The Devotional - Value in living!

The Devotional

Comment: Value in living! If you look around at the people in your realm of influence you might see a teenager who values the way they look or act among their peers. Or you may see a young adult who is motivated by the car he or she drives (literally and prestigiously). Seldom will you see a young person today who will say… How can I cleanse my way? Unless it is the shower and the hot water is not working. How do young people today, even the middle aged and elderly take heed to their ways! How do we make our way pure? We agree with our heart that in “our own eyes” we are pure while at the same time agree with each other that level of purity is in the eyes of the one who has it, thus all are pure. Our outward appearance is wholesome, yet the inner person of who we are is wretched, sinister even. 

Devotional: So how than can a person cleanse their self of what they know is deception, that is; while the outward visible me to the people around me shines like diamond, the inward me says, “I am full of lies, but I got away with it again”. Sadly today deception is a way of life for most people, the depths of deception are bottomless that when truth does raise its head, it looks “ugly!” For a simple example… why should anyone want to believe that Santa Clause is a fake, after all this would devastate children and ruin our national economy, therefore we should continue the lie because the truth is ugly.

With most of us today we are okay with lies and we are becoming aggressively angry at people who seek to speak the truth. However should the day dawn when we come to recognize deception for what it is; how than shall we cleanse our way and develop a moral character?

Psalm 119:9-16 – How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your (God’s) Word. With my whole heart I have sought (searched) You. Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You Oh LORD! Teach me Your Statutes. With my lips I have declared all the judgments of Your mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of Your Testimonies. As much as in all riches. I will meditate on Your Precepts and contemplate Your ways. I will delight myself in Your Statutes; I will not forget Your Word.

This section of Psalm 119 is just a first step to walk in purity before the LORD, it is being conscious of God. Consciousness of His Word and His Way is needed by all of us in this land, but this does not solve the problem of our sin. This problem of SIN is SOLVED by the Christ/Messiah.

Isaiah 53:1-12 reveals the fulfillment of redemption from sin, speaking of Jesus the Christ, Isaiah by direction from God says this in verse 10 – Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise (crush) Him. (Jesus is the sacrificial LAMB of God who takes away the sin of the world). God Himself bore the sin you committed today, even the ones you committed yesterday and all those sins you will commit for the remainder of your life. Take heed to this “God made His own sinless human soul an offering for your sins and mine.

God’s labor for you and me was from His soul, our labor is from our flesh (our flesh is full of lies) therefore no one will be justified by God from the labor of one’s flesh, except for the ONE who was sinless, the sinless LAMB gave His sinless SOUL that you and me might live more abundantly as expressed by Jesus Himself in John 10:10.

The Devotional - At peace with God and man

The Devotional

Comment: I believe that most everyone we come in contact with, likes being at peace with people. Yes I do know too that all of us have aggressive behavior problems that are circumstantially controlled. Defilement of any kind will cause behavior traits in people to flourish, so who is it that we face day to day with this defilement? One look in the mirror and you will see them face to face, even the most innocent of us are defiled through our flesh. Notice what King David said in Psalm 51:5 – Behold (look, confessing to the LORD, David reasons), I was brought forth (born) in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceived me. (Sin began in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve) you know the story so the detail at this point will not be covered. We are all born with this Originating Sin, none of us are exempt, our mothers conceived us in sin and we carry this verdict of sinful behavior with us until our death which is aggressive at times as you well know. The penalty (condemnation) of original sin in mankind is death, it is the reason that we all die.

Devotional: The writer of Psalm 119 understands the verdict of sinful behavior and throughout these 176 verses he will deal with every sort of defilement that can express itself in man. Before he begins his poem of sin, righteousness and judgment he lays out a pattern of dealing with the day to day torments of sin as we live in our fallen world.

Blessed (Happy and peaceful) are the undefiled (blameless) in the way. That “way” is the path of life for those who walk within the law (way) of the LORD! God has a perfect plan for the way in which we should go in life (Psalm 19:7a) says the law of the LORD is perfect, converting (restoring) the soul. Our soul needs the law of God every day in order to be happy and peaceful (restored).

Blessed (Happy and peaceful) are those who keep His Testimonies, who seek Him with the WHOLE heart! The testimony of the LORD is sure, making WISE the simple – Psalm 19:7b. The testimonies of God are His Word. Our soul needs the testimonies of God daily in order to be happy and peaceful. A heart that is happy and peaceful is blest of the LORD through His statutes. Psalm 19:8a – The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart.

God has provided His laws, testimonies, statutes, precepts and commandments in order that we might live happy and peaceful in the land of sin and death. Additionally He has given us victory over sin and death, (John 1:29-34) Faith in this truth is not for the weak minded, faith in this Truth is for those who seek peace and happiness with God, “Oh, that my ways were directed to keep Your Statutes! Then I would not be ashamed, (I would be happy and peaceful) when I look into all Your commandments. I will praise You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgments.

The Devotional - The ways of the LORD are RIGHT!

The Devotional

Comment: Have you ever given thought about what others think of you? I do constantly and let me say that if you are not a peace with who you are, others will feed off of your instability or lack of self-assurance. Sometimes we neglect to read those prophets of God who we humanly call the “minor prophets”. Shame on us, these men of God are not minor at all, actually they stood within the Will of God in the cleft of the Rock. Notice if you will what the prophet Hosea said in the last verse of his book. Who is wise? Let him understand these things (literally – he will understand these things). Who is prudent (literally – discerning) Let him know them (literally – he will understand). FOR THE WAYS OF THE LORD ARE RIGHT, and the RIGHTEOUS walk in God’s ways. But transgressors, they will stumble over God’s Righteousness. Hosea 14:9

Devotional: The NKJV of Hosea 14:9 – Who is wise? Let him understand these things. Who is prudent? Let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them. But transgressors stumble in them. The rendering of this verse in the NIV reads – Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the LORD are Right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.

By this, you should have the verse memorized, wisdom and discernment go hand in hand. God is Right in all things and those who abide in His Right standards are in His Righteous children. They are not like those who stumble in darkness. A brief look at Psalm 19 reveals this glorious aspect of God and His responding children. God is awesome and His creation reveals this character of God moment by moment and day by day. There is not one thing in the ‘Created world of God’ that fails to reveal the awesome God, He alone is God of the heavens and the earth. We children of His who are discerning of this truth, understand.

The Law of the LORD is perfect, it has the ability of restoring the LOST soul. The Testimony of the LORD is sure (unfailing), causing wisdom and discernment for the simple to be wise. The Statutes of the LORD, cannot be changed by man, beast or fallen angel. The wise of heart who know this, they rejoice and glorify God continually; knowing that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

The Commandment of the LORD is pure, so pure that Creation obeys God in absolute purity, only the foolish stumble over this and it is in their rebellion that they fall. Those who are put down by God because they refuse to see the purity of God’s Command and Control of His Creation will be put down by Him and they will not be able to rise up again and this is the Second Death. The Fear of the LORD will cleanse the heart, this cleansing is through the Blood of the Lamb, it is enduring; it lasts forever.

Every Judgment of the LORD is True, whether we believe Him or disbelieve Him, His Judgments stand True and Righteous. Thus for those who know and heed the warnings of the Word of God and seek to keep God close to them; there is GREAT reward. John 1:29, John 3:16-18, 36; and Hebrews 9:27-28 and Hebrews 13:8.