4I will not give sleep to my eyes Or slumber to my eyelids, 5Until I find a place for the Lord, A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob."
God has blessed David's life in such a wonderful way. As a young lad, he was chosen to be king of Israel. He was anointed at this early age to be the king of Israel. David grew up with the knowledge that he would be king.
David is now king. Most of his life is now behind him. He has seen how the Lord has taken care of him. He has seen the hand of God at work in his life. He can look back at his life and see the times when God has protected him as well as provided for him. He sleeps in the palace. His table is full of the finest food in the world. He is indeed blessed beyond the expectations of this once humble shepherd boy.
The desire of David's heart is to build a temple to the honor and glory of God. As David goes to sleep in the palace, he is reminded that God has no permanent home in Israel. God's presence was symbolized in David's day by the presence of the Arc of the Covenant. The Arc of the Covenant was kept in the tabernacle, which was a temporary dwelling place given to the children of Israel through Moses, as they moved from place to place in the wilderness and even as they conquered the Promised Land. The desire of David's heart was to build a permanent dwelling place for the Lord.
The question of the day today is, "How grateful are we to the Lord for all that He has done for us and what kind of dwelling place do we desire to build for the Lord in our lives?" While God's presence was symbolized in David's day by the presence of the Arc of the Covenant, His presence today is in our hearts. As we ask God to forgive us of our sin and we invite Him into our hearts and we become a child of the King, He takes up residency in our hearts and in our lives. Our hearts become the temple of the Living God.
We ought to want to build a dwelling place for God that everyone would want to come to and as they looked at our lives, they would see a magnificent temple built to bring honor and glory to the Lord.
Let's build a house for the Lord to live in where His presence can be felt and seen by all those that pass by! Let's allow His presence fill our hearts and allow His power to permeate every aspect of our lives. Let's make decisions that are in line with His Word and let God lead us and guide us to the place where His abundant blessings can be found. Let's allow Him to be Lord and Master in our lives so that all the world might know that God dwells in our hearts and in our lives!
A Pastor's thoughts about the Scripture and it's influence in our lives.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
No Excuse I Corinthians 11:29
29For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
Here we find the Apostle Paul speaking about taking the Lord's Supper. Listen to what Paul writes in the preceding verses, "26For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. 27Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup."
People ask the question, "How often should we observe the Lord's Supper?" The Bible does not say. What the Bible does say is, when you do take the Lord's Supper, make sure that you take it in the right spirit.
For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and does not honor the Lord's body or His sacrifice for him, that person brings judgment on himself. Paul goes on to say that this is why some are weak and sick and some have even died. How you and I come to the Lord's Table is important. It is not to be done in an unworthy manner without possible consequences.
What does Paul mean when he talks about an "unworthy manner"? How are we to come to the Lord's Table to take the Lord's Supper? Some would take this passage to mean that we must be saved to partake. This is an obvious pre-requisite. However, Paul is speaking to Christians so I think he means more than just being saved.
To come to the table in a worthy manner is to come into the presence of the Lord with a repentant heart and a forgiven spirit. Our relationship with the Lord needs to be what it ought to be. Our relationship with one another ought to be what it is supposed to be. Our lives need to be lived, as they ought to be lived.
A disobedient spirit causes problems that cause our lives to suffer. Disobedience limits God's ability to take care of us, as He would like to. There is no excuse for us to come to the Lord's Supper and not look inward and examine our spiritual relationship with the Lord.
There is no excuse for us to begin a day or end a day without taking a spiritual inventory of our life and our relationship with the Lord on a daily basis. Ask God to examine your heart today and see if there is any thing that is unpleasing to Him and if there is, ask Him for the strength to make that right! You will be blessed by doing so.
Here we find the Apostle Paul speaking about taking the Lord's Supper. Listen to what Paul writes in the preceding verses, "26For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. 27Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup."
People ask the question, "How often should we observe the Lord's Supper?" The Bible does not say. What the Bible does say is, when you do take the Lord's Supper, make sure that you take it in the right spirit.
For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and does not honor the Lord's body or His sacrifice for him, that person brings judgment on himself. Paul goes on to say that this is why some are weak and sick and some have even died. How you and I come to the Lord's Table is important. It is not to be done in an unworthy manner without possible consequences.
