“And Moses called unto Joshua and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of good courage: for you must go with this people unto the land which the Lord has sworn unto their fathers to give them; and you shall cause them to inherit it. 8. And the Lord, He it is that goes before you; He will be with you, He will not fail you, neither forsake you: fear not neither be dismayed."
The occasion of this text is about the culmination of Moses’ leadership of Israel, and the start of Joshua’s leadership. The verse that caught my attention was verse 8. Moses made a promise to Joshua that he knew from his own experience over the last forty years. As I meditated on this verse, I realized that the promises given are not just for Joshua, but looking at the totality of the Bible, they are for all of God’s people. They are promises that transcend time and reach out to all of us. Promise one: “He it is that goes before you…” God had gone out before Israel from the beginning of their journey from Egypt. He led them with a “pillar of cloud by day” and a “pillar of fire by night.” They never had to doubt that God was leading and guiding them in their journey. Though some did doubt and did not trust God, that did not make His leadership void. It is a promise that we can take to our hearts. God is out there before us through the Holy Spirit. God has gone before us and knows what we will have to face. We just need to trust that this is true. Nothing that happens to you will surprise God, for He has gone before you. The future belongs to God and you belong to God; therefore, there is no need to fear the future. If you do not know Him, you can know Him today by putting your faith in Him. Promise two: “He will be with you…” David claimed this promise in Psalm 23:4: “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me, your rod and your staff they comfort me.” Joshua needed to know that God was with Him each day that he led the Israelites to the end of their quest for the Promised Land. Like Moses before him, Joshua had to deal with the rebellious Israelites and with all of the other problems involved in taking the Promised Land. He needed to know that God was with him. We can claim this promise for ourselves. God is with us in all that we face in this life. Promise three: “He will not fail you, neither forsake you…” This doesn't mean that Joshua would never fail, because he certainly did – and we will as well. But we can depend on the fact that God will not fail us. It might seem sometimes like He has, but when this appears to be the case; we need to remember that our loving Lord has gone before us, knows what is there, and will not forsake us. If we ever feel that God has forsaken us, we need to realize that we might have moved away from Him, but He has not moved away from us. Get this down in your heart, mind and soul: God will not forsake you!!!!” Claim this promise for yourself each day. The results of the promises: “Fear not, neither be dismayed…” If we will realize that God goes before us, that He is with us, and that He will neither fail us nor forsake us, we will not need to fear or be dismayed. There have been times in my life, and no doubt in your life as well, that I have been afraid and dismayed. It is in these times that we need to recall these promises to Joshua and to us. These promises are as sure today as they were when Moses made them, for they are illustrated and proven throughout the Bible. Bro. Joe
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“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
This article is a continuation of yesterday’s article. We discussed not being overcome by evil. That is just half of the subject. The verse continues by advising: “but overcome evil with good.” It is not enough to overcome evil, because that would tend to make us legalistic, self-righteous and judgmental. We must follow this up by actively doing good. We have ample examples in the Bible of people overcoming evil with good. Paul stands as an example, because, before he met Jesus on the Damascus Road, he was actively involved in persecuting Christians. He was not just opposed to them, but meant to do harm to them. After his conversion, Paul was actively involved in spreading the word that he had opposed. He overcame that evil with good. I want to make a few suggestions of how we can “overcome evil with good.” When we think of doing good, we think of good works. In his epistle, James mentioned that “faith without works is dead, being alone.” (James 2:17) “Being alone” is the important statement here. We are not saved by works, because we could brag about how we got saved if we could work ourselves into God’s favor. (Read Ephesians 2:8-10) But we are not saved by intellectual acceptance of Jesus as Savior; rather, it is a heart decision that literally changes our lives. Before we were saved, we did not do good, but after we were saved we became better people and did good works in the name of Jesus. James wrote: “Show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works.” (James 2:18) In other words, the faith that saves us from evil also enables us to overcome evil with good. The good things that we do to overcome evil are acts of faith. The first way that we can overcome evil with good is to do good for other people. If we really want to discover them, there are all kinds of ways that we can do good for other people. There are a lot of lonely people out there, and some of them probably live near you. You can be the person that helps them overcome their loneliness. You might wonder why you should be the one to do that. You might consider that God is leading you to that person, and that you can make a difference in his or her life. That’s one illustration of how we can overcome evil with good. We need to get away from the idea that church is a building that we gather in. We need to realize that church is comprised of people, and we are “church” in our everyday lives. It’s time for churches to get out of the walls and into the community, overcoming evil with good. The second way that we can overcome evil with good is to let our lights shine in the world. In Matthew 5:16, Jesus said: “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven.” In a way, Jesus is telling us in this verse that we can overcome evil with good. People need to see us living as Christians in our daily lives. This doesn’t mean that we carry a big Bible around with us all of the time, or that we spend all of our time condemning people. There is a place for both of those things, but not before we show people what being a Christian means by doing good works that glorifies our heavenly Father. This is woefully inadequate in covering the subject, but it does give you some things to think about as you consider overcoming evil with good. Bro. Joe “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with God.”
