"God's Mighty Hand" -2

"As for God, His way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: He is a buckler to all those that trust in Him." (Psalms 18:30)  Having seen what God has said in His word, and then compared that to what this world shows us, I have nothing to prove God wrong on anything that He has said; absolutely nothing! Now, try and find something for yourself in His word that you might disprove Him on, and see if you have any luck trying to find it; chances are, you will only find things that might appear a certain way, until God shows you differently! That is the amazing thing about how God's word is layers upon layers of truth; each and every truth the Lord reveals, is not fully revealed until He opens it up for each and everyone of us personally, and makes His truth known in our hearts. I know that some may not understand what I just said; but that is okay, because I sometimes say things that I barely understand myself. But the point to what I was trying to say, is that we can prove God's word in our minds all day long, but until it is proved in our hearts, He has not spoke His truth into us yet. It is proved in our hearts when God has made it personal to us, and when we confirms within our heart that it is truth. God does not need to prove His word to us; nor does He need to show us proof that He is, or that He has spoken; our hearts confirm that He is, and our hearts know His voice when He speaks. On a different level; the Word of the Lord was tried on the cross; revealing the awesome love that God has for each and everyone of us. I have always wondered why God did not just remove sin with a swipe of His mighty hand, or just speak into the broken world and fix all of it's problems with just a word. Then, as we examine His word, we find that He has done just that; sending His Son to speak for Him in the action that was demonstrated upon that cross. To make something personal, God's word must speak to our hearts; it must press into our heart the stamp of His love, and make a permanent  mark there that gives us an image of His love. What I see when I try and envision this mark upon my heart, is the hand of God extended out to me and pulling me into His presence. God could have just swiped His hand across this whole earth and wiped all of the sin away; but that would not have made it personal, and it would not have demonstrated His love for each and everyone of us individually... God Loves You!!!

"God's Mighty Hand"

"As for God, His way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: He is a buckler to all those that trust in Him." (Psalms 18:30) As I was thinking about how important this verse is for understanding our humility before the God that created us, knows us through and through, and who holds our very life within His hands, I thought that it deserves at least three days of examination. Each and everyone of us, whether we were saved in our youth, saved as an adult, or saved towards the end of life, all have something that has been given to us that is worth more than anything else this world has to offer. We know that, and hopefully, we show it in our manner of living; but with all sincerity, I think we could do so much better! As for me, I think I could be more excited about this great gift that I have been given, and make each new person that I meet another person to introduce to Jesus Christ. Truly, I do believe that is how God would have me to be, but my spirit is willing and my flesh is weak! Thinking about how it was for me when I first accepted Christ into my heart, I was bold and sometimes foolish; making more enemies than I did friends, by trying to persuade anyone that was in my path, that they needed to accept what I had just accepted, or else! It was not a game, or something that I felt was even a calling upon my life; but it was seriously about pulling people from the pit of hell; or at least throwing them a lifeline so that they could pull themselves out when ever they were ready. Then after several years of walking with the Lord, I discovered something that is vitally important to each and everyone of us that are saved, no matter how old we were, or no matter what shape we were in when we accepted God's great gift of salvation: we did not choose God, He was the one who choose us! When it comes to the perfect way of God, His way is complete and free from blemish; therefore, if God has chosen me, then I must realize that He will complete whatever it was that He has chosen me to become. Ideally, we would all rest in God, so that we could allow Him to have His way in us; yet, we are bent on getting things to go our way, or making things happen the way that we feel is best. God is God, and He is to be control for that very reason; because His way is perfect! With that said, I think our most important reaction to what we have been given, is to show others how important it is for us; not making our goal to get them to see the importance for them, but to get them to see the reality of how much we hold onto the the most important thing for us...

"Learning To Be Humble" -3

"For by Thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall." (Psalms 18:29) Yes, it is true that we have free will, and that God has given this free will that we might freely love and worship Him; however, God commands our worship and our love!!! There is just no other way to say it; His love for us commands that we love Him back; that is the type of love that we must have for God, not just our tepid love that is based upon emotion and how we feel at any given moment; but a love that is on fire and keeps hungering for fuel to continue to burn. It is one thing to say that we love God and that we love one another, but it is all together something different to prove it. God has proved His love for us, which He did by sending His Son to die in our place; now we must prove our love for Him. The biggest lesson that we have to learn when it comes to humility, is that without Him living in us, we cannot love the way He loves; nor can we even begin to love Him the way that His love commands. We could use sin as the example of what I am talking about; whereas, some might think within themselves,'I could never be like that sinner'; and then find themselves in a worst situation down the road. It is pretty much the same when it comes to our love for God; whereas, we think that there is nothing that can pull our hearts away from loving Him, and then we find ourselves loving our own honor or pride more than we love Him. Somehow, somewhere, deep in the night I saw this verse giving reference to what I am trying to say. I had a thought in my mind at that time, that I was meant to reach for a pen and paper and take notes, but instead continued to lay there trying to get back to sleep. The vision that I saw was that of a sprinter, running through an army that represented all the cares and sinful lusts of this world; and as this sprinter ran through this army, the army was well aware of his presence, for their heads turned immediately towards him as he ran by; but the sprinter was not touched in any way by the army that he ran through it. This illustration can only be about the amazing power that God gives us to overcome the world; but the power is not from us, which is the main point that we must learn in this new life that we have been given. Any and all power that we have is of God; not of ourselves! We live in a fallen world; a world that is broken because of the power of sin, which corrupts and destroys; and we might be new creatures, but we are still creatures of habit, in a habitat of sin; but as we abide in Christ, and His Spirit dwells within us, we are over comers of all that surrounds us; and without Him we can do nothing to stop those troops from turning against us. As far as leaping over a wall, that means pretty much what is says; that by God, the wall of sin is no challenge for us to get over; but without God, we are stuck trying to find a way around it. Good luck trying to do that, because that wall is thick, long, and continues to grow as you try to find the end. We must come to a point where we surrender everything to God; not just the sin in our lives, but the battle that we have trying to defeat that sin must also be surrendered over to Him; because it is only by His strength that we are going to be able to win that battle... "I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Philippians 4:12 & 13)

"Learning To Be Humble" -2

"For Thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness." (Psalms 18:28) Now just in case you thought I was kidding, this idea of learning to be humble is real, and is something that we are taught how to be right from the start. Truly, this is something that does not come naturally; I can tell you a many stories over these last thirty years of walking with the Lord, how more than once I needed to be instructed in humility; my wife was always good at picking up on my prideful ways long before I would ever notice them. If you have taken the complete journey through God's word several times, then you may have picked up on the trials and errors of many of God's faithful servant, as they learned to be humble before the Lord; some paid a great price for needing to learn the hard way. Case in point, would be those that God will bring down that are full of themselves; Peter is one that quickly comes to mind, for he was one that was quick at leaning upon his own understanding, that was until he was sifted as wheat. When I closed with those two verses from 1 Peter 5, I did so because Peter had experience in being humbled, and he had learned the hard way that humility is something that we are taught, because it is not naturally part of who we are. I know what you are thinking: What about the fact that we are new creatures in Christ? Yes, it's true, we are meant to be like Jesus, picking up our cross and following His example; but there are certain things that we go through which are refining times where God will take us through the fire to burn off some pride that is hanging around in our hearts. A question came up in a conversation I had yesterday, as to where pride begins, in the heart or in the mind. Personally, I do not believe that it begins in either one, but that it is already there in our hearts from the beginning, waiting for something to bring it to life. That is why our hearts are deceitfully wicked, because in that seat of our emotions is the seed of offence, waiting for a reason to be brought to life. Our learning that God brings us through is meant to instruct us in detecting that pride, and to put it down quickly, before it has chance to take root. David is making a point of God enlightening the darkness within his heart, which is something that must happen prior to it being bought to life, otherwise we suffer needlessly... "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Jesus Christ, after ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." (1 Peter 5:8-11)

