Articles for September 2017

I Corinthians 15:57,58, “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

What great verses of instruction for the Christian. Every word of these verses has a message for us.

• Thank God,
• Be Stedfast, Unmoveable, (don’t budge from what you believe)
• Abound, (do lots and lots for the Lord)
• Work, (put effort and determination into your service for God.)

Do you ever get tired? Giving up, looms on the horizon.  The ‘keep on, keeping on’ part of life just seems too hard.  (Been there, done that.)  But, praise God, He knew this would happen in most of our lives and these verses in His Word are an encouragement to us – a pep talk, so to speak.

Follow through on all of these admonitions from the Lord. We have the promise  of worthwhile results in the end.  All of your labour and hard work will not go unnoticed.  Even though it often seems discouraging because of lack of visible results, we know that God is working.

Remember that it is God that gives the victory. He is the one that is in charge of the results of our labours.   Our job is to do the work He has called us to do and leave the rest to Him.

Everything we do for God is not for nought. We need to – keep on, keeping on – because victory is promised in the end!

Mark 6:39, 44 “And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.  (44)  And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.”

After Jesus had performed the miracle of feeding the five thousand plus, we see the account of Him feeding the four thousand. As we look at these Scriptures, Mark 8:1-9, we see that the disciples were questioning  Jesus by saying, “whence can a man satisfy these men with  bread here in the wilderness.”  How quickly the disciples had forgotten how Jesus had fed the five thousand at an earlier time. (Mark 6:32-44.)

Looking at this account, we can become critical of the disciples, but we need to take a closer look at our own track record before we start to judge them.

We see God answer our prayers and work in our lives. We rejoice in those answers and praise Him.  We share the testimony of His goodness with others.  But, not too far down the road we are faced with a challenging problem and our first reaction is, “How am I ever going to get through this?  It looks impossible.”  We are like the disciples – we have a very short spiritual memory.  We forget to trust.  We just plain forget what He has done in the past and are only focusing on the problems of today.

Remember, remember, remember – this is what God is asking of us. He wants us to remember how He has answered our prayers in the past.  He wants us to remember that He cares and is there for us when we need Him.  He wants us to remember the promises that He has given us in His Word.

God is so gracious that He meets our needs even when we are lacking in the memory department. Even when He knows that we should respond differently when faced with a problem, He is there for us.  But, our lack of memory and trust can cause us much apprehension and pain. This is pain that we would not have to face if we only believe and remember that –

 God is good,  ALL the time!

You’ve all seen signs at the beach that say, “No Swimming Allowed”.  Or, signs in public places that state,  ‘No Loitering Allowed.”Well, God’s Word could have a big sign on its cover that says, “No Bitterness Allowed.”

God knows all about the nature of man. We can get angry and we can hold grudges.  The Bible covers every scenario concerning the scope of man’s emotions – it goes against our natural tendencies to follows God’s ways above our own.

Luke 6:27,28 says, “But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.” 

This verse is very graphic in its description: there is no wiggle room to misinterpret what God is saying:

Enemy –  A foe, one who hates another and wishes him injury, an adversary.
Hate –  To dislike greatly, to have a great aversion to.
Curse –  To issue a wish of evil against someone.
Despiteful –  Full of spite; malicious.

These are the people that we are to love, – we are to do good to them, – we are to bless them, and to top it off – we are to pray for them.   Now, if this doesn’t go against the very nature of man I don’t know what does!  But, this is GOD’S WAY and if we are going to be living in God’s will than we must follow these instructions.  To do any less is SIN.  Don’t justify your feelings of anger and possibly thoughts of revenge because God clearly says to forgive them and love them.

Love, forgiveness, and kindness are always God’s way. Ephesians 4:32 sums it up quite nicely.

“And be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you,.” God forgave us of our sins and clearly tells us we are to forgive others, (no matter how justified we may feel to be angry).  To do any less is to be in direct disobedience to His Word!

Remember, “No Bitterness Allowed.” –  Only love and forgiveness!

