Month: July 2024

 

 

Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

–Matthew 7:15

The word philosophy comes from two Greek words: phileo, which means “love,” and sophia, which means “wisdom.” Philosophy is the love of wisdom. What’s wrong with that? Isn’t wisdom a good thing? After all, Proverbs 4:5 says, “Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding!”

Yes, wisdom is a good thing–as long as it’s the right kind of wisdom. There are two kinds of wisdom in the world. One kind of wisdom places God at the center of the universe. Psalm 111:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

But there is another kind of wisdom that places humans at the center of the universe. This wisdom says humans are basically good, that all our problems are the result of what other people have done to us, and that the solutions to all of humanity’s problems are found within ourselves. That is human wisdom, and it is the basis of every false philosophy and false religion in the world.

Paul said philosophy based on human wisdom is “empty deception” (Colossians 2:8). It looks appealing and promises to satisfy your deepest needs, but ultimately it’s bankrupt to provide real answers. Instead, human philosophy can lead to destruction. That’s why Paul warned, “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception” (v. 8). Satan is trying to take captive as many people as he can, and many times he uses human philosophy to do so. He lures non-Christians to eternal death, but he also lures Christians away from God. If you are a genuine Christian, you can’t lose your salvation, but chasing after human philosophy can rob you of the riches that belong to you in Christ Jesus.

Sometimes Christians and non-Christians are lured away by overt cults and false religions. Other times, people are lured away by more subtle philosophies–they may have a Christian wrapping, yet at the core, they’re nothing but human wisdom. In 1 Timothy 4:1, Paul warned about the “doctrines of demons.” All false religions and false philosophies are demonic because they lead people away from the true God. But Satan is clever–he doesn’t want people to see these philosophies for what they really are, so he masks them in attractive disguises.

In Matthew 7:15, Jesus said, “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” We must be grounded in our faith so we are not lured away by human philosophy.

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I would be very thankful if you would email me where you have witnessed or seen false  empty deceptions luring or attempting to lure people away from God.

 

1 Corinthians 3:7.  So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase

Arrogance and pride should never come near us as ministers of the good news of Jesus Christ. And make no mistake, the ministry of the gospel isn’t limited to a select few. God has entrusted it to each believer. Have you recounted God’s marvelous works to unbelieving friends or encouraged a despondent co-worker with biblical truth? Or are you quietly serving behind the scenes at your church? In these ways and countless more, believers are ministers of the gospel of grace.

The apostle Paul warns us that if a man or woman is proud, they have truly forgotten who they are in the kingdom. The minister of God is to be the least in preference. Unfortunately, and un-scripturally, many elevate one or two above all others. Believer, beware—this is a mark of carnality.

God’s reminder to us is that we are to maintain the garden while He adds the fruit. Some of us will plant seeds while others will water, but only God gives life and increase. Think about this for a moment. The seed has been loaned to us, we borrowed the water from heaven’s supply, and its fruition has nothing to do with us. So then, where is our ground for glorying? Certainly not among any work that God has graciously involved us in!

There is no room for pride as we go about God’s business, but we can have tremendous confidence. Because “neither is he who plants anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.”

 

For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Hebrews 13:5

Everyone has done it—gone to bed with the weight of the world on our shoulders over a sin committed during the day. It’s certainly destined to be a long night if we didn’t settle accounts with God and others quickly (Ephesians 4:26). But even if we confessed our sin to God (1 John 1:9) and received His forgiveness, there is the discouragement factor. No one likes to disappoint a good friend, especially that Good Friend. How could we have been so                            (arrogant, foolish, disobedient)? How can we face the Lord Jesus in the morning after failing to be loyal to Him today? Feeling like Peter on the night of his three betrayals of Christ (Matthew 26), we toss and turn through a fitful night with minimal sleep.

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Our rest is often subject to thoughts, actions, and events that come into our lives and our reactions to them. Many times our reactions are not in line with God’s Word. Grace, mercy, love, hope, trust, faith, reliance, patience, etc…. are all forgotten and we are consumed with the opposite. While laying our head on our pillow and as our mind starts to calm down, the whispers of the Holy Spirit begin to find their way into our minds.

