A heart the won't melt away

    The following is second part of a study on Caleb's Following God Fully found in Joshua chapter 14. Not only should you have a reverent remembrance of what God has done and what God DESIRES, ask yourself, do I have a ...

    Half-hearted fear or whole-hearted following (7b-8)

     Notice what Caleb said in Josh 14:7, “and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart. Nevertheless my brethren  who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the LORD my God.”

    Did you know that fully following the Lord will help your heart? Not talking your physical heart but the heart you need to follow him. The word used here for melt means to turn to water. Deuteronomy 1 recalls we read earlier in Numbers 13.

     Read the following from Deut. 1:20-39. In his book Battle-Ready, author Steve Farrar points out that the ten “not able” spies and the two “notable” spies earlier were commanded by God and instructed by Moses to go into the promised land not to see whether they could take the land, but HOW they could take the land.

        ²⁰ Then I said to you, “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us. ²¹ See, the LORD your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, told you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”  ²²Then all of you came to me and said, “Let us send men ahead to spy out the land for us and bring back a report about the route we are to take and the towns we will come to.”…

     …²⁶But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. ²⁷You grumbled in your tents and said, “The LORD hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us. ²⁸Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.’ ” ²⁹Then I said to you, “Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. ³⁰The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes,”… ³² In spite of this, you did not trust in the LORD your God, ³⁴ When the LORD heard what you said, he was angry and solemnly swore: ³⁵“No one from this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your ancestors, ³⁶ except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly.” … ³⁸ But your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage him, because he will lead Israel to inherit it.

     The ten “not able” spies not only didn’t believe God and didn’t obey God, not only did they forget what God had done and what God desired. Because they talked about what they were not able to do rather than God WAS ABLE to do, the heart of the people melted.

     But listen to this: 40 years later, two more spies went into the promised land, to the house of the harlot Rahab. Listen to what she said. Joshua 2:10-11 “For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.”

     For 40 years, the people of Jericho and the inhabitants of the land which God had ordained and prepared for the people of Israel had melted hearts! Everything that happened in Joshua could have happened 40 years earlier under the rule of Moses if only the people would have trusted God with all their hearts.

     What is it that God has given to you that fear and faithlessness is keeping you from obtaining?  Fully following God begins with a reverent remembrance of what God has done and what God desires, and it will give you a heart that won’t melt away when times of testing come. And as we will see, fully following God will give you a Lasting LEGACY.

Do you have a reverent remembrance of what God has done and desires?

     You remember what Joshua and Caleb were famous for, right? Of course, you do. Moses had sent out 12 spies into the promised land to help prepare for battle. The story is found in Numbers 13, but 45 years later in Joshua 14, Caleb reminds Joshua what happened in Kadesh Barnea. Not that Joshua could have ever forgotten that...as a result of the events that transpired, the people of Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years. 

    Remember What He has done. Caleb didn’t have to remind Joshua.  But it is important that we remember what God has done for us. It is wonderful and marvelous that God chooses not to call into remembrance our bad, but it is a terrible shame if we do not call into remembrance God’s good works. Moses sent the twelve spies into the land from Kadesh Barnea but only two brought a good report.

    The story is found in Numbers 13. 

¹ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.”

³ So Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran according to the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel. ⁴ Now these were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; ⁵ from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; ⁶ from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; ⁷ from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; ⁸ from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea[fn] the son of Nun; ⁹ from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; ¹⁰ from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; ¹¹ from the tribe of Joseph, that is, from the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi; ¹² from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; ¹³ from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; ¹⁴ from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; ¹⁵ from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.

¹⁶ These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua.

    The reason for the spies to go out was not to determine whether they could take the land. God already made that decision. The passage says clearly that God was giving it to them. That was why they had been delivered from Egypt in the first place! God wanted to restore them to the Holy Land.

    Has God been good to you? Do you call it into your remembrance, as Caleb did to Joshua 45 years later. There is a reason we celebrate the Lord's Supper in the church. There is a reason we have Memorial Day for those who have fallen in service of our country. God wants us to remember the good things of the past so that we can take courage for the future.

    Remember What He desires. If we are to fully follow God, we have to remember what God has called us for. You have a purpose for being here on earth. You have a mission. Moses had sent out the spies to “see what the land is like: whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many; whether the land they dwell in is good or bad; whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds; whether the land is rich or poor; and whether there are forests there or not. Be of good courage. And bring some of the fruit of the land.”

