Sunday, April 28, 2019
Sooner or Later It Will Be Seen
Verse of the Day: 1 Samuel 17:13-15, The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone to follow Saul to the battle. The names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14 David was the youngest. And the three oldest followed Saul. 15 But David occasionally went and returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.
I would like us today to recall what happened in chapter 16. Samuel was at the home of Jesse, per God’s direction and command, to anoint the next king. In doing so, Samuel had the opportunity to meet all of Jesse’s sons. As Jesse brought them to him one by one, Samuel made his own judgment of who the Lord would choose, but the Lord made it clear that He sees more than man’s outer appearance. As we read the names of Jesse’s sons in this chapter, it serves as a valuable lesson for us in our walk with Jesus. Like Samuel, we have a tendency to judge people, who they are, or what they are like, based on what we perceive of them. We apply our own prejudices, regardless of how they were developed in our minds, to a person based on what we see with our physical eyes. I too have been guilty of this, only to be surprised or disappointed at what the truth was about certain people. The danger in doing this is that we do this in judging who we want to model our spiritual walk after. It is true that God calls us to encourage one another and be an example for one another. Titus 2:6-8 instructs us, “Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, 7 in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, 8 sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.” In 1 Corinthians 11:1 the Apostle Paul wrote, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” There is no doubt that we need godly role models, and we should strive to be godly role models. However, we must be very careful that we not take our eyes off of Christ when it comes to who we should model our lives after. I have seen, in far too many cases, that many of us have put people on a pedestal, because of what certain people portrayed in public, in Christian circles, or at the church building, only to find out that they were just as flawed as we are. Some have even left the church and Christian fellowship as a result. From a human perspective, Samuel, if left to choose, would have probably chosen one of these three brothers to be the next king, based on his initial observations. Here, they have an opportunity to shine, stand up, and prove themselves; yet, they cowered just like everyone else. When we put our trust in man to be our greatest example, rather than turn to Jesus and see His example from the Scriptures, we will always find ourselves in a position to be disappointed; as sooner or later a person’s true character and flaws will be seen. The Bible tells us that we fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). John 1:14 tells us, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” In other words, we fall short of Jesus, and not one another, as Jesus is who we are to measure ourselves by. Again, I want to make it clear that we can look to others as examples and we can be examples, for the glory of God, but our ultimate Example to follow is Jesus and Him alone.
Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).
Saturday, April 27, 2019
Destroying Devilish Tactics
Verse of the Day: 1 Samuel 17:8-9, Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.”
Goliath used a tactic that the devils love to use with us Christians. Sadly, we do much to make it easy for the devils to use these tactics against us. Which tactic you ask? The one where the devils whisper in our ears and convince us that we are unable to defeat them, overcome temptation, that we are not good enough to serve, and that we have finally committed the ultimate sin that God will not forgive us for. This is just a short list of things they whisper to us. Goliath’s used devilish wisdom in his approach of intimidating Israel and convincing them that they were not strong enough, in order to cause them to cower and be afraid. First, we must remember this one truth, the devil is a liar. Jesus said this in John 8:44, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” Not only is he a liar, but he is also an accuser of both God and man. In Revelation 12:10 we read, “Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.” These whispered accusations, that he not only brings before God, as we have read in the Book of Job, chapters 1 and 2, and the Book of Zechariah 3, he uses to instill insecurity and fear in us. He uses the opinions of men to cause make us feel unworthy, and cause us to shy away and step back from speaking up for Christ. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 29:25, “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.” This fear is not always necessarily the fear of physical harm, but fear of what others will say or think about us. When we have sinned, repented, confessed it, and gotten right with the Lord; yet encounter that judgmental Christian (or two) who is/are more than happy to remind us of the moments when we did not shine so brightly for Christ. These are the tactics the devils use to keep us paralyzed in our fear. How do we break free of the grip of this fear? How do we overcome Satan’s tactics that derail us from the path God wants us to walk on, or causes us to keep from speaking the Name of Jesus? First, put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6), then the best weapon we can use to destroy the devils’ lies, and obliterate the devils’ attacks is God’s truth, as found in His Word. In John 8:31-32 we are told, “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’” God has recorded for us, in His Word, the truth of His unwavering love for us, the enormity of His grace, the extent of His forgiveness, and how we can have strength and victory in Christ Jesus, even against the wiles of the devil. Saul became afraid because the Spirit was no longer upon Him. Therefore, the courage he once possessed was nonexistent as Goliath breathed his threats against him and the armies of Israel. Although the devils try this same tactic with us, we must never forget this one truth that give us a greater advantage than Saul ever had. That truth and advantage is that, as born again believers, we are sealed and indwelt by the Spirit of God (Ephesians 1:13; 1 Corinthians 6:19). Knowing this, we must believe the truth that is stated for us in 1 John 4:4, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” Regardless of what accusation the devils throw at us, or what attempts they make to demoralize us, in order to try and instill paralyzing fear in us, remember that we are God’s children, He never leaves us nor forsakes us (Hebrews 13:5), and nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:31-39).
Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).
Friday, April 26, 2019
You Did It to Me
Just the other day I had an interesting conversation with a homeless man who stopped me and asked if we could talk. He asked me to be careful, as I was in uniform, patrolling my route. He said, "It dangerous out here." The conversation continued, and not long after that we were talking about God and the Bible. Turns out he was a born again believer and as we continued our time of fellowship, and people walked by looking at us with curiosity, as we were unashamedly loud and animated about the theme of our conversation, he began quoting John 15:1-6...it was a great time listening to him quote it and stop at the very last word so that I could finish the last verse. The rest of what took place, only Jesus needs to know, but I wanted to share this portion of our meeting and fellowship, because we really do need to be careful how we judge others, simply by their appearance...all the while we talked and had our little moment of fellowship, the verses that kept resonating in my head were Matthew 25:37-40 where Jesus said, “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
Thursday, April 25, 2019
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