January 3
Romans 13:1-14
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.
As we see ever-increasing evidence of corruption and abrogation of the law on which the United States was established, we are more and more inclined to dismiss the existing government as itself being unworthy of our allegiance. We are disinclined to pay our taxes, to honor our leaders, to pray for those in authority over us as the Word admonishes us to do (see I Timothy 2:2).
Believers in the One True and Living God may even convince themselves that the Holy One would support them in their disdain of the leadership under which they find themselves at this juncture in time, but the above chapter in Romans dispels that notion.
The Apostle Paul in writing to the Roman Christians made it very clear that to the contrary, they were to willingly subject themselves to the authority the Father of Lights had allowed to rule over them. Believers today might say something to the effect that this was because today’s level of corruption did not exist at that time.
A cursory knowledge of ancient history dispels that erroneous notion. The Roman Empire was built upon the power of its army and the ruthlessness of its execution of punishment against anyone who defied its authority.
The very act of worshiping Jesus instead of the pantheon of Roman gods was punishable by death, and Paul himself was imprisoned in a Roman dungeon until his execution because he had placed his life at the feet of Jesus. When he admonished believers to submit themselves to their leaders, he was not without experience in knowing the yoke of oppression.
So we today, though we anguish at the plummet of our nation from the height of spiritual power as a Christian nation into the abyss of moral degradation, must continue to “pray for those in authority over us,” as Paul so clearly stated to Timothy.
We must anticipate that because we do so, along with repenting of our own sins, our Lord will indeed, “…hear from Heaven and forgive our sin and heal our land,” as He promises in II Chronicles 7:14. But we must not wait for the fulfillment of that promise; we must pray for our nation and our leaders even before the fruit of the promise is given to us.
Indeed, if we are truly people of faith, we will anticipate the fruit of the promise to come because we pray.
Saturday, January 3, 2015
Friday, January 2, 2015
Trinity
January 2
“Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Genesis 1:26.
This passage reveals at the onset of the Lord’s discourse to mankind through His holy and inerrant Word, the Bible, two glorious truths. First, He introduces the concept that HE who is One, Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is ONE GOD,” has multiplicity to His personhood. Here we see the first indication that the One glorious and almighty God that we serve is a triune being.
The second is that man, frail grasshopper that he is, Isaiah 40:22, “God sits upon the circle of the earth and the people are as grasshoppers in His sight,” is created in the image of God.
Lest anyone misunderstand, let me hasten to assure you that Christians do NOT worship three gods! No! Emphatically and unequivocally, Christians absolutely do not bow before three gods. We bow before and worship only the God who declares Himself to be “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” Exodus 3:6.
Christians worship only the God of whom His holy Word says, “the LORD of hosts is His name; and He is your Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall He be called,” Isaiah 54:5.
Christians bow only before the One of whom it is declared, “there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved,” Acts 4:12, and that One is Jesus Christ.
Of Him, John 1:1-3 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.”
The God who spoke the worlds and all that exists into being (see Genesis, Chapters 1 and 2) is the ONLY God and it is He before whom Christians bow in humble thanksgiving—for the life He gave all men at their creation and for the eternal life He has purchased for everyone who believes in the propitiatory life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
The God who is Creator, Savior and Comforter (see John 14:26, John 16:7) is the ONE before whom Christians lay their lives in service and the ONE for whom Christians will lay down their lives rather than deny His name. It is this ONE in whose likeness man is made. He is the One who has said, "You shall seek Me and find Me when you shall search for Me with all your heart," Jeremiah 29:13.
Man, his flesh, his mind, his spirit, is patterned after the triune unity of our Holy God. Just as HE has three aspects of His personhood in One undivided being, so man has three aspects to himself. As God is complete in every aspect of Himself and seamless in His oneness, so man cannot separate himself from the triune aspects of himself.
