The Importance of God's Word

This is the verse my morning meditation was on.

Deuteronomy 17:18-20 

And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.

In its historical context, it is God speaking through Moses in respect to the king God will choose to rule over them. But certainly, we have a spiritual application that speaks to us today.

First, we would be much better off, if we elected men who put God’s Word up as the standard by which they would govern. Realistically though, this is not a Christian nation and that probably isn’t going to happen. Yet, when Christians vote, we must look to this principle when we elect leaders.

There is a second principle that is more personal for us. It is the principle of reading God’s word. Why do we need to read, study, and prioritize God’s word? Let Moses answer that.

“That [you] may learn to fear the LORD [your] God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that [your] heart may not be lifted up above [your] brothers, and that [you] may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that [your] may continue long in [your life], [you] and [your] children.”

God has given us the way to do life. We have a map. It is called the Bible. We cannot know God’s Will unless we listen to Him. And He speaks. He speaks through His Word. 

Colossians 3:16 

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

The Commands of God - Live by Faith

Today I begin a new journey, or at least, a different path to the same place. Over the last several months I walked through the Gospels with the goal of pulling out the things Jesus commanded us to do as He walked the earth in the years of His incarnation. The overall object of this journey is to find out what it is God commands us to do. For Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” I want to love Jesus. To do that, I must know what he asks of me. 

The writers of scripture wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. When they speak in the Bible, it is God speaking. Today we begin in the Book of Romans.

Paul doesn’t waste much time in giving us the first commandment of this letter to the Romans.

Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

The righteous shall live by faith. 

This is not an option. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that “without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists…”

Faith means believing without seeing. It means trusting in God and in His plan, without necessarily understanding it. It means when things happen that we do not like, or that bring suffering and pain, we do not fall apart. We don’t get mad at God. We don’t give up. No, we walk in faith, trusting that the Word of God is true. Believing that Romans 8:28 is true; And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good.

The righteous shall live by faith. May we live this out each and every day.

Looking Upon Jesus

This morning in my time with God, He spoke to me through this passage.

Numbers 21:4-9 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

There is so much packed in here for us to take away, as we read this story.

First, notice how so often we behave like Israel did. Like them, we have been given God’s Word, He has promised us all things we need to survive our journey through this life. Yet, we expect God to make things easy and we, too, get impatient with Him as we wait on Him to fulfill all our prayers. I’m not sure we really grasp how often we complain against Him. Or how often we simply do not do things as He calls us to. 

Then notice God’s response to their disobedience and their lack of faith. That’s what it is by the way; a lack of faith. We lack the faith to trust in God and in the way upon which He calls us to walk. God, being our Father, then brings discipline to us, just as we see here in God’s having brought fiery serpents. Our discipline may not come in that form, but just maybe things like a virus, might possibly be God moving in discipline. 

Then notice the people’s response, because it needs to be our response. The people come to Moses in confession and repentance and Moses prays for God to respond to their recognition of their sin. 

God responds by providing them a way to live, even in the midst of the judgment of their sin. 

This is a beautiful picture of Jesus. We celebrate Christmas because in response to our sin and its cost of judgment through death, if we will do as they were called to, and look to Jesus, when we see Him, we will live. The bronze serpent was a picture of Christ. 

Every time we sin against God, we can look to Jesus, at His death and resurrection by which He paid the cost of our sin, and by faith in Him, we can live. 

Let us look upon Jesus and live.

Giving Thanks

It's really easy to preach things the Bible says and since as far as I know, almost all of my friends here on Facebook lay claim to being Christian. that's what I try and do. I'm going to throw a scripture out this morning that I know is really hard to do, especially when circumstances are not what we hope for. 

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

I am struggling this morning to do this and I bet many of you are as well. But the Bible is clear; this is God's will for us.

We cannot say we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and then choose to not seek His will in our lives.

So, today I am going to be thankful. Truth is, I have way more to be thankful for than I can even remember. 

Yet, I know this is hard. I keep a prayer journal and when any of you express prayer needs or sometimes I just see them in your lives, I write them down and try most days to lift them up to our God. This morning as I prayed it became clear, my problems are small and not all that bad compared to the many difficult trials many of you are in right now. Yet, the same call is upon you. be thankful in those circumstances. This is God's will for you.

