God Is Loving and Patient

(2 Peter 3:9) - "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

 

The delay of Christ's return is directly related to the fact that God wants everyone to hear the Gospel and have the opportunity of accepting Christ as their Lord and Savior.

 

Even though that salvation is God's desire and will for all, not everyone will hear and accept the truth of the Gospel.  Those who refuse and reject God's grace and salvation will remain lost and will spend eternity forever seperated from God in hell.

 

God is a patient God and will do everything He can to change a person's life, but the final decision is left up to the individual person to either accept or reject His provision of salvation.

 

We live in a time when people are turning to religion as a means of connecting with God, but the tragedy is that many religions do not lead to God but steers people away from God.  God does not offer religion; He offers relationship.

 

It is not God's will that any spend eternity in hell but that they spend eternity with Him in heaven.

 

I pray that as you read this passage of scripture that if you do not have a relationship with God that you repent of your sins and invite Christ into your heart and life.  And when you do, you'll experience the love, compassion and forgiveness from God and you'll embark on a brand new life and will know and experience that relationship with the loving and living God.

Do You Really Know Christ?

(Philippians 3:10) - "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death."

 

In this verse we see the heart and desire of Paul in regards to his relationship with Christ.  Paul did not just want to know about Christ, he wanted to know Him in a very personal way.  Paul sought to know Christ and to know His glorious power over the world and all that is in the world.  Paul's great pursuit in life was to know Christ.

 

Paul wanted to know the power of Christ's resurrection.  In conquering death, Christ demonstrated that He has the power to conquer any trial or temptation of man, no matter what we may face.

 

Paul wanted to know the fellowship of Christ's suffering.  Most of us are willing to share in the blessings of Christ but we want nothing to do with the sufferings of Christ.  Paul wanted to share in the purpose for which Christ was suffering.

 

Paul wanted to be made conformable to His death.  He sought to subject himself totally to Christ and to put his flesh and desires to death and to do only the will and desire of God.  That's why Paul stated in I Corinthians 15:31 - "I die daily".

 

We, just like Paul ought to have the same desires, not to just know about Christ, but to "know" Him in a personal, intimate way.  We also must put our trust in His ability that if He could raise from the dead, our problem is no problem to Him.  We must not only desire His blessing but also desire to share in the purpose of His suffering.  And, we must be determined that in order to please Him, we must "die daily" just as Paul did.

 

These are not popular desires but necessary desires!

The Divine Care of God

(Exodus 13:21) - "And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night.")

 

As the children of Israel were wandering in the wilderness we can see that God placed the pillars of cloud and fire to prove His love, presence, and His care for the people that He had great plans for.  What an awesome thing it was that for forty years God provided this pillar of cloud and fire.

 

The divine care of God is seen throughout Israel's wilderness journey.  God provided manna.  God provided quail.  God provided water.  God provided them clothing that did not wear out the whole time that they journeyed in the wilderness.  "And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and Thy shoe is not waxen old upon Thy foot" - (Deuteronomy 29:5).

 

Just as the children of Israel had the blessing of being led by God day and night, you and I have the same blessing.  God does in fact lead those who are His children by different ways and means.  It may not be by a pillar of cloud or fire, but through the Holy Spirit God will lead us in the directions that He wants us to go.  "And Thine ears shall hear a word behind Thee, saying, this is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left." - (Isaiah 30:21).

 

What an encouragement it is to know that God cares as much for you and I as He did for the children of Israel.  Are we listening for His direction and once we know what direction that He wants us to go, are we willing to trust His direction for our lives?  Just listen and follow!

God's Opinion of Sin

(Isaiah 5:20) - "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"

 

The woe is a statement of judgment that is pronounced on sin.

 

As God was speaking through Isaiah the prophet, He was describing the distorted view of what was right and wrong.  The people that Isaiah was speaking to were calling evil good and good evil.  They were putting light for darkness and darkness for light.  They were putting bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

 

As we look at the condition of our society today we cannot help but see the same mentality.  Society today exalts sin by calling immorality and perversion true virtues and commendable freedoms when according to the Word of God, God still calls sin, sin.  On the other hand many in our society calls righteousness evil because righteousness goes against their lifestyle.

 

You and I have a tremendous responsibility and privilege to lift up the standards of God's Word without apology because we know that biblical standards is God's desire and will for our society.

 

You and I are to be light in the midst of darkness and sin.  We must commit ourselves as believers to wholeheartedly adhere to God's view of what is right.  This kind of view of sin is not being pessimistic but in reality it's calling sin what it is - sin,.

 

What rewards are waiting for us due to our resolve to not compromise what God calls sin.  Let's be an encouragement to those who are not bending or bowing in the face of adversity.  Let's be light in our society.

God's Plan

(ECCLESIASTES 3:1) - "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven."

 

God's plan includes every person's purpose and activities on earth.  The words "season", "time", and "purpose", gives reference to God's divine plan and will regarding each person's life.

 

You and I must be careful not to miss Gods purpose and will for our lives.  There is no greater purpose of our existing on planet earth than the divine purpose that God has for us and to find that purpose and to walk in and fulfill that purpose in our individual lives.

