Author: smithaw50

I live in NJ. Concentrating now on a getting a full time writing career started. Glad you could be with me on the journey. Ready? Here we go...

Devotional 215: More With Us

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

smithaw50Leave a comment

2 Kings 6:16

16 So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

2 Chronicles 32:7

7 “Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed before the king of Assyria, nor before all the multitude that is with him; for there are more with us than with him.

1 John 4:4

4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

The concept of ‘more’ and ‘greater’ was always with us. It was greater to know G-d, and have more than we needed preserved by His hand, as long as the Tree of Knowledge remained untouched.

Lucifer was the brightest, most beautiful, angel in God’s sight until he no longer chose to submit to God’s sovereignty, taking a full third of all the angels with him.

And therein lies the problem, and the reason for our need to be reconciled: It is not that we don’t have God, it’s the fact that we don’t choose God.

If children inherit the genetics of their parents, and Adam and Eve were the source of all humanity, it stands to reason we are inherently prone to sin and all that comes with it. The problem for us is that God will not purge and block it from us, as He did with the Tree of Life, because He wants us to choose what is greater, which is to renounce sinning and choose to love Him and do His will by keeping His commandments and holding His name in reverence and fear, as befits a Father worthy of the title.

Today, even as His wrath kindles against the nations and we hurtle toward the prophesied end as this evil world grows full of days, in His great mercy and everlasting love, He provided us a way out through Jesus whom He strengthened to be worthy of redeeming us from death, and reconciling us sinless before Him, that He might receive us into His eternal kingdom.

And even in that, our Savior tells us this: (John 10:10)

10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

That being known, we are not to drop our guard against sin. We are also told that not everyone who calls Him ‘Lord’ will enter because in their daily lives their hearts are far from Him, and He will cast them out because of their lawlessness. (Matthew 7:21-23)

Just as there is more and greater in life, there is also more and greater in sin, and three that bear special mention by Jesus: corrupting children (Matthew 18:6), rejecting the Gospel (Matthew 10:15), and blaspheming the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:32), the last being unforgivable even in the day of resurrection.

In whatever ways we have fallen, no matter how frequently or far, we are encouraged that the Father and Son tell us that repentance, confession, and rejecting sin will attract the Father’s attention and re-establish fellowship with Him, as long as we abide in Jesus and listen to the Holy Spirit when convicted that we’re on the wrong path. (Jeremiah 15:19)

Be mindful that not only those who are lawless, but those who are faithless, doubting, rejecting, mocking, and condemning the Word of God, though they don’t believe they are serving His enemies, are in fact, doing exactly that. Their spiritual eyes have been closed as they continue to walk the wide road to hell’s own gates.

Choose this day whom you will serve. (Joshua 24:15)

Therefore I pray:

Lord Jesus,

As we read and meditate on the Word of the Father, made flesh in You, and told to us by You, even as the Spirit imparts to us what is Yours, we rejoice in the time we spend with You, and our hearts and spirits are refreshed and renewed.

We thank You for provision, mercy, grace, access to the throne without sacrifice, and seek Your absolution for our sins. We seek to be worthy of having our names in the Book of Life, and be profitable, fruitful servants worthy of the Kingdom of God, our Father.

We choose, this day, to serve the Father in reverent fear, love, and obedience as we return from the wilderness and traps of a powerful enemy who hates us.

Today we choose more and better for ourselves over the lives we’ve led before You revealed the Father to us and called us out of the world to share the Good News with others, that the Father’s wrath no longer pursues and marks us as Satan’s own. Forgive us, Lord, when we fall away because of the persecution that comes with following You. Send the Spirit to us, that we might have discernment and ignore the fiery darts hurled at us to make our faith waver in anger and fear.

Today, and always, may we abide in You so that we don’t commit more and greater sin, and live the time remaining in abundance and obedience, hand in hand, that we might gain a heart of wisdom and dwell in the house of the Lord our God, forever, in the Kingdom that will not pass away.

May it be done to us as You have said.

Amen.

