"Talking Face To Face"

"And the Lord said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven."  Exodus 20:22

The Lord literally talked with His people from heaven.  He talked with His people from the mountain.  The inhabitants of the surrounding lands knew that their God talked with them face to face.  He talked to Moses face to face as one does to a friend.  How amazing is that!

He does talk to us, if we are listening.  He has always desired to talk with His people.  In the very beginning He talked with Adam each day.  He hasn't changed His mind or His desire to communicate with us.  When He spoke with Moses, Abraham, Noah, King David, Gideon, etc. it was under the Old Covenant.  How much more will He speak to us under the New Covenant-- which is called a better covenant. 

How does He talk to us?  In various ways.  He speaks through natural things and creation.  He speaks through other people.  But mostly He speaks through His Son.  "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds." (Hebrews 1:1,2)  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1)  This verse is speaking of Jesus-- He is the Word.  A friend recently pointed out that there was no Bible when John 1:1 was written.  Therefore, He speaks to us Himself.  Because He is the Word, when we do read the Bible, He is speaking to us.  But the main way He desires to speak to us is personally "face to face".  He does this by His Holy Spirit.  His Spirit communicates to us His will, His plans, His desire, and so on. 

Do you want to hear from Him?  He wants and desires to speak to you.  Enter into a personal relationship with Him.  Cultivate a relationship with His Spirit.  Set your heart to commune with Him.  Set your heart to love Him.  Learn His voice by spending time alone with Him.  Listen to what He is saying, don't ignore and don't neglect it. 

Have a great day.  The Lord desires to speak to you "face to face". 

For further reading:
Romans 1:20 
Exodus 33:11
Deuteronomy 5:4; 34:10
Numbers 14:14

"Praising A Good God"

"O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever."  Psalm 118:29

Sometimes it seems hard to praise the Lord and give thanks when so much devastation is going on around you.  When the world seems to be spinning out of control.  When evil appears to be winning.  When you are suffering the loss of many things.  When you hear one bad report after another.  When chaos and confusion are everywhere.  When those you trust betray you.  When those you respect take advantage of you.  When people seem bent on causing trouble.  When the skies continue to stay dark and you see no ray of sunshine.  When all hope seems lost.  

Granted things may be bad, but it doesn't change the fact that the Lord is good.  And because God is good, we do have a reason to praise and give thanks.  When Job got the report that he had lost everything, he went out and worshipped.  He didn't worship the tragedy.  He didn't worship because bad had happened.  He worshipped God.  He set His praise on God.  He knew that regardless of the bad that was happening, God was still good.

Nothing changes the goodness of God-- not even a bad situation, a bad report, bad people, or bad news.  God is still good!  He has always been good and will always continue to be good.  You may not think you can find anything to be thankful for because your world may be falling apart in front of your very eyes.  But if you want to see something good, look to God and you will find plenty enough to give thanks for. 

Have a great day.  The fact that God is good is more than enough reason to give thanks.

For further reading:
Job 1:20

 

"You're Not Forsaken"

"And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"  Matthew 27:46

This morning the Lord reminded me of a particular time when my granddaughter was little and spent the night with me. (I know He reminded me because He wants to encourage you through this.)  That night, as always, I gave her a bath before she went to bed. On the side of the tub there were small toys lined up for her to play with.  Among them were a fish, a horse, a pig, a cow, a lamb, etc.  One by one she placed the toys in the tub with her.  She put them all in the water except the lamb.  She left it on the side of the tub.  I said to her, after a while of playing, "Poor little lonely lamb.  He is alone all by himself."  At that moment the Holy Spirit spoke to me. 

Jesus was the Lamb of God who came to take away our sins.  When He hung on the cross, He hung there alone.  He was left by Himself.  His disciples had abandoned Him.  The Heavenly Father had forsaken Him and turned His back on Him.  He faced His most trying time alone.  He faced the enemy by Himself.  He faced the torment, the persecution, the pain, the rejection by Himself.  No one was there holding His hand.  No one was comforting Him.  No one was reaching out and embracing Him.  No one gave Him a shoulder to cry on.  No one held Him in their arms.  He was totally alone. 

