“Who stands up for me against the wicked? Who takes a stand for me against evildoers? 17. If the Lord had not been my helper, I would soon rest in the silence of death. 18. If I say, ‘My foot is slipping,’ your faithful love will support me, Lord. 19. When I am filled with cares your comfort brings me joy.”
One of the reasons I wrote this blog is to help people realize that they are not alone in the world, and to remind myself as well. We all need to be reminded that God is ever near. In Psalm 94, the psalmist was faced with the dilemma of needing to be reminded. In verse 3, he wrote: “Lord how long will the wicked—how long will the wicked gloat?” At this moment the psalmist felt alone and threatened by all of the wickedness and the wicked people by who surrounded him. Whether or not we have ever felt surrounded, we have all certainly felt the insecurity that comes from living in this world. We serve a loving, living, Almighty God, but we still feel the insecurities of this world. He even went so far as to write in verses 4-5: ”They pour out arrogant words and all the evildoers boast. Lord, they crush your people; they afflict your heritage.” At this point, the psalmist was in a negative frame of mind. I’m sure that you can identify with that – I surely can. Then in verses 14-15, he remembered something: “The Lord will not forsake His people or abandon His heritage, for justice will again be righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.” He remembered that Yahweh is the faithful God. He is the God of justice who will not forsake His people. We come now to the heart of what I want to write about today, the psalmist moves from a general statement about the faithfulness of God to a more personal statement: “Who stands up for me against the wicked? Who takes a stand for me against evildoers?” He is not alone in his struggle with life in this world after all. There is a “Who” who looks out for him. There is the great God who takes a stand for him against evildoers. Romans 8:31b reminds us: “If God be for us, who can be against us? ”This is similar to what came to the mind of the psalmist at that time. Then the psalmist proclaimed his complete dependence on God in verse 17: “If the Lord had not been my helper, I would soon rest in the silence of death.” The presence of the Lord in the psalmist’s life literally saved his life. His entire life depended on God’s presence and intervention in his life. We need to understand this as well. There are people, and even things, that can bring meaning and joy into our lives. It is good to be surrounded by family and friends, but they do not hold the thread of our lives. It is God/Jesus who holds our lives in His hands. There are people who bring joy to my heart when I think of them, but they do not hold my life in their hands. Only God does that, and that life will be with Him here and now or by and by. When the psalmist feels that his “foot is slipping," he remembers that he has God’s “faithful love” to support him. We cannot be reminded often enough that God loves us. We do not need to take that love for granted but we do need to embrace it and be thankful for it. It sustains us in the hard times of life. In verse 19 he wrote: “When I am filled with cares, your comfort brings me joy.” The psalmist knew that it was impossible for him to live a life completely free of care, but he knew that he could take those cares to the Lord. What happened when he took those cares to the Lord? He was filled with joy. Our joy in life ultimately rests in our complete dependence on God/Jesus. Our joy is not in what the world gives, but in what God gives. Don’t you think that it would be a good idea to put your complete dependence on God today? Bro. Joe
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“Thou shalt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee: because He trusts in you.”
