December 27 – With Repentance Comes Forgiveness

“Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?” – Ezekiel 33:11 (ESV)

Although often misunderstood therefore rejected by many, there is a consequence to inaction regarding our eternal state. A careful reading of our Scriptures reveals the consequences of no repentance due to unbelief. The Lord God declares that He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Why? Because God knows that death for those who reject God’s offer of salvation by His grace through faith in Jesus means an eternity separated from God and all others. So the Lord calls for all to a repentance of sin. Repentance is an act of turning around and away from the ways which lead to eternal death and receive from God the free gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23).  The Israelites who were exiled to Babylon had lost hope and reasoned that if they were liable to death in judgment that was inevitable, they were in a hopeless condition and had no future. God replied that He had no pleasure in seeing the wicked go into death for their sin, but desires them to repent and live. This is true of all God has called (2 Peter 3:9). He calls us to “Repent and be saved!” for there is no other way.

 

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July 12 – Our Will, His Will, One Will

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” – Philippians 2:12-13 (ESV)

The question of our will – some refer to as “free will” but that is not exactly correct in the way most think free will is. We struggle to make our will and God’s will one and the same with each other. When our will agrees with God we find within our natural selves a disposition which leaves us incapable on our own to do what we know we ought to do (Romans 7:15-25). God saves us by His grace through the atonement of Jesus; He does the work in us so that it becomes our will to do for His good pleasure; but we have to work out that salvation in practical living. We have to work out with deliberation and attention what God works in; we are not to work for own salvation, but, allowing the proper result we work it out through life practice. With undaunted faith in the complete and perfect work of the Lord for our Salvation God’s will becomes our will. We must avoid bringing an opposing will to God’s will. God’s will brings our natural desires and choices in line with His will, and the life is as natural as breathing. 

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May 5 – Taking Pleasure In Us

“He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.” Psalm 18:19 (NIV)

Being in that spot between a rock and a hard place is not comfortable. Sometimes those predicaments lead to circumstances that are more than just not pleasant. Generally it is dark in those places as far as our trying to find an easy way out. Whether it is our job, our relationships, even a lack of job or resources these might happen in the bright of day but in our hearts we don’t perceive them so well. Many of the songs in the Bible were composed by Shephard and King David. Some are prayers when David had special need of divine help. Some are songs of praise. In this verse David praises God for delivering him from his enemies and rescuing him out of a tight spot. The words reveal a very special relationship between God and His servant. In Psalm 18 David sensed that God was happy about him, that He really loved him and was pleased with him. He wrote “God was delighted.”   This same relationship can be ours, too. He loves us and He is delighted when we trust Him wholly and faithfully. Let's do that today, no matter what "spots" we find ourselves in.

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July 17 – Satisfaction From Loving

“I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”- John 17:26  (NASB)

Jesus’ prayer in this chapter of the Gospel of John  is intimately linked with the themes and language of His teaching to this point. In verse 20 of this chapter Jesus prays not only for His disciples who are to be His apostles but also for all who will believe in Him through the words they will preach, write and preserve for all the future faithful. Jesus’ desire was for us to experience that which is most enjoyable. But we find that there is nothing in this world that is of such worth that it can meet the deepest longing of our hearts.  We lack the strength to even savor the best treasures to their maximum worth. What we find enjoyment in does not last, it comes to an end. God does not love the Son the way he loves sinners. He loves the Son because the Son is infinitely worthy of love. But if God’s pleasure in the Son becomes our pleasure, then the object of our pleasure, Jesus, will be inexhaustible in personal worth. Jesus prays that this pleasure that God has in his Son will be the same pleasure we have in the Son.

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July 13 – Singing “Praise The Lord”

“Let them praise His name with dancing; Let them sing praises to Him with timbrel and lyre.  For the LORD takes pleasure in His people;  He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation.”  -Psalm 149:3-4  (ESV)

If we took the time, we would notice that the last five Psalms in the Book of Psalms each end with the words, “Praise the Lord.”  If ever we shout out or sing “Hallelujah!” we are shouting out the same phrase.  The Hebrew for that phrase of praise is the word Hallelujah  הַלְלוּ־יָהּ . Remember this the next time you sing or hear that song.  In the Word we hear about the love of God. We know that He is a God of compassion, that He has compassion for us. He knows exactly what we face each day.  Sometimes we struggle just to move ahead.  But God knows and He cares. And we’re glad for that because we sometimes come to Him in pretty bad shape. We’re glad that He takes us in anyway because of His love for us. But our God goes beyond feeling sorry for us – far beyond that. He takes delight in us. He is glad for us. He is happy that we are His. He will one day beautify us – that means He will glorify us. What a wonderful God He is! Allow Him to make us people He can be proud of.

