Tag: Pondering Gods Authority

What Does it Really Look Like to ‘Honor Your Father and Mother’? Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 5:16

    Honoring your father and your mother is the only commandment out of the Ten Commandments that is followed by a promise, Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. (Deuteronomy 5:16)

    Exodus 20:12Amplified Bible

    12 “Honor (respect, obey, care for) your father and your mother, so that your days may be prolonged in the land the Lord your God gives you.

    The Word of God for the Children of God.

    Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

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

    Most Christians are very familiar with the verse “honor your father and mother”, but few actually know of it’s origin in the Bible.

    The command to honor your father and mother actually comes from the Old Testament book of Exodus 20 in the story of the 10 Commandments.

    However, it is also a command that is repeated several times in both the Old and New Testament. 

    Chapter 20 of the Book of Exodus serves as a powerful reminder of the intimate relationship God has with humankind.

    This passage specifically reveals the intense care and concern that God shows toward His Children.

    Today this chapter remains popular because of a very special occurrence – the Ten Commandments.

    At eighty plus years old, after venturing up to Mount Sinai, Moses, a father, brought down the Ten Commandments, rules given Him directly from God.

    The Ten Commandments described ten precepts for how God expected His people to behave.

    This monumental moment follows after the Israelites fled Egypt. 

    Chapter 19 in the Book of Exodus details how the Israelites camped in the wilderness, now living a life outside of slavery for a few months.

    God informs Moses that He desires to bless the nation of Israel.

    However, He also wants them to keep a covenant with Him (Exodus 19:5-6).

    The Ten Commandments serve as part of that covenant.

    One of these commandments spoke to the relationship between a child and parent and is a guideline we as Christians still ought to be following today.

    Exodus 20:12The Message

    12 Honor your father and mother so that you’ll live a long time in the land that God, your God, is giving you.

    The reason this commandment in addition to the other nine is still relevant today is because Jesus indicated such to later believers (Matthew 5:17-20).

    Jesus did not abolish the law, but rather came to fulfill it.

    The Apostle Paul wrote to the followers at the church at Ephesus;

    Ephesians 5:1-2 Amplified Bible

    Be Imitators of God

    5 Therefore become imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father]; 2 and walk continually in love [that is, value one another—practice empathy and compassion, unselfishly seeking the best for others], just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God [slain for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance.

    We are to do our part yet today in abiding in Jesus, by these commandments.

    Today, I do not believe there is little to no controversy about whether or not the Ten Commandments are still relevant.

    What has been up for rather contentious debate in the meaning of “honor” in the context of parents and children.

    There are many instances of children being the victims of incest, abandonment, neglect, or other severe and seriously exploitive forms of ultra damaging abuse.

    In these situations, how does a child honor a parent, when the parent lacks any concept or context of abiding in God, His Son Jesus and have honor for the child.

    To understand this commandment, we have to examine the original context.

    What Is the Original Meaning of Honor Your Father and Mother in Exodus 20?

    The commandment to honor our father and mother is the fifth of the ten mentioned.

    The commandment to precedes this one is honoring the Sabbath, followed by the commandment to not murder.

    Scripture explains the reason why the commandment should be followed.

    Exodus 20:12Amplified Bible

    12 “Honor (respect, obey, care for) your father and your mother, so that your days may be prolonged in the land the Lord your God gives you.

    The benefit of abiding by this commandment is longer life, specifically for the Israelites venturing on toward the Promised Land.

    Dennis Prager [https://dennisprager.com/] emphasizes that though this could be viewed as a reward, this is also a reason.

    And many of the other commandments are not given explicit reasons to be followed.

    Prager suggests in a society where parents are honored by children, the society is bound to survive longer, than a society with a weaker family structure.

    This commandment in Exodus is mentioned a number of other times in the Bible, each time as an admonishment to God’s people to better establish them. 

    Deuteronomy 5:16 tells us, “Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”

    Ephesians 6:2 states: “Honor your father and mother” – which is the first commandment with a promise”

    God blesses the people when their parents are honored, but the people are punished when they do not.

    To honor is to hold someone in high regard or reverence.

    The word honor does not mean agree with or even obey, but does suggest in this context a child should hold the highest utmost respect for both of their parents.

    Now that we better understand the original context and interpretation of the commandment to honor thy mother and father, we can try to discern how this precept applies to modern-day life.

    How Can Christians ‘Honor Your Father and Mother’ Today?

    With an understanding of the word honor, there need not be a change in how parents are respected by children today.

    However, with modern cultural shifts, this commandment for some has taken on a different interpretation.

    We can perhaps better, more prayerfully understand the proper ways of honoring parents by first understanding how honoring should not appear.

    As Dennis Prager discusses in his video analysis of the commandment, some parents yearn to be loved, rather than honored.

    The visual example given in his video is that of a parent showering their child with gifts in order to receive affection.

    This same parent when trying to discipline their child instead receives severe retaliation from them.

    This is definitively not an example of a child honoring their parent because instead of respecting them as an “authority” figure, they are simply seeking what else, exactly how much more they can manipulate, gain from the parent.

    Much like the Bible commands us to love others, the call to honor our parents is an outward action – something we do for others.

    Honoring our parents is therefore not contingent upon what they give in return.

    Within the Ten Commandments, verse 12 of Exodus 20 gives no clarification as to what parents are to be honored or even how.

    We can conclude then that all parents are deserving of honor, and we can use the context of love within the Bible to discern appropriate ways to show honor.

    We can even in some instances see how people have honored God as Father as an example.

    Ways we can appropriately honor our parents include:

    Expressing Gratitude
    Parents invest time and effort into raising children.

    Those reasons alone are enough to show them gratitude for the sacrifices they make.

    Parents provide shelter, food, clothing.

    For every action they do in their support of their child is in itself a far more than sufficient reason for expressing their appreciation and gratitude.

    Spending Time Together
    When physically possible, children can and should get together with their parents.

    This acknowledges their existence and places a level of importance upon the relationship.

    If being together physically is not an option, calling a parent on the phone for a check-in is also beneficial.

    Dennis Prager shares with fellow believers he called his parents once a week.

    Serve
    Another way for children to honor their parents is to find creative ways to serve their desires, wants and needs, much like parents perform on behalf of children.

    To Honor or Not to Honor

    It goes without saying and preaching to the choir that modern parenting is not equivalent to the parenting in ancient biblical Jewish culture.

    Children today learn differently and have certain responsibilities such as owning a cell phone [I never did], which was not true for past generations.

    No matter the time, parents should always be honored.

    One concern followers, nonbelievers have with the commandment is the issue of bad parents, individuals who have abused their children by various means.

    The Bible does not qualify which parents deserve honoring.

    Additionally, Jesus mentions we are to love others as ourselves (Matthew 22:39) and to bless those who persecute us (Romans 12:14).

    We, therefore, know that even when seemingly impossible, we should all do our best to express love for our parents, our children as we express love for our God.

    This fifth commandment, however, does not advocate for putting ourselves in danger with bad parents.

    Applying this commandment for children who have been abused will look different in terms of how they show their honoring.

    Spending time together may be an impossibility but talking on the phone or writing a letter could prayerfully be an option depending on the circumstance.

    Sometimes we have to set boundaries in relationships, and whenever that is the case we have to pray unto our ABBA God for wisdom, so that we may honor His commandment and honor our parents while keeping ourselves safe (James 1:5).

    There are no easy or set human answers how to be complete, perfect parents.

    As Mom’s and Dad’s together …

    The very best we can do is diligently consult the Word of God for His Children.

    Study it …

    Like Jesus did, intentionally plumb its depths, its ways, its truths and its life.

    Pray without ceasing over every aspect of it, revelation from it …

    Koinonia, Fellowship with our ABBA Father, His Son Jesus, Holy Spirit, other Parents …

    Finally,

    Be Still, Be Quiet, know only God is God, and can, should be, exalted as God.

    Matthew 6:25-33New King James Version

    Do Not Worry

    25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one [a]cubit to his [b] stature?

    28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not [c]arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

    31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

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

    Let us Pray,

    Heavenly Father, thank You for my parents and for giving me life. Thank You for the pleasant and harsh lessons I have learned and the good times and the bad we have shared together. Forgive me for the times when I have not sufficiently honored my father and mother as I ought – for I am now acutely aware that this is dishonoring to You. From this day forward, I pray that I should honour You in all my interactions with my own family and with my friends, and may my life be honoring to You.

    Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

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

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    Honoring Parents, Honoring God. Exodus 20:12

    Exodus 20:12Amplified Bible

    12 “Honor (respect, obey, care for) your father and your mother, so that your days may be prolonged in the land the Lord your God gives you.

    The Word of God for the Children of God.

    Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

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

    The fifth commandment is simultaneously a simple instruction and an indispensable element of the well-being of entire societies.

    When the Lord gives the command “Honor your father and mother,” He is laying down the essential blueprint for maintaining the stability of families, communities, the Body of Christ and His churches and hosts of all nations.

    What does it mean to honor your parents?

    The word for “honor” carries the notion of weight and heaviness; children ought to feel the weight of respect for their parents.

    By this fifth commandment, God places the full weight of responsibility for the lifetime of moral and ethical upbringing of the children and their instruction in righteous living, firmly and squarely on the shoulders of the father and mother.

    By this “God” weight, this weight of God, Parents are owed such high regard because God has placed upon them in their roles, the stewardship of such a role, accountability to such a role, to raise the next generation of children, is worth many times over, far beyond its utmost maximum possible weight in honor.

    While children are in view here, the Bible also has much to say about parenting that honors God (see also Ephesians 6:4; Colossians 3:21). — More on this later.

    How does a child display this honor?

    In several ways.

    For one, a child ought to show practical respect to his or her parents.

    This can be as simple as speaking well of our parents, showing them courtesy, looking them in the eye, and addressing them with a due sense of deference.

    Second, it involves genuine love; there should be heartfelt expressions of affection between parents and their children.

    Third, unless it would involve disobeying God, a child ought to obey what his or her mom and dad say.

    This expectation is found all over Proverbs: for example, “Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching” (Proverbs 1:8).

    Fourth, a child should submit to their parents’ discipline and authority.

    All good parents discipline their children (though it must not be done in anger nor vindictively or disproportionately), and children should ought to be taught to implicitly trust such discipline is for their long-term good (Hebrews 12:5-11).

    In ancient Israel, respect for ones parents was valued so highly that those who disregarded it flagrantly or persistently faced the death penalty (Deuteronomy 21:18-21).

    Why such a significant consequence?

    Because the home provides the most essential and vital training ground, the success of which affects how the child will relate to authorities of all kinds.

    We never outrun authority in our lives.

    There are political authorities we are called to obey (Romans 13:1-7).

    Spiritual authorities we are to respect (Hebrews 13:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:12).

    And those of advanced years we are commanded to honor (Leviticus 19:32).

    Most significantly, when children are taught how, when they learn over time to honor their parents, even despite their parents’ many imperfections, they learn what it too means to learn how to honor our ABBA, our perfect heavenly Father.

    Reverence for parents is an integral part of reverence for God.

    Because parental authority is God-given, for children to learn to honor their parents is to come to that place of spiritual maturity and honor God Himself.

    So if you are a parent [age not specific] with children [age?] at home, it is not loving (though it may be easier) to fail to insist that your children honor you.

    If you are an adult with parents still living, it is a matter of obedience to God you still show them the honor they are due, not according to how well (or other- wise) you feel they raised you but according to the position the Lord gave them.

    As you honor them, you will be pleasing Him and showing those around you that God-given authority, when exercised in a godly way, is a blessing to all.

    Honoring Parents …

    It may come as a surprise to many of us this commandment is not age-specific.

    It’s a commandment not just for the young but for children of all ages.