As I read this, I was thinking that Isaiah comes as close to New Testament themes as any of the Old Testament authors. Peace is a theme that runs throughout the whole Bible, but especially in the New Testament and in the ministry of Jesus. Isaiah writes here about “perfect peace.” Now, there is a real concept of peace. My title is “What in the world is Perfect peace?” I used “in the world” because we don’t usually think of perfect peace in this world. Yet we have a promise of it here. Let’s see what this verse can tell us about perfect peace. The first thing that we note is that only God is able to give us perfect peace. Notice that Isaiah writes:“Thou shalt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind in stayed on thee.” In other words, the world does not offer perfect peace. I have read that Jesus came into the world to bring “peace on earth.” I don’t think Jesus ever promised that. In fact what Jesus did promise us is that there will be “wars and rumors of wars.” The Book of Revelation certainly doesn’t promise world peace. In my life time, there has never been a long period when our country was not in some conflict somewhere in the world. Jews and Arabs have been fighting since Ishmael and Isaac. It is just a fact that the world cannot offer perfect peace. The best that the world can do is to give us lulls between battles – in the world and in our personal lives. The Second thing that we note is that peace can come only by trust in God. Let’s refer again to Isaiah’s written statement that perfect peace comes to those “whose minds are stayed on Thee/God.” The only real relationship that we can have with God is one of trust– of faith. The author of Hebrews makes this plain in Hebrews 11:6: “But without faith it is impossible to please (God): for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” In John 16:33 we read the words of Jesus on peace: “These things have I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In this world you will have tribulation (trouble): but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. ”What Jesus promises us from the world is trouble. (More on this later) What He promises us pertaining to Him is peace. Having a faith relationship with Jesus Christ is the gateway to perfect peace. The third thing that we note is that we can have this perfect peace in Jesus in spite of all of the troubles that we meet with in this life. Perfect peace, then, does not mean that we will never have conflict. In fact, we are promised that we will be in conflict with the world system at all times. In Ephesians 6:11-12, Paul wrote: “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. ”Perfect peace is perfect because it comes from God, who promises to be with us through all of the troubles of life. David sensed this in Psalm 23:4: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” That is perfect peace on earth. Real perfect peace where we will be free from all troubles is when we get to heaven and live in the presence of Jesus. . If you want perfect peace, let your mind be “stayed” on Christ, who is the author of our peace. Bro. Joe (This is based on an article that I wrote about two years ago. I have rewritten it and added to it. "The Prayer of Jabez" was a sensation a few years go and kind of faded away, as things usually do. But I think that it has relevance because of its content, not because of some "magical power.")
I'm reaching back in time today to "the Prayer of Jabez." You remember don't you that this prayer was the subject of a book that caused a stir among the brothers and sisters about the importance of it? Some seemed to view it as a magic incantation, while others saw it as only one of the many prayers referred to in the Bible. Here is the prayer as recorded in verse 10: "And Jabez called on the name of the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it might not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested." Now, I am not about to adopt that prayer as an incantation, but it is worth reflecting on, and is certainly worthy of considering that these are some things that I would want God to do in my life. Would I say that I do not want God to bless me? Would I refuse to have my responsibilities and joys increased? I certainly want the hand of God to be with me as I wind my way through this maze that we call life. I surely want God to keep me from evil and the grief that it would cause me and mine. Without fearing that I am taking this prayer out of context, I will gladly request these things for my life. I will thank Jabez for praying the prayer and thank God for putting it in His word for me to read. God will grant this prayer based on my faith in Him and not because He granted Jabez what he prayed for. I will say about this prayer what I say about the Lord's Prayer: It is not given for us to "repeat," but for us see what the Lord can do in our lives today. Like all other prayers that we pray, God will hear it and act on it according to His will. I am certainly not going to tell you that if you will recite this prayer every day you will have tremendous "luck" in your life. I would certainly not suggest that this prayer take the place the Lord's model prayer, which is, after all, how Jesus taught us to pray. I will, however, suggest that the parts of this prayer are things that we all need in our lives. Besides that, we all need to turn to the Bible as our prayer guide from time to time, for the Bible contains the wisdom of God, and of the ages. Read and reflect on this prayer, because the Holy Spirit put it into the Bible; therefore, it has relevance for your life today. Bro. Joe “And when the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. 14. And He came and touched the bier; and they that bare him stood still. And He said, Young man, I say unto you, Arise. 15. And the dead man sat up, and began to speak. And He delivered him to his mother.”