    Nowhere was their mission to see whether they could take the land. Their job description did not say, “Go see if God knows what He is talking about.” Their mission as spies were to spy the land for the battle that was about to come.

    You know the story. Ten came back with a bad report. A report that made the people’s heart melt. Write down three words. 

Word # 1 “NOTABLE.” 

#2 “NOT” 

#3 “Able.”

    If you know someone named “Joshua” or “Caleb”, think about them and how “notable the names are based on this Bible story. Then ask yourself if you have ever met anyone named for the 10 spies who said they were “not able”. (It's okay to glance back at the passage above if you don't remember them...you probably read right past them.)

    Moses, for some reason, recorded the names of the other ten. Do you want to be notable like Caleb and Joshua. Or do you want to be in group of 10 spies who said “We’re NOT ABLE. We’re NOT ABLE to do what God has called us to do.”

    Let us all have a reverent remembrance of what has done in the past so that we can do what He desires in the future. 

Go. GO! Go to God's Roman Road

The Gospel means “good message” and Christianity has reasons to be positive in a very negative world. Another word for Gospel is Evangelism and look at the center of evANGELism. An angel is a messenger and when the angel brought “good tidings of great joy” to world in Luke 2:10, the message was “to all people”.

We live in a negative world. But the gospel is a positive message and we need to share that good message to all people.

God’s Plan. Isn’t it great that God has a good plan? His plan, the gospel, is not something to be ashamed of. Romans 1:16 says “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God for salvation.”

Our Problem. The very reason we became a Christian in the first place was because of a bad “message”: we are all sinners and imperfect and in need of forgiveness. The “ABCs” of evangelism begins with “Admit we have all sinned” (Romans 3:23). Sometimes we, the church, get in the way of the “good message.” But we, the church, are not the only ones who have sinned and we need to communicate to the world that they too have a problem with not being perfect.

God’s Provision. God didn’t wait for us to get perfect. Romans 5:8 says that even though we were sinners Christ died for us. So God’s plan was to solve our problem with His providing the solution through salvation. Rom. 6:23 says the cost of our sin is death, but there’s a free gift: salvation. You don’t earn it. You don’t deserve it. You simply receive it.

Our Prayer. How do we receive a free gift? We must “leave” in order to “receive.” If you are going in the wrong direction, you must leave that direction and turn to the right destination. Romans 10:9-10 and 13 states you need to call on God from an inner conviction that leads to an outer and life-long confession. The Biblical word for leaving a sinful direction and receiving a salvation destination is “repentance.”

My family was south of San Antonio once and we exited (okay, I exited) Loop 410 to head for Padre Island. However, my direction was just a little off and we actually headed for Laredo. (If you don’t know, there is a BIG difference in Laredo and Padre Island!) The only benefit from that diversion is an illustration that even being a little off in our direction can take us to a very different destination.

This simple Roman Road presentation has a four-point outline: “Go. GO!”. Jesus commissioned us to go share this good message (Matt. 28:19-20) and the double “Go. GO!” indicates the urgency we must have to Go. So GO!

The scandal of Christ's Words

The Stumbling

“Does this offend you?”

Jesus asked the disciples when they were murmuring and complaining about some of the hard words He had spoken and they didn’t understand.

Do some parts of the Bible that are hard to understand “make you stumble” (John 6:61 NASB, ASV)? The Greek word for offend or stumble is the same word from whence we get the English word “scandal”.

Maybe it’s not the difficult to understand parts of the Bible, but rather the parts that you DO understand that offend you. Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) said, “Some people are troubled by the things in the Bible they can’t understand. The things that trouble me are the things I can understand.” (Watertown Daily Times, 1915)

The Ascension

Flash forward, several decades from when Jesus said, “Do my words offend you”. The Apostle John, now an aged man after hearing this as a young disciple, was exiled to the island of Patmos. An angel with a voice like a trumpet came from heaven and said, “Come up here!”

Immediately, the old apostle was ushered up into heaven to the very throne room of God, standing before God the Father and Jesus the Son.

That word, “Come up here” (anabaino in the Greek) was also used again in Revelation when two prophets in the end times were raised from the dead after three and a half days. “And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ‘Come up here.’ And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them” (Rev. 11:12).

