A Word

Isaiah 3:17

2012-01-27T09:59:00.001-05:00

"Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts."

This is a continuation of the sins condemned in the last verse. Their sins of pride and vanity brings them to the wrath of God. All sin provokes the wrath of God. We must learn in Scripture to understand what God has condemned, to also condemn and not have any part of it. Lest we reap the same problems of His wrath upon our lives and our children.

therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion - word study, will; 'therefore' is the continuation fromt he previous verse of their sins. Because of their sins of pride and vanity, here is what the Lord will do. To see this word, 'therefore' should make us take note of what has happened previously and what the results will be. It is the same continued message throughout all of Scripture, cause and effect.

'The Lord will smite' in direct result to sin. 'The wages of sin is death'. We learn the lesson taught that sin has a price to pay. Yes, Christ paide the price in full for those that receive and accept His atonement. But the consequences of sin has temporal and spiritaul prices to pay from the children of God. The lost souls, who sin, pay eternally in hell for their sin. And much of the sorrow in this present world is directly related to the sin practiced among us. The Lord smites those that oppose Him. For a nation, a family, an individual, or even His Own people in the church will receive punishment for their choice to reject Him and give place to self and sin.

this 'smiting' of the Lord is varied in its levels. It can range from short term to long term affects. Instance death to long sustained death; diseases temporary or life long; generational smiting; removing completely from the earth or afflicting while on the earth; continued afflcitions in finances, provisions, health, mind; spiritually wanton, spiritual drought; weather phenonom; are a few of the ways to see how the Lord 'smites'.

Since their pride is in their beauty, their physical features, God smites that source of pride. If this sin is caused by their vanity, then God attacks their beauty. Where the sin is, is where God smites to cause them to turn from their sin.

Isaiah 3:16

2012-01-26T11:12:00.000-05:00

"Moreover the Lord saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:"

The next two verses are the beginning of a condemnation against the vanity, pride of the people of Judah, especially the women. Their lifestyle is called into question by the Lord. And He will work against the pride of their heart.

Moreover the Lord saith - word study, 'And the Lord hath said'; Whatever the Lord speaks should make us pay close attention. It is always the child of God's desire to hear the Lord speak for blessings and favor. But when God condemns we should be earnest in prayer and witness for those He is setting Himself against. Their soul is at stake in such times. We will see in these next verses the Lord speaking against His Own people and their daily lifestyles and ways. God always warns the people before He sends judgment.

Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched for necks and wanton eyes - a pronouncement against the young women of Jerusalem; There are 3 actions that are condemned here by God.
1. Haughty - pride;
2. Walk with stretched for necks - arrogance, reaching above others, high-minded; a product of pride;
3. Wanton eyes - lusts; never content, envious, jealous;

These three things are taught and allowed. The ones being called out, are the 'daughters of Zion'. Where did these daughters learn this behavior? From their mothers.

Isaiah 3:12

2012-01-25T09:40:00.001-05:00

"As for My people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths."

We have studied consecutively verses 8 - 12 of this chapter 3. There is a straight forward message to learn and glean from each of these verse for our own plight today. Much like the sin of Judah and Jerusalem, so is Christians and the church today. And it is the conclusion of decision that we must learn, learn and grow; or reject and burn.

As for My people - God is speaking through His servant Isaiah unto His Own children; This is not a message to the heathen, or the lost souls. God had entered into relationship with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children. He was their God and they was His children. In such a relationship, God has a right to demand and expect certain things from His Own.

Now today, Christ has made a way not only for Jew but also for Gentile to be born again. And upon faith in Christ, His atonement and His gift of salvation, we can become children of God. God now looks down upon 7 billion people on this planet and He knows His children, they are called the Church. We have already seen where God will deal with the wicked and the rightoues. But if His people forget righteousness and follow wickedness, there is a high price to pay. God speaks to His people about these through the Word, through His Spirit and through experiences of past and present.

Children are their oppressors and women rule over them - leadership of His people is critical for sustaining and maintaining righteousness; We learn from the roll of the kings in Judah that these two things came to pass for them. Some of the kings were very young when they became king; and Queen Athaliah ruled for a while. But why children and women? Because of the absence of men to rule and reign. The heirarchy of society is set by the Lord. I Corinithians 11:3 declares the rule of the universe. When men fall out of a right relationship with God, that order is abandoned. We see throughout Scriptures; we see it throughout history.

God can use children and women in leadership. WE see Josiah was only 8 years when he began and caused one of the great revivals of the Old Testament. We see where Deborah ruled the children of Israel and led Barak to defeat the enemy. God is God and can do what He pleases through whom soever He pleases. But let us understand that HE has established an order in society, in the home and in the church. When men depart from this we lose the place where God intended.

Isaiah 3:11

2012-01-24T10:01:00.001-05:00

"Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him."

We continue to cover this section of verses 8 - 12 in chapter 3. The previous verse was a word to the righteous. This verse is to the opposite end of the wicked. The righteous receive from the Lord, His mercy and blessings; the wicked shall receive His anger and punishment.

Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him - this phrase alone should be enough to convert every lost sinner from their wicked ways; the pronouncement of 'Woe' is enough for us to understand their ultimate end. But it is not only their eternal end but their life here and now. Oh, what shall a soul do when God pronounces woe? What shall they do when God sets Himself against them?

The wicked have set themselves to reject, to scorn, to refuse God's grace, redemption and mercy. And because of this hard heart of rejection and sin, God must respond in His righteous judgment. God is holy, without sin; and even though He is merciful to sinners, the sinner must acknowledge their part of choosing sin to receive His grace and mercy. The soul, the wicked soul, refuses to acknowledge God or His ways and rejects His invitation. Thus, their actions must now be weighed in the balances and answered for. What soul can answer for sin before a holy God?

And because God knows the heart of those that are counted as sons of Satan, He sets Himself against such. 'It shall go ill with them', and we can determine that this is the here and now on earth. WE know the 'woe unto the wicked' can refer to their etenral destination of hell for all eternity. But God does not wait to punish them just in eternity. Their everyday life is under HIs wrath while they live and breath herre. When I consider those that have set themselves against God, they received every curse that could be imagined from God. Every aspect of their life was affected and ruined. All because they loved sin and self and refused God. And to watch the destruction of lives is hard.

You wait, for any moment that they will come to their senses and repent. But they never do. They continue to provoke God all the while they lose everything of this life. they lose family, friends, health, prosperity, possessions; they have no peace, no love, no joy, no hope. And even if they have such things of this earth; for I know that some thinks because the wicked have riches and possessions that aids their peace in this life. But it doesn't. They can own the world but never have contentment, nor know anything of happiness because it is all vanity.

Isaiah 3:10

2012-01-23T10:48:00.001-05:00

"Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings."

The continued study of verses 8-12 in this chapter 3. We in verse 10 and 11 the word spoken to the rightoues and to the wicked. It is found throughout Scripture of the paradox of all mankind.

Say ye to the righteous, that is shall be well with him - word study, well; the message to the righteous is clearly opposite of what the wicked receive; But this much is true, God speaks to both the wicked and the righteous. Both will receive a word of blessing or curse; well done or not well done. We receive this word from the Lord God, Who cannot lie. Therefore, if God says to the righteous, it shall be well with him, then it shall be well. Oh, what a wonderful promise is here given to the soul that seeks the righteousness of the Lord.

Rightouesness is simply put, to be right with God. Sin must be removed and forsaken; flesh must die and obedience and faithfulness to the Lord must be the righteous souls blessing. The soul that sinneth, it shall die; but the rightoues have everlasting life in Christ and with Christ. It should not be a hard concept, but so many unrightoues souls think they shall recieve a blessing from the Lord. When in fact their self-righteousness is a deception that Satan has caused them to believe in. 'All our righteousness is as filthy rags.' The only One Who is rightoues is the Lord Jesus. Souls are to rest and recieve His rightoeuness in them to be counted among the rightoues souls. Let not anythign of your own making bring you self confidence.

Once established that we are righteous in Him and He robes us in His rightouesness we know that He shall pour forth His blessings. To go well with the rightoues is to receive God's mercies. These mercies are found in such things: protection, deliverance, added faith, holiness, answered prayers, spriitual blessings, growing in grace, knoweldge of God increasing, daily provisions, filled with the Spirit, healing, strength, and so on. . .EAch of these blessings come to the soul that seeks to serve and lvoe the Lord God with all his heart, mind, soul and body. These are counted to the Lord as righteous and well-favored.

For they shall eat the fruit of their doings - the product of their rightouesness produces fruit for His kingdom and glory Names' sake;

Isaiah 3:9

2012-01-22T18:54:00.000-05:00

"The shew of their countenance doth witness against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves."

We continue with this set of verses on God's judgment against Judah and Jerusalem. It matches our own fate.

The shew of their countenance doth witness against them - we see that their demeanor and actions reflect their wickedness; In the previous verse their words and actions destroyed condemned them. It is the appearance of spiritual argonance that shows itself here. They are haughty against the Lord and His ways. Their spiritual pride holds them rightoues in their own ways. And becuase of this sinful attitude it reveals that there is no humility within them.

It is to me the lesson that I see so often in men - humility can only be given by God. All other self-rightoeusness or pride easily comes from men's hearts. But humility is only by the grace of God. These wicked men in our verse are absent of any humility. Therefore, their actions on the outward attitudes, personalities, and actions reveal their true heart of flesh.

They declare their sin as Sodom - Sodom had no pretension of hiding their sin; They practiced outwardly and dared anyone to condemn them. My, how close this is to our society today.

Isaiah 3:8

2012-01-21T11:31:00.000-05:00

"For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are aginst the Lord, to provoke the eyes of His glory."

In these next several verses is the pronouncement of the Lord against His own people. And as He is speaking against Judah for their departure from His ways; so He speaks against His church the same way. These words are a mirror reflection of His pronouncement against us. For those that would say it was to Judah and it stays to Judah; I would simply reply, Does Revelation 2-3 to the 7 churches not say the same thing? Yes it does.

Let us glean from these verses the truth to apply to our own conditions and ways. Let us learn the lessons of history and let us seek Him rightly. "Who knows if He will turn again and leave a blessing behind Him"?

For Jerusalem is ruined and Judah is fallen - the consumation of their wickedness and sin is found in these two words - ruin and fallen; God is the only One Who can restore the ruins. God is the only One Who can raise up the fallen. There is help in no others. But when God ruins and causes a people to fall there is no hope to be found for them. Who can undo what God has done? None. The only way is if one throws himself upon the Lord's mercies and grace.

Jerusalem and Judah had continued their perpetual sinning and now reaped what they had sown. Rebelion always reaps falling and ruin. OUr same plight is found for us today.

Isaiah 3:1-4

2012-01-20T10:35:00.003-05:00

"For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, v. 2 The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, v. 3 The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator. v. 4 And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them."

the continued announcement of judgment upon Judah. Israel never had a chance because they never broke away from the sins of Jeroboam. All that you read of them is that 'they did evil in the sight of the Lord'. And God removed them from the land becuase of their sin. Any people, nation, family or individual that practices these same things will see the same response from God. Now, Judah has been inconsistent in its walk with the Lord. They have a good king that serves the Lord, then two wicked kings. Very inconsistent and much sin to be answered for. And if this continues then God sends judgments to rid the land of its sin and push the people to respond in repentance.

For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff - God is going to remove these things from them; Why does God remove things from our life? Anything that does not bring glory unto Him is potential to be removed. Anything that keeps us from HIm runs the risk of being removed in our lives.

Isaiah 2:21

2012-01-14T11:43:00.002-05:00

" To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth."

This is a continuing description of what will happen at the end of time. It is much parralled with verse 19, that we had.

To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks - word study, go; WE see the wicked are fleeing as best they can. They are running and hiding for their lives. Destruction is coming, and the natural pursuit is self-deliverance and protection. It seems characteristically the same for us to be in self-preservation. The place of running to was up, out of the valleys and cities and into the hills and mountains. There in those mountain ranges is the rocks rising up out of the earth. And in that rock formation is caves, is rock formations jutting out of the earth.

The prophecy of end times, when things really start to go horrible, will be that the wicked shall cry for the rocks and the mountains to fall on them. It will be to hide them from the face of the Lord as He is coming back. His destruction shall go before Him, to afflicted and punish the wicked. The church shall know what is happening, and His grace and mercy is suffecient for us.

For fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty - word study, 'fear of the Lord'; God's manifest Divine glory shall be seen and it will produce great fear; WE see a similar descrtiption in the book of Exodus. Moses goes up on the mount to talk with God. God declares that His glory and voice shall be heard by the people of Israel. And when they hear His voice and see His glory manifested, they are scared to death. They retreat backwards away from it, and declare to Moses that he can go talk to God, but they will die if they hear and see Him again.

Isaiah 2:19

2012-01-12T10:14:00.002-05:00

"And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth."

A picture of end times. A revelation foretelling that which shall be among the wicked.

And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth - word study, go; Theses same places of hiding from God is what they shall cry out to fall on them; They will leave the earth, the ground level to scurry into hiding places. Anything that could get them away from what is going on. They will go below ground, into the caves and into the holes. They go into the darkness. They go away from that which is on the above ground. (We will address that in a moment). Isn't it amazing that they seek to hide? As if they could escape anywhere from His Presence.

'They shall go' is defining the wicked, the lost. The children of light have no reason to go and hide. It will still be a fearful sight for all, but there would be no reason for the church to run and hide in caves. And again, a paradox, those that persecuted the church and drove the saints to hide in the desert, in the caves from persecution, now flee there also. A Christian draws nigh unto Him; a sinner flees from Him. One stays in the light, the other runs to the darkness.

For the fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty - word study, 'fear of the Lord; word study, glory; both attributes of God are precious to us as His people - the fear of the Lord and the glory Shekinah of His majesty. Both should be a captivating force for us in meditation and study.
1. Fear of the Lord is found throughout all of Scripture. Both saved and lost souls fear the Lord. EVen those, who might brag of their defiance will cowering in fear when they see His glory. No man cann see the glory of God and not go down in humble dread. Sin is the wounding of the soul that knows that we have provoked God and now will have to answer to God. A saint has the same conduct of sin, but they know the assurance that Christ blood cleanses us. A saint also knows grace and glory will deliver them from His mighty hand of judgment. In truth, a saint learns to fear the Lord now, a sinner will fear Him then. Better is the first, than the latter.
2. Glorfy of His majesty - This is the marvel that as hard as I try, I cannot get my mind around. Literally my mind is beyond ability to know the glory of God. In all of the descriptions of Scripture it is more than I can process.

Isaiah 1:28

2012-01-11T11:30:00.001-05:00

"And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed."

When you consider the plight of all the wicked, that their eternity in hell is fixed, it is more than one can stand. Regardless of whether you know them or not, matters nothing, it is the same eternity for these that have rejected Christ. In earlier verses of this chapter, God has declared His' "I will" purge and separate the righteous and the wicked. This verse tells us the end result of the wicked.

And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together - word study, sin (sinner); We see God has made His declaration about the wicked and will cut them off; Transgressor - the person that violates God's commands and goes beyond the limits of what God has said. Sinner - the person that sins; a reprobate in the eyes of God. The sinner and the transgressor are set at nought away from God, for He is holy. in the spectrum of variance, sin is at one end of the spectrum, and holy is at the other end. The two cannot exist in the same plain. You either are holy, or you are a sinner that transgresses God's law.

Because God is holy, when the sinner comes to Him for salvation, God removes the sin so that He may impart His holiness upon that soul. Thereby, He calls them His Own, for they are holy as He is holy. But those that will not surrender and yield to Him as Lord and Savior are counted as enemies unto our Lord. The saved are holy children of God and are called Sheep, children of light. Those that reject are called servants of Satan, goats, children of darkness. Holy children of light die and go to heaven to be with their Lord. Wicked, evil children of darkness die and go to hell to be with all other sinners and transgressors.

The edict of their end is pronounced here, 'they shall be destroyed together'.

Isaiah 1:20

2012-01-10T10:44:00.000-05:00

"But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."

The conclusion of this series of instruction and directives for us. We began the verse impact in verse 15 and see the progression through each verse. IN verse 15, prayers not heard becasue of sin; verse 16, directive to cleanse and depart from sin; verse 17, replace the sin with goodness; verse 18, the power of God to cleanse the sin; verse 19, the blessing of obedience and now the curse of disobedience in verse 20. It is the simply explanation and formula for all of our Christianity and living. It is the power of either living in blessings or cursings, which is often found throughout Scripture.

But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword - the prophet declares the end result to the sin of rebellion and disobedience; It has been consistent through Scripture, the soul that sinneth, it shall die. There are two words, that begin with 'R' that describe sin for our easy remembrance - 'refuse' and 'rebel'. In both of these is found our own testiony, we have been guilty of refusing His calling, leading and instruction. WE have been guilty of rebelling against His Word, Spirit and ways. It is one thing, to understand that the heathen will do these things without conviction or regret, it is another to see God's Own people doing it.

The sinner will sin, the righteous does not desire to sin, nor can they afford to sin. Sin has costs us so much as it is. MOre sin, only brings greater sorrow and despair. We know Christ has died for our sin, He has paid in full for our sins. The blood cleanses us from sin and His Spirit keeps us from sin. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, and in the flesh, Paul says, 'there is no good thing.' The nature of sin in God's Own people is primarily in these two words, refuse and rebell. The children of Israel did it in the Old Testament; the church saints did it; and the present church is still doing it.

We know we ought not to do it, but there is left the consistency of humanity in the deeds of sin. 'All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.' One way to remind us of the high costs of sin, is to know that God will not allow nor permit His people to 'continue in sin.' There is a high price to pay for such disobedience. This verse is revealing of that.

'but if you do this' - you see it is a choice; sin is our choice to do or not to do. We are left with the knowledge not to sin, for the price to be paid is to high. It costs Christ His life, and the souls of many are in hell because of it. This is where we begin, to pray that we not do it. 'Now unto Him tha tis able to keep you from falling.' 'My little children, sin not.' We know this, now we must apply it. Choose not to sin. Our life is choices, and these choices are cause and effect.

Isaiah 1:18

2012-01-06T09:38:00.000-05:00

"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

After the previous verses of instruction and direction we see a continued word of what God is willing and able to do for those that come to Him. Let us glean these truths for our own personal walk.

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord - word study, come; word study, God is speaking; It is an invitation from the Lord to sit down and be taught by Him. What a privilege to sit at the Lord's feet and be taught. How many had the chance during the days that Christ walked the earth, but how few took advantage of it. Let us not be found like these that missed their opporutnity.

God is first inviting, 'come now'. And secondly, causing to reason of His ways. It is not a time for us to barter with Him. It is not a time for us to sit down and negoiate, we are to listen and draw from Him, His wisdom. 'Let us reasons together' is about God showing us His perfect way. And revealing to us our imperfect way. REasoning togetheris to teach us how our ways need to die and His ways need to be adhered too. without this transformation, we will always be in direct conflict with the Lord. He wishes to see us right with Him, and thus, we must be yield to His ways and words.

thought your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow - one of the great verses of hope to any sinner to know that God has made a way for our cleansing; Without His blood to cleanse us, our sins remain.

Isaiah 1:17

2012-01-05T10:12:00.000-05:00

"Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow."

In verses 15 - 17, we see a directive for each of us to pay attention too. This verse in itself is repeated throughout all of Scripture. It is the message of Christianity, our responsiblity to well in the midst of all the earth. combination of the end of verse 16, 'Cease to do evil' and then concluded with the first phrase,'learn to do well' is our life testimony.

Learn to do well - word study, well; 'Cease to do evil, learn to do well' is also repeated throughout Scripture, (I do not have the exact count yet for this word/phrase study). We will deal with our 4 words at hand - learn to do well. Doing well has nothing to do with doing well in your own eyes or the eyes of the world. Doing well has everything to do with pleasing God. If God is not pleased then you have not done well. And God, Who cannot lie, will never say, 'Well done', to the soul that has not done well.

Doing well is found in obeying the Lord and His commands. 'If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.' The instructions of our obedience is found within Scripture. One of the necessities to understand about 'doing well' is not just doing what mom and dad did; or grandma and grandpa did. It is not even doing what the church is doing. It is doing what the Lord has commanded. WE are to read, study and examine our lives to 'take heed' to all our ways. There are 4 things that follow this phrase in this verse, that is specific actions we are to take, especially in regards to other people around us and in our community.

Learning to do well is inward and outward. That which we do with our hands (outward towards others) and in our hearts (our inward relationship with God). Blessed is the one who has a Divine teacher to bring to remembrance the doing of right and hating that which is evil. Blessed is the one that has godly parents, teachers, pastors to instruct in these things. But the absence of these blessings is sure to allow flesh, humanism, to rise up and destroy what God intended.

Isaiah 1:16

2012-01-04T11:08:00.000-05:00

"Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;"

We see at the end of this verse, the semi-colon. That tells us, this verse is not complete yet. In verse 16 and 17, there is a continual directive given. The problem was spelled out in verse 15, they are praying but not being heard because of their sin. And immediately the call comes in this verse, to be made clean.

Wash you, make you clean - word study, make; it is the necessary action for all Christians to be made whole; We are born in sin, practice sin, chose sin and yes, love sin. When the reality of all this sin comes to our souls, we realize the truth, God will punish sin. God is holy and without sin. He sets out to destroy sin in His creation. Now, praise His Name, He has made a way for us to remove sin. NOthing in our ownselves can take care of this sin. There is only one thing in all of existence that can do this, the blood of Christ Jesus.
'What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.'
'There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel's veins, lose all my guilty stains.'
'Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?'