Man certainly nurtures his physical body and takes great strides toward advancing his mental acuity, but he sometimes neglects his spirit to the detriment of his eternal well-being. In order, however to approximate toward the oneness after which we are designed, we must allow the one part of our selfhood that will abide eternally to attain the holiness of Christ, the righteousness which He purchased for us at Calvary.
When that has been done, we will be the complete triune being that our Triune God designed us to be at creation, sacrificed Himself for us to be at Golgotha’s hill, and woos us to be through the tender Spirit who calls us to Himself.
“Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Genesis 1:26.
This passage reveals at the onset of the Lord’s discourse to mankind through His holy and inerrant Word, the Bible, two glorious truths. First, He introduces the concept that HE who is One, Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is ONE GOD,” has multiplicity to His personhood. Here we see the first indication that the One glorious and almighty God that we serve is a triune being.
The second is that man, frail grasshopper that he is, Isaiah 40:22, “God sits upon the circle of the earth and the people are as grasshoppers in His sight,” is created in the image of God.
Lest anyone misunderstand, let me hasten to assure you that Christians do NOT worship three gods! No! Emphatically and unequivocally, Christians absolutely do not bow before three gods. We bow before and worship only the God who declares Himself to be “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” Exodus 3:6.
Christians worship only the God of whom His holy Word says, “the LORD of hosts is His name; and He is your Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall He be called,” Isaiah 54:5.
Christians bow only before the One of whom it is declared, “there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved,” Acts 4:12, and that One is Jesus Christ.
Of Him, John 1:1-3 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.”
The God who spoke the worlds and all that exists into being (see Genesis, Chapters 1 and 2) is the ONLY God and it is He before whom Christians bow in humble thanksgiving—for the life He gave all men at their creation and for the eternal life He has purchased for everyone who believes in the propitiatory life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
The God who is Creator, Savior and Comforter (see John 14:26, John 16:7) is the ONE before whom Christians lay their lives in service and the ONE for whom Christians will lay down their lives rather than deny His name. It is this ONE in whose likeness man is made. He is the One who has said, "You shall seek Me and find Me when you shall search for Me with all your heart," Jeremiah 29:13.
Man, his flesh, his mind, his spirit, is patterned after the triune unity of our Holy God. Just as HE has three aspects of His personhood in One undivided being, so man has three aspects to himself. As God is complete in every aspect of Himself and seamless in His oneness, so man cannot separate himself from the triune aspects of himself.
Man certainly nurtures his physical body and takes great strides toward advancing his mental acuity, but he sometimes neglects his spirit to the detriment of his eternal well-being. In order, however to approximate toward the oneness after which we are designed, we must allow the one part of our selfhood that will abide eternally to attain the holiness of Christ, the righteousness which He purchased for us at Calvary.
When that has been done, we will be the complete triune being that our Triune God designed us to be at creation, sacrificed Himself for us to be at Golgotha’s hill, and woos us to be through the tender Spirit who calls us to Himself.
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Happy New Year!
January 1
Leviticus 23:9-14
(9) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (10) "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. (11) He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. (12) And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the LORD. (13) Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the LORD, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin. (14) You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
The wavesheaf offering represents a thankful acknowledgment to God as the Giver of the harvest, and dedicating or consecrating the harvest to Him. The work of harvesting the remainder of the grain could not begin until the wavesheaf offering had been made before the Lord.
Today we stand at the threshold of a new beginning. We have celebrated the conclusion of the old and rung in the New Year. It is fitting that we who believe in the One True and Living Christ and submit to His authority over us view the onset of a new year before us in terms that go beyond the world’s concept of celebrating.
It is important that we lay the year at the feet of Jesus and ask Him to be our Lord in a real and profound way as we embark on this new beginning. It is essential that we, as the Israelites of old, recognize that this year belongs to Christ and it is our privilege and our responsibility to lay it at His feet; to ask Him to accept our full responsibility and privilege of yielding the events of the future into His hands.
