Tag: truth

A Life that Is Merciful

Everyone loves a merciful person and they not only do others good but they do themselves good when they are merciful.

Proverbs 11:17 The merciful man does himself good,
But the cruel man does himself harm.

The Lord says that the merciful person will receive mercy.

Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

It was in God’s mercy that He redeemed us.

Isaiah 63:9 In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old.

The merciful person is one who thinks of others and shows God’s love to others. When Jesus showed mercy to someone then those around glorified God saying that the Lord cared for them. When we show mercy to others then they feel as though the Lord has visited them and cares for them.

Luke 7:11-16 Soon afterwards He went to a city called Nain; and His disciples were going along with Him, accompanied by a large crowd. Now as He approached the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, “Do not weep.” And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!”The dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people!”

Compassion moves a person to act and then the recipient receives mercy and feels as though God has visited him. The word visited means “cares for”. He believes that God cares for him. When you are afflicted in any way there is no greater comfort than to feel that God has come to you and cares for you. We actually can be His ambassadors to the world by representing Him and showing mercy to others. When we show mercy to others then they can hear the truth of the Gospel.

Luke 6:36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

We want the Lord to be merciful to us and He has and He will again but He wants us in turn to show mercy to others. This is the characteristic of a Christian, that they are like their Father.

Hebrews 8:12 “For I will be merciful to their iniquities,
And I will remember their sins no more.”

If you belong to the Lord then He said that He is merciful to you and that He will remember your sins no more. Is there someone that you need to show mercy to and remember their sins no more, or are you still keeping an account? Love does not keep an account of sins of others.

I Corinthians 13:4,5 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,

Forgiveness is the promise never to bring it up again. Have you shown mercy, as the Lord has shown you mercy, and forgiven from your heart?

Matthew 18:33-35 Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”

You will be blessed if you show mercy for He Himself has said, “Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy”.

 

 

 

A Life that Loves Much

Do you want to have a great love for God? Loving the Lord with all of your heart, soul and mind is the most exciting and fulfilling life on earth. To one who has never done it then they have no idea the thrill there is in being completely sold out to Him and for everything in your life to revolve around Him. It is the sweetest life imaginable and brings great contentment, satisfaction, security, peace, joy, love and many other great things that are too numerous to mention. Loving the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind truly is the great commandment.

Matthew 22:36-38 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment.

How can you get this incredible great love for the Lord and want to live it out daily in every area of your life? It can not be drummed up but must come from our relationship with Him. The first step is to realize how great a sinner you are. We have all sinned greatly against the Lord and we deserve the worst imaginable punishment. All of creation has fulfilled the purpose for which the Lord created them except for mankind. We have all rebelled against our Creator and gone our own way. We have turned our back on Him.

Luke 7:47 For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.

How easy it is to compare ourselves to others and say to ourselves, “I am not that bad” for we see others who seem worse in our eyes. We are not much different than the man who went to the Lord and prayed that he would not be like others. We may not pray that prayer but we may say it in our hearts.

Luke 18:11,12 The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’

Yes, it is much easier to keep an account of what we have done right and to keep an account of the sins of others. The Lord was not pleased with this man. However, the Lord heard the other man who came to pray, for this second man remembered his own sins and how unworthy he is to come before the Lord.

Luke 18:13,14 But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

So, loving the Lord with all of our heart, soul and mind begins with the proper perspective of ourselves, that we are sinners of the worse degree and we are not worthy to even come into His presence.

John 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.

If you want to love the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind then you must keep His Words and do what He says. However, to do this then you must know what He says so that you can do it. The person who wants to love the Lord with all their heart, soul and mind must know His Word. To the degree that you know His Word is to the degree that you can keep His words and to the degree that you keep His word is to the degree that you love Him.

I John 2:4-6 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

The Lord promises us that if we will keep His word then His love will be perfected in us and He will make His abode in us. When the Lord lives in you then there is nothing that can separate you from Him and His love. His love will abide in you and you will abide in His love. You will love Him and you will love life for He is life. This is the secret to a fulfilling life.

 

A Life with Few Regrets

If you jump off a building and you get hurt then you will regret it. In the same way, most people do very similar things and get hurt, however, they don’t make the connection that what they did caused the hurt and it wasn’t hitting the ground that caused the hurt. The pain was caused by jumping off of the building. They may say to themselves, “I am not going to hit the ground the next time”. A life of few regrets is a life that makes the connection between what they do and the consequences that follow.

