“Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.”
“Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation: and uphold me with thy free spirit. 13. Then will I teach transgressors your ways; and sinners shall be converted unto you.” This psalm was written after David committed adultery with Bathsheba and had been confronted by the great prophet Nathan. Nathan told David a story about a wealthy man who owned a lot of sheep and took away the one sheep that belonged to a poor man. When David heard that story, he was irate. Nathan answered back to him, “You are the man.” Of course, David was conscience stricken and this psalm was a result. We don’t have room on this page for the whole psalm, but I have quoted four verses that give us the gist of the meaning of the psalm. Verse 3 gives us the clue as to how we should react when we know that we are not right with God: “For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.” Acknowledging our sins is absolutely necessary in getting right with God. After Nathan’s story, David came face-to-face with the murder of Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, and his adultery with her. David had to stop denying that he had sinned and that he needed to acknowledge what he had done. We will get right with God when we acknowledge our own sins. Like David, it is so easy for us to see the sins of other people, but we whitewash our own sins. Until we acknowledge our sins, we cannot be right with God. God is willing to forgive us for any sin, but He wants us to admit that we have sinned. Verse 2 shows us what it was that David wanted from God in relation to his sins. When we realize that we have sinned, we feel unclean. There is no uncleanness like the uncleanness of our souls, for this is what sin does to us. The realization of the greatness of his sins left David feeling guilty and dirty. Being “a man after God’s own heart,” David was not accustomed to feeling that way. The sad thing is that many people come to feel at home with feeling dirty and they are satisfied with it. If you want to be cleansed of guilt, you need to repent, confess and ask God to cleanse you from sin. There is no need for sin to rob you of the joy that you can have in your life. God is ready and willing to forgive you and cleanse you. Come to Him like David and ask God to cleanse you. Verse 12 shows us what David really lost when he sinned and did not seek God’s forgiveness. He said: “Restore unto me the joy of your salvation; and uphold me with your free spirit.” Overt sin caused David to lose the joy of the salvation that God had given him. Jesus died on the cross to cleanse us from sin, and He wants us to enjoy the salvation that He has given us. Sin has a way of coming between us and our joy. If you are not joyful now, perhaps you need to look deeply within your heart and discover the source, if you don’t already realize it, and rush to God for forgiveness as David did. Verse 13 gives us the result of being forgiven and cleansed. Until he confessed, David could not “teach transgressors their ways.” David was accustomed to being the one right with God, and felt comfortable helping others see the right way. But until he confessed, and was cleansed, he knew that he was in no position to witness and minister to other people. If you want to be an effective witness for Jesus, follow David’s example and repent, confess and ask for forgiveness. Bro, Joe
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“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
This is a question that we all need to ask “What ‘Centers’ You?” First, I need to define what I mean by “centers.” What is it that calms you, emboldens you or gives you a feeling of completion? This is not a real good definition, but I think you get what I mean. We have something, or someone, that we can fall back on when life seems to be getting out of control, or when we just feel down and depressed. When we center ourselves on that, we can see things more clearly. There are people and things that encourage me and help me in life, but when the going really gets tough the main thing that centers me is my faith in Jesus Christ. Everything else just falls at His feet. I pray that you can say the same thing. What I have found is that I am more easily centered on Jesus when I stay in close fellowship with Him through prayer and Bible reading. Jesus cannot be the center of things for us, if we do not take advantage of the intimate, personal relationship that we have with Him. The question then becomes: “Who Centers You?” Paul stated it succinctly in the text: “I live, nevertheless not I, but Christ lives in me.” That is the most important relationship that we can have in our lives. Relationships with family and friends are certainly important, but even those relationships are stronger when Christ is the center of our lives. We can be glad that Jesus is not just a religious figure, or statue, like Buddha. Jesus is a real living person, who loves us and wants the best for us. He lives in us through the Holy Spirit, and is available all of the time for us to fall back on. The Bible even promises us that He loves us