He Remembers that We Are Dust

As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. (Ps 103:13-14 NIV)

The Lord knows all about our frailties, and that our earthly bodies—formed from the earth—will one day decay and die. We are compared to the grass which rises from the earth, and eventually wastes away and returns to it.

As human beings, we grow and mature and become strong and healthy. We may be blessed with robust health, and even grow to be quite tall and attractive to others. If we blossom in health and beauty, and riches and honor; even then we are destined to live only a certain number of years and then pass away, certain to be buried in the earth.

However, in spite of all of that, because the Lord made us in His own image, He has created us to be eternally valuable. (Gen 1:27) He calls mankind His special treasure. (Ps 135:4)

But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them. Yes, many a time He turned His anger away, and did not stir up all His wrath; ³⁹for He remembered that they were but flesh, a breath that passes away and does not come again. (Ps 78:38-39)

Because God is full of compassion, He never turned His full anger upon mankind. Instead, He demonstrated His great love for us by sending Jesus, His Son, as our Savior and Redeemer. (Joh 3:16; Rom 5:8)

God has poured His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Rom 5:2-5) The Holy Spirit is our teacher and our guide. (Joh 14:26; 16:13)

God has even made us conquerors through Jesus Christ, and nothing will ever be able to separate us from His powerful, unending love. (Rom 8:37-39) You are special in God’s sight, and you’re the apple of His eye! (Zech 2:8)

The Lord calls you CHOSEN and PRECIOUS. (1 Pet 2:4) Glory to God!

God’s Invisible Qualities

How can we be sure of a God whom we can’t see, and be confident of His goodness when it is equally invisible to us?

Since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. (Rom 1:20 NIV) The Bible says that we need to look around us at the evidence that is VISIBLE.

The touch of the Master’s hand is all around us. We see it in the order, beauty, and dazzling variety in creation. The great expanse of space with its billions of planets and the incredible world of the microscopic are all testimony to an “Orderer” of great creativity. God has left his fingerprints all over his world so we can know he is here. (Source: www.crosswalk.com)

The evidence that there is a Creator God who is good is literally all around us. Look at the intelligent design in all of creation—from its plants to its animals to the uniqueness of every, individual human being.

Ponder the vastness of the heavens and the inevitability of the tides, and you will glimpse the scope of God’s mighty power. Take time to observe the beauty of creation (flowers, sunrises and sunsets, beautifully colored birds, etc.) and the multiplicity of foods that are available to human beings in order to grasp God’s great love for mankind.

God sent His Son, Jesus, to earth in the form of an infant born of a virgin. (Mt 1:18-25) Jesus was human and visible, approachable, and loving. He demonstrated the heart of God to us by:

Teaching the Good News of the Kingdom (Mt 4:23; 9:35);
Healing many, many people (Mt 4:24; 8:16; 9:35; 12:15; Mk 1:34; Lk 4:40; 6:19; 8:47);
Miraculously feeding huge groups of people (Mt 14:13-21; Mk 6:31-44; Lk 9:12-17; Joh 6:1-14 and another instance in Mt 15:32-39; Mk 8:1-9); and lastly,
Christ died for the ungodly. (Rom 5:6-9; Joh 3:16; 15:13; 1 Joh 3:16; 4:9-10)

God the Father has spoken to all mankind through His Son, Jesus Christ. (See Heb 1:2-4; Col 1:15-17; 2 Cor 4:4) Jesus is referred to in the Bible as:

“who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person . . . “ (Heb 1:3) Jesus, while on earth, demonstrated to us all the heart of His Father and the goodness of His Father. Thankfully, we have the written Word of God which gives us reliable testimony concerning these things.

Take time to ponder God’s beautiful qualities which Jesus so amply displayed while He was on earth.

Ponder the Voice of the Lord

Today, we’re going to study the importance of the Voice of the Lord. We posted an article three and a half years ago on this topic, but since it’s of vast importance, it is worthwhile to investigate again.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord is over many waters. (Ps 29:3) ~ God controls everything in creation, including every body of water, no matter how large or small!

