September 22 – When To Obey?

“How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, Who seek Him with all their heart.”
“I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of heart, When I learn Your righteous judgments. I shall keep Your statutes; Do not forsake me utterly!”   Psalm 119:2; 7-8  (NASB)

There is no time for us as faith believers to cease from obeying the word of God. Some pay little attention to what Scriptures say and pretend they can yet obey what they think they understand. Obedience is observing God’s testimonies found in the Bible so reading the Bible is essential to obedience. Obeying whenever we do read what the will of God is. 

“Only Jesus Christ is perfect, therefore, only he could walk in sinless, perfect obedience. But as we allow the Holy Spirit to transform us from within, we grow in holiness. This is the process of sanctification, which can also be described as spiritual growth. The more we read God's Word, spend time with Jesus, and allow the Holy Spirit to change us from within, the more we grow in obedience and holiness as Christians. ’Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.’ - 2 Corinthians 7:1.  “This verse says, ‘Let us work toward complete holiness.’ We don't learn obedience overnight; it's a lifelong process that we pursue by making it a daily goal.”*

* Fairchild, Mary. "Why Is Obedience to God Important?" Learn Religions, Aug. 28, 2020, learnreligions.com/obedience-to-god-701962.

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January 11 – Wisdom For Each Day

18“The wicked earns deceptive wages,
        but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward.
19 Whoever is steadfast in righteousness will live,
        but he who pursues evil will die.
20 Those of crooked heart are an abomination to the Lord,
        but those of blameless ways are his delight.
21 Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished,
        but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.” – Proverbs 11:18-21 (ESV)

In the book of Proverbs are found many promises. Proverbs has a concentration of parallel lines, or antithetical parallelism.  These proverbs look at the same truth from opposite perspectives. One line promises results of blessings and the other line promises the converse results of loss and even death. All the verses in Chapter 11 are such proverbs. Each one promises results from righteous living compared to results from the ways of evil living. 

• Verse 18 - The efforts of the wicked deceiver do not yield the riches his deception seeks, but the righteous receive a reward from God. 
• Verse 19 - Righteous living is rewarded with life and the wages of sin is death.  
• Verse 20 – The abominations defined throughout Scripture and especially in Proverbs, involve attitudes and behaviors which God hates*.
• Verse 21 - Individually or in collaboration, the wicked cannot be freed from duly and just punishment, while the unassisted children of the righteous find deliverance because of their relationship with God. 

God gives us here and in other passages the clear promise that wicked living has a losing result. However, righteous living is what He wants and will help us have. The wisdom is easy to see.

*What are the abominations? Proverbs 11:20; perverse living, (means crooked or distorted);  Proverbs 12:22; lying;  Proverbs 15:8; hypocrisy; Proverbs 15:9; wicked conduct; Proverbs 15:26; wicked thoughts; Proverbs16:5; pride; Proverbs 17:15; injustice; Proverbs 20:10, 23; dishonesty in business; 

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December 26 – Our Purpose: Believe Jesus, Love Others

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” – 1 John 2:1-2 (NASB)

Sometimes big words which aren’t commonly used by us can cause us to not quite understand what a verse is saying for us. We have a powerful big word in this passage – “propitiation.” In the New Testament it signifies “an expiation, (another big word) which is a means whereby sin is covered and remitted.” This implies that we, when we believe by faith, have a clear purpose for living. John simply puts it like this: don’t sin — don’t do what dishonors God. John wrote these for us to know that we may not sin. It is possible to not sin because God has forgiven us our sins. In 1 John 3:8 he wrote, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” We can say this positively, instead of negatively. In 1 John 3:23 is a summary of what John’s whole letter requires. Notice the singular “commandment” — “And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.” That’s our purpose. Two things so closely connected John calls them one commandment: believe Jesus and love others.

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In part sourced from John Piper's podcast, "Solid Joys." https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/three-christmas-presents 

August 21 – Our Advocate

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.  ” – 1 John 2:1-2 (ESV)

In today’s verses we have a couple of high dollar words. Most of us know the word “advocate” and likely use it from time to time. But few of us have cause to use the word “propitiation.” Both words are packed with significant promises for us.  Advocate: likely brings to mind the idea of an attorney, especially as counsel for the defense. An accused person needs good counsel and for that they hire an attorney. This word is also used and translated as “helper” because its literal meaning is “one called alongside.” Jesus is our advocate when Satan accuses us of our sins. Propitiation: He paid the price for us and His sacrifice on the cross is the propitiation for our sins. Our Advocate declares his word was “satisfactory” to answer the demands of our sins.  What Jesus did for us, when he died in our place was an “appeasement” that promised to satisfy the demands of our holy God for the necessary punishment of sin. This propitiation is available for all those in the whole world who believe, repents and confesses their sins. Jesus took the punishment and makes the appeasement available as a promise. 

