Day #284: Daily Bible Reading Plan - October 8th
Scripture Reading: Psalm 119 …
It is surprising how many people who claim to be Christians do not make a connection between having a relationship with God and living in obedience to His Law. In fact, there are many who have been taught that not even the Ten Commandments apply to believers because " … the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). Yet Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished …" (Matthew 5:17-18). And then He says, "Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:19).
God's Law, which is the topic of Psalm 119, is still the standard by which God judges your righteousness and mine … or our lack thereof! The beauty of the Gospel of God's grace is not that it frees us to BREAK the Law, but rather, that the power of Jesus Christ by His Word and Spirit frees us from God's just judgment against our sin by paying our penalty and gives to us the desire to obey God. Indeed, God's Law reveals the glory, the perfection of the God we worship. Much more could be said about God's call to obedience to His revealed will, including His Law, but you and I need to understand that while the ceremonial law that was attached to the offering of sacrifices for sin was fulfilled in the suffering and death of Jesus Christ, the moral law revealed to Moses is as perfect today as it was when it was given and reveals not only an outward obedience, but an inward, spiritual obedience that is pleasing to God. This obedience does not earn our salvation, but is, as it was always intended to be, a response to God's love and grace in Christ. Loving God is the very reason for our obedience!
So the Psalmist says in virtually every way possible that God's Law is GOOD!! The outline of Psalm 119 follows the Hebrew alphabet and uses repetition to emphasize the truth God wants us to embrace. "Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD. Blessed are they who keep His statutes and seek Him with all their heart" (119:1-2). God's blessing is tied to obedience. As Moses confirmed God's covenant with Israel near the end of his life, he declares in Deuteronomy 30 that obedience brings blessing, while disobedience brings the opposite. No one can escape the standard of God's Law. God desires perfection and once you place your faith in Jesus Christ for forgiveness for the sins you have committed, where you have failed to obey God, it does not follow that you are free to keep on breaking God's Law. On the contrary, God now calls His children to live according to what James calls, "the perfect law that gives freedom" (James 1:25).
Law-breakers are not happy people! They may think they are for a time, but while you may get by with some things that are harmful to you and others, God sees it all and He knows your heart. The writer of Psalm 119 speaks a lot about the heart: "How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your Word. I seek You with all my heart; do not let me stray from Your commands. I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You" (119:9-11). Over and over, the Psalmist mentions the involvement of the heart, the seat of your emotions, in keeping God's commands. "Give me understanding and I will keep Your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of Your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward Your statutes …" (119:34-36).
Do not miss the fact that through the words of Psalm 119, the writer reveals an intimate relationship with God that can only come by confessing your sin, your disobedience, your breaking of God's law, and then acquiring the knowledge of God's grace, compassion and forgiveness. We who know Jesus Christ can even more clearly understand the joy of forgiveness and the freedom to respond in loving obedience to the One who gave His only Son that we may have life through Him. As Paul puts it in Romans 8:1-2,4: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death … in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit!"
We read again in Psalm 119 how those who do not know God do not have any desire to keep His law. They are unaware of their sin and the judgment their disobedience brings upon them. In fact, the Psalmist confesses, "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey Your Word. You are good, and what You do is good; teach me Your decrees … It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn Your decrees" (119:67-68, 71). God often uses discipline through trials to draw us away from sin. The writer of Hebrews speaks of this in Hebrews 12:
"Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons … God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it" (12:7,10-11). That doesn't mean that every trial you and I face is the result of God's discipline, but without question there are times in each of our lives when God gives us a "wake-up call" by allowing trials to come our way so that we do not go the wrong direction or place our trust in ourselves or in the things of this world.
As we read in Psalm 1, we read again here, "Oh, how I love Your law! I meditate on it all day long!" (119:97). Why would anyone really say that? Because thinking about righteousness keeps us from straying from God. You cannot thank God for His grace in Jesus and then go your own way. In verses I referred to earlier, James writes, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it - HE will be blessed in what he does" (James 1:22-25).
So back to Psalm 119, verse 105: "Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." We who know Jesus WANT to obey God because we know that doing so pleases our Father in heaven and glorifies our Savior Jesus Christ. It is His Spirit who teaches us truth and moves us to live it. "Because I love Your commands more than gold, more than pure gold, and because I consider all Your precepts right, I hate every wrong path" (119:127-128). More than pure gold!?! Yes! Because our Father in heaven knows what is best for His children. If you disobey you will hurt yourself and others around you. The examples are endless.
"The unfolding of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple" (119:130). People seem to think reading God's Word is tedious and boring, but in reality it is like eating good food … food for your soul. I pray that you will be one of those described in this Psalm who listen to God's Word and obey His decrees, for doing so reveals that His Spirit is working within you. A rebellious heart reveals the opposite and leads to pain and agony and destruction. The fruit God desires from His people is obedience … so may His Word be the lamp for YOUR feet and the light for YOUR path!!
"Gracious Father, in Your law I see Your perfection, Your righteousness, Your glory. Teach me, O Lord, to rejoice in the freedom of obedience. Take away what remains in me that desires to turn from Your law to follow my own way or the ways of the world around me. Forgive my sin, Father, and renew my heart, that with the passion You deserve I may follow my Lord Jesus Christ and walk the path of obedience, of righteousness, for Your Name's sake. Whether through teaching, rebuking, correction or training in righteousness, use Your Word to produce in me a life of loving and joyful obedience. In Jesus' name, Amen"
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Monday, October 6, 2014
God will strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him!"
Day #283: Daily Bible Reading Plan - October 7th
Scripture Reading: II Chronicles 16 - 20 ...
When you are in need ... when you are being persecuted or oppressed or threatened by someone or by the forces of evil around you (and they DO exist!), what do you do? Where do you turn? Whom do you rely on? King Asa and his son, King Jehoshaphat, usually trusted in the LORD and depended upon Him to rescue them from their enemies. But when they didn't, God let them know that they were being foolish, for who but God can deliver us from ALL of our enemies, physical or spiritual? Do you have such confidence in the LORD, our God? Or do you ever think about it? Do you try to solve your own problems, to take things into your own hands, to be in control? I must confess, all too often I still do that, and it is as foolish today as it was in the days of the kings.
King Asa was devoted to the LORD, his God, the God of Israel, but when he was threatened by the northern kingdom of Israel, he made an alliance with the king of Aram. God sent a prophet to Asa and the prophet said to him, "When you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hand, for the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. You have done a foolish thing ..." (16:8-9). It is always foolish to rely on anything or anyone other than the LORD for deliverance from your enemies.
There are important lessons here to be applied to our lives today: one is that God desires a complete and heartfelt commitment to Him from those who are His people. Half-hearted devotion to God is the same as no devotion to God. Either He is God or He is not. Either He can help you, no matter what situation you are in, or He can't. Either He is control over everything or there are things beyond His control. Either He loves you and is with you ... or ... But GOD says that He looks at the heart and He desires those who are fully committed to Him, who cry out to Him, who believe that He hears them and today, who come to Him in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ.
God had helped Judah repeatedly in their brief history and yet the kings often turned to others for help. Remember, all of these things happened to them as examples and lessons for US! Jehoshaphat, like his father, Asa had done, allied himself with another king ... this time with Ahab, king of Israel, of all people! You may remember that Ahab and his wife, Jezebel, were wicked. Ahab reveals that, when he consults only those around him who will tell him what he wants to hear. He doesn't want to consult Macaiah because "he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad" (18:7). Isn't that like so many people today?? They want only the good news. They don't want to hear about sin or judgment. They only want to hear that God loves them and everything is fine. God will overlook their small little failures. Nobody's perfect!
Ahab could not have imagined that it was God's intention to put him to death. Even though he tried to disguise himself in the midst of the battle, a stray arrow "accidentally" struck and killed him. It was God's judgment upon him. King Jehoshaphat also suffered the consequences of his brief alliance with Ahab, but God showed him grace and forgave him. Jehoshaphat established just judges and courts in Judah by telling them, "Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for man but for the LORD" (19:6). Oh, that our courts today would seek justice by discerning truth.
The next time enemies came against Judah, Jehoshaphat acted differently. He turned and inquired of the LORD and proclaimed a fast for all of Judah (20:3). Then, as the king, he prayed before the people and acknowledged God's rule: "O LORD, God of our fathers, are You not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in Your hand, and no one can withstand YOU!" (20:6). How important it is to acknowledge God, to seek Him, to trust Him, to rely on no other power. "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You" (20:12). That may seem like a desperate place to be for some, but for those who know God, there is no better confession to make. When you are at the end of your strength, God is just getting started!!
As God spoke to Jehoshaphat, He speaks to those who trust in Him today through faith in Jesus Christ, His anointed King. "Do not be afraid or discouraged ... for the battle is not yours, but God's" (20:15). "You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you" (20:17). And before they went into the battle, they fell down before the LORD their God in worship and proclaimed, "Give thanks to the LORD, for His love endures forever" (20:21). They were about to go to war against an army that they had no hope of defeating, but at this point they believed God's promise of deliverance and they worshiped and praised Him.
