Preparation for Advent. Idolatry – all about Our Name or ALL about God’s Fame? Some Hidden Lessons from the ‘ancient’ Tower of Babel. Genesis 11:1-9

Genesis 11:1-9 NKJV

The Tower of Babel

11 Now the whole earth had one language and one ^[a]speech. ²And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. ³Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and ^[b]bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. ⁴And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

⁵But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. ⁶And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. ⁷Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” ⁸So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. ⁹Therefore its name is called ^[c]Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

I cannot tell anyone how many times I have read this passage, prayed through this ancient text and thought and believed I knew at least a few truths about it.

Yet, as I sit here pondering this text for this devotional about our preparation for Advent with a particular emphasis upon Idolatry – these two verses hit me:

Genesis 11:4-5 NLT

⁴Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.”

⁵But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building. ⁶“Look!” he said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them!

Many stories in the Hebrew [Old] Testament can be difficult to understand.

From Noah, Abraham to the prophets, sometimes the Bible can be downright confusing. Or maybe we unknowingly misunderstand the lesson of the story.

Take the tower of Babel in Genesis 11, for example. My wife and I were talking about this story this week, and she asked me what I thought it was about.

I told her what I thought I knew, but then I thought I had better look at it again.

It must have been the Holy Spirit nudging me in my rib cage because, although I thought I knew a lot about it, I realized that I had totally missed the main point.

The tower of Babel is not just about a brick tower some people built. It’s all about pride, rebellion, and the importance of being obedient to God’s Word.

A New Covenant

The story of the tower of Babel occurs just after Noah’s death in Genesis 11:1-9.

Noah’s Death: (Genesis 9:28-29 NLT – ²⁸Noah lived another 350 years after the great flood. ²⁹He lived 950 years, and then he died.)

But to fully understand what’s going on, we need to turn back a page or two to the part when God had established a new covenant with His creation, the earth.

After Noah and his family leave the ark, Noah builds an altar and raises incense the aroma of which is described as pleasing to God’s heart. He was so pleased with Noah’s burnt offerings that God decided to never flood the earth again.

“And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.” Genesis 8:21-22

God then tells Noah and his sons about the new covenant in Genesis 9:13-17 including the very telltale sign of His covenant—the hanging of a rainbow:

¹³I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. ¹⁴When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, ¹⁵and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. ¹⁶When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” ¹⁷Then God said to Noah, “Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all the creatures on earth.” (NLT)

Sandwiched in between God thinking about His new covenant and then telling Noah’s family about it, God tells Noah and his sons to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth (Genesis 9:1).”

Aged Noah only had three sons, but his family had no trouble fulfilling God’s command. They were so prolific that all of Genesis 10 is dedicated to listing all of their children and their grandchildren by name, and there were quite a few.

With the passing of each generation, each son’s family eventually established their own tribe and claimed their own nations.

So, while many were claiming territory, still many other people continued spreading across the earth and filling it.

It was during one of these migrations east that a certain group of people found a great place to build a tower.

Building a Great Tower

In the middle of nowhere in the land of Shinar (historical Babylon and currently Iraq, approximately 60 miles southwest of Baghdad), a group of migrants under the mighty leadership of Nimrod decided to stop there to build, create a village.

Nimrod was the grandson of Noah and the son of Ham.

If you remember, Ham was the son Noah cursed for teasing and making fun of his dad after he found his dad drunk and naked one night (Genesis 9:20-27).

According to the Bible, it was Noah’s curse that created the Canaanites because all of Ham’s family was then considered disobedient.

One day while the people were building the village, someone (perhaps Nimrod himself) suggested they build a tower that reached to the heavens.

When we say “heavens” we’re talking about three different heavens, the highest one being the holy throne of God.

So, these villagers are talking about creating a tower that reaches unto God Himself.

Though they knew they couldn’t actually build such a tower, their intention was clearly to make it as tall as was then humanly possible.

Why would they build such a tall tower?

Let’s look at Genesis 11:4.

“And they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top is in the heavens. Let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

Their goal was to create something that represented their great abilities and establish a famous reputation among the other tribes.

They obsessively desired to be the very highest envy of everyone across the land. Their pride was bad enough, but that is not what got God really upset.

Remember,

they were supposed to multiply and fill the earth, but this group of people had decided to stop, put down roots, and show off how smart and skilled they were.

Their pride led the people to rebel against God’s command, to steal His glory.

God was not going to have any part of that, so there was only one thing to do.

The Lord’s Verdict

After the tower was built,

God came down to take a closer look at what the people had created, and He decisively decided he did not like it nor did He appreciate the people’s efforts.

He then had a little conversation with Himself.

“Indeed, the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.” Genesis 11:6

God notices exactly how “united” they are, and they all have one language, one vocabulary which allows them to do whatever it is which they wish to do. And respect for the Lord’s commands isn’t important. So, He comes up with a plan.

“Come, let Us [the Trinity] go down and confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” (v7)

God did not destroy the tower, an abandoned monument to monumental pride.

But He did scatter the people.

How He did it the Bible doesn’t say. But they were all driven away, the village construction was never completed, and their language was suddenly changed.

Now, certain groups couldn’t understand each other anymore. Those who could communicate gathered together and created new nomadic tribes, which is why, how some scholars believe is how today’s languages were originally created.

It’s interesting to note that the person who first came up with the idea to build the tower said in verse four,

“Let us make a name for ourselves lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

It turned that his prophecy was fulfilled.

So, God called the tower Babel, which means “noisy confusion” and is where the later kingdom of Babylon was later established by Nimrod ~ 2200 BCE and became an empire which reigned from ~1900 BCE to ~539BCE when they were weakened by several wars with Assyria and Persian Cyrus II conquered the city.

Avoiding the Tower of Babel

With stories like this, it can be hard to understand what the lesson might be. On the surface, it just looks like a historical account of an early nomadic tribe.

But when we take a closer look, we see can observe that God is illustrating for us the critical importance of obeying and respecting Him. We also note the danger of becoming prideful, arrogant, and thinking and believing we do not need God.

God is reminding us (again) of the consequences of sin.

Some consequences are great, and some are not.

In the case of Nimrod’s tribe, their behavior and attitudes were so bad God completely scrambled their language and forced them back upon the road to “multiply and fill the earth.”

This is the power of God and is why we need to be careful about our choices.

Genesis 11:4 NLT

⁴Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.”

One the surface, the people of Babel seem like a stellar example of what humans can accomplish as a team.

They created a gigantic tower in order to stay unified and become a powerful community.

However, to God, this was not good. If they could use their teamwork and build this tower, nothing would have been impossible for them (Genesis 11:6).

Why would God have had a problem with this?! Isn’t this the human flourishing God himself commanded in Genesis 1:28, to fill the earth and subdue it?

Because the people of Babel would take all of the glory and all of the recognition for their own handiwork and not glorify God for his blessing upon them; if God had said nothing, left them to themselves, none of them would have found him.

One must wonder how many ministries or churches with good intentions fall into this trap. We might think an enormous building with our name on it will give God the glory, honor, praise, but bigger isn’t always better in God’s eyes.

Throughout the Bible he used men who had little experience or leadership qualities and guided them to be the Godly men their situation required.

We all struggle with the temptation to rely on our works, glorify ourselves for our hard fought success, those of our congregations, instead of relying on God.

Remember this as we who are the Body of Christ ministers to others. God can use you to do a mighty work without a large following or famous church; you have the same God who created the heavens and the earth working through you.

Matthew 7:13-14 NLT

The Narrow Gate

¹³“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell^[a] is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. ¹⁴But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

As we prepare ourselves and our churches for this new season of Advent, as we each consider the contemporary relevance or irrelevance of Idolatry – choice of all of the glory upon our name or upon God’s fame as being the only #1 priority,

As Christians, we ought to brutally examine our hearts and minds every day to make sure we are staying on the path of humble obedience while maintaining complete and absolute respect for God’s power.

The road to hell is wide, its gate is quite wide for the many who choose the way.

Straying off the narrow road which leads straight to abundant life, eternal life in God in Christ, creates a tower of Babel— “noisy confusion” —in our lives.

Stick to God’s path.

Please! Take time today to give all of the honor to God in your accomplishments.

Follow His way, and you’ll never go wrong. His way is always the best way.

Psalm 119:105-112 NLT

Nun

¹⁰⁵Your word is a lamp to guide my feet
    and a light for my path.
¹⁰⁶I’ve promised it once, and I’ll promise it again:
    I will obey your righteous regulations.
¹⁰⁷I have suffered much, O Lord;
    restore my life again as you promised.
¹⁰⁸Lord, accept my offering of praise,
    and teach me your regulations.
¹⁰⁹My life constantly hangs in the balance,
    but I will not stop obeying your instructions.
¹¹⁰The wicked have set their traps for me,
    but I will not turn from your commandments.
¹¹¹Your laws are my treasure;
    they are my heart’s delight.
¹¹²I am determined to keep your decrees
    to the very end.

John 14:1-14 NLT

Jesus, the Way to the Father

14 “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. ²There is more than enough room in my Father’s home.^[a] If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?^[b] ³When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. ⁴And you know the way to where I am going.”

⁵“No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

⁶Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. ⁷If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is.^[c] From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”

⁸Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”

⁹Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? ¹⁰Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. ¹¹Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do.

¹²“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. ¹³You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. ¹⁴Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!

Sometimes getting to where we want to go in life can be incredibly confusing.

After Jesus told his disciples he would be leaving them, Thomas said he didn’t know where Jesus was going or how to get there.

I like Thomas’s honest questions.

He doesn’t hide his confusion.

Sometimes Christians think they need to know all the answers.

But Jesus does not scold Thomas for not understanding.

He gives him directions.

Jesus tells Thomas the way to navigate successfully.

And that way is Jesus himself.

If the goal of life is to get with the Father, to get with God, then Jesus is the way.

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.”

It might help to think of it this way: each one of us has a God-shaped void in us that only God can fill.

As we long to be filled with the abundant life of God, Jesus is the way there.

The truth of his Word will guide us.

And along the way, his life in us gives us the power to stay on track.

What a wonderful journey!

What a wonderful Lord and Savior!

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

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, I pray You would teach me all there is to learn from the wise and foolish decisions made by the post Diluvian people and the rebellious self-centered attitudes they fostered in their heart. Thank You that You are my God and Creator and my center, and that You have given me all I need for life and godliness. Help me to make the wise and right choices in life and to refuse to adopt the sinful ways of the world which unwisely encourage independence from You. May I look to Jesus day by day and rest my hope and future in You. This I ask in His dear name’s sake, AMEN.

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Preparation for Advent. Idolatry – We Become Who and What we Worship. Idols and Images and God. Psalm 115:1-8

Psalm 115:1-8Amplified Bible

Pagan Idols Contrasted with the Lord.

115 Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
But to Your name give glory
Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth and faithfulness.
²
Why should the nations say,
“Where, now, is their God?”
³
But our God is in heaven;
He does whatever He pleases.
⁴
The idols [of the nations] are silver and gold,
The work of man’s hands.
⁵
They have mouths, but they cannot speak;
They have eyes, but they cannot see;
⁶
They have ears, but they cannot hear;
They have noses, but they cannot smell;
⁷
They have hands, but they cannot feel;
They have feet, but they cannot walk;
Nor can they make a sound with their throats.
⁸
Those who make them will become like them,
Everyone who trusts in them.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

We do not talk about idols much these days.

And when we do, it’s probably about a pop superstar or an American Idol winner.

Neitzsche who famously once wrote, “God is dead,” also wrote, “If there is a God, how can I bear not to be that God?”

That is a core issue in our idolatrous hearts.

We would kill God so that we can be God.

It is not that we deny God; we just replace Him with ourselves.

Recently some fans of a rap artist named Kanye wrote a book called “The Book of Yeezus” where they take the Bible and replace God with the rappers name.

The “famed” rapper even has a song called, “I am God.”

This is the reality of an idolatrous heart.

Therefore, we always have a desire to be our own authority, our own god.

Even to deny God, is to fill that gap with ourselves as the sole determiner of what is true or not. Denying God is in itself an act of making oneself God.

Ancient idols, ancient graven images were nothing more than symbols used to get what we selfishly desired.

In our modern materialistic society our deities are no longer objects that need to be appeased or placated, but rather things that appease or placate us.

That is the ultimate goal in idol worship.

Genesis 11:1-4 NASB

The Tower of Babel

11 Now all the earth ^[a]used the same language and ^[b]the same words. ²And it came about, as they journeyed ^[c]east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and ^[d]settled there. ³Then they said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and ^[e]fire them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. ⁴And they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let’s make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of all the earth.”

I have heard it said of idolatry “that it is to embrace an insufficiently educated form, and wholly inadequate view of God or to make God seem more like us.”

The outcome of this idolatrous attitude is preferring to do things for our namesake (Genesis 11:1-4), not the Lord’s.

This idolatry of self-desire is ridiculously rampant and ruinous to the utmost.

But when the Bible talks about idols, it usually means carved images that stood in for false gods.

The Bible issues strong warnings about that sort of idol.

On their own, idols are powerless.

As Psalm 115:4-7 says, they may have eyes and ears and hands and feet, but they cannot see, hear, feel, or walk!

Yet when people worship idols, they give power to them, destructive power.

That’s why, for example, the Bible warns against greed. Greed makes an idol out of wealth.

And when wealth is worshiped, it has the power to turn people into Scrooge like misers or “Grinch” like mobsters and thieves and joy killers or market frauds.

We have all hear it before – False gods, and their images, are utterly dangerous!

John Calvin famously said that “man’s nature is a perpetual factory of idols.”

I do not believe there is anyone reading this who would not say Mr. Calvin was anything but absolutely right!

What Is Idolatry in the Bible? Its Definition and Significance ….

According to Easton’s Bible Dictionary, Idolatry is “image-worship or divine honour paid to any created object.”

Paul describes the origin of idolatry in Romans 1:21-25: men forsook God, and sank into ignorance and moral corruption (Romans 1:28).

