Gracious words from a gracious God . . .

Deuteronomy 16; Psalm 103; Isaiah 43; Revelation 13

Sometimes I read all the suggested Scriptures and the Lord gives me one thought for the day. Now and then, if my heart is quiet and not distracted, I hear Him speaking continually. This is one of those days. Space allows for just a few of what He is saying to remind me of His gracious faithfulness. After the past two days, He blesses me with positives!

In celebrating the Passover, the Israelites were told to eat no leavened bread to remind them how quickly they had been delivered, then seven days of unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, so “that all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 16:3)

APPLY: It is a good idea that each day I remember when Jesus saved me from slavery to sin, a reminder to live accordingly!

There are other truths in my spiritual life that the Lord wants me to remember. Here are a few of them . . .

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (Psalm 103:1–5)

I am forgiven, healthy, redeemed, blessed with His continuous love and mercy, and given so many good things that most people think I’m 10 – 15 years younger than I am. What can I say to all that!

APPLY: Remember His multiplied blessings and be thankful, today and every day.

While I rejoice over my own salvation, I’m also burdened by concerns for those who don’t know the Lord and have shown no interest in Him. Isaiah’s words of rebuke are for those in that “I don’t care” attitude about God. He tells them of the Lord’s attitude toward them and what He will do to bring them to faith in Him. Right in the middle of those warnings, God says through the prophet:

“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins." (Isaiah 43:25)

APPLY: God disciplines those He loves and deals with our sin, not because we deserve His grace but because He is a merciful and saving God. I can put my unsaved family and friends in His hands. He knows how to turn their lives from disobedience to righteousness because He has great power to change hearts, to make them new. My prayers for these burdens need not be pleading and in despair but raised in confidence because the God that I love is a God of salvation.

According to Revelation, a time is coming when those remaining on the earth will be completely deceived by leaders who are “given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months.” The first one will blaspheme God, His name, and those who dwell in heaven. This “beast” will be allowed to make war on God’s people and conquer them and be given authority over every tribe and people and language and nation. All who live on earth will worship it except those whose name has been “written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.” (Revelation 13:5–8)

This is a scary scenario yet comes with a promise; the faith that God gives to His people is so powerful that all who believe in Jesus Christ will NOT give in to the coming deceptions. This faith might result in martyrdom yet it will not fail. Those who believe were written in the book of life before God created the world!

The next verses say:

If anyone has an ear, let him hear: If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints. (Revelation 13:9–10)

As the world seems to be rolling toward a climax many Christians are wondering if Jesus will come soon. He could yet these thoughts come with every large crisis. Christians were expecting Jesus soon during the world wars and other pandemics. However, no one knows the day or the hour. All I know is that whenever it happens, the people of God will endure because the faith and endurance He gives are sufficient!

APPLY: Be confident. God isn’t done with this planet yet. Those who resist Him cannot win that battle. Eventually every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God. This confidence in Him is my daily joy.

 

 

Review, count my blessings . . .

Deuteronomy 2; Psalms 83–84; Isaiah 30; Jude

Deuteronomy is a rehash of the three books before it, which tells me it is important to review all that God has done and even take a backward glance now and then at my failures. Both remind me of His great faithfulness and my great sinfulness and need to always trust Him.

Both that Bible book and Isaiah repeat God’s warning: Do not go back to Egypt. The application is clear. They were in bondage in that worldly place just as I was in bondage to sin before Christ took me out of that condition. Like Deuteronomy, Isaiah reminds God’s people of their rebellion:

For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” But you were unwilling, and you said, “No! We will flee upon horses”; therefore you shall flee away; and, “We will ride upon swift steeds”; therefore your pursuers shall be swift. (Isaiah 30:15–16)

His next section is positive. He tells God’s people and me that even though we have resisted the Lord and gone our own way so often and so much, the Lord is not giving up:

Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. (Isaiah 30:18–21)

These are precious words. The Israelites may have shook their heads in wonder. Some of them didn’t listen and this message was repeated many times until the Messiah came. Even then, they missed the point; they could not save themselves. Their own way and the way of the world would not set them free. Only God’s saving power made possible by the sacrifice of His Son would clear their guilt and take them to the way of life He promised.

