“And whatever my eyes desired I kept not from them. I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labor: and this was my portion of all my labor. 11. Then I looked on all the works of my hands, and on my labor that I had labored to do: and, behold all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.”
You have probably thought that it would be great if you could have everything that you want. People play the lottery every day to realize this dream in their lives. Those who do not play the lottery, might still have that wish in their hearts. Okay, I will confess that I have thought about how nice it would be to have the money to buy everything that my heart desires. This has never happened and I am resigned to the reality that it will never be so. Baptist preachers do not play the lottery. Be that as it may, King Solomon wrote that he had everything that his eyes desired, he did not withhold anything that he thought would bring him joy, and his labors were to that end. A happy man – huh? Nope. Here is what he found: “Everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind, nothing was gained under the sun.” (NIV) What can we learn from this? First, Solomon found that when he got all that he desired, he found it to be vain. Vain, or vanity, means empty and void. Solomon thought that all of the things that he desired would bring joy and satisfaction to his life. He found when he acquired all that he wanted it did not bring happiness. Things that we possess cannot fill the empty places in our lives. It is tragic that people dream of the fullness that riches would bring into their lives, only to find that it is not so. If all one has is wealth, he or she is going to find little real, deep satisfaction in it. There are people who have wealth who are happy, of course, but I think that they would be the first to tell you that the source of their happiness is not just in what they possess. They have found other meaning in their lives besides what they possess. I’m not suggesting that you refuse to get rich if the opportunity arises. I am suggesting that this alone will not fill the void in your heart. Second, Solomon found that when he got all that he desired, it caused “vexation of spirit.” What that means is when he did not find all of the satisfaction in his desire for possessions, he was depressed. In other words, after Solomon had all that his heart desired, he was disappointed, because those things did not fill the void. I remember that when I was a child I would peruse the Sears Christmas Catalog and think of how great it would be to have all of those toys and things that I saw. My parents being my parents, that would never have happened, but I did dream about it. I also remember that when I was a child and got what I wanted after a few days the luster had worn off, and I found myself wanting something else – some other toy. Third, Solomon found that when he got all that he desired, it did not profit him at all. There is a saying that the man who has the most “toys” when he dies wins. This is a real joke. Jesus gave a parable about a rich man and a poor beggar named Lazarus. The rich man “fared sumptuously every day.” He obviously had all of the world’s pleasures and was supposed to be very happy. Lazarus on the other hand did not have possessions, but he had a relationship with the Lord. When they both died, the man who had the most “toys” was not the winner. The man who had none of the “toys” was the ultimate winner, because he filled the void of his life with the Lord. (You can find the parable in Luke 16:19-31.) Relax, you’ll never get all that you want, but you can find peace and satisfaction in Jesus. . Bro. Joe
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“In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comfort delights my soul.” NKJV
Like all of us, the psalmist had to deal with anxiety. But anxiety was not a way of life with him, because he had the comfort of the Lord to allay his anxieties. When I read that, I began to think about my own anxieties and how I have been able to overcome them. I decided that the singular “comfort” could be plural “comforts” in my case. I want to share these comforts with you in the hope that they will help you with your own anxieties. The first comfort is faith. I do not mean faith in myself or in any manmade resource. I mean faith in Jesus Christ – period. Ephesians 2:8 tells us that we are “saved by grace through faith.” This saving faith, however, is not meant to just take us to heaven when we die; it is also a resource for living on this earth. One of the sure things of living on this earth is anxiety. Who could read or hear the news today and not be anxious. Every day we are bombarded with negative things about our world. These things are real and not imaginary. Muslims really do cut off people’s heads. China does have a powerful army. Russia is not the friend that we hoped she would be after the fall of communism. People are really being killed in Syria for the sake of a corrupt regime. Children are really abducted and killed by perverts. (Have I made you anxious enough?) These are just a few examples of what awaits us each day in the news. On top of all of that are the many things that we have to deal with in our own lives. I can’t explain how faith in Jesus comforts me in the midst of all of this; I just know that it does. I take Jesus at His promise that if I come to Him, He will give me rest. He promises me that if I trust Him, He will comfort me. E. Stanley Jones wrote: “Worries and anxiety are sand in the machinery of life; faith is the oil.” How true. Believe today that you can trust Jesus in all of life. The second comfort is forgiveness. A lot of our anxiety is caused by guilt, because we know that we have done wrong from time to time. We have not loved people as we should. We have not treated people as fairly as we should. We have given in to corrupt thoughts that we knew could not have come from God. In order to overcome this guilt, we just need to know that our God is a forgiving God. He has promised in 1 John 1:9 that if “we will confess our sins, He will be faithful and just to forgive us our sins.” You don’t have to “feel” forgiven; you can know that you are forgiven because you take God at His word. If He has promised to forgive you, He will forgive you! You might say:“But you don’t know what I’ve done.” But I do know what David did when he committed adultery with Bathsheba, and he was forgiven. I do know that Simon Peter denied Him, but Jesus forgave him. I ask you today to embrace the freedom from anxiety that comes with being forgiven by a forgiving and loving God. You will find that He has waited lovingly for you to seek His forgiveness. Give faith and forgiveness and try in your own life. They are as available to you as they are to me. Jesus will forgive you and save you if you will come to Him by faith. Jesus will forgive you and sustain you in your faith when you have done wrong in spite of it. Jesus wants to deliver you from the anxieties of this life. Let Him do it through faith in Him and forgiveness by Him. Do it! Bro. Joe “Delight thyself also in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thy heart.”
