“Because
he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on
high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer
him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him. With
long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation" (Ps 91:14-16; KJV).
The
whole of Psalm 91 is wonderful but I love these last 3 verses. God will deliver
us, set us on high, answer us, be with us in trouble, give us long life, save
us and never forsake us.
However,
I believe we have a part to play. What is our job? We need to show God how much
we love him and make him the first priority in our lives, ahead of everything
and everyone else. Our God is a jealous God (Ex 20:5; 2 Cor 11:2). We need to
get to know him, his character, nature and power and understand how much he
loves us. We should learn to truly appreciate all his blessings.
How
do we do that? If God is our first priority, then that priority needs to have corresponding
actions. Marriage without relationship is dead as is faith without action and confession
(Mark 11:22-23). Making God number one must reflect in quality time spent with
him; time in prayer and the word as well as just fellowship with him. Try it,
it’s wonderful.
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Jesus
loves you, those 3 little words often glibly roll off people’s tongues without
thinking about it. However, the love of God bears thinking about. In 1 John
chapter 4 (KJV) we can learn a lot about God’s love. In verse 10 we read,
" Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his
Son to be the propitiation for our sins"; now that is love. Propitiation
simply means that Christ’s sacrifice won God’s mercy for us.
In verse
16 the apostle John wrote: “And we have known and believed the love that God
hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God
in him”. We can know, experience and believe God’s love for us. It also says if
we continue in love, God dwells in us and we in God. That’s a great place to
live.
If
we truly love God, we will love one another (1 John 4:20). As we dwell in God
and he in us, we have his perfect love in us (1 John 4 :16-17) and that perfect
love drives out all fear from within us (1 John 4:18)
We
really need a revelation of God’s great love for us - it doesn’t just come from
a quick read through of this chapter but by meditating on it and confessing it until,
we know that we know that we know, God loves us. Once we have that revelation,
we will be able to share it with others (1 John 4:7).
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out our web site ( www.onthewayinlove.com ) for information on our book: “On the Way:
Basic Christian Training”, including how to purchase it and also to see more
encouraging Bible based blogs. Please recommend our book to others.
In
discovering how we grow in our Christian walk and become more like Jesus, it is
often useful to seek the advice of the faith giants in the bible. In 2 Timothy
2:22-25 Paul instructs Timothy as follows: “flee also youthful lusts: but follow
righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a
pure heart. But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender
strifes. And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all
men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose
themselves” (2 Tim 2:22-25; KJV).
Notice
Paul does not say to just watch out for sin but to flee (run from, shun it)
from it. We are also to pursue or press in actively, aggressively, to
righteousness, faith, love, and peace. This requires effort on our part. We
need to walk in that right standing with God and build up our faith by speaking
the word (Rom 10:17).
God
calls us to seek his peace, not the so-called peace that the world offers (John
14:27) and we are to live our lives by God’s unconditional love. If this was
not all enough, we are also called to purity.
God
hates strife, so don’t argue; it’s as simple as that. Paul says we are to teach
each other and call each other on but look at how we are to do it, with
gentleness, patience and a real sense of humility; certainly not lording it
over others. Wow, lots of meat there but my heart cry is Lord change me; I need
to be all you want me to be. How about you?
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this on to someone. All rights reserved.
Check out our web site ( www.onthewayinlove.com ) for information on our
book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”, including how to purchase it and
also to see more encouraging Bible based blogs. Please recommend our book to
others.
"Ho,
every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money;
come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without
price. Wherefore do ye spend money for
that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that
which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness" (Isa 55:1-2;
KJV).
King
David wrote that he thirsted for God (Ps 42 :2). Jesus said that if we thirsted
for the thing of God we should come and drink (John 7:37). I love the story of
Jesus meeting with the Samaritan woman at the well in Sychar (John 4: 7-42).
Jesus had asked her for a drink and in their conversation, Jesus said to her
that if she new who he was, she would have asked him, and he would have given her,
living water. Jesus was meaning the life-giving word of God; the word that we
have in our Bibles.
Are
you thirsty for more of God? If not, you can develop a thirst. So, start
drinking and soon you will develop a taste for the things of God. When we start giving our time and energy to something,
we will develop a desire for more of it. Start attending to Bible study, prayer
and spending time in God’s presence and before too long you will be wanting to
do it more and more; its life changing!
Please
pass this on. All rights reserved.
Check out our web site ( www.onthewayinlove.com ) for information on our
book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”, including how to purchase it and
also to see more encouraging Bible based blogs. Please recommend our book to
others.
We
are often told that actions speak louder than words. Sadly, many people write
Christians off as hypocrites, because so many who claim to be Christians behave
no differently than anyone else in the world. If you look at the Greek word for
hypocrite it can be defined simply as one who acts, with his real motives hidden.
Jesus
lambasted the Pharisees for their hypocrisy (Matt 23:1-39). Paul was able to
say follow me as I follow Christ (1 Cor 11:1) and he exhorted Timothy to be an
example in word and conduct (1 Tim 4:12). Moses was known as a man of humility
and David as a man after God’s own heart, a man of obedience. However, we
should be encouraged as we know that none of these men claimed to be, or where,
perfect. Jesus is obviously our supreme example of a holy and godly life but
even he said there is no one good except God himself (Luke 18:19).
We
could list many attributes that the real Christian should manifest in public
but space does not allow that here. Perhaps 1 John 3:18-19 (KJV) captures the
essence: “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in
deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall
assure our hearts before him”. The Apostle James tells us that if we claim to
have faith but do not have corresponding works our faith is dead (James
2:14-17). How did the men above walk the talk? They were all men that had a
genuine and close relationship with God; they were all obedient to the Spirit
of God. We can be the same if we press into God and his word and allow his
Spirit to change us.
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