LEARNING DAILY

 

Matthew 11:28-29, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”  Jesus

 

In the verses just before this, Jesus said He alone knew the God the Father and He alone could reveal Him to anyone He chooses. Now He is telling His listeners that if they are tired and struggling in their live they can come to Him and He can give them rest. What an invitation it is to “Come” to Jesus! The people Jesus was talking to were under enormous difficulties to really know God; the Jewish leaders placed burdens on them to live in a way that God would accept them. Jesus said to the Jewish people that He alone can reveal the Father to them in a way they would find immediate rest.

 

This speaks to all of us today who are oppressed by overwork, monotony of their life, the burden of responsibility, tension and the lack of ability to forgive and move on in their life. The heavy laden are those who must endure something put on them by someone else or an outside source (David Jeremiah), sometimes causing burnout. The rest, Jesus gives to those He saves and changes, is not physical rest but rest as the result of His presence in their life. It is a renewal and refreshing of the way they view life. It is the knowledge that we no longer must carry the burden of sins because He has forgiven them, taking the penalty of those sins upon Himself at Calvary. The wonderful promise is Jesus is offering to carry burdens for them in order to lead those who come to Him to the Father; Believers are in a sense “yoked” with Jesus.

 

The yoke in Jesus’ day was a wooden item that was used to harness the working animal (usually oxen) to a plow, for instance. It could be used by one, or two could be yoked together for more power. The Jewish people used the term to describe their lifestyle under the Law and all the additional manmade requirements they had to fulfill as Jewish people. Verse 29 tells the people the benefits they will receive when they place His yoke on them. Another way to put this is by taking the yoke of Jesus, a person allows Jesus to direct their lives instead of all the rules and regulations the Jewish leaders have made to direct them. The work that He has will not be difficult. He wanted the people to learn from Him; He is gentle. Philippians 2:5-7 speaks to this, “Your attitude should be the same that Christ had. Though He was God, He did not demand and cling to His rights as God. He took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form” (New living Translation). Jesus did not come to add to their burdens but to give them rest. Jesus was offering them an easier way to get into eternal life in heaven – Himself.

 

To find rest for their souls, Jesus asks that the people make a commitment to Him. He tells us today the same thing. He invites us to “Come” to Him, take His yoke and look to Him for Him to be with us through every circumstance in life. It is then that we can be free from the day-to-day problems that are so heavy upon us. The invitation is for all who “labor” and “are heavy laden” with the trials/tribulations of life and sins of human nature. With Jesus with us as we walk the narrow way, serving Him, and obeying His direction, He gives rest and peace through difficult times.

Will you take some time with me to consider burdens you carry that you need to give to the only One that can lift them from your shoulders. There is no need to carry them any longer when you have a wonderful Savior and Lord who desires to give you rest from them.

 

LEARNING DAILY

 

Matthew 7:7-8, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find, knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount

 

Jesus encouraged perseverance in prayer. He has already promised to take care of our needs, not our wants. Prayer is never a tool to try to manipulate God to get what we want. He is describing to us the attitude we are to approach God when we bring our requests before Him. God knows the requests we have before we bring them to Him; prayer is the means He has chosen to bring about the answers. It is also a statement letting us know that God always hears and listens to us when we pray.  

 

Scripture tells us that we do not always get what we pray for; wrong motives will cause our prayers not to be answered. The longer a Believer walks the narrow way with the Lord we know what His will is and we begin to ask according to His will. Prayer and the answer to pray does not increase one’s holiness, but it does show our dependency on Him for needs that can be met in no other way than through Him. Think back to the times Jesus healed someone and He said it was the person’s faith that brought the healing or result. God honors what is brought to Him in faith.

 

I think back to the times the word “seek” is used in God’s Word. Just what should we be seeking? The answer is God Himself. The writers of the Psalms use the word often and tell the blessings of seeking God with a whole heart. One of my favorite verses tells to “seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness”. Seeking is paying attention to the things we say, do, and think with our mind involved. It is putting God’s will before our own and setting our priorities on personal holiness. We “ask with a single request; but we “seek” in a more persistent, diligent manner. I found this that I thought was very good, “We ask with our mouths, more verbally, for our needs and desires. Believers seek with their minds – more than just asking; it is to set our priorities and focus with our heart.”

 

“Knocking” is to ask, ask again, and then to keep asking. It is an action; we live as God wants us to live on His narrow way. If we do not, the asking and seeking are not going to help.