Tomorrow will be a travel day. Faith and I will visit Blake, Hannah and Bean (the dog) in Colorado Springs. I will publish again on Sunday afternoon.
“My soul longs, yea even faints for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.”
Have you ever thought about the deepest longing of your soul and what your “heart and flesh” really cry out for? That’s a question that we all need to ask ourselves. Let’s take a few minutes and think about what are the real longings of our souls, and the deepest need of our “heart and flesh.” In Luke 15:11-32, Jesus shared a parable about a young man who thought that the deepest longing of his life was to leave home and live like he wanted to live. His father made this possible because he gave him his inheritance. He went off into what Jesus called “the far country” and began to fulfill his selfish longings. When a famine came, he ran out of money and consequently, he lost his new “friends.” He became destitute, and was about to starve to death when he came to his senses and decided to return to the father’s house. He had gotten what he longed for, and discovered that what he longed for was not as satisfying as he thought it would be. In his moment of deepest need the young man thought of his father and longed to return to him. Fortunately, he was welcomed home and even given a party to celebrate his return. This made we wonder that if our deepest longings were fulfilled, would they really satisfy us? If our deepest longings are for more “stuff” would we find that this “stuff” would give us real satisfaction? Have you ever received anything that gave you soul satisfaction and fulfilled the desires of your “heart and flesh”? It might have given you a momentary thrill, but eventually the thrill wore off and you were soon needing something else. The point that I want to make in this article is that our deepest needs are eternal. The prodigal son in Luke 15 made this discovery. Psalm 84:2 gives us true direction as to what the longings of our hearts and souls should be. He longed for the “courts of the Lord.” This was not a desire for more church. The “courts of the Lord” was where God came to dwell among his people in the “Holy of Holies” in the temple. He wanted to be close to where he knew that God would be present. He longed for “the living God.” I know that the Lord is with me, but there are times when I literally cry out “Oh, Jesus come to me.” It’s not that I think He has left me, but it is that I want, and need, more of Him, more of His love, more of His word, more of His power, frankly, more of His attitude. These are times when I have wandered from closeness to Him and just long for that closeness. I find that, like the father in the parable of the prodigal son, He is waiting for me and comes to me with all of His love, more of His word, more of His power, and more of His attitude. This will be true of you too. Just ask Him. He is waiting!!!! Bro. Joe (From the archives with thanks to my brother James, who gave me the idea in 2014.)
Philippians 1:21: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Philippians 2:21: “For all seek their own, not the things which are Christ’s.” My younger brother did not know that he was giving me an idea for an article when he shared with me in an Email that a speaker that he heard pointed out the contrast between these two verses. I read them for the Lord only knows how many times, but I had never put them together like that speaker did. Needless to say, this got my imagination to whirling and I suggested to my brother that he would see this on a blog. What we have in these two verses is two opposing philosophies of life. I will begin with the negative philosophy: “For all seek their own, not the things which are Christ’s.” In the first place, this is a selfish way to live. There are many people who live each day only to satisfy their whims and fancies. When we do what comes naturally, we live by this philosophy. Go back to the Genesis account of the first sin. God told Adam and Adam told Eve that they were not to eat the fruit of the “knowledge of good and evil,” because if they did they would die. One day Eve was tempted to eat of the delicacy, or what she must have considered a delicacy, and she succumbed. Then she gave to Adam and he ate the fruit. This first sin was rebellion against God, because Adam and Eve decided to “seek their own” and satisfy their own desires. In the second place, this is a foolish way to live, because while people are “seeking their own,” they are not thinking of “the things which are Christ’s.” The NIV translates it: “For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.” This is the philosophy of the person who does not know Christ. All he knows is to look out for his own interests. Some of those interests might be good, but they are leaving Christ out of their lives. Now we will turn to the positive philosophy: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” This means that Christ was at the very center of Paul’s life, and can also be the center of our lives. Paul wrote it in this way in Galatians 2:20: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself from me.” Paul’s positive philosophy was the result of his faith in Christ, and of His appreciation for the fact that Christ “gave Himself for me.” In the first place, this is a selfless way to live. This is not to say that people who live by this positive philosophy are always selfless, for none of us are perfect. But it does mean that if we have this selfless philosophy, we will seek to follow God’s will for our lives. It also means that when we put Christ first, we have better relationships with people. In the second place, this is a wise way to live. Paul advised in Ephesians 5:15-16: “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. 16. Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Living “circumspectly” means to live carefully. In other words, we need to watch our step lest we do something foolish. If Christ is at the center of our lives, we are more likely to live wisely. Make sure that you live by the philosophy of Philippians 1:21 and stay away from the philosophy in Philippians 2:21. Bro. Joe “But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