"Learning To Be Humble"

"For Thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks." (Psalms 18:27) The whole point to knowing God is that we know that He is God; the Almighty God that knows everything, sees everything, and is everywhere; the Eternal God that has no beginning and that has no end; the God of love, who for the sake of this fallen world, gave of Himself to save it. Once we can wrap our simple minds around that truth of God's existence, then we can somewhat begin to properly humble ourselves before Him. The reason that I say somewhat, is because we still have an issue with something called a heart; the heart that must be made new in order to submit to the majesty and holiness of a Loving God. If we really take God at His word, then why do we not act upon that? The "afflicted people" that are saved are those that are humble and lowly; they are that way because of who they are in the presence of God. Nowhere is it possible to be out of God's presence, if indeed God is everywhere; there is just nowhere we can hide from God. Do you see the idea behind this humility? There is a sort of piety that must be associated with this humility, that beckons God to have mercy and to have piety upon our failure to keep our actions in line with His word. On the flip side of being humble, are those that hold themselves up to be something that they are not; letting their pride take them to the place of believing that they are more powerful than they really are. The meaning of "high looks" is one that might take more time to explain beyond this single posting; but it primarily means someone who thinks them self to be more equip for the battle then they really are... "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you." (1 Peter 5:6 & 7)

"Drawing Close To God" -2

"With the pure Thou wilt show Thyself pure; and with the froward Thou wilt show Thyself froward." (Psalms 18:26) Now we have an example given of two opposite directions towards God; unlike yesterday's verse which there were two directions of those properties of character, today we see opposite directions in a relationship with God. One speaks of drawing closer to God by being pure, while the other speaks of drawing away from God by being devious. With the man that is pure, he draws closer to God naturally because of the pureness of his heart. In the meaning of the word for pure, is the idea of being purified, polished, selected, or chosen; with the whole idea that meaning of being separated unto God and having the desire to show oneself pure before God. Going back to what I closed with yesterday, and that thing about having the foreknowledge to need forgiveness again; that was a mention to making provision for sin to take place in our lives; something that Paul speaks about in Romans 13:14, by saying, "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof". It is impossible to be pure when holding onto sin, and making provision for the flesh is making room in our hearts to commit sin down the road; which is, in and of itself, holding onto a sin that we look forward to taking part in. Another meaning for pure is to purge, or to purge out, which is to purify; there is no doubt that are sins are not all purged out if we are still holding sin within our heart. As with the character of God's love, when we are pure in heart, then He will show Himself pure to us; meaning that He will make us pure by purging out our sins and purifying us. This is similar to what happen to Isaiah while in the presence of the LORD; when he discovered that he had unclean lips, the coal from the alter before God was placed upon his lips, and he was made whole. Primarily, it is all about our desire to be pure before Him; beyond that, it is that He makes us pure. Now then; as far as the froward man; he is a man that is deceitful of crooked; a man that is perverse of mind and twisted, to whom God will show Himself as shrewd or unsavory. What that actually means is that God will be disagreeable with the way that man has chosen to be; and consequently, that man will be discontent with the choices that God has given him. That is pretty much what happens to us when we want to hold onto any sin in our lives; we find ourselves distancing ourselves away from God; not because we do not want God in our lives, but that we are naturally drawn away by our own devices. Therefore; if we really desire to draw close to God, then we must desire to be pure before Him. If our desire to be pure is sincere, then we will not make any allowance for sin in our lives; and if there is anything within us that we have rooting out, God is more than faithful to help us get rid of it...

"Drawing Close To God"

"With the merciful Thou wilt show Thyself merciful; with an upright man Thou wilt show Thyself upright;" (Psalms 18:25) There are several ways that we can view the meaning of this verse, two of which are based upon the direction by which we view the properties that are being put forth. In other words; if we view the meaning to be that by which God changes who He is based upon the character of a man, then I would say it will not work; for God's word clearly says that He does not change. We must consider the whole counsel of God when we interpret the Scriptures, and God has clearly said by His Word, "For I am the LORD, I change not". (Malachi 3:6) Even our Lord Jesus Christ does not change, although He is seen in many different forms to represent the many different levels of His character, Hebrews 13:8 clearly says, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever". However, change must take place, and the other way to view the direction of these properties, requires that change must take place in us; which makes perfect sense when placed up against the unchangeable character of God. In light of that, the image of God's character comes more into focus to the man that adheres to God's character, and who walks in His ways. This is also the principle truth about how we are able to love God; because, unless we know God's love, we are unable to love Him, or even know how to love Him; nor can we even begin to love others as He loves us. If we know God, then we know Love; but if we know not God, then His love is not in us; and consequently, if His love is not in us, and we love not, then we are not in Him. In 1 John 4:10-11, John says, "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to love one another". In this case given of Love, God's love for us does not change, but rather, His love changes us; by which, as we then love, then is His love perfected in us. Notwithstanding, there is yet still another way to view the verse above; one by which a case is made for the way those that are merciful and upright may view God, or how He might appear unto them; which is much the same as saying, if we can not forgive one another, then we shall not be forgiven; not because we have not actually been forgiven, but because we never truly received His full forgiveness for all of our sins...No, wait a minute; maybe, just maybe, we could not see His true forgiveness because we still had foreknowledge of a need for more to be forgiven...

"Loving God First" -3

"Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in His eyesight." (Psalms 18:24) Please forgive me for being stuck in this verse for another day, but I needed to address something that God has spoken into my heart about the real importance of loving God first; something that we tend to sometimes overlook in our busy lives, even in our busy lives that are in service to Him. As with those that Jesus addressed in the letter to the Church of Ephesus, they were busy doing those things that many would consider to be righteous actions of love and surrender; however, in their endeavor to remain righteous and true to that which they were called into, they left out something very important in that service, and it was that which made them what they were; it was the primary ingredient in that which had placed them in the service that they were so busy at doing, and that ingredient was love. Let me see if I can get this right, even though I need to put it in the most simplistic way possible; at least without messing it up too much. What I believe that David is getting at within this verse, is something based upon a position that he has been placed in, making him righteous and having clean hands in God's eyesight; because it could not have been based upon his own righteousness, seeing that this song was written near the end of his life. This position that he was placed within was only available to him by his love for God, and his love for God is only made possible by him realizing God's love for him. Nothing else really matters at all without love being the basis for our actions, whether they be actions that display love, or our sacrifices that are meant to display our service unto God; if love is not the motivation of our hearts, then we are missing the boat; and in case you do not know what that means, it means that you missed the vessel that was to carry you on your way. As always, and in every verse that begins with the word Therefore, we must ask ourselves, What is it there for? And in so doing, we look at those verses which were written before to understand the therefore; and as we have seen in the previous verses, David's position was not due to anything that he had done, but was based upon the Righteousness of God having placed him in that position. With that, we can observe the meaning of the word "recompensed", that was the same word he used in verse twenty, that was also used to express his reward for righteousness; a word which means to be converted, or saved from death, death being the way of the curse and condemnation. Truly, those within the Church of Ephesus were not rewarded in their righteousness, for they were still missing out on eating of the tree of life, the tree of life being the representation of eternal life. So what was the difference between these two cases that made recompense lacking in one and not the other? Was it not the realization of God's love for the sinner in his state of sin??? "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us"! What that translates to, is that God loved us, not for what we can or cannot do to please him, but He loved us regardless of what we are, and He proved that upon the cross! When Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do", He was not just speaking for those that had crucified and mocked Him, but He was speaking also for you and I, and for all of our sins that we commit against Him. In essence, what that means, is that Jesus forgave us of our sin against Him before we even had a chance to ask Him for forgiveness! Now, what kind of love is that? Unconditional love is a love that is not based upon the actions or the response to that love, but is based solely upon the virtue of love, without any strings attached to it. That is the love of God for us, and why it is such a love that captivates our hearts. That is why John adds that additional meaning to God's love at the end of 1 John 2:2, when he says, "and not our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world". And why Jesus, when speaking to Nicodemus about the Love of God, said, "whosoever believeth", because it is not a matter of our righteousness by which we are recompensed, but upon our acceptance of His love for us, and by accepting His love, there is nothing more for us to do then to love Him back...

