November 15 – His Good Work First Then Ours

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10 (NASB)

While we read and think on this verse let's be sure to notice that the emphasis is on God and His plans for us. It's not on what we do for God but on what He does for us. Good works cannot produce salvation but are subsequent and resultant God-empowered fruits and evidences of it.1 When the verse speaks of our being created by God it really means our being born again – our re-creation because of what Jesus did for us. It is God who makes that happen and makes us His child and give to us eternal life. That makes us the work of God – we are His workmanship. Like his salvation, a believer’s sanctification and good works were ordained before time began.2 God has a purpose in this and it is that we will do what He gives us to do. We will tend to the work He gives us. Good works in our lives comes after His work in our lives. And all this was prepared and planned in advance. It is God's plan that comes together for our benefit.

 

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^[1] [2] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible., (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Eph 2:10.

October 10 – Being Absent Is Being Present

 “So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” – 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 (ESV)

Our promises found in our passage include one much the same as the words Paul wrote to the Philippian church toward the end of his ministry. This letter to the church at Corinth however, was not written while he was in prison. In these verses Paul was not saying he had absolutely no contact; there is prayer, the indwelling Spirit, and fellowship through the Word. Paul was expressing a strong yearning to be at home with his Lord. We find the Psalmist expressing the same sentiments in Psalm 23. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4) There’s no place that we go when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death where God absent from us He is with us. Heaven is where God is. “Surely … I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Psalm 23:6)  So where is the house of the Lord? It’s where God dwells and that is in heaven. The hope of the psalmist was to be absent from the body to be present with the Lord.

 

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March 28 – Walking Among Us

“For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”  2 Corinthians 6:16 (NASB)

Many of the promises which were given by God to His people Israel and recorded in the Old Testament are also used by the writers of the New Testament. Today’s promise was given first to the Hebrew people who were decedents of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Even though we may not particularly belong to this race of people, the promises were also given to all who believe and have asked Jesus to be their Savior. Our verse today is an occasion in the New Testament where that promise is claimed by Paul the apostle in his letter to the Corinthian Christians. We are part of God's family and he has adopted us as his children. Paul knew that the verse, which was given by God first in Leviticus and then again through the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel, was for all who believed. Yes friends, as a believer in Jesus this promise is given to you. We can rejoice knowing that God lives with us and walks among us and that He alone is our God. Today, let's embrace the truth that we are His people and joyfully live in this promise no matter what circumstances we face. 

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November 15 – God's Advance Planning

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”  Ephesians 2:10 (NASB)

While we read and think on this verse let's be sure to notice that the emphasis is on God and His plans for us. It's not on what we do for God but on what He does for us. When the verse speaks of our being created by God it really means our being born again – our re-creation because of what Jesus did for us. It is God who makes that happen and makes us His child and gives to us eternal life. That makes us the work of God – we are His workmanship. Good works cannot produce salvation but they are subsequent and the result of what God has empowered⸺they are the fruits and evidences of the salvation he prepared beforehand for each of us. Our sanctification as believers and our good works were ordained before time began (Ephesians 1:3–6). God has a purpose in this and it is that we will do what He gives us to do. We will tend to the work He gives us. Good works in our lives comes after His work in our lives. And all this was prepared and planned in advance. It is God's plan that comes together for our benefit.

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September 29 – Love Is Obedience

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. ” – John 14:15 (NASB)

“And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.” – 2 John 6 (NASB)

There are more than a few essentials that we need to know and understand if we seek to live our lives as Christians in a manner worthy of our Savior Jesus Christ. Honestly, don’t we actually have a tendency to avoid thinking too much about some of the essentials. One essential is loving God. Having been born of God and having received eternal life, God the Holy Spirit lives within our spirit. Jesus the Son of God is with us in Spirit as well. Now, here it is: Love for Christ is inseparable from our obedience. When Jesus says in John 14:15 “My commandments” these are not only Jesus’ ethical commandments in context (John 14:23-24), but the entire revelation from the Father. In his second letter John defines love, not as a sentiment or an emotion, but as obedience to God’s commands. If we are obedient to the truth as contained in God’s commandments, the fundamentals of the faith are identified as walking in love. There is no “falling in” and “falling out” of love with Jesus. There is only our love by our obedience to His Word exactly as He gave it to us. 