 

Here is what I believe is central to this wonderful promise. God is listening and paying attention to His faithful followers when they come to Him. Remember God loves each of us more than we can imagine and desires to give good gifts to us. He does not put limits on us or laugh at what we think we need. He answers! I have heard often the answer might be an immediate “yes”. It might be yes but, for whatever reason, the answer might come at another time. And, He might answer “no”. He responds to our searching for answers, our lack of faith and the desire for our faith to increase. I believe God wants to hear from the followers; I believe He enjoys and seeks to fellowship with us. We just cannot manipulate Him!

 

I have included some thoughts on verse 8 already. Let me be specific. Answers to our prayers are dependent on our obedience to the will of God. When we ask, we are acknowledging that He hears our need(s). Jesus assures each of us that when we do not receive an answer to our prayers, we continue to believe and walk with Him and continue seeking answers. I would believe many of you continue to persist praying for the needs of loved ones and friends. Like me you continue to “knock” in your prayer for their need(s) even if they don’t know there is a need. We have the assurance from Jesus Christ Himself that those who ask will receive if they ask based on seeking God’s kingdom first, knowing that God loves you very much and knows what is good for you. The one asking must pray according to God’s will and maintain fellowship with Him.

 

 

LEARNING DAILY

 

Philippians 4:19, And my God shall supply all of your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

 

As Believers in this world right now, facing perilous times, and reading headlines and getting emails warning us of food shortages, $6.00/gallon gas prices, dollars being turned into digital currency, government shutdowns and all the rest of issues that cause us to worry, what do we do? They are valid concerns, right? However, worrying about these things will cause great stress and anxiety. The promise in today’s verse tells us that God knows how to take care of His people, those who place their faith in Him. We have already seen in other promises that he can take care of all that stress and anxiety and turn it into peace when we trust in Him.  After all, has he not been providing for His people since the days when he provided for Adam and Eve?

 

Let’s begin with what should be understood. Need and want are not the same thing! Needs will be met through Jesus Christ; He created all things and is in control of all things. Remember the manna He provided for His people who wandered around in the desert for forty years. The devil is always around, attacking scripture by making it confusing and trying to get it to say what it isn’t. For example, he uses prosperity preachers to get people to believe that by living for Jesus, all should be living in luxury and prosperity. That is just not true.

 

What is man’s greatest need? It is spiritual! In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave important teaching about this. He told us to not be concerned about what we wear or eat because our heavenly Father knows that we need these things. Instead, we are to seek His kingdom and His righteousness. The birds of the air, animals on the earth and those in the waters all know God provides for them. Isn’t it interesting that humans are the only part of creation that worries about food, clothing, and shelter! Humans seem to think they need to be concerned for these things and take care of this on their own. Please understand what I am saying here – God provides the opportunities for these things and it is up to us to use the opportunities for Him and not build our own pride.

 

While Jesus was on earth, He had nothing, no place to lay His head. Yet, He did not starve, was not attacked and eaten by wild animals, had shelter, never complained about his dress or sandals being old or outdated. His Father took care of Him. It was His faith and our faith needs to believe that our Father in heaven is looking out for us and takes care of us.

 

God has given me and my family more than we need. We have food, shelter, too many clothes and shoes. We can enjoy going to the coast to fish when we want, can still “enjoy” working out, and have good health. I can enjoy what God has provided or I can be depressed at what needs to be done with the house, lawn, or what might be coming! Instead, I can spend some time with the Lord each morning. I have to tell the devil to leave me alone constantly because of his attacks on my thoughts; I have to make a choice to come before God in prayer and to spend time reading/studying/ meditating on His Word every day. And, I must decide to spend time writing something that hopefully encourages others to walk a narrow way into God’s eternal kingdom. The promise is when we seek Him first and live like He desires, he will provide that which we need.

 

This verse can be taken out of context; I do not want to have done that. Believers will experience need in their life; the secret, in my opinion, is to place our trust in the One who can give what we need. There are days I need His strength to get me through the circumstances I face. I believe he will give that strength to meet the challenge. There are times we must go to Him in humility for help knowing that He supplies the power and the grace to we need to follow and serve Him and endure whatever we face. He supplies us with all we need – talking spiritually – because we are “in Christ”.

 LEARNING DAILY

 

John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.“  Jesus

 

This might be a continuation of a thought Dr. Ed Newton, Lead Pastor at Community Bible Church spoke in his message this past weekend, He said, “You will never know peace until you know grace and you will never know grace until you know Jesus”!  In the verse from John, Jesus said, “in Me you may have peace”. I mention this so you see the progression of the blog.

 

There are two promises. One, you will have tribulation in the world. Two we are to be of good cheer because even though there is tribulation, Jesus gives us peace because He has overcome the world.

