Category Archives: Faith / Trusting God

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Though God May Seem Distant, He Simply Waits for His Timing

Sometimes God may seem disengaged from our trials and challenges for a time. However, in His timing, He will come against the enemies of His people. He does so in a way that brings honor and glory to His name.

Take heart and be encouraged if you are in a situation where it feels like God is distant. He has not changed. He is still sovereign. You need only focus on your relationship with God and trust in Him. He will come in His timing.

Isaiah 18

Message to Ethiopia

1Alas, oh land of whirring wings
Which lies beyond the rivers of Cush,

      2Which sends envoys by the sea,
Even in papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters.
Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth,
To a people feared far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation
Whose land the rivers divide.

      3All you inhabitants of the world and dwellers on earth,
As soon as a standard is raised on the mountains, you will see it,
And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it.

4For thus the LORD has told me,
“I will look from My dwelling place quietly
Like dazzling heat in the sunshine,
Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”

      5For before the harvest, as soon as the bud blossoms
And the flower becomes a ripening grape,
Then He will cut off the sprigs with pruning knives
And remove and cut away the spreading branches.

      6They will be left together for mountain birds of prey,
And for the beasts of the earth;
And the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them,
And all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them.

      7At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the LORD of hosts
From a people tall and smooth,
Even from a people feared far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation,
Whose land the rivers divide—
To the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, even Mount Zion.

God is always in control. God is always aware of our challenges and cares for us. In some cases, He is using tough situations to grow or shape us or draw us back near to Him. Trust in Him and focus on Him in any trials!

I invite you to pray with me:

Father, thank You for Your word. Thank You for the assurance that You will never leave nor forsake us. Thank You that we can trust in You even in difficult times! Thank You that You rescue us in Your timing to accomplish Your purposes, for we know that You love us. I pray this in the name of Yeshua. Amen. 

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

All Powerful / King of All, Faith / Trusting God, Faithful, Father / Yahweh, Grace / Forgiveness, Hope, Loving / Kind, Merciful, Peace / Rest, Prophecy, Prophecy, Through Prophets, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

Have You Ever Felt Overwhelmed?

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the challenges and perhaps enemies you feel are coming before you? I suspect Judah felt that way when Israel and Syria were aligned against them. However, Isaiah 17 reminds us that God is all-powerful. He is able to bring down your enemies before you and remove what obstacles you are facing. Put your faith in the LORD. Follow His ways. Be encouraged.

I think the Matthew Henry Concise commentary includes some good background on Isaiah 17 for those interested. I want to highlight a few sentences in particular to share.

“Happy are those who remember God as their salvation, and rely on his power and grace. The trouble of the believers, and the prosperity of their enemies, will be equally short; while the joy of the former, and the destruction of those that hate and spoil them, shall last for ever.”

Isaiah 17

Prophecy about Damascus

      1The oracle concerning Damascus.
“Behold, Damascus is about to be removed from being a city
And will become a fallen ruin.

      2“The cities of Aroer are forsaken;
They will be for flocks to lie down in,
And there will be no one to frighten them.

      3“The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,
And sovereignty from Damascus
And the remnant of Aram;
They will be like the glory of the sons of Israel,”
Declares the LORD of hosts.

      4Now in that day the glory of Jacob will fade,
And the fatness of his flesh will become lean.

      5It will be even like the reaper gathering the standing grain,
As his arm harvests the ears,
Or it will be like one gleaning ears of grain
In the valley of Rephaim.

      6Yet gleanings will be left in it like the shaking of an olive tree,
Two or three olives on the topmost bough,
Four or five on the branches of a fruitful tree,
Declares the LORD, the God of Israel.

      7In that day man will have regard for his Maker
And his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel.

      8He will not have regard for the altars, the work of his hands,
Nor will he look to that which his fingers have made,
Even the Asherim and incense stands.

      9In that day their strong cities will be like forsaken places in the forest,
Or like branches which they abandoned before the sons of Israel;
And the land will be a desolation.

