Psalms 119:165
Great peace have those who love your law;
nothing can make them stumble.
Truth: Those who love God's Word are assured to be protected by God's power and promises.
The above passage should be read in light of several other verse in the Scriptures:
Proverbs 3:23 (speaking to those who follow God's Word)
Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble.
Proverbs 4:12 (same context)
When you walk, your step will not be hampered, and if you run, you will not stumble.
Psalm 91:12 (speaking of how angles will watch over those who love God and His Word)
On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.
There many, many other verses we could site to make the argument that those who love God and His Word can be assured of their safety in life's sinful circumstances. It does not mean, however, that we won't have trouble. It means that in the midst of trouble we can be assured of making right choices and having faithful character. We can think about Joseph and Daniel as prime examples. Or, in the N.T., the apostle Paul. We are not to worry about stumbling in our walk when we have the God of the universe paving the street before us. Yes, like Job, He might put speed bumps or "Ys" in the road for us, but He also promises that we will not be stumbling and groping around in the dark, when these things come ... like the unbelieving world. He even says, in the above verse, that we will have peace in such circumstances. Men and women of faith are always shown to have great, amazing and unexplainable peace in the midst of trying times. Those who love God's Word can be assured of that continued promise.
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Truth #282 - God will forgive us for poor decisions made - 2 Chronicles 18-22
2 Chronicles 18:31
As soon as the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “It is the king of Israel.” So they turned to fight against him. And Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him; God drew them away from him.
Truth: God will forgive us for poor decisions made, even after we hear His counsel.
Have you ever made a decision you know you were not to make that put you in a place, position or state that was dangerous? This is what Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, did. He went to visit the King of Israel, Ahab. Ahab enticed him to go into battle with him against the king of Syria. However, before doing so, they both sought out God's will. Through false prophets, both were convinced to go into battle. However, one prophet, Micaiah, told them NOT to go into battle. They didn't listen. As a result of refusing to obey God's Word, they found themselves in a bad spot. This happens to us all and when it does we feel weak, shamed and helpless. This is the perfect place to be. God can come to our rescue when we find ourselves helpless. Jehoshaphat cried out to God and God drew the enemy away from him. When we cry out to God, we find deliverance. Jonah was disobedient, ran from God and the Word of His command to go to Ninevah, and found himself in the belly of the great fish. Yet, in Jonah 3 we read about Jonah crying out to God and God delivered him. Despite his disobedience, God is for us. Peter denied Christ three times. Despite his disobedience God established a relationship of love with him when the risen Lord asked him three times, "Do you love me?" God is in the business of forgiving us and coming to our rescue. He is on our side ... even when we disobey Him. That is the truth of 1 John 1:9.
As soon as the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “It is the king of Israel.” So they turned to fight against him. And Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him; God drew them away from him.
Truth: God will forgive us for poor decisions made, even after we hear His counsel.
Have you ever made a decision you know you were not to make that put you in a place, position or state that was dangerous? This is what Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, did. He went to visit the King of Israel, Ahab. Ahab enticed him to go into battle with him against the king of Syria. However, before doing so, they both sought out God's will. Through false prophets, both were convinced to go into battle. However, one prophet, Micaiah, told them NOT to go into battle. They didn't listen. As a result of refusing to obey God's Word, they found themselves in a bad spot. This happens to us all and when it does we feel weak, shamed and helpless. This is the perfect place to be. God can come to our rescue when we find ourselves helpless. Jehoshaphat cried out to God and God drew the enemy away from him. When we cry out to God, we find deliverance. Jonah was disobedient, ran from God and the Word of His command to go to Ninevah, and found himself in the belly of the great fish. Yet, in Jonah 3 we read about Jonah crying out to God and God delivered him. Despite his disobedience, God is for us. Peter denied Christ three times. Despite his disobedience God established a relationship of love with him when the risen Lord asked him three times, "Do you love me?" God is in the business of forgiving us and coming to our rescue. He is on our side ... even when we disobey Him. That is the truth of 1 John 1:9.
Monday, October 5, 2015
Truth #281 - God dwells among us - Numbers 33-36
Numbers 35:34
You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, for I the Lord dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.”
Truth: God dwells in our midst, which is why we need to be holy.
