Tag: Darkness

11.m.”The Lord is good”

Nahum 1:7  The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.

1 Chronicles 16:34     Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

Psalms 25:8    Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.

Psalms 100:5     For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

Lamentations 3:25    The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.

Romans 11:22   Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.

Do you think about the “Good of our Lord and Savior”?  I am sure thoughts about His saving grace, mercy, forgiveness, and promise of forever with Him in eternity are present most days.  But the “Good or our Savior” is more than that.  He has given us each talent to use.  These talents allow us to fix, repair, build, grow, lead, and apply knowledge.  These are not burdens but often we fall into the trap of calling them a burden.  We say things like “I have to” do something rather than thanking God for the talents that allow us to say “I get to” do something.  These talents are not a burden, they are God’s gift to us.  He has given us abilities that help us and certainly can be used to help others.  These abilities are not “I have to’s” but “I get to’s”.  When we have thoughts of our abilities as having to use them we won’t have a mindset to be thanking God for them.  We will have thoughts of them being a burden and our heart for whatever the task is will not be giving God praise and thanks.  Granted some of our gifts will get us dirty, tired, and mentally exhausted as we use them.  It sure makes the task or job much more meaningful to do when we “get to” use our gifts rather than “have to”.  Each of us has been given both physical and spiritual gifts.  In these gifts of abilities and talents, we have a great opportunity to thank and honor God by how we use them and how we think about “Getting to” use them.  When have you taken a mental inventory of all the gifts, talents, and abilities God has given you?  When we are mindful of them it is a good foundation for putting honor and glory and thankfulness in to “Getting to us them”.

11.f. “To open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God”

Micah 7:8  Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication. Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, “Where is the Lord your God?” My eyes will look upon her; now she will be trampled down like the mire of the streets.

Isaiah 60:19-20    The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.  Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended.

Psalms 97:11    Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.

Psalms 112:4     Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.

Psalms 27:1   The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Malachi 4:2   But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.

John 8:12    Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Acts 26:18    to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Revelation 21:23    And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

Talk about faith and power through Jesus Christ – “when I fall, I shall rise, when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me”!!  How many times have you been in darkness?  Not the light associated with light and dark but darkness in your soul.  I am sure you can relate to this type of darkness when your heartaches, your mind can’t seem to get out of the rut of some rejecting or negative thought, and no matter how hard your try the light of resolve for the darkness seems out of reach.  Days seem to drag on and you hope tomorrow is better somehow.  this is how it goes when we are looking from within our own self-reliance to overcome the darkness that is robbing light from our days.  Maybe we could learn to trust Jesus Christ more.  Maybe we could rely on Him more.  Maybe we could call out to Him more.  Maybe we could believe in Him more.  Maybe we could claim His promises more.  I am confident that if we did we too could say, “when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.”

9.x. “For we have made lies our refuge”

Amos 5:18   Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him. Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?

Isaiah 28:15-22     Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have an agreement, when the overwhelming whip passes through it will not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;

Malachi 4:1     “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.

There is a time for all men to be aware of the Day of the Lord.  A dark time will come and expose all the lies we have made into a false sense of refuge.  Prosperity and ease of life seem to draw us away into these lies and further away from God.  What will it take for us to recognize the absolute need to honor and glorify God in all that we think, say and do?  How many days go by where our desire to satisfy self is put in higher regard than honoring and glorifying God?  Far too many, I think.  We get sucked into the vortex of the busyness of life and before we know it God is but a distant thought.  We do have time now.  Time to set aside self and to start learning what it means to humbly serve and honor and glorify God.  We have time right now to intentionally choose to set aside time for growing and seeking God in new and mature ways.  We have time to reflect on both sin and forgiveness, weakness and power, fear and courage, and eternity.  We have time to spend in His Word.  Turn back to Him and determine to stay close.  Determine to listen for His Spirit to guide you.  And above all give honor and glory to Him.  He is worthy of all honor, glory, and praise.