    God asks parents be worthy of honor in the way they relate to their children.

    And God commands that children obey and show respect for their parents in line with doing what is right.

    This means both are to act appropriately at each stage of their lives together.

    This commandment came to a society without the support systems that many of us are used to.

    Adult children were totally responsible to look after aging parents.

    God reminds us that as long as we have parents, we are to honor them, seeing that their living is respectable and they are well cared for.

    It’s not just a matter of doing what our parents tell us to do when we are young.

    It’s a matter of showing our utmost respect, life-long honor to the parents who gave us life, sacrificed incredibly all to raise us, launched us upon life’s journey.

    The apostle Paul calls this “the first commandment with a promise.”

    God indicates when we honor the parents with whom we are in relationship, he will honor us and He will surely and certainly bless us.

    Some parents are easier to honor than others.

    But respecting to the utmost those whom the Lord has chosen to place over us opens a door to abundant blessings.

    By honoring our parents and others whom God places in authority over us, we honor and glory and our utmost worship and praise unto our Father in heaven.

    Which is what each and everyone of us were created, shaped by God, to do …

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

    Let us Pray,

    Heavenly Father, ABBA Father, thank You for my parents and for giving me life. My First ABBA, Thank You for the lessons I have learned and the good times we have shared together. Forgive me for the times when I have not honored my father and mother as I ought – for I am aware that this is dishonoring to You. From this day forward, I pray that I may honour You in all my interactions with my family and my friends, and may my whole life be honoring unto You. This I pray in Jesus’ name.

    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). 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but 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. 11 For 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]

    9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but 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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    An Attitude Adjustment? How Can We Know ‘Goodness and Mercy Will Follow’ Us When We are Hurting? Psalm 23:6

    Psalm 23Authorized (King James) Version

    Psalm 23

    A Psalm of David.

    1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
    2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
    he leadeth me beside the still waters.
    3 He restoreth my soul:
    he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
    4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
    I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
    thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
    5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
    thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
    6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
    and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

    The Word of God for the Children of God.

    Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

    One of the great hymns of the faith is “Surely Goodness and Mercy.”

    In its verses, this hymn summarizes what is taught in Psalm 23.

    The chorus, of which I’m sure you are familiar, simply quotes verse 6.

    Please read Psalm 23, then sing along with this hymn (at least verse 1):

    A pilgrim was I, and a wandering—In the cold night of sin I did roam

    When Jesus the kind Shepherd found me—And now I am on my way home.

    Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days, all the days of my life;

    Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days, all the days of my life.

    If you want to keep singing, then you’ll have to look up the other verse in your hymnal or online, but please wait to do so until after you have finished reading the rest of this devotional.

    Of all the words that David could have used to describe the blessings of God, he chose “goodness and mercy.”

    In this brief study of this Psalm, we have previously talked about our Shepherd providing for us, about restoring our souls, leading us, comforting us, securing us, anointing us with oil, fattening our lives, and overflowing us with blessings.

    David sums all this up as “goodness and mercy.”

    Goodness supplies all of our needs, and mercy saves us from our sin.

    What wondrous blessings our Shepherd has lavished upon us!

    Yet, the focus of this final verse is not on the blessings of goodness and mercy, but on their temporal extent—how long will they last – they will last forever!

    God’s goodness and mercy will follow me “all the days of my life.”

    This means that God is good and merciful when the days are bright and sunny, and when the days are dark and grey.

    God lavishes me with goodness and mercy in the days of feasting and in the days of fasting.

    God shows me goodness and mercy when I am in the prime of life, and when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. 

    Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life!

    But God’s goodness and mercy are not limited to this life only!

    They will be shown to me “forever!”

    When I pass from this life to the next, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord.”

    I will not be condemned to destruction.

    I will not be made to pay for my sins.

    I will not be isolated from my Lord. I will dwell in His house forever!

    Surely goodness and mercy will follow me, all the days of my eternal life!

    What Does ‘Surely Goodness and Mercy Will Follow Me’ Mean?

    This verse appears in the beginning of Psalm 23:6. 

    “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” 

    King David wrote this Psalm.

    It very eloquently an passionately speaks of the goodness of God.

    One of the rewards of being a Christian is the love that God shows to us.

    He loves all His creation.

    However, submitting to God and accepting Jesus Christ as personal Savior affords us special benefits.

    As Christians, God’s goodness and mercy are available to us even when we miss the mark.

    We have access to Him through Jesus Christ.

    We can ask for forgiveness, and it is like we have a clean slate.

    You will not receive this sort of treatment from man.

    Man keeps a record of our faults and is quick to remind us of who we were.

    Sometimes it is hard to imagine someone just forgetting about all the stuff that you used to do, but that’s God. God sees our worth.

    He sees the brighter picture. 

    Jeremiah 29:11 reads, “I know the plans that I have for you says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

    I pray that God will help you to grasp what it means to know that goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life.

    The goodness and mercy of God especially follows you when you are hurting.

    Psalms 34:18 says, “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saved such as be of a contrite spirit.”

    Contrite means to show remorse or be filled with guilt.

    You can feel the presence of God draw near to you best when you are in tears.

    That is a comforting feeling.

    Even when no one else wants to listen, God will draw near to you.

    You might say goodness and mercy have not always followed me.

    The Bible says that “in this life you will have tribulation but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

    God’s peace will allow us to remain stable in an unstable world.

    His peace has already overcome the world.

    What is the Context of Psalm 23?

    Most Christians learned Psalm 23 in Sunday School, or your parents made you read it at home until you memorized it.

    In the Kingdom of God, people are often referred to as sheep.

    The church leader or pastor is referred to as the shepherd.

    Here King David uses the imagery of a shepherd to show God’s blessing and protection of His people (The KJV Study Bible, Barbour Publishing, 2011).

    You might ask, why does my pastor care about what I am doing?

    As much as we do not like people in our business, pastors are shepherds.

    Ultimately, God will hold them accountable for how they tended the sheep.

    We are sheep.

    If you go line by line, you realize that since the Lord is your shepherd; you shall not want for anything.

    I have heard some Saints say that they do not want for nothing.

    Think about your life.

    You have everything that you need and many things that you want.

    You have so much stuff until you must give it away annually.

    I know people with some incredible wardrobe closets.

    A lot of people would be happy with just two week’s supply of the clothes in someone else’s closet.

    God gives us what we need and much of what we want.

    When God makes us to lie down in green pastures, that is symbolism for basic needs.

    Verse three says “He restoreth my soul.”

    God restores you when life or the enemy seeks to depress you and worry you about the cares of this life.

    All humans sleep and should wake up refreshed.

    I remember the host of times when I have felt that I had a difficult day, all I would desire to do, is to just go to sleep where ever, when ever convenient.

    When I would awaken, I would feel refreshed and just have a different outlook on things.

    It is a trick of the enemy to make us feel like our situation is the worst that it could be.

    That is why you and I need to discipline ourselves to read the Word of God every single day, pray the Holy Spirit, and find out what God says about the situation.

    God as shepherd also guides us. 

    Psalms 23:4 says “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” 

    We should not be fearful living this life.

    God is our shepherd.

    Many times the wife and I I have driven by the scene of an accident and thought that if we had been five minutes earlier, that could have been us.

    God is going before us and making the crooked places straight (Isaiah 45:2).

    We have been, by measures and degrees ill and perhaps even sometimes close to death, but our ever vigilant God sets his rod and staff, keeps us here on purpose.

    There are twists and turns on this walk called life, but God is always near us.

    Verse five says “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil: my cup runneth over.”

    I have been in both enlisted in the Navy and an Officer in the Army.

    I have completed both of their Basic Trainings.

    During marches from this point of some place to that far off place called “somewhere else, who knows where,” we sang cadences to keep in step. 

    I have often marched to the song;

    “You dig one ditch, you better dig two.”

    “You never know whose coming for you!”

    Often, your blessing is in the presence of your enemies.

    Everyone is not your friend, and you are a nice person.

    Different people have different motives and intents, but the plan of the Lord prevails (Proverbs 19:21).

    Like a Lion lurking in the brush, the enemy of mankind is wily and persistent- constantly looking to redirect our steps away from where God requires us to be

    It is important to note that if you know the purpose that God has for you, you need to stick with the plan, aware of the plan and let Him work out the kinks.

    You can talk to God about issues and ask Him to fix it.

    Sometimes, I am amazed at what He will do if you just ask Him.

    It is even better when you can hear that He is listening.

    So I try to be careful about what I say and do because I know that He is listening, and we can always on the fact that He will at the most inconvenient of time (for me anyway) “drop a dime” on you and a quarter on me and on those around us.

    God also gives us integrity checks.

    So step up to the test.

    God, your Shepherd is with your every single “pilgrim” step of the way.

    What is God’s Goodness?

    God’s goodness is His love.

    God is love and, God is good.

    Many of us can say that we do not deserve to be here.

    Sometimes people do not want God to have mercy on people that have done some awful things.

    I remember a soul chilling phrase from the movie Chicago when the defendant was asked why she killed someone. She said, “He had it coming.”

    I am still amazed about who God chooses to use.

    He is not calling us up and asking for permission to use certain people.

    God looks at the heart and sees how repentant people are (1 Samuel 16:7).

    His Word says that He is married to the backslider (Jeremiah 3:14).

    When we sin, we must repent.

    God knows that we are not perfect.

    He knows that temptation and trials are all around.

    We must get in the Word so that we have some help for what we face.

    Look to Luke 15:11-32.

    Read about the prodigal son.

    He came in like a spoiled brat and demanded what he thought was his.

    You normally get these things at the reading of the will.

    His still living father gave him his inheritance early.

    The younger son went away, lived his life as he saw fit and best for him and in the midst of all his presumed joy and happiness, things did not go as planned.

    He ended up broke, wishing he could eat any food with the pigs.

    He stood up, took a long accounting of himself in his mirror, returned home, presumably by the longest and the narrowest and the safest paths possible.

    Amazingly, Radically, His father waited at home, treated him well at his return.

    Sometimes, God will allow us to learn, earn our Doctorates in Life, through the “long way around the barn” school of hard knocks, but in His goodness and in His mercy He remains steadfast, waiting at home, stands ready to receive us.

    How Can We Know Goodness and Mercy Will Follow Us Every Day?

    Episode by episode, long experience, David knew God’s record of faithfulness.

    Episode by episode, experience by experience, we too can know God’s record.

    If you have been around for any length of time, you have experienced God’s goodness and his mercy and probably never even fully realized it every day.

    If you need confirmation, become the prodigal son as he turns away from the smells and sights of the pig sties, turns around, determines that at no matter what the cost in time and effort and risk, steels himself, and just goes home.

    Become that prodigal son and on the “journey home” just search the scriptures.

    Look at the scriptures from beginning to end and the many clouds of witnesses.

    Read the stories, as much as humanly possible, pray the scriptures, purposely become the people of the scriptures – become like Abraham, leave it all behind.

    Pick everything up, go to that far off, unknown place where God is sending you.

    Where step after step, meal after meal, day after day, trial after trial, tribulation after tribulation, God is setting up your table of abundance in full sight of every single enemy who will seek to stop you in your tracks from going home to God.

    How long did it take for the prodigal son to finally crest the hill where he finally saw, took a glance of home – the Lord who is our Shepherd, guided every step!

    Along the way, how many fields and meadows and still waters did the prodigal take his rest in, refresh and bathe himself by and long gulps, slaked his thirst.

    Most importantly, look at Jesus who God sent as a sacrifice and atonement for our sins – because ultimately – that prodigal son – made it all the way home.

    Hard steps?

    Absolutely to be expected ….

    Yet by Psalm 23, we must not allow ourselves to give up on the goodness of God.

    Because our Father awaits us at our eternal home ….

