Some Subtle Biblical Suggestions for the Cultivation of True Friendships. Proverbs 18:24

Depending on the Bible translation, we discover that “a man who has friends must himself be friendly,” or that “a man with too many friends will come to ruin,” and both are true in their own right.

In the former, we are instructed that in order to have friends, we need to show friendship towards other people, while in the latter, we are informed that having a lot of ‘fair-weather friends’ can make us vulnerable, because their loyalty towards us may fluctuate with feelings or change with circumstances.

We would be wise to heed the sound advice contained in each of these translations of this text of Scripture, and apply them to our own lives and the friendship choices we make.

But all translations agree that “there is a friend that sticks closer that a brother,” there is a friend who displays such loyalty towards us that no matter what we say or do they will remain loyal to us.

They will support and encourage us, help and counsel us, comfort and warn us, and they will love us no matter what happens.

Proverbs 18:24 Authorized (King James) Version

²⁴A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly:
and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory Be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the Beginning is now and ever shall be. Worlds Without End. Amen, Amen, Amen.

Friendship Arises Out Of Mere Companionship

“Friendship arises out of mere Companionship when two or more of the companions discover that they have in common some insight or interest or even taste which the others do not share and which, till that moment, each believed to be his own unique treasure (or burden). The typical expression of opening Friendship would be something like, ‘What? You too? I thought I was the only one.’” – C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

It is indeed truly wonderful to find a companion who shares something in common with us which then, over time, builds into a genuine friendship.

However, we must also be very aware that there are times when making and sustaining lasting friendships does not and will not come to us very easily.

For adults, life can get busy with balancing various responsibilities at work, home, hobbies, family life and myriads and myriads of other activities.

Finding time to cultivate friendships can be challenging and there will always be those that we struggle to connect with.

Forging true friendships takes time and commitment.

Are we making it an authentically active or authentically passive priority?

Are there things that we can do, or need to do to start, continue a friendship?

I am a firm believer that God’s truth as found in the Bible can help us in times when finding, making and maintaining, sustaining friendships, can be tough.

What is Friendship?

Proverbs 18:24 Amplified Bible

²⁴
The man of too many friends [chosen indiscriminately] will be broken in pieces and come to ruin,
But there is a [true, loving] friend who [is reliable and] sticks closer than a brother.

The union between God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit reveals a closeness and relationship which we all long for, and God invites us to be a part of that.

People were made for companionship as image bearers of the triune God and it was declared that it was not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18 Amplified).

¹⁸Now the Lord God said, “It is not good (beneficial) for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper [one who balances him—a counterpart who is] ^[a] suitable and complementary for him.”

From Adam’s own body, God made Eve as a helper for Adam and walked with them in the Garden of Eden before the fall.

God himself was relational to them and they were relational toward Him and in turn, to and towards one another.

Even after Adam and Eve sinned, it was the Lord who first embraced them and unfolded His plan of redemption against the evil one (Genesis 3:15 Amplified).

¹⁵
“And I will put enmity (open hostility)
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed (offspring) and her ^[a]Seed;
He shall [fatally] bruise your head,
And you shall [only] bruise His heel.”

Friendship is most clearly demonstrated in the life and death of Jesus.

He said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:13-15).

Jesus has revealed Himself to us and has not withheld anything, even His life.

When we follow and obey Him, we are called His friends.

He is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature (Hebrews 1:3).

We can come to know God because He became flesh and has made Himself known to us.

He laid down His life for us.

To be known and loved by God and be blessed by God to be called His friends should motivate us in being a friend to others out of our love for and obedience to Jesus – We can love others because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).

1 John 4:19 The Message

¹⁹We, though, are going to love—love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first.

Biblical Ways to Forge Friendships

1. Pray for One or Two Close Friends

Have we asked God for close friendships?

He cares very deeply about everyone of us and knows exactly all that we need.

It might never have been something we would think to pray for.

In 1 John 5:14-15 it says,

“this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”

In an expectant faith, we can each ask Him to bring someone into our lives to encourage us, to challenge us, be with us and to continue to point us to Jesus.

If we have asked God to help us cultivate close friendships that can spur us on in our faith and life, we need to anticipate and to believe that He will answer us.

Let’s be expectant that God can do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine by His power at work in us (Ephesians 3:20-21 The Message).

^20-21God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

Glory to God in the church!
Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!
Glory down all the generations!
Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!

2. Look to the Bible for Wisdom on Friendship

The Bible is filled with wisdom and the book of Proverbs has much to say on friendship, including choosing friends wisely and being a friend.

It speaks of good counsel from a friend: “Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice” (Proverbs 27:9).

Proverbs 27:9 The Message

⁹Just as lotions and fragrance give sensual delight,
a sweet friendship refreshes the soul.

It also warns about those who can break down friendships:

“A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends” (Proverbs 16:28)

Proverbs 16:28 The Message

²⁸Troublemakers start fights;
gossips break up friendships.

“Whoever would foster love covers over an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends” (Proverbs 17:9).

Proverbs 17:9 The Message

⁹Overlook an offense and bond a friendship;
fasten on to a slight and—good-bye, friend!

In the New Testament, Jesus is our greatest example of what it means to be a friend.

He says, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).

John 15:13-15 The Message

^11-15“I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I’m no longer calling you servants because servants don’t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve named you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the Father.

From the first verse of Genesis to the last verse of Revelation we see the story of God’s love and friendship with people.

He has always been Shepherding us.

Will we shepherd others with this same love that Christ had for us?

3. Be a Friend

It is not just about our own edification and what we can get out of a friendship.

Philippians 2:4 says, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others’ and 1 Thessalonians 5:11 says, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

There are many who are feigning, choosing to remain hidden who are lonely and struggling, longing for a friend, to be noticed and for someone to listen.

Who can we bless and encourage?

Is there anyone that we should get to know?

Not every acquaintance or person we help will become a close friend.

Yet, we are called to love our neighbor and even our enemies, and serve those that we meet and love them like Jesus does (Matthew 5:43-48 The Message).

Matthew 5:43-48 The Message

^43-47“You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the supple moves of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.

⁴⁸“In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.”

As it also says in Romans 12:10, “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”

Romans 12:10 The Message

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

4. Take the Initiative

Taking a step of faith can be really difficult.

Asking someone to meet up for a meal or coffee, inviting someone into our home or doing something that we hope will bless someone can take courage.

There may be all sorts of barriers.

Perhaps it is overcoming shyness or fear.

Maybe there is a cultural or societal wall that needs to be broken, prejudices or biases or stereotypes that needs to be confronted, challenged or we simply need to trust that Jesus will go before us, will 100% be with us in all our interactions.

It may well be daunting and difficult, complex and quite overly complicated.

Following Jesus first, not self, is not easy, yet there is no greater way to live.

We must be intentional and open up our heart and home with those around us, showing hospitality and kindness, and loving them first as Christ first loves us.

It was Jesus who initiated redemption by pouring out His grace on us when we were still enemies and sinners against God (Romans 5:6-10).

Romans 5:6-11 The Message

^6-8Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.

^9-11Now that we are set right with God by means of this sacrificial death, the consummate blood sacrifice, there is no longer a question of being at odds with God in any way. If, when we were at our worst, we were put on friendly terms with God by the sacrificial death of his Son, now that we’re at our best, just think of how our lives will expand and deepen by means of his resurrection life! Now that we have actually received this amazing friendship with God, we are no longer content to simply say it in plodding prose. We sing and shout our praises to God through Jesus, the Messiah!

If God can first lavish such amazing grace onto us, we can pour out that same measure of “first” amazing grace on others also.

5. Live Sacrificially

Matthew 14:13-21 English Standard Version

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

¹³Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. ¹⁵Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” ¹⁷They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” ¹⁸And he said, “Bring them here to me.” ¹⁹Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ²⁰And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. ²¹And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Jesus was always moving from place to place, meeting different people from the crowds and meeting their physical and spiritual needs.

Yet, He continuously made time to spend with His Father in prayer and with His disciples.

Ultimately, Jesus lived a life of complete sacrifice as He obeyed His Father and ultimately laid down His life on the cross for us.

We can now be a friend of God’s because He died for our sin, reconciling us into a right relationship with Him.

We are likewise covenanted to go and do likewise and live a life that is less about us, and significantly more about Jesus and is as self-sacrificing toward others.

Being transformed by the Savior’s sacrificial love, we are able to love others in a radical way and invest in people like Jesus did.

Romans 12:1-3 The Message

Place Your Life Before God

12 ^1-2So 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.

³I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

6. Stand by Friends in Ups and Downs

A true friend is steadfast and immovable and will remain by our sides in times of hardship and sorrow as well as sharing in moments of joy and celebration.

Friends share both trials and accomplishments, are transparent and truthful.

The close friendship shared between David and Jonathan in 1 Samuel 18:1 demonstrates this:

“As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.”

Jonathan showed kindness to David when his father King Saul pursued David’s life.

David trusted Jonathan to help him persuade his father to relent, but also to alert him if Saul was still after his life (1 Samuel 20).

After Jonathan was killed in battle, David was grieved which showed the depth of their relationship (2 Samuel 1:25-27).

7. Remember that Jesus Is the Ultimate Friend

It can be difficult to forge true, lasting friendships but as we trust the Lord to help us in this, we need to remember that Jesus is our ultimate friend.

He calls believers His friends because He has opened up to them and kept nothing hidden (John 15:15).

He died for us, He loved us first (1 John 4:19), He chose us (John 15:16), and when while we were still his sworn enemies, we were still far off from God He brought us near by His blood, shed for us on the cross (Romans 5:8, Ephesians 2:13).

Ephesians 2:11-13 The Message

^11-13But don’t take any of this for granted. It was only yesterday that you outsiders to God’s ways had no idea of any of this, didn’t know the first thing about the way God works, hadn’t the faintest idea of Christ. You knew nothing of that rich history of God’s covenants and promises in Israel, hadn’t a clue about what God was doing in the world at large. Now because of Christ—dying that death, shedding that blood—you who were once out of it altogether are in on everything.

He is the penultimate friend of sinners and promises never to leave nor forsake those who trust in Him.

Deuteronomy 31:7-8Amplified Bible

⁷Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all [the people of] Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you will give it to them as an inheritance. ⁸It is the Lord who goes before you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or abandon you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

The foundation of a true and lasting friendship will be one that spurs us on to follow God and Jesus in all of life, willing us to finish the race towards eternity.

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

Let us Pray,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

Thank you for your great love and blessing over our lives. Thank you that your anger is brief and your favor has no end, but it lasts for our entire lifetime. Forgive us for sometimes forgetting you are intimately acquainted with all of our ways, that you know what concerns us, and you cover us, as with a shield. We ask for your guidance so that we might walk fully in your blessing and goodness today. We ask that your face would shine on us. That you would open the right doors for our lives and for our loved ones, that you would close the wrong doors and protect us from those we need to walk away from. Establish the work of our hands and bring to fulfillment all that you have gifted, given us to do in these days. We pray that you would make our way purposeful and our footsteps firm out of your goodness and love. Give us a heart of wisdom to hear your voice, and make us strong by your huge favor and grace.

Glory Be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the Beginning is now and ever shall be. Worlds Without End. Amen, Amen, Amen.

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The Gift of Godly Friends. Acts 27:1-8

Godly friendships are those special relationships between friends that are based on mutual respect, trust, support and a love for God.

These types of friendships are built on a strong foundation of shared values and common interests, and they are typically characterized by a very deep sense of loyalty and companionship with Christ directly at the exact center.