Colossians 3:25 For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.

God is not mocked. We may think that we get away with something but we don’t. Whatever we sow that shall we reap.

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.

Some people’s consequences follow immediately and other’s consequences follow later. It is all a matter of time, whether sooner or later. If you were to jump off a building, you would feel free of all restraints when you are in free fall, but in a matter of time you would be hurt. This is why people feel “free” at first when they go against God’s laws.

I Timothy 5:24,25 The sins of some men are quite evident, going before them to judgment; for others, their sins follow after. Likewise also, deeds that are good are quite evident, and those which are otherwise cannot be concealed.

Some people will go with the wrong kind of person over and over again and wonder why they get hurt over and over again. If you find that you are experiencing the same kind of hurt over and over again then go to someone one who will speak the truth to you and help you. People can only take so much pain before it starts to destroy them or make them bitter. Bitterness is unresolved pain. The pain may be in your marriage, finances, job, relationships, family and unless the action that causes the pain is understood and corrected then the pain will continue.

Deuteronomy 28:1-8a and 13b,14 Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God: “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. The Lord shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways. The Lord will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in all that you put your hand to, and He will bless you…if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully, and do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

To sum it up, the Lord will open up heaven and bless you until you can hardly stand it and then He will bless you even more if you will follow, obey Him and not go after other gods. The blessings are all of the good things in life that the Lord wants to give you but you must keep His ways and commandments. The gods of our day are not only the different eastern religions but also money, materialism, pleasure, sports and many more things that we give our hearts and time to rather than to the Lord.

Deuteronomy 28:15-20 But it shall come about, if you do not obey the Lord your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: “Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. The Lord will send upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke, in all you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me.

Deuteronomy 28:28-30a and 33b,34 The Lord will smite you with madness and with blindness and with bewilderment of heart; and you will grope at noon, as the blind man gropes in darkness, and you will not prosper in your ways; but you shall only be oppressed and robbed continually, with none to save you. You shall betroth a wife, but another man will violate her… and you will never be anything but oppressed and crushed continually. You shall be driven mad by the sight of what you see.

To sum this life up, you will not prosper and even if you do there will be a curse with it. You may be “successful” on your job but someone else may take the heart of your spouse and your children or some other curse. You may see achievement in another area but the personal cost will not be worth it because what you lose will often be a much greater treasure than what you gained. You will finally feel like you are going crazy or will do whatever you can to try to mentally escape what is happening. For this reason many drink or take drugs (often prescription) but they are only numbing agents and you have to eventually face your regrets.

John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

The Lord came that you may have life and the blessings that come with the life He gives to His children. It is Satan who deceives people into thinking that these “other gods” or things will bring fulfillment and happiness. The Lord says that He will not disappoint those who put their trust in Him. You will never regret following Him and doing what He says but you will one day, if not now, regret not following Him.

Joshua 24:15 If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Ultimately, the choice is yours.

 

A Life with Prudence

Wisdom is how to achieve a desire result. For example, if you want to have a long and satisfying marriage then you need wisdom on what to do to have this happen. If you want to be successful in your career then you need wisdom as to how to make this happen. Prudence is how to avoid an undesirable result. If you want a long and satisfied marriage then you need prudence to know what to avoid so that your marriage does not fall apart. If you want to be successful then you need to not only know what to do but you need to know what not to do so that you do not fail. Wisdom is knowing what to do and prudence is understanding what not to do.

Proverbs 8:12 “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
And I find knowledge and discretion.

Wisdom and prudence go hand in hand. They are the two different sides of the coin and you need both. They dwell together and with them you will also find knowledge and discretion.

Proverbs 8:11 “For wisdom is better than jewels;
And all desirable things cannot compare with her.

Wisdom is more precious than jewels and all desirable things can not compare with wisdom and prudence.

Proverbs 8:17-21 “I love those who love me;
And those who diligently seek me will find me.
“Riches and honor are with me,
Enduring wealth and righteousness.
“My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold,
And my yield better than choicest silver.
“I walk in the way of righteousness,
In the midst of the paths of justice,
To endow those who love me with wealth,
That I may fill their treasuries.

Wisdom loves those who love wisdom. If you diligently seek for wisdom then you will find wisdom. Wisdom is in the way of righteousness and in the paths of justice.

Proverbs 8:35,36 “For he who finds me finds life
And obtains favor from the Lord.
“But he who sins against me injures himself;
All those who hate me love death.”

