Psalm 5:12 - Live Righteously, Live Victoriously!

Psalms 5:12  For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.

In David's fifth psalm, he finishes with this verse. If you want the protection of God to be around you in all you do, live righteously. We can see this evidenced in the life of David as his life was sought after several times. And in all cases, God delivered and protected him. We can also see this in the life of the apostles, including Paul. 

What we don't see, however, is that God kept these completely away from all trials, troubles, perils, and tribulations. Instead, God leads us through them. So what am I trying to say? Don't suppose that since you are experiencing a tough spot in your life that God has abandoned you or that you are not living righteously. It may be quite the contrary. Allow God to lead you and continue to stay close to Him.

God's promise

Deuteronomy 31:6

 Be strong and of a good courage,

 fear not, nor be afraid of them:

for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee;

 he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Decisions, decisions...

You don't go down to an altar and tell God that you have decided to live for Him on Sunday, then consider it done. You have to do it every day. Every morning when you get up, you have to take up your cross and follow Him. It is a moment by moment conscience decision to live for Him. So, what did you do this morning? What are you doing tomorrow morning? Every day is a choice. Choose wisely.

Transformed (Romans 12:2)

Romans 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.


    There is a very disturbing and growing trend in the church today. Increasingly, it is more and more difficult to tell a difference between those in a church that are active church members and those that are just visiting and have rarely, if ever, attended. Whether it be due to the way they dress, the way they talk, or simply their attitude toward the things of God, we are seeing less and less of a gap in the general differences between the church and the world.

     In our key verse today, Romans 12:2, we see a pleading by the apostle Paul to the church at Rome. He asks them to "be not conformed to this world". We all know that the word conform means to 'fasion like' or  'to pattern ourselves after something'. The word that caught me off guard in this verse is world. My first thought has always been the 'things' of this world. But in looking up the meaning I found that it had to do with a time period more than physical things. The apostle was telling the Roman church to not take on the customs of the days they were in just to fit into society. Don't allow the lowering of social norms to have an affect on the way you live your life.

    In stead, they are told to be transformed by the renewing of their mind. And while I know this verse explicitly says 'mind', I cannot tell you the number of times I have read and quoted this verse and thought of the word 'heart'. But that is not what is meant here. He is not calling for a change of heart in this particular instance. What he is calling for is a transformation of the way you think. This has nothing to do with emotions or will. This has everything to do with how you process your thoughts. We are to bring every one of them into captivity to examine it and compare it to the standards written in God's Word.

   So, are you making a difference in the world around you? Do you look different than the world? Or do you fit in all too well?


 

Rely on God

Proverbs 21:30-31  There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.  (31)  The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD.

Of all the wisdom and understanding that exists in this world, none of it can stand against the Lord our God. His wisdom far exceeds all. And if wisdom is what you seek, go to the Lord because he gives it freely to those who ask of Him. Maybe you are agonizing over a decision that you must make. Or you have to take a step in your life that you know is right, even though it seems difficult. Go to the Lord and let Him know how you feel. I know what you are thinking. "But He is God! He already knows how I feel." That is not the point. You must go to Him and pour out your heart. Open it up before Him and let Him see all of it. Hide nothing. And then ask Him for what ever it is you need. Whether that be grace, wisdom, strength, or just to tell you exactly what it is that He wants you to do. Trust me. If you are sincere in your desire and you are where you should be in your walk with Him, He will.

One final note. Once He has granted your request, bear in mind that nothing He has called you to do can be done in your own strength. While you may have diligently "prepared your horse for battle", God is still the one that will ultimately bring the victory. 

E-Sword - Free Bible Study Software

For those of you that are looking for a piece of software to use for Bible study but are short on cash, I believe I have found your solution. Go over to www.e-sword.net and check this out. I've been using this package for several years now and find it an invaluable resource for gaining a better understanding of the Word of God.

