Watch My Mouth

Psalm 141

Oops!  I did it again!  I opened my mouth and let some words slip out that I shouldn’t have.  Has that happened to you?  It sure has happened to me more often than I wish.  If only there was a trap at my mouth to catch every word before they got out, where I could check them over first, and hold back ones that on second thought I know aren’t advisable to say.  Could you use such a device?  This is something that King David wished he had, and was something he actually prayed the Lord would help him with.  We read about this in our psalm for this week.

Our psalm, one of the many that King David wrote, begins with the king’s prayer to the Lord.  David’s life was often like a roller coaster ride, a lot of rapid ups and downs, and quickly whipping around problems right and left.  In all of these he knew that he needed God’s help, and he often prayed to Him, calling out for Him to listen to his voice (vs. 1).  David compared his prayers rising up to God like the smoke of incense rising into the air (vs. 2).  I love the smell of church incense, just like in a dimly lit medieval monastery.  Our prayers do rise up to God like incense, as we read in Revelation 5:8 and Revelation 8:3-4.

God loves to hear our prayers.  They are like bowls of incense, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.  Our prayers, even the “little ones” do not bother Him.  God wants us to pray constantly (I Thessalonians 5:17), and to pray about everything in our lives (Philippians 4:6).  He cares about every detail in our life.  Don’t believe the lie that your concerns aren’t worth His time.

As King David continued, he confessed to the Lord that he knows that his mouth sometimes gets him into trouble (vs. 3).  He opened his mouth and let slip words he wished he hadn’t said.  David asked the Lord to set a guard before his mouth, right at his lips, so no wrong words could escape.  Living in royal palaces, he probably had guards at many of the doors.  They would stand there with heavy staff and spears in their hands, ready to block the entrance for unwelcome people, or the exit for people the king wished to detain.  Nothing could get in or out without royal approval.

Just as David prayed, we are to be very careful with what we say at all times.  Words are powerful.  They can build people up, and they can also tear them down.  It’s so easy to say a damaging word.  Imagine that royal guard standing watch at your mouth.  Every word must pass inspection before it can come out.  This is a good prayer for the beginning of each day.

David continued through the rest of the psalm praying that the Lord would keep him from following the ways of the wicked.  Unless one escapes to a monastery, it is impossible to live a life without running into some disreputable people now and then.  However, we don’t want to let their ways influence us, and this was David’s prayer (vs. 4).  This is a prayer that also echoes the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:13), where we pray to not be led into temptation, and be delivered from the evil one.  If we are not careful, we can easily find ourselves slipping down sin’s slope, soon careening out of control.

Though we read how important it is to steer clear of the influence and ways of the wicked, we are also instructed to accept the counsel of righteous and godly people (vs. 5).  When they seek to give us godly counsel and correction, we should not take offense, nor tell them to leave us alone and get lost.  God tells us here to accept their words, as in reality it is kindness.  A true friend will gently correct us when we need it (Proverbs 27:6).  A false friend either doesn’t care, they are not invested enough in our lives to notice, or are deep in their own sins.

As we close up Psalm 141, we should take its lessons to heart in our lives.  Let’s carefully watch our words, watch who we associate with, and to accept the correction of those we know are good and godly examples.  Then our prayers can rise to the Lord as sweet-smelling incense!

God Always Provides Enough

I Kings 17:8-16

If someone needed your help or assistance, would you help them out?  Most of us like to think that we would.  However, what if by helping them, that would use up the very last of your resources?  By helping them, you would be spending or giving the very last dollar you had, or the very last bite of food you had.  Would you do it then?  This is the dilemma that the woman in our Scripture today faced.  Would she give her very last?  Would we?  Let’s see what lessons the Lord can teach us today.

Our Old Testament Scripture passage is a chapter out of the life of one of my all-time favorite people from the Bible, the Prophet Elijah.  Elijah was a prophet of Yahweh, who preached His message to the people of the northern Kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab.  Because of the people’s sins the Lord judged them by causing a nation-wide drought, where no rain fell for several years.  This naturally upset the people, including King Ahab, and his life was in danger, so Elijah had to flee out into the wilderness where God provided for his daily needs for a few years.

