Month: June 2024

6/30/24

“In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: And He did hear my voice out of His temple, And my cry did enter into His ears.”2 Samuel‬ ‭22‬:‭7‬ ‭KJV‬‬. One of the most wonderful things about having a personal relationship with God is, He hears our cries and responds as we need. In this passage David is reflecting upon a time when his life was under threat. A powerful enemy had come against him and he had nowhere else to look except God. And certainly he was in great distress. But what a blessing, that in his great need he could cry out to God. In our lives there will be many times that we are in distress. It may be the distress of sorrow or suffering. It may be some great temptation. It may not be a physical enemy, but we know the enemy of souls is coming against us. We feel our own weakness. We know that in ourselves we are not sufficient. But let us learn from David and know that our God still hears the cries of His children. Our merciful Lord is listening to every prayer that we make. And let us be sure, He will respond as we need.

6/29/24

“And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And He was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake Him, and say unto Him, Master, carest Thou not that we perish?” Mark‬ ‭4:37-38‬ ‭KJV‬‬. At this time the disciples knew very little about Jesus. When the storm came and they felt fear for their lives, they asked Jesus, “Do you care…?” But there would come a time, after His atoning death and resurrection, that they never had to ask that question again. He proved His love and care for them in a far greater way than they ever imagined! But have we reached that place in our personal experience with Jesus, that we no longer ask, or even wonder, “Does He care?” This is one reason it is so important for us to know Him in personal relationship. It is why we need to know what He said and what He’s done for us. It’s why we desperately need to get into His Word and believe it, because truly knowing Jesus is to know He cares. He cares about every detail in our lives. He cares about our struggles and the burdens we carry. He cares when the storms of life are threatening us. Let us rejoice with the songwriter when he penned the words, “Oh yes He cares! I know He cares! His heart is touched with my grief. When the days are weary, the long nights dreary, I know my Saviour cares”.

6/28/24

“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, Neither shall fruit be in the vines; The labour of the olive shall fail, And the fields shall yield no meat; The flock shall be cut off from the fold, And there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” Habakkuk‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬-‭18‬ ‭KJV‬‬. As the prophet thought on all that God had told him was coming on his people, it would have been very easy to become discouraged and hopeless. Their entire way of life was going to be changed when the enemy came against them and destroyed Jerusalem and carried away so many of them captive. But here we find a remarkable response in the prophets soul. Even though all this calamity comes he is able to say, “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord…” The reason he could rejoice was because his hope was in God alone. He was not looking at outward circumstances or material things. Instead, he was looking to God. He believed that God was much bigger and far greater than anything that could ever come against them. By God’s grace let us fix our attention on God as he did and then our hopes will be renewed.

6/27/24

“I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.” Isaiah‬ ‭61:10‬ ‭KJV‬‬. One of the wonderful things about this great salvation, which God has so richly bestowed upon His children is, that it changes us on the inside and the outside. Many people talk only about having Jesus in their heart. But as the prophet described real salvation, he likened it to a robe of righteousness. A robe is something that is seen by other people. The jewels that a bride wears are on the outside. This is part of the far reaching affect that true salvation has upon our lives. It affects what people see in our lives. It changes how we present ourselves to the world. We are not the same old selfish creatures we used to be who did not care what God thinks of us. Now we desire to please God in everything we say and do and even how we look.  Far too many believers damage their testimonies and hinder their walk with God, by a careless outward life. Let us do as Jesus said, and live so that others see our good works and glorify our Father in Heaven.

6/26/24

“and he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not your’s, but God’s.” 2 Chronicles‬ ‭20:15‬ ‭KJV‬‬. This was a day of great trouble for Israel. An overwhelming enemy army had come against them. They had no ability on a human level to withstand them. But thank God they discovered, when we can’t, God can! The man of God stepped forward and told them that this battle is the Lord’s. Since then, multitudes of God’s children have been encouraged by these words. But for our battles to become God’s battles means a few things. First, it means we must humble ourselves to admit we need God’s help. We must confess that our enemy is more than we can deal with. And then, it means we must step back and wait. We must let God do in His time what only He can do. We should understand that our part in the battle is to fully trust God, and not rely on the arm of flesh. Far too often, we try to get involved in the wrong way and make the battle ours. But let us know, the only real victory in our spiritual battles belongs to Jesus Christ. Let us learn to humbly and patiently abide in Christ and as we trust Him, our battles will belong to Him.