 

Becoming a Christian does not mean life suddenly becomes one without trials, tribulations, and difficulties; life does not become suddenly easy! That’s probably an understatement. Jesus made this pretty clear in the opening verses of John 14. There isn’t a person alive that has not experienced trouble(s) of some sort. Difficulties come, often unexpectedly, stay too long, and are often difficult to forget and move on from. Jesus is telling His disciples about His coming arrest, His rejection, and His crucifixion. He does not want them to be under any misunderstanding that their coming ministry would be easy and comfortable, without their own trials. It needs to be understood that He wants His followers today to know that very same thing. Many followers of Jesus Christ around the world are experiencing difficulties and hardships beyond what Believers in America can comprehend. “America is resource rich and commitment poor” (Dr. Ed Newton). In America we have all the excuses why we do not walk the walk the Lord Jesus Christ wants us to walk. Think about that for a few minutes! We are familiar with the world system’s attempt to draw us away from living the life of Christ. Temptations are growing greater all of the time, the flesh continues to try to overcome our desire to live pure lives, and Satan continues to work in those areas of weakness we have. Worldly fears of how we are going to survive inflation, all the viruses that are around us, and just all the “stuff” we cannot control us. We are facing perilous times! What do we do?

 

Jesus gives us the answer in the second promise in this verse – “be of good cheer, I have overcome the world“. Born-again Believers are to remember what Jesus Christ has done for them; they are “in Christ”, and they are to be encouraged! Why? Because Jesus Christ has made the ultimate sacrifice, obtaining the ultimate victory, and nothing in the world can change that! Yes, difficult time will come, but nothing takes Him by surprise. When those times come, we are not to react in fear or confusion because we know God is in control of all things. We can trust Him and have the peace He gives because we can know the experiences He brings to us are part of His greater plan. Because He has experienced every difficulty and trial we face, we walk with Him through all we face with courage and trust in Him. We do not have to overcome the world because He already has.

 

Life is difficult; the Christian walk on the narrow way can be more difficult. The Bible does not promise the prosperity that many preach about. Jesu told us the narrow way would be difficult. But His promise is to walk with us through the difficulties we experience and to give us His peace. What we learn from John16;33 is that we can count on trouble. I don’t look for it but it comes. But we are also promised that we can take courage in the fact that Jesus is with us; He has overcome the world. Don’t be surprised when trouble comes. Instead, we take courage in the assurance that Jesus Christ is with us; our courage is not with ourselves but in the presence of Jesus!

 

What a promise! What a hope (our expectation and assurance) we have that our home, our true home is in Heaven.

 

LEARNING DAILY

 

Colossians 1:2, To the saints and the faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

I am going to ask you to do a tough thing. I am asking you to remember the last several pages of the blog. Do you remember they were about the Lord is faithful to cleanse us of unrighteousness when we confess our sins? Do you remember that the lord told Paul His grace was enough for him (and us) because His strength is made perfect in our weaknesses? I want you to remember this because of what Pastor Ed Newton said in his message this week as he began a study on the book of Colossians. He said, “You will never know peace until you know grace and you will never know grace until you know Jesus”! I want to tell you that blessed me tremendously because it summarizes some of the thoughts I have been writing.

 

Today, like in the days when Paul wrote “to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse”, the church has been infiltrated by false teachers who teach commitment to Jesus Christ and following His Word on a narrow path are not necessary to enter into the kingdom of heaven. The false teachers mix human philosophy and tradition with the gospel. They teach that our spiritual needs are not being met by following Jesus Christ and the New Testament teachings. Paul writes to the people of Colosse and to us, to tell it is Jesus Christ in our lives, not human wisdom or philosophies that redeems us (saves and changes us into the image of Christ).

 

Pasto Newton defined the “gospel” as the “Good News” and its truth “cannot be stopped (Listener Guide) because of the hope laid up for you in heaven” (v. 5). I liked his definition of “hope” – the expectation and anticipation that whatever is going on in our lives is going to change because Jesus went to prepare a place for us in heaven (John 14:1-4). This truth includes two words that are significant to the Believers relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ, “in Christ”.

 

Pastor stated that “in Christ” we have everything! Jesus lacks nothing!  Being a Believer means believing in Jesus Christ and His gospel, trusting Him and living in His presence (Life in the Spirit Study Bible). As Believers we need to get that down deep into our spirit and mind to help us walk that narrow way! “In Christ” is a common phrase used by Paul; it tells us of the very important position through faith that exists between Believers and their Savior and Lord. I wish I had everything Pastor said about this relationship. For those who heard what he said, reflect on it. For those who did not hear let me attempt to describe the importance of what being “in Christ” means. One who is “in Christ” is saved and in the process of being changed; therefore he/she is a new creation, the old has passed away. We no longer need to be slaves to sin because of Christ’s work on the cross, because of His mercy and grace. Because we are “in Christ” we stand holy and righteous before God, no longer condemned because of sin.  It means we have access to every spiritual blessing and the promises of God (remember the page of the blog about 2 Peter 1:3). We are members of the body of Christ – one Spirit, one Lord, one faith and one hope. We are continually being made ready to walk into eternal life in God’s kingdom. Our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life!

