Blog: “Discovering His Living Hope”

Did The Holy Spirit Empower Only 12 Disciples On The Day Of Pentecost? Acts 2:1-13

Healthy relationships are all about people savoring time together.

Sometimes it may happen with the need to take care of a family matter. Sometimes it may happen when we’re not quite sure what to do next and find comfort in simply being together.

That’s probably what was happening with the apostles when God’s Spirit lit them up and enabled them to “come out of their normal character” and do the unexpected.

Acts 2:1-13 English Standard Version

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

2 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested[a] on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7  And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

What Happened at Pentecost, and Why Does It Matter Today?

At His first coming, our Lord Jesus Christ inaugurated His kingdom on earth.

The disciples expected a triumphant warrior king, but instead, Jesus likened His kingdom unto a mustard seed that expands progressively and grows organically (Matthew 13:31–32).

The church now occupies the time when the kingdom comes progressively as the word of the Gospel goes out to the ends of the earth.

Christ has ascended and sent His Spirit, and so we live between two fixed points: Pentecost and the Parousia (Christ’s second coming).

During this time in between, we are to advance the Gospel until Jesus returns.

Only then, at His final advent, will Christ’s kingdom come universally.

If we want to understand our place in redemptive history, then we ought to understand something of that first point of our period in salvation history:

Pentecost. Only when we begin to grasp the events of that momentous day recorded in Acts 2 will we comprehend our church mission between the times.

Questioning the Restoring of the Kingdom

To understand Pentecost, we have to consider the conversation that sets up the story.

Just before the Lord Jesus ascended, the apostles asked Him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6).

Jesus responded, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority” (verse 7).

Even after the resurrection, the apostles expected a triumphant kingdom to break in.

But the book of Acts goes on to describe the progressive expansion of the kingdom not by force but by the preaching of the Gospel.

In Acts 1:8, Jesus provides the framework for the entire book:

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (emphasis added).

After this, the apostles were left “gazing into heaven” upon witnessing Christ ascend (v. 10).

They were also left waiting for the Holy Spirit, as the Lord instructed them (verse 4).

What Happened at Pentecost?

Pentekoste—Greek for “fiftieth”—was the second of three great annual festivals that brought Jews from all over the world to Jerusalem.

Fifty days after the Passover, many would make their pilgrimage to celebrate Pentecost, which was a time of thanksgiving and praise to God for the first wheat harvest of the season.

Acts 2:1–4 describes what happened on that day when God poured out His Spirit on the apostles:

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

We can describe what took place at Pentecost using four adjectives.

1. Unmistakable

Pentecost was unmistakable because of its three distinct phenomena, which served to make it perfectly clear that Jesus had indeed come to His people by His Spirit.

First, there was an unmistakable “sound like a mighty rushing wind” that “filled the entire house” where the believers had gathered.

Second, there were what seemed to be “tongues … of fire” dividing and resting upon them individually.

And third, being “filled with the Holy Spirit,” the believers “began to speak in other tongues”—that is, languages other than their own—“as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

Each of these signs by itself would have been miraculous.

Taken together, they leave us without any room for questioning that God did a mighty work by His Spirit.

2. Unconditional

Pentecost was also unconditional.

There was no requirement, no description of process, no indication of pattern.

Rather, God acted irrespective of any man-made conditions.

This has to be pointed out because from time to time, people will say,

“Well, you see, if we are really going to be Holy Spirit people, then we would have to go back through the same process, the same pattern, and fulfill the same conditions as the early church.”

But that was simply not the case with Pentecost.

If there was any condition, it was the condition we the Children of God had to wait patiently—which could hardly be described as any real condition at all.

3. Unavoidable

Pentecost was also unavoidable in the sense that what happened in the house where they were gathered spilled out into the community.

The rushing wind, the tongues of fire, and the new languages being spoken caused such a commotion the “devout men from every nation under heaven” could not avoid the hubbub (Acts 2:5) and began hearing “the mighty works of God” in their own languages (verse 11).

Upon hearing, some “were amazed and perplexed” (verse 12), while others mocked (verse 13).

Nevertheless, none could avoid the events of Pentecost.

4. Unrepeatable

Lastly, we need to view the miraculous events of Pentecost in terms of the whole story of Jesus—His incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension.

When we do, we see that Pentecost is unrepeatable.

Neither the death of Jesus nor His ascension is a repeatable event.

The same is true for Pentecost.

This is not to say that the experience of God the Spirit in the life of the church was somehow locked two thousand years ago.

But at Pentecost, when the river was opened and the pouring out took place in this unmistakable, unconditional, unavoidable fashion, it was also done in an unrepeatable way.

There is no need for a second Pentecost.

The Good News of Pentecost

All that unfolded at this particular Pentecost surely was equal parts spectacular and confusing.

The apostle Peter heard the questions and cries from the crowd and quickly went on to explain the events that had just happened:

“This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.” (Acts 2:32–33)

Just as Jesus had abstained from earthly ministry until His baptism, when the Holy Spirit came upon Him, so He had made clear to His followers, You need divine enablement for understanding and proclamation. 

He had anticipated, promised the Spirit in His own ministry (Luke 24:49; John 14:26).

When Peter quoted from Joel 2:32 (Acts 2:16–21), he showed that Pentecost was in God’s plan all along and highlighted the very best news of his day and ours:

“It shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Amid the chaos and upheavals of life, we can yet find gladness in God’s presence when we call upon the name of Jesus Christ.

Acts 2:37–39 then shows us what it looks like to “call upon the name of the Lord” in more detail.

The Jews who were “cut to the heart” asked Peter and the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter responded, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (emphasis added).

To repent is more than simply being sorry for your wrongdoings.

It means changing your mind about sin itself.

It means viewing sin the way God does: as having overstepped His boundaries and missed the mark.

It means acknowledging the wrong direction you’ve been going.

It involves a change of heart, a change of mind, and a change of direction.

Baptism, meanwhile, is the unashamed public announcement that you’re fully committed to a new life in Christ.

When we call upon the name of Jesus, God offers us a whole new start, a whole new beginning.

God can and in truth, does, give us when we confess our belief and faith in Christ that fresh start because He grants the Holy Spirit to come and live in us.

Notice, though, that this new beginning is for “those who received his word” (verse 41, emphasis added), not for those who merely heard it.

You see, the Bible does not teach we are automatically forgiven just because Jesus died on the cross.

You and I must individually receive Christ and make Him your own.

Babel Reversed

With the coming of the Spirit and the forgiveness of sins being proclaimed in at least fifteen languages (Acts 2:9–11), Pentecost was essentially a reversal of what had happened at Babel, when human languages were confused and the nations were scattered (Genesis 11:1–9).

On that unforgettable day in Jerusalem, the language barrier was supernaturally overcome as a sign that the nations would be gathered together in Christ.

Instead of assimilating all of God’s people under a common tongue, Pentecost makes clear that every language is an appropriate vehicle for the praise and the proclamation of Jesus.

The heart language of men and women and children, in their own native land, of their birth, will be able to receive this fantastic news, just as at Pentecost.

We don’t want people to have to learn English as a second language solely in order to discover and experience “the mighty works of God” (Acts 2:11).

We want even the most remote, unreached people groups to rejoice in God the Father, God the Son and Holy Spirit with us all in their own unique languages.

Ultimately, this is why Pentecost happened, why God has left us His Spirit: so that we can continue the great work of proclaiming the good news of the Gospel to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

One day, we will see with the apostle John “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages.” And these people of every tongue will be singing the same song together: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:9–10).

Actions Always Speak Louder Than Words

There is an old saying that “Actions Will Always Speak Louder Than Words.”

We read about the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, where we find Jesus’ disciples and 120 other of his followers, including his mother, Mary, along with some of his brothers, all huddled in an upstairs room in Jerusalem.

They are hiding out for fear of local religious authorities, but they are also waiting for something Jesus, their beloved teacher and leader, has promised them, “some days hence” – being the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Suddenly, a sound like a violent wind fills the room where the disciples are hunkered down and tongues of fire seem strangely to hover over their heads.

Even stranger, those gathered in the room miraculously begin to speak in the languages of the wide variety of pilgrims gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Weeks.

The Spirit of God gave Jesus’ apostles the ability to speak in many languages on that day of Pentecost written about in Acts 2, and the same Spirit enables us to speak and to act in winsome ways today.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God’s kingdom is advancing, and God has called has equipped each and every single one of us who believe, who have faith to be his witnesses in whatever circumstances we may find ourselves.

Because in one single moment on any given day anointed, designated by God, we have to walk outside of our Upper Rooms, meet the ministry calling of God.

There are people outside that door that God has deliberately placed in our path.

Pilgrims on their own spiritual journey and we cannot tell them to “get lost” or “get out of our way because they bother us.”

And we cannot form a cordon of body guards or Roman Centurions to move out in front of us and unceremoniously move them at spear point out of our way.

God desires them to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ too.

They are going to want to know what is going on and God wants them to know what is going on and we need to be mightily responsive to this the Will of God.

In that crowd outside the Upper Room, Some of these pilgrims, seeing this strange sight, ask, “Are these fishermen drunk this early in the morning?”

There is an old saying that “Actions Will Always Speak Louder Than Words.”

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, filled with more courage, more boldness than at any other time in his life separates himself from his normal character.

Because sometimes God no longer has any good use for “normal characters.”

Because we will one day come to realize that reality about ourselves too.

We no longer have any good use for our “normal characters” either.

And in a move which is completely, and radically shocking to our “normal characters, we realize the will of our God and our Savior is superior to ours.

And we suddenly find we are placing our whole selves on God’s path for us all.

Then the Apostle Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, rejects the explanation of drunkenness for this miraculous event, seizes the moment and preaches one of the most powerful and most important sermons in the entire New Testament.

Peter points us to the prophet Joel’s words in the Old Testament (Joel 2:28-32) promising an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all of God’s people, which fulfills a promise that Jesus had made in the Upper Room.

Then a very sober Peter suddenly opened his mouth, gave the people the Word:

This Jesus, whom you crucified, Peter informs the crowd, is the Messiah, the Christ, God’s promised Savior who conquered sin and death.

When the crowd hears Peter’s piercing words, many are “cut to the heart,” and come rushing forward to ask, “What should we do?”

There is an old saying that “Actions Will Always Speak Louder Than Words.”

Peter calls on them to repent and believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

The Holy Spirit moves among the thousands gathered and starts convicting.

Many hearts are touched, many souls are moved, many lives are shaken up.

Many in the gathered crowd do, and three thousand are baptized on Pentecost.

What Then Becomes The Significance of Pentecost?

In short, Pentecost, though originally a Hebrew religious festival, becomes the high watershed moment in God’s plan of salvation.

God, The Creator and Shaker of the Universe chose the exact moment to send forth the Holy Spirit which was during the Jewish national holiday, known as Pentecost, the Feast of Harvest, which was 50 days after the crucifixion of Jesus.

It was the celebration of the wheat harvest, and was intended to remind the people of their 400 years of bondage spent in Egypt and it marked the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai.

They were there to bring their first fruit offerings to God to celebrate with great rejoicing in music, dance because they had been delivered from their bondage.

Everyone was invited to this feast, including Levites, servants, sons and daughters, the fatherless, the widow, even strangers (Deuteronomy 16:9-12).

The Day of Pentecost was so incredible, so utterly miraculous that it affected the entire human race and their relationship to God and their Savior Christ.

The Holy Spirit of God was sent forth, given as a gift from the Father as the confirmation that the New Covenant of grace – paid for by the shed blood of Jesus, and now written on the heart of every Christian – is more effectual than the Law given at Mount Sinai that was written on stone (2 Corinthians 3:3-18).

It also confirms that those who place their trust in Jesus find true deliverance and healing from the penalty of sin.

There was and is no better reason or rationale to celebrate with great rejoicing in music and dance on that day – that very first birthday of the Body of Christ!

Why Did the First Believers Receive the Holy Spirit Via Tongues of Fire?

When the feast of Pentecost arrived, “tongues of fire” descended upon each disciple (Acts 2:3). 

“Fires will always attract people.”

Acts 2, the disciples were waiting in Jerusalem for the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus had given the Great Commission but then told them to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit they would need to be his witnesses (Luke 24:19).

So they waited.

When the feast of Pentecost arrived, the Spirit descended, and “tongues of fire” were upon each disciple (Acts 2:3).

The disciples went out into the city and began speaking in other languages, declaring the mighty works of God.

Inevitably, subtly, not so subtly, great gatherings of people took notice.

Thousands had their curiosity “tickled” had elbows stuck into their ribcage heard the message from Peter that day, believed and received the Holy Spirit.

Fires attract people.

People will come from miles in every direction just to see what is burning.

Pentecost Day was no different.

God was counting on that human nature, that inane curiosity being peaked.

This is commonly known as the birth of the church, the beginning of the gathering of disciples and the ministry Jesus had set out for them, further detailed in the rest of Acts through Peter and Paul.

The Gospel of the Kingdom was preached.

Fire also inevitably spreads in whatever direction it wants to go.

And as the Winds of God blow where they may, Holy Spirit fire spreads out.

As the Winds of God are unstoppable, so are the Fires of the Holy Spirit!

For all who would come to God, confess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, the following are three hugely significant and timeless truths of Pentecost.

  • Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit reminds and assures us that Jesus keeps his promises. Now, when old and young, women and men, and people from every other race and ethnicity, as well as every walk of life, claim Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they receive new life through the Holy Spirit. Moreover, the Holy Spirit unites us to Jesus and assures us deep in our hearts that we belong to God and that nothing will ever separate us from his love.
  • Pentecost also marks the birthday of the church. In the Old Testament, God’s people consisted only of Israel. Pentecost heals the divisions and animosity of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9), where because of pride and arrogance, people were divided by language and race. At Pentecost, through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, people from every tongue, race, and nation are brought together in Jesus Christ. God has reconciled us individually to himself through his son Jesus, and through him we have been made one body in the church.
  • Finally, Pentecost reminds us of the church’s primary purpose: to share the love of Jesus to the ends of the earth. Throughout the remaining chapters of Acts, we see the Apostles and all of Jesus’ followers continue his mission to proclaim God’s love. Significantly, Acts’ open-ended conclusion clearly indicates the church’s mission to proclaim the gospel is to continue until Jesus comes again. When the church shares the love of Jesus in word and deed, it carries out God’s purpose and plan to redeem and restore our fallen world.

Today we celebrate God, His Son Jesus and the gift of the fires of the Holy Spirit.

But our cele­bration of Pentecost is not so much meant to be talked about as it is to be lived—in word and deed – which need to speak far louder than the worlds.

By the incomparable power of the Spirit working through us, our words and fruit-filled actions are the building tools God uses to build up His kingdom.

Somewhere, somehow, we need to model the boldness and courage of Peter.

We need to realize that God has no more use for our “normal characters” as God had no more use for Peter’s “normal character.”

God simply does not need, nor does God require anyone’s “normal characters.”

Our “normal characters” accomplish exactly nothing for the Kingdom of God.

One day, our “normal characters” will have that full on encounter with their Creator God, the Way, Life and Truth of Jesus and the fires of the Holy Spirit.

Then when that happens,

I want to be there to witness what happens to that so called “normal character.”

I pray too that many others will gather at that bonfire to witness God at work.

I pray many others will also come to their time of repentance, belief in God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit in a time of Holy celebration.

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

Let us Pray,

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in us the fire of Your love.  Send forth Your Spirit and we shall be created.  And You shall renew the face of the earth. O, God, Who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we, the church may be truly wise and ever enjoy Your consolations. ​Through Christ who is our Lord, our Savior and our Eternal King.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

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Staying Faithful Unto the Gospel in a World Which Has Long Lost Its Way. Isaiah 5:18-24

“The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.”
― George Orwell

Isaiah 5:18-24 The Message

18-19 Doom to you who use lies to sell evil,
    who haul sin to market by the truckload,
Who say, “What’s God waiting for?
    Let him get a move on so we can see it.
Whatever The Holy of Israel has cooked up,
    we’d like to check it out.”

20 Doom to you who call evil good
    and good evil,
Who put darkness in place of light
    and light in place of darkness,
Who substitute bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter!

21-23 Doom to you who think you’re so smart,
    who hold such a high opinion of yourselves!
All you’re good at is drinking—champion boozers
    who collect trophies from drinking bouts
And then line your pockets with bribes from the guilty
    while you violate the rights of the innocent.

24 But they won’t get by with it. As fire eats stubble
    and dry grass goes up in smoke,
Their souls will atrophy,
    their achievements crumble into dust,
Because they said no to the revelation
    of God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
Would have nothing to do
    with The Holy of Israel.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

The Wizard of Oz has remained popular for years.

It has always been one of my “go to” favorite movies.

Just “follow the yellow brick road and be good, you will always get home.”

People of all ages have also learned much valued moral lessons from each of the characters Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion as they traveled down the long and winding concourse of the fabled ‘yellow brick road.’

Of course, weaved right into the plot line the great enemy to be overcome is the Wicked Witch of the West and her dark kingdom with everything to be feared.

Evil is clearly depicted as being highly dangerous and then is overcome by good.

A recent Broadway musical, however, turns the high moral sense of the original story upside down on its head.

In this rewriting of the story, the wicked witch is presented as a sympathetic character.

Born with green skin, she feels like an outsider.

Major characters, plot lines, roles, and other details are altered so that the wicked witch is really just a misunderstood person, evil is misunderstood.

The audience might come away with the idea the evil is good and good is evil.

From today’s biblical text, during the ministry of the prophet Isaiah, a reversal of moral values took place in Israel. 

Some actually lifted up the evils of stealing, murder, idolatry, adultery as good. 

In response Isaiah gave a stern warning:

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil!” (Isaiah 5:20). 

In our relativistic world, studying, memorizing, and meditating on God’s Word can ensure our discernment between good and evil. 

If we know the truth, the truth will free us, we can discern what’s false.

Isaiah 5:20 Amplified Bible

20 
Woe (judgment is coming) to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;
Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

One of the tell-tale signs of being at the very end of the Church age is people gradually moving away from the ethical things of God and embracing wildly distorted ideas regarding morality, what are the very basics of right vs. wrong.

Biblically, such a society can no longer successfully function, navigate through the vast diversities of challenges brought out by technological advancements, economic cycles, social cultural and political upheavals and vast global crises.

We are all seeing the truth of this Word from Isaiah unfold before our eyes in what has become a clash between a secular worldview and a Biblical worldview.

Today’s secular worldview is developed through highly divisive, “hot button” cultural preferences and social norms that are promoted through progressive educational institutions, social media of all sorts, and even so called “science.”

And since these factors shift from generation to generation, and one political, politically correct or else!” body their “expression of truth” is always changing.

Jeremiah 23:28-29 Amplified Bible

28 The prophet who has a dream may tell his dream; but he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat [for nourishment]?” says the Lord. 29 “Is not My word like fire [that consumes all that cannot endure the test]?” says the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks the [most stubborn] rock [in pieces]?

Hebrews 4:12-13 Amplified Bible

12 For the word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than any two-edged [a]sword, penetrating as far as the division of the [b]soul and spirit [the completeness of a person], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And not a creature exists that is ever concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, and revealed to the eyes of Him with whom we have to give account.

This is the exact opposite of a Biblical worldview which is based on the never changing, immutable, divinely-breathed, divinely-inspired Word of God!

Like its author, the Way and the Truth and the Life of the ever living Word of God never changes, but is and remains the same yesterday, today and forever!

This raging, even openly violent conflict between two worldviews, secular vs. biblical, has never been more evident than it has been recently.

Secular society now grapples with a host of aggressively divisive issues.

However, people who are raised and educated to make moral decisions based on these temporary feelings and peer pressures are easily deceived and led astray.

As a result, we, the Body of Christ, God’s Church in the World, have entered into a time when Christianity is regarded by many as inferior and narrow-minded.

In truth, criticism of Christianity has often been justified.

John 8:1-11 Amplified Bible

The Adulterous Woman

8 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning He came back into the temple [court], and all the people were coming to Him. He sat down and began teaching them. 3 Now the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery. They made her stand in the center of the court, 4 and they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the very act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women [to death]. So what do You say [to do with her—what is Your sentence]?” 6 They said this to test Him, hoping that they would have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and began writing on the ground with His finger.  7  However, when they persisted in questioning Him, He straightened up and said, “He who is without [any] sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Then He stooped down again and started writing on the ground. 9 They listened [to His reply], and they began to go out one by one, starting with the oldest ones, until He was left alone, with the woman [standing there before Him] in the center of the court. 10 Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” 11 She answered, “No one, Lord!” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you either. Go. From now on sin no more.”]

Representatives of Christ can and do use the Word of God as a battering weapon to attack and shame people, keeping them bound in shame and condemnation, rather than, like Jesus, subtly using it to transform, help set them free from sin.

We must always keep ourselves steadfast and vigilant, to guard our hearts so to prevent becoming haters, shamer’s of those vulnerable people whom God loves.

Even if they hold a distorted secular worldview, let’s remember the following admonition from Paul:

2 Corinthians 4:1-2 Amplified Bible

Paul’s Apostolic Ministry

4 Therefore, since we have this ministry, just as we received mercy [from God, granting us salvation, opportunities, and blessings], we do not get discouraged nor lose our motivation. 2 But we have renounced the disgraceful things hidden because of shame; not walking in trickery or adulterating the word of God, but by stating the truth [openly and plainly], we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.

Nonbelieving people judge how they feel about the Scripture and the Savior based on the way in which we, the saints of God, behave.

Therefore even in the face of the very harshest criticism, we have a far higher accountability, responsibility, as God’s separated and anointed handlers of the Word of God and carriers of His Spirit to demonstrate Christ for the betterment and salvation of the lost, not as a hammer to further enslave deceived people.

So handle with care and concern, rather than condemnation or carelessness.

Let God and the Word of God alone do work of conviction and transformation.

Isaiah 55:8-11 Amplified Bible

8 
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
9 
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts higher than your thoughts.
10 
“For as the rain and snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth,
Making it bear and sprout,
And providing seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 
So will My word be which goes out of My mouth;
It will not return to Me void (useless, without result),
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

Time-Tested, True Ways to Stay Faithful

During times of social and cultural upheaval, it’s especially good to remember the foundations of our faith.

God has not left us to fend for ourselves on the shifting sand of moral relativity, but provided time tested, true keys to enable us to overcome every challenge.

These time tested biblical keys are not new, but are things every believer should be reminded and disciplined to practice regularly, in order to mature spiritually and maintain a solid biblical worldview. 

We may be in the world, but we are not of it!

Here are five quick keys to help you stay faithful in a world that has lost its way.

1. Start Your Day in Prayer

Mark 1:35-38 Amplified Bible

35 Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left [the house], and went out to a secluded place, and was praying there. 36 Simon [Peter] and his companions searched [everywhere, looking anxiously] for Him, 37 and they found Him and said, “Everybody is looking for You!” 38 He replied, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so I may preach there also; that is why I came [from the Father].”

Prayer anchors your soul to God even while living in a society that is drifting far from Him.

It opens our hearts to receive His peace, hope and reassurance, and sweeps clean the debris of sin that we’ve picked up in our daily lives.

In short,

prayer helps us to hold onto our faith when everything around us is nuts.

2. Study the Bible Daily

Psalm 119:9-16 Amplified Bible

Beth.

9 
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By keeping watch [on himself] according to Your word [conforming his life to Your precepts].
10 
With all my heart I have sought You, [inquiring of You and longing for You];
Do not let me wander from Your commandments [neither through ignorance nor by willful disobedience].
11 
Your word I have treasured and stored in my heart,
That I may not sin against You.
12 
Blessed and reverently praised are You, O Lord;
Teach me Your statutes.
13 
With my lips I have told of
All the ordinances of Your mouth.
14 
I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,
As much as in all riches.
15 
I will meditate on Your precepts
And [thoughtfully] regard Your ways [the path of life established by Your precepts].
16 
I will delight in Your statutes;
I will not forget Your word.

After we’ve established a disciplined practice of daily prayer, successful rhythm of daily devotions, we need to go further, to do more than simply read the Bible.

We need to study it and make it a part of our thinking and our speech.

We need to check our “political correctness at the door” to decide that knowing the truth of the Word of God is more important than knowing the daily news.

We must realize the Word of God is where we find our guide to right and wrong (not political correctness), our guide to life, purpose (not New Age affirmations), our guide to health, wholeness (not man’s suppositions), to be lights of the Lord.

It is imperative that the Word of God be implanted deeply in us, so it can be our guiding light which leads us all down every path and in every decision we make.

3. Repent of Sin Quickly

James 1:14-17 Amplified Bible

14 But each one is tempted when he is dragged away, enticed and baited [to commit sin] by his own [worldly] desire (lust, passion). 15 Then when the illicit desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin has run its course, it gives birth to death. 16 Do not be misled, my beloved brothers and sisters. 17  Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of lights [the Creator and Sustainer of the heavens], in whom there is no variation [no rising or setting] or shadow [a]cast by His turning [for He is perfect and never changes].

Translation: sin has “babies,” and those babies grow up and take on a destructive life of their own.

Sin is not something to sugar coat or to not play hardcore with.

It will always take you further than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you are willing to pay.

It also desensitizes you to what is right and wrong, and makes you vulnerable to the seducing spirits at work in the world.

Sin is sneaky.

Its goal is to trip you, trap you, and take you out.

If you ignore it or try to hide it, you’ll lose every time.

So be proactive! Confess it to God, receive His forgiveness, and forsake it.

Proverbs 28:13 Amplified Bible

13 
He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
But whoever confesses and [a]turns away from his sins will find compassion and mercy.

Jesus was faithful on the cross to pay the price for our sin 2,000 years ago, and He remains faithful to forgive us of our sin today and we still need forgiveness ourselves, and since we receive it from God, we must also pass it on to others.

4. Get Spiritually Dressed

Ephesians 6:10-12 Amplified Bible

The Armor of God

10 In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [draw your strength from Him and be empowered through your union with Him] and in the power of His [boundless] might. 11 Put on the full armor of God [for His precepts are like the splendid armor of a heavily-armed soldier], so that you may be able to [successfully] stand up against all the schemes and the strategies and the deceits of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places.

Wiles of the devil are simply mind games or delusions.

Sometimes it’s difficult to remember in the moment, but people are not our problem – principalities and seducing spirits are.

Stop hating on people and start praying for them instead.

Suit up in your spiritual armor and take a stand against the real enemy. 

Get covered with the armor of God from head to toe! 

The belt of truth – the truth that comes from the Word of God, not society or politics.

