Hope Too

On February 5, 2020   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Romans 5: 5

And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given.

Don’t lose hope because, just like love, hope does not fail. Even though the horizon may look troublesome, do not give in to fear and hopelessness. Your hope is in the Lord Jesus, our Father and the Holy Spirit who they sent to us. The love that was poured out to us is the anchor of our hope because that love can never fail. It is pure, secure and determined. That love brought Jesus into the world for the reconciliation and redemption of us all. How can you give up hope when the God of the universe is the one who sent you His own love in order to secure you? Look up. Look upon that horizon with renewed faith and confidence. It may look like storm clouds, but it is really your victory on its way to you. Just don’t give up before it reaches you. Through the love of God, your hope will have its satisfaction.

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Hope

On February 4, 2020   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Acts 2: 26

Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue exulted; moreover my flesh also will abide in hope.

It is a horrible thing to live without hope, and yet there are many people who are doing just that. But you don’t have to be without hope any longer. Jesus brought hope into the world. Now you can be free of dejection, depression and sorrow.

When Jesus went to the cross, died and rose again, he accomplished more than salvation for your eternal soul. He brought hope into a dying world. He became hope. He died that we might live. He told us in John 10: 10 that he came to give us abundant life. Jesus conquered hell and the grave that we might live in joy and victory, his victory, the victory that he won for us. When we couldn’t overcome, he overcame for us. When we were downtrodden, he arose, lifting us up with him.

You see there is no reason for you to be overcome with the anguish of this world any longer. Although we know that the world dishes out pain and suffering, Jesus said for us to take heart because he has overcome the world (John 16: 33). You do not have to despair any longer. Jesus has made a way for you to be comforted and enjoy the good fruit of his victory.

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Holy Hill

On February 3, 2020   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 87             GW

The city the Lord has founded stands on holy mountains.

2 The Lord loves the city of Zion
more than any other place in Jacob.

3 Glorious things are said about you, O city of God!

          Selah

4 The Lord says, “I will add Egypt and Babylon
as well as Philistia, Tyre, and Sudan
to the list of those who acknowledge me.
Each nation will claim that it was born there.”

5 But it will be said of Zion,
“Every race is born in it.
The Most High will make it secure.”

6 The Lord will record this in the Book of Nations:
“Every race claims that it was born there.”

          Selah

7 Singers and dancers will sing,
“Zion is the source of all our blessings.”

The Lord has built His glorious city atop the mountains. He has built us a home and every nation, every people will claim they come from that holy city, and it is true.

Life flows from that holy city. All life derives its sustenance from that holy hill because from there the Lord rules. He sends out His life force from His city to all the inhabitants of the earth and everything which has breath feeds, ultimately, on God, Yahweh as the source of life.

“Zion is the source of all our blessings.” Everything that is good, every blessing comes down from the Lord. His reign is more like “rain” because He rains down His goodness upon us. Look up. He has glory and righteousness in His hands. Mercy and lovingkindness are His gifts. Everything good comes from above and is for the children of God.

In the end, all will look up and see the glory of God shining from the Holy Mountain. Light beams will radiate love and life from that Holy Hill and every person who has ever lived will know the truth. Love reigns supreme. Love rains.

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Doing Christianity

On January 31, 2020   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 119: 112

I have inclined my heart to perform Thy statutes forever, even to the end.

The New Testament equivalent of this verse is found in James 1: 22 where James, the half-brother of Jesus, importunes us to “prove” ourselves “to be doers of the word, not merely hearers.” James teaches us that it is not enough to go to church and listen to a minister tell us about the Word of God. We need to take the word we hear and put it into action.

The psalmist from this passage in Psalm 119 has made that transition. He knows that his success is tied to applying the statutes of God, not only hearing them and learning them. He has decided, has set his heart, to doing all he sees in the Word of God.

We all need to be like the psalmist. We need to make a quality decision that we will let the Word of God lead us. We should let God’s word be the final authority in our lives. Everyone wants to hear from God. Meanwhile we have His Word lying on our coffee tables and yet ignore it. He is speaking to you; it is His Word; His words to you. He is trying to lead you to the calm waters and into the green pastures but many of His kids are not listening. He wants to lead you to the paths of success, happiness and joy.

It seems that it should be enough for us that God Almighty has made a decree. That ought to be reason enough for us to set our hearts to obey. But when you begin to understand why He has made the decree you ought to want to run to perform all that He has said because everything that He tells you to do, every rule that you fuss over, every bit of guidance He is giving you is for your benefit. He is not leading you into dark alleys where something bad is laid in store for you. He is leading you into your promised land. Rush quickly to do all that God is telling you to do. If you don’t think He has told you something specific for you to do, then pick up your Bible and He will show you something. There is plenty there for us to work on. Make up your mind that you are going to dedicate yourself to doing all that you find in the Word of God. Decide that you are going to devote yourself to performing all of His statutes. Then you will find favor and every blessing.

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Truth and Freedom

On January 30, 2020   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

John 8: 31 – 32

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

This is an oft quoted passage but misquoted in a sense. The truth will not set you free. It is knowing the truth that sets people free. Truth is all around us, but it is only when we get a revelation of the truths that are pertinent to us that they can affect our lives for the good. Once we have that revelation, then the truths have a transformative effect, which means, they can change your life.