“If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.” (Ex 15:26) ~ Obedience to the voice of the Lord attracts God’s blessings. God states that He is our healer, and that is addressing physical healing.

“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.” (Deu 28:1) ~ As we obey God’s voice, He responds by giving us protection from and power over our enemies; blessings in our children, food, and livestock; prominence over other nations; and abundant prosperity. (See Deu 28:1-14)

The Lord also will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; the heavens and earth will shake; but the Lord will be a shelter for His people, and the strength of the children of Israel. (Joel 3:16) ~ The Lord shelters and becomes a refuge for ALL who will yield to and obey His mighty voice.

His voice is unique in that ALL of creation recognizes it as the sound of the Creator God, the Supreme Being, the Lord of Lords.

And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! (Rev 19:6) ~ The voice of the Lord is the voice of the Lord God Omnipotent!

Pay attention to and choose to obey the voice of the Lord, and you shall surely be blessed.

God Has Chosen the Weak

In this article, we’re going to think about how inadequate many of us may feel to serve the Lord. Especially when the Lord has called us to a specific task or calling in life.

But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.” (Jer 1:7 ESV) Man’s excuse: I’m too young, Lord!

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exod 3:11) Translation: But Lord, I’m a nobody—I’m insignificant!

Then Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” (Exod 4:10) Paraphrase: Oh, Lord, I’m just not gifted or talented enough to do this.

But he said, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.” (Exod 4:13) Translation: Please don’t ask me to do this! Won’t you please send someone else?

Face your fears and resist them! When God calls you, He equips you and gives you the grace that you need in order to empower and to enable you to fulfill His call. (See Heb 13:21)

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. (2 Cor 9:8) God gives us more than we need in order to lavishly perform good works in His name. Not only that, He will give us mentors and teachers to train us.

God has a strategy in choosing ordinary, sometimes under-educated human beings to do His work in the earth! He chooses people who may even be despised in order to frustrate and to thwart evil powers and principalities. God’s ways are higher than ours–better than ours. (1 Cor 1:25)

He causes His own glory to be seen in us! What an honor.

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. (Isa 60:1 ESV)

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. ²⁷But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; ²⁸and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, ²⁹that no flesh should glory in His presence. (1 Cor 1:26-29)

Revel in your weaknesses and recognize that living in and through Christ is your true strength and your hope. (2 Cor 12:9) God bless you.

Being Kept in “Perfect Peace”

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. (Isa 26:3) Our inner peace is supported by and dependent upon our complete trust in and focus upon God Himself.

But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ (Lk 10:5) We can share the glorious peace that resides in each one of us with others! How wonderful!

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (Joh 14:27) Jesus is speaking in this passage, and it says that He gives each one of us His own peace. What a precious gift!

Jesus was so filled with peace that he was able to SLEEP in a small boat in the midst of the sea during a fierce storm! (Mk 4:35-39) Jesus commanded the sea to be still, and it obeyed Him. Jesus literally spoke the peace that was within Him into the sea.

What does it mean to be kept in “perfect peace” as mentioned in Isaiah 26, above?

This is referring to a peace that is not dependent upon our circumstances at all. Rather, it is entirely and completely reliant upon knowing—with complete assurance—that God loves us wholeheartedly; and that He is with each one of us ALWAYS.

Bear Grylls writes in his autobiography, ‘Faith in Christ has been the great empowering presence in my life, helping me walk strong when so often I feel so weak.’ Bear is a former member of the UK Special Forces, and his TV adventure series Man vs. Wild has reached an estimated 1.2 billion viewers in over 180 countries.

God’s presence in our lives should be a constant reassurance to us. The knowledge of His unfailing love and His plan to bless each of us at all times is designed (by our Creator) to fill us with peace. This peace is a deep, abiding sense of tranquility and calm within us.

