The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going. (Proverbs 14:15) http://bibl.co/22
Day: September 17, 2015
You’ll Ask God To Bless Them
“Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us.” Eph 5:2 NKJV
Walking in love and forgiveness is difficult on several fronts. (1) It goes against your carnal nature. (2) There’s a chance others may never know you forgave the offense. (3) Your heart could break as you watch God bless the offender in answer to your prayers, as if they’d never sinned against you in the first place. John Calvin pointed out that praying like this “is exceedingly difficult,” and early church theologian John Chrysostom called it “the highest summit of self-control.” The Bible says Job’s suffering ended and his prosperity was restored once he was able to pray for those who’d become a thorn in his side (See Job 42:10). When you pray this way you put into practice the words of Jesus in His famous Sermon on the Mount: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven” (Mt 5:44-45). That’s Christ’s standard of forgiveness, and it’s a high one. Maybe you’re wondering how anybody could possibly live that way. Look at the life and death of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. Even while his enemies were stoning him, he prayed, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Ac 7:60 NIV). Therein lay one of the secrets of Stephen’s great effectiveness. True forgiveness is the medicine that heals the deepest emotional wounds. It closes the door on the past, and gives you grace and motivation to move forward and enjoy the life God wants you to live.
Mark 9:19 Bring him unto me.
Despairingly the poor disappointed father turned away from the disciples to their Master. His son was in the worst possible condition, and all means had failed, but the miserable child was soon delivered from the evil one when the parent in faith obeyed the Lord Jesus’ word, “Bring him unto me.” Children are a precious gift from God, but much anxiety comes with them. They may be a great joy or a great bitterness to their parents; they may be filled with the Spirit of God, or possessed with the spirit of evil. In all cases, the Word of God gives us one receipt for the curing of all their ills, “Bring him unto me.” O for more agonizing prayer on their behalf while they are yet babes! Sin is there, let our prayers begin to attack it. Our cries for our offspring should precede those cries which betoken their actual advent into a world of sin. In the days of their youth we shall see sad tokens of that dumb and deaf spirit which will neither pray aright, nor hear the voice of God in the soul, but Jesus still commands, “Bring them unto me.” When they are grown up they may wallow in sin and foam with enmity against God; then when our hearts are breaking we should remember the great Physician’s words, “Bring them unto me.” Never must we cease to pray until they cease to breathe. No case is hopeless while Jesus lives. The Lord sometimes suffers His people to be driven into a corner that they may experimentally know how necessary He is to them. Ungodly children, when they show us our own powerlessness against the depravity of their hearts, drive us to flee to the strong for strength, and this is a great blessing to us. Whatever our morning’s need may be, let it like a strong current bear us to the ocean of divine love. Jesus can soon remove our sorrow, He delights to comfort us. Let us hasten to Him while He waits to meet us.
Worth the Effort
The LORD gave this command to Joshua son of Nun: “Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you.” — Deuteronomy 31:23
The portion for this week is which means “and he went,” from Deuteronomy 31:1–30, and the is from Hosea 14:2
From the time that we were very young children, we had a desire to “do it ourselves.” We took great pride in the first time we tied our shoelaces or set the family dinner table by ourselves. As we grew older, we didn’t mind being helped as much — and for some tasks, we rather someone else did it for us!
However, according to Jewish teachings, at our core, we want “to do it ourselves.” The majority of us enjoy feeling the self-satisfaction of a job well done.
This is because we are created in God’s image — and God is a giver, not a taker. Therefore, our essence wants to contribute to the world. Our innermost being doesn’t want a handout. Consciously or unconsciously, we crave the opportunity to work at something and succeed.
In this week’s Torah reading, God told Joshua to be strong and courageous as he led the children of Israel into the Promised Land. The Jewish sages teach that had Moses been the one to bring the people into Canaan, the conquest would have been virtually effortless. There would have been no need to be “strong and courageous” because Israel’s enemies would have fallen instantly and supernaturally because of Moses’ holiness. There would have been no fight, no hard work, and zero effort required.
Likewise, the “conquest” of the material world would have been effortless. The mission of the Israelites was to transform mundane living into a spiritual experience by living out the Word of God and to spread this divine light to the whole world. This spiritual feat would have been accomplished almost instantaneously with a spiritual leader like Moses leading the way.
However, this was not the will of God. In His infinite wisdom, God knew it was better for the Israelites to do the hard work ahead of them. The children of Israel needed to work hard at capturing the land of Israel and making it into a place of holiness. Only then would they truly appreciate it and feel good about what they had received.
We must always remember that our work is a good thing. Whether we feel frustrated by the work we need to do every day to make ends meet, or we feel intimidated by the work required to achieve a goal to which we feel called, we should embrace our work and not run from it.
God gave us the opportunity to contribute to His world as a gift, not a burden. Ultimately our work is its own reward. We live with more joy, appreciation, and satisfaction than if we had never put in any effort at all.
HE STILL SPEAKS! 