My Utmost for His Highest - March 25th - The Most Delicate Mission on Earth

He who has the bride is the groom; but the friend of the groom, who stands and listens to him, rejoices greatly because of the groom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. - John 3:29

Goodness and purity ought never to attract attention to themselves, they ought simply to be magnets to draw to Jesus Christ. If my holiness is not drawing towards Him, it is not holiness of the right order, but an influence that will awaken inordinate affection and lead souls away into side-eddies. A beautiful saint may be a hindrance if he does not present Jesus Christ but only what Christ has done for him. He will leave the impression --"What a fine character that man is!" That is not being a true friend of the Bridegroom; I am increasing all the time, He is not.

In order to maintain this friendship and loyalty to the Bridegroom, we have to be more careful of our moral and vital relationship to Him than of any other thing, even of obedience. Sometimes there is nothing to obey, the only thing to do is to maintain a vital connections with Jesus Christ, to see that nothing interferes with that. Only occasionally do we have to obey. When a crisis arises we have to find out what God's will is, but the greater part of the life is not conscious obedience but the maintenance of this relationship--the friend of the Bridegroom. Christian work may be a means of evading the soul's concentration on Jesus Christ. Instead of being friends of the Bridegroom, we may become amateur providences, and may work against Him whilst we use His weapons.

Oswald Chambers - From My Utmost for His Highest Classic Edition

- Underlines and highlights are courtesy of Mom from her Print Edition

Mark 12:28-31 - The Greatest Commandments

Mark 12:28-31
28 One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; 30 AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’ 31 The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”


Message: The Greatest Commandments

Time: Mark's personal connection with Peter gave him the source material for this book. This book was composed probably between AD 57 and AD 59. It's a book that is on the move, leading to the cross. 39 times is the word 'immediately' used. Mark reveals Jesus as God's servant, reaching into the lives of people and effecting physical and circumstantial change.

What the Lord is Saying:

Preface - Jesus has answered his critics questions. Most recently the question was about the resurrection and what it would like to us upon resurrection in the way of marriage. We will not be married. We will have everything that we need in Christ. For God is the God of the living not the dead. His ways are always the same. He is the God of the now, not simply then. He says, "I AM" not "I was." Jesus is in Jerusalem on his way to die and then be resurrected as he has predicted 3 times.

One of the scribes came and heard them arguing - I believe they were discussing, not necessarily arguing. This one scribe comes to Jesus with a reasonable question. This scribe recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him. So this scribe is different from the others, accepting the words of Jesus. When Jesus answers the scribes question What commandment is the foremost of all? his response is actually not real different from anything he has said previously. In fact, when He and the disciples walked back into Jerusalem and Peter saw the fig tree and that it was withered Jesus responds with a two-fold response of Have Faith in God or believe me, believe me what I say and then soon after tells them to forgive their neighbors. The message is a little different but the focus is on God, then neighbor.

This is what Jesus mentions again now in the 2 greatest commandments - Love God, Love Neighbor. That is easily the central message of our lives that really stands in contrast with any other message of this day from any religious body or group: Love God, Love Neighbor. Have Faith in God and Forgive. This is what needs to motivate my life each day. This is it.

I love that message. HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; 30 AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH. It is interesting here. RC Sproul comments that we love God in 4 ways - with our heart, with our soul, with our mind, with our strength.

The second commandment is somehow simpler. There is a contrast in the type of love we have for God and the type of love we have for neighbor. It is a given that we love ourselves. We don't simply love our neighbor, but we do it AS YOURSELF. This is very true. We love ourselves. And this love gets greater when we realize who we are in Christ and that God loves us so much.

I was listening to a message yesterday from Tom Nelson of Denton Bible Church, an older message maybe from 10 years ago he did in Matthew and it reminded me of how rules based we are in our lives and how heart-based God is. God is most concerned about our hearts. And this message of loving God and loving neighbors begins in the heart. It can't simply be a rule will follow. But rather it is a condition of our heart. I often struggle to understand or communicate to people what living for Jesus is really about and somehow I think it is this notion that God wants to change our heart, not just change how we do a few things in our lives.

Sometimes i have difficult figuring out what sin I have broken. I get to this point at times where I don't think I've done anything bad but at its core I don't really love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. And I definitely don't love my neighbor as I do myself. What I want is often what is most important.