 

Believing this to be true, knowing what is written in the Word of God, we need to do all we can to live our lives in a manner that is worthy and pleasing to the Lord as we walk the narrow way into eternal life in His kingdom. Let this be an encouragement to you to do just that!

 LEARNING DAILY

 

2 Corinthians 12:9, And He said to Me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

 

GRACE. God’s grace. John Stott has said, “Grace is love that cares and stoops and rescues.” Jerry Bridges said, [Grace] is God reaching downward to people who are in rebellion against Him.” Max Lucado has written, Grace is God’s idea. His decision to ravage a people by love, to rescue passionately, and to restore justly – what rivals it? Of all His wonderous works, grace, in my estimation, is the magnum opus.”

 

It has been said that grace is getting what we don’t deserve and not getting what we deserve. All of us deserve death because of sin. But because of God’s initiative in sending Jesus Christ to die in our place, He showed just how much He loves every person. Every person who receives the forgiveness Jesus offers does so by God’s grace. It is then that same grace drives our sanctification (the process by which we are made holy). Spiritual growth does not happen overnight. Titus 2:11-13, “for by the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works’. Through God’s grace He transforms our desires, our motivation, and our behavior so we become like Him.

 

I am going to be very direct – following Jesus Christ does not mean a person will be worldly successful. That is a lie! Jesus told us that walking the narrow way would be difficult. It is! The apostle Paul was afflicted with an unspecified “thorn in the flesh”. Whatever it was, Paul continuously asked God to take it from him and God said “no”! Was it something that kept Paul walking in humility with God? Perhaps. God told him that His grace was enough. His grace was fully capable of providing everything he needed to walk the narrow way, all he needed to endure his suffering. God told Paul that power was made perfect in weakness; that meant He was more than enough to strengthen Paul, giving him the endurance to push forth. God was enough to satisfy every need and face every trial in his life.

 

There are some thoughts that should be understood regarding this verse. God’s focus is on His will being completed or accomplished. He may use uncomfortable situations in our lives to accomplish His will. Suffering of some type may be used to draw one of His followers closer to Him, to keep him/her on the narrow way by depending more on Him. He may even allow Satan and his demons to work in order to accomplish His purpose(s); think back to the book of Job. God is not concerned about His followers living a life of leisure, ease and being without pain. His desire is that we grow stronger in our faith and trust in Him.

 

Paul learned through this thorn in the flesh to boast in his weakness because it was in that weakness, He knew that Jesus Christ was his strength. Each of us needs to refocus on God and take our eyes off our situation, our circumstances, our health, or whatever is our weakness is and look to Him to be our strength, the One who will see us through. Lean on Him and not your own abilities. Grace is the presence of favor and power of God. He gives what is sufficient for each of us to live our daily lives, to do all things for Him, and to endure our “thorn(s) in the flesh”. As we draw close to Him, He gives us His strength and comfort. Then we can boast as Paul did that our strength is found in our weakness because Christ’s power is with us as we walk the narrow way into eternity in His Kingdom.

 

Thank you Father for Your GRACE!

 

LEARNING DAILY

 

1 John 1:9, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 

I know I have written about the need to know this verse in many of the pages of the blog.  Yet, every Believer must understand the need to confess the sin they commit. Anyone who believes they stop sinning after he/she is saved is fooling themselves. Sin is a part of the human nature. In verse 8, John is writing to counter those who deny sin is a part of human nature or who believe their action (evil actions) are not really sin (from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible). Believers today must be aware that the flesh or the sinful nature is a constant threat to our walk on the narrow way. Therefore, we must be continually putting to death the evil deeds of the flesh by walking the way God’s Word instructs us each day.

 

John’s writing in verse 9 is the fourth “if” statement in this letter. We are going to sin. But “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. The sin we commit needs to be confessed; it must be a part of the Christian’s walk on the narrow way. This is written to believers. It is assurance of God’s promise to forgive us and remove the impact of sin on our fellowship with Him. Yes, sin is forgiven the moment that one asks Jesus into their hearts. However, after that moment we do not stop sinning. Salvation is not a license to just do anything we desire because our sins are forgiven. We are to walk the narrow way where the Holy Spirit continues to cleanse and purify us in order to walk into the kingdom of God. We are to walk the best way we know; however, in doing that we make mistakes – we still sin. Admit it because you know exactly what I am writing about. When we sin, we ask for forgiveness and God cleanses us. Then we do our best to walk as He desire.

