September 30
One of the loveliest of the Psalmist’s assertions of the love of God for His people is quoted by Luke in Acts 2:25. Here he says of David, “I keep the Lord ever before me. Because He is close by my side, I will not be afraid, for nothing can harm me.” We who love the Lord today may trust in His tender, keeping power over us.
As Isaiah stated in Chapter 50, verse 7 of the book that bears his name, “The Lord God helps me, so I will not be ashamed. I will be determined and I know I will never be put to shame.” Isaiah endured his trials, but he knew the heart of God. He believed, as we may steadfastly believe, we will not be disappointed in the level of the Lord’s help.
What force motivated these men who took quill in hand to write to the world of the infinite love the Author of creation, the God of the universe and all who dwell in it? What is it that so inspired them to hope beyond the futile expectations the pagan religions around them taught them to anticipate? Why were they willing to lay down their lives to share their conviction? The only viable answer to that question is, ‘God’s love is the reason.’
When believers contemplate that their Savior left His mansion in glory to dwell with them in time, they must be struck by the depth and power of His love. They must be resolute within themselves that they will, as Jesus said quoting the Commandment, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your mind, and all your strength,” for their love is the one thing they may give Him that He doesn’t already possess.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Stand!
September 29
Sometimes we feel abandoned. We feel forsaken. We are sure that our sins have separated us from God and He has lost His patience with us. When we feel this way, we are wrong; we are profoundly in error. When we persuade ourselves to believe God has abandoned us to our ‘self,’ we are succumbing to the lie of the enemy.
Paul, who persecuted and assented to the murder of believers in Christ, has assured us that “NOTHING can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord…” Romans 8:38. The apostle who was guilty of grievous sin knew first-hand the cleansing power of the blood of Christ to forgive all our sin.
Our own feelings, the people who make themselves judge and jury over us, the accuser of the brethren himself, may attempt to persuade us that we are guilty beyond cleansing, but that is a lie from the pit of hell. The Word tells us that our feelings are deceptive above all things (Jeremiah 17:9). We know from the example of Job that those pompous in their own righteousness accused him falsely. Yet we allow ourselves to be badgered by the slings and arrows that are hurled against us! Why do we succumb to this torment?
We must refute the lies of the accuser, whether they come from men or from the enemy or whether they come from our own mind! We must stand, as did David, the adulterer, the murderer, the law-breaker, who in spite of all his failure was still a man after God’s own heart! We must say with him, “I am close to God and that is good! The Lord God is my protection. I will declare all He has done for me” Psalm 73:28. “He is kind and forgiving and has great love for those who call to Him” Psalm 86:5. Like David, we must know His goodness to us depends upon HIM, not upon our worthiness in our own eyes.
Sometimes we feel abandoned. We feel forsaken. We are sure that our sins have separated us from God and He has lost His patience with us. When we feel this way, we are wrong; we are profoundly in error. When we persuade ourselves to believe God has abandoned us to our ‘self,’ we are succumbing to the lie of the enemy.
Paul, who persecuted and assented to the murder of believers in Christ, has assured us that “NOTHING can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord…” Romans 8:38. The apostle who was guilty of grievous sin knew first-hand the cleansing power of the blood of Christ to forgive all our sin.
Our own feelings, the people who make themselves judge and jury over us, the accuser of the brethren himself, may attempt to persuade us that we are guilty beyond cleansing, but that is a lie from the pit of hell. The Word tells us that our feelings are deceptive above all things (Jeremiah 17:9). We know from the example of Job that those pompous in their own righteousness accused him falsely. Yet we allow ourselves to be badgered by the slings and arrows that are hurled against us! Why do we succumb to this torment?
We must refute the lies of the accuser, whether they come from men or from the enemy or whether they come from our own mind! We must stand, as did David, the adulterer, the murderer, the law-breaker, who in spite of all his failure was still a man after God’s own heart! We must say with him, “I am close to God and that is good! The Lord God is my protection. I will declare all He has done for me” Psalm 73:28. “He is kind and forgiving and has great love for those who call to Him” Psalm 86:5. Like David, we must know His goodness to us depends upon HIM, not upon our worthiness in our own eyes.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Every Day
September 28
At the time we need Him the most, we are disinclined to sense the presence of the abiding Christ. This is nowhere more graphically conveyed than in the precious “Footprints” with which we are all familiar. Here, the weary sojourner through life’s trials calls out to Jesus regarding his footprints in the sands of time.
He says to the Lord, “I see how You’ve walked with me, but I note that at those times when I needed You the most, there is just one set of footprints. In my desperate hour, You abandoned me! Why did You forsake me at the time of my greatest need?”
Jesus responds, “I did not leave you during your hour of trial, My child. You see just one set of footprints at the times of your profoundest challenges in life because when you were walking through periods of great distress, I carried you.”