Godly friendships are not always easy to find, but they are definitely worth the effort to cultivate.

These are the types of relationships that can help you weather the storms of life and come out stronger on the other side.

You pray for each other through the messes of life.

If you are fortunate enough to have a godly friendship in your life, cherish it, always and forever exceedingly abundantly value it, never take it for granted.

Acts 27:1-8 English Standard Version

Paul Sails for Rome

27 And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius. ²And embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica. ³The next day we put in at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for. ⁴And putting out to sea from there we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us. ⁵And when we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia. ⁶There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy and put us on board. ⁷We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. ⁸Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

How Godly Friendships Work

Godly friendships are those special relationships between friends that are based on mutual respect, trust, support and a love for God.

Godly friendships are not always easy to find, but they are definitely worth the effort to cultivate.

These are the types of relationships that can help you weather the storms of life and come out stronger on the other side.

You pray for each other through the messes of life.

If you are fortunate enough to have a godly friendship in your life, cherish it, always and forever exceedingly abundantly value it, never take it for granted.

What Is The Importance Of Godly Friendships

The Bible tells us that as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another (Proverbs 27:17).

In other words, we need godly friends in our lives to help us grow in our faith.

Just as our physical bodies need exercise and healthy food to stay strong, our souls need spiritual nourishment to stay healthy.

Godly friendships provide that spiritual nourishment. When we spend time with friends who love and follow Jesus, we are encouraged and challenged to do the same.

We learn from their example, and they help us to see things from a different perspective.

They also help us to hold on to our faith when things get tough.

So if you’re looking for ways to grow in your faith, seek out godly friendships.

These relationships will be a blessing to you, and you will be a blessing to them as well.

Because our relationship with God should be our priority, we should be seeking to please Him above all else.

Having godly friends means that we will have people in our lives who share our values and who will encourage us to grow in our faith.

This is an understated undervalued and ever so vital part of the Christian life, and it is something that we should, in these days of isolation, all be striving for.

Characteristics Of A Godly Friend

God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit is a God of perfect friendship and sets the only tone of how we should be friends to each other.

A godly friend is…

Encouraging
Focuses you back to God’s Word
Walks in love, forgiveness and healthy boundaries
Prays for you
Brings out your best
Sticks with you through the best of times and the worst of times.

Placing Proper Value on God’s Gift of Godly Friends.

The day had finally dawned, and Apostle Paul’s great longing to go to Rome was nearing its realization.

He was one of a number of prisoners whose destination was the great city at the center of the known world.

But at the outset of their journey, narrator Luke provides us with details that appear at first glance to be completely extraneous and mostly irrelevant.

He and Paul, he tells us, were “accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica.”

Aristarchus is not a well-known Bible character.

From the few places where he’s mentioned, we know that he was a good man to have around at any time, but especially during difficult times.

He first appears in Acts 19:29, where he ends up in harm’s way when Paul and his companions are set upon by a mob.

He is also mentioned at the end of Colossians (Colossians 4:10) and of Philemon (Philemon 24).

If these two epistles were written from Rome, while Paul was a prisoner there as is likely, then this companion named Aristarchus evidently remained with Paul throughout his entire journey to Rome and likely his subsequent imprisonment.

The mere mention of Aristarchus’s presence with Paul reminds us that even this great apostle to the Gentiles was not at all beyond the need of friendship.

Paul is such a significant figure that we may be tempted almost to deify him, assuming that he was echelons above and beyond such “worldly necessities.”

But in actual fact, he very much cherished friendship.

When he wrote his second letter to Timothy at the end of his life, he finished the epistle by asking not only for scrolls and his cloak (2 Timothy 4:13) but also the quick arrival of his young protégé Timothy (v 9).

The scrolls would stimulate his mind.

His cloak would deal with the cold.

But he needed Timothy because, to Paul, his friendship really mattered.

Paul’s need for friendship is revealed again when Luke tells us that, upon reaching Sidon on the way to Rome, Paul was allowed by the centurion Julius who kindly oversaw the prisoners; “to go to his friends and be cared for.”

Was it out so very of place for the mighty apostle to be cared for by others?

Not at all! Paul embraced his weakness and dependence on others because he knew that Christ’s “power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

The sooner we discover how powerless and weak we really are alone, the sooner we learn the value of friendship.

No matter how strong or gifted you and I may be, you and I are not Superman, nor are we expected by God to be Superman.

If this mighty apostle needed friends and companions in his life, then you and I do as well.

Friendship is a wonderful gift God has given so that we might be encouraged and supported as we journey through this life.

Today, then, consider the godly friends that the Lord has placed around you.

Offer thanks for their love and support.

And above all, do pray for their endurance and encouragement in the faith, knowing that just as you need them to point you to Christ, so they need you.

How Do You Build Godly Friendships

There are many ways to build godly friendships, but here are five key ways:

Pray together. This is a great way to get to know each other and to build a strong bond.
Study the Bible together. This will help you to grow in your faith together and to learn more about each other.
Serve together. Doing things for others is a great way to build friendships. You can serve at your church, in your community, or even in your neighborhood.
Hang out together. Just spending time together is a great way to build friendships. You can go for coffee, go for a walk, or even just have a conversation.
Encourage each other in the Lord. This is a great way to show that you care about each other and to build a strong friendship.

How Do We Know If A Friendship Is From God?

First and foremost, a friendship that is from God will be rooted in love, kindness, and respect.

It will be a friendship that honors God and seeks to reflect His character.

This means that your friend will encourage you to grow in your faith and will pray for you regularly.

They will also be a positive influence in your life and help you to become a better person.

Another sign of a friendship that is from God is that it will be based on mutual trust and transparency.

You should be able to share your thoughts and feelings with your friend without fear of judgment or condemnation.

Your friend should also be willing to share their own struggles and weaknesses with you, and together you can support each other and grow in your faith.

Finally, a friendship that is from God will be one that is marked by love, and joy, patience and peace, self-control and mutual understanding and contentment.

Even in difficult times, you will be able to find comfort and encouragement in your friendship.

Your friend will be a source of strength and encouragement to you, and together you can overcome any obstacle.

Ultimately, the best way to know if a friendship is from God is to pray about it and seek His guidance.

Ask God to reveal to you whether this friendship is from Him, and trust in His wisdom and guidance.

Remember that friendships that are from God are a gift, and they can be a powerful source of inspiration, support and encouragement in your life.

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

Let us Pray,

Abba Father, everlasting BFF, I pray for godly friendships in my life. I pray for friends who will be there for me through the good times and the bad. I pray for friends who will encourage me in my faith and help me to grow closer to You. I pray for friends who will be honest with me and who will challenge me to be the best that I can be. I pray for friends who will make me laugh and who will help me to enjoy life. I pray for friends who will be there for me when I need them, and who I can be there for in return. Also, Lord, make me this kind of friend. Thank You for the friends You have already given me, and I pray for many more blessed friendships soon. In Jesus’ name,

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

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A Psalm of Life: It is Never All About You, Neither Will It Ever Be All About Me. Hebrews 7:23-25

Hebrews 7:23-25 Amplified Bible

²³The [former successive line of] priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were each prevented by death from continuing [perpetually in office]; ²⁴but, on the other hand, Jesus holds His priesthood permanently and without change, because He lives on forever. ²⁵Therefore He is able also to save forever (completely, perfectly, for eternity) those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede and intervene on their behalf [with God].

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

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

A Psalm of Life

BY HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW [October 1838]

What The Heart Of The Young Man Said To The Psalmist.

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,

Life is but an empty dream!

For the soul is dead that slumbers,

And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal;

Dust thou art, to dust returnest,

Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

Is our destined end or way;

But to act, that each to-morrow

Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,

And our hearts, though stout and brave,

Still, like muffled drums, are beating

Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world’s broad field of battle,

In the bivouac of Life,

Be not like dumb, driven cattle!

Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!

Let the dead Past bury its dead!

Act,— act in the living Present!

Heart within, and God o’erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,

Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,

With a heart for any fate;

Still achieving, still pursuing,

Learn to labor and to wait.

A Highly Offensive Contemporary Psalm for Life.

It’s not all about you.

But, then again, neither is it about me.

Urgently Needed Reminder: God’s Psalm for Life.

I would say that the question most frequently asked by Christians is this: is it possible for me to lose my salvation?

It bothers so many of us.

We know the stakes.

And the possibility of having got it wrong, haunts so many believers.

This message is the first of at least two in a small series that are stand- alone messages but which, I pray will all bear upon the question of eternal security.

Do we believe that the Blood of Christ cleanses us from sin?

Absolutely – no problem there – just read 1 John 1:9.

Do we accept that no-one can snatch us away from God?

Of course we do – the Bible says so.

No one can snatch us out of the Father’s hand – John 10:28-29 makes that one quite clear

But here’s where agreement ends and doubts begin!

We hear so many things that can make us insecure – particularly if we’re really struggling to the live the lives we know we should.

So many doubts.

So many fears and apprehensions.

So many different slants and theories.

When do we get saved?

Is it at a particular point in time?

Or does it develop over a certain measure of time?

Is it possible to stop believing and lose it all?

Can we blow it by persisting in willful sin?

Or does that willful sin show that we’ve already blown it in the first place?

After all – the tree is known by its fruit! [Psalm 1, Matthew 7:15-19, 12:33-35]

So – to extend that principle a little – can we forfeit Eternal Life – not just by sinning – but by being unfruitful and unproductive in our lives?

Carelessly allowing our salvation to slip straight through our very own fingers – as Hebrews 2:1-4 seems to suggest?

Give Heed

2 ^[a]For this reason [that is, because of God’s final revelation in His Son Jesus and because of Jesus’ superiority to the angels] we must pay much closer attention than ever to the things that we have heard, so that we do not [in any way] drift away from truth. ²For if the message given ^[b]through angels [the Law given to Moses] was authentic and unalterable, and every violation and disobedient act received an appropriate penalty, ³how will we escape [the penalty] if we ignore such a great salvation [the gospel, the new covenant]? For it was spoken at first by the Lord, and it was confirmed to us and proved authentic by those who personally heard [Him speak], ⁴[and besides this evidence] God also testifying with them [confirming the message of salvation], both by signs and wonders and by various miracles [carried out by Jesus and the apostles] and by [granting to believers the] gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.

We’re going to examine these fears and see if they have any basis in reality.

What does the Word of God actually teach?

But don’t just take my word for it. Like the Bereans – examine this subject for yourself.

I’m confident that when you understand the principles by which God operates – understand His motivations in relation to your salvation, you’ll put to rest these doubts, fears; you’ll appreciate the yawning gulf that divides human reasoning from Divine wisdom and Infinite Love and Grace.

This first devotion is entitled: ‘It’s not all about you’

We’ll discuss this in a moment – but first let’s address a couple of the concerns we mentioned at the beginning.

Among the various positions adopted on the question of eternal security, what undisputed facts can we all agree on – if we take the Word of God at face value?

What does the Bible clearly teach about eternal life?

Well – the first thing we find is that:

Eternal life is a present possession!

It’s not something we have to wait to receive;

It is not something we grow into;

And not something that develops gradually.

The Bible does talk about aspects of our salvation that still lie in the future – but entering into a relationship with God – and receiving the gift of eternal life – is something that happens at a particular point in our lives!

In John 5:24 Jesus said these words:

“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.

Then in Ephesians 2:4-5 we read:

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

And finally, Paul says in Romans 5:1-2

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

So that’s quite clear.

Salvation isn’t something we’re looking forward to – it’s something that occurs in one point of time!