Each of these are lines in some of the church's hymn books that retells us what Scripture has already spoken. '

Isaiah 1:15

2012-01-03T11:20:00.001-05:00

"And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood."

Does God hear all prayer? Here again, in this verse we have the answer, 'NO'. 'I will not hear you', God says. Such a lie that is continually spread among God's people and the world.

And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you - word study, 'I will' study of God saying this truth; There has always been a description of praying by 'lifting up holy hands' unto the Lord in prayer. We understand that these people are praying. They are seeking the Lord God. What we must understand and communicate with so many people is, you can pray, but that doesn't do any good, if God doesn't hear you. There are billions that stretch out their hands to a god or God, but that is only a part of praying. Prayer is a communication between two parties, God and man. It does me no good to pray to you, I must pray to One that is above me.

You pray to God because He is able to answere and move in great and marvellous ways. 'Spreading forth hands' to God is man's part in prayer. But the hands being spread unto God, must be holy hands. 'Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord.'

Isaiah 1:9

2012-01-02T08:07:00.000-05:00

"Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah."

This opening chapter of Isaiah is full of so much that we should glean from. It is our future story without a powerful move of God among His people.
In the preceeding verses we have already seen the destruction and desolation of Judah Jerusaleum foretold. Here in this verse Isaiah reports on the remaining conditions.

Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant - the Lord is the One Who choosees to bless us, destroy us or allow us to remain; Here the number of Judah and Jerusaleum has been greatly diminished. It is of note to remember this truth revealed about numbers again. the children of Israel went down into Egypt with 70 souls. They came out of Egypt, 400 years later and were 605,000 footmen. IN the time of David and Solomon they were well over 1 million men at 1000 BC. But here in 700 BC, just 300 years later, they were reduced to 40,000. Only a remnant of these 40,000 were found to 'fear the Lord'.

TW Hunt, always told me, 'God always has a remnant.' Out of His mercy He allows for a remnant to remain in place, lest He would have to destroy everything. He raises up a voice, a heart that goes out after Him and His ways. Are you that voice? pleading and interceeding for His glory to be shown and manifested? Does your heart long after Him and His ways? ARe you a part of the remnant of God? If not, why? Do you not know it is the only right way?

'Except the Lord of hosts had left', nothing is ever done without the Lord. He is able to save life, and to destroy life. 'Except the Lord' is the truth of all of life. Our entire existence is found in this truth,'Except the Lord'. Praise the Lord that the Lord takes knowledge of us. Allows for us to be, to exist, to know Him. 'Except the Lord is the reality of every Christian; and the deception of hell to every lost soul.

The Lord has left a 'very small remnant'. It is never a majority. Many are called, few are chosen. To the broad and wide path, many go on it. To the straight and narrow path, few there be that find it. The numbers are substantial for the fact that these souls will perish forever. It is a hard concept to grasp, that the power of the universe, the love of Almighty God, the redemption for all sin and entrance into heaven is rejected by majority. And you and I that are a part of this very small remnant know that rarity makes it that much more precious. He did not have to choose me or you. He could have easily but us in the majority and we would be lost forever. But He didn't, Praise His Holy Name, He didn't!

An old saying goes, 'many hands makes lighter work'. And the same is true in reverse, 'few hands makes much work'. A very small remnant means that we have much more to do in our responsbility.
We have 10 times the amount of work, becuase of the lack of people responding and fulfilling their obedience unto the Lord. They have rejected Him and they are rejected people from being a part of a 'very small remnant.'

Isaiah 1:4

2011-12-30T10:30:00.001-05:00

"Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy ONe of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward."

Truly one of the most powerful books in the Bible. We know that every word of Scripture is Divine. We know that God is able to be past, present and future in all His ways, including taking a verse written in700 BC and applying it to us today. And that is what we have here in verse 4. A verse that stands as a testimony to Judah, to Israel, to any nation and any people that have forgotten Who is Creator and Sustainer of all our life.

Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity - there are 4 phrases here in the first half of this verse, we will examine the first two together; What has happened? Isaiah is speaking to his own people, who have betrayed the Lord and followed after sin. They had struggled through all the judges over Israel and found times of relief when God would raise up a judge to deliver them. Then came Saul, who was the king over all Israel and we see his failure. Then David and Solomon for a combined 80 years of power, the temple being built and God as the priority. But toward the close of Solomon's reign, he sins and the crubmling of a nation into two nations - Israel and Judah happened. And then a continued slide away from God. Israel, who never did regain any service unto the Lord rightly, but only that which was 'evil in His sight'. Judah was very incosistent throughout it all until God said He would judge them and remove them. In all this time of 300 years from David until Isaiah, we see a weak, failing people in serving the Lord. And thus, we have this descriptions of the people of Judah - 'A sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity'.

They had learned to practice sin as a people. It was not just a few, here and there, but from the king down to the peasant; from the rich to the poor; from the priest to the masses, they sinned against the Lord

Isaiah 1:2

2011-12-29T10:17:00.000-05:00

"Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me."

In verse 1, there was the introduction of who, when and where. IN verse 2 God begins immediately to speak of the condition at hand. And it is not a good word!

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth - word study, give; God is speaking; Who does God speak to? He always speaks to His creation, for that is why He made it. He speaks to men, He speaks to angels, He speaks to demons and He speaks to created heaven and earth. the heavens are filled with the angels, and the earth is filled with men and demons. For we know that demons afflicted much on the earth to attack mankind. But God is also able to speak to stars, atoms, soil, trees and other objects of His Divine creation.

throughout the Scriptures is this phrase used over and over, 'The Lord which created heaven and earth'. He is the Maker of all of it. He speaks to all of it. He is able to say to the sun, 'STand still' and it does. He says to the ocean waves, 'Come forth and no further' and it does. HE says to the moon, 'Rise up and go down' and it does.

Isaiah 1:1

2011-12-26T10:55:00.000-05:00

"The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah."

We begin in our reading and study of this great book of Isaiah. There are 66 books in the Bible, there are 66 chapters in Isaiah.

The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz - a couple quick notes to identify in this phrase; A vision is given to Isaiah. Isaiah is the prophet. A prophet is chosen by God to accomplish a Divine purpose. His name means 'the salvation of the Lord'. And that is what his prophecies foretold. A vision and dream are closely related but there are differing points. A dream is naturally assocaited with at night. A vision is during the day or night. A vision is for a purpose to be fulfilled. A dream may have no purpose, but simply alterations of the mind to be expressed. Both visions and dreams can be man made, demon or Satan given or God given. Knowing the origin of the vision or dream is ever so important to determin the content and relationship. Isaiah has been given a vision and we shall see the purpose fulfilled and the origin of it.

Isaiah is the one to receive this vision. Isaiah is the son of Amoz. For us, we know more of Isaiah than Amoz. Not much else about Amoz, except that he is Isaiah's father. Some commentaries describe Amoz that he was a brother to King Uzziah. (Although there is no direct proof to that) But it should be, at least, a reminder that we all have a father where we have begun from. And each piece of family heritage has made us what we are today. Without the ancestors we are nothing, we have those that have gone before us.

'which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusaleum' - word study, saw; Isaiah in his vision saw what was, what was to be, and how God proposed to do it. It is in direct relation to his place of life. He lived here; he knew these people and this city. It was a prophecy for Judah, seeing that Israels fate was already sealed. Israel had done nothing since Jeroboam the son of NEbat, but to provoke the Lord. And they were judged and removed from the promised land because of their disobedience. And we shall see that Judah was following their steps. And if Isaiah was born and grew up under the long reign of Uzziah, for he reigned 52 years. So that Israel had been carried away by Assyria during this time period. And he knew the law well enough to know that it was directly related to their sin against the Lord. And now he was to receive a word against his own family, his own city, and his own people. It is one thing for a word against strangers, heathens or others, it is quite something else against our own loved ones.

What word has God spoken against our lives? against our family? against our church? against our nation? Oh, how dreadful to contemplate these things in light of men's evil ways. And truly the soul that draweth nigh unto the Lord, will receive a word of truth in regards to those that serve and love Him and those that don't.

In the days of Uzziah, JOtham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah - it is only the reference of the kings of Judah, because only in them was 'some good thing found toward the Lord'; Yet in each of these 4 kings we see their good and bad.

Canticles 8:14

2011-12-24T10:04:00.001-05:00

"Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices."

We come to the conclusion of this book. Eight chapters, and what a roller coaster of experience in love and relationship it has been. And with this last verse we have a petition from her to her beloved.

Make haste, my beloved - word study, make; the last call and yet the first cry is found here, 'make haste'; Do not delay, do not forget, do not put off, but 'make haste to come unto me.' We have seen throughout this book what delay costs. and within our own life, we have seen what our lack of making haste has failed to do. A life of regrets is some peopel's only testimony. They ahve never made haste and they have never accomplished anything. and the greatest delay of all for many that we love and know is that they would not make haste to get right with God.

They put it off for years, praying and hoping that some day later they would become a Chrsitian and that they would come to church and make Christ their Beloved. But that day, to a dawdler, to a procrastinator never comes. They would not make haste, and before you knew it, time was up. A life ahs been lived and opportunities missed for the simple failure to 'make haste' to come unto Him. Oh, they made haste for everything else of sin and vanity. They had time to rip and run to their entertainments.

Canticles 8:13

2011-12-23T10:29:00.000-05:00

"Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear it."

The Lord is speaking, and His place is found. Let us go where we may meet with Him and hear from Him.

Thou that dwellest in the gardens - the Lord is located in the garden; If you knew where He was, where would you be? A Christian goes to where the Lord is. He cannot be without Him. And we definitely do not want to be guilty of earlier chapters in this book of Canticles to lose our Beloved. WE find Him, we stay with Him and we listen to Him. The study of the gardens throughout Scripture is rich and blessed. We begin in Genesis with the Garden of Eden; we know of Christ often going into the garden of Gethesmane; the gardens mentioned here in Song of Solomon; Uzziah was a king that loved to garden; and Solomon had some very beautiful gardens. And is there not a more beautiful hymn, 'In the Garden'. That verse should direct us as this verse does:
I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.
He speaks, and the sound of His voice,
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing.
I'd stay in the garden with Him
Though the night around me be falling,
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling.

Let us go to the garden where He dwells. And there with Him we will learn from Him and more of Him. But if we be separated from Him then there is much folly and great alarm about our growing in Him. WE will have become separate from Him. And this cannot be.

Canticles 7:10

2011-12-21T10:04:00.002-05:00

"I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me."

In the last 3 chapters of Song of Solomon, there is much description of her Beloved. There is no more the scenarios of seeking and finding, but all is about description.

I am my Beloved's - it is the certainty of knowing Who's we are; 'I am' is the clear declarative statement about our relationship with Christ. We describe this or refer to this, as the 'believers' assurance'. Paul wrote, 'I know Whom I have believed and am persuaded that HE is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him.' That is pretty certain, is it not? ARe you able to say as this phrase, 'I am my Beloved's'? Is the certainty of your relationship found in Christ alone.

Do you know your saved, born again, a true child of God? And the answers: 'I go to church'; 'I have been baptized'; 'I believe in God'; 'I'm not such a bad person'; 'I'm not as bad as so and so'. And in all these answers there is no answering the question. You see the question is a yes or no. And if they say no, you knwo to present the invitation to salvation. If they say, 'yes'; then you proceed to say, 'How do you know you are saved?' And some way some how, this truth will come, 'I am my Beloved's'. It is the relationship between Almighty God; Father, Son and Spirit in relationship with the child of God.

What makes us HIs' is the price HE paid for us. HE bought us; His death was for us; His love goes out to us; He knew us; He made us; He yearned over us; in all these things, we are His'.

Canticles 6:1

2011-12-20T10:51:00.000-05:00

"Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee."

WE come to this continuing seeking and finding of Christ. Where is He? How is it that we lose Him so much in our day to day walk and relationship? Now here is others that come seeking Him.

Whither is thy Beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? bible study, great questions of the Bible; They come seeking Him Who is worthy to be praised, glorified and adored. It would be a grand thing to have everyday someone come up to us and ask, 'Where is thy Beloved?' I too would like to know Him and worship Him. But alas, the vast majority of saints are always trying to present their Beloved to a lost world, only to be rejected, and ridiculed in most cases. But what of those glorious days of Divine visitation?

When John Wesley preached and 1,000's came into the fields and were drawn, not by men, but they came seeking Christ. What of the 100's that came in the middle of the night out of their homes, in the Hebrides, seeking they knew not what, but drawn by the Holy Spirit. There is the hope and the power for the lost to come seeking our Beloved. It is nto by our hand of slight, or cunning, or entertaining spectacles but by the adoring PResence of Christ Himself. Why did the shepherd come forth from their flocks and fields? they had heard and seen the angels sing of Him. Why did the wise men come seeking Him? They had seen a star and drawn after it. Others saw the star, but only these came seeking. Many see it, many may ask; but blessed are they that find.

'Thou fairest among women' is the title given to Christ bride, the church. WE are counted fair, not because of our own merit or making, but because of His blessed hand of redemption and cleansing. All blights, all blemishes, all mars, all sin is removed by His cleansing blood.

Canticles 5:8

2011-12-19T10:31:00.002-05:00

"I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love."

This is not the same ending that we find in chapter 3. In chapter 3, she found her beloved and swore that she would never let Him go. But here we are now, and she has lost Him again. Wounded, assualted, seeking but not finding for her Beloved. And with desperation she gives a message of love to be shared by anyone that may find Him.

I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem - the charge of love is given to the other women that her beloved may go too; If he would come to them because she had delayed in coming to him, she says, 'Give Him this message.' We know that Solomon had many wives and concubines. What better way to get a message to him than to convey it to where you knew he would be. Her audience to convey is the possible other women that he may come into.

'The daughters of Jerusaleum' are the symbol for the other saints that are tied into Christ and their relationship with Him. We are betrohed to Him, we are the bride (as the church) and He is our groom - our Husbandman. It is that we not look jealously upon the other 'wives' for they are also our brothers and sisters in Christ. There was much division between the two sisters of Leah and Rachel with Jacob. No doubt, where Solomon had so many there must have been fighting for position and attention to him. May we understand that where men are limited, Christ is not. He is able to love us all with the same affection and attention. May we be careful that our hearts affection is not toward something else than our 'Husbandman.'

Canticles 5:7

2011-12-15T10:23:00.000-05:00

"The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me."

The plight of this woman for her beloved spirals out of control. He came, she refused; when she finally rose up to open to Him, He had withdrawn Himself. Now as she is out and about seeking Him, the men of the city punished her. And she is still withou her Beloved.

The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me - word study, went; word study, found; Just back in chapter 3, the watchment of the city did not harass or harm her, but now she receives a beating; It is the guards job to protect the city. People up and running about in the night hours are rarely ever up to any good. OUr society has changed drastically with all this. There used to be a thing called, 'curfew'. Certain time everything was shut down, to limit and protect the people from night activities. But now, everything si 24 hours a day, lights, rippin and runnin all around for this and that; but it is still no good.

They found this woman out and about. It is was not the place of a woman to out and about. IT would be more than likely, that she was an adulterous or prostituting. So they punish her for

Canticles 5:6

2011-12-13T10:46:00.000-05:00

"I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer."

We continue in our verse by verse study of chapter 5, verses 2 - 8. Her beloved has come. She has delayed in letting him in. HE reaches forth to her, and she is moved to rise up to him. And here in this verse, we see an unexpectant occasion - He is gone.

I opened to my beloved - she gets to the door and opens; In the last verse, after her dealying to get up and let him in, she is moved by seeing his hand outstretched to her. Love compels her to rise up and open. The affirmative for us is found here. 'I must open', Christ does not force the door down. He does not occupy the heart or soul of the unwilling. And had she laid in bed and refused to get up to him, her horrible condition of living without her beloved would have continued. Many a soul sits in the church without rising up and opening to their Beloved Jesus.

It is often found in the Scriptures of how Christ comes to the soul. 'The gospel has appeared to all men', and that men must respond to Him at the door. What door? The door of the heart; the door of the mind; and the door of the soul. At some point in every Christians life, that door must open to receive Him in. Jesus declard it, 'I am the door'. Every soul that wishes to receive Christ as Lord and Savior must open to Him, or be cast forth withou. Oh, brethren, make sure you open to the Beloved One, Who is JEsus, the Savior of the world. There is no other Name given under heaven whereby we must be saved but His Great Name!

But my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone - yes, she rose up, but she delayed and now he was gone; So many believe and think that they have all the time in the world to respond to the invitation of Christ for salvation. The fact of it all is that no man can be saved unless the Spirit draws him. And when the Spirit is drawing is the time for opening and receiving Him in. If they don't respond to the appropriate time then the invitation is lost. What can a man do when God withdraws Himself from that soul?

Canticles 5:5

2011-12-12T10:12:00.000-05:00

"I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock."

The continued progression of this account in chapter 5. Her beloved ONe comes, but she is unwilling to rise up to meet Him. He reaches forth for her. She finally decides to rise up to meet her. This verse covers this interaction and description.

I rose up to open to my beloved - the issue for us to consider again is why is her beloved outside? Christ is our great Beloved One. He is all to us and we need me. But woe unto the one that puts Him forth, on the outside and allows for self or the world to occupy His place in the Christians heart and life.
But how gracious and merciful is our Lord that never gives up on us. He is always pleading, beckoning, moving for us to 'return' and 'restore' our love relationship with Him. So HE stretches forth His hand out of love, out of compassion to draw us unto Himself. And oh, the right reaction is seen here, 'I rose up'. Yes, He reaches forth for us; we must respond. Woe to the fool that refuses to rise up and go unto Him. Only greater sorrow, sin, and regret lies on that path of choice.
'I rose up to open to my Beloved' My heart, my mind and my soul are now drawn to Him, I must get back to a right relationship. Oh, how long suffering He is with us. How long we keep Him at the door. How long we refuse to respond to His calling. But at last, response is made from the hard, indifferent heart.
OH, if you wonder where HE is? He is waiting for you to rise up and open to Him. You have delayed long enough, now it is time to respond.

Canticles 5:4

2011-12-10T09:26:00.001-05:00

"My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him."

IN our first verse of study, verse 2, we see the separation. IN verse 3 we see the refusal to arise and have her beloved to come in. But now, there is the hand extended that touches the soul of this woman for her beloved.

My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door - it is the Lord reaching forth to His beloved; How many times does Christ use the word 'come unto Me'? He is constantly appealing and beckoning unto mankind to 'return unto Him'; 'to come unto Him'; 'to follow Him'. HE stretches forth His hand for that drawing forth from a lost world, from sin. What do you see when you see His hand? There is the nail scar, pierced through all the way to reveal His love for us. It is the hand of the Lord that reaches forth for our deliverance. There is none that save us from our sin but Him.

His hand also is stretched forth for other reasons. He reaches forth to heal. Time and time again He touched those with disease and issues. He reached forth to save Peter from drowning, after Peter took his eyes off the Lord. He touched the bread and break it after He blessed it and gave to the hungry. Over and over we see the use and busyness of Him using His hands for the work. ARe your hands as busy for the Lord's work? ARe you doing all that you can for the needs at hand? Look at your hand and know He gave us the gift of the hand and all the parts of our body.

One of the most precious things upon the hands of our Lord, is us. 'I have engraven you on My hnads.' He knows who is His'. He knows us by name. He redeemed us and places us safely in His hand for keeping and remembrance of His Own. The great thought of knowing that He loved us so much to save us and deliver us and now carries and keeps us. Oh, praise the Name of the Lord for such wonderful promises and teachings. When you see His hand these are a few of those things that we should remember and know from Scripture about the preciousness of His nail scarred hand.

Canticles 5:3

2011-12-09T09:22:00.001-05:00

"I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?"

We continue in this section of study on losing our fellowship and walk with the Lord. In the last verse, we see that she is in bed; the Lord comes knocking and calls unto His beloved. HEre is her response in verse 3:

I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? word study, Great questions of the Bible; there are two questions in this verse; Now here is her beloved coming after she has already gone to bed (v.2). Now he comes, he has been out in the night for awhile in coming to her. so much so, that his head is filled with dew from being out in the night. What a cold, shallow response is found here. 'I have undressed and put my coat off for the night.' And even thought our Scripture says, 'how shall I put it on?' You can almost read of her unwillingness to get up and it should be reflected 'why should I put it on?' If she is in love, it matters not whether she has to get up and put her coat on to go to the door; you just do it. But her unwillingness shows us that she cares not.

Now note, He has traveled through the night to reach her. He has been out long enough in the night to have dew upon His head. HE has sacrificed and put forth galiant effort to reach His beloved. And only to get to the door and receive a crushing response of rejection. Oh, brethren, how often is it with us and Christ? He has come; He has labored; He has done all for our souls and yet when time comes for fellowship and intimacy, He receive a rejection from those that say 'I love the LOrd.'

Check the records, reveal the times spent during the day, into the night seasons that show time that has been spent between Christ and His people.

Canticles 5:2

2011-12-08T09:56:00.001-05:00

"I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night."

We will need to stay here for a while to look at this section in chapter 5. It is, to me, one of the most precious and revealing portions of Scripture. How many read across it, without being moved or stirred. Therefore, I will take time to cover this section which begins in verse 2, here, and goes through verse 9.

I sleep, but my heart waketh - we see again, as matches in chapter 3, there is a separation between those that love each other; There is the place again, as matches in chapter 3, that the night season is preferred here where all this happens. Now, it should be for us to note, that this same scenario just played out in chapter 3. Then why have returned to the same issue and problem? How is it that she would lose or be found asleep while her beloved is away and gone. It is the same for every Christian. OH, how we are near our Lord today, and gone tomorrow. We love and serve Him faithful this week, but alas, we are off to the City of Destruction next week. How fickle, how unfaithful to Him Who is always faithful.

