Jesus Loves the Poor and Needy

Psalm 113:4 The LORD is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens. 5 Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, 6 who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?

Psalm 113 opens with great praise to the awesome God, who sits enthroned in the highest places above and beyond all the universe. Yet this is a personal God, One who stoops down (such condescension!) to look upon the heavens and the earth which He created.

And upon what does He look when He so stoops? Verses 7-9 tell us that He looks upon the poor and needy. But He not only looks upon the poor and needy, He also acts on their behalf--

Psalm 113:7 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; 8 he seats them with princes, with the princes of their people. 9 He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the LORD.

Everywhere in scripture we read that God loves the poor and needy. Jesus loves the poor and needy.

When Jesus cried out in Psalm 22:1, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?", He Himself was poor and needy.

Though Son of God, very God of very God, Jesus the man was always poor and needy. Born in a stable of very poor parents, working with His hands as a carpenter, abandoned by His disciples, spat upon, tortured, scorned, mocked, nailed and hanging naked upon a wooden cross, He represents everything from which we with our human natures recoil in shame.

What manner of God is this? The Bible teaches that God created the heavens and the earth. By His own Word He created them. He, Christ, the Word of God, born here on earth as one of us, tortured, despised, alone, rejected. Who in their right mind would ever in a million years have dreamed up such a story as this one?

No one but God could think of such a tale of anathema to all the natural pride that fills the human heart of man.

But there is another side to this story--

Philippians 2:5...Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Oh brothers and sisters, have you discovered for yourselves why Jesus bore the shame? It was so that everyone who calls upon His name might be saved. Saved from the enemy, saved from sin, saved from our own personal, detestable sins, saved from hell and damnation, a just judgment by God the Father against whom alone we all have sinned.

God who created us has also died for us to bring us back to Himself and give us eternal life in the Son of His love, Jesus Christ.

This Sunday, do not turn your face away, as did the crowd at the foot of the cross, but look into His face, and see if those eyes don't bore right into your heart. You only have one life to lose; why not lose it today, lose it in the vast ocean of eternal love which is our God.

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Father, none but a father of very great honor and esteem, would ever go through what you went through to save the very least of the least of the lost among the human race. But You did, in the life of Jesus Your only true, begotten Son. I pray, Lord, that by Your grace, and Your grace alone, You would turn someone's heart today away from the lie, the deception, and into the loving arms of Your grace. Thank-You for Your Word which teaches of Your great love and wonderful plan of redemption for all. Thank-You, Jesus, my Lord. In Your name I pray, Amen.

Going Out -- Coming In

Matthew 15:11 "Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man." -- Jesus

Proverbs 19:28 A corrupt witness mocks at justice, and the mouth of the wicked gulps down evil.

Children love to put everything inside their mouths. It is the mother's job to constantly admonish her young children not to put such-and-such into their mouths. Thus, we all, as children, are taught from a very young age that certain items are "dirty", and we should not eat these, nor even put them into our mouths.

Some of the Jewish people in Jesus' day believed that certain foods would make a person spiritually defiled, or unclean. The Bible teaches differently, however. Jesus taught that the food one eats has no power at all over a man's spirit, or the cleanliness or uncleanliness that is in a person's heart. It is what a man speaks that defiles his spirit.

Proverbs also teaches this principle quite strongly -- what comes out of the mouth, i.e., words, speech, is really what a person ingests into his spirit, or heart.

How can this be? Isn't this putting the cart before the horse? Isn't our speech a product of what is in our heart? According to these two passages of scripture, the process works the other way around. The person who is speaking is also ingesting into his heart every word he speaks! To the extent that someone who is telling lies about another person is actually gulping down evil.

A person who speaks gossip, spreading deceitful information about another, a person who "bad-mouths" and speaks negatively for no purpose other than pleasure, is really ingesting poison, living in an atmosphere of constant toxicity, polluting his own spiritual stomach, so to speak, and digesting into every part of his personality and being lies and untruths.

Is this too harsh? Apparently not, because Jesus Himself, who will be the judge on that final day, says--

Matthew 12:36 "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment."

This is a powerful reason why I should guard my tongue with great care -- whatever I speak will all come back to me, both by polluting my mind and spirit, and in the final judgment.

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Heavenly Father, This is all so new to me. I have not in my past spent a great deal of time thinking about the effects to myself of my speech. Yet again and again in Your word, I find these verses warning me to guard my tongue with the greatest of care! Please help me, Lord, to become aware of all I am saying, and to put a tight clamp on my mouth before I even open it wrongly. Thank-You, loving Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Listen Always--Proverbs 19:27

Proverbs 19:27 Stop listening to instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge.

Have you ever noticed that the mind is never still? When once the language of words has been learned, words never cease. The mind will be filled with thoughts; there is no way around this.

This proverb is as sure as night follows day--either the mind will be filled with instruction, or the mind will be filled with evil.

The Septuagint Bible brings out the meaning more strongly than other versions. It says--

A son who ceases to attend to the instruction of a father will cherish evil designs.

It's one or the other, good or evil, day or night. There is no middle ground, no period of probation. There will be growth or decay.

This proverb teaches that our faith is not static, but alive. Faith needs a daily feeding from the word of God, just as the Israelites in the desert needed their manna fresh daily.

As faith travels the oceans of our lives, it must constantly listen for the radar signal of God's word. Once those signals stop, drifting off-course will follow. Were a blind person to let go of the guide dog, his steps would soon wander. A flashlight in the dark is useful only as long as the beam is lit.

A trail through the forest must be marked frequently with signs, or the hikers will get lost. A ship must keep the lighthouse beam in constant view, or it may be drawn towards the rocks. A sports team must heed the coach throughout the game, not just once at the beginning. The orchestra must follow the conductor for the whole score, not just the opening bars.

