The Devotional - Tuesday's Blog

The Devotional – Tuesday’s Blog

Psalm 119:73-80 – Seeking the fellowship of eternity minded people is like anticipating the visit of a close personal friend. These are folks who know the testimonies of the LORD, those who FEAR Him too! All sharing in solid fellowship and it is the joy of having eternity in one’s heart! Ecclesiastes 3:11

Comments and Challenges

The word of the LORD that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, King of Israel – Hosea 1:1. Although he is classified as one of the Minor Prophets, his prophesy covers a period of sixty years. His style of writing is abrupt (sudden or unexpected), metaphorical (one thing spoken of in place of another) or urgently.

The prophet Hosea is commanded by God to take a wife who is a harlot; an experience few husbands are capable dealing with except by the grace of God. She displays herself as immoral and she ends up a prostitute on the street before Hosea marries her. (Her life at this time is in the hands of a bankrupt world).

In view of the context, just in the first chapter; God allows and provides Hosea with strength; strength that forgives and restores her as his lovely bride. The restoration of Gomer is a perfect picture of God's grace over one sinner or over a nation.

The book of Hosea is a picture of Christ who has regarded our helpless estate, through His blood He reclaims each of us personally and by His Grace he adopts us into His family. Hosea 1:2-9 will give us the picture of Hosea's worldly family. The book is fourteen chapters of Gods compassion and desire to restore sinful Gomer (Israel or any adulterous nation). The redeeming power of God is the forgiving power of Jesus Christ. (Not the church as some theologians or theologies preach or teach).

The Good News (the Gospel) is not 2,000 plus years of God's compassion and desire to restore people and nations to God; the Gospel is as recorded in Revelation 14:6, EVERLASTING or eternal. Like Gomer who experiences the joy and fellowship of Hosea’s family through Justification and sanctification in human life these are the processes of our ongoing spiritual salvation experience. God takes us further though since we are soon to be glorified or everlasting, too.

I would like to study Hosea further, so if the LORD will open that door I will be spending time in this book and other related books of the Holy Bible to challenge the remnant. Not that our nation is going to survive this current trend into the abyss, which many believe is no longer reversible since our national and religious leaders are a melting pot for liberalism and adulterous ways. Yes and “To God be the glory” there is a remnant of people who will not receive the coming “mark of liberalism” and I hope you are one of us.

Tuesday’s Blog – Positionally Seated

Daily Devotional - Positionally Seated

Tuesday’s Blog – Positionally Seated

Proverbs 10:31-32 – The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut out. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked what is perverse.

Bible Challenges and Comments

In a room full of people the roar of perverse conversation is loud and overpowering. The work place, in the school, at any sporting event and in the home of the unbelieving (Proverbs17:1) there is little quietness because of the strife. 

God has called us out of the world of strife and placed us in the kingdom of Christ. Note Colossians 3:1-3. If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your affection (peaceful position) on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Andrew Murray in his book; The Inner Life makes this thought clear that if we have an audience with God through Christ, then we must also have a spiritual sense of need to live in the place He has for us in Christ. Positional sanctification sets us apart from the perverse audience of the world and to step into this unacceptable perverseness of the tongue and action is to reject the positional grace of God.

I suppose it is difficult to realize the purity of being in Christ; I mean, how often we do we think about the holiness of Heaven and our position in Christ. Jesus Christ is seated at the “right hand” of God. Look! If the throne room was an automobile and Jesus was driving and you are His passenger in the front seat, you would be sitting at His “Right Hand”. Or more biblically stated; you are sitting with Christ in the “holy of holies”.

How is it then we seem to make ourselves comfortable in both places? From one side of our life (the flesh) we find ourselves with the talk of the world and covet their conversations, this is idolatry; Colossians 3:4-6 and this causes God’s wrath to come on the sons and daughters of disobedient believers. The result is that the world sees God’s children the same as they see them self and our testimony as a child of God is ruined.

The struggle of being in Christ or in the flesh is strong and one reason it is so strong is that our view of our position in Christ is upward, sort of like always striving to be there with Him (in the flesh) and of course that will never happened… “Flesh and blood does not inherit the kingdom of God” 1 Corinthians 15:50. 

To correct this, we must do as the apostle Paul teaches in Colossians Three and simply be seated with Christ at His Right hand. The view from the Top is to be positioned from above where Christ is; rather than fleshly positioned or earthly aware. In this position you and I cannot see the next devilish punch or where it is coming from. The character of a heavenly position is Colossians 3:12-17.

Tuesday’s Blog – The influence of oppressive behavior

Tuesday’s Blog – The influence of oppressive behavior

Proverbs 3:31-32 – Do not envy the oppressor, and choose none of his ways; for the perverse are an abomination to the LORD, but His secret counsel is with the upright.

Bible Challenges and Comments

Being around a person who is oppressive is strategically dangerous; while growing up we are influenced by those people whom we love and respect and by those whom we want to love but are afraid of. The years of a child (and we adults know this) are filled with opportunity to trust the ways of the adult and in learning the ways to trust those we love, we also learn the ways of those whom we do not trust. 

Solomon in Proverbs most always speaks as a father to a son, I think that this is called a “first person singular” conversation and my understanding is that in order to speak or write this way there must be first-hand “experience” in one’s own life before writing or speaking. Our communication of writing or speaking of things of no experience are seldom spoken or recorded of, lest you be found a liar.

A quick example: A while back I took a part time position as a writer of “technical books” like how to outfit or build military boats and ships. (The job only lasted a few months) I enjoyed the challenge of searching the various information available to me as some of it was classified. Since I did not have any “first-hand experience” at equipping or building small attack boats or larger vessels of war the research took all of my time and writing on some days was none existent. This was a problem since part of the “job description” was to complete one full page of written instruction daily.