The forms of idolatry are,

Fetishism, or the worship of trees, rivers, hills, stones, etc.
Nature worship, the worship of the sun, moon, and stars, as the supposed powers of nature.
Hero worship, the worship of deceased ancestors, or of heroes.

Idolatry in the Bible

In Scripture, idolatry is regarded as of heathen origin, and as being imported among the Hebrews through contact with heathen nations.

The first allusion to idolatry is in the account of Rachel stealing her father’s teraphim (Genesis 31:19), which were the relics of the worship of other gods by Laban’s progenitors “on the other side of the river in old time” (Joshua 24:2).

During their long residence in Egypt the Hebrews fell into idolatry, and it was long before they were delivered from it (Joshua 24:14; Ezekiel 20:7).

Many a token of God’s displeasure fell upon them because of this sin.

The first, second commandments are directed against idolatry of every form.

Individuals and communities were equally amenable to the rigorous code.

The individual offender was devoted to destruction (Exodus 22:20).

His nearest relatives were not only bound to denounce him and deliver him up to punishment (Deuteronomy 13:20-10), but their hands were to strike the first blow when, on the evidence of two witnesses at least, he was stoned to death (Deuteronomy 17:2-7).

To attempt to seduce others to false worship was a crime of equal enormity.

An idolatrous nation shared the same fate.

No facts are more strongly declared in the Hebrew [Old] Testament than the vigorous extermination of the Canaanites was the punishment of their idolatry, and the calamities of the Israelites were due to the same cause (Jeremiah 2:17).

“A city guilty of idolatry was looked upon as cancer in the state; it was considered to be in rebellion, and treated according to the laws of war. Its inhabitants and all their cattle were put to death.”

Jehovah was the theocratic King of Israel, the civil Head of the commonwealth, therefore to an Israelite idolatry was a state offense (1 Samuel 15:23), treason.

On taking possession of the land by battle, the Jews were commanded to destroy all traces of every kind of the existing idolatry of the Canaanites.

The history of Israel is clearly outlined in the Bible.

For generation after generation, they repeatedly fell prey to being drawn away from the Lord to serve false gods.

This did not only happen to the common people, but to their kings, priests, and prophets, as well.

And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables (2 Timothy 4:4).

The sin of idolatry, or worshiping other gods, is in violation of the Law of God.

As a matter of fact, it breaks the first two of the Ten Commandments.

It is important to remember that disobedience is the original sin and therefore encompasses all sin.

I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth (Ex. 20:2-4).

I have observed two areas concerning idolatry which I would like to mention:

First how it shows itself in our attitude towards church

Second, how it strains, places pressure upon our understanding of salvation.

1. Our Attitude Towards The Church

Living and worshiping with this culture centered, internet, technology driven idolatrous heart creates a dangerous consumer driven church mentality.

When it comes to church, often the question is how does this service suit me?

How does the worship make me feel or how does it appease my senses?

Did I find the sermon appealing to my “I need to feel good today” needs?

Was the message something I felt I wanted to hear?

In our sinful hearts we have not gotten rid of our idols, we have only Christianized them.

As I have mentioned earlier in this devotion, John Calvin said that the heart is an “I feel good, I will be good now, I am good” because the sermon said so” idol factory and this truth shows up in the church, moves through the week and the cycle will inevitably be repeated week after week because who expects different.

Keep this in mind, and we learned this in the Garden of Eden from that single conversation between the serpent an Eve: If Satan cannot keep you from your worshipping the true God, then he will do his best to pervert that worship.

One of the greatest perversions of worship is to make it about us.

This includes those serving in church and those receiving the message.

When we look at 1 Corinthians 10:31 we see that we are to do all things for the glory of God. It is to lift up God that we worship and serve. When we look at Ephesians 2:10, it shows we were made to do good works not just receive.

Philippians 2:3 states rather succinctly,

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.”

This is clearly seen in Jesus taking on flesh and humbling Himself to the point of death, for the sake of all mankind.

Jesus demonstrated this so well when, like a slave He washed the feet of the disciples, in John 13.

In this same chapter, the disciples were arguing about who would be the greatest in the kingdom, yet Jesus took the role of a servant.

Even on the Cross our Savior prayed for those that persecuted Him (Luke 23:34) and ministered (Luke 23:43; John 19:26-27).

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for the many” (Mark 10:45).

The point is, our idolatry makes church about service to us.

It makes worship about what appeases us the only quality worship we want.

True worship is about what we give to God because He alone is worthy, never about what we can get.

We are called in love to serve the church, seek to serve, not seek to be served.

2. Strains Our Understanding Of Salvation

Having this idolatrous heart wrongfully makes salvation about us and about our ability to save.

When I studied world religions, the theme of man earning his own way to God came up time and again.

Every religion in the world is about man working and earning his salvation.

but in Christianity, we have believing with our whole heart, confessing in God and believing on His Son Jesus Christ as Savior as the way of salvation for man.

In other religions, the followers must come to their God to some how appease, earn favor and therefore still serve themselves because the ultimate recipient is the person doing the appeasing.

Systems like these work well to alleviate guilt over sin.

We all know we are guilty.

I do not have to prove to you that you have done wrong.

I do not have to prove to anyone that they have sin.

I only have to present the evidence from their own life that condemns them.

We live in a world full of people falling into religious systems or humanistic self-pleasure systems of worship to alleviate or numb the feelings of guilt.

When salvation is idolatrous it looks to put the power to achieve salvation in man’s hands rather than God’s.

It will make mankind the end goal, or the highest benefactor of that salvation.

Against this is the reality that God saves us.

In the Hebrew [Old] Testament when God saved His people, it says in Ezekiel 36:21-23 that He did it for His holy Name’s sake.

In the New Testament in Acts 15:14, it states that God saved people from among the Gentiles “for His name.”

Throughout Scripture, God desires to save, but the ultimate reason is for His own glory.

God saves us based upon His own purpose and desire.

In response, we who are saved return to Him a sacrifice of praise.

As His children, we praise Him, we thank Him an we pray to Him in worship for all He is and for all He has done and will do for us. Even though we receive the benefits of salvation, the ultimate purpose is to magnify the great name of God.

But then there is Jesus.

Jesus is the EXACT image of God (Colossians 1:15-20, Hebrews 1)

That’s why he can say,

“Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

And that’s not about his eyes, ears, hands, or feet. It’s about power.

Because when we see Jesus, we see the Father’s love.

And there is power in that love.

It’s the power that saves the world – (John 3:16-17, 1 John 4:7-21).

It’s the power that makes us what we were always meant to be: not idols, but images of our heavenly Father.

2 Corinthians 3:1-6NKJV

Christ’s Epistle

3 Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? ²You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; ³clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.

The Spirit, Not the Letter

⁴And we have such trust through Christ toward God. ⁵Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, ⁶who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the ^[a]Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

We become what we worship. When we worship — or pursue as ultimate — idols, we become powerless, discontent, and disconnected, just like they are.

We become WHO we worship. When we worship – or pursue as ultimate idols, we become powerless, discontent and disconnected, just exactly like they are.

But when we worship Jesus, we are made more and more like him – The way you and I view Jesus determines exactly how you and I will fervently pursue him.

Worship of our Pride and our Selfish Ambition will inevitably melt away before the undeniable greatness of our God who suffered and died and rose again.

Do we see that as the star of the show, the hero to be praised is Jesus Christ?

When we see this indescribably grand demonstration of God, we can do nothing less than make everything we actually are all about, be about Him and His glory.

Psalm 29New King James Version

Praise to God in His Holiness and Majesty

A Psalm of David.

29 Give^[a] unto the Lord, O you mighty ones,
Give unto the Lord glory and strength.
^2 [b]Give unto the Lord the glory ^[c]due to His name;
Worship the Lord in the ^[d]beauty of holiness.

³The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
The God of glory thunders;
The Lord is over many waters.
⁴The voice of the Lord is powerful;
The voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

⁵The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars,
Yes, the Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon.
⁶He makes them also skip like a calf,
Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild ox.
⁷The voice of the Lord ^[e]divides the flames of fire.

⁸The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
The Lord shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh.
⁹The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth,
And strips the forests bare;
And in His temple everyone says, “Glory!”

¹⁰The Lord sat enthroned at the Flood,
And the Lord sits as King forever.
¹¹The Lord will give strength to His people;
The Lord will bless His people with peace.

Let us humbly come before God

Let us humbly receive His Living Word to get the full picture of who He is.

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

Let us Pray,

O Lord, Mighty in Power, Perfect in Your Love, Perfect Author of my life. You say that I should have faith in You so that I will be upheld. Sometimes I do, an sometimes I fail and put more faith in myself than I know is righteous. Mighty Lord. I desire to place all my faith in You. You strengthen me. Your holy force keeps my spirit alive and burning fiercely for You. I know that with You I can overcome anything. Thank You for remaining faithful to Your chosen people. Thank You for guiding me in my life and helping me to become a vessel for Your will. I pray that I continue to put my faith and trust in You because You know all things. You know what the hearts of Your people need, and I know You will help me through whatever this life brings. Amen.

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Christian Thanksgiving: ALL Thanks be unto God for His Unshakable Kingdom. Hebrews 12:25-29

Hebrews 12:25-29 Easy-to-Read Version

²⁵Be careful and don’t refuse to listen when God speaks. Those people refused to listen to him when he warned them on earth. And they did not escape. Now God is speaking from heaven. So now it will be worse for those who refuse to listen to him. ²⁶When he spoke before, his voice shook the earth. But now he has promised, “Once again I will shake the earth, but I will also shake heaven.” ^[a] ²⁷The words “once again” clearly show us that everything that was created will be destroyed—that is, the things that can be shaken. And only what cannot be shaken will remain.

²⁸So we should be thankful because we have a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And because we are thankful, we should worship God in a way that will please him. We should do this with respect and fear, ²⁹because our God is like a fire that can destroy us.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Buildings will eventually crumble, countries will rise and empires will fall; truth: nothing in this world is permanent and it will one day come to an end.

As Christians, as the Body of Christ, as God’s Church, however, we have something which will never come to end; we have the kingdom of God.

Let us be thankful for this!

Let us be thankful that whether we live or die, we have an imperishable, inheritance in an unshakeable kingdom to come (Hebrews 13:14).

Let us be thankful that this unshakeable imperishable kingdom was designed by the great designer, God himself (Hebrews 11:10).

Because of all of these truths, we can be infinitely thankful for a kingdom that cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:28).

The kingdom of God will always be, no ruler or natural disaster can destroy it.

Think about this in relation to all the turmoil that is happening in the world with wars, socio-cultural-economic problems, and great natural disasters.

Our only innate, instinctive response to this amazing truth is one of worship!

Let us worship with reverence and awe because our God is a consuming fire.

Our God is bigger than any skyscraper touching the tip of the sky.

Our God is more powerful than the mightiest ruler.

Our kingdom is ruled by the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Our temporary home may be breaking, quaking and shaking under us right now, but our soon to be permanent home is always standing as firm as ever.

Hebrews 12:28-29Authorized (King James) Version

²⁸Wherefore we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: ²⁹for our God is a consuming fire.

Wherefore we are receiving a Kingdom ….

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/heb/12/28-29/t_conc_1145028

We are Receiving ….

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3880/kjv/tr/0-1/

A Kingdom ….

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g932/kjv/tr/0-1/

Which CANNOT be moved ….

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g761/kjv/tr/0-1/

Immovable!

Unshakable!

Unshaken!

“A kingdom that cannot be shaken.”

“We are receiving a kingdom.”

Please exercise careful notice of how the anonymous author wrote this.

This present participle in the Greek emphasizes followers of Jesus Christ are now in the process of receiving this gift, that this process will continue into the future.

This unshakeable kingdom is not the gift of a constitution, or government or any other human institution or process—it is the gift of God.

It is a continual, continuing gift of God, who is “a consuming fire” —literally, one whose indescribable, unviewable glory would consume us as he warned Moses and others if we ever looked upon him directly.

This continual, continuing gift of an unshakable kingdom, whose giver is God himself, and whose incarnation is Jesus Christ, is a gift that comes with power.

It is an awesome power and an undeniable glory which sends us to our knees in humble prayer, thanksgiving, praise and worship, with maximum reverence and maximum awe. That’s the only natural posture appropriate to such a great gift.

The unshakable kingdom we are receiving as followers of Jesus Christ, as the Body of Christ, is not any single global movement or a global church denomination.

It is quite literally, an quite awesomely, quite magnificently: the reign of God.

American philosopher also known for his writings on Christian spiritual formation Dr. Dallas Willard captured the Biblical essence of this “kingdom” as

“the range of God’s effective will, where what God wants done is done.”

Therefore, it is defined by the clarity, authority and inspiration of God’s revealed word, the Bible.

The unshakable kingdom is summed up:

in the person, reign, and ministry of Jesus Christ, in whom “all things hold together,” “all the fullness of God dwells” and through whom “all things in heaven and on earth” are reconciled to God (Colossians. 1:17-20).

In other words, wherever Jesus Christ reigns as Savior and Lord—in our lives, our friends, our workplaces, our neighborhoods and our communities—now, and with increasing reign, there we’ll find and receive the unshakable kingdom.

A dear brother in Christ reminded me of these verses as together we have faced this question:

What is at stake for followers of Jesus Christ as we face a culture conflict that is increasingly shaped by the forces of aggressive secularism, moral relativism, religious pluralism, individual autonomy, a utopian hope in secular authority (however repressive it may need to be)?

A people with a Kingdom focus, called to be an instrument of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit for the healing of communities, and nations.

If you dwell on that whole statement as I just did—with the whole Body of Christ in attendance at one time—you realize this is a GARGANTUAN picture.

The man, Master Rabbi Jesus said, “But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.” (Luke 11:20).

The ‘finger of God’ is a phrase that is also used in Exodus 8:16-20 by Egyptian priests referring to the plagues that God sent upon their whole entire nation.

