Increasing Qualities

For if these qualities are yours and increasing they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

2 Peter 1:8

I have said numerous times that holding the knowledge of our Father and his son, Jesus Christ, is eternal life. Not only life after we leave this earth, but a quality of abundant life we have been given as His children now. 

We are exhorted to grow and increase in this knowledge every day.  There is something yet to discover about the greatness of our God and the beauty of Jesus.  I’ve emphasized a believer’s need to feed upon the word and develop their relationship with the Holy Spirit, solely to remind us all, that without both our growth and development is stunted and shallow.  

The verses from Second Peter, three through eleven, provide us with a foundation to examine ourselves.  God has not only made the way for us to enter His family, but He has provided for us everything, ALL things, that pertain to life and godliness by His divine power.  What is His divine power, but the presence of His Holy Spirit who is the revealer of the heart and mind of God.  He, as our teacher, takes the things of Jesus and declares them to us. 

All things that pertain to life and godliness come through the knowledge of Him. Jesus told Philip, ‘he who has seen me has seen the Father’.  Jesus is the word of God made manifest that we might see and believe.  Through these realities we are invited to share  His own glory and excellence.  All that He is we are to become and it is through these exceeding, great and precious promises that our growth begins. 

The Apostle Paul reminds us that as we behold Him ( 2 Cor 3:18) we are transformed from one degree of glory to another.  We are changed into the images we behold.  Our minds are renewed to the things we give attention to.  We are either being transformed into the images and mind of this world or into His divine nature.  We are designed and to become as He is, in this world.

I would love to have the heavens open and see Him, with my physical eyes, high and lifted up in His majesty but until, or if, that happens I must be content to see Him as He reveals Himself to me through the written words of this bible.  

It is a PRESSING NEED in this hour for every believer to guard their hunger for the word.  If the greatest temptation in the days ahead will be deception, we must hold to the word of truth.  He is the way, the truth and the life.  His word is truth.  In a culture seeking to diminish everything about Jesus Christ, we as His people must, must, must, be diligent to guard what we give ourselves as the bread of our lives. 

Peter sums up his opening remarks with the exhortation to ‘make every effort’;  ESV reads ~ 

 ‘be all the more diligent’ meaning, (spoudē) "eagerness to do something, with the implication of readiness to expend energy and effort”  

to add, (epixorēgéō (from 1909/epí, "appropriately on," which intensifies 5524/xorēgéō,) "richly supply everything an ancient chorus needed to be a grand production") – properly, lavishly supply, as suitable (apt) to outfit everything needed to accomplish a grand objective

~ to the foundation of your faith, all the qualities listed in verses five through seven.  

A branch abiding in the vine produces fruit.  Living in a vital union with Him, allows His divine power to work in us.  Apart from Him, we can not produce His fruit.  

Peter assures us from verses eight, ten and eleven, three things:  

• One, IF these qualities are ours AND increasing, they keep [kathístēmi (from 2596/katá, "down" and 2476/hístēmi, "to stand") – properly, set down (in place), i.e. "put in charge," give standing (authority, status) for someone to rule (exercise decisive force).].. us from being ineffective AND unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

• Two, IF we practice these qualities we shall NEVER fall.

• Three, THAT in this way, there is richly provided an entrance into the eternal Kingdom.

Lacking these qualities lets us know that we are blind, have forgotten who we are and what we have been given through the blood of Jesus Christ.  Pursuing them assures us that we are growing and increasing in the knowledge of the one who has called us to His own glory and excellence.  A must needed and worthwhile pursuit for these days.  

Show Me....

“Moses said, “Please show me your glory.”… Exodus 33:18

 I’d like to begin with something my husband, David, wrote ~ 

“In Exodus thirty-three eighteen, Moses is asking nicely for God to show him His glory.  The Lord initially responds in the affirmative and gives a fundamental and profound description of His character. It’s beautiful and full; it just makes a heart soar with trust and hope….but, there’s a but. 

BUT- is the first word of verse twenty, and by using that word, He’s just put a limit on His mercy, graciousness  and goodness.  He said “you CANNOT see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”

Without saying God’s mercy, grace and goodness to us all isn’t enough- God forbid anyone ever thought I believed such a thing- let me say that this one verse reminds me that in all of my asking’s of God; even the ones where I just want to know him more intimately, they are still subject to His right to reveal Himself when and how He chooses. 

He’s God; which means He’s the initiator in this relationship. He sets the boundaries, the times and He sets the tones. In all of my pursuits of Him,  it’s my previous responses to Him that has largely determined what I can now see, but even when I’m a good and perfect boy ( right ) the ultimate revelation of Himself is in His hands, not in my pursuit.

Today, I’m reminded that mercy has boundaries. That even when I get what I asked for, it might not look like I expected.”

We are a church generation holding first and foremost a desire to be the dwelling for the presence of our Father. Churches universally are returning to their first love, engaging in corporate prayer, dry bones are coming alive and burning with new passion for Him. In this pursuit, we want our motives established on a solid foundation.   

Two simple thoughts this morning ~ first, we do not pursue the external manifestations of God’s great glory and power; we pursue the knowledge of Him.  We pursue Him, not His displays or provision, to walk in His ways and be pleasing unto Him.  

Moses’ prayer from verse thirteen, Exodus thirty three: “please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favour in your sight.”

God did and does reveal Himself through physical manifesations - a fire by night, a cloud by day, splitting the red sea, manna, quails, snakes, earthquakes, plagues and yet First Corinthians chapter ten shows us they STILL were not a people who had learned the ways or nature of God.  Jesus, from Johns gospel, tells us twice, (4:48;12:37); ‘even if the people see a miracle they would not believe.’  

Second, the primary way we as New Testament believers are to “see” and ‘know” God, the Father and his son Jesus Christ is through the written, Holy Spirit revealed, Word of God. Our pursuit is then transformational and life giving.  

He is The Word made manifest and the word written that we might know and see.  “He who has seen me has seen the Father”, Jesus also said, “…you search the scriptures that you might find life but you refuse to come to me…”, John 5: 30. His words are Spirit and life.   You can’t hold the word without a relationship with the Holy Spirit.  You simply produce a dead letter and church tradition. It is by both His word and His spirit that we live. 

Jesus’ rebuke of Thomas was based off of Thomas’ need to see with his natural eye in order to believe, John 20:28-29.  The bible has been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God and that by believing you may have life in his name.  The blessing of believing, while not seeing, is key for every believer pursuing the glory of God.  

Any disappointments and set backs I’ve had in my life as a believer have come from expectations of how God should have done something .  Unresolved disappointments produce, as I said last week, an evil heart of unbelief, causing us to depart from Him. That looks like not reading our bibles, no prayer, no engagement with God. That never changes until we humble ourselves and submit, agree with what He is (has) said and leave His ways and works in His hands. 

To sum up,  we seek to know Him, to know His ways, that we may walk in them and be pleasing in His sight.  Show me your glory is a cry we should all hold, but not from a place of needing to see a tangible manifestation to believe or know who He is. “Show me your glory” is our cry to see every written word come alive as revealed to us by the Holy Spirit and thereby holding a Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. 