    “AND WEI SHALL DWELL IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD OUR GOD, FOREVER ….”

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

    Let us Pray,

    Psalm 24 The Message

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

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    Attitude Adjustment: Our Leaving Matters in God’s Hands. Genesis 16

    Genesis 16Amplified Bible

    Sarai and Hagar

    16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not borne him any children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “See here, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. I am asking you to go in to [the bed of] my maid [so that she may bear you a child]; perhaps I will [a]obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to Sarai and did as she said. 3 After Abram had lived in the land of Canaan ten years, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian [maid], and gave her to her husband Abram to be his [secondary] wife. 4 He went in to [the bed of] Hagar, and she conceived; and when she realized that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress [regarding Sarai as insignificant because of her infertility]. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “May [the responsibility for] the wrong done to me [by the arrogant behavior of Hagar] be upon you. I gave my maid into your arms, and when she realized that she had conceived, I was despised and looked on with disrespect. May the Lord judge [who has done right] between you and me.” 6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Look, your maid is entirely in your hands and subject to your authority; do as you please with her.” So Sarai treated her harshly and humiliated her, and Hagar fled from her.

    7 But [b]the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, on the road to [Egypt by way of] Shur. 8 And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where did you come from and where are you going?” And she said, “I am running away from my mistress Sarai.” 9 The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Go back to your mistress, and submit [c]humbly to her authority.” 10 Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.” 11 The Angel of the Lord continued,

    “Behold, you are with child,
    And you will bear a son;
    And you shall name him Ishmael (God hears),
    Because the Lord has heard and paid attention to your persecution (suffering).
    12 
    “He (Ishmael) will be a wild donkey of a man;
    His hand will be against every man [continually fighting]
    And every man’s hand against him;
    And he will dwell in defiance of all his brothers.”

    13 Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are [d]God Who Sees”; for she said, “Have I not even here [in the wilderness] remained alive after [e]seeing Him [who sees me with understanding and compassion]?” 14  Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi (Well of the Living One Who Sees Me); it is [f]between Kadesh and Bered.

    15 So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son; and Abram named his son, to whom Hagar gave birth, [g]Ishmael (God hears). 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.

    The Word of God for the Children of God

    Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

    Today’s story centers on the painful triangle of relationships between Abram, Sarai, and Sarai’s slave Hagar.

    The ancient story contains moral weakness, self pity, jealousy, competition, contempt, scorn, rejection, revenge, meanness, and other emotional violence.

    When the situation becomes unbearable, Sarai sends Hagar to Abram that Abram should have sexual relations with her and then bear the family a child.

    A child is conceived and this is where things really break down.

    Hagar looks down with jealousy and contempt upon Sarai in her infertility.

    What had started with Sarai good intentions, her self sacrifice to give Abram a lasting hope for the continued future of his lineage, just turned seriously sour.

    Sarai blamed Abram ….

    Sarai wanted maximum accountability from Abram for Hagar’s behaviors.

    5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “May [the responsibility for] the wrong done to me [by the arrogant behavior of Hagar] be upon you. I gave my maid into your arms, and when she realized that she had conceived, I was despised and looked on with disrespect. May the Lord judge [who has done right] between you and me.” 

    Abram washes his hands of the matter ….

    6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Look, your maid is entirely in your hands and subject to your authority; do as you please with her.” So Sarai treated her harshly and she humiliated her, and Hagar fled from her.

    But now she is in a desperate situation: pregnant and alone in the desert with barely enough provisions for survival.

    It all began with a promise from God to secure Abram’s family future.

    Time had lapsed and a hopeful, hope-filled promise turned into a situation of impatience and desperation, a lapse of personal faith in God to change lives.

    We are greatly shocked by the sequence of events – great promise to an even greater descent into great jealously, rage, humiliation – threatening the family.

    Putting the prospect of great hope in a blessed and abundant future in jeopardy.

    But the one thing we notice which seems to be missing from this tragic story is anyone’s attempt to seek out God, to pray for change, courage, patience, mercy.

    The one thing we do not see is any sincere desire for an “attitude adjustment.”

    To caught up in their very raw emotions …. there is no offer of prayer to God.

    This instantaneous moment when all Abram, Hagar and Sarai can see is each other trying to sort out an extraordinarily volatile situation by their own wills.

    Was grace an unknown commodity?

    Was the thought of compassion or mercy an unknown commodity lost to anger?

    On the human side … very much so.

    Too fast to respond with raw unfiltered emotions is all too soon our first hope, first response for lasting meaningful successful resolution to a hopeless cause.

    But, what if we were to counsel these parties and try to insert a moment or two of “attitude adjustment” – set these people apart – insert another perspective?

    Remind them in the midst of this, there’s grace and mercy in this raw story too.

    Remind them and ourselves of the promise: the presence, sovereignty of God?

    The name for God in this text draws from the Hebrew word ‘roi’, which has to do with “looking,” “appearance,” “seeing,” and “sight.”

    Abram and Sarai seem to have lost their sight, vision, of God’s faithfulness.

    Yet, alone and utterly forsaken in the desert—in her darkest moment—Hagar realizes that El Roi, “the God who sees,” sees her, has never lost sight of her.

    Some choose to see God, envision God, prayed, inserted into their situations.

    Look for hope in seemingly hopeless situations ….

    Believe all things “impossible in our eyes” are always possible in God’s eyes.

    Others?

    Like Abram and Sarai (and perhaps us?) in that moment …. not so much ….

    Don’t we all find ourselves at times in desperate situations?

    Even if our circumstances are not desperate, they can certainly be difficult at times, and we can absolutely feel as if we will never have a hope for any future.

    Life was harsh and difficult in those ancient of days and even today is difficult, and living in today as a Christian does not mean we are spared those difficulties.

    As we will continue to confront and face illness, unemployment, heartache, broken relationships, separations and divorces and other moral challenges, we are always and forever will be confronted by this single fundamental question:

    Is their an “Attitude Adjustment” anywhere in our futures?

    Is there time for a “God sized” “Attitude Adjustment” anywhere in our plans?

    Is God’s perspective going to be even minimally, voluntarily sought out?

    Remember the faithful Promises of God for an abundant future of hope?

    Not our own hope or lack of hope we exclusively reserved for ourselves?

    Lose sight of God’s wisdom to know how we should respond to adversity?

    Walk the narrow paths of God’s promises?

    Walk the broad pathways which lead to our destruction? (Matthew 7:13-14)

    Walk the path of faith or will we try to take matters into our own hands?

    Abraham was a man who was just like us—he experienced both triumph and failure in his walk of faith.

    God had personally promised Abram to make his family a nation and to bless the world through someone from that nation (Genesis 12:1-3).

    Though childless, elderly Abraham and his wife, Sarah, would have their “very own son” who would be their heir (Genesis 15:4).

    Abraham “believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness” an even Sarah herself received the ability to conceive Isaac. (Hebrews 11:8-11)

    But after years and years of waiting, Abram and Sarai’s faith had wavered.

    They were expecting God to act in good faith, but now had grown impatient.

    Presumably, on a monthly basis, their hopes would rise and collapse—and with every passing month and year, Sarah grew older, sadder, and more impatient.

    So it was that they reached an explosive crisis of faith.

    They knew that God is real, that God is all-powerful, and that God had promised them a son, but they also knew they both got older and didn’t yet have a son.

    Would they allow the questions of their hearts to overturn their faith or would they allow their vision of faith in God to overturn the questions of their hearts?

    The verses above narrate the sorry conclusion: they took matters into their own hands, and the “best” solution that they adopted was a destructive self-effort.

    In doubting and despair, Sarai ordered Abram to sleep with her maid servant, Hagar, in hopes of bringing about the promised child, and Abraham complied.

    Perhaps this was acceptable practice in that time and culture, based on the idea that the children of such a union would belong to the owner of the slave-girl.

    Abram undoubtedly informed Sarai of God’s promise to him, and Sarai perhaps thought that this was necessary in order to bring about God’s plan for them.

    Ancient and Contemporary 20/20 hindsight being what it is, always will be;

    It was the wrong decision.

    Doubting that God would keep His promise, they instead sought to bring it about by their own (immoral) actions.

    They made their decision based on expediency.

    They didn’t ask, What is right? 

    They asked, What can we do for ourselves that will “work things out” for us? 

    They allowed pragmatism to be their guide over and against faith—and in doing so, they brought about more suffering, more pain, and more heartache for themselves and for Hagar.

    They thought intervening by their own devices and their understanding of human nature would simplify things; instead, it complicated everything.

    Making Attitude Adjustment, Leaving Matters in God’s Hands

    Whenever we set faith aside and apply self-effort, we complicate our lives.

    Whenever we seek to take things into our own hands and make our own plans instead of trusting God to keep His promises, we end up with chaos, heartache.

    Faith and waiting go hand in hand.

    Do not lose heart as you sit in life’s waiting rooms.

    It is always right to wait upon God, and it is always right to wait for God.

    God sees and knows everything and everyone.

    We do not know everything and everyone.

    But we can know God more than we do now – if we want to know Him more.

    If we want to surrender the sum total of who we believe we are in our eyes.

    What areas of life do we need to “make adjustments” to live this out today?

    But even in times of hopelessness,

    can we adjust our way of thinking an believing we are each Blessedly Assured:

    El Roi, “the God who sees,” is 100% watching over us, 100% seeing us, 100% protecting, 100% providing for us all in our darkest hour of need (Psalm 23)?

    It is too deep in our human nature, our bleakest moments we too feel all alone.

    What is my natural response?

    What is your natural response?

    What is our natural response?

    With a bit of tweaking (attitude adjustment) by the Lord our Savior,

    By God’s matchless grace, faithful mercy. one and done forgiveness and love,

    What might our “God-Adjusted” responses become?

    Job 19:23-27Amplified Bible

    Job Says, “My Redeemer Lives”

    23 
    “Oh, that the words I now speak were written!
    Oh, that they were recorded in a scroll!
    24 
    “That with an iron stylus and [molten] lead
    They were engraved in the rock forever!
    25 
    “For I know that my Redeemer and Vindicator lives,
    And at the last He will take His stand upon the earth.
    26 
    “Even after my [mortal] skin is destroyed [by death],
    Yet from my [immortal] flesh I will see God,
    27 
    Whom I, even I, will see for myself,
    And my eyes will see Him and not another!
    My heart faints within me.

    El Roi, “the God who sees,” has never lost sight of us, promises to care for us.

    Surely, the Goodness and Mercy of God do follow us all the days of our lives!

    What greater, more blessed assurance can we “adjust” ourselves to believing?

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

    Let us Pray,

    Psalm 16 The Message

    16 1-2 Keep me safe, O God,
        I’ve run for dear life to you.
    I say to God, “Be my Lord!”
        Without you, nothing makes sense.

    3 And these God-chosen lives all around—
        what splendid friends they make!

    4 Don’t just go shopping for a god.
        Gods are not for sale.
    I swear I’ll never treat god-names
        like brand-names.

    5-6 My choice is you, God, first and only.
        And now I find I’m your choice!
    You set me up with a house and yard.
        And then you made me your heir!

    7-8 The wise counsel God gives when I’m awake
        is confirmed by my sleeping heart.
    Day and night I’ll stick with God;
        I’ve got a good thing going and I’m not letting go.

    9-10 I’m happy from the inside out,
        and from the outside in, I’m firmly formed.
    You canceled my ticket to hell—
        that’s not my destination!

    11 Now you’ve got my feet on the life path,
        all radiant from the shining of your face.
    Ever since you took my hand,
        I’m on the right way.

    Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

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    The Quickest and Most Courageous Way to Make an Attitude Adjustment. Hebrews 4:10-13

    Hebrews 4:10-13 Amplified Bible

    10 For the one who has once entered His rest has also rested from [the weariness and pain of] his [human] labors, just as God rested from [those labors uniquely] His own. 11 Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest [of God, to know, experience it for ourselves], so that no one will fall by following the same example of disobedience [as those who died in the wilderness]. 12 For the word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than any two-edged [a]sword, penetrating as far as the division of the [b]soul and spirit [the completeness of a person], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, and revealed to the eyes of Him with whom we have to give account.

    The Word of God for the Children of God.

    Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

    The 19th-century English preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said the Reformation began when Martin Luther found an old discarded Bible in his monastery.

    As he postured himself, he began to read it, subtly God’s Word grew like a seed in his heart and his soul, and the result was a world-transforming movement.

    But this gentle image of a seed is not the way the incomparable power of God’s Word is described in Hebrews 4:12, one of the key verses in the foundational idea of sola Scriptura, or “Scripture alone.”

    Here God’s Word is described as a sharp, powerful, and precise blade, dividing the whole complete truth from all of the rebellious lies we harbor in our hearts.

    Only Scripture has this power—not the traditions of any church, nor the acutely accurate insights of any leader.

    As Luther said, “A simple layman armed with Scripture is greater than the mightiest pope without it.”

    Indeed, in speaking about the Reformation that he initiated, Luther said, “I did nothing. The Word did everything.”

    God’s Word, the Bible, has a precision and a power we will find nowhere else.

    Will you let it be active in you?

    Read it with an open heart?

    Let it form the words that come from your mouth?

    Let it shape the actions you take?

    Adjusting (without our permission and utterly against our wills) our attitudes?

    Eventually arriving at the God anointed place where only by knowing and living in and through God’s Word can we please him and serve him in our daily lives?

    Is there enough moral courage to let the Word of God take command of our life?

    What Does it take to be Courageous?

    Isaiah 45:5-7Amplified Bible

    5 
    “I am the Lord, and there is no one else;
    There is no God except Me.
    I will embrace and arm you, though you have not known Me,
    6 
    That people may know from the rising to the setting of the sun [the world over]
    That there is no one except Me.
    I am the Lord, and there is no other,
    7 
    The One forming light and creating darkness,
    Causing peace and creating disaster;
    I am the Lord who does all these things.

    Courage back-builds as we spend time soaked in the Truth of God’s Word.

    Understanding who God is and who we are as His children allows us to realize our need for Him.

    When we don’t know what’s going to happen, God is already there.

    He is all-knowing, everywhere, all of the time.

    There is no other God, …..

    Isaiah repeated three times in today’s key verses.

    Any time a word or phrase is repeated in Scripture, we can assume it’s of heightened importance. 

    There is no other God. 

    He alone is mighty to save.

    He gives us what we need to live the lives He’s put us on earth to live, before we even know who He is.

    We have a never-ending supply of courage available to us, through Christ Jesus.

    His Holy Spirit lives in us, activating a supernatural bravery in each of us who dare to publicly proclaim Him our Lord and our Savior.

    The One True God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

    There is no other – period!

    There can never be another – period!

    There will never be another – period!

    Our only living hope is in living for Him.

    Our only living hope comes from living from Him,

    …. as does the courage and bravery we need to wait patiently on Him. 

    How does the Word of God define Courage?

    Joshua 1:5-9Amplified Bible

    5 No man will [be able to] stand before you [to oppose you] as long as you live. Just as I was [present] with Moses, so will I be with you; I will not fail you or abandon you. 6 Be strong and confident and courageous, for you will give this people as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers (ancestors) to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do [everything] in accordance with the entire law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may prosper and be successful wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall read [and meditate on] it day and night, so that you may be careful to do [everything] in accordance with all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will be [a]successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified or dismayed (intimidated), for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

    Courage is born from confidence in our Creator.

    Courage shows up 124 times in the Amplified translation of the Bible.

    https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=courage&version=AMP

    The dictionary definition of courage is “the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery.”

    We aren’t promised an easy life following Christ Jesus, but we are guaranteed all we need is the courage drawn from living into, out from, the unchangeable moral, ethical truths in, and throughout the length and breadth of the Word of God to move forward boldly to accomplish what the Lord has set us here to do.

    Halley’s Bible Handbook Notes explains “God’s superiority over idols is proven by His ability to foretell the future.

    Says Isaiah, our God, whom we worship in our Hebrew nation, not only can do what human beings do, He can do some things that they cannot do: He can foretell things to come.” 

    Psalm 27:14 says, 

    “Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, with patiently for the LORD.”

    Courage can be stillness, seeking the Lord and waiting patiently for His direction and wisdom.

    Instead of rushing to the aid of others to download a situation in exchange for opinions, we wait on the Lord.

    Instead of allowing our reactions to go unfiltered, we wait on the Lord’s direction.

    It sometimes takes more courage to be still and silent.

    Jesus often retreated to pray to the Lord, and returned strengthened.

    Isaiah wrote:

    “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

    God is doing all of the work!

    He is with us, and He is God!

    He strengthens us and helps us. He holds us up in His victorious right hand. Christ Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father, victorious over death.

    He willingly sacrificed His life for us on the cross, rose three days later, and then ascended into heaven to be seated at the right hand of His Father.

    It’s His sacrifice and His victory we draw strength from!

    Moses told God’s people, and Joshua, before they entered the promised land:

    “So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the LORD you God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you” (Deuteronomy 31:6).

    God is doing all of the work!

    He is with us, and He is God!

    He strengthens us and helps us. He holds us up in His victorious right hand.

    Christ Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father, victorious over death.

    He willingly sacrificed His life for us on the cross, rose three days later, and then ascended into heaven to be seated at the right hand of His Father.

    It’s His sacrifice and His victory we draw strength from!

    Moses told God’s people, and Joshua, before they entered the promised land:

    “So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the LORD you God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you” (Deuteronomy 31:6).

    Quickest Way From Timidity to Courage to Attitude Adjustment

    Hebrews 4:12Amplified Bible

    12 For the word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than any two-edged [a]sword, penetrating as far as the division of the [b]soul and spirit [the completeness of a person], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart.

    Have you ever found yourself in need of an attitude adjustment?

    If so, be encouraged, as you’ve reached the most critical step in receiving one by acknowledging and recognizing, confessing and believing you are in need of it. 

    Realizing and recognizing there are wrong attitudes in your heart and mind is the breakthrough moment to a new attitude.

    So many of us walk around, living day-to-day with no idea we might need some adjustments. 

    For sure, God is quick to recognize wrong attitudes in us, even if we think we’re covering them up with our words.

    “These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me” (Matthew 15:8).

    Although wrong attitudes are often easy for us to see in others, for some reason, they are usually very difficult to see in ourselves.

    Because it is sometimes almost impossible to see wrong attitudes within us, what is the quickest way to an attitude adjustment? 

    As Hebrews 4:12 explains, when we commit to reading God’s Word, it has the power to cut through our soul and spirit and to judge our heart’s attitudes.

    Nothing else in the world has the ability to do so like the living Word of God.

    God’s Word Actively Exposes and Corrects Wrong Attitudes

    God’s Word is so vital to our daily lives and the quickest way to recognize and reveal hidden mindsets, especially helpful in addressing and adjusting wrong and sinful attitudes.

    Because it is alive and active, it doesn’t ever grow outdated or irrelevant to correct current incorrect thoughts and ways of thinking. 

    Before wrong attitudes can enter our hearts, God’s Word has the power to stop them before we accept them into our thinking.

    As 2 Timothy 3:16 explains, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”

    Three Ways God’s Word Adjusts Attitudes

    As well, Proverbs 6:21,22 describes three ways it has the ability to help us live daily with the right attitude when we take the time to make it the top priority in our lives by reading, studying, and applying it to our lives. 

    ”Bind them always on your heart; fasten them around your neck. When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you.”

    1. God’s Word guides our attitudes.

    His Living Word will not ask our permission to take the lead in our lives to help us guide our thoughts, Words, and actions each and every day to be aligned with His ways over worldly wisdom and philosophies. 

    As 2 Corinthians 10:5 explains, with God’s Living and Active Word,

    “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

    2. God’s Word protects our attitudes as we sleep.

    Have you ever woken up in a bad mood, feeling disgruntled, upset, negative, and on edge, not knowing why?

    Well, that isn’t just by accident.

    The enemy of our souls works through the night to influence our thoughts and attitudes. 

    But as Christians, we don’t have to wake up with wrong thinking and mindsets because God says His words will protect and watch over us when we’re sleeping, guarding our hearts and minds against the onslaught of the enemy’s attacks.

    His Word works as a shield against the enemy’s midnight assaults.

    As Proverbs 30:5 assures, “Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.”

    3. God’s Word speaks to our attitudes during the day.

    When we’re awake, God will personally speak to us through His Word.

    Because it is alive and active, when we take the time to read it, study it and too, know it, God will speak to us through it at times when we need to hear His voice.

    Although some think and believe God’s Word only speaks to us in a general way, truth and Holy Spirit reality reveals He speaks through it to our hearts, to our souls and minds in very personal deep, life-changing, transformational ways.

    Intersecting Faith and Life:

    How is your attitude today?

    How is your attitude right exactly in this exacting moment?

    Did you wake up in a bad mood?

    Wake up on the Wrong side of the bed or the leftover grounds Coffee Pot?

    Too many twists and turns and not enough “straight roads ahead?”

    Everybody and their grandmother honking their horns behind a stalled car?

    Most of us often don’t recognize wrong attitudes within ourselves, or even worse, until somebody else notices us, repeatedly, annoyingly starts tapping on our shoulder, or nudges their elbows in our ribcage and we justify having them.

    If you and I are not sure how you and I are doing today, Pray to God to expose any wrong attitudes in your heart and correct wrong thinking with His Word.

    A Hand holding a wrench to adjust the brain in an opened human head.
    adjusting, fixing or changing, or creating a new ,better way of thinking.

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

    Let us Pray,

    Lord, today, in this moment I must confess that sometimes I choose to focus on the contraries and negatives, instead of focusing on what you’ve called me to focus on. Help me take the words of Philippians 4:8 to heart. Help me to find those Words of Scripture which in every moment of every day, will help me to narrow my focus onto whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable, so that my attitude may adjusted, fine tuned to reflect and honor you. As I practice shifting my perspective, keep my heart from growing cold or bitter. Teach me to remember that I am not a slave to my negative emotions. Because of your Holy Spirit, I can tell those emotions to be removed and turn my eyes to the things of you, instead. In Jesus’ name, amen.

    Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

    https://translate.google.com/

    Benefits and Value of God’s Wisdom. Proverbs Chapter 2

    Proverbs 2:1-5 English Standard Version

    The Value of Wisdom

    2 My son, if you receive my words
        and treasure up my commandments with you,
    2 making your ear attentive to wisdom
        and inclining your heart to understanding;
    3 yes, if you call out for insight
        and raise your voice for understanding,
    4 if you seek it like silver
        and search for it as for hidden treasures,
    5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
        and find the knowledge of God.

    The Word of God for the Children of God.

    Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

    Wisdom, Knowledge and Happiness

    As a boy, Charles Dickens knew poverty from bitter experience.

    He never forgot what he had learned.

    Many of his novels deal with the huge gap between wealth and poverty.

    Perhaps the most unforgettable is A Christmas Carol.

    Its main character, Ebenezer Scrooge, is a “grasping, clutching, covetous old sinner” who can squeeze blood out of a stone.

    Bob Cratchit, his underpaid bookkeeper, shivers in his unheated corner of the office.

    But Bob has learned to be content in his situation.

    At the meager Cratchit-family Christmas dinner, Bob proposes a toast: “Merry Christmas to Mr. Scrooge, the founder of the feast!”