      10For you have forgotten the God of your salvation
And have not remembered the rock of your refuge.
Therefore you plant delightful plants
And set them with vine slips of a strange god.

      11In the day that you plant it you carefully fence it in,
And in the morning you bring your seed to blossom;
But the harvest will be a heap
In a day of sickliness and incurable pain.

      12Alas, the uproar of many peoples
Who roar like the roaring of the seas,
And the rumbling of nations
Who rush on like the rumbling of mighty waters!

      13The nations rumble on like the rumbling of many waters,
But He will rebuke them and they will flee far away,
And be chased like chaff in the mountains before the wind,
Or like whirling dust before a gale.

      14At evening time, behold, there is terror!
Before morning they are no more.
Such will be the portion of those who plunder us
And the lot of those who pillage us.

I want to close by coming back to the point highlighted above from the Matthew Henry Concise commentary.

“Happy are those who remember God as their salvation, and rely on his power and grace. The trouble of the believers, and the prosperity of their enemies, will be equally short; while the joy of the former, and the destruction of those that hate and spoil them, shall last for ever.”

I invite you to pray with me:

Father, help me to remember You are my salvation. Help me to rely on Your power and grace. The trouble of believers and the prosperity of our enemies will be equally short. Our joy as believers will last forever as we draw nearer to You.  Help us to find peace by casting our anxiety and worries upon You for You care for us. I pray this in the name of Yeshua, Amen. 

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Faith / Trusting God, Learning To Pray Effectively, Wise

Seeking Wisdom from the One Who Is Truly Wise

Truly if you want wisdom, do not look to universities and degrees in higher learning, though those may have some value, but instead look to the Lord and ask Him humbly for the wisdom you seek. Pursue it in study of the scriptures and prayer and God will give it to you in the measure and time He deems appropriate.

Do not seek it though to accomplish your own plans and desires for you own glory, but rather for the Lord’s plans for His glory through you. Do not ask for it expecting Him not to give it either, but rather expect and trust that He will grant what you ask.

2 Chronicles 1

Solomon’s Prayer for Wisdom

     8Solomon said to God, “You have dealt with my father David with great lovingkindness, and have made me king in his place. 9“Now, O LORD God, Your promise to my father David is fulfilled, for You have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. 10“Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can rule this great people of Yours?” 11God said to Solomon, “Because you had this in mind, and did not ask for riches, wealth or honor, or the life of those who hate you, nor have you even asked for long life, but you have asked for yourself wisdom and knowledge that you may rule My people over whom I have made you king, 12wisdom and knowledge have been granted to you. And I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings who were before you has possessed nor those who will come after you.” 13So Solomon went from the high place which was at Gibeon, from the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem, and he reigned over Israel.

James 1:5-8

    5But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

I invite you to pray with me:

Father, please grant me wisdom. Help me to grow in my knowledge of You and Your word and also in whatever areas You are calling me to serve You. I will be single minded and not double minded. I ask for wisdom fully anticipating that You not only can but will grant it in Your timing and to the fullness of Your measure. In the name of Yeshua we pray. amen. 

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

All Powerful / King of All, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Faith / Trusting God, Faithful, Holy / Set Apart, Protector / Deliverer, Seeking God, Strong in Our Weakness, Submitted / Servant

The LORD Is Sanctuary for the Believing Remnant

God always seems to sustain a righteous, believing remnant among His people. Even as the nation around them falls away from God, there are some who still seek Him and who still try to live according to His ways. The context in Isaiah is similar. The nation has fallen away from God. There is war. There is a believing remnant.

What is fascinating is that in verse 14 we see that God can at once be a sanctuary for His remnant and also a stone to strike or stumble over for the rest of the nation. There is reason to be encouraged and hopeful for the remnant. God will come. Wait for the LORD and eagerly seek Him.

Do not be drawn astray by the rest of the lost in your nation, even those who claim to follow the LORD. Seek the LORD and wait for Him. Hold fast to His instructions. Seek God and God alone for sanctuary.