In Deuteronomy 9:10

it refers to the method by which God himself inscribed the Ten Commandments on the tablets of stone that Moses brought down after 40 days, from Mt. Sinai.

During our prayer times, during the course of our praise an worship times, we welcome “the imperceptible touch of the finger of God” in healing ministries to the whole person (body, soul and spirit), in deliverance ministries (following Rabbi Jesus’ example) and in many patient, caring, quiet counseling and small group venues where we witnessed real people changed by real the power of God.

Contemplate this if we dare to:

Human dignity is restored—in the image of God.

Not in the image of any faith Denomination

– but in the IMAGE of GOD ALONE!

You see, a people who are receiving that unshakable kingdom of God, who have that exclusive, unshakably prioritized kingdom focus, will, with all eyes on God

unhesitatingly welcome and invite that power beyond ourselves to change ourselves—through the utterly unshakable power of the intercessions of God, the Holy Spirit.

This Biblical world view is a sharp, stark alternative to the materialism that omits the sovereignty of God entirely in the secular utopian (even culturally Marxist) world views dominating our global socio-economic-culture wars.

If we think and ponder and prayerfully meditate: Frankly, a people with this kingdom focus will be the only ones who can offer true hope to people in need.

In Romans 14:17, the Apostle Paul hints at this when he writes to the followers; “for the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but a matter of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

In keeping with such joy and peace,

he then prays

“May the God of hope fill you with great joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Rom. 15:13).

As the Body of Christ, this kingdom focus is meant to create a culture that is supposed to be overflowing with hope precisely because of our confidence in the matchless and unshakable power of God—not in our limited weak kneed selves.

It is supposed to be highly contagious.

In my days of working with homeless veterans I heard so many testimonies of people who walked off the street because of a personal invitation into program.

Meetings and small groups were overcome by the love of God, overflowing with hope, and led into the gentle and redeeming reign of Jesus Christ in their lives!

But we have such hope to offer in and through the reign of Jesus Christ and the unshakable kingdom of God.

The Body of Christ, the Church in the world, even as we try to diagnose all of the problems and try mightily to engage our dying culture in praise, worship and in prayer, we must do so with the Gospel – Good News of our only Savior Jesus Christ.

What needs to come from our testimonies is this: There is an alternative, a world-view where Jesus Christ reigns as Lord and Savior, where the poor are lifted up, prisoners set free, people healed, the oppressed released, human dignity restored and God’s favor poured out in abundance (Luke 4:16-21).

Isaiah 2:1-4 AKJV

2 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

²And it shall come to pass in the last days,
that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established
in the top of the mountains,
and shall be exalted above the hills;
and all nations shall flow unto it.
³And many people shall go and say,
Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
and he will teach us of his ways,
and we will walk in his paths:
for out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴And he shall judge among the nations,
and shall rebuke many people:
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruninghooks:
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.

The Body of Christ, Children of God with a Kingdom of God focus, called to be an instrument for the healing of all the diverse arrays of local communities, for the healing of all worlds nations – swords into plow shares, learning Shalom alone?

What an incredibly unshakeable theology for the Body of Christ to LABOR for!!!

Steadfastly and Immovably and Unshakably, Do We Dare to Go Where God IS?

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

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, thank You that I have been saved by grace through faith in Christ. Thank You that His kingdom can never be shaken and that in my Savior Christ Jesus, this kingdom is my inheritance. Accept my humble praise and everlasting gratitude for all that Christ has done for me. May I live my life in reverence to You and may the things I do, and say, be acceptable in Your sight. I ask this in Jesus’ name, AMEN.

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Only But By The Grace of God: When God Lets You See Victory. Psalm 118:5

Psalm 118:1-7 AKJV

Psalm 118

¹O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good:
because his mercy endureth for ever.
²Let Israel now say,
that his mercy endureth for ever.
³Let the house of Aaron now say,
that his mercy endureth for ever.
⁴Let them now that fear the Lord say,
that his mercy endureth for ever.

⁵I called upon the Lord in distress:
the Lord answered me, and set me in a large place.
⁶The Lord is on my side; I will not fear:
what can man do unto me?
⁷The Lord taketh my part with them that help me:
therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

To lighten the mood, after all, we are approaching a season of thanksgiving;

For some, happiness during this season is a most challenging concept to grasp.

So, first, permit me to share a little humor which someone just sent to me ….

I pray that I may raise a smile on your face an the joy of the Lord in your Soul.

A priest decides to paint the outside three walls of the Youth Sunday School Room on his church one day.

He goes out and buys some paint, comes back to the church, and then he realizes he miscalculated and that he did not buy enough paint to do the job.

He realizes he doesn’t have near enough money to go back to the hardware store so he tries to make what he has to work, spread it out as far as he can.

So he just adds some water into the paint and mixes it inside a larger bucket.

Right before he starts to work, he looks at the length, breadth and height of the three youth room walls again, decides he probably still will not have enough.

So, he adds some more water and spends the whole day painting his church.

Later that next night, there’s a barrage of gusty wind, rain and thunder storm.

When the priest wakes up, he rushes outside, he runs around the Youth Room and he discovers all the rain washed away all of the paint from the building.

He throws his hands up, He looks up, prays, “Lord Jesus, what should I do?”

He hears a loud and clear voice that says

“WILL YOU BELIEVE ME NOW? GO! REPAINT, AND THIN NO MORE!!!”

I pray you are smiling at least a little bit ….

A small(?) but self-evident(?), very visible(?) gift from God, a testimony of victory over what just might be or had been a not so small “down-in-the-dumps” life moment.

If not, then count the victory of the energy you saved by smiling even a little bit because it takes it takes a whole lot less muscle energy to generate a tiny smile than it does to keep an “ear to ear” frown pasted all over the front of your face.

Life is full of degrees and measures and all kinds and sizes of victories.

Some are easy to see.

The strongest team gets the trophy.

The luckiest team gets the last second field goal – wins the game on the very last play – time runs out on the opposing team – no time for any comeback.

The prize is given to the fastest.

The reward is earned by practice and preparation.

There is exercise and rehearsals and run-throughs and it is obvious to everyone watching who is the best prepared team, the most excellent, the greatest and the most deserving of the title of victory for that day’s efforts.

Then there are other victories that are not so obvious.

These are the victories that take place within us.

Internal victories.

Like when you are about to get angry and about to “blow your top” at everyone in the room but instead you calm down, settle back down, and stay in control.

Or, there is a temptation.

Maybe just a few seconds of pause, where you think about something just brief enough, for you to realize the terrible consequences and sinful outcome, so you choose in that exact, exacting moment to move beyond it and you overcome the temptation before you act upon it, before you need to ask for forgiveness and so you are graced by God with His Peace, victorious in your walk of faith with God.

Solomon in his wisdom saw how the world is twisted by sin and called life unfair. He said,

“I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.” Ecclesiastes 9:11 KJV

There are some battles that you are expected, supposed to win because you are the odds on favorite. But out of nowhere comes a “Hail Mary” pass and a shot is made at the final buzzer, you lose, and the crowd goes wild – just not for you.

There are some fights you are expected and supposed to lose.

You are so outnumbered.

You are obviously out manned, over matched (notice College Football Scores!)

You are obviously the underdog.

No one thinks or believes or expects you are going to win.

Even your family members have that look on their face. (Yea…, you know…, the look.) The defeated look that says, “look, just go out there and do your best.”

Your friends say “it’s not about who wins or loses but how you play the game.”

(You only hear that when you are expected to lose.)

“It’s not about who wins or who loses it is just about having fun.”

“It’s not about who wins or who loses its also about learning how to lose with dignity and grace, with honor, integrity and sportsmanship because those are important life lessons to learn and to teach others – “you cannot win them all.”

That can be true when it is just a game.

What about when it is not just a game?

What about when the outcome is much bigger than having bragging rights?

Today we are going to talk about “When God Lets You See Victory.”

I. In tight circumstances God and only by His Grace, lets me see Victory.

From distressed situations, God sets me free.

The Lord is on my side – no reason to be afraid.

Psalm 118:5-7 ESV

⁵Out of my distress I called on the Lord;
    the Lord answered me and set me free.
⁶The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.
    What can man do to me?
⁷The Lord is on my side as my helper;
    I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.

We have all used the phrase, “Wow! That was a close call.”

That phrase means: “Something almost happened.”

It does not necessarily mean something bad happened.

It just means “Something almost happened.” It could mean: “You dodged a bullet.” (What would you say?) “Wow! That was a close call.”

It could mean: “Some crazy driver almost ran you off the road, but they didn’t” (Road Rage aside – What would you say?)

“Wow! That was a close call.”

It could mean: “The doctor ran a series of tests.” But when the test comes back the results are good. (What would you say?) “Wow! That was a close call.”

David said, “I prayed to the Lord and the Lord answered me and rescued me.” Psalm 118:5 NLT David was in one of those exceptionally tight circumstances.

Let me ask you a question to think about.

What Do you believe about the power of prayer?

As you consider the words of this devotional – do you .01% believe in prayer?

The longer you are a Christian and the older, more mature you are in your faith, you grow and you prayerfully begin to understand there are not only different types of prayers but are also just a few different ways God answers our prayers.

Prayers of gratitude where you are thanking God for His blessings and favor.

There are prayers of adoration where you are worshiping and praising God for His greatness.

There are prayers of love where you are expressing your love for God because you are object of His love.

Prayers of repentance where you are seeking God’s forgiveness and mercy.

There are prayers of petition when you are asking God for things we need.

All kinds of different ways to name and state these different types of prayers.

There are all kinds of different ways God answers our prayers.

When you think about, where you are at? What is happening in your life? What your prayer is intended for really depends on how you expect God to answer.

But the real key is to have faith, no matter what your circumstances are God will faithfully answer.

No matter how long it takes. God will answer.

No matter what your need or desire is God will answer with what you need.

In tight circumstances God has been with me, in His name, has let me win.

II. I Have Seen God Do Great and Mighty Things

Acts 16:25-34 ESV

The Philippian Jailer Converted

²⁵About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, ²⁶and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. ²⁷When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” ²⁹And the jailer^[a] called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. ³⁰Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” ³¹And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”³²And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. ³³And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. ³⁴Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

The jailer had fallen asleep while a couple of prisoners were singing hymns.

When he was jolted awake by an earthquake, the prison doors were open.

He had failed miserably at guarding the prisoners. He worried that his superiors might even torture or kill him. He began to think suicide was the only way out.

Soon, though, he learned that he had overreacted.

The situation was not as bad as he had thought. He had assumed the prisoners had escaped through the open doors, but they spoke to him, were still there!

In that moment of crisis, the jailer realized that those two singing prisoners had something he didn’t have.

How could he be saved? Paul and Silas gave a simple answer: “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved–you and all of your household.”

Many people discover Jesus after a brush with severely negative thoughts.

In many cases, they overreact to a situation that is not really as severe as they originally thought. But at the time, everything seems hopeless. Just in time, however, something stops them from destroying their lives with rash actions.

Then something wonderful happens.

They realize that they are missing something.

They start asking questions, and, like the jailer, they grow to believe in Jesus.

Also like the jailer, they are filled with joy, they have come to believe in the one true God of their salvation, their Savior, the only way from despair to delight.

III. God always does something Bigger, Better, than what we have asked for.

I called upon the Lord in distress: the Lord answered me, and set me in a large place.” Psalm 118:5 KJV

“The Lord answered me with wide-open spaces.” Psalms 118:5 CEB

David was on the battle field.

David was in a tight situation.

He was trapped in a small place.

The enemy was closing in on him.

I believe David, in his distress: was praying for God to rescue him.

To let him retreat.

To let him slip through the enemy lines.

To let him find a safe place to take refuge in, to hide.

To give him refuge and safe sanctuary.

To let him withdraw. To let him give ground, so that he and his men could regroup. But that was not even close to the answer that God had for David.

Instead of picking David up and setting him over to the side out of danger, God picked David up and set him down in a large place.

He answered David with wide-open spaces. Now I know a few things about battle strategy. After all I was on the Chess Club in my High School. Go ahead and please smile, that is true but I understand and it was meant to be funny.

I know that if you want to win a fight you need to be on the high ground.

Or you need to have ground cover for fortification an protection. You don’t want to expose yourself on the front line or right straight out in the middle. Those are the people taking the maximum brunt of the battle, are most likely dying first.

But that is exactly what God did to David. God put David right down into the heat of the battle.

Psalm 118: Verse 10 the hostile nations surrounded me.

Verse 11 they surrounded me and attacked me. Verse 12 they swarmed around me like bees. Verse 13 they tried their best to kill me – but David still lived!

David prayed for one thing but God gave him something else.

This is one of those times that David is not supposed to win.

He is out numbered. He is over extended. He is exhausted. He is in distress. He fervently prays for rescue. But God puts him into the middle of the battlefield.

I’m not even going to ask if anyone here can identify with what is happening to David. The Battlefield is/was, a very real place with very real, lethal dangers.

Because if this has never happened to you, then you should learn to fully respect those who have borne the brunt of those battlefields and to shout “Thank You!”

We should jump up and down and shout praises unto God and come forward to the altar and thank God they lived, survived “from the frying pan into the fire.”

But if you are like me, I committed almost twenty years of my life to my country and in these last several years I have spent more of my Christian life in the fire, with God teaching me invaluable lessons about how to fight my enemy Satan.

This is how God gets us to do what he wants us to do. He prepares our arms for war, our hands to fight an our hearts an souls to care for widows, orphans.

“He loved us unto Savior Jesus’ death on the Cross.” (Hello? Did you hear that?)

Because it takes that kind of testing and struggling and conflict and fire, and fighting the enemy to teach us to trust and obey.

To teach us how to pray. “For there is no other way…, than to say thanks, trust and obey, but our toil he doth richly repay

BUT NOT until we put all of ourselves to lay all the way upon the altar of God.”

There is a significant lesson for everyone to learn in those words of that hymn.

A significant lesson in victory, victorious living, in and through Savior Christ!

