"It's All Him!" -2

"I will praise Thee for ever, because Thou hast done it: and I will wait on Thy name; for it is good before Thy saints." (Psalms 52:9) Just when I thought I was moving on, God is making me wait. It is good to wait upon the Lord; it might be hard sometimes to do it, but in reality, that is what makes it so good! Do you need me to explain that? because I don't have all day! As I was praying this morning, I had a gentle reminder given to me about why this is so important, and why it is that God wants us to wait upon Him. We really do like to have the ability to take some of the credit for everything good that happens to us; just as we like to blame someone else for all the bad; inherently we are that way because of our sinful nature, and our flesh loves to come out smelling like a rose. Because this Psalm is about "God's Judgment and Grace", I need to say one more thing about what that actually means when it comes to waiting upon the Lord, which is how much we need to trust in God's judgment, and not try to come to our own conclusions about anything. I know that God is in control, even in the worst situations, He never lets go of me; yet I still try to figure stuff out, and try to plan out what God is doing; as if I have a better plan than He does. But isn't that the whole point of what it is all about? I mean, really, if we step back and look at our spiritual life, we do the same thing when it comes to trying to help God completed His work in us. I am not feeling very spiritual, so I had better start reading my Bible more; or I need to pray more often, because I don't feel as though I am in touch with God. These are not bad things to set out to do, the problem is, that the reasons for doing them are wrong, and they will only end up frustrating our spiritual condition. If we don't feel God's Spirit upon our lives, then we need to ask Him to fill us with His Spirit; and if we don't feel as though we are in touch with God, then we need to ask Him for forgiveness, because we obviously have some sort of sin that has caused a separation in our relationship. In other words, we cannot create a change in our spiritual life by doing this or that, only God can change us! Maybe you're problem is something else, something more to do with love? I don't feel as though I can love the way that I am meant to love? or I don't feel as though I really love at all? Perfect! That is where God wants you, wanting Him to fill you with His love, so that you can love through Him, and so that He can love through you. Besides that, the title above Psalms 53 in my Bible says, "Men Are Evil", which pretty much sums up why we need God to work in us and why we cannot be trusted to do anything on our own, not even to love; because our love is always looking for payment or acknowledgement... "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 also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us His Spirit." (1 John 4:10-13)

"It's All Him!"

"I will praise Thee for ever, because Thou has done it: and I will wait on Thy name, for it is good before Thy saints." (Psalms 52:9) Occasionally God will allow us to slip and fall, just so He can pick us up again and dust us off, and then put us back upon the path; which is why I believe that "all" in Romans 8:28 also refers to the bad; because even though God has not caused it, He has allowed it. Here is the thing about God's grace that I think we don't always totally understand, is that His grace is 100% His; it's not 50 - 50, or 90-10, or any other form of contribution on our part, because we have nothing worthy of contributing to the glorification process, nothing at all! We might think that we do, and there are many different religions and cults that embrace that; mostly because man is vain, and man's vanity loves to be satisfied. If you look just beyond the "all things work for the good", you will see the reason the Paul believes it, is because the whole process of glorification is of God, as he says in verses 29 & 30: "For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified." It is pretty obvious from the list of "He's" that we do not have much to contribute in the process, but to accept what He has done for us. That reminds me of the "contract" between God and Abraham back in Genesis 15; when it came time for the contract to be signed, it was only God who signed it; Abraham only needed to accept what God had signed, and his part of the contract was not binding, because he never participated in the signing process. Does that mean Abraham did not have a part? Absolutely not, because his part was to accept the gift of grace that God had given; just as it is our part to accept God's grace that is given to us, freely and completely. God does not offer us free grace, and then say, However, this is what you must do in order to obtain My free gift; free is something that only requires acceptance, which is to be fully accepted; every bit of it... "And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth in Me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, That ye also have seen Me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:35-40)    