The basic install comes with the KJV plus Strongs numbers and definitions. Also available for download are several commentaries such as Matthew Henry's, Darby, and Barnes to name a few. It also has a place to type in study notes as you are researching a particular idea, and a custom topic note keeper that allows you to create a topic and track notes for that as well.

Search capabilities are standard allowing you to look for a specific phrase, one word, any combination of a set of words, and also allows you to exclude a phrase to keep from getting verses that you know you don't need in the results.

All in all, this is a great package that I am not sure I could do without at this point. Go download it, try it out, and let me know what you think.

Names of God - JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU

Jeremiah Chapter 23
Jeremiah 23:6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

In this chapter, we see another name that shall be attributed to God by the people of God. JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU, or THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. The name is mentioned in between some very stern warnings against both the pastors of that day and to ordinary citizens. In reading verses one through six, we find that God is sore displeased with the spiritual leaders of that day in that they were not doing what was necessary to lead the people in lives of righteousness. The congregation, in stead, were living lives full of sins such as adultery, foul language, and prophets that have profaned the Word of God. And as sin does, it had spread throughout the land like an infection. God then promises that the evil doers would be punished in ways that everyone will know that it is according to the Will of God. 

But lest we think this chapter is all gloom and doom, we do see a ray of hope. In verse 5, God says "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth." We know from what we have seen in the scriptures and in history that this is a prophetic statement telling of the coming of Christ through the line of David, as was promised, to bring the new law of grace to all people so that all could partake in the righteousness of God and be justified so that we can come to God at any time and be seen as spotless, having on the righteousness of God which allows us to be in His presence. 

Have you been in His presence lately? Remember that as a child of God, we have access to the throne of God and can come to Him at any time. He is never far away. He always has your best interest at heart. You are His child. It is what any good parent would do. 

Names of God - Jehovah-shalom (God of Peace)

Names of God - Jehovah-shalom (God of Peace)

Judges Chapter 6

In chapter 6 of Judges, we see the children of Israel once again being afflicted by the surrounding nations. And once again, it is for the same reason. They have followed after another god. Finally, the affliction is just too much for them to bear and they cry out to the true God for help.

Little do they know that help would come from a man named Gideon. A man from a poor family in the lowest of the tribes of Israel. Even Gideon has a hard time with the news at first. But he was persuaded soon enough that this was God’s will for his life and that he had to follow it. At least, after a couple tests to be sure. So God showed him that this was His will for Gideon’s life and Gideon had perfect peace in the situation from that point on. It was then that he built an altar and named the place of the altar Jehovah-shalom. As we learned yesterday, Jehovah means “the Everlasting one.” The word shalom means peace. Looking into the Strong’s Concordance, the word shalom has this as its possible meaings:

safe, that is, (figuratively) well, happy, friendly; also (abstractly) welfare, that is, health, prosperity, peace: -  X do, familiar, X fare, favour, + friend, X greet, (good) health, (X perfect, such as be at) peace (-able, -ably), prosper (-ity, -ous), rest, safe (-ly), salute, welfare, (X all is, be) well, X wholly.

I would tend to think that God’s peace granted to Gideon had him feeling all of these things.

He knew he would be safe. That God was his friend as long as Gideon was on his side. That God’s favor would be with him as he performed the work he was being called to do. And that the nation of Israel would once again be prosperous and rest safely, if they followed the precepts of God.

Maybe you have been asking God what to do with your life and he has told you what it is, but you just are not sure about it. If you are positive that it is what God wants you to do, then ask Him to make you sure. He will give you peace just as He did with Gideon. He is still in the business of answering prayers. And while He may not perform a miracle like He did with Gideon and the fleece (vs.36-40), he can still help you have peace about what He has for you to do as long as you have faith and are willing to do what He says. Don’t worry about feeling capable. Just get to doing whatever it is and let God work in your life. God’s grace will supply the rest.

