Psalm 16:8–I Shall Not Be Shaken

Psalm 16:8–"I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken."

From time to time in my life I have been shaken.  In fact, there have been times that I was shaken, then stirred, then drank, then spit out too.  These were times in my life in which, for whatever reason, I felt too weak or unable or scatterbrained to handle the scenario(s) that I was facing.  I can speak from experience that in my pre-Christian life, when I hit turbulence, it was prone to shaking me loose from my hinges, unable to keep myself together.  Conversely, since coming to Christ I have found that, although life still bombards like a never ending tremor of earthquakes, I am constantly held secure in my Lord and by His unwavering hand stilling my heart and my life.

To this I can only say: Amen! Praise be to God!

My prayer is for those who do not know Christ to find this strength and courage through a sincere relationship with Him.  And for those who do know Christ, I pray that we would never forget the security that is found only in His name!

Synopsis of the Gospel

God is.  He is holy, meaning that He is without blemish, pure, and unlike anything else that has ever been.  He made human beings and commanded them to live by every word that flowed from His mouth.  But His creatures were unable and unwilling to adhere to those commandments and thus became tainted by sin, which needs to be washed in order for a right relationship with God to be restored.

Only a truly atoning act could overcome the sin of man in order to reconcile creation to God and for God to remain just and holy.  This is the story of the Gospel.  Jesus is the perfect, atoning sacrifice that has restored humankind to a right relationship with Him.  God remains just as He judged all sin in Christ.  While God also proves to be faithful, fulfilling all of the covenant promises that He had made for centuries.  This is the profound beauty of the Gospel.  Remember: "For God so loved..."

It is through faith that this reconciliation is received and applied to the person.  And while faith is a good thing and worthy of consideration at a later time, we should not forget the distinct content of our faith.

This is the Gospel in a nutshell.

1 Timothy 2:1-2–Prayers Are to Be Made For The Leaders

1 Timothy 2:1-2–"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made to all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way."

It seems appropriate on the week of the midterm elections for this verse to come up as a verse of the day.  We often forget that this is actually a major theme of Scripture, that we would maintain a certain deference and respect for our leaders.  Part and parcel to this perspective is that we would pray, recognizing that, ultimately, it is God who has placed the leaders in their places for His purposes (Romans 13:1).

Because this, and a whole host of other Scripture verses that support this same position, our prayer should be that we would be humble and reverent in prayer for our leaders and those people that God has placed in leadership positions.

Exodus 20:1-3–No Other god(s)

Exodus 20:1-3–"And God said all these things, saying, 'I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.  You shall have no other gods before me.'"

There is so much here but I intend to keep it brief tonight.

This is God speaking to the people of Israel just after He has pulled them out of Egypt through the Red Sea with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.  And yet even now, when they have seen and experienced the very real and active power of God, the people turn to a golden calf in worship.  It is truly remarkable how easily the people of God will turn away from Him to worship something that is less worthy.  This is why it is such a profound moment in history, such a distinct context for God to call His people out directly and to challenge them to live lives of utter and total commitment to Him and Him alone.

Similarly, this is God's call to us.  We have been pulled out and saved from the bondage of slavery to sin.  But even under these circumstances of salvation, we are prone to turning to idols instead of continually and fervently worship Him alone.  He sits on the throne of our lives.  This is how it needs to remain at all times.  Let us strive to keep this focus among us!

Colossians 3:17–Everything For Him

Colossians 3:17–"And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."

There is a principle that is always in play for the believer, and that principle is submission.  It is, in many ways, the very cornerstone of all Christian theology.  Think of the very call to believe unto salvation.  This is a call to submit our faith unto Christ.  Or the exhortation to devote ourselves to loving God with every bit of who we are; again, this is a call to submission.  But the submission does not end with theological assertions; it is a real, a practical submission.  In a real way, Christians are called to give everything, do everything, say everything, all for the glory of God.  There is no compartment of our lives that is to lie outside of that purview of submitting all we are and do to His name.  But what's more profound is that this submission is not done begrudgingly or with grumbling, but it is to be done thankfully and with great adoration.  This is our call and this is our task.

Let us pray to become better at giving everything to Him and doing it all with excellence for the glory of God!

The Presence and Practice of Piety

1 John 3:9–"No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God."

There is something profound, if not outright provocative here.  John and the Holy Spirit that inspires him are saying at least two conjoined and challenging things.  The first is that the believer, in whom God's seed (the Holy Spirit) abides, no longer has to sin.  Even more so, though, they are saying that the believer cannot keep sinning because he/she has been born of God.  In other words, not only will the one who is born of God no longer make or develop a practice of sinning but they will not even be able to keep sinning because God's seed is abiding in them as they are born of God.  There is so much here, more than the space of this particular blog will provide.  I highly suggest that you take time today to read the whole chapter and see how seriously, how sincerely John exhorts believers that they are no longer sinner but have been transformed into children of God.  It is about identity as much as it is about the practice of piety, which is really about recognizes who we are in Christ.

A Moment of Praise

While it must be said that Christians are called to live lives of praise and worship, it should also be said that life is a series of moment strung together.  Using this understanding of life, as but string of moments, we can begin to reduce life's great endeavors to the value of individual moments.  What I mean to say is that when we think of the devotions of life and the disciplines that conjoin and advance these devotions.

Because of this, today I exhort you (and me) to value the sincerity and the pleasure of the moment. Every moment is a powerful opportunity to be and to do the will of God and to praise His name.  Let us take this attitude and posture among us to take advantage of every single moment to worship God's name!