If you are a Christian, you do not need to be convinced that evil is pervasive in our world. It didn’t start with our times; it started in the Garden of Eden and has continued through history. Why did God send a flood to destroy all living things on the earth? It was because of pervasive evil. Why does Revelation describe in colorful language the wrath of God that will visit the earth in the future? It is because of pervasive evil. Paul reminded the Romans, and ostensibly us, by commanding that we not be “overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” When we think of evil, we think of sexual sins, lying, cheating, stealing, etc. But there are pervasive evils that we really need to look out for, because we do not normally see them as necessarily evil, but they take a toll on our Christian living and our witness. What are these subtle evils that we Christians need to look out for? The first of these is doubt. Now, I know that all doubt is not bad, because there are some things that we need to doubt in order to go forward in life. But the devil likes to cause us to doubt our beliefs. He wants us to doubt the existence of God. He likes to point out that the natural world just happened and did not need a God to create it. He likes to cause people to doubt that the crucifixion of Jesus is really enough to finish God’s plan of salvation. He likes to cause people to doubt that it does any good to live a good Christian life. After all, Christians get sick, get in trouble, even sin, so there is nothing to the faith that Christians preach. Satan really loves causing people to doubt the word of God. Criticism of the Bible is rampant today. There are many programs on television that shed doubt on the divine inspiration of scripture. Don’t let the devil lead you to “doubt your beliefs and believe your doubts.” (Quote from Dr. Ted Adams, one of my professors at Southeastern Seminary.) The second of these is a “don’t care” attitude – indifference. All of us have to guard against this, because it sometimes hurts to care. A lot of our hurts in life come because we care deeply about something, and when what we care about falls through, we want to guard our hearts from further hurt. Make no mistake about it; Satan is the author of this attitude. He is the god of indifference in this world, and especially in Christ’s church. If he can keep us from caring about the lost souls around us, he will have won a great victory in our lives. And when a whole church develops this attitude, it is tragic. Don’t allow yourself to become indifferent about the spiritual things of life, like Bible reading, prayer, church attendance, witnessing, etc. The third of these is discouragement. If Satan can get us discouraged, he can cause us to give up and to quilt. I’ve seen it happen too many times in church work and even in the lives of preachers. When we get discouraged, we feel sorry for ourselves and forget that life is not all about us. When we think that we are the center of the universe and that everything hinges on our success, Satan has a field day with our lives. Another problem with discouragement is that it distracts us from dedication to Christ and to our service for Him in our lives and through our churches. Don’t let Satan convince you that you don’t have anything to offer in Christian service. Don’t let Satan turn your thoughts only to yourself. Instead of getting discouraged, we need to think about all that Jesus went through to save us. He did not get discouraged and quit. We also need to remember great Christian disciples like, Peter, Andrew, James, John and Paul. All of these men made great sacrifices for the Lord, but did not let discouragement keep them from doing what they were supposed to do. Women like Mary Magdalene overcame negative things in their lives and went on to serve the Lord. Don’t let discouragement rule your life. Don’t let these evils, or any others, overcome you. Instead overcome evil with good, Bro. Joe “If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10.Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.”