Names of God - Jehovahnissi

Exodus 17:8-15

In this section of scripture we see a battle between the children of Israel and the Amalekites. Moses had told Joshua to get some men together and go fight against the Amalekites and while he did that, Moses would stand on the top of  a hill and hold up "the rod of God".  Israel, at first, was prevailing against the enemy. But afer a while,  Amalek and his crew would start to make a come back. The situation switched back and forth several times. They finally noticed that it was when Moses held high the rod of God that the battle would be in favor of the Israelites. When he let it drop, the Amalekites would start to win again. So Aaron and Hur, who were on the top of the hill with Moses, noticed it, they started working to ensure the battle. The first thing they did was to put a rock under Moses to hold him up. Then they stood on either side and held up his arms. This continued until the Amalekites finally gave up and ran away. Moses knew that the victory had come from God and immediately called to have the events recorded and had them build an altar in remeberance of what God had done for them that day. He gave a name to the altar of Jehovahnissi.

The word Jehovahnissi comes from two Hebrew words. Jehovah and Nes. The word Jehovah is the name that the Jewish people call God by and it means self Existent or eternal. Don't just slide by this and pay it no attention. This is important. By acknowledging the self ixistence of God, we realize that He is not dependant on us for anything. Not our money, time, abilities, or anything else. Instead, He desires that we offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable. The second part of the name, nissi, comes from the Hebrew word nes. In the figurative sense, it is a token or standard. In the litteral sense, it is a sail, flag, banner, or sign. Just as the rod in Moses hand served as a point of reference for all the children of Israel, Christ is our point of reference. All of us should be looking to Him in unity and fighting for the cause. We each must hold the banner of God's Word high and encourage one another in this battle we wage here on this earth. If we fail to take it up, we don't just let down ourselves, but countless others that may be looking up to us for encouragement.

The Lord Will Provide

(Gen 22:14)  And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.


The name Jehovajireh means ‘the Lord will see (to it)’ or ‘the Lord will provide’. It was given by Abraham to the place known as Mt. Moriah after he witnessed God’s grace in providing a substitutionary sacrifice to take the place of his son. This replacement was provided only after Abraham showed absolute trust in God and followed through up to the point of God having to stop him. We see in Abraham that, while his faith was counted for righteousness, that we would not have known how much faith he had if had not put his faith into action.

What were Abraham’s alternatives? He could have said that it simply did not make sense to let him have a son and promise that Abraham’s seed would be as the sand of the sea shore and then to take his only son away from him by having him slaughtered as a sacrifice. But he didn’t. He took God’s word at face value and obeyed Him to the letter. It wasn’t half-hearted. The Bible doesn’t say that Abraham took the knife to prick his son so that a little blood would drip out onto the fire pit. He took the knife to slay him. I can’t imagine how much faith that had to take.

So he did what God told him to do and decided that the rest would be up to God. That is something that each of us needs to do. We need to come to the place where we decide to give all we have to Him and leave the promise keeping up to Him. No where can I remember where God requires us to be successful here on this planet. All He has called us to do is to love and serve Him with all our heart, soul, and mind. No matter what it is we do, we should do it with one hundred percent of our ability and for the glory of the Lord having absolute trust in Him.

A good example is a gardener. In order to get results in a garden, there are things that must be done. The weeds must be pulled. The soil must be prepared. The seeds mush be planted.  Water needs to be given to the seeds, and once they are sprouted, the gardener doesn’t get to slack off. He has to continue on doing the same things he was before in keeping the weeds at bay and providing the nutrients and water needed. In addition, he now has to look after the plants to make sure they are healthy and that no pests are sneaking in. Pruning must be done to keep plants from dying off one limb at a time. Fruit must be harvested from some plants so that more fruit will come. The work never stops. And, as long as the work never stops, the fruit may continue to come. But there is no guarantee. Many a gardener has spent countless hours toiling away to only come away with a handful of fruit to show for it. You see, the results are not completely up to the gardener. There are some things that are beyond his control. But one thing is sure. If he had not put his all into the work, no fruit would have come.

Are we trusting God to provide? Are we putting our all into our work so that He can?

