Passage of the Day: Ephesians 4: 1 [NIV] – As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
Ephesians 4: 1 [NASB]: - Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, …
My Journal for Today: Well again, in John MacArthur’s Strength For Today, the author has led me to dwell on this powerful exhortation by the Apostle Paul (i.e., the repeated verse, Eph. 4: 1), which I’ve quoted today from the NIV/NASB and underlined the word picture of “the [Christian] walk” Paul seeks for believers.
Actually this word picture, referring to the “Christian walk,” is not uncommon in the New Testament. You can see it in these verses (also from the NASB – note underlined emphasis):
>>> SCRIPTURE: Romans 6: 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
>>> SCRIPTURE: 2nd John 1: 6 And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.
>>> SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 2: 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
>>> SCRIPTURE: 1st Thessalonians 4: 1 Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more.
Paul really wanted Christians with whom he had influence and contact “to walk” in Christlikeness. Read in his wonderful prayer of empowerment [from Eph. 3: 16 – 21] how Paul realized that believers would never be able to “walk” in Christlikeness unless they were energized and enabled to walk worthy by the power of God’s Spirit.
>>> SCRIPTURE: Eph. 3: 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, 21to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Don’t you just love that last verse (i.e., Eph. 3: 20). Paul knew and prayed for Christians to recognize the power within them (us), i.e., the Holy Spirit, to walk worthy of our calling as Christians. But he also knew that no Christian could or would walk in this worthy manner unless he/she were fully surrendered to the God’s way/will and was fully obedient to God’s word. He knew that God’s love could only flow through the Christian whose love was surrendered to God. That is what was expressed by Jesus Himself in John 14: 21 …
>>> SCRIPTURE: John 14: 21 “Whoever has My commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves Me. He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love him and show Myself to him."
What a promise! If we, as Paul desired, surrender to God’s Spirit within us, walking in obedience to Christ’s commands, Christ Himself, through His Spirit, will abide in our hearts and manifest Himself in/through us. But as MacArthur points out, that’s a conditional promise. MacArthur writes, “You (the believer) must commit everyday and every moment to the Lord, trusting in [God’s] strength.” And when we do that, we will find Christ’s light shining on our path (see Ps. 119: 105) and His strength pouring through His grace into our weakness (see 2nd Cor. 12: 9) so that we can be overcomers in this world – as was Christ (see John 16: 33).
As I’ve often asked other believers, because of what I’ve experienced myself, “Would you rather depend on your own knowledge and strength or God’s?” Duh! To me the answer here for the Christian is an absolute no-brainer. But you’ve got to answer for yourself. And then, after answering this question we have to activate the decisions which allow God’s Spirit to flow, through God’s grace, into our mind/heart so that we can/will make Godly decisions rather than flesh-driven decisions. It’s actually a very simple concept … but a very difficult application.
My Prayer Today: Lord, I rely on You! Amen
Showing posts with label God's promises. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God's promises. Show all posts
Friday, January 07, 2011
Friday, October 01, 2010
2010 – October 1 – Sowing Tears of Joy
October, 2010
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Blogger Bill's Note: This morning's message and devotional seemed very pointed to me in timing and personal pertinence. I hope it means something to you as well.
Study from God’s Word… Psalms 126, 128, 132, 147, and 149 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 126: 5 – 6 … NIV Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.
My Journal for Today: You’ve heard it before, … “No pain, … no gain!” And to some extent it’s true. Those who’ve experienced a lot of pain in life and have recovered to become a better person know the truth in this old saying. It is a truism; but, as Dr. Smith points out in his devotional for today, some people never come out of the pain and realize the gain. And then there is the matter of what it seems like when one is in the midst of the pain. Don’t you agree that it’s hard to see the truth of Romans 8: 28 when one is going through the pain of chemotherapy and lives under the cloud of a terminal diagnosis.
It’s easy to see the gain which comes from pain in retrospect; but in the midst of the pain, it sometimes becomes hard to see the rainbow and find the sun in the midst of the storm. But for those Jews, who had gone through the seventy years of exile and the captivity of Babylon and other nations, faithfully hoping in the prophesies of men like Zechariah, and then moving back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple, the sunrise of God’s promises must’ve been the gain on the other side of pain. It must’ve been soothing for these faithful children of the Old Covenant to hear the songs I read this morning, called “psalms of ascent.” Many of these loyal, faithful Jews had certainly experienced the pain; … now, the remnant was about to experience some of the gain. And ultimately those who believed in the promise of the Messiah would realize an eternal gain on the other side of their pain.