"Rooted In Truth" -2

"But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever." (Psalms 52:8) As much as I hate to admit it, I have days of doubt; as I assume most everyone else does also. But God, God is the one that has my back! You really cannot trust anyone else but God; as soon as you start putting any kind of faith in someone else for support or encouragement, you are going to be let down. We need to be an encouragement to other, and we need to keep ourselves "unspotted from the world"; last I checked, there is only one way to keep "unspotted from the world", and that is by confessing my sins; which is one of my favorite verses: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). Wasn't that the whole purpose of Jesus washing the disciples feet, that He demonstrated how we need to be cleaned from the stuff we step in every day; that, and how we need to be humble before one another and before God. This description that David is giving to us, is that of a special tree that is in a special place; is not just any living tree, it's a tree that is green because it is growing and it is flourishing; it's not some sort of old-growth tree that has reached it's peak of growth, but it is reaching and growing still; and because it is an olive tree, it's oil is fresh and adorned with brightness; a brightness that is brought fourth and displayed from where it is planted, "in the house of God". Everything that this special tree needs, water, soil, sunlight; whatever it requires for growth and life, comes from the place where it is planted, "in the house of God". And because this very special tree is growing in this very special place, there is nothing, absolutely nothing that can take away the hope that this very special tree has in the place where it has been planted... "Of His own will begat He us with the Word of Truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted Word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the Word, and not just hearers only, deceiving your own selves." (James 1:18-22)

"Rooted In Truth"

"But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever." (Psalms 52:8) Some say God does not have patience with those that do not endure testing and cannot resist temptations, but here is the truth of the matter: God is all about patience with those that are His children! And then you have those that might try to say if you do not endure testing and you cannot resist temptation, then there is no proof that you are a child of God. Based upon James 1:12-15, it might be rather easy to reach such a conclusion; but based upon the truth, conclusions are not played out in testing and temptations, they are totally based upon a persons faith in Jesus Christ, and in Christ Jesus alone! Besides, what James really means, and that which many overlook, is that we love God; you see, James is not far off from John's perspective about love being the key to understanding the truth; if anything, James uses more practical applications, things like what we say, how we treat others, and whether or not we actually care when we tell someone God Bless You. The truth about James 1:12-15 has more to do about temptation not being of God, but that God might test us with trials, which James opens that chapter with, but a trial is not the same as a temptation. Trials cause us to look to God as our strength, and are good for us because they build character and endurance; while temptations are of the devil, just as Eve was tempted in the garden, they are rooted in a lie, that lie being that doing this or that will give me pleasure; when in reality, doing it will rob me of peace, hope and joy, and it will make regret having done it. On the other hand, not enduring a test, or not resisting temptation does not take away our salvation, nor does prove anything except that we have no strength within ourselves. As Paul explains in Romans 7:24, saying, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Jesus Christ has, that's Who! You don't think that God does not know your weaknesses? He knows you better than you know yourself. The truth is based in Christ Jesus, who is glorified, who is standing at the right hand of the Father, and who is making intersession for every single one of those weaknesses, again and again and again; He will never give up on you, so don't you ever give up on trusting in Him... "For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is in vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their afflictions, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." (James 1:23-27)

"Not So Mighty"

"The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him: Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness." (Psalms 52:6-7) It is really not hard to see that wickedness does not prevail; although it does destroy some lives and might make some appear mighty; in the the end, the righteousness of God will be all that remains. I know that this is a Psalm that is meant to be about Doeg and how he tried to be strengthened in doing Saul's dirty work, but I see this relating to a character that will also turn out to be "not so mighty". If you know who I am talking about, then you get the picture, because in the end, this is what will be said of Satan (Isaiah 14:12-17). We really need to get this straight in our hearts and minds: Satan wants to make us believe that we have no hope, which is very easy for him to do because of our sinful nature; we pretty much give him the opportunity to convince us every time that we sin; and as James said in verse 1:15, "And sin when it is finished, brings forth death". The result of sin is always death in some form or fashion, there is just no other way to explain what sin does; sin and death are always hand in hand, because they go together; had Adam not sinned, then there would be no death, and we would have not been born in sin (Romans 5:12). What that translates to, for those that don't pay attention, is that we live in a fallen world; everything that is not alive in Christ remains fallen, and in that fallen state, it is weak, pitifully weak; that includes Satan and his minions. No one can convince me that there is no hope for me, because I have no hope in myself, my hope is in Jesus Christ and in His finished work on the cross! As soon as someone says, See, your a sinner, and you will die in your sins; I get to answer back, No, I will not die in my sins, because my sin has been paid for on the cross, and as far as death goes, it is no more! The opposite of that declaration, is the one that puts any kind of hope in themselves; whether that involves trusting in their own righteousness, or trying to earn their way into heaven; anyone that tries to do that really has no hope at all. If you consider these two different aspects, then you can read something very significant into this verse: "The righteous" are you and I that have put our faith in Christ, for without the righteousness of Christ, we have no righteousness at all (Romans 3:10); and when we see what God has done (the whole picture that will be revealed in the end), we will be in awe and astonished; astonished not just in what God has done, but astonished also that anyone could try to come against Him. "This is the man that made not God his strength" will not be a question, it's astonishment by the truth; the truth being the foundation of our faith, which is Jesus, and the fact that God knows our weakness; but our God is Mighty to save those that are weak...
"Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." (James 5:19-20)