What does Paul mean when he talks about an "unworthy manner"? How are we to come to the Lord's Table to take the Lord's Supper? Some would take this passage to mean that we must be saved to partake. This is an obvious pre-requisite. However, Paul is speaking to Christians so I think he means more than just being saved.
To come to the table in a worthy manner is to come into the presence of the Lord with a repentant heart and a forgiven spirit. Our relationship with the Lord needs to be what it ought to be. Our relationship with one another ought to be what it is supposed to be. Our lives need to be lived, as they ought to be lived.
A disobedient spirit causes problems that cause our lives to suffer. Disobedience limits God's ability to take care of us, as He would like to. There is no excuse for us to come to the Lord's Supper and not look inward and examine our spiritual relationship with the Lord.
There is no excuse for us to begin a day or end a day without taking a spiritual inventory of our life and our relationship with the Lord on a daily basis. Ask God to examine your heart today and see if there is any thing that is unpleasing to Him and if there is, ask Him for the strength to make that right! You will be blessed by doing so.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Every Promise Is True Joshua 23:14
14"Soon I will die, going the way of all the earth. Deep in your hearts you know that every promise of the Lord your God has come true. Not a single one has failed!
Joshua is in his final days in this life. He speaks to Israel on last time. He reminds them of all that God has done for them. This is the generation that God brought out of the wilderness and into the Promised Land. This is the generation whose fathers and mothers died in the wilderness because of their disobedience and their rejection of God's deliverance. Joshua tells the people, "14"Soon I will die, going the way of all the earth. Deep in your hearts you know that every promise of the Lord your God has come true. Not a single one has failed!"
Deep in your heart, you know that every promise that the Lord had given has come true. The children of Israel that Joshua spoke to, had no excuse not to trust God. None whatsoever. They knew deep in their hearts that God had kept all of His promises and that He would continue to do so. Just like this generation, our generation has no excuse either; for we too know deep in our hearts that God has kept every promise that He has ever made. We know that we ought to trust God.
The question is not "Can I trust God." The real question is, "Will I trust Him." This is all Joshua was trying to say to the people that he loved so much. He would go on to say to them, "Do not turn to the right or to the left but stay the coarse and keep God's commandments and obey His statutes so that He can continue to fight your battles and give you victory in every aspect of your lives."
That message has not changed! God is still in the blessing business! He still wants to bless us with His presence and His power and His provisions. He wants us to let Him be God in our lives. He wants to give us that land that is flowing with milk and honey and He wants us to dwell in that land and bask in the glory of His blessings. All He wants from us is our obedience and our trust in Him and His way for our lives.
We want to do things our way and we want to satisfy the desires of our heart as we see fit. However, God gave us those desires so that He could satisfy them. His laws and His direction is there for our benefit. His promises are everywhere telling us that He knows what is best for our lives and that He will satisfy the desires of our heart with the desires of His heart and all we have to do to have life and have it more abundantly is to take Him at His Word and follow His direction and He will do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
This has always been God's desire and it always will be. Deep in your hearts you know that every promise of the Lord your God has come true. Not a single one has failed! Stay the coarse and give God every opportunity to do for you today what He so much wants to do! Let the testimony of your heart and the witness of your life be, "I trust You Lord with my life." He will not let you down!
Joshua is in his final days in this life. He speaks to Israel on last time. He reminds them of all that God has done for them. This is the generation that God brought out of the wilderness and into the Promised Land. This is the generation whose fathers and mothers died in the wilderness because of their disobedience and their rejection of God's deliverance. Joshua tells the people, "14"Soon I will die, going the way of all the earth. Deep in your hearts you know that every promise of the Lord your God has come true. Not a single one has failed!"
Deep in your heart, you know that every promise that the Lord had given has come true. The children of Israel that Joshua spoke to, had no excuse not to trust God. None whatsoever. They knew deep in their hearts that God had kept all of His promises and that He would continue to do so. Just like this generation, our generation has no excuse either; for we too know deep in our hearts that God has kept every promise that He has ever made. We know that we ought to trust God.
The question is not "Can I trust God." The real question is, "Will I trust Him." This is all Joshua was trying to say to the people that he loved so much. He would go on to say to them, "Do not turn to the right or to the left but stay the coarse and keep God's commandments and obey His statutes so that He can continue to fight your battles and give you victory in every aspect of your lives."
That message has not changed! God is still in the blessing business! He still wants to bless us with His presence and His power and His provisions. He wants us to let Him be God in our lives. He wants to give us that land that is flowing with milk and honey and He wants us to dwell in that land and bask in the glory of His blessings. All He wants from us is our obedience and our trust in Him and His way for our lives.