6/25/24

“O LORD, I have heard Thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive Thy work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make known; In wrath remember mercy.” Habakkuk‬ ‭3‬:‭2‬ ‭KJV‬‬. As the prophet had listened to God in the previous chapters, he had heard fearful things. God told him that judgement and correction was coming to His people because of their sin and unrepentant attitudes. They would be carried away captive to a foreign land. And certainly it was a very sobering and fearful word he had received. But let us notice also, that even after hearing all of this, Habakkuk still had enough hope in God’s mercy to pray this great prayer. Even though judgement was coming, he is praying for revival. He understood what so few seem to realize today, that some measure of judgement was necessary in order to humble people and prepare them for revival. When he prays, “In wrath remember mercy”, he is clinging to that blessed hope we share with him of our God Who is filled with grace and mercy. By God’s grace, let us pray with the wisdom and the hope that he demonstrates in this great prayer.

6/24/24

“And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.” 1 Samuel‬ ‭3:10‬ ‭KJV‬‬. This was when God was calling Samuel as a young boy. How wonderful it was that he had the heart to listen to what God wanted to say to him. He was ready to hear God’s voice. And this should be our attitude still today. Everyday we wake up to start a new day, every time we read God’s Word or listen to the preaching of God’s Word, our attitude should be, “Speak to me Lord, because I need to hear Your voice.” But for us to be able to hear the still small voice of God’s Spirit, we must also shut out other voices. Whatever it takes, we must separate ourselves from the noise of this world and get alone with God. This is something almost foreign to this generation who lives with constant noise. So we must make definite effort and discipline ourselves to turn off everything else. It may mean we have to go to bed earlier, so we can get up before the noise of the day begins. But whatever it takes, it will be worth it, because there is nothing we need so much as to hear the voice of our Father. We can only respond to His will for us as we listen to what He is saying.

6/23/24

“For evildoers shall be cut off: But those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.” Psalm‬ ‭37‬:‭9‬ KJV. One of the difficult things about ‘Waiting’ is that we often feel alone as we wait. But waiting is not nearly as bad if we are in the company of someone we can share with, especially if that person is likeminded. Time passes more quickly when we are in good company. So as we think of ‘Waiting on the Lord’ we should realize that we are never waiting alone. All throughout the Bible and church history we find faithful souls who have waited on God. Even now, God’s people are waiting on the Lord in many ways. As we wait for the right time, we wait like Nehemiah and Esther, who waited for the right moment to make their petition. As we wait for the fulfillment of God’s promises, we wait like Abraham and Sarah, who waited 25 years for the promised son. And without question, we wait with the saints of all ages for the coming of our Lord and Saviour. So let us keep in mind, as we wait on God, we are waiting in good company.

6/22/24

“…for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.” Acts‬ ‭5:38-39‬ ‭KJV‬‬. As Gamaliel spoke in behalf of the apostles, he reminded the Jewish leaders of this important truth. In essence he was saying, that whatever men try to do on their own, apart from God, is doomed to failure. But when men are working with God and He has ordained their work, nothing in all this world can stop what God has purposed. We know that the work of those apostles did go forward. The early church grew because God was giving them great power and great grace to accomplish this amazing work. But for us today, in the work of the church and in our individual lives, we should recognize the reality of this truth. Whatever we are trying to do on our own, without the leading of the Lord, without His wisdom directing us, will ultimately fail. It may seem to prosper on a human level, but in God’s eyes it will be a failure. But everything we do under the leadership of His Spirit, everything that God purposes to do in us and through us will be accomplished. Nothing men or devils can do against us will be able to overcome what God purposes. Let us thank God, that greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world.

6/21/24

“Yea, let none that wait on Thee be ashamed…” Psalm‬ ‭25‬:‭3‬ ‭KJV‬‬. One of the reasons God’s Word speaks so much about “Waiting on God” is because it is an essential part of the life of faith. God has given us many promises that we do not see the immediate fulfillment of and for that reason we must learn to wait patiently on God. But while this is true, we also have to confess that waiting is not easy. There are many things about waiting that distress us. One of those things is, we tend to think that waiting is a waste of time. We all know our time is limited and of course the Bible teaches us to “redeem the time”, which means to use it wisely for good purposes. So in these times of waiting it often feels like our time is being wasted. It feels like we are missing opportunities. But let us realize, whenever we are waiting on God, that is never wasted time. We may not be accomplishing what we want, but God is doing in us and for us what He knows is needed. Almost every prominent Bible character had times of waiting. And in each case, God was working in ways that they could not yet understand. So as we wait on God, let us be sure that this time is not wasted, because He is working all things for our good.