A Place Of Safety And Protection

Psalm 31:1-5, 19-24

The enemy is coming, and their weapons are out and ready to strike.  Today we might run to a bomb shelter or underground bunker to protect us from bombs and missiles.  In the past, when the enemy armies approached, the villagers would run to the fortress if they lived close enough.  They wanted to be within a strong building that would withstand the attacks of the enemy.  Sometimes a fortress wasn’t always within reach, or a bomb shelter today.  Where do we turn then?  Where can we find a fortress or strong protected shelter today from enemies, either physical or spiritual?  Our psalm today, one by the sweet psalmist of Israel, King David, speaks about his desire to find a good, strong fortress.  Where will he find one?  Let’s look and see.

Today’s Scripture comes from the opening and closing verses of one of King David’s many psalms.  Like some of us, David was no stranger to enemies and to problems.  Where could he go to find help?   As he begins this psalm, David declares where he is putting his trust when the problems come his way.  David boldly declares that he has put his trust in Yahweh (vs. 1).  He is going to depend upon Him for any and all help, and he asks the Lord that He will not abandon him, nor let him down.  David knows that God would never let him down, but he asks that in prayer, anyway.

Though the background of the psalm is not completely certain, it was probably written during the years when David was fleeing the attacks of King Saul.  During those years there were a number of occasions when he was in serious danger, and his very life was threatened.  At these times David cried out to God.  He cried out for God to listen to him (vs. 2).  Sometimes we might think that God is not listening to us, especially at times when the problems are big, and the stress is heavy.  So we come to God like a little preschooler does to their parents, pulling on their pants or skirt, and crying “Mommy, Daddy, listen to me!”  David cried out, “Bow down Your ear to me”, listen to me!  Help me!

David knew that God was a refuge for him, and so can we.  He is a fortress, a stronghold of defense and protection.  God is like a strong rock that we can safely hide behind.  Out in wilderness areas, we often come across large rocks and boulders, ones we could safely hide behind, and God is like that.  Yahweh has a secret place where He will hide us from our enemies (vs. 20).  The author of Psalm 91 felt the same way (Psalm 91:1).   We, like David, can turn to Yahweh for protection when we face trouble, when an enemy, either physical or spiritual, comes against us.  When David called upon God, he made his requests based upon what he knew of God’s Name and character.  Because God is righteous and loving, He loves to deliver His children.

As we read in verse 5, David committed his spirit, his life, into God’s hands.  This was also a prayer that Jesus prayed right at the moment of His death (Luke 23:46).  The first Christian martyr, Stephen, also prayed a form of this prayer as he was stoned to death for his faith in Jesus (Acts 7:59).  This prayer conveys complete trust in God, passing from His earthly care into His eternal care.  We can commit ourselves into His care, both all through life, and at death, as well.

We need to know, and truly believe, that God is a good God (vs. 19).  When we worry and stress over problems, even serious ones like David faced when his life was in danger, are we really believing that God is a good God, and that all He does, including for ourselves, is for our good?  Because He is good, good God, He gives hope to the hopeless, and help to the helpless (vs. 24).

We can trust in the Lord to preserve the faithful, those who have put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus as their Savior (vs. 23).  As we serve Him, He will protect us, and bring us blessings.  However, those who do not trust or turn to Him, He will judge.

Do you have a sure and safe place of protection to turn to when you face the enemy?  For those who know and follow the Lord Jesus, we have in Him the strongest fortress and the safest shelter to hide in for protection.  He is the only One we can trust to help.  In the face of the enemy, the Lord has promised He will strengthen and protect His children.

Choose A Blessing Or A Curse

Deuteronomy 11:18-28

Imagine that before you are two clearly labeled containers.  One of the containers is filled with blessings, and the other filled with curses.  Whichever one you open, the contents will be given to you.  Which container will you open?  Just about everyone would choose the container of blessings.  No one willingly wants a curse!  Every day in life we come across choices between blessings or curses.  We’ve been given plenty of indications of which actions bring which results, yet how many times have we gone ahead and chosen curses for our life rather than the blessings.  In our Scripture from the Book of Deuteronomy, we come across one of several guides in the Bible to help us make the better, the wiser choice.  Let’s take a quick look.

