Blog Archives: May, 2005 -- Word of Truth Family Church, Many, Louisiana

I guess Psalm 119 is my favorite chapter in the Bible, if I must choose one. Why? I think because it is full of wisdom about the richness of God's Word, the many benefits of His Word. This morning I read through verse 32, but kept going back to read over and over the previous verses because of the rich treasures in them.

In verse 4, David writes, "You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed." Obedience really is the key to our success and victory in daily life. It's not what you know, it's what you know and DO. Knowing isn't enough. Knowing must be followed by doing what you know.

Sure, we all fall short. I fall short at times. But I can honestly say that my heart is to fully obey God, in ALL things, not just the easy things. Not just the things I WANT to do, but also in the things HE wants me to do.

"I WILL obey you," David asserts forcefully in verses 8 & 17. God has given us a free will. We make the choices that determine the course of our lives. God has a plan, yes; but we must choose to obey His will in order to live out that plan.

When I was a child, I was constantly being told to do something by my parents (or at least it seemed like it). Clean your room, unload the dishwasher, mow the grass, fold and put away the clothes, etc. Did you ever think, like I did, "One day I will be an adult, and NOBODY will tell me what to do!" Ah, the naiveté of a child. For one thing, unless you own your own business, your boss tells you what to do. And even if you own your own business, the government is telling you what to do.

But, most importantly, we never outgrow GOD telling us what to do. That is, if we are a child of God. God tells us what to do through His word (His "precepts are to be fully obeyed"), then we are faced with the choice to obey or not. The BEST thing is to obey. Why? Because obedience brings blessings. Because God loves us and wants the best for us. He sees and knows things we do not and wants to lead us accordingly.

You know, His commands are not grievous (1 John 5:3). They are not burdensome or hard to bear. The things He commands us to do, we are ABLE to do. He wouldn't command us to do something we weren't capable of doing.

Sometimes He tells us to do something that doesn't make sense. Then obedience becomes an act of faith, and oh, how faith pleases God! In fact, it is impossible to please Him without it (Hebrews 11:6).

Well, there is so much that I read this morning that I could share, but I have been long-winded enough. Let me close with verses 30-32:

Jesus said, "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.... Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?... And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you?... But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you... For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

I think it's interesting how we love to quote Luke 6:38, "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed, down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap."

This is well and good. But if you read the whole context of what Jesus is talking about here (love for enemies and judging others), you see that it applies not only to giving money, but to whatEVER you give. Whatever you give (judgment, condemnation, forgiveness), it shall be given back to you in the same measure. Judge much, be judged much. Forgive much, be forgiven much.

R. T. Kendall in his message on "Total Forgiveness" says he must read Luke 6:37 each day as a reminder to himself. "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven."

Good advice.

Yesterday I made a mistake. I sinned with my mouth (Psalm 17:3). It really is true what Lawrence J. Peter said (1919-1988): "Speak when you are angry--and you will make the best speech you'll ever regret." I didn't make a speech, but I spoke too many words, words which I now regret. Back to the old drawing board, as Dr. Smith used to say on the TV series "Lost in Space."

Back to meditating on God's word and not on how you believe someone has wronged you (in small or large ways). As the James Taylor song "You've Got a Friend" goes:

"Hey, ain't it good to know that you've got a friend? People can be so cold.
They'll hurt you and desert you. Well, they'll take your soul if you let them,
oh yeah, but don't you let them."

No matter what, you can't allow yourself to meditate on those bad things. You've got to meditate on the good things (Philippians 4:8). Sometimes it's a constant battle to keep yourself reminded of this. Oh, those little thoughts just slip in and try to make themselves at home before you've had time to shut the door.

Reminds me of another song, "Shut De Doe" (Shut the door): "Shut de doe, keep out de devil. Shut de doe, keep de devil in de night..."

Oh, it sounds so simple. But we must remember that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers and principalities and powers in high places (Ephesians 6:12). In other words, people are not your problem; the devil is. We must remember this and focus our anger in the right direction. Then use the spiritual weapons of authority God has given us in the name of Jesus. Then we will see victory.