The breastplate of righteousness – knowing we are right with God, not because of our goodness, but because of God’s grace

The gospel of peace – knowing we are at peace with God, and have an eternal home in the heavens not built with the hands of man. Knowing we can walk in a quiet rest that passes all understanding

The shield of faith – an absolute assurance that God’s word is true and will come to pass in our lives

The helmet of salvation – we have soundness of mind because of a secure faith in the principles of the Word of God and so great a salvation bought for us by our Savior

The sword of the Spirit – an unwavering revelation of God’s word that empowers us to respond to every attack of the enemy and causes him to flee

And of course, our battle position is in prayer – always.

It’s not just what we do when we don’t know what to do, it is what we must do at all times, for this is how we fight our battles in a world that has lost its way.

5. Go to Church!

Hebrews 10:23-25 Amplified Bible

23 Let us seize and hold tightly the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is reliable and trustworthy and faithful [to His word]; 24 and let us consider [thoughtfully] how we may encourage one another to love and to do good deeds, 25 not forsaking our meeting together [as believers for worship and instruction], as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more [faithfully] as you see the day [of Christ’s return] approaching.

Sometimes we forget, but we really need to be in God’s house, where we are fed the Word of God in fellowship with others of like faith.

It’s where our errant theology and politics gets challenged and changed to line up with the God’s truth.

It’s where we experience the power and healing of worshipping in God’s presence.

It’s where iron sharpens iron, and we experience the love of the brethren.

Thank God for church online when gathering together is truly impossible.

And at all other times, we must not forsake this valuable key to remaining steadfast, strong and immovable in the faith.

Finally, it’s important to remember that much of the chaos today has been blamed on politics, power plays, social injustice, etc.

But the truth is the world’s gone crazy wild because of sin.

And the devastation caused by sin cannot be controlled by any president, agenda, or master plan.

No matter how hard we try, we just can’t hope to even minimally control sin.

It’s why more than absolutely anything or anyone else, we absolutely need our Lord, Savior, King Christ Jesus, weaving, working in a world that’s lost its way.

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

Let us Pray,

God of all truth, sometimes I not sure if I’m actually hearing your voice, or if it’s just my own thoughts or even another spirit. Sharpen my spiritual hearing, Lord, so I can recognize your words when you are speaking to me. Help me know it’s really you, with no doubt or second-guessing. When I’m asking for your guidance in important decisions, give me your peace that surpasses understanding with your answer. Help me remember, to preach, to teach, that your words to us will never go against your written word in the Bible. Give me a clear mind and push out all my confusion. Amen.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

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Homeless Rags to His Righteousness: Our Prideful Responses to the Gospel. 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Boast in the Richness of Myself or Boast in the Lord?

This opening chapter of 1 Corinthians has just talked about the power of the cross, to save us from our sins by God’s grace and calling us all unto himself.

So when we put all this together, when we try to weave only one tapestry, when we think about salvation through the cross of Christ, by the calling of God and God’s grace, do we have anything to boast about that you have done before God?

Do we believe we have anything to boast about that we have done before God?

The answer is clearly no.

There are two ways to respond wrongly to the good news of the gospel: the self-righteous response that steadfastly refuses to see a need for Christ and the self-deprecating response that stubbornly refuses to see Christ’s ability to forgive.

1 Corinthians 1:26-31 The Message

26-31 Take a good long look, friends, at who you once were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of “the brightest and the best” among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these “nobodies” to expose the hollow shallow pretensions of the “somebodies”? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That’s why we have the saying, “If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God.”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

Boast in the Richness of Myself or Boast in the Lord?

1 Corinthians 1:30-31 Amplified Bible

30 But it is from Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God [revealing His plan of salvation], and righteousness [making us acceptable to God], and sanctification [making us holy and setting us apart for God], and redemption [providing our ransom from the penalty for sin], 31 so then, as it is written [in Scripture], “He who boasts and glories, let him boast and glory in the Lord.”

What a great way to close to this first chapter.

This opening chapter of 1 Corinthians has just talked about the power of the cross, to save us from our sins by God’s grace and calling us all unto himself.

So when we put all this together, when we try to weave only one tapestry, when we think about salvation through the cross of Christ, by the calling of God and God’s grace, do we have anything to boast about that you have done before God?

Do we believe we have anything to boast about that we have done before God?

The answer is clearly no.

There are two ways to respond wrongly to the good news of the gospel: the self-righteous response that steadfastly refuses to see a need for Christ and the self-deprecating response that stubbornly refuses to see Christ’s ability to forgive.

Both responses issue from the common root of pride.

The self-righteous response says,

“I’m actually a pretty good person. I’m not sure I need forgiveness. Maybe it’s good for some other people, but to be genuinely honest I just don’t need it.”

People who step forward to respond this way perhaps sense slight deficiencies within themselves and innocently try to make up for them with good behavior.

Maybe they will even “move themselves to go to church once or twice more to get some more “frequent attender miles” so they’ll get better seats in heaven.

But still, their place in eternity will be, they will think, reasonably secured by themselves—their “good hearts,” their “good intentions,” their goodness, their efforts to stay on the right side of the moral equation of respecting others.

The pride at the heart of this response is obvious: “it is to come to think, come to believe that we are somehow just too good, righteous to need the gospel.”

Christ’s sacrifice is a nice example of “complete” love to us but unnecessary for us as a way to be saved.

The self-deprecating response says, “I’m such a hopeless homeless mess that I don’t think there’s any hope for me. I am too terrible to deserve forgiveness. It must be great to know you’re forgiven, but to be honest I know I could never have that.”

sign handed to me by a formerly homeless man after he just bought a new house.

People who seem to automatically move, respond this way simply cannot bring themselves to believe, contemplate that Jesus could ever love and forgive them.

The pride in this response is much subtler than in the first, but just as real: we will believe we are too dreadful for the gospel, that our actions have taken us too far away for Jesus to reach us. Christ’s sacrifice is a great gesture but only for those who are better off, more visibly successful than us, but it could never be enough for us.

Whenever someone feels too good or too bad for the gospel (and Christians are not the least bit immune from this temptation), it is their unrestrained pride in themselves to know life in self, that is restraining them from coming to Christ.

Their confidence, their boasting, lies in what they have done, for good or for ill.

What pride misses, is that we can be neither good enough nor ever too far gone.

The self-righteous among us need a subtle nudge into their rib-cages, need to hear that even our best days they are 100% filled with more flaws than we know.

The self-deprecating among us need a subtle nudge in their rib cages to hear that even our absolute worst days are never beyond the reach of God’s grace.

Both responses miss the core gospel truth that Christ’s cross simultaneously knocks down our self-worth and mightily lifts you from your worthlessness.

When we are tempted to boast above and beyond about our “self worth,” then, remember that what we all most need—salvation—comes from Christ alone.

And when we are tempted to despair in worthlessness, remember that what we all most need—salvation—was only ever ours because of Savior Christ alone.

No matter what, Jesus Christ is your only source of complete confidence, your only justification to ever boast—and you can never brag about Him too much!

Will I be Boasting in “my life” or Christ’s Death and Resurrection

Ask yourselves, “Why am I a follower of Jesus, a saint sanctified in Christ Jesus?” 

1 Corinthians 1:1-3 Amplified Bible

Appeal to Unity

1 Paul, called as an apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and our brother [a]Sosthenes,

2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified (set apart, made holy) in Christ Jesus, who are selected and called as saints (God’s people), together with all those who in every place call on and honor the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

3 Grace to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I will ask; Why have I seen in the cross salvation instead of folly or a stumbling block, while so many other people in the world see folly and stumbling block?

Why have I seen salvation?

Is it because I’m smarter?

Is it because I’m better?

It’s because I’m richer or this or that?

No, that’s the whole point, like leading up to this.

Paul just says over and over again,

“It’s not because we are the least bit wiser than others. It’s not because we are the least bit richer than others. It’s not because we have all these things. God’s actually chosen the low and despised in the world. It’s because we don’t have these things.”

1 Corinthians 1:30–31 Praises God’s Mercy

Apostle Paul goes so far as to say like,

“The only reason you and I who have trusted in Christ Jesus have found salvation in him or sanctified in him are called saints who we know that we’re going to be held to the end guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, the only reason for all of that is only because, is exactingly, is precisely because of the matchless grace of God.”

It’s the only reason.

It’s exactly because of his mercy so that the only boast we have is him, like none of us stands before God with a boast that says, “Look at what I did,” The boast that says, “Look at what I did.” Look at what I did, know the exact opposite.

The only way we can stand before God is saying, “I’m only here because of what you did, what you have done, what you are doing.”

If we are to use first Corinthians 1, verse 30 language.

“Jesus, You are my only righteousness. You are my only sanctification. You are my only redemption. Jesus, because of your matchless love for me, you are all these things and infinitely more for me so that the only boast I have is in you.”

That’s why Paul says in Galatians 6:14, “We only boast in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” like that’s our first and foremost reason to only boast in God.

How do we have life forever with God?

How will be held guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ?

How are we called saints and sanctified in this world?

How do we have righteousness and redemption?

Only by the cross of Jesus, only by the grace of God.

1 Corinthians 1:30–31 Thanks God for His Grace

So we praise you, oh God, for your grace.

We praise you for your mercy and our lives.

God, even right now in this exact and exacting moment in my own life, I’m just indescribably overwhelmed in a fresh way by your matchless grace toward me.

There is no other explanation why I am, one, a follower of Christ; two, a lay pastor in church; three, love writing devotions every day like this, like leading others in prayer and study to “nudge the rib cages” of my neighbors, exactly like there’s no other way all of this is possible except, exactly by God’s grace.

There’s exactly nothing I can think of which I have ever done to merit even one of the very briefest of moments where I am in my life, it’s totally by your mercy.

The same is true, or at least aught to be true, for all of us who are in Christ.

We are only where we are because of your grace O’ God, and your mercy.

We are your children only because of your grace and your mercy. So we praise you, our Father, for your grace, for your mercy, and we pray use our lives to spread it to others. God, we want more and more people to know your grace.

We want to boast more and more of our Savior Jesus to people, to know your mercy through our lives, right where we live and God, far from where we live.

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

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, Intercessor Holy Spirit, help me to take my eyes off myself and to set the eyes of my heart firmly on the Lord Jesus Christ. Help me to recognize and reject the foolish philosophies of the ‘wise’, and the vain glories that the world may offer. God forbid that I should glory, except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. In Jesus’ name I pray.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

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Sin Tattered Rags to Righteousness: Praying For Our Unsaved Loved Ones. Colossians 3:12-14

Out From Under Sins Rags, Changing Our Spiritual Clothes

As Christians, we can express our heartfelt sincerity in following our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by “dressing the part.”

It damages the cause of Christ when we say we are Christians but do not live or walk or move as if we are – it’s like working a construction job in a prom dress.

We are not going to be, nor can we ever be as effective at our job if we are not wearing the appropriate clothes. 

In our pre-Jesus life, we wear our rags, like a hobo, we carry a bag of rags over our shoulders, being habits and sins that prevent us from growing in Christ.

Apostle Paul urges us to move away from hobo, to change our spiritual clothes.

Colossians 3:12-14 The Message

12-14 So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

Out From Under Sins Rags, Changing Our Spiritual Clothes

As Christians, we can express our heartfelt sincerity in following our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by “dressing the part.”

It damages the cause of Christ when we say we are Christians but do not live or walk or move as if we are – it’s like working a construction job in a prom dress.

We are not going to be, nor can we ever be as effective at our job if we are not wearing the appropriate clothes. 

In our pre-Jesus life, we wear our rags, like a hobo, we carry a bag of rags over our shoulders, being habits and sins that prevent us from growing in Christ.

Apostle Paul urges us to move away from hobo, to change our spiritual clothes.

Some of those old clothes are impurity, lust, greed, attitudes, and speech, which are inconsistent with our new life in Jesus.

Paul teaches these things represent the inappropriate clothing of a former life.

But there’s hope.

The Apostle Paul does not leave us with a short “sticky note” or a pages and pages long list of what not to wear, but he does give us a list of what to wear.

It’s a dress code for the Christian life.

At first, putting these new clothes on won’t feel natural.

Their seams might rub a little, or we might feel overdressed.

But as time passes and we keep choosing them, they begin to feel more comfortable until they become a wardrobe staple. 

We can create a spiritual capsule wardrobe by choosing attitudes that represent the work Jesus does in our hearts.

These clothes won’t ever tear along the seams or wear out in the seat and will always be appropriate for whatever circumstance we face.

Compassion is a Christlike sensitivity and heartfelt sympathy for the welfare of others, others being our saved, unsaved neighbors whatever the circumstance.

Kindness is a friendly attitude that ultimately seeks to meet the needs of others.

Humility recognizes our weaknesses and acknowledges the power of God in us.

Gentleness is a subtle yielding, then surrendering of our will unto God which we unabashedly reveal in our gentle response to others, especially when provoked. 

Patience is our ability to bear up under the upper most unpleasant of situations without giving in to retaliation.

Forbearance is our ability to set our emotions aside, to give ourselves over to the ministry, works of the Holy Spirit, bear with someone else’s weaknesses.

Forgiveness releases our offenders from any obligation.

Love unifies these spiritual clothes, becomes the belt which binds, which invites, which fastens and securely holds everything up in the right place.

Paul writes of other items for our spiritual wardrobe in Galatians, and the Bible references other character qualities, making up our spiritual wardrobe.

For example, we can wear a wardrobe of disciplined prayer, garments of peace, thankfulness, generosity, rejoicing, the message of life and truth being – Jesus.

These fill our hearts, change our lives, and influence our environment.