And, so He has. Jesus promised that He will NEVER fail or forsake His people (Hebrews 13:5). The proclamation of David in Psalm 68:19 is forever true, “Praise the Lord God our Savior, who helps us every day.”
At the time we need Him the most, we are disinclined to sense the presence of the abiding Christ. This is nowhere more graphically conveyed than in the precious “Footprints” with which we are all familiar. Here, the weary sojourner through life’s trials calls out to Jesus regarding his footprints in the sands of time.
He says to the Lord, “I see how You’ve walked with me, but I note that at those times when I needed You the most, there is just one set of footprints. In my desperate hour, You abandoned me! Why did You forsake me at the time of my greatest need?”
Jesus responds, “I did not leave you during your hour of trial, My child. You see just one set of footprints at the times of your profoundest challenges in life because when you were walking through periods of great distress, I carried you.”
And, so He has. Jesus promised that He will NEVER fail or forsake His people (Hebrews 13:5). The proclamation of David in Psalm 68:19 is forever true, “Praise the Lord God our Savior, who helps us every day.”
Thursday, September 27, 2012
At God's Appointed Time
September 27
We are rapidly approaching the date, December 21, 2012, that many believe will see the termination of life on Planet Earth. Those who expect the world to end at that time base their dire projection upon the fact that an ancient Mayan calendar concludes on that date.
One might ask, ‘If the last recorded date of an instrument of calculating time indicates the termination of all things, then why hasn’t December 31st of the Gregorian Calendar resulted in disaster?’ It concludes yearly! As it happens, the ancient Mayans aren’t the only ones to have predicted a catastrophic conclusion of time at the end of this year.
Other ancient cultures have as well. Some religions have a ‘hands-on’ approach to the end times. They feel they can usher in Earth’s closing events by their bellicose actions. This is why many are concerned about the nation of Iran. If this war-mongering country succeeds in producing nuclear weapons, they appear intent upon using them to hasten the return of their ‘twelfth madhi, who is expected to come at a time of upheaval.’
Christians, too, anticipate the return of Jesus—first to rapture away the faithful, then to rule and reign over a world that will be restored to His original purposes—but in the meantime, believers in Christ are content to leave the timing with Him. They say, as did Paul in Romans 14:8, “If we live we are the Lord’s and if we die, we are the Lord’s. Living or dying, we belong to Christ.” He will come at God's appointed time.
We are rapidly approaching the date, December 21, 2012, that many believe will see the termination of life on Planet Earth. Those who expect the world to end at that time base their dire projection upon the fact that an ancient Mayan calendar concludes on that date.
One might ask, ‘If the last recorded date of an instrument of calculating time indicates the termination of all things, then why hasn’t December 31st of the Gregorian Calendar resulted in disaster?’ It concludes yearly! As it happens, the ancient Mayans aren’t the only ones to have predicted a catastrophic conclusion of time at the end of this year.
Other ancient cultures have as well. Some religions have a ‘hands-on’ approach to the end times. They feel they can usher in Earth’s closing events by their bellicose actions. This is why many are concerned about the nation of Iran. If this war-mongering country succeeds in producing nuclear weapons, they appear intent upon using them to hasten the return of their ‘twelfth madhi, who is expected to come at a time of upheaval.’
Christians, too, anticipate the return of Jesus—first to rapture away the faithful, then to rule and reign over a world that will be restored to His original purposes—but in the meantime, believers in Christ are content to leave the timing with Him. They say, as did Paul in Romans 14:8, “If we live we are the Lord’s and if we die, we are the Lord’s. Living or dying, we belong to Christ.” He will come at God's appointed time.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Set in Stone
September 26
Some things are set in stone. The archaeological record for example, is a message to us from time immemorial that affirms to us many significant facts about the planet where we make our home. Though we cannot begin to presume we have interpreted its entire message correctly, surely some of it is accurately understood by those who study it.
When we deign to grasp the magnitude of the far-off galaxies that swirl in space in distant proximity to ours, we can speculate about just how far away they are, and how many planets are included in them, and how conducive they might be to life as we know it, but until man has actually set his foot on one of them, we cannot know with certainty.
Yet the God who holds it all in the hollow of His hand has ordained that we are indeed cognizant of one very remarkable truth. Because He loves us, He doesn’t want us to miss it. Because He has gone to such an extraordinary measure to extend this truth to us, Jesus doesn’t want us to dismiss it. Because of its extreme importance, Christ’s mortal enemy has set about to obscure it more than any other truth that can be gleaned from archaeological or scientific or astronomical evidence.
