October 7
One of the reasons unbelievers pose most often for their denial of Christ and the veracity of His Word, the Bible, is the fact of unanswered prayer. When someone pours his heart out to God and walks away disappointed, he will either recognize God's sovereign plan supersedes his own or use the denial as an excuse to prove God’s non-existence.
The choice presents itself often. We know our Heavenly Father desires that we “walk by faith, not by sight” II Corinthians 5:7. He has never wanted those who follow after Christ to do so for the blessings. He wants those who profess faith in Him to hold on to Him because of who He is, not because of "the loaves and fishes," John 6:26.
Toward that end, our prayers are often met with failure to attain the thing for which we’ve beseeched Him. Luke 9:39, 40 reminds us that we are not alone. Even the disciples sometimes came away from their missionary efforts as abject failures. Even those who walked closest to Jesus sometimes did not see results.
Here a man comes to Jesus and says of his son, “Often a spirit seizes him…and it throws him into convulsions…I begged Your disciples to drive it out, but they could not.” The passage goes on to tell us that Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the child. The message seems to be that only HE has ultimate power.
Yet it behooves us to continue to employ the faith and to attempt to exercise the power the Word has told us is ours. The Apostle admonishes that, "We have not because we ask not," James 4:2. Jesus Himself said that if we would but have "faith as a grain of mustard seed, all things will be possible," Luke 17:6, Mark 9:23.
Do we exercise this kind of faith when we pray? Do we truly believe the promises that have been made to us regarding the power that is ours? Though we do not fully employ the prerogatives He has given to us, though we, like the apostles may sometimes fail in our endeavor to 'pray through' may our faith stand in who JESUS is, not in His power to answer our prayers.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Hold Fast!
October 6
Some things require time. A person doesn’t become educated in a day. Attaining a battery of knowledge requires the steady application of study and research in order to achieve mastery. Wars are not won with a single battle but through the rigors of many encounters with a relentless foe.
It can be disconcerting to plod along, to ‘keep on keeping on’ when the outcome seems tenuous at best and the potential for defeat hangs like a dark cloud over the circumstances that are faced. The psalmist understood the concern that looms over the mind of one who cannot see a clear road to victory.
In Psalm 13:4-5, David says, “My foes will rejoice because I am shaken; but I have trusted in Your faithful love and my heart will rejoice in Your deliverance.” Though David knew he had been chosen by God to be King of Israel, though he knew ultimate victory was his, still the daily battle was wearing.
Like him, the believer today must face the day-to-day skirmishes that dog his heels. Like him, the believer today must wage continual warfare against the relentless foe who would rejoice in seeing him fail to achieve the purposes of God for his life. And like David, the man of faith today will achieve his victory!
Stay strong, Believer! Though the enemy assails on every hand, do not surrender! Though family and friend may oppose you, stay strong! Though governments may oppose you, stay strong! Though the arsenals of hell itself may be aimed at you, stay strong! "Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the shadow of Death, I will fear no evil for Thou art with me," Psalm 23:4.
The Christ you love and serve is greater than every foe you face. Indeed, His Word that cannot fail and cannot lie assures, "Greater is He that is in you than he who is in the world," I John 4:4. The Holy One encourages you through His apostle, "Be not weary in well-doing, for in due season you shall reap if you do not give up," Galatians 6:9.
Continue to "fight the good fight of faith," I Timothy 6:12, holding fast to the truth you have received. You know in the depth of your heart that "the One who has called you is faithful," I Thessalonians 5:24, and "He will perfect that which concerns you," Psalm 138:8.
Some things require time. A person doesn’t become educated in a day. Attaining a battery of knowledge requires the steady application of study and research in order to achieve mastery. Wars are not won with a single battle but through the rigors of many encounters with a relentless foe.
It can be disconcerting to plod along, to ‘keep on keeping on’ when the outcome seems tenuous at best and the potential for defeat hangs like a dark cloud over the circumstances that are faced. The psalmist understood the concern that looms over the mind of one who cannot see a clear road to victory.