Summary - Jesus responds to the question from one of the scribes, a scribe that believed Jesus had responded well to the the Sadducees question. He asks for the greatest commandment and Jesus gives two commandments, thus though there are 2 they are together. We cannot truly love God without loving our neighbor and we cannot truly love our neighbor without loving God.

Promise: Love for God on account of who He is in Himself is the highest form of love that creatures can show. It is love God with all of the power that we can muster; with our mind it is studying His ways and His character as revealed in His Word; with our soul it is means loving Him passionately; with our heart it means loving God from the very root of our being.

Prayer: Lord, first of all, forgive me God for the way in which I have loved you. Each day I seek out first ways to please myself or love myself rather than loving You. Yesterday was church and I find that church is only good if it pleases me, but you remind me that it is about loving You with all that is in my being. So forgive me for thinking that I know better. I want to be in that place to Love you with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength. I admit I don't know what that looks like much of the time. Help me to know how to communicate this with others. And I want to love others the way I love myself. It's easy to have this love for my wife, but sometimes not as easy with even my kids and then those that I would call neighbors. I should be sacrificing more of myself for them. You are Savior and Lord. You are king. You are Lord of All. I want to praise You.

Mark 8:36-37 - The Value of the Human Soul

Mark 8:36-37
36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? 37 For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Message: The Value of the Human Soul

Time: Mark's personal connection with Peter gave him the source material for this book. This book was composed probably between AD 57 and AD 59. It's a book that is on the move, leading to the cross. 39 times is the word 'immediately' used. Mark reveals Jesus as God's servant, reaching into the lives of people and effecting physical and circumstantial change.

What the Lord is Saying: 

Preface - Jesus is headed to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. On the way he questions the disciples as to who He is and they answer He is the Christ, the Jewish Messiah. He tells them what the Son of Man must do, but Peter rebukes Jesus, and then Jesus reminds them his purpose is not man's purpose. He speaks to the multitude and the disciples that to follow Jesus means we deny ourselves and take up our cross.

As a follower of Christ, our lives look different from the life and even the perspectives of the world. My will is not the goal, but rather I follow Christ at whatever the cost. When I look at the cross in that day and what it meant to people that died by this instrument, the cross meant people would be opposed, experience shame, suffer and die. Conversely, I do not look for these situations, but if they come my way, while following Christ, I do not resist them. I stay obedient to the Bible and the Word of God. I listen to the Holy Spirit leading me. In living this way I experience eternal life. I cannot simply say a prayer and then continue to life in comfort, ease, acceptance, and safety when Jesus often calls me in a different area.

This is hard because the world I live in trains me to not be near uncomfortable situations. Instead I am trained to be entertained. Jesus said that to lose my life is to save it. This means to lose my will or to lose the things that I want out of life is to save it. My life is not my own. It is Christ's and being conformed to the teaching and example of Christ. God is sovereign and a person's degree of suffering, oppositions, toil, loss of power, unsafe environments is guided by Christ. Some Christians experience a great amount of suffering. No matter what I am to deny myself - die to the notion that I must be first.
He has already offered that a losing life is a saved life. He now says for what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul.There is no profit in gaining all the money, all the honor, all the approval, all the comfort, all the safety. There is no profit in this because I forfeit my soul when I gain the whole world. You can't buy a soul out of hell. This points us back to the desire of saving my life (v. 35).

To gain the whole world is to decide that my goals are just that, mine, for my life. My soul is the inner part of my person and encompasses my true identity. He says what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Nothing. There is nothing that can be given in exchange for one's soul. Instead I am to deny myself, take up the cross; I am to lose my life.

Summary - Jesus is continuing to emphasize what it means to follow Him. Peter rebuked Jesus when Jesus stated his purposed because Peter wanted his purpose of Jesus to come true. But, Jesus corrects him and in so doing clearly shows that God's will for our lives is not our own. We must deny what we have come to define as an important life.

Promise: In response to losing my life, I cannot seek to gain the whole world instead and hope that my life will be saved.

Prayer - Lord, I often live my life in a way that protects me from any suffering, any uncomfortable situation. I want to listen to You Lord. I want to choose what you have for me. Too often my life ideal looks no different from others in the world. Lord, as I interact with people in need and continue to live my life without need I am living contrary to where you are leading me. I am at a point where I do not know what needs to be next for me. Lord, what does this look like in my life. Expose in me how I am seeking after the world. Expose in me how I am losing my life. 