enough to discipline us if we get out of line. Pause now and ask yourself if Jesus is the One who centers you. Paul added something to this testimony about Jesus: “And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Now we can turn to the “what” of what centers us. The cause of our personal, saving relationship with Jesus is “by grace through faith” in Jesus. It is faith in Jesus that helps to center us in our daily lives and in all of the bumps and bruises of life. I imagine that you are like I am when I really get in a bad situation; I turn to Jesus in faith and He gets me around or through whatever it is that is troubling me. This will not do a whole lot of good if I ignore Him when life is going smooth, and then call on Him in faith when life gets rough. Our faith in Jesus is meant for every situation in our lives – the good and the bad. You know: “The God on the mountain is still God in the valley…” We need to understand that the Lord, who is the center of our faith and our lives, honors our faith in Him. This is true throughout the whole Bible. The Old Testament does not stress the word “faith” like the New Testament does, but faith is implicit in its teachings. Hebrews 11 tells us about the faith of Old Testament saints. They had faith in the promise of God, and that faith enriched the lives of people like Moses, David, Elijah and Daniel. Their faith in God and in His promises centered them and helped them to serve Him effectively. Like us, they stumbled and fell from time to time, but all in all their lives reflected their faith in God. In the New Testament we have men like Peter, Andrew, James, John and Paul to show us what it means to center our lives in faith in God/Jesus. You just need to ask yourself if it is faith in Jesus that centers you as you face all of life? Think about it. Bro. Joe “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 (are held together).”
We should not be surprised that Jesus was involved in creation, as were the Father and the Spirit. John gave the same information in John 1:3: “All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.” In His life on earth, Jesus certainly showed Godlike traits. For example, He turned water into wine. I have never heard of “water wine,” have you? He took one substance and turned it into another in order to make wine. Only the creator could do that. In Colossians 1:21 Paul added another dimension to the power of Jesus, for he informs us that all things are held together by Jesus. This means that we do not have to worry about Mars getting out of orbit and colliding with the earth. We can trust that Jesus will hold it all together. The only way that the meteorite that we hear so much about, can hit the earth is if Jesus lets it happen. If Jesus lets it happen, nothing on earth or in heaven can stop it. This is not your “namby pamby” Jesus that people talk about today. He has real, eternal power. If I read this text correctly, it is Jesus who is holding the universe together. We know that the universe is of unfathomable size; therefore, Jesus has unfathomable power. I have written all of the above to get to the point that I want to make, i.e., this same Jesus has the power to hold our lives together. This is the good news that a lot of people need today. We are warned about all kinds of destructive scenarios that can cause our hearts to sink. If I didn’t believe in Jesus, I would be worried about all that I hear and see. But I believe in Jesus and I believe that He who holds all things together, can also hold me together. Sometimes it seems that our lives are out of control. Problems seem to pile on top of problems. We have problems within ourselves. We worry about what is going to happen to us in the future. We have ego problems that seem so big to us, but are really no problem at all. We have family problems. What family does not have some problems? Show me a perfect family and I will show you a real honest to goodness miracle. We encounter problems in the places where we work. There are always problem people that we have to deal with. There are all sorts of things that crop up in a workplace that can cause anxiety on our part. Then we have to deal with the news every day. I watch the news on Television and read it about it in the newspaper, and I tell myself that if I didn’t know that Jesus was holding all things together, I would really panic. All of the things that I mentioned above, and all of the things that you could add to what I have mentioned, do not have to defeat us if we believe that Jesus is holding us together as He is holding the universe together. In 1 John, the apostle John gave us a great word of wisdom on this matter. When you read these three verses out of 1 John, know that Jesus can hold your life together: 1 John 4:4: “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.” 1 John 5:4-5: “For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. 5. Who is he that overcomes the world but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” Put your faith in the only One who holds all things together – even you. Believe it! Bro. Joe "He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin."