This morning is the last full day of our family vacation; and we’ve been experiencing rain, rain, rain. Oh, we’ve had cloudy respites where we could play in the surf of Myrtle Beach, SC; but mostly it has been a cloudy, rainy time here. But this morning when I woke up to come here and be with God for my “quiet time,” I looked out off the balcony of our 10th floor condo and noted that the sun was rising to what would be a blue sky [see foto below]. And then, as God’s timing would have it, I was brought to the words and truth of today’s highlight text; and I realized that God was saying to me, … “Bill, there will always be a sunrise, even when you have trouble seeing it; and if you stay faithful with Me long enough, My sunrises will one day bring you a Light which makes up for all the storms of life.”
And all I could say, looking at the sun rising so beautifully over the surf, was “… Lord, thank You for Your gain which always follows the pain.”
My Prayer for Today: Hallelujah; and praise You, Lord. Amen
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Blogger Bill's Note: This morning's message and devotional seemed very pointed to me in timing and personal pertinence. I hope it means something to you as well.
Study from God’s Word… Psalms 126, 128, 132, 147, and 149 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 126: 5 – 6 … NIV Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.
My Journal for Today: You’ve heard it before, … “No pain, … no gain!” And to some extent it’s true. Those who’ve experienced a lot of pain in life and have recovered to become a better person know the truth in this old saying. It is a truism; but, as Dr. Smith points out in his devotional for today, some people never come out of the pain and realize the gain. And then there is the matter of what it seems like when one is in the midst of the pain. Don’t you agree that it’s hard to see the truth of Romans 8: 28 when one is going through the pain of chemotherapy and lives under the cloud of a terminal diagnosis.
It’s easy to see the gain which comes from pain in retrospect; but in the midst of the pain, it sometimes becomes hard to see the rainbow and find the sun in the midst of the storm. But for those Jews, who had gone through the seventy years of exile and the captivity of Babylon and other nations, faithfully hoping in the prophesies of men like Zechariah, and then moving back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple, the sunrise of God’s promises must’ve been the gain on the other side of pain. It must’ve been soothing for these faithful children of the Old Covenant to hear the songs I read this morning, called “psalms of ascent.” Many of these loyal, faithful Jews had certainly experienced the pain; … now, the remnant was about to experience some of the gain. And ultimately those who believed in the promise of the Messiah would realize an eternal gain on the other side of their pain.
This morning is the last full day of our family vacation; and we’ve been experiencing rain, rain, rain. Oh, we’ve had cloudy respites where we could play in the surf of Myrtle Beach, SC; but mostly it has been a cloudy, rainy time here. But this morning when I woke up to come here and be with God for my “quiet time,” I looked out off the balcony of our 10th floor condo and noted that the sun was rising to what would be a blue sky [see foto below]. And then, as God’s timing would have it, I was brought to the words and truth of today’s highlight text; and I realized that God was saying to me, … “Bill, there will always be a sunrise, even when you have trouble seeing it; and if you stay faithful with Me long enough, My sunrises will one day bring you a Light which makes up for all the storms of life.”
And all I could say, looking at the sun rising so beautifully over the surf, was “… Lord, thank You for Your gain which always follows the pain.”
My Prayer for Today: Hallelujah; and praise You, Lord. Amen
Sunday, March 14, 2010
2010 – Mar. 14 – Promises Delayed, Not Promised Denied
Study from God’s Word… Josh 18: 1 – 28; Josh 19: 1 – 51; Josh 20: 1 – 9; Josh 21: 1 - 45; … Passage for Reflection: Joshua 21: 43 – 45 … NIV 43 So the LORD gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their forefathers, and they took possession of it and settled there. 44 The LORD gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their forefathers. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the LORD handed all their enemies over to them. 45 Not one of all the LORD's good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.
My Journal for Today: Okay, here, … F. LaGard Smith has me reading deeply into the times of Joshua when God is working out the fulfillment of a promise He had made to Abraham over seven centuries earlier; and we could ask, “Why is all this documentation so important in the Book of Joshua?” But really the answer to that one is pretty clear-cut, almost three thousand years later, so that we can see that God is a promise-keeping God. And what we read about in these passages documents the reality that our God is the God of His word, as we can also read in Numbers 23: 19, which states, 19 God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
But how would one of those Jews who was living during that 700 years, when God’s promises were delayed, feel. Maybe like many Christians today feel when they see what is happening in our world, with all the degradation of sin and the mockery of God’s Name and purposes. And here we are, … to wait on promises made by God in the Person of a Man Who died on a cross, as documented in the New Testament. Have you ever wondered why God is so slow in bringing on His full and completed Kingdom?