Psalm 119:169-176 - Crying Out To Understand

Psalm 119:169-176

169 Let my cry come before You, O Lord;
Give me understanding according to Your word.
170 Let my supplication come before You;
Deliver me according to Your word.
171 Let my lips utter praise,
For You teach me Your statutes.
172 Let my tongue sing of Your word,
For all Your commandments are righteousness.
173 Let Your hand be ready to help me,
For I have chosen Your precepts.
174 I long for Your salvation, O Lord,
And Your law is my delight.
175 Let my soul live that it may praise You,
And let Your ordinances help me.
176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant,
For I do not forget Your commandments.

Message: Crying Out to Understand 

Time: Based upon authorship and subject matter, Psalms cover a range of centuries. David is mentioned 73 times, Solomon 2, Moses 1, and 50 designate no specific person. It is believed they were compiled around 537 BC. The psalms deal with such subjects as God and His creation, war, worship, wisdom, sin and evil, judgment, justice, and the coming of the Messiah.

What the Lord is Saying:

This is the concluding passage of Psalm 119. There have been 22 lessons I have done on this Psalm. The Blessedness of keeping God's Law, God's Word in the Heart, A longing for God's Word, The Power and desire to obey, A heart inclined to God's Law, Saved to Testify, The Word of God in Times of Trouble, Not forgetting God's Law, The Word of God and Affliction, God's Word, Affliction, and Glory, God's Sustaining Word, God's Fixed and Enduring Word, Love for God's Law, The Joy of God's Law, A Lamp to our Feet, The Single-Minded Law of God, When Others Don't Keep God's Law, Faithful Obedience, The Nearness of God in His Word, Seeking God's Statutes, The Treasure of God's Word.

So just looking at those titles is clear to see that this Psalm has been about the high honor we place on God's Word and hiding it in our heart. It lasts the test of time. It endures for all time and we are to be near to it, inclining our heart to it continually. 

I need to be near it. It needs to continue to be the center of my life. As I look out at my study of this, I see it started in August 2015, so I've been at it over 2 years. Honestly, that is too long. I am a little saddened that this tells me that for a tabletalk reading of 250 readings, I've been at it over 750 days, which is 1 every 3 days. The only good news is I haven't given up and continue to persevere. 

In addition to Tabletalk, I have also relied on various commentaries, including lately the books I have on the Psalms by John Phillips, copyright 1987. John Phillips (1927-2010) served as assistant director of the Moody Correspondence School as well as director of the Emmaus Correspondence School, one of the world’s largest Bible correspondence ministries. He also taught in the Moody Evening School and on the Moody Broadcasting radio network.

LORD, HEAR ME (169-172)

The Prayer: For Enlightenment (169)

Let my cry come before You, O Lord; Give me understanding according to Your word.  As I have even said in this reading earlier, I'm been on a quest for knowledge, but it is really for understanding. It is better to understand, as is clearly shown here, than simply amass more knowledge. In understanding, the Word becomes part of me, not just a reference book. And I want to be changed by the Word of God. Here in this verse is the cry of the Psalmist - O Lord, Give me understanding according to Your Word. That is profound. Again, my favorite verse of Proverbs 3:5 that says, Lean not on my own understanding. I don't want to be trained and live by my own understanding, but rather I want my understanding to be according to God's Word. 

The Prayer: For Enablement (170)

Let my supplication come before You; deliver me according to Your word. He cried for understanding and then also brought his request before Him to be delivered. He had a thirst for the Word taking up ownership in His life. Here, he mentions needing to be delivered, not just from circumstances, but from his doubts. He had cried, he had prayed, and yet change had not occurred. Perhaps he was holding onto God's promises, acting his life in a way that honored God, praying, fasting, and praying again and yet, through these actions, the results did not come. Could something be getting in the way, perhaps even a darkness and wicked spirit getting in the way. He pleaded that he needs his supplication to come before God. The Devil is scheming and we need protection of the Word of God in our life. 