Troubled Times

Let not your heart be troubled.  You believe in God, believe also in me. 
John 14:1

Trouble from Helps Word Dictionary ~ 

5015 tarássō – properly, put in motion (to agitate back-and-forth, shake to-and-fro); (figuratively) to set in motion what needs to remain still (at ease); to "trouble" ("agitate"), causing inner perplexity (emotional agitation) from getting too stirred up inside ("upset").

From Ellicott's Commentary we find greater insight into these words from Jesus. 

“It is more natural to take both these clauses as imperative—Believe in God, believe also in Me. Our English version reads the first and last clauses of the verse as imperative, and the second as an indicative, but there is no good reason for doing so; and a sense more in harmony with the context is got by reading them all as imperatives. As a matter of fact, the present trouble of the hearts of the disciples arose from a want of a true belief in God; and the command is to exercise a true belief, and to realize the presence of the Father, as manifested in the person of the Son. There was a sense in which every Jew believed in God. That belief lay at the very foundation of the theocracy; but like all the axioms of creeds, it was accepted as a matter of course, and too often had no real power on the life. What our Lord here teaches the disciples is the reality of the Fatherhood of God as a living power, ever present with them and in them; and He teaches them that the love of God is revealed in the person of the Word made flesh.”

Faith begins with our knowledge of God.  Jesus said eternal life was in the knowing of them.  We do not trust someone’s word without a basic knowledge of them as an individual being trustworthy.  Trust is defined as the assured reliance on someones character, truth, ability or strength.  We don’t trust what we do not know.  Faith begins with knowing who God is.  Our faith will fail time and time again when challenged if we are not able to rest in an assured reliance on His character. 

There is no doubt we are living in “troubled” times with an abundance of troubling events.  Troubling times, in the world, have existed since the fall of Adam.  Sin abounds.  The sin nature lives in the hearts and minds of those unyielded to Jesus as Lord and Saviour.  Yet Jesus, in the midst of his and the disciples trouble, directs us all to the one sure thing that gives the help we need. Believe in God and Believe in Jesus.  

I know when times of trouble knock on our door, we are all tempted to doubt.  Every temptation is common to man.  Yet what is the temptation?  Hebrews chapter three shows us the promise of God, met with an evil heart of unbelief,  produced the inability to enter into the rest (or the promise) of God.  We all know, without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God, but do we believe the doubt, in the midst of trouble, can produce this evil heart of unbelief which causes us to “depart” from God?  We also know that God will never leave us, nor forsakes us, but in our withdrawal from Him, there is no light to dispel the darkness of doubt.  The entrance of His word gives light.  It illuminates the heart and mind. 

I love the thought John chapter one leads us into, IN THE BEGINNING was the word, and the word was with God.  Life always flows from the word that God speaks to our hearts.  Jesus, from the gospel of John tells us, all that the Father has is his, and the Holy Spirit has been given to take what is Jesus’ and declare it unto us.  He holds the word that will dispel the darkness.  It’s always at the beginning of every trouble we find ourselves in.   

As we enter into 2022, we will face great challenges and more trouble.  The question is always how I will meet the trouble when it comes?  What will my response be when tempted?  

A believing heart is always at rest.  Confident in what God has said and knowing God is faithful to His name, faithful to His word, faithful in His covenant.   Jesus is the faithful witness to the faithfulness of God.  He is faithful over the house of God, which is us!

“Let not your heart be troubled, Believe in God.  Believe also in me”.  Jesus.  

The Upward Call ~ Philippians 3:14

Due to the length of this Good Word, it’s just been emailed to our subscribers, but as we go out of this year may you be mindful of your choices to move forward into the upward call we have all be given in Christ Jesus. Philippians chapter three reminds us of choices and invites us into preparation for every season we face.

Adore Him

Adoration ~ 

Deep love; worship 

“And when they saw the Starm they rejoiced with exceedingly with great joy.  After coming into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped him. Then opening their treasures, they presented to him gifts of gold frankincense, and myrrh. 

Matthew 2:11

My prayer is for our hearts to hold this wonder and joy that overflows with adoration as we celebrate the gift of Jesus.

Merry Christmas ~ Jeanne

Justice

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love (Hesed~covenant loyalty) and faithfulness (emeth/ truth, firmness, faithfulness) go before you. 

Psalm 89:14

Helps Word Study on justice: 

(SN 4941) mishpāṭ – properly, a judgment – based on a (legal) standard; preeminently, God's "yes" or "no" verdict, reflecting His eternal Essence; to judge, govern.

This root focuses on the moral standard – the basis of a judgment (more so than the process, [There is no OT term for "justice" per se that fits the limited meaning of justice in modern English.] In sum, this root focuses on the standard (basis) of a judgment, determines its moral, ethical and spiritual value.  4941 (mishpāṭ) is supremely used of God's judgments which are based only on the morality of His eternal Being.  

With the Apostle James reminding us that mercy exalts above judgment, I want to look at the beginnings of Mary’s conception from Matthew chapter one.  Joseph is described in the ESV as a “just man” unwilling to put her to shame. This word shame actually means to expose, make a show of,  which has the power to produce shame but it actually means to expose.

Further it records Joseph considering.  From Helps word studies we learn Joseph is ‘enthumeomai’ (from 1722 /en, "in a state or condition," intensifying 2372 /thymós, "passionate response") – properly, in a passionate frame of mind, easily agitated or quickly moved by strong, provoking impulses.

[This root (enthyme-) refers to "passionate supposing (surmising)" in a person's mind (heart) producing fervent, inner cogitation.]

How many times have we found ourselves in a situation knowing we were righteous in our thoughts, just, justified but perhaps from wrong judgments dispensing something that was unrighteous?   Perhaps we even had scriptural precedent for our considerations.  

Joseph, under the law, was allowed to ‘put her away’ which would have demanded exposure in order to condemn with the punishment of stoning.  

We find a similar set of circumstances when Jesus is faced with judging the woman caught in adultery from John’s Gospel chapter eight. Jesus’ response is not one of condemnation but release and freedom.  The scribes and Pharisees judge according to the flesh, John 8: 15, but Jesus says, his judgment is true because it is not his alone but in agreement with the Father.  Jesus shows us judgment under the law of liberty.

Justice can only be right when we have first taken the time to allow our hearts and minds to align to our Fathers.  We might have scriptural precedent to stand upon, much like Joseph, much like the scribes and Pharisees, but it’s holding the Spirit of wisdom and understanding to know what is righteous for each individual.

He (Jesus) will judge with equity, which is simply appropriate action for the individual situation.  Equity is not fairness, rather that which is fitting.  Equity with justice must be administered In meekness, (power under restraint).  Jesus dispenses justice and mercy with equity in meekness.  Mercy does not destroy justice, rather mercy fulfills justice.  It is not a one size fits all kind of judgment, except in the ultimate rejection of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.   

The increase of His government and His peace are ours to administer. May righteousness and justice be the foundation for all we do. 

