Happy Thanksgiving!!

Giving Thanks

Ps 106:1 Praise the LORD!  Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

Many of you are like me, in that over the years you’ve come to thank God throughout the year and not just the last Thursday in November.  Yet I cannot help but have an increased sense of thankfulness during this time of the year.  The text states to Praise the LORD. This Hebrew word for Praise in this text is hallal (to praise, to make a show or rave about, to glory in or boast upon, to be clamorously foolish about your adoration of God).  David is telling us to brag or rave about our adoration for our Lord Jesus.

We live in a time where not everyone is necessarily excited about life and many feel like they don’t have anything to be thankful for.  So let’s look at David’s Psalm again to determine just why he was so exuberant in his praise. Oh, give thanks to the LORD, here’s why we do need to give thanks:

1.  God Is So Good– for He is good!  We have heard this saying many times: “God is good, all the time & all the time God is good.”  Although this statement is often over used out of tradition rather than sincerity, it may be the truest statement ever made.  God is indeed good!  This Hebrew word towb is defined by about 40 different English words that ultimately mean excellent.  The Lord is excellent.  We should give thanks for the fact that our Lord Jesus is excellent, because all our righteousness are like filthy rags (Isa 64:6) and we were in desperate need of an excellent sacrifice.  A sacrifice that would cover all of our sins…forever.  Yet, what we got was exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ever need.  Jesus is perfect making Him the only one that could be sacrificed to cover every one of our sins, but even more than that He became our GOOD friend, who walks with us every day and is concerned about our every need. We are able to happily give thanks this week because Jesus is “GOOD.”

2.  God Is Full Of Mercy– For His mercy endures forever. The term mercy used here means goodness, kindness, faithfulness, compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender or an enemy.  So God’s compassion and kindly forbearance toward each of us endures forever. We can be thankful because God’s mercy for us is in it for the long haul; David said that it endures (last long, holds out, without yielding, patiently waits and loves without judgment).  God has been merciful with each one of us.  The fact is we deserve death but we have a loving God who is so (patient, long suffering, kind & gentle) to us that He gave our judgment to His only begotten Son.  We are able to happily give thanks this week because Jesus is full of “MERCY.”

Conclusion:  I can only close with David’s words; Praise the LORD!  Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. And while you’re doing that, have a GREAT THANKSGIVING!!!

God Is Not Holding Out On You

Spiritual Food

“Ps 84:11-12  For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly. 12 O LORD of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You.”

Have you ever thought to yourself, How did I get here?  Why am I not where I thought I would be?  Why do I not have this or that?  I know I have.  Sometimes I have asked God what are you doing, how could you allow that to happen to me?  I thought you loved me, but you certainly are not showing it right now.  I’m only being serious!!  The thing is when we are in our situation we don’t always recognize that God has the best planned for us.  We tend to forget that “Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  Do you know why?  The devil constantly wants us to believe that God is holding out on us.  As if for some reason, God is punishing us for something we did years ago or even the other day. He did this to Adam & Eve when they had everything in the Garden of Eden, and he tries the same thing with us time after time. But remember this:

  1. God Has All We Need & More:  “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory.”  Whether it is life (sun) for a dead situation, protection (shield) from the enemy’s attacks, unmerited favor and supernatural strength (grace) to make it thru tough times or special honour & praise (glory) just because we’re His kids (or all of the above); Jesus has it all.  His blessings go way beyond just these few things, and this Psalm clearly tells us tha the Lord will not withhold any good thing from us.  Jesus has it all!!!
  2. God Can Be Trusted:  “Blessed is the man who trusts in You.”  The problem often is that our definition of good and the Lord’s definition of good is often not the same.  Good to us often means what we want, when we want it and not necessarily what God wants or His timing.  What we want might make things better, but it will never be “Beyond-Beyond!.”  When we trust God we will allow some good things to pass us by so that we can receive “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think (Eph 3:20).”   We can trust God because He is trustworthy.  We are blessed “according to the power that works in us,” and for those of us who are saved, this power is Jesus (the one who has all we need & more).  Trust That!!

Conclusion: God will never hold out or keep good things from us because He loves us too much.  What kind of Father would He be if He did that?   Don’t let the Devil fool you anymore, it may not be exactly what you want but trust the Lord and you will see the exceeding an abundant blessings from God.  Enjoy them, they’re for you!!!

God’s Love vs. Our Fear

God Loves You

1 John 4:17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment;
because as He is, so are we in this world.18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.19 We love Him because He first loved us

What is the opposite of FEAR (False Evidence Appearing Real)?  If you said faith, you are absolutely wrong.  What??  How in the world can I say that?  Well I’m not saying it, the “Word” is very clear, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear.”  We can trust Paul when he reminds us in 2 Tim 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.  The real opponent to Fear is Love, and the more we know about God’s Love for us, we will be able to truly overcome the “Big Bully” of every believer (FEAR).