As we rest in the loving arms of Jesus, having the certainty of His goodness and His good plans for us, we are made strong and powerful. Knowing that the Lord has already purchased our victory, we are inspired to live our lives of faith courageously. Be bold in the Lord for you are blessed!

Put Away Anger & Envy

For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one. (Job 5:2 KJV)

Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools. (Eccl 7:9 NKJV)

“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? ²³If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.” (Pro 1:22-23 ESV)

Don’t be silly or foolish (as described in the Bible verses above), but put away anger and envy. Anger gives a foothold to the devil in your life, so try to avoid it. Envy is another word for bitterness, jealousy, resentment or spite.

Allow the Holy Spirit to teach you how to control your emotions as you study God’s Word. The Lord wants to help you so that He may bless you.

The Bible tells us repeatedly not to envy other people. You may study this by looking at these passages: Proverbs 3:31; 23:17; 24:1, 19. The Bible lists envy among a list of vile things in Mark 7:21-23.

Sensible people control their temper; they earn respect by overlooking wrongs. (Pro 19:11 NLT) When something happens that hurts or offends you, your first option is to ignore the aggression. In other words, take no notice of another person’s attack. Other people will respect you all the more when they see how you handle it. And the Lord will be pleased with your response.

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. (Eph 4:31 NIV) Sometimes, due to the nature of the wrongdoing against you, it can’t be overlooked. In that case, give yourself time to calm down and to gain control of your thoughts and feelings. Plan out what needs to be said, and what you’d like to see happen. Then take an objective, wise person along with you to speak with the person who offended you. Try to resolve the issue between you and to restore peace.

And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷for anger gives a foothold to the devil. (Eph 4:26-27 NLT) Don’t allow your emotions to control you. You are in control of them because you have the Holy Spirit living within you. The Holy Spirit within you produces the fruit of self-control. (Eph 5:22-23 NLT)

Better to be patient than powerful; better to have self-control than to conquer a city. (Pro 16:32 NLT) As this Scripture reminds us, it’s better to be patient than powerful! It’s far better to have self-control than to be in search of fame.

There’s Power in the Blood, Part 3

This is the last in our series on the power of the blood of Jesus. Did you know that the blood of Jesus has a voice?

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” ¹⁰And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. ¹¹So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. (Gen 4:9-11, emphasis added)

The blood of Abel cried out to the Lord from the ground. Do you not believe that the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ also has a voice that God hears?

. . . to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. (Heb 12:24, emphasis added)

God determined that the redemption of mankind required a much greater sacrifice than the blood of goats and rams. It required the blood of His Son, Jesus.

The blood of Jesus is very powerful. It:

Redeemed us, forgave us of sin (Eph 1:7; Col 1:14; Heb 9:12)
Set us free from the curse of the law (Gal 3:13)
Gave us fellowship with God (Heb 10:19)
Supplied us with an act of remembrance called Communion (1 Cor 11:23-26)
Provides healing (Isa 53:5)
Provides protection (Ex 12:13)
Obtained the Church (Acts 20:28)
Obtained for us the love of God (Rev 1:5; 1 Joh 5:6-8; 1 Joh 4:10; John 3:16)

As we can see from this study, the blood that Jesus shed for us is very powerful, indeed. It is yet another benefit that is an integral part of our salvation.

The well-known, South African Dutch Reformed Church minister, theologian, evangelist, and mission organizer said:

“Of all the glorious things that the blood means, this is one of the most glorious: His blood is the sign, the measure, yes, the impartation of His love.” ~ Andrew Murray

Here’s another perspective from the great Bible teacher, M.R. DeHaan, M.D., who said:

The blood was to be sprinkled, remember, on the mercy seat right after the death of the substitutionary animal of sacrifice, Now Christ is, of course, our substitute. He was slain for us upon the Cross, and entered into death for us, and when He arose, He immediately went to heaven, entered into the holy of holies in heaven, sprinkled His precious blood upon the mercy seat before the throne of God, and forever settled the sin questions, and delivered us from the curse of the law. This is clearly taught in the New Testament. Hebrews 9:12 is very definite on this: But by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

Lastly, a devout minister who was called the Father of Faith said:

The power of the blood of Jesus has provided everything you need to live a life of victory, including Redemption, fellowship, healing, protection and authority over the devil. ~ Kenneth E. Hagin

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!” (Rev 5:12) Hallelujah!