In Acts 2:36, we are told clearly, “…know this truly: God has made Jesus, the Man you nailed to the cross, both Lord and Christ.” This one reality, among all the facts we know with certainty and those we think we know, is set in stone. For time and eternity, the reality of Jesus as our only Savior and Lord is established. Whether men appropriate this truth or dismiss it as unworthy of their acceptance, it is and it will be, changeless through the eons of eternity. It is the one certainty we may cling to when all else is mere presumption.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Eternally Indebted
September 25
The Word of God has a view of the human body that goes beyond its components or its functionality. That is not to suggest God is disinterested in the proper function of the body. Isaiah 53:5 tells us that it is “…by His stripes we are healed.” Jesus bore the cruel Roman ‘Cat of Nine Tails’ on His sinless back; there was a reason He did so.
The Lord desires to supply the entire salvation package to those who believe in His name. That package includes not only salvation, deliverance from sin and death and the grave, but health and wholeness while we traverse this Vale of Tears in our frail tabernacle of flesh that succumbs so readily to the ravages of disease.
Yet, there is more. In I Corinthians 6:19, 20 Paul tells us an amazing fact about the flesh within which we live. Here he says, “You should know that your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit who is in you. You have received the Holy Spirit from God, so you do not belong to yourselves. Because you were bought with a price, you should honor God with your bodies.” This is a remarkable concept, particularly to western man.
Western man sees himself as a free entity who owes no man anything. Perhaps he owes no man of his substance or of his soul, but he owes the Lord all of himself. Jesus paid an enormous price to set mankind free from sin. Apart from His sacrifice at Calvary, no one can satisfy God’s holy standard. For this, man is eternally indebted to the One who claimed him and paid the price to own him.
The Word of God has a view of the human body that goes beyond its components or its functionality. That is not to suggest God is disinterested in the proper function of the body. Isaiah 53:5 tells us that it is “…by His stripes we are healed.” Jesus bore the cruel Roman ‘Cat of Nine Tails’ on His sinless back; there was a reason He did so.
The Lord desires to supply the entire salvation package to those who believe in His name. That package includes not only salvation, deliverance from sin and death and the grave, but health and wholeness while we traverse this Vale of Tears in our frail tabernacle of flesh that succumbs so readily to the ravages of disease.
Yet, there is more. In I Corinthians 6:19, 20 Paul tells us an amazing fact about the flesh within which we live. Here he says, “You should know that your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit who is in you. You have received the Holy Spirit from God, so you do not belong to yourselves. Because you were bought with a price, you should honor God with your bodies.” This is a remarkable concept, particularly to western man.
Western man sees himself as a free entity who owes no man anything. Perhaps he owes no man of his substance or of his soul, but he owes the Lord all of himself. Jesus paid an enormous price to set mankind free from sin. Apart from His sacrifice at Calvary, no one can satisfy God’s holy standard. For this, man is eternally indebted to the One who claimed him and paid the price to own him.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Beware of Eternal Reduction
September 24
Paul understood the compulsion of man to conform himself to the world around him. He doesn’t want to stand out like the proverbial ‘sore thumb.’ No one wants to be considered as weird or odd or unusual. Except for desiring to achieve greater than ordinary wealth or power in a worldly sense, everyone wants to be ‘normal.’
Even Christians can succumb to the desire for conformity; perhaps because if they stand out too much in the crowd of unbelievers, they will relegate to themselves the greater possibility of persecution. Yet, Paul’s admonition bears scrutiny and application to the lives of those who profess faith in Jesus.
In Romans 12:1, 2, he says, “…since God has shown us great mercy, I beg you to offer your lives as a living sacrifice to Him. Your offering must be only for God and pleasing to Him, which is your reasonable service. Do not conform yourselves to the likeness of this world but be renewed in your inner man; then you will be able to discern the perfect will of God and be able to please Him.”
Paul understood that there may be great temporal advantage to embracing this system. To do so may avail a man of friendship with the world that empowers him to become wealthy and influential, but if it is done by sacrificing the laying himself at the feet of Jesus, to be used toward His purposes, the exchange will reduce his eternal reward by incalculable measure.
Paul understood the compulsion of man to conform himself to the world around him. He doesn’t want to stand out like the proverbial ‘sore thumb.’ No one wants to be considered as weird or odd or unusual. Except for desiring to achieve greater than ordinary wealth or power in a worldly sense, everyone wants to be ‘normal.’
Even Christians can succumb to the desire for conformity; perhaps because if they stand out too much in the crowd of unbelievers, they will relegate to themselves the greater possibility of persecution. Yet, Paul’s admonition bears scrutiny and application to the lives of those who profess faith in Jesus.
In Romans 12:1, 2, he says, “…since God has shown us great mercy, I beg you to offer your lives as a living sacrifice to Him. Your offering must be only for God and pleasing to Him, which is your reasonable service. Do not conform yourselves to the likeness of this world but be renewed in your inner man; then you will be able to discern the perfect will of God and be able to please Him.”
Paul understood that there may be great temporal advantage to embracing this system. To do so may avail a man of friendship with the world that empowers him to become wealthy and influential, but if it is done by sacrificing the laying himself at the feet of Jesus, to be used toward His purposes, the exchange will reduce his eternal reward by incalculable measure.
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