May we as believers in the One Savior by whose mighty name men may be restored to righteousness before the Eternal Majesty resolve that in thought and in word and in deed, we shall be submitted to Him and to His holy purposes; that the focus of our being will be to allow His light to shine through our surrendered lives that He may be glorified in us.
May we recognize that whether we live lives of blessing and prosperity in the eyes of those who behold us or whether we live lives of persecution and devastation at the hand of God's ancient foe and his human minions, we must "count it all joy," James 1:2, and recognize that "whether we live or whether we die we are Christ's," Romans 14:8.
With complete understanding that without Him we are nothing but through His “unspeakable Gift” to us (see II Corinthians 9:15) we are groomed to rule and reign with Him eternally, may we embark on the New Year with resolute commitment that we shall be fully surrendered to Jesus through all our tomorrows.
Leviticus 23:9-14
(9) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (10) "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. (11) He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. (12) And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the LORD. (13) Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the LORD, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin. (14) You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
The wavesheaf offering represents a thankful acknowledgment to God as the Giver of the harvest, and dedicating or consecrating the harvest to Him. The work of harvesting the remainder of the grain could not begin until the wavesheaf offering had been made before the Lord.
Today we stand at the threshold of a new beginning. We have celebrated the conclusion of the old and rung in the New Year. It is fitting that we who believe in the One True and Living Christ and submit to His authority over us view the onset of a new year before us in terms that go beyond the world’s concept of celebrating.
It is important that we lay the year at the feet of Jesus and ask Him to be our Lord in a real and profound way as we embark on this new beginning. It is essential that we, as the Israelites of old, recognize that this year belongs to Christ and it is our privilege and our responsibility to lay it at His feet; to ask Him to accept our full responsibility and privilege of yielding the events of the future into His hands.
May we as believers in the One Savior by whose mighty name men may be restored to righteousness before the Eternal Majesty resolve that in thought and in word and in deed, we shall be submitted to Him and to His holy purposes; that the focus of our being will be to allow His light to shine through our surrendered lives that He may be glorified in us.
May we recognize that whether we live lives of blessing and prosperity in the eyes of those who behold us or whether we live lives of persecution and devastation at the hand of God's ancient foe and his human minions, we must "count it all joy," James 1:2, and recognize that "whether we live or whether we die we are Christ's," Romans 14:8.
With complete understanding that without Him we are nothing but through His “unspeakable Gift” to us (see II Corinthians 9:15) we are groomed to rule and reign with Him eternally, may we embark on the New Year with resolute commitment that we shall be fully surrendered to Jesus through all our tomorrows.
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Reflection
December 31
As you reflect upon the year that concludes today, may you see with the clarity of vision that only God can impart so all the trials and all the joys you have experienced can be seen from His eternal perspective and as you celebrate the New Year that is unfolding before you, may you lay it at the feet of Jesus and trust Him to use you to His glory in the time He gives you.
May all who profess faith in and commitment to Jesus Christ have within the heart of who we are the mindset of Paul as he expresses his resolve to touch others with the message of hope that God has given to him. May we, as did the great Apostle to the gentiles, carry our reason to hope into the highways and byways of life and scatter our seeds of precious truth to all who know Him not.
May we encourage those of like-precious-faith in their trials and may we compel those who know Him not by our lives of surrender to join ranks with us at the foot of the cross. May each of us grow more steadfast in our confidence in the One who "is and was and is to come," Revelation 1:4.
May we ring out the old year and ring in the new with "the joy of the Lord that is our strength," Nehemiah 8:10, and with the "love of Christ that can never fail," II Corinthians 13:8.
Romans, Chapter 15
We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews[b] on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed 9 and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written: Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of your name. 10 Again, it says, Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people. 11 And again, Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol him.
12 And again, Isaiah says,The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope. 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Paul the Minister to the Gentiles
14 I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. 15 Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19 by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. 20 It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. 21 Rather, as it is written:
Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand. 22 This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.
Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome
23 But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, 24 I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord’s people there. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. 27 They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. 28 So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this contribution, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. 29 I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.
30 I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. 31 Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord’s people there, 32 so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed. 33 The God of peace be with you all. Amen.
As you reflect upon the year that concludes today, may you see with the clarity of vision that only God can impart so all the trials and all the joys you have experienced can be seen from His eternal perspective and as you celebrate the New Year that is unfolding before you, may you lay it at the feet of Jesus and trust Him to use you to His glory in the time He gives you.
May all who profess faith in and commitment to Jesus Christ have within the heart of who we are the mindset of Paul as he expresses his resolve to touch others with the message of hope that God has given to him. May we, as did the great Apostle to the gentiles, carry our reason to hope into the highways and byways of life and scatter our seeds of precious truth to all who know Him not.
May we encourage those of like-precious-faith in their trials and may we compel those who know Him not by our lives of surrender to join ranks with us at the foot of the cross. May each of us grow more steadfast in our confidence in the One who "is and was and is to come," Revelation 1:4.
May we ring out the old year and ring in the new with "the joy of the Lord that is our strength," Nehemiah 8:10, and with the "love of Christ that can never fail," II Corinthians 13:8.
Romans, Chapter 15
We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews[b] on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed 9 and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written: Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of your name. 10 Again, it says, Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people. 11 And again, Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol him.
12 And again, Isaiah says,The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope. 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Paul the Minister to the Gentiles
14 I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. 15 Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19 by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. 20 It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. 21 Rather, as it is written:
Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand. 22 This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.
Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome
23 But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, 24 I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord’s people there. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. 27 They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. 28 So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this contribution, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. 29 I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.
30 I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. 31 Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord’s people there, 32 so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed. 33 The God of peace be with you all. Amen.
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Messages
December 30
Exchange of Messages between a Young Missionary and an Old Believer
Missionary: I watch as the veil that covers her heart manifests itself in the scowl on her face when I speak to her of the truth of the Living Word of Christ. And I praise God that even though she does not understand, she wants to know more. I see that the veil over her heart has acquired a bunch of tiny little snags as we have spoken together through our many conversations, and the beginnings of tears that will one day lead it to completely fall away and allow her heart to finally open to Jesus.
Old Believer: Thank you so much for your courage, your faithfulness, your love, your faith, your hope, your resolve, your fervent expectation that the One you love and serve, the One you have followed, is at work and His will is being done—one unraveled thread by one unraveled thread!
I have been praying for ISIS--that they would be among those visited in the night by the Living and Eternal GOD who is now beyond their comprehension and so unlike what they believe HIM to be; that their hearts would be melted and they would forsake the lie of the enemy and embrace the truth which the Holy One holds out to them.
I must add that my prayer includes the plea that if they would not allow their cold hearts to melt at the warmth of His tender invitation and they will not receive His message of love and His invitation to partake of His salvation, that they would be undone in their vile lairs before they can harm one more hair on the head of one more believer.
I pray HIS hedge around you, my brave and faithful young friend, remains secure. I pray He reveals to you when to speak and when to be silent; that He shows you who will receive the word in truth and who would use it against you...that you will be “wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove,” Matthew 10:16, in a place that has long been perverted by the twisted presence of the one who "would be like the Most High," Isaiah 14:14; who would be worshiped by all the earth, who would destroy all those who bow before the Throne of Mercy and Grace, who would “steal, kill and destroy,” John 10:10 all who oppose his evil intent.
God bless you always, precious child.
Exchange of Messages between a Young Missionary and an Old Believer
Missionary: I watch as the veil that covers her heart manifests itself in the scowl on her face when I speak to her of the truth of the Living Word of Christ. And I praise God that even though she does not understand, she wants to know more. I see that the veil over her heart has acquired a bunch of tiny little snags as we have spoken together through our many conversations, and the beginnings of tears that will one day lead it to completely fall away and allow her heart to finally open to Jesus.