It is good to review and yet not my nature to think much about the past. I tend to forge ahead, putting everything behind me. This is not always a plus. Each evening I struggle to remember the blessings of the day and be thankful. If I were God, I would be right annoyed with me at times! Yet He “waits to be gracious” and “exalts Himself to show mercy” to me. This is a wonder. Not only that, He teaches me and continually guides my life and even uses the afflictions to show me His graciousness. I am in awe.

Jude makes the OT/NT connection clear when he writes, “Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt . . . .” My Savior was also their Savior. For many, they didn’t get it. I’m not to be stubborn and faithless but trust Him. He tells me to “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).

The bottom line is the glory of God and Jude also makes that clear:

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 24–25)

Today’s application is also clear: Remember what God has done and be grateful for His power to keep me on salvation’s path. Contend for the faith taught in these holy Scriptures and live it out so that God is glorified. Be eager to share this with others because so many people have no idea of the joy in Christ that can be theirs.

 

I go where I am looking . . .

Every time my Christian friend went out, her spouse told her, “Now remember who you are.” He referred to her status as a child of God, perhaps to boost her confidence or to help her behave in such a manner that represented Jesus Christ.

It is a good reminder. When I am in a new situation and even in a familiar place with people that I know, thinking about who I am in Jesus makes a great deal of difference to my attitude and actions. John’s letter has these verses that give the basics of how this focus should affect God’s people . . .

And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. (1 John 2:28–3:3)

Actually, this is more about who Jesus is than who I am because of Him. I need to focus on Jesus and the above passage tells me several reasons why. First, relying on Him changes the way I act and keeps me from saying or doing things that might make me blush when I see Him face-to-face. I know that sounds a bit like that Christmas ditty that begins, “You better watch out, you better be nice . . . .” but it isn’t a threat. His presence right now is a reality. If I walked into any situation with Jesus as my escort, holding my hand and opening doors for me as a physical presence, I would have an entirely different demeaner than being totally alone. This is not hard to imagine — but why is it so hard to remember!

Second, anyone who knows that Jesus is righteous will assume that when I talk and behave in a righteous manner that I am His child! This evidence of being a Christian will affect other people.

John reminds me that I am a child of God but some will not recognize me as His child, just as some did not recognize Jesus as God’s Son. I’m not to be surprised by that but remember that when He appears, I will be exactly like Him, a reflection of who He is. Thinking this way changes my ambitions. Instead of wanting to be popular, famous, an achiever, or gain any other temporary status, I am set on being pure. This word means faultless, not in the sense of selfish perfectionism (which is a flaw) but in the sense of being holy, sincere, a person of integrity, like Jesus. This ambition for purity is not to produce arrogance or flow from a superiority complex. Those are also flaws. Instead, it is a combination of humility (for I’ve nothing that earns or deserves it) and confidence in Jesus Christ.

At this point in my life, no one reminds me to, “Remember who you are” but the Holy Spirit can do that when I need to hear it.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Lord Jesus, I also realize that focusing on You is not mainly about what it does for me. In Your motivation, it might be but on my side of it, I’m not to have any hint of “what’s in this for me” because selfishness ruins the focus on You! I’m to glorify You, not me. To be changed into Your likeness is to bring You glory. Certainly these reasons reveal why this is so difficult to do and to remember; it is far easier for sinful me to want all of this for myself.

Today’s thankful list . . .

- many reminders today of God’s grace in my life.

- visits with friends and those I’ve not met before today.

- seeing the excitement of a friend who needed a new car and God supplied it so quick that we are shaking our heads in wonder.

- Spring in November — aka 10 degrees C. at 8:00 pm

- an afternoon of rest before a big dinner out to celebrate two birthdays.

- Baked Alaska!