“Marvelous things did He in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. 13. He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through: and He made the waters stand as a heap. 14. In the daytime also He led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire. 15. He clave(broke open) the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths. 16. He brought streams also out the rock and caused waters to run down like rivers.”
Psalm 78 was written by Asaph as a reminder to the Israelites of all that God had done for them, yet they strayed from Him. He reminded them in verse 12 of what God did for their fathers when they left Egypt: “Marvelous things did He in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.” The idea is that God could still do the same for them and it can also remind us of what God wants to do for us. There is a lesson for us in verses 12-16 about what God did for His people, and they stand as reminders of what God is still doing for His people. I saw three things here that God offered Israel, and, through Christ offers us today: (1) protection (2) presence (3) provision. Protection When Israel came to the Red Sea, the only way that they could escape was if God protected them. He did this by dividing the Red Sea for them. This was something that only God could do. God wants to do the same thing in our lives. What He does for us might not be as dramatic as the Red Sea experience, but it will be just as effective. That’s what it means to live by faith. As we go through all of the things that we face in this life, we can depend on the protection of God, and we can depend on the fact that it will be something that only He can do. We make a mistake when we try to solve everything for ourselves when we have the protective hand of God around us at all times. The metaphor for us here is that we might have to go through the “Red Seas” of our lives, but God will hold the waters back for us. God doesn’t promise that things will always fall in our favor, but He will be there with His protection. Presence The Israelites were not in this faith venture alone, for God was with them. He made His presence known through the “pillar of fire” by night, and the “pillar of cloud” by day. We have the promise of Jesus in the New Testament that He will never leave us or forsake us. He will be with us in the dark times and in the light times. When Jesus told His disciples about His coming crucifixion, and all that this would entail, He told them that He would send a “Comforter” to be with them. We recognize this as the Holy Spirit. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, He gives us His Spirit to lead and guide us through life much like the fire and cloud led the Israelites in their wilderness journey. We need to be careful that we give Jesus the appreciation that He deserves for His daily presence. We need to remember that the Israelites seemed to ignore the leadership of God in their lives. We need to remember that wherever life’s journey takes us, the Lord is with us and He is leading us. Provision The text mentions only the water from the rock that God provided for Israel. This was a reminder of the provision that God made for His people as they followed His leadership in the wilderness. We also remember that God provided manna for the people as well. Israel did not seem to understand, and the same can be said of us often, that God wants to provide for His children. We toss to and fro in life, worrying and fretting about things, when the Lord Jesus Christ wants to provide for us the things that we need in this life, including the spiritual things that we need. The greatest provision that we have from God is the gift of His Son, who died on the cross to save us from sin. Rejoice that you have the protection, presence and provision of God. If you don’t, you can claim them by faith in Jesus Christ. Bro. Joe
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“But you therefore are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5. You are children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch (be alert) and be sober (self-controlled). 7. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that are drunk are drunk in the night.”
