Quotable

I was studying for tonights devotional at church and found a very good quote on the subject of knowing and following God's will. We will be looking at Psalm 25 and I was particularly thinking through vv.4-5. "Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I waite all the day."


The Quote is by Sammuel Annesley. "Do what you know to be your present duty, and God will acquaint you with your future duty as it comes to be present."

Have You Learned to Trust God? Part2

In my last post we were considering the topic of trusting God. Most believers would say that they are, but often our actions sell us short. It seems to be easier said than done. We must learn to completely put our trust in our gret God or we will struggle in our christain walk.

We ended last time with the latter part of v.5. The Psalmist exhorted us not to "lean on your own understanding." The word "lean" has the idea to "prop up" or "support one's self." We are finite beings who cannot see all or know all, therefore, we must trust in our God who does see and know all things. He knows what is best for us and He knows how to take care of us.

The beginning of v.6 goes on to tell us that, "In all thy ways acknowledge Him." First of all, understand that the word "ways" has the idea of "a course of life" meaning in all that we do we must acknowledge Him. What does this mean? To acknowledge God is to know Him, to depend on Him, and to be aware of His will and desire for us and submit to it. Acknowledge that God has every right to direct and guide us for He created us and provided salvation for us. Too many people (including believers) mess up their lives by trying to live independently of God.

Now notice in the latter part of v.6 what happens when we acknowledge God's sovereignty and right over our lives. The Psalmist writes, "and He shall direct thy paths." The word "direct" has the idea "to be straight" or "to make right." God will straighten our path. He will level the path. In other words, He will remove the obstacles that hinder the direction we ought to be going. If we will learn to completely trust & submit to God, He will bring us to His appointed goal for our lives. God has a plan for each of us. Left to ourselves we fail to see it, but God is waiting to direct us in the way He wants us to go!! Life only has real meaning when lived in dependence upon God and His will!! Otherwise, we look like the dog (or in our case the cat) who constantly chases his tail but fails to catch it. We tire out and never achieve anything worth while. Remember this great verse; "The steps of a good man (or woman) are ordered (established) by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way." Psalm 37:23

Trusting in the Lord is vital for our Christian life. All to often circumstances arise and we do not know what to do, where to go, or how to fix the problem. But always remember God Does!! He is waiting to "to direct our paths" if we would only turn to Him in complete dependence.

What problems are you facing today? Lost your Job? Diagnosed with Cancer or some other health problem? Have you received unexpected bills that are depleting your bank account? Have you lost a loved one? Do you feel like your life is going nowhere? Or are you simply confused on what God wants for your life? Turn to Him in prayer and dependence. Confess any known sin. admit you don't know what to do and that you need His help. If you are sincere and one of His children, then He will help you!!

Psalm 146:3-5 "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returnet to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God:"

Isaiah 26:3-4 "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:"

God Bless and keep your focus on our wonderful, loving God!!

Have You Learned To Trust God?

(Proverbs 3:5-8) Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.(KJV)

Are you having a hard time trusting in the Lord? When difficulties and problems come your way, are you tying to fix them yourself? Or just fretting over them? Anxiety and self-reliance will only fail us and cause us much grief. Friends, if you know Christ as your Savior, then we have all that we need to live a joyful and confident life, even through the trials of life! The essence of religious faith is trusting in our wonderful God. He knows us. He knows what is best for us. He cares about us deeply. Listen to Gods Word: (1 Peter 5:7) Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.(KJV)

Provebs 3:5 tells us to trust in the Lord. Trust has the idea of security and confidence. We are secure in Christ. We are righteous in Christ and therefore in a right standing with God. Trusting God is also being confident to boldly meet life's problems and temptations without fear or anxiety. There must be an absolute dependence on God because He has proven Himself trustworthy!

Think about Israel for a second. They could fully trust in God because He has proven Himself faithful to them even though they failed to be faithful to Him. Just think about God's deliverance, protection, and leading in the following examples: The Exodus out of Egypt, the wilderness journey, and the conquest of Canaan where forces were far superior to themselves. I could give many more examples, but don't miss the point that God never failed them. Therefore they were exhorted by the Psalmist to, (Psalms 37:3-5) Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.(KJV) Israel had no reason not to trust in their wonderful God and neither do we! God provides salvation, He sanctifies us, provides for our needs, and even promised to never leave or forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5) Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.(KJV) God is trustworthy, therefore, all beliefs, decisions, and the problems of life need to be submitted and entrusted to Him.

