Thought for the Morning

 

 Psalm 32:7 You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah 

We all need a place to hide.  A place where you can get away from all the activities of the day.  Many times, the burdens of the day seem almost too heavy to bear. Burdens can take on many forms, trouble in personal relationships, someone has deeply hurt you or you have hurt someone close to you and the feeling of quilt is within us.  The loss of a loved one can be deeply troubling to our soul.  There seems to be no limit to the sources of trouble that can plague us. We all need a hiding place!

But where can we hide?  The Psalmist says the Lord is our hiding place. How does He hide us? He draws us away from the place of trouble, He quiets our troubled heart. He reminds us that He willpreserve us from all troubles that we might encounter, whatever it might be.

The writer of Hebrew says” that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge (a hiding place) to lay hold of the hope set before us.(Hebrews 6:18).  That hope set before us is that the Lord Jesus is always with us.  The hope is knowing no matter what, He loves us beyond what we can totally understand. 

 

We may try to refuse His promise of a hiding place, and try to deal with our problems on our own. But the prophet Jerimiah writes:  “Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him”” says the LORD;“”Do I not fill heaven and earth”” says the LORD”. (Jeremiah 23:24) There is no limit to The Lords capability to see when we need that special hiding place in Him not ourselves.

           What about being surrounded  with “songs of deliverance”, what does that mean? The songs in our mind are part of the way the Lord comforts us.  Biblical songs are the Psalms He has given us.  Is there not comfort in the words “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.² He makes me to lie down in green pastures;… He restores my soul;…”( Psalm 23:1–3)

 

Hebrews 13:5 “…I will never leave you nor forsake you.”.  What a hiding place we have in the Lord! Just a thought for the morning

Carl                                                           

Thought for the morning

Romans 7:24   O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

Unfortunately, we have an enemy within us called the “old self” and regrettably, the “old self” is not immune to sinning. As believers in the Risen Lord we also have a new nature within us  and there is a struggle that goes on between the old and the new “self”.

Paul speaks  of this in his letter to the Romans Chapter 7.  He is aware of the old nature that dwells within each of us. He is aware of the constant battle between what we were as sinners and what we are in Christ. Earlier he wrote in:  Romans 7:19-20 “  For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. ²⁰  Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. We live in a body of death infected by sin!

There will be some who will say that after becoming a believer in Christ they do not sin. They may rest in what John writes in 1 John 3:6   Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. But if we look deep within ourselves, we know we can easily yield to sin, even as a believer.

The word of God makes it clear that we will, and we do sin. Paul knew it and the Lord led him to share it in this portion of scripture.

The Apostle John knew it when, led of the Lord, he wrote early in his first epistle “1 John 1:8“ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Christ died for our sin , all our sin “past, present, future”.  But what are we to do?  We do not come before a righteous God with unconfessed sin.   The Apostle John wrote, ⁹  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Confession is not a onetime occurrence; it must be part of our prayer life. I/we  sin every day and this is to be laid  before the Lord. With our confession comes His forgiveness!

To carry around unconfessed sin is a burden  we don’t have to bear.  We have a Savior who loves us as a Father and forgives us.  We only have to acknowledge our sin to Him, and He will forgive us.

Daniel 9:9   To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him.. Sin is a rebellion, but  with confession comes forgiveness! Just a thought for the morning

Carl

Isaiah 52:6  Therefore My people shall know My name; Therefore they shall know in that day That I am He who speaks:‘’Behold, it is I’‘“”

Has the Lord ever spoken to you?  God spoke directly to Adam and Eve. He spoke outwardly to Noah. God spoke to Abraham and in the history of Israel  God spoke to them through Moses many times. He spoke to them of the exodus from Egypt, He spoke to them of the manna that would be sent from heaven to sustain them in their 40-year journey through the wilderness. Through the prophets the Lord spoke to His people numerous times reminding them of their relationship with Him.  Often disappointed with their continual turning from Him, He brought judgement, but always reminded them  that they were His.

One day the Lord will return to rule over all!  And “they shall  know in that day”…, “Behold it is I”

But we as 21^st century believers in the Son of God who went to the Cross for each of us, does the Lord speak to us? I am afraid that often we are too busy with the things of the day to even listen.  That is certainly true of me. In the Scripture we are  encouraged to find our quiet place and there He will speak to us. Matthew writes, “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly”.(Matthew 6:6)

In our prayers God will speak to us.  It may not be words that He openly says, but the Spirit within us will direct our mind,  will guide us.  The word of God is given to us as a guide to life. Our daily readings and study of His word are stored away within our minds and when we feel abandoned by those around us the Holy Spirit will reminds us of the words of the Lord,““I will never leave you nor forsake you”” (Hebrews 13:5, Josh1.5). When there is a task that seems like a mountain before us the Spirit will remind us of the words of  Paul,  “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. (Phil. 4:13)  We are a people of the word but to be a people of the word we must be a people in the word! God speaks to us through His Word that we have hidden in our heart!