"Destroyed!"

"God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, He shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah." (Psalms 52:5) O yes, somebody knows that his days are numbered, and he has been spending thousands of years trying to alter his destiny; or to at least destroy the destiny of God's children. The main problem he has with destroying our destiny, is that God will not let him; once we become a child of God, no one, not even the devil, can pluck us out of His hand (John 10:27-30). We have got to realize who we are in Christ: we are sinners that have been saved by blood of Jesus Christ, and without His blood being poured out for us, we would have been lost forever. You better believe the devil knew what he was up against, because he knows the word of God; it's just that he does not obey it himself, but rather he likes to twist it and make up lies to contradict what God has said, which is why he is called, the father of lies (John 8:44). Regardless of what people might think, the devil has only been given the power that we allow him to have in our lives; if we resist him, he will flee from us (James 4:7), because ultimately, he is no match for God; he might think that he can do something, but we are the one's that allow him to come in and mess up our lives. Think about the instance with Peter, the one where Jesus told Peter, "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat" (Luke 22:31); if it were not for the fact that Peter was about to deny Jesus, then Satan would not have had the opportunity to have Peter in the first place (Luke 22:34). We are the ones that allow him into our lives by the choices we make; the devil does not make us do things, we allow him the space to come in and spread his lies. That is why it is so important for us to stay in God's word everyday; if we keep reading the truth, then we won't become overtaken by a lie! Big lies are not the ones that cause us to stumble, it's the little lies that get us, the ones we don't pay much attention to; things like, who is Jesus, or is God real, we have no problem with those questions, but the ones that deal with our eternal security, those we are constantly fighting over...
"Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man: but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth fourth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of His own will begat He us with the Word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures." (James 1:13-18)

"The Destroyer"

"Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue." (Psalms 52:4) I know you might have wondered why I closed with James 5:1-6, but it was mostly verse 6 that really caught my attention; not that the damned aren't carried away by riches, because riches are a tool used by the enemy; both the gain and the desire of wealth; the rich are either trying to get rich, or they are trying to keep it. But that is just one tool that the enemy uses, and has used for thousands of years; today we are pounded with lies in every direction. If we could pinpoint a major tool of the enemy, it would be the tongue; the tongue meaning all forms of communication, both spoken and written. Compound that with our modern day way of communicating, and you have something of a wildfire of lies which can be spread in several different directions. I do have a Facebook account, and a Twitter account, but I refuse to use them both; as a matter of fact, I have not used either one of them in several years now, and I really don't care to. Some of my friends and relatives think that I am some sort of a Fuddy-Duddy for not going on Facebook anymore; and I am constantly getting emails with notifications, and tags, and whatever else is going on out there; but it's not that I don't enjoy the pictures and the chatter, because I did; it's just that I don't like the trap that I see happening there, which I see as the Social Spiderweb; but that's just my opinion, so you can take it or leave it. This is a really strange world that we are living in, one that is primed for something catastrophic to happen at any moment, and I believe that it will; any day now Jesus will be returning for His bride, and when He does, things are going to be quite out of control, quite rapidly. With the Holy Spirit gone, the deceitfulness of the devil will devour the earth, and the sad thing is, many that are left will not notice the deceit; and those that do, will be most likely be put to death. Imagine what this world will be like; and if you still have Facebook or Twitter, you had better watch out! Okay, so I got a little sidetracked, I'm sorry; but you have got to see the grip that the enemy places on people; if it's not riches, then it's power and influence; if it's not power and influence, then it's likability; and if it's not likability, then it's just plain old evil; anything evil, whether that is in the form of hatred or gossip, it really does not matter, because devouring words have the same result...
"Do you think that the Scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But He giveth more grace. Wherefore He saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up. Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one Lawgiver, Who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou to judgest another?" (James 4:5-12)

