Author: Thomas E Meyer Jr

Formerly Homeless Sinner Now, Child of God, Saved by Grace.

Beautiful Lessons in Love from Song of Solomon. Song of Solomon 1:1-4

HOW CAN WE NAME A LOVE?

How can we name a love
that wakens heart and mind,
indwelling all we know
or think or do
or seek or find?
Within our daily world,
in every human face,
Love’s echoes sound
and God is found,
hid in the commonplace.

If we awoke to life
upheld by loving care
that asked no great reward
but firm, assured,
was simply there,
we can, with parents’ names,
describe, and thus adore,
love unconfined,
our Father kind,
our Mother strong and sure.

When people share a task,
and strength and skills unite
in projects old or new,
to make or do
with shared delight,
our Friend and Partner’s will
is better understood,
that all should share,
create, and care,
and know that life is good.

So in a hundred names,
each day we all can meet
a presence, sensed and shown
at work, at home,
or in the street.
Yet names and titles all
shine in a brighter sun:
In Christ alone
is full love grown
and life and hope begun.

Brian Wren, Words © 1975, rev. 1995 Hope Publishing Company

Song of Solomon 1:1-4 Amplified Bible

The Young Shulammite Bride and Jerusalem’s Daughters

1 The [a]Song of Songs [the best of songs], which is Solomon’s.

[b](The Shulammite Bride)

2 
“May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!” [Solomon arrives, she turns to him, saying,]
“For your love is better than wine.
3 
“The aroma of your oils is fragrant and pleasing;
Your name is perfume poured out;
Therefore the maidens love you.
4 
“Draw me away with you and let us run together!
Let the king bring me into his chambers.”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

We Will Sing Your Songs and We Will Rejoice In Thee

Song of Solomon 1:2-4 The Message

The Woman

2-3 Kiss me—full on the mouth!
    Yes! For your love is better than wine,
    headier than your aromatic oils.
The syllables of your name murmur like a meadow brook.
    No wonder everyone loves to say your name!

4 Take me away with you! Let’s run off together!
    An elopement with my King-Lover!
We’ll celebrate, we’ll sing,
    we’ll make great music.
Yes! For your love is better than vintage wine.
    Everyone loves you—of course! And why not?

If this Hebrew love song was modernized, it would be steamier than most romance novels out there!

It is full of passion, desire, pursuit, possession and pleasure.

Like a ballad, it tells the sensual love story of a man and woman, their longing for the day when they can fully give themselves to each other, their wedding (Song 3:11), the consummation of their love, and their love life together. 

C.S. Lewis wrote a timeless book called The Four Loves which summarizes four kinds of human love and four Greek words for love:

affection (storgé),

friendship (phileō),

romantic love (eros),

and the love of God (agapé).

The Bible is and should be our authority on the topic of love because love (agapé) comes from God and God is love (1 John 4:7-8).

Even though the love God has for us is a unique and wholly unconventional type of love, the Bible is also our complete authority on all other types of love.

The Four Types of Love

Storgé, or family affection, is mentioned only one time, in Romans 12:9-10. 

Romans 12:9-10 The Message

9-10 Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

Phileō is used many times in Scripture (see example in John 21:15-17).

John 21:15-17 GOD’S WORD Translation

Jesus Speaks with Peter

15 After they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than the other disciples do?”

Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus told him, “Feed my lambs.”

16 Jesus asked him again, a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus told him, “Take care of my sheep.”

17 Jesus asked him a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

Peter felt sad because Jesus had asked him a third time, “Do you love me?” So Peter said to him, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.”

Jesus told him, “Feed my sheep. 

Agape’ is the word for love used most often in the Bible, being therefore the type of love upon which we should focus the hardest. 

1 Corinthians 13:3-10 The Message

3-7 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

8-10 Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

That leaves romantic love, or sexual desire.

The Greek word eros is never found in the Bible.

A Hebrew equivalent is found in the Old Testament however.

The Hebrew word, ‘ahabah, is used repeatedly in the Song of Solomon and though it does not explicitly refer to romantic love or sexual desire, in the context of the Song of Solomon, it does. 

“Let him lead me to the banquet hall, and let his banner over me be love. Strengthen me with raisins, refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love” (Song of Solomon 2:4-5).

“Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires” (Song of Solomon 2:7, 3:5, 8:4).

“Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you—if you find my beloved, what will you tell him? Tell him I am faint with love” (Song of Solomon 5:8).

“Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If one were to give all the wealth of one’s house for love, it would be utterly scorned” (Song of Solomon 8:6-7).

Who Wrote the Song of Solomon?

The author of the Song of Solomon, known as the Song of Songs, was King Solomon, son of King David, who reigned over Israel for 40 years (971-931 B.C.).

Solomon is best remembered for his wisdom. 

1 Kings 4:32 lets us know that Solomon “spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five.”

He wrote 1,005 songs and the Song of Solomon was his very best, which is why it is referred to as the “Song of Songs.” it is the most excellent of all songs!

This fact is debated by scholars, but it seems as if Solomon is also “the beloved” in this love song.

The Shulamite woman (Song of Solomon 6:13) was likely Solomon’s first wife (though he went on to marry 699 other women).

In this song, “Solomon recounts (1) his own days of courtship, (2) the early days of his first marriage, followed by (3) the maturing of this royal couple through the good and bad days of life” (MacArthur Study Bible notes).

The Song of Solomon stands out in Scripture as the only book that seemingly has nothing to do with God, even though “all 117 verses in Solomon’s Song have been recognized by the Jews as a part of their sacred writings.

Along with Ruth, Esther, Ecclesiastes, and Lamentations, it is included among the OT books of the Megilloth, or ‘five scrolls.’ The Jews read this song at the Passover, calling it ‘the Holy of Holies’” (MacArthur Study Bible notes).

It may seem to have nothing to do with God, but romantic love has everything to do with God!

It is completely accurate to say that God is the inventor and author of romantic love which naturally makes Him the authority on the subject! Therefore, we should care very much about what God thinks about romance and marriage.

How Does This Song Apply To Our Lives

So how can this Jewish love song apply to our lives?

Here are at least two ways:

1. Sexual intimacy is reserved for marriage and should be highly honored and protected.

There is a “charge” given three times in the Song of Solomon, reminding us not to “arouse or awaken love until it so desires” (Song of Solomon 2:7, 3:5, 8:4). 

In the context and scripts of the range of modern-day TV shows, Reality TV shows of and from every conceivable “love” angle and ideological spectrum and movies, we will sometimes hear the all too ambiguous advice given unto teens to wait to have sex till “it finally feels right” “until it’s finally the right person.

That’s not even close to what Solomon’s wife is saying at all.

She is expressing her absolute commitment to wait until love can be aroused or awakened in the context of complete commitment and possession!

“My beloved is mine and I am his” (2:16).

Solomon refers to his bride as “a garden locked up,” “a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain” (4:12).

Until marriage, she did not open herself to him (4:15).

This theme of faithfulness and fidelity is all through Scripture, and the reason is that the sacred covenant of marriage is pointing directly to the mystery and covenant relationship between Husband and Wife, to Christ and His Church.

Hebrews 13:4 GOD’S WORD Translation

4 Marriage is honorable in every way, so husbands and wives should be faithful to each other. God will judge those who commit sexual sins, especially those who commit adultery.

Those are strong words!

Why does God care so much about the sanctity of marriage?

Again, it is because it points at His relationship with His covenant people:

Ephesians 5:31-32 GOD’S WORD Translation

31 That’s why a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will be one. 32 This is a great mystery. (I am talking about Christ’s relationship to the church.)

2. Love and Attraction are Powerful Forces for Good or For Evil.

Solomon left us a beautiful song about the holy love between a man and a woman which points us both to the importance of faithfulness and to the very heart of God and His covenant of love with us.

Sadly though, that is not the only example which Solomon left us.

1 Kings 11:1-4 GOD’S WORD Translation

Solomon’s Idolatry

11 King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh’s daughter. He loved Hittite women and women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon. 2  They came from the nations about which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “Never intermarry with them. They will surely tempt you to follow their gods.” But Solomon was obsessed with their love. 3 He had 700 wives who were princesses and 300 wives who were concubines.[a] 4 In his old age, his wives tempted him to follow other gods. He was no longer committed to the Lord his God as his father David had been.

Solomon, known for his vast breadth of wisdom, was also guilty of severe infidelity in his relationship with God.

Sadder than the fact that his heart was divided between hundreds of women, “his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God.”

If there is anything we learn from Solomon, may it be the devastating choice of allowing our hearts to be led astray from our first Love! (Isaiah Chapter 53)

Take me away with you–let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his chambers. We rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine. How right they are to adore you! Song Of Solomon 1:4 

Most people have someone who they love to be around.

They desire to be with that person all the time.

This is especially true of newly married couples.

They want to be together.

They hate being apart from each other and love to spend all their time together.

Young children often want to spend time with one of their parents, the dad or the mom.

They love their parents and they cannot stand being away from the parent.

The reason that people love to spend time with someone is that they love that person.

Solomon shows a scene of a woman who is eager to be brought away by the king.

She is in a hurry to have it happen.

Her friends also realize the value of this relationship.

While this may be meant to be just a relationship between a man and woman, it can also represent the relationship between a person and God.

God is always seen as the ultimate king. Jesus is called the King.

The believer in Jesus should have a desire to be with God in the most intimate of places, not just in the public open spaces.

The intimate place shows the relationship at its very highest level.

Often believers are too easily content just to be with God on Sunday in church, but will mostly ignore Him going through their busyness the rest of the week.

Their heart is really not in the relationship, but just on getting out of hell.

When one realizes how much Jesus (The King) has done for him, he will also desire to be with God immediately.

He will not want to wait for a later time, but wants to spend time getting to know God more and more.

The relationship with God will take priority over any other relationship or action.

When you take a look at your life, when you take a look at your spouse, take a long look into your bathroom mirror, who do you want to be around more?

When you read, study and pray over the Word of God for His Children, what questions of God and His Love are you asking, what answers are you seeking?

Are you seeking just to make friends friends on this earth, with this earth and to have a worldly good time, even though you already know it is only temporary?

Or is your heart’s desire to be with God?

Or is your heart and soul looking to embrace, to live the truth of God’s Love?

John 3:16-17 New American Standard Bible

16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.

Seek to get to know the intimacy of God more and more in the intimate places.

These are the very private places of your life, in the very quiet times of prayer and bible study and Koinonia Fellowship – Get to know His great love for you.

I pray today that you will come to know the intimacy of Jesus alone as your Lord and Savior; that you will know God’s most intimate love for you; and that you will seek to spend more time with God; and that God will be your one true love above all others.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,  

Let us Pray,

Psalm 40 The Message

40 1-3 I waited and waited and waited for God.
    At last he looked; finally he listened.
He lifted me out of the ditch,
    pulled me from deep mud.
He stood me up on a solid rock
    to make sure I wouldn’t slip.
He taught me how to sing the latest God-song,
    a praise-song to our God.
More and more people are seeing this:
    they enter the mystery,
    abandoning themselves to God.

4-5 Blessed are you who give yourselves over to God,
    turn your backs on the world’s “sure thing,”
    ignore what the world worships;
The world’s a huge stockpile
    of God-wonders and God-thoughts.
Nothing and no one
    compares to you!
I start talking about you, telling what I know,
    and quickly run out of words.
Neither numbers nor words
    account for you.

6 Doing something for you, bringing something to you—
    that’s not what you’re after.
Being religious, acting pious—
    that’s not what you’re asking for.
You’ve opened my ears
    so I can listen.

7-8 So I answered, “I’m coming.
    I read in your letter what you wrote about me,
And I’m coming to the party
    you’re throwing for me.”
That’s when God’s Word entered my life,
    became part of my very being.

9-10 I’ve preached you to the whole congregation,
    I’ve kept back nothing, God—you know that.
I didn’t keep the news of your ways
    a secret, didn’t keep it to myself.
I told it all, how dependable you are, how thorough.
    I didn’t hold back pieces of love and truth
For myself alone. I told it all,
    let the congregation know the whole story.

11-12 Now God, don’t hold out on me,
    don’t hold back your passion.
Your love and truth
    are all that keeps me together.
When troubles ganged up on me,
    a mob of sins past counting,
I was so swamped by guilt
    I couldn’t see my way clear.
More guilt in my heart than hair on my head,
    so heavy the guilt that my heart gave out.

13-15 Soften up, God, and intervene;
    hurry and get me some help,
So those who are trying to kidnap my soul
    will be embarrassed and lose face,
So anyone who gets a kick out of making me miserable
    will be heckled and disgraced,
So those who pray for my ruin
    will be booed and jeered without mercy.

16-17 But all who are hunting for you—
    oh, let them sing and be happy.
Let those who know what you’re all about
    tell the world you’re great and not quitting.
And me? I’m a mess. I’m nothing and have nothing:
    make something of me.
You can do it; you’ve got what it takes—
    but God, don’t put it off.

Lord, my Heavenly Father, allow me to receive Your most intimate love for me and to share that level of intimacy love with all those who are my neighbors, Just as Christ loved the Church so are we to love all. In Christ Jesus Holy and Precious name I pray!

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

God Will Make A Way When There Seems To Be No Way Though Your Dreams are Shattered and Your Faith Is Being Shaken Down to its Very Roots. Matthew 11:2-3

Right now, I can hear John the Baptist having a conversation with himself;

“There were still going to be things in life that were out of my control and things that I could not anticipate that would cause me to feel shaken in my faith from the inside out.

And let’s be honest, how I hated that! ever growing feeling of doubt!”

It doesn’t matter if you are a new Christian or mature believer; we are all subject to the potential of having our faith shaken from time to time. But let it be known that even when your faith is going through a shaky season, this doesn’t mean that God is any less sovereign or any less loving. Our God has the ability to bless even those going through a season of lukewarm faith, use those who doubt and bring comfort and reassurance to those whose faith is wavering…

Abraham was commanded by God to sacrifice his son Isaac, Moses and the burning bush, Peter the apostle who denied Jesus three times and the Temple Priest Zechariah who did not believe that God could give him a son… just to name a few!

But for today, let’s dive into the shaken faith of John of Baptist.

Matthew 11:2-3 GOD’S WORD Translation

John Sends Two Disciples

2 When John was in prison, he heard about the things Christ had done. So he sent his disciples 3 to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is coming, or should we all now look for someone else?”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

My Faith Has Been Shaken, My Life Fully Stirred Up

Sometimes my faith is severely shaken when the course of my life is altered, the course of my wife or my children’s life is altered and my dreams are shattered.

I wonder where God is in the midst of my doubts about God, my suffering soul.

I cannot always sense His presence as I have when things we going fairly well.

I will feel alone and afraid, wondering about my future and my wife’s.

I set my thoughts to the ways the world presents itself in the media and what my son must contend with raising my grandson to be someone of faith, truth.

Truthfully, my soul gets all stirred up, my faith in my Savior wavers sometimes.

I question what I have long believed.

I wonder what is prophetic, what is real and truthful and faithful from the Word of God especially when my personal experience doesn’t match my expectations.

This wavering deeply troubles me.

I have tasted and felt the winds of the vanity of man, man’s inhumanity of man, I have tasted bitterness I would never wish even upon my very worst enemies.

I have tasted God’s goodness, enjoyed close fellowship with him, rested in his tender care, known His grace and been blessed beyond what I know I deserved.

I can say that I have known both His power, His healing and his love.

Yet in the midst of such profound struggles, I have no answers, just questions.

Answers which I’m not entirely sure I’ll receive with more faith than with more doubt that I know somewhere deep inside me is sourced from an irrational fear.

The question of having any hope for a prosperous future?

Mine, and for generations of my family yet to come?

I will only scratch my head and shrug my shoulders and maybe I might just get around to actually and authentically fervently and ceaselessly praying to God.