Eventually the brook Elijah was staying near dried up, so the Lord sent him to the Phoenician city of Zarephath, a city in Gentile, pagan territory (vs. 8-10).  This was a journey about 100 miles away.  Elijah was walking, and he was still a “wanted man”, so coming out of hiding meant really trusting God for his safety.  When the prophet arrived at the city border, he met a widow who was out gathering some sticks in order to start a cooking fire in her house.  Elijah was tired, hungry, and thirsty, and he asked the woman for a drink of water and a bite to eat (vs. 10-11).  The widow answered that she only had enough for a small bite for herself and her son (vs. 12).  They were going to eat that, and then prepare to die of starvation.  This long drought had caused famine throughout the area, and the widow had given up hope of living.  Elijah responded by telling her to do as he asked, and she would not starve, nor die (vs. 13-14).  So here we are.  Would the woman give her very last bite of food to a stranger?  Would she believe his word and step out in faith?  Would I?  Would you?

That was a rather bold statement for Elijah to make.  First, the Phoenicians were no friends of Israel.  Why would he expect the widow would help him?  And then, what if the woman did as he requested and God did not replenish her food supply, and she died?  Elijah had faith in the Lord that He would provide for the woman, even though she was a Gentile, if she had faith in the Lord, as well.  He had confidence to say what he did to the widow during a famine because he had lived a life of faith, and had proved God to be faithful.

Elijah asked the widow for the one thing that she couldn’t spare.  Giving up her little resource, she could now only lean on God.  She was pushed beyond her limit to endure.  She was out of food and without any options.  God was now ready to work a miracle for her, but she needed to trust Him and be obedient.  This woman’s obedience to God’s command through Elijah brought her deliverance.  God never asks you for what you don’t have.  He only asks you for what you want to keep for yourself.  Elijah rebuked the fear in the woman, and told her to give what she had.  In return God supplied what she needed.

Most of us would rather that God would provide in abundance long before our resources are depleted, rather than just enough for each day.  God, though, tells us to trust Him.  When we feel trapped by our circumstances, and feel certain that what we have will not be enough, God can work miracles.  God strengthens us to continue using what little we have, trusting that with His help it will be enough.

Are you afraid that your jar of flour will one day be empty and your jug of oil will fail?  According to the Word of God, if believers in Jesus trust and obey Him, this will not be the case.  God’s grace and mercy will last through all of your necessities.  You can never exhaust the infinite mercies of God.  He hears us when we are scraping the bottom of the barrel.  All else may be gone, but Jesus remains, and His Word declares that our every need will be supplied.

Love God, Love Your Neighbor

Mark 12:28-34

The Bible is a big book.  Those who commit to reading through the whole Bible usually take about a year to do so.  It is not something one can do in just a couple of days.  Considering all of God’s laws and rules contained therein, it is easy to understand why one of the scribes asked Jesus which of these laws of God were the most important ones.  Our Scripture today gives the answer that Jesus told him.

Our Scripture takes place shortly after Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and just a few days before His crucifixion.  His enemies were gathering together to try and find a way to entrap Jesus into saying something that they could arrest Him for, and then hopefully execute Him over.  After Jesus told the parable of the wicked vinedressers in response to the Pharisees comments, also wisely responding to their trick question about paying taxes to Caesar, and then gave a good answer to the Sadducees hypothetical question about the resurrection, a scribe came up to Jesus with another question, hoping to entrap Him in His words.  He asked Jesus that out of all the many laws and commandments given in the Scriptures, which one was the most important (vs. 28).

Jesus’ response comes from Deuteronomy 6:4-5, where it states that the Lord God is one, and to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength (vs. 29-30).  Jesus also then added a second great commandment, that we need to love our neighbor as yourself (vs. 31).  Though, like the others, this scribe was probably trying to trip Jesus up with His answers, he knew that Jesus answered correctly, and that there was nothing that could be brought against Him with this answer (vs. 32-33).