"Plan of the Damned"

"Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah." (Psalms 52:3) If you could get inside the mind of Satan, this verse would no doubt fit perfectly with his plan for man. As I have lived in this world as a Christian for these last three decades, I have come to the conclusion that the devil loves evil; not only does he love it, but he spreads it like a plague from city to city, and from country to country. Some will tend to disagree, as they will have different opinions on what is considered evil; but in the end, everything that take man's heart away from the worship of God is evil; everything that causes us to put our love in another direction, other than towards God, is nothing but evil. As if we do not have a choice when it comes to how we live, because we most certainly do. It really does not matter where or how you were raised, at one point of each of our lives, we will be shown the truth, what we do with that truth is what will really matter. Those that follow the way of the lie, they tend to also follow that which is evil; sometimes they might not even know that they are following evil, but think it is good; but sooner or later, there will be a crossroad, one where they will need to choose between what is evil and what is good; and if they are not following the truth, they will choose the wrong road. It might not even be their desire, nor the intention of their heart to follow evil instead of good, but without the desire to love and please God, their desire will go in the way of wickedness. You might not consider that to be a plan, but it is; it may not be man's plan to start with, but man will adopt it as his plan, and he will own it. Initially it is the devils plan; it is his plan to take as many souls with him to hell as he can. My mom would refer to this, by saying, Misery loves company; which may or may not be the cause of his actions, because personally, I think he just loves evil more than good; and it's not because he was created that way, but because he has separated himself from God; and if God is nothing but good, righteousness, light and love, then guess where that puts him...
"Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as if it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and have been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in the day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you." (James 5:1-6)

"Man With a Plan"

"Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully." (Psalms 52:2) Obviously David was not to fond of Doeg; at least not with the mischief that he was up to, which David knew from the moment that he noticed that Doeg saw him come to the house of Ahimelech. Yet, there might be something else involved with David's thoughts, something a little more personal; because David also was guilty of mischief, as he came to the priest under false authority, by making a claim that he was sent there by Saul (1 Samuel 21:2). Sometimes we can tend to bend the truth a little, especially if we have a plan that comes into a bit of a problem. Not that David expected to just walk in and get some bread and a sword, because I am sure he had discussed this meeting to him self several times before the meeting. But isn't that how we do things? I know it's not just me, because I have been doing it for as long as I remember; even as a kid, I remember doing it with my friends or siblings, as we discussed how to explain how something happened, or we tried to figure out a way to make something happen; it starts with a plan, but ends in deceit. Right after this encounter with Ahimelech, David fled into Gath and continued in his deceit, as he pretended to be insane. Not that the two had anything to do with one another, but it is pretty hard to get out of a lie once you have stepped into one; especially if the lie that you have created involves people of power, or people that know the truth; once you do that, you have pretty much stepped into something that does not wash off very easily. On the other hand, Doeg was nothing more than a herdsman, and just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time (1 Samuel 21:7). He might not have even known that Saul was after David, at least not until he Saul had raised his voice and complained about David in front of Doeg; then Doeg saw a chance to gain favor with the king; then Doeg spoke up about the day he saw David come to the house of Ahimelech (1 Samuel 22:7-10).
So here is where I think David is more concerned about what he had caused than he is with what Doeg had done; not because he went to the priest for help, but because he asked for help under false pretense; if he had come to the priest honestly, then the priest might have refused to help. Here is where we need to ask ourselves a question: Who is in control of our life; is it us, or is it God?
"Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the Judge standeth before the door." (James 5:7-9)

"O Mighty Man"

"Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? The goodness of God endureth continually." (Psalms 52:1) Although I tend to mess up from time to time, I can honestly say that I trust God to get me through to the very end; unlike some that I see who panic at the first sign of something that they were not expecting, I instead seem to sweat the little stuff, but the big things I don't worry about and just hand them over to God. Maybe it seems it might be time to start handing God some of the little stuff? It seems as if I have so many little things piling up around me, that they are starting to become big things that are getting out of my control. If we stop long enough to listen, God is really asking us to give Him everything, even those little things that we think are real easy; and because we think they are, we don't even consider handing them over to God. As I think about it, when I first came to Christ, He had full control; every waking moment of every day was His, and I did not dare make any thing or matter mine alone. That was over 33 years ago, and between then and now it is hard to remember a day when I last walked as if He was in complete control of my life; and when I say complete control, I mean that He has the wheel and I am the passenger! Fortunately for me and my stubbornness, God is merciful, and He does not give me what I deserve at the hands of my own mischief, because He is more than merciful, He has abundant grace that gives me what I don't deserve. This is not what David might be talking about, and then again, maybe it gets right to the point. Whether or not Doeg planned it, his life changed for ever after he told Saul what had happened; he might of thought he was going to get favor with the king, but instead, the king commissioned him to kill the priest of God. It is not that we cannot make choices on our own, because we all honestly do in some form or fashion; but it is more about giving everything to God in humility, understanding who we are and Who He is in comparison, and making all of our choices based upon one simple rule: What Would Jesus Do? Otherwise, the wrong little choice could become something really really big; and before you know it, you have created a life changing problem...
"Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: whereas ye know not what shall on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." (James 4:13-17)

"God's Judgment and Grace"

Psalms 52 [To the Chief Musician, Masehil, A Psalm of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech.] Obviously these Psalms are not in chronological order, but they do line up, it's just that the order is more fitted to the circle of life; and when I say circle of life, I am referring to our spiritual life, which requires renewal and refreshing day by day. And yes, the title above this Psalm in my Bible is, "God's Judgement and Grace". Although this event had taken place at least 25 years before the event which inspired the previous Psalm, it's not the timing of the event, but about the message within the Psalm. If you think about it, what David did to Uriah was monstrous; maybe even far worse than anything that Saul had done, even the events that followed this introduction. David had Uriah take his own death sentence back to the battlefield; a man who was counted among David's thirty most mighty men, and who was faithful to serve David with all of his might, was treated like a dog; not that Doeg means dog, but it did have a similar meaning in the eyes of David. And seeing that the is all about "God's Judgment and Grace", doesn't it make sense that this is a good followup to "A Prayer for Spiritual Cleansing"? I mean, think about it; if you have been forgiven of something so bad, what kind of reminder do you need about your position with God? You know what the enemy is going to say, he will tell you that God can never forgive you, and you likely will agree with him when he says it. Remember this, that God knows everything that we are going to do before we actually do it: which means, that God knew what David was going to do 25 to 30 years after He choose him to be king. Do you really think that God did not know? Our God is All Knowing, and He loves us, even though He knows what we are going to do, after we commit our lives to Him, He loves us just the same. That is what unconditional love actually means, it is not conditioned upon anything that the receiver of it has done, but is totally based upon the Giver's desire to love us. Why can't we see how much God loves us? Why can't we just realize who we are in Christ?
"But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace, in His kindness toward us, through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which He hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:4-10)  

"A Prayer for Spiritual Cleansing" -2

"Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. - Then shalt Thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shalt they offer bullocks upon Thine alter." (Psalms 51:1 & 19) Whether you believe it or not, once you are saved, you are saved for good; if you don't believe that, then you need to get back to the basics of the gospel message, which is, "That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:15) Life eternal does not end with human power, because it was not given by human power; eternal life is something that God gives to those that believe in the name of Jesus Christ; and by believe, that means that we accept the fact that we need Jesus to save us from our sins, and that there is nothing else that we can do to be saved but to turn to Jesus, absolutely nothing! I heard an interesting word yesterday from Pastor Jack, as he was sharing about what Jesus said in Revelation in regards to blotting out a name from the Book of Life, and that maybe every one's name is already written in it, which is God's will, that all might be saved. That is an interesting concept, but I am not sure how well that lines up with everyone being condemned already (John 3:17 & 18); besides that, I hold to the notion that we must come completely to be saved completely, which is based upon the parable of the sower, and how we must be planted in Christ, and in Him alone! Regardless of what David might have done, or whether or not he finished well, David was in Christ, David is with Christ, and we will see David in heaven. We will see a lot of people that we did not expect to see, and we won't see many that we thought we would see. "Spiritual Cleansing" is about being right with God, and last time I checked, there was only one way to get right with God, and that was to be washed in the blood of Jesus Christ; no washed in the blood, no right with God! But just as many traditions were added to God's law, so too, many conditions have been added to salvation in Christ; you must be baptized, you must speak in tongues, you must stop this, or you must practice that; how about we just surrender our life to Jesus Christ and let Him tell us what to do! We cannot add anything to our salvation in Christ, nor can we take away anything that Christ has done; when Jesus said, "It is Finished", He meant, what was needed for our salvation to be given to us had been done, now it is up to each and every one of us to receive it; just reach out your hand and take it, it is yours... "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting 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)