A soldier must keep the metal detector always turned on, not for just the first few steps across a mined field. One bite of food does not nourish for a lifetime. One glass of water does not quench thirst for a year. Crops won't grow with just one day of sunshine.

It is nature's way to remind us that faith must be fed; God's instructions must be heard and obeyed--constantly, daily, or evil will certainly follow as our feet stray and wander off the righteous path into the unclaimed zones. Either we are on the boat, or in the water; on the bridge, or in the stream; in God's word, or listening to evil.

God's enemies are never silent. When we turn our ears from God's words, their words will very soon begin to fill the void.

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Heavenly Father, Thank-You for Your word which You haven so richly given to nourish, strengthen, guide, instruct, and protect us. Thank-You for Your signposts along the way. Thank-You for Your hand that pushes and leads us back when we get off-track. Thank-You for Your love which will bring us home. Thank-You for Your Son, our Lord Jesus. In His name, Amen.

Thanks to God versus Judgment

Psalm 50 is a psalm of judgment. God begins with His own house and judges His own people in the first 13 verses. Then verses 14 and 15 spell out the remedy--

Psalm 50:14-15 Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.

Then again, God judges the wicked from verses 16-22, but in verse 23 He again provides a remedy.

Psalm 50:23 He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him {23 Or and to him who considers his way I will show} the salvation of God.

In both cases, the remedy to change the course of God's condemnation is thanksgiving, which is honoring to God. To hear, believe, and obey the warning and remedy would be the wise choice to make. To believe and obey God is to regard Him, to take His word seriously, or, to "fear" Him.

Psalm 19:9 The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever...

Proverbs 19:23 The fear of the LORD leads to life: Then one rests content, untouched by trouble.

Our God, even in judgment, desires that all should be saved. To this end, He clearly spells out what it is that would please Him enough for Him to show us His salvation. To "fear" the Lord is to take Him seriously enough to change our behavior. God wants us to turn from not regarding Him to thanking and praising Him for His blessings. We know that the fear of the Lord is a gift He gives, because of all the responses we might have to His word, this response alone is pure. This response leads to life.

God's commandment is to thank Him, which is really giving Him honor and praise. Those who fear Him will thank Him, and in return God will show them the path which leads to salvation and eternal life.

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Heavenly Father, even in our own lives, we find that none of us wants to give gifts to those who disrespect and dishonor us. We are like You in this, because we have been created in Your image. O Father, grant me by Your grace to fear You, to honor You with genuine thanksgiving, to please You, that You in turn would save me and show the way of Your salvation. If anyone who is not saved reads this, I pray, Lord, that You would grant the Spirit of thanksgiving to fall on them, that they would see and thank You for the blessings You have given them, and that You in turn would show them Your way of salvation in Jesus Christ. Thank-You, Father, in Jesus' name, Amen.

God's Conquered Souls

Psalm 108:7 God has spoken from his sanctuary: "In triumph I will parcel out Shechem and measure off the Valley of Succoth. 8 Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet, Judah my scepter. 9 Moab is my washbasin, upon Edom I toss my sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph."

The lands mentioned are part of the roll call of God's victories. Oh, the blessing to have the Lord call my name out loud, claiming me as His territory!

Before the Lord conquered my heart, I was God's enemy (Romans 5:10). All mankind since Adam have been born as enemies of God, "As it is written: 'There is none righteous, no, not one,'" (Romans 3:10).

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

By God's grace, He conquered me by the blood of His Love, shed on Calvary's cross, and I have been His vanquished territory ever since.

Dear Reader, do you know that "...it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment," (Hebrews9:27)?

When God calls His final roll, will you be among those conquered souls destined to spend an eternity of love, life, and joy in the presence of God our creator and savior?

If the answer is no, or you are not sure, don't waste another moment, but bend your knee and ask God to include you among those who have been conquered by His saving love. It's by His grace He will grant you to receive and believe in His Son, Jesus Christ, whose death upon the cross and resurrection from the dead has bought the right for you to live, simply by believing in His name.

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Father, Yours is the power and the mercy even now to bring one lost sheep into Your fold. I pray by Your grace and mercy to instill a prayer of salvation into one lost sinner's heart. Thank-You, Lord. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

The Heavens Declare the Glory of God - Psalm 19

Psalm 19:1...The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

:4...In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, 5 which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

:7 The law of the LORD is perfect...

In this Psalm, God compares the sun in the sky with His law.

The sun is to creation what God's law is to the soul of men.

Psalm 138:2...For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.

How is the sun in the sky similar to the law of God?

The sun revives the earth with its heat; God's law revives our soul (7). Just as nothing is hidden from the sun (6), nothing is hidden from God's law (Heb 4:12).

The sun is trustworthy in its course. From the perspective of the life of mankind, the sun is eternal, always the same, never changing. So is it with God's law--His Word is eternal, and His commandments do not change.

Plants grow in the light of the sun; the law grows man's understanding, making the simple wise.

The sun brings joy and light to all; the law of God is our light, our joy.

People fear the sun in its power to burn, and just so, the fear of the Lord is pure.

There will always be a sun; God's law will always be (9).

The sun cannot be purchased in any way; God's law is not for sale.

The sun is available to all; it is free. It shines upon all manner of men. God's law is not hidden--it is shouted from the rooftops, available to all.

As the sun blesses, so with God's law. The sun is God's gift to all; God's law is a gift to all men.

Perceiving the blessings of the sun, the rightful response is to worship God, not the creation. Perceiving the blessings of following God's law, the rightful response is to worship God and to obey what He has chosen for us.

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:12-14 [Father,] "Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep Your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." In the name of the living Word, Jesus Christ, Amen.


