Thoughts on Christ and His Word

Everyone wants a loving friend. But a true friend is honest with us about our shortcomings. Proverbs 27:6 says "Faithful are the wounds of a friend."  In verse 5 King Solomon writes "open rebuke is better than hidden love" and in verse 7 he writes "the sweetness of a man's friend gives delight by hardy counsel". So we want friends that are encouraging and positive but we also need friends who will give us good Biblical advice, that will wound us with rebuke and correction, and will be loving all the way through it.

Proverbs is the ultimate cause-and-effect book. In Proverbs 11 verse 19 we read "As righteousness leads to life so he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death". Verse 27 "He who earnestly seeks good finds favor but trouble will come on him who seeks evil". Verse 29 "He who troubles his own house will inherit wind." So when we walk in evil rather than in love we are preparing future catastrophe for own head. So much so that even in our family when we are unfaithful to our spouse, when we neglect our children or are abusive with our own family, at the end of life we will inherit nothing but wind. As Galatians 6:7 says "Be not deceived God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that will he also reap."

For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, And her mouth is  smoother than oil; But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. Proverbs 5:3‭-‬4 NKJV God always points us to "the end". The important thing is to always keep the end in mind. Everything in life is temporary so we must live for "the end" (eternity) when God will judge all things. Psalms 73; Matthew 16:26; 2 Corinthians 4:8

In Proverbs 4 Solomon begins by saying "Hear my children the instruction of a father." And then he goes on to recall what his own father instructed him. King David instructed his son Solomon to keep his commands so that he can live a good life, to get wisdom and to get understanding. He told him not to forget nor turn away from the words of his mouth and not forsake them because they would preserve him. He told his son to love the wisdom he was sharing with him and to get all the wisdom he could. The reason that David could say such things to Solomon was because David was filled with the Word of God himself. So what he was instructing his son to do was to follow the words of God as he was following them. David was a role model loving God and being filled with God's wisdom. Therefore he could authoritatively tell his son to follow his instructions. The sad thing is that many fathers today even if they are christians are not living by the wisdom of God and therefore their i

Most people don't gain wisdom and insight from God because they approach God and his Word in a very casual manner or not at all. They never seek God with all their heart. In Proverbs 2:2-6 Solomon gives us 6 action phrases that we must do in order to find God's true wisdom. We must incline our ear to wisdom, apply our heart to wisdom, cry out for wisdom, lift up our voice for understanding, seek wisdom as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures. Until we seek God and H is wisdom and understanding in that way we will never truly understand the heart of God.

Psalms 142 - 145 are loaded with David's personal please for God's help through his emotional problems. He felt abandoned and alone (Psalms 142:4), he felt attacked Psalms 143:3), he felt overwhelmed and distressed (Psalms 143:4). Yet his trust was in God and not in man to get him out of his emotional hole - Psalms 142:5; 143:7 - 8; 145:14 David expected God to save him and trusted in Him to restore him physically and emotionally - Psalms 142:7; 143:7-8; 145:8, 14, 17 - 19.

Psalms 128 verse 8 says "When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy and it shall be well with you." The life in Christ is not all about suffering and pain. God gives us plenty of things to enjoy and pleasures to delight in. In P salms 128 God tells us we will be happy and we will enjoy the fruit of our labor, our wife, our children, and yes even our grandchildren. God wants us as his children to enjoy our life because every good gift comes from his hand. We should be a grateful and thankful people for all the good things that we received from the Lord our God.

Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, And revive me in Your way. Psalms 119:37 NKJV Whatever our eyes are looking at will determine the status of our heart towards God. If we're looking at evil things or even negative things our heart will be discouraged and distressed. But when we are looking at the Word of God and the beauty of God our heart will be encouraged. We need to focus on God and his Word and pray that He will revive our heart.

Psalms 118 says "The LORD  is on my side" and "the LORD is for me."  That doesn't mean I won't have problems. In the same Psalm the psalmist writes "all the nations surround me... they surround me yes they surround me they surround me like bees."  That sounds like a horrible situation. But the psalmist also writes "what can man do to me?; In the name of the Lord I will destroy them; and they were quenched like a fire of thorns."  So when trouble comes our way and we seem to be surrounded by enemies let's trust in the Lord and keep our confidence in him because it's better to trust in him than people and even princesses. "The Lord is on my side I will not fear. What can man do to me?"  (v.6)