 

Sin creates a barrier between God and us. Confession and the true desire to not do so again (repentance) is necessary in our relationship with the Lord. Do you understand that the heart of this promise is God’s promise that He loves you so much and nothing can separate you from Him – except sin. So, He promises to forgive you when you come to Him in true repentance, asking Him to forgive you. “He is faithful” to His people. He knows we are weak and prone to give into temptations and the old sin nature. He tells us He will forgive us when we confess. What He has promised he will do! It is against His nature to say He will do something and then not do it. To say He forgives and cleanses is not just some religious gibberish; it is a truth, a promise we can be guaranteed will happen, based on who God is.

 

We confess our sins because we are flawed people living in a terribly flawed world. When we confess, we are laying our poor choice of words, are sinful actions, our impure thoughts, our pride and arrogance, our self-centered desires, and our lack of trust at the foot of the cross and asking the God of mercy and grace to forgive and change us in order to be more like Him.  It is a deliberate choice on our part asking to walk closer to and be more like the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Do not fear confessing your sins to Him. Do not try to cover up your sins. Adam and Eve tried to hide from God when they ate from the forbidden tree. God knew what they did and knew where they were hiding. He knows our thoughts, hears our words, and sees the actions we make. He does not want to bring down wrath. No, He wants us to confess our sins and experience the spiritual freedom only Jesus Christ can as he removes anything and everything that hinders His people from enjoying His presence and His promises.

 

Is there anything you need to confess to Him in order to walk more closely with Him right now? Our Father in heaven wants to have nothing come between you and His love. Go ahead and take a few minutes to thank Him for His love and the promise He has made to forgive and cleanse you of all unrighteousness when you confess the sin(s) you have committed. Go ahead, right now!

 

LEARNING DAILY

 

2 Peter 1:4, For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

 

Several days ago, 1 Peter 1:3 was written about. The verse states that when a person becomes a Christian through the salvation He offers, he/she is “given everything that pertains to life and godliness”. There is no additional human wisdom or anything else that is needed to complete one’s perfect salvation. The person must walk on the narrow way that leads to eternal life in God’s kingdom.

 

As Believers, we are not missing anything to walk the life that God wants us to live. God called us and equips us to follow the example He set for us as He walked this earth. Because we accepted His call to believe in Him by giving our hearts to Him, He gave something worth great value – promises. My wife and I often laugh at television shows or movies where the police are quick to promise to solve the mystery or find the one “who did it”. Of course, it is television and the one making the promise always is able to keep their promise in all of about 40 minutes. We humans are pretty quick to make promises because we want to have the person being promised believe we are going to fulfill it; it is an attempt to make the person feel better because a “promise” was made. Whenever a promise is considered reliable, no one receives anything until the promise is completely fulfilled. For example, consider the coming elections. Every candidate makes promises. How many of those promises are quickly forgotten when the individual is voted into office? Just a thought.

 

Humans make promises and many are never kept. But the promises in 1 Peter 1:4 are not human promises. God’s promises are always kept – He cannot lie. When He makes a promise, it is a certainty it is going to be kept. So, what has God promised us? He has promised whoever comes to Him and walks on His narrow way will spend eternity with Him in His kingdom. He has promised each person who is saved by Him that He will change them and they will receive in His nature in order to conform to Him and His righteousness. He has promised each of us will have purpose and meaning in Him forever. He has promised that when we walk in faithfulness, He will keep us from being polluted by the evil and corruption found in the world. Look at the verse again and see that through the promises God gives His people. By walking with Him, His promises are so great that he has given us the right to possess His “divine nature”. That means we share in His nature and are able to live the life He demands we live as His faithful followers right now. Living in the kingdom of God begins when we ask Him to be our Savior and Lord, to change us.

 

In the days ahead, let’s examine some important promises from God’s Word.

 

LEARNING DAILY

 

1 Peter 2:11-12, Dear brothers and sisters, you are foreigners and aliens here. So I warn you to keep away from the evil desires because they fight against your very souls. Be careful to live properly among unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world. (New Living Translation)

 

This weekend’s message included a discussion of four different topics. I believe that the verse above (verse 12) best summarizes the thought of what was spoken. I did add verse 11 to give further information. Peter tells Christians to stop indulging their sinful desires, to stop acting like the unsaved and start acting like they are no longer of this world. Because Christ has saved us, we are still in the world, but heaven, God’s kingdom is the kingdom we live for. The world is no longer the place we try to fit into the world’s views because our worldview is now to be biblical.