The Promise: He Would Praise the Lord (171)

Let my lips utter praise, for You teach me Your statutes. O the joy that I receive when I understand the statutes, the words of God. I have seen it in my family as well, in Pamela, in Megan, and in Tyson. Derek, I am waiting. It will come. But, there is such excitement and joy and praise to God as the Spirit intercedes and interprets the Bible sometimes directly, sometimes through a preacher or a commentary, or a song or even a person, but the Joy that I receive when it comes into my life. How exciting when I discover a truth that is in the Bible? Where did that come from? Wow. This book is incredible. 

The Promise: He Would Proclaim the Word (172)

Let my tongue sing of Your word, for all Your commandments are righteousness.  I have seen in the last 24 hours the destructiveness of my tongues. How I need to be silent more, praying more, and expounding less. I need to keep myself quiet and not try so hard to make sense of things. Instead, let it sing of God's word. My brother does such a great job with this. Bobby, my friend, does as well. That is what I need to be boasting about - God's word and not leaning on my own understanding. It starts with verse 169 - Give me understanding. I want it to move from a text to an understanding. Maybe it is, through my mistakes. As I said earlier, it is the word of God that I need to meditate on. It and it alone.

LORD, HELP ME (173-176)

Lord, Save Me: The Ground of the Appeal (173b)

For I have chosen Your precepts. I choose God's word. I'm not choosing to be guided by anything else in life. I come before the Lord, expecting him to act and word, not because of another philosophy but because I have chosen His Word

Lord, Save Me: The Greatness of the Appeal (173a)

Let Your hand be ready to help me. I am not asking help from a pastor, a saint, Mary, a statue, or any other form. I want Your Hand. I want You Lord. I come before the Throne room of God and beseech You O God. 

Lord, Satisfy Me (174)

I long for Your salvation, O Lord, and Your law is my delight. It is clear from the preceding verses that the Psalmist is not getting what he desires. He is asking and is not receiving. He thinks something is obstructing his asking and yet in spite of all of this he continues with the plea to the Gospel of Salvation and continues to proclaim that the Law is his delight. What a great encouragement and challenge to us today. Society is replete with people who punt God because he does not supply their every need. Many get the comforts of life, and good job, good family, healthy for a while, a nice house, all the time thinking those things come their way but when something bad happens and they call on God and don't get what they want, they throw up their arms in disgust and leave. O Lord, I don't want to be this type of person. I don't want to be that person that thinks I must get my way, all the time, and when I don't, I abandon you. 

Lord, Strengthen Me: Wrought in Him (175a)

Let my soul live. He pleads once again to the Lord to let his soul live. Bring me alive God. 

Lord, Strengthen Me: Brought from Him 

Let my soul live that it may praise You Why does he want his soul to live? In order to Praise God. Let me wake up in order to praise You. I don't want to resent or be angry God at you, so wake me up to praise You. 

Lord, Strengthen Me: Taught to Him (175b)

And let Your ordinances help me. He wants God's word to be the help and the vehicle to help him Praise Him. He asks God to have his soul live, being aided by God's word. 

Lord, Seek Me: Straying

There have been 175 verses sung to this point, exemplifying and extolling the great Word of God and leaning on the Law of God and how does this Psalmist Conclude? Maybe not as I would expect. I see honesty. I have gone astray like a lost sheep. What honesty. The standard is there, but his life remains, he knows, absent from what he has read and memorized and taken to heart. He voices that he has gone astray. 

Lord, Seek Me: Praying

Seek Your servant, For I do not forget Your commandments. He is lonely, vulnerable, afraid. After all that he has seen, there is the reality that he still struggles. And He sort of pleads to God, that still he will not forget Your commandments. He shows himself to be vulnerable, a sinner, and yet still a Christian desiring obedience in his life.

Promise: As the Word of God is preached and studied, the Spirit brings His people to salvation and by the supernatural gift of wisdom enables us to live in a way that pleases Him, moving us to a life of worship and praise.

Prayer: Lord, I thank you for your word and hearing me, saving me, strengthening me and seeking me. Lord, thank you that you are there. As I turn to you, remove the barriers and may the spiritual forces not get in the way of my petitions. Thank You God for loving me and knowing my needs. You God are in Control. I am a sinner, daily in need of You. Thank you for the beauty of Your word and I praise you for it. 

Psalm 116:1-9 - An Answered Prayer

Psalm 116:1-9
¹ I love the Lord, because He hears
My voice, my supplications.
² Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I shall call as long as I live.
³ The cords of death encompassed me
And the terrors of Sheol came upon me;
I found distress and sorrow.
⁴ Then I called upon the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I beseech You, save my life!”

