Month: September 2023

“Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?” Psalm‬ ‭94‬:‭16‬ ‭KJV‬‬. As the psalmist thought upon the evildoers and how they continually oppose God’s people, he asks the question, “Who will stand up for me?” Oftentimes we can understand how he felt. We see the wicked spreading their lies and gathering the support of the multitudes. We see wicked men rising to power and great numbers are standing with them. And we may wonder, “Who will stand up for me? Who will stand up for the faithful remnant?” But thank God we can read of the faithful martyr Stephen. When all that wicked crowd stood against him to stone him, he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:56) There as Stephen was moments from physical death, he saw that Jesus Christ was standing up for him! Try to imagine what that meant to him. In that moment everyone there was standing against him. But what mattered most was the Saviour Who stood for him! And because Jesus stood for him, he had the grace to die in victory with the peace of heaven in his soul. May we open the eyes of our faith, to know that same Jesus is standing up for us today, as we faithfully follow Him.

“Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him: With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.” 2 Chronicles‬ ‭32:7-8‬ ‭KJV. In these days when it seems that those against God’s people, far outnumber those with us, we do well to remember what God spoke to Old Testament Israel. We should realize that our enemies will have physical numbers on their side. They may even have popular opinion on their side. But the reality is, all they have is an arm of flesh! All they have are limited, human resources with them. But we, as God’s people, have the Mighty God with us! We have the One Who has all power, all authority, and all wisdom to do everything that we need! And thank God, He promises to fight our battles if we are willing to depend on Him. If Israel could rest themselves on the word of an earthly king, surely we can rest ourselves on the Unfailing Word of our Heavenly King! By God’s grace, let us be strong and courageous to go forth and shine as lights in the midst of the darkness. Our God is with us and He will never fail.

“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,” Philippians‬ ‭3‬:‭13‬ ‭KJV‬‬. It is very easy for believers to become divided in their focus. But Paul stated here, “THIS ONE THING I DO”. This was one of the keys to his great ministry in the early church. He did not allow himself to become distracted from the true goal. He was always seeking to do God’s will. The main objective of every Christian life, the one thing our hearts should be focused on is: Doing the will of God. Jesus said this was why He came to this world, “to do the will of the Father”. David said, “I delight to do Thy will, O my God”. Certainly, God’s will involves many things that we regard as spiritual activity, but it also includes every necessary detail of our physical work as well. But the key is, to always recognize our one true goal is: “To do the will of God”. Sometimes doing God’s will is going to mean going through suffering or persecution. At other times it will mean times of solitude rather than public activity. By God’s grace, may we focus on this one thing: That God’s will is accomplished in our lives.

“The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; The floods lift up their waves. The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, Yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.” Psalm‬ ‭93‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭KJV‬‬. In this brief psalm, the writer is extolling the truth of God’s sovereign reign over all things. He speaks of the floods and the mighty waves as opposing forces. And certainly they are forces man is still not able to deal with. We witness this often in the natural disasters which man is powerless against. But let us be sure, none of these things pose a threat to the reign of our God. He is mightier than all that would oppose His purposes! But much more than things in nature, we feel the floods of spiritual opposition against our souls. The prophet Isaiah speaks of the enemy coming like a flood against God’s people. And then we see the flood of iniquity that has seemingly overwhelmed our world. All around the voice of opposition if lifted up against the godly. But even as we face the opposition we can take courage, because our God still reigns! He has not turned this world over to the forces of evil as many mistakenly believe. He has not turned a deaf ear to the cries of His children. All of His plans and purposes will be carried forth because there is nothing or no one that has any power against our God! All of His purposes are assured because He is infinite in power and wisdom! Dear ones, let us take comfort in this glorious truth: Our God reigns!

“and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;” Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭23‬ ‭KJV‬‬. One of the truths seldom understood by this religious generation is, that all of our lives belong to God. There is no division between the sacred and the secular for a true child of God. Scripture declares here: “Whatever we do is to be done as to the Lord.” In verse 17, it says, “Do all in the name of Jesus.” This means that for a Christian all of life is supposed to be sacred. Every activity we are involved with, every word we speak, should be ‘as to the Lord.’ It does not matter if we are preaching or praying, or if we are doing some trivial work that may seem unimportant. Everything should be done ‘as to the Lord.’ And when we approach our daily lives in this manner it transforms the mundane into sacred activity and makes life a joy, because it all can be done for God’s glory. It all is offered as our service of love to our Lord. Let us not imagine that only certain activities are sacred, or spiritual work. This mistake has brought much discontent to many believers. By God’s grace let us approach everything in our lives with the right spirit and attitude. As we do, the smile of God’s favor will be our reward.

“Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to Him shall men come; and all that are incensed against Him shall be ashamed. In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.” Isaiah‬ ‭45‬:‭24‬-‭25‬ ‭KJV‬‬. This passage is a prophecy of what was to come in Jesus Christ. The words “IN THE LORD” point specifically to John 15, where Jesus talks of our ABIDING IN HIM. This is a fundamental truth that is often neglected today. True Christianity is not merely believing a few things about Jesus. Rather, it is faith in Him that brings us INTO an abiding relationship with Him. For most today this is only a mystical idea. It is something they hear about but seldom experience. But for God’s true children it is our daily, personal experience. It is IN HIM that we live and move and have our being. It is in Him that we experience justification. It is only in Him that we have righteousness and strength. And as we do this, it will be in Him we glory! By God’s grace, let us enter into this abiding relationship where we find all that we need, all our hungering souls long for, IN JESUS.

“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! And Thy thoughts are very deep.” Psalm‬ ‭92‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭KJV‬. As the psalmist is offering praise and thanks to God his mind is drawn to the marvelous works of God. And certainly all of God’s works are marvelous. His works in creation and throughout history are enough that we should forever praise Him. And how important it is that we focus on God’s works rather than what man has done. When we look around this fallen world and we see the works of man, we can easily become sad and discouraged. But when we focus our attention on what God has done, then our hearts are made glad. And how much more do we have to praise God for in ths New Testament dispensation! Now we can rejoice in the finished work of Jesus Christ in redemption. Now we can look to that great work of God which purchased our eternal salvation and praise Him for His mighty work! We can thank Him for His great work in establishing His church and allowing us to be a part of it. And it is only in God’s works that we can triumph! No work that we do on a human level can bring the spiritual victory we need. But thank God, when we trust in His works, we can triumph over all that comes against us in this world.

“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 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 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.’ By God’s grace, let us give our best to our Lord.

“And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that He put His hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.” Mark‬ ‭8‬:‭24‬-‭25‬ ‭KJV‬‬. The manner in which Jesus healed the eyes of this blind man teaches us a very important lesson. After the first touch, Jesus asked him what he saw. He replied, “I see men as trees, walking”. This meant that he was not seeing clearly. He could not see men as they are. But let us ask ourselves, “How do we see people?” Have our spiritual eyes been opened so we can see them as they are? Do we see them as precious souls who God loves, or do we see them only on a human level? Do we see them as souls who Christ came to seek and to save, because they are of infinite worth? Or do we see only their faults and failures? Too often people become religious and see things differently, but they do not see clearly. This causes a critical spirit. It becomes easy to see people in a negative way. And when we do that, we fail to see them as God does. May God help us to be honest about how we see people. Because how we see them reveals much about the condition of our own heart. It requires a thorough work in our hearts before we can see souls as they are. And when that happens, we will not be critical. Instead, we will love them and pray for them.

“Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.” Acts‬ ‭3‬:‭26‬ ‭KJV‬‬. As Peter spoke to the Jewish crowd that day, he reminded them of this vital truth that has been so neglected in this generation. Like them, many in religion today have become confused about the real blessing of salvation. Like most today, their ideas of the Messiah were totally mistaken. They looked only at outward blessings. They looked for a Messiah who would reform their culture. And certainly those blessings will follow when people are turned from their sins. Today, we are glad for the blessing of forgiveness which frees us from the punishment of sin. We thank God for the blessing of eternal life through Christ and the hope of Heaven. We praise God for the many blessings He bestows on us. But where are those who recognize this great blessing, of being turned from our sins by the power of Jesus Christ? When will we realize this is the fundamental change in man that is needed? This is the starting point for all the other blessings we seek. The reality is, this is the great work Jesus came to do! He came to destroy the work of satan in us! He came to break the power of sin. He gives us a new heart and nature which hates sin. And without this blessing of being turned from sin, no other blessing is truly meaningful to us. May God open our eyes to see and experience this tremendous blessing Christ offers to every soul.