The last words of the Lord from John’s Revelation are, “surely I am coming quickly” (Rev 22.20). While we wait God will speak to us through His word, the Scripture.  Just a thought for the morning

Carl

Thought for the Morning

Isaiah 17:7  In that day a man will look to his Maker, And his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel.

The phrase “in that day” is often used of a time when God will intervene and remove the yoke of oppression from His chosen people (Is 30.26) But there are also times when “In that day” means a time of judgment for his people (Zech 1-14-15)  The writings of the Prophets include many times the words “in that Day”. The phrase “in that day” is used over 200  times in all of the Scripture

But there is also “that day” when He will come to come for His Church and following that to set up His Kingdom and rule for a 1000 years as we read of the Revelation (Rev 20.4-5). In the verse before us, I believe Isaiah is referring to the time the Lord will return to reign in the Millennium (the end times).

There is a great hope that the Lord is coming to establish His kingdom.  The hope of His coming  is very dear to all believers -He is coming again! But first He is coming to take His “called out ones” home to be with Him.

Paul writes of that day to the Thessalonians Some false teachers had said the day of the Lord had already come (2Thes 2.2) and the Thessalonians were concerned about the saints who had died (1 Thes 4.13) ) – What about them?

God reveals to Paul “when He comes,in that day” (1Thes 1.10). And then he writes “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven…” (Thes 4.16-17) Those who have died and those who live will be caught up to be with Him. Paul then writes,”(1 Thess 4. 8) Therefore comfort one another with these words. The Lord  did not come to these persecuted  saints in Thessonilica during their lifetime and He has not “caught up, or raptured His Church yet.

Where there is turmoil, where there is distress, where there is persecution there is also hope: looking for His coming.  We, in this country have not  experienced what the  early church was going through and what saints are experiencing in other parts of the world today.  Do we think much about His coming again but “in that Day” He will come.  We don’t seem to have  much teaching about “that day” in the church today.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. ¹⁸  Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

Looking for His coming.  Just a thought for the morning

Carl

Thought for the Morning

Matthew 1:23  ““Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel”” which is translated,“”God with us””

“…she will bring forth a Son and you shall call His name Jesus for He will save His people from their sin (Matt 1.21) This was the message given to Joseph by an angel, in a dream.  This was to be a special birth for she was a “virgin”! This Jesus  would save “His people from their sin”. Matthew reminds us of what the prophet Isaiah wrote some 700+ years before, a virgin would bear a Son and He shall be called “Immanuel, “God with us”. (Isaiah 7.14).  

In the Scripture the word Immanuel is only used by the Prophet Isaiah, and here in Mathew. But Immanuel, this man Jesus would bring hope to a world that was burdened with sin. This Jesus had a lowly birth. When He was just a babe, He was held in His mother’s arms just like any child. He was brought up in the Jewish faith, the lowly son of a carpenter. We don’t know much about His first 30 years, He was knowledgeable in the Law and the Prophets. All we have is a glimpse of His last 3 years out this earth. He preached the Kingdom of God, He preached that we are to love one another, He preached that through Him there was salvation. He preached that for us to be saved He would be crucified on a Roman Cross and be raised from the dead on the third day!

Now 2000+ years later we are still celebrating His birth.  But what has it become? It has become a time of commercial profits.  It has become a time of  parties, and special events, somewhat like those of the pagans.  There are places in this world that celebrate Christmas time not even knowing who this Jesus is.   It is a time of exchanging gifts but being unaware that the greatest gift  is the Lord Jesus Himself. We don’t know if the Lord was even born on the 25^th of December.

It is good for all of us who believe in the Lord Jesus to remember the day He came into this world. Think of that day on God’s calendar when He would send His  beloved Son into this sin cursed world.  Think about how his People  refused to accept Him as their Messiah. Think about the love and Grace He showered on each of us. Think about how we can serve Him.

John 3:16  “”For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. We have been given a great gift from  God.  Remember it during this special time.  Just a  thought for the mourning

Carl