Isaiah 8:9-22

A Believing Remnant

9“Be broken, O peoples, and be shattered;
And give ear, all remote places of the earth.
Gird yourselves, yet be shattered;
Gird yourselves, yet be shattered.

      10“Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted;
State a proposal, but it will not stand,
For God is with us.”

      11For thus the LORD spoke to me with mighty power and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

      12“You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’
In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy,
And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it.

      13“It is the LORD of hosts whom you should regard as holy.
And He shall be your fear,
And He shall be your dread.

      14“Then He shall become a sanctuary;
But to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over,
And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

      15“Many will stumble over them,
Then they will fall and be broken;
They will even be snared and caught.”

      16Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. 17And I will wait for the LORD who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will even look eagerly for Him. 18Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.

      19When they say to you, “Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. 21They will pass through the land hard-pressed and famished, and it will turn out that when they are hungry, they will be enraged and curse their king and their God as they face upward. 22Then they will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness.

I continue to be struck by how closely the book of Isaiah applies to our nation even today. Most of what was a godly nation are lost. Many claim God in name only. Those of us who find ourselves the seemingly small but faithful remnant, should not lose heart. Be encouraged. Seek the LORD earnestly and eagerly. Trust in His instructions while we wait and do not listen to the ways of the nation around us.

I invite you to pray with me:

Father, thank You for hope and encouragement for Your faithful remnant. We eagerly seek You. Please turn the people’s hearts to You, many for the first time. Raise up the righteous to lead and have positions of authority throughout our nation in government, business, healthcare, education, and absolutely in Your church. Enlighten the minds of the people to understand and apply Your word and Your truth in our lives. In the name of Yeshua, our Messiah, we pray. Amen

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Courage / Fear, Faith / Trusting God, Peace / Rest

What Do We Do When Feeling Overwhelmed?

We all feel overwhelmed at times, or at least I certainly have experienced that. God’s word gives us clear guidance. I will share two scriptures that speak directly to it, but then also share one from Isaiah which paints a very specific example that God’s people experienced.

1 Peter 5:6-9

  6Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 8Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.

If hearing from Peter does not give us full conviction, then perhaps we also do well to listen to our Messiah on this point.

Matthew 6:25-33

The Cure for Anxiety

      25“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26“Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27“And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? 28“And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30“But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32“For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

      34“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

This is powerful if we get a hold of it. I also acknowledge from my own walk that it can seem challenging to really do this emotionally. One key, of course, is that we don’t use this as an excuse not to take action to remedy our situation. For example, if you are fighting finances and do not have full employment, go pursue it. While you do, lean into your faith and cast your anxiety onto God asking Him to help.  Do not use this as an excuse to sit on the couch without a job and simply say that you will not worry about it. Proverbs speaks over and over about diligence and hard work.

Isaiah 7 has another bold example of a situation in which people at war were feeling anxiety. Most of us would say that we would certainly understand that! However, God’s word through Isaiah is the same as above. After telling the king that God was going to protect them, Isaiah goes on to say, “If you will not believe, you surely shall not last.” Our faith is important to God. When He tells us He will do something, we need to embrace it! This does not mean that God will grant us success in all things we choose to do. Sometimes we are not doing what He has called us to do, like the conditions in Israel we read about in Isaiah chapters 1-6. In such cases discipline and repentance often are prescribed.

Isaiah 7:1-12

War against Jerusalem

      1Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not conquer it. 2When it was reported to the house of David, saying, “The Arameans have camped in Ephraim,” his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake with the wind.

      3Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the fuller’s field, 4and say to him, ‘Take care and be calm, have no fear and do not be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering firebrands, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah. 5‘Because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying, 6“Let us go up against Judah and terrorize it, and make for ourselves a breach in its walls and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” 7thus says the Lord GOD: “It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass. 8“For the head of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another 65 years Ephraim will be shattered, so that it is no longer a people), 9and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, you surely shall not last.”’”

