August 19 – Threefold Eternal Fruit

“Many plans are in a man’s heart, But the counsel of the Lord will stand. What is desirable in a man is his kindness, And it is better to be a poor man than a liar. The fear of the Lord leads to life, So that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil.” – Proverbs 19:21-23 (NASB)

In the beginning God and man were as one.  But ever since the fall, man’s devices and God’s counsel are at opposition. There is no doubt which will triumph. “There is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against the Lord. My counsel shall stand, and so I will do all my will.” (Proverbs 21:30) The privilege of doing good is within the reach of all. For when the poor fails, the desire of a man is his kindness, as acceptable as the most expensive proof of love. Such a desire is far better in the sight of God, in the heart of one of his poor people, than a man with large opportunities and hollow professions, who proves himself to be a liar. The poor gives readily. The rich cannot afford for he denies that he has the ability though he promises, he does nothing. With the grace of the gospel, we cultivate awesome respect. Threefold fruit is the promise set before us—life, satisfaction, security. It leads to life—not the mere natural life, common to the unbeliever—but a heavenly—an eternal life, in the favor and enjoyment of God.

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November 29 – Being Satisfied

“Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple!” Psalm 65:4b (ESV) 

When David the psalmist wrote these words of praise to God, he was thinking of the blessings which comes to God's people as they worshiped in the Tabernacle and later the Temple. The psalmist references these places as God’s courts. In the time these places of worship existed, it was the place where God would dwell among His people. It is the Lord God who chose Israel and who choses us and brings us near to him. We can apply these words to our experience of belonging to God's family today. We are members of God's household and we experience many good things because of it. As our verse says we are satisfied with the goodness God provides. We need to remember each day and be thankful that we are blessed because we belong to God's family. He is our heavenly Father and He takes care of us as we live here on earth. If we open our hearts to Him to fill us, he will fill our lives each day with His blessings. Then we can say as the psalmist said, we shall be satisfied and give God the glory for all He has done. 

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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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December 4– Knowing God is Great

“But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the Lord!”  Psalm 40:16 (ESV)

The psalmist in this verse was expressing his wish for all of us but what he said was in line with God's plan for us and His will. Yes, God wants all of us who follow Him to find real joy in doing so and real joy in living for Him. He wants the Christian life to be a life of true joy. He wants us to be satisfied in Him so much that we are also satisfied in our life.  This is difficult to maintain because we fight against an enemy who wishes us to be depressed, dejected, and sad.  God is more powerful and a higher authority. He is on our side. Our verse also reminds us what happens when we are happy living for the Lord. It results in much praise to God.  When we enjoy the Christian live we will want to exalt the Lord. We will want that His name receives much glory and praise. And, that too is pleasing to the Lord who is truly worthy of your praise. Today, let's seek Him and rejoice and be glad in Him.  Let's also say with the Psalmist, “GREAT IS THE LORD!”

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February 2 – Be Hungry. Be Thirsty.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”  -   Matthew 5:6  (NASB)

Our promise verse today comes again from the Sermon on the Mount and from what are call the Beatitudes. The Blessings or the Happiness promises. This passage of scripture delivered by Jesus is a description of what is required of those who wish to enter the Kingdom of God.  Satisfaction is promised in today’s verse.  The hunger and thirst are our strong desire, our driving passion for righteousness. These words communicate to us a deeply felt need.  It’s rare for us ever to be truly hungry or thirsty. We have ready access to instant food and drink at any time. But people in the ancient world didn’t have that wonderful advantage, and famine was very common and so was drought. What do we really hunger for? The answer to that question, will tell us whether we are a kingdom citizen or not.  We should ask ourselves, what is the driving ambition of our life? What is it that we really long for?  Jesus says, the people who are entering my kingdom and those who are members of my kingdom, have a real hunger and thirst for righteousness. And those are the only ones who will know spiritual satisfaction.

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July 11 – Hungry and Thirsty?

“Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men! For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good.”   Psalm 107:8-9 (NASB)

We are thankful to be reminded again how much our heavenly Father is doing for us in our Christian lives. In Old Testament days those who worshiped Him with this psalm were thanking Him and we have much reason to thank Him for what He does for us in our day.  Our verse reminds us that God satisfies the thirsty and the hungry.  We can believe because we have had that experience.  We have sensed how God can satisfy the longing of our hearts when we turn to Him.  It is wonderful to realize how God knows what our hearts are longing for and when we turn to Him in faith He responds .  Our verses also remind us how our Lord can fully satisfy our spiritual hunger and thirst and that He does it by giving us spiritually good things. 

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November 18 – Thanks Giving Every Day

“Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men!  For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good.”  Psalm  107:8-9 (NASB)

Today begins Thanksgiving week in the United States.  Our friends and families in Canada already observed Thanksgiving Day on October 8.  We want to remind ourselves that being thankful is not an activity reserved for just one day.  Giving thanks is what we do every time we pray or worship our Lord.  Our verse gives us several reasons for praising God.  For His great love which is steadfast and never fails.  For all the wondrous things he has done for us providing a way to be a part of His family which never fail.  We are thankful that God provides what we need spiritually as well.  He satisfies our thirsty spirit, our soul, and feeds our spiritual hunger with what is good.  We have reason for every day to be a day of thanksgiving and as we gather with family this Thursday, we can bring all that forward and celebrate our loving God.  

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December 5 – Knowing God is Great

“But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the Lord!”” Psalm 40:16 (ESV)

The psalmist in this verse was expressing his wish for all of us but what he said was in line with God's plan for us and His will. Yes, God wants all of us who follow Him to find real joy in doing so and real joy in living for Him. He wants the Christian life to be a life of true joy. He wants us to be satisfied in Him so much that we are also satisfied in our life.  Our verse also reminds us what happens when we are happy in living for the Lord. It results in much praise to God.  When we enjoy the Christian live we will want to exalt the Lord. We will want that His name receive much glory and praise. And, that too is pleasing to the Lord who is truly worthy of your praise. Today, let's seek Him and rejoice and be glad in Him.  Let's also say with the Psalmist, “GREAT IS THE LORD!”

November 29 – Be Satisfied

“Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple!” Psalm 65:4b (ESV) 

When David the psalmist wrote these words of praise to God, he was thinking of the blessings which comes to God's people as they worshiped in the place which was called God's house - the Tabernacle and later the Temple. We can apply these words to our experience of belonging to God's family today. We are members of God's household and we experience many good things because of it. As our verse says we are satisfied with the goodness God provides. We need to remember each day that we belong to God's family. He is our heavenly Father and He takes care of us as we live here on earth. If we open our hearts to Him to fill us we will be filled each day with His blessings. Then we can say as the psalmist said, we shall be satisfied.