Devotional 214: The Power to Lay Down My Life

smithaw50Leave a comment

John 10:14-17

14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

17 “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”

This encounter with Jesus confused and saddened the disciples, because despite all they’d seen him do, and all they heard, they still had no idea of the true power of His divinity because it was offset by His humility, kindness, compassion, and mercy.

He was also not above rebuking them for wavering in their faith or their sense of entitlement (Luke 9:54), but since He always did it with love as well, it left them unprepared for His appearance at Passover after He rose.

The religious leaders, the Pharisees in particular, kept a close watch on Him, and likely knew of the miracles He performed with the son of the widow of Nain, and His friend Lazarus, as well as Jairus’ daughter, so they all believed on Him doing it for others, but didn’t believe He could do it for Himself.

Brothers and sisters, let’s be encouraged that as He did it for Himself, it did not reduce or remove His power to do it for us. It is a confirmed event both in the Old and New Testaments. (Hosea 6:2, Matt 27:52-53, John 6:40).

Most importantly, He will not only do it for his own sheep, but for those who’ve gone astray, lost, and not of the Chosen of Israel, but called out of the world to serve the Kingdom according to the Father’s will and because of His great mercy toward us.

Therefore I pray:

Lord Jesus,

We long for the day of the great shout to come forth, greater than the one you used to call Lazarus, for had You not named Him, many more would have come out. It will be as compassionate as Your speaking to the son of the widow, and it will be such that all the unbelievers who died faithless and in their sins will be sent out, as with those gathered around Jairus’ daughter.

Let us then, as Your people, do likewise and send them out from us if they interfere with our relationship with You, so that we might know Your voice even if we aren’t part of Your fold.

Remind us that the Father’s long-suffering will not be eternal, and He will, through You, see His people reconciled and purified, as we are covered by our faith in the power of Your blood to free us from sin, and be forgiven by Him as if our sins never happened.

Help us to abide in You, believing also in the Father who sent You, that we might deliver the Gospel’s message, which is our hope and restoration to put us back on the narrow path.

Let there be reconciliation and restoration as You honor our faith, and let us act while there is yet time, so that we too, like King David, can dwell in the House of Lord forever.

Let it be done to us as You have said.

Amen.

Devotional 213: The Truth of Our Betrayal

smithaw50Leave a comment
Matthew 26:20-25

22 And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, “Lord, is it I?”

20 When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve. 21 Now as they were eating, He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.”

23 He answered and said, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me. 24 The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”

25 Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, “Rabbi, is it I?”

He said to him, “You have said it.”

Judas had seen what all the rest had seen. He walked the same paths, sat at the same feasts, heard the same teachings, had the parables explained to him, and witnessed all the miracles, in the presence of the Promised One.

If Jesus foreknew these things, why choose him? This question is the same as, “If G-d knew that Adam and Eve would disobey Him, why put the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in Eden in the first place?”

Love cannot be forced, and choosing someone to love is a risk, and love is a decision and commitment that is chosen every single day. It is not a feeling, and we do G-d a disservice to say we love Him and receive His Son yet betray Him through our disobedience, lack of spiritual growth, and yielding to temptation.

To choose to submit to authority and yield your will to someone who loves you is not an easy thing. Trust is not easy, nor is it easily earned, yet more than once our Savior says to us, “Assuredly…”, and even more importantly of the kingdom, “If it were not so, I would have told you.”(John 14:2)

Judas, as Paul said of Demas, loved the world. His own declaration, when he came back to himself condemned him. “I’ve betrayed an innocent man.” Too much had been set in motion because of him, and the hearts of the men he sought to give back his bribe were too hard and set against Jesus to receive him.

With every act of disobedience, rebellion, backsliding, and yielding to temptation, we betray Him too.

And like Judas, and the prodigal son, and Saul with the scales of the Serpent blinding his eyes to the Truth, we lose fellowship and place ourselves under wrath.

And again like the prodigal son, and Paul with the scales of the Serpent removed, we are received once more by the grace of our Lord.