What if WE did that today? What if we trusted God enough to fast and pray, believing that He would deliver us? There are times when God calls us to put on the armor and engage in the battle, but it is our spiritual enemies that we need to engage, with the strength that can and does only come from the LORD, our God. Jesus told us to come to Him, to believe in Him, to serve Him, believing that He is with us. How foolish when we get overcome and overwhelmed by the trials of this life. Our enemies are doubt and fear and anxiety, and too often we believe the lies of the enemy that they will overcome US! It cannot be if we are relying on the Lord! He tells us that we should not be anxious about anything, but rather, pray and seek His face and trust His promises, all the while giving thanks, for He is good, all the time, and His love for His children endures forever.
The question is whether you believe in Jesus Christ ... whether you believe God loves you enough to give His own Son to pay the penalty for your sins. Do you believe that? If you do, then His strength is yours!! The Apostle Paul says it so beautifully and so powerfully in Romans 8: "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all - how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:32). And then he writes, " ... we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!" (Romans 8:37-39).
When we think of those who would come against us we usually think of people, but the worst enemies are the enemies of our souls. As God tells us again through Paul as he writes to the Ephesians, "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that WHEN the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand!" (Ephesians 6:11-13).
Are you ready to do battle? As you begin each day, do you put on the "belt of truth," the "breastplate of righteousness," the "shield of faith," and the "helmet of salvation?" And do you take with you the gospel of peace and the sword of the Spirit, the very Word of the living God? Are you "armed and dangerous" to the enemies of God?! Prayer must be our daily conversation with God and the FIRST resort, not the last. How often people say, "ALL we can do is pray!" Are you kidding?! That's the best and most important and the very first thing to do. "Be joyful always, pray continually, and in every circumstance give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (I Thessalonians 5:16-18). It is sometimes said that "when the going gets tough, the tough get going," but the reality is that when the going gets tough, those who know the Lord are already in touch with the God whose eyes "range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him" (16:9).
So in the words of David in Psalm 37: "Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him ... for evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land!" (Psalm 37:1-7).
"O LORD God, my Father in heaven, I call out to You in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, approaching Your throne with confidence, believing that You are with me as I humble myself before You, confessing my sin and relying on You alone for grace, forgiveness and strength to engage in the spiritual battles that are so much a part of life in this world. I thank You, Father, that Your love endures forever and I trust in You with all my heart. Fill me with Your Spirit, O God, that my heart may be fully committed to You! In Jesus' name, Amen"
Scripture Reading: II Chronicles 16 - 20 ...
When you are in need ... when you are being persecuted or oppressed or threatened by someone or by the forces of evil around you (and they DO exist!), what do you do? Where do you turn? Whom do you rely on? King Asa and his son, King Jehoshaphat, usually trusted in the LORD and depended upon Him to rescue them from their enemies. But when they didn't, God let them know that they were being foolish, for who but God can deliver us from ALL of our enemies, physical or spiritual? Do you have such confidence in the LORD, our God? Or do you ever think about it? Do you try to solve your own problems, to take things into your own hands, to be in control? I must confess, all too often I still do that, and it is as foolish today as it was in the days of the kings.
King Asa was devoted to the LORD, his God, the God of Israel, but when he was threatened by the northern kingdom of Israel, he made an alliance with the king of Aram. God sent a prophet to Asa and the prophet said to him, "When you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hand, for the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. You have done a foolish thing ..." (16:8-9). It is always foolish to rely on anything or anyone other than the LORD for deliverance from your enemies.
There are important lessons here to be applied to our lives today: one is that God desires a complete and heartfelt commitment to Him from those who are His people. Half-hearted devotion to God is the same as no devotion to God. Either He is God or He is not. Either He can help you, no matter what situation you are in, or He can't. Either He is control over everything or there are things beyond His control. Either He loves you and is with you ... or ... But GOD says that He looks at the heart and He desires those who are fully committed to Him, who cry out to Him, who believe that He hears them and today, who come to Him in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ.
God had helped Judah repeatedly in their brief history and yet the kings often turned to others for help. Remember, all of these things happened to them as examples and lessons for US! Jehoshaphat, like his father, Asa had done, allied himself with another king ... this time with Ahab, king of Israel, of all people! You may remember that Ahab and his wife, Jezebel, were wicked. Ahab reveals that, when he consults only those around him who will tell him what he wants to hear. He doesn't want to consult Macaiah because "he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad" (18:7). Isn't that like so many people today?? They want only the good news. They don't want to hear about sin or judgment. They only want to hear that God loves them and everything is fine. God will overlook their small little failures. Nobody's perfect!
Ahab could not have imagined that it was God's intention to put him to death. Even though he tried to disguise himself in the midst of the battle, a stray arrow "accidentally" struck and killed him. It was God's judgment upon him. King Jehoshaphat also suffered the consequences of his brief alliance with Ahab, but God showed him grace and forgave him. Jehoshaphat established just judges and courts in Judah by telling them, "Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for man but for the LORD" (19:6). Oh, that our courts today would seek justice by discerning truth.
The next time enemies came against Judah, Jehoshaphat acted differently. He turned and inquired of the LORD and proclaimed a fast for all of Judah (20:3). Then, as the king, he prayed before the people and acknowledged God's rule: "O LORD, God of our fathers, are You not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in Your hand, and no one can withstand YOU!" (20:6). How important it is to acknowledge God, to seek Him, to trust Him, to rely on no other power. "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You" (20:12). That may seem like a desperate place to be for some, but for those who know God, there is no better confession to make. When you are at the end of your strength, God is just getting started!!
As God spoke to Jehoshaphat, He speaks to those who trust in Him today through faith in Jesus Christ, His anointed King. "Do not be afraid or discouraged ... for the battle is not yours, but God's" (20:15). "You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you" (20:17). And before they went into the battle, they fell down before the LORD their God in worship and proclaimed, "Give thanks to the LORD, for His love endures forever" (20:21). They were about to go to war against an army that they had no hope of defeating, but at this point they believed God's promise of deliverance and they worshiped and praised Him.
What if WE did that today? What if we trusted God enough to fast and pray, believing that He would deliver us? There are times when God calls us to put on the armor and engage in the battle, but it is our spiritual enemies that we need to engage, with the strength that can and does only come from the LORD, our God. Jesus told us to come to Him, to believe in Him, to serve Him, believing that He is with us. How foolish when we get overcome and overwhelmed by the trials of this life. Our enemies are doubt and fear and anxiety, and too often we believe the lies of the enemy that they will overcome US! It cannot be if we are relying on the Lord! He tells us that we should not be anxious about anything, but rather, pray and seek His face and trust His promises, all the while giving thanks, for He is good, all the time, and His love for His children endures forever.
The question is whether you believe in Jesus Christ ... whether you believe God loves you enough to give His own Son to pay the penalty for your sins. Do you believe that? If you do, then His strength is yours!! The Apostle Paul says it so beautifully and so powerfully in Romans 8: "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all - how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:32). And then he writes, " ... we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!" (Romans 8:37-39).
When we think of those who would come against us we usually think of people, but the worst enemies are the enemies of our souls. As God tells us again through Paul as he writes to the Ephesians, "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that WHEN the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand!" (Ephesians 6:11-13).
Are you ready to do battle? As you begin each day, do you put on the "belt of truth," the "breastplate of righteousness," the "shield of faith," and the "helmet of salvation?" And do you take with you the gospel of peace and the sword of the Spirit, the very Word of the living God? Are you "armed and dangerous" to the enemies of God?! Prayer must be our daily conversation with God and the FIRST resort, not the last. How often people say, "ALL we can do is pray!" Are you kidding?! That's the best and most important and the very first thing to do. "Be joyful always, pray continually, and in every circumstance give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (I Thessalonians 5:16-18). It is sometimes said that "when the going gets tough, the tough get going," but the reality is that when the going gets tough, those who know the Lord are already in touch with the God whose eyes "range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him" (16:9).
So in the words of David in Psalm 37: "Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him ... for evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land!" (Psalm 37:1-7).
"O LORD God, my Father in heaven, I call out to You in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, approaching Your throne with confidence, believing that You are with me as I humble myself before You, confessing my sin and relying on You alone for grace, forgiveness and strength to engage in the spiritual battles that are so much a part of life in this world. I thank You, Father, that Your love endures forever and I trust in You with all my heart. Fill me with Your Spirit, O God, that my heart may be fully committed to You! In Jesus' name, Amen"
Sunday, October 5, 2014
"Receiving an inheritance from God ..."
Day #282: Daily Bible Reading Plan - October 6th
Scripture Reading: Numbers 33 - 36 ...
Much of the struggle between Israel and her neighbors, particularly the Palestinians, in the Middle East is attributed to the question about "whose land is it?" History reveals that the ownership of this land has been disputed for centuries - long before the present state of Israel was given the land following World War II. Muslims and "Christians" (those who claimed to be Christians and who took part in the crusades led largely by the Popes) fought over the "Holy Lands" in a tug-of-war for hundreds of years, and much of the debate today goes back to these age-old claims of whose land it is and the battles they produced. Prior to World War I the Ottoman Empire controlled the Holy Land and afterwards the British Empire received a mandate for the Holy Land. To think that the conflict today is the fault of Israel is to ignore history.
Which brings us back to the question: "Whose land is it?" If we go back more than 4,000 years, to the time of Abraham, we discover that the land belonged to many different nations ... UNTIL God called Abraham and told him to settle in this land and then GAVE him the land, as far as he could see, to the north, south, east and west. God told Abraham, then Isaac and then Jacob that this land was theirs because HE was giving it to them - FOREVER!! Who would argue that God has the right to do that? The problem arises when the sons of Ishmael (Arabs), and the sons of Isaac (Jews) both claim the land to be theirs because they are descendants of Abraham.