Psalm 118 verse 6 David looked to his left…, “The Lord is for me, so I will not be afraid.”

Psalm 118 Verse 7 David looked to his right…, “The Lord is for me, he will help me.”

And God set David down into the middle of the most wide open place where he was most exposed, most vulnerable, where he was his weakest.

And God, by His Grace and His Grace alone – Let David Win!!!

And then God tells us, “How that you and I are going to ‘Win against Satan,’ because we are in a spiritual battle for our soul and the souls of others.”

God says to David,

Psalm118:22 “I’m going to take a stone that all the other builders will reject.”

A stone that all the other architects and designers are going to look at.

They are going to pick it up and look at it and examine it and toss into the pile of rubble and say, “No we are going to do it our way. We are still going to trust in the sacrifice of bulls and goats and rams. We are not going to believe in Jesus.”

Jeremiah 33:1-3 ESV

The Lord Promises Peace

33 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the guard: ²“Thus says the Lord who made the earth,^[a] the Lord who formed it to establish it—the Lord is his name: ³Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and marvelous and hidden things that you have not known.

But God is going to do something impossible. God is going to do something marvelous. God in His providence is going to do something that they say can’t be done. God is going to take the discarded stone that is rejected by the builders and make it the absolute foundation and the cornerstone of salvation by Grace.

Master Rabbi Jesus explains what is meant by these words given in Psalm 118 to David in Matthew 22:43

Jesus says, “What it means is the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to the nation that will produce proper fruit.”

Time and time again God tries to point us straight to the cross.

We ask him for small things, He wants to do something bigger than what we are even asking him to do.

We ask God for this little corner over here for protection.

God says, I’m going to give you this wide open space. We ask Jesus to help us make it through from month to month. Jesus says, If you will do what I say, I will give you the Kingdom of My Father. I will give you the Kingdom of God.

In tight circumstances God has often let me win.

And I have seen God do Mighty things in my own life.

God often does something Bigger than what we have asked for.

In conclusion, I don’t have to win every fight to be victorious.

Sometimes it is enough just to survive and pray and learn my lessons, learn of God. His Grace, His Grace alone is going to let us win those impossible battles.

We are not supposed to be able to fight the Devil and win.

But God gives us the victory through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Read Psalm 118:1-7 Amplified again and again … for as long as God requires!

Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Saving Goodness.

118 O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness endures forever.
²
Oh let Israel say,
“His lovingkindness endures forever.”
³
Oh let the house of Aaron say,
“His lovingkindness endures forever.”
⁴
Oh let those who [reverently] fear the Lord, say,
“His lovingkindness endures forever.”

⁵
Out of my distress I called on the Lord;
The Lord answered me and set me free.
⁶
The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.
What can [mere] man do to me?
⁷
The Lord is on my side, He is among those who help me;
Therefore I will look [in triumph] on those who hate me.

1. What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
leaning on the everlasting arms;
what a blessedness, what a peace is mine,
leaning on the everlasting arms.

Refrain:
Leaning, leaning,
safe and secure from all alarms;
leaning, leaning,
leaning on the everlasting arms.

2. O how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way,
leaning on the everlasting arms;
O how bright the path grows from day to day,
leaning on the everlasting arms.
(Refrain)

3. What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
leaning on the everlasting arms?
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
leaning on the everlasting arms.
(Refrain) Elisha A. Hoffman

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

Let us Pray,

O Lord, my God you are my refuge, and my strength and my Salvation. You are my ever-present help in times of trouble. When it seems like my world is crumbling around me and I am thrown around by the storms of my life, take away my fear. When I am weak, you are my strength. When I am vulnerable, you are my refuge. When I cry for help, you will answer. Remind me Holy Spirit that you are always with me, you will never leave nor ever forsake me. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

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We Are Saved By The Grace Of God. Matthew 25:31-46

Matthew 25:31-46New King James Version

The Son of Man Will Judge the Nations

³¹“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the ^[a]holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. ³³And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. ³⁴Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: ³⁵for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; ³⁶I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

³⁷“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? ³⁸When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? ³⁹Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ ⁴⁰And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

⁴¹“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: ⁴²for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

⁴⁴“Then they also will answer ^[b]Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ ⁴⁵Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ ⁴⁶And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

Let us pray:

Dear Heavenly Father, we save for you our highest thanks and praise that through your Son, our Savior, Jesus the Christ, you have revealed your glorious will for our lives, and have redeemed us from sin and death. Through the power of your Holy Spirit, open our hearts and minds to your Word and the grace contained therein, that we might come to gain a deeper appreciation for all that our Lord has done for us, and come to embrace him as our redeemer. This we ask in his holy name. Amen.

Today, we celebrate another Sunday of our church year, a Sunday, just as every other Sunday which preceded this one – we will honor Jesus the Christ as King.

It is a day to remember that through the power of the Holy Spirit, God calls us to acknowledge Jesus, and Jesus alone, who alone is the only One worthy to be our Lord, an our Savior – who will one day come, judge the world in righteousness.

Our Gospel lesson for this morning is one of two of Christ’s teachings on the subject of his future judging of the world, recorded in Matthew’s Gospel.

The first occurs at the end of what has become known as “The Sermon on the Mount,” where Jesus says:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’”

In this passage, the judgement of condemnation seems to fall upon those who use Jesus’ name in a casual manner, as if they really did not know and did not understand Jesus from the very deepest depths of their hearts and their souls.

Simply engaging in acts of ministry is not what Jesus wants. He wants us to know him in such an intimate way, that all of our actions, and all of the ways that we live our lives, naturally flow from our koinonia relationship with him.

Our Gospel lesson for today, the emphasis of our Lord’s judgement again seems to fall upon truly knowing Jesus from the heart, in such an intimate way, as we encounter persons in need, we respond to them as Jesus would have responded.

Just listen to how personal and intimate, Jesus makes his judgement.

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me…” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

The interesting thing about our lesson for today is the fact those who did what Jesus would have expected, did so without trying to earn our Lord’s good favor.

Because they knew Jesus so intimately, so personally, they didn’t even realize that they were acting the way that Jesus desired.

From knowing Savior Jesus, their life had been so dramatically and thoroughly changed, in such a way they just naturally responded to care for those in need.

It was not as if they knowingly set out and acted in such a way to earn brownie points from our Lord come judgement day.

The fact that those whom our Lord blessed and invited into the kingdom of God, did not even know that they had done these things, is a clear statement that it is not our deeds that make us righteous, but our intimate relationship with Jesus.

As the story goes, in a large Christian University, two persons were called upon to recite the 23rd Psalm of David, in a study group focusing on how hearing the Word of God proclaimed, can effect us in diverse, various ways, even change the meaning of a certain text.

One chosen to recite the psalm was a PhD professor trained in the techniques of Biblical Story Telling, speech, drama and music.

As a result, he intoned the psalm with great beauty and power.

When he had finished, those in the class applauded with enthusiasm, and asked him to repeat those verses, they again might hear his beautiful performance.

Then the second person was asked to recite the text.

She was a young first year student, who had yet to pick a major.

With no musical talent or inclination, she chose to recite the whole psalm from her own memory as she was taught to by her mom and dad, her grandparents.

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…

When this young first year non-matriculated student finished reciting that psalm, not one single sound came from anyone the class, even the teacher.

Instead, the students sat quietly, in a deep mood of prayer and devotion.

Finally, the professor stood and addressed the class.

“I have a confession to make,” he said.

“The difference between what you have just heard from my student, from what you have also just heard from me, is that with all of my years of education and of my training. I may know the psalm, but she knows the psalm and loves the shepherd.”

Now I share this illustration with you today, not to simply point to the merits and differences between someone reciting the psalm versus intoning the psalm.

I personally enjoy intoning the psalms, because I deeply believe that is exactly how they were intended to be spoken and heard and felt in a worship setting.

They were ancient hymns and meant to come from the very depths of our souls.

But what is important to me, is that we intone or recite or sing the psalms with maximum conviction, as if we realize that they are written by persons who did know the Shepherd, who understood the context of the shepherd, to convey full of their relationship with God, so that we might come to know God, as did they.

And I believe that this is where these lessons of Jesus about the final judgment ask us to focus our maximum attention on not just Sundays, but every last day.

To honor God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit as sovereign.

It is not so important to know a lot of facts about Jesus, as it is to know Jesus.

Of course, the fact that I have just said this, may give maximum impetus to my readership to question why I have them learn so many facets about the Bible and Jesus. But through learning those facets, it is my hope and prayer that they might come to know God, and begin to relate to Jesus as their redeemer King!

It is for that reason, I have stressed to my readership that doing their daily devotions is more important than scoring aces on their “worldly” quizzes.

Even if my readership misses a few major points here or minor there, I can always tell, through their participation in ‘class’ if they understand truth.

And I can an do try to teach a lot of truths in the long course of my writings.

But TRUTH is – I can NEVER teach them to enter into a relationship with Christ.

That is something I have to prayerfully hand over to the grace of God, and the matchless power of the Word of God, Jesus, and His Spirit, to bring to fruition.

I think Luther put it as well as it can be stated, when he said:

“I believe that I cannot by my own understanding or effort believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to him as my Savior. But the Holy Spirit has called me through the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, and sanctified and kept me in true faith.“

What a marvelous insight, for here Luther is insisting that even our belief in Christ is not something that we can take credit in.

For if it would not have been for the love of God working through the church, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we would not even have the opportunity to have heard of Jesus the Christ, let alone come into relationship with him.

But all the highest praise and thanks be to God that he has given us the gift of his Holy Spirit, which has inspired his Beloved Children and church to proclaim his Word, and celebrate the Sacraments, that we might all come to know Jesus, and allow him to become, not only a part of our lives, but through our intimate relationship with him, experience the only direction by which we live our lives.

I remember this story from years past, from my own non-matriculated days.

During the French revolution, a mother of two children wondered through the woods for three days, trying to survive on roots and leaves.

On the third day, she heard some soldiers approaching and quickly hid herself and the children behind some bushes. Several of the young soldiers prodded the bushes with their bayonets, to see what a slight rustling noise might look like.

When they saw the starving woman and her two children, they immediately gave them loaves of brown bread from their own meager soldierly rations.

The mother took them eagerly, broke one into two pieces and gave one piece to each of her children. “Is she not hungry,” said the soldier’s comrade. “No,” he said, “It is because she is a mother and loves her children more than her self.”

Matthew 26:26-30 NKJV

Jesus Institutes the Lord’s Supper

²⁶And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, ^[a]blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

²⁷Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. ²⁸For this is My blood of the ^[b]new covenant, which is shed for many for the ^[c]remission of sins. ²⁹But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

³⁰And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Well, on the night in which he was betrayed, Jesus took a loaf of bread, broke it and shared it with us all. Then he lovingly gave up his all he had on the cross, wearing a crown of thorns, and was mocked as being the King of the Jews. Well, today, today celebrate that he is the King, not only of the Jews, but of the world.

As we solemnly approach this coming Thanksgiving – this time of family and togetherness, this coming season of Advent as we remember and recount the ancient story and prophetic passages from God’s Holy Scriptures, to again be aware of how they have impacted those who came before us, how they impacted our lives, how they will continue to impact them and those of our own children, and every single countless future generations of all the children yet to be born,

Then we enter into the wondrous season of Christmas, the season of gift giving, that absolutely positively the greatest gift in all history was the gift of our God,

In a matchless expression of His matchless Charity and Grace – His own Son!

Immanuel – God with Us and God within Us – Alpha to Omega – for all time!

Jesus Christ – Our King!

Jesus Christ, Our Lord!

Jesus Christ – Our Savior!

Ponder that for a while – a long while, an Alpha to Omega while.

Experience what God will most certainly do for you …..

Until then, ……

We might want to get a little more Alpha to Omega practical experience in ……

Psalm 23 AKJV

Psalm 23

A Psalm of David.

¹The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
²He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
³He restoreth my soul:
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
⁴Yea, 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.
⁵Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
⁶Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

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

³Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear:
though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
⁴One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after;
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple. (Psalm 27:3-4)

This I shall yet in everlasting praise, Pray to the Shepherd King of my life ….

To our God and soon coming Savior, I give You thanks. God, I pray today that You will reveal yourself to me and those in my life. May we have an encounter from the true and living God. I pray that the desires of our hearts shall be to seek after You that we may know You and that we will be men and women after God’s own heart, Amen.

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About Our Holding On To Our Past – Grudges and Resentments, Regrets, And Remorse’s. Philippians 3:7-16

Philippians 3:7-16Authorized (King James) Version

⁷But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. ⁸Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, ⁹and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: ¹⁰that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; ¹¹if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. ¹²Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. ¹³Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, ¹⁴I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. ¹⁶Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Max Lucado tells a story about the late champion boxer Muhammad Ali taking someone to his barn where he stored his trophies and awards.

Standing in the doorway, he pointed to his many trophies and said, “It ain’t nothing.”

His body and his mind wracked by debilitating illnesses he had come to the conclusion when all is said and done, his accomplishments meant very little.

Centuries earlier, the apostle Paul looked back on the whole of his life and on all the things he had been successful at, all of his education he was proud of, and said, “Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss. I consider them rubbish.”

Apostle Paul said this not necessarily because he had a debilitating disease like Muhammad Ali but because he had met the Lord Jesus who surpassed all of it.

He had come to the conclusion he was ready to let go of whatever was behind him so that he could serve the Lord, live only by the power of the risen Savior.

As we are about to enter into Thanksgiving, Advent an then Christmas and then the New Year, are we too ready to ultimately let go of all the things that might keep us from our experiencing the maximum power of Christ’s resurrection?

Are we ready to let go of all the things that at one time seemed all-important?

Are we ready, willing and genuinely able to finally an for all time, ask the Lord today for the grace to toss out everything that stands in the way of serving him?

Today, I would like to address “Holding on to our past,” our resentments our grudges, our regrets and our remorse’s, viewing an interpreting them each as something which can inhibit not only our personal relationships, our outlook on life, but also our sense of self-esteem, identity and spiritual growth in Jesus.

