Tag: watered

51.d. Wilderness – 15.j. “Being careful to do all this”

 

Deu 15:4-6  But there will be no poor among you; for the LORD will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess— if only you will strictly obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all this commandment that I command you today. For the LORD your God will bless you, as he promised you, and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow, and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you.

 Proverbs 11:24-25   One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.  Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.

 Proverbs 14:21    Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.

 Proverbs 28:27    Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse.

 Isaiah 58:10-11   if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.  And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

God established an economic system wherein no one had to be chronically poor. If people would obey the LORD, He would bless (both sovereignly and as the natural result of the obedience), and they would not be poor. However, Deuteronomy 15:11 – just a few verses down – states: For the poor will never cease from the land. Is God contradicting Himself? Not at all. He knows that He has established a system where no one must be chronically poor, yet He knew that because of disobedience, some would, and there would always be the poor in Israel. So, God did not guarantee prosperity for any one in Israel; but He did guarantee opportunity for prosperity for an obedient Israel. If Israel obeyed and the individual citizens of Israel enjoyed the blessing of God’s prosperity, then they would as a nation be prosperous, and blessed above other nations. (Guzik)

The law is spiritual, and lays restraints upon the thoughts of the heart. We mistake, if we think thoughts are free from God’s knowledge and check. That is a wicked heart indeed, which raises evil thoughts from the good law of God, as theirs did, who, because God had obliged them to the charity of forgiving, denied the charity of giving. Those who would keep from the act of sin, must keep out of their minds the very thought of sin. It is a dreadful thing to have the cry of the poor justly against us. Grudge not a kindness to thy brother; distrust not the providence of God. What thou doest, do freely, for God loves a cheerful giver. (Henry)

For the Lord shall greatly bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it; which is either a reason why there would be no poor, should they observe the commandments of the Lord; or a reason why they should release the debts of the poor because they were so greatly blessed with a fruitful land, which brought them such an increase, as enabled them to free their poor debtors, when in circumstances unable to pay them. (Gill)

We do well to first and foremost obey, follow, trust, honor, and glorify Jesus Christ. If this is our desire and purpose in life, then we will be moved by the Holy Spirit in many virtues including being generous, kind, and giving to those in need. Sometimes it is hard to know of those in need but our churches know and if you ask the question you will certainly be put on a path to honor and glorify Jesus Christ through meeting the needs of someone in need.

40.o. “But Moses stood up and saved them”

 

 

Exodus 2:16  Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock. When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, “How is it that you have come home so soon today?” They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock.” He said to his daughters, “Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.” And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.”

Moses flees for his life and comes to a place where there happens to be an injustice being inflicted upon the daughters of the Midian priest.  He intercedes and corrects the injustice, is invited to the home of the priest, is given a daughter in marriage, and has a son.  We can surely see the hand of God in this, but the question of the sovereignty, plans, and purposes of God and the free will acts of man raises its head. I start down this path only to find myself at a crossroads that either gives too much credit to free will, and thereby limiting God, or places everything being done as the total work of God and thereby limiting man’s free will. 

God has given mankind the free will to choose to honor and glorify Him or to go after their own way and dishonor and reject and deny Him.  Mankind chooses to do good or bad, right or wrong, godly or ungodly things.  God has given mankind a “free will” choice to trust in, cling to, rely on, follow, and obey Jesus Christ for their salvation and forgiveness of their sin.  Eternal life is promised to all who repent, believe, and trust in the redemptive work on the cross through Jesus Christ.  Eternal torment is promised to all who don’t. In these promises, there is God’s all-knowing “past, present, and future” purposes and plans, and mankind’s free will. God reaches out to the hearts of mankind and offers salvation, at the same time He knows who will repent, trust, and believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This mystery of God’s sovereignty and mankind’s free will is far above my understanding.  

I do know this; repentance, trust, belief, obedience, and reliance on Jesus Christ changes a person. You are changed immediately and being changed continually for the honor and glory of Jesus Christ.  Old things are past away and all things are new. You are a new creation, born again, and a light that shines for the honor and glory of Jesus Christ. Into this person will come to the Holy Spirit to guide, lead, and direct them in thought, words, and actions that honor and glorify Jesus Christ.  To these, there is given a peace that passes all understanding though the world around them is in trials and troubles.

Commit this day to live in such a way that in all you think, say, and do will honor and glorify Jesus Christ.

22.g. “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory”

 

 

1 Corinthians 3:5  What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field

 John 4:36-38    Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.  For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’  I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

 Psalms 115:1   Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

 Daniel 4:35    all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

There was conflict in the Corinthian church.  Jealousy and strife and division were causing this conflict.  Thinking they were spiritual is often applied to whatever is causing the conflict.  They were applying human thinking and fleshly ways to things of God.  You can hear them saying “I was saved under Paul” and another saying, “yes, but I was taught and instructed by Apollo”  and so the conflict began with the thought of who was greater? and who was better?  Paul said, “if you are having envy, strife, and division then you are of a carnal mind, thinking like the world around you and not like that which honors and glorifies Jesus Christ. There is a place for envy, envy a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. There is a place for strife, stand firm against that which dishonors God and so easily temps you.  There is a place for division, set yourself apart from worldly pleasures and desires and cling to, rely on, and trust in Jesus Christ alone.

12.j. “For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind”

Zachariah 6:15 and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the Lord your God.”

Isaiah 58:10-14    if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.  And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.  And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.  “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;  then you shall take delight in the LORD

Romans 16:26    but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—

2 Peter 1:5-10    For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,  and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,  and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.  For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

Do you ever wonder if you are giving you all to Jesus Christ?  Are you being obedient?  Are you desiring and seeking Him with all your heart, mind, and soul?  Are your ears hungering to hear His Word?  Are you totally surrendered to go where He says? Do what He asks? Is your life more about honoring self or Jesus? Are you more concerned about striving for self-gain than Jesus’s honor, glory, and kingdom?  Are you listening and obedient?  Are you diligent in obedience??????

We lose sight and focus when our lives are lived in compromise with the world and what it has to offer.  Are we to expect God will bless us and our country when we neglect full surrender and humble honor and glory to Jesus Christ?  Are we to expect God will bless us when we intentionally choose to be complacent in service to Him and being satisfied and content with what this world has to offer?  Being diligent means there is a conscious choice to being zealous, dedicated, committed, driven, persistent, untiring, attentive, and tireless in our want to be obedient to Jesus Christ.  The world will tell us that a casual nod toward things of God is enough.  The world will tell us that is all we need to do to be in favor of God?  God’s Word says to be faithful, serve Him with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength, obedient, trusting, relying upon and in full surrendered to Him.  Does this at all sound like something that can be taken lightly or that being lukewarm toward God is fulling His rightful honor, glory, worship, and praise? We are not going to be blessed as a person or a nation when our hearts and minds are being consumed by what this world has to offer.  Take a close look at the state of the world and our nation right now.  Fear, division, uncertainty, anxiousness, worry, hatred…… are the norm.  God is not God of these things, Satan is.  It seems as though he has captured the hearts and minds of millions of people and very few are seeing it for what it is, an attack on faith, trust, and reliance in Jesus Christ.  Do you think for one second that all of this just happens apart from the hand of God allowing it?  God is allowing those with eyes to see and ears to hear demonic influences being spewed out through leaders and media outlets.  When you see that which is wrong being applauded as being right, know that Satan is behind it and God is allowing it.