Monthly Archives: June 2019

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Mercy in spite of wickedness

Mercy in spite of wickedness

United States Constitution, quill pen, Bible, scales weighing mercy and wrath, and Flag

You will know I am the Lord, O people of Israel, when I have honored my name by treating you mercifully in spite of your wickedness, says the Sovereign Lord.

Ezekiel 20:44 

God the Redeemer

Have you ever given God reason to be angry with you? Compare your sins with the sins of Israel. As you read through the Old Testament, you discover the truth that seems to shock most people: At no time in Israel’s history did they ever remain faithful to God. Of course, there were periods of collective obedience.…But as soon as the blessings flowed, their hearts wandered, and once again they fell into their evil ways. Their lives were steeped in a constant pattern of rebellion and unfaithful living.

Ezekiel records just one of the many times God responded to Israel’s unfaithfulness. God says to them, “In this also your fathers blasphemed me by forsaking me.…You continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day.…You say, ‘We want to be like the nations, like the peoples of the world, who serve wood and stone.’.…As I judged your fathers in the desert of the land of Egypt, so I will judge you, declares the Sovereign Lord” (Ezekiel 20:27, 31-36). Once again Israel had provoked the wrath of God, and now they sat awaiting his judgment. If there was ever a time that Israel deserved to be wiped from the face of the planet, it was this moment. Now their sentence was at hand. Hold on to your chairs because here comes the gavel!

“You will know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for my name’s sake and not according to your evil ways and your corrupt practices” (Ezekiel 20:44, NIV, italics mine).

And what is God’s name? Redeemer. Deliverer. Savior. What is the judgment he hands down? He plans to redeem them. Again. He deals with them according to his goodness, not their evil. He forgives them. Not because they deserve it but because it is God’s nature to forgive.

Adapted from Embracing Eternity by Tim LaHaye, Jerry Jenkins and Frank M. Martin, Tyndale House Publishers (2004), entry for March 17.

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

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A vision of heaven

A vision of heaven

Open old book, light from the sky, heaven. Education, religion concept

Now I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. And the one sitting on the horse was named Faithful and True. For he judges fairly and then goes to war. His eyes were bright like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him, and only he knew what it meant. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God.

Revelation 19:11-13 

Crown Him with many crowns, the Lamb upon His throne; Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns all music but is own. Awake, my soul, and sing of Him who died for thee, and hail Him as they matchless King through all eternity.

Crown Him with Many Crowns,
Matthew Bridges (1800-1894)

Crown Him with Many Crowns

Matthew Bridges became a convert to Roman Catholicism at the age of forty-eight and published this hymn three years later under the title “The Song of the Seraphs.” Godfrey Thring, an Anglican clergyman, added several stanzas to the hymn about thirty years later, with Bridges’s approval. So a Roman Catholic layman and an Anglican cleric, who probably never met, were coauthors of a hymn about heaven, where Christians of every tribe and tongue, as well as of every denomination, will crown Him Lord of all.

One of the aspects that Godfrey Thring felt was missing in the original was a stanza on the Resurrection, and so it was added. “His glories now we sing who died and rose on high, who died, eternal life to bring, and lives, that death may die.”

Adapted from The One Year® Book of Hymns by Mark Norton and Robert Brown, Tyndale House Publishers (1995), entry for May 16.

Digging Deeper: This week (Tuesday) marked the release of the The Rapture , the last of three prequel stories to the Left Behind series.

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House.

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Jericho” experience

Have you had a “Jericho” experience?

City Of Jericho, Israel

Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9

Taking Jericho

Imagine this scene for a minute. You’re a captain in Joshua’s army camped a few miles outside the city of Jericho. You’ve seen the thick, double-layered stone walls surrounding the city and armed soldiers guarding every entrance. You’ve heard tales of the fierce Canaanite army and their ability to hold their ground in battle.

In the midst of all of this, an edict comes down from the upper ranks. Israel is planning to take Jericho. Actually, what the message says is that Israel has already taken Jericho, but Jericho just doesn’t know it yet. The battle plan is really no plan at all. You’re supposed to get your troops together and conduct a victory march around the city. Just once — for six days in a row. Then on the seventh day you’re to march seven times around the city. That’s when your soldiers can march in and take possession.

The next day you’re marching around the city, and you can’t help but hear the taunts coming from inside the walls. You know how silly this all looks, but you keep marching just the same. Because you know that God is on your side, and you’ve seen what he can do.

