“The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty: the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith He has girded Himself: the world also is stablished, and cannot be moved. 2. Thy throne is established of old: Thou art everlasting.”
The two verses under study here are absolutely loaded with information about our Lord. Following is what I found: “The Lord reigns,” speaks to His sovereignty. This means that there is no place in the universe that He does not rule. This reminded me of Psalm 24:1-2: “The earth is the Lord’s and fullness thereof; the world, and they who dwell therein. 2. For He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.” Furthermore the psalmist reminds that He is “clothed (or enveloped) in majesty.” This majestic and sovereign God loves us. He loves you. This is beyond our imagination and our ability to understand, which is why we worship and praise Him. “The Lord is clothed in strength,” speaks to His power. God is not only all-knowing; He is all-powerful. Psalm 95:3-4: “For the Lord is a great God, and a great king above all gods. 4. In His hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is His also.” Psalm 96:5-7: “For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens. 6. Honor and majesty are before Him: strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.” This majesty and power belong to our Savior, Jesus Christ. Paul wrote in Colossians 1:16-17: “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.” Another translation of this is: “By Him all things are held together.” This is unspeakable power, again way beyond our imagination and understanding. That is why we are told to accept Him by faith. “Thy throne is everlasting,” speaks to His infinity. The NIV translates this: “You are from all eternity.” This means that God has always existed, and that He will always exist as the ages roll. I like the KJV word “everlasting.” That word just kind of reverberates in my mind and heart. I love what David wrote in Psalm 41:13: “Blessed be the lord God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen and Amen.” God is eternal, and the wonderful story of the Bible is that through Jesus Christ, He has invited us to live with Him in heaven forever and ever. Does that just thrill your heart? (I might also add that it blows my mind.) Bro. Joe
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“Then the one with human likeness touched me again and strengthened me. 19. He said, ‘Don’t be afraid, you who are treasured by God. Peace be to you ; be very strong!’ As he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, ‘Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.’” HCSB
It is not my purpose here to interpret Daniel's encounter with the angel sent to assure him. The angel came to reveal the future to Daniel, but he also came to strengthen Daniel’s spirit. That is where I want to write about in this article, for it is a message that could be given to us as well as we meet the challenges of the Lord in our lives. First, the angel said, “Don’t be afraid.” The word from God was that Daniel did not have to fear what would be revealed to him. This is a message that reverberates throughout the Bible: “You do not have to be afraid.” We can be fearful about what the future holds. I know that I fear for the future for the sake of my children and grandchildren, but the prevailing message of the Bible is "do not be afraid." Christ will be with us through it all. (Read verses 15-17 to clarify why Daniel needed this word.) Second, the angel said, “you who are treasured by God…” What a word of assurance this is to the prophet. It is a good word for us too, for we have the promise that by faith we will be treasured by God. To be assured of this read Romans 8:1: “There is therefore no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.” We are not treasured and delivered from condemnation by our own goodness but by the grace of Almighty God who loved us enough to send His Son to die, and be raised, for us. Third, the angel said, “Peace to you.” Knowing his standing before God, and knowing that he was delivered from fear by God, Daniel could be at peace within himself. Daniel had seen enough in his time as God’s prophet to unnerve anybody, but by the promise of God, he was given peace. God has promised His peace to us through Jesus Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit to overcome any hardships and problems that we might face. Fourth, the angel said, “Be very strong.” Daniel said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.” Daniel’s strength was not physical strength, but it was spiritual strength, given by the word of God. God has given His word to those of us who believe in Him to be strong in whatever dangers and troubles that we may face. Paul admonished the Ephesians to “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.” It is also a message that we need to take seriously.. Bro. Joe “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars, which you have set in place, 4. What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him.” (Psalm 8:3-4) “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8)
David looked at what of the universe that he could see, and found that a personal God was beyond his understanding. According to Isaiah 55:8, God agreed with David’s perception. What we know of the universe today also makes us wonder why such an immense God could be mindful of us and would actually care for us. Let’s confess from the outset that God as we know Him in Jesus Christ, is beyond our understanding. Following are my thoughts on the subject. First, this is as it has to be, for why would we want a God that we could fit into our human minds? This was what was wrong with Israel’s penchant to worship idols, which they could create with their hands. They wanted a god that they could see and could have nothing to say about how they lived their lives. This has not changed. We still create gods that we can see and understand with our own minds. Today we call it “materialism,” but it serves the same purpose. Second, God knew from the beginning that this would be a problem for the human mind. Back in eternity, He knew that in the person of Jesus Christ, He would become a human being and offer Himself as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. Paul defined this act of God concisely in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For He has made Him (Christ) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” The God who is beyond our understanding became like us to save us. This is the central point of the whole Bible. In 1 Timothy 3:16, Paul described this atoning act of God in the following way: “Great indeed, is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.” Third, God is beyond our human understanding; therefore He must be accepted by faith in the Risen Christ, who lived among us, died, rose and ascended back to the Father. The author of Hebrews understood this and explained it this way: “But without faith it is impossible to please (God): for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” No one in the entire Bible tried to define God with what we would call mathematical preciseness, because no one could. Who God is, is seen in sharp focus in Jesus, and it is by faith in Him that we are saved. I cannot do what no biblical writer could do, i.e. explain God. I can only share the story of redemption that they shared through the Spirit. Bro. Joe "O praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise Him, all ye people. 2. For His merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the Lord endures forever. Praise ye the Lord.”