So you and I are either saved right now or we’re not saved at all!

So what’s the next thing we can agree on?

It’s this.

It appears that we can be sure that we have eternal life.

God intends for us to have confidence – to be able to rest quietly in the knowledge and complete assurance of salvation – no shadow of a doubt!

John writes in his first epistle, chapter 5:13:

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

In Romans 8:16 Paul says:

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

And in 2 Timothy 1:12, we hear Paul’s stirring words:

I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.

Some people would – of course – say that this confidence is conditional upon us showing the fruits of salvation in our lives.

They say, in other words, that we can be sure of our salvation as long as we have it – but that’s no guarantee that we can’t lose it!

So the questions which remain to be answered are this:

Is it possible for us to lies lose our salvation?

Is it possible to cease being a Christian?

Can we be saved one minute – but lost the next?

Ok. If we want to get down to what the Bible actually says, we’ll need to scrap some of this misleading terminology once and for all.

Losing your salvation is not a term used in Scripture at all!

And for very good reason!

Certainly salvation is spoken of as a gift – but not as an object: a thing that can be dropped, given away or lost.

This gift is nothing less than the gift of new life – eternal life!

So can you lose your Salvation?

Well – what happens if you lose your life?

You die, of course!

So the real question should be this:

If a man is reborn (through the process of the new birth) and consequently has eternal life – can he die again?

And that puts an entirely different complexion on things!

Can a life be described as eternal if it can end – and you can die again?

Christ is our life.

Can He die again?

Well – actually He can’t!

Romans 6:8-11 Amplified Bible

⁸Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live [together] with Him, ⁹because we know [the self-evident truth] that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has power over Him. ¹⁰For the death that He died, He died to sin [ending its power and paying the sinner’s debt] once and for all; and the life that He lives, He lives to [glorify] God [in unbroken fellowship with Him]. ¹¹Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin [and your relationship to it broken], but alive to God [in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus.

When you think it through – it’s actually nonsense to talk about losing salvation – because of the very meaning of the word.

In certain circumstance I can save myself – but if I’m saved by someone else – by very definition I’m not contributing to the action.

Christ saves me!

If I were to perish for any reason – then in actual fact he wouldn’t have saved me.

But let’s start from the beginning

As we said before: it’s not all about you, neither is it about me!

Salvation is not all about us.

What do I mean by that – and what bearing does it have on our eternal security?

In the Garden of Eden, Satan had effectively stolen God’s creation from him.

We belonged to God – we were created differently from the animals.

Mankind was His special creation – formed in His image so that He could enjoy fellowship with us forever – loving Him and being loved by Him for all eternity.

Now you can’t force a person to love you.

The relationship for which God created us, had to be based on our willingness to have, continue fellowship with Him, to freely offer Him our love and devotion.

So in that sense – maintaining a continuous relationship with God was man’s responsibility.

We were born with a self-determining free-will and this privilege and dignity is something God would never over-ride.

So, ultimately, He had to risk losing us.

He had to take the chance of us turning our backs on Him.

And that’s exactly what happened!

Adam and Eve transferred their allegiance to Satan.

They passed from God’s control to Satan’s authority.

But Satan wasn’t going to win.

God already had a plan – a plan of Salvation – in order to regain what Satan had been allowed to steal from him; a plan to repossess that which He had lost.

Luke 19:10: For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.

Lost by whom?

Once again we make it all about us.

We were lost – we say – in sin.

But surely a natural reading of what Christ said would be we were lost to God – He had lost us – and that He had come to recover us: to save us – to get us back.

And that’s what redemption is all about!

In the OT the word translated “redeem” is pa^da^h and it means: to ransom, redeem, rescue, or deliver. [Isaiah 50:2 ESV]

https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/isa/50/2/t_conc_729002

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h6304/esv/wlc/0-1/

In the NT the word is exagorazo. [Galatians 4:5]

https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/gal/4/5/t_conc_1095005

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g1805/esv/mgnt/0-1/

In the Roman world, the market place was called the agora.

Exagorazo therefore literally means – to take out of the market place – hence – to purchase.

According to Strongs Concordance, it means: To recover from the power of another, to ransom by paying a price.

Of course, being recovered or ransomed implies that we formerly belonged to someone else – who then paid a price to get us back.

And that’s what our English word redeem conveys.

It comes from two Latin words meaning: to buy again or to buy back.

So – if I redeem something, I recover or ransom something that once belonged to me.

God did that – He once owned us because He created us.

He then lost us when we sinned – so He set out to recover which was lost – to ransom us – to buy us back – to redeem us – the price He paid was staggering:

it was the life of His own beloved Son!

The life blood of Jesus Christ was the currency that was used.

1 Peter 1:18-19 says this:

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

We were redeemed from the slave market of sin and are now twice-owned!

You and I are twice owned.

God created us – lost us and bought us back.

We are now his treasured possession – He purchased us.

A transaction has taken place and the highest possible price was paid:

the full asking price demanded by the law to free us from sin – the life blood of Jesus Christ, God’s only Son.

So 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says.

You are not your own; you were bought at a price.

That’s redemption!

Do we get that?

We no longer belong to ourselves.

God paid the highest possible price to get us back.

We are now His property!

Titus 2:14 says that he:

gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

It’s not all about us.

It’s not purely for our benefit!

We are now his inheritance!

Paul says to the Ephesians in chapter 1:18:

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people….

As Israel was continually referred to as God’s inheritance, we are His spiritual people – His glorious inheritance – His new creation.

2 Corinthians 5:17:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: Old things have gone, new things are here!

We’ve already seen that in the first creation, man was responsible for maintaining fellowship with God and he failed.

But do you believe that God will allow Satan to once again usurp him successfully?

To once again frustrate His purposes and steal away his possession?

One that He paid for with the death of his Son?

And that would happen if just one believer were to lose his Salvation – because effectively Christ would have died again.

Grace wouldn’t be reigning through righteousness – sin would once again be reigning through death (at least in that one life)!

A death, by the way, which has been destroyed by the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Not a chance!

Things are different now.

In the new creation, the responsibility of maintaining our relationship with God is now His responsibility – not ours.

And why? Because He bought us and we are His possession.

Remember 1 Corinthians 6:19b-20

You are not your own; you were bought at a price.

This involves ownership.

We actually don’t have the right to give ourselves away again – in any way shape or form.

We’re God’s property!

In fact, God made certain that we couldn’t blow it again – either as a new race or as individuals.

Let us now look at how he protected us as individuals – how he has further guaranteed that we’ll never die again.

It’s found in Romans 4:16.

Here the Apostle Paul writes these wonderful words:

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring-not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.

Notice here what God has done.

So that the responsibility for our salvation might be taken out of our hands altogether –

in other words, so that it might be by grace, entirely on the basis of a free gift – with us contributing nothing at all,

he made its acquisition conditional upon upon faith – simply believing – so that we have no active part to play – just to receive what is offered!

Ephesians 2:8-9 therefore says:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no-one can boast.

So God took on the responsibility for the whole thing so that the promise could be guaranteed.

He had to!

Sin had to be paid for – that took the death of Christ.

We had no part in that – except, of course, in the fact He was representing us.

And our new life had to be perfect forever.

To those who say that we can lose our salvation by sin in our lives, I would remind them that it only took one sin to sink the whole human race!

I mean, what estimation do we have of God?

Do we think that He can tolerate a certain level of sinning and then if it gets beyond that, He’ll say: “Ok, that’s enough!”

It took one sin to sink the human race!

You think you can lose your salvation by sinning?

Then fine – but remember this: you lost it with the first sin you committed after you got saved!!

What is good enough for God is absolute and total perfection or nothing at all!!

And He guaranteed that too – by imparting to us the life of Christ by way of the new birth!

As I said, our salvation consisted of God taking back what belonged to him.

And doing so by paying the price for our freedom.

I mean – Consider what happened at the moment of our salvation.

A transaction took place.

A deposit was paid on us.

We were set aside as his property.

That’s pretty much a guarantee of eternal life isn’t it?

¹⁴The Spirit is the ^[a]guarantee [the first installment, the pledge, a foretaste] of our inheritance until the redemption of God’s own [purchased] possession [His believers], to the praise of His glory. [Ephesians 1:14 Amplified]

In fact, Ephesians 1:14 describes the Holy Spirit as: a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

There’s the guarantee.

It’s because a deposit has been paid. And this deposit is the Holy Spirit.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/eph/1/14/t_conc_1098014

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g728/esv/mgnt/0-1/

The word deposit here is the word arrhabon.

It’s a word of Hebrew origin and means: a pledge – that is, part of the purchase money or property given in advance as security for the rest.

It’s the money which, when a purchase takes place, is given as a down-payment – in effect, a pledge that the full amount will subsequently be paid!

When you were saved – did you receive the Holy Spirit??

Of course you did!

And if you did – then God’s already paid a deposit on you.

The Holy Spirit is the down-payment!

The Holy Spirit is also a seal on God’s property!

In ancient times, when property was purchased, it was sealed by the new owner with his own distinctive mark – just like cattle was branded in the old West.

This was to protect the goods and to ensure that nobody else could claim them or interfere with them.

In our case, we were also branded or sealed, just to make sure that we were His – that no-one else could claim us.

The Bible says – in Ephesians 1:13:

When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/eph/1/13/t_conc_1098013

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4972/esv/mgnt/0-1/

The word for seal is the noun from the Greek verb sphragizō – and it’s used 13 times in the Bible.

It means: to stamp for security or preservation – usually with a signet ring or private mark.

That happened when you believed!

It’s not a hope; it’s not a promise.

It’s a done deal!

It doesn’t say ‘if you continue to believe’

Having believed – the verb here is in what is called the aorist tense.

It’s a one-time process that’s already been completed in your life if you’ve come to Christ!

You and I have been sealed.

The seal signified that the goods belonged to the owner of seal or the mark.

Remember – it’s not all about you.

You’re his property now.

And the seal – the Holy Spirit in our case – is a guarantee that the goods will reach their destination in the same condition that they left!

Nobody can get at you except by breaking the seal!

Is there something out there that is greater than the love of God?

More effective than the blood of Christ?

More powerful than the indwelling Holy Spirit?

Doesn’t the Bible say: greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world.?

The Holy Spirit can’t be overcome.

He can’t be ejected from the believer.

In other words – the seal can’t be broken.

It’s His seal – we are His property!

In fact His seal is an absolute guarantee!!

2 Corinthians 1:21-22:

Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

How could our salvation be guaranteed if it was up to us in any way whatsoever?

Adam and Eve were created perfect, in idyllic surroundings and in personal contact and communion with God every day.

Yet they still blew it.

But God has purchased or redeemed us and put his personal seal within us.

Make no mistake about this.

If one sealed soul were to be lost, then the seal will have been broken!

The promise and guarantee of God will have been made void!

And God is very serious about keeping His Word.

It abides forever.

He warns us about making oaths because in doing so, we’re undertaking something that only God Himself is able to do – absolutely guarantee the fulfillment of an oath.

And if one saved soul were to be lost:

Satan would have won again!

The deposit would have been lost!

Good faith in purchase destroyed!

And no power in universe can do that!

God has his own plans for His possession

Nothing and nobody is going to steal us away again.

No power in the universe is going to thwart and frustrate His purposes!

Examine what is known as the Golden chain in Romans 8:30:

And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

And so Paul says in Romans 8:38-39:

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

But sometimes it sounds counter – intuitive, doesn’t it!

As human beings, seeing everything from a humanistic perspective, we’ve been so ingrained with concepts like:

There’s no such thing as a free lunch!