The Book of Deuteronomy was the final of the five books which Moses wrote, containing the Law of God.  At the time he wrote this book, the people of Israel were on the far side of the Jordan River, ready to enter the Promised Land.  Moses knew that his time on earth was almost over, and that he would not be crossing the Jordan to enter the land with the people.  He wanted to give them some final words, to go over the Word of God with them one more time, to give them words of exhortation and encouragement to follow and obey God.  This was an important time for the people of Israel.  The decisions they would make would have consequences, ones that would not only affect them personally, but would carry on down for multiple generations to come.

God made His people a promise, and we know that when God promises us something, He will keep that promise.  God promised the people that He would give them the land that they were preparing to enter.  He would defeat their enemies, and He would pour out His blessings upon them.  However, this was a conditional promise.  The promise was based upon the condition that they obey God and His Word.  If they kept up their end of the covenant, the agreement, He would keep His end.  However, if the people turned away from following and obeying God and His Word, He promised that curses would come upon them. The decision was up to them.  Choosing and following one way would bring one result, choosing the other and the other result would come.

This choice for blessings or curses wasn’t just for the people of Israel as they prepared to enter the Promised Land.  This is a choice for people all through history, and it is a choice that we each have every day.  God has given us some instructions, that if we follow, will make it easier to follow and obey His laws and Word.  It is always easier to follow something if we are very familiar with it and know more about it.  This applies to God’s Word, as well as anything else.  God knows this, and He has told us to keep His Word in front of our eyes and in our hands, to keep it in our hearts and mind (vs. 18).  We should keep our Bibles out and ready to pick up and open, rather than stashed away in a dusty bookshelf.  We can even have Scripture framed and on the walls of our house, perhaps as a cross-stitch or embroidery, or painted as part of some artwork (vs. 20).

Moses also emphasized to the people how important it was that they teach God’s Word to their children and grandchildren (vs. 19, 21).  This is equally and vitally important today.  A person who was raised as a child attending church and Sunday School, and hearing the message of Jesus from a young age is more likely to accept Jesus as their Savior.  The older one gets, having rarely, if ever, attended church or opened a Bible, the less likely they are to give their life to Jesus.  Of course, some older adults do thankfully get saved.  However, as one gets older, one’s heart does tend to get hardened against God, especially in this day and age.  Christian parents really need to be instructing their children in God’s Word.  They certainly are not going to hear about Him in school or out in the world!  Don’t we want our children to have blessings in their life, rather than curses?  Of course we do!  So it is important to instruct them in the ways of the Lord so that they will make the choice for blessings rather than curses.

Our Scripture closes with the Lord laying the choice clearly out before us.  We can choose blessings, which will come if we obey His Word and follow His way in obedience.  The other choice is that of God’s curse.  That will come upon those who turn their back to Him, to those who toss His Word behind them, to those who have no place for Jesus in their life or heart.  The choice is freely ours.  Blessing or curse.  Which do you choose?

In Jesus' Name

John 14:13-17

Many of the prayers that we say end with the phrase “in Jesus Name.”   We place that on the end of prayers, whether prayers at church or ones we say at home, but do we know what it really signifies?  Do we know what it means, and what it doesn’t mean?”  Our Gospel reading from the Bible today speaks of asking things in Jesus’ Name.  Let’s look into that, and what that phrase means.

This Scripture passage is part of the teaching that the Lord Jesus gave to His disciples on the night before He was crucified.  Moments earlier He had told the disciples how He was going to prepare a place for them, and that He was the way, the truth and the life.  Jesus told them how He and the Father are one (John 14:1-11).  Now He was instructing them in one point about prayer, and how the Father is glorified by answering prayer asked in Jesus’ Name.

As mentioned above, so many of our prayers end with the phrase “in Jesus Name”, and here Jesus tells us twice that if we ask anything in His Name, He will do it (vs. 13-14).  What a great promise!  But lest we think that we have been given something like Aladdin’s magic lamp, we need to see what Jesus was talking about, what He meant.  “In Jesus Name” is not a magic charm.  These verses do not mean that any request ending with those words will automatically be fulfilled.  For the Lord to hear and answer prayer, we must first be saved through Jesus Christ.  Once saved, God will hear us only when we walk in righteousness before Him.  If we knowingly continue to sin, and do not repent, God will not listen (Psalm 66:18).