Yes, if you click the "victory" link above, you will see a wonderful message the Lord gave me about a year ago, "Keys to Experiencing Victory." Awesome. Powerful. But a funny thing about keys is that if you don't use them, they are in fact useless. That's why we must keep the word in our hearts and in our mouths and in our thoughts. That's the only way to stay straight.

Reading Acts 13 today, I see again what I've been seeing throughout the book of Acts: unbelievers are moved to believe by what they see and hear. In verse 12, "when the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord." Read what happened.

Later, after speaking about Jesus in a synagogue, "the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath." Then, "on the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord."

Here's a good verse--they're ALL good, of course--but this is a good one for me today:

"No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it." (I Corinthians 10:13, Message Bible)

"...[Jesus] had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." (Hebrews 2:17-18, NIV)

"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (Hebrews 4:15-16, NIV)

The comforting thought here is that what you (or I) are going through is not unique. Sometimes we may feel as though no one else has suffered as badly or in the same way we are suffering, but it's simply not true. The Bible says Jesus Himself was tempted in every way that we are, and--let us not forget--without sin. He had to overcome every temptation so that He may now be in a position to "feel our pain" and intercede to the Father on our behalf (Romans 8:34).

Here's a good prayer: "Jesus, you know what I'm going through. You went through it yourself. Give me wisdom through your Holy Spirit on how to overcome in this situation, how to endure, how to come out victorious on the other side--because I know there is a way. YOU are the Way! You are the Way-Maker!"

Wow, I feel better already. He's helping me even now. He's pretty awesome. He didn't leave us here without tools for victory. What a comfort.

There is a saying on a church marquee that I pass every day: "You can't look back and undo, but you can look forward and pursue."

In Philippians 3:13-14 Paul says it like this: "Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven."

I'm sure everyone has at least one thing in his past that he would like to undo. But the simple truth is, you can't. You can't go back. What's done is done. The only thing left to do is look forward and do things better, make better decisions, from now on. The best you can do is learn from the past and go from here. Time spent looking back is time robbed from your present and your future. It's not worth it.

Reading Acts 9-10 today, I notice that when God heals somebody, God is glorified. At this moment, I can’t think of an instance in the New Testament where God is glorified through sickness. In Acts 9:32-35, Peter finds “a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years.” Peter told the man, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and take care of your mat.” Immediately the man got up. And “all those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.”

Similarly, in the next few verses, Peter raised a woman from the dead, and because of this, “many people believed in the Lord.”

When I read the gospels, I see Jesus going about healing all who were oppressed of the devil. He healed all manner of diseases. (Matthew 4:23, Matthew 9:35, Acts 10:38). Did he ever refuse healing to anyone who asked? Did he ever say, “No, in your case, you must remain sick so that God may teach you something”? The only place I’m aware of where Jesus didn’t heal everyone was in his own hometown. And he could do no mighty work there, except he healed a few with minor illnesses, because of their unbelief (Matthew 13:58).

Now, you and I can both think of many cases of wonderful Christians who have prayed for healing and yet remain sick. Some people look at these cases and conclude that it is then not God’s will that everyone be healed. I will admit that I don’t have all the answers why these people have not been healed. I know that in many cases, Jesus healed people when he saw their faith. In fact, many times he actually said, “Your faith has made you whole.” Do these people not have enough faith? I’m not the judge.

I also know that unforgiveness will prevent a person from receiving God’s best (healing). Jesus said in Mark 11:25 that when we pray, we must forgive anyone we have a grudge against, so that our heavenly Father will also forgive us. (See previous entry for a whole lesson about forgiveness.)

So am I saying sick Christians are harboring unforgiveness? God only is the judge. God only sees the heart. I can’t tell you why any one person doesn’t get healed.

But this I know, by the Word of God, the Bible: it is God’s will that everyone be healed. Jesus proved this. Are all healed? No. Is it God’s will that all be saved? Yes (1 Timothy 2:3-4). Are all saved? No. God is sovereign, but in all His sovereignty, He will not take away our free will. We have choices to make which affect our lives.