Let’s look at the first of the two commandments that Jesus said were the greatest ones.  It reads “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.”   How can one show that they love God?  Jesus gives us the answer when He gave His discourse to the disciples right before the Last Supper.  He told them that if they love Him they will keep His commandments (John 14:15).  In other words, if we genuinely love God we will obey the Bible, God’s Word, which is where we would find His commands.  Jesus didn’t say that if we love Him, we will only obey those commands that we happen to like or agree with, or only those which align with the current world’s view and philosophy.  He said that we will keep or obey His commandments if we truly love Him.

The second greatest commandment states, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Jesus basically restated this in Matthew 7:12 where He gives us the Golden Rule, to do unto others as we would have them do unto us.  When someone had asked Jesus who their neighbor was, He gave us the parable of the Good Samaritan to show us who our neighbor really is (Luke 10:25-37).

Jesus did not give us any exceptions to this rule, either.  He didn’t say to love only our nice neighbors, only those who agree with our opinions, only those of the same race or nationality as yourself.  It also isn’t just the folks who live literally next door to us, but instead it is everyone around us, everyone we come in contact with.

This is a difficult one, as this might sometimes include loving our enemy.  It means forgiving them the wrong that they have done to us.  We all say that forgiveness is great until we have something to forgive, especially if it is something huge, like murder, abuse against a child, etc.  Again, whether we like it or not, or whether we agree with it or not, Jesus said loving our neighbor, which includes our enemies, is the second greatest commandment.

These two commandments sum up the Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses.  The first four commandments have to do with our relationship with God, just as this first commandment does.  The last six commandments have to do with our relationship with others, just as this second one does.  We can only truly follow these two through the power of the Holy Spirit who indwells all true believers.  Let’s commit to loving the Lord God will all of our hearts, minds, and strength, and loving our neighbor as we do ourselves.

A Better High Priest

Hebrews 7:23-28

Suppose you had to run a race, and it was permissible for you to call on someone else to run for you, who would you pick?  And even though it is generally never permitted, let’s just suppose for a moment that it was okay for you to call on someone else to take a test for you, who would you pick?  Naturally you would pick the fastest runner you knew.  Or you would pick the smartest person you could find in math, or science, or whatever subject the test was.  You would not pick a runner who was just as slow as you, nor someone who struggled just as much in math as you.  We each have a similar problem in the spiritual realm, as each of us has a sin-debt that we cannot pay.  Who can we turn to in order to help us?  Our Scripture from the Book of Hebrews today looks into this.

Every man, woman, and child has a sin nature which we inherited from our first ancestor, Adam.  And our own sinful inclination leads us into sin every day.  Sin requires a blood sacrifice to bring forgiveness, and God set out the laws for this in His Word, the Bible.  During the days of the Old Testament the Jewish people had a priesthood which came from the house of Aaron, from the tribe of Levi, and they performed the sacrifices necessary for sins.  However, there were some problems with this priesthood.  Let’s look at what they were and how the Lord Jesus proves to be the answer, and a better High Priest.

First, each of these priests, including the high priests, were temporary.  Being ordinary humans, they lived and died like everyone else (vs. 23).  Multiple priests were needed over time.  However, Jesus lives forever, and has a permanent priesthood.  Because He is superior, He is able to save completely (vs. 24).

Secondly, these human priests were sinners, themselves, as we all are.  They were no different.  They had to first bring sacrifices for their own sins before they could offer sacrifices for anyone else’s sins (vs. 27).  How could someone who is equally a sinner as I am make atonement for my sins?  Over the course of time throughout the Old Testament there were some high priests who fell into grave sin, including mixing the worship of Yahweh with that of pagan gods.  Would I want someone who failed a class to take the test for me?  That wouldn’t be smart.  So why would I want someone who was equally, or possibly even more sinful than myself, to make sacrifices for my sins?  Thankfully this is where the Lord Jesus steps in as a High Priest who is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners (vs. 26).  He had no sin of His own to make a sacrifice of forgiveness for, so He is able to fully atone for my sins.