 

Yes, the world and the people of the world continue to live in the old sinful nature. I continue to go back to the words of Jesus who said the narrow way would be difficult. Our old self wants us to continue to sin; we are human. Peter wrote that sin continually attacks us; but because Jesus has saved us, we have the Holy Spirit continually helping us to say no to the temptations. As we walk the narrow way, we must continually choose the correct ways that are appropriate for God’s people. Do not give in to sin. I believe we miss the idea we must say no!

 

That brings us to verse 12. One of the pastors who spoke said the moment we get saved, we begin living in a fishbowl. In other words, once we profess we are saved by Jesus Christ, people begin to watch us to see if we change. They are watching to see if you do life differently. Do you treat people differently? Do you talk differently? Do “things” and “stuff” matter to you as much as they used to? People are watching; you do not become isolated. They see you and you see them. Do you get the picture? You need to walk the talk!

 

People want to see you slip up because they want to accuse you or belittle your belief in Jesus Christ. They may ignorantly accuse you of things you never did. So, we focus on walking on the narrow way, to living the best we know how, making the best choices possible. People notice the good works we do; let’s believe they will point someone to ask what is different about us. If asked, be ready to explain that Jesus Christ has saved and changed you. You allow the Holy Spirit to give you the words to speak. That’s a great honor, by the way!

 

I believe that every Believer must live out their faith daily. We walk on the narrow way living out our faith because others will recognize we do good works because of our faith. Will it stop the ignorance and strong feelings against Christians? I do not know! But it can sure demonstrate that Christians are not dangerous or evil. It is my prayer that each of us walk strongly in our faith in Jesus Christ and by being obedient to His Word and following the leading of the Holy Spirit each day.

 LEARNING DAILY

 

2 Peter 1:3, as His divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him called us by glory and virtue,

 

There are Christians walking the narrow way that struggle with sin and are spiritually weak. Jesus said the walk on the narrow way would be a difficult one. It is difficult because the world, Satan, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life continually tempt those on the narrow way. Have they not been equipped by God? Are they missing something? Peter answers these question that they are not missing anything! All Believers have been equipped spiritually to walk the narrow way God has for us to walk into eternity in His kingdom. The choice is to use the tools God has given us; it just requires effort on the part of every Believer and the choice needs to be made many times each day.

 

There is no additional technique or course to be completed in God’s Word to perfect our salvation. The words of Jesus are enough to save the lost and guide/protect us as we walk on the narrow way. There is absolutely nothing we can do to make ourselves more saved than we are through Jesus Christ! God’s power through His son gives us everything we need to live and walk the narrow way of godliness and righteousness. To know the Father through the Son is the only way to live as God demands we live. Jesus Christ is the standard for how all Believers are to live. He calls each of us “to deny ourselves, pick up our cross and to follow Him” (Matthew 16:24). It is a choice that each of us must make for ourselves.

 

What a privilege it has been to walk with Jesus Christ in this way! I have struggled often because wrong choices have been made far too many times. Too often I have tried to lean on my own understanding and do what I wanted, ignoring the still small voice of the Holy Spirit. Yet, He never gave up on me and those wrong choices do not dominate me anymore. Temptations still come my way but His divine power has given me the power to say no to those temptations as they come my way. God’s power through the study of and the belief in His Word has granted me “everything that pertains to life and godliness”. It is only by trusting in His promises in His Word that we become partakers of His power and live the way He desires.

 

I want to continue looking at the promises of God in coming pages of the blog.

 

LEARNING DAILY

 

Psalm 33:12, Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance.

 

My wife has done a cross stitch that has this verse from the Psalms at its center.  Walking by it last night caught my attention for some reason. I like this verse because it gives great promise to a nation whose people declares God to be their God. Proverbs 14:34 declares, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” Government and the leaders of government are an extension of the people they represent. Conservative leaders are elected by people who believe in those principles of thought; liberal leaders are elected by people who believe in that trend of thought. Those elected officials are then to represent the particular thoughts of those who elected them. I might add that when the nation follows the direction, God’s blessing results. When the nation does not follow God’s direction and is disobedient, natural consequences result.  

 

Throughout history nations have depended on military and even economic power to be their strength. However, the real power of a nation comes from their moral strength. Government always turns to the desires of the people. In our nation, the people place the leaders in their position and then seem to go along with whatever they do. When righteous people are in high positions, we have seen the nation be strong; wickedness in people of high positions cause the nation to be weak.  Do you see that in the verses mentioned? Do you see that in the history of our country? Refer to the people living during the time of the Judges. You remember that when the people of Israel did what was “right in their own eyes” God sent their enemies to subject them to their consequences. But, when they turned to Him, he delivered them. During the reign of the kings in Israel, when God was their true King, Israel prospered. They were “blessed” and were happy.