If it sounds too good to be true – it probably is!

You only get out of something what you put in!

And so forth!

So Christians, without realizing it, often rebel against the principle of Grace – the free unconditional love of God, His gift of Grace – Eternal Life in Christ.

They might say – and you’ve all heard these objections:

Sure – nothing can snatch us out of the Father’s hand – but surely we can:

by our own choice.

or our own actions.

lose our salvation.

I mean – there has to be consequences for how we live our lives!

So there’s the question.

Salvation is free, but can we, by free choice, stop being covered by blood of Christ?

Can we ourselves break the seal?

Void the contract?

Undo God’s work in us.

Make ineffective the blood of Christ.

Reverse the effects of the death of Christ in our lives?

See how silly that starts to sound!

Well – Some say that we can and they will give a variety of reasons:

Living a sinful life.

No longer believing.

Not persevering with works of righteousness.

Well, you’ll find each of these objections will resolve itself from the Word of God.

For the moment, just remember one important thing:

Man had a relationship with God.

The maintenance of that relationship was man’s responsibility.

Man failed to live up to the terms of that relationship.

Because of this, he passed from communion with God into the power of Satan.

God, by the death of Christ, went to amazing lengths to buy back or redeem His lost possession.

We now belong to Him – signed, sealed and delivered.

Our safety and maintenance in that relationship is now up to Him – and Him alone!!

May God bless His Word to each one of us! Amen

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

Let us Pray,

Almighty God, you are the source of all light. You divinely separated light from darkness so that we may have the beauty of the light of day. Dear Lord, illuminate this day and enlighten us as we seek to know you through your word. May we be led by your light so our hearts may be opened to your word. We pray that we receive every word you speak to us today. Holy and gracious God, you are the greatest of all. You are full of wonders that no mere human can comprehend. Lord, I seek to understand you and your ways so that I can live according to your commandments. I pray for your divine illumination in my heart and mind. Help me see what you intend for me to see. Help me understand what you intend for me to understand. Open my eyes and my ears, my mouth, to see you and hear, speak your whispers.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

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

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“Jesus Loved Even Me.” 1 John 4:7-10

1 John 4:7-10Authorized (King James) Version

⁷Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. ⁸He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. ⁹In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. ¹⁰Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

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

As believers in Jesus, we should be loving other people.

Yes, even those that are unlovely.

Why?

Because God loves us and forgives us even when we don’t deserve it.

And out of that love that we have been given, we should be loving others and leading them closer to Jesus.

1 John 4:8 Amplified Bible

⁸The one who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love. [He is the originator of love, and it is an enduring attribute of His nature.]

Part of knowing God, and being His follower is developing love in your life.

And it might take a little effort on your part.

And it might take a substantial effort on your part.

And it might even take a miraculous effort on your part.

Somewhere there might a hurt so unconscionable, it is beyond redemption.

You might be holding onto a grudge whose origin is utterly lost to the ages.

You might be used to gossiping, maybe even spreading rumors about others.

If you are reading this and can find no of God, love for God and for others, love bears all things at all times and perseveres for as long as forever lasts for You.

The encouragement is to keep praying even when praying is too difficult and keep hoping even when hope is the furthest thing from your mind, your soul –

God will always wait.

God will always and forever come to you when you choose to come to Him.

Luke 15:17-24 English Standard Version

¹⁷“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! ¹⁸I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. ¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ ²⁰And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. ²¹And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’^[a] ²²But the father said to his servants,^[b] ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. ²³And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. ²⁴For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

And God will forever feel compassion for, to embrace, to celebrate, your life.

Psalm 42:1-3 English Standard Version

Book Two

Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul?

To the choirmaster. A Maskil^[a] of the Sons of Korah.

42 As a deer pants for flowing streams,
    so pants my soul for you, O God.
²My soul thirsts for God,
    for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?^[b]
³My tears have been my food
    day and night,
while they say to me all the day long,
    “Where is your God?”

“Christ Loved Me – Yes, Even Me.”

The distinguishing mark of a Christian is their measure of confidence in their Savior Christ’s love for him and in the offering of his love to their Savior Christ.

First, faith sets her seal upon the person by enabling their heart and soul to say with the apostle John, “Christ loved me and gave himself for me.”

Then love gives the countersign and stamps upon the heart and soul gratitude and love to Jesus in return. “We love because he first loved us.”

In those grand old ages, which are the heroic period of the Christian religion, this double mark was clearly seen in all believers in Jesus.

They were men and women who knew the love of Christ and rested upon it as a man leans upon a staff whose trustworthiness Christ, the Shepherd has proved.

The love they felt toward the Lord was not a quiet emotion that they hid within themselves in the secret place of their souls and that they only spoke about in private or when they met on the first day of the week and sang hymns in honor of Christ Jesus the crucified.

It was a limitless passion with them of such a vehement and an all-consuming energy that it was visible in all their actions, evident in their conversation, and unmistakably seen in their eyes, even in their casual glances – Boy, what a Love.

Love for Jesus was a flame that fed upon the core and heart of their being and therefore by its own force burned its way into their demeanor and shone there.

Zeal for the glory of King Jesus was the seal and mark of all genuine Christians.

Because of their dependence upon Christ’s love they dared much, and because of their love for Christ they did much, and it is the same now.

The children of God are ruled in their inmost powers by love.

The love of Christ constrains them; they rejoice divine love is set upon them, they feel it shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Spirit, who is given to them, and then by force of gratitude they love the Savior with a pure and fervent heart.

My reader, do you love Him with that self same passion He first had for You?

Before you sleep, give your Savior an honest answer to that weighty question!

When you wake up again, then give unto your Savior an honest answer to this next weighty question –

For waking me up, how will I give all my Love to my Savior today?

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

Let us Pray,

Prayer to Love Others as God Loves Me

Heavenly Father, I am so utterly blessed to be Your child, and that I can call You “My Abba Father,” for You are my loving Daddy! My heart overflows with gratitude. You have made me a partaker of Your divine nature, and Your love for me is so wide, so deep – it is beyond my comprehension. May the truth of my identity in You sink deep into my psyche, and impact my relationship with others. Dear Loving Father, may I come to love others as You have first loved me, with compassion and care. Amen.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

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

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The Fourth Commandment: Our Rest, Our Witness. Remember the Sabbath. Exodus 20:8-11

Exodus 20:8-11 Amplified Bible

⁸“Remember the Sabbath (seventh) day to keep it holy (set apart, dedicated to God). ⁹Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰but the seventh day is a Sabbath [a day of rest dedicated] to the Lord your God; on that day you shall not do any work, you or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock or the temporary resident (foreigner) who stays within your [city] gates. ¹¹For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested (ceased) on the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy [that is, set it apart for His purposes].

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

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

Keep the Sabbath [verse 8]

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Exodus 20:8

Throughout history there have been well-meaning, earnest Christians who have, perhaps without their ever knowing it, who have come to functionally believe the Ten Commandments are really only the Nine Commandments.

Somewhere along the way, some have decided the fourth commandment is not like the rest of the commandments but rather as a relic that belongs in the past.

In truth, though, the ancient command to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy has abiding significance for us all, even today.

Why has this simple command fallen on such hard times?

Some have claimed that its regulations and penalties were tied to the old covenant, so it must no longer be relevant.

Yet we do not treat the other commandments this way.

Others have said that the way Jesus spoke of being “lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8) diminished the commandment’s significance and force.

What about Jesus’ apparent intent here?

What the man Rabbi Jesus sought to overturn was not the Sabbath itself but the host of hypocritical external rules of the Pharisees.

I have long suspected what keeps most Christians from thinking of the fourth commandment as we ought to is simply that we do not like its implications.

We do not like, nor appreciate all of the subtle and not so subtle ways it intrudes into our lives, into our leisure and whatever else takes precedence in our hearts.

So we act as though this command is in a different category from the other nine.

However, If we truly want to grasp the significance of the Sabbath and respond to it in a God-honoring way, we must all embrace, as a conviction, the real truth that God has intentionally set aside the Sabbath day as distinct from the rest.

This was the case in the week of creation, with God resting on the seventh day and declaring it sanctified.

The church, in the age of the new covenant, then changed the day from the seventh day of the week to the first day to mark the resurrection of Christ.

In both cases, we see that the distinction of the day is woven into God’s work of creation and redemption.

With that conviction in place, we can see that the day is not simply a day set apart from other days, but it is, in Gospel Truth, a day set apart unto the Lord.

By not seeing it this way, we’ll be tempted to view our spiritual exercises on the Lord’s Day as something to “get over with” in order to “get on with” our week.

If this is our mentality, we stand condemned by the fourth commandment.

The Sabbath ought to be treasured for what it is: a gift of a day on which we enjoy, uninterrupted by leisure commitments or (if possible) by employment, the privilege of God’s presence, the study of God’s word, and the fellowship of God’s people.

Seen like that, this command becomes an invitation: not only to just something we should do but something we will each come to learn how to love to do.

If this is not how you have been viewing God’s Sabbath, then ask yourself:

What’s preventing you from honoring the Lord’s Day?

Take stock of your habits and receive the gift of the Sabbath.

From that next Sunday, be sure that your priority is not to make the Lord’s Day convenient but to make the Lord’s day exclusively about God, to keep it holy.

Keep the Sabbath [verses 9-10]

⁹Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰but the seventh day is a Sabbath [a day of rest dedicated] to the Lord your God; on that day you shall not do any work, you or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock or the temporary resident (foreigner) who stays within your [city] gates. [verses 9, 10]

Having established the fourth commandment remains what it has always been—a commandment of the Lord—and as such it is relevant to our lives, we can now turn our hearts, souls, minds, to thinking profitably about how to keep it.

But we must be careful as we get specific about honoring the Sabbath.

The Lord Jesus, after all, had some very harsh, strong words for the Pharisees regarding the way their moral specificity had become a means not of obedience but of self-righteousness (Mark 2:23 – 3:6).

With “quaking and trembling knees” and maturing humility, let’s take some quality time to consider how are we to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.

Let us try to explore: How do we prevent worldly concerns—those of leisure, recreation, and work—from infringing on our enjoyment and worship of God?

Let’s think first of public worship.

What kinds of conversations do you typically have prior to the worship service?

Are they concerned at any point with exclusively the things of God, or only ever with sports – making it to the home team game, family, and every other thing?

It takes a conscious and a thoroughly intentional act of the will to give eternal matters the very highest measure of maxed priority in our minds and mouths.

If you were to determine that in your preparation for worship you would set aside every priority which looms, loomed so large on other days, I guarantee the focus of your time at church would be changed.

The same goes for after the service.

When the last song has been sung and the service is over, how long does it take for your mind and conversation to return to worldly matters?

If we were instead to:

commit to spending time after the service speaking to one another about the greatness of God, the truth of His word, and the wonder of His dealings with us,

and praying with one another about the week ahead and the trials we face, then we would begin to understand better the “one another” passages in the New Testament about:

encouraging one another (Hebrews 10:25),

speaking the truth to one another (Ephesians 4:25), and

building one another up (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

—for we would then be prioritizing ourselves to actually living them out.

Similarly, in our private affairs on the Lord’s Day, spiritual improvement should still take priority.

That may mean additional family worship, reading edifying books, prayer, discussion of what was preached that morning, and more—but whatever it means, we should make it our aim not to let the cares of the other six days push into our efforts of growing our spiritual enjoyment of the first day of the week.

If we want to profit from keeping the Sabbath, and if we want to take the fourth commandment more seriously, then our convictions must fuel our actions, and our daily aspirations must turn into daily practices.