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August 10 – Home But Away From Home

“So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight.” – 2 Corinthians 5:6-7 (ESV)

True believers in Jesus Christ are confident with respect to the future even though we do not know what the future is going to be in this world. It is the very presence of the Spirit in the lives of believers that provides this confidence with the promises of God. Eventually our time and life on this earth will come to an end, when it does, we will be with the Lord. Now we are at home in a world that is not our own and even our bodies will someday be done away. Also it means we not in the Lord’s presence physically. ‘Being at home’ and ‘being away from home’ refer respectively to being in one’s own country and being a stranger living abroad. In other words, the image of the external being that we observe, is passive and passing, while the internal provision of faith is active and abiding. We focus our attention not on visible things that are temporal but on those that are invisible and timeless. We live not by what we can see in this world but by the faith God has given us to believe.

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May 10 – Moved to Follow

““I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” Ezekiel 36:27 (NASB)

The context of this promise is God speaking to His people Israel through His prophet Ezekiel. After having centuries of repeatedly turning from God for pagan non-gods, He was promising that one day He will do for them what they needed to follow His Way always. Those of us who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ have experienced a great change in our lives. God's plan and promise is that when, by faith, we choose to believe in Jesus, God's Holy Spirit is sent to live in us. When Jesus was on earth He made this promise and including several functions which He would fill. One of these promised functions is in today's verse.  The Holy Spirit is living in the hearts of believers to enable us to obey the Lord. As we trust in Him, we learn to sense the impulse in us to do what is pleasing to God. It may be through reading the Bible or hearing the Word preached that our hearts are stirred with the desire to do what God says He wants us to do in His Word. The stirring is the work of the Holy Spirit moving us to follow God's will.

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May 2 – Walking A Worthy Walk

“…so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;…” – Colossians 1:10 (NASB)

In the letters written by the Apostle Paul, he often uses long compound sentences. Verses 9 through 12 is one sentence so continuing from yesterday’s consideration of verse 9 we now find the aim of Paul’s petition in his daily prayers. His prayer request was practical: in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord. A genuine knowledge of Christ reveals itself in transformed character, in Christlikeness. In Ephesians, Philippians, and both letters to the Thessalonians this exhortation is used. We are called to live our lives and walk in a manner worthy of God, of his calling us, and of other believers. How we live each day, what we think, say and do is observed by others and it reflects our dedication and conviction of God. Christ Jesus has saved us and called us to be a testimony to His Word. If we are walking worthy of the Lord, the promise is that we will please the Lord in all respects.  We will bear fruit in all our good efforts at the work He gives us; our knowledge of God will be increasing daily which also pleases the Lord. 

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April 19 – Penetrating Question

“Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, And makes me walk on my high places.” -  Habakkuk 3:18-19 (NASB)

Our verse comes from the book of Habakkuk. We find promises that are apropos to our times. On today’s social media, we may encounter a good deal of complaining about how “things aren’t how they used to be or should be.” And the appeal of many is “How do we get back to the way it was?” This was the prophet Habakkuk’s complaint. Sin was abounding (just as today) and God seemed both indifferent and idle to Habakkuk. He questions if it was God who was to blame? “Why do You make me look at injustice?” (Habakkuk 1:3 NASB) He doubles down with an even greater question for God: “Why do You tolerate wrong?” (Habakkuk 1:13 NASB) Does this sound like the cry of many modern Christians?. “Why is God allowing the destruction of our country?” Mostly we blame the other side of the political divide. Habakkuk describes dire circumstances (v.16-17) for himself and Israel.  But he doesn’t state that he would merely endure this distress. He sets our example and said he would rejoice in the Lord and be joyful. God is the inexhaustible source and infinite supply of joy. God my Savior is literally, “the God of my salvation.”