9.v. “Because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God,”

Amos 4:4  “Come to Bethel, and transgress; to Gilgal, and multiply transgression; bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days; offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened, and proclaim freewill offerings, publish them; for so you love to do, O people of Israel!” declares the Lord God. “I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places, yet you did not return to me,” declares the Lord. “I also withheld the rain from you when there were yet three months to the harvest; I would send rain on one city, and send no rain on another city; one field would have rain, and the field on which it did not rain would wither; so two or three cities would wander to another city to drink water, and would not be satisfied; yet you did not return to me,” declares the Lord. “I struck you with blight and mildew; your many gardens and your vineyards, your fig trees and your olive trees the locust devoured; yet you did not return to me,” declares the Lord. “I sent among you a pestilence after the manner of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, and carried away your horses, and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils; yet you did not return to me,” declares the Lord. “I overthrew some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a brand plucked out of the burning; yet you did not return to me,” declares the Lord. “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!” For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought, who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!

This is very breathtaking news that Amos was prophesying.  God spoke to His people through Amos and proclaimed their sin and His actions that were intended to bring them back to Him.  What does it say they did? “yet you did not return to Me”.  Five times He reminded them that He was the one that was the author of the trial they were going through.  Five separate times He caused trials to bring them back to Himself but they chose to remain oblivious to these trials coming from His hand.  How many years did all of this transpire over and how many people allowed themselves to be led astray by the words of others who stood fast in their belief that God was not behind the calamities that they were experiencing?  What need is there to come to God if He is not seen as the author of their trials?  What need is there to acknowledge their sinful ways, repent and turn back to God?  Belief, or the lack thereof, has a way of defining the way we see what is happening and how we live each day.  Let it not be said of us “yet you did not return to me”

9.u. “For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it?”

Amos 3:1  Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt: “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. “Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet? Does a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? Does a young lion cry out from his den, if he has taken nothing? Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth, when there is no trap for it? Does a snare spring up from the ground, when it has taken nothing? Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid? Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it? “For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.

Genesis 50:20    As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

Isaiah 14:24-27     The LORD of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stan  that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and on my mountains trample him underfoot; and his yoke shall depart from them, and his burden from their shoulder.”

 This is the purpose that is purposed concerning the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.  For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?

Isaiah 45:7   I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things.

2 Kings 22:13     “Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

God is saying; “Will there be any evil, or calamity inflicted on a wicked city, which does not proceed from me, as the effect of my wrath?” These the examples were intended to convince the people that they had cause for alarm, as their monstrous iniquities called down the vengeance of God to punish them with these calamities. Time after time prophets were sent to warn the Israelites of pending action from God.  This warning came with a call to repent and turn away from their sinful ways.  I am sure there were those who did take this seriously even while most others did not.  Such is the way of mankind when the Word of God is void and humble service, honor, praise, worship, trust, obedience, and reliance no longer are even a thought in their mind.  The process of blindly following after that which is not pleasing to God will always start with losing desire, hunger, and thirst for God’s Word.   When this happens that void is filled with what the world has to offer.  That first day of thinking you are to busy to spend time in God’s Word is a slippery slope of more days to follow.  At first, there may be some void that is felt somewhere in your soul but after repeated days this void is no longer felt.  It has been replaced by things of this world that we so easily claim bring satisfaction into our life.  I heard on the radio that some governors are proclaiming that abortion is not an elective procedure and federal judges are agreeing.  I have a friend who needs a triple by-pass and that is deemed elective, some prostate and cancer surgeries, for the most part, are called elective, as well, some knee, hip, and other orthopedic surgeries.  Think about this: taking the life of an unborn and healthy child is deemed medically necessary while treating other life-enhancing surgeries not.  When has a nation that tolerates pornography (adult entertainment) ever survived judgment coming from God over it?  When as a nation that promotes, supports, and tolerates homosexual activity survived coming judgment from God?  There has not been any since the creation of the world.  Denying God and that He exists does not mean it is true.  It does not protect a nation or person from His judgment.  “For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our father have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us”

9.s. “The hour has come for you to wake from sleep”

Romans 13:11  Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.  The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.  Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Today a bit of change from minor prophets.  This verse has struck me as a wake-up call. “Wake from sleep” “Nearer to us now than when we first believed “the day is at hand” and “let us walk properly as in the daytime”  When we allow the world to influence us and cast a shadow over our walk with Christ, we walk in darkness.  We are not exposing ourselves to His Word and we are hiding from the light.  When we walk in the light we are able to more clearly see and navigate this world appropriately.  Our conduct is exposed to His Word because we are seeking to be in the light of it.  We begin and continue to mature and understand what it means to live in this world as a light for others to see Jesus Christ.