Have you ever asked yourself, "When am I going to learn to keep my mouth shut?" I have asked myself this question many times. Our text warns us to watch our words. This is good advice. What do I mean? Read on…… Once words are spoken they cannot be crammed back into our mouths. Glib sarcasm is very much in vogue today. We need to remember, however, that when we say sarcastic and hurtful things, we are being poor witnesses for Jesus. We are also being poor examples for our fellow Christians. Sarcastic language can become contagious and can set off a good old-fashioned church fuss. I'm going to admit that I make myself heard when I am in a group of people. One thing that I always take into account, however, is that I need to be careful what I say, because what I say will probably be quoted. I want to be sure that if I am quoted, it will make a positive input in someone's life. If we want to be considered wise, we would do well to hold our words in until what we say can make a positive difference. Proverbs 17:28 puts it in perspective for us: "Even a fool when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding." I've always noticed in deacon meetings and meetings of pastors that the guy who does not talk often and only speaks when he really has something to say is listened to more carefully than others of us who talk a lot. We really need to watch what we say to people. This is especially true when we are feeling "out of sorts." I know that I have to remind myself at these times that I will leave a witness one way or the other by what I say. I try to remember when I want to give someone a "piece of my mind" that I do not have any to give away. We would all do well to remember this. We need to remember that words can really hurt people. Paul advised that when we speak to people we should "speak the truth in love." (Ephesians 4:15) I will close with this little word of wisdom: "It is better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt." Just Saying! Bro. Joe “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called. 2. With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love. 3. Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
I guess that we would all like to live what would be considered “a worthy Christian life.” We probably think that to live such a life would entail being a super-spiritual person who talks holy talk and knows all of the holy moves. By that description, Jesus would have lauded the Pharisees as living a worthy life. But instead of praising the Pharisees, He compared them to a bunch of snakes. Paul, who was once a Pharisee, but got over it after Jesus took over his life, gave the ideal description of the worthy life in Ephesians 4:1-3. In order to live a worthy Christian life, we will live humbly – in “lowliness and meekness.” In our affluent society the worthy life can be described as seeking greatness in the eyes of the world. But the worthy Christian life is not the result of seeking personal greatness, in fact, it is the opposite. It is seeking humility. Humility is not something that we can achieve, because if we think that we have achieved it, we are no longer humble. This does not mean that humble people must have an inferiority complex. We have a great misunderstanding of what Christian humility is. We seem to think that it entails being a doormat for the world. Nothing is further from the truth. In fact, in order for people to live humbly in this proud world, they have to be secure in Jesus, subsequently in themselves. Humility does not come from a sense of inferiority, or insecurity, but from a sense of personal well-being and security. In order to let other people go first, one really has to be secure in oneself. In order to live a worthy Christian life we will live patiently – “With longsuffering, forbearing one another in love.” The Greek word translated “longsuffering” could be called “bulldog tenacity” today. Patience, or longsuffering, is not just sitting and waiting, taking on a martyr complex, or a spirit of resignation. It means to persist in Christian living, meeting life’s hardships without bitterness and complaint. It appears today that few people are aiming for this kind of patience, even in churches. It also means that we should “forbear one another in love.” This does not mean to merely put up with people; it means to forbear because we love people. We will certainly get “out of sorts” with each other, but we do not have to stay that way. Patience, love and forbearance equal worthy Christian living. In order to live a worthy Christian life, we will live in unity – “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Humility, patience, forbearance and love are results of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Only He can lead us to humble and patient living, and only He can lead us to unity in Himself. If we follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we will not be led into disunity. Because we are human, we will have disagreements, but in spite of these disagreements, the Holy Spirit will not lead us into disunity. We are divided in our fellowship because of us, not because of the Holy Spirit. Disunity is Satan’s domain. Certainly a worthy Christian life will not lead to disunity. In light of this text, will you live humbly, patiently and in the unity of the Spirit? If you will, you will live a worthy Christian life. Bro. Joe "A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another as I have loved you, that you love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another."