What is significant about “anabaino”? After Jesus said, “Does this offend you?” He immediately asked a second question.

The Seeing

Look at how Jesus follows up His question in John 6.  “Does this offend you? What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend (Greek: anabaino) where He was before?” (John 6:61b-62)

After the resurrection of Christ, the disciples saw Jesus ascend to heaven in the clouds. One day, we also will anabaino to heaven. On that day, which will matter most? To be offended by the hard words and commands of Christ. Or to offend Him by our disobedience and lack of faith?

The word of God may be offensive to the world, but not to the believers. Jesus said, “Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me” (Matthew 11:6, Luke 7:23).

The very words that may originally cause you to be offended or stumble are given to keep you strong, especially in times of hardship. “These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble (skandalizo). They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.”  (John 16:1-2)

Don't be offended, or stumble or even be scandalized by the hard teachings of God's Word. One day, we will ascend up to heaven, just as He ascended, and the entire world will stand before Him. Those who were offended by Him will be eternally ashamed. Those who were not offended will be eternally blessed. 

Is God shouting at you? Then Listen!

“Do you have an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like His?” 

Job 40:9.

     I thought of that verse after hearing the wall-rattling booms from Fort Hood this week. Those “sounds of freedom” from F-16s dropping 500-pound loads for target range practice may not be the voice of God, but they sure do get your attention (and the attention of the animals and a few car alarms).

     Even though I’ve lived here long enough to even appreciate those sounds of our military, I texted a friend who works on Fort Hood, just to make sure everything was okay. It made me think about the men and women who go through the “shock and awe” of actual battle. And even if it awakens us in the night, just knowing that those booms are from “our side” should give us a peace to go back and sleep at ease the rest of the night.

     Elsewhere in the book of Job, it says, “God's voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding” (Job 37:5).

Some rumblings and rattlings are not from God but rise to the deafening level that also gets our attention, causing us to try to understand things that are beyond our understanding.

     Romans 8 talks about groanings that are too deep for utterance of words. There’s a mystery about the thunder that rolls from one horizon to the other. In Rev. 10:4, John was going to write about the seven thunders he heard, when a voice from heaven stops him, “Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.” There are some things we simply will not know here.

     There are things that rattle our world that don’t quite make sense: the death of a soldier or sailor or airperson, random violence, political and social clashes that are increasingly inexplicable. Even the death of a beloved spouse after 60 years of marriage can be comprehended but only scarcely understood unless you’ve lived through it.

     Have you ever been rattled by God? Or by humanity’s insanity? Are you trying to make sense of senseless acts that perhaps even make you ponder the very existence of a God who would allow such things to occur?

Be assured, you and I are not the first to wonder aloud “where is God in all of this?”

     It’s found in the unforgettable lyrics of African American Pastor and Poet Charles Tindley, who penned the refrain of “We’ll understand it better by and by” in 1906. The toe-tapping melody can almost eclipse the real pain found in the rich lyrics about being “tossed and driven on the restless sea of time” and how “we are often destitute of the things that life demands, want of food and want of shelter, thirsty hills and barren lands” and how God often leads us as He “guides us with his eye, and we’ll follow till we die.”

     The wonderings about all the rumblings of this world’s thunder is also found in the memorable lines of apologist C.S. Lewis, who wrote The Problem of Pain, during the early stages of World War II. The later “Narnia Chonicler” wrote this in 1940, “Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

     Is God shouting to you? Then listen!

     The point of all this is simply this: if you are rattled by the world’s rumbling, don’t be alarmed. It’s merely the sounds of freedom, preparing us for life’s battles and eventual victory. The ultimate Victor of the battle of all battles, Jesus Christ, said this, “I have said these things to you, that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

     Tim McKeown is associate pastor of First Baptist Church of Killeen and blogger at www.johnoneday.blogspot.com.

           

Don't forget the "once saved" part...

A person who is a believer, with God’s Holy Spirit living within them, cannot continually and unrepentantly reject God’s Holiness within them without burning their conscience and departing from the truth.

But what if our desires constantly and consistently deviate from God’s clear and explicit commandments? The Bible and especially Jesus is clear: We must die to those desires. Jesus Himself gave us this example.

“Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not My will but Thine be done,” He prayed.

After all, is not the symbol of our faith a cross? A cross at that time stood for death, excruciating death, from which we get the very word “ex-cruc-iating” (“cruc” means “cross”).

