I was just thinking…

In Matthew 19, Jesus told the rich man that he needed to sell everything he had and give to the poor. The man went away sad because he had great wealth. Jesus told the disciples how difficult it is for a rich person to truly give themselves away.

Peter then asks, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”

Jesus responded kindly, but I can imagine His heart sank. Peter’s question revealed the greed that still in his heart. Why do we always feel that the Lord owes us anything? Hasn’t He given His life for us, so that we may live eternally in splendor?

Think about that today. Are you serving the Lord in order to get something in return? We must daily check our motives. If we are still measuring out our offerings, we haven’t discovered the true worth of our relationship with the Savior.

Psalm 90:17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.

Haman’s personal vendetta against Mordecai (hated him because he would not bow before him) turned into an edict against the whole Jewish nation. After Esther was able to reveal the truth of his plan to the king, not only was he killed, but the edict turned into 75,000 people losing their lives as the Jews were able to defend themselves.

How easily we allow our personal feelings to dictate our actions. We feel we have rights and that something should be done if those rights are violated. Perhaps our actions won’t be as drastic as what happened in this case in the Book of Esther, but there may be eternal ramifications that we may never know about until we stand in eternity.

It would have been better for Haman and the 75,000 people who died if he would have swallowed his pride and be content with the blessings that he had. Instead greed and pride caused him to lose everything and these 75,000 souls to go into eternity without God.

The same is true for us. Will we allow greed and pride determine our fate? It is better to allow the Spirit of God to rule and reign in our hearts for every situation. Just stop and pray before lashing out because we think we have the right to defend our pride and honor. WWJD…

“The love of the Lord.” – Hosea 3:1

If we as believers in Jesus would look back through all of our life experiences, and think of all of the ways the Lord has led us through our wilderness; how He fed and clothed us every day–how He has put up with our bad attitudes–how He has put up with all of our complaining, and all of our longings after worldly possessions–how He provided for us when things seemed impossible. Think of how His grace has been sufficient for us in all of our trials and troubled times–how His blood has been pardoned us from all of our sins–how His rod and His staff have comforted us.

When we look back upon the love of the Lord, we must let faith survey His love in the future, for remember that Christ’s covenant and blood have something more in them than the past. He who has loved us and pardoned us, shall never cease to love and pardon. He is Alpha, and He shall be Omega also: He is first, and He shall be last.

Therefore, remember, when we pass through the valley of the shadow of death, we have no need to fear evil, for He is with us. When we stand in the midst of storms of life, we have no need to fear, for death cannot separate us from his love; and when we come into the mysteries of eternity we have no need to tremble, “For I am persuaded, that neither death; nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Now, soul, is not your love refreshed? Doesn’t this make you love Jesus? Doesn’t the act of remembering the goodness and mercies of the Lord stir up the love in our hearts for the Lord and cause us to delight in the Lord our God? Surely as we meditate on “the love of the Lord,” our hearts burn within us, and we long to love Him more.

When Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh to ask to take the nation of Israel to the wilderness to worship, Pharaoh became angry and made the Israelites work harder. The Israelites saw this as a curse and blamed Moses and Aaron for making their work harder. Moses and Aaron were just doing what God told them to do.

Sometimes we don’t understand what those in authority are doing. We may see it as a discomfort or wrong direction. We must simply trust that they are hearing from the Lord and doing what He has asked them to do. We don’t have the advantage of seeing the big picture as God does.

Perhaps those in authority are questioning God as Moses did and wondered if he was doing the right thing. The best thing we can do is pray for those in authority over us that they have ears to hear the Spirit of God and the willingness to be obedient no matter what the cost.

In the end we will all be better off!

While reading in Joshua today, I read how the Israelites defeated their enemies and killed thousands of people at a time. My heart immediately sank wondering how sending thousands of people to an eternal hell could be God’s plan. I know God was giving the land to the Israelites, but why was it right to punish people for living in the wrong place or being the wrong race.

God knows my heart is toward Him and I will continue to bless and praise Him with all that is in me. I understand the sovereignty of God and I’m not questioning His motives. I also know He’s a big God and can handle tough questions. So, I have asked Him for clarity on this matter and know that in time He will reveal it to me.

This is part of what He’s doing in my heart, right now. I think of eternity every time I hear the news of someone dying in a fire, or home invasion, or whatever. Did those people have an adequate witness of the love of God? Are we doing all we can to equip God’s people to do the work of the ministry? Or are we asking them just to support us professional ministers as we do the work of the Lord?

In John 8:31 & 32, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” I never realized the pre-requisite that went along with “the truth shall set you free.” We must know Christ in order to know His teaching. Then we must do what He says and believe His word. Only after we do this will we understand what truth is and truly be set free.

We are set free from being slaves to sin. That is our nature (flesh). We must draw toward the Lord and seek His ways and truth in order to be set free from the natural instincts to which we default. This is a lifestyle and an ongoing process that never ends until death. This is why so many people are unable to persist in the Christian way. They want achievement.

We must be able to accept the many steps of fulfillment along the way. Each time we overcome the flesh and allow the spirit in us to dominate we have achievement.