"Whose land is it?" The answer: GOD's!! OK, but to whom did God GIVE this land, specifically? The answer: Abraham ... ISAAC ... Jacob ... Israel!! When God brought the people of Israel out of Egypt, they carried the bones of Joseph with them because he wanted to be buried in the land of his fathers - the land of Canaan. God had given them this land before they went down into Egypt, before they became a great nation, before they had settled there. This was GOD's land and He GAVE it to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. People can claim otherwise, but this is what history reveals. The land was given to them and it was taken from them and God gave it back!!
As they had come out of Egypt and then wandered in the wilderness because they refused to go into the promised land, due to the bad report of the spies and their lack of faith, they had now come again to the banks of the Jordan River, across from the city of Jericho. God said to them, "When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places. Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess" (33:52-53). Then God told them to distribute the land according to the tribes of Israel.
One could argue that such a command was utterly and totally inhumane. How could the God who so loved the world that He gave His own Son, Jesus, to save all who believe from our sin ... how could our God, the One whom we address as "Abba, Father," ... how could He command His people to do such a thing? How could He take the land from those who lived there and tell Israel to take possession of the land. Surely, that is not what God tells us to do today! But remember, all of this is an important and needed picture for us today, as we live in these last days. God has the right to do as He pleases and what most people today fail to accept is that ALL of mankind deserves this fate. The worship of false gods, of idols, brings God's wrath and ultimately death ... physical, spiritual and eternal death.
That ANYONE would receive an inheritance from God is only by His grace and mercy and extreme patience. Once you understand that you have sinned against a holy God and that you deserve the same fate as those who have committed idolatry, you then begin to understand the depth of God's love and grace in Jesus Christ. Apart from that we are worthy of God's judgment and ultimately, millions, if not billions of people will face a fate worse than physical death. It was Jesus, after all, who said, "Do not be afraid of the one who can kill the body, but who cannot kill the soul. But be afraid of the One who can destroy both body and soul in hell" (Matthew 10:28). The judgment of God is real and severe for those who do not know Him and who every day increase their guilt by putting other things before Him. The only escape ... the ONLY escape, is the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
Throughout the Old Testament God revealed His grace and mercy and justice, such as He does in Chapter 35, where He explains the judgment for those who commit murder, but also establishes cities of refuge for those who do so unintentionally or accidentally. The fact that the human race still exists on this planet is a testament to God's mercy in not giving us what we deserve. But that day WILL come. And when it does, there is only one ransom for guilty sinners like you and me: JESUS. Jesus told His disciples that "the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). Jesus came to be our ransom AND to give us an inheritance.
The inheritance of Israel is a piece of land, given to Abraham and his descendants more than 4,000 years ago. OUR inheritance is a new heaven and a new earth. God tells us that the earth is HIS, and everything in it. You and I own nothing, except that it has been given to us by God. Listen to Psalm 24: "The earth is the LORD's and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it ..." (24:1). God has given life to every human being, whether they acknowledge Him or not. And God has placed rulers and nations in place as He desires. Yet, mankind has rebelled against Him and against HIS anointed Ruler, Jesus Christ. The result is that all mankind will be "disinherited" from the earth when Jesus returns.
What happened with the peoples who inhabited Canaan before the people of Israel will happen with the whole earth. But for those who know the true God, who have received His grace, who have been born again by His Spirit, who have believed in Jesus as our Savior and confessed Him as our Lord ... God has a different future for us, as Peter writes in I Peter 1:3-5 "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time."
God has promised US an inheritance in the NEW heaven and the NEW earth! The current struggle in the Middle East and all over the world will be settled by God ... in His time and in His way ... and He has already told us what the outcome will be. We who believe will receive an inheritance from God that includes more than everything the people of the world attempt to hold onto and control. Those who believe in Jesus are receiving an inheritance from God and one day soon we will live with Him in a perfect world. As God has said, it will happen!
"O Lord, my God, Your promises to all who believe are based on Your faithfulness and Your truth. You have kept every promise You have made, and as we have seen You keep Your promises to Israel, so we know that You will keep Your promises to US. Thank You, Father, for the promise of eternal life in the new world that You will create. Give me wisdom as I live in this world to see the events around me in the light of Your Word so that my hope will always be in You, my God, in Jesus' name, Amen"
Scripture Reading: Numbers 33 - 36 ...
Much of the struggle between Israel and her neighbors, particularly the Palestinians, in the Middle East is attributed to the question about "whose land is it?" History reveals that the ownership of this land has been disputed for centuries - long before the present state of Israel was given the land following World War II. Muslims and "Christians" (those who claimed to be Christians and who took part in the crusades led largely by the Popes) fought over the "Holy Lands" in a tug-of-war for hundreds of years, and much of the debate today goes back to these age-old claims of whose land it is and the battles they produced. Prior to World War I the Ottoman Empire controlled the Holy Land and afterwards the British Empire received a mandate for the Holy Land. To think that the conflict today is the fault of Israel is to ignore history.
Which brings us back to the question: "Whose land is it?" If we go back more than 4,000 years, to the time of Abraham, we discover that the land belonged to many different nations ... UNTIL God called Abraham and told him to settle in this land and then GAVE him the land, as far as he could see, to the north, south, east and west. God told Abraham, then Isaac and then Jacob that this land was theirs because HE was giving it to them - FOREVER!! Who would argue that God has the right to do that? The problem arises when the sons of Ishmael (Arabs), and the sons of Isaac (Jews) both claim the land to be theirs because they are descendants of Abraham.
"Whose land is it?" The answer: GOD's!! OK, but to whom did God GIVE this land, specifically? The answer: Abraham ... ISAAC ... Jacob ... Israel!! When God brought the people of Israel out of Egypt, they carried the bones of Joseph with them because he wanted to be buried in the land of his fathers - the land of Canaan. God had given them this land before they went down into Egypt, before they became a great nation, before they had settled there. This was GOD's land and He GAVE it to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. People can claim otherwise, but this is what history reveals. The land was given to them and it was taken from them and God gave it back!!
As they had come out of Egypt and then wandered in the wilderness because they refused to go into the promised land, due to the bad report of the spies and their lack of faith, they had now come again to the banks of the Jordan River, across from the city of Jericho. God said to them, "When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places. Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess" (33:52-53). Then God told them to distribute the land according to the tribes of Israel.
One could argue that such a command was utterly and totally inhumane. How could the God who so loved the world that He gave His own Son, Jesus, to save all who believe from our sin ... how could our God, the One whom we address as "Abba, Father," ... how could He command His people to do such a thing? How could He take the land from those who lived there and tell Israel to take possession of the land. Surely, that is not what God tells us to do today! But remember, all of this is an important and needed picture for us today, as we live in these last days. God has the right to do as He pleases and what most people today fail to accept is that ALL of mankind deserves this fate. The worship of false gods, of idols, brings God's wrath and ultimately death ... physical, spiritual and eternal death.
That ANYONE would receive an inheritance from God is only by His grace and mercy and extreme patience. Once you understand that you have sinned against a holy God and that you deserve the same fate as those who have committed idolatry, you then begin to understand the depth of God's love and grace in Jesus Christ. Apart from that we are worthy of God's judgment and ultimately, millions, if not billions of people will face a fate worse than physical death. It was Jesus, after all, who said, "Do not be afraid of the one who can kill the body, but who cannot kill the soul. But be afraid of the One who can destroy both body and soul in hell" (Matthew 10:28). The judgment of God is real and severe for those who do not know Him and who every day increase their guilt by putting other things before Him. The only escape ... the ONLY escape, is the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
Throughout the Old Testament God revealed His grace and mercy and justice, such as He does in Chapter 35, where He explains the judgment for those who commit murder, but also establishes cities of refuge for those who do so unintentionally or accidentally. The fact that the human race still exists on this planet is a testament to God's mercy in not giving us what we deserve. But that day WILL come. And when it does, there is only one ransom for guilty sinners like you and me: JESUS. Jesus told His disciples that "the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). Jesus came to be our ransom AND to give us an inheritance.
The inheritance of Israel is a piece of land, given to Abraham and his descendants more than 4,000 years ago. OUR inheritance is a new heaven and a new earth. God tells us that the earth is HIS, and everything in it. You and I own nothing, except that it has been given to us by God. Listen to Psalm 24: "The earth is the LORD's and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it ..." (24:1). God has given life to every human being, whether they acknowledge Him or not. And God has placed rulers and nations in place as He desires. Yet, mankind has rebelled against Him and against HIS anointed Ruler, Jesus Christ. The result is that all mankind will be "disinherited" from the earth when Jesus returns.
What happened with the peoples who inhabited Canaan before the people of Israel will happen with the whole earth. But for those who know the true God, who have received His grace, who have been born again by His Spirit, who have believed in Jesus as our Savior and confessed Him as our Lord ... God has a different future for us, as Peter writes in I Peter 1:3-5 "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time."
God has promised US an inheritance in the NEW heaven and the NEW earth! The current struggle in the Middle East and all over the world will be settled by God ... in His time and in His way ... and He has already told us what the outcome will be. We who believe will receive an inheritance from God that includes more than everything the people of the world attempt to hold onto and control. Those who believe in Jesus are receiving an inheritance from God and one day soon we will live with Him in a perfect world. As God has said, it will happen!