I invite you to pray with me:

Father God. Thank you that we can trust in You! When we feel anxiety and stress, help us to cast it upon You for we know you care. Grant us wisdom when we need to repent and change our ways or the things we are pursuing. Do not let us be prideful in assuming we are never in error, but instead help us to dwell in connection to Holy Spirit to lead and guide us. When we are with you and pursuing what You have called us to pursue, grant that we have the faith and courage to continue and to cast our anxiety and worry on You. We pray this in the name of Yeshua our Messiah. Amen. 

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Faith / Trusting God, Submitted / Servant, Through Prophets, Visions

Whom Shall I Send?

At the core of this chapter in Isaiah is a fundamental question that applies throughout time. God asks, “Whom shall I send?” We must each decide how we will answer such a question, for God will likely respond according to our answer. I want to answer as Isaiah did, in faith, even if I may be intimidated by what changes that brings in my life. “Here I am LORD. Send me!”

Isaiah 6

Isaiah’s Vision

      1In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

3And one called out to another and said,
“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts,
The whole earth is full of His glory.”

4And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.

5Then I said,
“Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”

      6Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”

Isaiah’s Commission

      8Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

9He said, “Go, and tell this people:
‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive;
Keep on looking, but do not understand.’

      10“Render the hearts of this people insensitive,
Their ears dull,
And their eyes dim,
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
Understand with their hearts,
And return and be healed.”

11Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered,
“Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant,
Houses are without people
And the land is utterly desolate,

      12“The LORD has removed men far away,
And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.

      13“Yet there will be a tenth portion in it,
And it will again be subject to burning,
Like a terebinth or an oak
Whose stump remains when it is felled.
The holy seed is its stump.”

When we answer God’s call, let us try to do so in faith and with confidence in Him. We don’t need to think about how we will do what He calls us to do. He already knows how this will work out when He sends us. Next time you hear the LORD asking, “Whom will I send?”, what will be your answer?

I invite you to pray with me:

Father, thank you for Your holy word that helps us to understand You and shares examples of Your relationship with Your people. Thank You for examples like Isaiah that can inspire us. Help prepare Your people to step forward and declare, “Here I am. Send me!” In the name of Yeshua we pray. Amen. 

  Shalom. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Compassionate, Faith / Trusting God, Fear / Reverence for God, Holy / Set Apart, Loving / Kind, Obeying God, Protector / Deliverer, Strong in Our Weakness, Through Prophets, Visions

God Provides Shelter and Refuge for the Righteous Remnant

We continue in Isaiah 4 to read about the vision from God through Isaiah for God’s people who have turned from His ways and blended with the world. To understand the full effect, I encourage you to read chapters 1-3 if you have not been reading along with us in the past few days. God’s judgment was forceful against His rebellious people. As we reach the conclusion of the vision here in chapter 4, we see some relief and hope for the remnant, which is declared holy, or set apart for God’s purpose and living according to God’s ways. Now, having purged the wickedness, He creates shelter and refuge for the remnant.

Isaiah 4

A Remnant Prepared

      1For seven women will take hold of one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach!”

      2In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel. 3It will come about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem. 4When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning, 5then the LORD will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy. 6There will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain.

We can certainly conclude in our day, as in Isaiah’s day, that the remnant will often suffer to some extent along with the wicked who dwell among them and dominate the nation in which they live. However, there is always hope for the remnant who remain faithful to the LORD.

Take 5 minutes (or more) and pray not only for yourself and your family, but also for God’s people among the community and nation in which you live. Pray further for the nation as a whole and the people in it to turn to God and repent of their wicked ways. Pray that the LORD would raise up righteous leaders and prepare the people to hear them. Pray that He would strike down, remove, or convert any wicked leaders who are leading the people and the nation down the wrong path. Pray that the eyes of the people would be opened to the wonderful ways of God and they would turn to Him and His ways with a passion that would sweep the nation. Pray for a return to holiness and godliness for Yahweh’s people through Yeshua. Pray in the name of our messiah, Yeshua.