Our thoughts and actions playback and the Word of God, through the Holy Spirit, convicts our hearts. There will be no release from this conviction without repentance. The fact that God loves you so much that He wants to be your Heavenly Father and wants to be in communion with you is proven by the Holy Spirit convictions of your heart.

Confess and repent of what you have been convicted of.  Choose to trust, rest, and rely on God’s forgiveness and sleep in this holy peace.

 

 

Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.
Acts 12:5

How would you have felt if you had been Peter? King Herod began a persecution of the church in Jerusalem, highlighting it with the murder of the apostle James, the brother of John. When he saw that this pleased the Jewish leaders, he seized Peter also and put him in jail. If you had been Peter, wouldn’t you have thought that Herod planned to murder you as well? How alone would you have felt?

The church prayed diligently that night for Peter who was chained to two Roman soldiers, and there were guards at the doors of the jail too. Talk about lonely! Bound in chains through the night with the prospect of meeting a sword in the morning. But suddenly the church’s prayers were answered as an angel appeared to Peter and set him free. When Peter realized that God had appeared, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord…has delivered me” (Acts 12:11). You may not find yourself chained and condemned to die for Jesus. (Or you might.) But whatever your predicament, if you will wait, God will come to you with peace, protection, or a promise.

It is not a question of whether God will appear when you are in trouble, but how.

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I read this devotion and wonder how easy it is right now to live neglecting God’s Word, giving no thought to the things of God, being lukewarm, and thinking God is there when I am in trouble but I give Him little to no thought when things are going well.

When Paul tells us though we ought to be teachers we are babies in need of being taught. Living in the busyness of life without the preeminence of God being our purpose, will not grow us to a faith that understands peace, rest, joy, hope, or promises of God. This neglectful living and lukewarm approach will only weaken our trust, faith, and reliance.

God is not mocked, what we sow we will reap. If our lives are sowing seeds of what this world has to offer, we will reap fruits from them. This fruit is pleasing to the eyes and seems to give purpose and satisfaction, but in reality, it is not.

Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word of God. There is no maturing and growth in the lives of those being filled with what the world deems important.

There is a bright light to the soul found in the Word of God. It illuminates the differences between truth and false, good and bad, wisdom and foolishness, light and dark, faith and unbelief, love and hate, peace and anger, hope and dread, heavenly and worldly, godly and fleshly, etc….  The Word of God cannot be neglected without it affecting the heart, mind, and soul. Something is going to fill the void.

I fear Satan’s false light is becoming brighter and brighter in the hearts and minds of those who should know better due to neglect of God’s Word.  It is our intentional choice to want to grow in our understanding and knowledge of God. It is also our intentional choice to neglect God’s Word. Just because this is the way of many “Christians” does not make it right. This world will offer many reasons to neglect God’s Word, none of which will benefit your soul or bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ in our of our thoughts, words, and actions.

 

 

 

He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.

–John 3:36

The primary evidence that you are a Christian is not your profession of faith; it is your obedience to God. Walking in Christ proves that you belong to Christ.

In John 14:15, Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” And in John 3:36, He said, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (emphasis mine). If you believe in Christ, you’re going to have a desire to follow Christ.

The corollary of that is sobering: if your life is no different from that of the average non-Christian, then you may be in church every Sunday, but you are not in Christ Jesus. In 2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul said, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” That doesn’t mean the change happens the minute you’re saved. But the process of sanctification–that is, becoming more like Christ–is always moving forward in a true believer’s life.

To illustrate the growth that should be occurring in our relationship with Christ, Paul used an illustration from agriculture: “Walk in Him, having been firmly rooted” (Colossians 2:6–7). The tense of “having been firmly rooted” denotes an action that was completed at a point in time. Paul was referring to salvation. You were saved at a point in time, just as a seed is planted at a point in time.

If Paul had written Colossians for his English class, he would have flunked for mixing metaphors. Notice his switch from agriculture to architecture:  “Walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith” (vv. 6–7). The phrase “being built up” could be translated as “continuing to be built up.” Being planted in the faith is a once-for-all action; being built up in the faith is an ongoing construction project.

