“I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea thy law is within my heart.”
Psalm 40:8 expresses the sentiment of the hymn “Have Thine Own Way Lord.” We actually should delight in the will of God. The words that I will share in this article were written by Adelaide A. Pollard in 1902. Join me in delighting in what this verse from the great hymn teaches us. First, she wrote: “Have Thine own way, Lord.” She repeated this line twice. It is the prayer of my heart that the Lord will have His way in my life. I certainly do not do it perfectly, but I know that my life is better when the Lord has His “own way” in my life. You can also discover this truth by obeying Him. Second she wrote: “Thou art the potter, I am the clay.” This is a beautiful metaphor of our relationship with God. Paul pointed out this truth in Romans 9:21 in explaining God’s sovereignty: “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?” We need to put the Lord in first place in our lives. Third, she wrote: “Mold me and make me after thy will.” Who, or what, is shaping your life? Is it the agnostic spirit of this age, or is it the divine will of the one who is from “everlasting to everlasting.”? Stop and think about whether or not God is shaping your life, your opinions, your thoughts and actions. If He is not “molding” you, what is molding you? It’s a question worth asking – isn’t it!! Fourth, she wrote: “While I am waiting yielded and still.” This reminds me of verse 10a of Psalm 46: “Be still and know that I am God…” We have to be still to hear His still small voice. We get so busy with “the things” of life that we do not stop to consider what it is that God wants of us. We need to pause and “wait yielded and still.” The Gospels refer to Jesus going off to be alone to pray, to be still as He carried out His eternal mission on our behalf. Perhaps, we need a time of being “yielded and still,” and see what God wants with us. We should take note of the words from this great old hymn that we have sung many times, and really do what they suggest. Bro. Joe
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“God be merciful to us, and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us; Selah 2.That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.”
I see in this text four important things that pertain to our lives. Following is what I found to share with you: We need God’s mercy: “God be merciful unto us.” We are reminded in the Bible that we are sinners and stand in need of God’s mercy. The word translated mercy is also translated as gracious. However we translate the word, we need for God to give us His mercy, and be gracious to us. We can claim God’s mercy and grace by faith in Jesus Christ. We need God’s blessing: “…and bless us.” We need His spiritual blessings in our hearts and minds, and we need His outer blessings in our lives. God will send His blessings to us through Christ. I pray for God’s blessings everyday upon my life and in the lives of my family. Let us be thankful that God is the God of mercy who gives us His blessings. We need God’s light: “…and cause His face to shine upon us.” We need God’s light to shine upon us, through us and out from us, that is, we need to reflect His light to the world. Here is what God wants of us: “That thy (God’s) way be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.” God’s wants us to share His mercy, His blessings and His light with the world. We can do this through prayer, and through participation. We can pray for God’s work throughout the world. He can use you to share his mercy, blessings and light wherever you are and wherever He sends you. Are you sharing these important things that God has put into your life? You need to think about this today. Selah Bro. Joe “And the contention was so sharp between them that they departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed into Cyprus, 40. And Paul took Silas and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God. 43. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches.” Leading up to the text, Paul suggested that he and Barnabas go back through Asia Minor to see how the churches that they started there were doing. The ever-encouraging Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with them, but Paul disagreed because John Mark left their first mission tour at Perga of Pamphylia before they went through Asia Minor. It evidently became heated between Paul and Barnabas, so they decided to split up, with Barnabas taking Mark and going back to Cyprus. First, we see the difference between Paul and Barnabas. Paul had a difficult time with what he considered quitters, and would not take Mark. Barnabas disagreed and took Mark with him to Cyprus. Paul had a “go get’em” personality, while Barnabas was more settled and encouraging. We will see that Jesus used both men to get His work done. Second, we note that instead of one missionary effort, because of the disagreement there were now two missionary efforts. It is not recorded what Barnabas and Mark accomplished in Cyprus, but Paul and Silas had a great mission beyond Asia Minor and were guided by the Holy Spirit to go into Macedonia, where they won people to Jesus. But we can assume that Barnabas and Mark had some success in Cyprus, because they too were led by the Spirit of God. Third, we will notice that Mark and Paul were later fellow companions in future missions, and that Mark became a valuable worker in the kingdom. Note the following references to Mark: Colossians 1:10: “Aristarchus my fellow prisoner salutes you, and Marcus (Mark), sister’s son to Barnabas, (touching whom you received commandments: if he come unto you receive him…” ) In Philemon 24, Mark is listed as one of Paul’s fellow laborers. (Evidently Mark visited with and worked with Paul while Paul was in prison in Rome, since