"Loving God First" -2

"Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in His eyesight." (Psalms 18:24) Just in case you quickly skipped over the point of yesterday's blog, we get to reinforce a main point that I was trying to make; a point about making sure that there is nothing between you and God, and that He is your first love. In relation to where God is to be in the order of what we love and care about, He is to be first and foremost above everything else. What that means in our relationships with everything else, including even our families, is that our love for God must trump all others; taking second place to nothing or anyone else. When we read the 'Letter to the Church of Ephesus', which is in Revelation 2:1-7, we see Jesus listing all the good things that this church has done and has stood for; for they laboured with patience, which is an action associated with love; they could not except those that were evil, and those that tried to pretend they were follower's of Christ; they took up burdens with patience, which was an act of sacrifice; and they even laboured for Christ's name sake, and fainted not, which was a show of great dedication to the cross of Christ. Jesus also had something else good to say about them after His rebuke, which was that they hated the deeds of the Nicolations, which also He hated, for they were those that casted a stumbling block before the church. Nevertheless, in the midst of all these things that they had going for them, they had left their first love! What does Jesus mean by "first love"? Up until just recently, I had for all these years considered that to mean the love that I experienced the day I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart, and then, I just left it at that. But it means more than that, because it must take into account the position of our love for God. In other words, our love experienced on that day was so overwhelming to us, because of the great love that we experienced in Him, and nothing else mattered to us, nor compared to the love we felt with God. Again, I would like to go back to something said at the beginning of this Psalm, where we discovered one of the differences between this song and the song from 2 Samuel 22, which is that this song starts with the verse, "I will love Thee, O LORD, my strength". As with all those good things listed towards them in the Church of Ephesus, having left their first love makes nothing they do matter all that much; although Jesus acknowledge their efforts, and even complimented them on sharing His passion, they were not experiencing the love of God in their lives, and they were missing out on the life available in Christ... "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith into the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." (Revelation 2:7) 

"Loving God First"

"I was also upright before Him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity." (Psalms 18:23) When it come to the first and greatest commandment, there is one thing about that commandment that make it the greatest; because if we truly are loving God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength, then everything else is easy to do! As you start reading 1 John, he starts out with an introduction to the manifestation of God's love and how it is that we must abide in that love. After that quick introduction, John gets to the point of living out that love, as he says in 1 John 2:1 & 2, "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous: and He is the propitiation for our sins: and not ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world". The reason that John can say with all boldness those four little words, "that ye sin not", is because of what must happen to us once we are engulfed in God's love: we are exposed to love in such a way, that His love matters more than anything else; making our love for Him stronger and stronger, not only as time goes on, but also the more we are able to experience His love in our lives. David is saying something here that can only be said by someone who is abiding in the Love of God. For someone to say that they are "upright before Him", then that person must have been made upright, because upright means complete or whole; unimpaired and innocent. There is only one way that we are innocent before God, and that is by being washed in the blood of Jesus Christ! We must remember that David was looking towards the cross, and believing in that which was to come; the only real difference between his belief and ours, is what side of the cross that we are looking at, because the faith required to believe is pretty much the same. However; the second part of this verse is the part that requires our strength, as in "all of our strength". This is the part that says, "and I have kept myself from mine iniquity"; which is another way of saying I have kept abiding in God's love. It is the word "kept" that give a strong meaning to what David is saying, because it means to have charge of, or to watch and wait for; much like you would do if you were guarding something very important. This is also the point the John is making in 1 John 2:1 & 2; in that we are governed by the Love of God to keep free of sin, yet, if we do sin, then we have that same Love which is available to take that sin away; but we must ask for it!!! That is where we lack the strength in many situations; not that we might stumble and sin, because we all will sin; but because we either think that God will not forgive us, or we are too proud to ask for His forgiveness. We must love God more than everything else; including our own shame and our pride. Let nothing get between Him and us, because we can not abide in Him if we are not attached to Him... "Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen." (1 John 5:21)

"His House - His Rules"

"For all His judgements were before me, and I did not put away His statutes from me." (Psalms 18:22) Have we taken God at His word? If we have, then we are no doubt believing that all of His word is relevant, and that all of His word is to be followed and obeyed. When I read a verse like this, and meditate upon what is being said, it is hard to connect my life to completeness of what is being said. Yes it is true that we are no longer under the law, and that many of those Old Testament statutes of God no longer apply to our new life in Jesus Christ; but it goes a lot deeper than all those statutes and ordinates of the law; it goes to the heart of God and what He is all about, not to what we are to be about doing. Another way to think about what it is that I am talking about, is to consider what Majesty and Holiness look like. I am very serious. Try to envision what Majesty and Holiness look like, and then picture what you must be like in the presence of either one. That is what I believe all those statutes and ordinances of the law were all about! If you look up the definition of the word rule, you will find that the primary meaning is the principle governing conduct, which means, an authoritative principle set forth to guide behavior or action. As a people that were set apart for God, the children of Israel were to be set apart in their behavior and actions also; in other words, they lived out the reverence to their God. That is not such an unusual thing for us as Christians to be doing also, for we are under a new covenant; one that is not based upon those old statutes and ordinances of the Old Testament, but are based upon a new rule, which means a new authoritative principle, being the Love of God. If you think about what Jesus meant when He said, "He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him" (John 6:56), He was speaking about a rule that was based upon His sacrifice; meaning that the sacrifice which He was making by giving of His body and shedding His blood for us, was to be the authoritative principle set forth to guide our behavior and our actions. Therefore; if any man be in Christ, then he has that rule established within him that was set forth by what Jesus demonstrated on the cross; which a rule that is based upon the Love of God, and the love demonstrated by what was done for us by our God... "He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him. He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked." (1 John 2:4-6)

"God's Green Pastures" -2

"For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God." (Psalms 18:21) For those that have enjoyed the rest that comes from God's green pastures, it is very difficult to remain anywhere else. Oh, we might stray away for a season, and maybe even experiment in that prior fold; but the lack of those green pastures will make our soul hungry to be back where it belongs. In the case of David and this testimony that he gives in this verse, he had been justified by God's deliverance from those that falsely accused him; thus making his case clear of those things which he was wrongfully accused. We must never forget that we have an enemy of our soul; one who will stop at nothing to make us doubt if we are worthy to be called a child of God, or if we were ever even saved at all. It is for good reason that he is called the accuser of the brethren, for he is always looking for ways to accuse us by our weakness in adhering to God's commands. But we have an Advocate before the Father: none other than Jesus Christ, who is more than able to plead our case, and who paid a great price for our weakness and our faults. Therefore, it must be our desire to rest in God's green pastures; that is our duty and our obligation to the cross of Christ; for we know when it is that we have gone astray, when those hunger pains are felt, and we know that we must get right and be placed back where we belong. It is by the righteousness of God that we are made righteous, not of our own: that is what God's grace is all about! We have been forgiven of a debt that we could have never been able to repay, and in knowing that, we must endeavor to remain free of that debt, which only requires us asking for His forgiveness whenever we have acquired new debt; for not only did Jesus die for our old debt, but all of our debts; past, present, or future! This I believe is what David means by "have not wickedly departed from my God", in that he had not been found guilty or condemned because he had made it a point to confess his sins before God. That is how he had "kept the ways of the LORD", by always making sure that when sin was revealed within his life, that he was quick to repent of that sin and to ask for God's forgiveness. We can not work our way back to those green pastures once we have strayed away; we must be placed back in them by God; and there is only one way that will happen, and that is by His righteousness! We did not get there on our own, and we cannot get back there on our own; it requires surrender to Jesus Christ, the Righteousness of God... "And I will gather the remnant of My flock out of the countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgement and justice in the earth. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is His name whereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." (Jeremiah 23:3-6)