A new wardrobe for Christ followers is a must to reveal the indescribable length and breadth, and depth and height of our God’s love to our world, to each other.

The Value of Our Praying for Our Unsaved Loved Ones

2 Peter 3:8-13 New King James Version

8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward [a]us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

The Day of the Lord

10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be [b]burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Everything we do, everything we seek to do for the sake of God’s Kingdom will and should always begin with a search of God’s Word and prayer for God’s will.

Praying for the Unsaved, Entering the Harvest Fields

John 10:14-18 The Message

14-18 “I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me. In the same way, the Father knows me and I know the Father. I put the sheep before myself, sacrificing myself if necessary. You need to know that I have other sheep in addition to those in this pen. I need to gather and bring them, too. They’ll also recognize my voice. Then it will be one flock, one Shepherd. This is why the Father loves me: because I freely lay down my life. And so I am free to take it up again. No one takes it from me. I lay it down of my own free will. I have the right to lay it down; I also have the right to take it up again. I received this authority personally from my Father.”

Disciplining our lives for service to the Kingdom of God, Praying to the Lord of the Harvest for revealing to us unsaved loved ones is not for the faint of heart.

It can, and definitely will be challenging to discipline our life, be persistent in prayer, especially when any of our neighbor’s life may be on a treacherous path.

Sometimes, when it comes to our walk with the Lord, it’s all we can do to keep our heads above water.

How, where can we find the consolation, compassion, patience, forbearance, perseverance to keep fighting in study, in prayer for our neighbor’s salvation?

Like any situation we face, we should always go to the truth of God’s Word.

His truth sets us free and equips us to stay in the fight. 

However, on any given day we generally come to God in prayer, strong, weak, discouraged, or hopeful, remember that God hears our prayers (Psalm 18:6).

Psalm 18:6 The Message

6 A hostile world! I call to God,
    I cry to God to help me.
From his palace he hears my call;
    my cry brings me right into his presence—
    a private audience!

The Courage for our Praying that prayer from Psalm 18:6 for own situation to strip off ourselves the filthy rags we wear and lug around over our shoulders?

The Courage to go not back to our closet burdened and full of our tattered rags?

But to stand still long enough in the Presence of God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, to be cleansed, clothed, by the Gospel truth of Christ’s own life blood?

by God, the Father, Christ His Son and the Holy Spirit – our personal tailors?

To be fitted for service in God’s Kingdom, our new garments of Righteousness?

We can begin by reminding ourselves that God is the One who created them, God is the one who measured our lives, found us wanting but yet cut the cloth.

To walk into the Harvest Fields … engaging and interacting with the unsaved?

To not turn around after a few steps fearful of getting our new clothes filthy?

We do not always “know them personally” or even “know them at all.”

But to remember that God knows God’s own Children far better than we do!

God, their Creator absolutely knows exactly where they are when we do not.

God knows exactly every single one of their thoughts, every single one of their intentions, and every single expression of lifestyle they are struggling to live in.

Exactly nothing is hidden from God and the Word of God (Hebrews 4:13). 

Hebrews 4:12-13 The Message

12-13 God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one can resist God’s Word. We can’t get away from it—no matter what.

James 5:16-18  The Message says, 

16-18 Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.

Did you read the last part?

The prayers of a righteous man avail much! 

1 Peter 3:12 NKJV says, “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

If we seek the Lord’s will for our life and partner with Him to live as He calls us to live as His disciples, we can take the greatest comfort in knowing that God is attentive to our prayers. 

In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus shares a parable with His disciples to discipline themselves and to embolden and inspire and encourage them never ever stop praying.

A widow went to an unjust judge begging for justice from her adversary.

Eventually, the judge relented because of her discipline and her persistence.

Verse 7 says, “And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?”

But Jesus asked if He would find faith when the Son of Man came.

There is no doubt praying as a discipline is an act of faith.

Let’s be determined to be disciplined, be persistent and be faithful in prayer. 

Samuel Chadwick, a Wesleyan Minister, said,

“The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.”

Rags to Righteousness, Intersecting Faith and Life: 

There are many pressures we face on a day-to-day basis.

Like a grapefruit or a lemon or an orange that releases its juice when squeezed, so do we when the tattered and torn rags of our lives grips us a little too tightly.

What comes out depends on whether we’ve exchanged the old clothes of our pre-surrendered life to Jesus for the new ones in our redeemed life in Christ.

If we are struggling with impatience toward a neighbor, practice forbearance.

Break the list of “new clothes” down and slowly concentrate on one at a time.

The beautiful result will be that we will soon learn how, when, where and why we wear them all as we sincerely pursue our relationship with our Jesus Christ.

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

Let us Pray,

Dear Gracious Heavenly Father, 

2 Corinthians 6:2 says,” ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

Father, we are lifting our unsaved loved ones to you. Please soften their hearts. We ask that You take their hearts of stone and turn them into a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). Please open their minds to understanding (Luke 24:45). We pray You would grant us opportunities to speak with them, but far more importantly that we would continue to come to you in prayer for them. 

God, You are not slack concerning your promises but are longsuffering toward us, unwilling that any should perish. Father, we ask that Your lovingkindness draw them to you (Romans 2:4). When we see them and interact with them, let it be Your love for them that they see. Help us be patient, kind, humble, and seek our loved one’s best. Help us to believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things. Help us to love them like You have loved us (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). Lord, we cannot do any of this apart from You. Please extend to us Your Grace, Please give us Your strength. We love you. Thank you for timely hearing our prayers and being all we need in every situation. We commit our loved ones to Your loving and capable hands. Amen! 

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

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God’s Dress Code: Tattered Rags to His Righteousness Zechariah 3:1-5

While growing up, I sometimes thought God had a dress code.

Wearing our “Sunday best” to church was mandatory, and if we tried to get away with wearing something else, Mom or Dad would ask, “You don’t think you’re wearing that to church, do you?”

Most of us, can claim ownership of having had to abide by a more or less strict dress code at one time or another, e.g., at a game, work or at school or church.

Some dress codes have been more of a social expectation than an official decree.

From my early youth I learned the hard way that you did not wear just anything to a wedding ceremony or a funeral; these events deserved your very best outfit.

In recent years the whole idea of dress codes has been seriously challenged and considerably weakened (cf. “casual Fridays”; “zoom” conferences).

How we dress can influence our lives.

If we work in a daycare, we are not going to show up in a business suit.

If we work in an office, we are not going to wear gardening clothes.

We dress according to our environment.

However, there is one dress code that has never changed and never will change, and that is GOD’S DRESS CODE!

Zechariah 3:1-5 The Message

Fourth Vision: Joshua’s New Clothes

3 1-2 Next the Messenger-Angel showed me the high priest Joshua. He was standing before God’s Angel where the Accuser showed up to accuse him. Then God said to the Accuser, “I, God, rebuke you, Accuser! I rebuke you and choose Jerusalem. Surprise! Everything is going up in flames, but I reach in and pull out Jerusalem!”

3-4 Joshua, standing before the angel, was dressed in dirty clothes. The angel spoke to his attendants, “Get him out of those filthy clothes,” and then said to Joshua, “Look, I’ve stripped you of your sin and dressed you up in clean clothes.”

5 I spoke up and said, “How about a clean new turban for his head also?” And they did it—put a clean new turban on his head. Then they finished dressing him, with God’s Angel looking on.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

While growing up, I sometimes thought God had a dress code.

Wearing our “Sunday best” to church was mandatory, and if we tried to get away with wearing something else, Mom or Dad would ask, “You don’t think you’re wearing that to church, do you?”

Most of us, can claim ownership of having had to abide by a more or less strict dress code at one time or another, e.g., at a game, work or at school or church.

Some dress codes have been more of a social expectation than an official decree.

From my early youth I learned the hard way that you did not wear just anything to a wedding ceremony or a funeral; these events deserved your very best outfit.

In recent years the whole idea of dress codes has been seriously challenged and considerably weakened (cf. “casual Fridays”; “zoom” conferences).

How we dress can influence our lives.

If we work in a daycare, we are not going to show up in a business suit.

If we work in an office, we are not going to wear gardening clothes.

We dress according to our environment.

However, there is one dress code that has never changed and never will change, and that is GOD’S DRESS CODE!

Has God laid down a dress code that we must follow? YES!

But I am not talking about the outer material clothing that we wear here or there, especially to church.

I am talking about the spiritual clothing with which we are dressed, especially that with which we are “clothed on the inside”, where only our God can see.

It is not said enough, it is not emphasized enough: any person who hopes to be welcome into God’s presence, who hopes to live in God’s presence for eternity (rather than in hell), MUST be spiritually dressed in the proper formal manner!

If you were somehow received and invitation to meet England’s King Charles III personally, you would be greatly expected to wear the proper formal clothing.

One summary from the internet puts it thus: “Opt for formal clothing—those with neutral tones and modest designs. … Bright colors, unnecessary skin-showing or anything offbeat should be reserved for other occasions. Always show great respect to His Royal Highness, dress in an elegant and sophisticated manner.”

But here, in this devotional we are not talking about standing in the presence of some temporary, usually earthly monarch or any other nation’s head of state.

We are talking about being in the presence of the eternal and infinite KING OF THE UNIVERSE!

What does He require us to wear in order to be accepted into His presence?

We can sum God’s dress code up in one word: RIGHTEOUSNESS.

We are required to wear a garment of righteousness! 

God’s Opinion of Our “Tattered Rags?”

It appears in our text that Joshua the high priest is violating God’s dress code.

Actually Joshua’s tattered garments were symbolic of Israel’s fallen condition before God.

Zechariah the prophet envisions Joshua— and all Israel—standing before God, stained with sin and guilt.

Satan, the accuser, continuously delights in reminding Israel of her failures and her shortcomings.

But God is merciful! He rebukes Satan and promises to clothe Joshua—and all of Israel—in the clean clothes of God’s perfect righteousness.

In Zechariah 3:4-5 we see that Joshua’s iniquities are removed and he is made clean for service.

God stripped away the rags of sin and iniquity, clothed Joshua in righteousness and takes away the filth.

And God did so in the full view of the Accuser

This righteousness was the righteousness of Christ!

In Jesus, God has done this for us.

On our own, we stand before God wearing tattered rags.

We are not fit for God’s presence.

Satan loves to remind us of that.

He points out all of the ways we haven’t loved others.

He reminds us of past failures.

He tells us that God will give up on us.

But when we believe in Jesus, it’s as though God looks at the helpless Satan and in Satan’s full view, God walks up to us and clothes us in the finest garments.

He personally dresses us in the perfect obedience of Jesus and helps us to wear the new garments of our salvation – Can we now thank God for clean clothes!

From Tatters of Sin to Garments of Righteousness

Isaiah 61:1-7 The Message

Announce Freedom to All Captives

61 1-7 The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me
    because God anointed me.
He sent me to preach good news to the poor,
    heal the heartbroken,
Announce freedom to all captives,
    pardon all prisoners.
God sent me to announce the year of his grace—
    a celebration of God’s destruction of our enemies—
    and to comfort all who mourn,
To care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion,
    give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes,
Messages of joy instead of news of doom,
    a praising heart instead of a languid spirit.
Rename them “Oaks of Righteousness”
    planted by God to display his glory.
They’ll rebuild the old ruins,
    raise a new city out of the wreckage.
They’ll start over on the ruined cities,
    take the rubble left behind and make it new.
You’ll hire outsiders to herd your flocks
    and foreigners to work your fields,
But you’ll have the title “Priests of God,”
    honored as ministers of our God.
You’ll feast on the bounty of nations,
    you’ll bask in their glory.
Because you got a double dose of trouble
    and more than your share of contempt,
Your inheritance in the land will be doubled
    and your joy go on forever.

We can sum God’s dress code up in one word: RIGHTEOUSNESS.

We are required to wear a garment of righteousness!

The following three points show how this works out.

I. GOD REQUIRES US TO WEAR A GARMENT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.

The first point is that God requires us to wear a garment of righteousness.

(Note that this is a requirement, not a suggestion.)

It is crucial for us to understand the meaning of “righteousness.”

This idea is key.

Specifically, “righteousness” before God means being RIGHT with God’s LAW, or satisfying the requirements of His law.

When we hear the word “law,” what do we think of?

We probably think first of commandments that God requires us to obey.

Some might think of the Ten Commandments.

That is appropriate, but extremely limited.

In fact, the Bible is filled with divine commands that we must obey to be righteous.

Even the Old Testament has many commands that are part of the Christian’s law code.

E.g., “Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling” (Psalm 2:11).

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).

The New Testament Scriptures are filled to overflowing with both general and specific commandments on how to be righteous and holy.

We all have access to God’s law for us.

So here is how God’s dress code works.

To satisfy His dress code, we MUST wear a garment of righteousness; and to possess this righteousness we must obey the commandments of His law.

To be more precise, we must obey these commands one hundred percent.

Did I just say – 100%? YES!

To be righteous before God we must obey ALL of the Biblical commandments that apply to us in this New Covenant age!

And – we must obey them perfectly, both on the outside (where other human beings can see us) and on the inside, in the heart (where only God can see us).

This perfect obedience to God’s law is what constitutes our required garment of righteousness, and what our perfectly Holy God’s dress code requires that each of us must wear this garment constantly, all our lives.

Such a life consisting of our perfect obedience to God’s law commands would look like a pure white robe.

I have said that we are required to wear this garment of righteousness.

It is a necessity.

WHY?

Why is this the case?