AuntPreble_blog@yahoo.com

Rest

Think about all the times you have been short on sleep, or otherwise just plain worn-out, tuckered-out, totally exhausted, emotionally strained and drained. Doesn't your heart cry out, "All I want to do is rest!"

God knows that we need rest. He created us that way, because He Himself "rested" on the seventh day--

Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

His commandment to us is also to rest, no exceptions allowed--

Exodus 34:21 " Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.

God followed His own principle in all His dealings with His people, the Israelites--

1 Chronicles 22:9 'Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies all around. His name shall be Solomon, for I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days.

God continued to follow His principle of rest right into the New Testament. One example is when Jesus had been tempted by the devil while alone in the wilderness for forty days (Luke 4:2)--

Matthew 4:11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

(That must have felt like blessed peace!)

Jesus continued His Father's principle in His training of His own disciples--

Mark 6:31 And He said to them, "Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.

Why does God want me to rest? My experience tells me that if I do not rest, I will forget all about my God. When I am hard-pressed, exhausted, and afraid, I feel alone and very agitated. After God rests me (simply by providing me the time and occasion to get a really good night's sleep!), I find that I am still. It is then that I feel God's presence in me. I "hear" Him speaking to me, His Spirit ministers to me, and I am recharged with new ideas and fresh energy. My response is thanksgiving, because rest is so good and so very needful. My response is thanksgiving, because fellowship with God tastes so good and is so very satisfying to my soul.

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Father, Spirit, Lord Jesus. I just want to thank You and praise You and worship You for Your goodness to me. Truly, I had thought that I was carrying my burden all by myself! It had not occurred to me that You would not ask me to do something beyond my abilities without also giving me Your help to do it. Last night You rested me, and this morning I woke up and found You with me, in my heart and mind. You are so good, Lord. I love You and thank You and worship You with all my heart and soul. All because of Jesus. Amen.


AuntPreble_blog@yahoo.com

Water from the Rock

When the Israelites were wandering through the desert, they became thirsty but had no water to drink. Moses prayed to the Lord, and the Lord granted Moses' request--when Moses struck a rock, water came gushing forth (Exodus 17:6).


The Israelites knew that this was a miracle; we know it, too. We know that it was a miracle because never, ever have we seen anyone strike a rock with a stick, and water came gushing out.


Psalm 78:15 He split the rocks in the desert and gave them water as abundant as the seas; 16 he brought streams out of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers.


Do you have a rocky crag in your life? I know I do. Often in the course of my wanderings through the years, I have been in desert places, spiritually speaking: places of dryness, barrenness, miserable heat, hard pressing, no relief in sight, a rocky crag, a rock.


And then the Lord would open the very rock that was causing me misery, and fountains of water would come gushing forth! Within the very situation that was causing me pain, the Lord would bring forth fountains of living water as refreshing as a mountain stream! At these times, I knew that it was the Lord doing a miracle, because I had no water in me, just hard rock!


As I read through Psalm 78 recently, my heart became convicted of the sin of doubt, the same sin with which the Israelites vexed God in the wilderness. I know the Lord has saved me again and again, but when faced with this situation, I cave in and murmur and complain, not expecting His miracle of water to come forth yet again. What a short spiritual memory I have!


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Praise You Father! Your goodness and faithfulness are well known among Your people. We have all received from Your hand countless salvations and blessings. Forgive me, Lord, when I behave towards You so much the same as the Israelites with whom You were angry in the wilderness. Lord, I need Your strength yet again! Please, Lord, bring forth Your waters from this rocky crag where I am camped! In Jesus' precious name, Amen.

The Suffering King

Psalm 72:12 For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help.

The Psalms are so wonderful as they unfold the love of God. In the verse above we read about the needy and afflicted ones. Psalm 102 is an example of an extended prayer of a very needy person as he cries out.

Psalm 102:1 A Prayer of the afflicted when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the LORD. Hear my prayer, O LORD, And let my cry come to You.
2 Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble; Incline Your ear to me; In the day that I call, answer me speedily.
3 For my days are consumed like smoke, And my bones are burned like a hearth.
4 My heart is stricken and withered like grass, So that I forget to eat my bread.
5 Because of the sound of my groaning My bones cling to my skin.
6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am like an owl of the desert.
7 I lie awake, And am like a sparrow alone on the housetop.

When I read these words, I cannot help but think of the Lord Jesus as He hung upon the cross. In Hebrews, we read of Him as our mediator, our high priest, who was tempted and suffered in every way as we do, yet without sin. In Philippians we find the Christ learning obedience through what He suffered.

In Psalm 72, it is the king who answers the cry of the needy, and in Psalm 102, it is the King of kings Himself who is the needy one. Oh the wisdom and compassion of God our creator, who stopped at nothing to bring us salvation, not even sparing His own Son!

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Father, thank You so much for not sparing Your Son, but sending Him to die in our place. Forgive me, Lord, when forgetting all Your past mercies and faithfulness, I complain about my lot. Help me never to forget that Jesus hung and died on the cross for me. In Him, Amen.

The King Saves the Poor and Needy

Psalm 72 finds its fulfillment in Christ the King. He is called the royal son (NIV) in verse one. But what manner of King is this One? In verse 2, He judges the "afflicted" ones with justice. Verse four sees Him saving the children of the "needy". This theme is repeated in verses 12 to 14:

Psalm 72:12 For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. 13 He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. 14 He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight.

These verses spell out who it is the King will help. No mention is made of the successful and admired, but rather the poor, the abandon ed, the thought-least-of. Who but a king in heart would even dare look upon the poor, let alone respond to them with his help?

Poor and needy can refer to finances, circumstance, situations, health, personality, confidence, ability, the spiritual condition of our souls, and everything else that affects us. The King cares for and delivers all who cry out to Him, who have no one to help. He is willing to help, and He also has the power to help. He especially cares for those who suffer oppression and violence, for their blood is precious in His sight.