While on the cross, Jesus defeated sin.  He gave us freedom from the power of sin.  He reconciled our relationship back to the Father.  He made a way of forgiveness so that we could have eternal life.  But He did so much more for us as well.  He was forsaken so that we would never have to be.  In His "aloneness" He made the provision that we would never have to be alone.  When we walk through dark places, trying times, raging storms, temptations of life, the attacks of the enemy, persecution, trials, times of grief and anguish, we are never alone.  Man may not be there with us.  People may abandon us.  Friends and family may forsake us, but we can rest assured that the Heavenly Father will never leave us nor forsake us.  He placed that on Jesus so that we never have to experience it.  Because of what Jesus went through for us, we never have to ask the question, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"  Because He never will.

Have a great day.  Jesus was forsaken so that you and I never have to be. 

"The Underdogs"

"The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people."  Deuteronomy 7:7

A pastor once told me that I was always for the "underdog".  By the way he said it, I wasn't sure if he meant it as a compliment or a criticism.  I personally took it as a compliment.  Why?  Because Jesus was for the "underdog".  When He walked the earth, He went to those who society had made outcasts.  He went to those who were belittled by the religious crowd.  He went to the lowly, the uneducated, the poor, the down cast, the down and out, those who had been forgotten, rejected and ignored.

Jesus was the Champion of the "underdog".  He rebuked the Pharisees for condemning the woman caught in the act of adultery.  He told the disciples and all who were in the room to leave the woman who was anointing His feet alone, though she had a reputation.  He told the disciples that a memorial would be remembered for the widow who gave her last money.  He touched and healed the lepers.  He held the children in His arms, after the disciples tried to send them away. 

The whole reason Jesus came to earth was to reach the "underdog".  Because we all were under dogs.  We were all wretched and lost in trespasses and sin.  We were helpless to save ourselves.  We needed a champion to come and plead our case because we were powerless to do it for ourselves.  Jesus was not just the champion of those whose lives He touched while He was on earth.  He is today the Champion of our salvation.  He is the Victor.  He defeated sin which had robbed us and made us inferior.  He restored us back to a place of acceptance, a place of power, a place of honor.  He has made us victorious through Himself.  We are no longer underdogs, but heirs of God, kings and priests unto our God.  We are now the head and not the tail, above and not beneath, the first and not the last!  I don't know about you, but I am thankful that Jesus did not ignore and forget about the underdog... because I was one of them.

Have a great day.  Jesus is for the underdog. 

 

"Legalistic Or Holy?"

"Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord."  Isaiah 52:11

When I was growing up, I understood that being a Christian meant that there were certain things I did not do.  I did not drink.  I did not smoke.  I did not do drugs.  I did not cuss.  I dressed modestly.  I didn't "shack up" and live with someone that I was not married to.  It meant there were certain places I did not go.  I did not go hang out at the bars.  I did not go spend my money at the casinos.  I did not hang out with thugs.  I did not watch indecent movies.   

Now days I see everything that I named, plus more, in the lives of those who profess to be Christians.  "These things ought not be." (James 3:10)  But they have become an accepted lifestyle and the norm.  To say anything about, or against, this behavior is to be accused of "judging" or being "legalistic".  I want to clarify this morning that it is neither. 

Oh, but we are under grace, you may say.  Yes, but grace is not a license to sin.  And grace is more than unmerited favor.  It is also God's divine influence upon the heart.  If He has no influence in your life-- what you do, what you wear, where you go, how you live, or your attitude-- then your salvation is doubtful.  We are saved by grace through faith.  When grace is appropriated to our lives, though it is unearned and not "worked for", it is to be "worked out".  That means we walk in and live in that Divine influence of God that is now in our lives.

I am not talking about legalism I am talking about holiness.  "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy." (1 Peter 1:15,16)  Holy lives are a reflection of the Father and evidence of His work of transformation taking place in us.  When He saves us, He doesn't leave us like we are.  He changes us.  Continuing in the things we have always done, indulging in the same fleshly desires we have always fulfilled, living the same old lifestyle we have always led shows no evidence of any transformation taking place in us.  "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17) Does your life reflect God's grace and holiness? 

Have a great day.  What does your lifestyle say about you?  Does it line up with your profession of being a Christian?

For further reading:
Ephesians 5:1-6; 2:8,9