"The Best Sacrifice"

"Then shalt Thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings: then shall they offer bullocks upon Thine alter." (Psalms 51:19) There is nothing that pleases God more than to have His people united and worshiping Him together in one accord; and there is nothing like pure redemption that can bring everyone into that kind of agreement. It's not that we can't find something to agree upon, because we probably could if we really set our hearts on something that benefits everyone; but nothing can unite the church like being reconciled to God. This is what "Spiritual Cleansing" is really all about; not just for one, but for everyone to be united as one, celebrating together what God has done. This is not about a burnt offering for the forgiveness of sin, which never really worked in the first place; this is about a celebration of God's righteousness being poured out upon His people. There is a huge difference between a sacrifice which is given to ask God for something and one that praises Him for what He has already done. The real truth of the matter is that God wants us to confess our sins to Him, He wants to forgive us of our sins, and He will forgive us of our sins; and when He forgives us of our sins, we are cleansed of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). That is something that the whole church can celebrate together, because we all are in the same boat when it comes to needing God's forgiveness. Now then, what connection does loving our brother have to do with "Spiritual Cleansing"? I know some of you have wondered that; and if you did, then you need to know that it has every thing to do with it! We cannot have "Spiritual Cleansing" without there first being love for one another, just as we cannot be forgiven without forgiving our brother or sister that has wronged us; real "Spiritual Cleansing" involves a complete surrender into the love of God, which means that there is nothing held back; no resentments, no hatred, no unforgiveness; none of the selfish things that go against all the characters of what love is all about. That is the best sacrifice we can offer unto God...
"Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word; that they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me. Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me: for Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee: but I have known Thee, and these have known that Thou hast sent Me. And I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it; that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them." (John 17:20-26)

"What's This!"

"Do good in Thy good pleasure unto Zion: build Thou the walls of Jerusalem." (Psalms 51:18) Oddly enough, our sins do effect other people; so much for the Libertarian view of "What's mine is mine", because in the real world of spiritual cleansing, sin is not a personal issue anymore. Any person that loves, truly loves as God would have him or her to love, should be able to see and understand that their sins are not their own issue, they spread like a cancer to those around them, and they effect everyone that has any contact whatsoever with them or anyone that they know. Don't believe me? Then what do you think David is speaking of here in this "Prayer for Spiritual Cleansing"? This is how Jesus told His disciples to pray, saying, "Thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven"; we need to pray for those that are around us, those that have been influenced by our actions, and those that have been stumbled by our stupidity. It's not just about us, it's about others first! That is what it means to be a servant, to serve others by denying ourselves. We cannot honestly love our brother as Jesus has commanded us to if we do not deny ourselves, because self will always get in the way. Our sin is a product of the flesh, and our flesh is a representation of self; if we deny self, then we will also deny the flesh, and if we deny the flesh, we will not sin. As simple as that might sound, it is not, nor is it even possible without God's Spirit to empower us and to give us the strength to overcome. But when we do, and we should make every effort to make it happen, then we need to strengthen those around us; we need to intercede for those that might have been effected by our bad choices; we need to pray for "Spiritual Cleansing" in our homes, in our businesses, in our churches; wherever God might lead us to pray, we need to make that a part of who we are, because in reality, it is! We are the Body of Christ... "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." (1 John 3:14-16)

"...Just Brokenness"

