Do Not Forget

Are you in a dark place right now? Are you calling out to God for some form of deliverance with great hope that your situation will change? If you are, and God delivers you, I encourage you to praise God and to use that experience to become more dedicated and more obedient to him. It is human nature to beg for something we need, and when we get it, to focus on the provision and forget about the one who gave it. Joseph experienced that when he interpreted the vision of the chief cupbearer. Once the chief cupbearer got what he wanted, he forgot Joseph. Jesus experienced it when he healed the 10 lepers. Only one came back to praise him. And Moses warned the Israelites, in Deuteronomy chapter 8, verses 10 through 14, not to fall into that trap. It says:

“When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”

We need to heed this warning as well. When God blesses us, or delivers us, it should encourage us to be more dedicated to him. It should encourage us to praise him, to love him more, and to become more dependent on him. We shouldn’t become proud and forget who saved us from our despair. So I challenge you to remember God when he delivers you or blesses you. Heed the warning Moses gave to the Israelites, because it is human nature to forget the one who delivers us.

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When God blesses you, or delivers you, praise him and use that experience to become more dedicated to him. Never forget what he did for you. It is human nature to beg for something in our despair, and when we get it, to forget about the one who saved us. With believers, it should never be that way; not with our fellow man, and especially not with God.

Power of Words

When someone used to tease you as a child, did you ever respond by saying, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”? I heard that a lot when I was growing up, but if we are honest with ourselves, we know that those words are false. Words can hurt, and sometimes words can hurt worse than sticks and stones because the wounds they cause may take longer to heal. The Bible tells us that what we say to others is important. It tells us that our words can be used to build others up or tear them down. Proverbs, chapter 15 verse 4, reminds us:

“The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.”

Also in chapter 12, verse 25 it says:

“An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.”

Our words can be a weapon, or they can bring healing to those who hear them. What kind of words are coming out of your mouth? If we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, like the Bible commands us, we should use words that bring healing; words that cheer up the heart, as these parables explain. With our words we have more power than we might think. So I encourage you to use your words wisely. Consider how you can use them in a way that honors God and encourages your neighbor.

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Proverbs isn’t the only place in the Bible that warns us about our tongue and our words. There are several verses warning us about the words we choose to speak both in the Old and New Testament. The Bible encourages us to be slow to speak and quick to listen. But when we do speak, our words should be those that encourage, uplift, and build people up. Who knows, a few kind words could change the course of someone’s day. At the right time, with the right heart, a few loving words can even save a life. So please, consider what you say and when you say it, because your words can have the power to heal as well as the power to destroy.

Good Soil

If I dwell on the state of our country and the world, often times, I become discouraged. Evil seems so pervasive, there seems to be an overwhelming aversion toward anything Christian, and it seems as if everyone is selfish; caring only about themselves. If you get caught up in the news, you may begin to wonder if God is at work in the world anymore. You may even begin to question if anyone is trying to share the gospel anymore. But when I read the parable of the sower, found in Luke, I’m encouraged that the word of God is being spread, but the ground in which the seed is sown may be more hard, more thorny and more shallow than in days past, producing fewer crops. In effect, the word of God may be shared, but it is having a more difficult time finding good soil. When Jesus shares the parable of the sower, he explains that when the seeds of the gospel fall on soil that isn’t good, the word may be ineffective. Only when the seed falls on good soil will it produce a crop. It says in Luke, chapter 8, verse 15: 

“But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.”

Have you heard the good news? Has anyone told you that the blood of Jesus has the power to save your soul? If so, do you believe? Did those words fall on good soil? Because only when they have are you truly able to grow in your faith and produce a crop.

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In the parable of the sower, Jesus tells us that “the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop”. Is your heart made of good soil? Do you expose yourself to the word of God, retain it and by persevering produce a crop? I encourage you to get serious about your faith. Allow the Holy Spirit to till the soil of your heart so that when you hear the word, read the word, or in any way are exposed to the word of God, you retain it. And that by living out what you’ve learned you’ll be able to produce a crop by leading others to Christ and storing up treasures in heaven.

Made Wise

There is great wisdom to be found in the Bible. So much so, that if we read it and do what it says, I believe that we are getting a better education on how to live life than any doctorate can give you from any university. If we allow the Holy Spirit to teach us through the word of God, we are made wise. We are wise with the kind of wisdom that teaches us how to live well in this life and how to prepare for eternity. But we need to read it, we need to think on it, and we need to follow what it says. Psalm 119, verses 97 through 99, encourages us with these words:

“Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes.”

Do you believe that claim? Do you believe that God’s commands found in the Bible can make you wiser than your enemies; that it can provide more insight than any teacher or professor? I do. I believe it because we are taught that the words found in the Bible are God-breathed. They are instructions and guidelines on how to live, given to us by our creator. The Bible points us to the Savior who points us to the Father; the one who has the power to bless us, to forgive us, and to save us. I encourage you to do what this psalmist did; meditate, or think, on his word all day long. Read it, learn it, follow it, and gain more wisdom than any man could teach you here on earth.

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I don’t think we, as human beings, understand how powerful the word of God is. If we did; if we truly believed that the Bible is the inspired word of almighty God, why wouldn’t we become scholars of it? Why wouldn’t we do everything we could to know everything we could about it? Why wouldn’t we do what the psalmist did; love it and meditate on it all day long? I want to remind you that the Bible is, in fact, the inspired word of God. If you read it, and allow the Holy Spirit to help you understand it, and if you follow what it says, you will be exceedingly wise. Proverbs teaches us our first lesson; that it all begins with a reverent fear of the Lord. It says that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” I encourage you to be made wise today. I encourage you to study the Bible.

Bird's Eye

It always amazes me how men can, in any way, think we are a match for God. You may have heard the phrase, “playing God”, referring to someone who by their actions, are trying to do what only God can do - like choosing who might live or die in a situation. Other times people might try to challenge God by calling him out in their anger to “meet face-to-face” to settle a dispute, as if in a fight they might give God a run for his money. Or, people might even try to outsmart God, as if they can set some kind of trap that might thwart God’s plans or catch him off guard. An example of this is when King Herod realized that Jesus was about to be born. The Bible reveals that Herod devised a plan he thought would outsmart God. But it says in Matthew chapter 2 verse 13:

“When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up,’ he said, ‘take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.’"

And Herod did try. Several children died in his plan to kill Jesus, but God knew his heart and he knew his plan. He didn’t have to send fire down from heaven to consume Herod’s men, or turn Jesus invisible so that they couldn’t see him. But because God knows our hearts and knows our plans, his solution was as simple as sending an angel with a message. We can’t out smart God because he is wiser than us. He has a bird’s eye view of all of our plans. Nothing will take him by surprise, and he can change the course of any planned calamity by something as simple as sending a word of warning.

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We should never forget how powerful God is. This is his world and he makes all of the rules. He has a bird’s eye view of everything that goes on, and he knows the heart of every person. We should never presume to try to take on the role of God, to challenge God, or to outsmart God. These are all futile pursuits which, in essence, tries to exalt ourselves to the status of God. But we are his creation. We should humble ourselves before him, trust him and fall into his loving and capable hands, because for humanity, there is no better place to be.