Psalm 139 is filled with praise for the diligence of God at being present in David’s life. The psalm begins: “O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 3. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.” There is nothing about us that God does not know. There is no good thing that we think or do that God is not aware of. There is also no bad thing that we have done that God does not know. God is omniscient – all-knowing. We can take that as a warning, but more than that we can take it as a blessing. I don’t want a God overseeing the universe, the earth and my life who is ignorant about anything. Thank God that He is omniscient and sovereign. The two verses under consideration here are a case in point. David rejoices in the fact that God is always present with him: “If I take the wing of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me….” If David goes to the most remote parts of the earth, God is there. We should take comfort in God’s presence in our lives, and we should be grateful to Him for it. Would we really trust a God that we could hide from or get away from? Realizing the presence of God in my life is both a joy and a challenge. It is a joy because I know that He is always with me and a challenge because I know that God knows everything that I do. David gives two promises based on the presence of God: “Even there thy hand shall lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.” We can depend on the hand of God to lead us. In fact, when we forget about this leadership, we go astray. I think that Abraham went to Egypt during a famine out of the will of God because he neglected the leading hand of God. I think that Moses disobeyed God when he struck the rock that produced water instead of speaking to it as God told him to do because he neglected the leading hand of God. I think that Peter denied the Lord Jesus Christ because He neglected the leading hand of God. It is of utmost importance that we remember God’s leadership when we make decisions in life. Please don’t imagine that I am telling you that I have always followed God’s leadership in my life. I know how wrong we can go when we neglect His leadership. Thank God for His discipline that helps to remind us of His leadership. We can depend on God’s right hand to hold us. This is illustrated for us in the New Testament when Peter asked Jesus to let him walk on the water to Him. Jesus told Peter to come on to Him. Peter began to walk on water, but when he noticed the wind and waves, and thought about what he was doing, Peter’s faith faltered and he began to sink. The beautiful picture here is that when Peter called out, “Lord save me,” Jesus reached out His hand and held Peter up. What a picture that is of us as we go through all of the problems and troubles of life, when we look at the wind and waves instead of Jesus. Isn’t it amazing that He keeps holding us through it all? God will lead you and hold you. Let Him do it, for He really wants to do that for you. Bro. Joe “Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am He.” KJV
“Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, with the first of them and with the last – I am He.” NIV Doubting the existence of God did not start with the present age. Even in Isaiah’s day people were questioning the authority of God. The thing that is difficult for unbelievers to understand is that God has always been. They cannot imagine a Being who has always been and always will be. I will admit that it is difficult to wrap our finite minds around a Being such as God. In order to be God He has to be beyond our understanding. In fact, it was Isaiah who wrote, quoting God: “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9) It should come as no surprise to us that God is superior to us and that He is well aware of that fact. This need to be superior to God is a lot of what the Bible is about. There are some things that we need to realize about God that will be understood by believers but not by unbelievers. God has always been. (I know that this seems to be an inane statement, but keep in mind that this is a reminder of some things about God.) He said: “Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning.” The Bible begins: “In the beginning God” – period. The Bible does not begin by attempting to prove the existence of God, nor does it intend to argue the point. It just presupposes God’s existence and proceeds to tell His story. He is the creator and we are the created. I don’t know why we always have to be reminded of this, but evidently, we do. We don’t just need to accept the truth of the eternality of God; rather, we need to revel in that truth. Why? Because it means that we are not alone in the universe. We are not at the mercy of the universe. We do not really have to worry about meteorites, etc. because there is a God who is in control of all of it and sustains all of it. We also need to revel in the eternality of Jesus Christ because of the biblical witness to it. Let Paul tell us about it in Colossians 1:16-18: “For by Him (Jesus) were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers:all things were created by Him, and for Him: 17. And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. 18. And He is the head of the body, the church; who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence (first place).” We can trust Jesus, whom we trust in as Savior, as all of God as well as all of man. It is not simple-minded to believe in the eternal God. It is not naïve to believe in Him and trust Him. Over the years, in Old Testament times, New Testament times and throughout history, people who are intellectually astute have believed in and trusted in God's eternality and in His power. We should not let the world convince us that we cannot believe in God and be considered intellectually astute. You can trust God and you can trust what His word, the Bible, says about Him. We can count on His word when He tells us: “I, the Lord – with the first of them and with the last – I am He.” Rejoice!!!! Bro. Joe “I am with thee, and will keep thee in all the places whither thou goest (where you go).”