These verses fall in the middle of Paul’s discussion about the coming of Jesus. In them he informs us as to how we should live in light of the fact that Jesus is coming. In fact, it is how we should live anyway. Notice the brilliant use that Paul makes of light and darkness, and day and night in describing how we should live. First, he tells us that we are not of the darkness but of the light, and not of the night but of the day. This means that we live in the “light of the world” Jesus Christ. Most of the evil in the world is done at night and in the darkness. I have noticed that when I read of people getting in trouble in one way or another, it almost always happens in darkness, either at night or early morning. Darkness is the milieu of Satan, and it is when he does his “best” work. Throughout the Bible sin is displayed as part and parcel with darkness. On the other hand, the Bible displays God’s work as being in the light for all to see. We are reminded that we do not belong to the darkness but to the light. Jesus said in John 8:12: “I am the light of the world.” In Matthew 5:16 Jesus said: “You are the light of the world.” Because Jesus is the light of the world, we are the light of the world. This means that we are not ashamed of the things that we do, and everything that we do can be done in the light of day. In his gospel, John depicts God as light and sin as darkness. It is imperative for us to live in the light if we are to be the witnesses that we should be. Second, Paul tells us to “watch,” or to “be alert.” This is a warning for us to realize that Satan is always as Peter depicted him: “Going about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” Satan is always busy trying to take us over to the “dark side.” We need to be aware of daily temptations. That is why we should start each day with prayer, asking God to protect us from Satan and from his darkness. Too often, we children of light do not show that light to the world. We need to show Christ’s light in daily life, and we need to show Christ’s light in our church fellowship. When we act like the world, we do not let our light shine for others to see what it means to really live for Jesus. All too often, we hear of people saying things like: “If that’s what a Christian is, I do not want to be one.” We can dim our Christ-given light by overtly sinning, or by being overly self-righteous in our relations with the world. The New Testament depicts the Pharisees as being guilty of both overt sin and of self-righteousness. They mistreated people whom they considered to be of less importance to them, and they looked down their noses at the same people. We need to be alert to the tricks of Satan and tell him “no” when he tries to pull us down. Third, Paul tells us to be “sober” or “self-controlled.” We are promised in the Bible that there is no temptation that we can’t overcome, because God will enable us to overcome it. But we need to practice self-discipline in this matter. I define “self-control” as doing what we know is really the best for us, for the kingdom of God and for our witness to the world. If something seems wrong, don’t do it or say it. If we know that something is wrong, we should just say “no” and move on. The Bible gives us ample evidence that even the best of men can be tripped up by Satan. David with Bathsheba is one example, and another example is Peter when he denied the Lord. We know right from wrong and we should choose that which is right. We will stumble, and when we do, we should quickly seek God’s forgiveness and He will give it. Let’s use this text as a springboard to living as people of the day, always on the alert, and always self-controlled. We are not in this alone; the Lord will enable us to live for Him as we should if we will just depend on him and not on ourselves. Bro. Joe “When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God.”
If you were to go through the files of a preacher, you would probably not find many, if any, sermons from Leviticus. Leviticus is a long treatise on the laws that the Jews were to follow in their travels and in the land of Canaan when they reached it. But scattered throughout the book are little pearls of wisdom that can teach us a lot about how we should live. Leviticus 20:9-10 is one of those pearls of wisdom. It is called “the law of gleaning,” meaning that they were to leave the gleanings of the harvest for the poor and the alien. A good example of this law is found in the book of Ruth, where Ruth picked the gleanings in the field of Boaz. What can this ancient law teach us about our responsibilities? It teaches us that we are not to be unconcerned about the physical needs of people less fortunate than ourselves. It is certain that there are some people who have mastered the art of being poor and make their living off of other people. But we are not to assume that about all people. Some people are genuinely in need, and as followers of the most unselfish person who ever lived, Jesus Christ, we are not to be indifferent to the needs of people. In Matthew 25, Jesus told us that we would be judged based on how we treated people less fortunate than ourselves: “For I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger and you took me in: naked and you clothed me: I was sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me.” Jesus gave that as an example of people who were doing the right thing. When we give a helping hand to people, we are doing what Jesus has called us to do. If someone comes along and takes advantage of our good nature, and we did not know it, we can thank God that we did what Jesus told us to do. It teaches us that we are not to be selfish people who hold everything for ourselves. Jesus gave an example of a man who had a bumper crop one year and did not even consider the law of gleaning. He rejoiced in all that he had, and kept it all for himself. He decided that instead of sharing his goods with other people, he would keep it all for himself. In order to do this, he went to the extent of building bigger barns in which to store all of his crops. (Luke 12:16-21) Jesus does not want us to be selfish, but He also does not want us to be foolish. Jesus advised His disciples to be as “wise as serpents and as harmless as doves.” In other words, we are to be helpful and compassionate toward people, but we are also to teach those who would take advantage of people to live better lives. My idea is that when I don’t know what the motives of a person are, I will do what I can to help them because this is what Jesus taught me to do. If I know that they are trying to take advantage of me, I will turn them away. But I really have to know that they are not being honest with me. I don’t want to find out one day that I was approached by an angel as a test and turned him away. (Yes, I believe in angels.) It teaches us that God wants us to be aware that we are to love people. We are not to withhold ourselves, or our substance, from other people because we are afraid of what will happen to us. Some people seem to be afraid that they are going to help somebody, and will go out of their way not to help people, because they are afraid of being taken advantage of. If we love people, we will minister to them as best we can, or lead them to someone who can help them. Our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, loved people and ministered to them, and He wants the same for us. We are not on this earth just to be served, but to serve as well. Give some thought to the law of gleaning in your own life. Bro. Joe “And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.”