In this section Moses is giving the final instructions to the nation, before they enter the promise land. Moses is telling them that God dwelling among them is the reason for their holiness. They will fail at their mission but they should not exact motivation. God dwelling among us should be enough reason for the nation to want to live by faith in holiness. God saved us for such a life:
Psalms 85:9
Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,
that glory may dwell in our land.
God wants us to live holy. He dwells with us to make it happen. He dwells in us to keep us and make us holy. Notice our NT instructions:
1 Peter 1:16
since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
God wants us to live holy lives because He is dwelling in us and among us.
You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, for I the Lord dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.”
Truth: God dwells in our midst, which is why we need to be holy.
In this section Moses is giving the final instructions to the nation, before they enter the promise land. Moses is telling them that God dwelling among them is the reason for their holiness. They will fail at their mission but they should not exact motivation. God dwelling among us should be enough reason for the nation to want to live by faith in holiness. God saved us for such a life:
Psalms 85:9
Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,
that glory may dwell in our land.
God wants us to live holy. He dwells with us to make it happen. He dwells in us to keep us and make us holy. Notice our NT instructions:
1 Peter 1:16
since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
God wants us to live holy lives because He is dwelling in us and among us.
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Truth #280 - Our hope is not a feeling, it is a Person - Hebrews 5-7
Hebrews 6:18-19
so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,
Truth: The Christian hope is not a "feeling" but a "person" - the Person of Christ
When the world talks about "hoping" for something, they conjure up a meaning for us that is quite different than the meaning for hope in God's word ... especially in the above passage. The world "hopes" for things based upon a flawed focus. They hope for a peace agreement in the Middle East and it based upon the character and trust of those negotiating. The character of the flawed nations is the foundation of their hope. Parents hope that their children will grow and make great choices and "turn out" okay. Their hope if founded upon the character of a child, or their skills for instilling character in their children. The world uses the word hope when they probably mean "we are crossing our fingers." When we read about hope in God's Word, however, and it is known as the Christian Hope, we are talking about a real person. The person of Christ. In the above passage we read that our hope is the person of Christ who enters into the inner place with God and sits at the right hand of God. When we read about hope in the New Testament for the Believer we read the following:
Titus 2:13
waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
Our hope is not a feeling, not based upon our own personal constructs, and not based in the flawed and sinless nature of men and nations. Our hope does't begin with what we feel but with WHO He is!! Our hope is a person. We have hope in the person of Christ. Our hope is that He will keep us until the end and perfect us to the end. He is our blessed hope!
so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,
Truth: The Christian hope is not a "feeling" but a "person" - the Person of Christ
When the world talks about "hoping" for something, they conjure up a meaning for us that is quite different than the meaning for hope in God's word ... especially in the above passage. The world "hopes" for things based upon a flawed focus. They hope for a peace agreement in the Middle East and it based upon the character and trust of those negotiating. The character of the flawed nations is the foundation of their hope. Parents hope that their children will grow and make great choices and "turn out" okay. Their hope if founded upon the character of a child, or their skills for instilling character in their children. The world uses the word hope when they probably mean "we are crossing our fingers." When we read about hope in God's Word, however, and it is known as the Christian Hope, we are talking about a real person. The person of Christ. In the above passage we read that our hope is the person of Christ who enters into the inner place with God and sits at the right hand of God. When we read about hope in the New Testament for the Believer we read the following:
Titus 2:13
waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
Our hope is not a feeling, not based upon our own personal constructs, and not based in the flawed and sinless nature of men and nations. Our hope does't begin with what we feel but with WHO He is!! Our hope is a person. We have hope in the person of Christ. Our hope is that He will keep us until the end and perfect us to the end. He is our blessed hope!
Saturday, October 3, 2015
Truth #279 - We can be bold in Jesus name - Acts 3-4
Acts 4:13
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
Truth: Those who believe in Jesus can be bold in this world
Proverbs 28:1
The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.