It has been oft said that there is no safer place, no better place than to be in God's will. So, I encourage each of you, take a few moments to thank God for where He has you today.

How can you do that? 

By faith in him. Don't just believe in Him, believe Him. Open up your Bible and you will see that He is sovereign over all things, even your situation. He i working in them. Hos Word says that, "we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 

It says even if we don't know what to pray the Spirit does. 

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 8:26-27 

Psalms 34:17-22 tells us this,

When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.Many are the afflictions of the righteous,but the LORD delivers him out of them all.He keeps all his bones;not one of them is broken.Affliction will slay the wicked,and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.The LORD redeems the life of his servants;none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

Whatever you face today and tomorrow, God knows, He is working in it and in the right time He will deliver you out of it. 

This might not happen today. Or tomorrow. But we can know for sure that He will deliver us from all this mess and there will come a day when He will wipe away our tears and we shall dwell in the House of the Lord forever.

We must live by faith, not by sight. 

This is how we give thanks in all circumstances. 

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.            Proverbs 3:5-6

How To Get Wisdom

Life is hard. I think most of us would agree. Knowing what to do and how to do it, can seem overwhelming. It is easy to get confused over even simple decisions sometimes, much less the serious ones. 

We live in a world today, that is filled with information. We can go online and Google it. We can read any number of blogs and articles that advise us how to live. Post your questions and concerns on Facebook and I promise you, there will be no shortage of people willing to throw in their two cents. There actually still are a few bookstores and libraries that carry self-help books by the dozens and Amazon can ship them to you in a day or two. Stay up late and watch TV and there will be commercials that have telephone numbers you can call and have some psycho, I mean psychic tell you what the future holds, making your decisions easy, because they know how it will all turn out. 

But Christians, yes, I’m talking to you, there is a better way. Dust off that Bible and get on your knees.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.  - James 1:5-8 

For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints. Proverbs 2:6-8

God has spelled it out. If you lack wisdom, (don’t we all?), then ask God. That is called prayer. And if you ask God, God has promised to give wisdom generously to all, and He will do it without reproach. 

But there are some conditions. You must ask in faith. You must not doubt. If you doubt, you won’t receive the wisdom you need and you will probably continue to flounder in your own decisions.  

We must also walk in integrity and be upright. If we do that, God will not only give us the wisdom we need, He will be a shield to us and He will guard the paths of justice and watch your way. 

Look at the world today. Look at our country. Look at the lives of so many.  It is a mess. It is a mess because we are not seeking God’s wisdom. We are seeking our own and we are putting hope and faith in godless people and in man’s way. We have no integrity. Sadly, most of us don’t even have faith. Yes, I mean us Christians. We must stop simply believing in God and start believing God.

I provided two passages from God’s Word. They are promises from God to those who seek to follow Him and to live by faith. The application is simple. Humble yourself before Him, ask Him for the wisdom you need, and then believe what He tells you. He wrote a whole book that is filled with His counsel and His truth and we simply don’t follow His way. 

Christian, do you believe God’s word? Then do what it says. Read His Word and know it, then believe it. 

I leave you with one more scripture. I really suggest you commit it to memory. Even more so believe it and obey it.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

All Things New

 This morning as I look out into the day, I see the sun is shining. The past several days have been dark and dreary filled with many periods of rain. It has been hard to get motivated. I think it could be easily said, it’s been a bit depressing.

But the way God works in the lives of His children, those who call Jesus Lord, is to work in the times of despair and suffering. Romans 5:3-5 explains this to us saying,  “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

We are called to rejoice in our sufferings, because it is in them that we are becoming like Christ. The Apostle Paul has written about suffering and resurrection in Philippians 3:8-11. Take a look.

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

In order to know the power of resurrection, we must share in the sufferings of Jesus and become like Him in death. The transition of winter to spring is a picture of that process. Just as the seasons come and go here in the Midwest, so our lives have seasons of suffering and seasons of resurrection. But we have to die to be resurrected. 

The promises of God as found in the Bible are many. One of those promises is that we will have suffering. Jesus gave this promise in John 16:33, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Suffering is simply part of life. But we need not lose heart, for in the suffering and the death, comes resurrection. 