In the last article I wrote about letting “the peace of God rule in your hearts,” being thankful, and letting “the word of Christ dwell in you.” I called it “Three Good Rules for Christian living.” Notice that this text begins with the conjunction “and.” This means that Colossians 3:17 is a continuation of the theme of Christian service and fellowship given in verses 15-16. When we are equipped with peace, thankfulness and the word of Christ, we are ready to serve the Lord effectively. This verse tells us how to serve the Lord. Notice the word “whatsoever.” (It is translated “whatever” in NIV.) “Whatever,” tells us that no matter what the service we are to render we are to do it in the name of the Lord Jesus. This suggests to me that there is no service that we can render for the Lord that will be of little consequence. One might think that being an usher is not as important as teaching a Sunday School class, leading the singing or preaching. (We could say that about any number of services that go on at a church.) Ushering would fall under “whatever.” If you are going to be a church usher, don’t just give out bulletins, but make it a ministry of hospitality so that people will not just feel welcome but will realize that what is going on in this church service is important. The usher is the first person that a new visitor meets at a worship service, and they make a good or bad impression according to how they greet people. Whatever you have been gifted to do, whether it seems like a big job or a small job, it is to be done in the name of the Lord and it will definitely not be a small job. “Whatever you do in word” is important and should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus. In other words, we need to be careful what we say to people so that what we say is worthy of the name of Jesus. I have heard some words at church that did not seem like service to the Lord. In fact, I have probably said a few words to people that were not worthy of the name of Jesus. We should make sure that the words we use will have a positive effect on people. This does not mean that we should never speak negatively, because sometimes a negative word will have a positive outcome. We should just make sure that what we say is the truth and that it will help the person that we speak to in a positive way. In the third chapter of James we find a scathing denunciation of misuse of our words. James 3:6 is an example: “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity, so is the tongue among our members, that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell.” We should make sure that the words that we use are not “set on fire of hell” if you get my drift! We should make sure that our words will serve the Lord Jesus. “Whatever you do in…deed” is important and should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus. I think that we should be careful that our words match our deeds, or vice-versa. You know the old saying: “What you do speaks so loudly, I can’t hear what you are saying." We have been saved to work and to do deeds for the Savior. Our works cannot save us, but they can make us effective and can serve as a witness for the Lord. We need to ask ourselves if what we are doing can be done in the name of Jesus. In other words, we should make sure that our deeds are good deeds. Jesus said in Matthew 5:16: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” If our works are done in the name of Jesus, they will glorify the Father. Make sure that whatever you say or do can be said or done in the name of Jesus. Bro. Joe “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you are called in one body; and be thankful. 16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom: teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
It is sometimes difficult to give a title to a portion of scripture I feel led to write about. This is what I encountered as I read the above text this morning. These two verses are in the middle of Paul’s admonition to the Colossians to live the new life in Christ by loving and forgiving each other. The three things that he mentions in these verses seemed to me like good rules for us to follow if we are to love and forgive each other. As you read this, you will see what I mean. Rule one: “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts….” I have written a lot about peace in CouchPotato articles, and what we have here is another view of what it means to live in God’s peace. Paul wrote that the peace of God is to rule in our hearts. I think that you will agree that what rules in our hearts will characterize the life that we live before others. If we want to live in harmony with our fellow Christians, and our fellow man, we will be at peace in our hearts. Therefore, ask yourself what is ruling in your heart right now. Are you holding a grudge against someone at your workplace, your home or your church? If so, the peace of God is not ruling in your life. Are you struggling with feelings of inferiority and