Praise, glory, blessings, thanksgivings, and honor to the King fill the rest of this psalm, to Him who is our Lord, the One who ransomed us, the poor and afflicted. Such humility and condescension are incomprehensible to me.

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Lord, I find myself without words as I consider the greatness of the King and the complete poverty of the afflicted, the poor, and the needy. What gain for Himself could the King have in helping such as these? None; the focus is on the giving. O Lord, I cry out to You, "I am afflicted; I am poor and needy," for in so doing, I am guaranteed a blessing from the King's gracious hand. Thank-You, Jesus, my Lord. Amen.

Gentle Rain

Psalm 72:6 He will be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth.

Psalm 72 is about Jesus. Today in this verse, Jesus is with believers not in bodily form but in the Spirit. Verse 6 describes the presence of the Spirit with believers.

Just as earth has its various seasons of weather, so also our spirits. Proverbs 17:3 says, The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart. This speaks of trial and hardship, stress and a tight place.

But the Psalm before us speaks of gentle rain, showers of blessing. After the harvest, when the field has been mown, after a time of trial and testing, the Spirit rests us, then prepares us for more work ahead. A mown field speaks of a spent field, it has been harvested, it is lying unused in the hot sun. It is waiting to be plowed again. Travelers may be walking across it, since it is beaten down and presents no obstacles. The owner of the field has no worry about thieves, since all has already been gleaned.

Then comes the rain--not a driving, beating rain of judgment and destruction, but a shower--gentle, soft, refreshing. There is the smell of wetness chasing away the pounding heat. The mown stalks of straw are softened as they absorb the moisture. There is the wet smell of damp earth, and in the receptive ground where the seeds have already fallen, new growth springs up! And a light film of new green shoots appears.

So is our Lord in His coming. He is a friend to His people. He refreshes and renews their spent spirits within them.

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Thank-You, Lord, for the comfort You bring. May all those in my life who are aching and spent this morning feel Your gentle renewal as You shed Your great mercies in their hearts and in their lives. Rejuvenate us all with the soft rain of Your presence, and we thank You for the rests You give us between our sorrows and trials. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

Naaman the Leper

2 Kings 5:1-18 tells the story of Naaman the leper. Naaman was a foreigner of wealth and prestige, commander of the army of the king of his land. But Naaman had leprosy, which completely ruined all his chances for a happy life.

Naaman's wife had a young, poor, Jewish maid who told her that Naaman should go to Israel, where there was a prophet of God who could heal him. Naaman went with a great show of pomp--fine clothes, gold, silver, horses and chariot.

But the man of God, the prophet Elisha, merely told him to go bathe seven times in the river, and he would be healed. This was too much for Naaman, who, already extremely ashamed of his leprosy, did not wish to publicly strip himself naked, as it were, to go bathe in what appeared to him to be a small, muddied stream. His servants prevailed upon him, however; and having bathed seven times, he came out healed.

God placed this story in His Word as a type, a model of what is required for salvation in Jesus Christ. Leprosy is sin; and the stream is the river of Christ's blood which flowed from His body on the cross. When we come to Christ, we must strip ourselves naked of all that we are by birth, by upbringing, by education, by our own accomplishment and achievements, and we must plunge ourselves into the cleansing flood of Christ's blood.

We come by faith, drawn by the testimonies of others. We hear the Word preached; God speaks His commandment into our hearts. We either obey the inner prompting, or we shove it aside and return to our land of sin unhealed. Pride is the greatest of obstacles. In the case of Naaman, though his pride was great, his abhorrence of his leprosy and his desire to become clean were the motivating factors in what appeared to him to be an act of great humiliation.

But he obeyed, and by faith bathed himself in the river. All his sins were washed away, and he became a new man, as it were, with a new life, hope for a future, but most of all, with great love and gratitude in his heart toward Israel and Israel's God. He even took some of the dirt of the land with him, to hold near his heart as a strong reminder to him.

Belief and eternal life are free in Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself paid the price for our freedom. However, as the song says, "Naked came I from the womb", and that is the way we must appear before God in the final judgment. The only clothing God will permit at that time will be the robe of righteousness, the blood of Christ, provided by His death on the cross and resurrection from the grave.

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Heavenly Father, thank You for the story of Naaman in Your Word outlining for us in story form how we must obtain the only righteousness that You acknowldege. Lord, we pray for our friends and loved ones who have this leprosy of sin, with which we are all born, but have not yet bathed in Your cleansing stream. May they do so this day. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Lifting Our Eyes

Psalm 121:1 A Song of Ascents. I will lift up my eyes to the hills -- From whence comes my help?

As we go throught the course of our life's cirucumstances, where do we keep our eyes? Sometimes I consider just this hour, or this day, or even this week or month. Other times I step back and consider my life as a whole. Still other times, I consider the eternal picture. When my vision is set to close-up, I find that my stress and worry level stay pretty high, but when my range is set to far, far away, I am at peace.

The small book of Habakkuk gives a wonderful picture of God adjusting the focal range of one man's vision. Habakkuk begins with the prophet's focus on the close-up, the here-and-now. Conditions were bad in Israel at that time, and the outlook appeared quite grim.

God, however, had very long term plans, which He shared with the prophet Habbakuk. Habbakuk received God's plan and purpose for his nation by faith. The ending of the book contains a beautiful poem which sharply contrasts the pain of the here-and-now with the joy of God's future.

Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls--
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer's feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills.

--Habukkuk3:17-19

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Oh, that I as a Christian would learn to keep by faith my eyes fixed on the eternal goal of the upward call in Christ Jesus, my eternal future, and my reward in heaven, rather than on the daily struggles of my present circumstances. Father, may I live my life with eternity in view, rather than just today and tomorrow. In Jesus, Amen.