Just as winter is making way to spring, so is God working in the lives of His children. I close this morning with a promise from God.

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Revelation 21:5 

This morning look out and see how God is making all things new. 

Death Comes Before Resurrection

Maybe the  greatest mistake we make as Christians, is that we fail to understand that death has to come before resurrection. It’s sounds so simple, yet so many miss it. We come to church looking for help. Our lives are a mess. Addiction, broken relationships, loneliness, fear, and a wealth of other things have beaten us down. We reach that point where we just cannot go on as we are. So, we show up looking for Jesus to heal us and to make our lives better. We want to be born again and have new life.

But we don’t come willing to die first. 

There cannot be a resurrection of the living. For a resurrection to happen, there must be a death first. I am not talking about physical death of our earthly body here, though in the final end, that is exactly what will happen. We will die physically, and Jesus will raise us up with new bodies in which we will live eternally.

But that is the future, what about today? Tomorrow?  

No, I am speaking of spiritual death and resurrection. Death must come to our old nature, which the Bible is clear about; we are dead spiritually in our sin.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Ephesians 2:1-3 

Technically, we might say we are already dead before we come to Christ. The Bible says we are. But what’s not dead is our addiction to self, the passions of our flesh. Our sins are a direct result of our desire to please ourselves. We live for our own pleasure and seek to have the glory that only God deserves. 

It is the death to self that must occur. Look around at the world today. Almost everywhere we  go, we see that people are mostly concerned with themselves. They demand what they want, when they want it. For that matter, look inward at yourself. How many of the conflicts you find yourself in are a direct result of you not getting your way? 

Self must die. It’s all over scripture. 

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Philippians 2:3 

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23 

Jesus is the perfect example.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:5-8 

By the way, the use of the word servant in this translation is better rendered slave. 

If we say we are Christians, then we are supposed to be disciples and followers of Jesus. This means it is our primary hope to become like Him. We must become slaves to Him, not to ourselves.

To do that, self must die. Until “self” dies, resurrection cannot happen. 

The bottom line is that none of this is about us. It is about God. His glory. When we live for ourselves, we are trying to rob God of His glory. That, my friends, is a bad idea.

I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. Isaiah 42:8 

Let us die, so that we can live in the resurrection of new life that Jesus has offered to us. He will raise us up to new life.

Leaving the Past to Live in Christ

We all have made mistakes and sinned in the course of our lives. Some of them are serious and the consequences of those sins make our lives, hard to bear. Or maybe it was our parents, whose sins in raising us left us hurt and living life in the shadows of abuse and neglect. Maybe in a past relationship, we were damaged severely by someone else. Or maybe we were the one who has inflicted great hurt upon those we love or were supposed to love the most. But the answer to these things is not to spend the rest of our lives with anger, bitterness, shame, or self-pity. Not to the one who lives by faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Listen to what God says to us in His Word about the past.

Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing, now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. - Isaiah 43:18-19

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. - Philippians 3:13-15 

Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” - Luke 9:62 

When we become Christians, everything changes. Everything.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. - 2 Corinthians 5:17-19

No longer need we seek the approval of men. No longer are our sins held against us, thus we have no right to hold the sins of others against them. Reconciliation is the theme of salvation and this must become our message as well. And we will do more for the Kingdom of God by living our lives out in the joy of our salvation and by offering the same type of grace and mercy that God showed us by sending Jesus to the cross, to others than if we devote our lives to being a witness through our words. Our words matter, but if our lives do not show the lost world Jesus, then we are simply going to ignored.

Whatever and whoever we were before Jesus, is to be forgotten and now our identity is in Him.  Take some time today to dig into your Bible and see who you are in Christ. Then ask yourself this; Am I who God says I am? Or am I who the world says I am? 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. - 2 Corinthians 5:17-19

Let us live with hearts of reconciliation. 

How To Come Against the Attacks of Our Enemy

 

Reading this morning in Isaiah 36:13-15, “Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you. Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD by saying, “The LORD will surely deliver us.”