By saying “in Jesus Name” we cannot force God to do anything.  Our prayers must be consistent with Jesus’ character.  He won’t grant a prayer that will hurt us or others, or derail His purpose.  We need to check our motives.  Will our prayer glorify God?  Will it let others see Him?  Are our prayers selfish, greedy, or impure?

When Jesus said to pray in His Name, it could also be said that we would be asking as His agent.  Sometimes a boss gives a trusted employee authority to do something in the boss's name.  The promise of answered prayer is based on the disciple’s acting as the agent of Jesus’ will.  Our prayer should be for God’s purposes and kingdom, and not for our own selfish reasons.  It should be on the merits of Jesus, and not any supposed personal merit or worthiness.  Our prayer in Jesus Name should be in pursuit of God’s glory alone.

The glorified Christ is now seated at God’s right hand.  He is our Great High Priest.  He tells us to come and ask for what we need (Hebrews 7:25).  As believers, we have the right to use His Name  But to use the Savior’s Name, we must agree with God’s purposes.  We must ask in agreement with His character, and our priority must be to obey Him and His will, not our own.

The Name of Jesus is not just any old name.  The Name of Jesus is the only Name that saves. It is the only Name that brings God’s Good News.  The Name of Jesus forgives, heals, and casts out demons.  His Name validates prayer.  The Name of Jesus reigns supreme!

Jesus has promised to give us the Holy Spirit, “another Helper” to be with us always (vs. 16-17).  The Holy Spirit is Someone like Himself, who will take His place and do His work.  He is the Comforter, an Advocate, Someone called alongside for aid in the time of trouble.  Jesus has promised to give us everything we need to make it to the end.  We have His continued aid through the power of the Spirit, who lives inside every believer.  We are never alone, as the Holy Spirit will be with us forever.

Blessings From The Holy Spirit

Romans 8:14-17, 22-27

Imagine receiving a very special gift, one that could really help you in a number of situations, but you never really used it.  You opened the gift up, but then you set it aside, and never took advantage of those benefits.  That wouldn’t be too smart of you, would it?  The most intelligent thing to do would be to find out exactly what that gift could do to help you, and then use it whenever you could.  If you’re a Christian, you have been blessed with a special gift from God the moment you were saved.  This is a gift that He gave us to help us through our life.  However, so many Christians are just like the person who was given a gift meant to help them, but then just set it aside and never benefited from the blessings.  Our Scripture for today highlights several benefits we have from the Holy Spirit.  Do we know of these benefits, and are we acknowledging them and receiving the blessings?

As our Scripture from Paul’s letter to the Romans opens, we read that those who have the Spirit of God, (that means all who have accepted the Lord Jesus as Savior), are now the sons of God (vs. 14).   Paul reminds us through many verses in Romans and other letters he wrote, that we have been adopted by the Lord God, and are His special children.  That is one benefit or blessing that we have access to from the Holy Spirit.  Before we were saved, we were under bondage to sin and Satan.  However, now we are no longer cringing and fearful slaves.  Instead, we are the Master’s children.  We share in all of His great treasures as co-heirs with Jesus (vs. 17).

In a loving and accepting family, the children are not afraid of their father.  They don’t cower in fear when he enters a room.  Instead, they run to him, with shouts of “Daddy!  Daddy!”, ready to jump into his open arms.  The children know that they are loved!  This is how the Bible describes the relationship that the Holy Spirit brings us with God the Father (vs. 15).  That is another benefit from the gift of the Holy Spirit.  We can call Him Abba, a word used in Middle Eastern languages to refer to one’s father.  It didn’t mean just the formal term “father”, but an even more intimate and loving one of “daddy”.  The Holy Spirit gives us reassurance that we are God’s children (vs. 16), and as His children, we know that we can come to Him whenever we want or need to.  He is never too busy or disinterested in us.  God will never turn us away.

Paul also informs us in this passage that though we are joint-heirs with our Big Brother Jesus, there is a price for being identified with Him.  Along with the treasures we have with Jesus, we will also face suffering (vs. 17).  Though no one enjoys suffering, however, as children of God, being indwelt with the Holy Spirit, we can turn to God in prayer at any time.  Sometimes, if the need is so great and the trials so heavy and strong, all we might be able to do is to groan within ourselves.  The pain, the heartache or grief can be so strong that we can’t even come up with words to pray with.