'I sleep' is the key at the beginning of this. It is that message over and over again in the Scriptures that is laid to us - 'Awake'. We are asleep; while a world perishes. WE shall answer unto the Lord when we stand before Him for all the hours slumbering and sleeping while the work was needed to be done. We know that roughly 1/3 of our entire life was spent sleeping. One third gone, 33% of our entire existence sleeping. Was that too keep us from sinning more? To keep us away from other worldly inventions and endeavors, seeing that most spend their other 2/3 time in sin and disobedience. We see it when good Christian lays down to sleep on the Hill of Difficulty. He only intended to lay down for a moment, but overslept and all kinds of problems happened because of too much sleep. And it is the same today with so many, only 'a sleep, a little folding of the hands and then ruin.'

There is definitely something wrong with the soul that says, ' I love you' and then can go to sleep and not miss them. Can a parent go to sleep when their child is unaccounted for at night? Can a spouse not be concerned when their loved is out with no knowledge where they are? And can we not see that our Lord, Who knows all our musings in this life, knows where we are when we are absent from Him. Would to God that it was only we were tired and asleep; but we knwo the truth, when absent from the Lord we are usually in sin - if not sins of commission, then sins of omission.

Canticles 4:16

2011-12-07T09:31:00.001-05:00

"Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits."

It is by looking at this verse, that it seems to stand alone. But for us it is a clear prayer that we need to be making and attentive too.

Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden - word study, come; The cry for the wind to be stirred up and do something; We know that the wind of the Spirit is in comparison to the wind of this earth. Jesus declared, 'You do not whether the wind comes from nor do you know where it goes'. And it is the same for us in understanding about the things of God through His Holy Spirit. It seems that the issue is the lack of wind blowing in this part. He makes a plea, 'Awake, Come forth to do your work, wind.' There is a cause/effect here stated: blow upon my garden, that my spices may flow out. No wind, no spices. No Spirit, no life. No Spirit, no power. 'Awake, Oh Holy Spirit and come and blow upon us.

When Christ had resurrected He appeared to the disciple and breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Ghost.' It is this same need today for the church. What can we do without the Spirit? Nothing

Canticles 4:7

2011-12-06T10:01:00.001-05:00

"Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee."

Two fold description is given here for us. When in love all imperfections are buried underneath of the passion of love. the first descritpion is of Christ. This is the reason we can say of a bloody, beaten, disfigured, stained Christ on the cross and say, 'Look at the love'. Not look at the other things, a Christian sees the truth of Christ death,'NO man has any greater love than this, that he lays down his life for others.' The second description is not just of Who Christ is, but who we are in Christ. Because He is all these things, we are made in His image and thus, we are also.

Thou art all fair, my love - word study, all; The first thing to see in this verse, is Christ. 'Thou' is Jesus, the Son of God; He Who is God, one part of the Trinity, Holy, Faithful, King of Kings, Lord of Lords; Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end; the Rose of Sharon; the Lily of the valley; the Bright and Morning Star; the Maker, the Keeper, the Sustainer, the Redeemer, the Way, the Truth and the LIfe. . . and on and on I could go with Who Jesus is. Oh, how precious is the Lamb that was slain for me and you! Oh, how wonderful is our SAvior! There is none like Him in all of existence! 'Thou' 'my love' -the personal reflective pronouns from me to Him. And then soon we shall see He reverses it, from Him to me.

'All fair' - is the description of perfection in Christ; Can you find any fault? any blemish? any sin? any error? any mistake - a thousand questions, a thousand times the answer comes back - NO! Without any imperfection then, we can conclude the obvious part of this statement, He is all fair. 'All' is not a part of, some of, most of, or any other segment. 'All' is complete, entire, whole, everything included of the thing being described.

Canticles 3:4

2011-12-05T10:16:00.001-05:00

"It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me."

This is the conclusion of my interest in these first 4 verses of chapter 4. I know that the actual text break is at the end of verse 5, but for my purposes of study I have sought to keep verses 1 - 4 for us. IN verse 1, she is aware that she has lost her Beloved; in verse 2, she arises and goes forth to find Him; and verse 3, she is found by the men of the city and ask the needful question. And then we come to verse 4 for our intstruction:

It was but a little that I passed from them - time is of importance in this pursuit of seeking and finding our Lord; The reference is, 'but a little', from the men of the city finding her and her asking if they had seen Him.

Canticles 3:3

2011-12-04T08:23:00.001-05:00

"The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?"

We continue with this chapters study of losing our Beloved, seeking for Him and finding Him. It is the greatest of tragedies to lose our place with the Lord. It is upon our heats desire to find Him. The watchmen that go about the city found me - word study, found; word study, go; In the last two verses, she sought for HIm but cannot find HIm. YEt, when she goes forth to seek in the city, she is found by those that she cares not for.

she went out into the city to look. She looked in her bed for him in verse 2, not found. She got up and searched the house, not found. She goes forth abroad to seek Him, no found. She is out in the world, she is in the city looking. It is good to look; for the woman that lost her coin, grapped a candle, and looked in the house until she found it and then rejoiced. If you have lost your place with the Lord, then look where HE is.

Canticles 3:2

2011-12-03T10:27:00.001-05:00

"I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not."

ONly 11 verses in this chapter. And as the first so is the second verse filled with instruction and heartache for us as Christians. We should identify with this dilema and pray that it not be any more a part of our testimony.

I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets - word study, will; word study, go; the personal action is taking to do something about the situation; In the first verse we learned the problem, a separation between the Christian and our Lord. The overall emphasis that so many take is between Christ and the church in this man and woman relationship. But let us go even more personal between Christ and us. 'I will rise now' is the mandate. Something has provoked action to get up and 'to go'. The issue found in the first verse is the answer to it. Christ is not here; why? How did I lose Him? How did forget about Him? Something is not right between us for me to lose thought, heart and pursuit of Him that I love. And as is so often taught, when you lose something, you must seek for it. If you don't seek for it, then you will never find it.

The action of rising and going is to look and to search.

Canticles 3:1

2011-12-02T10:29:00.001-05:00

"By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not."

There is all the reality of a love affair found throughout this book. And here in this verse, we come to the part where something of loss has happened. There is a separation described within this verse. And as Spurgeon asked, so I must ask, 'How is it that you lost that which was most precious unto you?'

By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth - word study, sought; Her loved one is absent from her presence; Note the personal pronouns used here - 'my bed', 'my soul' and 'I sought'. It is a very personal act being done and described here. the basis of 'night' and 'bed' is not hard for us to understand, it is very true, that at night you go to bed. But the problem is that when she goes to bed, the one 'whom my soul loveth', is not there. She says, 'I sought him there'.   It is needful for me to ask of you and you ask of your loved one, 'What are you seeking for?'   The only right answer is Christ. PEople are seeking truth, people are seeking acceptance, people are seeking fun/entertainment, people are are seeking money and power. But all those things come and go and are counted as wood, hay and stubble. Christ is everlasting and shall give to the soul that seeks for Him everlasting life with Him in eternity.
But yet, I know as many that are all around that are seeking for nothing. They are simply existing, going through the motions of life. They are in darkness by Satan, lied to that this is all that there is in life. They know not to seek for any thing higher in God. They are either in seeking vanity from day to day, or not seeking anything higher than animal cravings. Both of which leads to destruciton and eternal hell. Only Christ is the high prize to be sought for in this life. It is this life that gives us the opportunity to seek for this. Angels and demons can seek for Him, their eternity is fixed. The dead cannot seek, their time of opporutnity has passed. The unborn have not arrived yet, and their moment is to come. It is for you and I that are given the here and now to seek for Him.

Why 'by night. . . I sought him'? The night season, reflective of those times that are least likely to be busy with worldly, carnal matters. Busy, busy, busy we are all day; and for some even at night. Yet, I think most would agree, that the night season offers a more restful, quiet, and less hectic time frame. And for this soul, as well as we, all day long we have been at our busy schedule, chores and activities. And only at night, when we draw our breath do we reach out to to seek the Lord. Yea, many never think of Him until they do lay their head down to rest at night, and then lift up a prayer.

But too many do not seek Him daily, hourly or moment by moment. When they finally reach out to find Him, he is not there. Their seeking Him, but they have grieved, quenched, limited and resisted Him.   So filled with self, so filled with earthly things, they have not realized they have driven Him from first to last place in their daily living. And how sad to note, that many Christians have done this for weeks, months and Woe! for years. Going through the motions but never truly realizing that He was gone from primary place in their heart, agendas and thoughts. Never knowing until that moment of tragedgy, difficulty and sin that they need Him; then, and only then, do they seek for Him.

How did they ever get to this place! Yes, church, how is it that you left your first love?   Truly it is a night season in such times when the light is withdrawn. Just as the setting of the sun ushers in the night. So the light of Christ, being removed and limited, withdraws til the darkness comes into the soul and heart of the believer. John of the Cross wrote the book, 'Dark NIght of the Soul' that gives us a reading to match these thoughts.

Canticles 2:13

2011-12-01T09:11:00.001-05:00

"The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away."

The last of this series of verses that has focused us on death and life; lostness and salvation; and barrenness and revival. In verse 11 and 12, they are concluded with a semi-colon telling us that it is not complete, just yet. But here in this verse we have the period at the end of the verse, making it a complete thought, statement and directive. We have seen the beginning of winter passing in verse 11; the sings of life in verse 12 and now the continued evidence in this verse.

The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell - word study, give; Two demonstrations of winter passing, and spring coming; 'Green figs' and 'tender grapes' with blooms for a 'good smell', each showing new life and growth. Now see, the first part of this phrase - 'the tree puts forth fruit' - is this not the same that Christ used in John 14 - 16? The fruit comes from the tree and the source of its life. OUr life is found in Christ alone. He gives, He sustains, and He allows for us to produce in Him and for Him fruit that bears glory to His Name.

Canticles 2:12

2011-11-30T10:27:00.001-05:00

"The flowers appear on the earth; the time of thesinging of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;"

we continue with this series of verses on the spiritaul fulfillment of our Lord unto His children (child). Our last verse gave to us the setting of the season and time. 'The winter is past', we now move on to the next season of spring. spiritually that which was dead is now coming to life. What season are you in?
the flowers appear on the earth - the snow has melted, the cold has abated and with that flowers appear; One cannot happen until the other has occurred. Winter must pass before spring can come. Flowers cannot appear until temperatures warm up and the ground de-thaws from its winter hibernation. Thus, when one sees in March or April flowers appearing on the ground, we know that seasons have changed from one to the other.

The same it is for the spiritual dead in winter of sin and iniquity, who has been strangely warmed by the Spirit to eternal life. They begin to show life in their actions. They are seeking; they are hungry; they are aware of truth about their eternal soul. It is said of Spurgeon that he mourned and agonized for weeks over his eternal state. This is the transition from death to life. An awareness breaks forth upon a dead soul that their life and hope in Christ. And when they know their true lost estate and high offences against the Lord God Almighty, they see a great SAvior to rescue, to save, to deliver. 'The flowers appear' and show their is life indeed in Him. For Who else can make a flower to grow? Who else can make life come from death? 'I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.' the flowers show life in Christ, for He is life - 'I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.'

'The flowers appears' is also life in our other interest of REVIVAL. The picture painted for us is that spiritual life is ebbing; winter has been long and hard; and no sign of life or hope is on the horizon. YEt, when the cold temperatures change; when the earth softens is hard, frozen ground, then life shoots up and shows itself. And so it is, that when the church has begun to awaken, there are signs of life all aroudn. Consider some of those absolute 'signs of life' to be seen: Prayer! Why did we lose it ot begin with? Satan and self blinded Christians to its importance allowed for it to dimminish. But you see a renewed passion to pray rightly and to prevail for the sake of Christ' great Name. Renewing of interest in the holiness of God. Before it seemed careless, withdrawn and absent in the ways, minds and actions of many Christinas and the church. But now, there is a holy purusit for sin to be absent and God to ever present and filling His people. Back to the Word of God. Long winters produce apathy toward the Word. NEglect, abandon, are some of the reasons why this happens. but spring is coming and life must be drawn forth from its true source. The word of God is life ebbing into the winter minds, hearts and souls for renewed life in Him.

Canticles 2:11

2011-11-29T10:53:00.001-05:00

"For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;"

The command in the last verse is from our Lord for us 'to rise and come away.' What has happened? Why now? What's going on? Everything has changed. The command is issued in verse 10; the description of what once was is found in this verse; in verse 12 and 13 life has come and the command is repeated at the end of verse 13 to 'come away'. It is the description of deadness to life. It is the picture of dead in trespasses and sins to everlasting life in Christ. It is the picture of sin abounding and deadness prevailing on His church and then comes - REVIVAL! and so for the next 3 devotions we will look at this picture and how it is for us today!

For, lo, the winter is past - seasons often tell of the life we are living; I am blest to be in an area that has all 4 seasons of the year. I can see and glorify the Lord in all these seasonal changes that HE created and maintains. Winter has its purpose; as all the seasons do. The directive given here in this phrase is that winter has come and 'winter is past'. It's over, that mean something. What does it mean? Spring and summer are ahead. The time of winter brings cold, hibernation, deadness upon nature. the color is gone, the natural life is in retreat and everything looks lifeless. But when spring comes there is the return of warmth, of life, of color all around. IN Jeremiah 8 we have this verse: 'the harvest is past, the summer is ened and we are not yet saved.' This is the opposit of our verse, winter is just beginning at the ened of harvest. But here in this verse, 'the winter is past'.

I want to maintain the two points for our verses, v. 11 - 13. The first being that of a souls's salvation; and secondly, the point of revival for the church. The winter for a lost soul is that there is life in their physical body, but the soul is given unto sin and self. There is no fruit produced that shall last. Their is no life found within them. they breath, they exist, they move but only by God's grace and mercy. The soul is dead in trespasses and sins. But at the end of winter, life begins to show itself. And so the soul that has lived in deadness for so many years, upon hearing the Word of God, they begin to have hope. the soul begins to be quickened by the Holy Spirit to see their deadness and know that their is life. And when the scales are removed from their eyes they can see that winter does not have to continue. Their is newness in Christ. The soul that rejects this continues in winter. But for the soul that receives it, 'The winter is past'.

Canticles 2:10

2011-11-27T08:21:00.001-05:00

"My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away."

A very personal and rich verse for each of His children. My Beloved spake and said unto me - I pray that you are able to call Him, 'Your Beloved'; You cannot say it, if you do not mean it nor if you do not know Him. 'If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.' Yea, this is the test for each of us. OUr obeidence shows our love for HIm. And if you do not obey Him, then you do not love Him. But to the soul that knows, 'there is no good thing in my flesh'; but their is Divine life and light in Christ Jesus, they will run to Him for compassion and forgivenness. And He, Who is mericful and gracious will show Himself in each of these. Oh, 'my Beloved spake', what did He say? Do you have an ear to hear what HE says? I feel many in the church today, speak to Him, but they never hear from Him. Can this in any way shape or form be considered healthy spiritual communication? His words are truth; His words are pure; His words are right; His words are for our edification.

such a personal note is found in this short phrase. 'My beloved. . . .speaking unto me'. IT is a one to one conversation. Very persoanl, very initmate. And how needful is this relationship for each of us to have. We must be alone with God for such seasons of hearing and speaking to each other. 'Alone with God will make one wholly for God' said Andrew Murray. It would do us well that when we are alone with God to often consider what He has already said to us through the Scriptures. Know the Word. And train yourself to hear what He speaks, and to know His voice.

Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away - word study - come;

Canticles 1:7

2011-11-25T09:24:00.001-05:00

"Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?"

Tell me where Thou feedest, O Thou whom my soul loveth - how deep the love of a soul for His Master; His desire is to be where Christ is. It is important to see the two messages here in this first half of this verse. The first, is 'where are you Lord?' You have to know where He is to find Him. I think the throne room of God is one of the most unknown truths found in Scripture as well as the heart and mind of christians today. I often encourage the two verses to provoke thoughts of the Lord. 1. 'Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith'; 2. 'We would see Jesus'. Both point us to Him. Where is He? He is on the right hand of the Father. Always sitting there, making intercession. except, in the book of Acts, where He stands and receives Stephen into His bosom. He will stand up for His saints when we appear before the throne of God. If that is where HE is, then why do Christians not go to the throne of God more often? There are several reasons for this. ONe, they don't know what it is. They have neve read their Bibles through and miss such teachings as what lies ahead for us as His people. In Revelations, there is a very descriptive picture painted for us of the throne room of God. I often go into great length to paint picture for saints so that they know the splendor and glory of God found there. Study this saints, there is much to glean from it.

'Tell me' - is the petition of a saint unto His Lord. Who else can instruct like Him? Who else can teach like Him? Who else can speak like Him? 'No man ever spake like this man' was the testimony of those who heard Him. And every child of God knows this truth. So then I would go to Him, Who has all knowledge, understanding and wisdom. I would be told by Him, Who cannot lie the truth of all things. 'Tell me' what You want me to do and to know of You and Your great work. What good does it do to go men and hear from them? All the great philosophers, the great teachers cannot compare to the great "I Am". Men that speak from their own knowledge profit nothing; but those that speak from anointed lips of the Holy Ghost speak words from Him. So when you say, 'tell me', who are you asking to hear from?

Continue. . . .

Canticles 1:1

2011-11-24T09:29:00.001-05:00

"The song of songs, which is Solomon's."

The very beginning of this short book, containing only 8 chapters. the chapters are short, they are not long and drawn out, but to the point and accomplishing its purpose. What is its purpose? To reveal the love of the wife and Solomon. You would think then that since this is only a man and woman's love that there is no purpose for it in the Holy Scriptures. But we know, blessed by hindsight for us, that God worked a great work through Solomon in writing this book. For this book is a mirror reflection of the love of Christ and His church.
Some of the greatest preachers have done this commentary on this book from that very point of view. Let us be reminded, 'that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God'. And that this book, along with the book of Esther, never uses the word, 'God' in it. Yet, we find it in our Bibles. God does not make mistakes, and men who assembled this Holy Book were used of God to place it there for our edifying, rebuke, reproof, correction and sound doctrine. We may glean much from it with spiritual eyes and appetites. But left to earthly mindedness, we will miss it all and only persume it to be a man and woman love story.
It is a song, 'the song of songs'. It is above all other things that Solomon wrote. He had many other proverbs, songs, poetry and writings, but this one is above all others. We must glean from it, what God intended. The use of a song is for telling, for revealing to stir the passion and emotion related to the experience. we sing hymns for this very revelation. It is a way of remembrance, we relive the story through songs and its affects on us through the gift of memory.
It is good to know the songs of the Bible. There are numerous found throughout the Scripture. I cannot say that i know exactly how many. But I will give you a few instances to show you this truth and may it be on your heart. The first song is Moses song. The song they sang after the Egyptians were overthrown; it was a victorious song. This song is also mentioned in revelations as being sung. Another song is the song in Revelations where they sing the song of the saints before the throne of God. We may count it blessed to sing this song soon.
Other instances of song are the song that Deborah sang after the vitory in the book of Judges. The songs of Asaph found throughout the book of Psalms. The song that King Jehoshaphat had the choir sing as they marched out to fight the enemy. The words are very important. 'His mercy endureth forever.' And victory was given to them. I say that these words are important, becasue other instances of where they phrase was sung, shows us that God filled the temple when it was declared. It is pure worship and adoration.
Two songs that were never sung was when the Pharisees criticized the people for glorifying Christ on His triumphal entry. And Jesus said, if these hold their tongues, the rocks will cry out. And in I Chronicles 16 David is praising the Lord and declares that all creation is singing out to the Lord. Oh, to hear this sound; yet, having ears to hear and cannot hear. IN verse 33, 'Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the Lord' and what a sound to hear rocks and trees sing. Then why are we silent in our ability to lift up holy hands with songs and hymns.
The singing of songs is worship and declaring the ways of God. We are giving the privilege to sing. Our traditional hymns are rich with these experiences of God's greatness.

Ecclesiastes 12:14

2011-11-22T10:27:00.001-05:00

"For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."

the conclusion of this chapter, of the book and of life itself. What a fitting verse to conclude all that has been presented in this book of 'observation'. the previous verse gave us our directive of what to do toward the Lord in our daily living. Now we read of the day of the end. For God shall bring every work into judgment - God shall do this complete, final judgment over every event in life; Who else could do such a thing but God? None. Who else can bring into judgment every thought, every word, every action, every intent of billions of souls for over 6000 years of history? 'For God shall bring every work' to be answered for. I have been raised to know the belief of 'eternal security'. oh, how many Baptists linger to this to excuse their lifestyle, to forget their actions of decades of life. I have heard and seen the actions of many 'professing Chrisitans' 'to continue in sin' because of this lack of understanding of such verses as this. Yes, I beleive the blood cleanses; Yes, I beleive that God is able to erase the judgments of my sins. I know this to be true, because the cross teaches me why Christ died and why it was such a painful, bloody death. My sins, past, present and future was laid on Him for the remission (removing) of sins. His holy, pefect, atoning blood cleanses me; purges me from all my sin. My mind, my heart and my soul must examine to see how great is my offences since I first had a mind to know right and wrong. And this is to remind me of how precious is Christ to me and every believer. And that He already knew every sin, every transgression and every iniquity that you and i would do. He died for all, knowing who was His' and who was not. And that these choices, these actions done, though pardoned, are brought to light. Yea, the hidden things of shadows and darkness to be manifest before the throne. There laid out, my sin, my failures, my wrongness, my evil laid at the judgment bar. And there you and I stand, quilty before heaven and hell. Ownership fo these things that are done must be claimed. 'Yes', I shall answer, "I am guilty of all.' And then to Christ I shall look and wait. Christ shall stand and say, 'Yes, I bore his guil on Calvary's tree for the forgiveness of these sins.' Brought to light? Yes. Made known? Yes. Atoned for? Yes. Every work shall be made known, and every work weighed in the balances of 'what sort it is'. some works will be defined as wood, hay and stubble; only to be burned in the fire. Other works shall be shown to be precious - gold, silver and precious stones that shall endure. 'Every work brought into judgment' - yes, we know this to be true. Now then, how much more shall your works then be that which is pleasing to Him? Let all your life and seconds be made up of that which shall not bring you shame and reproach on tha day, but glory unto His great Name. With every secret thing - the thought of many men, women and children is the though of Satan's lies, 'that nobody will ever know what I did'; When we read the

Ecclesiastes 12:13

2011-11-17T08:59:00.001-05:00

"Let us hear the conclsion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."

