Friday, December 30, 2016

“Prerequisites of Peace” Part 4 - “With Thanksgiving"


"Prerequisites of Peace"

Part 4 - "With Thanksgiving"


    "Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7). 

   The prerequisites, as taught by the Apostle Paul:

1.  The determination to not be governed by fear.
2.  Prayerful fellowship with God.
3.  Supplication, or humbly acknowledging our need for His help.
4.  Thanksgiving.
5.  Specific offering of requests for God's help.

   
   No response to God more leads us into the realized experience of His peace than thanksgiving.  Whether expressing gratitude for past, present, or future bestowals of grace,  our appreciation leads us beside the still waters promised by our good and great Shepherd.

   Of course, the Apostle Paul referenced far more than merely perfunctory or casual giving of thanks, especially in the challenges of life to which Philippians 4:6-7 refer.  When difficulty comes, our Lord's promised "peace which passeth all understanding" must be assessed by a genuinely thoughtful consideration of God and His truth.  "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee" (Isaiah 26:3).  The focus of our mind on the Lord involves more than merely a general remembrance of His existence.  What specific aspect of God applies to the particular challenge we face?  What truth of His Word addresses the matter at hand?  Such deliberate and pointed consideration leads to faith.  Thereby we offer intelligent thanksgiving, based upon a reasoned response to the truth of Scripture.  And thereby we know the Lord's peace.

   As we often suggest, the Christian life is not for the mentally lazy.  Nor does a life of consistent gratitude to God arise from anything less than considering just what it is for which we are thankful.  The peace of God results from facing our challenges, having first directed our faces toward our Heavenly Father and His truth.  We cannot fail to give thanks when we discover in Scripture the countless promises of His "very present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1).  A tranquil heart ensues, even as tempests may continue to rage around us.  Paul guarantees such peace, based upon our responding to the prerequisites of faith whereby we commit our trust to Him.

"They looked unto Him, and were lightened."
(Psalm 34:5)

Weekly Memory Verse
    Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
(II Corinthians 11:14-15)



Thursday, December 29, 2016

“Prerequisites of Peace” Part 3 - “Supplication"

"Prerequisites of Peace"

Part 3 - "Supplication"


    "Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7). 

   The prerequisites, as taught by the Apostle Paul:

1.  The determination to not be governed by fear.
2.  Prayerful fellowship with God.
3.  Supplication, or humbly acknowledging our need for His help.
4.  Thanksgiving.
5.  Specific offering of requests for God's help.

   
   The word "supplication" means need, or want, or privation.  The Apostle Paul uses the term to address the attitude with which born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ approach our Heavenly Father.  We come as those who recognize our complete dependence on Him.  "Without Me, ye can do nothing" declared the Lord Jesus to His disciples (John 15:5).  God gives to us "life and breath and all things" (Acts 17:25).  He made us, sustains our being, and we would cease to exist apart from His "upholding all things by the word of His power" (Hebrews 1:3).  Thus, we come as supplicants, making our requests in humility.  Prayer and pride are mutually exclusive realities.  Only the meek can seek God and His gracious provision.  "He giveth grace unto the lowly" (Proverbs 3:34).

    Recognizing our role as dependent children - and acting accordingly - constitutes a primary prerequisite of peace.  "There is no peace to the wicked" proclaims the prophet, the reason being that "the wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God" (Isaiah 48:22; Psalm 10:4).  Believers must maintain the attitude of our ongoing need for God's ongoing supply.  Such awareness fosters tranquility of heart because it guides us in the Truth about our Lord and about ourselves.  We can never rest if we fail to remember and affirm that God is God, and we are not.  We apply the gifts and provisions He supplies, of course, but we never view ourselves as anything other than supplicants and stewards of the One who "shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).  Such faith honors our Lord and graces our spirits with the peace of Christ.

   Still waters of the heart await those who remember that "the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want" (Psalm 23:1).  Sheep require the provision and protection of their overseer.  They must also maintain the attitude of supplication whereby they walk in Truth, and thus, in peace.  The Shepherd takes care of His own, perfectly, providentially, persistently, and passionately.  The sheep receive His gifts with gratitude and the determination to use them in a manner that honors their Master.  This is peace, the "peace of God, which passeth all understanding".  There is no other.

"Rest in the Lord."
(Psalm 37:7)

Weekly Memory Verse
    Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
(II Corinthians 11:14-15)



Wednesday, December 28, 2016

“Prerequisites of Peace” Part 2 - “In Everything By Prayer"


"Prerequisites of Peace"

Part 2 - "In Everything By  Prayer"


    "Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7). 

   The prerequisites, as taught by the Apostle Paul:

1.  The determination to not be governed by fear.
2.  Prayerful fellowship with God.
3.  Supplication, or humbly acknowledging our need for His help.
4.  Thanksgiving.
5.  Specific offering of requests for God's help.