This is why God reminded Joshua time and again to “be strong and courageous.” God has a way of working that tends to fall outside the norm, and he needs people who trust him enough to go the distance, no matter how bizarre the game plan. Courage is important to God because courage is a natural byproduct of trust. And the greater we trust, the braver we become. As long as God leads the battle, we can march in confidence, knowing that we’ve already won. God gave Jericho to Israel on the seventh day, just as he said he would. So,…what wall does he have you marching around?

from Embracing Eternity by Tim LaHaye, Jerry Jenkins and Frank M. Martin, Tyndale House Publishers (2004), p 76

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

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God revealed

What should be our attitude in prayer?

Mark 4:2

Then Eli realized it was the Lord who was calling the boy. So he said to Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, ‘Yes, Lord, your servant is listening.'” So Samuel went back to bed. And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel replied, “Yes, your servant is listening.”

1 Samuel 3:8-10

Speak, Lord, in the stillness, while I wait on Thee; hushed my heart to listen in expectancy.
Speak, O blessed Master, in this quiet hour, let me see Thy face, Lord, feel Thy touch of power.

Emily May Grimes

God revealed

God revealed himself mightily to the prophet Elijah, sending fire to burn the sacrifice on Mount Carmel. But later, as Elijah moped on the mountain, the Lord taught him an important lesson. There was a wind, an earthquake, and a fire — but the Lord was not in any of these. Then came a still, small voice. That was how God chose to speak to His prophet.

The same is true today. We long for fire from heaven to silence the skeptics once and for all, but God doesn’t usually work that way. Long ago He revealed Himself as a helpless baby sleeping in a dirty feed trough, and today He speaks quietly to ordinary people like you and me — if only we are still enough to listen. That is the sentiment expressed by Emily May Grimes in the words of the hymn, “Speak, Lord, in the Stillness.”

From The One Year Book of Hymns (Tyndale House) entry for September 5

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

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Deepen your shine

As bright as the sky

Those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky, and those who turn many to righteousness will shine like stars forever.

Daniel 12:3

Eternity to the godly is a day that has no sunset.

Thomas Watson

Deepen your shine

People spend thousands of dollars to last longer— exercise, cosmetics, plastic surgery, self-help advice, nutrition plans. We like life, and we want it to last, not just in some ethereal, nondescript expectation of a life hereafter, but in a real, fulfilling, purposeful eternity. We don’t just want “forever.” We want to know we will enjoy it.

Daniel is told what makes or breaks eternity in the resurrection: righteousness. Loving it, drinking it in, leading others to it, investing in it. Righteousness is the key. The quality of our righteousness on earth has everything to do with the quality of our eternity.

Those who are wise also know that there’s a problem. We are inherently unrighteous. An eternity based on earthly righteousness is a devastating predicament for people who are, in their very genetics, infected with corruption. Are there any who can really lead others to righteousness? Will any shine like the brightness of the heavens? Or is the promise empty?

Righteousness is a gift from a holy heaven to an infected race. It comes from outside ourselves, available only through faith in its Giver. Those who are wise will tell others about this gift. Those who want to shine will know the Source of the light and will be completely preoccupied with Him.

Evangelism is one way to make an investment that never, ever ceases to bring abundant returns. God promises that sharing the Light with others will forever deepen your own shine.

Adapted from The One Year® Walk with God Devotional by Chris Tiegreen, Tyndale House Publishers (2004), entry for April 7.

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

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Ultra Gem and Foundation

Morning

“Thou art fairer than the children of men.”
Psalm 45:2

The entire person of Jesus is but as one gem, and his life is all along but one impression of the seal. He is altogether complete; not only in his several parts, but as a gracious all-glorious whole. His character is not a mass of fair colours mixed confusedly, nor a heap of precious stones laid carelessly one upon another; he is a picture of beauty and a breastplate of glory. In him, all the “things of good repute” are in their proper places, and assist in adorning each other. Not one feature in his glorious person attracts attention at the expense of others; but he is perfectly and altogether lovely.

Oh, Jesus! thy power, thy grace, thy justice, thy tenderness, thy truth, thy majesty, and thine immutability make up such a man, or rather such a God-man, as neither heaven nor earth hath seen elsewhere. Thy infancy, thy eternity, thy sufferings, thy triumphs, thy death, and thine immortality, are all woven in one gorgeous tapestry, without seam or rent. Thou art music without discord; thou art many, and yet not divided; thou art all things, and yet not diverse. As all the colours blend into one resplendent rainbow, so all the glories of heaven and earth meet in thee, and unite so wondrously, that there is none like thee in all things; nay, if all the virtues of the most excellent were bound in one bundle, they could not rival thee, thou mirror of all perfection. Thou hast been anointed with the holy oil of myrrh and cassia, which thy God hath reserved for thee alone; and as for thy fragrance, it is as the holy perfume, the like of which none other can ever mingle, even with the art of the apothecary; each spice is fragrant, but the compound is divine.