These sacrifices given by the Jewish priests needed to be offered over and over again.  The sacrifice of Jesus is unique and sufficient, never to be repeated.  This is because Jesus Christ is both our Great High Priest and also the perfect sacrifice.

Another blessing of having the Lord Jesus Christ as our Great High Priest is that He is in heaven now making intercession for us (vs. 25).  Sometimes we might feel all alone, and wonder if there is anyone praying for us.  We can rest assured that Jesus is praying for us right now!  The storms in our life may get rough, and the clouds get dark, but Jesus is praying for us.  When temptations come and we are tried on every side, Jesus is praying for us.  We don’t ever need to be afraid, because Jesus is praying for us.  Jesus offers unending intercession on our behalf.

Jesus’ death on the cross for our sins opened the way for us to have immediate, unhindered access and admittance to the Father’s presence (vs. 28).  When Jesus finished His work in making the final priestly sacrifice, the veil in the Temple, which closed off the Holy of Holies from man, was torn in two (Mark 15:38).  Access to God was now open to all who believe in Jesus as Savior.

Scripture points us to Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6).  Through Jesus we have access to God.  He is not a temporary or weak Savior.  He continually intercedes for us He continues to mark a clear and safe trail for us in life.

A Clean Walk

Psalm 119:1-16

When we go for a walk it’s always good to keep an eye on our pathway to make sure that we observe what lies on the path ahead.  No one wants to land face first in a muddy puddle!  Little children might enjoy getting all muddy, but as adults that is usually not what we like, and we do what we can to avoid the dirt along our pathway.  How about in our spiritual walk as believers and followers of the Lord Jesus?  Every one of us has slipped and fallen in our Christian walk, some into a giant mud puddle of sin, getting spiritually filthy.  How can we avoid this?  Our psalm for this week speaks of how we can cleanse our ways to avoid sin.  Let’s take a look.

Psalm 119 is the longest psalm, as well as the longest chapter in the Bible.  The author is unknown.  Some believe that it was King David, while many others think that it might have been written by the scribe and priest Ezra, the writer and main character in the Old Testament book of his name.  The psalm is one of nine acrostic psalms in the Bible.  It is divided into 22 sections, each of eight verses which begin with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet.  Each of the 176 verses speak of the author’s desire to follow and obey God’s laws and commandments.  It is here, in these opening two segments, that we find out how to keep clean while walking on the pathway of our Christian life.

All throughout this psalm the author urges his readers to keep following God’s laws and ways.  When we do, God promises to give His favor and to bless our life (vs 1-2).  Unhappiness is caused by an individual’s self-will and sinful disobedience.  When we live according to our own ideas and values, we will always run into trouble.  When we conform our lives to what Jesus wants, we will find the blessings He promises.

We might wonder how we can faithfully follow God’s commands.  As mentioned at the start, we are apt to slip and fall in our spiritual walk with the Lord.  First, we must realize that in our own strength we cannot do anything.  The only way is through the righteousness of the Lord Jesus, which we receive when we accept Jesus as Savior.  Once we have done that, we need to commit to following the Lord each and every day.  How is that accomplished?

God’s Word gives us a way to overcome sin, which we can see in the second part of our passage.  First, we need to spend time reading and meditating on Scripture, and then obeying what we read (vs. 9-10).  Then, we need to be prepared for temptation at any place or time by storing Scripture in our heart and mind (vs. 11).  God promises great joy and peace when we know His Word (vs. 14).  We need to take time to attune our heart and mind to the Word of God (vs. 15).

God takes disobedience seriously because the consequences are so grave.  Wise men and women will choose to live by His Word and obey Him (vs. 9).  When we put God’s Word in our heart, we are less likely to stray into sin, and if we do, we are more likely to get out of that sin, and get back in line with Him (vs. 11).  Strong repeated doses of God’s Word injected into our hearts will fight the disease of sin.  As this psalm repeatedly states throughout each of its many verses, we must ponder, study, and memorize God’s Word.