The anchor of this verse as well as ideal held within is the part that is overlooked. This quote is from Jesus. He said the way to knowing the truth that will set you free is in “continuing in My word.” Whoops! What was that? Well, really, no big surprise here when we think about it. Where else would we turn for truth? Further, Jesus set he came to set us free. It is reasonable that if we want the freedom he came to give us then we should make ourselves his disciples. The way to freedom, then, is continuing in his word.

So, we quote this saying, “the truth shall set you free” but we only cite a part of it. We are forgetting the foundation upon which the whole concept is built, abiding in Jesus’ word. Faced with the reality of how we live in his truth and hence his freedom, how many of us want it badly enough to do something about it? We act like all of these things will drop out of the sky on us but that isn’t the way. Abiding in him, is the way. Remember Monday’s verse, “Teach me more about you, how you work and how you move, so that I can walk onward in your truth.” Walking in truth, and hence in freedom, comes through abiding with him and learning his ways. The simple truth of it is that spending time in our Bible and in prayer is how we come to live in the shining place of his glory. I don’t always get all the Bible time I need. We are all leading busy lives but I want victory and freedom for us all so I am motivated to find the secrets and share them with you. I wish there was a magic wand but the closest we get to it is a magic book. We can’t just wave it around though. We’ve got to spend time with it and allow it to speak to us. It was for freedom that Jesus set us free and he whom Jesus has set free is free indeed. Let your discipleship in the Word free you to victory in Jesus.

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Blessed

On January 29, 2020   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 86: 17             GW

Grant me some proof of your goodness so that those who hate me may see it and be put to shame.

The psalmist wanted God to give him a sign that everyone could see, a sign of God’s affection. Essentially, he wanted evidence that he was favored by God so that his enemies would ashamed that they had attacked the child of God.

Sometimes I think a similar way. I pray the blessing of the Lord will show on us so that all people will see it and know that Yahweh is God, the one and only true God. Then, all the world might come to know the love of God through the lives of his disciples.

A friend of mine remarked the other day about how people do things for me. Really, I think she was just amazed at the kindness others show especially in that it seems unearned. She has seen a number of blessings rain down in my life but a recent one took the cake, I guess. Just this week, one of the other bike captains offered to make bike racks for me. I would have been happy with a picture of his. I was overwhelmed when he offered to build some for our team. I was overwhelmed by his and his wife’s kindness towards me and our team.

So, what is this gracious act a testament to? Is it a sign of my persuasiveness? No, because I didn’t ask and wouldn’t have ever thought to. Is it a testament to their kindness? No doubt! You can’t make a silk purse from a sow’s ear. They are great folks. But, there is a greater force at work here. God has given me favor. His blessing on my life interacts with the goodness in these folks to create a God moment. These great things happen in my life because God is good.

The second half of this occurrence is that the people building the racks will be blessed for having blessed our team. God promised me that whoever blesses me will, themselves, be blessed by Him (Genesis 12: 3). The other side of that coin is that those who curse me will themselves be cursed. Well, how could they not. We sow what we reap. That is another reason I have wanted a sign on me though, almost as a warning. “Don’t be mean to me because it will rebound on to you.”

People should really get a clue. When you bless God’s kids, you get blessed. When you curse them, you have the curse on you. More than anything, though, I wish that people would see the “luck” I have and understand that it is God’s hand on me. It is His blessing working in my life and it will work for everyone. He is the source of goodness. I am just lucky that He loves me.

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Who Dares?

On January 28, 2020   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 15: 1

Lord, who dares to dwell with you? Who presumes the privilege of being close to you, living next to you in your shining place of glory? Who are those who daily dwell in the life of the Holy Spirit?

One of the people who dared to live in that close proximity with the Lord was David, who is the writer of this psalm. He understood the great prestige of walking with Yahweh. Do we dare presume the privilege of living “next to (His) shining place of glory?” What does that even mean? What is this shining place of glory?

David goes on to refer to those who daily dwell in the life of the Spirit. These are amazing sentences to me. Apparently there were multiple people who were abiding daily in the life of the Holy Spirit so David was not alone in this. Doesn’t that seem to infer that we can live that same life?

David does go on to answer his own question in the rest of the psalm and the answer is informative. The greater part of this psalm is opening our eyes and hearts to the possibilities. It sounds exciting to live next to God in His shining place of glory. God is glory and in His presence is abundant glory. To witness God’s glory is to enjoy His presence. So, aren’t we talking about living, continually, in God’s presence? Further, one would conclude from this that living a life in the Holy Spirit is how one gets to live in God’s shining place of glory.

It’s important to note that David isn’t talking about the great hereafter. He is talking about right here, right now. A life of living in the radiant glow of God’s presence is actually a real possibility. And, think of this, David wrote this before the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. How much more should the glorious presence of God be available to New Testament believers?

I want to stir up your sense of wonder. I am hoping to get you thinking about what God’s shining place of glory is and how David knew about it. He also knew people who lived daily in the life of the Holy Spirit. Of how many people would you say that? There is so much more that God has for us than we are living. Let’s reach for all the gusto. Let’s see how much Father is really willing to do for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. There are heights we can attain which would free us to a life we can not even currently imagine. Let’s dig deeper and explore what our Father will do, what He wants to do with a life surrendered. Who dares to dwell with Yahweh?

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