In Everything Give Thanks

1 Thessalonians 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

How often do I get down on my knees, even spiritually, and thank God as fervently for His answers to my prayers as I pleaded with Him for His blessing?

Yet this verse takes me further than thanking God when all is well. I am to thank the Lord in everything. I read that two ways.

First, even in times of hardship and trial, I should be thanking God for His blessings in my life. Though I am suffering, I need to take "time out" as it were, from heartache, to thank God and bless Him for His wonderful works of mercy towards me. And there is so very much to thank God for! Not the least of which is my salvation and the overwhelming contentment of knowing Jesus Christ.

But secondly, I read this verse to be saying that I also need to thank the Lord for this very trial that is bowing me down. How is that? How can I thank God for hardships?

At the very least, each time of trial is an opportunity for me to trust my Lord to pull me through. "'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus," says the song. Trust is never so poignant in times of well-being as in times of trial. So, I can thank God for this trial in my life that leads me to the sweetness of trusting in Jesus.

Then again, I learn in 2 Corinthians 4:17 that my "light affliction, which is but for a moment" is working for me "a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory," than the weight of the affliction itself. In the deepest of trials I can thank God for "the glory which shall be revealed" in me (Romans 8:18).

Hebrews 13:15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

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Father, forgive me for all the times that I have cheated and robbed You in my offerings of thanks and praise! I have been a leper, Lord, and You have cleansed and healed me! May I not be like the nine who were healed and never gave thanks, but may I by Your grace be like the one who returned, kneeling at Your feet, thanking and praising You for Your great goodness to me. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Psalm 12 Our Tongue

Psalm 12:1 ...Help, LORD, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men.

The Psalmist cries out in loneliness, feeling isolated away from all God's people. The godly are no more and the faithful have vanished. Who are the ungodly and faithless which remain?

:2 Everyone lies to his neighbor; their flattering lips speak with deception. Those remaining lie, deceive and flatter. Sins of the tongue, of speech, of language. Murder is not mentioned here, nor thievery, nor adultery, nor even idolatry, but sins involving the use of speech.

God created mankind in His image. He spoke us into existence. He gave us mouths, words, language, and a creative ability that mirrors His own. God is truth, and He hates liars. Satan is the father of lies.

:3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips and every boastful tongue 4 that says, "We will triumph with our tongues; we own our lips {4 Or our lips are our plowshares} --who is our master?"

Verses three and four display a spirit of prideful independence at the heart of the sinful tongue. This is "freedom of speech" at its worst, a non-submissiveness that knows neither courtesy nor compassion. The owner of these lips uses words like a sword or a club, swinging madly and furiously, not caring who is destroyed.

:5 "Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise," says the LORD. "I will protect them from those who malign them."

Those who use words powerfully and wrongfully (perhaps those in government office or legislative bodies, judges, media reporters, hostile neighbors, social classes or groups?) oppress the weak and needy with their evil words. But the Lord has heard and rises up to protect them.

:6 And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times.

And God's words cannot be compared with the words of the wicked, He is so far above them. His words are true, perfect, without a single weak point, pure, strong, enduring, rich, and beautiful. And because God is God, He has the last word.

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Dearest Father, I am just beginning to begin to perceive the seriousness of judgment which will fall upon us all because of each idle word we speak; the words that malign others; the words that flatter on the surface but hide a heart of malice. Father, I confess that I am guilty. My heart is so far from being pure; likewise my thoughts and my words. Forgive me, Lord, and help me to learn to control my tongue, to purify my heart, and to think and speak good for others at all times. It is our speech that sets us apart from all else in Your worldly creation. May I use my tongue to glorify You at all times. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Receiving What I Desire

Proverbs 10:24 What the wicked dreads will overtake him; what the righteous desire will be granted.

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

In these verses we see the connection between righteousness and receiving what we desire. Righteous people have righteous desires. They are controlled and governed in their hearts by God's law, which He has written there.

What are some righteous desires? Do I desire that I might have more love in my heart towards someone not so lovable? joy? peace? These Psalms tell me that my desires will be granted.

God's law has the effect of circular repetition. When I read and meditate upon His law, His Word, I find that I begin to desire what is holy and good. When I begin to desire what is holy and good, I find myself praying to God that I might follow and obey His law! My heart within me knows that in following God's law, I will receive what is holy and good, because this is God's nature and the way that He created us.

So there is this principle: goodness begets obedience, begets goodness, begets obedience, and I find that the whole person that I am is being brought into conformity to the image of God's Son, Romans 8:29.

What is my part and what is God's? God gives the new birth; I receive. God gives His Word; I read it and receive its teachings. God places His righteous desires in my heart; I receive those by straining forward to obey His law. My part is to read His Word. Simply by reading it, His Spirit washes me and cleanses me of my unrighteousness. By reading His Word, I am taught what is good and what is not. When I desire what is good, God will hear and answer my prayer!

What a precious cycle of life!

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Oh, Lord, what I desire more than anything else right now is peace--Your peace and Your contentment. Grant me, Father, to obey Your command. Thank-You for Your written Word, for salvation in Jesus Christ, and for Your Holy Spirit within me to help me obey what is pleasing to You. In Your name, Amen.

Praise to God, Remedy in Peril

No one stays happy all the time. No one has smooth sailing all the time. Even for the strongest of believers, there come moments of doubts, fears, narrow places, sleepless nights, stress, and uncertainty.

Psalm 9:1-2 gives the antidote--praise to God! Psalm 9:1...I will praise You, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works. 2 I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

The psalm tells me to really throw myself into praise of God, either publicly or in private--with all my heart, wholeheartedly, enthusiastically. I am to be glad and rejoice in God's praises. That would include telling God of all His past wonders in my life. As I lie on my bed or drive in my car, I can recount in my mind my history with God and all the times He saved me from the muck and the mire of my life. I can look around me and begin thanking Him for all His blessings: perhaps the warm bed I am lying in; perhaps the roof over my head; perhaps the food in my stomach; perhaps simply that I am alive one more day. Anyone who is even alive has that for which to thank and praise God.