   Having determined to walk in faith rather than fear, we then commit ourselves to consistent fellowship with our Heavenly Father - "in everything by prayer".  A life of peace is synonymous with a life of prayer.  God made us for loving relationship with Himself - "This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent" (John 17:3).  It is therefore impossible to experience genuine rest in the heart apart from ongoing discourse with the Life of our lives.

   Solomon foreshadowed Paul's mandate regarding prayer and peace by calling God's children to "in all thy ways acknowledge Him" (Proverbs 3:6).  Our Lord would have us commune with Him regarding the entirety of our lives.  This presents a great challenge because life in a fallen world so easily distracts us from the only One who can successfully direct our paths.  As we suggested in a recent consideration, prayer does not come naturally, but supernaturally.  The Holy Spirit works in believers to lead us to the altar of fellowship with God.  We play a role in the matter by responding to His working in us, and to the commands of Scripture that call us to seek the presence, involvement, and leadership of the Lord "in everything".  Are there issues of life in which God is dynamically present and involved, but which we have forgotten to acknowledge His promised working?  The peace of our hearts requires our determination to join David in prayerful response to God's assurances: "He shall hear my voice" (Psalm 55:17).

    Realized peace in Christ results from our resolute purpose to walk with Him in regular prayer.  Again, we exist for such loving communion of Heart to heart discourse with God.  The Holy Spirit works in us to provide tranquility of heart and mind.  By His enabling, we must respond if we are to live "by still waters" amid the tempests and trials of life in a fallen world (Psalm 23:2).  Our Father promises peace beyond all understanding.  He mandates a life of prayer as a prerequisite.

"Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you."
(I Peter 5:7)

Weekly Memory Verse
    Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
(II Corinthians 11-14)





Tuesday, December 27, 2016

“Prerequisites of Peace" Part 1

"Prerequisites of Peace"

Part 1


    "Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7). 

   The Apostle Paul offers five prerequisites of peace in his command and counsel regarding the secured heart and mind of born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

1.  The determination to not be governed by fear.
2.  Prayerful fellowship with God.
3.  Supplication, or humbly acknowledging our need for His help.
4.  Thanksgiving.
5.  Specific offering of requests for God's help.

    First, Paul commands that we choose to overcome fearfulness - "Be careful for nothing".  Such determination involves faith rather than personal grit or discipline.  A life governed by fear actually reveals weakness in our knowledge and understanding of the only One who can legitimately deliver us from the trepidations of a fallen world.  Whenever we realize that insecurity rather than confidence directs our inward atmosphere of heart and outward actions of body, we must ask the question, "What of God and His Truth am I failing to know, understand, and believe?"  We do not legitimately overcome fear by deciding to be strong in and of ourselves.  We rather seek to "be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might" (Ephesians 6:10).  Only thereby do we experience the true peace of the Lord Jesus as the fruit of His assuring presence in our hearts and working in our lives.  "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee, because He trusteth in Thee" (Isaiah 26:3).

   Temptations to fearful insecurity, regardless of measure or mode, offer opportunities to remember, affirm, and respond to God's promise of peace.  In fact, our Lord promises the transcendent tranquility of a "peace, which passeth all understanding".  Thus, challenges of fearfulness provide the possibility of knowing true peace in a way we could never access if our enemies did not seek to foment fear in our hearts and minds.  We discover the Lord's peace rather merely overcoming insecurity by human attempts to make the best of situations and circumstances.

    Finally, the determination to "be careful for nothing" involves a matter of obedience to God.  The hard truth is that we sin against Him whenever we allow fear to control us. The Biblical case can be made that the opposite of faith is fear, and vice versa.  Failure to trust our Lord leads to fearfulness.   Thus, the choice to be walk in confidence rather than insecurity results from the chosen knowledge of God and response to His Truth in times of temptation.  When we realize we that fear rather than faith controls us, we do well to humbly repent and confess our sin in confidence of our Heavenly Father's forgiveness and cleansing.  Then we make our determination: "I will be careful for nothing.  I will not be afraid, fearful, or insecure.  And I will do so not by my own strength or discipline, but through the power of Christ and His Truth."  This is the first prerequisite of the Apostle's path to peace, as provided in his teaching to the Philippians, and to ourselves.

"Now the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always by all means."
(II Thessalonians 3:16)

Weekly Memory Verse
    Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
(II Corinthians 11-14)



Monday, December 26, 2016

"The Days of Old"


"The Days of Old"


    As a young man, I worked for several years at a fairly large business in our city.  I enjoyed the job and the people, and found many opportunities for ministry during my years at the establishment.

   After leaving the job in 1984, I have rarely seen or been in contact with any of the people with whom I worked.  I always find it interesting that close associations and even friendships in the workplace usually vanish when employment changes.  People with whom we once communicated almost daily become memories, or are perhaps forgotten altogether as new experiences of life fill our consciousness.  In some cases, this involves sad farewells to those who became friends as well as fellow laborers.