Since I’m pretty sure that we all can read, there should not be a great deal of arguing with vs 18 and the fact that God’s love cast out fear.  The “perfect love” refers to the agape love of God that is unlike any love that we are capable of.  This kind of love, we find very difficult to even comprehend, and therefore realize that only God’s love can indeed be “perfect love.”  It should also be easy to agree that “casts out” means to throw out, toss aside, get rid of or kick out.  This is what God’s perfect love does to our fear:

God’s Love Gives Confidence: Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. While we know that Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross was the greatest act of love mankind has ever witnessed.  It is His finished work on that rugged cross that provides “boldness” to all that have accepted Jesus as Savior.  You see we now know that in that day of judgment we do not have to be afraid of the eternal punishment that those who have not received the free gift from God, will receive.  When you know that you have won the game before it started, it gives you confidence going in. It’s like when Q (my best friend) and I play spades against anyone, we already know the outcome before a card is played, we have confidence!  Just as we
can go boldly to the throne of Grace (Heb 4:16) because of Jesus our High Priest, His sacrifice on the cross allows us to “have boldness in the day of judgment.”

God’s Love Perfects Us: because as He is, so are we in this world. Jesus is perfect and when He walked
the earth as man He did so perfect.  In fact it was not until he was on the cross that anything negative was ever
associated with Him.  You see it was then that He became as we were, so that we might be “as He is.”  In this world we have been afforded everything Jesus has access to. It is our inheritance, so whatever our Daddy owns we own.  It is God’s love that has made us the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ (2 Cor 5:21), by allowing our sins to be exchanged for Jesus’ righteousness.  Jesus has made us like Him, His blood has covered all of our imperfections.  When we know & believe this, fear can have no chance power over us .

God’s Love Endures: We love Him because He first loved us.  No matter how far we run, or how much we try to hide, we cannot escape the Love God has for each one of us.  No amount of foolishness or bad decision, no amount of rebellion or unbelief can keep God from loving us. His love continues to chase us down and overtake us, after all God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom 5:8).  I know that your life might not seem like it right now, your circumstance might make you feel the very opposite but, I guarantee that God’s love will never cease.  He has sought us out in our lowest moments, protected us from our greatest enemy (ourselves) and forgiven us of everything, even when we paid Him
no mind.  God has provided us every opportunity to receive His unbelievable love, but the problem is we do not
believe it.  Check this out, the Greek word, euaggelion, which was translated “gospel” in seventy-four New Testament verses, actually means “nearly-too-good-to-be-true news.  The reason we have such a hard time believing just how much we are loved by God and that Jesus died on the cross for all of our sins is because it is literally “too good to be true,” but it is VERY TRUE.  The Lord’s agape (unconditional love) for us is amazing and with a love like that we cannot help but love Him back.

Conclusion: God’s agape love cast out all fear and when we believe His love for us, our fears can be removed.  They are removed because we can be confident in the day of judgment, made perfect under the cover
of Jesus’ blood and unable to escape His love no matter how hard we try.  This love does not puff us up, as a
matter  of fact it is very humbling, and should help us to stop allowing FEAR to render us powerless.  Know that God first loved us because He wants us to be fearless.

Your Brother,
Mark

Look Up… And See Your Help

Spiritual Food

Ps 121:1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills, From whence comes my help? 2 My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.  4 Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep. 

Psalm 121 is a “Song of Ascents;” what does that mean?  These are 15 psalms historically believed to have been sung when the Israelites would ascend to the Temple in Jerusalem for one of the three major festivals.  It was an exciting time for Israel as they were celebrating some type of victory God gave them over their enemy.  In other words it is a song of joy and triumph.

The psalmist encourages us when we are in need of help, by saying “I will lift up my eyes to the hills.”  It is interesting that he says to focus our eyes on the hills.  The Hebrew word for hill in this text actually refers to mountains and since we are to look to the mountains for our help, I wanted to take a look at a few mountains in the bible that reveals our help.

By looking to the hills we find our help in the following ways:

  1. The Lord’s Provision: On a high mountain in the land of Moriah, Abraham brought his son Isaac to sacrifice him in obedience to God.  Imagine the agony he must have experienced, taking the one he had waited so long for and loved so very much to the place where he would die. Abraham was following God, but did not realize that God had already provided for his need.  Abraham was giving up his only son to show his love for another (does that sound familiar).  When we look to this hill,
    remember that God provided a ram to take the place of Abraham’s son, but He gave Jesus to take the place of Each One of Us. “…how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him (Matt 7:11)?”  When you’re in need of any provision, look to this hill from “from whence comes my help.”
  2. The Lord’s Presence:  Mount Sinai was the place where Moses would enter the presence God and spend time with Him on a regular basis.  Moses received the wisdom, direction and protection required to get the children of Israel to the Promised Land.  During this “Quality Time” Moses learned much about himself as well as God’s plans for his life.  This hill is also where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, or what we often call the “Law.”  He gave this “Law” to show us
    God’s standards and more so to show us how much we need Jesus as our Savior.  At this mountain, God demonstrates both the importance of His presence and our need for His Son Jesus
    in our hearts.  When you’re looking for direction or just need a word from God, look to this hill from “from whence comes my help.”
  3. The Lord’s Transformation:  Jesus took his three closest disciples to the mount of transfiguration and on this hill He was transformed before them until “His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.”  The three disciples saw Jesus like never before; it was different from anything they had experienced with Jesus in the three years they knew him.  After that night on the mountain, everything changed for those disciples.  The Lord is so amazing that we will never completely understand Him, yet we continue to gain a deeper understanding of His love for us.  So when you need to see the Lord in a different way, look to this hill from “from whence comes my help.”
  4. The Lord’s Triumph: Lastly, there was a hill called Golgotha, and on that hill the Lord demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom 5:8).  It was here that Jesus went to the cross and died for every one of our sins, past, present and future.  Jesus became our Passover lamb, whose blood covers the door post of our souls covering our sin while imputing on us His righteousness.  It is on this hill that we were given a savior who would change both our everyday lives and eternity forever.  Whenever the devil is attempting to condemn you when you fail and keep you from resting in the Lord’s finished work on the cross, look to this hill from “from whence comes my help.”

Conclusion:  Our help comes from Jesus and although there are several other hills we could look to (Mount
Carmel, Elijah’s victory; the mount of olives; Jesus in Gethsemane; just to name a couple), these four hills clearly show that Jesus is the source of our help.  When we look to these hills, regardless of our situation we can find the Lord Jesus “from whence comes my help.”

A Loving Touch

God Loves You

Mark 1:40-45 Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” 41 Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”42 As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.43 And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once,44 and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” 45 However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction.

Have you ever felt like an outcast, one that does not belong? “One of these kids is not like the other; one of these kids is one and the same….” Has that ever been you? Do you feel like your life is different from everyone around you? Then maybe you can relate to this Leper. Leprosy was a dreaded and fearsome disease. It caused fingers and toes to fall off, as well as many other physical deformities. Lepers were banned from society and be quarantined in leper colonies. It was thought to be highly contagious and that simply touching a leper would transmit the disease. Imagine the angst and courage it took this exiled man to go after Jesus and cry out to Him for his deliverance. Many of us have felt like this, so this is what we can expect from Jesus. {Side Bar: this is happening right after Jesus spent “quality time” with God; check out the previous verses.}

1. A Compassionate Touch: Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him. Jesus did not judge the leper, nor was He afraid of being stricken with the same disease. He was moved with compassion and it was that compassion that reached out and touched a leper with an unconditional love. It was at that point that the leper became a man again. What? You cannot imagine how long it had been since someone had actually touched him. Can you imagine how it must of felt to have someone actually reach out to him, how he longed to be touched. Jesus knew both the leper’s need (healing) and greatest desire (a loving touch) and He loving met both. Jesus desires to meet our needs as well and His loving touch will comfort even our greatest pain. This was also typology, giving us a little precursor as to what was soon to come. Jesus touched that leper, which for any man would transfer that disease on to Him, then healed the leper and removed that disease forever. Yes, Jesus would later do the same for each one of us on Cross. Our sins were imputed (transferred, accredited) onto Jesus and His righteousness and healing was imputed onto each one of us that believe on Him, what a compassionate touch He gave.

2. A Completed Word: and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”42 As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.” The touch from Jesus was extra; Jesus’ word healed the man, check the scripture. (As soon as He had spoken) The touch was to show the man how much he was loved. It was also to show how Jesus felt about the ceremonial law, His love and compassion for us covered all of the rules, rituals and results of the law (old covenant). Yet, there were three simple words from the Lord that we all should receive; I am willing. He was willing to heal the disease for the leper and He is willing to heal the sin disease we were all born with. He was willing to come down from Heaven and speak a word of salvation over us all. Then after the completed word, He fulfilled the promise from God with a completed work. Therefore, we should all remember that God’s Word completely heals us and note the importance of what Jesus did for each of us on Calvary’s cross. The Lord was so willing to love us, that after Jesus touched our sin, sickness and disease on the cross, He completed the work required to fulfill the law (Rom 8:4) when He said It is finished!!!!

Conclusion: There are many lessons in these few verses but we want to focus on just a couple. The loving touch of Jesus is not intimidated by any of your problems (hurts, sicknesses or perceptions). He is willing to touch you and meet your needs for a loving touch, and his touch is better than that of any parent, sibling or lover. You see He IS ABLE to heal us of anything by just speaking a word, but He is relational and desires an intimate relationship with us. Relationships are two way, not just one person doing all of the giving. Jesus gave it all on the cross because He wanted us to see: (John 3:15-17) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.