There’s Power in the Blood, Part 2

This is our second article about the power of the blood of Jesus. Here are some Scripture passages on the topic with my comments following:

For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. (Lev 17:11) We all know that the life of any flesh, human or animal, is in the blood. And the Lord shed the blood of animals and brought the animal skins to cover Adam and Eve’s sin when they sinned in the Garden of Eden. Therefore, we may reason that the blood of Jesus sustains our spiritual life, as well as cleanses us of sin.

. . . without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. (Heb 9:22 ESV) The Old Testament model of shedding the blood of animals to cover sin, is the basis of this verse in Hebrews. In the New Testament, we see that Jesus is the sinless, spotless Lamb of God (Joh 1:29) and that His shed blood washes us from our sins. (Rev 1:5)

. . . the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 Joh 1:7) Jesus’ blood cleanses us from all sin—not only once—but on a continual basis as we lead our daily lives. Glory to God most High!

Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. (Ex 12:13) The Israelites were instructed by God to put lamb’s blood on their doorposts, and when the avenging angel came by, he would not visit the homes that had the blood on the lintels. In spiritual terms, the blood of Jesus protects us from plagues, illnesses, disease and destruction.

And they overcame him [the devil] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. (Rev 12:11, parenthesized text added) We can overcome every temptation of the enemy when we are covered by the blood of Jesus, and when our testimony coincides and agrees with what God says. Our testimony must always be: “I am redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ.”

. . . how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience . . . (Heb 9:14) Jesus Christ is the Lord, our righteousness (Jer 23:6; 1 Cor 1:30); and because He is, we have a purified conscience.

Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus . . . (Heb 10:19) The blood of Jesus enables us with faith and confidence to enter the presence of the Lord in thanksgiving, prayer and praise. (Heb 4:16)

Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. (Heb 13:12) We are made holy by the blood of Jesus poured out on Calvary, as are all who accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

We have every reason to rejoice in our salvation!

There’s Power in the Blood, Part 1

In the ‘70s, there was a popular and well-loved chorus that we sang:

“Would you be free from your burden of sin?

There’s power in the blood, power in the blood!

Would you o’er evil a victory win?

There’s wonderful power in the blood!

There is power, power, wonder-working power

In the blood of the Lamb.

There is power, power, wonder-working power

In the precious blood of the Lamb!”

Can we say in 2019 that: THERE IS POWER IN THE BLOOD OF JESUS? Yes, we can.
And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. (Heb 9:22) The blood of Jesus purifies us.

What power does the blood of Jesus have in the life of a Christian?

Redeems us (Eph 1:7, 1 Pet 1:18-19)
Gives us power to overcome the enemy, the accuser of the brethren (Rev 12:11)
Acquaints us with the covenant of promise (Eph 2:12-13)
Provides unmerited favor [grace] with God (Eph 1:7; Rom 3:24-25)
Qualifies us to share communion with other believers—the remembrance of Jesus’ sacrifice (1 Cor 10:16)
Gives us an unending redemption (Heb 9:12)
Furnishes Jesus as our witness in heaven that we are cleansed and justified (Rev 1:5)
Sets us free (Joh 8:32, 36; Heb 2:14-15; 2 Cor 3:17)
Causes us to dwell in Christ and He in us (Joh 6:56)
Cleanses our conscience (Heb 9:14)
Makes us complete (Col 2:10)

We are a blessed people!

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You are the Deciding Vote! In your life, you can make decisions that will help you and bless you.

Month: September 2019