Philippians 3:10-14Amplified Bible

¹⁰And this, so that I may know Him [experientially, becoming more thoroughly acquainted with Him, understanding the remarkable wonders of His Person more completely] and [in that same way experience] the power of His resurrection [which overflows and is active in believers], and [that I may share] the fellowship of His sufferings, by being continually conformed [inwardly into His likeness even] to His death [dying as He did]; ^11 [a]so that I may attain to the resurrection [that will raise me] from the dead.

¹²Not that I have already obtained it [this goal of being Christlike] or have already been made perfect, but I actively press on ^[b]so that I may take hold of that [perfection] for which Christ Jesus took hold of me and made me His own. ^{13 [c]}Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴I press on toward the goal to win the [heavenly] prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Here, Paul is pointing out a significantly insightful truth … a significant fact,

“I have let go of the past, have strained myself towards my future in Christ.”

To obtain our future in Savior Christ – We must NOW leave the past in the past.

Yes, we must learn from it but press on … straining forward to what lies ahead.

Press on toward the ultimate goal which decisively, definitely lies ahead.

You and I cannot relate to the present … or look forward to relating to any part of our future if you and I are still choosing to remain stuck, reacting to the past.

Sadly … We bring the burden of so many, truthfully, far too many, unresolved, nonsensical, trivial, long forgotten problems into … our present relationships.

We are prone to carry, burden ourselves … emotional garbage around with us.

We rehash … We rewash – re-launder our age old grudges and resentments.

We mull over, we obsess over this stuff like a bad movie, the bitterness we hold.

We project our angers, resentments, grudges toward the those that have hurt us – we hammer them – as iron sharpens iron – so resentments sharpens grudges.

Those things we have feel guilty about, and the “if only” regrets.

It is as if we cannot get them out of our mind. “Only if”?

We rehearse our resentments, and we replay our regrets.

And many of us are weighed down by indescribable weight of all those wasted times and seasons and opportunities to receive grace upon grace upon grace.

And when we feel down … when we feel depressed?

When you carry the emotional garbage of rehashing resentments, remembering regrets, and reinforcing remorse?

Well … it tends to cause you to react to life rather than enjoying life.

Yet Paul shares with us a solution hear God’s word.

BIBLE “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind (Forgetting what lies where … in the past) and straining forward to what lies ahead. END

Beloved … Jesus is clear BIBLE “‘No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.'” END (Luke 9:62)

Until you and I choose to intentionally stop looking backward you and I are not fit for kingdom service on this side of eternity.

If you and I are looking back … if you and I are holding on to “If Only’s …” well, then, you and I are not making a very stout effort towards walking in God’s will.

Truth is … No one is immune – we each definitely get stuck there sometimes.

So … how do we approach such an “impossible” idea -stop – let go of the past?

Well first you must let go of your bitterness of your grudges.

Paul shares this truth to the believers gathered in Ephesus.

Ephesians 4:30-32Amplified Bible

³⁰And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [but seek to please Him], by whom you were sealed and marked [branded as God’s own] for the day of redemption [the final deliverance from the consequences of sin]. ³¹Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor [perpetual animosity, resentment, strife, fault-finding] and slander be put away from you, along with every kind of malice [all spitefulness, verbal abuse, malevolence]. ³²Be kind and helpful to one another, tender-hearted [compassionate, understanding], forgiving one another [readily and freely], just as God in Christ also forgave ^[a]you.

Get rid of all bitterness.

Get rid of all rage.

Get rid of all anger.

Chuck it!

Throw it away!

Eliminate it!

Beloved do not hold on to resentment.

If you do, it will ruin your relationships.

There are few things in life that can cause more danger to a relationship then bearing grudges and resentment beyond their useful shelf-life (one second).

Beloved bearing grudges and resentments does not resolve anything.

Remember when you are bearing grudges, being resentful, it probably does not upset the other person over much, it only … it only upsets you.

You remain the one who hurting.

Resentment never affects or hurts the other person it only affects you.

Hear God’s word from Job: BIBLE “to worry yourself to death with resentment would be foolish, senseless to do …… you are only you’re hurting yourself with your anger.” (Job 5:2 and Job 18:4)

Yes … we can backpack our grudges around over our shoulders, be resentful towards people who have hurt us … but they will never … change the past.

Resentment is a clear waste of time … or as the scriptures state … it is foolish … because it never resolves the problem …… it only makes it infinitely worse.

And the truth be told … Our resentment …. makes us a slave … to the one …. we resent.

When you say to somebody, … “You are making me so mad” … you are in essence … admitting to a weakness.

You are making me mad.

That means … we are admitting that we cannot control our own emotions.

You are admitting that others control you …. Others have the power to make you happy or mad.

Beloved, know this truth nobody … no one can make you mad without your permission. REPEAT

Some of us may have been hurt in the past.

But that past does not have to keep on hurting us in the present.

Lay that resentment at the Cross and allow God’s grace and power, to move within you.

Allow the Holy Spirit to transform you.

Psalm 51 Amplified Bible

A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David; when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had sinned with Bathsheba.

51 Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.
²
Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness and guilt
And cleanse me from my sin.
³
For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them;
My sin is always before me.
⁴
Against You, You only, have I sinned
And done that which is evil in Your sight,
So that You are justified when You speak [Your sentence]
And faultless in Your judgment.

⁵
I was brought forth in [a state of] wickedness;
In sin my mother conceived me [and from my beginning I, too, was sinful].
⁶
Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,
And in the hidden part [of my heart] You will make me know wisdom.
⁷
Purify me with ^[a]hyssop, and I will be clean;
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
⁸
Make me hear joy and gladness and be satisfied;
Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.
⁹
Hide Your face from my sins
And blot out all my iniquities.

¹⁰
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a right and steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹
Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
¹²
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit.
¹³
Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted and return to You.

¹⁴
Rescue me from blood guiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation;
Then my tongue will sing joyfully of Your righteousness and Your justice.
¹⁵
O Lord, open my lips,
That my mouth may declare Your praise.
¹⁶
For You do not delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.
¹⁷
My [only] sacrifice [acceptable] to God is a broken spirit;
A broken and contrite heart [broken with sorrow for sin, thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise.

¹⁸
By Your favor do good to Zion;
May You rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
¹⁹
Then will You delight in the sacrifices of righteousness,
In burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then young bulls will be offered on Your altar.

We must learn to yield the past to God through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Are you and I holding resentments … grudges against someone from the past?

A brother a sister? A father or a mother? A spouse, a coworker?

A Church?

A Denomination?

I have found many adults are still fighting their parents unconsciously.

They feel they were unloved, ignored, verbally abused, physically abused, intimidated … manipulated.

Many have buried that hurt deep and have never addressed it.

And if they have buried it … in essence they are still holding on to it.

We need to dig it up and let go; we need to lay this at the foot of the cross.

Beloved we will not be able to fully relate to our present relationships if have allowed bitterness to take root … if we are still holding on … to the past.

The anonymous writer of Hebrews puts it this way:

Hebrews 12:14-17Amplified Bible

¹⁴Continually pursue peace with everyone, and the sanctification without which no one will [ever] see the Lord. ¹⁵See to it that no one falls short of God’s grace; that no root of resentment [bitterness] springs up and causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; ¹⁶and [see to it] that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. ¹⁷For you know that later on, when he wanted [to regain title to] his inheritance of the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no opportunity for repentance [there was no way to repair what he had done, no chance to recall the choice he had made], even though he sought for it with [bitter] tears.

Make NO Mistake about this: every last ounce of that bitterness, that Bitterroot if it takes a secure hold of our hearts and of our souls, will absolutely, definitely, decisively, directly, maximally impact all our every single current relationships.

Some of us may have allowed bitterness, anger, hurt to pile up from the past.

And instead of taking it out on that person … you take it out on your husband … or on your wife … or on your children, your friends, your neighbors, churches.

Beloved that is wrong … and that’s worse than wrong … is not definitely fair.

So … let go and let God move and have his way in your life.

Trust that he loves you.

It’s time to move on … to strive forward … in your new life in Christ.

It’s time to forgive and to lay this bitterness at the foot of the cross.

Remember the prayer that we are taught to pray on each Sunday?

Father forgive us … forgive me my trespasses … only … only as I forgive others.

We must also be willing to give up our gloom.

Gloom a word not used very often anymore.

Gloom a combination of Sorrow, grief, sadness, heartbreak, and worry.

Everyone experiences some type of gloom in their life.

Many of you have experienced major losses, some in the past several years.

And loss, … gloom, … hurts.

And mourning … grieving is a natural part of life.

There is nothing wrong with mourning.

In fact, the scriptures are clear,

Ecclesiastes 3:1-14Amplified Bible

A Time for Everything

3 There is a season (a time appointed) for everything and a time for every delight and event or purpose under heaven—

²
A time to be born and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
³
A time to kill and a time to heal;
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
⁴
A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance.
⁵
A time to throw away stones and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing.
⁶
A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
⁷
A time to ^[a]tear apart and a time to sew together;
A time to keep silent and a time to speak.
⁸
A time to love and a time to hate;
A time for war and a time for peace.

⁹What profit is there for the worker from that in which he labors? ¹⁰I have seen the task which God has given to the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.

God Set Eternity in the Heart of Man

¹¹He has made everything beautiful and appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity [a sense of divine purpose] in the human heart [a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God]—yet man cannot find out (comprehend, grasp) what God has done (His overall plan) from the beginning to the end.

¹²I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good as long as they live; ¹³and also that every man should eat and drink and see and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God. ¹⁴I know that whatever God does, it endures forever; nothing can be added to it nor can anything be taken from it, for God does it so that men will fear and worship Him [with awe-filled reverence, knowing that He is God].

In fact, Jesus says “blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4)

It is alright … it is OK to grieve and to weep.

We know that Jesus Wept at the Tomb of Lazarus. (John 11:35)

Yet there is a significant difference between mourning and moaning.

Moaning is self-pity … “poor me”.

When we moan, we empower gloom … we allow gloom to rule the outlook… of our life.

Beloved … pain is a part of life.

Everyone experiences pain.

Everyone hurts and has heart aches.

Yet, … hear me on this … do not allow your pain to make you … it’s prisoner.

So (1 finger) let go of your grudges (2 fingers) And let go of your gloom.

If you don’t, … they will strangle you.

Yet … how do we let go of gloom… when it is strangling us?

Well, … except … what cannot be changed.

Many of you may be experiencing pain … from events … that happened … many years ago.

The key to Peace of Mind can be found in one word… and that word is … acceptance.

Acceptance of God’s will.

Allowing God’s way … in your life.

God is on his throne … and he is working … all things together for your good.

All Things … The Good … the bad … and the ugly.

Let go of your grief and give it to Jesus.

And if you do, it will release you … from the clutches of its pain.

Play it down … and pray it up.

Spend more time praying then complaining.

Or as a seasoned Christian friend would always say … “Go to the throne … before you go to the phone.”

Beloved … focus on what is left … not on what is lost.

You might be saying … you do not understand how much I have lost … and how little is left?

And you are right … I will never fully understand.

But this I know … little is much … in the hands of almighty God.

For he takes all things … the good … the bad … and the ugly … and works them for good… for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:28)

Beloved … self-pity … is more damaging to you. more dangerous … and to your life and my life and the life of the church … than any tragedy we will ever face.

Why? Because … self-pity perpetuates pain, and ultra magnifies resentments.

Let go of your grudges.

Give up your gloom. And lastly give up your guilt.

Some people refuse to accept forgiveness from God.

They hang on to their guilt.

In fact, … many … hold on tightly to it … like an iron clad security blanket.

In a way … they have locked themselves in a prison … and thrown away the key.

And allowed the guilt … of what they have or have not done, to play … over and over and over … to rent space at no cost nor given consequence in their mind.

Beloved … That is not the message of the Gospel.

We have a forgiving gracious God, … a God of second chances.

But you need to lay your guilt down.

Yet how do you let go of guilt?

Well there are two approaches one is right and the other is wrong.

2 Corinthians 7:8-10Amplified Bible

⁸For even though I did grieve you with my ^[a]letter, I do not regret it [now]; though I did regret it —for I see that the letter hurt you, though only for a little while— ⁹yet I am glad now, not because you were hurt and made sorry, but because your sorrow led to repentance [and you turned back to God]; for you felt a grief such as God meant you to feel, so that you might not suffer loss in anything on our account. ¹⁰For [godly] sorrow that is in accord with the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but worldly sorrow [the hopeless sorrow of those who do not believe] produces death.

These two approaches to guilt and both illustrated in the lives of two of Jesus disciples, Peter, and Judas.

Both Peter and Judas, on the night before Jesus was taken into custody, denied and publicly Jesus.

They both sinned.

Yet as we know … they both responded very differently to this guilt.

One response was right, and one response was wrong.

The way Judas responded was self-condemnation.

Here God’s word: BIBLE “when Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse. Then he went out and hanged himself.” END (Matthew 27:3-5)

Judas took his life in his despair.

He allowed his despair … his sin … to overwhelm him.

He felt that life was no longer worth living … so we went out … and took his own life.

Peter, … on the other hand, … his response … was not condemnation but confession.

Again, hear God’s word BIBLE “then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken and he went outside and wept bitterly.” END (Matthew 26:75)

Peter also experienced remorse but he wept bitterly and obviously … confessed his sin and sought forgiveness.

How do we know he did that, … because not many days later God … used him in a mighty way.

You can almost hear him say Jesus I failed, I let you down Forgive me.

Have you ever said that?

Jesus I have let you down, I have been unfaithful, I have not followed your ways?

Beloved we have a forgiving God.

We have a God who forgives.

And that can be seen in the life of Peter.

For on the day of Pentecost Peter spoke and 3000 people were saved.

We must come to the throne and confess our sins and we most come to the throne for forgiveness.

Hear again God’s Word: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Thank you, Lord, for this glorious promise.