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February 2 – Truly No Fear

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. ” – Psalm 23:4 (ESV)

In Psalm 23, which most people call the “Twenty-third Psalm,” we find our Good Shepherd being our protective shield wherever we go. Some of us have been where our lives have been at risk from nature and/or mankind. Others have faced a different kind of threat and have felt are deep in and under the shadow of evil forces, evil people. There is a valley of shadow for many who suffer from depression. David does not write 'When', he says “Even though I walk..” He knows because it is the way of life on this earth. David chooses and determines to NOT fear evil.  The promise from God is that He is with us. He protects us from evil and the evil one with  his rod. The rod was a club used by a shepherd as a defensive weapon.  The staff was for guidance and a help in hilly, rocky areas. It was also a comfort to know it could be a defensive weapon as well as used to carefully control the sheep which had a tendency to go astray. God is fully able to keep us safe from evil and comfort us in all situations.

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December 21 –– Light Makes a Difference

“Blessed are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face,” Psalm 89:15 (ESV)

The subject of light is frequently in our discussions this time of the year. There is great light in the presence of the Lord. We think of the light which shone for the shepherds near Bethlehem that night that Jesus was born.  The Bible clearly shows us that rejection of God and His will results in darkness.  Darkness in this world is caused by denial of God's will and by sin. But with God there is great light which overcomes the darkness. The Gospel of John declares that in Jesus, was the light that was the life He brought to expose the darkness, (John 1:4-5.) That is what the lights of Christmas should remind us of.  When Jesus came to earth there were lights to demonstrate His purpose in coming. His presence in our lives does make such a big difference – like the difference between night and day. Our verse reminds us to walk in the light of His presence and promises a real blessing if we do.  Remember we have our festal shout out at Christmas. It was when Jesus came to be our Savior and His promise is to be with us daily. 

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March 12 –No Council No Scoffers

“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!”  Psalm 1:1 - (NASB)

Our promise today is that we are blessed IF we avoid those things that block a blessing from us.  We all really want to be happy.  Blessed is another word for “Happy” and our verse could read, How HAPPY is the man who avoids the pitfalls of wicked counsel, does not hang around the areas where sinners pass by, and does not congregate with those who scoff.  Pretty simple, “Don’t get involved with the wrong crowd where the counsel is not godly and the way is not righteous and those sitting around us are mocking what we believe.  These days we encounter those who scoff at people, like us, who speak out about our faith in Jesus.  They are scoffers and their scoffing is aimed at our Lord and us for believing and talking about our love of God.  In a few verses and three days we will understand the outcome of those who provide wicked council, beat a path to unrighteousness, and make fun of believers in God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  To scoff at one is scoffing at all persons of the One God we worship.  

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December 17 – Knowing What is Required

“He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8 (NASB)

We often hear others say, and probably think and say ourselves, that we don't know what we are to do when faced with perplexing circumstances.  Although this message was given long ago to Old Testament people, it is timeless and applies to us today, too. This is a different kind of promise. It is a promise of what God has told us to do and how we should live and we ought to know it.  We can notice that the Lord expects His followers to deal in a certain way with other people. This is what and how God wants us to face every situation we encounter. He wants to act justly toward others. He wants us to be kind to all and to love doing so.  Such kindness is being merciful. And our Lord wants us to have the proper attitude toward Him which means we are to live our lives according to God's will. Those are precious words, are they not? “To walk humbly with your God.” He wants us to walk close to Him, to do it humbly. He has told us what is good and what He requires, so let’s follow His words today.

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June 5 – Made By Him

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”  Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)

It is good and wise to always remember that we are not living on our own.  We are not self-made men or women as is often claimed by some.  God has had something to do with our lives before we accepted Jesus as our Savior and when we do accept his offer, He has given us eternal life.  He has been working in our lives ever since, helping us fit more and more into His plans for us.  Our verse today reminds us that God has planned for each of His children that we do good works.  He did not plan that we just live for ourselves.  He wants us to positively affect others by the way that we live and by the things that we do.  Let's be sure that we allow our Lord to guide us in out activities and accomplish His purpose. 

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March 23 – Enough For All

“Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”   2 Corinthians 6:16 (NASB)

This verse in the New Testament of our Bible refers to statements God had given His people in the Old Testament to assure them of His presence with them.  God has always wanted His people to be aware of His presence with them and we believe He wants each of us today to be aware of this as well.  It is God's will that each of us today, who put our trust in Jesus Christ, recognize His presence in our lives.  God is in heaven and He is ruling over the universe but He wants us each to know with assurance that He is also with us and participating in our lives where we work, in our homes and wherever we travel to.  We are never alone and even if we are with no other person, we are with God because He is with us.  That is His promise.  We have no need to seek out other means, God is enough for each of us who believe in Him.  