⁵ Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
Yes, our God is compassionate.
⁶ The Lord preserves the simple;
I was brought low, and He saved me.
⁷ Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
⁸ For You have rescued my soul from death,
My eyes from tears,
My feet from stumbling.
⁹ I shall walk before the Lord
In the land of the living.

Message:  An Answered Prayer

Time: Based upon authorship and subject matter, Psalms cover a range of centuries. David is mentioned 73 times, Solomon 2, Moses 1, and 50 designate no specific person. It is believed they were compiled around 537 BC. The psalms deal with such subjects as God and His creation, war, worship, wisdom, sin and evil, judgment, justice, and the coming of the Messiah.

What the Lord is Saying: 

First Glance
I love the Lord because He hears me; he hears my requests. He turns his ear toward me and I can then call on him as long as I live. Death surrounds me and the terror of hell comes upon me to the point that I find distress and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord saying, "Lord, save me, please save me." You are gracious; you give me what I do not deserve. You are righteous; your ways are pure and right. You are compassionate; you are there for me no matter my situation or my condition. You preserve me; I fall and am low and you save me. Therefore, I can rest again. I can rest because the Lord deals with me in a generous manner, lavishing gifts of grace and compassion on me. You have rescued me from death. You have rescued my eyes from tears and my feet from stumbling. I can now walk before the Lord in the land of the living. 

That last line reminds me of the Bash-n-the-Code song sung by Rebecca Sparks called Land of the Living, their first release, back in 1986. "We walk before the Lord in the land of the living. Jesus is king in the land of the living." My guess is that refrain came from this text. 

The idea is I can now walk in life, with people, freely, completely, because I have been delivered. I have been impacted by God's grace. I have been rescued from death, tears, and stumbling. I love the Lord. 

Promise: Regular prayer is what is needed in my life as I need this reminder that I am delivered and forgiven and rescued.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the words from this Psalmist. Thank you for the reminder that You are near. You have rescued my soul from death, my ears from tears, my feet from stumbling. You have shown me grace and compassion. Thank you for listening to me and hearing my prayer. 

Jesus Calling: December 6

Stay ever so close to Me, and you will not deviate from the path I have prepared for you. This is the most efficient way to stay on track; it is the most enjoyable way. Men tend to multiply duties in their observance of religion. This practice enables them to give Me money, time, and work without yielding up to Me what I desire the most -- their hearts. Rules can be observed mechanically. Once they become habitual, they can be followed with minimal effort and almost no thought. These habit forming rules provide a false sense of security, lulling the soul into a comatose condition.
     What I search for in My children is an awakened soul that thrills to the Joy of My Presence! I created mankind to glorify Me and enjoy Me forever. I provide the Joy; your part is to glorify Me by living close to Me.

Deuteronomy 6:5
English Standard Version
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
 
Colossians 3:23
English Standard Version
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.
 
Psalm 16:11
English Standard Version
You make known to me the path of life;
    in your presence there is fullness of joy;
    at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

My Prayer
Lord, I want to stay close to You, so help me to narrow my focus and lose what distracts me from you. I want to stay on the path you have set for me. Remind me that doing things your way is the most enjoyable way to live. Too often I am thinking duty is the secret. Help me arrive at church with the right heart, the right motive. Train me before I go to church on how I am to live. I don't want my life to be about rule-keeping to the point that I feel safe because I've kept a set of rules. I don't want anyone to think this is how we live. Help me to stay connected with you in a real life union. Lord, keep grooming me and moving me to love you Lord with all my heart, soul, and might. Remind me that each day I am working for you and for your glory, not to please people. This is true at work, at home, wherever you have placed me. With you, I am on the right path. With you, I have joy. With you, I get all the pleasures I need.

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Note: The devotion and scriptures are from author Sarah Young. If you haven't already, please purchase the book and support the author.

Also, bookmark https://bibletags.blogspot.com/2019/06/jesus-calling-366-days.html to have an easy link to the entire year of these entries.

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Second Monday in Advent 2021

Blessed are those who mourn, For they will be comforted. (Matthew 5:4 (NRSV))

For those who are unaware, this is St. Nicholas Day on the calendar used by our Catholic and Anglican brothers/sisters in Christ (Eastern Orthodox celebrates St Nicholas on December 19). Very little is known of his life but much has been fabricated mostly to make him look like Santa Claus. Here is a clip by National Geographic that provides a little background of the real person who lived and has been morphed into the person of today.