"God's Green Pastures"

"The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath He recompensed me." (Psalms 18:20) Remembering what this Psalm is all about, and that is "A Song of Victory", we look now at victory that we have in Christ. Believing that Jesus came to die for our sins and that He rose from the grave on the third day so that we too may rise up and be with Him, we have not only a hope in what is to come, but we have the peace in knowing that our debt has been settled. As David was writing this song, he no doubt reflected back upon the victories that God had given him over the many different areas of his life; not just the fights against his enemies, but also the personal battles that were waged within his heart and mind, and the battles that took place within his own house and inner circle. We know by what we read about David's life, that he was not a perfect man; neither was he righteous enough to be considered to have clean hands, for we know that he had blood upon his hands, and that blood was from an innocent man. But, as with all sin, whether is be sins of the heart or sin that is acted out, sin is sin, and penalty for sin is death! Therefore; the reward due to David for his own righteousness should have been that of death, for God's judgement is not based upon the good that we do, but is based upon sin; sin being that which has separated us from God's presence and from having fellowship with Him. But David was a man that put his trust in God and believed that God had made a way for his sins to be removed, and that he could be made righteous before God; not based upon his own righteousness, but upon the righteousness of God. If we look at what David said right after he originally had sung this song, he made mention of something very important, and something that explains how he viewed his own righteousness. We find this song in 2 Samuel 22; then, as we read a little further, in 2 Samuel 23:5 David says, "Although my house be not so with God; yet He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all of my desire, although He make it not to grow". This is the green pastures that God has established for each and everyone of His children to take rest in; which is not based upon our own righteousness, or our ability to obtain righteousness; but it is based upon God's righteousness being given to us! That is why we have hands that are clean, not because that we have done anything worthy of having clean hands, but because they are washed in the blood of Christ; and now that they are cleansed, we are renewed to have perfect fellowship with God, and to lift up holy hands to our Father without feeling ashamed before Him. His green pastures are based upon the new relationship that has been established for us to have fellowship and to have a habitat where we rest in God's presence. This could only be made possible by the removal of our sins; not just covering them over, but taking them away and making us new... 

"God's Protective Fold"

"He brought me forth also into a large place; He delivered me, because He delighted in me." (Psalms 18:19) Now just in case you might be thinking that David had some special qualities that might have made God be delighted in him, it was not by David's merit that God delighted in him, but for God's great grace and love. To be perfectly honest with ourselves, we must consider what it is that separates us from God's holiness, and then examine our heart with that measuring stick. What we will find by doing that, is a large gap between where we need to be and where we are. This is the wondrous work of justification, and how special we are to God, that He would desire us be brought into a place where we can fellowship with Him. God's great desire for man is that he might fellowship with Him; to be one with Him and to experience all that He is. Sin is what destroyed that fellowship; making man a sinful creature, and causing there to be a vast separation between God and man. Remembering back to those days before Christ entered my heart, I was always hungry for something to fill a deep void within me; and not knowing what that was, I tried all sorts of different things to try and fill that void. That void was the fellowship that I was missing with God; and nothing that I tried could take the place of that! Jesus came and died upon that cross to restore our fellowship with the Father, and to be a bridge between that vast gap separating us from the holiness of God. I also do remember as a child, that I sang songs about Jesus; songs like, "Jesus Loves me, this I know". Although I was only about five or six years old, I can still remember of picture on the wall in the Sunday School room, which showed Jesus knocking at the door. When we examine the "large place" that David is speaking of, there are a couple different options that he could be speaking of, and both are primarily the same general premise of a large place to run around in; much like a sheep fold, which is not a confined pen, but a vast area where they can run and play. The two differences that we find associated with these folds, is that one is separated sheep that are spotless, while the other is for the spotted sheep that have not yet been washed. Both of these folds are protected, and both are for God's children; it's just that one is filled with green pastures, and the other is not. Those green pastures are the rest that we have once we do open that door and let Jesus into our heart...

"God's Protective Staff"

"They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay." (Psalms 18:18) Some of the things that the Lord will let us go through we will only have answers for when we are standing before Him in glory; while others, are things by which we have answers for others who are going through those same things. Regardless of what we have gone through or have lived through on our journey towards the cross, I believe that everything was approved by our Heavenly Father beforehand, that we should be right where we were when we surrendered our lives to Him. For some, it took a very small step to reach the foot of the cross; while for others, it took great suffering and loss to reach that point of surrender; some, it could be said, may have appeared to be damned forever. But no matter how far we wandered, or how much we resisted His love for us, He never let go of us, and He never let us go further than He wanted us to go. It might be hard for some to accept this notion of God's deliverance being planned in our lives; mostly because of the fact that we have free will to accept or reject His offer of salvation; but God knows His children, and He knows who they are, long before they even know that they are His children! To me, this speaks of such great power and wisdom on the part of our Heavenly Father, and His great love that waits for us with such patience, beyond that which we deserve or even should be allowed. But because of His great love for us, He will wait for us to get to that point where we surrender our lives completely to Him. I know that there are some who might disagree with the notion that God will allow us to go to the very edge of destruction, because I have spoken to people that do not think that God is that involved in our lives; but I believe He is, and that we who are His children, He is in control of where it is that we shall end up! Everything that happens to His children, before they realize that they are His children, is only measured as the journey that they have taken to the cross; some minor, and some are way beyond belief; but regardless of their journey, they all end up sitting at His feet! "The greater the difficulties are that lie in the way of deliverance the more glorious the deliverance is..."

"God's Mighty Deliverance"

"He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me." (Psalms 18:17) I don't know about you, but I was no match for the devil and his power over my wrong choices I kept making. If God had not been pulling me back when He did, I surely would have been lost forever, and been in hell right now where I belong. Let me tell you something about God's mighty deliverance, and why I am sure that it is He who has made my way sure. We are no match against the devil, and if not for the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, we would still be no match for his power to persuade us and to control the desires of our hearts. Why does he have such power over us? Primarily because he has been given dominion over this fallen world, and we are born into a fallen state; which makes us part of this fallen world; which makes us born as property of the devil. I know that might sound a little hard to believe, that somehow the devil gets to claim us as his property once we are born into this world; but as far as he is concerned, as long as you are living in his dominion, you are his to toy with, and to make you a piece of his game board. Looking back upon my life, I can see God's hand of protection was on me even though I was not yet His child; but as far as my Father in heaven was concerned, I was His, for He knew me even before I was formed in my mother's womb. It was not until September of 1981 that I knew He was my Father, but prior to that, He was protecting me, and He was guiding me in certain areas of my life. All the while, up until that day when I accepted Jesus into my heart, the devil was who controlled my life, and it was him who I was following; but God's hand of protection was still over me, and the devil was only allowed to do so much. I have heard testimony from people who have died and seen the darkness that awaits those who are going to hell, and what they have shared is not pretty. There is nothing that you can do to stop the pulling into that pit, and the fear of being pulled into it is greater than anything else you can imagine. Everyone that I have heard speak about that experience, or try to explain what it was like, they all had the same reaction to being headed into that hole: Why am I going this way? I go to church, and I believe in Jesus; so why is this happening to me? And after they try with all of their might to resist that pit, they discover that there is absolutely nothing they can do; they are helpless to the suction and the force that is pulling them into the darkness; it is as if they have no strength at all in any way to do anything. And all of a sudden, there is a hand that grabs them from behind, and pulls them back from that pit; the next thing that they remember, they are walking up from the dead. Now that my friend is what it feels like to have an enemy that is too strong for you! And that is the power of God's mighty deliverance!!! As He grabs hold of you, pulling you out of the suction into the darkness, and says, Not this one; this one is Mine...  

