Thursday, June 21, 2018

Come Into The Garden

"I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk; eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved."  Song of Solomon 5:1.  Let us come into the garden of our Beloved.  We come to the garden to commune with Christ, who loves us.  The garden provides a place of security and serenity.  In the garden, we find God's peace and warmth.  We find calmness of soul as God's graciousness Spirit flows over us.  Within is a place of refuge from the ills of the world.  In the garden, we escape the woes of our enemy.  Surrounded by the beauty of the garden, we are enveloped by the beauty of God's grace and mercy.  Christ walks with us in the garden, and we are strengthened by His presence.  In the garden, we find renewal and restoration.  Hope springs afresh within the presence of our Beloved.  O, what heavenly bliss floods our soul in the garden of our Beloved.

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

The Godly Ceases

"Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men."  Psalm 12:1.  The Psalmist cries for help because of the loss of godliness.  The righteous mourn over the increase of sin.  Only God can help for He will overthrow the wicked.  The Psalmist dwells in the midst of evil.  Lips speak falsehood and proud things.  The wicked boast of their vileness.   The ungodly are their own Lord.  They refuse to bow before the righteous God.  But, God shall bring them down.  The Psalmist is not distraught because he knows that God will prevail.  Even in the shadow of evil, the godly shall be preserved.  When vileness is exalted and wickedness is glorified, God shall come to set the righteous in safety.  The righteous shall be protected, and the wicked shall be destroyed.  Help shall come from the Lord.  In all of His righteousness, God shall keep His servants from this evil generation.

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

A Sinner's Resolve

"I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants."  Luke 15:18-19.  In this wonderful passage, God is the Father and we are the son.  The son sees his fall into sin, and readily confesses to himself.  There is no road home from sin unless we can see our own sin, and be willing to go home.  God always welcomes the sinner home.  This son in Jesus' story saw himself as unworthy.  Sin will do that to an individual.  Sin would have us believe that we are no longer worthy of God and His love.  But we are.  God wants every sinner to come home.  God will welcome every sinner who sees their need of God and home.  The son was willing to accept a position of servant in his father's house.  While we are servants of God, we are also sons of God.  In every heart, may there be a resolve to confess our sin, arise, and go to our Father.

Monday, June 11, 2018

A Servant Of God

"James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting."  James 1:1.  James has chosen to serve both God and Christ.  If God is served, then Christ is served.  If Christ is served, then God is served.  Jesus and God are one.  Jesus came from heaven as God and took upon Himself human flesh.  James wants no mistake about his allegiance.  Neither should we.  As a servant, James conformed to the will of His Master.  He followed His teaching and His example of life.  As a servant of Christ, one is no longer a servant of the devil and sin.  As a servant, James did the work of the Lord.  If we have surrendered ourselves to Christ, we have become His servants.  As a servant, we promote the gospel, as we live according to the teachings of the gospel.  As a servant, we have an interest in those that are away from God.  We seek to teach and share with them the good news of salvation.  We as Christ "go about doing good."  No greater Master can be served than God and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Let us serve them with the full devotion of our being all the days of our life.

Seeing His Lovingkindness

"For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in thy truth."  Psalm 26:3.  With our eyes, we behold the lovingkindness of the Lord.  God blesses again and again.  His goodness is ever before us.  The Creator is mindful of our needs, and He supplies.  We breathe His air, and bathe in His sunlight.  We eat His food, and live in His shelter.  We feel the comfort of His love, and the beauty of His grace.  His lovingkindness forgives our sin, and purges our conscience.  His word is truth, and therein we walk.  His truth guards us, and preserves us.  His truth protects us, and keeps us.  His lovingkindness is our encouragement for walking in His truth.  We follow truth because of the mercy that is supplied.  We abide in truth because of love that He shows.  We conform ourselves to His divine pattern for He is ever loving and kind to us.  We are the benefactors of God's kindness because we walk in His truth.  God does for those who do for Him.

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Trying Our Faith

"Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience."  James 1:3.  The Christian life needs consistency.  Faith is to be that which abides.  The Christian life can know little faith, no faith, or great faith.  The kind of faith that we have will be decided by the way in which it is tested.  Abraham had his faith tested, and he become the Father of the Faithful.  Job had his faith tested and he came to have more than he had before Satan took it all.  The test of Paul's faith brought him to his readiness to die.  The testing of our faith will decide our commitment.  Many fail a tested faith.  Demas was one who failed.  Judas Iscariot was not able to pass faith's test.  Jesus even faced the test of faith as He went to the garden to pray.  But He passed.  When faith is tried, we become stronger when we pass.  A faith not tried is a useless faith.  God tries our faith, even if He uses the devil, so that we can remain strong and committed.  Patience, endurance, is the fruit ot a tested faith.  A tested faith that overcomes and endures is a mighty weapon in the kingdom of God.

Monday, June 4, 2018

He That Overcometh

"He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son."  Revelation 21:7.  This final book of scripture deals with adversity and warfare.  God's church is being attacked by the devil.  The church is facing great difficulty.  The church will ultimately prevail, but God's people must continue to be strong.  They must overcome the enemy.  That will bring to them an inheritance from God.  The inheritance will come at the end of the war when victory has been secured.  In this life as the church, we face enemies who oppose God and the Christian way of living.  We must be strong, and continue to stand.  The church has the promise of a great inheritance.  God will own us as His own.  Warfare always brings difficulty and hardship.  The spiritual warfare that we fight as God's people is no different.  We know with surety that the conquest will come, and with the victory a home with God for ever.  The devil has not the power to take from us what God has prepared for us.  Let us fight until the very end so that we enjoy the reward as God's children.

Saturday, June 2, 2018

Christ Is Lifted Up

"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.  This he said, signifying what death he should die."  John 12:32-33.  Jesus spoke often about His death.  He tells us that He will be lifted up in death.  Jesus died the death of the cross.  On that cross, He was lifted up.  This death by crucifixion would have an attraction upon the hearts of all humanity.  The cross was the means by which God chose to draw us to Jesus.  The cross shows God's love and grace for us.  The cross became God's atoning power for sin.  The message of the cross, the gospel, pricks our heart.  The message of the cross brings us to saving faith in Christ.  Jesus willingly submitted to being lifted up for all so that all could know God and salvation.  Sinners lifted up Christ on the cross.  Sinners in their envy watched Jesus die.  Amazing pity flowed from the cross and the lifting up of Jesus.  Jesus offers to all of us the opportunity to be saved from our sin.  His death was for us.  Allow Him to be lifted up in your heart.