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April 25 – Avoid Deception

“Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.” -  1 John 3:7-8 (NASB)

Recalling the promise from yesterday’s verse helps us understand today’s verse and why we are instructed to submit and resist. It is a persistent goal of the devil to deceive, especially those who are in Christ. If we don’t submit to God and if we don’t resist the devil we are actually practicing the devil’s ways. There are no multiple ways to multiple gods. Only one God and only one way to Him. We are instructed to practice righteousness as Christ, who is righteous, dwells within each true believer. If we fall for the deception of Satan and give in to the temptations he presents then our way of our life is the practice of sin. Christ has chosen us⸺he has provided the gifts of faith, and grace, for salvation⸺we should believe in the purpose Christ came to earth. He came to destroy the effects of the devil’s work. In His death on the cross, Christ struck the decisive blow to destroy the works of Satan. Christ’s resurrection from the dead secured for us the victory. One day, Satan’s time of conditional limited freedom will be over – that is a promise. (Revelation 20:10)  

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February 22 – His Eyes Upon Us

“The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.”  Psalm 34:15-17 (ESV) 

This Psalm of David is noted for being written shortly after he had feigned insanity before the Philistine King of Gath. He did so to avoid any reprisal for what he had done. It was the hometown of the giant Goliath whom David had killed. Using the sword of Goliath, David cut off his head after knocking him out with a rock from his sling. (1 Samuel 17:1–51)  This psalm, and others, were written while David hid in a cave with his men. King Saul was hunting David to kill him. We are apt to forget sometimes that our God is very near to His own. David was conscious that the Lord was watching over him and ready to help him at all times. But we note that David was talking about righteous people and you may wonder if this applies to you. Be assured that if you have believed in Jesus as your Savior, then God has declared you to be righteous. That is what we call justification by faith. So this applies to all who believe through faith. God’s eyes are on every movement we make and He is listening to hear our call. 

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January 23 – His Love In Us

“ O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” John 17:25-26 (ESV)

The last meal Jesus had with His disciples was His last Passover meal on Earth. He concludes his prayer with a call to the Righteous Father. The word translated “righteous” here doesn’t occur often in John’s Gospel. It’s significant as it’s His praise of the Father’s work of revelation. God our Father is right (righteous) and the world is in the wrong ("the world does not know You"). Jesus has known, and revealed the Father, and continues as Christians follow His example. The essence of God is love. Jesus revealed the Father and His love to the world in His own death and resurrection. And the Father made known His love for the Son by raising Him to glory. Jesus’ purpose in revealing the Father was that Christians would continue to grow in that love, that the Father’s love for the Son may be in them, and to enjoy the personal presence of Jesus in their lives and “I in them. Jesus has four petitions for believers: preservation (John 17:11), sanctification (John 17:17), unity (John 17:11, 21–22), and participation in Jesus’ glory (John 17:24). This prayer is answered every day with the conversion of each lost soul.  

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May 6 – Between A Rock and A Good Place

“The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.”  - Deuteronomy 32:4 (NASB)

We might be finding ourselves between the familiar rock and a hard place these days.  The promises we contemplate today are that God is The Rock, whose work is perfect – without fault. God’s ways are just and God’s faithfulness is without injustice. God is righteous and upright. These words are from the Song of Moses which he spoke before the assembly of the people of Israel. The occasion was the commissioning of Joshua, Moses’ successor. This word, “The Rock” represents the stability and permanence of God. These promises of who God is and of His perfection in all things are also true for us today. We might well be facing some difficult hard places in our lives.  But being between this Rock and our hard place today we are actually blessed because our Rock is God Almighty.  He is with us, on our side and we can find safety in God as our refuge, our Rock of Salvation. Let’s today, rest secure on our Rock for it is where God has placed all of us who have believed the Gospel, our secure place is on Him today and forever.

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March 15 – Only One Right Way

“For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.”  -Psalm 1:6  (NLT)

This is a David song.  It brings us comparative promises summed up in its last verse.  The psalm compares the consequences of following the path of wicked council and scoffers against the blessings and rewards of godly living.  There is solid and provocative truth here.  Believe and be counted among the assembly of the righteous or do not believe and perish.  Those who are on the path which leads to destruction will be destroyed.  All have the opportunity to turn off the way of the wicked and follow, by faith, the way of the righteous.  It is our Lord who knows the way of the righteous and it is He who watches over the path of the godly.  That is a promise that we have from God.  It’s like we have an advance team making sure the pitfalls are being taken care of.  The path of the righteous or godly is not the way of the sinners. Seated in the assembly of the righteous is not a seat among the scoffers.  With the Lord watching over our path, need no council from the wicked. When we choose God’s path He becomes our path maker and wise council.  