But, I guess right now, I kind of feel like John the Baptist, sitting in a Prison cell.

Matthew 11:2-3 Amplified Bible

2 Now when [a]John [the Baptist] in prison heard about the activities of Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and asked Him, “Are You the Expected One (the Messiah), or should we look for someone else [who will be the promised One]?”

I am wise enough to know there are still going to be things in life that were out of my control, myriads of things which I could never hope to anticipate, would cause me to acknowledge my raising doubts, feel shaken from the inside out.

And let’s be honest, however wise I believe myself to be, and God knows me to be on any given day and in any given moment of time, I say, how I hated that!

It doesn’t matter if you are a new Christian or a maturing or mature believer; we are all subject to the potential of having our faith shaken up from time to time.

But let it be known that even when our faith is going through a shaky season, this doesn’t mean that our Savior God is any less sovereign or any less loving.

Our God has the continuous ability to bless even those going through a season of abandoned, back-sliding, fractured, wavering, doubtful and lukewarm faith, to use those seasons of those who doubt and bring comfort and reassurance to those whose faith is wavering… Gospel Narratives are replete with such stories.

The Samaritan Woman in the heat of the day at the Well in John Chapter 4

The Woman with the Issue of Blood whom even the smartest of those ancient Doctors and Priests could not find a reason or cure – whose faith in God told her that if she could just “get close enough to his tunic – she would then be healed.” (Luke 8:43-48)

The Good Samaritan.

The Prodigal Son.

Blind Bartimaeus

The Lepers.

The long disabled Man who spent over 38 years waiting for someone to help him into the angel stirred healing waters at the Pool of Bethesda. (John 5:1-9)

The 100+ year old Patriarch Abraham who was commanded by God to sacrifice the greatest gift he had ever received – his own son, Isaac.

The Israelite slaves in Egypt.

Moses and the burning bush,

Peter the apostle who denied Jesus three times and Zechariah who did not believe that God could give him a son… just to name a few of the hundreds!

The Wailing Lament of the Song of the Exiles from Psalm 137.

I hope we get the idea that a shaken faith is nothing new to God’s ears or to the compassionate and sometimes tearful eyes and heart and soul of Jesus Christ.

But for today, let’s try to take a drive into the shaken faith of John of Baptist.  

The Shaken Faith of John the Baptist

The whole gospel of John is one that clearly tells its readers from the beginning of chapter one verse one to the very last full stop that Jesus was the Messiah… the Lamb of God who was to take away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)

He knew who Jesus was while he was still in his mother Elizabeth’s womb and leapt for joy in the womb when a pregnant Mary approached them (Luke 1:44).

John the Baptist witnessed the Spirit of God descend and remain on Jesus with God declaring Christ as His Son. (Matthew 3:16-17). 

But even John the Baptist who knew through divine revelation and firsthand experience Jesus was the Messiah, had his faith shaken while he was in prison.

While it is not explicitly said why John the Baptist was having second thoughts and doubts about Jesus,  it makes sense that John the Baptist in the midst of his suffering sought real reassurance from Jesus that He was indeed the Messiah.

Matthew 11:2-6 GOD’S WORD Translation

John Sends Two Disciples

2 When John was in prison, he heard about the things Christ had done. So he sent his disciples 3 to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is coming, or should we all now look for someone else?”

4 Jesus answered John’s disciples, “Go back, and tell John what you hear and see: 5  Blind people see again, lame people are walking, those with skin diseases are made clean, deaf people hear again, dead people are brought back to life, and poor people hear the Good News. 6 Whoever doesn’t lose his faith in me is indeed blessed.”

While John the Baptist was a hardcore preaching believer, one of the few who had been able to experience so many confirmations from God Himself that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, he still experienced a season of shaken faith.

And yet, Jesus still felt so much love and mercy towards John and his shaken faith because instead of getting angry and cynical for his lack of faith, instead, sent word back to John to confirm to him He was exactly who He said He was.  

What Does This Mean for Us in Our Present Context?

Has your faith ever been shaken?

Is your faith being shaken right now?

How about the faith of your spouse?

How about the faith of your young children?

How about the faith of your teenage children?

How about the faith of your adult children raising their own young or teenage or adult children or even their grandchildren?

How about the faith of your best friend?

How about the faith of your church and church community?

How about the faith of your Pastor leading your church?

How about the faith of the Laity of the church who make the decisions?

How about the faith of the laity who sit in the pews or watch on Social Media?

I guess you get the idea – people with a shaken faith are definitely an issue!

John’s and Our Own Unfulfilled Expectations

John knew from Scripture that he who gave the blind sight, made the lame walk, and preached good news to the poor could surely open “the prison to those who are bound” as prophesied in Isaiah 61:1-3 God’s Word Translation.

The Lord Will Anoint His Servant with His Spirit

61 The Spirit of the Almighty Lord is with me
because the Lord has anointed me
to deliver good news to humble people.
He has sent me
to heal those who are brokenhearted,
to announce that captives will be set free
and prisoners will be released.
2 ⌞He has sent me⌟
to announce the year of the Lord’s good will
and the day of our God’s vengeance,
to comfort all those who grieve.
3 ⌞He has sent me⌟
to provide for all those who grieve in Zion,
to give them crowns instead of ashes,
the oil of joy instead of ⌞tears of⌟ grief,
and clothes of praise instead of a spirit of weakness.

They will be called Oaks of Righteousness,
the Plantings of the Lord,
so that he might display his glory.

But Jesus didn’t do that for John.

Jesus did not directly affirm John’s future and the future of John’s calling.

So perhaps at this point, staunch believer John doubted what he knew.

If Jesus was indeed the Messiah, John probably expected to have a role in his earthly kingdom beyond his extended stay in Herod’s prison cell.

He wouldn’t have expected to start with such a high calling, preparing the way of the Lord in the wilderness, only to have end his life and his ministry end in a small prison cell with his head quite literally on someone else’s silver platter.

Besides, John preached that the Messiah would come with an unquenchable fire. With judgment. With power. He likely expected that to be in his lifetime.

None of those human expectations coincided with God’s reality.

And that may have caused John to doubt.

Unfulfilled expectations often elicit that response in me.

Especially when I have tried very hard to be faithful and true to God my Savior.

Jesus doesn’t condemn John for his doubts.

He even says that no one greater than John has ever lived.

He understands why John is asking the question.

And Jesus’s response to him reinforces what John already knows: that Jesus is indeed the Messiah.

At the same time, Jesus knows that John’s public ministry is over.

Just like the saints in Hebrews 11, John wouldn’t receive all God’s promises but could only greet them from afar.

He would not serve with Jesus or see the fulfillment of God’s kingdom or see the crucifixion or be an eye witness to the empty tomb and Christ’s Resurrection.

But one day he would.

One day he would see his glorious part in God’s magnificent plan.

He, the last of the old covenant prophets, would see how God used him to prepare the world to receive Jesus.

And John would rejoice.

But for now, John has to accept the Messiah’s plans for his life.

Plans that are different than what he envisioned.

He has to dwell on what he knows to be true rather than fixate on his own circumstances.

He has to remember who God is and trust him from a dark prison.

And so it is with me.

When all our best laid hopes crumble all around us

When my plans crumble and God takes me away from my dreams, I must over a period of time come back to the place where I will again renew and refresh my trust in God’s infinite wisdom over my own current failing and faulty displays.

When my cup of suffering enters into those moments when it seems too much for me to bear, I know I will need my Shabbat rest in His immeasurable love.

When my personal efforts at self control enters into the realm of “Oh No!” my life turns, spins out of control, I need to remember God’s absolute sovereignty.

I may not, probably will not, understand what is happening.

But I cannot stop talking to him.

Or turn away in fear.

I must simply go to Jesus, tell him my doubts, desire for a stronger faith.

Ask him to help me see.

Psalm 13 The Message

13 1-2 Long enough, God—
    you’ve ignored me long enough.
I’ve looked at the back of your head
    long enough. Long enough
I’ve carried this ton of trouble,
    lived with a stomach full of pain.
Long enough my arrogant enemies
    have looked down their noses at me.

3-4 Take a good look at me, God, my God;
    I want to look life in the eye,
So no enemy can get the best of me
    or laugh when I fall on my face.

5-6 I’ve thrown myself headlong into your arms—
    I’m celebrating your rescue.
I’m singing at the top of my lungs,
    I’m so full of answered prayers.

John’s doubts are the same as mine and maybe the same as your own or your spouses, your children’s, your co-workers, best friend, even your churches.

I will wonder if God is who He says He is.

And if everything is indeed under his control. And if he authentically loves me.

And when I doubt, God calls me, as he did John, to trust what I know to be true.

To trust the bedrock principles that I know from Scripture and from experience.

That God is completely sovereign.

And loving.

And wise.

Not a sparrow falls to the ground apart from his knowing everything about it.

In this life, I may never see or know how God is using my trials.

In this life you may never see or know how God is using your trials.

But one day you and I will certainly be grateful for them.

All you and I can do now is trust that God who made the lame walk and the blind see, who died on a cross so I could spend eternity with him, is 100% going to do absolutely the very best thing for me, the absolute very best thing for you also.

It all comes down to coming back to our obedience, faith, and our trust in God.

Will we trust our understanding of our circumstances that constantly change?

Or will we trust in an understanding and much wiser God who is unchanging?

For the believer or even the non-believer or the sceptic or the cynic who has been met with the unexpected or thrown into a situation that makes no sense,

We can all, in the course of time be reassured that God is exactly who He is.

His promises have always been fulfilled (Joshua 21:45) and He isn’t a God that will leave you on your own or anyone else on their own.

His promises have always been punctuated with His Alleluia and His Amen.

He is ready to answer our prayers when we cast our anxieties and cares on Him (Philippians 4:5-6) and as we come to Him, He promises to carry our burdens.

Key Final Thoughts

As John faced the struggle of his life, he maintained his integrity and his faithfulness.

His motivation was simply to know for sure that Jesus was who John believed him to be.

He was not afraid to face death or doubt as he sought God’s truth and lived God’s life with commitment.

Nearly all of us go through periods of doubt or struggle with difficult questions about our faith.

Struggle with difficult questions, in and of itself, is not wrong or is it something to be feared.

Christianity has withstood the criticisms, scrutiny, accusations, and doubt of centuries of our world’s best thinkers and harshest skeptics.

The issue with these kinds of struggles is whether we maintain Godly character with faithfulness in our ministry, holiness in our lifestyle, and honesty in our motives, speech, and actions.

As we work through our struggles, if we are true to these Godly characteristics, we will find that our doubts and questions move us toward faith rather than toward disbelief.

The biggest problem with struggles and doubts will occur when we break faithfulness and Satan can unleash a chain of consequences that weaken us spiritually.

So in struggle and doubt, remember these three things:

faithfulness in our ministry,

holiness in our lifestyle, and

honesty and Integrity and God in our motives, speech, and actions.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us pray,

O Lord, God of the great expanse and my Abba Father who adopted me in grace, please help me face myself when I look into a mirror. Please give me courage to face my doubts. Empower me with strength to face my struggles. Give me a heart that depends on the Holy Spirit’s guidance. O God, I want to honor you with my behavior and my choices. More than just knowing the truth, dear God, I want to know you and to display your truth in my life. In the name of my Lord Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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When We Do Withhold Nothing From God, What Does God Give Back To Us? Genesis 22:12-18

Psalm 84
GOD’S WORD Translation

84 Your dwelling place is lovely, O Lord of Armies!
2 My soul longs and yearns
for the Lord’s courtyards.
My whole body shouts for joy to the living God.
3 Even sparrows find a home,
and swallows find a nest for themselves.
There they hatch their young
near your altars, O Lord of Armies, my king and my God.
4 Blessed are those who live in your house.
They are always praising you. Selah

5 Blessed are those who find strength in you.
Their hearts are on the road ⌞that leads to you⌟.
6 As they pass through a valley where balsam trees grow,[a]
they make it a place of springs.
The early rains cover it with blessings.[b]
7 Their strength grows as they go along
until each one of them appears
in front of God in Zion.

8 O Lord God, commander of armies, hear my prayer.
Open your ears, O God of Jacob. Selah
9 Look at our shield, O God.
Look with favor on the face of your anointed one.
10 One day in your courtyards is better than a thousand ⌞anywhere else⌟.
I would rather stand in the entrance to my God’s house
than live inside wicked people’s homes.
11 The Lord God is a sun and shield.
The Lord grants favor and honor.
He does not hold back any blessing
from those who live innocently.

12 O Lord of Armies, blessed is the person who trusts you.

Genesis 22:12-18 GOD’S WORD Translation

12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you did not refuse to give me your son, your only son.”

13 When Abraham looked around, he saw a ram behind him caught by its horns in a bush. So Abraham took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide. It is still said today, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

The Lord’s Seventh Promise to Abraham

15 Then the Messenger of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I am taking an oath on my own name, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not refused to give me your son, your only son, 17 I will certainly bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of their enemies’ cities. 18 Through your descendant all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

God Sends an Obedient Abraham and Isaac Home

When I was reading and then re-reading these verses, I was thunder struck, not just by the promises of God’s blessings to Abraham here which only seem huge.

They’re abundant, and we’ve seen those in different places. 

Genesis 12, Genesis 15, Genesis 17, but here in Genesis 22, remember the story.

This is when God tells Abraham to sacrifice his only son.

The long promised miraculous son, Isaac, on the altar, and Abraham showed God that he was willing to humble himself out of reverence of his God to do it.

He calls his son Isaac to his side.

Obediently, Isaac goes to his fathers side.

Abraham tells his son they are going to build an altar and worship God.

He takes his son.

He gathers all of the wood.

Abraham, with Isaac, goes to where God is sending him

He builds his altar.

He lays his son on the altar and ties him down, he’s got his knife raised above him because this is what God has commanded him to do-no question or debate.

But, observing Abraham and his readiness to obey Him and stops the sacrifice, provides a ram to sacrifice, so Isaac is able to live. God shows that he provides.

Abraham returned home with his son after sacrificing the goat.

Abraham had been faithful and obedient, he was ready to sacrifice everything which was most precious to God for the blessings he, his family had received.

Following this act of faith, and obedience God had promised Abraham and his growing family that He would bless them and their coming generations more than the stars in the skies and grains of sands in the desert and on the seashore.

Abraham’s family was overjoyed.

Giving Our All in All We Illuminate God’s Blessings

But when I read these verses, Genesis 22:13–18, and God, through the angel of the Lord, says to Abraham,

“Because you’ve done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you. I’ll bless you all these ways because you have obeyed by voice.”

Genesis 22:18 says, and I just think in my own life, I want that to be said of me,

“I did not withhold anything from God, that I didn’t hold on to anything in my life, even my life itself, that my life and everything I have was before God as an offering to be used by him, for him, his purposes, his glory, however he wants.”

God gave me everything therefore I do not want to withhold anything from God.

I want to likewise encourage you the reader not to withhold anything from God.

The whole point here, in Genesis 22:15–18, is that God is faithful to provide for those who in faith are obedient to the utmost and in the utmost, trust in Him.

I just want to encourage you, as I have, to trust in him with everything we have.

Let’s obey his voice, surrender to His will, do whatever He tells us to do because our lives and everything we have come to treasure, even up to all which is most precious to us, ultimately came from His and ergo, belongs ultimately to Him.

The story of Abraham and Isaac teaches us to have maximum trust, faith in God.

As mentioned in the story, Isaac the son of Abraham was saved by God himself.

Another important lesson we can learn from the story is that oftentimes when we are faced with hardcore choices, adverse circumstances, we must try and believe in doing good as God will show kindness to those who believe in Him.

God was, is and forever shall be above our circumstances and in His time, He will prevail over them and He will let us know He was the One who prevailed.

