Tag: skilled

3.p. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night

Ezra 7:6  Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the Lord, the God of Israel, had given, and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.

And there went up also to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king, some of the people of Israel, and some of the priests and Levites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the temple servants. And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylonia, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God was on him. For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.

This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a man learned in matters of the commandments of the Lord and his statutes for Israel: “Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven. Peace. And now I make a decree that anyone of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom, who freely offers to go to Jerusalem, may go with you. For you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God, which is in your hand,

1 Samuel 7:3     And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”

Psalms 1:2    but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

Psalms 119:96-100     I have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commandment is exceedingly broad. Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.  Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me.  I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.  I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts.

Matthew 5:19    Therefore whoever relaxes 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 does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 7:24   “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

2 Timothy 4:2    preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

Ezra set his heart to study, to do, and to teach the word of God.  If we just set our heart to read God’s word but are not actively thinking about it and wanting to apply it into our life then it has a very limited chance of influencing how we think, what we say, and how we live. intentionally choosing to be influenced and led by God’s word will have an impact on our conduct, faith in action, prayer, and what we think about.  Our thoughts will be on God.  Our actions will be directed by His word.  Our eyes and ears will be open to see and hear His whispers of leading, encouraging, strengthening, guiding, and giving us wisdom and knowledge to discern eternal from temporal, life-giving from life-taking, heavenly from earthly, holiness from sin, truth from false, refuge from abandonment, peace and rest from anxiousness, generosity from greed, humility from pride, heavenly service from self-serving, and faith from fear and worry.  Studying God’s word is life-giving, life-changing, and eternity life benefitting.  Our lives will be forever changed when it becomes the air and breath of our heart, mind, and soul.

105. For you have rejected the word of the Lord

5:1   And Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

So Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men of Judah. And Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. Then Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. And Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.

The word of the Lord came to Samuel: “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night. And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.” And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”

And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?” And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.” And Samuel said,

Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the Lord.” And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”

Over and over, the Bible tells us that God blesses and rewards obedience. James 1:22–25 says it perfectly: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.“

Obedience enables us to live a life of joy, power, courage, and faith rooted deeply in the Lord and confident in our eternal hope. We can be rewarded by God in a myriad of ways. “Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD! Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart”.

For all true followers of Christ, obedience is never peripheral. At the heart of what it means to be a disciple of our Lord is living in loving devotion to God. But if such love is real, the acid test is obedience. Following Christ does not allow for selective obedience.  Selective obedience comes out of neglect of His word in our daily lives.  Selective obedience falsely allows us to think we are obedient in all things because we have chosen to live without heart and mind deep daily desire to intentionally live and breath in the depth of His word. Daily time in His word will grow our understanding and knowledge of God which grows our devotion and desire to obedience for His honor and glory.

98. Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.

Deuteronomy 8:5  Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land,

Deuteronomy 8:17  Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. And if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.

Psalms 127:1-2   Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.  It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

Psalms 33:16-18    The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.  The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.  Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,

Proverbs 21:30-31    No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the LORD.

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

1 Chronicles 28:20    Then David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the LORD God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished.

1 Corinthians 3:9-15    For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.  According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.  For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.  Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—  each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.  If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.  If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

It is by God’s very hand that we live.  It is by His very blessings we have life.  In Him, we are made whole.  Apart from Him, we are chasing wind of every desire that is influenced upon our heart and mind.  If we don’t find hope, peace, and refuge in Him our daily foundation is built on something that will not stand.  In fact, it will fail us time and time again.  Finances, employment, and relationships, outside of God’s leading and provision are worthless, though they seem satisfying.

If our view of this world and what it has to offer comes from the world our heart and mind will be darkened and our ears will become deaf to His calling and our eyes will be blind to His leading.  If all we have to hope is what we can glean from this world we will go through life with a sad existence.  His word is the breath of life, water for our soul, food for our mind, and in His word we find purpose and meaning for today, tomorrow, and eternity.

Do you want satisfaction for your heart, mind, and soul?  Do you want to have meaning and purpose every day?  Do you want to honor and glorify Jesus Christ for His sacrifice on the cross?  Do you want to live in forgiveness or needing to be forgiven?

All of these questions can be answered faithfully in a life that is intentional in humbly serving, honoring, glorifying, worshipping, following, and obeying what is revealed in and through His word.  There is no better time to be intentional to stay in His seeking and desiring to be led by God.