What God Has Been Teaching Me Lately LXXX (80)…
Greetings My Friends~
As a simple pilgrim
following the Lord Jesus
through the rainforests and deserts of this earthly life,
I would like to humbly share
some of what God has been bubbling up in my mind/heart lately
through the Bible.
I pray that these thoughts are
cushions in your shoes,
balm to your burns,
umbrellas for the rain,
and shade to the scorching heat
as you too follow the Lord Jesus each day.
(please click on the Bible books/chapters/verses below
to read the actual Scripture passages)
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Faith
Hebrews 11:13: Faith in Christ Jesus
breaks the tape of the finish line,
runs thru it, doesn’t stop right before or
ask for the victor’s crown before the end!
Oh we want our heaven on earth
because our faith is weak & we’re worried
that this life might be all there is.
LORD help us trust You!
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Not Only Broken
Describing sinfulness as brokenness only tells part of the story.
My watch may be broken,
but it doesn’t rebel against me personally.
The Bible describes our sinfulness as
malfunction & malevolence.
We not only don’t work as God designed us,
we work against Him Who designed us.
Colossians 1:21
Philippians 3:18
Romans 5:10
James 4:4
Psalm 2:1-6
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Our Confidence
The unshakable bedrock on which is built
the Christian’s earthly & eternal life--Isaiah 14:24:
“The Lord Almighty has sworn:
“Surely, as I have planned, so it will be,
and as I have purposed, so it will happen.”
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Grace Alone
Ezekiel 16 is a humbling, graphic & ultimately encouraging
description of the awfulness of our sinfulness &
the awesomeness of the LORD
selecting, seeking, securing & saving His people…
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All His Judgments Are Just
After listing how God will judge His people,
He tells Ezekiel–“You will be consoled
when you see their conduct & their actions,
for you will know that I have done nothing in it without cause,
declares the Sovereign Lord.”
If we truly saw what sin is
we’d agree with God’s ultimate response.
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Turn Our Eyes From Worthless Things
Oh how true this is today of so many of us American Christians:
“…these men have set up idols in their hearts
and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces” (Ezekiel 14:3).
Father may we only look at & watch
what honors & glorifies You!
May we not dangle our eyes over sin’s cliffs!
Psalm 119:37: “Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
preserve my life according to your word.”
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Grace Forgives Us Of Sin & Delivers Us From Sin
Lord Jesus, help us come to You
with our sin’s muddy shoes & dirty feet;
yet also transform us to take off those shoes,
please wash our filthy feet with Your grace & Truth,
so that we walk upon the carpet of Your presence
with steps that dishonor You less & less
and honor You more & more.
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More Than Conquerors!
Despite our earthly defeats,
let’s celebrate our eternal victory in & thru Christ Jesus!
1 Corinthians 15:55-57: “’Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?’
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God!
He gives us the victory thru our Lord Jesus Christ.”
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Feeling And Knowing
Knowing the LORD has an experiential aspect–
it’s beautiful & real–
but feeling Him isn’t the main way we know Him.
Fireworks are fantastic, but after they’re done it’s still July 4th—
there’s still reason to celebrate after the lights dim!
Same when feelings fade: God is still awesome! Read His Word!
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Chickens With Heads Cut Off?
Motion/speed/busyness dont necessarily mean life.
Plummeting birds move rapidly but are still dead.
Busily doing things for the Lord Jesus doesn’t necessarily mean
we are IN Christ by faith, that we’ve been saved by Him
(Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 10:38-42).
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Know The LORD
“Seek God’s face”–Not just stuff from God, but knowing Him.
Post office can deliver stuff to me every day–
doesnt mean I know the Postmaster General.
Cry out to God: “I am in such great need…
please dont just send me Your presents by parcel…
deliver Your Presence in Person!”
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Focus
A. A thin mist on many leaves easily evaporates in the heat;
A deep drenching on one set of roots leads to growth/fruit in the heat.
May we focus on what the LORD puts in our pupils–the center–
not what the world tempts in our peripheries–the corners…
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B. Father help Your people not be one mile wide & one inch deep;
dont let us sprinkle drops on many gardens
but rather pour a gallon on one.
Dont let us plant one seed in one hundred fields
but rather one hundred seeds in one area
so You’ll grow a forest!
Help us not sacrifice the best at the altar of the good…
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A Cross
To truly have Biblical fellowship horizontally with other Christians,
we must first have Biblical fellowship vertically with the Lord Jesus (Philippians 2:1-4).
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God-Confidence, Not Self-Confidence
May God demolish, bulldoze & sweep away forever
the shifty sand castles of our self-confidence.
Only then is there real estate in our hearts for Him
to build the sturdy stone fortress of confidence in Him.
Endure this demolition work–
His end goal is not to blast you down but to build you up.
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Christ Blots, We Rub
Some stains get set in if you rub them
& come out if you blot them.
Many worry, if they confess their sins to ChristJesus,
that He’d rub them in their faces.
He says He’d do the opposite–Isaiah 43:25:
“I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions,
for my own sake, & remembers your sins no more.”
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What Is Your Foundation?
When a house is built with no foundation,
all we can do is anxiously hope for calm weather.
When a house is built with a strong & deep foundation,
we can calmly laugh in the middle of stormy weather.
Lord Jesus-may daily prayer be our foundation
as we daily follow You in any weather!