"O Lord, my God, Your promises to all who believe are based on Your faithfulness and Your truth. You have kept every promise You have made, and as we have seen You keep Your promises to Israel, so we know that You will keep Your promises to US. Thank You, Father, for the promise of eternal life in the new world that You will create. Give me wisdom as I live in this world to see the events around me in the light of Your Word so that my hope will always be in You, my God, in Jesus' name, Amen"
Saturday, October 4, 2014
"Confidence to enter the Most Holy Place through the blood of Jesus ..."
Day #281: Daily Bible Reading Plan - October 5th
Scripture Reading: Hebrews 8 - 10 ...
As you read through God's Word there are passages that make you stop and think ... and then there are passages that make you amazed and thankful and awestruck!! These chapters do all of that and more! Having described the supremacy of Christ and the uniqueness of the "priesthood" that Jesus fulfills, the writer of Hebrews now ushers us into the inner sanctuary, into the very presence of God, "behind the second curtain" (9:3), where Jesus Himself is seated at the Father's right hand. NO ONE would dare to enter ... but through the blood of Jesus we who believe enter without fear, with confidence that our sins are forgiven and we are holy in God's sight. How can this be possible? What did Jesus do to give us access to the very throne room of Almighty God, our Creator, the great "I AM"?
We left off in Chapter 7 by seeing that the earthly priests from the tribe of Levi could only offer the blood of bulls and goats as ceremonial sacrifices to God. They first offered sacrifices for themselves and then for the people. But these sacrifices had to be offered daily. Jesus was different ... "If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood ..., why was there still need for another priest to come ..." (7:11). "Because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through HIM, because He always lives to intercede for them (US!). Such a high priest meets our need - one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens" (7:24-26).
So we begin Chapter 8: "The point of what we are saying is this: We DO have such a high priest!" (8:1). Jesus, the eternal Son of God, now fully man, is able to do what no mere man could do. Jesus offered His own blood, not in an earthly sanctuary, but in heaven itself! The writer of Hebrews says of the earthly priests, "They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven" (8:5). You heard it right! The tabernacle, and then the temple, were copies of what exists in heaven itself! God had made His covenant with Israel through the law given at Mt. Sinai. The Law said, "Do this and live!" But because of their sinful nature they could not keep the law. It could only condemn them. So God promised a new covenant, a covenant where HE would provide the sacrifice for sin and where He would send His Spirit to transform hard hearts and open blind eyes.
As he describes the old covenant in Chapter 9, the writer explains that the high priest could enter into the inner room, the inner sanctuary, "only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance" (9:7). This is where it starts getting exciting!! "The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing" (9:8). BUT, "when Christ came as High Priest ... HE entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption" (9:11-12). This is the new covenant! This is the fulfillment of all that the Old Testament, the old covenant, had pointed to.
What the old covenant could not accomplish, weakened as it was by human failure, JESUS DID! "How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!" (9:14). Jesus died and rose again and ascended into heaven, there to serve as our great High Priest, so that we could have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place through His blood. We come without fear, confident not in our own goodness, but in His perfection. "He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him" (9:26-27).
Are YOU waiting for Jesus? Are you longing for His return? Do you live every day with Jesus as your Savior and Lord, trusting Him, loving Him, serving Him, giving thanks for Him, offering yourself as one of His disciples, confessing His Name to the world? What is JESUS to YOU??? You and I must answer that question, for it is in our answer that our eternal destination is revealed. No other sacrifice can bring to you and me the perfection we need to enter into God's presence - LITERALLY!! Those who imagine that all people will one day enter heaven, and finally live in God's presence, beholding His glory in a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness, are living in a fantasy. It will not happen. God has made ONE way to enter His presence, through the blood of the Lamb of God, the Christ, Jesus, our Savior and Lord. Only by confessing His Name, by believing in Him, by trusting in His sacrifice, can sinners like you and me be made perfect. And this is exactly what God reveals here through the writer of Hebrews.
"When this priest had offered for all time ONE sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time He waits for His enemies to be made His footstool, because by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy" (10:14). The blood of Jesus removes our sin from God's sight ... AND, substitutes HIS perfect righteousness, so that God already sees us as perfect as we are in the process of being made holy by the work of His Spirit within us. We will be like Jesus!! And God already sees us that way!! "THEREFORE ... since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is His body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God ... Let US draw near to God ... Let US hold unswervingly to the hope we profess ... Let US consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds ... Let US not give up meeting together ... Let US encourage one another - and all the more as you see THE DAY approaching!!" (10:19-25).
The day of the Lord, the day of God's wrath and judgment, is fast approaching. With all that is in me I believe that we are living in the last generation ... that some, maybe most who are living today, will experience all that God has said will take place prior to the return of Jesus Christ to gather His people to Himself, when the dead will be raised and we who are alive will be changed in the twinkling of an eye! Yes, "it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (10:31). But if you know Jesus, the great High Priest over the house of God in heaven, you can have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place through His blood. "So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised" (10:35-36).
Your confidence must not be in your own accomplishments, or in the religious exercises of priests who offer earthly sacrifices today, but only and completely in Jesus Christ and the promises of God's new covenant with all who put their faith in Him. You can know that His Spirit is at work within when you stop trusting in yourself and place your hope in Jesus. This IS the will of God: to believe in His Son, for whoever believes in Him will never be put to shame. Draw near today with a sincere heart, in full assurance of faith and KNOW that you HAVE eternal life ... for you have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place through the blood of Jesus!!
"O LORD, my God, how can I possibly begin to thank You for the gift of forgiveness and life through Your Son, my Savior, Jesus Christ?! I believe Your promise and I claim the blood of Jesus as my only hope, yet also as my sure and certain hope of eternal life with You. I long for Jesus' return, when all who believe will enter into Your sanctuary and live there forever with You, made like Jesus, restored to Your perfection and glory. Father, help me to set my heart and mind on serving You, the living God, in Jesus' name, Amen"
Scripture Reading: Hebrews 8 - 10 ...
As you read through God's Word there are passages that make you stop and think ... and then there are passages that make you amazed and thankful and awestruck!! These chapters do all of that and more! Having described the supremacy of Christ and the uniqueness of the "priesthood" that Jesus fulfills, the writer of Hebrews now ushers us into the inner sanctuary, into the very presence of God, "behind the second curtain" (9:3), where Jesus Himself is seated at the Father's right hand. NO ONE would dare to enter ... but through the blood of Jesus we who believe enter without fear, with confidence that our sins are forgiven and we are holy in God's sight. How can this be possible? What did Jesus do to give us access to the very throne room of Almighty God, our Creator, the great "I AM"?
We left off in Chapter 7 by seeing that the earthly priests from the tribe of Levi could only offer the blood of bulls and goats as ceremonial sacrifices to God. They first offered sacrifices for themselves and then for the people. But these sacrifices had to be offered daily. Jesus was different ... "If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood ..., why was there still need for another priest to come ..." (7:11). "Because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through HIM, because He always lives to intercede for them (US!). Such a high priest meets our need - one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens" (7:24-26).
So we begin Chapter 8: "The point of what we are saying is this: We DO have such a high priest!" (8:1). Jesus, the eternal Son of God, now fully man, is able to do what no mere man could do. Jesus offered His own blood, not in an earthly sanctuary, but in heaven itself! The writer of Hebrews says of the earthly priests, "They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven" (8:5). You heard it right! The tabernacle, and then the temple, were copies of what exists in heaven itself! God had made His covenant with Israel through the law given at Mt. Sinai. The Law said, "Do this and live!" But because of their sinful nature they could not keep the law. It could only condemn them. So God promised a new covenant, a covenant where HE would provide the sacrifice for sin and where He would send His Spirit to transform hard hearts and open blind eyes.
As he describes the old covenant in Chapter 9, the writer explains that the high priest could enter into the inner room, the inner sanctuary, "only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance" (9:7). This is where it starts getting exciting!! "The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing" (9:8). BUT, "when Christ came as High Priest ... HE entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption" (9:11-12). This is the new covenant! This is the fulfillment of all that the Old Testament, the old covenant, had pointed to.
What the old covenant could not accomplish, weakened as it was by human failure, JESUS DID! "How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!" (9:14). Jesus died and rose again and ascended into heaven, there to serve as our great High Priest, so that we could have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place through His blood. We come without fear, confident not in our own goodness, but in His perfection. "He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him" (9:26-27).
Are YOU waiting for Jesus? Are you longing for His return? Do you live every day with Jesus as your Savior and Lord, trusting Him, loving Him, serving Him, giving thanks for Him, offering yourself as one of His disciples, confessing His Name to the world? What is JESUS to YOU??? You and I must answer that question, for it is in our answer that our eternal destination is revealed. No other sacrifice can bring to you and me the perfection we need to enter into God's presence - LITERALLY!! Those who imagine that all people will one day enter heaven, and finally live in God's presence, beholding His glory in a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness, are living in a fantasy. It will not happen. God has made ONE way to enter His presence, through the blood of the Lamb of God, the Christ, Jesus, our Savior and Lord. Only by confessing His Name, by believing in Him, by trusting in His sacrifice, can sinners like you and me be made perfect. And this is exactly what God reveals here through the writer of Hebrews.