"God's Fishnet"

"He sent from above, He took me, He drew me out of many waters." (Psalms 18:16) Captured by The Master Fisherman! I would have made that the title, if only I could have condensed it down a little more. But really, God does fish us out of these muddy waters; and sometimes we do not even know we have been caught! I know that might sound a little strange, to say that He has caught us, but that we may not know it has happened. If you think about our lives prior to coming to Christ, it can only be by God's protective hand, that we even made to that day when we accepted His Son into our heart. If you look at Moses, He was a prime example of God's protective hand upon someones life. Even his very name means to be drawn out of the water, or 'drawing out', as in to rescue; a name that was given him because he was taken up out of the river, when his mother placed him there to be safe from being killed. Moses had no clue that he was chosen for a great work, until late in his life, when he was tending his father-in-law's sheep on the back side of Mount Horeb. From that point on, his name no longer applied to just him being drawn from the river as a baby, but it applied to God using him to rescue His people from Egypt, and to draw them out of bondage. The "many waters" that David is speaking of, are waters that are more than numerous, but that are multi leveled, as would be the case in looking back at the different seasons of our life. I see a vision of a net that is sent from above; which we cannot see, nor can we see through the muddy waters that we are swimming in; but God can see, and He knows exactly when to lift up on that net and pull us up, or let us back down, or move us from side to side. If you really want to talk about God's selection, or God's desire for those that He has chosen, then here is a really good place to start off that conversation. One thing that is for sure, and that I dreamt about all night long: God's Fishnet does not have any holes in it, and when He captures us, we are captured for life...

"The Sovereignty of God" -2

"Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at Thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of Thy nostrils." (Psalms 18:15) I do not pretend to understand all the great mysteries of God; nor do I even try to understand how it is that some people see the truth and believe, while others hear the same truth and then harden their hearts. This is a matter to be settled between the individual and God; and settled it shall be on the day of reckoning. Every man and woman is responsible for their own salvation and how they receive or reject the testimony of Jesus Christ. With that said, there is something to the idea of God's direct selection of those that are His children and those that are not. This is something that has much to do with His Sovereignty and His All Knowing power to predestine those that are His, and to call them into His kingdom. I can look back to my own awakening to the truth as an example of how it is that this might work; and how it was for me to open up my heart and receive Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. Whether it was by His grace, or by His great mercy; whichever it was, at that moment in which He was revealed to me, it was as if all that had blinded me had been removed, and for the very first time I could see Him for who He was, and could make a choice based upon the truth revealed to me in that instant. There is some pretty deep subject matter that is exposed within this verse, and it has to do with how God reveals Himself to those whom He chooses to reveal Himself to. Interesting enough, not all will see the truth when it is revealed, and not all will even be able to see it, even if they were willing to try. I am sure that there were some who walked away from the movement taking place in the early church when Ananias and Sapphira were killed for lying to God; but many also were added because of it, and by seeing the power of God at work, both by miracles and by judgement. The way that I see it, the purpose for God doing what He did, was not to punish that man and his wife for trying to be deceptive, but it was to show others the seriousness of what was happening within the church. Some took it to be something that was too serious, and they walked away in fear for their own lives and what might happen to them; while some, seeing the majesty of God, were drawn closer and deeper into the ministry, because they saw the Sovereignty of God being manifested before their very eyes. I see the meaning of "the channels of water" being the thread that is woven throughout God's word that is there to show His redemptive plan for mankind. There is no doubt in my mind that it is God's doing that opens the eyes of the blind to be able to see the Divine plan, and the mysteries that connect God's plan with His results. We can see this brought to life in Paul's writings, as he involves the things he had learned from his youth about the Old Testament teachings, and brings them to life in New Testament truths; all of which was only made possible by the Spirit dwelling inside of him and showing him those truths. And the "foundations of the world" are those things which only God can reveal, and by which man can only see upon God opening his eyes to the truth; which David here describes as God's rebuke of the hidden things; which goes back to the things that were spoken in verse eleven about how God hides Himself and makes secret who He is and how He operates. But at the blast of His breath from His nostrils, He makes His secrets known to those that He has chosen; which is by His Holy Spirit. This word that is used for "rebuke" is an interesting word that means 'reproof'; which is actually a curse to some and a blessing to others. That is what the truth of God is; for to some it is an offense and pushes them away from God; while to others, it is the way to eternal life. When God reveals His truth, we have two options: to choose life, or to choose death... "And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death." (Jeremiah 21:8)

"The Sovereignty of God"

"Yea, He sent out His arrows, and scattered them; and He shot out lightnings, and discomfited them." (Psalms 18:14) This title for today's post was actually my pastor's title for his sermon yesterday, and after thinking about all that God was speaking to me all night long, I thought it was a fitting title. My pastor used the first part of Acts 5 to show God's sovereignty in striking fear into the early church with the death of Ananias and Sapphira. In this case, fear was the engine used to strike a blow of seriousness into the movement that was taking place within the church; that being the selling of personal property and giving it to the church. What God was speaking to my heart about, had to do with His ability to take control of any and all situations; even those that might separate people from one another, in an effort to confuse something that is feeling a little too much power. If we look to the first time the words "sent out" are used in reference to God sending something out, or putting something forth, we find this shown in Genesis 3:22-24, where God sends man forth out of the garden of Eden. The arrows and the lightnings are one of the same; it's the reaction to them that makes the difference in the verse above. One reaction speaks of separating of the people by scattering them away from each other, or away from some place; the other reaction is that of confusion, or to break a bond of solidarity that holds certain people together. In our Church's today we might call these groups of people 'clicks', which are small groups within the body that get along well together; something that has it's benefit's, but also can create strife within the church. As in the beginning of the first church, and the movement taking place that involved selling of land and giving it to the church, this was a pretty big deal; as we can see by the example given of Barnabas, who sold his land and gave all the money from that sell to the church, by laying it at the feet of the apostles. This could have become a pretty powerful click within the early church, with those who gave of their wealth in such a way, and to them that were part of the 'Giving It All Club'; but God put a stop to it right away by the death of Ananias and his wife Sapphira. I cannot imagine what kind of fear that sparked in the hearts of anyone who was giving of their land for some kind of recognition, or to be a part of what movement was being noticed as an act of surrender; but I can understand what kind of fear was brought to the hearts of those that gave out of love: it was the kind of fear that took hold of God's Sovereignty and His Awesome Power. When I say, took hold of, I mean to realize the power that is around them, and that is bestowed upon them, and especially the apostles, as believers and followers of Jesus Christ. If we are going to turn our cities upside down for Jesus Christ, then this is the kind of fear we need to have; which is not the fear brought on by an outside force, but is from within, and is because of the force we are a part of...