The last two verses of this book are very direct and needful. Of all that we study in the Scriptures, these two verses, 13 and 14, cut to the heart of it. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter - a final directive to conclude with all that has been said on vanity and sin and wisdom and foolishness; 'Let us hear' is the instruction. Sit up and take notice for that which is getting ready to be spoken. My dad, calls these verses, the 'lettuce patch' - 'let us'. They are found 187 times throughout Scripture. A wonderful study in itself; perhaps someday I will get to that study. Jesus declared, 'He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the church'. We are to hear these words getting ready to be pronounced. Do yo have an ear to hear? When was the last time you thanked God for you ability hear with your ear? Too often such things are taken for granted til after we lose them, or there is restrcition in their use. Give thanks for how God has made us, 'we are fearfully and wonderfully made'. Now when is the last time you heard the Spirit speak? Do you have ear to hear the difference between your own reasoning, Satan's whispering and the truth of the Spirit? Then ask for God to solidfy your ability to discern the Spirits leading.

Ecclesiastes 12:7

2011-11-16T10:42:00.001-05:00

"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it."

A picture of death and what happens to us at that time. I use this verse so often, I felt the need to stop here and address the truth of it. Let us see what Scripture teaches us about death and dying. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was - from dust was man made and unto dust shall it return for the physcial body; We go back to Genesis to see the beginning. God took the dust of the earth and made man. He made man in His Own image. And this man is made of flesh (skin), muscle, tissue, bone; shaped and formed after God with a head, two arms, torso, two legs. And that which makes man to function is the blood; Leviticus 17:11, 'For the life of the flesh is in the blood'. Yet, it is the breath of life that God gives to have life in this flesh. 'And God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.' Ezekiesl was commandment to prophesy the bones to come together; but they were not living yet. God commanded him then to 'call for the 4 winds' to breath life into these dead bones.' Thus life is from God, sustained by God and for God. We are not given life to please ourselves; to live according to what we desire, but to live for what He desires with us. Who are you living for? Because after this life, the soul goes to its eternal destination; the breath of life goes back to God Who gave it; and the dust returns to the earth as it was. This flesh shall not always be. Why then is there so much vanity about that which shall not be?

Ecclesiastes 12:1

2011-11-15T10:06:00.001-05:00

"Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw night when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;"

The last chapter and now beginning in this chapter Solomon is looking to the distinction of youth and old age. He has much to say against old age, and little reverence for youth. But this verse, shall give us food for thoughts and prayers. Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth - it is one of the key words in Scripture in so many different ways - Remember; The failure to remember is often blamed on poor memory, refusal to work at it or just simply doesn't care about such things. But any Christian should know the importance of remembering. In this verse, youth is given place to think about and learn about God. Too many youth today have no knowledge of God. Their minds are left void and empty about spiritual things. In order to see the future reclaimed for the glory of the Lord, there must young men and women given to the things of God. WE are facing a crisis right now of few youth given their minds and hearts to know their Creator. And so when they are 20, 40 or 60 years down the road, they will have no 'remembrance' of the Lord. How important is it then for us to recognize this scenario and respond to it. How futile the labor the church to counter the works of hell to steal our children's memories. giving them remembrance of sin, folly and evil. Some ot never recover from their youthful experiences of sin. But look at David, a youth giving himself to God out in the fields as he tended to the sheep. John the Baptist, giving himself to the Lord from his brith til the day of his young adult life where he began to preach. Look at Evan Roberts, who from the age of 13 prayed for 13 years for revival in the coal mines before God brought down a revival spirit upon him, impacting the world. Over and over, God can take youth that are given unto Him for His glory. They can remember the days of meditation, the days of prayer, the days of learning lesson the hard way inwitnessing; all these things shaping and forming them for His service. What do you remember, dear reader? Was your days of youth given to remember thy Creator? Was it given to world, flesh and sin? Pray unto the Lord for your children to be what they are supposed to be unto the Lord. Train them, teach them, yearn over them and give place to them for the Lord's glory. Hannah gave her son unto the Lord, give your children unto the Lord. while the evil days come not - word study, come; which evil days? The evil days we live in? the evil days at the end of time? or the evil days which we lived before we became Christians? Almost to read here is, 'before the evil days come' to one. Adam Clarke makes a mention in his commentary here that stays with me, 'evil habits take time to grow'. And when a man looks down the road in their 40's or 50's or later and they look back over their life, they are no where where they wish to be. They have lost the God of thier youth. They have sold their soul for sin and damaged everything else about them. They have lost the best of their days of strength, of vitatlity, of energy and now it is all gone. The evil days have come when they can no longer go or do like they once used to do, the evil days have come. All their life they gave place to sin and self and can never recapture the youth experience of living for the Lord. the old song says it, and many lanquish in it, 'Wasted year, oh, how foolish'. To stop such a scenario in one's life you must make this day the Lord's and every day after it to stand up and serve the Lord to the best of your ability and hearts desire. Stop now the evil ways; stop now the evil sin; put away from all that keeps you from giving an occasion against the Lord. Nor the years draw nigh when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; - evil days now becomes evil years; word study, draw nigh; It is one thing to sin during a day; it is quite another thing to sin for the years of your life. And before long, one looks up and around after life has come and gone and they say to themselves, 'What have I done?' I have listened to the lie of Satan, pleased myself, lived for myself and lost my opportunity to serve the Lord faithfully. Now I must go and appear before Him and answser the question, 'What did you do with what I gave you?' The shame, the sorrow is almost too great to consider. Yet, the multitude that sits in the church are doing this. And it has left us to with little to no hope for tomorrow in our young people. The church is bankrupt on its resources for the Lord, because it has all been wasted away. Oh, how many dying men have I heard these words from their angonizing lips, 'what have I done'.

Ecclesiastes 11:5

2011-11-14T22:08:00.001-05:00

" As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that iswith child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all."

The two distinquishing marks of this verse are 'thou knowest not'; and the vastness of God mentioned. As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit - word study, know; word study, way; the first of the two 'thou knowest not'; Nobody likes to be told what they do not know. Our pride and vanity always gets in the way. Very few have the spirit of meekness and being found teachable. But the one that says, "I know my weakness; I know my fraility. Help me, teach me' is the soul that is useable by God. 'Thou knowest not'; yea, I know I do not know; but Thou, O Lord knowest, so teach me.' How much is there that we do not know? How vast is the universe? How wide is the world and all that is therein? We are finite creatures serving an Infinite God. We are limited in our amounts of 'knowing' And truly we can say, we know far less than we kow. but are we willing to be taught? ARe we willing to learn? then there is no other place to do so but in Him. The Spirit of God is far beyond us. We know not what He was doing in Genesis 1 as He brooded upon the face of the dark waters. WE know not what He is doing now for etenrity in us. We know not the way of the Spirit. We know not what the spirit of man is doing either. Often we are surprised, shocked, awed by the spirit of man. How often do we hear people say, 'what is going on?' or 'Why would they do that?' Simply put, we do not know the spirit of man. Satan beguiles, misleads and directs them in ways that are contrary to God. The Spirit of God is working to teach us, refine us and fill us for His glory. His vast and glorious ways are miracles. I cannot take the time nor space to write and rehearse of how many times God, the Holy Spirit's way was to save souls, glorify His Name, answer prayers, cause Divine moments in my life. Too many for me to remember and to count. I do not know His ways; but I am thankful and grateful that I am in His ways.

Ecclesiastes 10:18

2011-11-13T08:01:00.001-05:00

"By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through."

We come again to another verse that speaks to the wisdom of observation and our reality. Any one of us can be going down the road and see and old house that is crumbling. We know the simple reality of why this is happening - someone has neglected it. As it is, with anything of this life, neglect will bring ruin. I do not chose this verse for the sake of helping your home upkeep. I chose this verse for our spiritaul life. By much slothfulness the building decayeth - one of the great sins in our midst today is sloth; Yet, you never hear the confession of this sin in the lives fo the church, family or individual. Do we recognize this sin? Is it not among us or in us? Solomon writes much about sloth in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. In Canticles we read, 'they made me keeper of the vineyard, but my own vineyard I did not keep'. We see neglect is mentioend here. Why? Becuase so busy with other things? Perhaps, but usually the sin of sloth is our choosing. Now we note this begining, 'by much slothfulness'. It is not a little neglect or laziness, but is much. That means more damage, more neglect, more failure. What is the result of this 'much slothfulness'? 'the building decayeth'. Not just 'run down', or in need of repair, but decayeth. Destruction, the issue of 'beyond repair' is in this thought.

Eccliesiastes 10:10

2011-11-11T08:36:00.001-05:00

"If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct."

The practical wisdom is before us as Solomon states it clearly. A dull ax, more work! If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength - I want to take this straight forward wisdom and apply it to our spiritual life; The simplicity of the truth for any one that has used an ax is certain. If the ax is dull, sharpen it; if you don't sharpen it, then you have to hit more and harder to make up for the dullness. The spiritual truth is just as real for us. If we be dull in our spiritual activity, and do not daily sharpen ourselves, then the flesh tries to compensate for it all. The difference is found in an A W Tozer quote, 'IF the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today; 95% of what we do would continue on, and nobody would know the difference. But if the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the New Testament church in the book of ACts, 95% of everything they did would have stopped, and everybody would have know the difference.' The basic question that the church, and we as Christians, must ask is where does our strength come from? Humanism has taught the people today to look to self; but we know the Scriptures say, 'look to Jesus'. The evidence is found in what men do and why they do it. Listen to the pronouns, 'I devised this plan'. 'I want to do this.' there is very little, 'Thus saith the Lord' today. 'The Lord spoke and I obeyed'. For the church and far too many personal Christian lives, the iron is blunt. Dull in our spiritual knowledge, our spiritual practices, and our void of holiness for too many. To 'whet the edge' must mean the sharpening of what we are and what we have. God enables us with our bodies, minds and abilities. These are all gifts from Him. WE choose what we want to do for Him by these precious gifts. Many take the gifts of life and spend it on vanity and self induglence. This only seeks to dull the soul more. and there is a point that you dull it so bad, it is beyond use or repair. The soul that sinneth it shall die, and they have reached that point.

Ecclesiastes 9:10

2011-11-09T09:58:00.002-05:00

"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest."

The first half of this verse is often quoted, but the last half is forgotten. The reason of the more meaningful first part is to emphasize the second part. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might - word study, find; Let us keep the whole phrase together for our study. If we divided this phrase, it would not serve the whole purpose that we hope for. All men can find something to do. that is not the question. The question is, when you find something to do, how do you do it? Now we know the truth of this verse is before us. Many can answer it, but is there 'proof in the puddin' for our undertakings. Do we do everything with our might? Or is so often quoted, 'all our might'? LEt our past be reflective of this truth. LEt there be testimony that God gave us a task to do, and we did it with our strength. He is our stregnth; He enables us to go forward. OUr breath, our health/body, our desire and our power to do/strength is all found as gifts from Him. When you consider great saints, look at how they labored with all their stregnth to serve. They was on a mission; they had a task to complete. I think of David Livingstone, who bore the heat, the hazards of Africa to reach those tribes with the Gospel. And at the end of his life, body racked with disease, pain and wounds was faithful to labor as we all should. He saw the need, he labored and he did with his strength. We know there is much weakness in the church today. Far too many are sitting in idle ease while the work of the kingdom languishes. May God give to us a the purpose at hand. Let us see it, respond to it and go do it. Let us be found faithful in great and small things.

Ecclesiastes 8:13

2011-11-08T10:48:00.001-05:00

"But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God."

When you consider the plight of the wicked, it is the most agonizing of thoughts. An eternal hell of punishment, regret and sorrow that we know nothing of here on this earth. The wicked shall go there. How grateful is every child of God that God did not pass over us, but saved us from this eternity. But it shall not be well with the wicked - word study, well; the truth of this is recorded in Scripture over and over; The reality sits before all men and women. Who are the wicked? They are those that have rejected the love of God through Christ; rejected the invitation for eternal life with Him; and chosen to live for sin and self. And is there one bright spot, one good thing, or something that will be well for them? And the answer is in absolute certainty - Not one good thing shall be theirs in hell. On this earth, the wicked might take delight in some pleasure, some granted gift of beauty or vanity. There might be some indulgence that allows for temporary satisfaction or delight. But in hell, all delights, all satisfaction, all beauty, all vanity, all pleasure will be removed and gone forever. Only in their minds of memory will they remember that which was. And with the thought of that, knowing of it, but never possessing, never sampling it again. Seeing it, remembering it, but never having the satisfaction of it; it will drive them mad. They will try to forget it. For if they can forget it, they will not have the pain of it. But they cannot forget it. Constantly gnawing at them. Reminding them of what could have been of bliss in heaven, but they chose the carnal. Can you grasp the certainty of this reality? The wicked shall have no joy, no happiness, no peace, no love in hell. All things stripped from them but sorrow and grief. Then it shall be said and known, 'it shall not be well with the wicked'. Does this not bother you? Does this not make you examine your own soul to make sure you are not counted as the wicked? And if you soul be saved - wonderful! But what about your loved ones? What of their eternal plight? Can you bear the thought of your spouse, of your children, of your parents or brothers or sisters going to this awful place? 'It shall not be well with the wicked. Neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow - the wicked shall be cut off; Some make statements that at the moment you do some grievous sin, God slays you. Yet, we know that in so many cases, the sinner is preserved and allowed for another day. Some may ask why? God is merciful, and allowing for the fact that they may repent and turn from their wicked way. There are many instances in the Bible where God has cut them off where they stood for their sin. Remember Lot's wife; Uzza, who touched the ark of God; and Ananias, and Saphira, who lied to the Holy Ghost. We should know the 5th commandment and the judgment on children. 'Obey your father and mother, that your days may be long on the earth.' Simply put, disobey and die. There are way too many instances for me to recollect on those who were cut off 'early' in life for their sin. But God for the vast majority allows for them time for the sake of their soul. But know this, our phrase in front of us, that God will not give to them extra years. Their life is a shadow, a passing, quickly coming and quickly going. So what if they live 70 years, or 80 years, or 100 years, what is that compared to eternity. The longer they have and continue their rejection of God, the greater their anguish in hell over that much more time wasted. God is God, and He chooses how long men have. He knows the heart and cuts no one off before their time.

Ecclesiastes 8 :12

2011-11-07T11:19:00.000-05:00

"Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God which fear before him:"

the two sides of all of life, the sinner and the saved. The sinner does evil, the saved hates evil. Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged - the issue here is not the amount of sin, but the issue of life for a sinner; All this verse and verse 13 will deal with question of eternity. This life will determine the next life. It is not an issue of how many times you sin, it is an issue of whether we fear the Lord or not. Some of have fault with God over allowing for wicked men to continue in this life. they would cut off all sinners. Of course, when you think of this, you would realize that, if that were the case, then we all would be cut off. 'though a sinner do evil', they know nothing else. And a saved sinner, being a Christian, may still sin, but will acknoweldge the high offence against God. But lost men sin, that is the basic of all people. They don't care about their sin, they don't care about their plight, they don't think of eternity only satisfy self. And there is no where in Scripture or found in truths of the universe that you sin 100 times and then God will cut you off. God, Who is gracious andmerciful desire for all lost sinners that do evil to humble themselves and repent.

Ecclesiastes 7:3

2011-11-06T07:53:00.000-05:00

"Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better."

Many will read this and quickly dispel its wisdom. For in our day, society is bent on removing all saddness and replacing life with laughter. Tell a joke, find humor, see movies of comedies, fill your mind with humor is there chief end. Satan is uses these things to blind the reasoning of wisdom. Men hate sorrow, they can't stand to be sad. They use prescription drugs and cousneling to undo any work of saddness in one's own life. There is only ONe that is able to give peace and restore peace, that is Jesus Christ our Lord and SAvior. Sorrow is better than laughter - Why? Most will find fault with this. He goes on to answer it in the last part of the verse. But let us look for a moment at this phrase for our benefit and prayers. Why sorrow over laughter? I think it to be obvious, but all may not agree with me on this. When people are consumed with laughter they are more 'weak' minded. They are silly, light hearted and the serious things of life, eternity cannot be dealt with properly. But yet, when sorrow is present, there is much weighedness, much contemplation and searching of heart. Sorrow produces a more thought provoking and searching of the mind. It is far more studious of 'why' things are and how things are. It is easier to face reality than the deceptive laughter. there is a time for everything; there is a time to laugh, there is a time to be sorrowful. No one is saying choose one and neglect the other. LIfe is good when it is evenly balanced. I, personally, don't want to be around someone that laughs at everything. Some things aren't to be laughed at. I also don't want to be aroudn those that are always depressed and crying, then I become depressed. There is an even balance to be manintained. Sorrow over sin, but rejoice in a great Savior. Sorrow over conditions, but laugh knwoing that Satan is running out of time. Sorrow over lost men but rejoice that God has made a way. Now let us look at Solomon's answer: For by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better - word study, made; Unusal remedy for the heart, be sad;

Ecclesiastes 6:3

2011-11-03T10:09:00.000-04:00

"If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he."

The wisdom of this verse, simply lies before us. What will you do with it? What will others do with it? You have to ponder the thinking of it. In our present day, it is all about the here and the now. But the reality, that few give thought to is, Eternity. If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years - 'It is appointed unto man once to die, and then the judgement'; The reality is that all men will die. this man being described will live many years. More years than usual. In our present world today, men and women live 80 years (rounded off). Eighty years to do what. This man mentioned in our verse begat 100 children. That is a lot of children. With the life that you ahve been given, what have you begotten. What have you produced for the Lord. So what if he begets 100 children? IF they all become sons and daughters of hell, then better to have not had any at all. But if they be born again children of God, then great fruit and blessings have been gleaned in their earthly life. It is enough for us to know that we may see in this lifetime some of the product of our actions. This man became a father to 100 children. What have you fathered? Will you be known as a father of good deeds? kind words? holy living? mighty prayers? Or will you be know for fathering lies? great anger? horrible sins? lusts? pride? Do we all not sow and reap something? What shall be said of the man that was born, lived, and died and fathered nothing? Why did he ever live to begin with?

Ecclesiastes 5:16

2011-11-02T10:27:00.001-04:00

"And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?"

this verse is a continuation of the previous verses. We will look at it on its own, for each verse and phrase teaches, instructs and grants us what we need in our spiritual walk with Him. And this also is a sore evil - not just evil, but a sore evil; A sore evil is deeper, like a bruise, which goes beyond surface skin. This sore evil comes from the depths of hell to cotninue the destruction upon the souls of men. A sore evil is only vanquished and put away when a great SAvior is brought to the forefront. Evil cannot be a part of Him. And when God in His perfect, holy void of sin and evil looks down upon this evil, what is there to behold? This life is a sore evil for so many. HOw little is the holiness of God's people. How few are those taht seek after teh Lord. Too many people are given unto this sore evil. Men follow after it with the fool 'who says, there is no God.' Solomon is getting to define the sore evil that this verses focuses on, but you and I should lift up our eyes and see what sore evil is around us. An evil act, one time done and then no more is still a sinful, evil act. But the sore evil is a continous evil that seems to have no end. Generational sins are sore evils; abortion is a sore evil, for the very blood shed is upon the ground to cover the land; a sore evil will continue for days, weeks, years, or time. 'The lust of the eyes, the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life' began in the garden of eden with Eve and has continued through this day as a sore evil. Soon our Lord shall return and put this sore evil away and then shall HIs children be with Him where there will be no more sore evil to afflict, destroy, torment or ruin souls.