   Thankfully, born again believers have opportunity to still impact people who have become memories.  We can stay in touch with them, of course, in those cases where the opportunity presents itself.  Particularly in these days of so many means of communication, it is more possible than ever to maintain associations with people.  However, we can also pray for people of our past.  This has been my practice for people of the aforementioned establishment that so long ago became a memory.

   "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men" (I Timothy 2:1).

   People do not come into our lives by accident, nor do they leave to be absent from our continued prayerful involvement.  I think back on the people and time of my employment at the aforementioned business with the certain knowledge that they played a God-determined role in my life.  Moreover, I am just as certain that I still possess a God-determined role in their lives.  I remember many names and faces, and even if I didn't, the One to whom I direct my intercessions knows each and every person with whom I worked.  Thus, I give thanks for all, praying specifically for those I remember and generally for the rest.  I find this to be a joyful privilege, and the prayerful recollection brings to heart and mind memories of times both blessed and challenging.

    When we realize that memories are opportunities for thanksgiving and intercession, the Holy Spirit graces our mental journeys to the past with His spiritual presence and involvement.  Many of you doubtless consider and practice this gift of God far more than I do.  If not, allow me to suggest that the people of our past crossed our paths for a reason.  Their footsteps, imprinted in our minds and and on our hearts, remain for a reason.  We can pray for them, with thanksgiving for their role in our history, and with intercession to fulfill our role in their present.  What a gift, what a privilege, and what a responsibility as our Lord weaves His redeeming work into every epoch of our past, present, and future.

"I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Thy works; I muse on the work of Thy hands. I stretch forth my hands unto Thee.
(Psalm 143:5-6)

Weekly Memory Verse
    Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
(II Corinthians 11-14)



Friday, December 23, 2016

“The King Who Serves, the Servant Who Reigns” Part 2


"The King Who Serves, the Servant Who Reigns"   

Part 2


     God must work in the hearts and lives of His trusting children in Christ for the holy purpose of forming His humility in us.  We obey the command to "humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord" as the response to His faithful determination to deliver us from our natural pride unto His supernaturally wrought character of servitude.  He works in several different ways.

   First, He reveals the truth to us in the pages of Scripture.  The Bible records the sad chronicle of human pride, beginning in Adam and Eve.  We see the bent of our flesh toward self affirmation, adoration, and acclamation.  We see the consequences thereof.  We see God's working in both Old Testament and New to form humility in those who trust Him.  Most importantly, we see the Lord Jesus taking upon Himself our humanity for the blessed purpose of exemplifying humility, and then by His death, resurrection, and ascension, revealing His character in us.  The King who serves and the Servant who reigns comes to live within us for the sublime purpose of making us like Himself.  "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me.  For I am meek and lowly in heart.  And ye shall find rest unto your souls" (Matthew 11:29).

    Our response to the Truth of Scripture in salvation and subsequent fellowship with God leads to His active working in us to reveal the meekness and lowliness of Christ.  Certainly this involves blessing as our Heavenly Father overwhelms us with goodness we know to be undeserved.  However, challenge also awaits us as God works to humble us.  He must orchestrate and allow difficulty in countless forms and measures in order to humble us.  Pain, loss, and difficulty all serve to remind us of our nature as completely dependent supplicants of One infinitely greater than ourselves.  Our reading of Scripture requires the accompanying action of the God of Scripture in order to progressively form the Christ of Scripture in us.  As mentioned in the previous message, humility does not come naturally, but rather supernaturally.  Both blessing and buffeting must meet us along the path of righteousness if we are to humble ourselves in response to God's working to humble us.  As the Apostle Paul taught the Philippians, we "work out" that which God "works in" (Philippians 2:12-13).

   We do well to remember this holy process of humility in both our blessings and our buffetings.  Our Father works faithfully in both aspects of our lives to progressively reveal the humility of Christ in us.  This helps to explain His continually wondrous generosity, and His frequently challenging way in our lives.  We require both, and our Father administers both as He supernaturally works to accomplish a purpose in us that could never happen naturally.  

"We are His workmanship."
(Ephesians 2:10)
"Put on therefore, as the elect of God… humbleness of mind, meekness."
(Colossians 3:10)

Weekly Memory Verse
    And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
(Luke 2:10-11)
   
    
  
   



Thursday, December 22, 2016

“The King Who Serves, the Servant Who Reigns”


"The King Who Serves, the Servant Who Reigns"   


     Humility does not come naturally to humanity.  Left to ourselves, pride directs the current of our lives.  

    "All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world" (I John 2:16).  

