Rejoice In The Lord's Mercy

PSALM 85

Lord, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.

Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.

Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger.

Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease.

Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?

Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?

Shew us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation.

I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.

Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.

Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

 Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase.

Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.

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He has forgiven us. He spoken peace to us in that he has reconciled us to himself by the sacrifice of his only begotten Son for our sins. We have been revived; given the opportunity to dwell in his glorious presence. Let us rejoice in our salvation!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Our Refuge And Strength

Psalm 68 KJV

Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.

He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.

How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence.

They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.

My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.

He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.

In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.

Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.

Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.

Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.

God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.

Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work.

God is indeed our refuge and fortress. No matter what is going on in our lives we can trust him. We can trust that He has a good plan; a good purpose, for us as has been promised to us. (see Rom 8:28) That good plan was set into motion when Jesus died on the cross for us. The Kingdom of God is now at hand for all who love him. Our inheritance in that Kingdom was purchased by his blood that was shed for us.

Trust in him at all times and pour out your heart to him for God is our refuge and our strength! He is our salvation!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Angels

Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God."                

                                                                                           (Col 2:18 KJV)

"Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you." 

                                                                                           (Col 2:18 NIV) 

So what about angels? Every now and then I am jolted by the reality that someone I know depends on angels more than they depend on Jesus.

Just because something or someone exists in the spiritual realms does not mean that we should worship them or put our trust in them. We do not worship the creature. Rather, we ought to worship and put our trust in the one who has charge over the spiritual realms; the one who created the spiritual realms; the one who created all things.

Angels have many purposes. Some are messengers. Some have been deliverers of God judgment. Some are ministering spirits. Angels ministered to Jesus after his temptations by the devil in the wilderness. Angels are beings created by God to serve according to God's will.

We are not to worship angels. We cannot serve two gods. Angels did not create you. They, themselves, are created beings. Angels did not die for you. Jesus did. By worshiping and honoring angels; by lifting them up more than we lift us Christ, we lose the connection we have with the head, from whom the whole body grows, who is Jesus the Christ. We are to worship the one who has charge over angels and not the angels.

"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."  

                                                                                       (1 Tim 2:5-6 KJV)

God's Peace - Pr. J

Growth Through Faith

And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”                             (Matt 17:20-21 KJV)

It is almost unbelievable to me that we do not have the faith of a mustard seed. I said, almost. The evidence is there. No mountains have been moved lately that I know about. There are plenty of sick people to be healed, a lot of hungry people to be fed, and a world full of lonely people who know no peace.

But; I said, almost unbelievable." 

Then said he, "Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.” (Luke 13:18-19)

The mustard seed does not miraculously grow into a tree overnight. It is a process that takes time. A seed is planted. It is watered and fertilized. The mustard seed actually has to do nothing to make itself grow. It grows because that is in the nature of the mustard seed. Such is the Kingdom of God. All our hard work at trying to fix things and create a utopia here on earth amounts to nothing without faith in the One who provides the increase. It is God who provides the blessings. It is God who provides the growth.

Indeed, I have seen some pretty miraculous healings in my lifetime. I have seen things accomplished for the good of man that many would have thought were not possible. But, like the mustard seed growing into a full blown tree that will feed the multitudes of birds, so the Kingdom of God is growing. Slowly (at least according to our reckoning of time), but surely it is advancing bringing with it wholeness and peace.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Meaningless Love of Money

The older I get the more death becomes a reality, I lapse into more moments of thinking that life is as meaningless as Solomon would imply. Why all the years of toil, if it is to be gone in a second?

This toiling after riches is meaningless.

"The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth, with gain. This also is vanity.

When goods increase, those who eat them increase; and what gain has their owner but to see them with his eyes?

Sweet is the sleep of laborers, whether they eat little or much; but the surfeit of the rich will not let them sleep.

There is a grievous ill that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owners to their hurt, and those riches were lost in a bad venture; though they are parents of children, they have nothing in their hands. As they came from their mother’s womb, so they shall go again, naked as they came; they shall take nothing for their toil, which they may carry away with their hands."
                                                               (Eccl 5:10-15 NRSV)

That is not to say that work is evil. We must work if we expect to eat. But, it becomes very bothersome, even a burden, when one works only to amass riches. Jesus told this story to a crowd who followed to listen to Him:

“And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
                                                               (Luke 12:17-21)

Our work should bring joy to us as well as to others. Live life! Enjoy the life that God has given you! Whether it is in the hours you spend laboring or during the hours you are relaxing with your friends and family, life here on earth is to be lived and enjoyed. Life, abundant life, is a gift from God.

"This is what I have seen to be good: it is fitting to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of the life God gives us; for this is our lot. Likewise all to whom God gives wealth and possessions and whom he enables to enjoy them, and to accept their lot and find enjoyment in their toil—this is the gift of God."
                                                                (Eccl 1:18-19)

While you are yet making your journey through this world focus not on amassing wealth or power to the exploitation of others, but on living life so that God may be glorified.

And... may the peace and joy that is found in being in relationship with God, our Father and with one another, through His Son, Jesus the Christ, be with you always. Pr. J