"When this priest had offered for all time ONE sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time He waits for His enemies to be made His footstool, because by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy" (10:14). The blood of Jesus removes our sin from God's sight ... AND, substitutes HIS perfect righteousness, so that God already sees us as perfect as we are in the process of being made holy by the work of His Spirit within us. We will be like Jesus!! And God already sees us that way!! "THEREFORE ... since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is His body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God ... Let US draw near to God ... Let US hold unswervingly to the hope we profess ... Let US consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds ... Let US not give up meeting together ... Let US encourage one another - and all the more as you see THE DAY approaching!!" (10:19-25).
The day of the Lord, the day of God's wrath and judgment, is fast approaching. With all that is in me I believe that we are living in the last generation ... that some, maybe most who are living today, will experience all that God has said will take place prior to the return of Jesus Christ to gather His people to Himself, when the dead will be raised and we who are alive will be changed in the twinkling of an eye! Yes, "it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (10:31). But if you know Jesus, the great High Priest over the house of God in heaven, you can have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place through His blood. "So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised" (10:35-36).
Your confidence must not be in your own accomplishments, or in the religious exercises of priests who offer earthly sacrifices today, but only and completely in Jesus Christ and the promises of God's new covenant with all who put their faith in Him. You can know that His Spirit is at work within when you stop trusting in yourself and place your hope in Jesus. This IS the will of God: to believe in His Son, for whoever believes in Him will never be put to shame. Draw near today with a sincere heart, in full assurance of faith and KNOW that you HAVE eternal life ... for you have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place through the blood of Jesus!!
"O LORD, my God, how can I possibly begin to thank You for the gift of forgiveness and life through Your Son, my Savior, Jesus Christ?! I believe Your promise and I claim the blood of Jesus as my only hope, yet also as my sure and certain hope of eternal life with You. I long for Jesus' return, when all who believe will enter into Your sanctuary and live there forever with You, made like Jesus, restored to Your perfection and glory. Father, help me to set my heart and mind on serving You, the living God, in Jesus' name, Amen"
Friday, October 3, 2014
"No other name …"
Day #280: Daily Bible Reading Plan - October 4th
Scripture Reading: Acts 3 - 4 …
What distinguishes true biblical Christianity from any other religion is JESUS! Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of God's promises in the Old Testament and the center of God's promises in the New Testament. Those today who preach a Christianity without Jesus, without the cross, without the resurrection, without His rule from heaven or His return in glory know nothing of the Gospel, the good news of salvation in the Name of Jesus! "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (4:12).
There is nothing "magical" in a name. When the Apostles ("sent-out ones") began to preach the Gospel and do miracles to confirm that the message was from God, they pointed not to their own power, but to the power of Jesus: "It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through Him that has given this complete healing to him (the crippled man), as you can all see" (3:16). In the name of Jesus the power of Jesus was available, and in the name of Jesus today people are brought from spiritual death to spiritual life. "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (4:12). Do you understand that? Do you believe that? Has your life been empowered by your relationship with Jesus? Have you taken His name upon you? Are your eyes set on Him? Does your heart love Him? Do you desire to be like Him? Are you longing to meet Him?
It is easy to get caught up in doing things that you think you should do in order to show that you are a "good Christian," but it starts with knowing and loving Jesus. Peter and John were ordinary men, called by Jesus, empowered by His Spirit, who boldly proclaimed the Gospel … the name of Jesus. Peter's words to the crowd that came running to them after the healing of the crippled man are almost amusing: "Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?" (3:12). Surely Peter could understand why the people would be amazed. Something like this didn't happen every day. But Peter had been with Jesus for several years. He had seen things like this all the time and now, because he had seen the risen Jesus and been empowered by His Spirit, he expected things like this to happen.
His words of explanation are important: "The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus … You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead" (3:13,15). The entire Bible points to the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is HIS revelation and He sent His Son, Jesus, the Christ, to testify to HIS power. Peter calls them to repent so their sins could be forgiven and then points to the future promise of God … "that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that He may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you - even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as He promised long ago through His holy prophets" (3:19-21).
Once again the beauty of the Bible is seen in the continuity from the Old Testament to the New Testament. The coming of Jesus was not "out-of-the-blue," but was the fulfillment of all that the prophets had foretold … and there's more to come!! Peter boldly proclaims that "all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have foretold these days" (3:24), and points back to God's promise to Abraham, "Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed" (3:25; Genesis 12:3), so the prophets also point to the future reign of God's anointed King, as Peter points out in his prayer after his and John's release from jail: "Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His Anointed One" (4:25-26; Psalm 2:1-2).
In our day, as we read of wars in the Middle East and elsewhere, how we need to remember that Jesus Christ rules on His throne and though the nations rage against the truth of His Word and His promises to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, both physical (Israel) and spiritual (the Church), Jesus WILL return and gather His people and establish His kingdom on the earth. "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (4:12). Everything the Bible predicts will happen, just as God says it will, and only those who repent and believe, who are born again by the Spirit and given new hearts and minds, will inherit the kingdom of God!
Some today have their eyes set on the signs and miracles done by the apostles, so it is important to point out that no one else was doing miracles. Those who look for signs and miracles today are often misled by impostors. When Paul spoke about these things in I Corinthians 12:28-31, he made it clear that these were specific gifts of the Spirit given to specific people for a specific purpose. We read in II Corinthians 12:12: "The things that mark an apostle - signs, wonders and miracles - were done among you with great perseverance." He was addressing those who did not accept him, Paul, as an apostle, so he was comparing what Jesus empowered him to do with the marks of the other apostles. Why did Paul care if they considered him to be a messenger sent from God? Because he wanted them to believe the Gospel - the message God had given him to take to the Jews AND the Gentiles.
It was to confirm that message as being from God that God empowered the apostles to perform them: "This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Spirit distributed according to His will" (Hebrews 2:3-4). GOD is in control of the gifts He gives and when, where and to whom He gives them. But always the purpose is the same: to exalt the name of Jesus and to confirm the message of the Gospel. The miracles were done as a testimony to the power of Jesus Christ to save those who believed in Him, never for the sake of the miracle itself. Those who long for signs and miracles today need to hear the Gospel and to give thanks to God for His grace in forgiving our sins through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross and for the gift of His Spirit who empowers us to repent and believe. The calling of the Church today is to proclaim this Gospel, for the Gospel, the message of Christ, is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe!
This is what Satan wants to stop: the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus. Even signs and miracles can mislead people, but the Gospel always points to Jesus. When they told Peter and John to stop speaking to anyone in Jesus' name, they replied as we must today: "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard" (4:19-20). People through the centuries and people today are still willing to die before they will deny Jesus Christ. Are you ready and willing to do that? Am I?? We need to read God's Word and be empowered to be His witnesses.
As the believers prayed together they were empowered by the Spirit and "after they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly" (4:31). They didn't all go out and do miracles, but they boldly proclaimed the Gospel! They were all "one in heart and mind … With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all" (4:33). While "grace" is often defined as "undeserved favor," (which it IS!) … it is also "the empowering presence of God, present in every believer, that enables us to be what He calls us to be and to do what He calls us to do." He calls us to be disciples of Jesus Christ and He calls us to proclaim the Gospel to every creature under heaven.
It is to that task that we must dedicate ourselves as we work together as one body. We proclaim the name of Jesus because "salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (4:12). This verse alone, along with many, many others - indeed, the whole Bible - should put an end to all the talk of an "interfaith movement," and the "ecumenical movement" that seeks to unite all those who claim to be Christians, but who do not believe the Bible to be the Word of God or that Jesus is the only way of salvation, and then to unite all religions together in the worship of some "god" who is NOT the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
How can those who claim to be Christians so quickly give up the Name that is above every name, the Name of Jesus, that alone has the power to save because it points us to the cross and His shed blood?! Stand firm, my brothers and sisters in Christ. When they tell us to stop speaking in this name, may we reply as Peter and John did: "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard!" (4:19-20).
"Almighty God, my Father in heaven, I approach Your throne of grace in the name of Your Son Jesus Christ. I confess that there is no other name, no other way by which I can draw near to You in all Your glory! I rest in the shed blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of my sins and testify that I am His witness, willing to lay down my life for the sake of His Name. Empower me, Father, with the filling of Your Spirit, that I may boldly declare the Name of Jesus to those who have not yet heard and to those who need to hear it again. I offer You, my God, all that I am and all that I have, in Jesus' name, Amen"
Scripture Reading: Acts 3 - 4 …
What distinguishes true biblical Christianity from any other religion is JESUS! Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of God's promises in the Old Testament and the center of God's promises in the New Testament. Those today who preach a Christianity without Jesus, without the cross, without the resurrection, without His rule from heaven or His return in glory know nothing of the Gospel, the good news of salvation in the Name of Jesus! "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (4:12).
There is nothing "magical" in a name. When the Apostles ("sent-out ones") began to preach the Gospel and do miracles to confirm that the message was from God, they pointed not to their own power, but to the power of Jesus: "It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through Him that has given this complete healing to him (the crippled man), as you can all see" (3:16). In the name of Jesus the power of Jesus was available, and in the name of Jesus today people are brought from spiritual death to spiritual life. "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (4:12). Do you understand that? Do you believe that? Has your life been empowered by your relationship with Jesus? Have you taken His name upon you? Are your eyes set on Him? Does your heart love Him? Do you desire to be like Him? Are you longing to meet Him?