 

When David wrote this, Israel was surrounded by pagan nations; he wrote to say how fortunate the people of Israel were to have God as their Lord. They were blessed to have the Creator of the universe be their Lord; they were “His chosen people, His own inheritance”. The psalm is a call for the people to worship the One True God, express their reverence for Him and to come before Him in awe and wonder. Afterall, Israel was in a unique position in God’s plans and purposes.

 

As Christians, today, we also have a unique position in God’s plans. Not one of us can boast in our relationship to Him since our salvation is rooted only in His divine mercy. Our salvation is due to His son on a cross taking our rightful place for our sinfulness. As children of God, we are blessed to have been born into this dispensation of grace; we have been chosen as His inheritance and must identify ourselves as joint heirs of Christ.

 

I fear that this nation is moving in the same direction as so many nations of the world who are choosing to rebel against God. Is the blessing of God being withdrawn from this nation? Is the evil we are seeing grow in this nation a sign that this age is drawing near and a seven-year period of tribulation is approaching? Is this nation a nation who has God as their Lord? It seems that each of us has to come to an answer to these questions. Each of us must make the answers personal and decide about our walk on a narrow way.

 

I am so thankful for the personal relation we can have with the Creator of all things. Each day He makes our relationship with Him new as we read/study/meditate on His word and as we spend time in prayer giving Him thanksgiving for who He is and for His grace given to us. I fear His blessing are being taken from this nation because people are rebelling against Him. You and I must “stay ready by staying close to Him, so we do not have to get ready” (Dr. Ed Newton).

 

LEARNING DAILY

 

Ezekiel 33:7, So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me.

 

I have been interested in the word “watchman”. Henry Blackaby has defined a watchman as “one who has been uniquely equipped by God to see what others do not see and has a unique capacity to see and ears to hear when the enemy is invading. The enemy comes disguised, but a spiritual watchman is very alert and blows the trumpet and gives a sound so that family members can be quickly warned and not be defeated. Or he may be given spiritual eyes to see that something is happening in the church. The watchman suddenly realizes that something has come in and there is turmoil and dissention and conflict.” You get the idea, right? It is not just a special ability to see and hear but that he blows the trumpet; he gives warning that an enemy is approaching or has entered.

 

Watchmen in the Bible were guards responsible for the protection of towns by keeping watch for enemy attacks and other potential dangers. The Bible also refers to watchmen in a spiritual sense. Ezekiel was told he was a watchman to the people of Israel. He was to speak to the people what God told him to speak. He was to urge the people to live faithfully according to the will of God and warn them of the dangers of chasing after any philosophy contrary to God’s teachings. The prophets were also to warn the ungodly of judgment and destruction that would come their way if they did not repent or change their lifestyles. The prophet’s responsibility was to warn the people; their decision was not his responsibility.

 

I believe it is safe to say that all Christians are called to be watchmen. We are told to “be alert”, “to watch and wait”, and ‘’to be ready and waiting”. Perhaps it is just to be ready to witness to one who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. It might be to warn a young Christian of the dangers of walking too close to the edge of the narrow way. Whatever the Lord calls us to do we follow the admonition of Paul in Ephesians 4:15, “to speak the truth in love”. That was the way Jesus Christ lived as He walked this earth. He may give you a sense that something is wrong in a person’s life where loving counsel might be given or to give a word of encouragement when needed. The situation may even require a bolder approach where the dangers of not walking in a godly way be needed. All is done in love; what the person does with it is his responsibility.

 

I want to encourage each reader to be bold when God alerts you to possible dangers for an individual or a group. We are living in “perilous times” as Timothy wrote. Watchmen are still needed to warn of the coming dangers of judgment. Many are not paying attention. It is through prayer and righteous living, by walking on a narrow way that we discern the word of God, to give warning to the dangers and ideas that are being tossed around to deceive and keep those in deception already. It is the responsibility of the watchmen in the body of Christ to stand in faith and to both warn of the dangers coming and to bring encouragement to stand in faith, to watch, and to be alert.  

 LEARNING DAILY

 

Job 1:8, Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”

 

I am not sure why the authors of the Chronological Bible I am reading for my devotional this year has placed the book of Job in this particular place. When it was written is not my purpose today. My purpose goes back to the thoughts about why a just and loving God permits a faithful and upright man like Job to go through the intense suffering he had to endure. For those who want to say and do all they can to discredit God when there seems to be prosperity in the land, do so even more when stuff happens.