Because God’s own nature is perfect holiness, and He cannot tolerate anything that contradicts His perfect nature.

Thus we who hope to fellowship with the holy God MUST also be holy and righteous, otherwise – the HOLY GOD will cast us into outer darkness, away from His holy presence!

Jesus warns us thus in His parable of the wedding feast in Matthew 22:1-14, which we should all read and re-read.

In this parable the king prepares a wedding feast to which the first invited guests decline to come and are thus condemned (vv. 1-8).

The king then sends his servants to invite anyone they can find, and a great crowd showed up (vv. 9-10).

“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’” (vv. 11-13).

God’s dress code is serious business.

Wear the garment of righteousness – perfect obedience to His laws – or else!

II. WE DO NOT HAVE THIS REQUIRED GARMENT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.

This leads me to our second point.

The truth is that we do not have the garment of righteousness that God’s dress code requires!

Search all you can through your spiritual closet, and you will not find it.

We know this because of God’s fearsome judgment in Romans 3:10, 23 – “ ‘None is righteous, no, not one’ …. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Now, you may say, “Hey! Wait a minute! I do a LOT of good things!

In fact, I obey most of God’s laws, at least most of the time!”

Maybe so, but we seem to be forgetting something.

To be truly righteous before God, you cannot be just partly good and holy.

True righteousness is not determined by a balance scale where good works are weighed against sins, to determine which you have more of.

No! To be truly righteous, you must be 100% good – wholly holy, on the inside as well as on the outside!

The fact is that we are all worse in God’s eyes than we think we are.

See Isaiah 64:6 – “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.”

As the KJV familiarly puts it, “All of our righteousness’s are as filthy rags” (literally, “as a menstruous cloth”).

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/isa/64/6/t_conc_743006

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h5708/kjv/wlc/0-1/

The scary part of this truth is that Isaiah is not saying that our sins are like filthy rags.

He says that even our righteous deeds are like that polluted garment!

Pondering this in terms of our personal efforts to live up to God’s dress code and to obey His laws, we can think of ourselves as wearing—NOT a pure white robe, but a dirty sweat soaked smelly black robe.

So where are we, then, in terms of God’s dress code?

Is our situation hopeless?

Not if we submit ourselves to the third point, below!

III. GOD GIVES US THE GARMENT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT HE REQUIRES OF US!

We now come to the good news

—the gospel, as that gospel is found in Isaiah 61:10:

Isaiah 61:10 “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness”!

Good news!

God has established the strictest possible dress code; and when we utterly fail to meet its requirements, He Himself gives us the robe of righteousness which He Himself requires!

What is this gift of a “robe of righteousness”?

First,

we must consider this: the righteousness that God gives us, and with which He covers all our sins, is not some kind of righteousness that WE have produced!

It is not OUR righteousness, but GOD’S OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS!

As a Christian I love to sing the familiar hymn, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’s blood and righteousness.”

But for the longest time, in my own ragged and tattered mind I was thinking it: “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’s blood and MY righteousness.”

I knew ZERO about GOD’S righteousness, few people were preaching on God’s Righteousness, and this kept me from having any assurance of my salvation!

The Apostle Paul shows us that we must relearn to sing the song thus: “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’s blood and JESUS’S righteousness”!

He says in Romans 1:16-17, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for … in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith”!

Romans 3:21-22 he adds, “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from … law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe”!

See also 2 Corinthians 5:21, where Paul says that God the Father put Jesus in the place of sinners and treated Jesus as if He had the sins of the world upon Him, in order that He might treat us as if we had the righteousness of God upon us!

In Philippians 3:9 God inspires Paul, speaking of Jesus, to say that he wants to

“be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from … law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.”

What is this righteousness that is produced by God, belongs to God, comes from God to us, and becomes an entire robe of righteousness that covers us?

Specifically, it comes from something that Jesus—God the Son—did.

I like to think of Jesus as coming into the world as a kind of tailor, for the specific purpose of measuring and cutting, sewing and fitting an unlimited number of these robes of righteousness to personally, intimately distribute to all sinners who will accept one by confessing their belief, obeying the gospel!

What did Jesus do that has this effect?

We will remember that righteousness means being right with God’s law or satisfying the requirements of His law.

So far, we have seen that this law has life-governing commands that God requires us to obey.

Did Jesus produce this kind of righteousness?

Yes indeed!

He is the only human person who has obeyed the commands that applied to Him perfectly, sinless, 100%.

But this is not a kind of righteousness that He can share with anyone else; as a human being He was required to obey the law’s commands for Himself.

Thus the robe of righteousness that God gives us is not sewn from the deeds of Jesus’s perfect LIFE; Jesus did not prepare this robe from His perfect obedience to the law’s commands.

Where does this leave us, then?

Well, the fact is that COMMANDS to be obeyed are only ONE PART of any law code, and are just one part of God’s law.

What is the other part?

The other part of God’s law is the PENALTY required to be paid when those commands are not obeyed!

And the righteous nature of God must and will see to it that this penalty of His law is paid in full!

When His law is broken, the penalty absolutely must be paid!

Here is where Jesus comes into the picture.

By His perfect life He satisfied the law’s commands for Himself; but also by His perfect DEATH He suffered and paid the law’s PENALTY for US, in our place!

When He died as the propitiation for our sins (Romans 3:25), He was sewing together a garment of salvation—a ROBE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS—as a gift for any sinner who will accept it by obeying the gospel!

Jesus’s payment of sin’s penalty in our place is the robe of righteousness with which God covers our sins!

If you are the reader of this devotional are a Christian who is sincerely believing in Jesus Christ right now, you are now wearing this robe of righteousness and are therefore satisfying God’s dress code!

This is how we are RIGHT—i.e., RIGHTEOUS—before God: not because He sees us as having perfect character or perfect obedience to the law’s commands, but because He sees us as having paid the penalty that His law requires for our sins!

He sees us like that because JESUS paid that penalty for ALL our sins, and has applied that payment to our account!

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”—no penalty, no punishment, no retribution (Romans 8:1)!

Notice: this text says we are “IN Christ Jesus.”

We are wearing Him like a garment!

And this garment is the robe of Jesus’s own righteous payment of the penalty for our sins.

It is called a ROBE of righteousness because it is big enough to COVER everything else we are wearing, I.e., all our “filthy rags.”

We should think of this as a RED robe of righteousness, i.e., red for the blood of Jesus Christ!

Here is a crucial point for us to understand.

As a Christian, we are wearing this red robe of righteousness right now, all the time, 24/7 – as long as we are believing in and trusting Jesus as your Redeemer.

You began wearing this robe in your baptism, where you received it as “the free gift of righteousness” (Romans 5:17).

We know it happened in baptism because of what Galatians 3:27 says, namely, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

You went into the water of baptism with only filthy tattered rags showing;

you came up out of the water with only the red robe of righteousness showing and covering all of those rags!

The crucial point is this, that because of your continuing faith in Jesus, this robe of righteousness has been and is constantly covering your sins—not just your past sins, but the sins that keep cropping up in your Christian life.

Here is a point so often misunderstood:

WE DO NOT LOSE THIS ROBE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS EVERY TIME WE SIN!

This robe is “the righteousness that comes by faith” (Hebrews 11:7), not by how well you obey the law’s commands.

It COMES to us in baptism by your faith in Jesus, and it STAYS with us by faith as long as that faith continues.

If we had to give up our robe of righteousness every time we committed a sin, its whole point as a cover for your sins would be lost!

(This would be like saying we have been given a coat to keep us warm; but we have to give it back every time we go outside into the cold!)

I will close by citing the key stanzas from the hymn mentioned earlier about JESUS’S righteousness:

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’s blood and [Jesus’s] righteousness!
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’s name.

When He shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in Him be found—
Dressed in HIS righteousness ALONE, faultless to stand before the throne!

On Christ the solid rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.

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

Let us Pray,

Psalm 24 The Message

24 1-2 God claims Earth and everything in it,
    God claims World and all who live on it.
He built it on Ocean foundations,
    laid it out on River girders.

3-4 Who can climb Mount God?
    Who can scale the holy north-face?
Only the clean-handed,
    only the pure-hearted;
Men who won’t cheat,
    women who won’t seduce.

5-6 God is at their side;
    with God’s help they make it.
This, Jacob, is what happens
    to God-seekers, God-questers.

7 Wake up, you sleepyhead city!
Wake up, you sleepyhead people!
    King-Glory is ready to enter.

8 Who is this King-Glory?
    God, armed
    and battle-ready.

9 Wake up, you sleepyhead city!
Wake up, you sleepyhead people!
    King-Glory is ready to enter.

10 Who is this King-Glory?
    God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
    he is King-Glory.

Lord God, on our own, we wear stained and tattered clothing. Thank you for clothing us in Christ. Help us each day to clothe ourselves with the garments of your salvation.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

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God’s Ageless Grace Brings Purpose. 2 Timothy 1:8-12

God’s extravagant grace was present before the beginning of time, has been revealed in Jesus, and continues unchanged and unchangeable for eternity.

Can we somehow, in someway, finally let God’s grace overwhelm us today?

2 Timothy 1:8-12 English Standard Version

8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us to[a] a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,[b] 10 and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, 12 which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.[c]

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

Grace is a gift most of us do not know how to receive.

We’ve been so inundated with our earthly systems of give-and-get and work-and-earn that grace is a concept few ever fully grasp.

Yet it’s grace alone that has the power to transform lives.

Grace alone has the power to bring freedom to the captives.

By grace alone we are saved.

There could be no better use of our time than consistently and passionately pursuing a greater revelation of God’s grace.

I remember becoming transfixed with the transforming power of grace while watching and then re-watching the movie Les Miserables.

Jean Valjean was arrested for stealing a simple loaf of bread.

Finally released after 19 years in prison, he could not find any place to stay until a Bishop graciously offered him lodging.

But then Valjean stole some silver from the Bishop’s home and fled.

Captured by the authorities next day, he was brought back to face the Bishop.

But instead of accusing him, the Bishop said he had given Valjean the silver, and then in addition to the silver, Bishop also gave Valjean two silver candlesticks.

Overwhelmed with the extravagance of grace, Valjean’s priorities changed.

He surrendered his life to God and worked to help others.

God’s extravagant grace was present before the beginning of time, has been revealed in Jesus, and continues unchanged and unchangeable for eternity.

Can we somehow, in someway, finally let God’s grace overwhelm us today?

Transformation-Extravagant Purposeful Grace

2 Timothy 1:8-12 The Message

8-10 So don’t be embarrassed to speak up for our Master or for me, his prisoner. Take your share of suffering for the Message along with the rest of us. We can only keep on going, after all, by the power of God, who first saved us and then called us to this holy work. We had nothing to do with it. It was all his idea, a gift prepared for us in Jesus long before we knew anything about it. But we know it now. Since the appearance of our Savior, nothing could be plainer: death defeated, life vindicated in a steady blaze of light, all through the work of Jesus.

One of the greatest gifts we have been given by God is purpose.

From the time of Adam, God has always made clear the purposes we were created for.

In Genesis 1:28 God says, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 

Throughout time our purposes have changed, but God has made it clear that we all are to have lives that are valuable and effective.

Have you lived days where you’re simply going through the motions?

Have you had days where you feel as if what you do doesn’t matter?

Those days in my life are my absolute worst.

It is clear I would rather go through trial and persecution with purpose than live a meaningless day.

It’s in purpose we find satisfaction.

In purpose we find out our lives matter.

And in purpose we discover the reason we were created.

2 Timothy 1:9 says, “[God] saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.” 

Because of God’s grace and purpose we have been called to a life of wonderful and satisfying works.

The Bible teaches us a truth in opposition to the teachings of the world.

The world says to work enough to live a life of comfort and ease.

Work is done for the purpose of relaxation and comfort.

God says that we are created for a life of eternal value in which everything we do is to have purpose higher than our own comfort and relaxation.

God has placed highest value and worth on our lives to an extent we have yet to discover.

He has a plan and purpose for your life that God’s assigned to no one else.

Our life is meant to make an eternal impact for his kingdom which will reign for all time.

But in his grace God has also given you control of your own life.

You can choose to live your life according to his purposes or your own.

And you can choose to pursue comfort and meaningless relaxation or a life of true rest and satisfaction that comes only from living entirely for God.

My fervent hope is that in looking at two purposes God has for our life, we will choose to live our lives completely with and only for our heavenly Father.

And in doing so, we will steadily discover the incredible joy and passion and the purpose the Holy Spirit longs to birth in you and bring to maturity for the Lord.

The first purpose for which we were created is abiding relationship with God.

Jesus says in Mark 12:30, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” 

The Westminster Shorter Catechism says it this way: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”

Loving God is your highest calling, and in loving God we will experience the fullest joy and satisfaction available.

When you stand before God in judgment, God will not look for our possessions, promotions, or social status, but rather at the fervor with which you loved Him.

We will be rewarded for acts of love, not self-seeking glorification.

And this chief purpose of loving God is the only path to the abundant life he has in store for you here.

The second purpose for which we were created is loving others in response to your love for God. Mark 12:31 says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 

Ephesians 5:1-2 “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” 

Acts 26:16 says, “But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you.” 

We are called to love others out of the amazing love we’ve been shown by God.

As our hearts and souls are filled with love for God through their encountering God in their secret places, we will be filled with a longing to see his desires for others around us come to fruition.

God’s greatest longing is for relationship with his crown of creation, and God wants to use us to guide others to himself.

In loving others we will discover the incredible satisfaction of seeing the lost and hurting be found and healed.