We want to do things our way and we want to satisfy the desires of our heart as we see fit. However, God gave us those desires so that He could satisfy them. His laws and His direction is there for our benefit. His promises are everywhere telling us that He knows what is best for our lives and that He will satisfy the desires of our heart with the desires of His heart and all we have to do to have life and have it more abundantly is to take Him at His Word and follow His direction and He will do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
This has always been God's desire and it always will be. Deep in your hearts you know that every promise of the Lord your God has come true. Not a single one has failed! Stay the coarse and give God every opportunity to do for you today what He so much wants to do! Let the testimony of your heart and the witness of your life be, "I trust You Lord with my life." He will not let you down!
Monday, July 26, 2010
We Are Responsible Hosea 4:6
My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge because you have rejected knowledge I will reject you.
Hosea is writing about a very difficult time in the history of Israel. God had a problem with Israel; there was no truth or mercy nor any knowledge of God in the land and as a result they were killing and stealing and committing adultery and their land and their lives were all messed up.
God in our text addresses the priests. "My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge because you have rejected knowledge I will reject you and you shall no longer be a priest to Me." There are two thoughts that I want us to think about today.
First of all, the people of Israel were responsible for their own decisions. The fact that they did not have a knowledge of God did not excuse their behavior and their sin. We are responsible for our decisions and our decisions determine where our life takes us. It is our responsibility to know God's truth for ourselves. Now there is another side note to this thought and it has to do with the preachers and teachers that we listen to and learn from. The children of Israel suffered because they had a lack of knowledge of God because the priests failed to teach them the Word of God. We have a responsibility to God and to ourselves to know the Word of God on our own. The teachers that we sit under are responsible to God but we are responsible to Him as well. False or inaccurate teaching affects us and the fact that we trust what a preacher says, does not excuse our lack of knowledge of the things of God.
This brings me to the second thought and that thought is this, "As Christians we are responsible to teach God's Word to a lost and dying world." The preachers have their responsibilities and so do lay people have their responsibilities as well. We are all responsible for teaching those around us the Word of God and truth of God. We will be held responsible for our faithfulness to teach and for what we do teach. We need to make sure that we are sensitive to the leadership and guidance of the Holy Spirit and that we are witnesses for God as He leads us and seeks to use us.
Our ability to teach others has more to do with our obedience to the truth of the word of God in our own lives than it does what we know. The Holy Spirit will use our lips and shape our words when our walk is what it should be and our witness will be effective. This is why it is so important to know the truth of God for ourselves. We cannot live according to that truth if we do not know what the truth is and we certainly cannot teach it to others if we do not know what it is on our own.
Hosea is writing about a very difficult time in the history of Israel. God had a problem with Israel; there was no truth or mercy nor any knowledge of God in the land and as a result they were killing and stealing and committing adultery and their land and their lives were all messed up.
God in our text addresses the priests. "My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge because you have rejected knowledge I will reject you and you shall no longer be a priest to Me." There are two thoughts that I want us to think about today.
First of all, the people of Israel were responsible for their own decisions. The fact that they did not have a knowledge of God did not excuse their behavior and their sin. We are responsible for our decisions and our decisions determine where our life takes us. It is our responsibility to know God's truth for ourselves. Now there is another side note to this thought and it has to do with the preachers and teachers that we listen to and learn from. The children of Israel suffered because they had a lack of knowledge of God because the priests failed to teach them the Word of God. We have a responsibility to God and to ourselves to know the Word of God on our own. The teachers that we sit under are responsible to God but we are responsible to Him as well. False or inaccurate teaching affects us and the fact that we trust what a preacher says, does not excuse our lack of knowledge of the things of God.
This brings me to the second thought and that thought is this, "As Christians we are responsible to teach God's Word to a lost and dying world." The preachers have their responsibilities and so do lay people have their responsibilities as well. We are all responsible for teaching those around us the Word of God and truth of God. We will be held responsible for our faithfulness to teach and for what we do teach. We need to make sure that we are sensitive to the leadership and guidance of the Holy Spirit and that we are witnesses for God as He leads us and seeks to use us.