In Psalm 13:4-5, David says, “My foes will rejoice because I am shaken; but I have trusted in Your faithful love and my heart will rejoice in Your deliverance.” Though David knew he had been chosen by God to be King of Israel, though he knew ultimate victory was his, still the daily battle was wearing.
Like him, the believer today must face the day-to-day skirmishes that dog his heels. Like him, the believer today must wage continual warfare against the relentless foe who would rejoice in seeing him fail to achieve the purposes of God for his life. And like David, the man of faith today will achieve his victory!
Stay strong, Believer! Though the enemy assails on every hand, do not surrender! Though family and friend may oppose you, stay strong! Though governments may oppose you, stay strong! Though the arsenals of hell itself may be aimed at you, stay strong! "Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the shadow of Death, I will fear no evil for Thou art with me," Psalm 23:4.
The Christ you love and serve is greater than every foe you face. Indeed, His Word that cannot fail and cannot lie assures, "Greater is He that is in you than he who is in the world," I John 4:4. The Holy One encourages you through His apostle, "Be not weary in well-doing, for in due season you shall reap if you do not give up," Galatians 6:9.
Continue to "fight the good fight of faith," I Timothy 6:12, holding fast to the truth you have received. You know in the depth of your heart that "the One who has called you is faithful," I Thessalonians 5:24, and "He will perfect that which concerns you," Psalm 138:8.
Saturday, October 5, 2013
God's Sense of Humor
October 5
God must have a sense of humor. He, at times, gives the most amazingly illogical directives to His people at the point of their greatest need. Consider the Israelites as they were being led out of Egypt. They were being pursued by Pharaoh who regretted setting them free and lavishing them with his wealth--and he intended to recapture both his slaves and his gold!
But, so far, so good--the former slaves seemed to be successfully making their escape until God led the people right to the Red Sea! Talk about being 'between a rock and a hard place!’ Oh, yes, the sea parted and the people of God escaped on dry ground while the pursuing army was swallowed by the sea—but who’d have dreamed that would be the outcome! (see Exodus, chapters 3-14).
Then there’s the amazing story in Joshua 6:4-5 where we are told God instructed the Israelites—not the army, but the musicians—to march around the city of Jericho once each day for seven days, and, “…on the seventh day, march around the city seven times and shout a mighty shout…then the city wall will collapse and the people will advance.” The musicians, not the army, conquered Jericho!
The Word is replete with instances where God chose to apply a unique technique to solve the problems of His people, to show Himself strong in their behalf in an unconventional way that left no room for human speculation or for human error. It was HIS miraculous (humorous) intervention that solved the problem and saved the day, not the resources of man. God works this way because, according to Isaiah 48:11, "...I will not share My glory with another."
Your problems, too, will succumb to God’s solution—one that you cannot imagine--and it may even make you laugh at His resourcefulness and ingeniousness when He reveals it to you.
God must have a sense of humor. He, at times, gives the most amazingly illogical directives to His people at the point of their greatest need. Consider the Israelites as they were being led out of Egypt. They were being pursued by Pharaoh who regretted setting them free and lavishing them with his wealth--and he intended to recapture both his slaves and his gold!
But, so far, so good--the former slaves seemed to be successfully making their escape until God led the people right to the Red Sea! Talk about being 'between a rock and a hard place!’ Oh, yes, the sea parted and the people of God escaped on dry ground while the pursuing army was swallowed by the sea—but who’d have dreamed that would be the outcome! (see Exodus, chapters 3-14).
Then there’s the amazing story in Joshua 6:4-5 where we are told God instructed the Israelites—not the army, but the musicians—to march around the city of Jericho once each day for seven days, and, “…on the seventh day, march around the city seven times and shout a mighty shout…then the city wall will collapse and the people will advance.” The musicians, not the army, conquered Jericho!
The Word is replete with instances where God chose to apply a unique technique to solve the problems of His people, to show Himself strong in their behalf in an unconventional way that left no room for human speculation or for human error. It was HIS miraculous (humorous) intervention that solved the problem and saved the day, not the resources of man. God works this way because, according to Isaiah 48:11, "...I will not share My glory with another."
Your problems, too, will succumb to God’s solution—one that you cannot imagine--and it may even make you laugh at His resourcefulness and ingeniousness when He reveals it to you.