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

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Do Not Be Conformed to This World

How shall we treat one another as brothers and sisters in the faith? How shall we treat those who consider us their enemies? Let us not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind, so that we may prove that the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. We are to be different from the world even though we live within it.

Romans 12

Dedicated Service

      1Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

      3For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. 4For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, 5so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; 7if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; 8or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

      9Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; 11not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, 13contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

      14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. 17Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. 18If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. 19Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord. 20“BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.” 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

What a fantastic summary of how we are to be in this world if we are to be disciples of Christ! When we live like this we are certainly not conformed to the world. Through the Holy Spirit we can continue striving to live according to these instructions.

This scripture is worth reading over a few times and prayerfully reflecting on each element as it applies in our lives. Are there areas we can be encouraged that we feel we are living up to these instructions? What are they for you? Are there areas that you find the Holy Spirit reminding you that you need to do better? What are they? Pray that God would help you on your journey to be more like Christ. This is a great summary of some key attitude and behavior elements to focus on.

I invite you to pray with me:

Father, please lead and guide me. Grant me deeper understanding of Your word. Help me to live according to Your instructions laid out by Paul in Romans 12. Help all of Your people to do so. Let us be a light to draw others to You.

In Yeshua’s name I pray. Amen. 

Shalom

Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Faith / Trusting God, Heaven and Hell, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Righteousness / Serving God, Salvation

Many Are Zealous for God, but Lack Proper Understanding

Many are zealous for God but lack proper understanding. To be sure, this is not new. We see evidence about it throughout Paul’s letters as he addresses the early church across many cities. In fact, we see evidence in Paul’s himself. He was zealous for Yahweh but went about persecuting followers of Christ until Yeshua met him on the road to Damascus.

Studying and learning the proper understanding about God and His ways is important not only for our lives in this world, but also for salvation and our life after death. We do well to study and pray over the scriptures and then live them out in our own lives as best we can understand.

Romans 10:1-13

The Word of Faith Brings Salvation

      1Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. 2For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. 3For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. 4For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

      5For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness. 6But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, ‘WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), 7or ‘WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” 8But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” 12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”

Paul was writing about people who strived to accomplish righteousness through obedience to the law rather than faith in Yeshua.

Romans 9:30-32

     30What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; 31but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. 32Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,

The truth is simple, yet many stumble in pursuing it. I certainly did based on false doctrine I was taught in church growing up.  First, we must be careful in reading Paul, as Peter warned in 2Peter 3:14-18.

 14Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, 15and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, 18but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

In particular, Paul writes in Romans 10:4,

4For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Does this mean God’s law is over? Not at all. Paul writes about several “laws” in his letters including God’s law, the law of sin and death, the law of righteousness and others. Translation matters. Study the Hebrew root word that is translated in English to “law” and we see it refers more literally to “the way to go” or “instructions” rather than what we think of today as a legal code. Paul is referring to Christ being the end of people trying to achieve righteousness on their own, not the end of obedience to God’s law.

We cannot be made righteous through works or by following the law perfectly. We are made righteous through faith in Christ. True faith is revealed through our good works, open confession of Yeshua as Christ, and our desire to please Yahweh by obeying all of His instructions including the law. Neither those who ignore the law nor those who look for salvation through the law are in right standing before God.

The law is neither a path to salvation nor obsolete and meaningless. It is God’s instruction to His people. Those who truly believe Jesus is Christ should then model themselves after Him and His teaching… which included obedience to God’s law. We do so simply because that is the instruction of our Messiah. Why would we not obey if we truly believe Yeshua is Messiah? It would be like saying “I believe in gravity” but then stepping off the top of a building expecting not to fall. It does not make any sense.

To pursue meaningful depth of understanding around the truth of God’s word we must make study of the Bible and prayer a priority and invest time and energy in it. We cannot simply show up 1 hour a week or 2 and assume we will learn what God wants to share with us and how to apply it in our lives. We would not expect to fully understand and love a spouse or children with such a small investment in time… how then can we expect to know and love our infinite Father in heaven with such a small-time commitment?