Who Was Saint Nicholas? | National Geographic https://youtu.be/3jLO6A2NpPU

Over Thanksgiving week, we took our family on the Polar Express in Williams, AZ, a train ride to the ‘north pole’. Upon arriving, there he was all dressed in his traditional red suit, waving as we rode by. Then as we were heading back to where our trip originated, Santa Claus was on board and coming down the aisle of the train car we were sitting in. There were 5-6 children, ages 3-6, seated in front of us. When they turned around and saw Santa Claus coming down the aisle, the look of joy and excitement on their faces was beyond description, certainly a one of a kind look. I just sat there and watched those sweet faces and remembered when I was a child how Santa Claus delighted me. It was an excitement like no other. As I watched those precious faces, I couldn’t help but wonder, ‘where has a smile like that gone in my older age?’ Life has taken its toll on that smile. But then I thought, that smile will return someday, the day I behold our LORD and that smile will remain on my face forever.

So what song should I pick for this devotion today? A search of Santa Claus songs produced 54, most of which I never heard. There are the classics, Here Comes Santa Claus, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and Up on the Housetop. Jolly Old St Nicholas has a good thought in it that asks for gifts for Johnny, Suzie, and Nellie and ends with the request for self of what you think is right. (Don’t ever remember thinking that way myself.) But as I went over the songs, this one leaped out at me as the best to reflect upon.

Amy Grant - Grown-Up Christmas List
https://youtu.be/RmF2rsDHOZc

This is a good example of the beatitude quoted above. When we mourn the ills in the world and long for them to be changed, we begin by praying for the needs of people (to the One who can really do something about it). What is likely to happen is that we will become involved in being a part of the LORD’s solution. In doing so, that would truly reflect the spirit of St Nicholas for what we know of him.

With love, Bob (Malsack)  - provided with his permission

Proverbs 22:24-25 - Choosing Friends Wisely

Proverbs 22:24-25
Do not associate with a man given to anger; or go with a hot-tempered man, or you will learn his ways and find a snare for yourself.

Message: Choose your associations with people wisely

Time: It seems that Proverbs was written and then compiled sometime between the tenth and sixth centuries B.C. Proverbs was probably written during the reign of Solomon, 971-931 B.C.

What the Lord is Saying:

Hmm. I am prone to anger so maybe my family should avoid me. And this verse says that they will learn his ways and I think my kids now struggle with dealing with anger properly. So, guess what, they have learned something from me that they shouldn't have learned. It is now snaring them; messing up their soul; unwelcome. 

A person should learn to have restraint and a willingness to hold back and not to fly off the handle at every single provocation. 

Well, to be honest, I do not think there is anything that I have struggled with more than anger since I have been married and had kids. It has wreaked havoc on my life and it moves me to sin in ways I deeply regret. But, it continues to be a sore spot in my life. I think as the kids have gotten older, I do not fly off the handle as much. To be honest, reading this verse and thinking about my past really makes me sad for the way I have dishonored God, but also for how I believe I have trained my children to react to events in their lives that are unwelcome. 

Proverbs 14:29 - People with understanding control their anger; a hot temper shows great foolishness.

James 1:19-20 - Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. 

I do not know how to conclude this lesson or entry.

 

Promise: Be careful

Jesus Calling: October 24

Lie down in green pastures of Peace. Learn to unwind whenever possible, resting in the Presence of your Shepherd. This electronic age keeps My children "wired" much of the time, too tense to find Me in the midst of their moments. I built into your very being the need for rest. How twisted the world has become when people feel guilty about meeting this basic need! How much time and energy they waste by being always on the go, rather than taking time to seek My direction for their lives.
     I have called you to walk with Me down paths of Peace. I want you to blaze a trail for others who desire to live in My peaceful Presence. I have chosen you less for your strengths than for your weaknesses, which amplify your need for Me. Depend on Me more and more, and I will shower Peace on all your paths.

Psalm 23:1-3
English Standard Version

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
²     He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
³     He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
    for his name's sake.

Genesis 2:2-3
English Standard Version
 
² And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. ³ So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Luke 1:79

English Standard Version

to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
    to guide our feet into the way of peace.