Here is where the Holy Spirit, which has been given to us, steps in and prays for us (vs. 22-27).    In certain serious circumstances, whether for ourselves or for others, we might not know exactly what to say in our prayers.  The Holy Spirit does, though.  He knows what is in our hearts, and as part of the Holy Trinity, He knows what the will and mind of God is.  Thus He is able to pray for us most effectively.  This is a benefit we have from the gift of the Holy Spirit  When we don’t know the right words to pray, the Holy Spirit prays with and for us.  No words are necessary, because the Father understands and agrees with what the Holy Spirit thinks and prays.

This work of the Holy Spirit on our behalf parallels the High Priestly work of intercession by the Lord Jesus on behalf of believers (Hebrews 7:27).  When we don’t know what or how to pray, we have the Holy Spirit inside of us making intercession for us, and we have our Big Brother Jesus, standing in as our High Priest, also interceding for us.  As our loving Father, God is always there to hear our prayers and cries to Him, as well as those of both the Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit putting into words what we just can’t say on our own.

Are these blessings from the Holy Spirit ones that you know and take advantage of in your daily Christian walk?  Do you know that through the Holy Spirit that you are God’s child, and come running to Him like a child to his beloved Daddy?  Or do you mistakenly cower in fear, thinking He is a harsh Father?  And when you want to pray, but just don’t know what to say, as the burden is too big, do you just give up and forget about it, or do you allow the Holy Spirit to pray on your behalf?  Don’t miss out on the blessings that the gift of the Holy Spirit has for you!

Our Provider

Psalm 104

When you make your weekly trip to the grocery store, are you conscious of where the food you buy comes from?  I’m not specifically referring to the farms, though we should be grateful to all the farmers, fishermen, and ranchers for the work they do.  I am referring ultimately to Who provides for all of the food we eat.  Naturally those who have no faith in God do not give any thought or consideration as to Who ultimately provides the food they eat each day.  Sadly, even some Christians sit down at the table day after day, and forget to thank the Lord for His provisions.  In our psalm for today, the psalmist does not forget that it is the Lord God who ultimately provides the food and drink for all creatures on earth.  Let’s take a quick look at this psalm.

Psalm 104 goes through the different parts of God’s creation.  The first several verses speak of God laying the foundation of the earth, His creating the atmosphere, and all the angelic beings (vs. 1-5).  The psalmist uses very descriptive words.  The light covers God like a cloak, and the heavens, what we look at through telescopes, are His curtains.  The Lord God rides the clouds as His chariot, and soars through the air on the wind.  Some people revere angels so much they almost worship them, however God created them and they are His servants.

Water is very important for life.  We can only last about three days without having any water.  God created water, it didn’t just happen (vs. 6-13).   Our psalmist describes places of water throughout the earth.  He particularly describes the streams of water that come down from the mountain peaks, bringing liquid nourishment to those who live in the valleys, both man and animals.  When we stand on a beach, we might wonder why the ocean stops where it does.  Why doesn’t it stop several hundred yards further inland?  God is the One who has set the limits of the waters in the ocean.  He directs where the rivers go.  The Lord is the One who has provided water to quench the thirst of all beings.  Without water we would not have any other types of beverages, nor any food, and it is the Lord who has provided it for us.

The Lord God not only provides us with water, He also is the One who provides all living beings with the food they eat.  Without any food, a person can last maybe a week or so, depending on whether they are drinking any water, and what their general health is overall.  God provides grass for the cattle to eat, which in turn provides the meat that we consume.  He also provides all of the vegetables that we eat, and grain for our bread (vs. 14-15).  God not only provides water and food for all creatures, He has also provided each animal with a place to live, such as trees for the birds, the hills and mountains for the goats, and burrows for the badgers (vs. 17-18).