It is easy to get caught up in doing things that you think you should do in order to show that you are a "good Christian," but it starts with knowing and loving Jesus. Peter and John were ordinary men, called by Jesus, empowered by His Spirit, who boldly proclaimed the Gospel … the name of Jesus. Peter's words to the crowd that came running to them after the healing of the crippled man are almost amusing: "Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?" (3:12). Surely Peter could understand why the people would be amazed. Something like this didn't happen every day. But Peter had been with Jesus for several years. He had seen things like this all the time and now, because he had seen the risen Jesus and been empowered by His Spirit, he expected things like this to happen.
His words of explanation are important: "The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus … You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead" (3:13,15). The entire Bible points to the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is HIS revelation and He sent His Son, Jesus, the Christ, to testify to HIS power. Peter calls them to repent so their sins could be forgiven and then points to the future promise of God … "that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that He may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you - even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as He promised long ago through His holy prophets" (3:19-21).
Once again the beauty of the Bible is seen in the continuity from the Old Testament to the New Testament. The coming of Jesus was not "out-of-the-blue," but was the fulfillment of all that the prophets had foretold … and there's more to come!! Peter boldly proclaims that "all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have foretold these days" (3:24), and points back to God's promise to Abraham, "Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed" (3:25; Genesis 12:3), so the prophets also point to the future reign of God's anointed King, as Peter points out in his prayer after his and John's release from jail: "Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His Anointed One" (4:25-26; Psalm 2:1-2).
In our day, as we read of wars in the Middle East and elsewhere, how we need to remember that Jesus Christ rules on His throne and though the nations rage against the truth of His Word and His promises to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, both physical (Israel) and spiritual (the Church), Jesus WILL return and gather His people and establish His kingdom on the earth. "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (4:12). Everything the Bible predicts will happen, just as God says it will, and only those who repent and believe, who are born again by the Spirit and given new hearts and minds, will inherit the kingdom of God!
Some today have their eyes set on the signs and miracles done by the apostles, so it is important to point out that no one else was doing miracles. Those who look for signs and miracles today are often misled by impostors. When Paul spoke about these things in I Corinthians 12:28-31, he made it clear that these were specific gifts of the Spirit given to specific people for a specific purpose. We read in II Corinthians 12:12: "The things that mark an apostle - signs, wonders and miracles - were done among you with great perseverance." He was addressing those who did not accept him, Paul, as an apostle, so he was comparing what Jesus empowered him to do with the marks of the other apostles. Why did Paul care if they considered him to be a messenger sent from God? Because he wanted them to believe the Gospel - the message God had given him to take to the Jews AND the Gentiles.
It was to confirm that message as being from God that God empowered the apostles to perform them: "This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Spirit distributed according to His will" (Hebrews 2:3-4). GOD is in control of the gifts He gives and when, where and to whom He gives them. But always the purpose is the same: to exalt the name of Jesus and to confirm the message of the Gospel. The miracles were done as a testimony to the power of Jesus Christ to save those who believed in Him, never for the sake of the miracle itself. Those who long for signs and miracles today need to hear the Gospel and to give thanks to God for His grace in forgiving our sins through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross and for the gift of His Spirit who empowers us to repent and believe. The calling of the Church today is to proclaim this Gospel, for the Gospel, the message of Christ, is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe!
This is what Satan wants to stop: the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus. Even signs and miracles can mislead people, but the Gospel always points to Jesus. When they told Peter and John to stop speaking to anyone in Jesus' name, they replied as we must today: "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard" (4:19-20). People through the centuries and people today are still willing to die before they will deny Jesus Christ. Are you ready and willing to do that? Am I?? We need to read God's Word and be empowered to be His witnesses.
As the believers prayed together they were empowered by the Spirit and "after they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly" (4:31). They didn't all go out and do miracles, but they boldly proclaimed the Gospel! They were all "one in heart and mind … With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all" (4:33). While "grace" is often defined as "undeserved favor," (which it IS!) … it is also "the empowering presence of God, present in every believer, that enables us to be what He calls us to be and to do what He calls us to do." He calls us to be disciples of Jesus Christ and He calls us to proclaim the Gospel to every creature under heaven.
It is to that task that we must dedicate ourselves as we work together as one body. We proclaim the name of Jesus because "salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (4:12). This verse alone, along with many, many others - indeed, the whole Bible - should put an end to all the talk of an "interfaith movement," and the "ecumenical movement" that seeks to unite all those who claim to be Christians, but who do not believe the Bible to be the Word of God or that Jesus is the only way of salvation, and then to unite all religions together in the worship of some "god" who is NOT the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
How can those who claim to be Christians so quickly give up the Name that is above every name, the Name of Jesus, that alone has the power to save because it points us to the cross and His shed blood?! Stand firm, my brothers and sisters in Christ. When they tell us to stop speaking in this name, may we reply as Peter and John did: "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard!" (4:19-20).
"Almighty God, my Father in heaven, I approach Your throne of grace in the name of Your Son Jesus Christ. I confess that there is no other name, no other way by which I can draw near to You in all Your glory! I rest in the shed blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of my sins and testify that I am His witness, willing to lay down my life for the sake of His Name. Empower me, Father, with the filling of Your Spirit, that I may boldly declare the Name of Jesus to those who have not yet heard and to those who need to hear it again. I offer You, my God, all that I am and all that I have, in Jesus' name, Amen"
Thursday, October 2, 2014
"The sign of Jonah …"
Day #279: Daily Bible Reading Plan - October 3rd
Scripture Reading: Jonah 1 - 4 …
Historical events have significance only when seen in the light of God's purpose to make Himself known and to call some to believe in Him and to be saved from His just judgment. Everything that is going on in our world today plays a part in this soon-to-be-concluded chain of events leading up to God's final judgment and to the deliverance of all who have received His grace and believed in Jesus Christ. The meaning of the events recorded in the book of Jonah were not clear at the time, but can be understood only in the context of Jesus' coming and His death and resurrection.
First, we need to look at the events themselves. Jonah received the word of the LORD several decades before the Assyrians defeated the northern kingdom of Israel. Idolatry had become the hallmark of this kingdom from its beginning. These descendants of Abraham occupied the land God had promised to Abraham and his descendants, but they had built their own altars and established their own religion … a mixture of the worship God had commanded and of the worship of the gods of the nations around them. God will not share His glory! He sent prophets to warn His people and to call them to turn from their sin, but they ignored the prophets, putting some of them to death. It would not be long before they suffered the consequences.
God came to Jonah and told him to go preach in Nineveh, a heathen city that was for a time the capital city of the new Assyrian Empire … the largest city in the world at the time. It was not to Israel that Jonah was sent, but to a people who did not know of the God of Israel, the one true God. They worshiped idols, or they worshiped nothing at all, not unlike many today. God did not send an army to deliver His message, but one lonely prophet … and a very reluctant one at that. Who could blame Jonah for being afraid? The message God gave him was not sugar-coated: "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me" (1:2).
What would happen to a prophet who went into a foreign country and called them to repent and to believe in the God of another nation? One can only imagine. So "Jonah ran away from the LORD" (1:3). How often do we run away from the call of God to preach against a world that has rejected God and the Savior He has sent? It's not politically correct today to tell anyone that they are worshiping a false God, that they are believing a lie. Everyone is "entitled" to their own beliefs - so the world says and thinks and believes. What could possibly be gained by doing such a thing? Jonah does what seems sensible from a mere human perspective.
But God doesn't take his "No!" for an answer! You probably know the story: Jonah gets on a ship, God sends a storm, the sailors reluctantly throw Jonah overboard and as Jonah sinks into the raging waters God sends "a great fish" (1:17) to swallow him up. Jonah remains in the fish for three days and three nights. Then God commands the fish to spit him out onto dry land and "the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: 'Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you'" (3:1). This time Jonah decides it would be prudent to do as God told him to do, so he takes God's message and heads for Nineveh. Once there, he delivers the message: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned" (3:4). That was it. Judgment was coming. They were wicked, God saw their wickedness, their time had come.
But wait! "The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth" (3:5). Can you imagine a prophet going to, let's say, Moscow … (there are more believers there than were in Nineveh) … and the prophet declares that in forty days God is going to destroy the city. Then imagine that President Putin declares a fast and says, "Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from His fierce anger so that we will not perish" (3:8-9). Sound far-fetched? That's what happened in Nineveh.
Was there ever a more "successful" prophet? Had there EVER been such an amazing response to a preacher's brief, but apparently powerful message?? So how did Jonah react? "Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry" (4:1). Why? What was his problem? God had sent him to Nineveh with a message of judgment and they had repented and believed and God had spared them. Why was Jonah so angry?
Now the truth comes out about why Jonah did not want to go in the first place. God had sent prophet after prophet to Israel and they had NOT repented from their idolatry. Anyone who believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who had revealed Himself for some 1500 years to these people, would know that judgment was just around the corner. God would not allow them to reject Him forever; it was a matter of time. Jonah must have asked himself why God would send him to Nineveh, and in his anger he reveals why he ran in the first place. Jonah "prayed," he talked with God in his anger and said, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity" (4:2).
