Web Chapel

Category: A Word With Friends

These are short devotional studies based on a single word or short phrase. Most are observations and lessons discovered in the life my family and me.

  • All She Had

    Luke 21:1-4

    “And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: for all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.”

    Jesus was watching the people putting their money into the temple treasury. As He watched, the rich cast in their gifts. Jesus said that their gifts were of their abundance.

    Then, He watched the poor widow cast in two mites. Jesus was actually waiting for her to come. He said her gift was all the living she had. What a gift she gave! Compared with the abundance that the others brought, her two mites were much smaller. Two mites were not enough to buy a single sparrow. But, for this Jesus commended her. He even said that her two mites were more than what the others had given.

    What was the poor widow thinking when she gave such a gift? Clearly, after having given all the living she had, and being a widow, she had nothing more to spend the rest of the day, and nobody to depend upon to meet her needs. Except for the Lord Himself! While some may say that this is not much assurance, they would be mistaken. There are many examples of people who have thrown themselves on the Lord and were blessed for doing so.

    One was Rahab the harlot. In Joshua 2 the Israelites were preparing to attack Jericho at the Lord’s command. Two men were sent by Joshua to spy out the land. Rahab hid those men, and said to them, “…I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath. Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token: and that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.” (Joshua 2:9-13)

    That was quite a request. But, Joshua 6:25 tells us, “And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.” Rahab believed what the Lord had told Israel concerning them taking the land. And when she appealed to the spies to spare her family, she was believing that the Lord would do what He said He would do, and wanted to be shown His mercy. In the middle of the fierce battle, which included the collapse of the city walls, on which her house was built (Joshua 2:15), she trusted the Lord. And she and her family were spared.

    When she cast all the living she had into the temple treasury, the poor widow was similarly throwing herself on the Lord. She was trusting that He would take care of her. So, what did He do for her? Scripture does not say. Given what we know about God, His goodness and mercy and kindness, and with the example of Rahab in mind, there is no doubt that He took care of her.

    In Matthew 6:30-33 Jesus said, “Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

    God knows what we need. This thought is also stated in Matthew 6:8, where Jesus said, “Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.”

    Of all the qualities that mankind may possess, God notices humility. For the most part, we are guilty of pride, and many scriptures speak against that. In Proverbs 29:23 Solomon wrote, “A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit.” Humility pleases God because it leaves matters to Him. Humility reveals trust in God. Since He is all knowing, it is wise to leave matters to Him, just like the poor widow did.

    Simply trusting every day,
    Trusting through a stormy way;
    Even when my faith is small,
    Trusting Jesus, that is all.

    Refrain

    Trusting as the moments fly,
    Trusting as the days go by;
    Trusting Him whate’er befall,
    Trusting Jesus, that is all.

    Brightly does His Spirit shine
    Into this poor heart of mine;
    While He leads I cannot fall;
    Trusting Jesus, that is all.

    Refrain

    Singing if my way is clear,
    Praying if the path be drear;
    If in danger for Him call;
    Trusting Jesus, that is all.

    Refrain

    Trusting Him while life shall last,
    Trusting Him till earth be past;
    Till within the jasper wall,
    Trusting Jesus, that is all.

    Refrain (Edgar P. Stites)

  • Where is the blood?

    Isaiah 6:5-7

    “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.”

    In the Lord’s will, in the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah had a vision of God and His glory. After having had the vision, Isaiah was sent by the Lord to bring further prophecies to the people of Israel.

    In verse 7 we are told that a seraphim brought a coal from off the altar, and touched it to Isaiah’s lips, and thereby, “thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.”, which he had admitted in verse 5. Now, we know from Hebrews 9:22 that, “without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.” This may seem to conflict with the angel’s statement, because no blood is mentioned in Isaiah 6.

    Firstly, it is important to keep in mind that Isaiah’s vision was of God’s throne room. Concerning the tabernacle of old Hebrews 9:2-10 tells us, “For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; and over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly. Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: the Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.”

