Tag: Salvation

Joy comes in the morning

“Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.”

“The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.”

Psalms 30:5  For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

2 Corinthians 4:17   For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,

Isaiah 57:15-16   For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.  For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would grow faint before me, and the breath of life that I made.

Isaiah 54:7-8   For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you.  In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD, your Redeemer.

Psalms 63:3   Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.

Psalms 16:11  You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Matthew 5:4   “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

2 Corinthians 7:9-10   As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.  For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

Psalms 59:16   But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.

But joy comes in the morning.  It is not fun spending time grieving, in distress, weeping, and having heart deep hurt.  Yet in this life it seems as though it does find us when we do not expect it.  Where do we turn in these times for comfort?  Who is able to ease the burden in our heart?  It is God.  We have seen those who do not trust God and their grief and anger over the distress they are in never goes away.  We see others and possibly ourselves that have passed through this time of trouble and recognize it was God who carried us.  The night time of trials, grieving, distress, and heart deep hurt is followed by “joy in the morning”.  I am not sure how or what God is able to do that turns these heart hurts into joy but I know it happens.  We have all seen loved ones who are in times of hurting and our soul would do anything to remove it.  It is God who leads us through the valley of the shadow of death onto green pastures.  It is He alone who lifts us up out of the darkness into light.  No one likes going through these times alone and it surely seems like that at the time.  God is there.  We should be ever ready to be used by God to be an encouragement and help to those hurting.

 

how long must I wait

” but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

Psalms 27:13  I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!

Psalms 42:5   Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation

Psalms 56:3  When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

2 Corinthians 4:13  Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak,  knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.

Psalms 130:5   I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;

Isaiah 8:17  I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him.

Romans 8:25  But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Lamentations 3:26   It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

1 Corinthians 16:13   Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

Psalms 31:24  Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD!

Isaiah 40:31  but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Waiting for God is not easy when our culture seems to have instant access, instant supply, instant satisfaction.  Faith trusts in God, relies on God, clings to God, and waits for God’s timing, plan, and purpose.  What part of trusting God puts time limits on His steadfast love?  What part of relying on God puts time limits on His perfect plan for our lives? What part of clinging to Him sets time limits on when God responds?  What part of waiting in faith puts time limits on when God will act?  Abraham was promised he would be the father of many nations when he was 75 years old and did not see this fulfilled for 25 years.  Would we wait 25 years?  Abraham was then asked to sacrifice his first born.  Though he did not do it because god stopped him, his faith was never wavering in trusting God, clinging to God, relying on God.  We do well to wait and trust.  God is our hope, strength and peace.

What is a Pure heart

” Who can say, I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin?”

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

Psalms 24:4   He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.

He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

Psalms 18:20  The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.

Job 17:9   Yet the righteous holds to his way, and he who has clean hands grows stronger and stronger.

Isaiah 1:15-16   When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.  Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil,

Isaiah 33:15-16    He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking on evil, he will dwell on the heights; his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks; his bread will be given him; his water will be sure.

James 4:8   Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Proverbs 20:9   Who can say, “I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin”?

Jeremiah 4:14   O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil, that you may be saved. How long shall your wicked thoughts lodge within you?

Matthew 5:8   “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

2 Corinthians 7:1   Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

Revelation 21:27   But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Deuteronomy 4:19   And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.

Acts 14:15   “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

1 Timothy 1:6 Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.

Malachi 3:5   “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.

How do we know what is “detestable and false”?  How do we know if we are “double-minded”?   What are we to consider “vain discussion”?  How do we know what causes “defilement of body and spirit”? What does it mean to have a “pure heart”?  How are we to “cleanse ourselves”? Whose names are “written in the Lambs book of life”?  What does it mean to “draw near to God”?  We can always ask these questions to others looking for answers and more than likely we will get as many different responses as the people we ask.  The key to answering these questions is found in the source you are looking.  How many times do we close our ears to what God is speaking to our heart – diluting away these convictions by listening to what our culture has deemed “OK”.  We try to find answers that allows us set aside God’s leading. Answers that are sought Apart from God’s word will lead us away not closer to God.  Many times God while reading or hear God’s word our heart will be convicted.  We then can choose to listen with our heart and mind – drawing near to God because our heart’s desire is to humble serve, honor and obey Him.  I wonder how many times rather than confess what God has been convicting us of, we choose to do something else good that will offset it.  We create this ledger book in our mind of “Good and Bad”.  This type of thinking allows us to stop thinking about it and falsely thinking our heart is pure or that we are cleansed. Is this why so many people do not continually read God’s word? How can we answer the questions above apart from His word – we can’t.

