Month: September 2024

“Turning Point – Devotion”

 

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Hebrews 11:6

Jesus “marveled” twice when it came to faith. The first was when a Roman soldier said that a simple word from Jesus could heal the soldier’s servant. Jesus “marveled” at this, saying, “I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!” (Luke 7:9) The second was when Jesus found little faith in Nazareth: “And He marveled because of their unbelief” (Mark 6:6).

Hebrews 11:6 says that faith is required to please God—faith in His existence and His rewarding of faith. Seeking God diligently is not easy—Solomon compared it to digging for hidden treasure (Proverbs 2:1-5). And Jesus said it begins with our will: “If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know…whether [My teaching] is from God or whether I speak on My own authority” (John 7:17). Building faith begins with our desire to know God, which leads to seeking Him and results in trusting Him.

God rewards the faith of those who seek Him; Jesus’ ministry of healing and compassion is evidence of that. Seek Him today, knowing your faith pleases Him.

Nothing but faith can comprehend the truth.

There are two sides to faith. One is completely opposite of the other. One is faithful and one is faithless.  Walking by faith, waiting by faith, understanding by faith, looking forward by faith, relying by faith, trusting by faith, following by faith, obeying by faith, praying by faith, forgiven by faith, soft hearts and minds to things of God by faith, Kind by faith, humble by faith, patient by faith, joyful by faith, rejoicing by faith, hopeful by faith, generous by faith, etc….. are all on one side.

On the other side: self-reliance, self-worth, denying God, unbelief, disobedience, following cultural norms, deaf and blind to things of God, trust in self or anything other than God, unforgiven, prideful, boastful, greed, seeking worldly pleasures, no concern for eternal life, denying God’s coming judgment, …….etc

Our faith will continue to grow as we continue in His Word and seek His presence and leading.

52.x. Wilderness – 17.c. “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today”

 

 

Deu 30:11-20  “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

It is an intentional choice of the heart and mind and soul to continually follow, trust, rely on, obey, and have faith in Jesus Christ. There is no middle ground. It is all or nothing and it is an intentional choice. We choose to humbly serve, honor, and obey in every aspect of our thoughts, words, and actions so that Jesus Christ is honored and glorified. If we give partial nods toward this absolute, we are not committed, nor have we chosen to give our whole self and all we think, say, and do to honor and glorify Him. 

Being lukewarm is a denial of His worth to be honored and glorified and praised and worshipped. What kind of commitment is this to the one and only Son of God who willingly left heaven and came to earth to be beaten and nailed to a cross for our sins?  Neglect of God’s Word will lead to being lukewarm at best. Neglect is an intentional choice. Neglect happens when we allow the busyness of life or sin to rule over our commitment to Him. 

Our growth in the understanding and knowledge of God comes through His Word and the application of it through the Holy Spirit’s leading. If there is a lack of His Word in our lives we deny the importance of it and are intentionally choosing not to get closer to God. It would seem we fail to understand this principle. Can a person spend too much time in God’s Word? No. Can a person be affected by the lack of His Word in their lives? Yes

Take some time to look into your time in His Word. If you would be embarrassed should anyone know, then you have answered the question. It should be out of humility that we do this and not with pride. The more time we spend in His Word the more we will understand of His grace, mercy, and love.  This understanding will humble you in ways that lead to reverence and the want to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all thoughts, words, and actions continually. 

Spend time in His Word with an open heart and mind. Ask Him to fill you with understanding, knowledge, and wisdom. 

Turning Point – Devotion

 

If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear. But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer.
Psalm 66:18-19

Why are witnesses in a courtroom required to swear to tell “the whole truth” when they testify? So that what they say is true matches up with what they know to be true. If they are found to be lying—saying one thing but knowing another—they can be convicted of perjury and suffer serious penalties.

A judge and jury cannot see into a witness’ heart or mind to tell whether or not the truth is being presented. But God can. In the Old Testament, there were clear warnings about coming before God in prayer while hiding sin in one’s heart. That is, attempting to act holy in prayer while being unholy in practice. In such cases, God turns a deaf ear to the prayers (Proverbs 15:29; 28:9; Isaiah 1:15; 59:1-2). And the same is said in the New Testament (1 Peter 3:12). The first step in prayer is confession leading to cleansing.

When you pray, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal anything that would hinder your prayers.

Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.

Pathway to Victory – Devotion

 

There is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

–1 Timothy 2:5

According to the false teaching of mysticism, faith in Jesus Christ is not enough to be a spiritual Christian–you also need some kind of supernatural experience. Paul battled mystical teachings in the church at Colossae. In Colossians 2:18, he wrote, “Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind.”