This is a picture of how Satan comes against us. Just as Rabshakeh calls out to the people and tells them not to trust their king and what he says, Satan, the deceiver and liar by Biblical definition, calls out to us in the midst of our trials and sufferings and tells us not to trust God. 

Notice how the enemy twists the truth, turning it around to make it seem it is our king we cannot believe. 

But if we continue on in this narrative from Isaiah, listen to what the king says.

But they were silent and answered him not a word, for the king's command was, “Do not answer him.” - Isaiah 36:21 

The king, Hezekiah tells the people to simply be silent and not answer the enemy. But he doesn’t stop there. Read on.

It may be that the LORD your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’” - Isaiah 37:4

Hezekiah reminds the people that God hears the rhetoric of the enemy. And then Hezekiah gives them an explicit command saying, “lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.”

Just as they had an enemy whose method was to cast doubts upon their faith in God, so we have the same enemy. And his tactics are the same today. Satan will implant in our minds doubt in the midst of our sufferings. 

The story we read of here in Isaiah speaks of a literal enemy which threatens a literal invasion by a literal army. But behind it all is a spiritual attack. Whatever we face today, at its core we are involved in a spiritual battle. And God has provided us with a specific scripture reading that is our battle instruction.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.Read that through carefully. - Ephesians 6:10-18

We are not called to advance against the enemy, calling out rebukes and engaging in battle. No, we are called to “stand against the schemes of the devil.” So that “you may be able to withstand in the evil day.” And “having done all, to stand firm.” We put on the whole armor of God so that we may “stand.”

It is “the Lord and in the strength of his might” by which the devil is defeated. Not by our power displayed by making a full-frontal assault on the enemy. The only action we are to take is be “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.”

Our God is sovereign over all, including the enemy, Satan knows this. Read the Book of Job. So, what he will do is just as in this OT reading, he will attempt to cast doubt in our minds and hearts. We must use the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s Word, to cut down the lies of the devil, while praying at all times, in the Spirit.

That’s how we do battle. We stand. And we let God. 

One of my all-time favorite passages is the prelude to the parting of the Red Sea. 

And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” - Exodus 14:13-14

Again, what was the command? “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD.”

Brothers and sisters, yes, we are in a war. But we can and must stand firm and trust in our God. We cannot win these battles. But He can.

The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent. And in that silence, we pray. Then we stand.

It’s worth repeating.

Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today.

Understanding the Holiness of God

 

I’ve been doing a Bible study on the attributes of God and this week we looked at one that may be as misunderstood as any other attribute. As Christians it must be our goal to study God’s Word with an extreme passion for knowing God. This task is in one way an impossible goal to fully attain, for God Himself says this in Isaiah 55:8-9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Yet, because the Christian faith is about a restored relationship with God, through Jesus, we need to know God to love God. 

Though God’s ways are higher than ours, we can still learn of who He is through His Word, in which God Himself has revealed all we need to know about Him in order to love Him and have a relationship with Him. We must open our Bibles and we must seek the greatest possible understanding. When Jesus ascended back to sit at the Father’s side, He sent us the Holy Spirit, who lives in each believer. The Holy Spirit is our teacher and according to John 14:26, “he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” God has provided us with all we need.

So, what does it mean that God is holy? When we think of that word, we often picture it to mean perfect in the sense of never sinning. Certainly, that is true of God, He is without sin, as was Jesus when He walked the earth as a man. But the word means more than just that. 

The Hebrew word used to describe God as holy is qadosh and the meaning of that word speaks of something that is separate. R.C. Sproul defines this as “primarily that God is transcendentally separate. He is so far above and beyond us that He seems totally foreign to us.” That description lines up with Isaiah 55:8-9, quoted above. Every single aspect of God is above anything we can do or even think of. God’s love? It is a love that is so much greater than ours. No one loves like God. God’s justice? Well, all one has to do is look at man’s justice system and we can see that it is a far cry from true justice. But God’s justice is perfect in every way. Try and compare God’s creative efforts with man’s. God speaks things into existence. Man cannot touch that. 