When We Give Our ALL, What God Gives Back to Us

Genesis 22:15-18 The Message

15-18 The angel of God spoke from Heaven a second time to Abraham: “I swear—God’s sure word!—because you have gone through with this, and have not refused to give me your son, your dear, dear son, I’ll bless you—oh, how I’ll bless you! And I’ll make sure that your children flourish—like stars in the sky! like sand on the beaches! And your descendants will defeat their enemies. All nations on Earth will find themselves blessed through your descendants because you obeyed me.”

In Obedience, when Abraham gave his son back to God, then God said that by His own oath, His very promise of fruitfulness would be immediately fulfilled.

The rivers of living waters would now begin to flow out from him to bless all the nations of the earth as God had promised.

It was when Isaac came back from the dead, so to speak, in resurrection power that God said, “Now the fruitfulness of your life will be maximized and manifest.”

Even God’s least and greatest gifts to us are of no value until we are willing, if necessary, to lose them so that God might reign without a rival in our hearts.

When we have to come to that place to which the Spirit of God wants to bring us, that perfect relationship with the Father when God means more to us than anything, and we are even willing to give up the very gift that God has given,

then in resurrection power that gift will be a blessing to everyone it touches.

We all have been given gifts from God.

Maybe God has given you a special gift, a specialized and a singularly unique talent, and you are asked to take a job where perhaps you can’t use that talent.

You wonder about it and perhaps rebel over it.

But please remember Abraham, and when summoned, give it back to God.

Face the possibility of not using that talent, and the God of resurrection will take that talent and return it to you and make it a blessing to many hearts.

Perhaps you have a loved one, and a situation arises in which you have to part from that one or break that relationship.

This is an enormous struggle, but Abraham’s faith and trust in God says that if God asks you to do it, surrender it and then there is blessing beyond if you obey.

Maybe you are living in a situation of retired comfort and happiness, but you are needed in another place not nearly as pleasant, nor desirable, and you say,

“Lord, why do I have to give up my home, my retirement and my relationships that I enjoy and go there?” 

Remember, however, if God calls us into His Work, His Labor, we must obey.

Beyond the apparent heartbreak and death lies resurrection.

In obedience to that Summons from God, In the resurrection of that experience, by God’s very own oath, God will give you back that gift and make it a blessing.

Is not this the record of every man and woman we read of in the Scriptures whose life has ever counted for God, who have been willing to give up the very areas they thought were God’s choice blessing for them when God called?

When Noah was called by God to build an Ark in the face of harshest criticisms.

When a young shepherd boy named David was called away from protecting his father’s flocks to protecting the integrity, reputation of Israel against Goliath.

David was also secretly anointed by Samuel to become Israel’s greatest King.

For such a time was Esther called to become Queen of a foreign nation that she might boldly step in, risk her life, so to save her people from total destruction.

Examine the summons of God’s prophets – Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Jonah, Amos and the rest – called into a time of reluctant obedience unto God.

Study, and examine the summons of the first twelve Apostles by Jesus Himself.

In so doing, by their full throated obedience to God, God made them a blessing.

Proverbs 3:5-12 The Message

5-12 Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
    don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
    he’s the one who will keep you on track.
Don’t assume that you know it all.
    Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health,
    your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own;
    give him the first and the best.
Your barns will burst,
    your wine vats will brim over.
But don’t, dear friend, resent God’s discipline;
    don’t sulk under his loving correction.
It’s the child he loves that God corrects;
    a father’s delight is behind all this.

God’s summons on our lives can be in minor or major areas.

Requiring degrees and measures of personal sacrifice – up to our own lives.

This is the principle of walking the road to the Cross throughout all our lives.

We maximize our efforts, we willingly surrender our whole lives unto God, we willingly sacrifice those things which gives us maximum comforts, pleasure.

We surrender ourselves, we give to God our maximum “all in all” knowing that in the end, in God’s anointed and appointed end – there will be our resurrection.

That knowledge, faith and trust – this is what makes resurrection life possible.

When it looks as though we are throwing away every chance of blessing, God transforms in a moment the very exact thing we give up into the most richly rewarding and abundantly blessed, meaningful experience we have ever had.

I dare you to act upon this opportunity to discover what God has for you in the place and places which you previously deemed unreachable and unsearchable!

I don’t know what this sacrifice might mean for be for you, or your family, but I can say with a high degree of confidence, to know this is true, God has written your life’s account so we may know that this is His way in the affairs of people.

These Verses Lets Us Know that by God’s own Oath, God is Always With Us!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 23 The Message

23 1-3 God, my shepherd!
    I don’t need a thing.
You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
    you find me quiet pools to drink from.
True to your word,
    you let me catch my breath
    and send me in the right direction.

4 Even when the way goes through
    Death Valley,
I’m not afraid
    when you walk at my side.
Your trusty shepherd’s crook
    makes me feel secure.

5 You serve me a six-course dinner
    right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head;
    my cup brims with blessing.

6 Your beauty and love chase after me
    every day of my life.
I’m back home in the house of God
    for the rest of my life.

So God, I just want to most humbly pray this on behalf of others reading this.

God, we surrender our lives to you. God, everything belong to you. Everything we are, everything we have, God, we want to trust you with it all so we lay it before you as an offering, and we pray, use us, use all that we have to accomplish your purposes, and we trust that you will be faithful to provide all along the way. There’s no better place, no better hands, to put our lives in, our families in, our future in, our plans, our surest certainties, our wildest hopes, dreams, our rusting possessions in, than your hands.

ABBA, Father, God Almighty, You are so faithful, so good and so very gracious. You are working for our good. You’re working for your glory, and you will use everything we put in your hands towards that end, so God, we trust in you. We surrender to you. Please help all who are listening right now, not to hold on tightly to anything in our lives, to hold loosely to it, to place it before you that you might use it however you want, that you might use us, our whole lives, and everything we put in your hands for your purposes as we trust you as our provider. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Pushed To, Into and Far Beyond Our Limits of Belief: Our Obedience unto God, Our Faith and Our Trust In God. Genesis 22:1-14

The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to deliberately go beyond them and charge headlong into the impossible.

It is our duty as men and women to proceed through life as though the limits of our abilities do not exist.

Once we accept our limits, when are we compelled to go beyond them?

Genesis 22:1-14 The Message

22 After all this, God tested Abraham. God said, “Abraham!”

“Yes?” answered Abraham. “I’m listening.”

2 He said, “Take your dear son Isaac whom you love and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I’ll point out to you.”

3-5 Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants and his son Isaac. He had split wood for the burnt offering. He set out for the place God had directed him. On the third day he looked up and saw the place in the distance. Abraham told his two young servants, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I are going over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.”

6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and gave it to Isaac his son to carry. He carried the flint and the knife. The two of them went off together.

7 Isaac said to Abraham his father, “Father?”

“Yes, my son.”

“We have flint and wood, but where’s the sheep for the burnt offering?”

8 Abraham said, “Son, God will see to it that there’s a sheep for the burnt offering.” And they kept on walking together.

9-10 They arrived at the place to which God had directed him. Abraham built an altar. He laid out the wood. Then he tied up Isaac and laid him on the wood. Abraham reached out and took the knife to kill his son.

11 Just then an angel of God called to him out of Heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Yes, I’m listening.”

12 “Don’t lay a hand on that boy! Don’t touch him! Now I know how fearlessly you fear God; you didn’t hesitate to place your son, your dear son, on the altar for me.”

13 Abraham looked up. He saw a ram caught by its horns in the thicket. Abraham took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.

14 Abraham named that place God-Yireh (God-Sees-to-It). That’s where we get the saying, “On the mountain of God, he sees to it.”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Pushed to the Limits: Faith, Trust, Obedience To God

Genesis 22:1-5 GOD’S WORD Translation

God Tests Abraham

22 Later God tested Abraham and called to him, “Abraham!”

“Yes, here I am!” he answered.

2 God said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I will show you.”

3 Early the next morning Abraham saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place that God had told him about. 4 Two days later Abraham saw the place in the distance. 5 Then Abraham said to his servants, “You stay here with the donkey while the boy and I go over there. We’ll worship. After that we’ll come back to you.”

“Take Your Only Son and Sacrifice Him as a Burnt Offering Unto Me.”

The Word of God is silent about the strong, sudden, hugely private, emotional reaction of Abraham here – God had commanded him to Give Up His Own Son.

It was extraordinarily Private.

He could not tell anyone of this task.

The Ultimate Secret which if known, would surely ruin everything for everyone.

If known, no one would let him go anywhere near the mountain, he would be tied up, imprisoned – never to be let loose for fear of the lost life of the child.

Such a thought of sacrificing one’s own child in response to a “command from God” today is absolutely unthinkable truly meriting extensive legal protections.

But in those most ancient and primitive of times, “God Commanded Abraham.”

A most private of times to be hardcore struggling with ourselves, with our God.

A most unexpected command from God.

A most bizarre, head shaking, soul quaking, bone chilling command from God.

But from our text we find Abraham making all preparations to follow through.

What is going on here?

Has Abraham lost his sanity, his connections to all of reality?

He was hiding his emotions pretty well because we do not see nor hear nor read of anyone, including his wife Sarah, going crazy to stop Abraham from his task.

A very determined Abraham is expertly hiding his greatest anguish from all of his friends, his servants, his most trusted advisors, and especially, his wife.

God commands – Abraham Goes!

We read nowhere in the text from Genesis 22:1-14, Abraham arguing or debating with God as to the merits and the wisdom of this task – unless it’s subconscious.

But we are not privy to those thoughts, nor do we have any access to what is now undoubtedly going on deep within Father Abraham’s heart and his soul.

But we have only to put ourselves in his place to sense what he felt, how his heart was utterly and completely torn, how he hides, avoids telling Isaac, the fearful truth until the very last possible moment, how Abraham perhaps deeply trembles within when Isaac finally asks the One question, “Where is the lamb?” 

Answer Jehovah Jireh: Trust God Will Provide

Genesis 22:8 Names of God Bible

8 Abraham answered, “Elohim will provide a lamb for the burnt offering, Son.”

The two of them went on together.

In the context of that exact moment of exchange between Father and Son,

A mysterious answer to be sure.

An evasive answer to be sure.

A very frightening and “is my life in danger?” scary answer to be certain.

“Just Trust Me, My Son! God will Provide!”

How well did Abraham, his tone of voice, his upright or slouched posture, his eye to eye contact, his averting his gaze, his obvious evasiveness, communicate the message of “Jehovah Jireh blessed assurance” to the soul of his only Son?

How well would our own tone of voice, our posture, our own eye to eye contact with our own children communicate or not communicate our maximum faith, our actually authentic, our beyond genuine reproach trust, in our “Jehovah Jireh?”

What do we know of Isaac’s faith and trust in his father, his assuring words?

What do we know of young Isaac’s personal belief system in his dad and God?

What do we know of Abraham’s education of his Son Isaac on trusting God?

What do we know of our own children’s education when it comes down to the critical issues of faith and trusting their fathers, faith and trusting their God?

We know there is no real answer to either Father Abraham’s, Isaac’s questions until we run through intervening centuries and read, listen, study of the New Testament and to John the Baptist standing before the people of Israel saying, 

Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

Where did this grief stricken father named Abraham find even the minimal strength to not argue and debate with God, carry through this fearsome task?

The answer is found in one brief phrase in verse 5.

Abraham said to his servants, ‘Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.’

Abraham is not trying to outwardly deceive these men, but somewhere in the quiet meditations of that awful night when this word first came to him, there came the awareness, consciousness that God could do something to raise this boy from the dead, and Abraham trusted God and he believed in resurrection.

That is where he found the peace of faith and hope to follow God’s command.

In the undeniable struggles of that night, he began to reason, to reckon on God.

He must have thought something like this: 

“God has given me promises, and I have lived with God long enough to know that when God gives a promise, He carries it through. God has said that in my son Isaac all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. Isaac is necessary to the fulfillment of the promise. It can’t be any other; He has said this boy is the one who is going to be the fulfillment of the promise. Well then, if God has asked me now to offer him up as a sacrifice, there is only one response, one explanation. Choose Faith, God intends to bring His good from this act of obedience of mine and raise him from the dead.“

Patriarch Abraham had never had, as we have today, the experience or the faith record of anyone witnessing nor testifying to having anyone rise from the dead.

Yet so firm is his faith and trust in the character of God that he comes to, he ascends unto, a clear and rational realization of the coming resurrection.

This is confirmed in Hebrews 11: 

By faith Abraham offered Isaac. . . Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead… (Hebrews 11:17,19).

Abraham risked everything he owned, most precious to him, and faith-filled, faithfully loved on the character of God, found Him to be a God of resurrection.

Because of this wonderful triumph in his life, Abraham calls this place, God will provide – Jehovah Jireh.

And based on this miracle there sprang up a little saying in Israel, a proverb: “When you get to the mount, it will be provided.” 

God’s ways with people are such that even when all seems to be hopeless, yet still our hearts and our souls scream out “obedience unto God at all costs” and it seems as though deliverance and redemption and restoration will never come,

One truth will always and absolutely remain true: Jehovah Jireh is 100% ALIVE!

For us and our Children, for countless ages, generations, yet to be born of God.

Psalm 100 Names of God Bible

Psalm 100

A psalm of thanksgiving.

1 Shout happily to Yahweh, all the earth.
2 Serve Yahweh cheerfully.
    Come into his presence with a joyful song.
3 Realize that Yahweh alone is Elohim.
    He made us, and we are his.[a]
    We are his people and the sheep in his care.
4 Enter his gates with a song of thanksgiving.
    Come into his courtyards with a song of praise.
    Give thanks to him; praise his name.

5 Yahweh is good.
    His mercy endures forever.
    His faithfulness endures throughout every generation.

Give all thanks unto God, unto Jehovah Jireh, God who provides even if it seems that you will never be delivered.

But, by learning from Abraham’s faith, his obedience to his God, as you go on, when you get to the mount, model Abraham’s trust in God, all will be provided.

People’s personal struggles with disappointments are all God’s appointments.

His divine appointments for our steadfast belief in Jireh’s divine anointing’s.

It is never too late for God.

It is never too late for us even as we mightily struggle, even as Abraham had been required to carry the bloody business through, his father’s heart was quiet in restful peace because he knew God would soon raise his son from the dead.

Abraham and Isaac: Our Faith, Trust and Obedience

Abraham must have been heartbroken.

We would be also.

God had told him to sacrifice his beloved son.

Through this only heir, Abraham and his descendants were to be blessed (Genesis 17:19).

It could not have made any amount or degree of sense to Abraham, but yet he trusted God and in an an impossible act of faith, he responded in obedience.

Isaac too, somewhere deep inside knew the love of his father, Abraham, and trusted him, obeyed his earthly father to enough to follow his instructions.

Abraham modeled obedience to God for Isaac to see.

If his father said that God would provide, that was enough.

They did not know God’s plan, but they trusted God to be in charge.

By faith “Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death” (Hebrews 11:19).

It is hard to trust God when we do not understand his plan, when we cannot make sense of what God is calling us to be steadfastly, immovably obedient to.

Rather, we long to preserve the illusion that we are in charge of our life.

We will always want God to work things out according to our plan, “our will be done,” but that is not the way God works. God asks us to trust him and to obey.

Can we model steadfast, immovable faith in God even as life makes no sense?

Can we model steadfast, immovable trust in God even as life makes no sense?

Can we model steadfast, immovable obedience even when life makes no sense?

Others, including our children will look to model their lives after our own, at our measure of integrity of our lives to see if we really live by the words we say.

Do we model lives of faith, trust and obedience for our spouses to see?

Do we model lives of faith, trust and obedience for our children to see?

Do we model lives of faith, trust and obedience for our neighbors to see?

Do we model lives of faith, trust and obedience for our co-workers to see?