 

There is no greater thrill and satisfaction than to know that God has a specific place, time, purpose, and function that He wants us to find and to live out according to His plan and purpose.

 

You and I are not here by happenstance or accident.  You and I are not someones mistake that somehow slipped by without God's awareness.  God knows our ending from our beginning and He has well orchestrated our lives to fit and to fulfill His purpose.

 

We all have our season, our time, and our purpose. Finding that season, time, and purpose is not God's responsibility but ours.  But once we find what our season, time and purpose is, God will hold you and I responsible to fulfill them in our lives.

 

Before you and I were ever born, God had our lives charted out.  He already had our purpose mapped out.  From our first breath until our last breath.

 

Methods of Praise

(Psalms 9:1) - "I will praise Thee, O Lord with my whole heart; I will show forth all Thy marvelous works."

 

At the heart of every believer's relationship with God is the privilege and responsibility to praise the Lord.

 

There are many kinds of methods of praising the Lord, and they are all biblical methods, even though some people may have difficulty or feel uncomfortable using some of the methods.

 

Before we begin to list the different methods of praising God, let's look at the meaning of the word "praise". Praise means to "bless God', to "worship", to "applaud", to "celebrate".

 

We fulfill the definitions of praise when we come together corporately to worship Him in our churches.  We praise Him with our singing to Him, not only corporately but also in our own private worship.  We can praise the Lord by also sharing with others the wonderful things that God has done in our own lives.  Our testimony to His goodness and faithfulness brings praise to Him.

 

There is another way that we can praise Him that we often do not consider as praise, but to God there is nothing that blesses Him more than when you and I live lives of spiritual integrity.  Our Godly living brings a daily praise to God.  Jesus reminds us that if we let our light shine, people will see our good works and give glory and praise to God (Matthew 5:16). 

 

The reasons that we have to praise God are so numerous that it's almost impossible to list them all, but when we begin to count our blessings, there will come out of our being a responce of praise.  God deserves our wholehearted praise.  Take a moment and praise Him.

Passing Your Test

(Job 23:10) - "But He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold."

 

Job felt confident that God still cared about His life and that He knew no adversity that would turn Job from His faithfulness to him.  Job was determined to pass any test that God would give to him that would test Job's faithfulness to God.

 

There is a vast difference between "being tempted" and "being tested".  There is also a difference between the "tempter" and the "tester".  God is the tester, not the tempter.  James stated in (James 1:13) - "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be temped with evil, neither tempteth he any man".

 

Job had confidence that God knew the outcome of his testing.  The purpose of God testing Job was for the same reason that God, from time-to-time, will test us: to reveal whether or not we have developed in our walk with Him.

 

God may test us in order to strengthen our faith, but never with the intent of leading us to sin.

 

I believe that we all have to admit that there are times when you and I fail the test.  There's encouragement in knowing that even when we fail the test we will not experience rejection from God.  If and when we fail the test God will allow circumstances into our lives whereby we can ready ourselves for the next test because there will be the next test.

 

Job stated that when God tries him, he will come forth as gold.  It is the process of the testing that refines our spiritual purity.  The more we are tested the better we become.  What is a blessing to know is that God has patience to take us through His process of our growing.

The Joy of the Lord

(Nehemiah 8:10) - "Then he said unto them, go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."

 

There is a tremendous difference between being joyful and being happy.  When a person is happy they are expressing an emotion based upon outward circumstances. When a person is joyful they are expressing an emotion based on what their heart knows is true, in spite of what their circumstances try to dictate to them.

 

It is the joy of the Lord that takes us through and gets us through our troubled times.  The joy that God gives to us gives us a strength that is greater and bigger than our problems.

 

As God's child, our problems and trials of life can and does affect our happiness.  But they cannot depleat our joy in God.  Not one time in scripture does God promise us a life with no difficulties, but He does promise us that in the midst of our difficulties His joy would take us through.

 

You may be experiencing difficult times even as you read these words.  My encourage-ment to you is to keep your eyes on the Lord, stand upon the promises of His Word, and by doing so, you'll experience the joy of the Lord as you stand upon the promises of His Word, and apply them to your life.

 

If for some reason your joy has been lost through sin or some other means, you have the promise that when you get in God's presence your joy will be restored.  Psalms 16:11 states that "In Thy presence is fullness of joy."

Ministering Angels

(II Kings 6:16) - "And he answered, fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them."

An unseen spiritual realm does exists, consisting of a host of ministering angels who are active in the lives of God's people.  It's a comfort to know that we have a host of angels ready to intervene on our behalf according to God's bidding.

God's ministering angels are not far off, but are very close watching our activities and are on constant guard for our well-being.

We know that the Word of God is plain concerning the spiritual warfare that every Christian is fighting.  The comforting part of that fact is that God has provided us with all that we need to not only fight the battle, but to win the battle.

Paul stated in Ephesians 6:11-12: "Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil (12) For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

In the midst of our battles we have the assurance that all of heaven is in support of our victory.  All of Heaven also includes God's ministering angels who are watching over us and doing what they do as God directs them.  We may not be able to see them, but there is an army of Heaven in support of you and I.  So just as the above verse states, we do not need to fear, for there is a whole lot more for us than what is against us!  DO NOT FEAR - Heaven is on our side!