"The Supremacy of God"

"The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave His voice; hail stones and coals of fire." (Psalms 18:13) Have you ever wondered why God placed a flaming sword at the entrance to the garden? The most wonderful God's appearances are in any deliverance, the greater that deliverance is; and in the redeeming work that God has done for man, there was no greater deliverance! The Word of God says, that God's word is something that He holds higher than even His very name; He spoke into creation the heavens and the earth, and from His word came forth life and matter. Within this life and matter that came forth from His mouth, there was something called rules, and everything that has been established by God is governed by rules. We live every day on this planet thankful that God has made the earth's rotation around the sun based upon rules, with the distance remaining the same, and the gravitational pull towards or away never changing. My mom had something that she would always remind me of whenever I tried to make my own rules up around the house, as she would remind me, My house, my rules; letting me know that she sets the rules, because it is her house. This is pretty much how it is with God also; He sets the rules, because He is the Supreme Ruler; being that He is the one who has created everything, and for His glory everything was created by Him, He is the one who has established how everything is to work. Now then; we know that in many cases, a sword is used to describe the Word of God, and that the Word of God is a description placed upon Jesus Christ, for He was the incarnation of God's word, and of God Himself. (John 1:1-18). To define what 'The Word of God' actually means, it requires more time and space then I have available, but to put it in the easiest way possible to understand, is represents His authority over everything created, manifested, or spoken by His voice. In like manner, all that is under His authority can not be altered or changed without coming under His Supreme Judgement; in other words, He must judge it, because it has been taken outside of that which He has established. If we look at the description of the "flaming sword" that was placed at the east entrance to the garden, it was said to be turning in every way; this turning has several different meaning or applications, but primarily it was tuning to keep the way, or to protect the tree of life. Another reason for that sword to be turning in every way, is because God's word shall not be overturned; for as God had said in His very words, "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die", and it was not God that caused them to die, but sin in being disobedient to the Word of God, which was what God had established at the time of creation. It was not God's choice that man should die, but man's choice to disobey God's rule of the garden, which was, "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die". The only way that God could overturn His own word, was by sending His Word in the form of Jesus Christ, in order to establish a way for man to have life again...

"The Patience of God"

"At the brightness that was before Him His thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire." (Psalms 18:12) I actually like the New King James version of this verse, which reads, "From the brightness before Him, His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire". It just makes more sense, and is easier to read than the original King James; however, I am still fond of the way the King James makes the point of God's patience more based upon His brightness, then upon His judgement. This is splitting hairs, but it is also making a point of how the attributes which make up God's character and sovereignty can be viewed in several different ways, depending upon those that interpret what is being said. The "brightness" that is being spoken of is God's splendour; it is the glory that surrounds our Glorious God. It is my understanding that His glorious splendour is what shines forth His radiant light and majesty; from which, His patience is made manifest by the brightness of His glory. If you were to look up the meaning of 'glory' in the Greek, it has a distinct rational property that speaks about opinion, as in thought or opinion, especially favorable human opinion. The "hailstones and coals of fire" speak of God's judgement and His anger; something that I believe God does no hastily put forth, because His character of love supersedes His wrath. In other words; our God is a God of Love; who by the mere brightness of His splendor, all that is not right and just before Him is melted away; leaving in its place, His judgement and His wrath. The love of God is the primary radiance that is revealed; but the wrath of God is the ashes that are left behind, (if that makes any sense to anyone out there). I think a good example of God's patience is given us both before and after the verses shared yesterday about the buried treasure and the pearl of great price. Before those verses, Jesus speaks about the 'wheat and the tares'; after those verses, He speaks about 'the large fish net that is cast into the sea and gathers fish of every kind'. Both of these parables speak about God's patience, and how He does not want to uproot those that are wicked from among His children, least He uproot some of His children also in the process. Instead, He shall wait until after the final trumpet has sounded, and then He will have those that are wicked be separated from those that are His. Between these two parables is given the key to what separates those that are His and those that are not...Those that are His, are His because they love Him...

"The Mysteriousness of God"

"He made darkness His secret place; His pavilion round about Him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies." (Psalms 18:11) Whether you follow the Christian faith or any other faith that is out there that believes in The Eternal God, the same principle will apply to how you see God: you do not see Him! This is the whole concept of what faith is predicated upon: you must trust what you have been shown, whether that is from His word or from what you have been told; you must, by faith, believe that it is so. This is what Jesus meant when He said to Thomas, "Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet believe". (John 20:29) Faith is actually more powerful than sight: for our faith takes place in our hearts, whereas sight is something that we settle upon with our eyes. How many people have you heard, say something like, I will believe in God when He shows Himself to me. And yet, if you look around at all that He has created, there is no denying that He exist, and that He has this amazing way of making Himself known within His creations. There will come a day that God reveals Himself fully to all men; but on that day, faith will no longer be an issue, except for the disappointment in men's hearts that they did not have greater faith; but there will be great amazement on that day of who He is, and the greatness of His glory. Why does God hide Himself in such a way? Why doesn't He just shout down from heaven and let everyone alive know that He is there? I do not ask that for my benefit; for these are not questions that I have for myself, because I have no doubt that He there, because He is dwelling within me; but for all the others that say He is not, what about for them? That is the beauty of what it means to believe, and to hold onto something so dear to your heart, that you do not let anyone snatch it away; it becomes personal, and is the kind of relationship that is based upon love and hope; not based upon a religion that tells you what you must believe. His word gives us the blueprint of all that we need to know about Him; but our relationship with Him gives us the true knowledge of who He is, and how much He loves us individually. So, in answer to the questions as to why God does not just reveal Himself; I believe that it is because He wants us to all seek Him and to find Him for ourselves... "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchantman, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it." (Matthew 13:44-46)

"The Liberation of God"

"And He rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, He did fly upon the wings of the wind." (Psalms 18:10) And yet, even though He humbled Himself to become as one of us, He still was held in the highest form of human status; being born of a virgin and full of the Spirit; He, having direct communication with the Father, was without any opposition or obstruction as He made His way to the cross. John the Baptist gave testimony of Him, and did say, "I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose". (John 1:26 & 27) If you observe His life as He dwelt here among us, you will see that He never was in a place that was outside of His control, or where He did not choose to be. Even in the areas where He was sought to be taken, if it was not time for Him to be taken, then He slipped away and out of their reach. Given who He was, that being the Captain of our salvation, and how He demonstrated the power of God in relation to the timing of God's work to be done, He showed us the example of the fact that if it is not time to go, then you shall not be gone; plain and simple: if it is not your time to go, then you shall not be taken! That is an important thing to remember; for many times we seem to forget this simple fact, and how it is that God will deliver us from any and every situation; that is, until it is our time to go, and to depart this place and stand in His presence. So, you can see why I might call this liberating; because it is liberating to know how God works in the area of our departure from this earth; and that, if it is not God's desire for us to be taken from this earth, then nothing can take us from this place until it is His time for that to happen: Period! Why is that liberating? some might ask, wondering if it really is so. But liberation is based upon the concept of freedom; freedom being established by God and the right which He gives every man and woman to pursue all that He has given them to stretch forth after; and the only limitation that we have in our pursuit of what we stretch forth after, is that it is our time to depart; at which time, it is far better that we depart, for greater rewards await us there, then we could ever accomplish here, even in a thousand lifetimes! The liberation of God is based upon the fact that we are given so many days, which are determined by God; what that means, is that, if it is God's will for us to stay, then stay we shall; but if it is God's will for us to go, then we shall go. Nothing shall hold us, and nothing shall take us, if it is not God's will for that to happen! This is liberating to us because we know that everything is in God's hand, and that nothing is predicated upon man's will or desire for our life; it is God who chooses when our time has come... "According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having the desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you." (Philippians 1:20-24) 

"The Humility of God"