    "The pride of life."  The Apostle John refers to the deception that characterizes the heart and flesh of all born of Adam's fallen race.  In one form or another, all human beings in their natural state believe themselves to be something in and of themselves.  The delusion may manifest itself either pleasantly or unpleasantly in outward expression.  Through heritage, upbringing, and social influence, some act in a humble manner, while others obviously display the strain of egotistic delusion.  Either way, "the pride of life" constitutes the atmosphere of heart that prevents genuine humility, as defined by God, from serving as the natural spiritual and moral condition of human beings.

   Conversely, humility fills and fulfills the Divine heart of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The greatest Servant who ever lived, declared that His character and way proceeded from His Father.  "The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do: for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise" (John 5:19).  The Holy Spirit also seeks to direct attention and glory not to Himself, but rather to the Lord Jesus (John 15:26; 16:14).  Thus, we discover true humility in the triune King of all things.  "Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.  If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you" (John 13:13-15).

   Humility does not come naturally to humanity.  Humility comes supernaturally.  God must work in our hearts to convince us of both His greatness and His humility.  We must fear Him as the beginning of both knowledge and wisdom (Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7).  This leads us to our knees and faces as the beginning of His humbling work in us.  He then guides us even lower as the Gospel of the Lord Jesus reveals the sublime wonder that to redeem the proud from their delusion, the King revealed His heart of meekness and servitude.  Indeed, the One who humbled Himself to "behold" the things of earth according to the Old Testament, humbled Himself to become a part of the earth in the New (Psalm 113:6).  "Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men" (Philippians 2:5-7).  Such revelation of our Lord's sublime goodness breaks the strain of pride in those who will see and respond to both the greatness and lowliness of the living God.  Yes, humility comes supernaturally, as wrought in our heart by the King who serves, and the Servant who reigns.

      The fool fails to fear God.  The blind fails to be fascinated by the wonder of God's heart of humility.  We must know our Lord in both aspects of His glorious character,  nature, and way if we are to be delivered from our natural state of pride to a supernaturally wrought heart of humility.  Fear leads to faith, which leads to the God-wrought determination to "let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus".  This is His way in our lives, His supernatural way that delivers us from the pride of life unto the primacy of His life, His life of glory and humility.

"And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain."
(Revelation 5:5-6)

Weekly Memory Verse
    And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
(Luke 2:10-11)
   
    
  
   



Wednesday, December 21, 2016

"To Intercede"


"To Intercede"   


     Born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ play a vital role in each others lives as walking with God involves walking with each other.  

    "So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and members of each other" (Romans 12:5).
    "We are laborers together with God" (I Corinthians 3:9).

    Such relationship and fellowship involves our praying for each other.  Our Heavenly Father calls us to His throne of grace to intercede for brothers and sisters, promising that He works in their lives in response to our requests for them.  Consider the enormity of this privileged responsibility: the infinite and almighty God grants access through Christ for the seeking of His realized presence, involvement, and action on behalf of one another.  He promises to answer as we intercede in accordance with His glory and will.  How many workings of His hand in our lives have thus resulted from fellow believers bowing upon their knees?  How many of our prayers for brothers and sisters led to God's actions for their benefit that He would not otherwise have administered?  We cannot know the extent of such grace in their lives or ours.  We can only know the certainty that prayers for each other move the heart and hand of God to act in love toward His children, and our brothers and sisters.

   The Lord Jesus prayed accordingly during His earthly lifetime.  As we respond to the moving of His Spirit within our hearts, we will reflect His heart of intercessory devotion to fellow believers.  "God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father" (Galatians 4:6).  We will not see how or how much our Father does in response to our prayers.  It is not necessary or even beneficial that we do.  It is, however, necessary and beneficial that we believe and respond to our high calling of consistently approaching the Throne of grace for one another.  Indeed, what might the Lord do today for those for whom we pray?  What grace might shine in the faces of loved ones because we mentioned their names and presented their hearts unto our Father?  How might His love be better known as the Holy Spirit works in the lives of brothers and sisters in response to our intercession?  Again, we cannot know what the Lord does as He answers our prayers for each other.  We can only know that He does great and mighty things because we call upon Him in the others-devoted love of Christ.  He promises to do so, and He cannot fail to faithfully answer as we faithfully pray for one another.  What a gift and privilege!  What a duty and responsibility!  And what grace shines upon our face because we love each other by praying for each other.

"We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, for the hope which is laid up for you in Heaven."
(Colossians 1:3-5)

Weekly Memory Verse
    And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
(Luke 2:10-11)
   
    
  
   


Tuesday, December 20, 2016

"The Sweet Sigh"

"The Sweet Sigh"   


     One of the most blessed aspects of God's peace in the Lord Jesus Christ involves the truth of His Lordship, namely, that we belong to Him rather than to ourselves.

    "Ye are not your own" (I Corinthians 6:19).