Mark 9:23 “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”

This theme runs throughout the entire Bible: have faith, believe God, trust Him. Jesus sums it all up in this verse, “all things are possible to him that believe.”

Think about it! What “all things” are possible in your life if you only believe?  It opens a door of incredible possibilities – if you BELIEVE.  Our unbelief, our not trusting God, and our lack of faith keeps us in a little box of accomplishing very little.  Living within the realm of your own abilities is certainly limiting.  BUT, living in the world of FAITH and TRUST and BELIEF;  this opens up a whole new world of freedom and accomplishment.  It makes me wonder what God could accomplish through us if we just believed Him and let Him work.  Wow!  What wonderful possibilities could happen then!

When things are tough and everything seems to be going badly, remember that Jesus is still here. He can see beyond the problems and we must believe that He is in control no matter what the outcome.  He is here, He is in control, He is in charge – if we can focus on this truth, there will be no room for anxiety and fear.  Believe God for the impossible and you will see the impossible happen!

Psalm 128:1, “Blessed is every one that fearth the Lord; that walketh in his ways.”

Happy are you if you reverence God.  We have talked about needing to understand ‘Who” God is. He is the all powerful and all knowing creator of the universe who is in control of everything that happens. We need to keep our hearts and minds focused on this truth at all times. When we see God for who He really is, all the problems of life fall into their proper places. We begin to see that they are no match for His power and majesty.

I love the fact that this verse says – blessed is EVERYONE that fears God. Everyone of us – with no exceptions, are included in this promise. We are all on equal ground. We just need to reverence God AND walk in His ways for this promise to be ours.

Stop and brainstorm all the ways of God that you can think of that would represent walking in His ways. I just started to write out some examples, but, YOU need to make this a personal exercise. Make out a list of all the things you can think of that you can do to demonstrate to God that you love Him and are desiring to live the way that He wants you to. The Bible is full of instructions on how He desires for a Christian to live. Our goal each day should be to try to DO what He says and seek His help in doing it.

Walking denotes a continuing action. It’s what you need to do – today, and tomorrow, and the next day. Don’t give up. Just keep on, keeping on, and God says you will be blessed (happy) as a result. Great Promise!

Psalm 9:9, “The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.“ 

The 1828 Webster’s Dictionary defines:

Refuge:  a shelter or protection from danger or distress.  A stronghold which protects by its strength, a sanctuary.
Oppressed:  burdened with unreasonable impositions, overburdened, depressed, overpowered.

Life can overpower us with problems and cares. We often are oppressed and overwhelmed.

In the midst of all of this, God says that He will be our refuge. He will be our protection and covering.  This is another one of those verses that we need to claim and cling to as we walk through this rocky and uncertain life.  God offers us so much but often we forget to take advantage of His promises.  We try to carry our own burdens and wallow through our problems, fretting and complaining as we go.

A reminder here. God is not saying He will remove our problems, only that He will help us through them!  God is offering us a place of rest and protection.  We need to run (don’t walk) into His loving arms and trust that He will be there for us in the times of trouble.

God’s Word is so clear when it comes to preparing us for the realities of life. It’s all there – everything we need to know about how to live when good things happen, and how to live when bad things happen.  It seems to be part of our nature to want to major on the pleasant and positive promises of the Bible and fly over the areas we prefer not to think about.

I Peter 4:12, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:” 

The wording of this verse is ominous. A fiery trial sounds like a serious problem, not just a minor inconvenience.  It sounds scary and hurtful.  Notice that God doesn’t say if.   He is saying when it occurs we should not be surprised.  The Scriptures goes on to say in verse 13, “But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”

II Timothy 3:12 is a clear statement by God Himself to Christians – “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” If we are living the way we ought to for the Lord – witnessing and being a godly testimony, God says we will suffer persecution.  He has told us what to expect and therefore these happenings should not trigger a long list of ‘whys’ on our part.  We should rejoice because God has promised us victory and blessing because we are living the way that He desires for us to live.

We should not become bitter and disheartened because of trials and persecutions. Instead,  we need to follow the example of the apostles in Acts 5:41,42,  “And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.  And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.”