inadequacy? It so, the peace of God is not ruling in your life. When we have God’s peace we do not think in terms of superiority or inferiority, and we don't worry about our adequacy, because we know that the God whose peace rules in our hearts is always adequate and that if we love and serve Him we will be adequate for anything that we do. These are just two examples of what it means to let the peace of God rule in our hearts. Rule two: “and be thankful...." I don’t think that we realize sometimes how unthankful we are. Stop and think about it: We have a lot to be thankful for – don’t we! For example, we live in a free country. Our country is not always what we would have it to be, but we are still free. We should be thankful for freedom. We should certainly pray about what is wrong in our country, but at the same time we should be thankful for the freedoms that we have. Another example is that if you are a Christian, you need to be thankful that you have been given abundant life here, and that you will live eternally with Jesus in heaven. Jesus told us in John 14 that He would prepare a place for us. We should certainly be thankful for that. Still another example: If you woke up this morning in good health, you should be thankful. Come to think of it, if you even woke up in poor health, you should be thankful. Doesn’t it stand to reason that if the peace of God is ruling in your heart, which is yet another reason to be thankful, you will be a thankful person regardless of what else is going on in your life? Rule three: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom…. There are two ways that we can look at this. First, the “word of Christ” can mean the whole Bible, because the whole Bible is about Him. Second, the “word of Christ” is given in the four gospels. In most of my Bibles, His words are in red letters. Peace and thankfulness will result in our lives if we read, study, and digest the word of Christ. Notice that Paul wrote: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.” What we read in God’s word should become a part of whom and what we are, just as the food that we eat becomes part of us. When we heed the word of God, we will have His wisdom, which is far greater than we can get in any other book. Think about how you are applying these three rules in your life. Bro. Joe “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. 20. Our God is God who saves; from the sovereign Lord comes escape from death.”
In my Bible reading this morning, I saw these verses and thought that they needed to be shared. I didn’t really know how to title the article, but it came to me that the things that I saw here are very good reasons to praise the Lord. I know that the Lord is worthy of praise, and I know that you know it, but I think that you will agree that these are three very good reasons to praise the Lord. Notice what the text tells us about Him. “He daily bears our burdens.” When I read this, I thought of Matthew 11:28-30, where Jesus said: “Come unto Me all you that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” If I get stressed out during the day, as we all will at some time or other, I cannot blame God for it, for He has made it clear in His word that I do not have to be overcome by the burdens or the stresses of life. I was reminded of this fact this morning, because my computer would not go online and the wi-fi would not take my password. I was about to stress out, then the thought came to me, I think from the Lord, turn off the computer. I turned it off, then turned it back on, and the thing performed like it was supposed to. I thanked the Lord for even bearing the burden of my computer for me. This probably seems trivial to you, and it probably is, but if you will think of some of the things that burden you and stress you out, you will understand and turn those things over to the Lord. Notice that the text did not say that “He occasionally bears our burdens,” but that He “daily bears our burdens. We just need to take our burdens to Him. Whatever has you stressed out and burdened today, stop where you are and ask God to take it, for He has promised that He will.. “Our God Is a God Who Saves.” Our sovereign God is not only one who lightens our load, but He also saves us, and gives us a better life. Just contrast your life before Christ came into your heart and after Christ came into your heart. He gave you a better life than you had before. Jesus saved you from a life of sin and shame. He saved you from a life of worry and fear. It has been amazing to me over the years to see God change people’s lives, to see them living better, fuller, richer lives because they had been saved, rescued, from the clutches of the “god of this world,” Satan, and had discovered the newness that comes in Christ. To be sure, every problem was not solved and not one saved person became perfect, but they had better lives than they did before. If this hasn’t happened in your life, make it so now by confessing your sins and inviting Jesus into your life. If