As our psalm continues, the writer describes the cycle of day and night, and how this, too, is a creation of God, and has a purpose which He designed for both man and animal (vs. 19-23).  As the earth rotates, we see the sun rising and setting each day, as God ordained it should.  At night the moon and the stars are visible, and we see the cycle of the moon throughout the month.  God created certain animals that are nocturnal, and are active at night seeking their food which He provides for them.  When daylight comes they return to their dens, and man and other animals then rise and go about their day.  All of this is determined by God.  The psalmist particularly highlights the fish and creatures of the oceans (vs. 25-26), noting that there is such a wide variety of sea life, man hasn’t even counted them all.

The psalmist proclaims that it is the Lord God that provides us with all that we need for life (vs. 27-30).  He is the One who gives us our food and our water, and everything that is good.  He has created even the air which we breathe, and without it we would die and return to dust.  It is by His Spirit that we have life.

He concludes the psalm with a chorus of praise for all that God has created (vs. 24, 31-35).  His creation is vast, and was created in wisdom.  As we look around the world at all of creation, as we eat and drink each day, we need to remember to meditate on the wonders of the Lord, and sing His praise.

The Promise Of The Holy Spirit

Acts 2:1-11

When we’ve been given a promise, we’re usually glad when that promise is kept.  It’s especially pleasing when we’ve had to wait a while for that promise to be fulfilled.   Our Scripture for today gives the account of the fulfillment of a promise that the Lord Jesus gave His disciples, and actually a promise that had been spoken of by several of the prophets in the Old Testament.  On the day of Pentecost, God fulfilled His promise to His people by giving the Holy Spirit.  Let’s look into our Bible passage for this Sunday of Pentecost.

Pentecost was the Jewish festival of offering to God the first fruits of the harvest.  The disciples were in Jerusalem, where they had been since the day that Jesus had ascended back into heaven, ten days earlier.  They were all together in an upper room, possibly the same room that the Last Supper had taken place in.  There they had remained for over a week, in prayer, waiting for the fulfillment of the promise of the Holy Spirit, which Jesus had given them (Acts 1:12-14).

How patient are we for someone to carry out or answer a promise they made for us?  People today are not very patient for anything.  They want what they want right away.  Instant food from the microwave, from fast-food restaurants, or restaurant delivery to their doors.  They want to get from point A to point B in the fastest time.  They want the quickest route, the expressway, not a slower way that might be more scenic.  Instant answers and information on the Internet.  Fast, fast, fast.  God doesn’t always work fast, or at our timetable.  Very often He has us wait for His answers.  When Jesus was preparing to return to heaven, He told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49).  They obeyed, waiting in prayer, and ten days later, on the festival of Pentecost, the promised Holy Spirit was given.  Quite often the Lord wants us to be still and to wait for the answers to our prayers.

In His final discourse to the apostles, Jesus spoke of sending the Holy Spirit to the believers.  He spoke of the Holy Spirit as our Helper, and that this was the Spirit of Truth (John 14:16-17).  He promised that the Holy Spirit would bring to mind all that Jesus had said (John 14:26), and that it was necessary that Jesus return to heaven in order for the Holy Spirit to come (John 16:7).  John the Baptist had prophesied about the coming Holy Spirit.  He spoke of how he baptized with water, but that the Holy Spirit would baptize with fire (Matthew 3:11;Luke 3:16).  And centuries earlier the Prophet Joel had also spoken words about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28-29).

When the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples that Pentecost morning, there appeared “divided tongues, as of fire” upon each disciple (vs. 3).  Fire symbolizes God’s purifying presence, which burns away undesirable elements of our lives.  It also sets our hearts aflame, empowering us to witness to others, to bring them the Gospel, in order to ignite the lives of others.

There was a reason that the Holy Spirit came on the festival of Pentecost.  Pentecost was the day that the Jewish people brought an offering to God of the first fruits of their crops.  If they brought a portion of the very first of their crops and offered them to God, then they believed He would bless the remainder of crops to come.  The Holy Spirit came on Pentecost as the first fruits of the believer’s inheritance.  The Holy Spirit was the sign of all that God promised to give to believers, like a down payment of what was promised to come.  Also, these early believers were the first fruits of the full harvest of all believers who would come after.

That Pentecost morning, God sent the Holy Spirit upon the believers gathered there together, and He enabled them to speak to the multitudes of people who were gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the festival.  These were Jewish folk who came from dozens of different countries throughout Asia and the Mediterranean world.  They immediately began to witness to these people in their native languages (vs. 5-11).