Psalm 119:176

2011-10-30T08:19:00.002-04:00

"I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Thy servant; for I do not forget Thy commandments."

word for law - commandments; The last verse of this great Psalm. One of the most powerful chapters in all the Bible. Great was the need to address every verse found here. Now we conclude our meditations with continued thoughts of how great is the Word of God. I have gone astray like a lost sheep - study of 'I have', the last of the 37 times used in this Psalm; One of the two useages of 'I', personal action taken in this verse. 'I have gone astray', is the reality for every awakened believer. 'all have sinned and come short of His glory'; 'all we like sheep have gone astray, every one to his own way'; 'All my righteousness is as filthy rags'. 'There is none rightoues, no not one'. The very reality of our existence if found in sin. from the moment of life, sin is in our nature. From the moment of choices and will we choose sin and fail God. Yet, God knows all this. This is why He made a way for lost men and women to find the path of forgiveness and salvation from sin. Have you found it? Is it possible that having read all these verses of this great Psalm you come to the last of this study and still don't Christ as Lord and SAvior of your life. Oh, you beleive in God; but the devils believe also. Do you know the truth of these things? WE all have gone astray but only the redeemed have come to Calvary to find pardon and cleansing. Only the saved know the power of the blood of Christ that cleanses us from all iniqutiy. Do you know? No man comes to God without this first part of reality - "I am a sinner against God and all HIs ways'. "I have gone astray' in my thoughts, my desires, my choices and my daily practices.' I can find help in no one else nor anywhere else but at His nail scarred feet. Now look upon the population in the United States, how often is the phrase used, 'I used to go to church'. There is a mass exit from the church building today. Many have gone astray from the Lord. A continued state of backsliding away from the Lord and the things of the Lord. Do they see it? Do they acknowledge their backslidings? Oh, the open confession of the soul tha tcomes to see and udnerstand their sinful acts, 'I have gone astray'. It faces them and they must make their wrongs right. They begin by coming to Him to confess and repent for their goign astray. They are resolved now. They are quickened in their spirits to rely on Him, trust in Him, beleive on Him and hold fast to Him. Seek Thy servant - word study, to seek; a prayer of David to seek Him for his redemption and deliverance; A man never seeks after the Lord unless the Lord seeks Him. Before teh foundation of the world, the HOly Spirit was brooding upon the face of the deep over God's work before it was ever brought into creation. Christ sought the Father's favor for His church in John 17 and prayed for us. And the eyes of the Lord run to and fro to seek for His elect. He sought for a man, and wondered that He could not find one praying. But if God doesn't seek for you then you are finished. There is no hope to such a plight. The prayer of David is designed to find God seeking for his welfare and estate. Just as when the one lost sheep went astray, Christ said the shepherd will leave the 99 and go seek for tha lost sheep. And if the Chrsitian fall into sin, then may the prayer be offered for God to seek after His Own. He is faithful to do such. He is the only One that can seek after the straying child. But let us not forget that Satan and the world also seek after the servants of the Lord to cause them to fall into sin and be destroyed. then how much more needful is it for the Lord to seek us first and keep us from harm and destruction? This much we know, the Lord seeks after His Own. Are you one of His? Then He will puruse you. If no one is seeking after you, you are not God's and SAtan already knows he has you. You are left to your ownself. How awful! 'no man cared for my soul'. Oh, God seek Thy servants that they may be all You want them to be. Seek Thy servants for the glory and power of YOur great Name. Seek Thy servants for the service of Your kingdom throughout all the world. You know who is Yours, seek Thy servant. For I do not forget Thy commandments - The Word of the Lord is our lifeline and we cannot forget such valuable Truth; May I forget everything of vanity, but let me not forget the Word of God. Forget? Can one forget? Assuredly they can. Anyone that has watched a loved one go through dementia or alzheimers, knows that the ability to forget can happen to anyone. I believe it to be a prayer then for God's help in not letting us forget. 'Thy Word have i hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee' nor forget Thee. And if the Word be ever present in my heart and on my mind then He will be ever present. Oh, then can we not see the value of spending time in memorizing and reading and studying the Word of God. But if we have not begun to memorize or remember the Word fo the Lord then we will have nothing too forget. WE must place it in our minds, in our hearts and asking for the Lord to keep it there. Daily, weekly times of memorization is so necessary for God's people to know His Word. We've lost out on all this in today's world. The saddness of it all is that God's people do not know God's word. I think the first step is to read the Bible through all the way. Lay the foundation. Begin to build on that with remember verses. Starting with familar verses like Psalm 23; John 3:16, 17, 36. Romans road to salvation; other promises found, etc. These are verses for witnessing, for help, for teaching and we need to have these verses committed to memory to be useful unto the Lord. A constant diet of reading daily, studying, medidating and memorizing are essential to our spiritual health and usefulness. Let us be as resolved as David, 'I have not, I will not, I cannot afford to forget Thy commandments'. A very high percentage of sin in the believer is due to the memory loss of Scripture. A constant source of Scritpure would put SAtan to flee away from leading us astray. The Word brings us back to God and will keep us with God. The fact that the first phrase of this verse is a confession, 'I went astray' is the fact the Word became absent. But once the Word was refreshed in his memory he lifted up a cry for God to 'seek thy servant'. This process may not seem in order to some of you that read this. But holiness and sin cannot exist within the same place. The 'holy' Word cannot be where sin is. Going astray is sin, thus my assertion that the Word was absent. But once the Word returned, then the sin had to flee.
Where is the Word in your life? Is it priority? Is it absent? Is it minimal?

Let us posses a mighty 'sword in the Spirit, which is the Word of God' and have a weapon that puts our enemy to flight and sin to defeat. Let us not be found without a weapon.

Blessed Psalm! Blessed Word! bless my soul and all those that read these devotions on Psalm 119: 1-176.

Finished

Ecclesiastes 5:15

2011-10-28T09:26:00.001-04:00

"As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand."

I want to use back to back verse 15 and 16 for its eternal purpose for us. As he came forth of his mother's womb - word study, come; the gift of God - life; How often it is that the child of God fails to see the most obvious of gifts from God. Many a time God has reminded me and revealed to me the basics. I didn't have to be born. I didn't have to have life or experience what I experience with God and for God. He could jsut as easily passed over me and left me desolate and lost and ruined for eternity. But He didn't; oH, praise His Name, He didn't. How much you and I owe to a great God, Who had great love for great sinners for a great salvation. 'All to HIm I owe' is the utterance from my lips when I think on such things. I was given life and allowed to live. God gave me to Christian parents. I knwo not all can say this. but God gave us parents that allowed for us to be brought into this world. without them you woudl not have life. Give God thanks for such things. When you read the chapters, especially the first 9 chapters of I Chronicles and get bored with all the 'begats', remember this, such past generations made us. You cannot get to the present without the past. They are building blocks that reveal the truth of our present establishment. And God knows all the family names, the family lines and many times over in scripture they are revealed. Cherish and count it all joy that you came forth from your mother. And as well, this is a spiritual truth. WE being dead in trespasses and sins, God gave His children life. Being dead, we now live in Him and for Him. We came forth from His mercy, grace and redemptive blood. Naked shall he return to go as he came - word study, go; word study, come; The reality of our living and dying. Naked was we born and naked we return. Dust and ashes were our foundation, quickening by the Spirit of life in God; and when the Spirit goes back to God Who gave it, the physical body of flesh returns to dust as it was.

Psalm 119:175

2011-10-27T10:23:00.000-04:00

"Let my soul live, and it shall praise Thee; and let Thy judgments help me."

word for law - judgments; Both phrases of this verse is the petition of David for God to allow 'let', him do something. Let my soul live - death is certain for all, life is a gift from God; Our days are numbered. How long do we have? No man knows, only the Lord. then if we have lived in vanity; if we have lived for self; if we have lived for worldly gain; having squandered our money, talents and time. If we have nothing to bring in way of fruit, it may be you are compelled to pray this prayer, 'let my soul live'. For no man needs pray this prayer for selfish gain as Hezekiah did. Hezekiah prayed for longer life and God gave it. But what did he do with it? He had Mannasseh, the most wickedess king of all Judah. We are to live unto the Lord and die for the Lord. A soul that has not lived with eternity in view has failed in life. That soul that reconizes this may ask for life, for time. But don't ask for selfish desires to see your grandchidlren grow up, or to make more money, or to keep from leaving your family or worldly desires and purusits. If you pray this prayer, 'let my soul live', then let it be wise and obedient unto the Lord. 'Let my soul live unto You, O LOrd'. 'Here am I, O Lord, send me, use me, fill me, take me, lead me, consecrate me.' And it shall praise Thee - David has made this statment before, 'the dead cannot praise Thee on the earth'; Once a believer dies, his praise is before Him. The testimony cannot be presented before the wicked and heathen. But here on earth we can offer praise as a witness to how great our God is. My life is to be used for His honoring and praising. there is nothing so humbling and wonderful as praising the Lord. Few know what it is or how to do it. And there is not just one way of doing it. But this one central truth must be the foundation - it is all about Him. If it turns into petitions, or supplications or self exaltation or interests then it is ceases to be praise unto God. Praise is filled with Scriptures that reveal Who He is, what He has done, demonstrations of His vast wonders and works, answered prayers that show His greatness. Songs are rehearsed that keep the focus on Him. 'How Great Thou Art'; 'When I survey the Wondrous Cross'; 'Holy, Holy, Holy' are hymns all about Him. Now when God answers a prayer, joy fills the soul. It explodes with praise and honor unto Him that heard and answerd the prayer. David offers a petition, 'let my soul live'. And everytime that God answered that prayer by delivering David, protecting David, helping David, and he lived for the next day; he offered praise. His life was a testimony of the Lord's greatness. Why? Becasue he was the man after God's Own heart. If we would live and praise Him than our hearts must be after His'. Let Thy judgments help me - word study, help; Another petition of 'let'; The Lord's judgments are His instructions of 'being weighed in the balances'. A judgment is that verdict rendered upon a soul. 'Seek Me and you will find Me'; 'Call upon Me and I will answer you' are examples of the dual aspect of God rendering judgment. We normally assocaite judgment with wrath and consequences of punishment. That is not always the case, especailly here in Psalm 119. the judgment can be benefecial teachings, edicts, and instruction. The soul that obeys and follows it finds great mercies and blessings. The punishment and wrath come from those that walk contrary to God's judgments (laws). Keep in mind and prayers, God's faithfulness to fulfill His Word. "If you do this. . . then I will do this.' It is based on response that His judgemnts are determined. Life is in Him, death is thsoe that turn away. David's prayer is for His judgments to help him. If judgment was solely punishment and wrath then little help would be found. David is seeking for instruction, in keeping him on the right path and living the life that pleases God. 'help me' is one of the shortest prayers that can be offered or sought for. It is found several times in Scripture and is a great study for one's own prayer life. WE see that God's Word helps us. It accomplishes what the Lord desires. Let us seek this help. 'My help comes from the Lord.' Self helps are exactly that, God's help is the supernatural of His Divine Being. And leaning upon the word of God helps the soul to seek Him Who is able to help us in all circumstances and sitautions. Holiness? Seek the Lord, Who is holy and He shall impart it; Sickness? Seek the Lord, Who is the Great physicain and is able to heal all infirmities; Sin? Seek Jesus, 'Who shall save Hsi people from their sins'; Anything and everything that we need in the way of help will be found in Him, Who is the Word of God. His judgments are given to teach us these truths and offer the help in day to day activity. Have you found it? ARe you seeking His help? Two phrases of 'let' to be found in us and our approaching unto Him for His service and glory. 'Seek the Lord and you shall live; praise Him and He will enrich you; obey Him and He will help you.' He is faithful and will complete it all for His glory!
Blessings brethren!
Finished

Ecclesiastes 5:13

2011-10-26T10:13:00.002-04:00

"There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt."

This section of this chapter is complete in verses 9 -17. I stop on this verse because of its merit about our current position in the United States. the old saying goes, 'Where much is given, much is required.' And that is true for us and the state of the American church. There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun - word study, see/seen; The personal observation of Solomon is declared by 'I have seen'; I would ask you personally, what do you see? How observing are you? Do you walk with blinders on? Is there scales? ARe do you see rightly, perfectly? You do not need to look far before you see this truth is real then, for Solomon and for us here and now. Solomon is going to get specific in the last phrase of this verse. But let us see the general plight of the first half. Let us define this sore evil that I have seen. It may be that someone reading this will take it to heart and prayer for confession. Did not Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah pray great prayers for the sore evil that was upon the people? Are we not to pray as intercessors for those that will not pray for themselves? A nation that has forgotten God, removed God and thinks that there will be no answer from God needs much prayer. A sore evil - SIN, that affects us from the moment we begin til our dying day; the practice of thoughts and intents fo the heart for self, for SAtan, for sin; the actions done in the body that serves men and not their Maker; words spoken that are filled with vanity and not purpose of bringing glory unto the Lord; daily time wasted on earthly things instead of heavenly things; souls that are bound and captive unto Satan instead of living for the SAvior; imaginations and desires of men, women and chidlren to practice evil perpetually; A sore evil in all these things that it can almost be said of us as it was in the days of Noah, 'And God saw that the ways of man were continually evil'. Oh, wretched is the earth without a knowledge of God that brings men and women unto Him. A sore evil that has broken the homes, dissolved the marriages and ruined the children for the next generation. a sore evil that fills a naiton with the blood of the unborn so deep that it has become an ocean. A sore evil that men adn women give themselves to every device of sin to satisfy the lusts of the flesh, all the while corrupted the very nature that God gave us. A sore evil taht the church is practicing religion and loses the Christian message of 'you must be born again'. A sore evil that the greatest power in the universe of prayer and faith is exercised so very little by only a few. A sore evil that parents are content to watch their children go to hell and never having concern or compassion on them. A sore evil that runs deep and destroyes everything in its wake. "Is ther no balm in Gilead?" Namely - the very exact naming of the sore evil that Solomon sees;

Psalm 119:174

2011-10-25T10:31:00.002-04:00

"I have longed for Thy salvation, O Lord; and Thy law is my delight."

word for law - law; I have longed for Thy salvation, O Lord - study of 'I have' in ths Psalm, 36th of the 37 times used in this Psalm 119; David has done such a personal note throughou tthis Psalm. May it echo in our own hearts and souls as we continue to learn and grow from its teachings. The two personal aspects are found in both phrases of this verse: 'I have longed. . . .my delight'. So as we deal with the first half let us answer the question of what are you longing for? David longed for the Lord's salvation. The two aspects for salvation are 1. saving from his enemies; and 2. saving from his sins. The salvation from our enemies and temptations and other problems is a natural response by believers and unbeleivers. ONly cofidence can be found in those that have faith. SAvlation from our sins can only be done by the Lord. 'thou shalt call His Name Jesus, for HE shall save His people from their sins.' Oh, praise the Lord God Almighty for Jesus, for salvation. What would any of us be if it was not for Jesus? I would be lost and bound for hell. Yeah, I was lost and bound for hell, but God spoke and delivered me, God saved me from my sins. "I have longed for salvation' and He saved me, OH, PRaise His Name! I have longed for these things because HE has desired to give me these things. It has always been God's desire for the saving of lost souls. 'I came to seek and save that which is lost.' From the very beginning in Genesis 1, the HOly Spirit brooded upon the face of the deep. There He brooded over that which was to come, the peril of God's creation in sin. Why have we longed for HIs salvation? Because great is our sin. ONly the lost being convicted can possible know that they need salvation. ONly when one comes to the end of themselvs will they look and 'long for His salvation'. While they continue in self seeking, pleasure filled, lustful lifestyles they will never long for salvation. They are content, they are happy, they think that this all that life is about. Eternity is the farthest thing from their mind. But the soul that has been touched by God, will see how great the need is. There is a hole in the heart, in the soul and only JEsus can fill it. There is something missing and they realize only God can do this. There is truth and they know that men speak lies, so they seek truth. Jesus said, 'I am the way, the truth. . .' This is why one longs for salvation because God helps us to see and know of our lost estate. Without this, no man will long for anything of holiness, or God. What else do you long for? Do you long for complete holiness? Do you long to be fully yielded unto Him? Do you long to see many souls brought into the kingdom? Do you long for a prayer life that moves heaven and causes hell to fear? What do you long for? Know that it is only in Christ that you will find an answer. And Thy law is my delight - the personal note, 'my' towards the word of God; It is the source of studying Christians lives today that we must ask and probe in them what brings them delight. Far too many delight in the things of this world. They seek pleasure in earthly things and reject heavenly things.

Ecclesiastes 5:7

2011-10-24T13:09:00.002-04:00

"For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God."

Any verse with 'fear the Lord' should captivate our attentin. So I stop here at this verse in this chapter to address it. For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities - dreams and words of men and even, our ownselves, are only vanity; Only that which comes from God is of any value or weight. When you look at the 'multitude of dreams' in the Bible, they are numerous. Joseph dreamed dreams; Daniel interepted dreams; visions of the night all came through man by God's hand. Yet, there are scores of dreams that Satan has allowed to come to us to cause confusion. We all dream. It is healthy to dream. Yet the question must be is the dream mine, God's or Satan's? The dreams of God are for His purspose. I think they are as clear when we rely on the Spirit to speak that they are not of our own making. If there is confusion then we must assume Satan is working and we must wait upn the Lord to reveal more to us for surety. PEter dreamed while on the porch and was unsure what the dream meant. But then came the servants of Cornelius and all was revealed. I belive our certainty is just like that. Don't respond until the Lord leads and guides. There are 'many words' said throughout one day. And can we not say that 90% or more are vain words. They neighter accomplish anything nor serve a purpose. And if they had not been spoken, nothing woudl cahnge in our world. But a Divine word, that is what changes everything. Preachers preach millions upon billions of words every Sunday, how much of that word changes things for God's glory? Can we not say that it would be better to speak a few words that accomplishes much for HIm than to speak volumes that serve no purpose.

Psalm 119:173

2011-10-23T08:47:00.002-04:00

"Let Thine hand help me; for I have chosen Thy precepts."

word for law - precepts; A continued prayer and statement of his loyality to God. Let Thine hand help me - word study, help; There is much use of this word 'let' found in this Psalm. Each aspect of that is a precious truth. He is talking unto God as he writes and prays, 'Let Thine hand O God' do something. what is it that he wants God to do? He wants the Lord to help him. It is a short prayer often, one of the shortest in the Bible, 'Help me'. It is found only a few times in Scritpure. Peter when he was sinking in the water after he took his eyes off the Lord, cried out and said, 'Help me'. And often in times of difficutly and tragedy, the urgency fo the need and the situation at hand presents us with only a brief window to pray like this. But David knows where his help is to be found. Many have not learned this lesson yet. They are still looking at their own hand to save them. They are still looking at another man's hand to help them. 'Let Thine hand' save me, help me, heal me, rescue me, provide for me, guide me, protect me, and on and on it goes to the soul that knows how mighty His hand is. How vast is that study in the SCriptures as well that looks at verse like this one, that tells us of some of God's features that mirrors our own. Does God have a hand? an arm? ARe we not made in the image of God? Facial, body, arms, legs, the featrues should mirror our Creator. Yet, we knwo we are not to make any graven image. How vile to those that made a god of a bug, an animal, or some other trivial thing of this life, far beneath the image of man, who was made in the image of God. God is God, and He is spirit and truth, and in eternity we shall see Hima s He is. but until, that time let us see in verses like this that it is there for our finite minds to grasp the truths that God has revealed to us to help us and allow for us to know more of Him. NOw, His hand is marvellous. LEt us consider what He does with His hand to help us in our daily walk and spiritual growth.

Ecclesiastes 4:11

2011-10-22T08:01:00.002-04:00

"Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?"

These verses of 9 -12 have been on unity. We see in this verse a rational truth followed by question to emphasize that truth. Again - the truth has to be spoken over and over; Why? For the hope that it will be received and obeyed. How often does a parent instruct a child? how often does a teacher give instructions to their students? Again and again we come before them for the hope of them adhereing to the instructions and teachings. How often does the Lord come to us? again and again He comes for the sake of our soul, and His Divien glory to be adored for redemption. To the Christian He comes again and again with fresh outpourings and blessings. this one word is needful and apart of our daily living.

Psalm 119:172

2011-10-20T09:16:00.002-04:00

"My tongue shall speak of Thy word: for all Thy commandments are righteousness."

word for law - word, commandments; The personal praise and prayer has been expressed in this last section. My tongue shall speak of Thy word - personal labor to speak God's word is found in 'my tongue'; It is not for me to say 'your tongue' or 'you speak' when God has given my a tongue to speak. It is my labor to speak. Way too many Christians are silent. There are numerouse problems or sins that lead to this silence. First, how can they be expected to speak of that which they don't know? Back again to this main issue of God's people not knowing God's Word. Too many nations have no access or ability to learn the Word of God. But if you are reading this, then you have an education and ability to read. Accessing the Word is the next step. Many places have no Bibles, yet we here in the US have scores of free Bibles and internet to to read, study and hear sermons and teachings on. Another part of this is the desire to read, study and learn the Bible. It is our relational point with Christ. 'IN the beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God and the Word was God.' Why should my tongue speak of something that doesn't delight me? It won't. If you look at reading the Bible as a chore or duty, then neither will you speak about it. If it doesn't interest you, you won't share it with others. God gives insgiht and anointing to preaching and teaching that should awaken and arouse holy desire within us to read and know the Word. Then out of that overflow, one will speak and share. Another major interest of concern is peoples doubting that the Bible is truly the Word of God. Yes, there has been much debate and division over these things. The soul that cannot rest nor trust in the Bible as the Word of God will not speak the word of God. They will not read it, they will not cherish it, they will not learn it and they will not declare it. And when Satan causes the doubt, 'has God said?' People will remove the Word of God from their nation, from their church, from their family and from their own life. This is a generation that has done this very thing. And you may understand why the heathen sinners woudl do so; but how can we possibly understand His Own people neglecting His Word. Do you not hear teh silence from the church? Ask them to speak on politics, they are filled with opinions and statements. Ask them to talk on sports, they know all the stats and teams. ASk them to speak on Hollywood, they know all the latest buzz. Ask them to name the 12 tribes of Israel or the 12 apostles or the 66 books of the Bible, they can't name 1/3 of them. You see the soul that lvoes the Lord, loves His Word and will know it and will speak it. Let the Word declare it's own self. It is able to endure the depravity of man; the arrogance of the wise, and the folly of the fools. The Word of God is suffecient. Speak it; share it; read it; memorize it; learn from it; live it; but let us not be silent. speak the Word to edify, to see men brought to the SAvior, to encourage, to help, to guide. All these things will the Word of God fulfill if we speak it. I want you to do it, but if I don't do it, then I am a hypocrite. Let us all go forth speaking as we should. There is much to say, there is little time to do it. But let me not be silent; don't you be silent. 'My tongue shall speak' For all Thy commandments are righteouseness - word study, all; God is righteous in all His ways and words; That which proceeds from Him is righteous. His commands, His teachings, His instructions proceed from His thoughts, His words declared to His people and they are filled with His righteousness.