What does the cross stand for? Merely that Christ died and we do not have to? No, for if that were the case, why would Jesus explicitly teach otherwise?

“And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” Matt. 10:38.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Matt. 16:34.

Shall I go on? I could you know…

If a person claims to be a Christian and utterly refuses to follow His clear commands (see Matt. 7:21-23 below), that person should seriously question his or her faith.

“How dare you say that? Who are you to judge?”

I did not say it. The Bible did in 2 Cor. 13:5. Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.

“Oh I am not disqualified! I prayed a prayer when I was a kid! I am saved by grace and faith, not by works!”

Where did we first learn about salvation and grace and faith? THE BIBLE. So, can we claim some parts of the Bible as true and other parts false? How is that consistent?

Let’s look how Paul (who wrote the most about salvation through faith and grace) how he tells us to examine and test ourselves. Did he really teach that we can pray a prayer as a kid and then live according to our desires and never feel a twinge of guilt? Never repent? (Jesus’ first sermon was, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is near.”)

Here is the entire 2 Cor. 13 passage in the New Living Translation. Does this sound like you or I can pray a prayer and then live a life of rebellion or compromise or disobedience and still “pass the test” of true salvation?

5 Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you (literally “in” you); if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith. 6 As you test yourselves, I hope you will recognize that we have not failed the test of apostolic authority.

7 We pray to God that you will not do what is wrong by refusing our correction. I hope we won’t need to demonstrate our authority when we arrive. Do the right thing before we come—even if that makes it look like we have failed to demonstrate our authority. 8 For we cannot oppose the truth, but must always stand for the truth. 9 We are glad to seem weak if it helps show that you are actually strong. We pray that you will become mature.

10 I am writing this to you before I come, hoping that I won’t need to deal severely with you when I do come. For I want to use the authority the Lord has given me to strengthen you, not to tear you down.

Paul is saying, “Don’t make me pull over the car! Don’t make me come down there and correct you! I would rather appear weak and not have to correct you rather than be the tough guy and demonstrate that your bad behavior will force us to exercise authority. Show that you are in the faith by living to the commands of Christ. If you oppose the truth, the truth won’t conform to you (sorry Os Guinness), you will fail and show yourself as disqualified from the faith!”

We are saved by faith and kept saved by faith and grace, but we prove the validity of our faith by our works, for which God saved us. If we show otherwise, we prove our faith is false. This is not sinless perfection. This is “saved to serve, not saved by serving” theology.

“Once saved always saved” hinges on one very important truth: ONCE SAVED.

If we fail the test of examination here and now or fail to examine ourselves and change, there will be a final test, and it is pass or fail. Jesus will be the examiner. Jesus said to those who practice lawlessness but still called Jesus “Lord, Lord” in Matthew 7:21-23—“I NEVER KNEW YOU.”

The cross of Christianity is not a shiny gold medallion to wear. It is a rough, splintery life to bear.

This is so hard to write because I am writing to a particular loved one whom I greatly love. I see why Paul said, “I would rather be weak than strong, but if you force me I will say some strong things.” And He had apostolic authority. He had the truth. He wrote the majority of the New Testament. 

If you reject what Paul said, you reject the Bible. Without the Bible, how can you pick and choose what is right and what is wrong? You reject the martyred lives who laid their lives down in response to the cross, without which we would not have the Bible at all. You make God in your own sinful image, no longer a Father who loves through disciplining us for our own good and His own glory. 

We submit to Christ, not only for a FREE SALVATION but also for CRUCIFIED LIVING. We follow a crucified Christ, who carried the cross and calls us to go and do likewise.

Warning to a compromised conscience

     How do we go from a compromised, weak conscience to a defiled, contaminated conscience?

     The Bible segues from 1 Corinthians 8:7 to the next digression of the conscience in Titus 1:15. Separated by at nearly decade in authorship, Paul writes these two sentences: “However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled,” and “To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.” 

     Even though he is writing from a different location to a different audience and in a different time, Paul is carrying forward the same thought: when people stray from what they know is right and wrong and willingly embrace wrong, they can “trick” their conscience. It no longer is just weak and vulnerable, like a computer with no virus protector or a person without a flu shot. Their conscience is open to attack.