Avoid making unique rules that only serve to foster self-righteousness, but consider whether anything worldly needs to change, be re-prioritized Godly.

How would, should, could you change to keep the Sabbath holy the next time Sunday comes round, then Monday, then Tuesday then Wednesday and so on?

Our Sabbath Rest as Our Witness

[sermon illustrations]

The college student broke down in tears over his coffee.

Driven by competition for limited space in a pre-law program, he had just poured himself into studying virtually nonstop, eight hours a day seven days a week. After seven months he found he lost the ambition for learning—and nearly for life itself.

Driven by the desire for promotion and the prospect for more money for him an his growing family, [……….] takes extra work home every single night to get the one up on his fellow workers – he stays up till midnight every night for weeks. Taking no time for dinner with his wife or leisure time his young kids, he hears them crying.

Our reading today states that “in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth … but he rested on the seventh day.”

The ambition and creativity we bring to work is a reflection of our mindset on our Creator’s sovereignty over our lives and over the lives we genuinely value.

It’s part of how we reflect his image and a big part of how we serve as witnesses for him.

God also rested on the seventh day, however, and he calls us to do the same.

For us, good work hinges on good rest.

Without good rest our good work suffers.

The discipline of regular rest is a witness in our fast-paced world, especially when that time is focused on enjoying our Creator.

It speaks of God’s love to command what’s good for us.

Our ambitions would otherwise serve only to distract us from him and drive us into the ground if we let them.

How will you take our rest the rest of this week and this next weekend?

For the sake of good work later, let’s rest.

For the sake of sanity, let’s rest.

For the sake of glory to God in regular worship and fellowship, let’s rest.

God blesses those who “work hard” at resting in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let’s trust him to establish the work and rest of our hands (see Psalm 90:17).

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

Let us Pray,

God, grant us and all our loved ones true rest on this Sabbath Day. May Your Holy and Sacred Presence drive out from among us anger and fear, worry and regret. Send your blessing upon us, that we may be people of the Word. Lord of work and of rest, thank you for these gifts. Help us to work hard and rest well. Please provide work where we need it. Please also bless whatever years of retirement rest we may have.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

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

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The Second Commandment: Have or Make No Image Engraved or in Mind. Exodus 20:1-4

Exodus 20:1-4 Amplified Bible

The Ten Commandments

20 Then God spoke all these words:

²“I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

³“You shall have no other gods before Me.

⁴“You shall not make for yourself any idol, or any likeness (form, manifestation) of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth [as an object to worship].

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

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

The Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments are the supreme expression of God’s will in the Old Testament and merit our close attention.

They are to be thought of not as the ten most important commands among hundreds of others, but as a digest of the entire Torah.

The foundation of all of the Torah rests in these Ten Commandments, and somewhere within them we should be able to find all the law.

Jesus expressed the essential unity of the Ten Commandments with the rest of the law when he summarized the law in the famous words,

“ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40).

All the law, as well as laws of the prophets, is indicated whenever the Ten Commandments are expressed.

The essential unity of the Ten Commandments with the rest of the law, and their continuity with the New Testament, invites each and every on us to apply them to today’s ministries broadly in light of the rest of the Holy Scriptures.

That is, when applying the Ten Commandments, we will take into account related passages of Scripture in both the Hebrew [Old] and New Testaments.

“You Shall Have No Other Gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3)

The first commandment reminds us that everything in the Torah flows from the love we have for God, which in turn is a response to the love he has for us.

This unconventional, inexpressible miracle of love was demonstrated by God’s deliverance of Israel “out of the house of slavery” in Egypt (Exodus 20:2).

In our heart of hearts, from within the deepest depths of our souls, nothing else in our lives should concern us more than our desire to love and be loved by God.

If we do have some other concern stronger to us than our love for God, and who of us does not have other “stronger concerns,” they are not so much that we are breaking God’s rules, but that we are not really in relationship with Father God.

The other concern—be it money, power, security, recognition, sex, or anything else—has become our god.

These gods will have their own commandments at odds with God’s, and we will inevitably violate the Torah as we try to comply with these god’s requirements.

Observing the Ten Commandments is only conceivable for those who start by being determined to diligently study, to pray at having no other god than God.

In the realm of work, this means that we are not to let work or its requirements and fruits displace God as our most important concern in life.

“Never allow anyone or anything to threaten God’s central place in your life,” as Dr. David W. Gill [https://www.davidwgill.org/] puts it.

Because many people work primarily to make money for their and their family’s future, we might just conclude that an inordinate desire for money is probably one of the most common work-related dangers to the first commandment.

Jesus warned of exactly this danger. “No one can serve two masters…. You cannot serve God and wealth” (Matthew 6:24).

But almost anything related to work can become twisted in our desires to the point that it interferes with our love for God.

How many promising up and coming, careers come to a tragic end because the means to accomplish things for the love of God—such as political power, financial sustainability, steadfast commitment to the job, status among peers, or superior performance—become their alpha to omega ends in themselves?

When, for example, recognition on the job becomes simply far more important than character on the job, is it not a sign that their reputation is displacing their love of God the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, as ultimate Alpha to Omega concern?

A practical touchstone in balancing life lived in the world of man and God is to just ask whether our love of God is shown by the way we treat people on the job.

“Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also” (1 John 4:20-21).

If we put our individual concerns ahead of our concern for the people we work with, for, and among, then we have made our individual concerns our god.

In particular, if we treat other people as things to be manipulated, obstacles to overcome, instruments to obtain what we want, or simply neutral objects in our field of view, then we starkly demonstrate that we do not love God with all our heart, soul, and mind as required by the Word of God for the Children of God.

In this context, we can begin to list some work-related actions that have a high potential to interfere with our love for God.

Doing work that violates our conscience.

Working in an organization where we have to harm others to succeed.

Working such long hours that we have little time to pray, worship, rest, and otherwise deepen our relationship with God.

Working among people who demoralize us or seduce us away from our love for God.

Working where alcohol, drug abuse, violence, sexual harassment, corruption, disrespect, racism, or other inhumane treatments mar the image of God in us and the people we encounter in our work – our co-workers and our neighbors.

If we can find ways to avoid these dangers at work—even if it means finding a new job—it would be wise for us to seek God, study, pray, to consider to do so.

If that is not possible, we can at least be aware that we need help and support to maintain our love of God in the face of our work.

“You Shall Not Make for Yourself an Idol” (Exodus 20:4)

The second commandment raises the issue of idolatry.

Making and then Naming our Golden calves then marketing them for all to see.

Idols are gods of our own creation, gods that have nothing to them that did not originate with us, gods that we feel we control.

In ancient times, idolatry often took the form of worshiping physical objects.

But the issue is really one of trust and devotion.

On what “shirt” do we ultimately pin our hope of well-being and success upon?

On whose “lapel” should we ultimately pin our hopes of well-being and success upon?

Anything, Anyone, which is not capable of fulfilling our hope—that is, anything other than God—is an idol, whether or not it is a physical object, even a person.

The story of a family forging an idol with the intent to manipulate God, and the disastrous personal, social, and economic consequences which then tragically follow, are memorably told in Judges 17-21.

In the world of work, it is common to speak of money, fame, and power as potential idols, and rightly so.

They are not idolatrous, per se, and in fact may be utterly necessary for us to accomplish our roles in God’s creative and redemptive work in the world.

Yet when we then imagine that we have ultimate control over them, or that by achieving them our safety and prosperity will be secured, we have begun the so inevitable “foot to shovel to earth to digging our grave” descent into idolatry.

The same may occur with virtually every other element of success, including our preparation, hard work, creativity, risk, wealth and other resources, and favorable circumstances.

As Christian workers, we have to recognize how important these are.

As God’s people, we must recognize when we begin to idolize them.

By God’s grace alone, we can overcome the temptation to worship these good things in their own right.

The development of genuinely godly wisdom and skill for any task is “so that your entire trust may be in the Lord alone” [Proverbs 22:19].

The distinctive element of idolatry is the human-made nature of the idol.

At work, a danger of idolatry arises when we mistake our power, knowledge, and opinions for reality.

When we stop holding ourselves accountable to the standards we set for others, cease listening to others’ ideas, or seek to crush those who disagree with us, are we not beginning to make and shape, obsess over our graven idols of ourselves?

No Image Engraved or in Mind [eXODUS 20:4]

Exodus 20:4 Amplified Bible

⁴“You shall not make for yourself any idol, or any likeness (form, manifestation) of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth [as an object to worship].

If the first commandment

—“You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3)—deals with the object of our worship, the second commandment deals with the manner of our worship.

What the second commandment tells us is that it is not enough that we worship the correct God; we must also worship Him correctly.

The crystal clear and immediate meaning of the command is that God is to be worshiped without any visual symbols of Him.

Why the prohibition?

Because God is spirit: infinite and unfathomably great.

No physical representation could ever do justice to His glory and grandeur.

The problem with statues, shrines, and pictures is not that they don’t look good but that no matter how good they look, they will all inevitably severely blur the truth about God’s nature and character.

Such images will tend to distract men and women from genuinely worshiping the true and living God, [John 4:20-24] instead leading them to naively worship whatever physical representation of God is placed before them in the sanctuary.

Yet the second commandment takes us beyond mere images and idol-making and into our own thought life.

Our hands may be innocent of the skills and craftsmanship of hand making graven images, but our thoughts and imaginations are so seldom unskilled.

Any conception of God in our minds and hearts that is not derived from Scripture runs foul of this command.

When God gave strict instructions for the building of the temple, He ordered that the ark of the covenant, on which His presence would dwell, should reside in the Most Holy Place (Exodus 26:34).

What was inside the ark?

Perhaps most significant is what was not in it: it contained no visible, physical, hand shaped representation of God.

Instead, there were the two tablets of the Ten Commandments.

It was as if God was saying to His people, as He says to us, Don’t look for Me in shrines, paintings, or statues. I’m not there. Look for Me in My word.

So we take our cues from God. If we want to worship Him—if we want to meet with Him and know what He is like—we must conform our minds to His word.

Our own attempts to conceive of God apart from divine revelation will utterly, invariably fail.

He has published His truth in His word, and so we are to tether ourselves to what is revealed there.

What’s at stake in this is the integrity not only of our worship but also of our lives—because when people go wrong in their worship, they’ll end up going wrong in their living.

Anything and anyone that encourages us to worship the correct God incorrectly will prove to be a detriment to our spiritual growth.

What an absolute tragedy it would be to embrace an image and miss the person of Christ, to sit at a shrine and miss the Savior, to worship a misconception and fail to know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through the Holy Words of God.

Instead, resist the temptation to modify God in your mind or to conform Him to your own graven image, and be sure to KNOW Him as He has revealed Himself.

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

Let us Pray,

The Joy of Integrity Prayer

God, my Father, my Guide and Guardian of my life, illuminate my mind so I can better understand just how you want me to live. Your Living Word tells me that people of integrity who diligently follow after your instructions are joyful. You have said that those who obey your laws and search for you with all their hearts are blessed and happy. I plead with you for my own share of that indescribable joy! Intercessor Holy Spirit, please guard me and my thoughts against allowing evil to influence what I believe and do. Help me walk only in your paths. May my actions, and my worship more consistently reflect what you have said is right, good.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

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

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Loved by and Belonging to God, the Giver of Law and the Giver of Liberty. Exodus 20:1-2

Exodus 20:1-2 Complete Jewish Bible

20 Then God said all these words:

א ²“I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the abode of slavery.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

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

The Ten Commandments are some of the most recognizable words in the entire Biblical Canon, yet they are often among the most misunderstood.