Incredible passion and irrepressible joy comes from seeing a life transformed through the Holy Spirit interceding, ministering, working in and within us.

How incredible is the grace of our God that his purposes would be entirely rooted in love.

We who are God’s Children are called to simply love him and others with the very first love we have been shown.

He’s like a father who gives his children money to buy him a present.

He fills us with the love and enjoyment he feels for us, and then in response we can love him and others.

He fills us with the breath of life and then patiently waits for us to live our life as a beautiful song of praise and worship unto him.

May we finally come to experience today all that God’s grace has afforded us.

May we finally choose drop all of our lame pretenses to imitate, choose to live our lives with purpose and passion that only comes from loving him and others.

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

Let us Pray,

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on God’s desire to lead you to a life of abundant purpose.

“[God] saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.” 2 Timothy 1:9

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide.” John 15:16

2. Reflect on your own life. 

Where have we been living with the purposes of the world rather than God?

In what areas are you living for yourself rather than him and others?

And in what areas of your life do you feel meaningless and passionless?

3. Receive the rejuvenation that comes from living with his purposes as your chief goals. 

Allow God to gradually but steadily revive relationships that seem to be tired, without purpose and without passion – feel empowered for God and neighbor.

Allow God to fill you with desire for your work, friendships, or marriage.

Ask for the Holy Spirit to reveal specific ways he desires to use you today.

Psalm 36:5-6 The Message

5-6 God’s love is meteoric,
    his loyalty astronomic,
His purpose titanic,
    his verdicts oceanic.
Yet in his largeness
    nothing gets lost;
Not a man, not a mouse,
    slips through the cracks.

The passion and purpose God has for us never ceases.

There will be days or seasons God leads us to rest for the purpose of renewing, loving, and filling us, for empowering us, for inspiring us, for transforming us.

There will be times of work and striving, of trials and of hardships in various and diverse manifestations, in which God purposes to mold, shape, and use us.

Psalm 138 English Standard Version
Give Thanks to the Lord

Of David.

138 I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
    before the gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down toward your holy temple
    and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
    for you have exalted above all things
    your name and your word.[a]
3 On the day I called, you answered me;
    my strength of soul you increased.[b]

4 All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,
    for they have heard the words of your mouth,
5 and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
    for great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,
    but the haughty he knows from afar.

7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
    you preserve my life;
you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
    and your right hand delivers me.
8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
    your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
    Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Wherever God is leading any one of us today, choose to believe trust that God absolutely has only the very best best plan and purpose for you.

Come, Holy Spirit, breathe on me, that I may Choose to live your life with God’s purposes weaved deeply and intricately weaved within my heart and within my soul, and may I experience the passion that can only be found in living for God. Father, focus our eyes and our ears on your extravagant grace. May we become spellbound with the mercy of Jesus Christ so that we offer ourselves totally to your service. Amen.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

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The One Test Proving We Love God. John 14:15-24

We live in a world where people use the word love loosely.

We say things like I love adrenalin, food, sports, or other inanimate objects.

Yet, in our “expressing love,” from all corners of the globe you will also hear people tell you how much they love Jesus from all corners and pews in church.

So my question is, how do you know you love God?

What measuring stick are you using to define what it means to really love Jesus?

John 14:15-24 The Message

The Spirit of Truth

15-17 “If you love me, show it by doing what I have told you. I will talk to the Father, and he’ll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can’t take him in because it does not have eyes to see him, doesn’t know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you!

18-20 “I will not leave you orphaned. I’m coming back. In just a little while the world will no longer see me, but you’re going to see me because I am alive and you are about to come alive. At that moment you will know absolutely that I’m in my Father, and you’re in me, and I’m in you.

21 “The person who knows my commandments and keeps them, that’s who loves me. And the person who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and make myself plain to him.”

22 Judas (not Iscariot) said, “Master, why is it that you are about to make yourself plain to us but not to the world?”

23-24 “Because a loveless world,” said Jesus, “is a sightless world. If anyone loves me, he will carefully keep my word and my Father will love him—we’ll move right into the neighborhood! Not loving me means not keeping my words. The message you are hearing isn’t mine. It’s the message of the Father who sent 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.

We live in a world where people use the word love loosely.

We say things like I love adrenalin, food, sports, or other inanimate objects.

Yet, in our “expressing love,” from all corners of the globe you will also hear people tell you how much they love Jesus from all corners and pews in church.

So my question is, how do you know you love God?

What measuring stick are you using to define what it means to really love Jesus?

In John’s narrative of the Gospel, Rabbi Jesus gives to his disciples and each of us, one “measuring stick”, which he reinforces three times in the same chapter.

  • “If you love me, keep my commands.” – John 14:15
  • “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” – John 14:21
  • “Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” – John 14:23

Here in this short exchange, on three separate occasions, Jesus identifies the one piece of evidence that proves we genuinely really truly love God.

That is our obedience.

Jesus says to his disciples, gets square into their faces and conscience: it is impossible to say we love God if we are going to blatantly and continually keep doing the things that blatantly and continually break God’s everlasting heart.

It would be like me declaring to the world how much I love my wife, but I do something I know will be continually offensive unto at her every chance I get.

That may be a lot of things, but that is definitely not and cannot be allowed to be anyone’s definition or understanding or any day to day expression of love. 

What Is Obedience?

According to Merriam-Webster, obedience’s definition is “the act or instance of obeying; the quality or state of being obedient.”

Furthermore, the definition of obedient is “submissive to the restraint or command of authority: willing to obey.” 

Therefore, we say the meaning of Christian obedience is the act of submitting (obeying) to the commands (laws) of God, the highest authority, creator, and Father of mankind.

If we have faith in God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, believe Christianity is the truth, obedience is our practice of living by faith, obeying the teachings of the Bible.

Read some of the best scripture quotes about obedience in this collection of Bible verses and find three simple ways to practice obedience below.

The Word of God Speaks on Obedience

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” – John 14:15

“But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.” – Acts 5:29

“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance” – 1 Peter 1:14

“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.” – 1 John 5:3

“If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;” – Isaiah 1:19

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” – Luke 6:46

“But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.” – Exodus 23:22

“I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me.” – Psalm 119:30

“34 I am giving you a new commandment, that you [a]love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too are to love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another.” – John 13:34-35

“21 The person who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who [really] loves Me; and whoever [really] loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him [I will make Myself real to him].” John 14:21

“But I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.” – John 14:31

Obedience is our way of revealing, showing God that we love Him; and it is through our obedience that God recognizes us and enables us to enjoy His Love.

This in turn will allow God to reveal himself to us, and activates God’s power to work in our lives.

How to Obey God: 3 Forms of Christian Obedience

The first two forms of Christian obedience given here come from Jesus’ teaching about the “greatest commandment of the law” in Matthew 22.

36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 And Jesus replied to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others].’ 40 The whole Law and the [writings of the]  Prophets depend on these two commandments.” (verses 36-40)

1. Love the Lord your God: Obedience can be to simply honor and praise God for your life and the blessings within.

While this may seem cliché and like overstating the obvious and easy, there are many distractions in the modern world (technology in particular) that can and do 100% sidetrack us from 1000% appreciating the glory of God in our daily life.

We must focus to obey the greatest commandment of Jesus and love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, and mind, giving thanks to Him continually. 

2. Love your neighbor as yourself: Continuing with the teaching from Matthew 22, our next example of obedience is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

In order to love our neighbor, friends, and even family, we must forgive them for their trespasses against us.

As the Lord’s prayer says, “And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” 

Matthew 6:14 tells us, “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”

Because humans are so completely imperfect, trespasses against us will occur, so it is vital to forgive in order to love our neighbor.

Obeying God means putting God’s commandments echelons above our own egoic desires to hold resentment towards others – forgive and let go of anger!

3. Prayer: The Word of God for His Children literally tells us to “pray without ceasing” in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

To live by faith means to live by prayer, going to God in humble supplication and genuine heartfelt repentance and complete expressions of thanksgiving.

If we feel we you are struggling with understanding or practicing obedience, pray to the Holy Spirit for empowerment, for guidance and for inspiration.

Moreover, our practicing the discipline of regular prayer itself is a form of obedience, as scripture says to humble ourselves in God’s sight and to pray.

How Our Obedience Connects Us to Our Love of God

3 Ways Our Obedience Connects to Your Love of God, Jesus, Holy Spirit:

1. Our obedience acknowledges we heartily agree with God’s position.

Psalm 46:8-10 The Message

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.”

When you choose to give God your maximum attention, choose to obey God, and yes, obedience is definitely a choice, we tell God he is right and agree with his position – God alone is God and God alone is Exalted above all other things.

The agreement does not mean we automatically, immediately like his position, but absolutely agree that his position is absolutely, immutably, 100% correct.

For example, someone may hurt us, and we choose to obey God to forgive them.

Now we may not want to forgive them, and it may be difficult to forgive them, but we do it because God commands it, and we know it’s the right thing to do.

Even though it mightily hurts, we do it because we agree with God’s position.

2 . Your obedience tells Jesus he is welcome.

Psalm 5:11-12 The Message

11-12 But you’ll welcome us with open arms
    when we run for cover to you.
Let the party last all night!
    Stand guard over our celebration.
You are famous, God, for welcoming God-seekers,
    for decking us out in delight.

Obedience is an unequivocal expression of “arms wide open” welcome.

It communicates to Jesus He is welcome in our lives to do what He wants.

When we choose to disobey, we are telling Jesus we don’t want His ways, and in this or any area of my life, “I don’t want you, and I don’t want you interfering.”

I know those seem like unnecessarily harsh words, but when we reject his commands, that is what you are doing and that is what we are saying to Him.

Disobedience, which is sin, says we exclusive trust or exclusively desire our own something more than we exclusively desire God or our relationship with Him.

When you put it in that “love language,” it stings our souls just a wee bit more.

Our obedience or disobedience will determine which one we really want more, loveless sin or the things of God; our choice will show where our love resides.

3. Our obedience is about our actions, not just about our words.

Psalm 119:1-8 The Message

119 1-8 You’re blessed when you stay on course,
    walking steadily on the road revealed by God.
You’re blessed when you follow his directions,
    doing your best to find him.
That’s right—you don’t go off on your own;
    you walk straight along the road he set.
You, God, prescribed the right way to live;
    now you expect us to live it.
Oh, that my steps might be steady,
    keeping to the course you set;
Then I’d never have any regrets
    in comparing my life with your counsel.
I thank you for speaking straight from your heart;
    I learn the pattern of your righteous ways.
I’m going to do what you tell me to do;
    don’t ever walk off and leave me.

When Jesus made those statements in John 14:15-24, he was really saying this.

“Don’t tell me you love me, show me. It can be very easy to declare how much you love Jesus with your lips. Anyone can do that.”

It is far different for us to make the choices, sometimes difficult ones, to be obedient, which show that we unequivocally love him more than anything.

However, it is in these places that our obedience becomes the most convincing evidence of our love because we will always choose to do the hard “God” things, even when you may not want to.

Not because we are motivated by fear of humiliation, persecution, retaliation, but because we are unequivocally motivated by a love that desires to please God.

Serve at church and in the community. 

Luke 2:36-38 The Message

36-38 Anna the prophetess was also there, a daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher. She was by now a very old woman. She had been married seven years and a widow for eighty-four. She never left the Temple area, worshiping night and day with her fasting’s and prayers. At the very time Simeon was praying, she showed up, broke into an anthem of praise to God, and talked about the child to all who were waiting expectantly for the freeing of Jerusalem.

If we ourselves choose how to serve instead of obeying the Lord’s direction, our efforts are simply good works rather than an expression of love to Him.

Intersecting Faith and Life:

Psalm 139:23-24 The Message

23-24 Investigate my life, O God,
    find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me,
    get a clear picture of what I’m about;
See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—
    then guide me on the road to eternal life.

I want to leave you with a simple challenge today.

Take some quality time to ponder and meditate upon your life, see if there are any areas where you are knowingly, unknowingly wrestling with disobedience.

It could be something you should be doing or need to stop doing.

Either way, let the motivation to change come from your love of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit which motivates you and drives you onward, to walk in obedience.

After all, if you love him, you will do what He says. 

Joshua 24:15 The Message

15 “If you decide that it’s a bad thing to worship God, then choose a god you’d rather serve—and do it today. Choose one of the gods your ancestors worshiped from the country beyond The River, or one of the gods of the Amorites, on whose land you’re now living. As for me and my family, we’ll worship God.”

Our whole lives can be about “Hearing God’s Word, receiving God’s Word, and even believing God’s Word” but means nothing if we do not obey God’s Word.

God’s love for us was demonstrated through the sending of His Son Jesus (1 John 4:9-10).

Our compliance, our obedience to the Father’s known will reveals exactly how deeply we choose to care about Him – take steps each day to show God our love.

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

Let us Pray,

Psalm 65:1-8 The Message

65 1-2 Silence is praise to you,
    Zion-dwelling God,
And also obedience.
    You hear the prayer in it all.

2-8 We all arrive at your doorstep sooner
    or later, loaded with guilt,
Our sins too much for us—
    but you get rid of them once and for all.
Blessed are the chosen! Blessed the guest
    at home in your place!
We expect our fill of good things
    in your house, your heavenly manse.
All your salvation wonders
    are on display in your trophy room.
Earth-Tamer, Ocean-Pourer,
    Mountain-Maker, Hill-Dresser,
Muzzler of sea storm and wave crash,
    of mobs in noisy riot—
Far and wide they’ll come to a stop,
    they’ll stare in awe, in wonder.
Dawn and dusk take turns
    calling, “Come and worship.”

