Month: August 2023

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness.” Isaiah‬ ‭41:10‬ ‭KJV‬. This is the greatest reason every child of God has to overcome fear. God is with us. He is our Emmanuel. Of all the things God could do for us or give to us, none are so important as His holy presence with us. When He is with us there is no reason for us to be discouraged or dismayed. With His presence, our weakness is taken care of by His divine strength. When He is with us, all the help, comfort and wisdom we need is available. May God help us to take hold of this wonderful promise! He is not a God afar off, merely observing the things we go through. Rather, He is One Who is very near in everything that we go through. And even when we face those difficult things which seem impossible to us, because He is with us, we have the assurance that His strong arm will hold us up! Let us take comfort in this great truth, God is with us. It was said of John Wesley on his deathbed, that moments before he died, he suddenly sat up and declared, “Best of all, God is with us!”

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians‬ ‭4:6-7‬ ‭KJV‬‬. We know that verse 7 is one of the most quoted and best loved verses in God’s Word. But do we realize that it does not stand alone? It begins with ‘and’ because it is a continuation of the previous verse. The Apostle is reminding us that this wonderful peace we have through Jesus Christ is a direct result of us being willing to bring our burdens to Him, because we believe He alone is able to bear our burdens! This peace is not the absence of troubles or burdens. Rather, it is understanding what to do with them. And verse 6 goes further than simply bringing our burdens to Jesus. It also tells us to bring them with thanksgiving! That means we are to thank Him for hearing our feeble cries. Thank Him that He bore the burden for all our sin. We should thank Him that He cares for us so much as to be mindful of our needs. And we should thank Him that even when we can’t see or understand, He is making sure that the answer we need is on the way! Let us learn to make thanksgiving a regular part of our prayers so His peace can fill our hearts.

“For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me. But Thou hast saved us from our enemies…” Psalm‬ ‭44‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭KJV‬‬. In these words the psalmist is expressing the insufficiency of human resources and the all-sufficiency of God’s Divine resources. He did not rely upon his sword and bow because they were not adequate for the battles he fought. He knew his only hope for victory was in the Lord. And when he relied on God he was able to emerge victorious! As we relate this to spiritual life, there is a great lesson to be learned. Too many times we fail spiritually because we imagine that our own human strength and wisdom will be enough. In our pride, we trust in the arm of flesh to fight this spiritual battle and every time we lose. But when we humble ourselves and seek the Lord’s help, we find that His resources are always sufficient for whatever foe we may face. We must learn to recognize that our battle is not one of flesh and blood. We are fighting against spiritual powers that we have no ability to withstand in ourselves. Everyday we face spiritual enemies that can only be overcome through God’s Divine power. So let us approach each day knowing, that in myself I cannot make it. But leaning on the strong arm of the Lord, victory will be mine.

“For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.”Hebrews‬ ‭13:14‬ ‭KJV‬‬. For the early Jewish believers who received this letter, they knew very well the reality of these words. Their cities had been destroyed and they were persecuted and driven from their homes. So their faith and hopes were focused on Jesus Christ, the Architect of that Heavenly city, which waits for us when this life is over. Today these words remind us of two things. First of all, as Christians, this world is not our home. Nothing in this material world is permanent. Whether we live in prosperity or suffer persecution, as many Christians around the world do, we still are just passing through this world. All that is here is temporary, soon to pass away. But then also, because of Jesus Christ, we have a place prepared in that Heavenly city! And that is what He promised and we are seeking for. That is what causes us to press on each day through the toils and struggles of this earthly life. And thank God, that city will endure forever! What a joy to know we have an eternal home waiting for us. What a day that will be! By God’s grace, let us keep our eyes on the goal!

“And this is love, that we walk after His commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.” 2 John‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬ ‭KJV‬‬. In these words we are reminded of a spiritual truth that God’s Word declares from Genesis to Revelation. That truth is: God’s commands are to be obeyed. This is what it means to ‘walk after His commands’. It doesn’t say that we are merely to read about the commands or even to believe them. Rather, the entire purpose of God giving His commands is so they will be obeyed! It is only as we walk in them that they become a blessing to our lives and bring glory to our Lord. But today, because of the watering down of truth by this apostate generation, this truth is largely ignored or openly denied. In most churches, obedience to God’s command has become something regarded as optional rather than a necessary part of true Christianity. The evidence is clear that the majority of professing believers live in open disobedience to God’s command. We should pray for the ministry of this day that they will have the courage to declare this truth regardless of who it may offend! Better that we offend religious people than our Holy God. Let us be sure, true love for God and faith in Christ ALWAYS produces a life of obedience! That is walking in His commands. Anything else is deception.