Let's Make A Deal!

(I Samuel 1:11) - "And she vowed a vow, and said, O  Lord of hosts, if Thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of Thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget Thine handmaid, but wilt give unto Thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head."

 

Hannah's inability to have a child was directly linked to the fact that God was working in her life and was preparing her for the future.  Hannah was grieved in her heart due to her barrenness, not knowing that all the while God had a special plan for her life and her future.

 

It was due to Hannah's barrenness that caused her to really get serious enough concerning her desire to have a child that she, through her desperation, make a promise to God.  Hannah promised God that if He would allow her to have a "man child", she would give him back to the Lord for His service.  Hannah was not playing "Let's Make A Deal" with God, but was showing her devotion to Him by her willingness to dedicate her son to the work of the Lord.

 

Promises that you and I make are very important to the person or persons we make them to, but the promises we make to God are even more important.  If you read the rest of Hannah's life story, you will find that she kept her promise to God by giving Samuel back to Him.

 

God is also a promise keeper.  In fact there is not one promise that He has made that He has not kept.

 

If you have made promises to God, I pray that you have not gone back on your word.  One of the ways we can be faithful to God is to be faithful to keep and to fulfill the promises we have made to Him.

Those In Authority

(Numbers 12:10) - "And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous."

 

The questioning of spiritual authority is a very serious thing to God.  We know that God had chosen and called Moses to be the mediator between God and His people.  What God spoke to Moses directly, Moses was to share with the people of God.  What Moses shared with the people was the authoritative Word of God.

 

Not everyone agreed with the authority that God gave unto Moses.  Miriam's question of Moses' authority was the result of jealousy, that green-eyed monster that we all from time-to-time have to deal with.

 

When Miriam questioned the authority that God had given unto Moses, God smote Miriam with leprosy.  What God did was for the purpose of making an example of Miriam simply saying - "don't question my authority to choose whom I want to be the mediator between me and My people."

 

It has always been and will always be a serious thing to question God's authority or even question the God-given positions of authority that He has placed upon people of leadership.  To fight against God's will is a serious and dangerous place to be, knowing that it always results in God's judgment in some fashion or way.

 

Rather than questioning those who have spiritual authority, and those to whom God has placed in the position of having spiritual authority, try praying for them and Yourself that you can see that authority is a God-given blessing of leadership and guidance to His church.  Those who are in authority are never perfect or flawless.  They always need prayer!

Living a Sanctified Life

(JOSHUA 3:5) - "AND JOSHUA SAID UNTO THE PEOPLE, SANCTIFY YOURSELVES: FOR TOMORROW THE LORD WILL DO WONDERS AMONG YOU."

The promise that God was going to do wonders among His people was conditional.  The condition was that they sanctify themselves.  Sanctification is the process of separating, or the setting apart of something or someone for service unto the Lord.  God will not act on behalf of His people in the most powerful way if they are not inwardly clean and aligned with His will.

If we find ourselves fighting against the will and purpose of God for our lives there is the fact that we will not experience the wonders of God.  A "wonder" is an astounding something that we can and will experience through our obedience to His will.  God desires to move in astounding ways in our lives, but the condition for that to happen is the same as it was for the people that Joshua was talking to - being sanctified.

We can not live like, act like, talk like, think like, and do all the things that worldly and unsaved people do, and walk in the wonders of God.  The wonders and the astounding and astonishing things are only promised to those who are living clean and Godly lives.

Can you imagine the excitement and the anticipation that God's people had that knowing that as a result of living Godly and separated lives, something good was on its way.  The truth is, you and I can have the same excitement and anticipation in knowing that as a result of our living clean and Godly lives - something in the form of a wonder, something astounding and astonishing is on its way.  Brace Yourself - Here it comes!

Do You Really Trust God?!?

(Proverbs 3:5) - "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding."

Trusting in the Lord with all of our hearts, is the opposite of doubting God and His Word.

Trusting in the Lord means that at the most difficult times in our lives we can commit whatever we may be facing or experiencing to Him, knowing that he has our best interest at heart.

How often have you and I tried to rationalize and come to a complete understanding in regards to what we are facing or going through.  There are times in our lives that there is no human logical explanation for what we are experiencing.  That's when trusting in the Lord comes into action, knowing that even though we may not know the reason or answer, He does.  We can also take comfort in knowing that God knows.

There is absolutely nothing you and I go through that takes God by surprise.  He saw it coming and knew it was coming a long time before you and I were faced with whatever the problem may be.

Notice we are to trust God "with all our hearts", not part of our hearts, not even 99.9 percent of our hearts, but all of our hearts.  Realistically that at times is easier said than done.  By nature we like to know the end from the beginning, but we have to admit that we just don't understand the reason for our situation.  Rather than relying on our own judgement and explanation, we must pray for God's wisdom and will to be accomplished in our lives through whatever we may be going through without our understanding.

Just remember you may not know, but GOD DOES!