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PBStelevised performance of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah with Greg Phillinganes (keyboards) John Robinson (drums) Michael Angel Alvarado (guitar) Ian Martin (bass) Noriko (keyboards) featuring Ethan Bortnick (13 years old).  Ethan Jordan Bortnick is an American pianist, singer, composer, songwriter, actor and musician. On October 3, 2010, Bortnick was listed in the Guinness World Records for "The World's Youngest Solo Musician to Headline His Own Concert Tour"

June 23 – Will to Obey

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.  – Philippians 2:12-13  (NASB)

Today, we have a promise that gives us hope and encouragement.  Our will of our new nature agrees with God, but in our flesh, there is still a natural disposition which renders us powerless to do what we know we ought to do.  To know that our will is in agreement with God we look to Jesus and to His word to rouse our will which agrees with God. Paul instructs the Philippians, not to work our salvation but to work out that which our salvation has created in us.  We do it with fear and trembling – this does not mean fearful and scared but full of reverence and awe because it is God who is the source of our will.  It is God who makes it possible for us to work out His will to His glory.  That is our promise today.  As we believe that Almighty God is the source of our will, we find that God not only expects us to do His will but He is in us to do it.  God’s will for us is to believe His word and not redefine His word to fit what “makes sense” to us.

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August 9 – Who Is At Work In You?

“...for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”   Philippians 2:13 -   (NASB)

We referenced this verse yesterday and today we have is as our verse of promise from God.  Just as we looked at yesterday's verse, written by the Apostle John, and read that God is at work in us making us more like Himself, our promise today, written by the Apostle Paul, says much the same thing.  It is God. God is at work in us.  He is at work both according to His will and for His good pleasure.  If we realize that God is at work in us, we trust that He will accomplish it and we want Him to do so and to be pleased by it.  We want to work with Him in this project.  Like the architect of a building who is involved directly with those building it, both want a pleasing result.  God is the architect of our lives and He is involved and working to the goal of us pleasing Him by allowing Him to do His Will.   

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June 16 – Ready and Willing to Please

“for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”    Philippians 2:13 (NASB)

An important lesson we should always keep in our minds is that we do not live our Christian lives by ourselves or in our own ability.  When we become Children of God by accepting Jesus as our Savior we do open ourselves for God to work in us.  It is so good to realize that God does have wonderful plans for us for the time we live here on earth and also for eternity.  God is working in each of our lives today and the promise in our verse is a confirmation and reminder that He wants us to desire to follow His plan.  He wants us to be willing and available to be used by Him for the work He has for us.  This work brings God pleasure and it brings us joy and peace also.  Yes, God wants to use us for His glory and for the good that He brings to us.  This is the purpose He had in creating human kind.  Today, let's be open to allowing God do His will and good work through us.  

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August 15 – Desire and Do

“...for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”  Philippians 2:13 (NASB)

Each day that we wake up we have the opportunity to remember what a wonderful God we have.  He loves us and cares for us and wants the very best for us.  He does have plans for each of us.  There are certain things that are expected of us and we need to know how we are going to meet those expectations.  The answer to that question is given to us in today's verse.  God Himself is the one who is at work in each of us.  He it is who is helping us to be willing and to work for His good pleasure.  This is a good thing from our good and perfect God.  You can understand that God is working in us to make us want to please Him.  He gives us the desires to do what He expects of us – what He has created us to do.  Then, God works in us to help us do what He wants.  We do not have to do this on our own and on our own, we never could.  We need and have God enabling us to desire and do what pleases Him and we can trust Him for this promise today, right now, this very moment.   

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May 14 – Love That Will Not Fail

“His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of the warrior; the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.” Psalm 147:10-11 (NIV)

If we are true followers of the Lord God we want to please Him. We read in today's verse how we can do that. Sometimes we put our hope and trust in things that we can see and that in our estimation are strong enough to do the job. But what God wants is our faith in Him, not our “stuff”.  There is a way of not just pleasing God but of giving Him delight. Two ways are mentioned in this verse, even three. 

• First it would be by respecting Him, by giving Him the honor He deserves. That is what is meant by fearing God. 
• Second, we give God delight by living consistently in expectation that He will show us His love which never, ever fails – that is where we put our hope. 
• A third way is to NOT act as if it is up to us to come up with the necessary strategy and depend on our own way or strength. 

Let's remember today to give our Lord delight through having awesome respect and hope in Him.

May 1

“He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.” Psalm 18:19 (NIV)

Many of the songs in the Bible were composed by David. Some are prayers when David had special need of divine help. Some are songs of praise. In this verse David praises God for delivering him from his enemies. The words reveal a very special relationship between God and His servant. David sensed that God was happy about him, that He really loved him and was pleased with him. He wrote “God was delighted.” Was David the only person in whom God found delight? No, of course not. Everyone who trusts the Lord give God great pleasure, great delight. This same relationship can be ours, too. He loves us and when we trust Him He is delighted.