     A mind closed asks questions but only to win arguments and satisfy himself. An open mind ask questions listens to the wisdom of the world. But an open mind without being firmly grounded in the faith in God and a firm grasp of morality can be easily swayed from the truth. British author Sir Terry Pratchett said, “The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.”

     A closed mind which is right is better than an open mind which is open to being contaminated with error.

     Paul goes on to say that those with a defiled, contaminated conscience professes to know God with their lips but deny God in their actions and works. He uses a different word than he did to the Corinthians when he was referring to merely the ethics of a struggling conscience being defiled. In Titus, he uses a word which speaks more to the spiritual foundation, a deeper sense of defilement to the core.

     A conscience which is defiled at the roots can do no other than have defiled actions. It shuns and refuses sound doctrine (the next verse in the following chapter, Titus 2:1). With a deeper departure in the conscience needs a stronger response to turn from such defilement. A sensitive conscience responds to the word of the Lord; a struggling conscience responds to works and examples of others who are stronger in the faith; but a soiled, contaminated conscience needs a warning, a “rebuke” (Titus 1:13).

     The other day a potential school shooting was foiled when someone who heard something, said something to authorities. There comes a point when an intervention needs to occur.

      Jesus used this progression of first go privately, then with one or two witnesses. A defiled conscience needs an intervention. Matthew 18:16-18 says tell it to the entire church for a warning.

Consider this prayer from Psalm 141:15 (NIV)

Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness;
let him rebuke me—that is oil on my head.
My head will not refuse it,
for my prayer will still be against the deeds of evildoers.

Sin Loves A Party

   How does our conscience go from being sensitive and doing what is right to being totally seared, as seen in 1 Tim. 4:2 “In the last days, some will depart from the faith, having their conscience seared with a hot iron.”?

   How do people do things that are unconscionable? Obviously, there are mental issues, but there are also spiritual issues that should not be ignored. There is a spiritual force of evil that the Bible teaches. From Genesis to Revelation, that evil is even personified as more than a force, but conscious, thinking entities of demons and above them all, the devil.

   But let’s not give the mental or spiritual all the blame. Some of the evil that occurs happens from another source: us! We are the source of weakening and compromising our own conscience and also the consciences of others.

   The second passage that speaks of the digression of a sensitive, convicted conscience is found in 1 Cor. 8:7-13 which speaks of a struggling, compromised conscience. “9 But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? 11 And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? 12 But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.”

   If misery loves company, sin loves a party. There is something that can lead to calling “evil” good and calling “good” evil and that is seeing it witnessed in others. The old adage of “Bad company corrupts good morals” comes straight from the Bible in 1 Cor. 15:33, translated in the ESV as “Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

   That is one of the dangers of allowing the filth that comes in over the television or video games to compromise the clear teachings of the Bible. No, it doesn’t corrupt everyone, but the weak and already compromised conscience that already struggles will see others and join in the crowd. And for some, that first sin is the day they become hooked. Proverbs 22:25 calls it a snare or a trap. See also 2 Peter 2:18-20.

   Not only can evil lead others to stumble, we who are strong believers need to be careful on what we do in front of others that could lead them to stumble. We are free to do some things but if our freedom leads others to sin, we should not participate in those things.

Today’s prayer comes from Hebrews 12:15:

Lord, help me not to fall short of Your grace.
Keep any “root of bitterness” from springing up in me
and cause trouble by my witness to others.

What leads to a convicted conscience?

 

   To have a sensitive, convicted conscience, we must listen to the Word of God.

   I can’t imagine a living in a culture that would stone someone for any crime. And yet such cultures exist today. And they existed in the Bible days. And let’s face it, it was commanded in the Old Testament. The Bible taught judgment for sin to teach the seriousness of sin.

   This story found in John 8:1-11 is not so much about a woman, but about the conviction of sin. This passage does not teach that it is sin to call sin a “sin”. We must know what defines sin for our consciences to be convicted. We also must know about mercy to drop our stones.

   The worst thing the Bible could do is to never point out sin, or else we would feel the right to stone others because we would consider ourselves sinless.

   The worst thing the Church could do is to NEVER point out sin, or else no one would feel the need to surrender to salvation.

   And the worst thing we as humans could do is to never allow God to examine us to “see if there is any wicked way in us” (Ps. 139:24). 

   Those grandstanding with support in the “Me Too” movement today should have been a little less judgmental and more “tolerant”.