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March 14 – Don’t Be Useless Chaff

“Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.”  - Psalm 1:4-5 (NIV)

We considered the promised blessing of avoiding council of wicked scoffers.  We considered the promised result of faithful meditation on God’s Word.  The promise we have today is actually a warning.  Those who are on the path of wickedness are promised serious repercussions. The rebellious who continue to believe they do not need God and reject the offer of salvation, will not receive the blessing of sustaining grace.  They are not like a firmly planted tree. Instead the wicked are like useless chaff that is removed from the grain in thrashing. The chaff, nearly weightless easily blows away from the good grain when winnowed and then gathered and burned.   It is nothing to scoff at but scoffing is what the lost do until they respond to God’s Spirit who awakens in them the need and desire for righteousness.  The promise for the wicked is that they have no standing in judgement and have no place in the assemble of the righteous.  Let’s rejoice today and be blessed that we who believe are not chaff to be blown away and that we will stand when judged. And we have a our place in the assembly of righteous believers. 

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September 26 – None But Him

“And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me.” Isaiah 45:21b (NIV)

Two powerful truths and promises are given to us in this verse from the prophet of God, Isaiah.  First, is His message through Isaiah that apart from the God we worship there is none other.  Yes, there are many who claim to have another god who they worship.  The list is very long but as our God says here “there is none but me.”  Then in this verse there is something wonderful about the way God put two expressions together in these words. He said that He is a righteous God and He is a Savior. There is a beautiful connection between the two. When we think of our Lord as a righteous God we realize that He also wants His people to be righteous. He wants us to do what is right. We perhaps think of a righteous God as a just God who would punish those that fail to do right – that is how every other false god is said to be.  But only our God truthfully describes Himself as being a Savior.  Instead of wanting to punish those who fail, He wants to save them. And He promises those who believe will be saved from punishment. Thank God that He is righteous AND a Savior.

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June 30 – No Need to Fear or Worry

“Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”   Isaiah 41:10 (NASB)

It was through the Prophet Isaiah that God sent this promise to His people.  In the midst of warnings about what God was going to do to the unbelieving nations around Israel, he sends this encouragement that they did not need to fear or be anxious.  God would not be bringing the same judgment on His people.  This is a good promise for us to take hold of too.  When circumstances in our world and life become increasingly upsetting and disruptive we can cling to this promise that God is our God.  We do not need to be afraid of what is happening around us.  We do not need to be looking over our shoulder worrying about what might happen to us.  God  promises strength when and where we need it.  He promises to help us with full assurance.  In fact His promise is that He will be the One that holds us up and keeps us from falling.  We are helped by God's righteous right hand.  

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March 4 – Learning to Cast Well

“Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.”   Psalm 55:22 (NASB)

Burdens are difficult to carry about with us aren't they? The psalmist tell us that we can cast our burdens upon God.  Those who fish for fun or for a living know the idea of casting.  It is not just dropping our concerns but it is heaving them off to someone else. These burdens are the things that are of great concern to us.  And, we are told that we can depend on God to take care of us while He takes care of our burdens.  Why upon God?  Because He is strong enough to deal with them.  He promises how he cares for us when He says He will sustain us.  If we trust Him, we will be sustained by Him. That is a huge promise for those of us who carry the burden of financial worry or are afflicted with the burden of illness or disability.  Burdens create problems but casting them upon God relieves us.  Why does God promise to do this? Because of an even greater promise that He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.  This idea of shaken means to slip or fall from defeat.  Let's not carry our burdens any longer today, or tomorrow and all tomorrows.  Each time they appear, throw them off by casting them upon God.

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March 1 – A Hand Up For Strength

“For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand, Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’”   Isaiah 41:13 (NASB)

We find encouragement in this promise today.  God is concerned about us and about what we face in our life.  We considered His promises to uphold us with His righteous right hand in a previous verse (Isaiah 41:10) just three days ago. Today we see it is our right hand that God upholds. He assures us by declaring who He is. He is the Lord our God. There is no other.  Each of us encounter difficult and frightening situations and we need help to press on, Our God, takes us by our hand and helps us along.  Perhaps we have fallen or failed Him. His promise to uphold our right hand is a way of God telling us that He personally interferes on our behalf and will provide for us the strength we need to continue on.  We often read about giving a person in need “a hand up.” When we give someone a hand up we are helping to restore their footing and strength.  This is what God does for us all the time. He tells us to not fear because He promised to help and He is faithful.  A hand up from God is what we all need every day and He is always there to uphold our right hand with His right hand as well.  

