The many good promises of God.

I love Psalms 34, it is so encouraging. It has so many good promises.

1) He answers and delivers us from our fears when we seek Him. v.4
2) Those who look to Him are radiant and their faces will never be ashamed. v.5
3) The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him. v.7
4) Happy is the man who takes refuge in Him. v.8
5) Those who fear Him lack nothing. v. 9,10
6) The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are open to their cry for help. v.15,16
7) The Lord is near the brokenhearted. v.18
8) All who take refuge in Him will not be punished. v.22

Our God is truly good and great. He is worthy of our praise. We have many wonderful promises here. Yet, all of them come with a condition. We have to do our part to receive the promises. Our part is to seek Him, look to Him, fear Him, be righteous, be humble, and take refuge in Him.

The Burden of Unrepentance

When we sin it takes a toll on our lives. It especially takes a toll when we try to hide it or unrepentant.

Psalms 31:9-11 says, "Be gracious to me, Lord,because I am in distress; my eyes are worn out from angry sorrow—my whole being as well.
¹⁰ Indeed, my life is consumed with grief and my years with groaning;
my strength has failed because of my sinfulness, and my bones waste away.
¹¹ I am ridiculed by all my adversaries and even by my neighbors.
I am dreaded by my acquaintances; those who see me in the street run from me. 
(Holman Christian Standard Bible)

 I like how the HCSB translates verse 10 because I feel it truly communicates what David is experiencing. He has sinned against God and it is affecting him emotionally and physically. I don't believe that he is only speaking figuratively here but it literally has taken a toll on him emotionally and physically.

If our hearts have not been hardened by sins deceitfulness, we will be in great distress and sorrow and it will have a negative affect on our whole being. Also, we see that  when it is discovered by others,  we lose our good reputation. It can even cause others to avoid us, and separate from us. Sin has a way of racking havoc on our relationship with others. Especially if others consider it a great sin or greater than other sins. The consequences are often even worse.

Sin will take a greater toll on us when we hide it. David talks how his hidden sin caused his bones to become brittle, and how he groaned all day long under the weight of it. His strength was drained.  (Psalms 32:4-5)

Yet, if we look at all of Psalms 32, we see when he confessed his sin that they were forgiven and cleansed. Then joy replaced his grief and sorrow.  Repentance releases God's joy and peace in our lives.

Joy of the Journey

Psalms 16:11

“You will show me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Our journey to the heart of God is a life-long journey of discovering the greatness of the God whom we serve. It is not a journey of works but a journey of faith and obedience that constantly yields new doors of blessing and fulfillment. The journey of works is a hard road to walk, filled with hills and valleys of success and failure. When we are successful, we feel great; when we are doing poorly, we feel discouraged, frustrated, angry or depressed.  We measure the progress of our journey by comparing ourselves to others and where they are on their journey.

The journey to the heart of God is a life-long journey of discovering who God is in all of His love, greatness, and power. It is an ongoing revelation of His awesome character and nature. This journey is not void of works, but these works are an outgrowth of relationship and not a proof of value or source of identity and affirmation. Our fulfillment and contentment is solely found in our ongoing relationship with the Father through the Spirit.

Look at the focus of the Psalmist. It is totally on God. “You will show me that path of life.” The path of life cannot be found in a do-it-yourself manual of ten easy steps to success. The path of life is found from beginning to end in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that is cultivated on a daily basis in every aspect of life. The path of life is a discovery of Jesus in our marriage, family, and job. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6) The path of life is found in Jesus Christ.

The Psalmist continues, “In Your presence is fullness of joy.” When you are in love with someone, it impacts every area of your life. It puts joy in your heart, a spring in your step, and a smile on your face. It has nothing to do with performance but radically improves your performance. It changes your perspective on everything. You respond to people and circumstances with optimism and joy. It is contagious! When you are in love with God, you will have a growing awareness of His presence and incorporate Him in every decision, everything you say and do. He becomes the center of your life.

The Psalmist concludes by saying, “At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”  It is only in His presence that we have access to His right hand, which is filled with blessings and pleasure forevermore. However, blessing and pleasure is not the source of joy. His presence is our source of joy. Pleasures and blessings are simply an outgrowth of our relationship. When we truly get to know Him, the greatest pleasure is spending time with Him. Enjoy your journey with God.

The Generation of Self

As I was reading the Bible today, I was reading out of Proverbs 30. Verse 11-13 caught my attention.

There is a generation that curses its father and does not bless its mother.
There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes,yet is not washed from its filth.
There is a generation—how haughty its eyes and pretentious its looks.