When the Holy Spirit came upon them, the disciples didn’t just sit back and compliment themselves on how privileged they were to be so blessed.  They immediately went out and started sharing the Gospel to others.  The Holy Spirit has been given to us to enable and empower us to share the Gospel with others. There are myriads of people all around our own neighborhoods who need to hear about Jesus.  If we are saved, we have the Holy Spirit, and we have the ability to do as these disciples did, and that is to share the Gospel with all who will listen.

Mission Accomplished

John 17:1-11

When setting out to complete a mission, whether an individual person, a business, or a government, we like to see that everything goes right.  Nobody likes a failed mission.  There are some who look over Jesus’ life, reading through the Gospels, and when they come to His arrest and subsequent crucifixion, they look at it as a horrible, unfortunate event, a mistake, a failed mission.  They may acknowledge that God rectified it by raising Jesus, but they still feel that it was a failed mission.  Let’s look at what the Scripture says about this.  Did Jesus complete what He was sent to do?  Was God pleased with Jesus?  As we look in our Bible passage for today, from the Gospel of John, we will see that Jesus did not fail in the mission the Lord gave Him.

The 17th chapter of John’s Gospel is a prayer that the Lord Jesus prayed to God.  It is the High Priestly prayer He made.  Jesus is talking to the Father, and we get to listen to His prayer.  We are just looking at a brief segment at the start of the chapter, and in this portion we read His prayer for God to bring Him glory, and how He prayed for His disciples.

As our Scripture opens, Jesus prayed to the Father, and spoke of how “the hour has come” (vs. 1).  What was the “hour”?  This refers to the hour or time of Jesus’ death, His upcoming crucifixion, along with the Resurrection and glorification which would follow.  Within just a few hours, Jesus would be arrested, given a phony trial, brutally scourged and beaten, and then crucified.  This was not something that came upon Him unexpectedly.  This was not a surprise, a big “oops, that wasn’t supposed to happen” moment.  Jesus had spoken of His crucifixion to His disciples several times. (Luke 9:22-27; Mark 9:30-32; Matthew 20:17-19; and Matthew 26:1-2).

As Jesus spoke of this hour having arrived, He spoke of it bringing glory, glory both to the Son, Himself, and also glory to God the Father.  How did Jesus glorify God?  He did so by carrying out the will of God in all things. If this was something that was not supposed to happen, it would not bring glory to God.  Jesus prayed that He would be glorified by finishing His mission of redemption, and by bringing people salvation, by bringing them to the Father.  The mission that Jesus had been given was not just to teach people how to live better lives, but was primarily, and most importantly, to redeem mankind, to bring salvation to all who come to Him, which could only be accomplished by His death on the cross.  That was His mission, that was the work He was to do, and in His prayer to the Father, He reported that He was finishing the work He had been given (vs. 4).

Jesus was not only fully God, but He was also fully man, and as a man, knowing that He would soon be going through brutal torture, and the awful death of crucifixion, that must not have been a pleasant thought.  No one relishes the thought of terrible, dreadful pain.  As we see in His prayer, though, Jesus looked past the cross and its horror, to when He would return to the glory that He shared with God the Father before the world began (vs. 5), and the multitudes of souls that would be saved.

As Jesus continued with His prayer in this Scripture passage by praying for His disciples (vs. 6-11).  He acknowledged that they were the ones God gave to Him, and thought they were not perfect, they kept God’s Word, and were true to the Light, the Truth He had taught them.  Jesus prayed that His disciples would be protected, unified, sanctified, and sustained against Satan and the world.

This world is a battleground.  It is a place where the forces of Satan and those of God are at war.  Satan is motivated by bitter hatred of Jesus.  So in His prayers for His disciples, and we see later in the chapter for us as well (John 17:20), Jesus prays for God to keep all believers safe from Satan’s power.  That is His desire, as God is glorified when souls are saved, not in material things.

Jesus’ prayers hamstring Satan.  He is praying for us, and God will hear the intercessory prayers of His Son, as the Son and the Father are One (vs. 10).  As we can see through this priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus, this was not a failed mission, but one that can be triumphantly declared as a “Mission Accomplished”!