Be ye holy!!!!

(1Pe 1:15)  But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

(1Pe 2:15)  For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:

The world is going to know if you talk one way and walk another way. And while the world may ridicule you for living right, they can’t help but see that you live a life that is honoring and pleasing to God no matter the circumstances. That is why in this portion of the scripture, Peter admonishes the believers to “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake.” 

This was not to say that we should choose to sin right along with the world, but to abide by the laws of the land, so long as they went along with the Law of God. Unfortunately, most Christians have a very hard time with this. They see certain rules and laws in their community and country as simply being optional to obey. This leaves the world with more than enough ammunition to blast away at Christians for not being the model citizens that we should be. 

Or perhaps it is at work. Maybe we don’t put in a full day or give our employer our all when we are on the clock. Once again, we must do all we do as if it were for the Lord. Why? Because, it is. 

Everything we do has the potential to become an opportunity to witness to somebody. It may not be directly telling someone about the love of Christ. It may just be our lives as examples of the love of Christ. But if we don’t live a life that shows it, how are we going to tell them about it when the opportunity arises? 

If I told you that I use Rogaine every day, you would either say it must be one the worst products on the market, or that I am a liar. Why? No evidence. (Let's face it. There isn't a whole lot going on up there.) The same holds true for our lives. There must be evidence that we have within us, as believers, something different. A power that enables us to live in such a way that it seems impossible. People should be so curious about our lives that they will ask just where our hope comes from. Why we are so joyful even when things are not going well? It is then that we can give them the answer. That our hope is in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our sacrifice. And that they can have the same hope.

Hebrews 2:10-18

Today's selection of scripture is from Hebrews.

Hebrews 2:10-18

[10] For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

[11] For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,

[12] Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.

[13] And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.

[14] Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

[15] And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

[16] For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. [17] Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

[18] For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

In this scripture passage, we see that Christ took on the form of man and lived here on this earth just as any man has. Going through the same heartaches, trials, temptations, and sufferings, He is qualified to sympathize with us when it comes to our own afflictions. His love and mercy for us in times like these is not one of a pious higher being that just wishes to make themselves look better than all the others buy showing poor insignificant man a little mercy and compassion. The truth is that He truly cares for us and understands what we are going through because He has been through the same things. Of course, the main difference is that He has gone through them without sinning. This, of course, is not the main point of this particular passage. The main point is that He became one of us so that He could understand what it is we go through and be truly sympathetic. We can go to Him with anything because He understands what it is that we are going through.

The Challenge: From now on, when troubles, trials, and temptations seem to be taking their toll on you, don't try to escape in your own power. First, go to God in prayer. He understands. Then thank Him for whatever it is that has come your way because it just makes you more understanding as well and now God will be able to use you when somebody else runs into the same situation.

Here are some examples. If you have lost a loved one, you are more capable of understanding what it is someone is going through when they lose their's. If you have been accused of doing wrong when you haven't, you can better sympathize with someone else that is going through the same thing.

Maybe you have experienced something that has prepared you for helping someone else through a similar experience. Why not share it so we all can learn from each other.

No limits!!

When you think of the omnipotence of God, just what exactly is conjured up in your mind. I think for most, it makes them think of what people, nations, or any other things that God is greater than. Is that a correct point of view? I say it is not, and here is why. If we say He is just greater than any specific person or thing, then we have placed a limit on His power. He only needs to be a little greater than the next greatest thing. The truth is that God is not just greater than anything. His power far exceeds our ability to understand. He is infinitely powerful and nothing compares to what He is capable of. But our feeble minds struggle with how to put it into perspective, so we see Him as greater than the biggest thing we know. It is time for all of us to stop putting limits on what God can do.

Have faith in the infinite power of God.

Prov 30:5

(Pro 30:5) Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

The word pure has to do with the purging of metals from impurities, and so signifies that it is what purifies the believer. The word shield has to do with God being a defender of those that trust Him, or put their hope in what he is capable of .