In the World

I came from the Father and have come into the world and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father…I have overcome the world…

John 16:28,33

Oswald Chambers wrote in his devotional for December 4, “ Anything that does not strengthen me morally is the enemy of virtue within me. Whether I overcome, thereby producing virtue, depends on the level of moral excellence in my life. But we must fight to be moral. Morality does not happen by accident; moral virtue is acquired.

And spiritually it is also the same. Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation…” (John 16:33). This means that anything which is not spiritual leads to my downfall. Jesus went on to say, “…but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” I must learn to fight against and overcome the things that come against me, and in that way produce the balance of holiness. Then it becomes a delight to meet opposition.

Holiness is the balance between my nature and the law of God as expressed in Jesus Christ.”

Living mindful that we are not our own but His own peculiar people marks us for a life that is different from all others.  God Almighty is the creator of all things and He alone gives life and breath to all, therefore, I came from God into this world.  How I live now in the time that has been allotted to me is determined by how I respond to everything that surrounds me.  My first response, as a Christian, is to make sure my actions align with Him.  My first pursuit, as a Christian, is to be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, established by my own efforts of doing and being good, but from a vital union with Him that aligns me, moment by moment, to His purpose; a willing and obedient vessel.  

This response and this pursuit then assures me my activities in the world are truly a reflection of Him.  As He is, so are we in this world.  This then, builds a confidence in us to stand before Him on the day when the books are opened and life is judged that we are not found ashamed of whom we have been and the works we have/have not finished; because, like Jesus, we have overcome the world.  

The appetites and desires of our life have been so altered and realigned in His presence that these things in the world grow strangely dim.  We live with our affections set on heavenly things.  Heaven fills our hearts and like Paul, we can say our desire is to depart and be with Jesus, but for the sake of others, it's better that we remain. 

As we walk through this month of preparation towards Christmas, let us be mindful that the celebration of the birth of Christ reminds us that He, the King of Glory, is coming again. As surely as He came into this world as the son of God, He is coming again.  We have a day that we look for and hasten, making sure our lives are lived in this world in all purity and holiness. 

Timing

Timing ~ 

I have spoken and will bring it to pass.  I have purposed and I will do it.

Isaiah 46:11

In seasons of life throwing unexpected and confusing events (which seem to be abounding everywhere, for everyone, right now) our safe place is found in resting on the word God has decreed about His purpose. His word never fails.  It is the matter of timing we must learn and understand.   Gods purpose. Gods timing. God’s ways. 

In the declaration to Isaiah God says ‘My thoughts and ways are not yours’.  This does not say we can not understand or have them. We are living in an hour that we, the people of God, need to hold fast and seek  SPIRITUAL wisdom and understanding in the knowledge of His will.

Ecclesiastes reminds us ‘to everything under the sun there is a time and a season’.  God has created all things for His purpose.  We, as arrows in the hands of God, are used at his discretion and purpose.  

As we consider biblical examples of peoples lives, we see repeatedly seasons of human preparation before climatic events.  Everything and everyone grows and is nurtured unto His purpose so when the fulness of His time comes, we can step into the activities God has prepared. 

Until the time that God’s word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested Joseph.  A dream given, that took years to fulfill.  Moses lives 40 years as royalty, missteps the timing of God, only to live another 40 being prepared in the backside of a desert in order to save a nation.  Esther, living in captivity, is set and prepared by God to save her people.  Jesus, himself, grew in wisdom, stature and in favour with God and man.  Preparation time is never wasted time.

Our ability to pursue the process of preparation is the test we must face. It is the ‘rest’ we are to live in because  our confidence is in the reality, that through the preparation, God is working all things together for His good.  

He has spoken. It is impossible for God to lie. His word is true. 

 He will bring it to pass. My times are in His Hands.  

He has purposed and He will do it.  He actively watches over His word to perform it.

We find from from Isaiah forty two, the servant of the Lord does not grow faint nor is he discouraged while he is engaged in the establishment of Gods justice on the earth. My personal conviction is that weariness and discouragement settle in me the further I have allowed myself to be removed from the heart and mind of God.  Confusion and frustration come only as my eyes and mind consider circumstances that are not fitting my picture.  Somewhere in this consideration is the temptation to mis -judge God.  Within wrong assumptions we embrace ‘lying vanities’ and we can find ourselves casting off restraints…evil hearts of unbelief causing us to depart from the living God.  Discouragement is simply the loss of courage.   

Found in Isaiah thirty, we are reminded not to turn aside to or seek other ways when we faced with circumstances we don’t understand.  

In returning (we’ve left) and rest (from anxious activity) you shall be saved.  In quietness and in trust shall be your strength. 

Quietness and trust is not passivity.   In no way does this position give us permission to be casual observers, spiritually disinterested or casting off restraints with the mindset that God is sovereign and there is nothing we can do.   While it is true God is sovereign, you and I can never remove ourselves from the responsibility that continual trust in God is an absolute for us.  The just shall live by faith, without this it is impossible to please Him.  There must reside within our hearts, at all times, the reality that God is true.  He is faithful.  He has spoken it and He will do it.  Without this, we can be accused of those who hold evil hearts of unbelief that depart from the Living God.  

Quietness and trust are the strengths we must carry through this season.  Hearts and minds stayed upon Him, finding His grace is sufficient in every situation.  Whatever  preparation God is working in this season, may we be found in this position of confidence in His purposes for our individual lives as well as the corporate purpose of His body at large. .  

He’s the performer. I’m the believer. 

He has purposed and He will do it.  Our times are in His hands.  

Purpose

The Lord has made everything for it’s purpose….. Proverbs 16: 4

Purpose is defined as ~ the reason for which something is done or created, or for which something exists.

A wise man once said, “If you don’t understand the purpose of a thing, you misuse it.” 

The gospel of John reminds us that all things have been made through Him and without him was not anything made that was made.  Colossians highlights all things in heaven, on earth, visible, invisible, whether thrones, dominions, rulers or authorities, all things are made by Him, through Him and for Him.

Jesus’ pursuit of justice and mercy as the servant of God, sent as the Son of man,  redeemed and established righteousness in a people.  Jesus, now seated in heavenly places with all authority in heaven and earth given unto Him, has authorized use of His name and power to the children of God. 

What comes first, purpose or creation? Do we create and then determine purpose, I don’t think so.  Being fearfully and wonderfully made speaks to intent of design. God had purpose before he created the earth.  Proverbs tells us He possessed wisdom at the beginning of his work.  Before anything was shaped and brought forth, God had intent.  With mans creation, purpose is then communicated.  The question, “Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?reveals purpose preceded creation.  

As the workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus for good works, we have been prepared to carry forth His purposes on this earth.  We have an inheritance in Christ being predestined according to His purpose who works all things according to the counsel of His will.  ‘There are many plans in a mans heart, but it’s the Lord’s purpose that prevails’  Proverbs 19:21 NIV

Not only have all things been made by Him and through Him but FOR HIM.  Paul wrote to the church of Corinth, from his first letter in chapter six, the reminder that they were not their own, rather joined to the Lord, they became one spirit with Him.  He exhorts the body of Christ with this revelation in Romans to yield their bodies as servants unto righteousness.  