Judas, up until the moment he left the room, still had the choice to not go through with what he did, having seen all the rest of them had witnessed walking with the Promised One. Jesus knew at that point the cup of the Father’s wrath and the filth of all our worldly sin would not pass from Him, and G-d would provide no other lamb.

This is why our minds must be renewed: we must think on Him before we act. If I do this, whom does it serve? And our spirits must be refreshed, for He will not despise a contrite spirit. (Psalm 51:17)

Therefore I pray:

Lord Jesus, there is no defense or excuse I can offer for myself for my acts of betrayal. I can only thank G-d that You were sent to provide for me a new covenant of grace and a second chance to be reconciled and enter into my Father’s rest by the power of Your holy blood, shed for me and all who believe.

Today, Lord, I meditate on the message of the Cross and rejoice at the power of the Resurrection on the last day when I too can walk with You and hear all that You would say to me, praising the Father in His light on the new earth for all eternity.

I thank You for redeeming me from being a son of perdition to a son of the Kingdom. Renew my mind, refresh my Spirit, heal me from all my diseases, and grant me boldness to spread the good news that those who believe in You and the One who sent you will, like Lazarus, be free of the grave when Your great shout of ‘Come forth!’ tells us the day of judgment is at hand.

I would enter into my Father’s rest, so I yield to Your authority and love, and trust that if it were not so You would have told me.

Forgive me and receive my repentance. My broken heart is grateful, and my contrite, renewed spirit rejoices in Your victory.
May it be done to me as You have said.

Amen.

Devotional 212: The Deception of Many

smithaw50Leave a comment

Matthew 24

4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.

23 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand.“

John 10:27 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

In the perilous days to come that will determine who survives the harvest, and who ultimately enters into the Father’s rest, having not been earmarked as an enemy of G-d, we see that our Savior, through time and space in warning the disciples, has in His grace, warned us as well.

It is why the doing of the Father’s will is as important as the hearing of it, and why backsliding, doubt, and compromise are dangerous to the soul. We have all, at one point or another, during one trial or another, felt like giving up. We had unanswered questions, and seemed to be perpetually praying for deliverance that was so long in coming, it seemed it would never happen.

When we refer to such long-suffering, the phrase “…has the patience of Job” used to be a go-to. The fact of the matter is that Job had no say for how long G-d would permit Satan to test him. Neither do we, but we are told to always rejoice, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all things (1 Thess: 5-17), to ask, seek, and knock (Matt 7:7-12), to abide in Jesus (John 15:5-8)

What Job had was not patience. Indeed, what he suffered would have broken lesser men who were not so grounded in the Lord. His wife, who’d suffered the same losses, gave in to her despair and put it on Job to rebuke God, but he didn’t.

What Job did have was faith, up to and including that if he died, he would still have trusted in God’s goodness to redeem his soul. Where he went wrong was to defend his own righteousness. (Job 13:15) In his trials, his pride took over and his anger got the better of him until God questioned him, and he repented in ‘dust and ashes.’ (Job 42:6)

As we watch Jesus’ prophecies come to pass, just as they did with the temple the disciples marveled at (Mark 13:2), we are to discern the times as foolish men with wealth and power vie to control a world they didn’t make and can’t own. We are also to stand for the Truth among the mockers and spiritually confused and blinded, waiting for a sign they won’t receive because their hearts are hard, even as they proclaim to ‘walk in my truth’, which is of this world and therefore leads them astray. Let us remember, as humanity becomes lovers of themselves, that God is not mocked. (Galatians 6:7)

Today, let us till the soil of our own hearts, that we not be deceived, (Matt 13:8) , and let us also encourage one another to endure to the end, that we might be saved. (Matt 24:13)

Therefore I pray:

Lord Jesus, I would not be a fool to proclaim in my anger, pride, or sadness in the midst of my trials, that there is no God. Forgive me for my times of backsliding, breaking fellowship, and going my own way. That is the way of darkness, and will lead to the destruction of my soul, the consumption of my works, and the condemnation of my spirit to the outer darkness, a just decision for my lawlessness.