The incident began when Jesus was approaching the city of Nain, where He saw a funeral procession. The dead man had been the son of a widow. He was the only son that she had, which meant that she was left alone. Jesus did what only Jesus could do – He raised her son from the dead. Jesus didn’t raise every dead person He saw, but He did raise those He was supposed to raise. This incident reveals some interesting things about Jesus. Jesus knew that the dead man was the only son of the widowed mother. This was a desperate situation because there were no social safety nets like those we have today, e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, welfare or Social Security. When her only son died, the woman was left alone in the world with no one to care for her. It could have been that some of her family might help, but evidently Jesus knew that this was not the case. Isn’t it great to know that Jesus is aware of desperate situations like this? I use “is” because Jesus has not changed. He is still aware when we are in desperate situations, and He will help us in whatever way we need helping. I hope that when you are in a situation where there seems that there is no solution that you will look to Jesus, for He will have an answer for you. It is not usually as dramatic as our text, but He will be there in our desperate situations. Notice that Jesus had compassion for the woman. This is typical of Jesus. When Jesus looked out over the multitude of lost people in Matthew 9:36, it is recorded that: “When He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.” Whatever the situation, when Jesus saw people having seemingly insoluble problems, He had compassion on them. He has not changed. He still has compassion for us. Do you think that as Jesus looks out over the world today that He is not moved with compassion? Jesus doesn’t look at the lost multitudes around the world and turn away with an indfferent shrug. He doesn’t look at people who are hurting in many kinds of situations and just shake His head and say “poor dears.” Just as Jesus had compassion for the woman in the text, and just as He had compassion on the people in Matthew 9, He is still filled with compassion. Indeed, whatever you might be going through Jesus has compassion for you. Rejoice! It is interesting that Jesus acted on His compassion, raised the woman’s son from the dead and returned him to her. Jesus acted on His compassion for the lost multitudes in Matthew 9:37-38: “Then He said unto His disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; 38. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send laborers into His harvest.” Do you get the point? Sometimes those of us who are His followers are called upon to act in compassion on His behalf. No one else could have raised the widow’s son from the dead, but that was not true of the lost multitude. Jesus wants us to look at the world with the same compassion that He had while He was on earth and still has today. Jesus does not want us to turn away in disgust, though we see many things that disgust us, but He wants us to be filled with compassion and go lnto the fields which are “ripe unto harvest.” Could it be said of us that we had compassion for the world as Jesus had compassion for the woman in the text? Bro. Joe “Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Our main motivation should be to bring glory to God in all that we do. I know that is a tall order, but I think that we need to seriously endeavor to bring glory to Him. Before we make a decision to do one thing or another, we should ask if we are doing it for the glory of God. I do not know what “it” means for you. “It” can be to sing in the choir, teach a Sunday School class, do a good deed for a neighbor, or whatever. The point is that whatever “it” is it should be for the glory of God. There are at least three ways that we can determine whether or not something is done for God’s glory. First, if you do this thing will you be able to thank God for it. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us of the importance of this: “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” You will know in your heart whether you are serving for the glory of God, and when it is done, you will be thankful for the opportunity of doing it. Psalm 100:2 tells us to “serve the Lord with gladness.” This means that God lets us serve Him, and when we do a service for Him, whatever it might be, we should gladly do it and we should thank Him for letting us serve Him. If you serve in order to receive the praise of people, you are not doing it for the glory of God. This was a prevailing sin of the Pharisees in the New Testament. Jesus said that they prayed gave alms and tithes, etc. for the glory of people, not for the glory of God. This has become a cliché, but we need to remind ourselves that our Christian service is not for us but for Jesus, and He should get the glory for it. This does not mean that you should not have a sense of accomplishment when you do something for the Lord. We just need to remember that we did it for the Lord. Second, if you do this thing can you do it in Jesus’ name, or will you do it in Jesus’ name? Colossians 3:17 reminds us: “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.” Notice that this verse also tells us to be thankful that we are allowed to serve God in some way. We need to ask ourselves, if I do this thing, will it be worthy of the name of Jesus. I don’t know if we would take this to the extent that if we water the flowers, we will do it in the name of Jesus and for His glory, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask. We need to ask if a service that we are going to render is worthy of the name of Jesus. Let me show you where this would be important. Maybe you have something that you need to get straightened out between you and a fellow Christian. When you take the step to straighten it out, will you do it in a way to honor the name of Jesus, or will you do it to “get it out of your system”? If we can’t do a thing in Jesus’ name, whatever it is, we should not do it. Third, if you do this thing will it ultimately bring glory to God? 1 Corinthians 10:31, our text written above, tells us to be mindful of this. In Matthew 5:16, Jesus said: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven.” If you do “good works” in order for people say what a great person you are, you are not doing them for the glory of God. Again, this does not mean that you should not get a sense of satisfaction out of what you do. God would certainly not demand that of you. But we should be careful that the focus is on God and not on us. I will confess after preaching thousands of sermons over the years that this motivation is not always easy, because we want to know that what we do is appreciated, but we should be careful anyway that God gets the glory. Bro. Joe “Jesus said unto her: I am the resurrection and the life, he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. 26. And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die, do you believe this?”