   C.S. Lewis’ The Abolition of Man states there must be a standard of right and wrong; otherwise, we will let our abased Nature or “what feels right” to be our guide. Or worse, let someone else’s abased Nature be our guide. If we let Nature or Others or Ourselves be our guide, the result will be “the abolition of humanity”.

   A sensitive, convicted conscience follows the Word of our Lord Jesus Christ. A society that follows its heart as its conscience (or follows money / fame / socially acceptable standards / politically correct standards) will allow sin to go on unabated and without judgment. Until the winds change.

   The Word of God, fortunately, does not change. A sensitive, convicted conscience will also seek mercy for our own sins. And once forgiven, it is much easier to forgive others.

Our Prayer for today comes from Psalm 139:23-24

“23 ​​Search me, O God, and know my heart. ​​Try me, and know my anxieties. 24 ​​And see if there is any wicked way in me, ​​and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Don't they have a conscience?

"Whatsamatayou, don't you have a conscience?!" 

I've been thinking about this for weeks (and, no, I don't know why I've been thinking to myself in the voice of Chico Marx). 

What's wrong with people who don't know what's wrong...and what's right? Not just shootings, but everything.

The Bible talks about a conscience and even the unsaved have one. But for the next few days, spend 500 words or less (today's word count: 250) in a devotional about your conscience, your internal guide to what is right and wrong. And sorry Jiminy Cricket, your conscience should not always be your guide.

And just so you'll be knowing where we're going, here's an outline of the progression or actually digression of a conscience.

1. A sensitive, convicted conscience: John 8:9, "Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience..."

2. A struggling, compromised conscience: 1 Corinthians 8:7-13, "When YOU thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience..."

3. A soiled, contaminated conscience: Titus 1:15, "...to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled."

4. A seared, corrupt conscience: 1 Timothy 4:2, "in the latter times, some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits ...having their own conscience seared with a hot iron."

And finally, the cure:
5. A saved, cleansed conscience (always with faith): 1 Timothy 1:5, 1:19, 3:9, "a good conscience and sincere faith"; "having faith and a good conscience"; "holding the mystery of faith with a pure conscience".

Tune in tomorrow for a devotional on #1 and how the Word can convict and sensitize the conscience.

Our prayer for today:

Heavenly Father, as we study the Word, your Commandments, today, help us to love from a pure heart with a good and cleansed conscience and with a sincere faith. Keep us sensitive to obeying you, so that our faith will be strong and our consciences pure so that we will not sufffer shipwreck. In Jesus's Name, Amen.

23. The Sanctuary of Eternal Blessings: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Psalm 23:6b

 

            As I finish the 23^rd psalm, today’s lesson is perhaps among my favorite of this psalm and of all of the Bible. The spiritual need that I had which led me to my salvation was simply this: I wanted to go to Heaven! I still want to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I am a little jealous when I go to a funeral and while there is still work to do here on earth, Paul said to live is Christ and to die is gain.

            The Persuasion: “I will dwell…” God wants me to be assured of my future dwelling place. 1 John 5:13 says, “These things have I written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe in the name of the Son of God.” Yesterday we saw the surety of earthly blessings, but our eternal blessings are equally sure. Eternal life would not be very long if you could lose it. Paul was persuaded than nothing could separate him from the love of God (Rom. 8:38). He told Timothy, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”  The psalmist didn’t say “I hope to dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” He knew he would.

            The Place: “…in the house of the Lord…” Wherever Christ is, that will be the house of the Lord. Revelation says that Heaven will come down to earth and Christ will reign here so Heaven is wherever Christ is. Until then, we have a place, and it’s a place that began with the thief on the cross. Jesus assured that criminal who died with Him that he would be in paradise with Christ the same day. Luke 23:43 says, “And Jesus said to him, Verily (most assuredly, truly) I say to you, Today you shall be with Me in paradise.”

No “could”.

No “maybe”.

No “might possibly be with Me.”

            Paul assured us that we would be immediately in Heaven. 2 Cor. 5:6-8 “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight). We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”

The Permanence: “forever.” We may not permanently be in the heavenlies, but we will permanently be in the house of the Lord, in His presence. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 says we will ever be with Him: “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

What will we be doing there? We will be reigning “forever” and then the Apostle John adds“and ever” in Rev. 22:5. 

Shepherd like a Savior continue to lead me.
Allow mercy and goodness to be what I leave behind.
I so much look forward to dwelling in
Your eternal house, my mansion, forever.
Amen.