And if we looked into a mirror at ourselves and saw God looking back at us?

In the name of God, the Father, and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, I know we are called to live by faith and not by sight, signs, logic, or intuition. Lord, help me to know you more each day and to trust you to care for me. Let my life, as hard, difficult, as it might be for me in any moment, be characterized by a steadfast obedience to you so that others may be drawn to you. I believe Your Word and do not want anything or anyone in my life, to take Your place. Father, I want to offer You my life as a living sacrifice. I want to listen to Your voice and to obey all that I am called upon to do, and I pray that in the power of the Holy Spirit, I may die to my own desires and live for Christ alone, God, thank You that regardless of what You call me to lay on the altar in obedience to You, You always know what is good, better and best, and You always have a plan. This I ask in Jesus’ name, AMEN.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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Another Reminder About Things That Too Often Seem Too Good To Be True. (Genesis 3:1-6)

Psalm 126
The Message

126 1-3 It seemed like a dream, too good to be true,
when God returned Zion’s exiles.
We laughed, we sang,
we couldn’t believe our good fortune.
We were the talk of the nations—
“God was wonderful to them!”
God was wonderful to us;
we are one happy people.

4-6 And now, God, do it again—
bring rains to our drought-stricken lives
So those who planted their crops in despair
will shout “Yes!” at the harvest,
So those who went off with heavy hearts
will come home laughing, with armloads of blessing.

Genesis 3:1-6 The Message

3 The serpent was clever, more clever than any wild animal God had made. He spoke to the Woman: “Do I understand that God told you not to eat from any tree in the garden?”

2-3 The Woman said to the serpent, “Not at all. We can eat from the trees in the garden. It’s only about the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘Don’t eat from it; don’t even touch it or you’ll die.’”

4-5 The serpent told the Woman, “You won’t die. God knows that the moment you eat from that tree, you’ll see what’s really going on. You’ll be just like God, knowing everything, ranging all the way from good to evil.”

6 When the Woman saw that the tree looked like good eating and realized what she would get out of it—she’d know everything!—she took and ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

Few people have not been here: Once you received some mail from a popular sweepstakes company claiming you had already won a $$$$ grand prize.

Your mind almost instantly races at all the possibilities that someone is going to knock on your door, put a camera in front of your face and hand you a check for some gargantuan amount of money per week for the rest of your natural life.

Then the excitement which is now locked into your mind is likely to race ahead and tell you, and show you, all that you could and should do with the winnings.

You look at raising Power Ball and Mega Millions Jackpot figures on a billboard or when you are in your favorite super market doing your weekly shopping for your family and you walk over to the customer service area and buy your tickets.

You are undoubtedly thinking – well, there will always be a winner, a someone who will suddenly have their mundane struggling lives changes in one instant.

You have this back and forth conversation with yourself – “someone has to win it, someone will win it, maybe, just this one maybe, this one today, it will be me.”

Never mind that the calculated odds that it will be you is probably hundred of billions to one if not higher.

But not caring one iota about the odds, you throw your money into the world.

What, and how much have you gained?

What and how much have you lost?

What have you just been reminded of?

Who is doing the reminding?

Spouse, Children, Mortgage Company, Lawyers, your Boss, your Enemies?

God, the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit?

The Lord and Master of ALL Lies – The Serpent, Satan, the Devil, Lucifer?

Yourself countlessly repeating – “Does this sound too good to be true? Did it sound to good to be true? Do I care if it is or if it sounds too good to be true?”

“Yield Not to Temptation For Temptation is Sin?”

Well, from the world’s perspective it is too good to be true.

Not that one day you might just win for yourself that Mega Millions Jackpot – in which case I offer you my utmost congratulations on such a windfall of income.

God Bless you as you navigate your new found riches with the tax folks at IRS and every one of those “relations” that’ll suddenly come out of the woodwork.

But, we are humanity with too many faults, fragilities, frailties, and failures to count in countless thousands, millions of lifetimes – we cannot help ourselves.

Things That Seem Good, Even Too Good to Resist.

Genesis 3:6 The Message

6 When the Woman saw that the tree looked like good eating and realized what she would get out of it—she’d know everything!—she took and ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate.

As Eve suddenly found herself gazing longingly at the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, it’s fairly easy to understand just why she was drawn to it.

Delightful to the eyes and desirable for wisdom, it was too tempting to resist.

Many of us can relate to Eve’s dilemma as we encounter things that seem good—too good to resist, too good pass up – “just that once – but never ever again.”

But in the end, some of those seemingly irresistible good things lead us away from the intended path God has for us – leads us to run away, hide in shame.

And, the delight of our eyes can leave us with an unsavory mess of unfavorable consequences we are seldom in any mood other than embarrassed to explain.

One practical example would be buying a car.

You set out to replace your old, unreliable car for something newer.

However, the moment you step onto the lot, your budget-friendly goals are met with stars-in-your-eyes options, offer the latest and greatest everything.

Those brand new, shiny vehicles are a delight to the eyes.

And there is a pull for your affections that’s difficult to resist.

Another practical example is buying your first house or your next house or your final retirement house.

Everything about that home is advertised to sell, to maximize its market value so the seller can achieve the very best price possible and can move on with life.

To avoid unforeseen, unnecessary repair costs we do our inspection homework and negotiate with the realtors for the best price for all the parties concerned.

Another practical example is “what about planning for realistic career plans, all the promises of the “worlds best job and company, that next great promotion?”

You want more for your family, you want to be the best provider, mother and the best father, so what are you willing to risk and just how soon do you risk it.

The thing is, there are myriads and myriads of temptations that seem so good, then too soon, will often lose their appeal (and value) once you give in to them.

That so called dream job – how did that pan out, were all of the big promise real or were they so much efforts at entrapment, manipulation, fakery and fraud?

That top-of-the-line vehicle depreciates the second you drive off the lot.

And the hefty monthly payment soon becomes a burden you wish you didn’t have to carry.

The cost of that first repair bill, the cost of the monthly mortgage, the cost of the utilities and the homeowners insurance will soon bring reality to the front.

What always seems so good, too good, at the moment almost always opens your eyes to the undesirable consequences that reality will always soon bring with it.

I wonder how many times Eve thought about that fateful moment in the garden.

Did she and Adam lay awake at night, talking about how different things could have been—should have been? 

Genesis 3:6 describes the battle of the flesh—the tendency to follow our own desires.

Yet, there was another element to Eve’s dilemma that happened right before she considered the forbidden fruit.

How easily the enemy slithered in without warning and disrupted her thoughts.

As she went about her day, without a single care in the world, the serpent swept in with a single question, slithered right by her side, opened the conversation.

The life of contentment Eve had was suddenly disrupted by a hint of doubt.

And it’s no different for us.

We smilingly go about our lives doing just fine until one thought, one question, one suggestion, one crisis, suddenly offers us something too good to pass up.

Eve’s story can be an effective “how to avoid trouble” guide for us; an example of how NOT to listen to the whisper of the enemy – if we recognize the enemy.

Even when something seems so good, we can (and should) stop, take a moment to pray and ask for God’s wisdom, and Jesus’ invaluable lessons on living life.

His Holy Spirit will then either confirm that it is good, or He will open our eyes to the truth of the situation – if we’ll automatically acknowledge and trust God.

Imagine if Eve had recognized Satan’s question as a diversion from the truth.

If she would have first instinctively stepped away from the situation and called out for God’s help, talked with God, imagine what a different world it would be!

The next time something seems too good to resist, allow yourself some time, space to ask for God’s direction – one good course of action you won’t regret.

The Enticement of Evil

Genesis 3:1The Message

3 The serpent was clever, more clever than any wild animal God had made. He spoke to the Woman: “Do I understand that God told you not to eat from any tree in the garden?”

Let us move on to consider the strategy that the Tempter employs.

This is most instructive because it is exactly the strategy he employs when he appears as an angel of light to us—not that we shall see visions of shining beings—but the charismatic and charming personality that he exemplifies, the character in which he appears, is the same now as then – he is an angel of light.

Scripture makes clear that the devil can also appear as a roaring lion, meaning he can strike in tragedy, in sickness, or in physical evil, as he struck Job or Paul, with his thorn in the flesh, which Apostle Paul called the messenger of Satan.

When he appears as a lion, he can instantaneously strike fear into our hearts.

But his most effective strategy is to appear as subtle, someone good, someone attractive, something or someone who highly appeals to us as an angel of light.

If you learn how to recognize the strategy of the devil, you will find that he invariably employs the same tactics.

There is a sense in which he is very limited, and doesn’t vary his tactics widely.

Sometimes we feel too easily disarmed, too easily feel as if we shall never learn how to anticipate the devil.

But we can learn.

Paul said that he was not ignorant of the devil’s devices (2 Corinthians 2:11).

If we learn how he works, we can easily learn to detect him in our lives.

James has described this strategy very plainly in one or two verses.

He says, … each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.

Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death (James 1:13-15 The Message).

13-15 Don’t let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, “God is trying to trip me up.” God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one’s way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: named sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.

There is the strategy of the devil.

He always approaches us in the same three stages, and those steps are outlined clearly in this text.

His first tactic is to arouse desire.

James says that every man is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed (James 1:14).

Each step the devil takes with us is always to arouse desire to do wrong, to create an insatiable hunger, an irresistible lure, or enticement toward evil.

The second is to permit intent to form an act to occur.

James describes this: after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin (James 1:15).

Notice that the symbol he employs is that of conception and birth.

There is first a gestation period in temptation, for once desire is aroused, there occurs a process within which sooner or later issues in sin, an act that is wrong.

The third stage is that the devil immediately acts upon the opportunity afforded by the evil act to move in and to produce results that Scripture describes as death—sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. 

This is the devil’s ultimate aim.

Jesus said that he was a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44).

He delights in mangling, smashing, twisting, destroying, blighting, blasting.

We can see his activity present everywhere; it is going on around us, in our own lives, in the lives of others, in the lives of vulnerable children and their parents.

These are the works of the devil, says the Scripture (1 John 3:7-8 The Message).

7-8 So, my dear children, don’t let anyone divert you from the truth. It’s the person who acts right who is right, just as we see it lived out in our righteous Messiah. Those who make a practice of sin are straight from the Devil, the pioneer in the practice of sin. The Son of God entered the scene to abolish the Devil’s ways.

Lead Me Not Into Temptation, Deliver Me from Evil

Matthew 6:9-13 English Standard Version

9 Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.[a]
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,[b]
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,[c]
12 and forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from evil.[d]

When Rabbi Jesus taught his disciples to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:13), he was not merely suggesting that it was all about someone else subtly, or suddenly, drawing us into temptation.

We are responsible too.

Dealing with life’s host of temptations calls for our heightened and maturing awareness of the tempting ­power of sin.

It includes recognizing that others, like the proverb writer and our parents, know the powerful temptation of sin.

Proverbs 1:8-19 The Message

8-19 Pay close attention, friend, to what your father tells you;
    never forget what you learned at your mother’s knee.
Wear their counsel like a winning crown,
    like rings on your fingers.
Dear friend, if bad companions tempt you,
    don’t go along with them.
If they say—“Let’s go out and raise some hell.
    Let’s beat up some old man, mug some old woman.
Let’s pick them clean
    and get them ready for their funerals.
We’ll load up on top-quality loot.
    We’ll haul it home by the truckload.
Join us for the time of your life!
    With us, it’s share and share alike!”—
Oh, friend, don’t give them a second look;
    don’t listen to them for a minute.
They’re racing to a very bad end,
    hurrying to ruin everything they lay hands on.
Nobody robs a bank
    with everyone watching,
Yet that’s what these people are doing—
    they’re doing themselves in.
When you grab all you can get, that’s what happens:
    the more you get, the less you are.

The words of the tempter can seem so enticing or desirable, and they may wear us down.

Temptation is everywhere in our lives.

A wise person knows this.

A wise person hears the proverb writer say, in effect,

“It takes away the lives of those who give in to it.”

Sin is self-destructive.

It’s terribly sad and tragic when we subtly or suddenly succumb to temptation, we ultimately end up hurting others and ourselves – sometimes irreversibly.

Following God’s wiser instructions, how­ever, leads to life as God intended it.

Jesus put it this way: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

If you’ve been blessed with parents who taught you these words, thank God.

If not, give thanks that you know them now.

And if you don’t know what they mean, seek out someone who can help you learn and understand – it will always and forever be time vastly well spent.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 46 The Message

46 1-3 God is a safe place to hide,
    ready to help when we need him.
We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom,
    courageous in seastorm and earthquake,
Before the rush and roar of oceans,
    the tremors that shift mountains.

    Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
    God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

4-6 River fountains splash joy, cooling God’s city,
    this sacred haunt of the Most High.
God lives here, the streets are safe,
    God at your service from crack of dawn.
Godless nations rant and rave, kings and kingdoms threaten,
    but Earth does anything he says.

7     Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
    God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

8-10 Attention, all! See the marvels of God!
    He plants flowers and trees all over the earth,
Bans war from pole to pole,
    breaks all the weapons across his knee.
“Step out of the traffic! Take a long,
    loving look at me, your High God,
    above politics, above everything.”

11     Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
    God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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We Are Not Quitters Because We Are Always Guarded By the Power of God. Hebrews 10:26-31 (Verse 29)

If we reject Jesus, we reject everything that God is and everything he has given.

We insult Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

We reject grace at every level.

The message of Jesus is precious and treasured, it must never be spurned, rejected, discounted, treated lightly, misrepresented or worse, ignored.

The message of Jesus is precious beyond all the greatest rust worthy treasures of mankind, and to ignore or to reject or to misrepresent this message is to insult all that is holy.

Hebrews 10:26-31 The Message

26-31 If we give up and turn our backs on all we’ve learned, all we’ve been given, all the truth we now know, we repudiate Christ’s sacrifice and are left on our own to face the Judgment—and a mighty fierce judgment it will be! If the penalty for breaking the law of Moses is physical death, what do you think will happen if you turn on God’s Son, spit on the sacrifice that made you whole, and insult this most gracious Spirit? This is no light matter. God has warned us that he’ll hold us to account and make us pay. He was quite explicit: “Vengeance is mine, and I won’t overlook a thing” and “God will judge his people.” Nobody’s getting by with anything, believe me.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

From the Midst of the Mob, a Time for Discipline?

If we are gut level honest, with ourselves, others, we all can recall times when we have failed, faltered, or temporarily lost any interest in the things of Christ.

These experiences can unsettle the faith of even the most seasoned believer.

What, then, are we to make of our faults, failures and our own stumbling’s?

The Bible is clear that once we are in Jesus’ hand, we are not coming out.

Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me … No one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28).

Indeed, our stumbles, failures serve as a daily reminder to, no matter what the circumstances cling to God’s promises all the more and not to our own merit.

For those who are hidden in Christ, “all the promises of God find their Yes in him” (2 Corinthians 1:20).

When God promises that nothing will ever separate us from the love of Christ (Romans 8:38-39), that includes our seasons of stumbling and of sinning.

When we have been redeemed by Christ, when we have been brought into His orbit of grace, He promises to complete the good work which He began in us. (Philippians 1:6)

We must conclude, then, that a genuine believer cannot be lost.

It is not possible!

According to God’s mercy, we are brought into His family and guarded by His power until the day of salvation (1 Peter 1:5).

The Bible is equally clear, however, that there are also those who for a time are marked by some dedication to God but who then turn in opposition to Jesus and His Word, never to return to Him again. (Matthew 13, Mark 4, Luke 8,)

Their repudiation of what they once professed reveals that they never genuinely nor authentically nor faithfully belonged to Jesus at all.

Such individuals, notes the author of Hebrews, receive the knowledge of truth and perhaps even suggest to others around them that their faith is sincere, but in reality, they are trampling the Son of God underfoot.