Our ability to teach others has more to do with our obedience to the truth of the word of God in our own lives than it does what we know. The Holy Spirit will use our lips and shape our words when our walk is what it should be and our witness will be effective. This is why it is so important to know the truth of God for ourselves. We cannot live according to that truth if we do not know what the truth is and we certainly cannot teach it to others if we do not know what it is on our own.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Let's Pour Some Oil II Kings 4:5
And she went from him and shut the door upon her and upon her sons who brought the vessels unto her and she poured out.
A widow of a prophet of God came to Elisha because one of her husband's creditors had come to her demanding payment and he was going to take her two sons from her. Elisha asked her what she had and her response was "nothing but a pot of oil."
Elisha told her to have her sons go through the neighborhood and borrow as many vessels as she could get and when they had the vessels in her house, she was to shut herself up with her sons and pour oil from the vessel that she had into the other vessels. This woman did what the man of God told her to do.
There are a couple of comments that deserve our thoughts today with respect to this story. First of all, the woman had a need and she came to the man of God for help. We need to make sure that we seek God in our situations as well and not as a last resort! God does not want to be our last resort but rather our first response.
Elisha told her to go and borrow vessels form her neighbors. This woman was no doubt a good neighbor herself because otherwise no one would have lent her the vessels that she needed to complete the task that Elisha gave to her. You and I need to be good neighbors or good friends to those around us. Someone has said "the number of friends we have is determined by the number of people that we have befriended." It is impossible for us to have too many friends and it is godlike to befriend as many as the opportunity arises!
Now to the story itself. This woman trusted the man of God and did what he told her to do. She could have heard what Elisha told her to do and looked at the vessel of oil that she had and thought, what is the use going around and getting these vessels when I have nothing to pour into them. Her sons could have heard what their mom told them to do and they too could have thought, mom has lost it and refused to go ask their neighbors for vessels that they could borrow.
The woman took the vessels that they collected and she began to pour oil into them and one vessel filled and then the second until all of the vessels were full! She asked her sons for another vessel and they said, that is all we have. Elisha told her to go and sell the oil that she had and pay off the creditor and then live on what was left over.
One final thought. Elisha did not tell the woman how many vessels to gather. He told her that all the vessels that she gathered would be filled. God's blessings are limited by our own obedience. Today, won't you take God at His Word and make decisions that bring Him glory as you allow Him to be God in your life? Just like this woman in the Old Testament, you may be surprised at what God has planned for you and your family today! Let's pour some oil today!
A widow of a prophet of God came to Elisha because one of her husband's creditors had come to her demanding payment and he was going to take her two sons from her. Elisha asked her what she had and her response was "nothing but a pot of oil."
Elisha told her to have her sons go through the neighborhood and borrow as many vessels as she could get and when they had the vessels in her house, she was to shut herself up with her sons and pour oil from the vessel that she had into the other vessels. This woman did what the man of God told her to do.
There are a couple of comments that deserve our thoughts today with respect to this story. First of all, the woman had a need and she came to the man of God for help. We need to make sure that we seek God in our situations as well and not as a last resort! God does not want to be our last resort but rather our first response.
Elisha told her to go and borrow vessels form her neighbors. This woman was no doubt a good neighbor herself because otherwise no one would have lent her the vessels that she needed to complete the task that Elisha gave to her. You and I need to be good neighbors or good friends to those around us. Someone has said "the number of friends we have is determined by the number of people that we have befriended." It is impossible for us to have too many friends and it is godlike to befriend as many as the opportunity arises!
Now to the story itself. This woman trusted the man of God and did what he told her to do. She could have heard what Elisha told her to do and looked at the vessel of oil that she had and thought, what is the use going around and getting these vessels when I have nothing to pour into them. Her sons could have heard what their mom told them to do and they too could have thought, mom has lost it and refused to go ask their neighbors for vessels that they could borrow.
The woman took the vessels that they collected and she began to pour oil into them and one vessel filled and then the second until all of the vessels were full! She asked her sons for another vessel and they said, that is all we have. Elisha told her to go and sell the oil that she had and pay off the creditor and then live on what was left over.
One final thought. Elisha did not tell the woman how many vessels to gather. He told her that all the vessels that she gathered would be filled. God's blessings are limited by our own obedience. Today, won't you take God at His Word and make decisions that bring Him glory as you allow Him to be God in your life? Just like this woman in the Old Testament, you may be surprised at what God has planned for you and your family today! Let's pour some oil today!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Open Our Eyes Lord II Kings 6:16
"Fear not for they that are with us are more than they that are with them."