A five year tenure in a school, a culture, a prison or any other camp or place of internment would not be oppressive or influential – IT IS OPPRESSIVE AND INFLUENTIAL. Anyone who has spent time incarcerated in the enemy’s prison camp will tell you of the overwhelming influence of this sort of oppressive training. Whether or not a person loves or hates those who are influencing those means little; we call it “brain washing”. Even in our local jails, if a person stays just three years in prison, the influence of being there and returning is very strong and it is said that 75% return to prison, not because of crime (although crime returns them) but because they are influenced or miss prison life.

One reading of the Book of Daniel proves at least TWO things. (1) God is in control, and (2) He will use mankind to fulfill His Plan. So as we who TRUST in God see the events of our day unfold; we are the only ones who can discuss the current events with a “first person singular” knowledge of the One we Love, who is preparing our future; who in using the captured and the released to bring a nation such as ours to our knees, either by victory of the enemy’s oppression; or by victory through the influence of prayer to God in whom we trust. God will put us on our knees one way or the other.

We live in times “EXCITING” I would hope that all who read this understand this.

Tuesday’s Blog – Faith is not an emotion!

Tuesday’s Blog – Faith is not an emotion!

Proverbs – One way to keep track of the day’s date is to read a chapter from the Book of Proverbs daily. There are 31 chapters so if the month only has 30 days you can have a holiday and take that chapter 31^st off! Of course in February you can go on vacation. Proverbs 20:27

Bible Challenges and Comments

There is not a day that goes by that I fail to look into the Living Word of God. Agreed that some of those days the look can be just a glance and from that, nothing in the way of spiritual peace and grace comes to me, and yet grace and peace is always available. However when I set here at the desk and open up the Holy Bible to dig deeper into the Word, I find that the Word of God is indescribably delicious to my soul.

Sometimes I just think about what the LORD is saying and those thoughts never find the way to the end of keyboard and the print you read. Now what I am saying is this; “I do not have a corner market on this”. God, because of His great love for the world has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness and He is willing to share with us; that is, those human and spiritual needs to whoever is interested in knowing the One True God. 

Here is an example: This morning while reading in verse 27 of Proverbs 20 the words of Solomon in the NKJV struck me. Note: “The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all the inner depths of his heart”. The NASV says; “The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all the innermost parts of his being” and the NIV says: “The lamp of the LORD searches the spirit of a man; it searches his inmost being.” And lastly the KJV “The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly”.

Now just looking at the last half of “searching all the inward parts of the belly, the Hebrew literally says; “the rooms of the belly” now the question that comes to my mind is why is God interested in the compartments or rooms of the belly? Of course there is a very important reason and here it is. God desires for you and me to use our intellect, to be of a sound mind and to use good judgment. So the reference is directed at “emotions” and how we use these to affect or infect our day.

Many people make decisions daily based on their emotions to guide and direct their life and to control the things they do. Sounds a bit strange, but take the time to search it out and be blest. For example; making decisions by ranting can and does cause the heart to fail. Those who have little or no control over their speech or thought lead to emotional and physical breakdowns. 

These men and women are using some compartment of the belly to react and a deeper study of this will tell us that the compartment in the belly is the “kidney”. Anger, anxiety, fear and all emotion “good and bad” comes from a gut or as the bible explains in other areas as an overweight kidney reaction to a moment in time and not from the mind.

So now how does this fit in the biblical view or church leadership, 2 Timothy 1:7, 13. Of course there are men in the pulpit today in churches “all around town” who have a form of godliness but deny the power of God and use emotional ways and means to direct their congregation, the apostle Paul says, “of such turn away” 2 Timothy 3:5!

Tuesday’s Blog – An element of truth!

Tuesday’s Blog – An Element of Truth

Proverb – I was looking at the definition of the word from Webster’s New Word Dictionary and the following definition given is; “a popular saying of an obvious truth”. Hmmn! I wonder? Should not the world have a better understanding words like: “He who spares the rod spoils his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly”. Proverbs 13:25

Bible Challenges and Comments

I think the world around us has forgotten Truth, not only of Proverbs but much of the Holy Word of God found only in the Holy Bible. In doing so, the choice of men and women, especially in this nation to do right is rapidly crumbling like the basic infrastructure our past that is barely holding our highways, transportation and military systems intact.

Our nation is rapidly losing the ability to survive and many if not all the nations around us are fully aware of the potential downfall we people of the United States are facing. I find this critical and if it were not for the Holy Word of God, I would be in a panic. 

Now are you not TIRED of this? I am, I am tired of faulty government, tired of crimes of SIN and tired of allowing the people of our current world dictate and control how I live. You know; what child shall live and which one should die. You do not need to marry someone, just sleep with them have babies and get on welfare. The list of things to do that are FLAT against our Creator is so long that if God were not “longsuffering” the rainbow would not show up after the storm.

The immoral world around us has even taken the “rainbow” and adopted it as a banner for immorality. Sort of a Sodom and Gomorrah “In your face God” you are no longer going to destroy the world by flood so the door is open for us to use the rainbow for another purpose. 

Do you not know; have you not heard… the LORD God of Creation does not need water to wipe corruption off the earth!

Isaiah 40:21-24 says this: Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless. Scarcely shall they be planted, scarcely shall they be sown, scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth, When He will also blow on them, And they will wither, And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble.

Yes the temporary elements of the world are God’s, but so is the “eternal soul” that indwells the temporary life man or woman and one day that soul will give an account and the elements of eternity will take over.