The world today may tell us that if we have enough money and riches, all of our problems will be solved.  That is not the message that God gives us in His Word, as stated in many places, including in our Scripture today (vs. 14).  Money is not the answer to all of our needs.  A spiritual treasure is so much more important, which God will give as we walk in obedience to His Word.

In closing, let us keep our eyes fixed on God’s commands.  They form the path that we should follow.  The better we know God, the better we can choose the right path.

Do You Want God's Promises?

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Every once in a while we run across someone who is upset because they didn’t get the reward at the end of some type of contest.  Then it’s pointed out to them that they didn’t follow the rules, or follow them correctly, and thus did not qualify for the reward.  We see this when people play games.  Someone wants to win, but they didn’t follow the rules so they are disqualified.  This even holds with something like a recipe or putting a piece of furniture together.  If we want to get the correct results we must follow the instructions properly.  If we acknowledge this to be the case, then why do people get upset when they don’t receive some of the Biblical promises we read of in the Bible, or some of His blessings?   In our Scripture today from the Book of Deuteronomy, we read of something the Lord wants us to do, and then the resultant blessings we will receive if we obey.

As the people of Israel were preparing to enter into the Promised Land after years of traveling through the wilderness, Moses gave them some final instructions, which are contained in the Book of Deuteronomy.  As the passage opens, Moses told the people that the Lord had given them commandments, statutes, and judgments, many of which were restated in Deuteronomy, and that the people were to follow them when they entered into the land the Lord gave them (vs. 1).  They were to fear the Lord (vs. 2), which means holding Him in respectful honor, love, and obedience, acknowledging that God is God, and we are His creation.  Godly fear leads to careful obedience.  We need to fear the Lord as long as we live.  The most obvious way to do so is by obeying His Word.  The fear of God is connected with worship of the one true God.

The Lord promised that if His people would keep His statutes and commandments, and teach them to their children and grandchildren, He would prolong their days in the land He was giving them, that He would multiply them, and give them a land flowing with milk and honey (vs. 2-3).  Here we plainly see, that if we follow His commands correctly, doing exactly as He says, then we will receive what He has promised.  However, if we don’t, then we cannot expect to receive what was promised.  Too many people think otherwise, feeling they can live however they choose, doing whatever they want, and feel the Lord should bless them anyway.  That’s not how things work.

Verse 4 of our Scripture is a very important one for observant and Orthodox Jewish people.  It is known by the Jewish people as the Shema.  This verse is one which is recited twice a day, in the morning and evening, and often as the last words they speak before death.  This confession of their faith was a declaration of Yahweh as one Lord and God, against the polytheism of the neighboring nations.

Moses continues with some serious and important instructions for the people of Israel, and also for us today.  He told the people to keep God’s Words in their hearts (vs. 6).  Many Orthodox Jewish men today will wear tefillin or phylacteries upon their arms and foreheads when they pray as a way to follow verse 8.  These are small leather boxes which are strapped on with leather straps, and contain small scrolls containing portions of the Torah.  Christians today do not wear these, but it is very important for us to read the Bible each day, studying, meditating upon it, and memorizing it.  This way we are able to keep God’s Word in our heart.

Our Scripture passage also tells us to instruct our children about God and His Word the Bible (vs. 7).  Today’s philosophy says that people should not teach their children about God, and then when they are older they can decide on their own what they want to believe.  That is the devil’s philosophy.  We need to teach our children about the Lord Jesus, and salvation through His Blood.  We need to talk about God’s Word with our families each and every day.  If we don’t tell our children about Jesus, and instruct them in God’s Word, we can be sure that the world will instruct them in the ways of the devil.

In closing, we need to see that God’s commandments are so important to us, that we are supposed to put them at the center of our household, discussing and meditating on them each day.  When we do that, we will receive all that the Lord has promised us in His Word.