“Your Words were found, and I ate them, and Your Word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts.” Jeremiah‬ ‭15:16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬. What a joy it is when a needy soul truly discovers the Word of God. When we find His Word, we begin to find out about our gracious Lord. We find out how good He is and the many things He provides for us. We discover the great love He has demonstrated to us in His Son Jesus Christ. Thank God, we find out about our own needs and we find the One Who is able to meet our every need! But let’s realize that we will not truly find God’s Word through someone else. Others can introduce us to it and tell us about it, but we must personally seek God in His Word! We must develop a hunger and thirst for His Words of life. We must taste and see for ourselves. And we must make the daily effort to open our heart and mind to it and receive it. As we begin to do this, we will soon realize why the saints of God of every generation cherish His Word and spend time in it. It is sad that to most people, God’s Word remains a hidden book. But to us that have found it, it brings great joy to our hearts. By God’s grace, let us discover the wondrous treasure of God’s written Word.

“The wise in heart will receive commandments: But a prating fool shall fall.” Proverbs‬ ‭10‬:‭8‬ ‭KJV. One of the evidences that we possess the ‘wisdom that is from above’‬‬ is that we are willing to receive God’s Word into our hearts. This means much more than simply reading or listening to the Bible, or paying attention to a sermon. It means that we recognize the authority of the One Who spoke this Word and we humble ourselves before what He says. It also means that we receive God’s Word with the intent of being changed by it and lining our lives up with its truth. For these souls the Word of God is precious. Like Job, “they esteem God’s Word more than their necessary food”. They look forward to learning more of it so they can hide it in their hearts and not sin against God. But sadly, there are many today who sit in churches and hear the Word but then are not willing to be doers of the Word. This is because they do not receive it into their hearts where it can accomplish the good work God intends. And their attitude reveals the foolishness of their heart. But each of us should ask ourselves: “What is our attitude towards the Word of God?” God told David after his sin, that in despising His command he was actually despising God Himself. By God’s grace, let us honor and humbly receive the Word of the Lord.

“But I am poor and needy; Yet the Lord thinketh upon me…”Psalm‬ ‭40‬:‭17‬ ‭KJV‬‬. The psalmist David had many problems and failures in his life. In the opening words of this verse and many other places, he confesses his own condition. Many times he struggled with sin and described himself as poor and needy. But the amazing thing is, he knew God still thought of him! He knew that God did not cast him away. The reality is, we all like it when someone tells us they are thinking of us. But as we face the troubles and trials of our lives, do we have this blessed assurance that “God thinks about me”? Do we make this personal? When we do it becomes a joy to know, that the Almighty Creator, the One Who upholds all things and is the Sovereign Ruler of the universe, actually thinks upon such an insignificant creature as I am! And He does so because He loves me. He Who knows everything about me loves and cares for me to such an extent that he keeps me in His thoughts. In Isaiah 49:16, God tells us “I have engraved your name upon the palms of My hands”. This lets us know He never forgets us. The songwriter penned the words of Jesus, “When He was on the cross, I was on His mind”. Let each of us be thankful today, that the Lord thinks on me.

“O Lord, Thou art my God; I will exalt Thee, I will praise Thy name; for Thou hast done wonderful things; Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.” Isaiah‬ ‭25:1‬ ‭KJV‬‬. There is a reason that the prophet’s heart was filled with praise to God. He has been considering the wonderful things God has done. He has thought upon the promises God has given and how He has been faithful to fulfill His Word. And as he thinks upon these things he is reminded, that very same God, Who parted the Red Sea for His children and fed them for 40 years in the desert, that is MY GOD! The same God, Who used little David to defeat a heathen giant, He is MY GOD! The same God Who lifted Joseph from the prison house to the throne, is still MY GOD! And so it will be with us, when we take time to consider what God has promised, the marvelous things He has done and that He is our God today. When we choose to ‘think on these good things’, the dark clouds will soon pass away, and our hearts will be filled with praise to God! By His grace, let us make that choice today, to think upon the good things of God. And as we do let us remember, He is our faithful God.

“Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, Who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.” 1 Corinthians‬ ‭4‬:‭5‬ ‭KJV‬‬. When a sculptor is in the process of his work, it is impossible to accurately judge it. All we can see are the rough edges and misshapen features. To the untrained eye, it looks like a mess. But if we wait until his work is done, then we see that great care and wisdom were used all throughout the process. Too often in our own lives and the lives of others, we try to judge what God is doing long before the process is complete. We feel the rough places. We see the misshapen areas. And in our haste, we imagine that it’s all a mess. Or we think that God has given up on His work. But let us have the patience to realize, this is not yet the time to judge God’s work, because our lives are still unfinished works. But one day, we will see clearly! One day we will understand better! And then we will give praise to God. By God’s grace, let us learn to be patient as He works in us and in others to accomplish His purpose.