One component of mysticism in Colossae was “self-abasement and the worship of angels.” In the New International Version, the phrase “self-abasement” is translated as “false humility.” My predecessor at First Dallas, Dr. W. A. Criswell, kept a beautiful, leather-bound book in his office titled My Humility and How I Achieved It. When you opened the book, all the pages were blank. That book could have easily been written by the Colossian mystics. They prided themselves on their humility.

How does that relate to the worship of angels? These mystics were saying, “God is so great that we could never come to Him. So instead of worshiping God, we will worship the angels.” That tendency continues even today. There are people who say, “We can’t approach God on our own; we need a go-between.” So they try to come to God through angels, saints, or spiritual leaders.

The fact is, God is too holy for us to approach Him. We do need a go-between. But that go-between is not a priest, a saint, or an angel; it is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says, “There is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).

The Bible talks about the reality of angels, but they are no substitute for Jesus. Hebrews 1:5 says, “To which of the angels did [God] ever say, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You’?” God never said that to an angel–only to Jesus. The writer continued, “Are [angels] not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?” (v. 14). Angels are like God’s AAA service: He dispatches them to render service for those of us who belong to Jesus Christ. But as wonderful as angels are, God never meant for us to worship them. We are to worship only God.

52.w. Wilderness – 17.b. “When you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul”

 

 

Deu 30:1-10  “And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you, and return to the LORD your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you. If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there he will take you.  And the LORD your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. And the LORD your God will put all these curses on your foes and enemies who persecuted you. And you shall again obey the voice of the LORD and keep all his commandments that I command you today. The LORD your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the LORD will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, when you obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Of course, this was fulfilled in part by the return of the Babylonian exiles during the times of Ezra and Nehemiah. But the ultimate fulfillment of this would await the Twentieth Century, when God would regather Israel in the Promised Land. This modern regathering is a larger, broader, more sovereign, and more miraculous restoration than that recorded in Ezra and Nehemiah. The modern restoration of Israel more accurately fulfills this promise than the return from the Babylonian exile. Today, Israel is populated from Jews from virtually every country in the world. This promise is fulfilled only in the modern restoration of Israel, not in the return from the Babylonian exile. In the days of the return from the Babylonian exile, the Jewish community was small, weak, and poor. But today, under the modern restoration of Israel, the state of Israel does indeed prosper and the promise to multiply you more than your fathers is fulfilled. Israel, as a nation, is larger, stronger, and richer than at any time in Biblical history.

 As remarkable and as prophetically meaningful the modern restoration of Israel is, it is incomplete. The spiritual dimension of the restoration has not yet been accomplished. Today Israel is a largely secular nation. There is respect for the Bible as a book of history and national identity, but there is not, and has not been, a true turning to the LORD God, particularly as a nation.  But God’s promise still stands. As the final aspect of the promise to restore Israel, God will restore them spiritually. He promises to circumcise your heart. This is an idea repeated in the promises of the New Covenant, in passages like Ezekiel 36:26-27: I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Indeed, Paul promised that all Israel will be saved (Romans 11:26). Jesus said that He would not return until Israel embraced Him as Messiah: For I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!” We regard the modern restoration of Israel as a remarkable sign, and an extremely significant – but thus far only partial – fulfillment of these prophesies.

In part, these prophecies are fulfilled now in the modern restoration of Israel. But perhaps their ultimate fulfillment will happen in the millennium, when Israel has restored as a people truly turned to the LORD and His Messiah, Jesus. (Guzik)

Note how Matthew Henry (18 October 1662 – 22 June 1714) wrote on this passage compared to those who have written in the nearer future. “In this chapter is a plain intimation of the mercy God has in store for Israel in the latter days. This passage refers to the prophetic warnings of the last two chapters, which have been mainly fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and in their dispersion to the present day; and there can be no doubt that the prophetic promise contained in these verses yet remain to come to pass. The Jewish nation shall in some future period, perhaps not very distant.”

Israel became a nation May of 1948. You can see how Henry was looking forward to it happening and Guzik was looking back as it had already happened. 

We live in a time where we see historical fulfillment of God’s Word. How much closer are we to the return of Jesus Christ? Are we ready? Are we looking for His return? Are we living as those with the eyes of our hearts always on an expectant return today? 

Jesus is coming – will He find you watching and waiting for His return or find you going about the busyness of life without a thought or care for it?

Let Him find you ready with a shout of rejoicing upon your mouth at His return.