you have been saved, pause at this moment and praise God for it. “From the sovereign Lord comes escape from death.” Our sovereign Lord not only lightens our load and gives us a better life; He also gives us a promise of eternal life. “Escape from death” does not mean that we will live on this earth forever – God forbid. That is why our sovereign Lord drove Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, because they might eat from the “tree of life” and live in that sinful state forever. The Lord who lightens our load and gives us a better life also gives us a promise that goes beyond physical death. Through Jesus, we have a promise of eternal life that begins on the day that we are saved and never ends, because it goes on for all eternity. The Bible gives us glimpses of what this life with Him in eternity will be, but I think that we have to experience it to really know the full joy of it. I know that this promise of eternal life sweetens my days and gives me greater hope than the world could ever give. I think that you will agree that these are three very good reasons to praise the Lord. Amen Bro. Joe “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
Paul wrote Philippians from prison in Rome. He wrote the letter to thank them for a generous gift they had sent him. He reveals his heart in this book more than in any of the others. It is mostly positive. In this verse, and ensuing verses, we get a glimpse of what kept Paul going, and in finding that, we can discover what can keep us going. It might be that at this point in your life, you need something to lift you up. This should help you. What kept Paul going? Paul wrote: “for to me to live is Christ.” What kept Paul going was his faith in Christ. Christ was not a religious icon, or religious symbol to Paul; rather, Christ was His Savior and Lord. Christ had become Paul’s reason for living. Understand that, like us, Paul had many interests in life, but all of those interests were bound up in his faith in Christ. All of the rest of Paul’s life was better because of his personal relationship with Christ. I think that what we fail to realize today is that Christ is as real today as He was in Paul’s day. Christ is the same Savior, the same Lord, the same “lover of our souls,” as the old hymn by the same title reminds us. If Christ is your Savior, He should be as real to you as He was to Paul. He loves you and wants the best for you as He did for Paul. I hope that you can say that with all else that is going on in your life, Christ is above all of it and that He keeps you going when you want to quit. If Paul didn’t quit with all that he had to endure to follow Jesus, we certainly have no excuse. Put your faith In Christ and make Him the center of your life. Paul wrote: “and to die is gain.” What kept Paul going was the courage that he had because of his faith in Christ. He was willing to die for Christ and for his faith in Christ. He was willing to face all kinds of persecutions for Christ, even to the point of his imprisonment in Rome. In his letter to the church at Rome, Paul wrote: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes: to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Paul’s courage that was based on his faith in Christ made him unashamed of Jesus and his witness for Jesus, even in the sophisticated, urbane city of Rome. It is the same for us. We need to know that through our faith in Christ, we can live courageously and unashamedly in our sophisticated and urbane society. If Jesus is all-important to us, we should have no problem living for Him and sharing Him with other people. Just as it took courage to live for Christ in Paul’s day, it takes courage to stand up for Christ today. Our faith in Christ should give us a winsome testimony for Him that we can share with others even though they do not seem to be interested. The faith that gave Paul his courage is the same faith, and the same Christ, that can give us the courage to live for Jesus. As we read further in the text, we see that it was his God-given purpose that kept Paul going. For example, in verses 23-24 he wrote: “For I am in a strait between the two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better. 24. Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.” Paul’s desire to be free from imprisonment was that he might continue to witness and minister to people. Paul did not wish to be free in order to go on his merry way; rather, his prayer was that he could continue to do what God had called him to do. People who have a purpose in life are happier people, and if that purpose has to do with Jesus, it has eternal significance. It is my prayer for you that your purpose for living will involve Christ and being His servant. This can be accomplished in your life right where you are, where you live and where you work. This is what kept Paul going. What keeps you going? Bro. Joe “Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24. Grace to all who love the Lord Jesus Christ with undying love.”