    Mrs. Cratchit objects with the scornful words about Scrooge, but Bob, in all humility replies mildly, “My dear, it’s Christmas … and for the children!”

    For all his poverty, Cratchit has wisdom and happiness.

    But Scrooge, for all his wealth, has a bleak and miserable “business sense” life.

    Here is something of the complexity and mystery about wealth and poverty.

    Most people think and deeply believe that wealth brings happiness.

    But that is not always so.

    Happiness and contentment can exist in the midst of scarcity.

    What’s more, the rich can be righteous, and they can be a blessing to the poor.

    And just the opposite is equally true, the righteous poor can be a humble and humbled and humbling blessing to the rich – all one needs is a bit more wisdom.

    Knowledge of God, Understanding of God through study of His Word, Faith in God, Wisdom from God and living by his love are the keys to finding happiness.

    The “Keys” to “Finding” Happiness

    Have you ever had someone try to sell you something? What’s the typical pattern a salesperson uses? First, they tell you all the amazing benefits of their service or product. “Our miracle product…

    …will lower cholesterol…”
    …will help you burn fat and lose weight…”
    …will keep your information safe and secure…”
    …will give you better gas mileage…”
    …will make you happy and content…”

    And then once you’re convinced they show you the price tag…

    “For only four payments of $999.99…”
    “If you only eat Subway for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day…”
    “If you sign up for our monthly never-ending subscription-based service…”
    “Your monthly car payment can be as low as…”
    “If you sign your life and soul over we will…”

    The typical pattern is—here’s the benefits and then here’s how you get them.

    Today, I want to reverse that pattern.

    First, I want to tell you how to get wisdom, then I want to tell you its benefits.

    This is the pattern our passage takes and I like it because when I finally tell you the benefits of wisdom you’ll be able to weigh in your own mind if it’s worth it.

    So first… 

    How to get Wisdom

    Wisdom is “skill for living”, but living God’s way instead of our own way.

    Once again the father-figure in Proverbs is teaching his son (who we can all put ourselves in the place of) how to get wisdom.

    He tells him four ways to get wisdom (not four different ways).

    You should do them all if you want to get wisdom.

    Proverbs 2:1-5New International Version

    Moral Benefits of Wisdom

    2 My son, if you accept my words
        and store up my commands within you,
    2 turning your ear to wisdom
        and applying your heart to understanding—
    3 indeed, if you call out for insight
        and cry aloud for understanding,
    4 and if you look for it as for silver
        and search for it as for hidden treasure,
    5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
        and find the knowledge of God.

    The first way to get wisdom we find in verse one.

    1. BELIEF IN GOD’S WORD (VERSE 1)

    The father-figure says, “My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you…”

    The author Solomon is talking about a father’s words found in the book of Proverbs, but he’s also talking about God’s whole Word, the Hebrew Scriptures.

    The word for commands (mitzvah) can also mean the laws God gave his people Israel (Genesis 26:5; Exodus 26:28).

    So it’s like Solomon or the father-figure is saying, “My son, if you want wisdom, believe in God’s Word.” 

    Each one of us comes to a turning point in our lives where we have to decide the final rule for our lives.

    Is it going to be God’s unchanging perfect words and commands that although they are hard we know they are good, true, and best?

    Or are we going to choose our own feelings and intuitions and desires and what the world says is best?

    God’s Word offers us a firm-foundation for our lives, a foundation that won’t let us down.

    But if we choose anything else we’re choosing something that might say one thing today and a different thing tomorrow.

    Eggs are good for you. Eggs are bad for you.

    Drink coffee. Coffee is bad for you.

    Drink more milk. Drink soy milk. Drink almond milk.

    Turn right when we should have turned left or stayed straight and narrow.

    Stay with Gasoline Vehicles or “Go Green” with Hybrids and Electric cars.

    This career path or that career path

    How about with what we understand to be the “serious things” of our lives?

    Changing and Shifting winds, sands, and crashing waves “defining” what our “correct” Morals and Ethics are “supposed to be” according to the wisest of the most educated, connected, influential, powerful, wealthy “people” on internet.

    How many issues can you think or heard of where 10-20 years ago everyone said one things was seriously averse, now today people say just the opposite?

    That is generational shifting sands, that’s stormy waters (James 1:5-8).

    How about those who “stay the course on the narrow road” and stay steadfast:

    “I only want to build my life on the rock of God’s Word that never changes!” 

    Resolving the Ceaseless Conflict between belief and unbelief in Christ the Lord.

    Does knowledge and understanding the Word of God for His Children and the outpouring of the anointing oils its blessed wisdom still have any relevance?

    First, we get wisdom by believing in God’s Word.

    2. MEMORIZATION OF GOD’S WORD (VERSE 1)

    We’re still in verse one. What does it mean to “store up” something?

    Did any of you prepare for the Y2K bug?

    So kids, a long time ago everyone was worried that when the clocks on our computers turned from December 31st 1999 to January 1st 2000 there was going to be a computer meltdown that would cause world food shortages and financial errors—basically, the apocalypse to end all apocalypses.

    So prepare people stored up canned food, powdered food, dried food, and water and drinks that would not go bad.

    Our single person household bought whole shelves of Kool-Aid powdered drink.

    So by golly if the world failed I am still going to have a storehouse of Kool-Aid.

    And when Y2K came and no one but Blockbuster video had problems I still had my Kool-Aid powdered drink, for a while it tasted good, then I got tired of it all.

    Wisdom ended up throwing most of it out, to this day wisdom will not drink it.

    I “stored up” for the long term to avert disaster.

    But so much of what I had stored up for the long term spoiled, went to waste.

    Likewise, God calls us to “store up” his Word within us to avert disaster in our lives.

    How do we do that?

    By memorizing themes and passages weaved in and throughout the Bible.

    I want to encourage everyone to “store up” God’s Word in our own hearts because God uses it to strengthen us, give us hope, and teach us how to live.

    Outline, underline, color mark foundational verses from the bible – what text speaks to your heart and to your soul and to your life at the moment you read it.

    Put it on your mirror or fold it over in your Bible, somewhere you will see it and memorize it.

    Read, study, pray and memorize other verses too, one’s that will remind you of the never ending relevance, significance of hope and God’s love and promises. 

    Second, we get wisdom by memorizing God’s Word. 

    3. ACCEPTANCE OF GOD’S WORD (VERSE 2)

    Proverbs 2:2 says to turn our ears to wisdom and apply our hearts to understanding.

    Do you ever get in a disagreement and the person you are fighting with says, “You’re not listening to me!”

    Sometimes that’s true.

    One person is not paying attention because they’re too busy talking or thinking.

    But usually that means “You’re not agreeing with me.” 

    Proverbs 2:2 is saying to get wisdom we need to hear it with our ears and accept it with our hearts and agree to it with our lives.

    We need to open ourselves up and let God’s Words and ways sink deep into who we are.

    In Hebrew culture the heart was the core of a person, their true identity.

    We do not want God’s Word to go in one ear and out the other, but go in through the ear, through the mind, and down deep into our heart.

    When I prepare devotionals that’s one of the things I think about.

    I want God’s Word to affect me first but then I want it to affect you all too.

    We don’t want to just sit here and hear without listing or agreeing.

    The absolute significance of God’s Word and truth is too eternally important. 

    Third, we get wisdom by accepting God’s Word. 

    4. ASK GOD FOR IT THROUGH PRAYER (VERSES 3 AND 4)

    This is perhaps the simplest way to get wisdom, ask God for it.

    Verse 3 tells us to “call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding” (NIV).

    If you and I want wisdom, pray that God will give us some.

    Sometimes prayer is the only step we take.

    We ask God for wisdom but we don’t try to memorize and understand his Word.

    Prayer goes hand and hand with God’s Word.

    It’s like peanut butter and jelly or eggs and bacon or it is like fish and chips.

    God’s Word and prayer together make a delicious wisdom platter.

    If you and I want wisdom, we have to ask God for it. (1 Kings 3:5-15) 

    James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. (NIV) 

    One of the points Spurgeon makes is that wisdom isn’t just knowing how to “be wise ‘enough’ to make the ‘right decisions’,” but wisdom is a character quality molded, shaped, then reshaped by “interpreting” our experiences.

    When you and I pray for wisdom it’s not only that we would make the right choice (it is that) but it’s also praying that God would make us into the kind of people who would make the right choice.

    It’s praying God would mold, shape, develop and transform our moral and our ethical character so we choose to do we do it with integrity and discernment. 

    So how do we get wisdom? 

    First, by believing in God’s Word.

    Second, by studying and memorizing God’s Word.

    Third, by accepting God’s Word,

    and fourth, by asking God for wisdom through prayer. 

    Now I’ve told you how to get wisdom, but what are the benefits of wisdom?

    What makes it worth doing all those things?

    What makes it worth signing up for and sitting inside a classroom for?

    The Benefits and Value of Wisdom

    The point of these things is not just to do them for the sake of doing them, but for the sake of something greater.

    Did you ever watch those old Mastercard commercials?

    A man and woman walk into a gas station.

    As the gas station attendant rings up their purchases he says:

    chips: $3
    frozen beverage: $2
    gas: $31
    starting a new life together: priceless… 

    But then the woman shakes her head “no” so the gas station attendant tries again.

    rekindling a fire that never went out? (she shakes her head again)
    satisfying a much-needed slushy fix?… Priceless.

    So what’s the priceless things we are seeking by pursuing wisdom?

    God himself. 

    Proverbs 2:5-6New International Version

    5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
        and find the knowledge of God.
    6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
        from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

    Verse 5 says if we seek wisdom, “then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”

    The fear of the Lord is believing that God’s “threats are real and his promises are true”.

    Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the grave shows us that God’s threats are real—that if we don’t deal with our sins he will put us to death—but his promises are real—that if we put our faith and trust in him he will forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

    It’s as we come to understand who God is through Christ Jesus that we begin to actually know God.

    Do you want to know about God or know God?

    You might know a lot of things about your favorite celebrity or professional sports athlete, you might know what movies they’re in or their batting average, but that doesn’t mean you know them.

    There’s a simple test for if you know them.

    Do they know you?

    If I were to walk up to Tom Cruise or Tom Brady and if I were to name drop your name what would they say?

    “Oh yeah. I know him!” Or more likely … “I am sorry, Who?” 

    Come with me one step further.

    If I were to walk up to God and to name drop your name what would he say?

    “Oh yes, I know him/her. I love him/her very much … Or “I am sorry, Who?”

    We seek wisdom because we’re seeking God.

    We want to know him.

    But the next verse tells us this is only possible by God’s grace.

    Proverbs 2:6 
    For the Lord gives wisdom;
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. (NIV)

    We can only know God if we want to acknowledge God, to know us.

    We can only acquire wisdom if God wants to give it to us.

    It’s both an “as we seek” and an “as he gives” kind of exchange.

    We seek to obey and know God and God gives us a relationship with him.

    Or put it in the reverse.

    God gives us a relationship with him and so we obey and know God. 

    What’s the priceless benefit of wisdom? Knowing God himself. 

    The benefits just keep growing out of this.

    If you know God you are part of the family and God protects you.

    Proverbs 2:7-8New International Version

    7 He holds success in store for the upright,
        he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
    8 for he guards the course of the just
        and protects the way of his faithful ones.

    Benefit and Value of God’s Protection (Verses 7-19)

    Proverbs 2:7-19 New International Version

    7 He holds success in store for the upright,
        he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
    8 for he guards the course of the just
        and protects the way of his faithful ones.

    9 Then you will understand what is right and just
        and fair—every good path.
    10 For wisdom will enter your heart,
        and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
    11 Discretion will protect you,
        and understanding will guard you.

    12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,
        from men whose words are perverse,
    13 who have left the straight paths
        to walk in dark ways,
    14 who delight in doing wrong
        and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,
    15 whose paths are crooked
        and who are devious in their ways.