Friday, October 4, 2013
There
October 4
The awe and majesty surrounding the Christ we love and serve is beyond our ability to fathom. As the Word tells us, “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, neither has man the ability to imagine the things that God has prepared for those who love Him” I Corinthians 2:9.
We who profess to know God, who have heard His voice, who have felt His presence, who have embraced His will,and have received His salvation, have a measure of understanding of the glorious wonder of this One who is able to warm our heart by His Spirit and guide our path by His wisdom.
But we haven’t any conceptualization of the amazing sight that the prophet beheld in Isaiah 6:1 where he says, “In the year that King Uzziah was called to his fathers, I saw the Lord, seated on a high and lofty throne and His robe filled the temple.”
Our knowledge of “the lofty One who inhabits eternity…” Isaiah 57:15, though sealed and expanded by the Holy Spirit, is veiled for we "see through a glass darkly," I Corinthians 13:12. It will be perfected only when we reach our eternal home and we are in His presence. There we shall behold the fullness of His glory forever.
The awe and majesty surrounding the Christ we love and serve is beyond our ability to fathom. As the Word tells us, “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, neither has man the ability to imagine the things that God has prepared for those who love Him” I Corinthians 2:9.
We who profess to know God, who have heard His voice, who have felt His presence, who have embraced His will,and have received His salvation, have a measure of understanding of the glorious wonder of this One who is able to warm our heart by His Spirit and guide our path by His wisdom.
But we haven’t any conceptualization of the amazing sight that the prophet beheld in Isaiah 6:1 where he says, “In the year that King Uzziah was called to his fathers, I saw the Lord, seated on a high and lofty throne and His robe filled the temple.”
Our knowledge of “the lofty One who inhabits eternity…” Isaiah 57:15, though sealed and expanded by the Holy Spirit, is veiled for we "see through a glass darkly," I Corinthians 13:12. It will be perfected only when we reach our eternal home and we are in His presence. There we shall behold the fullness of His glory forever.
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Unmared Image
October 3
Jesus has bathed us in His blood and washed us clean of every sin that we have ever done, ever thought of doing or will ever do. We stand righteous before our Holy God because Jesus our Savior has imparted His righteousness to us. We placed our lives at His feet, and He robed us in His glorious righteousness.
Yet, as the Bible tells us, there is an on-going cleansing for which we are responsible (John 13:5-10). Jesus indicates to Peter in this passage that our traversing through the sin and stain of the world is like walking along a dusty road—the soil of it gets upon us.
Even though we’re washed clean of sin, cleansed of it forever by Jesus’ blood, we must regularly assess ourselves—our words, our deeds, our thoughts—and repent of those small and large things that are contrary to the will and purposes of our Savior God.
As Paul says in II Corinthians 7:1, “We should wash ourselves clean from every impurity of the flesh and spirit, making our sanctification complete in the fear of God.” We should not presume upon the perfect work of Jesus but show our high regard for it by not allowing the stain of our foibles to mar His image in us.
Jesus has bathed us in His blood and washed us clean of every sin that we have ever done, ever thought of doing or will ever do. We stand righteous before our Holy God because Jesus our Savior has imparted His righteousness to us. We placed our lives at His feet, and He robed us in His glorious righteousness.
Yet, as the Bible tells us, there is an on-going cleansing for which we are responsible (John 13:5-10). Jesus indicates to Peter in this passage that our traversing through the sin and stain of the world is like walking along a dusty road—the soil of it gets upon us.
Even though we’re washed clean of sin, cleansed of it forever by Jesus’ blood, we must regularly assess ourselves—our words, our deeds, our thoughts—and repent of those small and large things that are contrary to the will and purposes of our Savior God.
As Paul says in II Corinthians 7:1, “We should wash ourselves clean from every impurity of the flesh and spirit, making our sanctification complete in the fear of God.” We should not presume upon the perfect work of Jesus but show our high regard for it by not allowing the stain of our foibles to mar His image in us.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Fall from Grace
October 2
The fall from faith is gradual. The lack of the power associated with faith in Jesus Christ is not even noted by the individual or the nation that has once been blessed to possess it but has gradually slipped away from its benefits.