When you find wisdom and prudence then you will find life and you will obtain favor from the Lord. Those who neglect the discipline of learning wisdom and prudence will experience grief and death. The prudent person sees the evil that an action will cause and they will hide from it. The naive person is one who does not know wisdom. We all come into the world naive and we must learn wisdom.

Proverbs 22:3 The prudent sees the evil and hides himself,
But the naive go on, and are punished for it.

Are you naive and do not know what to do? Ask the Lord and He will give you wisdom and you will find that when you seek the Lord that you will discover wisdom for in Jesus Himself is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Colossians 2:2,3 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

This is one of the reasons that the people were amazed at His teaching for He was teaching them God’s ways, which is the expression of wisdom. The Lord wants to give you prudence and wisdom so that you may avoid the snares of death.

Proverbs 1:4 To give prudence to the naive, To the youth knowledge and discretion,

Do you lack wisdom and prudence? Do you struggle in any areas? Do you struggle with bad habits or bad thoughts? Are you frustrated or feel defeated in any area? Ask the Lord for wisdom and prudence. He wants to give to you and will give to you generously that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing.

James 1:5 But 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.

 

 

A Life that Counsels

We all need counselors in our lives and when we have good counselors then there will be peace, quietness and confidence. When there are good counselors in the land then the nation will have peace, quietness and confidence. A good counselor will tell you what is the right thing to do in any given situation.

Isaiah 32:17,18 And the work of righteousness will be peace,
And the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.
Then my people will live in a peaceful habitation,
And in secure dwellings and in undisturbed resting places;

A life that gives good counsel is a life that listens to the Word of God and stands in the counsel of the Lord.

Jeremiah 23:22 But if they had stood in My council,
Then they would have announced My words to My people,
And would have turned them back from their evil way
And from the evil of their deeds.

The only good counsel is the council of the Lord. What you listen to is what you will give to others. For this reason it is of most importance that a Christian does not listen to the counsel of the ungodly but learns to meditate of the Word of God.

Psalm 1:1,2 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.

You must listen to the Lord’s counsel before you give counsel to others. The Lord’s counsel is often different to that of the world or even “current” Christian counsel. His Word never changes and what was applicable in His Word two thousand years ago is just as applicable today.

Psalm 16:7 I will bless the Lord who has counseled me; Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.

The Lord is faithful and He will counsel you but you should not counsel someone else if you yourself are not listening and doing the counsel of the Lord. In the same way, do not go to someone for counsel who does not have the fruit of an obedient life.

Psalm 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.

A wise person will grow in wisdom and understanding and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel. The Bible says that a “man of understanding” is one who knows the Lord. A good counselor is one who knows the Lord and walks with Him in obedience.

Proverbs 1:5 A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,

Anyone who plots evil against the Lord, His people or Christianity is a wicked counselor. Stay away from them. They will destroy your life, your marriage, your children and all that is precious to you.

Nahum 1:11 From you has gone forth
One who plotted evil against the Lord,
A wicked counselor.

Give heed to the Lord and what He has to say and listen to godly counselors who counsel you in His Word. Research the counsel that you hear to see if it is consistent with what the Lord says. Don’t walk in your own counsels and do what you want to do. Rather walk in the Lord’s counsels and what He says and do what you ought to do.

Jeremiah 7:24 Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward.

As you go forward in your walk with the Lord and grow in the knowledge of Him then He will use you to give godly counsel to others and those who listen will turn to the Lord and learn to walk in His ways. As for you, your life will overflow with great joy and the light of Christ will shine brightly through you.

Daniel 12:3 Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

When you lead others to righteousness then they will know His peace and His quietness and His confidence. They in turn will be a guide to their neighbors and will lead others to Him.

Proverbs 12:26 The righteous is a guide to his neighbor,
But the way of the wicked leads them astray.

 

 

 

 

A Life Prepared for Climate Change

Climate change is coming and the life that is prepared for it will have great peace, now and also when it comes. There are three things you need to do to be ready for climate change and that is act, ask and acknowledge. If you will do these things then you need not fear. Faith and fear can not abide in the same vessel.

I John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

Everyone who is born of God overcomes the world. Faith is the victory that overcomes the world. Have faith in the Lord and do not fear.

Genesis 6:8,9  But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.

The Lord declared Noah righteous because he trusted in the Lord and the righteous shall live by faith.

Romans 4:5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,

When the Lord flooded the earth because of the violence and sin on the earth by its inhabitants He did not destroy Noah and his family. He provided the ark for them. Noah had believed and acted on the Lord’s Words and was saved.

