Monthly Archives: April 2011

Psalm 67:1-2 (ESV)

May God be gracious to us and bless us

and make his face to shine upon us, Selah

[2] that your way may be known on earth,

your saving power among all nations.

Why should God be gracious to you? Because you deserve it? We know that cannot be it. If God gives us what we deserve it would not be gracious. It would be earned. Grace gives what is undeserved. There are several reasons why God is gracious: His love for His children, His nature to be so, His faithfulness to His promises … . But in the opening verses of this Psalm the reason why God is gracious to us is so that His ways may be known throughout the earth.

If God is gracious to His children how will the world find out? They will tell the world how gracious God has been. They will live in such gratitude for what God has done for them that people will ask them what makes them tick. They will live so other-worldly that they will stand out in the crowd.

We are created for the praise of God’s glory. Because of our sin we do not give God glory, so He saves us from our sin and enables us to live for the praise of His glory. God wants the world to know just what a great God He is, not because He is on some cosmic power trip, but because He is the greatest thing in all the universe. The One who made the universe is greater than all the wonders He has made. This is an astounding thought, for the created order contains a vast numberless host of wonders to see and hear and taste and feel. The world and beyond is a testimony to the greatness of our God. He showers grace on us and brings us into a living relationship with Himself so that we can tell the world just how great and gracious and marvelous He is. He is gracious to us so that the world can behold the wonders of grace. He is gracious to us so that others will hear of His greatness and come to believe in Him as well. The very fact that someone is saved is a call to be an evangelist. God is the lone Creator of all that is and His desire is that all He has created know of His greatness.

This is a striking thing for the Israelite David to write. What vision did David have of world evangelism? What did he know about people from every tribe and people and tongue gathering around the throne of God to unite in praise together to the glory of God? What did he know about the size of the world? Yet here he is writing about all the nations hearing about God’s grace. The Gospel has never been for Israel only. Israel was never meant to be the only nation brought into covenant relationship with God. The Gospel is for everyone. That truth is in the Old Testament. Paul refers to it as the mystery of the Gospel. Whatever Old Covenant saints knew of the universal offer of life, it became abundantly clear after Christ left. The Great Commission is a fulfilment of the Gospel that is introduced in the Old Testament. What a glory the Gospel is. What a plan God has concocted and brought into being. What a day is coming when this age shall end and the new age begins of all nations worshipping the triune God in sinless praise.

Psalm 31:1 (ESV)

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;

let me never be put to shame;

in your righteousness deliver me!

How is it righteous for God to deliver His people? It could be that David has been falsely accused and that since it would be wrong for him to be held accountable for something he did not do, God would be righteous in not letting him be put to shame for something it. But there is a greater application of this than just asking God to get us out of a pickle that isn’t our fault. This is Gospel truth.

The cross of Christ is a demonstration of the righteousness of God (Romans 3:21-25). The cross shows that God is righteous. It does that through Jesus being a propitiation for our sins. In His righteousness God cannot allow sin to go unpunished. In His love He cannot allow His chosen ones to eternally perish. Jesus comes and pays the penalty for our sins, satisfying the justice of God. See the righteousness of God when you see Jesus on the cross. This is why we can cry the prayer of Psalm 31:1.

The reason we can ask God to deliver us and be righteous in doing so is because our sins have already been paid for by Christ on the cross. The reason we are able to take refuge in Christ at all is because He died for us. The reason we can flee to God and not be destroyed is because He has already destroyed His Son for us. “O Lord” we cry, “It would not be righteous for you to put us to shame, since you have already put Jesus to shame for us. Rescue us in your righteousness.” It is a bold request to ask God to act righteously for us seeing that we deserve nothing but judgement and hell. But Jesus bore our sins in His own body on the tree and it would be unrighteous for Him to refuse to hear us when we come to him through the One who paved the way to God for us.

This is why John can say that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins? How can forgiving me be an act of justice? Because He has already punished the sin and He will not punish it again. Christians have no fear of judgement (I John 4:18). We come boldly into His presence because of the work of Christ and confidently plead the merits of Christ, knowing that the faithful God will honour the work of His Son on our behalf. What a glory the Gospel is!!