Jesus said this to Martha just before He raised her brother Lazarus from the dead. Mary and Martha were both seemingly upset with Jesus because He took four days to get to them after they had informed Him of Lazarus’ sickness and possible death. In that intervening time, Lazarus died. Both of the sisters said to Jesus: “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Jesus said: “Your brother will rise again. ”Martha thought He meant that Lazarus would rise again at “the resurrection of the last day.” What Jesus meant was that He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead. Jesus did this to show that He is, indeed, “the resurrection and the life.” He proceeded to raise Lazarus from the dead. This is written as an illustration to us of who and what Jesus is, and that He is the “resurrection and the life.” Jesus would ask us the same question that He asked Martha: “Do you believe this?” It is a personal question: “Do you believe this?” Well, do you really believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life? Your soul’s salvation depends on whether you believe that or not. If you do not accept that Jesus is the Lord of life and the master of death, then you do not believe in the Jesus of the Bible. There are a lot of people today who believe that Jesus was a good man or that the New Testament is just a fairy tale and Jesus is not real. There are also those who believe that Jesus was only a man, but that He did not really rise from the dead, that He is not “the resurrection and the life.” If you don’t believe that, you do not believe in Jesus. This is a question that you have to answer in your own heart. When it comes down to the moment of truth that you will die, do you really believe that Jesus will receive you unto Himself? He promised that He would in John 14:3: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am there you may be also.” It is a personal question that demands a positive answer. It is a pointed question: “Do you believe this?" In John 3:16, Jesus said: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life." In neither case, John 14:3 or John 3:16 does “believe” mean to just believe about Jesus. What it means is that we trust everything that we have and everything that we are that this is true, and that our eternity depends on that belief. It is surrender to Him as Savior, Lord and Master of life. In John 6:28, some people asked Jesus: “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God.” Jesus' answer in verse 29 was this: “This is the work of God that you believe on Him whom He has sent.” It was then as it is now, there is no religious work that we can do to “work the works of God,” or to be saved. What we must do is what Jesus told the people in John 6 and intimated to Martha – we must believe in Him. We must believe not about Him, but in Him and give our lives to Him. It is a precise question: “Do you believe this”? As written above, Jesus did not say that we should adopt His religion; rather, He said that we should believe in Him. In John 14:6, Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to Father but by me.” This is still the biblical truth, and it will not change. It is Jesus who is the resurrection and the life and no other. So the question is do you believe in Jesus? All of your life and all of eternity rests on your answer to that question. Bro. Joe “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth to those things which are before, I press toward the mark (goal) for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
These verses show us the focus that Paul had in his Christian service. I think that we are at our best when we are focused on what we are doing. I have discovered in my preaching ministry, that to be effective, I have to focus on the subject at hand and close out everything else. When I am focused, even sleeping church members or crying babies cannot make me lose my thought. Being focused will reflect our priorities. Paul wrote: “This one thing I do…” What we are focused on will determine the direction of our lives. If people are focused on pleasure, pleasure and more pleasure, they will spend a major part of their time planning things that will give them pleasure. Paul’s focus was on Jesus Christ. From the time of Paul’s conversion on the Damascus Road, the whole focus of his life became Jesus Christ. If we focus on Jesus, pleasing Him will be the priority of our lives. I think that you will agree that there are a lot of good things that we will do if Jesus is our focus, and a lot of bad things that we will not do if He is our focus. Pause now, and give some deep thought to what you are focused on, and what are your priorities? Being focused will make us look ahead. Paul wrote: “Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before…” If our focus is on the past, we will always live in the past. I can identify with this for I find myself reminiscing on the past sometimes. I look back to when Mary and I were young, when our children were young, or when our grandchildren were young. But one thing I know is that I can’t go back in time, and if I could, I would not find it as satisfying as I thought. We have to live each day, looking before us, finding God’s will for the present and the future. We need to focus on “reaching before.” Don’t always think about what your church was like in the past, but focus on how you can make it better in the future. The same could be said about your life – have a forward look. Focus on doing the right thing today and this will determine the quality of your future. Being focused