What will be the outcome of even thirty minutes of praise to God? Psalm 9:3 My enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before you. My enemies aren't so much people, although sometimes that is the case. But more often, my enemies are the fearful shadows in my own heart, the dark areas of my own life, memories of a past which rise up to accuse me, emotions run amuck. These are my greatest enemies. But these are the enemies that turn back, stumble, and perish before the God of wonders, as I praise and thank Him in my heart.

God promises great blessings to those who praise His name in times of trial: Psalm 9:10 Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

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Father, I can say, "Amen!" with the psalmist in verse 10. I can verify that You, Lord, have never forsaken me. You have always rescued me and brought me out of the slump into the land of sunshine. Thank-You, so much, dear Lord. Help me, Lord, always to turn to You with praise and thanksgiving in my heart whenever I am feeling low and afraid. In Jesus' name, Amen.

The Living Word

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

God spoke the world into being.

Further, the Bible teaches, "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."--Genesis 1:27

Of all living things, intelligence and language are what set men apart. Other animals may communicate; some scientists would even say that apes can learn human sign language, but no animal on earth besides man has the complexity and subtlety of language with which I am speaking right now.

Because mankind is intelligent and we have language, we cannot help but notice that there is an order around us. Everything in nature works together in beautiful harmony to keep living things alive, that they may shelter themselves and find food. There is an interconnectedness among all parts of the world that is staggering to the imagination.

Is God Deos ex machina? Are we an experiment in a petri dish that will provide amusement for awhile and then wind up in the trash? No. God is the living word. He spoke creation into existence, and He spoke us into existence according to His image. He gave mankind a marvelous intelligence, emotions deep as an ocean, a sense of beauty and justice, and the ability to express and create in countless ways extremely wonderful and unique.

Because He made us in His image, we can know that God is infinitely committed to mankind. He gave us His words in a book, the Bible. This book has been or is being translated into all the major langauge families on earth.

The Bible teaches that God Himself, this very same Word that created us, incarnated as one of us. John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us... And this Word become flesh died as one of us. Men killed Him. He was crucified, dead, and buried. But the Bible says that on the third day He came back to life, having secured eternal life for all those who will simply believe that He really did do this for them.

Romans 14:9 For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

Every Sunday the word of God goes out around the world calling men to repent from not knowing Him, not obeying Him, not being interested in Him, even hating Him. Today is the day of repentance and turning to God.

Hebrews 3:15 while it is said: "Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion."

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Father, my words fall so far short in expressing the wonderment and amazement in my heart that You gave us the faculty to comprehend You. The universe and all creation are so extremely beyond all that I am or can think--and that tells me that You are huge! Yet Your word, the word in Your book, which I can pick up and read daily, tells me that You loved me enough to come to earth as a person like me and to die for me. I pray, Lord, that Your word would bring new life to someone's heart today. Thank You for loving me! In Jesus, Amen.

Unity of God

Luke 10:16 "He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me."

Little children know that if they cannot receive their requests from one parent, it pays to take the same request to the other parent. Of course there is deception in this, since generally the parents are in different parts of the house and have not had opportunity to communicate with each other on the matter.

Not so with God. This verse makes clear that God and Jesus are one. We have it positively in John 13:20 "I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me."

When we pray to God, we are also praying to Jesus, since they are one. We cannot go to the one without also going to the other. God the Father will not receive us into His presence if we choose to ignore God the Son. They are always in the same "room" at the same time. Their communication is total, complete, entire, and in complete agreement at all time.

Many of the world's religions and philosophies teach that there are many paths to God, and these are all good. God will receive anyone who comes to Him by any means. Not so. Even the Old Testament is very plain and clear that God has a Son--

Psalm 2:7 "I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.

Psalm 2:12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

And again, Jesus says it most clearly of all--

John 10:30 I and the Father are one. 31 Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him.

So, if we expect God to hear and answer our prayers, and there is Jesus sitting on the throne beside the Father, what right would we have to expect that we could approach God without acknowledging His Son? or that God the Father would receive us and grant our requests?

The good news is that Jesus is the love of the Father personified. If you have not known Jesus, if you have not addressed Him directly in your heart, won't you do so today? 1 John 5:14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And we know that it is God's will that we receive His Son.

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Father, Your Word the Bible is the source of all wisdom. In it You bring us understanding of Your ways and nature. We know that You are a God of wrath and judgment. The Old Testament spells that out most clearly. But, You are also a God of mercy and love. Both Old and New Testaments attest to Your Son's death on the cross to spare us Your wrath. Father, enter our hearts and show us Your Son! Unless You do this work in our hearts, we will remain blind forever. Jesus, show me Your face! Forgive me my sins, and thank You for dying in my place. Amen.

Psalm 119:176

Psalm 119:176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; Seek Your servant, For I do not forget Your commandments.

I am so thankful that God included this verse in His Bible for us to read and ponder.

Psalm 119 is the longest of the psalms, and the verses come in sets of eight each. When reading the first set of eight, we see the psalmist as a young man, just beginning his Christian walk. He is full of enthusiasm and great resolve.

The psalmist's trials begin in earnest in verse 25 and continue to the end of the psalm. But the psalmist himself never wavers in his faith. His constant cry unto to the Lord is for His Word.

As the psalm progresses, so does the life of the psalmist, often joyful, always longing, ever hopeful, always turned to the Lord, his God.

Finally, we come to verse 176, the last verse; and in keeping with the movement of the psalm as a whole, it seems that this verse would find its writer old, seasoned, a veteran of many, many spiritual battles, struggles, hardships, and wars.

