Posts

Our Speech (and our Heart)

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2 Kings 17; 2 Chronicles 28; Psalms 46; James 3 “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh and salt water flow from the same spring?” James 3:9-11 Why is our speech so important to God? What we say reveals our heart. Just as fresh and salt water cannot flow from the same spring, so blessing and cursing cannot come from a pure heart of wisdom. If we curse others, our heart is not yet surrendered to God and filled with his love. In the same way we evaluate the quality of the water we drink, we should be listening for what the words we hear reveal about the heart. When words are salty, the heart is not pure, and our claims to spiritual maturity are disingenuous. Will we reflect on our speech over the past week and invite the Holy Spirit to reveal our heart? The Lord invites us to give him our heart, repent for attitudes which a...
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Transformation

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Isaiah 32-35; James 2 “Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; way to those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.’ Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped…” Isaiah 35:3-5 The writer of Hebrews points to Jesus as the author and perfecter of our faith. He is the healer, deliverer, and judge. In our weakness, fear, spiritual blindness, and deafness, it is Jesus who hears and saves. The dry, desert places of our lives can experience living water so that beauty and joy replace parched, hard ground. The Lord is saying to us today, ‘Be strong, do not fear; your God will come.’ We can be freed of the strongholds of sin as we humble ourselves before God and repent. We, too, can experience renewal, new life, and the infilling of the Holy Spirit so that our lives look like a well-watered garden of beauty and fruitfulness. Jesus is the...
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Persevering in the Test

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Isaiah 29-31; James 1 “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!” Isaiah 30:18 “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised those who love him.” James 1:12 It’s hard to wait on the Lord in the midst of a test. We want to move on to the next season, rather than wait on the Lord for our deliverance. Like Israel, we, too, can be tempted to make an alliance with ‘Egypt’ to deliver us from the invading ‘Assyrians.’ Waiting on the Lord, trusting in his justice and compassion is not natural when the test lengthens and we become impatient. Yet, it is in this very situation that God develops within us perseverance to hold on to his presence, promises, and Word, and to stand firm. For those who have “stood the test” God promises a crown of life. Abundant life now and for all eternity doesn’t come in the...
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Our Helper

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  Isaiah 25-28; Hebrews 13   “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” Hebrews 13:5, 6 The antidote for a love of money is a greater love for the Lord. As the Lord becomes our first love, he fills us with contentment and an awareness that we belong to him. Fear drives many to earn or acquire more and more money, thinking that in money they will find security, identity, and purpose. However, money is a mirage which cannot deliver on any of those elusive requirements for a satisfied life, full of joy. No matter what our context or challenges are today, if we belong to the Lord, he is our helper. Will we share our hearts with him and repent for trusting in money as our security? “Lord Jesus, I trust you for my future and my security. You have my life in your hands, for your...
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Who Do We Look To!

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Isaiah 22-24; Hebrews 12   “The defenses of Judah are stripped away. And you looked in that day to the weapons in the Palace of the Forest; You saw that the City of David had many breaches in its defenses; you stored up water in the Lower Pool…but you did not look to the One who made it or have regard for the One who planned it long ago.” Isaiah 22:8, 9, 11 Hezekiah’s tunnel can be viewed today (and walked through) as the watercourse built to deliver the city of David from Assyrian siege. This engineering marvel is beyond the understanding of engineers today. However, Isaiah rebuked the leaders of Jerusalem for looking to their fortifications and engineering skills rather than to the Lord.   When God allows significant disasters in our day, do we trust in our engineers, scientists, and wealth to deliver us, or do we humble ourselves before the One? Do we view God as someone to be worshipped on Sunday but not as the Lord of heaven and earth? Will we trust in the Lord’s plan or ...
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Seekers

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Isaiah 19-21; Hebrews 11   “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6 One of the clearest evidences that we have faith in our lives is found as we earnestly seek God. We seek God without evidence that our prayers are being answered. We earnestly seek God, not casually inquire of him. The rewards for earnestly seeking God are found in the awareness of the Holy Spirit’s intercession through us. We find the joy of the Lord in sharing his prayer-burdens with us, not just in his receiving our prayer-burdens. The rewards for being a friend of God are eternal. Friends of God seek his face because they value the relationship and time together, not just his answers to their prayers. “Lord Jesus, you are my first love and I will seek you, for your glory.”
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Deliberate Sin

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Isaiah 15-18; Hebrews 10   “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God…It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Hebrews 10:26, 27, 31 The warning against deliberate sin by those who know the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit is clear. If we think that our ministry impact, or family heritage, or donations give us a pass with God to continue in willful sin, we are deceived. The Lord cannot bless rebellion, sin, or pride of any kind. It is healthy to live with the fear of the Lord - a fear that keeps us from sinning and focuses us on a life of worship and loving surrender to the Lord. While it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, those same hands were pierced with nails on a cross out of sacrificial love for us. God’s hands are stretched out to us today ...
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