- Tuesday, 3/31/20 Isaiah 55:8, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. This verse could stand alone, but it follows 2 verses discussing the backslidden saint returning to God.
We feel we’re too far gone to come back, but those are not His thoughts. (See my FB post today.) I think I have most often used/heard Isaiah 55:6 applied to the unsaved: Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near... It IS a Bible truth that the Lord is not infinitely patient and will not bid the sinner to come to Him indefinitely. However, v6 is followed by v7: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Notice that the wicked, unrighteous man is to RETURN to the Lord for mercy. That indicates that A) he was once with the Lord, i.e. he got born again; B) he left the Lord, C) to do so is to be classified as wicked and unrighteous, D) even so, the Lord is very willing to pardon...but, E) but not forever. “While he is near” implies there’s a time the Lord won’t be near. Dear backslidden one, He may get tired of waiting for you to get right and simply call you Home to “sit on the couch next to Daddy where I can keep my eye on you.” That means your chance for service and rewards will be over, and there will come a time when that will be a great grief to us.
- Wednesday, 4/1/20 Luke 22:42, Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. We may ask for our heart’s desire, but we must be sure that our heart is truly submitted to God’s will. I don’t want to nag Him into something second best because of my impatience. Psalm 57:1-2, Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast. We’re in a calamity, no doubt. But, it WILL pass, though things will probably get worse before getting better. Don’t waste these 2-8 weeks doing nothing but watching videos. While you’re housebound, get closer to God. Strengthen your spirit. Do some home improvements: on His home, not yours.
- Thursday, 4/2/20 In our eyes, we’re always doing rightly. “Every man did that which was right in his own eyes...” Psalm 58:1-2a, Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men? Yea, in heart ye work wickedness... We can fool others; we can even fool ourselves, but God knows the truth. How’s your heart this morning?? Quarantine and clean!! Psalm 57:4-5, My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth. Paraphrase: “Lord, I’m in a BIG MESS. I don’t know what you’re about to do, but get glory to Yourself; exalt Jesus through my mess. Don’t let me mess up Your plans.”
- Friday, 4/3/20 Proverbs 29:10, The bloodthirsty hate the upright: but the just seek his soul. Not only does the just man NOT seek revenge or give any kind of negatives back to the wicked, he actively strives to benefit the wicked. Maybe I (we) aren’t as good as we thought... Psalm 57:7-8, My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. The first 6 verses show David was in trouble. Here, he resolves to praise regardless. Notice, he said he’d awaken early to praise, sing, and play. Idea: set a second morning alarm, 5 minutes or so after the first, and let it cue you to praise the Lord at the start of your day.
- Saturday, 4/4/20 Wanna feel re-connected with Heaven today? Read and reread this: Isaiah 63:9, In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old. He knows and He cares and He’s working. Isaiah 64:6-9, But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities. But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people. Notice that the great prophet included himself in the “filthy” category. Allow yourself to humble down: neither you nor I are good in any way, shape, or form. The absolute BEST of us play at Christianity. All we can do is come and ask for mercy, and we don’t even do that very well. Re-read the verses. Allow some revival to occur in you today.
- Sunday, 4/5/20 Isaiah 64:5, Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways... Read it carefully: He meets US when we rejoice and do rightly, and remember Him while doing His commandments. Go to church (?) differently this morning. Jeremiah 1:6-7, Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. If we look at ourselves, we’ll either get pridefully overconfident or overwhelmingly distraught. If we look at circumstances, we’ll undoubtedly over or underestimate or misread them. Quit looking around and down, look up. Whatever is...is under Him: under His authority, under His feet, under His eye. Rest, and work.
- Monday, 4/6/20 Psalm 19:1-2a, The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech... Very simply, God has something to say to you and me today. Do you have time set aside to listen? Will you actually listen? Will you be patient enough and diligent enough to be able to actually say that you heard from Him? Luke 23:8, And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him. Herod was like so many people today: he’d heard of Christ, but never sought Him out. He waited for “Him to come to me.” Herod was the king: he could’ve sent for Jesus. Alas...he didn’t and died unsaved. Seek out Christ on His terms; on His turf; in His Book. Do it today, because, A) it’s YOUR eternity and Hell is hot, and B) you don’t know if you have tomorrow. Message me if you're not 1,000,000% sure that you're absolutely on your way to Heaven.
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