Ecclesiastes 4:9

2011-10-18T09:07:00.002-04:00

"Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor."

The old saying goes, 'There is strength in numbers.' This verse is a testimony to that truth. Actually we see that verses 9 -12 all deal with the wisdom of numbers being better than the one. The wisdom of this is presented by what we see and know here on earth. But surely God, is wiser than all, saw it for He divided HImself into 3 - Father, Son and HOly Ghost. EAch the same yet different in roles and functions. But the strength of being one is found in the Holy Trinity. And what shall we say when God is joined unto man? Two are better than one - man alone cannot prevail or be redeemed; God made man to bring Him glory; God is able to redeem lost man for His glory. The two become one. Christ Who was God became man thus making the way for 2 to become 1. Isn't this a glorious way that God has made for our redemption. God, came down to earth, born of a woman, life of flesh, void of sin, sacrificed for our sins and exalted back to the right hand of the Father. Two in one. And what shall we say of ourselves? Born in flesh, born in sin, practicing and love of sin, called out by God; given a new heart, a cleansed soul, adopted into the family of God through Christ. And the two become one again. So much of this concept is found all around us in our daily lives, do you see it? There is day and night; yet, both make a full day. The two become one. There is north and south, east and west, but both are the full land. The two become one. Look at the dual two: up and down, in and out, before and behind; forward and back, life and death, saved or lost, heaven and helletc. and all these producing and showing us that two becoming one is that the two are better than one. For if you take one away from any of these two it is not complete nor as good for the function it holds.

Psalm 119:171

2011-10-17T08:49:00.003-04:00

"My lips shall utter praise, when Thou hast taught me Thy statutes."

word for law - statutes; Previous two verses have been a plea to accept and hear his prayers. Now David turns to his continued pracitce of praising the Lord. My lips shall utter praise - we were created to give and bring praise unto the Lord God; I know that many think they were given life for themselves, but that is the lie of Satan. We were created in the image of God, and given this experience of life to glorify Him. Let it be the standard of daily practice to bring glory unto the Lord. I cannot control what others will do, but I can control what my lips will do. I am responsible to make sure that I give praise unto Him, Who is worthy to receive all praise from His creation. And if my lips should cease in uttering praise unto Him, then the rocks would cry out in my place. I will not be replaced by an old rock. I will be careful to make sure that my time is used rightly in daily giving praise unto the Lord. Now this is a conditional verse, and by that I mean that David will utter praise when the Lord does His part. This is found in the last half of this verse. God teaches David and then DAvid responds by uttering praise. I thank God for all His many blessings. I thank Him for all that He has taught me. But with or without that teaching, I am still required, privileged and ready to give praise unto Him Who is worthy. I find it very little spoken of in many Christians lives today this understanding of giving praise. If you say 'praise' they think you are talking about music. And yes, music does praise the Lord. But praise is one of the functions of prayer unto Him. Gathered before Him we must worship Him. This worship is praising HIm for Who He is and what HE has done. It is declaring His glory. The pracitice of this is hard to find today. I try to tech people in my prayer circles to know God. When you know HIm and Who He is you can praise Him more fully. Then you can see what HE has done in your life. Everything around us is a gift from God and is worthy of praising Him for it. You utter praise for the things that He has done, what HE is doing and what He will do. This is a lifelong pursuit. This will be our eternal privlege to praise Him, Who sits on the throne. When Thou hast taught me Thy statutes - David is waiting for God to teach him the Word of God; The Word is God. The Word is spoken unto us by God, the HOly Spirit. He brings to our minds and hearts the awareness of what is found in the Word.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

2011-10-15T08:46:00.003-04:00

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:"

WE begin this most famous chapter on 'Time'. WE see the punctuation at the end of the verse and follow it down through the verses on time. WE note that verses 1 - 8 are one continual though, sentence that is all expressing of purpose and time. It may be that you know this passage very well; it may be that you do no know it. I cannot assume that all that read this will know it, so let us disect a little of its rich truths for our hearts and souls. To every thing there is a season - God has established our lives to be season; We note to other verses in Scripture about God creating season. These verses, to me, undo the theory of global warming. God directs nature, men and all that is therein. When God flooded the earth, He made a statement: 'While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.' That kinda of rules out 'ice age' don't you think?! The other verse is, 'He changeth the times and the season'. This was when Daniel was worshipping the Lord for revealing the king's dream and intreptation. God is the one Who sets, changes and establishes the seasons of earth, men, nations and time. The seasons are very critical to understand and explore. LEt us look at a few for us to see and know for our own lives. There is the season of life. Men are born, and men die. And throughout this season called 'living', there is mamny seasons we go through: the seaons of childhood; the season of youth; the seaon of family; the season of labor; the season of old age. ONe season comes and goes and another replaces it. So it is in life. What season are you in? There is the season of nature. WE see the splendor of this throughout the year. Some areas of the country have a greater revelation of seasons. I live in WV and we see every season in its marvel of God's hand. The seaons are summer, fall, winter and spring. These seaons are compared to life and the spiritual walk as well. That is reference to another season, spiritual season. Some are babes in Christ, having just come to Jesus as a newborn babe. Others are mature, seasoned chrsitians, having grown in the faith. Where are you at? There is another seaons of emotions. I believe we must all learn and grow through emotional up's and down's. Some are better at it than others.

Psalm 119:170

2011-10-14T09:16:00.002-04:00

"Let my supplication come before Thee: deliver me according to Thy word."

word for law - word; Two request are made of David unto the Lord. Let my supplication come before Thee - word study, come; 'Let' study in Psalm 119, 12th time of 15 times used; A repeat from the previous verse of desiring for his prayer to come unto the Lord. As we mentioned previously, so here for the readers to remember, not all prayer is heard by the Lord. Nujmerous verses declare from God Himself that He will not hear some prayers because of sin, unbelief or contrary to His will. It is a proper attention to pray this prayer and ask of the Lord for His favor to allow my prayers, your prayers to come before Him. To assume that all your prayers come before the Lord denotes a lack of respect or fear unto the Lord. It assumes a spiritual arrogance that comes beyond confidence in Christ work to allow us a way to enter. HE is the God of the universe and all that is ; He is Almighty God with all power, knowledge, strength and authority; surely we must understand that you don't shuffle up to a holy God as a sinful man as coming up to a friend on the street? There is a right way and a wrong way. There is HIs way! We come with humility, with faith. Desiring to approach unto Him, you ask for permission, "May I come before Thee by the blood of Christ?' The Father cannot nor will He refuse His precious Son's blood to allow us access. The king, out of his love for Esther, raised the sceptre for her entrance, and the FAther will grant us to come before Him with our petitions, supplications and intercessions because of His love for us through His Son. He sees Christ's righteousness on us; He sees Jesus' blood cover us. HE knows we are 'sons of God' through Christ atonement. You cannot come any other way. MEn try it all the time. They believe that because they prayed it came before the Lord. IT was a waste of time and effort, for the prayers went no where, but around in their head. 'My supplication' is the personal note of David. I am glad you pray, if you pray. But 'my' prayer is what I must answer for. Am I offering up prayer? am I faithful to do it? The need is great, the sin is mounting, the sickness is all around, the problems are beyond me, 'let my supplication come before Thee'. For You are the only One that can answer and help. There is no other god, there is only You. LEt the supplication of my lips be acceptable unto You, O Lord; and receive my prayer. Deliver me according to Thy Word - word study of Psalm 119, deliver; used only 4 times in this Psalm, this is the last time; the second request of David in this verse; What does he need to be delivered from?

Ecclesiastes 2:26

2011-10-13T09:36:00.002-04:00

"For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner He giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that He may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit."

WE see a complete dual look at the sinner and the righteous. Such verse of comparison should always lead us to understand the will and mind of God. Let us examine the difference and effects of life for both. For God giveth to a man that is good in His sight wisdom and knowledge and joy - word study, give;, used three times in this verse; word study, knowledge (to know); Is there any one of this earth that can give such things? Men seek to make them, to acquire them, to own them, but only the Lord can give them. If anothe man promises to give such things, always remember the source from which it comes. No man can give these things, only God. So if a man is peddling them to the seeker, it can only be a counterfeit. why take a reprodcution, a second hand class when the Lord God is able to give an orginial. OH, how we grieve God by seeking everywhere but where He has said to seek, unto Him. May we know the source of our wherre gifts are given, it is by Thee, O Lord. Who receives these gifts of God? 'He that is good in His sight'. The eyes of the Lord see all that goes on in this earth. WE are limited in our observation. WE know not what happens behind closed doors; we know not the thoughts or intents of the heart and mind. But the Lord knows it all. He knows those that are His'. He sees the soul, the heart that longs to know Him and obey Him. He sees the labor of such a man's hands that seek for good. God is watching and HE knows it all. This is vastly different than the soul that says, 'I try to be good'; 'I want to be good' but never is good. That soul is the hypocrite who speaks with the mouth, but the heart is far from Him. This is not a good soul, but an evil soul doomed for hell.

Psalm 119:169

2011-10-12T10:06:00.002-04:00

"Let my cry come near before Thee, O Lord: give me understanding according to Thy word."

word for law - word; The last section of Psalm 119, section 22 - TAU. We begin the beginning of the end. Let my cry come near before Thee, O Lord - word study, come; word study for Psalm 119 - 'Let', 11th of 15 times used in this Psalm; 4 times used in this closing section; David is pleading with God to 'let' these things come to pass. Now what is he asking for? Let my prayer come unto Thee. Doesn't God hear all prayers? No, He doesn't; and He tells us that He will not hear some prayers. David knows this truth. Too bad so many in the church today have not learned this valuable lesson. 'If I regard iniqutiy in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.' He is asking of Almighty God to hear his prayer. Is it not right to ask permission of such things before a holy God? 'Lord, may I approach unto Thee?' Did not Esther wait for the king to stretch out the sceptre before approaching with her requests? You and I that are Chrsitians have been given the right to approach unto the throne through Christ's merits, atonement and offering. But I fear far too many approach unto the throne through their own vain deceit, their own works and their own merits. We cannot come but by the way that Christ made. One way for such a failure in prayer is by coming in our own self-righteousness. Another way of failure to 'have our cry come near before the Lord' is to come with unbelief. You don't hear much on this sin. But it is one of the top 3 sins in the church, I thoroughly believe. They pray, they ask, they mention the need and the person, but they don't believe anything will change or happen. They have done their 'good work' of praying, but they did not prevail. And again I ask the question, what could does it do to pray, if we don't believe anything will happen? Isn't that vanity? Isn't that just as high an offence as any other against the Almighty God Who made heaven and earth and all that is therein? I beleive it to be a very high offense. Anothe reason for failure in our prayers coming unto Him is 'asking amiss'. We ask for selifsh, vain gain. God cannot be glorified in this, nor can He grant such a petition for He knows it will lead us astray. The good parent will not let a child chose and pracitice wrongly for the sake of the childs. They correct, they limit, they remove from them all that would harm, defile and corrupt. OUR heavenly Father is much better than any earthly parent, He will not let us have that which will cause sin in us or through us. so let us come near before the Lord and examine the 'why's of what we are praying for. Is it for the honor and glory of our Lord, or is it for ourselves?

Ecclesiastes 1:2

2011-10-11T09:36:00.002-04:00

"Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity."

The words of Solomon throughout this book reveal that there is much vanity. Vanity is defined as something that is vain, empty or valueless. Literally we are left with nothing. Everything of this world is vanity, it holds not value, keeps no worth and fades away or perishes from the earth. Yet, everything that most men are living for is this vanity. We know of 3 things that are eternal, permanent and everlasting: God, all Three of the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost; the Word of God is eternal for it proceeds from Him and is Him; and the soul of all living mankind (that is men, not animals). WE are in a devilish generation that seeks to continue to humanize animals. They give animals names, then personalities, emotions and other things that make them more like men. This is vanity, where men make their own self deceptions that remove us from what God has said and done. It is all worthless to live a life without God. To be void of understanding about the things of God and His eternal purpose. And then when all this life of vanity is over, the eternal life begins. All that is in eternity is found to be with purpose toward God and in God for the saved soul. All that is in hell will be forever in the place of no escape from regret, remorse and anguish over a life of vanity. How needful it is for men to know today of the absolute truth of that which is to come for all eternity for every living soul. A life of vanity loses the rewards of heaven, loses the place of glory unto God and seals many a souls fate in hell. What life are you living? What labors are you doing? What priority holds you for your every day living? What's at the heart of your life of importance?

Psalm 119:168

2011-10-10T10:07:00.002-04:00

"I have kept Thy precepts and Thy testimonies: for all my ways are before Thee."

word for law - precepts and testimonies; One of the few verses where there is multiple words used for law. The lasts verse of section 21. I have kept Thy precepts and Thy testimonies - word study, kept; study of 'I have', 34th of 37 times used in this Psalm; The personal note of David is his testimony of what he has kept before the Lord. He has kept His precepts and His testimonies. why the two references? WE look at them perhpas, as simply interchanging words. But they are not, each word that describes the law is more specific in its reference and deatil of the law. Testimonies is directly referring to the 10 commandments; while precepts is referring to the law of God's commands and principles for serving Him and toward our fellow man. David is simply that he has kept both sections of the law. How many laws there are found for our daily living; our service to each other; service unto the Lord for their worship, offerings and other times of coming before Him. It is not about keeping the 'majority'; it is about keeping 'all' of them. Oh, that there was such a heart in us for the keeping of His Holy Divine commands. Oh, that we would know them! Most of the children of God in the American church does not even know the 10 commandments, let alone the words of Christ for instructions and obedience. No wonder we have left such a wake of sin and destruction. For how can one keep the Word of God, if they do not know the Word of God? David kept the law because he knew the law. He could not make such statements throughout this Psalm if it were not so. And you and I are to have such a desire and faithful obedience unto the Lord our God. We are here on this earth and filled with much sin and disobedience. May it be our continued, daily, hourly resolve to keep the commands of God. To learn them and to obey them is of absolute need.

Proverbs 31:30

2011-10-07T09:42:00.002-04:00

"Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord she shall be praised."

The clear instructions of priority is listed here at the close of this chapter. A woman, as also for a man is to fear the Lord. Favor is deceitful - the delight when flattery, gifts blind the eye; I have seen it many a time in my life. An older person compliments a younger person, giving 'favor' to them for the sole purpose of drawing them for an ally. I've seen parents bestow gifts to children to win their hearts. It was commanded in the Scriptures that the judge should not take a gift lest it spoil his decision to do right. Call it what you might, it is simply a bribe, for their own selfish interests. It blinds the eyes of the leaders, it destroys the teaching and application of right and wrong. It spoils the young and teaches them favor can manipulate, distort and malign for seflish gain. There are numerous examples in the Bible when favor was deceitful. Its end is sin and destruction soon follows. I think of one that would do us well to look at quickly before we move on. In the end of the book of I Kings, Ahab and Jehoshaphat hath joined forces to go fight the enemy, the king of Syria. Prophets everywhere before the king prophesied victory was sure and all was well. These prophets sought Ahabs favor for prominence, the presence of the king, no doubt - money, food and notriety. What good does any of this do when men's souls hang in the balance of eternity? It was one man alone, who did not care for the favor of the king, MIcaiah only sought to be obedient unto the Lord. He spoke the truth to Ahab and Jehoshaphat, that Ahab was going to die in this battle. These false prophets occassioned the death of a man, because favor is deceitful. Oh, the high costs of vanity for our pride. And beauty is vain - vanity is the besetting sin in our society; Never has there been such a waste of time, money and effort to look like someone else or something else. If God gives beauty to a man or a woman, simply look unto the Lord and give thanks. For all of it shall soon fade away. Ah, but not so in this generation. For with the right amount of money, you can look eternally young. Surgery, meds, all kinds of creams, pills and other nonsense to preserve vanity. I would hate to know the amount of dollars wsted for vanity. But know this, we will answer for it. We let a world go to hell, for the sake of the color of our hair, the diets pills, subscritpions and other waste of money. These things should not interest us. OH, how scewed are our priorities with favor and vanity. the root of all this ,is love of self over the love of the Savior.

Psalm 119:167

2011-10-06T10:19:00.002-04:00

"My soul hath kept Thy testimonies; and I love them exceedingly."

word for law - testimonies; My soul hath kept Thy testimonies - word study, kept/keep; The word, 'kept' is used 7 times in Psalm 119. It is the heart exclaiming unto the Lord revealing David's obedience. Very few are able to say such a thing. Very few try to do such a thing of keep His Word. Trying, of course, is not about the humanistic approach of works. 'I am trying', or 'I will do better', but it is resting, waitng and knowing the Lord breathes life, hope and power into the soul that says, 'Yes Lord'. David was able to keep His statutes and commands because 'he was a man after God's Own heart'. The love expressed in the last half of this verse, is the crux for any that would keep His Word. IN order to say, 'I have kept Thy Word', you must know His Word. To say you are keepign His Word but be ignorant of His teachings is foolishness. 'study to show thyeslef approed unto God' is the learning of His Holy Word. REAding, studying, memorizing, hearing sound preaching/teaching fills our minds, our hearts with the right way on knowing His Word. Daily time to eat is needful for physical health; and daily time in His Word is health to the soul. The Word of God is our sword for the battle, (Ephesians 6), and too many go to battle with no weapon. 'Thy Word was found and I did eat it. And it was as sweet as honey to my mouth.' The Word is our substance for growth. OUr thanskgiving should abound here that we can match DAvid in reading, being taught the word and knwoing the Word. We could have just as easily be born in a land where there is no freedom of worship of Christ; where there is no Bible access; where there is no education and unable to study. I am thankful 1000's times over for what the Lord has done.

Proverbs 31:27

2011-10-05T09:52:00.002-04:00

"She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness."

Throughout each of these verses, from 11 - 31, there is found descriptive attributes of what a righteous woman is and should be. This verse directs us to many of our word studies and we shall use them for our edification and instruction. She looketh well to the ways of her household - word study, look; word study, well; word study, way; Oh, how powerful and helpful is this phrase, 'look well to your ways'; NOw this verse is talking about a rightoues woman, who is a wife, a mother. God has established the home for each to carry their weight. They that do good in their responsbilities shall receive the fruit of it; they that do not do their responsbilities shall see it fall. 'She', is the woman referred to and given instruction here. There is testimonies of faithful mothers and wifes that have fulfilled this and they are praised and adored for their faithfulness, steadfastness and labor. but such women are hard to find in this day and age. The love of self, the love of ease and comfort, and of course, the love of pleasures has led many a woman that started off good to quickly lose their way. We have to the learn the order that must be followed. Who can take care of a household? a family? a business? a church? a nation? unless they have first learned to take care of themselves? NO one. IN Canticels, 'They made me keeper of the vineyard, but my own vineyard I did not keep.' You cannot help others if you can't help yourself. You cannot love your neighbor unless you love yourself. You cannot teach others, if you have not learned it yourself. You cannot lead others unless you know the way yourself. Now once the way is learned and practiced, others may now follow and go with you. A wise man or woman is able to lead others to go with them. We remember good Christian in Pilgrim's Progress who could persuade his family or friends to go with him out of the City of Destruction to the Celestial City. God's Divine favor was granted that the second half of the book his family followed. She leads them in the right way is God's help, and mercy. The grief and saddness of a mother/father who later in life have found that good and right way, only to see their children follow the wrong way. Had they only learned it earlier, is their lamentable regret. Mark your ways now dear people. Your household depends on it. The very sake of you this generation and the ones to come depends on what way you are leading them. The wise in heart are always observing their household. Parents watching the children's behavior, time, interests and taken away the bad and encouraging the good. Look well to the ways of others is our need for this hour. The Gospel is there for our 'reprove, rebuke, exhort' for the sake of the soul. The parent who will not correct their chidlren will lose their children.

Psalm 119:166

2011-10-04T10:34:00.002-04:00

"Lord, I have hoped for Thy salvation, and done Thy commandments."

word for law - commandments; Lord, I have hoped for Thy salvation - there is salvation in nothing else or no one else but the Lord; 'Thou shal save Your people from their sins.' 'I have' study in Psalm 119, 33rd out of 37 times used. 'I have hoped for' is the definition of faith. 'Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen'. 'Lord', the first and last word of this work of salvation. No man shall see the Lord without the Lord. David is coming to where all his hope is found, in the Lord. Do you come to the Lord in such times? all the time? To often we hear and know of the confessions within the body of Christ, they do not come as often as they shoul. Hope for salvation is so rare to find in the body of Christ. They pray for the lost, but believe in nothing to happen. When Charles Finney was lost, but attending his church's prayer meeting, they approached him with the request to pray for his soul. He answered them, 'No, I don't want you to pray for me.' They replied,'But don't you know that your lost and without Christ?' Finney, 'Yes, I know that; but I have been here for weeks and you have not received one thing in answer to your prayers. Why would I want you to pray for me?' Finney went out into the woods and made this same prayer of David's his', 'Lord, I have hoped for Thy salvation'. And he came back out of the woods born again and filled with the Spirit. Now I have used this phrase in this verse to refer to spiritual salvation. But I do not forget that David had his enemies presently all around him seeking for his destruction. And that the true work of deliverance may have been the prayer of intent here. But taht is the power of the written Word, it speaks on more than one level. Glory to His great Name for such meaning. 'thou shalt call His Name, Jesus; for HE shall save His people from their sins.' Our hope is in what He has done for the saving of the soul. Christ died and resurrected to set the captives free, to remove the guilt of sin by the shedding of His precious blood. Is your hope of salvation in Christ? Have you come to the fount for cleansing of your sins? NO other place to come than unto Him. Let thy faith rests complete in Him for He is able to save unto the uttermost and from the uttermost.