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February 26 – Surely It Is So

“‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’”   Isaiah 41:10 (NASB)

A promise given by God to His people long ago still holds true for us today.  It is God's earnest desire that we be aware that He is near each one of us who have believed in Jesus as our Savior.  We belong as members of His family and He wants us to always be conscious that He is our God and that He is with us.  Each of us experience fear from time to time and we all are anxious about different things.  God's promise to us is to strengthen us through all such occasions and situations.  Whatever we encounter as we live for Him here on earth, God wants us to trust Him to support and uphold us.  As we depend on Him for strength He will give it, and He will see us through these situations that we face from day to day.  In this verse God's promises are underscored with the emphatic word, “surely” and today we can surely believe Him because He always keeps His promises.   

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February 24 – Tuned In

“The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry.”  Psalm 34:15 (ESV)

We have an encouraging promise in our verse today.  We hope that those who read this are indeed among the righteous because they have believed in Jesus as their Savior and have become righteous by faith in the work God has done in our lives.  We are accepted and adopted into God's family.  We are made righteous not on our own effort but by receiving the righteousness offered to us by Jesus' death and resurrection on our behalf.  We have this close relationship with God by faith.  Our Lord God has His eye on us.  He is watching us and is aware of all that we do, say, and think. He knows all of our needs.  Our Lord God also is attentive to our needs as we express them through thought and prayer.  We are in His thoughts and He is tuned in to us in every way.  Today, let's remember this promise.  Our wonderful God sees us, hears  us and he keeps us in our Christian lives.  

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August 13 – From Promise to Reward

“The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward.” Psalm 19:9b-11 (NASB)

We have selected three verse passage today from Psalm 19.  It is in these verses we find our promise while all the words are promises we point out some of them. God has been so faithful for all time to reveal His will through His Word in the Scriptures.  David, who wrote this psalm states that the judgments of the Lord are true and right in total.  In fact, David compares their value to fine gold by stating that God's word is more desirable than gold and sweeter than fresh honey.  This was David's experience and he gives his testimony.  We read these verses especially because of the last words in v. 11.  God gives us instructions in His Word because He wants us to be warned by them and to receive great reward that comes to us from keeping them.  God wants His word to become a part of our lives every day and promises us great reward if we do so.  

Note: If you have found hope and encouragement in these daily blogs, please share them with your friends.  

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July 11 – Surely He Will – He Said He Would

“Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 (NASB)

There are many reasons why we hold this verse as one of our most frequently recalled verses.  Today's verse has been chosen because it has several promises.  We will focus mostly on the last one. God promises to uphold His children with His righteous right hand.  God can promise this because He is a righteous God.  According to common definition, that means that He does what is right.  So when He holds us up with His righteous right hand, He does it to help us do what is right. And he will surely do it even when we doubt that He is.  We don't naturally always do what is right and God knows that we need His help for that.  So lets allow His hand to uphold us, to keep us doing what is right and proper.  And let's be sure we do what He prompts us to do, do not fear, do not be anxious, believe in God, trust He will strengthen us, help us and in that way He upholds us and we can rest in the battle.  God's hand is righteous and He will never fail.

November 12 – He Carries All

“Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.” Psalm 55:22 (NIV)

The picture we see here is one we can truly like. It invites us to cast our cares on the Lord.  This means that we sometimes have concerns which become a burden to us but which our God is able and willing to take care of for us.  So we are admonished to let the Lord carry our burdens.  But that is not all that we are given in this verse. It says that our Lord will sustain us. Now that word sustain really means to hold from underneath. So the Lord not only takes our cares and carries them, He also carries us. Our problems do not have to be something we worry about if we toss them on Jesus. We do not have to worry about ourselves either because He will bring us through. What a rich and encouraging promise to think about today.

October 28 – None But Him

“And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me. Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.” Isaiah 45:21b-22 (NIV)

These are important words which we should never forget. There is only One true God, but how wonderful to know that this is all we need. Yes, this one true God has made a way for us to know Him and to know what He can do for us. In our verse God calls Himself our Savior and He invites us to turn to Him. If we do turn to Him He will save us from sin and save us from despair and from uncertainty.  No matter what other ways people choose to believe, our God is the only one who can meet our needs. So friends, lets listen to the words of the only God, for there is no other.