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." (Psalms 51:17) If you understand the writings of John, he was all about being broken before God; as a matter of fact, until we are broken and live in humility, we really cannot love one another as Jesus asked us to love each other. Jesus really set the example of how we are to live, love, and judge; He did not come to condemn the world, but to save the world; He did not come as a King, that He was, but as a Servant, a Servant that laid down His life for us that we might have life in Him. Our brokenness comes from knowing our sinfulness, and the fact that our sin is the reason Jesus died upon that cross; it is because of my sin that He was stricken, and because of my iniquities that He was punished so brutally. And yet, in complete humility and love, Jesus did not curse nor beg for mercy for Himself, but asked the Father to forgive those that were punishing Him; which basically means, that He was asking the Father to forgive them who placed Him upon that cross, that would also include you and me; which means that Jesus was forgiving forward to us, even before we existed, He had forgiven us for our crimes against Him. That is the example of pure humility towards those that would do you harm; not just to forgive what has been done, but to forgive in advance of what might be done. Imagine what the church would look like if that was the kind of love we had for each other; there would be instant forgiveness granted, because forgiveness was already prepared in our hearts for one another. Think of all the bystanders that would be saved from being pulled into the fights that develop between brothers and sisters, if they could only refuse to be offended, by first forgiving before the offense even might happen. That is what Jesus did for you and for me, in that He forgave us then for what we do against Him today; He forgave us then, for what we will do against Him tomorrow! As a matter of fact, there is nothing that me or you can do that He has not already forgiven us for; nothing... "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from Him, That he who loveth God love his brother also." (1 John 4:20-21)

"No Bull..."

"For Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: Thou delightest not in burnt offering." (Psalms 51:16) Oh, I know, it sounds a little testy, but trust me, it really isn't what it seems to be; it's just what popped into my head as I was praying for a title. Even God has a sense of humor, don't you know? But seriously, do you actually think that it pleases God that animals need to be slain and their blood sprinkled around all over an alter? Do you think that pleases God? Nor does the smell of burnt flesh make Him happy; God is not pleased by death, whether it be man's or animal's, death is something that God hates. When I gave a message on Genesis chapter 7, I was drawn to the fact that God said at least four times, "And all flesh died that moved upon the earth", as if it grieved Him in His heart that He had to do what He did; which is why it says in verse 6:6, "And it repented the LORD that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart." God is love! He loves all of His creation and all that He created He put such glory into, that those who study anything which He has made, cannot deny that He is; they might pretend to believe otherwise, but that is all that they are doing, just pretending to believe a lie. I wonder if any of our atheist friends would die for what they believe? I mean, if they were given a choice, either deny what you believe and confess that there is a God, or die, if they would still hold true to their belief? I know that I will not deny God, because I know He is real and that death is only the beginning; but what do they have to hold onto, except a lie that offers nothing but hopelessness? Why do you think so many that don't believe are investing so much into finding life somewhere else? They are reaching for hope; hope in something other than just this; hope that there is something that expands past this life, but without putting any hope in God. If they only knew how much that God loves them? If they only knew how much they mean to God? That is the only reason for the spilling of blood; not that God likes blood to be spilled for our sins, but that God loves us more than words can express.... "He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also to walk, even as He walked. Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in Him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes." (1 John 2:6-11)      

"God Working In Us" -2

"O Lord, open Thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth Thy praise." (Psalms 51:15) There is another side of this changed life, besides God performing the change in us, there is us wanting to be changed. Keep in mind that this is a prayer, prayer being a petition unto the Lord for Him to do something for us, something that we could never do for ourselves. I think that might be the most important thing for us to remember, is how much we are lost without God's help, and how unable we are to fix ourselves; it is God, and God alone that must create the change in us; we can never make ourselves have a new heart, or muster up the will to obey the will of God; to somehow think that we can, goes against all that the gospel message speaks about. Even praise, as much as we would like to think that it is completely from within our own hearts, is ordained by God; you can see that example show in the story of Cain and Abel. The vision that I had this morning was about those transparent sheets of story pages, the ones where each page has another section of the story, and as you place them over each other, they complete the picture; if the wrong sheet is in the mix, then the picture presented does not display the right story. That is what I mean by God ordained praise, because the praise offered up to God must have the right story behind it; in other words, we must understand why it is that we are praising Him, and how it is that we are meant to praise Him; all of which are given to us by Him, as He presents to us the picture, layer upon layer, each connecting layer pointing to the message of the cross... "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 for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 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." (1 John 2:1-5)

"God Working In Us"