Fulfilling our purpose on this earth is to find our place of identity and oneness with Jesus to engage in His purpose.  Life must be about Jesus.  When we can learn to live from our union with Him worldly pulls lose their hold. 

Gods ultimate purpose, for the fulness of times, which he set forth in Christ, is to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.  Jesus lived and works (ever living to make intercession for us) to serve the purposes of our Father.     

With an understanding that He alone satisfies, our press for purpose can be fully realized in our press for a oneness with Him.  We are here, with all resources of heaven, to continue His work.  We are the ministers of reconciliation, committed with a word of reconciliation, living in an hour needing greater works to be done.  

We live in a tension of being and doing, yet it is one expression. Our union with Him, enables us unto doing.  Apart from Him we can do nothing that extends His purpose on this earth. Vitally united with Him, we hold His mind and heart, enabling us to do, as Jesus proclaimed, what we see the Father doing. 

From Isaiah forty-two we find the standard of Jesus (and so us) as the servant of God.  Isaiah admonishes, Behold this servant!  Look at this one.  Look at this kind.  He becomes our standard of service. 

We note from this proclamation of ‘servant’, the humility and obedience acknowledged prior to the upholding and delighting, prior to the deposit of His Spirit upon Him. We can see this from the gospels where Jesus’ act of obedience to submit to baptism at the hand of John was key to the open heaven over Him. Validation and empowerment came after the obedience.  

In conversation with my David, he notes, You can be a beloved son and not be well pleasing.  Most preaching is designed to make people feel the love from God…but without the crisis point of obedience, the well pleasing isn’t heard and we are not validated or endowed with the Spirit for further obedience, unto justice on the earth.  In obedience we become Him, corporately moved along by His Spirit, into His righteous government on the earth, which is so much larger than simply ‘social justice.  For it to be righteous, justice it must flow from God’s standard of righteousness.  

Our efforts to establish justice and mercy are increased as we walk humbly before Him, always dependent upon our union with and obedience to Him

The Lord has made everything for His purposes. 

May we be found faithful!

The World is Passing Away

 Do not love the world or the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life is not from the Father but is the world  And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

1 John 2:15-17

Love ~ 26 agápē – properly, love, centering in moral preference.  In secular ancient Greek, 26 (agápē) likewise focuses on preference as does the verb (25/agapáō) – in antiquity meaning "to prefer" (TDNT, 7).  In the NT, 26 (agápē) "involves recognition and judgment of value, whence its frequent nuance of 'preference.'  The verb agapaō most often means 'value, set great store by, hold in high esteem'; . . . Helps Word Studies 

We will never overcome what we love.  Jesus reminds us the world holds an allure for the natural man. Temptations are common to us all, but to overcome a love for the world, to live in it and not be one with its culture and ideals, we must ‘love’ God with our all. 

I am always checking my heart to see where my attachments lean. I’m aware I will never overcome what I indulge, excuse or prefer over God.  Heart checks are a daily need.

There is much in the world that can be appealing so the need to properly discern what is good and acceptable in the eyes of our Father requires a heart that is willing to embrace truth and be adjusted.  26/agapē ("love, divine preference") describes all of God's being and actions.  For the believer 26/agapē ("love, divine preference") is the affirmation of what the Lord affirms, and the rejection of what God hates (cf. Ps 97:10). Helps Word Study

For the child of God, holding an appetite for worldly things becomes a torment to the soul. This mixture grieves the Holy Spirit who works to keep us pure and unblemished. We find ourselves resisting Him in order to satisfy our own desires. 

Jesus, tempted in the lust of the flesh, his desire for food, is the same temptation we see for Adam and Eve.  The children in the wilderness had such a strong craving for food it led them into sin. Proverbs 23:3 addresses the man given to his appetites. In these events we can understand a need for a fasted lifestyle to bring our lives into submission.

This ability to deny ourselves teaches godly restraint.  Consider all the places Jesus did not go, things he did not do, words he did not say, until he was instructed by His Father.  The instruction to overcome the world isn’t to be confused with will worship, Col. 2:23, rather an expression of obedient submission.  He learned obedience by the things he suffered.  The ability to tell yourself no and walk it out in the grace of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, is the victory that overcomes the world.  Again, we won’t overcome what we ‘value, set great store by, or hold in high esteem’.

The lust of the eyes, holds this drive and pursuit for ‘all the kingdoms of the world with their splendour’.  Eve’s looking at the fruit until it became a delight to her eyes and something she believed would fill a void (make one wise) should heighten our awareness of what we focus on.   We desire a standard of life that gives success, prestige, comfort and security and In a desire to achieve this, many are led astray into harmful activities. 

How many things have I pursued in my lifetime that have led to misadventure and pain because of my willful and wrong desires.   Things that did not fit within the context of God’s timing and plan.  These occur through the pride of man where we value our rights and exalt self, our will, above Gods.  Only humility will overcome pride. 

Our love for the Father must so permeate us each day with the strength of our fellowship satisfying our souls, meeting every need and leaving no room for a love of the world or the things that are in it.  

The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Learning Love

Freely you have received, freely give.  

Matthew 10:8

It’s a reality to life you can’t give what you don’t have.  It’s a principle set by God.  First there must be the receptivity.  The majority of our stuggles in life circle around our abilities to trust and believe someone.  People!  I know no other ‘perfect’ human other than Jesus Christ.  We have all faced our own perculiar dysfunctions as children; behaviours and thinking patterns ingrained as we grow up.  David often says, just because you grow older doesn’t mean you grow up.  

As believers we have this goal we are moving towards fround in Ephesian chapter four ~ growing up in every way into the fullness of Him -

This is alot of work.  This requires much willingness to change.  This presents pain and comes with suffering.  Identities are shattered and rebuilt.  Values are replaced.  Not by the efforts of our own but as we behold Him, we become like Him.  Transformed by the very working of His Holy Spirit, HE makes all things new.  

I like something a man of God once said, ‘we are not looking for behaviour modification

we are looking for transformation’ and that by the Spirit of God. Yet, this all hinges on my willingness to believe and receive what God has decreed. 

David adds this thought this morning as I write ~ “It’s a funny and awkward truth about people. They can’t view anyone in a relationship with them as more valuable than they view themselves. Honour eventually seeks it’s own level. If I despise me, I eventually have to despise anyone who loves me, as I judge anyone who’d love me ( if they really knew me ) as more broken than me. That rolls outward to the relationship in general.”

The receptivity from God can never come from simple practices of mental assent. While agreement with God is absolutely necessary, this must be a truth birthed in us by the Holy Spirit.  It must become revelation to our heart and mind.  Identity must be redefined by Our Father in Heaven.

For me It began with Romans 5:5. The Love of God has been (past tense) shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.  Leaning into and asking for His help to make this a reality to me as I studied Ephesians chapter one.  