What you just read is the shortest psalm. It is also in the very center of the Bible. In my archives there is an article on this psalm, but I felt led to share it again. Let’s look at the wonderful message that it gives us. First, it is a psalm of praise. It begins: “O praise the Lord,” and it ends “praise ye the Lord.” Why don’t we pause and give praise to the Lord. (I just did!) Second, it calls all nations to praise the Lord. Whether all nations, and all people, realize it or not, Yahweh, the Lord, is their Lord. We have been given the charge to take the message of the Lord to all nations. (Read Matthew 28:18-20.) Ultimately, this is a call to honor Jesus, as we will discover in Philippians 2:10-11: “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and thing in earth, and things under the earth. 11. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Third, the psalm reminds us that “His merciful kindness is great toward us.” This has also been translated as “His steadfast love is great toward us.” The Lord, whom we praise, loves us and is merciful toward us. This is the gist of the message throughout the Old and New Testaments. Though we do not deserve it, the Lord loves us and is merciful to us. Romans 5:8 reminds us: “But God commends His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” This is a message that the whole world is in dire need of hearing and understanding. Fourth, the psalm reminds us that “the truth of the Lord endures forever.” “Truth” can also be translated as “faithfulness.” It is indeed true that the mercy and love of God are available to all people, and that God is faithful to give us His mercy. You might be thinking: “Then what about the wrath of God?” This is as biblically true as God’s love and mercy, but we should be reminded that through faith in Jesus Christ we can be delivered from the wrath of God. To illustrate what I mean let’s look at Romans 5:9: “Much more then, being now justified by His (Christ’s) blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” Think of what a difference it would make in your life if you decided to really learn the truth of Psalm 117, and live in the promise of it. Take this message personally and rejoice in what a difference it can make in how you view God, and of how you view life. Do it! Bro. Joe “Be not a witness against thy neighbor without cause; and deceive not with thy lips. 29. Say not, I will do so to him as he has done to me: I will render to the man according to his work.”
This text forbids retaliating against our "neighbors." Here is what is wrong with retaliation: First, retaliation is wrong. There is a refrain against needless retaliation throughout the Bible. Most importantly, Jesus taught against it in the Sermon on the Mount, by teaching us to “turn the other cheek,” or to “go the second mile.” The Bible does not teach us that it will be easy not to retaliate, but it does teach us that it is wrong to retaliate.(I have to remind myself of this often.) Second, retaliation never does any good and leads to more and more destruction. The famous story about the feud between the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s comes to mind. The sad thing is that it was a real feud that went on and on and never did anything good for either family. I have seen retaliation destroy churches, which are supposed to be made up of Christians who should know better. Unresolved retaliation leads to a bitter spirit. Hebrews 12:14-15 warns about it: “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. 15. Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.” Third, unless someone wises up and ends it, retaliation never ends. There is no such thing as “getting back.” When one person gets back at another person, the other person gets back, then the first person gets back, and it just goes on and on until one of the people sees the fruitlessness of it and ends it. (Wow what a long sentence.) Because retaliation is endless, it never brings satisfaction to the soul – to the heart. As long as we are retaliating, our hearts are not at peace. Fourth, the only remedy for retaliation is forbearance and forgiveness. Forbearance means, for example, that we overlook the wrong that we think was done to us. Forgiveness means that we have actually forgotten the insult and moved on with our lives. Frankly, I do not want to give anybody the power to rob me of peace in my heart. Peace with God means more to me than getting back at another person. I did not say that I am never tempted to retaliate, or that I have never tried to retaliate. Hey, I ain’t perfect. I just know that retaliation did not bring me peace until I forgave the person, or people, and moved on with my life. That is the case against retaliation. Amen! Bro. Joe “But when (Jesus) saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion toward them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. 37. Then saith He 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 forth laborers into His harvest.”