Ask any church member of a mainline church who the head of the church is, and he or she will probably say "Jesus." If He is the head of our particular church, why do we ignore what He tells us to do? One of the greatest ways we ignore Him is to pay no attention to what He tells us about loving one another. He said that the world would know we are Christians by our love for each other, yet a lot of what we do has nothing to do with love. It has to do with someone's ego, some deacon, pastor or matriarch. It has to do with who is going to make the decisions for the church. We get all snarled in the competition that is going on, and somehow the love that we are supposed to have for each other gets lost. We begin to see each other as rivals, or worse, as enemies. Where there is rivalry and enmity, love is smothered and, frankly, dies. What we need to do when this happens is to call a halt to everything that is going on, spend time in prayer together, love Jesus and learn to love each other again. We are not going to make a mark on our part of the world until we love each other, and others, as Jesus loves us. Continue to disagree, argue and blame, and your church will eventually die. The church at Ephesus in Revelation was about to die because it had "lost its first love." I think that is love for Jesus and for people. Let's stop ignoring Jesus and listen to what He tells us, particularly about loving Him and each other. Bro. Joe
of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you. So teach us to number our days that we may have a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:9-12 ESV) "Look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but=== as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." (Ephesians 5:15-17 ESV) It is true that "time and tide wait for no man." We wake up and it's Monday, then it's Friday, then it's Christmas, then it's New Years Day - again. Our lives pass so fast that we really have to be careful how we handle each day. Unwise people just let time pass by without making any plans or without considering what their lives should mean. That is why the psalmist wrote: "So teach us to number our days that we may have a heart of wisdom." "Numbering our days" means that we live one day at a time and grasp what we need to be or to do each day. It is irrevocably true that time "will soon be gone and we fly away." When we number our days, we have a "heart of wisdom," which means that our hearts are in tune with God's wisdom for our lives. Paul admonished us to "make the best use of our time." If we do less than this, we will be foolish and we will not "understand what the will of the Lord is." The best way to make the best use of fleeting time is to get in tune with the will of God for your life and follow that will each day. Then you will walk in wisdom - God's wisdom. Bro. Joe “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”
This text comes at the end of the saga of Joseph and his eleven brothers who sold him into slavery. This is years later, when Joseph had the time to look back on everything that had transpired since his brothers had betrayed him. He tells his brothers that he knows that they really wanted to get rid of him, not caring whether he lived or died, but that God had a greater purpose for all that transpired in that event. In other words, Joseph came to realize that after all is said and done, God was in control of that situation, for He knew what would take place with His people Israel, and He took the evil that they intended and turned it into good for His people. This has not changed, for God is still in control of all of the things that take place in our lives. It might not seem so at first, but as things work out, we can look back and see the handiwork of God in our lives. Recognizing God’s control in our lives is all-important. We need to see that it does matter who is in control of our lives. The sinking of a ferry in South Korea that is in the news as I write this is a case in point. The captain of the ferry turned the control of the ferry over to a novice who had never taken the ferry through those treacherous waters, and the result was the needless loss of many young lives. This is what happens in our lives when we cease to recognize God’s control in our lives. Many lives are “shipwrecked” today because they took control of their own lives, or turned their lives over to someone besides the Lord Jesus Christ. God’s control in our lives is important because God alone knows what the end of the matter will be. We might have something that takes place in our lives that shakes us to the core. For example, it might be a serious illness that sidetracks us for awhile. During that time we can feel useless, or we can use the time of suffering to draw closer to the Lord. We just need to trust the Lord day by day that He knows what is going on and what the result of our illness will be. I would never accuse God of making us ill, but I do know that He uses those times to grow us and to lead us to His successful conclusion of the matter. It might be a setback in your plans for your life. It might be that you lost your job and did not know which way to turn. That would not be pleasant, but if you will seek God’s control, you might find that God had something else that He wanted you to do. God’s control is important because He knows what we really need in our lives instead of what we think we need. Many people have decided when they were young to follow some career that would bring them riches and maybe even fame. But God had other plans, and began to steer us in the direction that He knew we need to go. We might have been well-meaning in our plans, but God meant better for us. “Better for us” is always what God wants of us instead of what we want for ourselves. If you have been disappointed in your life at this point in your life, consider whether or not you have surrendered to God’s control, or to your own control. We like to think that we are “masters of our own fate,” but we make poor masters for ourselves. Surrender all that you are and have to God’s control and see what can happen in your life. Like it was with Joseph, you might meet many pitfalls along the way but in the final analysis, your life will be better and you will be better off under His control. It could be that the Lord has you reading this article now, because you need to turn control of your life over to Him. Go quickly to prayer and start to seek God’s guidance and see what a difference it will make in your life. Bro. Joe “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God…”