Well, in this regard, my favorite Old Testament Prophet, old Habakkuk, came to God with such questions; and I’d charge you to go back and read old Habby’s interaction with God in the Book designated by Habakkuk’s name. It’s a wonderful true story about a man who needed to bring his doubts and confusion to his God; and ask “WHY?” of His Lord. And God took the questions and He interacted with Habakkuk, showing the Prophet that Habakkuk would have to wait for God to do HIS thing in HIS time; and that Habakkuk would actually have to watch and see that things would actually get worse before Habakkuk would see that God’s promises would be fulfilled. And don’t you just love that passage in Habakkuk 3: 17 - 18, which reads, 17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
My friend, I hope we have the faith to let God be God, trusting in His ways and His timing, and especially in His promises. Because if we don’t, we’re going to live lives of desperation as we see what is transpiring in our world. We need to be post-modern day Habakkuks and choose to hold onto our joy even though we see what is going on today, with the world unfolding as God’s word documents in Romans 1: 18 -32 [linked here]. God is still God, my friend; and we can trust and cling to His promises which were completely fulfilled and punctuated by God, the Son, dying on the cross so that all who believe in Him would live eternally in the hope which is His resurrection.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I do trust You; and I wait on You to do all that You have promised and what You came to us to demonstrate to/for us by living, dying, and being raised again. The promise of Your coming again suspends, but never denies, the promises activated by your first coming. And we stand ready – and waiting – for all You have promised to transpire when You come again. Amen
My Journal for Today: Okay, here, … F. LaGard Smith has me reading deeply into the times of Joshua when God is working out the fulfillment of a promise He had made to Abraham over seven centuries earlier; and we could ask, “Why is all this documentation so important in the Book of Joshua?” But really the answer to that one is pretty clear-cut, almost three thousand years later, so that we can see that God is a promise-keeping God. And what we read about in these passages documents the reality that our God is the God of His word, as we can also read in Numbers 23: 19, which states, 19 God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
But how would one of those Jews who was living during that 700 years, when God’s promises were delayed, feel. Maybe like many Christians today feel when they see what is happening in our world, with all the degradation of sin and the mockery of God’s Name and purposes. And here we are, … to wait on promises made by God in the Person of a Man Who died on a cross, as documented in the New Testament. Have you ever wondered why God is so slow in bringing on His full and completed Kingdom?
Well, in this regard, my favorite Old Testament Prophet, old Habakkuk, came to God with such questions; and I’d charge you to go back and read old Habby’s interaction with God in the Book designated by Habakkuk’s name. It’s a wonderful true story about a man who needed to bring his doubts and confusion to his God; and ask “WHY?” of His Lord. And God took the questions and He interacted with Habakkuk, showing the Prophet that Habakkuk would have to wait for God to do HIS thing in HIS time; and that Habakkuk would actually have to watch and see that things would actually get worse before Habakkuk would see that God’s promises would be fulfilled. And don’t you just love that passage in Habakkuk 3: 17 - 18, which reads, 17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
My friend, I hope we have the faith to let God be God, trusting in His ways and His timing, and especially in His promises. Because if we don’t, we’re going to live lives of desperation as we see what is transpiring in our world. We need to be post-modern day Habakkuks and choose to hold onto our joy even though we see what is going on today, with the world unfolding as God’s word documents in Romans 1: 18 -32 [linked here]. God is still God, my friend; and we can trust and cling to His promises which were completely fulfilled and punctuated by God, the Son, dying on the cross so that all who believe in Him would live eternally in the hope which is His resurrection.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I do trust You; and I wait on You to do all that You have promised and what You came to us to demonstrate to/for us by living, dying, and being raised again. The promise of Your coming again suspends, but never denies, the promises activated by your first coming. And we stand ready – and waiting – for all You have promised to transpire when You come again. Amen
Sunday, January 31, 2010
2010 Day 31. Jan. 31 – A God Who Relents
From Exodus 32-34 ... Specifically from Exod. 32:14 – Then the Lord relented and did not bring on His people the disaster He had promised.