It's truth time: Jonah didn't WANT the people of Nineveh to repent and believe!! He wanted God to judge THEM, as He was about to judge Israel. In other words, he thought he was wiser than God!! But God was doing something Jonah could not possibly understand. Jonah was right about one thing: God was acting according to His character. God IS "a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity." God speaks through the prophet Ezekiel and says, "Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? … Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?" (Ezekiel 18:23). God knows better than we do that ALL people deserve His judgment, yet in His love and grace He has decided to save some, and it is up to HIM who these will be!
Jonah wanted it to be people from Israel, but God desired at this moment to show His grace and compassion to future generations who, following the resurrection and ascension of Jesus and the pouring out of His Spirit, would become part of the Church … those from every people, tribe, nation and tongue who would be gathered together to praise the God of grace! In his rebuke of Jonah, God shows him through the illustration of the plant that PEOPLE are important to Him and that He does not find pleasure in bringing His judgment upon them. Whether people from Israel or Nineveh, the only possibility of salvation is grace … the undeserved favor of a holy God.
But there's even more to this story … a lesson that would be uncovered and taught only by Jesus Himself. To those who would say that the events recorded by Jonah did not really happen, Jesus says otherwise. In Matthew 12, verses 39-45, Jesus uses the story of Jonah as an illustration of His own death and resurrection and equates the wickedness of the generation that lived during the time of Jesus with that of previous generations who faced His judgment because they rejected God's Word. The Pharisees and teachers of the law in Judah wanted Jesus to do a miraculous sign, but Jesus answered them, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:39-40).
Jesus then goes on to pronounce God's judgment on that generation, saying that "One greater than Jonah is here" (Matthew 12:41). The Gospel of Jesus Christ has been proclaimed through the earth for nearly 2,000 years. There is virtually no place on earth today that does not have access to God's Word by one means or another. Through this message God is gathering those who believe, who have been born again by His Spirit and who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. God is no respecter of persons. In this "day of salvation" God offers His grace and compassion and mercy to all, knowing that none will come unless His Spirit moves them to do so. Jesus said, "No one can come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:44).
The book of Jonah is much more than a story … it is a sign pointing to Jesus, to the One who was sent by God to bear the burden of His wrath and judgment for all who would believe, throughout the generations. The message begins with judgment, for all deserve God judgment to fall upon us. Yet God IS a God of mercy and love, of grace and compassion. If you hear His Word and believe, humbling yourself and turning from sin, you can know that it was GOD Himself who gave you His Spirit and drew you to place your hope in Jesus. That's the way God works. He points you to the sign of Jonah and calls you to believe in His Son and receive His gift of everlasting life!
"My Father and my God, in Your wisdom You have revealed pictures of Your plans for the future and Your plan of salvation for those who believe in Your Son. Thank You for the continuity of Your Word and for the truth that points us to Your grace and compassion and forgiveness, for apart from the power of the Gospel, I would have no hope of escaping from Your just judgment. To You I come and to You I give my life, in Jesus' name, Amen"
Scripture Reading: Jonah 1 - 4 …
Historical events have significance only when seen in the light of God's purpose to make Himself known and to call some to believe in Him and to be saved from His just judgment. Everything that is going on in our world today plays a part in this soon-to-be-concluded chain of events leading up to God's final judgment and to the deliverance of all who have received His grace and believed in Jesus Christ. The meaning of the events recorded in the book of Jonah were not clear at the time, but can be understood only in the context of Jesus' coming and His death and resurrection.
First, we need to look at the events themselves. Jonah received the word of the LORD several decades before the Assyrians defeated the northern kingdom of Israel. Idolatry had become the hallmark of this kingdom from its beginning. These descendants of Abraham occupied the land God had promised to Abraham and his descendants, but they had built their own altars and established their own religion … a mixture of the worship God had commanded and of the worship of the gods of the nations around them. God will not share His glory! He sent prophets to warn His people and to call them to turn from their sin, but they ignored the prophets, putting some of them to death. It would not be long before they suffered the consequences.
God came to Jonah and told him to go preach in Nineveh, a heathen city that was for a time the capital city of the new Assyrian Empire … the largest city in the world at the time. It was not to Israel that Jonah was sent, but to a people who did not know of the God of Israel, the one true God. They worshiped idols, or they worshiped nothing at all, not unlike many today. God did not send an army to deliver His message, but one lonely prophet … and a very reluctant one at that. Who could blame Jonah for being afraid? The message God gave him was not sugar-coated: "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me" (1:2).
What would happen to a prophet who went into a foreign country and called them to repent and to believe in the God of another nation? One can only imagine. So "Jonah ran away from the LORD" (1:3). How often do we run away from the call of God to preach against a world that has rejected God and the Savior He has sent? It's not politically correct today to tell anyone that they are worshiping a false God, that they are believing a lie. Everyone is "entitled" to their own beliefs - so the world says and thinks and believes. What could possibly be gained by doing such a thing? Jonah does what seems sensible from a mere human perspective.
But God doesn't take his "No!" for an answer! You probably know the story: Jonah gets on a ship, God sends a storm, the sailors reluctantly throw Jonah overboard and as Jonah sinks into the raging waters God sends "a great fish" (1:17) to swallow him up. Jonah remains in the fish for three days and three nights. Then God commands the fish to spit him out onto dry land and "the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: 'Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you'" (3:1). This time Jonah decides it would be prudent to do as God told him to do, so he takes God's message and heads for Nineveh. Once there, he delivers the message: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned" (3:4). That was it. Judgment was coming. They were wicked, God saw their wickedness, their time had come.
But wait! "The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth" (3:5). Can you imagine a prophet going to, let's say, Moscow … (there are more believers there than were in Nineveh) … and the prophet declares that in forty days God is going to destroy the city. Then imagine that President Putin declares a fast and says, "Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from His fierce anger so that we will not perish" (3:8-9). Sound far-fetched? That's what happened in Nineveh.
Was there ever a more "successful" prophet? Had there EVER been such an amazing response to a preacher's brief, but apparently powerful message?? So how did Jonah react? "Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry" (4:1). Why? What was his problem? God had sent him to Nineveh with a message of judgment and they had repented and believed and God had spared them. Why was Jonah so angry?
Now the truth comes out about why Jonah did not want to go in the first place. God had sent prophet after prophet to Israel and they had NOT repented from their idolatry. Anyone who believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who had revealed Himself for some 1500 years to these people, would know that judgment was just around the corner. God would not allow them to reject Him forever; it was a matter of time. Jonah must have asked himself why God would send him to Nineveh, and in his anger he reveals why he ran in the first place. Jonah "prayed," he talked with God in his anger and said, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity" (4:2).
It's truth time: Jonah didn't WANT the people of Nineveh to repent and believe!! He wanted God to judge THEM, as He was about to judge Israel. In other words, he thought he was wiser than God!! But God was doing something Jonah could not possibly understand. Jonah was right about one thing: God was acting according to His character. God IS "a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity." God speaks through the prophet Ezekiel and says, "Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? … Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?" (Ezekiel 18:23). God knows better than we do that ALL people deserve His judgment, yet in His love and grace He has decided to save some, and it is up to HIM who these will be!
Jonah wanted it to be people from Israel, but God desired at this moment to show His grace and compassion to future generations who, following the resurrection and ascension of Jesus and the pouring out of His Spirit, would become part of the Church … those from every people, tribe, nation and tongue who would be gathered together to praise the God of grace! In his rebuke of Jonah, God shows him through the illustration of the plant that PEOPLE are important to Him and that He does not find pleasure in bringing His judgment upon them. Whether people from Israel or Nineveh, the only possibility of salvation is grace … the undeserved favor of a holy God.
But there's even more to this story … a lesson that would be uncovered and taught only by Jesus Himself. To those who would say that the events recorded by Jonah did not really happen, Jesus says otherwise. In Matthew 12, verses 39-45, Jesus uses the story of Jonah as an illustration of His own death and resurrection and equates the wickedness of the generation that lived during the time of Jesus with that of previous generations who faced His judgment because they rejected God's Word. The Pharisees and teachers of the law in Judah wanted Jesus to do a miraculous sign, but Jesus answered them, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:39-40).
Jesus then goes on to pronounce God's judgment on that generation, saying that "One greater than Jonah is here" (Matthew 12:41). The Gospel of Jesus Christ has been proclaimed through the earth for nearly 2,000 years. There is virtually no place on earth today that does not have access to God's Word by one means or another. Through this message God is gathering those who believe, who have been born again by His Spirit and who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. God is no respecter of persons. In this "day of salvation" God offers His grace and compassion and mercy to all, knowing that none will come unless His Spirit moves them to do so. Jesus said, "No one can come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:44).
The book of Jonah is much more than a story … it is a sign pointing to Jesus, to the One who was sent by God to bear the burden of His wrath and judgment for all who would believe, throughout the generations. The message begins with judgment, for all deserve God judgment to fall upon us. Yet God IS a God of mercy and love, of grace and compassion. If you hear His Word and believe, humbling yourself and turning from sin, you can know that it was GOD Himself who gave you His Spirit and drew you to place your hope in Jesus. That's the way God works. He points you to the sign of Jonah and calls you to believe in His Son and receive His gift of everlasting life!
"My Father and my God, in Your wisdom You have revealed pictures of Your plans for the future and Your plan of salvation for those who believe in Your Son. Thank You for the continuity of Your Word and for the truth that points us to Your grace and compassion and forgiveness, for apart from the power of the Gospel, I would have no hope of escaping from Your just judgment. To You I come and to You I give my life, in Jesus' name, Amen"
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
"Obedience to God is the only way to enjoy life!"