Philemon was written from prison.) Mark was also mentioned by Peter in 1 Peter 5:13: “The church that is in Babylon, elected together with you, salutes you, and do does Marcus (Mark) my son.” (The note in the NIV Study Bible says: “Peter regards Mark with such warmth and affection that he calls him his son.”) In 2 Timothy 4:11, Paul’s last letter before his martyrdom, he wrote this about Mark: “Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with you: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.” Then, of course, we have the book of Mark in our New Testament. Fourth, I want to give you my conclusion as to why Mark became a great worker for Christ after his failure at Perga in Pamphylia. I believe that this happened because the great encourager Barnabas did not give up on him. Barnabas saw in Mark what he could become with a little encouragement. We don’t know what happened between the two after they went to Cyprus, but we do know that after that Mark became a great follower of Jesus Christ. Let this encourage you today to either recover from your own failures, or to become an encourager with someone who is struggling. Do it! I repeat: “We need more people like Barnabas.” Bro. Joe “But God commends His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. 9. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled we shall saved by His life. 11. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received atonement.”
I have been chasing the word “reconciliation” in the Greek and English today, and this is the passage that I landed on to share with you. First, we have been “reconciled to God by the death of His Son.” Though we are sinners as mentioned in verse 8, we have been, or can be justified by Christ’s blood as mentioned in verse 9.. The only way we can be justified before God is through the blood of Jesus. This does not call us to religious ritual, but to a faith relationship with Jesus. Second, to be reconciled through Christ is to be saved from the wrath of God. We don’t like to dwell on the wrath of God, but it cannot be erased from the Bible. God hates sin, which makes it imperative for us to seek reconciliation with God. For we have “all sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Christ died on the cross that we might turn to Him in faith in order to be saved from the wrath of God. Third, to be reconciled through Christ enables us to find “joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The Christian gospel does not call us to gloom and doom. Some people see us as a joyless bunch, but they are wrong. In Christ we have found joy, and we call you to join us in the joy of Jesus Christ. It is not a call to be “religious” but it is to be reconciled to God by faith in Jesus Christ. We call people to repent and confess their sins and invite Jesus into their lives, believing that He died and rose again to reconcile them to almighty God. Fourth, to be reconciled to God is to be atoned. It is interesting that the same Greek word that is translated as reconciliation is also translated as atonement in this verse. As far as I know, the King James Version is the only Bible to translate this verse as atonement. Look at the word this way: “at-one.” Through Jesus we can be at one with God. That is one of the basic meanings of reconciliation, which probably explains why the KJV translators rendered the word as atonement. It is better to be at one with God, than to be separated from Him. I imagine that you agree! Well, this is my feeble effort to deal with the word “reconciliation.” I hope that it makes sense to you and that I have shown it to be an essential word in the Bible. Bro. Joe “Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. 23. When he came, and had seen the grace of God was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. 24. For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord. 25. Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus for to seek Saul.”
The setting for the text is the beginning of the conversion of Gentiles in Antioch. In order to see what was going on there, they sent Barnabas. In Acts 4:36, we see that Barnabas was the nick name for Joses (Joseph), and meant “son of consolation. “Consolation” can be translated as “encouragement.” Barnabas was an encourager. He was just the man for the job in Antioch. We need more people like Barnabas, and the text will tell us why. First, in verse 24 we are told he “was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit.” He did not go to Antioch to enhance his resume; rather, he went there under the power of the Holy Spirit to win more people to Jesus. Second we are told that he was “full of….faith.” He was a man of faith in Jesus Christ, and he went to Antioch to share his faith in Jesus with the people of Antioch. Real faith in Jesus demands to be shared in some way. We are told that because of Barnabas’ witness of his faith, “much people were added to the Lord.” Third, in verse 25, we see the humility of Barnabas, for he went to “Tarsus for to seek Saul (Paul).” Barnabas realized that he was the encourager and needed someone with great leadership abilities and went and got Saul to help in winning Antioch to Jesus. Like Barnabas, we need to realize that we need to work with others who have differing gifts to help in the work of winning people to Jesus. We might even have to accept that God can use their gifts as well as ours, and can be even more effective than us. We need people like Barnabas today who are full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and who are willing to share the work with others. This is not the end of the story and will be continued in the next article. Bro. Joe “Have you not known? Have you not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary? There is no searching of His understanding.”