I was thinking this morning about what I could write that would lift you up. As a result, I went searching in the scriptures and came across, or was led by the Spirit, to the text printed above. In Christ you have “riches in glory.” I can’t tell you all of the riches in glory, for there are plenty that I do not know, but I think the “riches in glory” that I share here can lift your spirits. I think that we will discover all of the “riches in glory” in heaven, but I want to three “riches in glory” that you have, or can have, today. The most prominent of these riches is Jesus Himself, who is our Savior! Jesus came to give His life on the cross so that we could have eternal life. I was reading in John 10:27-29 this morning some verses that illustrate this truth: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me: 28. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29. My Father which gave them to me, is greater than all; and no man shall be able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” You have the security of knowing that you have a Savior, who loves you and gave His life to save you. Rejoice in the richness of eternal salvation in Christ. Another of these riches is the Holy Spirit. When we were saved, Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit to live in our lives and to offer the spiritual guidance that we need to live victoriously. Let John 14:16-17 speak to your heart: “And I (Jesus) will pray the Father, and He shall give you another comforter, that He may abide with you forever; 17. Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees Him not, neither knows Him: but you know Him; for He dwells with you, and shall be in you.” God sends a touch of heaven into our lives through the Holy Spirit. If Jesus is your Savior, you have the Holy Spirit living in you to lead and guide you into God’s truth. Don’t you see the richness in this heavenly gift? Another of these riches is the purpose that the Holy Spirit puts into our lives. Jesus has a purpose, or purposes, for your life. I can only speak for myself here, but I know that my purpose has been to preach the gospel and to serve as the pastor to people.(For twenty three years, I was the pastor to preachers. Hey not an easy job, but a great purpose. lol) At this point in retirement, my main purpose is to write these articles to encourage you, and to preach where I am needed. I don’t know your purpose(s) but I know that you have them. It could be that Sunday School class that you teach, or to sing in the choir. But I know that all of our main purpose is to live a life that glorifies Jesus Christ by how we live our daily lives and by how we love people and share the love of Jesus with them wherever we are. I guess I have barely touched the “hem of the garment” of our “riches in glory,” but I think that you will agree that the three I have mentioned are true riches. Rejoice! Bro. Joe “In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comfort delights my soul.” NKJV
Like all of us, the psalmist had to deal with anxiety. But anxiety was not a way of life with him, because he had the comfort of the Lord to ease his anxieties. When I read that, I began to think about my own anxieties and how I have been able to overcome them. I decided that the singular “comfort” could be plural “comforts” in my case. I want to share these comforts with you in the hope that they will help you with your own anxieties. The first comfort is faith. I do not mean faith in myself or in any manmade resource. I mean faith in Jesus Christ – period. Ephesians 2:8 tells us that we are “saved by grace through faith.” This saving faith, however, is not meant to just take us to heaven when we die; it is also a resource for living on this earth. One of the sure things of living on this earth is anxiety. Who could read or hear the news today and not be anxious. Every day we are bombarded with negative things about our world. These things are real and not imaginary. Muslims really do cut off people’s heads. China does have a powerful army. Russia is not the friend that we hoped she would be after the fall of communism. People are really being killed in Syria for the sake of a corrupt regime. Children are really abducted and killed by perverts. (Have I made you anxious enough? lol) These are just a few examples of what awaits us each day in the news. On top of all of that are the many things that we have to deal with in our own lives. I can’t explain how faith in Jesus comforts me in the midst of all of this; I just know that it does. I take Jesus at His promise that if I come to Him, He will give me rest. He promises me that if I trust Him, He will comfort me. E. Stanley Jones wrote: “Worries and anxiety are sand in the machinery of life; faith is the oil.” How true. Believe today that you can trust Jesus in all of life. The second comfort is forgiveness. A lot of our anxiety is caused by guilt, because we know that we have done wrong from time to time. We have not loved people as we should. We have not treated people as fairly as we should. We have given in to corrupt thoughts that we knew could not have come from God. In order to overcome this guilt, we just need to know that our God is a forgiving God. He has promised in 1 John 1:9 that if “we will confess our sins, He will be faithful and just to forgive us our sins.” You don’t have to “feel” forgiven; you can know that you are forgiven because you take God at His word. If He has promised to forgive you, He will forgive you! You might say:“But you don’t know what I’ve done.” But I do know what David did when he committed adultery with Bathsheba, and he was forgiven. I do know that Simon Peter denied Him, but Jesus forgave him. I ask you today to embrace the freedom from anxiety that comes with being forgiven by a forgiving and loving God. You will find that He has waited lovingly for you to seek His forgiveness. Give faith and forgiveness and try in your own life. They are as available to you as they are to me. Jesus will forgive you and save you if you will come to Him by faith. Jesus will forgive you and sustain you in your faith when you have done wrong in spite of it. Jesus wants to deliver you from the anxieties of this life. Let Him do it through faith in Him and forgiveness by Him. Do it! Bro. Joe “In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath made the one over against the other, to the end that man should nothing after him.”