The truth is this, God is so far above us in every single aspect, that we really don’t have words to describe it. This is why He deserves our worship. God is above all things. Way above. The only word that I can think of that helps me grasp this truth is the word infinite. God is an infinite being and man and all of man’s world is finite. We keep looking at God and questioning things. We ask questions about why suffering and get frustrated because we can’t find answers that satisfy our minds. The truth is this; God is Holy, capital H. His ways are so much higher above ours that we simply cannot try and apply our finite understanding to an infinite God. 

This is why the Christian life is to be a life of faith. God tells us that in His Word. 2 Corinthians 5:7 reminds us that “we walk by faith, not by sight.” Hebrews 11:6 says that “without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” So, we must seek Him and seek Him by faith. 

But we must seek the God who is above all things, who is transcendentally separate from everything we know. And we must worship Him in a way we have never done so. We must worship Him for who He is. 

God is holy. God is holy, holy, holy. And I cannot even find words to explain this. I sat down this morning to try. I wanted to share with all of you reading this, the power of the truth of God’s holiness. I see now I cannot. I am inadequate for such a task. But please, please use this as an opportunity to seek to know as much as you possibly can about who God is and what it means that He is holy. 

Take time today to just sit in awe of our God. Look out at the snow and the sun. Find some birds. Look at the people around you. Look in a mirror. God created all this by merely speaking it into creation. It defies logic. It defies science. It is simply transcendent. 

Then open your Bible and read of Him. Read the miracles. The stories of deliverance. Look at how many times Israel failed Him. But even in those failings, God keeps loving them through it all. His mercies are new every day. His love for us is a holy love.

My worship of God never succeeds to the place it ought to be. But I must worship the infinite God with everything this finite body and mind has. One day I will fall before Him in pure worship, devoid of this sinful body, and all of the stuff I thought was important will be left behind. I will see His glory. 

God is Holy. Let us worship Him in spirit and truth.

Return to the Lord

 Come, let us return to the LORD;

for he has torn us, that he may heal us;

he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.

After two days he will revive us;

on the third day he will raise us up,

that we may live before him.

Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD;

his going out is sure as the dawn;

he will come to us as the showers,

as the spring rains that water the earth.” 

Hosea 6:1-3 

The answer is clear in scripture as to what we must do. We must return to the Lord. 

This is how we must respond to Covid. Return to the Lord. To the violence. We must return to the Lord. To the division. To the oppression and to the injustices of the world. Return to the Lord.

Revival starts within our own heart. 

God has made the path clear and easy to see. We don't need a better president, we don't need more riots and protests or any of the other things we keep doing in our society. We need to return to the Lord.

These words are from the OT but they are just as relevant to us today. God does not change.

Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.

Let us press on to know the LORD.

How Big Is Your God?

The God of the Bible is an amazing god. From the beginnings of Genesis 1, until the end of Revelation, we find story after story of God doing things that our science and our logic would call impossible.

Listen to opening of scripture. Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Science has yet to offer an explanation for the creation of the world that proves this statement to be untrue. Even more amazing is how the Bible says He did it. 

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. - Genesis 1:3

And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. - Genesis 1:6-7

And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. - Genesis 1:9 

And on and on it was so. God said, and it came to be. Even man was created because God created him. 

Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. - Genesis 2:7

As the history of the world is recorded in scripture, we see God doing things that defy nature. He floods the earth, saving only a handful of people and animals to repopulate the earth in a restart of unbelievable magnitude. 

He chooses one man to be the start of a group of people to be His chosen ones and from whom the world will be saved from its sin. He does this by promising a child to a woman well past the age of childbearing. This feat was so impossible that the woman laughed when God said it.

The LORD said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” - Genesis 18:10-14 

Scripture is replete with examples of God doing impossible things by human standards. He parts the Red Sea so that only His people can pass through while their enemies are destroyed as they seek to follow them. God puts men into positions of authority and removes them as He sees fit. He makes a donkey speak. The miracles of scripture go on and on. And they don’t cease in the New Testament. 

We see Jesus born to a virgin. We see men raised from the dead and people healed, sometimes by merely touching the cloak of Christ. We see that Jesus controls the weather. He can stop a storm merely by commanding it to stop. We find Jesus not only resurrected from the dead, but we see Him ascend back into heaven. 

We find the Apostles given the power over sickness and death. An earthquake open jails for the apostles and angels show up to break prison chains.