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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“Come Holy Spirit, and Gift Unto Us a Prayer to Live With Eternity in Mind” Ecclesiastes 3:9-13

“Faith and love are apt to be spasmodic in the best of minds. Men and women live on the brink of mysteries and harmonies into which they never enter, and with their hand on the door latch, they die outside.” ~ Christian Apologist, G. K. Chesterton

When I read and re-read this quote from Chesterton today on my Facebook feed yesterday, as I closed out the activities for my 62nd Birthday, it reminded me of that passage in Ecclesiastes, a passage that said God “put eternity in our hearts.”

All the while I was in my Mother’s womb, God weaved “eternity into my heart.”

Somewhere, somehow, God, my Creator, weaved “eternity deep into my DNA.”

Ecclesiastes 3:9-13 English Standard Version

The God-Given Task

9 What gain has the worker from his toil? 10 I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12 I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; 13 also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

“Faith and love are apt to be spasmodic in the best of minds. Men and women live on the brink of mysteries and harmonies into which they never enter, and with their hand on the door latch, they die outside.” ~ Christian Apologist, G. K. Chesterton

When I read and re-read this quote from Chesterton today on my Facebook feed yesterday, as I closed out the activities for my 62nd Birthday, it reminded me of that passage in Ecclesiastes, a passage that said God “put eternity in our hearts.”

All the while I was in my Mother’s womb, God weaved “eternity into my heart.”

Somewhere, somehow, God, my Creator, weaved “eternity deep into my DNA.”

Because God did this to me and for me, before I was even aware, of God, I can never shake the irrepressible feeling deep within my soul that there absolutely has to be something infinitely more waiting for me in eternity than in this life.

Collectively, in our response to this inner sense of eternity, we can and often do spend our lives either unaware of it, denying it, sidestepping it, fleeing from it, or attempting to resolve it without the assistance of the One who placed it there.

And this only leaves only leaves us in that empty space we call “wanting more.”

What we are called to do instead is turn to the One of whom it is said, “from him and through him and to him are all things” (Romans 11:36)(ESV).

Romans 11:33-36 English Standard Version

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord,
    or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Or who has given a gift to him
    that he might be repaid?”

36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

We turn to the only One in whom we find our origin, our purpose, our destiny.

We can know the only One who holds for each of His Children, in His righteous right hand, the indescribable feeling for eternity that He placed in our hearts.

Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6)(ESV).

Jesus said, unto his disciples a day before he died;

John 14:25-27 The Message

25-27 “I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.

This is the only path that will satisfy that nagging sense of greater things and the only path that leads us all to both reconciliation and an eternity with God.

The Gift of A Prayer to Live with Eternity in Mind

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 The Message

16-18 So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

Eternity is a simple word but a complex concept.

Charles Spurgeon once said, “Time is short. Eternity is long. It is only reasonable that this short life be lived in the light of eternity.”

  • We waited in line for something relatively inconsequential for an eternity.
  • We are waiting for the blessed announcement of a baby being born.
  • We are waiting for the announcement that someone has passed away.
  • We are waiting for the arrival of family on Christmas or Easter Day.
  • We are waiting for laboratory and radiology test results to be read.
  • We are waiting for the bank to approve our very first Mortgage.
  • We think spring will never come; winter has lasted for an eternity.
  • We have a vacation planned for only a few weeks away, but it feels like an eternity on the calendar.
  • We are waiting for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to Return – “as promised.”

The undeniable reality is that, as humans, we cannot truly fathom eternity.

We know that God has provided eternal life to those who trust in His Son Jesus, but our understanding of the weight of eternity is beyond our comprehension.

Recently, I have come across numerous sermon series, devotional articles, and books, social media posts encouraging believers to live with eternity in mind.

But what exactly does that mean? 

Paul encourages us in 2 Corinthians 4:18, “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever (NLT).”

Life in a fallen world is tough; there’s no escaping the effects of sin in our lives.

But, we can shift our priorities, our mindsets our perspective, focusing on the things that matter to God (the eternal) and sacrificing ourselves, surrendering ourselves, letting go of those things that don’t matter (the things of this world).

Romans 12:1-2 The Message
Place Your Life Before God

12 1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

As one of my favorite preachers sermonized, “preaches easy, lives hard.”  

We are ever so easily, quickly distracted, discouraged, and disillusioned daily.

It is impossibly challenging to “keep on persevering, keep on pushing forward in our faith, and remain steadfast and immovable always abounding in God’s work.”

The world’s message is “live your best life now,” but God’s word preaches us so utterly and radically different, stating “your forever life is yet to come.”

If we back up a verse to 2 Corinthians 4:17, Apostle Paul again reminds us,

“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”  

What we are experiencing today will one day come to an end.

Even if the season of steadfast and immovable sorrow drags on forever or your difficult circumstances continue to stay the same day after day, God will still make everyone and everything new one day – and in this new world, His eternal kingdom, there will be no more tears and pain – Just LIFE (Revelation 21:1-4).

I am not sure what anyone of you readers are going through today but PLEASE be ENCOURAGED, be EMPOWERED and take heart; God sees and cares for you.

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.

On this side of Heaven, you may continue to experience the consequences of sin, but please be INSPIRED, be an INSPIRATION, God’s great mercy provided a way for all His Children to have eternal peace through salvation in Christ Jesus.

Be the ENCOURAGER, Pray, Cling, to the eternal hope we have in our salvation, and let the presence of the Holy Spirit fill you as you live with eternity in mind.

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

Let us Pray,

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for being a God who cares about our burdens. We know that you are God who sees and hears the cries and prayers of your children. Help us to live with eternity in mind. Blessed Intercessor Holy Spirit of God, We pray fervently you will Be with us as we strive to focus more on the eternal, shifting our perspective from temporary things that distract us from living a life for Your glory alone. Forgive us when we sin against you, and be with us as we pursue holiness.

We love you, Lord; we are undeserving of your grace and mercy but thankful that you freely grant us both. We ask that you strengthen and help us as we share the Gospel in a broken world. Guide our conversations, and direct our paths to those who need to experience the eternal hope of salvation through Christ Jesus. In Jesus’ Name.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

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How Can We Have an Eternal Mindset Here on Earth? 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Lately, I have been thinking a whole lot about delayed gratification.

As in, doing now, in the immediate what will hopefully, if correctly planned for will pay off later, versus what only feels good or is easy in the exact moment.

It’s a great concept, right?

Living with an eye on the future, and planning and making choices that will result in a positive outcome a few months or even years down the road (while also avoiding a negative outcome).

But, that kind of advanced planning is not always so very simple to do.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 English Standard Version

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self[a] is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

Lately, I have been thinking a whole lot about delayed gratification.

As in, doing now, in the immediate what will hopefully, if correctly planned for will pay off later, versus what only feels good or is easy in the exact moment.

It’s a great concept, right?

Living with an eye on the future, and planning and making choices that will result in a positive outcome a few months or even years down the road (while also avoiding a negative outcome).

But, that kind of advanced planning is not always so very simple to do.

For example,

I’ve been trying for quite a while to control my stubborn blood sugar.

I know that the key is to keep my eye on the prize, and remember that what I do today will affect how I feel (how well me and my body will function) tomorrow.

It’s not easy, but that’s what I need to remember!

Because otherwise, what’s to keep me from just binging on chocolate lava cakes all day on my birthday, with zero regard to the outcome on my bodily systems?

Likewise, we should have the same thought process with regards to eternity (that is, life after death).

We focus so very much on the here and now—this short life on earth—and yet eternity is so much longer!

But because it always seems to be so far off, it’s easier put it on the back burner…as in, “I’ll worry about that later. Today, I have too much to do!”

Except, that time and place called eternity – It’s not that far off though, is it?

Not one of us knows exactly how long we will live, or when Jesus will return, or anything that the future holds.

How Do I Set My Mind On Things Above?

But, you might ask, what does it actually mean to actually have an eternal perspective?

And how do we do that?

I think it boils down to the HOPE of heaven.

In this life, even the seemingly wonderful things (like money or fame), will eventually lead to a grave full of freezing cold emptiness.

God is all about LOVE … so if we want to discipline ourselves to focus on having an eternal perspective, we have to focus on the God who is Love (1 John 4:7-11).

What is an eternal mindset?

And is this something we can, or should, have while living here on this earth?

This devotional effort will explore these two questions, as well as how we can develop an eternal mindset.

What Is an Eternal Mindset?

Merriam-Webster defines mindset as “a mental attitude or inclination.”

It is what we think about something or what our attitude is regarding it.

I have a particular financial and political mindset, an environmental mindset, a brother and sister mindset, a husband and a step parent/grandparent mindset, and many more – and all of those mindsets are all reflected in how I live my life.

Eternal is a word used in a few different ways in the Scripture.

Most commonly, it is part of the expression “eternal life.”

We often think of this as life without end, and it does involve that.

But Jesus defines eternal life as a relationship.

It is knowing God the Father and Jesus his Son (John 17:3).

But here in 2 Corinthians 4:18, Paul uses the word in a very different sense.

He tells us, “What is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

Eternal has the connotation of unending existence.

But it is infinitely more than that.

Here Paul is referring to the unseen realm.

What is unseen is eternal, while what we can see with our earthly eyes is only temporary.

This verse is key to understanding what an eternal mindset is.

The whole verse says, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

An eternal mindset is a mind focused on the unseen realm, on things above rather than on the outward and subject to rust temporary things of this life.

It is a mindset that understands the physical world is not all there is.

There is a greater reality that is unknowable to our human senses.

This greater reality, particularly the kingdom of God, is revealed to us in the Scripture and seen through the eyes of faith.

Hebrews 11:1-3 English Standard Version

By Faith

11 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

An eternal mindset keeps the kingdom of God front and center in all one does.

Is This Something That We Should Have?

So, is having an eternal mindset something that is expected of all believers?

The passage quoted above from 2 Corinthians 4:18 answers this question in the affirmative.

Apostle Paul expressed that his eyes were fixed on the unseen, the eternal.

Paul used inclusive terminology in this verse: “we fix our eyes.”

The implication is that this should be true for all believers, not just a select few.

This is reinforced by passages like Colossians 3:1-2, where we are told to set our hearts and minds on things above.

Put On the New Self

3 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

In Hebrews 3:1-2, we are told to fix our thoughts on Jesus.

Jesus Greater Than Moses

3 Therefore, holy brothers,[a] you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s[b] house.

And Hebrews 12:1-2, where we are instructed to fix our eyes on Jesus.

Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,  who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

This is not something we are to do only on Sunday mornings, but we should all learn to discipline ourselves to focus our lives on Jesus and things above the rest of the days, weeks months, regardless of where we are and what we are doing.

In 1 Corinthians 7:29-31,

29 This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.

Paul tells us that the time is short, and this world is passing away.

So, even as we live in this world, we should not be engrossed in it.

Live in the now.

But keep your hope fixed on what lies ahead, on the eternal.

Don’t let your activities here distract you from the eternal.

What Does an Eternal Mindset Look Like?

We often call the eleventh chapter of Hebrews the Hall of Faith.

This chapter recalls many people from the Old Testament who, by faith, did something extraordinary with their lives which called the author to write it

But this is more than just a roll call of people who lived by faith.

Hebrews 11:9-10 says of Abraham, “By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”

Hebrews 11:13-16 develops this idea further, showing that these people acted in faith because they looked forward to something beyond this life.

13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

They each had a mindset that was disciplined and focused upon the life that awaited them beyond the grave, an eternal mindset.

Peter also identifies us as foreigners in this world (1 Peter 1:17; 2:11) and urges us to live that way.

We should never forget our citizenship is as members of the kingdom of God.

While we live in this world, we are to be distinct from it.

Living, not solely to satisfy our temporary desires, but living in a much more disciplined way that will please our heavenly Father.

But this does not mean that we ignore the world we live in, being so heavenly-minded that we are no earthly good.

We still need to work to support ourselves and our families.

We need to care for what God has blessed us with.

We need to relate to the people around us.

And we should be looking to make this world a better place.

But while we do those things, we should always keep sight of whose we are and the future God has prepared for us.

Living a life of faith, trusting God to care for us and bring us safely to that heavenly city without foundations that Abraham was looking forward to.

Our time here is short.

And as we live here, we should hold loosely to the things of this world.

Using them, but not placing great value on them (1 Corinthians 7:31).

Our security should not be in our possessions or any earthly institution.

Instead, it should be in the Lord who is preparing us for our eternal home.

We should also not become overwhelmingly discouraged when life gets hard, or the world seems to be steadily descending into the abysses of chaos and evil.

Instead, trust God with your life (Philippians 4:6-7) and seek to live a holy life (1 Peter 1:15-16) of love (1 John 4:10-11).

How Can We Develop an Eternal Mindset?

The Scripture teaches us that an eternal mindset is appropriate for all believers.

But what does it take to develop a mindset that looks into the future rather than being wrapped up in the subject to rust temporary things of this life?

Paul’s words in Philippians 3:12-14 can help us with this.

Straining Toward the Goal

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

He expressed that he had not yet reached his goal of Christlikeness, but he was straining and striving toward that.

He was not living in the past.

Instead, he was “straining toward what was ahead, pressing on toward the goal to win the prize for which God had called him heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

There are three aspects to what Paul has to say here.

First, he had a goal.

His goal was to become like Christ.