    Let us breathe the sweet sigh of relief as this glorious truth graces our hearts with deliverance from the delusion that we belong to ourselves.  Our Heavenly Father created us as stewards rather than masters and owners.  He eternally exists "the Possessor of Heaven and earth", including the spiritual and earthly components of ourselves.  The very essence of sin involves the deception embraced by Adam and Eve that "ye shall be as gods" (Genesis 3:5).  By definition, "gods" must own themselves and possess their own being.  Incumbent upon such responsibility is the necessity of independent governance, provision, and self preservation.  Only One exists who qualifies for such life and existence.  To the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Psalmist confessed, "Thou art God alone" (Psalm  86:10).  Thus, only One exists who belongs to Himself, as it were.  All other are His - "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; the world and all they that dwell therein" (Psalm 24:1).

    The sweet sigh of relief proceeds from the remembrance that we have entrusted the care of our spirit, soul, and body to their rightful Owner.  In times of blessedness, we rejoice in the wonder of God's gracious bestowal of undeserved pleasure.  As a dear friend always says when asked how he's doing, "Better than I deserve!"  In times of distress, pain, and difficulty, we remember that every aspect of our being belongs to our Lord.  Physical challenges, for example, tempt us to concern about our bodies. "My (name the body part) hurts."  Or, "I am concerned about my (name the body part)."  Such challenges are real, and we must deal with the factors involved as the stewards of our earthly temple.  Truth, however, beckons us to the realization that our (name the body part) belongs not to ourselves, but to Another.  Believers are "the sheep of His pasture" (Psalm 100:3).  Our Shepherd thus owns our wool, mutton, and every aspect of our physical being.  We deal with physical issues in the light of this Truth that enables us to live from tranquility rather than trepidation.  As a saint of old confessed, "I am Thine, o Father.  Thou may doest as Thou wilt with Thine own.  I trust Thee and rest in Thee with complete confidence in Thy loving care."

   This is peace, the gift of the Prince of peace to whom we belong.  We do a poor job when attempting to own ourselves, as deluded by the ancient lie.  When, however, we remember and affirm the eternal Truth - "Ye are not your own" - our Father exercises His perfect capacity to rule us in wisdom, power, and the tendermercies of a Heart devoted to our well being.  The sweet sigh awaits us in this and in every moment as the sweet Truth reminds us of our Shepherd, and the peace of being stewards rather than owners.

"I am Thine."
(Psalm 119:94)

Weekly Memory Verse
    And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
(Luke 2:10-11)
   
    

Monday, December 19, 2016

“The Ancient Lie”

"The Ancient Lie"   


     Unless devoted to certain religious philosophies and practices, most people do not consciously think of themselves as gods.  However, in the flesh of all, including born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, the grievous deception exists, as embraced by our original forefathers.

    "Of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons" (Genesis 3:3-6).

   Our enemy still seeks to tempt us regarding the false notion that we can live independently of the true Life of our lives.  Certainly this is the case with unbelievers.  They must seek to make the best of life by their own efforts, or the efforts of others.  Some seemingly do well, others poorly, and most manage somewhere in the middle range of the autonomous attempt to  know and respond to the knowledge of good and evil.  A different matter exists for believers.  We know that one living and true God exists.  Moreover, we know that we are not Him.  By definition, salvation in the Lord Jesus involves our admission that in and of ourselves, we possess the traits of sinful humanity rather than perfect Divinity.  We arise from the altar of conversion as "a new man, created in righteousness and true holiness" (Ephesians 4:24).  Note that the Apostle Paul states that we are created "in" and not "as" righteousness and holiness.  Thus, in the new birth, we recognize and affirm our dependence on our Creator/Redeemer rather than ourselves.

   However, Paul also teaches that a "law of sin" remains in the fleshly members and faculties of believers during our earthly lifetime (Romans 7:23).  Our spiritual enemies can still tempt our flesh with the delusion that we must govern and empower our own existence.  This includes promptings to pride or despair, fear and confusion, and the deception that we can and must make the decisions of life - "the knowledge of good and evil" - by ourselves.  Thankfully, even before the advent of Christ, Solomon provided the Truth that counters such spiritual deception: 

    "Trust in the Lord with all thy heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6).  

   We determine with our hearts to rely completely on our Lord for leadership.  We use our understanding, but we do not "lean" on it.  We seek to consciously affirm our Lord's presence and involvement in all our ways, and then determine to rest in His promise of direction.  In essence, we affirm God as God, and ourselves as "His people, and the sheep of His pasture" (Psalm 100:3).  Many opportunities for such affirmation and faith present themselves in a world that lies in the wickedness of Satan's deception (I John 5:19).  Thus, we expect temptation regarding the ancient lie.  Even more, we anticipate the Spirit of God orchestrating the circumstances, situations, and conditions of life to provide ample confirmation of the Psalmist's proclamation to the Lord: "Thou art God alone" (Psalm 86:10).  He is.  We are not.  We therefore live our lives in the peace of being who and what we actually are, and in the greater peace of knowing who and what our Lord actually is…

"He is the Lord our God."
(Psalm 105:7)
"Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men."
(Psalm 9:20)

Weekly Memory Verse
    And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
(Luke 2:10-11)
   
    
  
   


Friday, December 16, 2016

"To Reading"

"To Reading"   


     At a local retirement community where we conduct Sunday chapel services, we recently finished our second reading through the New Testament.  When we began doing the services 13 years ago, we determined to include a five minute Scripture recitation as a part of each gathering, with no commentary.  Just a reading, which Frances narrates skillfully and beautifully.