Bartimaeus

Mark 10:46-52

Sometimes we may pray and hope for something from the Lord, something that is not sinful or wrong in any way, yet nonetheless, others just try to shut us up.  “Shut up!  Don’t pray for that!  Don’t bother God with that!  Who do you think you are?”  Those are some of the things that they might say to us when we pray our heart’s desire to the Lord.  So what do you do?  Do you keep quiet, like they so rudely told you to?  Our Gospel today relates the account of someone who had others tell him to keep quiet, as well.  Let’s see what his story is, and what he did.

As our Scripture opens, Jesus and His followers were leaving the city of Jericho where He had been ministering.  Sitting at the roadside near the main street in and out of the city was a blind man named Bartimaeus.  We don’t know how long this man had been blind.  However, in those days there were no resources for the blind.  There were no schools for blind children.  There were no jobs that a blind person could hold.  And unless they came from a wealthy family who could financially take care of them, they were forced to beg.  That is what Bartimaeus was doing when Jesus came by.

Sitting at the roadside near the entrance and exit of the city would have been a rather good spot, as there would have been a fair amount of traffic.  This day, though, Bartimaeus heard an unusual amount of ruckus, and he must have asked some people what was going on.  The people told him that Jesus of Nazareth would be passing by as He left the city (vs. 46-47).  Bartimaeus had heard of Jesus before.  He had heard that He was a healer, and had even restored the sight to a number of blind people.  That gave this blind man hope.  Bartimaeus must have hoped that if Jesus had done that for others, then perhaps He would do that for himself.

Now was his chance.  Jesus would soon be gone, so he had no time to waste.  Right away, not knowing exactly where Jesus was, Bartimaeus cried out “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  He knew who Jesus was.  The Messiah was prophesied to be of the lineage of King David, and this blind beggar believed that this was who Jesus was.  He knew that Jesus had the power to heal him, so he wasted no time in calling for Him.  However, others in the crowd did not want some noisy beggar making a disturbance, and told him to be quiet (vs. 48).  Did that stop Bartimaeus?  It might have stopped some people, but it didn’t stop him.  He cried out all the more, and his persistence got the attention of Jesus.  The Savior called him over, and Bartimaeus threw aside his beggar’s cloak, as he knew he wouldn’t need that anymore (vs. 50).

Jesus asked the blind man what he wanted.  Jesus knew what he wanted, as that would be fairly obvious, but He wanted him to state it, to make the request, which he did.  Immediately his vision was healed, and Bartimaeus followed Jesus as He journeyed on towards Jerusalem and all that would happen there (vs. 51-52).

God does not mind specific prayers.  In fact, here with Bartimaeus, Jesus asked for a specific answer to His request.  “What do you want Me to do for you?”  We don’t need to beat around the bush with God.  He is not impressed by a flurry of fancy words.  He is listening to what our heart is saying.  Jesus showed compassion to Bartimaeus, and affirmed his faith.  He wants us to come to Him without questions and pain.  Don’t allow trials to cloud your thinking about God’s deep concern for you.  Bartimaeus could have given up hope, but fortunately he didn’t.  Answer His call to you, and bring your burdens to Him.

The crowds had tried to stop this poor blind beggar.  They had wanted to shut him up, to push him back into his corner, unseen and unheard.  However, he wouldn’t let them, and neither should we.  Don’t let anyone stop you from receiving what God has for you.  When Bartimaeus called out to Jesus, they told him to shut up.  Sometimes they will to us, as well.  Instead, he cried all the louder.  When doubters start knocking at your door, telling you that Jesus doesn’t do this or that anymore, proclaim Hebrews 13:8, that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  The same Jesus who answered Bartimaeus’ cry, and asked him what he wanted, calls to you today.

Even though Bartimaeus was blind, he could see by faith who Jesus was.  The crowds had physical sight, but they were blind to His teachings, especially about compassion and mercy.  Let’s have the faith of Bartimaeus, and not be one who would push someone away from the Savior through ignorance or lack of caring or concern.