Day #278: Daily Bible Reading Plan - October 2nd
Scripture Reading: Proverbs 28 …
Living to please God in obedience to His Word sounds unappealing to those without the Spirit, but to those who know God's love in Jesus Christ and who have within us the desire to SHOW our love to God … not to earn our salvation, but out of thankfulness for God's GIFT of salvation … for US obedience to God arises from a desire to honor and glorify Him, our Father in heaven. We are keenly aware that we live in a world where obedience to God, if given at all, is offered for all the wrong reasons - whether out of fear of judgment or out of a desire to GET something more from God. That is NOT the obedience that brings God's blessing!
In Proverbs 28 Solomon records his insights, given by the Spirit of God, concerning rulers and those whom they rule over. He speaks about the law and our relationship to the law, and as he does so he points out the contrast between rebellion and obedience, as well as the difference between an outward obedience and an inward obedience. He begins with an interesting word picture: "The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion" (28:1). It is a guilty conscience that causes the wicked to flee, for fear that someone will see what they are doing. The righteous, those who live in obedience to God's law, can be confident and bold in knowing that what they are doing is pleasing to God. This is the foundation for the rest of the proverbs that follow: those who have a relationship with the LORD act one way … those who don't act another way.
Even in the days of Solomon, the Spirit of God was at work in a chosen few, giving them wisdom and understanding. Such wisdom and understanding, if it is of God, always leads to a desire for obedience. "... a man of understanding and knowledge maintains order" (28:2). Where you see disorder and rebellion you see a lack of understanding and knowledge from God. "Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law resist them. Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand it fully" (28:4-5). These truths are essential to living life in the freedom of Christ, for by His Spirit we understand the alternative is bondage to the old sinful nature, which leads to death!
Keeping God's law doesn't SOUND like freedom, but IT IS!! As the apostles went out preaching the Gospel, some misunderstood this and became opposed to the Law of God, as if the Law itself was bad. Paul explained in Romans 7 that it was not the LAW that was the problem, but the sinful human nature that didn't want to keep it and in fact, couldn't keep it! But through the work of the Spirit of God those who place their faith in Jesus are set free from the control of the sinful nature. To the Galatians, Paul wrote, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. ... You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace" (Galatians 5:1,4). We are not free FROM the law, but free to KEEP the law, out of gratitude and thanksgiving to God.
Disobedience is always serious and carries with it serious consequences. "If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable" (28:9). Solomon speaks here of your attitude towards riches as a symptom of the problem for many. God tells His people to be content, to give generously and to help those who are in need. That kind of selfless obedience ... obedience that requires sacrifice, is not the product of those whose hearts are not on pleasing God. Even when those without the Spirit do such things, they rob God of His glory by taking credit for themselves rather than giving glory to God. In all these things God calls us continually to testify to the world that it is HIS grace that is at work in us and that whatever good we do, we do in the name of Jesus, giving praise and thanks to Him.
With clarity and resolve Solomon writes, "Blessed is the man who always fears the LORD, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble" (28:14). The wicked man and the wicked ruler are always trying to take advantage of other people. In the end, "he whose walk is blameless is kept safe, but he whose ways are perverse will suddenly fall" (28:18). And "a faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished" (28:20). Such simple statements of truth, but how few heed the lessons they teach. Day after day most people set their minds on self and find no joy in labor or in helping others or in giving or in serving. Instead, they complain and find little or no satisfaction in life. They think we who follow Jesus and who seek to live in obedience to God do not know how to have "fun." Little do they know that obedience to God is the ONLY way to enjoy life!!
In His Sermon on the Mount Jesus taught that "everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock" (Matthew 7:24). What is the foundation of YOUR life? The very first Psalm reveals the truth of Solomon's words here in Proverbs: "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers" (Psalm 1:1-3).
Discover the joy of obedience to God as you set your heart and mind on things above, where Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father. It will not always appear that obedience brings blessing, but in the end, obedience to God IS the only way to enjoy life. Knowing God's forgiveness and grace through faith in Jesus compels the heart of all who believe to desire obedience, and to find in serving God the greatest joy this world has to offer. Draw near to Him in faith today and offer yourself as a sacrifice of thanksgiving to Him as you delight in His Law. "Blessed is the one who hears the Word of God and keeps it" (Luke 11:28).
"Heavenly Father, it is so easy to get drawn into the foolishness of the old nature and to find fleeting pleasure in disobedience rather than true joy in obedience. Forgive my sin and continue Your work in me, helping me to delight in Your truth and to live in obedience to Your commands, knowing that in doing so I discover true freedom and experience true joy, knowing that I am following the path of righteousness that Jesus walked. Give me daily grace to follow my Master and my Friend. In Jesus' Name, Amen"
Scripture Reading: Proverbs 28 …
Living to please God in obedience to His Word sounds unappealing to those without the Spirit, but to those who know God's love in Jesus Christ and who have within us the desire to SHOW our love to God … not to earn our salvation, but out of thankfulness for God's GIFT of salvation … for US obedience to God arises from a desire to honor and glorify Him, our Father in heaven. We are keenly aware that we live in a world where obedience to God, if given at all, is offered for all the wrong reasons - whether out of fear of judgment or out of a desire to GET something more from God. That is NOT the obedience that brings God's blessing!
In Proverbs 28 Solomon records his insights, given by the Spirit of God, concerning rulers and those whom they rule over. He speaks about the law and our relationship to the law, and as he does so he points out the contrast between rebellion and obedience, as well as the difference between an outward obedience and an inward obedience. He begins with an interesting word picture: "The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion" (28:1). It is a guilty conscience that causes the wicked to flee, for fear that someone will see what they are doing. The righteous, those who live in obedience to God's law, can be confident and bold in knowing that what they are doing is pleasing to God. This is the foundation for the rest of the proverbs that follow: those who have a relationship with the LORD act one way … those who don't act another way.
Even in the days of Solomon, the Spirit of God was at work in a chosen few, giving them wisdom and understanding. Such wisdom and understanding, if it is of God, always leads to a desire for obedience. "... a man of understanding and knowledge maintains order" (28:2). Where you see disorder and rebellion you see a lack of understanding and knowledge from God. "Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law resist them. Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand it fully" (28:4-5). These truths are essential to living life in the freedom of Christ, for by His Spirit we understand the alternative is bondage to the old sinful nature, which leads to death!
Keeping God's law doesn't SOUND like freedom, but IT IS!! As the apostles went out preaching the Gospel, some misunderstood this and became opposed to the Law of God, as if the Law itself was bad. Paul explained in Romans 7 that it was not the LAW that was the problem, but the sinful human nature that didn't want to keep it and in fact, couldn't keep it! But through the work of the Spirit of God those who place their faith in Jesus are set free from the control of the sinful nature. To the Galatians, Paul wrote, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. ... You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace" (Galatians 5:1,4). We are not free FROM the law, but free to KEEP the law, out of gratitude and thanksgiving to God.
Disobedience is always serious and carries with it serious consequences. "If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable" (28:9). Solomon speaks here of your attitude towards riches as a symptom of the problem for many. God tells His people to be content, to give generously and to help those who are in need. That kind of selfless obedience ... obedience that requires sacrifice, is not the product of those whose hearts are not on pleasing God. Even when those without the Spirit do such things, they rob God of His glory by taking credit for themselves rather than giving glory to God. In all these things God calls us continually to testify to the world that it is HIS grace that is at work in us and that whatever good we do, we do in the name of Jesus, giving praise and thanks to Him.
With clarity and resolve Solomon writes, "Blessed is the man who always fears the LORD, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble" (28:14). The wicked man and the wicked ruler are always trying to take advantage of other people. In the end, "he whose walk is blameless is kept safe, but he whose ways are perverse will suddenly fall" (28:18). And "a faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished" (28:20). Such simple statements of truth, but how few heed the lessons they teach. Day after day most people set their minds on self and find no joy in labor or in helping others or in giving or in serving. Instead, they complain and find little or no satisfaction in life. They think we who follow Jesus and who seek to live in obedience to God do not know how to have "fun." Little do they know that obedience to God is the ONLY way to enjoy life!!
In His Sermon on the Mount Jesus taught that "everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock" (Matthew 7:24). What is the foundation of YOUR life? The very first Psalm reveals the truth of Solomon's words here in Proverbs: "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers" (Psalm 1:1-3).
Discover the joy of obedience to God as you set your heart and mind on things above, where Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father. It will not always appear that obedience brings blessing, but in the end, obedience to God IS the only way to enjoy life. Knowing God's forgiveness and grace through faith in Jesus compels the heart of all who believe to desire obedience, and to find in serving God the greatest joy this world has to offer. Draw near to Him in faith today and offer yourself as a sacrifice of thanksgiving to Him as you delight in His Law. "Blessed is the one who hears the Word of God and keeps it" (Luke 11:28).
"Heavenly Father, it is so easy to get drawn into the foolishness of the old nature and to find fleeting pleasure in disobedience rather than true joy in obedience. Forgive my sin and continue Your work in me, helping me to delight in Your truth and to live in obedience to Your commands, knowing that in doing so I discover true freedom and experience true joy, knowing that I am following the path of righteousness that Jesus walked. Give me daily grace to follow my Master and my Friend. In Jesus' Name, Amen"
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