    "Give attendance to reading" (I Timothy 4:13).

   While not as commonly practiced in modern times, history records that churches of the past frequently included a Scripture reading in services as a show of respect to the Word of God, and as a determination to hear and ponder His Truth together.  We find it to be a blessed portion of our meetings, and the thought of having twice journeyed through the New Testament with so many brothers and sisters in Christ greatly blesses our hearts.  This raises an interesting point: none of the people who were with us at the outset of either reading still remain at the community.  Some have moved to other facilities.  Others finished rehab and returned home.  Many - most - have passed away, and it is a poignant remembrance to consider faces, names, and most of all, hearts who have joined us in our readings of the Scriptures.  

   I have long felt that our first response to the Bible involves simply giving attendance, as the Apostle Paul commanded Timothy, to reading.  Just read.  In depth study and analysis can follow, but simply exposing ourselves to the Word of God on a consistent basis establishes the foundational means whereby His light illuminates our innermost being.  The prophet Isaiah provides the fundamental principle of interpreting Scripture, namely, the Bible interprets itself as the Holy Spirit leads us to coordinate words, verses, passages and chapters:

   "Whom shall He teach knowledge?  And whom shall He make to understand doctrine?  Them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little" (Isaiah 28:9-10).

   We cannot place "line upon line" or "precept upon precept" without regular reading.  Thus, we cannot rightly interpret the Bible without the capacity to understand a passage in Genesis as known in the light of Ephesians, or a statement in John that explains a verse in the Psalms.  "Here a little, and there a little."  We read in order to respond to our Heavenly Father'chosen way of revealing "the whole counsel of God" in its wondrously woven tapestry of Truth that reveals the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.  "In Thy light shall we see light" (Psalm 36:9).

    We begin a new reading this Sunday, and Lord willing, in 6 and 1/2 years, we'll conclude another journey through the New Testament.   Frances and I look forward to the voyage with many more brothers and sisters in Christ.  Most of all, we anticipate our Lord's blessing as we seek to honor Him and His Word by the simplest, but most vital response to Truth: "Give attendance to reading."  What a gift God's Word is to us, and what a joy to give attendance together with beloved brothers and sisters.

"Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by Thy name, O LORD God of hosts."
(Jeremiah 15:16)

Weekly Memory Verse
   And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men.
(I Thessalonians 3:12)
    

Thursday, December 15, 2016

“A Captivity Overturned”


"A Captivity Overturned"   


     "And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends" (Job 42:10).  Freedom came to battered Job when he interceded for "friends" who had acted like enemies, or as Job called them, "miserable comforters" (Job 16:2).  

   Bitterness is bondage.  When others sin against us, the temptation is strong to harbor resentment, ill will, and a lingering sense of injustice and grievance.  If we surrender to the devilish ploy of being enslaved by self pity, we forfeit our Christ-enabled liberty to experience the peace and joy of our Lord's indwelling love.  The love remains, as sealed in our hearts through the Person of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5).  However, until we repent and return to flowing in the stream of Christ's mercy, the devilish and fleshly bitterness we choose binds us from fully knowing the grace we have received from our Lord.  "Freely ye have received.  Freely give" (Matthew 10:8).

    One of God's primary remedies for bitterness involves the calling to intercede for those who hurt or offend us.  "Pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matthew 5:44-45). We cannot long resent those for whom we genuinely and sincerely pray.  This is especially true as we prayerfully seek mercy by bestowing the same mercy with which God has so graciously blessed us.  Job experienced such liberation of spirit, soul, and even body as he sought merciful compassion for miserable comforters.  Our brother of old, however, knew much less of God and His truth than we know.  The Lord Jesus Christ had not yet come.  Job had no Bible, nor did He possess the permanently indwelling Holy Spirit that graces all believers after the cross and resurrection.  The Lord nevertheless worked in Job's heart to liberate him by leading him to pray for those who had savagely persecuted the man of God during His trial.