Whenever we don't believe God in a particular area it will come out as a complaint or attitude or outright rebellion. This is what happened to the people of Israel at the red sea. The Egyptians were coming upon them and were about to attack them and so what did they do? Psalms 106 verse 7 says they "rebelled by the sea the red sea." But how did they rebel? They didn't worship idols and they didn't engage in sexual immorality. They rebelled by complaining and questioning God and Moses. "Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in that the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us to bring us up out of Egypt?" This attitude and complaint earned them the right to be called rebels by the red sea. And this would be the pattern of Israel for many many years to come. Psalms 106:24 says "Then they despise the pleasant land; they did not believe His word but complained in their tents, and did not heed the voice of the Lord." Ag

Psalms 77 The Psalmist teaches us how life is not always roses, Fruit Loops and chocolate covered strawberries. In his time of troubles where he refused to even be comforted the psalmist wondered where God went. He complain to God and questioned whether God had abandoned mercy and grace and even abandoned his promises. But in the midst of his anguish he forces himself to remember the good "years of the right hand of the Most High. (vs.10) He remembers what God had done for him and the wonders of creation. He also remembers how God saved Israel through Moses and Aaron at the Red Sea. In our times of trials, troubles and misery we also need to sit and remember that God has been good, that He has delivered us before, and that he will deliver us from the current troubles also.

1Sam. 30:6 David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God. What was David thinking of? Am I really qualified to do this? Am I really God’s leader for this job? Am I a failure? Then he sought God - He found strength in God, he found new direction from God and He pursued his new task with Zeal, so much so that 200 men could not keep up.

"As the LORD lives, whatever the LORD says to me, that I will speak." 1 Kings 22:14 NKJV What is God currently speaking to me (Summer 2017)?  What is worth fighting for? 1. God is not the author of sin.  Extreme forms of Calvinism and Augustinian theology put the blame on God for Satan's fall and Adam's rebellion.  Any doctrine that suggests that God is the author of sin and evil needs to be attacked and defeated. 2. God's Word is Paramount.  Any minimization of it in our teachings or values needs to be rejected.

God is the one who brings Seasons into our lives - into our personal lives, seasons for nations, seasons for churches and seasons for the world. In 1st Chronicles 22:9 God was going to bring a season of Peace for Solomon.  "I will give him rest from all his enemies all around. His name shall be Solomon, for I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days." During this time of peace, Solomon was to build a Magnificent Temple for God. During Joseph's time in Egypt God brought a time of abundance and a season of famine. During the church age in Acts chapter 9 after Saul got saved it says that the church had a season of peace after being persecuted severely by Paul. I believe that in our church 2015 God began a season of peace and charcter growth. In 2017 I believe Go's will continue personal growth and numeric growth. We recognized a new pastor in the church and 10 people got baptized at the lake in June. My prayer is at a season of continued growth and fruitfulnes

The Bible knows nothing of Silent Believers. Every believer was commanded to make disciples in the Great Commission Matthew 28 19 - 20. And when Jesus resurrected in Acts 1:8 he told the Believers but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the Earth. Everyone who had put their faith in Christ was to be a witness. We see that the believers acted that out after persecution of the first church in Acts 11 where it says "Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Steven traveled... telling the message... the Lord's hand was with them and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord." Acts 11:19 - 21. Charles Spurgeon one said "Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter". That is true. Christians have no secret agents.

Tim Keller quotes his professor: “Where God has shut His Holy mouth, I should be afraid to open mine.” This was in relation to the question "Where does evil come from" and related issues about "free will"

Romans 8:1 says: There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. So we learn that a Christian can never be condemned. Why? Because he is "in Christ Jesus.  All of his sins have been forgiven at the cross. At the moment we believed we were placed in Christ's body. As a member of His body we can never be condemned just as he can never be condemned. When we sin, it is new and news to us. But it is not new nor news to God. Because two thousand years ago Jesus who knew all the sins we would commit, already paid the debt for that sin. And because we are in Christ God does not see us in our sinfulness he sees Christ. And because of this eternal view, a Christian is not and cannot be condemned for his sins. As a by-product and as evidence of salvation a Christian does not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. If a person claims to be a Christian but continually walks In

Amaziah - "He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. 3 The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.  2 Kings15:3-4 This was a story of many Kings in Judah. They did what was right in the eyes of the Lord but not all the way. They always left this sin of the people sacrificing in high places hanging around. And it always cost them in the discipline of God. We too should be careful not to allow an area of sin in our lives which in the end will cost us also in God's discipline.

In 1Kings 21:17-29, we see a picture of salvation. The Prophet Elijah is sent by God to rebuke King Ahab for his sins. This is similar to us preaching the gospel to somebody where we, in a sense, rebuke them for their sins and the Holy Spirit starts to work in that heart. Now it's up to the person to respond. King Ahab responded in humility and faith. For which he received the mercy of God. When a sinner responds in humility and faith in Christ they too receive Mercy and Grace which leads to Salvation. But if the Sinner rebelles and does not receive Christ then he remains in condemnation. (John 3:36)The key is that we have the freedom to choose humility and faith because God has first worked in our heart to move us to repentance.  Or we can reject the Holy Spirit and remain in condemnation.