will make us consistent. Paul wrote: “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” “Pressing toward the mark” means that we are focused on what we are doing and are determined to come to a successful end. I think that the ultimate mark that Paul pressed on to was eternal life with Jesus Christ, but with his focus on heaven, his life was of greater quality. Be careful what your goals are because you might actually achieve them. We need to be careful that our consistent aims will lead us to a better life, and that we will help others have a better life. Ask yourself what you are pressing toward today. If you reach the mark that you are pressing for, will it make your life better? Will it make you a better, more loving and caring person? This is an important question. What we are consistent in aiming for will determine the direction of our lives. Considering what is written above, what is the real focus of your life, not what you think it should be. Does Jesus have anything to do with where your focus is? Bro. Joe "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Holy Spirit; 19. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20. Giving thanks always to the Lord, for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 21. Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
Every Christian receives the Holy Spirit when he or she is saved, but that doesn’t mean that it is always evident. There are times in our Christian experience when we are endued with a filling of the Holy Spirit, perhaps to meet a special need and or carry out some ministry for the Lord. I think that the “filling of the Spirit” does not mean that we have more of the Spirit at various times, but that at that time the Holy Spirit has more of us. Whatever, the meaning and however we interpret it, it is important that we be filled with the Spirit. Ephesians 5:19-21 tells us how we can know that we are filled with the Spirit. There is heartfelt evidence: “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart.” This does not mean that you will have burning desire to join the church choir. It might be that you “can’t carry a tune in a bucket.” This is not about public singing; it is about having a singing heart. The infilling of the Holy Spirit will put a song in your heart. I have sung about three or four solos in church over my fifty-four years in the ministry. That will give you some idea that my best songs are in my heart, for I was never asked to sing a solo again after each one. But I do have a song in my heart. There are times when I sing the old hymns that I have sung for all of my conscious life, and this is particularly true when the Holy Spirit has more of me. That is where it has to start, otherwise it might be false evidence for a show to the world instead a genuine filling. There is prayerful evidence: “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we have a sense of thanksgiving no matter what is happening in the world around us. We don’t need to be reminded that when the Holy Spirit fills us we will be more prayerful. We do need to be reminded that our primary prayers will be prayers of thanksgiving. Notice: “Giving thanks always for all things…” It is not in human nature to be thankful “always for all things…” That is a supernatural thing and can only be brought about by the filling of the Holy Spirit. Our thankfulness is “unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” He is enough to make us thankful in all things. There is outward evidence: “Submitting yourselves to one another in the fear of God.”Think about it: When do churches get out of sorts with each other. It is when the membership is not filled with the Spirit. When we are filled with the Spirit we are not inclined to seek to have our own way, but seek to really discover what God’s will is in the matter before the church. This is what it means to “submit” to each other. In other words, when we are filled with the Spirit, we are easier to get along with, because we know that all things are not about us and what we want but what God wants. Based on Ephesians 5:18-21, are you filled with the Spirit? You probably are if you have a song in your heart, are prayerfully thankful and in good fellowship with fellow Christians. It is certainly something to think about, isn’t it? Bro. Joe “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
This is one of my favorite Bible verses. I refer to it many times when I am troubled or when worry wants to take hold in my life. I want to share it with you, and pray that it will do the same for you as it does for me. It is a great promise for all of those who believe in Jesus Christ. It is a promise that is certain: “And we know….” We do not have to wonder if Jesus is at work in our lives through the Holy Spirit. We can know it. There are not a lot of things that are as certain as this. We can’t predict what is going to happen in our lives in a day, but we can predict that whatever happens, Jesus will be a part of it and will do a work in our lives in the midst of it. We live in an age of uncertainty. One never knows when the next catastrophe will come, One never knows when a terrorist will strike somewhere in the world. We should be glad that in the midst of all of the uncertainty, we can depend on the love, presence and power of Jesus Christ in our lives. It is a promise that is complete: “that all things…” It is great to know that whatever we have to face on a given day, Jesus will be there with us and for us. “All things” does not mean that Jesus is selective in what He will help us with. “All things” can