    Our Heavenly Fathers calls us to the same grace and mercy for friends who act like enemies (and for enemies who act like enemies).  Moreover, He dwells within us to enable such love.  The Scriptures also illuminate our hearts, and the fellowship of other believers who prayerfully walk in God's mercy exemplifies the love of the Lord Jesus.  Freedom awaits the bitterness-imprisoned believer who remembers Job's example of a captivity overturned.  Even more, we remember our Savior's prayer offered from the very cross on which His enemies impaled Him.  "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).  Prison doors fly open when we "walk, even as He walked", or to the point of our present consideration, when we pray as Job prayed, and as the Lord Jesus prayed.

"Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."
(Ephesians 4:31-32)

Weekly Memory Verse
   And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men.
(I Thessalonians 3:12)
    
  
   



Wednesday, December 14, 2016

"With... Within"

"With… Within"   


     I recently noticed a book on the shelves of a local store, the title of which informs believers in the Lord Jesus Christ that "God is with you every day".  I certainly agree with the author's premise, and was reminded of one of our Lord's names - Emmanuel - which means "God with us" (Matthew 1:23).  However, we must be sure that we fully recognize the measure of God's dwelling "with" His trusting children in Christ.  

   "I will dwell in them, and walk in them" (II Corinthians 6:16).
   "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).
   "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (I Corinthians 3:16).

   Our Lord'"with" means "within", even as the Lord Jesus promised the disciples: "The Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you" (John 14:17).  After His atoning death on the cross, His resurrection, and His ascension, the Lord Jesus sent the Spirit of God to spiritually dwell within the redeemed hearts of all who believe.  Such grace constitutes the greatest gift of salvation in Christ, namely, the bestowal of God Himself to our innermost being.  Indeed, our Lord being "with" us provides an incredible blessing.  His being "within" us enhances the hope of glory to an exponential measure.  Not content to merely live in close proximity to us, our Heavenly Father made a way to spiritually inhabit us to the degree that "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us" (Romans 5:5).  The gift of Himself - this provides the true measure of Emmanuel, of God with us, of God within us.  

   The gift also presents great challenge.  The Holy Spirit's presence within us makes possible a life consistently and increasingly lived for the glory of God.  The Christ who overcame all things during His earthly lifetime lives in us to empower our overcoming.  Every excuse for failure dissolved in the moment God's Spirit entered our spirits at the time of our new birth.  We may not always overcome, and we won't (I John 1:8).  However, sin is never inevitable in born again believers.  Failure to trust and obey God happens in the context of His indwelling and enabling presence (I must admit that writing that sentence powerfully impacted my heart as much as any truth I have ever communicated).  Great challenge.  No excuses.  Along with the blessing of our Lord's presence within us, these realities of grace also present themselves to our hearts.

    Finally, let us realize and remember the cost of the Holy Spirit's indwelling presence within us.  "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?!" (Matthew 27:46).  On the cross of Calvary, our Savior was utterly abandoned by God and man.  Apart from the lonely and agonized sorrow of the heart of Christ stripped bare, the Spirit of God could not dwell within believers.  Our inner temple had to be cleansed.  Only shed Blood and a broken Heart could provide the necessary purification.  Thus, to the degree the Lord Jesus died alone at Calvary, born again believers will never be alone, even to the degree that the Apostle Paul could affirm, "God is in you of a truth" (I Corinthians 14:25).  This is the grace of God in Christ, the grace of "with" and the greater grace of "within".  Let us rejoice in the blessing, realize the challenge, recognize the enabling, and most of all, remember the cost of the gift, the cost of Calvary that made possible the gift of Himself.

"I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them."
(John 17:26)

Weekly Memory Verse
   And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men.
(I Thessalonians 3:12)
    
  

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

“To Increase and Abound”

"To Increase and Abound"   


     Our memory verse this week calls to grow in the love of Christ, regardless of where we may be in our walk with the Lord.

    "And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men" (I Thessalonians 3:12).

   No laurels exist upon which born again believers can rest in this lifetime.  Regardless of how well we know the unselfish nature of the God who "is love", we do not know it well enough.  We have not fully responded to such love, nor have we fully expressed this beautiful nature of altruism toward our Lord or others.  The Spirit of God ever beckons us to come higher, dive deeper, and journey further into the glory of God's loving character declared by the Apostle Paul to seek not its own benefit, but that of others (I Corinthians 13:5).  The voyage into such glory will last forever, with no horizon, no ocean floor, and no final destination of the Love that "passeth knowledge" (Ephesians 3:19).  Thus, wherever we are in this moment, or where we will be in eternity, the call to "higher… deeper… further" sounds and resounds from the heart of God to our hearts.  

   Our response to such Truth calls us to the determination to love God and people more and better than ever we have.  This begins in our ongoing quest to understand the nature of Divine love as defined by Scripture.  We then seek to experience such goodness in our personal walk with the Lord, which prepares us to respond in devoted love to Him and to others.  We love the Lord because He first loved us.  We grow in such devotion to Him as we grow in our awareness of His devotion to us.  We then love people as the fruit of our fellowship with God.  This constitutes the spiritual process whereby the Lord causes us to "increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men".  "Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (II Corinthians 3:18).