"He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under His feet." (Psalms 18:9) When we consider what it was that God had to do in order to redeem mankind unto Himself, it is hard to imagine what that must have looked like to those that were the host of heaven, as they watched their Creator wrap Himself in darkness and become one of us. This is something than many people do not understand; nor can they even begin to conceive the humility that was involved on the part of a Holy God to place Himself in such a lowly state; let alone, then offer Himself a sacrifice to be killed for our sins. To understand fully what was accomplished in that act of humility, one would have to become God, and then to have done that act for themselves; which is altogether impossible to do. But, in order for God to redeem mankind completely from the darkness that they were trapped in, God would need to be clothed in the state, in order to bring all things under His feet. Sometimes, when sharing with someone who does not believe that Jesus was, is and always will be God, I get asked the question, Why would God need to come down and die for mankind? Besides the fact that God required a perfect sacrifice in order to wash away all of man's sins; He also needed to take the curse upon Himself in order to own it, and place that curse under His feet. This goes back to that scroll which is mentioned in Revelation Chapter Five; where in verse Four, we see John weeping, for no man was found worthy to open it, nor read of it, nor even look in it; for that scroll is the title deed to the earth and all that is within it. Yet in Revelation 5:5 it says, "And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof". It was because that He had taken the form of man that He was able to proclaim ownership of this earth and to take possession of all that is within it; and because He had prevailed in that form, He was able to claim the victory, and to take ownership of that title deed to this earth. When we look at the meaning of "He bowed the heavens also, and came down", we see the humility of God in making Himself a little lower than the angels, and coming down in the form of man Himself: not sending an angel; but taking that position upon Himself, He humbled Himself to become as one of us, that He could take on our distress, and all of our temptations upon Himself, in order to proclaim the full victory in everything that we suffer through. So; when I am asked, Why would God need to come down and die for mankind? I stretch out my hands, and I say, Because He loved us this much! Enough to take our place upon that cross... "Thou hast put all things in subjection under His feet. For in that He put all in subjection under Him, He left nothing that is not put under Him. But now we see not yet all things put under Him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare Thy name unto My brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto Thee. And again, I will put My trust in Him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given Me. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all of their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succour then that are tempted." (Hebrews 2:8-18) 

"The Fire of God"

"There went up a smoke out of His nostrils, and a fire out of His mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it." (Psalms 18:8) You know, it is hard for me to picture God as a fierce fire, or even a consuming fire; but if you are on the wrong side of God, watch out! The very first instance we have of God's display of fire is recorded in Genesis 3:24, when God drove out man from the garden. In that instance, the fire of God was described as "a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life". Oddly enough, this is one of the first manifestations that we have of our Lord and Saviour: a flaming Sword which turns every way to keep the way of the tree of life! Let me see; how do we approach this in a way that is not so judgemental? To put it nicely, the coals that are kindled by the fire of God, to which David is making reference to, are those that live in sin; which are those that are already condemned, and have not received His offer of mercy. If you know anything about coals, they are burning embers that smelter long after having being lit; something like charcoals in a barbecue that continue to burn well after the flames have been extinguished, and they continue to smolder and provide heat enough to cook whatever it is that is set upon the grill. Here we have the true test of what God's fire is made of; because it is not His making that keeps the fire consuming, but it is those that are fallen in sin; those are the ones which continue the fire to burn. For those that are truly His children, this fire is quenched; much like the flaming sword placed at the entrance into the garden, which turned every way, keeping the way of the tree of life, which was meant to keep man from eating of the tree of life; so too, Jesus extinguished that flaming sword by providing man access again to that tree of life. Yet, when we read the description of Jesus in Revelation, several different times He is mentioned with "His eyes were as a flame of fire", clearly indicating His power to pierce into the very depths of our soul, and to make judgement with just the look of His eyes. The fire that goes out of His mouth, which David makes mention of, is that of His judgement; which are the commands of God's very spoken word. These are the flames that light those coals: the Word of God sets those coals on fire; yet, the coals themselves are what continue to burn...

"God's Mighty Hand"

"Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because He was wroth." (Psalms 18:7) I was reminded of that song by Rich Mullins called, 'Our God Is An Awesome God', and how I would always love to listen to it as I drove to southern California and back almost every month when we first moved here from there. This is not something that God is portrayed as enough, in my opinion; if He were, maybe more people would stop and take notice! But fear is not the force which will capture our hearts!!! It is God's love that is the force which makes us surrender to His might; His mighty force that causes man to fear is the awakening to His presence; but His love is what changes a man's heart. If you look at all the examples throughout the Bible of when God was wroth with His children, the acts of violence that He brought against them were hardly enough to stop them from failing to listen. The things that I would fear the most from being killed by are being eaten and set on fire; not the way I would like to leave this earth! As we are beginning to see such a change in our culture, it is more and more a sign of the times, and a real indication that the end is really nearer than we might think. This last week's example that was given of how intolerant men are to the truth, yet how much they embrace and defend that which is evil, is a real good indicator of where our hearts are being led; primarily our children, who have to listen day in and day out to lectures on being tolerant and how anything that is not should be considered hate. However; God will only tolerate so much, which He has shown over and over in His word. It is wise that we remember this, that is if we really care about the place's which we live, and those values that are instilled upon our children. But why make such a big fuss; if the Lord is coming back soon, just sit back and wait; Right? Wrong; I do not believe that God would have us to remain silent, and to just let evil take control over all that we see as our way of life on this planet. Some may beg to differ, and write it off as the sign of the times; but I do not think we are salt and light if we are not tasty and bright; which means that what we represent must make some sort of a difference in the world around us... 

"Our Father's Ears"

"In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry came before Him, even into His ears." (Psalms 18:6) Not that we need to be loud and persistent in our prayers, because God's ears can hear even our thoughts; but sometimes our crying out to Him is our sign of desperation. As I think back to some of the most distressful times in my life, I think the most distress that I ever felt was the night that my wife was stricken in the hospital, almost nine years ago this month. I can't tell you what I felt like, because it was something that took me by such a huge surprise. I had always thought of myself as a strong believer, and I had really never questioned God's intentions or given a second thought to what God was allowing to happen in my life; but that night was different, and I was shaken to my very core. I recall my determination at the hospital to be strong, and how I even tried to encourage my mother-in-law, as she was very upset seeing her only daughter looking as though she were dead and purple, with tubes hooked up to her to keep her alive. I did not want to leave that hospital that night, but around 11:00pm we were told that there was nothing else to do but let her sleep, and to get some sleep ourselves, or we would likely need medical care also. When I left the hospital, I was beginning to fall apart; as I drove the 20 minute drive to my house, I was crying so hard I could hardly see the road. And after arriving home, I went into my office and fell upon my knees; crying out to God, WHY???? It is something that I can only remember as a time of great distress, and I moment that I was so shaken, that even my very fiber was undone and I felt as though I could have exploded from all the stress that was within me in that moment. But then, after crying to God, and having cried harder then I ever can remember crying before, I felt such a peace come over me; so much so, that I went in and crawled into bed, and went straight to sleep. Thinking back to that moment, I can only consider that I was calmed by the fact that God heard my cries and that He responded to my distress. Call it a sedative of God, or whatever; but all I that I know is God's peace came upon me in such a way that I was able to shut my eyes and go straight to sleep. The strange thing is, that the question asked of God when I shouted out Why, was no longer needing to be answered; as I woke that next morning, about 4:00am, I called the hospital to see how Marianne was doing, and was told, The same. Praise God, I thought, she is still here with us. So I hurried down to the hospital to pray over her and to read some Psalms to her. All the while, that question was not there any longer; but a determination was there in my heart to just trust God. This was a different trust than I had ever had before, because it was not a blind trust, as many might just trust without knowing what direction that they are going; but it was a determined trust, that was given to a direction and a purpose of God. I know that some might question why it is that I refer to that trust as not being a blind trust, because faith is something that is not seen; but when God hears our cry, He makes us know that He listens; it is that making known that He hears us, that gives us sight to our faith, because we are instantly part of something much bigger than what we see..."I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place." (Psalms 118:5)

"Free From Hell's Grip"