Proverbs 31:10

2011-10-03T09:39:00.002-04:00

"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies."

The beginning verse of this description of a godly wife, mother and servant of the Lord. Who can find a virtous woman? word study, find; great questions of the Bible study; Who can find such a woman? the only way to find anything is by seeking for it. It is the obvious things that amaze me so often of what people do. Is there a man seeking a virtuous woman? That is a good thing. But where to look? I find them looking for a virtuous woman in the bars; in the world; in the workplace. You will not find one there. You must go to where a woman will be virtuous at. Where she is taught of such things, and has a knowledge fo such things. If you find a woman in the world and of the world, then she is not a virtuous woman; she is simply a worldly woman. And 'Woe'man to that man that finds her. Because you see that woman of the world is the daughter of Jezebel and, like mother, like daughter. There is no such thing as a virtuous, worldly woman. The two descriptions do not go together. I don't go to a fruit market looking for automotive parts; I don't go to the bakery looking for shampoo. If you go to the world a lookin' then that is exactly what you will find.

Psalm 119:165

2011-10-02T07:52:00.003-04:00

"Great peace have they which love Thy law: and nothing shall offend them."

word for law - law; The labor of praise 7 times a day was in the last verse. The product of that praise is found in this verse. Great peace have they which love Thy law - not just peace, but great peace shall be to the soul that love God's word; Could it be then that there is so much unrest and fear among people today because of this very thing? Most assuredly the departure of the people of God from the Word of God has led to the loss of the peace of God. We have a very clear description of where peace is found in the Scriptures; peace alone comes from God. It is not found in mediation, chanting, counselors, or any other man made pracitices. 'There is no peace with the wicked, saith the LOrd.' Peace then can only come from God. He imparts peace to those that rests in HIm. A love of the Word gives assurance, gives promises, gives instructions for a troubled soul to find great peace. Not just a peace for the moment, but a perpetual peace that is enduring, everlasting, continual for the soul in this world. JEsus said, 'Let not your heart be trouble. . .' A love of God compels them to see His promises and hopes in His Word that anchors us not in our own ways, but in His. He is able to do great and mighty things because He is God. The individual is able to see these things becuase they empty themselves and allow god to fill them. And when we see so much pain, sorrow, and chaos in peoples lives, it is because they have left the Word of God for man made ways that will never bring peace or joy.

Proverbs 31:2

2011-10-01T11:18:00.002-04:00

"What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows?"

I was going to pass over this verse, but led to stop and write on it. NO doubt, there is probably some mother that would immediately identify with these words. Proverbs 31 is known for the description of a godly woman, a good mother, a good wife. We will look at a view of theses verses for that consideration. But here in this vese we have a son, speaking what his mother taught him (verse 1). What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? great questions of the bible study; we have 3 questions in this verse, and I couple two of them togetehr to begin our study; A mother addresses her son. A mother's influence over her son is different than the fathers. Here is the king Lemuel being addressed by his mother. Here is a whole chapter in the Bible from a mother to a son, but no words of the father to the son. Interesting to note! It is good for a mother to question her son. 'What' is the question. What's going on in your life? What are you doing? What are you thinking? What are you going to do about that? All these 'what' questions are to help teach, to direct a child. The words of experience, the words of instruction are powerful. WE know that all this can be negative and positive. For a mother could easily ask these questions to manipulate and conjure evil thoughts and directions. Jezebel was such a woman that praciticed the art of manipulation for power and control. The asking of the question, 'what' is to cause the child to learn to answer and think for themselves. Any tampering with that teaches something other for selfish gain. Now the answer the child gives is just as important. A mother instructs the son with wisdom, with godly, righteous words.

Psalm 119:164

2011-09-30T09:44:00.002-04:00

"Seven times a day do I praise Thee because of Thy righteous judgments."

word for law - judgments; As a reflection of the previous verse, he hates lying, but loves the law, God's Word. And out of that love we see this verse as a response. seven times a day do I praise Thee - the number seven brings us to completeion, to perfection in our praise of You, O Lord; When I first memorized this Psalm and began to repeat at this section, I was left with the question, 'do I praise the Lord 7 times a day?' In a 24 hour day, that is roughly every 3 hours. And it far more than an earlier verse in the psalms that references prayer of, 'morning, noon and night will I lift up my prayer unto Thee'. Do you consider your response of praise like this? Surely the Lord is worthy fo all praise that we offer. He has done so much, we have so much to be grateful and thankful for, that our praise should be offered this often for His wondrous works. It is not simply a matter of counting the number of times either. A discplined routine and pracitce of setting our minds and hearts to see His hand and acknowledge it that often in our daily lives is natural. The Christian needs to understand the great work of prayer is carried by worship of Him. I fear that many have not been taught Who the Lord is or what HE has done and do not know the art of praising Him. It is the acknowledgement of His greatness and that which has proceeded from Him to us. 'Look what the Lord has done' and praise is a natural response. 'A day' - as the number is not the relevant point of our being 'bound to do it only 7 times', it is imperative that we understand we should not go one day without praising Him. Before His throne, prasie is constant. WE will have part in that some day, and we should begin our learning and practice of it now. As we have said, the number 7 is not simply to count it, but to complete it. Learn to have a heart, soul and mind given to the perfection of praise in your life. How joyful to the soul that brings it from the overflow of the soul. 'I am so full that my cup runneth over and I have to praise Him.'

Proverbs 30:14

2011-09-29T09:49:00.002-04:00

"There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men."

The fourth and final verse in this description of, 'there is a generation'. All these 4 verses deal with a sinful generation. WE must see the sin, acknolwedge it, confess it and repent of it if we would find God's mercy, forgiveness and restoration. Without it, no man shall see the Lord.

Psalm 119:163

2011-09-29T09:26:00.002-04:00

"I hate and abhor lying: but Thy law do I love."

word for law - law; The paradox and contrast in the Scriptures never cease to amaze me. David has been referring to his love for the Word, and now he refers to his hate for words. I hate and abhor lying - 'thou shalt not lie'; 'Let your speech be with grace, seasoned with salt'; 'What is truth?' 'I am the way, the truth'; IN all these verses we are looking at Christ and that which proceeds from Him. He is truth and therefore He must and has spoken truth; He is God, and God cannot lie. So as David has been declaring his love for God's Word, he is declaring his love for God. And if God is love and is loved, then all that is against God must be hated and abhorred. Lying is the opposite of truth. 'Satan is the father of lies.' 'You are of your father the devil'; 'liars shall not enter the kingdom of heaven'. We see in these verses the opposite of truth, God and lover for Him. We see David's declaration against those that lie and have any part of it. Christ looked at Nathiel and said, 'a man in whom is no guile'; not so much referring to a liar, but there is no deception in this man. God loves the man that is honest and above board; God hates the liar and those that practice deception. Which are you? are you loved or hated? Which do you love? Do you love the truth of God? or do you love the lies of Satan? It is not a needless question, it is very imporant that we answer truthfully. There is no room for lies here. For many will say with their mouths, 'I love truth'. Yet, they never speak it, they never follow it; they never pracitce it. They are a lie unto their ownselves. If we would be true men and women, then we must be honest about ourselves and the life in which we live. True confession and repentance comes out of a heart smote with the deceptions and 'refuge of lies'. the soul that is seeking to be honest and truthful about who they are finds direction in Christ's words. They do hate and abhor all that which tries to supplant and decay the words of God.

Proverbs 30:13

2011-09-28T10:17:00.003-04:00

"There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up."

The third verse in our continued study of Proverbs 30: 11 - 14. Four verses reflecting on 'there is a generation'. Each verse ring true with the spiritual insight to a lost and dying world. A generation that loves sin more than the Savior. And that follows after self more than holiness. Let us continue to examine the sins mentioned and what that holds for us.

Psalm 119:162

2011-09-28T09:59:00.002-04:00

"I rejoice at Thy word, as one that findeth great spoil."

word for law - word; In the previous verse, David address the attacks of his enemies, but then immediately makes reference to his 'awe of Thy word'. In the verse, it is almost like the thought of his heart continues with his love and reference for God's Holy Word. I rejoice at Thy word - the personal testimony of a child of God toward the Word of God; Can you be a child of God and not rejoice in His Word? Again, as I have states previously in other writings, I am not talking about those that have no access nor ability to know the Word. I am talking about those in our day and age and have every opportunity to know the Word. Oh, how precious; how powerful; how mighty is the Word of God that vanquishes our foes, defeats sin, brings us close to Him in knowledge and recorded miracles. 'I rejoice' is the personal account of David. Can you add your estate there as well? Do you rejoice at His Word, at His Presence? Or are you able to go days and weeks without any of His Word? It is all a question that needs to be presented and answered, 'do you rejoice at the Word of God'. Let every Chrsitian answer honestly and reflecting on hwo they make use of their time in it. The great value to my soul is how God has put the desire to know His Word in our my heart, mind and soul. God has put people to lead me, teach me and biographies that have shaped me in devouring the Word of God. I look back at these Divine moments and know fully my unworthiness to receive the smallest of His mercies, but He has given it to me. I thank God for Mrs. FAzenbaker who was used of God to start me on the path of memorization; I thank my dad, who was used to lead me to start reading it daily and through from cover to cover each year; I thank all the dead saints that set a pattern for me to adopt and follow after. How wonderful is this Word from God! How Divine are these moments as I reflect on them. How much the Word occupies my everyday. Every situation I am able to draw from the Word; promises for need, for sickness; instructions for parenting, witnessing; direction in prayer; Divine knowledge about the times and events. All these things are to be gleaned by all His children. And the only thing I can say to those that refuse to read, memorize and learn from the Word is that they not only miss out on these things that God has bestowed for me, they will have to answer what they did do with their time and energies. For I have found that most of those that say they cannot rejoice in the Word, for they find it to boring, to hard, and other like excuses, that they have given time to worldly things, used their minds to memorzie vanity and occupy minutes in selfish pleasures. And oh, the high costs of neglect! Many a life, a family, a church has been lost to the ways of the world because of their neglect in rejoicing in the Word of God. Find a peopel rejoicing in the Word, you find a soul at peace and strong in the ways of the lord. Find a people and soul that has no cause to rejoice, see the turmoil, unhappiness, and chaos that rules their life. And all because they have chosen to negelct and reject the Word of God. It is a high price to pay, not only for the here and now; but for the next generation as well. See the damage done, by one generation that abandons the Word of God. As one that findeth great spoil - word study, find; he who has searched for riches, finds it in the Word of God; I can easily tell whether I am talking to a rich man in spiritual things by how much he knows and reveals about his love for the Word. No Word, no riches; A Word, much riches. The ones that adhere to it are those that have found great spoil for every day and all circumstances of life.

Proverbs 30:12

2011-09-27T10:46:00.004-04:00

"There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness."

The second verse of this 4 part section on, 'There is a generation. . .' How rich are each of these verses in instruction of defining for us what pleases the Lord and what provokes the Lord.

Psalm 119:161

2011-09-26T09:44:00.002-04:00

"Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of Thy word."

word for law - word; The beginning of the 21st section, SCHIN. David has continued to repeatedly show and mention the enemies that are set against him. But he always concludes with hope and where his faith is found. HOw good to understand this. When everything of this life may be against us and problems seem insurrmountable, God is still there and able to do great and mighty things. Princes have persecuted me without a cause - the enemy of our Lord cares not for justice or righteouseness; The very fact that men do not do right, reveals they are not of our Lord. For our Lord is a God of righteousenss, 'Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?' Yes He shall, without one mistake. But this is a personal attack upon David by these princes. They ahve attacked him, and as David says, 'without a cause'. The enemy needs no excuse to attack. The simple fact that we are not of them, nor like them is enough for them to attack. They are pawns of Satan and he has no greater desire than to see the sons of God weakened, afflicted and cut off. Many a solider of the cross has fallen prey to such attack. The mind set today in many a Christian is that they need someone, they cannot just simply have God, they have to someone else. This causes men to rely on the arm of flesh for comfort, for strenth, for love, and for attention. Satan uses this co-existing attitude to lead astray. And when that arm of flesh fails them, they depart from the path, from the Presence fo the Lord.

Proverbs 30:11

2011-09-25T08:14:00.001-04:00

"There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother."

These 4 verses in Proverbs 30, give description of a evil generation. Each verse begins with 'there is a generation'. And these are descriptions of that generation of which reveals what is wrong in the midst of them and before the eyes of the Lord. Will we stop in our studies and examine each verse and see the sin, and the results of it. For truly if we get this far in our practices of evil, surely the Lord's judgment is near. There is a generation that curseth their father - not only speaks against the one who fathered them, but adds cursing to them; It is consistent for us to know that throughout the Bible, God makes us aware and respectful to the those that are before us. Every generation must look back at the last generation and know that their lives made the current life. Without those generations, that have gone before us, we have nothing in this generation. It is when men lose sight of this that problems begin to arise. When a son looks at his father and curses him, we see a two edged sin. ONe, that he cursed. Our conversation reveals much about us. The man that cannot keep his tongue has no dscipline over the rest of his life or ways. If he can't control the words and phrases used, then you know that much is wrong on the inside. If vile, evil words proceed from his mouth, then his mind and heart is filled with evil. And so cursing is found throughout Scripture as condemned and is attributed to one who is void of understanding. But when Christ is in a life, language changes; for the heart is changed, the mind is changed. 'Behold, old things pass away, but behold, all things become new.' 'Let this mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus - having the mind of Christ.'

Psalm 119:160

2011-09-24T06:22:00.000-04:00

"Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of Thy rightoues judgments endureth for ever."

word for law - word, and judgments; Last verse of this 20th section. Another verse continuing the truths found about His Word. Thy Word is true from the beginning - the place of beginning, Alpha is found in God alone; 'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.' 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.' We see by these verses the universal truth that God's Word has been since the beginning. God has no beginnning, and the Word has been there along with Him. The Word is eternal; it is everlasting; it is the attribute, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. We see the truth that God's Word has always been, because it is proceeds from Him, Who has always been. We may also say, that as we hold our bibles that God's Word is true from the beginning of Genesis complete through Revelation. Genesis means beginning and the Word is true from the beginning of the Book to the end. There is no lie in it, for God cannot lie. To say that there is a lie in His Word would mean that God is not truth. Jesus said, 'I am the way, the truth and the life.' There are many attributes that may describe it. Itis power, it is light, it is life, it is revealing, it is joyous, it is instructive; all these things are clear and precious to the child of God who loves the Word. But if it be not truth, all these things are null and void to the soul seeking absolute truth.

Proverbs 30:4

2011-09-23T11:14:00.001-04:00

"Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?"

This is not Solomon writing or sharing his wisdom. This comes from 'the words of Agur the son of Jakeh, even the propehcy'. So it is that when we read our verse 4 here we see a prophetic note immediately about it. I will not labor in each question but simply address them and do a conclusion for our study of this verse. Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? great questions of the Bibble; there are 5 questions in this one verse; All are asked rheteorically to get us to answer the obvious. There is none that ascends up or descends down from heaven, unless the Lord so permits. He alone allows for ascension and descension. Chrsit is our supreme example here. He descended from His heavenly throne to become 'born of a virgin' for the work of redemption for lost men. He ascended up into heaven in the beginning of Acts to take His place at the right hand of the FAther. And in the end, He shall descened again on a cloud, with the trump of the arch angel, and the dead in Christ shall be raised; and we also, shall be brought up unot Him in the clouds to be with the Lord for evermore. Jacob saw a ladder and said, 'I saw angels ascending and descending from heaven to earth'. They do this at the Lord's bidding. Blessed are they who ascend up into heaven to be there eternally. But cursed are they that descend from heaven, for Lucifer, ol SAtan was cast out. He descended and never more shall ascend into the realm of heaven. Cursed are those that follow his steps. Oh, how many souls have been raptured into heavenly truths, heavenly Presence, heavenly Beings only to descend back to self, back to sin back to hell.

Psalm 119:159

2011-09-22T10:41:00.000-04:00

"Consider how I love Thy precepts; quicken me, O Lord, according to Thy lovingkindness."

word for law - precepts; Considerable number of repeated words of emphasis are found in this short verse. EAch one drawing us, teaching us, helping us unto Him. Consider how I love Thy precepts - 'consider', word study used 3 times in this Psalm; The question is asked of us all, 'Do you love My Word?' David has no fear of this answer. Do you fear such a question asked by others? asked by God? Or are we able to say, 'Thy word was found and I did eat it' daily before Him. 'Consider' is one of those words that stop us, and should make us look and ponder the impact of our life and ways. Can someone who nevver reads the Bible be said, 'How I love Thy precepts'? Can someone who doesn't know enough Scripture to help a fly be said of them, 'How they love Thy precepts'? Consider that one who love the Word will be in the word. One who loves the word will know the word. One who loves the word will go deeper in the word. Consider the level that you are on, or others are on in the Word. The peron that reads the Bible through for the first time, should not be expected to know the depths of the Spiritual meanings and formations. It is natural to assume that a child in the early grades of school are learning the basics, the numbers, their A, B, C's. And such is the early readers of Scripture learning the characters, the accounts of history of prophets, kings and works of God. But every time they study, they take time to know the Word, the Spirit of God breathes into them deeper truths. 'He reveals the deep and secret things of God.' And many marvel at cherished saints in their ability to glean great truths and deep truths that reveal the will and mind of God in our day. But all that is found that sets them apart from the majoirty is that they love the Word, they devvour the Word and God meets them there. ARe you such a one that this can be said of you? Consider what people know about the Bible, but also consdier what they don't know about the Bible. This is the revealer of their true love. One who says, 'I know that' with no other desire to go deeper; their love is to be called into question. But the one that says, 'I know that, what is to be found in this passage for me, for my family, for my church, for my nation?' is one that loves the word. And again, the simple basis of loving the Word is that you love the One Who spoke the Word, gave the Word, is the Word. 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.' The Word is one of our links to the Godhead. Consider that you love the Word because He is the Word. And so when all the evidence has been presented of you and all of it considered; is there enough to convict of being guilty of 'loving His Word'? May it be a true witness we bear of our love for the Word. Reading it daily, studying it, memorizing it and sharing it with all. Quicken me, O Lord, according to Thy lovingkindness - word study, 'quicken me' found 11 times in this Psalm; It is such a powerful prayer to me; 'quicken me, O Lord' make me alive in YOu. There is life in no other but You. You are the resurrection and the life; You the living bread and living water. Life is in YOu. You are the giver and sustainer of all life. So where else can I come to find life but in You? David's prayer and my petition is the same

Proverbs 29:18

2011-09-19T11:05:00.000-04:00

"Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he."

There are two phrases in this verse. The first phrase, many know by hearing it or by memorization. Few know the second part of this verse. LEt us look at this verse for our edification, teaching and instruction: where there is no vision, the people perish - there must be direction, leading and guiding for living and doing right; If there is no leading by God, then destruction and failure is sure to follow. The vision must come from the right source. The only right source is God. when men dream dreams and see visions of their own making, or those surplanted by Satan, no good can come from those. so it is the most important thing to recognize and understand where the vision is coming from. We see the visions and dreams of men today, they are all about their own advancement, their own success, pride is the root of it, vanity is the results of it. God will not honor the visions of men because they do not bring glory to Him. Whatever dream or vision is cast must be from the Lord for His glory. It is a common practice today, for church leaders to dream dreams and see visions and casts visions for the church out of their own hearts and minds. Then they turn and ask God to bless their designs and agendas. This will not do. The dream and the vision must come from the Lord, and He will bless that. There is much folly and sin found among church leaders to today. Now they do it, becasue the people are perishing, and so they cast a vision for the sake of the lost. What good does anything do without God?

Let us look for a moment at some of the dreams in the Bible. We see Jacob's dream when he left home because of Esau's threats. And there that night, with a rock for a pillow, God gave him a dream of the ladder. He saw the spirits ascending and descending on that ladder, and awoke to say, 'Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.' The dream was to draw Jacob to the God of Abraham. Next we see the God of Pharoah, the dream of the seven corn stalks and the seven cows. This dream could only be interrupted by Joseph for the sake of preserving God's people, the household of Jacob and his 70 family members. We see dream of Nebuchadnezzar and the statute, where only Danile could tell him not only the intrepretation of the dream but the dream itself. Many other examples are to be found throughout the Scriptures for the sake of God's glory being manifested.

Let us see the visions casts throughout the church's history. We see Martin Luther having a vision of a pure catholic church, rich in Scripture and true to it. A message returning to the justification by and through Christ for men and not through the works of the flesh. why was it that Luther saw Romans 5:1 that day that spoke to him? Because God opened his eyes to see.
What can we say about John Wesley that he saw in his vision to see the church following a 'Method' of spiritual learning and practice to obtain holiness in the Lord? We see an entire group of churches formed after this, winning souls left and right for the glory of the kingdom.
What can we say of David Livingstone, who said the smoke huts of millions of Africans in need of the Gospel message burned in his heart? Therefore, 'he was spending and being spent' to reach the people for the kingdom.
What can we say of Hudson Taylor, who saw China in need of the Gospel and saw out posts scattered in regional points to reach all of China with the Gosepl? And the great China Inland Mission was born and labored to bring untold numbers into the kingdom and lay the groundwork for great revival in the 1900's.
Do you see it? God gives a vision. God empowers the person. the people respond to the vision, not trying to get God to respond to our vision. It is God, only God. Oh, the folly of man to think that they could ever do what only God can do. Willwe never cease with this sin of vanity and pride?
and so we see God grants and gives a vision for the people that are perishing to be reached and won to Him.
My vision was Broken Before the Throne. A prayer conference that actually incorportated prayer in it. All prayer conference that I have ever attended; preached on prayer, taught on prayer but never prayed. And when we see the masses perishing without the power to draw them to Christ. 'For no man can come unto the Father unles He draws him.' And God said the people perish, because there is no one praying for the power nor for the souls. Pray, then the power and the souls will be reached. A vision casts by God to redeem a lost people.
And one of the things that bothers me most, is the silence of God without a vision or dream.