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November 15 – Promises Made Promises Kept

“Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them;  And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”  2 Corinthians 6:16b (NASB)

God has been making promises to His people since He first created human beings.  Many of the promises we spend our time with each day are from the Old Testament.  We find them from throughout including the time of Moses and the prophets such as Jeremiah and Ezekiel.  Today our promise is found in the New Testament.  It is the last part of our verse.  The Apostle Paul, writing to the believers in the city of Corinth was helping them recognize the importance of giving up the worship of idols of non-existent gods because God has promised that He dwells in those who believe and receive Him.  There is no way to combine the world's system with what God has said.  He promises to be with us and among us.  He is our God and we are His people.  The promise was first given to the People of Israel, and now this verse teaches us that we have received the same promise.  Again, today confirm this truth that the only God is our God and we are His people.  

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September 6 – Trusting All Day Long

“Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning; For I trust in You; Teach me the way in which I should walk; For to You I lift up my soul.” Psalm 143:8 (NASB)

Some of those who follow and read this blog do so in the evening. Others read it in the morning.  For some, it may be the middle of the day when it is posted in their time zone. No matter when you read each day's post, you can be certain to have the same assurance that David had.  We can think of the morning to come as a time to remember that God's love for us never fails and that, can also re-assure us at evening time or in the middle of the night.  Whenever you take the time to read this post, God wants to remind you of his promises and that His love will never fail.  We can trust in Him.  He is with us showing us which way we should go.  Whenever we might have decisions to make, morning, noon or night, we can depend on God to guide us.  That is a promise and it can lift us up in spirit today.  Let's commit to trust in Him today to guide us in our way.

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July 17 – A Light on the Straight Way

“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Psalm 119:105  (NIV)

Over the next six days we are going to focus on verses from Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible with 176 verses. [See the Note below.]  The emphasis of this Psalm is about the Word of God.  We sometimes think of life as a journey that we are all taking through time.  We speak of walking through life and the psalmist draws that picture for us.  None of us know what is ahead of us so it's like walking in the dark where we need a light.  God knows that we need help in going through life and He has given us guidance.  The Bible is like a guide-book that illuminate our way for us if we pay attention to it.  This is why the psalmist pictures God's Word for us as a lamp which God has given to us.  It gives us vision to see the way God has set before us. He promises to make our way straight and He gives us what we need to see that way. 

Notes on Psalm 119 

June 12 – Flame Proof

“When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you. “For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;”  Isaiah 43:2b-3a (NASB) 

We are reminded today of God's faithfulness as we read these promises given to us through the prophet Isaiah. Perhaps you get the feeling that you are walking through fine when you are faced with difficult circumstances. Do you wonder sometimes how you are going to get through some trying situations? And, maybe you think no one has ever had it as hard as you have? The promises we have here proves to us that people have always had problems in this world But it also reminds us how good it is to have a God who is loving and who is able to bring us through our difficulties. Yes, we may at times feel like we are walking through fire but God promises us that we will not be scorched or burned. Why can we trust that promise? Because it comes from the Lord our God, our Savior.  It is so good to know that God loves us and He promises to bring us through our trials and testing.

March 8 – Lives and Walks

“I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” 2 Corinthians 6:16b (NIV)

Many promises were given by God to His people Israel and are recorded in the Old Testament. Even through we may not particularly belong to this race of people, the promises were also given to all who believe and have asked Jesus to be their Savior. We are part of God's family and he has adopted us as his children. Our verse today is an occasion in the New Testament where that promise is claimed by Paul the apostle in his letter to the Corinthian Christians. Paul knew that the verse, which was given by God first in Leviticus and then again through the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel, was for all who believed. Yes friends, if you are a believer in Jesus this promise is given to you. We can rejoice knowing that God lives with us and walks among us and that He alone is our God. Today, let's embrace the truth that we are His people and joyfully live in this promise no matter what circumstances we face. He IS with us - always.