    Two important points are made in this passage that apply to the question. The first is that as long as the tabernacle stood it was the only way into God’s presence, but only for the high priest, and only once a year. The prescribed sacrifices were illustrations of the sacrifice of Christ. But they only served to cover sin.

    The second is that these things were a figure, or a parable, of heavenly things. They were not the real things, but a picture. Add to this what the Lord told Moses in Exodus 25:40, as quoted in Hebrews 8:5, “…(the priests) serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.” God required Moses to build the tabernacle specifically the way that he had seen it in the mount.

    Taken together, the tabernacle was merely an image of God’s very presence. He wanted the tabernacle to look like home, where He would dwell among His people. That is why He commanded precision in how it was made. Leviticus 6:12, 13 provides a further commandment for the priests concerning the altar, “And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings. The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.” An aspect of the image, the figure, was that there was always to be fire on the altar.

    Hebrews 9:23-26 tells us, “It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” The writer contrasts the bringing of sacrifice that Jesus did with that of the priests. Jesus went into the tabernacle not made with hands, that is, into God’s presence with the blood of His sacrifice: Christ didn’t go into the tabernacle, the pattern of the heavenly things, but into heaven itself.

    A further point that bears on this is the timelessness of God. Time was His invention for our convenience. He exists outside of time. That being the case, Revelation 13:7, 8 tell us, “And it was given unto (the beast) to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” The last phrase is what we need to consider. Notice that Jesus is called “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” This suggests that the sacrifice of Jesus reached back to the creation. Given that God is timeless, there is a sense in which the sacrifice has permanence not only going forward, but also backward in time. It is not that Jesus has continually been on the cross. May it never be. But the value of that sacrifice in time is eternal going forward and going backward. Since it is God that died, how could it not have that kind of eternal impact? That His sacrifice is efficacious even going backward is wonderful because Adam and Eve were as much in need of His redemption as any of us.

    Notice 1 Peter 1:18-20, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you…” Here we find that Christ was foreordained before the foundation of the world unto the task of redemption. This reveals that His sacrifice was not some kind of plan B that God instituted after the fall in the garden of Eden. But it has been His plan all along from before He created the world.

    So, given that Christ went into heaven itself, with the blood of His sacrifice, that His sacrifice is efficacious going eternally forward, and backward to the foundation of the world, according to the plan that was established before the foundation of the world, let’s return to the vision that Isaiah had as recorded in chapter six, “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.”

    Isaiah was in God’s presence. That he saw an altar there is consistent with Hebrews 9, where we found that the tabernacle, including the altar, was an image of God’s presence. What else could be the sacrifice on that altar in God’s presence? There was where the blood of The Lamb Of God was poured out, in keeping with the plan that had been set before the foundation of the world, and His sacrifice was effective from the foundation of the world. The altar that Isaiah saw, the sacrifice from which the coal was taken, was that One that was slain from the foundation of the world.

    Where is the blood? It was poured out under that altar from the sacrifice of Christ, slain from the foundation of the world. God’s timelessness takes Christ’s sacrifice out of time, to us 2,000 years ago, and makes it effective for Adam and Eve, and for Isaiah as he stood trembling before the Almighty God of the universe, and for us 2,000 years later, and for whosoever will until Christ’s coming. That cleansing coal of fire was from the sacrifice of Christ.

  • My Weakness

    Psalm 73:26   My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

    This Psalm was written by Asaph, not David.  Several of the Psalms are attributed to him. He was in the Levite priesthood, assigned to the Tabernacle worship . Early in the Psalm he has written, “But as for me ,my feet have almost stumbled :My feet have nearly slipped” (Psalm 73.2). He was envious of those who were wicked and yet prospered, and in his envy he had  stumbled. (Psalm 73.3).

    Asaph was aware of his weakness; he did not understand why God was

    not punishing the wicked but allowed them to be at ease and see increase in their riches and prestige  (Psalm 73.12).  Why were these who are living in sin getting away with it?

