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.