Thank you, Lord, for this ancient and glorious promise of a future beyond all;

Isaiah 2:1-4English Standard Version

The Mountain of the Lord

2 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

²It shall come to pass in the latter days
    that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
    and shall be lifted up above the hills;
and all the nations shall flow to it,
³    and many peoples shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
    and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,^[a]
    and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴He shall judge between the nations,
    and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
    and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
    neither shall they learn war anymore.

And the House of the Lord will be established above all houses.

On the highest of His mountains and not upon our wee little ant hills.

and many peoples shall come, and say:

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that HE may TEACH us HIS ways and that we may WALK in ONLY HIS PATHS.”

HE shall judge between the nations (and the churches and the denominations).

HE shall decide the DISPUTES.

And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nations will not lift up swords against nations, or resentful angry words be lifted up and raised high against and between churches and denominations.

Neither shall they learn war ANYMORE!

How much emotional garbage are you and I still carrying against each other?

Lay that worldly garbage down at the cross.

Give them all to Jesus.

Let go of the past and embrace God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit so His joy can permeate the present and all things can become new.

Beloved you and I are a new creation In Christ Jesus.

As beloved Children of God,

You and I are sanctified and continually being sanctified.

Lay your burdens at the foot of the cross and look into your Saviors’ eyes.

He loves you and wants your entire life to be filled to the brim with His joy.

Sing, Sing and Sing some more.

Give them all … give them all

give them all to Jesus

and he will turn your sorrows,

he will turn your sorrows,

Yes, He will turn your sorrows, into joy.

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

Let us Pray,

O God, my Strength, I put my trust in You. You have never forsaken those who seek You. You have never let me down. I know that You never will let me down because my life so far has been a living testimony of Your greatness and not to my many resentments and my multitude of grudges. Mold me into Your image, and hold me close to You. Reveal to me thy grace, how to mature as a Christian and daily improve on my walk of faith. Steady my trust in You so that it never wavers, no matter what battles I face on this earth. I declare that my faithfulness to You will be strong at all times and in all places and during even the very worst of circumstances. Amen.

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Grace Greater than our Sin: We say God is trying to Hide Himself from us. Brutal Reality is we are trying too hard to hide our deceitful selves from God. Psalm 32

Psalm 32 English Standard Version

Blessed Are the Forgiven

A Maskil^[a] of David.

32 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
²Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

³For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
⁴For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up^[b] as by the heat of summer. Selah

⁵I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

⁶Therefore let everyone who is godly
    offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;
surely in the rush of great waters,
    they shall not reach him.
⁷You are a hiding place for me;
    you preserve me from trouble;
    you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah

⁸I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
    I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
⁹Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
    which must be curbed with bit and bridle,
    or it will not stay near you.

¹⁰Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.
¹¹Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Notice the first two verses of Psalm 32 tell us about a threefold liberation—our transgressions forgiven, our sins covered, and our sin is not counted against us.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow, bless my soul and pass the joy!

But then we run headlong into this qualifier: “… in whose spirit is no deceit.”

In deceit we deliberately misrepresent ourselves; we retreat to our secret places, we deliberately and with much malice, give a false impression of our goodness.

Does God then count our sins against us?

I am still forgiven, but there is little less magnitude of max joy to pass around!

Deceit is about our deliberately, intentionally initiating a “secret conspiracy” to cover ourselves up, starting with covering up our failures even unto ourselves.

Without much effort at all we will immediately, if not sooner deny our sin, we will white wash it, reason it away, we will rationalize it out of existence, make excuses for it, compare ourselves to others whom we judge to be worse sinners.

From all of our best, worst efforts, to wall ourselves away from the bitter reality of exactly what is in front of us, with our deceit we no longer sense God’s grace.

Psalm 32:3-4 English Standard Version

³For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
⁴For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up^[a] as by the heat of summer. Selah

David himself confesses the dangerous effects of the magnitude of his deceit .

And his own personal awareness of God doing a “romp and stomp” on his soul.

“For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away …. through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped.”

Talk about “Where’s the joy?”!

It was more like David was killing his own Joy with every secret effort he made.

But then David came to his senses:

Psalm 32:5 English Standard Version

⁵I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

David acknowledged the magnitude of his deceit to God, no longer tried to cover it up, no longer tried to keep it locked up behind a thousand doors, locked up by a thousand and one different misshapen keys, deep in unwritten secret places.

With deceit finally confessed, sin is covered by God’s forgiving, healing grace.

When we deceive ourselves, we try to hide our sin.

When we deceive ourselves, we try to reason with our sin.

When we deceive ourselves, we try to rationalize it away.

Reasoning with sin is quite literally and scripturally impossible.

Rationalizing it away is quite literally and scripturally impossible.

When has anyone ever long kept a secret hidden away from God?

Isaiah 1:18-20 English Standard Version

¹⁸“Come now, let us reason^[a] together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
    they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
    they shall become like wool.
¹⁹If you are willing and obedient,
    you shall eat the good of the land;
²⁰but if you refuse and rebel,
    you shall be eaten by the sword;
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Isaiah 2:1-4 English Standard Version

The Mountain of the Lord

2 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

The reality is that mankind will be judged by God and God alone

The reality of it all is the “nation of sin” will be judged by God alone.

The reality of it all is the relationship between man and sin will be judged.

The reality is God judges both the “nations of man” and “nations of sin” either trying to “live” in close harmony with each other or “at each other’s throats.”

The reality is God alone judges the maximum strength, durability of the walls these two “nations” have constructed to hide their efforts from “prying eyes.”

1 Chronicles 28:9 English Standard Version

David’s Charge to Solomon

⁹“And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.

But there are only two true hiding places.

The Mountain of God – where we will all gather to learn only of His ways.

The Cross of Jesus Christ where Christ settled the matter – once for all time.

John 19:28-30 English Standard Version

The Death of Jesus

²⁸After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” ²⁹A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. ³⁰When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Our choices are crystal clear – believe God is deliberately trying to hide Himself from us, therefore we try hiding our sin from God, to live in harmony with sin, all the while moaning and groaning, crying and whining from our inequalities,

Or… Just brutally surrender ourselves to the .01% possibility of irrepressible joy.

Psalm 32:6-7 English Standard Version

“You are my hiding place,” the psalmist says to God.

Being covered by Grace is so much easier that covering over our deceit.

Being covered by Grace is so much better than covering over our deceit.

Being covered by Grace is so much healthier than covering up our deceit.

Being covered by Grace is so much the wiser choice than destroying our Joy.

Will we this day … Receive this Grace for the very first time?

Will we this day … Receive a fresh anointing of this Grace today?

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

Let us Pray,

Lord Jesus Christ, you are the name above every other name. Your name is like a fortified tower in which I can find safety and security. When I am troubled, I can find refuge and peace in your name. When I feel weak, I can find refuge and strength in your name. When I feel overwhelmed, I can find refuge and rest in your name. When I feel surrounded by pressures on every side, I can find safety, stability in your name. Your name is revealed! Your name is beautiful, Lord, help me to rely on you. Through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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Acknowledging Our Holy Discontent! Acknowledging, Allowing Ourselves to be Overcome by our Savior. Mark 1:12-13

Mark 1:12-13Amplified Bible

¹²Immediately the [Holy] Spirit forced Him out into the wilderness. ¹³He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted [to do evil] by Satan; and He was with the wild animals, and the angels ministered continually to Him.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

“I can resist everything but temptation!” says the Irish Poet Oscar Wilde.

“I generally avoid temptation unless I cannot resist it any longer.” Mae West

“I can resist anything but temptation!” says the bumper sticker.

“Temptation is the devil looking through our keyholes. Yielding is opening the door, inviting him in to stay and live with us for awhile.” Billy Sunday

As Christians, we know that temptation toward sinful, illegal or destructive things needs to be resisted, and yet we often find ourselves losing the battle.

That is not only frustrating, it can get downright depressing, it can even make us start to raise inner doubts, question whether God still loves, cares about us.

The promised land was just across the Jordan River, but the land on the near side of the river looked good for grazing.

So the tribes of Reuben and Gad petitioned Moses to let them settle in that area.

In doing so, they faced the temptation of settling in a place determined by their possessions rather than by the Lord’s promise.

When Moses challenged them, choose their “stuff or choose God” the tribes relented, agreed to go with the others across the Jordan to conquer the land.

Settling down and being content an being fulfilled merely with the things of this earth around us is so tempting.

The more we have, the easier it is to focus solely on this life.

Rather than keeping our eyes on the promises of God, we tend to see the things around us and be satisfied with them.

Christian faith is supposedly marked by our measures and our degrees of holy discontent with earthly treasures.

That choice, that decision and those affirmation are easy when things are easy.

That array of things, perhaps not no easy to live with when things are difficult.

But as Christians, we need to long for Christ and his kingdom even when things are good, because we know Jesus is the greatest example, the greatest mentor.

Mark 1:9-13Common English Bible

Jesus is baptized and tempted

⁹About that time, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River. ¹⁰While he was coming up out of the water, Jesus saw heaven splitting open and the Spirit, like a dove, coming down on him. ¹¹And there was a voice from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I dearly love; in you I find happiness.”

¹²At once the Spirit forced Jesus out into the wilderness. ¹³He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among the wild animals, and the angels took care of him.

We all face temptation.

No one is immune from temptation.

The bad news about temptation is that it usually doesn’t happen when we’re ready for it.

It usually happens in those moments when we’re tired, or sad or disappointed about something.

And while we all face temptation, when we give into it, we often feel really bad.

We wish we were better about fighting it or saying no to the things tempting us.

Immediately after being baptized by John, immediately after hearing all of the wonderful all thumbs up accolades and affirmations from His Father in Heaven, we read that Jesus is immediately driven into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit.

What prior planning and preparation did he have?

Complete Faith and Trust in His Father God and the Holy Scriptures!

What preparation did he ask for as a precondition to entering the wilderness?

Complete Faith and Trust in His Father God and the Holy Scriptures!

What time did His Father God give him to “pray and study himself into shape?”

Complete Faith and Trust in His Father God, His perfect understanding and interpretation of the Holy Scriptures as taught to Him! Psalm 119:1-16

What resistance did Jesus offer up to His Father in Heaven before His entering?

None but implicit and innate trust in the truth found in God’s Holy Scriptures!

Hebrews 4:11-16Amplified Bible

¹¹Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest [of God, to know and experience it for ourselves], so that no one will fall by following the same example of disobedience [as those who died in the wilderness]. ¹²For 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. ¹³And 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.

¹⁴Inasmuch then as we [believers] have a great High Priest who has [already ascended and] passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession [of faith and cling tenaciously to our absolute trust in Him as Savior]. ¹⁵ For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptations, but One who has been tempted [knowing exactly how it feels to be human] in every respect as we are, yet without [committing any] sin. ¹⁶Therefore let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God’s gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment].

Jesus is so much more than a role model

The fact that Jesus was tempted in all points like as we are teaches us at least three things.

One thing is Jesus’ perfect reliance on the Power of God through Scriptures.

One thing it teaches us is that just as Jesus overcame every temptation, so we need to follow his example, make every effort not to fall to temptation either.

But there is so much more here to acknowledge, and it makes all the difference.

If Jesus were merely a great role model that we should follow, there would be no hope for us.

Following Jesus would then just be another of the world’s many religions — humanly devised systems of coping with bad behavior and plagued consciences.

The other thing these temptation passages teach us is Jesus overcame every temptation in our place, as one of us, both representing us and substituting for us before God.

Notice where Hebrews 4 places the emphasis:

First, Jesus is presented as an incomparable High Priest (v. 14).

The job of a high priest is to mediate on behalf of the people toward God.

He offers the sacrifices and acts as the go-between to get everything straightened out between sinning people and God.

In religion, this concept keeps people mindful of the need to behave better and establishes a hierarchy of humans that can exercise control over the masses.

The Gospel is not, can never become, another religion

But the gospel is not another religion.

The gospel tells us that the real and true High Priest is God himself, the Second Person of the triune God — the one who became Jesus Christ. He died and rose from the dead in glory, and now is in heaven as a glorified man and the Son of God at once, making actual peace between sinning humans and God.

Jesus did not sin; he took all the sin of humanity onto his own shoulders.

But all the sin in the world was no match for the Son of God. In him, sin, all sin, found its demise. In Christ, God destroyed the work of the devil and defeated sin — our sin — once and for all. This is not religion; it is the gospel of our Savior.

That is why Hebrews 4 emphasizes the truth that Jesus sympathizes with us in our weaknesses, and the truth because of Jesus doing what he did regarding sin, we can come forth with a holy discontent for the world and a holy boldness to the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

We find the same emphasis in Hebrews 2:17-18.

He became like us humans in every respect for the express purpose of being a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God.

He can help those who are being tested because he was tested like they are.

How does he help them?

By his sacrifice of atonement (restoration to fellowship with God) and by being merciful (He forgives you) and faithful (He will do it every time).

Hebrews 3:12-19Amplified Bible

The Peril of Unbelief

¹²Take care, brothers and sisters, that there not be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving ^[a]heart [which refuses to trust and rely on the Lord, a heart] that turns away from the living God. ¹³But continually encourage one another every day, as long as it is called “Today” [and there is an opportunity], so that none of you will be hardened [into settled rebellion] by the deceitfulness of sin [its cleverness, delusive glamour, and sophistication]. ¹⁴For we [believers] have become partakers of Christ [sharing in all that the Messiah has for us], if only we hold firm our newborn confidence [which originally led us to Him] until the end, ¹⁵while it is said,

“Today [while there is still opportunity] if you hear His voice,
Do not harden your heart, as when they provoked Me [in the rebellion in the desert at Meribah].”

¹⁶For who were they who heard and yet provoked Him [with rebellious acts]? Was it not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? ¹⁷And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose dead bodies were scattered in the desert? ¹⁸And to whom did He swear [an oath] that they would not enter His rest, but to those who disobeyed [those who would not listen to His word]? ¹⁹So we see that they were not able to enter [into His rest—the promised land] because of unbelief and an unwillingness to trust in God.