My Devotional for Today: Go figure. God is a God who never lies [we can read and believe that from the passage in Numbers 23: 19, which states, God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
Okay, God doesn’t lie; but as we read today through Exodus 32 – 34, our God is influenced by the lives we live as His chosen people; and He is touched by the pleas of His anointed ones, like Moses, who came to Him as advocates for the people of God. And so we read today that God reminded Moses (and God’s people) of His covenant; but he spared those same people because of Moses’ plea; and because of the advocacy of this transformed man, Moses, God was willing to recast His Law a second time in stone and bring that word to His people once again.
And Dr. Smith today asks the crux of a question from this study. He writes, ”Have I (you as well) learned anything from a merciful God about when to keep my promises and when to change my mind?” And yes, I have answered that question in my own mind; but you, my friend, must answer it for yourself in God’s presence here today.
How often can God see inequity and blatant sinful living being perpetrated in His presence and for all the world to see; and then how many times will our Lord be merciful to allow mankind the latitude to repent in remorse for our sins? How many times?
I cannot answer that for you; and I certainly cannot answer that for God.
My Prayer for Today : Lord, my God, have mercy on us, Your sinful children. Amen
My Devotional for Today: Go figure. God is a God who never lies [we can read and believe that from the passage in Numbers 23: 19, which states, God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
Okay, God doesn’t lie; but as we read today through Exodus 32 – 34, our God is influenced by the lives we live as His chosen people; and He is touched by the pleas of His anointed ones, like Moses, who came to Him as advocates for the people of God. And so we read today that God reminded Moses (and God’s people) of His covenant; but he spared those same people because of Moses’ plea; and because of the advocacy of this transformed man, Moses, God was willing to recast His Law a second time in stone and bring that word to His people once again.
And Dr. Smith today asks the crux of a question from this study. He writes, ”Have I (you as well) learned anything from a merciful God about when to keep my promises and when to change my mind?” And yes, I have answered that question in my own mind; but you, my friend, must answer it for yourself in God’s presence here today.
How often can God see inequity and blatant sinful living being perpetrated in His presence and for all the world to see; and then how many times will our Lord be merciful to allow mankind the latitude to repent in remorse for our sins? How many times?
I cannot answer that for you; and I certainly cannot answer that for God.
My Prayer for Today : Lord, my God, have mercy on us, Your sinful children. Amen
Monday, December 07, 2009
2009 – Day 340.Dec 7 – Grace Leads You Home
Passage for Study: Acts 24: 1 – 9 … Acts 24 linked for study …
My Journal for Today: Today’s highlight passage tells another story of the persecution Paul experienced, put upon him by the Jewish leaders who felt that his witness to the Gospel afforded a threat to the traditional teachings of the Old Covenant. Paul would not relent from declaring the New Covenant; and the Jewish Sanhedrin, of which Paul had been a member when he was Saul of Tarsus, now saw Paul as being blasphemous. So, in today’s passage we read of the beginnings of his trial before the Roman Governor, Felix, where the case against Paul was presented, by the Jewish prosecutor, Tertullus.
But God’s hand of protection was on Paul at the time; and if you read on beyond verse 9 today, you’ll read that Paul was allowed to stay quite some time in Caesarea, being restrained, but protected, by the Roman order; and knowing Paul’s character as we do from Acts, he likely pressed on to declare Christ and defend himself to anyone who’d listen by relating his testimony and the Gospel message, just as he did to defend himself to Felix.
The point of today’s devotional by Swindoll is to encourage his readers, like me, to keep-on-keeping on in living and sharing the life-changing message of Christ no matter what one might encounter in life. And Pastor Chuck tells a poignant, personal story of how his mother compiled a hand-written book, a journal, of God’s promises from the Bible, claiming many of them for her children, husband, and family in her book of promises. This became part of Chuck Swindoll’s legacy; and he encourages readers like me or you to know and live in the truth of God’s promises as well. But that implies, or in reality, convicts us, to know what God’s promises are and have them readily sharpened into our hearts when we might need them as did Paul when he was falsely accused of blasphemy.
Like Swindoll wrote to his readers, I don’t know whether you have ever had someone who falsely accused you or put pressure on you because of your faith. I certainly have; and it’s no fun, to say the least. When good people, good Christians, learned of my jaded past of habitual sexual sin – before I became a Christian – some would not associate with me in our church, not wanting to be seen as being close to someone who represented a ministry for Christians who were imprisoned by such sin strongholds in their lives. It hurt me at first to be rejected like that; but God led me through that valley of rejection to the place that now my involvement in leading BattlePlan Ministries (again see www.battleplanministries.org) is even admired by most in our church.