The king of Syria had come down to do battle with the King of Israel. God spoke to the King of Israel and warned him not to go in a certain direction because the King of Syria lie in ambush for him. The King of Syria was furious because his plans had been foiled. So, he called for his men of wisdom and they told him that Elisha had warned the king of Israel and so the King of Syria sent his armies to the place where Elijah was.
Early in the morning, one of Elisha's men got up and went to the gate and saw the armies and the chariots outside the city walls and was afraid and he came to tell Elisha what he saw. Elisha's reply was, "Fear not for they that are with us are more than they that are with them."
Elisha then prayed, "Lord I pray Thee, open his eyes that he may see." And the Bible says that God opened his eyes and he looked out and saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. Elisha then prayed that the enemies would be struck blind and God heard his prayer and He struck the men blind.
We face all kinds of obstacles in our lives. Many of the obstacles are because of our own disobedience and others come because difficulty comes on the just and the unjust. Life brings its own difficulties. However, there is nothing that God is not are of nor is there anything that we will ever face that He does not have the answer for. Every obstacle that we will ever face is surrounded by God's delivering solution.
God wants us to always remember that He is greater than any problem that we will ever face. His provisions are greater than any need we will ever have. His love for us is greater than any obstacle that we will ever encounter and all He wants us to do is to open our eyes and see Him in all of His glory and allow Him to win the victory for us. We can be sure that He will take care of any situation that we look to Him to handle. His timing may not be according to our schedule and He may come at what we see as the 11th hour but He will come if we will just trust in Him and in obedience cling to Him and His instruction and direction for our lives.
The king of Syria had come down to do battle with the King of Israel. God spoke to the King of Israel and warned him not to go in a certain direction because the King of Syria lie in ambush for him. The King of Syria was furious because his plans had been foiled. So, he called for his men of wisdom and they told him that Elisha had warned the king of Israel and so the King of Syria sent his armies to the place where Elijah was.
Early in the morning, one of Elisha's men got up and went to the gate and saw the armies and the chariots outside the city walls and was afraid and he came to tell Elisha what he saw. Elisha's reply was, "Fear not for they that are with us are more than they that are with them."
Elisha then prayed, "Lord I pray Thee, open his eyes that he may see." And the Bible says that God opened his eyes and he looked out and saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. Elisha then prayed that the enemies would be struck blind and God heard his prayer and He struck the men blind.
We face all kinds of obstacles in our lives. Many of the obstacles are because of our own disobedience and others come because difficulty comes on the just and the unjust. Life brings its own difficulties. However, there is nothing that God is not are of nor is there anything that we will ever face that He does not have the answer for. Every obstacle that we will ever face is surrounded by God's delivering solution.
God wants us to always remember that He is greater than any problem that we will ever face. His provisions are greater than any need we will ever have. His love for us is greater than any obstacle that we will ever encounter and all He wants us to do is to open our eyes and see Him in all of His glory and allow Him to win the victory for us. We can be sure that He will take care of any situation that we look to Him to handle. His timing may not be according to our schedule and He may come at what we see as the 11th hour but He will come if we will just trust in Him and in obedience cling to Him and His instruction and direction for our lives.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Help in Troubled Times Psalm 46:1
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear."
God does not want us to be afraid in this life. He wants us to know that He has everything under control. It may not seem like He does from our perspective. God keeps His promises and He will be true to His Word and to His nature. We have to remember that God's time and our time are not the same. We have to remember that God's plan and our plan are not the same. We have to remember that we look at things for the moment and God looks at things for eternity.
God is never early with His promises and He is never late. He is always right on time. "He is a very present help in trouble." God is our refuge and our strength when we avail ourselves to Him. We need to learn to praise Him anyway. We need to be obedient to Him anyway. We have to remember that we do not get ourselves into the messes that we can find ourselves in, in a day or so. Sometimes, God's help comes after we have walked with Him in obedience for a certain time period.
Remember one other thing. The moment that we decide that we are going to give up the commitment to obedience just might be the very day that God's deliverance was ready to be given to us. Disobedience to God's Word is never a reasonable option. Disobedience is always costly. Obedience always pays the dividends that God wants for our lives. The payday may not be as soon as we would like but if we will remain faithful to Him, He is always faithful to keep His promises to those who are faithful to His Word! God is a very present help in times of trouble!
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