Genesis 7:1 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time.

Noah did exactly as the Lord commanded him. Climate change also came during the days of Elijah but he also was prepared because he not only acted and lived by faith but he also asked the Lord to help him.

I Kings 17:1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”

It did not rain just as the Lord said. The climate really changed but the Lord took care of Elijah and he asked the Lord for rain and it rained.

James 5:17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.

Neither Noah nor Elijah were fearful because of the climate change because they trusted in the Lord and acted according to His Word. There is another climate change coming and it will not just be global warming but it will be global heat because the Lord says that He will destroy the heavens and the earth with fire and all who do not believe in Him and acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior.

II Peter 3:7 But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

All who acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior will be saved. We need to acknowledge that we need Him and that He alone is the Lord of lords and King of kings. We are sinners who need a Savior and Lord. One day every knee will bow before the Lord Jesus Christ but how blessed will be those who bow before Him now and call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Phillipians 2:9-11 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The Lord declares those righteous who acknowledge their sin and their need for a Savior and who call upon the Lord Jesus Christ. It is by faith that we are saved through God’s grace. We who have believed in Jesus Christ have nothing to fear concerning climate change.

Romans 1:16,17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

A Life that Is Not Afraid of Death

Death is a natural fear in all of us. In our natural being we are afraid of dying. However, the fear of death is one of the things that the Lord takes away from the one who believes in Him and has trusted Him for their eternal salvation.

Hebrews 2:14,15 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

We are all appointed to die and then comes judgment. We have no control over our lives before and after death. We all will die.

Hebrews 9:27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,

We do not have to fear death if we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ because He died for us so that we will not have to experience the sting of death. When a bee stings a person it leaves it’s stinger in the person and is powerless to sting again. The bee can still fly around and terrorize a person but it can not hurt them. In the same way, Jesus took the stinger when He took the sting of death so that death now is powerless over us.

I Corinthians 15:55-57 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord has given us the victory over death so that we no longer have to fear death. If we have Christ then we have the victory and have been delivered out of death into life. For this reason, the Christian does not die but they fall asleep and wake up in the presence of the Lord when they pass from this earth.

II Corinthians 5:6-10 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight— we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Since the Lord has delivered us from the power of sin and death we are to walk in a manner pleasing to Him and to make this our ambition so that when we do appear before the judgment seat of Christ we will be found pleasing to Him by the good deeds that we have done in His name and for His glory. Let us not lose heart.

Galatians 6:9,10  Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

A Life that Desires the Truth

One of the changes that the Lord makes in a person is that after they become a Christian they want to know the truth. This is an evidence of their salvation because Jesus is the truth.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

We are set apart from others because of the truth. God’s Word is the truth and is not a lie. The world can not distinguish between the truth and lies and they often believe a lie. Any explanation that takes God out of the picture is a lie and Satan is the Father of lies.

John 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.

One of the characteristics of a disciple of Jesus is that they will know the truth through His Word and the truth will set them free.

John 8:31,32 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

Jesus was full of grace and truth and as we grow in our relationship with the Lord then we also should be growing in grace and truth. Truth is what we receive into our lives to change us and grace is what we give to others who fall short of the truth.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The Father seeks those who worship in the Spirit and truth.

John 4:23 But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.

The Lord is near to those who call upon Him in truth. He wants us to pray His Words back to Him.

Psalm 145:18 The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.

All His commandments are truth. When we keep His commandments then we will be living according to His truth and we will be free from the snares of death. He came to give us life and this is how we experience His life, by keeping His commandments by His grace, which is His power to obey Him. He gives grace to the humble and He leads the humble in His truth.

Psalm 119:151 You are near, O Lord, And all Your commandments are truth.

His lovingkindness and His truth will preserve you.

Psalm 40:11 You, O Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me; Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me.

There are many other benefits of knowing the truth. The Lord says to buy it and not to sell it. The more you share the truth of God’s Word with others then the more it will become a part of you.

Proverbs 23:23 Buy truth, and do not sell it, Get wisdom and instruction and understanding.

Don’t seek to have your ears tickled by listening to what you “desire” to hear. The truth may not always be what you want to hear but you will be glad that you heard it and obeyed it. Over and over again, Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear”.