But during those years (and it was fully five or more years), I had to rely upon God’s truths to overcome the feelings of rejection by my fellow Christians in our church. My mentor had led me to internalize (and memorize) such passages as Prov. 3: 5 – 6, Isaiah 41: 10, Phil. 4: 13 (the verse which led me to Christ), 1st Cor. 10: 13, 2nd Tim. 1: 7, and 2nd Cor. 12: 9. And I not only memorized these verses, I would claim them and pray them into my daily devotionals on many days when I felt discouraged. And My Savior, by His illuminating Spirit, led me through those feelings into a place where I now wear such armament against such feelings that I don’t allow myself to be taken down by those who might reject me in ministry.
I pray that you’ll get God’s word so deeply in your heart that it becomes defensive armament against your own deceitful heart; and I pray that it also becomes part of your sharpened and ever-ready sword of the Spirit to bring down Satan when he comes against you, trying to make you feel unworthy of God’s love and grace. Dear one, never forget the message of Romans 8; and right now I charge you to go back and read and meditate on that great passage by clicking on this link.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, there is no condemnation for one like me, who loves You; and all things You allow into my life are for my good, being called according to Your purpose, … and nothing can separate me from Your love. I live and move and have my being in those promises. Amen
My Journal for Today: Today’s highlight passage tells another story of the persecution Paul experienced, put upon him by the Jewish leaders who felt that his witness to the Gospel afforded a threat to the traditional teachings of the Old Covenant. Paul would not relent from declaring the New Covenant; and the Jewish Sanhedrin, of which Paul had been a member when he was Saul of Tarsus, now saw Paul as being blasphemous. So, in today’s passage we read of the beginnings of his trial before the Roman Governor, Felix, where the case against Paul was presented, by the Jewish prosecutor, Tertullus.
But God’s hand of protection was on Paul at the time; and if you read on beyond verse 9 today, you’ll read that Paul was allowed to stay quite some time in Caesarea, being restrained, but protected, by the Roman order; and knowing Paul’s character as we do from Acts, he likely pressed on to declare Christ and defend himself to anyone who’d listen by relating his testimony and the Gospel message, just as he did to defend himself to Felix.
The point of today’s devotional by Swindoll is to encourage his readers, like me, to keep-on-keeping on in living and sharing the life-changing message of Christ no matter what one might encounter in life. And Pastor Chuck tells a poignant, personal story of how his mother compiled a hand-written book, a journal, of God’s promises from the Bible, claiming many of them for her children, husband, and family in her book of promises. This became part of Chuck Swindoll’s legacy; and he encourages readers like me or you to know and live in the truth of God’s promises as well. But that implies, or in reality, convicts us, to know what God’s promises are and have them readily sharpened into our hearts when we might need them as did Paul when he was falsely accused of blasphemy.
Like Swindoll wrote to his readers, I don’t know whether you have ever had someone who falsely accused you or put pressure on you because of your faith. I certainly have; and it’s no fun, to say the least. When good people, good Christians, learned of my jaded past of habitual sexual sin – before I became a Christian – some would not associate with me in our church, not wanting to be seen as being close to someone who represented a ministry for Christians who were imprisoned by such sin strongholds in their lives. It hurt me at first to be rejected like that; but God led me through that valley of rejection to the place that now my involvement in leading BattlePlan Ministries (again see www.battleplanministries.org) is even admired by most in our church.
But during those years (and it was fully five or more years), I had to rely upon God’s truths to overcome the feelings of rejection by my fellow Christians in our church. My mentor had led me to internalize (and memorize) such passages as Prov. 3: 5 – 6, Isaiah 41: 10, Phil. 4: 13 (the verse which led me to Christ), 1st Cor. 10: 13, 2nd Tim. 1: 7, and 2nd Cor. 12: 9. And I not only memorized these verses, I would claim them and pray them into my daily devotionals on many days when I felt discouraged. And My Savior, by His illuminating Spirit, led me through those feelings into a place where I now wear such armament against such feelings that I don’t allow myself to be taken down by those who might reject me in ministry.
I pray that you’ll get God’s word so deeply in your heart that it becomes defensive armament against your own deceitful heart; and I pray that it also becomes part of your sharpened and ever-ready sword of the Spirit to bring down Satan when he comes against you, trying to make you feel unworthy of God’s love and grace. Dear one, never forget the message of Romans 8; and right now I charge you to go back and read and meditate on that great passage by clicking on this link.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, there is no condemnation for one like me, who loves You; and all things You allow into my life are for my good, being called according to Your purpose, … and nothing can separate me from Your love. I live and move and have my being in those promises. Amen
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