According to verse 35, Jesus was going from village to village in Galilee healing people. A great crowd of people followed Him, and this is where our text takes place. Let’s see what Jesus saw when He looked on that multitude. Jesus saw the multitude. What I want us to see here is that Jesus is aware of people. Jesus did not just see a big crowd of people; rather the individuals who comprised the crowd. To Jesus, we are not a part of a crowd, but He sees us and sees our needs, etc. Jesus saw the multitude and felt compassion for them. Jesus didn’t look at the crowd of people following and thought, “Well, I’m becoming a big hit.” In fact, He did not think about Himself at all; rather He thought about the hurting people following Him. He saw that they were weary (fainted), jaded and worn. He saw that they were “scattered abroad as sheep without a shepherd.” He did not just see them; He saw their need. This is the same way that Jesus looks at the world today. People today are in need of a shepherd - a Savior. Jesus saw beyond their physical needs and saw the needs of their spirits – their souls. He looks over the world today and sees the same thing. What was His solution? Read on: Jesus turned to His disciples and saw them as part of the solution for these dear people. He said: “The harvest is truly plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest.” Jesus was obviously giving His disciples their marching orders. They were to be His emissaries to that needy multitude. Jesus sees us as part of the solution for the world’s need for a Savior today. He wants us to see ourselves as part of the solution. He sees me as part of the solution, and He sees you as part of the solution. Ask the Lord to help you to be a laborer in His harvest. You might be thinking, “Bro. Joe, you done gone to preaching.” That would be correct. I’m preaching to me too. You are reading this because I see the need to minister to the world. It is the call for every Christian. Jesus wants us to see what He sees, i.e., a weary world in need of a Savior. Do you see it? Bro. Joe “O Lord, you are my God: I will exalt you, I will praise your name; for you have done wonderful things: your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.”
Okay, this is a corny title, but I couldn’t think of any better title for what I want to share with you from Isaiah 25:1. Here it is: Personal – “O Lord, You are my God…” In Jesus we have a fuller understanding of this than Isaiah did. Jesus came to earth, lived, died on the cross, rose from the dead, ascended to the Father, where He intercedes on our behalf (Hebrews 7:25) and advocates for us (1 John 2:1). We have a personal relationship with Jesus. That is what the Christian faith is all about. That is why we do not call Christianity one of the world’s religions. We have a personal faith relationship with Jesus, and He works with, and through us, by the Holy Spirit. If you have a personal relationship with Jesus, you can say “O Lord, You are my God.” Praise – “I will exalt You, I will praise Your name.” It is from our personal relationship with God that we exalt and praise God. Real praise always comes deep within us. Those of us who have a personal relationship with Jesus praise God in different ways. Some worship Jesus in a lively way – so to speak. I certainly have no problem with lively worship, but I worship best in quietness. I did not say that I worship God in staidness and boredom. Worshiping my Lord quietly has deep meaning in my life. I have been in worship services with people praising God in their way and I in mine. After all, true worship comes from the heart in whatever way the Lord leads us to do it. Purpose - “For you have done wonderful things; your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.” In John 14:6 Jesus referred to Himself as “the way, the truth, and the life." In his book, Isaiah’s purpose was to share God’s “faithfulness and truth.” He faithfully shared God’s truth. Our purpose is essentially the same. Christ has called us to share His faithfulness and truth. We do this by faithfully living His truth before the world. Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” We faithfully share Christ’s truth in word and deed. They won’t hear our words if we don’t do the deeds – so to speak. Well, those are the “P’s” in Isaiah’s “P” patch. I hope you found a message for you in it. Bro. Joe “And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors….”
I am returning to one of my favorite themes for this post – forgiveness. Forgiveness is a precious word. Until a person has received forgiveness, he or she, will not know how precious it is. The fact that we have been forgiven by God is more than we can understand. The fact that we should forgive each other is sometimes more than we want to understand. The Bible tells us of both God’s forgiveness and our need to forgive each other. Being forgiven by God and forgiving each other are of ultimate importance. God’s forgiveness is important because it is our means of being made right with Him. The first words of Jesus from the cross were, “Father forgives them for they know not what they do.” This reveals the very heart and nature of God. Although we don’t understand why, God longs to forgive us. He longs to rid us of guilt and shame, and it is ours for the asking. He longed for it so much that He sent His Son to die on the cross for us in order for us to be forgiven. This cannot be emphasized enough and we need to be reminded of it often – which is what I am doing. God knew that we could not be made right with Him in any other way. This is not something that I can explain, because it is beyond human understanding. But that is the way that it is. Unbelievers, particularly hardened atheists, scoff at this concept, but that is their problem. It is not that we deserve God’s forgiveness. We are forgiven because God is the God of grace, love and mercy. Jeremiah wrote in Lamentations 3:22-23: “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. 23. They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.” God’s forgiveness is important because it enables us to deal with sin in our lives. 