 

That takes us to the faithful who must endure the hardships occurring around them with the ungodly. This was no doubt happening in biblical days when Jerusalem was destroyed and people were taken to Babylon. After remaining true to God while all others chased after the idols and philosophies of the nations around them, their reward was the same. They saw their children were killed. They experienced the same famine as everyone else. They were taken captive along with everyone else. One might wonder what happened to the promises given to the righteous and faithful! Where is the justice of God in difficult circumstances? God’s Word tells us the wicked will be punished; what sin(s) has led to the suffering of the righteous?

 

These are the questions generations of people have asked because of facing death, sorrow, pain, and suffering. That takes us to considering Job. The author writes that God gives Satan permission to test the faith of Job to see if it is genuine or not. He is allowed to afflict Job with all sorts of suffering – his family is all taken from him, he suffers all sorts of physical and mental (due to his friends) difficulties and has basically lost all things in his life. Yet, he is unwavering and fixed on his faith, even when there seems to be no reason, no benefit to remaining committed to God. He seems to be determined to understand why doing all he can to live the life God wants him to live, God is now treating him as a sinner that deserves divine punishment. His friends were certainly no help in understanding what he had done. And God remained silent.

 

God is beyond my ability to understand what He does or what He allows to happen in the lives of Believers; what He does is beyond the human mind to comprehend because our ability to see what God does or has planned for tomorrow. Believers must realize that our faith is not based on what blessings God has given to us, or in our personal circumstances but in the knowledge of God desiring to be the center of our lives. Like Job, God sometimes allows Satan to test our faith with difficulty in order to purify our walk on the narrow way. As gold is refined by fire, the testing of our faith results in a walk of greater integrity and humility.

 

Perhaps the lesson we must take away from the reading of Job is that God is sovereign and in control of every situation we face. Satan was allowed to do all sorts of terrible things to Job; God, however, set the limits to what he could do. Such is the view Believers need to understand regarding evil in this world. That being said, there are godly purposes for the circumstances we face, the suffering we go through that has nothing to do with sin or punishment. Trust in God with a whole heart and do not lean on your own understanding when you are going through those difficult times we do not understand.

 LEARNING DAILY

 

John 15:19, “If you were of this world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” Jesus

 

Dr. Ed Newton, Lead Pastor at Community Bible Church, has said often in his series dealing with social issues, “Culture does not define our Bible; our Bible defines our culture.” By definition culture means “the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements, of a nation, people or other social group” (Oxford Dictionary). As Christians we believe God is at the very center of that definition; the world system (unbelievers) believe mankind is the center of these things. Pride would desire people to believe all their achievements, customs, etc., are due to their own abilities and intellect.

 

The unbelieving world prefers selfish, self-centered desires over living the life that walks a narrow way, honoring God. From the sermon Listener Guide, “Our society is considered ever changing and to be shaped by individual experiences, personal choices, and cultural evolution”. Think back to the page of the blog where “isms” were discussed and remember they are constantly changing. Pastor Newton discussed the idea of gender identity in his message. In essence, he stated that “a woman is no longer defined by biology but based on feelings, desires, inclinations, and what feels natural”. He mentioned that today there are 107 gender identities. To give an example of this he told of boys and girls are identifying as dogs and cats and elementary teachers have to place “sandboxes” in their rooms. Are you getting the absurdity of this?

 

Biblical faith is being slandered as evil, hateful, closed-minded and ignorant because Christians are not tolerant of those who do not conform to biblical standards. Christians are called by God to be different from what the world defines as acceptable; Christians are called to live a more honorable life than living in sin. Those living in the world respond to those choosing to honor God in hatred and mockery.

 

Consider the words of Jesus before and after this verse and you will see He was reassuring Christians that being persecuted for walking as He desires – the narrow way – is a sign that we are being associated with Him and is proof that our beliefs are in line with biblical teachings. As Christians we must be careful to not be ignorant of this issue of gender identification; “we must always walk in truth, absolute truth determined by God and accountable to Him” (Listener Guide). “Transgenderism, for example, is a sin. But it is not greater than any other sin. Sin is sin.” (Pastor Newton) Pastor Newton referred to Psalm 139:14 where the psalmist wrote that we are, “fearfully and wonderfully made”. When we say we are not what God made us, we are saying God made a mistake. I agree with the pastor that as Christians, believing that the Word of God is “breathed by God, and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). We love those who do not agree with this biblical worldview and must always be willing and ready to explain the hope we have in Scripture. If you have walked the narrow way for very long, those who know you that believe the world’s view of gender will know your views on this topic. Be ready to share with them when God’s timing happens. Until that time, love them but walk in God’s truth.