- Tuesday, 12/24/19 Psalm
119:25, My soul cleaveth unto the dust:
quicken thou me according to thy word. The degree to which He is/has
quickened us is proportional to our awareness of our true state. So, do you see
yourself as dirty dirt, or as a fairly righteous one?
Isaiah 60:2-3, For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. The darkness you’re going through is a good thing!! In the darkness, God wants to shine upon you, and thereby draw the unsaved to Himself. Are you willing to A)go into and through the darkness? B)Allow Him to choose when and where and how to shine upon you and reflect off of you? And C)Be Johnny-on-the-spot to win the lost as they respond to His pull?
- Wednesday, 12/25/19 Isaiah 61:3, [The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me...to give unto them...] the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness... God will provide the garment that’ll relieve or lessen our depression...but it’s OUR choice whether we put it on. "If your heart is heavy and cold, go put on a new outfit!" Proverbs 21:30, There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord. You do it; I do it; we all justify sin and excuse sin and dismiss sin in our lives, but it is still sin. * “Well sex doesn’t have to be in marriage: I think it’s just about love.” There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord. * “Everybody sleeps together before marriage now: it’s how it’s done. It doesn’t matter.” There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord. * “What’s the big deal if I drink a little alcohol? I don’t really get drunk.” There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord. * “So my church focuses a little more on love and acceptance and a little less on doctrine. We’re all good Christians...” There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord. * “Sure! I took some office supplies from work? So???” There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord. * “It’s OK that I am sending flirty texts to him! I’ll never cheat on my husband.” There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord. * “My dad was a horrible dad!! He deserves everything he gets!!” There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord. * “I can make a good bit of overtime pay by working on Sunday...” There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord. * “So what if I use a different Bible that says different things and has different words...I still love God...” There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord. * “Hey! You only live once!!” There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord. * “Sure, I let my kids back-talk me...they’re kids!!! They need to express themselves.” There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord. * “Tithing 10%???? With the cost of living today, who can afford THAT??” There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord. * “I’m in my 20s...yes, I’ll play with sin, but it’s OK: I’ll settle down when I’m older.” There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord.
- Thursday, 12/26/19 Psalm 94:3, 7, Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? Yet they say, The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it. We need to be reminded too, but the unsaved truly need to be taught that God sees ALL of their lives. Let’s try to say that to someone soon. Psalm 93:5, For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. “Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so.” “Abba, Father.” We much strive to maintain a balance in our view of God. Yes, He loves us and died for us and is merciful and kind. Yes, we’re beloved children. Yes, He won’t forsake His own. But don’t ever emphasize the “sweet” parts of God’s character “too much” and thereby neglect the awesome parts and the “scary” parts of His character. He spent 66 books giving us a complete revelation. Don’t neglect the “negative” aspects of Him. (And notice, the last communication He gave was the Revelation with it’s INCREDIBLE and gruesome judgments.)
- Friday, 12/27/19 Proverbs 22:4, By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life. Possible resolution for 2020...be humble (“I deserve nothing.”) and fear God (Obey and respect Him)? (BTW, riches are NOT equivalent to cash. There are a thousand things more valuable than a new toy.) Proverbs 22:5, Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them. Our path could be more complicated and pain-filled than it has to be...and we can choose how to stay off of it. Controlling our soul (personality, will, emotions, words) is what the Doctor ordered.
- Saturday, 12/28/19 Isaiah 53:10, Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief... The Jews and Romans didn’t crucify Jesus: the Father did. Yes, thank Christ for Calvary and being separated from His Father, but think of the Father PERSONALLY doing all of that to His beloved Son. We all long to be understood...even God. (We do because we’re made in His image.) Have you ever had a relationship that you couldn’t fix? Regardless of what you did, the other would not reconcile with you? Wouldn’t forgive you? Wouldn’t listen or talk to you? They just ditched you like moldy bread? “Why God???” Maybe, it makes us understand His heart a little better. 2 Corinthians 5:19, ... God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them... He has done all He could, and the majority of the world couldn’t care less about His “apology.” Yet, He still offers it again and again. Be like Christ...appreciate Him IN your pain.
- Sunday, 12/29/19 Isaiah 53:10a, 11a, Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied. “Thank you God for making the perfect Sacrifice just to buy me. Help to live like I appreciate it. Show me what in me displeases You. Use me to tell of You.” James 1:14-15, But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. In order it would be: our inherent desires; current enticement; temptation; conception; sin; death. Do you ever wonder why someone makes the same mistakes over and over and never changes? They don’t like the consequences of their actions, but not enough to quit the actions. No one wants death, but we often still want the sin. Or, we are willing to forego the sin, but like the previous steps. So, one misstep produces the hated consequence. Example: no one wants divorce (death), but the preceding steps could be an affair, fantasies, flirty texts, cute co-worker, a desire for acceptance. Example: no one wants bankruptcy (death), but that is a product of uncontrolled spending; calculating skipping a payment to buy something else; looking at ads when you know there’s no money; comparing your status to another; a desire to have. Example: heart attacks/diabetes/strokes (death) come from overeating/under exercising, and that follows the drooling over the food which follows laziness; with follows an attitude of “I deserve to be comfortable all the time.” So, we all need to look at our lives and identify our sins, and what comes before. We must decide how far back to break the script. Scriptural directive? Romans 13:14, But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. Understand your flesh is TOTALLY bad...and never leads us to anywhere good.
- Monday, 12/30/19 Psalm 97:10a, Ye that love the Lord, hate evil. That’s pretty plain. If we love God, then, we ought to be diligent about searching His Word and seeing what He labels as wrong. We’ve got too much emotional Christianity without enough mental Christianity. “Search the Scriptures...” “How can you be so sure you know what is right in this situation? Are you SSOOOO smart?” Proverbs 4:18, But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. The more we obey, the more clear the paths of life become. It’s not arrogance or brilliance, it’s holiness. God is a black-n-white God...and as we get closer to Him and His viewpoints, the less gray we see.
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