Jacob was a deceiver. He tricked his father Isaac into believing he was his brother Esau by wearing his coat. By this act of deception he stole his brothers blessing. (Genesis 27) BUT, after many years Jacob was deceived by his children when they showed him Joseph's coat which they had covered with blood and asked him if that was Joseph's coat.  Jacob concluded that a wild animal had devoured Joseph, just like his kids had planned. (Genesis 37) Jacob the deceiver had become the deceived. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.  Galatians 6:7-8 NKJV

All godly leaders want to know and feel that God is on their side. That God's wind of Grace is blowing under their wings.  But why would God raise up leaders? So David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel. 2 Samuel 5:12 So God raises up leaders, blesses them, so that they can work for the good of the people and lead them to better places.

God's holy sovereignty means he is in control of everything. God's holiness means he is set apart from sin and evil. Does God's holiness limit God's sovereignty? The answer is yes. For the Bible says that there are things that God cannot do. God cannot lie. God cannot be tempted by evil therefore he temps no one to do evil. So it's clear that while God is all-powerful and sovereign his holiness limits that attribute. So the idea that God causes evil in the world (as in God causing a man to rape an 8 year old girl) is ridiculous. All evil comes from the evil one, everything good and every perfect gift comes from the God of Heaven. So when we look at man's free will and responsibilities we see that God does not need to control everything including man's will. God gave Adam and Eve the ability to choose right and wrong, to obey or disobey. This ability to choose does not violate God's Sovereign control of everything. In his sovereignty he decid

Picking a Marriage Partner is no joke.  It is the single most influential decision a person could make that will direct the course of their life for the rest of their life. This is why God forbade intermarriage with the women of the land they were to conquer - because these women would lead them to idolatry.  And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same. Exodus 34:16 Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 4 for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods Deut. 7:3-4 And this is exactly what happened. They took their daughters in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods. Judg 3:6 Thus God has always been against His children marrying unbelievers.  That's why even in the N.T. God commands His children to only m

1. Opposition provides an environment  for spiritual growth. 2. Opposition is normal. Hopler - Heroism in Bad Circumstances -Esther 4:16a - Mobilize people in prayer for a breakthrough in difficult situations. -Esther 4:16b - Act courageously to meet the need of the moment. -Esther faith as seen in the previous 2 points  lead to great victory for her people.  Esther 9:2

⊙ Leaders need to care deeply about the mission and goals of the church (Neh. 1:4) ⊙ Leaders need to confess their sins and the sins of their people (Neh 1:6-9) and lead their people to confession and repentance (Neh 9:1-3) ⊙ Leaders need to be people of prayer, showing their dependence on God (Neh 1:4-11; 2:4; 5:19; 6:9, 14); Praying against the enemy (4:4 6:14). ⊙ Leaders need to conquer their fears and attempt great things for God (Neh 2:1-3) ⊙ Leaders have clear goals and a plan to achieve them (Neh 2:6-8) ⊙ Leaders make a realistic assessment of where they are right now (Neh 2:13-16). Leaders make periodic assessments in order to monitor where they are at at any given time (Neh 4:10). Then they tweak or change their plans accordingly (4:10-23) ⊙ Leaders communicate the vision/goals and the plan to achieve them (Neh 2:17-18). They must clearly and passionately communicate why this vision or goal is important (Neh 4:14) and encourage them in the Lord. ⊙ Leaders understand tha

Romans 16:17-18 I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. 18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. DIVISIONS - Dissensions; parties; factions; 1 Cor 1:10-13; 3:3; Gal 5:20. The very "attempt" to form such parties was evil, no matter what the pretence. They who attempt to form parties in the churches are commonly actuated by some evil or ambitious design. (from Barnes' Notes) Contrary to the Teaching you have learned -  To the "teaching" which you have received in this Epistle and elsewhere; the teaching that these divisions should cease; that the Jewish ceremonies are not binding; that all should lay aside their causes of former difference, and be united in one family; see Rom 14; 15. (from Barnes' Notes) Keep away from them -

Does man have free will to choose God or does God move a man's heart so that he must choose God? Jer 24:7 - I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart. Jer 29:13 - You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. These verses seem to answer the question in contradictory ways. And so do many verses in Scripture point to two different and opposite conclusions. This falls into what can be called an antimony. Antinomy: A contradiction between two apparently equally valid principles or between inferences correctly drawn from such principles. Miriam Webster Dictionary A contradiction between two beliefs or conclusions that are in themselves reasonable; a paradox. Oxford Dictionary What to us are irreconcilable principles, to God its not a problem because He's got a bigger brain. Let's accept what God has said and move on.