Help us to realize the world is in crisis, and that self-serving, self-important leaders are vying for control of a world they did not make and can’t own. Let us be sound in our doctrine, and clear in whom we are serving, that their words of worldly comfort and isolation don’t become a tempting snare.

As such, help us be more fruitful workers for the kingdom, not just faithful hearers, that the light in us and the works we perform point to God and give Him all the glory, as You have said. (Matt 5:16)

Today we confess our sins, forgive our brothers and sisters their trespasses, and stay still, that we might know that You, O Lord, are with us, and know us, as we listen for Your voice to guide us out of the worldly wilderness that clamors for our attention, just as the false christs and prophets will in the days to come.

Strengthen us with times of refreshing, heal us, guide us, and restore us, that we may gain a heart of wisdom as we return to our Father through faith in Your sacrifice, and grant that we grow to love each other as You love us.

May Your Word be sealed to my Spirit, now and forever.

Amen.

Devotional 211: Witnesses Against Ourselves

smithaw50Leave a comment
Matthew 23:29-31

29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’

31 “Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.

John 1:11

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

Jesus revealed to the disciples all that would happen, but they were unlearned and mostly afraid to ask him about what his leaving would actually mean for them.

In contrast, the Pharisees also saw what Jesus did, heard him, saw the people respond to his miracles and messages, and couldn’t deceive him using their knowledge.

They were also offended by his youth and charisma, not believing his claims. (John 8:57)

Still he ministered to them as much as he ministered to the crowds about them, grieving that they would would not repent and do better by the people. To the last, their jealousy and hatred plagued Jesus even as they watched him dying on the cross, still looking to trap him if he saved himself. (Matthew 27:42)

They would have still found a way to say he deceived them, since they had seen everything else and didn’t believe. They would have gloated, died in their sins, and rendered the atonement void if Jesus had given in to their taunting. This is why Jesus put no effort into watering down or stopping the message in spite of their constant attacks, nor accepted the praise of fickle hearts that followed him to see him do miracles, or receive them. (John 2:23-25)

So when our own faith wavers, our prayers are denied (they are never unanswered), or our petitions granted and manifested in ways we thought would be different, have we ever not been witnesses against ourselves when we ask him to do it our way? Have we never said “If he really loved me, he wouldn’t let…”?

In those moments, we are now witnesses against ourselves, and in those moments of crisis we convince ourselves that His covenant of grace, promises, and assurances are invalid, don’t apply to us, or that there’s more we have to do because we were not delivered.

Let us be reminded that the ‘others’ in Hebrews didn’t surrender their faith in the midst of their trials (Hebrews 11:36-38)

As they did, let us do likewise, not putting ourselves and our descendants under the the curse of our shame. (Matthew 27:23)

Let us rejoice then, that the shedding of His blood was not for covering, but for removal, not as Abel’s blood crying out from the ground as a witness against Cain’s sin of fratricide, and by proxy, our sins against each other, whether in the body or not.

Therefore I pray:

Lord Jesus, I thank you praying that the Father’s wrath not come upon your most relentlessly attacking, religious minded enemies that delivered you into pagan hands to be mocked and murdered.

In and of ourselves, we are convicted in our hearts that we are unprofitable servants and unworthy sinners. Despite our best efforts, we are yet prideful, hard-hearted, stone-eared, stiff-necked and rebellious.

Yet You took our place and suffered the Father’s absence as He covered Heaven with clouds to block You from sight as You took the penalty for our sins, though You knew restoration through resurrection was the final result.

And in that way, Lord, we are much like David in the gratitude and worship of Your sacrifice, asking what are we that the Father is mindful of us.

So in gratitude for the gift of today’s blessings and the promises of tomorrow, Lord, I bow my stiff neck to Your easy yoke, my rebellion to Your forgiveness, my repentance to Your healing power. In faith, I declare that I believe as You ascended back to Your place at the Father’s right hand, so too, we will be restored and raised by the power of Your great shout to come forth, commending our spirits into Your hands, as You gave Your own to God, that we may dwell in His eternal light, under Your eternal rule, forever.