Jacob is not one of the most honest men in the Bible, but he was God’s choice to carry on the Messianic line. Jacob is a good example of God’s grace in the lives of people. As you probably know, he cheated his brother Esau out of the family birthright. He and his mother, Rebecca cheated Esau out of the father’s blessing that usually went to the elder brother. Because Esau was understandably angry with Jacob, his mother sent him to Haran to her brother Laban’s home. It was while Jacob was en route to Haran that the event recorded in our text occurred. It is a promise to Jacob, who didn’t deserve it any more than we do, but he got it anyway. It is a promise that is universally given in the Bible and can certainly be applied to our lives. God promised Jacob that He would be with him in his journey. Throughout the Bible, God promises His presence with His people. Jesus dealt with this when He knew that He was about to ascend to the Father. In the gospel of John, He promised His disciples, and subsequently us, that He would not leave them alone. It was at that time that He promised that “the Comforter” or the Holy Spirit would come to them and be in them. John 16:13-14 is one example of this promise: “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come. 14. He shall glorify me: for He shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.” Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus has promised to be with us in our journey as well. In Matthew 28:20b the last thing that Jesus said, at least in this gospel, was “lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” God promised that He would “keep” Jacob in his journey. Remember, Jacob was on the run from Esau, and that could have been a worry of his. People on journeys in those days had to worry about thieves. It was common for lone travelers to be waylaid on the road. In other words, God would not only be with Jacob on his journey, but He would be there in power. This is a promise that Jesus has given to us. In Jacob’s case, God’s power would apply to the completion of his journey. We are given a similar promise in Acts 1:8: “But you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” The Lord will keep us in His power, and will give us His power for our Christian journey as well. It is a great cause of rejoicing that the Eternal God of the universe has promised to keep us in His power on our journey. God promised that He would be present with and keep Jacob “in all the places whither thou goest.” God offered His presence and power to Jacob because He had a plan for Jacob’s life. This plan unfolds in the remainder of the book of Genesis. Just as God had a plan for Jacob’s life, He has a plan for our lives as well, and He has promised to be with us and to keep us in our journey as well as we carry out His plan for our lives. If you know anything about this period in Jacob’s life, it was not tied up all neat and pretty, because Jacob being Jacob, there were some detours and problems, but God’s plan for Jacob’s life came to fruition. You might not think that God has a plan for your life, but He does. As you follow His plan, you will still be a human being with all of the failures and foibles that this entails, but God’s promise is that He will be with you “whither thou goest.” I have seen this play out in my life and know that in spite of all my failures and foibles, God has been with me “whither” I have gone. Take Jacob’s promise for yourself!!!! Bro. Joe` “Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: 24. But let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth, for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.”
All of us glory in something, and what we glory in will help us decide how we are going to live. We have in our text a word from God about what we should glory in. Notice the words “Thus saith the Lord…” This means that Jeremiah had a word straight from God, and because he was a prophet of God, he had to share what God told him. Let’s notice what we are not to glory in, what we should glory in and why we should glory in the Lord. Jeremiah was led to point out three areas of life that we are not to glory in. In considering these things, it seemed to me that they take in a lot of what we falsely glory in. He wrote: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom.” Why not? The reason is because the greatest wisdom of human beings is far inferior to the wisdom of God. Every person is ignorant about more things than he or she is knowledgeable about. Even the most brilliant of us do not know everything as God does. He also wrote: “Let not the mighty man glory in his might.” There are a lot of strong people, but their strength in no way measures up to God’s strength. God is, after all, all-powerful, and no human being can equal that. A lot of people have tried to be all-powerful but they always end up powerless and eventually dead. Again, Jeremiah wrote: “Let not the rich man glory in his riches.” The Bible does not tell us not to have riches, but it does tell us not to let riches, or material things, rule our lives. The point here is that we need to be careful to depend on God’s wisdom, strength and wealth to rule in our lives and to primarily glory in Him. Think today about what you are glorying in and if you are glorying in that more than in God, then you need to change that. Next, Jeremiah wrote for us:“But let him that glories glory in this, that he (or she) understands and knows me, that I am the Lord….” The Bible does not tell us to choose ignorance over wisdom. In fact the whole book of Proverbs is about the advantage of being wise– with God’s wisdom. It never tells us to choose weakness over strength. It just reminds us that our strength ultimately comes from the Lord and we forget it at our peril. The Bible does not tell us to seek poverty, but it does tell us not to forget the true source of whatever wealth we have. What we are to ultimately glory in is that we understand that God is God and that He is in control, and we bow to Him in all wisdom, might and wealth. What we are to glory in is that we know God. The whole Bible introduces us to God – His power, His majesty, His wealth, His glory. If we are to live the kind of life that we should live, we will bow to God’s sovereignty and let Him be our wisdom, might and wealth. Jesus Christ came to earth, died a sacrificial death and ascended to the Father in order for us to be able to know God in a meaningful and intimate way. We are never told in the Bible not to seek the best life possible; rather, we are told to seek God through His Son, Jesus Christ, and allow Him to reign in all areas of our lives. We are to trust Him, obey Him and live our lives in His will. Finally, we are told why we should trust in and glory in the Lord: “That I am the Lord which exercises lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.” Our lives will be better if we submit to the Lord of life, who loves us, judges us and gives us His righteousness. The Lord delights in this kind of submission to Him. Ask yourself today if you are glorying in the Lord instead of yourself and your things. God knows that if we submit to Him, we will be better people, our lives will be more fulfilling and our eternity will be glorious. Bro. Joe “Heaven and earth shall pass away; but my words shall not pass away. 32. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. 33. Take ye heed, watch and pray; for you know not when the time is.”