Several years ago, our church completed the construction of a brand-new campus. When we finished the foundation, we didn’t have a giant ribbon-cutting celebration. It was a milestone event, but it was simply the beginning of an even greater process. It is the same way in our Christian lives. So many Christians make salvation the end event in their spiritual lives. Yes, receiving Christ is a milestone event, but it’s just the beginning of your relationship with God. God’s plan for you is to be continually built up in the faith.

 

 

When you went to bed last night, how long did you lie awake wondering if the sun would come up the next morning?  How much thought did you give to whether the electricity, gas, and water would work? And how confident do you feel that stop lights will work appropriately?

Some things in life are givens, aren’t they? We don’t spend time wondering whether they are going to happen. On the other hand, there are many things that are question marks each and every day—things which we can only hope and pray will happen: success in our job, continued good health, and happy and productive relationships within our family. Some things in life are relatively certain; other things are not certain at all. Sadly, many believers put God and His promises in the latter category—as if God’s promises can’t really be trusted. But God is faithful, and the evidence is His Son Jesus Christ. God is all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present, and creator of all there is in heaven and earth.  His promises are trustworthy and true. 
God’s Word is full of promises from beginning to end. Knowing them, growing in the knowledge of them, believing in them, and relying on God will give you peace that passes all understanding and make your life a living witness to a dark and lost world.

Because of all that God has done and is doing, I can look at Him and say, “Yes, Lord, I will trust you.”

Because of all that Jesus has done and is doing, I can look at him and say, “Yes, Lord, I will trust you.”

Because of all the Holy Spirit has done and is doing, I can look at him and say, “Yes, Lord, I will trust you.”

 

Deu 27:15-26  “‘Cursed be the man who makes a carved or cast metal image, an abomination to the LORD, a thing made by the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’

 “‘Cursed be anyone who dishonors his father or his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

 “‘Cursed be anyone who moves his neighbor’s landmark.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

 “‘Cursed be anyone who misleads a blind man on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

“‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

 “‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s nakedness.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

 “‘Cursed be anyone who lies with any kind of animal.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

 “‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his sister, whether the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

 “‘Cursed be anyone who lies with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

 “‘Cursed be anyone who strikes down his neighbor in secret.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

 “‘Cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

 “‘Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Declared curses upon those who break the covenant would make a remarkable impression. The Levites declared, and the people agreed to, curses upon those who break God’s law.

i. Curses upon idolaters.

ii. Curses upon those who dishonor their parents. 

iii. Curses upon those who steal.

iv. Curses upon those who are simply cruel.

v. Curses upon the one who perverts the justice due the stranger, the fatherless, and widow.

vi. Curses upon those who disobey God’s sexual standards (regarding incest and bestiality).

vii. Curses upon the violent (the one who attacks his neighbor secretly).

viii. Curses upon those who cheat the courts.

Finally – if one believes they have escaped these curses – there was a curse pronounced upon the one who does not conform to all the words of this law. Even if somehow, we have escaped all the previous curses, none can conform to all the words of this law.

When all are found guilty before the law, and it is clear that they cannot conform to all the words of this law, there is still hope. A clue to this hope is found in the beginning of the chapter, where God declared that an altar be built – not upon Mount Gerizim, the mountain of blessing, but upon Mount Ebal, the mountain of cursing. We need the covering and atoning sacrifice exactly at the point where our sin and failures are revealed and God’s curse is pronounced on our sin.

It is important to recognize that we, in Jesus Christ, do not have an Old Covenant relationship with God. We expect to be blessed, not because of our obedience, but because of our position in Jesus. The curse we deserved was laid upon Him (Galatians 3:10-14). Though there may be an inherent curse of consequences in our disobedience, or even the correcting hand of God, under the New Covenant, He does not punish us or curse us – because all that we deserved, past, present, and future, was poured out upon Jesus. (Guzik)

Galatians 3:10-14.   For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed [is] everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”*  But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God [is] evident, for “the just shall live by faith.”*  Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.”*  Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed [is] everyone who hangs on a tree”*),  that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.