Psalm 119:158

2011-09-18T08:19:00.001-04:00

"Consider how I love Thy precepts; quicken me, O Lord, according to Thy lovingkindness."

word for law - precepts; Upon the reflection of his enemies, he states unto the Lord his continued love for the Word. It is a statment of David's favor for the word and a plea for God's favor. Consider how I love Thy precepts - 'consider' is used 3 times in this Psalm; It is for us to stop and ponder what is being said. Now David is speaking unto the Lord and asking Him to consider 'how much I love Thy prectps'. Does not the Lord know such things? Of course, He does. and He also knows how much love you have for His Word. In all our ways it shows whether we love Him or not. Those that have Bibles and ability to read and glean, how much more is afforded them in their holy, daily walk. Instructions given, promises offered, redemption spelled out, and examples before us. 'Consider' all these things in His blessed word. Consider your own life, and how that Word overlays your decisions and daily living. Is there a match between the two for you? or is there two distinct separate paths? Oh, for the true child of God, they go hand in hand. there is not the one nor the other. They have taken the true Word of God and applied it to their life. Often the statement of faith is said, 'But Lord have you not said?' This is one that loves the Word and applies the Word. Oh, how closely joined for the soul that is pursuing after God. Now here are two other kinds of people that we must 'Consider'. The first is one that loves the Word but never applies the Word. How foolish is this to receive instruction but never apply it. To receive promises and hope but never claim for themselves. It is the fool that has millions of dollars and never spends it and lives in poverty. This is religious people, that claim they love the Bible but never glean from it. They may be able to quote it andto knwo all about its history and Greek and Hebrew wording, but it is far from an example in their own life. Was this not the life of the Pharisees? They knew the law, but they did not exercise the law out of the spirit of it. And so with those that claim they love the Word but never apply it, come short of God in the saddest of ways. 'Having heard about the Celestial city, having seen it, but never allowed to enter it', this is the worse way for any soul. 'Consider' brethren, that you be not found in such fashion. The second person, is one that 'considers' the instructions of God for their life but never goes into the word themselves. They have been raised by godly parents, taught by righteous men and women in classes and church, but they never crack the book open for themselve in private study and reading.

Proverbs 28:18

2011-09-16T09:59:00.002-04:00

"Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved: but he that is perverse in his ways shall fall at once."

A verse that we must look at. It's truth is so revealing about this thing call life and the eternal weight of our daily living. Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved - the act of walking is a continued motion; To stand, sit or fall means that you are no longer walking. The very act of salvation means that you begin to walk with the Lord. The fact that it is compared to physical birth is good for us to note. A baby is born; it comes forth from its mother and begins to live and breath. Salvation is a one time event as well, we come forth from the world and ourselves and begin to breath in Him. But if a baby after it is born stops breathing, life ceases to be. It is a continual process of growing, learning, matruing and experiencing life. The Christian is born again, then life begins in Christ and with Christ. 'Old things are past away and behold, all things become new.' The one that shall be saved is the one that continues to walk uprightly. Once a so called Christian ceases to walk uprightly, we should be aware of what happens then. One, God will punish them to bring them back. Two, they were never saved and will return to the ways of the world. Three, they will continue to fight against God and lose more and more of what God intended for them. But, I believe, that if they are truly saved God will bring them back before they die. How else shall God be able to say to the soul that is saved, 'Well done'? And if you are reading this and say, 'I am a Christian'. Then are you walking uprightly? Any doubt, any uncertainty shoudl provoke you to repent and restore the relationship with Christ which you have broken. He has not broken it, it is always on our part. And what does it mean to walk uprightly? WE know that it is not about the posture of our backs. It is about the actions, the words, the intentions that we do day by day and moment by moment. In daily purusits, in long term decisions, in the raising of children, in how we treat others, in how we spend our time, our money, our talents (abilities), and how we spend our time with God. It is more and more evident to me, that if a child of God woudl walk uprightly, then they must become more and more like God, like Christ. And if this be true, then we must learn more an dmore of Him. How do we do this? One, we read of Who He was and what He did in the Gospels. In the Bible, is the clearest of instructions for what it is to walk uprightly. Spelled out on those pages is found the teachings for us. To neglect the Bible, means you lose out on such knowledge of what it is to walk uprightly. Many a Christians fall, sitting and standing can be traced to lack of Bible time. Secondly, we learn more of Christ by being with Him daily. If you are not with God daily, then you are with someone else that will not help you walk uprightly. Only God can teach you these things. Men always fail. 'Looking unto Jesus' is the source of our daily learning. Being with Him, apart from Bible reading and study, is in prayer, meditation and being still. 'Be still and know that I am God'. He reveals Himself to the soul that is before Him to learn and grow and walk uprightly. He teaches us more and more of Himself. Just as naturally, as one can learn about someone else by being with them, so the truth is found in being alone with God. He shows us Who He is when we are with Him. and in these two ways we learn what it is to walk uprightly. Now upon a lifetime spent in this pursuit, at the end of the way, we meet God. And there He pronounces what we already know with certianty, "I am His, and He is mine.' If the soul doesn't know then something is not right between the two. The soul that walketh uprightly shall be saved. Salvation happened along time ago in their earthly life. Now they are saved from the flesh, that is corrupt, the world that is polluted and translated into a new body and into a new place. The saving from sin has already happened upon their confession and profession of Christ as their all. Being saved from eternity in hell is now complete as they are delivered into the haven of rest.
But he that is perverse in his ways shall fall at once - word study, way; as the first part is true, so here is the alternative; If one will not walk uprightly, and live rightly, then they chose to be wicked and evil. Their destruction is set.

Psalm 119:157

2011-09-15T10:26:00.002-04:00

“Many are my persecutors and mine enemies; yet do I not decline from Thy testimonies.”

Word for law - testimonies; David continues to evaluate the situation at hand. It is good to know why things are the way they are. Many are my persecutors and mine enemies - the personal pronoun, ‘my’ and ‘mine’ reflect the two sides of this conflict; The old saying goes, ‘There is two sides to everything’. The reality of this is before us all around. There is day and night; east and west; north and south; here and there; up and down; in and out; light and darkness. These are the physical realities that everyone is found in one place or the other. Spiritually it is the same. There is lost and saved; heaven bound or hell bound; in the Lord or away from the Lord; with God or against God; holy or sinner; child of God or child of the devil; heavenly or earthly. Every soul is one or the other. Christ declares the truth of this world to us; it is a painful truth: ‘There is the broad and wide path that leadeth to destruction and many there be that go therein. There is a the straight and narrow way that leadeth to everlasting life and there be few that find it.’ Oh, the thoughts of this plague me day in and day out. Why must it be so? Why must men be so hardened and exercise love of sin over love of the Savior? Why does no one consider eternity in this generation? All we see around us in our town, in the work place, in the schools, in our nation and yes, even in the church is lost people. Good in their own eyes, religious at best, but lost in sin. David sees the multitude that are against him, ‘Many are. . .’ Yes, there is more of the wicked around us than saved righteous people in our midst. Yet, I see the righteous playing with fire by going to sit down with the enemies of our Lord and playing with them. They will cut your throat in a moment, for they are on one side and you on the other.

Yet, if you wish to play with fire, you will get burnt. David, however, recognized, who was for him and who was against him. Are you able to recognize the enemy? ‘Many are my persecutors and my enemies’ is still true for us today. It was true for David. It was true for Christ and is still the spoken word in heaven. Many are they that are against the ways of God and against God Himself. And if we be for Christ, then they are against us. Too many try to play the middle, straddle the fence. This is not possible with the things of God. Back to our beginning, either you are for Him or against Him. Be wise in this! Know who people are. Sometime the most direct way is the best way, ‘ARe you a Christian?’ Now don’t be content with a simple ‘yes’. Know that there are other things to ask and perceive. ‘Wolves dress in sheep’s clothing’ remember. Satan casts himself as an angel of light sometimes. Bind together with those that stay the course, running the race well. Flee from wicked, religious, emotional people they are apart of the ‘many’ that go away from Christ.

The test of time is the best means to know if they are apart of the many or the few. ‘They went out from us, for they were not of us.’ Endurance throughout years and decades prove the true hearted soldiers of Christ. And few there be of these.

Yet, do I not decline from Thy testimonies - despite there being many of them, David is resolved to walk rightly; This is to be our declaration as well.

Proverbs 28:13

2011-09-14T10:13:00.000-04:00

"He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy."

the very heart of our eternity hangs on this truth. How do we deal with sin? The response to sin in our own life, the sin in our family, the sin in our churches and the sin in our country is what raises us up to God or puts us further away from Him. How we are taught, instructed is very important in how we deal with our sin. One of the problems in the church today, is the absence of dealing properly with sin. The great revivals were effective for they dealt effectively with sin. The weakness and the powerlessness in the church today is becasue we don't deal with the sin rightly. May God teach us what it is to do rightly in this matter. Our souls and the sake of others is in jeporady. His glory and Holy Names' sake is portrayed by our effectual witness or ineffective witness. He that covereth his sins shall not propser - covering our sins by our own merits, works and ways will not do; Cover as you may, the sins still remain. We know the truth of the cross, is that the only thing that deals with our sins is the blood of Christ and His death and atonement for our sins. Christ died for all the sins of the world. Christ died for all mankind. I have no regards for limited atonement or selective choosing of saints and sinners by men. God is the only One Who knows the elect and those that are His. When men seek to answer for God, hell is in control of the work of the kingdom and the work of evangelism.

Psalm 119:156

2011-09-13T11:04:00.002-04:00

"Great are Thy tender mercies, O Lord; quicken me according to Thy judgments."

word for law - judgments; Great are Thy tender mercies, O Lord - how can we ever begin to understand the truth and depths of God's mercies? God is great and greatly to be praised; therefore, everything that proceeds from Him is great. God's grace and mercy is what our souls need so desperately. Praise be unto Him Who is willing to give it and bestow it. when Christians see the mercies of God their soul and hearts rejoice. But many Christians quickly forget the mercies of God and center in on the circumstances at hand. They lose faith and heart. What of the most beneficial things to do is constantly remind yourself of the mercies of God. What are they? Life, breath, ability to think and reason, freedoms, Bible, prayer, Holy Spirit, christ our Savior, churces, brothers and sisters in Christ, provisions, answered prayers, gifts given and bestowed by God and His people, and on an on it goes. Remember the good hand of the Lord upon you and for you. We did nothing to earn these mercies, this is God's nature to show mercy. Don't think that it was because you was so very good and holy and righteou. No, it is the opposite; we are sinful, vile and offensive unto Him, yet He gives mercy in spite of our sinfulness. This is Who God is. Grace is unmerited (unearned for or not worked for) favor by God for the saving of a soul. Every soul is born in sin, practices sin and rejects God; But God Who is gracious givves the opporutnity, the Divine love for the saving of a lost soul. 'While we was yet in sin, Christ loved us'. Mercy is beyond grace; still having never earned it nor worked for it, God simply gives unmerited blessings upon a soul, a people, a nation or a church. Without God's mercy and grace we receive His wrath, judgment and His leaving us. No soul can afford nor survive without God's grace and mercy. It is impossible for such things to be. Satan is waiting for God to remove Himself so he can step in and seize the moment and the soul.

Proverbs 28:5

2011-09-12T08:56:00.002-04:00

"Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek the Lord understand all things."

This verse rings true to the current condition of our nation, the church and our families right now. The truth in this verse will help us to understand a little better why things are the way that they are. Evil men understand not judgment - we don't simply 'bad men' or 'men that make mistakes' but 'evil men' to declare just what they are; These are those that have departed from God in all ways. They seek only to satisfy their selves and serve Satan's purposes. Evil men cannot understand the greater things, because their ability is limited and narrowed. They walk with blinders on in this life. They are oblivious to anything else going on. They have rjected God and He is withdrawn from them. Judgment is that which all men shall stand in. Every soul shall be weighed in the balances and judged. Ravenhill mused, preached, prayed and labored after the 'judgement seat of Christ for half of his life. He declared, 'We are not only going to be judged for 'what' we did; but also for 'why' we did what we did.' Evvil men care nothing for any of these things. God has removed from them the ability to understand. He allows for them to continue as fools and remain ignorant of their own choosing. therefore, when judgment is passed upon them they cannot grasp nor understand it. If they are faced with their sins, that they are sinners against a holy God, they revolt. Humanism is at the core of all this. The lover of self and sin for selfish contentment is what keeps them from being concerned that they have provoked a holy God to wrath. A nation, set up to appease the pleasures of the flesh is that which keeps men from seeing the truth of eternity. 'Why worry about death and judgment? Will do that when we get old and nothing else to do', they say and think. But far too many die young and without any opportunity to repent or make a true appeal to God for mercy and forgiveneness. Yea, God strikes evil men down so that they cannot respond. This is the plight of many people around us. They have lost the ability to understand and go out into an eternal hell, only too late to see and know that they had the chance to repent but they missed it. And they live for etenrity in punishment and pain with the knowledge of 'what could have been' - REGRET. but they that seek the Lord understand all things - word study, seek/find; word study, all; Here we see the exact opposite of the first part of this verse. Evil men can't understand; but those that seek after God will be given understanding from Him.

Psalm 119:155

2011-09-08T09:15:00.002-04:00

"Salvation is far from the wicked: for they seek not Thy statutes."

word for law - statutes; The first two verses in this 20th section were a plea for deliverance. Here, David states the reality of these wicked ones. Salvation is far from the wicked - 'thou shalt call His Name, Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins'; The very beginning of man's fall in the garden of Eden, provoked God to make a way of redemption for these lost souls. They needed saving from their sin. You and I are nothing apart from the saving of the soul from wickedness and sin. To know this truth is wisdom and understanding of the universe and of all history. To not know this truth is the peril of sinful men and the curse of eternity in hell. We know too many that this phrase is true of them. 'Salvation is far from the wicked' They practice sin daily, hourly, yea even to the minute. Their language is rough and coarse, filled with profanity and taking our Lord's Name in vain. They practice evil every chance they get. They follow their master, Satan, and he leads them to hell in shrewd, vile ways. Caring not our LOrd was crucified, they mock, jeer and reproach the soundness of the Gospel. They reject every invite; scorn every tear that is shed over them. Knowing nothing of His death on the cross and caring not for anything of truth or eternity. They are only interested in the here and now, and only seek what pleases the soul and the flesh. WE know the truth and the reality of this phrase, 'Salvation is far from the wicked.' We are living in it, we see it, it is all around. The deepest pain, is that we see our families perishing. WE know their eternal plight unless the God of mercy and grace seizes them for salvation. Christ died for all; Christ died to remove the sin that separates us from God. But Christ also taught us that there is a path straight and narrow that leads to Him, few their be that find it; there is a path wide and broad that leads to hell, many there be that go on it. Oh, God, this is our plea; the wicked are perishing! They are our family, friends, neighbors, acquaintances. We have no means to save them. SAlvation is of Thee, O God. 'For there is no other Name given under heaven whereby we must be saved, but the Name of Jesus.' Oh, God hear our cry, know our sorrow; for them You died as well. Have mercy, o Jesus of Nazareth; Thou art the Christ, Have mecry on their lost souls. They are the wicked herein mentioned! They pracitice it every day, with no sorrow nor fear. But You are mighty to save! You are able to save from the uttermost! Then save these wicked. Time is running out, opporutnities are shrinking, the day is far spent and the night is at hand. Do what only You can do, send Thy glory down to reveal Your Divine Presence of power, redemption, mercy and quickening. Oh, God, we know the truth of this, 'Salvation is far from the wicked'. It is our reality, it is our present day. Few there be that be saved, in our homes, in our churches, in our town, in our nation and in the world. OH, God save these wicked ones today. For today is the day of salvation, and now is the accepting time. For Your glory, for Your honor, In the Name of Jesus we pray and beg, Amen!

'Salvation is far from the wicked' Not becuase God does not desire to save; He came to seek and to save. Not because He does not love the sinner; 'while we was yet sinners (in sin), Christ died for us'. It is because they have rejected His invitation. They have scorned His love and mercy. They have chosen the things of this world over the things of eternity. Oh, how real all this is. It is the tesitmony and lifestyle of so many. But let us never count that our Lord God Almighty did not do, nor has not done all that could be done for the sake of seeing lost men be redeemed. Our Lord has done all well. He has made a way; He has offered the sacrifice acceptable for sin; He has paid the debt in full; He has made the way clear; HE has offered the day of salvation. Yet, they have said, 'NO'. They have chosen to flee from Him, Who loved them to him who hates them. Satan allures them with lies, for he is the father of lies, and then destroys them. Salvation is far from the wicked because they have put it far from them. This makes SAtan so happy. This makes heaven so sad. Just as the rich, young ruler went from Jesus sad and sorrowful; so we know what this means for their eternity. Having chosen the present things of this world, they are removed from the riches of eternal grace and glory in heaven with Him. They have made their choice.

For they seek not Thy statutes - word study, to seek/find; Jesus declared, 'I am the way, the truth and the life'. The reason these wicked do not find the way, the truth and the life is because they will not seek for it. They do not desire it, they do not have enough about them to get up and go find it. there are numerous churches all around that offers the conenience for them to enter in and hear the Gospel truth. But they refuse to go. The fact, that some may argue that most churches, or some, do not preach the truth is another matter. The mere point of this is that numbers are so low of people entering into the church at all, shows the affect, 'how shall they hear' especially if they don't go to where they can hear. We are left with a small number of those that do seek. The vast majority are of the sort to be entertained, to be pleased, to have their ears tickled. The Bible is rejected among these people. Not only will they not enter the church to hear the statutes, they will not open the bible to read it. We have numerous churches, but I would dare say, that we have double the amount of bibles available in this country. Could we not say almost every home has a Bible or at least could have a Bible to read? It is certainly close to it. But the fact that simply becauase there are many, does not mean that people read it, nor open it. 'they seek not Thy word'. They are ignorant of the Word and its truth. so not only will they not enter the church to hear it, they refuse to read it. The absence of the Word of God that brings truth is the reason that salvation is so far from the wicked. what shall we say now to the fact that the church is as guilty of these things as the country?

The church numerically sits with lower and lower attendance each year. The numbers of those that read their Bible daily and read through their Bibles in a year is so weak and pathetice, it is no wonder that hell is advancing. We have seen God move and work in areas of the world where there is little Bible. Yet, where the Word is present, there is greater increase because it is preached, taught, lived and adhered to. The absence of the Word of God does not mean that God cannot work; He is sovereign and can do what He pleases. Yet, a people, a family, a soul, a church that avoids the Word of God is sure to fail. Promises, instructions, helps, hope, miracles, directions are found in the Word of God. Remove the Word and all these things are removed. What a dismissal picture is found!

We see the reality that 'salvation is so far from the wicked' because of the avoidance of the Word of God. 'IN the beginningg was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.' When a people, soul or church avvoids the Bible, they avoid the Word. They remove Christ from all their presence. And if Christ is not there occupying our minds, hearts and souls, then SAtan and evil is. One or the other is found within us. We choose by our receivng the Word or rejecting the Word.

then our tasks is not only to seek for the wicked to be saved, but to seek for a return to the Word of God. 'Faith cometh by hearing'; to hear the truth, to hear the Word of God about Christ being the only Name for salvation, for redemption. Pray for the lost, pray for the Word of God to go forth abundantly. And know the truth of all this, wickedness and sin abound because the Word is avoided and removed. Yea, even from His Own house. You cannot be a Christian and avoid these central pillars of truth.

Finished 9 10 11

Proverbs 27:23 - a devotion for pastors

2011-09-05T10:34:00.003-04:00

"Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds."

A devotion for pastors!

It is the precious gift of being called into the ministry by our Lord. HE calls us for service to His people. There are many different gifts we know to be found in the church. 'There are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.' OH, the high costs of each of these gifts that are distritbuted to the saints. Look back at Jeremiah. 'Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I santcified thee,a dn I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.' Look at John the Baptist. 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness; prepare ye the way of the Lord.' Look at Paul. 'And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful putting me into the ministry'. Look at Timothy. 'I charge thee therefore before God. . . Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season. . . .But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministy.' So we see some example of God calling, preparing and using men in the Bible to fulfill His desired end. It is a gift for the servants of the Lord; blessed to be given and also easily taken away to the unprofitable servant. Never, never, NEVER take it for granted; once given, always had. The Spirit of the Lord comes upon a man to use them; and can just as easily be replaced, as with King Saul, to be replaced with an evil spirit from the Lord.
And with this great gift given, there is certain responsiblities required by the Lord upon us. Here in this verse is a part of that responsiblity, looking after the flock. Oh, there is so much involved in this. Dealing with the flock found inside a church means that we are dealing with numerous personalities; numerous temperments; numerous opinions; numerous situations and on and on it goes. There is no way to manage such conditions apart from the power of the Lord interacting and maintaining. Praise His Name, that He has promised, 'Peter, upon you I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.' IN many ways, it seems hell has had his way, has destroyed, has marred the chruch. Yet, He hath said it, HE Who cannot lie, has said it, 'hell shall not prevail'.
LEt us divide the interest of tending to the flocks into several points:
1. spiritual; 2. physical; 3. family; and 4. kingdom

1. what is it to know the state of the flock in regards to spiritual?