A Friend of God

On July 11, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 2: 4

I was crying to the Lord with my voice, and He answered me from His holy mountain.

King David kept God busy. He was at God’s throne day and night. He was constantly before the Lord. And he needed to be. David was always in one need or another but through his need and reliance on God, they developed one terrific relationship. David knew that he could go right to God’s holy mountain and get help in a time of need. He knew that God heard his voice when he talked to Him from his bed. Every morning and every night, David went before God. He showed up demanding God’s attention. That one man could have kept God busy all by himself. You and I might feel a little pestered by someone like David but do you know what happened between God and David. They became friends. Yeah, friends. Not just God and disciple but close friends and God loved him. Dare you pester God like David did? All you have to gain from it is everything, including God’s friendship. Determine that you are going to pursue God just as relentlessly as David did and soon, in less than a month I would say, you will find yourself starting to express the same confidence in God that David did. God will answer you every time even if it is just for the two of you to chat. You will develop such a confidence in God that everything in your life will change.

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The Well Rooted Tree

On July 10, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 1: 4 – 6

4 The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

This is the second half of the first Psalm which we read yesterday and it contrasts the consequences for the wicked with the results of the righteous.  Rather than being a living, strong, regal tree firmly planted in good soil, the wicked will have no root.  Any little wind will blow them this way and that and they will have no staying power.  Any success they find will blow away because it is not rooted and grounded.  There will be no substance and they will not be able to stand on the last day. 

The unrighteous spend their time foolishly and they greatly suffer as a consequence.  Let us spend our time in pursuit of the lovely one and let our life find deeper meaning and purpose.  Let us shine before men because the “son” shines on us.  Pursue the Lord with all your might, forsaking not your relationship with the Father and His Holy Spirit.  All heaven and earth shall be your prize.  Do not forsake the God of your youth.  Call upon Him now while he is near.  He will answer.  Draw closer to Him than ever before.  Riches and glory are in Him and most importantly so are peace and love.  Find that for which your heart seeks.  It is all in Him.

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The Blessing Plan

On July 9, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 1: 1-3

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers!

2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.

3 And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.

We all want to be blessed of God and that is what God wants also. That is why he gave us this passage, so that we would know how to be blessed. The first verse tells us three things to avoid if we want to be blessed. The second verse tells us one affirmative thing to do and the third verse illustrates the effect of the blessing on us which results from obedience to the first two verses.

In a nutshell, this passage tells us to turn away from the ways of the world and turn towards God. In plain language it means we should spend more time pursuing God than pursuing the world. Turn off the TV every now and again and spend that hour reading your Bible. Don’t take your advice (counsel) from the world, look to the word and mature Christians. Don’t do the things the people of the world do. That is what is meant by do not “stand in the path of sinners.” God is telling us not to be on their path. Choose a different path. That does not just mean don’t sin. That is a given. But this passage is not talking about salvation it is teaching living in the blessing. So God is telling you not to do the things the world does because it is not leading to blessing. The blessing is in God and in his word. Spend some time reading the word or reading a book by a Christian. Listen to a TV preacher right in the middle of the week. Delight yourself in His word and you will be that tree that is planted near the stream. It is taller and stronger than other trees. It bears more fruit and its fruit is sweeter. Moreover, this tree does not lose its health and vitality. All it takes is to start spending more time actively pursuing Jesus and less time in the world.

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The Power of Surrender

On July 8, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Job 42: 2

I know that Thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of Thine can be thwarted.

Do we really know that He, God, can do all things? Have we really grasped in our depths that no purpose of His can be thwarted? I very much doubt that we have really grasped the truth of those two statements. If we had, no purpose of His to which He has called us would be impossible to us. We would have no fear in the things that He has asked. I am not sure that this is just a matter of faith. This passage is found in the last of Job. These statements represent some of Job’s last utterances in the long discussion which is the book of Job. I think these passages reflect a heart which, rather than demonstrating faith, shows surrender. Job finally surrenders to God’s omnipotence. He finally accepts that he, Job, cannot make everything make sense but if He will surrender to God, He can make it right. Job’s next words are of repentance. Then God restores Job. Job had to come to a place of surrender and repentance in order to receive all that God had for him and all that God wanted to do for him. Job had to get himself out of God’s way. He had to surrender his thoughts and his ways and acknowledge that God, Jehovah, is the way and that God, not Job, can do all things. Job, through surrender, let go of his arguments and his wisdom and acknowledged that God knows all things. These statements, so seemingly full of faith are actually full of surrender and repentance. It is the letting go of ourselves that allows us to flow in deep faith.

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He is Paying Attention

On July 7, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 40: 27

Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and the justice due me escapes the notice of my God?”

Sometimes, I know, it seems that God is far away. You are doing your best with all you do; trying with your effort to please the Lord, but it seems the ungodly are getting the best of you. You wonder why God does not see all the good you do and how much you are giving in order to be like him and why he does not rush in to vindicate you. Do not fear. Do not lose your patience. God is watching and he is seeing. All that you do in secret is plain to him. Nothing you do goes without his notice. He will come to you in a time when you least expect it. There is a law that cannot be denied. That is that what you sow, you will get. While it may seem that your efforts are going unnoticed, believe there will be a reckoning. God is paying attention to you and he is working out situations for you right now. When it seems that you are the most alone, just look up. God is much closer than you think and your deliverance is just around the corner. No matter how bleak the prognosis nor how dire the circumstance God will deliver you into his own hand. He has your solution in his hand right now and is rearranging whatever he must in order to get it to you. Don’t lose faith. What you have done in secret, the Lord has seen and you will be rewarded according to your faithfulness.

