Month: February 2022

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭21:4‬ ‭KJV‬‬. How we need to remember that this world and our physical life is not all there is! There is coming a day for God’s children that all of these things spoken of in this verse will come to pass. and what a day that will be! God help us to remember that we are just pilgrims and strangers passing through this world. This world is not our final home. The sorrows and troubles we face here are only temporary. The heartaches we feel, the pain of loss and separation will all pass away. And it will be joy forevermore in the presence of our Lord. May we learn to live each day placing our values on the things of eternity and not this fallen world. May we understand that all of the former things will pass away and only what is done for Christ will last. The fleeting pleasures of this earthly existence will soon be gone. The material things we thought were so important and sought after are all going to pass away. Let us live as those who recognize this world is not our home.

“…for He cometh to judge the earth: He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.” Psalm‬ ‭96:13‬ ‭KJV‬‬. One of the great truths of Christianity is that Jesus is coming again. So easily we get caught up in our daily lives that we often forget, Jesus is coming again! And it could be any day. Jesus said it will be at a time when people do not expect it. But do we realize that He is coming to judge this world with truth and righteousness? That means that it will not matter about anyone’s opinion. There will be no liberal or conservative. All that will matter is the truth of His Word and if we are His child clothed with His righteousness. The standard of truth will not be relative as it has become in this world. There will be no one with ‘their own truth’ as people say today. So we should make sure that we are learning the truth of God’s Word, believing it and striving to obey it. Jesus said in John 12:48 “He that rejecteth Me, and receiveth not My words, hath one that judgeth him: the Word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” By God’s grace, let us walk in truth and righteousness.

“Give unto the LORD, O ye kindreds of the people, Give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: Bring an offering, and come into his courts.” Psalm‬ ‭96:7-8‬ ‭KJV‬‬. We all know that our gracious Heavenly Father delights to give good things to His children. But do we ever consider that we should also give to Him and that He also delights in receiving from us? This is a part of every real relationship. There is a mutual giving and receiving. When we truly love, we give of ourselves to the one we love. In these verses the psalmist is focusing on what we can give to the Lord. We are to give the sacrifice of praise. We are to give glory and honor to His holy name. In fact, God’s Word declares that we are to give ourselves to Him in wholehearted service. Our giving is one of the indications that we have a genuine relationship with God. There is a song titled, ‘Give of your best to the Master’. The second verse says: ‘Give of your best to the Master; Give Him first place in your heart; Give Him first place in your service; Consecrate every part. Give, and to you will be given; God His beloved Son gave; Gratefully seeking to serve Him, Give Him the best that you have.’

“To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Luke‬ ‭1:79‬ ‭KJV‬‬. These words were spoken about Jesus, the ‘Dayspring from on high’ Who has come to this world. What a wonderful thing that He comes to shine His light upon the dark places that we pass through. Sometimes when we suffer loss we find ourselves in death’s shadow. The pain of separation from those we love often casts a long shadow that can be difficult to escape from. Days go by and we wonder how long will this be? When it comes to the darkness of sin, the Light of Christ comes as a blaze of glory. But in these times of loss we learn that Jesus comes to us with His soft and gentle light. He knows our pain and suffering and understands exactly what we need and how to minister to our hurting souls. His blessed light reminds us that there is hope, that it is better farther on. So even when we are walking through the valley of the shadow of death, let us be looking for the the soft and gentle light of Christ that will lead us in the way of peace. By His grace, may we always be receptive to the light He shines on our pathway.

“For Thou, LORD, hast made me glad through Thy work: I will triumph in the works of Thy hands. O LORD, how great are Thy works!…” Psalm‬ ‭92:4-5‬ ‭KJV‬‬. As the psalmist reflects on the works of God, he rejoices in their greatness and power. No doubt he is thinking of God’s awesome work in creation and His great works towards Israel in delivering them from captivity. And certainly those are great works. But for us as New Testament Christians, we have even more to praise God for. We can look back to Calvary and thank God for the wondrous work Christ accomplished on that old rugged cross! We can look to that empty tomb and rejoice in the glorious resurrection of our Lord. And then, as we think of this precious gift of salvation God has given to us, how our spirits should rise in praise and gratitude to God for this wondrous work! And let us realize, it is only through His works that we can triumph over our spiritual foes. It is only His works that bring gladness and joy to our souls. So rather than getting caught up in our feeble works, or being discouraged looking at the evil works of men, let us rejoice in the mighty works that God has done! Because all of His works are great towards us.