    16 Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,
        from the wayward woman with her seductive words,
    17 who has left the partner of her youth
        and ignored the covenant she made before God.[a]
    18 Surely her house leads down to death
        and her paths to the spirits of the dead.
    19 None who go to her return
        or attain the paths of life.

    God’s wisdom grants us protection from potential disasters.

    I don’t mean natural disasters but rather God’s wisdom protect us from ourselves, from bad things we might do.

    God’s wisdom protects us from:

    • Committing injustice (v9-11) – Sinning against others by treating them unfairly. If God gives us his wisdom we will want to treat others with fairness and equity even at cost to ourselves.
    • Wicked men (or women) who love sin (v12-15) – “those who take advantage of others for their own gain.” As God grants us wisdom and character like His we won’t be drawn to them but will learn how to recognize them for who they are.
    • Unfaithful women (or men) who break their marriage promise (v16-19) – Verse 16 says that “Wisdom will save you […] from the wayward woman with her seductive words.” (NIV) Sometimes beauty might cause a break in marriage vows but often it is words, words of affirmation and acceptance. It’s a listening ear. Emotional adultery comes before acting it out. God gives us wisdom so we know how to stay away from relationships that lead to this kind of disaster.

    But there’s one more benefit to wisdom. 

    A FOREVER HOME WITH GOD (VERSES 20 to 22)

    Proverbs 2:20-22New International Version

    20 Thus you will walk in the ways of the good
        and keep to the paths of the righteous.
    21 For the upright will live in the land,
        and the blameless will remain in it;
    22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
        and the unfaithful will be torn from it.

    Proverbs 2:21 says, “For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it;” (NIV)

    It’s an interesting way to close this passage in Proverbs because it’s a reminder to the Israelite people that they get to stay in the promised land if they obey God and keep his commandments (Exodus 20:1-17). 

    But where’s the promise for us?

    The benefits of wisdom are knowing God, protection from mistakes in this life, and an eternal home with God in the life to come.

    Hebrews says that the heroes of our faith “were longing for a better country—a heavenly one” (Hebrews 11:16).

    If that’s you, if you are the one longing for a better home, then pursue wisdom.

    Seek God by believing his Word, memorizing it, accepting it, and prayer.

    John 14:5-14New International Version

    Jesus the Way to the Father

    5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

    6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know[a] my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

    8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

    9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

    Wisdom is a gift, but it’s a gift we help work for.

    Knowing God is a gift!

    Spending eternity with him is a gift!

    His protection is a gift!

    But they are gifts we have to choose to seek by choosing to seek His wisdom.

    John 14:1-3New International Version

    Jesus Comforts His Disciples

    14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

    Let our hearts not be troubled.

    Believe in God!

    Believe in His Resurrected Son, Jesus!

    Believe in God’s Holy Spirit!

    Let our Hearts Seek His wisdom and we WILL find our forever home with God!

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

    Let us Pray,

    Holy God, Word made flesh,
    let us come to this word open to being surprised.
    Silence our agendas; banish our assumptions; cast out our casual detachment.
    Confound our expectations; clear the cobwebs from our ears;
    penetrate the corners of our hearts with this word.
    We know that you can, we pray that you will,
    and we wait with great anticipation. Amen.

    Empty us, Great God, of all that prevents us
    from hearing what you want us to hear.
    Empty us of our preconceptions,
    our preoccupations and our prejudices.
    Empty us that we might be filled
    with your Spirit and your Word.
    Empty us that we might be filled for ministry and mission.
    In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.

    Calm us now, O Lord, into a quietness that heals and listens.
    Open wounded hearts to the balm of your Word.
    Speak to us in clear tones so that we might feel our spirits leap for joy
    and skip with a living hope as your resurrection witnesses. Amen.

    Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

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    “My Dear God, Great Instructor of My Life, My God, Teach Me Your Lessons for Living, So I Stay on the Right Course!” Psalm 119:33-40

    Psalm 119:33-40The Message

    33-40 God, teach me lessons for living
        so I can stay the course.
    Give me insight so I can do what you tell me—
        my whole life one long, obedient response.
    Guide me down the road of your commandments;
        I love traveling this freeway!
    Give me an appetite for your words of wisdom,
        and not for piling up loot.
    Divert my eyes from toys and trinkets,
        invigorate me on the pilgrim way.
    Affirm your promises to me—
        promises made to all who fear you.
    Deflect the harsh words of my critics—
        but what you say is always so good.
    See how hungry I am for your counsel;
        preserve my life through your righteous ways!

    The Word of God for the Children of God.

    Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

    Gloria! In Excelsis! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

    At whatever level of education, there is something truly special about learning from a master teacher: a confident, renowned expert in his or her chosen field.

    Many graduate students select their universities based on the opportunity to work with esteemed professors in their desired specialties.

    But have you considered that as Christians, at whatever measure of faith we have the singularly unique opportunity and the privilege to learn “life” daily from our Master Teacher, as His Spirit works in our hearts through His word?

    His experience of navigating life in all of its facets, is infinitely extensive.

    His preparation for navigating life, more thorough than anyone can imagine.

    His instruction is comprehensive, and He promises to do the teaching Himself, with His Holy Scriptures as our “textbook” guide.

    And even better, He does so as a master instructor who is also a Father, taking a deeply personal, deeply intimate interest in the welfare of each of His children.

    God’s instruction for life is vital.

    It is vital for beginners in the Christian life.

    We begin our journey of Christianity as infants on our knees, unaware of God’s ways, truths and dealings and consequently unaware of truths about ourselves.

    But when we are born into life with God, Jesus and Holy Spirit, we become new creations in Him, we cease to take pride in our own opinions, live for ourselves, or to regard Christ from any worldly point of view (2 Corinthians 5:12-17).

    Our anointing into His life, the outpouring of His oils upon who we are and who we will become begins, at first drop by ever precious drop, then like a wide river.

    As we raise in our faith experiences, understanding truth, from knees to feet, we become ready to hear what God says instead of telling Him what we think.

    By grace, we learn to see, learn to live life clearly, through God’s perspective.

    God’s instruction is also vital for those who are confused or uncertain.

    The Bible tells us we are wayward and foolish, ignorant and arrogant people.

    When the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, he sternly warned that among his congregations there would always be those “led astray by various passions, always learning and never quite able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:6-7).

    Only through the continuous ministry the Holy Spirit is it possible for us to spiritually mature instead of drifting like children from one idea to another.

    His instruction is also vital for the careless and the forgetful—and however long we may have been Christians, we get careless and are easily forgetful!

    That’s why the Word of God for His Children tells, teaches us, again and again to remember. Paul urged Timothy to “remember Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:8).

    The man, Rabbi Jesus urged His disciples to “remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32), who looked and turned back.

    The Teacher, in the wise and ancient words from Ecclesiastes calls out to us, “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth” (Ecclesiastes 12:1).

    Indeed, the ministry of teaching and preaching is essentially a ministry of reminders—and so are our own personal daily personal devotional times.

    Charles Spurgeon once said,

    “He who has made you his child, He will put you to school, and He will teach you until you shall know the Lord Jesus alone as the way, the truth, the life.” 

    When we ourselves, enter into our own private “prayer closets,” alone with our God, as we attentively sit at our desks, in “His Classroom,” as we read with Him or listen with Him, to Bible teaching, we are all participating in a divine, sacred time of invaluable dialogue and begin to experience deep-seated heart change.

    Somewhere in our core, we know holy instruction is taking place—we are being instructed by the very one who inspired the book whose pages we are studying.

    Reality; Living Life on our own terms, we are so helpless apart from the Lord.

    Like the Psalmist in Psalm 119 Vs 33-40, it is so very important that we all learn to ask and depend upon God to teach us His decrees and then to follow them.

    How can we come to an understanding of “living life” absent of God’s Word?

    Again, we must ceaselessly ask Him to help us to understand and obey His law.

    Sadly, I think many Christians are weak because they depend upon themselves; they believe they have the onerous ability in themselves to be obedient to God. 

    Reality is, we are each creatures of this world, creatures of sin, and as such are greatly influenced by those all around us to redefine what it means to do good.

    However, only our master Teacher God, through the life, death, resurrection of His Son can show us the truth of His Word and then give us the ability to obey it.

    Continually ask Him, plead with Him, to help you humble yourself before Him.

    As a Christian, He is your only Lord and Savior, He alone can turn your eyes away from worthless things and preserve your life according to His Word.

    What then are the results for the Christian who turns to God for help?

    He gives us Kairos, the grace, to be obedient to Him and takes away disgrace.

    Not the disgrace of the world, but disgrace before God which comes from deep within the deepest recesses of our disobedient hearts and unrepentant lives.

    Then, like the Psalmist we will long for God’s precepts to turn the upside down to the right side up, we will find our lives preserved inside His righteousness.

    Do you and I understand that?

    Do you and I seriously desire or want to understand that?

    Do we severely desire or want to come to even a minimal understanding?

    On the surface …. probably …. even most definitely, more decisively NOT!

    Deeper down though, where only God can reach us through His Word (Hebrews 4:12), though if we were to actually look eye to eye, face to face, at the deepest desires, needs, desperate wants of our souls, I am of the opinion, our soul wins!

    I don’t always try to understand the Words of my Teacher as much as I ought to.

    I wonder when I fail in learning His lessons, Why does He even bother with us?

    But, praise God, He does –

    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.

    He grants us the true joy in life which can only come from an obedient heart.

    Pray, like the Psalmist in Psalm 119 Vs 33-40, God will give you understanding, teachable hearts, then direct you on the path of obedience to Him, to His laws. 

    This is what God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit enables all His servants to do.

    What an opportunity, and privilege, it is to open His word, anticipate the work of His Spirit, and pray, “Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes”! (verse 33)

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

    Let us Pray,

    Almighty God, in you are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Open our eyes that we may see the wonders of your Word; and give us grace that we may clearly understand and freely choose the way of your wisdom. God, source of all light and truth, by your Living and Active Word you give light and life to the soul. Pour out upon us the spirit of wisdom and understanding that our hearts and minds may be opened. Prepare our hearts, O God, to accept your Word. Silence in us any voices but your own, so we may hear your Word and also do it; through Christ our Lord. Amen

    Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

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    God Anoints Our Heads With Oil, Our Cups Overflow: Our ‘Prayer Over Our Cups’, Our Understanding of the Oils: Its The Word of God. Psalm 119:33-40

    Psalm 119:33-40Amplified Bible

    He.

    33 
    Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes,
    And I will [steadfastly] observe it to the end.
    34 
    Give me understanding [a teachable heart and the ability to learn], that I may keep Your law;
    And observe it with all my heart.
    35 
    Make me walk in the path of Your commandments,
    For I delight in it.
    36 
    Incline my heart to Your testimonies
    And not to dishonest gain and envy.
    37 
    Turn my eyes away from vanity [all those worldly, meaningless things that distract—let Your priorities be mine],
    And restore me [with renewed energy] in Your ways.
    38 
    Establish Your word and confirm Your promise to Your servant,
    As that which produces [awe-inspired] reverence for You.
    39 
    Turn away my reproach which I dread,
    For Your ordinances are good.
    40 
    I long for Your precepts;
    Renew me through Your righteousness.

    The Word of God for the Children of God.

    Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

    The Word of God gives us many insights into the real value of things.

    In our reading for today, the psalm writer prays,

    “God, Teach Me, Give Me Understanding, Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes [soul] away from worthless things.”

    All our earthly possessions will prove 100% worthless on the judgment day.

    In contrast, the Word of God gives us the good news, the knowledge of complete forgiveness of sin, of God’s unconditional love and of guaranteed eternal life.

    What can be more valuable than that?

