- Tuesday, 9/27/22 Psalm 126:2b, [When God delivered us and we laughed, they] said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them. Maybe a reason for our troubles is so
the unsaved can see God’s hand of deliverance. There is no deliverance without a captivity; no resurrection without a death. Psalm 130:3, If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? A rhetorical question with an obvious answer. The word “mark” means “to focus on.” We know that if God focused on our sinfulness, none of us could withstand the inspection: we all have a sin-full heart. So, why is it OK for us to focus on, harp about, expose the sin-full heart of another believer? If it’s in your jurisdiction, deal with it appropriately. If it’s not, keep it off of social media; quit spreading bad truth; and pray for the offender. Isn’t that what you did/will want when you sin? (And you did, and you will...hmmm, what did I read that one time somewhere??? “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you...”)
- Wednesday, 9/28/22 Matthew 6:21, For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Basic Bible doctrine: wherever we invest our treasure, our heart is also invested. Notice that the heart FOLLOWS; the giving of treasure comes first, THEN we grow in affection toward the recipient. Are you actively giving of your treasure to the Lord? (We have money, of course, but also time and our will.) Psalm 104:33, I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. If this is our future, we ought to do it now. Why don’t you go for a walk today and give Him a concert? Here’s an idea to do in private or even during the congregational singing: change the words as you sing so as to sing TO the Lord. For example, the song goes: “Since Jesus came into my heart; since Jesus came into my heart; floods of joy o’er my soul like the sea billows roll; since Jesus came into my heart.” Perhaps change it to: “Since YOU LORD came into my heart; since YOU LORD came into my heart; floods of joy o’er my soul like the sea billows roll; since YOU LORD came into my heart.” Or, “Oh, I want to see Him, look upon His face, there to sing forever of His saving grace; on the streets of Glory, let me lift my voice; cares all past, Home at last, ever to rejoice.” Just for you, alter it and sing, Oh, I want to see YOU, look upon YOUR face, there to sing forever of YOUR saving grace; on the streets of Glory, let me lift my voice; cares all past, Home at last, ever to rejoice.” One more: the song is written as, “I know not why God’s wondrous grace, to me He hath made known, nor why unworthy Christ in love, redeemed me for His own. But I know Whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” Sing TO the dear Lord Jesus: “I know not why YOUR wondrous grace, to me YOU HAVE made known, nor why unworthy YOU in love, redeemed me for YOUR own. But I know Whom I have believed, and am persuaded that YOU is able to keep that which I have committed unto YOU against that day.”
- Thursday, 9/29/22 Psalm 135:2-3a, Ye that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God, Praise the Lord. We are to “redeem the time because the days are evil.” Very simply: quit wasting the down time: the stopped for a train; the wait in doc’s office; the darkness of a power outage. Mark 12:38, And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces. “Doctrine” simply means “teaching.” There is “good doctrine;” there is “doctrines of devils.” Some teaching is positive: “do this and that.” Some is negative: “Don’t do thus-n-so.” In this verse, we learn that a part of godly doctrine is warning the flock about wolves who try to seem like another sheep. Doctrine is NOT all touchy-feely, “aren’t we all just wonderful people?” Good, proper, godly doctrine calls names at times, and steps, or rather, stomps, on toes. Be full of good doctrine today, and pray for your pastor and SS teacher to be also.
- Friday, 9/30/22 John 11:34-35, And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Mark 15:34, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Jesus had all the answers and He still wept, and still felt forsaken. It’s OK...you and God have got this. 1 Samuel 13:9, And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering. One of sin’s chief characteristics is its seductiveness. Satan offers us good things, but like with Eve, there are consequences. Like a mistress whose embrace seems like a viable alternative to an unhappy situation, sin never fixes anything; it never satisfies; and it is not without consequence.
- Saturday, 10/1/22 Psalm 142:4, I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul. We must stop reacting as if man’s sinfulness affects one iota of God’s faithfulness. Expect the former; and rest on the latter. 1 Samuel 13:9, And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering. The word “character” comes from a French word meaning “to carve.” If a knife is drawn across wood one time, there is a slight groove made. When the knife is drawn over the same spot repeatedly, the wood is carved; it has character. Any character change that we make (positively or negatively) occurs first as a one time aberration: we go WAAYYY out of bounds. The second time it’s a bit easier, and we go a bit deeper. Soon we are where we never dreamed we’d be. Saul did the work of the priests here. Next, he tried to kill his son for eating honey during the battle. Then came his sin when he didn’t kill all of the Amalekites. He tried to impale David with a spear; hunted him like a rabid dog, and finally ends up consulting a witch. Sin is seductive and the devil is a liar: do right today; quit whatever it is that you’re doing on the sly.
- Sunday, 10/2/22 Psalm 105:17, He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant. In the story of Joseph, we most often focus on the words, “sold” and “servant” (“slave.”) That’s man’s perspective. From God’s perspective, Joseph was SENT to Egypt by our God...as a slave. Genesis 40:23-41:1, Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him. And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river. Joseph had been a slave and then a prisoner for about a decade. Like us, he probably felt discouraged and abandoned by his God. Here, his hopes are dashed again so cruelly. Was God absent and aloof to Joseph’s problems? No, He was working on preparing Pharaoh, working on Joseph’s brothers and father; working on this chief butler. It took God 4000 years, until “the fulness of time,” to bring forth Christ. Your situation is NOT any different: He may seem to be ignoring you, but He isn’t. We can read the end of the story for Joseph, but the final volume for us hasn’t been released yet. It’s written and settled, just not released for public viewing.
- Monday, 10/3/22 Psalm 145:18, The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. To call on Him in truth would mean that we must admit our overall sinfulness and our specific sins. Do you come clean before petition? Also, we need to realize and admit that we deserve nothing. Hebrews 11:30, By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. A reminder that the things of God oftentimes do NOT make sense. Marching around a city 13 times and then screaming at its wall makes NO military sense, but if they wanted God’s help, that was their allotted path. Likewise, we may have what others consider to be “weird” things to do in our lives (faithful to church & spouse, tithing, serving gladly, sending special gifts to a missionary, forgive repeatedly), but, if we want God’s help, we must do them.
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