My Prayer
Lord, forgive me for being distracted by technology and always filling my time with this website or this application or that game or that piece of media. Lord, instead of focusing on your call for my life, I spend too much time just being entertained. But Lord, you remind me that peace isn't found through a screen but through a relationship with You. Keep me on the right course. With you as my shepherd, I shall not want. Show me that rest is not simply staring at screens, but resting with you, reading your Word, meditating on it and serving your people. I want to live in the way of peace so change my habits so that I always glorify You. 

Note: The devotion and scriptures are from author Sarah Young. If you haven't already, please purchase the book and support the author.


Also, bookmark https://bibletags.blogspot.com/2019/06/jesus-calling-366-days.html to have an easy link to the entire year of these entries.

Jesus Calling: June 10

     Rest in Me, My child. Give your mind a break from planning and trying to anticipate what will happen. Pray continually, asking My Spirit to take charge of the details of this day. Remember that you are on a journey with Me. When you try to peer into the future and plan for every possibility, you ignore your constant Companion who sustains you moment to moment. As you gaze anxiously into the distance, you don't even feel the strong grip of My hand holding yours. How foolish you are, My child!
     Remembrance of Me is a daily discipline. Never lose sight of My Presence with you. This will keep you resting in Me all day, every day. 

I Thessalonians 5:17
English Standard Version

Pray without ceasing.

Verse thoughts
I remember when I was volunteering for a local Christian radio station in the late 90's and went to pick up Mylon LeFevre at the airport for a concert he was doing in town. As I picked him up and we were walking down the concourse, I introduced myself, and as we walked he voiced, "Thank you God for sending Chris to pick me up."  It was simple, but it spoke to me about how I can pray without ceasing by having an attitude of prayer throughout my life. 

Psalm 62:5
English Standard Version

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
    for my hope is from him.

My Prayer (2019)
Lord, I want You to be on my mind, in my thoughts throughout my day. You live inside of me but often I treat you like You are far away or that I have to get in some special position or wait for a special time to speak to You. But you remind me that you are with me all the time and so therefore, I can talk to you like I would with anyone else that is with me. I don't want to ever lose sight of Your Presence in my life.

Note: The devotion and scriptures are from author Sarah Young. If you haven't already, please purchase the book and support the author.

Also, bookmark https://bibletags.blogspot.com/2019/06/jesus-calling-366-days.html to have an easy link to the entire year of these entries.

Jesus Calling: April 4

    I meet you in the stillness of your soul. It is there that I seek to commune with you. A person who is open to My Presence is exceedingly precious to Me. My eyes search to and fro throughout the earth, looking for one whose heart is seeking Me. I see you trying to find Me; our mutual search results in joyful fulfillment.
    Stillness of soul is increasingly rare in this world addicted to speed and noise. I am pleased with your desire to create space where you and I can meet. Don't be discouraged by the difficulty of achieving this goal. I monitor all your efforts and am blessed by each of your attempts to seek My Face. 

Zechariah 2:13
English Standard Version
Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

2 Chronicles 16:9
New King James Version
For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.

Psalm 23:2-3
New King James Version
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

My Prayer
Heavenly Father, sometimes I need to just stop. I need to halt and not be so busy with so many different things. Remind me that I need times of lying down, and being beside still waters, for you to restore my soul. Sometimes when I am busy my world gets cloudy with so many different inputs and I put you aside. I want to be a loyal follower. I don't want to be inconsistent. Help me to be more silent and turn off the TV, my phone, and everything that distracts me day in and day out. I want to sit on your path and enjoy Your presence. 


Note: The devotion and scriptures are from author Sarah Young. If you haven't already, please purchase the book and support the author.

Also, bookmark https://bibletags.blogspot.com/2019/06/jesus-calling-366-days.html to have an easy link to the entire year of these entries.

Romans 2:9-10 - The Sequence of Salvation

Romans 2:9-10 - 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Message: There is a tension of good and evil in our lives, both being the result of our faith or non-faith in Christ.

Time: Written sometime in AD 57-58, probably from Corinth, at the end of Paul's third missionary journey. Chapter 2 seems to be written to the Jew though the Jew is not addressed till verse 17.

What the Lord is Saying:

Verse 9, There will be:

Tribulation - crushed by a weight; suffering brought on by outward circumstances; the Greek word thlipsis is used 45 times in the New Testament.