In love He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons (and daughters) through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the Beloved, verse 5,6.

Ephesians chapter one is filled with rich, full, generous words that describe Gods heart for you and me.  As we prayerfully meditate on these truths, the water of the word washes and purifies our consciousess that is so aware of our faults and failings.  We learn to be loved without resisting and grieving the work of the Holy Spirit.

  Can you imagine the grief we cause when we continually reject love?   There’s only so much rejection we mere humans will tolerate until we quit trying.  Thankfully, His love never fails and He never quits. This means that as I lean into Him, I become one with His abilities and character.  His heart and mind and His love never fail, never fade out and never come to an end.  He is longggggggggsuffering.  

Through a purposeful pursuit of knowing Him and His love we are ultimately free from the lying vanities and the cycle of rejection.  We can begin to pour out what we have freely received. I love that word, freely.  I don’t have to work for it.  I don’t have to be perfect to keep it; cp: Romans 5:8; Romans 8:31-39.  CONSEQUENTLY I don’t bring this into my relationship with others.  Freely I have received, freely I give.  

May this be a day and a season of new beginnings where we are able to step into greater dimensions of knowing and displaying His love.  Let the change begin in us so that truly all men will know we are His disciples because we are rooted and grounded in His love and filled with the fullness of our God able to freely give to all.  

Grief and Sorrow

He came to His own and His own did not receive Him.

John 1:11

One of the hardest lessons in life to learn is how to process the pain of rejection.  Yet, as disciples of Christ, destined to partake of his sufferings, we will find time and opportunity to meet this.  There will be a test.  Love is unproven without the pain of suffering.  Our love for the Father and His word will remain theory until it is challenged through the dynamics of our relationships.  Jesus said, if you love me you will keep my commandments.  His one new commandment that fulfilled the law was love, love even as I have loved you.

The bible tells us Jesus was a man of sorrow, acquainted with grief and for those who choose a narrow path and desire to know the love of God we will find our lives shaped by the pain and sorrows that inevitably come with relationships.

It is the sorrow and grief we’ve all experienced that drives our humanity to withdraw and guard self.  When the word tells us to guard our hearts, this is not an instruction to put the walls up, lock the door and turn out the lights, but rather to watch for anything that works division and separation.  Just as Adam was set in the garden to keep out the evil one, we too, guard our hearts to keep the seeds of rejection from taking root and keep  them (our hearts) in the love of God. 

As sure as we breathe rejection, betrayal, wounds, sorrow and grief follow and the only place we will find deliverance is in joining Jesus at the cross.  

I found myself in prayer the other morning dealing with thoughts and emotions of self righteousness over my pain.  The Holy Spirit said, nail it to the cross.  I wasn’t quite ready to stop nursing it, yet right or wrong it had to die to end it’s power.  “Sin lies at the door and it’s desire is for you, but you must master it.”  As I remember Jesus as the son of man, I am able to minimize my pain by considering him who endured such hostility.  This enables me to face my own fears and resist the temptation to protect myself. 

There’s a wide path we can take but it does lead to destruction. The funny thing about rejection ~ you think you’ve got it dealt with until you have to interact with the human who is causing you the pain.  Where there is no genuine care and love there has been no healing.  The danger in all this is finding your heart in a place of unforgivenness, assuming that the pain you are experiening was intentionally inflicted.  The Spirit is willing but the flesh weak, requiring the help of the Holy Spirit to overcome temptation. He is the only one that can help us forgive and move on.   

At some point, as disciples of Christ, we are going to have to operate by the Spirit, and through the Spirit obey the word and move on.  Love covers the multitude of sins and always chooses to believe the best of others.  

The question can not be the righteness or wrongness of a particual event but the ability I am given to love when wronged.  Jesus loved his own to the end.  Again, from Isaiah 53, Jesus was a man despised, rejected and acquainted with sorrows and grief, yet he moved with compassion, freely poured out his life and loved to the end.   As His disciples, we are called to share, not only in his sufferings being conformed unto his death, but in the power of a resurrected life.  We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. 

Weights

Hebrews 12: 1

KJV ~ ….let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us,….”

NIV ~ let us throw off everything that hinders, 

NLT ~ let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. 

NASB ~ lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, 

AMP ~ stripping off every unnecessary weight and the sin which so easily and cleverly entangles us

*Helps word study ~

Lay aside: 659:apotithémi: to put off, lay aside lay off or aside, renounce, stow away, put.

The sin: 266 hamartía (a feminine noun derived from "not" and 3313 /méros, "a part, share of") – properly, no-share ("no part of"); loss (forfeiture) because not hitting the target; sin (missing the mark). 266/hamartía ("sin, forfeiture because missing the mark") is the brand of sin that emphasizes its self-originate,(self-empowered) nature. 

The observance of lying vanities, wiles, stategies and snares of the evil one, serve to divide us from God.  By giving heed to the things that are contrary to the truth God has spoken, we begin to engage with and adapt to the lie.  The lies embraced become wrong worship, idols. These, of course, ultimately become the strongholds that limit our lives and set our boundaries, keeping us from becoming the fullness of His workmanship created in Christ.  

Can we call the lying vanities that we observe the weights that trip us up, I believe so.   Is there one particular lie we refuse to let go of that becomes the sin of unbelief which has entagled?  We could identify it by the propensity to continually come back to it when pressed in it’s particular vulnerabilty.

We all have them, our own personal limitations, our own stumbling points.  As I’ve said, they are revealed by the phrase, I know what God says, but…. This is the strongest indication our heart has departed from the living God. Satan must have our agreement to build a lying vanity.  I can not enter into the rest He has for me because of what I choose to believe.  Our will is the most powerful tool God has created for man.  This is our greatest sacrifice, to yield back to Him that freedom to choose and willfully submit to His leadership and direction. 

Joshua asked, how long will you put off entering and possessing the land, Joshua 18:3. Proverbs 6:9 asks How long will you lie there, when will you arise?  The Lord asked Samuel,1 Samuel 16,  “How long will you mourn over Saul?”  We all have our ‘how long’s’ and dependent on how ensared, entangled or encumbered we might be by the lies, there is always hope and deliverance for us.  Because, dearly beloved, no matter how big and strong the lie, God is just greater and all things are possible to Him who chooses to believe.  

The blind man in Marks gospel, sits by the road crying for mercy when he hears Jesus is passing by.  His cries are rejected by the disciples yet he cries louder.  Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.  Lies come with torment and the torment works to control us.  Jesus calls for him and the disciples now encourage him (which is irony in itself) but notice what the blind man does, from Mark 10: he first casts off the cloak that identifies him with his condition and ability to beg, and the end of the story is him recovering his sight.  No more blindness which makes me mindful of 2 Cor. 4:4  where we learn the God of this world has blinded the minds of them that believe not to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God…. There is something Satan doesn’t want us to see or believe! But thanks be to God, He who has said, Let light shine out of darkness has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ and sets us free. 