II Timothy 4:3,4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

A Life that Waits on God

The soul that learns to wait on the Lord will experience great peace and learns to rejoice in Him. Also, those who learn to trust in Him will experience His lovingkindness. A human is made up of three basic parts, the spirit, soul and body. We become spiritually alive when we become a Christian. When we become a Christian our soul experiences His love and our soul is made up of our will, mind and emotions.

Psalm 33:20-22 Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
For our heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us,
According as we have hoped in You.

Although we become spiritually alive after we become a Christian, our soul can experience either life or death. Death to the soul is that sick feeling that we have when we sin, the guilt and the regret in our mind and emotions. We can also grieve the Spirit of the Lord, who lives within us and we will experience sadness because we have grieved the One who loves us. Christianity is a relationship with the living God through Jesus Christ our Lord. His Spirit comes and lives within us and we commune with God through His Spirit and His Word.

James 5:19 My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

We need each other because all of us have a tendency to stray from the truth, which is God’s Word. We need to constantly be pointing each other to the Lord through His Word. His Word will keep us from straying from Him and often when we stray then our sin will keep us from getting back into His Word.

James 1:21 Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.

When we learn to abide in His Word and let His Words abide in us then we learn to wait on Him. When we wait on Him then we learn to soar like the eagle. The eagle can fly the highest with the least amount of effort. The eagle is majestic in its flight.

Isaiah 40:31 Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.

Do you get tired in your journey or do you ever become weary? Learn to wait on Him. Learn to abide in the Lord. The Lord’s favor will be on you as you learn to wait on Him.

Psalm 147:11 The Lord favors those who fear Him,
Those who wait for His lovingkindness.

The Lord is good to the one who waits for Him.

Lamentations 3:25,26 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.
It is good that he waits silently
For the salvation of the Lord.

As you learn to wait on the Lord then you will see that what He will do for the one who waits for Him is more than what you could have preceived, seen or heard. He will do far more than your highest dreams.

Isaiah 64:4 For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear,
Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,
Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.

What is the opposite of waiting on the Lord? It is being anxious and fretful. It will only lead to grief.

Psalm 37:7-9 Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
Cease from anger and forsake wrath;
Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.
For evildoers will be cut off,
But those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land.

The land is another word for the promises of God. Your inheritance is a rich one and is all of His promises to His children. Trust Him and wait on Him. He loves you and is waiting to show you His compassion and love. How blessed are those who learn to wait on Him and long for Him.

Isaiah 30:18 Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you,
And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
How blessed are all those who long for Him.

 

A Life that Does Exactly

If you really want to be blessed then learn to do exactly as the Lord has commanded you. The great men of God in the Bible did exactly as the Lord commanded them. Noah was one of the great men of God.

Genesis 6:22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.

Moses did according to all that the Lord had commanded him.

Exodus 40:16 Thus Moses did; according to all that the Lord had commanded him, so he did.

There is a temptation to twist God’s Word. In other words, we try to get it to say what we want it to say. Satan did this when he tried to tempt Jesus.

Matthew 4:5-6 Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will bear You up, So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”

However, the devil “misquoted” God’s Word and left out a crucial part. He left out the part that says, “to guard you in all your ways” because the devil did not want Jesus to do exactly according to God’s Word, which is God’s ways.

Psalm 91:11,12 For He will give His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.
They will bear you up in their hands,
That you do not strike your foot against a stone.

When we twist God’s Word then it is no longer the truth and has been twisted to give a different meaning. We might take God’s Word and twist it to say what we want it to say so that we can do what we want to do. Another word for twisted is crooked. When we try to twist God’s Word then we become crooked and our actions are crooked.

II Timothy 4:3,4a For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth

Be on your guard that you do not try to conform God’s Word to you but that you become conformed to His Word. When this happens then your life will be transformed.

Romans 12:2 And 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.

When your mind is renewed through God’s Word then you will become transformed into what the Word is, which is Christ Himself.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Others will see Christ in you and it will not be your life but it will be the life of Christ manifested through you to the world. You will truly be able to say, “not I, but Christ”.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

If you don’t do this but insist on going your own way and hearing what you want to hear from the Bible then the outcome will be that you will become twisted in your thinking. When you become twisted in your thinking then you become twisted in your actions. What is right will seem wrong and what is wrong will seem right. You might even feel clever in your own sight.

Isaiah 5:20-21 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;
Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
And clever in their own sight!

Your life will become rotten at the root and your outward beauty will disappear because you have rejected and despised the Word of the Lord.

Isaiah 5:24 Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble
And dry grass collapses into the flame,
So their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away as dust;
For they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts
And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.