Closer to Thee

On November 20, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

James 4: 8

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

Do you desire a close personal relationship with God? Do you really want to be one of the people that talks with God, rather than at Him? Well, you can be. That kind of closeness and relationship is available for as many as who desire it. You have to initiate that kind of rapport though. God has given us free will and He is not going to violate yours. He is not going to force you into a close friendship with Him. But, if you initiate it, then He will joyously join you.

But how do you really draw near to God? The first and easiest thing to do is to spend time in His word. His word is part of Himself. When you read and search the word of God, you search the heart and mind of God. You will learn a lot about Him and you will find Him in those pages. 

Secondly, spend time talking to Him. Forget traditional ideas of prayer. Just talk to Him like He was your best friend. He likes being part of everything that is important to you. Tell Him everything. Talk to Him about everything.

Lastly, learn to praise Him and be appreciative of all that He does for you. In the beginning you might not be aware of how many things He does for you in a day but as your relationship grows, you will begin to see His fingerprints on many things in your life. When you sincerely tell any friend how important they are to your life, it always draws the two of you closer. Learn to express your gratitude.

As you begin to do any of these things you will find your relationship with Him growing and becoming closer. It all begins with drawing closer to Him.

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Comfort

On November 19, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 40: 1

“Comfort, O comfort, My people,” says your God.

The dear Father of us all spoke this verse to me about two weeks ago when I was feeling run ragged. He says, “This is my word to you.” If you want to know what God is saying then in today’s word you have an answer. He is speaking comfort. God is giving you peace and comfort.

Jesus had peace on his mind too. “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you” (John 14: 27). You see, your comfort has been paramount in God’s mind from the beginning. He is always speaking comfort to your bones and to your spirit. Whenever you feel over-worked, over-taxed or overwhelmed, you can turn to Isaiah, read these words and know that your beloved is speaking comfort words over you right now. In the middle of your work day He is speaking peace, in the midst of grief He is speaking comfort, every moment of your life He is speaking comfort and abundant grace over you. Blessed be the Lord.

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Say It!

On November 18, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 107: 2

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.

So, my question is, what is it that the redeemed of the Lord are supposed to say. We have to look at verse one for the answer: “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting.” That is what the redeemed of the Lord are supposed to be saying. You know what I hear often though? I hear things like “God gave me this cancer to make me strong” or “God took my loved one to heaven”. That is deception folks. God is all goodness. His expression is always lovingkindness (loving + kindness). He only gives that which is good. In fact, he doesn’t even have bad stuff in heaven to give to people. “For everything created by God is good” (1 Timothy 4: 4). Heaven is filled with goodness. That makes sense, right?

When bad things happen, they are not authored by God. God isn’t giving and taking away. He is giving. “God so loved the world that he gave” (John 3: 16). We need to get our language in synch with God’s Word. “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.” Amen!! God is good. Even little children know that. “God is great, God is good . . . .” Let us, each and everyone, allow the truth of God’s goodness to fill us even at the sub-atomic level. God is good and we say so!

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Acceptance

On November 17, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Romans 15: 7

Wherefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.

God has not called us to be separatists but rather to love one another in the unity of His great love for us all. Nor did he call us to be judges, neither of the brethren nor of the world. This is a great temptation for us all. We know the way he has called us to righteousness. We have seen in his word behaviors he has told us to stay away from so it is easy for us to say that those things are wrong and judge people who participate in them. Sometimes we go even further. We judge those who are different from us or practice their faith in a different way. We need to remind ourselves that we are called into unity with one another (Ephesians 4: 3) and that Jesus gave us only one commandment (John 13: 34). That is that we love one another as he loved us. His love was sacrificial; putting our needs before his own. When we can get that one commandment down we will not have to worry about judging others. We will receive them in love. We will accept everyone even as Christ accepted us.

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Effectual Speech

On November 16, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

James 1: 26         (NIV)

If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.

The New Living Translation of this verse is even more direct. It reads, “If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.”

That is straight forward but it sounds a bit harsh. James is trying to get across to us just how important the words of our mouth are. You cannot have an effectual religion and an unsaved mouth. That is just how it is. In this chapter James is writing about being an effectual doer of the word. He then says you cannot accomplish this if you cannot tame your tongue. 

There are many scriptures in the Bible about the words we speak. It seems to me that in this passage, James effectively refers to the body of verses about the tongue saying to us that you have heard all of these verses but still you let your mouth wander off in any direction it chooses. He tells us that we will never attain to effectual faith if we don’t once and for all get a bridle on our tongues. He wants to wake us up to the power of the tongue.

We must first grasp the importance of this and then learn how we are to use words in our everyday lives. If we do not, James says our religion is worthless. I do not want my faith to be of no use and I am sure you do not either. Let us examine the words we speak. Let us begin to guard the words of our mouth jealously. Let us draw together with a determined purpose; to focus our attention on the words of our mouths and help each other to have victory in this most important area.

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Shine On

On November 13, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 60: 1

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

Yahoo! That is my commentary, Yahoo! I love seeing the good news of the Lord and this verse is light in a dark place (all puns intended). Look at verse 2: “For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples; but the Lord will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you.” Dare I say it again? Yahoo! Isn’t that “Sonshine”? Remember the verse from Monday? It was Proverb 4: 18 and I titled it “Sunshine”. Look at God confirming His word to you today.

Though darkness fill the earth, light shines on the children of God. Yea! Jesus fulfilled and confirmed this. Behold his words, “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life” (John 8: 12). Isn’t that what Isaiah wrote? Isn’t that what Solomon conveyed in Proverb 4: 18? Do you think God is trying to get a point across? I think He wants us to realize that even when there are clouds on the horizon and our view is bleak He is still the radiance of love, compassion, help, and all else shining on us. His love is warmth on our shoulders. His glory is our crown covering us from the head down. 

Your light has come, glory to God. He is the Lord Jesus Christ and you need his light shining through the darkness. Though the world may be cloaked in darkness, Jesus is light for his beloved. Don’t live in darkness, don’t let that cloud remain. Shout because our Lord breaks through all and shines his glory on us. Praise his name!

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Filled

On November 12, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 33: 5 – 6

The LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high;
He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
And He will be the stability of your times,
A wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge;
The fear of the LORD is his treasure.

God gives us His justice and righteousness. The Bible says that we have become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5: 21). We do not have to manufacture our own justice and righteousness. We have only to walk in His righteousness.

As we do, besides becoming our peace, he also becomes our stability. Another translation says that He becomes a “sure foundation” for us. In Him is a wealth of salvation for every situation. He saves us in all things. His salvation is more full than the salvation unto eternity with Him alone. It includes salvation anytime you need saving. We also receive a wealth of wisdom and knowledge so that we have His wisdom and knowledge for every circumstance of life.

And, as if that was not enough, we also walk in the reverence of the Lord, which is a gift from Him too. The reverence of the Lord, that relationship that we learn to walk in is a treasure trove in and of itself. Once you have the reverential love of the Lord in your heart, you have the key to unlocking anything and everything. It is the wisdom of God. The scripture says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverb 9: 10). You will not have need of anything because His wisdom, knowledge and power are on the scene to lead you into all righteousness which also leads you into all other things too. It is a cycle that keeps you filled up with all of the goodness of the Lord.

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