How has the coming of Jesus transformed these ancient laws?

Do these commandments still matter to Christians today in 2023?

What does it look like to obey them in today’s world?

What do they tell us about God and His Love for His beloved Children?

In this devotional message we see in verses 1-2 three truths about the Law: it’s given by God, it follows the Gospel, and it’s the path of freedom.

Loved By and Belonging to God

Adonai, The Lord who claims our allegiance is God, our Creator and Savior.

God delivered Israel when he brought them out of Egypt.

They had been slaves there for hundreds of years.

Faithful to his covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Genesis 12:1-3; 15:13-21; Exodus 3), God called this people his own and continued his work of making them into a nation through which all other nations would be blessed.

Then, many years later, through Jesus, a descendant of Abraham, God brought salvation to the world—and today God includes all who believe in Christ as his people, his worldwide family.

So if we believe in our Savior Christ, we belong to God, and we are His alone.

1 Peter 2:9-10 Complete Jewish Bible

⁹But you are a chosen people,^[a] the King’s cohanim,^[b] a holy nation,^[c] a people for God to possess!^[d] Why? In order for you to declare the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; before, you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.^[e]

1 Peter 2 puts it, we are a holy nation set apart to be “God’s special possession.”

From the beginning, it was love that created us and has bound us to God.

And since our relationship with God is based on love, God’s law is not a burden but a means of unconventional liberty towards showing love to our neighbors.

God, The Giver of Law and Liberty

Exodus 20:1-2King James Version

20 And God spake all these words, saying,

²I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

To faithfully read and respond to the Ten Commandments, we must first make a diligent effort to pray and study them, understand what they are and are not.

We find clarity in the truth that lies at their head: “I am the LORD your God.”

This poignant reminder of who God is precedes the instructions that follow.

In other words, the I am of God’s person grounds the you shall of His commands.

He can command us because of who He is.

The psalmist further expresses this:

“Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his” (Psalm 100:3).

God created us, and His being our Creator grants Him rights and authority over His creation.

Regardless of the efforts of our world to reject the creational handiwork of God, thus His authority over our lives, His role as our Ruler remains unthreatened.

He has made us; we are His.

When we should remember who spoke the law, we are in a position to grasp the purpose of the Ten Commandments as well as to understand what they are not.

First, the commandments are not a formal list of dos and don’ts given to restrict our personal freedoms.

God is NOT the Ultimate Cosmic Killjoy

God is not the Ultimate cosmic killjoy.

In fact, if you wanted to provide a heading for the Ten Commandments, you could instead call them “The Ultimate Guidelines to Freedom and Joy.”

They do not restrict our freedom but rather give us a blueprint for joy, showing us how life works best.

Second, the commandments are not intended as a ladder up which we climb to attain acceptance with God.

No such ladder has ever existed!

God brought His people out of slavery—from Egypt in the exodus, and from sin and death at the cross—before He called us to obey Him.

So we obey God because we have been “brought out by God,” not in order for us to somehow believe we could ever persuade Him to do so on our own time line.

If that were the case, why then did the bondage last as long as it did despite all the years of crying, pleading by the generations of Israelites held in bondage?

Until Moses had been prepared by 80 years of life at the pinnacle of authority, then at the bottom of authority for His “Burning Bush” encounter with God.

Rather than being rules that save us, the Ten Commandments serve as a mirror in which we should see ourselves, revealing the depths of our sin and our need for a Savior—and they show how we can all live every day to please our Savior.

Third, the Ten Commandments have not been rendered anywhere near obsolete by the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

When Jesus said the two greatest commandments were to love God and love our neighbor, He was summarizing the Ten Commandments (Mark 12:28-31 AKJV).

²⁸And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? ²⁹And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: ³⁰and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. ³¹And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

What does it mean to love God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength?

The first four commandments tell us. [Exodus 20 verses 3-11]

What does it look like to love our neighbor as ourselves?

The final six commandments flesh that out. [Exodus 20 verses 12-17]

Jesus, master teacher that He was, summed up the ten with the two.

When we see all this, we are ready to read the Ten Commandments and let them transform our lives.

We must see the sin that the commandments reveal and respond in repentance and faith in the only One who fulfilled the law and offers Himself as our Savior.

He, the Lord Jesus Christ, will ensure that this law is not merely etched into our conscience but also inscribed upon our hearts and upon our souls.

Give yourselves unto the Lord our God and His way, and His Truth and His Life you and I will find everlasting love, everlasting joy and His everlasting liberty.

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

Let us Pray,

Psalm 40The Message

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

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

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Ash Wednesday: Deciding, Will We Ever Consent to Give Any Living Hope to Our Ailing and Hurting Hearts? Joel 2:12-14

Joel 2:12-14Amplified Bible

¹²
“Even now,” says the Lord,
“Turn and come to Me with all your heart [in genuine repentance],
With fasting and weeping and mourning [until every barrier is removed and the broken fellowship is restored];
¹³
Rip your heart to pieces [in sorrow and contrition] and not your garments.”
Now return [in repentance] to the Lord your God,
For He is gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness [faithful to His covenant with His people];
And He relents [His sentence of] evil [when His people genuinely repent].
¹⁴
Who knows whether He will relent [and revoke your sentence],
And leave a blessing behind Him,
Even a grain offering and a drink offering [from the bounty He provides you]
For the Lord your God?

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

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

Lent Begins … Does Hope Also Begin For Hurting Hearts?

In a large number of churches today, the ancient words of today’s Scripture reading will be read every year in the traditional Ash Wednesday liturgy.

Ash Wednesday, which falls this year on February 22, is the first day of Lent, a season in the church calendar that invites believers in God and non-believers as well, to maybe start paying special attention to the suffering and death of Jesus.

Why are these instructions about rending hearts and not garments significant?

In the Bible the rending and tearing of clothes is a sign of mourning and is often accompanied by the placing of ashes on one’s head.

Biblically, Jacob tore his clothes when he heard a report that his son, Joseph, had been killed (Genesis 37:34).

And when young King Josiah heard the words of the Book of the Law after it was rediscovered in the temple, he tore his robes as a sign of grief over the nation’s sin (2 Kings 22:11).

The Patriarch Job, when he had suddenly lost everything – including his health, he sat down on the ground and covered himself from head to toe with ashes.

Sometimes, the harsh and harshest realities of life will cause us to sit ourselves own on the ground and desire to “cover ourselves from head to toe with ashes.

Sometimes the reality of sin is enough to break our hearts.

The season of Lent reminds us that no one felt the pain of sin more than Jesus.

Jesus had already given up everything he was at home with His Heavenly Father to come to us and to offer up to His maxed out example of genuine Godly living. [John 3:16-18, Philippians 2:1-11]

John 3:16-18 The Message

^16-18“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

Philippians 2:5-11 The Message

^5-8Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

^9-11Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.

When he was arrested, beaten, humiliated, crowned then crucified, Jesus was fully and completely, utterly, publicly stripped of his dignity and his garments.

More than that, his heart broke under the weight of our sin.

Joel’s reading for today is God’s invitation to return to him is answered by our looking to the cross of Christ, asking forgiveness through his sacrifice for us.

God promises to come unto us, wash away our sin and give us new life through the One whose torn garments, broken heart bring 100% healing for the world.

We Must Answer the Question: Will I Give My Heart Any Hope?

Joel 2:12-14 The Message

Change Your Life

¹²But there’s also this, it’s not too late—
God’s personal Message!—
“Come back to me and really mean it!
Come fasting and weeping, sorry for your sins!”

^13-14Change your life, not just your clothes.
    Come back to God, your God.
And here’s why: God is kind and merciful.
    He takes a deep breath, puts up with a lot,
This most patient God, extravagant in love,
    always ready to cancel catastrophe.
Who knows? Maybe he’ll do it now,
    maybe he’ll turn around and show pity.
Maybe, when all’s said and done,
    there’ll be blessings full and robust for your God!

Joel is the prophet who compares the coming Day of the Lord with a succession of locust invasions, which sequentially devour every crop and all vegetation in an unrelenting, visibly shocking, path of progressive destruction.

Both grain and fruit harvests fail due to the devastating onslaught of this four-pronged locust infestation.

The total destruction of Israel’s wheat and barley crops, along with the failure of the entire fruit harvest, causes all the people and priests alike to mourn and lament bitterly at how hopeless everything had become before their very eyes.

Not only were the priests instructed to mourn and call for a sacred assembly, but the entire nation was commanded to fast and to cry out to the Lord their God, in sincere repentance of heart.

Israel failed to heed the past prophetic warnings of earlier prophets.

Joel’s heartfelt appeal for repentance, his warning of coming destruction, is one more demonstration of the nation’s continued rebellion against the God of their forefathers, their refusal to heed His Word and obey the covenant promises they made at Mount Sinai.

What the chewing locusts left was eaten by the swarming locusts.

And what they did not devour, was taken by the crawling locusts and then the consuming ones.

In like manner, the prophesied day of the Lord will be one of the greatest destructions to befall the rebellious nation of Israel.

It will be a time such as the world has never seen, nor would ever see again.

However, it will be a time when Israel calls out to the Lord and He will hear and rescue His people.

The entire passage compares the advance and destruction of this terrible locust invasion with speedy horses.

It likens them to a vast army of marching men of war who steadily advance with unrelenting menace, in a strict formation – but who plunder everything in their path like a well organized band of marauders and thieves.

Israel’s rebellion against the Lord, which included sloth and drunkenness, resulted in the barrage of these devouring locusts.

And the consequences of their continued rebellion, apostasy, and disobedience, would result in judgement – the coming ‘Day of the Lord’.

Joel’s entire prophecy was given to the nation of Israel.

Although it was partially fulfilled on the day of Pentecost when many men of Israel repented of their sins and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, the full and final fulfilment of Joel’s prophecy, which begins with a day of thick darkness and progresses into the glories of the Millennial Kingdom of Christ,

will take place at the end of Daniel’s 70th week i.e. the Great Tribulation, which is sometimes called the Time of Jacobs Trouble.

The continued grace and mercy of God can be seen in His divine appeal to the people of Judah to repent of their sins and return to the Lord – for we read:

“Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping and mourning.” [verse 12]

Both for the nation of Israel and for unsaved Gentiles alike, the precious truth of this passage is that it is never too late for sinners or backsliders to turn away from their sins, to return to the Lord with all their heart, and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness and salvation.

It is a beautiful demonstration the goodness, grace, and mercy of our long-suffering God, remains fully open to ALL who will simply trust in His Word,

remember His goodness, genuinely return to Him with heart and soul – and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.

It shows that fasting, with weeping and morning, is often associated with true repentance of heart.

And although, there is no written covenant, set rules, or legalistic regulations which are required of Church-age believers, it is very important and wise to take note of things that outwardly demonstrate an inward change of heart.

That is why the LORD says,
“Turn to me now, while there is time.
Give me your hearts.
Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
Don’t tear your clothing in your grief,
but tear your hearts instead.”
Return to the LORD your God,
for he is merciful and compassionate,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
He is eager to relent and not punish.— Joel 2:13 NLT

God is far more concerned about hearts genuinely loving Him and longing to be in a relationship with Him than He is about a lot of external religious trappings.

The Hebrew Testament prophets emphasized that God’s people often lost their hearts to what was false and only gave lip service to God in their rituals.

Jesus also emphasized that God wanted us to love Him and serve Him from our hearts and not just by going through religious motions.