The Israelites had few swords. The Philistines had taken away their swords and blacksmiths Goliath was 9 FT. Tall with heavy weapons and armor David ran to kill Goliath. Where did David get the courage to do what he did? He believed that God was with him. Psalms 18:32-35

The Fear of the Lord is fearing God’s discipline and/or punishment to such a degree that it keeps us from sin and walking according to His commands.

Proverbs 9 says "Wisdom has built her house...she calls from the highest point of the city. "'Let all who are simple come in here!' she says to those who lack judgment." But wisdom is not the only one calling for our attention. In the same chapter, verse 13 says "Folly is loud; she is undisciplined and without knowledge....she sits at the door of her house on a seat at the highest point of the city. She calls out 'Let all who are simple come in here' she says to those who lack judgement". So both Wisdom and Folly sit at the highest point of the city calling out to people - to come and eat what they have to offer. Wisdom leads to life and understanding. But Folly, who offers "stolen waters and food eaten in secret", leads to death and the depths of hell (18). Whom will you listen to?

Many Christians think that they love God solely because they have a warm and fuzzy feeling for Him. They sing real spiritual songs at church and come out of the church service with a tingly feeling. They conclude I must love God and be close to Him. And while that kind of affectionate love is great, it must be followed up by real practical love. 1 John 5:3 says "This is love for God: to obey his commands and his commands are not burdensome." To be truly in love with God requires more than warm fuzzy feelings. It requires making the hard choices of living righteously and obeying the commands of God even when we don't want to or like it. Loving God requires obedience to Him.

numbers 25 This chapter reminds us of the evil of sexual sin. When we allow our sex organs to drive our life we end up allowing someone else lead our spirituality which normally leads to spiritual ruin. Israel fell into this trap and 24,000 were killed by God's discipline.

God told Moses to go up the mountain and look at the Promise Land because he was about to take him out. Moses prayed. "Let the Lord ...set a man over the congregation who may go out before them and go in before them who may lead them out and bring them in that the congregation of the Lord may not be like sheep which have no Shepherd." (Numbers 27:16) Moses knew that the people needed a leader. Every man needs to be a leader within the capacity given to him. Some need to lead five, others 10 others 50 others a hundred and others 1000. But let each man lead to the capacity given to him by God.

In 2017 what can be our most logical resolution? The Apostle Paul says it's offering our bodies as a living sacrifice. (Rome 12) E. Stanley Jones writes that a person "arrives at his highest level of rationality when he has sense enough to surrender himself to God. It is the sanest moment of a man's life when he does it. From that moment life begins to add up to sense."

The title above Numbers 30 in my Bible is "The law concerning vows". However it could be called "Principles of Family Authority". In this chapter God says that an unmarried woman who makes a vow that her father disagrees with, he can overrule her, making her vow null and void. Further on it says that her husband can overrule his wife's vow if he doesn't like the vow she made to God. So these two principles exemplify the principles of human authority especially within the family. For an unwed daughter these principles are a subset of honor your mother and your father.

In Numbers 31 God told Moses to gather an army to go fight and destroy the midianites. Moses selected 1000 men from each tribe for a total of 12000 men. By the amount of plunder brought back and the number of captives brought back which included 675,000 sheep 72,000 cattle + 32,000 virgin girls, we can tell that the amount of men that they faced and killed must have been a force that probably quadruple their own. Yet God gave them the victory. As they reported to Moses "not one man was missing of their army". So God can take our weak and feeble efforts and turn them into great fruitfulness. May God give us an extremely fruitful year multiplying us from 300 to 600 in 2017.

It seems to me that God has two types of desires or wills A determined will and a permissive will. God's determined will (or desire) is what God has determined will happen. He will cause it to happen regardless of any human desires. So when he wanted to harden Pharaoh's heart because it was His will to deliver ten plagues, He hardened Pharaoh's heart  (Exodus 7:3). Pharaoh basically had no choice. God hardened his heart so that He could deliver 10 plagues and show Himself powerful to Israel and everyone else. But I believe God has a permissive will also. This is God allowing people to choose between right and wrong, faith or disbelief, obedience vs rebellion. In God's permissive will He wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1Tim. 2:4). But he does not force people to come to Him, rather he lets them choose to believe in Jesus or not. I believe both of these principles operate in the world simultaneously. What God has determined to happen w

Deuteronomy 30:19 Moses tells us to choose life. In verse 20 he tells us that God is our life. Then in Deuteronomy 32:47 Moses says that the Word of God is our life. So the closest thing that we can do to actually stand in the presence of God and listen to his voice is to read and meditate on his word. By doing this and obeying His Word, we are choosing life.