22. The Surety of Earthly Blessings: "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life" (Ps. 23:6a)

Psalm 23:6a

            The promise. As we finalize the last verse of this short but rich psalm, there is surely a promise of protection of God’s goodness and mercy. This word “surely” is not like our “surely” which we use today. You know, the “Surely, you can’t be serious!” phrase. There is a certainty in this final word of encouragement.

            The protection. The promise of protection is two-fold: goodness, which is the extension of God’s kindness, His righteousness, and bestowing of good things; mercy is the withholding or retraction of God’s punishment and anger. Goodness is revealed when we are obedient. Mercy is revealed when we are disobedient.

           The pursuit. Since the shepherd always leads in front, there must be “sheep dogs” who follow behind. Those two rearguards of goodness and mercy are like the hounds which pursue the fox. In fact, the word “follow” is more often translated as “to pursue” or even “to chase.” The word is literally a dogged word (Please do not groan so loudly). 

           F.B. Meyer in the Shepherd’s Psalm wrote, “In the East the shepherd always goes in front. And our Good Shepherd never puts us forth to the work or warfare of any day without going before us. But His shepherd-dogs bring up the rear. We have a rearguard against the attack of our treacherous foes.”

 Michael Card wrote a song, The Hound of Heaven, based on a poem by an opium addict, Francis Thompson. The song and poem speaks of God’s pursuit of us, likening our Shepherd to a hound. Once the wandering sheep surrenders to God’s pursuit, he hears a voice saying,

“I did not take him for your harm /

I only wanted you to seek them in my arms/

The dark and gloom you said you could no longer stand /

Was, after all, the shadow of My loving hand /

How little worthy of My love could anyone be /

Who else could ever love you, save only … Me”

            There is not only a promise of blessings to me, but a call for these blessings to come through me. Perhaps the writer is saying that goodness and mercy will be my legacy which follows after me. Wouldn’t we all like to have it said of us as our epitaph: “He was a good man,” or “she was always full of mercy.” Jesus said, “A good tree will bear good fruit” and “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

     Since God follows me with such assured goodness and mercy all the days of my lifetime, then while I am here on earth, I should likewise extend goodness and mercy to others.

             

“Bless you Father, for pursuing me with goodness and mercy.

Let me bless others by doing the same. Amen.”

Part 4: Declaring to the World Our Eternal Destination (Psalm 23:6)

Part 4: Declaring to the World (23:6)

     The final section of this psalm is declarative. At first the psalmist, writing in the form of a sheep, was speaking about the Shepherd. Then he was speaking to the Shepherd. Now, I believe, the sheep is speaking to the world, declaring both of this world’s blessing of following the Shepherd, and also in the next world.

     He no longer is telling of whom he is following, but what is following him. He is no longer speaking of the blessings of the here and now but what will be for the rest of his days. He is declaring not only of his residence in green pastures and beside the still waters. No, now he is looking for his eternal home, one that will last forever and ever. His forever home is in the house of the Lord.

     Where is heaven? Can you point to it? Is it above us? If so, it is below those on the opposite side of the world and will be below us in 12 hours! Can it be seen with the Hubble telescope? No I cannot point to you where heaven is and I cannot describe in great detail what it will look like. But when I read in Scripture that it is a house of the Lord, and that the Lord is my Shepherd, I know one thing: It is wherever the Lord is! And wherever the Lord is, that is where I want to be.

     But if that is our eternal destination, what kind of trail are we leaving behind us? The sheep is leaving a trail of goodness and mercy. Are you? Do you have an aftermath of good works that will endure long after we have gone on to the house of the Lord? When you leave this world, will your kind and merciful acts be a part of your legacy? 

      The sheep is not so heavenly minded that he is of no earthly good. No! He is bringing God's kingdom to come HERE and His will to be done NOW on earth, hopefully as close as possible as it is being done in heaven.

     Is this your path? I so very much hope it is. Have you ever seen a trail of a jet stream in the sky? That trail is not determining its direction, it is proclaiming its direction! The "jet stream" of our lives should show where we are going. It is a stream of goodness and loving kindness following after us.

Dear God, let us live with eternity on our hearts. Let us not waste our lives. Let us live as if today was our last day to bring goodness and mercy to this earth, because one day it will be. Amen.