If we want to develop an eternal mindset, it needs to be our primary goal.

It will not happen by accident.

Nor can your goal be just a wish.

It needs to be something that we will actively pursue.

Second, we need to let go of anything that would interfere with reaching that goal.

For Paul, that was thoroughly giving up, surrendering the past, his heritage, training, accomplishments, and plans for what he originally wanted to become.

We each may have different things we need to leave in our past, things that hold us back – but whatever it may be, we need to make the sacrifice, leave it behind.

And finally, Paul was striving toward his goal.

He knew what he wanted to become.

And he was working at it with all that he was.

I will not develop an eternal mindset just by wishing for it.

Nor by investing a only a few hours a week.

It is a commitment of your whole life in pursuit of the goal.

That includes a commitment to spending time reading the Bible and making its teaching a part of your life.

Time should also be spent in prayer and communion with our heavenly Father, in fellowship with other believers, actively involved in the life of a local church.

These disciplines should take highest priority over many of the activities we might otherwise be engaged in.

Rabbi Jesus illustrates this for us with his parable of the pearl of great price in 

Matthew 13:45-46.

The Parable of the Pearl of Great Value

45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Here a merchant sold everything he had to purchase a pearl of great value.

He gave up all he had to have this pearl.

And that is what we need to do.

Give up everything we have to obtain the life that God has called us to.

The development of an eternal mindset is something that we can only do with the Holy Spirit.

Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian church in Ephesians 1:17-19 might be considered a prayer for an eternal mindset:

having spiritual eyes open to the hope we have in Christ, recognizing God’s inheritance in the saints, and knowing his power at work for us who believe.

Benefits of Keeping an Eternal Mindset

For me, it was a strong desire to be assured a place in heaven, that first led me to repentance and a relationship with Jesus. (Okay, fear of judgement and not wanting to go to hell might be more accurate).

In the years since, I have tasted and seen that God is good (Psalm 34:8),

8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
    Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

and I’ve lived the blessings of developing an eternal perspective on life.

But still, it’s not always easy to keep up that eternal mindset in the face of distractions and shiny things of this world!

However, it’s so worth it.

Let’s explore just a few benefits of fixing our eyes on the “prize” of heaven…

1) Eternity Reminds Us To Seek God’s Kingdom FIRST.

First and foremost, an eternal mindset will help us to keep the #1 thing the #1 thing.

And that #1 thing is God’s kingdom—specifically, Jesus’ charge to us, to share the good news.

While we look forward to eternity, we know there are still many people who don’t know Jesus, and thus do not have that same hope.

We need to keep a kingdom mindset, and to share the hope we have in Jesus.

1 Peter 3:14-16English Standard Version

14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16  having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

2) Eternity Helps Us Weather The Storms Of Life!

In the midst of trials, the thought of spending eternity with God (where there will be no more tears, pain, or death—Revelation 21:4), makes our struggles seem much smaller.

This life may sometimes seem long and full of pain, but it’s just a blip on the radar on comparison to eternity.

It really does help to set your mind on Jesus!

After all, it was Jesus who said this: “In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

3) Eternity Causes Us To Focus On Things That Really Matter.

Loving God, and loving our neighbors… Celebrating God and celebrating our neighbors – it’s what we did in LOVE that we will all carry with us into eternity (and, that will prayerfully stay with our loved ones who are still on earth too).

In the context of eternity and building up treasures of love, does that argument really matter?

Is it really important to gain promotions, if it takes us away from our family?

I could go on, but I believe you get the idea.

4) Eternity Causes Us To Invest In Heavenly Things!

Like a 5-year-old kid who you’re already saving for college for, and a 12-year-old already thinking about scholarships and GPA’s, it’s good to consider life as prep school for heaven.

How are we investing our time and our talents today?

Just imagine, when you get to heaven, you meet all the people you led to Jesus, all the folks who were hungry and you gave them a meal and something to drink or if you are a teacher all the students you taught, or the people you encouraged.

The people and purposes you choose to invest in MATTER.

Every day we should strive to discipline ourselves to remember, that the things of this world are like cheap baubles: they look amazing at first, but after a while, the glitter will gradually flake off, rhinestones fall out, they’ll lose their luster.

In contrast, eternal things are like real diamonds and gold. 

By keeping an eternal mindset, we can store up for ourselves our treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21), and along the long concourse of our lives, prevent ourselves from being continually deceived by the false lure of earthly things.

Being heavenly-minded makes a person more mindful and fruitful for Christ and provides a place of peace for self and others amid the chaos of the world.

Those who are disciplined and focused on eternity are significantly far more impactful for Christ than those who get caught up in the things of the world.

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

Let us Pray,

Father God, it is too easy to get caught up in the baubles of mundane of natural living. Sometimes we only see what is around the next corner. We need the Holy Spirit to lift our perspective so we can see things from heaven’s perspective. Thy Holy Spirit reminds us of the long view. Ultimately, we in faith believe that Jesus will one day return in triumph and the victory will be totally ours. Let this prayer reminds us of this immutable truth and let us ask thy Holy Spirit to calibrate and recalibrate our perspective. If this prayer ministers to you, then please share it with all your friends.

Intercessory Holy Spirit, I pray you will set my mind on heavenly things and help me to see more from a heavenly perspective than an earthly one. This should be natural for a person that is living in God by living in Christ. You are teaching me to rule and reign with my Savior and King Jesus. One day I will appear with Him in the sky. Prepare me for that day now. Develop the mindset of heaven in me in Jesus name,

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

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Soaking Ourselves in Envy or in God: Worship Perspective of God’s People. Proverbs 23:15-19

It’s tempting to admire rich and famous people who just seem to have every guilty pleasure in this world.

They always seem to have every­thing at their fingertips—money, fine food, adventurous travels, sleek cars and other toys, beautiful houses in beautiful places, big vacations where ever they want, power in business and politics.

Don’t they just seem to have everything in the world at their finger tips?

The Bible often cautions against having too much desire for the things other people have. That can lead to internal unrest that’s unhealthy for the soul.

Proverbs 23:15-18 English Standard Version

15 My son, if your heart is wise,
    my heart too will be glad.
16 My inmost being[a] will exult
    when your lips speak what is right.
17 Let not your heart envy sinners,
    but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day.
18 Surely there is a future,
    and your hope will not be cut off.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

It’s tempting to admire rich and famous people who just seem to have every guilty pleasure in this world.

They always seem to have every­thing at their fingertips—money, fine food, adventurous travels, sleek cars and other toys, beautiful houses in beautiful places, big vacations where ever they want, power in business and politics.

Don’t they just seem to have everything in the world at their finger tips?

The Bible often cautions against having too much desire for the things other people have. That can lead to internal unrest that’s unhealthy for the soul.

Envy is cultivated in our hearts at such an early age.

Right from the get go, Society immerses, ingrains, soaks, teaches us to want all of those hidden and known treasures that the world offers at a very young age.

The commercials on television show kids with all of the newest fantastic toys and then envy is born and flourishes when another receives it and one does not.

Steadily exerting its subtle influence upon our souls, Envy often involves not only a desire for something but also a demand that no one else should have it.

And under its not so subtle influence, the sin of envy might tempt us to commit more sin in order to get what we want—to lie, cheat, steal, or to even kill for it.

Envy is a sin because it reveals all of our not so subtle ingratitude toward the abundant blessings that God has graciously bestowed upon God’s Children.

Is it more offensive to God when we envy those who gain through corruption and dishonesty?

I could not answer this but ingratitude towards God is wrong.

Contentment with what we have has to be a sincere form of praise to God.

It is acceptable to dream of good things to come or to want things, but when it creates envy then we have abandoned contentment.

God calls this coveting. Does this next verses sound familiar.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s. (Exodus 20:17 NKJV)

Our treasure and reward is accumulating and being stored for each of us in heaven.

We will have the healthy fear of the Lord when we care more about doing for God than getting from God.

If that is the desire of your heart, envy cannot get a foothold.

The only time contentment would not reign in our hearts is when we desire to do more for God than the current conditions allow.

If you find envy in your heart, especially envy for those that gain but do not know God, remember that your treasures are in heaven.

Use that energy that envy is sapping from you and turn it into service for the Kingdom.

It is not about pleasing ourselves but is always about pleasing the Lord.

“Soak Yourself in the Fear of God”

Proverbs 23:17-18 The Message

14

17-18 Don’t for a minute envy careless rebels;
    soak yourself in the Fear-of-God—
That’s where your future lies.
    Then you won’t be left with an armload of nothing.

The writer of our passage from Proverbs 23:17-18 says that even for today, it is far better to pursue doing things God’s way.

When we live God’s way, when we immerse ourselves in God’s way, when we soak our lives to maximum saturation in God’s way, our future will be secure, even if it does not seem so exciting or so extravagant by the world’s standards.

In fact, when we are truly wise and striving to live our lives in tune with God, we will have as much, if not ever so much more desire for God’s way as we might be tempted to have for the life of people who forever just seem to have everything.

The Worship Perspective of God’s People

“That’s where your future lies.
    Then you won’t be left with an armload of nothing.”
Psalm 73:1-5 The Message

73 1-5 No doubt about it! God is good—
    good to good people, good to the good-hearted.
But I nearly missed it,
    missed seeing his goodness.
I was looking the other way,
    looking up to the people
At the top,
    envying the wicked who have it made,
Who have nothing to worry about,
    not a care in the whole wide world.

The psalmist Asaph struggled with the age-old question of why the wicked prosper.

In Psalm 73 he wrote, “But as for me, I almost lost my footing. My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone. For I envied the proud when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness” (verses 2–3 NLT).

We definitely live in a time when people celebrate and flaunt ungodly lifestyles.

And like Asaph, we wonder to ourselves and sometimes rather out loud just how long do they believe they are going to get away with it.

As hopeful, hope-filled, faithful, faith-filled followers of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we try to live our life by God’s Word, and people mock us for it.

So, we will say, or we will even sing, shout, out great raucous choruses of;

“This just isn’t fair. That’s a horrible thing they’re doing. They shouldn’t be able to get away with that.”

David, too, reflected on the life of the godly, the ungodly and contrasted them.

He looked at the priorities they have.

Psalm 5 The Message

5 1-3 Listen, God! Please, pay attention!
    Can you make sense of these ramblings,
    my groans and cries?
    King-God, I need your help.
Every morning
    you’ll hear me at it again.
Every morning
    I lay out the pieces of my life
    on your altar
    and watch for fire to descend.

4-6 You don’t socialize with Wicked,
    or invite Evil over as your houseguest.
Hot-Air-Boaster collapses in front of you;
    you shake your head over Mischief-Maker.
God destroys Lie-Speaker;
    Blood-Thirsty and Truth-Bender disgust you.

7-8 And here I am, your invited guest—
    it’s incredible!
I enter your house; here I am,
    prostrate in your inner sanctum,
Waiting for directions
    to get me safely through enemy lines.

9-10 Every word they speak is a land mine;
    their lungs breathe out poison gas.
Their throats are gaping graves,
    their tongues slick as mudslides.
Pile on the guilt, God!
    Let their so-called wisdom wreck them.
Kick them out! They’ve had their chance.

11-12 But you’ll welcome us with open arms
    when we run for cover to you.
Let the party last all night!
    Stand guard over our celebration.
You are famous, God, for welcoming God-seekers,
    for decking us out in delight.

And in Psalm 5 he wrote, “You will destroy those who tell lies. The Lord detests murderers and deceivers. Because of your unfailing love, I can enter your house; I will worship at your Temple with deepest awe” (verses 6–7 NLT).

David was saying, “Nonbelievers can do what they want to do and live the way they want to live.

But, Guess What World?

– “I’m going to go to the house of the Lord and Celebrate God.” (Verses 11-12)

Asaph arrived at a similar conclusion.

Psalm 73:15-20 The Message

15-20 If I’d have given in and talked like this,
    I would have betrayed your dear children.
Still, when I tried to figure it out,
    all I got was a splitting headache . . .
Until I entered the sanctuary of God.
    Then I saw the whole picture:
The slippery road you’ve put them on,
    with a final crash in a ditch of delusions.
In the blink of an eye, disaster!
    A blind curve in the dark, and—nightmare!
We wake up and rub our eyes. . . . Nothing.
    There’s nothing to them. And there never was.

He wrote, “Then I went into your sanctuary, O God, and I finally understood the destiny of the wicked. Truly, you put them on a slippery path and send them sliding over the cliff to destruction” (Psalm 73:17-18 NLT).

When we gather with God’s people, pray with God’s people, and to study God’s Word together, celebrating God as God celebrates us we will see the big picture.

We will steadily realize that sin eventually catches up with everyone.

We will steadily desire to celebrate all of God than celebrating .01% of our sins.

And as followers of Jesus Christ, we will know that we’ve made the right choice.

To utterly Celebrate God, the Father as God the Father celebrates us!

To utterly Celebrate God, the Son and God the Son celebrates us!

To utterly Celebrate God the Holy Spirit as God the Holy Spirit celebrates us!

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

Let us Pray,

Father God, you give to us abundantly and exactly what we need. Your blessings flow every morning anew. Our greatest blessing is your Son. Forgive us when we envy others for the material things that this world offers. Those things are fleeting and never eternal. Help us see how serving you is worth more than anything of this world. We pray that our eyes always focus on your glory. Provider God, give us our daily bread today, to celebrate You and help us not to be tempted to do anything sinful to get more. We pray that we always bring honor to your holy name. Amen.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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