In the first chapters of Acts (the entire book, really) we have the resistance of the Jewish leaders and others, to the thought that Jesus rose from the dead and to the power of the Gospel. It is this power that is visually seen by the religious leaders in the above verse. The disciples were not "educated" men ... they were "common" men. Yet, with boldness, Peter and John delivered the message of a resurrected Savior. They had just said, in the proceeding verse:
Acts 4:12
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Think of the power of that statement, but also the risk of those words coming from a uneducated and common man, as it is spoken to the learned and intellectual. It is almost insulting. Hence our struggle today. The lowliest of all believers can be bolder than any Phd. certified scholar when the come to know that truth and spend time in prayer with Jesus and reading the Scriptures about Him. Jesus is the powerful name that began this section of reading as Peter spoke the name of the Jesus, the risen Lord, and healed a lame man. Our boldness is NOT In our education. Our boldness is NOT in our skill-sets. Our boldness is NOT in our networking, legacy, connectivity, competency, or logical reasoning. Our boldness is in the Name of Jesus and when we spend time with Him we can have the boldness of a lion. We are the children of God and as children we can call on the name of His Son, Jesus. Be bold!!! Notice what Peter and John eventually pray after they are released that day and they return to the other disciples:
Acts 4:29-31
And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
Truth: Those who believe in Jesus can be bold in this world
Proverbs 28:1
The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.
In the first chapters of Acts (the entire book, really) we have the resistance of the Jewish leaders and others, to the thought that Jesus rose from the dead and to the power of the Gospel. It is this power that is visually seen by the religious leaders in the above verse. The disciples were not "educated" men ... they were "common" men. Yet, with boldness, Peter and John delivered the message of a resurrected Savior. They had just said, in the proceeding verse:
Acts 4:12
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Think of the power of that statement, but also the risk of those words coming from a uneducated and common man, as it is spoken to the learned and intellectual. It is almost insulting. Hence our struggle today. The lowliest of all believers can be bolder than any Phd. certified scholar when the come to know that truth and spend time in prayer with Jesus and reading the Scriptures about Him. Jesus is the powerful name that began this section of reading as Peter spoke the name of the Jesus, the risen Lord, and healed a lame man. Our boldness is NOT In our education. Our boldness is NOT in our skill-sets. Our boldness is NOT in our networking, legacy, connectivity, competency, or logical reasoning. Our boldness is in the Name of Jesus and when we spend time with Him we can have the boldness of a lion. We are the children of God and as children we can call on the name of His Son, Jesus. Be bold!!! Notice what Peter and John eventually pray after they are released that day and they return to the other disciples:
Acts 4:29-31
And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
Friday, October 2, 2015
Truth #278 - When we put ME on the throne we hinder HIS love - Jonah
Jonah 2:8
Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their hope of steadfast love.
Truth: When we put an idol in place of God we hinder His steadfast love into our lives.
Jonah was on the run and has already caused much affliction in the lives of those around him. The sailors in the ship have lost their cargo and almost their lives (although, in HIS rebellion, GOD provided THEM salvation). Now Jonah is in the belly of the great fish and he is, like all of us, crying out in repentance. This is a "fox-hole-conversion-prayer." Jonah is desperate. The circumstances of life have caused him to repent and have given him much clarity about the situation he has put himself in. God has brought Jonah to his knees in the belly of a fish. You can't get much lower than that. The reality God wants Jonah to know is confessed in the above passage. When we chase "worthless" idols, we cut off God's continuous love. There is no doubt that this aspect of the prayer is pointing to Nineveh, to Israel, the men on the ship AND to Jonah. Israel had left God and followed worthless idols. Note the following:
Jeremiah 2:13
for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
Nineveh, in their pursuit of their own autonomy and selfish gains, had forsaken the God of all creation and grace. The men on the ship, when caught in a storm, first turned to their "own" gods for deliverance and that meant they didn't have God's grace. Once they tossed Jonah over board, God's grace and steadfast love swept into their lives. Jonah, had paid attention to a "vain idol" (himself and his selfish thoughts about the Ninevites) and God had brought this punishment on him for that. He was actually in the place of God's love. Had God not loved him, God would not have prepared for him a fish to rescue him. The fish was not a bad thing, it was a life ring. Yet, Jonah had to come to realize that when we worship idols in our lives (anything that tries to take place on the throne reserved only for God), we must realize we hinder God's steadfast love. God is the God of love. He wants to extend that love to us. Yet, we often put something else on the throne of our lives (our own sinful needs) and we cut off God's love from being active in our lives. People who worship the idols on the thrones of their lives have no room for God and His great love.
Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their hope of steadfast love.
