Month: April 2023

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” ‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬ ‭KJV‬. As Paul describes what God does in the hearts of His children, he describes it as a ‘treasure in earthen vessels.’ We understand from scripture that as God’s children we are the vessels of the Lord. It is into our hearts and lives that God shines His glorious light and gives this great salvation. This truth is both humbling and uplifting. It is humbling because we are only ‘earthen vessels’. That means we are frail and finite beings. It means we do not possess the power to be or do anything good in ourselves. But the good news is, the power of God is able to keep and preserve this great treasure within us! What a difference it would make if God’s children truly understood how precious this treasure is. It seems far too often we take for granted this great salvation God has given to us. But when we regard something as a treasure it changes our entire attitude towards it. We value it above everything else and take great care with it. May God help us to highly esteem and safeguard this incredible treasure He has placed within us. And let us give Him all the glory for entrusting this treasure to unworthy vessels like us.

“And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.” Jeremiah‬ ‭18‬:‭4‬ ‭KJV‬‬. In this brief illustration that God caused Jeremiah to see, He makes clear that He is the Potter and we are the clay. Each of us, by our sin, caused our vessel to be marred. We were not worthy of God’s touch upon our lives. But how thankful we should be that He did not throw the clay away! Instead of giving up on us, He made us again another vessel. All of this is pointing to what Jesus would provide for us in His atoning work. This is what real salvation does. It makes us new creatures in Christ! We are not the same old vessel we used to be, bound by sin and corrupt desires. Thank God we are now the Lord’s vessels! We are made anew so that we can love and serve Him. But also notice, He did not make the vessel according to it’s own wishes. No, He made it as it pleased Him! This means that God recreates each vessel for His glory to fulfill His purposes. May God help us to rejoice in this great truth. Our merciful Lord took those messed up lumps of clay we used to be and has remade us into vessels of honor who have the privilege to serve Him.

“O Lord God, Thou hast begun to shew Thy servant Thy greatness, and Thy mighty hand…” Deut.‬ ‭3:24‬ ‭KJV‬‬. Moses had seen many great miracles and experienced the mighty power of God in profound ways. Yet he realized, that God was far greater than his finite mind could ever comprehend. The more that he learned of God and the closer he walked with God, the more he understood that God is Infinite in power and glory. Though he wrote and taught many things about God, he would still say “the half has not been told!”. For us today, we have so many opportunities to read, study and learn about God. We can draw as close to Him as our hearts desire. And yet, when we have done our best, when our feeble minds have taken in all that we can, we will still join with Moses and say, “I’m only beginning to learn of You Lord”. And thank God we have the assurance, that all throughout eternity we will be ever learning of God’s greatness. By God’s grace, let us follow on to know Him more and more. Because the more we know of Him, the more we will love and trust Him.

“My help cometh from the Lord, Which made heaven and earth.” Psalms‬ ‭121:2‬ ‭KJV‬‬. One of the greatest failures of many Christians is that they underestimate God. Their faith does not take in how Great and Mighty He truly is. They often feel and then act like He is a small god, as if He is limited in what He is able to do. And as a result, they continually look to others for the help they need. Or, when they truly need help, they lean upon their own strength and understanding. But we need to believe that our real help comes from our God, Who is Great in Power and Might! Let our faith rise up to know that the One Who is helping us is the God Who made this universe and hung the stars in place! He is the One to Whom nothing is impossible! Perhaps you have a situation that seems impossible, or a mountain that seems immovable? Dear ones, be encouraged, because it is THIS SAME MIGHTY GOD Who is ready to help us in every way we need. Let us remember the children’s song: “My God is so Great, so Strong and so Mighty, there’s nothing my God cannot do!”

“Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left;” Joshua‬ ‭23‬:‭6‬ ‭KJV‬‬. As Joshua was saying his final words to Israel, he was reminding them of their obligation to God. He knew their future depended upon their obedience to God’s Word. So he tells them “Be very courageous to obey!” He knew it would take great courage to stand and continue doing right in a world that was so filled with sin and wickedness. But as we read on in this chapter he comes to the critical aspect of this courage. That is in verse 11, where he tells them, “Take good heed to yourselves, that you love the Lord your God”. Joshua knew they would never have enough human courage to always do right. He knew their resolve would weaken. He tells them that only their supreme love for God would equip them with the courage to faithfully obey God’s Word. Today we live in the same fallen world. There will be no cowards who make it through all of the spiritual battles we must face. But let us be sure, it is only the courage of God’s divine love dwelling in us that will enable us to overcome and make Heaven our home. By God’s grace, let us love Him with all of our heart and then we will have the courage we need to obey.

“Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God…” 1 Corinthians‬ ‭15‬:‭34‬ ‭KJV‬‬. When the Apostle wrote these words to the church at Corinth he was concerned over the effect false teachings were having on them. These ‘doctrines of men’ were causing them to become spiritually insensitive. That is what happens when we go to sleep. So he gives this urgent command to “Wake up! Don’t be lulled to sleep by the lies of religious men.” Today, the false doctrines of men have caused many to fall asleep spiritually. They no longer are sensitive to their needs or their walk with God. So once again this call is desperately needed from every pulpit, to ‘wake up’ the sleeping church. And the call is very clear, to ‘awake to righteousness’. This means right conduct and right living. It means striving to live a holy, Christlike life. And as we wake up to see our personal need of righteous living, then we will wake up to the beauty of righteousness. Only when a soul is awake spiritually can they see how beautiful a righteous life is. This is what caused the psalmist to write about worshipping God in the beauty of holiness. What is beautiful is desirable. May God help us to wake up to a personal experience of Christ’s righteousness in our hearts and lives. Then we will see it’s beauty and demonstrate that beauty to others.

“But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.” John‬ ‭20‬:‭24‬ ‭KJV‬‬. On the morning of His resurrection Jesus appeared in the room with His disciples. Of course, seeing Him and hearing His voice convinced them that He truly was alive. And they were greatly encouraged as a result. Their doubts and discouragement all passed away. But we notice also
that Thomas was not there. For some reason he had separated himself from the other disciples. As a result, he missed this personal appearance of the Risen Christ. He missed hearing Jesus’ voice and being in His presence. While we all can have personal encounters with Jesus, the truth is that He appears most often within the community of believers that we call the church. This is one reason it is very important to be a part of a Bible believing church. When we separate ourselves from the church we risk missing His presence and what He wants to speak to us. And we miss the fellowship of God’s family which is so necessary for us. This is why God instructs us ‘not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together’. By God’s grace, let us make every effort to gather with the body of believers so we can be in His presence and hear His voice.

“He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: But he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.” Proverbs‬ ‭15‬:‭32‬ ‭KJV. One of the ways we know the Lord has changed our heart is when we become humble and willing to receive instruction and correction. Humility is an absolute necessity to having true faith in God. Humbling ourselves before Him is what prepares our heart to receive the changes He wants to make in our lives. But humility is not only what we must begin with, it is essential as we continue our Christian life. One of the biggest challenges we face is keeping our heart open to receive the correction God sends our way. Our human nature is prideful and resistant to change. Sometimes God sends instruction in significant spiritual matters from His Word across the pulpit. But other times it is in smaller things we would not easily recognize. Things such as receiving Godly counsel when it is offered. God tests us on these to see if we will be humble enough to receive instruction from others. Many times in the Proverbs we hear this counsel repeated. By refusing instruction we are damaging our own souls. But in receiving instruction we also receive God’s blessing. By God’s grace, let us be those humble souls who are willing to receive the correction of Father sends.

“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians‬ ‭4‬:‭16‬ ‭KJV‬‬. One of the realities we all face is the decay of this physical body, which is the outward man. No matter how well we care for it, or try to prolong it, this body of flesh will weaken, grow old and one day perish. One of the important things we do in taking care of the body is to make sure it has proper nourishment. We try to feed it good food so it can have strength and vitality. But how much consideration do we give to the care of our inward man, which is our soul? The body is just temporary but the soul is eternal. The body is made of dust for only a few years but the soul is made by God and for eternity with God. Do we consider the nourishment our souls receive? Do we give even a portion of the time caring for the inward man as we do the outward? The good news is, as children of God, our inward man can be renewed day by day. We can be nourished with God’s Word and time with God. So even while the body weakens our soul can grow in grace and strength. And one day, when this mortal body breathes it’s last breath, we will put on immortality and we will forever be with our Lord.

“and that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again.” 2 Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭15‬ ‭KJV‬‬. A big part of the deceitfulness of sin is that it causes us to live our lives for ourselves. Our lives become a selfish existence that produces misery. We view situations and relationships in regards to how they benefit us. We make decisions only with our personal interest in mind. But when we place our faith and trust Jesus, and He makes us new creatures our lives change profoundly! We discover that living for ourselves was part of the problem and now we are thankful to be living for Him! And thank God, living our lives for Jesus liberates us from the tyranny of selfishness. May God help us to understand that we are to live everyday for His glory and to make Him known. We are to do all that we do to please Him rather than our own selfish desires. This is the only life of real peace and joy, when we live for Him Who died for us. Jesus laid His life down in the most unselfish act this world has ever known. Should we not lay our lives down for Him?