Just a Great Hymn

1. I’ve wandered far away from God,

Now I’m coming home;

The paths of sin too long I’ve trod,

Lord, I’m coming home.

* Refrain:

Coming home, coming home,

Nevermore to roam;

Open wide Thine arms of love,

Lord, I’m coming home.

2. I’ve wasted many precious years,

Now I’m coming home;

I now repent with bitter tears,

Lord, I’m coming home.

3. I’m tired of sin and straying, Lord,

Now I’m coming home;

I’ll trust Thy love, believe Thy word,

Lord, I’m coming home.

4. My soul is sick, my heart is sore,

Now I’m coming home;

My strength renew, my home restore,

Lord, I’m coming home.

5. My only hope, my only plea,

Now I’m coming home;

That Jesus died, and died for me,

Lord, I’m coming home.

6. I need His cleansing blood I know,

Now I’m coming home;

Oh, wash me whiter than the snow,

Lord, I’m coming home.

Galatians 1:6-9 (ESV)

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— [7] not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. [8] But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. [9] As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

The Gospel is more important than the one who delivers it. Paul includes himself in the condemnation of those who would dare to deliver another Gospel. “Even if I deliver another Gospel”, Paul says, “then I should be eternally condemned”.

A couple of thoughts:

1) Paul includes himself in the warning. We should never be so presumptuous that we know with absolute certainty that we will never change or never be less than orthodox. Such self confidence is not faith in the keeping power and love of God. It is faith in oneself. The mark of faithfulness in the power of God to keep us is carefulness.

2) We are not as important as the message we deliver. God could raise up stones to do what He has called us to do and we need to remember that people do not become believers because of how well we deliver the Good News. The Gospel is the power of God.

3) Knowing the facts of the Gospel is crucially important. The nonsense that says we should not get bogged down in the details – just love Jesus – sends people to hell and we should never fall into the sin of it.

4) You will be tempted to fudge the truth and present another Gospel. The issue has always been and always will be, “What is the Gospel?” Today, if the church finally capitulated and said, “yes, all roads do lead to God”, the world would rejoice. And we feel the disapproval of the world when we claim that there is only one way to God and it is through faith in Jesus Christ. We could escape the scorn of the world if we would only change the message. But we dare not. We must not. We cannot.

When you give the Gospel, give the only Gospel there is to give. It is the power of God. It does not need to be apologized for, have parts of it hidden or changed to help people accept it. God saves through the only Gospel there is. Preach it.

Hebrews 6:1-8 (ESV)

Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, [2] and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. [3] And this we will do if God permits.

The writer says that he plans to teach the readers of his letter the things that will help them move on in the faith. He will teach them what they need to know – if God permits. Our lives are in the hands of the only true sovereign God that there is. All Christians will attest to the sovereignty of God, but not all will agree that He is in control of absolutely everything. But He is. He would not be God if He were not.

The phrase “if God permits” means that if God does not permit, then it will not happen. We are very frail and fragile. None of us can guarantee that we will still be breathing this time tomorrow. And if we are, it will be because God enabled it to happen. If we are not, it will be because God caused our breathing to stop. James tells us that we should not even say that we will be in a certain place on a certain day (James 4:13-17).

The implications from this truth are immense and mind boggling. But we note at least this much now. We are totally and utterly dependent on God for everything. Everything. Consider such texts as Romans 11:33-36, Psalm 115:3, Revelation 5, Romans 8:28-30, Ephesians 1:11. God did not set the earth on its course and leave it to itself. It turns because He not only put the physics in place that allow it to turn, but because He maintains the physics. The world turns because He continues to cause it to do so (Colossians 1:15).

The writer has just finished saying that the believers he is writing should know their stuff better then they do. God is not pleased with the fact that they have not progressed further than they have. They need to grow up. They need to mature. They need to be taught the deep things of the faith so that they can progress in their walk as believers. If all that is true, then do we not know that it will be God’s will for them to be taught by the author of Hebrews so that they can grow? Not at all. God may want someone else to do it. He may call the author home before he ever sees the Hebrews again. God may have a lot of other possibilities that need to become reality first. Our job is to live in submission to Him. The will of God is always to live in obedience to His Word and live a life of worship – no matter what.