As we have seen in earlier articles, Ecclesiastes, written by King Solomon, is unpredictable. Solomon was writing as a world-weary fellow who had everything that his heart desired and he found it rather boring and empty. The idea was that the full meaning of life is found in fearing God, or as we would say from the New Testament perspective, reverence and trust in God. In this verse he reminds us that good and bad will happen, and that we will have uncertainty about the future. His first advice was to be joyful when things are going good. This seems like unnecessary advice, but is it really? Sometimes we can’t enjoy the good things because we are worried about a lot of other things. Like Martha, we are sometimes “careful and troubled about many things.” (See Luke 10:38-42) Or like the seed in the parable of the sower that fell among the thorns, we become choked up by the cares of this life that we are so negative that we can’t really rejoice over the things that are good. We need to adopt the verse from Psalm 118:24: “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” It could be that one might be so depressed that they can’t recognize a good, and prosperous, time when he is in the midst of it. His second advice was then we face days of adversity that we should consider that God is part of both good and bad days. This could mean several things. One is that when we face adverse times we need to consider that they are inevitable, and that we might consider what God is trying to teach us. When Paul was enduring his “thorn in the flesh” he went to God in prayer and was told that he would keep his “thorn in the flesh,” and that Christ’s grace would be sufficient to see him through it. Considering this answer, Paul saw that through his weakness he could discover God’s strength. In other words, he saw his utter dependence on Jesus. A second thing is that we need to consider is that we are not the only ones who have gone through times of adversity, and that we are not too good to have bad days. Sometimes they might be a reminder from God that we need to make some changes in our lives. Another thing that I have discovered is that the adverse times will end. One of my favorite sayings when I am going through adverse times is to say, “this too shall pass,” and it always does. Some adverse things last longer than others, but they, too, will eventually end. Think about what this verse can mean in your life. Bro. Joe “The Lord is my light, and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”
Psalm 27was written to help us deal with fear. The first verse, printed above, sets the stage for living victoriously “when afraid.” When afraid, David depended on the Lord as his “light.” This is why Jesus told us in John 8:12, that He is “the light of the world.” It’s like turning the lights on to keep from stumbling in the darkness. Walking in the light of the Lord will help us be careful, and wise, about where we put our feet. I have tried to remember this as I have encountered the troubles that I have encountered in my life. That light is available to you at all times, and it is only a prayer away. Call on the Lord and He will make the way plain for you. Well, don’t just read it…..do it! (That was to me as well as you.) When afraid David was aware that the Lord was his “salvation.” Salvation is a double edged sword. When we trust in Jesus we are saved and we have His salvation. Notice that he wrote that the “Lord is….my salvation.” We would call this “soul salvation.” This means that we are depending on the Lord to take us to heaven when that time comes. The other edge of the sword is that we depend upon the Lord to save in the midst of all of the struggles of life. King David’s life was not trouble-free. He was saved through the struggles, just as we are. Some of those struggles were the result of his own doing, but he was saved from those too through repentance and prayer. Look to the Lord today to save you with the double-edged sword of salvation. When afraid, David depended on the strength of the Lord: “The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?” Notice that when David encountered his struggles he had the strength of the Lord. He had actually made God the strength of His life. In these trying days we need to depend upon the strength of the Lord. When we walk in Christ’s light and have His salvation, we have been given the strength to meet whatever life brings. This doesn’t mean that we will never be afraid. What it does mean is that our lives will not be ruled by fear. Look to the Lord for strength! When afraid, we should walk in the light, claim God’s salvation and lean on the Lord’s strength. Bro. Joe |
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