"The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me." (Psalms 18:5) Dreams are so hard to interpret, and they surely are harder to explain! Like the one I had last night; it was three parts, and had myself in all three, and involved in some really strange things. The first part was about me and a friend walking under a bridge, and a homeless teenager came out of what appeared to be a trash dumpster, and threatened us for money. I approached him as if I was going to give him money, but then asked him if he knew Jesus, and acted amazed that I would ask him such a thing, and then jumped back into his dumpster. Almost immediately a friend of his showed up, confronting me that I had offended his friend, and my life felt as though it was in danger, so I ran, with my friend telling me which way to run, as we darted through several different neighborhoods. The second part involved what looked like a snowboard which I put on to ride in the back of a pickup truck as it went down the road. The odd part about this part of the dream, is that I think it came from a house that we took shelter in while running from the first scene. I do remember being in a strange house and asking to look in the garage; just as I was stepping into the garage, the main door opened, as if someone had just come home. The next thing I remember, I was standing in the front yard and being handed the snowboard; then getting into the back of the truck, we went down a dirt road with dips and jumps, while I slid back and forth in the bed of the truck on this weird snowboard. The third part took place as we were moving down the road; a road that was divided by what appeared to be an island. On the other side of the road there were different properties, all separated by fences and on these fences were bombs tied to them; as we passed the properties, different people of all sorts were running into the fences and being blown up by the bombs. After about six or more of these chain reactions, which seemed to follow us down the road, we were now running from the law, and being blamed for killing those people. Don't ask me to explain that weirdness, because I have no clue what it meant; but what I can tell you, is that the "sorrows of hell" that David is talking about are real and are associated with hell being in our future. In other words, we are in sorrow of that place because it has a grip upon us and it's power goes beyond that of a place, but goes more to where our soul is destined to rest. It speaks to the power of hell's grip that is there because that is our soul's resting place, and that there is nothing that we can do to change that direction. It is kind of like that dream, where nothing that I did could change the outcome of within the dream, because just as in the beginning I was running for my life, being excused of offending some homeless teenager; in the end, I was running being accused of killing countless people. That is very similar to the grip of hell, and how it has power over the real peace that our soul's are missing out on; peace that is only available from the Prince of Peace, who's name defines that which He brings to us. "The snares of death prevented me", is another way to say, The snares of death go before me; which means that the noose that is tied around my neck is sure to lead to my death, and sooner or later, it will tighten and take it's toll. That is what the opposite of real peace is! Being condemned to hell is the opposite of peace, and there can be no peace for those that are already condemned... "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:16-18) 

"Being Free From Death" -2

"The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid." (Psalms 18:4) Seeing that this is "A Song of Victory", I thought it only fitting to dig for something that was getting to the point of victory! You do realize that we have victory in Christ, Right??? Because, we do! This morning as I was praying about this verse and preparing to move onto the next one, I was given a glimpse of a mirror; a mirror that reflected the opposite of what I was looking at. Odd as that was, I had to think of what it was that David was getting at, and why it should seem so devastating. Then it hit me: God wants us to see the contrast of what was and what is! If you look at the meaning of "The sorrows of death compassed me", and then see the opposite meaning of that phrase, you will be looking at none other than 'The Joy in Life that Sets us Free'! Prior to having received Jesus Christ, and accepting His free offer of eternal life, we were compassed with the sorrows of death; every funeral that we attended was another reminder to us of how death was waiting, and how we are surrounded by death. The word "sorrows" is an interesting word, because it does not just mean sorrow, as in pain or travail; but it speaks more about a measured portion, and is taken to mean more about an offspring being brought forth with pain. In other words; there is a direct connection with this verse and Acts 2:24, which says, "Whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that He should be holden of it". This verse in Acts speaks about how Jesus could not be held by death, and that it was impossible for death to hold Him; therefore, He had loosed the pains of death by being raised up, and death's grip could not hold Him. Looking further into the mirror of reflection, we see the next portion of this verse, "And the floods of ungodly men made me afraid", and we can see a river of life filled with ruin and destruction transformed into 'The River of Life' that flows from God and through us! It is this River of Life that takes away all of our fears; as it flows through us, it gives us hope in New Life; as it gives us hope, all of our fears are swept away! As we continue further with Peter's first sermon, let me finish this post with the portion of Scripture that was speaking of Jesus, but that is now true for all that call upon His Name... "For David speaketh concerning Him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face; for He is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope, because Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; Thou shalt make me full of joy with Thy countenance." (Acts 2:25-28)

"Being Free From Death"

"The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid." (Psalms 18:4) If you have ever tried to share what it is like to no longer fear death with someone who is not a believer, then you will no doubt know that they will usually say that they don't believe you cannot fear the unknown; thus, they are basically saying that they do not believe you when you say that you are not afraid to die. Having tasted the peace that comes in knowing what death will mean to us, and how it will be for us having victory over death, based upon what the Bible says, and what we know to be true in our own hearts, it is pretty much impossible to share that taste we have been given, with someone else: it is something that they must taste for themselves. If ever there was a real definition of casting our pearls among the swine, then getting into a serious discussion with an unbeliever about not being afraid of death might be one of them. More times than not, I have walked away from that discussion feeling as though I am questioning what I really believe, more than feeling I had made my point. It's not that I have any doubt in the eternal life that I have been given in Christ, because I know what I believe, and I know that it is so; but talking to an unbeliever about certain things can made me remember how I once believed myself, making me question what I now know to be true. I believe that this is also true in the study of what false religions teach, as we might think it is good to study what they teach so that we can speak and share knowledgeably with them about their false religion. I have learned that it is best to stick to the truth; making the truth what we fill our heart and mind with, and leaving the false teaching for those in false religions to study. I give Paul's wisdom on what we must dwell upon the credit for my awakening to this point, as he says in Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." In other words; we should not waste our time thinking upon those things that are not true, honest, just, lovely, or of good report; especially if there is not virtue and praise involved with what we are dwelling upon. Having said that; there are many things that are acceptable to think about which do not fall into that list of things to think about; which are the things that God has delivered us from; for it is good to remember that from which we came, and the mighty hand of God that was used to bring us out of that destruction and death. 'The more imminent and threatening the danger was out of which we were delivered, the greater is the mercy of the deliverance'...

"...Oh So Worthy"

"I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies." (Psalms 18:3) Isn't wonderful to have such a loving God who not only will care for all of our needs, but will also protect us from every sort of danger. (That was not a question.) Going back to the first verse, and then starting over, I began to look at this from a fresh perspective. As for David's reason to start his newer version of this song with, "I will love Thee, O LORD, my strength", it is very probable that David realized the reason why God was his strength, and that it truly was because of love. Our first and greatest command from God is to love Him with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength; this is the first command with promise! The promise being that if we do love the LORD our God with all that is within us, then He will protect us in every area of our life. It's not that God will not care for us anyway, because I can tell you right here and now, that before I loved Him, He was definitely looking out for me! No; this is rather an acknowledgement of God's love for us, in that we love Him back; giving Him the acknowledgement of our praise and worship for how much He loves and cares for us. Therefore; all those reasons listed in verse two, are not just declarations of who God is, but they are praises of what God has done; more than that, they are praises of God's love, and how we can never out love Him! If you really think about what God wants from us in the manner of our love for Him, He wants us to love Him in such a way that His love is the most important thing in our lives! In doing this, we are walking automatically in a spirit of trusting God; not based upon what God will or will not do for us, but based upon love! Therefore; putting these three verses together, we see that David acknowledges how that it is really all about love; God's love for him being the reason that David can call upon Him in the first place; His mighty works of deliverance and strength being the reason that He is so worthy to be praised; and, because David is so in love with Him, "so shall I be saved from mine enemies"...