The Christian on his knees sees more than the philosopher on tiptoe.
Dwight L. Moody
Proverbs 2:6- 6 For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
The reason for spiritual blindness is no relationship with God. When people don’t have God they don’t
have sound Wisdom. Wisdom comes from the Lord.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 – 16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.
God cares about His loved ones. The Holy Spirit lives in us. We need to keep the house as clean as we can.
He also cares when we are harmed. The verse has strong words that state God will destroy those who destroy His temple.
Vengeance is the Lords to handle.
Romans 12:19- 19Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. KJV
Genesis 22:6-8 – 6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
I’ve got to be honest. The first few times I read over these passages I didn’t catch on to even 20 percent of the real meaning or understanding of them.
The first time I read these passages I thought, really? God would even ask Abraham to sacrifice his son? Give me a break this was after the first time I read it. Then I realized and focused on the commitment of Abraham. Then after a few more times and studies one realizes God would have never gone to the trouble to give a 90 year old woman and a 99 year old man a son only to have him slain.
The thing that took quite awhile to realize was that God had and always has a plan from the very beginning.
Let’s read verse eight again.
Genesis 22:8 – 8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
God indeed did offer His son for the sacrifice. Amazingly a little further along in the chapter we read this:
Genesis 22:10-12 – 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the
LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
The Angel of the Lord? That’s one of the terms for Jesus in the Old Testament before he came into the world in the virgin birth. Jesus is actually speaking to Abraham not to hurt Isaac. Pretty neat.
Who’s the Lamb of God?
John 1:29 – 29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
That He did. Jesus is the only way we are saved. That closed mindedness is not popular in the world today.
The ones who don’t like to hear it are the same ones who want to do things their own way in the first place.
That’s how we got away from God originally.
God provided the way back. In the form of the Son, He died on the cross. What could man possibly do, or what is he thinking, that he can get back to God on his own? He can’t.
Accept Jesus as your Savior and Lord and be saved for eternity with your King.
Revelation 19:9 – 9 Then the angel said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 – 16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
When I met my wife she had a saying that has stuck with me. Fake it till you make it.
Nobody can demand that someone actually be joyful. They can put on an act but we choose to be joyful.
The thing is; if you consider yourself blessed, you will always in your heart be joyful. We may have lapses of emotions, but overall if we put God at the top and center, we will have joy.
Pray continually! Also known as unceasingly.
Why should we give thanks in all things? Because God will always take care of those who love Him. We may not understand certain things when they happen, but if God is the love of our life, He is faithful.
Does the title make you excited?
Who are you living for? What are you living for?
Philippians 3:12-14 – 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Sometimes we forget the obvious bible verses we have heard many of times growing up.
Genesis 19:26- 26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
It wasn’t like she was looking at the sun. She desired what God had destroyed even after He allowed her to be saved out of it. Forget what is behind and move forward toward the goal.
Luke 9:62 –62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Looking back when we need to be looking forward. When we are pressing for the worldly goal and not the heavenly goal, we’re not heading in the right direction.
What you did for the Lord yesterday is part of the prize waiting for you later. What you did for your kingdom on this earth is paid in full. It’s lost forever.
You’re one day closer to eternity, how will you spend today?
2 Corinthians 5:1-10 – 1 Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 We live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
Incredible verses. Read them again.
It’s how were supposed to live. This body is going to grow older and die. It’s inevitable.
We need to make it our goal everyday to please Him! If we made it our goal to read the Bible, learn it, and try to please the Lord, we would be heading in the right direction in our walk.
Just like verse ten says were going to receive what’s due to each one of us, good or bad. That doesn’t sound like a God that really just wants you to find salvation and they just do what your heart desires. That sounds like a God that wants you to find Him and then when you do, serve Him with your life, don’t serve yourself.
Unless he obeys, a man cannot believe.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Another reminder that actions speak louder than words. If you keep telling someone you’ll do something and don’t you’re liar. If you don’t do anything for someone you love, how much do you love them? If you do everything for the benefit of yourself, who do you care about more?
When you stop doing things contradictary to God’s Word you are telling the Lord, I am going against my sinful natural nature because I love you.
Love and obey because there is no other way to know the Lord.
Acts 1:9-11 – 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This
same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
Jesus is coming back down in the same way he went up. We’re not supposed to be substituting that with anything else. There are theories that he came back in Spirit only. Other theories are we are supposed to charge and usher in the Lord coming back.
The Bible doesn’t read that way at all. The antichrist, tribulation, and great falling away are what are written about in the last days.
Jesus comes back to fulfill his promise of being the Messiah for the Jews. He is going to rule the world from the Throne of David.
How does He come back before that happens?
Zechariah 14:2-4 – 2 I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city.
3 Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle. 4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.
At the end of the Tribulation our Lord comes and he will rule with an iron scepter. He comes down with His armies. Those are His believers from the Church. I’m a pre trib rapture believer, so I believe we come back with the Lord on his way down after being with Him for at least 7 years.
Revelation 19:11-21 – 11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great.”
19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. 20 But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning
sulfur. 21 The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.
Jesus is coming back just as it is prophesied. There is no substituting consciousness or change in plans. God’s Word is the way it is going to happen, just like all the prophecies that have proceeded before and that are still forming in front of our eyes.
Be ready! The world has nothing to offer you that’s worth affecting your relationship with your Lord.
Psalm 73:2-3 – 2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
I had nearly lost my foothold.
3 For I envied the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
This verse reminds of today as much as it has ever applied. It’s hard for many to look at people with a lot of wealth and worldly success and not want to chase after that. It’s the American mantra. However the New Testament is full of warnings of this very thing. It’s normal in our fallen human nature to want the best for ourselves, rather than worry about others.
It’s a trust issue with the Lord. That’s why he indicates to us to trust in Him. Our Lord doesn’t like taking second place and our actions, time, and constant dreaming on what we want to do in the future spells out where our heart is. Not the lip service we try to make ourselves believe or others around us. When the Lord is not first, whatever is becomes your God.
Most of us get off on tangents and have to get back in line. That is why it is so important to stay linked in to the Word of God. Think of the Holy Spirit like a flame. The more oxygen, the better it burns. When there is no oxygen it eventually dies down and goes out.
For me it’s pretty easy to visually see. I’ve watched the rich and I’ve watch those who sacrifice this worldly life to serve God. When applying the Word of God to the both of them it’s a no brainer how the Word is coming to life regarding both.
Deuteronomy 5:11- 11 “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
Does it make you cringe when you hear someone do this? I would rather hear the “F word” any day than
to hear someone use my Lord’s name as a foul word.
It’s not taken serious enough and if we are guilty of using it at all, we need to stop.
It is important to God, therefore it needs to be important to us.
Using the Lord’s name is disrespectful to Him. It would be like your children, in presence opening up their mouths to defame you or say the worst things they could. Does it change anything if they say, “well I
didn’t mean it!?”
It’s respect for a loving God. It’s another reminder that the Lord takes things very seriously. I think a lot of
people believe God doesn’t care and doesn’t take things seriously.
It matters to God. Everything matters to our God.