“Oh, sacred symmetry! oh, rare connection

Of many perfects, to make one perfection!

Oh, heavenly music, where all parts do meet

In one sweet strain, to make one perfect sweet!”

Evening

It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
Psalm 118:8

“The foundation of God standeth sure.”
2 Timothy 2:19

The foundation upon which our faith rests is this, that “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.” The great fact on which genuine faith relies is, that “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us,” and that “Christ also hath suffered for sin, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God”; “Who himself bare our sins in his own body on the tree”; “For the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed.” In one word, the great pillar of the Christian’s hope is substitution. The vicarious sacrifice of Christ for the guilty, Christ being made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, Christ offering up a true and proper expiatory and substitutionary sacrifice in the room, place, and stead of as many as the Father gave him, who are known to God by name, and are recognized in their own hearts by their trusting in Jesus–this is the cardinal fact of the gospel. If this foundation were removed, what could we do? But it standeth firm as the throne of God. We know it; we rest on it; we rejoice in it; and our delight is to hold it, to meditate upon it, and to proclaim it, while we desire to be actuated and moved by gratitude for it in every part of our life and conversation. In these days a direct attack is made upon the doctrine of the atonement. Men cannot bear substitution. They gnash their teeth at the thought of the Lamb of God bearing the sin of man. But we, who know by experience the preciousness of this truth, will proclaim it in defiance of them confidently and unceasingly. We will neither dilute it nor change it, nor fritter it away in any shape or fashion. It shall still be Christ, a positive substitute, bearing human guilt and suffering in the stead of men. We cannot, dare not, give it up, for it is our life, and despite every controversy we feel that “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure.”

All rights belong to the collections of Charles Spurgeon(C)

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REPENTANCE BREAKS THE CHAINS

REPENTANCE BREAKS THE CHAINS

Hosea 13:14 | View whole chapter | See verse in context I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.

Matthew 3:8 | View whole chapter | See verse in context Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:

Matthew 3:11 | View whole chapter | See verse in context I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

Matthew 9:13 | View whole chapter | See verse in context But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Mark 1:4 | View whole chapter | See verse in context John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

Mark 2:17 | View whole chapter | See verse in context When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Luke 3:3 | View whole chapter | See verse in context And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;

Luke 3:8 | View whole chapter | See verse in context Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

Luke 5:32 | View whole chapter | See verse in context I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Luke 15:7 | View whole chapter | See verse in context I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

Luke 24:47 | View whole chapter | See verse in context And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Acts 5:31 | View whole chapter | See verse in context Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

Acts 11:18 | View whole chapter | See verse in context When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.

Acts 13:24 | View whole chapter | See verse in context When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

Acts 19:4 | View whole chapter | See verse in context Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.

Acts 20:21 | View whole chapter | See verse in context Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

Acts 26:20 | View whole chapter | See verse in context But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.

Romans 2:4 | View whole chapter | See verse in context Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

Romans 11:29 | View whole chapter | See verse in context For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

2 Corinthians 7:9 | View whole chapter | See verse in context Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.

2 Corinthians 7:10 | View whole chapter | See verse in context For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

2 Timothy 2:25 | View whole chapter | See verse in context In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;

Hebrews 6:1 | View whole chapter | See verse in context Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,

Hebrews 6:6 | View whole chapter | See verse in context If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

Hebrews 12:17 | View whole chapter | See verse in context For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

2 Peter 3:9 | View whole chapter | See verse in context The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

 

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JESUS IS GOD

Return unto the Lord thy God

 

John 10:30 – I and [my] Father are one.

John 8:58 – Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

John 1:14 – And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

1 Corinthians 8:6 – But to us [there is but] one God, the Father, of whom [are] all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom [are] all things, and we by him.

Isaiah 9:6 – For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:3 – All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

John 10:30-33 – I and [my] Father are one.   (Read More…)

Colossians 1:15-17 – Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:   (Read More…)

John 20:28 – And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

John 14:9 – Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou [then], Shew us the Father?

John 1:2 – The same was in the beginning with God.

John 14:6 – Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

John 5:19-29 – Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.