Our nation, the United States of America, has been on a ‘fast track’ to financial success and military prowess virtually from the founding of our country. Those who are believers in Christ attribute the vast achievements that have been made for mankind during the centuries since its existence to the fact that this vast land was laid at the feet of our Heavenly Father at its inception.
Contrary to the erroneous teaching in our textbooks and the flagrant distortion of truth that is put forth in the media, most of the founding fathers of this country were practicing Christians. Even those most distant in the implementation of their faith were supporters of the religion of Jesus. The references made to ‘freedom of religion’ were with the understanding that all religions practiced here were Christian.
Our undoing has come because, “Lies and not faithfulness prevail in the land, for they proceed from one evil to another and they do not take Me into account,” Jeremiah 9:3. That speaks to where we are today! We have factored Jesus out of the equation of our national life and reduced ourselves to debtors who are no longer the head but the tail (Deuteronomy 28:13). Our rejection of the Christian faith has precipitated our fall from grace—and, alas, many haven’t noticed our plummet!
The fall from faith is gradual. The lack of the power associated with faith in Jesus Christ is not even noted by the individual or the nation that has once been blessed to possess it but has gradually slipped away from its benefits.
Our nation, the United States of America, has been on a ‘fast track’ to financial success and military prowess virtually from the founding of our country. Those who are believers in Christ attribute the vast achievements that have been made for mankind during the centuries since its existence to the fact that this vast land was laid at the feet of our Heavenly Father at its inception.
Contrary to the erroneous teaching in our textbooks and the flagrant distortion of truth that is put forth in the media, most of the founding fathers of this country were practicing Christians. Even those most distant in the implementation of their faith were supporters of the religion of Jesus. The references made to ‘freedom of religion’ were with the understanding that all religions practiced here were Christian.
Our undoing has come because, “Lies and not faithfulness prevail in the land, for they proceed from one evil to another and they do not take Me into account,” Jeremiah 9:3. That speaks to where we are today! We have factored Jesus out of the equation of our national life and reduced ourselves to debtors who are no longer the head but the tail (Deuteronomy 28:13). Our rejection of the Christian faith has precipitated our fall from grace—and, alas, many haven’t noticed our plummet!
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Beauty's Source
October 1
We don’t usually think of the Bible as a reference book for beauty tips, but indeed, it is. There mention made even of the beauty of the feet of those who carry the good news of Christ to the lost (Isaiah 52:7).
It speaks as well of the ‘beauty of holiness’ in Psalm 110:3 and it addresses the vanity of beauty and the deceitfulness of the favor it brings its possessor in Proverbs 31:30.
Yet it does advise the reader on the way to achieve the essence of beauty—the kind of beauty that will not fade away with the passage of the years and the accompanying loss youthful allure. It reveals the sure foundation for the kind of appearance that transcends mere physical endowment and the admiration it brings its possessors.
In Proverbs 15:13, the Word tells us, “A joyful heart makes a face cheerful, but a sad heart produces a broken spirit.” Joy is the source of beauty that transcends ones natural endowments and spreads abroad the cheerfulness of heart that radiates as absolute beauty into the un-loveliness we see around us.
We don’t usually think of the Bible as a reference book for beauty tips, but indeed, it is. There mention made even of the beauty of the feet of those who carry the good news of Christ to the lost (Isaiah 52:7).
It speaks as well of the ‘beauty of holiness’ in Psalm 110:3 and it addresses the vanity of beauty and the deceitfulness of the favor it brings its possessor in Proverbs 31:30.
Yet it does advise the reader on the way to achieve the essence of beauty—the kind of beauty that will not fade away with the passage of the years and the accompanying loss youthful allure. It reveals the sure foundation for the kind of appearance that transcends mere physical endowment and the admiration it brings its possessors.
In Proverbs 15:13, the Word tells us, “A joyful heart makes a face cheerful, but a sad heart produces a broken spirit.” Joy is the source of beauty that transcends ones natural endowments and spreads abroad the cheerfulness of heart that radiates as absolute beauty into the un-loveliness we see around us.
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