They engage in the reverse of what Paul describes in Philippians 3:8:

“I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

Paul counted everything in life as rubbish compared to knowing Jesus.

But these men and women taste of the hardcore goodness of the Lord yet come to count Him as the rubbish (truth is too hard) when offered earthly pleasures.

The aim of the writer to the Hebrews is to warn against complacency, which leads to dangerous drifting (Hebrews 2:1).

The anonymous author of Hebrews is consistently urging the readership to run to the cross in their weakness and failures, for the wonder of the cross is that there is no sinful believer that cannot be forgiven, the glory of the Holy Spirit is that there is no weak believer He cannot preserve, He cannot revive, empower.

When you stumble, then, stumble toward the cross.

And when you and I awake each day, ask the one who died in our place for a fresh outpouring of His grace in order that you may persevere in your faith.

Draw Near to God and God will Draw Near to You

James 4:7-10The Message

7-10 So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him make himself scarce. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.

Sin absolutely has consequences.

Consequences which can easily cause us to question the Authority of God.

Consequences which can easily cause us to question the Sovereignty of God.

Consequences which can easily cause us to question the Legitimacy of God.

Consequences which can easily cause us to question the maximum love of God.

Consequences which can easily cause our steadfast and immovable faith to be shaken, shifted, cracks in our foundation soon appear, as from a earthquake.

Divisive issues from within the church which cause rancor and disaffiliation.

Family against Family, Brother against Brother and Sister against Sister.

We have likewise consistently and persistently learned from the Bible —and personally—how life without maximum faith in God brings terrible results.

In today’s verses from Hebrews 10:26-31 we are reminded that we may not “keep on sinning after we have received … the truth.”

In other words, once we receive salvation in Jesus, it is time to change our ways.

Hebrews 10:19-25 English Standard Version

The Full Assurance of Faith

19 Therefore, brothers,[a] since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

And we can only do that in God’s strength, under God’s surest protection.

In the full assurance of faith in Christ Jesus our Savior.

Moment to Moment, Watched Over and Guarded by God’s matchless power.

But rancor and division and disaffiliation in and within the Kingdom of God comes marked displeasure and anger from the throne of God. (1 Corinthians 3)

From within this propensity to sin quite badly, God may decide to discipline us.

When we face a hard time, we should eagerly ask if this is discipline from God.

If it is, then all sides must rush to that attitude of shared consolation, shared repentance, reconciliation, not return to the sins that God is disciplining us for.

Perhaps you are lonely because you have allowed relationships to break.

Friends and family and churches have forsaken you because of your behavior.

With the Holy Spirit’s intercessory help we can all finally get right with God and with others, and those divided relationships can be faithfully one day restored.

Maybe you are reading these words in prison or within a prison like restrictive environment – refugee camps, migrant and immigration processing centers.

If you deserve to be in prison, you know in your heart that you sinned against God and others.

Countless millions of people have found or renewed their faith in God during their time of imprisonment – there is no place God’s grace cannot reach you!

From within any, all restrictive environments, God guards and protects you.

God invites you and everyone around you to join, to rejoin His family by sincerely turning or returning to His Son Jesus the Christ as your Savior.

As the Prodigal Son found out, whatever your sin or situation, today is the anointed time to (re)open your life to the Savior, who is seeking you now.

This may be an appointed time of discipline, but it is also the time of salvation.  

This also the anointed and appointed time for everyone to draw near to God that God will also draw near to us – discipline us for a time – restoring His Kingdom.

Draw Near to God And Hold Fast to the Gospel

If our sins are forgiven through the sacrifice of Jesus, then there is no further need for the sacrificial system represented by the tabernacle and the Temple (cf. Hebrews 10:18).

“Therefore” (Hebrews 10:19) introduces the whole practical section of the letter, but also specifically the application of this point.

The finished work of Jesus gives us confident access to God. It is by His blood, and through the metaphorical “veil of His flesh” that we thus boldly approach (Hebrews 10:20).

With Jesus as our high priest (Hebrews 10:21), exhorts the writer, let us:

“Draw near” (Hebrews 10:22) faithfully, with a sincere heart; and in the certainty of our relationship with God through Jesus Christ (which we call “assurance of faith”).

Make your approach boldly, having had your conscience (inwardly) cleansed by the blood of Jesus, having been outwardly washed in the obedience of baptism.

Furthermore, let us:

“Hold fast” (Hebrews 10:23) to the confession of our hope. Ours should be a rock hard, sturdy foundation of hope, because He who made the promises is reliable!

And, (Hebrews 10:24-25), let us be considerate of other Christians, encouraging one another to love and good deeds.

Let us never neglect the meeting together of Christian community, both giving and receiving the word of exhortation – and all the more so, said our writer all those centuries ago, as we see “the anointed and appointed day” approaching.

Then, having drawn near, make every possible maximum effort to keep near!

Recall that these new Hebrew Christians were not unfamiliar with persecution (Hebrews 10:32-35).

Perhaps this was why some of them were inclined to fall away (Hebrews 6:6)?

‘But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you,’ the writer assures, ‘and things that accompany salvation’ (cf. Hebrews 6:9).

“We are not of those who draw back to perdition,” he asserts, “but of those who believe to the saving of the soul” (Hebrews 10:39).

Still, the writer issues another warning (Hebrews 10:26-31).

Perhaps some were still inclined to slip from their moorings (cf. Hebrews 2:1)?

If so, perhaps it begins when we neglect to meet together under the sound of the Word of God (Hebrews 10:25)?

Again, we should keep in mind the specific Jewish background which we looked at when grappling with Hebrews 6:4-8 The Message.

4-8 Once people have seen the light, gotten a taste of heaven and been part of the work of the Holy Spirit, once they’ve personally experienced the sheer goodness of God’s Word and the powers breaking in on us—if then they turn their backs on it, washing their hands of the whole thing, well, they can’t start over as if nothing happened. That’s impossible. Why, they’ve re-crucified Jesus! They’ve repudiated him in public! Parched ground that soaks up the rain and then produces an abundance of carrots and corn for its gardener gets God’s “Well done!” But if it produces weeds and thistles, it’s more likely to get cussed out. Fields like that are burned, not harvested.

The writer is demonstrating the untenability of even contemplating a return to Judaism (Hebrews 10:26b).

For those Hebrew Christians, that was what it was to ‘fall away’ (Hebrews 6:6).

The language is strong (Hebrews 10:26-29; cf. 2 Peter 2:20-22), but mercifully punctuated with compassion (Hebrews 10:39; cf. Hebrews 6:9).

The indictment (if it is that) is against those who sin WILFULLY after they have “received the knowledge of the truth” (Hebrews 10:26a).

The question may be: have we really “received” it? So, for us as well as for them, it is a matter of the WILL.

Is our will anchored in the One who taught us to pray ‘THY will be done’ (Matthew 6:10; cf. Luke 22:42)?

The threat is real.

If we have not Jesus as the sacrifice for our sins (Hebrews 10:26b), then we are going to hell (Hebrews 10:27).

If we have (Hebrews 10:29) “trodden underfoot” the Son of God; counted the blood of the covenant “an unholy thing”; and “despised” the Spirit of grace: then the punishment that awaits us is worse than that which was under the law (Hebrews 10:28-31)!

“It IS a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31), but our writer does not leave his readers there.

Rather he calls upon them to remember what they have already come through (Hebrews 10:32-39 The Message).

Hebrews 10:32-39 The Message

32-39 Remember those early days after you first saw the light? Those were the hard times! Kicked around in public, targets of every kind of abuse—some days it was you, other days your friends. If some friends went to prison, you stuck by them. If some enemies broke in and seized your goods, you let them go with a smile, knowing they couldn’t touch your real treasure. Nothing they did bothered you, nothing set you back. So don’t throw it all away now. You were sure of yourselves then. It’s still a sure thing! But you need to stick it out, staying with God’s plan so you’ll be there for the promised completion.

It won’t be long now, he’s on the way;
    he’ll show up most any minute.
But anyone who is right with me thrives on loyal trust;
    if he cuts and runs, I won’t be very happy.

But we’re not quitters who lose out. Oh, no! We’ll stay with it and survive, trusting all the way.

Is it really worth throwing everything away after all this?

Effectively, He calls upon them to return to their ‘first love’ (cf. Revelation 2:4).

It appears that the Hebrew Christians had compassion on those who were persecuted for righteousness sake (Hebrews 10:33; cf. Matthew 5:11-12).

And, having their eyes set on the things which are above, endured the spoiling of their own goods (Hebrews 10:34).

The writer encourages ongoing confidence and reminds them that their reward awaits them in heaven (Hebrews 10:35; cf. Matthew 6:20).

Jesus said, ‘he who endures to the end shall be saved’ (cf. Matthew 24:13).

We must have the patience to bend our will to the will of God in order to receive the promise (Hebrews 10:36).

This is the desire of our writer (cf. Hebrews 3:12-14 The Message).

12-14 So watch your step, friends. Make sure there’s no evil unbelief lying around that will trip you up and throw you off course, diverting you from the living God. For as long as God’s still calling it Today, keep each other on your toes so sin doesn’t slow down your reflexes. If we can only keep our grip on the sure thing we started out with, we’re in this with Christ for the long haul.

These words keep ringing in our ears:

Today, please listen;
    don’t turn a deaf ear as in the bitter uprising.

People then, as now, were anxious for the return of Christ: so the writer encourages them as to its certainty.

And reminds them, as Habakkuk reminded his readers some centuries before, that meantime “the just SHALL live by faith” (Hebrews 10:38; cf. Habakkuk 2:2-4).

Those who are truly saved “do not draw back” but “believe to the saving of the soul” (Hebrews 10:39).

But we are not quitters who lose out. Oh, no!

We will stay with it and survive, trusting all the way.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 121 The Message

121 1-2 I look up to the mountains;
    does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from God,
    who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.

3-4 He won’t let you stumble,
    your Guardian God won’t fall asleep.
Not on your life! Israel’s
    Guardian will never doze or sleep.

5-6 God’s your Guardian,
    right at your side to protect you—
Shielding you from sunstroke,
    sheltering you from moonstroke.

7-8 God guards you from every evil,
    he guards your very life.
He guards you when you leave and when you return,
    he guards you now, he guards you always.

O ABBA Father Almighty, Your Son, My Savior Jesus is beyond precious to me. I know that I ever so richly deserve discipline and punishment for my sins. Thank you God for your love, for thy Son Jesus, for willingly taking my punishment so that I may be forgiven. May my life always demonstrate my love and loyalty to him and to you. I pray, I plead to Forgive me for ever insulting you, Jesus, or the Spirit. In Jesus’ name.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Governor Pilate, The Gathering Mobs, Almighty God: Please Choose This Day What You Will Do Now With My Jesus! Luke 23:13-25

For the Roman governor Pilate, it was not that he might have known better if he’d just had more information. It was not that he might have acted differently if he’d had a better understanding of how things worked among the people he ruled in the province of Judea. The case that confronted Pilate was not vague or unclear.

Several times Pilate gave the Jewish high priests the chance to submit all the evidence they could. Repeatedly Pilate recognized that the evidence added up to no case at all under Roman law.

Pilate had personally interrogated Jesus. Perhaps he figured that something Jesus might say would prove incriminating, even if the priests’ evidence had not. After these thorough reviews, Pilate returned each time with the same judgment. There has been no crime; there is no basis for charges, no reason for a sentence of any kind. The obvious legal outcome of this case was to release the defendant.

But Pilate sentenced Jesus to death by crucifixion. Why? Because he recognized the power of the priests. They could make or break his governorship; they could cooperate in keeping things running smoothly in Judea, or they could make things difficult. Jesus had no power that mattered to Pilate. Jesus could be discarded, dispensed with.

And so he was, and in God’s design, for the sake of all of us.

Luke 23:13-25 The Message

13-16 Then Pilate called in the high priests, rulers, and the others and said, “You brought this man to me as a disturber of the peace. I examined him in front of all of you and found there was nothing to your charge. And neither did Herod, for he has sent him back here with a clean bill of health. It’s clear that he’s done nothing wrong, let alone anything deserving death. I’m going to warn him to watch his step and let him go.”

18-20 At that, the crowd went wild: “Kill him! Give us Barabbas!” (Barabbas had been thrown in prison for starting a riot in the city and for murder.) Pilate still wanted to let Jesus go, and so spoke out again.

21 But they kept shouting back, “Crucify! Crucify him!”

22 He tried a third time. “But for what crime? I’ve found nothing in him deserving death. I’m going to warn him to watch his step and let him go.”

23-25 But they kept at it, a shouting mob, demanding that he be crucified. And finally they shouted him down. Pilate caved in and gave them what they wanted. He released the man thrown in prison for rioting and murder, and gave them Jesus to do whatever they wanted.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

Imagine a Moment: When a Decision Has to Be Made

As governor over Judea, Pontius Pilate was responsible for maintaining order and quelling civil disruption within his jurisdiction.

He was accustomed to using and wielding his power and influence to determine the outcome for any issue brought before him, those awaiting their sentence.

But imagine if you can the undeniable tension of Jesus’ arrival in his courtroom which immediately confronted Gov. Pilate with the greatest dilemma of his life.

Accompanied by a large crowd of religious officials, with the gathering of the mob of people curious at what is going on, Jesus was now brought before Pilate.

When Pilate pressed the mob and asked them explicitly, “What evil has he done?” all they seemed able to do was to raise their chorus of voices louder.

Now, I have always been taught that a raised voice is often indicative of a weak or non existent argument.

King Herod had examined Jesus and found Jesus was no threat and sent him back to Pilate for his final judgement.

Governor Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent, there were no charges to be brought against Jesus and so he essentially declared to all those assembled, 

“I find no guilt in this man. 

But the cries of the Temple Authorities and the crowd grew more demanding and more insistent, and more threatening to the authority of Pilate and Peace in the land and I can hear how Pilate must have started big time doubting himself, asking himself, “I have to decide now, What can I do with this Jesus of Nazareth?

“Not Guilty” But Being Sentenced to Die Anyway

Essentially, Governor Pilate, the chief political authority had to decide in that exact moment; “What do I do now with this wild mob, this innocent man Jesus?”

“Yield to the obviously right thing to do – to release an innocent Man?”

“Yield to the Temple Authorities whom he must still peacefully govern Judea?”

“Yield to the growing unrest of the gathered mob who were probably unaware or generally uninformed or minimally educated of the whole purpose of the gathering or like the Temple Authorities, wanted Jesus to be gone from their midst because they were more afraid of Caesar and his well trained Armies?”

“Yield to the Ultimate Authority and absolute Sovereignty of God without whom Governor Pontius Pilate would have no authority over anyone (John 19:11)?”

Pilate wanted to release Jesus.

He knew that he should release Jesus.

The Political Pilate had all the political authority he needed to release Jesus.

But Pilate instead capitulated to his desire to placate the crowd and to maintain favor with the religious leaders, and the voices of the frenzied throng prevailed.

Governor Pilate’s dilemma is not unfamiliar to us.

In fact, it is the great dilemma that confronts men and women in authority: having that authority, wielding that power, what to do with Jesus of Nazareth.

Pilate came face-to-face with the Son of God and heard His testimony from His own lips—and still he chose the world, all of the noise of that rising crescendo attached to the “mob mentality” over bending his knee to the King of kings.

Political Decisions made at the highest levels of Government swaying to those who make the loudest noise, threaten the greatest violence to peace in the land.

“100% Pro” God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit?

“100% Crucify” God, the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit?

Who do we fear the most?

The Authority and the Armies of Caesar?

What do we value the most?

The loss of our own authority, the loss of our control, the loss of our jobs?

What becomes our Steadfast and Immovable, Unyielding Affirmation of Faith?

No matter what or who may come, we value the Lord our God over everything?

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 The Message

4 Attention, Israel!

God, our God! God the one and only!

5 Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got!