The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.  Romans 13:12

Hebrews chapter three reminds each of us, the word did not profit them not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.  I believe with every word, the grace of God abounds to set us free.  May this truly be a life giving, liberating word that brings new freedoms and great joy to us all. 

Forsaking Mercy

While my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord and my prayer came to thee into thy holy temple, those who regard lying vanities, forsake their own mercy.    

Jonah 2:7-8 KJV

• NIV ~ Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love to them.

• Amplified: Those who regard and follow wothless idols turn away from their

   [living source of] mercy and lovingkindness 

• NASB 1995: Those who regard vain idols forsake their faithfulness

• CSB: Thos who cherish worthless idols abandon their faithful love.

We did some word studies last week on ‘observe lying vanities’ and noted the numerous other translations rendering the phrase lying vanities as idols, as noted above. These other translations give us a different thought as well as to what is forsaken.  While the KJV uses the word mercy (Hebrew is Hesed which we had studied) these other translations give us pause to consider whose faithfulness is being forsaken. 

The Hebrew word forsaking is to leave behind (to loose) especially to abandon or leave destitute.  Do we abandon our faithfulness to God or do we abandon His faithfulness to us.  

As we consider the Hebrew word for mercy, Hesed, we see once again, it is preeminently, God's perfect loyalty to His own covenant. Since covenant is always between two parties we saw from this word The Lord also requires full loyalty from believers who enter it to share unlimited blessings – even as disloyalty to His covenant brings condemnation. We find Old Testament and New Testament alike the covenant is conditional.  His Covenant-Love never meant 'kindness' in general, to all and sundry.”

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, Deut 7:9 

If you love me you will keep my commandments…John 14:15

Our part of the covenant requirement is to love Him.  While God is good to all and makes his rain to fall upon the just and unjust He has chosen us to be His own special possession.  ‘I will be your God and you will be my people’ comes with the promise of every spiritual blessing in heavenly places becoming ours as we keep covenant with Him.  We know God is faithful, the question to us becomes our faithfulness to Him. If you love me, you will keep my commandments…..

If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. 2 Tm. 2:13

Jonah said, observe lying vanities (which in reality become worthless idols as we give time and attention to them) and forsake faithfulness, forsake the covenant. Did you notice Jonah said his soul had fainted observing these lies?  We cannot allow ourselves to give time and attention to any lying vanities that would create and give misplaced worship.  With time and attention given, we begin to serve them. Our lives adapt to the lies we hold to.  As we obseve the lies, they become bigger than our God, noted in our phraseology of ‘ I know what the word says, but…’   Lies becomes an idol by the amount of thoughts, words, time and money they demand.   Where do these stand between us and the word God has decreed?

Jeremiah 32: 37-41 I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety.  And they shall be my people and I will be their God.  I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them.  I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them.  And I will put the fear of me in their hearts that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul. 

Lying Vanities

I’m going to break this down today as we look at three significant words from our verse; Observe #8104,  Lying #7723and Vanities # 1892, from Helps Word Study Dictionary ~ 

Observe ~ 8104 shāmar – guard pro-actively, quick to employ offensive as well as defensive measures to protect; ready to take aggressive (immediate) action to safeguard; be on guard to speedily engage in confrontation whatever jeopardizes what is entrusted; a guard on watch, ready to militantly guard.
***Summary (synonyms) 5341/nāṣar ("guard") stresses the vigilance needed to keep intact.  It focuses on maintaining (preserving) what has been entrusted.  

8104 (shāmar) stresses the readiness to fight for what is guarded, a more confrontative guarding than 5341 (nāṣar).

Lying ~ 7723 shāw’ – properly, nothingness (unreal), so connected to disappointment and deceit ("empty results"); without value because illusionary; misleadingly contrary to what is true (appropriate). "7723 (shāw’) designates anything that is unsubstantial, unreal, worthless, either materially or morally" .

Vanities ~ 1892 heb̠el – properly, a vapor, disappearing like a breath; vanity, coming to no purpose ("in vain") – without substance or value;  what is "vaporous, coming to zero" – without meaning because merely temporary and fleeting (transient); be worthless, come to naught, futility, like worldly possessions and achievements "gained" apart from faith – hence of no eternal meaning. ["Vanity" is a key word of Ecclesiastes and occurs over 30 times elsewhere in the Bible. It literally refers to how all things under heaven (without the Lord) simply "end at zero”.]

Other translations render ‘lying vanities’ with the word idol.  If we heed God’s rebuke about attending to idols that have eyes that don’t see, ears that don’t ear, mouths that don’t speak, we learn to observe the one who does see, hear and speak.  Joshua was promised good success and a prosperous way as he meditated and obeyed the word of God, Joshua 1:8.  Jesus repeated Moses command, during his temptation in the wilderness, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ 

Our reality today is one where knowledge and information abounds.  We’ve never had access to so much world wide information as the internet provides us.  We are deeply engaged with a quest for knowledge but does it produce the abundant life Jesus came to provide?  Confusion actually comes from too much knowledge. If there is confusion  about something, it is not clear what the true situation is, especially because people believe different things. Confusion occurs in a situation in which everything is in disorder, especially because there are lots of things happening at the same time.  

James chapter one addresses this very thing ~ ‘A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.’  We ask for wisdom and do not receive any because we are conflicted about what we really believe.  It lies in the common statement we make,’ I know what the word says, but'.  

What is the lying vanity I am observing causing me to waiver in the reality of God’s truth and forsake the mercy thatcould be mine?

Hosea reminds us we can be destroyed over three things ~ 

• Lack of knowledge

• Rejecting knowledge

• Forgetting knowledge

As I’ve noted before, there are many voices in the world today and none of them our without significance, but I want my ear attuned to the words that will keep me rightly aligned with the Father, ‘a walk worthy of Lord, fulling pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good word and increasing in the knowledge of God,’ Colossians 1: 10.

I live continually these days  pressed by the Holy Spirit to “Attend to my word. Do not let it depart from your eyes”, understanding the ease of deception that leads astray.

 2 Timothy 3:14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you have learned it 15: and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,  17: that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

We are a people who are continually being shaped for this hour, to bring glory to our Father through our transformed lives.  Viitally united to the Spirit of Truth and feeding upon His word, we want to be of quick understanding able to discern and refute lying vanities. 

May the mercies of God keep us as we choose to rightly ‘observe’ guard pro-actively, quick to employ offensive as well as defensive measures to protect; ready to take aggressive (immediate) action to safeguard; be on guard to speedily engage in confrontation whatever jeopardizes what is entrusted; a guard on watch, ready to militantly guard - the truth God has decreed. 

JOY

Please enjoy today’s blog that has been written by Sarah Primus. She pastors alongside her husband Paul, at Keystone Victoria here in Victoria B.C. I am confident your hearts will be strengthened and encouraged.

Blessings, Jeanne.

Romans 14:17 tells us that the Kingdom of God is not in eating and drinking but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. As we enter into communion and fellowship with Jesus by the Holy Spirit, joy is an unwavering reality that we can lean into. 