    Perhaps, a better understanding of God’s perspective through a writers “eyes?”

    We need to be continually reminded to envision value from God’s perspective, because worshiping wealth remains a powerful attraction.

    Jesus himself warned us, “You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24), instead, trying to teach us His value to “store up treasures in heaven.”

    Using a much familiar and much beloved verse from Psalm 23 ….

    Let us try to reach into God’s perspective through David’s eyes and experiences.

    Let’s start by inviting God’s Holy Spirit into our minds to recall this promise:

    “God Anoints Our Heads With Oil and Our Cups Runneth Over.” Psalm 23:5b

    What incredibly deep imagery we are presented with by these poetic words.

    But, what of our own understanding the words, their historical context, their connections from their writing, some three thousand years ago unto now?

    Breaking down the ancient experiences, those ancient thoughts that ……

    We are someway connected to its human writer, David, King and Shepherd?

    Examining the Words and the Imagery, what David had envisioned of God?

    “POURING OUT” OURSELVES INTO PSALM 23’S IMAGERY

    God ceaselessly, continually pours the Oils of His Blessings upon our heads.

    So much so that our Cups (How big and how deep are they anyway?) overflow.

    They “overflow” and they “saturate” every part of our inner and outer bodies.

    No parts of our hearts or our souls or our minds are left untouched by the oils.

    No parts of our hearts or our souls or our minds are left uninfluenced by them.

    Allowed to touch us, with our knowledge or without our knowledge, with our permission or without our permission, in clothes, in nakedness, we are touched.

    Without exception, this anointing of “oils” reaches into every part of our lives.

    This anointing of “oils” is the outpouring of the precepts of the Word of God by God’s Holy Spirit upon the welcoming, unwelcoming, repentant, unrepentant.

    In more ways we can count or even allow ourselves to imagine, the “oils” are touching each and everyone of us right in this exact, exacting “God” moment.

    A drop here, a drop there …. like an invisible eye dropper held over our heads being slowly and steadily squeezed out or just like standing in a rain storm.

    We feel the “drops” or we don’t feel the “drops” – but they are definitely there.

    They are absolutely unavoidable, no one can dodge them ….

    We “feel” them and we can try to learn and understand them and their purpose.

    We are touched by the “oils,” our souls will be unavoidably influenced by them.

    Slowly, imperceptibly, subtly, drop by drop, until they become, by the hand of God, a steady flow, then an outpouring and then a flood, then an immersion.

    In anticipation of joy or in anger, head scratching certainty or uncertainty, we start to acknowledge the flow, the goodness of it or the convictions behind it.

    Our awareness of the “oils of anointing” presence, is kindled like a newly struck match with its inevitable flames, its light and its heat starting to become visible.

    God’s “oils of anointing ,” outpouring and spreading, covering, saturating, immersing, overflowing : our knowledge, understanding of the Word of God!

    Obediently, we stand in our places, feeling the outpouring, living inside its flow.

    Life begins to subtly, perhaps suddenly begins to change ….

    Thoughts and perceptions of events subtly, perhaps suddenly, begins to change.

    We are either sure we like it or we will surely fight mightily against liking it.

    With mounting Certainty or growing and maturing Uncertainty, we stand there.

    We may try to run and hide to the furthest remotest places on earth from it.

    But we can’t escape its influence upon everything our “life has been all about.”

    We get tired so we stop running – and in whatever emotion we are then feeling;

    How can we not eventually, subtly, suddenly, inevitably, not respond by praying

    “Okay, something or someone has my undivided attention ….”

    “No More Running ….”

    “No More Hiding ….”

    “One way or the Other …. “

    “As the Deer Pants for the Waters ….”

    “as My [a]soul [my life, my very self] thirsts for ???, as my flesh longs and [my soul] now sighs for [answers] In a dry, weary land where there is no water ….”

    Psalm 119:33-40The Message

    33-40 God, teach me lessons for living
        so I can stay the course.
    Give me insight so I can do what you tell me—
        my whole life one long, obedient response.
    Guide me down the road of your commandments;
        I love traveling this freeway!
    Give me an appetite for your words of wisdom,
        and not for piling up loot.
    Divert my eyes from toys and trinkets,
        invigorate me on the pilgrim way.
    Affirm your promises to me—
        promises made to all who fear you.
    Deflect the harsh words of my critics—
        but what you say is always so good.
    See how hungry I am for your counsel;
        preserve my life through your righteous ways!

    And now, perhaps begins the gradual ascent, by our humbled descent, into what David the Psalmist wrote, an appreciation of, greatest desire for understanding;

    Psalm 23Amplified Bible

    The Lord, the Psalmist’s Shepherd.

    A Psalm of David.

    23 The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, to guide and to shield me],
    I shall not want.
    2 
    He lets me lie down in green pastures;
    He leads me beside the still and quiet waters.
    3 
    He refreshes and restores my soul (life);
    He leads me in the paths of righteousness
    for His name’s sake.

    4 
    Even though I walk through the [sunless] [a]valley of the shadow of death,
    I fear no evil, for You are with me;
    Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort and console me.
    5 
    You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
    You have anointed and refreshed my head with [b]oil;
    My cup overflows.
    6 
    Surely goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life,
    And I shall dwell forever [throughout all my days] in the house and in the presence of the Lord.

    A Well Considered Word About the Value of God’s Perspective

    Isaiah 55:8-11Amplified Bible

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

    When we do not think like God, we are not in His image.

    We cannot say as Jesus did,

    “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

    God, in His wisdom, has willed we grow in His image through exercising faith in what He says, buttressed by what He reveals of Himself through His creation.

    The fundamental difference between the person of faith and the unbeliever is revealed by the way they judge things.

    The unbeliever, of the world, judges things by worldly standards, by his senses, and by looking at his watch, his smartphone screen and by his calendar time.

    The person learning to think like God brings God into everything, viewing things from His perspective, by His values.

    He ascertains how the activity, event, or thing looks in terms of eternity.

    He seriously meditates on God’s sovereignty over all things.

    At times, doing this puts the screws to his trust because the Bible says God’s judgments are “unsearchable . . . and his ways past finding out” (Romans 11:33).

    Faith holds a person steady.

    Because we often do not think like Him, and because we do not have His perfect perspective, we often do not know nor fully understand, what it is God doing.

    Only in hindsight do we understand what is occurring in our personal life, to the church, or in the world in the outworking of prophecy.

    So we must trust Him, and in the meantime weigh His perspective against what we “perceive” is happening and what we understand is its “possible” outcome.

    O soul are you weary and troubled
    No light in the darkness you see
    There’s light for a look at the Savior
    And life more abundant and free

    Turn your eyes upon Jesus
    Look full in his wonderful face
    And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
    In the light of his glory and grace

    His word shall not fail you he promised
    Believe him and all will be well
    Then go to a world that is dying
    His perfect salvation to tell

    Turn your eyes upon Jesus
    Look full in his wonderful face
    And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
    In the light of his glory and grace

    O soul are you weary and troubled
    No light in the darkness you see
    There’s light for a look at the Savior
    And life more abundant and free

    Turn your eyes upon Jesus
    Look full in his wonderful face
    And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
    In the light of his glory and grace     Helen Howarth Lemmel (1922)

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

    Let us Pray,

    Holy and gracious God, you are the greatest and wisest of all. You are full of wonders and ways that no mere human can ever fully comprehend. Lord, I seek to understand you and your ways better so that I can more rightly live my life 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 to see you and hear your whispers. Amen.

    Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum

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

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    Whatever You do for God, Do it All with Gusto! Because He “Anoints” Our Heads With Oil and All of Our Cups Overflow! Psalm 23:5, Ecclesiastes 9:7-10

    Psalm 23:5 New International Version

    5 You prepare a table before me
        in the presence of my enemies.
    You anoint my head with oil;
        my cup overflows.

    Ecclesiastes 9:7-10New International Version

    7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. 9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

    The Word of God for the Children of God.

    Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

    In this psalm, we see a beautiful portrait of God as our good and faithful Shepherd Who leads us by still waters and guides us into the way of peace.

    He is, indeed, worthy of our worship and praise.

    He is the One Who upholds and protects, Who blesses and comforts, Who bountifully provides good things for us in the presence of our enemies.

    Enemies, up to and including ourselves as our own worst enemies.

    And He is the One Who intercedes for us in heavenly places.

    The picture is painted in this well-loved psalm of David, is that of our faithful God, our merciful and gracious Saviour, our good and caring Shepherd Who keeps us, protects us, provides for us through all the changing scenes of life.

    Our faithful, and merciful God first identified Himself as Jehovah-Jireh, our gracious Provider, to Abraham when he was halted, by the Lord, from offering up his son, first born son, Isaac, as his sacrifice of abiding love and obedience.

    And throughout both testaments, we discover God as the One Who provides rain and sunshine for the earth, nourishment for the flowers and ravens, a father for the fatherless, a righteous judgment for the widow, a friend for the friendless.

    Our faithful God is the one who fed the hungry multitude, provides comfort for the broken-hearted, gives succor to the weak, strength to the weary, hope to the afflicted, salvation to all who trust in Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, for while we were yet His enemies, grievous unrelenting sinners, God in His grace provided a Kinsman-Redeemer to save His people from their sins.

    Our good and loving God supplies all our needs, according to His riches in glory, through Christ Jesus our Savior.

    And here in this well-loved and oft-repeated psalm of David, we discover:

    “The Lord has prepared a table before us in the presence of our enemies. He has anointed our head with oil, our cup of overflows with His goodness and love.”

    Though we may be afflicted on all sides… pressured, perplexed, and persecuted for righteousness sake, we are not forgotten nor abandoned by our Heavenly Lord… for Jesus is with us always and forever, even to the end of the age.

    He has prepared a table before us, in the presence of those that hate and despise us, He has covered it with all we need and every spiritual blessing – which He Himself had purchased for us through His own life’s blood, on Calvary’s Cross.

    Though we live in the combat-zone of this fallen world system, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ… and the peace of God which guards our hearts in the midst of an abundantly, severely crooked and perverse generation.

    The anointing oil that is being continuously poured over our heads is the soothing ointment of His incomparable never-ending love.

    It is a precious promise to all His children, for we have been made kings and priests and prophets of the living God – and have an eternal guarantee that His Word is faithful and true and all of His promises are ‘Yes’ and ‘Amen’ in Christ.

    Surely, in the company of all of God’s angels and with David we can proclaim,

    “My cup of blessing runneth over,” for His grace is limitless, His love is boundless, His charity and mercy endures from one generation to another.

    Why such an inconceivable magnitude of maximum Joy?

    Because together, in the presence of our Great Shepherd, we have just seen, and envisioned and witnessed and can now testify to all the prophetic descriptions of heavenly places like green pastures, quiet waters, and paths of righteousness.

    By the Word of God for the Children of God, our heads have been anointed with His oil of abundant life and incomprehensible love and now our cups overflow.

    We have seen through the Word of God for His Children, the strong, steady hand of the ever vigilant shepherd at work with his shepherd’s rod and staff.

    By the Word of God for His Children, We have received the invitation to the table of the Lord which is prepared for his precious flock before our enemies.

    And now there is one more activity we need to plumb, to see in this final scene.

    “He Anoints My Head With Oil”

    This may seem like an odd custom since it is something that never occurs much anymore in our own time and culture, in our faith traditions and in our church.

    Maybe this custom of pouring oil over the head needs a little more explanation.

    First of all, we are not talking about the kind of oil that comes from petroleum.

    The 1st century people in the Bible did not drill any oil out of the ground, they did not even know what petroleum oil was, nor would they have any use for it.

    So, please do not think at all about oil in the Bible as anything like we use today.

    We are not talking about motor oil; it’s not the 5W-30 synthetic blend you find at the Valvoline shop or any local vehicle repair establishments down the road.