Psalm 112:7, “He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.” 

Wow! God’s Word is so up to date and pertinent to every generation.  This verse is certainly needed today with all the ‘evil tidings’ we are bombarded with every day: politically, morally, economically, spiritual false teachings – the list can go on and on.  The world seems to be going crazy and evil seems to be taking over.

BUT, praise God, the Christian need not to be afraid in the midst of all of this chaos.

Fixed means – settled, established, firm, fast, stable, (1828 dictionary). God is telling us that our hearts (our innermost self) need to be fixed on Him.  Our eyes need to be looking at Him and His power, not on man and his evil ways.  When we are trusting God and acknowledging that He is in control, then we will be able to stand firm in our faith and nothing will be able to shake our resolve to serve God.

How can mere men develop this kind of faith? We need to keep spiritually fit by reading the Word and following it.  We need to experience God’s presence in our lives.  We need to pray and walk with Him throughout every day.  We need to acknowledge Him in everything we do.

(I know that I say all of these things frequently – but they are so basic to our spiritual health that they cannot be ignored. They are like the spiritual ‘vitamins’ that need to be taken daily so that we can have a strong faith!)

God says that if our eyes are fixed on Him and we are trusting in Him, no matter what is going on around us there will be no cause for anxiety and fear in our lives.

What a great promise!

Psalm 33:12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.” 

I have a sign in my window, it simply says, ‘God Bless America.’ I feel it might easily read, ‘God Judge America,’ because  judgment is on the horizon if America does not change its ways.

When you read the Scriptures, God is SO clear concerning the standards that He desires for people to live. Nations are made up of people so how the individual lives matters to God.  When the people of a nation turn their back on God, there is no way that they will escape His judgment.  Unfortunately, America has taken this downward path away from God:

There is no reverence for God’s Word the Bible.  The Scriptures have been taken out of our schools and our government.  Drugs and alcohol are rampant.  Immorality is the standard of living.  There is no respect for God or His directives in today’s living.  Wrong living is applauded and righteous living is criticized and belittled.

II Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Christian – you are the only one that can stand in the gap between God’s blessings and God’s judgment. You have to be the one who will seek God’s face and pray and humble yourself before Him.  You have to be the one that will preach the gospel and warn our nation of God’s judgment if they do not turn to Christ and accept what He did for them on the cross.

The answer to the question, “Can God Bless America?”,  is simple –  ‘Yes, He can’  –  but, it is highly unlikely that He will bless a country that is living so contrary to His Word and His standards.

You need to allow God to use you to spread the gospel because Jesus is the only hope for America!

Matthew 4:19   “And He said unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

The first job that a Christian has to do is follow Jesus. To follow Jesus means that we are to try to be like Him and to DO what He says.  The Bible is the only true source of information that we have concerning Jesus, so-o-o we need to learn about Him through studying His Word.

In order to follow Jesus, we must know Jesus.  I’m talking about knowing how He lived on earth, what He taught, what He says in the Scriptures about how He wants His followers to live.  We need to be in the Word:  reading, studying, and meditating.  We need to ask the Holy Spirit to teach us.  This must be a priority in our life if we are to be true followers of Jesus. 

It is important to remember that there is more to knowing Jesus than just knowing about Him.  We must come to know Him personally by walking with Him every day.  We must make Him our constant companion as we face the challenges of daily life.  He has promised never to leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).  We need to memorize His Word and hide it in our hearts (Psalm 119:11.)  We need to obey His Word and grow in our Christian walk.  John 14:15 says,  “If ye love me, keep my commandments”.   It is important to listen to what the Holy Spirit is teaching us as we study the Scriptures and incorporate these truths into our lives.  All of these steps help us to grow closer to Jesus.

The last part of Matthew 4:19 is as important as the first part. The whole verse says: “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Don’t be content that you are headed for heaven and forget about all those that are lost around you.  Jesus said that He would equip every Christian to become fishers of men.  He has  work for us to do and we shouldn’t be content until we have turned the world upside down for Him.  (Acts 17:6b)