This little phrase “if God permits” is a great lesson to us. So often we live presumptuously. We think we know the details of how God is going to use us. We have such strong feelings about how our gifts ought to be put to work that we just know that God has been speaking to us. Our God’s ways are beyond finding out and we do well never to say “see you tomorrow” without adding “Lord willing” to it, if we are truly seeking to live for Him.

And this final thought. There is no better place to be than in the will of God. If God should not allow the writer to the Hebrews to get to them to teach them then that is what is better. God’s will is not just sovereign. It is better. He is not just in charge. He is in loving charge. He does not just get His way. He gets His way for His glory and our good. The God who works out everything after the council of His own will is the God who does that for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose. There simply cannot be a more comforting thought than this. He is in charge and He loves me and will accomplish all His sovereign loving purposes for me. What a God.

Psalm 73

12 Behold, these are the ungodly,

Who are always at ease;

They increase in riches.

13 Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain,

And washed my hands in innocence.

14 For all day long I have been plagued,

And chastened every morning.

15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”

Behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children.

16 When I thought how to understand this,

It was too painful for me—

17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God;

Then I understood their end.

The age of the Psalms is always a relevant thing to consider when studying them and seeking to understand their application for us today. When we encounter the expression of emotion, the frustrations of life, the challenges to the Almighty, the anguish and angst and more, we need to remember that these Psalms were not written yesterday. We can sometimes fall into thinking that the heroes of the past, especially a great King such as David, were not bothered with the petty concerns that plague us. We can think that they had life together, that God was always very real and close and that the doubts that haunt us were yet to be invented. All this is wrong. And it is very helpful to know that it is . A thousand years before Jesus was born, David and the other Psalmists were writing about very real situations and very real responses from their hearts.

We need to be as transparent today. We need to be able to say “I don’t like what is going on here. I don’t think God really cares for me. I don’t know why God is so far away …”, if that is how we feel. We have grown to think that such emotions expressed are evil. There may indeed be sin in some of them but even if that is the case we will not become less sinful by pretending they do not exist. And we will get on the right road if we speak to God from our hearts, even when what is in the heart is not much to write home about.

God knows what we are thinking and feeling and planning. It would be a good idea to show enough respect for the omniscience of God by not trying to hide them from Him. We should tell Him, in prayer just what our feelings, thoughts and responses to life are and seek His help. God does not just help us deal with a sinful world and temptations that come from without. He helps us with us. The Christian I have the most difficulty with is me and the more believers realize that the biggest obstacle in their walk with God is themselves the better off they will be.

But improvement will not occur until we get brutally honest with God and with ourselves. Tell God how you feel. He will not be surprised and he will not be shocked. And since you are His, He will help you. All of that is a long introduction to Psalm 73 (and it could be an introduction to a lot of other Scripture as well). But just look and listen to Asaph and what he says about Himself in the presence of God.

Do you talk about yourself and to God with such honesty and transparency? Do you let God know how you are feeling? He knows already. And He is not pleased when you act as if they were not what they are. We should be very thankful for what God inspired the Psalmists to write.

We see in the Psalms real people with real feelings that are just like ours. We see the mercy of God in how He responded to the feelings of the one who expressed them. The Psalms were written by real people with real problems and real doubts and real issues that they wanted God to deal with. And so often we see real faith expressed that should encourage our hearts because they were as ignorant about the purposes of God in their circumstances as we are. They were men just like us. And the God who got them through their crisis moments is the same one who will get us through ours. Don’t romanticize the lives and times of the biblical authors. They were real men. They were like us. God does not use super men. He uses ordinary clay pots so that the excellency of the power may be seen to be Him and not us. What a God and what a Gospel.

Hebrews 5:11-14 (ESV)

About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. [12] For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, [13] for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of right-eousness, since he is a child. [14] But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

What words from your elementary school report cards stick with you the most? “Well done!”, “Good improvement”. Maybe even “better luck next time”. The one that sticks in my mind even to this day is a phrase that could possibly be used of me even now. More than one teacher put it on my report card. “Has the potential to do much better”. It’s a backhanded kind of a compliment. At least they thought I wasn’t stupid. They just wanted more proof that I was smart. If I ever were to write my autobiography, I think that phrase would comprise the title. “Has the Potential to do Much Better.” I hope it doesn’t make it to my grave stone. “He could have done much better”. How cruel would that be?