I could go on and on. The Bible is filled with the stories and the miracles of God. 

Many of us have experienced miraculous events in our own lives. As Christians, we say we believe that God sent Jesus to earth to save us from our sins and that we are saved by faith alone to receive eternal life. We tell others that we believe this, and we use scripture to show why we believe this.

But in the day to day struggles of our own life on earth, we worry and fret and far too often live this life without joy and in fear. 

Why?

Because we simply don’t really believe God is big enough, strong enough, or willing enough to help us. We reduce God to a small god and in doing that, we make ourselves or others our god.

If what we say we believe, is really what we believe, then our God is big enough, strong enough, and gracious enough, to not only save us from our sins, but He is big enough to bring us through every single trial or storm we face. 

The fact is we need to believe what scripture teaches. God is sovereign. We must understand what that word means. It means He is over all things. Everything. Nothing moves on this earth, unless God has ordained it and allowed it.

The problem we have is that our finite minds cannot understand the how or the why of God’s movement. Scripture answers that question for us. 

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. - Ecclesiastes 3:11 

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. - Isaiah 55:8-9 

Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. - Psalms 145:3 

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! - Romans 11:33 

We must stop reducing God to our level and instead begin to worship a God who is so much more than we can even imagine. We must believe what He says about Himself. 

“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?” - Jeremiah 32:27 

Nothing is too hard for God. Nothing. We must believe that. Then we must trust that all things are under His control. It all comes down to what may be my favorite verse.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. - Romans 8:28

How big is your God? I can promise you this; He is big enough. I pray we would all begin to live with that God as the one we truly trust in for all things. But we must also understand this life isn’t about us, it’s about God’s will and purpose. That’s the key to being able to rest in faith, knowing that God’s purposes aren’t ours. We don’t pray to change God’s mind; we pray to change ours. 

So today, look at the God you say you believe in. How big is He? 

Trembling at God's Word

Thus says the LORD

"But this is the one to whom I will look:he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word." - Isaiah 66:2

Came across this verse tonight and it struck me hard. When I read scripture do I ever tremble at it? Have I ever?

If the Bible is not God's Word, then those of us who call ourselves Christians are only fooling ourselves. 

It is God's Word. Every single commandment, every warning, and even the words of comfort, ought to drop me to me knees in worship and awe-struck praise, and cause me to tremble at the incomprehensible power and glory of the Almighty God. 

And if I truly fear the Lord, I will turn in repentance and obedience giving Him every ounce of my heart.

"But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word."

Thus says the LORD.

You Can't Measure Almost

Heard a great quote today in a TV show.

"It's hard to measure almost. Because almost doesn't matter."

Almost is just a nice way of saying it didn't happen. 

Nothing will ever replace effort and perseverance. This world wants us to expect to be given things simply because we feel entitled. This is nonsense.

There is only one free gift in life and that is God's offer through His Son Jesus, to receive His mercy and grace in the forgiveness and the atonement which derives from the death of Christ on Calvary. But it wasn't free; it cost Jesus everything

We are not entitled to salvation. We did not and we cannot earn it. Only the perfect sacrificial lamb, Christ could pay the steep price of salvation.

But just because God made this glorious offer doesn't then allow us to expect all things will come free or even easy.

We are called to work hard and to persevere in our faith. We owe that much to Jesus. 

We are also called to take the wonderful gifts and blessings of God and use them for His glory. To work hard in all we do. 

Almost doesn't matter.

How Can We Meet the Perfect Standards of God?

Solomon's writing of Ecclesiastes is a fascinating book that I can't say I have totally mastered. But I know this; his final words that conclude the book are complete truth and ought to make us take pause and consider where we stand with Jesus.

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. - Ecclesiastes 12:13-14  

Every deed we've done and every secret thought we have ever had, will be judged at the end of it all. God's standard is perfection. I'm not even close. How about you? Do you really think you are prepared to hold up your life to the standard of God's holiness?

Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for the sins we commit and the Bible tells us how to receive His free gift of salvation.

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” - Romans 10:8-11 

Trusting God in the Turmoil

Yes, we are living in strange and even scary days. 2021 may be worse than 2020, who knows? But listen to the words of King Solomon, the man who God gave wisdom.