These are the closing verses of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. They contain four qualities that should be, or will be, part of every Christian’s life. If we will cultivate these qualities in our lives, we can live victoriously for the Lord and we will be better witnesses for Him. “Peace to the brothers” One of the great promises of Jesus to His disciples was that He would give them His peace. He mentioned this specifically in John 16:33: "These things have I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” We already have the peace of Christ in our lives; we just need to claim it. Jesus means for us to be at peace within ourselves. We need to remember this when we come across hard times in our lives. Christ’s peace has come to my rescue many times in my Christian sojourn. In that peace we find victory. But this also means that we are to live at peace with other people. This means to be at peace with people at work, at church, and all other places that we might be. The inner peace of Christ makes us peaceable. Claim this great peace today and live at peace with those around you. It is really the best way to live. “And love” The Greek word for “love” used here is the most powerful definition of love. It is the word “agape” (Agahpay). This is God’s kind of love, which means that we are to love people as God loves them, i.e., sacrificially. It is the kind of love that is described in John 3:16. We should not just feel love for others, but we should act in love toward them as God did toward us in sending His Son to serve as a sacrifice for our sins. This kind of love is aptly described in 1 John 3:18: “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue: but in deed and truth.” I guess every married man has heard his wife say at some time or other: “Don’t just say that you love me, that’s easy to do, show me that you love me.” The love that we have should be the kind that shows! “With faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” Hebrews 11:6 tells us that “without faith it is impossible to please Him.” Faith is, as we would say today, “belief on steroids.” To have true faith is not to just believe about Jesus, but to believe in Him and let that faith guide us in our everyday actions. Faith is a gift from “God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” He gave it to us to use in our service to Him and in everything that we do in life. When you mix faith with love and peace, you have a better witness to the world. We should make decisions in our lives based on what we think God wants instead of always what we want. In other words, we should be guided by our faith in the Lord. “Grace to all who love the Lord Jesus Christ with undying love.” “Grace” is the word that makes everything possible in the Christian life. It comes before faith, peace or love. As you probably already know, grace is God’s unmerited favor. We don’t earn it; God just gives it to us. God’s grace enables us to be saved and to live the Christian life. But grace is not just something that we get from God; it is to be part of our lifestyles. We are to practice grace in our dealings with people. Think of how much better our lives would be, and the lives of those around us, if we practiced God’s grace in all of our dealings. I know that the witness of our churches would be much better. All four of these characteristics are, or should be, part of our lives. We need to prayerfully cultivate them in our lives. Bro. Joe “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, so you will be my disciples.”
According to our text we have been saved to bear fruit for the Lord. In fact, we have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to bear fruit for the Lord. I think that we all need to pause at times and meditate on whether or not the way we are living our lives is bearing fruit for the Lord. What I want to do in this article is to point out some of the ways that we can bear fruit in our lives. The fruit of new Christians The last command that Jesus gave to His disciples was that they witness to the world, beginning where they were and reaching around the world. (Acts 1:8) He promised that they would be powered by the Holy Spirit for this task. Every Christian is called to be a witness for Jesus Christ. Witnessing is not a gift of the Holy Spirit; it is a compulsion of the Holy Spirit. In other words, we can’t opt out of witnessing because we say that it’s not our gift, because it is our empowerment from the Spirit. I have heard this many times, so it is not original with me, but it is said that “the fruit of a Christian is another Christian.” We need to show by the way we live, that Jesus is our Savior, and we need to be able to tell others what He has done in our lives. There are different ways that we can witness to people, and we need to make sure that we are doing it. If you have a difficult time with it, join the club. Get you an experienced partner and go out and tell others about Jesus. Our task is to tell about Jesus, the fruit will be brought about by the Holy Spirit, but we will have made it possible. The fruit of blessed lives What we wrote above was about witnessing, this point is about ministry. People who know us should be blessed because they do. As I have followed Jesus, I have become aware of the need for ministry. He has made me