But what do we read? A great cry of triumph, such as, "Lord, thank-you! I have achieved the goal with which I began my Christian walk!"? No, it is the plaintive bleating of a lost sheep, "I have gone astray...seek Your servant."

I believe the Lord included this verse for comfort, for comfort to someone such as I, a Christian of no few years, one who has made many, many mistakes, taken many wrong turns, gotten lost so many times, and some of those times quite seriously, to the very brink of death.

This psalm and verse says to my heart that God knows all my difficulties; He has "been there" before with many of His saints, the psalmist included. Getting lost and making serious mistakes does not necessarily mean that the person is not a Christian. Even seasoned Christians get lost and make mistakes. Yet, they are still called "servant"; God's renewed nature is still within them; God's promises still stand.

The closing words, "Seek Your servant, For I do not forget Your commandments," speak hope, pardon and renewed fellowship with the Lord, a better time to come.

How true to both the human heart and to God's nature this psalm is.

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Lord, I thank You for the sacrifice of Your life on my behalf. Thank You for Your triumph through the cross, which is infinitely greater than all my sin. Thank You for Your Word of comfort and strength. Thank You for Your tender care of all Your children. In Jesus, Amen.

"As Your Custom Is" --Psalm 119:132

There's a phrase we don't hear too much in spoken English anymore. It goes like this...it was his custom to... You might find it in a sentence like this one: Each day, as she made her rounds of the market stalls, it was her custom to pat the little urchins on their heads, grant them a ha' pence, and sweetly inquire of their mums how they were doing and how was the health of so and so still bedridden at home.

By saying that such and such is someone's custom, we are marking out that which a person does repeatedly, often, habitually (it's hard for the person not to do it). The custom, whatever it may be, tends to characterize that person and define his personality. It's what we would most likely envision in our minds when we think of what the person might be doing at any given time.

We find this phrase "as Your custom is" in Psalm 119:132 Look upon me and be merciful to me, As Your custom is toward those who love Your name.

What beautiful words! What blessed assurance! The Psalmist is in a difficulty. Something is pressing in on him; something is not right; there is a need for help. He turns to the Lord and asks for mercy--kindness, favor, grace, love. He asks, knowing that he has every reason to believe that the Lord will both hear and answer his prayer in a favorable way. Why? Because it is the Lord's custom, His habit, the characteristic way the Lord behaves.

Oh, that we would realize this about our gracious, good God and turn to Him frequently during each and every day. As a father who loves to give good things to his favorite son, so is our heavenly Father who loves to give good things to those who love His name. Who loves His name? Everyone whose custom it is to turn to Him regularly for all their needs, those who fear Him, those who abide in His Word and seek to please and obey Him, those who work hard at keeping their relationship with Him active.

Does this description of one who loves God leave you out? No, it doesn't. The focus is on God and His great kindness, His habits of love, His custom of granting mercy to those who ask. Merely to turn to Him and ask Him shows that you love His name.

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Oh heavenly Father! How delightful to know that you look upon Your children. You spend Your time with Your gaze habitually fixed upon us, as a mother her child. This verse in Your Word is meant to encourage us to turn to You in our great hour of need, with full assurance that You will see, hear, and respond favorably to our petitions and request. Help me, Father, to keep my eyes fixed on You, to turn to Your Word frequently, and to seek to obey You with all my heart and soul. Thank-You for the the love You have given us in Christ Jesus our Lord. In His name, Amen.

A Dog's Vomit

Proverbs 27:22 Though you grind a fool in a mortar, grinding him like grain with a pestle, you will not remove his folly from him.

The problem with the fool is that he needs a new nature. Discipline and hardship alone will not suffice to remove his folly from him.

In order for that to happen, there must be at least a kernel of what God calls good inside him. Buffing will never turn a lump of coal into a diamond. But if you begin with a diamond, no matter how rough it may be, good cutting and buffing will produce a jewel of great price. A fool must be changed from within in order for discipline and hardship to profit him.

So we see that the prodigal son, though very prodigal, was still a son, and not a fool. The grinding of circumstance brought him to his senses, and he returned to his father's house. Even in his lost state, the likeness of his father's features could still be seen in him, and the fact that he turned and went home after disciplining proved him to be a son indeed.

Proverbs 26:11 As a dog returns to his own vomit, So a fool repeats his folly.

After testing, our genuine natures are revealed: a fool remains a fool, but a son turns and becomes a son.

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O Lord, do I continue in my folly? or do I profit from your discipline? If I profit, then all is well, though You grind me long and hard. But if I remain a fool, Lord, then save me by Your good grace, and give me a new heart and nature, one of Your own making, bearing Your likeness within. Lord, I would not remain a fool, though I be one now. I turn to You, my good Lord, for Your grace. Amen.

A Narrow Faith

Psalm 147:19 He has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel. 20 He has done this for no other nation; they do not know his laws. Praise the LORD.

God treated Israel differently than He treated all the other nations of the world. He gave them His laws, and in their giving, He required that Jacob obey. God required Israel to travel through the narrow gate.

Matthew 7:13 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Many Christians are criticized for living what the world regards a too narrow life. According to the standards of the world, not seeing a certain movie or reading a certain book, not going to certain parties or behaving in certain ways are seen as behaviors that confine and restrict. Many times Christians are known as "kill joys".

But take heart, dear friend, if this is your lot. It is God who orders the Christian to walk the narrow way; it is not the Christian who determines his walk out of a narrow heart, as the world defines narrowness. To reject the "narrow" Christian faith is to reject Jesus, since nothing is more narrow in the world's eyes than the cross. Indeed, to reject the narrowness of the Christian faith is to reject the Bible and God Himself, since all His decrees are for the purpose of setting us apart from the world unto Himself. God's blessings are many to those who follow His "narrow" way!