    The region around the Mediterranean is perfect climate for growing olive trees.

    The most common oil in Israel was olive oil used for cooking.

    There were also other plant-based oils used mostly as perfumes and medicines from such sources as myrrh and nard.

    It is probably the closest equivalent to what we use today as “Essential Oils” (if you are familiar with the use that term).

    Let’s also remember that the people back in Bible times did not all have showers in their homes, and there was no such thing as shampoo and perm in that time.

    The use of fragrant oils in their hair was a common way of what people in that day would have considered basic hygiene.

    Not that people would do this every day as we might consider hygiene to be part of our regular habits; it was more the mark of a special occasion in their time.

    Putting fragrant perfume in hair was considered part of the expectation to be presentable before coming to a party, other type of important social gathering.

    That’s the launching point we are taking today in order to consider how this last scene of Psalm 23 applies into our world today.

    Jump with me, then, to the Book of Ecclesiastes for another brief glimpse at how this cultural custom of ointment poured in a person’s hair shows up.

    Ecclesiastes 9:7-10 New International Version

    7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. 9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

    Perhaps it is helpful to explain that anointing with oil had several other uses and meanings in the Bible.

    This may help clear up any confusion for people who may be familiar with many of the other places in scripture that anointing with oil occurs.

    It shows up as a medicinal practice for healing since they thought that fragrant oils had significantly positive medical benefits.

    It also shows up as a symbolic declaration of royalty; kings would be anointed as a part of the Coronation sequence.

    It also would take place as part of the burial ritual whenever somebody in those ancient of days and that time passed away.

    I do not think the anointing with oil mentioned in Psalm 23 has anything to do with these functions of ointment.

    Context of Psalm 23:5 makes it clear anointing with oil is understood as basic hygiene people would do as preparation for joining a special social occasion.

    And this is certainly the same function of anointing we see in Ecclesiastes 9:8.

    For this devotional today, then, let’s dig into what is happening in these few verses in Ecclesiastes as a way of helping us understand what David means by this scene in which the shepherd is seen anointing his flock of sheep with oil.

    Ecclesiastes can be a difficult book of the Bible to contextually understand.

    I can see where this passage from chapter 9 might be easily misunderstood.

    At eye level the way it comes at us translated into the English language, it might seem like a kind of an off-putting and depressing outlook on our everyday life.

    One big proverbial hardcore slap in the face saying “You might as well just go eat your dinner because your meaningless, ridiculous life isn’t going anywhere else.”

    Of course, through revelation from the Holy Spirit, there’s definitely something much different going on in this passage; and it is not have a depressing outlook.

    The key here is that we cannot get hung up on a few English words which don’t do the best job of conveying to readers all the richness of the Hebrew language.

    Let me pull at two examples of difficult Hebrew words in Ecclesiastes, and one Hebrew word from Psalm 23.

    In the book of Ecclesiastes, our NIV Bibles repeat the theme of “meaningless” over and over again (an eye popping 33 times) throughout the entire book.

    Other English translations use the word “vanity” as the repeated theme.

    The Hebrew word is hebel.

    It literally comes from the same Hebrew root as “a breath.”

    Hebel carries with it the nuance of being incredibly insignificant or extremely momentary.

    I would say that in the context of Ecclesiastes, the word “momentary” would be a much better English word to use in order to capture what the wisdom writer is really trying to say about the experience of human life when compared to God.

    It is not that life is meaningless in the sense that human life has no purpose.

    It is more the point of Ecclesiastes to show human life is so very momentary when placed in comparison and contrast directly next to the eternity of God.

    Hang onto that one. we will pull it back in a minute to consider how the brief and limited experience of human life plays into understanding this passage.

    The other Hebrew word in Ecclesiastes I want us to consider here is heleq.

    The NIV translates this into English as “lot.”

    Verse 10 says that our lot in life and in all our toilsome work is simply to enjoy our family and a meal.

    I think the word “lot” might just make it sound like a random fate over which we have absolutely no control.

    An English dictionary defines lot as fate, predicament, plight, or doom.

    It is generally considered a negative thing.

    But this is not the meaning of the Hebrew word heleq.

    It refers instead to something which we can better be defined as “portion, distribution, allocation, or share.”

    The wisdom writer in Ecclesiastes is pointing out that even in this human life which is so very momentary and comparatively brief next to the eternity of God, in grace, Jehovah Jireh still freely, gifts, gives out a portion/share of goodness.

    The writer of Ecclesiastes identifies this portion/share of goodness from God coming in the simple little things of life.

    Enjoying the blessing of good food and drink in the company of family and friends is the example of goodness to which the writer refers in this chapter.

    And about these simple enjoyments, the wisdom writer says in verse 8.

    8 Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. 

    Here again, the wearing of bright clothing and pouring of fragrant ointment in the hair is an expression of a special social occasion.

    This kind of celebration didn’t happen every day.

    But the point of Ecclesiastes here is to say treat every single day like that.

    Life is so very momentary, take each new day as a precious gift from God.

    And each new day which we receive from God contains the portion/share of his blessing for us to enjoy.

    Treat every single day as a singularly unique, singularly special example of God’s grace, because these unique and special examples of God’s grace show up most often every single day in the simple, most ordinary little things of life.

    Look at how Eugene Peterson translates these verses from Ecclesiastes in his Message version of the Bible.

    Ecclesiastes 9:7-10The Message

    7-10 Seize life! Eat bread with gusto,
    Drink wine with a robust heart.
    Oh yes—God takes pleasure in your pleasure!
    Dress festively every morning.
    Don’t skimp on colors and scarves.
    Relish life with the spouse you love
    Each and every day of your precarious life.
    Each day is God’s gift. It’s all you get in exchange
    For the hard work of staying alive.
    Make the most of each one!
    Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily!
    This is your last and only chance at it,
    For there’s neither work to do nor thoughts to think
    In the company of the dead, where you’re most certainly headed.

    This is why verse 10 can go on to say, in a more contemporary sense: “Go ahead! Do not fear! Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might for God.”

    “There is only one way to go, in whatever you do for God,

    Whatever You Do For God … Just Max it out! Go for the Gusto!

    Do not ever underestimate exactly how much God is right there with you even in the small or inconsequential, ordinary or less than ordinary, things of this life.

    How frequently do we fail to realize, or do we take for granted the ways in which all of the tiny simple blessings, the miracles of each and every day stack up to be a never ending stream of Jehovah Jireh’s faithful and abiding provision of grace.

    But, the often unspoken truth of the matter is we do miss it because so often we will see these things as so tiny and ordinary and insignificant and momentary.

    Yet this is exactly the place in our everyday lives where God chooses to meet us.

    Even though Ecclesiastes points to this daily provision of blessing as our “lot in life” (our portion/share), it stacks up day after day, week after week, and month after month, year after year becoming an extraordinary gift beyond measure.

    Our proper place then is to see each new day as an extension of that gift from God. “Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil.”

    Always treat each and every new day as a remarkably special gift from God.

    Bringing it back to god and Psalm 23 now.

    The seventh and final scene is one of embracing the LORD as our shepherd each and every day.

    It is a recognition of just how incredibly remarkable it is that the eternal creator of the universe who have existed forever and ever beyond our brief momentary lives, that this God, Jehovah Jireh chooses to make himself our shepherd.

    That Jehovah God redeems us in his love which, through grace, portions itself our to us each and every day.

    Here’s a secret.

    The word anointing never actually shows up in Psalm 23.

    Yes, I know we have been focusing this entire last scene on a line from Psalm 23 which says he anoints my head with oil.

    The Hebrew word for anointing is mashach.

    https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/1ki/19/16/t_conc_310016

    https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h4886/kjv/wlc/0-1/

    But that’s not the word which David uses here in Psalm 23.

    https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/psa/23/1/t_conc_501005

    https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h1878/kjv/wlc/0-1/

    It is a much more obscure Hebrew word, dashen, which only shows up eleven times in the entire Bible.

    Most of those times it is translated into English as “fatten” or “make fat.” It carries the idea of making something bigger or more abundant.

    Do you see what David is actually saying here in Psalm 23?

    The LORD is my shepherd who dashen [anoints?] my head with oil.

    No; we are to understand that it’s far, far, more deeper than that.

    The LORD is my shepherd who dashen [abundantly pours out an excessively lavish amount] of oil upon my head.

    Contemplating the depths of David’s heart and soul at its writing, perhaps this is why David chose to finish the verse of Psalm 23:5 with “my cup overflows.”

    Let’s find an application by connecting these two passages from Psalm 23 and Ecclesiastes 9.

    Perhaps we all find ourselves from time to time stuck waiting for something better.

    Like so many of you, I’m waiting right now for a time when we can all have more economic certainty, lower inflation rates, better housing markets.

    I would love to be able to fulfill a life long dream of building a log cabin for my retirement from plans my late father drew up when he was preparing to retire.

    He never got a chance to fulfill those dreams because he got sick and died.

    I would love to fulfill that legacy for my family, but interest rates are too high.

    Maybe it’s waiting for our health to stabilize, a job promotion; maybe it is waiting to be done with school; maybe, like me, it’s waiting for retirement.

    We can always make a million excuses why we might think the ‘real’ anointing of God’s blessing in our lives has not yet arrived.

    We get trapped into thinking the anointing of God’s blessing is some kind of heavenly lottery which at some point is going to just dump upon us because scripture tells us that the blessing of God is extravagantly abundant.

    So that’s what we expect: extravagant abundance.

    And then real life intrudes and our lives are stuck waiting for it to “unstuck.”

    Scripture is not wrong. God’s blessing is extravagantly abundant.

    But what we should also see from scripture today is that the blessing of God is portioned out to be exactly what we need for each and every day.

    The extravagant abundance of God’s blessing is not something for which you have to wait.

    You and I have got it already.

    You and I are receiving it right now.

    And God constantly weaves his blessing into all the tiny ordinary pieces and places of everyday life.

    The poet of Ecclesiastes says,

    “whatever your hand find to do, do it with all your might.”

    Do not miss the opportunity to treat each and every new day as a miracle gift from God filled with exactly what it is you and I need from God, to live in his will and thrive abundantly as a disciple of His Son and our Savior Jesus.

    It may look small and ordinary and insignificant and momentary.

    But day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year it piles up into a lifelong testimony which declares:

    Psalm 23 Amplified Bible

    The Lord, the Psalmist’s Shepherd.

    A Psalm of David.

    23 The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, to guide and to shield me],
    I shall not want.
    2 
    He lets me lie down in green pastures;
    He leads me beside the still and quiet waters.
    3 
    He refreshes and restores my soul (life);
    He leads me in the paths of righteousness
    for His name’s sake.

    4 
    Even though I walk through the [sunless] [a]valley of the shadow of death,
    I fear no evil, for You are with me;
    Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort and console me.
    5 
    You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
    You have anointed and refreshed my head with [b]oil;
    My cup overflows.
    6 
    Surely goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life,
    And I shall dwell forever [throughout all my days] in the house and in the presence of the Lord.

    The whole Psalm 23:5 experience serves to strengthen our faith, draw us closer to our heavenly Father, and to envision and realize just how faithful He truly is.

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

    Let us Pray,

    Heavenly Father, how I praise and thank You for Your Word and the comfort and strength it gives me. Thank You that You are my Shepherd and my Provider. Thank You that You are with me through the darkest days as well as during the sunny times, and thank You that You have provided all that I need, according to Your riches in glory. Thank You that You are my God and Saviour. You have, indeed, prepared an overflowing table before me in the presence of my enemies and have anointed my head with the oil of abundant, eternal gladness. My cup overflows with Your never-ending blessings, for which I give praise and shout “thank You!” In Jesus’ name.

    Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

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

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