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Freedom in Christ

On July 4, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Galatians 5: 1

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

As we celebrate this Independence Day holiday we think of the many men and women who sacrificed their lives and fortunes to secure our liberty. Yet freedom is not won once for all. The call of freedom is one of vigilance. We must constantly be on the alert for those who would steal or limit our liberty.

There is no one who gave more than Jesus in the continuous fight for freedom. His calling was to set the captives free (Isaiah 61: 1). When all of humanity was in bondage he bore in his body the price of our freedom. Even as we think of the brave patriots who fought and died for a better way of life let us remember that without Jesus’ victory there would have been no liberty for us to pursue. He bought our personal freedom with which we were able to dream of political and religious freedom. Paul warns us, though, that liberty gained is transient if we do not stand firm resisting the yoke of slavery.

I cringe when I see all of the personal liberties we relinquish these days in favor of convenience, security, etc. Americans are giving away their liberty hand over fist. The single greatest reason seems to be fear but why should we fear? Are we not all children of the most high? People even argue today that individuals have no right to personal privacy. Not so many years ago that would have sounded completely ludicrous. It still does to me. But then look how we have subjected ourselves to bondage even though Jesus did set us free.  Sometimes it is better to die than to pay the price of slavery.

We have made ourselves slaves to all sorts of substances, habits, television, leisure and so on. We have relaxed our guard even though Paul warned us not to and have become slaves again to sin and the fear of death. We have become prisoners of vain philosophies when the Word of God is the sword of freedom. We have allowed the lies of the enemy to imprison us in dungeons of sickness, poverty, brokenness and every imaginable impediment to liberty.

But Jesus stands at the threshold. He stands ever ready to show us the way to loose the shackles that bind us, he having already broken them. There is no shackle, no prison that has power over us. Jesus has set the captives free. Although prison doors have been splintered before the mighty arm of the Lord, they retain all the power we give them for if we do not arise and walk through the open doorway then we are every bit a prisoner as if the bars remained. We are only enslaved to the degree of our acceptance because the battle has been fought and won. 

This 4th of July renew yourself to the freedom won for you by those who have gone before. Refuse to allow your personal liberties to be trod upon and give no quarter to the enemy who seeks to enslave you again to the yoke from which Jesus freed you. Renew your stance, standing firm against those who would trade liberty for convenience or governmental assistance. Determine that you will guard your personal liberties even as you stand with and for your neighbor. Freedom is precious but it is always under attack. Stand firm therefore.

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Our Gift to the Lord

On July 3, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Samuel 15: 22

Samuel said, “Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.”

This is a fairly well known scripture, especially the latter part of it but let us also read it from the God’s Word translation: “Is the LORD as delighted with burnt offerings and sacrifices as he would be with your obedience? To follow instructions is better than to sacrifice. To obey is better than sacrificing the fat of rams.” This version speaks plainly about the weight of sacrifice vs. obedience.

Clearly we do not offer burnt sacrifices today so how do we equate this in modern terms? We would talk in terms of “works”. Our sacrifices are more in the line of working at the church, participating in all of the food drives, etcetera. There has never been anything wrong with the sacrifices nor the works. The problem lies in the fact that over the eons we have all substituted the true sacrifice desired by God with all of these other things. We need to be able to speak honestly about works the way the old prophets spoke openly about burnt offerings but in order to do that we must first agree that there is no open criticism about any of those things. Our projects are worthy. They just are not worthy as a sacrifice because what God is seeking is our obedience.

God wants to rule in our hearts. I remember when God told me to leave the practice of law and go into full time ministry. It made absolutely no sense to me. But why does what God tells us to do need to survive our scrutiny? Anyway, it took me a long time to heed God’s instructions. I was very active in church but I was in disobedience and things got messy for awhile. Eventually I got the cart righted and did as I was told and believe me, my life improved as a result. Being outside the will of God is just not a good place to be. I was trying to do all the right things but I was missing the big one, obedience. God was trying to lead me into a place of peace and blessing but I was too busy working myself to death to heed Him. It sounds silly now but I just couldn’t hear Him through the noise of my life.

This shows that you can have the very best intentions and still miss the mark by a mile. We busy ourselves with what we think God would have us do rather than simply spending some quiet time with Him finding out. I have learned that He doesn’t think the way we do so the only way we can know His mind is to give Him time to convey His thoughts to us. Ministers are the very worst about this. It is easy to spend so much time doing the work of God that we never spend any time with Him or in the Word. This is great error and will always end in trouble. We all must be still and listen to the voice of the Lord so that we can follow His instructions. He is always leading us on the blessed path but we must be able to hear Him. And then, once we do hear, we are really best served if we will hurry to obey Him. You don’t have to understand what He is doing or why. Just know that He has your interest in mind. He is leading you to the blessing place, the oasis in the desert. If you don’t heed Him, believe me, it is going to be barren and dry. 

Forget your religious sacrifices and traditions and seek His face. Ask Him if you are doing what He has directed you to do. If you have missed something, don’t fret, just get on track. Your obedience to His Word and to His instructions will serve you well because it will lead you to your anointed place. It will be well with you if you will obey the Lord.

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