Sometimes, as it was with Israel at the time that Isaiah wrote, His people forget how powerful and majestic God is. This verse gives us an apt description of the God that we serve. First, He is described as the “everlasting God.” This means that He is eternal. He has just always been – period. Please don’t ask me to explain this, just accept it as the eternality of God. Second, He is described as the “the Lord.” Without getting bogged down in the definitions of Hebrew words for “Lord,” let’s just accept that it means that He has complete authority in all creation and in our lives. Jesus is described as “Lord” in our lives in the New Testament. Third, He is described as “the creator of the ends of the earth.” This means that everything that we see around us did not just happen. His creation is described in Genesis 1-3. He created the entire universe by His word. One might ask, “now how could He do that?” Well, He is the everlasting God, and if He wanted to do that He could – which He did. He is our creator. The functions of our human bodies describe the creativity of God. Fourth, He is described as One who “does not faint, neither is weary.” This means that our everlasting God does not give up, neither does He grow tired. God has always been and He will always be. He is not going to grow weary of us. I guess I stand as an illustration of this. He has not given up on me, and continues to work in my life. It is, no doubt, the same in your life. He will neither leave nor forsake us. Fifth, He is described as One of whom “there is no searching of His understanding.” This means that God is all-wise. There is no end to His knowledge and understanding. There is nothing that He does not know about you and me, but He loves us anyway. Well, this is God’s description of Himself. I hope that it will convict, challenge and encourage you. Bro. Joe “Now then, we are ambassadors of Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you to be reconciled to Christ.”
An ambassador is one who serves at the behest of his or her superior. We send ambassadors to other countries to serve and represent us. We are called to represent Christ where we are. First, to be good ambassadors we need to be “reconciled to Christ.” Corinth was a thoroughly pagan city, much like today, and the people in the church were struggling with living Christian lives. Paul reminded them that they needed to be reconciled to Christ, meaning they should stay close to Him and live Christian lives. The only time that we should worry about what people think of us is when we are not living positive Christian lives. Second, ambassadors are not sent to do what they want to do, but what the one who sent them wants them to do. Our ambassadors serve at the behest of the President and according to his policies. We are not sent into the world to just do as we please. We need to consider what the will of God is for our lives. Paul expressed it this way: “Now then, we are ambassadors of Christ, as though God were pleading through us.” This refers to the way we live, not to just what we say. We need to stop and ask: “Is this what Christ wants me to do?” This is particularly true in our relationships with people. Third, ambassadors are actually servants of the one who sent them. Christ has sent us out to serve Him. Jesus described Himself as a servant, and in John 13 He illustrated what He meant by washing His disciple’s feet. We might have to “soil our hands” as we serve as ambassadors of Christ. (It is not all just “church work;” rather, it is Christian work in the workplace, etc.) We just need to be thankful that Jesus died on the cross, arose, ascended to the Father, and sent the Holy Spirit to lead us in this service. We should just be thankful that He lets us serve Him. Are you? Bro. Joe I am always thinking about things that I can share with you on CouchPotatoRedux. I thought of the three words that I want to share with you in this article.I hope they will encourage and invigorate your walk with Jesus
. The first word is faith. Of course my mind turned immediately to a passage that I have shared with you many times in CouchPotato articles: “For by grace are you saved through faith; and not of yourselves it is the gift of God.” I hope that you have received this gift of faith that God has offered through Christ. If not, you can claim it now. We are saved by faith. We live our lives by faith. We serve the Lord by faith in whatever He gives us to do. Faith is not a religious concept, it is a way of life that transforms us into children of God. Claim the gift of faith!!! The second word is freedom. When we receive Christ by faith into our lives, He sets us free. John 8:36 tells us that: “If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” We are set free from the cycle of sin. We are set free from fear of life and of death. In Christ we are free to live. In Christ we are free to love, even as He loved. We are free to live His truth before the world. Jesus promised in 8:32: “And you shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” In John 14:6, Jesus told us the source of truth: “I am the way the truth and the life, no man (or woman) comes unto the Father but by me.” Claim the truth of Christ by faith and live in the freedom that His truth brings into your life!!! The third word is fire. My mind turned to Acts 2:3: “And there appeared unto them (the believers in Christ) cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.” The first believers were set on fire by the Holy Spirit. We need to be on fire today. By accepting the gift of faith and living in the freedom of Christ, we can be on fire for Him like those believers in Acts. A young preacher asked John Wesley how he could become a better preacher (or something like that). Wesley told Him to “get on fire and the people will come and watch you burn.” That is true of all who are saved by faith in Christ and who have been set free by Him. This means you….get on fire so people can watch you burn!!! Well, these are the three words that came to my mind. I hope that they will enrich your life and encourage you to be Christ’s witness in this needy world. Bro. Joe “For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile. 11. Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace and ensue (pursue) it. 12. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” (Quote from Psalm 34:12-16.)