There are a lot of people who have written God off. They can’t see Him with their eyes or feel Him with their hands, so they say that He does not exist. I know that it is not that simple, but it is the beginning of unbelief. Besides that, why would people not believe in God? People reject the existence of God because of bad things that happen in the world. The reasoning is that if there were a God, we would not have earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, cancer, you name it. There is a long list of bad things that happen and seem to be unfair. What they do not take into account is that we live in a fallen world. This is written plainly in the Bible and is plainly seen in history. When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, their perfect world came to an end. I do not try to explain why bad things happen, or why bad things happen to good people. That is the way the world is and, until Jesus brings in the kingdom, that is the way it will be. For myself, I am just glad that in the midst of all of the bad things that happen, there is a God who loves you and me and He is with us even when the bad things happen. (I thought that I should add that there are a lot of good things that happen too.) People reject the existence of God because they do not want to be beholden to a higher power. Belief in God puts brakes on our natural inclinations. Every time we read of someone doing a bad thing, we need to say: “Except for the grace of God there go I.” The Bible says that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” People have always tried to get around obedience to God, because He curbs their natural inclinations. The history of the Jews in the Old Testament shows this to be true. No matter how many times God warned them not to give in to the sins of the countries they were displacing in Palestine, they gave in to their sinful inclinations and disobeyed God. If one does not believe that there is a God, there is no One out there to answer to and one can do as one pleases – no matter how bad it is. David is a good example of this. No one believed in Jehovah more than David, yet when he saw Bathsheba, he disobeyed the commandment not to commit adultery. But David also knew that he had to answer to God, and in Psalm 51 he asked for God’s forgiveness. Those who do not believe in God see no need to repent or ask for God's forgiveness. People reject the existence of God because those of us who believe in Him sometimes act as if He does not exist and that we do not have to answer to Him for our actions. We see this in churches all of the time. The New Testament teaches that we are to be in unity in Christ’s church, but the world sees us disobeying this and acting like people who do not have to answer to God. I know that we are “only human” but this does not relieve us of the responsibility to live a Christian life before the world. The world is crying out for we who believe in Jesus Christ to make Him real in our lives. It is my daily prayer that my life will show this. I want to show it, for example, by how I treat people who serve me in places of business. There are times when I encounter a waitress or a clerk with a bad attitude that I want to return the favor. I’ve got to tell you that it is not always easy, but I just try to remember that I represent Jesus, and that my attitude should be like His. It is my prayer that people will not base their unbelief on my behavior!!! Make that your prayer as well. There are many other reasons why people don’t believe in God, but these are uppermost in my mind today. Let’s show the world what a profound belief in an almighty God can do in one’s life. Bro. Joe Isaiah 40:28-31 is probably the most familiar text in the Old Testament. We quote it often when we are in distress. I discovered this morning that it gives us a description of God and the promise of His work in our lives.
First, is the description of God: "Hast thou not heard? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching His understanding." The God who works in our lives is "everlasting." This means that God has no beginning or end. He has just always been. He is the creator of everything. He does not faint or get tired and is never weary. Also, He is beyond our understanding - way above our intellect. The amazing thing is that this magnificent God is interested in our lives. Second, is His work in our lives: "He giveth power to the faint (the tired); and to them that have no might He increaseth strength." God, who is never exhausted, is aware of our exhaustion and gives us His power to overcome it. Didn't Jesus say, "Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy-laden and I will you rest"? We have His promise to give us rest in Himself. Our bodies may be tired, but the Lord lifts up our spirits and gives us the strength to go on. I have experienced this a lot over the past year. Third, He not only lifts our spirits, He helps us to thrive: "Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 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." When I read that this morning, I thought of John 10:10b: "I am come that they might have life and have it more abundantly." The Lord's presence in our lives makes life better, even when we are going through hard times. Being human, we will get weary, and we will be what we call "down in the mouth." We don't have to stay that way because we have a wonderful God who is at work in our lives. What particularly fascinated me when I read this text was that the God described in verse 28 is interested in our lives and does what verses 29-31 tell us. He doesn't have to give us new energy and strength, but because of His great love, mercy and grace He does. Let's just praise Him!!!!! Bro. Joe |
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