In some seasons, joy seems to bubble up from our hearts so easily— but other seasons not so much. I’m also sure we’ve all had a “count it all joy when you fall under various trials” (James 1:7) moment at some point in the past two years. These are the moments we choose joy rather than feel joyous. Our natural mind tells us that joy is the result of seasons where everything is going our way, but on the contrary, the Bible tells us that our greatest joy often comes on the other side of greatest pain. It was for the joy that was set before Jesus that He endured the cross scorning its shame (Hebrews 12:2). 

Jesus warned His disciples of the sorrow they would experience at His departure from earth: 

“Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.” (John 16:20) Rather than preventing their sorrow, Jesus encourages them that their greatest sorrow would result in their greatest joy. 

To strengthen His thought, He uses an example that many of us women are familiar with:

“When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” (John 16:21-22)  The pain of child birth cannot compare to the joy experienced as you hold a beautiful newborn baby in your arms. In the same way, the Lord leads us through seasons of pain knowing that on the other side we will have the joy that cannot be taken from us. Jesus promised the disciples that they would experience the joy of His indwelling Spirit. He would reveal Himself to them in a greater capacity. He would also use them to “birth” or bring forth His kingdom on earth. This promise remains for us today.  He has given Himself to us as our joy, and He will never leave us nor forsake us. He will also use us to manifest Himself to a world that needs joy that cannot be taken from them.

I pray that if you are reading this and find yourself in a season of trial and sorrow that the joy of the Lord would be your strength. May you have eyes to see the joy set before you. May you be aware of His nearness in the midst of trial. God grant you grace to choose joy. Though weeping last for the night, there is joy coming in the morning (Psalm 30:5).

The God of Endurance

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  

Romans 15:5-6

I want to remind you today of an essential nature of God’s character, He is the God of endurance.  We are told God is longsuffering, not willing for any to perish and so He works in us to establish and strengthen us unto this position of being immoveable and always rejoicing.  

I don’t know about your world, but I’m finding a daily need for endurance and encouragement, a strengthening of spirit that can stand, in this day.  I’m mindful that the Lord has always been at work preparing His church for His return and that we are not facing anything in our days the early church did not face; or His church universal does not experience daily.  North American culture has been insulated from much of the persecution and affliction the rest of the world endures, yet this has still been a season for many throughout North America to experience differing forms of hardness.  In the church, it tends to bring confusion, unrest, division instead of what it should bring, the manifold wisdom of God revealed, establishing a people prepared.  

We live in days that demand great endurance within the body of Christ.  We see from the following notes from the Discovery Bible Word Helps the scriptures associated with the word always include the persecution pressing the need for endurance.  

5281 hypomonē (from 5259/hypó, "under" and 3306/ménō, "remain, endure") – properly, remaining under, i.e. endurance; steadfastness, especially of God enabling believers to "remain (endure) under" the challenges He allots for them.

For the believer, 5281 (hypomonē) is "Christ-empowered endurance" which enables them to get from "God's point A" to "God's point B."  This only happens by the direction and strength the Lord provides through His inbirthing of faith (4102/pístis, “inbirthed-persuasion").

Examples

2 Thes 1:4: "Therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance (5281/hypomonē) and faith (4102/pístis) in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure" (NASB).

Heb 12:1,2: "1Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance (5281/hypomonē) the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith (4102/pístis), who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (NASB).

Js 1:3: "Knowing that the testing of your faith (4102/pístis) produces endurance (5281/hypomonē)" (NASB).

Key quotes : C. Ellicott (at 1 Thes 1:3), "5281 (hypomonē) is the brave patience with which the Christian contends against the various hindrances, persecutions, and temptations that befall him in his conflict with the inward and outward world.”

Not only do we learn God as the God of endurance but He is the God of encouragement as well.  This word so shows us the fullness of the Holy Spirit working in our lives.  What is there, truly, that we have not been given to overcome all hardships encountered?

Again from the Helps Word Studies we find encouragement defined ~ 

3874/paraklēsis ("holy urging") is used of the Lord directly motivating and inspiring believers to carry out His plan, delivering His particular message to someone.  The core-meaning of 3874/paráklēsis ("personal urging") is shaped by the individual context, so it can refer to: exhortation, warning, encouragement (comfort), etc.

This is the same word we find at the beginning of chapter fifteen of Romans, verse 4 ~ 

“Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction that through endurance and through the encouragment of the Scriptures we might have hope”…..

All endurance and encouragement made possible because HE IS the God of endurance and encouragment.  OUR UNION WITH HIM giving to us all we do need to live in this harmony with Him and one another.  Romans chapter fifteen continues with the scripture that reminds us He is also the God of Hope who fills us with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit we are able to abound in Hope. 

Please note our last thought here, this is all to be found in “accord with Christ Jesus”.  Jesus is the standard everything must measures up to.  All things ultimately gathered unto Him, to be found in Him, so that He is the fullness of all things.  If it isn’t Jesus, it isn’t right.  

May we find our place of peaceful harmony with Him that provides us the ability to endure and be encouraged bringing glory to God our Father.

Hold the line

For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.  It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He will not deny us, If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. 

2 Timothy 2:10-13 NASB

It's a reality of life that pressure produces change.  Not all stress is evil.  Without the places of ‘press’ in our lives there would be no growth.  None of us like pressure nor the frustration it brings.  As adults, we live creating environments to remove any and all stimulus pushing our buttons.  Yet, we have been created for the chaos of life, so Paul’s words written to Timothy still echo down through the years, fitting the church today.  

We do not know what our futures hold. We do know that God is at work preparing His church for those events.  ‘He that has an ear, let him hear what the spirit is saying’ is an admonition Jesus decreed with many of His hard to understand sayings.  We always want to understand the ‘why’ of our instructions but sometimes it’s a matter of simple  obedience enabling us to be safely set in right places at the right time.  

Being right and doing right will be our safest bet in the days ahead. Understanding comes, but God does expect and require us to step into obedience without understanding.  Although he (Jesus) were a son, he learned obedience by the things He suffered.  That’s pressure.  That’s the press.  Making right choices IN the hard moments.  ‘Holding the Line’  requires us to stand in the right spot with the people you have been given to stand with, not deserting your place.  Paul wrote that he endured all things for others salvation.  This isn’t only about you and me; It’s about other’s salvation and the eternal glory we want all to share.  

It is not a day to cast off restraints, nor to excuse laziness or busyness.  Paul reminded Timothy soldiers do not get entangled with civilian pursuits since their aim is to please the one who enlisted them. This is a day to fine tune hearts and minds, so that our spiritual lives are alert and unmoved by the chaos. Paul exhorted Timothy to, as a good solider, endure hardness. 

We will all face trouble, ‘In the world you shall have tribulation’.  The issue becomes how we face it. Do we murmur and complain?  Do we try to escape and run back to our comfort zones?   Do we throw up our hands and surrender?   Do we cry out to God ~ ‘so unfair!’?  All of us are touched by these temptations because it is simply human nature.  BUT…..

