The Devotional – 1446 – One Truth, One Light, One God

The Devotional – 1446 – One Truth, One Light, One God

Proverbs 9:10 – The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For by me your days will be multiplied and years of life will be added to you.

Comments and challenges

Throughout Proverbs, we are continually reminded of the fear of the LORD, of wisdom, of understanding and of knowledge. To count the number of times these challenges show up would take up the entire space of this devotional. Truly it would be a very interesting read and maybe I should do just that.

However, you have the same opportunity as I and when the opportunity is available take a dip in Proverbs and bathe in those challenges. Do you think it strange that I used the words “dip” and “bathe”? If you do then we should take a look at some various washings in the Book.

Psalm 26:6 – I will wash my hands in innocence; (there is only One who is innocent and He is called the Word of Life, 1 John 1:1).

Psalm 51:2 – Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin: (the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin, 1 John 1:7).

Isaiah 1:16 – Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. (If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, 1 John 1:9).

There are hundreds of passages in the Holy Bible that connect you and me to the cleansing power of our God. Do not be a pagan and look for God on the tree, God is not an altar. He is NOT a deity formed by man. He is the ONE who says in every Word of the Living Word that He is the Power and Wisdom, 1 Corinthians 1:18-19.

John 8:12 – Then Jesus spoke to them again saying. “I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the Light of life.”

Now! What shall we think? In the context of John 8:1-12 we have the woman caught in an adulteress act, who faces the Light of the world. The darkness of world she is in is the very same world that by the law correctly condemns her to death. (The law clearly states that she should be stoned to death – Leviticus 20:10).

In Proverbs 9:13-18 – we can conclude that the choice of foolishness is short term in that those who fail to heed the call of wisdom, knowledge and understanding will one day abide in the “second death” do you not see that the “dead are there!”

The Devotional – 1445 – Kinsman Redeemer

The Devotional – 1445 – Kinsman Redeemer

Proverbs 6:1-4 – My son, keep my words, and treasure my commands within you. Keep my commands and live, and my law as the apple of your eye. Bind these on your fingers; write these on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom… you are my sister and call understanding your nearest kin.

Comments and challenges

John the Baptizer! What do you think about him? Or do you ever think about him with the exception of when you read passages in the Holy Word of God that speak of Him? I am like that last sentence, I hardly think of the man as it seems that his role in the Life of Christ was small compared to other men and women in the Bible. 

In the parable of the workers of the vineyard, men worked all day and received the same wages of men who worked only a short time. Matthew 20:1-16 and I would suppose that if we could document all the preaching and teaching from this parable we would be able to fill at least two warehouses of material, one; of some very good teaching and the other; otherwise!

These two events in the Life of Christ have a lot in common as John the Baptizer had this to say to his disciples when they questioned him about his younger cousin named Jesus. John the apostle writes of this event in his gospel in John 3:22-36, note just a couple of these verses; John 3:26 – and they (John’s disciples) came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified – behold He is baptizing and all are coming to him.

Then please note one of the most all inspiring verses of scripture for me in the gospels is the baptizer’s response to his disciples – He must increase, but I must decrease, (There is no kinship rivalry here) He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all – John 3:30-31. John understood that while they may share kinship from related mothers, that their Fathers were as different as heaven is to earth.

How we need to understand this; that our earthly responses to the kingdom of heaven have an unbalanced reward equal only to the things of the earth. If our earth’s value in God does not decrease in our lives, how would we ever know the truth that rewards and increases our soul in matters pertaining to heaven? Or as the LORD Jesus says in Matthew 6:19 – Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

The apostle Paul has this to say. “But indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my LORD, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ – Philippians 3:8.

Now the apostle Paul goes on to say that to count anything above the knowledge of Christ is self-righteousness and self-righteousness is not a work of “faith in Christ” but a work of “self-reward” so the righteousness that we all ought to strive for is a reward from God, that is the reward which is through faith in Christ. Righteousness is that reward from God through faith – Philippians 3:9-10 or as the apostle continues to say… if, by any means, I may arrive at the resurrection from the dead.

Shall I say… more on this tomorrow? Okay… more tomorrow.

The Devotional – 1444 – What, Obedience Too?

The Devotional – 1444 – What, Obedience Too?

Proverbs 4:14-17 – Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of evil. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn away from it and pass on. For they do not sleep unless they have done evil; and their sleep is taken away (robbed) unless they make someone else fall.

Comments and challenges

Most all of us are affected at bed time by the things we eat. Chocolate and other items of caffeine, sugar and tomato sauces just to name a few. From the fidgets to the eyes wide open, we toss and turn the whole night through… hmm! Sounds like a song! So I am thinking that the song writer and singer was not missing his lost love, he just had too many chocolate bars before going to bed.

Of course this is the lighter side of the matter of staying awake when sleep is needed. There is a darker side (as you well know) in that if you harbor sin in your mind, evil will not let you rest. Even when the sin is accomplished evil remains active so that any resting period thereafter will be affected by fitful expressions of despair.