For us to make the max best decision possible “hope for our hearts,” We must hear several of Joel’s key phrases passionately speaking God’s invitation to us:

“Give me your hearts…”
“Don’t tear your clothing… tear your hearts instead.”

God pleads for us to return to Him, wholeheartedly:

“Turn to me now, while there is time.”

Why would the Almighty God plead with His lowly creations?

Because YHWH loves us and longs for us to come home to Him, and love Him — heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Our “Abba” Father is full and maxed out of unfailing love [John 3:16-18]

even now yearns to be utterly received, “merciful and compassionate” to us!

The amazing, awe-inspiring truth is as simple and straightforward as it is glorious: The Creator of the universe, with all of its vastness, mystery, and beauty, 100% knows us and longs for us to draw near to Him and know Him.

Let’s come to this God seeking to hug Him, and embrace Him and love Him and know Him and experience Him exactly as we are now loved and known by Him!

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

Let us Pray,

Merciful God, you called us forth from the dust of the earth; you claimed us for Christ in the waters of baptism. Look upon us as with mercy and forgiveness as we enter these next Forty Days bearing the mark of ashes, and torn and rendered hearts and please bless the journey through the desert of Lent to the blessed font of rebirth. As we remember our mortality and seek penitence today, we know you to be a God who is rich in forgiveness and abounding in steadfast love, love that culminates in eternal life with you. Guide our steps this Lent, so that we might find greater fulfillment in your promises and better serve others with a heart that’s reflective of you. Amen.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

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

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Lenten Preparation for Repentance: When Our Defenses Crumble, Where Will We Run to take Refuge? Psalm 11

Psalm 11 Amplified Bible

The Lord a Refuge and Defense.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

11 In the Lord I take refuge [and put my trust];
How can you say to me, “Flee like a bird to your mountain;
²
For look, the wicked are bending the bow;
They take aim with their arrow on the string
To shoot [by stealth] in darkness at the upright in heart.
³
“If the foundations [of a godly society] are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?”

⁴
The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven.
His eyes see, His eyelids test the children of men.
⁵
The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked,
And His soul hates the [malevolent] one who loves violence.
⁶
Upon the wicked (godless) He will rain coals of fire;
Fire and ^[a]brimstone and a dreadful scorching wind will be the portion of their cup [of doom].
⁷
For the Lord is [absolutely] righteous, He loves righteousness (virtue, morality, justice);
The upright shall see His face.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

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

What does it mean to ‘rend the heart,’ and not just the clothing?

Much more than simply giving a whole array of apologies for bad behaviour.

David the Psalmist is urging the people to remember God’s covenant promises.

It’s easy to make outward shows of penitence without reaching inward to the heart.

David calls for the same depth of repentance which Jesus calls for.

To that end, as we once again prepare ourselves for tomorrow, Ash Wednesday for me to reminds each of us that Lent is so very much more than simply a time apologize for our “weaknesses” so just to ‘get my life back on track,’ as it were.

Lent is a time of focusing what ought to be our habit of seeing the heart anyway.

Above all, Lent reminds us of the character of God, which we all too easily lose sight of when we stray from those habits of the heart: forgiving and gracious, merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

But, once we commit ourselves to the works of God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, once we send our hearts into engaging with the sword of God’s Word,

It is promised by the Lord that changes and transformations will take place.

When those changes and transformations start and God is getting under our skins, into our souls, there is no stopping God from achieving His desired ends.

It is only a matter of choosing our desired response – run to self or run to God.

Build our own Castles, taking safe refuge in our own self defense mechanisms, or as the Prophet Isaiah predicted would one day have to happen to humanity;

Isaiah 2:2-5Amplified Bible

²
Now it will come to pass that
In the last days
The mountain of the house of the Lord
Will be [firmly] established as the ^[a]highest of the mountains,
And will be exalted above the hills;
And all the nations will stream to it.
³
And many peoples shall come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house (temple) of the God of Jacob;
That He may teach us His ways
And that we may walk in His paths.”
For the law will go out from Zion
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴
And He will judge between the nations,
And will mediate [disputes] for many peoples;
And they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not lift up the sword against nation,
And never again will they learn war.

⁵
O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

In our hearts an in our souls …

The Mountain of the Lord is firmly established as the Highest Mountain.

When the people say … come, let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord,

To the House of the God of Jacob;

That He may teach us His ways …

That we may walk in His paths…”

Then the Revival of our Hearts and our Souls may truly have their re-birth.

O’ House of Jacob …

O’ Body of Christ …

O’ Child of God …

COME …

Choose This Day Where You Should Run For Refuge

11 In the Lord I take refuge [and put my trust];
How can you say to me, “Flee like a bird to your mountain; [Psalm 11:1]

When it comes to degrees and measures of crises in our life, it is not a matter of whether they will come but when and then just how hardcore they will be.

When they do arrive in whatever capacity and catastrophe, our response will be to flee to a safe refuge— a safe haven somewhere or something or someone we implicitly trust will keep us safe and protect us from all the pounding storms.

So the question then will not be whether we will flee but where we will flee to.

Some of us will take the advice of David’s friends in Psalm 11.

These advisors urged him to “flee like a bird to your mountain.”

Difficulty had come for David, seemingly in the form of threats to his life, with wicked people preparing to aim their arrows at him (Psalm 11:2).

The counsel he received was essentially to head for the hills, to get away, to go somewhere that removed him from adversity as fast as he could if not faster.

David did not heed this advice.

But what about you?

But what about me?

While you and I likely will never face armed foes threatening you with violence, and for those whose lives intersected with combat zones, crisis will come to you someday, in one form or another, in some measure and some degree or another.

It could be social pressure, peer pressure, to compromise biblical convictions, an unwanted diagnosis, or intense relational or financial or an personal strife.

Where will you flee?

Where will I flee?

Will we too head for the hills, finding some form of escapism, be it an effort at numbing yourself with endless media consumption or abusing a substance, or throwing yourself into hyperdrive, frenetic activity in another part of your life?

Or will you and I be able to say with David, “In the LORD I take refuge”?

David had seen God deliver him from bears, lions, and a Philistine giant.

The Lord had more than sufficiently proven Himself to be a trustworthy refuge, and David remembered those moments and took that to heart, relying on God.

David knew the Lord was a mighty refuge; that had been borne out again and again in his life – his trust in God was grounded and rooted deep in experience, making it sturdy enough to withstand life’s darkness and the Evil One’s darts.

Have your eyes been opened to God’s trustworthiness?

Have you trusted Him in response?

If you are a Christian, remember that your new life began by taking refuge in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Once, you were facing the wrath of an eternal God, with no hope to be found.

The only hope you had was to cast yourself on God’s mercy and embrace the salvation offered in Christ, and so you fled to Him and found eternal refuge.

God desires for you and me to seek refuge in Him not only at the beginning of the journey but until Christ returns or calls us home, and not only for eternal salvation but in the measures and degrees of storms of this concourse of life.

Trouble will come—and when it does, you can either head for the hills or you can lift up your eyes beyond the hills and to the Lord “who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:2), facing the crisis with 100% confidence and, yes, even joy.

100% Trust, Confidence and yes, even Joy … in God, the Father.

100% Trust, Confidence and yes, even Joy … in God, the Son.

100% Trust, Confidence and yes, even Joy … in God, the Holy Spirit.

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

Let us Pray,

Lord God Almighty, shaper and ruler of all creatures, we pray for your great mercy, that you guide us towards you, for we cannot find our way. And guide us to your will, to the need of our soul, for we cannot do it ourselves. And make our mind steadfast in your will and aware of our soul’s need. Pray, Lord, to shield us against our foes, seen and unseen. Teach us to do your will, that we may inwardly love you before all things with a pure mind. For you alone are our maker and our redeemer, our help, our very best friend, comfort, our trust, our hope; praise and glory be to you now and forever.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

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

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Asking Ourselves the Hard Questions, Preparing for Lent, How Is God’s Power Made Perfect in All of Our Weaknesses? 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

2 Corinthians 12:7-10Amplified Bible

A Thorn in the Flesh

⁷Because of the surpassing greatness and extraordinary nature of the revelations [which I received from God], for this reason, to keep me from thinking of myself as important, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan, to torment and harass me—to keep me from exalting myself! ⁸Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave me; ⁹but He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you [My lovingkindness and My mercy are more than enough—always available—regardless of the situation]; for [My] power is being perfected [and is completed and shows itself most effectively] in [your] weakness.” Therefore, I will all the more gladly boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ [may completely enfold me and] may dwell in me. ¹⁰So I am well pleased with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, and with difficulties, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak [in human strength], then I am strong [truly able, truly powerful, truly drawing from God’s strength].

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

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

A Thorn in the Flesh …

The apostle Paul was dedicated to God.

But Paul had a “thorn in the flesh”—possibly a persistently challenging and spiritually demanding circumstance or disease that bothered him quite a lot.

He called it “a messenger of Satan, to torment” him.

We don’t know exactly what it was, but somehow it made Paul physically or spiritually [or both] weaker than he wanted to be.

Thorns prick, scratch, and wound.

However, the point of Paul’s example is that because of his thorn in the flesh, God was able to work through him and his weaknesses ever more powerfully.

Although Paul had pleaded three times with the Lord to take his thorn away, the Lord only responded saying to Paul,

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Paul notes that he was given his thorn “in order to keep . . . from becoming conceited.”

This means Paul knew if he did not have this thorn, he could have become self-reliant and proud of his ability to “power through anything by his own will.”

So Paul is teaching us that his thorn in the flesh was actually a good thing.

It was a sign of God’s grace to keep him focused on God, dependent on God, reliant on God and away from his becoming a proud “iron willed” follower.

And we can surely thank God for that.

This does not mean we should ask God to give us a thorn in the flesh.

We can trust that God knows what is best for us.

But if God does allow us to have a particular kind of suffering, we can also trust that he can use it to do good.

As Paul writes in another place,

“We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

How Is God’s Power Made Perfect in Weakness?

Although being a Christian doesn’t grant us the power to endure every physical difficulty, it does grant us ready access to the Holy Spirit who abides within us.

His Holy Spirit may not be a superpower, but it’s a genuine supernatural power.

It may not enable us to look like the Hulk when it comes to both spiritual and physical challenges, but Holy Spirit provides us with an otherworldly strength to live into our oncoming circumstances and to conquer the challenges of life.

This is the kind of strength that can only be manifested in our weaknesses.

In 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul wrote, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’”

So what is this power, and how can we, as believers, come to access it during the up and coming Post-Pandemic Lenten season and strenuous challenges of life?

What Does ‘My Power Is Made Perfect in Weakness’ Mean?

We often try to come across as the I-can-do-it-all Christian—making perfect grades in school or raising well-behaved children while maintaining the ultra squeaky-clean Christian reputation in church.

If we come across a challenge that seems too much for us to handle, we often blame ourselves for not being “strong enough.”

As though we some how an in some way believe that God automatically expects us to do all the things with “ease” and never cave beneath the pressures of life.

But we were simply never created to bear this life through our own strength.

In fact, we don’t even have within ourselves the ability to bear its weight!

So why should we or do we, try so hard to look like Miss or Mr. Independent “Iron” Christian when, really, God frowns upon this type of approach to life?

It is impossible for us to conquer anything apart from God’s sufficient grace.

Writing this, I wonder if God purposely created our bodies to cave beneath pressure—so we could realize we can do nothing apart from Him (see John 15:5).

