The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Perfect - Doctrine and Devotion"
"Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship at His footstool; for He is holy" (Psalm 99:5).
A primary meaning of God's holiness involves perfect and eternal devotion to His nature and character. He cannot be other than who He is, and He cannot do anything that does not accord with His being.
"The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works" (Psalm 145:17).
"I am the Lord; I change not" (Malachi 3:6).
"Thou art good, and doest good" (Psalm 119:68).
No truth more secures our hearts in peace. Someone perfect in being and doing exists to whom we can commit our trust with "all thy heart" (Proverbs 3:5). God will always act in pristine perfection because He cannot think, speak, act, or relate in any manner that does not reflect the complete purity of His righteousness and holiness. "As for God, His way is perfect" (II Samuel 22:31).
As a matter of doctrine, do we believe this about our Lord? We likely do. Bible believing Christians know the Scripture's direct and implied affirmation that our God can only be and do according to His inestimable standard of perfection. However, in personal experience, our spiritual enemies tempt us to wonder. The very first temptation of humanity involved Satan's aspersion on the character of God. He implied to Eve that the Lord's prohibition to partake of the tree of knowledge of good and evil meant that He had withheld something she and Adam needed. "Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5). The devil suggested unfairness and imperfection in God. "You need this, and God did not provide it" implied the devil in his successful attempt to besmirch the Lord's perfection in Eve's mind.
Our enemy has not changed his tactics. He continues to tempt every believer to wonder about the perfection of God's administrations and allowances in our lives. Again, we may be firmly established in doctrine that "His way is perfect." This does not preclude, however, our fleshly proclivity to doubt the truth of our Father's complete trustworthiness (Galatians 5:17). Knowing the possibility of such unbelief, we must walk in prayerful devotion to the Lord, and to the Scriptures that began and maintain our confidence in God's perfection. "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Romans 10:17). Doctrine and devotion must align in our hearts and minds. This often requires choices of faith in the spirit - "I will trust" - that conflict with carnal thoughts, emotions, and sensations (Isaiah 26:3).
A strong doctrinal conviction, ignited and perpetually fueled by consistent exposure to the Bible, makes possible our determinations of faith when challenged by the devil, the world, and the flesh. True belief involves both mind and heart. The Spirit of God ever works upon both. As He does, we can be sure He will lead us to the Word of God whereby we gather the facts of our Lord's perfection, and then spiritually look by faith into His face to affirm, "I trust You."
"He is the Rock, His work is perfect: for all His ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He."
(Deuteronomy 32:4)
Weekly Memory Verse
He is the Rock, His work is perfect: for all His ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He.
(Deuteromy 32:4)
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