1 John 1:9 tells us that when we confess our sins, Jesus is “faithful and just to forgive us our sins.” We do not have to be defeated by sin, because God will forgive us through Christ. There are some people who do not seek forgiveness because they think that their sins are so bad that they cannot be forgiven. There is no sin, outside of unbelief, that cannot be forgiven. If we could not be forgiven for our sins, we would always be controlled by sin. We would literally drown in guilt and shame. But through the blood of Jesus we can be forgiven for our sins and cleansed.. Sin need not win the day, because God is a forgiving God. Jesus said that we are to ask for our debts (sins) to be forgiven as we forgive our debtors – those who have sinned against us. Forgiving our “debtors” makes us more like Jesus. That’s a pretty good incentive. Thank God today that He has forgiven your sins. Remember that Christ forgave you because He loves you. We should also ask Jesus to help us forgive all of those that we need to forgive. We will never know the joy of Christ until we do. It is not always easy to do, but it is always important to do it. If you want victory today seek God’s forgiveness for your sins, and forgive all of those that you need to forgive. Bro. Joe “A prudent (wise) person sees the evil, and hides himself; but the simple (foolish) pass on and are punished.” KJV “The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.” NIV
The teaching in this proverb is that a wise person knows when to stop when he, or she, sees danger. I thought of some ways that we can apply this lesson to our lives. When we face temptations to sin, we need to stop, pray, and ask Jesus to give us the wisdom and the moral strength to stop instead of going on to our hurt. A foolish person will plunge into sin without giving a thought to what the result might mean in his, or her, life. Once we give in to Satan, we do not have an “undo button” to erase bad decisions. We can thank God that Jesus will forgive us, but there will be scars. I heard Dr. R.G. Lee give an illustration of the effect of sin in our lives: He said that you can pull a nail out of a fence post, but there will be a blemish in the post where you pull it out. Perhaps the Lord has led you to this article to help you say “no” to temptation and not plunge into sin. We need to stop, think and pray when we are going through the inevitable trials of life. If we are not careful, we will give in to the temptation to blame God for the trial. If we are not careful, we will give in to self-pity. I can tell you from experience that “pity parties’ do not result in any good. Every moment that we spend giving in to self-pity is a wasted moment. I think of people who just go through life feeling sorry for themselves, making their own lives miserable, and making everybody around them miserable. A prudent, or wise, person will stop, think and pray and ask God to be with him, or her, through the trial. When we do that, we come out spiritually and mentally stronger than when we give in to life’s inevitable trials. We need to stop, think and pray when we are dealing with difficult people. After fifty-six years in Christian ministry, I know a little about dealing with difficult.people. I found that if I would stop and pray for them, I would not give in to an argument. I have learned at least four things in my experience with difficult people: (1) There are some people who are just difficult and you have to love and accept them as they are. (2)I have learned that God has brought difficult people into my life to teach me to be patient. (3)I have learned that some of these people are trying to teach me something about myself. (This is the most difficult one to take.) (4) I have learned to stop, think and pray when I might be the difficult person. (This is another hard one to take.) I guess I could list many more lessons that I have learned from this proverb, but the three that I have dealt with here will give us all something to work on for the rest of our lives. Bro. Joe “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
I thought of the word “whole” the other day, did a study on it, and thought I would share some thoughts with you about it. The Greek word translated “wholly” and “whole” is a translation of the same Greek word. It can also be translated “completely” or “entirely.” It means that the “God of peace” can completely sanctify us, and can preserve our “whole spirit and soul and body…” The Lord can make us whole spiritually. The Lord can sanctify us, separate us and set us apart in order for us to serve Him. When He does the job, He does it well. To be sanctified is to be made holy by faith in Jesus Christ. It means that we are to live separate, or different, lives. It doesn’t mean that we are to isolate ourselves from the world, but that our lives will enable us to be witnesses for Jesus. We should live distinctly Christian lives. We should do this in how we act, and in how we treat people. Haughtiness does not wear well in the marketplace, or in the church. We are to live the Christian life unashamedly and unapologetically. We are sanctified and set apart by the “God of peace.” This means that we should be people who are at peace within ourselves, and at peace with people. I like the way Paul put it in Romans 12:17-18: “Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” In other words, if there is going to be fight, let it not be your fault. This would be true at home, at work, at play, and yes, at church. I have discovered even if someone wants to argue with me about my faith, I will not argue with them. I will be glad to discuss what Jesus has done for me with everyone, but He will never be the cause of an argument on my part. The opinionated person that I am, this is not always easy, but it is always necessary. The word “whole” is also used in reference to physical healing. Paul referred to “preserving the body” as well as the soul. I believe that Jesus can heal today just as He did in the New Testament. I have seen people healed in all ways possible. I know people who have been healed through prayer. I certainly know people who have been healed through medicine. I know people who have been healed by both, and you can include me in that crowd – at least four times in the last twenty-five years. God chooses to heal us as He will. He will also choose to take the people to heaven that He will. (That is actually the best healing when all is said and done.) Well, those are my thoughts on the word “whole.” Bro. Joe |
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