We are not like those people who turn back and get destroyed. Jesus said be of good cheer when we meet up with trouble.  Count it all joy!  We are those who choose to endure unto the end and be saved.  We choose to cast off the works of darkness, complacency, stoney lukewarm hearts.  We arise as children of the light, shinning and displaying His glory in this chaotic and troubled time.

The counsel of the Lord

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked….

Psalm 1:1

Its interesting to note that the Jewish Bible uses the word ‘happy’ in the place of blessed most times throughout it’s rendering of Psalms.

  1

Vines Word Studies note this Hebrew word ˒ashre 835), as “blessed; happy.” Basically, this word connotes the state of “prosperity” or “happiness” that comes when a superior bestows his favor (blessing) on one. One’s status before God (being “blessed”) is not always expressed in terms of the individual or social conditions that bring what moderns normally consider to be “happiness.” So although it is appropriate to render ‘ashre’ as “blessed,” the rendering of “happiness” does not always convey its emphasis to modern readers.

We are all looking for what we consider to be happy in this blessed state.  Surely all blessings make us happy.  Doesn’t Proverb’s tell us that the blessing of the Lord enriches our life and adds no sorrow?  Therefore, all blessings must be good.  However, I submit to you our good is not always God’s.  God has a long term view about our well being while ours is very temporal and immediate.  It is a product of the culture we have been raised in and learned.  

But counsel ~ who and where do I go when I need advice?   As a Christian, I am exhorted by the Lord Jesus to ‘seek first the Kingdom of God’ with the Amplified Classic highlighting ‘his way of doing and being right’.  There is a ‘mind of Christ’ that we are to have and hold as we process any decisions and changes needed.  His counsel is the foundation.

1 Cor 14:10 There are many voices in the world and none are without significance.

Learning to discern the counsel of the Lord comes with diligent inquiring so from our Psalm today we are reminded not to ‘seek’ advice from the ungodly but to find our delight in the law of the Lord. From Proverb’s 8, we find wisdom declaring ~ “Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.”   Jesus Himself is declared prophetically from Isaiah 9 as ‘Counsellor’. The Holy Spirit himself is a Counselor who searches the depths of God to reveal to us the thoughts and wisdom of God, [1 Corinthians 2:10-14] 

With many plans in the mind of a man, we must make sure it is the LORD that is directing our steps.  The word tells us that there is wisdom in the mulitude of counselors, but it must be ‘godly’ counsel.  Please note again, the psalmist writes using the word ‘seeking’ counsel from ungodly people.  While getting advice when we are unsure is encouraged, too many voices can sow confusion and all voices must be processed through His. 

As Job found with God, there is a counsel that is darkened by words without knowledge (Job 38:2). To hold advice that lies beyond our power of comprehension (understanding) without possessing the capacity to righteously weigh and judge that counsel is a dangerous pursuit.  

Jesus carried the Spirit without measure and we learn of that seven Spirit fulness of God that He possessed from Isaiah 11; wisdom, understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and the fear of the Lord.  It’s the fear of the Lord that moves us into obedience.  It is might or strength that gives us the ability to do what the wisdom and knowledge instruct.

It is our responsibility to discern the Godly quality of what we are hearing.  Does it measure up to the standard of Jesus?  Everything we hear must be held to the light of the word and judged accordingly.  What could be more UNgodly than taking counsel from the lies the devil sows and the fear it can create?

 “….we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,..” Col. 1:9 

Blessed is the one who walks in the counsel of God, delighting in His word. 

All Hope Abandoned

When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.

  Acts 27:20

Our story today revolves around the trip Paul made as a prisoner to Rome.  The ship Paul is on encounters a storm  [G5189.typhōnikós; from τυφῶν tuphōn (a hurricane)] and all hope of being saved is, KJV ‘taken away’  ESV, “abandoned” [4014periairéō (from 4012/perí, "all-around, encompassing" and 138/hairéomai, "to take, separate") – properly, completely separate, remove totally (inclusively, comprehensively); leave behind entirely.

The sun and stars, used for light and navigation, are completely gone.   The sailors have no sense of where they are or where to go.  They are at the mercy of the wind and waves that are carrying the ship. They’ve been violently tossed, nobody’s eating, cargo and ships tackle have been thrown overboard in an effort to simply save their lives. The darkness has continued for days, the storm has not let up and all hope of being saved is abandoned.  

I want us to grasp the vividness Luke paints of this scenario. All hope of being saved is abandoned.  It is hopeless. There was absolutely nothing in the circumstances to draw encouragement from and into hopeless, the God of Hope steps.

Abraham, when human reason for hope was gone, hoped on. Romans 4:18

Why so downcast on my soul, put your hope in God. Psalm 43:5

For with God nothing shall be impossible. Luke 1:37

Many times we try to simply hold our confidence in the things we can manufacture, without God.  We speak about our hopes and dreams and when they fall apart, somehow we blame the failure on God.  Please examine with me today, from the Helps Word Studies notes, this greek word translated hope.  I believe it will provide us much insight into the “hoping” we do.

1680 elpís (from elpō, "to anticipate, welcome") – properly, expectation of something sure (certain); hope.

For believers, 1680/elpís ("hope, an activeexpectation") is always based on receiving the title-deed of faith, His inbirthed persuasion about what to expect (wait, hope for).  See Heb 11:1 (cf. Ro 10:6-8, 17 with 1 Jn 5:4).  Faith is always something received (generated by the Lord, never people), so biblical hope (1680/elpís) is always from God(about what He has spoken), i.e. it is not mere human optimism ("wishful thinking”).

Hope (1680/elpís) is built on the persuasion God gives about His will, inbirthed through faith (4102/pístis).  Hope then embodies faith (4102/pístis), and faith-hoping consummates "through love" (cf. Gal 5:6, Gk text).

Working it out . . .

1. (Heb 11:1) Hope begins with receiving faith from God, and endures as faith-hoping through an "interim" (waiting) period, i.e. from when faith is imparted to its full outworking "through love" (Gal 5:6). Accordingly, hope (1680/elpís) is placed "between" faith and love in 1 Cor 13:13. Hope takes the progression of the Lord first inworking faith, and then developing this faith-hoping to consummation "through (divine) love" (Gal 5:6).

Reflection: Why is love "the greatest"?  Because love includes faith and hope (by definition), not because faith or hope are "inferior."  As "3" is "greater" than "1" or "2" because it includes them……”

So when Paul stands in the midst of the adversity and declares that there will be no loss of life among the men, he does so because the word God has brought him has filled him with faith and hope.  Faith comes by hearing the word of God and strengthens Paul who is then able to stand and encourage others, ‘take heart’.  Paul had to face the same thoughts and fears they all experienced but the God to whom He belonged and to whom He worshipped said… and now He has confidence all will be well. 

‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.’  Verses 24/25.

Did the circumstance changed in the moment Paul had the word delivered to him?  No, but I’ll leave it with you to read the rest of the story.   This is just a reminder today that when all hope is gone, we are to continue trusting and hoping in the God we belong to and worship knowing the God of Hope is filling you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

So… don’t throw away your confidence; it holds a great reward.