In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. - Ecclesiastes 7:14 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, our calling is to stay focused on what God has called us to do, not to worry and fret over what may come. God is still in control. Completely. 

Faith. That is what we must have in both the good times and the bad. Commit yourself to living a life built around faith. 

If that is a struggle then here is the answer.

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.                         -Romans 10:17 

Commit yourself to God's Word. Pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal the truth of God as you read it. Memorize it. Hide it in your heart. Write it on your doorposts. But most importantly believe it. It is God's Word. 

The Power of Repentance

This morning's Bible reading was in 1 Kings, chapters 7-9 and is packed full of wonderful truth. King Solomon has completed the building of the Temple and he takes time to pray to God. 

“Blessed be the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. 

The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, 

that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. - 1 Kings 8:56-58 

Do you see it?

Not one of God's promises will fail to come true. Like Israel, we can find rest in Him, for He is faithful to what he promises us.

He will never leave nor forsake us. Whenever we feel distant from God, it is not Him who left, He is always there. But our sin will keep us from feeling His presence.

Solomon understood the power of humility and a repentant heart.

“When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and if they turn again to you and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to their fathers. “When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.” - 1 Kings 8:33-36   

That is a description of how the Gospel works. We must keep His commandments. But we all fail in our own efforts to do so. Sometimes that brings consequences. But if we confess and repent, He will forgive us and restore us.

Again, we see Solomon, in this prayer, show us the way of the Gospel.

“If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near, yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name, then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you, and grant them compassion in the sight of those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them.”                          - 1 Kings 8:46-50   

There is no one who does not sin. But through Christ, God made a way for us to come to Him in prayers of repentance. 

See how Solomon finishes His prayer.

“Blessed be the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires, that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God; there is no other. Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the LORD our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.”

God’s Word will not fail you. Call on Him today and receive the free gift of salvation that Jesus has offered to you. Let Him restore you, so that you may live under the umbrella of God’s grace and mercy.

Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the LORD our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.

How To Build the Temple For God

The God we serve is a holy and glorious god, who deserves our reverence and our obedience. Reading today of the story of the building of the temple by King Solomon in 1 Kings 6, there is a very powerful fact about how Solomon went about the construction. 

1 Kings 6:7 - When the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built. 

Solomon was so bent on constructing the temple in a way that, not only followed God’s specifications, but was also built in a very special manner. As we read, Solomon made sure that no tool could be heard in the actual process of the on-site construction. Why would he take such stringent actions in this work? Solomon understood that the temple was to be a place of reverence and worship to his God, because God is a holy god, worthy of our complete worship and respect.

God no longer chooses to dwell in man-made buildings. We see this truth recorded in Acts 7:48, which tells us that “ the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands.” No, God has chosen to replace the temple of stone by placing His Holy Spirit within the very hearts of His people and making them His temple.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 - Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

In light of this truth, what does Solomon’s careful construction of the first temple say to us today? 

When we receive salvation and begin to follow Jesus, we are a new creation. But as we all can clearly understand about ourselves, there is still much work to be done. We use the word sanctification to describe the process of growth that begins at salvation. But it is a work that takes our entire life to be completed. We know it will because the Apostle Paul wrote this to us in Philippians 1:6  saying, “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

The work of salvation is completely of God, according to scripture. But the work of sanctification is a work that involves both the empowering of the Holy Spirit and our commitment to follow Jesus and walk in obedience to Him. 

Like the construction of the first temple, the construction of the temple within us must be accomplished with the same commitment to reverence and respect to God. We should be diligent to study His Word and to build His temple with the same dedication to God’s plan for our lives.

Listen to what God said to Solomon as he was building the temple.

1 Kings 6:11-13 - Now the word of the LORD came to Solomon, 

“Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father. And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel.” 

This is how we must respond as we also build God’s temple, the temple not of stone, but of our own hearts. 

Listen to how chapter 6 ends up.

1 Kings 6:14 - So Solomon built the house and finished it.

1 Kings 6:38 - And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its parts, and according to all its specifications. He was seven years in building it. 


It’s a new year. There is no better time for us to get to work and to build God’s temple and to build it according to all His specifications.

Do so and God will dwell among us and in us.