    He realizes later in the Psalm that God who is righteous will deal with those  who are enjoying the ill found riches of the world. (Psalm 73.17-19)

    We may not even know it, but there may be times when we become envious.  We can look back and wonder why did we have these thoughts of envy.  Each one of us is unique in the eyes of the Lord.  We are given different talents and abilities.  He locates us  where He wants us.  It is our work for Him to use our talents and abilities for Him

    . 

    Asaph recognizes his envy as a sin in himself and  he almost stumbled and slipped!

    How do we keep from being envious of others ?  In the closing verse of this Psalm Asaph has the answer.  Psalm 73.28 “But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God…”.  What better conclusion could he have had?

    How do we draw near to God? We draw near in prayer for those around us; we draw near in the study of His word. We draw near to Him by realizing the relationship we have in Him. We are His child, and we have an eternal hope in Him!

    James 4:8  “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…” Lord keep us being from being envious, and draw us near to You.  Just a thought for morning.

    Carl

  • Living Word

    Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

    How important is the word of God to us? The writer of Hebrews says it is “living and powerful”. It is living and powerful because it leads us to Christ.  All of us know John 3.16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life, and also we rest in the truth that Paul wrote “ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9  not of works, lest anyone should boast.(Ephesians 2:8-9) These are powerful words because they lead us to a Savior who gives us eternal life!

    How does the word divide “soul and spirit”? With our salvation comes the Indwelling Spirit. (John 14:26).  By the Indwelling Spirit we have been given a new nature, but there is always that battle between the old and the new. It is the living word of God that is to give us guidance in our daily walk each day. But to divide the soul and spirit each of us has to be in the word daily. Sometimes there is a “Sharpness’ like the cutting of a sword that cuts deeply into areas in which we need to change our ways and our thinking. We would never know this unless we allow the Lord to guide us through His word.

    The word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  What does that mean?  All of our outward actions are developed by the thoughts in our mind. I believe the intents of our heart are based on who we really are. What is in our heart is deeply rooted and is based on our individual exposures to life’s experiences. The Lord is a discerner of our very heart. He knows what is lurking there, good or bad. The word of God is so powerful that if we allow it, it will expose areas that do not honor our Lord and need to be changed.

    The Lord knows and discerns what is in our very being. He will reveal what is right and what is against His will by His word.  Why is the Lord so interested in each one of us, even to the point of having an interest of what is in our heart? God so loved the world (you and I)! 

    Romans 8:39 “nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

    His word reveals to us His love and through it we learn more of Him.  Just a thought for the morning. Carl

  • God Dwells

     But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10  And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11  But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
    Romans 8:9-11 

    These verses certainly emphasize the indwelling nature of the Holy Spirit in the believer. What does it mean to be indwelt by the Spirit? It means having a “new nature” (2Co 5.17).  It means having guide for our walk in Christ (John 16.13).  It means to have a Helper or Comforter as we face daily problems (John 14.16). It means He is there to convict us of sin (John 16.7-11), urging us to confess (1John 1.9) and repent.

    The indwelling Spirit is associated with the new nature we have in Christ. But there seems to be a constant struggle between the old and the new nature.  Paul confirms this in the letter to the Romans (Rom 7.15-25).  “The devil made me do it” is not really an excuse! The problem is, so many times, we yield to our old nature, we are not aware of the “indwelling Spirit”.  How do we yield to the indwelling Spirit?

    We yield by obedience, obedience to the word of God. How do we know the desires of our Lord, it is through the word?  The Spirit given word is a lamp guiding us day by day.  That’s why it is so important to have it open before us as we struggle with the days problems. It is the word of God that the indwelling Spirit uses to combat the old nature within us.

    John 14:15-17 “”If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16  And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you foreve— 17  the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.  10  And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

    John 16:13  However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

    The Holy word is our sword; the Spirit speaks to us through the word.  The Lord has not left us alone!  Just a thought for the morning.

    Carl