Truth: When we put an idol in place of God we hinder His steadfast love into our lives.
Jonah was on the run and has already caused much affliction in the lives of those around him. The sailors in the ship have lost their cargo and almost their lives (although, in HIS rebellion, GOD provided THEM salvation). Now Jonah is in the belly of the great fish and he is, like all of us, crying out in repentance. This is a "fox-hole-conversion-prayer." Jonah is desperate. The circumstances of life have caused him to repent and have given him much clarity about the situation he has put himself in. God has brought Jonah to his knees in the belly of a fish. You can't get much lower than that. The reality God wants Jonah to know is confessed in the above passage. When we chase "worthless" idols, we cut off God's continuous love. There is no doubt that this aspect of the prayer is pointing to Nineveh, to Israel, the men on the ship AND to Jonah. Israel had left God and followed worthless idols. Note the following:
Jeremiah 2:13
for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
Nineveh, in their pursuit of their own autonomy and selfish gains, had forsaken the God of all creation and grace. The men on the ship, when caught in a storm, first turned to their "own" gods for deliverance and that meant they didn't have God's grace. Once they tossed Jonah over board, God's grace and steadfast love swept into their lives. Jonah, had paid attention to a "vain idol" (himself and his selfish thoughts about the Ninevites) and God had brought this punishment on him for that. He was actually in the place of God's love. Had God not loved him, God would not have prepared for him a fish to rescue him. The fish was not a bad thing, it was a life ring. Yet, Jonah had to come to realize that when we worship idols in our lives (anything that tries to take place on the throne reserved only for God), we must realize we hinder God's steadfast love. God is the God of love. He wants to extend that love to us. Yet, we often put something else on the throne of our lives (our own sinful needs) and we cut off God's love from being active in our lives. People who worship the idols on the thrones of their lives have no room for God and His great love.
Thursday, October 1, 2015
Truth #277 - We reap what we sow - Proverbs 27-28
Proverbs 27:23-27
Know well the condition of your flocks, And pay attention to your herds; For riches are not forever, Nor does a crown endure to all generations. When the grass disappears, the new growth is seen, And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in, The lambs will be for your clothing, And the goats will bring the price of a field, And there will be goats’ milk enough for your food, For the food of your household, And sustenance for your maidens.
Truth: Know your flocks because you reap what you sow
How many of us take the time to "know the condition of our flocks?" Do we take the time to study our life? Do we take the time to see what and where our life fits in regard to the plan of God. We cast our eyes on money, yet we know, as the verse says, it will not last forever. These five verses stress the importance of the principle: You sow what you reap! Know the conditions of your flocks ... it will pay off in the end. Solomon uses the picture of a "flock" of lambs and goats to illustrate his principle. If we take care of our flocks our flocks will take care of us. Solomon contrasts "riches" that can be owned with the "flocks" that can be nutured. He contrasts the crown that disappears with milk of goats that sustain us. The lesson of the story is that there are some things we invest in and trust that will not last. There are other things we can trust in that, not only will last, will sustains us later. "Know the condition of your flocks" and you will know the difference between that which disappears and that which sustains.
Know well the condition of your flocks, And pay attention to your herds; For riches are not forever, Nor does a crown endure to all generations. When the grass disappears, the new growth is seen, And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in, The lambs will be for your clothing, And the goats will bring the price of a field, And there will be goats’ milk enough for your food, For the food of your household, And sustenance for your maidens.
Truth: Know your flocks because you reap what you sow
How many of us take the time to "know the condition of our flocks?" Do we take the time to study our life? Do we take the time to see what and where our life fits in regard to the plan of God. We cast our eyes on money, yet we know, as the verse says, it will not last forever. These five verses stress the importance of the principle: You sow what you reap! Know the conditions of your flocks ... it will pay off in the end. Solomon uses the picture of a "flock" of lambs and goats to illustrate his principle. If we take care of our flocks our flocks will take care of us. Solomon contrasts "riches" that can be owned with the "flocks" that can be nutured. He contrasts the crown that disappears with milk of goats that sustain us. The lesson of the story is that there are some things we invest in and trust that will not last. There are other things we can trust in that, not only will last, will sustains us later. "Know the condition of your flocks" and you will know the difference between that which disappears and that which sustains.
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