Notice the second part of v.5; and lean not unto thine own understanding. We need to trust the Lord because we are not capable of taking care of our selves contrary to popular secular belief. He is Sovereign. He sees and knows all things. He is all powerful. We are simply created beings in need of help from the Creator. Don't trust in your own resources, strength, or intelligence because we will simply mess things up. I think most of our experiences will bear this out. The biblical author makes clear we are not to trust in our own understanding. He means our own insight or our own way of thinking. Without the working of the Holy Spirit our understanding is distorted because of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden (when man received a sin nature). Left to ourselves we have no hope, but praise be to God He intervened and provided salvation and guidance to those who will trust in christ as their savior. We need a close, vibrant relationship with our God if we are to live for the glory of Christ.

I'm out of time, but will continue this article soon. God Bless and think about these things!!

Christmas Joy!!

It is really a shame that instead of great joy at Christmas time we often observe anything but true joy. People are angry because they could not purchase the newest fad of the year, or people are complaining because they did not like what they received. There are families who are sad because of broken homes. Some homes have all the family members together, but all you hear is the grumbling and fighting because they do not know how to get along. Truth be told though, all too often the Joy of Jesus is left out of Christmas. We MUST keep our focus on the true meaning of Christmas and find great joy to praise our Lord who was willing to leave heavens glory and come to this earth to provide salvation to all those who will accept Him.

Since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, God has been progressively revealing that a Messiah would come to deliver His people. Hebrews eleven lists numerous people who walked by faith trusting in God’s promises such as a deliverance from their enemies, a “promised Land”, and a Messiah who could provide it all. Then in v.13 we are told that “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” They never saw the promises fulfilled, but knew they would be. The believing remnant of Israel were waiting for the coming of their Messiah. This was the state of things right before Jesus’ birth.

Now think with me about the great joy experienced by some of the characters that we read about in the Christmas narrative. After the angel visited Zacharias in the temple and informed him that he would have a son who would be the forerunner of the Messiah, he broke out in a song (Luke 1:67-80) of exuberant praise. Listen to Luke 1:68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,” Mary also broke out in praise when informed that as a virgin she would have a child who would end up being the long awaited for Messiah. Note Mary’s response; Luke 1:46-47 “And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.”

The shepherds in the fields were surely not silent about the news of the arrival of their Savior. After visiting the baby Jesus, they departed “… glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.” (Luke 2:20) Why not, the long awaited Messiah had come and they saw their redemption. And of course, we cannot forget about Simeon and Anna. Simeon was promised that he would not die until he saw the “Lord’s Christ.” He was in the temple when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to present Him unto the Lord as the 1st born. Observe Simeons response; Luke 2:28-30 “Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,” Then Anna walked in and saw Jesus and like the others we observed she could not remain unresponsive. Luke 2:38 “And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.”

Let there be great joy seen in all of us who have accepted Christ as our personal savior this Christmas season. Praise God above for providing sinful man with the great light of the gospel. John 1:4 “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” There really is no reason for gloom and discouragement in God’s children. REJOICE the Savior has come!!

Are You A Thankful Person?

I fear that all too often we fail to be a thankful people. We are very good at complaining, but not so good at thanking God for His many blessings. What kind of person would you rather be around a complainer or a person who is truly thankful and not afraid to express his feelings? God is truly glorified when we continually give Him thanks. Imagine the kind of testimony you could be for Christ.

I love Psalm 100. What a challenge for us today! The Psalmist challenges us to praise our great God because: He created us v.3, He is our shepherd v.3, we can come into His presence vv.1, 4, and finally v.5 ends with the assurance of God's favor, mercy, and dependability towards us. Now, let us not forget our standing before God- simply sinners with nothing to offer Him in and of our selves. (Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;") But let us also remember that in Christ, we come before God in Christ’s righteousness. (2 Corinthians 5:21 "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.") Therefore we can now “…come boldly unto the throne of grace…” Hebrews 4:16.