If we will only 100% fully and completely Trust him

Influenced by all this temptation, how do you get in on all this grace and mercy?

With such an astoundingly horrible track record of disobedience to rely upon,

I believe what makes resisting temptation difficult for many people is they don’t want to expend any of the necessary effort to discourage it completely.

Hebrews 3 says, “Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God” (v. 12, NRSV)

It goes on to say, “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness” (v. 13).

How does sin deceive us?

One way is by telling us, in effect: “Ha! God won’t forgive you this time. You’ve crossed the line, pal, and the jig’s up. His mercy only goes so far, you know, and frankly, it’s reserved for those who clean up their act and stay in shape — not for the likes of you, you old filthy worn out completely useless ugly bag of sin.”

Look how verse 14 puts it: “For we have become partners of Christ, if only we hold our first confidence firm to the end” (NRSV).

In other words, trust him.

Trust him to do what he says he does for you — forgives you. Trust him to be what he says he is for you — faithful.

Trust him to know what he’s doing.

Trust him to love you the way he says he loves you.

Trust him to be the Creator, the Redeemer of his Creation that he claims to be.

How can you lose out on such a great salvation?

The same way you would lose out on a million dollars if you got a letter from the bank telling you someone had put it in your account, but you did not believe the bank and never went to take it out — by not believing, by not trusting in God.

By not trusting the giver of the gift. By not trusting God to love you and forgive you and transform you and make you his own child like he tells you he has already done (Ephesians 2:4-6; Colossians 1:13-14, 22; 2:13; 1 John 3:2).

Good news

The gospel really is good news!

Trouble is, for many of us, it seems too good to be true.

We want to have at least a short list of “do’s and don’ts” to separate the wheat from the chaff.

But God gave us no list.

God’s purpose in creation was to let us prove ourselves.

The plan was explained to us within the Psalms (139) before we were born.

We were weaved enough there to qualify for the opportunity to choose against temptation here to prepare for eternal life, the greatest of all the gifts of God.

He gave us himself.

In Christ, I thoroughly believe we have everything we need for salvation.

John 16:29-33Amplified Bible

²⁹His disciples said, “Ah, now You are speaking plainly to us and not in figures of speech! ³⁰Now we know that You know all things, and have no need for anyone to question You; because of this we believe [without any doubt] that you came from God.” ³¹Jesus answered them, “Do you now [at last] believe? ³²Take careful notice: an hour is coming, and has arrived, when you will all be scattered, each to his own home, leaving Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. ³³I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace. In the world you have tribulation and distress and suffering, but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world.” [My conquest is accomplished, My victory abiding.]

We are not worth caring about or saving because we convince him we are; we’re worth caring about and saving because he decided we are and he did it by Christ.

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

Let us Pray,

Father God, my only believable and faithful Way Maker, My Chain-Breaker, My Promise Keeper, My Light of my life in the Darkness of sin, I know that You want me to resist temptation. I know You have not allowed any temptation to befall me which is beyond my strength to resist. In You, I have the freedom to choose not to sin, and You have given me Your Spirit to stand firm against temptation. When I am tempted to sin, help me instead to focus on Your goodness to me that is demonstrated by the cross. Fill me with Your Spirit and make me hate sin as much as You do. You have bought my life with the precious blood of Your Son and in His name, I pray. Amen.

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A Lesson in Beginning Transition: 4 Tips to Understanding, Communicating the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Mark 1:1-8

Mark 1:1-8 Common English Bible

Beginning of good news

1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, God’s Son, ²happened just as it was written about in the prophecy of Isaiah:

Look, I am sending my messenger before you.
He will prepare your way,
³a voice shouting in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way for the Lord;
make his paths straight.”^[a]

John’s preaching

⁴John the Baptist was in the wilderness calling for people to be baptized to show that they were changing their hearts and lives and wanted God to forgive their sins. ⁵Everyone in Judea and all the people of Jerusalem went out to the Jordan River and were being baptized by John as they confessed their sins. ⁶ John wore clothes made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷He announced, “One stronger than I am is coming after me. I’m not even worthy to bend over and loosen the strap of his sandals. ⁸I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

The 66 books of the Bible include diverse and various kinds of literature, but the Four Gospels may be the most unique literary genre included in God’s Word.

So how should we seek to handle these four amazing and awesome books?

Please, keep reading to discover a few tips for understanding the Gospels.

The book of Mark begins like this: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

The Greek noun translated “gospel” is euangelion.

The word refers to an announcement of good news or “glad tidings.”

It was in common use in the Roman world when Mark connected it to his account of Jesus.

However, Mark claimed it and redefined it, declaring the ultimate good news to be Jesus Christ and His message of salvation.

(Note: Most scholars believe Mark was the first Gospel written.)

Sometime around the end of the 1^st century, the church formally began to use the word “gospel” to identify the written accounts of Jesus’ life.

The Gospels became a new and unique literary genre.

The Gospels share some similarities with biographies since they focus on the multi-faceted life of one person.

However, the Gospels don’t cover all of Jesus’ life, but instead focus primarily on His ministry, death, and resurrection.

They also feature the teachings of Jesus.

As a literary genre, the Gospels uniquely blend history and theology.

They combine a narrative of Jesus’ life with large blocks of His teachings.

And each is presented from a different eye-witness account.

4 Tips for Gospel Interpretation

The following tips will equip us for more properly understanding the Gospels!

1. Read Horizontally

Since many of the actions and teachings of Jesus appear in more than one Gospel, we can expand our understanding by reading the different accounts.

Scholars refer to this as “reading horizontally” or reading across the Gospels.

For instance, the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 is recorded in all four Gospels (Matthew 4:13-12, Mark 6:32-44, Luke 9:10-17, and John 6:1-15.)

Keep in mind, that each Gospel writer brings their own distinctiveness to the account. Each chose to highlight different aspects of an event of teaching for a specific purpose. Differences between the Gospels don’t equal contradictions.

For a good resource to help you read horizontally, look for a synopsis or parallel of the four Gospels.

2. Think Vertically

Each passage must be kept in the larger context of that individual Gospel.

Ancient Jewish writers were more concerned about overall structure and theme than they were strict chronological order.

The Gospel writer strategically placed each event and teaching in a particular order within the book for a reason. Pull back from your primary passage and look for and examine themes and similarities in the larger surrounding context.

3. Keep the Purpose and Audience in Mind

The apostle John ended his Gospel like this: “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25).

None of the Gospel writers recorded the whole story.

Each selected the specific events and teachings to include, arranged them in a particular order, and presented them in such a way to fulfill a writing goal and connect to his audience and their needs.

For instance, John’s purpose was theological. (See John 20:30-31). That’s why John’s Gospel contains more of Jesus’ teachings than any other Gospel.

Matthew’s Gospel is very “Jewish” and Luke’s is more oriented to the Gentile reader. This kind of background helps us better appreciate the author’s intent.

4. Recognize the Genres within the Genre

As mentioned above, the Gospels uniquely combine historical narrative and Jesus’ teaching. Even Jesus’ teaching includes a variety of styles and literary devices like parables, metaphors, hyperbole, and more. To properly understand a passage, we need to correctly identify and deal with interpreting each style.

Example: Consider one possible approach to communicating the Gospel.

THE GOSPELS: MARK 1:1-8 – A LESSON IN TRANSITION

How would you describe the message of John the Baptist?

Mark said that John preached “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,” but that his message was, “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

To set the context, Mark cites the words of Isaiah, combining them with a well-known prophecy from Malachi 3:1, about the messenger whom God would send to “prepare the way for the Lord.”

Mark 1:1-8 Christian Standard Bible

The Messiah’s Herald

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.^[a] ²As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:^[b]

See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
he will prepare your way.^[c]^[d]
³A voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
Prepare the way for the Lord;
make his paths straight!^[e]

⁴John came baptizing^[f] in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. ⁶John wore a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.

⁷He proclaimed, “One who is more powerful than I am is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals. ⁸I baptize you with ^[g] water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

A Logical Series of Questions which might come to your mind and may be asked:

What is the connection between preparing the way for the Lord and repentance for the forgiveness of sins? And what does that have to do with Mark’s statement of John’s message: one more powerful than he would come, one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit?

Let’s begin with the message from God’s Prophet Malachi.

Time to Repent

The prophecy the Evangelist Mark quoted from Malachi warned about a coming day of great judgment against unfaithful Israel and Judah.

In Malachi 2:17, the prophet declared, “You have wearied the Lord with your words … By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?”

The next verse, Malachi 3:1, is the one Mark used in describing the role of John the Baptist. It is the answer to the rhetorical question just posed by Israel.

Here is what the God of justice is going to do:

“’I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will certainly come,” says the LORD Almighty.”

But, says verses 2-5, the Lord’s coming will entail a harsh, powerful cleansing and purifying of his people. He will come, He will set things right and He will deliver the weak and disadvantaged and the lost from their cruel oppressors.

The Lord Himself declares His intent, sets the stage for future generations:

One day soon, His Judgement will come and who will dare stand against it:

“But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.”

What can this mean, considering God’s unchanging faithfulness, but a call to repentance — a call to turn back to God?

Our God will never turn away from his covenant faithfulness despite Israel’s unfaithfulness, and for this reason Israel will not be destroyed (v. 6).

Therefore God will, in his grace and love, save all who will turn to him (v. 7).

It may have appeared for a time that there was nothing to gain by serving God and that only evildoers prosper (vs. 14-15), but that was never really the case (v. 16). God never leaves nor forsakes those who put their trust in him (vs. 16-18).

Therefore, God says, before this great and dreadful day of judgment comes, he would send them “the prophet Elijah”, who would bring together as one the hearts of the fathers, the children, that is, the hearts of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob unite with the hearts of the generation upon which this judgment falls.

Transitions

In this righteous way (Psalm 69:9, Romans 3:21-22, Matthew 3:15), through the sudden coming of the Lord, His Zealousness for His House, to his temple in cleansing judgment and forgiving grace, preceded by the voice of preparation crying deep into the wilderness, God would bring together the old with the new.

The Genesis creation would find its redemption in its transition into the new creation in Jesus Christ.

The old covenant would find its fulfillment in its transition into the new covenant in Jesus Christ (see Jeremiah 31:31; 2 Corinthians 3:14).

The prophets of Israel would find their climax in John the Baptist (see Matthew 11:11 and Luke 16:16) and their fulfillment in the transition to the One whose sandals John knew he was “not worthy to stoop down and untie” (Mark 1:7).

And utterly wretched sinners like you and me would find love, forgiveness and redemption in the welcoming arms of the Father as he transitions us into his new creation in Jesus Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Romans 8:38-39).

The “beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ” (Mark 1:1), rooted in creation itself and expressing itself unceasingly throughout history in God’s faithfulness to his covenant promises, finds its grand consummation in the One who is “here walking among us” and “will baptize you with Holy Spirit” (v. 8).

In Christ Jesus, God has brought together all things in heaven and earth and reconciled them to himself in his new creation (see Colossians 1:19-20 and Ephesians 1:9-10).

That is why the Apostle Paul instructed the church at Galatia,

“Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation” (Galatians 6:15).

New Creation

Let’s be brutally honest for a necessary change of pace.

It might be encouraging or even inspiring to hear that we are a new creation, but the truth is, we don’t often feel very much like a new creation.

We usually feel more like a continuously struggling creation, a tired, worried, depressed, bipolar, barely-hanging-on-by-our-toe and fingernails creation.

I encourage you today – PLEASE do not let that get you down.

That is how things are right now, but it will not always be so.

The day will come when the new creation God has already made you to be in Christ will be fully unveiled (Colossians 3:1-4). And when that happens, there will be no more crying, no more pain and no more death (Revelation 21:4).

Even now, our hope lies in this: God has proven in Christ his love for us and his faithfulness to us (consider the much deeper implications of Romans 5:6-8).

He has made our cause his own.

He has taken responsibility for us, sins and all.

He has taken us under his wing, and he will never let us go.

That is why we trust him.

God, who proved himself faithful to faithless Israel, is exactly the same God who is faithful to faithless you and me.

He is the same from the beginning, which means he has and always will be for you, working to help and to heal, and not to condemn (consider John 3:17).

If you have turned your back on God, please do not think nor believe for very long that He has turned his back on you. Quite the contrary. He’s got the porch light on and dinner on the table, waiting for you to come home. (Luke 15:20-24)

Individual Reflections: Begin Pondering “Transition”

How was John the Baptist related to the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ (v. 1)?
How did John fulfill the prophecies about preparing the way for the Lord (vs. 2-4)?
What does Mark say is the connection between forgiveness and judgment?
What about Mark’s opening words – “the beginning of facts regarding the Good News of Jesus Christ , the Son of God” has you thinking about past experiences?
What about the physical appearance of John the Baptist which repels you from Him that draws you unto him, to his message of repentance and return to God?
What does John’s message about a greater one to come mean for you?
Where do you believe God is leading you through these first 8 verses of Mark?

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

Let us Pray,

God who is my Father, My God of encouragement, there are so many philosophies and conflicting views out there. Give me an understanding of your truth, so I can discern, know what is right. May the Holy Spirit of God guide me into all truth. May I also be taught by Spirit-filled ministers and teachers of your word. I pray that I will, day by day, be purer in heart, soul and mind, so that I don’t hinder or block your truth through my sin and stubbornness. Jesus is my Cornerstone! I know your truth is my foundation for spiritual maturity and for wisdom in all facets, parts of my life. As I walk in your truth, help me better live out your daily purpose for my life. Amen.