“He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.” Psalm‬ ‭91:15‬ ‭KJV‬‬. This is a great promise from God. What a tremendous blessing and what assurance it gives to know that we can call upon God and He will be with us and deliver us. But the question is, who is this promise for? Is it to all religious professors? Is it to church members? The context makes very clear who this promise is for. It is for those who have made God their Refuge and have set their love upon Him. These are the conditions we must meet if we would make this promise our own. To make God our Refuge means He is the first One we go to when we are in need. It means our faith and trust are in Him above all others. It means we find peace and security only in Him. To set our love on Him means we love Him supremely and He is first place in our heart and life. And to this person, God promises that when we call He will answer! When we face trouble, He will be with us and deliver us! He will honor us with His loving favor. What a joy it is to experience this blessed relationship with the Living God, where we can claim the precious promises He has given.

“Seek the LORD and His strength, seek His face continually.” 1 Chronicles‬ ‭16:11‬ ‭KJV‬‬. There are many people in our world who are seeking to be strong in some way. For some it is physical strength they strive for. For others it is intellectual strength, or financial strength. Many seek to have the strength of influence and power over people. But what a difference it would make if we sought God’s divine strength! The reality is, we could become strong in every other way and still be weak and unable to overcome the spiritual enemies that are against us. The second part of this verse describes the way to become strong spiritually. It is only as we seek God’s face, which means His presence. So we must take time personally to seek God’s presence. We must quiet ourselves and get alone so that we can experience the reality of God’s sweet and holy presence in us and all around us. As we do, we will discover that nothing in this world will equip and strengthen us for the spiritual battles of life like God’s holy presence. And then, by His grace, let us live our lives so that we can continually live in His presence. May we do nothing or go nowhere that we cannot enjoy the presence of the Lord.

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Revelation‬ ‭3:20‬ ‭KJV‬‬. These words are a revelation of how a real relationship with Christ begins and matures. He does not force His way into our hearts. He does not act like many people who come into a place loud and pushy. He stands patiently at the door of our heart and knocks. He speaks in a ‘still small voice’ that is so gentle it will be drowned out by other noises and distractions around us. So it is up to each of us to decide if we will quiet ourselves, listen and pay attention to what He is saying. He leaves it up to us whether or not we will open the door of our hearts and invite Him in. No one will open their heart to Him until they hear His voice. So let us ask ourselves, “Am I listening for His voice? Do I go to church so that I can hear from Him? Am I beginning each day with a quiet time so that He can speak to my heart?” Let us realize that everything depends upon us hearing from Him. Many times in these letters to the seven churches, He says, “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith…” And so, Jesus Christ says to us, “IF any man hear My voice…”

“Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,” Jude‬ ‭1:24‬ ‭KJV‬‬. Many today are being taught that we all have to sin every day. It is often presented in a way where it seems we have no choice nor ability to do different. It is said that everyone does it, which justifies our failure. As a result, what has happened in this modern religious culture is that people are conditioned for failure. But here in this verse is one of the biggest arguments against a life of constant sinning: Jesus Christ is able to keep us from falling! The question is not about any strength or goodness we have in ourselves. Certainly we should know, that our own righteousness is ‘as filthy rags’ and without Him we can do nothing. And yet it is abundantly clear all through His Word that He desires a holy people, who ‘live Godly in this present world’. So the question is, “Has Jesus provided enough for us and is He able to help us in such a way that we don’t have to go on sinning?” The real issue is not of our weakness but of His divine strength. Let us be humble and bring this question to the Lord and sincerely ask Him, “Lord are You able to keep me from falling?” And His answer will be according to His written Word.

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm‬ ‭91:1‬ ‭KJV‬‬. In this verse are two words, ‘dwell and abide’, that are used to express our need and God’s desire for our relationship with Him. They describe a depth and closeness of relationship that few seem to experience. Jesus makes this very clear in John 15 when He speaks of our need to ‘abide in Him’. And surely, this is where the great blessings of Christian life are. What a great privilege is ours to be able to abide in Christ! To dwell each day in His presence is be in the safest place there is. The verses following in Psalm 91 relate some of the great blessings of this abiding relationship. And yet, it seems most professing believers experience little of this kind of relationship. They run to Jesus when they are in trouble, but then drift away when things are well. They visit with Him on Sunday but then leave His presence and go out to live as they please. In their lives there is a constant turmoil because they know where and how they should be living, and yet they are not dwelling in that relationship of constant abiding. May we realize as we read about the great blessings of spiritual protection, provision and security, that these are only for those who will abide.