6-9 Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.

Or we let the political authorities and the noise of every single mob who comes to threaten our peace, threaten our belief systems with shouts of “crucify him?”

What was God Doing in that “Pressure Cooker?”

Even with and within all of that adverse pressure of the moment, In Jesus’ sentencing, God’s eternal plan of salvation unfolded in a moment in time.

Jesus always claimed the absolute sovereignty of God over him and everything else including the weight of the politics and the violent intentions of the mob.

Jesus was unwavering in his stated beliefs that God absolutely remained God.

No matter what else happened to him, God was always in absolute command.

Jesus knew he had no reason to be afraid of what would happen to him.

The Temple Authorities were not ever going to change their minds.

The mob was not going to lessen their call for crucifixion one tiny bit.

If anything, the mob would only get bigger and even significantly louder.

Jesus knew the truth, the whole truth ,nothing but the truth of Almighty God.

Jesus was not accused and condemned for His own sin.

He was not dying for Himself.

He was dying for us.

He who was totally innocent became totally guilty in order that we who are totally guilty might be declared completely innocent. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

All of Pilate’s attempts to dismiss Jesus, to turn Him over for other officials to pass judgment, to wipe his hands clean of the matter, didn’t work.

All of the scorning and violence of the gathered mobs did not compel Jesus to put down his cross and renounce his Father in Heaven, and walk off the stage.

Neither will anyone’s politics.

Neither will anyone’s polling or winning vote count.

Neither will anyone’s Governing political authority or influence cause a believer to renounce their steadfast, immovable, unyielding faith, in their Savior Jesus.

Neither will anyone’s efforts to use the battering ram of “mob mentality.”

Neither will anyone else’s efforts at censorship to dismiss the resurrection.

Our only authentic hope, our only genuinely living hope in life and in our death is to praise, respond in our hearts to the glory of what happened on the cross.

Like Governor Pontius Pilate, we face a choice: either we bow our knee to Christ and His lordship or we capitulate to the pressures of the surrounding culture.

And while that is a choice, decision we make in the privacy of our hearts, it is one that ultimately reveals itself, as it did with Pilate, in what we say when all those around us are urging us to deny the rule or goodness of our Savior Christ.

However loud those voices become,

We too will always have our private and public choices to make,

We will always be pressured by the politics of the moment and the politicians and every single sway and nuances of their political ideologies, to sway us into some range of similar thinking that we would continue to vote then into office.

But ultimately, if you and I are God’s Children, then be ready to stand for Him!

I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried;
he descended into hell;
on the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.

Amen.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Affirm our Faith and Pray,

Affirmation

I refuse to believe that we are unable to influence the events around us.

I refuse to believe we are bound by the politics of racism, war, and injustice.

I believe those around me are my brother and my sister in Christ Jesus.

I believe in dignity every day and that our brokenness can be healed.

I believe in integrity every day and that God is the Way, the Truth, the Life.

I believe we can overcome oppression and violence, without resorting to it.

This means I seek to know more of God, to reject revenge and retaliation.

I remember, “Hate cannot drive out hate: only the light, love of God can.”

Here we are Lord, 

on our knees,
Crying mercy;
Mercy for our souls,
Mercy for one another,
Mercy for our churches,
Mercy for our nation,
mercy for our world.

Here we are again
Standing in your presence
in awe of you your holiness,
your otherness,
your mystery,
and your incarnation

We stand bringing the needs of our friends, family, church,

community, nation and world to lay at your feet.
We cry out in pain for the struggles of the world.
We cry out for those who are in pain, sick, in the hospital, rehab,

homebound, nursing homes and those on their death bead.
We cry out for the divisions and conflict that seems to be in our lives,

our families, our churches, our communities, our nation and our world.
We cry out for those who live in poverty, those who are starving,

those who are in prisons, and those who live under oppression.

Lord, pour out your mercy
like healing, comforting rain.
Amen. 

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Do You or I Know the One Good Thing Which God Desires of The Shape of Our All Too Human Hearts? Psalm 78:65-72

As followers of Jesus, we are committed to living by God’s standards, such as integrity—saying what we mean and doing what we say.

Proverbs 21:3 says, “To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.”

Integrity means being “honest” and “whole and undivided.” First, we have to be honest with ourselves by asking:

Do I say I will do things that don’t get done?
Do I make excuses for not following through?
Do I substitute words when actions are needed?

Ecclesiastes 5:2 says, “Do not be quick with your mouth…”

The Bible doesn’t teach us not to use words, but to use them wisely and back them up with consistent actions.

Jesus says, in Matthew 25:21, the “master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’”
The master says “well done,” not, “well said.”

If we struggle with integrity, there is hope. Romans 8:1 says. “.. there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Start with the first tiny step of an honest self-assessment.

Then choose to follow Jesus to the next step in integrity, and keep following Him day by day.

Psalm 78:65-72 The Message

65-72 Suddenly the Lord was up on his feet
    like someone roused from deep sleep,
    shouting like a drunken warrior.
He hit his enemies hard, sent them running,
    yelping, not daring to look back.
He disqualified Joseph as leader,
    told Ephraim he didn’t have what it takes,
And chose the Tribe of Judah instead,
    Mount Zion, which he loves so much.
He built his sanctuary there, resplendent,
    solid and lasting as the earth itself.
Then he chose David, his servant,
    handpicked him from his work in the sheep pens.
One day he was caring for the ewes and their lambs,
    the next day God had him shepherding Jacob,
    his people Israel, his prize possession.
His good heart made him a good shepherd;
    he guided the people wisely and well.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

An Integrity Filled Heart

When we are talking about the qualities that are necessary for a Christian heart, integrity is one quality that cannot, and should not, ever be ignored.

The reason is because that’s the exact type of heart which God desires and uses.

72 
So David shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart;
And guided them with his skillful hands. Psalm 78:72 Amplified

It was with such an integrous heart that God commended David.

In Acts 13:22 the Lord’s testimony of David says, “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.”

If David had a heart after God’s heart, and if David’s heart was integrous, therefore it can be concluded that integrity is an integral part of God’s own heart, in other words, integrity is one of God’s qualities we should seek after.

This is seen in something Moses said about God’s character.

“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19 NKJV)

And so, a Christian’s heart needs to be an integrous heart because an integrous heart, a heart filled with integrity is part of God’s own heart, we should desire it with the same fervor, tenacity as God Himself possesses it, desires to share it.

Therefore, I think it’s safe to say that integrity is needed now more than ever.

There are several reasons why.

First, we also live in a society where what was once called good and integrous, is now being called hate-filled and evil, and what was once called hateful and evil is now being called good and true and the most desirable to be possessed by all.

What is evil is being taught, advocated for and celebrated in schools at all levels.

What is good and righteous is declared to be extremist, worthy of a prison cell.

What was once considered backwards, abhorrent is fast becoming acceptable conduct, praise worthy conduct, taught to be an acceptable medical practice.

How radically backwards has become so common place and acceptable in our day to day conversations in such a short span of time is truly mind-boggling.

How bad is this in the eyes and heart of God.

Remember, integrity is a part of God’s own heart.

Well, Isaiah prophesied this, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness…” (Isaiah 5:20 NKJV)

But also, our society drowning in lies.

We are living in a world that is living more by the lie than by the truth, and the sad part is that most people shrug shoulders, don’t think it is that big a deal.

But it is a big deal, and the Bible calls it sin.

In fact, it’s such a huge deal to God in how it hurts our relationship with Him and others that He makes it one of His big ten, that is, the Ten Commandments.

This one is the ninth to be exact.

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:16 NKJV)

But, before we can continue looking at what is an integrity filled heart, I believe it is vitally important we come to know and understand what integrity means.

Understanding What Integrity Means

Psalm 15 Amplified Bible

Description of a Citizen of Zion.

A Psalm of David.

15 O Lord, who may lodge [as a guest] in Your tent?
Who may dwell [continually] on Your holy hill?
2 
He who walks with integrity and strength of character, and works righteousness,
And speaks and holds truth in his heart.
3 
He does not slander with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
4 
In his eyes an evil person is despised,
But he honors those who fear the Lord [and obediently worship Him with awe-inspired reverence and submissive wonder].
He keeps his word even to his own disadvantage and does not change it [for his own benefit];
5 
He does not put out his money at interest [to a fellow Israelite],
And does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things will never be shaken.

Having integrity is adhering to truth and a code of values, and for Christians, it means adhering to the Way and the Truth and the Life found only God’s Word.

Synonyms would include: being honest, a person of high moral character, a person of virtue, who lives their lives in accordance with the morals, ethics and values set forth by God Himself in the Bible, values they say they believe in.

Therefore, integrity is about being honest, fair, and having a strong sense of what is right and wrong.

It’s adhering to the moral and ethical principles set forth in God’s Word, which speaks directly to a person’s private, public character, being, who they truly are.

But it also has a second definition, and that is a person who is undivided and thus unwavering in their belief and trust in God.

Integrity is not so much about what we do as it is about who we are.

It means we privately, publicly live according to what we say and believe in.

It’s about who we are on the inside more than what we portray on the outside.

It’s doing right even when no one else is looking, and who we are, how we each act and behave in the dark more than what we do in the light.

Integrity, therefore, is best defined by how it’s fleshed out in our lives.

• It’s about keeping our word even when it hurts.

• It’s about being honest in all our dealings.

• It’s practicing morality in both our bodies and in our minds.

• It’s about admitting mistakes and doing what’s necessary to make them right.

This is why integrity of heart is something God is searching for in His people.

King David said that it’s only with an integrous heart that we can dwell in God’s presence.

So, if we want to dwell in the presence of God, then we have to have integrity, and thus walk and talk and live our lives by it.

“Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart.” (Psalm 15:1-2 NKJV)

In fact, God is pleased when we do walk with integrity in our hearts.

Proverbs 11:18-20 Amplified Bible

18 
The wicked man earns deceptive wages,
But he who sows righteousness and lives his life with integrity will have a true reward [that is both permanent and satisfying].
19 
He who is steadfast in righteousness attains life,
But he who pursues evil attains his own death.
20 
The perverse in heart are repulsive and shamefully vile to the Lord,
But those who are blameless and above reproach in their walk are His delight!

In Proverbs 11:20 the Lord says that while He detests people with crooked and twisted hearts, He does mightily and muchly delights in those with integrity.

Integrity of Job

Job 27:3-6 Amplified Bible

3 
As long as my life is within me,
And the breath of God is [still] in my nostrils,
4 
My lips will not speak unjustly,
Nor will my tongue utter deceit.
5 
“Far be it from me that I should admit you are right [in your accusations against me];
Until I die, I will not remove my integrity from me.
6 
“I hold fast my uprightness and my right standing with God and I will not let them go;
My heart does not reproach me for any of my days.

Job was such a man with a heart filled with integrity

Job said, “As long as my breath is in me … my lips will not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit … Till I die I will not put away my integrity from me. My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go; my heart shall not reproach me as long as I live.” (Job 27:3-6 NKJV)

In fact, not only is God pleased with such an integrous heart, but He also brags on it. We actually see God brag on Job when Satan came before God’s throne.

The Lord said,

“Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” (Job 1:8 NKJV)

God, therefore, looks for integrity and an integrous heart is what He desires for His leaders.

It was a heart of integrity that distinguished the leadership of King David.

“And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.” (Psalm 78:72 NIV)

While an integrous heart is manifested in our lives, in other words, people can see it, people can readily and instinctively recognize it, it’s really an inside job.

Integrity is an Inside Job

Matthew 23:25-26 Amplified Bible

25 “Woe to you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of extortion and robbery and self-indulgence (unrestrained greed). 26 You [spiritually] blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the plate [examine and change your inner self to conform to God’s precepts], so that the outside [your public life and deeds] may be clean also.

In speaking about the hypocrisy of the religious leaders, Jesus said,

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.” (Matthew 23:25-26 NKJV)

The term “hypocrite” in the Greek language comes from the theater.

In Greek theater one actor would often play more than one part, so they wore masks to cover their face for the different parts.

Hypocrisy therefore means someone is wearing a mask (or masks) to hide his or her true nature; therefore, hypocrisy is in direct opposition to integrity.

Integrity, therefore, begins on the inside, which is probably why Jesus tells us to cleanse the inside.

Psalm 51:5-8 Amplified Bible

5 
I was brought forth in [a state of] wickedness;
In sin my mother conceived me [and from my beginning I, too, was sinful].
6 
Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,
And in the hidden part [of my heart] You will make me know wisdom.
7 
Purify me with [a]hyssop, and I will be clean;
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 
Make me hear joy and gladness and be satisfied;
Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.

When we do, we will then be clean on the outside, or in how we deal with others.

If integrity is an inside job, and seeing how within the human heart, that is, the spiritual side of our hearts, there exists nothing but evil and wickedness bent on deceiving, as the Lord says in Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked,” how can we possibly clean it?

We can’t wash it out with soap and water, but we can confess and repent.

Psalm 51:1-6 The Message

51 1-3 Generous in love—God, give grace!
    Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record.
Scrub away my guilt,
    soak out my sins in your laundry.
I know how bad I’ve been;
    my sins are staring me down.

4-6 You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen
    it all, seen the full extent of my evil.
You have all the facts before you;
    whatever you decide about me is fair.
I’ve been out of step with you for a long time,
    in the wrong since before I was born.
What you’re after is truth from the inside out.
    Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.

“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 NKJV)

So, a heart of integrity is a heart that is free from hypocrisy and a heart that is honest about it’s true condition before a holy and righteous God.

It’s a heart that does not put on a mask to hide its true identity making people think that it’s someone who is not and something that it’s not, but rather it’s a heart that honestly and openly confesses its faults, shortcomings, and sins, and actively seeks to turn them over to His Father God and far far away from them.

Another aspect of integrity I like to talk about is that what erodes our integrity.

Erosion of Integrity

Genesis 3:8-13 Amplified Bible

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool [afternoon breeze] of the day, so the man and his wife hid and kept themselves hidden from the [a]presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9  But the Lord God called to Adam, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 He said, “I heard the sound of You [walking] in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” 11 God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten [fruit] from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12  And the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me—she gave me [fruit] from the tree, and I ate it.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent beguiled and deceived me, and I ate [from the forbidden tree].”

Now the simple answer is sin, but it isn’t the one time sin that does it; rather it is a combination of sins that are not being dealt with, that is, they are not being confessed or repented of, or as some would say, it is all those wee little mistakes we allow without seeking them out, mining them and out making them right.

This then leads us to the second thing about integrity.

Integrity is About the Little Things

Integrity isn’t built nor is it destroyed in one fell swoop, but in little bits and pieces.

In Solomon’s song he says that it’s the little foxes that spoil the vine, and therefore they must be captured (Song of Solomon 2:15).

Rome was never built in a day, and neither was it destroyed in a day.

It was over an extended period, especially in its downfall as it decayed from the inside through moral and ethical perversion.

And it’s this same moral and ethical decay we’re seeing in our own country.

America is no longer the shining beacon to the world, instead it has been decaying little by little, year after year, and the cracks are getting bigger, crumpling the integrous foundation laid by our nations’ founding fathers.

Someone I know bought a nice house in an exclusive neighborhood, but the foundation wasn’t laid correctly, the concrete did not have enough rebar.

And so, the house has cracks not only in its foundation, but also throughout its walls and into the ceiling.

With one really good shake the house could conceivably come down.

Jesus said,

“Everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” (Matthew 7:26-27 NKJV)

Therefore, integrity doesn’t happen overnight, nor is it lost overnight because of one mistake or sin.

Rather, integrity is built over time and lost the same way.

We need to be careful then and not blame our circumstances when these cracks begin to develop.

This leads me to another aspect of having an integrous heart.