May Your words be sealed to my spirit, now and forevermore.

Amen.

Devotional 210: The End of All

We must remain mindful that we are only passing through before we pass on.

smithaw50Leave a comment

Psalm 119:33

ה HE

33 Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes,
And I shall keep it to the end.

Psalm 119:112

112 I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes
Forever, to the very end.

Psalm 119:75

75 I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are right,
And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.

We were called out of the world for the salvation of our souls, the redemption of corrupt flesh, the renewal of our hard hearts, that we might dwell eternally in the presence of Jesus and the light of G-d, yet there are days when we fall short and begin trying to serve two masters.

The thing to keep in mind is that one of them is already vanquished by our Savior, and that the King of Kings and His angels will purge the spirit realm of the Father’s enemies.

When He afflicts us, it is so that we may be reminded of what awaits those who don’t put their trust in the Son, and that without His protection and mercy, we are under His wrath.

For those who might be facing their mortality through aging, sicknesses, or both, we would do well to remember what Jesus told the disciples: “The things concerning me have an end.” (Luke 22:37) as well as what Jesus said about staying the course: “He who endures to the end shall be saved.” (Matthew 21:13)

Indeed, King David compared being out of G-d’s will to a wineskin in smoke: once useful when it was full, now empty and left to dry in the heat from hearth fires. Knowing he’s being tested, he still promises to keep G-d’s statutes. (Psalm 119:83)

Let’s reflect on how we’re going to keep to the narrow road and fit through the Gate, that we might enter the Father’s rest.

Therefore I pray:

Father in Heaven,

As Your children here on earth, getting caught up in worldly things despite being called out, we forget that in the light of eternity, this world is temporary, and all of the problems we face are the result of letting our guard down in the silences and long days that sometimes follow our prayers as we wait for You to answer.

Send Your Spirit to remind us that when we are afflicted, it is because we’ve strayed, or because You’re pruning us for the next level of service to glorify You, that humanity might look on our works and glorify Him too.

Grant that I would be as a new wineskin, a profitable servant, a willing son, a humble leader, a hard worker, a seed planter, and when I am a prodigal, be one who’s returned to his senses and receives mercy in his father’s arms, as a sheep returns to follow a Good Shepherd.

May Your words be sealed to my spirit, now and forever.

Amen.

Devotional 209: The Wilderness of Sin

smithaw50Leave a comment

Exodus 16:1-4
Bread from Heaven

16 And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt. 2 Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

The children of Israel complained against the Egyptians, then they grew angry with G-d, then they grew angry with Moses and his family, then Moses’ family grew angry at Moses along with the rest of Israel.

They would not be satisfied because they would not submit, and we’re like that with the G-d we pray to, claim to love, say we worship, and vow to glorify. While our intentions are good, and we fulfill the vows as long as we see a manifestation of our prayers and the fulfilling of our desires, what happens when we don’t see them?

Did G-d not send them a deliverer? Did G-d not afflict their enemies? Did G-d not have them take wealth from the land that enslaved them? Did He not provide for them in the wilderness instead of leaving them to die because of their cowardice in the face of His promise to deliver them a land He provided for them, when they had to expend some effort to attain the blessing with a guarantee of victory?

Remember too, their cowardice in sending Moses to the mountain to speak with Him alone instead of gathering in His presence.

If we are the flock, and sin is the wilderness, let us be mindful that when we wander from the Savior that the Father sent us, we are as prone to murmuring and attack as any of the grumbling Israelites.

Recall that they watched Dathan and his cronies and their families fall into the earth, and Miriam plagued and put outside the camp, yet they didn’t stop complaining to the point where Moses asked G-d to kill him rather than continue to lead them and fail. (Numbers 11:15)

Then they tested G-d to the point where Moses then had to intercede to keep the tribes from destruction. (Deuteronomy 9:13-14)

They left the manna and hoarded the quails, not listening to either Moses or G-d.