9.k. Among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.

Joel 2:28 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.

There is so much here that relates to Jesus Christ, salvation, and end times.  I think what Peter was led to say in Acts captures the fullness of Joel today.  Act 2:17-37 “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.  And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him, “‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”’ Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

9.g.  Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger?

Joel 2:10  a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations. Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them. Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses they run. As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle. Before them peoples are in anguish; all faces grow pale. Like warriors they charge; like soldiers they scale the wall. They march each on his way; they do not swerve from their paths. They do not jostle one another; each marches in his path; they burst through the weapons and are not halted. They leap upon the city, they run upon the walls, they climb up into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief. The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. The Lord utters his voice before his army, for his camp is exceedingly great; he who executes his word is powerful. For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome; who can endure it?

Numbers 24:23    And he took up his discourse and said, “Alas, who shall live when God does this?

Nahum 1:6     Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.

Malachi 3:2   But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.

Revelation 6:17    for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

How many people right now are walking around with the thought of Christs’ coming wrath?  How many tune in their radio to an uplifting station that speaks of grace, mercy, and love of Jesus Christ, who, living in prosperity, freedom, and without many worries cast their focus on the ease of life.  The thought of coming wrath and anger of Jesus Christ is far from their thoughts.  He is coming again to claim His own and then the judgment.  The problem is we very seldom give thought to the coming judgment because we know we are redeemed, saved, and have our focus on eternity in heaven with Him.  If we don’t give thought to coming judgment how are we to have the urgency to tell others of the gospel.  It seems as though the gospel has been watered down to prosperity, financial, relational, and health benefits for believing in Jesus Christ.  It seems as though calls to come to Christ are not for the redemption of sin and coming wrath and judgment but rather for ease of life cares.  We need to speak of sin, judgment, and salvation.  This needs to be proclaimed or I fear we will see shallow conversions without root.  Our lives this side of eternity are not about ease of life but rather walking through this life of trials and troubles with faith in Jesus Christ knowing that our home is not here but in Heaven.  Our redemption and salvation from sin change us from the inside and trust, obedience, and reliance grows through maturing our faith in Christ through His Word.  Ever before us is the knowledge of what we have been saved and set free from.  The knowledge of being saved from our sin and the coming judgment against sin should propel us to speak boldly of sin, judgment, and salvation.

6.j. The faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.

Revelation 3:14  “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.

John 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14     And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Colossians 1:13     He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

Psalms 89:27     And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.

John 3:16     “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Hebrews 1:6    And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”

Proverbs 8:22-30   “The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.  Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.  When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water.  Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth,  before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world.  When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,  when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep,  when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth,  then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always,

It is a mystery to even begin to partially understand the depth of the Triune God.  We read of the “faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation”, Firstborn, The Word was with God and was God, Word becoming flesh dwelling among us, beloved Son, For by Him all things were created, He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead, He is the head of the body – the church, let all God’s angels worship Him, I was beside Him, rejoicing before Him always”    

It is He who is speaking to the Church, us.  It is He who is giving us warning, encouragement, promises, and hope.  It is He to whom we either live for with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength or whom we disregard most of our waking moments and give little thought or worship too.  We do well to think about who it is that called us and opened our hearts and minds to salvation, redemption, and the need for repentance and forgiveness. Intentionally choose to examine your life before our Lord Jesus Christ and determine if you are walking worthy of the Son of God and the price He paid for your sin.