I think that this so true of our generation today. Especially in the more advanced countries of the world like the United States and Europe. The new generation in general does not have the same respect for their parents as the older generation. Often, children are arrogant towards their parents and even hostile.

The new generation in developed countries think they can do no wrong. Everyone can live as they please. Whatever makes them feel good, and doesn't hurt others (at least in their minds), it is fine. What God calls sin or evil, they see no wrong in it. This generation is quick to criticize and judge others, but doesn't accept criticism or corrections well. Each person is a man or woman unto himself.

Basically, those from developed nations have become haughty and pretentious. Pretentious according to the Bing dictionary is - self-important and affected: acting as though more important or special than is warranted, or appearing to have an unrealistically high self-image.

Sadly to say, we often find these attitudes in the church. Lord help us to guard against this and walk humbly before you.

God's Unchanging Character

When we look at Psalm 22, we see that king David is in distress and he call out unto the Lord.

Psalm 22:1-2 - "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest."

How often do we feel the same way as David. While in the midst of a trial we call out to God and we don't get the answer we want. It seems that God does not care or even powerless to help us. We can't understand why He isn't acting on our behalf when we know that he can. It can be down right frustrating and bring us to despair. We may even question His character, goodness, faithfulness and strength.

Yet, God's character does not depend on our circumstances, nor can we determine who God is by them. God is above our circumstances and in control of all things.

Psalm 22:3 - "Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises."

He is saying to God even though I don't see your deliverance, it does not change who you are. You are still the God of Israel and remain on your throne.

He goes on to remember God's faithfulness in the past and how the fathers of the past cried out and He answered them. When we face times of great difficulty, we need to remember God is on His throne and He is love and faithfulness towards us has not changed. He is still the all powerful God who has compassion and delivers those who are in trouble. Reflect on how many times in the past that He has helped us and others. Praise Him for what He has done and trust that He will do it once again.

Like the Apostle Paul

Titus 1:1-3 - "Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness ² in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, ³ and which now at his appointed season he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,"

When I read this verse this morning I was reminded of what God has called me to do. He has called me to build up believers faith, teach them the Word of God and to give hope of eternal life. I am not only to teach but preach the commands of God.

Later on in 1:9, Paul says  elders are to encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

I think these days, there is a tendency not to put such importance on doctrine. Many in the church would say, all that matters is that we are in  Christ Jesus. We have gone down this path because we have seen how doctrine divides the church. In the name of unity, we throw doctrine aside. It doesn't really matter what you believe the Bible says because no one really knows the truth. What is important is that we walk in love and be supportive of one another. This is all good, but it shouldn't make us sacrifice doctrine: sound teaching and the truth. There is one correct interpretation of God's Word, and we should seek to know what this is and walk in it. 

We focus today on practical application, but wrong doctrine will produce wrong application. With out a solid theory, application of that theory will not produce the desired result. We need to be balanced in this. Good theory (doctrine) without application is ineffective. Application without a solid theory is faulty. 

Measure of Christian Maturity

 1 Corinthians 13:11-13

“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” NKJV

 

In this portion the Apostle Paul writes about moving from childhood to maturity in our speech, understanding, and thought. This transition is purposeful. We don’t mature naturally over time any more than a child growing big makes him more mature. It takes willful, intentional decisions with the discipline to carry them out. He says we have to “put away childish things.” This is a process from seeing dimly and knowing in part to seeing Christ face to face and knowing Him as He knows us. It is a life-long process that we must pursue with our whole being.

 

The measure of maturity is faith, hope, and love. The Apostle says, “now abide these three.” These are the three pillars of the Christian life that we should constantly be developing which produce eternal results. This is a progressive work that the Holy Spirit wants to do in us. Romans 1:17 says, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.” 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Unveiled faces mean that we have to be transparent before God, if this maturity process is going to happen.

 

Maturity in faith comes through the Word because “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17) Maturity in love is a development of our character. I Corinthians chapter 13 clearly demonstrates that anything that is done that does not spring from love has no value. Love is manifested in obedience. Jesus said in John 14:21,“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.” The manifestation of love is in the fruit of the Spirit. Maturity in hope is demonstrated in ministry because hope exalts God and His kingdom. 1 Corinthians 9:10 says, “For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope , and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope.”

 

Maturity requires that we grow in all three areas: faith, hope and love. Some people may exude love but have no faith or hope, and so produce little. Others may have great faith and hope resulting in great ministry, but their life is bankrupt of love. We often measure ourselves and others by our strongest area, when, in fact, our level of maturity is as great as our weakest area. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

 

“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things….And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”