Distress - literally a narrow place and the painfulness associated with being in that narrow place, such as being in a tight corner with no way out. The idea is that the person will not know where to find relief.

4 terrifying words found in verses 8 and 9

• Wrath - Orge - God's attitude toward sin (verse 8)
• Indignation - Thumos - The expression of that attitude (verse 8)
• Affliction - Thlipsis - The result (verse 9)
• Distress - Stenochoria - The realization of entire helplessness (verse 9)

Every soul of man - This reminds me that God's judgment is equal and consistent and for everyone. It is universal. Although Paul uses the word "every", he further emphasizes that both the Jew and the Greek will be under judgment. This is important because we have already seen in verse 31 of chapter 1 and verses 1 and 2 of chapter 2 that Paul realizes that the Jewish person doesn't believe they are under the same level of scrutiny as the non-Jew. 

The word "does" in verse 9 may be the most significant word in this entire verse because it expresses the tenacity in which a person engages in evil acts. The work of this person is not just momentary, but it is consistent and continual until the evil is achieved. And I know this because of the Greek word that is used. It is katergazomai. Ergazomai means to engage in an activity with considerable expenditure of effort. The kata prefix of this verb means that the intensity of that activity is greater. Evil behavior is thorough.

This same word is also used in Philippians 2:12 where it states "So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling." Katergazomai is also used here, but instead of the English word "does" we see the English word, "Work out."

The idea when we go to the gym to "work out" is we do something hopefully in a repetitive way in order to change something in us. In both verses, the working out or doing is speaking of intensity and repetition. 

The word evil or kakos is used 50 times in the New Testament.

The Good and Evil Tension
The contrast is clear. Man either does the work of salvation, sanctification, or does the work of evil, separation. Man either desires obedience to God or anything else, is disobedience.

The Bible repeatedly shows us clear contrasts, and yet, we just don't like living in those clear contrasts. We much more prefer standing in the middle between the two. We desire to borrow a little from each in our lives and then believe that we are safe as long as we have more of one than the other.

In addition, the chasm between the two is growing to the point that each opposite is a little less distinguishable. Gone are the days when most stores were closed on Sunday's. Now, it is rare one is closed. Chick-Fil-A is one that is always closed and there is almost this oddity about it. And because of this, the sabbath day has become more blurry and really not even distinguishable from other days. People no longer attend church with the same frequency. More and more the sins of yesterday are now seen as acceptable behavior. Atheism appears to never be more rampant than it is today and it should be because the presence of God in our lives is being pressed out. It is being overpowered.

Looking at the contrast between good and evil, right and wrong, holiness and worldliness, righteousness and unrighteousness, I need to be happy that the Bible speaks so clearly of the distinction because our lives in the world are much more grey. As the Leslie Phillips song voiced, "Black and White in a Grey World." The church needs to recognize this and train people to walk close to God and continue to live in Christ.

It amazes me how we think we can dance in both worlds and not be affected. Why do we do it? Because we love both worlds. And we think that we can.

Verse 10, and:

Glory - means to think highly of or give a proper opinion or estimate of something. The Greek word is used 166 times in the NT.

Honor - the worth or merit of an object; pay respect.

Peace - to bring together that which has been separated. Without peace there is division. It always conveys an inner rest. Peace or eirene is used 91 times in the NT. Eirene. Pamela's grandmother was named Irene.

Does - Once again this is katergazomai. A person's habitual conduct, whether good or evil, reveals the true condition of their heart.

Good - Greek word agathos. These are deeds done to benefit others.

Paul is not saying here that good works merit salvation nor is he saying that evil results in separation from God. But, we can clearly see that when a person does good, it is a testimony of who that person belongs. In the same manner, doing evil testifies of that person's allegiance. In both instances the deeds are habitual. And so the rewards that come are a result of habitual action, of which people have a heard time achieving (rather it is impossible) on either side of the fence.

Why does Scripture seemingly go back and forth? Why does it seem that one verse is speaking of being saved by God's righteousness through Jesus Christ alone, while other verses speak of living a life of good deeds. The problem thinking that it is a joint effort between God and man is then there are other scriptures that have to be punted. What I see is our obedience is part of our reward, but it isn't what brings us to the podium. We arrive at the podium solely on the basis of the perfect righteousness of Christ. 

Promise: There are always clear results to the way we live.