One could ask, and some have: If G-d is omnipotent, why do we need to expend any effort in purifying ourselves and re-establishing fellowship? Is it not the Father’s role to come to the children?

But He has, in the sending of His Son, Jesus. And as we are the ones who’ve sinned because of our rebellious hearts, it is we who must expend the effort to be reconciled.

He’s even made that easy for us, in that all we have to do is believe and obey what Jesus told us. Through faith in Him, there is no covering, no sacrifice, no ritual as with the pagans. There is confession, repentance, faith, prayer, obedience, and carrying out the commission to go and make disciples of all nations, not just the ones that look like you.

The choice to serve is ours. So are the blessings, and so are the consequences.

Our Father’s plan to reconcile, redeem, and restore us to rest in His kingdom, in the presence of His eternal glory under the scepter of His holy Son, has been given to us, as is the guarantee of our own victory over Satan if we believe with no sensory proof as the pagans seek.

It will not cost us nothing, as when David bought the farmer’s threshing floor despite the man offering it freely to his king. Indeed, it may cost us our very lives. But He gave His for us, in the face of our rebellion and unbelief.

What can we offer Him that He needs? What vow can we make that we won’t break? What acts can we do without expectation of reward? What territories can we enlarge and not cause harm?

We are not called to only hear, but do, His will on earth, as it is in Heaven. If He tells us to do it, that means it can and should be done, because He also tells us that all things are possible with G-d.

Are we doing it? Will we?

Therefore I pray:

Father in Heaven,

There are days I seek the wilderness, but not to isolate myself to pray and meditate on Your holy Word, but to the wilderness of sin to indulge my flesh in its backsliding, tuning out the convicting voice of the Holy Spirit saying, ‘Do not commit this sin. It is rebellious in the Lord’s sight, and your confessions and repentance have now been rendered lawlessness, for which the Son will cast you out,, and the Father utterly destroy you, as if you never were, cut off without remedy.’

The covenant of grace is not a license to sin, and the atonement of Christ’s blood is not to be taken for granted. One may still die in their sin, and be purged at the harvest, for we are reminded that not everyone who says ‘Lord’ will enter. (Matthew 7:21)

It is indeed a foolish sheep who seeks to leave its Shepherd and walk alone in the dark, with no light of Heaven to guide it, walking in the territory of the wolf and serpent.

Call to us once more, Lord Jesus, and receive our wretched presence into Your flock so the enemy does not snatch us from Your mighty hand.

Quench in me the desire to wander, to go astray, to lead astray, and be a danger to myself and my immortal soul.

Let me return to You from the wilderness of sin.

Seal Your Word to my spirit, now and forever.

Amen.

Devotional 208: Spiritual Grasshoppers

The Old Testament sets before us the examples of love, grace, mercy, and justice the Father has for us.

smithaw50Leave a comment

1 Samuel 17:10-11

10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

Numbers 13:32-33

32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. (Proverbs 23:7)

Throughout the Bible we see the Father working through the unlikely, the flawed, and the broken, as we are inherently sinful because the Tree of Knowledge was violated by disobedience. Therefore G-d is just in following through on the physical and spiritual rebuking we incur as a decision to go against Him.

Railing against His sovereignty to discipline His creation we would do well to remember that it is we who break the connection of fellowship with Him, and we are admonished to remedy the breech and seek Him while He may be found. (Isaiah 55:6)

Israel’s trials and redemptions serve as a macrocosm of our individual rebellion. We want to be in control, and set G-d aside for when we need Him, but the ‘problem’ is this: He is omnipotent, sovereign, and holy. He will not compromise with our sinful natures.

If we ever believed we’d never stray from G-d if He manifested Himself to us as He did to the Israelites, (Deut: 7:6) we’re only lying to ourselves. They were so easily prone to grumbling, sin, and backsliding that G-d asked Moses the following question:

11 Then the Lord said to Moses: “How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them? (Num: 14:41)

In turn, Moses asked G-d this:

15 If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now—if I have found favor in Your sight—and do not let me see my wretchedness!” (Num: 11:15)

As elaborate, long, and repetitious as it may seem, G-d’s presence among the Hebrews seems, the Old Testament sets before us the examples of love, mercy, grace, and finally, justice the Father is capable of showing.