include the little bothersome things that happen to us in a day, the little irritations that can plague us and ruin our day. “All things” can include the big things that can happen to us in a day. We can receive a phone call that a dear friend or family member has died, or we can be diagnosed with some dreadful disease. There is no limit to what “all things”can include. It is good to know that whether our problems are big or little, we are covered by the love of Jesus. It is a promise that is conjoined: “All things work together for good…” When things are conjoined, it means that they are combined, or entwined. The good news here is that all of the things that happen in our lives are conjoined, combined or entwined, that is that they all work together. This is difficult for us to grasp sometimes, but we need to grasp it: All of the bad things that happen and all of the good things that happen are conjoined to work for our ultimate good. If you will think back on your life, you will remember times when you felt that things were hopeless, but then you saw light at the end of the tunnel and realized they were not hopeless, because things worked out after all. God combines all of the things in our lives and works them for our good. It is a promise that is conditional: “All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to God’s purpose.” This is a promise for the people of God. It is for those who love God and are called to be His. We might say that it is for those who have accepted the call of God on their lives, and have accepted Jesus as their Savior. However we put it, it is a wonderful promise for those who believe. We can be sure that whatever life brings our way, whether good or bad, the Lord will work it to our ultimate good. We just need to be patient and, above all, believe that the One who made the promise can keep it. Bro. Joe “Even from the days of our fathers, you are gone away from my ordinances, and have no kept them. Return unto me and I willreturn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts….”
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8. Draw near to God He will draw near to you….” Malachi is the last book in the Old Testament, and he was the last prophet until John the Baptist. He wrote to the Israelites who were in the process of rebuilding Jerusalem and the temple, and who were making a mess of it, as you can see from the text. James was writing to dispersed Jewish Christians, and obviously they were not doing well either. What was the problem? They had moved away from God. Like us, they probably thought God had moved away from them, but that is not so and it will never be so. Some of you have probably heard the story that I tell of the man and woman driving down the highway. The man did all of the driving since the woman could not drive. The woman was sitting up against the door on the passenger’s side of the car. Woebegone, she said to her husband, “Honey, I don’t know what has happened to us. There was a time when as we rode together people couldn’t tell if there was one person or two in the car.” To which the husband, who could not take his eyes off the road, replied to her, “I didn’t move.” It is that way with God/Jesus. We bemoan the fact that He seems far away from us as we struggle with the hard times of our lives. But God is where He has always been. He does not change and He does not move. If God seems far away, it is because we have moved. We have neglected our prayer lives, neglected reading the Bible and probably neglected attending church, and wonder why God seems far away. If you think that God has forsaken you, you need to look inside of your own heart. Don’t blame God, for He has not moved. Return to Him and you will discover that He is right there where He has always been. Let’s look at the remedy that God gave the Israelites in Malachi. (Look out now, for I have “gone to meddling" again.) Look at Malachi 7b-8: “But you said, Wherein shall we return? 8. Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say, Wherein have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings.” Get this straight: when we cease to seek God through all of the means of worship, we also fall down on our stewardship. Israel was neglecting God to the point that they were withholding their tithes and offerings from God. I think that this was a symptom of the total problem. When we rob God of our time, we also rob Him of the goods that He has so graciously given us. Get right with God and He will not seem so far away. The remedy that James gave to the people to whom he wrote is this: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” If we want to know that God is near us, we will submit ourselves to Him. We will give Him our time, our talents and our devotion. At the same time, we will resist the devil in the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. He will flee from Jesus, just as he did in the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ encounters with him. If you don’t feel close to God, you have to realize that the devil is at the root of it. He will draw your heart and mind away from the Lord, and make it seem that God has forsaken you. In reality, it is you that have forsaken God. Submit your heart and mind to God today. Worship Him on a daily basis. Join with others who worship Him. Pray and read your Bible. Let Jesus be Lord of your life. God has not forsaken you; therefore it is up to you to draw near to Him. Do it! Bro. Joe |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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