor. Isn’t that great? He has already laid the choice before you. He has even told you what the outcome is of each choice. I think He has made it pretty simple.

Will you believe that some people will actually choose to keep trusting a failing system that was the concoction of man when the choice has been laid out so clearly for them? I have a hard time understanding that, but it is true. I think what really happens is that the cares of the world choke them. When that happens, they take their eyes off of God and start looking around for some quick fix. Well, those quick fixes aren’t working, and they are what got our economy in such a big mess. We stopped running our finances the way we had been taught and we have suffered because of it. It is time for us to get back on God’s train and do things the way He has taught. And if you begin to feel choked by the pressures of the world, turn to the Word. It is the remedy. God has not left you orphans little children. He is longing to help you. What have you to lose by getting completely radical in your trust of Him?

Jeremiah 17 talks about being blessed or being under the curse. Let us choose blessing and trust God to make it so.

Back to Top

Encouragement

On September 30, 2024   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 46: 10

God is our refuge and strength, a very ready help in trouble.

Hurricane Helene blasted through the eastern US this past week leaving devastation in its wake. That is not hyperbole. The pictures of the aftermath reveal only part of the story, but certainly enough that we realize the very real need for a strong refuge.

This storm made victims out of millions of people. Some of those people do not know God, the Father and Jesus, our savior. They don’t know the Lord who is a very real and ready help in the time of trouble. For many people, God is not a present God. He is either a theory or a fiction. We know differently. He is alive and here. He is ready to help us in our time of need. Therefore, today’s Word of the Day has two purposes. First, it is meant as an encouragement for all those who have been adversely affected by the storm and secondly, as a call to prayer to the rest of us, to those who know that God is on hand.

Salvation is a big word. We usually think of it in an end of times or end of life context. Through the eyes of Helene, we see salvation’s meaning in its larger manifestation. People need His saving touch in many ways: in their finances, housing, communications, their towns, streets, etc. The encouraging word is that God has salvation in His hands for all those things and more. His saving grace touches every aspect of life. Moreover, it is available to all. Just ask for it, whether for yourself and your family or for others. He is the help that millions of people need right now.

God is that refuge we can run into. In the shelter of God, there is comfort and peace. I believe there are many people who need peace and comfort now. We should let people know that God can impact more than just emotions though. While I believe comfort is very important right now and should not be minimalized, it is also important to let people know that Yahweh is a practical God. By that I mean that He is able to help with the financial and logistical issues facing the eastern US. I am reminded of the great Exodus in which God secured Israel’s release from slavery in Egypt. Liberation was the driving force, but God did not send them out as destitute vagabonds. They left with gold from the Egyptians. That has always amazed me but that shows how God thinks and how He addresses problems.

A great swath of the country has certainly been impacted by Hurricane Helene, yet in the aftermath, we can find God and help others find Him. Maybe some people just need more of Him or a larger version of Him in their lives. Perhaps others need Him to hover close. Still others may find His strength and encouragement for the first time in their lives. Regardless of what each impacted person and business needs, I pray that everyone embraces God and finds the love, compassion, comfort and simple practicality they need in these trying times. While the flood waters recede, I pray that new found relationships and closeness with God never will.

Please join me in praying for the victims of Hurricane Helene

Back to Top

Let Me In

On September 16, 2024   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Matthew 21: 31- 32

Truly I say to you that the tax gatherers and harlots will get into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax gatherers and harlots did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.

This is Jesus speaking to a pious collection of church leaders about the message of John the Baptist. Imagine their outrage at being told that the dregs of society would get into the Kingdom of God before them. In that day, the tax collectors were about the lowest form of humanity. They were actually Jews who collected taxes for the Romans using any means they could devise. Jesus’ use of the word “harlot” also indicated a group of people absolutely despised by pious Jews, that of the prostitute. And though despised, the prostitutes were kept in business as were the tax gatherers. Both of these groups of people represent the lowest, most profane and most reviled people in that society. Yet Jesus told the church leaders and elders that these low lives were going to get into the Kingdom before them. Even after the religious leaders witnessed the belief and faithfulness of the non-celebrated members of society, they still did not turn and repent. The Amplified version of the Bible says it this way, “… and you, even when you saw that, did not afterward change your minds and believe him [adhere to, trust in, and rely on what he told you”.

Who are the most reviled members of our society today? And are they going to make it into heaven before us because they are willing to believe Jesus? I certainly hope not. It is just as easy today as it was in Jesus’ day to get so inculcated in church doctrine and religious culture that we fail to listen to Jesus. We have all witnessed or experienced someone who read a passage of the Bible and experiences great discomfort or disagreement. What are we to do when the Word of God disagrees with our long held belief or with what our church teaches?

This is what I have learned from God. His Word is truth and His truth brings life. It isn’t always comfortable, but it is always ultimate truth. I have found that at times I have warred with certain passages of the Bible only to find out later, once I had yielded myself to understanding and to God, that I had misunderstood the passage all along. One passage, in particular, was saying exactly what I wanted to hear, but I took it for the exact opposite meaning. Once I yielded myself to God, His wisdom and His teaching, the truth became so clear that it is amazing to me to this day that I couldn’t see it from the first.

When you learn to trust God and trust His Word, you will find life and truth. You won’t be one of the sanctimonious churchgoers who is left waiting outside the pearly gates while all the disagreeable (but believing) members of society parade past. You will be one of the one’s about which God says, “Well done good and faithful servant.” Be very careful who you look down your nose at. Be very careful about whom you try to keep out of church. Believe in the “Good News” that Jesus died to bring us and enter into His gates; enter into His glory.

Back to Top