Old Believer: Thank you so much for your courage, your faithfulness, your love, your faith, your hope, your resolve, your fervent expectation that the One you love and serve, the One you have followed, is at work and His will is being done—one unraveled thread by one unraveled thread!
I have been praying for ISIS--that they would be among those visited in the night by the Living and Eternal GOD who is now beyond their comprehension and so unlike what they believe HIM to be; that their hearts would be melted and they would forsake the lie of the enemy and embrace the truth which the Holy One holds out to them.
I must add that my prayer includes the plea that if they would not allow their cold hearts to melt at the warmth of His tender invitation and they will not receive His message of love and His invitation to partake of His salvation, that they would be undone in their vile lairs before they can harm one more hair on the head of one more believer.
I pray HIS hedge around you, my brave and faithful young friend, remains secure. I pray He reveals to you when to speak and when to be silent; that He shows you who will receive the word in truth and who would use it against you...that you will be “wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove,” Matthew 10:16, in a place that has long been perverted by the twisted presence of the one who "would be like the Most High," Isaiah 14:14; who would be worshiped by all the earth, who would destroy all those who bow before the Throne of Mercy and Grace, who would “steal, kill and destroy,” John 10:10 all who oppose his evil intent.
God bless you always, precious child.
Monday, December 29, 2014
Commentary
December 29
Commentary on Genesis 18:23-25 by John W. Ritenbaugh
(23) And Abraham came near and said, "Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? (24) Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? (25) Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
God's justice is according to His righteousness, His holy character. Psalm 119:172 defines righteousness, stating "All Your commandments are righteousness." Those commandments reflect in writing the character of God.
What God does is always consistent with who and what He is, and what He has written. His righteousness is absolute purity. He is utterly incapable of an unholy, unrighteous, unjust act. For God to act unfairly, He would simply have to cease being God. It is totally impossible for Him to commit an injustice.
When Abraham uses the word "righteous" in verse 23, he is not saying, "Would You destroy the sinless with the wicked?" He means people who, through their fear of God and being conscientious, have kept themselves free from the iniquity of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham's concern was that there were people in the city we might consider to be really good citizens. They were not sinless, but if there was a fear of God in them, maybe they were trying with all their might to obey God, but they were caught up simply in being in the environment which God had decided He was going to destroy.
God does not always act with justice; sometimes He acts with mercy. That is what He did with Lot and his family. God acted with justice against the city because it was so corrupt, so evil, so filled with sin that it even offended God's sense of what is right and wrong. It even offended God's patience, His longsuffering. And so in justice He wiped the city off the map, but in grace and mercy He spared Lot, his wife, and two children.
Mercy is not justice, but neither is it injustice, because injustice would violate righteousness, and God always acts according to His holy character, which is total righteousness. Therefore mercy, which manifests kindness and grace, does no violence to righteousness, and we may see non-justice in God—which is mercy—but we never see injustice in God.
Commentary on Genesis 18:23-25 by John W. Ritenbaugh
(23) And Abraham came near and said, "Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? (24) Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? (25) Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
God's justice is according to His righteousness, His holy character. Psalm 119:172 defines righteousness, stating "All Your commandments are righteousness." Those commandments reflect in writing the character of God.
What God does is always consistent with who and what He is, and what He has written. His righteousness is absolute purity. He is utterly incapable of an unholy, unrighteous, unjust act. For God to act unfairly, He would simply have to cease being God. It is totally impossible for Him to commit an injustice.
When Abraham uses the word "righteous" in verse 23, he is not saying, "Would You destroy the sinless with the wicked?" He means people who, through their fear of God and being conscientious, have kept themselves free from the iniquity of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham's concern was that there were people in the city we might consider to be really good citizens. They were not sinless, but if there was a fear of God in them, maybe they were trying with all their might to obey God, but they were caught up simply in being in the environment which God had decided He was going to destroy.