Through the Apostle Paul, writing by the Holy Spirit, we are told the war between spirit and flesh is ongoing, and death is the only thing that can stop it. It will remain so for all generations of mankind, before the sinless Son comes to purge the Kingdom of all Satan’s works.

“The choices are simple. Living them ain’t easy.” (Find Him by Cassandra Wilson New Moon Daughter ℗ 1995 Blue Note Records)

“Nevertheless, because You have said…” (Luke 5:5)

Therefore I pray:

Father in Heaven

I would not test Your patience, provoke You to anger, or bear Your punishment, including the utter destruction of my very soul. It is the fate of the wicked and faithless, from which Your Son, in conveying Your love for me, has called me out of their company.

Today, and now, I thank You for sending Him to me, for He has counted me worthy to reveal the truth of Your Word to me, and seal me to Heaven by the power of the Holy Spirit, that I might glorify You in thought, word, and deed as I walk in His light back to You.

Forgive me, sovereign Father, and remember my sins, transgressions, iniquities, backsliding, and rebellion no more, through my faith in His redeeming blood on Calvary’s cross.

I choose to serve You, partaking of the covenant of grace and mercy extended to those who are not Your people. (1 Peter 2:10) (Hosea 2:23)

With the praises of a grateful heart, I bless Your holy Name.

Amen.

Devotional 207: Take Heed, All You People

smithaw50Leave a comment

1st Kings 22:13-23

13 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king. Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably.”

14 But Micaiah said, “As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what the Lord tells me.”

15 When he arrived, the king asked him, “Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or not?”

“Attack and be victorious,” he answered, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.”

16 The king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?”

17 Then Micaiah answered, “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the Lord said, ‘These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.’”

18 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?”

19 Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. 20 And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’

“One suggested this, and another that. 21 Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’

22 “‘By what means?’ the Lord asked.

“‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said.

“‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’

23 “So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you.”

Unholy things and people know when they’re in the presence of holiness. The witch of Endor rebuked King Saul (1 Sam 28: 9-12). The legion asked Jesus if he came to torment them (Luke 8:28)

So it was with Ahab and the prophet Micaiah, even though Ahab had already humbled himself before G-d in the presence of Elijah after the word he received (1 Kings 21:20-29)

Even as Micaiah did what Ahab’s messenger told him, Ahab knew it wasn’t the truth (1 Kings 22:16) because he knew through Elijah’s word that G-d’s prophets were holy men. It’s interesting to see that even after he asked for the truth, Ahab still allowed him to be punished for it when Zedekiah struck him, then mocked him (v. 24) much like the Romans did to Jesus (Luke 22: 64).

As this was done in the presence of witnesses, Micaiah tells all the people there to take heed of the true prophecy regarding Ahab’s fate.

We are told by Jesus himself that false prophets and teachers will be even more plentiful in the last days. John advises us to test to spirits to see if they are from G-d, that we might discern the lies of those who would presume to speak over own lives. (1 John 4:1)

Let us make sure we take heed in the presence of holiness, that we might learn the truth for ourselves despite all who’d tell us that which we’d rather hear. As some modern day preachers and self-appointed prophets, ‘apostles’, and others abandon the preaching of sin and repentance, the cross and resurrection, the giving of grace and the coming judgment when the one, true, sovereign G-d destroys evil and rids Creation of death for all eternity.

Therefore I pray:

Father in Heaven

As sinners under grace, so prone to temptation, backsliding, and rebellion, You have sent prophets to us that we did not receive, or perceive at the time. We did not listen, even when they told us they received a word from You. We ignored them to our eternal peril.

We do not test their spirits because we don’t meditate on Your Word, or put our faith fully in You, and like the unholy we cry out and lash out at the rebuke we receive as a result.

There are trials we’ve endured that were of our own making because we listened to what we wanted to hear, and not what we needed.