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Please Do Not “GIVE UP” but instead, “TAKE UP” All of GOD’S Promises, all of GOD’S “YES!” and “AMEN!” for Your Life! 2Corinthians 1:18-22

2 Corinthians 1:18-22Amplified Bible

¹⁸But [as surely as] God is faithful and means what He says, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No” [at the same time]. ¹⁹For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, by me, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not “Yes” and “No,” but has proved to be “Yes” in Him [true and faithful, the divine “Yes” affirming God’s promises]. ²⁰For as many as are the promises of God, in Christ they are [all answered] “Yes.” So through Him we say our “Amen” to the glory of God. ²¹Now it is God who establishes and confirms us [in joint fellowship] with you in Christ, and who has anointed us [empowering us with the gifts of the Spirit]; ²²it is He who has also put His seal on us [that is, He has appropriated us and certified us as His] and has given us the [Holy] Spirit in our hearts as a pledge [like a security deposit to guarantee the fulfillment of His promise of eternal life].

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

When we endeavor to look more closely at where many Christians are at in their lives, and what they are (or are not) successfully accomplishing, or miserably failing at, we inevitably realize we do have to keep encouraging one another to enable us to successfully fulfill the calling and purpose of God for our lives.

He has not called us to walk and live in defeat; to be discouraged; to give-up and become negative and defeated about life generally.

Jesus came to give us much more than that!

He came, that we might know Him, to give us “Life, and life more abundantly (“super-abundant, excessive, above the ordinary measure”)” (John 10:10).

Know that the life Jesus gives us is so totally different ~ and far better ~ than any other kind of life that can be found this side of eternity. Do not forget that.

Far too often we give in too quickly.

Far too quickly we give up on God, the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The great cacophony of “Yes!” and “Amen!” loses its deeper meanings to us.

If it does not work out exactly right the first time, we often do not try again, thinking it is not God’s will for us, or that the devil is trying to deceive us, etc.

Faith is something that supposedly causes us to press onwards, upwards and outwards ~ to persevere and to press through until we see the required result.

I am here reminded of what Elijah said to his servant in 1 Kings 18:43-46.

Elijah the Prophet had declared that “there is a sound of abundance of rain” ~ but there was no evidence at all of any clouds or signs of rain (after three-and-a-half years of no rain – James 5:17-18).

He sent his servant up a hill to look for the clouds.

He returned with a negative word ~ there was nothing to be seen.

Elijah the Prophet was not going to to be put-off by that report and sent him again, even seven times – there would be no quitting on God’s Promises here!

Six times there was nothing to be seen.

Maybe Elijah the Prophet had got it wrong?

But no!

No Quit Here!

On the seventh time the servant came back with a report of a little cloud in the sky the size of a man’s hand.

That was all the goo news Elijah required.

He jumped into action and it was not long before the sky was black with rain clouds and heavy rain began to pour down. He prevailed!

We, too, need to have the word of the Lord in our hearts, in our souls and in our strengths in such a way that we know, without any questions or errors, it is God.

1 Samuel 17:41-47Amplified Bible

⁴¹The Philistine came and approached David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. ⁴²When the Philistine looked around and saw David, he derided and disparaged him because he was [just] a young man, with a ruddy complexion, and a handsome appearance. ⁴³The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with [shepherd’s] staffs?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴The Philistine also said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field.” ⁴⁵Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a ^[a]javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. ⁴⁶This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the corpses of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷and that this entire assembly may know that the Lord does not save with the sword or with the spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and He will hand you over to us.”

Often, when He speaks to us, there is no physical or outward evidence it is so.

But faith comes with the hearing and responding an actually acting upon the voice of the Lord, and when we choose to press on through regardless of what our mind tries to communicate to us, what other people tell us, circumstances tell us, etc., we will find that we inherit the promises. (David versus Goliath)

They will come to pass!

Know also that God uses these “delays” to work something precious into our spirits, so that we are prepared and equipped for even greater things ahead.

We have to be refined for His purposes.

It is easy to give up, but giving up does not accomplish anything in God.

Naaman the Syrian was told by Elisha to go and wash seven times in the Jordan River.

It greatly offended him and touched his pride, causing him to “storm off” in indignation.

But when he humbled himself and did as the prophet declared, he was healed of his leprosy.

I am simple enough to believe that if he only dipped five or six times, he would not have been healed (see 2 Kings 5:1-14).

He had to persevere in spite of his pride and arrogance. God used it to humble the man and cause him to acknowledge that there is no god like Elisha’s God.

CONSIDER JESUS

We are exhorted to be like Jesus and to “lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him Who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls” (Hebrews 12:1-3).

Christianity is a marathon race, not a sprint. It calls for endurance (“to stay, stand fast, continue, abide; to remain behind after others have gone; to keep one’s ground, hold out; a brave bearing up against sufferings.”

It is keeping focused and keeping going in that which God has called us to. “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9-10).

If Jesus Himself needed to endure, then so do we. Have we got our eyes focused on what is ahead, or are we allowing present, natural, negative circumstances to discourage us and make us give up?

WHAT has GOD PROMISED YOU?

What has God promised you that is yet unfulfilled in your life?

Have you given-up on it, thought it was too difficult, caused too much criticism and opposition against you, etc.?

What God promises He desires to deliver on.

He wants to fulfill His sure promises in your life in our Savior Jesus Christ.

Be encouraged to pick up those promises again and to press on until you see the victory.

Know that He does not change His mind about you.

Do not allow negative thoughts, things, people, circumstances, criticisms, opposition, persecutions, etc., rob you of the blessings of a Super-Abundant God Who wants only the very best for you.

Press in and press through until the victory is yours!

It is so worth it and you will accomplish so much more as you keep pressing through, enduring and not giving up on that which God has promised YOU!

Even believers get discouraged. Rediscover what leads to true joy.

The Bible tells us that even believers struggle with trusting God because life is hard and cruel at times.

But we know there is hope and we know that immeasurable, indescribable joy is possible because of the eternal life we have through our Savior Jesus Christ.

Therefore, God wants each of us to be full of lively faith and grow in His divine direction, comforted by the Holy Spirit. In this complete trust of our Lord and Savior, we can share the Gospel message of real life with true peace and joy.

One day, When you and I feel like giving up?

The answers are all in the Bible – the Word of God for the Children of God.

It is in the Bible, 2 Timothy 2:16-17 Amplified

¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed [given by divine inspiration] and is profitable for instruction, for conviction [of sin], for correction [of error and restoration to obedience], for training in righteousness [learning to live in conformity to God’s will, both publicly and privately—behaving honorably with personal integrity and moral courage]; ¹⁷so that the ^[a]man of God may be complete and proficient, outfitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Challenge yourself and wrestle with God for the truth(s) you need to be healed.

It is in the Bible, Genesis 32:24-28 Amplified

Jacob Wrestles

²⁴So Jacob was left alone, and a ^[a]Man [came and] wrestled with him until daybreak. ²⁵When the Man saw that He had not prevailed against Jacob, He touched his hip joint; and Jacob’s hip was dislocated as he wrestled with Him. ²⁶Then He said, “Let Me go, for day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let You go unless You declare a blessing on me.” ²⁷So He asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” ²⁸And He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but ^[b]Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed.”

Team up with God and challenge yourself to wrestle with the Word of God against what is generating the thoughts and feelings of quitting on God.

It is in the Bible, Psalm 119:9-16 Amplified

Beth.

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

Let it ALL go, Go Hardcore – Be brutally honest with God about your feelings.

It’s in the Bible, Psalm 13:1-2, NIV.

“How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?”

Ready to Give up because of a very negative experience with your Church?

It is in the Bible, Psalm 42, English Standard Version

Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul?

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

42 As a deer pants for flowing streams,
    so pants my soul for you, O God.
²My soul thirsts for God,
    for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?^[b]
³My tears have been my food
    day and night,
while they say to me all the day long,
    “Where is your God?”
⁴These things I remember,
    as I pour out my soul:
how I would go with the throng
    and lead them in procession to the house of God
with glad shouts and songs of praise,
    a multitude keeping festival.

⁵Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation^[c] ⁶and my God.

My soul is cast down within me;
    therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
    from Mount Mizar.
⁷Deep calls to deep
    at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves
    have gone over me.
⁸By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
    and at night his song is with me,
    a prayer to the God of my life.
⁹I say to God, my rock:
    “Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning
    because of the oppression of the enemy?”
¹⁰As with a deadly wound in my bones,
    my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me all the day long,
    “Where is your God?”

¹¹Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.

God has promised strength when we need it.

It’s in the Bible, Colossians 1:11-12, NKJV.

“Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.”

Giving up often causes us to miss the best God has to offer.

It’s in the Bible, 2 Corinthians 4:16-17, NKJV.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory”

When our hearts condemn us, we should not give up.

It’s in the Bible, 1 John 3:19-20, NKJV.

“And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.”

God’s presence is not always a glorious, fantastic, awesome display—He might be in a still small voice.

It’s in the Bible, 1 Kings 19:11-12, NKJV.

“Then He said, ‘Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD.’ And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.”

You are not alone.

It is in the Bible, Deuteronomy 31:6, NKJV.

“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”

Though we make mistakes, we are still in God’s hands.

It is in the Bible, Psalm 37:23-24, NKJV.

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the LORD upholds him with His hand.”

Mistakes happen and sometimes we fall—don’t give up, get back up.

It’s in the Bible, Proverbs 24:16,

NKJV. “For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity.”

Nothing can separate us from God’s love.

It’s in the Bible, Romans 8:38-39, NKJV.

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Trust God and wait on Him.

It’s in the Bible, Isaiah 25:9, NKJV.

“And it will be said in that day: ‘Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the LORD; We have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.'”

God will not fail you in your day of adversity.

It’s in the Bible, Psalm 57:2-3, NKJV.

“I will cry out to God Most High, to God who performs all things for me. He shall send from heaven and save me; He reproaches the one who would swallow me up. God shall send forth His mercy and His truth.”

Nothing is apparently more helpless, yet really more invincible, than the soul that feels its nothingness and relies wholly on God.

It’s in the Bible, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NKJV.

“And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Today, you and I have the opportunity to renew our eternal perspectives.

God is a redeemer and restorer and rebuilder of all our most “ancient ruins.”

It is in the Bible, Isaiah 58:6-12 English Standard Version

⁶“Is not this the fast that I choose:
    to loose the bonds of wickedness,
    to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed^[b] go free,
    and to break every yoke?
⁷Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
    and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
    and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
⁸Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
    the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
⁹Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
    you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
    the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
¹⁰if you pour yourself out for the hungry
    and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
    and your gloom be as the noonday.
¹¹And the Lord will guide you continually
    and satisfy your desire in scorched places
    and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
    like a spring of water,
    whose waters do not fail.
¹²And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
    you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
    the restorer of streets to dwell in.

The compassionate invitation to Rebuild, Restore and Redeem is Always Open.

It is in the Bible, Isaiah 55:1-3 English Standard Version

The Compassion of the Lord

55 “Come, everyone who thirsts,
    come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
    come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
    without money and without price.
²Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
    and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
    and delight yourselves in rich food.
³Incline your ear, and come to me;
    hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
    my steadfast, sure love for David.

Be Persistent

It is in the Bible, Luke 18:1-8

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

18 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. ²He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. ³And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ ⁴For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, ⁵yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” ⁶And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. ⁷And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? ⁸I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Be encouraged and learn to walk through the Word of God for the Children of God each day, searching for old truth with a joyful spirit and a refocused mind.

It is in the Bible, Colossians 2:1-4 English Standard Version

2 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, ²that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, ³in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ⁴I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.

Because in the name of God, the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

For you are constantly and continuously being prayed for by the saints.

It is in the Bible, Ephesians 3:14-21 English Standard Version

Prayer for Spiritual Strength

¹⁴For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵from whom every family^[a] in heaven and on earth is named, ¹⁶that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

²⁰Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

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Genesis 11:1-9 NKJV

The Tower of Babel

A New Covenant

Building a Great Tower

The Lord’s Verdict

Avoiding the Tower of Babel

Genesis 11:4 NLT

Matthew 7:13-14 NLT

The Narrow Gate

Psalm 119:105-112 NLT

Nun

John 14:1-14 NLT

Jesus, the Way to the Father

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Psalm 115:1-8Amplified Bible

Pagan Idols Contrasted with the Lord.

Genesis 11:1-4 NASB

The Tower of Babel

Idolatry in the Bible

1. Our Attitude Towards The Church

2. Strains Our Understanding Of Salvation

2 Corinthians 3:1-6NKJV

Christ’s Epistle

The Spirit, Not the Letter

Psalm 29New King James Version

Praise to God in His Holiness and Majesty

A Psalm of David.

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Hebrews 12:25-29 Easy-to-Read Version

Hebrews 12:28-29Authorized (King James) Version

Isaiah 2:1-4 AKJV

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Psalm 118:1-7 AKJV

Psalm 118

Psalm 118:5-7 ESV

Acts 16:25-34 ESV

The Philippian Jailer Converted

Jeremiah 33:1-3 ESV

The Lord Promises Peace

Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Saving Goodness.

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Matthew 25:31-46New King James Version

The Son of Man Will Judge the Nations

Matthew 26:26-30 NKJV

Jesus Institutes the Lord’s Supper

Psalm 23 AKJV

Psalm 23

A Psalm of David.

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Philippians 3:7-16Authorized (King James) Version

Philippians 3:10-14Amplified Bible

Ephesians 4:30-32Amplified Bible

Psalm 51 Amplified Bible

A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David; when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had sinned with Bathsheba.

Hebrews 12:14-17Amplified Bible

Ecclesiastes 3:1-14Amplified Bible

A Time for Everything

God Set Eternity in the Heart of Man

2 Corinthians 7:8-10Amplified Bible

Isaiah 2:1-4English Standard Version

The Mountain of the Lord

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Psalm 32 English Standard Version

Blessed Are the Forgiven

A Maskil[a] of David.

The Mountain of the Lord

David’s Charge to Solomon

The Death of Jesus

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Mark 1:12-13Amplified Bible

Mark 1:9-13Common English Bible

Jesus is baptized and tempted

Hebrews 4:11-16Amplified Bible

Jesus is so much more than a role model

The Gospel is not, can never become, another religion

Hebrews 3:12-19Amplified Bible

The Peril of Unbelief

If we will only 100% fully and completely Trust him

Good news

A Maskil^[a] of David.

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