Because of our access to the Father, we enjoy many spiritual benefits. Just read and meditate on Ephesians 1:3ff. Our Father has done so much for us all the while we were completely undeserving of His grace. How dare we go around complaining, grumbling, whining, and so forth. We need to cultivate lives of thanksgiving. Let us follow the Psalmist’s challenge in Psalm 100: to make a joyful noise v.1, to serve the Lord with gladness v.2, to sing praises in God’s presence v.2, to enter into His presence with thanksgiving v.4, and to bless His name v.4. Think on some of these words. “Gladness” in v.2 has the idea of glee or pleasure. It ought to be pleasurable to serve the Lord! “Singing” also in v.2 has the idea of a triumphant shout or glad exhortation. The root word for “thanksgiving” in v.4 means confession. It can be a confession of sin, or a confession of God’s character and works. In Psalm 100 we are challenged to adore Him, give Him thanks, and confess His greatness for who He is and what He does.

We have a lot to be thankful for. We have many reasons to praise God’s holy name. When we praise and thank Him for all that He has done for us we truly glorify him. Not only that, but we also become a testimony to the unbelievers around us. Thank God publically. Let people know you serve an awesome God. Praise His name before your co-workers, at the store, wherever you may be, and whatever situation you might find yourself in. Hebrews 13:15 "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name."

Christ, Our Ever Present Help!!

I thought this might cheer up some people who may be going through some trials. It was an encouragement to me today to read these words penned by Charles Spurgeon. He reminds us who are Christians to keep our focus on the only one who can see us through life’s difficulties.

The waves may roll over them, but their souls soon rise to the surface and see the light of God's countenance; they have a buoyancy about them which keeps their head always above the water, and helps them to sing amid the tempest, "God is with me still." To whom shall the glory be given? Oh! to Jesus—it is all by Jesus. Trouble does not necessarily bring consolation with it to the believer, but the presence of the Son of God in the fiery furnace with him fills his heart with joy. He is sick and suffering, but Jesus visits him and makes his bed for him. He is dying, and the cold chilly waters of Jordan are gathering about him up to the neck, but Jesus puts His arms around him, and cries, "Fear not, beloved; to die is to be blessed; the waters of death have their fountain-head in heaven; they are not bitter, they are sweet as nectar, for they flow from the throne of God." As the departing saint wades through the stream, and the billows gather around him, and heart and flesh fail him, the same voice sounds in his ears, "Fear not; I am with thee; be not dismayed; I am thy God." (This is a section taken from Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotions)

Are We Evangelistic?

Evangelism needs to be an important part of our Christian lives. It is God’s desire that men and women would accept His free offer of salvation. 2 Peter 3:9 states god’s desire; “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.” Then in Romans 10: 17 Paul tells us that faith comes by hearing God’s word. It is necessary for believers to share God’s word with the unsaved so that they can clearly hear the plan of salvation. God so loved the world that He sent his Son to die on the cross to make salvation possible for anyone who will believe (John 3:16).

Believers need to follow Jesus’ example in loving those who need salvation. In Jesus’ Galilean ministry in Matthew 9 Jesus traveled through the different cities and villages teaching and preaching the gospel message of the kingdom, then in verse 36 we are told that Jesus “was moved with compassion” because they were like sheep with no shepherd. Then in John 4 we again see the love of Jesus as He talked with the woman at the well. She was so grateful to Jesus that she shared the good news with her fellow Samaritans. As a result of her message, the men of the city sought after Jesus. As they were coming to Jesus, He replied to His disciples in verse 35 that the fields “are white already to harvest.” It seems logical to believe that Jesus was pointing to the men coming to Him through the fields and explaining to His disciples that there are many people who need to hear the truth about Him. By implication, Jesus expected His disciples to share the truth with the multitudes. Likewise, every Believer should share Christ’s concern for the unsaved by proclaiming the gospel to them so that they too can experience God’s saving grace.

Peter explains in 1Peter 3:15 that believers should always be ready to share their hope in Christ with anyone who asks. God provided believers with an incredible salvation and hope through accepting Christ as their savior. We should be extremely grateful for God’s grace and share that grace and hope to those who need it most. After all, God expects His children to share the gospel with others. In 1 Peter 2:9 Peter explains that we are God’s special people as believers and because of this fact we “should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” The idea behind the Greek word “to shew forth” is to “proclaim.” Believers are to proclaim the Excellencies of God. Our excellent God saw fit to provide salvation and we need to proclaim to others how our marvelous God saved us and will save them too, if they will believe on His Son.