All of the Christians that I know believe that Jesus is coming again. For the past 2,000 years since Jesus ascended to the Father, people have wanted to predict when all of the end time things will happen. Any who have ever tried to set a date and took their followers with them in their prediction have ended up embarrassing themselves and their followers. Why won’t people just believe Jesus when He says: “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only.” The clincher for me is when He says: “neither the Son.” Why would I think that I could know something that Jesus did not claim to know? I have written before and said in churches that I am not on the time and place committee, but on the preparation committee. This is where I want to come down in this article. Jesus said: “Take heed, watch and pray; for you know not when the time is.” In other words, Jesus is telling us that we are to stay prepared for His coming at all times. The words “take heed, watch and pray” grabbed me as I read this. What does Jesus mean by this? I think that Jesus means that we are to watch what we think. I think you will agree with me that one of our greatest battles as Christians is in our thought lives. Satan loves to play with our minds, and he loves to get us to listen to and look at things that will give us impure thoughts. Proverbs 23:7 warns that “As (a man) thinks in his heart so is he.” The problem with impure thinking is that what starts in our minds, ends up in our hearts, and what is in our hearts is often what we act on, or at least obsess on. We can’t always help the thoughts that cross our minds, but we can erase them before they reach our hearts. One of the problems of the world is that we think up bad things and dwell on them. What would you want to have on your mind if Jesus came for you today? You have probably already guessed that the next point is that we are to watch what we do. God told the Israelites at one point that they were doing things that even the Canaanites would not do. God judges us based on what we do, but that is no surprise to us. We need to also realize that people around us notice what we do too. We might think that we are doing something wrong in secret, but somebody, somewhere, will find out. Our witness to the world depends on what we do. I often hear people criticizing people about their actions though they are in church every Sunday. People aren’t blind, nor are they deaf. God is watching what we do, and that should be enough to make us stop and think about what we do. What would you want to be doing today if Jesus returned for you? Would you want to be doing what you normally do, or would what you normally do be an embarrassment to you? Finally, we are to watch what we allow into our minds and hearts, and what we allow ourselves to do. We have a God-given will, and we can allow or not allow the wrong things to take up housekeeping in our hearts, minds and actions. I’ve never met a person who said that he or she was not aware of right and wrong. Even when I did Bible studies in the two prisons in our county, I never had a prisoner raise his hand and say that he did not know right from wrong. We do wrong because we give ourselves permission to do so. We have the will to do good or to do wrong. What would you allow into your minds, hearts and actions if you knew that Jesus was returning today? Jesus is coming – take heed!!! Bro. Joe “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father. 30. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31. Fear ye not therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows.”