If we fail to come to belief in Jesus Christ, then our foundation won’t be built on anything solid, when the storms of life hit and rage all around us, then the risk is that our foundation will crumble, and the houses of our lives will come down.

When we violate God’s word or break one of His commands, when our integrity is compromised, small cracks begin to form in the foundations of our lives, and if left neglected, that is, unconfessed, unrepented for, then the firm foundation and our lives will begin to crumble.

How can we prevent the small cracks from getting bigger?

They must be sealed through the process of confession, forgiveness, and heart felt Psalm 32 and Psalm 51 repentance.

This will restore the foundation and make it as stronger than it ever was.

Jesus said,

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” (Luke 16:10 NKJV)

If people can’t trust us in the small matters, how can trust us when things get serious, and our help is really needed.

Integrity Is Not Determined by Circumstances

“But the child (Samuel) ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest. Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the Lord.” (1 Samuel 2:11b-12 NKJV)

Even though our upbringing and the circumstances we face in this life affect us, we still have the power to choose either good or evil.

Two people can grow up in the same environment, even in the same household, but turn out completely different.

One may have integrity, while the other may not.

Take for instance the high priest Eli’s two sons and Samuel.

They all grew up in the tabernacle under Eli’s tutelage.

Samuel grew up to be a man of integrity, while Eli’s two sons were corrupt.

If circumstances really could determine our ability to be a person of integrity, Joseph would be the classic example to follow.

Circumstances weren’t kind to Joseph as he was sold by his brothers into slavery, lied about by Potiphar’s wife, and thrown into prison and forgotten by a top official in Pharaoh’s court.

Yet he never allowed the negative circumstances he encountered to dictate his actions, rather he kept his integrity through it all.

Looking at the circumstances that assailed Joseph and his not wavering in keeping his integrity leads me to the last aspect about having integrity.

Integrity is Expensive

Matthew 16:24-26 The Message

24-26 Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?

Joseph’s integrity cost him dearly.

It cost him his freedom, but in the end, God blessed him, raised him up into a position of highest responsibility and saved his family through him as a result.

There is something that I tell everyone I counsel when things don’t go their way and they are tempted to take the easy way out.

I tell them that when we honor God, God will honor us.

Having an integrous heart will lead to problems, relational conflicts, loss of business, and possibly loss of a job – but in the end, it will lead to real benefits.

Benefits and Blessing of Integrity

a. Safety and Security

“He who walks with integrity walks securely.” (Proverbs 10:9 NKJV)

b. Protection

“Let integrity and uprightness preserve me.” (Psalm 25:21 NKJV)

c. Guidance

“The integrity of the upright will guide them.” (Proverbs 11:3 NKJV)

d. Family

“The righteous man walks in his integrity; His children are blessed after him.” (Proverbs 20:7 NKJV)

And so, while our integrity will cost us, in the end it will bring real and lasting benefits that money can’t buy.

Now that we’ve determined a heart of integrity, the question becomes “What Does an Integrous Heart Do?”

What Does an Integrous Heart Do?

Speak the Truth

Luke 6:43-45 The Message

Work the Words into Your Life

43-45 “You don’t get wormy apples off a healthy tree, nor good apples off a diseased tree. The health of the apple tells the health of the tree. You must begin with your own life-giving lives. It’s who you are, not what you say and do, that counts. Your true being brims over into true words and deeds.

Jesus said that the mouth speaks what the heart is full of (Luke 6:45).

And so a heart that is integrous is going to speak the truth.

Jesus said, “All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” (Matthew 5:37 NIV)

Long explanations are not necessary, a simple yes or no will do the trick.

Our words need to be so reliable that nothing more than a simple statement or word is needed.

Solomon said, “Put away from you a deceitful mouth, and put perverse lips far from you.” (Proverbs 4:24 NKJV)

A person with an integrous heart won’t be found speaking from both sides of their mouth.

Hypocrisy and lies would not be considered acceptable.

And while speaking the truth will cost, there is a larger cost involved when we tell a lie.

It might cost us our marriage, our relationship with God, our children’s future, as well as friendships, career, and the list goes on.

Paul adds a quality to our need to speak the truth, and that is the quality of love (Ephesians 4:25).

25 What this adds up to, then, is this: no more lies, no more pretense. Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself. (The Message)

We are told to speak the truth in love.

The reason is because we have the tendency to launch the truth at people like a guided missile intending to blow away all opposition to our point of view.

In the end we may feel good for speaking the truth, but the other person is laying there with their guts splattered all over the place.

So, an integrous heart speaks the truth through a loving spirit, looking to heal; not hurt.

But besides speaking the truth, an integrous heart also stands for the truth.

Integrity Stands for the Truth

Standing for the truth is taking our speaking the truth to the next level by putting it into action.

“For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.” (2 Corinthians 13:8 NKJV)

In our society today there’s a prevalent attitude that whatever someone believes in, that it is affirmed and above board honest truth, whether it’s true or it’s not.

It’s called subjective truth.

It means that whatever is true for one person must automatically be true for all others, whether it is or not.

What this is doing is kicking objective truth to the curb or throwing it out the window.

Today subjective truth is going by the name of political correctness, tolerance, which when bisected and exposed to the light of God, is anything but tolerant.

What is needed are Christians who are willing to stand for the truth and against the wrongs of society.

We are to be people of an integrous heart that not only speaks the truth, but also witnesses to the truth and testifies to it and stand upon the truth of God’s Word.

The Apostle James says, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” (James 4:17 NKJV)

Therefore, not speaking the truth and standing for what is wrong is sin.

More Thoughts on Our Desiring an Integrous Heart

Integrity is a vital element to a Christian’s heart and one that needs to be constantly nourished and maintained, because it’s out the abundance of our heart we speak, and it’s our hearts that determine who and what we are, therefore we need to guard our hearts, and the best defense is a heart that is totally sold out for Jesus Christ and is filled with the truth of God’s Word.

I would like to end with what I said at the beginning, because when we finally understand this, having a heart of integrity will be something that we strive for.

And it was about King David.

If David had a heart after God’s heart, and if David’s heart was integrous, therefore it can be concluded integrity is an integral part of God’s own heart.

Therefore, our hearts need to be disciplined, integrous, because an integrous heart, a heart filled with integrity, is part of God’s own heart He readily shares.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Confessing My Lack Of Integrity And Praying To Change

Psalm 51:7-15 The Message

7-15 Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean,
    scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life.
Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,
    set these once-broken bones to dancing.
Don’t look too close for blemishes,
    give me a clean bill of health.
God, make a fresh start in me,
    shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.
Don’t throw me out with the trash,
    or fail to breathe holiness in me.
Bring me back from gray exile,
    put a fresh wind in my sails!
Give me a job teaching rebels your ways
    so the lost can find their way home.
Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God,
    and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.
Unbutton my lips, dear God;
    I’ll let loose with your praise.

Heavenly Father, Your are good and righteous altogether and I come to You today, confessing that I have not lived my life the way that You would have wanted, nor did I choose the path that You would have wished for me to take.

I confess my lack and come to You in humility of spirit, knowing that in Your loving-kindness, You forgive those that are of a contrite heart. Father, I want to turn my life around and live in a way that is transparent before You. I want to live a godly life that is pleasing to You and a life that brings glory to Your name. Lord, I do not want to grieve or quench the work of the Holy Spirit in my life any more, and know that the only way to please You is to walk in spirit and truth, and to live each day in submission to Your guidance, and empowered by Your grace.

Cleanse my heart of sin, forgive my stupidity and teach me Your ways I pray. Lord, I want to change my behavior to reflect those of the Lord Jesus, I want the thoughts of my mind to be pleasing in Your sight. I want to be a person of integrity, and live a life that is godly and full of grace, and I can only do so as I abide in You and rest in Your love. Teach me Your ways and give me a teachable spirit so that in the days to come I may live godly in Christ Jesus, knowing that this is Your will for my life.

Thank You that You have been faithful to me even when I proved unfaithful, and in Your grace, I step out into the future with my hand in Yours. In Jesus’ name I pray.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Do You and I Truly Know The One Thing Satan Really Desires to Take from Us? Job 1:6-12

God recognizes Job’s faithfulness. He remarks to his Satan (a Hebrew word meaning simply “accuser”, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil” (Job 1:8).

The accuser spots an opening for mischief and replies, “Does Job fear God for nothing?” (Job 1:9). That is, does Job love God only because God has blessed him so richly?

Is Job’s praise and his burnt offerings “according to the number of them all” just a calculated scheme to keep the goods flowing?

Or to use a modern image, is Job’s faithfulness nothing more than a coin fed into the vending machine of God’s blessing?

Job 1:6-12 Amplified Bible

6 Now there was a day when the sons of God (angels) came to present themselves before the [a]Lord, and Satan (adversary, accuser) also came among them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Then Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming around on the earth and from walking around on it.” 8 The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered and reflected on My servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God [with reverence] and abstains from and turns away from evil [because he honors God].” 9 Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not put a hedge [of protection] around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands [and conferred prosperity and happiness upon him], and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But put forth Your hand now and touch (destroy) all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.” 12 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that Job has is in your power, only do not put your hand on the man himself.” So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

Job’s Prosperity Acknowledged as God’s Blessing

At the beginning of the Book of Job we are introduced to an exceptionally prosperous farmer/rancher named Job.

He is described as “the greatest man among all the people of the East” (Job 1:3).

Like the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, his wealth was measured by his many thousand head of livestock, numerous servants and large family.

His seven sons and three daughters (Job 1:2) are both a personal joy to him and an important foundation of his wealth.

In agricultural societies, children supply the most reliable part of the labor needed in a household.

They are the best hope for a comfortable retirement, the only pension plan available in the Ancient Near East, as is in many parts of the world today.

Job regards his success to be the result of God’s blessing.

We are told that God has “blessed the work of Job’s hands, and his possessions have increased in the land” (Job 1:10).

Job’s recognition that he owes everything to God’s blessing is highlighted by an unusual detail.

He worries that his children might inadvertently offend God.

Although Job takes care to remain “blameless and upright” (Job 1:1), he worries that his children may not be so fastidious.

What if one of them, addled by too much drink during their frequent days-long feasts, should sin by cursing God (Job 1:4)?

Therefore, after every feast, to forestall any offense to God, “Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all” (Job 1:5).

God recognizes Job’s faithfulness.

He remarks to his Satan (a Hebrew word meaning simply “accuser”,

“Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil” (Job 1:8).

The accuser spots an opening for mischief and replies, “Does Job fear God for nothing?” (Job 1:9).

That is, does Job love God only because God has blessed him so richly?

Is Job’s praise and his burnt offerings “according to the number of them all” just a calculated scheme to keep the goods flowing?

Or to use a modern image, is Job’s faithfulness nothing more than a coin fed into the vending machine of God’s blessing?

We could apply this question to ourselves.

Do we relate to God primarily so that He will bless us with the stuff we want?

Or worse yet, so that God won’t “jinx” the success we seem to be achieving on our own?

In good times, this may not be a burning issue.

We believe in God.

We have faith in God.

We acknowledge him — at least theoretically — as the source of all good things.

At the same time, we work diligently, we work and we labor faithfully in God’s Kingdom so God’s goodness, our work go hand in hand like “peas and carrots.”

When times are good, blessings abound and we do in fact have a season or two and prosper, it is natural to thank God and praise him highly and mightily for it.

We all know and recognize that things can go wrong in a big hurry and we have a clever adversary, yet there are things about him we sometimes get wrong.

I cannot tell you how many times I have heard people mention how Satan is attacking them and he is after their stuff.

They talk as if Satan is primarily interested in robbing them of their health and their finances and all manner of earthly possessions and resources.

I’ve a heard a number of sermons that center around this, listened to music that echoes the same sentiment, and witnessed many falling into the belief Satan is ceaselessly, relentlessly, skulking around every street corner, after their things.

But let me offer you a gentle awakening.

Satan does not have an insatiable desire for your belongings.

He is not fixated on your house, your car, your bank account, or your job.

In fact,

I believe our material possessions hardly register to him, unless he can somehow subtly exploit them to undermine our faith and hinder our relationship with God.

The One Thing Satan Is After?

Hebrews 11:5-6 The Message

5-6 By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. “They looked all over and couldn’t find him because God had taken him.” We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken “he pleased God.” It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.

However, there is one thing in your life that Satan relentlessly pursues.

He knows that without it, the reality of you leading a victorious Christian life becomes utterly unattainable.

What indescribably valuable resource is our Adversary after?

Your Faith.

My Faith.

My Wife’s Faith.

The Faith of Parents

Our Children’s Faith.

Our Neighbor’s Faith.

The Faith of our Teachers, our Educators

The Homeless person’s Faith.

The Addicts and Alcoholics persons Faith

The Mentally Ill person’s Faith.

The people just diagnosed with Cancer’s Faith.

The Faith of our Clergy.

The Faith of our Laity.

The Faith of our Neighborhoods and our Communities.

Our Churches Faith, regardless of denominations.

In short and in hardcore truth – everyone’s Faith.

From the very beginning, Satan has attempted to instill doubt within the hearts of all humanity (Genesis 3).

He tries to provoke you to question the very words of God, his character, and even his existence.

The reason is that he understands the important role faith plays in all our lives.

Satan is fully aware of bible verses which highlight the significance of our faith.

Faith is essential in our Christian journey.

It is the foundation upon which we build our relationship with God.

Without faith, our ability to please God diminishes, and our desire to seek him can taper off.

Satan, the enemy of our soul, understands this truth all too well.

He knows that when our faith diminishes, our faith erodes, faith disappears, our spiritual vitality suffers also, and our connection to Savior God weakens.

It is in those moments of wavering faith we may feel most distant from God.

We may notice a lack of motivation to pray.

We may neglect the reading and studying of his Word, and we may isolate ourselves from the Koinonia fellowship of fellow believers.

Think back to times in your own life when you have experienced a lack of faith (I have had plenty).

Perhaps it was during a season of doubt, disappointment, or personal struggle.

In those moments, you may recall that seeking God was not a priority in your life and this was all connected to your faith.

Because of this connection, the enemy knows if he can weaken our faith, it will steadily, subtly, suddenly cascade through every part of your walk with God.

That is why he is so passively and aggressively persistent in attacking our faith.

Your Faith Is Like Your Heart

Matthew 6:19-23 The Message

A Life of God-Worship

19-21 “Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.

22-23 “Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a musty cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!

Just as your heart pumps life-giving oxygen rich blood throughout the body, faith fuels your relationship with God.

It enables you to experience his presence, guidance, and power.

Faith is necessary when you begin your walk with God, and it is crucial for you to grow in your walk with God.

You are saved by faith, justified by faith, and empowered to live according to his will by faith.

If you damage or neglect your faith, your walk with God withers, just as your body would die without a functioning heart and a set of healthy lungs.

How Does Satan Attack Your Faith?

Genesis 3:1-8 The Message

3 The serpent was clever, more clever than any wild animal God had made. He spoke to the Woman: “Do I understand that God told you not to eat from any tree in the garden?”

2-3 The Woman said to the serpent, “Not at all. We can eat from the trees in the garden. It’s only about the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘Don’t eat from it; don’t even touch it or you’ll die.’”

4-5 The serpent told the Woman, “You won’t die. God knows that the moment you eat from that tree, you’ll see what’s really going on. You’ll be just like God, knowing everything, ranging all the way from good to evil.”

6 When the Woman saw that the tree looked like good eating and realized what she would get out of it—she’d know everything!—she took and ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate.

7 Immediately the two of them did “see what’s really going on”—saw themselves naked! They sewed fig leaves together as makeshift clothes for themselves.

8 When they heard the sound of God strolling in the garden in the evening breeze, the Man and his Wife hid in the trees of the garden, hid from God.

One of the principal ways Satan attacks your faith is by using life’s realities against you.

Sometimes he will even try to use God’s own word against you.