To make a long story short, if we want to enjoy life (see good days) our lives will please God, for “the face of the Lord is against them who do evil.” Evil causes us to live out of harmony with God and with each other. Peter tells us, quoting from Psalm 34, how we can live in harmony and enjoy life. First, he tells us we will have to watch our tongues. I know that immediately our minds turn to swearing. This is far more than just not using swear words. I think that it means to watch our tongues about how we talk about people. This means that we will be careful what we say to, or about, other people. Also, our “lips…should speak no guile.” This means that we will not use deceitful words about people. Actually, we would really say that we should not lie to or about other people. If we want to live happy Christian lives, we will watch our tongues. Second, he tell us that we will have to watch our actions: “Let him eschew (refuse, turn away from) evil, and do good.” Simply, we are to stay away sin and move toward that which is good. Simpler still, if something is obviously wrong, we just should not do it. I guess we would call this being “squeaky clean.” It is very important that Christians do what is good in their daily lives, in business dealings, and in relationships with other people. This is particularly important in our dealings with fellow church members. If we want to live happy Christian lives, we will watch our actions. Third, he tells us that we have to “seek peace and pursue it.” We are not to just seek to be peaceful, we are to “go after it,” as we would say today. If we watch our tongues and actions, we will probably be peaceful, and the Christian people around us will be at peace with us. In your relationships at home, at church, or at work, do you seek peace and pursue it? When we live like this, we are promised that: “The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” This actually sums up all three of these articles about living in harmony. Bro. Joe “Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that you are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.”
This verse continues the call for Christians to live in harmony. The end of this verse reminds us that if we want to “inherit a blessing,” or “be blessed” we will live in harmony. The content of this verse contains the things that we will need to do to live in harmony and be blessed. First, he tells us to stop repaying evil for evil. When someone does something to offend, or hurt us, we need to refuse to repay offense that hurts us. I have to admit that this is not an easy thing to do. It is almost a natural reflex for us to “render evil for evil.” In the Sermon on the Mount” Jesus told us to what amounts to “turn the other cheek.” I learned in my ministry that when I was offended in some way to pray for those who offended me instead of fighting back. In doing this, I not only regained their respect, but I saw that some of their criticisms were valid. Man, that’s hard to do, but if we want to have the blessings of harmony in our churches, we will have to do what this verse teaches. Second, he tells us not to pay insult for insult. (“Railing” means insulting.) The nature of an insult is that what the person has said, or done, was not fair to us. Again, the human reflex is to trade insults. I know that in my younger years in the ministry that was an almost impossible thing for me to do. I had what is called “a sharp tongue.” I learned through long and bitter experience that paying insult for insult was not just a wrong thing to do, it was the anti-Christian thing to do. Folks, this takes a lot of prayer and a lot of humility on our part. Repaying insult for insult will stunt your Christian growth. Third, he tells us that instead of rendering evil for evil or insult for insult, we should bless those who do these things to us. This is a direct command of Jesus in Matthew 5:44: “But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” “It ain’t easy,” but it is Christian. If you want to be blessed and be a blessing, you will not “render evil for evil, or railing for railing.” Hey, it’s in the Bible – easy or not. Bro. Joe |
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