Forgive me, Father, for the times I’ve ignored Your Son who told me what is to come if I continue down a sinful path, for it’s impossible to please You without faith, and to love You without keeping Your commandments, and obeying Your instructions as You order my steps to Your purpose, for Your glory.

Help me to know there are two things of which I can be assured, and the choice is mine: 1- My salvation is sealed by my faith in the cleansing blood of Jesus, and the presence and power of the Holy Spirit who guides me on the narrow path, that I might be free from sin.

2- You have given all judgment to the Son, whose verdict is not only just, but final. I would not have Him spew me out of His mouth with the words, “Depart from me. I never knew you.”

From this day on, I will take heed of the truth, whether or not in the presence of the assembly, for Your Spirit witnesses to mine, and gives me what is the Savior’s, who has given to us what is Yours, that I may be reconciled to You and my sins not only uncounted, but forgotten.

May Your Word be sealed to my mortal heart, that my eternal soul might dwell in Your Kingdom, now and forevermore.

Amen.

Devotional 206: Something Worse Will Happen

As long as we are mortal, we are sinful. Jesus heals us, but He also cautions us.

smithaw50Leave a comment

John 5: 8 – 14: A Man Healed at the Pool of Bethsaida

8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” 9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.

And that day was the Sabbath. 10 The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”

11 He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’ ”

12 Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”

Mark 2:2-5 Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralytic

2 And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. 2 Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. 3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.

5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

How is it that a paralyzed man who can’t walk is a sinner? His ability to travel is comrpomised, and his body must be cared for.

How is that a man afflicted for thirty-eight years, who can’t walk down to a healing pool, is capable of sin?

Whom could they have caused harm that wouldn’t take revenge, given their physical limitations to defend themselves?

Jesus tells us that it is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean: (Mark 7:17-21)

21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”

We are also told that Jesus did not succumb to the praises of men because He knew what was in them: John 2:24-25

24 But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, 25 and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.

We have no way of knowing what sins these men may have committed. Perhaps it was enviable thoughts toward those who weren’t physically limited. Maybe quarrels and cursings with family. Maybe abandonment to drunkeness or anger.

What we can be sure of is this: if the Lord Jesus called them sinners, He knew they were. Should we not take Him at His word that we who wander freely, in full faculties of body and mind, are no less sinners than those abed, on crutches, in wheelchairs, or in some other way disabled?

We can also be assured of this: He is the Redeemer and Healer of all, and while some may be sick in body, all are sick in spirit and prone to the lusts and emotions of the flesh.

Let us be mindful then, to keep our hearts connected to our thoughts as we are reminded by King David: (Psalm 141:3-4)

3 Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
Keep watch over the door of my lips.
4 Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,
To practice wicked works
With men who work iniquity;
And do not let me eat of their delicacies.

Therefore I pray:

Lord Jesus,

We thank You again today for redeeming us to the Father at the cost of Your earthly life, feeling all that we feel, being tempted as we are, and proving worthy of being our salvation.

We are growing sick and tired, weary of doing good, fearful of spreading the Gospel, and falling away to the teachings of false prophets and pastors who corrupt the Father’s Word for political power and wealth, or dismiss it as fable so they can continue sinning, believing themselves worthy of Heaven, or satisfied with the oblivion and darkness of their graves.

Some have even embraced the conquered enemy You will purge for all eternity.

Gird us up to endure to the end, Lord, that we not be deceived when the false christs come, when the false prophets do great works and miraculous signs. At the cost of our mortal lives in persecution let us not renounce Your Name, or the Father’s love for us in sending You to replace us and take His wrath, that we might receive His mercy and enter His rest.

Today, we meditate on His goodness, and take stock of ourselves, repenting of our sins, lest something worse happens to us in addition to hearing the words we’ll never be able to bear: “Depart from me.”

We are made well in You, by You, and for You, to the Father’s glory. Let us receive it, and keep walking the narrow path.

Let the Holy Spirit seal us for the granting of eternal life, that we are spared the mark of the Beast to come.

In Your Name we ask, believing we’ve already received.

Amen.