Do not refuse Him

“Stop trusting in mere humans,
who have but a breath in their nostrils.
Why hold them in esteem?”

“Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.”

“See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.”

 

Psalms 21:8  Your hand will find out all your enemies; your right hand will find out those who hate you. You will make them as a blazing oven when you appear. The LORD will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them. You will destroy their descendants from the earth, and their offspring from among the children of man. Though they plan evil against you, though they devise mischief, they will not succeed.  For you will put them to flight; you will aim at their faces with your bows.

Amos 9:2-3   “If they dig into Sheol, from there shall my hand take them; if they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down.  If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, from there I will search them out and take them; and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them.

1 Corinthians 15:25     For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet

Hebrews 10:28-29   How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?

Revelation 19:15    From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

Psalms 89:22-23  The enemy shall not outwit him; the wicked shall not humble him. I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him.

Micah 7:10   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.

Hebrews 12:25   See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.

Scripture speaks much of God’s mercy, grace, blessings, and love – eternal heaven.  It also speaks warnings of punishment, wrath, and judgement – eternal hell. Proverbs says: “There is a way that seems right to man, but its end is the way to death”.  Today in psalms David speaks again on how nothing is hidden from God.  You can not hide from God.  The way that seems right to man that says: there is no God, or there is no single God, or there is no Judgement, or there is no punishment, or they can earn favor with God by being good. Many will seek after those who speak in line with these thoughts, but in the end these all lead to judgement, punishment and eternal hell.  I read something a few weeks back that said about this life “we are not going to make it out of this life alive”.  How true this is.  The length of our life is but a vapor and is gone in comparison to eternity.  If our eyes are only on this life we lose sight of God and eternity.  We see no need for humbly serving, honoring, and glorifying Him. We reject Him, His offer of salvation through believing  in the redemptive work of Christ on the cross, and through this reject of His mercy, grace, and love are destine to judgement, punishment, and eternity in hell.  We must remember to speak not only of God’s grace, mercy and love but also His wrath, fury and punishment.

Salvation

” On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.”

“But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.”

 

Psalms 21:1   O LORD, in your strength the king rejoices, and in your salvation how greatly he exults! You have given him his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. For you meet him with rich blessings; you set a crown of fine gold upon his head. He asked life of you; you gave it to him, length of days forever and ever. His glory is great through your salvation; splendor and majesty you bestow on him.  For you make him most blessed forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence. For the king trusts in the LORD, and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.

Hebrews 12:2   looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Psalms 28:7   The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.

Psalms 62:7   On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

Psalms 20:4-5   May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans!

Psalms 3:3   But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.

We often are confident in the fact that our salvation is anchored in and on God.  Him alone through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.  David speaks of blessings and security in knowing this and rejoices that God has allowed/directed all of it and made it known to him.  Do we lose sight of this sometime?  Do we forget the great cost of our salvation at the expense of Christ on the cross?  If there is thanksgiving in our heart for this everyday wouldn’t our lives be lived out differently?  Do we realize that for the “JOY” set before Him Jesus endured the cross?  Look at what is says in Isaiah: “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”  Salvation of mankind has been God’s plan since the fall of Adam and Eve.  Yet in this salvation is a qualifier – You must believe.  Therefore if we believe, there should be both an outward and inward difference in our lives.  There should be a desire to honor and glorify and humbly serve and worship and praise and thank God our rock, refuge and author of our salvation.

Guilty

 “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty,”

“The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty”

 

Psalms 20:5  May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May the LORD fulfill all your petitions!

Micah 7:18    Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.

Matthew 12:31  Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

Acts 5:31  God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

Exodus 34:5-7 The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.  The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

Romans 4:7-8   “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

Ephesians 1:7  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,

1 John 1:9   If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Romans 2:4-9  Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works:  to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;  but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.

Isaiah 45:21   Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me.