Invest at least 30 minutes a day in prayer and Bible study as a start. Start with 10 if that is all you feel you can give, but do not stay there.  More than 30 minutes a day is even better. Over time you will observe yourself as you grow in your understanding of Yahweh, our Creator.

What do you want to hear when you reach the end of your life and face God?

Matthew 7:21-23

      21“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

Take some time now, even if only 5 minutes, to get started coming before God in prayer. Read more on prayer with Learning to Pray Effectively.

Shalom

Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Compassionate, Faith / Trusting God, His Ways Are Not Our Ways, Merciful

Romans 9 Highlights at Least Two Key Themes

It is not the children of the flesh, but those of faith and the promise that are Israel, or God’s people.  This is not to say that Christians replace Israel as God’s people. Remember that Yeshua’s disciples and Yeshua were of Jewish ancestry. It is by faith that Jewish people find and follow Messiah and by faith that Gentiles may do so as well. Israel is not replaced, but rather the Gentiles are grafted into Israel when they follow Yeshua (Romans 11: 16-24). Others may be removed due to lack of faith.

Another key theme from our scripture reading today is that God will determine His purposes for each person. He will have mercy on whom He chooses, and He will harden whom He chooses. He is righteous in doing so and we do well not to focus our attention on second guessing God. Rather, seek to understand Him more and allow our perspective to mature and change as needed.

Romans 9

Solicitude for Israel

      1I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, 2that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. 3For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, 4who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, 5whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.

      6But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; 7nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED.” 8That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. 9For this is the word of promise: “AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON.” 10And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; 11for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, 12it was said to her, “THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.” 13Just as it is written, “JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.”

      14What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! 15For He says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.” 16So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. 17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.” 18So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.

      19You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” 20On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? 21Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? 22What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, 24even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.

25As He says also in Hosea,
“I WILL CALL THOSE WHO WERE NOT MY PEOPLE, ‘MY PEOPLE,’
AND HER WHO WAS NOT BELOVED, ‘BELOVED.’”

      26“AND IT SHALL BE THAT IN THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS SAID TO THEM, ‘YOU ARE NOT MY PEOPLE,’
THERE THEY SHALL BE CALLED SONS OF THE LIVING GOD.”

      27Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “THOUGH THE NUMBER OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL BE LIKE THE SAND OF THE SEA, IT IS THE REMNANT THAT WILL BE SAVED; 28FOR THE LORD WILL EXECUTE HIS WORD ON THE EARTH, THOROUGHLY AND QUICKLY.”

29And just as Isaiah foretold,
“UNLESS THE LORD OF SABAOTH HAD LEFT TO US A POSTERITY,
WE WOULD HAVE BECOME LIKE SODOM, AND WOULD HAVE RESEMBLED GOMORRAH.”

      30What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; 31but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. 32Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,

33just as it is written,
“BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE,
AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”

It is difficult at times to understand that Pharaoh was used by God through his rejection of God! It does not seem fair to us that God raised up Pharaoh to be on the receiving end of some punishing miracles (from Egypt’s perspective). Some things are harder to understand than others in God’s word, but that does not make them any less relevant or true. Who are we to question God?

 20On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? 21Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? 22What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, 24even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.

We do well to accept what scripture we understand on reason and take the rest on faith. Do I need to know how an airplane works to fly in one? Must I know the details of how gravity works to learn how to navigate without injury? Is it important for me to understand the details of my eye in order to wear glasses or contact lenses and see clearly? Of course not! Why, then, are we so tempted to reject that which we do not immediately understand in scripture? Study and pray and ask God to reveal the truth to you and He will… in His timing. In the meanwhile, learn to act and think in such a way that you recognize the truth of God’s word even if you don’t understand the why and how.

I invite you to pray with me:

Father, please grant me humility and wisdom and guide me in my understanding and relationship with You. Let me trust in You rather than my own opinion. Amen. 

Shalom

Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.