   Our role in the process involves the faith that acknowledges God's working in us and our need for it, accompanied by the submission of our hearts to the growing experience and expression of His love.  This is true of the most devout and the most wayward Christian.  Wherever we are, the call to higher… deeper… further beckons.  Our Heavenly Father works in us to love more and to love better through the power of the indwelling Spirit of Christ.  He will not rest in His determination throughout our earthly lifetime.  And neither should in our response to such grace and truth...

"And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment."
(Philippians 1:9)
"Brethren, 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, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
(Philippians 3:13-14)

Weekly Memory Verse
   And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men.
(I Thessalonians 3:12)
    
  
   


Monday, December 12, 2016

"Let This Mind..."

"Let This Mind..."   


       "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.  And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:5-11).

    Taking "the likeness of men" upon Himself did not mean that the Lord Jesus Christ relinquished His Divinity.  "Unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, o God, is forever and ever" (Hebrews 1:8).  Our Savior rather humbled Himself to forego the prerogatives of His Deity as He served us in order to save us.  "The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and give His life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28).  Thus, when His Spirit inhabits us at the time of our new birth, we become the living temples graced with the same calling to view ourselves in terms of humility and service to God and humanity.  "Let this mind be in you…"

   This means that our Heavenly Father will often grant us the privilege of foregoing our rights in order to walk in Christ's righteousness.  This is what humility does in its devotion to pleasing God and serving people.  The path will be different for all of us, but we can expect the Holy Spirit to lead us in countless ways to take upon ourselves "the form of a servant" when we might justifiably act in a manner more conducive to our own benefit.  As did our Savior, we voluntarily "take up the cross" as God's Spirit provides opportunity to serve (Mark 10:21).  It might not be "robbery" to journey upon a different path, but we will miss much of our Lord's righteous devotion to others if we do not "Let this mind be in you…"

    Much sacrifice awaits those who "walk, even as He walked" (I John 2:6).  However, the joy of Christ Himself awaits even more.  The writer of Hebrews declares the Lord Jesus to be "anointed with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows" (Hebrews 1:9).  Why?  Humility and its accompanying service to God and humanity provide the answer.  We can avoid the path of servant sacrifice if we choose to do so.  However, we will also avoid the filled and fulfilled heart of the Savior's "oil of gladness".  The choices are ours, and we can be sure that this day will offer many opportunities to "Let this mind be in you…"

"Whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as He that serveth."
(Luke 22:27)

Weekly Memory Verse
   And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men.
(I Thessalonians 3:12)
    
  

Saturday, December 10, 2016

"Eternal Doings"


"Eternal Doings"   


   As this week's memory verse states, God's doings bear eternal substance and consequence.  

   "I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before Him" (Ecclesiastes 3:14).

   This is fact and reality, regardless of our awareness of the blessed truth.   Can we say with Solomon, "know that…"?  Do we realize that when we ask our Lord to act, our prayers constitute a request for God to do something that will have ramifications forever?  When the Lord Jesus Christ taught us to pray for God's will to be "done on earth as it is in Heaven", He meant that we make our supplications in the light of eternity far more than the shadows of time.

   "We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (II Corinthians 4:18).

   Such truth presses us to pray in accordance with Scriptural revelation.  The Bible reveals our Heavenly Father's "eternal purpose in Christ", beckoning us to view matters in terms that transcend our earthly, temporal perspective (Ephesians 3:11).  When we ask God to provide "our daily bread", for example, such provision may appear to involve little more than the filling of our bellies in order to sustain physical existence.  This is true in the most limited sense of the Lord's answer.  However, the supply of one morsel  provided by Divine generosity "shall be forever" as a part of "whatsoever God doeth".  This enhances our view of Him as the One who "worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Ephesians 3:11).  However, it also magnifies our view of prayer.  The request for a crumb of bread in this present life actually involves the prayer for a Divinely provided gift that will bear eternal, infinite consequences.  The provision of the crumb somehow fits into the promulgation of Christ.  God reveals and glorifies His Son as He fulfills His promise to "supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).

   The more we learn about prayer, including the truth we presently consider, the more God's truth causes us to still ourselves a bit in order to consider what it means to "let your requests be made known unto God" (Philippians 4:6).  When we think of prayer, in Biblical terms, we must ponder quality far more than quantity.  How well we pray bears far more importance than how much we pray.  God does not hear us for our "much speaking" (Matthew 6:7).  He rather hears us as we pray "according to His will" (I John 5:14).  Knowing that the works of God we request "are forever" purifies both our motives and our methods regarding the blessed gift of seeking our Lord's gracious and eternal doings on behalf of ourselves and others.

"And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life."
(I John 5:20) 

Weekly Memory Verse
    I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before Him.
(Ecclesiastes 3:14)