Remember the question he asked Eve, “Did God really say?” 

In John 16:33, Jesus said in this world, you will have trouble.

I have written on this verse before, calling it the most overlooked promise in Scripture.

However, even though this is a reality of life, when trouble comes, we often end up disappointed or sometimes even feeling deserted by God.

In these vulnerable moments, Satan will use this against you by stirring up a whole range of our emotions, which affect our faith.

He might whisper or shout things like –

If God really loved you, this would have never happened.

You fasted and prayed and God didn’t answer your prayer. That’s because he really doesn’t care.

I thought God said call upon me and I will answer. How’s that going for you?

These types of whispers and darts the enemy throws at you are all designed to attack and weaken your faith.

When you are discouraged, disillusioned, or disappointed, the result is your faith can suffer, your belief in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit can suffer too.

When seeds of doubt or discouragement don’t work, Satan may turn to worldly distractions.

He may tempt you to look at other things and take your eyes off Jesus.

He aims to strip away your confidence in God’s promises and provision.

This can render you ineffective in your pursuit of God and his plans for your life.

Regardless of the method, it all goes back to the one thing he wants to take from you, which is your faith.

How to Guard against These Attacks?

Ephesians 6:10-18 The Message

A Fight to the Finish

10-12 And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no weekend war that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.

13-18 Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.

To counter these attacks, you must guard and nurture your faith.

One reason is because you overcome the enemies’ attacks on your faith by using the same thing he is after, your faith.

The Bible reminds us in Ephesians 6:10-18 that we extinguish the darts of the enemy with the shield of faith.

When the enemy comes to attack your faith, you use that same faith to fight back and defeat his plan.

However, to do this effectively, you must cultivate a vibrant faith.

This requires intentional effort and a steadfast commitment to seeking God and His truth.

You must immerse yourself in his Word and commune with him in prayer.

It also helps to surround yourself with fellow believers who can encourage you and aid you in building your faith. 

One thing to note is faith is not an all-or-nothing proposition.

It is a journey — a process of growth and development.

You will experience seasons of struggle, but that does not mean your faith is irreparably damaged.

God is gracious and compassionate, ready to restore and revive your faith as you surrender yourself to Him.

When you face moments of doubt or spiritual dryness – and they will come – then you must not succumb to the enemy’s ploys.

Hebrews 6:13-20 The Message

God Gave His Word

13-18 When God made his promise to Abraham, he backed it all the way, putting his own reputation on the line. He said, “I promise that I’ll bless you with everything I have—bless and bless and bless!” Abraham stuck it out and got everything that had been promised to him. When people make promises, they guarantee them by appeal to some authority above them so that if there is any question that they’ll make good on the promise, the authority will back them up. When God wanted to guarantee his promises, he gave his word, a rock-solid guarantee—God can’t break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable.

18-20 We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It’s an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post as high priest for us, in the order of Melchizedek.

Instead, we can choose to anchor ourselves in the steadfast and immovable and always and forever truths of God’s Word and rely on his unyielding faithfulness.

As we walk closer to Him, we fortify our faith and we prevent the enemy from robbing our spiritual vitality.

This does not mean life won’t hurt, but through it all your faith will stay strong.

Final Thoughts

Hebrews 11:1-6 The Message

Faith in What We Don’t See

11 1-2 The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.

3 By faith, we see the world called into existence by God’s word, what we see created by what we don’t see.

4 By an act of faith, Abel brought a better sacrifice to God than Cain. It was what he believed, not what he brought, that made the difference. That’s what God noticed and approved as righteous. After all these centuries, that belief continues to catch our notice.

5-6 By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. “They looked all over and couldn’t find him because God had taken him.” We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken “he pleased God.” It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.

Faith is an indispensable component of your walk with God.

Just as your physical heart and lungs sustains life in your body, faith sustains and nourishes your spiritual life.

Satan recognizes the power of faith and seeks to strip it away from you, hindering your connection with God.

But you have the choice to protect and cultivate your faith.

Let us commit to nurturing our faith through prayer, the study of God’s Word, and fellowship with other believers.

By doing so, we can guard against the enemy’s schemes.

This will also position us to experience the fullness of a vibrant, faith-filled relationship with your loving Heavenly Father.

I pray today, come what may, you would go forth anyway and walk by faith.

In the name of God, the Father, and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Lord, God of the Patriarchs and the Prophets, help me to be more like Job. You put a wall of protection around him, his family, and his property, and You were also the source of his prosperity. I pray for that same hedge of protection for my family and my property. By Christ, Help me to use my life, resources, talents, and position to lead others closer to You and bring You glory. Use me — like you did Job — as a source of great encouragement to those in my sphere of influence. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Best Fatherly Practices, Learning From His Examples: “Our Father, Who Art in Heaven, Will You Reveal Who You Are?” Matthew 6:7-13

What comes to mind when you hear the term Father’s Day? Maybe you think about stereotypical gifts like neckties or #1 Dad t-shirts. Perhaps you have memories of the sights and smells of grilling together. Or maybe—like many people—the holiday provides an opportunity for you to celebrate your Father in heaven.

On this Father’s Day—and every day—I pray that your spirit would be refreshed, refocused, and renewed as you “see what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1).

Matthew 6:7-13 The Message

7-13 “The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:

Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what’s best—
    as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You’re in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You’re ablaze in beauty!
    Yes. Yes. Yes.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes, Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

A Father’s Day Message to You … Set The Example.

Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what’s best—
    as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You’re in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You’re ablaze in beauty!
    Yes. Yes. Yes.

Many of us approach Father’s Day with mixed emotions.

Some people have hands-on fathers who are available and deeply interested in their children’s lives; while others will have a somewhat distant, disinterested father; while still some others still were abandoned by their fathers altogether.

And like me, some have fathers who have died.

But one thing we all have in common, no matter what kind of dad or step dad we are or currently have or have had, is that we have an authentic Father in heaven.

And regardless of how your father, my father on earth has treated us, we have a Father in heaven who has always been there, always will, 100%, be there for us.

The Bible says that God is a “father of the fatherless” (Psalm 68:5 NKJV).

And David wrote,

“When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me” (Psalm 27:10).

We have an authentic heavenly Father, and the way in which we authentically communicate with him is through prayer.

The greatest prayer that was ever prayed is often called the Lord’s Prayer, where Jesus taught us to pray:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” (Matthew 6:9–13)

To address God as “Father” was a revolutionary thought to the Jewish mind.

The Hebrews feared God and attached such sacredness to His name, they would not even utter it.

In the Old Testament, God is referred to as “Father” fewer than seven times.

And when He is, it is either indirectly or rather remotely.

In fact, when Jesus referred to God as his father, he was accused of blasphemy.

One of the reasons Jesus was crucified was because he spoke of this radically special relationship he had with his father – not his earthly one, but heavenly.

Now, because of his death and resurrection, we can have that relationship, too.

After rising from the dead, he said to Mary Magdalene, “I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God” (John 20:17).

As you are now, were growing up, if your father was disengaged, disinterested and passive, you might think of God, talk to God, in exactly that self same way: disconnected, 100% oblivious to what is going on in your life, not really caring.

Then again, if your father was a thoroughly involved, nurturing and affirming dad, you might naturally apply those same qualities to your perception of God.

Whatever our experience was or currently is, we need to view God not the way we view an earthly dad; we need to view God as He is presented in Scripture.

Not only does the Bible tells us to address him as Father, but we are to do so in an intimate way.

The apostle Paul wrote, “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, ‘Abba, Father’” (Romans 8:15 NLT).

The word Abba speaks of intimacy, like calling your father “Daddy” or “Papa.”

The idea is that of an affectionate relationship.

My grandson call me “Papa.”

My sister’s granddaughters, when they were just starting to talk, would lift her hands up and say, “Nema” when they wanted to be picked up or get out of their highchairs. (How can parent or grandparent resist the innocent sound of that?)

If you want an accurate snapshot of God, a proper portrait of the Father, just look at the story Jesus told about the prodigal son (see Luke 15).

The story isn’t all just about the son, however; it is also about the loving father who stayed at home – anticipating, expecting, waiting, praying for that one day.

And who is more qualified to talk about a loving father than His own Son, Jesus?

In this story, Jesus presents him as an engaged, loving, affectionate father who loves his sons.

The father has two sons, the youngest of whom demanded his portion of the estate before the father has died.

The son went off to a distant land and lived like a fool – as a prodigal – blowing his money, consorting with prostitutes, literally ending up in a pig pen, and as he was finally coming to his senses, turned around and began returning home.

Back at home we see a father who stayed home, who longed for his son’s return and then ran to throw his arms around him, kissing him over and over again.

The conclusion of the story from a modern paraphrase goes this way:

The son started his speech: “Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son ever again.

But the father wasn’t listening. He was calling to the servants, “Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We’re going to feast! We’re going to have a wonderful time! My son is here – given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!” And they began to have a wonderful time. (Luke 15:20–24 The Message)

That is your Heavenly Father. Although He is our God, there is an undeniable intimacy, there is relationship, there is closeness, there is 10000% affection.

If you want to know what kind of Father we have in heaven, just look at Jesus.

Because Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has as also seen the Father” (John 14:9 NKJV).

He also said, “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father …” (John 8:19).st look at Jesus with the little children in his arms, blessing them.

Look closely, with a father’s eyes, and a father’s broken heart, shattered soul at Jesus with tears streaming down all his face at the grave of his friend, Lazarus.

Just look at Jesus, washing his disciples’ feet in the Upper Room.

That is what our Father in heaven is like – if we will still let him set the example.

Best Practices, Learning From Our Fathers Example

Philippians 4:8-9 The Message

8-9 Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

Most parents learn the best way to teach their children is by setting an example.

In healthy families, we learn a lot about right and wrong, good and bad, by simply watching our parents, grandparents or older “grandparent” siblings.

Ephesians 6:1-4 The Message

6 1-3 Children, do what your parents tell you. This is only right. “Honor your father and mother” is the first commandment that has a promise attached to it, namely, “so you will live well and have a long life.”

4 Fathers, don’t frustrate your children with no-win scenarios. Take them by the hand and lead them in the way of the Master.

Do you, Do I, do we, have a strong relationship with our (step) children?

The way we first think about God has much to do with how we were parented—especially by our father.

What image of the Lord are you portraying?

Many men will suffer alone, struggle in their role as dads because their own fathers were either absent—physically or emotionally— or poor examples.

But regardless of what a person experienced in the past, the #1 best thing any parent can do is first look to the Scriptures to imitate God the heavenly Father.

But how do we know who He really is?

We get our best glimpse of what the heavenly Father is like by looking at His Son.

Do we learn, do we see and witness and testify unto the Father’s Authority?

Speaking with the disciples, Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me . . . He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:6, 9).

Not only is Christ our path to relationship with God; He is also the way we come to know the Father’s true character.

When we look at Jesus’ life, what do we see?

He was revealed to be merciful, patient, gentle, compassionate, merciful, forgiving, kind, and full of goodness toward all people (Matthew 9:10-13).

He was revealed to be a hard worker and a family provider – Matthew 13:1-9

The Savior healed the sick, provided for needs, and offered forgiveness—regardless of the offense (Matthew 14:14-21; Luke 23:34).

But in love, He didn’t hesitate to discipline or correct others when required.

Hebrews 12:4-11 The Message

4-11 In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through—all that bloodshed! So don’t feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children?

My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline,
    but don’t be crushed by it either.
It’s the child he loves that he disciplines;
    the child he embraces, he also corrects.

God is educating you; that’s why you must never drop out. He’s treating you as dear children. This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God’s training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God’s holy best. At the time, discipline isn’t much fun. It always feels like it’s going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off big-time, for it’s the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.

More than a solid education or material possessions, your child’s greatest need is a role model of devotion to God, a steady revealing of their Heavenly Father through prayer, Bible reading, Bible Teaching and by steadfast and holy living.

Matthew 16:17-18 The Message

17-18 Jesus came back, “God bless you, Simon, son of Jonah! You didn’t get that answer out of books or from teachers. My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am. And now I’m going to tell you who you are, really are. You are Peter, a rock. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out.

If you make knowing and following the heavenly Father your first priority, you won’t have to worry about what kind of parent you will be – the child will see it.

It’s our privilege, responsibility as as parents, grandparents, fellow believers to be Godly, to teach Godly, and and live and model, set Godly examples to others.

Paul’s own life must have shown joy and gentleness for him to use himself as an example to follow.

It’s not a matter of just learning what the Bible teaches about such attitudes.

What counts is putting them into practice.

Like Paul, we’ve got to live in such a way that we can say,

“Learn what I teach—by example!”

A disciplined sense of what’s right and disciplined conviction of what’s wrong is a wonderful and necessary “GOD WHO IS OUR FATHER” thing to live into, to teach our children, to our grandchildren the way they should and should not go.

Proverbs 22:6 The Message

6 Point your kids [grandkids – my emphasis] in the right direction—
    when they’re old they won’t be lost.

What kind of “HEAVENLY FATHER” example are we exactly right now?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name, we come before you today humbled and in awe of Your grace and mercy. Lord, we thank You for the way You have designed what a family is supposed to look like and the specific roles You have ordained to a mother and a father of how to lead their children. Yet Lord, through our sinful ways we have taken what You have made holy and created our own version of today’s families. Because of this, our children are suffering. It is for the fathers, families, and children of our nation that we do pray today. 

Lord, we pray specifically for fathers and fatherhood across our land. Your Word clearly instructs fathers to bring up their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4). God, we thank You for the men who are leading according to Your statutes and the ones that are laying their lives down for Your purposes. We pray that You will continue to use these men to lead their families and other men. We pray You will strengthen the fathers of our nation and that You will continue to empower churches, organizations, and individuals to invest in fathers and fatherhood for the sake of our children.  

We pray for the single fathers out there; whether they are raising their children alone or even if they are doing the best they can with the time and gifts they have. We pray for strength, protection, wisdom, and discernment to help them through whatever trials they may be facing. Thank You Lord for these men and please guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, help meet all of their needs, that they may experience Your maximum peace that surpasses all of their comprehension. 

We pray for the dads out there who are being alienated from their children right now. We pray, oh Lord, that You would shield and shelter them from the pain and possibly the anger that may be rising up in them, for You to strike down the barriers that are hindering these dads from seeing their children. God, do not let this destroy them as men, fathers, or in their relationship with You. They need You in a mighty way and we pray You would show Yourself strong on behalf of anyone that is being alienated from their children and that You would reunite these families together. 

Lord, we lift up the dads right now that are not stepping up to the plate as fathers, for whatever reason. Once again, we have allowed the evil one to get into our lives and wreak havoc on what You have said is good. We pray for these men to come to their knees and repent, that they would turn from their ways, seek You, and come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Father, we pray for their children and the moms who are parenting alone because of these men’s decisions. We pray You would step in as a father to the fatherless and a defender of widows in these situations, that their story would be another testimony that nothing is too hard for You. 

Finally, Father we lift up the men and women that are on the front lines in the battle for fatherhood and the war against fatherlessness. God, You clearly put leaders of all skills, gifts, calibers in positions of influence: from the highest ranks to the least of these. However we know with men these initiatives would fall short, but with You all things are possible. We pray for everything from the right funding for the programs to continue, to godly leadership from beginning to end. We pray for a revival of manhood, for fathers to lead their families by beginning each day on their knees. God Your Word says You will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers (Malachi 4:6). As our Creator, Savior, and heavenly Father, we believe this will bear eternal fruit- that generational curses will become generational blessings, restoring our families back to the way that You intended. 

We come into agreement as we read and speak this prayer out loud that this is a nation that is desperate not only for our earthly fathers to rise up to the challenge, but more importantly, that they need to follow You, Father, as their ultimate guide and example. It is in the wonderful, precious, matchless name of Jesus Christ we pray.

 

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes, Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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