HE IS THERE!

 

Friday, February 28, 2025

 

HE IS THERE!

 

Ps 139:7-10

7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

 

 

There are two aspects to God being everywhere at once. On the one hand we cannot escape from him and on the other hand he will never leave you alone. We are the difference. Our own current set of circumstances makes his presence either a precious thing or a problem for us.

 

If there is sin in my heart and I want to run away from God’s piercing gaze, I learn quickly that I can’t. He is everywhere convicting me of my sin and wooing me back again. I cannot be comfortable sinning because He is there.

 

If I am disappointed with my God and want to leave him like a pouting child, I find that I can’t. Oh, yes, we often become disenchanted with a God who does only as He wishes. Our plans are cut off and our expectations are dashed because they are not HIS plans for us. We pout and whimper and try to run away but we can’t find a place where God is not. There is no place to hide. We are forced by His presence to reconcile.

 

On the other hand, He is the friend that sticks close. We feel him in the gentle breeze upon our cheek. We hear Him in the robin’s song. He wraps his huge arms around us when we are afraid. He is always there.

 

Both are blessings, the God I can’t escape keeps me clean and the God who will not leave me alone keeps me safe.

 

Dear Lord, thank you for being with me today. AMEN

 

NO, NOT DESPAIRINGLY

 

Thursday, February 27, 2025

 

NO, NOT DESPAIRINGLY

 

Heb 10:22

22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

 

          Last night I heard a blending of two very moving hymns which spoke so strongly to my spirit that I wept. Perhaps, like I, you had not ever heard the lyrics to the old hymn No, Not Despairingly. It was written in 1866 by Horatius Bonar, a Scotsman from Edinburgh. If you blend it with Nearer, My God To Thee, you find a complete and very personal worship experience.

 

1. No, not despairingly

come I to Thee;

no, not distrustingly

bend I the knee;

sin hath gone over me,

yet is this still my plea,

Jesus hath died.

 

2. Ah! Mine iniquity

crimson has been,

infinite, infinite,

sin upon sin;

sin of not loving Thee,

sin of not trusting Thee,

infinite sin.

 

3. Lord, I confess to Thee

sadly my sin;

all I am, tell to Thee,

all I have been;

purge Thou my sin away,

wash Thou my soul this day;

Lord, make me clean.

 

4. Faithful and just art Thou,

forgiving all;

loving and kind art Thou

when poor ones call;

Lord, let the cleansing blood,

blood of the Lamb of God,

pass o'er my soul.

 

5 Then all is peace and light

this soul within;

thus shall I walk with Thee,

the loved Unseen;

leaning on Thee, my God,

guided along the road,

nothing between.

 

2 Tim 1:3-4

3 I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;

4 Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy.

 

Dear Lord, my sin prompts my tears, but your love sparks my joy. AMEN

 

PASS ME NOT

 

Wednesday, February 26, 2025

 

PASS ME NOT

 

Luke 18:35-39

35 And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging:

36 And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant.

37 And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by.

38 And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.

39 And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.

 

          Mark identifies this “certain man” as Bartimaeus. In fact, Mark adds that he was commonly referred to by his ailment. This was “blind Bartimaeus.” His ears told him what his eyes could not, that there was a crowd passing by. He asked what it meant.

 

          Bartimaeus had certainly heard of the man called Jesus. He knew that he was a great healer and a kind man. He cried out for mercy, which was his normal employment as a beggar, but this was more than a request for a few coins. The disciples shushed him trying to protect Jesus from the distraction of need, but he only cried louder and louder.

 

          At age 12, I also cried out. I had heard about Jesus the Savior, and I had a great need. Others were finding relief, and I feared Jesus would pass me by. The song the church was singing was Pass me not, O Gentle Savior.

Pass me not, O gentle Savior

Hear my humble cry

While on others Thou art calling

Do not pass me by

 

Savior, Savior

Hear my humble cry

While on others Thou art calling

Do not pass me by

 

Dear, Sweet Jesus, thank you for stopping. My life has never been the same. AMEN

 

GRACE DOES NOT SANCTION SIN!

 

Tuesday, February 25, 2025

 

GRACE DOES NOT SANCTION SIN!

 

Jude 4

4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Prov 30:20

20 Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

 

Grace is God's means of forgiving our sins, as well as transforming the sinner that he might sin less and less. Grace is not God's sanction by which we plan and excuse our personal indulgence. (Source Blue Letter Bible)

 

          Licentiousness is “lacking and ignoring legal or moral restraints.” It is a misappropriation of grace! It views grace as a get-out-of-jail-free card that first forgives and forgets the sin and then facilitates its continuance. In plainer English, it allows the sinner to continue sinning while developing and maintaining a friendship with a Holy God. The serious thinker dismisses this as false.

 

          The true balance between grace and legalism finds Jesus writing in the sand with his finger. Self-righteous and stern men stand around a contrite woman ready to stone her to death because she was “taken in adulatory – in the very act of doing it.” Jesus, the judge, skips the evidentiary portion of the trial and begins the punishment phase. He asks that one without sin cast the first stone. Everyone walks away leaving the guilty and Jesus alone. Jesus says, “I will commute your sentence, but don’t ever do this again!”

 

          Our current culture condemns only those who condemn! While maintaining a strict and harsh legal position which is unsustainable. A position of declaring wrong to be right is untenable.

 

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth

Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow

Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside

 

Great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness

Morning by morning new mercies I see

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me

 

Dear Lord, I kneel today in the cool dust of open condemnation and view the words you have written which pronounce that I am to go free! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, Bless His Holy Name! AMEN

 

REVIVE US AGAIN!