"O Lord, open Thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth Thy praise." (Psalms 51:15) So many people do not understand what Jesus meant, when He said, "The kingdom of God is within you"; and I have heard it explained in ways that are almost demonic in nature; but if He was speaking about the Holy Spirit, then don't you think He would have said "Spirit" instead of "Kingdom"? I for one do not believe that Jesus was speaking about the Holy Spirit, nor was He speaking about some hidden force within us; He was speaking about change from corruption to incorruption, from darkness to light, from death to life; it's all about a life that is changed on the inside, and that change is from God! Just a Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3:3, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God". Basically, if we are not made new by God, then we have no clue what the kingdom of God is really all about; but if God does make us new, then we are all about God's kingdom, and His kingdom is working within us. I see this verse to be in close relationship with Isaiah 6, as there needs to be a spiritual cleansing that takes place in us before we can actually be the mouthpiece for God; not that God can't speak through whatever He wants to, because He can speak through rocks if He wants to; but to be a vessel that He can use, and one that willfully wants to be use by Him, then we need to be conformed into that vessel by His Holy Spirit dwelling within us; and His Holy Spirit will only dwell within a vessel that has been made pure and spotless by the blood of His Son. That is the true meaning of "The Kingdom of God is within us"; not that we have anything in us that is able to produce His kingdom and make it to come to life; just the opposite is actually true, because what we have within us is sin and death, guilt and shame, lust and envy; all of which are things that are far far away from the kingdom of God. But God! Our God, who is rich in grace and mercy, He changes all those things into the image of His Son, His Son being the Head of the Kingdom; the One which has been placed above all else, to be the Head of the Church, and represent the Love of God towards us... "I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake. I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." (1 John 2:12-17)

"Real Thanksgiving"

"Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of Thy righteousness." (Psalms 51:14) Yes, and also I wanted this verse for today! There is such power in being thankful for what God has done for us; not just the power that comes from our salvation, although that is pretty powerful, but the power in knowing that we are innocent before God; that power that gives us the boldness to enter into His praise with thanksgiving in our hearts; that power that makes us want to shout out to the world how much God loves us, because we have witnessed it firsthand. When Jesus first came into my heart, my heart felt as though it was not large enough to contain Him by myself, and I needed to share what I was thankful about, or else I was going to explode. That is the kind of thankfulness that David is trying to express here in the verse. It is not just about giving thanks for what God has done, because that is to be directed towards God in the form us praise and worship; but it is more about having a heart that is totally and completely overwhelmed by what God has done; so much so, that you cannot contain yourself, and you have got to shout it out! The other day I was listening to a message about the "Ten Lepers" from Luke 17, and I was pricked in my heart by the summary to this message, which basically spoke about shouting out thanks as loud as we shouted out for mercy. If you don't know that story, it involves these ten lepers that were standing on the side of the road as Jesus walks into town, and they were crying out with their voices lifted up, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" And Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priests, and as soon as they were headed into the direction of the temple, they were all healed; yet only one of them turned back to give thanks to Jesus. Actually, it says, And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. (Luke 17:15-16) After which something else happens that I believe is Jesus magnifying what had just happened, as the Pharisees demanded an answer of Him regarding the coming of kingdom of God...
"And when He was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, He answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo, there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:20-21)

"Resting In Him"

"Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee." (Psalms 51:13) If you thought I was going to have a part two for verse 12, you were right, but God led me in another direction. The joy that comes from being reconciled with God is enough to satisfy any want that we might have had, this is how we keep that joy abounding within us! Paul calls this "The Ministry of Reconciliation" in 2 Corinthians 5:18, and it is primarily the fruit of our being reconciled to God. But you might say, Where is the resting, because this sounds like work? Well, it is not a function or a task, if that is what you are thinking, it is a place where you are at; and because you are there, you want others to be there with you. God is all about reconciling the world unto Himself; that is what He wants more than anything else, is to have everyone turn and come to Him; but that is not going to happen, and He knows that, but He still holds out, waiting for that last sinner to answer His call. If you really think about it, this is actually a time of rest for God, because after that last sinner jumps on board, things are going to get quite busy on earth and in heaven. Besides that, there is nothing that we can do of ourselves to be reconciled to God, therefore, there is nothing that anyone else needs to do either; so there is really no work being done, except by God; we are only messengers that share about a place where others might come to, God is the one that will call them, and God is the one that will reconcile them onto Himself. So you see, it really is just about resting in Him; and in the process, we get to experience more and more of His joy... "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For He hath made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 2:17-21)