Psalm 81:16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."

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Lord, forgive me for the times I cower before the criticisms and mockery of the world. I love Your law! Help me, Lord, to obey, because I know that You have the words of life, and You desire blessing and prosperity for me. Thank-You, Lord Jesus, for the narrowness of Your cross, for beyond it lies eternal life. In Your name, Amen.

God Reveals His Plan

Psalm 119:73 Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands.

God's logic in this verse is absolutely superb! The Psalmist begins by saying that God created him. This is a personal creation: God has hands. The creation is a process over time--the hands are making and forming. The hands of God are purposeful. The Psalmist has been made according to design, not accidentally, or as a by-product of something else.

Because God is the creator, the designer, of the wonderful being that the Psalmist is, therefore, it is God who knows how best the created being should live. God has the master plan; he wrote the "code"; He has a purpose and a will concerning what He made.

God has shared His master plan with the created person in the form of the written word, known here as the commands of God.

Why do men resist living by God's word? Does a pilot not spend hours and hours learning how to fly his plane? Doesn't every driver's training student read the motor vehicle's manual? Doesn't a medical student study how the body is put together and the functions of its various parts?

Who but God, the designer of man, knows best how we should live? Following His plan provides the optimum for our lives.

And God's ways are good! God wants to bless us and give us His very, very best. The way to receive God's blessings is to follow His rules, to live according to His design for us. And so, the Psalmist asks for God's help in doing this. God helps everyone who asks Him for help to live according to His plan and purpose. He is a good God, a great and kind creator.

Psalm 34:8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

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Lord, thank-You that You have shared with us Your "operating manual", Your "code" for our success, which is Your Word, our Bible. Thank-You that You have not kept Your desires and requirements a secret, but You have openly and plainly shared with us everything we need to know about how to please You and to find happiness in this world. You are a good and gracious God. Thank-You for Your Son. Give us understanding, Lord, to understand, desire, and obey Your commands. In Jesus' name, Amen.

God's Wisdom Cries Out

Proverbs 8:1 Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? 2 On the heights along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; 3 beside the gates leading into the city, at the entrances, she cries aloud:

This is good news! God does not hide His wisdom. Personified as a woman, she climbs to the highest hilltop of the city; she uses her loudest voice; she finds the busiest parts of town where the most people are; she greets everyone at the entrance to the city, where all must pass her by.

Why does God post His wisdom for all to find? He loves us! He wants us to find Him! He is a God of holiness, of strict ways, of exact requirements, of extreme justice. But He will not keep His requirements a secret. He does not hide His expectations of humanty in places where only those skilled in digging out the esoteric can find them. He publishes His standards openly. He invites and even begs humankind to read them.

To those who read His requirements and find that they fall short, God provides a remedy, a Savior, His Son. Everyone who turns to Jesus Christ will be received. God turns no one away! If we ourselves cannot obey God's law, and no one can--no, not one!--God allows us to claim the perfect performance of His Son as our very own!

By calling on the name of Jesus, accepting His death upon the cross as our own, by believing in His resurrection and life, we are made holy in God's sight. And then God sends His own Spirit within us to help us learn and obey all His requirements for us. The reward is eternal life. God promises a life of eternal joy to all those who believe in His Son Jesus.

Who could pass up such a great offer? Yet so very many do.

The good news is that it is never too late to cry out to God. If anyone finds themselves on the outside, apart from God, not counted as one of His beloved children, just cry out to God. Admit your lost condition, ask Him to help you to ask Jesus into your heart. Ask God to give you the belief that you lack. By so doing, you have turned to Him; you have not rejected Him, and He will give you His wisdom and the rest you so desperately yearn for. Don't let another moment go by--do it now!

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Oh Father, I am ever so grateful that You drew my heart unto Yourself. I am so grateful, Lord, that You placed in me a desire to know You, that You touched me in such a way that I turned toward You and asked You for help in my lost, lost state. Lord, I pray for those who cannot pray for themselves. I pray that You would touch many, many lives this morning, right now, with Your goodness and Your love, and place in their hearts this instant a strong desire to turn the ears of their hearts toward You, to seek Your face in the person of Your blessed Son Jesus. I know that of everyone who turns to You, You will turn no one away. O Father, help their hearts to turn. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Sweetly Broken

To anyone who is suffering dearly, this is a great pick-me-up song my Jeremy Riddle.

Calibrating Our Hearts

Psalm 119:35 Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.

36 Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.

37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.

Instruments need to be calibrated before they can be relied upon--the instruments guiding a plane, the various watches of team members and institutions, thermometers reading the weather, a ship's compass directing its course after a night of drift, a scale used to measure small amounts of material in a laboratory, our hearts and minds toward God.

In this portion of Psalm 119, God does, and we respond. Romans 7 and other portions of New Testament scripture speak of an internal battle, a war that is being raged between the natural man within us and our reborn natures in Christ.

Just by living and breathing, the desires of our flesh pull us away, even if ever so slightly and subtly, from the true north of our upward call in Jesus Christ. It is God's Spirit in us who must turn our hearts and our eyes away from the deceit of our selfish natures and the worthless desires of our flesh. He does this for us through our reading of His Word. His Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.

Just as Jesus washed the disciples' feet, so we need to bathe our hearts and minds daily in the reading of God's Word. So we will recalibrate our hearts to stay synchronized with our Lord, who is our goal.

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Father, thank-You for Your Word, which tunes my heart daily to Your Presence, reminding me who I am in Jesus, of His great love for me, and of the jobs You have given me here on earth to accomplish. Turn my heart toward your statutes and my eyes away from the selfish desires of my flesh and from the worthless things in the world around me. In Jesus' great and precious name, Amen.