Saturday, January 27, 2018

Dwelling In The Lord's House

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."  Psalm 23:6.  Christ as the Shepherd leads us into the house of the Lord.  Follow Him and the Lord's house will be our dwelling.  The psalmist speaks with conviction.  He has assurance that goodness and mercy will follow him throughout his life.  Do we not need God's goodness and His mercy?  Is the dwelling of the Lord's house our desire?  Then, we must follow the Christ.  We must listen to His word and be directed by His wisdom.  In His word, He speaks to our heart.  His word is a safe guide which provides the richest blessings.  His will directs us to the most majestic dwelling--the Lord's house.  Nothing must prevent us from dwelling forever in His house where His goodness and mercy are found.  The psalmist had made a choice about where he would dwell.  We must make the same choice.  No one makes that choice for us.  We decide whom we will follow and where we will dwell.

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Jesus, The Door

"I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture."  John 10:9.  A door gives us entrance.  Jesus has given to us entrance unto God and the salvation that He offers to all humanity.  Entering through this door is a choice.  All may enter.  None will be denied entrance.  They who choose to enter may come.  The blessings that are offered through this door come to those who choose to enter.  Jesus must be accepted as the Savior.  Jesus is the door where forgiveness of sins is found.  Those who enter have the promise of salvation.  With this salvation, we find security in Christ.  We enter and find all the blessings that God provides for the saved.  In Jesus, one is complete.  The deepest needs of the human soul are through this door.  The riches of God's eternal glory are in Christ.  Enter through the door to have eternal wealth.  Christ pleads for every soul to enter.  Come, o weary one, and find nourishment in the spiritual pasture of God.

Friday, January 5, 2018

Not Of Night, Nor Darkness

"Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness."  I Thessalonians 5:5.  Children must learn and grow.  So it is with God's children.  We must learn and grow into that perfect image of Christ Himself.  Christ brings us into the light of God's amazing grace.  Light shines forth in the heart of the believer guiding us to the safe haven.  In the darkness, we will stumble.  In sin, we stumble and fall short of God's will for us.  We through Christ and divine love have been delivered from the darkness.  We are never again to walk therein.  Our lives are to be lived in the light of God's holiness.  We must follow the true light listening to His word, and walking in the steps of Him who always did the will of the Father.  Darkness will hinder holiness.  Let us not return to the darkness of evil, but let us live in the transformation of God's grace.  As we live in the light, we will become as He who shed light into our hearts.

Not By Bread Only

"And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God."  Luke 4:4.  The devil is tempting Jesus following His fast in the wilderness.  Remember, the devil is a tempter and a deceiver.  The answer offered by Jesus in this temptation is a quotation from Scripture.  The devil must be answered with the word of God.  The devil offered Jesus physical food.  The devil never offers anything but that which is physical, and therefore, temporal.  Jesus would have hungered again.  Man, having been created in the image of God, needs more than the physical.  The soul must be fed and nourished.  The word of God is the spiritual food that feeds the spiritual man.  The word of God supplies us with strength and courage.  The word of God gives us eternal life.  And, we must receive every word that God speaks.  God speaks to us plainly so that our every need is supplied.  When the devil approaches us, let us say as did Jesus, "It is written."