more sensitive to the needs and feelings of other people. He has taught me to be more of a giver of myself and my time. This might seem like a burden sometimes, but if we are going to bear the fruit of blessed lives, we will have to make time for other people. We can bear this fruit by making sure that we show kindness to other people, even when they make it difficult to be kind. We can bear this fruit by praying with, and for, other people when they need it. I think that we can assume a person needs prayer by the personal burdens that they share with us. Don’t be afraid to say “Let’s pray about it.” The fruit of personal growth Personal growth in Christ affects our witness and ministry to people. What I mean by this is that as we grow in Christ our influence on other people will grow as well. One thing that people look for in those of us who claim to be Christians is the difference that Christ has made in our lives. We grow in Christ by constant prayer, constant Bible reading and constant fellowship with fellow Christians. The closer we grow to Christ, the more we grow in love. People can sense the love of Christ in us. We can’t fake Christian love, we can only really and truly live it from our hearts. When Christian love is genuine, it will influence people not just to love us, but to want to have that love in their own hearts. A great part of our Christian witness and ministry is having a loving and positive attitude. We will all have these graces in various degrees, but it is important that we cultivate them in our lives. I have not written this to make you feel guilty about your life. All of us have to deal with all three of these “fruits” in our lives. The main thing is to be aware that bearing fruit is important. Believe it!!! Bro. Joe “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me bless His holy name. 2. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: 3. Who forgives all our iniquities; who heals all of our diseases. 4. Who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies. 5. Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.”
David began this psalm with praise for the Lord. He praised God with all of his heart – “all that is within me.” He praised God in gratitude for His holiness – “bless His holy name.” He praised the Lord in the light of all of the benefits of God. There are too many people in the world who think that becoming a Christian would take something out of their lives. They need to know that to the contrary, there will be multiple benefits from Him. With these benefits in mind, David warns us not to forget those benefits. If we aren’t careful we can get so tied up in the world that we become oblivious to our dire need for His benefits. Nothing could be further from the truth. God’s benefits do not primarily satisfy physical needs but spiritual ones. What are these benefits? He forgives our sins. Specifically, David wrote that He “forgives all your iniquities.” Sin is our primary problem; therefore God’s forgiveness is our ultimate solution. Notice that God “forgives all of (our) iniquities.” His forgiveness leaves nothing out. People might think that they have been so sinful that they cannot be forgiven. This is not what this verse tells us, and it is what we read about in the entire Bible. Our God is a forgiving God. If you have asked for God’s forgiveness in faith, He has forgiven you; therefore, you do not need to feel guilty about it anymore. He heals our diseases. Again, we are told that he “heals all of (our) diseases.” You might be thinking that you had a disease, or an illness, of some kind and God did not heal it. You got well didn’t you, or are you still sick? God heals people directly in answer to their prayers, but He also heals us through medicine. I like to think that when I was healed it was the result of both. But if a doctor was involved in the healing, would we be wrong to give the Lord ultimate credit? But sometimes people die. For the believer, which is who this passage is about, his or her ultimate healing is to go into eternity to a place prepared by Jesus. The greatest benefit of God’s healing is spiritual: “Who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies.” We are not destroyed by the illnesses of life because of the presence of God, to which I can testify with great assurance since I was just declared cancer free after beating two cancers. Having forgiven us, God saves us from eternal destruction. With all of that He “crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies.” There is nothing that heals our souls more than experiencing God’s “loving kindness and tender mercies.” If you have experienced this, you know what this is all about, if not, you can learn right now by going to Jesus and asking Him to give you His love and mercy. He “satisfies our desires with good things so that our youth is renewed like the eagle.” (NIV). This presupposes that our desires are in line with who He is and what He does in our lives. He brings good things into our lives and reinvigorates us with energy and joy. In Isaiah 40:33 we are given a similar promise: “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.” God's loving kindness and tender mercies renews us body and soul. Bro. Joe |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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