God does not always act with justice; sometimes He acts with mercy. That is what He did with Lot and his family. God acted with justice against the city because it was so corrupt, so evil, so filled with sin that it even offended God's sense of what is right and wrong. It even offended God's patience, His longsuffering. And so in justice He wiped the city off the map, but in grace and mercy He spared Lot, his wife, and two children.
Mercy is not justice, but neither is it injustice, because injustice would violate righteousness, and God always acts according to His holy character, which is total righteousness. Therefore mercy, which manifests kindness and grace, does no violence to righteousness, and we may see non-justice in God—which is mercy—but we never see injustice in God.
Sunday, December 28, 2014
A Word of Encouragement
by Charles Spurgeon
Perseverance is the badge of true saints. The Christian life is not a beginning only in the ways of God, but also a continuance in the same as long as life lasts.
It is with a Christian as it was with the great Napoleon: he said, "Conquest has made me what I am, and conquest must maintain me."
So, under God, dear brother in the Lord, conquest has made you what you are, and conquest must sustain you. Your motto must be, "Excelsior." He only is a true conqueror, and shall be crowned at the last, who continues till war's trumpet is blown no more.
Perseverance is, therefore, the target of all our spiritual enemies. The world does not object to your being a Christian for a time, if she can but tempt you to cease your pilgrimage, and settle down to buy and sell with her in Vanity Fair. The flesh will seek to ensnare you, and to prevent your pressing on to glory.
"It is weary work being a pilgrim; come, give it up. Am I always to be mortified? Am I never to be indulged? Give me at least a furlough from this constant warfare."
Satan will make many a fierce attack on your perseverance; it will be the mark for all his arrows. He will strive to hinder you in service: he will insinuate that you are doing no good; and that you want rest. He will endeavor to make you weary of suffering, he will whisper, "Curse God, and die."
Or he will attack your steadfastness: "What is the good of being so zealous? Be quiet like the rest; sleep as do others, and let your lamp go out as the other virgins do."
Or he will assail your doctrinal sentiments: "Why do you hold to these denominational creeds? Sensible men are getting more liberal; they are removing the old landmarks: fall in with the times."
Wear your shield, Christian, therefore, close upon your armor, and cry mightily unto God, that by His Spirit you may endure to the end."
Perseverance is the badge of true saints. The Christian life is not a beginning only in the ways of God, but also a continuance in the same as long as life lasts.
It is with a Christian as it was with the great Napoleon: he said, "Conquest has made me what I am, and conquest must maintain me."
So, under God, dear brother in the Lord, conquest has made you what you are, and conquest must sustain you. Your motto must be, "Excelsior." He only is a true conqueror, and shall be crowned at the last, who continues till war's trumpet is blown no more.
Perseverance is, therefore, the target of all our spiritual enemies. The world does not object to your being a Christian for a time, if she can but tempt you to cease your pilgrimage, and settle down to buy and sell with her in Vanity Fair. The flesh will seek to ensnare you, and to prevent your pressing on to glory.
"It is weary work being a pilgrim; come, give it up. Am I always to be mortified? Am I never to be indulged? Give me at least a furlough from this constant warfare."
Satan will make many a fierce attack on your perseverance; it will be the mark for all his arrows. He will strive to hinder you in service: he will insinuate that you are doing no good; and that you want rest. He will endeavor to make you weary of suffering, he will whisper, "Curse God, and die."
Or he will attack your steadfastness: "What is the good of being so zealous? Be quiet like the rest; sleep as do others, and let your lamp go out as the other virgins do."
Or he will assail your doctrinal sentiments: "Why do you hold to these denominational creeds? Sensible men are getting more liberal; they are removing the old landmarks: fall in with the times."
Wear your shield, Christian, therefore, close upon your armor, and cry mightily unto God, that by His Spirit you may endure to the end."
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