But rather than allowing this to make us frustrated, get all of our faults and all failures and failings all bunched up inside our heads, perhaps we should instead use these weaknesses to propel us closer to our Savior Jesus Christ, and drawing supernatural strength from the power of the Holy Spirit – to rely more on God?.

God intended us to rely on this Holy Spirit day-by-day, moment-by-moment.

This is why Jesus said this to His disciples before He was crucified:

“But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.” [John 16:7]

John 16:7Amplified Bible

⁷But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the ^[a]Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him (the Holy Spirit) to you [to be in close fellowship with you].

It is for our benefit that Jesus left the “Advocate,” which is the Holy Spirit.

If we did not have the Spirit abiding within us, then we would not have access to this power.

We would struggle through life, relying only on our own mental an physical muscles to face life’s battles.

But we do have the Holy Spirit.

This means as we abide in Him, we can draw strength from Him rather than ourselves.

We can ask Him to give us what we need to overcome this life.

Confessing ourselves before Him: “No, me, myself, I, simply cannot do it all.”

That’s a good thing!

If we could, then we would never have the opportunity to allow God’s power—which is far stronger than any human strength—to be made apparent within us.

We would continue through life as Miss or Mrs. or Mr. Iron Clad Independent Christian, never having a need to depend on God alone and gain access to His grave-conquering power.

What Is the Context of 2 Corinthians 12:9?

In this chapter, Paul shares about a heavenly vision God gave him that gained him access to spiritual revelations.

He was not permitted to share these insights with anyone and did not want to receive the credit for them.

To keep him humble, he says that God intentionally allowed him to have a “thorn in the flesh” (see verse 7).

Paul goes on to discuss the pain of this suffering, as well as its eventual advantage, in verses 8-10:

“Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Obviously, the strength he refers to in the final verse is not human strength but a supernatural strength.

And it is only through experiencing the weakness that he was he able to receive this power.

In other words, Paul recognized that it was not through an independent attitude that he could boast, but rather a complete dependency, reliance upon God.

It was this dependency and reliance on God that kept him humble as well.

It is also interesting to take a look at the meaning of the Greek words used in this passage.

The phrase “is sufficient” is arkei, which means to assist, benefit, and to be satisfied.

Christ’s grace benefits us in our weaknesses by allowing us to grow stronger—not in our might, but in His.

Thus, we are more equipped to face the challenges and sufferings of life.

The word “power” here is dynamis, which implies a force and miraculous power.

It is pretty miraculous when His strength becomes manifested in our weaknesses!

“Is perfected” is teleitai, which implies bringing to completion, to accomplish and fulfill.

When we receive His miraculous power to strengthen us, we don’t just receive a portion of it.

We can receive it to the full—and all for the singular purpose of accomplishing His perfect will.

Finally, the phrase “may rest” is episkēnōsē.

This is translated to mean to pitch a tent upon or to dwell and abide within.

How interesting is that?

So, If you like camping out under the stars …

So, if you like staying dry against the rains …

In a strong, dependable, reliable, long lasting, enduring, well staked tent,

Psalm 19Amplified Bible

The Works and the Word of God.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

19 The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And the expanse [of heaven] is declaring the work of His hands.
²
Day after day pours forth speech,
And night after night reveals knowledge.
³
There is no speech, nor are there [spoken] words [from the stars];
Their voice is not heard.
⁴
Yet their voice [in quiet evidence] has gone out through all the earth,
Their words to the end of the world.
In them and in the heavens He has made a tent for the sun,
⁵
Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;
It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.
⁶
The sun’s rising is from one end of the heavens,
And its circuit to the other end of them;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

⁷
The law of the Lord is perfect (flawless), restoring and refreshing the soul;
The statutes of the Lord are reliable and trustworthy, making wise the simple.
⁸
The precepts of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
⁹
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true, they are righteous altogether.
¹⁰
They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
¹¹
Moreover, by them Your servant is warned [reminded, illuminated, and instructed];
In keeping them there is great reward.
¹²
Who can understand his errors or omissions? Acquit me of hidden (unconscious, unintended) faults.
¹³
Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous (deliberate, willful) sins;
Let them not rule and have control over me.
Then I will be blameless (complete),
And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.
¹⁴
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable and pleasing in Your sight,
O Lord, my [firm, immovable] rock and my Redeemer.

Let that love for camping become one more “JEHOVAH” sized reminder …

Christ’s power can literally descend upon us as we dwell and abide in Him.

This “tent” of Christ can remain our safe place of refuge.

It’s interesting to note, too, how the phrase “may rest” in this passage compares to the phrase “made His dwelling” in John 1:14:

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”

The passage “made His dwelling” is translated eskēnōsen, which means to dwell in a tent, to occupy or to reside.

So, Jesus came to earth so that He could dwell with us—and when He departed, He gave us the Holy Spirit so that He could continue to do the same.

He still dwells with us, and we can dwell in Him.

But we must crucify our desires to work and face this life apart from Christ.

After all, it is only as we abide and dwell in Him that we will display His full power within us, bearing “much fruit,” as mentioned in John 15.

What Does the Bible Have to Say about Weakness?

The word “weakness” in 2 Corinthians 12:9 implies suffering, insults, and persecution.

These aren’t exactly physical limitations but rather limitations we face in our everyday lives, such as the temptation to sin, heartache, and distress.

It is evident throughout the Bible that God does not intend to remove these weaknesses from our life.

If He did, then we would never have the pleasure of witnessing His power overcome.

We would never have the privilege of allowing our weaknesses to find their rest and completion in His strength.

Sadly, the idea of depending on someone may look like a weakness itself to our society.

We love to come across as strong, independent, and self-reliant, needing nothing and no one.

It is true humans are strong and intelligent—but this type of “Iron and Steel” independent mentality is frowned upon in God’s eyes.

And our strength is nothing to boast about, because according to 1 Corinthians 1:25, “God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.”

So if God’s weakness is even stronger than our greatest strength, then why shouldn’t we willingly want to receive His power?

One of the reasons why God allowed His Son to come to earth was so that He could understand our human condition.

Basically, He wanted to become familiar with our weaknesses.

Hebrews 4:15-16 makes this clear:

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Jesus understands our sufferings.

Why, then, should we try to stubbornly fix our issues by ourselves when the One who has already conquered this world invites each and every single one of us to completely, utterly, and fully, rely on Him?

It is only when we relent in our own efforts and apply the above Scripture to our lives that we will then fully appreciate and abundantly receive the help we need.

God’s power being made evident in our weaknesses is also illustrated in stories throughout the Old Testament, such as David conquering Goliath, as well as in the following verses:

“He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength” Isaiah 40:29.

“So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty” Zechariah 4:6.

Apostle Paul also spoke of God’s strength being made known in his weakness in Philippians 4:11-13:

“Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

When I read these passages of scripture, enormous joy arises within me because I realize just exactly how empowered I am.

Whatever trials or temptations God allows into my life, I can overcome.

Not in my own strength, of course, but in God’s power being made perfect in my weakness.

Another reference to our fragility finding completion in God’s strength is in 2 Corinthians 4:7, where Paul wrote:

“We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.”

Perhaps this is why God often uses the weak of the world to demonstrate His greatest power and to “shame the wise” (see 1 Corinthians 1:27):

So that more of His glory can be on display.

When we overcome a weakness we would not be able to conquer on our own, then it is obvious, just like the above verse says, the great power came from God and not from ourselves.

And shouldn’t that remain our main goal as Christians?

To spread more of His glory rather than our own?

But the only way we can gain this strength is to give up our independent tendencies and learn how to rely on the Holy Spirit within us.

Ephesians 3:16 says, “I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being.”

I believe God is searching for Christians who can admit their weaknesses and shortcomings, because only in doing that will His purposes be accomplished.

This is why Jesus left behind the Holy Spirit, after all.

So as we dwell in Him, we could be empowered to embrace the uncomfortable, including sufferings and persecution.

All for the sake of extending His Kingdom.

This means that the weaker we are, the more His power can be displayed within us and through us.

Apostle Paul was right—we now have every right to boast in our weaknesses!

This Lenten Season, Let’s choose to Go ‘camping’ with God, Son, Holy Spirit.

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

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, thank You that Your grace is sufficient for all my needs. Help me to recognise and rejoice in the knowledge that Your power is made perfect in my own weakness. Help me to boast all the more gladly in my inabilities so that Your great ability may be manifest in my life. By thy Holy Spirit, May everything I do be to Your praise and glory, my Lord and my God. Creating and eternal God, whose grace is sufficient for us and whose power is made perfect in weakness, in our weakness and insufficiency, we offer our lives and the gifts of our living for the work of your mustard seed kingdom; in our Lord, King and Savior Jesus’ name. AMEN.

https://translate.google.com/

Proverbs 18:24 Authorized (King James) Version

Friendship Arises Out Of Mere Companionship

What is Friendship?

Proverbs 18:24 Amplified Bible

1 John 4:19 The Message

Biblical Ways to Forge Friendships

1. Pray for One or Two Close Friends

2. Look to the Bible for Wisdom on Friendship

Proverbs 27:9 The Message

Proverbs 16:28 The Message

Proverbs 17:9 The Message

John 15:13-15 The Message

3. Be a Friend

Matthew 5:43-48 The Message

Romans 12:10 The Message

4. Take the Initiative

Romans 5:6-11 The Message

5. Live Sacrificially

Matthew 14:13-21 English Standard Version

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

Romans 12:1-3 The Message

Place Your Life Before God

6. Stand by Friends in Ups and Downs

7. Remember that Jesus Is the Ultimate Friend

Ephesians 2:11-13 The Message

Deuteronomy 31:7-8Amplified Bible

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Acts 27:1-8 English Standard Version

Paul Sails for Rome

How Godly Friendships Work

What Is The Importance Of Godly Friendships

Characteristics Of A Godly Friend

Placing Proper Value on God’s Gift of Godly Friends.

How Do You Build Godly Friendships

How Do We Know If A Friendship Is From God?

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Hebrews 7:23-25 Amplified Bible

A Psalm of Life

A Highly Offensive Contemporary Psalm for Life.

Urgently Needed Reminder: God’s Psalm for Life.

Give Heed

Romans 6:8-11 Amplified Bible

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1 John 4:7-10Authorized (King James) Version

1 John 4:8 Amplified Bible

Luke 15:17-24 English Standard Version

Psalm 42:1-3 English Standard Version

Book Two

Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul?

To the choirmaster. A Maskil[a] of the Sons of Korah.

“Christ Loved Me – Yes, Even Me.”

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Exodus 20:8-11 Amplified Bible

Keep the Sabbath [verse 8]

Keep the Sabbath [verses 9-10]

Our Sabbath Rest as Our Witness

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Exodus 20:1-4 Amplified Bible

The Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments

“You Shall Have No Other Gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3)

“You Shall Not Make for Yourself an Idol” (Exodus 20:4)

No Image Engraved or in Mind [eXODUS 20:4]

Exodus 20:4 Amplified Bible

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Exodus 20:1-2 Complete Jewish Bible

Loved By and Belonging to God

1 Peter 2:9-10 Complete Jewish Bible

God, The Giver of Law and Liberty

Exodus 20:1-2King James Version

God is NOT the Ultimate Cosmic Killjoy

Psalm 40The Message

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Joel 2:12-14Amplified Bible

Lent Begins … Does Hope Also Begin For Hurting Hearts?

John 3:16-18 The Message

Philippians 2:5-11 The Message

We Must Answer the Question: Will I Give My Heart Any Hope?

Joel 2:12-14 The Message

Change Your Life

To the choirmaster. A Maskil^[a] of the Sons of Korah.