 

Monday, February 24, 2025

 

REVIVE US AGAIN!

 

2 Tim 1:6

6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

 

An old man, stooped and sore, slowly rises to approach the fireplace on a damp and chilly night. The fire which once was roaring slowed to a flicker and no longer warmed the bones. He draws back the screen and with the long iron poker he stirs the ashes. Wearily, he reaches for another dry log and then another and places them just so upon the coals. He then takes the bellows and blows fresh air upon the embers not to blow them out but to blow them into new life. Ah, soon the new wood becomes part of the old fire and once again the comfort of a roaring fire is felt upon the old man’s back.

 

The Fire goes out through neglect!

 

In view of the frequent modern use of "revive" and "revival," it is worthy of notice that it is to Timothy himself the exhortation is addressed. We too often merely pray for "revivals," forgetting that it is for us to "stir into flame" the gift of the Spirit which we have already received of God. It is ours from Him, but we let it lie dormant, as a slumbering ember merely. Often, we are aware of the slowly dying fire inside us, but the chill has not provided sufficient motivation to rise from our comforts and to stir and stoke the flames. The chill becomes more and more uncomfortable, but we will not move until it becomes unbearable. (from International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)

 

The Fire Requires Fuel!

 

Heb 2:3

3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

 

Ø Bible study, both public and personal provides the fuel for revival.

Ø Contact with other believers through worship at church is essential. A lone log will not burn well in the fireplace.

 

A Fire Requires good ventilation – Fresh Air!

 

Acts 2:2-3

2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

 

Prayer is essential if revival is to come!

 

A Fire Requires Heat!

 

Jer 23:29

29 Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

 

Buried deep inside the chilled ashes of the ordinary believer is a spark that longs to be fanned into new life. It calls to us and challenges our carelessness. We dismiss it but it remains. We ignore it but it still burns deep inside. It is that FIRST LOVE we once shared with the Savior. 

 

Rev 2:4

4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

 

The two-fold remedy for those who had left their first love was to REPENT and to REMEMBER. If we would abandon our sins and remember the joy of a fervent relationship with Christ, then revival will come. Let us pray earnestly for it!

 

Dear Lord, there is a longing deep inside for something more in my relationship with you. I know that I am to blame. Blow upon me with your breath and rekindle the fire of revival in me. AMEN

 

AN UNCHANGING GOD!

 

Sunday, February 23, 2025

 

AN UNCHANGING GOD!

 

Mal 3:6-9

6 For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord  of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

 

          Sitting in the shadows of the tithing issue is the important doctrine of the immutability of God. He is an essential being. He exists without cause and is Himself the cause of all things. From everlasting [before time] to everlasting [after time] He is God (Psalm 90:2).

 

          He is unchangeable in his attributes. There can be no increase or decrease in his power, wisdom, holiness, or love. We may understand them more or less but these never change.

 

          He is unchangeable in his purposes. Nothing catches Him off guard. He is not challenged by the suggestion of an improvement to His plans. He is not defeated by any supposed superior logic or argument. Those who cooperate with His plans are blessed by their involvement in His successful plans. Those who resist His plans fail in their own schemes.

 

          He is therefore faithful. Happy is the lender who lends to God for he has no fear of being repaid! Happy is the man who has Jehovah’s name upon a contract. The continued existence of the church is not due to her faithfulness but to God’s faithfulness. He who doubts the continuation of his salvation doubts the willingness and ability of God to keep promises. Verse 6 clearly states the case.

 

          Although God does not change, He is not an uncaring stone. He is relational and interactive. He is subject to appeal by those whom He loves. His heart is touched by our condition, and He moves to remedy our faults and supply our needs. Why would a God who does not need us be so responsive to those who need Him? Yet everywhere we see God acting in compassion and mercy and we take courage knowing that this too never changes. “He is kind to the unthankful and to the evil” (Luke 6:35).

 

Heb 4:15-16

15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

 

Oh, unchangeable God! Hear our prayers when we call unto thee and let thy heart be touched by our condition. Be faithful to thy unfaithful ones. Be kind even though we are unthankful. Draw us to thy heart because you do not change. Establish us and make us like thyself. AMEN

 

FOR THY GREAT MERCIES!

 

Saturday, February 22, 2025

 

FOR THY GREAT MERCIES!

 

Dan 9:18

18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.

 

          Daniel, the outcast captive, was praying for his homeland. The Babylonians had swooped down upon the city that was “called by His name” and had scattered the inhabitants. Daniel prays for forgiveness. “O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.” Dan 9:16

 

          The starting point of prayer is always the understanding of our sin! God opens the door when we knock with confession! Daniel confessed the sins of his people – and his own sins as well. It is there that he begins. Note again what he says: “for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.”  God in His grace gives us what we don't deserve, and God in His mercy doesn't give us what we do deserve. Warren Wiersbe

 

          We shouldn’t shout at God! We can’t complain that we have been unfairly treated by the One who orchestrates the cosmos! We deserve everything we are suffering and more. When we pray, we kneel upon grace and bow before the altar of mercy. We dare not ask for justice lest our condition become worse. We ask for undeserved kindness. We ask for divine pity.

 

What a remarkable ministry Daniel had in Babylon! He was counselor to four kings, intercessor for the people of Israel, and a faithful witness to the true and living God. If you find that you have been carried away captive, maybe you need to open your window and pray!

 

Lord, we do not come before you on the basis of our righteousness – but for Thy great mercies. Grant our petitions and restore your glory. AMEN