“Nothing is a surprise to God; nothing is a setback to His plans; nothing can thwart His purposes; and nothing is beyond His control” (Joni Eareckson Tada, quoted from the Discovery devotional book written by David Jeremiah.) If you have never heard the text about the hairs of our heads being numbered, you haven’t been around many people who read the Bible. The loving care of God is a comforting thought, but it is much more than a comfort to us. I believe that it is a profound reminder to us, not only of God’s care, but of God’s awareness and of His power at work in our lives. This sort of verse reminds us of the intimacy that we have with God. There is nothing about our lives that is not important to God. Every worry that we have is of concern to our loving God. Every event that takes place in our lives is important to God. Every relationship that we have with other people is important to God, and when a relationship goes awry it is of concern to God. I think that we sometimes forget that God is only a prayer away twenty-four hours a day, every second, every minute, every hour. If we wake up at 3:00 a.m. with a worry on our minds, God is available to hear our prayer. A few nights ago I went to bed with a worry on my mind. When I laid the book that I was reading aside, turned off the light and turned over to go to sleep, I talked to God about that worry and went right to sleep. If God knows how many hairs I have on my head, He is aware of my worries and wants to give me peace either from them or in the midst of them. This short verse reminds us of the power of God at work in our lives. I have always heard that “knowledge is power.” This is usually said about the importance of getting an education, but in this case it means that God’s intimate knowledge of us means that His power is at work in our lives. It is the power of His grace that is always at work in our lives. I’m sure that you remember Paul’s concern about his “thorn in the flesh.” I don’t know what that thorn was. I read a book one time about the identification of that thorn and I still do not know what it was. I know that it was serious, because Paul asked the Lord to remove the thorn. Here are Paul’s own words from 2 Corinthians 12:8-9: “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice (three times), that it might depart from me. 9. And He said unto me, "My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest on me.” The Lord who knows the number of hairs on our heads also knows how to help us live through our “thorns in the flesh.” This short verse reminds us that we cannot hide anything from God. Abraham Lincoln famously said: “You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.” We can add to that we can’t fool God anytime. There is no hiding place from the eternal eyes of God. He knows all of the things that we think we have done in secret. We can keep secrets from each other, but we can’t keep secrets from God at any time. The Bible reminds us that we will have to give account to God for every idle word that we use. We will also have to account to Him for all of the idle things that we did that were out of His will for our lives. This knowledge of God should be an inspiration for us to seek to follow His will for our lives every day. Thank God, that with His all-seeing eyes, God also has a forgiving heart and has promised to forgive us if we will seek His forgiveness. Rejoice in the fact that “the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” Bro. Joe “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay saith the Lord.”
Have you ever heard anyone say, “I’ll get you for that”? Worse yet, have you ever said, “I’ll get you for that”? When I taught school years ago (more years than I want to remember) I heard children say those words a lot. I could have put it off as “child’s play,” except that in the “adult world” I have heard a lot of the same thing. In fact, I have heard a lot of it in the church. It is a natural human tendency to want to repay someone for something that they have done to us. I’ll just have to confess that I have to watch that tendency in myself. There is just something about us that can’t stand feeling that another person has gotten the best of us. As natural as it may seem, the Bible tells us over and over again that we are not to seek revenge for wrongs done to us. Why? Because, for one thing, the Good Lord knows that there is no such thing as final revenge. We can’t get even, because the person we got even with is probably not dead and will try to get even with us. There is just no end to it. The best example of this that I know of is the Arab/ Israeli conflict. They are always trying to get even with each other, and all that happens is that the conflict just keeps spiraling out of control. In my memory, almost every one of our presidents has tried to bring peace between these two factions – all to no avail. Why? Because they just have to get even. This conflict has been going on for, give or take, 5,000 years, and until they realize that there is no such thing as revenge, it will continue. (I have often said that the only solution to that conflict will be the second coming of Jesus Christ.) What is the antidote for this poison called revenge? The Bible gives us one word that can bring an end to seeking revenge – forgiveness. Jesus set the perfect example for us. According to Luke’s gospel, the first words of Jesus from the cross were, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” I know that we are not Jesus, but He has given us the capacity to forgive as well. Paul gave some advice in Ephesians 4:31-32 that could take care of a lot of our penchant for revenge: “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour (shouting at each other), and evil speaking (slander), be put away from you, with all malice. 32. And be ye kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate), forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you.” The point is that we, who have been forgiven, should also be willing to forgive. After all, Christ did not have to forgive us for our sins against Him, and we have all sinned against Him. But in His grace, mercy and love Jesus forgives us when we ask him. This is all the more reason for us to be forgiving. In order to do this, we must have forgiving hearts. How do we get forgiving hearts? We do it through a lot of prayer for those who have offended us. We have to depend on the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He will help us forgive – if we really want to forgive. Almost every church problem that I have seen, and after 54 years in the ministry I have seen a lot of them, could be solved with three wonderful words:“I forgive you.” Those three words are right up there with “I love you.” When you feel the urge to think, or say, “I’ll get you for that,” remember Jesus’ words from the cross, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do,” and follow suit. Bro. Joe |
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