Nahum 1:2-3  The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

Read these verses again.  God’s steadfast love, forgiveness, slow to anger, pardoning, grace, mercy, and faithfulness are all proclaimed in light of our sin and His salvation.  Yet we also read  “the Lord will by no means clear the guilty,” and “He will render to each one according to his works.” How are we to look at such opposing outcomes?  Scripture tells us that we all have sinned and fall short.  It also says that God so loved the world that He gave is only son and whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. The outcome of not believing we have any sin or need for God, which leads to no need for God or trusting/believing in the redemption/salvation of Jesus Christ.  We will not be cleared of our guilt based on God’s love, mercy, and grace without repentance, belief, and obedience.  Today is the day of salvation.  A day when God is withholding His wrath.  We know that when we die we enter into eternity and if we enter eternity without repentance, belief, and obedience we will certainly experience God’s wrath – thrown into a lake of fire where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth forever and ever.  Scripture states it is fearful to fall into the hands of God’s anger. Our lives, (words, and actions), can be used to lead people toward God.  Stay in His word, listen for His leading, and obey.

Guard your heart

“do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

 

Psalms 18:2
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.  I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.

Psalms 28:1-2
To you, O LORD, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.

Psalms 55:16
But I call to God, and the LORD will save me.

Psalms 62:8
Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.

Philippians 4:6-7
do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Revelation 4:11
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

Luke 1:78
because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Romans 8:31-39
What then shall we say to these things? 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 with him graciously give us all things?

Acts 2:21
And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

It is common for each of us to be anxious about something at different times of our lives.  We don’t have to think back very far to remember these times.  What was going through your mind?  Worry, fret, upset?  God has given us many scripture to comfort us in our times of trouble if we would just trust in His loving hands and power.  If we would seek Him rather than run to “worry”.  If we would trust Him rather than the circumstances that surround us.  If we would learn to cast our cares and worries  on to Him.  The troubles that come our way do not have to be ours to bear alone.  God is ever present and wanting us to acknowledge Him as our rock, refuge, stronghold.  Why do we want to go it alone? Do we actually like to worry, have anxious thoughts, and unable to sleep?  The next time worry, doubt, and anxiousness knocks on your door, ask God to answer it. In His hands we can certainly have a peace that surpasses all understanding.

Disaster and Loneliness

“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”

Psalms 16:4
The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.

Psalms 32:10
Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD.

Psalms 97:7
All worshipers of images are put to shame, who make their boast in worthless idols; worship him, all you gods!

Jonah 2:8
Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.

Joshua 23:7
that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them,

Ecclesiastes 8:12
Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him.

Isaiah 3:11
Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.

Romans 2:8-9
but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek,

Proverbs 13:21
Disaster pursues sinners, but the righteous are rewarded with good.

Many sorrows pursue those who are self-seeking, not obeying or seeking truth, and not fearing God. I wonder what worthless self seeking things I chase after through out the year, month, week, day. How do I identify those things in my life that are not God honoring but are self-seeking?  Reading God’s word with a desire to know and serve Him more is a good place to start.  On top of reading, add listening to what it is saying to my heart with a willingness to obey.  How many days start and finish without a thought of honoring and serving Him?  How many days could have been better with Him leading and me following?  Start each day with purpose to listen, obey, honor and serve Him. We all meet up with sorrow this side of eternity.  Sorrow without God is sorrow without hope and that is disaster and loneliness.

Move Forward

Tell the people of Israel to go forward

Joshua 23:1
A long time afterward, when the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years, Joshua summoned all Israel, its elders and heads, its judges and officers, and said to them, “I am now old and well advanced in years. And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake, for it is the Lord your God who has fought for you.

Exodus 14:14
When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt:‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward

Deuteronomy 20:3
‘Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies:let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, for the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory

 

It is good to again be reminded to remember what God has done and more importantly who has given you the victory.  Also to be reminded that it is God who “Goes With You” and though we see victory it is because of what He has done.  We see these victories when we are trusting Him and are obedient.  I love the verse in Exodus “Tell the people to move forward”.  Think about it – they had the Red Sea in front of them and the very mad Egyptian army approaching from the rear.  Many times we find ourselves with no apparent way out of a situation, trial, or battle.  Sometimes we are told to be still and watch God work.  Other times we are told to move forward against something impossible.  In both cases we need to remain firm in our faith to trust God and to be listening to what He is telling our heart.  In both instances there is victory because the battle is not ours but God’s.  He is all powerful and able to do more than we ask and much more than we can imagine.  What are you facing alone today that would be much better off in the Hands of God?