In Proverbs 4:13 Solomon says: Take firm hold of instruction and do not let go; keep her, for she is your life. Did you get that? Far too many times we read the instructions in the Holy Word of God, but as soon as we walk away from the instruction; Satan’s demonic forces are there to destroy us and we lose the our hold on the truth we just read.

Now we know that the unbelieving person has little chance to grab hold of truth from the Holy Word of God because Satan’s demonic force snatch it from the unbelieving immediately, (The parable of the sower Matthew 13:18-23). But believe it also, the same problem can affect the believer when that believer is failing to take a firm hold of instruction and let’s go of it.

Solomon say too that the pathway of the just is like the shinning sun (light) that shines brighter unto the perfect day. There is so much here in these words; for example there is not a day on this planet that is perfect. The Holy Word of God is perfect and yet when we take it in to our imperfect realm of life we become a TARGET for the enemy!

Therefore it is critical, if we wish to have a good night of sleep we must be… steadfast, unmovable and always abounding in the work of the God. What is the work of God? John 6:29 – This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He Sent. What? Did you think it might be something else? 

Taking strong hold of instruction and believing it is “mandatory” for every believer if we are to be ever increasing in LIGHT to the perfect day. Is the mandate easy, well was it EASY for Christ to leave a Perfect Day in heaven and abide in the imperfect days on this earth? Philippians 2:5-8 says that He learned obedience, “without sinning” this is an impossible task for us even when we take hold of instruction.

If we are to be light bearers and rejoice as we ought over knowing and sharing Christ with others, than taking hold of instruction is not an option. For us who believe, God has supplied ample protection through “obedience to His Word” notice.

2 Corinthians 10:3-6 – For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (of the flesh) but mighty in God (the Spirit) for the pulling down of strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ; and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

The Devotional – 1443 – One Life at a time

The Devotional – 1443 – One Life at a time

Psalm 46:1-3 – God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with swelling.           Selah!

Comments and challenges

News for some people is not news, but a tragic or traumatic event. Life changing events; that take a person, a family, a township or a nation and cripple the normal of from the day before. Chile’s earthquake, Mudslide in Washington State, invasion of Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula! Peace and safety swing like a pendulum – and… and…and…and! Back and forth from one “and” to the other.

I was surprised to see in the Strong’s Concordance that the word “Selah” means a swinging basket. I thought that I may have recorded the number wrong and looked at it again and again, but no it is 5552 if you wish to look it up and it means a “moving basket” and reminds me of Proverbs 16:33 – The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.

So to carry this a bit further, I also considered the force of evil as recorded by the apostle Peter in 1 Peter 5:8 – Be sober (self-controlled) be vigilant (watchful); because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking who he may devour.

Nature belongs to God, He created it and even under the curse nature retains beauty, one cannot help but to look at a sunrise or sunset and see that God is the Master Craftsman of it. Even if you look beyond the death and destruction of an earthquake or mudslide you will find the obedience of nature responding to God’s mastership. In all of this, God has a master plan and you and I are a major part of that plan.

What we are a part of too is the counterfeit plan of Satan, who disguises himself as an angel of light. He is the cause of sin and death; he works on the individual, the family, the township and the nation. He is the “root” cause of death and destruction, this should cause us to that us take another look at 1 Peter 5:8-11.

In our “basket” the lot is cast into the lap, the lap is the godly progressiveness of the “young people and the elders” if the young are not submissive, it just may be that the elders are not clothed in humility… “God resist the proud, but gives grace to the humble”. Do we have problems with our younger generations today? God forbid that anyone would say no! Thus my take away from this is that us elders lack in humility.

It is due time: man, woman, family, township or nation to return to God by placing ourselves under the Mighty Power of God. It is He who will exalt and not we ourselves and He will do just that in due time, not our timing but His. We also need to quickly cast all of our care upon Him, as we have NEVER been able to take care of ourselves because we do not care as God does. His Plan is perfect, our plan is selfish and that alone makes our plan imperfect.

How do we get this message into our heart, this message is not new to anyone of us, it has been heard all around the world. We are not in the dark about Satan and his band of ungodly adversaries. Our failure is that we do not “resist”, we are not steadfast in “faith”. How is that you say, I have faith so what are you talking about?

Here; read this… “Knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world”; yes we know this full well, but when we say that – “this shall never happen to us, then our faith in God is VAIN. Have we become so dull of hearing? Many have… contemporary religion has dug a deep pit in Christendom today and the ladder to get out is not like the ladder in another word for “Selah”! 5551 in Strong’s Concordance, found only once in the Word of God. Genesis 28:12.

The time of Jacob’s Trouble is coming and soon; you and I need to have access to it – Jeremiah 30:7, God will restore Israel, He will continue with natural events and Satan will continue with unnatural events and God will through the LORD Jesus Christ continue to save “One life at a time” to whosoever will come. Won’t you come to Jesus Christ today and cast all of your care on Him? This is TRUE faith!