In this section of Hebrews the writer says something along the lines of “potential to do much better” to those he is writing. Verse 12 amounts to “you should know this stuff by now”. How long have you been a believer? Could it be legitimately said to you that you should be able to handle stronger doctrine at this point in your life than you do? Have you grown? Do you pray to know God better and are you seeing that prayer being answered? Do you read good books regarding the great doctrines of the faith? Do you see the scarlet thread of Christ through the whole Bible? Do you see how the great doctrines of the faith are practical in your daily walk with Christ? Do you understand what you read in the Scriptures? Has Jesus become more precious to you? Can you talk about the filling of the Holy Spirit as a daily experience for you? Are you smitten by grace? Do you long to show Christ to the world?

Do not be content with a level of maturity that would lead God to say Hebrews 5:11-12 to you. Make the most of the time you have. Grow in grace.

I am away this week for a couple of days and I have gotten behind on a few things already.  One of the things I have fallen behind in, is writing for this little devotional every morning. I need to catch up so I am going to put up some old ones from 2009 until I have stored up a bank of newer ones to pass on to you. If you remember any of these, congratulations. I wrote them and I can’t recall them. If you can’t remember them, then it doesn’t matter that they are recycled anyway. I’ll get back with newer stuff in a couple of weeks.

Psalm 68:1 (ESV)

God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered;

and those who hate him shall flee before him!

Does the hatred and abuse and sorrow and disease and pain and warfare and cruelty and selfishness and greed and hunger and homelessness and emptiness and hollowness and idolatry and deception and godlessness and meaninglessness and fruitlessness and immorality and lust and faithlessness and hopelessness and lovelessness and lack of joy, lack of peace, lack of patience, lack of kindness, lack of goodness, lack of self control, lack of gentleness, lack of unity and horizontal vision and atheism and agnosticism and polytheism and pantheism and cultism and lying and stealing and adultery and murder and covetousness and family strife and divorce and domestic violence bother you?

Do you sometimes wonder if the promises of God to put an end to all that sin has done to the world are really going to be kept? Does the preponderance of evil and tragedy in the world make you wonder if God really is there? Does it make you wonder if He really has spoken? Does the power of sin in your own life make you think that maybe you don’t have what the gospel promises or that the Gospel itself is a sham?

Look at the promise of Psalm 68:1. Remember that this promise was made over three thousand years ago. This is precisely why many do not believe. Mankind has been waiting a long time for the promises of God for a better world, to be realized. Doesn’t the fact that David was longing for a better world the same as we are indicate that his hope for God to intervene is all just vanity? Not in the least.

The Bible is the unfolding of a plan hatched in the eternal secret counsels of the Almighty. The triune God planned for the eternal Son to come and undo what sin had done. The Old Testament maps out the need for the coming of Christ. The New Testament shows His life and death and victory over sin and tells those of us who know Him how to live in this world and then it shows us that He indeed will keep the ancient promises.

Time is not the factor that proves that God is a liar or worse, that He is not there. The time for the restoration of all things is set. God cannot lie. He is not slack concerning His promise. The reason He has not put an end to all things yet is because He is gracious and full of mercy. He is going to save more people.

You want to see the end of this horribly sin infested system? Give the Gospel. The fact that David longed for the Lord to come and put an end to evil does not mean God is lying or non-existent. It simply means that sin has always bothered the faithful. Cruelty has always been a concern for those who are created in the image of God and have not fallen into the depths of depravity like so many others have.

It is not a discouraging thing that David longed for God to intervene and we are still praying the same prayer. It shows that the world really does need God to do something and it directs us right to Jesus. Rejoice that you have more knowledge than David had when he wrote these words. And rejoice that God waited long enough for you to hear and believe the Gospel. And rejoice that there are hundreds of thousands yet unborn who will come to Christ and know the peace that you pray for and will be used by God to bring even more in.

God’s plan cannot be improved upon. Get in on it. Instead of just mourning the darkness, light a candle and be part of the solution. Be part of what God uses to consummate His coming when all evil will be destroyed once and for all. Oh what will we see when the promise is finally brought to pass.